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Uncanny X-Men Omnibus 5

Uncanny X-Men 206-209, Nightcrawler 1-4, Longshot 1-6, New Mutants Annual 2, Marvel Fanfare 33

While the remaining issues of Uncanny X-Men are excellent, the rest of the omnibus is less so. The Nightcrawler mini is an OK diversion, but the Longshot mini didn’t work for me at all. The story didn’t draw me in, nor did I care about the character. This problem continues into the New Mutants Annual.

Which is the core issue, the assumption I’m also reading New Mutants. I’ll get to that but not right now. The result are characters thrown in that I know little of and have even less reason to care about.

Uncanny’s focus is on the aftermath of battle with the Beyonder, with Rachel having stolen the X-men life energy to fight him. In a bid to make up for it she nearly kills Selene, before Wolverine near kills her to stop her. That results in a X-Men / Hellfire Club brawl, before Nimrod crashes the party. While that goes on, Rachel goes off into Spiral’s body shop. The problem with that being that entire set-up is likely covered elsewhere. Fortunately the main fight is very good, with some creative use of powers, and in the case of Harry Leland, some very final consequences.

In relative terms, this is the weakest of the five omnibuses. A large part of that stems from having a parallel book and bringing in material from it, but without much in the way of info to get a new reader up to speed. The other weakness is a couple too many miniseries that contribute little to the collection.

Batman / Wonder Woman: Truth

Set after Hush, this is more or less a chase story of the leads pursuing the stolen lasso of truth, as it goes from Catwoman to Harley Quinn to Joker. The story’s OK but it’s a book bought far more for Cheung’s art which is superb. There’s some great moments along the way too, like Wonder Woman holding Catwoman by the scruff of her neck.  Loeb’s dual narration device, used first in Batman / Superman is effective here too.

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Dave

They were, they had James Mangold for it, but last I read, it was on ice.

Also, Claremont’s Wolverine is far more mortal than the version since Civil War, where you can nuke him and he won’t even feel it. Claremont’s version is technically unkillable, but he can be hurt and, if hit hard enough, incapacitated for a time.

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Todd

Yeah, so much of what Claremont does is how Marvel would come to operate.

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Todd

Uncanny X-Men Omnibus 5

Uncanny X-Men 194-205, New Mutants Special Edition 1 and Uncanny X-Men Annual 9

Absurd as it sounds, this was published 2019. The first omnibus was 2006. 13 years to get these five omnibuses!

Unfortunately, while this set of issues was overall good, it’s the first time where I felt some weaknesses crept in. At the same time Claremont had to weave in Secret Wars II. Storm is perhaps the best example of this, she’d left to find where she should be without her powers, found it then was back with the X-Men. Similarly the stories with BWS on art aimed high but I don’t think they realised their ambition. Nor did the Asgard crossover work that well for me.

What did work very well was the centrepiece of the collection, Uncanny X-Men 200. Magneto on trial, while mysterious attacks, later shown to be Fenris’ work, Strucker’s vile spawn, frame the X-men. Up to this point there has been a steadily increasing tide of anti-mutant hatred, embodied by Nimrod and demonstrated by Xavier slowly dying from injuries sustained in the assault on him. It’s in Paris the X-men witness a massive demonstration… backing them. Magneto’s trial is inconclusive, but Xavier is taken by the Starjammers to save him and he asks Magneto to look after the X-men.

In the issues that follow there is a good deal of justified suspicion of this by the X-men, and doubt in the idea from Magneto. But they have to work together to deal with the Beyonder.

Like with Uncanny X-Men 150, what the 200th issue does is not without precedent. There were careful bricks laid down paving the way to it. Even so, Claremont still had to pull the trigger on it and he did. It’s going to be interesting seeing how this plays out.

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Todd

Two-Boots I find more interesting as he seems to have some ability to resist his programming, but it’s not total.

The bulk of the series is on what happens when the Empire comes to town, which I think it did well but if that’s of no interest then it’ll be boring.

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Uncle Retrospective

For five issues.

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Todd, Dan

Legends

From the writer of The Gold, a pair of series with a focus on what happens after a gold bullion robbery, this new Netflix series shifts to 1990 and the dying months of the Thatcher government amid a heroin flood. In response Customs mounts an undercover operation to nail the drug trade.

There’s a wry cynicism running through the story, from the way the team is assembled to its triggering incident, a Cabinet Minister’s daughter overdoses, to politicians heedless of operational or practical realities. At the same time there’s a sharper edge to the nature of undercover work.

Like with The Gold, Forsyth has a keen eye for everyone getting their due, albeit sometimes in very quiet, limited ways. There’s a hanging plot thread of what happens after time spent undercover, as the criminal underworld has a long memory.

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Todd, Dave

I mean, Mortal. Kombat. What more info do you need?

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Todd, Dave

Uncanny X-Men Omnibus 4

Wolverine and Kitty Pryde 1-6, Uncanny X-Men 189-193, Uncanny X-Men Annual 8, X-Men and Alpha Flight 1-2, Marvel Fanfare 40

For 40 plus year old comics, the Uncanny X-men issues in this part of the omnibus have a very sharp edge, as hatred towards mutants rises and the dark future of Days of Future Past remains far from dismissed.

