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The Continuing New Comics Thread
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I read a bunch of stuff this week.
stray dogs 1 from Image feels like it has the potential to be a pretty sizeable hit. It’s a really strong idea well executed and feels ripe for adaptation into animation, albeit it’s too dark for a straight up kids film. Tony Fleece first big written work and you would never guess that.
Nocterra 1 got off to a very strong start, some great world building from Scott Snyder very much on form and Tony Daniels art was superb.
Eniac 1 which is the first release from Bad Idea (the guys who run Valiant) was an excellent AI gone wrong nightmare. The mostly reliable Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite have clearly spent a lot of time developing it.
Infinite Frontier 0 was much better than I thought it was going to be. Writing and art was solid all the way through for the most part and I’ve softened a bit on my feelings for DC going forward, I think there’s some scope here for some pretty good books, although I think it helped that the likes of Matthew Rosenberg and Stephanie Phillips were nowhere near this to drag the level of writing down.
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I found myself enjoying Infinite Frontier #0 too, although mostly for the characters and the brighter, more hopeful tone of the narrative than the artistry on display. I found the writing and artwork, on the whole, very journeyman like. Absolutely nothing wrong with it at all, and certainly very capable, but no “wow” factor. Sadly, I think this is reflective of the future of DC Comics in more ways than one.
I did enjoy the Batman segments by the regular creative team of Tynion and Jiminez. Those pages almost put the rest of the special to shame, with a tense narrative that provided a surprising final fate for a major 90’s character, and the instigating event that will seemingly drive the collective Bat-books towards the future predicted over the last couple of months in Future State. Although, to be fair, it doesn’t seem like that big a deal given the events of the recent past.
Batman #106 sees Tynion & Jiminez back on the now monthly ongoing, and the start of a new story arc. The shadow of “Joker War” looms large over events here, as do the machinations of the various antagonists. Given that the Scarecrow is involved I do question how much of what we’re witnessing is really happening. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out over the course of this story. The creative team haven’t lost a beat here, and hit the ground running with a great opening instalment. Excellent!
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To be honest I would settle for workman like.
I feel we don’t even get that with a lot of new writers breaking through. Ideas and concepts are fine a lot of the time but the execution is not and this is down to poor craftsmanship and a lack of, or underdeveloped writing skills.
I see this reflected everywhere though, from ‘journalism’ to tv and movies. So comics are not alone in that respect. But it’s more noticeable on the page than the screen because there’s less components to capture attention away from it.
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Oh, Rosenberg has moved onto blighting DC.
Sadly yes. And he is one of the writers the above would apply to.
and given he must have about 100 issues under his belt by now, I’m not sure that is going to improve if it hasn’t already
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Hmm, you guys seemed to like Infinite Frontier more than I. maybe I just got turned off after Bendis’ JLA(are you Bendis fans?) still annoyed by the view point that Wally needs to redeem himself and needs Barry’s approval. Did not like the ending either.
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I generally don’t get too hung up on the events of stories or how they handle characters, so my tolerance on that is probably a bit higher than yours.
Bendis though I’m totally sick of: I’ve defended him over the years and despite some good starts on books like all new X-Men and even superman and young justice they all go the same way. The only thing I’ve enjoyed recently is Cover. I won’t be picking up his Jl, I just need to hope JLD is collected at some point.
But he only played a very small apart of Infinite Frontier, his segment was only a few pages.
Maybe I was just in a good mood when I read it and really glad to see Stargirl but I felt it was pretty consistent.
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I’ve defended him over the years and despite some good starts on books like all new X-Men and even superman and young justice they all go the same way.
It is kind of a theme really, he starts off great and then it turns to mush. I loved those first X-Men books and the Superman ones and then lost interest.
I really liked his last few books at Marvel but maybe the fact that they were curtailed helped that.
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Read BRZRKR #1 and thought it was surprisingly ok. Not great, not crap, just a solid little action comic shot through with a fairly strong Frank Miller influence. Not sure whether I’ll be interested to read more but it’s far from the car crash I was expecting.
