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I was just listening to a YouTube video talking the Diamond fiasco. Sounds like a bunch of the smaller publishers having problems with Diamond not paying them for their stuff (and trying to sell it to cover Diamond's own debts) are teaming up to take legal action.
I hope everything works out for them.
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Lady Baltimore: The Daughters of Medusa - this was a holdover from another week. It was part 2 of 2, a short but nice little miniseries where the Lady and her allies rescue the new Queen of the Gorgons (who always takes the name Medusa) from the Nazis. Turns out, the Germans wanted her so they could control all the gorgons and win the war. That didn’t turn out well for them.
New Gods - So the gods of New Genesis are settling in on Earth. Izaya has given up being Highfather (for now). And Serifan is a traitor serving Apokalips. Not sure I like that part. Then again, maybe he’s not Serifan. And Max Lord is now a disciple of a possibly not dead Darkseid. The dudes who wiped out Apokalips and New Genesis? Don’t know.
Battle Beast - Fun with physics in space. Plus lots of bloodshed. And convincing an AI to be reasonable. This series is simple, but entertaining.
Redcoat - continuing the Northerner’s first story arc. He and Simon are after another evil time traveler. Apparently not the only one either. They seem to be less interested in preserving the twisted future they come from, and more concerned with causing some trouble. To be honest, time travel stuff always gives me a headache, usually because it’s written so poorly. We’ll see how this goes.
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Watching the Justice League Animated series (the second one), and I guess I never realized - the episode based on For the Man Who Has Everything is one of the only times Alan Moore actually allowed his name on the adaption. Considering his notorious dislike of any adaptions of his stories, that’s cool.
On a whole, I think the JL series were great, in part, because you had so many actual comic book creators involved. The aforementioned adapted episode alone was written J. M. DeMatteis.
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I also see that Marvel is apparently killing off the Silver Surfer to replace him with a new female herald. I do often support replacing old characters with new ones. And it's interesting to seem them go the "kill them off" route, instead of just having another former herald running around.
Still, given Marvel's overall lack of good storytelling these days, I have my doubts a new character can take off. Instead, we'll probably get the usual continuous reboots or guest-starring shots in order to make the character seem popular.
Unclear if that will stick. Also Age of Revelation will replace some titles for a bit... but honestly, only thing I'm interested in Rogue/Storm and X-Avengers.
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Didn't get around to reading my new books until later yesterday evening. The boy and I had been busy helping another scout with his Eagle Project for several hours. It was one of my heavy weeks, with lots of books (for current me). Anyway...
The Rocketfellers - We finally get more background into what drove the Rocketfeller family to seek refuge hiding in the past. It's the usual stuff - evil corporation, dangerous new tech, scientist who turns against evil corporation. There's a twist in this one, in that the sister of the main character (the scientist/dad of the family) is allied with the evil corporation, and appears to be infected by the new tech (called Borganics). They didn't finish the background, which makes me think we'll see more next issue.
New History of the DCU - Interesting, but nothing ground breaking. Still not crazy about some of these new cosmic entities they retconned into the comics in the last few years, but at least they seemed to have fixed it so there was only one Monitor again. The art alternated between decent and just plain horrible.
Lost Fantasy - They're doing a slow build on this one. We get to see that there appears to be some kind of governing council of supernatural entities, and one of them is the bad guy behind whatever shenanigans are going on. He's got minions among the normal populace, and a fun way of making sure they don't talk. There's some good action. They seem to be settling on two main characters. They both look human, but clearly are not. One's they white-haired protagonist who was introduced in the first issue. The other is a dude who wears sunglasses all the time and wields what looks like a lightsaber (but one that can shoot a beam).
Huck: Big Bad World - Huck and his mom continue on their roadtrip looking for other people with powers from the same origin. It seems an old witch (Baba Yaga, I think) went around giving people some magic soup to consume, which gave them abilities. Huck seems to have been born with his, however. Anyway, I don't trust the dude who approached them about doing this gig. He's hinky.
Green Lantern - I kept hearing good things about this series. Since it seemed to be starting a kind of new arc, I figured I'd jump on. This 25th issue was pretty cool. Guy was being Guy. Hal was being Hal. It looks like the dude is heavily influenced by the old GL animated series, because Aya and Razer are both around. It was cool seeing Ameythyst and Gemworld again. There are a lot of other characters I'm unfamiliar with, having given up on GL books back when they did that Third Army and Volthoom nonsense. Still, this issue was enjoyable enough I might keep going with it.
