USA COMICS 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1

Review by: TheNextChampion


Size: pages
Price: 3.99

Ever since Marvel has started their 70th Anniversary celebration, a golden age character seems to be making a come back. The Destroyer is one of the first superheroes the legendary Stan Lee created; and one of many that served American during World War II. He has recently starred in a MAX line self titled series, written by Robert Kirkman. It’s not so much of a tribute to the character, more so of a comic to let Krikman let his anger out and put as much blood in a panel that any other comic before. Will this week’s 70th Anniversary issue show a better side of Destroyer? Or is he really just an angry lunatic?

On the overall use of the character here, Destroyer is a little bit of both. No matter how risky the situation is, or how many people have guns pointed at  him; Destroyer seems to love a challenge. Also he must love to kill Nazi’s, as this has a big body count at the end of the story. But there’s more to Destroyer then just a quick triggered hero. John Arcudi is able to get inside the head of the hero and show why he is the way he is. When we get to the end of the story and we realize that the entire time Destroyer was a POW prisioner at a concentration camp, the violence makes sense. The costume also makes sense too, as in why he wears those striped pants (which is more for tribute then anything else). Arcudi is also able to show the conflicts of many Germans during the war. Sure a lot were hypnotize into believing Hitler’s plans. But many were still loyal to their country first, and second to Hitler (basically the same premise for Valkaryie).

On first glance, Steve Ellis’s pencils look really good. It almost has a Hellboy quality to it. Rough or sketchy in some places, while clean and bright in others. However when you get down to it, Ellis does seem to rush in some of his designs. By the end of this comic a lot of this looks rushed or too sketchy then in the beginning. Also the panel designs, while some look great, aren’t the best we’ve seen during these tribute issues. Overall it’s not a killer to the comic, but maybe Ellis needed more time to finish his work.

This is a much better tribute to Destroyer then what Kirkman is doing on the MAX line. Instead of focusing on the violent aspects of the character, Acrudi tries to show just how human the character is. But still give at least some action packed moments to make him look cool. It’s a shame Marvel had to age the character the way they did. Because a character like Destroyer could totally work for today’s audience, especially if your a fan of a character who doesnt mind getting his hands bloody.

Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 3 - Good

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