Batman 154 is a solid street level story that lets Batman actually be a detective. There is a mystery at play … who killed the mayor? Batman working with Bullock inside the law and Jim Gordon outside the law plays out very nicely. Not 100% sure how Vandal Savage is the police commissioner … I know of the character but not much about him. I of course have to ask why are both Detective and this series screwing around with the history of Thomas Wayne? I mean TWO Bat-titles rewriting Wayne history at the same time!!! Didn’t the editors talk about this? Also WHY disparage Thomas like this - it makes no sense 80+ years out from his introduction and subsequent death. All that aside - a confusing yet sharp cliffhanger will have me coming back for the next installment!

Absolute Superman was a bit of a miss for me - I think it was the weakest of the Absolute books. All of the writer’s not so subtle “sub-text” was too on the nose, to the point of being annoying. I mean gosh I wonder what he feels about mining and the people who run those operations? The hamfisted storytelling aside, I felt way too much time was spent on Krypton and not enough with the actual main character. Not that I have a problem with all the world building, in fact I would have liked the issue better if it was all set on Krypton, I felt the character of Superman was short changed in his own book. I don’t feel the writer gave the reader a sense of who he is. I was left feeling that there was zero reason to read issue two except for the “look how clever I am” twist ending. All in all - I will be back for issue two out of curiosity not because this book floored me, After Absolute Batman and then Wonder Woman … this book was a total letdown.

Action Comics #1072 was another fun read - traveling the Phantom Zone with Mon-El on a floating ship while fighting off monsters - is exactly what I would want from this comic! The heroes are on a straight forward journey and so is the narrative … but there is something to be said for a story that knows where it’s going. The b-plot involving Superboy and Kong Kenan (Super-Man?) Feels very familiar - yet still a fun diversion. There are a lot of cool easter eggs in the museum (including a nod to Invasion). The Supergirl backup … why is this here??? This was probably the best installment and it was still dull. This is a top tier All In title … if not for these Supergirl backups it would rank much higher.

Supergirl backup aside - I really liked Action Comics #1073. The narrative kept moving to it’s ultimate destination. Lots of fun Superman action in the Phantom Zone … it’s just a great book that I am enjoying. NO SPOILERS but I fear just like Detective Comics #1090 they are about to retcon something from Superman’s past for no apparent reason - move forward not backwards. I find writers obsession with meddling with characters histories (and that of their families) to be boring. The b-plot reeked of “The Most Toys” (Star Trek), “Command Performance” (The Orville), and about two dozen silver age comics … but I still enjoyed it. The protagonists were fun and had some great interactions. This Supergirl backup has become torture to read. I am only reading it to try and justify the $4.99 cover price. But seeing as it is at the end of the comic it always leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. Also - I think this and the previous cover should have been swapped.

Trying to stick with DC’s ALL IN program has proven to be a mixed bag … however Detective Comics #1090 was a high point. There were no references to the events of Absolute Power or the All In special, while not tying into the bigger picture (or the events of the Batman title) it makes a great jumping-on point. The script by Tom Tayler was tight and very sharp, paring that with great art from Mikel Janin made a really great package. It kicks off a strong mystery and a relatable subplot about Bruce aging. The biggest drawback I see with this story are the Thomas Wayne flashbacks. It seems that they are retconning part of the Batman mythos … something they have done so many times over the years. It’s tired, dull, and 100% unnecessary, I wish writers would stop falling into these same old ruts … look forward not back. That being said it was still a very enjoyable read.

