Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich

Universo DC: Lobo #1

by Keith Giffen, Simon Bisley (Artist)

Don't miss this new edition of the title collecting both the LOBO and LOBO'S BACK miniseries that helped make the Last Czarnian a legend, co-written by 52's Keith Giffen! First, Lobo is sent to capture a crotchety old teacher who, along the way, makes life miserable for her captor. Then, Lobo must take in the most dangerous being in the universe -- and is promptly killed. But heaven doesn't want him and hell can't handle him, so Lobo is reincarnated -- as a woman with big guns and a very bad attitude! Collects Lobo #1-4 and Lobo's Back #1-4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Keith Ian Giffen was an American comic book illustrator and writer. He is possibly best-known for his long runs illustrating, and later writing the Legion of Super-Heroes title in the 1980s and 1990s. He also created the alien mercenary character Lobo (with Roger Slifer), and the irreverent "want-to-be" hero, Ambush Bug. Giffen is known for having an unorthodox writing style, often using characters in ways not seen before. His dialogue is usually characterized by a biting wit that is seen as much less zany than dialogue provided by longtime collaborators DeMatteis and Robert Loren Fleming. That approach has brought him both criticism and admiration, as perhaps best illustrated by the mixed (although commercially successful) response to his work in DC Comics' Justice League International (1987-1992). He also plotted and was breakdown artist for an Aquaman limited series and one-shot special in 1989 with writer Robert Loren Fleming and artist Curt Swan for DC Comics.

Giffen's first published work was "The Sword and The Star", a black-and-white series featured in Marvel Preview, with writer Bill Mantlo. He has worked on titles (owned by several different companies) including Woodgod, All Star Comics, Doctor Fate, Drax the Destroyer, Heckler, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Reign of the Zodiac, Suicide Squad, Trencher (to be re-released in a collected edition by Boom! Studios)., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Vext. He was also responsible for the English adaptation of the Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen manga, as well as creating "I Luv Halloween" for Tokyopop. He also worked for Dark Horse from 1994-95 on their Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line, as the writer of two short lived series, Division 13 and co-author, with Lovern Kindzierski, of Agents of Law. For Valiant Comics, Giffen wrote XO-Manowar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Punx and the final issue of Solar, Man of the Atom.

He took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such as The Real Ghostbusters and Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy.

He is also the lead writer for Marvel Comics's Annihilation event, having written the one-shot prologue, the lead-in stories in Thanos and Drax, the Silver Surfer as well as the main six issues mini-series. He also wrote the Star-Lord mini-series for the follow-up story Annihilation: Conquest. He currently writes Doom Patrol for DC, and is also completing an abandoned Grant Morrison plot in The Authority: the Lost Year for Wildstorm.

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review for Lobo's Back Vol 1 #1-4
This was disappointing. It was an excuse to let Lobo rage and murder at nauseam where no one could really stop him.

The gag of him being reincarnated did nothing but give a slight reprieve from the violence in most other pages.

And the end was so funny to me. They stripped Lobo of being ‘immortal’ originally (suppressing the cloning capability in his blood) and now they don’t want him to die (not that he was ever close in any other story).

As you can tell, this was not an enjoyable story for me to read.

I probably wouldn’t read any more individual Lobo stories if I hadn’t bought another collection years ago.


Review for Lobo Vol 1 #1-4
Honestly, not as violent as I thought it was going to be!

It was not the most informative mini-series, but we do know that Lobo's kind of always been like that.

I didn’t mind the art most of the time though I didn’t love the way Dox was drawn. He looked very different from how he does in the pages of LEIGION.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to a 4 than a 2.

This was a ton of fun. It's my intro to Lobo, I've managed to avoid him in comics up to this point. Nothing about him interests me at all, just a weird parody of sorts of 90s comics.

I was wrong, he's a ton of fun in these first two mini series. I love the illustration by Bisley who typically works with a lot of multi-media and paint, here he operates in the Marvel style and it works very well. The jokes for the most part hit home.

[Tomasz · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

Być może jakbym był w gimnazjum to imponowałby mi ten humor, jednak przez to, że pierwsze zerknięcie z Lobo mam w wieku dorosłym, to całość była dla mnie trochę zbyt edgy. Za to warstwa wizualna to majstersztyk.

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 4 out of 5]

One hell of a fun book, from a time when art was allowed to be politically incorrect.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.. it was ok. Not a big fan of the artwork. It was fun at first but got repetitions as the story went on.