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A few debut titles:
BRZRKR #1 – I read this with Keanu’s voice in my head. It worked pretty well. It’s a fairly gruesome action driven story line, superbly illustrated by Ron Garney (doing a very Sin City era Frank Miller). It was an entertaining start but I’m hoping for more substance next time.
Nocterra #1 was superb. I’m not usually a fan of Tony Daniel’s artwork, but he’s doing great work here. It’s another very action heavy first issue, but accompanied with some strong character work from Scott Snyder too. I liked this a lot.
The Joker #1 is basically a Jim Gordon book by any other name, by Tynion and Gullem March. It’s pretty intense for a mainstream DC book, capturing some of the feel of Snyder & Jock’s “Black Mirror” masterpiece. It also adds more gravitas to the big event of Infinite Frontier. The Punchline backup was alright too, but far from essential. Worth a look, folks!
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The Green Lantern: Season Two #12
This finale was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and reflects Season Two as a whole pretty well. The story is messy and confusing in places, and feels like a lot of wild ideas that have potential but which haven’t really been refinded down into a coherent story.
Having said that, there are some great individual moments, a nice positive message that feels like it has something to say about the fractured and binary nature of discourse today (not unlike this week’s Wonder Woman: Earth One v.3), and Liam Sharp’s art is amazing.
Maybe this will work a bit better in trade where all the connections to earlier issues will be a bit clearer.
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I enjoyed Department of Truth #6, although the change in artist was a bit of a shock at first. Just so different to what’s come in the book so far.
But once you get used to that, this is a nice one-shot ‘history lesson’ issue that feels like a decent palate cleanser for the next arc proper.
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Batman: Black & White #3 was…. ok. There are a couple of decent stories in there (particularly when it comes to the art, with both Olivier Coipel and Kelley Jones contributing work here). But there are also some lesser stories that don’t land. A couple are mentioned as being writing debuts and it kind of shows. Just not very coherent in places.
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I don’t know if it’s just me but I’m warming up more and more to this series as it goes on, with #5 just past the halfway point. I’m more interested in the past-set Harley/Joker story than the present day, but both parts work (we’ve been a bit spoiled for good Harley stories in the last couple of years).
Scalera’s art is also really nice, with little moments like this really benefiting from the extra care and detail.
Judging from the art previews in the back I’d almost rather the whole book was in black and white though. Look at this!
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Proctor Valley Road #1
This was sadly nothing special. It’s a bit Stranger Things, a bit Paper Girls and a bit Scooby Doo, with a retro 70s setting that is about the only distinctive thing about it. The characters aren’t that memorable and the horror isn’t really that effective.
It didn’t really have anything particularly Morrison-y about it either (I’m guessing Alex Child did the lion’s share of the writing).
Just quite bland really, and that goes for the art too – with one sequence towards the beginning that is quite confused and misses the creepy atmosphere it’s trying to set up.
I was hoping for more. Not sure I’ll buy #2.
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Non-Stop Spider-Man #1
The good thing about this book is that Chris Bachalo’s art is great, and Joe Kelly gives him plenty of exciting stuff to draw. It’s a decent action comic and an exciting #1 issue.
The bad? There’s very little story here and it’s $4.99 for literally 20 pages of story, and pages that read very fast.
Yes, there’s a forgettable eight-page backup story (about Baron Zemo! Favourite character of nobody) and a variant cover gallery, but this is very poor value for such a quick read.
I don’t know whether future issues are cheaper, but if not then I won’t be picking up #2.
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Just the first issue. It goes back to $3.99 from next issue, Dave. Still waiting for my copy to arrive.
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Good to know, thanks. What there is of Bachalo/Kelly is pretty good, it’s just a bit jarring that the lead story ends halfway through the issue and the rest is filler.
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I can’t tell if Spider-man is running from the rockets, or leading them into battle!
It can be two things!
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Crossover #4
This book continues to be good fun. I’m enjoying the playful, un-serious tone of the writing, and the art does a good job of distinguishing between the ‘real’ and comicbook characters without it all feeling disjointed.