First though the mini series sees Kitty tangling with the Yakuza, before being ensnared by Logan’s sensei, Ogun. It’s a clever story and shows how she acquired the ninja abilities seen in later stories. It’s also smartly woven into the main book’s ongoing plots.

Of greatest interest to me is how Claremont resists the tendency to reset the status quo. Storm remains depowered, Cyclops is in Alaska, Nightcrawler feels in over his head in a leadership role, Kitty and Peter have stuff to sort out. In the way both events like Secret Wars and the various minis form part of part of the story, with the parallel New Mutants running, Claremont is operating the way Marvel will go on to do for decades hence.

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Dan

The Bat-Man: Second Knight

This is a fun sequel that again uses the era and its recent history to spin an intriguing tale. This time Batman is up against Scarecrow and Executioner, with some unexpected aid from Superman. Perkins art is again excellent, especially in the square format.

While Jurgens does a good Superman, especially in the conversation about the looming war and how much he can or should do about, his version of Lois is lacking. Her first solution to everything is threats of physical assault, Jurgens might have been going for sass but he landed on psycho. Still, that’s a minor flaw in a good book. Will there be a third series? Given how this ends, perhaps not.

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Sean Robinson, Dave

Both the UK and EU have significantly stronger employment protection than the US, but they’d still do some damage.

Another part of the problem is conservatives still in this burn down the status quo when they’ve had so much power for so long that they are the status quo. But much of pre-Thatcher UK conservatives really were about keeping the world as it was. A good part of that keeping the far right boxed up, hence the response to Enoch Powell going far right. He torched his political career and became persona non grata.

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lorcan_nagle

Also saw that Tony “Baghdad” Blair lost over 1,000 council seats in 1999.

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

Uncle Retrospective wrote:

You would hope that after voting Tory for 14 years that the English would have learned about voting for grifters. 😔

But the blue cyanide looks so tempting.

Yeah, they are that easily fooled.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd

The Capture Series 3

Apparently three series was always the plan, which is odd given how this series ended. Unless you view the set as a modern noir tale, as then it works better.  In more than a few ways it’s a darker UK riff on Person of Interest, sans any reassurance.

I wasn’t expecting much from Maul: Shadow Lord but…

Wow, what a series. Though, if they hadn’t confirmed the second season ahead of time, that ending would be immensely irritating. But with it? A perfect set-up.

It’s also worth noting the sheer epic that LFL have built across Clone Wars, Rebels, Bad Batch and this. An epic that will be passed over by many due to it being animation.

And this series? A masterclass in how to tell a story under severe continuity constraints. While also doing some superb firefights, high speed chases and, best of all, absurdly fast and intricate multi-saber duels.

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Uncle Retrospective

Mister Miracle OHC

This is another excellent demonstration of the Black Label line, but the story itself? Much harder to say. It is very much to the reader’s interpretation of its ambiguity, of which there is a lot.

The story could be read as a dying fever dream, the anti-lufe equation running rampant beyond anyone’s control, of a couple overcoming endless horrors to carve out a quiet space for themselves.

Certainly one theme that recurs through the series is the difference between life in and out of war. Like in Strange Adventures, King uses the space afforded by the Black Label to de-glamourise war. When Scott Free is at war, the tone is dark and hellish, when away from that it is entirely different, but has the shadow of having to return to it subtly.

Like western societies, superhero comics can be accused of devaluing and reducing the term war by overuse. In here and Strange Adventures King takes aim at it, to remind us of the vicious reality war is. In this respect he walks close to the likes of Judge Dredd’s Apocalypse War or even Charley’s War. It might be King’s real target is the notion that war is something that happens somewhere else, which is what the US has done for a very long time.

The series’ ending issue is a curious one, in that it’s unexpected due to the lack of chapter / issue numbers. There’s a recurring sense of things not being quite right, but what can be done about it? Not much. The story was published 2019, so pre-covid, but it fits well into the post-pandemic world and the wars that have followed. On an individual level, there’s little you can do about it except carve out what life you can.

Overall, I’m not entirely sure to make of it. Perhaps an ambivalent response to an ambiguous story is fitting. Fortunately, there’s no such ambiguity on the art. King often does his best work with Gerads on art and this is a great example of their creative partnership.

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Dave, njerry

Maybe we are screwed as the left loves going full Judean Popular Front. Or was it People’s Front of Judea? Blazing Saddles had it right, people are morons.

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JRCarter, Todd

It’s likely felt more in PR systems, but even then there are defences but it requires politicians to use them, guess where the problem is?

Wow, what an immensely satisfying finale to The Capture‘s second series.

Rarely have such a bunch of deserving bastards been so screwed over.

Of course, the terrifying aspect that looms over all of it is the technology is scarily plausible.

I don’t know, Orban’s gone, the nature of the far right when in power is becoming more obvious as they piss people off, as they’re incapable of stopping. Farage and co are getting some scrutiny and don’t like it. Trump and Putin are going to die, and you can bet neither have any succession plans.

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Todd, Dave

Strange Adventures

This is a perfect illustration of the Black Label idea, to do stories that could never be done in the ongoing superhero books. As such it has a neat sense of completeness and finality to it.

The story starts off simple: Rann was invaded by the Pykkts, led by Adam Strange, a good old American boy, they were fought off, and who doesn’t love a hero?

