New comics

New comics!

Fantastic Four 17

The “team’s lost their memory and need to figure out their powers and interpersonal dynamics” thing feels a little overused, but Ryan North does a good enough job with it.  And it works without the reader needing to know anything about the DNX crossover it’s tying into, so bonus points for that.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 24

I just love this title so much when Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman are together on it.  It’s a perfect mix of exhilarating action, character beats, and gorgeous art.  I need to find the time to read it all at once, I still haven’t done that.  

Alien vs X-Men 1

This reminds me a lot of Warren Ellis’ WildCATs/Aliens, where the xenomorphs kill off a bunch of mainstays early on, setting up the main event to follow.  Kieron Gillen gets things off to a good start, but hopefully it doesn’t fall apart the way Aliens vs Avengers did.

Wonder Woman 2026 Annual

Tom King lets Stephanie and Leah Williams tell the origin of the Matriarch.  Blah blah she’s been selfish as a kid blah blah.  It’s competent enough, but doesn’t make Matriarch any more of an interesting character to me.  

Absolute Batman 24

I’m honestly surprised at how much my enthusiasm for this title has plummeted.  There’s something going on w/ the introduction of Absolute Batgirl, but I find myself just not caring at all.  A few more months of this and I’m likely to drop it.  

Batman of Two Worlds 1

Something DC put out for Batman Day, which I didn’t know was a thing.  This reads like a Free Comics Book Day kind of issue with short stories featuring the Matt Fraction Batman and Snyder’s Absolute Batman.  Totally not worth paying three bucks for.  

Last Driver 2

I’m totally in this for the art, because Sean Murphy’s writing isn’t holding up its end of the bargain.  

Flash 37

Flash gets into an ethics debate w/ this JLA teammates, and comes across as a simple-minded idiot when he’s unable to even acknowledge the gray area of his Minority Report actions.  It’s all a moot point when a catastrophe he supposedly prevented occurs anyway.  I hope his failing precog doesn’t let him off the hook for his philosophical failings.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees Halloween Special

I was saddened to discover that creator Patrick Horvath only did the wrapper scenes for this anthology issue. But the various teams all do a great job, and certainly capture the same creepy spirit Horvath brought to the original two miniseries.  Looking forward to the next arc when it comes out in 2027.  

Superman: The Stranger 2

Wes Craig nails the 1920’s vibe with this story.  It really feels like a spiritual companion to For All Seasons.  Can’t put my finger on why, but that’s the feeling I get when I read this, even though it isn’t as Norman Rockwell.  

Batman 14

Batman looks for Mr Freeze while Verity Pennyworth takes on a trio of cop looters at the mansion.  Eh.  

Death Vigil 3

More of the same.  Again, not Stjepan Sejic’s best, but it might be growing on me.

New comics

Exquisite Corpses 1-8

Borrowed from the library because the title appealed to me, James Tynion IV doesn’t suck, and the concept of 12 assassins/serial killers duking it out in a sealed off little town was pretty interesting.  Unfortunately, Tynion appears to be the big picture guy, with a different writer doing the heavy lifting w/ each each.  Same w/ the mishmash of artists. 

This was not a fun read.  It’s such a hopeless situation for the townspeople that there’s no entertainment value in the experience.  The killers don’t have enough charisma to sustain the story either.  And the constant return to the shadowy overlords (one from each of the original US states, vying for control of the country) doesn’t add anything.  Not going to read any more of this.  

New comics!

Death Vigil 1-8

Definitely the weakest of Stjepan Sejic’s comicography.  To be fair, it’s an insane list of comics he’s worked on.  But this reads like his take on a generic manga, with a large cast of visually interesting characters, overly-complicated lore/rules, and lots of battle scenes that ultimately don’t engage me all that much.  

I’ll have to re-read the second volume now, I’m sure it’ll make a lot more sense.  I’ll also keep buying it, since Sejic is worth supporting.  Even less good Sejic is worth reading.

