One of my favorite anthologies so far. Robin is one of my all time favorite characters, and these stories reflect why. Most of them are really fun yet heart-felt and done with passion for the character. A few of them such as the Grayson one was whatever, but other than that, this anthology was great. Each of the 5 canon Robins gets a story, but Dick by far gets the most understandably. Dixon, Tomasi, Tynion and Winnick were my favorites. Overall, a fantastic anthology from DC. Really wish I bought this one.

Tied with the Robin as the best milestone specials from DC. Tbh, all of them have been quite solid. Every single story in here was not bad or even boring, the weakest one still holding merit and intrigue, fitting for the Crown Prince of Crime. Out of all that has come out so far, the one I recommend people buying is this one. You won't regret it.

Out of all the anthologies, including DC and AC, this tied with Joker and AC is prob the best one. Tbh, all of these anthologies DC have been pumping out were pretty good, the worst one being WW wasn't even that bad. To me, there were no standouts, because all of them were great. From Tynion to Lemire to Marz, even Tamaki, all of their stories were cool. I guess that is the charm of Green Lantern as well. Like Flash, I was never really a big GL guy, but that won't stop you from enjoying this 100 page special and opening your eyes to the legacy GL has bestowed upon us these past 80 years. We get stories on alot of different Green Lanterns in DC history, from Alan Scott the Hal Jordan to Jessica Cruz, almost all the lanterns get a spotlight, which is probably why these stories were so good. All of them were different because they were dealing with different people. Shout out to the great late Denny O'Neil, one of the staples writers of DC heyday, and finishing his legacy off with a heart-touching Green Lantern tribute, one of his most revered characters, before ascending to comic book hall of fame.

This anniversary was good. Wasn't as good as Robin or JOker, but still a pretty solid extra-size special. alot of these stories while light, were pretty fun and described different aspects of Catwoman's life. Her good, her bad, her greed, her compassion, each one of those get a story. Some stories were okay like the ones from Ram V, Liam Sharp, and Jeff Parker. among others. My favorites Paul Dini's and Chuck Dixon's. A big one from Tom King which might hint at future DC plans is also in here. Overall, it was fun, light and nice, purrfect for something like Catwoman. Again, its 10 bucks and if you are tight right now, don't bother buying. But it was a nice celebration on the elusive cat burglar.

*** Reviews the entire series *** Marvel's attempt at expanding their catalog to more Asian audiences. And for an brand new character, this ain't bad. Its not. Its decent. But its nothing that will change your mind or reel you in to Marvel's pursuit in the Asian scene of superheroes. Frankly, besides Sword-master I am still very uninterested. But Aero was cool. First off, the art. Oh my, if there was one thing I really appreciated from reading manga, it was the art style. The art in this book is fantastic, heavy Asian/manga influence add with nice blue/white color schemes. How Keng draws Aero and her actions scenes are majestic to look it and really carries this book. The story however, its whatever. Very linear, borrowing from alot of tropes but doesn't reinvent or do anything really unique or innovative. And the writing, despite being okay, doesn't make this book stand out in any way. Its a standard Marvel book with a flare of China. Our girl, Ling who has the power of wind is an architect working to build skyscrapers. By night, she is a superhero named Aero who protects Shanghai from these skyscrapers turned monsters made of crystal, and she has to investigate why this happens and how to stop it. The biggest problem with this book is that it feels hollow. It moves quickly not because of anything intense or the writer making things fast, but because everything feels light and brisk and you finish reading it 5 seconds since you picked it up and feel confused because thats all there is to the story. There is no weight, and I kind of feel cheated out of having 4 dollars being taken out of my wallet for a issue that is read and put down in 30 seconds. It has the opposite problem of many comics, there isn't alot going on and it moves too fast. Add on that it feels decently generic throughout and while there is action and tense moments, it still doesn't have enough for the reading to invest themselves into the story let alone the character. The backup story was whatever. An adventure of Aero and Pearl that leads to Atlantis Attacks #1. Pearl is kicked out of the Asian Avengers and has to prove she can join back in with help from Aero. Whatever. If it wasn't for the art, this series would have floated off into the wind. 5.5/10

*** Reviews the entire series *** This was an amazing book by Spurrier, he has been on fire with his work in the Sandman Universe and independents like Alienated. This series, its focus on teenage problems, while it sounds stupid on the outside, how Spurrier handles it with such real emotion and touch, it really helps people understand why people feel, well alienated. This book strives to that conclusion to an extreme degree, but it gets its point across of what power does to people in times of their distress and problems, a commentary on not just teenagers, but everybody especially in this time we live in. Three kids, all named Sam in different ways, are attached mentally by this weird alien who has really weird powers. Then what comes is a very emotional clasp of very irresponsible actions each Sam takes by abusing this alien's power for their own interests, echoing their own personal problems, shame and fears. When this type of abuse goes too far, what happens to the alienated and those around them? Everything was amazing, the dialogue, the characters we are introduced to, the concepts and how they are conveyed, the art by Wildgoose is amazing, especially dealing with all the psychedelic elements like the dimensions and the alien, the colors by May was beautiful. The first two issue for me started out very slow for me and didn't really pull me into the concept of the series, was very casual. But when it hit those middle issues, the book skyrocketed and finished off with a banger of a finale. Highly recommend 8.5/10

Nice start. Nothing super out of the ordinary when it comes to crime, but its done well and has some great action and writing to pair with it. Like the art by Deodato, I like how he draws people alot, dancing with shadow elements and faint pencilwork. Its fast, its brisk, its quick, but it will pull you in and doesn't waste any time in getting dirty and to the point. I feel bad for April our mom, she just wants to spent time with her family. A classic crime and very excited to see where this will be going. Looks like another hit from AWA Upshot.

Overall, its a nice, short, fast crime story. A soccer mom becomes a badass to save her daughter from a sex trafficking ring. It brisk, its keeps moving, but its overall a very simple and basic story. Outside of her family and her role from Soccer Mom to killer, we don't know much about April, her daughter or anything else. Faust focuses less on themes and and more on the action. Great art by Deodato, some very good pencils to detail the violence and action in this series. Its predictable, nothing fancy, but was fun and had a fitting ending for its run. 7/10

***Reviews the entire series*** Overall, a great series. Started off slow, building up the foundation, then springs in a dash of horror. Then from Issue 2 onward, it is a wild-ride of horror, revelations, comedy, well paced comic goodness wrapped into one. The way this comic handles exposition is done very well that kept me interested, while leaving excellent cliff-hangers to keep reading. This comic sets up one story, just to completely switch in a direction nobody can anticipate, and it is done with the very highest of story-telling technique. Excellent dialogue from Joe Hill, adding in some well timed comedy to groove in with the horror aspects and made the series very fun to read. Art by Leomacs are phenomenal, as well as the coloring and panel layouts. Problems I had with this series, the axe. It was mainly just used as a plot device for horror and we never really enter into the deep background of the axe, of what it symbolizes, or even tying the aspect of the axe to be an integral part of the series. If you were looking for some mythology aspects, you won't find it here. Overall, great series. 8/10

Man, first I do not like how Rodriguez draws Joker. I don't really like his art style in general for that matter. And second, huh? What is this story. I don't read Batgirl, I don't read the tie-ins, but this cover got be the most mis-leading intrigue ever. The continuity is all over the place. Its connected yet not connected at the same time!?!?!?! It was cool seeing a Batgirl-Joker interaction again, but this was just horrid. What the hell is this Joker. The way he is written is terrible. I like Barb trying to be clever with what she has, and her self-talk in the beginning was nice, but this Joker is a joke compared to the Batman one. I can tell Castelluci has some real SJW/women-empowerment vibes with how she is trying to handle this " rematch " with Joker and Barbara, which is not surprising given her past work. And that mentality translated onto the page made this book fall apart, and it shows. She wants Barbara to " defeat " Joker so women can feel empowered, but it was so poorly handled especially at that end, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. " What scares a man most? A woman who laughs at him. " Holy cow, the dialogue just fucking falls off a cliff halfway into this book. Way to empower women Castelluci. No Bueno....

This series is getting better and better.

This was a good issue, and to be forewarned, this is an issue that will make people extremely excited or let down, depending on what you were expecting from Dark Designs. First off, the art is awesome like always. I know some people don't like March's art, but it is perfect for a Batman story like this. Inks, colors, composition, layouts are were superb as well. Now onto the meat. Without spoilers of this issue, Dark Designs is a prequel transitioning straight into Joker War. Alot of people will be mad about a story like this which picked up alot of steam being just a mere prequel, despite it was always hinted at, especially with introductions such as the Designer. There is a big reveal on the Designer, and it was very surprising, but also anti-climatic, but does come full circle on why Dark Designs was structured the way it was. TBH, I wanted more from the Designer, and was quite underwhelmed when discovering what really was going on. That being said, this comic issue is packed full of revelations and answers alot of questions that were up in the air since the beginning of this arc. It starts coming around full circle why certain actions were performed by certain characters, the deal the Designer and the Evil Four made, each villain's motivations and goals, why Punchline came into the story, who paid Deathstroke, why Joker is sitting at some random bar, all of that gets explained, and leaves the reader for a very high stakes arc coming in with Joker War. Tynion, although shifting the story in an unexpected and somewhat underwhelming fashion, it is done with masterful technique, showing just how far Tynion has improved as a writer and story teller. We also have a nice hook at the end to finish off this first arc from Tynion. All in All, I really did like this book and run by Tynion and looking forward to what the final issue of Dark Designs surprises me with.

Well, that concludes Dark Designs. Overall, this story arc was quite refreshing after King's run with City of Bane, and is by no means a slouch of a run. On the contrary, it is probably some of my favorite Batman story-telling coming from DC as of late. But this final issue is kind of rough, but also enlightening at the same time? So most people would say this is a melo-dramatic filler, which I can see. But it also ties this whole idea of " Dark Designs " together with some excellent dialogue technique. Like seriously, Tynion has become an excellent writer, and his dialogue shows. Especially when he is talking about Alfred, which Tynion in-cooperates so subtly but effectively. Really pay attention to the last pages. It might sound like some idiotic shit Tom King would do, but it really makes us see what this " Dark Designs " is really is and what Alfred wanted Gotham and Bruce to be, albeit in the perspective of Bruce himself. The way he writes Batman is dramatic, but its the good type of dramatic compared to King for an example, you feel Batman's frustration and anger and that translates into what is about to transpire next. But its not without its mortal flaws. The Cat-Bat dialogue stooped down to Tom King level, seriously after what I got from Tynion so far, I expected better. Certain art frames I can tell are also rushed, most notably at the beginning pages. March has very detailed pencils, so it shows when he either rushed it or somebody filled in for him. I also don't understand why the hell Joker even hired Deathstroke in the first place. Yeah, he tried to kill Penguin and failed, but Joker just wanted Deathstroke to drive a sword in his leg??? They also introduce another character, but Tynion merely talks about him rather than showing him for most of the issue, which I find counter-productive. Hopefully this is fleshed out more in Joker War. The good stuff is that Joker War is being rapidly developed in this issue, and its about ready to pop, so get hyped. Overall, this was a decent ending to Dark Designs, balanced with some really great elements and development with so not so good technique across many areas. But heading into Joker War, Batman fans will almost certainly experience and overwhelming banger finale arc wrapping up four years of Batman: Rebirth.

That was a slow burner, definitely not what I expected going into Joker War. Probably I am on that Death Metal hype, but I was just expecting more going into Joker War for a 1st issue, something big, explosive, bombastic given the slow build up we had for the past few issues. But instead we just get more build up. Even so, its still very well done. Tynion has definitely improved on his dialogue work. He can be very verbose and exposition heavy, and there are hints of that in here, but for the most part he has smoothed out his craft and delivered a good issue carried in part by his writing. So great job on that. Jorge Jimenez's art. Man, DC really do have some great artists, and Jorge Jimenez is carrying that mantle from Greg Capullo. Not to say that March's art was bad, but Jimenez is just an all around a top notch artist. Along with the dialogue, the art and colors really does carry the book due to a lack of substance of the meat of the story to commence. I really like the flashback with Alfred in this issue, gives me da feels. The Joker section was fire, and I mean this Joker is super scary, I feel bad for the dude he was with. Apparently Joker wants to buy out all the movie theaters in town, and the Under-broker is his financial guy to handle that. There is this cool scene with Batman and Punchline towards the end as well with a really cool cameo flashed really quick. But again, this just feels like more build up, when I already thought that we finished building up and we get to see some Joker War goodness. It just underwhelms my excitement for probably one of thee biggest cross-over events this year. The last few issues of Batman have been underwhelming for that matter. Kind of a weak start, fell a little flat, but it still good. Hopefully we pick the pace up soon.

Well, it still sorta a build up, but I am liking it more and more, which is Tynion's style I guess. How Tynion plays with Batman's past and his parents and Alfred, its chilling, its scary. But its done very well. I loved it when Joker was getting into Bruce's head. The details of the movie theaters, the Mark of Zorro film, it is all set up to completely dismantle Batman by turning his own life against him. We also get a bonus feature of yet another new character debut, Clown Killer. And while only a snippet, like Punchline and Designer holds alot of promise and speculation, hopefully it doesn't disappoint with what Tynion has hyped up. Art by Jimenez again is gorgeous, DC's new flagship artist at the helm right here. His Joker is amazing, and the colors, oh so good.There is a reason why artists and colorists go to DC. Liked HQ in this issue. So we can see she healed from her knife-cut, but I really like how HQ is handled here as a character. She is quite funny with her relationship with Punchline and her injury, but isn't annoying and can be quite serious when its needed. The comic is subject to some laughable exposition like " Sno-cone ", " Jokercycles and Jokerplanes ", " heatarrangs " etc. But overall, I liked this issue despite being mainly exposition. But it was very entertaining exposition and finally seeming to ramp up to some really crazy action in the oncoming issues. A good improvement from issue #95.

Well, like I have said, it still part build-up, but with Tynion, we might as well be in the thick of it. And it was good, but not greatw Again, the biggest strengths of Tynion's run was his mass improvement of writing and dialogue of the years, coupled with Jimenez's art and colors. Its some of the best from DC right now. Really like what we are getting from Clown Hunter. Sure, he looks kind of funky, but I like what I am seeing from him, even if it was just a snippet. And Punchline, some people may not like her so far, but she is pretty cool from what I have read. So with new characters introduced to the Batman Lore, Tynion is doing a great job. Certainly better than some of King's characters he introduced in his run. But the Theater sequence. Man, it was amazing. Yes, Joker's dialogue can be a little overly edgy at times, but overall the writing and action and art was stellar. Batman subtly experiencing more grueling hallucinations, the Joker really getting inside of Bruce's head, literally using dead bodies to haunt Batman on is failures, I love it. And the subtle aspect of Alfred. Tynion really knows how to use Alfred and make him effective and integral to this story, even in death. That is a sign of a true master of his craft. Also really like HQ here. Seriously, its over with the liberated feel-good bland HQ from the New 52, and we are getting a more serious and tone downed HQ that really connects with Bats and the story. She still is wacky, thats part of who she is, but she is much more relatable now I can actually enjoy her without her little bubblegum gimmick. Overall, a good issue and like Tynion's first arc, but we seriously need to pick up the pace.

I already had problems with the pacing Joker War going into with, but its starting to clean that mess up in this issue. The downside is that its also reminding me more and more of the Bane run that happened only last year. I know you can't get another huge event that doesn't involve Gotham, but it does look like another rehash of the exact same event that King and countless writers before have done. On the plus side though, IT WRITTEN SO FUCKING WELL. Wow, Tynion has really hit his stride as a writer. Batman yet again enters another damn hallucination, whats new. But the way he writes Batman AND Alfred was so damn well written. It was touching, it was realistic, it was motivating. Alfred is just that type of person, somebody who is not afraid to say the truth, but will go to the ends of the Earth to push you to be the best you can be. Once again, great art by Jimenez. Fun action with HQ and Punchline. It finally seems the pacing is ramping up. I was afraid this would turn out like Empyre where it drags too much, if it does, what a waste of an event. While rehashing some age old tropes and using a really cliche Batman direction that was just used 20 issues ago, Tynion and Jimenez handle it with exceptional skill. The whole event just doesn't feel as impactful or as exciting as it ramps up to be. Tynion in my eyes takes too long to push a story forward, using way too many hallucinations in one arc. It reminds me alot of City of Bane, which suffered from the same problems. Although it reminds me of King's final Batman arc, it certainly is written better with more consistent moments.

Sigh, why keep stalling. It has been over 6 issues of just dragging this out. It has great art and colors. Top-notch panels. It has stellar writing. Momentous character moments and damn addicting cliff-hangers. From a technical aspect, the last two Batman issues have been some of the best I have read from Tynion. But still nothing has happened with Batman in fighting the Joker. I tried to be patient and wait this out because I love Batman, but this is getting ridiculous. 20 pages of crap not happening. Tynion takes WAY TOO LONG to piece together his story, and if that was the case, this arc needed to be 10 issues long like the last one. I am expecting the worst. 5 of the 6 issues have been fillers, quite entertaining and well done fillers, but still fillers nonetheless. Now Tynion has just one issue to go to wrap up this arc. This feels just like Empyre. It has interesting ideas and concepts, but it takes way too long to develop them so there is barely any room to capitalize on. This is the damn Joker War, make me care about what is going to happen, make this important.

Idk if it was the fact King was off the title or my expectations for an event titled " Joker War ", but this does not hold up to the amount of hype going in. All of Joker's planning and set-up all culminated in this extra size issue, and while playing with a really cool idea of the evolution of the relationship between Joker and Batman, is just muddled by all the fillers that happened prior and made extra-sized to catch everything and wrap it up. All the stakes that were presented just felt like cardboard in this issue. It got wrapped up in like 2 seconds. This is the problem. You drag the conflict out to make it look so detrimental and intense, just for it to be a much more water-downed version of what it really is. I'll give it to Tynion, the way he conveys his idea through dialogue is amazing. His characterization of Batman, HQ, were great. HQ in particular, I really enjoyed how she was handled in this arc. But this issue was alot of letdowns. Despite stellar writing, the confrontation between Joker and Batman was a letdown. Joker seemed to be a real interesting character going in, and he still has remnants of that, but his characterization in this arc just drops the ball. Punchline, for such a hyped of character, who seemed to have alot going for her, was just a forgettable sidekick. Clown Hunter, why the fuck is he even in this arc. When the dust settled, this felt more like a transition arc instead of an arc that was supposed send Batman off with a bang. All the stakes that was held into this book, the identity of Batman, his name smeared by corruption, Batman's on who he is moving forward, the money, it all just fell apart. The art is amazing by Jimenez, the writing is great, but the story and its execution of the ideas its trying to display, it doesn't cut it. The side stories with Punchline and Clown-Hunter were decent. But overall, as an event, this was nowhere near as big or important as it was held out to be. All it did was introduce future concepts and just set up things for the future instead of finishing things off, that's all this event did for me. Just because it isn't Tom King, doesn't mean its good.

I actually liked this alot more than I thought I would. First off, new year, new Batman. No longer has his toys, now he has to go it alone. Dealing with the remnants of Joker War, Clown Hunter now is stalking and killing those responsible for the Joker War, and also HQ for being partially responsible for his parents' death. Some dude named Ghost-maker comes into town to turn Batman more ruthless in his crime-fighting, arguing that empathy is a weakness. The first 4 issues of the arc were pretty good, nothing super special, but had a clear direction, clear themes it was based on, and gradually built up for the last issue. But the last issue was rushed, however, I felt it rushed in a good way. A totally unexpected ending that came out surprisingly nice. I liked it alot, I think this is Tynion's best arc on Batman yet. The art is inconsistent though, many artists are sharing duties, and it ruins the momentum that Tynion is laying out here. Overall, a nice thematic arc, introduces a new character, develops more onto Clownhunter, and sets a new Batman for future issues. Two thumbs up.

Great little background story of Clown-hunter with some unique art by Stokoe.

This was good. Basically a good-bye letter to Alfred by Bruce and the gang. And how Tomasi and Tynion handle their composition of this story makes is very linear and easy to follow. Art by various artists were good, each story of Alfred from different people's perspectives with their own art style. All the stories were heart-felt, but done in a fashion that felt kind of sloppy or jumbled up, stuttering the emotion and wasn't as connect as I thought it would be. Didn't care for the Rick part, and no one story really stands out, all of them were overall fine but done with subtle nostalgia and emotion in honor of Alfred.

Really liked some of the stories in here, others were whatever. Overall, is this tie-in worth it? I don't think so, to be honest didn't need have half the pages in this one shot. A Serious House has some EXCELLENT dialogue and art, Family ties was nice too. The Symbol was whatever, though had some nice art. Queen Ivy was I guess some set up for Pamela and whats coming in 2021? Clownhunt, didn't like how Stokoe drew Joker, but I liked the story. Overall, had highs and lows, not needed for Joker War.

The latter half of this story doesn't make any sense. Its switching too much to quickly that I can't catch on what its trying to do. Also, enough with the sex on the roof.