From here King spins out a fractured narrative, shifting forwards and back, aided by the dual art of Gerads and Shaner. Along the way he also weaves in some superhero riffs on Macbeth, including some subtle shots at princesses.

There’s also some neat moments along the way, the book signing, the notion that a Batman plan is infallable, Sardath getting a slap, the Flash counting the dead of a city.

One weakness to me is King lets Alanna off far too easily. Even at the end she stays with the delusion things would have been better if Terrific had never looked into it all. Nor does her taking up smoking on earth add up. Earth air is crap compared to Rann so she adds more crap to it? Comes across as wanting to play up a femme fatale angle.

Still, this is overall a good story, that uses the DC characters well, and the Black Label idea to successfully deconstruct heroes, princes and princesses.  It uses its dual artists effectively too.

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njerry, Dave

Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story

The entire fraternity / sorority concept really needs to be burnt to the ground, staked, it ashes bombed for good measure and then nuked from orbit. Just to be sure. But the black comedy potential in it? Infinite. And it is that which Zchut and Leiz go to town on, while also sticking friendship under the microscope.

Of course, this is a Hyde Street story, set in Ghost Machine’s horror corner so you know it isn’t going to end well. Neither for the main story, or their earlier, separate one-shot collaboration Devour. In each the road taken is that of very sharp black comedy, with edged social observations to match.

In Sisterhood a psychopathic sorority kills one of its would-be members then covers it up. No one views their self as a bad person of course, while justifying the horrors they first endured to join, then inflicted on others. Everyone is lying, to their self and everyone else.

Another line of thought in both is how social expectations warp women’s self-perception, which can set off a cycle of harm to self and, over the years and generations, to others. Karma is undoubtedly a psychopath but she was also pushed to be so by her mother. In Devour, a story of the ultimate weight loss drug, it plays out across multiple generations, as the women believe themselves fat while looking skeletal.

I hadn’t come across either writer or artist previously, but after their excellent work here I’m going have to keep an eye out for both Zchut and Leiz. Each in their own is good but together they create something special, as great collaborations tend to do.

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njerry, Dave

The Adventures of Lumen N. Volume 1

It’ll be nothing short of tragic if Robinson and Hester are unable to continue this story, as this opening series is a delight to read. Excellently paced, with a good cast of characters set amid the turn of the 19th century in 1901, all depicted with superb, flowing art.

And if all that doesn’t sell it, how about an elephant, in golden armour, packing a pair of gatling guns, while taking on proto-Nazis active decades too early.

It’s biggest success is in Lumen herself, who works well in the lead role, and our intro to the fantastical world she is thrust into. Capable but not flawless, skilled but not too much so as to block any growth or development. And very much gains the reader’s backing, as you want her to succeed.

With this, Los Mortoros and Welcome to the Maynard, three very distinct series, Robinson and his artistic collaborators are on a roll. Hope it continues.

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Uncle Retrospective, Dave

Trump tears up another trade deal, this time on EU car imports, because it’s taking too long. The US’ reputation was already in the crapper, now it’s traversing the U-bend.

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Todd

Omega Men OHC

Would superhero comics be better if Tom King had had more therapy in lieu of writing superheroes? Hard to say. I find King’s work variable. Sometimes it’s excellent. Other times terrible, sometimes interesting. His Batman run pings between all three. This one? Falls into the interesting.

It also does a couple of other things. One is it reminds that King is an uneasy fit to superheroes. The other is this reads like a Black Label book years before the imprint existed and it’s probably better to engage with it on that basis.

Especially given the ending, which is odd but not for the reasons that might be expected. The twist of what happened to the various characters, particularly Kalista, isn’t a surprise. The oddity is both the US military running space operations and that every planet is doomed go the way of Krypyon, without the stellarium the Citadel was flogging, for which they depopulated a planet.

Overall I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s a very King story, albeit from a time when it wasn’t known what that was. It has some interesting ideas, some good sequences, but in service of a cynical plot. There are places where it feels like a US 2000AD.

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Dave

Freedom to smoke versus freedom from smoking.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/29/uk-gradual-smoking-ban-success

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Todd

Dan Slott posted a great little story about him.

https://www.threads.com/@dan.slott/post/DXpQ44VFs5X?xmt=AQF05c8zGQw6qIkQDCzYQW4dHuMZxK2ZB4G87fInP7LxxtYazHgqa8dYCP4KyTaCZ1nrKEga&slof=1

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JRCarter, Todd, njerry

Tales from Lands Unknown: Uri Tupka and the Gods

This series feels like it is for Mignola what Ragnarok is for Simonson, a series where he spin stories, write and draw them and have a whole lot of fun doing it. Unlike the first volume which was a collection of short stories, this is instead a single narrative, told over seven chapters.

The story is Uri reminding his king of the rules and receiving the usual response, being dubbed a heretic after evading death. He then legs it, wherein various adventures ensue. It is one of those stories where you can read it in very relaxed fashion because, from the very first page to the last, it’s very clear that Mignola knows what he is doing, all you have to do is read.

