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CONSTANTINE 1 REVIEW – DC MAGIC’S SAVIOR?

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CONSTANTINE 1 COVERCONSTANTINE 1
Writer: Jeff Lemire & Ray Fawkes
Artist: Renato Guedes
Publisher: DC
Reviewer: Rob Patey (aka Optimous Douche – Ain’t It Cool News)

I hold no reverence for what was. I apologetically say that early Vertigo escaped my interests for bigger guns and lesser feet elsewhere. I’m just now finally imbibing the goodness that is SANDMAN. With that, I can only offer you a new look at CONSTANTINE, a view that was born of the New 52 Big Bang. However, I entreat the TalkBack Legion and my fellow reviewers to offer a fair and balanced report on how this book compares to its hell blazing ancestor.

CONSTANTINE is the exact mellowing the DC magic scene has been looking for. It has quieted the cacophony of noise that came from the “all team – all the time” approach of the magic scene since the god particle imploded back in August 11.

Now, as I said I’m reading SANDMAN right now, and as all of you V purists know, Constantine made his fair share of appearances in those pages. So I’m not a complete Hellblazer virgin, and I can say with certainty that Lemire & Fawkes’ JC is a ripe ole’ bastard on par with the Vertigo universe. Is it sanitized? Of course, don’t be stupid. But when in one issue a man can take on a new partner and then serve-up that partner as a sacrificial scapegoat by the end, I’d say we’re dealing with a definitive sociopathic distancing from traditional hero mores.

We’re only one issue in, but CONSTANTINE is the anti-hero infusion DC has needed since God sneezed after FLASHPOINT. I also see parody brewing with this Death of the Partner story, given the recent hubbub about Robin. Intentional or not, I like the idea of letting CONSTANTINE flippantly wipe his arse with golden calves and other current events.

The reason CONSTANTINE serves up his young magical protege is simple – power. CONSTANTINE is on the hunt for a compass that can divine the location of any magical artifact one’s heart desires.  Our sacrificial lamb, Chris, is consumed with magic to the point it controls him versus him controlling it. This is a bad combination on a good day, a  fatal combination when the Cult of the Cold Flame is also on the trail for the pieces of the mystical compass.

The Cult of the Cold Flame is comprised of such old universe magical favorites like Zatara and Mister E. to a name a few.  Is Zatara alive in the New 52? Hardly, and as you’ll learn with other dead characters like Sargon the Sorcerer, their more comely offspring have taken over where the parents left off. 

When cornered, CONSTANTINE makes a hasty exit to flee on to issue 2 leaving Chris bound by Lady Sargon’s magical ties. Some may say this is not very heroic, but personally I think it makes for a richer character when they understand the grays of the world and not just the black and white. Also, Chris was making the hunt for the compass pieces just too damn easy, it would be nice to see CONSTANTINE perform some mystical sleuthing work in the future. 

I’ve loved DC attempts at magic to date, but as we’ve sen by sales’ numbers the rest of the world does not agree with me. I’m pretty sure both JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and SWORD OF SORCERY have been toe tagged at this point, which would mean a completely dry mystical well without CONSTANTINE to satiate.

Dry, cavalier, lewd and flip are what I expect from CONSTANTINE, Lemire and Fawkes more than delivered on this character experience. Wild, outrageous and divining the mystical from the mundane are what I expect from a book about magic and again the boys are up to task. Gorgeous locales, and sensible representations so our small minds can understand magic are what I expect from an artist dealing with magic and Guedes does not ever disappoint.

They say the third time is the charm, so let’s hope this holds true for the less than charmed world of DC magic to date. They have a strong winner with CONSTANTINE and my advice is to let him have some breathing room to build this universe unfettered from story lines that don’t need him yet. Please integrate him into the DCU, but do not yet make him integral.

