The notion of Joker's biggest nightmare being that he's stuck in a call center is brilliant. If only they had stuck with that, it could have been fantastic. But alas, the character reverted to form. Art was fine.

I don't give 10s lightly, for a perfect score means nothing can be better. Barry Windsor-Smith, with his words and artwork, has made such a book. It is brilliantly crafted. I don't want to say much more than to urge you to get your hands on the book and aavor every page.

Ash is back on the beat, but not quite as orthodox as before. She'll let a replicant slide here and there. And that gets her access that she wouldn't otherwise have. Now, she's tracking down a death at the under-construction seawall, and it doesn't look like the death is a replicant. This issue represents a ton of gumshoe sleuthing, and that means world building as we see even more of the Blade Runner world. Andres Guinaldo's art is really strong in this issue; in fact, I'd suggest the Peach Momoko cover is the least impressive art in the book. Guinaldo's coming into his own, and that's exciting on a book that can be as visually wild as this. Not my favorite issue ever, but one that I can appreciate as a means to get through the story. Keep it coming!

The creature is in the house and spends the issue getting acclimated. He reads some robot comic and figures that to be the template, so he cannibalizes the electronics and machinery in the house. Fun reveal at the end! Cute piece, but we're halfway through this miniseries without much happening. Art has a cartoony flair.

Donny Cates opens with a discussion of the ending of Watchmen and how it was a catalyst for peace and cooperation. He then says when we had our real catalyst (9/11), all we did was "[build] bigger bombs." Damn, that's fine writing. While I could sit and ponder the opening pages for an hour, I'll try to write the rest. Cates again proves an insightful and easy read. No obtuse Al Ewing. No novellas de Tynion. Just a straightforward book with wry asides and observations. The book revolves around Ellie and Ava trying to return to the dome to reunite with their respective parents. The subplot of the evil peacher's son merges (literally) on the road. But a Godzilla/Shogun Warrior battle breaks out of the dome, panic ensues and Cates' The Paybacks swoop in to save the day. Geoff Shaw's art largely is basic Big 2 house style, but it fits the title like a glove.

The "10 minutes of powers per day" leaves a lot of tine to fill. It's a lot of young high school stuff, and that's not appealing to this reader. Think an old school Peter Parker book with only sporadic Spider-Man. Art is manga-inspired.

Apparently the start of the third arc. Let no grass grow, eh? Anyway, the lesson I took from this issue is that nobody is dead for long in FP-verse. But there are lots of good moments - Owen and...his wife...getting right with each other, then with the kids. The grandparents are supportive and add levity. And it looks like the bad guys are revving up again once they realize that their attack didn't yield the desired result. As for art, Chris Samnee is great. One of my favorites right now.

In this sci-fi book, four buddies take an adventure vacation to a resort on a wild planet. They run afoul of the locals and lost control of their craft a few hundred miles away from home base. They're left to their own skills to get back but have to contend with po'd locals, wild creatures and unforgiving terrain/climate. Story is ok, art is never better than "could be better" and occasionally drifts into distractingly bad.

The colors muted a bit with this issue, but the story blossomed. The Big Reveal happened, and it was done with a calm that would make this issue a talker if it wasn't so interesting and, dare I say, fun. The stakes are laid out, and the last 3 issues look to be exciting. That said, there's a question of "Why push forward?" that this issue suggests. I'm interested in seeing if the creators decide to address it. The art is still good, perhaps not as eye-opening as the first issues but so much more visually appealing than the stock crap of so many other titles. Experimentation is good!

As we venture far astray from the top tier of indie books, we have Post Americana. I bought in because I loved Steve Skroce's art from We Stand On Guard by Brian K Vaughan. Lesson learned? As a writer, Skroce is...a great artist for Brian K Vaughan. The story this issue involves our protagonists escaping from a cannibal cult camp and the President and his bunkerized government getting ready to attack the terrorists...errrr....resistance. Skroce's art is OK...a couple whiffs on plastic-looking faces, but largely he's held back visually by the subject matter he wrote.

One of the downsides of these awesome looking covers is that you then have to open the book and see that the interior art sometimes doesn't live up to the excitement. This is totally the case here, where a great looking Frank Cho cover obscures what is run-of-the-mill, cartoony character work inside. The story is a down-on-his-luck writer who has to move back into his parents' house because he's loaded up on debt and out of options. He goes out drinking with his hometown buddy and...well...the superhero origin stuff happens. The plot is simplistic and predictable. The scripting is adequate. Truthfully, I'm surprised Image ran it because it's so Big 2-derivative. There's nothing special about it.

NOW we're cooking! Miriam's strange powers explained. Mole agents exposed, and the FBI agents orginally on the case are sidelined. Even a nice little action sequence. The art isn't my favorite, but it's good enough to tell the story. At this point, I'd suggest trade waiting on this "kinda sorta rooted in reality" spy thriller if such things interest you.

Wow. WOW. So much to process. Okay, basic premise is what if, in the American world of Mad Max, a society of "Ranger Scouts" organized as a quasi-religious cult based around the 7 Laws of their founder? As insane as this sounds, it works really well. (But all is not what it seems...) Art and coloring are excellent complements to the script, too. That said, and I appreciate it as fiction, this book presents probably the worst extreme of how one conveys Scouting. I am VERY familiar with this subculture, being an active Scout leader, and this is the logical extension of the hyper-conservative Scouting movement. Pepose knows what he's doing, and he capitalizes on the nuttiness to make a very compelling opening chapter. I'm reading it through gritted (Is that a word?) teeth, and it's on point. Highly recommended.

The assault on the Secrets is in full swing, with plenty of action and craziness. Two of the Secrets' cases are opened, which is good to see as I was well on my way to thinking that Taylor was screwing with everyone ("There's nothing in the cases!"). The character moments were traditionally Taylor strong. The supernatural elements...well, we'll have to see how this plays out. Art is the manga-inspired stuff that the kids love, very dynamic. This is the strangest title. I kinda like it, kinda love elements (It was on my honorable mention list for 2020's best books), kinda want to drop it. But I keep coming back.

What appears to be an oversized book (but still 3.99) with 5 vignettes featuring origin stories of characters who survived the pandemic that killed millions and left a very few with extraordinary powers. Straczynski writes with a detached style, and that made the initial miniseries a bit of a slog. Promising concept, just muddled execution. Well this is different as JMS has maybe 8 pages per character to establish the origin and the environment going forward. It's still written at a higher level than your run of the mill Big 2 book, but that makes the book that much more engaging of a read. The story alone was satisfying enough, but the art was unique and REALLY good. Truthfully, it looks like heavily processed photography. Realistic lines, amazing color usage, fascinating duotone effects. Not sure I've seen a book like it. Maybe Bendis' Pearl from his JinxWorld line. Panels are big and few per page, making me wonder if this is a print reproduction of their web comics that they post on their site. Regardless, the art and story together makes this a must-get book for the AWA/Upshot-verse curious. Just when I was getting ready to bail over the lightweight E-Ratic, they pull me back in...

Extinction Day....the kids rush to the train that will take them to the evacuation ship, but (of course) there's interference. Chaos ensues. The train scene has the same overtones as the beginning of Snowpiercer. Well told, very well drawn. And I enjoy the coloring...very bright and almost cheerful, which is odd for an end of the world book. One thing I did not indulge on past issues is the QR codes inserted in each issue offering a musical soundtrack to key scenes in the books. I scanned a code for this book, and the combination of scene (art and story) and audio was really neat. The codes link to YouTube videos, so they should be out there for a while if you get in late. Fun to check out.

Book One of the second story arc. Ewing's writing on a couple of levels, and I'm afraid that he's entirely lost me on the deeper one. The "gotta repair the ship and GTF outta there" theme is pretty easy, but the crew is trying to work out some backstory that suggests Georges, the ship's captain and protagonist, has a very cloudy history. Then we cut to a different ship, different crew...and what appears to be an angry, >>very alive<< God. Art by Simone Di Mio continues to be stunning. The combination of layouts and lens flares all over the place on coloring make for a wild visual ride. I won't lie and say that I'm not buying this book for the art. It's that good.

Ash is back as a Blade Runner, but she has a heart and only retires the ones who need to be. She lets others go free. And Ash appears to have a replicant girlfriend. Anyway, she's off to track down replicants working on a massive seawall project. She finds one, but he commits suicide after giving a cryptic statement. And the story begins. Art is very good. Andres Guinaldo has a way with big spaces, big scenes. And he does the Blade Runner world quite well. Fun book.

Same silliness. Same stupid plot. Different issue. Capullo clearly was trying, but his work seems so much looser and lighter than his first issues. On the bright side, it's almost over.

A worthy read. I love using Ordway's art on the actual Earth Prime sections. The story is BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE the best in the Death Metal collection...which is more a statement about the terrible weakness of Death Metal, because the the story is good but not great. Small nitpick: If Superboy-Prime was returned to 1985, why would Laurie be joking about comics coming out on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays? Methinks Johns was being snarky.

Another "after the fall" story, this time where a guy holed up in the safe bunker meets up with a girl from the insane wastelands that used to be America. With lots of cannibalism. Lots. There's lots of world-building, but it's largely Mad Max-style screwball stuff. Art by Steve Skroce (who also writes) is reasonable if a touch fanzine-ish. In all, this is perhaps the cheesiest of the dystopian batch of books to have arrived since covid-19 hit. But a little corny fun isn't all bad.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am missing a layer or three in this one, but the part that stuck with me was the aftermath of the trauma of Ozymandias' squid disaster - even as far away as Wyoming. The ensuing craziness has so many parallels to how America reeled after 9/11. It's profound and really quite sad, showing us how we often internalize the wrong lessons. Not really sure where this title is going - if fan observations about Tom King are true, I bet neither he nor DC know either - but the vignette presented was worth the read. Fornes' art is fine in service to the story, offering homages to Gibbons without doing so slavishly. There's a "Watchmen style", and he does it well.

This book lost me. Not regretting dropping it.

The protagonists and their hunter have indeed found a live God. But the hunter doesn't care. How do Malik and the small crew of the Vihaan II get out of it? Gotta read the book! Ewing's story is dense, which is interesting as it's anything but over-written. Every word has meaning, and it takes a study of the page to get where it's headed (and I'm not sure that I do). But Simone DiMio's art and colors are the star of the book once again. Lavish work, just gorgeous.

Cates slaughters his writer buddies off camera. The relationship between those outside of the bubble ("real life") and in the bubble ("comics life") is explored. Those outside are rough on the comics folk who get out. Wonder is it's the same vice versa. The preacher's kid is being compelled to go to the bubble. The comic shop girl in the domino mask wants to take the refugee comic girl to the bubble. I think we can see how this first arc is setting up. Art is unremarkable, which in this case means it doesn't detract from the story. I love the coloring effect of using pre-digital color separation dots on the comic world refugees. The gimmick works both for the purpose intended and to quickly identify the different states of being. Anyway, Cates is an easy, enjoyable read. No slogging here, but the story is plenty interesting enough to continue.

A frustrating part of the recent flood of dystopian comics and the modern move to write for trades and thus skip the "story thus far" recap at the top of each issue is that it takes a few pages to reorient oneself to "this" story. Fortunately, the Big Backstory happened in the front of this issue, and it is awesome. So well conceived, so well executed. You come out feeling for the main character, understanding the stakes. And the art! The only thing "comic-y" about it is that they use sequential panels. The characters, the coloring (especially the coloring!) more resembles miniature modernist paintings. This book is great. Go treat yourself to it, grab the first 2 issues at your LCS today.

There was this whole arc of the Seinfeld TV show about making a show that literally was about nothing. And Jerry and George delivered the pitch, wowing the execs with this notion that they could deliver a terrific show about absolutely nothing. Not to make light of Seven Secrets, but I wonder if Tom Taylor made a similar pitch for this book. Five issues in, and we have a core group of characters (keepers and holders on one side, seekers on the other). We have genuine plot movement -- the seven bases under attack, forcing consolidation of the bases to one mountainous site...and that causes other big issues. Lots of action, lots of Tom Taylor Moments™. It's good stuff. But we still have no idea what the secrets themselves are all about. It's a tribute to Taylor's writing that he can go for five rather interesting issues without divulging the macguffin. It's also a profound statement that the most intriguing part of the book is the teaser to end the opening 6-issue arc: "Next issue: The secrets revealed!" Just saying. Art is fine - strong layouts, expressive anime/cartoony-inspired characters. While not my thing, it works for the story....which goes to show how good the story is.

