Everything here feels both overwrought and under developed to the point that readers might actually find themselves hoping Superman loses just to put him"and this run"out of its misery.

This issue, like the series thus far, has been little more than an unnecessary mess that does a disservice to the characters and the talent involved.

Maybe if you're reading it just for fun, there's redeeming value, but when these two characters deserve more substantial adventures, this is just not it.

Overstuffed with far too many words"dialogue, narration, all of it"and further burdened by art that is disproportionate and poorly executed, Batman #86 drowns in its own failed attempts to imitate better works resulting in unrelenting mediocrity.

This issue feels very much like they've just taken literal years of Batman development and thrown them in the garbage to push through a half-baked idea of pure, rushed, nonsensical ridiculousness.

This issue, and rapidly this whole title, is just not worth the read.

Every issue of Batman/Catwoman has somehow managed to get worse than the one before it, but this week's Batman/Catwoman #7 is spectacularly awful.

If I'm being honest, I have no idea what is even going on in this title anymore - and I don't want to.

This comicand the whole eventfeels like a really bad Mad Lib. In fact, it might have been better of being a Mad Lib. Thank gods it's over.

Story wise, the plot makes no real sense either, and there's a very juvenile quality to the writing that, when paired with Cizmesija's art, feels so rough you'd guess this was a poorly done draft if you didn't know it was a fully finished piece. This is all just extremely disappointing.

Everything here is just a disappointment which is unfortunate because Jason Todd is a character with great potential that deserves vastly better

It's flat, it's predictable, and it's boring, leaving readers with no real investment or no real reward for opening up the issue.

Future State: Gotham continues to disappoint, which is really sad considering that the creative team is certainly capable of better work and there are even moments within this very series that prove that. Future State: Gotham #15 suffers from many of the same issues that previous installments have, though somehow they all seem distilled here.

There really isn't any way to say this softly. Future State: Gotham is terrible.

There's nothing to like here, which is really unfortunate considering how much fun the rest of this book has been lately.

The real threat that seemed so promising before feels too much like it was forgotten and by the time the arc ends, it's all so unsatisfying and lackluster that you can't help but wonder what the point was at all.

I'm not entirely certain what was the driving force behind making Harley Quinn a weekly title, but I think it's a situation of diminishing returns.

The best thing I can say about Harley Quinn 2022 Annual is that it concludes the "Task Force XX" story arc. Beyond that, the same issues that have plagued that arc are present here.

I said this last issue, and I will say it again: Harley Quinn deserves far better than this.

Heroes in Crisis is now three issues in, and a few things have become clear: Tom King fundamentally does not understand Booster Gold as a character, and the story is going nowhere so efficiently that it's not clear what the story actually is.

As a reader, I'm just left feeling like this was all a weak cash grab in a universe overstuffed with ill considered events in need of serious editorial rethinking.

Much like the "Knight Terrors" event overall, Knight Terrors: Night's End #1 is a mess that ultimately was all spectacle and no sense with pieces of story sort of haphazardly strung together in an attempt to offer up some semblance of conclusion.

There's sadly not much in Mall #1 to instill any real sense of attachment to the story. It may be a book about the end of the world, but whichever world ended doesn't really feel like our own, making this mall one you may not want to visit.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #28 is worth reading if you're already invested in the series, but otherwise, this one is definitely a pass.

Marvel has a long history of PSA comics, and this Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur issue joins it. Unfortunately, there is zero subtlety to it with the issue practically screaming that smoking is bad.

The same issues that have plagued Raven Daughter of Darkness for its entire run continue in #9. It is bogged down with exposition and the continued "mystery" of whether Baron Winters is on the up and up while Raven is tangled up in uneven portrayal -- the issue is overwhelmingly lackluster and unnecessarily tedious.

There's only two issues left in this miserable run, but at this point we're no longer limping to the finish. We're all but dragging the corpse of what could have been a good series.

In the end, Raven Daughter of Darkness is a clumsy, often dull, and mostly poorly executed story that was never quite sure what it really wanted to say.

With the previous issue being nearly flawless, it was unlikely this week would reach that same height, but Red Hood Outlaw #28 might as well be taking place in an alternative universe.

In short, the issue is a mess that might need more time focused on the story and interior art than the infinite number of variant covers that seem to be taking up all the air.

I've hung on with this series thus far with the hope that we'd get back to some of the promise of the very first issue, but it seems like the longer this goes on, the more and more this whole thing gets phoned in. But hey, at least we can laugh at the knees.

Overall, it's a bland and lackluster issue but when taken into context over the series"especially considering how promising the debut issue was a year ago"this is just disappointing.

Supergirl #20 is the end of the run for the title, and given that it is a finale issue, one would expect the story to be about the Girl of Steel herself. However, that is far from the case.

Supergirl is back, but maybe she shouldn't be. Last we saw her, she had worked to redeem herself in the eyes of the public and made the choice "to inspire and be inspired" and to build a brighter future. Unfortunately, Supergirl #21 seems to have forgotten all of that.

Tim. It just doesn't work. Nothing in this issue works.

Riley Rossmo's art just does not work for this title at all to the point of making the whole title nearly unreadable in how everyone seems juvenile in what should be a more mature tale.

The whole comic feels and looks and reads as tired and honestly a little misogynistic.

This whole thing is tired.

For all of the battle and intrigue leading up to the conclusion of the "No Home For You Here" arc, Trinity #19 is a boring, long-winded, disappointment leading up to the least surprising reveal you could imagine.

There is no kind way to say this: Trinity #20 is another disappointing, boring, poorly written issue of a once-promising title.

Forced setup, superfluous fighting, the heroes seeming to be a little slow to figure things out -- it's starting to feel like the end of Trinity might already be here.

A boring villain with a boring and ridiculous motivation combined with a too-easy conclusion is uninspired and a sad ending to what should have been a stellar book.

All in all, it's a pretty boring issue, but what takes the issue from being passable to being borderline intolerable is the messy look of Roland Boschi's art. Boschi is a talented artist, but it just doesn't work this issue, which is particularly a letdown considering last issue was truly fantastic.

Everything about this series to date has been uncomfortable but this issue goes beyond that to disrespectful for no real narrative value.

Other than art, this issue is just poorly executed over all. The characters deserve better and so does the reader.

In the end, it's a disappointing issue, a disappointing finale, and a disappointing series all around.

The only real "win" this issue has is the art, but it's not enough to lift the story.

This deep into Batman/Catwoman, it's fairly obvious that the only thing this series really has working in its favor is the art

If you've been holding out for Tom King's Batman/Catwoman to finally pick up and go somewhere or for the multiple storylines to somehow make sense, you will be gravely disappointed.

In the years since Batman #50, a lot has happened, both in terms of King's run on Batman, as well as with the characters themselves with all of it leading to this: Batman/Catwoman #12. The issue finally delivers that wedding after giving us a dozen issues of story that also wove in bits about their married life and family between a murder story and other elements, but while the issue finally offers up a conclusion and delivers on the "Batrimony" of it all, much like the rest of the Batman/Catwoman series it lacks substance, sense, and lands as little more than a somewhat pretty string of gimmicks that just feels like cheap fan service in the end.

What happens when the goal is finally in reach just not the way Batman himself would do it? That is, at is core, the premise of Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War Battles Lines #1, but while the idea of seeing Batman come to clash with Catwoman over ideology as Gotham finally gets as close to safe as it has ever been is a hell of a premise, unfortunately the execution of this issue just doesn't deliver on it.

