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Void Trip

The Pull List: Action Comics, Avengers, Calexit, Detective Comics, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, The Terrifics, Thanos, & more!

March 4, 2018 by krisis

This week The Pull List is holding steady at a still-staggering 32 comic books.

I’m not sure if I was being a moody reader or if every company shipped some bunk books this week, but the average rating for the week was 2.70 – a full third of a point lower than the past few weeks. While that means most of the books were still better than average, it’s not by a whole lot.

Artwork from Thanos #16, line art by Geoff Shaw with color art by Antonio Fabela.

Here’s what I pulled this week, with *s on adds (whether I just caught up with them or started them fresh):

  • DC Comics
    • Action Comics #998
    • Detective Comics #975
    • The Flash #41
    • * Mera – Queen of Atlantis #1
    • Milk Wars: JLA/Doom Patrol Special
    • Raven: Daughter of Darkness #2
    • * Suicide Squad #36
    • Teen Titans #17
    • The Silencer #2
    • * The Terrifics #1
    • Wonder Woman #41
  • Image Comics
    • * The Beef #1
    • Days of Hate #2
    • Gasolina #6
    • Twisted Romance #4
    • Void Trip #4
  • Marvel Comics
    • All-New Wolverine #31
    • Avengers #682
    • Captain Marvel #129
    • * Champions #17
    • Legion #2
    • * Lockjaw #1
    • Moon Knight #192
    • Thanos #16
    • X-Men Blue #22
  • Smaller Publishers: Aftershock, Black Mask, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, Titan
    • Abbott #2, Boom! Studios
    • * Alisik #1, Titan Books / Statix Press
    • Backways #3, Aftershock Comics
    • * Calexit #2, Black Mask Studios
    • Hungry Ghosts #2, Dark Horse / Berger Books
    • * Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Coronation #1, Boom! Studios
    • * The Wilds #1, Black Mask Studios

Picks of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week:
Detective Comics (2016) #975

A great-looking, contemplative issue that brings together the members of the Bat-Family we don’t usually see in this book – Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Damian.

Batman has pulled these trusted lieutenants together as an inner council to decide Batwoman’s fate as a member of the Bat-family, yet in some ways their conversation is also a litigation of Bruce and his methods as the head of this dysfunctional household. Meanwhile, Batwoman holds herself accountable for her own actions, with a surprising result.

This isn’t an issue that’s going to appeal to a more casual reader – it looks amazing, but it has hardly any conflict. However, for someone who has been reading from the start this pierces right to the heart of this title and the ideological divide between Batwoman and Batman that has been brewing all along.

Part of what makes it so power is that Batwoman also has an avowed “no kills” philosophy, but she is willing to make exceptions when other lives hang in the balance. Batman won’t make exceptions, so he gets to watches thousands of Gothamites die from his moral high ground.

It’s heartbreaking to think of this book writing by someone other than Tynion or with a cast other than this one. Everything about it works so incredibly well. Yet, we’re in the “disassembled” phase, and there’s certainly more conflict to come before Tynion moves on.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week:
The Wilds (2018) #1, Black Mask Studios

A strong and sombre new zombie comic, The Wilds is definitely a descendent of Walking Dead but with a completely different tone – due in no small part to its pair of woman creators, Vita Ayala and Emily Pearson.

We get the same old zombie-pocked landscape with isolated camps trading resources and doing their best to survive, except the zombies are walking plant life – humans who have turned into semi-sentient flower pots. It makes for strangely calming, beautiful zombies to see all of their typical goriest bits covered in blooming flowers.

Pearson’s art evokes such masters of the modern form as Allred and Noto, employing their same plain, truthful faces and uncomplicated backgrounds.

Beneath the flowery dressing, this is the familiar story of a single senior errand runner who thinks it might be time to get out of the game, and how an act of compassion on her last journey might spell the end of the safety of her heavily fortified compound. There’s no slam bang action beats in this one, but the strange stillness of it is pulling me towards reading more.

[Read more…] about The Pull List: Action Comics, Avengers, Calexit, Detective Comics, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, The Terrifics, Thanos, & more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Abbott, Action Comics, Aftershock Comics, Ales Kot, Alex de Campi, Alisik, All-New Wolverine, Avengers, Backways, Batman, Batwoman, Berger Books, Black Mask Studios, Boom Studios, Calexit, Captain Marvel, Champions, Dan Jurgens, Dark Horse, Days of Hate, DC Comics, Detective Comics, Doom Patrol, Emily Pearson, Gasolina, Hungry Ghosts, Image Comics, James Robinson, James Tynion, Jeff Lemire, Joshua Williamson, Labyrinth, Legion, Lockjaw, Marv Wolfman, Marvel Comics, Mera, Mera - Queen of Atlantis, Milk Wars, Moon Knight, Raven, Raven: Daughter of Darkness, Rob Williams, Simon Spurrier, Statix Press, Suicide Squad, Superman, Teen Titans, Thanos, The Beef, The Flash, The Pull List, The Silencer, The Terrifics, The Wilds, Titan Books, Tom Taylor, Trungles, Twisted Romance, Vita Ayala, Void Trip, Will Conrad, Wonder Woman, X-Men Blue

The Pull List, Jan. 31, 2018: Dark Ark, Detective Comics, Moon Knight, Reactor, The Realm, and more!

February 2, 2018 by krisis

My pull list keeps growing in size as I get caught up with more current comic books! I read 21 new comics released earlier this week on January 31 – and I would have read even more if I managed to catch up on my Superman reading in time for these reviews!

