jayfromriverside-blog

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week: 10/14 - 10/18

Hey all, this week’s haul was a little bit lighter and frankly a little more disappointing, but there’s still some interesting titles. Anyway, here’s some of the comics I read this week:

Batman #81

This might have been the issue that I turned on Tom King’s Batman. 

Since issue #50 came out and tore the fanbase apart, I’ve felt pretty alone in my defense of King’s continued run on Batman. I won’t sit here and defend issue #50 and say it was good (especially now that we know we’re going to end up with a Tom King Bat/Cat book anyway), but I’ve emphasized to my friends and fellow readers time and time again throughout this run: this is 1 long story. But if this latest issue is the true story that King is trying to tell, I’m not sure if I can defend it anymore.

Let’s go back to the beginning, before issue #1 of Batman (2016) even hit shelves. 

King was announced as taking over the Batman title in the wake of DC: Rebirth, and it was simultaneously announced that he would be given 100 issues to work with. A writer getting 100 issues on a book is pretty unprecedented, but King was one of the most sought after comic writers in the business at the time, coming off of his hit The Vision series and somehow outdoing himself with the even more critically acclaimed Mister Miracle.

Coming into the start of his run, King let it be known that he would be telling 1 story with his 100 issues. Through all of the ups and downs of the various micro-arcs that King has told with his Batman, whether it be the “War of Jokes and Riddles,” “Double Date,” or “Cold Justice,” all of them have been in service of the grander narrative. But what that grander narrative is has grown murky with Issue #81

Issue #81 sees Batman and Catwoman continuing their assault on Gotham City in order to take it back from Bane. Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne (Flashpoint Batman) has been ordered to kill Damien due to Bruce’s breach of Gotham. 

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD

When Thomas Wayne hesitates to kill Damien, Damien reveals that he had let himself get captured, knowing he would be taken to the Batcave and held hostage by Thomas. He did this in order to let the rest of the Bat family (Batgirl, Huntress, Orphan, Signal, Robin/Drake and Batwoman) into the cave where they could all take him out together. 

The ambush goes as expected at first, with the Bat family beating Thomas pretty thoroughly. But then, somehow, Thomas manages to fight and defeat all of the other heroes in the cave. 

Yep, Thomas Wayne, old-man Batman, beats the combined might of the Bat family in combat. Including Orphan, considered one of the best fighters in all of the DC Universe. Y’know, Orphan that has beaten Batman; that same Batman that beat Thomas’ ass and left him for dead in the desert. 

But Thomas’ unrealistic fighting prowess isn’t even the worst part of this issue. No, that honor would go squarely to Bruce, who spends the entire issue very meticulously describing all of the events throughout this run that led up to Bane taking Gotham city, and how they were ALL PART OF HIS OWN PLAN.

So according to Tom King, Batman’s plan to figure out and stop Bane’s plot against him and Gotham city involved:

Punching his adopted son in the face (but not actually punching him, just “communicating through combat”)

Getting his spine broken, again

LETTING Bane take over Gotham

Putting Alfred, Damien and the Bat family at serious risk

Leaving the city in the hands of criminal, murderers and psychopaths

Not only does this mean that Batman is directly responsible for all of the people that have been killed or hurt since Bane took control of Gotham, it also means he is profoundly selfish and crazy. 

If King was trying to prove that Batman is bad for Gotham and the people around him, then he’s finally succeeded with Issue #81. God help me, he succeeded.

SOME OTHER COMICS TO PICK UP THIS WEEK:

For Something Old, made New: Metal Men #1

For Something Renewed and Exciting: X-Men #1

For Something interesting, but now quiet there yet: Spider-Man (JJ Abrams) #2

See y��all next week.

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week: 9/23 - 9/27

Hey all, taking a little different approach this week. Instead of going into every comic I read, thought I’d highlight some of the best ones and go into further detail with them. 

Anyway, here’s some of the books I read this week:

Harleen #1

Harley Quinn has had a bit of a renaissance as a character in recent years, though I’d argue she was always shown to have more depth than just “the Joker’s crazy girlfriend” since her debut in “Batman: The Animated Series.” Though Stepjan Sejic’s new Harleen series isn’t breaking much new ground that “Mad Love” didn’t set, not reinventing the wheel doesn’t mean this story isn’t worth picking up. 

In fact, after a good opening issue with a lot of promise, I could see this book becoming part of the new character bible for the Harlequin Queen of Crime.