SWEET TOOTH 40 REVIEW – YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN

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sweet tooth 40 cover FINALSWEET TOOTH 40

Writer & Artist: Jeff Lemire
Publisher: Vertigo
Reviewer: Rob Patey (aka Optimous Douche – Ain’t It Cool News)

Just finished reading @JeffLemire’s SWEET TOOTH – Prophetic, Poignant, Beautiful Saturday, January 5, 2013 via Twitter

The first thing you learn in corporate communications is that the simplest messages are often the best. I’m glad for my gag order from DC, because to discuss a book before the embargo date I must use the simplest of phrases for my adoration to avoid spoilers. My generic Tweet perfectly summarizes the entire SWEET TOOTH series (all right maybe “prophetic” had to wait until this issue).

I will spoil a great deal in this review; you will know the exact secrets and mysteries about Gus, the eponymous SWEET TOOTH. How the plague was created, what it took to uncover the mystery of the animal/human hybrids that appeared with the plague, the final fate of Gus’ savior Jepperd, and last but certainly not least, the future of Gus and all life on earth. At no time though should you think you know SWEET TOOTH, simply because you know the final outcome. SWEET TOOTH is an experience, not a destination.

I‘m sad the journey is over, but elated by the fact more and more writers are realizing endings are essential to an impactful story. I write this review a few hours after learning one of my dearest friends took his life last night. Sadly, my appreciation for him today is a thousand fold over what it was yesterday. But that’s the tragic irony of life; we only truly appreciate things when they have completely slipped from our grasp. SWEET TOOTH is finite, but the memory and detail of each precious page will live infinitely longer than even the most grandiose of storylines in the ever eternal spandex set.

You could get everything you need to know about SWEET TOOTH from this final issue. I wouldn’t recommend it, but you can. I honestly haven’t seen this expertise in concise plot consolidation since the opening pages of ALL STAR SUPERMAN. Even though this story starts many years ahead from where we left off in issue 39, introducing us to the sons of Gus, Lemire masterfully ties the two time periods together to whisk us back to the small cabin in the woods where we first learned of the plague, met the literally doe eyed and antlered Gus, and his stalwart protector Jepperd.

Seemingly as quickly as the book progressed over the past four years of its existence, Lemire brings us to the now, where we meet a grown Gus, the monosyllabic Beaver-Boy (now man) Bobby, and Gus’ two sons, one of which foreshadows Gus’ life mate with his piggy little nose. When the group is attacked by a band of normal looking humans, Lemire leads us to believe that the Hybrids are still on the run even so many years later.

But in a twist of irony…fate…whatever you want to call it, we learn that humanity’s time on earth is truly over, all that’s left are the last few elderly who were born before, or survived the plague. Lemire’s elude to the hybrids being the next dominant sentient species on earth has come to full fruition. As we discovered a few issues ago though, deep  in the bowls of the science station in Alaska where Gus was “born,” this isn’t the first time hybrids have roamed the land, nor will they be the last.  Yet this time they have knowledge of past society’s mistakes and can now rectify them.

Step one in this correction is shunning all technology. Again, bringing the series full-circle we end up back in the woods where Gus’ once lone cabin is now a thriving city that’s more akin to an Ewok village than an urban blight. Here stands the new Garden of Eden and the parallel of this biblical beginning is played to the fullest extent by Lemire without ever being heavy handed. The only human amongst them is the once quasi prophetic Dr. Singh who finally accepted few things are divine. He is now the healer to the first society. However, another human still fondly remembered is Jepperd. Each year his life and untimely death are honored by the inhabitants of this new society in a hybrid festival akin to Christmas meeting Thanksgiving, or as shopping malls call it – October.

All is not, peace, love and American Indian principles though. There are factions of the hybrid community who find Gus’ pacifist ways and empathy towards the remaining humans unsettling and we learn in a heart breaking moment that their leader is Jepperd’s son, Buddy.

I’m not going to say how this conflict is resolved because ultimately it doesn’t matter. This is not the story of a future society. This was the story of a little boy who looked like a deer, but had more humanity than the race he was sent to replace. This issue was about his days as a young man, a Father, a wise elder and lastly and ever so endearingly a friend.

