‘Peacemaker’ Made Good Use of Its Ef@@@g Chance

There were people who saw the ‘Peacemaker’ series as a laughable concept when news of it first came out. I suppose there are fewer people laughing now as the HBO Max series has become a certified hit, and used its ef@@@g chance quite well. Already renewed for season two , let’s take a look back at what made ‘Peacemaker’ one of the best series of this young year. Warning THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS. If that bothers you, why don’t you take out Judo Master for some chips?

Peacemaker and Adabayo Opening Dance Sequence

There’s no question now that the opening dance sequence for ‘Peacemaker’ is a major draw to the series. It’s quirky, hilarious, and downright in-your-face. It makes me giddy in aticipation to what James Gunn has planned for season two. Note that being part of the opening credits doesn’t assure you’ll survive season one. In fact, A LOT of the characters in that dance sequence die by season’s end. Though, that opening musical scene is partly what makes ‘Peacemaker’ entertaining from beginning to end credtis.

(From top left moving right, and down) Harcourt, Eagly, Economos, Vigilante, Murn, and Adebayo

Part of what makes ‘Peacemaker’ so special is the solid supporting cast from Vigilante to Eagly. Each has their own unique personality quirks that make them very relatable. If we’re talking about flaws, these characters wear them on their sleeves like badges of honor. All these mundane imperfections create a very rich core of character background, and development. Too bad that Murn bites the dust in this season. As for the other characters in Christopher Smith’s team, I expect to see more character development moving on to season two.

Peacemaker’s Father: The White Dragon

One of the more well-written,and most important characters in ‘Peacemaker’ is his father: Auggie Smith aka the White Dragon. Yes, he’s dead by the end of season one, but that doesn’t mean that the character will leave the show. He appears to be haunting Christopher Smith’s mind much like what is done in the comics. The comic books show that Peacemaker regularly converses with his dead father, and it looks like James Gunn is incorporating this in his story moving forward. This just solidifies Peacemaker as full-blown crazy with daddy issues. This is bad for Chris, but good for ‘Peacemaker’ in general since it just provides more layers of storytelling.

Christopher Smith with ‘microphone’ half-naked

Chris’s relationship with his father goes to the core as to why ‘Peacemaker’ is so appealing : Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker is the underdog we can empathize. His morals are questionable, but his intentions are pure. But aren’t we all like that sometimes? Wanting to do the right thing by doing the wrong thing, or worse ending up doing the wrong thing? Chris also brings super heroes from DC lore down to earth with all of his supposed inside information, some of which are proven actually true (like that Aquaman snipe). Granted, these slights mask his insecurties. Then again, that just makes Peacemaker more relatable, and lovable. People love rooting for the underdog especially when they see themselves in the character. In this case, Chris is relatable on so many levels to so many people.

Vigilante and Peacemaker Having a Chat in Peacemaker’s Home

The story flow of ‘Peacemaker’ itself is a great balance of action, violence, sex, comedy, and emotional storytelling. The comedy reflects on the characters themselves, and is balanced out by the emotional beats that each main character is given in the story. Yes, even Emilia Harcourt has her soft, and mushy side too. The effect is that ‘Peacemaker’ doesn’t fall into the trap of being one long overextended comedy skit, and balances excellent storytelling with character development. ‘Peacemaker’ doesn’t get tied down by DC lore like another HBO Max show I love. Instead, it adds to the lore, and uses existing lore to its advantage. In particular, there’s this little bit of DC Cinematic Universe lore that it uses quite well.

Peacemaker meets the Justice League

With the last episode, ‘Peacemaker’ has established that it exists in the same DC Universe as the Justice League, with particular cameos of both Aquaman, and the Flash. More importantly, the Justice League’s appearance late in the story solidifies the importance of Peacemaker in this common universe. The Justice League can’t always be around, and someone has to do the dirty work. This helps in establishing Chris’s place in the super hero order now that the Suicide Squad, and its operations have been outed to world at large.