If you don’t know about Stjepan Sejic, words won’t do him justice, so I’ll let his art do the talking:

This was the first cover for his run on Aquaman, and where I first found Sejic. The guy is undoubtedly one of the best comic artists currently working, but Harleen seems to be his first major time wielding the writer’s pen along with art duties, so it was intriguing to see if he’d be just as adept. 

I would say after reading this first issue that he’s definitely more talented as an artist than a writer, but that he’s by no means a bad writer. Though the dialogue in certain scenes can be clunky and some characters come off as one-note, Sejic understands his main characters well (especially Harley), and the story he’s telling as a whole is filling these well worn characters up and making them feel almost real. 

I wouldn’t say that the art solely carries the book, but the writing acts almost like an enhancement to the fantastic visual story. There’s care put into every panel, with color pallets and lighting working together with Sejic’s detailed linework to give every scene a feeling of materiality. You can feel the warmth in the light coming through windows, there’s a visible difference between the way the neon street lights play through industrial mists vs. how the sunrise plays through the mist rolling off the Gotham River. Every panel in Sejic’s story is a glimpse into a living world full of texture and depth. 

I’m not going to dip into spoiler territory, as I’m recommending everyone go out and pick up this book. But if you’re looking for a beautiful look behind the grease paint, go out and get issue #1 of Harleen and join the carousel

Justice League Dark #15

Start reading this book now. 

I’ve talked about how good this book is before, but this is really one of the best iterations of the JLD ever. This new arc seems to be leaning towards a more grotesque and horrific side of the DC magical universe, and considering we’ve already had the Upside Down Man’s distinctive brand of disgusting, that’s saying something.

Similar to Harleen, this issue was wonderfully lit throughout, which really helped to keep the book looking fantastic from panel to panel. Scenes were never too dark to lose detail, and the lighter scenes were almost ethereal, which lent them an unnerving air when paired with the rest of the issues darker pallet. 

The writing this issue was also some of this runs best. It’s easy for magic to get confusing in the minutia, but this set-up issue was never too bogged down in the details and instead left just enough to the readers imagination to have me genuinely worried about what will happen to the team next issue. Also, whenever you have an issue with quotes like this, it’s probably going to be great:

“I’m sorry. I am very powerful and dangerous right now, and I am still not quite sure I am sane.” - Woodrue, the Floronic Man

“Where the hell did you hear that being old comes with reading comprehension?” - Detective Chimp to Kent Nelson’s Old Face

If the teaser for the next issue is anything to get excited about, everything is about to get a lot worse for the Hall of Justice Basement Crew before it gets any better.

SOME OTHER COMICS TO PICK UP THIS WEEK:

FOR A FUN TIME: The Terrifics #20

FOR SOMETHING NEW AND EXCITING: Batman/Superman #2

FOR EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT COMICS: Batman: Curse of the White Knight #3

See y’all next week.

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week: 9/16 - 9/20

Hey all, smaller batch of books being covered this week, some good and some not as much.

Superman #15

Let’s start with the good, because there’s not been much with this comic: We’re finally getting the end of Rogol Zaar. Rest in shit, you artistic abortion.

We even got an explanation for what Rogol is. Though I haven’t enjoyed anything about Rogol as a character, his effect on the story or his vomit inducing visuals, at least Bendis had the courtesy to let us know why he looks like the afterbirth from a Doomsday orgy. Rogol is apparently a proto-Doomsday, created by Jor El for god knows what reason. Thanks 

It’s clear now that the whole point of this story was to get the Legion back into the main DCU, but Bendis did it in perhaps the worst way possible. To recap what this story did:

Created a villain with no depth, who turned out to just be a plot device that doesn’t make sense

Side note: Jor-El is punished by the United Planets by being sent back to the moment he was plucked from time (right before Krypton blew up). He looks his younger self in the eye and says “He did it. He brought them together.” He could hypothetically be talking about Clark, but he’s definitely talking about Rogol Zaar and if that’s his whole justification for it........fuck that’s so dumb and horrible.

Took the character of Jor-El, previously a virtuous scientist and symbol of hope, and made him a mad man who created weapons of mass destruction in order to force the Universe to bend to his whim

Aged up Jon Kent just so he can be a part of the new Legion instead of Clark. Also he was traumatized by his Grandfather and lost out on years of parenting. 

But we got the Legion back....Woooooo.

