Ash Arden has Doctor Molotov locked up. There's a flashback showing how they met. Molotov was looking for Geiger and found her, a very similar case. Ash has Molotov locked up; he needs him for his plan. Molotov warns him that Geiger is dangerous.

Tariq reveals to Nate that they're staying and that Ash's philosophy is calming him down, and he's convinced he needs to control his powers. Geiger apologizes to Junkyard Joe, who managed to bathe Barney without any problems. Geiger believes Junkyard Joe is an angel sent to him by his son Marcus, who was a huge fan of the animated series. Junkyard Joe wants to explain why he's with Geiger, but he can't communicate.

Lewistown is attacked by tanks and soldiers of President Griffin, who can't tolerate the existence of such powerful men; it's a challenge for power. Ash and Geiger fight the troops, and Geiger is driven away by a tank.

This battle shakes the ground of Lewistown, allowing Doctor Molotov to escape from prison. He contacts Geiger and explains Ash's plan: beneath Lewistown, there's a rocket carrying an atomic bomb, and Ash wants Geiger to detonate it.

The next chapter is the Geiger vs. Ash battle. The glowing beings will shake the planet.

This is one of the best comic series right now, from its art to its brilliantly narrated plot by Geoff Johns, which makes for an addictive read.

Art
Gary Frank and Brad Anderson achieve the perfect balance of highly detailed, organic art with clear colors that hold nothing back. Every panel on every page is mesmerizing; every time you look at it, you discover incredible new details. Gary's splash pages will leave you stunned.

Rob Leigh's lettering is an onomatopoeic adrenaline rush.

Summary
Geiger falls for Ash Arden's lies that he has a terrible plan and is using Geiger, but Doctor Molotov will reveal everything. Spectacular episode. more

A 10 for those that cannot get their brains around the fact this is a different Batman. If you want normal Batman and get upset at the notion of a variant, please - spare us your redundant commentary and just don't read it.

This is the perfect comic for 2025. A working class Batman, he fights for the people and stands up to the rich. A mirror pointed at today's society. The rich getting richer, the poor poorer. A gross over simplification but you know the deal. He is defined, not by his wealth and social status, but by his will to help others

"Oh but that's too heavy handed and political! My conservative mind can't handle social commentary because said commentary doesn't align with my beliefs! I can't enjoy anything that deviates from my core values!"

And what next?

"Oh, they changed Matches Mallone!" Like that character is so utterly sacred and can't be different. They did Matches dirty!" Give me strength.

'Edgelord Batman'. Bloody hell, is this a Fox News message board? "Oh everything he says is so extreme and on the nose!" Conservative speak for "I get upset when politics I don't agree with are espoused." Despite the cold hard fact that superheroes are an inherently liberal ideal.

"Ohhh,too much dialogue! Not enough action!" If it was the other way about, they'd say there wasn't enough dialogue - and point out that it's needed as it's a new universe.

This is a new Batman universe and it is still being defined. As such, exposition is required. Is this not obvious? I'd understand the criticism if it was Tom King levels of exposition, this is literally nowhere near that.

Scott Snyders supposed 'shortcomings' have netted him the no 1 comic book in the industry. This series has people excited about comics again. But no - forget that and let's just go back to the same formula we've seen a million times. Let's not try to evolve or innovate.



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Why the hell is this site still including reviews by Gabe Hernandez?

The guy literally gives EVERY single comic a low score. He single handidly is bringing down the averages of several great series on this site. His reviews read like rage bait in order to drive up hits on his page.

The guy is a hack, and this site loses credibility by including his reviews.

PS This issue is a 10. more

Disclaimer: I'm not a fan of New Gods, never read much, I know almost nothing about any character other than Big Barda. I only started picking up the book because of the cool covers and a slight interest in learning about them.

As someone with very little knowledge about their history, a lot of the story is honestly lost on me. I can recognize it as well written and most likely very good for someone who is already a fan. But the reason I keep buying the book is the art is just sublime. One of the best looking books on the shelves today. Maybe by the end of the series I'll understand more about the New Gods, heh. more

The writing wasn't quite as gratingly annoying as usual, the art was solid. I enjoyed the story, Ellie is the best thing to happen to Wade in a while. Love the new family dynamic and Taskmaster makes a great grumpy uncle figure.

This continues to be a very funny, enjoyable book. It's never the best book I read that week, but it's always fun. If the toilet humor and swords & sorcery setting appeal to you, this book is as good as it gets in those departments.

I thought the art was pretty good and the writing was solid, but the plot seems a little aimless. I do enjoy the relationship between Kwannon and Greycrow, Psylocke has always been one of my favorite X-Men (Kwannon version, not Betsy. Late 80s/early 90s is when I started reading comics as a kid). I'll always welcome and read a comic about the favorite characters of mine that don't often get solo books, but this one doesn't seem to be separating itself from the similar series with various characters in the past that never leave much of an impression. more

A solid alt-future (is that a thing?) story about the US turning England into a big theme park after Brexit ruined the country. A little heavy handed, the writing was a bit groan-worthy at times, but overall I enjoyed it. Curious to see where they go.

