Was this f*cking epic or what!? So OK, yes! It was absolutely shitty how or rather why the band broke up. But here, years later, with the fate of the world on the line, they were ripe to forgive each other and grow past their issues. Alzheimer's disease is one hell of a motivator to make mistakes, that's all Jim did, a mistake. Water under the bridge. Speaking of water under the bridge, Jim went all "Whiplash" on them when Murder Falcon said:"sometime you gotta let the drummer take a solo" I was having chills reading through those pages! Another huge dump of that good stuff by DWJ, will most definitely recommend!

How do you top the most epic moment of the series so far? (Jim's drum solo from last issue) well, you give the reader an unexpected plot twist with Jake. Damn you DWJ!!! Why are you so eager to pull at my heart strings!? Anywho! Just when I thought Murder Falcon couldn't be more of a badass, he recovers not to his normal form but to a "Megaform" with machine guns and wings!!!! Let's not forget Nate and his magical cowbell (idgaf what it's called in the story, it's a cowbell). To quote that famous SNL skit with Will Ferrel and Christopher Walken: "Give me more cowbell"

This last issue is a letdown! Lets talk about the art: Starting with the cover, this is my least favorite cover from the series by a lot. The first couple of pages had some very creative panels and action. But after that, this book looks and feels like it was phoned in. The coloring and letters are fine. The pencils and the Inks on the other hand are just a fall-out on quality, not from Acuña's first 5 issues but from the previous isuue also. Small panels have some deformed or incomplete limbs, the shadows take away from the faces and by the end some of yhe characters are just recognizable. Now the story: This was clearly cut short of maybe 1 or 2 issues. The train scene was going well, and maybe the appearance of Fatale would've needed a bit more real state to accommodate the former enemies making an alliance. If this story was not supposed to find a conclusion in this series, why the second half of this issue was rushed? Literally a whole infiltration by 2 spies is told in like 4 panels. Then we have the promise of some sort of lose end to be continued in an already ready to print number 1 issue for a new series. Why do you do this Marvel? This series took a hard nosedive at the end at it was very disappointing.

"Barking up the wrong three" This issue is quite literally a filler issue. There's a break from the previous issue in timeline, storyline and even in the art which by the way I was not a fan. Not that is bad technically speaking, the anatomy is sound but some of the faces lacked emotion, especially Barda. Some random thugs from New York have goons go all the way to New Hampshire to run "Insurance" rackets. Oberon reaches out to the JLI who sent the Green Lantern G'nort to help them. Mister Miracle and G'nort handled them fairly easy. I'm sure Green Lantern fan would appreciate G'nort appearing here I would rather see something developing or pushed forward.

I was wondering for months how Wonder Women gets involved in Absolute Power, you know? Cause it was supposed to be Waller, Brainiac Queen & Failsafe vs DC's Trinity. But Diana has no direct line to what's going in with the Evil Trinity whatsoever and it shows in this issue. The good stuff! Art is great, something that this series has not lacked thankfully. It was cool to see the Marvels, Detective Chimp, Xanadu, Constantine and the Spectre. But that's just it, they're here and didn't do much. Captain Marvel is not the same as in the Shazam book like there's no separation between Billy & the Captain. Xanadu and Constantine didn't do anything even though they're very powerful sorcerers. The Spectre literally gets used by the Amazo, the Wrath of God is absorbed by an Amazo... Detective Chimp seemed to have an idea on what the hell was happening, and he's taken out before he could share anything. There's a moment where it seems Diana called to Mary Marvel's Shazam lighting and depowers Mary. If anyone was wondering Mary Marvel's powers come from Amazon goddesses. Maybe that's the explanation as to why Diana could do that. This book is should not have been pulled into Absolute Power whatsoever. That's my opinion. It does nothing for Wonder Woman at all.

Well... that was disappointing. To be completely clear, I was not expecting Diana to beat up an old man in any way shape or form. There was no catharsis to come from violence in the end, we sort of knew this just by knowing her character. Wonder Woman wouldn't punch an old man, metahuman or otherwise. At least I don't think so.... Emelie and her pregnancy are back, but just to prologue this story, or at least to prolong the saga of the Sovereign. Yeah, the story is not over. We're basically at the middle point here. Not going to spoil what's the ending. However, if that ending is true, I would expect a lot more urgency from Trinity while having this conversation with the Sovereign. A lot more of emotion, maybe? Just not sure what King is going for with this.

Where's Acuña???? There's nothing bad about this, ket me be clear about that! But I got into this run cause of Acuña so it's a let down he didn't continue on the rest of the book. This is definitely a spy mystery action thriller, very much in brand for Black Widow. Bottom line up front, Natasha was framed for a bunch of politicians being marked. She ran into the woman impersonating here but no one know who she is or she's working for... The art is very reminiscent of Bryan Hitch's with the heavy inking, and I sat that as a compliment.

This was very... 90s lol The reading is a bit dense, and the art is very in tuned with the times. Lots of over designed characters. Weird looking guns. Of course, Fairchild powers had to include growing big muscles along with big boobs, I was not surprised lol. If for some reason, I randomly find myself withing arms reach of issue 2, I wouldn't be opposed to reading it. I'd like to see what Jim Lee & Campbell did back in 94.

I was loving this story until the ending of this issue! I don't understand then, how Freya separates herself from her family? If she in fact killed to protect her kin, what was the reason for her leaving the family for all that time? If she's just gonna act in the same way, it doesn't make sense. As the family talk about all the horrors they had to face, I would've love to have some panels showing these horrors. Like what exactly do they mean? Did they fight in wars, went through plagues or famine throughout history? Were there others like them with even worse methods or intentions? I don't know, I'm feeling a bit let down here. Let's see what happens!

It's pretty amazing to see that from issue no.1 Scott & Barda are just longing for a "normal" life. I haven't actually seen this yet, but Oberon mentions that Barda worked as an assistant in nursery school. Imagine that the great Big Barda former captain of the Female Furies now working with children! A few pages are dedicated to do an exposition on Mister Miracle's previous adventures, nice of the creative team to acknowledge Jack Kirby's work. Barda looks great in her battle armor and Mister Miracle looked better than ever as well.

"Out of the Dark" This issue brought what I've been waiting for, a chance for Izaya and Scott to talk about the elephant in the room. When Scott was a baby, his father traded sons with Darkseid in order to break peace with Apokolips. Quickly after peace was established, Scott was condemned to a life of abuse and suffering in the hands of Granny Goodness and Darkseid. This is the root of the estranged relationship between Highfather and Mister Miracle. Izaya goes to Scott's rescue and gets clobbered a few times for his bravery. Seeing his father get brutality beat up, reminded Scott of his days under Granny's "care". This triggers some painful memories for Scott which also woke up his affection for Izaya as his father and the rush of all these emotions helped him escape and save the day. Dreamer and Bear welcomed their special baby to the world named Maya and the rest of the Forever people are happier than ever. Izaya and Scott have that talk, and although not everything is peaches, they're at a better place now than before.

"Hero Is a Four-Letter Word" We have the introduction of a wanabe super-hero Henry Hayes, who goes as Maxi Man. The man is just down bad on his luck and decides to move to Bailey, New Hampshire to try to be a hero. Meanwhile Scott is back to not being able to properly fix appliances at his "fix-it" shop. Oberon continues to harass Scott about the business proposal from Ted Brown and Barda went from being in full command of her students to barely keeping it together. There are a few things that are set up in this issue (and I assume they will be paid off in the next one) like the monkey in Barda's school, the cleaning spray Oberon was so interested in and the box that Oberon brough inside the Fix-It store. Scott had no choice but to dawn his suit and save the day after a building caught on fire and the fire department failed to control the flames. That's when we find out that Hayes is in the hero business for himself not to help others. Funny thing is, Scott was so worried about losing his anonymity, but the people of Bailey, New Hampshire didn't even recognize him. They were calling him Mister Miraculous...

I was skeptical when I realized Sampere wasn't on this issue but long and behold, Redondo's art was very clean. Easy to follow and clean. So let's call it a pleasant surprise. I don't know what to say about the story tho. Was it cool to see what Detective Chimp's role was in this war? Yes! Very cool & funny if I may. Also, the bridge to the back-up story and the choice made for telling the Sovereign's origin was a bit annoying if I'm honest. This old fart is supposed to be this regal villain. There was too much telling, not enough showing for my personal liking. Specially for a new villain's origin story. I understand it's all there, in between the panels and the narration. I can piece it together and imagine it, but I rather not. Why take away the opportunity to see it on the pages with talented artists such as Sampere, Morey & Cowles???

This was really fun! I can totally see Lois doing the "I'm Superwoman" scene for Clark. Also, I can totally imagine what they did afterwards... lol Cool, so my theory was right. Lois got her powers from someone else when they were released from the Amazos. However, The Amazos never stole Zod's powers in the first place so... How is it that Lois got Zod's powers? The whole "his suit was designed for space travel, and it sent a signal to space" therefor it stole Zod's powers explanation is flimsy at best. But I'll take it. Basically, it's Williamson previewing what's the next big story going to be for Superman. It's kinda like he previewed Doomsday before, and House of Brainiac before that. Pay attention people!!! lmao I don't know about the art, it's beautiful and sharp and bright for the most part. But then you have moments where Lois's mouth disappears... But I'm just nick picking

Okay we've moved on from Acuña's art! The action here was pretty good not gonna lie. Also, in this arc (2 issues in) alone, Natasha has used her gadgets more than she did in the previous arc in it's entirety (5 issues long). Which is to say, there's many ways to tell a Black Widow story. You gotta love how spy stories (in any media) use real life places and events into the story. It actually blurrs the lines sometimes. Leave it to Natasha to have a fake abduction staged in order to scare someone into telling her what she wants, to have said fake abduction turn into a real abduction lol. There's nowhere Natahsa can go or any fake identity she can take to hide right now, and shit catches up to her at the end of this issue. Seems crazy that this will wrap up in just the next issue. Let's see where this lands!

