Book Review: Justice League Dark Vol. 3 by J. Lemire et al.

Justice League Dark Volume 3: The Death of Magic written by Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes and art by Mikel Janin

John Constantine and the rest of Justice League Dark mount a rescue operation to get Zatanna and Timothy Hunter from an alternate dimension where magic is abundant. When the crew gets there, they are all affected by the magic, including Deadman becoming alive again, Madame Xanadu becoming old (she's been living for centuries and now starts looking like it), and Constantine becoming uncharacteristically honest (with comic results). Only Frankenstein's Monster is unaffected, presumably because he is a creature of science, not of magic. The alternate dimension has a crusading army of scientifically-advanced people who fight with all things magical, thus making them enemies of Justice League Dark. Meanwhile, Timothy has been hailed by the local magical creatures as their king. He leads them as an army against the science people. The story is exciting and filled with lots of drama and fun action.

A second story details the theft of Constantine's House of Mystery, which causes all sorts of nightmarish horrors all over the world. The Justice League Dark has to set things right, with some help from The Flash and Swamp Thing. This story is interesting but does not have the epic feel of the first story, though they try to pass it off as such.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Justice League Dark Vol. 2 by J. Lemire et al.

Justice League Dark Volume 2: The Books of Magic written by Jeff Lemire and Peter Milligan and art by Mikel Janin, Lee Garbett, Daniel Sampere, Cam Smith, and Admira Wijaya

See my review of Volume 1 here.

After a quick visit to a vampire apocalypse that ends all too quickly, the story shifts as the magic-powered version of DC's Justice League is drawn into a new ultimate, world-ending problem. Several baddies are looking for the Books of Magic, four legendary tomes that were thought lost for centuries. John Constantine has some information about it and wants them badly. Madame Xanadu has had visions of Constantine acquiring the books and causing the world to end. She works behind the scenes while Constantine is recruited by Steve Trevor (yes, Wonder Woman's boyfriend) who works for a shadowy government agency. It sent agents into the Peruvian jungle to check on Felix Faust, a wizard with a scheme involving the books. Constantine cons the rest of Justice League Dark into going south to investigate, setting him on the path to acquire the Books of Magic.

The main plot has a lot of little twists that are more or less believable. Since the characters and story are so magic-dependent, the storytelling does jump erratically from time to time. Some people get short shrift, like Zatanna whose backwards magic never seems to work against any of the bad guys. The book has a lot of characters so there isn't enough space for everybody. I enjoyed it enough to keep going with the story for volume 3.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Frogcatchers by Jeff Lemire

Frogcatchers by Jeff Lemire

Waking up alone and with no memories of who or where he is, an old man wanders around a hotel trying to figure things out. He runs into a young boy who catches frogs and convinces the old man to run away from the Frog King in Room 309. With no one else around, the old man at first trusts the boy, but clearly more is going on than has been revealed.

The story is very minimalist, as is the drawing style. The mostly black and white illustrations convey the lonely and terrified feelings of the characters along with the surrealness of the situation. The mystery of what's going on isn't all that hard to figure out but the path of discovery is interesting and satisfying.

Recommended.

Book Review: The Quantum Age by J. Lemire et al.

The Quantum Age written by Jeff Lemire, art by Wilfredo Torres, colors by Dave Stewart, and letters by Nate Piekos

One hundred or so years after the events of the Black Hammer main series, the Earth is part of a galactic alliance and has a new team of heroes, The Quantum League. They were inspired by Black Hammer's team and even include a distant descendant of Black Hammer, who gets herself on the team through plucky insistence. The team is very successful until Martians attack the Earth in a homicidal rampage that forces the team to make a hard decision. The team breaks up after that. Twenty-five years later, the world has slipped into a dictatorship. A new hero wants to get the Quantum League back together to make things right. But is it a fight that they can even win?

The book has some intriguing ideas but the story meanders a bit and isn't as satisfying. The ending is original but disappointing, mostly because their scheme to achieve victory is unconvincing and impractical. The writing uses the reluctant/disillusioned superhero trope for too many characters (basically, all of them). The future isn't that bad, is it?

Slightly recommended--it's an interesting story that falters in the execution.

Book Review: Black Hammer Vol. 3 by J. Lemire et al.

Black Hammer Volume 3: Age of Doom Part 1 written by Jeff Lemire, art by Dean Ormston, colors by Dave Stewart, and lettering by Todd Klein

Now that Lucy, the daughter of the original Black Hammer, has taken up her father's weapon, she remembers where the heroes of Spiral City really are--not on a farm just outside a small town called Rockwood. Just as she's about to spill the beans, she's transported to (another) alternate reality, from which she will have to find her way back to the farm. The other heroes go looking for her. Abe and Mark get distract from their search when their love lives unexpectedly get back on track. The others have limited success, especially the robot Talky Walky who is put out of commission by someone who doesn't want the truth of where they are revealed.

Lucy's bizarre adventures through imaginary alternate realities are fun and weird. She eventually gets back to where everyone else is with the shocking revelation of where they really are. It makes a fun twist and I can't wait to read more of their adventures, now that their mundane lives are suddenly made much more interesting.

Recommended.

Book Review: Black Hammer Vol. 2 by J. Lemire et al.

Black Hammer Volume 2: The Event written by Jeff Lemire, art by Dean Ormston and David Rubin, and colors by Dave Stewart

Read my review of Volume 1 here.

The superheroes trapped on an isolated farm have a new guest--the daughter of Black Hammer. Black Hammer was one of the heroes who defeated the villain Anti-God, the event just before they discovered they were on the farm. Hammer was also transported. The daughter is confused about what is going on and why the heroes haven't tried to escape. Black Hammer had tried to escape and that's what killed him many years before. Naturally, the other heroes were less reckless in trying to get out. After ten years, they've mostly accepted their fate. The daughter, whose name is Lucy, doesn't have their weariness and searches for a way out, or at least more information on where they are. Their seeming prison includes a small town. The town library is full of blank books, which doesn't faze the librarian or any of the locals. Something fishy is definitely going on.

This volume includes backstories on the various heroes and gradually shows the big battle with Anti-God that put them in the predicament. The history is interesting and gives more character depth to the people in the story. The ending has a big twist that is very intriguing, so I will keep going with this series.

Recommended.

Parental warning: There's a surprising amount of foul language in this book, along with a couple of gory moments.

Book Review: Black Hammer Vol. 1: Secret Origins by J. Lemire et al.

Black Hammer Volume 1: Secret Origins script by Jeff Lemire, art by Dean Ormston, and colors by Dave Stewart

A group of six superheroes live a reclusive life on a small town farm. They pretend to be normal which is very tricky since one is a fifty-ish woman trapped in a nine-year-old body (Golden Gail), another is a cabin-dwelling witch (Madame Dragonfly), another is a half-mad astronaut (Colonel Weird), another is his robot sidekick (Talky Walky), another is a warlord of Mars (Mark Markz, known as Barbalien). The only normal one is tough guy Abraham Slam, who poses as Gail's grandfather and the farmer/patriarch of the group. Ten years earlier, they were heroes in Spiral City where they defeated Anti-God, a tough opponent whose defeat inexplicably banished them to the farm. Some of the heroes have been trying to get back; others have tried to blend in. No one is very successful.

The book is an interesting collection of familiar superheroes in an odd setting. They have issues with their past and their present, giving the characters some depth and resonance. The art style is very reminiscent of Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame), which is a plus. The only odd thing is the title, Black Hammer, which refers to a Spiral City superhero who is not on the farm. The set up (which is what most of this volume is) is intriguing and makes me want to read more.

Recommended, especially for comic book superhero fans.