On the whole, I went into the DC Pride: Tim Drake special wanting to love it. The idea of one of the most enduring of Batman's sidekicks being bisexual is something that feels both groundbreaking and natural all at once, but these stories don't handle it well, particularly out of context.

Deep Beyond saved its big swing for the end and missed completely.

In terms of story, Future State: Gotham #17 is a slight improvement over recent issues but that isn't saying much.

It's chaotic, it's weird, it's lazily put together, and I'm thankful it's over.

Harley Quinn #15 is something of an unexpected entry in the series to date, but unfortunately it doesn't really work.

Phillips can write a good Harley. But this issue just isn't it. Nothing about this issue is it.

It's a lot and it's a mess. At this point, it feels like we're reading a caricature of a caricature and this issue is a prime example of it. And it's sad.

The issue is generally just an example of DC trying to throw things at the wall to see what sticks and in this case, nothing really does.

This is just a mess of a book in a mess of a run.

Knight Terrors #2 is a case of a comic that doesn't really know exactly what it's trying to do all built on a premise stretched so thin that the holes get bigger and bigger every page.

This one just isn't worth the time.

To put it directly, Knight Terrors: Batman #2 is not good. Not only does the story of both this issue and the previous issue of Knight Terrors: Batman it continues from have no real story to speak of, it also sits in this weird space where it tries to propel the reader into a cliffhanger of sorts that forces them into the main event, but the story here is so nonexistent that you almost don't care.

This is just a rough, rough issue and further cements that no one knows what they're doing with Harley.

Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #2 continues to have absolutely nothing to do with Knight Terrors and while the main story in the issue has its moments and is interesting, like the current Harley Quinn title it's honestly just a mess that feels like it is less a coherent story and just a grab bag of discarded ideas that got stretched into something else.

Three issues in to Tim Drake: Robin and honestly, it's not really going anywhere or improving.

Unfortunately, Torrent #2 is just as tired, overwritten, and under developed as the first issue.

While Torrent #3 offered a sliver of hope that it's protagonist Michelle was starting to become a little bit less of a caricature, issue #4 reversed course and doubled down on the angry wronged woman with a taste for blood and vengeance of it all, then went heavy on those tired cliches.

The whole event just seems unfinished and undercooked, and ends without any answers or direction. It's disappointing.

Even reading the issue three times I'm still not sure I could tell you what was going on other than something that feels like the comic equivalent of throwing every random idea at the wall and letting it all just slide down and calling that the story. It's just very weird. -

It's tedious, heavy-handed, weird, and has a muddled message about misogyny and patriarchy to boot. The art, however, is glorious.

With a threat like Leviathian supposedly being a huge issue, it all just sort of falls flat. For an issue with such incredible visual appeal, there's just nothing else there.

There's a nice little bit of humanity to the bulk of the issue, but the end result is an issue that is just functionally okay"not even really good, just kind of there.

At this point, the fight feels like it's been drawn out too long and it's that concern that drags the issue out. There's just too much going on and in too many points in time. Too much tell and not enough show.

This arc is one that is well past its prime. It's time to end it already. We already know Superman isn't winning the day. Let's move on.

It's a lackluster issue on almost every page.

The current run of Action Comics is honestly a mess and understandably so. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of things unexplained and it's not always the easiest to read and this is especially true in Action Comics #1022.

You know that a story has gotten overly convoluted when you have to rely on a fairly extensive, full-page (and then some) recap in order to make sense of the issue in hand and that's where we are in Action Comics #1023.

With the gravity of the story being weirdly undercut by needless awkwardness, the book ends up being promising but a little to try hard. Story wise, it's good. Execution wise, it leaves a lot to be desired.

It's another miss.

Action Comics #1027 is a weird mess of an issue.

Bendis' run held promise; this finale shows just how much that promise was wasted.

America is such a unique and interesting character, readers will no doubt wish she had a more unique and interesting conclusion to this grand adventure.

It's nearly impossible to miss the heavy Star Wars feeling Ascender #1 has and while hero journeys are universal, Ascender is too reliant on stereotypes and tropes, resulting in a too cliche debut.

The Autumnal started off with an elegant and fairly strong first issue, but issue #2 has already started to slip into obtuse mystery and difficult cliche.

Batman #112 like so much of everything in recent arcs just feels like a reheated version of things we've seen before. At least this time Tynion is recycling his own homework.

One thing Tom King has excelled at during his Batman run is humanizing the villains in a way that doesn't make them sympathetic but instead gives better insight into who they are. Unfortunately, despite a genuinely intriguing setup with The Penguin, the issue continues with a further dehumanizing of Batman.

Batman is at his darkest, most unrestrained worst this time around, to the point it's getting nearly impossible to want to root for him in any capacity. To an extent that's the point, but the deeper we get into King's run the more and more this bleak fall from grace into utter darkness becomes a chore to read, and that's especially evident here.

King's told this story nearly thirty issues before and, by bringing it back here only serves to stall any forward motion the book should have had -- something that feels awfully dangerous in the first chapter of a new arc.

It seems like a waste of narrative space, and it's likely to leave fans wondering when -- or if -- the story is ever going to start moving forward again.

Generally speaking, these Knightmares stories have largely worn out their welcome. While Tom King is trying to tell a larger story arc (he has to get to issue 100, after all), these stories feel more like filler, a way to technically complete an issue without having to expend too much story.

Switching storylines, inconsistent continuity, and a disconcerting sense of not ever really be certain what parts of the story are "real" and what parts are hallucination has become almost a default for Tom King's Batman run, and that holds true for Batman #71. Unfortunately, that also means that Batman #71 is a bit of a mess to read.

Not even the one "shock" reveal is enough to lift this from what feels like a major low.

The overall issue ends up feeling a little too bland and a lot too clean for a Batman story and while one could argue that it's never been a Batman story, it's a Bruce Wayne story, even from that angle it misses the mark.

The book is one that in a sense serves to let readers catch their breath before things really pop off, but it generally just feels kind of messy, almost like Tynion didn't know really where he wanted to go.

Ultimately, the issue feels like a half-hearted mashup of the weaker parts of Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises with a bit more Joker and yet another random shiny thing"this time literally with that new Batsuit"to distract from what is becoming painfully apparent: fun ideas don't always make for a good story.

It's well past time for this story to come to an end that, if the lead up is any indication, is going to be nothing more than smoke, mirrors, and marketing hype. Just like the whole arc has been.

This isn't about frightening the dark elements of Gotham nor is it about saving a doomed city. Batman #100 is about nothing more than Batman's (and, perhaps, the author's) ego. That's both a waste of this story's premise and a crying shame.

Bringing Batman to account by making him a somewhat realistic character would be a good idea, but a complete take down of the vigilante with issue after issue after issue of kicking him while down is just too much and it's that lack of nuance and forethought that shows itself sharply here.

The current core of Batman's story isn't serving to tell a Batman story. It's designed to back fill "Future State," just with Tynion dressing things up with flash and gimmick characters. When you realize that, when the whole of Simon Saint's plan is laid out completely bare in the issue, it takes the shine off of everything else.

At this point, Batman as a title just feels like biding time until this whole arc and run is put out of its misery of mediocrity.

There is just too much going on and anything important feels poorly jammed in. This is not a good Batman story.

It's no mystery that I've found the bulk of this run, and especially Fear State, to be a mess and while Batman #117 is less messy than previous issues, it's certainly not raising the bar by much.

