Watch Me Whip...
Written by: Cullen Bunn and Frank Barbiere
Art by: Robson rocha, Ruy Jose, Blond and Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 4, 2015
While this book has been far from perfect, it has gotten better by leaps and bounds over the last handful of issues. Sure, having a cool crossover with Sinestro never hurts, but I think it's something else. Cullen Bunn finally let Lobo be Lobo. No generic teammates, no pseudo angst...just ass kicking Lobo. It's a shame because just as this book was becoming the book that Lobo fans would recognize and possibly enjoy, DC announced it's cancellation. So, what does Cullen Bunn have in store for the Main Man's swan song? Let's find out...
The issue opens with Lobo sneaking in the shadows on the fringes of civilization. That's the thing about being the whip...you end up going to where the money takes you and meeting (killing) so many interesting people. The scumbags in this issue are the worst of the worst...alien drug dealers who just happened to steal the product from the rightful owners. Yea, the "rightful owners" are scumbags too, but they're paying the bills, so Lobo gets down to business.
This was the high point of the issue. Lobo (and Robson Rocha) shine as two aliens are split in half and a bunch more are shot before Lobo has a face-to-face with one of the aliens and the drug itself. Red flags go off everywhere, however, as we see this alien practically melt away after accidentally ingesting the mysterious drug...the drug now coursing through Lobo's veins. Oh well, a jobs a job and even though his "employer" might be upset at the lost of product, he heads back to the Void Whisper with another notch in his belt.
He doesn't get far, however, before the drug starts showing it's power and effects. Lobo starts tripping like someone at Woodstock on brown acid and sees some heavy things, man. It all culminates in him thinking that the Countess is in his ship which naturally freaks him the hell out. It continues when he returns to home base.
While getting instructions on his next assignment from Kadra, Lobo starts tripping again. Next thing you know, he thinks the head of the Void Whisper is the Countess and tries to choke her out. Not good! Lobo does stop before doing any lasting damage, but Kadra sends out the order to capture the now fleeing Lobo and the fight is on.
The issue ends with some pretty cool (and bloody) battles and ends with Lobo declaring he's nobodies "Little Lobo" and to prove it, he's going after Hal Jordan. Okay, the ending may be forced and an instance of one plus one equaling five, but I am excited to see how it all plays out.
This issue was above average, but only slightly. It really felt like Cullen Bunn had to condense the next story arc into a couple of pages to setup the finale and the fight with Hal Jordan. It's a shame, because this issue was full of some awesome Lobo action and really continued the feeling of it getting back to the bastich that fans have been asking for. I will tell you this...I had fun reading this issue and that goes a long way with me. I am looking forward to the series finale next month.
Robson Rocha was the all-star of this book. His art was awesome whether he was giving us the disgustingly sexy Countess or various versions of Lobo. I loved it all.
Bits and Pieces:
While I understand why this issue felt so rushed and forced, it still was both. However, Cullen Bunn continued getting this book closer to the Lobo book that most fans wanted which makes it more of a shame that this was the series penultimate issue. In the end, the issue had great art and enough of a story to get me excited for next month when it all ends with Lobo going up against the Renegade, Hal Jordan.
6.7/10
Acid comes in colors?! It did feel rushed didn't it, wondered why I had trouble getting into this issue. I'll stick around for the GL fight finale.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/hKoLlKmQSHU
DeleteWow how the times have changed!
DeleteI love the way Lobo looks with the jacket here - I got a huge kick out of seeing it.
ReplyDeleteI'm really loving the Snake Plissken vibe from this Lobo in terms of his design and personality - this has to be my favorite issue in the series by far!
Deletecullen bunn knew...if he was going out with lobo, he's going out by giving the lobo comic people wanted while saying,"FUCK YOU GUYS!YOU AND THE AQUAFANS!" XD
ReplyDeleteApparently there had been plans to have Hitman involved with Lobo. Kind of depressing - I would have loved to have seen that team-up!
ReplyDeletethat would have been so cool...I just wish Cullen Bunn would have started this series stronger. It was not good at the beginning and just never grabbed an audience
DeleteIf he had started off strongly like he had with the Annual and #10, it would have been an awesome series.
