New comics

New comics!

Detective Comics 1107

It’s odd when Tom Taylor is strictly average, but that’s really been the story of his run on Detective.  On the plus side, though, Pete Woods does a surprisingly good job filling in for Mike Janin, which I would never have believed possible given my exposure to his previous work.  

And who the hell is Prion?

Fantastic Four 9

The Invincible Woman kicks the crap out of the FF, and Ryan North has written himself into a corner w/ a villain who really shouldn’t ever lose.  She’s going to have to lose via personality flaw, like Thanos whenever he gets his hands on a cosmic artifact.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 10

Good to know this is ending after issue 12, or else I’d probably cut it soon; no matter how gorgeous Javier Rodriguez’s psychedelic art is, the Deniz Camp story is finally wearing out its welcome.

Superman/Spider-Man 1

More good than bad in this DC/Marvel crossover.  Enough that I don’t regret picking it up.

Absolute Wonder Woman 18

May Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman stay on this title forever.  There’s no end to how much I love this series.

New comics

New comics!

Powers 25 7

More build up.  Not as good as previous issues, but Bendis keeps it interesting.

Batwoman 1

I had to see what Greg Rucka would bring in his return to Kathy Kane.  Unfortunately, he also brought her mad sister Alice, who I’ve never been a fan of.  She’s like an evil manic pixie dream girl, or a dark Delirium from Sandman.  Not a fun read.  The art by Dani isn’t appealing either.  However, Rucka does turn the tide with an epic final page, which buys him another issue.  But he’s on a super short leash with me.

Planet She-Hulk 5

One of the few times where a title getting cancelled means I’ll actually stick around.  With only one issue to go, I might as well see how Stephanie Phillips finishes up this truncated series.

Wonder Woman 31

The Matriarch, Tom King’s attempt at a new Wonder Woman nemesis, finally takes center stage.  It’s typical King with flashbacks, narrating from the future, and plenty of unresolved mysteries.  Not the worst start.

Battle Beast 7

The title returns from hiatus, and it reveals the problem with this series: Battle Beast is sidelined w/ injury for most of the issue, and none of the other characters can carry the story.  No one’s likeable or entertaining enough, and that led to an empty reading experience.  (Heck, Battle Beast has barely zero personality himself, but at least his fights are fun to look at.)  Maybe this title doesn’t have the staying power I thought it did.

New comics

New comics!

Harley and Ivy 4

Harley and Ivy deal with the aftermath of their first hookup as they flee from the cops.  Fun and character-driven, Erica Henderson continues to do a good job here.

Absolute Batman 18

My guess was wrong, Poison Ivy is still Pamela Isley, not her mother.  Not the strongest of Absolute Batman arcs.  Eric Canete isn’t a bad artist, but he’s a far cry from Nic Dragotta.

DIE: Loaded 5

Kieron Gillen loses me with tons of nonsensical exposition.  The logic of the magic confused me to no end.  I hope this is an outlier.

Marvel Team-Up 14

A reprint of an Invincible/Spider-Man team-up that I had no idea existed.  Robert Kirkman does this with Cory Walker, and it’s as fun as I expected.

Absolute Superman 17

Superman beats the Parasite with the power of positive thinking.  I know this is Superman’s jam, but it didn’t work for me at all.  This is it, I’m cancelling this sub.  Jason Aaron had a number of good moments, but it’s not enough.  I never look forward to reading this.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rites of Spring 6

Sam literally burns the town to the ground and moves on to fresh hunting grounds.  Gotta respect her scorched earth policy, I’ve never seen it taken this far.  It’s pretty thrilling to read.  I’d happily take more of these miniseries from Patrick Horvath.  Or whatever else he wants to create.

DC:KO 5

This series just got worse and worse as the number of individual fights got lower and lower and the interesting matchups went down.  It hits the nadir here as Superman takes on Darkseid with the power of love or some nonsense like that.  (Second time this week!)  It’s boring, stupid, and a complete insult.  Didn’t think Scott Snyder could write something so bad. 

Movie reviews

I’m so far behind on other media reviews.

Some movies:

War Game

A documentary about actual current and former government officials running a war game scenario where another January 6th-type event occurs.  What would extremist groups do to exacerbate and escalate the situation?  How should the government respond?  

