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Zenescope

The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

February 25, 2018 by krisis

Doctor Strange: Damnation #1, art by Rod Reis

I know it seems impossible, but The Pull List has grown even bigger this week for the third week in a row! That’s because I finished catching up to present on a number of DC and Marvel books, plus I picked up five smaller press books.

  • DC Comics
    • Batman #41
    • Batman & the Signal #2
    • The Brave and The Bold #1
    • Damage #2
    • Deathbed #1 (Vertigo)
    • Justice League #39
    • Milk Wars – DC Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye / Swamp Thing Special
    • Super Sons #13
    • Superman #41
    • Trinity #18
  • Image Comics
    • The Further Adventures of Nick Wilson #2
    • Ice Cream Man #2
    • Maestros #5
    • Redlands #6
    • Twisted Romance #3
  • Marvel Comics
    • Astonishing X-Men #8
    • Avengers #681
    • Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan #5
    • Doctor Strange – Damnation #1
    • Generation X #87
    • Infinity Countdown Prime
    • Mighty Thor #704
    • Tales of Suspense #102
    • The Incredible Hulk #713
    • Venom #162
    • X-Men Gold #22
  • Smaller Publishers: Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW, Vault Comics, Zenescope
    • Belle Beast Hunter #2, Zenescope
    • Heathen #6, Vault Comics
    • James Bond: The Body #1, Dynamite Comics
    • Mata Hari #1, Dark Horse / Berger Books
    • Musketeers #1, Zenescope
    • Punks Not Dead #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

Pick of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week:
Mighty Thor (2016) #704

A bloody, thrilling, heart-rending comic. Aaron has somehow amped up the drama in each of the last three issues as we hasten towards a potential Ragnarok at the hands of the Mangog and Jane Foster’s death at her own hands if she takes up the mantle of Thor just one more time.

Yet, beyond those looming disasters there is still Makelith’s war on the Ten Realms. Mangog is just one facet of that. Even in the dimness and tragedy, Aaron finds shining moments – Jane with her friend in the cancer ward, a father and son joined in battle, and a mother casting aside a snake that has wounded her before.

All the while, Dauterman and Wilson are turning in a quality of artwork never seen before at Marvel comics – truly, one of the pinnacles of art at Marvel in over 75 years of publishing.

This story has officially become the best Thor story in my eyes, and it just might be Marvel’s best longform story of all time. I’d place it alongside Mark Gruenwald Captain America and Chris Claremont X-Men at this point.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week:
Punks Not Dead (2018) #1, IDW Publishing / Black Crown

An utterly madcap introduction to Punks Not Dead (and, for me, to Black Crown comics, which are edited by Shelly Bond distributed by IDW). This book is part Injection, part Sid and Nancy, and a little dash of the more lighthearted issues of Sandman.

It follows a teenage boy and his scam artist mom as the kid picks up some kind of supernatural echo of the deceased Sid Vicious in a dingy airport bathroom. Meanwhile, the beleaguered Department for Extra-Usual Affairs is busy putting minor demons out of the closet at 10 Downing Street with a staff of one.

This book is funny, unique, and looks freaking brilliant. Artist Martin Simmonds is simply incredible, drawing a real-seeming Britain with amped up color and clever use of cut-and-pasted patterns to ground it in real, textured reality. I am in love with this book, and will not only be keeping up with it, but also checking out other titles from Black Crown. [Read more…] about The Pull List: Batman, Brave and The Bold, Damnation, Maestros, Mighty Thor, Punks Not Dead, and more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Alex de Campi, Amadeus Cho, Amilcar Pinna, Astonishing X-Men, Avengers, Batman, Batman and The Signal, Belle Beast Hunter, Berger Books, Black Crown, Cave Carson, Charles Soule, Christina Straight, Christopher Priest, Cullen Bunn, Damage, Damnation, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan, Deathbed, Declan Shalvey, Doctor Strange, Donny Cates, Further Adventures of Nick Wilson, Generation X, Gerry Duggan, Greg Land, Greg Pak, Heathen, Ian Churchill, Ice Cream Man, IDW, Image Comics, Incredible Hulk, Infinity Countdown, James Bond, James Robinson, Jason Aaron, Jordie Bellaire, Justice League, Maestros, Marvel Comics, Mata Hari, Mighty Thor, Mike Deodato, Mike Henderson, Milk Wars, Musketeers, Nick Spencer, Punk Not Dead, Redlands, Steve Skroce, Super Sons, Superman, Swamp Thing, Tales of Suspense, The Brave and The Bold, The Pull List, The Signal, Tom King, Trinity, Twisted Romance, Vault Comics, Venom, Vertigo, Wonder Woman, X-Men Gold, Zenescope

The Pull List: Avengers, Death of Love, Detective Comics, The Flash, Paradiso, Sideways, & more!

