The Ongoing New Comics Thread

Topic

(No stickers, please.)

Here’s where we can discuss the new books that come out each Wednesday.

Replies

Maybe. Alas, I haven’t seen it.

Jason Aaron’s run on Thor finished this week too, with the finale of King Thor. I loved this run, when it started seven years ago in the pages of God of Thunder. That initial “God Butcher” arc was amazing, and still holds up today (my wife’s reading it for the first time right now, funnily enough). But, I dropped the book when Jane Foster came on board, because it felt like a cheap, publicity stunt that I wanted nothing to o with.

King Thor #1-4 is a return to the beginning, with a pseudo sequel to the ”God Butcher”. It’s even by Aaron, Ribic and Svorcina. And, I loved every page of this.

It probably doesn’t stand up without some an appreciation for the earlier storyline, to be fair. There’s not much in the way of exposition. Just full on action, a few solid emotional beats, and a lot of thunder.

It’s funny reading this on the same day as Doomsday Clock #12, because it actually shares some thematic similarities. Aaron’s take is the better one too.

I’ll probably even go back and check out those intervening chapters now.

 

Harleen #3

This was a great ending to what has been a great miniseries.

I make no secret of being a fan of Sejic before I read this, but even then I wasn’t convinced he could pull this off. Harley is a character that has often felt a bit thin to me, and with no real attachment to her I wondered whether he could really make me care about her and make her seem like a fully-formed character.

I shouldn’t have worried. This is some of the best character work I’ve seen recently in a Big Two superhero comic, and it helps that Sejic has had the time to really dig into Harleen’s pre-Harley character and set up a lot of payoffs that finally come this issue. It feels earned (rather than like it’s happening just because it has to in order to get Harley to where she needs to be.)

The romance angle works too, as weird as that sounds. We see the Joker as Harley sees him, and it’s fascinating and disturbing to see him become such an object of erotic desire (and there’s some pleasing ambiguity about exactly how much he’s manipulating it all).

On top of all this there’s a big jailbreak storyline that pulls in lots of other Bat-villains, as well as some nice cameos from Bruce Wayne himself that offer a slightly different perspective on everything that’s going on.

This book works, basically, and I look forward to rereading it all in one go.

I gather Sejic is working on a follow-up about Poison Ivy (who plays a supporting role here). I’ll definitely be there for that.

Batman: Last Knight On Earth #3

This, on the other hand, is a bit of a mess.

I’m not a huge Snyder fan but I check in on his stuff regularly, and from what I’ve seen it seems like he’s recently started to lean harder into big messy superhero stories where anything goes, and it’s all about cramming outrageous concepts and weird, wacky moments into a story until it starts to pop at the seams.

That can be a fun way to tell a superhero story, but it doesn’t really work with the sombre, dark tone that this post-apocalyptic adventure is going for, and it feels a bit all over the place as a result.

It also doesn’t help that issue #2 came out so many months ago that I’ve forgotten a lot of the details of this book, which means that some of the callbacks and reveals this issue don’t quite land as they should.

And it’s just awkward timing, but I didn’t need another book this week where a big dystopian future disaster suddenly is meant to feel ok just because a certain someone turns up at the end.

There’s some good stuff in here, and Capullo’s artwork is always worth a look, but it feels like a 90s comic in a lot of ways – heavy on the spectacle and craziness, but without it adding up to a really good story.

Dave wrote:

I gather Sejic is working on a follow-up about Poison Ivy (who plays a supporting role here).

Ohhh, I hadn’t heard about that, thanks.

I don’t know if it’s been officially announced but he’s tweeted out some concepts and ideas for it. Presumably if Harleen does well then DC will want more.

I really enjoyed Batman: Last Knight On Earth. With the shipping frequency being what it was, I decided to wait until I had all three parts in hand before I started reading it; so the delays with the last issue didn’t bother me so much. I mainlined all three issues this morning, and had a great time with it all.

It’s a fun, post apocalyptic, buddy movie road trip, through a possible future where the events of the current Justice League run took a rather dark turn. Whilst the overall destination was entertaining, as with all road trips the journey itself was half the fun. Seeing the shape of this future world, and what had happened to many familiar places and faces added tremendously to the overall experience.

I do prefer the darker, smaller scale, more horror focused tales of Snyder’s work (his Detective Comics run, or early Batman work, for example), and don’t feel his style lends itself particularly well to the more overtly bombastic Morrisonesque work he’s been drawn towards over the last few years. But, Snyder & Capullo are a great team, and always deliver solid superhero stories. I look forward to their next collaboration in the new year.

Wonder Woman: Dead Earth #1

I loved this. Daniel Warren Johnson is a new name to me, but the concept sounded interesting and I liked the look of the art when I flipped through it so I gave it a shot.

It’s a Wonder Woman story quite unlike one I’ve read before, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi/medieval fantasy romp that sees Diana navigating a futuristic yet primitive wasteland bringing hope to a hopeless world.

And it’s quite brilliant. Despite the unusual setting, it captures the essence of Wonder Woman as a character, both as a fierce and unyielding warrior but also (and more importantly) as a kind, loving and compassionate hero, who uses all those qualities to try and solve the problems in front of her rather than blind, mindless violence.

