Jeff Lemire's debut on the Justice Society of America marks a new chapter for the team, but unfortunately, it stumbles out of the gate. Picking up after DC’s Absolute Power event, Lemire dives headfirst into the team’s internal conflicts. While Lemire's intentions are clear, the conflict feels manufactured, lacking organic tension unless you have an encyclopedic memory.

The debut issue’s biggest misstep is its inaccessibility to new readers. Without prior knowledge of the large cast of characters and their relationships, the dramatic scenes fall flat. Lemire's writing assumes a level of familiarity that may not exist for many readers. The reliance on prior storylines from Absolute Power and its tie-ins, as well as the JSA’s decades-long history, creates a barrier for the average reader. Editor's notes would have made navigating the multitude of interpersonal relationships that drive the issue’s drama a lot easier.

Diego Olortegui's artwork, paired with Luis Guerrero's colors and Steve Wands' lettering, yields mixed results. Some panels shine, while others feel average. Character designs and action sequences are decent, but the overall visual tone was underwhelming. more

Because I was a little lukewarm about the first issue of this series, now that the opening arc is closed I would like to acknowledge that this comic has absolutely won my heart. Simone & Marquez are both doing incredible work here and this is by far and away the best comic of the From the Ashes era.

(Also, I greatly appreciate the rejection of Kurt's sudden, unexplained turn to casual homicide during the Fall of X era) more

"No other skull can make this claim."

I sometimes take weeks to read an issue of this comic because I want to read it in the perfect moment. I don't just want to flip through and enjoy the story, I want to *marinate* in it. No other modern FF run can make this claim.

mrgabehernandez should not be employed.

"But the world doesn't wait for us to ask before it inflicts horrors upon us. All we can do is spite it by surviving or die. What will it be, Cyclops?"

Sure did pick a day to drop that line.

Dwayne McDuffie's magnificent electoral satire is a diamond in the rough, never reprinted or released digitally, but well worth hunting down on eBay (or pirate sites) if you're into, say, Mark Russell.

Anyway, this issue contains an orange-faced demon from Hell running for President as a Republican with a populist campaign that promises to "make America great again" that wins strong support from the Evangelical right which is the sort of satire that tempts one to think that the creators could literally see the future rather than accepting it as evidence that America's kinda always been like this more

This issue bothers me.

I don't hate this run. I don't fundamentally dislike the plot points, either. I just wanted something more from this conclusion. The scene where Tombstone talks to Peter is great by itself. How quickly the entire plotline wrapped up is so odd to me. We just got two issues of a giant fight. Where is the editor?? I read Wells' letter in the back, and he claims that Nick Lowe was there for him constantly, and I just don't see it on the page. Editing mistakes are rampant in Lowe's tenure, and that's one thing. Fix it in the trade (As someone with the trades, they don't). I can abide by bad lettering and color mismatches. I can't abide by the fundamentals, as I see them, being thrown out or disregarded. Pacing is important, especially in this medium. You have to do a juggling act of making each issue satisfying on its own and as part of a larger arc. Lowe sometimes fails to do either. It's baffling. The plot line for an arc should justify its length. If you have to stretch it out with filler content, like a giant fight, maybe lower the issue count. If you are scrambling to exposit-vomit at the end of a book, maybe give it an extra issue. This arc and the final arc of Spencer's run are like complete opposites, it's insane. This arc is barely able to fill its pages, apparently, while hurrying through what plot it has, while that last Spencer arc spent every. single. page. trying to explain the cacophonous nightmare of retcons upon retcons. Where is the editor?? The same guy was ultimately in charge of producing both of these things and the only similarity is the rough, amateur pacing and structure. Nick Lowe is a senior editor. He should do better. I don't see this sort of roughness from editors until they're unceremoniously ripped from their books like Jordan White on X-Men, but Nick Lowe has sewn himself into the Spider-Man tapestry at this point, so what's the fucking deal?

I have other issues.

The Aunt May segment is almost good. The characterizations are there. Wells is competent. But for the love of god, would it have killed them to just have Peter tell her his identity? Every single moment felt as though it was leading there, only to have them pull back in the end. I just want to see real growth from these characters. Technically, Aunt May was worried and upset at Peter at the start of the run and now she's accepted him. Cool. That's technical growth. I'm real happy Pete gets to live in his lies more comfortably now. Whatever.