I've been meaning to pick this up to see Wanda interact with Tony outside of an Avengers run. Wanda doesn't actually do that much in terms of the plot, besides explaining the risks of using the Monger Armor. Put that 2-page spread of Wanda traveling inside the Magical Broach was amazing. Totally worth picking this up if you're a Scarlet Witch fan. Alex Sinclair's colors elevated the work in this issue.

Although this has been a very serious toned story because of the stakes and the art by Ross, I truly appreciated the jokes and quirks here and there, specially between Batman and Superman. The fight scene between Diana and Cheetah didn't look as good as I hoped it would, mostly because of all the red. I get why it's all red, I just don't like it, they been stacked in that same spot for 3 issues now(?), I'm sure the fight could've spilled somewhere else. On that note, Cheetah's costume design? Terrible, I can't take her seriously with that head dress lol she looks like a performer on school play lol. Enough of that, the heroes are rallying, Alex Ross shows his love once again for Captain Marvel (SHAZAM!) and the 2nd stringers seem to join the fight. The worms thing, seems very similar to Kingdom Come, or is it just me?

Without spoiling too much, the heroes get suites with armor to avoid being controlled by Brainiac's miniature gadgets, right? Tell me why the Flash looks like The Red Death from Dark Nights Metal???? Also, I'd love for Wonder Woman to have an action figure from her Armored Design, looks wicked!!!! Just when you think the heroes are prime for a comeback, Lex Luthor shows up in the end of the issue and his all like "nah". The Marvels fight scenes and panel work was pretty damn good. You already know, just more of that good stuff by the creative team here.

This is an interesting take on Vikings for sure. Immortal, Power hungry and violent Vikings living the Illuminati society dream. Freya the lead has some very distant philosophical views from her family's and does what she can to give back to the world in many ways. Freya's family are those immortal Vikings and well, as you can expect with Freya not following her family's rules that is where the conflict originates. The art is pretty good, got some nice panels and the action gets pretty bloody. I want to see more for sure! Subscribed!

RIP Krypto This issue is reaaaaally dense. Actual dialog is minimal; this is mostly a narrated episode from Ruthye's point of view. We are told a short version of their trip where apparently the vessel smelled really bad, like unbearable. The accommodation was tight, the other passengers pretty rude and that every now and then some random gentleman wanted to enact revenge against Superman by hurting Supergirl. Something g they would never dare to do against the Man of Steel himself. Supergirl dispatched these guys with easy, to the point it became boring and repetitive. Then... the red pill thing. I'm not going to pretend like it was visibly amazing to see Supergirl all powered up like a DBZ character and fly through a "Space Dragon". But, besides looking amazingly cool, it's not something I expect to see again in this story, or that it'll mean anything later on. After almost the entire issue is done, we finally get an update on Krypto. He survived the arrow know but barely. He was poison and the only way to save him is to find Krem and figure out what kind of poison he had on his arrows. Perfect motive for Supergirl to agree to be Ruthye's Father's Avenger, hence why they traveled so much together...

"The Lake, the tress and the monsters" Turns out that Krem guy is not just some savage brute. He might have had a reason all along for joining the Bardbon's army. All that killing was used to summon a Mordru Globe, a magical sphere that teleported Supergirl and Ruthye millions of miles away from Krem. The girls landed in a planet called Barenton. This place was built with the purpose of killing Superman. How? Well, the fact that there was a Green Sun made the skies practically filled with kryptonite radiation. Oh, and the dinosaur creatures sure couldn't help. Ruthye helped the weakened Supergirl to safety to pass the time until the green sun went down ant dawn. Supergirl was in such agonizing pain, she was shivering, hallucinating and other unfortunate symptoms Ruthye decided to avoid for she refused to relive those details from this day. We finally get a chance to see Ruthye be brave when the creatures came after them and knowing Supergirl was out of commission she stood up to the beast and slayed it, she got lucky of course bit still, she saved Supergirl's life. A second creature came along later, and Ruthye trashed about and struggle just praying to stall the beast for a mere few more seconds until the sun set so Supergirl would regain her strength and take over from there. For the second time in this story, Supergirl is portrayed as this being of unquantifiable strength. The first time was when she took that red pill to kill the space dragon. And this time she survived 9 hours of agonizing Kryptonite radiation. Supergirl recalled her cousin Kal-El's experience in this planet, 45 minutes felt like death to him. After surviving 9 hours, she calls him a little b*tch lol. Art is pretty just the same as before with incredible landscapes and world building. The action scenes with Ruthye and Supergirl were filled with suspense which carried the heavy narration monologuing for this issue.

This issue felt slow when I read it, but was it tho? Kanon is back, that was great. Been wondering what was gonna happened with Psylocke. The powers that be are working overtime behind the scenes. The entire reason the mutants and the children of the Atom were exposed to the light is being censored. Yes, the photo that Kanon posted of body in the suitcase it's being taken down from social media. Mei has been gathering what I assume are the morlocks of this universe. The mutants that can't blend in with the rest of the population because of how they look. Also, Mei's inspiration coming from Storm is very interesting. Mei takes after Ororo's code name and looks. That's some nice connecting tissue for the universe. The fact that Nico & Mori didn't ran into the dead body of Natsu's mother tells me she had some help. Help from who? Don't know yet, but maybe she went back to the Children of the Atom. Even if she hates them, you tend to go back to what you know. After all, Natsu did not asked her friends for help. Finally, the cult pulled up on the warlocks and whatever is gonna happen is gonna be live stream or recorded by that influencer named Yukio. So yeah, there was a lot put down here by Momoko. Maybe I speed read this issue, I might go back and pay more attention to the back issues.

I feel like as far as the conflict goes, the Wonder gals did turn the tie with this assault. However, the facts this coordinated attack was thanks to the intel Trevor gave Diana just makes it all hallow. None of this supposed exchange of intel between Trevor & Diana was shown to take place. Comics are a visual medium after all. I understand there are stories not told that happen between panels, but this doesn't feel "earned". It's like we've been given a bone in exchange for the death of Trevor. Not only that, but King uses the Wonder Gals to break the law and commit crimes in plane daylight. That doesn't feel right. You mean to tell me no heroes would interfere? No one would say anything to any of these Amazons? And you mean to tell me they're okay with Cheetah mauling a man? Riiiiiiiiight........ I wouldn't dare to critique Sampere and Morey's work, but this issue is not a strong of any of their previous. The back up story was touching and the art was very nice!

