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.  

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

Kaya 1-5

Picked up this trade because it got amazing reviews and I like Wes Craig’s art on Deadly Class.  This a Lone Wolf and Cub-type fantasy story, where a young girl must keep her ousted prince half-brother safe and deliver him to a faraway safe haven.  It’s not bad, but not good enough for me to buy more.

Cheetah and Cheshire Rob the Justice League 4

The heist kicks off, and is anyone buying that Cheetah’s playing the role of the wildcard?  This was already done in Ocean’s 11, and there’s no way this isn’t part of the plan.  

Assorted Crisis Events 6

So this might be an ongoing series now?  Deniz Camp writes a harrowing dementia allegory.  This is my nightmare scenario, to be trapped in my body as my mind goes, forcing those I love to care for me.  Kill me before it gets that bad.  

Absolute Green Lantern 8

I quit this with issue 6, and the issue 7 flip through shows me I made the right decision.  But Al Ewing gives us Sojourner’s origin story here, and it was compelling enough for me to buy it.  The next issue is on flip through watch as well.  

Runaways 5

As this much-appreciated miniseries ends, Doombot ceases to embrace the duality, Gert and Nico explore their new magical powers, and Alex might be back on the team?  I hope this does well enough for Rainbow Rowell to return in the future.

Voyeur 2

Issue 1 retold from the woman’s PoV.  Still enjoying it.  

Batman: Long Halloween: Last Halloween 10

I stopped enjoying this ages ago.  At least we’re finally done with this.

Absolute Batman Annual 1

Holy fuck can Daniel Warren Johnson write and draw a story.  So so visceral, and with an strong emotional core as well.  This was effing phenomenal.

New comics

New comics!

Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League 3

The crew has been assembled and the prep work begins.  This is a fun romp.

Absolute Superman 12

We get looped in to what Kal-El was up to during his early years on Earth.  Not bad, but not stand out, either.

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.