New comics

Exquisite Corpses 1-8

Borrowed from the library because the title appealed to me, James Tynion IV doesn’t suck, and the concept of 12 assassins/serial killers duking it out in a sealed off little town was pretty interesting.  Unfortunately, Tynion appears to be the big picture guy, with a different writer doing the heavy lifting w/ each each.  Same w/ the mishmash of artists. 

This was not a fun read.  It’s such a hopeless situation for the townspeople that there’s no entertainment value in the experience.  The killers don’t have enough charisma to sustain the story either.  And the constant return to the shadowy overlords (one from each of the original US states, vying for control of the country) doesn’t add anything.  Not going to read any more of this.  

New comics!

Death Vigil 1-8

Definitely the weakest of Stjepan Sejic’s comicography.  To be fair, it’s an insane list of comics he’s worked on.  But this reads like his take on a generic manga, with a large cast of visually interesting characters, overly-complicated lore/rules, and lots of battle scenes that ultimately don’t engage me all that much.  

I’ll have to re-read the second volume now, I’m sure it’ll make a lot more sense.  I’ll also keep buying it, since Sejic is worth supporting.  Even less good Sejic is worth reading.

Wonder Woman 37

Very much a setup issue.  I didn’t think I’d ever be saying this, but Tom King’s characterization of a perfect Diana is starting to wear a bit thin on me.  At first, it was simply badass.  But now, it’s starting to smack of self-righteousness.  Even though she’s right.  Hopefully this feeling doesn’t last, because I want to keep loving this title.  

Daredevil 7

I had to buy this issue because I didn’t cancel last month in time.  I’ve already forgotten what happened in the last two months.  No regrets about halting my sub.  

Dark Knights of Steel II 3

Amanda Waller completes her coup, killing the queen and installing herself as regent.  Tom Taylor’s doing nice work with this, but it still hasn’t reached DCeased levels.  

Detective Comics 1113

Jeff Spokes isn’t a bad fill in for Mikel Janin at all.  This continues the story from Batman as the Bad Seeds event continues.  Batman fights to stop the blimps from releasing their toxin over Gotham.  Not bad.  

Absolute Cassandra Cain 1

Matias Bergara gives off major Kevin O’Neill vibes with his art here.  It’s a nicely done action story, but nothing stand out.

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. 

New comics

I’ve got like 3 weeks of comics to recap here.  

Detective Comics Annual 2026

Batman teams up with Lobo (?!?), but it’s really an excuse for Tom Taylor to do his spin on Batman’s Black Mercy hallucination.  It’s not all that different from what you’d expect: married to Selina, kids, parents and Alfred still alive.  It’s competently done, but nothing that’s must-read.  

The backup story is a twisted little Pyg story that wasn’t bad at all, but still missable.  Not a waste of money, but I wouldn’t buy this again.  

Super Creepshow 1, 3-5

An anthology series I picked up on iFanboy’s recommendation.  It’s a bunch of creatives doing their EC Comics spin on superheroes.  Very Twilight Zone.  A fun read, and while I’m not going to go out of my way to find the missing second issue, I’d pick it up if it was convenient to do so.

Doomquest 3

Hee, Doom as George Washington.  Ryan North’s having so much fun with this, and he’s taking us along for the ride.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 22

Barbara succumbs to temptation and accepts the Cheetah spirit into her life.  Diana rescues Circe from Scylla.  Dillon Snook does a fine job, but I obviously miss Hayden Sherman.  

Absolute Batman 22

Absolute Harley Quinn’s origin is well told by Scott Snyder.  Batman eludes the Robins.  Joker adds a twist to the story at the end.  (Thomas Wayne is alive.  We think.)

Absolute Catwoman 2

Some well done action scenes, and I like what Snyder and Che Grayson are doing with some Bat-Universe staples.  No reason to quit yet.  

Daredevil 4

Is this worth picking up for the Lee Garbett art?  Because the story is very mid for me.  There’s some promise with the detective freezing in the middle of a crisis, but that’s not enough.  Maybe another issue or two.  

Barbara Gordon: Breakout 3

Really not living up to the promise of the premise.  It’s off after this issue.

Assorted Crisis Events 9

A down-on-his-luck guy has no choice but to become a temporal soldier, trapped in a shitty existence.  It’s not Deniz Camp’s best work, but it doesn’t suck.  

Powers 25 11

The mystery continues as the killer is possibly revealed.  Standard good Bendis/Oeming material here.

