Customer Reviews

JLA: Riddle of the Beast

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You might think that it would be awesome to see some of the powerhouses of the DC Comics Universe plunked down in a magical alterna-Earth, their identities and abilities and motivations manifesting in ways both new and unfamiliar. And that probably would be pretty compelling, if it had been done right. Unfortunately, here it is done very, very wrong, and not in a way that is so atrocious and jaw-droppingly bizarre that it's interesting. No, this is just bland, boring, and pointless.

The plot: Tim Drake (the current Robin in the "real" DC world) is sent on a quest by the spider-like Riddler to unite the disparate powers of this tiny world against the return of the evil Beast (who we would know as Etrigan). He has to drum up support from this land's versions of Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Green Arrow, the Atom, Green Lantern, the Flash, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman. Other well-known figures make appearances: Nightwing, Aquaman, the Joker, the Penguin, the Martian Manhunter, Doomsday, Bane, Lobo, Lex Luthor, Zatarra and Zatanna, Black Canary, Killer Croc, and even the Phantom Stranger. Unfortunately, about the only enjoyment this volume has to offer is in the game of "Guess who that's supposed to be?"

The plot is trite, the prose is exceptionally clumsy and leaden, the versifying is embarrassing, the dialogue is terrible, and the art is flat-out a dismal failure. Over a dozen different artists contributed to this effort, and I can only conclude that most of them were extremely drunk at the time. In a great many panels it's impossible for you to tell exactly what's going on, and even when you can, you wish you couldn't.

I don't know exactly what DC was thinking when they unleashed this, and it's too late to UN-think it, but I hope they chalk this up as a giant mistake and vow to never again let Alan Grant write anything other than filler episodes of "Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth".

Riddle of the Beast is a pretty interesting Elseworlds story but it could've used an extra issue or two. While the use of DCU characters as classic fantasy archetypes are quite enjoyable and intriguing, the overall story seems to be underdeveloped. Though they used different artists whose work appear in Magic: The Gathering cards for that epic fantasy look, the whole graphic novel reads like an outline, far from the aforementioned epic fantasy feel this work aims to project. The build-up feels rushed and the characters introductions are done in a hurried fashion. It's as if there was a general feeling that the creators wanted to cram as many DCU characters as possible, sacrificing the overall pace of the book. Characters like Flash, Green Lantern and the Atom were just given cursory glances even if there was a lot of build-up to Robin and Zatanna's journey to the three men's City at the Center. Only a few panels and off to another setting. In fact, the main battle scene, after pages and pages of build-up and repetitive captions, amounted to just one page. Heck if only they devoted more space to it just like what they did to the world map which appeared three times or more! After reading this book, you could've wished that the bosses at DC could've followed the lead of the fantasy epics they aimed to ape by doing a trilogy at least.

With a generous helping of the plot of Lord of The Rings, Alan Grant takes us on a journey of swords and fantasy in Riddle of the Beast.

Painted by several artists, we follow several DC heroes and villains in the fantasy setting. Robin is our hero, who must gather a group to fight a Great Beast intent on taking over Middle Earth... I mean, their homeland. He gathers many such as the stand-by Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, as well as others.

The story is pretty good. It's not great, again due to its seemingly heavy borrowing, but it's still fun to read. The art... the art, as mentioned, is by several painters. Some are better than others. The biggest problem isn't the change in style from page to page, but certain artists make the action very difficult to see, so you can only follow it via dialogue, because the art just isn't clear enough.

This probably deserves 3.5 stars, due to the art, but I am feeling generous and I genuinely enjoyed the story.

Riddle of the Beast is an Elseworlds' tale that drops your favourite DC characters into the world of fantasy storytelling. A young lad (Tim Drake) and girl (Zatanna) must gather all the kingdoms together to fend off an attack from the beast (Etrigan the Demon). Despite some amazing artwork, the story still follows the conventions of your typical fantasy adventure. Once you take away the novelty of seeing DC superheroes in their new roles, there's really nothing new here (however, the chapter with weakened King Kal'El was pretty good). It's worth a look, but not worth the money for a hardcover purchase.

Riding on the hype and legendary "Lord of the Rings" resurgence, I was skeptical about purchasing this book, thinking that it may be a quick exploitive means to cash in on the fantasy regrowth. While this book has many of the recurring fantasy themes found else where, the contributors to this graphic novel have produced a fun, can't-put-it down comic.

The story centers around the person Robin Drake as he journeys to warn the other inhabits on "earth" of the return of the Beast, a villian the others thought had died fifteen years ago. Many of the superheros are cleverly introduced and united under the banner of saving the "world." Some heros take more proding than others, which aids in the story telling. It was interesting using Robin as the central character - considering he has always been a sidekick (even on his own, Nightwing has never really broken out of Batman's shadow).

This move gives the story more force and gives a "Frodo" of the Lord of the Rings" trilogy feel to the book, without copying the material too much. The formula also works well, so why change a genre that works so well - an unlikely hero, who saves the world.

The art is outstanding and many great artist contribute their unquie talents to provide pertinent images as the story progresses. A must for graphiic novel fans, who just want to read a good story, view some great art, and have a nice evening.