The art is incredibly dynamic and raw-feeling, yet with enough control and craft to tell a decent story as well as make the more brutal and fantastical moments hit home. If you’re a fan of indefatigable warriors fighting monstrous beasts then this is the book for you.

The use of colour is also fantastic, with the brown and orange earthy tones giving way to some vivid, arresting flashes of bold neon colours later on in the book. The designs are wonderful, textured and lived-in. And the sound effects are brilliantly deployed and integrated into the art.

I won’t say too much about the story as there are some twists and surprises here that are best discovered for yourself, but this is one of the most promising debut issues I’ve read in a long time. The Black Label books are hitting a great average lately.

Jonathan Hickman and Nic Dragotta’s East of West finishes this week with #45, a double sized conclusion. Every single thing about this book is perfection. Everyone gets what’s coming to them in a truly satisfying conclusion. Cathartic. Uplifting. It’s a great book, that makes me immediately want to go back and read the whole thing again!

Hickman’s storytelling issue to issue can be difficult to follow, but for my money he is absolutely the best there is at hitting the landing. When he actually finishes a book.

I’m still sore about the way that The Manhattan Projects ended, or failed to. I live in hope that we’ll see that book return at some point. Black Monday Murders too.

If you’ve enjoyed Hickman’s Marvel work, and never gave his Image stuff a try, I strongly recommend East of West. A futuristic, sci fi, supernatural western. It should be right up your street.

Vikram wrote:

Hickman’s storytelling issue to issue can be difficult to follow, but for my money he is absolutely the best there is at hitting the landing.

I have actually kept buying East of West without reading it. I was really enjoying it but got lost with what was going on month to month. I’m going to read it right the way through now.

I did similar. I read #41 – 45 in one sitting. That really helped give the conclusion more impact, I think. Hope you enjoy it too.

Great to hear about East of West’s conclusion – hadn’t realised #45 was it.

Vikram wrote:

I’m still sore about the way that The Manhattan Projects ended, or failed to. I live in hope that we’ll see that book return at some point. Black Monday Murders too.

You might as well throw The Dead and the Dying in there too. Still waiting for a satisfactory conclusion after two starts were aborted.

Hickman is one of those writers whose indy stuff I will always buy, as I think he has some great ideas and I love the way he presents those ideas on paper. I recently bought the two available HCs of East of West with the intention of re-reading the series from the beginning. Hopefully the third and final HC will appear around the time I finish volume 2.

But, yeah, Black Monday Murders….

I didn’t bother with Dying & the Dead, after the same creative team screwed up the schedule on Secret earlier. If it ever actually finishes I’ll pick up the issues cheaply or in a tpb.

Dead and Dying trade release date is forever getting bumped .

Ben wrote:

Dead and Dying trade release date is forever getting bumped .

Hardly surprising when there’s no issues coming out to fill it.

Hmmm I wish I’d flicked through this year’s Klaus before spending £7 on it.

Dave wrote:

Harleen #3

This was a great ending to what has been a great miniseries.

I make no secret of being a fan of Sejic before I read this, but even then I wasn’t convinced he could pull this off. Harley is a character that has often felt a bit thin to me, and with no real attachment to her I wondered whether he could really make me care about her and make her seem like a fully-formed character.

I shouldn’t have worried. This is some of the best character work I’ve seen recently in a Big Two superhero comic, and it helps that Sejic has had the time to really dig into Harleen’s pre-Harley character and set up a lot of payoffs that finally come this issue. It feels earned (rather than like it’s happening just because it has to in order to get Harley to where she needs to be.)

The romance angle works too, as weird as that sounds. We see the Joker as Harley sees him, and it’s fascinating and disturbing to see him become such an object of erotic desire (and there’s some pleasing ambiguity about exactly how much he’s manipulating it all).

On top of all this there’s a big jailbreak storyline that pulls in lots of other Bat-villains, as well as some nice cameos from Bruce Wayne himself that offer a slightly different perspective on everything that’s going on.

This book works, basically, and I look forward to rereading it all in one go.

I gather Sejic is working on a follow-up about Poison Ivy (who plays a supporting role here). I’ll definitely be there for that.

I also found the time to read #3 this weekend. I have to re-read all 3 issues soon again, since I got a bit lost in #2 with the Two-Face story within the story, that gets its payback here (I think he is also a character that gets a new angle that works better for me here than before – the Judge makes the way he “thinks”/”operates” make more sense of the character than ever).

Returning to Harley, it was one of the best interpretations I’ve read of the character and it makes me like her a lot more now.

The only negative for me, and this is not Harleen’s fault, is the continued “Deus Ex Machina” that is given to the Joker character. It’s like he’s this master manipulator and has everything set in advance. From comic to comic, it makes me like that kind of characterization of his character less and less. It makes him like Batman, and I also don’t like that “prepared in advance” set for those two characters.