Finally, there is one last subtlety that is very smart.  You could, if you wanted to, is too see this as unofficial Hellboy / BPRD sequel, there’s a way to read certain lines as such. Yet if you do not, your decision has no impact on the book.  Talking of, it’s not cheap but the quality of the production values make it worth it. Onto the next book, Uri Tupka and the Devils!

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njerry

Batman: Dark Patterns

Wow, this lived up to its reputation for being excellent and then some.

Set early in Batman’s life, the series is a set of four short stories, each three parts. They also, unlike other stories, focus more on the detective aspect of Batman. The stories use the more glamourous aspects, the gadgets, the cape, even the batmobile in very limited ways.

The book’s one weakness is its final arc, which serves to connect the set. I’m not sure the sense of connection adds much to the series. If anything the forgotten and overlooked of Gotham is ever bit as strong a theme across the chapters.

While the three part structure of each story ensures a swift pace, it’s Sherman’s inventive art that both brings it to life and gives the series a unique feel and visual identity. Which the colours and lettering build on further. It’s all very carefully, skilfully executed.

Should there be a sequel? If there was, I wouldn’t say no to it. Gordon, Sereika and Batman play well off each other and Gotham has more than enough other mysteries to supply.

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Dave

Green Lantern The Starbreaker Supremacy

While it’s presented as a big event story, which to be fair it is, but is still more of a midway finale, with Adams and Hampton using it to conclude some plots for now and continue others, plus add in some new ones. Not a new trick but when done well it can be very effective and they are very good at it.

Art is more of a mixed bag, with too many involved for it to have a clear, consistent style, but it’s good overall.

Oh yeah, we got rid of Sorrow / Nate so bonus.

Don’t understand how anyone affords comics now.

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Todd

US military strategy assumption:

Our enemy will only engage us in battle when they are technologically adept enough to do so, but where we retain technological advantage.

Cue an Iranian F5 bombing the crap out of a US base in Kuwait, using old bombs Patriots do not seem to recognise.

People are aware weaponry doesn’t become inert over time, right? Every so often in the UK and Europe unexploded WW2 bombs get found.

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Todd

Justice League Unlimited Volume 2 The Omega Act

It might be titled differently but this is pretty much DC KO: Prelude, even the cover says as much. It’s also a grab bag of issues and artists. Does that make it bad? No, but it’s fair to say the book’s identity suffers for it.  The story here also renders the lack of DC All-In special not being more collected than it is as odd.

Still, what you’ve got here is very DC-style superheroics and very well executed. Past, present, future, all of multiversal time space at risk due to, practically, Darkseid’s death curse is either very irritating or entertaining superhero bollocks. So long as you’re here for the absurd fun of it all, it works fine.

There is one weakness, which will likely be returned to in future issues, which is Batman being an arse. Now, if it’s the first time you’ve seen that plot it’s interesting, but it isn’t for me so doesn’t land.

Krypto: Last Dog of Krypton

For all that he’s been busy on Fantastic Four, I haven’t got around to checking out North’s work there or elsewhere. This was a good introduction and yes, he’s very good, as shown by this delightful tale.

Covering how Krypto left Krypton, arrived on Earth and what happened to him before he found Clark, it’s a great little story. North always keeps Krypto as a dog, this isn’t an anthromorphic tale. He also proves Lex Luthor and Brainiac to be irredeemable scumbags, for they are both cruel to dogs.

Of course a story like this can’t work without the art to make it fly and Norton’s is superb across the five issues. It’s always clear as to what Krypto’s thinking or feeling without any words.

The Mortal Thor Volume 1

This is a good, hmm, epilogue, aftermath, prologue, opening act? Pretty much all of those things as we get a sense of what has changed in the wider world, while the book mostly adopts a smaller, more personal focus.

Sigurd beating the hell out of far right bastards, all of whom are invoking Thor as their right to be a bastard and going on about Valhalla, is very satisfying.  Some are getting sent somewhere too courtesy of Sigurd’s hammer but it’s unlikely to be where they expect. At the same time, via both Loki and Odin being involved, there’s a strong sense of pieces on the board for an unsaid game.

Ferry’s art is excellent for the Sigurd issues, with a great sense of flow and impact for the fight scenes.  Those are pretty much John Wick, if he had a hammer. Cabal’s Asgard issue is good too.

The only real spectre hanging over this book is Marvel not giving it the time and space it needs. It has been solicited up to 13 so that’s encouraging.

Absolute Batman Volume 2 Abomination

It’s fair to say this arc has one hell of a reputation and, for the most part, lives up to it.

The opening two-parter with Freeze and Matin was wonderfully creepy. Freeze using icebourne pathogens is clever, though for who? He wasn’t doing it for himself. Batman taking a mini-torch to Fries was a great touch too.

The main arc does all manner of moves alongside its re-invention of Bane. The Ark-M site, Batman’s captivity, escape attempts and being beaten by Bane. The origin issue for Bane develops Joker more, while never spelling that out, while packing a unique page turn effect for the end of the story.

While the final fight is suitably bonkers, given how Snyder has built up Bane, it does depend in part as to how much you go with Batman surviving stuff that should kill him because he’s Batman. Applies to some earlier scenes too. Bane’s final fate is very smart too.

The arc does a number of drastic moves like literally transforming Bruce’s inner circlr, but without rendering them all out-right enemies. I do wonder too with that coda page if Snyder will do a Batman-Bane alliance against Joker? Bonkers idea but it’s a bonkers book.

