Adventures In The Bargain Bin
Peacemaker #1 3 out of 5 stars
I had been doing some comic reviews on another blog I used to use but it seemed to make more sense to move them here. This one is used for book reviews and stuff so why not do comic reviews? They're still books, right? Why not include comic reviews and other comic book related stuff. I read a lot of books and I also read a lot of comics so why can't I do both? You may have a few book snobs who will no doubt frown upon comics being listed among real books, but if you've seen the stuff I read you're probably thinking I'm insane anyway and besides, we could all use a day without our cellphones and just relax on a rainy day with a big ass stack of comics.
Let's get this big old ball rolling with my first comic review on this here blog. Why Peacemaker? Why the hell not? As a fan and collector of comics, I spend a lot of time looking through the bargain bins. I like to think of it as the island of misfit toys because among the crap no one wants are some really good books that just didn't take off due to a variety of reasons. Then, of course, you have the real shit sandwiches, I'm looking at you X-Force #1 and they deserve to languish in obscurity. I found Peacemaker 1-3 and I have to admit that I had no idea who this character was. As a kid, I couldn't afford comics so when I bought them I stuck to the stuff I knew. A lot of Indiana Jones, She Hulk as well as a lot of other groovy eighties titles. The cover looked interesting so I grabbed them.
Originally, Peacemaker was created by a comic company called Charlton and then they died. DC acquired them and then this comic was born. I honestly wasn't expecting much but I was also pleasantly surprised by how much story this first issue crams in, Peacemaker is a guy named Christopher Smith who has quite the back story and oh yeah, his father was a Nazi who eventually killed himself. There are a lot of characters including a maid who happens to be a psychiatrist because let's be clear here and admit that Smith could be batshit insane. The guy thinks he's being haunted by his dead father and he's quite focused on his mission which is to eliminate terrorists. It's a bit clunky, but I think it's just because it's the first issue.
Sometimes first issues throw a lot at you just to get you onboard, get you situated before all the fun stuff starts. As an origin story, it's pretty decent and I like that Peacemaker is a bit flawed and being batshit insane makes this an interesting premise. As a first issue it does keep you engaged, and you either like Peacemaker or you don't. There's no middle ground. He's the kind of hero we don't really think we'd be into until you read the opening pages and see that he's late to a terrorist attack and a lot of people die because of it. It was pretty ballsy of the creators to use that to introduce us to the character. Add to that that he's having a conversation with someone who may or may not actually be there. The artwork here is pretty decent and the scenes where Smith is talking to his maid/psychiatrist is pretty damn funny. How does he not know this isn't just a maid? He really must be crazy.
Is this required reading? Yes, and no. Sure, it's fun to read but if you can't find it you won't be really missing a lot. Now that Peacemaker is now slated to be featured in Suicide Squad 2 these books will go up in value even if they're just okay books. Peacemaker is a bit of nostalgia for those who grew up in the eighties. At times it does feel a bit dated and just overwhelming, but it's still worth checking out if you can find it cheap. I got mine for a buck so I know they're out there, you just have to find them.
I had been doing some comic reviews on another blog I used to use but it seemed to make more sense to move them here. This one is used for book reviews and stuff so why not do comic reviews? They're still books, right? Why not include comic reviews and other comic book related stuff. I read a lot of books and I also read a lot of comics so why can't I do both? You may have a few book snobs who will no doubt frown upon comics being listed among real books, but if you've seen the stuff I read you're probably thinking I'm insane anyway and besides, we could all use a day without our cellphones and just relax on a rainy day with a big ass stack of comics.
Let's get this big old ball rolling with my first comic review on this here blog. Why Peacemaker? Why the hell not? As a fan and collector of comics, I spend a lot of time looking through the bargain bins. I like to think of it as the island of misfit toys because among the crap no one wants are some really good books that just didn't take off due to a variety of reasons. Then, of course, you have the real shit sandwiches, I'm looking at you X-Force #1 and they deserve to languish in obscurity. I found Peacemaker 1-3 and I have to admit that I had no idea who this character was. As a kid, I couldn't afford comics so when I bought them I stuck to the stuff I knew. A lot of Indiana Jones, She Hulk as well as a lot of other groovy eighties titles. The cover looked interesting so I grabbed them.
Originally, Peacemaker was created by a comic company called Charlton and then they died. DC acquired them and then this comic was born. I honestly wasn't expecting much but I was also pleasantly surprised by how much story this first issue crams in, Peacemaker is a guy named Christopher Smith who has quite the back story and oh yeah, his father was a Nazi who eventually killed himself. There are a lot of characters including a maid who happens to be a psychiatrist because let's be clear here and admit that Smith could be batshit insane. The guy thinks he's being haunted by his dead father and he's quite focused on his mission which is to eliminate terrorists. It's a bit clunky, but I think it's just because it's the first issue.
Sometimes first issues throw a lot at you just to get you onboard, get you situated before all the fun stuff starts. As an origin story, it's pretty decent and I like that Peacemaker is a bit flawed and being batshit insane makes this an interesting premise. As a first issue it does keep you engaged, and you either like Peacemaker or you don't. There's no middle ground. He's the kind of hero we don't really think we'd be into until you read the opening pages and see that he's late to a terrorist attack and a lot of people die because of it. It was pretty ballsy of the creators to use that to introduce us to the character. Add to that that he's having a conversation with someone who may or may not actually be there. The artwork here is pretty decent and the scenes where Smith is talking to his maid/psychiatrist is pretty damn funny. How does he not know this isn't just a maid? He really must be crazy.
Is this required reading? Yes, and no. Sure, it's fun to read but if you can't find it you won't be really missing a lot. Now that Peacemaker is now slated to be featured in Suicide Squad 2 these books will go up in value even if they're just okay books. Peacemaker is a bit of nostalgia for those who grew up in the eighties. At times it does feel a bit dated and just overwhelming, but it's still worth checking out if you can find it cheap. I got mine for a buck so I know they're out there, you just have to find them.
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