People are always telling me Batman is more realistic than Superman, since Batman is the apogee of human development. But the more I read Batman or in this case Joker’s characterizations, the more it reads the opposite. Batman/Joker are a non-realistic fantasy. It’s like they are both future-tellers, they could win the lottery every week. In this story the Joker sets all the domino stones in place “in advance?” and Harley falls for it…

Sorry for the rant, but Batman is losing is human connection more and more, and the Joker is looking more and more like a cold manipulator than an chaos agent…

Robbo wrote:

Hmmm I wish I’d flicked through this year’s Klaus before spending £7 on it.

Oh dear. I have this on order and it hasn’t arrived yet.

I was with my Legion fan group last weekend and was surprised to find that most of them liked the new Legion more than I did. I mean, these are hard-core old-school conservative Legion fans that make me look like a new-comics-hipster in comparison

So I figured there must be something to it I was missing, and I was letting my prejudices colour my objective judgement.

So when DC finally deigned to release #2, two weeks late (great support for your new book there, guys, really tells me that you have confidence in it) I tried to read it with a more open mind.

So far my open mind has tried three times. Each time I’ve managed a couple of pages before putting it down and reading something else to get some relief from the awfulness. At this rate I’ll have finished it by the end of the month and can give you a proper review then. Until then, all I can do is advise you to jab hot needles into your eyes if you ever think about trying to read this comic. You will be doing yourself a kindness.

No, no, no Sir, this will not do! We require a cut-by-cut autopsy of this issue.

“But where has this been for the last thousand years?”

“He just said nobody knows.”

“I literally just said that.”

*Re-reads the entire scene in confusion. Discovers he literally didn’t just say that.*

Sprock’s sake, Bendis, if even you can’t keep track of your own script, what chance do the rest of us have?

Joker: Killer Smile #2

This was an improvement on the first issue, and takes the standard “Joker tries to get under the skin of his doctor” setup and pushes it further into psychological horror territory.

It works well and the art is suitably unsettling, with some great colour work to set various strands of reality apart from one another.

With a couple of decent twists and solid writing and art, this was a good issue – although it feels like it doesn’t really leave the story anywhere to go in the third and final issue, and each issue feels a little thin as far as page count goes (most Black Label books are not only bigger in terms of the page size but also in terms of length).

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how this wraps up.

Blade Runner 2019 #5

This issue kicks off a new story arc, and while the art is still strong, the writing works well and there are some interesting ideas in play, I didn’t feel quite the same hook for this story as I did for the opening arc.

There isn’t yet a character to really root for like Ash in the first arc; there isn’t the same sci-fi private-detective angle to make it feel quite as close to the original movie; and there isn’t the same opportunity to revisit the iconic movie designs given the change of setting here.

That said, I feel like the first arc was good enough that the book has earned some credit, so I’ll stick around for at least another issue to learn more about these characters and hope that I start to care about them as much as I ended up caring about the characters in the first story.

President of the United Planets: “Superboy? Son of Superman Superboy?”

(One issue ago):

President of the United Planets: “The son of the original Superman from the 20th century is here?”

You were discussing him 10 sproking minutes ago and you’ve forgotten who he is already you stupid sproking moron how the hell did you get made the sproking president of the UP?

Truly, I think Bendis must be the worst comic writer in the history of comics. He doesn’t even remember his own story from one scene to the next.

How does this guy keep getting work?

Bendis?

Brian Bendis, the comics writer?

Are you asking how Brian Bendis, the comics writer keeps getting work?

When his work as incompetent as I have been reading recently, yes, that’s what I’m asking.

Maybe he’s cheap?

Wait, so you’re saying Brian Bendis, the comics writer, is cheap?

Is that what you’re saying, David?

Cheap?

Cheap.

You’re saying he’s cheap?

I am. I… Yes.

You?

Me.

I can’t believe.. I mean. Cheap!

I know.

I just… (this is so)

It is.

Is this a thing?

What?

A thing. A! Thing!

I don’t.. I mean (wow)

Wow. Just…. Wow.

So do we… How do we….?

I don’t… I mean, I hadn’t….

Oy!

Not like this!

 

Aside from old gems like Daredevil and Alias, Bendis comics have always read to me like first drafts given a quick dialogue pass. Given his level of output and the samey-ness of his writing no matter the characters he’s scripting, I’m quite certain that’s the case.

Anonymous wrote:

Wait, so you’re saying Brian Bendis, the comics writer, is cheap?

Is that what you’re saying, David?

Sorry, I’ve only just realised that your responses were meant to be a Bendis pastiche.

It wasn’t immediately obvious because they were too coherent.

DavidM wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wait, so you’re saying Brian Bendis, the comics writer, is cheap?

Is that what you’re saying, David?

Sorry, I’ve only just realised that your responses were meant to be a Bendis pastiche.

It wasn’t immediately obvious because they were too coherent.

You didn’t know?

You.

Didn’t.

Know?

David. What the fuck?

Fuck!

He didn’t know.

I’ll say again, there is a clear correlation between the volume of Bendis’ workload and the perceived quality of it. When he was only writing Superman and Action Comics, he was getting pretty good reviews. Now that he’s writing those, along side Young Justice, LoSH, and a bunch of other bits & pieces, we’re repeating the same criticisms of his writing style and so on that we were during his Marvel tenure.