What the hell was this series. It started off strong, an intriguing mystery that Batman needs to solve. A great set-up, by with delays, and very little substance keeping me invested in this story, add on a terrible ending, Ellis gave out by Issue #12. There are some great things to this comic, Alfred and Bruce's dialogue is excellent, loved it. The artwork by Hitch was splendid as well, and how he handles action scenes is so dynamic and explosive. But the actual crime story, it did not hold me all the way through. I basically stopped caring what the story was even about anymore, a major flaw many detective stories suffer from. The ending as well, what was that? It ended in such a stunted and anti-climatic manner. This is sad considering that Ellis is on his way out of the industry for a while if not indefinitely. Great writing, had a good set-up, amazing art and action as well as great dialogue. But the story itself could not adequately keep me aware of what is going on, how certain details connected, it was too stretched out over a year with not enough recap for me to understand the story. Would recommend reading this in TPB, but I don't really recommend reading this at all.

***Reviews the entire series*** I might be in the minority here, but I liked this better than White Knight. This story goes into a more classic Batman tale as opposed to the superhero critique of White Knight. Maybe its because I am a stickler for Batman goodness. The exposition, while slow and expansive, builds up not only the conflict, but the setting and characterization of the series. Better art style than the previous series, with grand scapes of Gotham and bad-ass cars. In-cooperates detective skills of Batman combined with the Wayne/Gotham Lore finessed to pack a huge revelation on Bruce's identity. I also really like this version of Batman, with conflict, emotions, failure, and redemption, this Batman is great. Azrael also is modernized with his classic roots in Christianity, making him a much more effective villain than guys like Neo-joker. Both White Knight and this fine sequel are an acquired taste for different audiences. For me, even though White Knight is considered more " Ground-breaking ", COTWK to me is the better series. For those who love classic Batman tales with a twist, this is for you. 8.5/10

*** Reviews the entire series *** Damn. The debut of DC Black Label courtesy of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo. Gotta say, it was both underwhelming and impressive at the same time. In this elseworld tale, Batman has fallen unconscious and wounded, to wake up to the death of the Joker. Who did it? With the help of one John Constantine, Batman sets off to piece together perhaps his most startling case yet. Overall, a solid book. I can't say that I would recommend it, but its certainly is not a bad book. To start, the art. Its gorgeous. DC is so lucky to have an artist like Lee Bermejo, his art is so luscious, realistic and life-like. His style is similar to Alex Ross but with more texture. You can buy this book solely based on his art, thats how damn awe-dropping it is to look at. Colors, transitions and panel layout all the more make this series a joy to read. The covers as well, they are fire. I don't really talk much about covers, but both the Bermejo Covers and the Lee variants are so crisp, these books will cost fortunes. Anyways, the story, while interesting, had lackluster execution. Underwhelming cause Azzarello is considered a good writer, but he drives to deep into the dark and edgy aspect of DC Black Label. It certainly excels at the horror aspect thanks to Bermejo's art skills, but the story doesn't feel connected very well, and what is set up is sort of left open ended (might be intentional). Bermejo attempts to go King style and use alot of poetic or elusive writing and dialogue to amplify the mystery and darkness of this book, but it muddles down into confusion and edginess. Certain things in this book don't make sense either due to a lack of connection to the story or poor execution in the writing. And then Harley Quinn. When I said they really went deep into this dark and edgy concept, I mean't it. In the first issue, this aspect worked, and help the story get off to a strong start after the 1st issue, Batwang aside. Then in the latter 2, it just seemed forced in so it could debut under DCBL. Bermejo does play around with quite a few toys, such as magic, hint why Constantine is here, and Bruce's childhood. And while it was cool to see Bermejo use these, it didn't affect the main story to find out who killed Joker, or at least in the way I expected it to. Although, this did peer back into how his childhood affected Bruce as Batman decades later, which was great. There was also this really cool kind of ghost that wander around in Bruce childhood memories into his journey to find who killed Joker, and Azzarello did some really cool things with her. But her existance just makes the story that much more confusing on this whole Joker investigation. Overall, this book was solid. The first issue was fire, but it abruptly stumbled through the rest of this series. Still, Bermejo is one hell of a artist. 6/10

***Reviews the entire series*** What can I say. It Snyder, its Capullo, and they are back with their " final story " of Batman. 10 years in the making and it all culminated into Batman: The Last Knight on Earth. A Mad Max version of Batman's life. To start, this comic series is fun. And is well worth it for its pricing. It follows a journey of a recently awakened Bruce discovering what happened to a bare-ridden Earth, and what happened that him when before who woke up. Art by Capullo is amazing, as always. Capullo always had a way with Batman that really shined his technique and linework of both characters and landscapes. And the colors are so vibrant and eye-catching. The covers are fire as well. Writing by Snyder is very true to the core of Snyder as a writer and his vision of Batman. Packed with emotion, actions, drama, Last Knight is a bombastic high soaring adventure. He takes Batman across whats left of the DC universe, meeting heroes of old and how they have changed since the world became barren. Of course, Snyder always slowly pieces together the components of the mystery at hand, than punches in full throttle in the last issue. I also really like how he handled this specific Batman, as he is confused, scared, yet courageous all at the same time, in a light I haven't seen in Batman for a while. Its hopeful, in a non-depressing way. He also dabbles with great unique portrayals of Dr. Lex Luthor and the Joker, along with the rest of the DC characters he used in this story. There were some filler bits during Bruce's journey of his travels encountering various DC fragments of the world, kind of bogging down the first two issues with unnecessary flexes on how much knowledge Snyder knows about the DC Universe, along with some other faults, but nothing significant enough to critically collapse this Mad Max adventure. I also had thoughts of it going to be psychological analysis of Bruce, but then completely changes direction to this post-apocalyptic world. Though it doesn't bother me much. Overall, its fun. bright and its done with heart. Snyder and Capullo's love letter to Batman, culminating 10 years of working together on the Dark Knight. 8/10

Its just isn't as good as I hoped. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, its just more of what has been already done with nothing exciting or new. Its all has been done before, and frankly with more interesting execution. The only thing this book did for me was introduce Jason to the DCAU. Other than that, nothing special. I like the cartoon art-style, very reminiscent of the television show. If only this was animated and not in a comic.

Nothing short of phenomenal. Seriously. WOW. This was amazing, fulfills every single drop of anticipation I was hoping to get out of this book, and it delivers. Definitely worth the 7 bucks based on page count, cover, and quality. Some books are overpriced, not this one. This was what fans have been waiting to be answered for five years. And finally, the first issue to the theory of 3 Jokers will be finally answered in this issue, right? Hell nah. The theory has become even more elusive on Three Jokers as this issue drew on, and that just makes the tip of the iceberg. The art is this book is easily one of DC's best. Jason Fobak doesn't do alot of art for comics, but when he does, its some of the best art you will ever see, accompanied by top grade colors from Brad Anderson. I really like how Fobak uses old school Batman, with his yellow centerpiece, his gallery of collected toys, love it. The definite highlights is the shark. XD. I also really love his homage panels to Killing Joke, Death in the Family, and past Batman storylines. That is Fobak's style on Batman, infuses that classic 80-90s era Batman with a modern touch. Great Jokers, great Batman, Batgirl and Red Hood as well. The paneling, the famous 9 panel grid. When ever a comic uses a 9 panel grid, you know its a comic for the books. Again, Fobak's art and composition nothing short of perfection. The writing from Geoff Johns though. What more could I expect. Its subtle, it slowly builds the scene, piecing the ideas and concepts together one at a time, while still being elusive in its details and not giving too much away. That doesn't mean there is no fun. On the contrary, we get a review of the action to come. Like Fobak, Johns combines his idea of Three Jokers with past themes of legendary stories in Batman's 80 years of existence, altering the Batman mythos. And Johns ramps the momentum in his writing to finish this first issue with a bang, literally. What can I say, I am a huge Batman fan. I am a huge Bat-family fan. And of course I love all the different eras of Jokers used in this story. Extremely satisfied with this first issue, didn't know what to expect, but I can say it definitely say I got my money's worth. DC is on drugs pumping out as much event content as possible. People might say we are getting to much Joker/Batman, but if the story-telling is at this level, I don't care how much I get.

An excellent second issue. This issue moves forward and starts peeling back on many fronts on what this series is aiming to do. I will admit, I was kind of underwhelmed to the build-up of how exactly there is Three Jokers, not because the build-up is poor by any means, but because it looks like ideas or tropes that have been used in the past. Nevertheless, I was not really bothered by the idea of how multiple Jokers exist, as what I find as the main focus is how each protagonist is affected by each individual Joker, and how Johns handles Jason's development specifically in this issue is of upmost skill, rivaling that of Under the Hood written 15 years ago. We see more of the Old school Joker in this issue as well, I had a huge fanboy reaction just looking at him. He can definitely tell John's take on each Joker is uniquely different from the next, with the spotlight on the Criminal being a very focused and hardened Joker reminiscent of his early era in comics. Art by Fabok with colors by Anderson, again it can't get any better than this in comics. The sequential story-telling skills here are unparalleled, paired with the 9 PG and fantastic linework and colors, this is up there with the best Batman artwork in history. The little smooch we get towards the end does get alittle cornball for me, but nevertheless, the thematic approach by Johns with both the Jokers and the Batfamily, the sequence of the plot and the investigation, the amazing art, colors, paneling, and a killer cliffhanger that can make or break this series. So far, this is just a amazing Batman story. I am intrigued with how Johns will approach this finale, can't wait.

Not as strong as it could have finished, but I overall still think this was a great ending and a stellar series. While it may not have the recognition of being that next innovative Batman story. but it still is a really great Batman story and amazing visuals. Recommend.

This is perhaps by favorite version of Harley Quinn to date. I was never a HQ fan, and have always dropped interest with her after the reboot with HQ in 2011. However, this HQ, its very refreshing to see a HQ who is more serious and driven than the loosey goosey HQ we currently have. This Harley Quinn deals with a Harleen who has kids to look after, a history to get past, and a case where she has to use her skills to fight noir-film themed villains. The story itself is pretty solid, but what stands head and shoulders above basically every other HQ title is the character of HQ herself. She isn't annoying, she has nuance that intrigues me, and how Collins and Murphy build this HQ from who she was to who she became was fascinating. Collins has some serious skills in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.Art by Scalera with colors by Dave Stewart on colors, amazing as well. Very good fit for the WK universe. Overall, another great addition to Murphy's universe for Batman. 8/10

Eh. I am a fan of Brian Azzarello, don't get me wrong, but his recent work under the DC Black Label has not been up to par with stuff like Wonder Woman of Joker. In short, this felt like a bunch of separate comic issues slapped together in TPB style, with murky transitions, inconsistent flow, and a very confusing ending. They also slapped in Joker for no reason, and didn't do a great job finishing off the story set up. The art was good, the writing was fine, but the direction was just off. If this was expanded out into a series, it may have done better. There was alot of inconsistencies that made the story very rocky and confusing/not complete, like the story skipped certain details and jumped to another panel. This could have been better.

This was a solid debut. Nothing really happened? I mean something did happen, but Thompson is just adding sprinkles rn. Great art by Casagrande though. Really liked those action sequences in the first few panels. After that first bit though, its just dudes swooning over how hot Natasha is, and I concur with that agreement. Nice ending that further touches on this mystery set up. O and apparently she has a boyfriend, so stop simping.

Action, gore, tons of blood. I'm in.

Wow, what a extraordinary first issue to the sequel of this amazing series. Canto has been one of thee best fantasy comics of the present, and this issue displays why. If you loved the first arc. than you will become with this one. First off, the art by Zucker and colors by Astone is eloquent, magical, and sensational all at the same time. Fantasy demands unique and imaginative art, and Canto pass the test with flying colors. I have said this in past reviews, but how use of light vs. pastel colors and design by Astone and Zucker is the highlight of their artistry and style. Its what makes Canto such an immersive experience to read and look at. But great art can only be matched by the great story we have from Booher. Canto at face value has a very simple story-line and a very straight forward approach. But what makes Canto such an outstanding book is that it is deceptively simple. Booher takes simple elements from classic fantasy/fairy tale tropes and molds it with real world problems. This was what made the orignial Canto such a delight, and is the bread and butter of this series moving forward. It still feels like a fairy-tale that makes you think this is just another White knight story, but Booher is not afraid to spit some truth in the face of hardship. And that is why I love this series so much. It challenges these age old styles of classic fantasy and fairy-tales, and in doing so, revolutionize the way we use those styles and tropes in a modern world, not afraid to show defeat, not afraid to be wrong.

A great follow-up issue. We are now following Canto and his squad to the village where his friend Aulaura lives, only to see it wasted in ruins. Again, the art in this book is spectacular, both the pencils by Zucker and colors by Astone has provided some of the best fantasy fairy tale art I have seen in comics. This issue is more action oriented to add some dynamic to the story while explaining what happened with Aulaura's village. A great issue overall, just did not hit me as hard as Issue #1. Still, great story we got here.

While not as hard-hitting as the first Canto, Canto II still sets up a very engaging, emotional, and meticulously crafted story, carrying on the fairy-tale trope from its predecessor. Canto II acts more of a transitional arc to set up for the final confrontation between Canto and the antagonists, and takes its time to further develop and permeate its ideas and goals. It is splendid to read. The Art by Zucker is again, fabulous. Capture the full essence that is European-styled fantasy. The pencils, the colors, the composition, everything from a visual standpoint easily puts Canto II or the Canto series in general as the best of recent years. But what rounds out this arc is the themes, the ideas, and how Booher conveys those ideas in Canto. Ideas about tales, stories, heroic myths of the past, why we pass them down, and what these stories and folktale provide to us, the present. What justifies them being passed down to future generations. Themes of sacrifice, comradery, and most importantly hope, shine like daybreak in Canto II, and it makes the story such a wonderful experience. Canto II does not disappoint as the sequel, and sets up a grand finale that I am all too excited to read. 8/10

***Reviews the entire series*** A fantasy/adventure series about little knights with hearts of clocks. Already bought me with the summary. To start, I never was really into fantasy comics as it required lots of exposition and world-building, which means words. But Canto is a breeze to read through, skipping on water, providing the bare minimum for the reader to understand while putting the heart in the character's drive. The comic may not give you everything about this universe, but it doesn't need to in order for this series to pop off. Love the art and colors, really attracts readers without skipping a page. And even though it is a fantasy comic, it was still really creative in its world. I mean clocks for hearts? Thats great. The plot is very simple, but done with much heart and passion. You can tell that this is mean't to be a series to inspire, from the dialogue, to the pacing, to the world building, it was mean't to give readers a message of hope. Its use of a fairy tale placed side by side with the main story all the more emphasizes the heart of this book. Great series. 9/10

Man, how I missed this book. A one shot issue that takes place right after little knights liberated themselves and set off to find their home. The art by Zucker is gorgeous, as well as the coloring. How Astone is able to show gradient in this comic is astounding with his colors. A fun story of Canto fighting some ugly bad witch to free some fairies. Very fairy-tale like, but done with great dialogue and charm by Booher that can appease all readers This leads us into Canto II, and super excited to see this book return.

Reading Captain Marvel for the Empyre tie-in. And for a tie-in, this issue was nice, and it had a really good twist at the end that will insight some interesting complications to come between Captain Marvel's new role as the Accuser and Hulking as her emperor. I would recommend to read this tie-in as it might be pulled into the over-arching story, but I am not sure. It has some nice character work on Carol and her new role as Accuser versus who she is outside of formalities, and who she really aligns herself with. Thompson did a decent job with this one.

Another good issue. I really like the art, really suited for action and and big laser blasts and crap. The dialogue is pretty fun as well, Thompson does some playful things with Luari-ell dialogue. Lastly, some great action in this issue. This issue is following-up to the investigation we are left with at the end of the issue #19. While it wasn't going the direction I thought it would go, it still is a good issue. And the cat, yeah extra points.

Another good issue. So now after the fun side trip we had with Lauri-ell and company, Carol and her " Corps " are now actually trying to investigate who was behind the 9/11 styled attack of K'in-Al. The writing, overall its good. Thompson is able to handle some funny, quirky humor throughout, but some dialogue could also come off as corny, edge-lord jumbo. Art was fire like usually. The action and defeat of Wastrel was kinda underwhelming for what seemed to be a exciting fight between him and Carol. Liked that ending though, Luari-ell is a great character.

It was fine. The whole Captain Marvel mini Empyre segment was fine. This issue just wraps up the small conflict with Carol as Accuser and her half Sister Lauri'ell, and while she is a fun goofball with huge arms, this issue was pretty bland. It had some great action in this issue, but the writing just didn't really grab like the last two. A cool thing is that Lauri-ell became the Accuser, albeit in a very cheesy way, and I guess it was something to be expected. Nothing big or exciting or impactful to me, this is most definitely not a mandatory read for Empyre, but its was a fun quirky side story with some good heart-felt joy and a neat ending.

So DC are like addicted to selling these " anniversaries " even though they are not even worth to celebrate. Seriously, chill with them. Nevertheless, this was quite a stellar book, better than the Cat-woman anniversary special. Ram V. is an amazing up and coming writer, and his talent spills of the page, accompanied with some great art for all three stories. First story picks up write where Batman #98 left off with Catwoman, Penguin and the Riddler. Great follow-up, and really recommend reading this to understand the bigger picture of Joker War. Great art by Blanco and fantastic writing from Ram V. as expected. Second was a sweet tribute to Cat-woman's past of who she is and her revisit to her hometown. The third story is through the eyes of a cat... Ram V. is just a good writer, managing to make a story interesting based on how he molds his narration around the ideas he presents. A good issue. Is it worth for 6 bucks though? I don't think so, even with Ram V. as writer. Prob not coming back for the next issue, but a great extra size we have here.

Finally got around to reading this book. And what can I say, its just pure fun. Albeit, cosmic-level complicated multiversal stakes fun, but still fun. Snyder and Capullo returns with their sequel Death Metal to wrap up over 3 years of continuity story-telling and even hints to the DC's future moving forward. First, Metal! Snyder must really like Metal music to base his gigantic continuity spanning over a dozen books on a Slender Man Batman who looked like he came out of a hardcore goth/metal concert. I was never really into Snyder's take on the DC continuity, or DC continuity in general, but as this was probably the biggest event of the year for comics, I might as well give it a crack. Its probably best to at least read the orignial DNM before reading this though.The covers, hot damn. Foil chromium cover, thats nice. Shines like the moon. Capullo's art, like always, awesome. His pencils may as well be the definitive style of DC characters of the past decade, especially his Batman. Though I am really loving how he draws Wonder Woman, especially since she is the protagonist in this. Color as you can see from the cover pop like the sun, its amazing. On to the story, well its very convoluted, which was expected. Again, its best to read at least the original DNM, but it ties in all of other books the lead up to this series from Flash Forward to Justice League, and even past events in DC history such as Blackest Night and COIE. Many characters show up in this first issue, of course we have Batman and WW. The infamous Batman Who Laughs, Wally West, and even some suprise guests like Lobo and Sgt. Rock. Don't be worried that the story is confusing or even messy at times, this stuff just happens. The story is hard to explain as it is complex and the scope is wide, but to say one thing, its alot of fun. You will not understand everything, either because of continuity or was intentional, but you will still get a kick out of this book. From art to colors to writing, this is almost certain to be one of the hottest books this year. Also stellar ending!

Dude, first off, Capullo's WW is fine as wine. This man draws all DC heroes in a very iconic fashion for that matter, but his WW is smokin. Anyways, the second issue was good. Lots of things are happening at once, but like the previous issue, its fun. However, compared to Issue 1, its takes things slower. Not alot of action, but is moving WW and the squad into place for what seems to be an action packed upcoming issue. I appreciate this as I have time to understand and absorb whats going on and everything that lead up to Death Metal before getting back into the thick of things. It can get quite confusing with how much information is being processed with each issue, but given how much Death Metal is working with, Snyder is doing a solid job at keeping things together. There was some dialogue/character issues I had in this issue, Snyder is not the most " refined " writer given his itch for high stakes explosive stories. Specifically between Batman's willingness to follow Wonder Woman's lead, Batman can't be so easily swayed, but then again Batman always has a back-up plan we don't know about. There is also a fair chunk of exposition which is expected, and its what you get when you are dealing with Snyder. Snyder has a knack for using lots of DCU lore, and that can't be any more true than in this series so far. Snyder has already pulled out Sgt. Rock, The Black Ring, as well as his own designs such as the Chainsaw of Truth, and this issue goes full throttle. We got Earth 2 JSA up in here, and things just get more bombastic with what we are left with at the end. Snyder is pulling no punches in what is at his disposal and capitalizing on every ounce of DC he's got. Also really like how Snyder pushes WW to the front. Despite how iconic she is, she undeniably sidelined by the boy scout and the emo bat. But now she is moving forward, ever with her charismatic optimism courtesy of Snyder. And the back-up BWL. LOL. I know some people will get pissed at DC using Watchmen like this. But Alan Moore said he wanted nothing more to do with the property and basically will always be against whatever DC does with Watchmen despite him not wanting it anymore (kind of a sore loser in my eyes, even regarding DC being a jackass through the years). I myself do have some problems with using Dr. Manhattan like that. But given what Snyder has already done, best take it with a pinch of salt. While still extremely convoluted and all over the place, Snyder is pushing forward with this multiverse madness, Snyder really is juicing this puppy up for what seems to be the biggest DC event since COIE.