Batman #140, like much of Zdarsky's current Batman story, is a case of potential squandered.

The result is something that feels cheap and a little messy and whose purpose remains a question.

Batman #144 provides the conclusion to "The Joker Year One" arc and ultimately, it all ends up feeling like a needless detour from the general trajectory this run of Batman has been on with the Zur-En-Arrh arc or even the Mindbomb arc.

Ultimately, it doesn't feel like any real narrative ground has been made, just Batman learning the same "lesson" he's learned in dozens of recent stories, leaving one to wonder where this title goes next.

For an issue that should be a milestone, Batman #150 is surprisingly weak and very out of place as an "Absolute Power Tie-In."

The result is an issue that is messy, confusing, and a little overcooked with a story that could have just been a one-shot.

If this is par for the course for the rest of this series, it's going to be a very long, boring, unsubstantial drag.

Batwoman/Catwoman hasn't been living up to the hype that preceeded the series for a while now, but Batwoman/Catwoman #5 might be the weakest issue yet.

The art's okay, but the story itself and its execution leaves a lot to be desired and really should have been reigned in a long time ago given the bloat, the fluff, and the lack of substance overall.

Everything about this issue just screams busy work and while not unpleasant, it doesn't really serve any purpose and even the art isn't especially strong or organized, either.

The finale of "The Demon's Fire" storyline hits in this week's Batman and the Outsiders #16 and rather than go out with an impressive, spectacular finale, the whole story comes to conclusion with a whimper.

Bloodshot #1 is a comic with good intentions that doesn't work very well, save for a whole lot of explosions for fun's sake.

It's less Wild West and more bad stereotype and while the book looks nice in terms of its art thanks to Francesco Manna, it misses the mark.

Here's the thing about Giles #4: the conclusion of "Girl Blue" is supposed to have emotional weight, especially after the revelations about Roux's past last issue. Unfortunately most of the book is tied up with tedious exposition that is honestly better suited to another medium.

Overall, kind of a mundane and average read. Here's to hoping they pull out all the stops next issue to make up for it.

The end is finally here for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Season 12, and Joss Whedon's finale manages to pull together all of the threads of the series -- both television and the many comic book continuations -- into an oddly satisfying conclusion.

Cemetery Beach is a unique book that suffers from a too-common problem: the concept is strong, but the execution sloppy at best, and the end result for issue #4 is a book that feels like everything is being run into the ground.

Cemetery Beach continues to be weighed down by the very thing that makes it interesting: strong concept, weak execution.

While the story is wrapped up in what generally works as a natural stopping place, if you've managed to make it this far with the series, you may well find yourself feeling like you've wasted your time.

The art this issue improves a bit, but at the end, this whole series and this issue in particular was just a bit of harmless and at time mindless fun the absolute definition of mid.

I'm still not seeing the allure of Deep Beyond. Nine issues in and with so many twists and reversals and what feels like a truly pointless motivation from the politian in the story, nothing feels like it has any real stakes.

Eve: Children of the Moon #3 feels a little lackluster.

It's a very middling issue in a promising series that is starting to buckle under its own bloat.

Future State: Gotham #10 kind of feels like it could be sorted out using a series of bullet points at this point because most of the criticisms the previous issues have earned remain here.

It's just so meh and the manga-inspired art, which itself isn't particularly well executed, doesn't help.

There's no way to put this other than bluntly: Harley Quinn #43 is a mess.

Harley Quinn isn't Deadpool and DC isn't Marvel, but someone might want to tell Harley Quinn #50 that. Not only is the issue one giant breaking of the fourth wall, it's an Avengers: Infinity War-esque story as well, just insane in a bright and sort of wacky way.

Harley Quinn #11 is a new arc that sort of continues from the end of issue #10 and in terms of plot, this issue is honestly kind of lacking. It's pretty weak overall and the set up just isn't there.

The only thing that's really done well here is the pacing in that it's clear that Phillips is setting up for a tidy end, both to the story and her run on the title, but this issue feels like a reminder that both can't come soon enough.

This is pretty messy and it feels like this issue in particular is really losing its thread.

This is very much all over the place and chaotic and while that is accurate to Harley as a character in broad strokes, this isn't really working in terms of larger storytelling.

As a reader, I'm still not sure what this whole story was about.

Harley Quinn: Black + White + Redder #6 is easily the weakest of the series.

Each issue of The Heathens only further solidifies my initial thought that this was a story that should have been a one-and-done graphic novel rather than an ongoing comic and this time it's because it's almost impossible to make sense of without going back to reference the first two issues.

When the end arrives, there's some hope that perhaps the miniseries is just a slow burn that will pick up in a few issues, but readers may have a weird, bumpy ride getting that far.

I know that as critics go, I'm probably in the minority on this title, but Inferior Five #2 is just as weird as its debut issue and while there is a bit more to this one in terms of story, it's starting to seem less like a slow burn.

After an issue that felt like things were starting to even out and make sense, The Inferior Five #4 comes back feeling a bit messy, a bit hurried, and with artwork that looks as messy and rushed as the book feels.

It's a very dense issue that feels overfull in places with its ultimate direction feeling increasingly unclear.

Visually it looks very cool but at its heart, Killadelphia works best when it is its own story. And right now, it just isn't that.

There's no heart, no connection, and what should feel like a major, emotional reveal just feels really boring and not worth the investment in any sense of the word.

The only real positive here is that at least the issue manages to follow one character so it feels like it has some direction, even if the whole tie in, like most of the "Knight Terrors" tie-ins, seems to have no idea what the parameters of the event actually are.

The bottom line for Lazarus Planet: Alpha is that this is what it looks like when what might be an interesting idea isn't given the proper space to develop.

However, while the book does have some genuinely interesting things to offer as well as some fun stories, this year's edition suffers from the same issues that last year's did in that the bulk of the issue feels more like rainbow-tinted marketing than a genuine, substantive celebration of queer representation.

Monstress is, usually, an epic and intricate book that is both a pleasure to read and advances the story just enough each issue that the plot doesn't drag. This week's issue, however, is the exception to that rule.

It'll be interesting to see what comes next for Lunella, but if this was what they've been setting up for, this whole arc ends up being a massive disappointment that ultimately didn't even tell much of a story at all.

Things feel stale, stuck, and utterly without substance. It's an issue that feels phoned in.

If things don't pick up soon, it's going to be a long journey to get to the end of this 12-issue series.

The longer this limited series goes on the more it feels like the real mystery here isn't what is going to happen to Raven, but when is Wolfman going to start writing a story worth reading? At least the art is nice, as always.

After nearly every preceeding issue of Raven: Daughter of Darkness somehow being more about Trigon than Raven, #7 finally seems to give Raven a story independent of her father.

There are too many moving parts, too many questions, and things simply move too fast to have a solid understanding for what's going on.

The art is lovely, but the issue itself just feels like a lot of work for readers.

None of the characters ever really flesh out, the quest is too easily completed and the book just stops. The art continues to be lovely, but the whole thing just ends up feeling a bit empty when the dust settles.

Really though, this week's issue is just marginally less a mess than the previous and still a far cry from the strong debut. Here's to hoping we get something more concrete, story-wise soon.

Overall, while it's always good to check in with Lottie and her shallow, image-obsessed ways, the issue lacks depth, making it more a miss than a hit.

There is a ton of potential here, but it just all gets swamped by too many Spider-folk talking and not enough doing.