Decompressed: "to convert (something, such as a compressed file or signal) to an expanded or original size." -Merriam-Webster I don't even know what to say. Is this a bad issue? That's subject to what you like. Is this taking too long? Absolutely! Can Daniele Sampere & Tomeu Morey make compelling storytelling art together? Subjective. But the consensus agrees that yes, in sure they can do that and do it well. Matter of fact, most readers that are on the fence about Kin's run on Wonder Woman say the moment there's a change in the creative team, they'll drop the series, me included. Can Clayton Cowles add onomatopoeias that will ring loud in your head while reading a panel? Yes, he's one of the best in business. Can Tom King get to the point without dragging us through yet another round of allegories or symbolism in opposition of each other like patriotism vs government? No, I believe he can't! King has to remind us of the days of yesteryear. When Diana was just another character used in military/US propaganda. Just another lover of the star and stripes. I'm not sure that in the year of our lord 2025, this is what Wonder Woman comics should be about. Or even have her character in a position to represent the good the morals and values of this country. At this point, I'll be okay just to see her in a villain of the month, one-issue story type of deal. Look, I get what the Sovereign represents, okay? The Rise of oligarchs in the world. The special interest and the powers that be that rule this country and maybe even the world. The Sovereign is the equivalent of the fall of the Fairness Doctrine and the Supreme Court ruling on citizens united vs the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the real world, right? The power of unchecked misinformation fed to the masses and money being funneled into government for influence in law making. All of this corruption is personified in the character of the Sovereign. That's stated and shown multiple times during this run. I mean issue 18 has the Sovereign hiding in the white house after his home was destroyed. He's sitting in the oval office in the president's chair. King is being very critical of US politics, props for that. Big W for the analogy, we see you, Tom. But this has taken too long in my humble opinion. People, it has been 18 issues. Can anyone say what Diana has accomplished. Or just tell me what anyone or anything in this run has accomplished? To be fair, we can take out the Space issue with Superman when they went to find a gift for Batman's birthday. Then also take out the issue with Jack, the sick child that Wonder Woman took to Themyscira as a Make-a-Wish episode of sorts. Then also remove the 3 issues that tied to Absolute Power. So were down to 13 issues total of storytelling. I get that the death of Steve Trevor is a big deal and that event birthed Trinity, from Diana's mourning and grief. Say what you will about Trinity, I'm just saying those are two things that happened in this run. But even then, all of this is being narrated by the Sovereign. The textbook definition of an unreliable narrator, right? Remember this whole story already happened and is being told to Trinity in some dungeon somewhere in Greece (Wonder Woman #800). The Sovereign lost, he's imprisoned, probably bitter. Why would he tell the truth anyway? His greatest enemy's daughter is in front of him asking questions to him about the Wonder Woman. This Wonder Woman run can be a lie for all we know. King has that safety net as if he can just retcon everything he wrote at the end of his run. Not saying I think that's what's gonna happened I'm just saying it's a plausible outcome. Let's look beyond the aesthetics and the monumental efforts by Sampere to make interesting and enjoyable. What can you say has been resolved? Conflict wise? Story wise? Action wise? We are still dealing with the Sovereign, 13 issues in. An old and decrepit man with a lasso than can make people believe lies. Which by the way, we just found out it never worked on Diana. Apparently, her struggles were more of a Diana versus her own thoughts, rather than struggling with the lasso of lies. She let herself get caught so she could rescue Cheetah. Where in the actual f@#$ do you even get that? When was it stated by Wonder Woman, or any of her allies, that she knew Cheetah was being held hostage???? When? I might've missed it entirely, or I don't remember this being a thing at all... I'll come back to this later. (Edit: @kodycollects took the time to show me the panels where Cheetah revealed it was Diana's plan to get caught, all along. In retrospect it does look like it was planned. Even though there's no discussion about it by anyone.) If you're a fan of anyone from the extended Wonder Family I feel for you. Especially if you're a fan of Cassie or Yara. Because Tom King continues to struggle to incorporate them consistently, in any point of the story. With the exception of like 3 moments. They're just there. A few times there seemed to be a glimpse of hope. That maybe King is in fact doing something, anything with them. Just for King to sit them on the bench again. For example, it happened in the fight against the rogues. All 3 ladies fought or rather competed against Diana for the right be in this so-called war. They all lost, but in the end, they decided to still help. Then what happened? Diana went against 5 villains by herself. The girls showed up only to capture Sgt Steel, so they could interrogate him later and eventually let him go. Not keep him detained or anything because he needed to be free by the time Absolute Power came around so he could be alongside Amanda Waller for that story. They didn't bother to help with Giganta or Greil. But I guess now we know it was part of the "plan". Riiiight. Because letting Diana get pummeled by a giant and then a new god, followed by getting captured, tortured, beaten and humiliated, just so Wonder Woman could get dumped in some body of water, to wash up on an island so finally she could be reunited with Cheetah and eventually with some luck, after fighting her lifelong enemy, she could convince her to join the Wonder family. Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me. Listen, in retrospect, binge reading these issues might give you the illusion that the Wonder Team was coking something. But even then, nothing is clear, nothing is stated. It's just implied by everyone going through the motions. Another example, on issue 17, the girls actually got the jump on the villains with Donna getting my favorite moment from the issue. Again, ONE ISSUE LATER, Diana makes her move to confront The Old man, and spoiler alert! The Wonder Girls weren't there to help Diana. Who was there? Cheetah! Yeah, Cheetah stepped up to fight Grail... I shit you not. But speaking of Cheetah, let's not even mention what her role was in the assault against the Sovereign. Let's do roll call, Cassie attacked a battleship that had The Sovereigns riches inside. Donna fought and killed Solomon Grundy from some jewelry and Yara robbed a bank that held money for the old man. However, Minerva seemingly murdered a man for the cause. I don't think anyone from the Wonder family would be okay with any of this in any other depiction. Robbing and killing.... color me stupid, I'm not the most knowledgeable on theses characters but it just seems weird they would do any of this. You might say "oh but this is a Wonder Woman comic, you can't expect the Wonder Girls to be the leading characters" well you have a point, but it was Tom King who introduced them in the story, not me. I didn't get on social media and harassed the writer of the run to add characters to his story without a plan for said characters, I didn't do that, did I? No. You know what's crazy? I just seen Tom King on Comic Pop Returns YouTube channel say that the standard to tell a good story should be 4 issues. Frank Miller made Batman Year One & The Dark Knight Returns in 4 issues. EACH! I'm paraphrasing, but those are his words more or less. He also mentioned that he feels the weight of responsibility to the costumer because comics are $4/5/6 a pop... But here we are, 18 issues in... passed 4×4(=16) the amount it took Miller to do Year One. Yet, nothing to show for, honestly. I'm opened to discuss this further if necessary... like if you think I'm full of shit, or that I'm a rage/click baiter, or that I don't know anything about this run... I promise you I have collected and read all 18 issues. Check my reviews they're here too. I've gone out of my way to praise the highs of this run every single time. But this time I feel different. Things just don't add up. Let me leave this on a good note. If you're looking to read any current Wonder Woman book, just get into Absolute Wonder Woman. Don't waste your time or money on this run. It's not worth it on single issue. Matter of fact, I'm not sure I even recommend the multiple trade paperbacks. I would just wait for this entire to be done and collected as a whole. Because y guess is that it will be better to binge read the whole thing. I don't have a choice at the moment, I'm 18 issues deep into this. It's too late for me to just drop it at this point. Once the current arc ends, I'll drop it from my subscriptions. If I hear it got better in the new arc, which by the covers it looks like Batman is going to be all over this, I might come back. But I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Now I understand how the readers for Zeb Wells's amazing spider-man felt. They tried to push through it and in the end they felt disappointed. I don't know if I would stick around for 50 plus issues, that's real commitment. for now, I'm seeing this through, Tom King and his Sovereign era won't be the end of me as a fan of Wonder Woman comics.

Guillem March's art was nice, I never thought this style would be nice to look at in 9-grid panel format. But hey, when it works, it works. This is a break from The Sovereign story, but let's not get too comfortable, all roads lead back to that dreaded story... The decision by King of bringing Batman to Olympus to investigate a crime, will get the same hate as Waid's decision to bring Batman AND Superman to Themyscira to solve a crime there. Diana doesn't know any other detectives? Rhetorical question, she absolutely does. Maybe is King who doesn't know any other hero/cop lmaoooooooooooo

This was really fun! I can totally see Lois doing the "I'm Superwoman" scene for Clark. Also, I can totally imagine what they did afterwards... lol Cool, so my theory was right. Lois got her powers from someone else when they were released from the Amazos. However, The Amazos never stole Zod's powers in the first place so... How is it that Lois got Zod's powers? The whole "his suit was designed for space travel, and it sent a signal to space" therefor it stole Zod's powers explanation is flimsy at best. But I'll take it. Basically, it's Williamson previewing what's the next big story going to be for Superman. It's kinda like he previewed Doomsday before, and House of Brainiac before that. Pay attention people!!! lmao I don't know about the art, it's beautiful and sharp and bright for the most part. But then you have moments where Lois's mouth disappears... But I'm just nick picking

This issue had a few problems so let me get those out of the way first. Diana needs to speak more. The Wonder Family i.e. Cassie, Yara & Donna should not just be doing cameos. Instead of Batman or Superman looking for Diana, that could've been the Wonder Family. Not necessary look for her but show them supporting Diana on her grievance. I understand DC puts Bats & Superman in everything and this isn't going to be the exception. But if they're going to be here, they gotta have something to do instead of just take space. I think the Washington Monument can be seen in the background in a panel, maybe I'm wrong but, wasn't the Washington Monument destroyed during the battle with Giganta? I'm pretty sure it's the same monument Giganta tried killing Diana with. There's no denying it anymore, King cemented his sad and heavy story telling style in a Wonder Woman book. I'm not sure that using Steve Trevor's death was the best way to depict how much Diana loves him. I think if you read the last issue, that was pretty clear. With that being said, seeing Diana the Wonder Woman grieving isn't an issue for me. Not that Diana needs to be humanized or portrayed in a vulnerable way for me to like the character, but she lost someone important that she loves, it's understandable. Also, while I'm at it, yes she stole the flag from Steve's funeral to cry and mourn him, it's okay. I can see why many other readers see those panels with Diana and the flag and immediately connect it to the WW2 era of pro USA propaganda in comics. But me, and take this with a grain of salt, an active service member in the armed forces, I just see a fallen soldier's spouse grieving. Dramatic? Oh yes, quite dramatic. Not a deal breaker for me. I used to believe that Lizzie aka Trinity was the daughter of Emilie, the Amazon that attacked the men at the bar and consequently started this whole situation of the USA government vs the Amazons. She even resembled Emilie to me. But good plot twist by King, I'll admit I did not see it coming. Weather you think it was clever or not, Tom King is paying tribute to Elizabeth Marston, the wife of William Marston and co-creator of the systolic blood pressure measurement used to detect deception, the predecessor to the polygraph, by naming Diana's daughter Elisabeth Marston Prince. Love the full circle of all of that is entailed in this affair. When it comes to the art, Sampere and Morey are the primary (even only) reason a lot of people have kept up with this series, and this issue is just a testament to their skills. Morey in particular doesn't get enough praise as he is in part why these pages look this amazing.

The premise of this story got my attention and then some! Villains having the same dream about the end of the world? Yes please! Give me more! Alex Ross is able to show the graphic moments of the end of the world, a warm moment between Aquaman and his family and possibly my own personal worst nightmare: attacked by a shiver! Needless to say, Alex Ross art here is superb!

The way Alex Ross depicts Brainiac in these scenes with Aquaman are just straight out of a horror film. Speaking of horror, poor Martian Manhunter, talk about living out tour worst nightmare!!! I thought it was hilarious that Joker is not allowed to play with the others and it's really getting to him lol. We finally get an idea what the villains are up to and it's pretty cool the way they're all worming together. Far as the art, just peak Alex Ross, what else is there to say?

Poison Ivy tho!!! I didn't know Alex Ross did... let's just say "sexy" lol. More and more of the heroes continue to rally on this comeback! There's some insanely detailed and grotesque panels here that takes more than a couple of looks to fully appreciate. Like the Superman on fire and the Batcave overtaken by vegetation, just wow I could stare at them for days. The Hawks have a moment to shine as well and they're just like I like them, brash, bold and loving each other. There's a moment with Hal Jordan very reminiscent of "Emerald Twilight" which I found very interesting. Just another great issue.

First praises go to Fico Ossio & Thiago Rocha for the amazing work in this issue. Somehow, they managed to make Freya look like even more of a badass than they did previously. The War paint was an amazing touch, there was a smaller panel where the paint was missing but I will overlook that because everything else was very nicely done. Kaplan managed to throw in a nice twist to this story which I, for one, am very pleased an interested in seeing it fully flushed out. This is a quite subtle way to showcase the false claims to godhood and baseless claims by the Vikin family to some form of superiority over the rest of humankind. It's all starting to unravel here. Props for Kaplan for another greatly paced issue!

Nice ending for what seems to be the first arch of this series. The reveal at the end defenitely spiked my interest to return to this series, that is if it gets extended. It felt odd to have the family turned on their father, but it's not implausible. Sometimes it's just a snowball effect, Freya frist, then Thor. "Hey, if the big guy can change his mind, maybe I can too " - type of energy. I don't hate it, I was expecting something different. But with the possible second arch coming it makes sense why the Vikings family would have a change of heart, they kinda have to for this story to continue. This scratchy art grew on me quick from the very first issue. It's not perfect but it does have its charm. If you like Vikings, family drama, action and gore visuals you should definitely check this series out!

