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. 

Assorted things

Last few new comics: 

DIE: Loaded 7

I know it’s been like three weeks since I read this, but I had to read it again to recall anything about it.  I should really cut the cord with this thing, but I don’t know what’s keeping me from doing so.  It’s strangely compelling despite not being all that memorable.  

Punisher vs Amazing Spider-Man 1

An iFanboy pick.  Certainly a well-made comic, with good art by Matteo Della Fonte and a fun 80’s style story by Dan Abnett. But it doesn’t grab, and I won’t be picking up the next issue.  

Stuff from the library:

Original Sin 

By Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.  It explores the events that led up to and followed President Joe Biden’s decision to not run for a second term.  Ignoring the politics of it all, and assuming it’s factually correct, I enjoyed reading this in-depth account of a crazy presidential election and the personalities involved with how it all went down.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: No

Rating: Pretty good

Alison

By Lizzy Stewart.  This graphic novel tells the story of an emerging artist in London during the 1980s.  It delves into her relationships, her growth, and her struggle to find herself. It’s fine, but nothing I’m going to remember

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

New comics

Battle Beast 11

It’s a fighting issue, which means it’s a good issue.

Fantastic Four 14

This is Ryan North at his best, a one-shot with a clever problem and an even more clever twist/solution.  Absolutely love it.  

Detective Comics 1111

Tom Taylor reveals how Prion died, and Batman unravels another twist.  Probably not worth buying w/out Mikel Janin’s art, but the combination is enough to keep me reading.  

Flash 35

So….basically Wally needs to make the city a surveillance state with himself as the camera in order to prevent all the crime.  How is this not creepy?  I’m surprised North hasn’t addressed the concern yet.  

Dark Knights of Steel II 1

Tom Taylor comes back to this universe, this time drawn by Otto Schmidt.  (Woots!)  A good start to this arc.  I’m not as invested in this Elseworld as I was with Taylor’s DCeased and Injustice, but there’s no denying he knows how to do an alternate reality.

New comics

I’ve got like 3 weeks of comics to recap here.  

Detective Comics Annual 2026

Batman teams up with Lobo (?!?), but it’s really an excuse for Tom Taylor to do his spin on Batman’s Black Mercy hallucination.  It’s not all that different from what you’d expect: married to Selina, kids, parents and Alfred still alive.  It’s competently done, but nothing that’s must-read.  

The backup story is a twisted little Pyg story that wasn’t bad at all, but still missable.  Not a waste of money, but I wouldn’t buy this again.  

Super Creepshow 1, 3-5

An anthology series I picked up on iFanboy’s recommendation.  It’s a bunch of creatives doing their EC Comics spin on superheroes.  Very Twilight Zone.  A fun read, and while I’m not going to go out of my way to find the missing second issue, I’d pick it up if it was convenient to do so.

Doomquest 3

Hee, Doom as George Washington.  Ryan North’s having so much fun with this, and he’s taking us along for the ride.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 22

Barbara succumbs to temptation and accepts the Cheetah spirit into her life.  Diana rescues Circe from Scylla.  Dillon Snook does a fine job, but I obviously miss Hayden Sherman.  

Absolute Batman 22

Absolute Harley Quinn’s origin is well told by Scott Snyder.  Batman eludes the Robins.  Joker adds a twist to the story at the end.  (Thomas Wayne is alive.  We think.)

Absolute Catwoman 2

Some well done action scenes, and I like what Snyder and Che Grayson are doing with some Bat-Universe staples.  No reason to quit yet.  

Daredevil 4

Is this worth picking up for the Lee Garbett art?  Because the story is very mid for me.  There’s some promise with the detective freezing in the middle of a crisis, but that’s not enough.  Maybe another issue or two.  

Barbara Gordon: Breakout 3

Really not living up to the promise of the premise.  It’s off after this issue.

Assorted Crisis Events 9

A down-on-his-luck guy has no choice but to become a temporal soldier, trapped in a shitty existence.  It’s not Deniz Camp’s best work, but it doesn’t suck.  

Powers 25 11

The mystery continues as the killer is possibly revealed.  Standard good Bendis/Oeming material here.

Wonder Woman 35

Stephanie Williams does her take on Diana’s contest victory, the one that won her the mantle of Wonder Woman.  I wonder how much of this is plotted out by Tom King. It’s well done, and goes a little deeper into Diana’s psychology at the time, but it’s not required reading or anything.  

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

What’s the special sauce w/ the MCU Spider-Man movies?  How do they consistently stand out from the rest of the pack?  Let’s list the ways:

1. Tom Holland.  He continues to shine.  This go around, he plays the reluctant loner, forced to work alone to keep his friends safe.  It’s a well-worn trope, but he pulls it off well in a way that doesn’t make you want to smack him upside the back of his head.  (See the end of Tobey Maguire’s first Spider-Man.)  

Yet through all of the depression, Peter’s innate joy for life still comes through.  His “That is so cool” when the Hand strike a kickass fight pose, while he’s getting his ass kicked, is his character in a nutshell.

2. Zendaya.  So perfect in this role.  The scene where she kisses/fools Spider-Man pulled all my emotional strings.  Phenomenal.

3. Sadie Sink as Jean Grey.  Was anyone surprised by the reveal?  Regardless, she’ll be just fine as the MCU’s first X-Man.  Particularly loved her scene with Marisa Tomei (yay!).  This movie did a great job of hitting all the feels for me.

4. There are some gorgeous camera shots from director Destin Daniel Cretton and cinematographer Brett Pawlak.  There’s one where the camera spins around during a fight/chase sequence that I just loved.

5. I’m a sucker for the “hero shares a silent moment with a kid” thing (See: Cap with the kid in the museum, Andrew Garfield at the end of Amazing Spider-Man 2.)  Also, Peter getting a chance to see what he means to the city was sweet.