Flash Forward #1

I’m starting to think that after Dark Knights: Metal all the writers for DC got a bit of a hard-on for Multiversal adventures. I think that this story is going to live or die on how interesting the writers can make the redemption arc for Wally West, but for now I’m in and would recommend.

Coming off of Heroes in Crisis (which had it’s moments, but what it did to Wally was not exactly subtle or good), Wally is in Blackgate prison awaiting trial for the crimes he committed in HiC. Meanwhile, Tempus (the Fugunaut from Sideways) is concerned that the Multiverse is dying due to an imbalance from the planets in the Dark Multiverse. AAAAAAAAAnd at the same time, some Thanagarian treasure hunter finds and subsequently gets eviscerated by the Mobius chair. 

I don’t want to spoil too much for the first issue, but if you’re a long time fan of Wally West or want to see him return to glory in the DCU, I would give this book a shot. It couldn’t be worse for him than HiC, right?

Justice League #32

What was this? Who wrote this chapter? Did they get transported directly from the Golden Age of comics? 

I’m just so tired with this comic at this point. The new art was somehow worse than Jorge Jimenez (who I’ve been too harsh about honestly), the dialogue was corny, the story was nothing more than a vehicle for the plot and despite SPOILERS

Aquaman returning and the Anti-Monitor joining the Justice League

I care less about this comic than last week. Man, just... I hope it’s better next week.

Batman #79

I don’t care if you hate Tom King and everything he’s done to Batman, this is one of the most beautiful superhero books I’ve seen in a long time and you need to read this issue.

So last week I complained that it wasn’t the right time for an issue of Selina and Bruce working through their issues at a resort. #78 felt like it was a lot of talking that wasn’t heading towards a solution. Well we got our solution this week and we got the action started.

I’ve been clear that I’m a big fan of King and that I’ve enjoyed his long-form story, and this issue is exactly why I think this story will be considered better after it’s been collected into a single piece. We had Selina and Bruce talking again, but there were so many call backs to their history, not just from this run but throughout their whole comics history, and it was masterful. I’m not going to spoil anything if I can help it, but the scene on the beach is one of the best Bat/Cat moments we’ve had since King started, and that’s saying a lot. 

You need to read this issue, especially with the end game coming so soon.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #12

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tom Taylor just gets Spider-Man. He understands that Spider-Man the character is a mix of heroism and anxiety, that the perfect Spider-Man story is a balance of action and light-hearted fun. He rides that line masterfully. Just in this chapter we had:

Spidey in a phone booth

Spidey in a trench coat and fedora

Spidey saying he was gonna eat a guy

Spidey going “undercover” as a limo chauffeur

Peter and Mary-Jane having a heart to heart

Spider-Man working alongside a cop

This is one of the best comics on the market right now and my favorite currently going. If you haven’t started, start now and catch-up quickly, cause the Fantastic 4 are back for next issue’s adventure and it’ll surely be magic.

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week: 9/9-9/13

Hey all, here’s a smattering of some of the books I read this week. Some interesting issues out this week, but also some disappointments:

Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers #23

There were two driving forces behind my moral development as a child: Batman and the Power Rangers. It was more than a little disappointing to grow up and find out that you couldn’t just punch bad people and that solved things, but when Boom Studios started this Power Rangers comic, it reminded me of why I loved the Power Rangers in the first place.

I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who was a fan of the Rangers at any point, or who is looking for a good new Action book, but it comes with a caveat: This series is not easy to jump into, for 2 main reasons.

Though this is the better series, it’s not the first Power Rangers comic that Boom Studios currently has going, and unfortunately the first series goes further in depth on the larger Rangers Universe

The stories from each of the 2 Rangers books often reference or call back to elements from each other. This often means that keeping track of plot elements or continuity can get confusing between the 2 books if you’re not following along closely.

If you’re still interested in hopping into these comics, here would be the reading order I would suggest: start with this series (Go Go) for issues #1-20, as it covers the origins of the Rangers and their first year. Then start the mainline book, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. After you’re all caught up there, you should be good to jump back into Go Go without any issues, and can even hop between series with toooooo much confusion. 

Into the actual meat of this week’s issue: while the mainline series is much more focused on a grander Sci-Fi narrative, this series has a lot of the “monster-of-the-week” feel of the show. That’s definitely on display in this issue, where action and monster bashing take center stage. But what this comic has over the show is character depth and long-term story telling. The characters in this comic feel fleshed out and are evolving like real people, and while it’s definitely still fun, it doesn’t skimp out on the drama either. 

