Deathblow #9 - WildStorm

I enjoy this series. I really do. And Deathblow is one of my favorite WildStorm characters. However, on this story, I think they got "out there" a little bit with this whole US and THEM story-line. Don't get me wrong. I think Brian Azzarello is a genius. I just think they kind of took this character in a different direction than what we're normally used to seeing him in. Which, again, is fine. The WildStorm universe was reborn not to long ago, and long time characters weren't necessarily go in the same direction as before. Believe me, I'm all about change. The more you shake things up . . the better. But, that being said, I just think that this direction didn't quite fit this character the way they wanted it to. Do you know what I mean? He just seemed a bit . . out of his element. But now, at the end of this story . . . he's finally dead. Or I should say . . dead again. We'll have to wait and see if it sticks this time though. However, there may be some future story-lines coming out of this one too. In the end, Michael blows up this bomb that's a gen-activator. So, in the aftermath, there's all kinds of hero's and villains popping up around the city. I really liked this book. But, it looks like this may be the end . . for the foreseeable future. I'm sure we'll see Brian and Carlos D'Anda in other books. Their talent is just to big to not show up someplace else. So far now, I guess we'll say goodbye to Michael. But as his friend at the end of the book says, as he's talking to his grave-stone, "Fer a man like you? Death blows Mistah Cray . . . ."

Deathblow #8 - WildStorm

Carlos D'Anda is finally back on the pencils this month, but it looks like it may be his swan song, because I think there's only one issue to go. Either that, or they may just start a new story-arc with a new creative team in April or May. But right now, issue #9 is supposed to come out in February, and it's the last issue listed. But with this issue, Michael is finally to the point where he's ready to start asking the hard questions. Everything he thought he came back to turned out to be a lie. And now . . . it's all gone. So all he has left is his training . . . what his purpose in life seems to be . . . . the killing of others. Or more specifically THEM. I'm not sure what the acronym stands for, but it's who THEY are fighting. He tries to save Jump, but it's questionable how effective he was. And the Dino-bot has the Gen-bomb. And we're really not sure what his intentions are yet either. But he definitely seems to be a bit . . . bent, I guess is the best word. So Michael is taking the war to THEM. The questions he's starting to ask are, "Why was I held prisoner for six years? From what I remember, while there, I died . . . 3 times. I died. And then I lived. Why? Or is it how? I need to know . . . or so help me I'm gonna start a war." And as he jumps on the Dino-bot, with guns blazing, the issue concludes. I really like Brian Azzarello's writing style, but, it's always the final chapter of the story before you really start to understand how everything all fits together. So next issue . . . we should have some answers. And they'll come . . . right before the end.

Deathblow #7 - WildStorm

Well I'm glad to see that Carlos D'anda is back on the pencilling chores with this issue. I'm not sure what the deal was with the fill in the last couple of months, but . . we're back on track now. This story with the dogs is a little confusing though. Apparently their agency is called U.S. Not sure what it stands for though. And their nemesis is T.H.E.M. Again, no clue what that stands for. All I know is that the operatives for U.S., appear to be the dogs. And T.H.E.M. . . . . is the humans? This is where I'm a little fuzzy. Anyways, Deathblow is in the sewers fighting killer rats. I know. All rats are killers. But these rats . . . were specifically programmed to do so. And they have lasers . . . and bombs . . . and all kind of stuff. His fight is being monitored by . . . . someone . . . who decides to send in " . . the Mother Lode!". Shortly thereafter, a missle comes flying towards Cray. But it's kind of small, so he grabs ahold, and rides it out. At least until he can point it at a wall so it'll explode. But then something else comes through the wall. I thought the missle was the "Mother Lode". Apparently I was wrong. It's looks like the "Mother Lode" is a really nasty looking cyborg . . . dinosaur? Maybe I'm just lost because it's been a while since I read the last issue. But I really am a little clueless about what's going on. So I guess I can't really say whether I like the story or not. But . . . I do like the art. I think Carlos is an incredible talent. I just hope the next issue helps straighten me out. I guess, we'll see.