Dragotta and Mann are a great art combination, as Mann’s style is distinct from but also complimentary to Dragotta’s. Who does some very unexpected comedy in unexpected places, like a panel of naked Bruce high kicking an orderly while the panel effectively says “patient was faking it”.

Where does it go from here? Who knows but it’ll be a whole lot of fun to find out.

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Dave, Sean Robinson

We’ve had 15-20 years of freedom of speech / marketplace of ideas idiocy encouraging the far right. It was previously understood by prior generations that these people, probably 10-30% of the population, have to be contained. They can’t be converted or reasoned with. It’s damage control.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, lorcan_nagle

Yes it is, has Janin as the main artist too.

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Uncle Retrospective

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced

Revealed in full earlier and out in July.

I’m not sure we were expecting a remake from Resynced, I was thinking far more remaster.

Things that sound great:

The influence Shadows has had on the game, especially with regard to following / eavesdropping missions, which killed the original’s story for me.

Revised visuals using the newer Anvil engine. The comparison shots doing the rounds show the work done. The original still looks good, but the new goes further.

Only factor I’m wary of is the combat being parry heavy, but so long as that’s more optional / quicker way to win, should be OK. So long as carving enemies up also works, unlike the original.

Where Winds Meet

Well, as expected, it finally went full Genshin Impact. After an incredibly badly designed, very confusing and boring campaign quest, it then does a rubbish boss. Difficulty through the roof, compromised controls, maybe 1 in 3 attacks landing due to the boss size and how close I have to get. Damage done? Miniscule.

And, as far as I can, I’ve got the character powered up as much as I can.  Yeah, there’s a handful of gear upgrades but those are only for HP. There’s one weapon upgrade to get.

I suspect the answer will be I should be using a different weapon. The game offers multiple styles, the boss should be beatable with any of them.
It was a nasty, low trick when Genshin Impact sent the World Tier difficulty soaring and the same is true here. For a free-to-play title that apparently needs to keep players, its baffling to me. Then again so too was Honkai’s invisible search indicator.
Shame, as they just dropped a new trailer for part 3. No point watching that as its stuff I can’t get to. The game near killed itself months ago with the Dao Lord, it was sheer luck I got past it. Still, where that failed Five Remnants has finally succeeded. I had thought this one might not do this on difficulty, but nope, it has.
Are gacha games a plague on the gaming industry? Yes, they are. Both Genshin and WWM have great world design that I want to explore, which it combines with nasty bastard progression systems.

Kegsbreath ends mandatory military vaccination and blames Biden.

The actual perp? Washington. 1777.

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njerry, Todd

I think there might be three Beasts running around now:

Original gone psycho Beast

Back-up Beast, not psycho

AoA Dark Beast, very psycho

Nah, Beast has been an arse for years, ever since Bendis’ run.

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Todd

Arjan, go touch some grass and I don’t mean pot.

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Todd

The re-release of Endgame 2.0 just does not work for me at all. It’s an utterly stupid and arrogant idea. It also risks tarnishing one of their biggest wins…

So just like the comics.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd

Attention, The Onion once again owns Info Wars.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle, Todd, Martin Smith

Damn, I knew foreign students were treated as a cash cow by UK universities, but not the scale of it. It’s clearly gone way up over the last 30 years.

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Todd

Absolute Wonder Woman Volume 2 As My Mothers Made Me

I do wonder if an interest in Greek mythology aids Wonder Woman stories. It does this one, as Thompson, Sherman and Bergere continue to serve up an intriguing re-imagining of both superheroes and gods.

The main arc sees Diana enter into and, in her own fashion, exit an ancient labyrinth beneath Area 41. This brings in a couple of new supporting characters. Along with new adversaries, but not necessarily villains.

The second, minor arc acts more as an epilogue / prologue. It also contributes to the running plot across the Absolute line of the world being wrong.

While the stories are good it is the art in both that boosts them further. Sherman is easily one of the best new artists I’ve found. It’s not just imagery but also the panel layouts which tend to be both clear and inventive.

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Sean Robinson, Dave

There’s other aspects to that too, like feeling they’re not in a position to have kids amid insecure employment, housing and the general cost of living.

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garjones, Todd

Absolute Superman Volume 2 Son of the Demon

Feels rather appropriate to be reading this epic collection on Superman day. This second volume builds on the first in very clever ways. It acts as a great conclusion to the book’s first arc, while putting the pieces for the next. Best of all it is a very smart examination of Superman as a character.

Superman. Lois and Jimmy. Ra’s and Talia. Sol and Brainiac. Aaron deftly weaves them all in and out of the story.  Yet he never does by making Superman other than he should be. Instead it is that factor that makes the story sing, from refusing to slaughter Smith and the Peacemakers, to resisting Brainiac’s coerced manipulation and brainwashing, to refusing to accept Ra’s’ definition of what he deserves.

And Aaron has set the story up in such a way that the reader could understsnd why Superman might go the other way, despite knowing he wouldn’t. This only amplifies the effect.

The art across the eight issues collected is excellent. Sandoval, Giandomenico and Ossio’s styles work well together, further boosted by Arreola’s colours.