With Suicide Squad #49 being the penultimate issue of this incarnation of team, writer Rob Williams starts setting up for a big finale, but 49 issues into a 50-issue run, the reveal of the villains and the setup for the end evokes largely the same feeling the majority of the run has: disappointment.

Suicide Squad #50 is a pretty entertaining issue. There's a lot of action, a lot of emotional moments for various characters -- especially Flagg. There's even some great team work between all of the Squad members that is truly a delight to see. Unfortunately, as is a common theme with Suicide Squad titles, everything feels superficial.

There are a lot of people who will enjoy this issue as there are a lot of people who are enjoying the Rogol Zaar story, but overall it still feels like yet another angry reimagining of angry Supergirl who has learned nothing from her various adventures to now.

Overall, it's not a "bad" issue, just one that feels like wasted opportunity to tighten up the story.

The idea of the Dark Supergirl story is an intriguing one, but as we get to Supergirl #39 it's just starting to feel a little old with each issue reiterating that nothing and no one can really get through to Kara in her infected state.

It's an interesting story, even if one that feels too familiar (and at one point even has a really odd placement of a Spider-Man joke), but it continues something that has been far too done with Supergirl stories as of late: focuses entirely on her survivor's guilt.

The Holy Roller, as it gets near its end, seems to get more and more out of balance between insightful satire and low-hanging juvenile jokes.

I'm sure that there is an audience for the grunting and sweating and highly sexualized story that is Invincible Red Sonja #6, but even though it has its fans and readers, it's just not great.

Invincible Red Sonja #7 is really more of the same at this point. Barely serviceable art that doesn't even try to do anything interesting or even good with the sexualized schtick that is Sonja being mostly nude the whole issue is the only thing that is really noteworthy.

Red Sonja is, generally, a very specific character for a very specific audience and I"m certainly not it but this whole series just misses the mark even with a palatable final issue.

While Tim Drake: Robin #2 is a marked improvement over the first issue, it is still something of a mess.

This comicboth the issue and the overall titlewould be a thousand time better if the art wasn't horrible. I know that's harsh, but the art is really bad and it's extremely jarring.

While one can appreciate that the issue finally takes the time to flesh out Bernard, it's done very awkwardly.

While Torrent #3 is still overwritten and relies too much on some really bad tropes, this issue is a marked improvement from the previous two issues at least in terms of the writing and story.

Largely a repeat of the previous issue, Weapon X #16 continues the fight between Old Man Logan and Sabretooth.

For as much fun as the issue is story-wise Ricardo Lopez Ortiz's art is so chaotic and messy in places that it's distracting.

There is a lot going on in Wonder Woman #787 and unfortunately it's kind of a mess.

The whole issue feels lazy and convoluted in the weirdest way and while Wonder Woman stories can, at times, be campy fun, this is just bad.

Wonder Woman #796 has solid art and an interesting cliffhanger, but those two elements are not enough to make up for the fact that this book drags and feels overly long and needlessly complex.

Given the character's importance, one would expect that when it comes to the milestone Wonder Woman #800 the issue would feature a story befitting the character's stature. Instead, the issue delivers a long, weirdly toned trek that has nothing to do with Wonder Woman at all, missing what is meant to be a well-intentioned love letter to the iconic character to instead serve up head pats for everyone around her and once again deny one of the greatest members of DC Comics's pantheon her due.

Daniel Sampere is a master of art here and it might be the finest thing about this book, particularly with how he uses the art to mirror two stories in a way that is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, art alone does not make a story or a comic or a story and we are once again mired in wasted space and wasted time as Tom King drags on two battles that take too long and really offer nothing other than to display Diana's prowess something that literally anyone who has ever heard the name "Wonder Woman" is already well aware of.

Overall, this is a frustrating issue that just illustrates that we're dealing with someone who doesn't understand the character and doesn't care to.

The only real redemptive quality of this issueand the seriesis Sampere's incredible art. That is museum quality work.

Wonder Woman #6 is stunning. Daniel Sampere's art is absolutely astounding on literally every single page and it is particularly glorious during the issue's copious fight scenes. But once you get past the beautiful exterior, this issue lacks, much in the way that King's run thus far has.

Wonder Woman #7 isn't an issue that illustrates Tom King's potential as a writer. It tries at being a fun riff on "For the Man Who Has Everything, which doesn't work on its surface, but struggles even further with poor characterization. The idea of a fun mall romp between two-thirds of the Trinity sounds good in theory, but it requires so much more to make that story worthwhile. Maybe this one was meant to be an online shopping trip.

The result is the most muddled issue to date that is merely wrapped in very pretty packaging.

There are a lot of gaps in the storytelling and a big lack of resolving any of the issues from the start of this run. Instead it's random hard shifts from Diana's struggles last issue to some hugs at the end of this one. The only redemption this issue has is that the art is beautiful.

While I feel like the Absolute Power tie-in aspect of things probably doesn't help with the strength of the issue, Wonder Woman #13 i also just sort of bland on its own.

Wonder Woman: Evolution #1 sees Diana put to the test when she's chosen as a representative in a cosmic trial for the fate of humanity. But while that's an engaging premise, in the execution what we get for this first issue is a lot less dynamic and a bit slower to unfold and while setting the stage for the larger story to come is critical in a first issue, so is setting the expectation, which this issue sets at a fairly low bar.

I still haven't quite figured out what we're supposed to be taking away from things here, but at least this issue is easier to look at.

Wonder Woman: Evolution is a story that works better as a complete story rather than individual issues, though the story itself is kind of lacking (there were many times throughout that I thought I was reading a different Wonder Woman story as the idea of a mysterious "trial" isn't new.)

Fundamentally, the issue is doing a lot of showing instead of telling and while that's usually a good thing, there are too many details needed for the reader of this series generally that cannot be left to visual alone.

Unfortunately, when you look at Youth #4 and its unique characteristics, the conclusion feels cliched, too easy, and while it does stage the possibility of more stories to come, it reads too much like a "Diet Marvel" attempt at superhero storytelling.

A really enjoyed A Haunted Girl #2, but I feel like there is a bit of a disconnect from the end of the first issue and this second issue, almost as if the second issue is as much a first issue as the first issue was.

When it comes to Acid Chimp vs. Business Dog, there are certainly aspects of that concept in the unexpected crossover between My Bad and Billionaire Island,which sees a superhero parody (My Bad) collide with an economic dystopia (Billionaire Island). Unfortunately, while both premises are independently funny and sharply incisive satires with a lot to say about the world, when you combine them and put their animal stars together, the result is a story that loses its bite. It leaves readers with something that is unfamiliar unless they are a big fan of both series; that winds up feeling as superficial and superfluous as the society they seek to skewer.

The art's nice, but everything else here is superficial and flashy and not particularly well-crafted and ultimately highlights Jason Aaron's bigger weaknesses as a writer: things sort of come unglued all too easily and too quickly and there's no gloss that can hide that.

Things feel cluttered, story wise and while dark and gritty with a sharper edge is something that should work for Batman, this issue veers a little too far into the grim and the weird, ultimately creating a lack of balance that throws the whole issue off.

For all of the ideas that James Tynion IV brings to Gotham as he overstuffs it with flashy new characters, the real disappointment of his Batman run ultimately comes down to two things: an over-reliance on hype that is enver really delivered upon and a lack of Batman.

Batman returns this week after taking a brief break for "Future State," but if you're expecting Batman #106 to live up to the excitement and sheer quality that was Future State: Dark Detective or even Future State: The Next Batman, this issue will probably disappoint.

