DC Universe Online: Legends sits in the rather unenviable position of being a comic book based on a video game based on a comic book. However, DCUO is no ordinary video game but an MMO; an online realm that will continue to expand with new content and plot developments alongside Tony Bedard and game writer Marv Wolfman’s 52-part series.

While the game’s plot essentially boils down to your homemade avatar battling DC’s most recognisable heroes/villains one at a time, and occasionally taking on Brainiac’s rampant forces, the initial premise behind DCUO is a good one. Lex Luthor travels from the future, informing Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman that after a devastating battle which ended the life of every major superhero, Brainiac’s forces descended upon our tiny planet and wiped out the human race.

DC Universe Online: Legends #1

The cockroach-like Luthor managed to survive, and has not only time-travelled to our present to ensure that Superman lives to take on Brainiac, but dispersed Brainiac’s exobytes – nanobot-sized devices that bond with an individual and lend them superhuman abilities, conveniently providing a explanation for the boom in user-created supers – into Earth’s population.

Legends leaps straight into the action, assuming that its readers will have witnessed the game’s magnificent cinematic intro, in which Luthor’s army of super-villains annihilate Superman, Batman Flash, Green Lantern et al. For those few who’ve yet to see it:

Naturally, one of the pleasures of an alternate timeline such as this is that we get to see DC’s treasured properties kick the bucket, and the comic is no different, serving up the end of mankind in the first issue alone. The ragtag team Luthor has assembled by the end of this issue is an interesting mix of the lesser-known, including Mr Freeze, Solomon Grundy, Blue Beetle, Black Canary and Doctor Fate.

Were it not for its tie-in nature, DC Universe Online: Legends would be generic guff, but this looking to be a fun and, most importantly, accessible series, with some decent art by Howard Porter and others. This issue also added some interesting depth to Luthor’s actions, and I think it’s fair to say that gamers will want to keep up with the comic to fully appreciate the game. That is, if they haven’t already decided to unsubscribe when the 30-day trial ends.

7/10

Anyone unfortunate enough to reach the age of thirty will tell you that your taste in fashion and music is forged during your teenage years and early twenties. After that, your passions either stay the same or, for the majority, are gradually diminished by the combined forces of responsibility, conformity and family. When I was in my teens I mocked those outmoded losers in their Suicidal Tendencies T-shirts, today I’m the one struggling to explain why the Wildhearts were so important.

James Reitano’s Nineteen Eighty Five, and its account of a group of graffiti artists in the mid-eighties, is all about recapturing this euphoria of hopeless rebellion; when our enthusiasm for comic art, skateboarding, music or dancing was enough to assure us of future renown and eventual global domination. Each volume is preceded by the familiar “Any similarity towards any persons living or dead is purely unintentional” disclaimer, but it’s clearly largely autobiographical, and as such is imbued with a strong sense of nostalgia throughout.

This is clearly a labour of love for Reitano, who has worked for Santa Cruz Skateboards, the Wu-Tang Clan and Spike TV, directed music videos for the likes of Kool Keith and Cut Chemist and now runs design and animation shop TFU Studios. There’s not a lot of money in comic books that don’t slot neatly in the superhero, horror or fantasy genres.

Surprisingly, particularly given the series’ premise, James Reitano’s finely inked art and storytelling sensibilities are more reminiscent of European comics than American. Nineteen Eighty Five is also a far more gentle story than the graffiti subject matter might suggest, with protagonist Count and his graffiti buddies fuelled by a need to create art and express themselves rather than deface property.

Nineteen Eighty Five - James Reitano

To call Nineteen Eighty Five’s leisurely paced would be an understatement. Instead, this series offers more of a snapshot into a brief period of time; a wistful document of an era that will never be recaptured. It perhaps goes without saying that to fully appreciate such a title you need to have been there, though graffiti, old school hip-hop (presumably it was new-school in the 80s) and b-boying still have enough relevance to sustain readers under the age of forty.