Mr. Terrific - I'm loving these flashbacks to his past, with him not being as physically capable, and even kind of getting his ass kicked. This Athena Prescott is funny, thinking she can actually intimidate Lex Luthor and not come out on the losing end. Especially when she's just a lapdog of Darkseid. The current time of the story had the Palace of Eternity. That goes back a ways. Cool.
Moon Knight - This was a good issue. Plenty of action. Plenty of moments for everyone. Lots of lesser villains showing up. I loved it when Hunter's Moon threw Killer Shrike out the window, then had that little interaction with MK . Tigra being all bad-ass. That shot of her with all the little blades sticking out of her was awesome. I'll be interested to see what happened to Fairchild at the end there. Although I was disappointed to see Zodiac back. Maybe he reminds me of someone, but for me he just comes across as a kind of annoying little asshat. Still one thing about him is he seems to be a villain who has to outthink Moon Knight, since he'd probably get his ass handed to him in a straight up fight. The art is great.
Geiger - We continue with the fallout (pun intended) from the battle with Ashley Arden. It seems to me Doctor Molotov has some stones referring to Geiger as a monster, since it was use of his weapons that largely turned the world into the s#@thole that it currently is. And now we see that Tariq has been affected way more than first thought, with perhaps his powers changing (growing?) for the worse. I think the guys coming after them were more soldiers from Vegas, but I kind of hope we move away from those guys and expand into the wider world. There has to be more bad guys out there.
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Picked up the new preview magazines from Marvel and DC. Not much of interest there in the way of new books.
Marvel didn’t even have an Epic Collection that piqued my interest. And whatever they’re doing with the X-books looks horrifically pathetic.
DC K. O. looks….silly. No thanks. I did note that they’re putting out the first collected run from the new Aquaman series. It covers issues 1-8. So I think I’ll get that, then pick up the regular series with issue 9. And I’m starting on with Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps as well. That Adams kid can write.
I did note two new collected editions from DC. One is Batman by Darwyn Cooke. It’s got Ego (which I already own), plus a bunch of other Batman and Batman-adjacent stories. The other is Batman: The Demon Trilogy. That’s a new hardcover edition with all three graphic novels.
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A very slim week. Just two comics, plus the new issue of Heavy Metal (that’ll take a bit of time to read through).
Werewolf by Night: Blood Moon Rise - This one-shot wasn’t as good as I hoped. Also wasn’t as horrible as I feared it could be. The first story was decent. I think they’re trying to set up for some future story. I wasn’t thrilled about the whole half-transformation, talking wolf Jack. At least they had some potential hints at maybe undoing some of the other crap they’ve allowed to happen, hinting Dracula had him imprisoned and under control for awhile. The second story….reminded me why I ultimately gave up on the recent series. At least we got to see Lissa Russell again, but seemingly retconned.
Batman: The Last Halloween - Finally got another issue. I’m still not sure where Loeb is going with this story. It’s certainly not his best work. Far from it, in fact. The story’s adequate enough. What I’m really enjoying are the different artists. This time it was someone named Becky Cloonan. She did a decent job.
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I was listening to this dude Perch on Youtube. He's usually got some pretty decent insights into the industry. I think he even knows some folks at Marvel and DC (at least, that's the impression he gives).
Anyway, someone wrote to him asking his opinion on what could be done to fix the current mess that is Marvel. I pretty much agree with his initial assessment - first thing you do is clean the hell out of editorial. Without that fix, nothing else matters.
He's not wrong. There's some in that editorial that have no business being in there.
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Lost Marvels No. 2: Howard Chaykin Vol. 1 was waiting for me at my comic store today. This one had collected stories of Dominic Fortune, Monark Starkiller, and Phantom Eagle stories.
I also took note this was volume 1 of Chaykin work. Thus implying there will be a volume 2 somewhere in the (hopefully) near future.
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Good week - lots of books.
Hello Darkness - this series started off pretty strong. The last couple of issues have had more bad stories than good, though.
Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story - It’s the old tale of revenge. My guess is, we’ll find out the spirit of the dead girl is using the body of her friend to enact her revenge. And the living girl will ultimately get the blame.