Presumably cute robots escape from a lab and wind up at a home in the suburbs. Nothing really past that in issue 1, in fact a book so short on content that they had room for 3 pages of writer/creator reflections (in really big, poorly-laid out type) and 5 pages of an E-Ratic preview. Cullen Bunn's story isn't much - introduces the lab, introduces the family, introduces the still largely-shrouded robots...and that's it. And only 3 more issues in this miniseries...gotta pick up the pace! Nelson Blake II's art is straight out of Disney animation, so much so that I'd be surprised if some streamer doesn't pick this one up sooner than later. Snakebite Cortez's coloring, considering the simple artwork, is terribly overwrought...shadings and smudges where a clean, flat color scheme would be more than sufficient (and perhaps would lend even more to the kids' animation style). Not sure I would recommend this one unless what I've described totally is your thing. The sub-par rating is purely a function of the fact that Bunn had pages to tell the story and chose note to do so. When you only start with 25-ish pages of sequential art, that's unforgiveable and leaves the customer feeling taken.

A highly professional, slickly produced re-production of the Spider-Man character for the 2020's. The hero gets his powers for only 10 minutes a day, so - as the book says - that leaves a crap-ton of time for everything else related to life....like starting a new high school, meeting teachers and future friends/enemies/romantic interests, learning about his Mom's questionable life choices, growing envy of his brother, etc. AWA's creative guy is Axel Alonzo, who comes from Marvel, and the author/artist is Kaare Andrews, who has experience on Spider-Man. It shows. That's not in a bad way, because they do it quite well. The book follows through on larger AWA-verse trends started in The Resistance, with a worldwide plague knocking off a sizable portion of the global population but leaving a minute group with new powers. I won't give it all away, but it looks like our protagonist isn't the only person so endowed in this title. For what it is, it's quite good. Andrews offers up a traditional high school soap opera script and art that resembles the character work on Super Sons. It's not my cup of tea, and it's apparent age target is outside of AWA's (thus far) more adult wheelhouse, but I'll go with it through this 5-issue miniseries arc to see what happens.

It took me a few years after the NFL's Detroit Lions hired Matt Millen for me to completely tune out the team, and I've never come back the same way. Don't get me wrong, I'll watch them when they're on TV, and I guess I'm happy when they win, but I don't set my clocks by the Lions like I used to....and it all started with Millen. Death Metal is my Matt Millen with DC, I fear. It's working tirelessly to make me not care about their product any more. Here's hoping that Future State relights the fire, because Death Metal has all but snuffed it.

Cute little holiday stories. Maybe half were pretty good. None were particularly consequential, which is what DC will need to avoid with their anthologies if they want to keep sales up.

In which we reestablish that Jo really doesn't like the food on this planet. Seriously, it appears that she has a breakthrough moment in the case and infiltrates a meme farm/labor camp. Campbell's art is still so choice, even if it lacks some of the grandeur of earlier issues. I hope it's because of the material this issue and not because he's having trouble keeping up. We're headed toward a resolution on this series - Jemesin is a pro, so we actually WILL have a resolution - and now it's a matter of how many twists and turns she tosses our way in the final quarter of the series.

Comic book psychedelics, dude! Or is it comic book Pykkt torture...or both? Meanwhile, in the real world, Adam and Alanna have a moment. But what's Adam (maybe) holding back about Aleea? This is an odd book, but I'm kinda enjoying it. Even if Gerads makes our couple look like they're perpetually fighting off colds (red noses, all the time!).

Bryan Hitch is not a good writer, but he nailed the Flashian navel-gazing brought on by Geoff Johns so well. Lots of overwrought monologues, lots of digressions on the nature of hope. Damn, this was a slog. By the time there was some action toward the end, I was beat down and just ready for the book to end. The art was middling to poor.

The last issue until the series restarts as "Blade Runner 2029" (the hazard of attaching a year to your title, makes it feel a little dated when you're publishing a futuristic "2019" book in 2020) - Another arc draws to a close, and Ash somehow lives to see another day. A satisfying ending with just enough of a twist to keep it fun. Bigger picture, SO MANY writers should subscribe to this title so they can see some basics in storytelling brought to life. Things like: 1. Refraining from clogging the page up with unnecessary dialogue and exposition, giving the art room to breathe and shine in the process. 2. Focusing on the characters as opposed to blowing our minds with high concept stuff that ultimately doesn't matter beyond filling page requirements. Blade Runner is a simple book, a well-written book, one that uses the Blade Runner backdrop to tell stories about characters. The stories are universal. They could be easily translated to western stories, or spy stories, Samurai stories or Star Wars stories. But they're well told stories that make us care about the subjects of those stories. BR 2029 starts up soon (next month?), and a prequel BR Origins series is coming in the next few months with pre-BR movie stories on how Tyrell got to its position of dominance. If memory serves correct, it's the BR 2019 writing team on both books. Should be good. Art has never been the highlight of this book, but it's not bad....far from it. And the Titan Comics production values are top-notch on their books with a thicker, glossy paper.

Story was not great, kinda cliched, flat ending. Art was largely good, but I really don't like how Fabok makes Batgirl's eyes look perpetually surprised/puzzled/naive. Automatically positions her as the weakest of the three good guys in this book. Anyway, it didn't suck as bad as I had read. It also wasn't good. While it had moments, it largely just...was there.

It's a terrific opening stanza. I've never read anything by Cates before and can see why he is popular if this plot/script is any indication of his skill.

Why, oh why did I buy into this series? And what's with the amateur hour artwork in the GL backup story? This series is doing so well at pushing me into the indie books.

This whole title is so tightly written, such a self-assured story. Kirkman clearly knows where he's going with this, even as this is the self-described action issue. And oh, how I love Samnee's art. (Swoon...)

A great book, one of the recent batch of "hope as we rebuild society out of the ashes" themed books. This one has the premise of a long-ago "Giga" (Think Shogun Warrior) war ended, and humans have taken to residing in and scavenging their towering constructs. Some solid characterization, world-building and art (surprisingly NOT in the manga style) makes this a good/great read...definitely on for the pull list.

FUN book! Bendis finally has figured out that splitting the team up into smaller groups gives each member a little time to be part of more than a group picture scene. There's some mental juggling when you have so much going on all over the universe, but by and large it was a positive. I did have to recheck to see that Sook is on the title still. Didn't look as much like his art this time around. Less crisp. Different inker perhaps? Oh, and Blok rules. Just because he's Blok.

A young woman loses her dad under mysterious circumstances, learns he was looking for Atlantis under the island of Manhattan. She recruits her brother, his girlfriend and two others to steal dad's research from the big bad company and, while evading corporate goons, finishes the research. It's a good opening arc with a wide berth in case Aftershock wants to do more. It's a fun adventure/thriller type of story with a healthy dose of sci-fi wrapped in. Probably my least favorite of Zack Kaplan's books for concept, but execution is a lot better than his better concept "Eclipse" for Image. Art is right up there, clearly had fun with the Atlantis scenes. And the book production is flawless, using the best paper stock and giving 5 issues plus extras for $15. Not too shabby.

Why I don't read more Jurgens is beyond me. He writes so much better than just about anyone in the DC lineup right now. Rarely feels the need to write novels. Keeps pace up, moves the story along. And Nightwing seems to have a bright future. If only I wasn't so ambivalent about Bat-books.

Another "after the world collapsed" dystopian book. The vibrant color scheme - a rarity for a genre that lives in variations of earth tones - draws strong comparisons to the new We Live series, but the story couldn't be more different. Rather than race toward an escape as We Live chronicles, this is more of a hiding in the shadows and trying not to be killed by "the Network". There's much more depth to the story -- rescuing a corpse of a child and somehow rebuilding it into a live human being, the food and larger natural world being a hazard, the plot point of the now-teen child "uploading" (whatever that means) -- and it'll be interesting to see how it develops over the six issues. Art is quite good, and (thankfully) out of pace with the current trend toward manga-inspired illustration. The pages look like paintings, so much that I am surprised that the artist and colorist are different people. It's genuinely hard to tell where the line art ends and coloring work begins in some places. I could easily see an artist with watercolors or a digital drawing program just doing the whole shooting match, a la Liam Sharp in some of the more recent Green Lantern issues. The book is beautiful.

I received the hardcover collection of Joe Hill and Stuart Immonen's "Plunge", a 6-issue miniseries covering the discovery of a lost (40 years ago) freighter is the waters between the US and Russia. A US company is trying to recover the freighter and enlists a small recovery team and a scientist. There's a lot more to it, obviously, but suffice to say that they find a lot of the crew...and the crew isn't quite what we think they are. The recovery team then has to figure out how to GTFO. It's a pretty good story...Hill was going for 80's style sci-fi horror like Aliens, The Thing, etc. I think he pretty much got there. He used a lot of the familiar tropes to good effect. Immonen's art is good. I don't recall seeing it before. Hill really likes him, and others I respect do, too...for his work on this book...and I'll say that it's good. Would I buy the book for Immonen's art alone? Nope. But it certainly did not detract from the story. The collection packaging is very nice. The slipcover is translucent, which the cover artist uses to good effect. The pages are matte finish (but not newsprint), which I generally prefer to glossy pages. Hill and Immonen have interviews in the back of the book. Hill also has an epilogue as well as a transcript of his email with the original pitch for Plunge. Variant cover art (by Gary Frank) is also reprinted. Is it worth the $25 cover price? Ummm....probably not. Is it worth a significant preorder discount? Yeah, I'd say so. Horror really isn't my thing, but I give DC tons of credit for taking the plunge (pun intended) with Joe Hill. One way to build the market is by doing new genres. Hill House was such an attempt. Hill House editor Mark Doyle got the ax recently in one of the purges, so it will be interesting to see what happens to this sub-label...and the whole idea of horror comics at DC.

OH MY. I wasn't sure about whether this one would be any good, but I'm IN. The crazy, thus-far-unexplained series of events to kick things off, the use of FBI to develop backstory, the "come with me if you want to live" cliffhanger....great opening issue. The art is a little rough (dare I say amateurish?) for me, but it's good enough to convey the story. I'm so glad I'm getting this book, can't wait to see what comes next.

Whoo boy, I think we have a Grant Morrison-style "Gotta read the entire thing because the installments will drive you nuts" series. So, of course, DC releases it in installments. But let's try to unpack a little of it. This Myerson character is a stand-in for Steve Ditko, and Myerson's "The Citizen" is a stand-in for EARLY Question, perhaps Mr. A. If you've read Ditko's Mr. A, you'd know that this stark vision of the world is right in character -- and The Question was Ditko's Mr. A, but softened around the edges to get past the Comics Code Authority. The Carl and Alma Thompson components appear to exist to show how microaggressions compound over time and send an awkward man on the path to venting his own rebuttal aggressions through his only safe outlet...the comic page. Then Carl's beat-down on Myerson apparently pushed Myerson over the edge. What a crappy life, and how easy to see that traumatic moment being the impetus to retaliate in kind. Where I'm having trouble is both in timelines (nothing is clearly labeled) and the role of the "Rorschach" character as well as the masked cowgirl. Are we to presume that Myerson knew them? Is "Rorschach" the real deal (like the word balloon design suggests) or a member of the HBO series' Seventh Cavalry? Anyway, off to Wyoming next issue to learn more about Cummings...who I presume is the masked cowgirl. The slow walk through the whodunnit continues... --- Special mention to Fornes, who is putting forth a strong effort on the art. His rendition of "The Citizen" was a loving tribute to Ditko, and his characters offer touches that pay homage to Dave Gibbons' original Watchmen style, even if he doesn't use the 9-panel page nearly as much.

Great book. Caspar comes of age and takes on his role. Closure of sorts with his parents. Not a fan of the anime-inspired art, but it works well for the subject matter.

Still light, still fun, still fleshing out characters and building out the mythology in parallel with the action (and there's a lot of action). The ride continues to be enjoyable, but I have to wonder where Taylor is going with this. The story thus far is: 1. We have a character in Caspar that is a forbidden love child of two of the Holder/Keepers of these seven secrets. 2. We have at least one organization that wants the secrets. 3. We have precious little backstory. 4. We have had a lot of character development for Caspar (and well presented), but little forward story development IMHO. Just seems like there's a lot more that could be done, so now it remains to be seen if Taylor does it. I only know his work from DCeased and Suicide Squad, so I know he can write a story. But where is THIS story going? I've learned Taylor keeps things close to the vest until time to reveal, so I have some faith. The joy and pain of the open-ended series! Art is typical modern manga-influenced stuff. Not my favorite, but more than adequate for this series.

This title didn't have a chance, what with the first issue being released just as COVID shut everything down back in March. Dark Horse, rather than continue the miniseries, cancelled the individual issues and went straight to trade. Basic premise is a starship is discovered in the ice in Siberia, and every country of note wants a piece of the intelligence while our intrepid American scientist does the legwork. There's obviously a lot more to it, including an initial ham-handed inclusion of a Vatican envoy that winds up giving one of the more touching monologues as his arc concludes. But in just under 100 pages of this 5-part miniseries, Justin Giampaoli barely scratches the surface of what this story could be. That's the inherent risk of indie comics...you have a great concept and a compressed period of time to hope it catches fire so you can continue. Giampaoli's writing far outkicks Andrea Mutti's art, but the art is good enough to not detract from the story. My larger issue is that so many story seeds were planted that never were sown....and he kept planting new ones as late at page 87 of a 92-page story. That all said, the concept was interesting...a fascinating twist on the creation story and all that could come out of it.

