
DC Comics 2016
Birdman
Written by Jeff Parker
Illustrated by Steve Rude
Coloured by Steve Buccellato
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
Herculoids
Written by Jeff Parker
Penciled by Aaron Lopresti
Inked by Karl Kesel
Coloured by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Dave Lanphear
An earth-shattering power has come to life in the jungles of South America, and Team Quest and Birdman race the forces of F.E.A.R. to reach it first! There they find time ripped apart in a lost valley where dinosaurs and cavemen run wild once more as the ancient legend of Mightor is revealed! Only the shipwrecked aliens Jan and Jace hold the secrets of what fate awaits our world, but as a force led by Jezebel Jade attacks, what new hero will rise?
So before we get back into the main action it’s time to see how Birdman became involved in all this. It’s a good back story with how Birdman and Miss Sumadi hooked up came to be at the Quest compound. For a lot of people who may only know Birdman through Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law he does have a larger, longer history. So it’s nice to see him as he was intended once again.
I have to say way go Steve because he’s got this Hanna Barbera style down pat and it looks awesome. The flow of the story the way he uses his powers the whole tone, look and feel of the work he brings to this reminds me of my youth. It’s wonderful to see such a nice respect and talent in bringing this to the world.
The story is great for bringing the two into this madness and how they encounter this creature before they joined with Quest. It gives the reader a great opportunity to get to know him and his powers. Not to mention his and Miss Sumadi’s personalities. It’s a great flashback to see how they met and how embroiled in this madness.
We’ve seen the Herculoids already but honestly it’s never enough and the second story here goes back a tad further to right before they had that fight that sent some of them through the vortex. First thing you notice with this is Aaron’s interiors. He ups the work so that the characters still maintain their signature look but take on a more realistic tone. Less cartoon and more comic book art and i’m certainly not one to complain about the talent this man has what he does here.
This little story while showcasing what’s currently happening also gives us a great look at the origin of sorts of the Herculoids, at least how they got their powers. So it’s something that most people won’t know about them and it was a nice touch. Also it may have a familiar ring to it but the way the outcome has been well I gotta say i’m totally loving this look at some childhood heroes of mine.
This is a great book! I am enjoying that while we are in the midst of a story we are still getting background issues so that everyone can get to know more about the ever growing cast of characters. For me this a tribute, a love fest if you will, to the cartoons of a generation and by having them all in one story gives us the chance to either experience them for the first time or travel back to a simpler time and relive a little bit of joy.