Who knows if it’s the quality of his writing that suffers, or basically our tolerance levels for the rhythm falls with over familiarity.

I’m getting to the point where I’m looking for books of his to drop. Unfortunately he’s got the keys to my childhood locked up in YJ, along with John Romita Jr and Ivan Reis in his back pocket. It’s harder than it sounds.

Vikram wrote:

Who knows if it’s the quality of his writing that suffers, or basically our tolerance levels for the rhythm falls with over familiarity.

A bit of both I think.

The novelty of Bendis being able to play with the DC toys was good for both him and readers initially, but it feels like it hasn’t taken long for his honeymoon period to wane.

I liked his early efforts on the Superman books but the second collection of Action Comics was so bad that it caused me to drop his Superman stuff altogether.

DavidM wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Wait, so you’re saying Brian Bendis, the comics writer, is cheap?

Is that what you’re saying, David?

Sorry, I’ve only just realised that your responses were meant to be a Bendis pastiche.

It wasn’t immediately obvious because they were too coherent.

I’m putting this comment on the fridge.

Correction to an earlier post: I previously stated that the John Constantine/ Timothy Hunter crossover in The Books of Magic #14 was inconsequential. Not so. Spurrier builds off the back of this in Hellblazer #2. Which was another fine issue of the relaunched title.

Lucifer #15 had the devil throwing a dinner party, with John Constantine showing up as a guest. Shenanigans ensue. Good issue, let down by some rather uninspired artwork – I wish the Fiumaras had been working on this issue. It was a little weird seeing JC so obviously out of his depth here.

The Dreaming #16 finally provided some answers to a few of the series’ biggest questions, as it continues to build towards the end of Spurrier’s run on the title. Enjoying this book immensely, but I’m not sure I’ll be staying on board when Wilson takes over.

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Chris-S

Vikram wrote:

Enjoying this book immensely, but I’m not sure I’ll be staying on board when Wilson takes over.

I’ve enjoyed Spurrier’s run loads too but I will be giving Wilson’s a chance. She’s known mostly now for superhero stuff with Ms Marvel and Wonder Woman but I first read her stuff at Vertigo with Cairo and Air so I think she has the right sensibility to make it work. I’ll at least give it an arc.

Air and Cairo are very distinctive but both are great.

Money Shot #3

I’m continuing to enjoy Money Shot, although it’s interesting that the book’s weakest suit is all the fantastical alien porn stuff and the best moments are the smaller character beats that are mostly confined to flashbacks.

This issue finishes off the origin story for the team – set against their present-day antics as captives on an alien planet – and the flashback sections are very amusing. They deal with the team all sleeping with each other in various pairings as part of their preparations to shoot intergalactic porn together, and with one page per pairing it makes for a fun set of little vignettes that offer cheeky jokes while also revealing a little something about each set of characters.

It’s hard to do a book like this without things feeling sleazy or seedy, but the book manages it, and never slips into feeling exploitative. Despite sex being at the heart of its concept, the sex and nudity is kept to those scenes where it’s necessary, and deployed fairly sparingly.

However, that means there has to be more to the book than just that, and at the moment there isn’t really – the alien characters feel underwritten and under-developed, and the overall setting feels a bit generic and uninteresting, despite the art being perfectly decent. It’s just all a bit flat and indistinct.

From what I can tell (Vault’s website is not much help), this book is set to run for an initial five issues. Maybe having now got all the origin-story stuff out of the way, they’ll be able to use the final two issues to add a bit of meat to the bones of the present-day storyline.

I read Marvel’s Incoming #1 and I really like the set up, and the old elements being brought into to play. I was really not looking forward to a rehash of Civil War.

My biggest take away is    The Cotati seem to be back in play.

Undiscovered Country #1 & #2

I picked these up on recommendation from a couple of board members and I’m glad I did, as it’s a pretty solid start to an interesting series.

The concept of the USA having shut itself off from the outside world for a few decades is an intriguing one that’s ripe with story possibilities, and while I was initially disappointed at the reveal of a fairly generic-feeling Mad Max style post-apocalyptic landscape within, there’s actually a lot more going on here than that.

There’s political intrigue and manoeuvring that involves double- and triple-agents; there’s backstory that gives certain characters a personal connection and a decent stake in the action; and there’s some interesting sci-fi context including a deadly global disease as well as the various ways in which the USA has shut itself off from the rest of the planet.

The art is good too – although as I say, it occasionally leans a little too hard into a Mad Max homage to really feel distinctive in its own right – and I like the extra material that we get as backmatter explaining the genesis of the series and fleshing out some detail of this book’s world, as well as providing some looks at concept art and development.

While it’s not an unqualified success for me, it’s a decent start and I’ll keep reading for now.

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Chris-S

Lazarus Risen #1-3 is the return of Rucka/ Lark’s brilliant series. It’s quarterly now, instead of “almost monthly”; and, these three issues constitute the first arc of the new series set in X+68.

