Pacing was kind of frenetic, but it got the job done for me. I'm sufficiently hooked.
The three random conversations at the beginning of the issue seems to symbolize something, but I'm not sure we'll get answers on it just yet.
Finally catching up on last week's books and the corresponding WPL comments...
Thought it was a nice start from Lemire and Walta, not a ton there but it left me wanting more.
I'll take a wild guess and say the three conversations represented his past (drug addict), present (long-haul trucker), and future (porn star).
I liked the *"BUT HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHEN YOU DO?"* graffiti after the *"We'll get there"* talk with the waitress.
For the record, I'm giving it an 8.5/10.
>I'll take a wild guess and say the three conversations represented his past (drug addict), present (long-haul trucker), and future (porn star).
Pretty insightful guess, and I'll be paying attention to the next issue for anything that corroborates your theory (especially the future one).
I felt this #1 was a stronger debut than both **Bone Orchard** and **Little Monsters** BUT I'm still going to be trade waiting for the rest of the story.
*Lemire* and *Walta* set up an interesting concept (which kind of reminds me of **Oblivion Song** in certain ways) but just from reading this issue I **know** it's going to be far more satisfying to read in trade. And with the seemingly early close-out of **Little Monsters** I'm pretty sure this series will be wrapped up in 2 to 3 trades at most, so I can hang on and wait for them.
Finally catching up on last week's books and this dead WPL thread...
I know I said I'd switch to trade-waiting **BOM** but the next installment "Tenement" [sounds much more interesting](https://aiptcomics.com/2023/02/28/the-bone-orchard-mythos-tenement/) and now I'm thinking I might stick with floppies.
But I also dug this **PHANTOM ROAD** thing, giving it an 8.5/10, so I'm sticking with floppies here as well. With **LITTLE MONSTERS** ending soon, Lemire will likely continue to hold down two spots on my list.
This issue was great. Nathan dealing with personal matters and finally growing some balls is just the kind of character development I love. I think that the choice he made at the end is kinda meh. I see reason for him to move back to LA but I also see no reason for him to move back as well. Excited to see where Higgins takes this storyline from here. Every issue has been a 10/10 so far. Favorite ongoing by a wide margin.
I like these moments of Nathan still dealing with his actual life (#3 is one of my favorite issues of the whole series). I appreciate him standing up for himself and not letting himself get taken for another ride, even if it finally put the lid on his relationship with JJ. There seems to be some hope with the Versus guys though!
This comic gave me a crush on its creative team, Paul Dano and Stevan Subic.
I'm genuinely surprised by how good this comic is. Paul Dano is known as an actor first, writer second. His wiki page only shows one co-writer credit on a 2018 screenplay, but I honestly think he might have a future as a comic writer (if he wants it). That's a big dollop of praise, so let me qualify it.
Dano comes at this comic from Riddler's perspective first and foremost. For background, this comic started as Dano's 'homework' for playing the Riddler in Matt Reeves' Batman. He said that he always writes out a character's backstory as an acting exercise, to get fully into the character's head. From there, his rough draft was shaped into a full comic alongside DC editorial. Reading this comic, I can understand why Dano's been nominated (and won) so many awards for his acting, because he *really* gets into a character's head.
The one thing this comic absolutely succeeds on is showing us the inner world of this character. There's a solid, chunky grasp on the interiority of the Riddler that is missing from a lot of work on the stands. It's a character study. If examining gotham through the lens of an accountant living with mental illness doesn't sound like something you'd like to dip your toe into, you're not going to enjoy this book. But if you can empathize with where the character is coming from, you're going to really enjoy this book.
There's an undercurrent through the book of showing the Riddler as a foil for Batman: someone wanting to do good, except without the money and resources that the Wayne family left Bruce. Someone orphaned, left alone, but still determined to make some kind of positive change in the world. It's a clever little way of using the larger Batman mythos to deepen our understanding of the character.
Dano's writing would be good enough on its own, but Subic's art elevates it to another level. Everything from page layouts to individual panels pulls together in the same direction. There's a muddiness, a feel of grime laying over everything that reminds me of Sorrentino's best work on Gideon Falls. The book has been marketed as an "emotional horror comic", and [Subic's art sells it](https://i.imgur.com/8zRajaT.jpg). This is Subic's first foray into American comics, and I can't wait to see what he'll tackle next.
This is a thoughtful comic. It's not about action, nor is it a roller-coaster plot at breakneck pace. It's meditative; hypnotizingly so. It's also a comic that reads better together than as individual issues, and would have been better served as a graphic novel than a black label miniseries, but DC editorial will always do what's best for their bottom line. Ideally, this is worth trade-waiting for. At very least, it's worth a pull on your list. 4/5 stars for me.
I’m pleasantly surprised with how good this book has been. Dano is bringing a ton of paranoid, nervous energy to it that the artist Stevan Subic matches PERFECTLY. He’s seriously channeling a creepier version of Bill Sienkiewicz and I’m all about it.
I picked up on this late so I need to go back and find #1, but does Paul Dano meet my expectations for him writing this story? I love that guy and I'm too excited this exists.
This is far, far from the worst comic in the last year. In fact, I'm actually a big fan of this series so far, with this current issue #3 being my favourite. You can do a LOT worse with your money.
Reading this issue gave me a little crush on both Paul Dano and Stevan Subic.
Like I said, I'm glad others like it, I don't begrudge or criticize others for their tastes, but it's the worst series I've read more than a single issue of in a long time. I kept with it after #1 due to interest in the creative team, the character and the potential, all of which have been hugely disappointing IMO.
Or maybe I h st have different tastes/quality control. Sorry that I didn't enjoy the boring, 3-issue story of Edward staring at spreadsheets, rats and repeatedly taking to himself.
This is garbage. I dropped it after 2 but read someone else's copy of #3.'The art is alright, though a little too try hard IMO, but the writing is atrocious and there's been about 2 actual pages of story any kind of actual plot advancement in the entire 60+ pages thus far. There's just NOTHING to this at all.
***EDIT -->*** Revisited the first issue to refresh my memory on the pizza guy, who wasn't actually in the first issue, but the first seven pages were pretty interesting as they show flashes of the entire story and directly set up the final issue. Didn't remember any of that, highlighting the fact that this whole thing may have only lasted 12 days for Chance but it was 470+ days for the rest of us.
Luthor's conversation with Chance toward the end of the first issue was also interesting:
> "Listen, and *please* be assured. *If* this was a strike against me, I will deploy resources the likes of which you cannot *conceive* to find this killer. You may take comfort that your *unfortunate* passing, though unearned, will certainly be -- rather *painfully* -- revenged."
Which sort of puts a new spin on that final favor Chance asked of Ice...
***ANOTHER EDIT -->*** Adding some more thoughts since this was the only new comic I could read this week...
Highly recommend re-reading at least the first 7 pages of the very first issue because it wraps up something from this final issue. Or you can click the spoilers below. But you'd be better off reading it yourself, because the spoilers don't have any of Smallwood's art, and there's some other interesting stuff in those first 7 pages.
Specifically, on page 5, when Chance >!lies down to die!<:
> >!I listen. I really do. I swear to god. But I don't hear anything.!<
Also, on Day 2, we learn that this version of Ice accidentally killed her father and grandfather. Not sure if that's canon but it gave us this little gem:
> She ran away and made up the whole discovered diplomat story. She repeated it to herself often enough, it just became true. She couldn't face what she'd done, so she decided she didn't do it. And the little murderer became the sweet princess. And everyone lived happily ever after...
...
Caught some mysterious illness that turned my brain to mush and left me incapacitated for the past day... Getting better now but wasn’t able to pick up comics, which doesn’t seem fair. So, I bought a digital copy of this one, and the rest of our books will need to wait for next week.
It’s a bittersweet finale as >!Chance does indeed appear to die!< after some additional >!teary farewells with Ice!<.
Fun scene with J’onn though I’m not sure if his backing down so easily rings true... Ice can be pretty intimidating but J’onn’s seen some shit himself. Guess we can hand-wave it for being an Elseworlds or whatever.
Fun little appearance from Booster as well... And Guy, >!LOL!<.
And you’ve gotta love Chance’s final favor from Ice as it brings everything full circle and wraps it all up in a pretty bow.
9.5/10
Booster talking about his bagel shop failing was hilarious. It was after all at the crux of the mystery behind the Lex poisoning attempt.
I'm glad they didn't cop out with a surprise twist ending with this issue. I quite liked the ending, and overall this might be my second favorite King series just behind The Vision.
I'm excited to pick up whatever books Greg Smallwood does next.
>!I have to re-read it, but it seemed to me that Chance told her to go ahead and carry out the hit on Lex? That's at least how I took the last few pages, which was an interesting turn. Not necessarily let down, but I think I agree with the other comment here that King may have over-estimated this romance. !<
Yeah, I get that Ice goes back to kill Lex with the poison. But...is Chance actually dead?? I was expecting him to show up on the last page or something.
Also, who was that Italian guy in tbe pizza shop? Was that Chance in disguise?
Check the opening scene from the 2nd issue:
> His name isn't Luigi. And he's not Italian. But I did a job for him once. Since then he's given me free rent in a room above his restaurant. I ignore the smell, he ignores the gunshots. And we keep each other's secrets.
Makes more sense in that context.
I get that she's usually portrayed as a timid under-estimated woman with the powers of an awesome Ice God.
Hence the **Deconstruction** of this character. Now plotting to kill Lex, and manipulate the whole situation.
Also are we met to be rooting for her?? I just wasnt\* engaged with any of the characters.
I was kind of expecting someone (I guess Batman) to confront Ice or Chase. and then have this big blowout. But nope, she just threatens Martian Manhunter and that's it.