If you’re looking for a fun throwback to childhood with a little more emotional oomph for your mature soul, definitely give this book a go.

Justice League Odyssey #13

I’m genuinely surprised every time a new edition of this book comes out, cause I’m half expecting it to be quietly cancelled every other week. But hey, I’m not gonna complain, cause as much as the changes in art have been less than great, I’m still excited to see the Justice League Z-Team struggle with cosmic cleanup duty out in the Ghost Sector.

For anyone who hasn’t read this book and doesn’t feel like starting from the beginning, you could get away with hopping on now. It would be safe to say that the first 12 issues were the first arc of this comic, and that #13 is setting the groundwork for the second big arc. With the destruction of the Source Wall way back in No Justice, the Ghost Sector has been left as almost a wild-West out in deep space. If you’re a fan of Dex-Starr, Jessica Cruz and some other cosmic outcast characters, I’d hop on now and see if this book is for you.

For anyone currently reading this book, some minor opinions and SPOILERS AHEAD:

So Jess stayed dead for way shorter than even I thought. But hey, revival at the hands of the Omega Radiation that killed her only to be imbued with Omega Beam shooting fists seems almost poetic. I’m interested to see what the new cast of outcasts has to bring to the table in terms of opposing Darkseid and assaulting the Ghost Sector, especially now that our original team has been almost entirely converted into NEW New Gods. But it’s a welcome evolution of Jessica’s character to see her taking charge and leading a team, and more Dex-Starr in my life is always appreciated. 

On a less story focused note, the art in this new ark is good so far, but man, fuck whoever did the flashback sequence with Cyborg. On a page with his face popping up at least 5 or 6 times head on, you couldn’t remember or decide if his cybernetic side was on the left or the right? It flip flops every panel so that it’s facing away from the reader. It’s overall a minor thing, but c’mon, it’s not hard to keep that straight.

The Flash #78

I’m just tired at this point. 

The Flash’s mythos being re-written to have such an emphasis on the forces is just... really boring. The force users are pretty one-note characters and though Barry’s musings on life and trying to outrun Death are interesting, the rest of the chapter and this story arc haven’t been nearly as much. The art isn’t bad, but it’s not enough to save this title. If you’re gonna stick around for the Flash ride, have fun, let me know when it gets interesting again.

Young Justice #8

I think I mentioned it last week, but similar to Justice League Odyssey and the Terrifics, I think it’s a great idea for writers to take some of the smaller teams in the DCU out of the greater narrative and put them (effectively) in their own worlds. Better yet, Brian Michael Bendis seems to be having a ton of fun taking this young team on a multiverse-exploring adventure. 

While his work with Alias and Daredevil are some of my favorite books, I think Bendis does his best work when writing younger heroes. He seems to understand how to write entertaining young characters while making them believable, and most importantly not making them grating. 

If you need anymore convincing to get this series, and you maybe don’t fully trust Bendis after the pretty terrible years he’s had of late, then John Timms’ art should swing you. Timms has managed to strike a great balance between cartoonish modeling and dynamic action paneling which is difficult enough, but he’s also been switching up his art styles as the team goes from world to world. The guy is on top of his game right now and it’s perfectly complimenting Bendis’ universe-hopping story.

I don’t want to spoil this issue too much, but the team find themselves on Earth-3, the home of the Crime Syndicate, and face off against evil versions of themselves. While this issue was wall-to-wall action from the start, it managed to have some good character moments peppered throughout, and it looks like it might the start of the next micro-arc. This book has been great so far and only looks like it’s going to get better.

Batman Universe #3

I feel like I can’t judge this book fairly. 

I love pop-art, I’m a sucker for a good Batman story, and lighthearted superhero stories are exactly what I need to breakup the self-serious tones of a lot of the other superhero books I read. This book by Bendis and Nick Derington hits every single one of those beats. 

If you’re looking for a self-serious Batman book you’re looking in the wrong place; but if you’re looking for a book where Batman jokes with Green Lantern about how much he likes dinosaurs before being transported through time, then you’ve got a lot of fun ahead of you.

On a side note, DC put a huge amount of faith in Bendis giving him this series, Action Comics, Superman, Naomi and Young Justice. Aside from the main Superman book, which has been horrendous in every sense of the word, he’s been writing some of the best stuff he’s done in years. Not quite on par with his Daredevil or Ultimate Spider-Man runs, but still some really great stuff.