Everything else just continues the same boring and largely formulaic we've seen in this arc.

Ultimately though, the closer we get to the end of Tynion's run, the more it seems like the real plan is just to keep repeating things and hope no one notices there's no "there" there.

The fixation on a host of one-off "original" characters has left "Fear State" and this run and this penultimate issue lacking any nutritional value, as it were. At least Jimenez's art is good and Morey's colors fantastic.

The writingspecifically Batman's inner monologueis campy as hell and while none of it is patently bad, it's also just not good. It feels tired, worn out, exhausted, which is a shame because the art in the issue is bright and alive and really quite good.

Batman #142, kicking off the "The Joker Year One" arc, is part origin story, part retelling, and part attempt to reconcile current elements of the character's story in Chip Zdarsky's Batman with more definitive tales preceding it. But instead of making important connections between the Joker's past, present, and future, the issue over-explains unnecessary details about DC's most iconic villain and offers very little of substance.

With the confusing and derivative "Joker: Year One" arc over, we're finally back to dealing more directly with Batman and the issue of Failsafe and this issue largely does the work of setting things up and laying groundwork. There's a little action, a lot of talking, some bland inner monologuing, but it's readable.

Batman 2021 Annual #1 is, generally, wildly better than the majority of Tynion's Batman work but it suffers from a lot of the same pitfalls, especially in that it feels more like an imitation of something else rather than an authentic creation.

Between the two separate stories, the issue has a disjointed feel to it that functionally nudges the story along but doesn't really feel like it delivers anything al that interesting. I hate the term filler, but it might just fit here.

Batman and Robin #12 is a really well-crafted and at times elegant expression of Damian's growth as a character while it pulls together the impact Alfred has had on his life and offers something of a coda to Aflred's death and its fallout only to almost immediately waste the fantastic storytelling and growth with what can only be described as comic book 'roid rage for the sake of a plot twist to close the issue in a cliffhanger.

It's actually kind of an interesting read and it certainly makes for a nice contrast to everything going on in the main continuity, but the plot feels thing and I'm already wondering how long the overall conceit of things will carry.

While Black Manta #1 possesses some intriguing ideas and an interesting overall premise, the first issue has many moving parts that never offer readers quite enough context to warm up to the mystery this story is establishing.

With just two issues to go, that's really disappointing. The slow burn of this book really deserves something a bit more elevated because the art brings everything else down.

BRZRKR is a series that is up and down a lot and while there is a lot that looks really, really cool in BRZRKR #9, story-wise, this is a bit of a down for the series.

As conclusions go, BRZRKR #12 is "okay" at best and, at worst, an issue of missed opportunity.

DC: Mech is proving to be a title that is just so specific and so niche that it's not really for most readers but, more than that, it seems to lean too much into its weakest points.

This is very much the definition of style over substance and a case of even the style being thin.

DC: Mech #5 continues this title's general trend of being style over substance, or more specifically, of trying to shove the world of DC into the box of another genre only to end up with a very mid result.

Deep Beyond is an ambitious title and three issues deep, it continues to be visually fascinating and lovely to look at, but the story in progress drags and feels a little dull, if not bloated in places.

Puzzle boxes are fun, but this far in, we should be making more progress.

As a reader, I'm still not really sure what's going on and this far in, that's concerning.

There's a bit more to work with this issue than previously, but it unfortunately doesn't improve things much.

Deep Beyond #7 takes the story a lot deeper, but the continued issue of interesting elements that don't fully connect that has been an issue for the whole series remains strong here.

This issue has some stable art that is better than most of what we've seen in the run, bu the story is still cluttered, convoluted, and very hard to follow issue to issue.

At the end, I don't really know what the point of Edge of Spider-Verse was. Was it just random Spider stories? Was it meant to be some connected web as the final story in this final issue sort of tries to suggest? In either case, the series never really succeeded and this issue sort of is a pretty strong example why.

Epitaphs From the Abyss is supposed to be horror satire examining various aspects of modern societyeverything from politics to the internet to even vaccinesand while the four stories in the issue are all interesting in that old school Tales From the Crypt vein of things, most of them feel a little too gimmicky or superficial to really be shocking or thought provoking

While not a bad read, Superman vs. Imperious Lex #3 misses the mark, overstays its welcome, and simply leaves readers wondering what the point was.

This book felt a lot like a low key Fear State and now it feels like we're moving to a high key "Fear State," just with a different name. Gotham, and readers, need a break.

While I get that the issue and indeed the whole title is supposed to have a manga-like feel, it never really hits that mark, both in terms of visual and story.

I realize that the art in Future State: Gotham is supposed to have something of a manga feel to it, but as I've said before this really looks more like someone's rough sketchbook rather than developed art.

It's not unreadable. You can certainly pull things of value from it, but so much here just feels like an elaborate junk drawer of ideas that DC can't justify throwing away but also doesn't really want to do justice and sadly it shows.

Ghostlore #7 brings Harmony's group face to face with Shane's peopleor his emissary, at leastand starts to set the stage for a major battle between the two all while fully establishing the idea of a coming storm. The problem, however, is that other than the set up for a conflict between the two sides, there's still a lot that we just don't know about w hat's actually going on.

For all of the building this story and this series has been doing for a face off between Harmony and her father with Shane, while issue #10 addresses some of the issues between Harmony and her father and adds an additional layer to that coming confrontation, there's actually very little in this issue and it moves very quickly this feels like it could have been more of a part of an issue rather than a full issue.

Harley Quinn #13 gets things a bit more on track after the rather unnecessary previous issue, but that doesn't do much to help the overall momentum of things, at least not until the final pages which presents something of a new challenge for Harley.

It's not the weakest book in this current Harley run, but it's just very, very mid.

Overall, this isn't a bad issue, but it just isn't great and feels pretty crammed full of things that don't really have anything to do with Harley.

The result is a slightly bloated issue that is just okay and generally pretty disappointing.

There's still too much reliance on the idea of Harley defined by being wild and crazy for this story to work.

The net result is an issue that feels a bit like it's treading water. The backup story, however, is a delight.

If this issue had just been maybe half of what was ultimately packed into it in terms of number of stories, it might have been better but as is, it's just a bit mediocre and doesn't fully do the character much justice.

I'll be honest: The Heathens #2 seems as convoluted and messy as the first issue and it's really only bolstering my initial thought that this is a story better suited to the graphic novel format than that issue-by-issue serialization format.

The Heathens #4, structurally, is a bit more coherent than its previous issues which is something of a feat considering how the book is divided up across multiple points of view and narratives.

The result is a pretty book"the art is nice"that feels like it's taking up space rather than telling a story.

Chalk it up to structure, but this series and this issue just isn't adding up.

If the issue was intended to be just a one shot, it would probably be better, but as part of a larger series"and a major event at that"it just feels like filler.

Ultimately, Knight Terrors #1 isn't bad. It's just a symptom of how crowded and contrived the entire event feels so far.

As a series overall, Last Flight Out is average at best.

Much of the lack of direction that we got a sense of in the initial Lazarus Planet book continues here and while the art is overall good and the writing isn't bad, this story just doesn't feel like it's going anywhere and this comic book just reinforces that.

The one thing that Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #3 does very well is that it pulls together the various story threads that have been going on prior to this and, as a result, puts all the players into position for the finale. But that, and maybe the revelation that Diana is an actual god now, is about it.

The real standout of the issue is Leah Williams' Black Cat story as it broke away from using its space as a billboard declaring how queer it was and instead told a nuanced and engaging story that has real potential outside the pages of this poorly considered anthology.

