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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Chaos Indeed - Review of Smallville Season 11 volume 8

  

Cover of Smallville Seson 11 volume 8 - Chaos

Review:

This volume collects "Smallville: Harbinger" digital chapters #1-4 and "Smallville: Chaos" digital chapters #1-12. The centerpiece is a reimagining of the run-up to the 1980s classic crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths"

"Chaos" is an apt title for these preludes, as much is happening to our heroes, and none of it is good. Superman and Lois Lane get trapped in other dimensions of the Multiverse, where they witness chaos and destruction. Monitors and Weavers are busy spreading destructive Bleed throughout the multiverse. The 80's antimatter has become the 2010s Bleed, in a clever updating.

Meanwhile on our Earth, a shattered gem is spreading Eclipso clones globally, with a mantra of purging in the name of divine wrath, while Lex Luthor and his yellow-ring-powered mercenary force is seeking to barter with the Monitors before they can destroy our Earth. But is he hero or villain?

Appearances by Booster Gold, Superboy and Supergirl (in sensible pants not a mini-skirt, as the characters comment on too often), and the billionaire-businessmen behind Blue Beetle and Mr. Terrific round out the roster of good guys.

For all the potential, all the promising pieces on our board, the Chaos storyline is outdone by the warm-up act of Harbinger - itself a nod to the 1980s Crisis. This time it's Zatanna and John Constantine, among others. It is the most fun of the collection, with several brilliant twists in the plot, and with strong, consistent visuals that play with the magic/non-magic sides of this coin.

The main event, the Chaos story, pales by contrast. It is filled with chaos and danger, yes, but fails to capture the reader's interest. The cuts between subplots are often rough, and inelegant, especially around Eclipso, while the visuals lack the consistency needed to tie it all together.

In the end, this falls well short of the Crisis name and universe-shaping power of the original storyline, and loses marks for its failed effort to leverage that classic. One and a half capes.


Description:

The fight for the universe comes to a climax in this penultimate chapter of the Smallville saga!

Lois Lane’s newest assignment for The Daily Planet takes her to the Antarctic headquarters of the Holt/Kord Supercollider Project; but unbeknownst to Lois, Kord Industries has a new last-second investor—and Lex Luthor always has an ulterior motive. When the facility is sabotaged, the supercollider causes a bleed in the multiverse itself, stranding Lois—along with Superman—on a parallel Earth!

Collects: Smallville Season 11: Chaos #1-4 and Smallville Season 11 Special: Harbinger

Authors: Bryan Q. Miller
Artists: Agustin Padilla, Daniel HDR
Published By: DC Comics
Published When: May 31 2016
Parental Rating: PG
ISBN: 9781401261597


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