Liam Hoofe Comic Reviews

Thanks to the big screen success of The Death of Stalin, Nury's work feels incredibly relevant right now. In Death to the Tsar, Nury manages not only to perfectly capture the essence of a revolution, but also the personal sacrifices and the smaller, untold stories that come with it. The artwork is excellent, and the story even more so. This is another must read from Nury and Robin.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest #1 does a great job of manoeuvring all the pieces into place for the trilogy's final volume. It establishes a strong sense of atmosphere and features some of the finest artwork the series has seen thanks to the much-welcomed return of Jose Homes. While the narrative may, at times, feel a little exposition heavy, this is still a worthwhile read, especially for fans of the original trilogy.

Verdict: The Girl Who Played With Fire does away with the clutter of novels " delivering whip smart dialogue and well-paced action. For those who've not read The Millennium Trilogy, Hard Case and Titan's comics are a great place to start.

Sylvian Runberg and artist Roms have given us a near perfect adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Hard hitting, gritting and beautifully illustrated, it is, without a doubt, the closest adaptation of the books you will find.

The Death of Stalin is an excellent graphic novel, one dripping with paranoia and betrayal, which sinks its claws into you from its frantic opening all the way to its inevitable closing pages. Nury effortlessly brings to life one of the most mysterious times in modern history, giving us one of the most intelligent and funniest graphic novels in recent memory.

Overall, WWE #8 is a fun way to close out Ambrose's side of the story. The opening sequence may not be for everyone, but for those who enjoy the more surreal elements of WWE, there is a lot to enjoy here.

After the zany adventures of Dean Ambrose, WWE comics return to the ground here with an in-depth look at one of WWE's most divisive characters. Great artwork and great storytelling make this another great edition for the collection.

WWE #10 is the weakest entry in the Shield saga. It is basically just Roman Reigns moping around London after losing his title, with little to no focus on the in-ring stuff that has made the other issues such a delight. Buy it for 'The Pun-isher' if nothing else.

The story itself is, obviously, ridiculous but it's fun to read and is a clever way of dragging out Reigns' suspension.

On the whole, WWE #13 is a nice break from the on-going Shield saga and a fitting tribute to Monday Night Raw as it approaches its 25th Anniversary. Samoa Joe impresses in the book's opening tale, and there is some excellent artwork peppered throughout the collection.

This was one of the strongest editions of WWE comics for some time. Hopeless and Acuna do a great job of paying tribute to the early days of the Women's Evolution and I for one, can't wait to see where they go with this saga next.

Overall, WWE #15 is another success, and the decision to focus on the females of the WWE continues to pay off. Having the Four Horsewomen as the focal point of the story should provide plenty of options for the comics going forward.

Overall, WWE #16 continues Boom! Studios fine run of form since they switched their focus from The Shield and onto the Women's Revolution. There are plenty of stories for them to explore in the coming months, and it looks as though they are heading up to the main roster in the next edition. The comics have always had a great ability to add a little extra to storylines we all remember, so hopefully, it will work its magic with the women as well.

WWE #17 is a nice way to close out the women's storyline in the series, it's just a shame that they won't be continuing to explore the Women's Revolution going forward. This has been the most enjoyable run in the comics, and it's a shame it had to end so soon.

On the whole, WWE #19 is yet another solid entry from the Boom! Studios collection. Zayn and Owens make for interesting characters to explore and hopefully, the comics will take the opportunity to explore the duo's backstory in the coming months.

WWE #20 takes one of the company's most mismanaged storylines and turns it into an effective story, adding some much-needed depth to characters and boasting some fine art-work.

WWE #21 is a fun entry in Boom! Studio's on-going WWE series. AJ Styles' WWE career is a good choice of narrative going forward, though, it would be nice to see the WWE recognise a little bit more of history outside of the company. This one is almost worth it for its outrageous supporting story alone.

Once again, Hopeless and Acuna have delivered yet another great edition in this on-going WWE series. AJ Styles makes for an interesting protagonist, and hopefully, we can see a little bit of more his antics with The Good Brothers in coming issues.

On the whole, WWE #24 is another strong outing from Boom! Studios and does an excellent job at continuing AJ's story. Shinsuke Nakamura is a sheer delight and providing he sticks around in the WWE, I would love to see more of him in future issues.

This edition wraps up AJ Style's story with style, and while it would have been nice to have seen Styles losing the belt to Daniel Bryan, and Bryan's subsequent rise to the biggest heel in the WWE in the coming issues, this is still an excellent addition to Boom! Studios' WWE canon.

On the whole, WWE Attitude Era #1 is worth buying simply for a trip down memory lane. As with most of these anthologies, the quality is somewhat inconsistent but it is worth buying on the strength of '3 Faces of Foley' alone.

Overall, WWE Royal Rumble #1 is a huge improvement from the last anthology series and is a nice trip down memory lane, not that I needed any more excitement in my life for this year's Royal Rumble. Good work all around.

The main event of the comic is Giving the Demon His Due,a surprisingly small piece about the build-up to last year's inaugural Universal Title match between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. Writer Aaron Gillespie decides here to focus on Seth's preparation for the match as the overly confident heel. Seth is being plagued with visions of Balor in his sleep and in the locker room before the bout and struggles to focus on how he is going to walk away the Universal Champion. Unfortunately, the strip decides to just focus on this and gives us no real in-ring action, which kind of leaves the whole thing feeling a little anti-climactic. The build up stuff is good and works as a nice addition to Balor's character (especially considering how wasted he is on TV right now) but the payoff feels pretty weak.

Survivor Series Special #1 is a real mixed bag. On one hand, there are some great stories (Debut, The Root of all Evil) and some nice nostalgia-inducing moments, but on the other, the comic is riddled with inconsistent artwork and at times, weak story-telling.

On the whole, Undertaker: Rise of the Deadman is a roaring success, and while some chapters are certainly stronger than others, the novel will make a fitting addition to any wrestling fan's collection. Hopefully, Boom! Studios will continue to explore wrestlers through graphic novels in the future, as this has unlimited potential.

Overall, the WrestleMania 2018 special is a big disappointment. Boom! Studios have chosen very strange stories to commemorate the event, and even though the artwork is largely impressive, the storytelling certainly is not.

While the storyline is not quite as intriguing as in other editions, with the comic deciding to pursue events that fans never saw on screen, NXT Takeover " Into the Fire still manages to maintain more than enough quality to be entertaining, and keep Boom! Studios NXT streak intact.

On the whole, Boom! Studios continue to deliver with their NXT series. The brand is ripe for the picking when it comes to comics, and Dennis Hopeless has once again sprinkled some of his magic and come out on top here.

Boom! Studios' venture into the wonderful world of NXT has delivered some excellent results so far, and this is their strongest outing yet. It looks as though this will be the last we will see from NXT for a while, but fingers crossed the company decides to take another journey down to Full Sail in the near future.

As first editions goes, WWE: NXT Takeover shows plenty of promise for the future. For a company that has only been in existence for a few years, NXT already has an incredibly rich history, and I look forward to seeing what Boom! Studios can do with it in the coming editions.