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simonbillinton'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.
momotan's review against another edition
3.0
Chi controlla i controllori?
Lo diceva Giovenale, lo ripeteva Moore in Watchmen.
Ellis riprende il filone in questa storia, Black Summer.
Abbiamo un gruppo di supereroi, potenziati artificialmente grazie principalmente al genio di tre persone. John, Tom, Frank. Pistole connesse direttamente alla mente di questi superesseri, dalla capacità distruttiva illimitata. Impianti nel corpo di questi volontari, in grado di connetterli tra di loro e di conferirgli straordinari poteri, tutti diversi.
Le Sette Pistole, venivano chiamati, finché Frank non è morto, e tempo dopo non è morta pure Laura lasciando Tom senza una gamba e in lutto, ormai ritirato a vita privata.
Giustizieri, gente decisa a cambiare in meglio il mondo, a lottare contro i soprusi e la corruzione.
Finché il loro membro più potente, John Horus, non entra insanguinato nella sala conferenze della Casa Bianca annunciando candidamente di avere appena giustiziato il presidente degli USA e tutto il governo. Perché erano corrotti, schiavi delle multinazionali. Perché le guerre in Iraq non erano giuste, ma mosse solo da interessi monetari che avevano causato morti e sofferenza. E dall’alto del suo potere, Horus ha ordinato all’America di tenere nuove elezioni. Su cui avrebbe vegliato lui stesso, a garantirne la legittimità.
Quasi subito, arriva un comunicato del leader della Sette Pistole, Heracle. Che si dissocia da questo gesto, lo condanna, spiega che loro non hanno più contatti con John, si offre disponibile per aiutare l’esercito.
Ma l’America ha altri piani.
Non fa in tempo ad apprendere la notizia, che Tom riceve una visita inaspettata. Frank, vivo e vegeto, accompagnato da una nuova Pistola. Scopre che le Sette Pistole, a causa dei loro innesti, stanno impazzendo. E che Frank lo aveva previsto, aveva finto la propria morte e si era alleato col governo per creare un’arma con cui distruggerli.
Tom riesce a salvarsi e si riunisce con i vecchi compagni.
Dopodiché comincia la guerra civile.
Horus contro l’America, per liberarla dalla corruzione; l’America contro i superesseri, mandandogli contro l’esercito, testate nucleari, carri armati, caccia, le nuove Pistole; le Pistole contro Horus e contro l’Esercito.
Una bella storia. Prevedibile, ma bella.
Avatar, ovviamente.
Lo diceva Giovenale, lo ripeteva Moore in Watchmen.
Ellis riprende il filone in questa storia, Black Summer.
Abbiamo un gruppo di supereroi, potenziati artificialmente grazie principalmente al genio di tre persone. John, Tom, Frank. Pistole connesse direttamente alla mente di questi superesseri, dalla capacità distruttiva illimitata. Impianti nel corpo di questi volontari, in grado di connetterli tra di loro e di conferirgli straordinari poteri, tutti diversi.
Le Sette Pistole, venivano chiamati, finché Frank non è morto, e tempo dopo non è morta pure Laura lasciando Tom senza una gamba e in lutto, ormai ritirato a vita privata.
Giustizieri, gente decisa a cambiare in meglio il mondo, a lottare contro i soprusi e la corruzione.
Finché il loro membro più potente, John Horus, non entra insanguinato nella sala conferenze della Casa Bianca annunciando candidamente di avere appena giustiziato il presidente degli USA e tutto il governo. Perché erano corrotti, schiavi delle multinazionali. Perché le guerre in Iraq non erano giuste, ma mosse solo da interessi monetari che avevano causato morti e sofferenza. E dall’alto del suo potere, Horus ha ordinato all’America di tenere nuove elezioni. Su cui avrebbe vegliato lui stesso, a garantirne la legittimità.
Quasi subito, arriva un comunicato del leader della Sette Pistole, Heracle. Che si dissocia da questo gesto, lo condanna, spiega che loro non hanno più contatti con John, si offre disponibile per aiutare l’esercito.
Ma l’America ha altri piani.
Non fa in tempo ad apprendere la notizia, che Tom riceve una visita inaspettata. Frank, vivo e vegeto, accompagnato da una nuova Pistola. Scopre che le Sette Pistole, a causa dei loro innesti, stanno impazzendo. E che Frank lo aveva previsto, aveva finto la propria morte e si era alleato col governo per creare un’arma con cui distruggerli.
Tom riesce a salvarsi e si riunisce con i vecchi compagni.
Dopodiché comincia la guerra civile.
Horus contro l’America, per liberarla dalla corruzione; l’America contro i superesseri, mandandogli contro l’esercito, testate nucleari, carri armati, caccia, le nuove Pistole; le Pistole contro Horus e contro l’Esercito.
Una bella storia. Prevedibile, ma bella.
Avatar, ovviamente.
darklordberto's review against another edition
4.0
This was recommended to me awhile ago and I finally got around to reading it this weekend and I'm glad I did because wow. Very interesting story to read in the wake of the Bush administration and it's one of those stories that makes you wonder what if. It skillfully explores the "super heroes out of control" plot line with interesting moral twists along the way. It's a very quick read and you can probably get through it in one day once you get into it. Ryp's illustrations are beautiful in their detail although almost too detailed at times so some of the action gets lost in some of the larger splash pages (but props if you can find Sponge Bob and Mario in one scene). Overall a great, fast read that'll make you wonder "what WOULD happen if a super hero assassinated the president to serve the greater good??"
teejay76's review against another edition
3.0
Started incredibly strong and went downhill from there. Ellis makes bold statements on a number of socio-political topics but just wasn't able to completely weave it into the "Watchmen" type of story I think he was shooting for. Either way, the art was amazing and it was still entertaining.
foolish_shane'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.
scheepvaart's review against another edition
3.0
The cover says it all--a cool looking superhero covered in richly-detailed gore in a man-handled Oval Office. There is some political commentary and neat superhero commentary, but it's told in a blockbuster format. That's a lazy criticism to write, because Warren Ellis recently sold the movie option to the book, and could make a lot of money, assuming the producers come to their senses and go for a PG-13 rating that wipes away most of the blood-spatter window dressing. This isn't an imaginitive comic, but it's a fun and interesting one. It's slightly dumber than most of Ellis' Justice League superteam riffs and glorifies guns excessively, but he gives some lip service to how best to protest or overthrow a government. That tone is a little worse for the wear with the latest regime change, though now it could be wish fulfillment for both fringes of American politics.
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
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.
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.