Plus, the book knows when to laugh at itself and at the genre more widely without undermining its story and characters.
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Future State: Dark Detective #4 was a bit flat though. It’s ok as far as it goes but it’s not much of a conclusion to the story, and there isn’t a huge amount that’s surprising or even interesting really. The art carries a lot of it – Mora is great here.
I enjoyed the Red Hood backup for what it was, especially the dynamic art, but it felt like a bit of a throwaway story.
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Nightwing #78 was a great start to the new creative team’s run. Taylor makes a smart decision to get the dick joke out of the way early on, so I won’t go there. Redondo and Lucas’ artwork really suited the mood. It’s a fun book, with a lot of heart. I look forward to reading more. Bit bizarre that it wasn’t renumbered as a #1.
Non Stop Spider-man #1 wasn’t the knock out I was hoping for, but was an entertaining start. They certainly weren’t lying when they said it was going to hit the ground running and just keep accelerating from there. It’s pretty intense. Bachalo’s artwork felt unusually subdued here. Hoping he gets to let rip soon.
I actually liked the backup, although it does feel a little disjointed from the main story. Kelly said on his Twitter feed that it was important going forwards, and from the solicits seems to be relevant to what’s to come in #4.
Batman: Urban Legends #1 – I love the Bat-family almost as much as my own, so I have a lot of hope for this book. The first issue was good, but a mixed bag as most anthologies are.
The Zdarsky/ Barrows/ To Red Hood story was excellent. I don’t even like Jason Todd, but found him a really sympathetic lead here.
That was followed by an entertaining Harley Quinn/ Poison Ivy short, and an Outsiders short that makes zero sense.
Before wrapping up with a Grifter story by Rosenberg & Benjamin. To be honest, this was the main attraction for me to buy this book. It was pretty disappointing though. None of the charm of the Dark Detective two parter. Just a hodge podge of random scenes thrown together with no discernible through line. Hoping for better next time.
I definitely don’t like the format though. A prestige format book makes for an unnecessarily awkward reading experience.
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It’s a fun book, with a lot of heart.
Literally.
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Orphan And The Five Beasts #1
Having enjoyed James Stokoe’s work in Aliens: Dead Orbit and Moon Knight, I thought I’d pick this up. It’s the first of a four-issue mini where he writes, draws, colours and even letters, so a real pure creative vision of one man (which I always enjoy in comics). And it’s a lot of fun.
It’s a pulp Kung Fu epic with fantastical elements and a nice straightforward “defeat the bosses” quest structure, and it packs a lot into this first single issue – the backstory and plot is set up nice and quickly and you get well into the action, when most first issues would have ended halfway through.
There isn’t a huge amount in the way of characterisation, but it’s not that kind of comic – it’s all about the action and the crazy concepts (some of the magical/mystical stuff gets a bit Ghibli at times, and also it feels a bit Ninja Scroll in places) – and it’s all carried by the art.
There’s some beautiful, crazily detailed stuff here, especially in the (almost wordless) prologue scene or the later action sequences.
If you like Stokoe’s stuff I can definitely recommend this. It immediately went from me trying this first issue on a whim to me adding the full series to my pull list.
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Starting to lose faith in Crossover. Read #3 and #4 today. They were entertaining enough, but lack any real substance. It feels like this concept has a lot of potential, but requires some big properties to really pull off. The eclectic mix of second (Third? Fourth?) stringers doesn’t really do it justice.
There continues to be a very Joe, the Barbarian aspect to this, which is nice, but it doesn’t have the strength of a Scott Murphy on art to hold it all together.
I’ll see the first arc out in the hopes that they’ll blow me away. It’s far from a bad book, and the problems I’m having with it are likely outside of the creative teams’ control. But, there are a lot of books I’m enjoying much more than this so I can’t justify continuing if it doesn’t really hook me over the next two issues.
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This sounds interesting:
Superman And The Authority By Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin For DC
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by .