Here’s The Pull List for the week, as broken out by publisher (though they’re reviewed in alpha order, below).

  • Aftershock Comics: Dark Ark (2017) #5
  • Amigo Comics: Call of the Suicide Forest (2018)
  • Dark Horse Comics: Hungry Ghosts (2018) #1
  • DC Comics: Dark Nights: Metal #5, Detective Comics (2016) Annual 1, Milk Wars (2018) JLA/Doom Patrol Special, Mystik U (2018) #2, The Silencer (2018)
  • IDW Publishing: Dread Gods (2017) #3
  • Image Comics: Bonehead (2018) #2, God Complex: Dogma (2017) #4, The Realm (2017) #5, Void Trip (2017) #3
  • Marvel Comics: Avengers (2017) #678, All-New Wolverine (2016) #30, Captain Marvel (2017) #128, Jean Grey (2017) #11, Moon Knight (2017) #191, Old Man Logan (2016) #34, Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey (2018) #5
  • Vault Comics: Maxwell’s Demons (2017) #2, Reactor (2017) #2, Songs For The Dead (2018) #1

As you will discover below, I am not shy about giving low ratings to comic books. A lot of sites shy away from covering comics they think are weak or bad, but I think that does the fans and industry a disservice. We can’t only talk about comics that are brilliant or at least better-than-average – that signals a death of critical discourse!

I’m just as interested in the weak books as the strong ones, because they help set the standard of what’s great in comics and the tough reviews might still help those books find fans.

Enough chatter – let’s take a look at my top Big Two and Indie books of the week before getting to the full list.

Top Marvel/DC Comic of The Week

Detective Comics (2016) Annual 1, DC Comics

A stunningly good tragic origin story for Clayface with the best artwork I’ve ever seen from Eddie Barrows, which is really saying something because I always love Eddie Barrows.

This is the kind of comic book single issue you can hand to a brand new fan who only vaguely knows the Batman mythos. Tom King has been knocking out terrific one-offs like that on Batman, but this James Tynion story is different in that it delves into the core of an existing character instead of inventing a new plot.

My understanding is that this departs a bit from the established Clayface original, which we’ve seen several times in the past – so, I appreciate if some regular Bat-readers aren’t into getting more of it. However, considering the events of the recently concluded story arc in Detective, this feels like the perfect time to reestablish Basil’s origin.

Top Indie Comic of the Week

The Realm (2017) #5, Image Comics

4.5 starsThis comic is on fire!

The Realm has quickly become one of my favorite comics on the stands with its blend of post-apocalyptic terrain with fantastical monsters out of a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. This issue has a downright wild amount of siege action coming from every which direction, which puts the central quest on hold while our protagonists fight for their lives. (They aren’t all successful in that fight.)

There are major shades of Helms Deep here, with the goblins trying to breech the wall of a make-shift city. The action was frantic, but never hard to follow. It even revealed some new information about our characters in the midst of the chaos. There was some wonderful panelling to build tension to a fever pitch during the battering ram portion, but it also gave us several moments to reveal things about our cast…

…the ones that survive, anyhow.

And now, on to the other 19 comics I read that were released on January 31, 2018!

[Read more…] about The Pull List, Jan. 31, 2018: Dark Ark, Detective Comics, Moon Knight, Reactor, The Realm, and more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aftershock Comics, All-New Wolverine, Avengers, Bonehead, Call of the Suicide Forest, Captain Marvel, Clayface, Dark Ark, Dark Horse Comics, Dark Nights: Metal, DC Comics, Detective Comics, Dread Gods, God Complex: Dogma, Hungry Ghosts, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Jean Grey, Marvel Comics, Maxwell's Demons, Milk Wars, Moon Knight, Mystik U, Old Man Logan, Phoenix Resurrection, Reactor, Songs For The Dead, The Pull List, The Realm, The Silencer, Vault Comics, Void Trip

Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

January 28, 2018 by krisis

Welcome to another week of Back Issue Review! In this post, I share my capsule reviews of comic books I read that were not newly-released this month.

My reading this week was entirely focused on non Big Two comics (that means no Marvel and no DC) and largely on checking out books with women protagonists I hadn’t read before.

This post includes reviews of:

  • Black Cloud (2017) #1-2
  • Black-Eyed Kids (2016) #1-15
  • Bonehead (2018) #1
  • Dread Gods (2017) #1-2
  • God Complex: Dogma (2017) #1-3
  • Interceptor (2016) #1-5
  • Justice League (2016) #22-24
  • Lady Mechankia (2010) #0-2
  • Maxwell’s Demons (2017) #1
  • Morea (2017) Vol. 1
  • Paper Girls (2015) #11-15
    (AKA Volume 3)
  • Reactor (2018) #1
  • The Realm (2017) #1-4
  • Rose (2017) #1-4
  • Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose (2000) #1
  • Void Trip (2017) #1-2
  • Warframe (2017) #1

Unfortunately, most of those weren’t very good, but I did come away with a pair of new favorite titles, plus one I enjoyed but couldn’t commit to because we’re from such different worlds. [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Black-Eyed Kids, Lady Mechanika, Warframe, and more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aftershock Comics, Back Issue Review, Black Cloud, Black-Eyed Kids, Bonehead, Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Dread Gods, God Complex: Dogma, Guy Major, Image Comics, Interceptor, Jim Balent, Joe Pruett, Justice League, Lady Mechanika, Maxwell's Demons, Meredith Finch, Paper Girls, Reactor, Ron Marz, Rose, Szymon Kudranski, The Realm, Vault Comics, Void Trip, Warframe

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