Glorious Mediocrity: Reviewing And Ranking Black Label Comics (2021)
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- Опубліковано 16 сер 2023
- Hi. This is a video that reviews and rates every single comic released on the Black Label imprint during 2021. Batman and Catwoman return, along with The Human Target and Swamp Thing.
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I loved Batman the Imposter. The art was phenomenal, and the story tackles cycles of violence, trauma, and the consequences of vigilantism in ways that aren’t present in normal Batman stories. I’d love to see a sequel to the comic.
I think the reason for censoring the first part of Get Joker was because the issue (or at least part of it) was included in Free Comic Book Day materials, and needed to be appropriate for a wider age range
Ah! That makes sense! That makes a lot of sense. Thank you. It was something I couldn't explain or make sense of. :)
Nice catch!
I was under the impression that the censorship in the Suicide Squad book might have been done for previews in other books or something. Because literally half-way through issue #1, like the same amount of pages for a preview, is when the “fucks” and “shits” are let loose
YOO ROACHDOGGJR
Batman The Imposter is a very strong story to me. It felt like the most realistic Batman story. The art is really good and the characterisation of Bruce was very different and interesting highlighting the mental cost that being Batman has on Bruce. Batman doesn’t feel like an unstoppable hero he just feels like a flawed man who has a lot of problems.
To answer the manhunter critique, Martian manhunter weakness to fire, was retconned to be a psychological issue. This was presented during The New 52. Assuming that era is still canon
Excellent. Thank you. I thought it must have been retconned at some point.
@@StrangeBrainParts As for his relationship with the hero Fire, this was visited during the Ostrander run.
Good to know! Thank you very much.
Just discovered your channel and am loving your Black Label reviews!
Thank you very much! I hope future videos keep you coming back.
I absolutely love this. Please consider making more review videos like this one.
This installment has more that I find intriguing than the previous episode in this series. The Amazon goddesses in 'Historia' seem to represent different primal forces in the DCU -- Athena looked like Dr. Fate to me. I've seen reviews of The Human Target and would really like to get it just to analyze the art. Some of the other books hit me in that way too. 'Impostor', as a story, sounds fascinating. I'll be revisiting this episode from time to time as I decide what to shop for. Thank you; I love your content *so* much. Stay safe and healthy.
Thank you very much. You stay healthy too.
The nice house on the lake is one of the best books ive read in the last 10 years. Its so good! Like a vertigo book
Just found your channel yesterday watched all your other black label reviews was searching for this one so happy about this timing
Then I say to you...hello and welcome!
Shockingly, you're right. I have a visceral dislike for Tom King's writing, and Human Target further solidified that dislike.
Another great video!! Love your reviews
Any thoughts on DC's less celebrated "Young Animal"? I've only read Green Lantern: Far Sector, but I've heard some call it the "true" successor to Vertigo.
Nice solid overview. Well bloody done!
Thank you very much.
Tom King is just a better version of a lot of these modern writers. Continuity doesn’t seem to exist for them and he writes characters wildly out of character to fit whatever story he’s crafting. He’s comes off as a one trick pony to me and hits the same notes in all his stories. If you know nothing about these characters you can come in and think ‘wow that was cool’ but the more you know about the history and also the more Tom king you read the less you get out of them.
Tom King bores the hell out of me. I find his work to be utterly pretentious and joyless
@@samuraijacques952 I agree. I avoid his work like the plague now.
I got a little excited seeing Batman Reptilian pop up since I kept hearing about but never saw any reviews of it so finally getting to hear an opinion from you of all people is nice.
I think his opinion on reptilian is both true and surface level. I think the book is mediocre but honestly ennis’s Batman is one of the most fascinating characters I have seen
I like your channel and how you explain your books. I don't watch many comic channels, comic pop and a few others, but you seem interesting. I will subscribe.
Thank you very much. :)
I apologize for my impatience in saying this, but man I really wish I hadn't just recently finished reading Peacemaker: Disturbing the Peace because I really can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.