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Agreed about Proctor Valley Road #1, Dave. I saw a bit more of Morrison in it than you did (the dialogue reminded me of their more ironic, punchier dialogue from comedic books like Vimanarama) but overall it wasn’t very distinctive and feels too much like a Stranger Things riff, only with a cast of all girls and set in the 70s instead of the 80s.
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I just read an article where someone is making an educated guess about the image of Superman and the Authority. It might be an interesting idea but it irritates me the way they play fast and loose with Wildstorm properties. “Lets put Apollo and Midnighter in a group with some random heroes and call them the Authority” WTF . Is this supposed to be new material or a hodge podge of a trade including Morrison’s last attempt at the Authority thrown together with the story about Superman vs the Elite and a story about Natasha Irons as Steel? the trade would be my guess but the new art on the cover would then be deceptive and again messing with Wildstorm fans like me.
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I honestly just wish Morrison would do good with his promise and leave DC.
With each iteration I think he has less to say about these characters that hasn’t been said before. He’s a huge talent but it’s diminishing returns. I think he has incredible things still to give to comics and while I understand the economic value of the page rate rather think he’s wasted the last 15 years. He’s a much better writer than Millar for example but I think Millar made by far the better decision in cutting the safety cord.
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I tend to agree. I have enjoyed his stuff at DC and it still has its moments, but on the whole it’s a little past its best now. I think some of his best stuff in recent years has been the original stuff like Klaus or Nameless or whatever.
It’s not like DC comics are the only stuff he’s done – he’s had his stuff at Heavy Metal and his TV work and also this new book at Boom – but I wouldn’t be unhappy if he didn’t do a DC book again, at least for a while.
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Klaus reads like a different writer, it’s fantastic.
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I liked Annihilator!
But yeah, the Morrison Batman run was fantastic, Seven Soldiers was great and All-Star Superman was wonderful. I don’t want to wish those books away, I just think that pretty much all the big DC properties there have been done now and it might be nice to see some original ideas going forward.
Or maybe a return to Marvel to finally give us that Morrison/Quitely Fantastic Four run that we’ve been so cruelly denied.
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Or maybe a return to Marvel to finally give us that Morrison/Quitely Fantastic Four run that we’ve been so cruelly denied.
I hadn’t heard anything like that, rumor or otherwise. But wow does that get my wheels spinning. I’d be all over that.
Oh it’s never been mooted as far as I know, just feels like something that should happen.
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RE the complaints about The Authority.
It’s a 2 issue series that will end up the equivalent of a 6 issue miniseries/trade.
Not worth moaning about if you don’t like the concept, it’s pretty easy just to skip it.
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Nah, issue 1 will come out, gets slagged, issue 2 turns up, Morrison legs it, it then gets maybe finished by some other team years later or is just left hanging.
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I saw Will’s Ex Machina comments to be that Vaughan tends to be weaker on endings, but more importantly that the perception of stories can change over time.
The speed of social change over the last decade does impact how stories like Ex Machina or the West Wing. Where the latter, for all its positioning, has CJ in a Smurfette role that looks a bit different 20 years on.
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I saw Will’s Ex Machina comments to be that Vaughan tends to be weaker on endings, but more importantly that the perception of stories can change over time.
The speed of social change over the last decade does impact how stories like Ex Machina or the West Wing. Where the latter, for all its positioning, has CJ in a Smurfette role that looks a bit different 20 years on.
I only got one like for that post, from the always gentlemanly like factory Todd. I don’t think Chris was talking about me. I do like Ex Machina (in fact I recently recommended it to my friend and let him borrow all ten trades) and most of BKV’s other work, but he just has some tendencies as a writer that bug me.
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I liked Annihilator!
But yeah, the Morrison Batman run was fantastic, Seven Soldiers was great and All-Star Superman was wonderful. I don’t want to wish those books away, I just think that pretty much all the big DC properties there have been done now and it might be nice to see some original ideas going forward.
Or maybe a return to Marvel to finally give us that Morrison/Quitely Fantastic Four run that we’ve been so cruelly denied.