Deathblow #6 - WildStorm

Ok, my first observations about the artistic team of Carlos D'anda and Henry Flint . . . was wrong. These two are working very well together. And there really are some amazing panels in this book. I guess I jumped to judgement because of how different the style was from the other stuff Carlos has done of late. But now . . . I really think it works for this book. Michael is working with this dogie militia right now. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because Mr. Jiminy was nice to him when the Govt. put him up in the apartment with his fake wife and kids. Maybe it was because Mr. Jiminy warned him that his kids were actually assassins in young looking bodies. Or maybe Michael just likes dogs. Anyways, he's working with them, and this issue they go after a doctor. They want to kidnap him for some reason. But before they can, a gen-active, who looks like a homeless guy, pops in and takes the doctor for himself. Later he comes back for Michael because they want to know who he's working for " . . . us or them?". The guy talking to him works for the UNDERGROUND. I'd tell you what the acronym stands for . . . . but it's way, way to long. But the Govt. is watching their meeting place, and when they realize it, the UNDERGROUND guy, and the teleporter take off. Which leaves Michael alone in the tunnel with a hoard of combat ready . . . rats. That's all we get for now though. You'll just have to carry that image of the rats crawling all over him in your head until next issue comes out. This was a great story by Brian Azzarello. And like I said, I'm really starting to dig the art.

Deathblow #5 - WildStorm

This issue is basically the aftermath of last issue. You know the one where his kids went in to their toy chest and brought out semi-automatic weapons. Anyways, I guess when he was attacked, he went into super-soldier mode. Basically turned off everything. Except the response to the threat. It turns out that the kids. . . weren't his kids. Duh!! Actually they weren't even kids. According to Mister Jiminy, the dog that's been talking to Mike, "Johnny was 52 years old. Martha was 47." He also tells him, " . . . during the cold war? The governors did a lot of creepy experiments. You ever meet a talking dog before?" Anyways the cops found the scene. But there wasn't much to make of it. Just blood everywhere. But then Mister Jiminy shows up and drops a cell phone. Only it's not. Actually it's a flash grenade to destroy all the evidence. The problem is, he didn't get there before the cops did. So now he has to take him to the rest of his operatives, also canine, to try to find a place for him to hide. We also see General Ruckus talking to Ivana. It seems that he knows about everything. The kids. The talking dog. Everything. So now they just have to figure out what they're going to do to clean up this whole mess. Cool story by Brian Azzarello. And I wasn't sure about Henry Flint's inks over Carlos D'Anda's pencils, last issue. But now . . . . I gotta say I like the result. This is a cool character, and I like what they're doing with him.

Deathblow #4 - WildStorm

Is that a cool cover, or what? Brian Azzarello writes this book, so you know that it's going to have long, thought out story-lines. That's his forte. But I like it because you don't learn to much to quick, and the anticipation builds. I also like Carlos D'anda's pencils. He has his own unique style, and it definitely fits this book. Now this issue, Henry Flint does the pencils. I really like Henry's style when he's on pencils. And I think that him and Carlos blend well with Henry's inks. My only criticism, and it's just my personal point of view, is that both their styles are so unique, and so far apart from each other, that I think Henry's inks overpower Carlos' pencils. Don't get me wrong, they look good together. But, I think some of Carlos' style is lost in the interpretation. You see more of Henry's sharp edges coming through. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if we're going to lean more towards Henry's style, then why not just have him as the penciller? Just an observation. Anyways nice book. We see some more of Deathblow's extra-curricular activities. And his handlers are getting closer to figuring out what's going on. We find out that the kids that were posing as his kids, have a toy-box full of automatic weapons in their room. The best line of the book though is when the woman that's posing as his wife is dressed in this skimpy little maids outfit. She's basically throwing herself at him, while he's watching TV, but he's not responding. He knocks her out of the way, and she crawls back and has her self positioned on her knees between his legs. As she wraps her arms around his legs, she looks up at him and says, "Daddy . . . are you gay?" To which he responds, "No. I have a bet on this game." That's fantastic. I love Brian's style, and I love the feel that he's giving this book.