The Rek-Rap segment. I have nothing to say aside from this: Where is Gog? I don't recall Peter ever setting him free or giving him away. Gog is Peter's actual pet still? We haven't seen him since Spencer's run though. Where has he been all this time? Did Nick Lowe forget about Gog? That's much more interesting than keeping Rek-Rap in play.

The MJ segment was good. Again, Wells is a good writer. He's good with characters. As someone who is an adult, who has had relationships sour and change and morph, I found a lot of MJ and Peter's friendshipping here relatable. People grow and change, and it's really odd to say that here but it does work. Maybe now that MJ has explicitly told Peter thank you, those weirdos online will stop calling for people's heads. I doubt it though.

The Chasm story is meaningless to me. I don't really care that Ben was changed, or that he's a villain now. Maybe he'll show up and do something interesting next time.

The tease for Joe Kelly's run was mostly good. As noted in KittyNone's review, the coloring could use a lot of work. However, from the writing side of things, I actually really enjoyed Peter's monologue and how it showcased Peter's capability, something writers will often ignore or forget about. I like when Pete is treated like the science geek he is. I really didn't like his story in issue 50, but if Kelly is giving us something more like this with 8 Deaths, I'm glad for it. more

Certainly the best thing about Wells's finale is the same thing as what was best about his run: the small character moments, like Tombstone's chat with Peter outside the courthouse that emphasizes the weaknesses of being a good man in a bad world. But the worst thing is what was worst about his run: the general lack of direction. The scenes with May are touching and well-wrought and could be a great capstone to a run that focused heavily on Aunt May — except that this isn't that run, it's been over a year since she's shown up in the pages of this book at all and she was hardly a regular before that.

Ultimately, Wells & JRJR simply tried to do more than they could handle with this series, and Nick Lowe failed to exercise the editorial wisdom to force them to kill a few darlings and focus their attention on the best stuff — with the result being a tangle of characters, plots and subplots that appear and disappear at random, rarely getting any meaningful resolution. As everyone else has already mentioned, most of the plots end in no identifiable change to the characters or their place in the world, with the only real movement forward in this issue is for Aunt May, a character who's barely been in the book. [EDIT: Also I misunderstood the ending and it doesn't even really move May forward, so I'm not sure why we're doing this story for a finale at all now.]

I won't damn this run outright. I think hate-reading comics is a waste of your one wild and precious life, and that reading a favorite character out of addiction alone is no better, so if I thought this run was irredeemable I'd have walked away long ago. I read it to the end because it kept drawing me back in every time I gave up on it, it was full of promise in its best moments: the Judgment Day and Blood Hunt issues or the best parts of the Tombstone plot, for instance. I absolutely believe there was a great run in there somewhere, if only they could have focused on it.

(As regards the prelude to 8 Deaths, obviously I can't judge a run on a three-page teaser but my first impression is that I'm going to have the opposite problem with the art that I had with this run: while JRJR's unreliable pencils were beautifully propped up by Menyz's gorgeous color work, it looks like next Mark Buckingham's wonderful draftsmanship will be muddied by murky-yet-overlit coloring that looks like it rose from the grave of the early oughts.) more

Great art, great story, great characterisation. Until now, Absolute Universe is a smash hit.

I am not a Kelly Thomposon fan in the least. I bought this book purely on spec. As a big WW fan and dropping the Tom King run for its awful take on the character. I wasn't pleasantly surprised by the writing here. It showed heart and action. The defining items of a WW book. I'm going to pick up the next issue.

My comic review channel - https://youtu.be/eJxRh6u8Z88

This one really blew me away, even more so than Absolute Batman.

It's fitting that for a run that has been mixed for me ends with a book that is mixed for me. It's better than that garbage fire ending that Spencer made, but... yeah it's not that good either.

But must say, for a final arc that from start was all about loose ends, it did leave nothing but loose ends.

The resolution to Tombstone was very poor for me. It's basically the same ending as Gang War, except he is not as angry to Spider-Man anymore. Janice is gone, Tombstone is still Kingpin and the only change to his operation was losing White Rabbit. So... felt bit like a waste?

