Die Hard: Year One #3 review
I grew up with the Die Hard movies and loved every testosterone injected, unrealistic action-packed moment. When a buddy gave me the first three issue of Die Hard Year One, I turned up my nose. “What this hell is this”, I thought. How many more places can McClain get stuck in? An elevator, maybe? Oh, me of little faith. It’s a big world and there are plenty more binds for John McClain to get into.
With a necessarily slow build as the major player took their places, this series is shaping up to be a fun ride. Officer John McClain, the character immortalized by Bruce Willis in the Die Hard franchise, hits the New York streets on his first beat. It’s the 70’s and trouble is brewing in the Big Apple. Writer Howard Chaykin has good command of the story as he navigates multiple episodes and characters. Once all parties intersect, the plot takes off and the stage is masterfully set for some balls-to-the-wall John McClain ass-kicking and name–taking good times. Like all Die Hard plots, Chaykin does a fine job of assembling an interesting crew of bad guys and an unsuspecting McClain finds himself trapped in their scheme.
Stephen Thompson captures the feel and funk of the 1970’s. With bellbottoms and tube socks, the details make these pages sharp. Some of the effect choices fall flat, i.e. the forefront blurring in some action sequences, but overall it’s a good effort. I love the headbands and feathered back hair!
Die Hard is back and seeing McClain’s roots is a blast.
3.5 out of 5
As the English would say, Mark Waid is having a blast “taking the piss” out of the Superman archetype with his good-guy-gone-bad-tale in Irredeemable.
Issue two allows Waid to settle into the world he’s created in which humanity fears the wraith of their once beloved Plutonium, a supe with Superman-like powers. Kaiden, a former member of Plutonium’s team, searches for his old girlfriend, Alana. These two characters’ back-stories provide juicy details about our anti-hero’s fall from grace.
Waid crafts a nice retelling of the iconic Lois and Clark relationship. Plutionium and Alana shared a love that did not quite weather the ups and down of the mortal and superhuman love affair. It’s a great play off the Lois-Clark banter, with a dark twist. It’s original and smart enough to not feel like a cheap parody. Read it yourself to enjoy the fireworks. This title’s big payoff is answering the question “How did our hero fall?” How well Mark Waid can answer this questions will determine this book’s success or failure. We begin to get the answers and they are cleverly written. It’s leaning toward successful right now.
The art fits the story very well. Plutonium’s reactions are eloquently captured, showing us the turmoil he is experiencing. The navigating of characters at different ages is seamless.
My local comic shop displays a black shirt with bold white lettering proclaiming “Mark Waid is Evil.” He’s proving it in this book with a devilish grin. Sometimes, as in this case, evil is good.
4 out of 5
I know, what was I expecting? I’m a sucker for a good “teddy bear coming to life and running around with a gun” story. Problem was this one wasn’t good, but it did have a talking teddy bear with a gun.
The story was reminiscent of a bad 80’s kid’s movie. I predicted almost every moment of this book, as it played out like a bad formula for a straight to VHS movie. Here’s the plot: a guy has some high tech disc. Bad guys are chasing him; he runs into a toy store. He puts the disc in a talking teddy bear, marking the box and hoping to return. A boy is shopping with his dad and buys the bear. He gets the bear home and it starts talking about a secret missioon and grabs a gun. Crazy!!!
The art is better than the story, but that’s not saying much.
I thought Boom! Studios wouldn’t put out something so trite and perceptible. I assumed that Mr. Stuffins would offer something unique, worthy of $3.99. See what happens when you assume? I still like the title and the cover.
2 out of 5
