COMPETITION
TIME!
We called in loads of favours to
bring you some kick ass prizes for
an awesome launch issue, and this
is a pretty awesome one! Jason
Masters, artist on the Mr Freeze issue
mentioned earlier, will be signing one
copy as well as giving away a signed
sketch for one lucky reader! Plus the
awesome people at Cosmic Comics
were kind enough to give us a 3-D
Joker issue 23.1 to give away.
What do you have to do to win?
It’s pretty simple. Like and/or
Follow us on Facebook and
Twitter (you have to do at least
one), and then and then tell us
on either of those platforms
who your favourite DC comic
book villain is and why. Don't
forget to #DCGoesBad
See? Easy huh?
*Competition ends 30 November 2013
hearts, that Batman will never be turned
into a human shish kabob by ‘The Joker’…”
which is simply based on the merit that you
can't kill the titular character of a comic
book (not that it’s stopped DC before but
that’s another story) otherwise our entire
concept of the escapism that our favourite
comic offers would be lost along with the
death of our hero (or villain for that matter).
Villains are just as important, if not more
important than the heroes, because if
heroes have nothing to inspire heroism,
all they really are is a bunch of people in
spandex with a penchant for saying what
they're thinking out loud.
It makes sense then that DC decided
to celebrate their stable of nasties in an
extremely fitting way, having them hijack
the books of their particular nemeses and
narcissistically rename them with their
own monikers. We spoke earlier of the 3D
covers; what makes these so special is the
amount of thought and detail that went
into each one in order to make them look as
good as they do. Each villain's cover features
them as the star on one layer, their powers
138
on another, the comic's defaced and renamed title, their particular
enemy/enemies and various background elements all tied together
with an extremely effective lenticular system.
The covers obviously up the price of the various books, but
they're well-worth the odd R75-R100 that you'll be paying for them.
There are also non-3D variants, but these are just nowhere near
as cool or visually striking. Each book is a self-contained once-off
story (hence the .1 addition to the regular issue number) that offers
a unique insight into each villain's history, or simply more of an
exploration of their respective characters.
We were fortunate enough to get advanced copies of Joker #1
(Batman #23.1) and Mr Freeze #1 (Batman: The Dark Knight
#23.2), with the latter being illustrated by South African artist Jason
Masters. Both issues will only officially be retailing in November,
but well, more on that later...
Joker, which was released as part of the first wave of the Villain
comics, was written by the phenomenally talented Andy Kubert
and has already seen massive acclaim from various critics (scoring
90% on sites like IGN) and it's easy to see why. As would be
expected, Joker didn't exactly have the best childhood, but Andy
Clarke's brutal and textured art in the opening art of the story just
makes the situation that much more shocking and painful to see.
For a fleeting moment, we see Joker showing his humanity as
he reminisces over his so-called "endearing childhood" and his
aunt's wanton abuse of the young boy.
His recollections make him broody and so he kidnaps a
baby gorilla from the Gotham Zoo, with the intent to raise
it and give it a better childhood than he had. We obviously
still get Joker's unique spin on what a 'better' childhood is including teaching young Jackanapes to steal, rob banks and
eventually even kill and in a pretty expository double-page
splash, Kubert gifts us with these fantastic lines: "I taught him
that with guilt comes weakness. And in our business, we
can't afford guilt. It's too damn expensive! I taught him that
all people are guilty... Guilty of something. We're just simply
providing a service to free them of this guilt. A fun job!"
To say villains are complex creatures would be an
understatement, and DC are masterful in the construction
of their characters. Of course, each publisher brings unique
and interesting content to the table, from the industry giants
through to the indie labels, but DC just has a way with their
antagonists and one of their major advantages is history.
They started way back in 1938 (under the name National
Publications) and are still very much alive and well. With over
75 years worth of stories, they've had the time to craft a uniquely
rich and endearing universe. No, not all of DC's past was bright and
shiny and lately some of their content has been... interesting... but
they've also constructed an incredible series of stories and worlds
that we as readers can follow and within that realm lie some truly
great evildoers.
Villains Month is a fantastic initiative and we’re excited to see
what the other 57 issues bring with them, because no doubt there
should be some truly interesting twists and turns along the way.
We recommend you pick up Joker, Lobo (Justice League), Grodd
(Flash), Forever Evil and obviously, in support of SA artists, we
should all pick up Mr Freeze (plus it's also really good!). The best
part is that you don't even have to have been following a particular
comic series closely, because these issues are all simple pick up and
reads, easily digestible, easy to follow and really, really pretty.?
feature / comics / DC Goes Bad!