The new format of the book is awesome. A thick, square bound periodical; with a 40+ page comic, a letters page, and a bunch of backup material (short stories, source book entries, etc.). Each issue takes a lot of time to read. Almost an hour. It’s good value for money.

However, it’s quarterly. And that is clearly taking the creative team some time to get used to. The story arc doesn’t gel together well, the same way it did previously. Each issue is pretty satisfying on its own, but they don’t flow nicely one to the other. Bizarrely I think I’m going to have to go back to reading these issues as they ship, rather than stocking them up to read arc by arc. Unexpected.

The reduced frequency is really grating as well. Out of sight, out of mind. It’s arguably my favourite ongoing title, by easily one of the best creative partnerships working today, but the lack of physical presence is hurting the momentum of the book. I think so, anyway. I wonder how sales are holding up?

All that being said, it was awesome to get back into this world again. It’s always an exciting, thought provoking experience.

Speaking of Rucka, I also caught up with Lois Lane #5-7. The difference between this series and Lazarus is pretty profound. In contrast to his other book, nothing much happened in these three issues; the overall plot being disrupted as it was by the speed bump of Event Leviathan.

I’m also starting to find Mike Perkins’ artwork really distracting. Unfortunately. I can’t really put my finger on why though. It’s very natural and realistic, and suits the down to Earth tone of the series. But, similar to my feelings on Epting and Zircher and others of that ilk, aesthetically it just doesn’t appeal. Which, I realise is weird. Seeing as I just said that I loved Lark’s artwork above 🤷🏽‍♂️

Anyway, before I start rambling too much, I don’t want to make it sound like this is a bad book. Far from it, as there are some great moments in this book. Rucka makes some fantastic comments about journalistic integrity, or lack thereof. The chemistry between Lois and Renee continues to  sparkle. I just don’t think it’s going to have any mass appeal beyond dedicated fans of the writer. Approach with caution.

I’ve read the first issue of Lazarus: Risen so far and really enjoyed it. I’ve been picking them up on Comixology when they get a price drop. I’ve bought #2 and #3, I just need to get around to reading them (as with so many Comixology sale purchases!).

A couple of recent speculative digital purchases; creator owned titles by a couple of my favourite writers.

Something Is Killing The Children #1, by James Tynion and Werther Dell’edera (Boom! Studios) – this was a fantastic first issue. Just a really solid opening. A great hook in the first few pages, creepy and atmospheric. An unexpected and intriguing protagonist. Wrapped up with an explosive and gruesome ending. Tynion’s DC work is usually pretty verbose, but it’s stripped back here and let’s Dell’edera carry a lot of the narrative intensity. I liked this a lot. And can’t wait to read more.

Highly recommended to anyone who likes Stranger Things or Wytches.

Undiscovered Country #1, by Snyder & Soule, and Camuncoli (Image) on the other hand, felt a little heavy handed in its exposition. There are some interesting ideas here, as the high concept is right up my proverbial street; characters are well formed; and there were even a few twists & turns that caught me by surprise. But, there’s also such an incredibly horribly cheesy ending that it’s left a really sour taste in my mouth.

The art is also a little weird. Camuncoli has had a solid few years drawing Hellblazer and Spider-man recently. I like his stuff normally. But, it’s less well defined here and a little more fluid. I think that might be the inker here, whose name I don’t recognise. The colours are also surprisingly bright, when I suspect a heavier palate might have fit the mood better.

Not sure I’m in for the long haul on this one. Didn’t quite click for me. But, to be fair to the creators I’ll give them another issue to blow my socks off.

I picked up X-Men #4 today. It’s very good, the best X-Men issue I’ve read since HoXPoX, and it picks up and explores many of the threads from that event without really pushing any of them forward a great deal.

And that’s fine, as these are ideas that deserve more exploration at this point. I particularly liked Magneto’s descriptions of the political and economic strategies that mutants have learned from humans, and how Hickman turns that into yet another way in which mutants have evolved beyond humanity.

There’s even a bit of action with a decent subplot about Cyclops and Gorgon acting as bodyguards at the Davos summit that Charles, Erik and Apocalypse are attending.

It’s very smartly written stuff and the ideas fit the X-Men perfectly while still feeling unsettling and wrong somehow, just as in HoXPoX. More of this kind of thing please!

Oh, and Yu’s art was very good too – a bit loser and more dynamic than usual despite there being so many talking-heads sequences. Maybe it’s an inking thing.

Sadly his inker on that issue, fellow Filipino Gerry Alanguilan, passed away just before Christmas. He was only 51.

Oh, that’s sad to hear.

Edit: or what Gar just said!

 

Criminal #11

I only just picked this up despite it coming out on 26th December. I hope it doesn’t get lost in the Christmas and New Year shuffle with that release date, because it’s another great issue that really brings to a head the “Cruel Summer” story that has been running in the book for several months now.

Each issue of the story is somewhat self-contained to an extent, and this one is too, although a lot of the wider meaning will be lost if you haven’t been reading the story so far. It’s a classic “heist gone wrong” setup – that’s not a spoiler as it flags this up from the start – but the how and the why is the interesting part, and the issue keeps you guessing on that, ratcheting up the tension until the very end.

