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. 

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

Once again, I’m so far behind.

Scarlet v1 1-10

Scarlet v2 1-5

Despite his being one of my favorite writers, there are still a lot of Brian Michael Bendis gaps in my collection.  Scarlet was one of those by choice, as the subject matter didn’t really interest me much.  But I’ve become more of an Alex Maleev fan since it first came out, and I found the first two trades on sale, so it was an easy pickup.  

This is a wish-fulfillment “how could someone really push back against the corrupt law enforcement establishment” kind of story.  Bendis takes a ripped-from-the-headlines case of police brutality and extends it in a direction where one of the victims manages to get somewhere with her retaliation, sparking a revolution that extends beyond the noise and generates actual signal.  

It’s not bad, but Bendis has a hard time wrapping it up in any kind of realistic manner.  The plot starts off somewhat plausibly, and then completely spirals out of control.  It ends on a cliffhanger, and I’d pick it up any followups, but it’s not his best by any stretch.

Poison Ivy Annual 1

Credit to Jessica Fong for the beautiful cover.  It got me to take it off the shelf and flip through it, revealing the lovely Mark Buckingham.  This G Willow Wilson story is basically a retelling of the Lady in the Lake story, and given the standalone nature, I figured it was worth a pick up.  This would fit right in with Fables, and it’s a fun little read.

Children of the Round Table 3

This is such a slight story, I finish each issue wondering where the page count went.  But it’s pretty and I want to support the team of Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo.  

DIe: Loaded 1

Apparently I wouldn’t buy the original series if I had to do it all over again.  But here I am with this sequel series that I had no idea was happening.  Once again, I’m sucked into this world.  (Just like the characters…)  Like the first Die, each single issue might be stronger than the collected work.  We’ll see if present me is an idiot for ignoring the advice of past me.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 4

Our serial killer Sam is falling into the classic comic book villain trap of playing with the detective, giving her a chance to figure it out before killing her.  I have no idea if she’s going to get away with it, and that’s what’s giving this story that extra oomph.  Patrick Horvarth really knows what he’s doing.  

Fantastic Four 5

This time, Ryan North pairs up Sue Storm with Felicia Hardy, solving a frame job to exonerate the Black Cat.  I buy her figuring the method, but not the culprit.  It’s a bit too far of a leap.  Still, it’s fun, and the Humberto Ramos art is more than plenty to cover up the writing flaws.

Absolute Superman 13

Turns out the Battle of Kansas is more of a siege.  It’s not bad, but this Superman just isn’t as relatable as the one in the main universe, and that makes all the difference in the world.  There’s a heart missing to this series that’s holding it back. 

Planet She-Hulk 1

I had zero interest in this, but once again, the value of a strong cover proves its worth.  Aaron Kuder is effing phenomenal, where’s he been?  (Looking…A bunch of Marvel stuff I haven’t read.)  Paired with some fun writing by Stephanie Phillips, this team has sold me on sticking around for a few more issues.

Harley & Ivy: Life and Crimes 1

Erica Henderson tells the origin story of Harley and Ivy’s romance.  I’m not a fan of her work (a huge reason why I haven’t latched on to Squirrel Girl, which I really should try again now that I know Ryan North was the writer on it), but I love this couple and Henderson does a good enough job with this first issue. 

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

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.

New Comics

New comics!

Absolute Green Lantern 4

So little happens in this issue.  We find out how Jo gets the ring.  Hector Hammond shows up.  None of it is very interesting.  Not sure if this is a miniseries, but it’s now officially treading on thin ice w/ me.

Batgirl 9

On the other hand, Batgirl has earned itself a little more time w/ the introduction of the Jade Tiger, Cassandra’s newly-discovered half-brother and spawn of Shiva and Bronze Tiger.  His appearance brings both a literal and figurative splash of color to the proceedings, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

Absolute Superman 9

Talk about fluctuating quality; This issue did very little for me as Kal-El fights the urge to kill Lazarus soldiers.  It reads like a direct rip-off of Luke’s temptation in Return of the Jedi, complete with Agent Alpha playing the role of sneering Emperor Palpatine.  It all feels very tired to me.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring 1

I was super surprised and happy to see this on the shelf, I had no idea a sequel by Patrick Horvath was in the works.  I have no idea why Samantha chose to bring a victim’s sister into town, but I’m eager to find out.  

