Writer: Joe Casey
Artist: Ulises Farinas
Colors: Melody Often
Lettering: Rus Wooton
Cover: Ulises Farinas
Publisher: Image Comics
Spoilers
A fresh and modern take with a classic and typical comic book feel, The New Lieutenants of Metal is an entertaining and humorous read. This second issue has our over-the-top heroes pitted against Beeb and Boy Band Nation and a giant monster called The Grunge. It’s just as hilarious as it sounds.
Campy captions, dramatic dialogue, and a fast-paced plot deliver the action-packed story of the five characters that make up the New Lieutenants of Metal. Each of them brings something special to the book. Steppenwulf’s got all the angst a reader can handle, Spike is brilliant and adorable and pants-less, Vandenborg Riot is the quietly aggressive type and must be super fun to draw, and The Mighty Krieg is all “Call me Meliodas” with his blonde locks and big eyes and amazing leadership qualities. Then there’s Manowarrior…and you just have to see him to believe him.
All of them are uniquely showcased with fantastic line drawings, bright colors, and cool poses, as are the villains in the pages. Boy Band Nation had me laughing so hard in the coffee shop, people were giving me funny looks. I know that boy bands have been the brunt of so many jokes, and perhaps that’s getting a tad stale, but not really…because it just works. I’m a fan for sure and we are just two issues in. When is the cartoon going to come out?
My only real gripe is that I feel as if I’ve missed some back story. I’d love to know the history of the group and how they got together, not to mention more about all of them. The dynamic between them is explored pretty well, but it’d be cool to see where they all came from. I’m also not super sure whether to call this all-ages or not…probably not from this issue, as it has enough cartoony gore to be mainly for older kids and adults.
At any rate, I’m most sad that this is only going to be a four issue arc, because the New Lieutenants of Metal packs a punch for sure. For your friendly neighborhood headbanging story, it can’t be beat, so pop in their playlist for issue 2, crank up the volume, and rock out.
Overall: 9/10
Tee LaFrance Todd writes, edits, reads, explores, and creates whenever she can find the time. When she’s not engaged in some form of storytelling, you can find Tee traversing the world with her husband and her dog, making things, reading tarot cards, and generally striving to live a life beyond anything she can imagine.
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