by Bob Bruno 

Final Issue. As the Defenders of the Earth (yeah, you heard me) beat back Ming’s forces across the globe, the Phantom prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to close the portals between Mongo & Earth permanently.

Warning: Major spoilers for the issue follow.

by Bob Bruno 

The penultimate chapter of Jeff Parker and Marc Laming’s highly enjoyable Defenders of the Earth modernisation, adds just the perfect amount of real-world grit, while sacrificing none of the comic strip characters’ sense of fun or adventurism.

Following the dire events of last issue, with the portal between Mongo and Earth now open, Ming the Merciless uses the energies of the King’s Watch to force the Earth into a global technological shut down, as his armies arrive and poise to take the planet. Meanwhile, Flash Gordon, the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician push back against Ming’s infantry forces on the streets of London.

Jeff Parker employs here the tried and tested formula of separate individuals uniting to combat an alien invasion, a formula recently made famous by the Avengers.  What firmly and fundamentally sets this story apart however, and prevents it from ever being tired, is despite the colourful costumes this isn’t a story about superheroes at all… It’s about adventurers. These characters aren’t gods, monsters or super-soldiers, they’re three normal men and an illusionist, bare-knuckled, with horses, planes and handguns, fighting against an interstellar tyrant and his army of ray gun armed beast men, teleport devices and giant lizards. These practical aspects of the story alone are enough to put Kings Watch on a far different trajectory than both the Avengers and the Justice League. There was a wonderful line of dialogue in issue #3 spoken by the antagonist, Cobra, which was more than enough to sell me on Jeff Parker’s take: “We seem to be running into the toughest living obstacles. Fitting for such an undertaking.” A fascinating idea that from crises rise the greatest among us.

by Tiff Douglas

The stage is set for a tale of discovery and mystery, with an enthusiastic audience waiting for something familiar to carry them through the journey, but the setting has changed and now they are falling away from their silver screens and into the pages of vivid colour. Tall tales of mistaken identity, shocking visions of violence and terror, all pulled together by the intricacies of graphic storytelling that can only be found….

In the Twilight Zone.

J. Michael. Straczynski, I don’t really believe that you need to say more than that. He’s the man that gave us some of the best that Marvel has to offer and has written for some kick ass Sci-fi television shows and is absolutely a comic book legend. First tackling The Twilight Zone back in 1992, he’s jumped in with Dynamite publishing to give it another go. Teaming up with Guiu Vilanova, who previously illustrated Dark Shadows and Raise the Dead 2, he’s attempting to bring a whole new audience into the twisted world of The Twilight Zone, one moral enigma at a time.