Judgment Day

Rating:
Summary: "Let us handle this."
Review: Alan Moore saves the day yet again with this short, sweet murder mystery about one of the most-loathed series in comics: Youngblood. Almost unbelievably, Moore manages to turn the established continuity on its ear, and goes on to spin complex and charming backstories for all of the participants, which go further toward explaining the characters and their motivations than the original series ever did. It's a wonderful read, and if you squint hard, you can see all kinds of great silver-age heroes and villains reincarnated with a twist (Storybook Smith = Johnny Thunder, The Fisherman = Green Arrow). The artwork ranges from atrocious to lovely, as Moore tells his story mostly in flashbacks and has a different artist for each one, but they include the incomparable Gil Kane and Keith Giffen, so it's still worth the price of admission. The framing sequences are by Rob Leifeld, unfortunately, who still can't draw feet after nearly 20 years in the medium. Overall, a great book written with in Moore's wordy, witty style with a couple of forgivable artistic flaws.

Note: Sadly, this story sets up the wonderful and defunct Youngblood revamp, that has yet to be collected, or even released in its entirety.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic story hampered by bad and unreliable art
Review: Obviously, Alan Moore is a master of comics storytelling, and JUDGMENT DAY is no exception. The story builds on themes he had already been exploring in SUPREME. However, the art on the mini-series turns what could have been a great story into merely a really good one. There are several dimensions to this problem: one is that the art is just not consistently good enough. Work by the likes of deserving comics legends and veterans like Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens is tempered by work from Rob Liefeld and a few others in his lackluster stable of artists. This is nowhere more apparent than on the main story about the trial, leaving the main story not as good as the various flashbacks. If you're a Moore completist, definitely pick this up, especially if you enjoyed SUPREME and his ABC books. If not, wait until you can find this book for cheaper than it is here.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic story hampered by bad and unreliable art
Review: Obviously, Alan Moore is a master of comics storytelling, and JUDGMENT DAY is no exception. The story builds on themes he had already been exploring in SUPREME. However, the art on the mini-series turns what could have been a great story into merely a really good one. There are several dimensions to this problem: one is that the art is just not consistently good enough. Work by the likes of deserving comics legends and veterans like Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens is tempered by work from Rob Liefeld and a few others in his lackluster stable of artists. This is nowhere more apparent than on the main story about the trial, leaving the main story not as good as the various flashbacks. If you're a Moore completist, definitely pick this up, especially if you enjoyed SUPREME and his ABC books. If not, wait until you can find this book for cheaper than it is here.

Rating:
Summary: Clever Waste of Time
Review: This is supposed to be a revealing look at the superhuman community and what happens when one is killed by another. What it actually is is a self-serving justification for the Youngblood universe and all of its little spinoffs.

Knightsabre comes home drunk on his 30th birthday. He passes out and wakes up accused of murdering Riptide. The story moves between the main plot and short stories of spinoffs throughout the ages. As the story moves to an unlikely trial (held in private) we find that the whole event is a result of the entire universe. Every character since the dawn of time has had some hand in this story.

This story was supposed to show how a superhero faces trial using non-super courts and legal systems. But they pick their own judge and hold the trial in secret. Secret from the non-super world, that is. In the end it just shows how cleverly Alan Moore can tie seemingly unrelated elements into a story. The story ends with the third part of the four-part story. Part four is reserved for a series of short Youngblood prequel stories (why not just make it a three-parter?).

If you want to see Moore being clever, you might like this one. If you are looking for the advertised drama, stay away because it isn't here.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic commentary on Rob Liefeld's place in comics
Review: While I was aware of Alan Moore's stint on Supreme, during which he added an incredible amount of history and totally redefined the hero, I did not know of his involvement with this particular title until the trade paperback release. For those of you who are fans of his work on Supreme, you owe it to yourself to pick up JUDGMENT DAY.

The plot, in short: the Awesome Entertainment superhero community is shocked by the murder of Youngblood member Riptide. The prime suspect is fellow Youngblood member Knightsabre; however, during the trial, it is revealed that details of the case originate at the dawn of time. What follows is a series of flashbacks over thousands of years in the Awesome Comics universe, building to a surprise conclusion. As in Supreme, Moore weaves a very complex story, strengthened by the involvement of "Silver Age" characters he introduced in Supreme, as well as analogues of other famous comic and literary characters. As a result, Youngblood is provided with a history of sorts. The framing story is illustrated by Rob Liefeld, with the flashback sequences handled by a host of guest-artists, including Chris Sprouse and the great Gil Kane. Also included is an overview of some of Moore's other Silver Age characters, in a story that is a tribute to, and illustrated by, Gil Kane. Additionally, there is a kick-off for another Youngblood series featuring Shaft, Suprema, and a handfull of new characters.

So, the story alone warrants 5 stars. What really solidifies the rating for this book, however, is the message that Alan Moore presents to the reader: the fact that Youngblood and other Liefeld characters are angry, bloodthirsty, conflict-motivated anti-heroes that changed the face of comics for the worse. He shows that, compared to the comic characters of yesteryear, this type of character is ridiculous and irrelevant. It's so fitting that, as the members of Youngblood listen to testimony during the trial, they begin to realize that they are out of their league. Rightly so! What's so amazing is that Moore could present this message with Liefeld's say-so. Who knows... maybe Liefeld has actually come to realize this?

But even if Liefeld's approach to superheroes has possibly matured, his artwork certainly hasn't. It amazes me that, after 15 years in the industry, the man still has no understanding of layouts and anatomy.