Wonder Woman 35

Stephanie Williams does her take on Diana’s contest victory, the one that won her the mantle of Wonder Woman.  I wonder how much of this is plotted out by Tom King. It’s well done, and goes a little deeper into Diana’s psychology at the time, but it’s not required reading or anything.  

New comics

New comics!

Supergirl: Survive 1

An iFanboy recommendation.  What if Kara and Kal-El crashed on an alien planet moments after escaping Krypton’s destruction?  A good start by Ethan S Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Rod Reis.  This can go in any number of directions.  

Doomquest 2

Doom Groundhog Days his way through the Titanic disaster.  Ryan North captures his voice perfectly.  A great issue, and next month looks to be just as fun.  (Doom is George Washington.)

Powers 25 10

More of the excellent same.

Battle Beast 10

Yessss.  More fighting!  That’s all the title needs.  None of that talking crap.

Flash 34

More Ryan North, and he’s definitely picking up his game on Flash.  There’s a delightful choose your own adventure two-page spread involving a massive gorilla invasion.  I still don’t quite buy the “flashes of insight” (intentional ugh), but North is barely managing to make it work.

Absolute Batman 21

Batman fights the Robins (sitting in massive mechs), Jim Gordon gets his funeral, and Jack Grimm (Absolute Joker) confronts Bruce Wayne.  I wish the fight was better (the Bane fight from a few months back really set high expectations), but this is still a darn good title.  At least, when Nick Dragotta’s drawing it.  

Detective Comics 1110

Man, can Mikel Janin draw.  His Black Canary is particularly good.  It’s a rare title where the artist eclipses the Tom Taylor writing, but this is one of them.  

Wonder Woman 34

Wonder Woman defeats the Matriarch in a very satisfying manner.  I really need to read this full Tom King run.

Absolute Wonder Woman 21

Sigh.  Dunno who Dillon Snook is, and while he doesn’t suck, he’s no Hayden Sherman.  I can’t help but read this wondering how it would have looked under his pen.

New comics

New comics!

Wonder Woman 33

Diana, Trinity, and Steve Trevor make their way through the Underworld to meet up with the Fates.  Tom King uses the journey to show once again why Wonder Woman’s such a badass while setting up a fight with Matriarch.  King’s not pushing any boundaries here, but it’s still a fun read.

Battle Beast 9

No fighting = No fun.  We’ll see how the fight w/ Conquest goes next issue, but I’m surprised at how little I want to keep reading this.  

Powers 25 9

Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Oeming keep on keeping on.  Nothing standout, but that doesn’t mean it’s not awesome.  

Fantastic Four 11

Meh.  After moaning about how he’s just the team bruiser, Ben Grimm writes an inspirational manifesto for the FF’s new Future Foundation.  Super meh.  And sadly, the Stan Sakai backup is just as forgettable.  A big letdown from the usually awesome Ryan North.  

Detective Comics 1109

So much nicer now that Mikel Janin’s back.  Tom Taylor also does a swell job showing why Ollie Queen has Batman’s respect.  He’s so good at that kind of moment.

Flash 33

Ryan North wraps up this so-so first arc, and now Wally can…see into the future?  We’ll see where this goes.  I’m not turned off yet, but I’m expecting this to get better.

Absolute Wonder Woman 20

Wonder Woman gets captured and tortured, and while it’s bad, what’s even worse is when she’s involuntarily rescued by Persephone, leading Minerva to think that Diana abandoned her.  Her soul-crushing sense of betrayal, as well as Diana’s horror at being trapped in Hades for six months, powerless to do anything, is heartbreaking.  There’s no way this ends well; Minerva’s likely going to be transformed into Cheetah, and she’s going to hate Wonder Woman for (unwillingly) leaving her to her fate.  Great work by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, as usual.

Doomquest 1

Doom does Doom things, and gets trapped in time on the Titanic.  This is the Ryan North I love, and I can’t wait to read more.

New comics

New comics!

Wonder Woman 32

Tom King returns to the parallel intertwined storytelling device that he employs so often.  Usually it works, but this time around it felt forced and unnecessary.  Sometimes I just want a straightforward story, is that so wrong?

Batwoman 2

Nope.  So done with this.  An unmitigated, uncharacteristic fail by Greg Rucka.

Battle Beast 8

Battle Beast returns to the fray, and it doesn’t disappoint.  The fight sequence with the regenerating sword is pretty sweet.  Like I said last time, this series needs Battle Beast fights to stay interesting.