Detective Comics #1011

Last we left the Caped Crusader, he and a bunch of his billionaire friends were stranded on an island, with Bruce teamed up with a pair of crotchety WWII fighter pilots and his rich friends held captive by Deadshot. Basically we’re in a “Deadliest Game” scenario with Batman and Deadshot hunting each other on a remote island. It’s kind of like all the parts of “Arrow” that people have told me are actually good. I don’t know, I haven’t watched that show, it looks like hot garbage. 

Anyway, this 2-issue story was always just a stop-gap while Mr. Freeze (or the writers) figured out how to use the new technology boost from Lex Luthor. While I always appreciate a visit from Deadshot, as he’s one of Batman’s more under appreciated villains in my opinion, this story was pretty paint by numbers. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, just that it was always the stuff coming next that felt more compelling. 

Event Leviathan #4

This book has been pretty interesting so far, but seems to have the fanbase pretty divided. I’ve seen a lot of comments on the latest issue claiming that nothing has actually happened in this story so far, and that we’re just watching Bendis spin his gears in search of a story. Maybe I’m a sucker for a good noir, but I would say that this story has had its share of action at the start, but unlike a lot of comics, it’s a slow burn story. I’m not nervous yet, as Bendis has experience with noir and has shown he can do it well.

I’m not saying that this book doesn’t have its problems: the art, while objectively impressive, is hard to parse out the details in some of the darker scenes with all of the texture filters thrown over it. Similarly, though I have faith that Bendis has an idea where this story is going, the last issue didn’t really make a ton of sense (until a little later in this issue, but at the time it wasn’t wholly believable).

Batman #78

It seems that so many people have soured on Tom King at this point that I’m in the minority saying that I’m still enjoying his run on Batman. I’m not saying it hasn’t been without its faults, I was gutted just like everyone else when issue 50 came out and tore a chance at tangible change in the Bat-universe out from under us fans. But King’s writing and storytelling, though self-indulgent at times, has been largely good and in clear pursuit of a single goal: to tell the story of Batman being broken, like he’s never been broken before. 

As fans we need to remember that the man was handed the reins to 100 issues of Batman and said he was going to tell 1 story. Not an event that would inform the rest of his run, but 1 singular story told over 100 issues. It was a herculean task and it was always going to be a slow burn, but we’re in the endgame now with City of Bane in full swing and Batman just beginning to look up from the pit he’s fallen in. He’s been physically and emotionally broken, shamed himself in front of his family and been discredited amongst his peers, and ultimately forced out of his own city. So let’s see the way back.

Ok, so this wasn’t a bad issue, but it wasn’t the right issue. I’m a huge fan of how Tom King has written Bat/Cat, and when combined with Clay Manpi’s art and paneling this issue feels like I’m watching a classic James Bond movie. But while watching Bat/Cat reconcile their issues that originally tore them apart was long overdue and felt great, this was not the right time for this issue. 

After being left on the cliffhanger of Damion being captured and ALFRED POTENTIALLY KILLED, seeing Bat and Cat talking at an island retreat was just too far removed and casual. This has probably been the biggest issue I’ve personally had with King’s run: timing. But it seems like it’s all kicking off in the next few issues, so let’s see where this all finally ends.

[jayfromriverside-blog]

Comics I read this week (8/26 - 8/30)

Hey anyone and... anyone I guess. For all those looking to get into comics or who are already comics readers but don’t know which books are good, here’s an opinion on just that! 

Give it a read, let me know what you think, light some pitchforks, whatever you like:

Justice League #30

I was conflicted reading this week’s issue of Justice League: while I’m really liking the direction that Scott Snyder is taking the story, I’m really getting sick of Jorge Jimenez’s art on the series. 

While Jimenez was a breath of fresh air on the “Superman: Rebirth” series with his CG texturized drawing and smooth surfaces, his ultra-stylized and cartoony figures are starting to look more plastic and stretchy as this series goes on. He’s got a bad habit of smoothing over his character’s proportions, which make these heroes that are supposed to be cut and strong look flat and almost doughy. It’s starting to grind on me more as each new issue comes out, and maybe it’s time for an artistic switch-up on this title.

In terms of the story though, this was a good set-up issue for the Justice/Doom war that Snyder and co. have been building up to on this run. We’ve got all the pieces in place: a gathering of forces by both sides; a romp through time which sees the League meeting with both Kamandi and the classic JSA; and everything going awry right from the get-go! 

