While Andrews is a decent artist, his storytelling needs improvement. He delivers a pretentious comic whose visuals make no sense. The faces are often unattractive and the colouring overbearing. Just don't buy this comic, okay.

If you read Johnny Bullet, youll of course have figured out that I am a poor Alex Toth student. I was amazed at the many similarities between Jesse Bravo and Johnny Bullet that went beyond their infamous initials. This is why I felt that the story was not the best developed aspect and I yearned for more. There was so much that was barely unearthed in the few available Jesse Bravo stories he created for publication. Still, for fans of Alex Toth, Jesse Bravo is some of the most mature and idiosyncratic work done by the cartoonist, where he got to play with all of his favourite toys.

If you read Johnny Bullet, youll of course have figured out that I am a poor Alex Toth student. I was amazed at the many similarities between Jesse Bravo and Johnny Bullet that went beyond their infamous initials. This is why I felt that the story was not the best developed aspect and I yearned for more. There was so much that was barely unearthed in the few available Jesse Bravo stories he created for publication. Still, for fans of Alex Toth, Jesse Bravo is some of the most mature and idiosyncratic work done by the cartoonist, where he got to play with all of his favourite toys.

While the artwork is clear, many of the action scenes are not. The storytelling in such a series that switches locals often is important. The series is not often easy to follow and I should not have to rely on the speech bubbles to figure out whats happening in the page. Id recommend getting a storytelling to do the breakdowns before letting penciller Emilio Laiso finish the illustrations. Im think the cover features a very dark alien ship reflected on the visor of X-O Manowar but it looks more like a bat-signal. Its odd and breaks the cover.

A word of warning to all future comic creators; avoid creating legacy characters of revive them later.

Yanick Paquette is a competent artist and I always loved his version of Dick Grayson as Batman. I was afraid that he would overpower and change the story because his style is different from that of the other artists that have shaped Kings Batman epic. However, Paquette tries to stay in the same line as that of the other cartoonists. His Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle look very familiar. Thats good. Now, what I dislike is his version of Batman. It worked for Nightwing but it does not appeal to me here.

Enough ranting. Go buy this comic Its great! Oh and Ferro Lad is the new Happy Face with a blood stain.

I have already praised Williams many times, but I have to do this again. Few artists would make such a complicated comic work. The best part is that one can feel the love he has for this franchise and how he tries to make it work with Injustice. I will argue that he is a better fit for the Masters than Injustice who usually is rendered in a slick and clean style. But the best thing is that the story moves, and moves, and moves.

I like the new costumes created by Freddie Williams. They update the Masters of the Universe and even the Injustice characters. I do feel that too many characters have huge proportions that make them look like wrestlers.

Freddy Williamss work is good but sometimes cluttered. I will say that Darkseids minions look great next to the villains usually serving Skeletor. Its a natural match. I also have to mention the eclectic but beautiful and engaged colouring by Jeremy Colwell. Few could add as much to Williams illustrations.

I was not as impressed with the visuals this issue as with the previous one. Like I wrote above, the guest-filling was not as strong and Clay Manns work did not feel as polished as the first issue. I still like this comic, but this issue is not as remarkable. It is still a must pick comic though. The cover will remind some readers of Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia.

The artwork by Mirka Andolfo is great although seeing her draw gore is odd given her clean style. It works well for the housewife scenes but is not the right fit for the gore. It feels more like cartoon violence and gore like a failed Bugs Bunny experiment than something from Vertigo.

No matter how much I like the story, it does not feel like it really matters and that it will affect Aquaman or planet Earth for long. An important note, DC Comics needs to simplify the way it titles some of its books. It is becoming complicated to follow. I gave up on Witching Hours, and trying t read that series in order. I skipped it instead. Whoever in marketing thinks that Justice League Aquaman Drowned Earth is a great title and necessary for readers to understand that it is a Justice League and an Aquaman book is thinking that we, even casual readers are idiots. They are making the books more impenetrable with such long titles that do not let us know in a moment what we are getting.

What I dislike the most is the lack of patches that used to make up Ragmans costume. It lacks the patchwork feel and makes him look more like a mommy fighting with drapes than random pieces of fabric. His old costume made him unique. This design makes him look generic. The patches could be coloured with multiple colours, although a mix of greens, browns and beiges was usually used. This costume lack personality. Personality is not lacking in the execution of the rest of the comics artwork. As the series has already ended, my commentary may be useless and too late.

There is a bit of a Guy Davis quality to N. Steven Harriss work where his line is not as steady. This could be the lack of inks playing tricks. One thing is that colourist Dearbhla Kelly is the wrong pick for such a style. When art is this loose, the colours must pick up the slack and reinforce the looseness to give the comic coherence.

I like that Jason has this huge nose and is not very good-looking. I like this not because it makes him a perfect villain but because it seems more authentic to have characters that are not always super beautiful, especially when your sister emanates the powers of the Goddess of beauty. I enjoy Sergio Davilas pencils very much. He is great with the Greek setting of the story and draws realistic figures that also move fluidly on the page.

Fans of Tony S. Daniel will be happy here as Bruce Wayne looks very familiar and the action never stops in this comic. I also like his depiction of Doomsday-like characters which is dirtier and more wart-laden than usual.

Sean Murphys artwork continues to be the highlight of this series although unfortunately, he did not have room for any car chase or the gratuitous exposition of vehicles this issue! Still his backgrounds are solid and detailed. Given how wordy Murphy is, at this point the artwork is what makes this comic interesting to read.

The president depicted here is a mix of Nixon and Trump. This is good. The rest of the visuals are solid but still not wacky enough. This is not because Mauricet is not imaginative enough or a great storyteller. It is because he is limited by a script that does not allow him to cut loose.

At least Laura Bragas artwork was great and, in this issue although there was little to differentiate the real Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy from their Riverdale cosplay competition. Its Halloween season. I saw a woman dressed as Harley Quinn in the subway last night. Her cosplay skills were incompetent as best. One would exect that if Betty and Veronica were cosplaying as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, that their disguises would look like cheap imitations of the real thing too.

I like Mike S. Millers work here, but I will not say more as he his personal politics have affected many people in the comic industry. He is not a good person and has wasted his talent and its potential reach to peddle cultural wars and attack creators and fans who support diversity. His Kara is not exactly the best that I have seen, but it is too bad that is he is better known for his atrocious politics, rants, and attacks, rather than his work which is good.

The story is quick and little time is spent explaining transitions or events leading up to the tracking of the baby. Dixon avoids slowing down his story. I would argue that this comic has an adventure comic strip feel because of the talents involved. I kind of miss such comics sometimes and although I am not a fan of Bane, this comic is a good throwback to an earlier age while still being contemporary in its themes and tropes.

Lan Medina was the artists on the Mera comic book series. I like seeing him here too as it ads to the continuity of the visual storytelling. His art infused with inks by Vicente Cifuentes is tight, clean, and beautiful, although Im not always a fan of how he draws Meras face. Those are just personal quibbles.

I do hope that I am wrong on the near murder of the KGBeast and Batmans confusion.

This is the third issue in a row with Scott Kolins drawing the comic. Of course, I am elated. But I really hope that he will not draw the next issue, so that he can prepare and draw an entire future storyline without interruptions. Im ready to see some good artwork by Howard Porter or whoever is lined up next. Scott Kolins on Flash is a joy. His work is messy and reminds me of Chas Truog and Greg Larocque mixed with a bit of Gil Kane. Kolins does not draw multiple Flashes in one frame as often as other artists, but it does not matter much. His work is still enticing and a good fit for this series.

Tony Daniel rhymes with Batman for me. Now, it is not a version of Batman that I enjoy as much but for this story, he is the best match.

This is a new Vertigo series with promise that takes from current cultural wars and attacks on the Latino community in the United States to create a tale about those living near the hypothetical wall that some want built to stop migrant workers in town. There are a lot of important revelations in this first issue and more than enough space to explore the main characters and his supporting cast. This is amazing. The threat is exposed but for now, it was not the most important aspect of the story. That will probably come for the next issue.

I dont care what the credits indicate but I could swear that M.D. Bright contributed to some of the early pages in this comic. He is not credited at all, but I recognize his work. Did M.D. Bright return to comic to draw a few pages with Priest, his old partner in crime?

Gary Frank may be late on this series, but every issue has been a delight. Although he does not draw like Dave Gibbons, his interpretation is as authoritative. He helps Johns weave many clues that many will miss. I for one, do not perform as close a reading as I could as there is so much hidden in these pages. Frank has the patience to deliver those clues to willing readers.

Im really enjoying Scott Kolins here and I am glad that the editors have finally figured out that it is better to let one artist handle a complete storyline instead of bringing in many fill-in artists. This has hurt the series a lot in the past.

Scott Kolins has drawn the Flash for so long that whenever he comes back to the series, it is a pleasure. It is as if he simply picks up from where he left the last time and continues. Although he was assigned with the Wally West version of the Flash, everyone, including Barry Allen look familiar. I like that he draws the warden of Iron Heights again. If Kolins wants to stay, and draw Flash more regularly, please sign him up!

Even Bryan Hitchs artwork whom Ive been very critical of in this series is delightful this issue. The inking is stronger and the Microverse setting apt for Hitchs style. While I continue to dislike how he draws Hawkmans helmet, Hitchs Atom is very fine-looking.

Jack Herberts work is much cleaner than Silencers co-creator, John Romita Jr. I like his Talia. While pretty, there is something exotic and non-caucasian inn her looks. Herbert is also good with drawing everyday thugs and cityscapes. I find that his Silencer seem to be able to jump as high as Daredevil, but I dont know if this is one of her abilities or the artists exaggerated interpretation of her skills.

The best aspect of this comic is the artwork by Francis Manapul who has all the gravitas needed to depict havoc on a wide planetarian scape. I sense some John Romita jr. influences for the first time. But its exactly what is needed to depict chaos and war.

Doug Mahnke is a god in comics and his work here was very pleasing. He does grit like no one else. While Patrick Gleason learned from him, Mahnke is still the original master. Of course, he was given a comic with larger cinemascope panels where he did not necessarily need to drawn transitions between vignettes. This lack of transition, even in the action scenes make the comic less fluid when reading it.

The best term to describe Marcelo DiChiaras artwork is zany. It feels much like the cartoon series this comic is based on with much of the comedic timing and facial expressions. My review copy only had one story so I could not evaluate the first story advertised in this comic.

Emanuela Lupacchinos art is in line with the work of previous Wonder Woman illustrators since Rebirth. She can draw a coastal Greek village as well as high-tech helicopters chasing Grail and Darkseid on Northern mountain tops. Her figures are as solid as her backgrounds. With great colouring by Romulo Fajardo Jr., the art is enhanced to new heights.

The beauty of this comic is how the authors explain the science fiction as a simple extension of current social media practices. Thats why the story is so relatable and captivating. Piotr Kowalski gives a plain look with rudimentary but correct renderings. The low-key factor does not hide the internal debates the characters are going through as the comic progresses. The stunted reality depicted with this visual style removes the artifice and grandiose science fiction elements and replaces it with a story that seems very real.

Clay Mann is good here. Although not my favourite illustrator, he gave the farm this Smallville scope of wideness that makes one think everything around is silent. His best scenes are of course the diner ones where the characters just eat and live their relationships like typical Tom King characters.

This incarnation of the Suicide Squad with Harley Quinn has always had a bit of dark humour. It returns in full force this issue with Master Jailer contemplating his future as a possible super hero. While his backstory is very similar to Deadshots, he has none of the assassins confidence. Aquaman in this issue plays a secondary role to the Suicide Squad but this is not a fault. This crossover has been very intertwined, and it has been difficult to decide where one series start and where the other one ends. This is highlighted in the conclusion where Amanda Waller and Mera have a chat together.

Tony S. Daniel returns to the world of Batman to show us how he is one of the best Batman artists that can draw him in midair jumping from rooftops. He is the right pick for this story also featuring Nightwing. Normally, I would not be a fan of Daniels work not because it is bad, but the Jim Lee style is not favourite. Yet for this tale, capturing the innocence of Nightwing and the limited action afforded by Kings script, Daniel excels.

I was bored by this comic whose only reason to be special is the artwork and the pedigree of the writer Brian Azzarello. If it werent for these, the comic would not fare well with critics.

Mitch Gerads plays his part as usual, making this comic the best on the market right now. For someone who is not a natural at the super hero genre, he handled himself quite well here. Pay attention to the way he draws Darkeid in the nine-panel grid. There is a lot of secondary storytelling hidden in these scenes.

The story is straightforward and simple. But it works and is evocative of the period. It is interesting to see Archie live in suburbia before suburbia was something. Peter Krauses pulpy artwork helps evoke the 1940s. His art is dynamic, and the costumes appear right. This series starts slowly and give us an Archie that appears introspective but now that conflict has been presented, the next issues should feel more meaningful.

This is another issue where a fill-in artist is featured. Christian Duce gives some grit and nice textures to his characters. He is quite good at drawing exaggerated musculature. This is not a jab. This is needed for this issue. I wish the editors would retain one alternate artist for when Howard Porter is working on the other issues. Duce would be a good pick if he could commit.

The Thanagarians look like the classic Hawkworld series from the 1990s. Its great. Thats the problem. The series looks right and just like Hawkman and uses the visual language of Hawkman although the helmet of the current Hawkman annoys me. The inking of the series has improved a bit and makes Bryan Hitchs loose pencils stronger.

As usual, Mitch Gerads played the accomplice to King in this story whose narrator in hindsight is very godly and very obvious. The repetitions of panels using the nine-panel grid with little changes and a lot or reused frames in subsequent pages create much familiarity in a story that can be difficult to grasp if read literally.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the great timing and of Tom Kings accomplice, Mitch Gerads whose job it is to choregraph the fight while King focuses on the showing how oblivious Scott Free can be. There are a few scenes that are not very clear, such as when the couple literally pull the guts of the aquarium monster to use as a vine and some of the movements between panels in the fight. The backgrounds are very similar so sometimes, it is not clear where the comic is moving to.

Matt Wagners art has not aged as well but his function in this story was to refer back to an older mythical time in the past. That he does well even if the art looks a bit gauche in 2018. This is what he was supposed to do. He was not expected to draw like the current crop of artists.

Carlo Pagulayan was allowed to complete the layout this issue. Hes not bad at all on his own. His realism is pleasing and help make Deathstroke a book that matters.

