Level 5 - Week of 01/15/11

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and Welcome to The Next Level. We are your source for comic book opinions and debates. I’m your host Stefan, and I’ll be here with you discussing Comic Books, Video Games, and other items of note. Please note, for a purely gaming blog, I'd recommend Pwning Pat's Game Blog.

This week's post will be reviewing 2 issues: Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #6, and Daredevil Reborn #1.

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Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #6

This issue is a direct continuation from issue #5. Basically to catch people up, Guy Gardner has revealed his secret pact with Ganthet and Atroticus, which infuriates Arisia and Kilowog. After describing his apocalyptic visions in detail, Kilowog and Arisia split, feeling that they cannot trust Gardner any longer, leaving him with Red Lantern Bleez.

They track down the enemy, Zardor, and Bleez (in probably her most awesome scene ever) dispatches all the defenses of a world. Guy moves in to attack Zardor, but is stopped by both Zardor's awesome power, and a possessed Sodam Yat (wearing the new symbol that Yat burned into himself in issue 4).

So the issue was okay, nothing special. I should note that I'm not a huge fan of the Guy Gardner character, but I'm starting to warm up to him. However, this issue does present a possible road for a tie-in with the upcoming War of the Green Lanterns storyline, wherein Zardor is taking control of the minds of Lanterns, and as the issue ends, he's trying to control Guy. Since we know from the solicitation information that Guy and Hal are the two leaders of the two sides of the conflict, it adds a new dimension to the story. However, I must admit, if the war happens only because someone is possessed, I'll be a little disappointed.


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Daredevil Reborn #1

Okay, confession time. With the exception of Born Again, I'd never really read that much Daredevil until a few years ago. I then picked up the Omnibuses of Bendis' run, and Brubaker's run, in time for Andy Diggle to take over on the character. I loved what they did. I even loved Diggle's first arc on the title, leading into Shadowland. Shadowland ITSELF on the other hand? Mixed bad. I didn't like the idea that Matt was possessed, nor did I like the ending per se, but what I really liked is that the responsibility for Daredevil taking his first life, falls squarely on Matt Murdock, and not on the demon possessing him.

So I've caught you up, here's this issue. Matt has travelling blindly (no pun intended) since the Fall of Shadowland. Matt essentially crosses into a little town, where everyone (including the cops) are seriously corrupt and want him dead. This desire to want Matt dead is increased when the cops find the documents (from Brubaker's run), indicating that Matt Murdock is most likely Daredevil. Matt stumbles upon a mass grave, and the cops prepare to kill him.

Wow. Despite being someone who's loved Daredevil in recent years, this issue SUCKED. I'm really hoping the rest of the series picks the quality back up a notch. My biggest concern is that Diggle will make Daredevil a bit more of a "superhero" again, rather than a vigilante. Bendis' run did such a good job of keeping him off in the side of the Marvel Universe, and Brubaker's run made him more central, but still able to deal with the consequences of his own actions in his own sandbox. Diggle seems to want to bring Daredevil back into the Marvel Universe, and while I have no problem with that in theory, if the execution of this means Shadowland and this issue? I'm not impressed thus far.



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Stay tuned next week for our weekly reviews, and our Spotlight.

Next Week: Reviews of Brightest Day #18, Green Lantern Corps #56, and Invincible Iron Man #500, as well as the announcement of our next Spotlight.

Thanks for reading, and as always, feedback (nextlevelstaff@gmail.com) is welcome.