Wonder Woman 37

Very much a setup issue.  I didn’t think I’d ever be saying this, but Tom King’s characterization of a perfect Diana is starting to wear a bit thin on me.  At first, it was simply badass.  But now, it’s starting to smack of self-righteousness.  Even though she’s right.  Hopefully this feeling doesn’t last, because I want to keep loving this title.  

Daredevil 7

I had to buy this issue because I didn’t cancel last month in time.  I’ve already forgotten what happened in the last two months.  No regrets about halting my sub.  

Dark Knights of Steel II 3

Amanda Waller completes her coup, killing the queen and installing herself as regent.  Tom Taylor’s doing nice work with this, but it still hasn’t reached DCeased levels.  

Detective Comics 1113

Jeff Spokes isn’t a bad fill in for Mikel Janin at all.  This continues the story from Batman as the Bad Seeds event continues.  Batman fights to stop the blimps from releasing their toxin over Gotham.  Not bad.  

Absolute Cassandra Cain 1

Matias Bergara gives off major Kevin O’Neill vibes with his art here.  It’s a nicely done action story, but nothing stand out.

New comics

More new comics that have backed up.

Batman 13

Matteo Scalera and colorist Tomeu Morey create a Kelley Jones tone here.  Batman fights his way to the top of GCPD headquarters in a very poor man’s version of The Raid.  Vandal Savage is the final boss on the roof, and we’ll see how it goes next issue.  It’s fine.  I’m not that excited about this “Bad Seeds” crossover event.  

Fantastic Four 16

One of Ryan North’s weaker efforts.  The FF violate the Prime Directive on an alien world and go through convoluted lengths to fix the situation.  Not his most inspired work.  

Supergirl: Survive 4

Kara and Kal-El experiment with their powers, then meet an exiled Braniac.  This is the evil one, right?  So him building a gateway to the Phantom Zone can only lead to bad things, right?  I love how this continues to surprise me and leave me guessing.

Daredevil 6

I tried.  But Flaviano as guest artist starkly illustrates how weak Stephanie Phillips’ writing is on this title.  And while I love Lee Garbett, he’s no Hayden Sherman.  He needs at least some semblance of story backing him up to keep me buying.  Cutting from my sub. 

New comics

New comics!

Six of Us 1

When I finished reading this issue, I couldn’t help myself from saying, “He’s so freaking good” out loud.  Tom King absolutely nails it with this first issue, which isn’t always the case with his titles.  (Not that they don’t almost always end up spectacularly.)  

It’s wonderful pitch: A member of this thinly-veiled cast of Friends (it’s Matthew Perry, RIP) is murdered by one of the other five.  Who dunnit?  King does a wonderful job of starting to flesh out the six actors, clearly tying them to their real-life counterparts while setting them apart with original relationships and motivations.  I can’t wait to read the rest of this.  

And who doesn’t wish that the Friends could have made a movie out of this?

Death Vigil 2

This is probably the weakest of Stjepan Sejic’s series that I’ve read.  It’s probably no coincidence that this is the most plot-heavy of his titles as well, with far less emphasis on the relationships between his characters.  I just picked up the first volume of this, and I’ll decide from there if I want to keep buying this.  

Doomquest 4

Doom lives through his own “Inner Light” (the legendary Star Trek: TNG episode).  He forswears his life of domination in order to live out a traditional family life with his childhood soulmate, Valeria.  By his own admission, it’s fulfilling, full of love, and unlike anything he’s ever experienced before.  The twist comes at the end, as Valeria’s dying of old age.  He decides that it still isn’t enough.  That’s he’s meant for more.  For he is Doom.  So he repudiates his life to her face before moving on down the timestream.

It’s heartless, cruel, cold, and utterly Doom.  A masterpiece of an issue by Ryan North.

