- What did you think about the King of Petals?
He was definitely an interesting character, one that felt very similar to Alec Holland, and yet very different. I’m hoping that this isn’t the last we see of him.
- Which moments from these issues stood out to you?
Well, for one thing, the art is stellar on all fronts. Bill Williamham of Fables fame doing the Fate flashback was really cool. Daniel Sampere is an interesting artist because I first remember seeing his work in Gail Simone’s Batgirl run and finding him kind of bland and awkward, but his last few issues here are very crisp and great. I wonder how much of that is him growing as an artist, or if he has an inker that makes his art shine better. Finally, Guillem March on the Annual was stellar – I think he’s mostly pegged as a pin-up/cheesecake artist, and while he’s really good at that (as his runs on Gotham City Sirens and Catwoman shows), he’s REALLY good at horror as well.
Story wise, I was really struck by the aforementioned Dr. Fate origin story. I’m wondering if this was his origin from the Golden Age, considering just how messed up it was. I’m really surprised now that it took this long for writers to make Fate/Nabu into a pseudo-villain. Like, Nabu literally manipulated a child to kill his father, and then groomed him physically and mentally into being an emotionless cyborg for order. That’s the epitome of monstrous and cruel.
The talk between Zee and John was also really sad and heartbreaking, especially considering what they’ve been through in the previous book of JLD, seeing their past relationship seemingly crumble in the weight of this horrible secret is very tragic.
Finally, all the stuff with John and Swamp Thing was really well done.
Overall, really great issues, looking forward to reading more, especially with what they’ve teased for what’s to come.