Star Wars #21
Written by: Charles Soule; Art by Ramon Rosanas and Rochelle Roseberg
Published by Marvel Comics
This issue took me by complete surprise. Everything about it works, from the incredibly tight writing by Charles Soule (which is very rare praise coming from me) to the appropriately gritty art by Rosanas and Rosenberg.
The issue opens on an Imperial Star Destroyer scarred with huge gouges of battle damage. This sets a dark tone that keeps us engaged. The story is simple; a Rebel stranded on an Imperial Destroyer awaiting rescue. What hooks us is who this rebel is. You’ll have to read yourself to find out.
I nearly took a grade point off for having a tad too shmaltzy/kumbaya ending; rebels from across the galaxy, different species, declaring that they are family. But, this is Star Wars, and what is Star Wars but ultimately a story of found family?
Which is why I give this issue a perfect grade. ( – Anthony Sword)
Grade: A
One-Star Squadron #4
Written by Mark Russell; Art by Steve Lieber
Published by DC Comics
As always, I generally enjoy Mark Russell’s writing. This book features some of his best work. It is funny, sweet, and topical.
This issue deals with Red Tornado having to do something that he never thought that he would have to do. He is responsible for firing a few of his teammates. How does he fare with handling these layoffs? Well, it is hilariously sad and awkward. I have to say, I really felt for a few of the people getting fired. It is all being done in the name of keeping this company afloat.
Of course, the first person that he has to fire is Power Girl. It doesn’t happen in an ideal way to say the least. She tried everything to get out of it, and the results are fascinating. The story is good and the artwork by Steve Lieber is very well done. This is another good issue of this series. ( – Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A
Arkham City: The Order of the World #6
Written by Dan Watters and Art by Dani
Published by DC Comics
This has been a fairly interesting and entertaining series for the most part.
Dr. Joy has been reunited with her patients and they are all under one roof again. The doctor has to figure out what is best for her patients. It is tough because a lot of them aren’t very agreeable even when she is just trying to help them. This leads her to have to protect them from themselves. All of the various plots here come to a head. It does get a bit confusing at the end with the storytelling.
I had a hard time figuring out the way things were resolving. But for the most part, I got the gist of it. The story is decent for the most part and the art by Dani really works well. I liked how deceptively simplistic the art was, in fact.
Overall, this was a decent enough series. ( – Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: B
Justice League Incarnate #5
Written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver; Art by Andrei Bressan
Published by DC Comics
This has been one of the weirder and cooler miniseries that has come out from this Infinite Frontier line of books, with the last issue offering some crazy twists and turns.
This final issue is no different as Joshua Williamson is working his magic to get us to the new big Crisis series.
This is what the whole book is leading to. And why not? We haven’t had one in a while! Things get really wild here as Darkseid has half of the heroes under his sway. The Great Darkness is threatening to destroy everything and everyone. But there is one last play that the remaining heroes have to try.
Can they be successful? It is everything going to go to hell in a hand basket? The story is a lot of crazy fun and the artwork is pretty decently.
Let’s face it, this is a springboard to the next big event. But why not? Let’s enjoy it for what it is. ( – Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: B+
Adventureman #8
Written by Matt Fraction; Art by Terry Dodson
Published by Image Comics
This book is a lot of fun and it keeps getting more enjoyable. This issue here concludes the story of just what is happening underneath the Manhattan streets. The answers are fast and furious and just awesome.
Claire Connell is in for the ride of her life in this issue and things just get crazy out of hand. Her sisters get involved and it turns her entire world upside down. This is great to see her sisters come into the story. It shows a new side of Claire and how she deals and relates with them. She is glad to have them too as she comes up against the Ghost Gang.
The script by Matt Fraction is very well done and the artwork by Terry Dodson is perfect. Well done. ( – Lenny Schwartz)
Grade: A
Rogue Sun #1
Written by Ryan Parrott; Art by Abel
Published by Image Comics
Rogue Sun expands on a character introduced in Supermassive a few weeks ago. Dylan Siegel is your typical surly teenager.
An unexpected visit brings news that his estranged father has passed. With his Dad passing, he is set to inherit a powerful gift. Suited up to replace his father as Rogue Sun, he may have a less than noble purpose in following his father’s footsteps.