I said it before, but nothing would please me more than Morrison & Quitely launching an OGN series like Brubaker/Phillips with Reckless. It’s crazy that they’ve only worked on one issue together in the last 10 years!!
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Really is an indication of where this forum is at these days.
Not worth moaning about if you don’t like the concept. It’s easy just to log out.
My visits are pretty sporadic, but I think the more weighted towards moaning the forum becomes the more likely remaining posters are to dwindle.
I know a few folk still come on here for recommendations and news.
Plus I just can’t be fucked listening to cunts moaning about comics constantly when there’s not a lot in the way of positivity to balance it out.
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I saw Will’s Ex Machina comments to be that Vaughan tends to be weaker on endings, but more importantly that the perception of stories can change over time.
The speed of social change over the last decade does impact how stories like Ex Machina or the West Wing. Where the latter, for all its positioning, has CJ in a Smurfette role that looks a bit different 20 years on.
I only got one like for that post, from the always gentlemanly like factory Todd. I don’t think Chris was talking about me. I do like Ex Machina (in fact I recently recommended it to my friend and let him borrow all ten trades) and most of BKV’s other work, but he just has some tendencies as a writer that bug me.
100% was not aimed at your post which was a balance and criticism was constructive
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I think the dwindling numbers of people posting about comics really amplifies the moaning here.
I don’t buy books I don’t like, or at least I try not to, so my posts here are usually about books I want to call attention to. New books or those of special interest.
It gets a bit repetitive me banging on about books I’ve already told you I enjoy. How many times do you want me to say that I don’t like Tom King but Rorschach and Batman/ Catwoman are both great. Or that Fire Power is turning into something pretty special. You’ll listen to me once or twice, but I’m not going to convince you on #9.
I certainly don’t post about as many books as I read (who has the time to do that?), but I suppose that does give the impression that I’m not reading as much. And the hopefully rare moments of negativity get amplified in the echo chamber here.
It’s a tricky one. I like coming here and talking comics, and I love reading your collective views on comics too, but I agree that it feels like we’re fading away here.
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I think the dwindling numbers of people posting about comics really amplifies the moaning here.
I think it’s not just amplifying the moaning but also knowing each other’s tastes well. There are few enough of us and we’ve been together as a group long enough now that we all know what kind of stuff we’re each into, and a lot of the reactions probably aren’t that surprising.
Having said that I do think there’s value in still having these conversations as I still find out about new/good books through this thread and the trades thread especially. So even if the numbers are lower than they used to be, it’s still a conversation that I feel is worth having.
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True, the quantity is lower but I still found and really enjoyed That Texas Blood and Dept of Truth, which would have passed me by if not for the chatter about each here.
I think the changes at DC and Marvel just splurging event after event may have a negative effect, as what can be said about either that hasn’t been said before? Even so, there’s still the Black Label for DC, plus there’s those Marvel runs that continue to get attention no matter what like Zdarsky’s Daredevil and Ewing’s Immortal Hulk.
Edit – Oh yeah, Fire Power is sounding good but it’s Kirkman, he’ll issue it in OHC format.
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Plus I just can’t be fucked listening to cunts
Wow, that’s super constructive. We should write more comic reviews like this.
Right, WARMBO?
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I did enjoy Justice League more than my review conveys, I just couldn’t be fucked to fit enough “i just can’t be fucked” into it while keeping the positives in. It just didn’t feel constructive enough, you know… Maybe I shouldn’t cater to cunts, and instead write down my actual thoughts on it? Nah, WARMBO would just be upset that I’ve rocked the boat by not liking the stuff he likes.
Oh, that’s right, I don’t care.
So, on a more serious note regarding JL, it was a bit of a letdown to start it off on page one with what some people undoubtedly will see as Bendis-speak, but it did get better from that point out. The villain shows up and starts smashing while asking questions. He definitely had a different flavour to him than Rogol Zaar, in that he’s quipping and feels like a smiling light-hearted evil-doer as opposed to Rogols dark and edgy vengeful-driven pathos. At the same time, being a big muscular dude that shows up from nowhere asking questions while smashing things, he did remind me of Rogol.