6. I liked that Scorpion was a misdirect as the main villain of the film.  And that the finale didn’t fallback to a generic battle with huge explosions.  

7. Peter’s last scene with Ned.  There may not be a magical kiss, but there’s a magical handshake.  (And I still think the kiss will work, just like it did at the end of Chuck.  MJ was possessed the first time, didn’t count.)

8. It’s always a pleasure to see Florence Pugh as Yelena.  

9. Heh, Naomi Watts voiced EV, Spidey’s AI.  Excellent.  

What didn’t work as well

1. I don’t buy evil Jean Grey.  Before the reveal, her actions, especially when torturing Peter, evince a cruelty that doesn’t fit with her character, even within the context of her single-minded quest.  Also, her plan really doesn’t make any sense at all.  With her powers, jumping into Director Metzger’s mind from the get go would have been much cleaner w/ a far greater chance of success.  But then there wouldn’t have been a movie.  

2. Peter develops organic webshooters and there’s no reference to Tobey from the last movie?

3. I’m on the fence with funny Punisher.  Jon Bernthal plays it well, and Garth Ennis has put to rest the notion that Frank can’t be both grim and hilarious, but it didn’t quite sit right with me.  

4. Good to see Mark Ruffalo, and the Hulk fight scenes was pretty good.  But he still felt shoehorned in.  

5. Not enough Ned, not nearly enough MJ.  These movies ultimately sing because of the relationship between the three.  The too-few scenes we get with them only reinforce that truth.

6. Rarely a fan of “whipping up next-gen tech in the back of my garage” gimmicks.  He may be a genius, but Peter’s no Tony Stark.

7. Cretton did a superb job with this film, but it also means this is time not spent on Shang-Chi 2.  Where the hell is that movie??????????????????

This is the kind of Marvel movie I know and love.  Nice to see it can still be done.  Really hoping the Russos can bring more of the same in December.  Also can’t wait for Peter and MJ to get back together.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Good

Updated MCU rankings

1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Captain America: Winter Soldier

4. Spider-Man: No Way Home

5. Avengers: Infinity War

6. Shang-Chi

7. Avengers: Age of Ultron

8. Ant-Man/Wasp

9. Avengers

10. Spider-Man: Brand New Day

11. Spider-Man: Homecoming

12. Captain America

13. Dr Strange 2

14. Thunderbolts

15. Thor: Love and Thunder

16. Spider-Man: Far From Home

17. Iron Man 2

18. Black Widow

19. Fantastic Four: First Steps

20. Black Panther

21. Iron Man

22. Ant-Man

23. Dr Strange

24. Deadpool & Wolverine

25. Iron Man 3

26. Thor 3

27. Captain Marvel

28. Thor

29. Thor 2

30. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

31. Guardians of the Galaxy

32. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

33. Guardians of the Galaxy 3

34. Hulk

35. Eternals

36. Captain America: Brave New World

37. Ant-Man/Wasp: Quantumania

Supergirl

Supergirl

The second film in James Gunn’s new DCU.  I went into this not expecting it to reach the quality of the source material, Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s phenomenal Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.  I mean, that’s an insanely high bar to rise to.  But would it come anywhere close?

No, not really.  I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the movie enough, but the final third lost me with a bunch of movie silliness.  The usual list:

What I liked:

1. I’ll put Milly Alcock on this list, but I’m actually still mixed in my feelings.  She’s got a very non-traditional look.  (She really does look like Will Poulter.  Apparently I’m not the first person to say so, but I swear I came to that conclusion on my own.)  But I wanted to reserve judgment until I saw her on screen.  I ultimately liked her performance and her attitude, and I’d happily watch her in this role in future movies.

2. I liked the film’s take on Supergirl’s character.  “You don’t have to be nice, but you have to be good.”  It’s a very clear articulation of a way of thinking that you don’t see with many superheroes.  Well, I suppose you do - Wolverine, Hitman, etc.  But this is a new spin on Supergirl in particular that’s  necessary in order to set her apart from the DCU Superman.  (It’s very different from King’s interpretation, but I’ll allow it.)

3. The VFX of Supergirl flying.  Flying may be my favorite visual effect to see on screen when it’s done well.  I love the exhilaration that I feel when watching it.  

4. The comic did a much better job of conveying the horror of Kara’s time in Argo City, but the film’s version was pretty good too.  

What I didn’t like

1. Krem was meh.  Boring villain.  At least the comic knew not to make him such a focus of the story.  And why would he carry the antidote as a necklace.  Bringing it back further, where did he even get the poison arrow from?  Didn’t his ship and all his belongings get blown up by Ruthye’s father at the beginning?

2. Lobo was completely unnecessary.  Jason Momoa did as good a job as he could have, but it’s a thankless role.  The only time I’ve ever liked him is when Garth Ennis wrote him

3. So when Ruthye brought Supergirl’s costume along, she brought the boots along as well?  Also, when did she find it again?  

4. Was the point at the end that Supergirl already killed people so it was okay for her to do it to Krem?  Her soul was already tainted with the burden of murder?

What this movie really accomplished was to inspire me to read the comic again, which I did today.  God, it’s so freaking good and beautiful to look at.  Run don’t walk to your local comic store and pick up a copy now.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Nice

Persepolis

Borrowed from the library.

Persepolis

The first volume.  I gave this a shot after reading that Marjane Satrapi had passed away.  I’d heard all the praise and accolades for Persepolis, but it never really tickled my interest.  Turns out my instincts were right.  This didn’t work for me on either an emotional or artistic level.  I intellectually appreciate her sharing a world that I knew little about, but it didn’t reach me on any level.