The Image superhero universe, like a lot of previous attempts to create a superhero universe, features characters that don’t feel substantially different from what’s come before. There are bits and pieces from other stories but it’s put together in a way that doesn’t stand out. The dialogue feels right out of hundreds of superhero books that have come before, with nothing to really lift it above the many other books on the stands.
What does stand out is the sharp artwork by Abel. Both the design on Rogue Sun, and the villain of this issue, Suave, are fun. Abel’s work gives the book a certain flair that brings some energy to an otherwise average book. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: B-
Avengers Forever #3
Written by Jason Aaron; Art by Aaron Kuder
Published by Marvel Comics
After the first two issues were a bit of table setting, this is where things really get going.
Ant-Man Tony Stark is there to rescue Ghost Rider, but the Ghost Rider is not ready to go. First , there’s a huge confrontation with Black Skull, but things are going to get a lot harder with last page that promises a hell of a time for the Ghost Rider and these Avengers.
Jason Aaron essentially took a bunch of characters and concepts related to the Avengers, shook them up real good, and is delivering quite a thrill ride. Aaron Kuder is a great choice to keep up with all the madness this book is delivering.
I’m starting to enjoy this book a bit more than Aaron’s run on the main Avengers book. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
Static: Season One #6
Written by Vita Ayala; Art by Nikolas Draper-Ivy
Published by DC Comics
Season one of Static closes out with a bang and promises a second season. Static and friends break into a government facility in an effort to free other Bang Babies. But not everyone wants to be free.
Vita Ayala’s script gives us a full character in Virgil Hawkins. The story shows how much Virgil is sacrificing to take a stand. Yet throughout the adventure the character stays relatable. Draper Ivy’s art gives the story a visceral element that really pops off the page.
These six issues really make for a complete story yet sets up so much more. Between having Static back on the page and the art, these six issues will make a fine collection. With the sixth issue being quite the capper. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: A
Detective Comics #1055
Written by Mariko Tamaki; Art by Amancay Nahuelpan
Published by DC Comics
The Arkham Tower storyline is picking up some momentum.
Huntress finds herself on the run from Mr. Freeze. Nightwing is trying to take the Psycho Pirate away. With a closing page of a fearsome villain making a return.
While I’ve found the Arkham Tower storyline overlong, unfocused, and not the best use of this cast, this issue feels like the beginning of the end. At least it’s wrapping up with some action. Tamaki’s script has always had the voice for Batwoman and the various members of the Bat family. ”Here it feels like they are working together.
The puzzle pieces are coming together, and this issue’s art really brings a sense of movement to the action sequences, particularly the battle between Mr. Freeze and Huntress.
An action packed issue that is setting up a finale. Is it too much to ask that this same cast get another couple of issues before Batman’s eventual return? ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: B
Justice League #73
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V.
Art by Phil Hester, Sumit Kumar
Published by DC Comics
Justice League #73 is hampered by inconsistent art, clumsy exposition dumps, and a story that feels shockingly inert.
Black Adam has been possessed by Xanadoth. Justice League and Justice League Dark combine forces. The results are not as interesting as they should be.
Bendis is at his worst when all his characters sound alike, and with so many characters, this issue falls into Bendis speak. The exposition given in an attempt to explain the situation feels leaden. Having multiple artists on any given issue can work, but here it feels muddled and rushed.
The idea of a possessed Black Adam battling the Justice League might work.
This particular issue feels like a stumble. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: C-
Batman #121
Written by Joshua Williamson; Art by Jorge Molina and Mikel Janin
Published by DC Comics
Joshua Williamson deftly handles multiple characters and brings this short arc to a close. He brings us up to date with the Club of Heroes, I’d be satisfied. If he had just brings back Lex Luthor as a Batman villain, I’d be happy. But he did all this and introduced a villain in Abyss that I hope we see again.
Molina and Janin provided art in a way that allowed the story to flow. The action scenes were impactful and stylish. Badhinisia as a fictional DC locale was fascinating . and I hope we get to visit again.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Karl Kerschl’s work in the back up story. Bringing back Maps from Gotham Academy and having her be a Robin is delightful.