May's role here feels random. We haven't seen her in pages of ASM in over a year, so it was just odd. It was nice, and a nice symmetry to WWL, but it feels like a resolution to a story that we never read. May wasn't really a character here, so the sudden focus on her feels odd.

Jackpot as an idea still doesn't work for me. Them being fine with each other would work very well, if their breakup was more natural. But since they wanted to break them without any argument, bad feelings, still caring for each other but also having a reason not to be together, it just doesn't work. This whole setting doesn't work for me.

I'm glad Shay isn't ditched.

And Chasm was a huge headache. It's the same ending basically as Beyond. All the stories between DW and this were just lies? I get, supervillain lying? Unheard of. But like why do all this? I don't think anyone cares for Dark Web 2. And what was the point of that mini-arc between #47-48?

Rek-Rap was nice. Same as Bubs and art in all stories. But overall, it's really hard to say this landed in any capacity for me. It's hard to recommend Wells' run in any way because there aren't really any good changes for Peter in hindsight, only bad ones, stuff that doesn't stick, or just forced changes that are reverted.

I hope Shay stays. more

Issue was enjoyable enough. I like the ending to the main story, that convo with May. Figured Tombstone was either going to get off or confess. Mays presence was i think definitely missed this run. He handled Sandman pretty handily which is good.

The Jackpot story was just kinda there. But the moment between him and MJ was nice.

Im not a Ben Reilly die hard so I'm not very bothered by Chasm existing. I enjoyed the short dialogue between them but felt like they trased some growth for Ben but then didn't really commit. Itd be interesting to see him actually move on from what he's lost. Maybe they see Ben is supposed to be a lot of stand ins for many spodey readers and thats the angle they are going with? Time will tell.

The rek rap story was just there. Great art as usual and the editors note gag was fun.

I really liked the art in the last sorry and Peter beating Overdrive in the doom bit, working out a high level machine. I'll give the story a shot.

After everything I still love how Zeb writes Peter as a character. The Wolverine story was a great insight into it. I can root for Zeb wells Peter very easily. Hes a good, decent guy. Ill miss that overall, but I think a new writer is welcome too.
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This continues to be a flawless book. Great character moments, especially with Rogue's internal dialog. The villain is very interesting, I still like the new kids even though they didn't get much to do this issue. Rogue, Gambit, Wolvie, Nightcrawler all were written excellently and their personalities shone through. Great art as well, Marquez is a fantastic choice to pick up the torch left by Pepe Larraz as the new "it" X-artist. No notes on this issue, great story, great writing, great art, great cliffhanger, loving it. more

Absolute Wonder Woman does what I've been begging the main book to do. The problem with the main book is that Wonder Woman is treated as basically an alien. She doesn't really understand our world despite living in it for.... decades. She speaks weird and she's very, very incongruent in her actions. It's like Tom King has not yet threaded the needle on consistent characterization. He has these moments in his mind that may showcase aspects of her personality, but the connective tissue is lacking. So you get an overly stoic, frustrating character to read about.

Kelly Thompson is much, much better at characterization and dialogue, even if you feel she leans into the comedic side too often. She's also a woman, which I don't usually like to make a point of, because I think the idea that you have to be of a certain group to write that group effectively is really lazy, pandering and plain wrong. However, in this specific instance, I believe that it's really helping because Kelly Thompson doesn't have a cookie cutter archetype "othering" of a strong woman, fresh out of the Supergirl oven. She writes her characters with a lot more empathy than that, so this issue, we get that badass, strong Wonder Woman that she needs to be, but not at the expense of well-rounded characterization. All in the span of a single issue!

And I'm not saying Tom King hates women or characters, I am only saying that in the writing hierarchy of what's most important to him, characters come last. That's why theme and plot frequently and disjointedly stomp out the characters in favor of The Point. It's also why King is great on unknown, dead or indie characters. With Kelly Thompson, I can tell you from reading a ton of her work, characters come first. The plot might even suffer for the characters, if need be. That's what we need on Wonder Woman right now, because she's currently stuck in this archetypal hellscape crafted by the mediocre 2017 movie that couldn't even support itself in the 2020 sequel.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the art by Hayden Sherman. It's maybe not as clean as some other art, but it's bursting with personality, which is very important.