The artwork in both tales was fun. I did prefer the cartoony rendition because it was less constrained by logic. It was filled with cartoon chaos! Im not a fan of the dark shade the colourist puts in Black Canarys face to suggest a mask. It looks weird at best and is a distraction. The fight between Catwoman and Black Canary is fun and the comedic timing of Sylvester and Tweety just right.

Rafael Albuquerques tale is also about fathers and their kids and brought full circle the nemesis storyline of the premiere story. I cant wait to see the Killer Queen reappear in the future. I like that Albuquerque is both the artist of the main story and the writer of the back up. As Ive written before, this Batman is more caped crusader than dark knight. The illustrations reflect that in the first story but less in the back story drawn by Sebastian Fiurama.

Murphys inks are strong. He plays up the Dark Knight aspect of the comic with a generous helping of inks. His Batman is very much like the Dark Knight of Frank Miller but interpreted with his own narrower and triangular design of faces.

Mauricet contributes solid visuals that are realistic but integrate the cartoony aspects of the story lightly. It would be fun if he would let himself loose a bit and just draw the crazy stuff happening. The restrain Mauricet and Ennis have is holding the comic back and not allowing it to just make fun of itself. There is not point trying to maintain realism in this comic. It is about two silly cartoon characters after all.

Christian Duce is another from a long line of artists working on this series as a fill-in artist. His style is reminiscent of Howard Porters but leaner and cleaner. He has a good handling of super hero dramatics and action but he does commit several 180 degrees errors

Joe Bennett has been working at DC Comics for years and has filled many gaps. This is not a good thing. I feel like his talent is used to fix problematic series because he can deliver on time and work on any kind of series. Here, there is an attempt to reconstruct the loose illustrative style used recently in Aquaman and it does not work. Bennett needs a strong inker, not soft shades. The comic looks odd and does not play to Bennetts strengths even though he is usually a serviceable and solid illustrator.

It appears that King and Weeks have finally learned to work together in a complimentary manner.

McCarthy is good with action scenes and emotional ones. Starfires face does change a bit and looks a bit odd. His layouts are packed which means he can tell a lot of story in mere pages. A device he likes to use which fits the theme of the comic is the black gutter space. In some flashback scenes, there are no frames around the panels who appear to float on a white background. These tricks all work and give his works a sense of maturity and professionalism.

There have been many depictions of Superman fighting Batman. In this issue, there is but one full page spread that will send shivers down your spine as you witness Superman brutally burning Batman with his heat vision. Trevor McCarthy delivers the goods. Thats all I need to write.

Trevor McCarthy had just the right pulp feel and remined me a lot of Paul Smith and Jim Baikie. He worked with the script that he was given and excelled at that. The only problem is that non-one will care about this series in a few years because while the artwork was there, the depth and grandiose scope of the story was no available.

Jess Merino does bloke art well! Yes, thats the best word that I have to describe the various British characters in this comic. They look like blokes and I like it! His John Constantine is not as photogenic as he could be. He lacks the Sting factor but its still John Constantine. It remains to be seen if he can do horror and gore. Well find out in the following issues!

I am not familiar with Trevor McCarthy, but he adds a lot of grit and realism to this story. I like the double-page spread of the Justice League going after the Legion of Doom. It felt like a classic shot of the old Super Friends cartoon series. The colouring reminds me of the one used in The Golden Age, drawn by Paul Smith. Strong magentas, oranges, and blues adorn the page and almost make the artwork suffocate. But the blacks still come off as very strong. Its an interesting mix.

I am a bit disappointed that Joness Catwoman, being created by a unique cartoonist is not more profound but then again, she is jumping in just after Tom Kings Batman run.

Pop Mhan displays a lot of energy in his work and somehow makes the pages look big. His speedsters dont pop in the same frame multiple times like Francis Manapul. Yet the characters still look like they are moving so this is good. I find some of his faces a bit distracting and the jagged layout is inventive but does not really improve the storytelling and the narrative.

Lee Weeks was at pain to depict the talking heads this issue. Of course, I adore his work but even he has limits when handed a script that kills any form of dynamism. One can tell that King overwrote this script. Even Weeks has to rely on the nine-panel grid scheme to get through this issue. While Weeks can deliver nine-panel grid storytelling like the best of them, using him this way is not the best use of his range.

Mitch Gerads has a lot of fun this issue. It may be false positive but Scott Free sports various T-shirts from members of the Justice League and even one of the Sheriff of Babylon! None of this may have any meanings but its fun to see. I recently compared Gerads nine-panel grid with Gary Franks. While Frank focuses subject-to-subject transitions, Gerads uses many repetitions and moment-to-moment transitions. Even though the nine-panel grid has become a fetish and stylistic trick to mark authoritative comic book authorship instead of the genuine, each artist still manages to use it in unique ways.

I dont know if Gary Frank likes gore but there is a lot in his work. It is a regular feature of many postmodern comics. Its still chocking. His strength is depicting emotions with eyes. This is important in the overall narrative as it seems that Johns is the one pushing the story. Examples such as Franks handling of emotion shows he is as invested in the work. Its just that his contribution is not a easy to recognize.

Gary Frank continues his systematic storytelling using the nine-panel grid. It is interesting to compare how Frank uses the nine-panel grid versus someone like Mitch Gerads. Both break larger panels into small chunks spread on rows of three-panels. Gerads, however repeats many frames within a page or uses them to make characters move within that space. This is something Keith Giffens used to do frequently. Frank favours using subject-to-subject transition between his panels. This fascinating stuff!

My favourite part of the comic is of course the gorgeous artwork by Riccardo Federici. Having just seen the Aquaman trailer this past weekend, it appears that Federicis work in in continuity with the Aquaman film. His beasts and Atlantis feel familiar. This is good and hopefully will be something new Aquaman readers will enjoy once this story is collected nearer to the release of the compiled edition.

Riccardo Federici is an excellent illustrator and storyteller. His sense of realism, even under the seas elevates Aquaman and will make this run memorable. My only complaint is the lack of scales on Aquamans suit!

Having written this, there is not much that I need to say as this story has been written in a much better way for Superman by Alan Moore no less. Max Fiumara is an eclectic artist. Its really take it or leave it with him. I dislike his Aquaboy but like the oddness of much of his work. He makes characters ugly and deformed but on purpose, not because he cannot draw. It gives them a form of expression and in some ways it is suitable for this story. I just dont like his Aquaboy.

Lee Weeks is back drawing a Batman series. He is for me the classic pulp and Daredevil illustrator. Of course, his style fits nicely with Batman. I enjoy how different his panel layouts are compared to other artists who have worked with Tom King. You can tell that Weeks is a master storyteller and much more experienced than the others (who are no amateurs). His interpretation of the visual storytelling is pulpy and classic, while capturing all the nuances of king's script.

This makes Trump nothing more than a reactionary fighting against the past of an America changing while allying himself with foreign forces to destroy the unique American exceptionalism which is brilliantly exploitable and represented in Ridley's comic. Looking from the outside, I marvel at the United States constant struggle with itself. Georges Jeanty represents this struggle well in a comic where the pages keep improving.

Watch how Jolle Jones draws lines and movement in this comic. The goons gestures and drapery are like sinews and muscle all arching on one direction opposing the forces and counterweights of Batman and Catwoman. But once that segment of the story is over, Jones converts to a more intimate illustration style with less movement and more power given to the inks. A master is at work.

Carlo Pagulanyan continues to draw the best and most dynamic Deathstroke since Mike Zeck. Yeah, since Mike Zeck. I wish more people would discover this series. Its one of the most intricate and pleasurable one on the market, regardless of how difficult it is to approach initially.

Pop Mhan is competent, but I dislike his Barry Allen. Too many artists are assigned to these series and the art becomes inconsistent. I understand that the two-week production schedule means that no single artist can keep up with producing a series, but it should not feel like every second issue is a B-issue and not as important because a filler artist was hired. How about assigning artists to complete storyarcs so that solid artists like Mhan dont feel like B creators when they are not. I just dont like his Barry Allen, but the rest of his work is fine.

Ariel Olivettis work is a stark difference from the Alex Toth-inspired designs for the Space Ghost. Although a painterly style, it is simple enough in details. It feels much like what Steve Rude would paint which means that it is easy to see the progression from Toth to Olivetti. This work would look better in a larger format book. It is a waste that such epic illustration be lost on such a small-sized comic and something very few will ever pay attention to. Perhaps Parker and Olivetti should work on a larger-sized Space Ghost project.

Visually, this issue was strong. The best quality was the colouring by Hi-Fi. The colours are thematic to what is happening on the page and the storyarc. This is not something achieved often in comics. Francis Manapul is of course, an excellent artist as usual and captures some of the grand scale that only artists like George Prez have been able to represent in these larger-than-life epics that super hero comics publishers enjoy so much.

This comic may not be for everyone though. Yes it is cerebral but more than that it is exploration of comic storytelling as good as Keith Giffen or Alan Moore. Mitch Gerads plays so well with space and the arrangement of panels that this comic should be used in classes teaching students about visual storytelling and how to craft a good comic. Gerads fully understands the tools he has and pure pacing through space. Again, few creators have mastered this art as well. He is competing with the likes of Keith Giffen, Larry Hama, and Frank Miller.

I miss Brett Booths 1990s Image style here. Its the only thing distracting from this nostalgia-induced comic! Minkyu Jung is great and a better artist but not the right fit! Still, as a great storyteller, Jung provides a solid issue.

I like Robson Rochas take on Aquaman and Atlantis. His figures feel real and have enough dramatic faces for a political drama. He can draw monsters and stuff crawling underwater well too. I may mock the Mumm-Ra-like Rath but the villain does look great!

One remedy could be to stop wallowing in the speedforce drama and world of the Flashes and explore new grounds that does not include the Rogues or anything concocted by Mark Waid or Geoff Johns.

Howard Porter continues to draw twisted versions of the Flash and any character he draws making them less heroic and uglier with stretched expressions and twisted bodies that pervert the elegance of the simple body of athletic figures like super heroes. There is a lot of dynamism in his work, but it does not always look aesthetic.

Having read the rest of this brief chapter, I can say that the setup was more than the overall story, but it was still very enjoyable.

Mikel Jann and Jolle Jones split the art this week. Jann takes care of the super heroics. Jones covers the dress shopping. Its a good split and each artist is suited for the task at hand. Rarely does one see a split so well done with one comic. Jann is establishing Catwoman as a green-eye person. I love it. Jones Catwoman is silky and well inked. The work would work well in black and white.

Carlo Pagulayan is strong this issue. I wonder why he was given assistance on the layouts earlier in the series beginning. In terms of storytelling, there are a few things that I would adjust but its a strong visual representation. I like his effectiveness at showing the bravado between Batman and Deathstroke.

Philip Tan is the right choice for this comic because he is one of its creators. While I would not have liked his work elsewhere, this one, he moulds into a mess that is pleasant and suits his strengths as an illustrator. But many accolades must be given to colourist Rain Beredo without whom, this comic would not have looked as great.

Regardless of my minor criticisms, this comic continues to impress.

I really like Carnie Di Giandomenicos work this issue. It works well even though he does not draw many repetitions of the Flash within one panel. There is feeling that the character is moving fast, regardless.

Lan Medinas work looks better this issue thanks to new inker Norm Rapmund. Medina is good with action scenes. Yet, I would have preferred if Nicola Scott had also been invited to elevate the series into classic territory.

I like Reiss work here. It is some of his best and so not Jack Kirby-ish! His version of Metamorpho draws from Ramona Fradon but with a Michael Jackson nose job. Its delightful. Phantom Girl still lacks much a personality or anything specific to do but her visuals recall some of Kirbys Inhumans characters. Plastic Man and Mr. Terrific are of course great to look at. I do find the giant T-Sphere a bit boring to look at. It is supposed to be an analogue of the Fantastic Fours car but it lacks details.

I like Mera a lot and am confident that Dan Abnett has her best interests, but the series is a bit formulaic and does not take enough chances with a character who could easily escape the shadow of Aquaman.

The continuing thread about the vigilante woman hunting Chinese gangs continues to be odd but the payoff is sure to come.

The story sets up a few plot threads to be followed soon so it moves slowly enough. Not much happens of course. It's a decent read.

The story feels like a mystery but with super powered beings. It's a slow start but it's easy to guess where the story goes next.

So far, the story is solid, and I enjoy seeing the proto Jokers in the form of Mime and the Marionette. I like the reintroduction of old DC Comics characters like John Law, Libby Lawrence and more in the articles that follow the comic. Gary Frank makes everyone in this comic look good while still drawing from Dave Gibbons lead. I do wonder if he finds it ironic to draw a comic whose theme is similar to Supreme Power from Marvel where the presence of an alien baby on Earth was deemed responsible for the onslaught of meta-humans on that world. This is where Johns story is weakest. He is threading old material that Marvel Comics had already intended for their version of the DC Comics universe.

I have written this before; it is always a good thing to see someone named Carmine drawing a Flash comic. Di Giandomenico is the perfect foil for Carmine Infantino. Their styles with elongated muscular limbs is very similar. Di Giandomenico is of course a much more current and dynamic artist but he is equally suited for the Flash. One thing that he does not do as much as the other Carmine, are multiple drawings of Flash doing things at super speed I one panel. Instead of that or speedlines, he likes to populate his panels featuring Flash with thunderbolt contractions.

Carlo Pagulayan is excellent here. His Hercules loos like Henry Cavills Superman! The fight is well-choregraphed even-though it was brief and did not show as much struggle as I would have liked. I did enjoy his Wonder Woman who vaguely resembles Gal Gadot!

Mikel Jann deserves the other half of the accolades mostly for his rendition of the Riddler who finally has a distinctive look. He looks Irish! I also like the Jokers sneer. The action in this issue was telegraphed in a good way. These were fine pages where Jann skewered the frames to show the flow of the movements and the fight. The obligatory pows and other sound effects were there to remind us that this is a Batman comic after all. It should not take itself so seriously!

Some sequences, however are not as strong. For example, the page where Mister Miracle climbs the crane would have been better told had Gerads used a vertical nine panel grid system, or simply three panels read from the bottom up. It is true that most readers would have started from the top but the page would have been more elegant. Such pages show the limits of the nine-panel grid. Breaking it into a three-panel vertical grid would have been better. It makes me worry that the nine-panel grid is being fetishized instead of used as an effective storytelling tool.

Neil Googes section which covers the fight between Flash and Bloodworks looked good and that was the point of his contribution, regardless of logic. Gus Vasquezs took care of the police procedural after the fight which was cleaning up Bloodworks mess. It wasnt as spectacular but was the appropriate part to hand to the second artist. Googe was great at drawing blood-based constructs.