It’s a fascinating and honestly terrifying look at a hypothetical that could all too easily come true.  After all, we’ve already come super close just a few years ago.  As bad as it got, it could have been far worse.  The film just serves to demonstrate how poorly equipped our government is to handle a group that’s really determined to wreak havoc.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

All of You

I checked this out because it’s a romance starring Brett Goldstein of Ted Lasso fame.  It posits a world where the technology exists to match you up with your soulmate (SM) with 100% accuracy.  I have so many questions:

1. Does this mean that everyone actually has an SM?  Do they have to register with the company in order to be considered?  So if your SM hasn’t signed up, do you just float around in the registry until he/she does?  Do you get your money back if you have to wait for too long?

2. Do you fill out a questionnaire?  What else is the company doing with the data?

3. Does the company let you sign up if you’re already married?  Are they legally responsible for the marriages that they ruin?  Do you have to sign a waiver saying it’s not their fault if you divorce your spouse to be with your newly-found SM?

4. If your SM eventually dies, can you try again?  Can you find another SM?

5. Would I do this?  If this is when I was single in my twenties, almost certainly.

Anyway, Goldstein is stuck in a situation where he’s in love with his best friend (Imogen Poots, who’s channeling a mix of Yvonne Strahovski, Amanda Seyfried, and Florence Pugh.  I couldn’t identify her if you showed me her picture) from college, who goes through the process and marries her SM.  Who isn’t Goldstein.  Yearning and affairs and drama follows.  

The two of them are stuck in a cycle of “I just can’t seem to quit you” and “we can’t keep doing this” that get repetitive, but I can’t help but feel for them at the same time.  It doesn’t have the clean resolution of either a happily ever after (When Harry Met Sally) or a bittersweet never going to happen (Roman Holiday).  I applaud the movie for its more realistic approach, but it also makes the ending a lot less satisfying.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

Polite Society

A fun action flick starring Priya Kansara as an aspiring stunt performer who needs to save her sister from marrying an evil fiance with an even more nefarious mother.  It’s entertaining, but doesn’t go far enough with its over-the-top sensibility.  It falls short of the Scott Pilgrim/RRR levels of absurd humor that it seems to be aspiring towards.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

Limitless

I watched this because Bill Simmons couldn’t stop raving about it.  He’s totally overrated this.  The concept is great, but Bradley Cooper’s character doesn’t do enough with the possibilities.  (Though the licking blood off the floor bit is an inspired bit of madness.)

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Miracle: Boys of the 80s

A documentary about the 1980 Miracle on Ice.  It didn’t tell me anything that the excellent movie Miracle didn’t already portray.  (In a lot more entertaining fashion.)  Still, it was fun to see the actual players reminisce about one of the biggest sporting moments ever.  

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Nice

New comics

New comics!

Detective Comics 1106

The finale to an ultimately disappointing story, in that it’s completely forgettable.  Tom Taylor is capable of more, and if he was going to spin his wheels, I wish he’d have gotten it over with in a shorter arc.  Mikel Janin deserves a better class of writing from someone who’s capable of far more.

Voyeur 4

David Baldeon’s art continues to impress, but the heist is underwhelming.  I’ll stick it out to the end, but if it weren’t for the sex, this wouldn’t have stood out to me at all.

Absolute Wonder Woman 17

Awesome, awesome fight scene.  Diana and Giganta grow larger and larger as they slug it out, and Hayden Sherman makes it look completely epic.  I’m so in love with this title.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 9

Never thought an alien vivisection could look so good.  Javier Rodriguez does an amazing job of conveying this cloying, claustrophobic atmosphere.  Agent Jones is under this constant psychic and physical pressure, and it comes across as clear as day.  It’s beautiful to look at, but the reading is almost as much of a slog as the struggles of our protagonist. 

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 17

The origin of Absolute Poison Ivy, though I suspect a twist next issue; Is Poison Ivy Pamela’s mother?  Still the second best of the Absolute titles.  

Wonder Woman 30

Guest writer Stephanie Williams goes completely off the rails with the second part of this “power of love and family saves the day” story.  So much painfully saccharine dialog, it sounded like a fourth-rate self-help book of affirmations.  At least the Jeff Spokes art was decent, but this was a complete miss.  Can’t wait for Tom King to come back.

Action Comics 1095

An iFanboy pick of the week, this one is pretty darn good.  It covers the week following Pete Ross’ discovery of Clark’s secret back when they were in high school.  It’s a narration-heavy issue as Pete processes the hurt he feels from not being trusted with the secret in the first place. It’s a great story by Mark Waid.  I love these well-done one-offs.

Powers 25 6

Cut and paste from last month: “Brian Michael Bendis doing what he does best.  Never change, sir.”