So far, it seems like the main line might just be pigeon-holed by the iron grip of editorial, if what comes out of the far more creative-focused line excels so effortlessly. more

The Absolute books are 2 for 2 now. I'm not usually a huge Wonder Woman fan, not being a huge DC fan in general, and I gave the current regular series three issues before I tapped out but this book will have me for the long haul. The art is exceptional, the writing is flawless and I really like the setting and plot built around her. Showing her from being a baby and touching on her "trials," like Circe allowing the snake to try to kill her, and then growing up befriending the woodland...I mean hellscape creatures was a very fun choice. She's almost a mix of Hercules and Snow White, leaning much more toward Hercules. Can't wait to see where they go next in this book, can't wait to see Absolute Superman (even though I'm very much not a fan of that character either), and can't wait to see if the "not-big-three" Absolute books can maintain this standard. Fantastic stuff. more

Absolutely wonderful.

Wasn't sure how I'd feel about a darker Wonder Woman (the phrase puts me in mind of the retconned and forgotten dreck of the New 52) but Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman were too good a team for me to pass by and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Full of beauty and tenderness and defiant wisdom, this issue is a wonderful story about love making Hell into a home and I cannot wait for the next issue. more

I am honestly floored with how good this series is. This issue actually made me care for Wonder Woman for once. I think this issue surprised me the most. Great art, action, and story. Wonder Woman actually feels like a character compared to Tom King. Definite recommend.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1 by writer Kelly Thompson, artist Hayden Sherman, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letter Becca Carey is a resounding success, building on the momentum of Absolute Batman with a fresh, exciting take on another iconic character. Thompson and Sherman seamlessly weave Greek mythology into Wonder Woman's lore, introducing a new version of Diana that's both familiar and innovative in story and visuals, none more apparent than the titular character’s imposing new design.

In this bold reimagining, Diana is now the last Amazon, raised as the princess of Hell by her initially reluctant adoptive mother, Circe. Thompson masterfully explores the complexities of their relationship, crafting a narrative that's emotionally resonant and offers plenty of moments where character development is front and center. Sherman's visual storytelling is brilliant, particularly in a stunning 12-panel sequence that chronicles the family’s life from Diana’s infancy to young adulthood.

Sherman's unconventional paneling techniques and diverse layouts elevate the entire book, accentuating quieter moments and amplifying the intensity of action sequences. Jordie Bellaire's colors perfectly complement Sherman's artwork, adding an extra layer of depth and vibrancy to the visuals that give it an ever greater “wow” feeling. And with Becca Carey’s lettering, the art team creates a distinct aesthetic that sets Absolute Wonder Woman apart in splendid fashion.

Thompson's characterization of Diana is equally impressive, shrouding the Amazons' fate in mystery. The revelation that Diana is the only person who can utter the word "Amazon" in years is a powerful reminder of the story's missing pieces and vast potential. Knowing Darkseid's involvement in the creation of this universe in conjunction with the reveal that Zeus is attempting to punish the Amazons for an unknown offense against the Gods, Thompson could seemingly go in any number of exciting directions to fill in the gaps and push this book forward.

Absolute Wonder Woman #1 is a must-read for fans of the character and newcomers alike. Thompson, Sherman, and the entire team have created something truly special – a thrilling, emotionally charged narrative that honors Wonder Woman's legacy while forging a new path for a new generation. more

Probably one of the biggest issues of the year. You can tell by how some people have reacted poorly to it. I even saw some people outright lying about the issue to hate it more. Wonderful. I liked it. I do have some bothersome worries about it. That epilogue was quite a sour note to end on, especially after what I thought was a really satisfying twist at the end of the issue proper. It makes me question things a bit. We know from All-In that this is a universe where
Darkseid wins and everything is topsy-turvy. Heroes have been stripped of everything, and villains seemingly are doing pretty well for themselves. And that makes me think two things: 1, Isn't this just another attempt at the Dark Multiverse, but boiled down a bit better? And 2, is constraining your new universe to this dichotomy, as this issue presents it, ultimately going to limit this universe's potential to stand on its own? more