New comics

Superman 2

Not as good as the previous issue, mostly because Parasite’s always been a boring villain.  Jamal Campbell’s art is still really nice.

Nightwing 102

The Titans beat the Grinning Man in surprising but not unwelcome short order.  Things are a little more interesting than the previous issue, but I’m really hoping Bruno Redondo comes back soon.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 7

Yeah, this is the least successful arc of Tom Taylor’s epic.  The emotional stakes just aren’t there, no matter how hard he tries. 

New comics

Slaughterhouse Five

I’ve never read the original novel, and I’d heard good things about this adaptation.  (I know Ryan North from the Fantastic Four series I’m reading now.  I had no idea until now that he’s the genius behind the web comic Dinosaur Comics, a favorite of mine from years ago.  Good to see him again!)

Maybe Slaughterhouse was revolutionary when it first came out, but its story with all the time jumps and aliens has since been done much better.  It’s similar to when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time when I was 22; Wish I could have experienced it earlier.

New comics!

Fantastic Four 5

Speaking of Ryan North.  This definitely isn’t my favorite run of FF, but North has been very good every month at taking one nifty hook and using it to carry 22 pages of story.  Once he starts faltering in that realm, I’m probably out.

Danger Street 4

Speaking of out.  I haven’t dropped a Tom King miniseries in as far back as I can remember.  But there’s nothing here that’s keeping my interest.  It’s a super rare fail from a modern master.

New comics

New comics!

Superman: Space Age 2-3

I wasn’t a fan of this the first time around.  Or the second.  But it kept getting good reviews from iFanboy, and I found myself really wanting to like it, for no reason that I can discern.  So I went ahead and bought these last issues hoping that Mark Russell and Mike Allred could pull it off.  

Well, Russell delivered on his end.  The very beginning of the series should have tipped me off, but this is a way darker series than I expected.  (Even with the Flash doubling as the Justice League’s punching bag.)  But it’s done very, very well, and I really wish he had a more suitable (not better, since Allred can do some amazing work) artist.  This could have been so much better.

New comics

New comics!

Nightwing 101

Sigh.  I care so little about the mystical side of the DC universe, so making Neron and some guy named the Grinning Man the next big bads doesn’t make for an auspicious start to this next arc.

DCeased: War of the Undead Gods 6

Not even Tom Taylor can make the Spectre or New Gods interesting to me.  (Only Tom King’s managed that feat.)  And Alfred as the Spectre is as stupid as it sounds.

Human Target 12

Speaking of Tom King, this is so freaking good.  The art by Greg Smallwood, the epilogue nature of the story, each perfectly assembled scene…I need to read this over again.

Superman 1

I only picked this up because of a positive iFanboy review.  I’m glad I did, this is a great “start of a new era” issue.  Joshua Williamson has had his name on a lot of DC stories lately, but this is the first time I’ve read his work.  Jamal Campbell I know, of course, for his wonderful work on Naomi.  This could be the beginning of something awesome, looking forward to the next issue.

Batman: One Bad Day: Clayface 1

This is such a good single issue story.  Clayface goes to Hollywood and tries to make it as an actor.  He does his best to play it straight for a while, but eventually succumbs to his baser instincts.  It’s a wonderful character study for an underdeveloped villain.  Kudos to Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Xermanico.

Do a Powerbomb 1-7

Daniel Warren Johnson’s followup to Beta Ray Bill.  It’s well suited to his dynamic, visceral approach to action sequences, and there are just enough character moments to give it the necessary depth to elevate it above the usual fare.  

And, of course, there are scenes like this:

So good.