Diane Darcy Comic Reviews

Batman has broken the rules throughout DC K.O.: Knightfight, and the Heart of Apokolips imposes its cruellest punishment yet.

DC Pride 2025 sets the bar even higher as acclaimed comics creators explore the complex lives of the LGBTQIA community through both fiction and nonfiction.

Dan Jurgens, Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer return in The Bat-Man: Second Knight, but delivers a story that is both a love letter to DC's Golden Age and blends the best tropes of both horror and film noir.

The Bat-Man: Second Knight continues the Scarecrow's reign of terror, which also sees a certain Man of Steel from Metropolis come to Gotham.

Supergirl is a love letter to Kara Zor-El's history, and an excellent entry point for new readers.

The identity of the Midvale's faux Supergirl is revealed, but she's no cookie-cutter villain she is a troubled young woman Kara realizes needs help way more than she needs punches.

Supergirl continues to exceed expectations, as Sophie Campbell continues to explore the villain's need for validation and Kara Zor-El's conflicted feelings about always needing to be good, yet needing to use her powers responsibly.

Lena Luthor takes Kara Zor-El and Lesla-Lar out of their element when they go to a Goth nightclub, but a disastrous night results in a stronger friendship in Supergirl #4.

After saving Midvale from Lesla-Lar's antics, Supergirl takes her new Kryptonian friend to Metropolis for training, leaving the Super-pets to run wild. As fans might expect, hilarity and mayhem ensue.

It's Halloween in Supergirl #6, but the Girl of Steel has to battle some internal demons from her past before she can enjoy the spooky season.

It's Thanksgiving in Midvale, but before Kara Zor-El and her friends and family can enjoy dinner together, the Girl of Steel must first resolve a Disney-style problem in Supergirl #7!

Kara Zor-El may have caught the holiday blues on Christmas, but one "ghost" from her Silver Age past is having it much worse.

Kara Zor-El and friends celebrate New Year's Eve at a house party, but a drunken experiment gone horribly wrong gets Supergirl off to a bad start.

Batman and Robin: Year One continues to capitalize on The Dark Knight's Golden Age lore, but the heart of the story has nothing to do with organized crime.

Ncuti Gatwa may have left the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor, but his story is far from over; Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox gives fans a new untold adventure set before the events of Series 15's "The Interstellar Song Contest."

Justice League: Dark Tomorrow Special bridges the gap between "We Are Yesterday" and the upcoming DC K.O. event with a fun self-contained story about time travel, Omega Demons, and callbacks to Zero Hour and Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Teenage Dick Grayson arrives to the DCU present as Robin, but as he meets his older counterpart as Nightwing, a deadly chain of events disrupts the DCU timestream.

Scott Snyder and Javier Fernndez unleash an Earth-2: World's End and Convergence-style event with DC K.O., but it will need to change the formula of DC's past "crisis" events to have any meaning as a story.

It's Superman vs Lex Luthor in DC K.O. #2, but is the story going down a predictable route for choosing its King Omega?

DC K.O. is a contest to find the King Omega who'll save Earth-0, but is issue #3 teasing a champion from another Earth?

DC K.O.: Red Hood vs. The Joker #1 takes aim at Jason Todd's status quo as "The Robin Who Died," but surprisingly still misses the target on what's truly been holding him back.

A perfect collection of Boom! Studios best stories from its unknown and celebrated creators to celebrate it's 20th anniversary.

As an introduction to DC's Golden Age heroes, JSA does an excellent job at presenting three generations of the publisher's oldest team, complete with fun, optimistic stories that can sometimes explore dark themes.

JSA mourns the loss of a valued team member, but the heart of the story is in the character moments.

JSA #8 tells a self-contained story set at the end of World War II, and is a perfect starting point for Jeff Lemire's next story arc.

The Injustice Society finally reveals its sinister plans to the Justice Society, but with an unexpected heel turn from a former Secret Six member.

The Injustice Society finally has what they came for, but time has run out for the Justice Society to put a stop to their endgame.

It's the Justice Society vs the Injustice Society in JSA #11, but the strength of the story lies in the emotional depth of the heroes and villains.

"Ragnark" officially concludes, but its lukewarm ending speaks to to a long-standing JSA problem.

Jeff Lemire and Gavin Guidry go back to the year 1940 in JSA #13, but they're not there to rewrite the events of All-Star Comics #3... they're there to flesh it out!

JSA #14 continues the titular team's investigation of Nazism in 1940 USA, but also spotlights a major problem with a post-Crisis retcon.

JSA #15 introduces the Justice Society Dark, but at the expense of moving the story forward.

Torunn Grnbekk starts to give answers to Selina Kyle's secret past as Evie Hall, finally building up to the reveal of who wants her dead.

A long-lost friend from Selina Kyle's past reunites with the antiheroine, which has the potential to open an exciting new character arc for Catwoman.

Selina Kyle begins to slowly narrow down her list of suspects, but when she learns who wants her dead, the list of betrayals grow longer.

Catwoman finally answers its biggest burning question on who wants Selina Kyle dead, but doesn't quite stick the landing.

Torunn Grnbekk starts a new chapter in Selina Kyle's life, but her newest heist against Carmine Falcone has sinister ties to her mother's past.

Catwoman #80 continues to do a good job at bringing Selina back to her roots and build on the dangling plot threads of her early post-Crisis stories. It even captures the feel of the 1990s Catwoman comic by having Selina target rich powerful people for her heists, and continuing to challenge herself that way. The only thing that would make the story even better would be to establish a stronger connection between the past and present storylines, and for the execution to pick up the pace a little.

Catwoman #81 is off to a strong start by showing Selina Kyle mourning the death of her mother, but the rest of the issue doesn't build on that for a more emotionally impactful story.

Torunn Grnbekk's second arc was off to a strong start for Catwoman, but quickly lost sight of its own plot.

DC's mature Red Hood series has hit the shelves, but the concepts it explores would work better in a DC Black Label series.

New History of the DC Universe successfully streamlines the DC timeline that started with Crisis on Infinite Earths, but misses a chance to fix some of that reboot's biggest problems.

Mark Waid and Mark Russell reveal DC's Silver Age and Bronze Age eras in New History of the DC Universe #2, but not without repeating mistakes of the past.

New History of the DC Universe #3 revisits DC's post-Crisis era, but its broad strokes approach doesn't make this latest batch of revisions work the way it wants.

New History of the DC Universe covers the post-Flashpoint era with issue #4, but confirms the biggest problem that is preventing DC from truly moving forward as a brand.

In the conclusion of "Mercy of the Father," Detective Comics revisits the age-old question of why Batman never kills, and gives a definitive answer -- but it's one readers already saw coming.

Following the murder of 10 juvenile delinquents at the hands of Asema, Harvey Bullock decides to conduct his own investigation, as the murders tie into an event from his past.

Tom Taylor creates a unique enemy for Batman in "The Courage That Kills," but still struggles to build a compelling mystery around them in Detective Comics #1102.

"The Courage That Kills" was off to a strong start, but quickly fell apart in Detective Comics #1102 by confirming the villain too early. In #1103, it's now spinning its wheels with nonsensical plotting.