Okay. This has a mix of both good and blah. Overall, I am still liking Death Metal, it is still relevantly fun and high energy, but its starting to wan on me. It has the opposite effect of Marvel's Empyre. With Empyre, things are being dragged way too much. With Death Metal, things are being rushed. And this gives head to some laughable plot armor. Like the " Bat-blocker ". Come on Snyder. I know this event is supposed to be fun and wild, and it is, but it also needs to be grounded in some sense, and with rushed story-telling it fumbles over too many blocks for me to adequately enjoy everything about Death Metal, even though really I want to. Just having high-stake thrills and big bombastic energy is not enough to make me jump on the Death Metal train. Another thing, if all the heroes were trapped on New Apokolips, AKA the hell of the Multiverse, why are all the JL heroes imprisoned in an air-conditioned room, with their suits on all clumped together? See, pacing things to quickly allows some " wtf? " questions about how we got from point A to point B which is glossed over by Snyder and company. Snyder does Snyder things with his exposition on the grand plan to take back the multiverse from both BWL and Perpetua, again with some enjoyable quirky banter throughout. Its wrapped up with some hope-inspired cliche WW speech on taking how teamwork makes the dreamwork. Although Snyder left us with an excellent hook at the end, and some killer Lobo moments. We also get to see the Darkest Knight and Robin King jump into action in this issue, as well as seeing Superman and the rest of the JL which was great. Art by Capullo, again what more can you ask from the guy. His art is perfect for this wild crazy adventure Snyder has amassed, matched with great colors and action scenes. Really liked the Capullo also opted for simple panel design rather than complex or two-paged spreads, so we can take in all of the Metal in relative ease. His fifth dimension art in Issue #3, yeah steller. Anyways, Death Metal is still exciting, but it to have some control to the pacing. Edit; Read it again. These types of events, I probably just need to second read it. It still has all the problems I mentioned, but it was a more enjoyable read the second time around.

Its both so underwhelming yet so suprinsgly fun at the same time. The big monster summer blockbuster by DC finally has reached its end, finally. There was so much things going on, all of it happening quickly, I had to take a break from the event because of everything. With that said, it had some very strong high points with great art throughout, of course balanced out with really bad points and a mess of a story. What Death Metal and the entire Metal Saga boils down to really is if this type of cosmic boisterous event is your style. If it isn't, you will dread this like bland steak. If it is, you will love the freaking bonkers out of it. For me, while I did enjoy parts of it, lets just say I am glad its over and will never be reading it again.

Woo. I am very hot and cold on the whole Metal event Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo has set up for the past 3 years. Dark Nights Metal was laughable jumbled and Batman-obsessed to the point of fan-fiction, yet Death Metal was surprisingly fun and hype. This has a mixture of both. An anthology that talks about the different dark multiverse Batmans, mainly though Robin King and the Darkest Knight (BWL). The Darkest Knight, yeah shared all of the ridiculous traits and unappealing kookiness that turned people off about the Dark Nights Universe. Its super edgy to the point of cheesy, basically all exposition about the BWL, what happened so far in the Dark Nights Universe, his secret plans on what he wants to do with the universes, the Batmanhattan (ugh the names), its was boring and a slog despite trying to play with as many elements of DC as possible. Snyder is just that type of writer, he can write a really fun and energetic story, or an over-the-top mess bombarded with obsessions of Batman. It had nice art by Greg Capullo and a cool idea about the " bullet " at the end, but it was to me, by far the weakest story out of the anthology. However, the rest of the anthologies was quite nice. Yes, it was weird and overtly crazy, but it was also fun with good writing and some cool ideas, even if they don't mean anything in the long run. Favorite being Robin King. On top of a unique take on Bruce, it flowed and was written well for a introduction, but didn't like the art. B-rex and Batman-Baby and B-mech was just icing on the cake, being quite gruesome, funny, and snazzy respectively. Outside of Robin King, Bat-mage was also a really interesting take on Bruce and Gotham. If it wasn't for some nice yet forgettable side stories, this anthology would have slumped. So far, not impressed by these tie-ins, despite Death Metal being kinda fun. I would recommend anybody who is following Metal to read this as it seems important, but still kind of weak.

Another anthology, another tie-in for Death Metal. The second tie-in for Death Metal after the LOTDK, but unlike that anthology, this one was very essential to understanding the events leading to Death Metal and was decently enjoyable as well. The main story, The Fall of Earth, deals with the what happened to the DCU between the end of Snyder's Justice League and Tynion's Hell Arisen to the beginning of Death Metal. Basically, what happened to the world when shit hit the fan. Art for the most part was nice. Mahnke can have some great detailed panels, but few were kinda sloppy. Tynion, Williamson and Snyder wrote for this story, so I thought it there was too many cooks in the kitchen. Apparently not. We still have the laughable bat parodies courtesy of Snyder, and while the story was mainly exposition recapping what happened in that time gap, we are left with an excellent hook with how Lobo and Luthor tie into the whole Death Metal situation, which kind of hypes me for the next Death Metal Issue. The side stories, they were cool. Quirky fun with the HQ story by Zdarsky. The Aquaman story by Cloonan, eh? The WW/Poison Ivy story by Ayala, really liked. The Batman/Hex story by Priest, liked the dialogue and the art style by Risso. Overall a solid tie-in and is important for those reading Death Metal.

Another tie-in, picking up where Death Metal #3 left off. " Alfred-Boxes " Jesus Christ. I said that this title is an acquired taste, so you either love this shit or find it laughable. And Snyder's antics of Batman obsessed material is one of those tests for people. Nevertheless, I really liked this. This may as well have been in the main title, because it directly is involved with the main story. It has the same energy from Death Metal, its big, bombastic, fast, high energy, high stakes. Has the standard exposition dump to set the issue, but it has some great action and art by Francis Manapul to go along with it. He is no Greg Capullo, but his art can satisfy this issue's intensity along with the great colors by Herring. Love Jarro. For as overwhelming and convoluted mess the prequel was, Jarro is a treat to read, and so he has returned. Also with the the verbosity and exposition Snyder throws in this issue, he does play a delicate line with the ideas of crises, and how each one defines the DC Universe, and how this one is a final culmination of that history, literally. The ending plays with some really neat ideas that are pretty interesting. This event is also a convoluted mess, but I can say I am having a great time with the elements Snyder has going on. Its crazy, its fan-boyish in some sense, lots of things going on and lots of things referenced, but letting myself go and enjoying the ride has made reading this alot more fun. This is how you do an event, making tie-ins matter and moving the story. Recommend this tie-in, best one so far for me and vital to the story.

These tie-ins are continuously getting better and better for Death Metal. This made extra special as Williamson's last note on Wally West and his legacy after his final run on Flash. What Williamson does so well is recapping about 3 years of Wally West within three pages, and not making it boring. Art by Barrows is amazing, seriously wow, Death Metal has some fantastic artists working on their books, clean, detailed linework dazzled with a sense of energy rippling off the pages, which is perfect for a Flash centric book. Some of the best Flash artwork I have seen so far. This is just a great dichotomy between Wally and Barry, and how Barry takes the Flash legacy and modify it to better represent the Flash and how he now is his own being. Great art accompanied by great thematic writing and pace. This is the redemption of Wally West after a decade or so of poor treatment, and Williamson and Barrows delivers it with a bang. This is for all Wally West fans.

Art is very 90s like. Gedeon uses a really old school style of art, but with something like Metal, it doesn't feel too out of place, honestly I think that have Gedeon doing the art for this one was quite unique. This tie-in deals with what has been going on across the Multiverse during this event so far as Perpetua consumes universe after universe, and how whats left of the Justice League is attempting to fulfill their part of the mission. One thing I like about this tie-in and this event in general is it is trying to file all the crisis history and multiverse content in a neat and understandable package. And while still a mess with this whole " tuning forks " nonsense, Tynion manages to connect the dots and make sense of the insanity that is DC continuity, and how this event relates into that continuity. First glance, it just looked like Snyder just making the continuity more complicated than it already was, but now its beginning to come full circle and really laying down how each crisis event connects. And all that history is explained in 3 pages. Exposition filled, thats just what you get with Metal and Tynion. But the idea of really bringing together all the piece of DC history intrigues me. We got Owlman and Captain Carrot in this issue, both were a joy to read. This was just a kookie , multiverse story. Out of the four recent tie-ins, this one is the most unique in its approach, literally tackling the technical aspects of the multiverse, its birth, its death, its rebirth and its affects with DC continuity. Hell, Tynion openly mocks the idea of Dark Nights concept and the Dark Batmans, and I am here for it. Probably the weakest out of the second round of tie-ins, but its not bad.

Perfection.

*** Reviews the entire series *** Okay. This, was just a mess. A Batman obsessed, convoluted, extremely verbose mess. It as the Snyder imprint of the story being crazy, big, bombastic, and very high energy, but its style is bogged down with such a overly-complicated plot. I seriously could not even understand half of the things going on because there was TOO MUCH going on. Snyder has a very exposition heavy style of writing when it comes it events, but this is by far the most wordy event I have read. It has to explain some many ideas and concepts and events, what the nine metals are, who Barbatos is, what the dark multiverse is, how it crossed over into the real multiverse, what BWL and Barbatos are trying to do, its just too much for my brain to understand. A plus side of this event was that this has some of the best art I have seen from Greg Capullo. WOW, it seriously amazing to see the details and designs Capullo had for such a complex environment. Add on the fantastic colors by Plascencia, this comic visually is a beauty to read even with all the crazy stuff happening in this book. Although th The Villain, Barbatos. This was just not a convincing villain at all. Of Course now I know he is just a front for the BWL, but the really could have made him a more detrimental endgame boss rather than some generic big time bad guy we see in the DC Universe all to often, because thats what I get from him. Sure, he is the centerpiece of this big climatic all-end-will-end crisis, but for a villain just introduced, this didn't cut it. BWL was a cool villain. I guess the REAL villain. I liked his concept of how he came to be, despite also being very verbose and unnecessarily complicated. I liked the ideas of DNM with Batman's fear coming to life, but its confusing story just lost me by the end of Issue #1. It seems that this event just causes ramifications that will be cleaned up in a sequel rather than actually impacting the DC Universe. Having some interesting ideas, great action, stellar visuals and high stakes energy, its weighed down by very heavy exposition and an overly-complicated plot. 5/10

This is just a solid seasonal anthology for the summer, cyborg style. This anthology has a variety of wacky stories, and while it might not appeal to everybody, everyone can at least get a laugh or two out of this book, and it serves its function well. Alot of these stories makes fun of itself and it knows it. All of these stories to me were just something nice to kick back and read for the summer, my favorite being the Superboy/Legion story by Erickson. Its was a splash of F U N. So if you want to read some funny and chill stories, here ya go. Its nothing super special or memorable, and is kind of a rip off for 10 bucks, but nevertheless is something that can be enjoyed.

Classic Tom Taylor. DCeased returns with a much anticipated sequel to DCeased. And it doesn't disappoint. It fast paced, it emotional, it has highs, lows, this comic out the gate is a roller coaster, speeding straight off from its prequel. Tom Taylor is a superstar writer with works such as DCeased and Injustice. And his sequel to DCeased shares lot of similarities with his past work such as Injustice, but he continuously evolves how he approaches world-building and his niche for characters heavy emphasis, and I am looking forward to what else he can bring in this series. I recommend you guys read the various comic shorts between DCeased and DCeased: Dead Planet, as it seems everything is going to tie back together. Tom Taylor touches 5 years after the survivors leave Earth, and a team has come this zombie land due to a mysterious recall coming from the Earth. This comic is every bit as wild, action-packed, and well written as its prequel. Trevor Hairsine also returns for the pencils and its is tonally perfect for a zombie series like this, especially since Taylor is the writer. Looking forward to a great series. Definitely fits a " binge " style comic.

I loved this. Tom Taylor and is wacky antics has always been something I have loved, and with John Constantine as his lead, it made for an explosive, action-packed, wild, emotional story. I said I liked the first DCeased because it felt more contained as a zombie story, well this is going to many spots, but I argue it worked just as well if not better. Like Snyder, Taylor used every ounce of DC lore and material possible, he made it a very well focused and engaging story while being able to go crazy and bonkers. Art by Harisine once again is amazing. THere is definitely some plot left untouched by the end. But I think that is intentional, as I figure this DCeased storyline is a trilogy. And with the next story presuamble being about the New Gods/Superman/WW, I can't wait for what Taylor has in store in the future. A fun, well-paced, awesome zombie story that I think brought justice to John Constantine and the DC universe.

***Reviews the entire series*** An overall fun, emotional transition from DCeased to Dead Planet. This mini-series takes a look at the villain's perspective of the virus that is concurrent with the original DCeased story-line, and centered around Red Hood, Deathstroke and his daughter, along with a rag tag team of villains and heroes as they attempt to survive in a world ruled by zombies. How Taylor approaches this cast of characters has really displayed his knack for character interactions and development combined with a fast pace and high stakes action. Especially with the villains. We always see them as the big bads of the DC universe, but this type of world really brings the heart and hope out of even the most brutal villains in times of hardship. And the kids. I loved the fact that Taylor paired the baddest of the DC universe with a bunch of kids. Art by Scott and Molsert, I actually find refreshing. While its not Trevor Hairsine's style, it definitely carries the action and emotional weight Taylor provides and I really like how they draw Creeper and Deathstroke. Although Taylor's approach to storytelling with high stakes and very tense emotions comes at the cost of a layered plot, detailed world-building, and complex moments. These factors are kept at a bare minimum to serve this fast pace character work. So it feels kind of like " binge-watching " a comic, and keeps things moving quick to keep the readers attention, though I would have appreciated it if they extended this series to 4-6 issues. A nice mini-series. 7.5/10

An intriguing enough beginning to entice readers in. Zombie Fiction is evolving, any books like Year Zero, Kids, and now Dead Day and leading the charge on the next age of zombie fiction. What really carries this book is how it approaches the zombie genre. It is centered around a " Dead Day " in where once a year at night, the dead can rise from their graves. These zombies ain't the eating flesh type, they really are just like humans but dead. Some visit their families, some visits their friends, but some may have some darker intentions. We see that with the introduction of our suburban family and their preparation for " Dead Day ". Lets just say that there is some history that spices up what this approach to zombie fiction and bring. This book is mainly just alot of introductions, which is typical. We are introduced to our main characters, the concept of Dead Day, all that jazz. But it subtlety peels back to elude us to what is coming next. Ryan Parrot is one of the hottest new-coming writers into the industry, and his start with Dead Day only continues his success. Art from Evgeniy Bornyakov is clean and nice as well, but the colors is what makes her art shine. Really intriguing approach to zombies, and advertises what is in store for the genre going ahead.

A good follow-up issue. The last issue was set up, this issue is more development. Lots of character work on various people, more world-building with this Dead Day in effect, and we also learn more about the situation of Mel's dead boyfriend Jeremy was caught in and how it resulted in his death, and why he is seeking revenge. Nothing really major has happened yet, but it still finessed with great dialogue by Parrott, a unique take on zombies, great art by Pritchett, and is another good issue following up the debut of Dead Day.

So things are escalating on all fronts. Parrott is handling a multi-viewed story and pushing plot in a more dramatic sense. There is some dragged out dialogue pages, but its accompanied with some stellar art work by Bornyakov. I feel like the twist that came at the end of Remy's confrontation with his killer was quite awkwardly done?, though it does set up a much bigger story. How Parrott sequenced one story after another was done well, though I thought the issue as a whole could have been a bit cleaner on the execution. Still a well done issue.

This was actually quite excellent when I read it through in one read. It certainly subverts your typically zombie story, and it comes to a rather thought-provoking and warm ending for such a story surrounding zombies. The ideas and themes of this story, and how Parrott conceives this through his dialogue is damn I say it a masterpiece. His ideas on life, on death, on people's past and people's future., on family. His dialogue easily is the standpoint of this series. Art by Bornyakov was great as well, especially the pencils of the zombies. Don't expect your typically zombie mash, because trust me, this is far from it. This story reaches new levels that I haven't seen before in zombie comics. It might be a little slow and dragged out in the middle, but reading through it in one go makes for an excellent experience. Highly recommend if you want something new, something different, something unexpected for a zombie story. 8/10

I am liking this a lot. A really intriguing crime story on our hands by none other than Ben Percy himself. And its on Christmas, woo! This books stands out for its mystery and fast paced story-telling. In this debut, the art does the talking. Schoonover's art is what moves the story and pacing, bringing out all the crime and emotional elements of this issue overlayed with some excellent colors by Filardi. We basically follow a girl named Shannon as she tries to uncover who murdered her father. But how he is killed and where it leads Shannon to investigate really riles in the jiggles in me. Writing by Percy is done only when needed, and it find that really helps a reader absorb more into the art telling the story. A great debut from AWA.

A great short mystery/revenge story of a tough girl getting revenge for her father, but leads to something bigger and much more complex than meets the eye. Percy is writing amazing stuff right now, and Devil's Highway is no exception. Its nothing complex, a former Army girl goes off to avenge her murdered father which leads to a lucrative sex ring across the inter-state highway. Connected by truck drivers, she dives headfirst in tracking this ring to avenger her father. Sharon, the protagonist, is nothing mind blowing, but she fits well for the story Ben sets up. She kicks ass, and loves her dead, nothing much to see. Solid dialogue and pacing by Percy, with some great art by Schoonover. A problem I have is that the action isn't handled very well, something Schoonover might need to work on in the future. A sweet, short story, but sets up more to come. 8/10

Gave this a shot. So from what I heard, this is basically a set-up issue for those who don't understand the background of this event and what lead up to it. And does it serve its function? Yeah, this was a good introduction for newbies like me to understand the bare minimum of what is going on. The Kree-Skrull War now is the Kree-Skrull Alliance? Okay cool. But other than that, thats it. There actual story hasn't even started yet, and this comic is just giving readers a set up so they don't get confused. Larraz's art is cool, Ewing writing is fine, but thats about it. Alot of explanation, so it was kind of a jog to get through. Its mainly due to the fact that I am not as tied or knowledgeable of Marvel's continuity than say DC, so take my rating with a grain of salt. But yeah nothing special, but this issue is not supposed to be.

Yeaa pfff. The Avenger Prequel was definitely 1. better written and 2. more important than this one. You can skip this and go right ahead to Empyre. Reading this will give you some set up, but you can really piece together yourself or just read the Avengers version. Dan Slott's writing is becoming more and more mundane and boggy. Its not even that its verbose, its just boring. Silva's art was nice, but its not enough to lighten to load of reading this book. The story itself was fine, just some death match between a kid skrull and kree that the FF abducts. Overall though, its a whatever issue.

I thought this was going to be a snooze fest. Marvel has shown time and again that they can't write cross-over events to save their lives, Evident with Forceworks and Outlawed. And Empyre was beginning to look like that too. But I got a smack in the face after reading Issue 1. If this is any indication of how Empyre is going to be, than I am so glad I held this event out. The art, very Marvel-like. Idk, DC and Marvel have artists that kind of represent how Marvel and DC as companies approach their art, and Schiti captures that Marvel feel. That aside, its still good. The Paneling is very well done, especially its two page panel work. Marvel has a habit of using really intricate panel work that can be downright confusing, but Empyre manages to utilizes it in a way that is very easy to follow along with. The story itself was mildly interesting for majority of the book. It picks up from both the FF and the Avengers Issue 0's. Slott and Ewing does a good job recapping what has happened and what exactly leads up to this issue. The Kree and Skrull join together for this mysterious reason, and we get surprise appearances of Hulking which was awesome. Some cool action scenes in the latter half, but mainly alot of talking from both the FF and Avengers side, some of it was unnecessary. A pretty standard story for Marvel, nothing special like the previous issues. But the last four pages is what made this book grab my attention. Now its getting exciting. I probably should have seen that twist earlier, but how Slott and Ewing executed that twist was very well done. I am surprised at how good this 1st issue turned out.

Eh, this is not as bad as people are making it out to be. But it isn't great either. Unfortunately, it starting to revert back into a standard Marvel story. A " meh " story. But as of issue #2, its too early to tell. Overall, it was a solid book. It certainly did not completely capitalize on the hook we got from Issue #1, which I am disappointed about. Alot of talking and flashbacks, very little action. Good chunk of it not even necessary and bogs the story down, and I didn't even get a snarky joke out of it, :(. It is similar to Death Metal #2, in that its transition from Point A to Point B and clipping some things up before moving forward while dumping alot of exposition, but it doesn't carry that same momentum or energy over from its previous issue. For a previous issue to have such a great hook, the succeeding issue just deflates as quickly as its pumped up. This series really has to come in hot in the next issue as it seems it will be doing. The art and coloring is very good, especially dealing with the Cocati, but this series is losing steam.

Ooh. While it wasn't bouncing back the way I expected or wanted, I actually got a kick out of this book. Empyre #3 was a good comeback from Issue #2. Things are starting to become more clear of whats exactly going to happen. While its not really moving anywhere, lots of revelations are opened up that might be key to the conflict at hand moving forward, especially at the end and throughout this book. We play with the idea of Hulking as a king, and what exactly he has to sacrifice and make decisions on for his alliance. We get some great character moments with various members of the FF and Avengers, and peeling back an even more complex situation between humans, the Cocati, and the Kree-Skrull Alliance. Seems everybody has a knife behind their backs while shaking hands. And I like backstabs. This issue still is setting things up, but it holds much more interest.