Wolverine - This was, I think, a reprint of an older Claremont story. Or maybe a revisit and reinterpretation. Either way, it was damned interesting. It showed just how great a villain Sabertooth can be in the hands of a good writer. Although the title is a misdirect, since Wolverine is barely in the story.
Hellboy in Love: The Art of Fire - I wasn’t expecting another of these miniseries, but here it is. The art isn’t the greatest, but the story seems cool, continuing the character arc of Hellboy’s girlfriend from the late 70s.
JSA - We get a bit of insight into the Kid Eternity identity. Otherwise, the good guys don’t get to do much of anything. And the bad guys seem to be winning by the end. For now, anyway. And I guess I’m just realizing they made there Kobra leader a chick. Also still noy really a fan of some of these other retconned superheroes and villains. Kind of wish they could have just erased some of the more idiotic ones. It’s still cool seeing classics like Wotan and Gentlemen Jim again, though. Anyway, considering how long they’re dragging this first story arc out, I may not stick around beyond that.
Moon Knight - That was a fun little issue. I kind of wish Marlene would have shown up again, though. It’s always nice to see older characters on occasion. And it’s nice to see the Midnight Mission back again. Maybe that’s what they intended all along. Or maybe fan backlash convinced them it was a silly move. Although I think they should get rid of that sword. It’s way too powerful.
Resurrection Man - I don’t particularly like time travel shenanigans, mostly because writers typically suck at making it good. I can see Ram V seems to be using this as a way to reconcile some of the past retconned origins of the character. I appreciate that. And next issue is the last. That’s a shame.
Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell - What a cool finish to a wildly entertaining story. Bullseye and Daredevil in a fight to the finish. Loved the “tooth” thing as a final play by Bullseye. And I was glad to see Frank go out with style. Great miniseries. I’m sorry to see it’s over. I wouldn’t have minded exploring that alternate future a little more.
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I was entering my Immortal Hulk issues into my database, and the app will show every variant cover. You then just check-box the one you own. In the database, the different variants have a letter (or combo of letters) added so issue 1A, 1B, 1C, and so forth.
Issue #1 of Immortal Hulk went up to something like issue 1N. The first issue of Fantastic Four (volume 6) went up to 1CA. That’s something like 79 variant covers. Granted, though, that last one was a second printing variant.
That is insane! Is there any moron who would actually buy that many different variants? Or even maybe 10 of them?
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It was a light week:
Green Lantern Corps - I’m not sure when they decided Starbreaker was the adult form of a Suneater. Not sure I like it, but it does kind of work well as a retcon. I’m also unfamiliar with Jadestone. He looks a lot like an Amazo (which a quick search says he is). Hmm. Anyway, this continues the story arc of what looks to be all Lanterns versus Suneaters.
Batman: Dark Patterns - the final part of the current story arc. Very sad ending. Still, I liked that Batman basically used psychology to “win”. I was kind of hoping he could have saved one of them, though. I think there’s only one more story arc to go, then the series is done.
Conan the Barbarian - Another issue easily showcasing once more why this is one of the better written series in the comic industry today. Conan and Zula vs Thoth-Amon. And this is a Thoth-Amon at the height of his power. They made him suitably badass. The art, as always is gorgeous. I’m pretty sure this is leading to the next big “crossover” story. I wonder if it’s going to end with Thoth-Amon losing his ring? A kind of back door into The Phoenix on the Sword.
I’m also unfamiliar with Jadestone. He looks a lot like an Amazo (which a quick search says he is).
He's Amazo light in terms of he gained the powers of ALL GL on Earth due to Amanda Waller's power grab in Absolute Power. Which proves to me you're ability to keep up with anything comic related is pretty...non-existent much less good.
Also! Ultimate Shang Chi is near godlike and is SOOOO awesome. :)
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I saw an article that Marvel is trying something they're calling "blind bagging". They put issues in bags that hide the covers, and among them are hidden special variant covers. Not sure if the math is correct, but the article author said there was something like a 38% chance of getting a variant cover. And if you're looking for a specific cover, the chances drop down to about 5%.
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Newest Power Fantasy...
Oh dear oh dear, oh dear.
Would it be ethical to wait until a certain mind shield device was removed and then pop and say 'You missed.' and unleash retribution?