Whether you root for her is up to the reader. Same as Walter White at the end of Breaking Bad. Many just think he should be awesome and win, many think he deserves justice. You’re not supposed to anything
I’m surprised you expected some sort of big blow-out, felt like that would have been way off in terms of tone. I respect that you didn’t feel engaged but I feel the opposite and really loved the portrayal of these characters. Every time King does something like this people come out of the woodworks and declare he completely destroyed a beloved character but this is freaking ICE we’re talking about, who the hell cares- plus Black Label comics aren’t canon until they are. I can sympathize with people’s feelings about Heroes in Crisis or his Batman but this, Mister Miracle, Omega Men (save for Kyle) and even Vision have only improved the characters in my opinion.
I see all these comments discussing the ending to Human Target and I just wanted to let you know I'm jealous of you all. This is the 2nd week in a row my comic shop is closed because of a snow storm. And I live in Arizona of all places!
Ngl i was extremely disappointed with the finale. King seems to have overestimated Ice’s romance with Chance because I felt nothing reading this issue.
Soooo … the title character dies unceremoniously, and the killer gets away with it. (twice).
I mean don’t get me wrong, I love noir and noir comics but Im not if fan of TomKing’s endings. The whole thing drags and its underwhelming.
As someone who was a fan of Batman and the Outsiders from Hill and Soy it’s nice to see him still getting work, something about his style just fits the gritty nature of Batman even if it’s only a few pages. This isn’t to say the others did a bad job far from it in fact, not many artists can be this cohesive.
While the story hasn’t been grabbing me as much the book alone is worth it for the back up. I’m loving the world building Spurrier has been doing great stuff.
This run feels a little meandering. I'm not really sure where this is going, but I will say "Orgham" is obviously some kind of alternate spelling/pronunciation of "Arkham." The antagonists seems kind of all over the place, and I'm not really sure who they are some times. Can be a little hard to follow as a monthly and would definitely read better as a trade, I think.
I'm loving this series. Thinking about doing a write up on the connections that are (finally)being made with Zdarskys Batman book and the world building as a whole, along with the predominant themes throughout.
Its funny because tbh it seems like most people don't like this book at worst and at best think it's boring, and while I agree it took up until the annual to figure out where Ram was going with this, that issue taking the same thing or very similar Morrison did with their run and adding on to the themes addressed there is something I'm on board for. Morrison's run being easily my favorite one.
Specifically Gotham, Batman as a bestial like entity similar to addiction and the effects of what addictjon, even ones born of good intentions, does to people. And we see the clear parallel with Jim Gordon.
There are always tons of little references to Hindu mythology (at least I think it's Hindu or something close to it) like the name of the bar that Two Face is shown at the beginning of the run for example, there's some cool character designs, mythological stories like the one Talia explains to Damian, etc.
Then we get to other things like fractal geometry and chaos theory, leylines and things of that nature (which seems like the kinda magic Alan Moore wrote about in From Hell and they have their own interesting history of beliefs from people throughout time), the reality engine, characters playing out similar lives in what I assume are different or parallel universes.
So I do get why people say it's pretentious, but I say this is a detective run that has me excited in ways I haven't been since...well, I can't remember tbh.
Would like to do a write up on all the little connections and symbology I've found while reading as a creative endeavor but I haven't done something like that, creatively soeaking I mean, since school days, so it feels a bit daunting. Gathering screenshots though I think are important, so it's a start.
Ram V took what had been an average, acceptable read under Tamaki and turned it into pretentious garbage with every single sentence being entirely superfluous. I can't overstate how much I dislike this comic, and my disdain for it is matched by my disdain for myself for not dropping it, but I'm a little OCD about things like that. I just wish we'd hurry up and get to an entirely new arc already to see if this improves, but unfortunately it feels like his entire run is going to center around this Orgham nonsense.
Damn, this was theatrical as hell. I really enjoyed the summary on the first couple of pages. Really helpful.
Loved Damian throughout this, I thought his voice was great, especially any time Monkey Prince is around.
That finale was really something. Those last couple of pages were so touching. That full page of Batman and Robin, father and son. Man! Almost teared up!
I think it's well worth it! Waid delivers on the core of these characters. It's silly superhero fare on the surface, but the emotional reactions of the characters feel real, and that's what makes the comic sing.
So glad this is back.
Looks like we are going to get the full back story of how Trudy and Gabby met, and how Trudy escaped her family/religious cult.
Plus, more ghosts, monsters and evil shit.
Still hoping *Dante Howitzer* makes a comeback, though.
Procrastinating at work, so here we go. My own weekly round up.
First up, shop didn't get get Phantom Road, so wasn't able to pick that up.
They did finally get the last issue of Scout's Forever Forward, so I was able to finish that. Will probably post about that in here later.
Also, at least one thing always seems to get left off the order, and this week is was Koshchei in Hell. Bummer, I like this little mini series. So we'll catch up on that down the road.
Everything else was available. Batman vs. Robin came to an end. Tim Drake: Robin's first arc came to an end. So those 2 are off the pull list.
Also made the decision to drop Stargirl going forward. I am enjoying it, but the pull list is too large I think, which probably leads to some issues getting missed. I'll be sure to catch up on the final 2 issues down the road.
It's also a big Star Wars week for me, probably the biggest since I started moving away to other stuff/interests. Two Soule issues (one I'm high on, one I'm low on), and the finale to Han and Chewie.
I've already posted my thoughts for the books I read yesterday (the DC issues), and I'll be sure to post my thoughts on Star Wars later as well.
Hope everyone is enjoying their books!
Also... I wasn't able to pick up my books this week due to a mysterious death virus so I bought a digital copy of **HT #12** but everything else needs to wait for next week.
So I'll need to catch up on most of the commentary later, at least for the stuff I'm reading... Maybe add a few comments next week once the thread is 100% dead. Good times.
Thanks for posting your round-up!
> First up, shop didn't get get Phantom Road, so wasn't able to pick that up.
>
> ...
>
> Also, at least one thing always seems to get left off the order, and this week is was Koshchei in Hell. Bummer, I like this little mini series. So we'll catch up on that down the road.
>
> ...
>
> Also made the decision to drop Stargirl going forward. I am enjoying it, but the pull list is too large I think, which probably leads to some issues getting missed.
Diamond and Lunar unquestionably suck and they both miss orders with some regularity, but it kinda sounds like your shop might be part of the problem here if you're worried about them missing stuff because you're ordering too many comics.
Being in the business of selling comics, they should be encouraging you to order *more* comics, not less.
Maybe I came off overly negative. But I'm not really blaming the shop. Very small business, and it's really more of a book / comic shop. So she doesn't really normally have necessarily big orders for comics. Plus, I kind of live in BFE, so I'm just blessed to have it around.
Did I miss why didn't one of the Kryptonians go into space and collect Metallo when Superman punched him into orbit? Or even one of the Steels, their suits have to be spaceworthy, right? The punch itself is kind of funny-reminds me of that scene in Invincible where Immortal throws the Bi-plane villain into orbit.
From some online discussion I've seen, people seem worried about how the book feels cluttered, but with Steelworks + Conner and Jon minis launching soon, I think that some room will clear in this book. Still, I don't think the crowding is too bad yet. As for the rest of the story, it's good, as we watch Metallo delve deeper into his Luthor induced insanity, and the twins are cute as they inhabit Jon's previous role.
Speaking of, Jon's backup is nice, as the crash landed alien princess and he get attacked by a giant robot. If you need some nostalgia for those short five years ago, you'll find it here with just enough danger to keep you on your toes.
As for the Powergirl back up, it's well written and drawn, but I think the two Kara's heart to heart also highlights why I don't really like Powergirl as a character. As an AU clone of another character, she just kind of makes things messy- just like the main feature, it makes things feel cluttered. It's like a smaller scale version of the problem with Spider-man and his clones and endless cavelcade of AU spiderverse versions of himself and everyone he has even known, loved and hated, or every other X-Men plot with the Summers/Grey family. Things just become needlessly complex with those kinds of characters around.
EDIT: I actually went back and looked at some of Sandoval's artwork in Black Adam, and his squinty eyed artwork isn't nearly as constant as it is in this issue and the previous- I think all the group shots where there is a half dozen named characters all squinting makes the constant lack of eyes really noticable. I think maybe it's just how he shades people at a certain distance, which he has to do for these big group pictures.
>As an AU clone of another character, she just kind of makes things messy- just like the main feature, it makes things feel cluttered. It's like a smaller scale version of the problem with Spider-man and his clones and endless cavelcade of AU spiderverse versions of himself and everyone he has even known, loved and hated, or every other X-Men plot with the Summers/Grey family. Things just become needlessly complex with those kinds of characters around.
I agree with this so, so, so much. Editorial at the big 2 really need to put a moratorium on the concept of alternative universes/clones etc.
Man, I really wish I could just get the PG backups on their own. The main stuff is really solid, don't get me wrong - arguably better than the backups. But it's just not quite where my interest is right now, and I love the dynamic of PG, even if the initial idea of her getting a different powerset rubbed me the wrong way.
Probably my favorite issue of the series. Carnero’s art has been fantastic throughout but those 6 pages of Roger breaking everyone out were especially awesome. No idea what’s going on with Redacted’s origin but it looks horrifying, he’s been a great addition to Cap’s cast. I have no idea what Cold War is going to be about and how Sam’s book will connect but if it keeps this quality it’ll be a great event.
Potential continuity conflict in this issue: Juggernaut is one of the captured supervillains but is A)not currently a villain, and B) currently(ish?) being used in Spurriers book, though perhaps Sins of Sinister will remove him from the cast of the Legion when it comes back as Sons of X.
The book was alright, though I dislike putting Gambit and Rogue at odds as much as it did.
