New comics

 New comics!

New Gods 1-10

I’ve never cared for the New Gods, but I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve read from Ram V, so I thought I’d give this a shot.  I tried the first trade, and it was good enough that I picked up the next four issues.  I just found out it’s a twelve issue miniseries, and I’m definitely going to finish it off.  The art by Evan Cagle is absolutely phenomenal.  There’s a European look to it, stunning.  Sadly, I’m assuming it’s the crazy detailed nature of his art that necessitates the appearance of a guest artist doing at least a couple of pages every issue.  (And sometimes way more than that.)

The story isn’t bad as New God stories go.  I’ve just never cared for any of them aside from Barda and Scott Free.  

Assorted Crisis Events 1-5

Holy crap.  Issue 3 is one of the darkest things I’ve ever read.  And the rest of this anthology series isn’t a bucket of roses either.  Deniz Camp does what the best science fiction writers do; he takes a sci-fi conceit and then applies the darkness of humanity to it, so that it feels all too real and hauntingly terrifying.  Really glad I picked this up.

Wonder Woman 25

Not the biggest fan of this arc, but I’ll suffer through it.  Tom King and Daniel Sampere are still worth following.  

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 3

Sam’s origin story.  This is so freaking good.  

Ultimate Spider-Man 21

Ultimate Mr Negative’s origin.  I’m so confused.  Is Gwen Stacy his sister?  Or been masquerading as his sister?  Or is he delusional?  Poor story telling by Jonathan Hickman.  (It’s finally caught up with him.)

DC vs Vampires: World War V 12

And so ends (presumably) this multi-volume saga.  Not as good as DCeased, but an entertaining, worthy effort by the always-dependable Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt.  

Detective Comics 1101

A new story arc.  Tom Taylor has really gone back to basics with Detective, self-contained adventures that are just solidly well-told.  I’m not complaining, especially if he continues to do it with Mikel Janin.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 12

If I could only read one comic a month, it would be this one. 

New comics

Battle Beast 5

Not enough fighting, but next issue looks to change that.

Deadpool/Batman 1

Marvel’s side of this inter-company crossover.  Nothing to write home about, but not horrible.  Actually, Frank Miller’s three pages were pretty horrible.  Is it safe to mark him as finished?  I’d be sad about it, but signs really point to yes.

Voyeur 1

A fun con comic with a sexy twist.  I’m in on this launch title from new publisher Ignition Press.  

Powers 25 1

Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming return, and boy is it nice to read Bendis again.  He disappeared from my radar after his DC tenure fizzled, and it’s nice to know that he hasn’t completely lost his stuff either.  

Short Game

I’m so happy to get more material from Mitsuru Adachi of Cross Game fame, but this collection of short stories isn’t nearly as good as his long work.

New comics

Batgirl 11

Batgirl and her half-brother fight the second Sword, then agree to go on a quest with the third one.  (Not sure why the three bad guys were lumped together, they weren’t working together at all.)  I’m done with this, there’s nothing that puts this above replacement level.

Free Comic Book Day: Fantastic Four 1

There’s a cute little FF story by Ryan North and Humberto Ramos here.

Absolute Superman 11

This is such an up and down series. This is a down issue.  The “brainwashing by running the subject through thousands of VR scenarios” story has been done to death, and this iteration doesn’t bring anything new.  The “push the hero to the dark side only to fail” thing has been done even more times, and Jason Aaron doesn’t make it all that interesting either.  Hoping he ends this arc on a high note.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 11

Things fall apart for the evil DA as the city rallies around the Turtles.  Cue the final fight.  Gene Luen Yang takes over w/ issue 13, I might actually stick around and give it a shot.

Absolute Green Lantern 6

I’m done.  This is all nonsense.

Mr Terrific: Year One 4

I cancelled my sub, but picked up this issue after it was pick of the week on iFanboy.  It’s fun seeing Bruce Wayne and Michael Holt interacting, but I don’t know if it’s enough for me to get the rest of the series.  I’ll flip through it in the shop next time around.  