Each issue comes with a ‘suggested soundtrack’ CD, in the case of volume 3 a lengthy mix by DJ Imperial that features a medley of such 80s artists as Black Flag, Talking Heads and the Beastie Boys. With 30 tracks remixed and compacted into 45 minutes, it’s a brilliant concept that not only perfectly complements the series itself, but offers an access point for anyone unfamiliar with the music of the period. Though it might have been more appropriate if, against all logic, Reitano and company had managed to fit a cassette tape onto the inside back cover.

7/10

To purchase or find more info on Nineteen Eighty Five visit www.nineteen85.com.

Yup, it’s part 5 of ‘The Black Ring’, which shall forever more be referred to as ‘that issue of Superman with Death in it’.

I’m not quite sure why it’s so jarring to see Neil Gaiman’s Goth-girl incarnation of Death chatting with Lex Luthor. Early issues of The Sandman featured several DC mainstays, and Dream appeared in JLA a while back, but Luthor’s brief trip to the afterlife finally cements The Endless’ place (back) in regular DC continuity.

Action Comics #894 - Death

Other than the aforementioned guest appearance there’s not an awful lot to say about this issue. Paul Cornell always writes decent dialogue, but the engaging exchange between a firmly atheistic Lex and the cutest Death there ever was doesn’t really go anywhere. True to character, Luthor’s encounter with the Grim Reaper doesn’t appear to have humbled him in any way, and we’ll have to wait until next issue to see whether it brings about any degree of catharsis – or, perhaps, the complete opposite.

Still, this issue did work as further indication that superhero comics don’t need to descend into mindless violence every dozen pages or so to be entertaining. Pete Woods draws a rather delicious Death, and her flippant allusions to Blackest Night are a nice touch, almost providing a comical acknowledgement of how far that particular event outstayed its welcome. The Jimmy Olsen second feature by Nick Spencer and RB Silva is also a lot of wacky fun, and the perfect antidote to Luthor’s po-faced delusions of grandeur.

8/10

For many an aspiring writer/artist, resilience is probably a more valuable asset than any measure of talent. Michael Jasper and Niki Smith must have felt like their moment had finally come when their effort In Maps & Legends found a weekly webcomic spot on DC Comic’s Zuda site in 2009… only to have its home demolished when Zuda Comics was closed down earlier this year. Undeterred, Jasper and Smith are continuing the series as a self-published and digitally distributed comic, with ambitious plans for a new issue every six weeks.

The first issue of In Maps saw artist Kaitlin Grayson visited by ambiguous suited stranger Bartamus, who wishes Kait to somehow use her artistic abilities to save his dying world. Kaitlin had been working on a cartographical sculpture, see, based on an outline drawn by her grandpa, now missing; and as is always the way, our protagonist and three friends have now found themselves sucked into said map. In this issue we get to see a little more, if arguably not quite enough, of the fantasy landscapes that Kait somehow has mapped into her subconscious.

In Maps & Legends #2

This is a truly wonderful looking series. Niki Smith’s illustrations look like the concept art for a fantasy video game that never was… heavily textured but never overworked, with some distinctive character designs and uncanny creatures and contractions. The series has an aged, weathered “feel” to it, perfectly encapsulating Jasper’s themes of artistry and history, and giving In Maps & Legends an aesthetic unlike anything else currently on the web.

According to its creators the series is being targeted at fans of The Sandman and Lost. The latter comparison now fills me with dread; not merely because of that series’ infuriating, unfulfilling finale, but due to the sad truth that few independent comic creators are ever able to see their dreams through to the bitter end. In Maps & Legends is the sort of book that gets a kick from teasing its readers, which means that it’ll be a far more satisfying read in collected form – and infuriating for us readers should the series not see at least reach its proposed 10-part initial arc completed. But that said, In Maps is about as beautifully produced as any online comic I’ve ever read, and hopefully the series’ recent Zuda exposure will have already earned it a devoted enough fan base to ensure that Michael Jasper and Niki Smith’s perceptible ambitions are fully realised.

In Maps & Legends is currently available from, well, pretty much every digital distributer imaginable, including Comixology, Graphic.ly, and DriveThruComics, and priced at a mere $.99 per issue. It’s also available in an equally vast range of formats, from PDF to iPhone, iPad and Kindle versions. So what you waiting for, eh?

