Bill Willingham never fought a desperate and losing battle in a good cause, never contributed to society in a meaningful way, and hasn't lived a life of adventure, but he's had a few moments of near adventure. At some point in his life Bill learned how to get paid for telling scurrilous lies to good people, and he's been doing it ever since. He lives in the wild and frosty woods of Minnesota.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
About 3.5 stars really, 4 for Day of Vengeance and 3 for Lightning Strikes Twice,
This review is from: Day of Vengeance (Countdown to Infinite Crisis) (Paperback)
The issue with this trade is that it really collects two separate but related storylines, both leading into Infinite Crisis.
Judd Winnick writes the first storyline, Lightning Strikes Twice, is a brief story about how Eclipso came to inhabit its current host. It involves a confrontation with Superman and Captain Marvel, but it really seems rushed and a bit contrived. Winnick does present us with a few interesting moments, but this part of the trade is pretty blah. Bill Willingham, of Fables fame, writes Day of Vengeance, the story of the Spectre and his rampage through the magical DCU. The thing with Dov is that while the writing is fantastic it does not hold up as the mega event it is supposed to be. Instead we get the story of five incredibly minor characters and one silly silver age concept of a talking chimp trying to weather the storm. The dialogue and relationships among the characters are fantastic. You even get to care about Detective Chimp. Detective Chimp... good lord. It is a lot of fun. :)
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unmemorable Tale,
By
This review is from: Day of Vengeance (Countdown to Infinite Crisis) (Paperback)
The last few years have seen the resurgence of Eclipso as a major player in the DC universe and Day of Vengeance sets him up as the de facto villain in a plan to destroy all magic. The first quarter of the book is about Eclipso's plan to control Superman with the ultimate goal being to take hold of Captain Marvel. Apparently Captain Marvel is an even more tantalizing prize than Superman thanks to the fact that his powers are magic based. When that plan fails he acquires a female host and seduces the biggest gun in the DCU, The Specter. Without a host of his own a confused Specter easily falls prey to Eclipso and begins to carry out the objective of eliminating all magical beings. It's left to a handful of DC third stringers along with the indomitable Captain Marvel to take down Eclipso, The Specter and save what's left of the DCU magic beings.
The problem with the story is that there isn't much of a story. Things just sort of happen. The third string magic users include characters I've never even heard of. The only ones I even vaguely know are Ragman and Detective Chimp and those two I only know because I saw their pictures in advertisements when I used to collect comics in the 70's. DOV just seemed rather devoid of emotion and depth leaving me with sort of a `so what?' feeling. As a lead in to Infinite Crisis it may be important and the events of the stories ending may have major ramifications on the future of the DCU but as a standalone story it's just rather unmemorable.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
WILDLY DISJOINTED STORYLINE,
This review is from: Day of Vengeance (Countdown to Infinite Crisis) (Paperback)
The Spectre has always been my favorite DC comics character ever since the mid 1970's and those rather gruesome stories by Jim Aparo in the pages of Adventure Comics. That said he's always been perhaps the most difficult DC character to write, as over the years he's alternated between being an all-powerful God-like being to a much powered down spirit as in the case of the second volume of his regular series. The character now is in limbo somewhat since he's been separated from Hal Jordan (long a bad idea) and now has no human host...alive or dead. Thus we get the Day of Vengeance storyline with a Spectre who, without being tethered to a host, is somewhat addled brained and easily seduced by Eclipso. Frankly I find that concept difficult to believe.
Eclipso, first having failed to find the right host with a Star Labs Doctor who steals a Lexcorp made battle suit to rumble with Superman before actually managing to possess the big "S" himself, leading to an all out battle with the world's mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. Marvel finally defeats the Eclipso with the help of the wizard Shazam and the Spectre and then locates a new host, the criminally insane Jean Loring, who is rotting in Arkham Asylum following the tragic events of Identity Crisis. In this female identity, Eclipso seduces the Spectre, who now seems driven purely by instinct, into believing that magic is the source of all evil and that to wipe out evil, he needs to kill all magical beings in the world. This sets him on a path to take out heavyweights such as Doctor Fate and the Phantom Stranger who make little more than cameo appearances in the book. Not wanting to make any sweeping changes, any deaths that do occur are to minor characters. Now, who stands up to oppose the twins of vengeance? The Justice League of America? The JSA? The Teen Titans? Nope...it falls to the newly created Shadowpact, a group of bench warmers that includes Blue Devil, The Enchantress, Night Master, Nightshade, Ragman, and Detective Chimp! Now, despite these characters not exactly being household names I have to admit I found myself enjoying the story although writers Judd Winick and Bill Willingham struggled to find some consistency, particularly with the Spectre and Eclipso easily thrashing dozens of magic-wielding characters (and turning the Phantom Stranger into a mouse) yet somehow having difficulty with this ragtag group. Of course, a magically turbo charged Captain Marvel bore the brunt of the battle with the Spectre before giving way to Shazam himself in what was the first time I'd ever seen the guy leave his seat. Now that was different to say the least. The little group did manage to show some inventive resourcefulness, particularly Detective Chimp who leads nightshade to perhaps find the most powerful magical mortal, a teenage girl named Alice who has a rather astounding ability for dealing with the Spectre. This story is a lead-in to the Infinite Crisis story and as such, things are left somewhat unresolved at the end of the story. As to the claim that it will forever change magic in the DC universe, that turns out to be wildly exaggerated. The art by Ian Churchill and Justiniano does push the story a bit above average but this could have been a real winner with better pacing and logic. Reviewed by Tim Janson
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