“Here we go now with a brand new Lobo
Gonna get used to a brand new Lobo”
Okay, sing the above line to “Money Money,” just in case you were wondering what the hell I was talking about. For those who haven’t heard, there’s a new Sherri—uh, Lobo in town (what if they’d made him Sheriff Lobo? Two points if you got that reference without Google), and he’s pissed. Why? Well, it turns out the guy the DC Universe thought was Lobo wasn’t. Nope, the big burly, hairy, Wolverine rip off was a fraggin’ imposter!! The real Lobo is much cuter.
So it goes, the Twilighting of Lobo. I’ll give DC credit – having this new, thinner Lobo with better hair and a decisively less “eighties” vibe be the real Lobo is a stroke of genius. Realistically, Lobo is the only character you can give a complete overhaul to without the fans taking torches to the DC offices. So, off we go. Lobo, the “real” Lobo, looks nothing like the original version. Interestingly enough, he still acts just like him.
Justice League #23.2 is dedicated to this Lobo. The story opens with Lobo hitting a target, slicing off his head, and carrying it back to his employer. Lobo is still a drinker, fighter, and complete dick; he’s just shinier than before. The employer, an insect-looking alien thing, says she has the info that Lobo wants, but he has to deliver an unknown cargo before she can give it up. Lobo agrees.
I’m pretty sure you can see where this is going. Writer Marguerite Bennett has Lobo get attacked by aliens, fight them off, and discover the cargo he’s carrying are living creatures, an alien race captured and set to be boiled alive for something in their bones. Does Lobo save the day? Nah, not King Cunt Lobo. He puts them back into their cage and trades them off. Bennett is kind enough to have the aliens screaming “Nooo please nooo” for two full pages. Nice touch.
Lobo gets his info, which turns out to be the location of the fake Lobo. Time for an interstellar beatdown. The overall story is intriguing. I’m hoping the new Lobo is more than just an aesthetic fix. Bennett adds some small hints that new Lobo might be a little less of a complete douche than old Lobo, but nothing is set in stone. However the story turns out, it’s going to be a hell of a fight.
Ben Oliver and Cliff Richards deliver pretty standard sci-fi art. There’s some whimsy to the pencils, the kind that would grace the cover of pulp sci-fi books. Nothing here is spectacular, but it does the job. A bit more imagination in the aliens would have helped; they’re pretty by-the-numbers. It’s clear the focus here is the new Lobo, but attention to the rest of the characters would have been a bonus.
(3 Story, 2.5 Art) (3.5 For the new Lobo look)