Staying All In so I checked out Titans #16 … so many questions, but first - I enjoyed this issue. I have to say that I loved that it started on the Watchtower right after the (lackluster) events of the All In special. I like when continuity is on-point. I’m not that familiar with the character - but I didn’t really understand why the Question was acting so irrationally. Her behavior was beyond the scope of a normal person. Not much happened in this issue, mostly all setup, establishing the new status quo. The thrust was establishing the team and getting them back to Titans’ Tower to meet up with the baddie for this story arc. It wasn’t action packed, yet at the same time it was never dull. I haven’t read Titans since around the time of the New 52 relaunch - and I’m confused. Starfire seems de-aged physically to younger than she was in the 80s - same with Raven, yet Nightwing & Wonder Girl seemed age appropriate - I don’t get it. Also last time I saw Beast Boy in Dark Crisis - he lost an eye and was traumatized … I guess he got better. Even if the characters seemed off - it was worth the read and I’ll be back for issue 17. My only real complaint was that some of the coloring choices were distracting.

Absolute Wonder Woman issue one … was good, very good in fact - but not great. There was nothing wrong with the story lots of action and two page spreads … it just needed more meat on the bone. For such an important launch - I felt it should have taken wider swings and given us more of a story. In comparison to the PACKED Absolute Batman issue one this fell very short. I’ll give it one more issue to WOW me.

The “main story” in Action Comics 1071 was top notch … a real winner for the All In initiative! The “a bit too familiar story” of Superman in the Phantom Zone played out much better then I expected after the last issue. Also the baseball game with Superboy and the Superman from China (not sure who that is) was classic superhero comic book fun, with a great “sub-plot cliffhanger”. The twist at the end of the main story will have me coming back for more … for now. I cannot get over how miserable the Supergirl backup story is to slog through. I almost just skipped it this week. It’s so dull and uninteresting especially paired with such a solid main story - it pulls my rating for the books down a notch or two. DC needs to cut the backup nonsense and drop the price to $3.99 or they might lose me as a reader.

Superman 19 was a clean fresh start for the series. It was a super fun read with some stellar artwork. It did leave me with a ton of questions … mainly about how the heck is Lois now Superwoman - when last I saw her (Absolute Power and Action Comics) she DID NOT have any powers. To be honest I find the whole concept of Lois as Superwoman to be silly … something I roll my eyes at, but the writing is good enough that I will be back for issue 20. Also … ALSO … the twist at the end was amazing!

This weekly All-In Action Comics #1070 was a great way to start in with the new status quo … only it wasn’t … as it takes place after Absolute Power but before the All-In Special - that bothered me. The reason I take issue with the timeframe is because the stakes are lower as we already know that everything will turn out fine. That being said - this was a fun story … the ultimate resolution with where Superman goes at the end feels very done before - but that didn’t take away from the fun. The battle against the Kryptonian mutant was exciting and felt like a good classic comic that anyone could pick up and enjoy. The crazy colored Kryptonite reminded me of the books I used to read back when I was real little. So there is something here for everyone - hence why I would recommend this book. Also I should mention the art by Clayton Henry was just as fun as the script. Now for the bad … I didn’t care for the Supergirl backup story … it was so thin - I actually forgot it was even in there. Also it felt very out of step with the main story (seeing as she was literally in the second to the last page). No digs on Mariko Tamaki … perhaps on its own this story would be better received by me … but held up agains the main story - it was a total miss. The fact that the backup story caused a weekly comic to feature a $4.99 cover price hurts the product as a whole.

I really want to re-embrace DC Comics again and after how much I enjoyed Absolute Power - I started to dig in with these “All-In relaunches” - but this Birds of Prey issue 14 isn’t helping. This was just a pointless comic, I guess if you are invested into these characters you might want to read this … but for someone just jumping in this was an unmitigated miss. None of the characters seemed likable and it didn’t really seem to be under the shadow of Absolute Power … it just was a big fat nothing burger. The story of the missing Amazon women wasn’t captivating enough to make me come back for a second helping … I do NOT recommend this issue and will NOT be getting issue 15.

DC is quickly losing me again … I want to like these new All-In stories in this soft reboot … but … after reading Poison Ivy 26 … I’m ready to bail. The art and story felt like some weird webtoon fan-fiction and not a professional main-stream comic that ties into the larger DC Universe. The story just meanders around almost directionless. Ivy goes for a bike ride from Gotham into the wetlands and ultimately the abandoned town of “Marshview” … all this is just a bike ride away? I’m going into All-In with a super positive attitude … however Birds of Prey 14 and now this … I don’t think I can take much more. This book was a total flop for me.