Philip,
Eh. Maybe. but honestly this series is why I love Gillen. He's always considering ways to surprise us. (Even if I figured this was the likeliest way to keep an omnipath alive.)
As for the blind bag, it's more a gimmick for Ultimate Marvel than for every comic.
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Event Horizon: Dark Descent - The movie Event Horizon is one of my favorites. I consider it to be one of the all-time top sci-fi horror films. When I found out this was coming, it piqued my interest. This series is going to serve as a prequel to the film, and it seems will mostly show what happened to the original crew. That could be quite gory. Anyway, we get introduced to some of the key players on that original crew, along with hints of darker sides to most of them. We also get more of Doctor Weir, and hints there may be some kind of evil intelligence manipulating things. The issue ends with the first engagement of the gravity drive.
Gotham by Gaslight: A League for Justice - This was a leftover from last week. We get some action from this fledgling League vs Lex Luthor. As well, we finally get a bit of background to the whole Kryptonian Era on Earth. Along with a reimagining of the destruction of Krypton due to their own evil (seems they’re taking a page from Gunn) and involvement with magical forces. We get some hints of Lovecraftian influence. And finally - the main enemy revealed?
Hyde Street - This issue is less a focus on a denizen of Hyde Street and more a seeming set up for some more story arcs. We get some hints at a large story with the Butcher of Hyde Street. As well, there’s more about Reece the Small Zombie Monkey and his plans for violence. And finally we get a continuation of the ongoing conflict between Mr. X-Ray and Pranky, with an introduction to next issues focus - Dr. Ego.
New Gods - So Serifan is evil, and working for Darkseid acolyte Max Lord. It’s nice to see more of the Bugs, though. I like the idea of giving them a chance to shine. And it’s cool seeing Raker again. I have his first appearance somewhere in my collection. I’m still not sold on the Nyctari. The more I read of them, the more lame I find them. They’re starting to remind me of that horridly lame group The Empirikul from Doctor Strange Volume 4. Still, it looks like they’re maybe building to Darkseid returning. So that could be awesome. He’s a far better villain.
Battle Beast - Classic shape-changing, cannibal crone. Except no one got eaten. BB at least got a really cool weapon out of it, though. This series seems straightforward, but it’s also building some cool expanded background to the Invincible universe.
I'm just happy Wonder Man is getting a series and Ultimate Daredevil in 2026. :D
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Wolverine and Kitty Pryde - A mediocre ending to what ended up being a mediocre miniseries. Either Claremont has really lost some of his storytelling skills, or the editorial at Marvel is even worse than suspected. Maybe a bit of both. That’s one less Marvel book now. I’m might still have a few miniseries to finish. Once they end Moon Knight, that’ll be it for me from them. At least, that’s the way I currently see it.
Nemesis: Forever - I’ll be honest, I buy stories about this particular character because I keep hoping Millar will finally kill him. The character has zero redeeming qualities. I wonder if many other people do the same….
Lost Fantasy - This started of as a kind of Fables-style murder and black ops story. Now we inject the classic trope of the person fighting monsters becoming a monster himself. And get away with it, so to speak. In the process, the murders of the first issue become clearer, just in time for yet another, more high profile murder to upend things. A very tangled web, but an entertaining one.
Huck: Big Bad World - Some folk find happiness, at least one douchnozzle gets what he richly deserves, and we get yet another powerful, super wealthy person planning to wipe out super people. And a very sad ending, but I have a feeling they may regret making Huck angry. I kind of hope he does.
Hellboy and the BPRD: Professor Harvey is Gone - Seems like a simple, straight up little one shot. I wasn’t crazy about the art. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t all that great either.
Green Lantern - A bunch of lanterns and the emotional beings versus Starbreaker and his fellow Sun Eaters. Cool. I’m not all that crazy about Sinestro as a Red Lantern, though. Or Kilowog as a Yellow Lantern. Guy was funny as a “Compassion?” Lantern, however. Or whatever that color was. It’s been awhile since I had to think about all these newer colors.
Mr. Terrific: Year One - I think this has become my second favorite “year one” story. Right after Batman: Year One. The art from the “year one” part of the story continues to remind me of the Batman one. At first, I thought that Prescott chick was just a minion of Darkseid, but after that scene in the elevator I’m beginning to think maybe she’s something a bit more. Or, will be, if that end is anything to go by. And I like seeing Batman, but hope he doesn’t have too big a role.