The War 2

Garth Ennis is still bringing his A game after all of these years.  This is one of the darkest, grimmest things I’ve read in a long, long time, and it’s so so good.  I only wish Ennis didn’t bring in the armed intruders at the end.  The series is so strong because it’s grounded in realism, and this new element takes me out of that headspace.  

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 1-2

Another iFanboy recommendation, and it’s a good one.  It feels like I haven’t read Greg Rucka in a long time, and he’s as good as ever.  The titular characters are still gathering their crew, and it’s a fun ride so far.  

Absolute Flash 7

Not as bad as Absolute Green Lantern, but there’s not enough to keep me around.  I’m done.

Krypto 4

I appreciate the sadness warning at the beginning of the issue, but I’ve read sadder.  This has not been the best of series, but with only one issue to go, I’m going to play it out.

Fantastic Four 3

The FF figure out a way around Doom’s video game save/restore machine, with Ryan North’s typical cleverness.  Lots of fun, how does this guy not run out of ideas?

Battle Action 6, 7, 10

Apparently real-world comic distribution problems created this gap in issues.  Issue ten finishes off this Johnny Red arc with a happily-ever-after.  Fine, but not up to Ennis’ best.  

New comics

Way behind on new comics.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 2

This is such a well-done series unlike anything else out there.  As with Hannibal Lecter, Sam is a serial killer that I’m rooting for.  An impressive feat of writing from Patrick Horvath, and his art is top-notch as well.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 4

The youngest version of Trinity teams up with Alfred to chase down Damian-Corgi, and it’s utterly delightful.  Tom King packs this thing with cute moment after moment, and Belen Ortega illustrates them perfectly.  

Absolute Batman 12

We find out that Bane is the origin story for every other person in Absolute Batman’s Rogues Gallery; He brutally destroys all of Bruce’s friends, physically and psychologically crushing them into their twisted final forms.  It’s a stunning and heartbreaking twist of the mythology, especially given how close Snyder made this group.  Amazing execution by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta.

One World Under Doom 7

With Doom’s perfidy revealed, the final boss battle begins.  Reed Richards levels up to Scientist Supreme, but it’s still not enough.  (For now.)

CoRT 1

AKA Children of the Round Table.  The team of Seven Secrets returns in this all-ages title.  Very little happens here; the titular children find their unique weapons, each of which is possessed by the spirit of an original KotRT.  I’ll probably stick around for the full six issues, if for no other reason than to support Tom Taylor.

Absolute Wonder Woman 11

I don’t think I can love a comic book series more.  The final two pages are breathtaking.  Someone’s gonna get a hurt real bad.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 6

The plot so doesn’t matter with this comic.  It’s a tone poem through and through.  I’m enjoying it, but I still hope that this is a limited series.  I can only enjoy so much of this :)  (Ah, it’s going to be twelve issues.  I can handle that.)

Ultimate Spider-Man 20

The Parkers have a dinner conversation w/ the Stacy-Osborns.  MJ punches out Gwen.  This thing is rapidly approaching the endgame, and I’m all on board.  

Runaways 3-4

Nico discovers that her magic only works when she Wonder Twins-handholds w/ Gert.  Doombot returns to Doom to keep the kids safe.  It’s just fun to hang out with these kids.  Rainbow Rowell rules.

Fantastic Four Fanfare 1-4

An anthology series that I picked up on the recommendation of iFanboy.  The stories are mostly fine but forgettable.

Library books

Library books!

Time Waits

A moderately entertaining time travel action story by Chip Zdarsky, David Brothers, and Marcus To.  The art’s actually quite nice, with hints of Lee Garbett and Carlos Pacheco.  But it’s ultimately pretty disposable.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Rogues 1-4

Written by Joshua Williamson, drawn by Leomacs.  This is the last hurrah of the Rogues, set ten years in the future.  Captain Cold gathers the older, wearier Rogues for one final heist, targeting Gorilla Grodd and his supply of gold.  It’s really well done, if you’re into hopeless final stands that leave you feeling despair and questioning the point of it all.  I’m still undecided.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: No

Rating: Pretty good