It’s very good
This made me really wanna read nice house. Thank you friend
Because if there is one lesson DC just cannot seem to learn it's a combination of "Batman is not the be all/end all of characters you own" and "no one actually wants you to get darker"
I think they should ask the question, "Is this a Batman story that needs to be told?" The answer is usually going to be, "No."
@@StrangeBrainParts "Is your dark, gritty Batman story without making use of his vibrant supporting cast more interesting than the sum total of every other comic with an identical premise?"
DC keeps adding to the Bat Family and yet they STILL don't use it enough to add some texture to this stuff they keep doing
That's...that's a good point.
@@samwill7259I actually weridly disagree. Like the black label titles this year go in such wildly different directions with Batman
The only one on the list I've read is Nice House on the Lake.. and although it had its confusing moments, i enjoyed, it had a real sense of claustrophobia and the wrongness of memories being played with.
You can honestly do a tier list live stream for all these books. I'd definitely tune in.
That's a good idea. Because it's going to take a while for me to sort out the list into a good order.
Excellent job. Didn't read the Catwoman story. Might now 😢😮😂
Yet another great video. Do you have plans on covering the Luna Brother's works given that you mentioned the "Girls" series.
That's a solid maybe. The Luna Brothers were actually just one brother with other being a tyrant. Allegedly. If I did, I'd likely credit to the one over the other.
(*GROAN*) Super ZEROES on Black Label? R.I.P. Vertigo, I miss you and Karen Berger a little more every year! (I'm always searching for Vertigo trades in used bookstores!)
Definitely looking forward to an in-depth discussion on King's Human Target series. It was one of my favorite series in recent years. There is definitely a lot to unpack in that series. I would tend to agree with some of your criticism of the series on King's part but its not too different from what the usual complaints about him tend to be like. I personally don't mind Martian Manhunter being a bit kinky secretly or Ice being a little more grey If I look at this as a 50/60s Noir story + an Elseworld. I find myself often thinking more about the memorable parts of the series than the cracks - like the issues focusing on Blue Beetle, Martian Manhunter and Batman. They were brilliantly written. Of course, Smallwood's art is absolutely mindblowing!! One cannot look past it - I love that King has a gift of getting really brilliant artists to go with the stories he tells. He has some tropes that as readers can get tiring to read but I think he is one of the more skilled writers from the modern crop with depth and substance. I would love to see him grow out of his cliches and develop more!
Fantastic Video as always! I lament that Black Label is more of Bat Label. It seems the sandman universe line would substitute for Black Label more than Black Label - even then there isn't much in the way of memorable in that small pocket.
Smallwood is only as good as the photos he traces from..
@@tonyfrickey9062 Pretty much any artist will need photo ref and lightbox sometimes -- but, do you mean something on the order of Greg Land??
@@TitularHeroine his process is digitally drawing over photos...the dude took pics of a flask at different angles so he could photoshop it into panels...
@@tonyfrickey9062 that is literally how every artist draws. using references is part of the process. Smallwood did a very informative twitter thread explaining how referencing works. all the great artists including Alex Ross use references. L take honestly
@@tonyfrickey9062
It sounds like no one ever sat you down and explained to you do artists actually draw their works.
I was salivating for the Human Target review
I think I might sit down and just type out all those conflicting thoughts I have about it.
@@StrangeBrainParts I get you about that visual aesthetic; it's absolutely gorgeous. One thing I wonder about the art though: do those sudden, surprising fields of color mean anything? Hints or foreshadowing or thematically? They just seem random, almost drawing the eye to the insignificant (....which, now that I've said it, may be the significance; a misdirection as it were).
I would have to take a closer look to be confident about saying this but...the Fire issue really stood out to me colour-wise. But I think this applies to Ice, too. The contrasting colour, the one used for shadow, is the complimentary colour. That is, Ice is primarily blue and the contrasting colour is orange. Fire is primarily green and the contrasting colour is purple. So, thematically, it implies a shadow (or hidden) version of the character. Again, this is my preliminary thoughts and what popped into mind when reading the comics.
