Rating: 3/5 – Who is the Main Man?
I’ll start by saying that I am not a fan of Lobo. During the 90’s, reading all the Lobo mini-series turned me off from the character. I felt that what was once an ultra violent and sarcastic, but interesting character, became an overused, exploited and one-dimensioanl character. None of those mini series from that decade did much to add depth to the character, but just kept being released to put Lobo into more ridiculous, and more violent situations. I think that exploitation ultimately damaged the character as he was rarely used until the critically praised R.E.B.E.L.S. series from a few years back.
This Villains Month issue introduces us to a second Lobo in the New 52. After the original Lobo appeared in an issue of Deathstroke in the New 52, the Lobo seen in Justice League 23.2 is not the same one. Before this issue even came out there was some controversy with the redesign of the character. Artist Kenneth Rocafort designed this new Lobo to have a much sleeker, modern and thinner design. Along with the white skin and dark hair, he does look a bit vampiric, and differs quite a bit from the Lobo that we’re used to seeing on the cover. Artists Ben Oliver and Cliff Richards do a pretty good job with the art on this issue and use a lot of action poses to show how fast and acrobatic this new Lobo is. For the most part this design works, except for the blue “glowy things” that are on his face. There’s no mention of what they do or why they’re there, but to me, they’re just distracting.
Story wise, it’s pretty straight forward. This new Lobo, much like the one we’re used to is picking up bounties that take him across the universe. His latest mission is escorting special “cargo”. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to the story that made it all that special until the end, when we see how the original Lobo is included in this issue. I’m not sure where or when this story will pick up next, but it did have me intrigued to see which Lobo will come out on top, and who will end up being the “Main Man”.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas – shawn@comicspectrum.com
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