Review: Lobo #1

Will Rosenthal ’15 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

The New 52 has been a slew of revisions and reinventions of the DC canon. Depending on point-of-view, the changes in this comic can be positive or unwanted. Regardless, if with new or veteran readership, the comic has been a string of shocking events since 2011. Three years later, DC introduced another radical change to a recognizable character, the bounty hunter Lobo, in his own series by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Reilly Brown.

A character who had been influenced by skulls, black leather, and spikes has traded all those in for a sleeker costume, less on studded leather, and more on the pseudo-techno. Lobo’s been completely redesigned since the New 52. His glaives and boots have horizontal orange lights, similar to the Tron-inspired Teen Titan uniforms seen at the beginning of the reboot. Even his physiology has changed. Lobo is smaller, not as ‘roided’ out as his counterpart, and even had a serious haircut. Not to mention he has organic neon lights around his mouth and eyes; a striking change compared to Pre-New 52 Lobo, this seeming permanent.

How committed are they to the change? Second page into the story, we have 52 Lobo decapitating the previous Lobo with a hook in a slash of blood and flames. 52 Lobo even calls out the old, calling him an imposer.

[Lobo v Lobo scan]

Lobo swiftly passes out and we’re treated to some exposition. He was an artist and apparently in a relationship with the Czarian Princess before he took the Lobo mantle. He and the Princess make romantic banter before the scene swiftly changes. The Princess’s flesh begins to melt and the city catches fire. All the while, she speaks vaguely of what Lobo’s done to destroy their homeworld, saying that ‘this is what he chose them all,’ and it’s revealed that the Czarians have become shambling zombies.

[Scan of Czarian zombies]

Flashback to the present, Lobo is hired by Phialla, an alien with a mission: Lobo must kill eight of the universe’s best assassins who’ve been contracted by the same individual. The details of their mission are a mystery, but Lobo must stop them: eight kills, eight paydays.

This comic makes for a great entry point for new readers who are interested in the New 52. The DC’s cosmic canon can be difficult for the uninitiated, but the set up for this series – a bounty hunt in space – makes for a simple premise surrounding an imaginative environment.

Overall Rating: 3 / 5 stars, as it’s fun to read and stands out in the New 52 series.