Flash 32

Not bad, but I’m looking for a little more from Ryan North.  Hopefully he picks it up after he gets his feet wet with this first arc.

Detective Comics 1108

Is a Tom Taylor title worth buying if it’s perfectly fine?  I cut the cord with his Superman run, I wonder if I have the strength to do it with this.  It’s on my watch list.

Harley & Ivy 5

Erica Henderson is Pulling.  It.  Off. 

Absolute Batman 19

Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta introduce a bunch of new, exciting things: Absolute Scarecrow, Absolute Robins, and Jim Gordon dies!  After a less-than-stellar run w/ Absolute Poison Ivy, happy days look to be back again.  (As happy as things can be in Absolute Gotham.)

Powers 25 8

We get Kutter’s origin, and it’s not nearly as interesting as her partner’s.  Still not turning down Bendis/Oeming, though.  

Absolute Wonder Woman 19

Diana and Zatanna free Zatara and fight Giganta.  And before she can catch her breath, Diana jumps back into the fray against something called the Iron Maiden.  Speaking of breath, this Diana takes mine away.  

Spider-Man/Superman 1

Just about every single one of these stories would have been better if they showed the greatness of these icons instead of speechifying about what makes them so.  It gets really old really fast.  It’s a waste of some truly phenomenal creative teams.

Fine Print TPB 3

Stjepan Sejic is one of the best comic creators out there right now, yadda yadda yadda.  I will buy anything this dude puts out.  He doesn’t disappoint with this.  Can’t wait for whatever comes next.  (I think it’s more Sunstone.)

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!

Absolute Batman 17

The origin of Absolute Poison Ivy, though I suspect a twist next issue; Is Poison Ivy Pamela’s mother?  Still the second best of the Absolute titles.  

Wonder Woman 30

Guest writer Stephanie Williams goes completely off the rails with the second part of this “power of love and family saves the day” story.  So much painfully saccharine dialog, it sounded like a fourth-rate self-help book of affirmations.  At least the Jeff Spokes art was decent, but this was a complete miss.  Can’t wait for Tom King to come back.

Action Comics 1095

An iFanboy pick of the week, this one is pretty darn good.  It covers the week following Pete Ross’ discovery of Clark’s secret back when they were in high school.  It’s a narration-heavy issue as Pete processes the hurt he feels from not being trusted with the secret in the first place. It’s a great story by Mark Waid.  I love these well-done one-offs.

Powers 25 6

Cut and paste from last month: “Brian Michael Bendis doing what he does best.  Never change, sir.”

Fantastic Four 8

This is so freaking good.  What if Susan Storm explored her powers to the fullest, and it goes horribly wrong?  Ryan North and Humberto Ramos present this as a horror story, and it hits hard.  Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Ultimate Spider-Man 24

Defying all expectation and precedent, Jonathan Hickman absolutely nails the landing.  It’s basically a big fight scene w/ some epilogue, but it’s expertly done with nary a misstep.  I need to read this all at once now, I expect I’ll do it this week.  Shout out to Marco Checchetto, who was masterful over the course of the entire run.  This was a top notch Spider-Man story.

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

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

Children of the Round Table 2

Boilerplate stuff; the kids start training with their weapons and mysterious government agents start chasing them.  One of the kids’ grandmothers turns out to have known more than she let on.  Nothing to write home about.  But the art is fun, the colors are bright, and I have no problem supporting these creators.

Battle Beast 6

Same with Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley.  I’ll plunk down my cash for whatever they want to put out, but even more so.  

Batman: Long Halloween: Last Halloween 9

Chris Samnee puts in his usual good work, Loeb fully retcons Selina Kyle as a Falcone, and talk about people who have lost their fastball.  Between this and Batman: Hush II, Jeph Loeb is cementing my belief that he hasn’t written anything good in a long time.

Krypto 5

This series did not need to exist.  I did not need to buy it.  It’s a slight, pointless waste of time and Ryan North’s talents.  I would never have believed that it came from his pen.  

Wonder Woman 26

The origin of Mouseland.  It’s pretty ridiculous, and I don’t buy it.  The execution and art save it some, but not really.  I’ll be happy when Tom King and Daniel Sampere put this behind them.

One World Under Doom 8

Valeria Richards enters the fray, and Ryan North finally reveals how this whole thing is going to end.  (Unless he has one final twist, which I wouldn’t put past him.)