Parker Girls 1-10

The Parker Girls, now run by Tambi, take down faux-Mark Zuckerberg.  Because he’s a murderous psychopath.  I said this last time with Five Years, but Terry Moore is such a master of the craft at this stage of his career.  The writing and art blend so seamlessly into a reading experience that’s just a joy to sit through.  

Dr Strange and Dr Doom: Triumph and Torment

A colleague recently recommended this to me, and Marvel coincidentally happened to reprint it a few weeks later.  It’s got 80’s era Mike Mignola illustrating this Roger Stern story.  Dr Strange is forced to grant Dr Doom a boon, so they journey together into Hades to confront Mephisto and save the soul of Doom’s mother.  The story is solid, and Mignola channels P Craig Russell way more than his own distinctive style (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).  But it suffers from the 80’s wordiness that can be such a momentum killer for a banger comic.  I don’t regret buying this, but it doesn’t rank among the top tier of that decade.

Legion of Super-Heroes 1

I bought this solely due to Hayden Sherman’s name on the cover.  As long as he keeps drawing Absolute Wonder Woman.  Joshua Williamson writes a good-enough start that has the potential to be excellent.  (This looks to be a reboot of the team.)  And if it’s at all serviceable, I have no doubt that Sherman’s beautiful art will take it the rest of the way.

Superman: The Stranger 1

Wes Craig (of Deadly Class and Kaya fame) writes and draws this take on the 1920s Superman at the start of his career.  It’s lovely to look at, evoking Tim Sale’s work, but with a flavor of its own.  This is on my sub now.

The Ones

From the library.

The Ones TPB

I was excited to learn there was a Brian Michael Bendis series that I hadn’t read before.  Turns out I had nothing to get worked up over.  Bendis fails to elevate any of his characters above the Chosen One tropes they’re all pulling from.  The plot is basic, the resolution is unsatisfying, and the art by Jacob Edgar doesn’t rise above serviceable.  I’m glad I borrowed this before buying it sight unseen.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Wonder Woman 23

It’s so nice to have Hayden Sherman back.  He’s so perfect on this book.  And angry Diana’s awesome too.  Don’t fuck with her.  

Dark Knights of Steel II 2

Amanda Waller continues to execute her nefarious plans, and the only reason it’s not pissing me off is because of my anticipation of her inevitable comeuppance.  Otto Schmidt always rocks.  

Batman: Bad Seeds: Sunset 1

The start of a mega Bat-crossover that I only got because Matt Fraction did half the writing.  (With G. Willow Wilson on the other half.)  TLDR: Poison Ivy (Mayor of Gotham somehow) surrenders Gotham to the Parliament of Trees to terraform into a prehistoric floral mess.  Vandal Savage (GCPD Commissioner somehow) sets out to oppose her and cement his authoritarian control of the city.  It’s fine, but I won’t be picking anything up outside of Batman and Detective, which I’m already getting.  Oh, and Greg Rucka is doing a Gotham General two-parter that I’m trying out for sure.  (Hoping it’ll be in the same vein as Gotham Central.)

Peter Cullen, Library books

RIP Peter Cullen.  What a world we live in where the top headline of the day is that the voice of a 1980s cartoon character passed away.  It’s well deserved.  Thank you, sir, for the joy you brought to 5-year-old me and 45-year-old me.  

Some library books:

WildCATs 1-12

I tried this out because Matthew Rosenberg has a really good success rate.  So apparently he is capable of writing crap.  This reads like the worst of the 90s Image comics.  It’s even worse, because it doesn’t have the art of a Jim Lee or Marc Silvestri to go with it.  I was ready to quit three issues in, but forced myself to finish out of some morbid curiosity and hope that it would get better.  It never did.  

Regret reading: Yes

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Hated

Push the Wall

Frank Miller’s memoirs and lessons learned over one of the most brilliant careers in the history of the medium.  It’s a little boilerplate in terms of the lessons, nothing that hasn’t been said before.  But it’s still fun to hear them in the context of creating Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, and all of the other classics he’s created over the years.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Fine