I love me a good What If story...and this series gets as close as DC will get to the What If title. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (The Last God, for which I am trade waiting but have heard very good things), you have a legit What If one-shot playing with the who's and what's of the Batman story. Lots of familiar characters in unfamiliar positions. Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Todd, Joker, Scarecrow...they're all in there. It was a fun read. Art by Soy was more than passable, too.

I just finished The Other History of the DC Universe 1 and am blown away. It's not as much a history as a memoir of Jefferson Pierce, told in a first person narrative style. John Ridley puts so much depth, perspective and - yes - pain into Pierce's story. The work in lifting up his students while fighting the baddies all night...at the expense of his family. His resentment and jealousy toward Superman and the Justice League. His dismissal of and eventual friendship with John Stewart. The Teacher of the Year surpise that may have been the happiest page of the book. The breakup with his wife and efforts to patch things up with his kids. Ridley writes pages around 99% of what's currently being presented in comics. This is a small novel....truly, a fictional memoir. The art by Giuseppe Camuncoli is more illustration to accompany the text than narrative. It's great. Not a lot of subtlety, which is befitting a story that has taken forever to be told. That's not to say that he didn't use the occasional flourish, best example being the Watchmen Comedian blood stain on the Ronald Reagan campaign button. Damn. Didn't see that coming. What a book!

Winner of the American Book Award, it tells Takei's life story through the lens of the American internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. I finished V for Vendetta last night, and this book is yin to V's yang. The story is light, the artwork is simple and bright, the characters easily discernible, the content upbeat despite regular reminders of how our government was inhumane to these American citizens. I think my wife bought it for the kids, and I definitely would have my 7th grader read it. Might be a little heavy for my 2nd graders, what with the actual historical digressions that happen throughout. But yes, recommended as Takei shines a light on a piece of US history that only recently has been given national attention.

Not sure I like the larger track that this book is taking...the high concept stuff detaches me from the characters (while Snyder and Soule crow in their letters section that they are doubling down on characters...). Their writing style, combined with the concept rollout, makes this dense to the point of my eyes glazing over. Here's an idea: Spend time advancing the story instead of impressing the world with the results of your awesome brainstorm. I bought in expecting something very different than what I'm seeing on the pages. I wanted something more like the first arc -- minus the starfish and crazy engineered animals. Instead, it's starting to feel like a Wizard of Oz trip down a yellow brick road paved with too much exposition. Not sure I'm up for that.

Wherein our heroes play cat and mouse at warp speed with a fighter...and find a live god, one who doesn't appear pleased to be dragged into this stuff. It's a bit ethereal of a book, one that plays with the darkness of space and the colorful imperfections of artificial lighting to make a visual mood unlike any other book I've seen. Not number one on my pull list, but interesting enough to continue.

The Mariko Tamaki/ Mikel Janin run begins, and it takes a decidedly different route than recent interpretations of Wonder Woman. I appreciate the reframing of the character to better line up with how Patty Jenkins is presenting her in the movies. But I have to wonder if making WW more of a street level character with an apartment, a quirky neighbor and half the book focused on a highway car chase diminishes the character. But that's a core tension with the character. Is WW supposed to be soaring with the Greek gods a la Perez (my WW) or talking to bunnies, going to IKEA and running secret agent missions? I was thinking the same thing coming out of the introductory pages. Specifically, highlighting Cheetah. Again, it's a movie tie-in and a smart one. (As is Maxwell Lord.) But as a main nemesis, Cheetah is pedestrian. Fighting evil gods like Ares -- now THAT'S big time and befitting WW. And I think WW should be more of an epic character than just "the best female character at DC." But that's all big picture. Taking the book as it is, accepting the basis for how Tamaki is handling the character....it's very good - perhaps great - for what it is. And Janin's art (the fantastic layouts especially!),is even better. I'll give it a 7.5/10, this one as an optimistic down payment on what appears to be a competently grounded start. This has the potential to be one of DC's better books if it takes off from here. (Even if I don't automatically agree with how the character is framed.)

Ever since I read issue #3, I've been wrestling with whether Wonder Woman: Dead Earth is the modern comics equivalent of Dark Knight Returns, but everyone is too invested in their own insulated silos to realize it. This series, simply put, is brilliant.

The apparent culmination of the Game of Thrones-style struggle for DC continuity supremacy is here, and I worry that the least potent of the mix won out. Tom King fell by the wayside, his Heroes in Crisis devolving into a critical disaster. His Batman couldn't recover from the post-Catwoman non-wedding storylines. Now, his Strange Adventures and his forthcoming Bat/Cat miniseries have been shuffled off to Black Label. Brian Bendis came on strong ("Bendis is here!"), but his Super-books are losing circulation and his Wonder Comics line isn't taking off. He's now talking on podcasts about winding down on Superman and getting excited about Checkmate. Dan DiDio was fired. So who won? Scott Snyder, apparently. He now has free reign to trash the proposed "5G"/"Generations" event with its rethinking of DC continuity in a linear, historical perspective and replace it with the apparent capstone to his Dark Knights: Metal/Justice League run...the one that so many fans felt was a hot mess of baffling multiversal conflict where his heroes keep screwing up, making mistakes and losing. Where the once-almighty Monitor now has an even more-almighty mother in Perpetua and siblings (!) in the Anti-Monitor and World Forger. Because DC doesn't have enough bloat at the top of the multiversal pyramid. But that's the backstory. Death Metal #1 is a simple story - a silly story, perhaps a dumb story - but a simple one nonetheless all dressed up with "rock and roll!" dressing. Perpetua has awarded the Batman Who Laughs the Mr. Earth pageant sash and crown, beating out Luthor. (As I said, silly and perhaps dumb...but it is what it is.) But Perpetua doesn't really care about the Earth, she just wants to destroy stuff. So BWL sets up a hell on earth environment that has not been seen anywhere in recent continuity, providing a jarring transition from "same old, same old DC" to "Holy crap, it's a pop-up Hellscape!" At this point, the story gets really small. Superman is off-page (of course he is, because he's so powerful that this story wouldn't get to happen otherwise), and Batman and Wonder Woman conspire how to fight back when BWL has them pinned down in a life of misery. It's a life that is nowhere reflected in any other DC book, but I digress. Wally West, who unfortunately has the Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan juju wrapped up in him to become all seeing/knowing/powerful but is a pitiful prisoner in this title, shows up. He suggests a way for the superheroes to win, trying to explain the multiversal mess that is DC in a couple of pages. After having has character shellacked by Tom King in "Heroes in Crisis," Snyder gets to revive West's statue as a beacon of hope. Hero revolt slowly ensues. End issue 1. Seriously, that's it. This was not a good story. This does not appear to be a good title. But it IS DC's tentpole title for 2020, so DC readers have to get it simply to understand what is going on in their shared universe. For that, I'm more than a little bitter. If you want to see what a GOOD event book is like for comparison's sake, go read Wolfman's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" #1. You'll see how far things have fallen. Technically, DC's maddening decision to force BWL's word balloons to be red chicken-scratch against a black background continues. BWL's lettering is largely illegible as a result. That's right, it's nearly impossible to read what the lead baddie of this book is saying. The sole high point of the book is Greg Capullo. He is a very talented artist, and his renditions of fire, brimstone, madness and everything else "rock and roll" are on point -- given the subject matter he has to work with. His characters look solid, his layouts are vibrant and exciting. Scott Snyder, on the other hand, baffles me. He IS a decent writer, something I continually have to remind myself throughout this book. His Batman "Court of Owls" story is quite good. His "Undiscovered Country," co-written with Charles Soule for Image, is pretty good, too. His JL, however, was convoluted and a chore to read. That carries forward to this book. Perhaps he's just out of his league on stories of this nature. Very few writers can pull off a blockbuster event. He can't. Well, he hasn't so far. Sadly, I apparently will have to keep reading to find out. Snyder won the Game of Thrones at DC. It's his universe to mold, to make everything count. And, with his first move as the prima dona of DC, he's fallen flat on his face. Maybe King was lucky to get banished to Black Label, and hopefully Bendis can continue to do his own thing. Me? I think I'll be spending a lot more time reading back issues if this is what we'll be getting from DC going forward. 2.5/10 on the basis of Capullo's art alone. I would go a touch higher but have to deduct points for the unintelligible lettering on BWL. Do better, DC.

I enjoyed this book and apparently am blessed in that I don't know a ton about either Strange or Terrific. I gather there are some continuity consistencies that are maddening. Pacing is fine, character development is a slow burn (which is fine in a miniseries where there's a definite end in sight). Art by Gerads and Shaner is very professional. I'm enjoying the 3-panel "cinematic storyboard" style of the book as a changeup to pretty much everything else out there. I have heard speculation that this entire title is a larger rumination by author Tom King over having been rejected by the masses post-HiC and Batman after being so successful prior (Mister Miracle, Vision, etc.). If true (and the "war hero/fraud" positioning makes me think the former CIA guy is speaking from experience), King is a tortured soul who's working through some stuff. I get the juxtaposition of the two Strange stories with different artists, but I wish that the Shaner role was performed by someone even MORE "comic-y", with a stylized approach that made his self-recalled stories more fantastic and fictional. A Darwyn Cooke style, or a stylized Jack Kirby, would have been perfect. But overall, a very good story with very good art. King appears to do his best when nobody's paying attention.

Brian Michael Bendis appears to have found a groove for Superman post-"reveal". His Superman/Mongul fight (with Legion/United Planets/Superboy implications) and his ongoing harassment/inquisition of Lois Lane on the homefront made for a fun juxtaposition. And then the two come together at the end to tie the issue up with a bow. Very well done. Kevin Maguire's art is great. I'd probably buy it for that alone, but the story made it that much sweeter.

Sweet mother of mercy, I couldn't think that the book could get better and deeper than #2 but Taylor did it. Combine that great story with excellent art and you have perhaps the best book DC is publishing right now.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and course corrections after 85 issues and 3 years don't happen in one month. That said, James Tynion takes a thematic broom to the Bat-world of Tom King and starts over. The book is the opening stanza of a longer (presumably 15 or so issues, culminating with issue 100) arc. As such, you can't read a ton into it. But it's a strong statement of purpose, suggesting a Batman that will be operating on a number of fronts both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman, using every tool (some yet to be created) and person at his disposal. The villains are varied and colorful.. And the future - through Lucius Fox, father of presumed 5G Batman Luke Fox - is foreshadowed. I've read Batman in its various incarnations on and off over 40-ish years. Truthfully, the character is over-exposed and has been written and rewritten every possible way. Batman sells comics, however, so DC will whip that horse until the end of time. Tynion's Batman doesn't represent anything NEW or DIFFERENT than what I've seen from so many writers previously...no, it instead delivers a familiar, classic, accessible Batman that readers surely will enjoy. Well, at least the ones not wrapped up in King's mind games melodrama. Artwork fits the writing...very strong, especially with the cityscape shots and Batman figures. I wasn't as thrilled with the human character imagery in the Selina Kyle scene, but I've also seen so much worse. (The artist can draw hands and feet!) If you've been away from Batman for whatever reason, this is an excellent jumping on point. Tynion has set the course for a Batman book that will be above average at minimum. If the story develops as it could, this could be something special.