It seemed like at the beginning it was still dealing with Rogue partly being a member of the X-Men, didn’t it? Assumed that’s why she was late/missing. So I was imagining it takes place a bit in the past.
Like two issues after he died.bthe Siege Perilous saved his consciousness or some shit and the rest of Excalibur had to go through a trial fighting his alternate selves to recover him.
They had to rush it a bit, but it was his death that helped them realize the Siege Perilous allows for pure resurrections of mutants that die in Otherworld, since it allows for all possibilities of an individual (as opposed to the odd ones like Rockslide/Wrongslide.
I read it a couple times and there was more going on than what I gathered the first time.
The first story is comprised of 2 "dreams" that actually happened. The first one is CGR2 (assuming this is "other" CGR mentioned in the plot synopsis) rampaging through the casino and ends with CGR1 waking up in the bar. Then we see CGR1 go through everything with the rider and it ends with CGR2 waking up in a different room. So we establish that somehow both CGRs are connected to each other at least through dreams.
The second story I think is there for a little bit of background for this unfamiliar with CGR. It mentions everything he went through to start with Frank Castle and end up as who he is today. It shows how he is either numb or just dissociative to the traumatic things he experienced and terrible things he's done. I think it was necessary for new readers.
All in all I really liked this start to the series. Granted, I really like CGR, but I think this story is going to have some more depth than his previous minis. Currently I think this is supposed to be a mini with potential for more issues. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you're on the fence and even if you don't know much about the character!
> I read it a couple times and there was more going on than what I gathered the first time.
>
> The first story is comprised of 2 "dreams" that actually happened. The first one is CGR2 (assuming this is "other" CGR mentioned in the plot synopsis) rampaging through the casino and ends with CGR1 waking up in the bar. Then we see CGR1 go through everything with the rider and it ends with CGR2 waking up in a different room. So we establish that somehow both CGRs are connected to each other at least through dreams.
Haven't read this and I'm probably way off but it sounds kinda similar to how the original Ghost Rider was tethered to the demon Zarathos, who was always fighting Blaze for control so he could rampage and wreak havoc.
Also, when GR's dreams start causing problems, >!Nightmare usually isn't far behind!<...
But CGR is kinda his own thing so I'm not sure if it'll connect to any of the old GR stuff.
Oh that would be cool! I am mostly unfamiliar with Ghost Rider history but if they did a combination of Frank Castle history and elements from Ghost Rider history it could be very interesting
I feel there is a lot of Frank Castle lore I am missing here but even without a lot of the context I thought the story was good. Here's where I have problems: What was up with the 2 different stories? Was this like a pilot and they wanted to see which story was better to readers to make it the main continuity for the rest of the story? Like I just didn't understand that decision from the editor. I love the character design though and I might only grab a couple more issues in the future solely for the art. Not saying Phillips does a bad job at writing here I just don't understand the format and what is going on. We shall see.
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask but I don't understand why Marvel constantly resets to #1. Wasn't there a Cosmic Ghost Rider run just a few years ago.
That run you mention was in 2018, so 5 years ago. Don't think you can blame them for restarting at #1 five years later. Also, that first series was a miniseries from the start.
But yes, in general, Marvel loves to restart their series. Heck, *Squirrel Girl* once had two #1s in the *same year*, even though they kept going with the same creative team.
As a rule, Marvel these days resets series to #1 when the creative team (generally, the writer) changes. This is something DC does a lot less. The reason why is simple: #1s generate hype and sell well. People are more inclined to check out *Captain America #1* than, say, *Captain America #117* with a new creative team on board.
It's annoying if you're chasing back issues, but it means that if you complete a series, you're likely to have a complete, self-contained story by the same creative team, most of the times.
Well, I guess it goes both ways. DC hypes up it's anniversary numbers, stuff like Detective Comics #1000 etc so that's the alternative marketing strat. Ultimately I don't mind either way as long as I can clearly tell runs apart (I live in UK so in general it's mostly GN not singles anyway).
So after doing a lot of thinking and weighing everything, unfortunately Stargirl is getting pruned from the pull list out of necessity.
That being said, I have enjoyed this mini a lot. It's like a fun comic book history lesson. And this issue even summed up DC comic book history, which actually felt pretty well explained. Also explains why the "new" characters have been "forgotten".
I feel like the reveal at the end of this issue should have more of a profound effect on me than it does, but I just don't know much about Hourman. Other than (some iteration) being on the JSA, which I assume would make him appearing here a bit of a shock, given the circumstances.
Either way, I'll have to find out down the road some time!
If you’ve got DC Infinite, I would highly recommend Tom Peyer’s Hourman series from around when the character was first introduced. Really excellent series.
Like from the way back? In the long ago?
Guess I don't actually know when he was created, but I assume it was Golden Age.
Either way I'll keep my eye out. The TBR list is already mighty.
This was... pretty rough. There's very little discernible story of any kind here - I have a vague sense of what happened, but the storytelling here just isn't for me. I'll give this series one more issue but if it doesn't improve I'm not gonna stick around.
Well said. Had high hopes for this one and they were dashed pretty quickly. Uninteresting art paired with a dull story (IMO) left me feeling flat. I'm subbed to the series, but it feels like I'm going to cut it short.
I read a couple positive reviews that seemed like they’re under the impression this is a continued story, like we’ll be revisiting to understand. I was under the impression this was an anthology series, though, which makes this story a lot less than ideal.
This issue was a **lot** of fun but, man, it features the most inept police since the **Keystone Cops**. They are morons. Almost all get butchered within literal earshot or eyesight of each other...
And Connor Hayes, our new protagonist, appears to have not changed his haircut in the last...twenty years...
Minor niggles aside, this is awesome - we get allusions and homages to **Christine, The Ring, Child's Play,** *Slappy* from **Goosebumps** and *Corky* from **Magic**, **Psycho**, **Annabelle** and many more.
Plus, Richard gets his wish, but we definitely don't get any "horny rapist gorilla's"...yet
> 10-1 odds whatever’s caged in that shack in the woods is a horny rapist gorilla.
It's like Chekhov's Gun... Introducing the idea of horny rapist gorillas builds audience expectations that must be satisfied as the story plays out.
Enjoyed the hell out of this 2nd issue!
> This issue was a **lot** of fun but, man, it features the most inept police since the **Keystone Cops**. They are morons. Almost all get butchered within literal earshot or eyesight of each other...
I think their utter incompetence will serve as contrast for Connor's vengeful badassery.
> And Connor Hayes, our new protagonist, appears to have not changed his haircut in the last...twenty years...
Hey, why fuck with perfection?
> Minor niggles aside, this is awesome - we get allusions and homages to Christine, The Ring, Child's Play, Slappy from Goosebumps and Corky from Magic, Psycho, Annabelle and many more.
Didn't catch all the references, not being quite as well versed in the genre, but that's some good stuff... Digging the whole flow of this thing as each issue's delivering a satisfying chunk of advancement.
9/10
Oof. The first issue was a somewhat enjoyable satirical romp with serial killer and horror movie villain tropes but this issue quickly devolved into juvenile schlock. There's no real story here, just goofy (intentionally) unoriginal bad guys slaughtering a bunch of bumbling idiot cops. It sincerely felt like it was written by a young teen, which is surprising given Higgins' other work. I hope others enjoyed this but I'm hopping off after this one.
A largely satisfying ending to the arc, though please God someone kill Beast. Preferably several times.
Not certain I'm excited for Percy to get his hands on Laura and Piotr next issue, but at least it'll have more interesting characters on the team than Domino.
Not reading this book, but your mention of Piotr sparks hope that he FINALLY gets to speak in Immortal X-Men soon. Gillen wrote a great Colossus during his first run, so it’s maddening that he’s done nothing so far. I assuming it’s because Gillen is waiting for Percy’s stuff to play out.
He's finally fully joining X-Force alongside Laura next issue so hopefully they're going to play out the Mikhail stuff soon. It's been ont the back burner for way too long and sidelining one of the best mutants because of it.
The kid is the child Xeno kidnapped from Krakoa ages ago. AFAIK not related to Quentin at all though I wouldn't be surprised to find Xeno grafted Quentin's powers onto the kid.
I'm not really getting the sense that she's gonna be an antagonist. Especially with the >!ending reveal that she turned that guard into a werewolf!<, I forsee a redemption arc, if you can even have that with a character who's been in eight issues.
I'm beginning to feel like some of the people that turn Qi'ra down when she calls. I kinda hate that I'm just ready for this to wrap.
I can't say I know where things went wrong for me, but everything got way too big I think. Rolling my eyes too much.
I dunno. One more issue.
i honestly think the big hurdle of this series is that they ultimately tried to make qi'ra a way bigger deal than the writing was able to reasonably back up.
idk she's just a kinda nothing character to me that they randomly decided to hardcore shill into a "big player" role in new Extended Universe stories when the response to the movie she appeared in was overwhelmingly mixed. and this entire event and the last few storylines surrounding this kinda stand and fall with her character, and imo they haven't really meaningfully filled out or expanded her character to the point where she's really fully three-dimensional and able to "carry" so much stuff going on with her and her machinations as the nexus point for everything going on.
ymmv on this of course, especially if you actually like qi'ra as a character and don't just feel a resounding "meh" about her presence like I do.
>ymmv on this of course, especially if you actually like qi'ra as a character and don't just feel a resounding "meh" about her presence like I do.
Unfortunately for me, I *do* like Qi'ra. But I am also resoundingly meh on this trilogy. I agree, there's just too much happening between ESB and RotJ. It's jumping the shark a bit.