Geiger - Looks like we’ve got a new story arc starting. Seems like maybe a good, old-fashion treasure hunt. Geiger without his powers. And maybe Zigzag with powers?!? We shall see. Ghost Machine is firing on all cylinders, and has some of the best books out there.
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Hmmm....I've got a package scheduled to arrive tomorrow from a Kickstarter I backed. Not sure which one though.
The email said the package was from this one dude. I backed two Kickstarters he had for different horror anthologies. Those are supposedly due in December 2025 and January 2026.
However, the email also said it was from Orlok Press, which is the company that does the Dracula books by Wagner and Jones. The timing on that lines up better, but then why would it have the other guy's name.
Could be a website snafu. Those seem to be going around lately. I supposed I'll find out tomorrow.
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Woot! Among my regular books for the week, which I’ll get to later, were some collected editions I’ve been waiting to receive.
First up was a new printing of the classic Iron Man story Demon in a Bottle. I’ve been waiting for a copy of that for what seems like eternity.
Second up was the Wonder Woman by John Byrne Omnibus. I didn’t collect Wonder Woman back then. Still, this is John Byrne. And Wonder Woman, when properly done, kicks butt.
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The Rocketfellers - This issue continues the story of what went wrong, forcing the family to flee into the past from the dad's own sister. Seems like the tech he invented doesn't just prolong life, it takes that life over. So maybe we're looking at an evil AI. Or several of them.
Batman - I heard some good things about this new issue, so decided to pick it up. It's funny, but I kept seeing ads for it boasting that it's only the 4th ever Batman #1. Hate to break it to whomever, but that's not really something I'd be boasting of, especially not for a character who should have still had his original ongoing series running. Anyway, this first issue was interesting. Not sure when Vandal Savage became police commissioner. I'm guessing that's something from the some previous idiot writer. Makes about as much sense as patrolman Gordon. Still, the story was self-contained, which is impressive. And the art was great. I might stick around for a bit, just to see if there's any hope this might last (which I doubt).
Sisterhood: A Hyde Street Story - Well, this escalated quickly. We went from "well, somehow she slipped" to "evil ghost possessing me and murdering a car full of people" in the space of a few pages. I'm still convinced this writer is someone who doesn't like or understand actual Greek organizations, but at least her ignorance (envy?) makes for a compelling story.
JSA - "We're getting the band back together". The JSA unites just in time to fail at stopping the Ogdru Jah....oops, sorry....The Unamed Ones from emerging onto the earth. And it only took 11 issues! Seriously, Lemire. Could you pick up the pace a little? Will the powers that be even let you?
Moon Knight - Love the ceremonial ghost fighting armor. The art is different, but not bad. I also liked seeing The Wrecker back. Hopefully, it won't be a regular occurrence though. He really doesn't fit Moon Knight all that well. I was sad to see MCU garbage spilling over into the comics, though. The original Scarlet Scarab (and his son) were vastly superior to this modern audience version.
Resurrection Man - Well, that was an interesting way to defeat the bad guy, by getting eaten. This was a fun series, but I kind of wish they'd done more with Gashadokuro. He seemed like a really compelling and interesting villain. Instead, we got a lot of "evil Mitch Shelley". Ah well. They did at least have a nice tribute to Butch Guice at the end.
Savage Sword of Conan - I really would love to meet whomever decided on starting this Set is a female crap in the Conan stories. Just so I could slap them in the face with a frozen halibut. Of all the stupid crap I've seen some comic book writers come up with, that one's a doozy. It was sad to see Jim Zub besmirch his own story with that nonsense. Otherwise, all three stories were very Set-themed. The art was solid all around. It was awesome seeing Steve Costigan. And the cover by Mignola was cool as hell.
Batman volume 3, issue 147. It was Chip Zdarsky's brain child along with Failsafe and Zur-En-Arrh making a comeback in a villainous way.
Also, ABSOLUTE DC IS THE BEST AND SHOULD BE READ BY EVERYONE!!!! Absolute Bane is the Bane of Banes. Absolute Diana is even better than her original self.
So there.
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First up was a new printing of the classic Iron Man story Demon in a Bottle. I’ve been waiting for a copy of that for what seems like eternity.
If you read Demon in a Bottle, ending with issue 128, I would urge you to read 129, which satisfactorily wraps up a major subplot in that story arc.