The only thing I’m slightly concerned about storywise is that Catwoman was in the Doom lineup, and with the rekindling of Bat-Cat in the latest Batman issues, I’m hoping this isn’t a portend for another breakup in King’s run. My heart couldn’t take another.

Superman #14

Let me be clear on one thing before I start in: I’m a fan of Brian Michael Bendis. His work on “Ultimate Spider-Man,” “Daredevil,” and “Alias” are some of my favorite comics, and his more recent work with “Naomi,” and “Event Leviathan” has been really good. With all that being said... man, this Superman comic has sucked hard since he took over.

Let’s just start at the story: 

It’s felt like Bendis has been really looking forward to getting started on his upcoming run with the new “Legion of Superheros,” which is something to potentially get excited about for the near future. What’s not exciting at all is the realization that this whole Rogol Zar arc has been a poorly thought out lead-in to the Legion’s return. SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO READ THIS GARBAGE FIRE: the Legion show up at the end of the issue to invite Jon to join, as a commemoration of the day the United Planets was formed. This is fine, and could be an exciting new direction for Jon that harkens back to the classic comics. BUT did we really have to suffer through weeks of nonsensical story just to get this? 

Just to recap this arc: Rogol Zar appears out of nowhere, looking like Lobo, Doomsday and a garbage disposal with a bland imagination all had an orgy and he was the deformed kid that came out of it. This beefed-up piece of blandness comes out of the sky to fuck up Superman cause he heard there were some Kryptonians still alive in the Universe and apparently he’s a space-racist. 

Superman struggles against this remnant from the 90s while the worlds shittiest not-dead Grandpa, Jor El, is off in space traumatizing Jon and stressing him out so much he ages up to a teenager. 

But it’s ok guys! Jor El knows who Rogol Zar is, they have a connection of sorts! And Rogol Zar caused the destruction of Krypton! But now he’s allied with Jax Ur, and also now Zod maybe? And the Thanagarians are involved? So are the Guardians? Wait, now Rogol Zar is also effected by Kryptonite because he’s a Kryptonian? And now he’s just captured like that, but Thanagar’s under attack, oh wait just kidding it’s not? 

Those last 2 plot points literally happened in 3 pages this issue, right after each other. So this story is confusing and non-sensical and ultimately doesn’t mean anything, because the whole point turned out to be that Bendis needed something, some plot device to make it so Superman could say “we can’t have secrets like this tearing apart worlds like Krypton, we need a United Planets.”

None of this crap story is helped by Ivan Reis’ art, which I know some people love, but to me it looks like everything bad with the 90s except with better backgrounds and textures. But even if I didn’t hate his art, his page and panel composition is often confusing, especially during fight sequences, which doesn’t help when the story is confusing to begin with.

After reading this week’s issue, I want nothing more than to die in the garbage fire Bendis has lit and take this whole comic with me. 

The Terrifics #19

Shouts out to DC for finally figuring out how to write a Fantastic 4 comic, maybe they can show Dan Slott how it’s done. But seriously, “The Terrifics” has been the exact kind of science-adventure story that needs to be around in comics, as the landscape needs it’s fare share of science-criminals and heroes to balance things out.

First thing to note for this week, the art is great. Max Raynor (first time I’ve seen their work) has a great kind of cartoony playfulness to his characters and line-work, while at the same time keeping the models tight and well detailed. 

I’m glad that the writers of the story realized that the Terrifics function best when they’re dealing with light-hearted cross-dimensional adventures, and this new one seems like it’ll be great from the start. In keeping with the “Year of the Villain,” Lex Luthor has made an offer to Bizarro (the one for the HTREA, not the one from the Outlaws), giving him a time-machine device to reek some havoc with. 

I don’t want to spoil the issue too much, as if you haven’t read the Terrifics you really should give it a go, but let’s just say that it involves Bizarro at one point destroying Algebra, and a Bizarro Terrifics team known as “The Terribles” breaking through to the main DC dimension to challenge their Terrific rivals.

If you’re looking for something fun, cheesy, but heartwarming and action packed, definitely give the Terrifics a try.

The Flash #77

Look, I’m still not digging this whole “Force War,” or “War of the Forces,” or whatever the Flash team is trying to build up with these new force users. It felt like the DC Creative team was trying to retcon Flash to be more mythical with “Flash: Year One,” pitting the Flash against the Turtle and creating this whole mythology around the Forces of the Universe to make it seem like this clash was inevitable. 

