GLORY #23
(W) Joe Keatinge (A) Ross Campbell
Created by Rob Liefeld in the mid 90's, Glory was a blatant rip off of Wonder Woman, just with a hell of a lot more pouches. Relegated to the quarter bins for the last decade, Glory makes her triumphant return as part of the Extreme Studios relaunch that has captured the attention of unlikely fans all over. Seriously, If you told me five years ago that I'd be reading a Liefeld book, I'd have just laughed in your face. What I've come to realize is that, much like George Lucas, Liefeld has some great ideas and characters; he just needs to let someone else execute them. By giving his properties over to creators who come from such different schools of thought, he proves that there are no bad characters, just writers; even if Liefeld himself is included in that statement.
This time around, writer, Joe Keatinge, plays off the fact that Glory has been absent from the shelves for almost a decade by putting the reader in the shoes of a young journalism student who has been searching for Glory since she disappeared (in the comics) ten years ago. Her search is intermittent with various scenes from Glory's past, paying homage to the various incarnations over the years, as well as her time before coming to Earth.
Now, this may just be the fourteen year old boy in me, but judging from the opening three panels, I expected a hell of a lot more mythic violence and giant beasts getting slashed in two by Glory's ridiculously huge sword. This is not to say that I don't want a story, but when you've got a phenomenal artist like Ross Campbell, capable of designing out of this world creatures and burly women to fight them, well…you give him just that. It felt like Keatinge was taking himself a little too seriously; I was expecting a bit more humor from a writer who has his character kicking over Nazi tanks on page two.
Picking up the ball where Keatinge dropped it, artist Ross Campbell, much like Simon Roy on Prophet, maintains his indie edge while still paying tribute to the essence of the character. For those unaware of Campbell's work, such as Wet Moon, Water Baby, Shadoweyes or The Abandoned; he is known for having strong, realistically drawn female leads with emphasis on minor details that allow readers to identify with his characters. Like I said before, I was hoping for a bit more action scenes featuring the wonderfully drawn monsters on the front cover, but clearly Ross is just teasing us with glimpses of what will hopefully be included in future issues. It's interesting to see Ross' work in color, as he works primarily in black and white, though it does give the real world scenes a nice sense of atmosphere, pulling the reader directly into the biting cold of the small French town where the main character finds herself at the end of her quest. While this may not be the best example of what Ross is truly capable of, I'm sure that we are only in the warm up stage of what promises to be an epic battle between the forces of good and evil!
To be perfectly honest, I was a little under whelmed by the first issue, but I trust in Ross Campbell to deliver mythic violence on an unprecedented scale and hopefully Keatinge will be able to keep up. The Extreme studios relaunch continues as the 90's return in full force! Should we run for the hills or buy 5 copies? Either way, Rob Liefeld is laughing all the way to the bank…
2.5 out of 5 Z's
REVIEW BY CASEY!
Join heady writer Hickman as he weaves yet another high concept sci-fi yarn, joined by Pitarra who also illustrated his singular Red Wing. Guaranteed to stimulate. RECOMMENDED BY PATRICK!!!