DeleteThe biggest problem with the first six issues is that aside from learning this new Lobo's origins, there isn't much of a strong enough hook to get readers invested. Plus, it didn't help that the much anticipated and often teased confrontation with his imposter resulted in a mere three to four pages after the fact, with the new version emerging victorious - I had been looking forward to that since its mention in Justice League 23.2! There had been so much potential in that storyline, it's kind of maddening that that had never been explored.
yea, the battle was...nothing and the whole Assassin of the Month story was just boring
DeleteTwilight Lobo has sucked since day one and nothing has changed about that
ReplyDeleteI disagree with that, but you have a right to your opinion even if it's wrong. As the book progressed, I think that Lobo got a whole lot better.
DeleteFunny, nothing "Twilighty" about him. I think you mean "Tron".
DeleteJustice League 23.2 was an awesome debut for the character.
In terms of Cullen Bunn's Lobo series....they're mostly meh issues with a kind of space noir-type atmosphere. Annual, #10 and 12 are awesome, though.
that's a really good rundown of the series there!
DeletePersonally, I think it would have been better had this version of Lobo's origin was more ambiguous and not explained, kind of like eighties Lobo in JLI and L.E.G.I.O.N.
Deleteyea, the early flashbacks were boring and did nothing for the book
DeleteI didn't think the flashbacks were boring....but I did find myself wanting more and feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I mean, there were some interesting bits that I liked - the noir atmosphere (I'm a sucker for it), the idea of Lobo having been a failed Superman who hadn't so much killed his homeworld out of malice but because he was in a hopeless situation where he had no choice but to enact planetary euthanasia makes him a slightly more sympathetic, if not tragic character (although his wanting to get paid for his planet's destruction is pretty fucked up). Plus, the lifeblood presents all sorts of possibilities for potential stories, including one that could connect Lobo, Ras Al Ghul and Vandal Savage together. And that's not even pointing out the possibilities "Lobo" being a title brings story-wise.
DeleteThe problem, though, is that, aside from lacking a strong narrative hook to reel the reader in and the sudden drop of the imposter angle, a lot of the issues kind of lack impact. I don't know, at times it felt like watching someone playing a video game - Lobo goes in, wipes out the minions and then faces the stage's boss in a kind of mechanical fashion with some text boxes to tell us how he thinks/what he is thinking rather than showing us what makes him the deadliest creature in the cosmos.
Personally, I had been hoping that Marguerite Bennett would have done the Lobo
series, just because I loved what she did. Her version had a different voice and seemed more sinister in comparison to Bunn's version in the early issues - there was much more of a snarl and a sense of malice in his narration, especially with regards to his reasons for hunting down the imposter; whereas Bunn's version seemed more peeved by the fact that the guy had been profiteering off from his name, Bennett's Lobo seemed not so much concerned by that than it was the fact that a Czarnian had escaped from his "little planet-wide send-off".
In Bunn's defence, however, he did manage to step up his game.
I think I found the flashbacks boring get because they weren't fully fleshed out and you are riht, that traitor storyline just died on the vine. I'm not sure if Bennet would have done better overall, but her villains month issue was better than anything Bunn started with. I think that Bunn was trying to make the character something he wanted to write in spite of what fans wanted and went overboard with it. I have enjoyed the end of the run and wish he would have started stronger.
Delete"I think that Bunn was trying to make the character something he wanted to write in spite of what fans wanted" I don't know, it felt even less like that - to me the early issues felt more like Bunn was trying not so much to show how this guy ticked for the reader's benefit as it was for himself, like he was trying to set up some sort of guideline.foundation in order to make himself more comfortable before coming out with solider stuff such as the Annual. Issue #8 in particular felt like it was trying to synchronize his version with Bennett's in its showing Lobo's creepy weapons supplier and his infiltrating Countess Odessa's party.
DeleteWill you guys be reviewing Lobo #13?
ReplyDeleteyes, we talked about it on the podcast last week and I will get to it this weekend...I'll tell you one thing...I din't like it at all!
Delete