But what this has done for me is just make the Flash feel smaller and less special. These forces and the grander narrative behind them have just diminished the Speed force, which was still shrouded in some mystery after all these years in the DC Universe, to just one force, just A force. 

There are two silver linings from this week’s issue, one more bittersweet than the other. First off, the art has gotten ten times better than it’s been in weeks. Rafa Sandoval’s pencils are crisp and clean, and though his action feels static sometimes, he’s miles better than what we’ve been seeing for a few months now.

Second, though this Force War already feels like a dud, a cool concept was introduced in a throwaway line. Flash fans, feel free to crucify me, but with the Black Flash’s appearance this week, Commander Cold talked about how he was acting like an anti-body for the Speed Force in trying to eliminate these new force users. If that’s true, it makes the Speed Force almost like a living creature that feel’s like it is under attack. But this also makes me think that, wouldn’t it have been cooler if you had the same motivation for the appearance of the Black Flash, but instead of the Force users, it was Speedsters it was targeting? 

What if all of the new Speedsters were putting a strain on the Speed Force, hurting it in some way that awoke the Black Flash? It’d still give Barry a reason to reconcile with Wallace and Avery, but would also replace this Force War with a Speed War? Spitballing here, but that sounds cooler to me.

Ice Cream Man #14

And now we break up the superheroes for something a little more horrific. For anyone who doesn’t know what “Ice Cream Man” is, the best way I can categorize it is a horror anthology series. 

The story, setting and characters change from week-to-week, except for one presence: the Ice Cream Man. Even when he’s not in whatever nightmare is being doled out that week, his fingers can be felt all over the story, and they dig into the fears you try to hide and pry them open.

The theme of this week’s story was communication, and maaaaaaaaan does this comic have a way of making you feel depressed and scared all at the same time. 

The two main characters are a husband and wife, the former who is deeply dissatisfied and finds escape in crosswords, the latter who is so starved for communication and intimacy that she makes problems out of nothing just to have something to talk with her husband about. 

I don’t want to spoil too much, as I think everyone should be reading this book, but things take a turn for the hellish when the husband goes out to buy more crosswords and finds himself trapped in one, while his wife finds out that her delusions may have been true, and worse than she thought. 

For long-time readers, the biggest thing from to take away from this issue is that perhaps the Ice Cream Man’s influence is spilling out into the world more and more, and things will only get worse from here. 

Spider-Man: Life Story #6

For any fans of Spider-Man, go out and buy this book. Doesn’t matter if you’re a new fan or a hardcore fan, this is a story for anyone who has any love for Spider-Man in any shape. This story isn’t perfect all the way through, but man is it an incredible ride.

For anyone who hasn’t heard of this comic, writer Chip Zdarsky took the gargantuan task of creating one long-form story out of the entire continuity of Spider-Man, from the 1962 till 2019, and showing how this life that we’ve seen Spider-Man live would actually play out in real-time. 

This comic took some of the best and worst arcs, from “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” the birth of Venom and “The Superior Spider-Man,” to “The Clone Saga” and the Inheritors (god those pseudo vampires were dumb), and not only makes them work within this different world that Zdarsky has made, but makes them work as a part of the larger narrative. 

While it’s not perfect all the way through, seeing the characters we know and love, especially Peter and MJ, live their lives with wrinkles and all feels like something special, and I encourage anyone who is curious to go out and cop this 6 issue series and join the ride.

Runaways #24

For all manga fans out there, I’m a huge fan of the “slice-of-life” genre. For any non-manga fans, slice-of-life stories are ones that celebrate the everyday little moments that make up most of our lives. Riding bikes with friends, going to the movies, starting a new hobby, or even just going to the store and deciding what to get for dinner, these are all the kind of topics that a slice-of-life narrative covers. With her run on “Runaways,” Rainbow Rowell has essentially made a superhero slice-of-life comic, and I’m really liking every moment of it. 

This week’s issue focuses almost entirely on Karolina and Nico spending a night out “superheroing.” Except it becomes apparent pretty early on that neither really knows what they’re doing, and whatever little problems they run into (fender bender on the 405, potentially lost children, etc.) are better left to themselves, as they either wouldn’t be able to help or would actually get in the way. It’s weird to say that watching superheroes be ineffective is really entertaining, but that’s exactly what I’m saying, and I think that is in large part to the good character writing that Rowell has done on her run, and the warm art of this series that helps you feel safe and cozy.