It still is solid. What I really like about both last issue and this issue is the idea of being a king, a leader. Whoever wrote those parts, it was very well done. As it applies to so many different people, Hulking, Quoi, etc. I like it. The situation is unraveling into an increasingly complex event, with the Kree-Skrull Alliance, their plans, the Cocati, their plans, and how it affects everybody in the middle. Also, a nice revelation of She-hulk and why she was acting funny all this time. The writing is nice, characters are fine, art is great, but it still doesn't completely hook me in. Its still interesting, but it doesn't excite me. And thats my biggest problem with this event, we are already 4 issues in, and its just alot of talking and standing around with some interesting revelations. It feels like the tie-ins handles all the upfront action while the actual series itself is handling some behind the scenes strings and events. Like, it feels like I am missing the " other " half of the story. With only two issues to go, Iron Man or the Avengers or who-ever has to start doing something. But its just revealing the situation, and doesn't actually show how any of our heroes are attempting to deal with it. Maybe Slott and Ewing are saving that for the last 2 issues, but for an event, every issue needs to blow me out of the water. And while intriguing, is not doing that. The story is intriguing, but Slott/Ewing and company are dragging this crap out way longer than it needs to be, and at some point will lose my interest.

Okay. So another issue of nothing actually ramped up to combat the Cocati and the Kree-Skrull, and we are one issue to go. Man, I do not have hope this issue will finish off well. For such an intriguing situation, It feels like half of the Avengers are just standing around. There are some interesting things like the whole Hulking fiasco, but outside of that and BP, what the hell is even the point of showing half of the pages. They don't feel important, this event feels boring, the avengers still haven't done anything. Like, where the hell is Thor and whats going on with Tony/Reeds. Even with decent action and good art, this event literally is shoving all the actual battle in its final issue. And on top of average tie-ins, I feel sorry for the dudes that are buying this whole event. What a waste of 100+ dollars. Same problems, dragged out way too long, not nearly enough momentum, can't capitalize on good hooks and revelations, nobody in this story feel important outside of Hulking, this event doesn't feel important . And thats a sign when an event has failed at its goals. A mere fill in for X of Swords or King in Black.

What can I say, it ended. For such a good start, the plot kept dragging and dragging and dragging out for four damn issues, so by the time the final issue comes up, everything has to be rushed to a conclusion. Off the bat, I could already tell Ewing/Slott just needed to wrap this shit up. The art is good although this finale had some rough moments, the writing is overall solid, but the pacing and direction, its just not going anywhere. Events like this suffer from not making every issue of the main event count. So the finale has to be extra size to catch whatever is crashing down. It was interesting stuff Empyre was doing, but it made the critical mistake of not moving the plot in each issue we get. Only NOW does Reed and Stark do something, only NOW do we see Quoi since Issue #2, only NOW has all tie-in material come together, and Thor finally returns. How the finale wraps everything up, while having great writing, was very cliche and rushed. From She-hulk and her plant fiasco to the FF segment, to even R'kill and her attempted coup, it ended with such bluntness. And even after the finale wraps everything up, I still have a shit ton of questions. Like what happened to BP, cause last time I saw him was in the lousy Avenger's tie in. How was he " dead " and came back with this random sword. WHERE THE FUCK WAS THOR this entire time. It hurt my brain how unorganized this event is. It gives me information of stuff where literally nothing important happens, but leaves out crucial info for another stupid tie-in AFTER the final issue. Speaking of organization, the reading sequence was atrocious as well, for those reading the over-inflated tie-ins, the sequence schedule is completely fucked up. Issues are dropping out of order, things don't match up, hell we didn't even get the fucking Thor tie-in that explains where he was during this event. Marvel's schedule and organization went out the door with Empyre. I don't understand why this is such an issue. Cancelling over 20 tie-ins, why the fuck do you even have the much in the first place?!?!?!?!? This was just a bad event. I am sorry, it seems only Cates and Hickman knew how to make events, because thats the only saving grace for Marvel in terms of events. No momentum, very inconsistent pacing, extremely unorganized, blown up into an event when it didn't need to be. Empyre is another dud for Marvel. Force Works and Outlawed were terrible as well, just leave it to the professionals because Marvel you suck at making events.

A fun issue. Albeit a one shot featuring Conan, relatively pointless, Venom randomly thrown in just cause, but still really fun. The writing by Duggan was very up-beat and wild. Lots of action which I love. Some great simple yet effective panel work and nice art. Just a fun tie-in but not necessary. And kinda a rip-off for 5 bucks.

For a slog of an event, I liked this epilogue, at least it ended on a good note. If only this insurrection made by Emperor R'kll wasn't so poorly rushed in the main event. I did like that this was a sweet tribute to Mar-vell, Though it was automatically spoiled by this whining that somebody didn't get a piece of the action. Though this issue is a really good analysis of what responsibility and action Ted now takes a ruler of two empires. Cool niche ending, though I find it a weak motive if this gets brought out into another event. Liked this for an ending.

Sigh. Slott's style of dialogue is annoying, its reminds me of Bendis. This issue is WAY TOO VERBOSE. I just did the same thing and skipped pages. Using alot of small bubbles excessively, it just becomes a chore to get through. However, even despite all the walls of words, Slott does manage to pull put some great moments, especially with Thor. This just serves to cap off the entire conflict with the Cocati. Some nice art, a great conclusion to the fighting children and the FF, and a banger cliff-hanger than can spring into a future event that might have some potential. An epilogue unnecessarily pestered with dialogue, but a decent epilogue overall.

For somebody who doesn't really read tie-ins, I liked this. A good tie-in. First off, I like the dialogue during the actions scenes of our squads and interactions between Avengers. Not familiar with Zubs, but the dude has some great comedy through this book that makes it enjoyable to read at times, although like Empyre in general the story can feel a bit too cluttered.The art was cool, it was different than the art I typically see in Marvel comics, but pops with the colors courtesy of Grundetjern. This basically follows the Avengers from Empyre #2 trying to deal with the Kree/Skrull/Cocati war happening on Earth, while keeping as many people alive as possible. There is some good action in this book , and we get to see some alot of Avengers with a really unexpected cliff-hanger. Like the rest of the tie-ins, you really don't need to read them. This issue is a whatever issue despite being good.

I find it hard to believe that with everything the Cocati has pulled, they forgot that Scarlet Witch and Voodoo were psychics. Anyways, another decent issue. Its pretty cheesy with the dialogue, but that just typical Marvel quirkiness for you. Zub is like that as a writer, he can be decently snarky with light banter, or it can grow old really quick. I really like the art and colors in this issue, and the action is nice. The tie-ins though? Sigh, they just don't feel important. It feels meaningless when I am done reading it. Its a decent standalone, but Marvel shouldn't have blown this up into a huge event.

Yeah, idk if its just me, but after 2010 with the MCU, Marvel just has an urge to break out some jokes that are just so unnecessary or fall flat on its face from cringe. It doesn't work all the time in the MCU, and it sure as hell doesn't work all the time here. I appreciate Zub trying to make light with a meaningless tie-in series, and its his style, but its not clicking in this issue. In other books, Zub can pull of some funny dialogue, but its not working here. That goes for the whole Cocati thing as well. This plant vs. meat stuff is losing its initial appeal, and all of these insults hurled at each other are just laughable. And the wrap up with Ka-zar was super cliche, I wasn't even moved when he got stabbed in the first place. I loved the art and colors, seriously it was great, we got dinosaurs and Man-thing. But overall, this series and final issue was just not worth to buy let alone this entire event. The last problem I had was the reading sequence. I know Covid-19 fucked over the schedule for this boring event, but for real, if you can't release all of these tie-ins in accordance with the main event, why release them at all? This leads into Empyre #5, even though we got that issue 2 fucking weeks ago. Why does Empyre have this month gap from its penultimate and final issue? I don't understand why the shaped their schedule like this. Because of it, many tie-ins that are supposed to be read with specific Empyre issues are disjointed. Jeez.

This is a solid tie-in. It can get a little too " patriotic " for my taste, but its still decent. Some good action, and a killer ending. Johnson's writing overall is fine, the art is good, but again this isn't a necessary tie in. Just something on the side to read if you want.

Better. Some really crazy and wacky plant stuff occurring in this issue, it was kind of frighting. It also had a nice sequence about Cap and how people should see not only him but those who help him. The art, ehhhh. It has its moments, but its rather inconsistent. In one panel, its very rough with grit, clear pencil work, and at another time, it looks like art done by a computer art app. Writing was okay, minimal action, but it sets up something big to come.

Man, what a falloff from the adventure we were initially given. The series, while worth nothing, had some interesting ideas of alliance, and this big plant monster heading towards Mexico City. How both of these elements are resolve in this final issue to this mini-series is crap. Anti-climatic ending to the big plant monster. Anti-climatic ending to the complexity between the humans, the Kree, and the Skrulls. This is just a heap of whatever is left rushed through the garbage bin to get this over with. The art, not my favorite, but it did have some moments in this issue. It also had many inconsistencies throughout the series. The writing whoever was very good from PKJ. Too bad the story sucks ass. A large majority of these tie-ins are not worth the money to buy.

Along with the Avengers one, this is a decent tie in to Empyre. Although it really isn't tied into Empyre more so than setting up stuff for Dawn of X's new title, X-Corp. While a little wordy, Hickman/Howard does some fantastic character work with Scarlet Witch and some hinted future X-corp characters. Buffagni's art was nice. This issue was just a good X-men issue more so than a good tie in.You don't really need to read this or frankly any of the tie-ins to read Empyre. Still, this is a good issue and would recommend to people planning to read X-corp.

This was all over the place. Even though I read the last issue, I feel like I am lost a little bit. Everything is kind of unorganized, the writing is trying to be modern and quirky, which is common during fights scenes, but its not clicking at all. Jumbled with a walls of text, yeah it stagnates very easily. Our grandmas, don't know much about them, and they don't really add anything to the story. I knew this was going to be wacky with the whole PvZ theme, but now its entering the unappealing ridiculous area. Its just not as interesting as I thought it would be.I liked the art though.

This was better. Again, it still is kinda sloppy in certain areas, but its much more enjoyable than the previous issue. The art like last issue was pretty nice, really loved the art style and how Broccardo handles drawing the X-men and how he also handles action. And there was a heap load of action and wild kookiness to be enjoyed in this issue. The dialogue is a big step up. Yes, its pretty cheesy at times, but it handles funny banter way better than last issue on top of not being verbose with its writing. Overall, just a fun and wacky issue of X-men.

Nice conclusion. Hickman returning definitely lifts this series a bit. This issue concludes the whole zombie fiasco with Scarlet Witch in the first issue of this mini-series, and finishes off the big PvZ fight back in Issue 3. The art is really nice. Idk why, but most if not all the Dawn of X artists have really clean pencils that basically now signature for the X-men universe. While it is tied to Empyre, really its just a good X-men series. The definite highlight of this serious was the dialogue scene between Explodey Boy and undead Explodey Boy. Nothing big, nothing wild, just a plain old conversation about the future for mutants and life between two sides of the same person. And for a writer to literally carry a superhero comic with just talking, that is a rare feat to find in an comic. It was truly a very beautiful moment that actually moved me. Simple human interactions carries so much emotion in an ever-growing bombastic and crazy world. Hickman really knows how to handle the quiet moments. The wrap up was fairly quick and generic, even a little cheesy with Magik, given Exlodey Boy and Dr. Strange helping Scarlet Witch handle her big oopsy in raising 16 million mutants from the dead, but it overall still a really fun and nice mini-series. Not needed for Empyre, but definitely read for a decent/fun X-men series.

Eh, it was cool. But it wasn't " amazing ". And while I might sound uptight, Jeff Lemire is writing this book. The guy who does Gideon Falls and Black Hammer and arguably thee best writer right now. It didn't want my reads to be dominated with all Jeff Lemire, but people are really hyping this book up. So I gave it the first issue, and it was good, but not Lemire good. We start off with this woman named Loretta and her two kids and their everyday lives. Through this front, Lemire subtly builds up a dark secret about how people can turn into trees. Than after this phenomenon gets more apparent, its goes buck-wild crazy. I'll give this to Lemire. He is playing with alot of " personal " elements in this book. It is centered around this dysfunctional family with no dad who ran away, and Lemire handles it pretty well. This book while it does heat up half way into the book with some high emotions and a great cliff-hanger, it merely just introduced the concept of what this story is going to be about. Probably I am just subconsciously comparing it with Gideon Falls, which also builds in a similar manner. But there isn't much suspense or build-up to concept of turning into a tree. It just starts happening albeit subtly and with a few nods from the grandpa but thats it. And while this isn't necessarily bad writing, it doesn't make this issue have that umph I expect. Another problem was the art style. I am not familiar with Phil Hester, but his pencils and style is very much like Frank Miller's art, where it has very staccato-type line-work which I am not feeling. I probably just have to sit through it for a few issues and it will probably grow on me. Anyways good start.

Now shit is happening. Alot of explanations are done in this issue, specifically on the run-away dad, how the daughter now has this tree disease, how the grandfather is connected to Loretta and her kids. And it is done with exquisite dialogue work by Lemire and balanced with some dope ass action scenes. This issue jumps between the past and the present to explain stuff but also give us an insight to what will happen to Meg. Took an issue, but Hester's art has grown on me. It might not be for everybody, but it captures the tree-loving attitude Jeff Lemire has for this comic.

This was a slow-burner. We are introduced to a deeper insight of this human-to-tree concept through out this concept, and we also find out that the Grandpa can still talk to his son through a piece of bark he chopped off him. Meg finally makes it to NYC to see a " doctor ", and there we also discover more about who is chasing them. This issue, while things are happening and moving, those action scenes really help balance this book. Since this is only what Issue 3 and not post Issue 20, was kinda expecting it to keep the momentum up. It was just bogged down so we can from point A to point B. But eh, we might just need to wait for #4.

Getting better. First off, really appreciate Phil Hester's art alot more now than I did in Issue 1. Lemire really is a king when it comes to dialogue. It feels so real and weighted, tree-morphing and killing aside. His dialogue between Judd the Grandpa and Josh is very heart-warming. Loretta, yeah I can see why people don't like her. But her kid is turning into a tree, that is probably how I would act too. Loretta's section with Judd is reveals the situation that both her daughter and her run-away husband are facing, and also explains Judd's wooden hand. And then, ACTION. The action has returned, and it was very enjoyable to say the least. The dialogue not only in the quiet moments but the action scenes as well, very good.

Still carries the momentum for Issue 4. There is no action, but unlike Issue 3 what is happening still moves the story forward with much intensity and emotion, and the dialogue by Lemire reflects that. Very intrigued to what will happen now.

Very dialogue heavy issue but has some nice action and a prison break. This issue takes the time to pause what has been going on and focus on Judd the Grandpa, as well on who he is fighting. Apparently the people who is hunting Meg is some sort of cult. But we learn more about why they are trying to hunt down Meg and foreshadows who really is the " bad guy ". A filler-y/set up issue, but it still is a good issue.

Jump five years into the future. In this issue, Lemire uses different time frames to imply why these " tree people " were hunted down by this random ass cult. We discover more about this tree-people mythos between Meg and her dad, and why Meg being planted is so important. Meanwhile Judd after breaking out in Issue 6 is being chased by the cult in an attempt to lead them to Meg. I didn't mention this in my past reviews, but the cliff-hangers are well done, and this cliff hanger may shine light on what the real story behind the trees are. Another good issue.

Everything is happening so fast. Its very quick paced, and it just lingers for more answers. The art, like I said, its an acquired taste. At first I didn't like it, but with the whole tree theme going on, I can see why Phil Hester was brought on to do it. Big things happen in this issue, but while we still don't totally grasp the whole background of this tree syndrome, we are finally understanding the ramifications and and consequences of Judd's actions to protect his grand-daughter. Its ramps up towards the end of this issue then poof. End of second arc.

*** Reviews the Entire Series *** This is the worst comic book I have ever read. It really takes alot to make me absolutely hate a comic book, but Cecil Castelluci has managed to do that. I give it 2 for the effort and art, but the story, from the direction, to the concepts, to the writing and execution, this has to be the worst book of 2019. Its worst than Bendis Superman for crying out loud. This writer completely craps on the original design of the Fourth World, just to serve this narrative of female oppression from the male genitalia. It completely ignores who the female furies actually are in favor of painting all women as some kind of victim to the patriarchy. Fitting in feminist manifesto in a legendary cosmic world is a recipe for disaster. How bout you go with Cain to Maneaters with that bullshit instead of bringing it to mainstream. And Darkseid. DARKSEID. Holy fuck. I have no idea why DC picked up talent like this if this is the hunk of crap we are getting. Pulled a reverse WW and critics are praising this shit. Fuck off 2/10

Jumping on to Flash for Finishline since this is Joshua Williamson's final arc before leaving the title. Man, Williamson has written about 100+ issues for Flash Rebirth since its conception in 2016. Out of all of the ongoing Rebirth titles, Flash has probably been the most consistent out of all of them, with Williamson being the only writer to stick it though the end. And now its all coming to a close with Finishline, a big finale to Williamson's legacy on Flash. Overall, I liked this issue. I didn't need to read anything prior to understand what was happening, this issue covers that itself. The art? Kinda inconsistent with the Force scene. Pretty sure Sandoval needed Kolins to fill in for him on certain frames, and it kinda jumbled the flow of the story there. But other than that, Sandoval's art was nice. Things seems to be hyping up with parts of the Flash family assembling from literally all parts of time and space. And the ending, hell yes. Hypes up Finishline to be one hell of a arc. You just can't go wrong with Flash. You got Barry, you got Impulse, you got a fan-favorite Speedster returning for this, they are all coming together to fight Eobard Thawne and the Rogues. Some of the dialogue from Thawne was kind of corny and overly-edgy with how much he wants to be the Flash, but it gets the job down to move the story forward. Gotta go fast!

A solid issue. Definitely still hooked into the Finishline concept, and it is slowly being developed here. Again, the art between the Kolins and Duce do not match up here and disturbs the flow of this book for me. Duce's art is fantastic, but then we clip back to the Speed Force with Kolins. It feels out of place. That is just my personal matter on the art. The story here, I like the ideas, but the dialogue and execution can use some work. The writing, it felt cheesy in the first issue, but that cheese really ramps up in this one. Especially with Eobard and his obsession with Flash. At first it seem cynical and interesting, but now it begins to feels kind of immature. And throwing in Thauddeus Thawne, yikes. Surprisingly, Williamson pulled out the notorious " We are the Flash " line. And while I cringed at first of it reminding me of that god awful CW episode, Williamson makes that line work here, if it only wasn't for that stupid line from the CW Flash. How Williamson also handled certain villains as well weren't very rewarding. Specifically the Tornado Twins, what the hell was that? I like the ideas. Legion of Zoom, Eobard ever-ending pursuit since his conception on being Flash or killing him, The Flash family. While bit of a cornball in execution, still very excited that Flash is going back to its ground roots and emerging in this fiesta.

I just love the ideas going on here. Its a flash fiesta. To some, this may just be an over-the top shamble of flashes with cheesy moments. But what I see is Williamson tying the whole legacy of the Flash, 4 years of what he has worked on, everything that has happened to All the flashes in his 80 year history, its coming to fruition in this arc. Alot of time travel and frequency jumbo Kid-flash and his gang has to figure out to defeat The Legion of Zoom. Meanwhile, Barry and Zoom finally come to a climax of the whole ordeal that has been going on between the two. And another famous Speedster finally comes into the mix. A change up on the art, but for the fast paced, heavy action issue this is, Porter delivers on giving us a visually banger issue. A good chunk of dialogue doesn't need to be here. There is already a good chunk of exposition in this issue, so keeping the dialogue to a minimum was optimal. Yes, its a bit overwhelming with the whole Flash family, and has some corny dialogue riddled here, but this still was a good issue and looking forward to how Williamson will wrap up his tenure with Flash.

Farewell Williamson, farewell. A monumental finale to four years of great Flash comics and a final love letter to Barry Allen and the Flash family. What, for whatever cheese the first three issues of this final arc pulled out, this one hits the gut. It wraps together the legacy of Flash, moving past old grudges, and reminds us what makes Flash such a great hero in the first place. Don't fret, for this is not the end just yet. Read the DM SpeedMetal tie-in for Williamson's last note on Wally West. Huzzah to four years Williamson, you have done us proud!

Fun Read. All of these X-men giants are somewhat tied into the Dawn of X stories, but them standing on themselves make for decent and fun titles. Here we get Namor and Magneto going on a fishing trip so Erik can buy an island. Hickman is while creating a fun little story is subtly setting parts into their places for what I am presuming is the upcoming X of Swords. Ramon Perez's art was nice, really like his pencil work in certain frames. Although some of his background work can use a little redoing. Overall, a fun little story that sets up elements needed for later on.

First off, the art is fire. This might as well be an art book. From Landscape to the figures of Jean Grey and Emma Frost, its amazingly drawn and colored. We get different color schemes and the action scenes are phenomenal. That alone lifts this book and probably some of Dauterman's best work. But there is barely any dialogue, mostly a silent issue. Which I have no problem with, but giver me more pages for 3.99. The story seems to be minimal in connection to Dawn of X, but its still an interesting story. Overall, I liked it. Read it for the art, its great.