Graham Nolan is very dynamic here. His work is expressive in the old action adventure comic book way that we dont see as much these days. While his style looks a bit dated it is exactly how a big brute like Bane needs to be portrayed.

Mike Dowling continues the brief tradition of this series to depict this connected world through in impressionist inked styles where lines are almost fragments that construe one larger picture. The illustrations are like strokes that adeptly portray light and dark while withholding just enough information to force the readers mind to connect the ink lots together, as if we had to connect to one another in a social network.

Walter Geovani continues the tradition of limiting the black and dark areas in the comic, especially in the well-lit clean room. But outside, in the streets, he did use good amounts of inks. He knows how to ink and play with light and dark. But he is choosing to focus on the bright. That, as I have written before, is a good choice.

Gary Frank contributes greatly to the enjoyment of this comic by sticking with the nine-panel grid layout and breaking it when needed, using the same spatial design. Of course, Frank is a better illustrator than Gibbons. His pages are richer in texture and more dynamic. But then, he has had years to study the work of Gibbons before being able to perfect his art here and elsewhere. Frank is a great pick for this comic and adapt at facial expressions and visual storytelling.

Mark Feehan is a solid illustrator at ease with everyday scenes, and the odd animal snout. The work is not dark at all for a period piece. Feehan could have used more contrast with light and dark. Instead, he and inker Mark Morales kept the pages bright and free of shadows and large masses of blacks. Paul Mountss colours support this bright world.

Having read much of Joshua Williamsons Flash, I now understand how he crafts story arcs. He introduces a current conflict and problem that Barry Allen has to deal with before resolving it a few issues later. The pacing is all classic super hero action and surprise revelations that careless readers would have missed but old timers would anticipate. In many of those stories, I fall in between surprise and anticipation. Williamsons entire stories on The Flash are part of one larger canvas but where that leads is anyones guess.

Kevin Nowlan is a good inker for Bryan Hitch because he solidifies the looseness of the latter. The first version of Hawkman drawn by Hitch looked like the classic version without the trunk and much of the pouches and gear. He looked clean. The one that we see fly away at the end of the issue is has a whole chest armour instead of a harness and metal wings instead of the traditional feathery grey pinions. Im less thrilled with this depiction of Hawkman.

There are hints of Howard Chaykin in Brent Andersons work, but it looks much better and is not as deformed as the other artists. In fact, I could detect some Gil Kane influence too. This is to say that the characters and their designs are fluid, dynamic and not stiff. Its the right fit for a Golden Age adventure.

Most of this issue is about the intrigues in Atlantis as various factions plot to take down King Corum Rath, the man who usurped the throne of Atlantis from Aquaman. Thus, there is little action and the story feels slow and more like a soap opera rather than an adventure series.

While I liked this story very much, it is not the strongest one in the run with Stjepan Sejic. His artwork adds a lot to this story and as I have read elsewhere, Abnett should feel forever indebted to Sejic for making his work on Aquaman memorable.

This is Stjepan Sejics last issue. I thought that he would stay longer with this series as he elevated the series greatly. Aquaman has not looked this good since the Atlantis Chronicles. I like how he uses negative space with painted colours. Sejics depiction of hair underwater is not always good but I like how he draws swimming and floating bodies.

Im not sure if children will appreciate such comics which seem to be written for kids but really need the insight of an adult reader with extensive background information on the characters to decipher all of the in-jokes.

This issue is kinetic with beautiful art from David Messina that reminds me of Yanick Paquettes Wonder Woman. There are a few problems with the colouring of Etta Candy, making her look like a white woman in several panels. I will also add that Etta Candy is drawn like a man and has nothing feminine about her.

I was excited to read Brad Walkers early issues on Aquaman but got bored when he was frequently replaced with other artists, being unable to draw a biweekly comic continually. With Stjepan Sejic, we again have a strong and distinct artist on the series. What he brings is the whole epic dimension that could only be captured by an artist not afraid of fantasy elements. Hi, is a savoury Aquaman!

Mikel Jann continues to draw all characters distinctively and it makes the story much stronger. This is how the Joker and the Riddler should always look. They should always have those sneer and the personalities that come with them.

Neil Googe was a welcomed change from previous artists who deformed the shapes and the forms of characters so much. But Googes characters are anorexic! They are very skinny and in the case of the Flash, does not show the heroic stance and body that would make us believe that he is not just a runner, but a supper hero.

This comic is adventure-based and serviceable. However, it is not very entertaining although well written and solid. There is a spark missing and I wish I knew what it was, so that I could indulge in the pleasure of reading about these characters. The Space Ghost and the other Hanna-Barbera characters have genuine appeal. I liked knowing more about Jan and Jaces origins.

This story is the conclusion of several threads that will eventually lead to a wider storyline. It is a good comic that seem to focus on Batmans crew more than him. It also is not very detective-oriented and more adventure-based. This is not a complain. I do find the comic to be bright and colourful which is something that has been missing from Batman for years. Perhaps the focus on Batmans team helps with that.

Mitch Gerads appears to be using modified photo backgrounds for some of his sombre sets but it does not matter if he does. Kirby also did but did not have the benefit of Photoshop to make it look as good.

Clay Mann does not try to replicate Mikel Jann and that makes this comic stronger. His work is less clear and more figurative. But it is the right set of lines for this comic.

I didnt know Mauricet before but one can tell hes been trained in classic European comic book art. All his work is solid and mildly cartoony and fun to look at. He is a good fit for this comic. He manages the visual expressions of humans well but I hope that he makes his Muttley more expressive in future issues.

This is the part of Christopher Priests stories where things get a bit murkier as he introduces more subplots with unknown characters whose presence we know we must pay attention to but without anymore clues as to why. Although there is a training session and a mission, this story is a setup one for new storylines and rather quiet. More should be expected. The theatrics of Deathstroke being maimed by a sword is just for show and to add something interesting to the story. Its a scene used to advance more ideas whose payoff, following Priests writing style will come later,

Carmen Garnero is a great artist with solid anatomy and interesting backgrounds. The action portrayed is not always clear, but the comic remains entertaining throughout.

The art was almost as good as the story. Mixing Pop Mhan and Christian Duce does not work though. Their styles are too different and clashed. I prefer Duces pages. His faces are stronger and his figures better shaped. Mhan was gave the few Negative Flash illustration a lot of energy but hes not as great when it comes to illustrating police procedurals!

I like that many characters are playing parts and that Mera is still a part of this story even as she cannot reach Atlantis. Even Tempest has been brought back to the fold and new mysteries have been hinted at in this series and the Titans. I encourage you to read Abnetts Aquaman. His contribution to the character will soon reach and perhaps surpass that of Geoff Johns and Peter David.

Mikel Jann draws great crowed scenes and the use of space, where the Joke constantly occupies the left, while the Riddler the right, is well done. King uses many parallels in his stories and Jann can execute them well. Now my only question is how is it that all the goons just stood there and had no meals of their own?

The story was a bit too wordy for my taste and even if a lot was spoken, it still did not make things easier to grasp. Its only when Mazra started fighting the female giant that things got interesting and that it was easy to follow the story. It was a classic super hero fight, after all!

The last Future Quest series was a success mostly because it was drawn by Evan Shaner who easily evoked the simple and effective designs of Alex Toth but for comics. Ariel Olivetti was one of the artists who took over Shaner when he needed a fill-in artist. In the previous series, I was critical of Olivetti because his style conflicted with the what had been established by Shaner. Art direction matter more than the ability to fill-in a comic. Many editors forget this.

Rafa Sandoval is solid. He has a clean style with a few edges and angles that add to the dynamism of Green Lanterns. I really enjoy reading a comic without any internal logical flaw, good art, and a strong plot. Read this!

Gerads is the ideal partner in crime to King. He reveals nothing of the big plan. He just adds layers and subtexts as needed to the extent that it will be impossible to figure out what was his exact contribution to this comic. Lets tackle that one in another review.

Both sets of artists bring Batman back to his crusader roots via pulpy artistry. This is a savory representation of Batman that differs from the Dark Knight ghoul.

Visually, this story deserves to be mentioned with the best about Batman. Im glad that the regular artist Mikel Jann is back this issue. One aspect of his work that may be ignored is how he draws cityscapes. Hes excellent. Look at his Gotham City. You would want to live there, minus the inconvenience of the Joker and the Riddlers war.

I did not enjoy the part of the story involving the big fight with the light creatures. So many clichs, like the size-changing teammate falling after being hit. The art was good yet the way the story was told visually was disappointing.

Im glad that this story is over even though the Reverse-Flash seems to be gone for a while. I suspect that he will be revived yet again. Im tired of seeing him. Hes like Sinestro for Green Lantern Hal Jordan. You can always count on a writer to bring him back no matter how often he dies. Because the death of the Reverse-Flash does not appear to be permanent, the story loses all emotional connection and strength. He had been killed in the Button crossover with Batman, and revived the very next issue in Flash. Writer Joshua Williamson has sabotaged his own efforts here.

This is seriously what happens here. It is a major downgrade from Greg Ruckas Wonder Woman which regardless of its flaws was a much better comic. Its a pity that this is the best comic that is produced about Wonder Woman, DC Comics flagship character today. This issue was modelled after She-Hulks origin, however, the Marvel heroines story was created when such things were simpler.

Sejic provides the most vivid and original take on Aquaman since Esteban Maroto who was Davids colleague on the Atlantis Chronicles. His Aquaman and Atlantis are not sci-fi based. They are vivid with colours even deep undersea but there is a feeling that the characters are underwater. Sejic knows how to draw water and textures that resemble scales and other see critters. Its all fun here.

Clay Mann is not the usual artist for this storyline. That affects the story as the visual style changes a bit too much. While the panels layout appears superficially the same, the characters idiosyncratic faces which are so important in this story are off regardless of Manns effort to mimic Mikel Jann.

Now, what you probably wonder is will this comic want to make you eat some Zingers? Well, perhaps they could have shared a bit more about what makes this chicken sandwich so special. They could have replaced it with chicken thighs and it wouldnt have affected the story much. If youre going to go capitalist, do it all the way and tell us why your product is so special!

To some extent, I feel that now Flash suffers from the Daredevil problem where since Frank Miller every writer wants to rewrite the classic stories that elevated the character. So just like Daredevil, with Flash, every writer since Mark Waid has been trying to write the ultimate epic with the speed force and the Reverse Flash. When Geoff Johns did it, he added layers by beefing up the Rogues gallery. But Im not too sure what Williamsons contribution will be at this point other than playing with other writers toys and retelling their greatest stories his way. Why wont writers of characters with defining stories like Daredevil and Flash just not forge their own paths?

I will say that I was annoyed at the feminism in this issue. Im not exactly sure what bothers me yet. Im definitely not against feminism but this comic read more as girl empowerment than a comic with a strong lead. Many comics which seek female audiences are this way nowadays but they usually are from independent publishers. Part of the formula is to put down males. This comic has done a bit of that but not gone overboard yet in but I can sense that it will be one of those comics that Id rather skip. There is a way to write strong female leads without feminism taken to an extreme. Greg Rucka hates my guts but he did manage to reach that balance to his credits.

Georges Jeantys work is gritty for the period covered and full of action. His storytelling is also very clear. I feel that the colouring overpowers the artwork but this is how most comic books feel nowadays.

Mikel janns strength is his ability to draw so many different faces and keep them consistent. Hes the right pick for this story and I hope to see more of his work in the future.

Deogenes Neves is an unknown to me but he seems ready for the big leagues. I dont always like the way he draws faces though, but everything else is dynamic and at the level established by prior artists on this series. Last question. Why is this series priced at $3.99 when it has the same page count as cheaper series?

Many artists contribute to this issue and do make it good. I like that each artist was given the right section to illustrate. Carmine di Giandomenico is violent in his expression of emotions such as Barry Allens pain and the Reverse-Flashs evil. Neil Googe gives the Flash and Thawne innocence and naivety. Its lovely. Ryan Sook adds grounding and the weight of a body to the few pages that he draws. If the colourist had toned these pages with sepia or another filter it would have added to the historical feel the artist conveyed.

Even the great art by Liam Sharp and Bilquis Evely will not make me forget what a stupid story Rucka wrote about Wonder Woman was. It could have been so much more.

I like Rafael Albuquerques work. It reminds me of Eduardo Barretos work but with thinner lines. The art is probably the one thing that made me most interested in the comic. It reminded me of the old 1950s Batman or the one from the Bruce Timms cartoon but with a bit more realism and crime noir.

Of course, the best part of this comic is the art by Stepan Sejic. It seems that DC Comics really wants Aquaman to shine, now that he will become a popular movie hero. The publisher is putting its best talent behind this series and willing to reduce its publication from twice a month to one so that it can have solid work for this series. I do hope that Abnetts script will be strong enough to create a memorable Aquaman run similar to Greg Ruckas Wonder Woman.

Tom King often uses good staging to start his stories and set up their conflict. I like what he did here with the stand-up comedian and the Joker. I also enjoyed how he mixed the Riddler in the chaos. There is a detective and crime noir feel to this story which like all of Kings work, is cerebral. Its also a great follow up to the last issue and its surprising revelation.

Kenneth Rocaforts artwork reminds me of Art Thieberts. And like Thiebert, he needs a strong inker. While not my favourite type of comic artist, his work is dynamic enough for this series and keeps in line with what has appeared before. This version of Titans has looked like it came from the 1990s from the start!

Larry Hama continues to shape the wonderful breakdowns of this story which are then rendered marvellously by Carlo Pagulayan. Its great work guys!

Carmine di Giandomenico and Pop Mhans show a lot of the pencils (whether they are actual pencils or digital) used for the page. Often Giandomenico reuses elements but does not adjust the width of the lines in close shots. Here instead, we see the thickness of the lines that he uses and the analog quality that they have. Not any comic book artists these days are willing to play with the lines of their figures the way Giandomenico does. It adds a lot of energy to his work.

Bilquis Evely offers us her last issue on this marvelous run. I will really miss her. Her Wonder Woman had pleasant pulp qualities. She does not look as nave as Nichola Scotts Wonder Woman. But she feels anchored to the comic book genre, instead of being cinematic, like Scotts.

Pencillers Scot Eaton and Philippe Briones deliver a good farewell to the series theyve been drawing since 2016 but I have to mention the funny error that he tried to correct in the sequence during Arthurs trial. There is a blonde woman watching closely the trial. She wears what seems like a crown similar to Mera. But Mera was established as having left the city pages earlier. I bet that editor Andy Khouri had the inkers remove the scales from the womans costume and give her blonde hair instead! This woman was so prominently portrayed that at one point I even wondered if she was Aquamans mother, Atlanna! Similarly, there is another woman coloured differently who looks like Tuula, Atlantiss regent.

