Lobo #1 Review (Cullen Bunn, Reilly Brown)

That cover makes me laugh - it looks like Jared Leto cosplaying as Lobo and voguing like crazy! But that’s the “controversial” new Lobo for you, and, to underscore the change, the opening scene is “classic” Lobo being beheaded by male model Lobo - the bastich!

I actually thought with Cullen Bunn writing that somehow Lobo would be a different and exciting New 52 comic (based on his fantastic Sixth Gun series for Oni) but, no, it’s another shallow, mundane DC book. To be fair, if all you’re after is a comic featuring a good-looking mercenary with a ‘tude killing aliens, Lobo #1 delivers - it’s totally got you covered! 

Disappointingly for Bunn, he doesn’t bring much originality to this title. Shortly after the attention-grabbing intro, we’re slap bang into a cliched dream-turned-nightmare sequence as Lobo watches his hot girlfriend decay in front of him before waking up. Then we’re onto what we’ll call the plot - in return for his release from a seedy station’s jail, he agrees to take out eight of the universe’s deadliest assassins. A bit unfair but I suppose Lobo’s in no place to barter. 

As is always the case in most superhero comics, even the ones set in deep space, all roads lead to Earth and soon the eight assassins and Lobo are on our beautiful blue marble of a planet. Lots of killing ensues and that’s about it. Bunn’s script is workmanlike and wholly unremarkable with little invention to switch things up.

Onto some positives! The art team - Reilly Brown on pencils, Nelson Decastro on inks, and Pete Pantazis on colours - produce some excellent pages. They’re not doing anything flashy or original but they’re producing solid work that looks great. And I also like that this Lobo doesn’t kill dogs - because who doesn’t love dogs, even killer alien ones, right?

And that’s the first issue of New 52 Lobo. He’s a different looking Lobo from the other New 52 Lobo we saw in Rob Liefeld’s doomed Deathstroke series, but he’s still very one-dimensional and uninteresting. Lobo #1 is good for anyone looking for the most shallow of bounty hunter comics, but for anyone else, this is another soon-to-be-cancelled New 52 title in the making that can easily be missed.

Lobo #1