G.I. Joe issue three was a super fun read - it was so fast paced, it almost felt too short. The Clutch plot line is really good, feels like a an 80s episode of the cartoon - modernized and much more grounded (well not totally). No major story points - but this book set up what I hope will be some killer action next issue. Also I have a theory on who this Risk character actually is … but I don��t want to be right and spoil anything.

Highly recommend - Yo Joe!
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I haven't collected Spider-man in years, and now I know why. This is nowhere close to the Spider-man of the 1990s with Blackcat, Silvermane, and Hobgoblin. We have to see pages upon pages of Peter going out for interviews and going out on dates and then he leaves the interview to fight the Rhino when he could have made about any excuse. It felt so forced. Then we get a back up story for no reason and rip-off Marvel thinks they can charge $5.99 for 30 pages. This is a one and drop for me.

My Comic Review Channel - https://youtu.be/QU7hG3z-Ops more

What can I say about the SIXTH relaunch of The Amazing Spider-Man … it was good … but it really wasn’t great. Ha, ha Peter Parker can’t get a job … that's the joke for about a 4th of this issue. They introduce a new character of Peter's past a middle school buddy - Brian Naring … I like seeing new characters - but this is either some overblown red herring or he's going to cause troubles for our favorite wall-crawler. There is a plot about some new “drug” that Rhino took and made him go crazy … that plot is interesting as Peter investigates … but there is just too much noise (for lack of a better term) to find a solid narrative. The last few pages (which don’t even feature Peter) were my favorite part. All in all it would be a decent issue 965 but not as a first issue. I’ll read issue 2 - because I already have it and I really like the art, but this book didn’t win me over. more

Man, Jeremy Adams & John Tims are killing it with this new Aquaman run! Issue 3 was another banger! Heck, the first splash page was worth the cover price. The narrative is tight and Arthur is driven by his love for Mera. This new corner of the DC Universe and the “Blue” really are coming into focus. Though worlds away this well crafted story still finds a way to tie into the larger DC Universe. Yet another surprise character makes a return, one I saw die in the OG Crisis, but didn’t remember her being in a post Crisis DCU!

Don’t sleep on this series! more

I am totally digging this new Aquaman run from Jeremy Adams & John Tims! Last issue they took Arthur away from the ocean and away from earth. In a dry barren alien world - his new powers still work - pulling water from the mud … and other “odd” places. It’s high adventure and some well illustrated action as Arthur comes face to face with a brand new villain who wants to bleed him dry. Also …. ALSO … the return of a surprise character - that I didn’t know even survived all the crisis and New 52 events.

I highly recommend you read this series - a great comic from DC. more

Expectations were high and Adams delivers.

Hot dang I forgot what amazing art on Aquaman does for him. He is back and this was an amazing start. Epic fights, a clear story set out, logical actions by all parties involved, love to see it!

When great art and great story telling merges you get an opening shot across the bow like this. Wonderful.

Being unfamiliar with Jeremy Adams I didn’t actually know what to expect from this new Aquaman relaunch. Spinning out of Absolute Power and the All In Special - I knew that Arthur’s powers had been changed ... and I have to say I like it. This was a solid start to a brand new era for Aquaman. It featured some great superhero action, a mysterious plot, it touches the larger DC Universe (putting Batman and Wonder Woman in the story), and part of the issue is set in Daytona, Florida - like the Micronauts of old. This is really a top notch comic with Adams story and Jon Tims art coming together to exceed the sum of their parts.

I highly recommend this book! more

Sectaurs issue two was an improvement over the first issue but still fell a bit flat for me. These books feel like they were created to be packaged with toys as they seem to be written at a 10 year old level. I have no problem with all-ages books, but this very basic story has been combined with stilted and way over written dialogue. It feels like a Star Comic from the 80s with dialogue from 1960s Gold Key Comics. I will say the story moved from scene to scene in a well paced way, there was a sense of urgency to everything. The art by Ramon Bachs was well done - above average for a licensed comic based on a failed toy line from the 80s.