February 16, 2018 by krisis

I’ve managed to one-up last week’s edition of The Pull List! This week, the list is a whopping 27 issues deep – one more than last week. However, its also a tick worse, with an aggregate rating of 3.055 compared to 3.17.

What did I pull this week? I caught up with Birds of Prey, Flash, and Titans to add to my DC pull list, sampled four new number ones, and dropped a pair of weak books. Here’s what I reviewed in brief:

  • DC Comics
    • Batgirl and The Birds of Prey (2016) #19
    • Detective Comics (2016) #974
    • The Flash (2016) #40
    • Sideways (2017) #1
    • Titans (2016) #20
    • Wonder Woman (2016) #40
  • Image Comics
    • Dark Fang (2017) #4
    • Death of Love (2018) #1
    • Paradiso (2017) #3
    • Port of Earth (2017) #4
    • Sleepless (2018) #3
    • Slots (2017) #5
    • Twisted Romance (2018) #2
  • Marvel Comics
    • Avengers (2017) #680
    • Cable (2017) #154
    • Captain America (2017) #698
    • Marvel Two-in-One (2018) #3
    • Old Man Logan (2016) #35
    • Weapon X (2017) #14
    • X-Men: Blue (2017) #21
  • Smaller Publishers: Aftershock, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse, Dynamite, & Zenescope
    • Babyteeth (2017) #8, Aftershock Comics
    • Barbarella (2017) #3, Dynamite Entertainment
    • Black Sable (2017) #4, Zenescope Entertainment
    • Cold War (2018) #1, Aftershock Comics
    • Giants (2018) #3, Dark Horse
    • Judas (2017) #3, Boom! Studios
    • Xena (2018) #1, Dynamite Entertainment

Pick of the Pull

Big Two (Marvel/DC) Issue of the Week: The Flash (2016) #40, DC Comics

I have never before been so viscerally scared of Grodd. He is utterly terrifying here, and I was really concerned that we could be seeing the end of Flash at multiple points – and, in a way, we did.

Joshua Williamson is proving that he is one of the best writers in the business with this constantly thrumming plot that has been building non-stop rising action for 40 straight issues. While you could easily jump right one with every arc, each of them builds off of everything that came before. That means this run has notched itself as the third or fourth best extended Flash run of all time in under two years, and it shows no immediate signs of stopping.

Carmine Di Giandomenico continues to stun on artwork with vivid coloring from
Ivan Plascencia. This issue includes some of the most inventive action paneling I can think of reading in recent memory. The paneling of Avery catching the lighting rod is breathtaking.

An A+ book through and through, with a thrilling final moment.

Best Small-Pub Issue of the Week: Giants (2018) #3, Dark Horse Comics

There’s no denying the craft, power, and charm of Giants. For a third issue in a row The Valderrama Brothers. turn in a beautiful, action-packed comic full of heart.

We begin our story with Zedo, the boy left for dead who is now making a cavalier power-play to control the gangs of the underworld. Only a child could see things as so black and white, yet both in the last issue and here he is making vicious choices that he can’t take back.

In stark contrast, Gogi has found a group of other children who are necessarily tough but still enduringly kind. Their acceptance and willingness to give without asking anything in return is alien to Gogi. At first he resists it, then he resents it, but finally he understand that’s it’s easier to live openly then be on guard and full of distrust.

Gogi’s journey from underground child to hero in the wider wider stands in stark contrast to Zedo’s dark turn at the end of this issue. Neither boy can entirely blame fate, nor can he say that the choices were all his own. That makes Giants a powerful allegory for the role of environment on our lot in life.