There’s some skill in plotting a heist story like this in a way that makes sense but also feels fresh and new after a million different heist stories, but Brubaker finds a decent setup here that feels logical and plausible while also being easy to grasp quickly – with plenty of obvious ways in which it could fall apart to keep you speculating on where it’s all going.

The character work here is also really strong and adds an extra dimension to the story, tying back into earlier issues of the title quite subtly in places.

And the art is as strong as ever, particularly when it comes to the characters’ faces, which often say a lot that goes unspoken by the text. There’s also a nice period feel to the vehicles and environments – at some point I want to see Phillips draw an issue-long car chase as it would be beautiful.

The ending of this issue makes me very eager to see what comes next, without really having a clue what that is going to be. That’s one of the strengths of this book – that it keeps you on your toes as a reader – but the real core strength continues to be in the seamless and flawless storytelling partnership of Brubaker and Phillips, and this might be their strongest Criminal story yet.

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #2.1, by Jody Hauser and Roberta Ingranata.

Whilst I have a lot of nostalgic affection for Seven, Ten is by far my favourite Doctor. Thirteen is, likewise, a firm favourite in our household. This issue was the start of a Ten/ Thirteen crossover, that is set within the continuity of the “Blink” TV episode.

TV tie in series are rarely great comics in their own right, so I wasn’t expecting much. But, this genuinely was a lot of fun.

Hauser has captured the voices of each of the Doctors and their companions very well. And, Ingranata’s artwork is likewise really very polished, life like and immediately recognisable without being so heavily photo referenced as to be annoying.

There’s also a very cool and effective use of panel to panel storytelling here, that nicely echoes the TV episode.

I can’t wait to read more of this storyline, and hope we get to see the two Doctors interact in person before it’s over. This was good stuff.

Decent week for me. Question: Deaths of Vic Sage #2, Batman’s Grave #4, and Undiscovered Country #3.

Hellboy Winter Special, Tales from Harrow County #2, and Undiscovered Country #3 for me this week.

Oh dear God, have I got to read another issue of Legion of Super-Heroes already?

You don’t have to, David.

Vikram wrote:

You don’t have to, David.

Does…not…compute…

I don’t know if anyone else is reading Punisher: Soviet so I’ll keep my review spoiler free.

Punisher: Soviet #3 – Holy shit. Holy shit! Holy fucking shit!!!

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Chris-S

Worth buying then.

Yeah. I know you’ll enjoy it. It’s Ennis using the Punisher as a vehicle for telling a war story of Russians in Afghanistan rather than an actual Punisher story. There’s a horrible moment on the first page turn and then an even worse one later in the issue. The guy in my local comic shop told me not to flick through and just read it. It’s all the more effective for doing so.

I’m hoping there’ll be a Panini edition like there was for Platoon for the trade in June.

DavidM wrote:

Oh dear God, have I got to read another issue of Legion of Super-Heroes already?

reread some previous Legion if you must. but please don’t torture yourself. I read #1 and while Reis’ designs are good, the story was unreadable.

The Batman’s Grave #4

By now, you know what you’re getting with this book. Some dry, witty dialogue between Alfred and Bruce; a cool extended action sequence in which Batman beats people up in a well-choreographed but slightly clumsy fashion; some musings about designer pharmaceuticals and mysterious crime plots; and a final page that just sits there laughing at you for expecting a monthly comic to provide a reading experience that’s complete unto itself.

But on that last point, this issue is a real corker. I don’t usually believe in posting spoilers (and I don’t know how to conceal or blur images on here), but just look at this final page and feel your mind boggle at the editorial decision that allowed that final line to act as a cliffhanger.

 

Surely Ellis is taking the piss at this point?

The thing is, it doesn’t really matter as the book is still fairly entertaining for what it is. But at this stage, a third of the way into what has been billed as a twelve-issue run, I feel like I’m still none the wiser as to what the larger story is.

Let’s hope it all starts to come into focus a little bit more over the next couple of issues. Although based on how erratically plotted the Wild Storm series was, I wouldn’t be surprised if it just meanders on like this for ten issues and then Ellis suddenly says “oh shit” and rushes out a big blowout finale.

At least with Hitch on art it will look good.

Dave wrote:

Surely Ellis is taking the piss at this point?

Hitch was interviewed on Word Balloon a couple of months back and said Ellis was approaching it as a graphic novel and disregarding the issue breaks. He rather sold it as an innovative new approach, to be honest though he’s been doing that for years now on all his books. I think the second issue of Trees ended on an inconsequential line of dialogue in a conversation that just carried straight on at the start of the next issue.

In turn I have been buying the latest series of Trees when Image drops them to half price and won’t read any of it until it’s done. I’ll buy The Batman’s Grave when they collect it and it goes on a Comixology sale.

 

 

 

Oh yeah, Ellis has been doing that for years now. I remember way back when he was doing the aborted Newuniversal for Marvel he would have issues end on similar non-climaxes.

It’s become part of the character of The Batman’s Grave now to the point where I really laughed at that final page. Such an odd final line for a nominally serious superhero comic.