At the end of the day - unless you are nostalgic for this property (or are 10 years old) there just isn’t enough meat on the bone here. I’ll stick to the end, but cannot recommend this comic. more

Just read Dust to Dust issue one from Image Comics and I enjoyed the heck out of it. It felt very cinematic in presentation and storytelling. This first issue is mostly setup slowly introducing you to the characters - primarily the Sherif, everything revolves around him as he try’s to keep a hand on the small dust bowl town of Cimarron County, Oklahoma. The story is set in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression and it weighs heavy over the motivations of almost every character. The seeds of a mystery are planted in this issue in the form of some bones found on an abandoned farm - beyond that tiny subplot the book is mostly a character study. It’s well written and paired with illustrations that convey an atmospheric feeling. You really must read this book for yourself to understand what I mean. It has an almost visceral vibe to it … I highly recommend reading this one as a physical book. There were a few inconsistencies with the art … but they were very minor. This book is the whole package and I HIGHLY recommend it. more

The second issue of GI Joe in the Energon Universe builds on the foundation everything that came before, delivering a story that’s intriguing yet feels slightly unsteady. While I found this issue more enjoyable than the debut, the narrative pacing for the Joe side of this shared universe seems to be dragging its feet. There was an urgency to launch the series, but now, just two issues in, the direction feels a little off track.

Without diving into spoilers, I have to say that killing off an iconic OG Joe so early in the run was a bold choice. It certainly grabbed my attention! Additionally, the introduction of a new character has left me feeling both off balance and eager to see where the creative team is taking the narrative. My guess is the “new guy” is really Zartan.

Despite these hiccups, the series is still in its "honeymoon phase," and there’s plenty of potential for things to evolve. I highly recommend GI Joe #2 to fans of the franchise, both new and seasoned, and even to the more senior Joes among us.

Yo Joe! more

Batman 154 is a solid street level story that lets Batman actually be a detective. There is a mystery at play … who killed the mayor? Batman working with Bullock inside the law and Jim Gordon outside the law plays out very nicely. Not 100% sure how Vandal Savage is the police commissioner … I know of the character but not much about him.

I of course have to ask why are both Detective and this series screwing around with the history of Thomas Wayne? I mean TWO Bat-titles rewriting Wayne history at the same time!!! Didn’t the editors talk about this? Also WHY disparage Thomas like this - it makes no sense 80+ years out from his introduction and subsequent death.

All that aside - a confusing yet sharp cliffhanger will have me coming back for the next installment! more

Trash. Zdarsky is going to go down in the bottom 5 worst batman writers of all time. Secret Half sibling BS has been done a couple of times and scrapped a couple of times because its a terrible idea. Chip must be inhaling his own farts at this point or hates the readers with what he is doing. I feel so bad for the next author who has to clean up this garbage.

Nice art, continuation of a cynical trend I hate. Mainly taking morally good characters and deconstructing them to make them “human.” By That I mean taking good guys and making them creeps. Thomas Wayne has gone from a good man who became a doctor instead of sitting on his trust fund to a guy who cheats on his wife while ignoring her because he cares too much about his career.

Leslie Thompkins tells Bruce dad did cheat and could have fathered a child. Bruce’s advisor says give up half his fortune and have”bro” sign an NDA. Why? To save his dead dad’s reputation? To avoid a scandal? Bruce has been in so many scandals, what is one more? Plan makes no sense. Wouldn’t be surprised if advisor is in on the plot.

The mayor is dead, and people ask who would kill him? Given his huge number of failures that have resulted in the deaths of thousands is anybody surprised at this?

Also, the public hates Bruce Wayne and Wayne Enterprises? Really?

Are writers so cynical that they can’t conceive of good people. In War Games, they made Leslie a killer. I think it’s been retconned, but such a cynical move. This issue has Bats lashing out in anger. So he’s a bottled keg waiting to explode instead of a man in control. There’s a new head of Court of Owls? That group has gone from a legend no knew existed to a group all know are real. Just take them down with a forensic accountant.

The Riddler is meeting with people, and Bats knows and confronted them. Gives the usual warning about watching them while actually having no evidence and letting their plan unfold and not actually stopping anything. Not a good story.

Or I could be wrong. more

Absolute Superman was a bit of a miss for me - I think it was the weakest of the Absolute books. All of the writer’s not so subtle “sub-text” was too on the nose, to the point of being annoying. I mean gosh I wonder what he feels about mining and the people who run those operations?

The hamfisted storytelling aside, I felt way too much time was spent on Krypton and not enough with the actual main character. Not that I have a problem with all the world building, in fact I would have liked the issue better if it was all set on Krypton, I felt the character of Superman was short changed in his own book. I don’t feel the writer gave the reader a sense of who he is. I was left feeling that there was zero reason to read issue two except for the “look how clever I am” twist ending.