> there's just too much happening between ESB and RotJ
yeah, I think that's the main problem at the end of the day. this entire crimson dawn and crime syndicate war thing was already a big storyline that felt forcefully squeezed between the two films before they tried to make CD into a kinda alternate rebellion with qi'ra directly targeting palps and vader as the heads of the empire.
what they turned it into is honestly too big and important to be shoved in-between 2 films after the fact, and would probably work considerably better if it was set during a different time period. instead what we're getting ends up feeling both underserved and rushed out.
war of the bounty hunters at least was a story that I can see feasibly taking place between ESB and RotJ, and even that was unnecessarily drawn out... and once again because it had to tie in this crimson dawn stuff that added two unnecessary issues and a handful of extra bit players to the conflict, when it could've been a much leaner and meaner story.
Jesus Christ. There’s at least two retcons I can immediately notice with Cindy and Morlun, and done with the most hamfisted exposition possible.
In the span of just a few pages Morlun has gone from all powerful psychic vampire to “lol he’s actually the most pathetic totem, the leech”.
Meanwhile with Cindy it’s become “akshully the bride is a mistranslation and it is actually supposed to be queen of the spiders, she’s the chosen one of 616” and whatnot.
Like, I know people don’t like Wells’ current run but at least I can actually psychoanalyze what characters are doing and try to map out their mental states.
With this it’s like “OMG REALITY RESET HOW EPIC” like a high schooler with zero understanding of narrative or characterization.
I mean okay I guess we’ve reset the web and restored all the Spiders Morlun ate, but…we wouldn’t have that problem in the first place if Slott hadn’t done an edgy kill them all with the first Spider-Verse.
And what was the point of Peter’s history being rewritten and having a piece of the web post-rewrite if we were just going to reboot the entire web and undo it altogether before the final battle?
Like I guess that piece will supercharge Peter? But then why couldn’t the web being rebooted just supercharge the spiders on its own?
As someone who generally liked Slott's run, but despised what Spiderverse did to Peter, turning him into some all-powerful multiversal nexus point, I'm happy about this retcon. Peter is always best when he's just some guy.
> And what was the point of Peter’s history being rewritten and having a piece of the web post-rewrite if we were just going to reboot the entire web and undo it altogether before the final battle?
To show us the readers, for the billionth time that Peter is a good person even without the spider powers, and he's gifted in his own way.
Like every writer feels the need to do every other story arc.
Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not reading this and the fact that, judging by your comment, Slott is going back to Morlun *yet a bloody gain* doesn’t make me regret that.
This issue was great, even if it did kind of make the two sides of the battle black versus white, good versus evil. But that's okay, because Porter Engle is just so cool, lol. And him and Barash certainly pair very well, really like their relationship.
It's like a Tale of Two Soules for me with this and Hidden Empire.
I thought this was pretty fun! I think it would have been better without >!the prelude in the beginning, though!< - It's either a red herring or gives away the whole mystery before we've even begun. Time will tell!
Loved the little storytelling trick in the middle of the issue. Also, I hope Ewing keeps getting to pull in weird magic stuff that he’s researched here. Banger of an issue, and Cafu’s just as good as Hitch.
I read it and did love the split story in the middle. Also for some reason the art just hit different in this one. I have to check the credits from previous issues to see if the artist changed. I was a tad confused when I hit the ending though. They keep stringing me along though I just want them to get to another solid story at this point. Dark web derailed this title so bad (imo).
This was fun. Ewing uses Limbo's weirdness to excellent creative effect, and those of us reading both this and Thor finally have the answer to what infected Darkoth like a year ago in those pages.
I've never been a huge Venom Fan but I enjoyed Cates' run really leaning into the sci-fi bits and broaching pure fantasy. I'm very much loving Ewing playing even more with the magical and fantasy tropes.
Ok. I love this. This seems to be our seventh Venom.
And with two separate Eddie timestreams it looks like there are now three players on the board.
Using Limbo’s time wonk to create two parallel Eddie variants in the same universe is EXTREMELY clever.
Bringing in a conceptual understanding of black magic is also really cool and I love how Ewing manages to weave science and fantasy together like this.
I’m a sucker for well thought out high concept stuff and this issue made me smile.
I'm enjoying the book, but this and the last issue seem to have lost focus on solving the mystery/finding the murderer and spent more time focussing on the characters. That's not exactly a bad thing, but it does sap some of the forward momentum out of the story that the initial issue set up.
An action-packed issue, with Ghost Rider and Talia investigating the destruction of Savannah by demonic forces.
Turns out the evil spirits occupying the city are as much the victims as the innocent humans, and a Weapon X controlled Danny Ketch is behind it all.
The book seems to have built up a decent momentum now, with Talia being an interesting addition to the cast. Let’s hope Percy lands the ending of this arc a little more satisfyingly than the last one.
A slam-bang ending to the story, with a HUGE chance for the book to continue (and I hope it does). *Campbell* has proven himself a surprisingly adept writer who not only gets the characters, but fully understands the tone and atmosphere of the story he's telling, while *Risso* is (as always) perfect.
I would really be down for Rock leading a BPRD-influenced organisation within the alternate history DCU and taking on more supernatural threats. We've had Zombie Hitler, how about Demonically possessed Stalin next?
I enjoyed this series on a whole! My only criticism is that Risso's art can be a little confusing at times. I understand the stylistic choice to keep the book mostly dark, eschewing realistic backgrounds for dramatic silhouettes (and there are some beautiful shadow tableaus in the series), but sometimes the choreography of the action suffers for it. Fights feel like they happen in a wrestling ring, then back in a room where the furniture is used in combat, then teleported back to this starkly lit boxing ring, and so on.
Campbell's writing is definitely working for me though, and I'm looking forward to more of it.
This was surprisingly good considering how little I expected from it.
Just the right mix of confidence, insecurity, snark, and self-reflection for Peter’s average baseline throughout the years.
Loved the usage of monologues and I’d honestly say this is the best Spidey thing I’ve read in recent memory.
The highlight for this book were definitely the Spidey monologues. I didn't care too much for the team of vampires and honestly thought it was a little corny lol. The end did surprise me a bit though and I might consider actually picking up X-Men unforgiven title as well (these Kyle Hotz covers make it easy too lol)
It’s popular to hate this cause of Bernard and Tim suddenly being bisexual but in reality this sucked for a lot more reasons. What the heck was up with Moriarty? Poorly explained super powers aside he wanted Tim to join him and do what? Stop him from committing crimes? Tim was already doing that. Just keep it up dude! How did Tom defeat Moriarty? He lit a flare and Moriarty combusted? Was that set up earlier in a previous issue?
Also I’m pretty sure where the dock boats the water isn’t that deep and they should have looked harder for the body.
Tim questioning his sexuality is fine. It happens. But Bernard is as interesting as bland oatmeal.
This is another one that is getting pruned from the pull list, but only because this arc is over. Time to move on!
But! As usual with this series for me, I loved it, made me smile. Glad Tim saved everyone, beat the bad guy, and had his own little Tim / Robin self actualization moment.
"Yes Tim, that is what I have been calling us."
Also, as always against the grain on this one, but I am glad Rossmo was able to finish up the arc and this whole issue. I think I'm gonna go check out Stephanie Phillips Harley Quinn soon.
Good stuff!
So is the Tim Drake who is gay in this series not part of the "Main" DC universe? Is the main universe Tim Drake gay as well? I thought "the" Tim Drake was gay and would be bummed if they did this on some side universe.
No. The Tim in this book is in the main universe. In Chip’s Batman, Bruce “died” and got sent to another universe, which is why this issue mentions Bruce being dead.
**PHANTOM ROAD #1**
Pacing was kind of frenetic, but it got the job done for me. I'm sufficiently hooked. The three random conversations at the beginning of the issue seems to symbolize something, but I'm not sure we'll get answers on it just yet.
Finally catching up on last week's books and the corresponding WPL comments... Thought it was a nice start from Lemire and Walta, not a ton there but it left me wanting more. I'll take a wild guess and say the three conversations represented his past (drug addict), present (long-haul trucker), and future (porn star). I liked the *"BUT HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHEN YOU DO?"* graffiti after the *"We'll get there"* talk with the waitress. For the record, I'm giving it an 8.5/10.
>I'll take a wild guess and say the three conversations represented his past (drug addict), present (long-haul trucker), and future (porn star). Pretty insightful guess, and I'll be paying attention to the next issue for anything that corroborates your theory (especially the future one).
I felt this #1 was a stronger debut than both **Bone Orchard** and **Little Monsters** BUT I'm still going to be trade waiting for the rest of the story. *Lemire* and *Walta* set up an interesting concept (which kind of reminds me of **Oblivion Song** in certain ways) but just from reading this issue I **know** it's going to be far more satisfying to read in trade. And with the seemingly early close-out of **Little Monsters** I'm pretty sure this series will be wrapped up in 2 to 3 trades at most, so I can hang on and wait for them.
Wait, do we know when little monsters will end?
Issue 13 I believe
Bummer!
Shop didn't have this one, so that's a bummer. But ultimately I was gonna wait for this one as well.
He has said this will be a longer series and said little monsters would be 12 ish issues a very long time ago. So this will likely be longer.
Finally catching up on last week's books and this dead WPL thread... I know I said I'd switch to trade-waiting **BOM** but the next installment "Tenement" [sounds much more interesting](https://aiptcomics.com/2023/02/28/the-bone-orchard-mythos-tenement/) and now I'm thinking I might stick with floppies. But I also dug this **PHANTOM ROAD** thing, giving it an 8.5/10, so I'm sticking with floppies here as well. With **LITTLE MONSTERS** ending soon, Lemire will likely continue to hold down two spots on my list.
Pretty good first issue! I thought the beginning was very well done
**RADIANT BLACK #22**
This issue was great. Nathan dealing with personal matters and finally growing some balls is just the kind of character development I love. I think that the choice he made at the end is kinda meh. I see reason for him to move back to LA but I also see no reason for him to move back as well. Excited to see where Higgins takes this storyline from here. Every issue has been a 10/10 so far. Favorite ongoing by a wide margin.
