REVIEW: The Victories, Volume 1: Touched by Michael Avon Oeming

The Victories, Volume 1: Touched by Michael Avon Oeming
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I liked the premise and that’s about all I liked about the comic book.

Confusion shaded the plot. I didn’t understand what was going on till two-third of the book. The plot relied on info-dumpy flashbacks, and a few times it took me a couple seconds to realize those pages I just read were flashbacks. So much for being info-dumpy, and that’s not even the worst issue.

It took me half of the story to realize which character was the protagonist, i.e. what Faustus looked like without his superhero costume, the face behind the mask. For a while, I thought it was the white dude because there was so much focus on the white dude and his unhidden face was one of the few I could see clearly. The artwork exacerbated the confusion. Only later did I figured out it was black dude who was Faustus and the reason for the focus on the white dude was because he was Faustus’s BFF and Faustus was angsting about him.

The story was full angst and action. The action was alright, violent but not gratuitously so. The angst, I didn’t give a fuck about. Nothing appealed to me, especially as a reader who detests angst. There was also nudity and adult situations, and I went meh over those too. I get that the story was noir, but there was nothing groundbreaking or, at the very least, even entertaining about it.

Beside the premise, I did like Faustus’ fellow superheroes in The Victories group. They continued to be nice and loyal after Faustus broke down; they could have easily stamped “supervillain” on Faustus and turned their back on him.

In Conclusion

I rate The Victories Volume 1: Touched 2-stars for it was okay. The storyboard left a lot to be desired.

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REVIEW: Makeshift Miracle, Book 1 by Jim Zub & Shun Hong Chan

Makeshift Miracle Book 1: The Girl from Nowhere by Jim Zub & Shun Hong Chan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

+ the plot
The watercolor illustrations are beautiful, but there was no hiding the shallow story. I didn't see a plot. What I saw was a couple of extraordinary events strung together in a way that left me confused. For six chapters, containing 105 pages beginning with chapter one, not much happened. I got more out of the story by reading its summary on Wikipedia. Seriously.

The characters were no better.

+ the protagonist
I liked Colby because I instantly related to him, but I was quickly disappointed when I saw how quickly he came to care for Iris as if she was a good friend when the appropriate action, one more consistent with his demeanor, should have been his being wary of Iris. After all, the girl literally fell from the sky, naked, and when he tried to save her she teleported them both back to his house. Obviously, she's an alien, until the story says otherwise, and an amnesiac one at that. Colby's lack of prudence bugged me.

+ the alien girl
Iris was unbelievable. For someone who has amnesia and strange powers, she was disturbingly calm. There was no effort to discover who she was, where she came from, and whether or not Colby was an ally or an enemy. All she did was pull a woe-is-me act and cook. The relationship between Colby and Iris was surreal.

+ the steampunk guy
Esurio was my least favorite character. He annoyed me greatly. For someone who traveled to another world, he showed great incompetence. He shouldn't have assumed he was in friendly territory. He should have approached other people with caution, or at least adjusted his look so he wouldn't stand out. Does he not know the word 'discretion'? Moreover, why was he talking to himself? I think he was missing some screws in his head.

In Conclusion

I rate Makeshift Miracle, Volume 1 2-stars for it was okay. It would have been a better story if the story's elements were remixed to make a comedy manga. The story would have been stereotypical, but it would have been enjoyable and not confusing.

You can read this volume online for free at the official website. Be advised that the website hasn't been updated for years.

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REVIEW: Retrovirus by Image Comics

Retrovirus by Image Comics
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Retrovirus was unexpectedly not full of T&A shots, only 3-5 pages of them at the most. It would have been easy to go there because Zoe was the only female character in 98% of the story, surrounded by men, half of which didn’t bother hiding their disgusting lust towards Zoe. Thankfully, Zoe’s sexuality was never used against her or a part of the conflict.

I really liked Zoe. She was smart. She was driven. She didn’t let anyone push her around. I liked how she was actually one of the violent characters in the story.

What I didn’t care for were the male stereotypes. The men were either sexually uninhibited and sexists with shades of arrogance, or meek and naive and overall expendable, or thick-headed muscle dudes. Zoe was the only character who seemed to defy stereotypes and really the only likeable character around.