This one was solid, but kinda whatever. Again, it doesn't really tie into the Dawn of X stuff really, but it was a fun read with some great art and some great pre-Dawn of X ties. Nightcrawler and a group of mutants investigate when they received the " scent " of a mutant at Prof. X's old Academy for Mutants. Again, art was great, fun story, but doesn't really mean much for people only reading Dawn of X material. Skip-able.

This is great. Again, its tied into Dawn of X one way or another, but its also a good stand-alone comic. Then again, its not much of a story so much as a recap on who Fantomex is, again tied in with Dawn of X. And since I didn't know who he was, this was a new experience in the X-men world for me. What really carries this is the art. The art is fantastic, holy fuck. Ivan Reis has that distinct style of penciling, layered with some fantastic inking and colors, this is some of Dawn of X's best art. And the paneling as well, great flow and visuals. The writing by Hickman, its light, its breezy, its fun. I get to know more about who Fantomex is which is cool. Whether it was Dawn of X related or not, this book stands on its pure art layout and composition.

Picks up right when the Fantomex One shot ended. Now there seems to be so cohesion to what all of these one shots are talking about. The art by Dauterman is amazing. Some of his best work in style and composition is in these Dawn of X titles. Really liked how he drew floating eyeballs, just saying. I really like Hickman's take on how Storm chooses to combat this techo-virus she has instead of just succumbing to her illness and be resurrected, and why she chooses to go that path. Some cool action here, loved Ned, even though I barely know anything about him. Overall a nice conclusion to these one shots, one of the better ones for me.

Art great as always. Start of a new arch transitioning from a Small town America/religious horror to a more sci-fi dystopian horror. Really smooth conversion I have never seen in horror comics. Writing, art, colors, paneling, all suberb. Lots of unique world-building for this new arc, but reads really fast. You can tell Lemire has been reading some Fahrenheit 451. Glad to see it back after a 3 month delay.

Man, I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but it still addicting. Gideon Falls recently went through this conversion from a small-town America/Western horror to this super-natural sci-fi horror, and it just gets more and more wild. But I want to keep reading it. The art, the paneling, the dialogue, everything about these characters and the story draws me in. This just shows the skill Lemire has as a writing, he can lead you on to nothing for 5-10 issues, and you would still read it. Granted, there has been some stuff Lemire has answered and revealed in Gideon Falls , but those things he reveals just spring forth more questions. Anyways, this entire run has been a roller coaster from Issue 1.

First off, the covers are fire. Just noticed for the last few issues the cover kind of hints what the issue will be about. Anyways, yeah another great issue. It seems our cast of characters after the last arc has been cast into different realities, and all are trying to find a way out. Well now we are dealing with our police chief or whats left of the police chief, Rebecca and her scary ass journey in a wild west zombie/cockroach fest. I still have no idea whats going on, but its still a fun-ass, high stakes, crazy story that has been maintained for its entire run. Sorrentino? Man, he is like the successor to Ivan Reis. His art style, his paneling, use of shapes and panels, its so unique and delicate, and he is an absolute master at multiple approaches to sequential story-telling. Jeff Lemire doesn't even need to do anything besides write " Aaah " and " RUN! ", Sorrentino alone just carries this issue. Sad to hear this will be ending in November, going to be pretty tough for Lemire to wrap this up in a subtle and effective manner with the story he has amassed. Despite being a relatively action packed issue, it still felt quite light, as if nothing really was moving in this issue. Kinda like a " filler " or an issue to set things into place. Also in the future, try to get more content pages for 4 bucks. Overall, good issue.

Visually, this is some of the best work I have seen from Andrea Sorrentino on pencils, David Stewart on the colors, and Steve Wands on letters. Seriously, WOW. The first six or so pages is done with absolutely masterful techniques by all three. This issue in short starts to come full circle and present revelations about the craziness that has been going as the series approaches it finale at Issue #27 (basically the last arc #27-30). Lemire has reached the pinnacle of how vast the world of Gideon Falls really is. I have said this before, he stretches the boundaries of what horror can be, starting with a small-town America/Western style and evolved it up to this multiverse of madness. Though, this is really short. I mean, only 17 pages? Come on Image, you can do better than this. The story is coming to a huge conclusion, ramping up the stakes, peeling back the magnitude of the plot, and you give me LESS than 20 pages. Sigh. Also, how did the priest find Angela? And what happened to the girl he was with? Kind of skipped some stuff from the last few issues. Seeming to rushed a little, though they only have 2 more issues to go, and I get the feeling Lemire is going to explain it soon. Overall, a great issue and looking forward to the finale of this series.

This was both an amazing yet underwhelming finale to what was easily one of the best horror comics in the industry. The suspense and mystery of the entire series was amazing, but that only pays off if we come full circle with the finale. And I am not even going to pretend I understood what happened here. That suspense fell into just pure confusion. I really liked Lemire making the story increasingly massive in complex in scale, but he didn't finish off as great as he started. The ending felt rush, this wasn't enough to fully capitalize on what Lemire set out. It felt, stunted, like Lemire had to end it and it couldn't come together naturally. Art was amazing, again, Sorrentino's best work right here. It a damn masterpiece from his art style, to the paneling, the colors, the lettering, everything about it visually is phenomenal. The ending just didn't hit home as much as I wanted it to. Regardless, a decent ending to a stellar series.

***Reviews the entire series*** This was pretty fire. For somebody who has never read or got to know Hawkeye that well, this was an excellent comic to know who he is as of 2020. The story basically is that Ronin, Hawkeye's old persona is back in action, except Clint never took back the mantle. So whos Ronin? Matthew Rosenberg really displays his gift with dialogue and pacing. His characterization of Clint is spot on, comedic, brash, yet calculated and serious when he needs to. That goes for the entire comic series. Rosenberg plays a delicate line between comedy and seriousness of Hawkeye, and its done exceptionally well. The direction/story is a little " out of the box " as you can say, and no doubt can confuse some people at first, but its a really fun, upbeat comic balanced with dark and emotional times. Alot of cool characters. We have Clint's new girlfriend, as well as several Avengers appearances, and a teenage genius. All of them for what is given were used well in serving the story for what its worth. They all appear to focus around Clint's life, so its nothing super special. The " villain " Hood was also a very cool adversary that really ticked Clint in ways that appealed his dark side. To say he is memorable, eh. But it serves the function to analyze Clint's life. The art captures the essence of what this comic strives for. Serves that comedic dialogue aspect and really brutal action scenes with sharp edges and cuts with Schmidt's pencils. And the color pops, giving an extra bang to the art. Overall, certainly one of thee better mini-series coming out of Marvel. Throws the whole Force Works event into the dumpster. 8.5/10

Wow. One of the most innovative and unique comics I have ever read, pleasure to Image and Jesse Lonergan for the phenomenal comic. Hedra is a one shot extra-size comic that really strips down the art of comic-book story telling to its bare foundations. First off, the art in this book in fantastc. Lonergan is the perfect artist for such a surreal experience this issue was. This comic is all visuals, no writing. It really breaks comics down into its core components of pictures telling a story. The imagery, the dark hues starkly contrasted with the pastel colors, the LINEWORK, omg the linework in here is so 200 IQ. The panel-layouts as well, such intricate design and well placed panels and using different size panels that really layer on the flow of sequential story-telling so damn well. How Lonnergan utilizes spaces and lines and paneling in this book to build a narrative is so top notch, I have never seen an artist use art and visuals quite like this. Its really a beauty to behold and appreciate how you can find such complexity in simple ideas with Hedra.

I liked this debut. Worth the buy? hmmmm, idk yet. But its a good start. Taylor definitely understand the character of Constantine, he got his characterization, the dialogue, his backstory done well but with his own flare. There was a YouTuber I watched that said something that summarizes this mini-series perfectly, " if Constantine were to enter the DC canon, this is how it should be done ". And that is a good description. It has both that raw Hell-blazer grit and style of the old Vertigo and the current Hell-blazer run, but also has the more mainstream tone of the DCU. And while it certainly isn't hardcore Veritgo embroiled, it still a faithful and spiritual successor to those who have come before. Love the art by Robertson. Really love how he draws faces and emotion. Thats one of his biggest strengths and why titles like The Boys and Transmetropolitan are so revered. The story and its direction is pretty solid. We touch on Constantine's past, then jump into a present with a supernatural mystery, connecting the dots on the way. Its nothing original or flashy, but its done with respect to Hellblazer in mind. While it may not be as polished or refined as Hellblazer, both Vertigo and DC fans can enjoy this.

I am actually liking this quite a bit. Granted I never really read Hellblazer or much of the Sandman titles prior. But its fun with some snarky dialogue. Its nothing mind-blowing, but its intriguing enough for me to continue. Some people really don't like the art, but I love how Robertson is handling Constantine right now, its a style that works for me and this story. This issue is good, but its mostly just talking with some good violence here and there. It moves around a bit disjointed, but overall I still am interested where this will be going, even if the story isn't all that complex. Robertson's art is just amazing, love his style of pencils.

A great start for Lees. John Lees is an amazing horror writer, and this is surprisingly tame to what he has unleashed in comics such as Mountain-head. A horror anthology of a motel called Hotell along Route 66, containing four rooms, each housing four stories of horror infused goodness. This story was a good introduction to the concept, especially for those getting into horror, because you haven't seen shit yet. Art by Talajic was good, especially with the " baby " scenes. Ending was kind of blunt and abrupt, but was an overall nice one shot horror story wrapped up with a bow.

Now we are talking. While not exactly Lee's style of crazy super-natural horror, this will almost certainly satisfy with a classic murder story, with a twist of course. Well-done, executed finely with great art to top it off. For a horror anthology, this series has been very rewarding and definitely AWA's best horror debut.

Wooo, okay. That was a pretty scary issue that kind of creeped me out. Which is great. The first one was kooky, the second one was gruesome, but this one was genuinely scary. We follow this women named Kristen who attempts to look for her sister captured by this serial killer, and this leads her to Hotell and we enter Room 3. First off, its really cool how that despite each issue being its own thing, Lees manages to connect each of them that gives us a glimpse into future issues or past issues. I just found that neat. The art by Talajic, it wad damn spooky in this issue no lie. The writing again is good by Lees. This would have been the best issue yet, if it weren't for a small problem. Who the hell enters a hidden hole in the ground by yourself and that was specifically warned not to enter? That page with her deciding to enter " because she needed to know " was something pulled straight out of a Netflix horror flick. That was pretty stupid and cliche. But the horror itself carries this comic and was overall great penultimate issue. On to Room 4.

Wow. What a wrap up to a fantastic 4-issue horror mini-series from AWA Upshot. What can I say, John Lees is that type of horror writer that will go to extreme limits to provoke the maximum potential of horror. Paired with excellent art, especially in this finale by Talajic, this was one of the best horror books for the year. The final issue ties everything together about the Pierrot Courts. We are introduced to our final room, a father and a suspicious priest attempting to perform an exorcism on the father's son. What I loved about this horror anthology was that each room was a different story, accompanied by a different style of horror. But what makes this issue stand out among the other issues was how Lee manage to tie all 4 rooms together in presenting an idea of what this loney motel on Route 66 stood for, and why it existed. This series was amazing. And if I read the ending right, this will not be the last we will hear from Hotell. Amazing series.

Gotta say, the Alex Ross covers are to die for, and I really love how he draws Iron Man. Anyways, this was a good debut. Many writers for the past decade of so say that they were going to " get back to basics " with Iron Man. Well Cantwell is the only writer who actually stook by that promise with this debut. Iron Man was just not an interesting hero for the past decade and no writers managed to make him appeal to me, even though Iron Man is one of the hottest heroes in media rn. But Cantwell has taken a very grounded yet unique approach for this series. A youtuber said it best, it focuses on the " man " in Iron-man. Stark is stepping away from technology to focus on himself, and I think that is a great direction that Iron Man could really use after Slott. Really like how Cantwell handles Tony here, trying to figure out what it actually means for him to focus on himself. And knowing Tony Stark, probably means doing dumb shit. Great art by Cafu, man I love how he draws cars and people. But the highlight was the Iron Man suit. Stark really is going back to basics. Espcially with an age-old Iron Man villain back into the mix. Its nothing that will blow your boots off about Iron Man, nor do I think that was intended. I am still cautious of where this book will go, but so far, a sense of nostalgia and something fresh are intertwined here. A fine but by the books debut with nice ideas and interested of where it will be going.

*** Reviews the entire event *** I said it once, I'll say it again, Marvel are terrible at writing events. Writing is terrible, expected from Slott tbh, art wasn't amazing ether, certainly could not save this sinking ship. I just don't care about Arno as Iron Man. There is literally nothing interesting or redeeming about this event outside of the dope ass neon covers. Each issue of the boring crap got progressively worst over-time, and this issue #6 in typical Marvel style crashes in hellfire like Tony's suits in Iron Man 2. This honestly is one of the most atrocious event coming out of Marvel, no stakes, no momentum, no good. Its possibly even worst than Civil War 2, which was absolute dumpster fire and infamous as one of Marvel's greatest failures. Empyre is a letdown by being dis-orgnanized, but Iron Man 2020 was just inherently bad from the beginning. Please, stop letting Slott write these titles...

Woooo. Aftershock comes in banging. Kaplan and Kowalski introduces a world that shows two distinct lifestyles, a futuristic care-free Utopian haven and the rugged " old-ways " of primitive Western-style farmers and hunters, but there is a deeper more sinister secret between these two peoples. The contrast between these two life-styles complimented by the art from Kowalski as well as the pastel colors really displays the idea pitched very well. The Future vs the Past, Freedom vs. Luxury. The direction alone pulls people into this comic. And while this idea may have been done before, the writing and execution by Kaplan is superb to warrant a peek. Going through the routine of introducing the concepts, the world, the characters, Kaplan slowly builds up a dark revelation of this reality these people live in. And by the very last page, goes full throttle on a cliff-hanger. The direction and world introduced stands out shining and is brought forth with great art and great writing. Its a mix of two distinct genres, sci-fi and revenge Western, both genres I haven't dig myself into yet with comics. But Kaplan, Kowalski, and Aftershock gives me the pleasure to introduce a bundle of both in a well-paced first issue.

This issue bangs right from the cliffhanger from Issue 1. And it delivers. Everything that was set up about the relationship between rural towns and this utopia is spilled out on the pages. The art and colors are gorgeous, that alone makes this book so compelling. Kowalski's detail on both lifestyles is very well done and he manages to effortlessly blend them both while keeping them distinct. But this issue would not be so great if it wasn't for the writing as well. Our main gal Clem has suffered a unexpected tragedy and now is going on a road of revenge for her family and town. The character work, while predictable, is done excellently. Clem has a very headstrong attitude even despite her asthma and weak aims. Overall, another stellar issue from Join the Future.

Kaplan and Kowalski keep strolling along with yet another amazing issue. As usual, the art, colors and writing are splendid. But this issue dives into a deeper theme set out for this series and critiques both Western and Sci-fi genres. As Clem begins training to get her revenge for her family, Clem repeatedly faces obstacles that leads her to make a compromise with who she is and how she lives in order to reach her goal. And I really like that about this issue and how it utilizes both genres. As the world of JTF rapidly develops, people have to make compromises of who they are in order to have better lives for themselves and those they care about. And with this world, it means giving up living a rural Western lifestyle. And I find that really neat and done exceptionally well. This comic also foreshadows deeper elements between these two genres, and how they interact with each other in JTF.

Well, it still is a great series, and this itself is still a great issue, but I find it kind of lousy how Clem just snuck out so easily from the " Future ". However, the art, simple panel-work, colors, spectacular. The writing and world-building and the ideas relayed through that world, still absolutely stellar. A little action thrown in, and what seems to be sneak peak of a clever plan Clem is hatching up with what primitive material she has left against an ever evolutionizing world. Hopefully the Trader isn't just thrown out of the story, but overall still a fantastic book.

Hell Yes. Clem went all Home Alone on them. This is the end to what seems to be just the first arc. Kaplan, Kowalski and company may be leaving now, but this is most certainly not the end. How Kaplan wraps this thematic struggle between technology and primitive ways, it is executed to perfection in this book. From the action, dialogue, the development of Clem, this book fires off on all cylinders. Action and splendid art that completely wraps together this arc in the best fashion possible. In terms of execution, its nothing fancy, but its nothing short of a nigh-perfect finale.

***Reviews the entire series*** Joker Killer Smile produced by Gideon Falls duo Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino is a psychological thriller taken from the perspective of Dr. Ben Arnell as he attempts to cure the Joker of his insanity, though the Joker isn't the one needed to be cured. I loved it. To be fair, I loved DCBL in general and where they are taking this imprint. But Joker: Killer Smile is one of those books that really exemplifies what DCBL strives to be. This type of story of a psychiatrist attempting to cure a unusually insane person is a trope repeated many times across story-telling. And in most circumstances, I would pass on such a title. But this book stands high because despite re-hashing an age-old trope, it composes it with the upmost storytelling technique and visual art. Lemire writes this slow but well-paced thriller with much refined detail and skill to make us become immersed within the insanity of his book despite going down very familiar roads. Lemire's dialogue interactions is very well written, and impactful on not just Dr. Arnell, but us the readers. Accompanied with one of thee best artists in the industry, Sorrentino delivers some fantastic art to relay this world of chaos that Joker surrounds himself in, and which Dr. Arnell begins to see. Lemire also expertly uses child's literature to foreshadow future revelations as well as carrying the story forward as a contrast to the actually plot. Its a pretty scary children's book if you ask me. This series did have a fairly generic wrap up to finish off the series as well as other minor flaws. But overall for what its worth, 3 issues, 30 pages each, it made a fine psychological thriller for people to have fun reading. Its nothing ground-breaking, for which Lemire is known for, but it doesn't have to be in order to be a stellar book. 8.5/10

I really liked this. For those who was disappointed by Snyder's version of Batman in Last Knight, than this is the version you were looking for. To start, the art, panels and lettering are absolutely top notch. Sorrentino's art is so unique to fit this psychological thriller niche, faded but has texture that really gives the book an edge to it. The colors as well, switching from dark to faint colors depending on the mood the Lemire wants you to feel. It as good as the Original Killer Smile Series, and is done with such style to create this melancholy and dark atmosphere. On to the story, the idea is the shining beacon. Not to spoil it, but Lemire plays around with the idea of Batman in both a realistic setting but dashed with a eeiry touch of insanity. Mr. Smiles returns to prowl on his next victim, and reshapes how the idea of Batman even came to be. Lemire is reshaping the origin of Batman, again using child's literature as not only a contrast, but a factor into Lemire's vision of Batman. Everything you knew about Batman in this book is flipped on its head, and we are left with a ending open to further expansion on Lemire's unusual yet brilliant jab at the Batman mythology. A surprise yet impressive epilogue to the original Killer Smile series, altering how this story was being told, and by who's perception we were really reading it from.

Jumping on for Doom Metal, and not having Batman in this series made it less annoying and more enjoyable to read, and I am a huge Batman fan. First off, these tie-ins actually feel important, like they matter. Following Nightwing and Hawkgirl on their mission to Perpetua's Throne given is DM Issue #3, they run into Lex Luthor, go figure. Had to bring him in somewhere, and here is as good as a spot as any. Loved the art, Xermanico with Farjardo on the colors are killing it. He makes Nightwing look like a bad-ass. While yes playing with some Batman obsessed characters cause what is Metal without Batman, Williamson manages to sell it better than Snyder himself, of course accompanied with some stellar art. I mean, the character introduced just look awesome. I was iffy on Death Metal, but so far the recent tie-ins has managed to pull me into the event. Gooddialogue by Williamson, Chimp has always been a treat. good action, good flow, hallmarks of a good tie-in.

The story itself was okay. But this issue was extremely verbose, I had to skip pages of because it was a wall of words. This is a good issue for anybody who wants to know more about Hulking for Empyre, and how he became the emperor for the Kree/Skrull Alliance. The art was fine, not my favorite, the coloring was good, but there is so much writing. We get to see Wiccan which was cool, and there were some real touching personal moments and a good beginning with decent action, but the flow of this book is significantly trampled by the sheer amount of speech bubbles. Seriously, editors of Marvel have to reread this to trimm it down. I took me 15-20 minutes just to read this.

One of the better tie in out of the 30+ plus slug-fest Marvel is shaking out with Empyre. Far superior to that of Hulking. I learn a great deal about Quoi, who he is, where he came from, and more about his parents, Mantis and Swordsman and who they were. The art, its not bad persay, but I just don't think it fits with the story we got going on here. It probably would have worked back in the 80s, but with Empyre, it kind of feels out of place. Who knows, at the same time, it gives me a nostalgic Marvel feel when reading this, and that is good I guess. Issue is kinda out of sync with the main event though, which does hinder the reading experience for me. What really carry this is the writing. Quoi has to figure out where he stands, with his Cocati background and their ambitions, or his mother. And the emotions and memories are not bogged down by walls of texts and exposition like Hulking. So it feels that much more personal and close. If you are reading Empyre, its best to read this and Hulking even though the latter is pretty ugh. I really liked this tie-in, a great gem in a overall mediocre and slogged event.