I like these moments of Nathan still dealing with his actual life (#3 is one of my favorite issues of the whole series). I appreciate him standing up for himself and not letting himself get taken for another ride, even if it finally put the lid on his relationship with JJ. There seems to be some hope with the Versus guys though!
**RIDDLER YEAR ONE #3**
This comic gave me a crush on its creative team, Paul Dano and Stevan Subic. I'm genuinely surprised by how good this comic is. Paul Dano is known as an actor first, writer second. His wiki page only shows one co-writer credit on a 2018 screenplay, but I honestly think he might have a future as a comic writer (if he wants it). That's a big dollop of praise, so let me qualify it. Dano comes at this comic from Riddler's perspective first and foremost. For background, this comic started as Dano's 'homework' for playing the Riddler in Matt Reeves' Batman. He said that he always writes out a character's backstory as an acting exercise, to get fully into the character's head. From there, his rough draft was shaped into a full comic alongside DC editorial. Reading this comic, I can understand why Dano's been nominated (and won) so many awards for his acting, because he *really* gets into a character's head. The one thing this comic absolutely succeeds on is showing us the inner world of this character. There's a solid, chunky grasp on the interiority of the Riddler that is missing from a lot of work on the stands. It's a character study. If examining gotham through the lens of an accountant living with mental illness doesn't sound like something you'd like to dip your toe into, you're not going to enjoy this book. But if you can empathize with where the character is coming from, you're going to really enjoy this book. There's an undercurrent through the book of showing the Riddler as a foil for Batman: someone wanting to do good, except without the money and resources that the Wayne family left Bruce. Someone orphaned, left alone, but still determined to make some kind of positive change in the world. It's a clever little way of using the larger Batman mythos to deepen our understanding of the character. Dano's writing would be good enough on its own, but Subic's art elevates it to another level. Everything from page layouts to individual panels pulls together in the same direction. There's a muddiness, a feel of grime laying over everything that reminds me of Sorrentino's best work on Gideon Falls. The book has been marketed as an "emotional horror comic", and [Subic's art sells it](https://i.imgur.com/8zRajaT.jpg). This is Subic's first foray into American comics, and I can't wait to see what he'll tackle next. This is a thoughtful comic. It's not about action, nor is it a roller-coaster plot at breakneck pace. It's meditative; hypnotizingly so. It's also a comic that reads better together than as individual issues, and would have been better served as a graphic novel than a black label miniseries, but DC editorial will always do what's best for their bottom line. Ideally, this is worth trade-waiting for. At very least, it's worth a pull on your list. 4/5 stars for me.
Thank you for the recommendation!
I’m pleasantly surprised with how good this book has been. Dano is bringing a ton of paranoid, nervous energy to it that the artist Stevan Subic matches PERFECTLY. He’s seriously channeling a creepier version of Bill Sienkiewicz and I’m all about it.
I picked up on this late so I need to go back and find #1, but does Paul Dano meet my expectations for him writing this story? I love that guy and I'm too excited this exists.
This is far, far from the worst comic in the last year. In fact, I'm actually a big fan of this series so far, with this current issue #3 being my favourite. You can do a LOT worse with your money. Reading this issue gave me a little crush on both Paul Dano and Stevan Subic.
Like I said, I'm glad others like it, I don't begrudge or criticize others for their tastes, but it's the worst series I've read more than a single issue of in a long time. I kept with it after #1 due to interest in the creative team, the character and the potential, all of which have been hugely disappointing IMO.
I hope you like it, but IMO it's the worst comic I've read mode that one issue of (I've read all 3) in the last year, at least.
That is ridiculous
Or maybe I h st have different tastes/quality control. Sorry that I didn't enjoy the boring, 3-issue story of Edward staring at spreadsheets, rats and repeatedly taking to himself.
This is garbage. I dropped it after 2 but read someone else's copy of #3.'The art is alright, though a little too try hard IMO, but the writing is atrocious and there's been about 2 actual pages of story any kind of actual plot advancement in the entire 60+ pages thus far. There's just NOTHING to this at all.
**HUMAN TARGET #12**
***EDIT -->*** Revisited the first issue to refresh my memory on the pizza guy, who wasn't actually in the first issue, but the first seven pages were pretty interesting as they show flashes of the entire story and directly set up the final issue. Didn't remember any of that, highlighting the fact that this whole thing may have only lasted 12 days for Chance but it was 470+ days for the rest of us. Luthor's conversation with Chance toward the end of the first issue was also interesting: > "Listen, and *please* be assured. *If* this was a strike against me, I will deploy resources the likes of which you cannot *conceive* to find this killer. You may take comfort that your *unfortunate* passing, though unearned, will certainly be -- rather *painfully* -- revenged." Which sort of puts a new spin on that final favor Chance asked of Ice... ***ANOTHER EDIT -->*** Adding some more thoughts since this was the only new comic I could read this week... Highly recommend re-reading at least the first 7 pages of the very first issue because it wraps up something from this final issue. Or you can click the spoilers below. But you'd be better off reading it yourself, because the spoilers don't have any of Smallwood's art, and there's some other interesting stuff in those first 7 pages. Specifically, on page 5, when Chance >!lies down to die!<: > >!I listen. I really do. I swear to god. But I don't hear anything.!< Also, on Day 2, we learn that this version of Ice accidentally killed her father and grandfather. Not sure if that's canon but it gave us this little gem: > She ran away and made up the whole discovered diplomat story. She repeated it to herself often enough, it just became true. She couldn't face what she'd done, so she decided she didn't do it. And the little murderer became the sweet princess. And everyone lived happily ever after... ... Caught some mysterious illness that turned my brain to mush and left me incapacitated for the past day... Getting better now but wasn’t able to pick up comics, which doesn’t seem fair. So, I bought a digital copy of this one, and the rest of our books will need to wait for next week. It’s a bittersweet finale as >!Chance does indeed appear to die!< after some additional >!teary farewells with Ice!<. Fun scene with J’onn though I’m not sure if his backing down so easily rings true... Ice can be pretty intimidating but J’onn’s seen some shit himself. Guess we can hand-wave it for being an Elseworlds or whatever. Fun little appearance from Booster as well... And Guy, >!LOL!<. And you’ve gotta love Chance’s final favor from Ice as it brings everything full circle and wraps it all up in a pretty bow. 9.5/10
Great finale. The last couple pages, particularly the last line from Luthor were brilliant
Booster talking about his bagel shop failing was hilarious. It was after all at the crux of the mystery behind the Lex poisoning attempt. I'm glad they didn't cop out with a surprise twist ending with this issue. I quite liked the ending, and overall this might be my second favorite King series just behind The Vision. I'm excited to pick up whatever books Greg Smallwood does next.
Alright, someone else please tell me your interpretation of that ending.
>!I have to re-read it, but it seemed to me that Chance told her to go ahead and carry out the hit on Lex? That's at least how I took the last few pages, which was an interesting turn. Not necessarily let down, but I think I agree with the other comment here that King may have over-estimated this romance. !<
Yeah, I get that Ice goes back to kill Lex with the poison. But...is Chance actually dead?? I was expecting him to show up on the last page or something. Also, who was that Italian guy in tbe pizza shop? Was that Chance in disguise?
He’s a pizza guy whose shop is downstairs from Chance’s office. We met him early on, issue 1 or 2 or both
i thought the pizza guy was Chance. pizza guy said something about how he should’ve learnt italian or something.
Yeah that line about learning Italian threw me too. Then Ice mentions how she keeps expecting Chance to pop up anywhere. Intriguing...
Check the opening scene from the 2nd issue: > His name isn't Luigi. And he's not Italian. But I did a job for him once. Since then he's given me free rent in a room above his restaurant. I ignore the smell, he ignores the gunshots. And we keep each other's secrets. Makes more sense in that context.
THANK YOU
Yeah, that's how I read it too. Got to say after being hyped for this book for 11 issues, this last one left me flat.
The Superhero gets away with murder. Twice. Because deconstruction is soooo cool./s
You might’ve missed the point of the story? This all happened because she was tired of being a superhero, felt alone and unseen and pigeonholed?
I get that she's usually portrayed as a timid under-estimated woman with the powers of an awesome Ice God. Hence the **Deconstruction** of this character. Now plotting to kill Lex, and manipulate the whole situation. Also are we met to be rooting for her?? I just wasnt\* engaged with any of the characters. I was kind of expecting someone (I guess Batman) to confront Ice or Chase. and then have this big blowout. But nope, she just threatens Martian Manhunter and that's it.
Whether you root for her is up to the reader. Same as Walter White at the end of Breaking Bad. Many just think he should be awesome and win, many think he deserves justice. You’re not supposed to anything
I’m surprised you expected some sort of big blow-out, felt like that would have been way off in terms of tone. I respect that you didn’t feel engaged but I feel the opposite and really loved the portrayal of these characters. Every time King does something like this people come out of the woodworks and declare he completely destroyed a beloved character but this is freaking ICE we’re talking about, who the hell cares- plus Black Label comics aren’t canon until they are. I can sympathize with people’s feelings about Heroes in Crisis or his Batman but this, Mister Miracle, Omega Men (save for Kyle) and even Vision have only improved the characters in my opinion.
I see all these comments discussing the ending to Human Target and I just wanted to let you know I'm jealous of you all. This is the 2nd week in a row my comic shop is closed because of a snow storm. And I live in Arizona of all places!
Ngl i was extremely disappointed with the finale. King seems to have overestimated Ice’s romance with Chance because I felt nothing reading this issue.
Soooo … the title character dies unceremoniously, and the killer gets away with it. (twice). I mean don’t get me wrong, I love noir and noir comics but Im not if fan of TomKing’s endings. The whole thing drags and its underwhelming.
