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

New comics

More new comics!

What If: Runaways 1

I picked this up because Rainbow Rowell wrote it.  Unfortunately, it falls into the same two-prong trap of many What Ifs.

1. With only a single issue to tell the story, there isn’t enough space to properly explore the posited alternative scenario.  The story feels thin and superficial.

2. The heroes end up where they do in the primary timeline, maybe with a few minor modifications.  Which is what happens here.  

Five Years 1-5

Picked this up used for five bucks.  Totally worth it.  Terry Moore is just so easy to read.  He’s such a good writer, and an even better artist.  His stories flow so smoothly and completely engage me.  This induced me to go out and get more of the Moore comics that I’m missing from my collection.  (Serial and Parker Girls.)

Absolute Catwoman 3

The MacGuffin is lame and the tech in this story is advanced beyond reasonable believability.  But it’s fun enough and I miss reading an all-women team.  It’s been too long since Birds of Prey was good.  

Detective Comics 1112

Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin almost make me believe that the retconned-into-their-lives Prion is worth the emotional weight that Batman, Green Arrow, and Black Canary assign to him.  This is the best issue of the arc, and while I doubt Prion will ever be mentioned by anyone ever again, he was worth the introduction.

Flash 36

I shouldn’t have doubted Ryan North.  Green Arrow calls out the creepy nature of Wally’s new application of his powers.  It does feel a little out of character for Wally to not see it himself.  I’m going to chalk it up to him being excited by what’s essentially a pretty cool new toy, and that he’ll come to his senses pretty quickly.  

Powers 25 12

Brian Michael Bendis neatly wraps up the mystery, but as with most of his Powers stories, the fun was in the journey.  I’m super happy he came back to this with Michael Avon Oeming, and hope they’ll continue to produce more Powers.  

Last Driver 1

I’ll try anything that Sean Murphy writes and draws.  This story’s got fast cars and lots of action, so he’s definitely writing to his strengths.  I’ll stick around.  

Death Vigil 1

I never read volume 1 of this series by the legendary Stjepan Sejic.  This is more plot driven than the usual character-heavy fare of Sunstone and Fine Print, but I’ll stay with it for a while longer.  (And I’ll also try out the earlier story as well.)

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 23

Conspiracy Bruce Wayne who doesn’t trust his friends or family gets really old really quickly.  I hope he snaps out of it soon, because I’m not interested in reading about this Batman.  The Clayface/Batman/Robins sequence was pretty cool, but the nonstop grimness of this series is starting to wear on me.  

DIE: Loaded 8

Okay, I think I’m done.  I didn’t even read this, just skimmed it.

100 Bullets: US of Anger 2

Same with this.  Buying it out of force of habit, time to buckle down and break the cycle.  

Fantastic Four 15

Another wonderful time travelling story from Ryan North, and the tribute to FF artists past was a lovely touch for this 65th anniversary issue.  And truly, RIP to Johnny’s glorious moustache.

Battle Beast 12

Yesss.  More insane fight sequences from the immortal Ryan Ottley.  I’d like to see his R-rated take on some Marvel characters.  Maybe a Wolverine/Sabretooth fight.  With this brief cessation in hostilities, the title goes on hiatus until next March.

Daredevil 5

I can’t bring myself to drop three titles in a week.  And Lee Garbett gets at least the beginning of arc number 2 from me.  I hope Stephanie Phillips finds her footing and brings something better next month.  This story was maybe replacement level.  

Wonder Woman 36

The second half of this title’s version of The Contest.  It’s pretty good, but I’ll always wish for Miken Janin’s art.  Looking forward to Tom King’s return next month.

Batman 12

A number of assassins come to town.  Batman fights a couple of them and Verity Pennyworth (the new butler) proves her worth.  She’s not as cool as Alfred (I mean, who is?), but she shows promise.  She’s got a ways to go though.  

Supergirl: Survive 3

Every issue of this title zigs a different zag, and it’s frankly mind boggling that Ethan S Parker and Griffin Sheridan haven’t driven the whole thing off the road yet.  In fact, they’ve kept it super fun and engaging.  Kara does the “Hal Jordan creating a lost city with a power ring in Emerald Twilight” thing while Mr Mxyzptlk looks on.  (And it’s one of the few times he’s not infuriating.).  And the cliffhanger promises a fourth new direction in as many issues.  Can’t wait.