My favorite part of the issue is when Karolina and Nico stop for a bite to eat, and Karolina feels like she has to apologize for wasting Nico’s time. Nico just laughs it off and tells her that she was just looking to spend time with her partner, so in her eyes tonight’s mission was a success. It’s cute, it fits with the characters and how we’ve seen them grow over the run, and I like it a lot. 

That’s not to say there isn’t any action in this issue. By the time the story is done there’s a super-powered dance fight and a mysterious new superhero debuting on the scene. I’m excited to see where both of those threads go heading into the next issue.

Justice League Dark #14

Since the Rebirth of this team this has been one of the comics that I look forward to the most each new issue, and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite iterations of the team. While Batman’s gothic-detective aesthetic fit well with the team, he always felt too based in technology and the modern world to really embrace magic. On the other hand, Wonder Woman is a walking myth, a demi-god on earth, someone who is made of magic. Her role as the leader of this team alongside heavy hitters like Zatanna and Swamp Thing, along with smaller characters like Detective Chimp and Man-Bat, has felt natural and authentic.

Another great part of having Diana on the team rather than Batman is that her personality stands out. Whereas Batman and most of the magical characters in DC are generally tragic, Wonder Woman is a symbol of hope and optimism, someone who fights to see the best in people and bring that best version out of them. This works especially well with her band of misfits, who despite having much more experience than Wonder Woman in the world of magic, have far less experience in being part of a team, let alone in being “superheroes” in the traditional sense of the word. 

As for this issue, it’s a set-up chapter that ticks all the right boxes. We’ve essentially got the “Dark” Justice League Dark coming together, led by a newly powered up Circe, who are raring up to wage a Witching War against their good counterparts. While their final players are coming into the fold, the villains have already managed to plant a couple of seeds of doubt into the team which will certainly bloom into dissension. Can’t wait to see where this goes next.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11

Tom Taylor gets Spider-Man. 

It’s a simple statement, but as we’ve seen over all of the years with Spidey, not a whole lot of writers have really understood what makes Spider-Man so spectacular, amazing, superior, etc. It’s a testament to how well Tom Taylor is writing Spider-Man in this series that he’s telling small scale stories without a whole lot of action, death-defying adventure or real conflict, and yet this is some of the best Spider-Man I’ve read in years. 

The opening pages set the tone for the story right away, with one of the simpler but most honest statements I’ve seen in a Spider-Man book:

“See, Captain America is Captain America. Thor is Thor. But Spider-Man...

Spider-Man is Peter Parker...

And Peter Parker is my responsibility.”

That’s the thesis statement for this story, detailing a day in the life of Mary-Jane Watson, the often under appreciated girlfriend of our titular web-head. 

The story from then on is pretty much in her hands, with occasional monologuing from a sleeping Peter, as Mary-Jane goes about what we can only assume is a pretty typical day in the life of the girlfriend of one of NYC’s premier heroes.

Small scale stories are essential in superhero comics in order to break up long events and arcs. They’re breathing room, time for the readers to catch their breath and assess the new status quo before things get wild again. But they’re also often the stories which show us the foundations of who these heroes really are. It’s been said that power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals, and when characters with as much power as Spider-Man aren’t up against the wall and forced to make a decision, the decisions they do make show us that much more about the person beneath the mask. 

Tom Taylor has managed to show us just who Spider-Man and the people in his life really are underneath their masks by lowering the stakes. The stories are small and simple, the consequences often equally so, but what’s been created is true to the characters more than almost any stories I’ve seen before, and it’s lovely. This is one of the best books being written right now, and if you’re not reading it yet, you need to go out and fix that right now.

Detective Comics #1010

It feels like there isn’t much to say about this week’s issue. We’ve still got the stranded billionares on the island, who are now clearly being held hostage by Deadshot. Meanwhile Bruce is rescued and patched up by two WWII fighter pilots who have been stranded on this island since the war, neither knowing which side won.

I’m a big fan of Deadshot when he leans into his nihilistic killer persona, and this “The Most Dangerous Game” setup with a tech-deprived Bruce and Deadshot duking it out on an island seems interesting. Tomasi has been generally pretty good with his run on Detective Comics, so I’m excited to see how long he runs with this arc of Bruce and Deadshot trying to outsmart each other in this deadly game of cat and mouse.