Issue no.2 "Doctors Orders" we have the return of Doctor Bedlam who's genuinely a good villain for Mister Miracle & Big Barda. We also have the return of Bedlam's pills, perfectly expanding the character Jack Kirby created giving him more arsenal and depth during the dinner scene where he kept teasing Oberon and baiting Barda. Without his mother box, Mister Miracle is saved only by the strong feeling of love hi has for his wife, imagine that. Bedlam could not relate. Barda's only injury was on her dignity; she had to run and beg her neighbors to calm down after Bedlam turned the whole town into beasts. Poor Barda is not used to running from a fight, but she wasn't going to hurt innocent civilians either. The true making of a warrior is my opinion. The art is very consistent, and the humor kept it lighthearted. I'm feeling very good about this series.

"Father's Day" The unexpected visit from Highfater, the real blood father of Mister Miracle, gives us insight on what is Scott Free's relationship with his estranged father. Scott has had some father figures in his life like: Thaddeus Brown the 1st Mister Miracle, even Oberon has been there to council him on occasions. But the moment Highfater arrives, you can tell Scott and even Barda are not sure how to feel, how to address him or just talk to him. It's no one's fault, not really. They really don't know Highfater as the person, as Izaya, and he is very imposing in a paternal way that neither of the new gods have experience before. Oberon continues to be the voice of cynicism, Scott can work Apokolios technology but doesn't know how to turn a wrench on a earth car engine and Big Barda has no idea how cook absolutely anything. Lucky for her guests, Highfather took care of fixing up dinner, literally.

"Dark Days" If I took anything from this issue, was the speech or unsolicited advised Oberon dropped on Highfather. In lamer terms he just told Highfather he was just another deadbeat father to Scott Free. Credit where credit is due, Oberon will always speak his mind, even if it's harsh words of truth to a god. Scott finally speaks his mind as well to his estranged father, and he really went off. They're not the happy and close family Highfather thought they were. Although not his fault, his lack of self-awareness is ironic, especially for such a wise leader. The arrival of the "cousins" known as the Forever People was just as unexpected as Highfather's. An old nemesis of them named Fyre has allowed them to Scott and Barda's home. (I don't know anything about the Forever people, so the couple of pages for exposition on Fyre and her masters the Darkness was very much appreciated, narrative & art wise) There's a very personal moment between Barda and Dreamer. As Barda sees a fellow new god pregnant with a child she shares, she loves children but she's not sure if she can be a mother. Our fearless warrior didn't have the best childhood herself...

Ivos everywhere. Turns out it wasn't the real Professor Ivo, it was a bunch of androids created in his likeness. I must say, the banter between Booster and Beetle is hilarious, especially when Booster asks if he can ask for help, funniest thing I've read. The panel work, the colors, the action, the perception just everything seems to fit so perfect. The creative team was firing on all cylinders. Funniest thing was, since they couldn't destroy the androids, they reconfigured their programing, and to help them "blend in" Scott turned them into the Beetles somehow, they even have British accents. Apparently, Barda learned how to cook so they had Booster, Beetle and the "Beetles" for dinner and nothing was burned. The Ferbles come over to invite the Frees to go watch Michael Keaton's Batman, I thought that was a great way to date this comic book. Finally, Oberon returns after being kidnapped or so I thought. He's back with Ted Brown with a business proposal for Scott, tour again as Mister Miracle. I don't know if Barda and Scott appreciate Oberon's entrepreneurial offer.

"This town isn't big enough for both of us" Scott Free was so upset he had to save people form that burning building as Mister Miracle, he convinced himself his quiet life in Nailey, New Hampshire was ruined. He was talking crazy saying they now had to move since people saw Mister Miracle on the town, like somehow, he didn't wear his mask while saving the people. Believe it or not, it took Oberon and Ted Brown to calm down Scott and tell him he was overreacting. Word about the cleaning gas spread and people are coming to the fix-it shops to see if it's already for sale, it's not, but Oberon is clearly thinking to exploit it. Barda on the other hand is enjoying the suburban life. We learned Barda does not tolerate animal abuse. To the point she will join her neighbor in a protest against the corporations that are harming animals, like the monkey her student found in the school. Maxi-Man finally gets an opportunity to be a hero, but he blew it. Mister Miracle arrived to help, but Maxi-Man was so eager to be the sole hero of Bailey that he challenged Miracle to a fight in front of the press. Not much of a fight Miracle just toys with Maxi. The 2 civilians that were saved by Maxi gave him a much-needed lesson, being a hero is much more than being strong or powerful. Thankfully this fell over Maxi like a cold shower, and he realized he was wrong. Maxi left Bailey with a lot to process.

Alright I'm hooked! This is going to be a binge read now! Johan is my guy, he let Jake know he was there for him back when Jake left the group and no in this moment when shit hits the fan, through and through a real friend. No judgement nor hard feelings towards Jake! Love that kind of friends. The brief flashbacks of whatever tragedy Jake went through seems like DWJ is gonna pull on my heart strings once again (Damn you DWJ for writing such heartfelt stuff). Murder Falcon definitely sounds like Stallone in my head I'm not even kidding lol. More of the good stuff here, would recommend!

RIP Whisperwood!!! Nice ussue here to slow the paste and give me some breathing room from all this epicness. Just when I thought the band was complete, Hjelmdar the survivor seeks Brooticus to ask if he can join them in this metal fight!! Oh you know, more of that good stuff from DWJ and co., would recommend for sure.

"Hope, Help and Compassion" I like how the writer describes the fight between the Bargands and Supergirl through Rythye, who didn't witness it personally but puts the pieces together from Supergirl's account and doing research. Historians and poets who described the battle after the fact. Meaning that it was so epic, poets tapped into that brutal encounter for inspiration. While at the same time we have a visual from the artist depiction such a fierce battle. Ruthye was spared and she was left at a beach with Krem who had been captured. To make sure Ruthye didn't do anything to Krem, Comet the Super-Horse was posted at the beach as well, just in case Ruthye got any ideas. Which she did, Comet had to get in between her and Krem for she would enact her revenge. Finally, we learn from Krem's own mouth why he killed Ruthye's father. We already know how savage this guy is, but to make his character ever worse, he's also insecure. He traveled the world looking for enemies (or potential enemies) of the king. And when his method of rooting out said people didn't seem to work on Ruthye's father, he killed him. He guards no remorse for this action, and to make matters worse, he thinks he will get away with it because the entire Bargands Brigade is fighting Supergirl to rescue him. Also, because he thinks even if they lose, Supergirl is the nicest person ever and she wouldn't kill him. Unfortunately for Krem, Supergirl is captured and faced the barely of a gun with kryptonite in it, Comet is forced to go help. So that leaves Krem, already restrained tied to a tree, alone at the beach. Alone with Ruthye's sworn vengeance. What a way to set this up.

"Ruthye, Supergirl and Krem of the Yellow Fields" I have mixed feelings about the ending of this amazing story. Comet the Superhorse turned out to be a... person trapped in a horse's body? Anyways, Comet jump in front of Kara right before she was shot, sacrificing himself to save her. This is the second animal hurt/killed defending Supergirl, I hope the rest of the super animal don't hang around Kara after this. Ruthye could not gather the courage to kill Krem while he was tied up. She could not kill him after offering a fair fight and having him dead rights. And when Kara returned, Ruthye was also not able to allow Supergirl to kill Krem for her. Stopping Supergirl was, in its own way, how Ruthye saved Supergirl from completely losing her way. After knowing Kara's origin, how she carried Krypton's end on her shoulders plus everything else they experienced in their search for Krem, Supergirl would have killed this defeated man. Instead, they let him live, by live I mean they send him for hundreds of years to the phantom zone. I truly believe this was a worse fate than just dying. So, Justice was... served? Maybe? The girls reunite after seemingly hundreds of years later, still friends, to release Krem from the Phantom Zone. A pleading, begging and supposedly regretful old Krem spent his last seconds on his knees. And after all that time doing his sentence, they still killed him? Maybe they just thought this man was never truly going to change? Maybe I'm not smart enough correctly assume why they did what they did, but I don't blame them.

Peach just vibes in this series and this issue it's no exception!!! We got a lot of world building in a very subtle way. For example, there's a poster of Sunfire, who is supposed to oversee this region of the world with the Maker's blessing. Surge spits her gum on the Sunfire poster, I guess it's safe to assume the public sentiment on Sunfire is not a positive one. Nico Minoru has breakout moment where even she discovers something new about herself. Hisako and Mei thought her to be a psychic but seems like not even Nico knows the actual extend of her capabilities. Big X exposition!! (Minor Spoiler) Nico does the exposition dumb about what and who the Homo-Superior are in this universe. It explains why there are no x-men in this universe without actually explaining it if that makes sense. There's a secret cult that does these blood pacts and experiments among themselves I assume. The fact that mutans have organized in secret, we can theorize the Maker took out mutants in a public way (we at least know he took care of Wolerine from The Ultimates series), hence why they are researching mutant-kind in the shadows away from the public. Which makes a very fresh interesting take on mutants. Which is why we're here, the new ultimate universe where things are supposed to be different. It's not going to get more different than Peach MoMoko's Ultimate X-Men! Feed Me More!

This continues to be the most esthetically pleasing comic on my pulls. I just love Momoko's style. The subtle details in the Tom change and the facial expressions of Natsu and Mori was filled with tension. And the Boom! The reveal. Like this cult can be anyone and anywhere. That says there more mutants than we thought. Or at least there's more cult members than we thought. Shinobu or Shadow King seems more like a spoiled brat who's been fed nothing but positive reinforcement now instead of some sort of evil mastermind like in the beginning of this run. That can only mean he's to prime to be unhinged when hea realizes he's gonna be rejected by Hisako. Cause yeah, that's all he's been doing so far, stalking Hisako like a fan boy because she has a crush on her. Freaking hilarious! I forget sometimes that these are school age kids! That fight scene had everything I was hoping for: Hisako, Mei & Nico standing up for themselves. Hisako activating her powers on command. Nico controlling the staff of one! And the horror elements to Shadow's powers was just perfect. We are about to know more about the Cult of the Children of the Atom and I, for one, can't wait.