Just another good issue from Paknadel and company. Art was better than the previous issue, more suited for the event at hand. This and X-men have been the only tie-ins I could consider good. But issue takes the time to dive into Swordsman and his role in Empyre. I thought we were going to get a little background of Swordsman before the whole Cocati fiasco, but this deals with the current Swordsman hybrid and his acceptance to the Cocati. And it was still a good issue. Good dialogue, some great moments between Quoi and Swordsman. But towards the end of the issue, I felt like Quoi transformation to hating anything non-plant was just a tad bit rushed or not executed cleanly, given the previous issue dealing with Quoi and his mother. I just wished we saw more of the Old Swordsman's past to connect with the last issue. Still, overall a good tie-in and Empyre fans should certainly check this out.

Really good debut. Wow. Didn't know what to expect from this. Never read Future Imperfect or David's Hulk run, which many Hulks fan hold as one of the greatest Hulk stories at Marvel. This mini-series I am presuming will be a origin story of Maestro, or the Hulk from the Future Imperfect story-line. Despite never reading the original series, people can jump on board and catch up relatively easily. The set up David had for Hulk in this debut was really cool. Really like David use of illusions to open up the origins. David also did a good job on recapping the background for Future Imperfect as well. Just really consistent dialogue and writing from Peter David all around. Art by Keown was stellar as well. Great first issue, excited to see what David has in store.

Eh, Maestro overall was a good story that gives insight on how Hulk became the evil dictator who was in Future, but its not as spectacular, intense and complex as I thought it would be. Art by Keown and Peralta is amazing, layered with some fantastic colors by Aburtov. The way Hulk became Maestro is while action-packed, rather anti-climatic and bland. His ideology is also kind of cheesy. It was a solid mini-series, and sets up more development to come. 7/10

*** Reviews the Entire Series *** Man, I will be sad to see this series go. This is easily the best fantasy series I have read in the past year. This is definitely Skottie Young's best work I have read from him. The basic story is a boy named Abel running away from his father with a talking fox, while dealing with a internal problem where when he loses control of himself, he turns into a tornado monster. Sounds wacky, but man does it feels so real. This book for all the shenanigans it pulls talks to the heart of what it means for a kid to run away from his father. That is the very core of this book, how a broken relationship morphs our young Abel to go out and be his own person. Man, I love this book. The art by Jorge Corona, OMG. His art just by looking at the cover is so textured, wild, cartoony yet surreal all at the same time. Its like living in a dream. And its matched by some of thee best coloring I have seen in a comic book. Beaulieu coloring in this book just makes the entire comic book so mesmerizing to look at. Sometimes, I can't even process whats going on, its just so damn pretty. Their two pages spreads and a jaw-dropping experience. And the lettering by Piekos. Man, I never talk about lettering. But this book wouldn't be where it is without Piekos. Especially in the big emotional climatic moments, the words itself pulls a rainbow of emotions out of me. And the man of the day, Skottie Young. Known for young adult/kid centric projects, Middlewest is a hybrid of Young's flare with a modern more adult twist added to the mix. And man, it works so well. Fantasy is one of those genres I bore, but that does not get in the way of me reading this series. Corona modernizes the genre by putting Abel's journey front and center and cutting off as much exposition as possible. There are things that are not explained, but they don't have to for the story to work, and Young recognizes that. And it makes reading Middlewest an intense, emotional, climatic journey read in 2 and a half minutes. His dialogue, it is driven with passion and emotional stakes of who Abel is and where he is going, and it resonates throughout this entire journey he has embarked. And the side characters. Oh yeah. From the fox, to the girl, to his gang me meets in " prison ", to the old lady and her brother, this cast just adds to the adventure Abel is on and really brings him to an understanding of who he could be and rounds out this excellent book. And the dad, oh the father. Young makes you hate him for how he treats Abel, but also subtly provides you why he is so abusive towards Abel, that you actually feel for the guy. Some problems I had was the ending was a little rushed given a sudden conclusion to a grand and climatic journey to that point, and I did feel it was melo-dramatic for a few moments throughout this series. I also would have like to see more character work on Abel's dad, especially on his side of the story where we can see him slowly redeeming himself. But overall, this was fun, heart-felt, emotional and crazy roller coaster with many personal moments riddled throughout this book. This team has done a damn fine job bringing me back into the world of fantasy. 9/10

Really neat start with this kid named Abraham who with his father seemed to be living in a world of paranoia, only to switch direction and blowing in a big revelation of who Abraham really is. John Lees easily is one of the best modern horror writers, and the art style by Ryan Lee is so unique and cartoon-like, but perfectly fits this zanny and weird world. Loving it alot.

A new mystery is introduced in this story of the Mountain, and what lays deep beneath the heart of this new city, which given Abraham's paranoid state left by his " father ", keeps him on edge. Again, great brisk dialogue with alot of heart between Abraham's family and himself, and how they must deal with their new found lives while steadily building up this horror show that seems bout ready to pop. One of the best horror series going on rn.

Probably thee best issue so far. Seriously, lots of terrifiying horror, amplified by such wacky and cartoon style art from Ryan Lees. The town is now starting to show its true colors, as more horrific scenes and clues build up for a gruesome event to arrive. Then, it explodes towards the latter half of this issue. Its wild,crazy, and scary. This comic really reels in horror that makes you scared at night.

This comic has gone fully wild in its horror aspect. The craziness of this once happy town has finally revealed itself plain and clear to the residents, nicknamed Mountain-head. Abraham and his new family must save themselves from this horrifying experience, and have only one way to stop it. His " father " also finally reaches Abraham's location, but to a horror fiesta that beat him to the punch of the most wackiest thing that comic has to offer. Ima say it, best horror comic of the year. Its beating out the Plot, Dollhouse Family, Baskeftul of Heads, SIKTC, even Gideon Falls, the best horror comic of the past 3 years. Its crazy, its wacky, its absolutely horrifying, with some of the best art to prove it. Lee and company will not stop at anything to unveil the depths horror can reach. Very excited to see the final issue of this masterfully done horror comic. May you be one with the Mountain.

The ending was... alright. It was not as climatic and exciting as I thought it would be, however that doesn't mean that this finale didn't have some major strong points. Art by Ryan Lee, WOW, amazing. Cartoony style art for some ravaging horror is something I have been dying to see. I also was very satisfied with Lauren in this issue. Abraham/James, as well, great center character for this series. The problem for me was how the " eye " plot was dealt with. It had both good and eh parts. First off, it wasn't as intense and scary as well as climatic as I thought it would be. Yes, it had amazing art and colors, but it didn't engage me like the last 2 issues. I also felt like Nolan didn't receive the closure he should have gotten. From being this loner type person, this ending did not do justice for him. However, Abraham's father, while creepy and crazy, had a very nice and methodical ending to his character and how that affected Abraham's journey moving forward. We now sort of understand all the delusions that Abraham's father had, and now understand more about why he was the way he is, even if he was crazy. Overall, a good comic series, amazing art and horror, but a tad disappointed with the ending.

Decided to check this out to see what happened to my boy Dick. They FINALLY got rid of that stupid DC editorial decision to cuck Dick into Ric. Extra points just for that. The art is not good in this issue, at least it got the creepy smile down. But we got some decent Batfamily action here, which is always nice. It was satisfying that DC finally reversed their editorial decision, and it was done with good technique frankly. Though idk how Batman is in this issue and how the whole Barbara incident was resolved, but whatever, at this point continuity is out the window. It was a solid issue, heart-felt, though would have loved to see somebody help Jason after taking a beating like that. It would rank higher if all these tie-ins actually aligned with each other story-wise and not go willy nilly since they are all in the same event.

Old Haunts was a good debut. We are introduced to three mafia members in the late years deciding to quit the life and enter normal lives. However all those who died under their reign has come back to haunt them. This issue was a good display of the concept. On top of these three mafia members, we are also introduced to an FBI investigator attempting to track these members. Pencil and inks by Campbell and Loughridge has some really dark lines and shadow work, giving the series a really eerie feel to this already mysterious yet simple story. Overall, a really brisk and light introduction. Nothing really stood out and was not as weighted compared to other books like Year Zero, but still a solid, good start.

Now we are moving more into the concept of this book. We see the concept taking hold onto our three main protagonists after their car accident and first encounter to their deeds, especially Primo, which explodes in the last 2 pages. Meanwhile we learn more about our FBI Investigator and why she is searching for these specific three mafia members. We even see some " dirty work " being done by her. The writing is good, the art is great, and the story itself is really stepping on the gas. A really nice introduction to wrap together this issue as well. Getting me more intrigued on this book's take of mafia life and where it will be going for Primo, Alex, and Donny.

AWA Studios is pumping out some solid limited series work right now. And Old Haunts is ramping up to be another addition to that list. Its a fast read, but regardless packs much to see in this issue. We are now dealing with the ramifications of what our protagonists have just done at the end of Issue #2, and worst, what their past sins are increasingly driving them insane. Some spectacular art in this particular issue, some really excellent 2 page panel spreads dealing with Alex's hallucination. Things are getting frantic and desperate for Alex, Primo and Donny are getting dragged deeper and deeper into hell. Best issue so far.

Kind of underwhelmed the direction it went after Issue #3. So Myrick kills Donny's guys, and it seems that the Made men are in deep ass trouble, but then Myrick is just socked out the story? What? This FBI agent, I want her to be important, but the way Williams/Masters is taking her deflated the stakes of this issue. Though there are some saving graces of this book. This undead/supernatural element played with in this series and how it affects our protagonists is done with fine technique. The visuals are the highlight here. Everything from the art style, the inks with contrast between dark and light topped with some well done chromatic colors makes Old Haunts have some amazing panels. Though not entirely satisfied with this book.

The ending just did not wrap this up as clean and exciting as I wanted it to. The art is amazing, the psychedelic death like concept in the background was very cool to look at. But man, this was just so fucking rushed and sloppily wrapped up. For a solid first 3 issues, the last 2 just fell flat. How the FBI/Lopez story wrapped up, the Made Men story, the conflict between the Made Men and Myrick, everything just flopped. Done in such lousy fashion. If the art wasn't good, this would have been a AWA's worst series by far.

Gets an extra 0.5 for the ending. Wow. At first, I did not like the pace and some of the writing in this book. But now Gillen is ramping up the tempo and throwing his own spin jumbling different English legends in the past recent issues, and its great. First we got Beowulf, then we got Merlyn, and now we have another surprise. Loving where this book is going.

*** Reviews the entire Series*** Well, that concludes Plunge, the final book out of the Hill House Comics line. I really enjoyed the entire line of horror infused goodness, It was a real treat, and I really hope Joe Hill is planning to launch a new set of horror comics later in the future with DC. Onto Plunge, this is the second horror series written by Hill under DC after his first successful series, Basketful of Heads, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was overall a good series. Plunge stands tall on its premise and the ideas it presented. A lost ship called the Derleth and its crew disappeared forty years ago in the Bering Strait, but fast forward to the present, its beacon begins giving off a signal again. We then jump into our cast, Captain Carpenter and his crew, the ever shy Dr. Lacome, the lovely diver Morah and her companion Bill, and more as coupled with unusual behavior of the ocean, they set off to understand the situation. The ideas presented have me an eerie chill that hooked me in. But on delivering on its concept, the water was a little murky. We learn a great deal about each character we are presented, but I don't feel I have seen enough to really invest myself into them. So when certain characters die for an example, it doesn't impact me all to much. Its not that Joe Hill didn't do a bad job writing, its more that with the ideas he had, six issues probably wasn't enough for me to fully hop on board despite being relatively interesting all throughout. The writing, especially the dialogue was quite fun actually. Matched by some great art by Stuart Immonen and colors by Dave Stewart. Perfect for the story Hill sets up. The worms and what happened to the crew of the Derleth was the scariest part. jesus. But it didn't have this shock scare to it. More like a subtle approach, again contrary to what I expected, but I very much welcome it. The whole series for that matter is subtle, too subtle in certain aspects, which kind of drags and loses interest issue by issue up until the final issue, and warrants a TPB read. However, the final issue does wrap up the series handily. Still, I did not enjoy the series as much as I wanted to. For such great ideas, its momentum and character work didn't grab me into this story given six issues. I'll quote this phrase " it intrigued me, but it didn't excite me ". Regardless, it was a good series handle with well from HillHouse. 7/10

***Reviews the entire series*** Garth Ennis returns to Punisher and MAX Comics with a Soviet-Inspired mission with some classic Punisher Style violence. A Russian mob boss is deciding to go legit, but a former Soviet solider comes out of the woods to kill him for his actions he has done in his life. The Punisher investigates this conflict on behalf of the government, but what he unravels will return him to who Frank once was before he became the Punisher. Garth Ennis is doing what he does best, violence, gore, action, in 6 issues of classic Punisher. However, Ennis similar to Punisher: Platoon does a assessment on Frank's life in relation to this Soviet Solider's experiences, and a real world outlook on the life and corruption in the military for soldiers, especially those who had to endure tragic loss. Garth Ennis really knows how to write Punisher, but also write characters in relation to Punisher to amplify and direct Frank's own actions, motives, and decisions. Using this military mixed with crime structure plays hand in hand with who Punisher was and is. Some very nice reflections on Frank Castle. The action is perfect. There's blood, there's agony, there's explosions, its James Bond mixed with Jar Head. Its great. Art by Burrows brings this really vintage/classic feel to a Punisher Comic, and the colors pop to really appreciate his pencils. For those who really like violence, Punisher is a must read. A problem for me was around Issues 2-3, it gets really bogged down by exposition about the whole deal between this ex-Soviet Solider and this Mob boss. And while its needed, it slows down the pace and interest alot, and only when it returns to some action that it starts picking up again. So it can throw some people off with the quick spurt of action into a drawn out dialogue for an issue and a half. But the whole mission to try and find this Mob-Boss, their small talks man to man, this was a fun, action-packed comic series. Would recommend. 8/10

Definitely turning into a better direction. I was a huge fan of Lobdell's work in the first half of this second volume of RHATO, but after Artemis and Bizarro left, it started b-lining to another story that didn't retain much attraction, although had some good ideas. This comic run as of recent felt lost, wandering around until it could find its stride. And this issue is giving those holding out a glimpse of that. The main squad is back in action, Artemis, Bizarro and Jason are in sync with each other, complementing the issues of character development between the three. Lobdell has always been notorious for being a pretty low quality writer, but this volume is proven to show some of his strengths. On top of character work from previous issues, dialogue between characters in this book is really astounding, given Lobdell's track record. The art is also regaining its touch, with better pencils coming in to do justice to our three protagonists. We also peer into Artemis's relation to her weapon, Mistress, again building upon her growth as a character. However, the plot is thrown in out of nowhere. The Untitled from the first volume return, and apparently made some type of deal with Trigon. While its something, it doesn't transition well. We get Essence back which is cool, but it all feels like it was just done so Red Hood and the Outlaws have something to do. Story is eh, but the character work and art is good.

So, this book is definitely trying to go somewhere. And Lobdell with everything he is trying to juggle isn't a total waste, its actually getting more intriguing. I was never really digging this All-caste story. Didn't like it in the New 52, didn't like it here that much either, but with Trigon mixed in, and a really surprising ending, its starting to pick things up. For all of its strengths, the plot is still all over the place, and I didn't like how the whole Trigon ordeal ended despite being pretty funny, And the dialogue can get a little out of hand. The art is nice though, and the characters definitely is what pushes this book, but characters and art alone will not cut it with only 3 issues left to come.

A good tie in. Separate from the main storyline going on with Red Hood. I liked the whole PTSD segment with Red Hood and Punchline and what not. This tie-in in general touches back on alot of past memories of Jason before he became Red Hood, which I really liked. Great art by Booth, writing was decent. Good action, quick pace, some interesting panel options. Just an all around solid tie-in. Its draws on high emotion , but its nothing super important.

This whole arc, I wasn't really into everything that was going on, but at least I had some fun with what there was. But to be honest, this wasn't a thrilling or lets say well done ending to what is the final arc of this volume as Lobdell prepares to leave. We get a time throw up with the previous Outlaws because why not, and how things ended with the whole Bizarro fiasco with the Trigon stuff left much to be warranted. That end specifically felt very sloppy and not put together well. This is just a kind of " fun " wrap up. There wasn't any sincere character moments outside of the Roy Harper snippet, Lobdell just wanted the entire cast of RHATO to have a fight one last time, nothing more, nothing less. While its not bad per say, its truly is disappointing given how strong this volume was in the beginning. Art by Pantalena during this entire arc was quite solid with Prianto on colors. But overall, this second volume just didn't pull me in as much as I thought it should. This was going to be like a rebound to the inconsistent Volume 1, that this time RHATO truly reached it potential for fans to enjoy. But the second volume just ended more of the same as the first. Started out amazing than withered midway as time went on and ended with a mediocre bloop.

This whole second volume, its just a disappointment. IT started off so strong, but fell on it face towards the latter half. This is a sweet ending for the Outlaws I guess, but its nothing special and certainly can't salvage what happened the last 15+ issues. Overall, while a decent issue itself, is a weak send-off for the lousy 20+ year career Lobdell has had in comics. Art was fine. The dialogue was fine. But overall, this was just such a underwhelming series.

Yo, this was fire. I didn't think I could take more Tom Taylor, not cause he's bad, but because I am already reading a ton of his stuff over at DC. But man, he hooked me in. What set up is that these two agents guarding these " seven secrets " for a cult had a baby, and they were given a choice to either give up the baby, or give up their oath to protect the secrets. Flash forward 15 years, and a heist involving our two agents is going on. Like all Tom Taylor's work, is fast, its action packed, quick dialogue, high stakes. But as much as it speeds around in this issue, it still takes the time to sink in the emotional impact out two agents have to go through. The world-building, set-up and ideas are really cool, but the dialogue, the narration, the weight it packs reels in my attention, which is what Tom Taylor does best. It can feel a little generic on the surface, but this book is worth the read.

So this issue kind of slows down and explains the truckload of set-up and action thrown at us in Issue #1. Like a recap if you will. And as a follow-up issue, it does its job splendidly. Forgot to mention this in the first issue, but the art is fire. Di Nicuolo on pencils with Baiamonte on art makes for this vibrant, high energy art-style that fits the pacing and environment of this book. In this second issue, we get to meet Caspar, the bastard himself. In short, its just a recap of what happened when he was born up to the moment he found out what happened in present time. It explores more of the organization and how this world works, who works in it, etc. Tom Taylor still keeps some factors behind sheets. But what sold me on this issue was the narration and dialogue. For a very emotional book, it has an upbeat attitude with a taste for adventure. It shows what Casper is like and how he is affected by his upbringing. It even shows Casper talking to his parents. Overall, a good lull issue, done with great technique by the creative team, and sets up how Casper will tie into this story.

This is a great homage to the 90s of superhero comics, Jeff Lemire seriously writes some great characters and dynamics in different points in time. Great art by Zonjic, really liked the colors by Wands as well. The action in this series was great, and how Lemire and company moves the story is a very simplistic yet engaging read. Another great story in the world of Black Hammer.

***Reviews the entire series*** A comic series that will stand the test of time. Zdarsky has really given rise to his career by producing probably one of thee best works in his time, Spider-man: Life Story. Following Spider-man in real time, from his introduction to in 1963 to the year 2019, it focus on 6 different decades in Spider-man's life, and how he deals with what each decade of Marvel history brings on to him. The idea alone of this run is very innovative and albeit " ground-breaking " is how comic books, especially in universes like Marvel are taught. Putting Spider-man in real time and aging him to see who he would become really adds layers on how we view Spider-man over the generations. The art by Mike Bagley, amazing. His line-work feels like classic Spider-man from the 2000s and really brings out the aspect of what each decade had to offer. One of Zdarksy's main advantages with this series was by aging him from 1963 to 2019, Zdarksy was able to in-cooperate various Spider-man arcs from those decades into his run. Very neat. Events like Civil War, the creation of Venom, Doc Oc and Aunt May, and Miles Morales introduction are all used by Zdarsky in their respective decades. However, since he is trying to in-cooperate all of these elements, this isn't going to follow the canon we know of Spider-man's history. Zdarsky also uses real world events in his look at Spider-man's life such as 9/11 and the Vietnam War, and how Peter in affected by these events.But what makes this story so spectacular is the character study, growth and triumph of Peter Parker, the Spider-man. It takes a look at Peter's life as Spider-man as he ages, and how different events and decisions Peter makes as he ages affect him being Spider-man. It goes through lows, highs, it goes through everything Peter Parker would ever face in his life. Peter experiences all types of problems and challenges in and outside his costume, and it pieces together how we view Peter Parker not just as a superhero, but as a man. It truly is a life story of who Peter was, is, and will be. Its a message of hope, of perseverance, of triumph, so we can all go out with a sense of Spider-man in our lives.This will stand with Morrison's All-star Superman and Miller's Daredevil as thee best stories superheroes have to offer. 9.5/10

Wow. What a debut. Chip Zdarsky is one hell of a writer, and he is laying it down with Stillwater. Wow, such and explosive yet eerie issue. A mix of subtle horror, mystery and super-natural concepts bundled in this town called Stillwater, where nobody in the city dies. Pulling A Stephen King but is still original in style and execution. The writing and dialogue is superb. Following a jobless man named Daniel West on his way to Stillwater to claim a inheritance left by a deceased family member. When he arrives, the comic just lights up. The colors by Matt Wilson makes this comic pop with sensation, one of the best colorist out there in my opinion. I am not the hugest fan of the art style, especially with how Perez draws faces. Its not consistent all the way through, features from lips or teeth or facial structure is kind of loose throughout the series. Regardless, a stellar debut by Zdarksy and Company.

