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ty-talks-comics · 4 years

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Best of DC: Week of February 19th, 2020

Best of this Week: DCeased: Unkillables #1 - Tom Taylor, Karl Mostert, Trevor Scott, Neil Edwards, John Livesay, Rex Lokus and Saida Temofonte

Ahhh shit, here we go again. DCeased was awesome.

In much the same way that the original Marvel Zombies filled my heart with dread, DCeased absolutely blew my mind with the short six issues that it took place in. It was equal parts violent and heartbreaking as the heroes of Earth had to figure out a way to either stop the Anti-Life virus or die trying. We had a good spin off with the single issue, A Good Day to Die and now we have Unkillables, another spin off focusing on some of the more violent heroes and villains while the events of the main series unfold elsewhere.

The book begins on the first day of the Anti-Life virus being released as Deathstroke finds himself on a job in Kentucky. Throughout the original story, I did kinda wonder what people like him or the other assassins were up to, given that we saw a select number of other dead supervillains throughout like Giganta and Clayface. As Tom Taylor and Karl Mostert unfold the story we see that Slade Wilson was killing some infected Neo-Nazis before an attempt to renegotiate his price ends with him infected too.

Mostert and Taylor set this opening up in a very comedic way with the white supremacits running from something in the local church as Deathstroke looks on, puzzled as to why they’re running before taking a few out before heading inside. Mostert, Rex Lokus and I think Trevor Scott then give us an awesome single page of Slade facing down a horde of zombies with only his gun and a bloody sword. He looks like a badass and, in the following panels, proves it by killing them with ease.

Mostert doesn’t shy away from Slade’s brutal violence and shows how fluidly he can kill with dynamic poses as he shoots and slices multiple enemies at once. This accentuated by the excellently colored spurts of blood from the zombies and the gory detail of blood on the walls. There’s even a really good panel of one of the zombies being cut in half with Scott inking the silhouette as their blood and insides drip down. Even better is when Slade gets infected and violently rips his mask off before coming back to his senses while choking a guy.

Tom Taylor introduces a unique aspect here as Deathstroke returns to normal on the second day of the virus being introduced. As we learn later, it’s due to Slade’s unique super soldier DNA that allows him to fight off the infection, effectively being immune to a point. I can definitely see this being a double edged sword for him as the infection seems to last for a day before being purged from his system. This makes him unique amongst both the heroes and villains of Earth as maybe a potential savior.

I’d also like to praise Saida Temofonte for her amazing lettering as well. She does an amazing job, not only with word balloons, but with captions that have a bloody background and the typefaces she uses for sound effects. For the most part, they fit the gruesomeness of the story with intense and bloody BANGs to eerie RRRRRRs, signaling the incoming zombies. Deathstroke’s scream as he claws his own face is intense, scratchy and blood curling until we get an AMAZING title page with names filling the empty space.

As things progress, we cut to Jason Todd in the Batcave. The silence is eerie as we get one small “spsh” sound as Jason steps through the blood trail of Bruce, Tim and Dick. Unfortunately, this seems to take place shortly after the events of DCeased #2 when an infected Dick and Tim attack and infect Batman, leaving Alfred to kill them all. Jason, like most readers, is shocked because he thought Bruce would have found a way to survive and then he’s met by Ace the Bathound. After letting Ace see that he’s not infected, Jason proceeds to make graves for his brothers and father before speeding off in the Batmobile to find the rest of his family with Ace.

These scenes are powerful as Jason, normally the black sheep of the family, has to deal with the fact that he’s one of few left. Why wasn’t Bruce prepared? Why was he the one left and not Dick or Tim? Damian’s still alive in Metropolis, but effectively, Jason is all alone. Mostert and I believe Neil Edwards show Jason’s love for his family as he carves out wooden headstones and buries them in the cave. Without a word of dialogue, this speaks volumes about Jason’s love for his family.

Elsewhere in Gotham, Ravager, Rose Wilson with a missing eye, unlike her main continuity counterpart, is curled up in her apartment in fear. The zombies are pounding on her door when Slade radios in and tells her it’s time to escape. Rose has the ability to see into the future in short bursts and sees that everytime she goes for the door, Zombies come through and kill her. Deathstroke, however, has a plan. As a side note, it’s great to see Rose in gear similar to what she wore in Geoff Johns’ “Teen Titans” while also complementing Deathstroke’s current armor.

Unfortunately for Deathstroke, as he keeps his eyes to the sky, he sees the terror that is an infected Man-Bat flying at him with a terrifying SCReeeee as he crashes through the window and smashes the plane on the roof Rose runs to her dad and, believing him to be infected, plunges her sword through his chest and he screams “Ow.” This scene is pure comedy made even better by the dramatic rain and fire in the background. Soon after, Mirror Master, Evan McCulloch, shows up offering them help.

