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unladylike's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This is the most concise and applicable Warren Ellis commentary on forms of revolution, corruption in the government, creative tactics, and vigilantism I've come across. Anyone who appreciated the themes of [a:Alan Moore|2041|Frances Hodgson Burnett|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1197934848p2/2041.jpg]'s [b:V for Vendetta|5805|V for Vendetta|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165548128s/5805.jpg|392838] or [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1238274511s/472331.jpg|4358649] should seek out this graphic novel. I would put this one right up alongside [b:Transmetropolitan|22416|Transmetropolitan Vol. 1 Back on the Street|Warren Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349093s/22416.jpg|23442] as far as the importance of different pieces in Ellis' anthology.
It is set in a realistic present-day United States free of mutants, post-humans, gamma bombs, and all the other elements that usually exist in the superhero genre. There is just one team of people with superpowers, the powers are scientific modifications which enhance actual human capacities to use data. The superheroes got together for the sake of freedom from invasive policing and spent years fighting corrupt authorities. At the start of the story at hand, the group has been fragmented, if not defunct, for some time. Their most powerful member sparks the book off by speaking at a White House press conference covered in the president's blood. Through violent force, he has responded to his conclusion and assertion that the president was a criminal and the war in Iraq was illegal. Black Summer is about where people go from there and how they respond to what appears to be a terrorist dictator.
It is set in a realistic present-day United States free of mutants, post-humans, gamma bombs, and all the other elements that usually exist in the superhero genre. There is just one team of people with superpowers, the powers are scientific modifications which enhance actual human capacities to use data. The superheroes got together for the sake of freedom from invasive policing and spent years fighting corrupt authorities. At the start of the story at hand, the group has been fragmented, if not defunct, for some time. Their most powerful member sparks the book off by speaking at a White House press conference covered in the president's blood. Through violent force, he has responded to his conclusion and assertion that the president was a criminal and the war in Iraq was illegal. Black Summer is about where people go from there and how they respond to what appears to be a terrorist dictator.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
3.0
It could have been called "Super-Powered Vigilante Blood Bath" but that probably would have taken away from the message, which I think was, "the government is evil, but you can't just kill it". As much as I enjoyed seeing a dead and bloody George W. Bush in the wrap around cover of the first issue, I'm afraid I have to agree with this message. I just have to ask: why couldn't they have come up with some even more painful and horrific image of a dead Cheney?
This was fun and cool and as I mentioned bloody as all hell. So if you like gritty, violent comics with some story behind them, this is for you. This isn't guys in tights playing nice, it's characters dying and having their bodies used as shields, limbs being severed, people being set on fire kinda stuff.
This was fun and cool and as I mentioned bloody as all hell. So if you like gritty, violent comics with some story behind them, this is for you. This isn't guys in tights playing nice, it's characters dying and having their bodies used as shields, limbs being severed, people being set on fire kinda stuff.
rmgebhardt's review against another edition
3.0
Warren Ellis... sometimes you have to remember that one cool scene or nifty idea isn't enough for an entire story. I was hooked by the opening scene of a superhero killing the president, justifying it in his own twisted way. However, from there it goes down the standard path of, "Team of special soldiers were created, they've gone off the rails, now they need to be taken out." We've seen this plot played out in hundreds of different ways and this isn't that much different.
The majority of the book is spent not so much on plot but on allowing Juan José Ryp to meticulously illustrate huge panels of massive carnage. Gore has never been so eloquently depicted! Despite this attention to detail, it is not an excuse to shortchange plot and character development.
I will spare you from diving into spoiler territory since this isn't an altogether bad read if you're an Ellis fan, but the final plot "twist" is telegraphed so strongly early in the story that you are completely aware that everything you'll read will simply be getting you to that point. And once you reach the climax... if you're like me, you'll feel slightly let down. Yes, it's the only logical conclusion to the story, but it lacks the grand scale that Ellis I felt was trying for throughout the book.
Black Summer could have easily been improved by taking a few of the giant splash pages of violence and using them to develop the characters a bit further, dig into their psychological state, and explore some of the moral topic touched upon briefly throughout. That, and don't telegraph the ending so much!
The majority of the book is spent not so much on plot but on allowing Juan José Ryp to meticulously illustrate huge panels of massive carnage. Gore has never been so eloquently depicted! Despite this attention to detail, it is not an excuse to shortchange plot and character development.
I will spare you from diving into spoiler territory since this isn't an altogether bad read if you're an Ellis fan, but the final plot "twist" is telegraphed so strongly early in the story that you are completely aware that everything you'll read will simply be getting you to that point. And once you reach the climax... if you're like me, you'll feel slightly let down. Yes, it's the only logical conclusion to the story, but it lacks the grand scale that Ellis I felt was trying for throughout the book.
Black Summer could have easily been improved by taking a few of the giant splash pages of violence and using them to develop the characters a bit further, dig into their psychological state, and explore some of the moral topic touched upon briefly throughout. That, and don't telegraph the ending so much!
everthorpe's review against another edition
3.0
A good story, fantastic art and design but didn't go deep enough into the subject matter of individual action against political systems.
Plus, the 'Guns' antagonism with each other is never adequately explained. They're just hacked off with each other for no obvious reasons, that the flashbacks don't address.
Bit of a missed opportunity overall.
Plus, the 'Guns' antagonism with each other is never adequately explained. They're just hacked off with each other for no obvious reasons, that the flashbacks don't address.
Bit of a missed opportunity overall.
blackmetalblackheart's review against another edition
3.0
It is sad that the overarching theme of this story may be even more relevant today than when it was written. That being said, the artwork was hard to read and distracting at times. It took away from the flow of the narrative. This one was very middle of the road for me.
jayshay's review against another edition
2.0
Gritty, morally compromised superheroes in very much the Watchmen vein (kinda derivative), with the U.S. involvement in Iraq put into the mix. What happens when you have the power of a god and decide that the president of the United States is a criminal? Bad shit in full colour.
saif42's review against another edition
3.0
This is a great comic book for when you're like, 17, and you just started listening to Rise Against. Past that phase in your life it's just ok. Three stars because I still listen to Rise Against sometimes.
kateofmind's review against another edition
3.0
I admire the ballsy gutsiness of this story more than anything else. A fed up superhero may be the only thing that could save us from King Trump! But my eyes are smarting from the art. There's insanely detailed and there's baroque and then there's this. It's too much. And I wasn't a fan of the colors either. But what an idea!
nonesensed's review against another edition
4.0
What happens when superheroes get too jaded? Explosions and a lot of blood. This story was a very interesting take on the question "where and when should superheroes take action?" The plot held my interest all the way through and the reluctant-but-there loyalty the team had to each other made them very human. Which I think is the point of this comic. Everyone is extremely human, both the superheroes and the rest of the world; a somewhat cynical view on humanity in some cases, but not in all of them.
The only trouble I had with this comic was that some fight scenes contained too many people in similar clothes, which made me unsure if the side I was rooting for was doing poorly or not.
The only trouble I had with this comic was that some fight scenes contained too many people in similar clothes, which made me unsure if the side I was rooting for was doing poorly or not.
whimsicalmeerkat's review
3.0
Warren Ellis is never really what you might call subtle, but this is a fantastic story. He manages to twist it around enough that you have to think about the issues he's addressing, yet it's never predictable. Highly political, yet not in the way you might expect.