Each issue of Monkey Prince can be a bit of a wild ride, but Monkey Prince #7 is a wild sort of chaos.

It's a really interesting premise and when it's goodas it is with the first half of this issueit's very, very good. But when it isn't, it becomes cliche and sort of a mess.

While Monkey Prince #12and the series overallis a fun one, the issue is kind of a mess.

Harley Screws Up the DCU #3 is a little weaker than its previous installments, but that's largely because of how chaotic it is in what it tries to pack in with Harley screwing up Kal-El's arrival on Earth and then also somehow getting distracted by Barry Allen before he becomes the Flash.

It's easily the strongest story in the trio, even for a comic book that borders just a bit on taking itself a little too seriously.

My Bad: Escape From Peculiar Island #2 and the three stories contained in it continues the stories the first issue kicked off, but while this new issue has eased up on some of the ham-handed approach to its observations on society, it does so by not really making any real points or having any commentary.

We're dropped into this world with no real understanding of what's going on or why this is bad. We're just told it is bad and somehow, that feels like we're being told how to feel much in the way a dictator or ill-meaning god would. Maybe that's deliberate, but it makes for a weird, off center start for a book that is clearly intending to have a message.

For a series with an interesting concept, Napalm Lullaby #4 in particular is challenged in that the way it's set up, it is incredibly difficult to follow who is narrating.

Napalm Lullaby #6 tries to lean into the social commentary about religion and cults, but gets a little muddled with the actual structure of the episode.

For a first issue it's too early to see how the racial aspects ill shake out, but one can't help but already be concerned that the series will have a heavy hand as it attempts to gore up a classic.

There's just stuff here that doesn't seem to fully track. Realistically, some of this will shake out over future issues but so far this issue feels a lot like high concept with some execution challenges and it doesn't bode well.

It's an interesting readHex's history at this point is proving to be more compelling than the actual plot of the bookbut the issue just serves to illustrate that this is less a vampire epic and more of a jumbled and tangled mess of things that isn't bad, but needs a lot more direction and a lot less jokes to work.

Things get crazy in Operation Sunshine: Already Dead #3 and while it is a very forward motion, action packed issue, it suffers from a lot of what the series overall does in that it is hard to make sense of what is going on.

It's an ending that feels sort of slapped together and speaks to the potential the overall story had but never quite reached.

Overall? It's not a bad issue. I just wish the creative team had a better grasp of the format.

While Ordinary Gods #11 is the penultimate issue of the series, it doesn't really feel like it. The stakes are certainly there as we get a back and forth between one of the ordinary gods and the Warden that does lead to a very important conversation that changes everything, but so much of the space in the comic is spent fleshing out what feels like unnecessary details and filling in gaps that could have been recapped a bit more efficiently.

Overall, it just feels like a bit more time could have been spent here to make this really work but simply wasn't.

There is certainly promise hereboth in the art and the storybut it's too early to see if it's enough to carry.

Red Hood: The Hill #3 continues the series' trend of having the character who is theoretically supposed to be the main character or at least a central character, Red Hood, be mostly a side player. It also continues the feeling that the story is treading water.

What is pretty fantastic, however, is the art. This might be the best art on the series thus far, with one panel in particular with all the heroes leaping into the scene that is just a real delight.

Slow Burn continues to suffer from something of a pacing problem something I think is probably remedied when you have the whole story all at once and can read it in its full form rather than issue by issue, but that doesn't help here.

Storywise, Superior Spider-Man #6 is okay. The story moves forward, it makes a reasonable amount of sense (even for someone new to the title, like me), and it flows okay. But it's all just very superficial.

Superior Spider-Man #7 is kind of weird and messy.

Well, at least Invincible Red Sonia #8 moves things forward.

It isn't so much "bad" as it is boring. What makes it subpar is the art, while consistent with the rest of the issues in this series, is just not good.

Only Tim getting his own arch-nemesis makes the story worth continuing and even then, it's under visual duress.

The end of Transformers: King Grimlock #5 is a bit of a mess, visually, and a bit predictable, narratively.

The bottom line is that this book leaves way too much on the table, but at least looks pretty doing it.

War for Earth-3 #2, unfortunately, suffers from most of the problems the first issue did. It's overstuffed, kind of chaotic, messy, and seems kind of like an idea that wasn't really thought all the way through.

There was a real opportunity here to go full horror and this falls far, far short of that to deliver something that is just a slightly bloodier version of a story we pretty much already know.

Overall, this is just not as strong an entry in the run as we've seen thus far.

This issue feels very jumbled and shaky. It will be interesting to see how next issue recovers.

This book in particular just feels without spark and energy. The art isn't bad, but it doesn't make up for what feels boring on the page, narrative-wise.

Wonder Woman #797 is, like much of the Cloonan/Conrad run in more recent months, frustrating. It's a patchwork of ideas as the story edges to its conclusion that pits Wonder Woman against Hera, but the ideas never really deliver and, more than that elements that are teasedsuch as the new champion of Shazamaren't delivered upon.

The most interesting thing about Wonder Woman #798 is that Diana gets a major power upgrade (the art here is pretty good, too), but overall, the story just feels really rushed and needlessly split up between the Wonder Woman title and Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods and even at that the issue itself is split into two stories that is also divided between the two titles.

Wonder Woman #799 is really interesting and honestly, I wish that Conrad and Cloonan had spent less time with the previous arc/crossover and more on this one because with just two issues left in their run, this already feels rushed.

Wonder Woman #1 is a comic book likely to be of great appeal to King fans but it is already showing signs of falling short of servicing the character whose name is on the cover and remains strangely absent from its pages.

I realize that that is a matter of taste, but honestly, the art here looks phoned in, poorly considered, and just flat in every sense of the word. It pulls everything else down with it leaving the whole issue just a mediocre at best meh.

The book is just a big meh, even with the fun of a really interesting Justice League brawl.

While none of the current Wonder Woman stories are especially strong right now, this one is certainly the weakest with only the wildly improved art making it.

While I think there's certainly somewhere that this story can go, given the distance between this chapter and previous chapters, it's going to require a lot of work to make the story interesting enough to push forward.

It's expertly paced in terms of getting things moving and setting the story up for a bigger conflict. The only real "problem" here is that we're so close to the end of this miniseries that one cant help but wonder if things are going to be rushed now that we've gotten things rolling.

For readers who have been keeping up with Bendis' run on Action Comics, they're probably used to that by now, but it can be a little jarring at times for those hopping in, curious as to what all this Leviathan business is about.

If the previous issues of Action have had an urgency, #1015 feels like a slow stroll"at least until the confusing and chaotic last panels that bring the story sharply back into focus.

Overall, it's a pretty average issue with cool art, a fun fight scene, and serves as a bit of a breather from some of the other madness in the DC Universe right now.

Ultimately, Action Comics #1017 falls into a space in which the story is is good but it just doesn't execute the way perhaps one might want a comic book to, creating a bit of a disconnect between the story and the images that support it. It's a "good" book. It's just nothing special.

When it comes to Action Comics #1034, I'm torn. While Phillip Kennedy Johnson generally demonstrates a sound understanding of Superman and the characters in the hero's general orbit, this issue feels a bit off.

The result is a functionally good issue that is just tainted by what came before, which is deeply unfortunate.

Perhaps this is all just the calm before one bonkers storm of an ending, but as a single issue goes, it's just okay.