IN SHORT: A fantastic issue of Superman...bringing the various "Bendis-verse" storylines to a head and setting the stage for some fascinating tales to come. STORY: Brian Michael Bendis has FINALLY tied the different story arcs from his different books into one climactic moment -- the announcement by Superman revealing that he and Clark Kent are one and the same. We've seen this build up through the Unity Saga stories with Jor-El and Jonathan Kent playing their roles, and then with Event Leviathan with the looming threat of all secrets being revealed (and who has a bigger secret in the DC Universe than Superman?). This, of course, played out in Action where the new Daily Planet owner and new writers tried to get to the bottom of the Clark Kent/Lois Lane relationship...and, finally, Superman itself where our hero worked through his grief and trauma for the last few issues. This culminated with a fun exchange with Adam Strange at the United Planets scene at the beginning of this book. Superman #18 is an event book where the "event" of the media event where he makes the announcement is impressive, but the real story is in the reveal. Superman making time to privately inform Daily Planet editor Perry White - with a masterful, silent panel sequence - and Jimmy Olsen (I'll spare you the spoiler...but it's pitch perfect Jimmy) prior to the big event was in keeping with his character. Lastly, he visits Lois Lane for one last moment of validation before the reveal. Any spouse who's ready to make a big, life changing move knows the feeling. But then the fun really happens. The media whispers about the nature of the event were fun, but even more fun was poring over the two-page spread of DC characters watching the announcement in real time. Some were excited (Supergirl, most of the Justice League...but Wonder Woman is NOT pleased), some were thoughtful (Mera, Batman and Robin), some were proud (the Daily Planet team), some clearly were taking it in and recalibrating their view of Superman (the villains). And, of course, the many, many people he helped put in prison decide to riot. And then there's Lex Luthor. Our evil genius was caught flat-footed, and his Legion of Doom compadres were in the room with him when he found out. The combination of surprise and recrimination against Luthor -- not to mention the seeds of doubt sewn at how the mighty Luthor could have blown this one -- finish the book with a flourish. Luthor is NOT pleased, and someone's clearly going to pay. ART: Ivan Reis is a good artist, drawing a fine Superman and a crisp clear image of the DC Universe characters. His isn't an overly stylistic pen, which is good for this book as it lets us focus on the story. Sometimes, simpler is better. BIGGER PICTURE: The "Superman reveals his true identity" story has been done before, and some say that it's stupid to do it again. I say, "Who cares if it was done before?" Bendis has reset a number of clocks on the Superman titles, and it's new to this environment. More important to me is: 1. Was the story told well, and 2. Does this give us a firm path forward? In both cases, I give an enthusiastic YES. There is little reason to avoid dragging a story arc out on an ongoing title...and Bendis has stretched some stories farther than necessary during his time on the Super-books. Not here. He's been leading up to this moment for some time, and it hit with all the force that it deserves. Lastly, the reaction shots during and after the reveal event are the gold of this book. Bendis has been on record (He talks at length about this in the Word Balloon podcast) as saying that the simple act of stripping away the secret identity after all of these years is a treasure trove of stories waiting to be told, and he's right. What will Wonder Woman do/say? How will Perry White handle having Superman on his staff? What will Red Cloud, Leviathan and Superman's more traditional rogues gallery do with this information to make Superman's life hell? And...WHAT ABOUT LUTHOR? I reserve my 10 scores for the best of the best...generationally great books. As a single, 20-plus page issue a comic book, Superman #18 is in that mix. Truthfully, I can't think of a single thing I would have done differently, so it's intellectually dishonest to give it anything but a 10. I will enjoy watching history look fondly on this effort from Bendis, Reis, the supporting team and DC Comics. This was GREAT.

Tom King is a goner, so I'm presuming that this arc is toast within 12 months of his departure. That makes reviewing this little escapade as anything more than the oddity that it is...well, kinda pointless. I don't mind the "City of Bane" arc itself, but the "how we got here" part with Thomas Wayne was dreadful. But I digress, and I don't want to continue beating up on the soon-departed. It was an decent story for what it was...A sexy little rehab of body and mind on the French Riviera or wherever. Perhaps the most intelligible story I've read by King, and that counts for a lot with him. My complaints are cosmetic: 1. The Cat/Bat dialogue is annoying. I know King is wed to that terminology, but he leans on it way too hard. 2. Training in spandex suits is a little more than silly when you're in some tropical paradise. 3. Practicality aside, they must have zero issues about personal privacy. Never mind that BRUCE WAYNE is vacationing with some knockout babe...and OH WAIT ITS BATMAN. King hits the relationship notes in a stunted way, and the big pages of working out suggest he's healing. That counts for plot progress, I hope. The art was great. I bet the artist had a blast not drawing sewage infested streets and chemical warehouses. He draws pretty women in paradise quite well. Not much more to say about it. Except that GOTHAM IS BURNING AND ALFRED IS DEAD. Can you rub a little more suntan lotion on my back?

The story is moving along, hitting all of the notes that have become familiar (repetitive?) just five issues in.... • Jefferson feels self-doubt • Katana drops wisdom • Younger heroes are clueless • They're still after Sophia Thankfully, it looks like Hill is writing for the trades and this arc will be over next month. Maybe that will shake up the Groundhog Day feel of this book. The Black Lightning action artwork is pretty cool, I'll give it that. It's about the only thing to get me beyond that "Next page!" feeling. I'm just not feeling it with this book. Never really have.

Bendis described this title on the DC Daily streaming show as his chance to hopscotch (my word) around the DC Universe and explore parts that he hasn't yet done. That's abundantly clear in these two chapters. Thanagar, the gorillas, Dinosaur Island and then Jonah Hex. The story seems simple, so we look at other aspects... Like the fact that Bendis just has a thing for Green Lantern! Gosh, he wants his claws on GL so bad it hurts. But for Grant Morrison, I have a feeling that the Bendis-verse would be taking on a more galactic feel. This issue's dialogue is as loose as I've read Batman in YEARS. This is pre-Dark Knight "grim" Batman dialogue. The cracking jokes with GL and Cyborg, the "Sorry" aside to the Thanagarians. It's so pronounced that it feels out of character. Was Bendis pulling an all-nighter of scripting his 468 books and got to this one at 3AM after a couple pots of coffee and a Red Bull? No complaints...it was fun and different. The art seems like a poor man's Darwyn Cooke. I'm still trying to figure out if I like it. At time, it conjures up those Darwyn nostalgia feelings. At others, it looks chintzy and amateurish. I recall liking it in past issues. Hmmmm. In summary, this issue moved the story forward. The art didn't get in the way. I kinda sorta enjoyed reading it....moreso than Batman and the Outsiders (5.5), so I suppose I have to rate it higher.

I bought this story until Selina made the grand entrance. "You have eaten well"? Seriously? Both the entrance itself and her dialogue was so entirely out of character for her that I lost all attachment to where the writer was going. Art was fine, but the story just did not work.

This issue wraps up a nice little Deadshot arc. It won't be anything memorable, anything meaningful in the long view of Batman history, but it was fun. There's a vibe to be book that feels very pre-Miller Dark Knight Returns, and that is a good thing. I do wish that Tomasi had dragged out the jungle hunt element more, for the combination of Batman, Deadshot, the jungle and a bunch of castaways/hostages makes for a delicious storytelling petri dish. But as to what's on the page, he wrote a nice, satisfying conclusion. It was enjoyable to see Bruce/Batman actually make some friends along the way, even with the WWII castaways. Then, to have the friendship carry through to the story epilogue (not the Year of the Villain part, which remains a throwaway), very cool. I felt a sense of satisfaction when Bruce/Batman let his guard down when he realized that keeping his identity secret wasn't necessary. He's a good dude, which too many Bat-writers these days overlook as they drag the poor guy through the emotional gutter. (The Apocalypse Now homage was a bit of an eye roller, but there was story-related need to develop a way to shroud Batman in the jungle.) And art was decent, solid, unspectacular. It served the story well. It's not a great book, but it doesn't try (and fail) to be an EVENT full of GRAVITAS. It's just a fun little comic. We could use a few more of those.

A very mixed bag for this issue, which actually is improvement over past ones. The elements of the story are starting to make sense as we get closer to the conclusion, thankfully. The 2-page "Story so far" spread was welcome. And needed. The "Who is Leviathan" question is at a fever pitch, which is good, as that's the central question and needed to be hit head on. Superman's appearance was a positive in moving things along. The dialogue was good in Bendis's quirky style, but he went too far and pulled a Justice League Dark and held an issue-long hang session. There's no way to kill the feeling of fun and excitement quite like having everyone sita around in the kitchen and yap...and yap. I know that some conversation is needed to move the story forward, but this was a lot. And the artwork, which has been generally dreary, really popped when Superman tried to mess with the --- uhhhh --- temporal force. That spread was just beautiful. The Superman-focused action art generally was top drawer. Skip the kitchen scenes and swoon over Superman. The colors alone...sigh! In summary, there are a number of good points to this issue in this otherwise forgettable miniseries. So many of the structural issues remain. It was much more readable, though.

For being a one-shot out of the blue special, Alpha Flight was a big, hot nothingburger. I was hoping for so much more. The first of the three stories was OK, the other two not so much. If you're going to tell a Puck backstory (which chips away at the fun mystery of the character, so tread lightly when you do it), you'd better tell it well. And the Guardian/Vindicator story...is that supposed to set something up in Marvel continuity? Or are we left with that, twisted as it is? (In fairness, the first story had was better, giving some depth to the Snowbird character and providing space for Talisman to display her skills.) The art throughout...just not good. Puck looked like he was on a medieval stretching device during the layoff, Snowbird and Marrina's eyes were drawn wrong and the Guardian/Vindicator story leaned way too hard into manga art. No Shaman or Sasquatch. At all. Despite getting cover space. This was one of my favorites when Byrne was doing it. I have the entire run, straight off the spinner racks, bagged and boarded to this day. I have the AF/Byrne omnibus. I really like this title. And I'm very disappointed. Marvel, you can do so much better.

First off, the art is always a blast. Batman has had a number of artistic versions, but the Turtles really have one classic one. Staying true to that - color and b/w, matters not - was a smart move. Love it. The story...Largely a big fight with the multiversal element that has run throughout the series. Strange side conversations within fights, some with poignant moments. Characters up and leaving fights...like that is possible. ("Sorry, empathy-free robot, I have to leave to do something else. Go fight that guy!") But in its weird comic booky way, it works. Krang sitting in Anti-Monitor's belly works. Greyscale turtles and color turtles work. Batman deciding to use the Bat-signal to call in the Bat-reinforcements works. It's a fun romp, something that the DC line really needs more of. Some of the dialogue was longer-winded than I would have liked. I bet someone could draw a straight-line relationship chart between overwrought dialogue and the number of universes in play for a given book. Small gripes aside, it's still an enjoyable book.

First of all, I give credit to DC for letting Neal Adams show off his art once again. It's clearly not 70's classic Neal Adams...actually looks like Adams took some inking tips from Frank Miller...but it's cool to see him back at work. (And yes, I get that his writing skill doesn't match his art.) I also note that he has figured out computerized coloring quite well. His classic pencils and inks no longer get the monotone color treatment of the older days, but he's wise to temper the wilder aspects of computer coloring. Overdone coloring plus his fine linework on the inking could be messy. Only spot where Adams falls down on the art, to me, is where he has Nightwing and the Robins. Can't tell them apart from face/hair perspective. As for the story, I've read a heck of a lot worse. Ras is infiltrating the GCPD. Pretty standard stuff. It was fun to see Deadman in play...been a while since I've seen him, too, and he's a classic Adams character. Interesting storytelling device of using the newsman to narrate. Been a while since I've seen that, I think. But overall a decent book. 6.5/10. You could convince me to go to 7.0.

I should not be this invested in a non-continuity book with continuity characters. It has no place in the DCU, and it's a one-off supporting this alternate reality of a fictional universe, but it's an absolute blast. And that's what matters: A fun, well-told story that makes you want to turn the page and then leaves you wanting more at the end of the issue. We need more of these types of books. As to the product itself, it was really good. Art was fully acceptable (but nothing awe-inspiring). Story was great, moved at a fast clip with a lot of plot development. Dialogue was solid, some parts really fun to read. I seriously hope that DC Comics management takes a long, hard look at DCeased and ask themselves "Where did we miss this?" and "How can we do more like this?" This is a fun title! There is a reason it's kicking everyone's butt on sales. I've been saying all along that DCeased is THE summer event, not Event Leviathan...not Year of the Villain. Guess this proves me out. --- "I have part of an ear in my tights" -- Winner, DC Comics dialogue for the week of 9/4/19

There are books where it pays to be a long-time reader. There are others where you can pull the book off the shelf, start reading, and it's like you were there from the start. This is the former, not the latter. Maybe it's always been this way, but I have only been reading for a little while and wouldn't know. Deathstroke is a family story, pure and simple. One has to understand the family ties to truly appreciate the book, and that takes time. I'm not entirely there. Plus there's a lot of sin and redemption talk, which confuses relationships and motivations all the more when your characters are tripping all over the line between good and evil. I have a feeling that this book is very satisfying for long-time readers. Average, modern day DC art throughout. Some nice layouts and scene setting in the climactic moments, though. But the book is well done despite my shortcomings, clearly above average.

The book suffers for being so reliant on momentum and then not being able to deliver. It is a dense work, clearly one with a great deal of thought put into it, and a chapter in a larger story (as a miniseries should be). I read Doomsday Clock #11 as a standalone, and it simply was too confusing. It's been a long time since I read issue 10 (released on May 29...just under 100 days ago!), and the threads of this story did not stick with me well. So I have to go back and re-read the series, something I would not have to do had it been on a regular schedule. Seeing as the art is only halfway complete on issue 12, I'm not going to bother as we probably won't see the final chapter until mid-December at the earliest. So this issue has to stand on its merits. The title probably is worthy of a higher score, but DC has forced me to read this as a one-off. It is what it is. That is a 6.5/10: A solid, above-average book with lots of daylight between it and the best book I have ever read. At this point, I'd strongly suggest readers wait for the entire series to finish before picking it up. It will be much more enjoyable that way. Art-wise, Gary Frank does a very nice job. It measures up to the aspirational level of the book. --- Putting the content of the book aside (and the grade, which I give based on content of the book and not on the surrounding circumstances), one can't help but wonder what the DC universe would look like today had Johns and Frank been able to keep to a normal production schedule. Would we have this cringe-worthy Year of the Villain, a hack-job of a cross-continuity plot that appears to have been hatched only after it was clear that Doomsday Clock would no longer be reliable? Would Justice League be introducing the Justice Society? Would Brian Michael Bendis have this week's awkward Legion rollout? DC has had a very, very rough time of late. I feel like they were spinning their wheels, continuity-wise, waiting for Doomsday Clock to complete its epic. But it never happened, and the company had to move on. It's pretty clear that there was no Plan B, that they relied on Johns and Frank...and were let down. So frustrating.