A good enough start for King after his Batman run. Adam Strange, War hero or War criminal? A sci-fi tale of a hero returning home, but rumors of war crimes performed by Strange turns him upside down. Now he asks for help to investigate himself. Great premise to start off with. I really like how King tries really dive into ideas we see and twisting them in a way that makes us ask questions. This time, his victim is Sci-fi, birth of Star Wars and Star Trek. His dialogue here is distinct into two different stories, one following a classic adventure sci-fi, the other following King's signature modern nuanced vision. These two distinctive styles are backed up by two different art styles, each coinciding with their respective stories. Both Shaner and Gerads art style perfectly capture the tone each story presents to the reader, and although contrasting each other, balances the story out and flows. A real strong point of this comic that makes it stand out. Great start with a promise of a great story and mystery to be solved.

I actually liked how King handled this issue. At face value, this seems like a filler issue with King wasting people's money on stuff that doesn't matter. The thing is that this issue is critical to understand where this story goes. In the first issue, we learned a multi-view scenario of Strange. With this issue, we learn about Strange's past through the eyes of Mr. Terrific, in turn also learning more about him and how he is going to approach investigating Strange. It may seem slow to many and even useless to the story given all the trivia in this issue, but I think this foreshadows how Holt thinks, discovers and approaches his investigation moving forward. Evident by Holt's realization about Strange's concern of his daughter. This issue also implies why Batman wanted Mr. Terrific to investigate Strange. How King handles subtly building up an approach to this mystery of Strange's acts of crime is done with the his classic dialogue and tropes found in his past works, but still evolving his style with the use of Mr. Terrific's T-spheres. The art styles between Shaner and Gerads really reflect the two stories and two styles of story-telling in this issue. Going from page to page down to panel to panel, it really contrasts hammers down the contrasts of such genres, a critique of the sci-fi genre handled side by side with a modern flare, but flows together in unison. King is also handling the characterization very well. King always had a knack for using C-list characters and making something truly innovative and new out of them given creative control. He did it with Vision, MM, Omega Men, and Strange Adventures is just another addition into his collection.

This just got spicy. With the conspiracy we are left with in Issue 2, King jumps the gun and kicks the story into high gear. The image of Adam Strange and what exactly happened on Rann, as well as what might happen to Earth is now becoming more and more muddled and elusive as this issue goes on, and thats exactly what King wants you to see. King is hiding something, and he is hiding it damn well. Art by Both Gerads and Shaner of course superb, some of DC's best art, on top of coloring an panel layouts. Read it for the art styles alone. But how this sci-fi crime hybrid takes is course is very masterfully done. Its becoming more tense as more information is being passed, yet we don't know how it all ties together and what will happen going forward. Its unpredictable, yet increasingly keeps the reader engaged. Alanna is a bitch, but a bitch that makes this story tenfold more intriguing then it once was. Everything we saw on the surface of this book is now turned 180, and I am here for it.

First off, loved these covers. Whoever is doing them is fire. You can definitely tell King is drawing from his past CIA experience when writing this. And I am not complaining, its very interesting. The art again is amazing from Gerads and Shaner. Really liked the Shaner bits in this issue particularly. King during the Gerads parts plays and develops more of this mystery surrounding Aleea and what exactly happened to her, now tying in the war on Rann itself involving the Pykkt race we were introduced to in the last issue and retains my interest of our mystery, The Shaner parts though? eh. While it has good art, it nothing exactly happens on the half of King. There is some emotional touches here and there, and it seems important for the future issues, but face value it was basically Adam and friends, just wonders around waiting for the real deal. Still, this issue is great, and has some amazing art with an intriguing mystery. With whats going on with King, don't let that stop you from a great story he has amassed with Strange Adventures.

The series is still really good. King doing what King do best, challenging age-old themes, genres and ideas through a more nuanced and modern lens, similar to what Alan Moore did in his early career. But this issue so far has probably has been the weakest one. The art and contrast styles King, Gerads and Shaner do in this book is top-notch. King's characterization of Alanna and Strange complements the different art styles and approaches. Alanna is still a relatively intriguing character the clouds the story in suspense and mystery, but she now is also taking time out of Strange's edge in the story. Especially during the Gerads sections of this issue. I want Alanna to be important and integral to the story as well, but not subsiding Adam Strange and his part in the current investigation against him. Though maybe this is intentional by King the more I think about it. The story was also unnecessarily verbose. Parts of the dialogue didn't need to be here and was honestly just there to take up space. At this point, we are reaching a halfway point. And while the mystery is certainly intriguing, it needs to start peeling back the curtains on this investigation of Strange's daughter. One thing I find too often in comics is that it drags too much and fizzles out by the time something is revealed. Hope this series won't go down that path.

So jumping onto this heap of garbage since it was an over-sized " anniversary " and has some spec potential . First off, for as atrocious Bendis Superman has been, Ivan Reis still kills it on the art as well as Ferreria's colors. Sad to see it wasted on this run. But even with great art and colors, just from reading the first 3 pages of this comic, I already was not enjoying this new arc. Bendis's style of dialogue is unnecessarily verbose and pesky, it makes the Synmar needlessly peckering at each other. Titles like Flash has these problems as well, but it doesn't cover tons of space like this book does. Here, almost all the Synmar dialogue is just weighing down the story told. I am still very uncomfortable that Superman outed himself in the fashion he did. And the whole Lois Lane and Jonathan Kent situation. This issue did not need to be oversized at all. This could have been a normal issue. All it did was set up a new villain, thats it. The Superman bits don't really matter and not tied well to the Synmar stuff at all. Its not terrible persay it just isn't worth anything artistically. It has great art, it introduces a new villain, but how the dialogue flows, and how this issue as a debut connects with me and how it connects as a story, I am just not invested. There simply not enough going on for somebody to jump on Superman. At least its not dragged down by the previous issues Bendis has done. Tried again to hop on Superman, jumped right off.

***Reviews the entire series*** Frank Miller is one of those writers that you can't deny as a legend in the industry, but also can't deny that he should retire. And this book is an example why. Idk if its fatigue from writing, or he lost his spark, or whatever, but this book, given it costs 8 dollars each, is totally not worth it and is second to worst in DCBL after the Dark Knight one shot also written by Frank Miller. In short, I don't understand the end goal of this book. It just goes through his life, which is cool, but doesn't reach a level of why he becomes Superman. All it does is show how superior Superman is to humans and how many girls he can hook up with. The Narration is confusing, sometimes its narrated by outside narration , then thoughts in somebody's head, then you have to try and figure out who's actually talking. The panelist should have color coded this better. And the editor really needed to proof read some of Miller's dialogue either due to grammatical errors or Miller's poor use of dialogue in general. The art by Romita Jr. is nice, I really did like it on top of the really animated colors by Alex Sinclair. But the story, the direction itself is bland. A life journey is cool, but it still needs a focal point for me, and I was presuming that focal point being how Clark became Superman. But it was handled with such muddled and boggy technique. It also felt like reading from issue to issue or even page to page, I am missing out on some information that I should know but couldn't find in the 3 books. In short, Miller's vision of Superman is wack, incomplete and really boring if this is what Superman means to him. Glad I got these books for half off. So I don't feel too bad. But Miller seriously needs help writing or else just lay down the pencil. 4/10

*** Reviews the entire series *** I'll give Marvel the benefit of the doubt of at least attempting to expand their universe to other demographics, now going east to the lands of yellow people. And characters like Swordmaster and Aero carry some great potential, but the falter with lackluster writing. I really liked the concept of Sword-master and where the story was going. There is a great mythology built around Lin Lie, our main character, of this ancient sword he has inherited to use against a giant monster, but Lie only wants to use this sword to find what happened to his father. And like Aero, it has more or less the same strengths and weaknesses. It has some great art and colors, again carrying the series with heavy manga/eastern influences with some killer colors. Especially during the fight scenes, the coloring was great. But the story sinks due to it like Aero not having any weight. I finish reading an issue in like a minute. The dialogue is very light so everything just moves quickly. I don't even have to use my brain to process stuff because there is just so little happening. It feels " hollow " if that makes sense. I like this slightly better than Aero purely on the ideas presented, but falters in its execution. Contrast with Aero, I also liked the backup stories involved with Shang Chi, something fun to read along with the main story. But given Sword-master's tremendous potential and a good start, it simmered issue by issue. It reads fast, has some good ideas, great art, but has nothing to make me stick with this character or series in the long run. 6/10

Not a bad start, especially for a rookie duo such as Condon and Phillips. I hear this is Chris Condon's first book ever in the industry, so for his official start, it was good. Starting with the art, Phillips excellently captures the neo-Western lifestyle of Texas with his line work darkened with ink. The colors as well, while might seem amateur-ish on its own, really works in this crime oriented story. The colors are colored in different shades of of " pop ", you can really see the differences of light on each page if you look closely. You can even see like crayon style colors in his work. On to the story. It starts off with this typically Texan community thats close-knit. Condon really got down the dialogue that people down in Texas or the Southern US in general talk, because some words I don't even understand. It might seem boring or casual, but going deeper into the book, a increasingly hints at a a future event. But that allurement still doesn't cover up that this book can be pretty bogged down or dull. idk, it was a jog to get through 2/3rd of this. Our protagonist, 70-year old Sheriff Joe Bob Coates while going on with his regular duties is pressured by his wife to ask their neighbor in the community for a casserole dish. And you will soon discover why this is important. Overall, it was a good start. It still was kind of bleak and dull, which kinda was the point with capturing the lifestyle of this community, but subtly builds up a mystery through this casserole dish that explodes in the last 3rd of the comic.

This reminds me a lot of Tom King's work, what with the mystery and conspiracy theory going on. This was an amazing debut. Tynion has really come into his superstar status working on DN Death Metal and Batman with DC, as well as his independent work, latest of which is the Department of Truth, which Tynion plays with the idea that every conspiracy theory had truth in it. Who shot JFK, Aliens, UFOs, Flat Earth, etc. Art by Simmons, oh my. His sketchy style of penciling together with inks makes it as if I am looking at the pages through a 1930's kinescope, very antique and mysterious, perfect for such a concept. The writing, crisp, quick, flows very well, expert lettering by Bidikar. A great debut by Tynion, hooked into the ideas being played out, and great visuals by Simmonds and company.

***Reviews the entire series*** Overall, a good series. Dollhouse Family uses Victorian Era art, style and settings and links it to the modern world. The art was perfect for a comic like this, managing to capture the classic 1700s English scene and the horror engrossed in this comic. Starting off slow, this comic really takes its time to build up the setting of the story, finally clasping the connection between three different stories in the final issues. Similar to that of Basketful of Heads, this comic however may have been too slow for some readers to unravel the verdict of the mystery behind the comic. There is set-up and exposition needed in order to make this story function, and it can be very " wordy " or verbose. Still, it ties everything together tightly through driving the main character, Alice to discover who she really is in order to save her family. And more uniquely, ties it in solely through one object, a antique dollhouse. Done with finesse and with each revelation drawing the reader in, it almost rewards the reader for sticking it through. The writing, while it could be boggy and slow down the pacing to an unnecessary halt, does an excellent job on capturing the fear and emotions of the many characters in this book in relation to the dollhouse. Dialogue between characters feeled weighted yet fresh and modern. Carey knows how to write some great dialogue between characters. The horror of the final issues are great, but it may be better to read this in TPB rather issue by issue. But overall, a solid series for Hillhouse Comics and DCBL. 7.5/10

FYI, never read the Sandman from the 90s nor any of the Sandman Universe titles, but since I heard those were fire and some of DC's best work, decided to check this out. This is right up Wilson's alley. I never considered her a great superhero writer, and frankly her work reflects that, but sci-fi and fantasy, anything with world-building and a grand scope, this is her meat and potatoes. The art overall is great. Some Panels of some Harry-Potter style art with a touch of dreamy-ness to it. But with the main character Lindy, I couldn't tell if she was a woman or a man for a few pages. I also noticed that Robles likes using really opaque shadows quite a bit in this story, just something I haven't seen before. While on that, Lindy is a very exceptionally relatable character, and how Willow has introduced her so far will keep my interest in her journey through the land of dreams and wonder. The story itself is an amazing idea. Now I know why its called Waking Hours. And Wilson's dialogue outside of her academia talk on top makes for a very unique fantasy adventure. Lets just say Wilson likes to play around with Shakespeare and historical figures alot. We are also introduced to a " nightmare " named Ruin, our other protagonist besides Lindy and I am assuming another person from the Dreaming named Jophiel. Some neat characters. Overall, an eye-catching debut that pulls another well-executed twist on the lucid world of the Dreaming.

Another great issue, although not as amazing as the last one. Wilson continues this idea of our Nightmare named Ruin and his situation after escaping the Dreaming. First off, the art by Robles is amazing, WOW. Again, so imaginative, luscious, and with a dark style. The inks as well, really adds the Sandman atmosphere to the book, layered with some fantastic colors. The issue dives deeper into Ruin and his background of how he became a Nightmare, fleshing out the Dreaming as well. The dialogue overall was solid, but there definitely is some cringe and cheesy writing here, Ruin needs some better lines. We are also introduced to a sorceress named Heather After, she seemed like a cool character. Basically an exposition issue for the future of this series . After the first issue, not alot seems to happen plot wise. Lindy is still stuck in the Dreaming, we are introduced to Heather After, and we learn more about Ruin and who he is. But it is done with magnificent art and style and finesse. While needing some work on that dialogue with Ruin, the second issue overall was enjoyable.

A really solid start to a DCBL series. What more can you expect from a writer such as Jeff Lemire. Question: TDOVS begins with a classic-style mystery that The Question burns to answer, but is revealed to be a much bigger problem then he expected. What Jeff does best is drawing from influence from the great Steve Ditko and Denny O'Neil, both with distinctive portrayals of the Question while throwing in his own flare. This book is basically everything a Question fan loves about Vic Sage. The characterizations, dialogue, pacing, mystery, build-up, it all feels like a classic Question arc, which I have been dying to read. Denys Cowan, the legendary artist of the 80s Question returns to do the artwork with Bill Sienkiewicz doing the inks, its brings the grit, nostalgia, and friction a Question comic quenches for. It may be because I am a Question fan, but this is a damn fine book.

Not as impactful as the first, but still a great issue. Art by Cowan and inks by BS are top notch as always, love the style. This issue takes Vic on his first journey back into, more specifically, the Wild West. It plays the culture of the West carefully with the character of this version of Vic Sage, and builds up more into the conspiracy behind Hub City, but also leaves even more questions. Again, writing, art, pacing are good. Looking forward to the next issue.

Another stellar issue by Lemire with again great pencil/inks by Bill and Cowan. This issue again dwells into another past life of Vic Sage in the 40s as a PI, and again continues builds up this conspiracy behind Hub City, but this time providing more revelations to what Vic is dealing with and how he could not only find the right answers, but ask the right questions. We see the story coming together and setting up the 4th issue for Vic to solve this conspiracy behind the history of Hub City, and finally answering his question.

Huh. I was kind of confused by this finale, but I guess that was just the charm of Question as a character, who is quite confusing in of itself. For a book that was started back in November of 2019, it is incredibly relevant today with the extreme climate we have regarding authority here in the United States. Welp, what a coincidence, but it works with the story. By the end of this issue, you can see a clash in styles between the two legacies of Question, the hard-line Ditko Question of the 60s, and the zen appeal of the late great Denny O'Neil of the 80s. By the way, a touching tribute to Denny O'Neil at the end, Rest in peace. How Lemire plays between these two distinct versions of Question was very engaging in my eyes, I really liked it. The whole " Vic Sage is not real " bit was interesting and a cool idea, but I didn't feel Lemire executed it with the best technique. It felt a bit too overly edgy even with the gritty atmosphere going on. The conflict and mystery at hand was interesting, but how it all ties together left me more confused than intrigued. I guess the whole conspiracy of Hub City was just evil itself? Maybe? who knows? Thats a good question that Lemire seems to be drawing out in a future sequel. The really cool thing about the characterizations of Question is that after all of his hallucinations, he thinks he finally has figured it out, when he actually just fell into a deeper pit of misunderstanding, not knowing what to believe, Vic is confused (GASP). Between the supernatural element Vic is drawn to believe is true contrary to his hard-line black and white style, it really throws the Question for a loop. While it didn't exactly answer the mystery set up in the first issue, the finale was a really treat to read seeing the Question in a situation he doesn't understand. Art by Cowan and colors by Sienkiewicz were brilliant, these guys are veterans and legends in the comic book industry. Especially Cowan, and to see him still pumping out amazing work like returning to the Question and soon Milestone, it makes me proud to see him going on strong. Overall, the finale, while underwhelming in a sense, was still a visual and methodical treat, and another great series wrapped up under DCBL. Warrants a re-read of the entire series for me.

***Reviews the entire Series*** Wow, just wow. Ram V. is mega hot after this hell of a debut. Everything about this book, the atmosphere, the mythology, the clash of cultures, the environment of this story, writing, art, colors, action, its all freaking spectacular. Sumit Kumar is by far one of thee best artists I have seen in recent times, and colors by Astone and the paneling just adds to how visually appealing this comic is. Its great. We start off with an English-man back in the 1600s making his way to the East India Company to avoid legal trouble back in London. We get this sense of a thrill, with classic English style writing and style mixed with a dark vampire secret. This comes to clash with the native Indian mythology of this type of werewolf and a ensuing battle between the Indian kingdoms and the colonizers. What unfolds in these 5 issues is classic mythological horror at its best. Ram V. handles the writing so damn well in this book. Its fire. While starting off a little slow in Issue #1, it goes into a world of wonder and culture and classic horror, followed by an excellent pace and a banger of a final issue, my goodness. Again, everything about this book is fantastic, and if you are interested in mythology-infused cultures, history, vampires, horror, this is the book for you. Read it for the art alone. 9.5/10

Yo, Donny Cates hits 2020 with a bang. Donny Cates with Nic Klein jumps on Thor after the aftermath of War of the Realms that concluded Jason Aaron's decade long run with Thor. And Cates and Klein slams with a cosmic level lighting bolt. My lord. Everything, from the writing, to the art, to the colors, its grand, its epic, its cosmic, its everything a Thor fan wants. Probably going to be a top 5 Marvel series for 2020.

If Issue #1 wasn't enough, than Issue #2 seals the deal. A even more bombastic, epic, and exciting follow-up to the dawn-breaking Issue #1 written by the superstar Donny Cates with Klein on pencils and Wilson on colors. Got to give a shoutout to Klein and Wilson, the artwork puts such a flare on Thor that it vibrates off the page. And the colors, all the cosmic and fantasy settings pop with the rainbow pallet Wilson has in his arsenal. But Donny Cates punches once again with a Goku-inspired cosmic herald Thor. Such grand, poetic dialogue, such intensity with Thor and Galactus, the pure destruction at hand. My favorite ongoing series from Marvel. A near perfect issue.

From chaotic destruction into all out action. Beta-Ray Bill comes to face the King of Thunder. Yet again, another high stakes, grand cosmic Norse epic accompanied with gorgeous art and vibrant colors from Klein and Wilson. Dialogue handled so well by Cates, especially with the top notch action in this book. And the cliff-hangers. My lord.

Seriously, the writing from Donny Cates in this book is so good, its probably the best I have ever seen from him. We also get to play with Loki and foreshadows something very interesting. Art and colors are fire like always. Such emotion of a grand epic is unveiled in this issue, and it only ramps up towards the end of this issue, awaiting a battle with the so called Black Winter. A very well done issue.

Still a really good series. But I was kinda taken aback with what happened with Thor and the Black Winter. It was really cool, but yet I wasn't really satisfied with how it turned out. Almost anti-climatic in some ways given the momentum of this run so far. Nevertheless, the ship keeps steaming forward. The stage is set, and what seems to be another battle in this cosmic epic is about to enfold.

A mighty, cosmic, bombastic, energy radiating explosive finale to the grand Norse space adventure that is Cate's first arc of Thor. Wow, Thor is reinvigorated, and has reached a level not modern Thor writer has ever reached before. Cate's nigh genius level of balancing big universe seismic moments with the ever aging character of Thor was nothing less than splendid. Cate's choice of classic very imaginative dialogue to match this theme of classic hero's tale, perfection. BTW, those last two panels were lit as fuck. The art and colors again, majestic and righteous for this title. The story, amazing. But it still has some flaws. For as much as the Black Winter was hyped up to be this extremely menacing foe, the pay-off fell short in being a little anti-climatic, odd for such as extremely climatic and packed arc. But I am confident this will not be the last time we see the Black Winter. LOL on Galactus, and super excited to see what Cates has coming up for Thor.

A great transition issue done with finesse, style, and overall great execution. There was always this lingering theme Cates has been pushing in Thor, and its that ever since he became All-Father, Mjolnir seems to become heavier to him. This is the issue where Thor finally confronts that realization, and how it ties to this vision he had in the previous issue. Cates doesn't need any action or bombastic scenes to make a great issue. A more settled, quiet, yet still rather effective start to his new arc. Art this type by Kuder, yet doesn't lose any of that magic and impact that Klein has from previous issues. If this is the next artist of Thor, this was the perfect transition of that styles, and matches Wilson's colors exceptionally well. Another great issue of Thor.