Another incredible issue. Juan Ferreyra is my favorite active artist, he has a way with texture and kinetic energy that is unmatched. I can't say enough good things about his work. This has been an incredibly well-written book too. The Turtles' individual traits are well represented, and the physical changes (especially to Donny) are very interesting. Donny being crazy and Mikey letting his fame go to his head are nice wrinkles to their personalities. This is one of my favorite books right now. Incredible stuff. more

I feel like this will be a great series but the first issue spent too much time on someone chasing a letter, in my opinion. The letter chase seemed to take up 90% of the book, but the other few pages were quite good. I'm very confident in Rick Remender's writing and have no doubt this will turn into something I very much enjoy. I didn't care for the art, but it's not something that will turn me away from the book. I'm looking forward to the next issue. more

Another great issue of a great series. I love the art and the writing is always phenomenal. Every issue feels way too short, that's how you know it's good.

Incredible issue. Great writing and good art. I'm no fan of Cyclops, but this issue almost made me one. Magneto's part was great, he's handicapped but still willing to put it all on the line and too proud to ask for help. Cyclops to Quentin: "Why do you think you're on my team?" was great. I loved Cyclops' threat to meet force with force. "F around with me and find out what happens when the Phoenix gets here". Every page was brilliant, loved it. more

Ten! A f***ing ten! All of these Absolute titles have been tens. Nothing new to say, loving every single issue.

Fun issue, as usual. I'm really enjoying this run of Power Girl, giving her more of a supporting cast and exploring who she is and what separates her from other super...girls... Great stuff.

Love the Twilight Zone vibe, the dark humor, everything. Great art too, awesome book.

I'm not a huge fan of either character, but this issue was a lot of fun. I can't imagine a team-up book of the two of them being written any better and the art was very solid too. Loved it.

Great alternate future story for Wolverine. Sharp writing and fantastic art. The Omega color clones are cool and Colossus Jr. (with obvious Magik influence as well) will surely also be really interesting. Would love for this to be turned into a mature animated movie.

Another great issue. I'm loving Gail Simone's writing, the Outliers are a great new generation of mutants to get to know and the Sentinel threat is a good one to fall back on and do something new with following the fall of Krakoa. The art was fine but I definitely prefer Marquez. As a whole, X-Men comics are my favorite reads every week and the two flagship titles are the best of them. Can't wait for more. more

One of the worst written comics I've read in a while. The art was solid, but every other damn speech balloon was "yall" this and "yall" that REFERRING TO ONE INDIVIDUAL. It kills me when people that aren't from the South don't understand how to use "yall" but fill their writing with it. It's a contraction for "you all" meaning more than one. One would just be "you." I couldn't finish the book it was so annoying. I wanted to like it, I love the character when she's written well. Guess I'll just have to be satisfied with how she's being portrayed in Uncanny X-Men right now, THAT'S a well written book. more

This comic was good. Not great, but good. The writing was good, the art was fine. But most importantly I love the idea of a Daken Ghost Rider. I know this will likely just be a short term deal and Daken will exorcise Bagra-Ghul and then disappear for a while from comics, as he does. But I would LOVE for this to be a regular on-going comic, have Daken get control and thwart whatever this plan is that Strange was talking about. THIS is the alt-Ghost Rider I want, not some kid in a car. Daken is too interesting a character to leave sidelined most of the time. This keeps him independent of Wolverine, but still present if the need for them to cross paths arises. He's also a very different character to inject into the "magic" side of Marvel comics. Not to mention it combines two of my favorite things in comics: Ghost Rider and mutants/X-Men/Wolverine. more

The ‘Raid on Graymalkin’ crossover event between Jed MacKay’s X-Men & Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men kicked off in exciting fashion! I know a lot of fans were concerned for a crossover event so soon into From the Ashes, but I thought the way MacKay set this event up in this first issue gave this X-Men vs X-Men story an interesting new angle as two groups of mutants try to save their teammates from the depravity of captivity. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but he used all of the tension that has been building since Krakoa’s final days to introduce a clear explanation for what’s happening.

However, one head-scratcher for me was how Cyclops was all of a sudden fully trusting in Psylocke’s ability to be in field again after he sidelined her in the previous issue. I noted there that his objection to her participating in the previous mission was strange and it was made even stranger here when as it seemed to be completely forgotten. Does he think she’s better now? Did he forget? Was this just a contrived plot point so Psylocke’s solo series could be set up? My vote is the latter.

With that small nitpick aside, every other aspect of MacKay’s script hit for me. I loved the interactions between Beast, Jubilee, & Calico in the Graymalkin prison. It showed that underneath it all, these are individuals with deep histories who have far more in common than they have differences. Beast standing up for Calico, a mutant he’s never met, was a great step towards building the character back up into a good guy now that we have the “new” old Beast on the team. Cyclops also gets some great commentary that reminds us why he’s in charge. MacKay has really shown he has a great handle on the voice for all the characters he’s writing in this book even if every character doesn’t get a ton of story each issue.

The big moment for this issue is the literal Raid on Graymalkin, the X-Men’s former home. Their was well executed narratively & visually. The plotting was fast-paced & intense with kinetic art that excellently depicted motion and sound effects. Ryan Stegman’s style has really grown on me since the first issue. His disjointed linework complements the tone of the MacKay’s story perfectly. JP Mayer & Livesay’s inks give Stegman’s designs extra weight, which make character movements standout & their emotions palpable. Marte Gracia’s colors underscore the bleakness of Graymalkin’s current state under Corina Ellis. He uses small moments of vibrancy to draw the reader in during key moments. This creative team isn’t holding back for this story and the scene with Beast being beaten to a pulp by Graymalkin guards was the clearest example.

Overall, this was a really exciting start to the event and I’m eager to see what the Uncanny creative team has in store to up the ante in the next chapter. So far, MacKay’s doing his usual top tier writing and the art team is matching him stride for stride. more