Welcome back to another instalment of Oz' 2 Cent reviews. Come back after Wednesday for a massive pile o' goodies for third-week of December books. Today, I'll cover Avengers Arena #1, Fantastic Four #2, Archer & Armstrong #5, Green Lantern Corps #15, Demon Knights #15, Batman & Robin #15, Stuff of Legend Volume 4 parts 1 & 2, Clone #2, and Rachel Rising volume 2. Let's dig in eh?
Avengers Arena 1: Cover of the year! Arcade is back and this time, he's taking no prisoners. Unless you count the 16 youths he's placed (against their will) into Murder World. Someone read Battle Royale over their summer break and now he's using it as a business model for his typically low-murder rated, profit free practice. Intense from the first panel, glad I picked it up. I'm here to stay.
Fantastic Four 2: Why are we still in the introduction faze? I thought the Four took off last issue? Let's get a move on already. It's been far from Fantastic.
Demon Knights 15: Three armies gather on the soil of Avalon and our Knights are stuck in the middle. The issue felt a bit rushed as it is Cornell's last, but he finally got to the place he wanted to be, showing the clear connection between Storm Watch and our Knights. Next issue is entitled "30 years later" and that should be cracking!
Green Lantern Corps 15: The "All Guy Gardner" issue. He's my favourite lantern so I really liked this month's installation It's hard to get your groove back when you fall from the top and Guy just proves that can get you into trouble. Meanwhile, the Guardians are still fucking shit up in outer space and Salaak is their latest victim.
Batman & Robin 15: Death of the Family part 7 million. Robin is on his own and decides to search for the missing Alfred. What he ends up finding is the Joker who quickly incapacitates him. The rest of the issue plays out like a psychological chess match. Joker is sick of the bat family, he wants Batman all too himself and he'll do anything he must to be rid of them. All this plus Joker Vision!
Stuff of Legend - The Toy Collector Part 1: This book doesn't come out very often so when it does, it's a nice surprise. The story so far. A human boy is kidnapped by The Boogeyman into the strange dimension known as The Dark. He is followed by his dog Scout and 7 of his most loyal toys who all have a different physical manifestation in The Dark . The present; the toy soldier is dead. Quackers and Harmony lead a small band of rebels. Scout has stayed behind with the recently crowned King Max and his subjects. There's no trace of the Jester or Percy. And The Princess remains with her people in the Indian territory. The boy is still accompanied by the deceptive Boogeyman (disguised as a child himself) and the ex-mayor of Hopscotch who is seeking redemption. This first chapter is all set up. The Boogeyman has plans in motion and Max relieves himself of his new throne to continue his original mission: find the boy!
Stuff of Legend - The Toy Collector Part 2: Max, Monty and Scout reach the Deep Dark. The boy and his companions find Percy, about to be spit-roasted by a handful of savage toys. The Princess discovers a broken half of the Jester's mask and fears the worst. The Jester himself is a few meters away, hidden in cave on the same shore and grievously injured. And finally, Harmony loses all hope for her quest as she finds Max' domain empty. Quackers calms her down with his new found wisdom. The adventure continues!!!
Archer & Armstrong 5: The all out action issue, it's none stop fisticuffs from page one to page twenty two. Double A are chased by Armstrong's ancient brother. He is the eternal protector of Earth's Geomancer (who btw, was murdered last issue), he is the honourable and noble Gilad. Not to say that Gilad is a bad guy, it's just that he's bonded to his sacred duty. Not even death itself can retire him from his job. He's stuck until he avenges the murder and unlucky for Archer, the target has landed on his head. The only thing that can stop his savagery is to locate the next Geomancer. Will the boys make it in time?
Clone 2: This is such a cool freaking book, I'm really glad I gave it a chance! We get a little bit more insight on the clone program and, OF COURSE, like anything structured and evil, it's connected to the government. We discover in this issue that it is an experiment that has been active for over 30 years in silence. Until it met its ultimate whistle blower, Facebook. I'm not even kidding here. This is just a small part in the overall bizarre awesomeness. You must check out CLONE! It's fast and fun, political without the bore and it even has time to be packed to the brim with violence.
Rachel Rising V2 - Fear No Malus : Nothing I say can do this book justice. It's my pick of the year. But without mangling the plot or giving away spoilers, I will simply use the quotes at the start of each issue to give you an idea of how it rolls. Issue 7: "Death is not a game that will soon be over. Death is a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes not a sound." Issue 8: "Fear not death for the sooner we die, the longer we shall be immortal." Issue 9: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." Issue 10: "Lilith wanders about at night, vexing the sons of men and causing them to defile themselves." Issue 11: "Let my enemies devour each other." Issue 12: "You never realize death until you realize love." Some pretty grim shit right? This book has it together so damn well and this second volume ups the stakes and reveals a lot! If this isn't picked up and made into a movie, then I really have no faith in human kind left.