We might not all be fighting giant monsters, but we’re frequently either the child who ran away or the child that was left behind. [Read more…] about The Pull List: Avengers, Death of Love, Detective Comics, The Flash, Paradiso, Sideways, & more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Aftershock Comics, Alex de Campi, Allen Passalaqua, Avengers, Babyteeth, Batgirl and The Birds of Prey, Batwoman, Black Sable, Boom Studios, Cable, Captain America, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Chris Samnee, Christopher Sebela, Cold War, Cullen Bunn, Dan Abnett, Dan Brown, Dan DiDio, Dan Panosian, Dark Fang, DC Comics, Death of Love, Detective Comics, Donal Delay, Donny Cates, Dynamite Entertainment, Ed Brisson, Emanuela Lupacchino, Felipe Sobreiro, Gary Brown, Greg Pak, Ibraim Roberson, Image Comics, Ivan Plascencia, James Robinson, James Tynion, Jeff Loveness, Joshua Williamson, Judas, Justin Jordan, Kenneth Rocafort, Leila Del Duca, Mark Waid, Marvel Comics, Meredith Finch, Old Man Logan, Omar Estévez, Paradiso, Paul Pelletier, Phillipe Briones, Port of Earth, Saida Temofonte, Sarah Vaughn, Sideways, Sleepless, Slots, The Flash, The Pull List, Titans, Triona Tree Farrell, Twisted Romance, Valderrama Brothers, Venom, Vincente Cifuentes, Weapon X, Wonder Woman, X-Men, X-Men Blue, Xena, Yildiray Cinar, Zenescope

Back Issue Review: Barbarella, Black Sable, Giants, Grass Kings, Shade The Changing Girl, and Slots

February 11, 2018 by krisis

This week in Back Issue Review I catch up with five indie series that have new issues out this week, plus one DC series that feels pretty indie. Between feminist explorers, giant monsters, recursive mean girls, backstabbing space pirates, and lucky retired boxers, I bet you’ll never guess what my favorites were!

This post contains reviews of the following six runs:

  • Barbarella (2017) #1-2
  • Black Sable (2017) #1-3
  • Giants (2018) #1-2
  • Grass Kings (2017) #1-6 (AKA Volume 1)
  • Shade, The Changing Girl (2016) #1-6
  • Slots (2017 #1-4

Keep reading for capsule reviews of all six runs. [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Barbarella, Black Sable, Giants, Grass Kings, Shade The Changing Girl, and Slots

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Back Issue Review, Black Sable, Dark Horse Comics, Diego Lima, Dynamite Entertainment, Giants, Grass Kings, Image Comcis, Matt Kindt, Mike Carey, Nick Panosian, Sergio Arino, Shade The Changing Girl, Slots, Zeneocope, Zenescope

Back Issue Review: Alan Moore’s The Courtyard, Captain Canuck, Dark Ark, & more!

January 7, 2018 by krisis

Welcome to a pilot of a new series of comic book posts on Crushing Krisis – Back Issue Review!

If I tried to complete my quest to read 2018 comic issues in 2018 purely by keeping up with new releases, I’d have to read 39 new comics every week!

Since my pull list isn’t quite that deep, I pad out my new release reading (and my playing catch-up to get current with new releases) with a healthy amount of back back issue reading, both from my own ridiculously deep collection and in browsing for digital deals.

Here’s the rundown of the back-issues I’ve read this week and reviewed below:

  • Alan Moore’s The Courtyard (2003) #1-2
  • Aquaman (2016) #1-6
  • Avengers/Champions: Worlds Collide (Avengers #672-674 & Champions #13-15)
  • Captain Canuck (2015) #1-2
  • Captain Marvel (2016) #6-10
  • Civil War II (2016) – The Oath
  • Dark Ark (2017) #1-4
  • Freelance (2017) #1
  • Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland (2007) #0-3
  • Judas (2018) #1
  • Monstro Mechanica (2017) #1
  • Port of Earth (2017) #1-2
  • Realmwalkers (2017) #1-3
  • Silk (2016) #14
  • Spencer & Locke (2017) #1-4
  • The Skeptics (2016) #1-4
  • Toil and Trouble (2015) #1

Interested in what I have to say about other random pulls? Leave a comment about a series you’d love to see me dig into in the coming weeks. Given the scope of my collection, you might be surprised to learn I already own a copy! [Read more…] about Back Issue Review: Alan Moore’s The Courtyard, Captain Canuck, Dark Ark, & more!

Filed Under: comic books, reviews Tagged With: Alan Moore, Alan Moore's The Courtyard, Aquaman, Avengers, Back Issue Review, Captain Canuck, Captain Marvel, Champions, Christos Gage, Civil War II, Cullen Bunn, Dan Abnett, Dark Ark, Freelance, Grimm Fairy Tales: Return to Wonderland, Juan Doe, Judas, Monstro Mechanica, Port of Earth, Realmwalkers, Silk, Spencer & Locke, The Skeptics, Toil and Trouble, Worlds Collide, Zenescope

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