His rendition of Batman brings to mind Alan Davis, and that’s a compliment. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: A
Dark Knights Of Steel #5
Written by Tom Taylor; Art by Yasmine Putri
Published by DC Comics
This book is consistently entertaining. This fifth issue continues that streak, delivering twists and turns. While placing superheroes in this very different setting, it does not stray from delivering a suspenseful story.
We get a meeting between Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. This leads to a fun back and forth between Wonder Woman and Poison Ivy, I don’t recall seeing them interact often in the regular DC Universe so this was fun. The issue concludes with some shocking reveals and a twist on a certain long time DC Family.
Tom Taylor doesn’t settle for taking familiar DC tropes and just placing them in the sword and sorcery genre. He really twists things enough that this series has been full of surprises. Yasmine Putri’s art delivers a lush world that invites the reader.
Dark Knights of Steel #5 was a truly fun issue. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: A
War For Earth-3 #1
Written By Robbie Thompson and Dennis Hopeless;
Art By Steve Pugh, Dexter Soy, and Brent Peeples
Published by DC Comics
I can’t help but compare this to this week’s Justice League issue. Both have a huge cast of characters, both books have three separate artists. Yet I found this one far more enjoyable. Now admittedly, this book had the advantage of having 45 pages and more room to work with, but everything that was wrong in Justice League worked right here.
Now I do have some quibbles. I have followed the Suicide Squad title. How a behind the scenes power player like Amanda Waller is leading a multiversal invasion front and center is never explained. If there is some sort of reveal later in this crossover (Waller is not who you thought she was) it would be mighty unfair. But an Amanda Waller confronting Ultraman in daylight in the middle of the street does not ring true.
But this book features some funny moments between an evil love triangle, lots of action clearly depicted with great art, and a cliffhanger that I look forward to seeing resolved. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: B+
Monkey Prince #2
Written By Gene Luen Yang; Art By Bernard Chang
Published by DC Comics
Monkey Prince brings a real light touch to a coming of age super hero tale. It asks, what happens when you want powers being granted to you. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to you, your parents have some dark secrets. Heavy stuff, yet delivered in a way that feels welcoming. Not everyone can tell that type of tale, but Gene Luen Yang and Bernard Chang really deliver.
Gene Luen Yang’s script puts Marcus through the paces. It would be easy for Marcus to come off as too whiny or a jerk. Instead he is just overwhelmed and anxious like any kid would be. Plus he gives us a Batman and Robin that are a bunch of buffoons, and it works!
Monkey Prince #2 is endearing and funny yet carries a sense of heaviness. Not unlike high school. ( – Alex Vaello)
Grade: A
World of Krypton #4
Written by Robert Venditti; Art by Michael Avon Oeming
Published by DC Comics
The story has been building toward to inevitable split between friends Jor-El and Dru-Zod. While the idea of Zod carrying his vendetta against the Jor-El to Earth goes back to the character’s creation, it’s still a relatively new idea to depict Dru-Zod and Jor-El as friends.
I know I’d never seen that until the movie Man of Steel. Venditti’s story calls back to that movie. In the face of Krypton’s impending planetary collapse, leading scientist Jor-El stands on the side of science, reason and sacrifice. Dru-Zod, the military man and newly installed head of planetary security, appeals to security, conformity and austerity. And the growing rift between the two men about how to save Krypton widens into the full split in this issue. The heated argument between El and Zod takes on many difficult dimensions before it grows violent, and there’s a sadness to how the strictly regimented Kryptonian society, of circumscribed roles for each of the high Houses, is what has failed both men, but they can’t see it.
Oeming’s art stylizes them further, with their truck-sized frames and brick-like fists, as they become Reason and Fear at battle. And much credit to colorist Nick Filardi by setting tone through color schemes and how they interact with the frames Oeming draws around each panel. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: B+
Batman: Killing Time #1
Written by Tom King; Art by David Marquez
Published by DC Comics
It’s hard to describe when a comic book artist puts love on the page, but you know it when you see it. No wonder David Marquez is so popular; his art is sleek, fluid, detailed, but not fussy. (For me, it’s Tony S. Daniel with better chops and figure work.)
