Batman/Catwoman #8
Written by Tom King; Art by Liam Sharp
Published by DC Comics
This book has been pretty well done up until this point. Tom King has been writing a pretty darn good script up until now. I have to say, I liked this issue very much. This issue shows what happens when Batman and Catwoman set up boundaries with each other.
The result affects their relationship very much. We get to see some of the effects of that. We also get to see what happens when Phantasm finally catches up with the Joker. So this issue is very thrilling. The script is very good. I wish artist Clay Mann was drawing the whole series however. Liam Sharp isn’t a bad artist but it just makes the series feel a bit more jumbled than it should. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A
Batman #115
Written by James Tynion IV; Art by Bengal and Jorge Jimenez
Published by DC Comics
Fear State marches on. In introducing so many threads and characters, it seems that the creative team has forgotten the main character.
Simon Saint is losing control of the situation. Master Wyze has an origin. (It’s Gotham, everyone has an origin story) Batman and Miracle Molly are on the hunt for a machine that can stop Scarecrow’s plan. And in an effort to regain control of the situation, an effort which promises to backfire Simon Saint goes after Queen Ivy.
This issue is a bit of a step down from recent issues as Jorge Jimenez is only drawing a few pages. The fill in art is fine, but lacks the energy that Jimenez has been bringing to this book. Tynion has been spinning a lot of plates in this book, and here it starts to fray a bit. However, I love a speech that Batman gives that summarizes his goal during a crisis and what he hopes to bring to Gotham. It encapsulates the Bat ethos in a way that is rarely done right.
The back up tale featuring the Batgirls is a pure jolt of energy. The characters are sharply written and the action is fun and tense. (– Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
The Death of Doctor Strange #2
Written by Jed MacKay; Art by Lee Garbett
Published by Marvel Comics
Who would have thought that a dead doctor would become a more interesting doctor? That is what is happening in Issue #2 of The Death of Doctor Strange. Writer Jed MacKay is a little more forthcoming on the plot, and the results are much more interesting. Rather than dwell on the loss of earth’s favorite Sorcerer Supreme, the story pivots into a murder mystery. And if you thought you would get less Doctor Strange due to his demise in Issue #1, think again. MacKay creates an innovative loophole. Apparently this storyteller likes to have his cake and eat it too.
Another highlight of this chapter are the key villains known as The Three Mothers. Without a Sorcerer Supreme to guard the gates, The Three Mothers are ready to take over and strip the Multiverse to its core. With a lot more action to illustrate, Lee Garbett’s artwork really comes alive. The battle scenes are well orchestrated. All in all, this is the issue that hooks you into the story. It is a vast improvement from the previous chapter and has me curious to read what comes next. (– Eugene Johnson)
Fight Girls #4
Written and Illustrated by Frank Cho
Published by AWA Studios
Two women stand before us, competing to become the queen of the Gilmoran Empire – No. 4, Tora Winter, and No. 7 Xandra Blackwater. But we know that Blackwater isn’t who she claims to be. What we don’t know is her actual identity, and what scheme may be afoot – whether palace intrigue, revolutionary incursion, or spy game. Four issues into Cho’s mix of fighting babes, monster action and sci-fi espionage, and there’s still not a lot of story to go alongside the quickly dispatched eight other women competing for the crown. Some agents are made, another one killed, and a prime minister fuming in a room. At least we get a fabulously drawn mixed martial arts fight between Winter and Blackwater, where every flying knee to the jaw, blocked punch and kick to the belly are illustrated with stirring anatomical detail, panel by panel. But what comes next after the cliffhanger twist? Is there enough runway left for Cho to actually tell a real story here? Prospects are deeply unclear. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Catwoman #36
Written by Ram V.; Art by Nina Vakueva
Published by DC Comics
The Fear State storyline continues in this issue. We get to see where Catwoman is in the middle of it all. She has to figure a way out of town for Ivy and her crew. Things are starting to get out of hand and it seems like there are no other options.
