Fighting For Earthrealm... Or Something
What great timing for this book to be released right around the same time that the new Mortal Kombat movie was released..... because that's what we have here. Damian Wayne in Mortal Kombat with a few other fighters that you may already know and a few that you don't. Technically though, we're off to see the tournament of the League of Lazarus..... on Lazarus Island... it's always good to stick with a brand and speaking of brands... even though previously we saw Damian rip his Robin symbol off his chest and declare Robin no more, he's back with a modified Robin suit... because the name Robin will sell more copies of the book. Maybe there's a deeper reason behind it but that's what I'm saying as we jump into this Damian Wayne led series. Let's check it out.
Now, I know that it seemed like I was throwing a ton of shade at this book simply being Mortal Kombat with Damian Wayne and some other well-known characters..... and it is, but the shade isn't serious in any sense because while the premise is familiar, it's still fun and with Damian having to take on a bunch of the greatest fighters in the world, not to mention that the League of Lazarus Tournament requires you to "Finish Him", I do believe that we'll get a bit of humbling out of Damian Wayne by the end of this and with one bit of dialog in this where Damian talks about his lineage and how great he is, not to mention everything else he's ever done, I'm saying that the youngest Robin desperately needs that humbling.
One really cool moment of this book though is at the beginning of the issue, where Damian needs to let the League of Lazarus know that he's worth their time and is going around and doing a bunch of fights, but the one we get to see that gets their attention is Damian vs. King Snake, who I've wanted to see make a return for a while and while I'm not too happy that Sir Edmund got the snot kicked out of him, it was a cool addition to this story for how Damian's been feeling since King Snake is the father of Bane. It's just too bad that someone makes Damian feel what Sir Edmund did by the end of this issue.
All in all, I loved the art in this issue and think this could be a really fun premise, even though it's basically Mortal Kombat but by the end of the issue, I was seriously hooked because I need to know how we're going to continue this series with what our cliffhanger was, so good on Joshua Williamson for working that cliffhanger like a champ. The League of Lazarus is here though and while Damian might want to learn what this secret sect of the League of Assassins is, I'm more here to see Damian work through his anger and grief, and hopefully as this series continues, we'll both get what we want.
Bits and Pieces:
Damian Wayne is on his way to kick some ass and possibly take some names as he finds himself in a knock off Mortal Kombat scenario and since I can look beyond this aspect, I had a bunch of fun with this issue and hope that this little adventure of life and death that our former Robin finds himself on will lead him back to the Bat-Family and maybe humble him a bit along the way. Great art throughout and a pretty decent first showing here with a cliffhanger that will make you pick up the next issue.
Spoilers...........
ReplyDeleteSo are we already theorizing that Flatline is also Heartless from Nightwing or maybe it's her dad or something?
I just don't believe that this eerie similarity is a coincidence when both books by the same publisher, do the exact same thing a week apart?
I mean, I would think editorial would ask Williamson or Taylor to change it up a bit if this wasn't planned right?
I read there's a Damian/Nightwing team up coming up soon, maybe this has something to do with it?
Even though it's the League of Lazarus and the Lazarus Pits are the lazy way to bring everyone back, I'm thinking that Flatline just makes you think you're dead to the point that you die from fear or simply through belief.
DeleteI don't know about "think". She quite literally ripped out his heart. We'll see. I still say she's heartless' kid. Maybe.
DeleteHeartless uses a gun to do it though, this girl goes all Temple of Doom on Damian!!!
DeleteI just think it's an odd coincidence - it would be crazy to already set up a kid of a villain we haven't seen the face of yet...but crazier things have happened!
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