In Conclusion

I rate Retrovirus 3-stars for I liked it. The plot was action-packed. The pseudo-science was sufficiently believable. The art was great; there was nothing for me to nitpick. The ending was a tad rushed but it was satisfactory. I loved the romance that occurred at the last minute; Zoe deserved it.

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REVIEW: The Silver Scorpion by Liquid Comics

The Silver Scorpion by Liquid Comics
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Narrative logic was clearly not a priority in this comic book. I tried ignoring the plot holes and contrivances and mindlessly enjoy the action but I couldn’t. The story was just too ridiculous to tolerate.

The Characters

+ Bashir
Starting with the worst offender, I didn’t understand why Bashir wore a flying, mini-fridge looking wheelchair in his superhero form. With his power, he was completely capable of crafting metal legs to walk, soar in the sky, kick with super strength, etc. I know the guy who gave him the power strongly advised against it, saying it would draw evil attention, but Bashir became The Silver Scorpion anyway. He started saving people, fighting organized crime, and appearing on TV. Clearly, Bashir did not listen about the attention part but apparently he chose to listen about the leg thing. Talk about missing the point!

I think the comic was trying to say, “hey, this kid in a wheelchair can become a superhero even in a wheelchair.” However, the power bestowed upon Bashir made it entirely possible for him to have legs, super-legs. It was a perfect example of the elephant in the room. As a result, Bashir’s character suffered severely for it, and it was not like he was a great character from the start.

Bashir was a jerk. He made rash decisions. He trusted too easily; who is to say the super-powered girls were good guys and not bad guys in disguise. Bashir did improve on the jerk part eventually, but he was still too headstrong for his own good. As the saying goes, “courage without wisdom is foolishness,” and Bashir was quite a fool.

+ Bashir’s uncle
The other characters were not that much better. I’ll be blunt; Bashir’s uncle was a bad parent. He recklessly allowed Bashir to become a superhero. Bashir is only the family his uncle has, and the only parent Bashir has. Did no one, Bashir or his uncle, think that super-heroing was dangerous? That Bashir had no training or experience of any kind rescuing people or fighting crimes, that he could die from if he make one wrong move, or his Uncle could be taken hostage if Bashir’s identity was revealed?

Bashir’s uncle’s parenting instinct should have risen to overprotectiveness after the accident that caused Bashir to lose his legs. But it didn’t, and it was bad character development on the story’s part.

+ Aimee and Robina
The other members of Bashir’s little superhero team were not that good either. Aimee should know that a hood is a horrible way to hide her face in her superhero costume. At least she had a personality, even if it was a stereotypical rude American tourist. Robina on the other hand was bland and forgettable.

The Plot

I liked that it was fast-paced, but I did not like how the plot smackdown logic to accomplish it. Everything happened too conveniently.

Tarek was the guy who gave Bashir his Silver Scorpion power. I didn’t understand why Tarek did not use the power to fashion a bulletproof under-clothing to wear at all time so he wouldn’t die when the gangster shot him. Tarek knew full well he was going to be shot by gangsters inevitably. It was really contrived how Bashir got his power from Tarek when Bashir just met the guy.

Speaking of encounters, Bashir, Aimee, and Robina got along too quickly to be believable. The three shared their life story almost immediately after they met. It wasn’t “let’s get to know each other,” it was “let’s tell each other our most private matters and act as if we have always been best friends instead of strangers who only have known each other for about a day.”

Then, there was the issue of where the three got captured by the main villain. Of all the bad guys they fought, bad guys who shoot first, ask questions later, the main villain just happened to be a guy who only imprisoned them once he got what he wanted from them.

These examples are only a few of the countless things that happened too conveniently. Worse, the ending was open-ended with nary a conflict resolved. The story was simply about how the three young superheroes met and overcame their first hurdle as a team, and then “The End” followed by some art pages. There’s no volume 2.

In Conclusion

I rate The Silver Scorpion 2-stars for it was okay. I liked the art and the action, but that was about it. I was disappointed by the great lack of polish because it would have been easily likeable comic book otherwise.

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