I was genuinely confused at first. Seeing all the girls together threw me off because I didn't remember Natsu being found in the last issue. But the first page should have been the giveaway with the bubbles, and it just went over my head. Spoilers, this was all a vision, it was all in Shinobu's & Hisako's head. With that out of the way, Peach Momoko pulled out her entire bag of tricks for this issue. The contrasting red tones with the black shadows and eventually the purple tones from Kwannon's powers made this issue an incredible display of Momoko's mastery over coloring and brushing techniques. There's the horror element brought by Shinobu's shadow powers. There's gore when Mori's is caught by Natsu. Let alone the action sequences of the entire fight from different angles. I loved how Hisako's armor morphed into a distorted version with claws and horns in the last issue. Here we got to see way more of it, literally scary and spooky stuff. As the voice of Maester said, Shinobu Kageyama smiling was something yanked out of nightmares. This kid is legitimately scary. Finally, the bubbles come up again and that's when we know, Maester is back in control. I'm not sure how people are missing out on this series because "it's not your classic x-men stuff"..... How is Maester messing with mutants not classic X-Men stuff? Anyways, in brief, just another excellent issue by Momoko!

Not a letdown, just a slowing of the pace! Kind of glad to see America take the spotlight like this. I do hope she and everyone continue to have their little moments through this series. Which is kind of hard to do in a team book. But so far everyone is getting they screen time if you will. Was there some foreshadowing there with father Murdock???? About loving the Ultimates???? I mean a priest by night & Daredevil by night sounds good to me. Feels like the team is splitting instead of rallying together to be honest.

Leave to Camp to write political commentary through the series but also reach into the cosmology of this new universe! I know it felt like a lot was thrown into this issue but the gist of it is simple. Then Maker changes the history of this world, as a result the future also changes. The Guardians of the Galaxy managed to escaped erasure by (Insert Comic Book explanation here __________) bringing the smartest minds in the universe. They took everything they could from their 61st century and established outside of time. Literally a traveling century of people. Kinda of cool, no? That's when they ran into Khan the Conqueror and his army of genetically engineered descendants. I was a little excited to see them not going to lie. Khan and his forces proved to be more than capable once again. Anyways, the guardians did not prevail, and they got scattered across time. The rest you can easily just read. I'm pleasantly surprised to see some cosmology lore explored in this universe. We got this world's version of the Phoenix, that mind thing from the Kree, Galactus and even the infinity Gauntlet. Way to branch out in one single swing. The art is still definitely a selling point for this book.

I appreciate Tom King's villain the Sovereign using religion as a weapon for control, especially in this issue citing specific Bible verses to try and submit Diana to his will along with the lasso. I grew up in church, Catholic church to be exact, my family back home can be seen as fanatics by non-religious people even. I had to do a lot of work, and I still do, to deconstruct a lot of values and morals I was thought to be righteous that today I don't find to be true anymore. I sat in sermons where preachers used these same verses to talk women down and box them in into these "roles". Anyways, just like any King of old the Sovereign using religion to rule and subjugate people seems fitting for the character. People cherry picking the bible, tell as old as time that continues to this day. Good to see Diana was able to break out of it and was also glad that it was Hyppolita's memory/image that help her breakthrough the illusion. This lasso of lies story should be watching up now IMO

This book continues to be masterfully carried by the art. There's no denying Sampere has a gift for Wonder Woman. The same artist should stay on this run long after Tom King is gone (not that I want King gone just yet). The returning Chetah did not disappoint. Out of all the villains King has used on this run, Minerva has been given the most attention and love. I appreciate the voice of the Sovereign explaining the many similarities between Minerva and Diana. How forces greater than the both of them constantly conspire to maintain them at odds but somehow, they have managed to break through those circumstances and see the other from their own perspective with their own agencies. Love, hate, conflict, sympathy and understanding they will have this dance as long as they live. Bravo! Seeing the "Wonder Girls" more is great. They each have their own voice and personality which I appreciate. But since they challenged Diana a few issues ago, they've been delegated to just Comedic Relief, especially on this issue. That's fine and all, but they are so much more. King should follow his own way of describing these characters when he wrote that none of them can be boiled down to just one thing.

This was a better issue compared to the previous one. At least it is building on Absolute Power from the far edges of the story bug also showcases some good interactions and character work between Diana and Damian. The art by Tony S. Daniel looks way better here. There's some creative decision in the issue like the 9-panel grid in the beginning, the 2-page spread with the dragging Captain Boomerang! The perspective would have made Jack Kirby very proud! Then there's the last dangling scene where the rope is splitting the panels, that was pretty good. I'm very pleased with the art here! I appreciate the stubbornness shown here NY both characters. Damian coming off as childish and a know-it-all is pretty funny. Diana is the walking contradiction that eludes explanation sometimes. One scene she's preaching love and the other she's smashing Boomerang's face through a table. Then in the end, they both acknowledge they don't have the answers, Damian feeling inept and a failure and Diana consoling him by relating to him. How? By articulating they both have the same struggle, being the children of gods. I mean BARS!

This issue was pretty awesome! I have a question for those who didn't like seeing Steve and Diana all over each other, did y'all forget Diana's situation, what she went through and how she was coping with all of it right before this event started? Do you blame her still? This issue was very strong for Diana in the context of the Absolute Power event. Putting herself on the line of fire, LITERALLY, because it was necessary for the plan to work? Yeah, this is my Wonder Woman! Also, the dynamic between Damian and Diana works for me! Diana with all the patience in the world handles Damian remarks and jerk attitude perfectly lol The art definitely won me over in this issue, I was a little hesitant when Tony S. Daniel took over for the Absolute Power Tie-Ins, but this one actually made me fan. I still can't wait for Sampere to return tho!

I'm sorry to say this but this book will be remembered as the Wonder-Womanless Wonder Woman Comic Book Run by Tom King. With that being said I like where this is going. Diana is playing the game same way the Sovereign did in the begining. She's siting back and fighting the war from a distance like a general. I wish we would cut to Trinity every now and then to see her reactions as The Sovereign tells her the key moments of this tale. Why not? This is supposed to be her story, no? We got the Wonder gals in action, finally!!! Donna pulled out the Lasso of persuasion, Yara had her Lasso and Cassie... Cassie had the hands! Lmaooooooo so close but no lasso of lightning unfortunately. Anyways it was fun to see the WW Rouges agains, even if it was to get squashed again. Glad to know King remembered them lol. Sampere & Morey are doing the best they can with what they got. Bless their hearts! These 8 stars are for you my kings 🤣

I am so excited to see more readers discover Javier Rodriguez through this interpretation of Martian Manhunter. For Javier Rodriguez is easily one of my personal favorites when it comes to comic book storytelling. It is easy to see why Deniz Camp paired up with Rodriguez for this story. Absolute Martian Manhunter needed to be different. Not just because it takes place in the Absolute Universe. No, it needed to have its own look, to match the ridiculous premise of the story. A man, who works as an FBI agent, begins a path of self-discovery, smeared with an identity crisis. Why? Because there's another consciousness inside him. A mind inside his mind. Another presence, along with abilities yet to be understood. Multiple personalities, or split personalities are not a new concept. But a split body with a conscious mind of an alien that can read people's minds? Well, that's the sort of wrinkles you just don't see. Anywhere. This series could have taken many other looks. Could've been grounded even. With Rodriguez at the wheel, however, this is a complete psychedelic experience fill with thought provoking shapes and colors. Jones is literally experiencing voices in color, and when you take in the art interpretation of those statements, you can see why. Absolute Superman's soul lies in the fight against tyranny and oppression. Absolute Batman turned himself into a wrecking ball, a larger-than-life figure unwilling to give in to the whims of Gotham. Absolute Wonder Woman is about the heart of gold of the last Amazon. A warrior witch who says please, thank you and has the patience of a saint. Absolute Martian Manhunter is this bright and colorful fantastical mystery. Exploring inward into the mind of this character. Exploration with visuals the likes of Jack Kirby's imaginations. Just absolutely insane.

"Killing people is easy. Making them suffer is an art" BARS! The suspense really builds up by the end of this issue! Natasha has an intense face off with Lady Bullseye. This was a moment of strength for Natasha, she had Lady B even before she event sat down. They might be spies, but Black Widow has way more experience. Plenty of Natasha's past is revealed here and lots of it will be a surprise! Goes a without saying the art continues to be stellar!!!

The world's greatest detective has another mystery that needs solving and I'm here for it. Nice to see the writers calling Arkham the place for the criminally sick instead of insane. How progressive for 2005. That last page gave me chills! You already know, more of that good stuff from Alex Ross lol

Hal vs Sinestro!!!!! Easily THE fight of the series (so far). There's a line said by Hal "...this is not vengeance, it's justice..." I mean come on that's a bar! I'm very surprised of the importance and the reliance on John Stewart to be THE hero since he's technically not a Green Lantern in this story. I haven't mentioned the fact the Metal Men are brilliantly used in this battle, and they kick so much ass! There's a scene with Brainiac that quite literally justifies having a 12th issue to close out this series. That Green meanie really thought of everything, didn't he?

Peach is here to remind us that athough theres all that drama surrounding the unraveling of the Children of the Atom, this is still a horror themed book. Remind us who the real big baddie is in this story and that Hisako is the reason all of this has happened. I know we all thought Mei was going to be the one to cause a wedge in the group because her recent affiliations. But that's not the case, and I'm quite pleased with that choice. I was hoping Nico and Mori were going to make it in time to help Hisako but... they're gonna be shocked as I was when they see what happen to their friend. I'm still wondering where's Natsu, Viper, Kwanon or Surge. Or rather I guess what's everyone doing since last we saw them. Especially Natsu, my heart really aches for her after what happened to her... Peach Momoko is now on full stride mode. There's no more world building (at least for now), there's no more characters to introduce, the only thing left to do is take this arc home and close the loop on Hisako's origin story.

The nightmare continues! I can't go any further without giving Peach Momoko her flowers. Her application for the water color style is so versatile, seemingly limitless. There's a few new elements introduced in this issue, setting up the next chapter on this series: the astral plane, the "MY-X" project and a cameo by a certain southern belle. The MY-X project seems to be the end game for the Maker's Council and their intentions for Hi No Kuni. No further details beyond what we already know, human/mutant DNA experimentations. Kageyama continues to torment Hisako in this nightmare induced world, called the Astral Plane by Meister. What's the source for Kageyama's control on Hisako? Her guilt. She denied Tsuabasa in fron of everyone in school, which caused a lot of pain for him. The horror peaked in this issue. specifically with Surge's appearance. The kind of visuals that will give you nightmares! Still the best Ultimate title, hands down.