As I often ask on titles like this....why? Why did they feel the need to do this book? Why was it not good enough to place in the ongoing Harley Quinn title? It's clearly in-continuity, what with the references to Heroes in Crisis, Year of the Villain, the recent Justice League Dark annual, etc. Yet, for the Harley Quinn character, the storyline is a mess. We have Humphries' Harley Quinn title off in the ether supercharging her powers while this book is sorting out girlfriend matters with Poison Ivy. How can she be in two totally different places, let alone different states of being? Sigh. It's an OK book taken alone, reasonably well-written yet built on a foundation of stories that I didn't care for (Heroes in Crisis) and don't care for (Year of the Villain). The art is pretty. I'll give it that.

I will admit looking forward to this after last issue, which was really quite good. This issue....not so much. First, the art. Solid HQ stuff. No complaints. Cartoony when it wants to be, serious when it has to be. The story...my root issue is that HQ mourns for one entire issue before moving on to the next challenge. Having seen my wife deal with the loss of both of her parents, I'm not sure that's all too realistic. Nor does it dive into the possible stories surrounding how this bats*** crazy character deals with intense personal loss. I get the need to want to move on, but it just seems like there was a better way to do it. Perhaps give her a couple of issues to air it out. Anyway, the story. With mom gone, I guess we've gone cosmic/magic...two of the last places I would think HQ would go. And now she's on the cusp of getting all sorts of crazy powers, which is the last thing I would think you would want to do with this character. So I suppose I'm just confused at this point. At least I have issue #64, which was one of the best single books that I've read all year.

First, the easy part of the review. The art is awful. It's sloppy, character faces look different from panel to panel, inking is haphazard. Is this what passes for professional these days? I suppose the dialogue is OK considering how poorly constructed the story is. We have lots of action. We have lots of characters flying around with no semblance of connection to continuity with their home books (which probably is OK, seeing as DC has characters whose own books have no semblance of continuity to each other...). But as for plot, it feels like the writers have decided to simply add more and more and more complexity and characters to a book that is crying out for some resolutions and simplicity. Justice League is a hot mess, a poster child for the problems that DC has heaped upon itself. 3.0/10, with the 3 standing for the number of Tylenol it took to get through the book.

Houston, we have a problem. Brian Michael Bendis has tried to relaunch the fan-favorite Legion of Super-Heroes franchise with a book that features...no Legion. Instead, it's a series of wandering vignettes through future history. "President Supergirl", Batman Beyond, Kamandi, Tommy Tomorrow...they all get a piece of the action, visited by Rose/Thorn -- a curious character choice to be designated as the tie that binds. Art for each vignette gets a different artist. The work is...ok. Inconsistent, definitely, even within the stories. If you step back and think about what Bendis is trying to do, I suppose the book makes sense. Problem is, he infers WAY too much and can't be relied upon to make sure that the reader is following along with what's playing out in his mind. Increasingly, this is a problem across ALL of his books. I chalk it up to overwork (2 Superman books, Event Leviathan, Wonder Comics books, this...and a stewardship role in other books that he doesn't write, like Supergirl). If he could just slow down and tell the entire story, this could be better. It might even be good. Unfortunately, we have to judge what's on the page, and that's a disjointed mess. I want to like what Bendis is doing and find myself enjoying some of his dialogue patterns...and I THINK I could buy into his storylines (except for the obvious Batman plots forced onto the Superman books), but you can only give a book so much of the benefit of the doubt. When it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. I feel awful for long-time fans of the Legion. This is about as bad of a relaunch as I've seen.

I dunno that it will sell a million copies as Cebulski insinuated on social media, but I'm glad I'm getting a hard copy of this one. A lot of thought and care went into curating this book. In essence, it's a series of one-page vignettes loosely tied to the 80-year history of Marvel Comics. Some are poignant, some are powerful...and some are goofy (I'm talking to you, Deadpool!). Old characters are given their moment to shine next to the modern heroes. By and large, creative minds going as far back as the Grim Reaper allows contributed. It was great to see Simonson, Claremont, Frenz and others of the 70's and 80's in the book, as well as what could be some of George Perez's final work seeing as he's largely retired. That said, some of the omissions on creators are puzzling. No John Byrne? Frank Miller? Bill Seinkiewicz? John Romita, Jr.? These are people who carried Marvel for a while. I'm also a bit surprised that DC's Jim Lee didn't do a page for goodwill's sake, seeing as he got his professional start at Marvel. And if Rob Liefield gets a page... But it's too easy to focus on who's not in there as opposed to what IS in there. It's a vast book, tons of art and narrative styles. And, yes, some A-list names. So, as a one-off, it's a fun read. Recommended.

While Harley Quinn holds a bedside vigil for her mother, who is hospitalized with cancer, Sam Humphries takes the readers on a romp through the DC Universe (both stories and the streaming service) while giving voice to the (valid) criticisms of DC's recent continuity -- Year of the Villain, Tom King's portrayal of Bane and Event Leviathan, among others. The art is appropriately light-hearted, and I enjoyed the cartoony version of Apex Lex (Luthor). The fun stuff comes to a close with a poignant moment. Read to the last panel. This was perhaps the best DC book of the week. I usually don't give it the time of day, but I'dve read this one three times in less than 24 hours. Humphries nailed it.

This issue doubles down on in-series continuity going back to the beginning of this run with Starro knockoff "Jarro" and a blatant ripoff of Marvel's Infinity War with seven forces being hel together in a relic that will allow the Multiverse to change forever. Layer in the Justice League versus the Legion of Doom and you pretty much have the story. I've reconciled myself that this is the creative team that DC has chosen for this book, and this is the story they've chosen to tell. I don't like the story itself -- the Monitor and Anti-Monitor have been cheapened over the years since Crisis on Infinite Earths, and now they're bit players. Past that, I don't think that the author tells the story particularly well - both overuse of dense narration and some really clunky dialogue - and art is fair to middling at best. But the artist has to draw an alien starfish in a Robin outfit, so I'm not sure you can blame him for playing the hand he was dealt. If you like this stuff, I bet you will give it high marks. I personally don't like it a lot. That said, I'm going to give it a 5.0/10 on technical points and hold my nose at this insipid story arc.

I jumped on in the mid-60's, and this qualifies as the first Batman by King that I've read that was halfway decent. I note that being on the desert on a horse with no name over the previous issues, ending up in a brutal Batman v. Batman throw-down with one Batman emerging, meant absolutely nothing. All those songs, all those Russian storybooks read to us over and over and over...nothing. So what was the purpose in putting the readership through it? To see how low sales had to go before you got fired? (The answer seems to be around 83,000 books...but sales are still dropping...barely hanging in there over 80,000, confirming that it is indeed time to get a better writer on this title and soon.) We got a painful soliloquy on the downside of being Kite Man in a Batman world, which was silly fun. Considering the volume of spandex running around Gotham on a daily basis, a little silly fun probably happens as a statistical probability. Good on King to finally cast his gaze in that direction. And I find DC's use of Captain Atom as a de facto Dr. Manhattan intellectually lazy. But that's apparently a DC-wide matter, because the same persona for the good Captain popped up in DCeased. The art was OK, standard DC stuff. But all that said, it wasn't an awful issue. And that is a drastic improvement over recent issues. I'm not saying that I would recommend this to anyone, not yet in this world of $4-5 comics (GO READ FREEDOM FIGHTERS INSTEAD), but it's improving...at least for this month.

A good book, perhaps a great book, but a lot to swallow in one sitting. I'll need to read this a few more times to fully digest everything that Snyder explicitly and implicitly packed in. Capullo's art is quite good. On a silly note, I wish the Joker lantern head had more awful jokes to break up the tension. Small point, but it was a useful narrative tool. Always good to help the reader go from careful reading with a furrowed brow to a quick chuckle before diving in again.

A decent Swamp Thing story, laying out exactly why he should be in a solo book and not shoe-horned into JLD. Swampy as a member of the Justice League -- even this magic-based spinoff -- is entirely out of character. While we're at it, maybe Tynion can go write that book and put his narration-overload style to better use than having incredibly exciting characters literally sitting around, talking about cosmic events that just never come to pass while they talk some more. Back to the Annual -- the art was very nice as the art team clearly had lots of fun with the floral motif.

One would hope that the closing stanza of a "Year One" story would result in an epic moment. Spoiler: We didn't get it. Flash takes on Turtle for the last time (for a while, I presume). Turtle was one of the real interesting elements of the Year One arc, and I was hoping that this issue would firmly position him as Flash's new arch-nemesis in the same vein that Joker is to Batman or Luthor is to Superman. No so. Flash wins, Turtle is reduced to a whining little man and that is that. (Special mention goes to the "HOPE!" splash page. Flash has often been driven by his internal monologue, and this is Josh Williamson's attempt at a breakthrough for Barry Allen. But "hope"? Eeesh. I cringed. And chuckled. Not what Williamson was going for, I'm sure.) The junior Flashes, Wally and Wallace, make their appearance and thus help fill out the larger Flash world in Central City. Then, we are introduced to Steadfast and the Speed Force. This is not familiar territory to me, and it seems like Williamson rushes (pun intended?) through it to get to the closing monologue. That monologue is perhaps the best not for the words said/thought but rather the six panels previewing Flash's future. Villians, allies, tragedy, hope (of course, because hope is a big thing) and more. Howard Porter's art grated on me at first, but I suppose I've become accustomed to it. It's not my favorite art ever, but he does a decent job within his style. Not a bad book, just not great. I'd like to say that this story arc was enticing enough for me to stick with the book as a pull list item, but...no. At 4 bucks a pop, it's just not good enough to be worth my dollar. I liked The Flash a lot as a kid and gave Year One a chance, but it didn't clear the bar. --- The final scene, the Captain Cold section, is grafted onto the book and probably won't make the cut for the Year One trade paperback because it has zero bearing on the Year One arc. The Captain is a weary warrior with the Suicide Squad, but all is better because the Year of the Villain offer is on the way. But that's DC right now -- forcing this cross-continuity setup at the expense of the books themselves. Gotta cross-sell!

Another trip into the world of the most exciting, creative part of our favorite superhero universe...turned incredibly dull and listless by James Tynion IV. Case in point: Chapter 1, the Dr. Fate origin chapter. This is a scene with actual action, and it's exciting stuff. I'm genuinely excited to see Dr. Fate back in action!! But then, we switch to the present day, and Wonder Woman, Kent Nelson and Khalid are sitting around, literally talking about and over a cup of coffee. Total narrative buzzkill. Thanks, Tynion. Chapter 2, the Constantine "secret origin" chapter, is a train wreck. Putting the (again) sitting around -- because they sit a lot in JLD -- over drinks and smokes part aside, we are told the origin story of John Constantine. Why? Why would DC Comics want to pull back the curtain on one of its most slick, underhanded and mysterious characters? Constantine is a cypher. A manipulator. A wild card. A man with entirely hidden motives. He now is just another cog in the machine. Thanks, Tynion. On the bright side with Constantine, a more capable writer can brush the entire chapter off as Constantine messing around with Zatanna's mind...and lying through his teeth. THAT would be good Constantine. The Year of the Villain chapter is, so far, a throwaway. Let's see what happens. The art, overall, is fair to middling. I enjoyed the less detailed, almost Golden Age look of the Dr. Fate opening stanza, but the rest did not excite. Of course, the poor art team had to draw a bunch of supremely talented characters....sitting around. For the life of me, I don't get Tynion's approach to this book. A little exposition is OK, but every single issue? This is magic...sorcery...it should be SPECTACULAR. Tynion gets to write stories that the Bat-writers cannot even dream about. But he doesn't. It's as if he's trying to kill this book. 4.5/10, only that high because the opening Dr. Fate scene was so strong.

Steve Orlando delivers some actual action and character development in this installment of the 12-issue maxi-series. Riley Rossmo's art is as expected -- trippy, more cartoonish than real. I can't say as it was my favorite issue, but Orlando deserves credit for using dialogue not just to belabor expository notes but to actually engage in action. DC's books of late are increasingly getting crushed by the weight of their own exposition. I don't mind a little backstory, but the books do need to move forward at some point. Orlando does that. John and Meade lead a raid on a pig farm in the hopes of rescuing Ashley Adams and discover much, much more...dipping into more of a horror genre, something not entirely expected but not beyond Rossmo's skills. John also has to slip into his J'onn J'onzz persona to win the day, setting up an interesting conversation with Meade. It's not a great book, but it's a solid book.

I swear, someone sat Wilson down and had the Come To Jesus Talk with her. "Willow, this Mayberry stuff has to end." Because it ended just like that, and the past couple issues have been trying to get back to the noble warrior thing that makes WW unique, cool and fun. My concern is that what we're seeing is peak Wilson...and the book still isn't what it could be. It's light years better, but it's still not great.