Fantastic Four 1

My wish is granted, and Ryan North gets an artist equal to his writing talents.  Welcome to the spectacular Humberto Ramos!  Pair this legend with an exceptional idea (the Forever Stone) and you get a wonderful issue.  If it takes a brand new number one to get this penciller change, I’m all for it.

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 2

The middle time-travelling Trinity engages in professional and pseudo-romantic hijinks with Jason Todd days before his death at the hands of the Joker.  Breezy and entertaining.  Not at all what I was expecting from this when it first came out, but it gets no objections from me.

Godzilla vs Thor 1

Comics like this are why I listen to the iFanboy podcast.  I would never have picked this up otherwise, having completely missed the fact that Jason Aaron wrote this.  This is classic superhero fun at its finest.  Action-packed, non-stop fighting, I couldn’t imagine how this could get any better.

New comics

The neverending battle to stay less than a month behind my new comics continues.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees 6

As I hopefully predicted, creator Patrick Horvath does a great job closing this miniseries out.  Sam executes her endgame flawlessly, and the joy of watching her competence far outweighs the lack of narrative tension.  I’ll have to keep an eye out for Horvath’s future work.

Transformers 8

My review is exactly the same as last month's.  It’s hanging on to my list by a thread, despite its well-done execution.

Birds of Prey 9

As much as I want to like this, it’s on even thinner ice than Transformers.  I love the characters and Kelly Thompson does a decent job w/ their personalities, but these stories are complete snooze fests.

Fantastic Four 20

Johnny and Ben get into an inane, meaningless competition over who’s the better grocery cashier, ending with a predictable “but beneath it all they love each other like family” denouement.  Not Ryan North’s best.  

Fine Print TPB 2

I had to re-read the first trade since I’d forgotten everything that happened previously.  No chore at all, Stjepan Sejic really deserves to be a bigger name in the industry.  He really is one of my favorite creators.  There’s more plot, more sex, and more characterization in this second volume.  Win win win.

Asgardians TPB 1

George O’Connor follows up his excellent Olympians series w/ the next best mythology out there.  And while it’s of the same quality as his original offering, the fact that it’s the next best mythology out there naturally limits its ceiling.  I’ll still be getting all of these.  

Zorro: Man of the Dead 4

This miniseries ends way earlier than I expected it to, but that’s not a bad thing; Sean Murphy got in, did his thing, did it well, and got out cleanly.  It’s better than Plot Holes, worse than Batman: White Knight, and looks great the whole time.  

Get Fury 1

Garth Ennis finally gets back to his “Frank Castle in Vietnam” epic, crossing over w/ the Nick Fury of My War Gone By.  It’s exactly what I want out of it.  I’ve missed Ennis.

Animal Pound 3

Tom King writes what amounts to a historical recitation of facts in the most engaging way possible.  I loved reading this, as the animals’ government succeeds as conceived.  But there’s always an underlying tension as you get the feeling that it could all fall apart at any moment; the peace between the different species is precariously balanced on a knife’s edge, and my expectation was that it would all go to shit once Titan or Fifi inevitably died.  Instead, the twist comes a lot earlier in an ominous, harrowing turn.  Can’t wait to see what happens next.

New comics

It seems like I can’t get to the comic shop more than once a month now.

Batman: Dark Age 1-2

It’s not like I was that impressed by Superman: Space Age.  But I was still compelled to buy this follow up by Mark Russell and Mike Allred.  It’s not a bad Elseworlds, pretty much the definition of Nice.

Ultimate Spider-Man 1-4

I was going to ignore this; a reboot of the Ultimate universe felt completely unnecessary.  Knowing Jonathan Hickman was the chief architect only reinforced my indifference.  He’s a decent idea man, but his execution usually leaves much to be desired.  But I read some good reviews, and picked up the first three issues.  Imagine my pleasant surprise when this turned out to read nothing like a Hickman title; It’s fun, bright, and has a coherent narrative.  I’ll stick around as long as those things continue to be true.

Ultimate X-Men 2

This isn’t a bad comic, but it’s not an X-Men comic.  And I’m not in the market for a horror high school manga.  This’ll get one more issue.

Love Everlasting 14

I don’t have anything to say about this, but it’s still good.  This’ll be interesting to read all at once.

Nightwing 113

It’s good to see Daniele Di Nicuolo, Tom Taylor’s Seven Secrets partner, back in action.  It’s even better seeing the return to Bruno Redondo, getting his feet wet before next month begins Taylor’s final Nightwing story arc.  Howard Porter is unrecognizable (in a good way) in the backup story.  