This reminding could be entirely bias on my part though, seeing as I definitely knew I was reading a Bendis comic and came into it with his recent works on my mind. And I mean, we know nothing about this villain yet, it’s unfair to say he’s like this or like that.
The center of the issue is Black Adam. And he gets a couple of moments. Seemed a bit gentler than I like to remember him, but that’s not criticism. Just a thought. I think I’ll give the next issue a go.
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I think Bendis’ Superman was a bit of a nail in the coffin as far as my interest in his work goes. He often starts reasonably well but fizzles out in the end, and I find his style a bit tired these days.
What happened to his creator-owned Jinxworld stuff at DC? There was a flurry of activity for a while there but then it all went quiet. A shame as that was better than his DCU stuff.
So Scarlet’s disappeared, again?
Bendis could easily match Miller in the creator-owned if he focused on it. Finish Powers and Scarlet. Hell, revive Brilliant and actually do Naomi S2. But of those I suspect only Naomi S2 might happen.
I will admit I was excited at first when I saw Bendis was doing creator owned work at DC. I didn’t buy any of it because my gut told me they would get pushed aside as his corporate work would take precedence. The same thing happened at Marvel. I do understand as the company is signing his paycheck and their work has to come first. I also understand getting the opportunity to write characters you grew up with and mean a lot to you.
I do wish Bendis would follow Mark Millar and Ed Brubaker’s lead and go full indie. Leave the Big Two behind and do his own thing. Return to his roots. Focus completely on his own creations. He could also be like Millar and work with his bucket list of dream artists.
I think I would be far more inclined to try his creator owned work again if he did that.
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Bendis could easily match Miller in the creator-owned if he focused on it.
Yeah, but could he match Millar?
Eh, a, e – look, I’m talking about the guy who never understood hyperbole to be a bad thing.
…. Wait, that applies to both too!
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The fact that he managed to throw that all away and end the run in such a tepid manner is disappointing.
Which is the recurring thing for me, a lot of his work starts out strong and a nice new direction – it’s not as if it turns awful it just seems to lose direction and fizzle out. He has to have Ultimate Spider-Man as the exception to the rule but I think it happened with him on Avengers, X-Men and Superman.
I liked his Ironheart/Doom run at the end of his Marvel stint but his move across may have helped there in that they were relatively brief.
So it could be a different lesson he can take from Millar. Do a 12 issue run on a character and move on to something else.
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He has to have Ultimate Spider-Man as the exception to the rule
Also Daredevil and Alias. But those were all relatively early runs. He’s a bit of a different writer now.
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Given non essential shops have been closed since Xmas and my local comic shop having zero online presence (ie a website or even facebook to get in touch through) it’s been three months since I’ve read a new comic. I’ve not got a huge pull list but was looking forward to seeing how The Boys: Dear Becky and the Hellblazer three parter wrapped up.
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I’ve been getting all of my comics from FP since the lockdown began. Very convenient. It’s almost tempting not to bother going back to my LCS when that reopens, but I will. They’re family.
Anyways … comics!
Maestro: War and Pax is the second of Peter David’s mini-series detailing Hulk’s rise to power in the near future. I really enjoyed the first mini, and this one is possibly even better. It perfectly captures the feel of David’s definitive earlier run on the character, a feeling likely amplified by guest stars, the Pantheon. Javier Pina’s artwork is slick and very reminiscent of Stuart Immonen’s. #3 of 5 just came out. Good stuff.
I’ve read a lot of Aliens comics from Dark Horse over the years, and I was a little disappointed that they lost the licence following Disney’s purchase of Twentieth Century Fox. But, much like Conan before it, Marvel’s Alien #1 feels very different, fresh and exciting.
Johnson’s story starts strong, immediately evoking the claustrophobic horror of the franchise, before opening up to some world building. Events of the first two movies are referenced, but nothing of any subsequent movies or the prequels (so far).