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First up was a new printing of the classic Iron Man story Demon in a Bottle. I’ve been waiting for a copy of that for what seems like eternity.If you read Demon in a Bottle, ending with issue 128, I would urge you to read 129, which satisfactorily wraps up a major subplot in that story arc.
Damnit! Now I have to go out and find a copy of issue 129! Hunting for back issues?!? The HORROR!!! :)
Very rude of them to not include it in this collected copy for me.
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My mystery package did not get delivered yesterday. At the last minute, the USPS tracking suddenly lost track of it. Now it says it's still in transit, but won't give a new time and date for delivery.
I wonder if this has anything to do with that survey I answered a few days ago. The one where they asked me why I would never recommend the USPS, and I answered truthfully.
First up was a new printing of the classic Iron Man story Demon in a Bottle. I’ve been waiting for a copy of that for what seems like eternity.If you read Demon in a Bottle, ending with issue 128, I would urge you to read 129, which satisfactorily wraps up a major subplot in that story arc.Damnit! Now I have to go out and find a copy of issue 129! Hunting for back issues?!? The HORROR!!! :)
Very rude of them to not include it in this collected copy for me.
Well, that's a problem with a continuing series. It's not meant to come to a conclusion. The last page of issue 128 comes to such a great point to end a long story arc. In theory, it would seem nice for such a collection to include issue 129 - or even just the first 6 or 7 pages of it - but that would seem... anticlimactic. The book wouldn't come to such a dramatic conclusion. So I actually agree with the people at Marvel Comics who ended those Demon in a Bottle collections with 128. Or I don't... but really I do.
My mystery package did not get delivered yesterday. At the last minute, the USPS tracking suddenly lost track of it. Now it says it's still in transit, but won't give a new time and date for delivery.
I wonder if this has anything to do with that survey I answered a few days ago. The one where they asked me why I would never recommend the USPS, and I answered truthfully.
Well, I suppose the less-than-stellar service is why you wouldn't recommend it. It's a kind of a chicken-and-egg thing, I guess. :)
Still have to say: Absolute DC rules and so does new Ultimate Marvel. :p
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Well, that's a problem with a continuing series. It's not meant to come to a conclusion. The last page of issue 128 comes to such a great point to end a long story arc. In theory, it would seem nice for such a collection to include issue 129 - or even just the first 6 or 7 pages of it - but that would seem... anticlimactic. The book wouldn't come to such a dramatic conclusion. So I actually agree with the people at Marvel Comics who ended those Demon in a Bottle collections with 128. Or I don't... but really I do.First up was a new printing of the classic Iron Man story Demon in a Bottle. I’ve been waiting for a copy of that for what seems like eternity.If you read Demon in a Bottle, ending with issue 128, I would urge you to read 129, which satisfactorily wraps up a major subplot in that story arc.Damnit! Now I have to go out and find a copy of issue 129! Hunting for back issues?!? The HORROR!!! :)
Very rude of them to not include it in this collected copy for me.
Agreed. And the silver lining is that I now have more back issues to be motivated to acquire. And there are so many good stories from back then to offer such motivation.
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Well, I suppose the less-than-stellar service is why you wouldn't recommend it. It's a kind of a chicken-and-egg thing, I guess. :)My mystery package did not get delivered yesterday. At the last minute, the USPS tracking suddenly lost track of it. Now it says it's still in transit, but won't give a new time and date for delivery.
I wonder if this has anything to do with that survey I answered a few days ago. The one where they asked me why I would never recommend the USPS, and I answered truthfully.
Exactly!
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Well, the mystery package is no longer a mystery. After taking five days to move from one USPS facility to another (a grand total of 16.1 miles), it was delivered today. Only it’s not a book.
It was the art that was part of my backing for Dracula: Book II - The Brides. Signed by Wagner and Jones. Number 43 out of 100. And it’s poster sized!
Huzzah!
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Ended up going to the comic shop straight from the funeral.
The Punisher - this is the new red band series. It starts off bloody, with the aftermath of a battle and Frank not knowing who he is. And we’re shown Kingpin, but one who’s more Punisher-like now. Willing to arrange the deaths of corrupt people around the city. And it appears he’s had some kind of implant placed in Frank. Hopefully, this series will respect the character, unlike the previous one.