*** Reviews the Entire Series *** Probably my first 10 I have ever put on a comic. But the Vision deserved it. Out of everything King is known for, Mister Miracle, Omega Men, Batman, Sheriff of Babylon, Vision to me stands out as his best work ever in comics. The dialogue, the emotion, the nuance, the tragedy and bleak hope that tugs at the heart of the reader while exploring ideas that transcend our times and into the future of our real world. This book is so complex not in just its execution but its tone. It makes me sit back and think about the direction our world is heading in, and for a SUPERHERO comic book to do that is so fucking amazing. Basically, The Vision " starts " a family. Where that leads, you will have to read it. Rivaling Tom King perfection of a run is some phenomenal art by Walta and some killer colors from Bellaire. Seriously, this comic would not be a 10 without some seriously ground=breaking visuals. This comic is so good I can't even describe it. King may be known today as this pseudo- mellow drama/miss or hit writer, but this comic run hits so damn hard. Its one of Marvel's best modern superhero comics and one of the best superhero comics period. 10/10

Wow, what an amazing first issue. Boom! Studios has been killing it on comics, and another stellar debut comes in by way of Al Ewing and Simon Di Meo. The biggest strength of this book is the world-building combined with the art, how Ewing and Di Meo sets up our story is so fascinating, captivating and unique. Dead Gods wandering in space, and humans mine their corpse for resources. Really neat ideas, combined with some amazing art and colors by Di Meo and Miotti. They way Di Meo captures sci-fi landscapes, spaceships, the gods, combined with the stellar colors makes for an absolute beauty visually. Not alot of things happening in terms of the progression of the plot, but the set up, the world Ewing has built in this first issue, the introduction of the concepts and our characters, its all done very well. Boom! Studios just can't pump out bad comics, its just not in them.

Two really solid stories, each with some great moments of Wolverine, a grand and warm re-welcoming of our clawed maniac from Canada. For eight bucks, its a little overpriced, but its worth it in my opinion. First story deals with this illegal drug trade of mutant petals that is being smuggled out of Krakoan's shipments, and Wolverine has got to investigate. Along side that is the CIA introducing a agent named Joe Bannister, also investigating this trade, but is also dealing with a tragedy as well. This issue adds this tinge of emotional tug with Wolverine and Bannister which I found nice. Next story we got was this vampire story with Wolverine and some catholic vampire hunter. Really fun. There was this blood dripping scene that made me squeamish. A nice one and done story, though it may lead to something in the future with the re-introduction of a classic X-men villain. Kubert's art is fire, and writing by Ben Percy is showcasing his rising status in comics.

Another great issue of Wolverine. Alot of cool things do happen. Wolverine ends up working with our CIA operative Mr. Bannister in investigating more about the Pale Girl and her ties to this undercover black market petal cartel. Plot twist happens towards the end with Wolverine and Bannister. We also learn more about Bannister life outside of the CIA, which I thought was really nice. But the showcase of this issue is our antagonist, Pale Girl. We still don't know alot about her, but we get to see why she is so deadly and feared. How Percy utlizes her is super sneaky yet skilled at the same time. We see how she manipulates Wolverine, and we get an answer to the whole ordeal that happened in issue #1. This isn't your typical villain, and I am enjoying it so far.

A very satisfying and well done conclusion to the first arc of this story. Man, Wolverine so far is probably my favorite Dawn of X book that I have read. Ben Percy is setting up why he is the next up and coming talent Marvel needs. This story only spanning three issues manages to capture the mentality, the growth, the character and mutant Wolverine has come to be after all these years. Loved Bannister and his daughter as a nice dichtomy to this story. While it did have a cool plot drive with this blackmarket of mutant drugs, it only merely serves for the redemption of Wolverine back into the X-men Universe. And I am here for it. Art by Kubert, perfection, easily one of Wolverine's best artists since the 90s. An amazing third issue.

I am so sad to see that even if WW receives a extra-size, it still the worst one. I am going to review this extra-size 80th Anniversary in two ways. The first is the ongoing story of WW Rebirth, and the second is the rest of the anthology. The ongoing story with Cheetah and this sword and Diana's patron, I just don't care anymore. After Rucka, no writer besides the Jason arc was even competent enough to make me care about what is even going on with WW and her journey. Its boring. Cheetah has no strong motivation, no nuance, or any nuance that makes sense, WW puts an end to Cheetah's hunt in the most cliche overused WW style, I just don't care. Which is I am dropping this title, which is so infuriating because I want WW to be up there with Batman and Flash. The ending was nice, the art was fine, but the spirit just isn't there for me anymore. As for the rest of the anthology, eh. There some good stories, some whatever. And I am a huge fan of these 80th year anthologies. But WW compared to the others was probably the weakest one. The one by Scott Snyder and the one by Tamaki surprisingly were my favorites, but the rest of them were fine, but all of them did do justice to who Wonder Woman is and what she represents. Another slight problem I had was the page count. Seriously for 10 bucks, you can't get us 100 pages? Add in some art pages, make this worth my money. Anyways, eh.

Jumped back onto this book to give Tamaki a shot. And you know what, she showed up. After drags of boring crap from countless writers, I finally found a WW Rebirth story that intrigues me. Albeit, a mere introduction to whats to come and with hints of something that might be really worth investing myself in. Tamaki surprised me, I thought she would just be another writer from the call-book that merely feels like a stand-in filler for the actual story that never came. But her writing wasn't bad, boring, or both. It was actually good. The monologue, and just the normal interactions between WW and normal people was done well. And the transitions in this book is the definite strong point of this issue. Art by Janin, I have mixed feelings. He has done art for Batman and Grayson, but the way he draws faces sometimes can come across as creepy even when its not supposed to. They kind of felt like dolls more than people when he draws. He also doesn't have great background art. But overall, his art style was solid. I don't want to get my hopes up to high since so all the previous WW Rebirth arcs have failed to excite me, but this was a good hook to keep my interest. And we got a real killer WW villain, so looking forward to the next issue.

We have got an actual mind-boggling (no pun intended) story on our hands. Good follow-up to that last issue, and I am liking what Tamaki is doing with WW, finally something refreshing after drags of Greek mythology overload. I loved mythology as much as the next guy, but how DC borderline abuses it combined with her preachy elements made me lose taste with WW. But this is new, its dangerous, and just based on these 2 issues, it seems WW has finally found a creative team that delivers WW justice. After the last issue, WW attempts to figure out who caused this erratic behavior displayed by multiple individuals. But hell, she is in for a taste of it herself. Its probably obvious who is behind this and this issue is kinda predictable/cliche, but I still really do like how Tamaki and Janin on art are handling the story. Great story so far.

Another strong followup in what Tamaki has set up, a different direction previous writers did not or would not take. Wonder Woman can act like a stubborn puppy, but its cute. Tamaki and Barberi plays excellently with the illusions WW and civilians are dealing with, making them see things that aren't really there. We also are revealed to how these illusions are actually happening and at least an attempt to understand the crux of the situation. A problem is the art. Janin wasn't my favorite artist, but the change in art tonally kind of disturbed the flow from the last 2 issues to this one. Barberi is not a bad artist, I actually really like him, but swapping from Janin to Barberi was not handled with the best care. I still enjoyed Barberi art for what it is worth, although his pencil on certain frames of Wonder Woman need work. Best Part is the dialogue between Maxwell Lord and Wonder Woman. These two bitterly hate each other, but you already know that are going to be forced to work with each other, and its a " sit down and pop out some popcorn " kinda vibe. I just like Lord as a villain and a hero, and this is blending both of those together. Oh yeah, the ending, kinda obvious, but it still is a nice reveal. The last two issues set up the arc and dived into the new challenges Diana has to meet, but this issue stands on its revelations. This arc may not be super original or crazy good, but it most certainly an upgrade from the previous arcs we have had on Wonder Woman.

It still pretty good, I am impressed. The art certainly became better since the last issue, the paneling as well is top notching in this issue. This issue introduces a brand new character, with a big revelation. Tamaki has some exceptional skill in conveying the ideas and themes of this arc through her narration, tying it with Wonder Woman. There is some good action here with all the hallucination going on, by I feel by now we have probably seen enough and move the story along. Still, another good issue. Although I need more pages for 3.99.

This was a somewhat disappointing ending. Alot of people don't like the art, I don't really have a problem with it now. For me, it was probably a false sense of perception. After reading Tamaki's debut issue, I had high hopes for this arc, even if it was predictable. And while it didn't completely let me down, it didn't really grab me in as much as I wanted it to. Probably my change in expectation with Tamaki was a little too overzealous. Her execution was fine, this issue and the arc overall was generating entertaining, just wasn't something that can turn WW around 180 and bring back the readership she once had in her heyday with Rucka. Overall, a solid start to Tamaki's time with WW. Certainly a step up over the last handful of writers we have had on the series, though that can be subject to change. The Liar Liar as she is called turned out to be another fairly weak and forgettable villain by the end, and while the arc started off strong and with a spark of life, was just another run of the mill WW arc.

Overall, this arc was solid. Liked the ideas, about legacy, about truth, about paths, but the execution was nothing that could elevate those ideas and make this a story I could fully invest into. Liar Liar at the end of the day has some potential, and her origins overall fits well with the themes presented. Art was alright, it was nothing amazing, but its wasn't bad either. I like these past arcs better than whatever was before, its a different pace than what Wonder Woman was accustomed to under previous writers. While Tamaki didn't have a home run with Wonder Woman, it certainly was far better than past teams. I like this Wonder Woman a bit better too, still true to who she is but not as preachy as she was before. Altogether, not bad.

Man. It is trying really hard to pull me into liking this WW issue, but like what else Orlando has written for her, its just not doing it. This was a fine annual. When I see Orlando, I see a writer brought in to do something average, not good, just average. And this annual felt like another one of those issues, despite this one shot having huge impact and unraveling big revelations that will affect the overall WW/Amazonian mythos. It hardcore embroiled in this really overused style of WW where hope defeats evil and WW preaching her view of the world and society for 30 minutes, walls of unnecessary texts, cliche fights between WW and three generic ass witches called Dark Fates, and a really lousy ending to that fight. I just don't care. At least the two clans of Amazons reconciled and an recently discovered third clan was introduced here, but this issue was still a slog to get through. What really carried this annual was the art. Man, read it just for the art. Herbert draws a timeless WW, an ICONIC WW, his style is marvelous and is probably the best drawing of WW I have ever seen in a comic, yes even better than Capullo. It really gives WW that shine that we all love her for and makes her so popular. And of course paired with some excellent colors by Eltaeb. But the beautiful art and faces can't cover the bore that is this annual.

The book that broke to Soyboys on the internet cause of an ugly variant has finally come, and what have I heard about it? Nothing, guess it really is all talk and no bite. Nevertheless, this book is not very good at all. With the first story, the writing was full of cheese, the story wasn't nothing special, the kids were forgettable, if you really want to read this cause of WW84, then knock yourself out. Even then I can't ensure you that this was worth the money. Art is decent, and the book for something that connects with the WW84 (I guess?), it stays true to Diana's character. But for me, its just another unmemorable 18 pages to the pile. The second one was like a WW story for kids, like kids under 8. The art is kind of amateurish, or I guess that is Sauvage's style. Its just a skippable story where nothing happens that's interesting. Overall, this is not worth the time nor money. Only if you are really hardcore into everything WW, then I guess go buy it. But for the 99% of readers, skip this.

Solid start. An elseworld story of Wonder Woman in a post-apocalyptic world, written and drawn by DWJ. Its sad that this is the best Wonder Woman series going on rn. Im short, WW wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by monsters with pockets of humans, and has to figure out what happened in order to help humanity survive. Lots of build up, but done crisp and clean writing with some bombastic action scenes of WW fighting monsters. Art was the perfect style for such a genre, really gritty and raw with colors that pop out to the eye. However, I really don't like how Wonder Woman looks. Sorry, but she was always a Victoria Secret style of an MMA fighter, here she is a teenage sized mess of a bad hair day. I know DWJ wanted to show her messed up, but still. Overall, this comic was a solid start. Nice cover art, really like the prestige format, and 50 pages of non-ad action.

Easily the best Wonder Woman Series out right now. By far. Issue 1 was great. Issue 2 was near perfect. Tons of action, with art and colors to brush the pages, The layout and paneling really effectively using the format DCBL provides. DWJ also writes an tremendously well paced story, brisking through the exposition by popping of some major revelations that alter the story drastically. It shakes the very foundation WW has been built upon. DWJ really handles the character of WW really well. Also, badass cover. Best issue so far.

This series is blown up with a series of dynamic action, revelations, and emotion that keeps pushing the story with more energy. The art is kinetic, and moves with such frisk and texture that perfectly captures the genre of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi but also the drama of the issue. And paneling and layout is again utilized so well in the DCBL format, which makes this issue all the more effective. The drama and revelation really reflects the core of WW's character, which this book does so well. Everything that this world is built upon is all built around WW's character, actions, and motivations. DWJ really made a master class WW book. One thing I did not like, the ending with Wonder Woman and Superman. Not going to spoil, you will know if you read the issue. Overall, one of DCBL's best comics.

A satisfying conclusion to an overall stellar WW limited series. Man, Wonder Woman is finally getting the recognition and story-telling she needs in superhero comics. DWJ has written a truly unique, high-energy, yet faithful series on Diana and her journey through this post-apocalyptic DC world. And this final issue wraps up everything in good order and leaves us the reader for a potential follow-up to this crazy journey Diana has just embarked. First off, the art. DWJ's art is absolutely killer. He thrives in wild crazy settings like post-apocalypse that unleashes his bombastic style of pencils, drawing giant monsters and epic fights, amplified by the gorgeous and illuminating colors of Mike Spicer, matched with great penciling by Rus Wooten. The covers as well by DWJ and Spicer, also very nice covers, Prestige level covers.The action, OMG. Such explosive and kinetic action in this issue especially. DWJ when ever he deals with action in his art, makes sure he gives you bang for your buck. Paired with the EXCELLENT paneling, and a jaw-dropping two page spread, it is something to behold. DWJ utlizes the prestige format of the DC Black Label so effectively. The story was finished off well, accompanied of course by great action and art, DWJ manages to close off this arc with relative ease dealing with such a magnificently big story. The dialogue packs much emotion, and also answers questions about how WW came to be in this story. DWJ builds side characters around WW very well, and delicately plays with the thin line the connects WW to humanity. DWJ has just as much skill in writing as he does art. The dialogue, yes it can feel cheesy at times as WW is prone to having, and the wrap up between the confrontation between Diana and her mother, while amazingly shown with great action and panel-work, left me wanting more out of that interaction given the impact of the story DWJ has built over the past 3 issues. But overall, this is an great finish to an excellent WW story, playing with great ideas and themes, popped by excellent art work, paneling, colors, great cover designs, it is one of thee best DCBL series to date.

This comic debut was good. I love Tynion, and to see him dabble into the world of fantasy is exciting. Here we are dealing with Tynion's take of a world who fears magic. A boy with pointed ears and pale skin must look out for his safety so he could be part of a society of humans under a kingdom. The art is really nice, especially fitting for a light fantasy such as this. It also handles exposition and dialogue well. Despite being over-sized, it was a breeze to read through. The thing that draws it back is a lack of grab. This comic was originally written all in one go, so its change of format may have slowed down the potential of this book. We have a clear story, but it doesn't reel me with anything very intriguing. Although it did leave us with a nice cliff-hanger and the introduction of a specific character. Basically, it didn't excite me as much as I hoped it would. But that is all this debut is. Alot of introductions, character work, and world-building, although done with great technique. While lacking a really solid hook, will keep me around around from the solid characters and exposition.

I really liked this. Slow start, but with each issue is started picking up more and more, and it hit a killer ending. The story may not be all that complex, but the subtly in Tynion's writing and nuance with the world of Wynd and how it relates to one's identity is done terrifically well. Tynion knows how to do themes, and he did them excellently here. Art by Dialynas, amazing as well. Great pencils to create this whimsical fantasy fairytale land. The only thing is that again, it was slow in the beginning, though that is more due to the fact Wynd Vol. 1 was supposed to be released in graphic novel format instead of single issues. Speaking of which, this isn't the end, and I am looking forward to what Tynion has to offer in the future within the world of Wynd.

This was a decent introduction to the latest Dawn of X title. Overall I did like this, but with the Empyre and other crap going on, this is not sticking around for me. But its still good. We got a murder mystery of North-star's sister and in order for her to be resurrected, he assembles a team of ragtag mutants to find out what happened to her. Its a pretty good start to a new concept in the X-men universe. With the resurrection protocol available, many mutants including North-star are trying to resurrect their loved ones, but then comes the complication of proof of death, cause, all that jazz. And thats how X-factor is introduced, a investigation team looking into missing mutant report that would help the Resurrection teams better handle their priorities of who to resurrect. Art by Baldeon was really nice, loved the colors as well. Leah Williams on the writing was okay. During the actual investigation, her writing flowed well. But after? It was just a wall of words that in sum just covers the formality of officially introduction the X-factor. This issue did not need to be over-sized, The last 10-15 pages could have been easily condensed or taken out all together. I really love detective style comics, so this is up my alley. But with all the books going on right now, I just have to let this one go. But if it skyrockets from here, then I will be back. A solid issue and introduction to our team for X-factor.

*** Reviews the entire series *** Ehhhh. Chip Zdarsky is one of my favorite writers at Marvel, and still is. And this series was actually really good for the first three issues, but the fourth one? Idk, maybe it was that 4 month gap due to Covid-19, or the fact that this series might needed an extra 1-2 issues, but the the final confrontation with Doom just feels rushed and anti-climatic. I don't know if thats just me, but it was a weak wrap up to a overall thought-provoking story. It basically revolves around Franklin Richard losing his powers, and Krakoa " offering " him a place to learn about his mutant heritage and his problems and how to resolve them, much to the dismay of the FF. Simple enough, but Zdarsky manages to make it a complex and multi-layered analysis not just on the the FF, but also on the X-men and their boundaries. The series overall was still very good, I love ideas, I love how Zdarsky handles characters, I loved how he handled the story for the most part. But the final issue that concluded the Doom sequence, while it tied everything up, did not make the whole series satisfying. The art by the Dodsons and colors by Martin were overall cool, especially with the action scenes, but they definitely need to work on pencil work dealing with facial expressions especially in the last issue. I heard Dodsons are revered artists, so it kind of sucks that their pencil work was inconsistent or maybe there was something wrong with the inking. However, the latter half of issue 4 was pretty interesting and leaves us off with potentially some future stories. If Zdarsky wrapped up the Doom conflict with cleaner execution and better handle how the situation was resolved, on top of more refined pencils/inking from the Dodsons and company, this book would rank much higher. Overall, a good book. 7.5/10

A really cool outake on a zombie Apocalypse, done by upcoming talent, Ben Percy with pencils by Ramon Rosanas. Year Zero is a comic series from AWA Upshot opens around a zombie apocalypse through the perception by multiple characters across the world. You got a hit-man, and war-time refugee, a researcher, and really weird live-in-the-basement kook, you learn about the Apocalypse and each person's life prior and in relation to this out-break. Still eh about zombie books, but this is a really unique take with a good start. Might like where this story takes us. Really well written by Percy. It captures each survivor with a different style and outlook, that makes the perception of the zombie apocalypse that much more interesting. Lots of introductions, but a dash of insight at the end reels you in to find out what happens in the next issue.

This is a really unique take on a zombie story. Never really seen anything like it, 5 different people from 5 different parts of the globe, 5 different lives, each experiencing a zombie pandemic through 5 different points of view. And it all flows together really well. Basically, we are continuing the progression of this zombie apocalypse. Now that it has happened, each of them has to find a way to survive. The coloring is so effective in this story. Each perspective has their own color pallet to distinguish who's perspective you are reading from.One thing I noticed with the dialogue, rarely any of it actually happens. Most of it are thoughts, not actual speaking. That just shows how skilled Percy is as a writer. The Zombie action is quite subtle for a zombie book, but it still is effective in pushing the story forward, and in turn provides more space for us to learn about these characters more. And thats the beauty of this specific issue. The 1st issue was alot of introduction, but this issue really irons out the people we are dealing with here, and through this pandemic, we learn a great deal about each person. Overall, an excellent 2nd issue, subtle, but very effective and innovative.

Another great issue. We dive deeper into how certain characters in this book are attempting to deal with the apocalypse, such as the street urchin and the Afghan woman. Meanwhile others have different plans, such as our Japanese hitman and the fat white basement conspirator who is dying to get a girlfriend. We also get a glimpse to how this virus may have started with our polar researcher. I also liked how Percy and Rosanas include a small history infused peek of the outbreak, this type using the Great Wall of China. Art and colors, as well as the writing all great. Relatively subtle issue, but it seems that it is setting up some very intense action in future issues.

Man, there is only one issue left. What Percy is doing here is so good, all the characters he is working with, how they are progressing in each of their individual arcs. All of their journeys are about to come to a head. But I wish this run wasn't so short. Great writing, great direction, great art, and fantastic colors. To the finale.

This was a fine ending. Not great tbh, alot of what was built up, didn't really come to anything I found satisfying to conclude the story. Art is still great, loved the colors in this book especially. But yeah, it was not that killer ending I was hoping for, though I shouldn't have expected it given that Percy will expand on this world in the future. Solid finale.