Injustice: Gods Among Us Vol. 1 - Paul's REVIEW

***I was provided an ecopy from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

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Title: Injustice: Gods Among Us Vol. 1
Author: Tom Taylor
Illustrations: Jheremy Raapack
Year Published: 2013

Upcoming Release Date: November 19, 2013

Synopsis: Things in the DC Universe have changed after Superman is tricked into destroying the one thing he loves the most. Now unwilling to let crime go unpunished, the heroes of our world must choose if they are with Superman or against him. But not every country will submit to his new world order and neither will Superman's greatest threat—Batman!

Review: This is a great comic book based off a video game. It doesn't feel like a video game. It feels like its own story. Although, there are a lot of awesome pairings and/or duels that I could tell are referencing the game. 

I liked that this story takes place in its own world. Big events happen. Characters change. The problem with characters like Superman and Batman is that its usually just the same tale told a little differently. This is a new story that puts Justice League members against each other. 

My favorite and the most hilarious pairing in this book is Harley Quinn and Green Arrow. I also liked Batman's protégés, Nightwing and Batman's own son, Robin. 

There are some epically badass battles in this book. I'm not a huge video gamer, but I would love to watch someone play this game just based off of reading this book. I'm definitely interested in reading the next volume. I give this book a 5/5.


-PAUL

Arrow Vol. 1 by Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, & Mike Grell - Ashley's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from DC Comics on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

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Title: Arrow Vol. 1
Author: Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Mark Grell (Illustrator)
Year Published: 2013

Synopsis: Spinning off directly from the hit CW television series ARROW comes the Emerald Archerer in these digital-first adventures! Show creators Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim team with some of the industry's best artists, including Mike Grell (GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS), Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW: QUIVER) and others to fill in the gaps between episodes of one of TV's hottest new series.

Collects Arrow #1-6 and #1 Special edition

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Review: I was really excited when I saw that there was a comic series that was a direct spin-off of the CW television show, ARROW. I love the show, and have been anxiously waiting for its return this fall, and figured this would be enough to tide me over until then. I hoped that it would delve a little more into the background of some of the minor characters and give more context for the show. 

Although we do see some of the more notable characters (Moira, Laurel, Tommy, Diggle, etc), we don't really learn too much more about them. This collection gives a little background on characters like the white haired woman in the Triad, but kind of just throws the others in assuming you already know them well enough. It made it a little confusing at times, because I couldn't really tell who was supposed to be who or what was going on.

It was fun to see some of Oliver's other adventures, and to see him take on some villains that probably wouldn't have been "bad" enough to cover in the show. Or who do things that might be considered inappropriate for cable television (like human trafficking, etc). We don't learn too much about these bad guys, but Ollie sometimes has to be pretty creative to defeat them, and I think his martial arts skills are translated very well into pictures. 

This comic, like the show, is dark and gritty. I think the two are very reflective of each other, and I enjoyed that the comic was in the same style as the show. It helped to get into the world quickly, and allowed for fewer explanations as to what was happening. So if you've watched  the show, I would definitely recommend these comics. If you're looking to get into the world of ARROW though, I would suggest starting with the show and then going to the comics. And I would definitely not recommend these for a younger audience. A 3/5 from me.


--Ashley