Comic Musing: SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN, BLACK WIDOW & Others

Really wish DC would have some sort of cover bar

so that these all look like a matching set.

It's certainly been long enough since my last rambling comic review post, and I haven't exactly been letting my reading slip since then, so there's more than a few books I'd like to talk about.  For the sake of keeping things brief, I'll stick with four for now.  Firstly, my muddled thoughts regarding DC's divisive Superman/Wonder Woman series, which has just released its fifth issue this month, and then some looks at three of the new start-up series from the All-New Minty Fresh Marvel NOW! initiative, namely Black Widow, X-Force and Ms. Marvel.

WARNING:  The following post discusses - and contain spoilers for - issues 1-5 of Superman/Wonder Woman, issues 1-3 of Black Widow and issue 1 of both X-Force and Ms. Marvel.  Turn back now if you're sensitive, y'big wuss.

Now Playing: INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US

One day Warners will give the general public a reason to care

about a DC property that isn't Batman.  This is not that day.

 

 

Released April 2013.

Published by Warner Bros. Games.

Developed by Netherrealm Studios.

Version played:  Wii U

 

Fighting games and superheroes really ought to go together like peanut butter and jam...no, wait, I hate peanut butter...and most jams...okay, better turn of phrase: they ought to go together like convenient DNA-altering lab accidents and losing a relative/guardian/love interest.  Given that basically every traditional cape comic in existence eventually boils down to a simple good guy versus bad guy showdown, translating those stories into a beat-em-up sounds really simple on paper.  But in practice, I can't recall ever being fully satisfied with the results.  Yes, I know, Marvel VS. Capcom has a large, long-lived fanbase, but it's...it's a Capcom fighting game through and through, so irrespective of appearances I have never been able to convince myself, in any incarnation of the series, that I'm really playing AS Spider-Man (or whoever).  No, I'm controlling someone from Street Fighter that kinda looks like Spider-Man.  Superheroes don't just stand 4 feet apart and throw rapid punch-kick combos at each other, they fly, they flip, they shatter the ground with every footfall, hoist 80-ton weights above their head and blast lasers from every orifice!  The only game off the top of my head to try and nail that style of battling was EA's Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, which unfortunately falls under the heading of 'A for effort, D for execution'.

 

And now the artists formerly known as...whatever their team name was at Midway are taking their second stab at Marvel's 'distinguished competition' after Mortal Kombat VS. DC Universe (a game we DO NOT TALK ABOUT EVER except when we mention it like I did just there) with Injustice, which if nothing else has seen a publicity blitz vastly beyond the reach of any other fighter in recent memory.  The ads were everywhere, there's a tie-in comic series, there's a whole line of 4" action figures (which I'm sorely tempted to sample, especially since Green Arrow and Deathstroke are pack-buddies) - this is the kind of media saturation normally granted only to AAA shoot-em-ups of the most boring variety, and I've no doubt it'll reflect well on the sales figures.  But the question is, will the game prove good enough to keep on rotation for months to come...?

'INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US' Character Designs in Review (UPDATED)

Ten quid says Batman killed Green Arrow out of spite.

Bruce's always been jealous of my boy Ollie's awesome goatee.

To say I've been less than thrilled with the pre-release hype for Netherrealm's Injustice: Gods Among Us would be...more or less accurate.  It got to the point where I couldn't resist the urge to complain about the recent teaser trailer for the game's story mode on Twitter and unwittingly caught the eye of the game's own PR account, who told me to reserve judgement until I'd at least checked out DC's tie-in comic miniseries.  At £2.99 a pop for at least 4 issues.  Sad thing is, I probably will buy those comics just to be sure, and I almost certainly will buy the game despite what the voices in my head tell me.

Still, just because I can't nitpick the story yet doesn't mean I can't speak out on other things - like, for example, the character designs, which have foregone the straight-from-the-comics look of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in favour of...uh, something.  Involving leather.  Again, to be totally fair and whatnot, I'm only covering the characters for whom I could find the hi-res promo renders; for some reason guys like Deathstroke and Green Lantern, who have been confirmed for a while now, don't have renders out yet.  If I find more I'll update this post accordingly.

UPDATE 10/05/13 - Added Ares and Killer Frost.