Battle of the Planets #2
Trial By Fire, part two
writer: Munier Sharief
artists: Alex Ross and Wilson Tortosa
reviewed by Mish'al Samman This series captures a lot
of fans' memories of the TV show, and slaps it into the
book ever so nicely. You may not recall the specific characteristics
of each of the members, their mentalities, and who had what
personalities, but it only makes you take a better look.
After only two issues, they have clearly defined some key
values and personalities within the group, given us action,
and left us wanting more.
We last left our heroes called into action against the
monstrous Spectra robot (the Terrapin) terrorizing Central
West. Now they're in a bit of a jam, flashing back explain
just what had gone so wrong. Well, the clash between authority,
and impulsiveness rev up for a pretty interesting conflict
in this issue, and the G-Force team has their hands full
as Shareif explores just what makes the characters who they
are. Keyop's love for animals, Jason's love for violence,
Tiny's admiration of Colonel Cronus, and then Commander
Korak, who will have to answer to the big bad boss man if
the plan gets messed up. Boy, does it. It's all here, plus
a little something that might catch you off guard.
If you are a returning fan of Battle of the Planets,
you will enjoy this book's awesome art, coloring, and grittier
style. If you are new to the concept, quickly go get issue
#1, and don't miss out, because this title is going places.
Rating: 
Thundercats #0
A Cat's Tale
writer: Ford Lytle Gilmore
artist: J. Scott Campbell
With 80's culture making a weird comeback in comics, it
was only a matter of time before Thundercats made
their way back, and thanks to Wildstorm, they have. Issue
#0 has pretty much everything you would expect an issue
#0 to have. Not a fantastic story, but somehow it connects
with the impending first issue, providing backstory and
jogging memories a bit. It should give an idea of things
to come.
The story of issue #0 is decent enough, as Wilykat (I
always mix the twins up) admires Lion-O's sword, and wonders
when he will be old enough to have his own weapon. He then
takes us through some intriguing stories from the Thundercats'
past and over-exaggerates them a bit for effect, of course.
Naturally, each mini-story he tells spotlights the individual
cats, and eventually leads to the end where Mumm-Ra hints
to us what may possibly await our feline friends.
The second half of this book has a bunch of art from different
people, sketches, etc. and thoughts from writer Gilmore.
He gives a recap of how the show ended, and insight into
what he wants to do with the series. The "Meet the Thundercats"
section proved interesting, offering one paragraph summations
with good stuff to remember.
Let's assume, though, that they will go through all this
when the actual series kicks off in a week or so, but hey…we're
ready. At Comic-Con, they even announced a possible revival
of the TV series for sometime next year.
HOOOOoooooooookay. Get this if you're interested, because
it looks like it may have potential. But if the appeal of
Thundercats eluded you before, this book isn't going
to change that.
Rating: 