All in all - I will be back for issue two out of curiosity not because this book floored me, After Absolute Batman and then Wonder Woman … this book was a total letdown. more

Supergirl backup aside - I really liked Action Comics #1073. The narrative kept moving to it’s ultimate destination. Lots of fun Superman action in the Phantom Zone … it’s just a great book that I am enjoying.

NO SPOILERS but I fear just like Detective Comics #1090 they are about to retcon something from Superman’s past for no apparent reason - move forward not backwards. I find writers obsession with meddling with characters histories (and that of their families) to be boring.

The b-plot reeked of “The Most Toys” (Star Trek), “Command Performance” (The Orville), and about two dozen silver age comics … but I still enjoyed it. The protagonists were fun and had some great interactions.

This Supergirl backup has become torture to read. I am only reading it to try and justify the $4.99 cover price. But seeing as it is at the end of the comic it always leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Also - I think this and the previous cover should have been swapped. more

Staying All In so I checked out Titans #16 … so many questions, but first - I enjoyed this issue. I have to say that I loved that it started on the Watchtower right after the (lackluster) events of the All In special. I like when continuity is on-point.

I’m not that familiar with the character - but I didn’t really understand why the Question was acting so irrationally. Her behavior was beyond the scope of a normal person. Not much happened in this issue, mostly all setup, establishing the new status quo. The thrust was establishing the team and getting them back to Titans’ Tower to meet up with the baddie for this story arc. It wasn’t action packed, yet at the same time it was never dull.

I haven’t read Titans since around the time of the New 52 relaunch - and I’m confused. Starfire seems de-aged physically to younger than she was in the 80s - same with Raven, yet Nightwing & Wonder Girl seemed age appropriate - I don’t get it. Also last time I saw Beast Boy in Dark Crisis - he lost an eye and was traumatized … I guess he got better. Even if the characters seemed off - it was worth the read and I’ll be back for issue 17. My only real complaint was that some of the coloring choices were distracting. more

Backups have just been bad lately

Action Comics #1072 was another fun read - traveling the Phantom Zone with Mon-El on a floating ship while fighting off monsters - is exactly what I would want from this comic! The heroes are on a straight forward journey and so is the narrative … but there is something to be said for a story that knows where it’s going.

The b-plot involving Superboy and Kong Kenan (Super-Man?) Feels very familiar - yet still a fun diversion. There are a lot of cool easter eggs in the museum (including a nod to Invasion).

The Supergirl backup … why is this here??? This was probably the best installment and it was still dull. This is a top tier All In title … if not for these Supergirl backups it would rank much higher. more

Trying to stick with DC’s ALL IN program has proven to be a mixed bag … however Detective Comics #1090 was a high point. There were no references to the events of Absolute Power or the All In special, while not tying into the bigger picture (or the events of the Batman title) it makes a great jumping-on point. The script by Tom Tayler was tight and very sharp, paring that with great art from Mikel Janin made a really great package. It kicks off a strong mystery and a relatable subplot about Bruce aging.

The biggest drawback I see with this story are the Thomas Wayne flashbacks. It seems that they are retconning part of the Batman mythos … something they have done so many times over the years. It’s tired, dull, and 100% unnecessary, I wish writers would stop falling into these same old ruts … look forward not back.

That being said it was still a very enjoyable read. more

The “main story” in Action Comics 1071 was top notch … a real winner for the All In initiative! The “a bit too familiar story” of Superman in the Phantom Zone played out much better then I expected after the last issue. Also the baseball game with Superboy and the Superman from China (not sure who that is) was classic superhero comic book fun, with a great “sub-plot cliffhanger”. The twist at the end of the main story will have me coming back for more … for now.