Fantastic Four 8

This is so freaking good.  What if Susan Storm explored her powers to the fullest, and it goes horribly wrong?  Ryan North and Humberto Ramos present this as a horror story, and it hits hard.  Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Ultimate Spider-Man 24

Defying all expectation and precedent, Jonathan Hickman absolutely nails the landing.  It’s basically a big fight scene w/ some epilogue, but it’s expertly done with nary a misstep.  I need to read this all at once now, I expect I’ll do it this week.  Shout out to Marco Checchetto, who was masterful over the course of the entire run.  This was a top notch Spider-Man story.

New comics

New comics!

DC KO 4

Yeah, this has fallen off the rails.  The fights are completely unmemorable.  I’m pot committed, with one issue to go.

Children of the Round Table 6

Same.  I was wrong when I said from the first issue that supporting Tom Taylor was reason enough to buy this.  It totally wasn’t.  

Planet She-Hulk 4

I’m running out of patience with this as well.  The beautifully colored art can’t make up for a generic fantasy story of palace intrigue and romance.  One more issue, I think.

DIE: Loaded 4

Chuck had a son, and of course he’s just as big of a dick.  Not the best issue, but still fun enough.

Absolute Wonder Woman Annual 1

A disappointing week is completely turned around by one of the best comics I’ve read in a while. Kelly Thompson has really levelled up with this title, and Mattia De Iulis is a perfect partner in this issue.  They combine great action, breathtaking splash pages, and so much heart and compassion into an irresistibly satisfying package of bliss.  In a nutshell, Diana saves Medusa in a way that only she can.  That’s the thing with this comic; Thompson tells stories that can only work with Wonder Woman.  She and Tom King have completely nailed Diana’s character simultaneously after decades of failure by all the other writers out there.  What a time to be a WW fan.

New comics

Only one new comic this week:
Absolute Superman 16

Absolute Hawkman tussles w/ Superman for a while, then they team up to fight a common threat.  Brainiac tries to recruit Absolute Lex Luthor, who’s a devoted, boring family man in this universe.  Juan Ferreyra, who I loved over on TMNT, appears to be the regular artist here now.  His work isn’t as mindbending here as it is on the other title, but it’s still pretty good.  I’m not blown away by it, though.  I’m starting to wonder if I should cut this title.

New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 16

Wonder Woman and Batman visit the underworld to find a cure for Waylon Jones’ Killer Croc condition.  It’s got some nice character moments, a good fight - just a really solid one-shot issue.  

Absolute Martian Manhunter 8

The Javier Rodriguez art continues to be the name of the game.  It’s a fun game.

Capes 3

My last issue with the series.  It’s mindless fun, and I’ll never think about it again.  Not Robert Kirkman’s best by any stretch.

Detective Comics 1105

Part five of this story arc and it’s still not over?  I mean, this has been entertaining and all, but it does not need to take up half a year’s worth of issues.  

Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes 3

Delightful execution by Erica Henderson.  She does a great job with this relationship, and the art is pitch perfect.

Absolute Wonder Woman 16

Absolute Zatanna shows up, and she’s part of the Absolute Suicide Squad.  I love this title.

New comics

New comics!

Planet She-Hulk 3

Emilio Laiso takes over on art.  The fact that I could barely tell the difference between him and Aaron Kuder speaks to the importance of Sonia Oback’s colors.  It really ties the look of the series thus far together.  The story by Stephanie Phillips is as by the numbers as it can get.  It doesn’t bode well for her upcoming Daredevil run.  Which I’m going to pick up regardless because Lee Garbett’s doing the pencils. 

DIE: Loaded 3

Still enjoying this.  Kieran Gillen is bringing together a compelling cast of tertiary characters from the previous series to play the main roles this time around.  It’s a smart idea, and he’s pulling it off so far.  

Children of the Round Table 5

I think I’ve figured out why this series isn’t working for me: it plays more like a highlight reel than an actual story.  Things are moving too fast, there are too many time jumps.  Tom Taylor isn’t giving me an opportunity to like the characters before zipping along to the next plot point.  It’s lacking the depth of character that Taylor’s usually so good at instilling.  Super disappointing.  And the big reveal at the end is yawn.  

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 5

Holy shit, things are blowing up fast.  I’m not sure why Sam is letting things escalate to this point, it’s like she wants things to go south.  Patrick Horvath’s pacing is impeccable, the pages just flew by at a thoroughly enjoyable breakneck speed.  Can’t wait to see how this all ends.  

