Books : Day of Vengeance (Countdown to Infinite Crisis)

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Logic would help
I read this because it was a Prelude to Infinite Crisis, but the story defies logic. The Spectre is known in the DC Universe as the spirit of Vengeance. He is all-powerful, and can see into your soul and view the evil person you are. So it defies logic that he decides to destroy all magic because Eclipso (the very definition of evil) tells him to.

In truth, I never really understood why Eclipso wanted to destroy magic...other than to create chaos. I enjoyed reading about some of the lesser characters in the DC magical universe, and for me that includes the wizard Shazam and Captain Marvel. But the book is light on understanding those characters, and the ending definitely leaves you with little understanding as to what has just ocurred.

I have not yet read Infinite Crisis, so maybe in retrospect it will make more sense. Unfortunately, I doubt it.

Rating:

- Better than alot of people are saying
I actually really liked DoV. True, the story line itself wasn't particularly award-winning, but the book itself was fun and entertaining. Plus, it has just enough of a dark feel that you can anticipate the "coming CRISIS". I thought it was refreshing to see a number of very minor characters (Chimp, Catman, Nightmaster, OMAC, etc.) being reintroduced in the Crisis storylines. Bonus points for Shazam's much larger role also.

P.S. I have a new favorite hero...Detectice Chimp! (can't believe I'm saying that)

Rating:

- Unmemorable Tale
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.

Rating:

- About 3.5 stars really, 4 for Day of Vengeance and 3 for Lightning Strikes Twice
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. :)

Rating:

- Horny Spectre
I had high hopes for this series. I am a big fan of God's Wrath, but to make the Spectre a horny nut in 2 panels? and then go buck wild and destroy all magic without much reasoning in an instant was ludacris. I understand that the Spectre without a host is pretty much untamed, and that the human host is what helped him make judgments, but come on.....Eclipso took a female form and made Spectre go crazy once aroused. The only thing saving this book was a chimpanzee.....shows how exciting this book was.

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