Adebayo and Peacemaker Avoid an Explosion

All in all, ‘Peacemaker’ is a breath of fresh air in a live action genre that has become formulaic for the most part. What ‘Peacemaker’ provides is an alternative storytelling pattern that caters to a much different audience than what has been established by many. The series is not for children, and that’s a good thing. ‘Peacemaker’ can be crass, and offensive to the socio-culturally sensitive. That too is a good thing. In spite of all these, ‘Peacemaker’ expands the boundary on what CAN BE DONE with super hero adaptations. The series dances to its own beat right from the onset, and it works to the benefit of the comic book genre as a whole.

Peacemaker outsid of his trailer park home

So, if you’re willing to give ‘Peacemaker’ a chance, you’ll be feasting on a storytelling style that is fresh in its damaged goods. ‘Peacemaker’ is now streaming on HBO Max.

A George Perez Fan Appreciation Journey

I’m still in shock with the news that George Perez has terminal pancreatic cancer.I’ve been a fan of his work since before I could afford to buy my own comic books. To say that George (and long-time collaborator Marv Wolfman) had an impact on my comic book journey would be an understatement. Here, I will outline just how much George’s work inspired me to read and collect a medium that has shaped the person I am today.

One of the first comic books I got to read during grade school was ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths #9’, otherwise known as the ‘Villain War’. At this point,I had little awareness of American comic books as a medium, and this was one of those first issues I read. This was a mind-blowing issue for me at the time, and I was just lent to read this by a classmate. I didn’t bother to ask where he got it. I didn’t even know the significance of this series at the time nor did I pay attention to George’s (and Marv’s) name on the cover. All I knew was that this was beautiful action storytelling from cover to cover. The cover itself already drew me to read this issue. Though this was one of the first comic books I’d read, this wouldn’t be the issue that got me into collection comic books.

‘Crisis on Infinite Earths #9’ got me through the door, but it was ‘The New Teen Titans #39’ that got me into collecting comic books. Entitled ‘Crossroads’, I bought this issue myself in a bookstore. I liked the cover. Something about it intrigued me. Little did I know that this beautiful two-page spread lay waiting for me, and my young eyes.

Little did I also know that this was the prelude to the seminal classic, and arguably the best single Titans story ever, ‘The Judas Contract’. My uncle would send me the first trade paper back of ‘The Judas Contract’ years later (I still have that plastic-covered copy with me). This Christmas gift was pretty serendipitous since I never asked for this book specifically. Yet, this is what I got. From there, I made it one of my life’s quests to hunt down every single issue of the George Perez-Marv Wolfman ‘The New Teen Titans’ run because of its influence on me growing up. I was late in finding this series. It came out way before I was in grade school. So, the hunt began, and after years of hunting (a decade I think) I was able to find every single issue of George Perez’s ‘Titans ‘run. More on these Titans later. However, it didn’t take me long to complete another one of his groundbreaking works.

As I already mentioned, I had read ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths #9’. But, I had never completed reading the maxi-series. I didn’t even know where to get copies of these books. Lo and behold, my uncle (yes the same uncle), left at a comic con when I visited him in San Francisco. This was my first comic book convention. Lots of sellers. Lots of books. So, I went searching the boxes with no particular book in mind until I ran into the cover of ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths #7’. This reminded me that I’d always wanted to collect and read this series, and so I scooped this up, and digged the other boxes at the convention for the rest. Lucky for me, I found every single issue. When the convention ended, I read this series FINALLY. Later, I’d find out that ‘Crisis’ came at around the same time that ‘The New Teen Titans’ was soaring in popularity and story. With these two comic book series, The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths, I would NEVER forget the name George Perez again. ‘Crisis’ strenghtened my resolve to hunt down issues of ‘The New Teen Titans’. And, every time I would see George’s work, it would be an automatic buy or read.

Years later, Marv and George would team up occassionaly for ‘The New Titans’. My childhood fictional friends had all grown up, and the story ‘A Lonely Place of Dying’ showed just how much the characters were growing. By this time, I was all caught up with American comic books, and was a certifiable comic book geek. If there’s anything you can say about George’s work through the years it is the amount of detail he puts into the characters he illustrates. By the time of ‘A Lonely Place of Dying’, George had refined his work from epic to legendary. Just looking at the amount of detail he puts into his work makes me wonder how tiring it would be for his hands to come up with such crisp visuals. This leads to the last series in this article.

