Review – The Victories #1 for $1

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer/Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Release Date: 27th November 2013

I felt quite excited about this but it wasn’t to be. The Victories is set in a not too distant future where the world has gone to the dogs. The hero on the ground is conflicted and lost while the villain is a degenerate animal.

Oeming’s opening narrative in this book is as daft as they come. You’ve seen the type before. A shadowy figure poses on a rooftop looking over a dark sprawling city thinking about how crap it’s gotten. We are treated to some frankly odd metaphors that make no sense at all. I started thinking that this was maybe the intended effect – perhaps it’s just taking the piss? It could be but then the dialogue isn’t that great either. The mid-battle banter between the two is awful and the fight itself is void of any tension or drama.

It’s pretty controversial with mad violence which some might find funny but I fund the whole thing pretty baffling. I was certain it was a spoof but by the end I wasn’t so sure. If it is then the next issue better be a lot funnier.