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

Assorted Crisis Events 7

Not the strongest of Deniz Camp’s efforts on this title, but good enough.  A guy keeps encountering dead versions of himself from other multiverses.  What does he do with the bodies?  How does it affect his psyche?  A downer of a story, as are most of these.  

Fantastic Four 6

Most of the issue is standard adventure-of-the-month, but the ending is set up really well, and I’m looking forward to see what Ryan North and Humberto Ramos do with this.

Children of the Round Table 4

What is it about Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo collaborations?  They’re both individually amazing, but both of their comics (this and Seven Secrets) just don’t click for me at all.  I’ll probably give this a few more issues, then bail.

Ultimate Spider-Man 23

Oh no, is Jonathan Hickman going to crash and burn on the landing?  This was going so good for over twenty issues, and now it’s going to falter?  Grah!  The various dilemmas here didn’t captivate me in any way.  I really hope he pulls it out.  It’d be such a shame.  (But, alas, hardly a surprise given Hickman’s track record.)

New Gods 12

Only a re-read will determine if this story was actually any good, but the quality of Evan Cagle’s art is not in question.  A+ work.  

Powers 25 3

Origin story of the cop from the end of issue 2.  This is so in Bendis’ wheelhouse.

Trinity 5

Middle Liz goes on a date with Jason Todd (of all people).  This should be a slam dunk for Tom King, but the fact that it’s Jason Todd keeps this from working for me.  

Batman/Deadpool 1

The DC side of the crossover.  This was mostly total crap.  Grant Morrison writes a shit main meta story.  The backup stories are completely forgettable (except for the excellent Tom Taylor/Bruno Redondo Nightwing/Wolverine/Honey Badger teamup).  

DC KO 1-2

I didn’t pick this up because the first issue was polybagged.  Luckily, the reprint wasn’t.  Elevator pitch: What if the extremely entertaining Deathmatch actually used DC IP?  It’s actually way more Battle Royale free-for-all than the bracket elimination tournament I was expecting.  But it’s still a lot of fun, which is really what something like this really needs to lean into.  

Partisan

Fuck.  Garth Ennis and Steve Epting have something magical going on over at TKO Comics.  This isn’t as good as Sara, but that’s one of the all-time greats.  This is both darker and more life-affirming at the same time.  God, this is good. 

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

More new comics!

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum 1

I was intrigued by the art and interesting layouts, so I gave this a shot. Superman discovers four new shades of Kryptonite, and somehow thinks that using himself as a guinea pig is the best way to discover their effects on him.  Batman wisely thinks that this is a stupid idea, but Superman doesn’t listen.  Hijinks ensue.  I’m not sold on this, but I’ll flip through the next issue when I see it on the shelf.

Fantastic Four 2

I don’t quite buy how the FF get out of this predicament.  Both Reed’s solution and Sue’s ability to figure it out are too much of a stretch, so I’m ultimately disappointed at this resolution to what was an awesome setup.  I also didn’t expect this story to go a third issue.  I’m sure that Ryan North will turn it back around.  

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 3

Trinity’s perpetual failure and her two younger selves’ exasperated frustration had me LOLing at several points in the story.  Some good fun by Tom King and Belen Ortega, along with a nice little lesson about perseverance to boot.

Absolute Batman 11

Absolute Bane’s origin story is pretty close to mainline Bane, but Scott Snyder tells it well.  Unfortunately, it falls apart in the back half with an incomprehensible fight scene from Clay Mann.  (Who also does a really poor job with some super scratchy self-inks.)  I can’t tell what’s happened at the end; has Bruce really been Anakined into a limb-less Darth Vader/Mecha-Batman scenario?  So confused.

Wonder Woman 24

Ugh, I hate hate hate this “Mouse Man knows” speech bullshit.  It’s completely ruining what would otherwise be a fascinating story.

Detective Comics 1100

Anniversary anthology issue.  As I’ve said before, Tom Taylor is a master of writing the obvious-but-never-done-before stories.  Here, he teams up w/ Mikel Janin to tell a sweet, wordless story about locating a lost puppy.  Lots of feels.  The Mariko Tamaki story is a waste of pages.  The Greg Rucka story’s pretty good, and the Bill Sienkiewicz tale gets by on the art.  (The plot’s meh.)

Battle Beast 4

Too much talking, not enough fighting.  Why is Robert Kirkman swerving away from what works on this title?

Absolute Flash 6

I said a few more issues last month.  Giving it one more month; this Rogues Gallery origin didn’t do much for me. 

Krypto: Last Dog of Krypton 3

Such a waste of money.  Krypto saves a girl lost in the wilderness.  This issue took two minutes to read and even less time to forget.  

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

I’m only a month behind?  Feels like a lot more.  Time to make a dent in the deficit.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 9

Resolute is the word I’d use to describe Kelly Thompson’s Wonder Woman.  She acts with a certitude in everything that she does, an absolute faith that she is correct and she will prevail.  It’s magnificent to behold.  I love this Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman 22

I love Tom King’s Wonder Woman just as much.  In this issue, she has a morning-after DTR with Steve Trevor as she fights giant-sized mice.  It’s very sweet.  Fill-in artist Caitlin Yarsky does a fine job, and channels some Terry Moore perfectly in the mouse conversation scene.  

Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman 1

Trinity gets into time travel hijinks with three versions of herself and Super-Corgi puppies.  Is there anything Tom King can’t write?

Fantastic Four 33

This volume of Fantastic Four ends with H.E.R.B.I.E. saving the universe while Ben Grimm gets his powers back.  Ryan North’s hit rate is impressively high given the sheer number of ideas he throws out there.  This one’s definitely of the multi-base variety.  North returns next with a new volume of FF.  Hopefully, they’ll find a better artist for him.  

Ultimate Spider-Man 18

I don’t know why I’m still so surprised at how consistently great this book is month in and month out.  Maybe because it’s Jonathan Hickman.  I like Peter and Harry teaming up, but I’m dreading the inevitable Harry heel turn.  

Absolute Martian Manhunter 4

Javier Rodriguez may have done the best job I’ve ever seen of conveying the sweltering heat of a New York CIty (?) summer.  It’s claustrophobic, sticky, oppressive, and altogether unbearable.  It’s sheer artistry.  

Mr Terrific 2

Michael Holt meets the Spectre, which gives Al Letson an opportunity to recap Mr Terrific’s origin story up to this point.  It’s perfectly fine, and I’m not sad to be sticking around for more.  

Detective Comics 1098

Tom Taylor writes from pretty good quips for Penguin.  There’s really nothing memorable about this arc, but for all that, it’s still a fun enough caper for Batman.