The Question: The Deaths Of Vic Sage #2 

This was a great comic – a taut, tense, visceral no-flab story that made me feel like a teenager reading prime-era Frank Miller books again.

The Western setting offers an interesting change of pace from issue one, and despite being a second issue the whole thing stands alone pretty well.

Both writing and art are great – really strong comics storytelling throughout. And the extras at the back of the book give you a good insight into just how much both Cowan and Sienkiewicz contribute to the art. In combination with Lemire’s lean writing it makes for a compelling read.

I can’t wait to see how this series wraps up – it’s just a shame that it’s a three-month wait for the next issue!

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Chris-S

Dave wrote:

but just look at this final page and feel your mind boggle at the editorial decision that allowed that final line to act as a cliffhanger

Joke is on you. I’ve see a preview of the next issue and it opens with Bruce Wayne constructing a giant bat out of ham.

It looks like Comixology have finally realised their UK prices were incredibly generous considering the $ exchange rate and have hiked them all.

Bruce wrote:

Dave wrote:

but just look at this final page and feel your mind boggle at the editorial decision that allowed that final line to act as a cliffhanger

Joke is on you. I’ve see a preview of the next issue and it opens with Bruce Wayne constructing a giant bat out of ham.

The Pork Knight Returns.

garjones wrote:

It looks like Comixology have finally realised their UK prices were incredibly generous considering the $ exchange rate and have hiked them all.

Just checked and the prices look the same to me – £2.49 for a $3.99 book, £2.99 for a $4.99 book. What changes have you seen?

Honestly they just changed back!

Nick MB (who used to post on MW) mentioned it on Twitter, I saw the $3.99 books at £2.99 and now checking after your post they are £2.49 again. Hopefully a bug and not a test run.

Hmmm, that’s interesting. It does make me think that maybe a pricing change is in the pipeline.

I don’t like it but it can be rather easily justified. considering they also take the 20% VAT on too. I used to buy from the US site but switched to the UK when I saw the exchange rate. Hopefully it was just a temporary bug though.

Finally got some time to dig into American Jesus: The New Messiah #2 – and I am so glad this issue came out. I have been waiting for this second volume ever since I read the original miniseries, and I have to admit – the first issue last month put me a bit on edge. It had that old school Millar style of writing, which was nice for continuity, but also a lot of his older, now very rare, missteps. Kinda felt like a monkey’s paw at the time. This newest issue though? Works wonderfully. It manages to capture, or get a reasonable facsimile of, the charm and attitude that I was expecting from this story. Millar had such verve in the afterword for the first volume about the kind of Jesus he wanted to write – and we finally get a taste of that in this one. The character is bold, daring, and very confident and it makes the issue worthwhile. Because that’s what the core should be – asking the questions, finding yourself, and thinking for yourself. That’s really the way to finding a true reconciliation with faith…on your own. And I think that’s where this is going, and the groundwork is done so well.

It still has a very early 00’s tinge to it, but I think we’re past the hump here. The actual messiah character is interesting, the conflict is understandable, engaging, and really simple to invest in. And I can’t wait to see how it all shapes up. It’s a shame that it’s only 3 issues, but it’s been a shocking, and then shockingly amicable, ride so far.

Overall: 7.5/10

You’re really like where the book goes in the last issue. That’s all I can really say, but it’s got one hell of a great ending.

Jake wrote:

That’s all I can really say, but it’s got one hell of a great ending.

Whoa! Millarworld flashback. A Millar friend humbly bragging that they have read one of his books before publication.

thanks for the nostalgia Jake.

Rocket wrote:

Jake wrote:

That’s all I can really say, but it’s got one hell of a great ending.

Whoa! Millarworld flashback. A Millar friend humbly bragging that they have read one of his books before publication.

thanks for the nostalgia Jake.

Jake’s right.  

Justice League 39 – how to throw away an ending.  I’m left wondering if that is the ending or is it going to be somewhere else. After 40+ issues that’s not acceptable.

Been catching up on Runaways and really enjoying the current run.  About to start the Doc Justice part of the run.

Wow, just took a look online about Justice League 39 – if it’s going to end like that, signposting the continuation is the next step but doesn’t seem to be there?  Another event?  Possibly a…. Crisis?

Might be time to cut my losses on DC.

Pretty good haul from my LCS today.

Ben wrote:

Wow, just took a look online about Justice League 39 – if it’s going to end like that, signposting the continuation is the next step but doesn’t seem to be there?  Another event?  Possibly a…. Crisis?

Might be time to cut my losses on DC.

I wouldn’t trash DC as a whole but I have to say I don’t get the whole Snyder stuff after he finished up Batman.

It seems to be one of those scenarios where the writer gets on so well with the artist they go into ‘what crazy shit  do you want to draw?”. Batman riding a dragon, Wonder Woman with a chainsaw etc.

I’m honestly fine with embracing the crazier elements of superhero comics but I just don’t think he does it very well. From really cleverly crafted stuff when he started to impenetrable nonsense for me.