I cannot get over how miserable the Supergirl backup story is to slog through. I almost just skipped it this week. It’s so dull and uninteresting especially paired with such a solid main story - it pulls my rating for the books down a notch or two. DC needs to cut the backup nonsense and drop the price to $3.99 or they might lose me as a reader. more

Superwoman angle is pointless and unnecessary

Superman 19 was a clean fresh start for the series. It was a super fun read with some stellar artwork. It did leave me with a ton of questions … mainly about how the heck is Lois now Superwoman - when last I saw her (Absolute Power and Action Comics) she DID NOT have any powers. To be honest I find the whole concept of Lois as Superwoman to be silly … something I roll my eyes at, but the writing is good enough that I will be back for issue 20. Also … ALSO … the twist at the end was amazing! more

Absolute Wonder Woman issue one … was good, very good in fact - but not great. There was nothing wrong with the story lots of action and two page spreads … it just needed more meat on the bone. For such an important launch - I felt it should have taken wider swings and given us more of a story. In comparison to the PACKED Absolute Batman issue one this fell very short. I’ll give it one more issue to WOW me. more

This felt like a Saturday morning cartoon gone a little off track. Nothing to really dislike about it … but it all felt a little silly and when it tried to get a deeper, the goofiness undercut the drama. It was a “middle of the road” comic, in many ways it reminded me of the Superfriends comics I read when I was little - they had that Saturday morning vibe with a little something extra. This comic is not for me … maybe if I were 12 I would dig it … and I do hope some 12 year olds read it and enjoy it … but I won’t be back for issue 17. more

DC is quickly losing me again … I want to like these new All-In stories in this soft reboot … but … after reading Poison Ivy 26 … I’m ready to bail. The art and story felt like some weird webtoon fan-fiction and not a professional main-stream comic that ties into the larger DC Universe. The story just meanders around almost directionless. Ivy goes for a bike ride from Gotham into the wetlands and ultimately the abandoned town of “Marshview” … all this is just a bike ride away?

I’m going into All-In with a super positive attitude … however Birds of Prey 14 and now this … I don’t think I can take much more. This book was a total flop for me. more

I really want to re-embrace DC Comics again and after how much I enjoyed Absolute Power - I started to dig in with these “All-In relaunches” - but this Birds of Prey issue 14 isn’t helping. This was just a pointless comic, I guess if you are invested into these characters you might want to read this … but for someone just jumping in this was an unmitigated miss. None of the characters seemed likable and it didn’t really seem to be under the shadow of Absolute Power … it just was a big fat nothing burger. The story of the missing Amazon women wasn’t captivating enough to make me come back for a second helping … I do NOT recommend this issue and will NOT be getting issue 15. more

This weekly All-In Action Comics #1070 was a great way to start in with the new status quo … only it wasn’t … as it takes place after Absolute Power but before the All-In Special - that bothered me. The reason I take issue with the timeframe is because the stakes are lower as we already know that everything will turn out fine.

That being said - this was a fun story … the ultimate resolution with where Superman goes at the end feels very done before - but that didn’t take away from the fun. The battle against the Kryptonian mutant was exciting and felt like a good classic comic that anyone could pick up and enjoy. The crazy colored Kryptonite reminded me of the books I used to read back when I was real little. So there is something here for everyone - hence why I would recommend this book. Also I should mention the art by Clayton Henry was just as fun as the script.

Now for the bad … I didn’t care for the Supergirl backup story … it was so thin - I actually forgot it was even in there. Also it felt very out of step with the main story (seeing as she was literally in the second to the last page). No digs on Mariko Tamaki … perhaps on its own this story would be better received by me … but held up agains the main story - it was a total miss. The fact that the backup story caused a weekly comic to feature a $4.99 cover price hurts the product as a whole. more

Believe the hype! 

Absolute Batman is 100% what everyone says it is, easily one of the best comics I have read in a long time. Snyder delivered the goods with an assist from artist Nick Dragotta (who I am now a huge fan of). This was an excellently paced story … not too fast and not too slow - it was literally perfectly paced. The choice to reveal this new character …no this is NOT the Batman you are familiar with … Snyder used an outside character to reveal Bruce Wayne to the audience … and this was a brilliant decision on his part. That one factor pulled EVERYTHING together into a “page-turning highly” enjoyable read.

Snyder took everything you know about Batman and turned it on its side for a brand new experience that had a tinge of familiarity. He reformatted many of the villains and other Gotham citizens into all new characters that have completely different relationships with Bruce and the book is all the better for it. I don’t want to spoil a single moment as the less you know the better.

The only drawback that I can see is what’s coming next … this world built for Absolute Batman should be just for Batman … but I know Absolute Superman and Absolute Wonder Woman will connect with this title and I feel that has the potential to throw off this perfect vibe. Even worse - this may all be rolling into that silly Darkseid story that was introduced in the All-In Special, if that’s where all this is going - I will be very disappointed. However for right now - if you can find a copy go out grab it and read it … do not let it be spoiled for you. more