New comics

New comics!

Absolute Wonder Woman 14

Diana fights her evil “there’s always a cost to magic (ripped off of Jason Aaron’s Doctor Strange?)” doppelganger.  It’s a little anticlimactic.  (Literal deus ex machina w/ the goddess Gaia.)  Curious to see how Absolute Diana interacts w/ Absolute Bruce Wayne next issue.

Spider-Man Holiday Spectacular 1

Thanks to iFanboy for the rec.  A delightful little story by Rainbow Rowell.  Spider-Man goes to a bunch of superhero Christmas parties, and can’t comprehend that everyone actively wants him to be there.  Super sweet.  

Detective Comics 1103

I love it whenever Batman and Lois Lane interact.  There’s something about the mutual respect between the two of them that always makes for a crackling relationship.  Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin continue to put out the best possible version of classic superhero comics.  

One World Under Doom 9

Doom makes a bargain with the Living Tribunal in order to resurrect Valeria Richards.  The price is Doom’s reign, his power, and apparently his life.  All in all, very well executed by Ryan North and well drawn by RB Silva.  Marvel should put North in charge of more events.

Wonder Woman 27

Wonder Woman kicks the crap out of Mouse King, and it’s ridiculously satisfying.  I’m so ready for everyone to stop talking Mousespeak.

Capes 1

Reprinting Robert Kirkman’s original series, which I completely missed.  I’ll stick around until they get to the new material, which won’t be Kirkman written.  

Absolute Batman 14

Holy shit.  The battle between Batman and Bane may be one of the best comic book fight scenes I’ve ever read.  It just keeps escalating and escalating until the very end.  This may also be the only good use of the “big blobby thing as the boss fight” trope, one of my biggest pop culture pet peeves.  Seriously, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta created a masterpiece here. 

Absolute Batman 15

Jock guest-draws the origin of Absolute Joker.  It’s a Hob Gadling/Kingo (from Eternals) “immortal person passes himself off as the son of the previous generation” scenario.  Not bad, but not a high point of the series.  I do like Snyder’s “Joker is the one with the mansion and the grandfather clock leading down to a secret cave” twist.

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 5

Surprise surprise, Cheetah was in on it the whole time.  The crew pull off their heist, only to be betrayed (or not?) by Klarion at the end.  The plan itself was fine, but nothing particularly memorable.  Still, I’m enjoying myself.  

New comics

Assorted Crisis Events 7

Not the strongest of Deniz Camp’s efforts on this title, but good enough.  A guy keeps encountering dead versions of himself from other multiverses.  What does he do with the bodies?  How does it affect his psyche?  A downer of a story, as are most of these.  

Fantastic Four 6

Most of the issue is standard adventure-of-the-month, but the ending is set up really well, and I’m looking forward to see what Ryan North and Humberto Ramos do with this.

Children of the Round Table 4

What is it about Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo collaborations?  They’re both individually amazing, but both of their comics (this and Seven Secrets) just don’t click for me at all.  I’ll probably give this a few more issues, then bail.

Ultimate Spider-Man 23

Oh no, is Jonathan Hickman going to crash and burn on the landing?  This was going so good for over twenty issues, and now it’s going to falter?  Grah!  The various dilemmas here didn’t captivate me in any way.  I really hope he pulls it out.  It’d be such a shame.  (But, alas, hardly a surprise given Hickman’s track record.)

New Gods 12

Only a re-read will determine if this story was actually any good, but the quality of Evan Cagle’s art is not in question.  A+ work.  

Powers 25 3

Origin story of the cop from the end of issue 2.  This is so in Bendis’ wheelhouse.

Trinity 5

Middle Liz goes on a date with Jason Todd (of all people).  This should be a slam dunk for Tom King, but the fact that it’s Jason Todd keeps this from working for me.  

Batman/Deadpool 1

The DC side of the crossover.  This was mostly total crap.  Grant Morrison writes a shit main meta story.  The backup stories are completely forgettable (except for the excellent Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo Nightwing/Wolverine/Honey Badger teamup).  

DC KO 1-2

I didn’t pick this up because the first issue was polybagged.  Luckily, the reprint wasn’t.  Elevator pitch: What if the extremely entertaining Deathmatch actually used DC IP?  It’s actually way more Battle Royale free-for-all than the bracket elimination tournament I was expecting.  But it’s still a lot of fun, which is really what something like this really needs to lean into.  

Partisan

Fuck.  Garth Ennis and Steve Epting have something magical going on over at TKO Comics.  This isn’t as good as Sara, but that’s one of the all-time greats.  This is both darker and more life-affirming at the same time.  God, this is good.