Salvador Larocca’s artwork takes a bit of getting used to though. Much like Land and Deodato before him, he has ditched his own style in favour of a more photo referenced style that is distracting at best, and fugly at worst.
Regardless, the best compliment I can give this after the first issue is that this feels like a legitimate entry in the movie cannon. I’ll be picking up the next issue.
Detective Comics #1034 is the first “proper” Tamaki/ Mora/ Bellaire issue, and it is a very good, down to earth take on the character in comparison to the main Batman title. The colours are far more subdued than they were in Dark Detective, but the artwork remains stellar. I liked this, and look forward to more.
The Damien Wayne backup by Williamson and Melnikov was fine too. I’m not a huge fan of the character, so am not likely to buy the first issue of the Robin series next month. But, as a DC fanboy from the 1990’s I do love Connor Hawke, so it’s going to be difficult to resist. Will try to wait for it on the DC Digital service though. Will. Try.
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Really is an indication of where this forum is at these days.
Not worth moaning about if you don’t like the concept. It’s easy just to log out.
My visits are pretty sporadic, but I think the more weighted towards moaning the forum becomes the more likely remaining posters are to dwindle.
I know a few folk still come on here for recommendations and news.
Plus I just can’t be fucked listening to cunts moaning about comics constantly when there’s not a lot in the way of positivity to balance it out.
I always try to be balanced in my posts. So for every review of a new Legion comic, I next post a review of a 1960s Adventure Comics story.
That way you get the very worst of DC followed by the very best of DC from me
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I caught up on the second issue of Stray Dogs. This is Tony Fleecs’ first written work and he’s done a very good job of it.
It’s very well paced, draws you in effortlessly and has some well placed suspense and cliffhangers.
It’s essentially quite a dark classic Disney movie and I think it has the potential to be huge. I’ll be very surprised if this hasn’t already been snapped up for adaptation.
I also read the first issue of Tamaki and Mora’s Detective Comics run. The art and colouring is great, the writing is enjoyable enough but it lacks a bit of a hook. I really loved their 4 issue Future State Dark Detective, but I think removing the neon lit atmosphere of that setting leaves Tamaki’s script a bit exposed, which is evident here. Worth sticking with though.
The Robin back up was very Williamsoneque, and his DC stuff is not really for me.
I read PK Johnston and Hester’s Superman and Action Comics first issues. Very decompressed and and extremely quick read. I’m not really bought in and I think i’ll leave this for the digital service, because the back ups were horrible. I’m not up for paying £4 for these books.
The Bendis Justice League book was entirely par for course for Bendis, so depending on your mileage for his work you probably already know what to expect and that would be your answer on whether to check it out or not: it’s not for me but I’ll skim it digitally when DCU hits UK.
Nightwing 78 is how you start a new run. It’s worthy of the hype. Taylor’s script is solid, lots of nice touches and interesting movements and written in an enjoyable way and Redondo’s art is lovely and clear, I also love the covers and the colouring scheme they’ve got going on with the blue. It’s very striking. I found this hard to get because this has sold out and gone to second printing already. I managed to find the variant thanks to a tip off from a friend that FP had them. But I’ve since went on and paid £8 on eBay for the main cover. I never do that. So something is seriously drawing me to this book. It feels like DC of old and I look forward to seeing what Taylor does on his 6 issue Batman book.
Taylor is destined to pick up one of the 2 batbooks when Tynion rolls off (hopefully not for a LONG time as that book is fucking excellent) or sales tank on the Tamaki book if it doesn’t pick up some momentum. Mora should draw readers in though.
Im still waiting on Swamp Thing to arrive and I have not read Flash yet. I won’t read Harley Quinn.
Post Future State DC are in a better place then I thought they would be.
