Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4: Ehn. I don't know if I'm going to keep reading this one. I loved the first series, but Murphy is just wallowing in maudlinness now. We open the issue with a devastated Barbara watching doctors unsuccessfully try to save her father. Dick tries to comfort her later but she refuses his help. In fact, she tells him that he was right when he said that they weren't a family. Of course, he now says that he was wrong, and she asserts that they all know that Bruce ruined their lives. After Dick leaves, Bullock joins Barbara in going to go kill Azrael. Meanwhile, Bruce visits Leslie Thompkins, who's taking care of a recovering Harley and the twins. She informs Bruce that she, too, knew about the journal. Years ago, she and Alfred met a mysterious figure claiming to be a member of the Order of St. Dumas. He gave the journal to Alfred after he allegedly took it from the Joker. (Alfred brings a sword to this meeting, which is just fucking ridiculous.) Dick warns Bruce about Barbara going rogue, correctly assuming that Bruce has installed trackers on their vehicles despite claiming that he didn't. They arrive in time to stop Barbara from killing Azrael but not to stop Azrael from breaking her back. [Sigh.] Then, Bruce confronts Azrael, shouting that the Waynes are the rightful protectors of Gotham. Weirdly enough, Azrael agrees. I don't know. It's all just melodrama at this point.
Detective Comics #1,014: I like where Tomasi is going here, resurrecting Nora Fries. It's like Brubaker bringing back Bucky, transforming Mr. Freeze from a sad-sack character into an entirely new one. My only complaint is that Tomasi doesn't explain how Nora suddenly becomes OK with Victor's life of crime. She seems confused when they encounter Bruce Wayne at the WayneTech Cryogenics Lab where Victor used to work. She says that she has no ill will towards him, making it clear that she isn't on the same vendetta crusade that Victor is. (He's there to recover samples he purposefully mislabeled when he worked there to replace the samples that he lost when Batman broke into his HQ and that he needs to complete Nora's transformation.) But, in the next sequence, she's dancing in a theater full of people whom Victor has frozen and then in the next sequence she's dressed to kill -- literally -- just like he is. I'm assuming that her somewhat flawed resurrection has left her addled, but Tomasi doesn't draw that line for us or show how she goes from outraged that Victor defied her wishes and froze her to serving as his somewhat mindless accomplice. I'm guessing that we'll see those dots connected in a subsequent issue, because Tomasi clearly seems to be building to something. But, we better get there soon.
The Last God #1: Man, this issue is intense right from the gate.
The series begins with the phrase: "Every culture in Cain Anuun has its story of how the world began." We learn that each of those stories has a common element: the Black Stair in the land called Fellspyre that reaches, allegedly, beyond the end of creation and into the Void itself. We learn that a zombie-esque Apocalypse called the Plague of Shadows occurred 30 years earlier, when thorn-looking creatures converted the living into "vine, rot, ash, and defiled flesh." Johnson then takes us on a tour of Cain Anuun's lands, as each one falls to the Plague: Olvargolad, the land of humans; the Aelvan Nations, the land of elves; the Pinnacle of the Guild Eldritch, the realm of wizards; the "frozen strongholds of the mighty Rivermen," Cain Anuun's barbarians; and the Dwarrows, the land of dwarves. A team called the Godslayers, representing each land -- Veikko al Man of the Aelvan, Skol of the Guild Eldritch, Jorunn of the Dwarrows, Hakkon of the Rivermen, and Tyr and Cyanthe of the humans -- climbed the Stairs to end the Plague, resulting in Tyr slaying the Last God.
We're given this information through a gladiatorial "play" occurring at a festival celebrating that day. Olvargolad has been renamed Tyrgolad, as Tyr is now king and overlord of all the lands. Through the "play," we learn that Hakkon came under the sway of the Last God, turning on the group until Tyr defeated him. King Tyr and Queen Cyanthe are watching the play on a dais with a group of dignitaries. One of them asks Queen Cyanthe where Tyr was really so fearsome. Cyanthe instantly recalls a memory of Tyr attacking an infant with a knife, with two women trying to restrain him. Later, Cyanthe is furious that Jorunn, Skol, and Veikko al Man all ignored Tyr's summons, sending representatives in their place. Tyr interrupts this discussion, asking about the gladiator playing him in the "play." He is Eyvindr, a product of the "slave cradles." We're told that he doesn't murder his opponents and if he wins today, his 60th win, custom dictates that Tyr should free him. When he does win, he's presented to Tyr and removes his helmet, prompting Tyr to mutter, "No..." and stumble from the dais. As Tyr stumbles to a monument erected in honor of the heroes, we see a flashback to Tyr's conversation with the Last God. The Last God informs Tyr that a false crown of gold will hide the "true crown" until Tyr sees his sins made flesh. At the monument, Tyr mutters, "Not yet," as his eyes turn black.
It's pretty clear from both his and her flashbacks that Eyvindr is Tyr and Cyanthe's son. That idea is further cemented when Cyanthe sees Eyvindr's nicked ear -- possibly from Tyr's attack that night -- and refuses to free him. (Of note, she had just told Veikko al Man's representative that she would slaughter a thousand Aelvan slaves after he failed to recite the same pledge of fealty that everyone else had, instead calling Tyrgolad a "nation of thieves" and referring to the Aelvan as the true stewards of the land. Cyanthe isn't scared of a little bloodshed, in other words.) Recalling the same words Tyr did about "sins made flesh," Cyanthe returns Eyvindr to the slave pits.
Later that night, we see people singing a disturbing nursery rhyme about the Plague when a familiar tree-looking creature attacks them. Meanwhile, Eyvindr and his friend Kono are selected by a noblewoman, because, as we learn later, they're both gladiators and sex slaves. Kono is appalled that the Queen refused to free Eyvindr, but Eyvindr is mostly unperturbed, showing high levels of respect for the King and Queen. Kono goes on a rant about how the Godslayer story is bullshit meant to keep them in line, and Eyvindr threatens to kill him (despite telling him that he loves him) if he doesn't stop disrespecting the King and Queen. Kono agrees to stop, but says that he plans on fleeing since he won't fight for someone who doesn't respect the agreement and tells Eyvindr that he should do the same. They're then offered -- in a truly disturbing scene -- a disease-ridden puppy from a homeless woman as the puppy's also disease-ridden mother eats the other puppies.
A great fire suddenly distracts them from the scene, and they rush to discover the palace ablaze. The guards offer money to anyone who can help, and everyone assumes that it's an Aelvan attack. But, the scale of the massacre in the palace makes it clear that it isn't the Aelvan, who are more ninjas than barbarians. On cue, Veikko al Man arrives, saying that he's here to protect Cyanthe since he clearly knows what Tyr has become. The thorn monsters arrive and kill Kono, and Eyvindr follows Veikko al Man, who tells him not only that Tyr isn't a hero but also that the Last God isn't dead. They come upon a sword-wielding Cyanthe facing an enormous tree-ized Tyr as Veikko al Man declares they have to return to the Black Stair. Dun-dun-DUN! Man, I am on board for this story!
No comments:
Post a Comment