It’s enough to make Indiana Jones cry. KOBRA brings the whole “Faces of Evil” thing to a new level.
Writer: Ivan Brandon
Artist: Jesus Merino
Cover: Andrew Robinson
Summary: Who is Kobra? After his death, Kobra’s terrorist organization has been in disarray, with different factions and false leaders vying for control. Now a new figure has infiltrated the Kobra Cult and started systematically destroying its powerbase. But who is this new player? Is it the original Kobra reborn ‘Äì or something far more sinister?
Review: It’s Imhotep, it’s Jafar—no, it’s Kobra! This one-shot is definitely one of the best in the FACES OF EVIL mini-series. As it should be, the story is all about the villain and the world through his eyes. Man, I love it when the villains get their happy endings once and awhile; and yeah, Superman totally gets pwned.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but he does super-speed aggressively around the world for nothing … except to see his bright, mushy hope and careful effort destroyed by the scaly hands of the new Kobra leader, once known as Jason Burr.
When Jason first is reborn into the freaky religious cult known as Kobra, he doesn’t take it too well. But hey, if I suddenly had full-body severe Eczema and hot, practically naked sex slaves bowing down to me, I’m sure my brain would short-circuit for a little while, too. It doesn’t help that Jason’s late brother, Jeffrey, was the Kobra leader—the incarnation of Kali Yuga—before him, either.
However, it’s not long before Jason accepts his fate, and he easily slithers into the role he was born (and reborn) for. He soon makes some drastic and bitter—like, as in “years worth of pent-up angst” bitter—changes to what’s left over from Jeffrey’s regime. Despite Superman and Checkmate’s best efforts to conceal the baby Kobra spawn (or whatever those little buggers are), we learn that Jason has already infiltrated the bunker where they are being held. In fact, his “invisible army” is in place and ready to go. By the time Lord Kobra reveals to the world his group’s new plan and the heroes figure out his location (Jason makes it rather obvious), well … let’s just say it’s pretty clear that Kobra means business.
Besides Julian Lopez’s breathtaking art and Ivan Brandon’s fantastic story, what makes this FACES OF EVIL comic worthwhile is its relevance. The one-shot begins to set up Kobra’s effect on the DCU later this year, so it’s a great preview book as well as a decent introduction to the new Kobra gang. Two thumbs up from me! Sssssnazzy.
February 25th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Yeah, this was a good one. It also serves as a kind of lead-out for the Checkmate book as well.
February 26th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Ohh, thanks for mentioning that!
How was the Checkmate book?