So, Catwoman goes to the one person she never thought she would turn to: The Riddler. This whole thing leads to some really fun moments in this book. I enjoyed it for the most part. The passion of the book seems to be a bit lacking however. The script by Ram V. isn’t bad nor is the artwork. It just feels a bit like the B-side of a record. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: B
Nubia and the Amazons #1
Written by Vita Ayala and Stephanie Williams; Art by Alitha Martinez
Published by DC Comics
DC has continued to restore and elevate the character Nubia, the Black twin sister of Wonder Woman introduced in 1973. Since the publisher’s Infinite Frontier project, Nubia becomes queen of Themyscira, and this miniseries presents a new challenge to the powerful Amazon. Writers Ayala and Williams team up with Martinez, who drew this new rendition of Nubia in Future State, to weave a vibrant depiction of the Amazons’ paradise island as well as a mystery connected to a great evil behind Doom’s Doorway, an underground rift to Hades.
Ayala and Williams do a fine job introducing this Nubia to readers who may have missed Future State or Infinite Frontier, but Martinez’s art is the true star of this one. Her layouts and costume designs are as impressive as the lived-in diversity of the Amazons old and new. And her seeing her design of Nubia – tall, strong, beautiful, with a gigantic mane of natural curls – is worth the cover price alone ( – Marvin Pittman)
Nightwing #85
Written by Tom Taylor; Art by Robbi Rodriguez
Published by DC Comics
This is another Fear State tie in issue. But it is better than most due to the creative team involved. We get to see Barbara Gordon suit up to go again the anti-Oracle network. It is a thrilling start to the book and the action really doesn’t let up on this one. It was cool!
The Scarecrow and his acolytes are everywhere in the city. So, Barbara, Nightwing and Tim Drake come up against them. It leads into a psychological nightmare for the heroes that doesn’t let up. This issue is a pretty quick read but I didn’t mind it. The writing and artwork are both spectacular here. Tom Taylor writes a great script that doesn’t feel like a fill and And Robbi Rodriguez’s art is superb. Well done. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A-
Superman: Son of Kal-El #4
Written by Tom Taylor; Art by John Timms
Published by DC Comics
A lot of attention has been happening with this book due to an upcoming issue where Jon Kent is revealed to be bisexual. I think it is great and I think that writer Tom Taylor has created a spectacular character with Jon in this series. This issue shows us that yet again.
Jon has the weight of the world on his shoulders as this issue begins. Superman has left him in charge so we are seeing a lot of the growing pains that he is going through happen here. He makes mistakes. He is learning though and we get a front row seat watching it happen. It’s fantastic. So is the artwork of John Timms. Well done. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A
Batman: Secret Files: Peacekeeper-01 #1
Written By Ed Brisson and James Tynion IV; Art by Joshua Hixson
Published by DC Comics
This issue manages to be a pleasant surprise. If you’re following Fear State, is it a must read story? I would say no. But it gives you a clear picture and motive for a character that has been pretty one note up to now.
This story takes us into the life of Sean Mahoney and the Mahoney family. A family that has been a deep part of Gotham’s tapestry. It takes us through their history. It asks if Gotham changed them or if Gotham’s corruption was part of the Mahoney legacy. It takes us through a night that Mahoney is just trying to survive, but ends up with Peacekeeper 01 aligning with Scarecrow.
Tynion and Brisson takes us through this one drug addled night. They fill out this character and give him new dimensions. Sean Mahoney is not a good person by any means. However, we see how the toxic in his life, figuratively in the past and now literal in his present, are driving him. ( –Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
Shazam! #4
Written by Tim Sheridan; Art by Clayton Henry
Published by DC Comics
Billy Batson’s boundless optimism is part of what makes him pure of heart enough to hold the Wizard’s power and become Shazam. But there are certain parts of Billy’s childhood charm that can’t stay forever, can it?
Shazam finally finds and is able to enter the Rock of Eternity, but inside he finds … Black Adam! Well, a Black Adam. This issue breaks a bunch of the miniseries wide open, but in a way that I found unsatisfying because this turns out to be just a gap series between the Teen Titans Academy series and some new thing to drop that connects Shazam, Raven, Neron, and Dane the newly awakened son of the devil, and the end of reality in a million years. None of this really interests me, because I don’t follow these other storylines. The best part of the issue, instead, is the character work on Billy about reaching a new sense of maturity connected to Freddy Freeman (aka Captain Marvel Jr. – sorry, Shazam Jr.?) and his worsening illness. That’s when this comic lives up to the hero with heart we deserve, not all this DC Universe funny business. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Suicide Squad #8
Written by Robbie Thompson; Art by Eduardo Pansica
Published by DC Comics
This new issue of the Suicide Squad is just really hard to read. I don’t think that I ever needed to see the character of Ambush Bug again but of course, here he is. He is back and he is helping the team try to survive their current bit of dire circumstances.