[Rsoeffker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of satire. In no way is it to be compared with serious toned comic books. This is not like superman or spiderman. Lobo is a hyper violent, self-centered dickhead. He drinks too much, abuses women, and has a very strange and strict honor code. All that being said, this was incredibly entertaining! High action, violence, comedy and everything that makes a good comic. The illustrations were a bit lacking, but decent just the same. If you want to laugh or just have some raw pulp, check it out.

[Karol Kleczka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pamiętam, gdy przed laty koleżka na koloniach przemycił “Paramilitarne święta specjalne”. Czytaliśmy to z rumieńcami i wypiekami na twarzy, jak to z pozycją tylko dla dorosłych bywa. Lobo był synonimem rzeczy wulgarnych, prymitywnych. No cóż nie jest to rzecz dla każdego, bo poczucie humoru dość ekskluzywne, niemniej jeśli ktoś darzył sympatią “Kapitana Bombę”, to tu znajdzie wyjaśnienie czemu po latach śmiał na tej kreskówce. Raz zasiane ziarno kiełkuje. Dziś sam jestem dziadkiem, nabrałem dystansu i miło wrócić do tego zbiorku, doceniając choćby nadzwyczajną sprawność rysowników, bo choć treściowo są to rzeczy głupkowate (i takie mają być! mnie to pasuje), to wizualnie niezależnie od sympatii - majstersztyk.

[Hugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not big, and it's not clever, but it is funny. Bisley's art, even when he's phoning it in, is something else. Suffers immeasurably from a writer doing visual breakdowns, an artist drawing what he wants, and a writer coming in last and trying to make sense of it all.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who's totally new to Lobo, I Really Enjoyed this Graphic Novel.
I'm glad I read the originals instead of just diving in head-first into the newer Lobo Books, because I Like to get a feel of how a character is brought into a comic book universe instead of starting in the middle and this book does just that.

I First found out about Lobo by playing through the Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition which included Lobo as a playable character/DLC Character. His Character design was well structured and reminded me a little of Gene Simmons from the band KISS, So I Decided to look into his back story and I Wasn't Let down.

One way to describe his life style is "An Assassin that will break ya' neck and rip your fraggin' face off if you speak out of line to him!"

This Graphic Novel contains the first two Mini-series's that Lobo had, the first in which Lobo has to escort one of his old teachers to a police facility. the other, Lobo is hired to go against one of his greatest foes "Loo" who kills him, but neither heaven or hell want him so he is sent back to earth as a Female and goes absolutely nuts.

As a Big fan of the DC Universe, this is one side I Have never seen and have gladly had the enjoyment to explore and loved every moment of it.
If you enjoy reading about the Batman Villains or any of the DC Villains for that matter, then you should pick this up. you won't be disappointed. :)

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, first things first, I love Lobo. He's such a great anti-villain-hero, and one of my favorite characters from DC. That being said, this is a miniseries that I'd always wanted to read, since like, forever, mostly due to the fans selection, being one of his most popular titles. So yeah, now that I did, what can I say about it? Is what you'd expect from it; Lobo having a job to accomplish and lots of trouble around him. To be fair, is not that I expected an innovative reading material or such, but, is not that I also expected any kind of reading. And yeah, I sort of did receive an average kind of reading, but being this sort of character, is not necessarily a problem. Actually, the biggest problem is the comic length (just 4 issues), and it's conclusion is just as rush and out of nowhere, that it sorts of bothers, but not enough to ruin the rest of the comic. Overall, a fun ride, and a good introduction to the character, I can't explain why this particular miniseries is considered the "fans favorite", but yeah, its still pretty much enjoyable.

[Your_Average_Magical_Girls_Fan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently, time as of lately has not been generous with the comics I read when I started reading comics again ten years ago. Why? because Trigun and Trigun Maximum turned out to suck ass, this doesn't 100% suck but holy moley, there's absolutely NO POINT in anything going on in these pages. Except Bisley's art, that is, and even that one it's not always perfect. Like the 1989 Batman movie, things happen because reasens and, like the ATROCIOUS Ambush Bug series wrote by the same guy who penned this in the first place, the humour wants to pass itself as funny but it simply isn't. How the two miniseries in this book spawned entire spinoffs and a solo series made of SIXTY (!) issues with this character as a protagonist is completely beyond me.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently purchased this book because of a recommendation from a friend of mine. He warned me that Lobo was a character that I was either going to love or hate right from the beginning. I am happy to report that I loved this book! From the first page to the last page it was a great read. I figured as such because the cover boasts the work of Alan Grant who never disappoints! I recommend this book to anyone who loves a bad-ass with a soft side for space dolphins. :)

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost gave this a single star.