8/10

For further information on the series, series visit http://inmapsandlegendscomic.com, or take a look at Niki’s and Mike’s sites at http://niki-smith.com and http://michaeljasper.net, respectively.

The first issue of Tommy Kovac and Andy Hirsch’s The Royal Historian of Oz playfully poked fun at writers who regurgitate treasured literary creations while indulging in the act itself. The basic premise behind the series is that Jasper Fizzle, a lacklustre writer who’s devoted his life to continuing Frank L. Baum’s fantasy books, discovers a pair of magical silver slippers that transport him to the real Land of Oz. Frank returns to Earth with several “borrowed” Oz artefacts, provoking Princess Ozma of the Emerald City to send several agents – including familiar faces Lion, Scarecrow and the Tin Man – into our world to kidnap Jasper’s cheerless son Frank.

Reading this second instalment made me appreciate just how much plot Tommy Kovac managed to cram into the first. The momentum slows somewhat this month, despite the book’s more grounded, cynical themes being displaced by the whimsical fantasy of Oz. The series’ futuristic setting, of which little has been made of so far, is briefly mentioned, and the effect that Oz’s magic is having on Kovac’s polluted cityscape is likely to be of greater importance as the story progresses.

The Royal Historian of Oz #2

A brief ‘previously on’ aside, Frank’s narration has been cut entirely, which slightly robs the series of its intimacy but does allow the other characters room to breathe. Jasper is by far the star of Royal Historian, an idealistic but talentless dreamer whose passion for the Land of Oz is crippled by his storytelling deficiencies and social inadequacy. Andy Hirsch continues to bring the best out of Kovac’s sharp script, though his splendidly detailed backdrops have been obscured somewhat by this issue’s predominant night-time scenes.

Slave Labor Graphics inform me that, while the $1.00 first issue of Royal Historian was a huge success, the orders for #2 dropped substantially; enough to convince the publisher to sell the series online only from #3 onwards (www.slgcomic.com). Currently, plans for a trade paperback are not guaranteed either. A bit of a shame really, as The Royal Historian of Oz is a fun little series that plays far more creatively with its source material than other, more successful mashups such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

7/10

Toner #5 is the latest self-published offering from the innately talented Jonathan Wayshak. While he’s worked for mainstream publishers such as DC (the Ferryman miniseries, Authority: The Lost Year) and Image, it’s apparent why Wayshak has remained in self-publishing mode for the past decade. Toner is bawdy, perverse, irreverent, passionate and inventive; everything the mainstream comic industry superficially embraces but in practice shies away from.

This fifth issue sees the start of 13-part serialised story ‘Charlie’s Homecoming’, in which a young woman receives a message from her maniacal ex-boyfriend Possum, demanding to see her. We don’t yet know why Charlie so urgently wants to reunite with her partner from five years past, only that she has questions and he has answers, and that she’s willing to follow his mysterious orders to get those answers. In this particular issue, Charlie is required to consume a pile of donuts filled with contents unknown; a scene which Wayshak fills with more suspense and Lynchian anxiety than words would suggest was possible.

Toner #5 by Jonathan Wayshak

Plot-wise, there isn’t an awful lot in the first instalment of ‘Charlie’s Homecoming’ to get one’s teeth into – and with Toner published at a rate of one issue a year don’t count on planet Earth still being here when it’s completed. But Wayshak’s series is simply a visual treat, replete with warped physiognomies and urban landscapes so densely detailed that you may find yourself getting lost in them. It’s tempting to compare Wayshak’s art to the likes of Sienkiewicz and Simon Bisley – the book is printed in a larger format that echoes British comics such as 2000AD and Toxic! – but his chaotic monochromic scribblings are entirely his own.

An assortment of extras is also included, the most noteworthy being an amusing 5-page short that if nothing else shows how far Wayshak’s art and knack for narrative has come in the last 15 years. I suppose the one obvious downside to Toner is that it’ll be another year until the next issue; yet as much as I’d love to see more frequent instalments of ‘Charlie’s Homecoming’, the series would arguably lose something if it became anything other than a self-published labour of love.

8/10

The latest issue of Toner can be purchased from Jonathan Wayshak’s incredibly slick portfolio website www.scrapbookmanifesto.com.