Oh, the story also allows for a future prospect of Ra’s crossing paths with You Know Who….

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Sean Robinson

I liked that trailer, lots of great, little details. Be fun to watch in Aug / Sept.

Even by 2026 standards, this is goddamn nasty.

The CNN account of the online how to commit rape and monetise with video broke, involving thousands of men using their girlfriend, partner or wife as a commodity, and bragging about it online.

It is every bit as goddamn awful as you may wish to imagine and then some.

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Christian, lorcan_nagle, Todd

Absolute Power

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less interested or impressed by the big, superhero event stories. Sometimes they can work, sometimes they fall flat.  This one? Middling. Art is generally very good, its the story where its weaker.

Part of the problem is it has to cover and recap events from multiple books. The other problem is it has the most indulged, perpetually let off villain in Amanda Waller, who lies to everyone, herself included. If anyone should end up with a bomb in her head, its Waller. She gets some measure of a long overdue come-uppance, but it doesn’t feel equal to the amount of bad crap she did.

Still, the art’s great and as a prelude to Waid’s Justice League Unlimited book it works OK, just don’t pay over the odds for it. Like say a RRP $150 omnibus edition.

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Dave

After the glorious victory of the US telling the Pope to shut up about theology, cometh the day that the Hegseth did rally his mighty warriors by invoking Ezekiel 25:17.

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Sean Robinson, Al-x, Todd, lorcan_nagle

Only done two levels of Marvel Cosmic Invasion so far and, well, sad to say it ain’t all that. Hopefully, as I continue with it, it’ll improve enough.

One problem is the oddity of missing beat ’em up staples. There’s no grab or throw attacks, no weapon pick ups and little in the way of destructible items.

Another is over-complication. The dual heroes, each with their own health bar to juggle is one example. Flying is another. Do either really add that much? No. Neither is the block well executed.

The biggest problem, far from unique to this game, is the belief players want all the cheap bastard bullcrap of retro beat ’em ups, as I don’t. This game is cheap, lots of projectile attacks that magically pass through enemies, the bosses are very cheap, which adds up to a less enjoyable experience.

My sense of dis-satisfaction is probably amplified by the characters starting off weak and having to be powered up. That can be done well, River City Girls is a good example. Here? Not so sure. In some ways it’s akin to Asterix and Obelix: Slap Them All. Great graphic style but very shallow gameplay.

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Dave, Martin Smith

Inferno Girl Red Book Two

This manages to be both a good part of the Massive-verse while feeling like a very independent superhero book. It’s also one that continues to have great use of colour and a sharp script.

It’s choice of villains are both traditional and very fitting, loaded, rich, selfish bastards who couldn’t be content with that, but need to prove everyone is like them. It’s in countering them and departing from the superhero script that the book shines.

This is best exemplified by the relationship between Cassie and Thomas, who inherits his father’s tech but doesn’t want to be him. It’s Cassie’s example that inspires him to look beyond his own, narrow self-interest, with their final team-up being particularly satisfying as a result.

Will there be a Book Three? I hope so.

I have a copy to read.

Felt like the right combination of stories. The Artemis flight was a total surprise in the best way.

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Todd

Yeah, Kelly could be a good choice.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Good news stories of 2026:

• Hungary telling Orban to get fucked.
• The Artemis moon trip showing space, Earth and the moon in ways that were impossible in 1972.
• Also, you think you’re aging too much, or can’t contribute, the Artemis crew ages were 47, 49 and 50.

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njerry, Tobias Radesäter, Todd

Yup, a superb result in Hungary.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/12/hungary-election-latest-results-viktor-orban-peter-magyar-fidesz-tisza-russia-europe-live-news-updates

Next, Farage and Reform, Trump and co, all the other euro-bastards.

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njerry, Todd, Arjan Dirkse

Only until they walk on stage, grab Trump / Vance by the nuts, then squeeze and twist until they’re bawling on camera, cue the mob turning on them.

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Todd

I really liked this short 7-minute video from Second Wind:

Aside from the main point that games can now change drastically for the better post-launch, it also makes reference to the sheer amount of games now out.  That there is more than anyone can keep up with.

And it might be that becomes my major reason for stopping at PS5-XBX-S2, that I want the time to play the collection I’ve amassed.

There’s a particularly insidious looping on Israel / Judaism.

Israel does its usual sledgehammer brutality, claiming its both justified by terrorism and any criticism is anti-semitic, cue global revulsion and criticism. Then some idiot attacks a synagogue, cue Israel using that as further justification for brutality. And around it goes, technical enemies practically supporting each other. I’ve no idea how this vicious circle gets broken.

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Todd

The Power Fantasy Volume 3

Ambiguous stories are hard to pull off, not least as we tend to look for one individual or group to support and define oppositions from there. Gillen succeeds in deploying a cast of interesting characters, but none entirely secure the reader’s backing. That results in a more intellectual story, one that is cooler examination of superpowers, but one that still needs an emotional edge to work.

It’s Wijngaard’s art that supplies that, giving the book’s events scope, scale and, most importantly, that sense of impact and consequence. Although, it did falter a bit in the finale as I had to look up a summary to work out what happened at the end.

Ultimately the book is constructed around the question of whether the world, and all those in it, can be saved from superpowers. This first arc’s answer is it cannot, will the second find a different one? Possibly. Perhaps even a more….ethical one.

