Geoffrey Luu Comic Reviews

Batman: Last Knight on Earth ranks as one of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's greatest stories; this concluding issue absolutely sticks the landing. Last Knight #3 sees the New52 Batman creative team at their peaks as they close the book on the character, delivering an incredible story, fantastic art, and a ton of cameos and callbacks to both the New52 Batman run and the greater DCU. Last Knight on Earth is a must-read for Batman fans; while it's sad to see this version of the character reach the end of his journey, it could not have ended on a higher note.

External factors aside, Immortal Hulk #50 is a fantastic ending to a series that was at the pinnacle of superhero comics. It's everything that made the previous 49 installments what they were, stuffed into an 80-page package. From its scope to its action and art to its final statement on who the Hulk is and what he means to Bruce Banner, Al Ewing delivers an ending that cannot be missed.

Though this issue mostly devotes itself to exposition and to establishing its world and status quo, Superman and the Authority #1 shows promise for an exciting take on a Superman who has been affected by the world's tragedies but remains at his core, apparently, a hero. The interactions between Superman and sometime-enemy Manchester Black are entertaining, as the two play off each other well, and the art and lettering are clean, yet striking and appealing. Readers should definitely be excited about what Morrison has planned for the remainder of this miniseries.

Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4 impresses on all fronts, once again demonstrating Sean Murphy's strength as both a writer and artist. The Murphy-Hollingsworth art team produces solid work yet again. Though slightly slower paced in terms of story progression, Murphy delivers emotional character-focused moments while also answering questions posed by previous issues and setting the stage for events to come.

Batman: Curse of the White Knight #7 delivers another great read from Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth. As usual, Murphy gives the characters room to breathe and reflect, enhancing our enjoyment of the story by immersing us in the characters' thoughts; however, he manages to strike a solid balance between introspection and solid action, or in this case the buildup of tension before the showdown. This issue alone creates enough hype for the series' finale, and if Murphy maintains his previous level of quality, it's shaping up to be incredible.

Curse of the White Knight's final issue may be its strongest. Sean Murphy delivers a no-holds-barred story that sees Batman driven to his absolute limits, enhanced by more of the great introspective and emotional moments that have made the other stories in Murphy's Batman universe so memorable. Murphy and Hollingsworth's art is stunning on its own, and the seeds that Murphy plants in this issue clinch CotWK #8 as a must-read.

The Green Lantern: Season Two #1 is by itself a fun cosmic action-adventure story that also provides a glimpse into the future of the Green Lantern mythos. Casual fans of the Corps or of Hal Jordan will probably want to jump on board with Morrison's work here; readers who have followed Morrison's Lantern from the start through Blackstars will likely be excited by this issue and developments to follow. Overall, it's definitely worth picking up.

The Green Lantern Season Two #2 is not nearly as interesting as last month's season opener. Given the news that this series has been restored to its original length following its previous reduction, I'm hoping that elements from this issue will recur further down the line to make it more worth reading. As it stands, it's a mostly self-contained story that doesn't add much to the larger plot.

In this issue, Jeff Lemire capitalizes on the multiple lives of Vic Sage in a subplot that doesn't feel drastically different from issue 2's western, but is overall an entertaining detective story/psychological mystery. The issue truly excels in its visuals, with lettering that provides a crucial bit of authenticity for the noir setting and fantastic art that enhances the dreary mood. The Deaths of Vic Sage #3 does enough story-wise to keep you entertained, more than enough visually to satisfy fans of Cowan, Sienkiewicz, or the crime genre in general, and builds a decent amount of anticipation for the series' final chapter, releasing in August.

Sins Rising Prelude does an effective job story-wise at setting the stage for the Sin-Eater's return to Spider-Man's life, with Nick Spencer providing a great deal of backstory as a refresher on the serial killer's deadly actions while keeping the humanizing element of the character introduced by Peter David. Spencer's changes to the mythology flesh it out more, but may not appeal to everyone. The prelude's art suits the dark tone of the story, though the choice to use pages from a decades-old comic produces some distracting side-effects. Still, readers interested in Sin-Eater's connection to Kindred and in following the Sins Rising storyline will find a strong starting point here.