Their survival may be all dependent on him as well. Of course, he isn’t the most capable of characters. Can he get it together long enough to save the team? The story is full of nothing too special. I guess it’s okay at best. The art is decent enough. I was hoping for more. (–Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: C
Green Lantern #7
Written by Geoffrey Thorne; Art by Marco Santucci and Tom Raney
Published by DC Comics
I really had hoped that this series would have turned around by now. It hasn’t at all and instead is going places that I hardly care about. This issue involves the Lanterns getting rescued and it isn’t at all exciting. I was hoping for more. Something different at the very least.
John Stewart enters the realm of the Golden Centurions in this issue. He is looking for a path that leads to the rescue of his fellow Lanterns. The result of his search leads to conflict that pretty much lands with a thud. The story and art aren’t the best either here so it makes the whole book feel unimportant and unnecessary. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: C
Black Manta #2
Written by Chuck Brown; Art by Valentine De Landro
Published by DC Comics
This second issue has a bit of whiplash, has it bounces all over the place. Some scenes work great, others felt as if I’m missing a thread from a different story. I really enjoyed what work, though.
An opening scene of kids in costume playing and one kid, for seemingly obvious reasons, being forced to play villain, felt like a gut punch. I’ve been there, kid.
Black Manta investigates the aneurysm he and others suffered around the world, which leads him to a fun encounter with the Gentleman Ghost. Meanwhile in Themysciara, a woman with no memory of who she is emerges. And we are introduced to a new villain, Devil Ray. Giving Black Manta his own book, then having Themysciara in the book felt a bit jarring. I’d like to see Black Manta develop before knowledge of other books is required to follow events here. The jump from Black Manta asking the Gentleman Ghost for help to the young man in the police station felt too sudden.
However, I am enjoying the book. It seems to be laying out a new space for Black Manta in the DC Universe. (– Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
Ant #1
Written and Illustrated by Erik Larsen
Published by Image Comics
Erik Larsen is one of the more prolific creators over at Image Comics. I have always liked his stuff, even when some of it went off the rails a bit. Now Larsen is back with a new book. Apparently, it is a passion project for Larsen. Reading this book, I am just not really sure who it is for.
Maybe it is just a vanity project for Larsen himself? This book shows us the life of Hannah Washington. She wakes up in a mental institution. She is told her fantasies aren’t real. Or are they? Larsen seems to be reaching for something bigger maybe? I don’t know if he has it in him to pull off something that doesn’t turn into superhero slugfest? Maybe he does! We will see. At least the artwork is nice though. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: C+
The Flash #775
Written by Jeremy Adams; Art by Fernando Pasarin
Published by DC Comics
A mysterious staff lands in the middle of a busy city street. Superman and Mr Terrific try pulling the artifact out to no avail. In their failed attempt, their temperament changes. As Wally goes about his day, he finds that the people around him are angrier. Not only that, but the artifact is serving as a beacon for villains to come out of the woodwork. However, only a villain from way down the list can access the staff’s power. It’s up to Wally to maintain order.
This issue both offers a lot of action yet feels like it is setting up for more to come. While not as detailed or masterful as George Perez, Fernando Pasarin brings a similar flair to the action. His art is full of character expression, with granular details that give you a sense of space as the action unfolds.
Jeremy Adams is writing a confident Wally West. He is zen like and a real leader in the DC Universe. The book is a fast paced, refreshing read. The last page is really hyping up the next issue and I can’t wait. (– Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
Catwoman: Lonely City #1
Written and Illustrated By Cliff Chiang
Published by DC Comics
Cliff Chiang is one of the more underrated creators out there in comics. I hope that changes with this book here. I have always loved his artwork too but his writing here proves to be exceptional. This is a very different take on the Catwoman character.
Ten years ago, Batman, Nightwing, the Joker and a few other characters were killed in a massacre called Fools Night. We get to see this happen. We also get to see that Selina Kyle was framed for this crime and had to spend time in prison. Of course, she gets out of prison.
We get to see a very different take on Gotham when she gets out featuring Harvey Dent and his Batcops. Catwoman must navigate through this new Gotham to find out who framed her and who the real killers are. It is as exciting as can be. The writing and artwork are both spectacular. Chiang may be creating a classic before our eyes. (– Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A