Cecil Castelluci takes over the writing with this issue, and she offers a refreshingly fun and genuine Batgirl character in action against a surprisingly upgraded Killer Moth. We're just getting started, but it looks like groundwork is being laid for a nice long run as secondary characters are given a little time to breath and grow. Art is solid. I especially enjoyed the action scenes. The future is bright for Batgirl.

Tons of professional work by Jurgens and Leonardi...but the story isn't grabbing me in any visceral sense. That said, it's a solidly above average book.

A fantastic study in what it means to be a normal Joe in the resistance. Plus, only one bean for the little girl. (Hee!) Venditti is just crushing this book. He's figured out the ebbs and flows of a 12 issue series...hit the high points every few issues, backfill with plot-important lulls. So, so impressed. Few writers have that down. Plus, there is character-critical development on most every page. We're learning about them, caring more about their outcomes. Art is on point, better than most DC books. It's just a great book, and I'm going to proudly own one of the 3 copies of issue 12 that DC bothers to print because nobody else is reading it.

The sprawling Event Leviathan storyline continues through this book (and becomes intertwined with the company-wide Year of the Villain storyline). Superman has a run-in with an agent of Leviathan, and Perry White is trying to figure out what the heck is going on. The art is terribly inconsistent. Kudranski doesn't draw a very good Superman (especially the face), but that's OK as Superman is a bit player in this issue. The book is overly dark..so many shadows, not consistent with the Superman style. I'll keep beating the drum on this until someone listens: The entire Leviathan storyline isn't a Superman story. It's a Batman story. Maybe a Question or Green Arrow story. But using Superman on this is a waste of character, story and book. I get that this type of story is what Brian Bendis knows how to write, and he happens to be on Superman, but maybe he could have held it until Tom King leaves Batman...shuffle over to that slot and then publish it with Batman as the protagonist? Anyway, I continue to be frustrated with this book. I like the Event Leviathan miniseries, and I don't mind Bendis' writing, but his choice of story is baffling. 5.5/10.

Bendis is back at it with his "long-form broken into dependent chapters" Pearl. Our lead character is still trying to figure out where she stands, and what is in store for her, with her crime family ties and expectations. Plus, there's a 3 page sidebar talking about the logistics of creating new sex acts for profit. Truthfully, I don't understand why AT&T/WB/DC printed this. They have put the clamps on many books - even canceled the Vertigo line - in an effort to be "family" oriented and prudish in the Disney model. But then they allow this? With a full-page of violent blood showing what happened when a person engaged a trafficked sex worker? My only explanations are 1) They had no idea what they were doing, or 2) Brian Michael Bendis has a contract that forces his new corporate sponsors to print whatever the heck he wants. Should the latter be true, the implications for his authority over the DC Universe are profound. The art, a combination of watercolor painted color schemes and mixed media drawing and photocopy for human figures, is (intentionally) fuzzy. I'd say "muddy," but the colors often are as bright as can be. There just is little definition. Bendis' scripting style is very conversational, and as such his word balloons often overwhelm the page. This story arc comes to a conclusion next issue. I fully expect at least two people to die, gruesomely, before the book is done. Then the lead character will muse over tattoos and sex toys or something.

Fraction clearly has fun playing with the conventions of the Silver Age Jimmy Olsen books, from the ludicrous nature of Olsen's antics to the way in which he compartmentalizes and titles each chapter. Character development is weak, but the story is established: Jimmy's hijinks are selling newspapers, but he's causing so much damage that he needs to get shipped out of Metropolis. Where will this take us? The art, clearly supposed to be simple in a Silver Age way, falls short. The flat colors CAN work, but the artist appears to be drawing for computerized saturation coloring. Way way way too much blank space and full body shots. The best art is the turtle re-entry sequence with Superman...where the colors of the fireball take over. I don't think the artist is bad, but he's clearly making bad choices in drawing this book. He should have spent more time understanding the composition of Silver Age books before taking this on. Get ready for a year of madcap adventures with Jimmy O!

Closing out the 2-issue arc of Crush and her her father Lobo...a story that begins, happens and ends predictably as a two-issue arc against a vastly more powerful opponent would go. The heroes discover the bad guy, get stomped by the bad guy (end issue 1), regroup/retool, fight the bad guy again and eke out a win. Standard hero book arc. The joy in reading this type of book is not in the destination (Yes, they beat Lobo) but rather the journey. How do they react to Lobo's entrance on the scene? How do they handle getting their clocks cleaned? What steps do they take to regroup? What are the interpersonal repercussions? How does Crush handle facing her dad? And, eventually, what does it take to finally win the day? While I won't go as far as to say that this was my favorite book ever, I will say that the author does a good job with the filling in of the margins of the plot. Every character in the group has at least a minor role, and small elements of character development occur. Artwork is standard grade. Nothing spectacular until D'jinn uses her powers, and that is a classic computer-driven combination of color and line. This Bronze Age reader still smiles when he sees that type of work. I suppose I need to mention that this book, too, is given an "offer" from Year of the Villain. It plays well off of the just-concluded arc...and Lobo's inability to get the job done on his own. I liked the book. I'm a classic Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans fan, so it's taken me some time to get used to this lineup. Fortunately, we have a writer in Adam Glass who takes the time to give us reasons to care about these interlopers. Well done.

Simple, joy-filled, adventure and fantasy. Not much more to say.

I tried, I really tried. I read the whole thing. I went back and read selected sections to try to better understand characters, motivations, plot development. It didn't work. We apparently have a young adult who hates his life and his job, retreating into a dream/alternative world to escape his reality. It was just done very, very poorly. But there were lots of unnecessary foul language words, so I guess that makes it edgy. Art was uninspired. For a book apparently about teen-young adult angst, it does nothing to convey such feelings through the character work. Layouts didn't draw my eye to anything in particular, with the color palette so limited as to remove the possibility of pops of color to accent a panel, a scene, a moment. For the life of me, I do not understand why DC greenlighted this title.

This JL issue finally puts some meat on the bones of this Year of the Villain concept, at least from Lex Luthor's perspective. That in and of itself is appreciated. James Tynion's writing is so terribly overwrought. He could use half the words and get at least as much meaning out of the book. But his problem isn't unique; most writers should confine themselves to a study hall with a few trade paperbacks from the pre-Alan Moore days and see how comic writing was done. Simpler, yes, but at least as effective. That's not to say that Moore was a bad writer, not in the least. He is a fantastic writer, but he is unique with his skillsets. Most writers simply can't do comics like he does (or, I guess, did). But, and this is important, great stories can be told without mimicking Swamp Thing, Miracleman or Watchmen. JL COULD be a great story, but it crumbles under its own weight. The artwork is substandard. Character work is inconsistent. Overuse of shadowing (presumably for gravitas) renders some characters unrecognizable. Shading is middling to poor. Special mention needs to be bad of Hawkwoman's neck on page 1 and Green Lantern's face on page 7. The crosshatching is simply awful and entirely inconsistent with the balance of the book. Coloring is adequate. It does not enhance the book, however. That's the technical side. On the story side, I find the Shayne/Starman element interesting. And that's about it for this issue. The diminishing of the Monitor and the world forging character to walking companions with the JL wastes so much promise and power of the characters. They are NOT just narrators of the universe's story. They are creators and overseers of the universes that they and their ilk create and destroy! The JL members should be quaking in their shoes when those two talk, and instead they just take it all in stride. Sorry, Flash...even Superman, you don't match up to those two. Period. Shame on Tynion for equating them. Then there's the core Year of the Villain matter of Lex Luthor. His usage had to be the result of some awful conference room discussion, for I cannot for the life of me understand why a uniquely powerful titan of business would be transformed into...whatever he's become. Truthfully, his character looks and reads like a variant on Ras Al Ghul. So now we have two Ras characters and no Luthor. How is the DC Universe enhanced? And what will become of Luthor once this arc inevitably ends with his failure? Will DC have another comparable character to lift up as a projector of financial power to our heroes' super-powers? They'd best get started on this. I will admit to not being a fan of the Year of the Villain 25 cent book, nor the awkward interludes that are showing up in so many books. The whole storyline comes off as a panic move by DC to try to impose cross-selling on its creatively chaotic line of titles. (Never mind that it had another cross-character book running at the same time in Event Leviathan...but that's another matter altogether.) But I now have a better idea where the storyline is going after having read this issue, and that's a good thing. I now believe that the story could be a good one, but it has a number of significant structural flaws to overcome. And I see nothing in Justice League #28 to suggest that this creative team has the chops to fix it.

Four issues into his run as writer of Nightwing, Dan Jurgens has completed the transition and pivoted his entire cast as well as the lead character's outlook. Ric Grayson knows who he was, doesn't remember anything about it and doesn't care. The "Nightwings" know that Grayson exists and have no idea of his background. They just know that he's good. Grayson has a love interest, and she's cool with everything. Jurgens hits that reset button with authority, leading with a five-page opening montage that restates Grayson's history and outlook. It's as tightly done as anything in comics today, something that every single writer of every single DC book should read, analyze and internalize as it is better than anything they have done. No unnecessary verbiage. No book-length captions or narrator boxes. It's a throwback to when comics were easy and fun to read, and that's a joy after slogging through Nightwing's contemporaries. The art was solid, unspectacular and does nothing to detract from the story. Few liberties are taken with layouts. Coloring is comparatively simple when compared to other DC books. The book does have the obligatory Year of the Villain "offer", one that actually is somewhat integrated into the larger view of the book. Again, Jurgens knows how to tell his story AND be the company man. Best book of the week for DC. The future is bright, and I'm excited to see where Jurgens takes us. If you're not reading it, you're missing out.

For a "talker" issue, it's actually quite good. KS Deconnick has a nice way with words and lets conversation flow naturally...without clogging the page with dialogue. The teased return of Black Manta largely disappoints as it is only the Aquaman installment of the Year of the Villain "offer". It's great to see him, but you know your book isn't going to be an exciting one when your cover (and variant) hypes a villain who literally stands around and talks to a hologram. However, DeConnick does a good job using issue 50 to return Arthur Curry to the mainland and reset the scene at Amnesty Bay. Wonder Woman shows up and is an impressive conversational foil. Her arched eyebrow over Arthur's abandonment of (pregnant) Mera is withering. Being married and having done dumb stuff, I know that look all too well. Back in Atlantis, Mera's pregnancy is an open secret and a cause for concern in the royal court. The dialogue and plot here are weaker. Art is good, probably on the better side of what DC is offering. Arched eyebrows excepted, facial expressions largely are eschewed in favor of full body shots so you don't see the nuance in the character reactions. It's an artistic choice, and I'm nit-picking what really is decent art. I'm interested in seeing where this book goes, action-wise. We have a lot of moving parts -- Arthur's return, Mera's pregnancy, the looming royal wedding, the relocation of Atlanteans (gods, I guess) to the neighboring lighthouse and a little law enforcement matter to attend to -- but they all involve little to no action. Where will be visceral thrill provided by spandex hero comics come from? You have to think that it's the Black Manta element, but DC has yet to play the Year of the Villain out to the point where we can confidently say that's the spot. We shall see.

What fresh hell is this? What relationship does this have to #74? Two Batmen entered, one left. Now one is in the Batcave, the other is wandering around the Himalayas again...while Catwoman just happens to be there. It's as if #74 (and the "home on the range" issue) didn't matter. Were they a dream? I get King's scene setting with Bane running Gotham, but there is zero reaction from rest of universe. Would one not think that a single spandex hero would be concerned about the happenings in Gotham? Truthfully, I can actually get behind the basic premise of Bane running Gotham using Psycho Pirate to keep everyone in line, but it literally has zero connection to the preceding arc. That's just bad writing. And of course we have to endure Tom King Story Hour. At least the artist had fun with his reimagined GCPD. 5.0/10 on the merits of the single issue taken in a vacuum, 3.0/10 in context of prior issues.

My initial resistance to this Year One arc is wearing down, as the point of the story is growing clearer to me. Rather than being a quick study in time travel, it's a chance to reset the Flash's villain hierarchy. Whereas the Flash has had his Rogues Gallery over the years, now they are superceded by the Turtle. It's a cute counterpoint -- the jackrabbit Flash and the lumbering Turtle -- so I guess all is good. Still, the question has to be asked: Is this arc worthy of a Year One moniker in the ways that other Year One books have gone? Heck no. Howard Porter's art is distinctive and, too, growing on me. He does a very good job conveying the kinetics of the Flash.