Spider's Shadow is a strong start to the new What If line. It takes itself seriously but its tone and violence feel necessary and earned. It remains to be seen whether this will reach the heights of Spider-Man Life Story, but Zdarsky, Ferry, and Hollingsworth have established great momentum here.

Wonder Woman Dead Earth #2 overall is an impressive second of four entries in the Black Label miniseries. Daniel Warren Johnson presents a compelling, tragic, and energetic story. While Johnson's art style doesn't quite fit the tone of the story, he excels at action and atmosphere, aided by strong colors by Mike Spicer. Dead Earth #2 offers a good read on its own and a strong lead-in to the series' upcoming penultimate issue in April.

Batman '89 #1 is a strong effort to introduce a new story set in a 32-year-old universe. There's more than enough setup here to keep things interesting even without the nostalgia factor, but this story's status as an official follow-up to the iconic Tim Burton films, with Sam Hamm returning as writer, gives it that extra bit of appeal. Visually, the issue isn't as consistent with the look of the movies as I'd like (apart from the stunning Joe Quinones cover), but makes up for that with the general faithfulness of its character designs and likenesses, as well as the impact of Batman's appearances. Overall this series shows a lot of promise, and between this and Keaton's upcoming return to the Batman role on film, it's great to see that this interpretation of the character is still loved and respected.

Ghost Rider #2 delivers fast-paced action focused almost entirely on the two classic Ghost Riders. Aaron Kuder, Craig Yeung, John Lucas, and Luciano Vecchio deliver great artwork while Ed Brisson moves the protagonists in interesting directions. The supporting characters unfortunately don't impress yet but Johnny's demon hunting and the Blaze/Ketch battle definitely compensate.

Overall,Knightfall is a solid but not flawless opener to the Tales from the Dark Multiverse anthology, benefiting from a strong premise and great art. Fans of the original 90s event or of Scott Snyder's Batman work, especially Metal, will be satisfied but readers looking for an in-depth exploration of this world and its characters may be disappointed.

MMPR #45 is, for the most part, a fun and exciting read. It's one major flaw comes in the final pages as the story takes a turn for the trite. It's not enough to totally drag the issue down and there's still an opportunity for some unexpected twists, but on its own, the ending doesn't impress. Still, the Lord Zedd fight, stylized art, and some moments of emotional vulnerability from Tommy and Jason make the issue worth checking out.

Overall, Dark Knight Returns - The Golden Child is a decent side story in Frank Miller's Dark Knight canon. The story presents some interesting ideas in tandem with a bit of contemporary political commentary, though this is Golden Child's weakest aspect. The art and characters are stronger, offering strong action scenes and generally decent designs while building on characterization from Dark Knight III. It's not bad, but it would have been nice to see more of it.

Olympia #1 is a decent start to what looks to be a fun sci-fi series. There is enough here to bring readers back next month, from the sub-comic approach to Olympian's backstory to the retro artwork. The story and characters need more time to fully develop, but Curt and Tony Pires' reverence for Kirby's stories and art shines through. This could be one to keep an eye on if the series takes more risks.

Olympia #2 is mostly a step forward in terms of story but a step back in terms of its characters. Concepts from the first issue that could be worth exploring aren't fully utilized and the issue feels too caught up in Kirby homage rather than making its characters feel unique and interesting. It's not a bad issue, as the story is still decently strong, but given the potential of the series' debut and the huge amount of work that it still needs to do to avoid being strictly derivative of the classic Kirby comics, it's sadly not as good as I hoped it would be.

Marvels Snapshots: Captain America is a mixed bag; readers expecting a story that focused more on Captain America himself will probably be disappointed. The issue's actual story is fairly strong, due in large part to a relatable protagonist, but its other characters don't impress. The art by Ramn Prez and Rico Renzi has an appealing retro look, and the narrative throwback to Jack Kirby's Madbomb story is entertaining. However, this issue could have capitalized more on its title and on the overall premise of the anthology.

Usagi Yojimbo #6 doesn't offer much in the way of brand new content for the series, which may be disappointing for some. However, as a celebration of the iconic character, it doesn't get much better (or more nostalgic) than this, as Stan Sakai puts a modern spin on the very first Usagi story that is worth reading for new and old fans alike.