Leave it to Deniz Camp and Phil Noto to write a tragedy in the middle of the most exciting universe. Since I saw The Maker go out of his way to steal a Mister Fantastic Suit and take it with him to this new universe, I knew it was going to be bad news for this Reed Richard (Read Ultimate Invasion for more). When The Maker revealed that he had a prisoner and he had him wear the suit and the Doom mask, I could just instantly feel bad for him. Who knew the atrocities and tortures 6160 Reed Richards could have been subjected to? Ever since, I've read Doom's words with a heaviness and a sadness even more dark compared to everyone else just because I felt out of all the people's lives that were affected or impacted by The Maker, Doom was probably the worst. Well, here it is. My suspicions are put to rest. The Maker not only made the Fantastic Four failed their mission, but with the exception of Jhonny Storm who died instantly, The Maker destroyed their lives one by one in a dragged out embarrassing and painful sequence of events until they all passed away. Leaving Doom to survive it all just to live with the haunting thoughts of failure. The Maker is just that vile. What will he do once he is able to leave the Dome? Phil Noto was definitely the right person to bring this story to life because the subtleness of his pencils and the color palette give this issue a feel of a trip down memory lane to a time of hope that is no longer.

Have you ever wondered; “what is Batman’s weakness?” I mean yes, he’s just a human in a costume. A knife, a gunshot or women in tight costumes are all weaknesses for the Dark Knight. But all jokes aside, does the cape crusader have a real weakness? So, my question is, is there anything that will stop the Batman on his tracks? Short answer is yes there is! As a matter of fact, a quick online search will tell you Batman has multiple weaknesses. 1. Anger Management issues: Batman struggles with anger which can lead him to impulsive decisions. Like for example: punching Superman in the face and breaking his hand. Clearly a weakness in character. 2. No-Killing Rule: whether you are pro or against this self-imposed rule, the truth is Batman’s strict moral code against killing puts him at a disadvantage when facing Gotham’s villains. Same villains that have zero disregard for human life. 3. Emotional vulnerability: His trauma from his parent’s deaths makes him susceptible to emotional manipulation. I know at this point you must be asking: YEAR, what’s the issue? Well, I’m getting to it. This episode’s issue is Batwoman #16 from 2018, the Rebirth era in DC Comics. Written by Marguerite Bennett. Art by Fernando Blanco, Colors by John Rauch and letters from Deron Bennett. This issue has the bets example of Batman’s emotional vulnerability being exploited. This is Beth Kane also know as Alice. She is the twin sister of Kate Kane the Batwoman. Kate & Beth are both first cousins of Bruce Wayne the Batman. There’s just one problem. Beth is clinically insane; she struggles with a bipolar disorder or split personality disorder. When Alice’s persona takes over, she’s a full-blown villain. She’s been the leader of the Cult of Crime and currently she’s involved with a crime organization called the many arms of death. Alice just launched an all-out attack on Gotham, using infected bats. Of all things. Batwoman managed to avoid the fall of Gotham by luring the bats away from the city. As you can imagine, this is a problem the likes of which Batman will not tolerate any longer. So, if Batwoman is not willing to do what’s necessary to get her sister under control, Batman will step in. I think we all agree with Batman, right? Alice should be in Arkham, where she could maybe get the help that she needs. Batwoman, however, disagrees. Kate thinks Arkham is a prison and they won’t help Beth at all. But Batman is fed up, he’s not even trying to hear Batwoman. Alice just attacked Gotham with bats, this is personal. Beth needs to be stopped and sent to Arkham. Batman will grant no more leeway, even if they’re family. So, of course we’re off to the races. Batwoman takes Alice with her, and they make a run for it. I must mention where this bat and bat chase takes place, and that is Kane Industries Headquarters. Why does it matter where this take place? Well, it matters because what is about to take place here is one of the most disrespectful things I’ve ever read in DC comics. And it’s only possible because of Batwoman’s access to this building’s network. While being pursued by Batman, she logs in the building’s sound systems. And just when Bruce almost had his hands on his cousin Beth, Kate plays the sound of a gunshot from the same make of firearm that killed Martha and Thomas Wayne. I know you know the story, the Wayne family got gunned down in Crime Alley by Joe Chill. You know Batman’s defining trauma has a face, a name and a location. But you didn’t know it also had its own soundtrack. That being the noise of the gunshot itself. Bruce’s entire drive comes from this moment, he’s survival’s guilt, the murder of his parents, his victimization in the hands of Gotham’s crime. Kate Kane, the Batwoman, a fellow soldier of his everlasting war against crime just violated his trust by exploiting this emotional weakness. In the end, Batman conceded the win to Batwoman and let her walk away with Beth.

This is a spy thriller!!!!!! The negative parts first, the small amount of action and the limited fight scene is the weakest part of this issue. It looks great, is just lacking energy. (Something Acuña did get better at with time i.e. Avengers Twilight) However, I believe the theme of mistrust and betrayal matches perfectly with Acuña's storytelling. Everyone looks suspicious, doubtful or just blantly skeptical of Natasha and even each other (Refering Tony, James, Clint and Logan) We still don't know who is gunning for Natasha but the pieces are slowly being put together. Also, was not expecting the lewd panel by Acuña so there's that too... 👀😅

Elektra vs Black Widow, a honey trap and anemies revealed in a blaze of fire!!! I said in the last issue that the actuon was the weakest portion, but that it's not the case here. The fight between Elektra and BW was very well done. More than a fight to the death, it was more like a dance of confrontation and it ended with a warning from Elektra. Basically, the message to Natasha was you fix this or else... What's a spy thriller without a honey trap??? Yes, there was a Honey Trap in this issue, and it was kinda funny 😂. Don't worry Natasha didn't lower herself to be the bait herself. Then there is the exposition by the smart guy that made a lot of the "spy toys" and that's when the bad guys revealed themselves. Not going to lie, some of the panels in that last scene were pretty epic. This book is turning a lot better than I anticipated story wise, I mean. I knew the art was gonna amazing!

BEST BLACK WIDOW ISSUE EVER! Sidenote first: what is it with writers putting female hero/spy naked and restrained after being kidnapped? Also happened to Jessica Drew in Avengers 24.1, which is a weird choice because, when do you see male heroes naked and restrained? Listen, I'm a straight male, I see the appeal of Natasha being nude un any scene. But like is it necessary? You can answer that I guess.... With that out the way, this issue was the peak of this arc and pretty much the new standard of what a black widow story should incorporate: -False sense of security: Natasha allowing the enemy to feel in control when they're not. Like never, even when it can seem hopeless for her. She had plan everything way ahead making everyone look stupid. -The Violence: the action here was the best I've seen for Black Widow in this series so far and pretty much anywhere else. She's conning, she's acrobatic, fight to her strengths and utilizes every single thing possible, gadgets, the opponent's size and even the environment. Also, she decides if she wants to kill or not. -Attention to detail: Daniel Acuña had me go back a couple of pages to confirm what was being said. (Spoiler) she says to Champion that he's sick cause she saw his medicine. Flip the pages back and sure enough, when she landed on a pile of stuff, she peaks with the corner of her eyes a medicine bottle and in that split second, she knew he was sick. That's the type of attention to detail I like my spy hero to have. -The Lessons learned: the reasons why Natasha is still kicking and fighting the good fight after outliving wars, friends, lovers, family etc., is because she's learned to be more than a mindless heartless spy, she's learned to open up. To love and let herself live. Forgiveness of the self, what an easy thing to say but such a hard thing to do. If you ever need 1 issue to understand what Black Widow is capable of and what she's about, is this one!

I loved how Hickman brought back the story to Aiko and Wyn at the very end. Yes, there's an ever-expanding universe with cosmic beings, gods, the powers that be and the natural order of things but... there's these 2 Avatars that are mortal and indispensable like you and me. Aiko and Wyn shared a story and love for each other that was interrupted by the immeasurable weight of responsibility put on their shoulders, the responsibility of saving the universe. Wyn long for Aiko all that time, at least he got some reassurance from the Powers that be herself, she could've have picked anyone else to be her Avatar, but they would not have been up to the task like Wyn was. The war with the In-Betweener should be explore in the future preferably by Hickman but if not, I'll take anyone brave enough to fill in that gap for us. Also, making everyone feel pity for Wyn for the rest of his life was an insane choice for revenge by the In-Betweener. Specially such macabre way to go about it. I will keep this series in my personal collection to give it another reads in the future and possibly even cover it on my YouTube Channel. (once I'm confident I fully understand it better lol) I highly recommend this series for fans of the cosmic side of Marvel.

This issue went all out with the fights! The Legion of Doom really thought of everything! I'm not saying the bad guys are right, but I can see how their message and offer would appeal to the masses. Specially in the light they painted the heroes, specially today, that would resonate with a lot of people. Alex Ross really got me worrying about these heroes with the way the fights went!!!!

This is the best issue so far! The team-up between Captain Marvel and Superman to help the Flash was the best action scene by Alex Ross so far, and that's saying something. Seeing the heroes at the rendezvous spot (not gonna spoil it) was pretty awesome. New players keep being added to both sides and I couldn't be happier to see them depicted by Alex Ross! What's next???

Is it me, or does the Phantom Stranger looks like Alex Ross does now in 2024??? The first page is 9 grid panel structure, and I didn't know Alex Ross did pages like that. It looks amazing! Once the heroes hear what the villains have been doing, how and the why, they are all over the place, moral and emotions wise. Some are angry of course, some have doubts, some just want a reckoning (understandably so). There's lots of exposition here but there's a lot of action as well, specifically with the Flash. It was about time he did more than running in circles lol Give me more!

