This “origin”issue didn’t endear me to the character of Jo Mullein much at all. I didn’t find much in her to empathize or identify with. That’s a problem when she’s the lead character in the book. Furthermore, after 8 issues, the storyline is so decompressed and slow-moving that I find myself rapidly losing interest in what began as an exciting adventure. Definitely at the bottom of an otherwise excellent Absolute line. more

Intriguing snippets of each character’s introductory storyline are interesting and well-drawn, but there’s not enough here to elevate this issue into a truly outstanding kick-off. That said, I’m interested to learn what happens next to each of these classic characters.

Another superb chapter sees Sol make a grand sacrifice; Lois and Jimmy begin to truly take shape into the personas we’ve come to know and love in the regular DCU; Ra’s calls for backup in the form of Braniac, and Clark, while self-doubting, is pushed to his limits protecting the citizens of Smallville. Hands down one of DC’S very best books thanks to this incredible creative team!

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, these DC KO side-stories and spinoffs are more interesting and engaging than the main KO series so far. This particular book boasts an A-list creative team once again doing exemplary work, albeit in Gotham instead of Metropolis. Williamson has crafted an intriguing future timeline, vividly and exquisitely brought to life by Mora! Definitely worth your time and money!

Detailed character work once again from Fraction is helping set the stage for the inevitable confrontations to come, with Savage, with Strange, with Bernard, and more. I like that he’s delving into less commonly used villains and preserving past continuity to a large degree. The art remains gorgeous, the best work Jimenez has done! This may not be the flashy, plot-driven Uber-Bat portrayal we were used to under King, Tynion and Zdarsky, but it’s far more compelling and interesting to this reader. A massive breath of fresh air. more

A wonderful conclusion to an incredibly good story that got better as it went along, particularly in the second half of the series. Waid struck a perfect balance between the action and costumed theatrics, the character development and relationship building, and the villains’ plotting and scheming. The combination of Two Face and Clayface was a clever pairing. Lots of clever twists right up through the end. The art was gorgeous. Please get YEAR TWO underway in 2026! This is probably Waid’s best work since his return to DC (even better than the early WORLD’S FINEST issues). more

Holy peak, Batman. Let me get this out of the way really quickly. Harren and McClaren both did really good jobs here and I liked what they gave us here. That said, Johnson knocked it out of the park with the main story. That story, on its own, gets a 10/10 for me. Warren and McClaren's stories were just gravy. Batman hitting a One Winged Angel was just insane and I loved it so much. The story as a whole, was fantastic, with us seeing a little more of Bruce's origins as Batman. The art, of course, simply rocked throughout. Johnson is, truly, masterful. more

Generally one shouldn't give just a plain 10 for a comic based on the first story.

But this time I'll make an exception.

Something something "comics are now too political" something something "it's woke and bad!"

The main story is fantastic, very much on par with the work Snyder and Dragotta are doing each month on the regular title. I wasn’t as impressed with the 2 back-up stories, though they were both pretty good as well. Nice to learn more about Bruce’s background and childhood.

Holy cow, Mark Waid's writing for the flash feels like a splash of warm water and a breath of fresh air. No more cosmic time mumbo jumbo, and just good old fun Flash writing. It's like Mark Waid never lost his touch after his original Flash run.

Another great K.O. crossover from Waid (though his Flash K.O. crossover this month is even better!). Nice setup this issue for what’s to come. Loving the time-lost heroes appearing in the book, as they bring a lot of emotion and nostalgia to an already-wonderful story. The Mora art is gorgeous as always!

10 specifically for the James Gunn bit.

James Gunn is the man.

Another outstanding K.O. crossover (along with this month’s FLASH, TITANS and JLU)! Williamson is doing a great job with Clark, Lois, Doomsday and Superboy Prime with some cool new twists and turns that should yield some cool results over the next few months. As I’ve said elsewhere, I think the K.O. crossover books are actually better than the K.O. book itself, which I found to be convoluted, rushed, exposition-heavy and a bit silly. more

What I like about Joshua Williamson isn't just the writing, but also the consistent art. Even when the art switches around from Jamal Campbell to Dan Mora, and Eddy Barrows. This run still rocks hard. And his writing for Superbly Prime is actually my favorite.

This issue represents what a good superhero comic should be these days. The writing and art are top-notch. Williamson has had one of the best Superman runs in recent memory; for me, he and PKJ have taken the character back to levels not seen since the Tomasi/Gleason run.