But that first image of Batman, captured mid-flight as he swoops down to police headquarters with the Bat-Signal’s image cast behind him? A forced-perspective giant panel of Croc ripping away at the bank floor? And the first look of Catwoman in costume, a dancer’s point and her arcing whip? That’s love.
It’s a sense of pageantry in this fantastical world that, for me, Batman stories thrive in, and Tom King’s script of white-knuckle tension amid a heist coordinated between Riddler, Croc and Catwoman threads a story of interlocking parts and timelines, plus the mystery (to us) of what was in that Vault Five that has even Batman shook?
This was deeply enjoyable. I want more. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: A
Moon Knight #9
Written by Jed MacKay; Art by Alessandro Cappuccio
Published by Marvel Comics
This continues to be one of the best comics out right now.
Moody, dark, elegant and brutal. And look, I’m also impressed that Marvel Studios dropped the character poster of Oscar Isaac in the Mr. Knight suit and tie, but it never looks as refined, beautiful and deadly as it does in Cappuccio’s art. MacKay’s episode continues to show Moon Knight as not simply an avenging fist of justice, but as a damaged man who can see the damage in others and try to help them find a higher purpose, just as Khonshu did for Marc Spector.
Such is the case when Moon Knight is called to the rather X-Files case of a house of horrors disappearing people.
Plus it’s fun to see how Moon Knight interacts with other heroes in the Marvel Universe, many of whom appear to barely tolerate him. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: A
Black Panther #4
Written by John Ridley; Art by Juann Cabal & Ibrahim Moustafa
Published by Marvel Comics
After several years of Black Panther stories as meditations on Black power, it’s been interesting to get back to a T’Challa that feels more comic book.
Not that Ridley isn’t continuing the threads from the Ta-Nehisi Coates run that jumped deeper into Wakandan politics. In this issue, both sides of the Black Panther formula of king and country are being knit closer together again, as Shuri uncovers more clues about who exactly is attacking T’Challa and his sleeper agents.
Cabal creates fight scenes you can feel, and Ridley’s script stays sharp and quick. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: B
Nocterra #8
Story by Scott Snyder & Tony S. Daniel; Art by Tony S. Daniel
Published by Image Comics
I haven’t much enjoyed this title until this new arc.
Perhaps it’s the dropping of Snyder’s hard-boiled bluster of Val that just didn’t seem to fit Daniel’s waifu art design of her. But shifting the POV narrator from Val to Bailey has changed so much of the reading experience, returning some wonder to this world of the Big PM amid its many, many horrors.
That momentum continues in this issue, filling out this world with more of what people are fighting to stay alive for beyond mere survival. And we get more information about Blacktop Bill, and the others like him, and a greater peek at who’s behind the Nocturnes.
We’re getting closer to why the hell this book is called Nocterra, even.
The book remains violent and dark, but it’s much more fun to read. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: B
Radio Spaceman: Mission to Numa 4 #1
Written by Mike Mignola; Art by Greg Hinkle
Published by Dark Horse Comics
An old man awakens in his old Victorian bedroom to the ringing of a brass rotary telephone.
Or, at least, it looks like one, but no numbers are visible on the rotary, and it’s got some rather big cables hooked up to it. That should have been the clue I wasn’t in something normal.
Pretty soon we meet the elevator pitch: imagine a steampunk-y space adventure where a man operates a room of radio-controlled robots and literally plugs himself into a drone avatar to carry out his missions?
Add space dogmen, occult sacrifice and – what? – a vampire queen, and it’s a tasty stew of pulp adventure pastiche. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: A
Alien #10
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson; Art by Salvador Larroca
Published by Marvel Comics
Always remember that he Xenomorph is called that because it melds with the DNA of whatever host creature it replicates in. (Presumably warm-blooded, mammalian-like creatures.)
In the ‘90s, Alien 3 gave us Xeno dogs, and my brother had a toy Xeno bull. Imagine a Xenomorph built like a bull? Yikes! But this issue of Alien gives us a smaller Xeno creature that, in some ways, seems far worse to deal with. Larroca’s art doesn’t reach the grand guignol excesses of a Ryan Ottley, but he still develops some terrifying images of people ripped apart and violated to death.
