Armageddon Now: World War III [Hardcover]

This graphic novel gets one star for those of you that aren't reading the reviews and are just looking at the average ratings. It's the kind of work that needs to be waded into carefully, with full knowledge about what your getting into. If you haven't followed Liefeld's career and are just picking up something to read, please look elsewhere. Basically, what you're getting into a less than sublime pairing of comics' running punchline (Liefeld) with poorly decoded judeo-christian doomsday prophecy, loosely strung together in a way not dissimilar from "See Spot Run". Phil Hotsenpiller, the "wordsmith" (who is quite clearly still working with Bronze), turns out to be Rob Liefeld's pastor from Yorba Linda Friends Church. My thinking is that given that this man of the cloth purports a B.A., M.A., and some post-graduate work at Oxford, he's actively trying to make this series accessible to very young audience a la big tobacco tactics. Seriously, if you claim to be a "good christian", then prepare to be offended. Also, be deeply and sincerely concerned for anyone that claims to implicitly enjoy this. I'm not saying this for the content, but for the writing. Liefeld and co. published this in house, it hasn't been well edited and will make you question why you didn't try to publish your 6th and 7th grade essays. That'll be a rhetorical question to most. But, it wasn't for Liefeld and co.

For those of you that similarly view Liefeld as comics' Icarus, all of the cautionary points I've raised above make this a must-read. Five-stars. Seriously, Liefeld and co. have actually provided one of the clearest illustrations of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Why this is good is a paradox. Bottom line, good or bad, it is entertainment at its finest. Liefeld did this in a rush and as usual he's left a lot of the finishes to his personal and perpetual slave, Marat Mychaels. He really phoned this one in and his usual, serious flaws as an artist are there for your entertainment. Not as many pouches as I'm used to, but tons of awkward body proportions, problematic feet, hands that don't make sense, etc. BUT, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, Liefeld has unintentionally drawn an impossible figure (c.f. M.C. Escher). Look very carefully at the panel depicting what I can only describe as God's hand emerging from the clouds, holding a meat hook (I think it's supposed to be a scythe or hand thresher, but I'm 99% he actually used the murder weapon from "I know what you did last summer" as a reference). Note the curve of the hook. I dare you to find 100% certitude as to which way the hook is facing. Incredible. Other highlights: virtually no dialogue to speak of; a story that really doesn't make so much sense, given the current geo-political climate, or otherwise; grammatical mistakes (tense, plurality, etc.); spelling mistakes (they've misspelled things they made up!); a main character that really does look different every time he appears; and a story that will try to make you hate everyone that isn't American or Israeli. Also, I didn't know there were ancient, mystical secrets surrounding Russia's hatred of Jerusalem... Apparently, they're descended from the "Scythians Masters" (direct quote, incl. grammar). WOW. Read something by Alan Moore and then this and then call it a night.

My goodness, this is bad. Unfathomably bad. Bad art, bad "plot" (and I'm being generous by calling it a plot), clumsy dialog (what little there is), utterly inept science.

Show, don't tell, is definitely not the motto for this tripe. You're provided with an omniscient narrator who leaves no mystery about the events of the story line, other than a contrived conflict between Corbin and an ex. The narration is painful, switching from past to present tense at the drop of a hat.

"John Corbin was the ultimate soldier. He stood 6'3," his ice-blue eyes and smile made you think he was just an ordinary guy, but there was nothing ordinary about this highly trained warrior...He is passionate about protecting this country. Some would say that he's addicted to danger. He tried not to think about it."

Actually, the overbearing and omnipresent narration is useful in one regard: Corbin looks quite different from section to section, so it's useful to be told who he is, over and over again.

Only morbid curiosity would propel most readers through this book. Find another time killer.

Dont be taken in by the cool cover and the premise.This book is terrible.I read alot of comics and I study world religions and I like Military Action stories.I thought I was going to get an exciting read, what I got was a story that couldnt be told by the art but with constant narrations.There were narrations to introduce there banal characters,even during a fight scene.If your a good artist and a good writer you shouldnt have to explain the panels.Narrations aside the story has no characters just vague uninteresting archetypes. The Art is also very dissapointing I encourage anyone considering this title to make sure they like it first. The creators clearly have no understanding of how to make a Graphic Novel.