This Lobo is a one-trick pony. The jokes grow dull fast. I'm not entirely sure what made this book such a big seller when it was released. Maybe I should have read it back then instead of now?

Based on this, I'll be more interested in seeing Lobo in a group and probably pass on his solo efforts.

[Mhorg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Done back when Lobo was fresh and new, before the character was beaten to death, this is a lot of fun. Containing the Last Czarnian, where Lobo has to bring a 'dangerous prisoner" back to L.E.G.I.O.N. it's at times side splittingly funny, gruesome and over all, fun.

[David Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this comic has almost no redeeming value whatsoever, except that it's a rollicking fun time full of dumb stuff and excessive violence.

Role model the main man ain't, but shit he's entertaining.

(This'll rot your brain, just like mom warned ya!)

[Sunça Sunça · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adoro as situações malucas e contextos inusitados que o Keith Giffen cria. É um humor exagerado e caricato.

Gosto muito de como o Lobo é uma paródia do super-herói machão. O gibi é uma reflexão bem-humorada sobre a  masculinidade tóxica, tosca e grosseira

[Mieszko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurde bele. He he

[Arbus · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

Trzeba mieć niezle nasrane we łbie zeby cos takiego wymyślić

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tytuł legenda, który przeczytałem dopiero teraz. Pewnie, jakbym był młodszy to zrobiłby na mnie znacznie większe wrażenie, bo mamy tu i przerysowaną przemoc, okraszoną jednocześnie sporą dawką humoru, niestety różnych lotów.

Na Portret bękarta składają się w sumie trzy historie o różnej długości, które już zostały wydane w Polsce jakiś czas temu, ale jeszcze nie w takim kroju. Pierwszy i najlepszy kawałek o nazwie "Ostatni Czarnianin" pozwala nam przyjrzeć się kolejnemu zleceniu Ważniaka, który polega na dostarczeniu pewnej osoby w pewne miejsce. Okazuje się jednak, że eskortowana osoba to jego dawna nauczycielka i jedna z mieszkanek nieistniejącej już Czarni. Dobija to bardzo mocno Lobo, bo chciałby ją ubić, ale zawsze dotrzymuje danego słowa. Kłopot w tym, że w całą kabałę wplątuje się sporo frakcji i wyjście zwycięsko z powierzonej misji może nie być możliwe...

Lobo to specyficzny antybohater, któremu jednak się kibicuje, bo to postać rodem z filmów lat 80. XX wieku. Czyli jest przerysowany w charakterze i wyglądzie napakowanego byczka rzucającymi one-linerami na prawo i lewo, w akompaniamencie wystrzałów i wybuchów. W dodatku mamy przy tej historii naprawdę zabawne dodatki, które mają pogłębić wczuwkę w tytuł.

Kolejny tytuł jest dosyć szczególny. "Lobo powraca" to dla bohatera spory orzech do zgryzienia. Nie dosyć, że daje się wmanewrować w pułapkę, to trafia w zaświaty po tym jak broń przerywa go na pół. Tyle, że w niebie go nie chcą, w piekle też nie. Pozostaje zatem reinkarnacja i spora doza humoru, jaką prezentuje Giffen wraz z Grantem. Na końcu mamy jeszcze króciutkie "Paramilitarne święta specjalne", gdzie Lobo dostaje zlecenie od zajączka wielkanocnego na samego św. Mikołaja. Nawet sobie nie wyobrażacie do czego to doprowadzi...

Całości towarzyszy bardzo dobra kreska, na której czuć co prawda miejscami ząb czasu, ale w większości nadal robi wrażenie. Wygląda bohatera budzi respekt i zachwyt. Makabra jaką nam serwują autorzy też jest zadziwiająco szczegółowa, co sprawia że śledziłem te kadry z należytą uwagą. Niemniej Lobo się zestarzał, a historia, mimo że zabawna, to w większości przypadków, jest tutaj pretekstowa i służy tylko rzezi.

Są tacy, których taka bezpardonowa młócka zachwyci, mi jednak przydało by się tu coś więcej, niż szereg gagów. Doceniam kunszt rysownika i humor, ale nie stoi za tym nic więcej. Niemniej jeżeli jesteście ciekawi postaci to ten tom jest żelazną pozycją w dążeniu do poznania kim jest Lobo.