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Dan, Dave

Star Wars: Jedi Knights Volumes 1-2

It is both a tragedy and truly stupid of Marvel to axe this title. The ten issues here are a good set of stories, with an ensemble cast that lives up to the title and a very surprising high level of artistic continuity. Musabekov provides art for all 10 issues and the book is far better for it.

What the book demonstrates is the vast, untapped potential of the pre-TPM galaxy. Guggenheim also doesn’t do long arcs either, instead opting for an episodic structure. This allows for swifter pacing and greater story variety, while enabling an overall plot running across the 10 issues.

There really was no good reason, bar an arbitrary sales number to axe this. This is a freestanding, varied book with no shortage of creative fuel in possible plots or characters. It could have easily continued.

Peacemaker Tries Hard

DC may not always make the most of their Black Label line, but it does allow for some fun riffs on superheroes and this is one. There’s relatively few writers willing to poke fun at the genre. There’s Ennis, Ellis, plus DeMatteis, but together, these are a handful of books. Enter Starks and Pugh.

Across six issues they explore, with the same character, more or less, similar ground to the first Peacemaker series. Peacemaker is a stupid, violent, dysfunctional mess, with a bomb in his head, as you do. Then he gets a dog. And the dog gets kidnapped. And then lots of people get beaten up

Pugh has a lot of fun bringing Starks’ absurd tale to life. And they manage to hit that razor balance that this type of comedy requires. Having enjoyed this I’ll be checking out their Vertigo book End of Life later in the year.

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Dave

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

My completions for AC games is patchy. AC2 and Brotherhood, yes, Revelations, AC3, Black Flag, no. Origins onwards, yes. I can’t say I expected to complete this one.  And it got close to that.

Syndicate’s world design is design, its gameplay OK, as is the story, but its main missions are frequently awful and the optional objectives abominable. And it proved that way across the Sequence 9 missions.

Optional reqs like don’t kill anyone or requiring a carriage to be returned, right in the middle of a host of enemies in a restricted zone. The final mission was up and down, the bit with Evie was horribly narrow, the next two parts far better, then came that terrible “boss” fight.

After that, did some clean-up attempts but the associate missions are a real mixed bag. The game is far too fond of throwing out a time limit from nowhere. Tried the first Dreadful Crime but even with a guide it didn’t make much sense of it.

Do have the Jack the Ripper expansion, so will give that a go. Have done more of the game than I thought, plus the main sync percentage is far better, above 90%.

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Dave

I still need to look at Lower Decks beyond its crossover ep.

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Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle, Todd

In case you were curious about the plans for Trek’s 60th…

It’s a funeral, it be dead again. Sets are scrapped, no new series.

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Todd, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Does raise the Q of who on earth it is for. On second thoughts, don’t need the answer.

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Christian

TACOs is now served, without radiation.

More seriously, get this bastard out of office, stick a banana skin on the stairs, send him through a window, whatever’ll do the job.

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Dave, Sean Robinson, lorcan_nagle, Todd

Yup, it’s bonkers.

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

Can anyone actually make sense of asians canvassing for RefUK? Had one just now.

“Hi, can I count on your vote for Reform in the 7 May elections?”

“…Probably not, bye.”

They would be booting this guy’s arse out of the country if they got in and he’s helping them!

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

And a good chunk of those people are ex-military and armed.

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lorcan_nagle, Todd

Ye is barred from the UK, no Nazis here and the festival that booked him has collapsed.

Excellent news.

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lorcan_nagle, Dave

Here’s a picture that sums up the insanity of politics:

Texan Republicans consistently run on a platform of fixing broken systems, but have been in power for an unbroken span of at least 20 years. So who broke that they’re claiming to fix? They did, but they still get votes.

The same is true over here with the Tories and they still get votes after 14 years of chaos, including Brexit.

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Dave, Todd

DC gonna be DC.

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Todd

I think there is an Atlantic difference in this respect. Both in the UK and Europe I think we’re circumspect with disclosure and publicising political identity. That’s not so in the US, with people registering as Republican or Democrat voters. The Republicans have for decades stoked the fires of vilification and polarisation too. That hasn’t transferred save for the likes of Farage and Wilders. There’s far more fearmongering in the US.

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Dave, lorcan_nagle, Todd

You can teach and encourage people skills to navigate the world safely. However, after that, if someone really buys that a Nigerian prince is going to share a billion with them, there’s not much you can do to save them.

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Dave, Al-x, Todd, njerry

Edelweiss DC to end of December 2026:

https://www.edelweiss.plus/#catalogID=5348986&page=1

Of note, two Vertigo trades in there, End of Life and Ezra Cain.  The next round of Absolutes.  DC mainline trades too.

Plus some stunningly priced Omnibuses.

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Dave

Utter lunacy, this is The Guardian’s headline of an hour or so ago.

“Middle East crisis live: Trump says military action helping people of Iran because ‘they want to hear bombs because they want to be free’”

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Dave, Martin Smith, lorcan_nagle, Todd

Martin Smith wrote:

Pakistan are apparently negotiating a ceasefire between the US and Iran at the moment (no mention of Israel in the reports I’ve seen, which seems like a big omission). And, honestly, the Iranians would be mad to agree to anything. There is practically no chance the Americans will stick to anything they say. Trump has already shown the worth of his word on all those “trade deals”, like the one with the UK, which suddenly became irrelevant the next time he had a tantrum and wanted to change tariff rates.