I don’t know what the reason is for using the Scottish version of the character, but it doesn’t really matter as the representation of the Mirror Dimension is still cool as hell. While wearing special glasses that block signals, they walk through the dimension and Mostert draws an epic depiction of it with all of the violence, gore and death through the many mirrors while the characters look miniscule compared to the vastness of it all. The Mirror Dimension has always been terrifying and McCulloch could do a lot to solve the problem, but it makes sense that he doesn’t. Cause it’s terrifying.

After many pages, we arrive at the rest of the stars (fodder) of the series in Vandal Savage, Solomon Grundy, The Creeper, Cheetah, Lady Shiva, Bane, Deadshot and Captain Cold. I do have a bit of a continuity issue as Cold was shown to have been one of the Infected during the events of “A Good Place to Die,” but alternatively this series could explain how he got there or, much like that story, it’s off base with what’s happening in the main pages. But some of these additions are pretty interesting to say the very least.

Savage is near immortal, but has been shown to have been killed before. There’s a high chance that using Deathstroke, he’ll find a way to cure and rule over the people of the Earth after the heroes leave. Grundy is already dead, so can he get infected? The Creeper is much like Deathstroke in that he can heal from anything, so it makes sense that he’s managed to survive. Cheetah is strong and fast, but I don’t rate her chances high and the rest, while immensely skilled, are still just human. This is a ragtag group, but they’re not averse to getting the job done by any means.

The rest of the issue focuses on Jason Todd and his fight to rescue the remaining members of the Batfamily. Mostert, Lokus and John Livesay give readers an awesome assault on the Gotham PD with Cassandra Cain as Black Bat, James Gordon and Harvey Bullock fighting back against the zombies. Cass awesomely kicks and knees zombies in the background while Harvey and Jim shoot them. I LOVED Cass as Batgirl/Black Bat and it was awesome to see the return of the iconic costume and a character that I like so much.

Of course, Temofonte thrills with the lettering here again. She sells the panic in both Jim and Bullock as they fight off the horde as well as the frankness of Bullock as he has to break it to Jim that Blck Bat is the only one coming. The static-y bubbles that she uses on Bullock when he gets infected is also amazing and saddening, but gets even worse when Cass has to “CRCK” his neck to kill him. Soon after, Jason plows through the GCPD in the Batmobile with a “CRNNNCH” that shrinks around the vehicle.

Jason rescues Cass and Jim after shooting the remaining zombies in the head and plans to get the hell out of dodge. Jim, still holding out on the idea of hope, tells Jason that Barbara is still out there somewhere, but Jason, knowing that it’s no longer the time to keep secrets, reveals his and Cass’ identities and shows Jim that Barb is dead. He then takes the haggard detective to her last known location and Mostert and Lokus sell the utter despair of the scene.

Infected versions of Barb, Stephanie Brown, Batwoman and Catwoman were killed by Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn in Issue #3 of DCeased (if I remember right). This scene of James finding his daughter is depressingly grey and his facial expressions show us just how painful this is for him. He’s lost just about everything and cries in his grief. Jason, however, finds the dead body of the Joker and ties him to the front of the Batmobile before they all make their escape to Bludhaven.

This first issue of a three part miniseries already has me as excited as the original story did. I love each of the characters being used, the callbacks to past history and the way that everyone is being written. Each of these violent characters sees that there’s no need to hold back anymore as the regular rules are tossed out of the window. Everyone now has different amounts of pain and grief to deal with while others have different hopes of power or a cure. Ultimately, I don’t think things will end ultra well given the events of the main series, but I have no doubts that this will stand on its own.

Tom Taylor continues to be excellent when writing the despair and tragedies of DCeased and lifting up lesser characters, like The Creeper. His scripting and dialogue are a joy to read and I really feel like he’s got a grasp on everyone. Karl Mostert brings their all to this book with awesome panels and scenes that make readers want to wince, but look again to see the utter brutality of what they’re witnessing. His art is stellar. The various inkers definitely bring it to life alongside Lokus’ vibrant colors and Temofonte’s amazing letters.

I’m already gleefully anticipating the next issue and it more than justifies the $5.99 price, high recommend!

Also, y'know, support me on Patreon: patreon.com/TyTalksComics

#dceased #dceased unkillables #jason todd #cassandra cain #james gordon #deathstroke #rose wilson #tom taylor #karl mostert #rex lokus #saida temofonte #dc comics #comic books #comics #zombies

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carolinaare · 7 years

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I ended up booking the best Airbnb in the best location ever. Hip, weird, close to the main city area but special in its own kind, here’s what to do in Fitzroy, Melbourne’s part Brooklyn, part Shoreditch neighbourhood.

