Happy Chinese New Year 2022!

 Happy Chinese New Year 2022!

Wishing everyone who celebrates a very Happy & Blessed Water Tiger Chinese Lunar New Year to you!

(For more of my artwork, please visit my IG account where most of them are posted.

https://www.instagram.com/jmloke/)

My Artwork

Here are some more of the new pieces I'd done since my last post.

To start off - here's an update on my winning piece for the "Design you own Transformer" contest. Added some colors to my B&W piece.

Next is Baron Karza, the Big Bad from the Micronauts. My all-time favorite line of toys.

Here are the DC characters: Raven, Dove, Booster Gold, Hawkman, Brainiac-5 and DC's top duo - Blue & Gold!

For more of my artwork, please visit my IG account where most of them are posted.

https://www.instagram.com/jmloke/

Here are the Marvel characters: Doc Samson, Clea, Psylocke & Gambit.

And then the bad guys: Carnage, Destiny, Mystique, Magneto (White), Terrax the Tamer & the Goblin Queen.

Comic Review - Dark Days: The Forge & The Casting

Firstly, I have to clarify that I have always been behind Marvel since I was an 8 year old kid, but I must admit that DC has been doing a LOT of things right. Non-geeks all over the world already know how good the Wonder Woman movie is. Expectations are already elevated for the upcoming Justice League movie.However, as a comic geek, I have to say that I have not felt as much a comic geek as I do now - all thanks ro DC's Dark Days Event. It has brought back the level of excitement I haven't felt since I was a kid.

So far, only 2 books are out:

Dark Days: the Forge (1-shot)

Dark Days: the Casting (1-shot)BOTH of these books are SO GOOD. This is especially (and may only be) true for those who have been reading DC comics since the 80's (or around the time of Crisis on Infinite Earths). So for the newer readers, they may not get as much out of these 2 books as the older geeks.

Why these 2 books and the upcoming Dark Days event are making me feel like a kid again is because these 2 books are jam-packed with Easter Eggs on almost every single page & sub-plot. Visual clues are strewn all over the panels and you may miss some of them in a single read. 

Here, Batman is seen to be NOT in control of everything, and that gives him jittery nerves. Batman is afraid of something? Something we have NEVER seen before. Core to the story is of course Hawkman, who is the narrator of the books. I have always loved Hawkman but DC had always had a tough time with his history. Was he an alien Thanagarian or was he a Human who is the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian Prince Khufu? It looks like DC will resolve this once and for all with this event.

I have included a few of my favorite Easter Eggs found within these 2 books here:

Anti Monitor's Cosmic Tuning Fork

Crisis on Infinite Earths is one of the BIGGEST company-wide events that happened to DC (some may argue the Industry) and it still is. It was a 12-issue maxi series that streamlined the Infinite Universes of DC into a single Universe. And the Big Bad that destroyed countless universes was none other than the Anti-Monitor.In his quest to destroy everything, the Anti-Monitor had depended on Devices of Universal Destruction (DUDs?) called the Cosmic Tuning Forks. Here, we see that Batman had somehow managed to snatch a unit of such a device and asked Superman to help him keep it save within the Fortress of Solitude.

I have included both the Original (above 2 images) and the upgraded versions (below) of the Anti-Monitor's armor.

SHAZAM

The sword made from the "Eighth Metal" that was in Talia's possession had the Symbol of the Wizard SHAZAM (whom we also discover is a member of the Immortal Men, along with Ra's Al Ghul, or aka Talis's dad.). The sword has a black hilt. So of course, we can all expect to see Black Adam. And where Black Adam goes, can the Marvel Family be far? 

Let's also not forget the Magical Elements that Batman usually does not handle (as he is a man of logic & science). Here we see Wonder Woman handing him Apollo's Sunblade. Oddly, Batman took it without flinching.

Outsiders

This is also one of my favorite DC Teams (along with Teen Titans and Legion of Super Heroes). This team came out in the 80s and the members were all 2nd & 3rd tier characters (ie: Metamorpho & Black Lightning) plus a few brand new characters like Halo, Katana & Geo-Force (whose sister was a member in Teen Titans and a key player in the Judas Contract - an all-time fan-favorite DC story). Here, they are described as Batman's very own Black Ops team. Tasked with missions too dodgy for his Justice League team members.

Challengers & Blackhawks

These are 2 of the more popular DC teams back in the 70s & 80s. To be honest, I was never a fan of War comics. Hence, titles like Sgt Rock, Haunted Tank, GI Combat, Unknown Soldier & Blackhawks have never been on my radar. So I do not own or have not read any of their stories unless they are guests in books I read. Perhaps like DC Comics Presents, Brave & the Bold, & Crisis on Infinite Earths.However, Challengers of the Unknown is basically DC's version of the Fantastic Four. And I LOVE the  Fantastic Four despite their dismal performance in the Cinematic Universe & non-presence in the comics the last couple of  years. I admit I haven't read that many Challengers comics but their stories are always as far out and fascinating as Fantastic Four's adventures.