Jane and the remaining survivors of Alpha Station are still trying to find their way off Eurydice after Ambrose, revealed to be a synthetic and spy for Weyland-Yutani, lets the cat out of the bag about the Xenomorphs being purposely dropped on the Spinner community.
Our band of humans are already breaking under the trauma of everything, and the religious beliefs of the Spinners are used to drive home concept of the Xenos and Weyland-Yutani bringing hell to life.
Given what we come to know about the purpose of the Xenos in the post-Prometheus storylines, such a biblical description is fitting. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: B
The Wrong Earth: Trapped on Teen Planet (one-shot)
Written by Gail Simone; Art by Walter Geovani & Bill Morrison
Published by Ahoy Comics
Oh boy, multiverse!
They’re so hot right now in pop culture thanks to the superhero movie machine churning out so much product that it’s gotta juice it further, bring in more actors and possibly new franchises. All this while Community cemented the idea of “darkest timeline” into the zeitgeist, and life after 2016 has often felt like we’re in one of those, amiright?
The Wrong Earth line of comics tells the tale of grimdark, ultraviolent Dragonfly swapping universes with the friendly Silver Age-ish Dragonflyman. Of course this sets up an intriguing deconstruction of the superhero comics business. And in this one-shot, Dragonfly and his peppy partners wind up in the Archie-esque world of Teen Planet, which existed in Dragonfly’s reality as comic books.
And who better to illustrate Teen Planet than Bill Morrison, co-founder of Bongo Comics, longtime Disney illustrator and artist on the Simpsons comics? Only Dan DeLuca would be better. This is a fun comic, especially for us folks who have Riverdale burned into their pop culture bones forever. ( – Marvin Pittman)
Grade: B
She-Hulk #2
Written by Rainbow Powell; Art by Roge Antonio
Published by Marvel Comics
Issue 2 switches up the pace from its explosive first issue.
Writer Rainbow decides to slow things down for our lady in green. I don’t exactly agree with that choice. Too much time is spent reliving the incidents that had her leave her former Avengers team. And, while introducing Jack of Hearts is an interesting twist.
The entire issue is spent setting up the relationship of the characters in a very dry and overly expository way. Also, Jack of Hearts seems to be showing up a lot in Marvel stories these days. First, he was in Silver Surfer Rebirth. Now he is in this book.
If Jack shows up in Thor, you will hear my shout triple yahtzee! While the plot is less than captivating, Roge’s artwork continues to be a highlight. The colors are quite vibrant. I just wish the story matched. There is still time for this tale to pick up speed before I drop it altogether. ( – Eugene Johnson)
Grade: B
Strange #1
Written by Jed MacKay; Art by Marcelo Ferreira
Published by Marvel Comics
Well this was a welcomed surprise, a Doctor Strange book without Doctor Strange front and center. Writer, Jed MacKay spins another gem of a tale. Who would have thought Clea, Strange’s better half, could breathe so much life to a well worn plot.
Marcelo Ferreria’s illustrations are equally fantastic, making the most of the weird monsters and weirder dimensions that often dominate a Strange book. Also, Wong is a perfect companion to Clea’s take no prisoners mindset. She is a powerful Sorcerer Supreme. They better resurrect Stephen soon.
If they wait too long, he will quickly become an afterthought to the more interesting Clea. ( – Eugene Johnson)
Grade: A
What If…Miles Morales #1
Written by Cody Ziglar; Art by Paco Medina
Published by Marvel Comics
What If…Miles Morales kicks off asking readers to imagine what if our webslinger was not bitten by a radioactive spider, but drank the super soldier serum instead.
This story begins with Miles assuming the Captain America mantle in an alternative reality. As a story, Cody Ziglar does a fair job keeping the plot interesting. Ziglar deserves credit introducing the Captain America mythos without compromising the tone that makes Miles Morales books a fun read.
As a What If title, I don’t think it is strange enough. With a few tweaks this plot could have been incorporated into one of current Miles Morales titles. Perhaps the later issues will convince me otherwise.
Still, I would hang with this book a bit longer. ( – Eugene Johnson)
Grade: B+