And thus concludes the first "season" of Naomi. Trade paperback and hardcover collection to follow. This title is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. The writing, at the surface, appears lightweight. I don't entirely mind, because so many books these days try to condense entire sci-fi novels into a few pages of overcrowded text. Naomi appears to be written from her perspective...that of a teen girl, thrown into this crazy world of aliens and super-powers. Everything isn't revealed on one page. As she learns, we learn. That's refreshing. The art is masterful. Jamal Campbell blasts light and color through the shadows. Characters are drawn (painted?) in a way that evokes manga but, due to shading, offers a level of authenticity that mange can't. The only drawback on the art, to me, is the choice of the clunky, angular shoulder pads on the title character. Past that, the book is beautiful. I'm getting the hardcover collection just to admire the artwork. Story-wise, the sixth issue closes out the first "season". The transformation of the title character from awkward teen to new, raw, superheroine is complete. There's a lot that we don't know - Bendis likes it that way, what with his fondness for story-driven mysteries and all - but there's no denying that SOMETHING big has hit the scene in the DC Universe. I have a feeling that Naomi's upcoming Action Comics 1015 appearance will be telling, what with her first exposure to Superman and Batman. Bigger picture, I remain convinced that if DC handles this character right (no guarantee that they will), they have set themselves up with a superhero that is demographically perfect for today's target audience. Naomi is young, female and of color. She has incredible sci-fi roots based in the lore of the DC Universe. She's a kid who's trying to make sense out of the madness. And she apparently has some amazing powers, the limits and scope of which are still to be discovered. Considering DC's foray into young adult graphic novels (Mera, Raven, Beast Boy, etc.), this is a perfect transitional character for those readers to slide into the DC Universe slate of books. I get that there is animosity toward Brian Bendis' work -- both his style and his heavy hand with the DC Universe right now. There are places where things could be better. That said, this is perhaps the best example of what is possible when you give him the entire sandbox and let him play.

Stylistic impressions as we dive in: 1) Jason Todd looks to be 35-40 in this book. If that's the case, Bruce Wayne is Frank Miller Dark Knight old. Not sure DC wants to go there. 2) Kudos to the writer for strategically placing BRIEF narration boxes around key plot points. Like "Who's that character?" or "What's that knife?" or "What's the backstory on Penguin's eye?" Narration boxes, when used judiciously, are godsends. This Wingman character. Todd has no idea who he is. Yet he takes his helmet off. And Todd worked for the World's Greatest Detective. Guess the fruit fell pretty far from the tree when it came to Todd. And then, on the boat, does the Batman tattoo suggest that Wingman at least knows Todd was Robin...if not is Bruce Wayne himself? (But Wayne wouldn't be dumb enough to tattoo himself with a bat, so I'll go with the former.) ....and, storywise, the loose ends are tied up just in time for Year of the Villain. The casino trades hands, the dog has a new owner, Wingman gets his goodbye. For doing that so tidily in a single issue, props to Scott Lobdell. Artwise, Pete Woods is like so many other DC artists. Good, similar to other titles' artists, and unspectacular. What score do you give for competence with no distinguishing marks? 5.5? 6? I'll go 5.5/10.

Holy expository pages, Batman! That second splash page ("Earlier") looks like the writer threw up. The back and forth witty banter between Supergirl and Superboy is forced and intrusive to the story. As to the story itself, we learn that Gandelo is evil and tricky...and, thanks to Zaar, dead. Zaar is obsessed with getting his axe back, which Supergirl valiantly tries to prevent. Doesn't end so well, hence the pre-Year of the Villain interlude cliffhanger. I've enjoyed Kevin Maguire's work over the years. Nice, clean lines, good character work, excellent expressions and good page composition. He has the chops from his Justice League run to make some of the books' jokes work, but the execution of said jokes is just tired. Is it on him? On the writer? Something isn't right.

First off, I get that the variant cover is supposed to be of Lois Lane...but it looks more like a cheesecake cover of Cosmo. Not unappreciated on this end, but not Lois Lane either. Next, I note that Bendis has a thing for two-page spreads in his books -- much more than other writers in their books. While the imagery is powerful, I can't help but think that it's a shortcut mechanism for Bendis as he squeezes more and more books into his repertoire. Perhaps he should cut back and perhaps edit a couple of the books he currently writes. The retelling of Superman's origin is interesting, giving Bendis a chance to place his spin on the momentous end of Krypton. But I have to ask, why would a Kryptonian scientist leave a Bar Mitzvah to address Jor-El's concerns? Is Kryptonian Judaism a thing? (Really?) The inclusion of Oans and other offworld science leaders into the non-decision on abandoning Krypton is an interesting development. One would think that it would give Superman a chip on his shoulder with pretty much anyone involved in the final deliberations of the Science Council. As for the balance of the book, I have a reflexive opposition to the idea of Jor-El as a live character in the DC Universe. It cheapens Superman's unique character in the same way that Supergirl, Superboy and Krypto do...EXCEPT THAT JOR-EL HAD TO DIE SO THAT SUPERMAN COULD BECOME A THING. The rest, to me is superfluous. Just end this storyline and put Jor-El back in the grave. And Bendis gets to mess with the Year of the Villain Offer sequence in a way that no other book I have read thus far does. It's good to be Brian Bendis. Ivan Reis is a good artist. I enjoyed looking at this issue.

I get that it was renewed for a new "season," but we can rejoice that this ending gives us a brief respite from this book. Its only redeeming element is that the author knew how to wrap up a story arc with a bow. Put this book at the bottom of the pile and don't regret not reading it.

Wow! What a revelation! I had heard that something new and great was finally happening with Wonder Woman, and now I get it. We've left Mayberry and moved to Dimension Chi for an epic fight with what appears to be a possessed Empress Hippolyta. That ended, the trio of WW, waitress Maggie and the formerly annoying Atlantiades reunite with the Amazons in a bid to retake their home. I won't pretend to be conversant with the ins and outs of Wonder Woman lore, but this was a very good book and, more important, a well-executed and badly needed reset. I don't dread what's to come and actually am interested in where this is going. The art largely lived up to the writing. I've seen better, but I've also seen so much worse.

What was that? Brian Bendis has decided to explore the multiverse with the help of his Young Justice squad. We get Captain Carrot, what looks kinda like Earth-2 and some awful manga-inspired Earth before landing at the "absolute worst one" -- a cliffhanger. Art is light and fun. Dialogue is even lighter and, at times, even more fun. It's a young reader book, and as such it clears the bar. (Though I do wish they wouldn't have taken such comedic liberties with Dr. Fate.)

This industry trend of writing for trades instead of for self-contained issues is killing me. Both storylines running through the book appear compelling, but I'm getting lost in characters and unspoken motivations (because they would have been explained earlier in the trade...no reason to repeat, right?). In general, the book seems a tad heavy for me. It goes over the top in terms of the psychological issues of Duke/Signal and Sofia. I know it's a totally different book than Barr/Aparo's BatO book of the 80's, and the times are indeed different. Still, it's OK to lighten the mood a few notches. The art is far from amateurish but doesn't grab me in any meaningful way. The Year of the Villain "offer" section is superfluous.

Wait, wasn't Selina hooking up with Bruce Wayne? Now she's got this James guy? Who's he? Had Joelle Jones taken a moment to reset the scene, readers would know. But she didn't, so it's Just Another Scene With Catwoman Messing With a Guy. The Raina Creel/Villa Hermosa story is intriguing and reasonably well thought out. A unique villain/rationale for the violence within. I look forward to seeing where it takes us. The art looks like someone really wants to be David Mazzucchelli when they grow up. Which isn't bad...just derivative. The Year of the Villain "offer" is forced and disrupts the flow of the book -- as it does in most all books where this takes place.

Whereas 1006 was a little obtuse, this issue was very well written by Tomasi. A tightly wound story of two detectives searching for Jim Corrigan, who has been kidnapped by a group of Spectre costume-wearing nasties called the Cult of the Divine Hand. The interplay between Batman and Spectre was enjoyable and served to highlight the limits both will go in their respective pursuit of justice...both from a practical and moral perspective. Artwork did the job. No awards, but no rotten tomatoes either. Looks like the artist had fun drawing the Spectre. Blessedly, there was no Year of the Villain interruption.

The hunt is on for Leviathan. Brian Bendis' corkboard two-page splash spread was a brilliant tool to bring me up to date on the many characters and issues coming into this series. Bendis may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he can set a scene as well as anyone working today. Bendis' slam on Columbus, Ohio is cute. One of his classic asides. The Question sequence was classic Question, well presented. However, Alex Maleev blew an opportunity to inject some Plastic Man illustrative fun into what is a pretty dense and dry book. Overall, the issue briskly moved the story forward. Clues as to Leviathan's alter ego have been dropped. The detective team has been assembled. On to issue 3. I liked the story but found the art lacking. Maleev is competent but takes zero risks. His mishandling of Plastic Man, combined with stone faces all around, suggests that he simply is not comfortable with the task at hand. I don't know his work, but my guess is that he doesn't draw the spandex superheroes much. Still, a good story trumps art for me any day.

Robert Venditti quickly is becoming one of my favorite contemporary authors. His work on Freedom Fighters is simply fantastic, and his Hawkman grabbed me with a simple conversation that Carter Hall had with a local in Africa: "...in my first life I was Ktar Deathbringer, a warlord general who led raids of slaughter across many worlds. ... I'll continue reincarnating until I've saved as many lives as once died by my hands." There. That's how you write a raison d'etre. Hawkman has a simply stated reason to do what he does. The balance of the book is a tussle with the Shadow Thief, a pretty average villain elevated by Venditti's scripting. Then there's the Year of the Villain "offer" to close things out. Pages have never look more shoe-horned in than this sequence across DC titles. Art is on the less spectacular side. I'm not a fan of the character work, and the layouts don't inspire me in any way.

Holy cow, that was one unnecessarily dense book. I get Abnett's desire to illustrate Cyborg's transformation into a machine "New God," but surely there was a simpler way to get there than to have Cyborg and Darkseid discussing imaginary math and science for pages. The issue did have perhaps the best Year of the Villain "offer" -- the first couple pages basically getting the YotV stuff out of the way with no offer...just some regret. I suppose Cyborg's transformation represents character development. I would have liked to see him remain grounded in a family-driven reality -- that's been a strong aspect of his character -- but DC decided to go in a different direction. The other three characters were somewhat pointless this issue. It was the Darkseid/Cyborg show. Art was OK, again professional but unspectacular.

NEW RULE: No big expository reveal in the final issue of a miniseries. Doing otherwise endorses reader feelings that the author has been effing with them for the balance of the series. "Oh yeah, all of this lunacy we've been going through? Well, it's....ALIENS! Yeah, aliens..." The best part for me of this book was the closing pages where the older Damian and Jon are reading stories of their exploits. Nice way to close it out. I got in late to this series, never really got onboard. Farewell Supersons miniseries...bring on the Wally West reboot miniseries!

The opening sequence trying to escape...and then escaping...was interesting. Lots of little clues were dropped as to BG's character. The Fox saying, "You said so" about letting him get out was telling. BG is just a good person at heart, and he knew/took advantage. As for the rest, BG has rebooted her life. Starting over again. Not necessarily a bad thing. Art was decent.

LOVE the reset on the joint origin of both Batman and the Turtles. Worth the price of admission right there. It's taken me a couple issues as I did not read the prior miniseries. I'm now starting to get the hang of this book, story-wise. This is really good stuff. And it doesn't have narration boxes all over the place like so many books on the stands these days! Actual characters...interact with each other! And they do stuff! What a novel idea! Art is great. It's so cool that they keep the TMNT style, which is unique in comics. Fun book, good story, great art.

This book totally kicks butt. Top to bottom, every scene -- fantastic reading. Fast paced story, great dialogue, real consequences. The opening scene with Harley Quinn was a grizzly laugh riot, and the closing scene with Superman was powerful material. Art fits the book to a T. 9.0/10, and I don't give that out lightly. This is DC's top selling book by a country mile for a reason. Only thing that comes close to it, quality-wise, is the Freedom Fighters miniseries. This is the DC crossover event that they didn't know they had when they patched Year of the Villain together.

The perils of being a relative newcomer to the book...I'm having those feelings that one gets when he has finished a really meaty, substantial book and just doesn't know enough backstory to have it all make sense. I *think* that this was a fantastic issue, filled with different characters working through the loss of Slade and each other in light of it. This book is built on a serious amount of history. You have well developed characters working through issues. It's a family book as much as a mercenary book. If it's not a fantastic issue, I guess I was fooled. (And we have the YotV tie in...[shrug]) My only complaint (and it's not new) is with Jericho. WTF did they do to this meek, reticent guy? This mute who spoke with his eyes? He's now this flying guy in a sleek spandex outfit, yapping away on his telepathic communicator. He used to be a truly unique character in the DCU. Now, he's just one of many. Anyway, good book.