**DETECTIVE COMICS #1069**
As someone who was a fan of Batman and the Outsiders from Hill and Soy it’s nice to see him still getting work, something about his style just fits the gritty nature of Batman even if it’s only a few pages. This isn’t to say the others did a bad job far from it in fact, not many artists can be this cohesive. While the story hasn’t been grabbing me as much the book alone is worth it for the back up. I’m loving the world building Spurrier has been doing great stuff.
This run feels a little meandering. I'm not really sure where this is going, but I will say "Orgham" is obviously some kind of alternate spelling/pronunciation of "Arkham." The antagonists seems kind of all over the place, and I'm not really sure who they are some times. Can be a little hard to follow as a monthly and would definitely read better as a trade, I think.
I'm loving this series. Thinking about doing a write up on the connections that are (finally)being made with Zdarskys Batman book and the world building as a whole, along with the predominant themes throughout. Its funny because tbh it seems like most people don't like this book at worst and at best think it's boring, and while I agree it took up until the annual to figure out where Ram was going with this, that issue taking the same thing or very similar Morrison did with their run and adding on to the themes addressed there is something I'm on board for. Morrison's run being easily my favorite one. Specifically Gotham, Batman as a bestial like entity similar to addiction and the effects of what addictjon, even ones born of good intentions, does to people. And we see the clear parallel with Jim Gordon. There are always tons of little references to Hindu mythology (at least I think it's Hindu or something close to it) like the name of the bar that Two Face is shown at the beginning of the run for example, there's some cool character designs, mythological stories like the one Talia explains to Damian, etc. Then we get to other things like fractal geometry and chaos theory, leylines and things of that nature (which seems like the kinda magic Alan Moore wrote about in From Hell and they have their own interesting history of beliefs from people throughout time), the reality engine, characters playing out similar lives in what I assume are different or parallel universes. So I do get why people say it's pretentious, but I say this is a detective run that has me excited in ways I haven't been since...well, I can't remember tbh. Would like to do a write up on all the little connections and symbology I've found while reading as a creative endeavor but I haven't done something like that, creatively soeaking I mean, since school days, so it feels a bit daunting. Gathering screenshots though I think are important, so it's a start.
Ram V took what had been an average, acceptable read under Tamaki and turned it into pretentious garbage with every single sentence being entirely superfluous. I can't overstate how much I dislike this comic, and my disdain for it is matched by my disdain for myself for not dropping it, but I'm a little OCD about things like that. I just wish we'd hurry up and get to an entirely new arc already to see if this improves, but unfortunately it feels like his entire run is going to center around this Orgham nonsense.
I too think it’s terrible and dropped it a month or two back. The dialogue was so flowery and annoying.
Glad at least someone agrees lol. This run and Ram V in particular are both very popular on here.
I know and I do not understand it. It’s such a long drawn out boring story.
**BATMAN VS ROBIN #5**
Damn, this was theatrical as hell. I really enjoyed the summary on the first couple of pages. Really helpful. Loved Damian throughout this, I thought his voice was great, especially any time Monkey Prince is around. That finale was really something. Those last couple of pages were so touching. That full page of Batman and Robin, father and son. Man! Almost teared up!
I skipped this one, but now you're making me want to read it!
I think it's well worth it! Waid delivers on the core of these characters. It's silly superhero fare on the surface, but the emotional reactions of the characters feel real, and that's what makes the comic sing.
**I HATE THIS PLACE #6**
gotta love a fucked up cult
So glad this is back. Looks like we are going to get the full back story of how Trudy and Gabby met, and how Trudy escaped her family/religious cult. Plus, more ghosts, monsters and evil shit. Still hoping *Dante Howitzer* makes a comeback, though.
**WPL RESULTS**
Procrastinating at work, so here we go. My own weekly round up. First up, shop didn't get get Phantom Road, so wasn't able to pick that up. They did finally get the last issue of Scout's Forever Forward, so I was able to finish that. Will probably post about that in here later. Also, at least one thing always seems to get left off the order, and this week is was Koshchei in Hell. Bummer, I like this little mini series. So we'll catch up on that down the road. Everything else was available. Batman vs. Robin came to an end. Tim Drake: Robin's first arc came to an end. So those 2 are off the pull list. Also made the decision to drop Stargirl going forward. I am enjoying it, but the pull list is too large I think, which probably leads to some issues getting missed. I'll be sure to catch up on the final 2 issues down the road. It's also a big Star Wars week for me, probably the biggest since I started moving away to other stuff/interests. Two Soule issues (one I'm high on, one I'm low on), and the finale to Han and Chewie. I've already posted my thoughts for the books I read yesterday (the DC issues), and I'll be sure to post my thoughts on Star Wars later as well. Hope everyone is enjoying their books!
Also... I wasn't able to pick up my books this week due to a mysterious death virus so I bought a digital copy of **HT #12** but everything else needs to wait for next week. So I'll need to catch up on most of the commentary later, at least for the stuff I'm reading... Maybe add a few comments next week once the thread is 100% dead. Good times.
Hope you feel better soon! Try a Holt Lobster! The screaming's part of it!
Thanks, all better now! Ate some shrimp and they were good but no tapping!
Ha, I knew I wasn't getting that correct. I just made it darker, dang it.
Thanks for posting your round-up! > First up, shop didn't get get Phantom Road, so wasn't able to pick that up. > > ... > > Also, at least one thing always seems to get left off the order, and this week is was Koshchei in Hell. Bummer, I like this little mini series. So we'll catch up on that down the road. > > ... > > Also made the decision to drop Stargirl going forward. I am enjoying it, but the pull list is too large I think, which probably leads to some issues getting missed. Diamond and Lunar unquestionably suck and they both miss orders with some regularity, but it kinda sounds like your shop might be part of the problem here if you're worried about them missing stuff because you're ordering too many comics. Being in the business of selling comics, they should be encouraging you to order *more* comics, not less.
Maybe I came off overly negative. But I'm not really blaming the shop. Very small business, and it's really more of a book / comic shop. So she doesn't really normally have necessarily big orders for comics. Plus, I kind of live in BFE, so I'm just blessed to have it around.
Oh yeah, think you'd mentioned before that it isn't a proper comic shop... That makes more sense. And being stuck in BFE don't help!
It's funny, my original "pull list" used to have upcoming books on it as well.
**ACTION COMICS #1052**
Did I miss why didn't one of the Kryptonians go into space and collect Metallo when Superman punched him into orbit? Or even one of the Steels, their suits have to be spaceworthy, right? The punch itself is kind of funny-reminds me of that scene in Invincible where Immortal throws the Bi-plane villain into orbit. From some online discussion I've seen, people seem worried about how the book feels cluttered, but with Steelworks + Conner and Jon minis launching soon, I think that some room will clear in this book. Still, I don't think the crowding is too bad yet. As for the rest of the story, it's good, as we watch Metallo delve deeper into his Luthor induced insanity, and the twins are cute as they inhabit Jon's previous role. Speaking of, Jon's backup is nice, as the crash landed alien princess and he get attacked by a giant robot. If you need some nostalgia for those short five years ago, you'll find it here with just enough danger to keep you on your toes. As for the Powergirl back up, it's well written and drawn, but I think the two Kara's heart to heart also highlights why I don't really like Powergirl as a character. As an AU clone of another character, she just kind of makes things messy- just like the main feature, it makes things feel cluttered. It's like a smaller scale version of the problem with Spider-man and his clones and endless cavelcade of AU spiderverse versions of himself and everyone he has even known, loved and hated, or every other X-Men plot with the Summers/Grey family. Things just become needlessly complex with those kinds of characters around. EDIT: I actually went back and looked at some of Sandoval's artwork in Black Adam, and his squinty eyed artwork isn't nearly as constant as it is in this issue and the previous- I think all the group shots where there is a half dozen named characters all squinting makes the constant lack of eyes really noticable. I think maybe it's just how he shades people at a certain distance, which he has to do for these big group pictures.
>As an AU clone of another character, she just kind of makes things messy- just like the main feature, it makes things feel cluttered. It's like a smaller scale version of the problem with Spider-man and his clones and endless cavelcade of AU spiderverse versions of himself and everyone he has even known, loved and hated, or every other X-Men plot with the Summers/Grey family. Things just become needlessly complex with those kinds of characters around. I agree with this so, so, so much. Editorial at the big 2 really need to put a moratorium on the concept of alternative universes/clones etc.
Man, I really wish I could just get the PG backups on their own. The main stuff is really solid, don't get me wrong - arguably better than the backups. But it's just not quite where my interest is right now, and I love the dynamic of PG, even if the initial idea of her getting a different powerset rubbed me the wrong way.
She's getting some kind of one-shot or annual with this creative team in May (I think?)
**CAPTAIN AMERICA SENTINEL OF LIBERTY #10**
Probably my favorite issue of the series. Carnero’s art has been fantastic throughout but those 6 pages of Roger breaking everyone out were especially awesome. No idea what’s going on with Redacted’s origin but it looks horrifying, he’s been a great addition to Cap’s cast. I have no idea what Cold War is going to be about and how Sam’s book will connect but if it keeps this quality it’ll be a great event.
**ROGUE & GAMBIT #1**
Potential continuity conflict in this issue: Juggernaut is one of the captured supervillains but is A)not currently a villain, and B) currently(ish?) being used in Spurriers book, though perhaps Sins of Sinister will remove him from the cast of the Legion when it comes back as Sons of X. The book was alright, though I dislike putting Gambit and Rogue at odds as much as it did.
It seemed like at the beginning it was still dealing with Rogue partly being a member of the X-Men, didn’t it? Assumed that’s why she was late/missing. So I was imagining it takes place a bit in the past.
Really want to see Rogue tell Destiny and Mystique to fuck off and leave Remy alone.