Given DC’s trade tendencies, by the time they issue this in OHC or Omnibus, that full picture will be known.

But what I have less confidence in is DC collecting all the pieces in oversized format.  It took years to get Batman #700-702 in that format.

Given DC’s trade tendencies, by the time they issue this in OHC or Omnibus, that full picture will be known.

But what I have less confidence in is DC collecting all the pieces in oversized format.  It took years to get Batman #700-702 in that format.

garjones wrote:

Ben wrote:

Wow, just took a look online about Justice League 39 – if it’s going to end like that, signposting the continuation is the next step but doesn’t seem to be there?  Another event?  Possibly a…. Crisis?

Might be time to cut my losses on DC.

I wouldn’t trash DC as a whole but I have to say I don’t get the whole Snyder stuff after he finished up Batman.

It seems to be one of those scenarios where the writer gets on so well with the artist they go into ‘what crazy shit  do you want to draw?”. Batman riding a dragon, Wonder Woman with a chainsaw etc.

I’m honestly fine with embracing the crazier elements of superhero comics but I just don’t think he does it very well. From really cleverly crafted stuff when he started to impenetrable nonsense for me.

I’ve found that too. With his Metal in particular. Last Knight On Earth had slightly more to it, but still suffered from that kitchen sink approach.

Justice League actually started as fun and there were good bits along the way.  The inconsistent artists haven’t helped and a lack of clarity on whether this Doom War was leading into a line crossover also didn’t help.   It feels at the end like a bit of a waste of time and squandering of some good ideas.

Dave wrote:

Pretty good haul from my LCS today.

X-Men #5: I liked this, but the issue felt like it took a long time to not get very far. It’s decent setup but it ends just as it’s starting to get interesting.

Batman: Curse Of The White Knight is starting to lose me a little, all the historical backstory stuff is getting a little convoluted and I don’t care that much about what’s happening in rhe story. Great art though.

Green Lantern: Blackstars finished reasonably well, but I’m keen to get back to the main title now. This has been a fun placeholder diversion but not more than that.

And of course Criminal #12 was great, a solid end to the arc and to the latest run of the title. I’ll look forward to rereading this in HC.

I’m also looking forward to Brubaker and Phillips’ Pulp OGN that’s out in a few months – it seems like something that will be a bit different with the Western setting.

 

Only the latest issue of GIDEON FALLS for me this week.   

Last? Hadn’t realised it was ending.

Ben wrote:

Last? Hadn’t realised it was ending.

Sorry, I meant to type “latest”.  Although I just realized that issue #22 has not been solicited yet, so who knows?….

Gideon Falls is just so good. It took very little time to jump to the top of my virtual ‘to read’ pile.

Yeah, the book has a palpable mood of tension and suspense that most “horror” comic books just can’t provide or sustain. Artist Andrea Sorrentino does an amazing job giving me goosebumps with his imagery.

Yeah there’s a  creepy stillness about it. Although their styles aren’t that similar it has the same kind of mood as the work in Providence, even the rather mundane scenes have and edge of the unnerving about them.

I keep buying Gideon Falls when the issues hit 69p on Comixology and I’ve been letting them stack up – I think I have around ten issues unread now. It’s a quiet week for me this week so maybe now is the time to get caught up.

That off-kilter woodgrain effect on all the pages is part of it for me.  It’s a very effective visual technique.

I think it also helps that Sorrentino has a photorealistic art style that tends to make the supernatural moments even eerier.

X-Men #6 is good this week. It ties back nicely to HoXPoX – picking up on a moment from that book where it was clear that there was more going on than met the eye – and expands on it. Without saying too much, it sets up some nice complications for the mutants and makes the morality of Charles and Erik even murkier.

The Green Lantern Season Two #1 is ok, and the art is nice (with some amazing detail-packed panels, including a fun cameo from Morrison and Sharp). But at the same time it feels a little longer than it needs to be for what it is. I was also disappointed to hear recently that this second (and final) season has been cut from twelve issues to eight too, due to the latest DC editorial shenanigans. Hopefully they can still wrap it up more or less as planned.

Oh, and The Batman’s Grave #5 is out this week too. It is what it is. If you like Ellis and/or Hitch you’ll enjoy it. It even has a proper ending this week!

Dave wrote:

It even has a proper ending this week!

The temperature in hell just dropped to 0 degrees C.

I know it came out a few weeks ago, but did anyone else buy a physical copy of Year of The Villain: Hell Arisen #1? My copy is misprinted with half the pages printed twice, and only half the story. Just wondering if I should try to find a new copy or if they’re all like this. F*cking $5 book as well. Not happy.

I liked Green Lantern Season 2 #1 more than Dave did, in fact I found it one of the best of the series. It has a very clear hook for the new season and plays with a ton of fun ideas in just 20 pages. The crystal alien Ryk is a great new character. After the disappointing Blackstars mini I’m glad this series is back on form.

That sucks about it being reduced to 8 issues instead of 12. I guess Morrison’s not as much of the draw he used to be, back during the New 52 they just let his Batman run keep going with just a few continuity tweaks (the Batsuit, Gordon’s age/hair color, etc).