Review – Destroyer #3 (Marvel MAX, 2009)

This is Kirkman without the human relationships angle that he employs to great effect with the Walking Dead, and a lesser extent Invincible, but look! Destroyer has lots of blood and fighting, made pretty by the clean lines of Cory Walker! This issue (the third of five) is just one big fight scene for Destroyer, and the big showdown with Scar, with Marlowes (aka Destroyer) Daughter kidnapped and in peril to add spice to the proceedings. There is a ton of blood and guts and smashing fists and pulverized bodies and heads. It ends up as a cross between the Sin City series ‘That Yellow Bastard‘ and something Peter Jackson would have done in his pre-Lord of the Rings days. It’s fairly mindless and fairly entertaining, and very violent and very, very gory. Oh, and there is a big explosion because that gives them an opportunity to do the ‘KA-BOOM’ lettering all pretty like what they do in Invincible – you know, like this sort of lettering;

Hey, you probably know if you like this sort of thing. Minimal exposition, minimal dialogue, just lots of fighting that degenerates into a bloodbath, all pretty much done with super-powered fists. The premise, as you may know, is about an old superhero from the Golden Age, called Destroyer, who is dying and so he feels obliged to take out as many bad guys as he can before he dies. That’s it. It is no frills, lean, mean storytelling. A high concept committed to the comic book medium. I like it, but I don’t love it. Its not bad, its just not really good – it doesn’t really draw me in to Marlowe’s world and make me want him to succeed. It will just about justify its 5 issue run. That is no bad thing in itself, but maybe I was expecting this to be more than the sum of its parts. But not everything can be as good as The Walking Dead, can it?

Review – Destroyer #1 (Marvel MAX, 2009)

Robert Kirkman has a distinctive style of telling a story, whether dealing with the zombie apocalypse of The Walking Dead, or the Spiderman / Superman / superhero love letter that is Invincible. In these stories, there is a real human drama ever present (though with Invincible it always feels a bit more of a soap opera). The new Kirkman offering, with Invincible artist Cory Walker, is closer in feel to Invincible than the peerless Walking Dead, but that it is no bad thing. The premise is this – Destroyer, a Golden Age superhero (see below)

is an old man, and he is dying. With this news, Keen Marlow (aka Destroyer) has a simple plan – to take down as many of the bad guys as possible before death. This first issue establishes the main characters, and lots of gore and viscera (including a bloody finale that has characters curiously matter-of-fact about murder). It all flashes past in an instant, but it is an enjoyable instant. The art, as you would expect from Cory Walkerm is never less than excellent – all clean lines and dynamic action.

This is the vigilantes wet-dream, taking out as many bad guys as possible before it all comes to a stop and death catches up with you. It could have been the final film of Paul Kerseys life, the ultimate Death Wish kill ’em all slaughter festival, but instead, the Destroyer got there first. 4 more episodes to go, and it promises to be a short, bitter-sweet journey. Go get ’em, Keen.