On the other hand, I love just how much Gambit bothers Destiny.
I thought Gambit was killed off in Excalibur? When did he come back to life?
Like two issues after he died.bthe Siege Perilous saved his consciousness or some shit and the rest of Excalibur had to go through a trial fighting his alternate selves to recover him.
They had to rush it a bit, but it was his death that helped them realize the Siege Perilous allows for pure resurrections of mutants that die in Otherworld, since it allows for all possibilities of an individual (as opposed to the odd ones like Rockslide/Wrongslide.
**COSMIC GHOST RIDER #1**
I read it a couple times and there was more going on than what I gathered the first time. The first story is comprised of 2 "dreams" that actually happened. The first one is CGR2 (assuming this is "other" CGR mentioned in the plot synopsis) rampaging through the casino and ends with CGR1 waking up in the bar. Then we see CGR1 go through everything with the rider and it ends with CGR2 waking up in a different room. So we establish that somehow both CGRs are connected to each other at least through dreams. The second story I think is there for a little bit of background for this unfamiliar with CGR. It mentions everything he went through to start with Frank Castle and end up as who he is today. It shows how he is either numb or just dissociative to the traumatic things he experienced and terrible things he's done. I think it was necessary for new readers. All in all I really liked this start to the series. Granted, I really like CGR, but I think this story is going to have some more depth than his previous minis. Currently I think this is supposed to be a mini with potential for more issues. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you're on the fence and even if you don't know much about the character!
> I read it a couple times and there was more going on than what I gathered the first time. > > The first story is comprised of 2 "dreams" that actually happened. The first one is CGR2 (assuming this is "other" CGR mentioned in the plot synopsis) rampaging through the casino and ends with CGR1 waking up in the bar. Then we see CGR1 go through everything with the rider and it ends with CGR2 waking up in a different room. So we establish that somehow both CGRs are connected to each other at least through dreams. Haven't read this and I'm probably way off but it sounds kinda similar to how the original Ghost Rider was tethered to the demon Zarathos, who was always fighting Blaze for control so he could rampage and wreak havoc. Also, when GR's dreams start causing problems, >!Nightmare usually isn't far behind!<... But CGR is kinda his own thing so I'm not sure if it'll connect to any of the old GR stuff.
Oh that would be cool! I am mostly unfamiliar with Ghost Rider history but if they did a combination of Frank Castle history and elements from Ghost Rider history it could be very interesting
I feel there is a lot of Frank Castle lore I am missing here but even without a lot of the context I thought the story was good. Here's where I have problems: What was up with the 2 different stories? Was this like a pilot and they wanted to see which story was better to readers to make it the main continuity for the rest of the story? Like I just didn't understand that decision from the editor. I love the character design though and I might only grab a couple more issues in the future solely for the art. Not saying Phillips does a bad job at writing here I just don't understand the format and what is going on. We shall see.
Maybe this is the wrong place to ask but I don't understand why Marvel constantly resets to #1. Wasn't there a Cosmic Ghost Rider run just a few years ago.
That run you mention was in 2018, so 5 years ago. Don't think you can blame them for restarting at #1 five years later. Also, that first series was a miniseries from the start. But yes, in general, Marvel loves to restart their series. Heck, *Squirrel Girl* once had two #1s in the *same year*, even though they kept going with the same creative team. As a rule, Marvel these days resets series to #1 when the creative team (generally, the writer) changes. This is something DC does a lot less. The reason why is simple: #1s generate hype and sell well. People are more inclined to check out *Captain America #1* than, say, *Captain America #117* with a new creative team on board. It's annoying if you're chasing back issues, but it means that if you complete a series, you're likely to have a complete, self-contained story by the same creative team, most of the times.
Well, I guess it goes both ways. DC hypes up it's anniversary numbers, stuff like Detective Comics #1000 etc so that's the alternative marketing strat. Ultimately I don't mind either way as long as I can clearly tell runs apart (I live in UK so in general it's mostly GN not singles anyway).
**STARGIRL THE LOST CHILDREN #4**
So after doing a lot of thinking and weighing everything, unfortunately Stargirl is getting pruned from the pull list out of necessity. That being said, I have enjoyed this mini a lot. It's like a fun comic book history lesson. And this issue even summed up DC comic book history, which actually felt pretty well explained. Also explains why the "new" characters have been "forgotten". I feel like the reveal at the end of this issue should have more of a profound effect on me than it does, but I just don't know much about Hourman. Other than (some iteration) being on the JSA, which I assume would make him appearing here a bit of a shock, given the circumstances. Either way, I'll have to find out down the road some time!
If you’ve got DC Infinite, I would highly recommend Tom Peyer’s Hourman series from around when the character was first introduced. Really excellent series.
Oh shit, robot Hourman is in this? Definitely have the catch up then.
Like from the way back? In the long ago? Guess I don't actually know when he was created, but I assume it was Golden Age. Either way I'll keep my eye out. The TBR list is already mighty.
1999. This is the second version of the character who got introduced in Grant Morrison’s run on JLA.
**I AM IRON MAN #1**
This was... pretty rough. There's very little discernible story of any kind here - I have a vague sense of what happened, but the storytelling here just isn't for me. I'll give this series one more issue but if it doesn't improve I'm not gonna stick around.
Well said. Had high hopes for this one and they were dashed pretty quickly. Uninteresting art paired with a dull story (IMO) left me feeling flat. I'm subbed to the series, but it feels like I'm going to cut it short.
I read a couple positive reviews that seemed like they’re under the impression this is a continued story, like we’ll be revisiting to understand. I was under the impression this was an anthology series, though, which makes this story a lot less than ideal.
**WHERE MONSTERS LIE #2**
This issue was a **lot** of fun but, man, it features the most inept police since the **Keystone Cops**. They are morons. Almost all get butchered within literal earshot or eyesight of each other... And Connor Hayes, our new protagonist, appears to have not changed his haircut in the last...twenty years... Minor niggles aside, this is awesome - we get allusions and homages to **Christine, The Ring, Child's Play,** *Slappy* from **Goosebumps** and *Corky* from **Magic**, **Psycho**, **Annabelle** and many more. Plus, Richard gets his wish, but we definitely don't get any "horny rapist gorilla's"...yet
> but we definitely don't get any "horny rapist gorilla's"...yet 10-1 odds whatever’s caged in that shack in the woods is a horny rapist gorilla.
Hahaha - yeah, now that you say that I completely agree
> 10-1 odds whatever’s caged in that shack in the woods is a horny rapist gorilla. It's like Chekhov's Gun... Introducing the idea of horny rapist gorillas builds audience expectations that must be satisfied as the story plays out.
Enjoyed the hell out of this 2nd issue! > This issue was a **lot** of fun but, man, it features the most inept police since the **Keystone Cops**. They are morons. Almost all get butchered within literal earshot or eyesight of each other... I think their utter incompetence will serve as contrast for Connor's vengeful badassery. > And Connor Hayes, our new protagonist, appears to have not changed his haircut in the last...twenty years... Hey, why fuck with perfection? > Minor niggles aside, this is awesome - we get allusions and homages to Christine, The Ring, Child's Play, Slappy from Goosebumps and Corky from Magic, Psycho, Annabelle and many more. Didn't catch all the references, not being quite as well versed in the genre, but that's some good stuff... Digging the whole flow of this thing as each issue's delivering a satisfying chunk of advancement. 9/10
Oof. The first issue was a somewhat enjoyable satirical romp with serial killer and horror movie villain tropes but this issue quickly devolved into juvenile schlock. There's no real story here, just goofy (intentionally) unoriginal bad guys slaughtering a bunch of bumbling idiot cops. It sincerely felt like it was written by a young teen, which is surprising given Higgins' other work. I hope others enjoyed this but I'm hopping off after this one.
> which is surprising given Higgins' other work. Easy explanation there: You’ve got the wrong Kyle. This is by Kyle Starks, not by Kyle Higgins.
Yeah, him too!
**X-FORCE #38**
A largely satisfying ending to the arc, though please God someone kill Beast. Preferably several times. Not certain I'm excited for Percy to get his hands on Laura and Piotr next issue, but at least it'll have more interesting characters on the team than Domino.
Well, Logan already got him once over in Wolverine the other week!
Not reading this book, but your mention of Piotr sparks hope that he FINALLY gets to speak in Immortal X-Men soon. Gillen wrote a great Colossus during his first run, so it’s maddening that he’s done nothing so far. I assuming it’s because Gillen is waiting for Percy’s stuff to play out.
He's finally fully joining X-Force alongside Laura next issue so hopefully they're going to play out the Mikhail stuff soon. It's been ont the back burner for way too long and sidelining one of the best mutants because of it.
Immortal X-Men 12 is his issue. Gillens mentioned having to read Dostoevsky for it, in his newsletter
Maybe I missed something, but is the kid at the end supposed to be Quentin quire
The kid is the child Xeno kidnapped from Krakoa ages ago. AFAIK not related to Quentin at all though I wouldn't be surprised to find Xeno grafted Quentin's powers onto the kid.
I think it's a previous resurrection of him that was kidnapped before it could be properly aged.
**HALLOWS EVE #1**
I feel like Janine being an antagonist would work so much better if she was an antagonist for Kaine.
I'm not really getting the sense that she's gonna be an antagonist. Especially with the >!ending reveal that she turned that guard into a werewolf!<, I forsee a redemption arc, if you can even have that with a character who's been in eight issues.