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I read the final four issues of Rick Remender’s Low today (#23-26). For me this book always stood in the shadow of Black Science, and given how disappointing I found the conclusion of that book I approached this with some trepidation. I needn’t have worried too much. This final arc remained true to the core themes of book – the power of hope prevailing in hopelessness. It’s a crazy and chaotic ending, that takes you on a roller coaster ride before coming to rest with a lovely callback to the first issue of the title. I did struggle with a few bits & pieces of the story, given how long ago the preceding issue was published, but overall it stuck the landing nicely, restoring some of the faith in Rick’s work that I had lost earlier.
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Oh, that’s good to hear.
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Moonshine #23 is the first part of the fifth story arc in Azzarello and Risso’s prohibition era werewolf epic. It’s probably not a good place to start for a newcomer, as it picks up directly on story threads left dangling from the last arc, leading to an unexpected reunion of the series’ main protagonists in New York City. I have no idea if this is the final arc in the series, but it certainly feels like it could be climatic.
It’s moody and atmospheric, and so very good. Love this book.
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Catwoman 29 wasn’t quite pulling up trees, but there was definitely something about it. I think I now have such faith in Ram V’s potential and Fenando Blanco’s amazing art that it motivated me to pick up #28.
I read it and re-read 29 last night and i think it really clicked with me, so much so that I went on eBay and ordered 25, 26 and 27; 25 being the start of their run. Blanco has a touch of Pacquette about him in his inks and form, mixed with someone like Leon. I can’t quite put my finger on it but his style feels familiar yet original enough to set him apart and like Ram V he has the potential to go to the top.
i can’t remember if I mentioned it previously but Spurrier’s Black Knight #1 was excellent. Lots going on and it gives the vibe of a very carefully put together and fun book. He’s on an incredible run just now, which is the main reason I checked this out. I’m in for the other 4 issues.
Alien #1 was a real disappointment. The script from Phillip Kennedy Johnson didn’t quite grab me, I don’t think it helped that I found it quite confusing at times. And I don’t think I was interested enough to make the effort to work out what was going on. I’ve already preordered the first 4 issues though so I might let them stack up and see how it reads together. Last God reads better in big chunks so I’ll give this the benefit of the doubt. Although Larocca was a terrible choice of artist, I’m not sure I can get past his art long term, hopefully they swap him out. If anyone is picking this up look out for the Peach Momoko variant which is the same price as the main cover. It’s a cracker.
Speaking of Momoko her X-Men Demon Days got off to a great start, she really is an amazingly talented stylistic artist and the script for this one, although translated, was good also. Absolute beast of a creator in the making, one would imagine. Although she has been quite ubiquitous on variant covers this past couple years.
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I felt similarly about Alien #1, the story is ok but jumps around a little unnecessarily and Larroca’s art is incredibly stiff and posed and photo-referenced feeling. Someone with a more dynamic, visceral and atmospheric style could have really elevated it.
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While I remember, beta ray bill by Daniel Warren Johnson was a real let down. The decision to tie this into Thor and King in Black was a bad one.
DC will have an evergreen Wonder Woman book on their hands with Dead Earth and Marvel look to have made a terrible decision in not trusting this extremely talented guy to do something similar with BRB. It will always be a book that ties into an event from 2021 and spent most of its first issue dealing with that; my eyes glazed over as I have zero interest in what Cates is doing on those books. I will hold off to hear how the rest of it went before deciding whether or not to come back to it. The whole thing feels like a badly managed and wasted opportunity, especially following on the heat of Dead Earth, I know I’m not the only person who picked this up solely on the strength of DWJ.
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I also picked up Beta Ray Bill #1. Despite being a big fan of DWJ this was just ok. For me it felt like a bit of a necessary evil for an in-continuity book, in that it deals with some loose ends and King In Black stuff to allow it to move on and tell its own story, which I’m assuming will kick off in earnest with #2.
It almost feels like it would have worked best as a #0 issue. The art is still great though so I’m hoping for better things to come.
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More positively, Batman Black & White #4 was maybe the best issue yet of this latest incarnation of the series. There are some solid creators here telling (mostly) good stories – DWJ’s one is very decent, the Dodsons provide some nice art for another, but the best might be Karl Kerschl’s effort which is a great little haunted house story with a twist. Worth a look.
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