David Finch, and Clay Mann are not the artists that I would have chosen for this story, not because they do not excel. They do. But for such a quiet story his work seems over kill and one expect a fight, an explosion lurking in the next page to jump at readers. But none does, so we are left with a complex story and intricate designs to convey emotions. Finch, and Miki do not convey emotion through facial expressions well so it is the placement of the characters in the page; their use of space that informs us of the subtlety in this story. It is one approach that is very sober, and removes the melodrama and lives us with cerebral decision-making and very few emotions coming from the characters. This seems to be the Batman that King wants to write about.

Carmine Di Giandomenicos work continues to remind of the art of Carmine Infantino with the elongated figures whose muscles are well defined and almost sculpted. I wonder if he has trained with Carmine Senior. Of course, his take on the Flash is more modern yet still pleasing.

The artwork in this chapter is the best of the entire storyline. Carlo Pagulayan did get help with wonderful layouts by Larry Hama. Im hoping that when Deathstroke becomes a monthly title, that Pagulayan will be able to remain as the only artist on this series. While I enjoy Joe Bennetts work, I prefer Pagulayan to the regular DC Comics s house style.

At first glance, it appears that this comic and this storyline were great. I urge you to reread this issue and really ask yourself if truth was well represented and if Wonder Woman was not forced to solve the problems hypocritically. Sure the scene where she meets her mother Queen Hippolyta for the last time is great. So are the parallels with Dr. Veronica Cale losing her daughter a second time. But these are just drapes over the frail script and story concluded in this issue and a weak place to start the next 75 years of Wonder Woman.

Scot Eaton continues to draw a clean and effective Aquaman although characters hair could be flowing much more.

Howard Porter does the best he can with the thin script he was given. He continues to draw his characters with as much expression as Bart Sears and the dynamism of comics in 2017. Not many artists at DC Comics have the level of dynamism that Porter has. For this issue, he was the best pick. I do like how he redesigned Jay Garrick though.

I want to see more of these characters but I want the stories to avoid dragging and to mean something.

While I enjoyed Mirka Andolfos issue, I missed Bilquis Evelys handling of this issue. Her replacement created a break with the rest of the story by making Wonder Woman look like a young woman almost like an airhead. There was a lack of majestic demeanour in her interpretation. Andolfos work is fine but it was not the right tone for this story.

Im not always a fan of Philip Brioness work. While his art is reminiscent and inspired by John Byrne, his inking can be at time too light and insufficient to correctly strengthen his figures. Not this time. His work is outstanding this issue with great facility for action scenes. Youll believe that Aquaman is jumping off the ground easily.

I havent seen Giuseppi Camuncolis work in years. Im glad that hes back. His characters are always expressive and their grins are his signature. Mark Morales inks hims here. Its thicker lines and coarser than Sandra Hopes inking of his work in the Intimates. But its still remarkable and leads the story in directions easily. The page with the brain maze is one such gem.

This is not the all-knowing Batman. He is a detective and does uses tricks to get his way with Poison Ivy, much like he did with Freeze. The resolution of this story not confusing as the one with Freeze. Its a good thing.

But for this Batman story, it is not part of the procedural detective case. The tory has to be resolved and Snyder has dispensed with such details and instead focused on the masquerade and legerdemain between Batman and Ras Al Ghul. So we know that Batman is a detective, and as Ras Al Ghul says, an illusionist. But we do not see the construction of the illusion which would have been enhanced if more time had been spent with the procedural detective legwork. Perhaps it would have taken an extra issue to tell this story and that may not have been what Snyder nor his editors wanted.

Scot Eatons work is solid as usual. Although some of the alien creatures on Tethis look cool, his strength is with technology scenes and military gear. But no worries. Aquaman and Mera look swell when they swim!

Trust Joe Bennett to deliver a solid comic capturing all the madness in the Wilson family. His work is detailed and just right to capture the beauty of the characters. These are not, however, beautiful people. And the fact that their ugliness is not more visible is a problem!

The saving grace of this series has been the characters which so many love and the artwork by wonderful artists such as Evan Shaner who is back this issue after only been the cover artist, as I assume that he was working on other projects. Ive said before. Shaner is the perfect artist for this series.

Although I dont like how Liam Sharpe draws female faces, everything else about his work rocks. Im glad that he is on this title and has been able to keep abreast of a tight schedule.

What works less for me is Philippe Brioness art. He resembles John Byrne but not in a pleasant way. His figures are stiff and the faces not attractive. His work would look better with a dedicated inker. He should not ink his own work. His Deadwater looks scary though.

Freddie Williams continues his dynamic work here but puts in way too much details per page. Most of it is lost in a fury of colours and details. You can only savour the comic if you read it slowly. There are so many details hidden everywhere. But these details do get in the way of the storytelling and the action looks off in many of the panels.

This story was good and added more background characters and potential conflicts for Aquaman to deal with. Id like to see how he would fare in a conflict involving China and Khandaq. These are not the type of stories that we see about Aquaman usually. This issue at the very least, opened the repertoire for new adventures. This story was also good because as he has done many times in the past, Aquaman had to use his brains to fight a threat as opposed to just his muscles.

The art is as dynamic as ever and this the part of the story which is very easy to follow. It is cartoon art but its quite suited to the story. This story would be taken more seriously if the artwork was more realistic, although with realistic art, perhaps the problems in the pacing would be too much to ignore. It seems that this series is not an ongoing one as I was hoping. Thats too bad.

I went back quickly to the two previous issues to find any other references to The Watchmen. There seems to be all around I need more time to dig further. If you are still wondering if you should get this comic, well don't. This is an important Rebirth comic which is highly entertaining! Buy it now!

Steve Rolstons work is a stark change from what we have been treated to earlier. His rendering which are cartoony and simplified are suited for a story featuring goblins. I do admit that I was put off by it at first since it is so different from the hyperrealism that we have witnessed earlier. But Rolstonis a solid storyteller, nevertheless.

Mike Dowling is back this issue with his scratchy impressionist textured lines. I miss them. I like how he masters approximations using shape as opposed to light, like a cartoonists like Alex Toth. Using shapes and gross lines makes him closer to Gil Kane. Not complaining! Just analyzing art! Its all good if you ask me!

I liked Diogenes Neves work here. Blonds colouring helped a lot to with the negative space created by the white thing and the blue hue used throughout the issue. The only thing missing were Kirby crackle balls!

This is a classic team up comic where the two factions meet and fight one another! We dont see the end of the fight as it ends on a cliff-hanger but its fun. One thing that this story does which a lot of reboots of kids cartoons tend to do is to increase the stakes on the cosy and nice world of the readers childhood heroes by showing some real destruction with dire consequences. We will have to wait for future issues to find out how exactly this pans out though.

The artwork inked digitally represents the best of what American comics can do to match European comics. Artist John Davis "Hunt follows a tight nine panel/three panel- level composition per page. With the pastel colouring, this comic feels like a European book. Its a darn gorgeous book. One criticism is that the black and red cover does not convey the tone and mood of the interior art. It feels like the editor and colourist decide to paste a traditional American cover on an American comic that was for a European look inside. Its quite odd.

Scot Eaton is back and his work is clean. Its also dynamic enough. I like all of the Easter eggs that he added in the pages where there a crowds cheering. Aquaman has three regular artists but they fit well. I prefer Brad Walker but Wayne Faucher is a strong inker and he makes the art look great.

I'm tired of saying that Freddie E. Williams II was born to draw this comic. Its chaotic and filled with energy and overtly muscle guys who seem on roids. It doesnt matter. This is what this comic and the cartoons were about. Get this comic!

Just a note: Hawkgirl is not in the comic even though she is featured on the cover.

I really like Ron Randall and think that he is a great replacement for Doc Shaner. His work is cleaner too. Randall is an old pro who delivers good super hero action. Veronica Gandinis colouring is also very good although he draws the palms of black characters the same colour as the rest of their skin. No one has melamine in their palms and soles. That means that they should not be coloured brown.

Dennys Cowan is back! And hes inked by Bill Sienkiewicz. Hum, what can I say about this? With Priest, this is one of the strongest line up of classic comics greats working together. Ive complained about guest artists not fitting the current series look. Because this was a one shot with the Creeper, which mind you fit the rest of the series continuity, I can only say that I was impressed with this comic. Its the best one so far. Why is Deathstroke so hit and miss?

I like the mix of cartoon styles used in this comic. Harley Quinn and the Joker looked their best with the 1990s Batman Adventure look while Batman and Robin sported the classic Hanna-Barbera look. Some of the background characters even looked like they came from an Archie comic.

I like the tile motif that Liam Sharp used for this issue. It allows the various vignettes that make Wonder Womans life come around while symbolizing her current detention in a psychiatric hospital under a cover name. Sharp mixes a lot of elements, including shots taken from Nicola Scott. In scenes where the art needed to be clean like with Diana Prince, Sharp did that. But with other scenes like the runaways Steve Trevor and Etta Candy, the mood was just right. Dark, and gloomy.

While I liked the artwork, I have to severely criticize the use of black palms in the colouring. The new Oracle is black but his palms should have no melamine and hence not coloured brown. Colourist Allen Passalaqua should pay attention.

Dan Abnetts job is to keep up the charm now that Aquamans first storyline has established the series as one to care about. Its a typical quiet issue where he introduces a new threat and resolves some dangling plot points relating to Mera and Aquamans relationship. Its all moving in the right direction. Its also a great jumping point for the series.

Will Conrad is impressive. His work is very realistic but not stiff. Often very realistic artistss work is stiff. Last issue Conrad proved that he could draw super hero material. Here, he proves that he can draw regular slice of life and thrillers as well. Captain Atom is engaging partly because of his participation. This comic is great. Go out and buy it!

I really dig Baltazars simple yet clear cartoon style for this comic. Its easy to dismiss and misunderstand how complex it is. The compositions are well thought of. Dare I say that Super Powers is more entertaining than the Justice League comic that came out this week

Travis G. Moore is incredible. His work is stellar and adds a lot of realism to a story about mythical creatures and characters. This series is great. If you are not reading it yet, I urge you to try it.

The characters facial expressions are the best. Their postures and pantomime are very good too. Get this comic, and let the kids in your life know about it!

Freddie Williams continues to be super cool drawing the one comic book he was meant to draw. He keeps amazing me by how much I cannot imagine anyone capturing the action from these cartoon properties and the overtly muscle frames of the characters so well.

I really like the change of art with Ron Wagner. Wagners work looks like a classic comic by Jim Aparo. Its just solid storytelling and cartoony art from a bygone era. It actually works well here and if we are going to get replacements for Howard Porter, Wagner is just right for this comic, somehow!

I enjoyed Jamal Campbells Vixen. She is black. Unlike the X-Mens Storm who seem to become paler by the day, having gained blue eyes a while back, Vixen cannot be mistaken for a white woman with slightly darker skin. She is totally black and beautiful! Campbell, by the way is a great colourist and probably being black himself, avoids the black palm problem that plagues many comic book colourists work.

Cary Nord is just not right for this book. I usually like his work but this is not the kind of series where he shines. The Slade in prison scenes were painful to watch. His storytelling of the Bosnian attack in the flashback made no sense and due to equally bad lettering and dialogues, it was unclear who was speaking. The characters in this book tend to share the same voice.

It finally dawned on me that Philippe Briones is inspired by John Byrne, heavily. The entire fight has the kind of kinetic movement one expects from a Byrne super hero fight. The angles, the postures all give away a clear Byrne influence. And thats why the way Briones draws technology seemed somewhat familiar in the past. If you long for a modern take on Byrne, pick up this issue. I havent seen anyone capture Byrnes energy and signature so well since the late Mike Parobeck. I must say that inker Wayne Faucher's inks also helped make Briones' work much better than usual.

If you still havent picked up this series, please do. Its one of the best of DC Rebirth.

I also need to mention that a comic that features black characters prominently should not be plagued with the black palms problem, where colourists draw the palms of Blacks the same colour as the rest of their skin. This usually betrays a colourist who has little clue about how people look in real life and has not spent much time observing the world. In Sam Wilson Captain America, this is not just an oversight, its bad design.

I havent been a fan of Philippe Brioness Aquaman all the time. I think my problem is the inking. It lacks polish. And this is a shame because he draws very good figures. Still his work is solid and does not really jump out when compared to Scot Eatons. Each handle Aquaman well. But when will Brad Walker be back?

What I like about this comic is that Steve Orlando updated the material from Gail Simone's series and made it better, giving Ryan Choi who was murdered before the New 52 reboot to shine again. It's a captivating story that reintroduces the old Atom Ray Palmer, and many elements of his past, like Adam Cray. We know that many of his stories did happen but instead of focusing on that, we get to know more about Ryan Choi.

The art, however, is incredibly cool. Fernando Blanco uses heavy inks and patches of blacks that delineate most of the characters and settings, leaving just enough gaps for our brains to fill. Even the colouring is good. This comics excess are forgiven just because the art rocks.

I dont know Will Conrad but I like his clean classic DC Comics look! He has a great handle on anatomy and his Justice League characters look good. Of note are his special effects and water illustrations. They are great. Youll notice that DC Comics seem to model Captain Atom closely after The Watchmens Dr. Manhattan. He is clearly blue instead of silver. Interesting decision!

Mike Dowling is back and I appreciate his work a lot this issue. Its gritty and textured but with a good serving of inks giving his work a post-modern noir look. Its noir but uneven and crumbling at times.

All of DC Comics issues this month suffer from guest artist syndrome. Renato Guedes is a solid artist but like those in other comics Ive reviewed in the past month, his work contrasts greatly with Liam Sharp, the regular illustrator on the current day stories. Even the colouring is different.

Art Baltazar completely own this comic. He is an accomplished cartoonist that knows how to simplify complex character designs into something recognizable and dynamic. Superman is Superman. Batman is Batman. But each character has been stripped to its essential core which makes them more enticing, visually.

Sanya Anwar is a good artist for this issue as shes good with drawing everyday people, places and things. Funilly, Anwar would also be a great artist for the new Archie series with realistic characters. Her work looks cartoony but not too much. Its far more realistic than Love and Rockets.

Cary Nords style is a complete switch from what weve seen previously in this series. The problem is not that Nord is a bad artist. He is an old pro. The problem is that the does not match what weve seen before and creates a storytelling break that is worsened with the complicated story. Editors should really be more careful when picking replacement artists for a few issues.