Deathblow #3 - Wildstorm

I can't get no satisfaction. At least that's what Michael Cray seems to be saying to himself these days. After they rescued him from his prison cell, they put him back in gen-pop. In a manner of speaking. Actually they put him into a suburban nightmare. Supposedly his wife is dead, but the girl that's the nanny resembles her so much that Michael doesn't know the difference. He also has 2 grown kids, that he hardly remembers. The nightmare comes from his inactivity, and the vanilla lifestyle. So, after talking to the neighbor's dog, he decides to take matters in to his own hands and become a vigilante. And it seems to be taking the edge off. But he's much more . . . . . enthusiastic about it, than he should be. Very hands on. He's all over the media, and now they have a security video of him. Not being very discreet, is he? At least he has a cape and hood on. But then one of his kids goes in to wake him the next morning, and finds him, and his shredded costume on the ground, covered in blood. So the little boy comes out and tells the little girl, "I think we need to call the general." So it looks like this whole homogeneous lifestyle has been a setup. I wondered how long it was going to take him to figure that out. Anyways, pretty cool book. Great story, and fantastic art. They're definitely doing this one right.

Deathblow #2 - Wildstorm

This is a cool book. Last issue, the govt. inadvertently rescued Michael Cray, aka Deathblow, from a foreign prison. Sort of. More of a gulag, really. Anyways, they went there for someone else, but accidentally killed him. So they couldn't go home empty handed. They looked around a little bit, and found Deathblow. They took him straight to Guantanamo bay for debriefing. Now, with this issue, they're trying to put him back into civilization. I don't think they're necessarily trying to get rid of him. I think they're just scared of what he's capable of. So, I guess, while debriefing him, they also did some subliminal suggestions, to try to keep him calm, and with no desire to get involved in any kind of conflict. Well he's staying out of trouble, but, he also knows there's something wrong. He's not responding to situations the way he normally would. He's so bothered by this that he has a hallucinatory conversation with the neighbors dog. From the looks of the final pages, it appears that he's going to attempt to take on the role of some kind of masked vigilante. Oh yeah, he also got pushed over the edge a little bit, when they took him to introduce him to his kids, which he barely remembers, and then they told him that his wife had been killed. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

Deathblow #1 - Wildstorm

First of all, this book is written by Brian Azzarello. And anybody who knows me knows that this is probably my favorite author right now. Well. . . . . actually. . . . . ever since 100 Bullets started. His work is complex, thought provoking and full of fresh innovative ideas. He really pulls you into the story. On this book, he is accompanied by Carlos D'Anda on pencils. I've liked his work in the past, but on this book, it looks like Brian and Carlos are gonna' fit like a new pair of sneakers. If Brian's past work is any indication, Carlos' pencils will get better and better every issue, as Brian, or more importantly his stories, really seem to bring out the creative juices in his cohorts. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of new heights they reach with this book. The U.S. Govt. has gone to Hindu Kush, or more specifically Az' Aralo, nice play on a name there Brian, which is a training and prison camp. They are there to procure the release of a U.S. hero, whom they end up killing by accident in their zealousness. Well, they can't go home empty handed, so they find the next best suitor whom happens to be Michael Cray, Deathblow. "I've been presumed dead for 6 years. You might say I work black-ops, but you'd be nine shades too light describing what I do." They then take him back to Gitmo for debriefing. I think what the twist on this incarnation is going to be, is that the world he's come home to, may not "fit" him anymore. And it may not be able to handle him. This could prove to be an interesting ride for Brian, Carlos and "Michael Cray".