This felt like a Saturday morning cartoon gone a little off track. Nothing to really dislike about it … but it all felt a little silly and when it tried to get a deeper, the goofiness undercut the drama. It was a “middle of the road” comic, in many ways it reminded me of the Superfriends comics I read when I was little - they had that Saturday morning vibe with a little something extra. This comic is not for me … maybe if I were 12 I would dig it … and I do hope some 12 year olds read it and enjoy it … but I won’t be back for issue 17.

Believe the hype! 
 Absolute Batman is 100% what everyone says it is, easily one of the best comics I have read in a long time. Snyder delivered the goods with an assist from artist Nick Dragotta (who I am now a huge fan of). This was an excellently paced story … not too fast and not too slow - it was literally perfectly paced. The choice to reveal this new character …no this is NOT the Batman you are familiar with … Snyder used an outside character to reveal Bruce Wayne to the audience … and this was a brilliant decision on his part. That one factor pulled EVERYTHING together into a “page-turning highly” enjoyable read. Snyder took everything you know about Batman and turned it on its side for a brand new experience that had a tinge of familiarity. He reformatted many of the villains and other Gotham citizens into all new characters that have completely different relationships with Bruce and the book is all the better for it. I don’t want to spoil a single moment as the less you know the better. The only drawback that I can see is what’s coming next … this world built for Absolute Batman should be just for Batman … but I know Absolute Superman and Absolute Wonder Woman will connect with this title and I feel that has the potential to throw off this perfect vibe. Even worse - this may all be rolling into that silly Darkseid story that was introduced in the All-In Special, if that’s where all this is going - I will be very disappointed. However for right now - if you can find a copy go out grab it and read it … do not let it be spoiled for you.

This was NOT an easy comic to read - while I enjoyed the art … the story was … um … in my opinion … near-unreadable. It’s a shame it was so important to the overall Absolutely Power storyline.

Read my first All-In book tonight - Batman 152. The art was great - the story was good, but lacked that “fresh start” feeling and some elements felt very “done before”. But I’ll probably hang on for the next issue before passing final judgement.

I used to really enjoy Dazzler back in the 80s - so I thought I would pick up this book #mistake - the art was decent, but the story felt like it was some poor fan-fiction written by a middle schooler. It was a huge let down. The dialog was painfully obvious and uninspired - the writer kept beating the reader over the head trying to make a point - I had to force myself to finish it. There was nothing interesting about this book & no plot thread that would make me come back for a second helping.

More late night Absolute Power, Green Lantern 13 was a mixed bag - the Hal Jordan stuff was great … but so many other plots kept pulling away from Hal and the shark guy (Karshon?). No clue why Hal doesn’t seem to have his ring but it didn’t hurt the story one way or the other. I always liked Jessica Cruz as a Lantern from the Rebirth stuff … but her story left me a bit confused. There was more Absolute Power stuff with what seemed like Infinity Inc … but then we cut to some dude named Sorrow followed by an alien called Thaaros. Seeing as this was a tie-in, I would expect the writer to better introduce things to a new reader. But all that aside - I would softly recommend this as a good addition to the overall Absolute Power story, though I’m pretty sure it won’t have a huge impact.

Just read the new Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone … much to my surprise I really liked it! The first half was a fun bit of action, that tied into the larger Marvel universe (though I had no idea what was happening on the first 4 pages). The second half of the book got a bit dark … but well written. The book was also beautifully drawn by David Marquez. This first issue did exactly what it was supposed to do - it left me wanting more - I will be picking up issue 2. Though I have 2 questions - How could Wolverine be in this book (set in Mexico) and also in adjective-less X-Men #1 (in Alaska) at the same time? Also … how is it that Rogue can touch everyone now?