Ariel Olivetti has experience drawing Space Ghost comics. However, his style is a bit jarring compared to what weve seen previously. He is an excellent painterly artist. It just feels out of place in a comic with pure retro art.

The artwork is very cartoony but funny. Everything is dynamic and easy to decipher. Marcelo Dichiara draws both stories, adhering strongly to the animated model sheets developed for this series years ago. Even for adults, this comic will provide a few good laughs and good break from gloomy comics. As for kids, it wont talk down to them.

Ive already written about how Freddie Williams who is an acquired taste usually is the best artist for this comic. Besides the fact that he can render these muscle-bound atrocities well, he also make them look dynamic. In the case of the Thundercats, lets not forget that they always seem to dance when they fought. They dance in the comic too! Heres a suggestion. If youre a fan of Conan comics, pick this up.

I am starting to prefer Scot Eatons Aquaman better than Philippe Brioness version. Although each draws Atlantis as a generic science fiction set, Eatons rendition is less cleaner even with Wayne Faucher cleaning the pencils with inks.

There are minimal shadows in Walter Geovanis work. I dont believe that he cant play with light and dark. I think that given the very bright environment he plays with, that he purposely avoid strong shadows. It makes his characters, regardless of the colouring feel as if they were over-saturated. This is not a criticism. This is very effective for the kind of story that he writes and the bright settings his characters thrive in.

Im glad that Greg Rucka is a feminist writer. Wonder Woman is written in a smart way that will please anyone who cares about social justice and those who do not. She does not preach. She is still innocent. But she is inspiring and caring. This year one storyline has to be one of the best rendition of Wonder Womans origin ever written.

In the visual department, Larry Hama, an old pro at wordless comic book storytelling, continues to guide the beautiful pencils by Carlo Pagulayan. Hama is the perfect foil for Priest. They are both old timers in comics who are willing to let visuals do the heavy storytelling lifting. Pagulayan is a fine artist who while he many not handle storytelling as naturally as Hama, can render beautiful scenes.

Freddie Williams II is always an acquired taste. But here, his work shines and fits better than anything else. His exaggerated musculature is not a problem in this comic. The kind of grotesque physique he gives characters is what I expect from these cartoon characters. If you have been sitting on the fence about this comic like I have, just give in. You will not be disappointed.

I dont know Neil Edwards but he had some difficult material to work with. Most of the issue was a bunch of talking heads in the suburbs. Only towards the end when the villains showed up did he finally let lose. Hitch overburden his scripts with dialogue, something one would expect a comic book artist to be weary of. He is not.

Howard Porter is really the difference that this comic needs and why it still looks fresh and dynamic. His work is dynamic and he can make talking heads crisp and interesting.

The artwork is good but there are a few pet peeves. There is a shot of Huntress swimming underwater with her hood still on in the water. As she pulls from the water, the hood nor any other part of her uniform look wet. She hood just fits on her and feels as puffy as it did before she jumped in the river. Its an amazing material that just looks great and dry at all times. Granted Roge Antonio is not drawing Aquaman but really?

I have one complaint about colourist Gabe Eltaeb. Black peoples palms are a different colour than their hands. Black people do not have black palms.

Russ Brauns work continues to be wacky and crisp at the same time. I like the energy in his work. He can do super heroics but also wacky comedies featuring regular people and backyard swimming pools. The cover is by the late Steve Dillon. Always a pleasure to see his work grace some comic. For years he was only within the pages while Glenn Fabry drew the cover all of his Hellblazer comics.

Dave Eaglesham and Wellington Alves join Howard Porter this issue with the artwork. Eagleshams sequence is very short and thus there is little to say about his work which continues to be solid as ever. Alves does manage to show us the inner beauty of Velma in his flashbacks. Thus she cannot be all that bad. At least I hope so.

Travis Moore reminded me of a younger Rags Morales. I have never heard of him before but I enjoy his work. Unlike Morales, he keeps the size of eyeballs to a respectable size. Besides great character renditions, Moore excels at background illustration. His page layouts are sometimes a bit too fancy and can lead to confusion though. If he limited these tricks, it would enhance his considerable storytelling abilities.

Joe Bennet's work here is great. He is used to drawing urban action scenes. But here, he does the kinetic and step by step storytelling well.

Bilquis Evely has a pulp feel which is just right for this story that will make you think that Lara Croft is a red-haired adventuress. Romulo Fajardo Jr s colours add the right tough to an already pulpy comic. Its a great mix and a great comic that I hope will become every Wonder Womans fanss favourite.

Russ Braun captures the spirit " pun " intended of the comic by using a realistic and rich style that still captures the slapstick moment of the story. His lines are thick and juicy and accompanied with just enough texture to make the comic a treat for fans of solid comic storytelling. It took me a while to read this comic because I was put off by the first issue. This one sold me. It's not as nasty as it sounds.

Having said this, I enjoyed how Aquaman resolved his conflict with the Shaggy Man, using his brain. From my research, similar ploys have been used before to defeat the Shaggy Man. I'm glad that Abnett's Aquaman was able to update and old trick.

The weak point of the story is he artwork by Liam Sharp. I prefer year one artist Nicola Scott. But a weakness is relative in a story so well crafted. Some shots, like Wonder Woman plunging through Urzkartaga looked like super heroics of a bygone era and so were less satisfying. Yet for such a jungle epic, he is the natural choice.

Joe Bennett is an old time 2000s DC Comics artist who could draw good looking women. Im glad that he is back for this issue as it focuses on Ravager. Bennett is a pro. His work follows the lead established by Carlo Pagulayan but with less flash. What he loses in flash, he makes up in solid storytelling and a double-cross set up that remarkably enhances Priest complicated premise.

A stronger inker is needed to enhance Andy MacDonalds artwork. At point, his ink coverage work. At others, it is too light and gives a Vertigo Comics feel to his work. Although dealing with monsters, the Vertigo look should not be what this series aims for. He can draw gory stuff, although not as well as Ryan Ottley or Howard Porter.

This series has to end. It will now fit in with the rest of the DC Comics universe closely. Spellbinders defeat was rushed and the conclusion of the story was designed to lead the reader to the future of Tim Drake and Rebirth. I did not enjoy the art by Stephen Thompson. It felt like a bad version of Barry Kitson with badly telegraphed action scenes. In the fight scene, it felt like the characters were floating in the air performing ballet and not connecting with one another with their fists. Also, white characters looked Asian for some reason.

Porter delivers the visual to a comic that could be the storyboard of a Hollywood blockbuster about teenaged kids trying to escape from a bunker filled with monsters. His work is scratchy and not clean cut as one would expect from a Scooby-Doo comic. Yes, he updated the style and the characters designs. They look like the cast of a current comic book. There is no nostalgia. Porter reinforces all of the character tropes Giffen and DeMatteis have wrought. Im not sure if it is a good thing.

David Finchs pencils are crisp. Matt Banning and Danny Miki improve. However, Im not sold on how Finch draws faces.

I marginally prefer the Doc Shaner pages to Ron Randalls pages. Jonathan Cases pages were good too. It feels like one is watching the old cartoons. Perhaps that is why these artists were created. The transitions between their pages were seamless thanks to the colouring from Jordie Bellaire. Im looking forward to reading more issues of Future Quest. The cover and the colurs for the cover are not as good as what's inside.

I was not familiar with Brad Walkers work before this series. Hes a good artist. He seems to be more in line with Marvel Comics than DC Comics. This is not a criticism. Usually DC Comics goes for the more realist and classical artists. Their execution is usually fine but lacks energy. Not Walkers Aquaman! All of his characters jump off the page! Aquaman really has a lot of hair! Its good stuff!

I liked Robson Rochas artwork. Its not special but solid. His figure have that early Image Comic rage thing but with better anatomy! Hes also a decent storyteller. The colours were a bit too bright and muffled the artwork in places though. It was often difficult to quickly differentiate Green energy from the figures or the refracted light from props and surrounding characters.

I like having Carmine di Giandomenico working on this series. Its been a while since a guy named Carmine drew the Flash and for some odd reason, he draws his character with the same elongated limbs that look unattached to thetorso, like Flash creator Carmine Infantino! Di Giandomenicos interpretation of the Flash is really an updated take from Infantino, down to certain memorable poses that old time readers will recognize.

The one salvation of this comic is Jesus Saizs work. His Captain America is solid and real. There are dimensions to his characters and they are pleasant to look at. There is an Art Deco feel to the dimension that he gives his characters that fits the story of a white supremacist. Art Deco always makes white supremacists look better.

One artist would have been enough to tell this story. Not trusting any of its great cartoonists means that DC Comics is still playing it safe. I dont want to read a safe comic meant to comfort me in the familiar. I want to be impressed and shown what the future holds for DC Comics. I dont quite feel it yet with Rebirth #1.

Fiona Staples is becoming the classic Archie artist for me, the same way Dan DeCarlo and Dan Parent were for their generation. Of all the alternate covers for this issue and the first, only Stapless interpretation of Archie feels right to me. She adds a lot of comedy and slapstick humour to the pages, which again, are classic Archie tropes. While the art looks fresh and contemporary, its still an Archie story. My only complaint is that Stapless inking is too rough and hard. She should soften her touch a bit.

It is ironic that a comic book about the end of being features the main characters of the Fantastic Four. They too are about to cease being. The one redeeming value of this comic is the beautiful art by Esad Ribic. Hes good. But everything else in this comic book is not. As a casual comic book reader, I found the comic complex and vague. As a long time Marvel Comics fan, Im disappointed and bored. Save your money. Dont buy this comic.

Annie Wus work is still solid, although I continue to dislike the sneering Dinah she draws. The other characters all look great. So its a personal choice that she made about how Dinah looks. I like the variant wardrobe Dinah uses in this issue. Its inspired from older depictions on the character from the first Birds of Prey special from 1996 while emulating the classic costume. Hey, Black Canarys a good comic. Im only critical because shes my favourite female character!

About the visuals. Well, I like the logo a lot. Its original. I get that DC Comics is trying to market this comic to a female audience. I just dont like how Annie Wu draws Black Canarys face. It seems angry and she looks like a cheap trailer trash girl on drugs. This is not how I imagine Black Canary. She is not sexy.

Ditto is cute. Annie Wu renders action well. I just dont like the face she chose for Dinah. In some drawings, Dinah looks healthy and strong. In some, she looks meek and skinny. It feels weird as long time Black Canary fan to see her rendered this way. But I accept that I am not who this series is intended for. I find the background by the paparazzi blogger annoying. Its not easy to read. Maybe if the format was improved it would be more fun to follow.

Stapless art is great. She is the perfect artist for Archie. If she can stay with this series for a few years, she might one day challenge Dan DeCarlo as the ultimate Archie artist. Her rendition of the characters makes them more realistic, but its still a comic with enough comedic moments and funny gestures. She renders the reality television / comic jam well. Much of the comic would have worked fine without as much dialogue. Shes a great storyteller. I want to read more about this new Archie and I am glad that Archie Comics is continuing their push to make their comics relevant for kids today. It's part of what I call the nouveau comics.

P.S. $5 is twice the price of a comic book from just a few years ago, an one-third of what the movie would cost at the theatre. Where is the value for the reader?

Evan Shaner is of course the best artist for this series. The comic book did not feel the same the last issue when a guest artist stepped in for a substantial set of pages. He adds a lot of the levity that Parker tries to imbue in the comic. His composition and storytelling is flawless. He understands the basic cinematographic staging. For example, check out the pages where Dale and the Hawkmen hide in the bush. The space they occupy on the page is rigorously maintained, just like in a movie. Few comic book artists bother to use these cinematographic continuity tricks.

The artwork is dynamic. I enjoy Cory Smith's storytelling, composition and figures. The world he created in Magnus is all his. My only issue is with the inking. I find the line weight in some close ups too thick. His inking works better in his action scenes and long shots. At first I thought that Dynamite as policy skipped on the inking in most of its comics. Smith informed me that he does ink all of his Magnus pages. He is a good comic book artist, but his inking is not always satisfying to me.

Neil Edwards is a solid illustrator whose work seems to be as good with super heroes as with drawing regular folks. Most of the issue contains with regular folks. His work is cleaner than the average Vertigo series from DC Comics. Im looking forward for more adventures from this series but Im not sure if enough readers will notice it and give it a chance.

Since Im comparing this series to Angry Birds, I have to say that the birds look much better. I like the roughness and line quality of the doodles but they look less polished than the Angry Birds comic. While the colours are bright, the shading on the character makes them look dirty. Perhaps this is the intended look for the series but it looks dirty.

Evan Shaner continues to be a remarkable artist in the tradition of Chris Samnee, Alex Toth and even Frank Frazetta. He renders his characters with a retro look fit for the 1960s but that is delicious for the eyes in 2014. A dedicated inker would create the textured light and dark compositions that would enhance his work.

Dexter Wee captures action scenes well but his brush strokes are too muddy. There are too many lines in the characters faces and telling them apart in the end of the comic is a problem. The two women had the same body type and attire. Only their haircut helped me differentiate them. This graphic novel read like a treatment for a movie. I wonder if Powers has more stories in store for Patriot-1.

Tyler Crooks artwork is efficient. Its clean enough and simple. Yet, it conveys all the right emotions in a few strokes. The details and background may be minimal but they support the characters in the foreground well. The inks are also clean. The colours are doll but thats on purpose. The story told is not bright and joyful. So the tones support the mood of the story well. Im curious about this series now and will seek more.

My problem with this comic is the art by Dave Acosta. Its not bad, but its not competent. Chastity is not the most popular comic book character. Chaos Comics is a small publisher Chastity. The Acosta needs an inker to equalize his work. I grow tired of comic book publishers who cut corners by taking unpolished pencils straight to colouring. Inking improves comic book art.

I enjoyed Mirko Colaks artwork this issue. It felt cleaner than in the past. Still, he adds just enough grits to the dinosaurs to make them stand out from the page. The grit reminds me of Gil Kane and Patrick Brodericks. It gives dynamism to the comic book.

Prez draws a rough Spider-man where the story and art are completely meld one into the other. The artwork does not over power the story at all. While the lines are rough, this new Marvel house style works well for characters like Spider-man and Daredevil. The inks feel minimal and the colours are simple. Unfortunately, this latest Spider-man series by Marvel is not as cheap under like the previous series.

I like the artwork. The colours are vivid and bright. The best part about the entire comic book was the slingshot frame at the bottom of each page mimicking the red bird attacking the pigs. I enjoyed this comic book and would recommend it to kids. Yet, I wonder how the creators will create enough stories for a continuing series.