[Wojtek Breitenbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

„Lobo - portret bękarta” to komiks przedziwny. Przesadzona brutalność, olbrzymie umięśnione postaci i główny bohater, któremu trochę kibicujemy, a trochę go nie lubimy. Cała historia jest celowo nadmiernie przesadzona w każdym względzie - rysunków, dialogów, a przede wszystkim fabuły. W ramach komiksu (wydanie DC Compact) dostajemy miniserie „Lobo”, „Lobo powraca”, oraz „Lobo: Paramilitarne święta specjalne”.

Osobiście nie jestem fanem tego typu historii, gdzie krew leje się gęsto, a z bohaterem nie można do końca sympatyzować, ale muszę przyznać że sam komiks czytało mi się całkiem dobrze. Na pewno dużym plusem jest humor tego komiksu i to, że sam do końca nie traktuje siebie poważnie. Dzięki temu szalone i absurdalne fabuły śledzi się tak dobrze. Na plus zasługuje także zbudowanie całej mitologii wokół Lobo, dzięki czemu czytelnik może się dowiedzieć z tego komiksu wszystkie najważniejsze rzeczy na temat jego historii czy zdolności.

Mi osobiście najbardziej podobała się główna seria gdzie Lobo współpracuje z LEGION-em i wstawki z nieautoryzowanej biografii Lobo.

Jeśli szukacie złożonego, poważnego komiksu - to nie tutaj.

Jeśli natomiast chcecie prostej, niezobowiązującej rozrywki i nie przeszkadza wam, lub wręcz jest przez was pożądana, duża ilość flaków ten komiks na pewno wam się spodoba.

[Stefan Albertsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is not much to say about Lobo. Nor about his stories. They can be summed up in a few terms:
Violence, brutality, insults, death (by any means induced) and sex.
You can wrinkle your nose at that. You find something bad. But those who like such stories - especially if they are spiced with bitter, black humor - will get their money's worth with Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich.
As does the writer of this review.
Do you understand, you sl**s, you w***s, you m****-eaters?


Über Lobo muss man nicht viele Worte verlieren. Ebensowenig über seine Geschichten. Die lassen sich mit einigen wenigen Begriffen zusammenfassen:
Gewalt, Brutalität, Beleidigungen, Tod (in jeder nur erdenklich herbeigeführten Weise) und Sex.
Man kann darüber die Nase rümpfen. Man so etwas schlecht finden. Diejenigen aber, die solche Geschichten mögen - vor allem, wenn sie mit bitterbösem, schwarzen Humor gewürzt sind - werden bei Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich voll auf ihre Kosten kommen.
So wie der Verfasser dieser Rezension.
Habt Ihr's verstanden, Ihr L*****n, Ihr W*******r, Ihr H********en?

[Nymeria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Niko nije vise kul od Loba!
Presrecna sam sto je ovo objavljeno, za danasnje vreme bi bilo previse”politicki nekorektno”.
Crtezi su lu-di-lo eksplozija boja i haosa na svakoj stranici.
Lobo koji vuce svoju ucetiljicu kroz galaksiju,njene ocene i njegova biografija koju je napisala, tuca Loba sa djavolima i bogovima jer ga ni pakao ni raj nece, dok vrhovni Bog place od smeha gledajuci sve to.
Sjajno!

[Osku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects 8 Lobo magazines from the early 1990s. Super violent with plenty of loose limbs, ripped-off faces and of course beautiful art by Simon Bisley. Only the last 20 or so pages are drawn by someone else but that is not a big minus.

[Piotrek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobry komiks, który ukazuje charakter Lobo, ciekawostki na jego temat oraz jego szalone przygody. Nieźle bawiłem się przy tym, bo humor jest porządny tutaj. "Paramilitarne święta" odznaczają się tutaj bardzo dobrze jako taka krótka historyjka z klimatem.

[John Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lobo
The Main Man
Bastich Extraordinaire.
Introduced in the '90s
as the ultimate end to the
anti hero who was gaining
such popularity.
Lobo is a complete monster.
A psychopathic killer with out
compunction, remorse or any regard for any one
else at all.
Look at him wrong, be in his way
you're dead.
In the most horrible gratuitous manner that
the artist can imagine.
Comprising the original two
mini series LOBO and LOBO'S BACK.
Which are little more than excuses
for massive inappropriate violence.
Which is to say it's great fun.

[Rob Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant!

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Duas histórias voltadas para a comédia, mas com roteiro fraco e arte caricata.

[Bo Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Like the Ink and the Story

[Ashiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super

[Pie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never in my life have I encountered a comic that so clearly VERY badly wants to allow the main character to repeatedly say fuck but is not allowed to due to editorial mandate.