This week in comics was thick and delicious. A lot of good stuff came out this week so please bear with me if I’m short in some of my discussion.
Silver Surfer #12 – Comic of the Week
Spider-scribe Dan Slott and art/life team Mike and Laura Allred bring this story of the Surfer to a close. It’s kind of weird to see the Silver Surfer seem happy but he is and so am I. I can only hope that I will see him again along with his new girl friend Dawn Greenwood in the future. Unfortunately I’ve been spoiled by the Allred’s and the Kirby feel of the art and that will make it harder on anyone that ever tries to follow this up.
1602 Witch Hunter Angela #1 – Borrow
The first few pages of art on this one threw me off. It changes when the story changes pace and goes from interesting to very good. I’ll definitely check out the next issue but this issue suffers from some of the same problems of other Secret Wars books in that I’m not entirely sure what is going on.
Batman #41 – Borrow
We are now firmly into a new phase/era for the bat books as Snyder and Capullo officially start the story following the new Batman. I won’t spoil it this week but you should already know who the new Batman is. Snyder is one of my favorite writers working today and Capullo is a beast on pencils. I have enjoyed everything this creative partnering has done on Batman over the previous 40 issues. This is technically very good but I put it at borrow because I’m not 100% sold that I want to be on this journey.
Batman/Superman #21 – Pass
We have a new Batman and Superman has dramatically changed. This issue is not bad but does not pop on art. It’s very much in the DC house style and the story doesn’t do much of anything. It sets up whatever is to come but does very little else.
Birthright #8 – Buy
Birthright continues to be good and is slowly unraveling the onion of the backstory of our protagonist. It continues to deliver in the same ways as it has in the past. There were some really nice vivid trippy panels.
Black Science #15 – Buy
Black Science might be my favorite book being published by Image. I can’t imagine ever giving it lower than a buy as long as Scalera is drawing this book. That being said, don’t let that detract from the rest of the team. It really is a sick comic book and you should be reading it.
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1 – Borrow
I didn’t really care for the story but it wasn’t any technical problem. I generally just don’t connect with Kelly Sue DeConnick’s work. I want to but it just never happens. I dug the art by David Lopez with the exception of the color palette. It showed good acting and story telling overall.
Chrononauts #4 – Buy
Mark Millar is crazy and Sean Murphy is super talented. This is the last issue in this mini and like much of what Millar has done lately it was a fun get in and get out romp with great art. I won’t talk about where it goes or what happens but the end is satisfying. If you have not read any of these look for the trade. I’m sure it will be pretty cheap.
Copperhead #8 – Borrow
Copperhead is my favorite book from Image that I would classify as not getting the A class attention as some other titles. This is probably the first issue that I would not rate as a buy. It’s kind of more of the same. I suspect my biggest problem with this issue is that it never goes to our main character. It’s still good. Just a slight step back.
Earth 2 Society #1 – Borrow
I really liked the art from Jorge Jiminez and I really liked these characters in the initial Earth 2 book from James Robinson. It’s a good looking book set in an alternate universe with foreign character designs and slight tweaks on familiar characters. The primary reason that I made it a borrow is that I have already forgotten what happened in the story. It was very forgettable.
Ghost Racers #1 – Borrow
Great variant covers. Cool idea.Great character designs. Fun art. So so story. This might have been a buy on a lesser week. 4 Ghost Riders enter a race setup by Arcade. One Ghost rider wins. Right now our most recent Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes is on a hot streak. Will it last and is he ready for what happens when you don’t stay on top?
Inhumans Attilan Rising #2 – Buy
In this issue of Inhumans Attilan Rising we continue in the story and learn more about the resistance against Doom that meets in The Quiet Room, and see Medussa’s agents as they seek to learn more about this resistance. The art is clean and fluid.I would be interested to see what it looks like before Poggi puts his inks on top of Timms’ pencils. I would like the line to be a little thinner but it’s still good. Black Bolt is my boy and his new costume design is tight.
Injection #2 – Borrow
The team behind the lauded Moon Knight book last year is back with a new Image book. Written by Warren Ellis with art by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. The book looks good as I expected but I really have no idea what is going on. This team gets a long leash because of the talent of all involved. I’ll stick around for probably the entire first arc but this is not a luxury I would give anyone. The only thing I really feel the need to remark on is the use of shading in the color. There are some panels that seem to drop the shading inexplicably but then pick it right back up. It’s a bit bizarre.
Marvel Zombies #1 – Borrow
I like Kev Walker. I recognize his art immediately. I like Kev Walker. This book looks good but I don’t care. I can’t care. It’s Marvel Zombies. I’ve never cared.
Saga #29 – Buy
Saga is Saga. It’s the book of books. It’s always good. This is more of the same. This issue definitely has some jaw dropping moments. Read it.
Section 8 #1 – Buy
I didn’t really know what to expect out of this and at first I did not like it. It’s gross. I don’t want to see mucus on the characters that I read. However, I kept on trucking and laughs were had. Batman shows up and is not a fan of parking tickets. The art is detailed and awesome. The story is a comedy and I genuinely found it funny and I typically don’t read humor books. Of course humor is subjective and your mileage may vary but I give this a ringing endorsement.
Silk #5 – Buy
Spinning out of Spider-Verse the event, not the book I was pumped to read Spider-Gwen. Silk was not really on my radar then but it certainly is now. The character is fun but lacks the punk rock vibe that Spider-Gwen has. It’s a shame that it is lost in the love and attention of Spider-Gwen (which is deserved) because it is unique from that book and just as high in quality. Cindy is a fun character to get to know and the anime like style of Stacey Lee is charming and fits the book very well.
Spider-Gwen #5 – Buy
Spider-Gwen is maybe the most hyped book on the Internet. I feel no need to add to the noise. I’ll just say it lives up to said hype.
Spider-Verse #2 – Borrow
This issue was a bit more enjoyable than the last. I felt like I had a little better idea what was going on and the Spider-man of Spider-man Noir showed up and made it more interesting. The art is fine but seeing Gwen in this book in the same week as a Spider-Gwen issue really makes this feel lacking.
Ultimate End #2 – Pass
Another issue, another pass. It appears the the Ultimate Universe is going to go out with a whimper instead of a bang. I’ll finish it just because but I doubt there will be anything to enjoy in it.
The Walking Dead #142 – Borrow
The Walking Dead is trapped in the purgatory of Borrow land for me. It’s formulaic and mostly habit. I keep reading it because these characters are family. I guess this issue was better than some of the others as of late as something actually happened at the end.
Weirdworld #1 – Buy
This world isn’t just weird it is completely unfamiliar to me. However, Mike Del Mundo delivers wonderful painted art that tickles my fancy. Jason Aaron takes the writing chores on this one and makes it interesting. I am just too alienated from this to know what is going on.
Last Updated on November 28, 2018.