The artwork was jarring. There were too many lines and magic energy blasts to follow the action. If this is what the creators intended then good job. But its not the kind of comic book that I want to read a second time. It was too busy. The illustrator is good but he buries his own work with unnecessary details.

Changs work under Moritas inks is a compelling mix. Moritat changes enough of Changs work that I didnt recognize it at first. Yet, the work is crisp. Chang draws good action scenes. I like the sequence where John Stewart was fighting with the Durlan invader. Some of the pages are too packed. For example, the shots of the Corps become a big mass of lines. This comic book is good. Get it.

I dont know who Manifold or Captain Universe are. I dont know much about this comic book because the writers expect readers to know all the characters and what happened before. Although this comic book is gorgeous, I have no idea why someone cares about something so empty.

Deodato is a pro but his inks are too dark for this series. Many of the backgrounds have fine details that dont look as solid next to the figures he draws. His rendition is excellent. But the line weight of the backgrounds is too thin. It doesnt support the foreground well. This is a problem as there are many shadows and dark areas. It gives too much visual information and does not create the right ensemble.

Cheung is great here. What I like about this issue is how the art of inking matters. Several inkers worked on this comic book. Many comic books publishers no longer have their comics inked. I think it is a loss. The shadow and contrasts in this issue alone show that good colouring is not always the answer to creating mood and ambience in a comic. This comic book is not necessary to follow Original Sin but fun nonetheless.

I enjoy Baltazars cartoons. He simplifies his characters just enough to make them recognizable. Each character has its own icons and bright colours. Since the publisher aimed this comic book at older readers like me in an attempt to give them to kids, I guess DC Comics has succeeded.

I have a concern about this series. The ideas are fresh and could cement a solid reboot for Flash Gordon. But will Dynamite lose interest with Flash Gordon in a few years or will it try to sustain a new classic version of the character?

Cory Smith is excellent and creates work like Don Heck but for a new audience. His illustration style is not as popular as it used to be. It feels like pencil drawings and dirtier inks. Yet, it adds just enough grit to what could have been a slick depiction of robots. His robots are menacing yet still look like the spaghetti legs f the 1960s. But with his dirty lines, Smith makes the robots evil and less than the perfect machines they claim to be.

The artwork is simpler in places and has a Steve Rude polish when it comes to spaceships and buildings. The characters designs and postures are not from Steve Rudes repertoire though. Its solid comic book fair that appears in many current DC and Marvel comics. It is not a criticism. Dynamite is publishing solid works these days. Gone are the days of Green Hornet Blood Ties. Thank God.

Romita should just retire before he becomes a farce like other great comic book artists of the past. It used to mean something to have john Romita Jr. draw a comic book. Now, it just means that the publisher has paid a lot of money and is trying to recoup its investment by over-hyping a piece of crap that looks rushed, that the artist has not really slaved over or bothered to add any special touches to. It looks like Romita Jr. I has the same energy and pacing, but it's like he paid some imitator to copy his style, picking up only the worse traits of his work so he could deliver this comic book in time.

Doug Mannke works wonder here and it's funny because one can feel see fear in the eyes of the Korugarians hedraws. Sinestro's gaze also has the same scary quality. I like Alamy's inks this issue. It's not as clean as usual with thick layers of blacks, but it works in the context of the story with the cells covering and absorbing all light.

It's a short story filled mumble jumble pseudo science, as much of this series has been, but little to make it feel realistic.

Cory Walker continues to art shores on the series after Ryan Ottley's departure. Although the characters look very much the same, he doesn't do gory fights as well and as bloody as Ottley. Yet the storytelling in this series is solid and following the action, never a problem. I'd like to see Walker's work under another inker. I have a feeling it would be more appealing.

The art is handled by Dan Parent who seems to be the big man on campus in the Archie universe. I'm not a fan of his portrayal of Archie character. He lacks the rounded figures and soft edges that makes them enjoyable to watch. Inker Koslowski's lines are too thick in many places and it overpowers the work, making it too simplified. Simple but rich artwork like this can exists without overtly thick lines. I like anything by the late Mike Parobeck for example.

However, I have to commend the "risk" taken with the Kochalka pieces. They are not groundbreaking, but the fact that Viacom was ok with the design of one of its properties not being respected totally is cool. The other stories follow the animated character bibles established for Spongebob more closely. I always like to see softraced coloured art, and of course, just like the cartoon series, the comic book features much of that. It's a fun comic book. I pretty sure every issue is as safe and entertaining.

This story was fast-paced. I read it in about five minutes. A previous story hinted that Batgirl and Black Canary had some kind of real disagreement. But this issue Batgirl just showed up to help her old teammate without bringing up any of their past issues. It kinds of invalidate the previous subplot. Of course the story ends in a cliffhanger. I will say that Birds of Prey is one of the most solid of the 52 reboots. It may not go to some of the creative heights of other series such a Wonder Woman, but it is a great read. Time Warner Inc. the parent company of DC Comics supports the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

I like how the story has moved along and the big reveal of the villains origins. Its actually an interesting concept. We havent heard of them before of course although they seem similar to the Manhunters. I dont know how the Stormwatch and the Martian Manhunter will play out in future stories, but I really like the cameo. I also like seeing more of Stewarts resolve and Gardners cunning. This issue was not as fast moving action-wise as previous ones, but the build up and characterization rounded off the series thus far. Time Warner Inc. the parent company of DC Comics supports the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Jim Lees work is good and solid as usual. I did find that his sharks were exaggerated and big, as if he was trying to improve on Aquamans image. I bet we dont get to see any giant purple squid helping Aquaman anymore! The panels in this comic book are packed with tons of information, perhaps too much at time. But then again, thats what Jim Lee does and complaining about his signature style is useless. Just having him work on a comic book is always an event anyway. Time Warner Inc. the parent company of DC Comics supports the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

I used to really like this character but this series fails to entertain or take the character anywhere useful. It's a shame.

McNiven is good here. The illustration and storytelling are fine, but I still feel like his work is like a bunch of photographs. So even though he can move through the story visually and make it clear for readers to know whats happening, it feels stilted. Its really difficult to understand whats off. Check out the picture of the Falcon flying on page four. He just stands there in the sky on top of a city as if he had been stuck there. Its hard to feel that hes in the air floating. Well, much of the comic book has this feel. So gorgeous art work and decent storytelling, but it feels stiff, monotone and non-moving. There is no kinetic energy to the drawings.

Of the two artists featured in this brief comic book, I preferred the work of Vicki Scott. It was livelier and relied less on stock Peanut characters pantomimes to make its point. Snoopy was the start of that strip and the work relied on no text caption to guide the story. In comparison, Ron Zormans pages did not innovate so much with the characters pauses, and relied on typical gestures displayed by Peanuts character over the years. I would say he played it safe. The stories by Schulz were of course authentic but did look odd as the comic strip format was adapted to make a comic book page. The characters appeared much smaller than in the original material. As an experiment, this comic book will be interesting to watch.

I like Guaras work this issue. There were problems with the first issue, so Im glad problems were ironed out. His work is crisp and with great inking by Jos. I particularly like how characters keep popping out the panels they are drawn in. Guara does it so naturally, that its almost unnoticeable.

Sometimes artists you literally hate on some series find their voices on other ones. The number one reason I didnt read All-Star Justice Society was because of Williams. I just could not stand his work. Here, on Captain Atom, that series is perfect for the fluid forms he likes to depict. He really complements the series. The colouring is fine too, although I wonder why Captain Atom has to glow, if its hinted at in some scenes that he was invisible to onlookers. I didnt like Kruls work on Green Arrow and Arsenal and I didnt like Williams Justice Society work. But here, both creators just merge their talents and create one of my favourite and one of the most innovative of the 52 reboots. Woah.

Ottley was drawing this issue. He didnt draw Invincible #85 and that was a lot. I know hes not the original creator, but hes probably contributed more to Invincible than any other artist for several years now. His work can become a caricature at times " Eve is not exactly beautiful this issue. Yet, the visual pacing is fast and dynamic.

Martin is not Lee Weeks, but his works is perfectly suitable for this series. Hes not too big on drawing Daredevil jumping around, but his storytelling is excellent He casually moves the story along and as reader, I never feel overwhelmed. There is just enough visual information to carry us through. Its refreshing.

With an anthology format, its easy to have bad art. There were no real weak chapters visually. It all looked nice although the styles were very different. Di Giandomenico was my favourite artist. His piece on Johnny Storm was crisp and lively.

I guess, giving the Flash to a new writer like Manapul was a big gamble on DC Comics part. The Flash is one of the core characters at DC Comics and its always had great creators working on it. Visually, Manapul does incredible work and because hes both the writer (partly) and the artist, his work relies on the visual storytelling a lot. It works. There are very few mainstream comic books still written and drawn by the same guy and I hope that DC Comics will let the experiment continue a while longer. These comics usually produce gems when given time to grow.

Cory Walker is back this issue and I have to say that I prefer when Ryan Ottley draws this series. The characters still look very much the same though, but Ottleys work is more lively and the faces more interesting to look at.

Larroca executes the visuals well. Hes to be credited for this book still being one of the top one at Marvel Comics. Its his vision and continuous work the last three years that has made this book with it is and allowed Fraction to get away with poor and unimaginative stories. Fraction owes Larroca a lot for making his pitiful work, the last two years seem better than it really is.

Romita Jr. Is back in shape this issue. Perhaps not having to draw the Avengers every month has freed him and allowed him to deliver more than bland sketches with too many lines. His composition is good here and the figures look fully formed. This is the Romita work that I like. The one that looks so easy for him to draw, thats full of energy, but all you have to say when you look at it is say that its pure genius. Its gory. He shows the piss and blood leaking down Kick-Ass dads body while being hung in jail. Not a cool pic to remember. But for what this comic book is about. It works.

Ferry saves this comic book again. Just like Salvador Larroca on Invincible Iron Man, he makes a comic book which would be unreadable at least pleasant to look at and probably props up the work of Fraction, helping cover all the problems in the script.

I dont like the Philip Tans work. Its way to confusing. What exactly is happening on page eight? What is the woman doing to Morphicius? To say that Tan is a weak storyteller is an overstatement. He just cant put a series of images in a sequence that makes sense for a reader to follow. I have no clue about whats happening most of the time. And the text captions dont help either. As for the colouring by Gho, the colours are nice, but he buries Tans work in dark tones and makes visual that are already hard to decipher impossible to comprehend.

I used to love Camuncolis work when he worked on the Intimates several years ago. On Dark Wolverine, he was perfectly suited for the twisted and anti-social nature of the story. But in Spider-man, he is painful to watch. The grins and angst he draws his characters with doesnt work with the adventurous world of Spider-man. Its too gritty. And he doesnt do emo kids so well. If he had a better inker, like Sandra Hope, his work would be better for this series.

Some people told me on Twitter that they dont like Acunas work. I wonder why. Its not as designed and as distinct as it was on the Freedom Fighter series for DC Comics. Hes tone down a lot to look more like the crime noir work of Steve Epting on Captain America. Acunas not really good on action because his work is so stylized. The Avengers are all about action. It will be interesting to see if the toned down stylization works with action scenes.

Don't pick up this comic book. It's bad and muddies up the origins of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver even more. Instead, go pick up their original first appearances in the Avengers and the X-men.

The artwork is just right even if painted. Often painted comics feel stiff. Janet Van Dyne has never looked better. Even the wacky costumes look decent with very little updates needed. The price of this comic book is a bit steep though. I would encourage readers to only pick up issues they are interested in as opposed to all of those coming out. For example, I skipped the one on Luke Cage because I dont really care about the character.

Olivers work takes a bit of adjustment to get used to, but its still kinetic although all painted. Its as if he had made cuts out of airbrushed sections, cutting a clear line and using a lot of white space as a negative background. The lack of proper background is not much of a problem though, due to the well-done juxtaposition of painted elements and white space.

Saiz, as I wrote in the past is the perfect artist for a series where the female leads are expected to be beautiful, but drawn to overemphasize their curves. He can draw women in action scenes quite well, without using any of the clichs and poses that would break a real persons back in real life.

Jurgens and Prez may sound like a dream team, but the work comes out stiff. It really feels like a book from the 1990s. The storytelling is brilliant, but the rendering, while well done still continue to feel old.

Mahnkes Sinestro is creepy but so real. I like the crispness of the artwork. There is a Gil Kane quality to the visuals, which is quite a compliment for the artist.

Jim Lees work is messy this issue. Theres a too much happening all at once and several reading are needed to capture all hes put in. Id suggest he cleans up and simplifies a bit. But then, his fans rally like his messy pages and that may not please them. But I read Justice League because I like the Justice League, not because of Jim Lee.

Im still rooting for this series to work its magic and find an audience. I really like this character but there are a few plot holes. Wallace glances over core elements so quickly and then brings them back as if they had been well-established. He did that the previous issue with people knowing Michael Holt was affected by a temporary madness and quickly exonerated. This issue, he does the same with the extent of Mister Terrifics secret identity. At first glance, it seems that everyone knows or can easily make tie the two. But apparently thats not the case. There isnt enough distinction when the character is a super hero and when he is a business man. The villain quickly figured out the secret identity thing and used it against Mister Terrific. The ideas for this series are good, but there are too many important points that are continually skipped over.

Deodato made his name drawing Dark Avengers and hes treading on old grounds here. His Norman Osborn is also the best. Hes the best thing in this issue.

Benes has been paired to a series that works for his strengths and will help him grow as an artist. His storytelling is already better. I suspect working with Milligan has something to do with it. His range is still limited, but its not annoying. Fans of pseudo Jim Lee art will enjoy.

Ferry is a marvellous artist with anything related to fantasy. His work is epic. Its too bad he gets to work on filler material instead of better stories, until Thor comes back from wherever he is.

Of course, without Cahill the story would not be as interesting I like his take on the Transformers with just enough human facials but well designed and updated robot modes. Im not impressed with Jazz latest designs though, but I understand its probably tied to some toy and not a decision of the artist.

I really like Casellis work this issue. Its everything Humberto Ramos is not. Its well constructed with good anatomy. Backgrounds are not rushed and are rich. Characters dont look exaggerated and the action flows naturally. A very good read.

Acuna is the right artist for this storyline which is less explosive than the previous one. Im actually glad to see John Romita Jr. gone from this series. He was really pushing it to the ground with his rushed artwork and dirty lines. His work was all sketches and no finishes. Its good to see a totally different take here with Acuna whose work is somewhat painterly and much more stylized. There are even hints of crime noir in his work. Im hooked again.