With Dark Horse’s new retro-fitted Magnus: Robot Fighter, Jim Shooter takes us back to the year 4000 and the futuristic city of New Am, a technological haven where robots fulfil every duty from policing the streets to working as effeminate robo-butlers (presumably preset with English accents). But the machines are also implemented in crime, acting as “thug-bots” for human gangsters, a threat that only robot fighter Magnus is capable of thwarting. Magnus was raised from an early age by an AI named 1A, see, who forged him into a physical and mental paragon capable of destroying droids with his bare hands.

In fact, Magnus is so efficient at dispatching with rogue robots that he requires neither weapons nor trousers, instead fighting crime in a red dress so short that it makes Zapp Brannigan’s uniform look macho in comparison. But Magnus is not the only one who’s underdressed; the two female characters we’re introduced to in this issue – which deals with the robotic kidnapping of several wealthy humans – are both first seen leaping from bed in their lingerie. When Magnus’s long-time friend Leeja Clane finally does get dressed, the fiery redhead still seems determined to outdo Magnus in the scantily clad stakes.

Magnus: Robot Fighter #1

But hey, it’s easy to push such ridiculous dress codes aside when these curvaceous lasses (and, er, lad) are illustrated by Bill Reinhold, whose art is so convincingly retro that only Wes Dzioba’s fresh colours break the illusion that you’re reading a comic straight out of the 1960s. From dome-headed droids to New Am’s immaculate cityscapes the art is an absolute joy, and helps set Magnus: Robot Fighter apart from other po-faced reboots.

Behind the visuals, though, there’s not an awful lot to ‘Metal Mob Part One’. Jim Shooter’s adherence to the Silver Age approach to storytelling is admirable, but he doesn’t do a whole lot more with the character or setting than revisit the comics of yesterday. The welcome inclusion of Gold key Comics’ first ever Magnus story, originally printed in 1963, only serves to further emphasise that Shooter’s new series is more of a reiteration than a follow-on. While a more contemporised reboot would most definitely not have suited Russ Manning’s bot brawler, I felt that Magnus #1 needed to better justify the robot fighter’s return.

5/10

In the second of what should now be a regular mini-reviews post, I’ve selected a trio of indie titles that have piqued my interest over the past few week. Stylistically, they couldn’t be further apart.

Star Crossed Galaxy #1

First up is Star Crossed Galaxy from Twilight Pop Productions, the first issue of an ongoing space opera by writer Ryan Keyworth and artist Matt Martin. Taking place “500 years after a massive interstellar plague outbreak that nearly wiped out the galactic population,” the series follows Captain Joseph Cull and his eclectic crew of mercenaries as they go pirate hunting.

Star Crossed Galaxy #1

Keyworth and Martin have created a universe that owes more than a little to a certain other galaxy far, far away, but the character designs are striking and Justin Williams’ stellar inking conjured up memories of such 2000AD classics as Bad Company. At a mere 14 pages there’s isn’t really enough time to get to know any of the characters, but fans of Firefly and, um, Ice Pirates (it’s okay, there’s nothing to be ashamed of) should find plenty to enjoy here.

Star Crossed Galaxy is available from Indyplanet and Drivethru. Or visit the TwilightPop blog for more.

Because I Am: Stories 2004-2009

From Brighton artist Paul Davies comes this collection of nine affectionately told graphic shorts. Davies’ stories are broad in style and subject; from a love story between a circle and a triangle to a moment of tranquillity between a shepherd and a lost soldier in the Falklands, you never quite know what to expect next.

Because I Am: Stories 2004-2009

What bonds Because I Am’s this disparate collection together are Davies’ storytelling sensibilities. His art is modest but enthralling and his narratives themselves each evoke a unique emotion as much as they tell tales.

Crosbies.co.uk has a preview of the book, which is available to buy at Lulu.

The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter

The Illustrated Ape is currently hosting the first part of Oxford writer/artist Charles Cutting’s web comic The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter. Featuring H.P. Lovecraft’s recurring protagonist, Cutting’s comic departs from the usual overcast visualisations of the horror writer’s works, depicting Carter’s journey to Kadath as a psychedelic romp through gaudy landscapes.