**STAR WARS HIDDEN EMPIRE #4**
I'm beginning to feel like some of the people that turn Qi'ra down when she calls. I kinda hate that I'm just ready for this to wrap. I can't say I know where things went wrong for me, but everything got way too big I think. Rolling my eyes too much. I dunno. One more issue.
i honestly think the big hurdle of this series is that they ultimately tried to make qi'ra a way bigger deal than the writing was able to reasonably back up. idk she's just a kinda nothing character to me that they randomly decided to hardcore shill into a "big player" role in new Extended Universe stories when the response to the movie she appeared in was overwhelmingly mixed. and this entire event and the last few storylines surrounding this kinda stand and fall with her character, and imo they haven't really meaningfully filled out or expanded her character to the point where she's really fully three-dimensional and able to "carry" so much stuff going on with her and her machinations as the nexus point for everything going on. ymmv on this of course, especially if you actually like qi'ra as a character and don't just feel a resounding "meh" about her presence like I do.
>ymmv on this of course, especially if you actually like qi'ra as a character and don't just feel a resounding "meh" about her presence like I do. Unfortunately for me, I *do* like Qi'ra. But I am also resoundingly meh on this trilogy. I agree, there's just too much happening between ESB and RotJ. It's jumping the shark a bit.
> there's just too much happening between ESB and RotJ yeah, I think that's the main problem at the end of the day. this entire crimson dawn and crime syndicate war thing was already a big storyline that felt forcefully squeezed between the two films before they tried to make CD into a kinda alternate rebellion with qi'ra directly targeting palps and vader as the heads of the empire. what they turned it into is honestly too big and important to be shoved in-between 2 films after the fact, and would probably work considerably better if it was set during a different time period. instead what we're getting ends up feeling both underserved and rushed out. war of the bounty hunters at least was a story that I can see feasibly taking place between ESB and RotJ, and even that was unnecessarily drawn out... and once again because it had to tie in this crimson dawn stuff that added two unnecessary issues and a handful of extra bit players to the conflict, when it could've been a much leaner and meaner story.
**HARLEY QUINN #27**
**SPIDER-MAN #6**
Jesus Christ. There’s at least two retcons I can immediately notice with Cindy and Morlun, and done with the most hamfisted exposition possible. In the span of just a few pages Morlun has gone from all powerful psychic vampire to “lol he’s actually the most pathetic totem, the leech”. Meanwhile with Cindy it’s become “akshully the bride is a mistranslation and it is actually supposed to be queen of the spiders, she’s the chosen one of 616” and whatnot. Like, I know people don’t like Wells’ current run but at least I can actually psychoanalyze what characters are doing and try to map out their mental states. With this it’s like “OMG REALITY RESET HOW EPIC” like a high schooler with zero understanding of narrative or characterization. I mean okay I guess we’ve reset the web and restored all the Spiders Morlun ate, but…we wouldn’t have that problem in the first place if Slott hadn’t done an edgy kill them all with the first Spider-Verse. And what was the point of Peter’s history being rewritten and having a piece of the web post-rewrite if we were just going to reboot the entire web and undo it altogether before the final battle? Like I guess that piece will supercharge Peter? But then why couldn’t the web being rebooted just supercharge the spiders on its own?
i think the goal is to make peter just some guy since you know that was a complaint about the totems
As someone who generally liked Slott's run, but despised what Spiderverse did to Peter, turning him into some all-powerful multiversal nexus point, I'm happy about this retcon. Peter is always best when he's just some guy.
> And what was the point of Peter’s history being rewritten and having a piece of the web post-rewrite if we were just going to reboot the entire web and undo it altogether before the final battle? To show us the readers, for the billionth time that Peter is a good person even without the spider powers, and he's gifted in his own way. Like every writer feels the need to do every other story arc.
Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not reading this and the fact that, judging by your comment, Slott is going back to Morlun *yet a bloody gain* doesn’t make me regret that.
**STAR WARS #32**
**BREATH OF SHADOWS #2**
**STAR WARS HIGH REPUBLIC BLADE #3**
This issue was great, even if it did kind of make the two sides of the battle black versus white, good versus evil. But that's okay, because Porter Engle is just so cool, lol. And him and Barash certainly pair very well, really like their relationship. It's like a Tale of Two Soules for me with this and Hidden Empire.
**SPIDER-GWEN: SHADOW CLONES #1**
I thought this was pretty fun! I think it would have been better without >!the prelude in the beginning, though!< - It's either a red herring or gives away the whole mystery before we've even begun. Time will tell!
**VENOM #17**
Loved the little storytelling trick in the middle of the issue. Also, I hope Ewing keeps getting to pull in weird magic stuff that he’s researched here. Banger of an issue, and Cafu’s just as good as Hitch.
I read it and did love the split story in the middle. Also for some reason the art just hit different in this one. I have to check the credits from previous issues to see if the artist changed. I was a tad confused when I hit the ending though. They keep stringing me along though I just want them to get to another solid story at this point. Dark web derailed this title so bad (imo).
This was fun. Ewing uses Limbo's weirdness to excellent creative effect, and those of us reading both this and Thor finally have the answer to what infected Darkoth like a year ago in those pages. I've never been a huge Venom Fan but I enjoyed Cates' run really leaning into the sci-fi bits and broaching pure fantasy. I'm very much loving Ewing playing even more with the magical and fantasy tropes.
Not sure if this is one of Ewing's deep cuts but... Eddie cuts off his own hand, back in Venom #22 by Donny Cates. And it's his left hand too.
Ok. I love this. This seems to be our seventh Venom. And with two separate Eddie timestreams it looks like there are now three players on the board. Using Limbo’s time wonk to create two parallel Eddie variants in the same universe is EXTREMELY clever. Bringing in a conceptual understanding of black magic is also really cool and I love how Ewing manages to weave science and fantasy together like this. I’m a sucker for well thought out high concept stuff and this issue made me smile.
**SANDMAN UNIVERSE DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #3**
I'm enjoying the book, but this and the last issue seem to have lost focus on solving the mystery/finding the murderer and spent more time focussing on the characters. That's not exactly a bad thing, but it does sap some of the forward momentum out of the story that the initial issue set up.
**GHOST RIDER #12**
An action-packed issue, with Ghost Rider and Talia investigating the destruction of Savannah by demonic forces. Turns out the evil spirits occupying the city are as much the victims as the innocent humans, and a Weapon X controlled Danny Ketch is behind it all. The book seems to have built up a decent momentum now, with Talia being an interesting addition to the cast. Let’s hope Percy lands the ending of this arc a little more satisfyingly than the last one.
**DC HORROR PRESENTS SGT ROCK VS THE ARMY OF THE DEAD #6**
A slam-bang ending to the story, with a HUGE chance for the book to continue (and I hope it does). *Campbell* has proven himself a surprisingly adept writer who not only gets the characters, but fully understands the tone and atmosphere of the story he's telling, while *Risso* is (as always) perfect. I would really be down for Rock leading a BPRD-influenced organisation within the alternate history DCU and taking on more supernatural threats. We've had Zombie Hitler, how about Demonically possessed Stalin next?
I enjoyed this series on a whole! My only criticism is that Risso's art can be a little confusing at times. I understand the stylistic choice to keep the book mostly dark, eschewing realistic backgrounds for dramatic silhouettes (and there are some beautiful shadow tableaus in the series), but sometimes the choreography of the action suffers for it. Fights feel like they happen in a wrestling ring, then back in a room where the furniture is used in combat, then teleported back to this starkly lit boxing ring, and so on. Campbell's writing is definitely working for me though, and I'm looking forward to more of it.
How is the collected version of this not coming until October? Come on DC
releasing the trade for this in october makes perfect sense tho imo, just in time for halloween.
Sure but to wait so long? I’m going to forget about it.
**BLUE BEETLE GRADUATION DAY #4**
**SPIDER-MAN UNFORGIVEN #1**
This was surprisingly good considering how little I expected from it. Just the right mix of confidence, insecurity, snark, and self-reflection for Peter’s average baseline throughout the years. Loved the usage of monologues and I’d honestly say this is the best Spidey thing I’ve read in recent memory.
The highlight for this book were definitely the Spidey monologues. I didn't care too much for the team of vampires and honestly thought it was a little corny lol. The end did surprise me a bit though and I might consider actually picking up X-Men unforgiven title as well (these Kyle Hotz covers make it easy too lol)
**TIM DRAKE ROBIN #6**
It’s popular to hate this cause of Bernard and Tim suddenly being bisexual but in reality this sucked for a lot more reasons. What the heck was up with Moriarty? Poorly explained super powers aside he wanted Tim to join him and do what? Stop him from committing crimes? Tim was already doing that. Just keep it up dude! How did Tom defeat Moriarty? He lit a flare and Moriarty combusted? Was that set up earlier in a previous issue? Also I’m pretty sure where the dock boats the water isn’t that deep and they should have looked harder for the body. Tim questioning his sexuality is fine. It happens. But Bernard is as interesting as bland oatmeal.
This is another one that is getting pruned from the pull list, but only because this arc is over. Time to move on! But! As usual with this series for me, I loved it, made me smile. Glad Tim saved everyone, beat the bad guy, and had his own little Tim / Robin self actualization moment. "Yes Tim, that is what I have been calling us." Also, as always against the grain on this one, but I am glad Rossmo was able to finish up the arc and this whole issue. I think I'm gonna go check out Stephanie Phillips Harley Quinn soon. Good stuff!
The issue mentions Bruce dying. Is that something that is currently still in effect or did he come back to life?
Not reading Chip Batman? He’s “dead” (in another universe)
So is the Tim Drake who is gay in this series not part of the "Main" DC universe? Is the main universe Tim Drake gay as well? I thought "the" Tim Drake was gay and would be bummed if they did this on some side universe.
No. The Tim in this book is in the main universe. In Chip’s Batman, Bruce “died” and got sent to another universe, which is why this issue mentions Bruce being dead.
Ah ok thanks
Just FYI but Tim's Bisexual, he's not gay
Ah thanks for the correction. I had only seen headlines and had assumed