Beautiful artwork with as much action as Larroca could cram in given this issue was about a bunch of talking heads. Have not picked up the latest issue yet, but if nothing improves, Ill stop collecting Iron Man, even if it sports very beautiful art.

Lee designed a great comic book there, with a lot of destruction and some clever panels. I like the interplay he did with Flash and Superman. The pages were very busy however, although easy to read.

Saiz is excellent here. I just love how he draws women. They are hot but not exaggerated. They can kick ass and look good in skin-tight costumes, without looking like tramps. Saiz has the right mix for these characters.

Pasarins work is crisp and detailed. Hes good with alien designs too. He also knows how to create dread and anguish. Most of this story is about the perceived threat of the aliens. We dont see them do much damage on panel. Pasarin is good at hinting at stuff that occurs off page and creates dread.

Visually, this series works. The painted style is very dynamic and the artwork delightful.

Jurgens and Prez deliver a crisp and solid comic book, but it feels dated and from an earlier generation. Its not to my liking. Ill have to seriously consider whether Ill get the next issue.

Mahnke adds that touch of suspense and great design to every page. Through him, I could feel the despair of Hal Jordan as he tried to rescue the people on the bridge but could not. I cant say anything bad about this comic book. Its that good.

The artwork is dreadful on this series. Every page is inconsistent. If this series gets cancelled, the artist will have to shoulder much of the blame. Its kind of painful to look at. The inker is too soft on this artist and many of the poses attempt to be dynamic but exaggerate everything too much.

Sepulveda renders a great comic book, but he may have added to the complexity of reading the pages and the convoluted nature of the comic book. His work reminds me of Bryan Hitch which is a good thing. However, his inker may not be the most appropriate for his work. Im not sold on this series yet and I think this will be my last issue. Thats too bad because I really wanted to enjoy it.

McNiven is a great artist, but his work here only serves t highlight the weakness of the series. Was the series a real suspense thriller, his Captain America might have a chance to look and feel right. But here, we see stitches and chainmail details on the costume which only reinforces the reality of the world Captain America lives in, while he looks like an idiot wearing a rubber suit. It doesnt work, unfortunately, no matter how good the artist is.

Larroca draws well and is the one strength of this series. Without his work, this series would have failed already.

Im not sure what will be salvaged from the crossover next issue, now that there is no Avengers Tower. It almost feels like Brian Bendis is compelled to put all the toys back in their box by destroying one mainstay of his Avengers run " the Tower. One thing I can say is that John Romita draws too many comic books per month and the lack of cohesiveness in his work is really harming the Avengers. He is still committed to Kick-Ass. Perhaps he should let another artist have go at the Avengers. His work does not bring anything to the table anymore and is actually a detriment. It used to be that his work on a series was a special thing. Now, its just a pale imitation of a master who works too much and sends in pages of scribbles instead of properly designed comic book pages.

Deodatos work is impressive. Hes changed how he draws his Norman Osborne. I see less Richard Nixon in his rendering. I think Deodato is a master comic book artist and Ill definitely pick up any other book hes working on in the future. However, right now, even the best part of the New Avengers is not enough to make read the same plot over and over again while I pay way too much money for a comic book whose writer after eight years should retire and allow someone else to tell the next chapter of Earths mightiest heroes. If you are not jaded by Bendis and the New Avengers, I say continue to read this series. Its not bad at all and there is still some humour left. But Im not willing to put up with this anymore so Im bailing out.

Now that Waid is finally blooming on this series, Martins work is finally allowed to shine properly. Martin has been a great draftsman from the beginning, but with little inspiring material to work with, it all felt useless. Now he can tell the kind of stories that matter and that people will remember. Its nothing crazy or groundbreaking, but the illustrations are just right and of course the storytelling works well for a character with so much kinetic energy, like Daredevil.

Ottley continues to draw this series with a passion, although his figures are becoming more cartoony. Colourist John Rauch softraces many of the lines in this comic which is new here. It does reinforce the cartoon look of this series. It doesnt look bad at all. Its good to see the series growing visually, even if I dont like how Ottleys work is changing. Its not bad at all, just not what Im used from the artist.

Ed Benes is just right for this series. Another artist would have made this series crawl to a halt, not because they arent good, but because their art would not be action-based. Milligans script is very wordy. Benes facial expressions have also improved over his previous series. I cant wait to see where he grows next.

Cahill should be the regular Transformers illustrator beyond the Chaos storyline. I really enjoy his take on the Transformers. Prowl really looks unique in robot mode, although in his alternate car mode, its sometimes tough to distinguish him from Streetwise. This story is really enjoyable from the first page to the last.

Janin makes everyone he draws beautiful, unless they are from the Justice League. They looked off and not their natural super heroic posture. Yet, on every non super hero scene, Janin rendered a varied and interesting universe. His women minus Wonder Woman are all beautiful.

Now, I didnt like the art at all. It started with KidFlash whose face I felt like punching. He just didnt appeal to me. Later, we also see ugly faces for Wonder Girl which made me more focused on how much I couldnt stand her face than what she was actually doing. I dont like the work of this artist much, so I wont focus on that too much here. His work is dynamic and seemingly well positioned for an action-packed comic book. Some readers may enjoy the Jim Lee influences.

The artwork was very super hero-like and therein is my main criticism. Why are the boys so muscular when they are teens in high school? Ok, Raymond is a jock and football player, but out of costume, he doesnt seem so big or muscular. But when he and Jason transform, there is no in between. They automatically gain the traditional six-pack and super muscles of other super heroes. Nevertheless, this series should be a fun read.

Im not used to Kirkham, but I like his work already. Theres almost a hint of anim in his work, but with full composition being influenced by American comics. He can draw gore and aliens. His characters have good facial expressions and dont all look the same. Who could ask for anything more?

Is it just me, or is Coipel shrinking the heads of his characters even more than before. Thor towards the end of the issue looked like a his head belonged to a midget. It was so compressed, it made no sense. I like how Coipel draws all the regular folks, Volstagg, Galactus and the Silver Surfer, but I like his Thor less and less. I hate it when artists become caricatures of themselves. However, I have to say that with the head compression thing, the Silver Surfer really looked like he had been drawn by Jack Kirby.

Romita helps Millar achieve his goal, but I fail to see what else hell get out of the deal besides some hefty royalties on the next Kick-Ass film. Tom Palmer does a good job of cleaning up the dirty pencils of Romita. In the Avengers, Romitas work is a mess of lines. Here, there is an actual flow to the page and lines.

The story itself was very limited with a classic infiltration plot and some other bad guy breaking in at the end of the comic book. There was also a lot of grief about dead Legionnaires, but again Levitz failed to explain to those of us reading a Legion of Super Heroes book for the first time why we should care and why there were so many deaths. This was my first time reading Legion of Super Heroes, and will probably by my last time.

Visually, DellOttos work has a painterly quality that works for a story about the epic history of the Avengers. The first few pages showing important crisis in the history of the Avengers, where they were responsible for creating a threat that could have affected the universe was quite powerful. Unfortunately, to read the end of this story one has to pick up another annual. The price of this comic book was ridiculously high, though.

What this does is show how shallow and irrelevant the story ultimately is. If as a reader, I cant force myself to decipher a comic book, then theres a problem. Its actually a problem that as a reader Id have to force myself to figure out whats happening. This storyline which is supposed to be important to the world of the Transformers is a non starter for me because of the muddle atmosphere artwork that impede on the actual reading of the comic book. I want to read a comic book, not marvel at the pretty colours on a canvas.

The artwork is incredible. Basri draws the most gorgeous women. The men are not bad either. Theres a cinematic feel to his compositions. I have to mention the work of colourist Jessica Kholinne. She makes Basris already beautiful pieces stand out even more. Together, they have given an incredible feel for this series. As the story is not bad at all, although sill not fully developed, its up to this team to make sure this series about characters weve never read before survives. I highly recommend this series as it's a completely new concept and new characters that can only make the DC Comics universe richer.

And thats why this entire story was painful to read for me because the same type of pulling without a pause that characterizes Ramos work is also present in the script. Things move fast then stretch, then compress into a mess that makes it difficult to care for the characters. Still Slott understand Peter Parkers voice and throughout the story, there are flashes of the eternal inner demons that affect the character. Here, hes worrying about whether or not to tell his girlfriend Carlie about his secret identity. It was actually quite fun to see him stress over that again.

I'm not sure if I'll return to this series next month. It's a wait and see.

Is Blue Beetle a series worth following in light of all the new series from DC Comics? Its not bad so far and has a lot of hinted future stories. However, if you dont want to go through a series about the formative years of Jaime, skip it. I it doesnt bother you or that youve never read about the character before, this series, while not exceptional is a good pick.

I dont know Fernando Pasarin, but can say that his work is brilliant so far. He has that same crisp quality that Doug Mahnke and Patrick Gleason have brought to Green Lantern in the past. His figures are well-formed and even his aliens look believable. Being able to draw good aliens is one great skill for a series like Green Lantern. I wasnt a regular Green Lantern Corps reader in the past, but I see no reason for passing such an excellently put series. This one has my full recommendations.

Jesus Saiz is perfect for this series. One important thing about Birds of Prey is that it has to look good. When you have female leads in a series, I dont care if it comes off as sexist, but the leads must be beautiful. Each woman is beautiful here and graceful enough. The action was easy to follow. This series is a go for me.

Im not a fan of Williams. I didnt like his work in JSA All-Stars. But here, hes actually effective. The energy that grows and ebbs works for his style. Im not annoyed at all by his take of Captain Atom, although hes not my favourite artist. What he draws is classic super hero and its just right for this series. Now, whether this series will make it is another story. Ill stick around for the next issue, and maybe the concept of a Doctor Solar and Doctor Manhattan-like character in the DC Comics universe will materialize. So far, I cant say this creative team is not getting it.

I kinda wish that this series would fail and that we would only get to see Nightwing is other peoples books. But unfortunately that wont be the case. The character has a huge following and DC Comics probably consider him too important not to invest more in him. I wont pick up Nightwing #2.

Red Hood is this guy that thinks hes good at what he does. He thinks hes cool and laid back and the middle child of Batmans Robins. This story read like a stupid comic book from the 1990s with action forced in the first few pages and then some silly break on beach while some of the characters have sex. I do like the pairing of the three characters. Roy Harper has never really interacted much with the Red Hood. The Red Hood has certainly not interacted with Starfire. Starfire and Roy Harper have been on the same team many times, but I dont recall anything particular in their friendship. So the premise of paring the three is a good one. But the execution and the actual story are meaningless. Theres no story to read. Well, its a buddy comic book, but where is it leading next? I think I know which comic book I can eliminate from my 52 pull list.

I like Dallocchios artwork, but find that the inking is uneven and not complementary to his work. He needs someone with thinker lines to really surround his work. Here, the lines are too thin and brittle to extract all the good designs from the penciller and throw it out at the reader. Because the lines are so thin and much of this issue is dark and with little light, it can sometimes make understanding whats happening in an individual panel difficult.

Rivera is great at action. I like how he drew the decomposing sound-based villain. Thats some ingenious design. However, he should not be doing any more cover for Daredevil. This one was so uninspired that were this series not already in my pull list, I would not have picked up this book based on its cover. Its really an ugly cover that feels like its from a 1980s comic book.

Deodato renders a mean and lean Daredevil. I like how he drew him here. I could easily see him become regular artist for Daredevil should the sales of his series plunge further. But that is another story. Meanwhile, did I mention how this team feels more and more like the Defenders? I wonder if it would sell as much if it was billed like that.

One thing for sure, it was fun to see little used characters like Breakdown and Streetwise, instead of the usual golden team from the very first Transformers stories " you know Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee and all. O they were there, but for once we got to see characters that deserve much more exposition. It was fun to see the differences between Prowl and fellow cop Streetwise. They are both police cars, but like in real life, they differ in tactics. Im not sure where this new storyline is going, but I cant wait to find out about this new conspiracy.

Doug Mahnke is a pro and I have always loved his work from the day I saw it in the first Mask mini-series. His work is crispier than before and at times, I found myself wondering if it wasnt Patrick Gleasons work. Gleason worked under Mahnke for years, so its interesting to see the master allow the student to inspire him. But its ll good including hints of Steve McNiven. Its sweet and crisp.

The series starts with a mystery and enough motivation to fill two years worth of stories. However, visually, its a hit and misses. Some pages are gorgeous, others are hideous. This series will need much better art to survive the 52.

McNiven is the top artist to have work on Captain America for a while. This is a compliment as the past series was quite well drawn with solid art by Steve Epting. McNivens page layout stays consistent and mostly simple which helps with the storytelling. Hes shading adds a layer of grit to Captain America and make his seem slightly older, but tougher. I can grow to like this way Captain America is being portrayed. Now, if the story could only get more interesting...

Rivera is from the Spider-man series. Maybe thats why I felt like this was like reading Amazing Spider-man. Hes the kind of artist that works well with the choreographed action in Daredevil. Im still amazed that Marvel Comics allows artists like Rivera to work for them. Their styles are completely non super hero mainstream, although it captures action just as well. To tell the truth, I prefer Rivera to whoever was handling the regular Daredevil series in last years Shadowland crossover. Pay attention to how Captain America and Daredevil spar in this issue and you will discover what real comic book storytelling is about.

Larroca serves his usual great imagery in this comic book which is really about nothing right now. If it wasnt for his work on this series, I probably would have dropped Invincible Iron Man by now. I remember in the 1990s when readers who only bought comic books for the art were criticized. I used to criticize them too. Ive become my own worse enemy.

Romita here is more polished than his recent work on the Avengers which is not looking too good. The storytelling is good. It seems that series like this one are better suited for the man than stuff like the Avengers where there are as many characters to draw but on a larger scale. Here, the scale is human. These goons in costumes still look good in them and if Romita has a weakness its that. They still look like super heroes instead of idiots dressing up with pantyhose Lulu Lemon gear.

While the fight between Thor and the Silver Surfer seems like it will never end, Fraction manages to show how one-sided Thor has been in this war against Galactus. The Silver Surfer is much more level-headed, patient and merciful than Thor, even is his job is dreadfully worse than Thors. The best part of the story is Loki. Dare I say that Loki was never as interesting a character as now that hes a boy? Hes really the god of mischief now. The magic with Coipels work, is that his characters all feel like dwarves, even Thor. But their facial expressions are unique and even if there is a lot of familiarity in all the characters, it is so easy to tell each character apart.

Buy, read, bag, board!