The immaculate Williamson run endures.

A new storyline kicks off with a guest artist who, while good, doesn’t quite deliver the visual resonance and dynamics that Hayden Sherman typically does. Nonetheless, an intriguing new mystery unfolds in small pieces, which is my only minor complaint about the story. It gets a little repetitive until near the end, when a big reveal occurs that doesn’t quite make much sense, at least not yet. The character interplay is a treat, as always, especially the dialogue. more

Joyous day. Flash is saved.

Hallelujah, Flash fans rejoice! Spurrier has left the building and one of the all-time greatest Flash writers, Mark Waid, has returned!! Not only has he returned, he’s back writing one of his greatest creations: Impulse! Furthermore, it’s coming at a time when the DCU is in great peril from Darkseid. Impulse has a plan that actually makes sense, but requires traveling into the past to save the future, and poor Wally has to come along for the ride. The big twist here is that Darkseid is one step ahead of them and was expecting this to happen. Cannot wait to see where this goes, but it’s off to a fantastic start, and I can’t reiterate enough what a joy it is to be loving this book again!! more

Good, not great, standalone Supergirl/Robin team-up sequel that, while fun and beautifully drawn, doesn’t hit the dazzling heights of their first team-up from a few years back.

Disappointing issue, particularly in terms of the art, which seems to have deteriorated slowly over the last few months. It looked very rough and half-finished in places. The writing was pretty good, though after 6 issues, the kryptonite-centric plot feels like it’s running out of gas. The sales seem to be reflecting this, turning it into the weakest of the 3 core Superman titles.

An overdue origin story featuring the book’s other key players aside from Wally, delivered with compelling art and writing from Lemire and Moore. Can’t wait for them to jump back to last issue’s excellent cliffhanger, but this was a great detour in the interim.

By far the best issue to-date of Layman’s run! In fact, I enjoyed this DC KO crossover far more than the mini-series itself. Whereas that first issue did very little to quell my concerns over what is a fairly preposterous storyline and a massive exposition dump, this Titans crossover fills in many of the gaps in the KO storyline, particularly the unimaginable logistics of how you get the Earth��s population safely evacuated. Kudos to this team of storytellers for helping make sense of a nutty company-wide crisis event! more

The first issue picks up some threads of PKJ’s Action Comics storyline, and succeeds the most when showing the Kent family all together. Otherwise, there’s some slightly confusing plot mechanics here as well, enough to pique my interest in returning for the next issue.

While this issue doesn’t soar to the lofty heights of the first issue, it’s still a fun read that carves out its own niche within the other stellar monthly Superman titles. It’s definitely a great time to be a Superman fan!

The mystery with the Quit Man deepens as we get a few more reveals into what and who he might be after. Throw in more great character work between Bruce and Dick, and an appearance by Two-Face, and the end result is a very solid chapter in an intriguing storyline.

I really like this issue due to Bruce and Damian's relationship on how Damian feels guilty for them prioritizing being a family over being superheroes. Overall, every single Batman and Robin series have been great and consistent. From Grant Morrison to Peter J Tomasi to Joshua Williamson and now this. It's great to read Batman stories that are consistently high quality

Strong wrap-up to this first story arc, which hits us with a couple of surprises along with more great character relationship drama. Waid makes it look effortless.

While the art was pretty good, the writing was one gigantic exposition dump. I mean exposition upon more exposition, followed by even more exposition. While the central idea seems simple enough in the big picture, it’s the details of how it all comes to be that creaks, groans and shudders under its own weight. It’s not very clear what was magically done to originally keep the villains subdued, nor was it clear what happens to the vanquished heroes. Additionally, some of the characterizations seem…off…from their main titles. I think the key to such a BIG IDEA is to just go along with it (after all, it’s comics), but for a long-time reader like me, I need it to make sense here and there. Which it ultimately failed at. The story feels rushed, like Snyder wanted to get to the big competitions at breakneck speed, and to heck with the build-up.

I’ll be back for issue 2, but if it doesn’t improve, I’m out.

EDIT: Since I didn’t give it a 0, I should mention what I liked about it as well: I like the big, expansive, universe-threatening stakes. I liked that it seems like a bold, fresh idea that we really haven’t seen before. I like that it gives multiple characters a chance to shine. Plus, it seems very cinematic, a big widescreen IMAX idea with Dolby Atmos, so to speak. more