Words cannot truly express the level of disappointment that I have with this book, but I will try. First, Gerard Way was allowed to totally disregard the fact that the DC Universe streaming service delivered a critically acclaimed season of live-action Doom Patrol. Instead, he started the book -- a first issue, mind you -- announcing that this was issue 13 of his arc. Right off the bat, new readers from the TV show are going to wonder what in the world is going on. And I did. But fear not! Way has an editor, and the editor has editor's notes! Those notes are plastered throughout this book in the same manner that you plastered Beth's cubicle with post-its as a prank for her birthday. They are EVERYWHERE throughout the book. Is it helpful? Kind of. It's also an implicit admission by DC editorial that this book makes no sense to the new reader. The script should have been scrubbed before it went to the artist. No book should need this many explanatory reference notes. Total tone-deafness on Way and DC's part. EXAMPLE: Danny is a street in the tv show. He's an ambulance -- with a theme park inside! -- in the book. Of course, that's only explained in an editor's note...so you have to run this strangeness through a translator because both what we saw on tv and what we are reading on the page is wacked out, each in its own way. Way's best writing came in the closing pages with Cliff Steele trying to rebuild personal relationships. The emotions are deep, and the pain is palpable. (And while an editor's note may have been useful to tell us that Robotman is no longer a robot but instead a human figure...it wasn't there. Maybe editorial burnt through their quota of notes in the first 20 pages.) I'm wanted to enjoy this book, but reading it was so incredibly hard. It's obtuse to begin with being Doom Patrol, then it was mind-numbingly self-referential because it picked up on a storyline that newcomers like me did not know. Not an enjoyable read in the least. I sure hope Gerard Way had a big audience with his last run, because he kneecapped his chances for big circulation growth. I know my rating is low, and it's only as high as it is because the art isn't bad.

Yes, it's a feminist manifesto. Yes, it's not for me. (Or maybe it is...and if that's the case, she might have tried to tell it a touch less heavy-handed.) But - FOR WHAT IT IS - it's a really good story highlighting the challenges that women have in recognizing that they actually have real power if they all row oars in the same direction, that men do a fantastic job dividing and conquering. And the reasonably happy ending makes this fantasy book all the better. My real issue is the fact that this miniseries apparently is out of continuity...but they didn't bother to tell us. DC has a burden to explicitly say, "This isn't really happening in our DCU." In fact, the upending of the world of Darkseid inside of continuity -- especially in light of Year of the Villain -- makes the Furies' burden all the more real. (And it would be kinda cool, continuity-wise, to have the women start running the show on Apocalypse and put Darkseid and the schmucks on the run for a while. YotV aside, of course.) The art is good. The artist is talented. That said, the artist never should have been assigned to draw Jack Kirby characters. The character work had all of the required elements of Kirby's characters...but none of the style that made his artistic exaggerations work. They looked like gorgeous Barbie dolls dressed for interplanetary warfare. The only female character that, to me, came close to the Kirby mode was Granny Goodness...and that's because her distinguishing features were her face. The artist HAD to copy Kirby there. With Barda, she could drop that massive hair/helmet thing on a pretty face and call it a day. Even with Lashina, it looked like Barbie covered with strategic strips of duct tape. None of the exaggeration. The criticisms I have were not strong enough to overcome the fact that I enjoyed the book on its terms.

There's something inherently fun in opening the book and having absolutely zero idea what's coming up. Grant Morrison, once again, delivers the goods on this front. I greatly enjoy how Morrison and Sharp use their British Isles frame of reference in writing/drawing this title (and not just this issue). Faeries, wizards, knights in shining armor...it's fun, it's different, it's trippy. Definitely not for everyone. Fun book, written and drawn on a giant scale. I'm enjoying the ride. In fact, it's the only ongoing DC title I feel committed to reading on a regular basis.

We are presented with a surprisingly nice meditation on death and dying. Not necessarily a powerful one, seeing as it is Harley floating around Manga-world, but nice nonetheless. And then death effed up and realized he had to kill the video store and not her. "Oops!" The pre-YotV bit where Harley went back to her mom and was talking while not getting a response actually made me think of when I did the same for my great uncle...but he was barely responsive. Bittersweet memories. But Sam Humphries is the Good Soldier, so he hijacked his own book for the good of the Year of the Villain. Sigh. I wonder where he was planning on taking it. So the art was standard Harley Quinn. Which isn't bad. The artist messes with panel layout, keeps it interesting. Not really a thematic reason to do so, but it's ok.

There is no way that this is the best art team that DC could muster. It has some of the sloppiest character work that I've seen in a while. And the inking has way too many blacks. That would be fine if they were in a cave, but...they're not. Story - The JL's A-Listers are off to stop Perpetua (grumble grumble Crisis shouldn't have been messed with grumble), Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl are getting the Year of the Villain treatment, Mera...left...and Shayne and Starman are doing something. I suppose stories are moving forward, so I can't give the book a sub-5.0 rating despite the awful artwork. Just not feeling it outta this book. DC should be doing better with this title.

The book is largely slow and plodding. (And Rucka has a problem with what the Trumpies are doing with family separation. So say we all.) Lois did what she does. She sleeps with Superman and does journalism. So those bases were covered. WAIT A MINUTE. Lois Lane has The Question on retainer? That was The Question working in Moscow for Lois, right? I mean, it makes sense -- journalist working with journalist (Even if Lane doesn't know that Sage is a journalist). The fact didn't really make this particular issue of this book much better, but it sets the stage for better to come. The art is not good, not good at all. But I'm seeing this style elsewhere in DC books (Justice League), so someone must like it. Not really much of a book, but it's issue 1 and we can't all be DCeased.

So this is Tom King's Superman. The one he flippantly said that nobody reads. (Bet DC loved that.) In general, this is not as odious as his Batman. In fact, I liked the fast-cut montage of stuff he does to save the day. Overall, storytelling is choppy and somewhat hard to follow. Plus there's the looming dread of Superman's forthcoming "knightmares" including the brutal murder of Lois in a dream. Why do I have the feeling that this was Peak Superman for King, and it's all downhill from here? Kubert's art is respectable. He's not my favorite, but beats the hell outta books like Justice League and Lois Lane.

Coming in on issue 23 and 24 on a 24-issue arc sucks. Especially because this ended so powerfully. Thing is, I have zero frame of reference on this book. I don't know the characters, who's good or bad, but it's clear that the book had something going for itself. Love the sequence with the diverting of the "missile" to instead blow up the spaceship. Beautiful, well executed. Simple yet distinctive art. Perfect for the purpose. 7.0/10. Probably would be higher if I had context.

OK so this is the "back at the ranch" issue. Virtually no Superman. And really, what was the purpose of the scene with Superman? To establish that Lois and he were messing around in the Fortress of Solitude...that she wasn't in Metropolis? (And when did the Fortress of Solitude move from the North Pole to the Bermuda Triangle?) Art-wise...The paneling with the Rose/Thorn interview was nicely done, but I don't like the character work at all throughout the book. It's clear that he has some face models...I don't think they hit the mark. And, once again, I'm going to reiterate that Bendis is a Batman writer working on a Superman book. It's just a mismatch of skills.

Unlike many, Jurgens knows how to write a story. Builds up properly, lays the trap for the next issue and reinforces it with the fact that Terry is lost in The Bottoms. False Face is a fun baddie to mess around with. Art-wise, the stylized "shiny" coloring job on the characters in spandex looks really nice. The faux Frank Miller work on old Bruce Wayne is a bit unsettling. I'm half waiting for him to get ambushed by a gang of thugs with Cyclops visors and chisel-sharpened teeth. (That's a joke) Good stuff, solid book.

I only read issue 3, never a good thing for a miniseries (always start at issue 1), so that may have impacted my score. It read like a tale of two books -- the front half being a supernatural "Justice League Dark" of sorts, minus the JLD characters sitting around and chatting for 90% of the pages like they do in the regular book. There was actual action and movement (I award an entire point for getting JLD right). Like the reliving of Batman's origin story (again), this time where Constantine tells Bruce to stop living in the past...fulfilling the dreams of so many comic fans who just don't want to see yet another Crime Alley scene. I wept in joy. The back half felt more like a "Greatest Hits" recap, tying the title in with Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's "The Killing Joke". If you have to hitch your book to another, you could certainly find much worse than arguably one of the best Batman books of all time. Art is good. Very distinctive. Layouts aren't anything special, but they don't need to be. The colors especially set the tone. Lots of love went into drawing this book.

A good first story for the arc...establish the conflict, position the characters. We'll put aside the fact that one of the most powerful characters in the DCU enlisted the help of the "World's Greatest Detective". The Spectre likely didn't NEED Batman, but you just do some stuff for the story. Art...OK, not terrific. Serviceable. --- Side observation: If Detective really is the red-headed stepbrother, sales-wise, to Batman, I'd take advantage of that if I was Tomasi and (powers that be willing) swing for the fences. Do some insanely great storyline. Arkham Knight was safe. This one looks safe. Let Tom King and the Batman team be forced to handle safe on the flagship book. Try something different. But that's me, and I've read enough Batman to last me for a while.

A fun issue. Humphries must be chuckling to himself as he types this stuff up. So much childlike joy in the book, much like the other Wonder Books. The Dial H results are fun, with homages to Miller (I think), Moebius and Hank Ketcham...and the rest of the Sunday funnies character creators. A welcome respite from the dour and abstract books from so, so many Miller and Moore wannabes.

I greatly enjoy this book, not quite so much for the actual story itself but rather for the amazing world that has been created. I'm not a Sandman Universe guy, so the cancellation of the Vertigo line hits me hardest with this title. This High Level world is so rich, so full of possibilities, that it could host stories for a long, long time. Perhaps Image will pick it up. I'd add that to my pull list. Anyway, there are points of storytelling that work well. The book opens with a fantastic scene of Minnow being approached by the proles as a God figure - a healer. What imagery. Then we get into High Level and realizing that it's a microcosm of today's society...a bunch of workers feeding the elites, who then capitalize on their status to create hype and reality program about themselves. This is solid stuff. Art is good...seems like it was a little more raw in past issues, this seems polished by comparison. One issue to go. I pray that they can give us a satisfying conclusion to what has been a very fun ride.

Where is this book going? Are gory bullet holes and edgy/improper language enough to prop it up? The art sure isn't.

Fun layouts. The artist has a nice feel for the page. Not constricted by grids of panels. He and Liam Sharp of GL probably swap notes over beer. For both writing and art -- Aquaman seems like a really nice guy, but not royalty. Is that a good thing? Not sure. It certainly challenges my view of who Aquaman is. Overall: Not quite as good as last issue, but far from being a bad one. A good recap of the Aquaman/Mera relationship.

I am amazed at the staying power of Zack Snyder's imagery of Batman in the goggles and trenchcoat in the sandy/apocalyptic world. First, Snyder did it in Last Knight. Now, King on Batman. Singing "Home on the range" - What's the reason for the choice in song? Parody of the situation they are in? Trying to suggest calm on Wayne's part as he fights his way through 1/3 of the book? He could have fought in silence. On the bright side, King lowered the extraneous narrative boxes to (close to?) zero. The dialogue carried more weight as a result. The art is serviceable. Which is all you can ask when you're being instructed by the writer to draw sand dunes at twilight for 23 pages. I'll go 6.0/10...and then go buy some 1930's flight goggles and an oversized trenchcoat.

So I guess that's it for Goddess Mode. Nothing quite like the 3 page wrap-up. 5.5/10 for ending a story that really wasn't ready to end.

A multiversal Hall of Heroes? Oh dear God. #Bloat So this is the recruiting issue. Interesting. The "Winter is coming" bit was a touch melodramatic. 6.0/10, with 1 full point for the cameos from Ryan Choi and the Metal Men. The artist needs to up his game to get on Perez's "I can draw everyone in the DCU" level, though. Bigger picture: What happens when the cascading multiversal apocalyptic events inevitably end? The blahs. And then we look back and ask if the epic was truly epic. Can we say that this lived up to the hype like Blackest Night or Crisis? Right now, I'd say not.

Most solid book thus far this week outside of Superman Year One. Writing makes sense. Art is exciting (made easier by the subject matter). A strong conclusion to the arc while advancing the larger story. I wasn't planning on liking this, but I really did. 7.0/10.

I am having a hard time overcoming the irony of At&T/WB/DC lowering the boom on Vertigo as they want less controversial material and then gladly publish this book, which is a bloodfest served with a side of Japanese noodles. I know, it's Bendis. He gets what he wants right now. Good book, good writing, good art. The height of corporate hypocrisy. 7.0/10.

Not my thing, but very competently executed.

The legend done right. Well done, DC.

The Lobo fight issue. A solid, straightforward writing job. Good art. Elements of larger storyline (Are they going to let Robin rule the roost any more?) sprinkled in. 6.5/10.

It's hard to rate this book as a standalone as it is the culmination of the entire story. As a single issue, it had professional artwork and, occasionally, snappy banter. But did the larger story achieve the aims of the larger miniseries? Was there a (hopefully satisfying) resolution? In a word, NO. I've tried writing a reasonable analysis of this series three different times, but the conclusion I will instead go with is: The series is DONE. It is over. Let's move on. Hopefully, DC Comics will conveniently forget that the title ever existed and just move on. 3.0/10, for the art and the dialogue high spots. Cannot overcome the awful premise, lousy plot and regrettable character development. Move on.