The 4 Clans & the Immortal Men

These 2 issues told us about these 4 ancient clans and also somehow their relationship to each other and the Immortal Men, whose members include Ra's Al Ghul & Vandal Savage 

Bear - Immortal Man was Klarn Bear Clan leader in the ancient past. Anthro (see image below) was also from the Bear Clan.

 

Wolf - Vandar Adg (aka Vandal Savage) enemy of the Bear Clan

Hawk - Hawkman & Hawkwoman

Bat -  When Bruce was thought dead after Darkseid "killed" him with his Omega Beams in Final Crisis but he was actually ricocheting though time and ended up in the ancient past.

Plastic ManWell, Plas (as he is fondly known by his fans) has never been one of my favorite DC characters but he is well-loved by many. However, he had been missing since the New 52 launch from 5 years ago. So now DC is going to bring him back. 

Of course, the other characters that many fans are clamoring for are return of the Justice Society of America (we can see Mr. Terrific with Batman here) and the Legion of Super Heroes.

Comic Review - New 52 - Future's End

Title/Storyline

New 52 - Future's End

Publish Date/Year

2014

Creative Team

Story: Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire

Covers: Ryan Sook.

Art: Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Zircher, Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti, Jesus Merino, Georges Jeanty, Scot Eaton

Publisher

DC

This is my current favourite title simply because I have always been a sucker for titles with second/third tier characters, and Future’s End delivers in spades. I love seeing less well-known characters like Princess Amethyst, Agent Frankenstein of SHADE, Grifter, etc taking the lime-light for a change.

The premise:

The story starts 35 years into a possible future of the DC Universe (Prime Earth) that we know and are familiar with (similar to the dystopian future of X-Men’s Days of Future Past) Brother Eye (a self-aware Artificial Intelligence) has assimilated the majority of superheroes into horrific mindless cyborgs.

Bruce Wayne (of the future) uses a time machine in an attempt to prevent Brother Eye’s total domination. Before Bruce was (will be?) able to use the time machine, he gets ambushed by the assimilated cyborg heroes, forcing Batman Beyond (Terry McGinnis) to travel through time in his stead.

However, Batman Beyond arrives 5 years too late (ie: 5 years into our future). He now is on a dire mission to prevent the horrible reality of his future from happening but in a period that may already be 5 years too late. It’s a different DC world to the DC world we know today.

Firestorm & Justice League

Jason Rusch, desperately searches for Ronnie Raymond (the 2 of them would merge and become into one being as Firestorm with Ronnie in charge) but find that they were too late to save Green Arrow from death.

After Green Arrow's funeral, Ronnie refuses to let Jason out of the Firestorm Matrix (as they are still merged) for weeks. Upon finally doing so, they decided that they could never work together as Firestorm again, with Jason blaming Ronnie for being too late to save Green Arrow.

Stormwatch, Amethyst, Frankenstein, Hawkman & Ray Palmer (Atom)

Stormwatch team has been killed by a mysterious Universal threat, with Hawkman as the sole survivor from the team. SHADE (Similar to Marvel’s SHIELD) gets wind of this event and sends Amethyst, Frankenstein and Ray Palmer to the Bleed (where Stormwatch operates from, somewhere between time and space, much like Marvel’s Knowhere) investigate. Their investigations soon led them to be attacked by robots led by a Brainiac-controlled Engineer (a founding member of the Stormwatch whom they thought was already dead). They soon find out that it was Brainiac who had killed Stromwatch and is now proceeding onward to our universe.

King Faraday, Grifter, Deathstroke, Fifty Sue, Lana Lang, Cadmus Island, OMACs

Grifter has the ability to see beyond the disguises of shape-shifting aliens (he’s a Wildstorm Character from the WildCATS, a Wildstorm title who was hunting evil aliens named Daemonites), track and kill them. King Faraday captures and coerces Grifter to work with his team comprising of Fifty Sue (a seemingly innocent looking 10-year old girl who is absurdly powerful) and Deathstroke (possibly DC’s deadliest person.) on a secret island called Cadmus, guarded by numerous OMACs.

We also learn that Cadmus Island is also where the Earth 2 (such as Mr Miracle & Power Girl) heroes are held against their will for purposes that have yet to be made clear.

Artwork

The covers by Ryan Sook (who by the way is one of my ALL-TIME favourite artists) are fantastic.

Because it is a weekly title, it makes it impossible for a single art-team to handle all the art chores. So the downside to this series is that you can’t get the same team for all the issues and this change of art teams can be a little disruptive to readers' enjoyment. 

Ethan Van Sciver (of Green Lantern & Flash Rebirth fame) did a great job kicking off the series in Issue 0. I miss his work. Hope he will do another issue soon.

Overall

Yes, it can get and may be a little confusing for some as they may not have seen or be familiar with the characters like Grifter, Amethyst, etc. However, it is this very reason why I love series like this. 

My suggestion is to give yourself a chance to know these 2nd & 3rd tier characters. I know you will end up liking or even loving them. This is the ONLY title at the moment that makes me wish the days would just move faster so that I can read the new issue. Great pacing and there's always something new that keeps me coming back for more! Go read it!