If there is one thing that is consistent across the entirety of this Action Comics story, it's the art and it's excellent here.

The art in this issue is unfortunately a bit lacking which also doesn't really help things, the end result being a very "okay" overall issue.

Action Comics #1059 isn't bad, but it's not good. It falls kind of in the middle when you take in all three stories in the issue.

There's a potentially interesting twist at the end, but the breakneck pace taken to get there almost makes it feel like it has less impact.

The art feels a little rough in places, but that doesn't take away from much. Overall, a decent issue.

The net result is a book that doesn't feel like it has the significance that it should while also feeling a bit rushed. Still, if you're a Superman fan, it leaves the reader with a lot of possibilities and that's a big win.

Ain't No Grave #1 is a little uneven, but there's clearly a lot of potential.

There is so much going on in Alpha Flight #3 that I almost wish this particular issue had been divided into two parts or it had been paced a bit different, but that is more a hallmark of everything going on with all things "Fall of X."

The pacing is a little off, but it's still a good read particularly with the promise of seeing some of these characters again in other comics in the near future.

For Aquaman fans, this might be an interesting premise, but it doesn't really seem to serve Green Arrow/Oliver Queen at all and it feels at times like Brandon Thomas doesn't really know where he's going with things. Ronan Cliquet's art is very nice, however, so even if the story feels messy, at least it's nice to look at.

It's a fun issue with a lot of lead up that will hopefully pay off soon.

Overall, it's a solid issue. It doesn't particularly stand out, but it also isn't a bad read.

One of the major strengths of Mark Waid's work with Archie is the pacing and that holds true with Archie #31. The issue kicks off with just the right amount of urgency and maintains the energy through to the last panel. Unfortunately, this issue falls into the same trap that most of the previous issues have before it, and that is that it sets up little cliffhangers that simply aren't necessary.

A marked improvement over the debut issue, Ascender #2 moves away from the table setting of the first issue to some real conflict and action.

Ascender #4 really advances the story this week and as the different elements of the plot start to come back into play, it makes for a genuinely engaging and intriguing read.

There is a lot here, but what makes the book perhaps a big stronger than some of the other transitional issues of the run, is we get to really dig into Mila, her personality, her thoughts, her situation.

Overall, it's a good read, but not great, though there's lots of potential in the mystery presented.

Barnstormers #1 has quite a few things going for it. Perhaps the biggest and best of those things is Tula Lotay's art.

It makes for a very slick, stylistic issue and while it still seems like Barnstormers overall is going to be a book more of style than substance, it's still a good bit of fun as things begin to pick up.

What it lacks in depth, it makes up for in its stylistic sense.

Batman & the Joker: Deadly Duo #4 is an interesting book, but I don't mean that in the sense that it is intriguing or fascinating. Instead, I mean that it is interesting in that it should be intriguing and fascinating with Batman and Joker weirdly working together to deal with a dialed-up-to-eleven take on the Trolley Problem and it has good visualsthe Gotham bullet train is absolutely gorgeous and a sight to beholdbut the whole issue feels overly burdened with trying to out-grimdark itself on nearly every page.

The twists this issue lack punch even as the art pushes things over the top in the gritty department which, in turn sort of has an unintentional "pick me" vibe mixed with the 80s. Add to that, this is a very, very dialogue heavy issue so it is, at time a slog.

Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #6, as is most of the series to date, fairly ridiculous though not unenjoyable.

It's dated in a sense and because of that, never really rises to reach its full potential. It's not bad, it's just. not great.

Batman #45 is an issue that you will either love or hate. Tom King's story here is solid. Well-written and well-paced, it is slow to dawn on the reader the major twist the story takes at the end.

The issue is visually beautiful -- a largely wordless fight between Batman and the man who shot Nightwing -- but it lacks substance.

We're no closer to answers to this mystery, but there's a twist at the end that makes this darkness worth sitting in a little bit longer.

To say that Tom King has been taking Batman to unusual places is a little bit of an understatement, and those unusual places haven't always worked. This week, however, Batman #63 takes us deeper into the "Knightmares" arc and in doing so follows along with Batman into what feels less like a Knightmare and more like a dream come true.

We are finally at the end of the "Knightmares" arc, but while Batman #69 does serve to shift the narrative towards the next chapter in an engaging way, it really only illustrates what readers know and editors should have: the entire "Knightmares" arc was a long stall, filling issues and pages for no redeemable purpose bt to extend the run.

It's a worthwhile read, and at least there's the promise of a showdown soon.

This deep in, readers get it: Bruce Wayne is a mess with a whole lot of daddy issues. Do we really need to drive that point home every issue?

If you can get past the threadbare cliffhanger approach once again, though, the use of orange tones in this issue tells a story all its own and is a real treat for the reader.

Batman #87 firmly establishes that we are in a new era for Batman, but it's an era fraught with issues.

The big threat in Gotham is starting to take a more distinctive shape in Batman #89 and thanks to a bit more time spent on Catwoman's part the story it's more interesting than ever.

Batman #90 gives readers what they've been waiting for: the Designer's grand design, the big plan, the "what is the Designer up to" of it all by revealing Catwoman's big secret and, to be blunt, it's kind of a let down.

The real star of the issue is both the art and sense of subtle vulnerability that Tynion gives Batman"an unexpected treat in a fairly average issue.

The bottom line is this: while the amount of time fans have had to wait for the issue thanks to the coronavirus pandemic make things feel a bit more special in the immediate term, the issue is only average at best.

The issue is simultaneously too much and not enough and ultimately lands as just an "ok" book overall.

Things aren't thrilling or groundbreaking, and there's still this nagging sense that the whole story is going nowhere, but the issue is an intriguing read if for nothing else than a glimpse at what Bruce's ideal world looks like.

It's an okay issue that feels almost like it could have been a summary at the front of something more exciting. Not bad, not great and in some regards better than "Joker War" was an entire arc.

The bottom line is that Batman #102 is one of Tynion's better runs, but the story feels sort of recycled which detracts from its overall quality. Perhaps instead of constantly trying to create "new" characters there should be some investment digging into Batman's lesser-explored qualities first.

We're a few issues past "Joker War" into a promised new chapter of the Batman story and yet it's the second verse same as the first.

Batman #104 may be the most interesting installment of the "Ghostmaker" arc thus far, but that doesn't necessarily make it good.

The post-Future State Batman is certainly giving the series a much-needed mystery, but in James Tynion IV's hands, that mystery is getting muddled thanks to an excessive amount of dialog and posturing, much of it which serves only to kick a dead horse, as it were.

The Unsanity Collective is still a snore and the road to the Magistrate and Future State is still a snore and an eyeroll, but there are some genuinely well-done moments here. Whether they will restore your faith in Tynion as a writer or remind you of just how weak the rest of his Batman work is, that's up to you to decide.

The art is solid, which is nice, but again, it very much feels like a lather-rinse-repeat sort of situation in which Batman hasn't learned anything, just this time jammed full of references that don't always work.

While it certainly feels like the Zur-En-Arrh storyline is dragging out a little bit too long at this point, Batman #147 feels pretty stable as turning points go.

It's a convenient and rather tidy way to close off Tynion's run, but while it will satisfy some Batman readers in that it gives a distinct sense of closure, one can't help but walk away from the issue feeling as though it was all very superficial " a very slick way to shuffle characters around, clearing the board for the next creative team while also never really dealing with any of the issues presented over the course of the run.

