Faces of Evil: Kobra #1

Overall- One of the problems about not growing up as a fan of DC comics is that there are still a few obscure characters that I really have no idea about... I can only recall reading one thing involving Kobra, and that was the "Flash" comic books where Kobra wanted to destroy Keystone City, or some such super-villain shenanigans. Flash, Max Mercury, JSA Flash, Jesse Quick(Liberty Belle)and Impulse wound up defeating Kobra that day.

Since then, I can't say I recall reading anything about Kobra. For the most part, this comic wanted to set-up a new Kobra(the twin brother of the original Kobra(?))as a sneaky villain who would strike through terrorist activities at the heroes of the DCU, before disappearing back into the shadows. I like the premise, but there is no way I can even begin to explain the convoluted story about the two Kobra's and Kali Yuga(what ever that is). What I took from this comic book was that the new Kobra won't be working with a large group of henchmen like the old Kobra did, but will be operating almost solo, along with a few fanatics who are willing to take their own lives when told to.

Overall, like I said, I really don't know much about the earlier version(s) of Kobra and this issue did little to explain who/what the old Kobra was all about. Ignoring the stuff I didn't understand though, this was an OK story, deserving of a score of 5 1/2 out of 10. I'll probably do some research into the earlier Kobra now, in order to gain a better understanding of who/what he was.

Faces of Evil: Solomon Grundy

Overall- Is it sacrilegious to say that I didn't enjoy something written by Geoff Johns? It's not? Whew... Anyway, I just never really got into this comic. Basically, the premise was that Solomon Grundy is sharing(?)the same body as his original human self, Cyrus Gold. For some reason, upon his latest resurrection, Cyrus Gold was reborn, not the nearly mindless Solomon Grundy.

Cyrus winds up getting run over by a truck after a confrontation with the cops and dies, and is reborn as Solomon Grundy this time... Wha-huh? Solomon then fights Killer Croc over who owns the sewers of Gotham City(or some such nonsense). Grundy defeats Croc, and winds up standing in front of the grave of his human form, Cyrus Gold... Damn am I confused... Grundy then transforms into Cyrus and is confronted by the Stranger and Alan Scott, who speak cryptically, possibly about the upcoming "Blackest Night" as the comic ends.

Um, yeah, wow, I was lost reading this comic book... Why was Grundy suddenly being reborn as Cyrus Gold? From everything I'd ever read about Solomon Grundy, I can't say I recall him ever coming back to life as Cyrus Gold... Since Geoff Johns was the writer of this comic, I'm guessing that this all had something to do with the upcoming "Blackest Night" crossover Geoff is responsible for. If anyone cares to shed some light on what this comic was all about, by all means, do so! Until then, I'd have to give this comic a 4 out of 10.

Faces of Evil: Deathstroke #1

Overall- I liked this comic, but I was hoping for a little bit more from it. But alas, allow me to elaborate. This comic book picks up where DC Universe: Last Will and Testament left off. Deathstroke has been nearly fatally wounded after his encounter with Geo-Force, and is recuperating at Belle Reve prison. It seems that Slade has lost the will to live and has forced his healing factor to work in reverse, in effect, slowly killing himself. Slade asks to see his daughter Ravager(Rose Wilson)one final time before he kicks the bucket.

Rose doesn't buy the fact that her father has suddenly become suicidal, but goes to see him anyway. Slade is alone in a wheelchair looking out of a supposedly unbreakable window when Rose arrives. Upon entering Slade's room, Rose immediately breaks the controls for the door, making it impossible for anyone to enter or exit the room. She then walks up behind Slade with a plastic garrote and begins to strangle the life out of him, not believing for a second that Slade doesn't have some type of escape plan in mind, and wanting to spare the world from Slade's next evil act.

It turns out Rose is right, and Slade has orchestrated the entire meeting with Rose as a means to escape. After turning the tables on Rose, Slade manages to break the supposedly unbreakable window(I guess they just don't make then like they used to...)and hijack a military helicopter that was there to prevent Slade from escaping... Whoops! Slade decides by the end of this issue that #1, he will no longer murder for hire, he will kill whoever he feels deserves it, hero or villain and #2, that he will create a new family, one who will not betray him, and one that he can shape and mold in any way he deems fit.

I'm an unabashed fan of Deathstroke. As far as villains go, he's definitely one of the deepest/best in my eyes. With that said, I was hoping for just a little bit more from this comic. That's not to say I didn't enjoy reading this book, because I really did, but I just wanted a little more... I'd guess that Deathstroke is planning on creating a Titans East sort of team again, meaning a group of impressionable kids he can mold into his "family" as he put it. All in all, I'd recommend this comic and I'll give it a score of 8 out of 10. Like I said, I liked this comic alot, but there was just SOMETHING missing...

Quick thoughts on Faces of Evil: Prometheus #1

Overall- Eh, this comic really didn't do anything for me. The main gist of this book was to show that the villain Prometheus was not the loser that he had been written as for the past couple of years, but was actually still a credible threat to the heroes of the DC Universe. We learn here that the original Prometheus has been locked up in Blackgate prison for the past two years after being defeated by the JLA. During that defeat, the Martian Manhunter messes with Prometheus' head, leaving Prometheus a near mindless, drooling vegetable. When the Martian Manhunter is killed by Libra though, Prometheus snaps out of his trance and escapes the prison. He then hunts down the criminal who had taken his weapon and name and kills him. With that, the original Prometheus is free to continue with his crusade against justice and order.

I actually liked the way DC went about changing Prometheus' past without REALLY changing anything. By saying a copycat was the inept Prometheus of recent years frees DC up to claim that the original Prometheus is still a major threat. In other words, ignore all of Prometheus' recent appearances and only pay attention to his early appearances, where he was nearly able to defeat the entire JLA. Even though I did appreciate the way DC retconned much of Prometheus' past, I just never really got into this story. Prometheus' origin was pretty stupid(his parents wanted to be Bonnie and Clyde? Because they died, Prometheus wanted to revenge himself on the entire justice system?!? Please...)and Prometheus himself seemed to be a pretty one-dimensional, uninteresting villain. The best villains are complex people who you can almost understand/sympathise with, while Prometheus seemed about as complex as third grade math. It's primarily for this reason that I'm going to give this comic a score of 5 out of 10. This comic didn't really interest me in Prometheus at all, and if anything, seeing him sitting in prison as a drooling vegetable hurt his reputation in my eyes more than anything. Even though Prometheus did wind up regaining his mental faculties, I'll always remember the image of him drooling all over himself while sitting in his prison cell.