Mostly new comics

New comics!

Planet She-Hulk 6

This was cancelled earlier than writer Stephanie Phillips had planned for, and it shows.  She abruptly brings Jennifer Walters back to Earth in order to bring things back to a rough status quo ante before she leaves the title.  A sad ending to a title that started with a ton of promise and beautiful art, but completely fizzled at the end.

Truth 1

Batman and Wonder Woman team up in this Jeph Loeb/Jim Cheung one-shot.  I got it entirely for Cheung’s art, and it’s as lovely as I hoped for.  Loeb is definitely on the back half of his career, but the story is serviceable enough as cameo villains pop in at a regular tempo.  I’m pretty sure a drinking game devoted to every time a character says “truth” would render the participants unconscious in short order.  

From the library:

Duke 1-5

A fun start to the Energon Universe’s GI Joe branch, but I don’t regret not buying it. 

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!

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

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

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.