Larroca is a great artist as usual and I like how he draws the dwarves. His work is splendid as usual. One thing important has to be said about his work. He has successfully delivered almost all issues of Iron Man since the 2008 almost always on time and still continues to work on the series while not missing deadlines. This is not very common these days.

Olivier Coipel is one of my favourite artists. To think that people used to complain about his work when he was working on Legion of Super Heroes for DC Comics. Granted most of his characters look alike, he has the ability to capture mundane and non heroic characters unlike anyone else. His use of facial expressions has also improved tremendously since he last worked on Thor as its regular artist.

Milne draws good Transformers although he gives them a human face. The colouring is good and there are touches throughout the book that make things interesting visually. For example, there is a scene where Megatron throws a rock on a piece of glass. The wreckage is shaped like the Decepticons symbol.

The story itself is less interesting with nothing but fights and stuff blowing up. Little has been learn from the previous issue. In fact, since its been months since the last issue I read, I couldnt quite understand where the story was picking up from and where it was going, even with an introductory recap to the story, it took me a while to get a grip on things.

Visually, this comic book rules. The characters look consistent and have similar recognizable facial features throughout. Now, Im not a fan of Larroca reusing some of the panels and blowing them in some shots as the line thickness loses its impact and it doesnt make for a nicer picture. If hes going to reuse material, he should at least adjust the line width.

The Sea Ghost is an interesting series. So far its too similar to the Space Ghost to be anything that could go beyond, but its still a great package for parents who want to introduce their kids to comics, or someone looking for something that feels its from a generation ago.

Visually, McNiven delivers. Hes not the goriest artist either. Instead, he has a fine control over the characters faces and designs and goes for the maximum wide panel format as if this comic book was indeed a film. Its a better trick than relying outfight on splash pages to tell a story as he can actually have many major shots in a single page. However, it doesnt make for the best laid out and well flowing story. Its a bunch of mini splash pages strung together as if they were a comic book. So, should you get the last issue of Nemesis? I say yes. I was entertained. All Im saying, is dont believe the hype.

As I write before, Robinsons work is more suited for this series than the previous artist because its more super hero-oriented. The line work reminds me of Gil Kanes drawings. Funnily, its also kinetic. For those not familiar with Solar The Man of the Atom, this series is worth picking. The story is still slow, but it packs enough action and contents per issue. Its not a five minutes read.

Bennett is back. I always like his work. He draws beautiful women. His characters faces are always full of expressions. His work here complements Winick script perfectly. Jadson gives Bennetts pencils a more angular feel which is not bad at all. Inkers usually give him softer lines, but I like the contrast here. With solid pencils, any play on inks usually make the drawings look good no matter what.

Padilla is a good artist. Never heard of him before this series but his work is fun to look at. Theres a hint of manga in his work, but the inks are so strong and the characters so gritty that it feels like a light influence from Japanese comics.

Ferigatos work is solid. Hes the kind of artist that doesnt get as much work anymore because their style is not popular, although he is a solid storyteller. His work is completely competent. Every character has a different face. His sets are lush and filled. His inks are beautiful and contrast elements in his composition quite well. Coupled with the great colouring, this is a visual feat. This story has much potential. If you havent a Phantom story in years, this one may be for you.

Im tired of praising Samnee every issue. I cant say anything negative about his work. I cant ask him to improve on anything. For what this comic book is about and what hes supposed to do, theres little I could suggest. Thats rare that a comic book is so perfect, that theres nothing to say about it. I guess the weakest part is the cover. Its not the best, but everything inside just flows. Something else that has to be commended is how Samnee draws a one page recap of the entire series, instead of just relying on a text blurb. I wish more comic books would adopt this formula.

Franciscos work is good and perfect for the plain landscapes and mountains needed to capture the world of Turok. The line work has qualities similar to Joe Kubert but with a very different style. My first criticism would be that there are too many lines in the characters faces that obstruct their features. Franciscos characters could easily get away with a bit less line work. My second criticism has to do with storytelling. In some panels where crucial action is happening, there is too much of a gap between the panels making the flow of the action uncertain. For example, in one scene, Turok and Andar are back against a mountain flank with the warriors of the other tribe circling them. Yet, they manage to escape the circle and have much distance between themselves and their opponents. Thats quite a stretch.

Robinson replaces Dennis Calero this issue. His work is more attuned to a super hero comic book and although he is not a better illustrator, his dynamism may be what this series needed to be noticed. I like Caleros work, but the inking was not the best. Its pure super heroics!

Visually, the issue is good. Larroca does racing track stories well too. The cover is weaker not because of the artwork but because the composition and the monotone colours fail to draw attention on the flying Iron Man.

Robinson pads a fun story here where he continues to push this junior Justice League to the next level, proving they are not just replacements for the real Justice League. What Robinson has for him, what hes always had was a thorough understanding of DC Comics history and where each character fits in. For example, I like how Blue Jay assumes no one remembers him and his time with the Justice League. It shows his inferiority complex, while at the same time allowing the character to redeem his worth, by taking out Owlman at the first opportunity. This is the same Owlman who is an exact match for Batman and gave the second Batman, Richard Grayson a lot of trouble. Robinsons run on this series has not been liked by all. Its been criticized severely. Coupled with the Justice League mini-series he wrote last year that helped destroy Green Arrow and Arsenal, he has a lot to prove. But this is the writer who wrote Starman and the Golden Age mini-series. Before writing him off, Ill give him mor

Im not a fan of Figueras Transformers. Hes never been good with humans either. I dont like how he makes the Transformers faces ugly and alien-like. He also puts way too many details that dont help strengthen the structure of the images he draws. The inking this issue was inexistent. I grow tired of all these comic book publishers who think they can get away with Photoshop colouring and skip the inking production step. There is some inking here, but its not used to solidify the work and make it better. Its only used to indulge in the artists pet peeves. Comic book inking is an art form and a necessary step for pencil-drawn illustrations. Inking cleans the muddiness of a pencil drawing and brings structure and solidity to a drawing. Then, its used to establish shadows, highlights and lowlights. It adds dimensions and helps elements in the foreground comes forward and draw the gaze of the reader away from the background and other mid-level layers. Figueroa understands some of these princi

Visually, the artwork continues to be great with exceptional colouring. It was probably the best thing about this issue.

Ryan Ottley. Ryan Ottley. Hes Invincible. He draws all these worlds and characters, and then kills them in the most gruesome ways, making us care about all these cool characters that appear in the pages of this comic book series. I cant complain about anything Ottley does, including the gore. Its emotional. People are mangled and obliterated without care. Its not emotional or redeeming. Their deaths are true, in a sense. They are not heroic or romantized. The threat of the Viltrumite is well visualized. Ottley is a true super hero comic book artist. Hes a classic. Pick up this book. Its worth it.

I liked Loprestis work, but Ryan is not the right inker for Captain Atom. I liked all the other characters and the grit added, but the reflections on Captain Atom looked more like crosshatching. Everything else was fine with clear action and storytelling. My criticisms about this story are quite minor and do not take away from enjoying the comic book. Its really personal pet peeves, so Id definitely suggest this book to any super hero story fan.

Im not sure if Hester even helped with the breakdowns of the storytelling this issue, but Laus work seems more dynamic than usual. The figures look much better than they did a few issues back. My only criticism is that I feel he needs a thicker inking over his pencils to strengthen the characters on the page. But it seems that now inkers was hired for this book and that it was sent directly to the Photoshop colourist for treatment. If thats the case, that would annoy me greatly as comic book inking is an essential skill and part of why comic books look so good. Skipping this production step in favour of the colourists fixing the work is a short term gain that doesnt help to highlight the artwork and make it more solid for a viewer.

On the other hand, the highlight of this run is the art by Ferry. He is an illustrators illustrator. I like the crazy creature he draws. Some of them reminds me of the Myazaki ones, but with a totally different visual reference. As a storyteller, Ferry is as excellent. The pages and their contents flow seamlessly. Every panel in this comic book is a work of art to admire. Not many comic books have such visual quality.

The art is a hit and miss. I dont like how McKone draws some of the characters faces, but thats not really his fault. Its his inkers. McKone is a solid and competent artist with decades of work under his belt. I cant ever complain about his work. What hes done in Amazing Spider-man the last few years is inpecable. Anything he did in LEGION for DC Comics is to be marvelled at. So here, I can only blame his inkers for the weird faces he gives some of his characters. But rest assured, everything else is rock solid.

I dont know what else to say about Samnee. Hes the best artist for this series. Its because of him thats its so good. I like the way the character has real expressions in this comic book. The storytelling and pacing is excellent. Thor actually smiles so much that its refreshing. I cant get enough of this series. It,s my favourite read from Marvel Comics these days.

Basris artwork is gorgeous and perfect for Power Girl. I like that DC Comics gave this series an above average artist with a unique flair instead of a random generic one. He follows in Amanda Conners steps quite well. The fight was epic and the colouring sweet.

Syaf is a solid artist. However the inking by Cifuentes may not be the best match for his style. Syaf needs something cleaner and more solid to highlight the great lines and figures he weaves.

Francavilla draws a pulp Black Panther that feels like hes from the 1950s. I like it. The Clark Kent secret identity trick is funny too. I like all the gear the Black Panther carries around. The fights scenes were interesting. Cant wait to see more from this team.

The highlight of the series is of course Paquettes work. Its soft and well inked. The drawings are solid. I love his Catwoman and his interpretation of the new Batman suit. The colouring is simplified with palettes of colours per sequences. Thats not often done in comics, but always appreciated when it is.

Epting is a great artist. Hes like a mix of Alan Davis and Bryan Hitch. If I have one criticism, its that he needs a stronger inker to strengthen his lines. In many panels, they look almost half-closed. Beyond that it all looks nice and has great colouring by the unmatchable Paul Mounts.

Lau is good here with, although the first few pages with the missiles and the transformation of the Black Beauty into a hornet jet were incomprehensible. The other pages were much clearer and easier to read. Hester who did the breakdowns is usually good at storytelling and may have helped with that a lot. Theres a manga feel to this comic book series, and it feels odd because Green Hornet feels more like crime noir.

This is the worst Green Hornet series published by Dynamite. Its just bad. Lets start with the artwork. I cant stand Desjardins' work. Its smudgy and a bunch of lines trying to pastiche Jim Lee who unlike Desjardins, knew exactly how many lines of cross hatching to put on a page and where he had to stop before the whole thing became convoluted. Desjardins' characters all look the same and have the same expression. The inking i is weak and instead of reinforcing the best aspect of his work, only highlight the bad. The bad composition, the odd facial expressions, the weird storytelling are all put under the spotlight with the chicken scratches that pass for inking. What Desjardins needs is a solid line. Not crosshatching. You look at the page and there is no anchor to help the readers eyes latch on to some element because everything is a weak chicken scratch. There is no play of line width and thickness where foreground elements stand out and help guide the readers eyes within a panel. E

Larroca is back in shape this issue with well-drawn pages filled with details and a realistic view of the world of tech. Sometimes, hes off his game, but this issue, he was very careful with details and designed gorgeous pages. The segment with Pepper Potts drawn McKelvie was good looking too, but although the artist is superb, it looked simplistic next to Larrocas work.

I dont like the painterly look of Kolins work. But I guess the painterly look is back in fashion in comic books. The one thing I cant pin on Kolins is for making static poses. Many times painted comic books feel stilt. They dont here because Kolins is a master storyteller and understands motion and dynamism in comic book storytelling.

Raynor is a great artist. Normally, I wouldnt care for someone with this style, but for this series, I cant think of a better match. Its slightly cartoony and action-packed. His storytelling is great as the action and the character move the story along without submerging the plot. If it looks a bit rough in some places, its not much of a problem. Its gritty but with cool facial expressions. It really is the best-designed Green Hornet series published by Dynamite right now. I wish they would raise the level of all their other series to match this one.

Reis was the perfect choice to draw the acrobatic Deadman. It felt like I was reading a Daredevil comic book. I really like how he draws his characters. Every page was lively. Whats good about Reis is that his artwork never gets in the way of the story. It supports and reinforces it without taking over, as many good artists tend to do.

Fractions story is all right. The idea of giving humans mutant powers has been done several times already. The idea of a pathogen that only affects mutants has also been done. Gosh, isnt there anything new to report here? Its not the idea that matters so much as to how they are handled here. And of course, the treatment is better and more rigorous and more steeped in reality than past X-Men stories. This is what a lot of the work we see in comics feels like. Its a reinterpretation of older stories but done with better storytelling and visuals. It may seems fresh, but it isnt. The story is not bad, dont get me wrong, but like much of his run on this series, Fraction fails to advance new concepts and stories that can add to the X-Men mythology. Instead, he sticks with safe stories groomed in the lore of the characters.

I like Medinas work. One word to describe it " rich. Its full of textured lines and energy that makes the comic book pages move forward. It feels like they are trapping the readers gaze in a maze of wonder forcing him to read every panel and be delighted. Woah, that was was poetic! Well, this issue was great visually.

Romitas work was bettet this issue and less sloppy than I remembered. I especially like the last page with all the Avengers commenting on the new recruit and how the multiple panels showed their expressions. Its drawings like those on that page that made Romita a popular artist in the first place. Its simple work with but a few lines that capture so much energy. When he rushes his work, its easy to perceive that. By the way, I like how everyone but Wolverine appeared to be drink hot chocolate or tea. Wolverine had a beer instead!

Changing the artist probably made me like this comic book even more. Aruna has a great reputation for drawing characters in a way that makes them look like theyre from a political thriller. With the old Marvel Comics look of past issues, Im glad we have something more solid to concentrate on. Aruna particularly reveals the distinct traits of every character he draws. I like how skinny his Tony Stark is, compared with Steve Rogers.

As for the artwork, it was as bad. All the bad guys looked the same, making knowing who was saying what more difficult. Then the action and the posing of the character was bunch of clich action scenes that didnt help me as reader figure out what was supposed to be happening within the panel. It was really bad and a very weak attempt at a Green Hornet comic book. I supported this line before because I really like the characters, but material like this makes me seriously question future purchases. This comic book should not have been printed and sold to readers without major revisions.

The mark of a good artist is when you dont notice his work as it doesnt interfere with the story and continues to carry the plot forward. Thats what Dagnino delivers here. Its crisp and well drawn. Theres little I can say that would be negative. Hes not very distinctive or flashy, but for this story, it works and thats all that matters.

Finally, the mayorship of Jay Garrick makes no sense at all, unless its to pit him against city council when he tries to help rebuild the city in future issues. Ive never heard of Monument Point before so I cant even understand what the writer was trying to pull. This story cannot get any worse.