New comics

New comics!

Absolute Batman 23

Conspiracy Bruce Wayne who doesn’t trust his friends or family gets really old really quickly.  I hope he snaps out of it soon, because I’m not interested in reading about this Batman.  The Clayface/Batman/Robins sequence was pretty cool, but the nonstop grimness of this series is starting to wear on me.  

DIE: Loaded 8

Okay, I think I’m done.  I didn’t even read this, just skimmed it.

100 Bullets: US of Anger 2

Same with this.  Buying it out of force of habit, time to buckle down and break the cycle.  

Fantastic Four 15

Another wonderful time travelling story from Ryan North, and the tribute to FF artists past was a lovely touch for this 65th anniversary issue.  And truly, RIP to Johnny’s glorious moustache.

Battle Beast 12

Yesss.  More insane fight sequences from the immortal Ryan Ottley.  I’d like to see his R-rated take on some Marvel characters.  Maybe a Wolverine/Sabretooth fight.  With this brief cessation in hostilities, the title goes on hiatus until next March.

Daredevil 5

I can’t bring myself to drop three titles in a week.  And Lee Garbett gets at least the beginning of arc number 2 from me.  I hope Stephanie Phillips finds her footing and brings something better next month.  This story was maybe replacement level.  

Wonder Woman 36

The second half of this title’s version of The Contest.  It’s pretty good, but I’ll always wish for Miken Janin’s art.  Looking forward to Tom King’s return next month.

Batman 12

A number of assassins come to town.  Batman fights a couple of them and Verity Pennyworth (the new butler) proves her worth.  She’s not as cool as Alfred (I mean, who is?), but she shows promise.  She’s got a ways to go though.  

Supergirl: Survive 3

Every issue of this title zigs a different zag, and it’s frankly mind boggling that Ethan S Parker and Griffin Sheridan haven’t driven the whole thing off the road yet.  In fact, they’ve kept it super fun and engaging.  Kara does the “Hal Jordan creating a lost city with a power ring in Emerald Twilight” thing while Mr Mxyzptlk looks on.  (And it’s one of the few times he’s not infuriating.).  And the cliffhanger promises a fourth new direction in as many issues.  Can’t wait. 

Assorted things

Last few new comics: 

DIE: Loaded 7

I know it’s been like three weeks since I read this, but I had to read it again to recall anything about it.  I should really cut the cord with this thing, but I don’t know what’s keeping me from doing so.  It’s strangely compelling despite not being all that memorable.  

Punisher vs Amazing Spider-Man 1

An iFanboy pick.  Certainly a well-made comic, with good art by Matteo Della Fonte and a fun 80’s style story by Dan Abnett. But it doesn’t grab, and I won’t be picking up the next issue.  

Stuff from the library:

Original Sin 

By Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.  It explores the events that led up to and followed President Joe Biden’s decision to not run for a second term.  Ignoring the politics of it all, and assuming it’s factually correct, I enjoyed reading this in-depth account of a crazy presidential election and the personalities involved with how it all went down.

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: No

Rating: Pretty good

Alison

By Lizzy Stewart.  This graphic novel tells the story of an emerging artist in London during the 1980s.  It delves into her relationships, her growth, and her struggle to find herself. It’s fine, but nothing I’m going to remember

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

New comics

New comics!

DIE: Loaded 6

We meet the final member of the party, and the issue ends with a major plot twist.  This would probably be better all at once as a trade, but I like supporting the single issues.

Flash 31

Ryan North starts a new run.  It’s weird seeing Wally West as a dad. (It’s been a while since I’ve read this title…)  Gavin Guidry, whom I haven’t heard of before, has a touch of Cliff Chiang in him, which is never a bad thing.  As with Tom Taylor over on Detective, this issue harkens back to the old days where not every story arc had to be some epic, game-changing saga.  This is just the Flash being a hero with a basic villain, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  I expect North is only going to up his game from here.

Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma 1-6

I’m slowly picking up anything from Ram V that looks interesting to me.  This is done in conjunction w/ artist Anand RK.  Like his recent New Gods, this is a cosmic saga, dreamlike in its tone, and slightly nonsensical.  But it’s beautifully crafted and I very much enjoyed the experience of reading it.  The time loop at the end felt a little too obvious, though.

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!

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

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

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.