Another week, another batch of comics. Some great ones, some that make you say, “What the fuck?” Let’s get started.
Sam reviews:
Batman Eternal # 12 (6 out of 10 Lugos)
Batman Eternal is all over the place. Last week, the art was a mess and the story matched. This week, the art is some of the best its been, and the story follows suit. There are a lot of threads in this series, and I am sure they will all come together, but they haven’t yet, which makes this series have a lot of ups and downs. This week is one of the best since the first few, and it has me looking forward to where they go from here.
Batman # 32 (8 out of 10 Lugos)
I know a lot of people think that Zero Year is going on too long, and it has been going on a long time, but I don’t really care. Not when it is this good. This is one of the best Riddler stories I have ever read, and man does Snyder get Batman. He has one line where Bruce says, “Maybe that’s what Batman is about. Not winning, but failing, and getting back up knowing he’ll fail a thousand times, but still won’t give up.” I wanted to stand up and applaud. Yes! This is why people like Batman. Because he is a human, and he can fuck up, but he doesn’t let that stop him. He is the pinnacle of human achievement because HE DOES NOT GIVE UP. I hope Zach Snyder is reading this book. I wish Goyer and Nolan did, because Batman doesn’t give up like he did in The Dark Knight Rises. He gets up. And he keeps on going. Great book.
Aquaman # 32 (8 out of 10 Lugos)
A few good things came out of the New 52. This is one of them. Who would have thought that the three best books DC is putting out would be Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Swamp Thing? Fucking Aquaman? Really? But its true. Geoff Johns made Aquaman a force to be reckoned with, and Jeff Parker somehow managed to take the ball and run with it, making an even better book than Johns. Usually, when Johns leaves a book, the drop in quality is huge. This is the only exception I have ever seen.
In this book, Mera kicks tons of ass, and puts herself right up there with Wonder Woman as one of the strongest women in the DCU. Its mostly her issue, and that would be totally okay, because I have more respect for her than I ever have before. Aquaman appears for a bit, and his moments against a new foe are good too, but in Aquaman 32, Mera shines.
Future’s End # 8 (3 out of 10 Lugos)
What the fuck am I reading? I mean, it’s just, I don’t… Its not bad… But tell me why I should care about any of this. We are two months in, and all I am getting is that there is something bad in space, the War with Earth 2 shook shit up, and Cadmus Island is a thing. I don’t care. It’s getting to the point where things are just too drawn out. What makes it worse is that this series, set 5 years in the future, is almost certainly going to be an alternate future, so again… Who gives a fuck?
Uncanny Avengers # 21 (9 out of 10 Lugos)
Okay. Enough DC. Uncanny Avengers had a shaky start with its first arc, but after that it has only gotten better and better. Some things from past issues are undone, as this story gets epic. The promise of an Avengers/X-men Unity team is fulfilled as the heroes join together to stop the destruction of the Earth and the future they managed to escape. This is a terrible jumping on point, but go back and read from the beginning, and enjoy the hell out of it. (Actually start with Remender’s Uncanny X-Force to get the full effect.) No idea how it can conclude next issue, but I can’t wait!
Isaac Reviews:
Serenity # 6 (9 out of 10 Lugos)
Firefly was a short-lived series on Fox by Joss Whedon that was followed by a movie called Serenity. It was a mixture of Sci-Fi and western, and it was great, and gone too soon. If you haven’t seen it stop reading this review, and go watch it. Done? Good. Serenity Leaves on the Wind, which concludes with this issue, is probably the closest we will ever get to a sequel. If you’re a fan of Serenity this is definitely the book for you. It’s written by Zack Whedon, Brother of Joss, and drawn by George Jeanty, who was one of the artists on the Buffy series of comics. Zack really gets these characters, and writes them as well as his brother. All of the characters voices, and dialogue are just like the film, so much so that I could hear the actor’s voices in my head while I was reading the book. It’s a fun, fast paced, action packed book. Each character from the movie gets their moment to shine. The art is also really good. George Jeanty draws the characters so they look like the actors, which I think is important in any comic adaption of a TV show or movie. This is the end of this mini, but there are several cliffhangers, which promises more stories in the Serenity universe. I personally can’t wait for more. If you’re a fan of the series, or a newcomer to the world of Serenity I think you’ll find something to like in this book.
New Avengers # 20 (8 out of 10 Lugos)
Jonathan Hickman is a builder. He builds his stories, and knows exactly what he is building. So it’s always a pleasure to see what he’s been building up to slowly come into view. For most of Jonathan Hickman’s run on New Avengers the Illuminati have been able to avoid making the hard decision of destroying a world, in order to save their own, but in this issue it appears their luck is about to run out. In this issue they face a team similar to the JLA, and only one world can survive. I love what Hickman has done with this group of characters in his run, but this issue belongs to Doctor Strange.
This issue shows more then any other comic why Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme. Hickman has taken all of the Illuminati down a dark road, but Doctor Strange seems to be the character coming the closest to damnation. I can’t wait to see how far Hickman takes the Doctor on this journey. On art is Valerio Schiti, a great improvement, after a number of issues by Simone Bianchi, which were almost unreadable, and two issues with a rare disappointing performance by Rags Morales. Post Infinity New Avengers suffered from some poor art, and a story that seemed to have lost it’s momentum, these last few issues have been a very welcome return to form, and I can’t wait to read the next issue.
Topher’s Review:
Saga # 20 (9 out of 10 Lugos)
Ahhh saga, never fails to hit you right in the feels. Last issue gave us a smack of reality with the realization that love and happiness isn’t always so black and white, but this is what saga is folks, it doesn’t always come at you with lasers, magic, and space aliens in the same fashion as other sci-fi stories, but you will always get a dose of hardcore reality.
We open with Prince IV enjoying the many indulgences of sextillion, and immediately reintroduced to a fan favorite, mama sun! With her
concerned frog assistant who wonders if they should inform the Robot kingdom of their lost prince, and newly crowned father. Mama sun hits us with an amazing quote “nothing drives a man to new pussy faster then seeing a kid come out of the old one” gonna save that nugget of wisdom.
The choices we make everyday define our future, and that couldn’t be more of the truth in this issue, as we see Marko and Alana drift apart from each other more and more, we find Marko feeling a bit overwhelmed and finding comfort in the company of Ginny, hazel almost instinctively cries out “her is ugly” basically saying “get away from my daddy you blue skinned tramp” but putting it in words only a toddler can muster. Alana bored with her acting gig and lets face it, probably motherhood, finds comfort in other ways…DRUGS! That’s right Alana gets high as a kite and man does Fiona do a great job in illustrating her total head trip. Fiona is great with expressing emotions all up in the face!
Our final act takes us out of gardenia and into the robot kingdom where our disgruntled custodian robot has now made his true intentions known to the princess with a horrifying tale of his dead son, and a stab to the tv screen face and a princely abduction. Saga is a book that never fails to introduce new and exciting storylines and this is exactly what that is, this arc is going in new unexpected paths and I couldn’t be more satisfied, BKV never fails to deliver and surprise and most importantly, hit us right in the heart testicles.