DC: KO 3

For an event like this to succeed, the fights have to be top notch.  They aren’t.  They’re not even as good as the ones in Deathmatch.  I’m not sure what’s missing, but they don’t satisfy in the way the best comic battles do.  (Of the top of my head: Bane/Batman in Absolute Batman, Uncanny X-Men 277, anything from Dragonball Z.)

Fantastic Four 7

The twist to this month’s fight was way too cutesy for my taste.  The whole issue’s also a detour from the main Sue Storm/Galactus plot, which I’m way more interested in.  I want to see the core four in action, not their kids.

Wonder Woman 29

Diana returns to Themyscira in an attempt to heal her crumbling mental health.  (Being a single mom’s hard, even for Wonder Woman.)  The rest of the Wonder Family shows up, as does a scheming-in-the-shadows Discord.  (Of Golden Apple fame.)  A fun issue--Whoa, just noticed that Stephanie Williams wrote it, not Tom King.  Nicely done.  And Jeff Spokes does some beautiful work on art.  

Assorted Crisis Events 8

A clever issue that takes place in the gutters of a comic book, but the intellectual exercise gets in the way of the story.  But I appreciate the effort by Deniz Camp, and Eric Zawadzki couldn’t have done a better job with the art.  I also love that they used the old crummier comic paper from the 80s.  

Powers 25 5

Brian Michael Bendis doing what he does best.  Never change, sir. 

New comics

Voyeur 3

David Baldeon’s art continues to impress.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before, though he’s been drawing comics since 1999.  Definitely a fan now.

Powers 25 4

I love Brian Michael Bendis when he’s on his game.  He’s so much better on this than any of the DC stuff that came before.  Nice to see him back where he can let loose.

Absolute Martian Manhunter 7

I don’t care about the story at all.  As long as Javier Rodriguez keeps drawing these psychedelic panels, I’ll keep looking at them.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 6

Tom King brings it all home in the most satisfying fashion.  Trinity gets a day with her dad, Diana’s finally gets looped in, and the plan to bring back Steve Trevor is brought to light.  This is how you do a tie-in miniseries.

Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes 2

Super fun.  She may be relatively new to writing, but Erica Henderson is doing a great job so far.  Looking forward to seeing how she evolves Harley and Ivy’s relationship.  

DIE: Loaded 2

I said I lost interest in the original DIE over the course of its run, as the strong execution and intellectual rigor could only go so far without emotionally engaging characters.  That may still be true, but damn if Kieron Gillen hasn’t sucked me back into this world the same way he has this new batch of characters.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 15

A delightful team-up with Absolute Batman.  Wonder Woman, being made out of clay, is a golem.  An obvious but brilliant observation from Kelly Thompson, and it makes for an awesome issue.

New comics

A month’s worth of new comics!

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 6

Surprise surprise, Klarion was in on it the whole time.  The ending’s very Ocean’s 8, but it’s still nice to see a different kind of comic on the shelves.

Absolute Batman: Ark M 1

The origin story of Absolute Arkham Asylum.  A fine addition to the Absolute Batman canon.  

Absolute Superman 14-15

Superman fights Ra’s Al Ghul, tries to heal him with love, then meets Absolute Hawkman.  Brainiac looks for Lex Luthor.  This title is just on the border of being average enough for me to cut, but Jason Aaron always manages to have just enough nice moments to nudge it to the keep side. 

Wonder Woman 28

Wonder Woman secures her victory over Mouse Man and Tom King introduces The Matriarch, Diana’s nemesis in the far future.  A transition issue, hopefully to something better than the Mouse Man arc.  It wasn’t bad, but King’s done far better work.

Planet She-Hulk 2

The Stephanie Phillips story is fine, the Aaron Kuder art is magnificent.  That’s enough for me for now.  Shout out to colorist Sonia Oback, who has a lot to do with the popping visuals.

Detective Comics 1104

Love the writer.  (Tom Taylor.)  Love the artist.  (Mikel Janin.)  Don’t love the resultant comic, but it’s still really good.  I’m almost certainly not going to think about it when listing the best Batman comics out there, but it’s super super solid.  

Capes 2

I spent the whole time reading this issue thinking that Mark Englert was doing his best Erik Larsen impression.  Cut to the back page essay by Englert and I learn that his first gig was for Larsen’s Might Man.  This is no-calorie work by Robert Kirkman, and I’ll finish out the original miniseries before quitting.