Years ago I was ready to shun SWEET TOOTH. The name seemed ludicrous, the descriptions about a deer-boy from my fellow reviewers never hit the mark on what the story was truly about, and honestly I didn’t know anyone whose opinion I trusted who was reading the book. In a fortuitous turn of events, we were given an interview opportunity with Mr. Lemire and I was the only guy available in the Ain’t It Cool News @$$hole clubhouse to get the job done.  Sometimes happenstance is a much better guide in life than our conscious decisions. If I followed my gut I would have missed one of the most emotionally impactful series…make that stories…ever.

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE 0 – Ootin on Ritz, Zero to Hero

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Frankenstein Agent of Shade 0 reviewFRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE 0
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Alberto Ponticelli
Publisher: DC
Reviewer: Rob Patey (aka – Optimous Douche, Ain’t It Cool news)

FRANKENSTEIN and his parent organization SHADE have been two of my favorite entities in the New 52. For the past twelve issues Lemire and Ponticelli have crafted a book where the plots are forged in the fiery pits of Mount Weird, and placed characters in the epicenter with souls that are a million times more beautiful than their hellish visages.  Most people think that Morrison’s SEVEN SOLDIERS Frank could never be emulated. To that I say poppycock, FRANKENSTEIN is just as imaginative and gut wrenching in-continuity.

Before we get into the prequel I know this book isn’t exactly setting sales records, so let me get you acclimated. This is especially important for those poor poor souls that never read SEVEN SOLDIERS. This isn’t the FRANKENSTEIN we all know from the thousand other sources we have loved or loathed over the years depending on your proclivity for horror. Personally, I hate horror movies, abhor them. So I was very leery to pick up FRANK even during SEVEN SOLDIERS, but I did; instead of being subjected to guttural utterances and aversions to fire though, I was treated to a purveyor of justice. FRANKENSTEIN in the DC universe is a creature born of death, but has the utmost respect for life and all of the things that encompass the experience – beauty, art and all intangibles of the human soul.

SHADE, the organization that employs FRANK, MRS. FRANK and a host of other weirdly HELLBOYish type characters is a character in and of itself. If you think STORMWATCH is the only invisible overlord in the DC universe think again. Father Time, the immortal body switcher that runs SHADE, had Ray Palmer shrink SHADE HQ down to a micron that contains a cosmos of weirdness as it travels the world watching the WATCHMEN and other nefarious deeds across all dimensions and time. Golem (not Gollum) like characters are the Oompa Loompas of SHADE, and that’s just one of the surprises that reveal each issue about this clandestine overseer.

OK, enough about what was. How does this 0 entry measure up? In short, perfect.

It’s a perfect jumping on point for new readers as we go directly back to the exact day of Frank’s creation.

Kindt serves as a perfect replacement for Lemire; keeping the humor, heart and horror that has made this such an amazing series to date.

Ponticelli continues the gritty goodness he’s delivered since issue 1. He also seems to revel in an extra level of glee this issue crafting Dr. Frankenstein’s lab complete with half dissected animal and human cadavers and a life engine that feeds on souls. I’ve heard people say his art is ugly. I say your face is ugly, yet the world still tolerates you. It’s called juxtaposition morons, look it up.

Pacing was spectacular, spending the right amount of time in the house of Frankenstein and then continuing the hunt of Father chasing son across time until Frank ultimately stumbles into his adoptive Father who is usually a Mother, Father Time.

Seriously, this is one of the true gems in the DC Universe. FRANKENSTEIN is wholly different from any other title, but packed with enough Easter Eggs and cleverly placed continuity drops to make it feel one with the complete DC tapestry. Please buy this book, the numbers indicate this book is headed for the dead zone and that would be an Optimous Shame. My only consolation is that if the book does get wheeled down to the morgue, at least Liefeld won’t be doing the pushing during its gasping last breaths.