For the longest time, ‘JLA/Avengers’ would remain a myth that would never come to fruition. Somewhere and somehow, DC and Marvel came to an agreement, and made this series happen. And who else would be the best person to illustrate this series than George Perez himself? ‘JLA/Avengers was memorable to me because it came at a time that I stopped collecting comic books. Then, when I saw the solicites for this series, I was suddenly back in the game again. Who am I to say, ‘no’ to this modern classic that brought together American comic books two greatest and well-known super hero teams illustrated by George? Not only was I into this series, JLA/Avengers rekindled my love of collecting comic books. I would take a break from time-to-time, but I would never (and I haven’t yet) leave a medium that has shaped my childhood, and continues to shape my personality to this day.

Thank you, George, for the talent that you gifted to the world. I’m sure that I am not the only one who you have influenced with your art. Without you, I would never be introduced to a much larger world. Though we’ve never met, I want to send you my undying love, and appreciation, Mr. Perez. I am one of many whose life you have changed forever. You are indeed a legendary super hero of our time.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League: A League of His Own

Maybe this will teach the Warner Brother’s movie higher ups to allow their creators to create with trust and confidence. Maybe this will erase the memory of a messy and inconsistent film that reflected its patchwork pieces to come up with a pedestrian interpretation of a better film. Maybe this will open the door to a far different and more adult way of interpreting super hero films that might not be for every age, but becomes ageless. Enough of the maybes, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ does all of the above.

Breaking away from what is expected of super hero movies nowadays, ‘Zack Snyder’s Jusctice League’ provides a super hero film consistent with the original vision started with ‘Man of Steel’. It is dark, it is gloomy, but it is hopeful. I liken this film to the gothic stories of old wherein you have characters set in a situation that is near hopeless with that rare light at the end of the tunnel driving them to their destinations. For truly, wasn’t the reason Dante Alighieri’s Inferno came before Paradiso to make people face their own darkness first to better appreciate the light? That was the case for this film.

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The story takes place directly after the events of ‘Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice’, and you can see from the onset that this was a completely different film from the previous ‘Justice League’. Zack Snyder’s vision came to light with his setup of character buildiing of new heroes such as Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash while balancing it with previous character staples in Batman, Wonder Woman and even Alfred. The dramatic build up to the impending doom was just what the film needed to justify the gambit of reviving Superman from his eternal slumber. Never mind Steppenwolf. He’s small fry. When you’re going up against a threat like Darkseid, you truly need the hope that Superman gives on your side.

True, the film does not pit our Justice League directly against Darkseid himself. But, that’s more the case that they were able to prevent his coming in the first place, and not because they weren’t set to face him. For in all DC Comics lore, there are few greater threats than the Lord of Apokolips and his cronnies, Steppenwolf being just one among them. This raised the stakes to a worldly threat to an existential one. With Darkseid’s presence in ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’, we get to appreciate more the value of Superman to this story.

Let there be no mistake, this is a different film from ‘Justice League’ that came before it. Aside from the length, the treatment of the setting, characters and storytelling provide a better basis for the DC films that came after it. The vision is clearly set, and even sets the narrative up moving forward with what hopefully will be a proper continuation of this revived superhero franchise. Even the appearance of Martian Manhunter provides something to look forward to in future installmens of ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ as they move towards the power seven that is Justice League minus Green Lantern. However, elements of the film suggest that we might have a ring slinger making an appearance in the DC Extended Universe’s future. If not in this film, then maybe somewhere else.

All in all, ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ is a redemption film that reflects the true vision of the director. True, one might argue that the reshoots could be an afterthought of what worked in the previous film, and removing what didn’t work. However, that’s just pure cynical and insidious thinking. Zack Snyder loves these characters, and this story. Given a chance to show what he wanted, he would do so, and did so. What ‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ provides us is an alternative way of telling super hero stories. Rather than be a super hero story, this film is a story about super heroes, and the difference can be seen in the end product.

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ not only heralds the return, and highligths the importance of Superman. It also serves as a reminder of what happens when a creative genius is left to his own devices. Impending doom is averted, and hope in the future is restored.