Not for nothing but I was wondering before reading thisbissue, how there's 3 more issues after no.9? How much longer they will stretch this fight between the Legion and the Justice League? But I was so wrong, this issue alone gives so many angles on to the fight. Just counter measures on counter measures between the greatest minds on earth. There's a reason why Black Canary & Green Arrow are on the cover, they get to monolog (Oliver) and shine because everything was a distraction just to get Dinah to a specific spot. I've heard readers say that Alex Ross can't do action panels, this book so far dismantles any of those type of criticism. But that's just my opinion of course.

Where do I even start for this series end!? Ross, Krueger, Braithwaite and everyone invilved in this book did an amazing job! I'm just surprised this comic isn't talked about more. As foar as this final issue goes, I can't get the image of a poisoned Wonder Woman out of my head! That was so brutal and horrific, it genuinely makes me feel for her! It was easily the most impact full single panel in the e tire run, for me at least. The heroes managed to saved the world in the end, Aquaman guilt trips Black Manta into submission. Grodd and Luthor ended up joining forces with the good guys to stop Brainiac. Begrudgingly so, but they still helped. The final conversation between Alfred and Bruce sheds light into the idea that people's tragedies might be awful, but at least in the cases of the heroes, something good came out from said tragedies. So, the message of "hunt for the good stuff" or "take the good with bad" was well received on me. I highly recommend this series!

Issue 2? Even better! There's so much action and gore starting off this issue, and not necessarily in a gratuitous way. Freya is briefly shown in the days of old, refusing to plunge and murder people at her father's order. Which makes him question did Freya is even a Viking? Well, here in the present, Freya dusts off her Viking skills to fight her way out the imminent danger. I can assure you she's hell of a Viking. On top of that there's some solid exposition for how things work in this universe, and it works for me. In the end there's a clash with Thor, her brother, who's not just big, strong and intimidating, he carries the burden of the family on his shoulders. There are some heavy words exchanged between siblings in between blows and slashes that built the characters pretty good. The art? It's just perfect for this story. It's bloody when it needs to be. It's pretty detailed when needed and the emotions jump out of the panels when the story calls for. In all honesty this is better than what I thought it would be.

"Just another Day" Professor Ivo brought his ugly mug to the quiet town of Bailey, New Hampshire. This guy managed to kill the heroes Steel and Vibe, so yeah, the threat is high. Meanwhile, Scott finally figured out how to fix appliances with Apokolips tech and Oberon calls in to let Scott know he's okay (glad to know since seemed kidnaped two issues ago). Blue Beetle and Booster Gold come down to Bailey to pay their JLI teammates a visit without calling ahead first, seems that in the 80s people just came to your house unannounced all the time. Of course, Scott and Barda are not okay with this, they want to protect their quite normal life's as a repairman and a nursery assistant. We finally get to see Barda working at the Nursery with children and she clearly has the makings to be great at it; the children listen and respect her. Barda notices Blue Beetles ship flying over the town and she loses her mind, by the time she gets to Scott's store, he had managed to fool everyone in the town to believed Beetle and Booster were paid actors, Scott saved Beetle and Booster from Barda's wrath. Professor Ivo pulled up to the store and all hell broke loose, Scott and Barda let their friends handle the fight to avoid blowing their secret identities, but Barda still got a hand in there to help Beetle. I'm so satisfied with this issue, the art is back to being top tier, the emotions are there, the panel work had some very nice moments during the actions and scenes and during the non-action scenes as well.

It's 2024 and I finally got a chance to read this book. I read Do a Powerbomb by DWJ and this is just as good (at least comparing no.1 to no.1). But yeah, more of that good stuff from DWJ. Is it me, or does anyone else hears Stallone's voice when reading Murder Falcon's dialogue? Lol Tons of fun! Would recommend!

RIP Hjelmdar!!! Another member added to the band, Anne, Jake's wife. I gotta say, if you're not crying while reading Anne's moment, are you even human!? Literally had to hold my tears back! (I was reading this at an airport terminal) I was screaming with Anne too (in my mind, can't be randomly screaming in public) You already know! More of that good stuff from these maestros! Will most definitely recommend! 100/10

How is DWJ going to top this issue!?

Thank you everyone who had a hand on this series. I feel inspired by all 'the people destined to die... and still chose to sing into the void." Powerful stuff. Jaker, Murder Falcon and everyone else metal in this story has my undying love and appreciation! Everyone should read this comic book!

Worst 21st birthday ever! So, first thing first, Tom King uses Kathye for the narrative voice of this story, which is okay. It's describing Supergirl from an alien perspective which can be interesting. She lost her father and was looking for a warrior to Avenger him, little girl would not take a no for an answer. She's well-spoken and polite. Out of all her siblings, she's the only that had the guts to do something about it, which speaks volumes of her. Speaking of Supergirl, she goes to a foreign world under a red sun so she can be vulnerable enough to get drunk on her 21st birthday. I'm not sure if I ever saw Supergirl doing something like that, especially all by herself; no friends (super or not) but here we are so let's roll with it. Drunken Supergirl is pretty badass, she gave a beating to some misogynist bounty hunter at the bar and then fought him off and Krem (the knight's agent who killed Kathye's father) with 3 arrows on her chest, after they attacked Krypto but still. Poor Krypto by the way, he got hit with an arrow just for being a good boy. Art and colors are beautiful, not just the characters but the world built in just one issue looks amazing. The skies, the homes, the weapons, etc.

"Modest, Calm & Quiet" I want to begin my thoughts specifically with the themes of this issue: genocides are never justified, but sacrificing other people's lives in order for your own people's survival has to at least earn you a special place in whatever version of hell you believe in. Supergirl and Ruthye arrived at a small town called Maypole in their continued pursue of Krem (who murder Ruthye's father). They believed Krem had been there recently, and they started to probe around for information. The people from Maypole whom I will refer as the Blues were nice and polite in first encounters. But as soon as Supergirl asked a few questions about Krem, about the town or about the Purples they turned rude or even hostile. Well, Supergirl realized that the Blues of Maypole were clearly hiding something, and they confirmed this when they attempted to killed them in their hotel room that very first night they spent in Maypole. Long story short, not too long before this there used to be 2 types of people in Maypole, the Blues who were wealthy and powerful and the Purples who were poor and suffered discrimination and lived in apartheid rule under the Blues. One day a group of people called the Barbonds arrived at Maypole. These people traveled world from world city to city committing genocide as a sport. The entire town of Maypole were screwed, until Krem who was in holding for drunken disorderly, gave the Blues the idea of paying the Barbonds a fee along with offering the Purples for their homicidal sport. The Blues were spared and now lived on a quiet and lovely town like nothing happened. The entire population of the Purples were slaughter and buried on a shallow grave along with their entire part of their town. The Blues never saw or recognized them as people, so they had no reservations with living their lives now without remorse or guilt. As far as the overarching story goes, Supergirl's character continues to be deconstructed, she continues to curse like a drunken sailor, she's not very patient in the face of rudeness, she will get in someone's face, break any decorum or even local laws to make a point. This is not just Superman's little cousin. Ruthye for her part continues to narrate pretty much everything from her perspective, she is telling us this story as if passed a long time ago. Whether you like this story or not, the art is undeniably pleasant and beautiful. The pencils and color could carry even the worst of adaptations in my opinion.

"Restrain, endurance and passion" Supergirl and Ruthye continue their mission to find Krem. They come across another planet who fell victim to the Bardbon's Brigand's savagery. Dead bodies as far as the eyes could see. Supergirl and Ruthye visited a survivor at a hospital that was recovering from being brutally attacked by Krem. Confined to a bed eating soft food. The detailed account from this survivor goes in great lengths to explain how vicious and barbaric this Krem guy is. Then, a second planet they visited, that's supposed to be a vacation destination for royalty. There was an undertaker digging up graves. The Bardbon's had also attacked this planet, hence the undertaker stating he still had many more graves to dig. Although attacked, this planet didn't require mass graves like the others because Supergirl offered, and insisted to help with the digging to afford each victim the dignity of a individual grave and then helped the undertaker to find his own daughter who needed to be buried as well. In a 3rd planet they visited, they were also late behind the Barbonds. But the citizens had footage of their attack. Supergirl decides to watch it and forbid Ruthye from watching. Which seemed to be the right call for Supergirl was pretty shaken after reviewing the haunted footage herself. Fourth planet, a Barbond's Brigand soldier had been caught by the locals. The people from this planet enacted Justice on the soldier by killing him in a public stoning. Hundreds or people participated while Supergirl and Ruthye witnessed. The 5th planet more of the same, but this time something was different, either it was extremely worse than the previous planets or it finally took its toll on Supergirl. She flew straight into a sun away from all eyes and finally let out screams of anger, agony, desperation and even maybe sadness for all they had witnessed so far. The last planet was so unfortunate that Ruthye decided not to write anything about it. Supergirl was positively sure that in the next planet she would encounter these barbarians, so she tries to send Ruthye home, she refused to return home without avenging her father, Supergirl maybe worn by their trip didn't argue back she just let Ruthye climb on her back and off they went. The art of conveying horror without showing graphic images is in full displayed here by the creative team. The mental exhaustion of the characters is palpable and the accounts of all these victims, weather alive or dead victims, is agonizing. Storytelling at its finest.

"Home, Family and Refuge" This issue is one hell of a ride! There are two things being told at the same time, totally different in theme and mood. The first is the encounter with Krem, the bustard had a second Mordu Globe if you could belive it. But Supergirl was prepared this time, she brought this amazing horse called Comet to outrun the globe. This was a high stakes, action packed race to the end of the universe, literally. She managed to push Comet beyond it's limits until they arrived at a place where laws of nature and magic didn't apply, so the globe just popped. The second tell, no less important, was the story of how Supergirl survived the end of her world Krypton. Kara volunteered to share this story with Ruthye for she wasn't sure she was going to survive racing the Mordu Globe, and she didn't want to risk her story to die with her. The choices made by Tom King on Kara's account of the last days of Krypton are very different from any other stories I've read or seen in other adaptations. But, with that being said, it works perfect with the way Supergirl is portrayed here. Supergirl's strength does not come from being a Kryptonian, that is part of it of course, her strength comes from what she had to endure in Argo City after it was launched into space when Krypton exploded. Supegirl wasn't just a survivor, she was resilient even in the face of hopelessness. But Zor-El her father, never lost hope for his daughter. The art is so brilliant. If you're still reading these reviews and haven't read this book, trust me that I can't do the artists justice, I simply lack the words to describe how great it is.