I’m no fan of the Iranian regime, but it’s hard to see how they’re really at fault for much of anything in this conflict. The Americans have achieved the impossible in making the Iranian government seem if not sympathetic then at least in the right. I kinda think the Iranians should just stick it out and wait for the Americans to crumble. Trump’s negotiating position is highly dubious.

Yeah, it’s bonkers that Trump has managed to render the US as worse than Iran, but he’s managed it.

Did anyone predict the US losing a propaganda war to AI-created Lego attack shorts, created with US AI tools?

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Todd, Uncle Retrospective

That might have flown, with a great deal of charity granted, in 2016 but not 2020 or 2024. At some point, yes, the voters are guilty. Voting is a responsibility that should be taken seriously, too many do not.

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Todd, Martin Smith, Dave, Uncle Retrospective, Al-x, lorcan_nagle

Turns out Ronny Cox really was playing Trump in his various corporate / political bastard roles over the years.

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njerry, Todd, Uncle Retrospective, lorcan_nagle

Trump being a selfish psychopath isn’t news, but the amount of people, either elected or appointed to high office, enabling him should be.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd, lorcan_nagle

Yep, and all those in a position to actually do something to stop it, won’t.

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njerry, Todd

It occurs to me that now is the time for me to return to The Laundry Files / New Managrment books, as whatever goes on in them will likely be less screwed up than the real world in 2026.

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Todd, lorcan_nagle

Reacquainting myself with the sheer snark of Anderson’s O’Neill in Stargate.

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Uncle Retrospective

[Ben]

Oh DC, you bastards.

And it’s RRP $150.

• This reply was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by Ben.

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Sean Robinson

Die_workwear’s brilliant summary of US politics:

“i swear this administration is a TV show. the head of the department of war accidentally texted war plans to a journalist. the head of domestic intelligence got hacked and used his real name for a porn account. and now former head of homeland security is grappling with her husband’s secret cross-dressing double life in their anti-LGBTQ+ political party.”

https://www.threads.com/@die_workwear/post/DWjv5E9D7nk?xmt=AQF0CRhYPVn9zRi_G3r2MDf02n54K9d9pM5lLf5ktlxINsQwR7PqqalF7ViKHKqCECWOoQw&slof=1

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Todd

Yakuza 3 Kiwami: Dark Ties

Ultimately, sad to say, this is a missed opportunity and one that manages to make the new twist ending even worse.

First, Dark Ties main plot with Kanda and Mine is incredibly sleazy, still, you, as Mine, get to go Highlander on Kanda, right? Nope. Mine’s arc is flat: He starts as an arse, he refuses all opportunity to not be an arse, and at the end, remains an arse.

The final scenes are baffling. Mine talks of himself as another man who has erased his name, but that only works if you know the later games, who is this for? Oh yeah, also, if you fall on a hedge from a 10 storey fall you’ll survive.

Their last game had an anti-hero lead in Majima, but he has a charm of his own that Mine utterly lacks.

If you’ve bought the game, still play it, you can get a good 10 hours out of it. Mine’s fighting style is nowhere near as good as Kiryu’s styles, and has a rather counter-intuitive button layout and combinations to boot, but you can have some fun with it.

Bendis’ looks to be on four issues, Lemire on 24.  The bigger point for me is he has Sorrentino on art who he tends to work very well with.

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Vikram, Dave, Sean Robinson

But they will try it.

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Todd

And deliverer of some of the greatest one-liners ever.

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Todd, Al-x

Star Trek: Starfleet Troopers

Would you like to know more?

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Todd, Dave

JSA Volumes 1 and 2

This was a surprise in that, relative to the other DC books read, it’s one of the weaker ones. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a perfectly fine story. Though reading it monthly chunks may have been more of a drag.

It’s also been a long time and several runs later since I last read JSA. Wait, weren’t a couple of these characterrs blokes? Cue a six-hour YouTube rage-monetising rant video. Or, the far easier and far less work option: It’s been a long time, things change.

As to the story itself, its OK, but I think the problem I have with it is it is far too reliant on hobbling the JSA for the majority of it. Once that is no longer the case, it wraps up awfully fast. So much so that the threat of the Unnamed Ones is conveyed too briefly, as is their defeat.

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Dave

Martin Smith wrote:

Ben wrote:

£100k cap on political donations and Reform be squealing foul.

It’s as if Megatron went into politics, he who cares not for rights now pleads for them.

Another potentially really good bit of (lower case) reform is a public interest test for all contracts over £1m for public services, to see whether they’d be better served kept in-house rather than out-sourced. Which admittedly still might not do much if people just hand-wave through the test, but if applied properly, it could really cut down on the out-sourcing empires of the likes of Capita etc.

Yeah, that could have major positive impacts. One of things that got used as anti-EU fuel was the procurement rules. But the choice to go with lowest financial bidder was a UK political one. OJEU rules allowed for awarding to bids of higher cost but with social / environmental benefits the others did not.

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Martin Smith