@@StrangeBrainParts That makes a lot of sense. I haven't read it, only seen a few reviews, and there may not have been enough and sequential enough to notice. I'd be intensely interested if you did a Human Target analysis and am more and more wanting to take a look at it in-hand. Thanks always
I find it weird that Jason Todd's costume in Suicide Squad: Get Joker is the same costume from Three Jokers.
Swamp Thing: Green Hell made me wish for a Deadman series in black label.
I absolutely hated the Batman Imposter story; I think the worst part was when I guessed who the imposter was on a whim based on who is the most strawman character in the room. I won't spoil it for anyone interested, but I will say the villain's motive was good, but his character was straight up terrible and one dimensional and making it overly grim dark just makes it another hyper-realistic subversion that loses itself in the gotchas it pulls on a character we all know is ridiculous.
Oh, yeah...the imposter was telegraphed from the moment you meet him.
@@StrangeBrainPartswhaaa?!? “Him”? spoliers ;)
@@StrangeBrainParts But I think it's also fair to say that the "reveal" isn't really important. You're not wrong: I also was able to gleam who the imposter had to be by the end of Book 1. But Batman: Imposter is really more of a character study of Bruce Wayne and whether or not Batman's war on crime is actually helping Gotham.
I liked Nice house on the lake. I feel like your critique about none of the characters just having fun with the situation is unfair because the comedian(?) character was 100% that, but with a touch more depth. Really, you're correct about everyone kind of blending together though, since the cast is much too large for anyone to stand out. But in the end, I feel that that was at least semi-intentional with the plot reveals later about them having one too many people.
Yeah David and Reg were refreshing compared to the rest of the cast, and I really liked David’s issue showing his nuances. And Rick and the doctor were openly calm and collected and not super nihilistic about the whole thing, tho with Rick we know why.
I mean I dunno. You can criticise and nitpick a series like this to pieces but for me the vibes were just right. The sense of mystery, the pacing, the horror elements, all of it worked and complimented each other really well imo. Some of the characters seemed a bit redundant and lacked a unique voice, but others were really fleshed out and none seemed super unreasonable with forced character drama.
As a HUGE fan of the 60’s Batman show, it’s awesome to see Bookworm in the comics, he’s such a fun villain. But Batman Imposter seems like the most interesting story, something about a super grounded Batman is interesting to me.
Super grounded? Yeah naw f*ck that.
Amazing reviews. I ignored most of these. I'm glad you didn't. 👏👌
Superman Vs Lobo is... fine. It's fine, it's fun. At least I found it fun and Mirka Andolfo is mostly producing fun pages to look at (though sometimes Superman looks a bit off). I'd say it was a 7/10, definitely not deserving the bottom of the list, but weather or not a tone works for you is incredibly subjective
If you want to see Tim Seeley writing where he's trying for a darker tone, his graphic novel Chronophage is really good. Solid high-concept horror premise, and great art and colours from Ilias Kyrazis. It reads like a solid horror movie, not overstaying it's welcome and hitting where it counts. If you check it out love to hear what you think of it.
Anyone else sick of DC's obsession with Batman? I swear, it's getting frustrating...
I do wish they'd expand into other areas with Black Label, that's for sure.
@@StrangeBrainParts I like Batman as much as the next comic book geek, but I feel he gets *WAAAAAYYYY* too much media...
He certainly does. That's because he's a franchise character now. He's multimedia and probably sells a lot of merchandise. It's sad and cynical, but probably true. That's why he gets way too much exposure.
@@StrangeBrainParts Fair enough.
Years ago Ted White wrote an essay on Batman and Superman where he wrote that Batman would always play second fiddle to Superman. How times have changed.
I agree %100 about Jimenez's work in Historia
To me it just makes me want to stare at the page more and think about the words that WERE placed there
I was pretty sure I was going to get a lot of pushback over that opinion. Gorgeous art. The best Jimenez has ever done. But, man...it buried the story.
Niiiice!
The transformation of the character Ice reminded me of the classic reveal of Terra as a psychopath in the Teen Titans. And I, too, love the sparkly 60's aesthetic.