I got a chance to read this before it came out for a review for my friends at Nerd Initiative. This issue has the most world building in the series by far. There're so many elements introduced about the Children of the Atom that we can start forming more concrete ideas about who and they are. Also, loving this depiction Kanon 100%. Peach Momoko has the busiest pages so far. I can tell you for certain, this new arc is going to be very exciting! For Full video review check the link below: Ultimate X-Men #7 Review - Nerd Initiative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M2r2_Icjsw

OMG poor Natsu!!! Hi No Kuni isn't just the land of the Sun, it's the land of horror. Who'd knew from reading issue #1, this would be a horror-based series about the unraveling of a cult? I'm sorry I'm still processing what happened to Natsu. Damn that's definitely a villain origin if I'd ever read one. What's going to happen with her now? Also, who's that shadow in the end?

"We're saving America" -shouted Steve Rogers as he stormed the White House- Nice wordplay there by the writer. This entire issue is an allegory, you can very well take your pick as to what is being talked about here between the lines. America the Nation, it's people, the land, etc. Steve Rogers learns what's happened to his beloved country while he was stuck in the ice, and you can clearly see how it affected him. Tony showed some limitations and that was okay by me. Janet and Pym didn't have much to say or do but they fought well, and they show team cohesion, so thanks cool! I'm very excited for the rest of this series...

Just when I thought I knew how far the Maker and his Council would go to assert their dominance on this world, here comes Deniz Camp to shatter my incomplete sense of understanding this world and those who've ruled it. This story of how a Government approaches an island of Sovereign people to borrow their land to drop ammunition and/or bombs as part of experiments or training is all too familiar to me. I'm from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷, where there is this island Municipality called Viequez. The US Navy "borrowed" much of the land in the Island to use it as a heavy artillery shooting range. For decades the locals protested against this, and just like in this story, the bombs continued to be dropped against the will of the locals. That's a whole nother story. If you think this island filled with gamma radiation gave way for a population of "hulks", you'll have the same surprise Tony Stark did when he learn the truth of the situation. The "lucky" ones are not subject to anyone's envy. The confidential reports that described how these scientists saw the people of the island, as less than or even deserving of this awful fate, and it exposed a lot of how bigotry drove the entire operation. For then later, the same scientists to realize that's exactly how the Hulk saw them, with no regards for their lives, he thought little of the scientists by the way they were abandoned to fend for themselves. Hulk and his people knew the scientists on ground were not gonna make it and he never had any intentions of helping them. Imagine being one of the scientists, and you're sending reports while your coworkers are being slaughtered by indescribable creatures of the jungle, just for the reality of your circumstances to dawn on you, your bosses knew all along that was going to be your fate. There's plenty more to be unpack like the lack of touch of Thor and Sif since they're Asgardians and gods who have never been in planet Earth before this. Or how Tony still asked She-Hulk to be his ally and weapon after being told others have asked the same before. Not going to lie about the art, Frigeri and Blee are making this series a classic with just the art alone. They've managed to match every tone, every joke, every intention Deniz Camp wrote here. Pretty great issue!

9 months of work, efforts, recruitment, building a team, etc., to just get spanked by the pacifist villain!? Major L for the Ultimates for sure. I can't imagine how discouraging this is for the heroes. Let alone, is Tony dead? like really dead? If we are being honest, this was never going to be a fair fight. The Maker's Council have the advantage to know the failures and successes of another world. Hulk was more than prepared, as seen here. He left the Ultimates battered and embarrassed. They need some milk lol but no for real, they need more people, more help, more heroes. I wasn't expecting them to easily defeat the Hulk, but this? Not quite! Frigeri and Blee continue to outdo themselves in each issue. The art is just masterful, sharp, detailed, actioned pack and emotionally charged. The colors by Blee give this world a sort of silky-smooth tone, very distinctive from other runs, specially runs in Marvel. What are we going to see in that 1 year special?

Theres something to be said about the timing of this issue. You know? With issue no.9 being the Luke Cage issue and its release in Black History Month, I wonder if they missed the mark with this schedule. Not sure if it was the right choice to release this particular issue in this particular month. I digress. Minor Spoilers It's Camp's turn to criticize another American institution. This time around, it's the correctional system along with the prison for profit scam that is quite rampant in the good old US of A. If I remember correctly, Luke Cage's original lore spawns from being framed for a murder and also being convicted for said crime. So, to start 6160’s Luke Cage story sort of the same way was okay with me. As expected, The Maker employed the use of another familiar organization to carry on his will. The previous entity we saw was H.A.N.D., and now it's M.I.D.A.S. I find it interesting that Camp can show us how all these organizations can be used for oppression with just a few tweaks. As if we couldn't image how easily power corrupts. In this case, those who borrowed power from The Maker. Luke Cage is such an inspiring hero, I really hope he does join the Ultimates at some point. But I do appreciate he's an actual liberator of people in this universe, rather than a Hero for Hire. Love that for him. Allen & Blee did an amazing job with the art. I have nothing to nick pick.

Well, you already know, just more of that good stuff by Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, Federico Blee and Travis Lanham. I was very happy to see this issue was narrated by Jim Hammond aka the Human Torch. It makes sense why Camp waited so to let us in the mind of the synthezoid. This specific mission could not have been told by anyone else from the roster. I remember seeing the footage of the Punisher in the first issue and thinking g "Oh! The Punisher ran wild in the 70s in this world." And not give it any more thought. Then finally here, in the cover by Dike Ruan & Neeraj Menon we see the Ultimates going against a gang sporting the Punisher's and I thought "Oh! Frank Castle's endeavors inspire people 50 some years later, that's sort of cool, right?" Boy was a wrong. Someone mentioned in this issue that symbols don't die. That's very true. However, symbols can also be corrupted, distorted, changed or stolen. Completely bastardize their meaning given the right (or wrong) people and circumstances. Not to spoil anything, but the metaphors here is practically a 1-for-1 representation of what happened with the Punisher's symbol in real life. Back to Human Torch. He's assessment of the team was spot on and very revealing in the case of Hank Pynk the Ant-Man. It seems Pym can't get over the fact that his counterpart from the 616 was a wife beater. That must be lingering in the back of his head still. Which that would be brought up more instead of just making him the weakest link in the group. Confident wise of course, he's still very capable. There are 2 major reveals here. Well 3 if you count the fact that Tony is on his way back to recover. But it's been mentioned in passing that Tony gave out those lockboxes to many, who passed on the opportunity to or just refused it all together. Here's an example of one of them folks that got a lockbox and things didn't turn out as planned. The other and final reveal should've been quite obvious since it was right there on my face. That one for sure will be a problem...

I guess I wasn't the only one wondering: what of Asgard? All we know so far, was that The Maker made a deal with Loki for him to rule instead of Odin and maybe stay away from Midgard. Simple, but Occam's Razor suggests, that maybe in fact it was that simple for the two gods to come to an agreement. Oh, but it anything but simple for the rest of the 9 realms. With Odin out of the way and Thor locked up, Loki had free reign to rule as he saw fit. Unlike its 616 counterparts, this Loki had not had no reservation, no space for goodness, pranks nor any slight of goodness in his icy heart. There is no ambition other than ruling king. For that, what's a few deals and compromises here and there? If Loki's heart was to be fulfilled, deal was to be made and kept. What we have here is an epic, the poem of Ultimate Asgard. In the same vein Norse mythology was passed down from generation to generation, someone recited the story of Asgard to us the readers. Pretty clever and conceptual might I say. Thor and Sir managed to broker a deal with Brokk and Eitri, the dwarfs from Nidavellir, for an invisible cloak so they could travel the realms undetected. Not to break in and fight necessarily, but to spy and witness what became of the realms under Loki's rule. They visited Asgard, where the citizen's life force was at Loki's mercy. They visited Valhalla, the realm where warriors go to after falling in battle. To everyone's surprise Hella was in charge of this place. When they visited Alfheim, land of the Elves, the birthplace of creativity and art, was now a place of "content creation". A grim place lacking all things fan, creative and life. Surprisingly, when they visited Vanaheim, the realm of the Vanir, this realm and his people had been left alone for the most part. As long as they stay put, quiet and abide by Loki's rule, they were left alone. Sadly, they weren't willing to risk their more privileged arrangement, when in comparison to the other realms. Thor and Sif, after becoming one, physically and poetically, they had enough of this status quo. Thor broke away in Sif's rest and wreak ultimate judgement on Jotunheim. Sir on her part, visited Loki's throne and freed Idunn and her golden apples from the chains that kept her next to the throne in Loki's court. These, maybe reckless actions, ignited a resistance to unite and gather with Sif and Thor in Niffleheim. In response to these aggressions, Loki assembled his forces, tighten his grip on the realms by amping the oppression on all the realms. The final action by Thor, which is basically a page taken from "Thor Disassembled", he makes a deal with Surtur, bringer of Ragnarök, to burn it all down. The same tactic if you think about it. Asgard and the people from the different realms are beyond saving. So, we'll set it all ablaze, with the hopes that it can be raised anew. If this isn't an epic, I don't know what it is. Props to Juan Frigeri the artist and Federico Blee. They made this book looked incredibly compelling.

This is my the 3rd series I've read from DWJ and Mime Spicer I gotta admit they work magnificent together. WW Dead Earth was everything everyone said it would be and then some! This story takes some turns and twist that just kept me on my toes all throughout. There is an insane amount of energy in every fight scene and every battle, I always feel like I can hear the pages when I'm reading the pages. This is a post apocalyptic action tragedy type of story. It deals with regret, mistrust but at the heart of it all it deals with redemption. For Diana and for humanity, there is no way forward without working through what happened in the past. Trust me you'll never see it coming! You already know, more of that good s*#÷! from DWJ! 10/10, all the stars, all the chocolates would absolutely recommend!