The Dream Quest of Randolph Carter

Cutting is looking to be pretty busy over the coming months, with a graphic biography of a Poet who succumbed to MS last year that will be funded by the Crossroads Care charity. The second part of Randolph Carter is expected to be online before November.

Read the comic over at The Illustrated Ape.

I’ve always felt that the swords and sorcery genre (if anyone still calls it that) benefits from a healthy dose of humour.  It’s the reason why Army of Darkness, with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, is still entertaining as ever, while I can’t help but feel a tinge of embarrassment whenever I dust off my copy of Krull. Skullkickers, the new Image series from writer Jim Zubkavich and artist Edwin Huang never takes itself too seriously, if it does at all. And the result is a debut issue that may lack in the storyline department but is still a lot of fun, chiefly due to its seemingly incompatible double team and their perpetual quarrelling.

The duo in question is a burly human and a surly dwarf, neither of whom seems to have a name. In any other book that might prove an interference, but Skullkickers hurtles along at such a pace that all you need to know is that these guys are mercenaries, willing to battle werewolves, the undead or any other variety of supernatural beastie in exchange for coin. During a royal parade a chancellor is murdered by a superhuman assassin, and the two are hired to retrieve his body. But instead they uncover something even more sinister going down in the town’s morgue.

Skullkickers #1

Edwin Huang’s character designs are attractive and distinctive – the human is a seven foot tall bald brute, the dwarf as burly as they come, and even the werewolf our “heroes” initially battle is comically pot-bellied. The vibrant colours by Misty Coats lend the book an anime sheen that will definitely appeal to any fan of UDON or Blizzard’s art department.

Skullkickers certainly has visual panache, and the 80s buddy movie dynamic works very well against the fantasy setting. I’d probably be missing the point to criticise the book’s flimsy story, as this series is simply a lot of fun, and hyper-stylised fun at that. But I do feel that Skullkickers currently lacks a decent hook.  From this issue alone it isn’t quite clear where the series is heading, and as droll as the banter between baldy/shorty is, the humour isn’t quite sharp enough to carry the book on its own.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a colourful, light-hearted fantasy romp there’s currently nothing out there quite like Skullkickers.

6/10

For more on Skullkickers, visit www.skullkickers.com.

Preview pages below:

Skullkickers #1 - pg 1

Skullkickers #1 - pg 2

Skullkickers #1 - pg 3

Skullkickers #1 - pg 4

Skullkickers #1 - pg 5

Skullkickers #1 - Alternate cover by Chris Stevens

From the skewed mind of Sean Dietrich (Industriacide, Fervor) comes Catalepsy, a short but sweet tale of aeroplanes, alcoholism and afterlife. To divulge much of its plot, or indeed compare it to Adrian Lyne’s classic 90s psychological thriller with which it share its central concept, would be to nosedive recklessly into spoiler territory.

But Catalepsy isn’t really about plot. Instead Dietrich takes us on a surreal trip through WWII pilot Otto’s booze-soaked hell; a hell inhabited by twisted physiognomies and lost souls desperate to share their own tragedies. After flushing himself out of an airplane toilet, Otto lands miraculously in a bartown reminiscent of New Orleans, where every stranger he meets takes a gun to their mouth and pulls the trigger. It’s obvious where this story is heading from the offset, but Dietrich’s narrative is more focused on the journey than the destination.

Sean Dietrich’s Catalepsy

Dietrich’s illustrations reveal shades of Sam Keith and Bill Plympton, but his style is entirely his own. His art has an fragmentary, immediate quality to it, that sets Catalepsy apart from pretty much every other comic I can think of.

Yes, this has been a vague, directionless review, but there’s not an awful lot that can be said about Catalepsy. I appreciated it for its whimsical style and tortured characters, even if the story itself (coming in at a mere 27 pages) ultimately doesn’t pack an awful lot of substance. Dietrich is an inimitable creator, one whose comic work will likely never sell to the mainstream, but over time earn itself a devoted fanbase. A brief glance at his beautifully macabre paintings over on deviantArt should be more than enough to encourage you to join the latter camp.

7/10