Terra was never nice though. That was the point. She was always rude, demanding, dramatic and at times psychotic. They intentionally were playing off fan expectations due to people comparing Titans to X-men and made Terra their Kitty Pryde, but not actually nice.
I'm not really okay with this turn for Ice, she can be given depth and even a darker side without turning her into a killer, blackmailer and seductress, none of which fit with her origin story.
Well, her origin is a bit of a mess. Which, quite honestly, might indicate someone who's rather troubled. But, I do see your point. It's one of the areas that give me the contradictory thinks.
DC needs to add Birds of Prey or Outsiders to black label
Pretty good creators and creative teams but overall pretty… meh. And while I quite enjoyed his Mister Miracle, Tom King seems to like destroying every character he writes for. I’m starting to think his time in Afghanistan affected him more than he lets on. There is a lot of PTSD strewn throughout his stories
The Imposter might be my favorite depiction of Batman. I love the idea of him looking like a riot cop.
Have you read "Batman: Year 100" by Paul Pope? Despite being in the future, Batman is very low-tech. It's a really good though sometimes head-scratching take.
@@TitularHeroine I’ll definitely give that a read!
8:50 he reminded me of an early Spawn Todd McFarlane, but with better fundamentals!
You could probably clip the Historia portion into a short, since James Gunn called it out yesterday and it sold out
Did he? Interesting. I'm guessing a movie script is incoming. :)
@@StrangeBrainParts Let´s wait how Superman Legacy does first. WB has a good chance of being sold again, DC films are a shaky properly right now outside of Batman spin-offs and his co-CEO of DC studios produced one flop too many. I'll believe in a new interconnected line after I start seeing trailers, not before. WW84 also poisoned the brand and WB seems disinterested to claw back WW´s reputation.
I love Cliff Chiang. I'll have to get that Catwoman book
I have been a DC comics fan for a long, long time but I’ve only recently gotten involved in the online comics community and I’ve got to say I really don’t understand the approach folk have to characters.
For me comic book characters have base identities and, especially in DC tend to be linked to symbols or ideologies. Booster Gold is always going to be “the consumerist superhero” at his core and superman will always represent “truth justice and the American way” even if what those words mean change or are being explored from a different angle by a different writer. Beyond those core identities however I’ve always just kind of accepted that every writer is going to interpret every character differently, they’ve all been around too long and been handled by too many cooks to make any kind of consistent broth. To me it’s always been up to me to decide what interpretations I like best and which merge together nicely into my personal, subjective reading on a character. That doesn’t seem to be the mainstream approach, or at least that’s not the way people talk online. There’s always “this is out of character” arguments every run and I just don’t get it.
Guy Gardiner in Human Target is the Guy Gardiner I like (as a character, not as a human being) he’s a dickhead with anger issues who knows he doesn’t deserve to be loved by someone that he perceives to be as sweet as ice and so it makes sense to be that he’d overcompensate in the exact way he, and a lot of dickheads in real life, does here. Maybe that’s not your Guy Gardiner, maybe you’ve read different Gardiner stories than I have to build your personal perspective on that character and that’s fine! I’m sure there are other writers who also don’t see him that way and won’t write him that way in the future. But it just doesn’t make sense to be to pretend that there’s some objective character definitions in mediums that are as dense as this. As much as DC changes up canon we all know that the only canon that really matters is our own, made out of what we have and haven’t enjoyed and I just wish comic discourse would be more focused on the quality of writing than the interpretation of a character.
I hope this makes sense. Just something that’s been niggling me since diving into the subreddits etc. and this seemed like a good place to say it.
Man, same on Tim Seeley! I keep trying his books because they have somewhat interesting premises, but I can not connect with his writing at all. I don’t know what it is, but it never lands.
Exactly. I don't know why but his work doesn't connect at all. I really have to work at paying attention.
Yes indeed😊
You were too hard on Jock.
I can forgive him huge things because everything he did for 2000AD was absolutely game change-mind blowing.
He’ll of a career start.
Look into it, he did Dredd perfectly.
Jock is an amazing artist. Although, I have to admit, I didn't see any Dredd work.