Batman: Off-World 4

This is losing its initial appeal, but I’m pot-committed at this point.

Transformers 7

Does Jorge Corona pass the art test?  Yes, but I’m still on the fence with this title.  It’s not bad by any stretch, but I find myself emotionally uninvested.

Birds of Prey 8

Certainly amusing, enough to keep it around.  But not really memorable.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees 5

Sam engages in some soul searching, embarks on a vision quest, and decides to fight back. Very much a filler issue, but I expect things to get back on track next month.

Crave 5

Penultimate issue.  I’d stop buying if it weren’t ending next month.

Fantastic Four 19

Ryan North writes a film noir.  Carlos Gomez’s art is perfect for it, but the story isn’t one of North’s stronger ones.  

Penguin 9

A set up issue as Tom King uses a bunch of inner monologues to give us insights into a number of characters. 

New Comics

So many things to catch up on.  

Somna 3

Hrm.  Tula Lotay’s art barely makes this worth it, even with the frankly nonsense story.

Transformers 6

Another instance where the art outpaces the story.  Daniel Warren Johnson hands off the penciling duties to Jorge Corona next issue, who has exactly that long to convince me to stick around.

Crave 4

Interestingly, not as good as previous issues as the plot kicks in.  “The app is spyware, data mining is evil, privacy rights, yadda yadda.”  Only two issues left, I’ll stick around.

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees 4

Once again, less fun now that the killer’s been revealed.  There’s nothing original about the frame job that ends the issue, but I’m holding out hope that it leads somewhere more intriguing next month.  

Wonder Woman 7

Wonder Woman and Superman shopping for Batman’s birthday present should be a no-brainer home run for Tom King (to go along with shades of Alan Moore’s “For the Man Who Has Everything”), but it’s way too cute for its own sake.  I love the concept of Superman getting a mani-pedi, but this wasn’t the place for it.  (Though to be fair, I’m hard pressed to come up with the proper circumstances…)

Fantastic Four 18

Not Ryan North’s strongest issue.  Franklin Richards tries to prevent a bad future, fails, but discovers that the Fantastic Four have no fate but what they make for themselves.

Nightwing 112

Batman and Nightwing finish up this two-part team-up.  Bruce Wayne internally narrates how proud he is of Dick, and it’s all very sweet.  

Penguin 8

Penguin returns to Gotham, preparing to take it back from his children (!).  (Seriously, when did that happen?)  Standard Tom King goodness.

Fables 162

Essentially an epilogue issue, this would no doubt have been an awesome issue if it hadn’t been almost two years since I read the series.  I just don’t care as much anymore about these characters.  (Bigby and Snow’s kids, to be precise.)

The Peter Pan situation is cleaned up neatly and satisfactorily.  

Avengers 11

This was going to be the deciding issue for whether or not I’d keep reading; I wanted to see Jarvis back in action.  He’s fine, the Avengers fight a villain of the month, and the art by Ivan Fiorelli is not good at all.  I’m out.  I tried, Jed MacKay, I really tried.

Birds of Prey 7

Really like the Javier Pina art, and Jordie Bellaire’s retro colors are still a delight.  But the story’s completely forgettable, even with the lingerie show at the end.  

Action Comics 1063

Nope.  Not even Jason Aaron can make Bizarro good.  This was a pretty miserable experience.  John Timms’ art is great though, and the next arc certainly couldn’t be any worse.  This gets one more arc.

Ultimate X-Men 1

My first exposure to Peach Momoko, I think.  I’ve heard her name come up a lot as a creator lately, but never had the chance until now.  This is basically a manga take on X-Men through the POV of Hisako Ichiki (Armor).  A new enough twist that I’ll read some more.

Love Everlasting 13

This really needs to be read in one go when it’s all done.  Even still, I’m super happy Tom King and Elsa Charretier are doing this.

Swan Songs 1-6

iFanboy kept going on about how good this title is, so I gave the trade a shot.  Each issue is a self-contained story about an ending.  The concept is better than the execution, but special shout out to the Shel Silverstein-inspired final issue.  A work of art and homage that I wouldn’t have imagined was possible.  

Zorro: Man of the Dead 1-3

Totally missed that this Sean Murphy title had started.  He makes a bold move by moving the Zorro myth to the modern day, reincarnating the Fox through the delusions of a traumatized young man.  He makes it work, helped in large part by his usual standout art.  I love this man’s work, he’s one of the strongest writer/artists out there today.