Hello Darkness - Not sure why I picked up this issue. It was mostly boring. Not sure what happened buy this series has really turned a corner for the worse.
Gotham by Gaslight: A League for Justice - Zod and Luther versus the League. Yet I don’t fully buy Lex being so sycophantic to Zod, And we get Jay Garrick and Cyborg added into the mix, as well as a Huntress. I been enjoying this alternate version of Martian Manhunter. Kind of like a mix of the Green and White Martians.
Hellboy in Love: The Art of Fire - Meh. It was okay. I’m sure they’ll come up with another one before too long. The art left a lot to be desired though.
Aquaman - Awhile back I saw a preview for the collected issues 1-8 for this run. Since I’ve been hearing such good things about the series, I decided I’d start with issue 9, and get the collection when it comes out. This was cool. Arthur seems to have had a big power upgrade. And they took a page from Swamp Thing/ Animal Man, going with The Blue. So maybe we’ll see those characters guest star in the near future. I wouldn’t complain about that.
Green Lantern Corps - It’s a big fight. Very action-packed issue. That dude named after John Broome destroyed Starbreaker’s battery, and now we’ll have a fight on Oa. There’s still way too many human Green Lanterns. Several of them could do with being done away with. And now we’ll get Krona back. Maybe he’s the next big bad once the Suneaters are done.
Batman: Dark Patterns - I think this is the final story arc for the series. Shame. It’s been pretty solid. We’ve got a new villain with a really creepy mask and a kind of Buffalo Bill/Hannibal Lectet style relationship between him and Firefly. Could be cool. Or maybe that should be “hot”.
Redcoat - The War of 1812, burning Washington D. C., and Dolley Madison. This issue was a good example of why I like this series. A one and done story that lays some hints and bread crumbs for future stories. There’s also some hint that George Washington is aware of the mysterious Unknown War. Very interesting.
Conan the Barbarian - Conan and Zula versus the love children of Nagas and Gorgons (the Greek kind, not the D&D kind). And a very sad ending as Athyr-Bast takes her revenge. Hopefully, Conan will one day visit justice upon her. And hopefully we won’t see Zula again for awhile. I like the character and don’t want to see him over used.
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I also picked up one of those DC Finest books - this one is called The Devil’s Doorway. It’s a horror book with reprints of stories from House of Secrets, House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, The Unexpected, and Phantom Stranger. All from 1969-1970. So only a little older than me (but not quite as awesome).
Absolute Batman #12 KILLS!!! KILLS I say!!!
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Deadpool/Batman - Not sure why I picked this up. The best I can say about the main story is that it was "meh". I'd heard that Deadpool's popularity is waning, and if this is an example of current stories with him, I can see why. The Wonder Woman/Captain America story was godawful. I skipped right over the one with the dog and the shark. The Daredevil/Green Arrow story was pretty damned good, though. Artwork rocked. Too bad they don't do a bigger series with the two of them. The Green Lantern/Rocket Racoon was short and amusing. The Wolverine/Batman story had me scratching my head. Overall, it was nowhere near the $7 they charged. I'll think twice before getting any future DC/Marvel crossover.
New Gods - Not a big fan of turning Serifan evil. Though I'm glad they finally got around to asking the question of where the other Forever People are. And I'm guessing Darkseid (or someone) seriously amped up Max Lord's power level. The art for the first few pages was great. The art for most of the remaining book was horrid. I seriously hope whomever that was gets moved far away from any decent books or characters.
Battle Beast - More mindless mayhem, but punctuated by a look back in the past, to see how the Prince's world fell to the Colossus and his sister Juggernaut. With, of course more mindless mayhem. And next issue is the big battle towards which everything has been building. Good times.
The Bat-Man: Second Knight - WWII is raging. Gotham is suffering. And the mysterious Hangman is killing. And this is a much more old-school Hangman, like the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths character. One with a darker motive, however. A motive that works well with the other main villain...Scarecrow. I look forward to what Jurgens is going to bring us.
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I also saw an article recently that Mad Cave Studios is doing a sequel comic to the old sci-fi movie The Last Starfighter. It's a cult classic from the 80s, showcasing one of the early (and now very dated) uses of CGI special effects. Apparently the original screenwriter is involved. It'll come out some time in 2026.
Once again, Ultimate Universe and Absolute are the best!! (The DC/Marvel Crossover is better than Zombie described...)