I miss VERTIGO. DC Black Label seems to be a giant mess with no clear direction.
Please no spoilers , I like your work and consider to be part of your patreon but please no spoilers because we want to read these comics, at least many of us
You're looking at a review. What do you mean, no spoilers?
@@thereseemstobeenanerror1219 do I have to explain to you the distinction between a spoiler review and a non-spoiler review?
I would like to see a story about one of those many parallel universes where Batman loses everything at the hands of some real villain like a media or oil businessman. and then go to prison and die in a prison fight. you know, real stories
I really like these black label reviews. Its seems like alot of them are terrible so thanks for saving me the $$$ lol. I think i want to get human target the art looks really good.
I´m gonna give Batman The Imposter a chance. I didn´t like Mr. Miracle nor Heroes in Crisis nor The Vision, so Tom King is not a coupe of tea but Smallwood´s art is so good, I´m have to get me some Human Target!
I think you really undersell how different Batman reptilian is. I mean it’s such a bizarre take on Batman only comparable to asbar but taken 100% serious ( which works as an elseworld series). I didn’t find the story that interesting to be honest ( I think it’s bland) but I would love to see another Batman story like that
asbar?
@@TitularHeroine all star batman and robin
What's kinda sad is that I question to whom Black Label should have been for. I loving the reviews, but what's kinda sad is that the oversized books I've seen I feel the format would just be better suited to just making new and original works. But this is 21st Century DC and not Jeanette Khan era run DC where such a thing would be more common place. Also is it safe to say that Tom King (who have very little in the way of original works and mostly is just refreshing cape books) is like diet coke Brian Azzarello?
The Nice House on the Lake is good. I feel like SBP undersells it a little, as the sense of mystery, pacing and character study is pretty well done imo. Never felt bored or like it was repetitious imo
Batman is the shit!! Keep em coming!
Did you know that the Human Target is based on a late 50s movie called Three Days to Live? I say based but the plot takes itself heavily from the movie.
I did not know this. I wonder if I'l be able to find it somewhere so I can see any similarities.
They got rid if Vertigo for this!? Also, DC cant make up they’re mind if Black Label is out of continuity!
Historia reads fine in print
Even as Batmans Biggest glazer im getting tired of everything being abt him its weird
Oof. Kinda hurts that my favorite comic book UA-camr pointed Superman vs Lobo as the worst one, since it was a title that I pretty much enjoyed.
For the defense, I'd say it's an okay book if you like stupid ideas and brainless entertainment. I personally like Mirka Andolfo's art, especially her interior arts so that's a plus.
However it feels like this was actually a 6-issue series, but shortened for 3 issues. And that kind of makes the tone of the book, pretty strange and unattached to each other.
Like Last God and Harley Quinn by Conner and Palmiotti, it's a style of story that holds no appeal to me. But, if you like it...awesome!
I feel like dc black label just focus on Batman 24/7 to the point I am just done with black label at least in my opinion.
I think if there were more Superman books under black label, they would sell. Think of the dark story’s the people like.
Can we get some shit went out Batman please!
The Manhunter and Fire "thing" is entirely king's. It has no real meaning outside the usual weird fanfiction from king.
14:27 *AND WALLY WEST AND BOOSTER GOLD* Tom King is gonna ruin the DCU if Gunn's Crush on him is unchecked
Yeah...Wally got done very, very dirty. I can't even look sideways at copies of Heroes In Crisis.
Human Target was excellent.
DC Black Label can be summed up as great art with poor writing. Not 90's Image Comics dumb fun bad writing. Just poor writing masquerading as clever and it's just O. K.
Have you talked about the much maligned All Star Batman and Robin? Whatever one's take is, at least it wasn't representative of mediocrity.
