REVIEW: Kneel Before Zod #7
Kneel Before Zod #7, “Green Hell”, picks up from last issue and pits the general against a delusional and confused Emerald Empress. There’s a real feeling of the classic when-characters-meet-they-must-fight trope to this chapter but at least it makes more sense when two villains are involved. There’s also a fairly anticipated cameo at the end which will probably have us see another showdown next issue.
The standard cover by Jason Shawn Alexander pays tribute to Terence Stamp’s portrayal of Zod as he sits pleased with himself amongst the chaos of his bridge. It’s a real fun scene and really visualizes how Zod thinks he has everything under control as his life continues to go up in flames around him.
Lucio Parrillo’s variant is a face off with the sinister fathers of Lor-Zod and Sinson. With Peter J. Tomasi’s ‘Sinister Sons’ series running congruently with Zod’s, it was only a matter of time before this story ran into Sinestro. You can really feel the tension building between them as lightning strikes ominously in the background. We’ll have to wait an issue to see how much sparks fly, however, as Sinestro doesn’t show up until the last page.
Joe Casey, lettered by Troy Peteri, delivers a fairly fun clash of villains style story with more than a handful of comedic moments. This makes Kneel Before Zod #7 the most light hearted book of the series thus far but sadly doesn’t appear to progress much in the way of overall plot. We pick up right where last issue left off and no time is wasted getting into the fray of it all. Emerald Empress appears to be suffering from a delusional state as she clearly doesn’t see things around her as they are. This makes for a convenient way to immediately place her on the offensive and gives Zod a little taste of his own actions when he awoke aboard this vessel. What could have lead to some potential story hooks is cut short as the conflict is definitively dealt with by issue’s end.
The art by Dan McDaid and Colorist David Baron continues to be the real stars of ‘Kneel Before Zod’. This issue they layout the action in classic nine panel sequentialling with no splashes to be found. The incredible amount of detail and close-ups they put in each panel adds a quick camera pacing feel you get in a lot of action films. It also adds a spectator element to the fight as though we’re one of the crew present on the ship. As much as the written narrative seems to suffer from the fluid aspects of the series, the visual team is able to flex their talent in impressive ways. The result is an enjoyable feast for the eyes that’s worth coming back each month.
(6/10) What could’ve been an interesting alliance between Zod and The Emerald Eye plays out for comedy as a filler issue. The visuals are super fun and contributes to most of the entertainment value. I’ve resigned to the idea this series has turned into a version of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ featuring Zod which makes the disjointed nature of each issue more enjoyable albeit a tad disappointing from where the series began.
