Werewolf by Night

Werewolf by Night

A MCU one-hour special.  Introduces Elsa Bloodstone, Man-Thing, and Jack Russell (the original Werewolf by Night) to the MCU.  It pays a lot of homage to the old Universal monster movies with a campy horror feel, but is otherwise pretty forgettable.  (Shout out to the diegetic blaring from a tuba that’s been set on fire.)

Laura Donnelly, who plays Elsa, kept reminding me of Krysten Ritter.  Also, were this made two decades ago, Eliza Dushku would have been perfect casting.

Regret watching: No

Would watch again: No

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Fine

Updated TV rankings:

1. She-Hulk

2. Hawkeye

3. Wandavision

4. Ms Marvel

5. Loki

6. Falcon/Winter Soldier

7. Werewolf by Night

8. Moon Knight

DCeased

DCeased 1-6

DCeased: A Good Day to Die 1

My original feelings are confirmed.  (Well, not quite.  There’s an ineffable something that’s keeping it from the highest tier.)  I was breathless reading this, especially as the story comes to a climax.  Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine create so many brilliant little moments amidst the overarching narrative.  I’m so happy that this was popular enough to merit all of the follow ups.  

Ollie gets all the best lines in this series.

Cute Mister Miracle reference.

Lex's Batman line is a total humblebrag.

It's so hard to be a parent sometimes.

This confrontation blows my mind.

Poor Ollie.

Awesome splash by Trevor Hairsine.

So badass.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

New comics

New comics!

That Texas Blood 7-12

Joe Bob recounts a case from his past, involving a kidnapped girl, her murdered brother, and the Mayan death cult responsible for it all.  It’s certainly an amazingly well executed comic book by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips, but it’s just not the kind of thing I’m in the market for.  This is more of a “borrow from the library to read once” title.  

Batman: One Bad Day: Mr Freeze

A nice take on the Mr Freeze origin story from Gerry Duggan and Matteo Scalera, but the real, unexpected star of this one-shot is Dick Grayson.  Duggan gives him all of the best moments, bringing a welcome exuberance to a tragic character.

Very spooky.

That grin is priceless.

Batmobile with winter treads is AWESOME.

Dream crushed.

Dream fulfilled.

Murder Mysteries, Green Lantern/Superman

Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame

A bunch of artists tag team an old, unpublished Neil Gaiman script.  I wouldn’t have minded if it stayed unpublished.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Didn’t suck

Murder Mysteries

I think I completely missed the point of this story for the past twenty years.  The ending really intrigued me this time around, so I popped online to read some forums.  Yeah, so the guy may not have killed everyone?  And I still suspect that he dies at the end.

Also, this story reinforces the view that God’s a dick; He’s the one who orchestrated Lucifer’s fall because He needed someone to run Hell.  It’s not a new point of view, but this is a nice interpretation of it.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good  

Black Orchid

Black Orchid 1-3

Here we go, the Neil Gaiman stuff!  Whenever I think of Black Orchid, I’m always reminded of a story Gaiman told where his editor originally misheard his proposal as “Blackhawk Kid.”  British accent and all that. 

This is the earliest Gaiman work that I own.  It’s also one of the weakest.  While the art by Dave McKean is lovely in its usual ethereal, dreamlike manner, the story is a tedious “Who am I” journey of discovery for the titular character.  Gaiman fails to make me care about the plant creature with the memories of a human.  (Which was done way better by Alan Moore.  It doesn’t help Gaiman that Swamp Thing’s appearance is the best part of the series.)  

I’d read this again just for the art, but I’m not surprised that I’d forgotten everything about this comic from the last time I read it.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Boring

Injustice 2

Injustice 2 7-36

Injustice 2 Annual 1-2

Seeing as how I read these just three months ago, my thoughts remain the same.  What is surprising is that this didn’t drag at all, considering I just read it.  Three hours reading the series, and the time flew by.  

Heh.

Tom Taylor is a genius.

Nice to know that Mrs Landingham is alive in the DC Injustice universe.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Injustice, New comics

New comics!

Nightwing 2002 Annual

Heartless gets his origin story, a nifty little variation on Bruce Wayne and his faithful butler.  As an added bonus, it’s tied directly to Dick Grayson’s origin as well.

In the second story, Dick trains Jon Kent, beautifully demonstrating both how he learned from Bruce and how he chose to be different.  A great story from CS Pacat, whom I’ve never heard of before.

Human Target 9

This issue is all about Batman living rent-free in Christopher Chance’s head.  That and Greg Smallwood drawing Ice and Chance looking at each other and looking great doing it.  His character acting is so good.  It’s unfair.

You could teach a class with just these three panels.

Injustice: Year Zero 1-14

Has it really been over a year since I last read this?  I wasn’t looking forward to reading this again so “soon,” but Tom Taylor, Roge Antonio, and Cian Tormey quickly made me forget all of my apprehensions.  The idea of Joker with mind control powers could so easily go poorly in execution, but Taylor walks that tightrope adroitly and skillfully.  His destruction of the Justice Society is chilling and makes for an excellent read.  

Taylor writes one of the better Harleys.

I never thought about it like that.

Joker as Flash is amazing.  Great art by Roge Antonio.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Injustice 2 1-6

With Superman incarcerated in the previous series, Ra’s Al Ghul and Black Adam position themselves as the foils to Batman and his team.  Even after the original Injustice, Taylor hasn’t come close to running out of people to kill in emotionally affecting ways:

One of the few times Booster Gold doesn't suck.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good