Not a bad book, but certainly not a great one, Batman/Catwoman #2 is enjoyable enough but that only holds if you remain on the surface. Any real scrutiny just weakens the whole issue.

When it comes to Batman/Catwoman #11, you have to think of it as two different books: one comprised entirely of art and one comprised entirely of narrative. The former is exquisite. The latter is at least readable.

This would have been so much better with just a bit more care and substance and as a result, it's the art that gets this issue the bulk of its rating from me.

While some of the actual storytelling and art both leave something to be desired, Batman and Robin #1 shows a lot of promise.

Overall, still solidly in the range of just okay.

Batman and Robin #4 is definitely an improvement.

While the Man-Bat plot wrapped up a little tidily, the set up for the next story not only is satisfying in the growth we get with Bruce and Damian's relationship but also in that the series is keeping a duo-focused energy in the most unusual of circumstances.

Batman and Robin #13 is a surprisingly emotional issue as Damian finally comes to some truths about himself and his relationship with his family..

What doesn't quite work, however, is the art. just doesn't quite do it when it comes to the human characters. It's messy and a complicated and it detracts from the overall quality.

It's not a bad issue. It's just not particularly great as it lurches forward towards what is (hopefully) an action-packed future.

It's a solid read and a good lead in to the next arc in the series.

Batman and the Outsiders #7 still struggles a bit with too much exposition, but we're finally getting into the story for real now -- and it's one that has promise.

It's not that it's bad or problematic that the book puts so much weight on this aspect of the story; these relationships are interesting and inform the future of the team. The problem is is that these are conversations that happen in nearly every issue of the series, almost exactly as they do here, and thus far has done nothing to advance the idea of the Outsiders as an actual team.

Batman and the Outsiders had definitely hit its stride in terms of story and while things do drag a little in terms of pacing in Batman and the Outsiders #14, the issue rightly focuses on a bit of character development"Black Lightning getting his upgraded powers in particular"in a way that starts to truly set things up for a coming battle with Ra's al Ghul.

It feels like we've been waiting for the Outsiders to take on Ra's forever at this point. The book just needs to get on with it.

It's a slightly too-tidy wrap up, but it delivers on the characters in a thoughtful way that serves as a "what might have been" while also serving as an adequate goodbye.

Batman: Off-World #3 is a bit of an improvement from previous issues in terms of its pacing and in that it does coalesce around a strong direction for the story going forward. Unfortunately, that doesn't help in terms of the characters that still feel disconnected to the point of it feeling like it is weighing things down.

While I continue to have some major concerns about the diagnosis salad (I'm starting to question if Tomlin fully understands the conditions he tosses around) that is part of the Dr. Thompkins' internal monologue about Bruce Wayne"and I really don't buy the presentation of how Alfred would handle young Bruce"Batman: The Imposter #2 continues to be a really interesting exercise in realistically approaching the iconic character and his story.

Taken as a whole, Billionaire Island is a great series, but issue #6 loses its footing, weakening an otherwise great run.

As annuals go, Black Cat Annual #1 is fun.

Like the issue before it, Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #3 has a lot to process in terms of mythology. It's something that makes the book very exposition heavy and while it's a good read, given its juxtaposition with what should be a significant battle, the result is an issue that looses its footing just a bit.

Black Manta #2 is a strange book and it's honestly a little boring, but it isn't necessarily bad.

The most notable thing about Bloodrik is the visuals. While the issue's story sees Bloodrik following a light he saw on a mountain and it is a, generally, uneventful and, introspective sort of journey in terms of narrative, it is the art and the way the journey is presented that is most interesting.

Blow Away #4 is good, but suffers from a few minor issues.

BRZRKR #1 is a fun read, but it's going to need a lot more than the Keanu Reeves of it all to make the ongoing series worthwhile.

There doesn't feel like much to propel the story to the next issue here, but the issue is honestly surprisingly good overall and despite the rather ordinary "extraordinary" origin, it's a solid read.

Overall, this issue kind of feels like a decision point for the title. Either it's going to kick fully into gear or it's going to fizzle. In either case, things are just okay.

If last issue was a decision point between full steam ahead and fizzling, BRZRKR #5 takes us closer to fizzling. It's not bad, but it's not great, leaving an issue that feels like it needs a shot in the arm.

BRZRKR #7 takes the story on a bit of a turn that feels weirdly calm and almost comforting in that we get some answers"or at least what are presented to B as answers"as to what they really want with him.

BRZRKR #8 is a decent comic. When taken in the context over the overall series, this is definitely an issue that feels like it moves a little unevenly and on some level there are aspects that feel like they don't need to be a full issuewe already know the government is up to some less than savory things.

While this is an issue that does still suffer a bit from having a lot of moving parts and there are pages that feel a bit like filler the final pages ramp up quite a bit of tension, just enough that this epic story feels like it may have gotten well back on track as it rounds into its finale.

Overall, it's an okay issue but it takes so long to gain momentum that one has to wonder if it will hold through to the finale.

It's, on the whole, a book that works for BRZRKR fans but probably isn't going to make much sense for new readers.

There's just enough mystery about both the demon and Roux that you'll want to keep reading to find out more.

If you're invested in the series, it's a solid read, but this issue really is nothing to write home about.

There's aren't a lot of words in Cemetery Beach #3. The issue tends to let the art do the storytelling and while it does it well, the words that we do get as the story progresses isn't particularly deep.

The story here is a common one: someone in power wants to remain in power and will do anything to stop those who threaten that. Finally that's becoming more clear, and with Cemetery Beach so close for our two protagonists, this issue feels like it all might come together at long last.

Compared to the two previous books in the series, Coda #3 is a bit messy and has some structural weaknesses that make it difficult to follow as there are multiple things happening at once, though none of them are particularly clearly laid out.

While Coda #4 is longmaybe a little too long at pointsits an issue that brings the story into very intimate focus.

It feels very much like a transition issue, but one that offers a lot of promise for what's to come.

The issue isn't breaking any new ground, but it's a lot of fun.

Does it all work? No, but it is engaging and a bit of an improvement over issue #3.

It's very much the equivalent of reading a magazine in a sense, where you get a some good stuff, but you flip through some lesser things for those few things and for a book this size, it feels like we should get something just a touch better.

DC Comics continues their tradition of annual holiday specials, and, as these things go, DC's Nuclear Winter Special is unique.

It feels a bit too much like "Riverdale" in the worst possible way and that doesn't really move much this issue. Other than that, Dead Day #3 is a strong comic.

Well-written, heartfelt at times, and fast moving, the only real problem with Dead Day #4 is that it just wasn't long enough"it's an issue that certainly leaves you wanting more.

Still, it's an excellent read and, when taking this issue with the whole of the series, one of the better comics this year. I just wish there had been more.

That's one thing about this overall title that has been pretty consistent and makes it an immersive world, even if it is largely a confusing one.

Lead-in series have a lot of ground to cover and that means a lot of risk of being too much. That's the case here. Hopefully, things will improve going forward.

As an anthologywhich is roughly what this is with different writers and artists on each storyit's enjoyable and oddly consistent in look and feel save for "Mini-Spider" which looks a little rough, but is still fun.

With Spider-Ham, the Disney Princess Version of a Spider Person, the Spectacular Spider-Mobile, and more, Edge of Spider-Verse #4 is probably the weirdest issue yet of this series and, save for a few spots where the overall "plot" is forced into things, this is honestly the most delightful.

Neither of the stories are bad but there is a definite imbalance in the amount of space each one is given and how that impacts the quality.