Anyone else tired of mostly DC Comics superhero centric stories? Bring back Vertigo.
honestly not a fan of cliff chiang and greg smallwood's art
I really don't like pastel colours so their work feels more like a my little pony comic with semi realistic looking humans than a 60s era noir with pop art sensibilities or a politically concious take on an existing cast of characters. The semi realistic humans part is what really breaks it for me since I never liked how minimalist in philosophy modern comic art is; say what you will about frank miller especially his work these days but you can't say there's anyone really like him, these two however feel too similar to eachother for me to really appreciate them, which makes me kinda bothered by the comparison to darwyn cooke (who admittedly is VERY similar to bruce timm, but I feel he has enough distinctions towards him that I can distinguish between them)
someone like neal adams is able to do realism and semi realism well in comics since he also incorporates a level of dynamism to his figures, which I feel is more interesting to look at and fits more when used in a superhero book; hirohiko araki I feel is also worth mentioning since I think more american comics people should acknowledge jojo as a good example even if the fanbase make it look bad
don't have much else to ramble about other than they should keep bat characters out of obscure team books because they're like viral infections that slowly take them over
Manhunter and Fire used to flirt back in JLI, that’s where King drew inspiration for their affair
I like your way of reviewing and enjoyed the video. Unfortunately I dont think our taste coincide very well, and you dont seem to react to woke narratives as much. The fact that they have convinced people that all or a majority of men were chauvinists in the past, but were suddenly ridden of it in "modern" times, shows that people dont read or think enough, but just give in to the narrative that they want you to believe in. As for rating, I have Harleen and Three Jokers higher, and Rorschach way lower. I'll probably give Batman The Imposter a chance after your recommendation though so I mightve got something out of it still :)
Hi there. Who does not like Femme fatales?!,,,
Greetings from Germany
Goid news, they're doing a KLF comic. Bad news, Tom King is writing it.
He can't unless he drives an ice cream van.
@@StrangeBrainParts Make mine a 99.
Done!
It's nice to see Tom King criticism that isn't just emotional knee jerk crybabying which is 90% of the reaction his stuff gets without any thought put into the criticism. King is probably the best mainstream writer right now and Miracle Man and his Batman run are comics at their very best.
The best mainstream writer right now is Tom Taylor
Don't humor yourself
Mr. Miracle*
See, I barely know anything about Tom King. That's actually true about most creators. I'm interested in the work and a LOT less about the people behind it.
@@StrangeBrainPartsHe’s a creepy CIA spook
Why were like half of these part of Black Label?
1. Batman The Imposter - A better film than The Batman
2. The Human Target - The ending and some of the characterization are a bit forced but dat art! Ice was also fleshed out in the 00s and got a new X-men-ish origin in the very sold Justice League: Generation Lost in 2010/11.
3. Catwoman: Lonely City - Gets better as it goes on
4. Swamp Thing: Green Hell - Starts better than it ends
5. Suicide Squad: Get Joker! - Starts better than it ends
These are ok
6. Wonder Woman Historia - A better poster book than story. Promethea did this better.
7. The Nice House on the Lake - An ok Netflix pitch
8. Batman: One Dark Knight - Should have been a one-shot
9. Batman vs. Bigby - A fanfic that should have been a one-shot
10. Lobo vs Superman - Why is this part of BL?
Trash:
11. Batman: Reptilian - A low for both creators
I can’t stand Tom King. He writes his main male characters all the same, does a lot of the same tropes and is pretentious. I hope he stays on black label away from main continuity.
He's on Wonder Woman
@@Darkrockmanbeyond yeah…. Well hopefully he won’t write anyone else….
You say that when he’s written amazing titles like Mister Miracle and Up in the Sky.
@Darkrockmanbeyond is it good or did it not come out yet
I remember when I purchased some issues of his Omega Men run, and my mom (RIP) took a look at them and told me, "Whoever wrote this is a hack.", I dismissed it at first, but as time passed...she was absolutely right
I found The Human Target very lackluster. I almost feel like the great art makes you believe you are reading a more interesting and exciting story than what you are until you start thinking about what you just read.
I actually liked the Suicide Squad Get Joker but the last issue had a huge delay, if I remember, and felt really rushed and suspect it had to be rewritten? Whatever happened I agree with this review, I enjoyed the speech from the Joker but other than that the ending was bland. Sort of a shame.