BREAKFAST

Proud Mary’s

Melbourne is a mecca for coffee lovers so I momentarily threw my zero caffeine lifestyle in the bin and had some amazing flat whites. Proud Mary’s is THE place where you should have one – creamy but not too much, perfect size, perfect amount of caffeine. The space is always busy and lively but never noisy.

Proud Mary’s are coffee specialist who brew their special batch and ship it all over Australia so if you haven’t tried it, you’ve missed out.

Donut Shop Fitzroy

Unfortunately I wasn’t chosen to be Idris Elba’s Valentine in the wonderful competition that was Omaze so I decided to eat a lot of doughnuts to drown the pain in jammy carbs. Donut Shop in Fitzroy came to my rescue with unique doughnuts that tasted incredible without being overpowering. Think passion fruit glaze, or black sesame glaze with coconut cream filling, or ginger and rhubarb. Idris definitely won’t look at me now with all this extra doughnut fat in my belly.

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Sad face after not being picked to be Idris’s Valentine.

Coconut filling with black sesame glaze

Rhubarb jelly

LUNCH

Vegie Bar

I sometimes eat healthy too. I know right? Shocker. Well, Vegie Bar was a great option for a healthy lunch that didn’t make me want to go for doughnuts straight after. I had a fresh and filling lettuce salad with roast pumpkin and yummy crouton style crispy sushi rice cubes which you should really get if you’re in the area. Smoothies are totally yummy too and so are all the cakes and parfait on offer. Oh and did I mention they make vegan pizza?

DINNER

Easey’s

Now let’s get back to bacon cause that’s the food of Gods and what you all want to hear about anyway: enter Easey’s. This incredibly cool restaurant is situated on a Collingwood rooftop by the defaced pregnant Beyoncé mural on Easey Street and its main characteristic is that it is basically a dining room made out of a train carriage.

The space is tiny and it gets busy, so book in advance. For amazing sunset views grab a drink in between carriages before your meal, then go sit down for your chance to eat in a New York style venue with Melbourne views.

So I’m just gonna put it out there and say that I’ve had the best burger in my life at Easey’s, probably also thanks to bacon, which I added as an extra. The bun was tender and spongy, but not crumbly. The meat was cooked just enough. The cheese was runny. Salt was on point. The bacon was as crispy as it gets. Overall, a winning mix. I topped it all up with a side of fries and mac n’cheee coming in the same plate and topped up with crumbly pretzels, which all sounds very weird and unhealthy but damn it tasted good.

Little Hop

Beers and tacos are what this tiny Brunswick Street eatery is all about. Their fish taco is tiny but tasty enough to get you through a night of bar crawls without feeling hungry and costs only $5. The staff are friendly and there to help with recommendation. It’s a true style beet and tequila bar and a badass taqueria, so what can go wrong?

DRINKS

Naked for Satan

Hands down my favourite place in Melbourne. Aside from an giving me an awesome idea for a butt tattoo, Naked for Satan has the best views of Melbourne at sunset and all day round – from the lit skyline to the busy Brunswick Street. No reservation and the slowest lift in the world might deter you from going up to the rooftop, but do go, grab yourself a Naked Lager or a cocktail if that’s your vibe and breathe in the chill, magic vibes this place has.

Black Pearl

This New Orleans style cocktail bar was actually born before Pirates of the Caribbean became a thing and not only drinks here are incredible, the staff have a heart of gold, too. Every year they pose naked with hilarious results for a themed sexy calendar, the profits of which go to charity. This year they went to Beyond Blue, researching mental health and raising awareness of depression and anxiety.

Kent St

Now featuring a drawing by my absolute favourite current artist Celeste Mountjoy (aka Filthyratbag), Kent St is a relaxing, random boozer with an amazing “No jerks” lager and attitude. The staff legit give people hell if they’re being annoying but always with a smile on their lips. It’s the best place for a nightcap.

SHOP

Vintage Garage

A Vintage emporium from heaven, selling denim, pin up clothes, leotards and Madonna style spiky boob outfits. I would have bought the whole place if I only could.

Rose Chong Costumiers

Most of Rose Chong’s costumes are for hire but the shop is so colourful it’s a real pleasure to just walk in and get some party/disguise material. Or a crazy dog lady playsuit from the sales rail.

SEE

Street Art

Melbourne is THE place in Australia for graffiti. No wonder Banksy’s exhibition was held here. Take a street art tour or walk around the CBD’s laneways and Fitzroy’s streets for some of the most beautiful graffiti you will ever see.

Melbourne Museum

Skip the natural history and science bits if you’ve already seen your fair share of science museums and head to the aboriginal art and history section for a stark reminder of what colonisation did Australia’s original population. A must-see.

Pictures: Carolina Are

Melbourne: Fitzroy & Collingwood As I mentioned in my previous post, I ended up booking the best Airbnb in the best location ever.

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