DC 4 - The Malta Comic Con

Wonder Woman by William Moessner-Loebs reviewed by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsNovember 2, 20210Comments

This is a weird book. I really wanted to like this book. Wonder Woman, I find, has had an....interesting.... history in DC Comics. Unlike Batman and Superman, there have only been a handful of iconic stories from her entire bibliography. Sadly, it can easily be seen here why. William Moessner-Loebs gives Diana plenty of personality, as…

The Suicide Squad film review by Raphael Borg

Movies, ReviewsAugust 5, 20210Comments

When they first announced a quasi-sequel to the poorly put-together but brilliantly casted original Suicide Squad movie, I was relieved. The other entire concept of the squad - the expendables of the DC universe, essentially - were too good to go to waste. Handled by James Gunn and being allowed to truly go off the…

Ben Percy’s Green Arrow review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsAugust 5, 20210Comments

The greatest Green Arrow stories are those in which he is treated like a modern-day Robin Hood, both a loudmouth political windbag with a gritty manner of dispensing justice as well as a cynical, flamboyant, swashbuckling hero. In an effort for revitalising the character in DC rebirth, Ben Percy and his team try for a…

Shazam: The Seven Magic Lands reviewed by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsJuly 20, 20210Comments

No-one reinvents mythologies like Geoff Johns; to me, by now, it is a given. Out of all of his books, however, the writing in Shazam: The Seven Magic Lands does slip into being blatant in what is being said rather than complex character writing. It does, however, in my opinion, serve the narrative, as it…

Batman: Earth One reviewed by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsJuly 12, 20210Comments

How do you reinvent a legend? While the origins of Batman have been told ad nauseam with varying degrees of success, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's take on Batman's lore in Batman: Earth One is perhaps the most "real" of more recent takes, highlighting how much of a journey Bruce Wayne had to undertake to shift…

Trinity review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsJune 22, 20210Comments

I must admit with all the buzz around Matt Wagner's Trinity when I was younger I expected something a little more along the lines of a reflection upon the relationship between DC's big three. It is by no means a bad read - it is, in fact, a swift read and keeps you engrossed all the…

Superman For All Seasons review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsJune 15, 20210Comments

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's "Superman For All Seasons" is best described, I believe, as a simple masterpiece. It doesn't try to be a grand story with sprawling action scenes or a mind-boggling thriller or a deconstruction of the Man of Steel. It is a simple retelling of a life, Clark Kent's early life as Superman…

Aquaman: Death of a Prince review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsMay 11, 20210Comments

I must admit I was rather disappointed going through this. While I in no way under normal circumstances find Aquaman or his world boring, I was ready to read something that took what it was dealing with a little more seriously. It strangely reminds me of Batman: A Death in the Family. They are alike…

Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume 1-3 review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsMarch 22, 20210Comments

While I normally find Grant Morrison's work thoroughly thought-provoking and compelling (and often migraine inducing), the three volumes of Wonder Woman: Earth One proved a much more of a slog to get through, ironically enough. That is not to say it is bad per se - by any extent of the imagination, it is would…

JLA/Avengers review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsMarch 9, 20210Comments

Although the narrative is relatively simplistic - two factions caught in a game brought about by two gambling entities from opposing universes - Kurt Busiek and George Perez's JLA/Avengers four-issue miniseries delivers a crossover between the DC and Marvel universe in a way the actual DC versus Marvel failed to deliver. While the latter was…

Justice review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsSeptember 9, 20200Comments

Justice by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Doug Braithwaite accomplishes the feat of paying tribute to a number of iconic DC stories - from Green Lantern becoming Parallax, to Crisis on Infinite Earths, to the Death of A Prince storyline from Aquaman and many others - and knits them into a beautifully-illustrated, quasi-cohesive narratives in…

Green Lantern Corps review by Raphael Borg

Comics, ReviewsJuly 6, 20200Comments

Rather than focus on one single member of the corps, Patrick Gleason and Dave Gibbons' Green Lantern Corps dispersed its focus among its members creating what is best described as "Apocalypse Now", "We Were Soldiers" or even "Jarhead" in Space. It elevated the corps' status from one of a peace-keeping force to one of a…