Faces of Evil is DC Comics’ attempt to put the spotlight on a few of their villains this month. With several one-shots and a few villain-centric issues in some of their regular titles, it’s  a mixed bag. Here are my faves.

Detective Comics #852

For my money this series has been far more entertaining than Morrison’s now complete R.I.P. With Batman and Hush battling with fists and wits in equal measure, with the life of Catwoman hanging in the balance, Paul Dini has crafted a taut adventure in the recent Hearts of Hush arc. This issue, aptly titled Reconstruction has Tommy Elliott, Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend, and now mad and envious adult enemy Hush, as he begins to rebuild his life. As we saw recently Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman, has exacted her revenge for being put at death’s door, by taking Hush’s vast wealth and scattering it across the globe. Here, Hush discovers though he’s penniless for the first time in his life, his operation to look like Bruce Wayne has immediate benefits and its not long before he starts the climb to the top. With art by Dustin Nguyen this is an ish worth grabbing.

I reviewed Faces of Evil: Prometheus here, but I will say that I adored this issue. Prometheus was a great villain when Grant Morrison brought him in as the anti-Batman to the DCU back in 1998. He hasn’t been seen much as of late but this tale tells you all you need to know and actually has a ret-con that makes sense. It’s written by Supergirl’s Sterling Gates, with moody art by Federico Dallocchio.

Action Comics #873. I always liked Lex Luthor. In this issue by Geoff Johns, with great art by Pete Woods and Renato Guedes, he’s able to put his scientific awareness and keen manipulation to good use, despite his current prisoner status. Working with, or rather for, General Lane (Lois’ father) to battle the 100, 000 Kryptonians that have now “invaded” earth, Luthor has found a renewed purpose. When I first heard the idea behind Johns’ latest arc (the introduction of a city of Kryptonians) I wasn’t impressed. However, Johns has used this tale of family bickering gone to the next level, it shows in a new light how unique Superman truly is. With Supergirl starting to make tough choices and become a hero Johns has proved once more that he knows what he’s doing. Superman’s titles haven’t been this exciting for years.

On a similar note, not a Faces of Evil issue, but one focused on a DC villain. This month’s issue of Batman Confidential (number 25) continues the look at Joker’s early days. I like Scott McDaniel’s pencils, but Joker doesn’t seem as menacing as Andrew Kreisberg’s script would have us believe. Despite Riddler being on the cover, he only shows up in the last few pages and doesn’t do much. It also doesn’t sit right with current continuity, but I guess it’s passable since it’s a Batman satellite tale. Here it’s revealed that Joker is the first patient in the refurbished Arkham Asylum, which just doesn’t sound right. Also, he mentions Grey’s Anatomy. The problem with that is that the unwritten rule of DC (and comics in general) is that stories are always told with a beginning point of about 10 years ago. So Bruce Wayne became Batman 10 years ago, Peter Parker was bitten by that radioactive spider 10 years ago, and so on. Since Grey’s Anatomy only debuted in 2005 that reference just seems out of synch. Maybe it’s just me being too geeky, but these missteps are noticeable.

January 19, 2009
Categories: New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: Action Comics #873, Batman Confidential #25, DC comics, Detective comics #852, Faces of Evil, Hush, Joker . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment