Criminology.'s Profile

i see a lot of people saying how much this reminds them of Immortal hulk and i get it, i mean it does come close to the things we associate with Hulk, but surprisingly i feel like there is a lot of manga influence here, in the drama of it, the tension and just overall the visual language. The building up of anxiety, the fast pace, and the gradation of it, plus the suggestiveness of art and especially the colors, make those moments really really innerving and all-consuming. It's a comic that is a lot clearer than some of the other titles of the Absolute line, a lot more tried, and it does not feel as fresh in its structure. I praised the fast pace, but at times it comes at a cost of introducing stuff more naturally, so it feels overtly simple this way, which also leads to the suggestiveness of art being too much, too, like when hal does those anime profile pic poses and those are so hard to take seriously. Like this comic is direct for better or worse, so much so that at times it is jarring, and it does not feel earned, at least to me. That being said at the same time, it feels like there is so much story here, and even if we moved fast, we did not see much of what was laid as a foundation, like the foundation was built fast, but we did not get a single answer. So many things are to be explored, and this genuinely excites me. Knowing Ewing, this could evolve in many directions. As i said, it works really well in those more extreme situations of building up tension, where the extremeness of the situation calls for the extremeness of the art, in those other situations not soo much.

The build-up to this event was incredible. The way it uses so much of the output of the last 2 years is incredible. It just ties the universe together and shows that DC could have a stable continuity. Thinking that this was teased in Dark Crisis is just mind-blowing, considering that i think that dc is kind of a mess. And I know it had its editorial hiccups, but whatever, it's here now. There is just that sense of reward. This event certainly carries a 2000s feel to it. It's focused more on the political side, it's more grounded, and modernly dark, while definitely less gross and cynical. It feels tamer in a good sense and the character does not feel less than the superheroes they are. This makes sense because Waid has similar comics in his catalog. That said i do not think this is so amazing. It does not carry the charisma that WF does. What it has to say about AI manipulation and fake news surely is poignant, but i think need more exploration. Also, maybe I am just biased and think that Amanda's motivation is really dumb and it's been dumb since Earth 3. Sure, all this makes me angry, which I guess it's the wanted effect. Her presence makes me angry, that she bends the truth to fit her agenda, and you know her agenda could have value if she ever gave any specific examples of why Superheroes are so bad. Just her arguments are dumb at least to me. And yeah maybe it's supposed to be like that, like maybe she is just lying to herself, but because it's so paper thin, I don't think it accomplishes even that. As far as the issue's construction, it starts slow, it needs some time to establish what's happening and at first, it seems harmless. It seems like nothing too much. I do think this is the more boring section of the issue, it does some lifting but then again it felt too long to me. It feels flat. The latter half is really intense it's a fire that burns hotter with every page. so much that it starts firing at once, it feels inescapable, disorienting for the heroes. Like all happens in those small moments. Dan Mora is great as expected. He is obviously a lot more grounded here compared to WF and even tho he is still good here, I prefer him to be more dynamic and high-energy with brother colors. Overall idk maybe i just hit my event fatigue. All of the recent ones I find to have a similar hook, which certainly helps me not to enjoy them as much I guess.

Honestly, the most impressive thing about this is how well Aaron manages to make Krypton relevant and to frame it and Superman into the story, honestly, I think it builds on the original formula while it answers a very contemporary plea. We can talk for days about all the times that supes was modernized. Like birthright and how it adds to the symbolism and the mythos and tackles the questions of Clark's identity, but it's always about this iconography, it's always about Clark/superman and to just make him better, to put the retro model in better more complex clothes.This comic modernizes the whole origin, the whole world, not only superman's worlds, the whole point of it and it feels actually inspired by the real world, not by Superman itself, again a testament to this is how little in the story super is. The way Superman is put in the story seems so very natural, even if it was not superman would have been good, but it fits him. So yeah the framing, and how the idea is built is awesome. it's not all great, some of the micro storytelling could use some work, and some of the dialogue, but the vision is very very strong, not because it's different, but because it's built well. I also really like the rebellious aspect, like this supes is not clean, he is dirty with the people, he is actually touchable and comes from society which experienced exactly what this world is going to, so he is way rougher with a flaming heart. So it gets the essence, like Morisson's new 52, but again it's something newer, something more relevant with slightly more focus on how Krypton and its destruction shaped him, which again makes supes way more human-like because already experienced totally the trauma. Overall I like all the changes and even if this is the least ''shiny'' of the absolutes I feel the most hyped about it right now.

I had fun reading it and enjoyed the action and I liked the humor , but still it felt like too much was put here and it was not all connected, so it did not flow in a good way either. But even the things they tried to execute kinda fall flat for me, with few exceptions. So generally I would say that this was pretty forgettable.

With a comic book going thrice a month is normal to get some slower and kinda fillery issues from time to time, like this one. The issue is really heavy on the dialogue and generally Thompson is great with the dialogue and she still is, but at times it dragged a little bit, felt unnecessary and it got a little bit boring, at least for me. But on the bright side, we got to spend more time with Ben and see more of his life and struggles. On the art side of things, i like the issue. I like Pichelli's style, especially her linework. Her style of art is very elegant, slick, bold, at times minimalistic and it has a very interesting flatness to it. But I'm not sure how much it adds to the issue honestly. The end was cool and although probably nothing will gonna happen to Ben, it got me interested.

Nothing special here. It was fun seeing more of Colleen and Misty and how they interact with each other. Can't lie they are pretty nice and fun as duo and that carries the issue, which certainly is action comedy oriented, exactly like a buddy cop movie. But the thing is that this is pretty much it. The issue does not aim high, but for what it is, is pretty serviceable, plus the ending was promising. The art tho was pretty inconsistent, both in style and in being good.

On a surface level i enjoyed this issue(as with most of beyond so far). I really like the characterization of Doc Ock, in general I like stories when somebody underestimates him, takes him for some loser or tries to take some advantage of him, only to be shown how much of a badass he actually is. The dialogue, the art is all good and engaging. I also like the laid back nature of this run so far, I think that was needed, but still at times it feels like nothing of importance is happening, nothing is getting explored in a deeper way and the same stuff is happening over and over without much of difference. It's all getting so formulaic so fast. This issue is actually better than most of the others in this aspect but still to fully love this I need more.

This issue was full banger. Engaging throughout, even tho it was mostly dialogue and not only something happened, but we got answers to some big questions(that I personally thought would get ignored) and those were some great answers, that make even the past issues better. Like if you thought that Beyond was bland, waste of time and dub in general, please read this. It took some time to get here, probably too much, but now it's all worth it. Not only it's good use of Ben Reilly(that's not an easy thing), but it finally delivers on the whole premise. It's just all tied together. We all know how important the past experiences are to the character of Ben Reilly and messing with that, is a stroke of genius and it makes so much sense, looking at the previous issues. Kudos Wells. There are still things to understand and learn, but this issue gives me so much hope in the answers that follow, plus the ending got me really curious what's gonna happen next. Also the art was really nice and pleasant.

I don't know how to feel about this issue and I think that's how I am supposed to feel. It feels like the end. That's the moment we as a fandom should most definitely move on and leave what once was, what once was great in the past. Pete tried everything and gave his all, but sometimes destiny wins. I feel like that reflects the fandom and in a way, the whole issue is structured to put you in Pete's mind space and the way he feels. It's sad in the way autumn is sad, It's natural, it's silent, you can't escape it, and it's cold and moving slowly, but seemingly tirelessly. It's a feeling that haunts the whole issue. Weirdly enough it captures what a real breakup actually is.

I think that if the leaks weren't a thing, this issue would have worked better for me. If Kamala died as a surprise it would have been way better, especially because it was already a tense moment, like it reminds me of Iron Man and Thanos in The infinity war movie, when everybody was thinking Iron Man was going to die, when he got stabbed and man those moments were so tense, like it was possible. Everybody was terribly worried and that's why the relief felt so good, even if had, a note of defeat. I felt the same way with MJ somehow here, but then I remembered ''oh yeah the leaks''. This was an emotional issue, it was a ride with a bittersweet end because the villain is finally gone, and MJ is alive, but it had a huge cost, one which Pete again couldn't prevent, which seems to be a theme in this arc. Pete was just so helpless the whole arc, while trying, which adds to the somber feeling. Like everything was so above him, so determined, but Spidey had to try, because well... he is Spidey.So yeah a sacrifice in this case looks like a right call in this case. Kamala dying had some ground, but again if it was a surprise. Btw more than half the cover does not have even that. still, this arc feels somewhat disjoined to be and I'm still not sure how I feel about everything. Btw i think this is Romita's best work in a big while.

I liked the opening issue, this is still alright but I did not enjoy it as much. I feel like so much is going on, all of a sudden. I like the position Peter is in this event, how this is a moment for him to prove himself, to be competent, which was just a big part of the critique towards this run, from the start of it, so it has like a meta element to it. Like meta stakes to the event. If the alpha issue was about establishing that, now we are getting to the meat of the problem, by Spidey showing his worth as a leader and that's done mostly by his actions, but as for now nothing definite. But still, the whole issue feels like ''now it's time for the action'', which I found fitting after the boom of the first issue. It's a little bit on the decompressed side and that's valid for the whole issue, which I get. It's going to be a long event. 4-5 months is not a small period of that. Still, I feel like this has so much going on and this progresses with such baby steps when I finished it, I was like like ''is that it?''.It creates the expectation for more because there is just so much happening, plus the whole issue feels like building up to something and it just ends out of a sudden. But again I get it, there should be a hook, just idk the way it's done, it's not satisfactory to me. The story uses a lot of characters and even if not balance them and the plots so well, which honestly is by design, presents them clearly and well. Especially noticeable with Team Spidey, even if we see the whole team for a little bit, the way they talk and even relate to Peter feel really motivated. The bits with She-hulk and Spidey were definitely a highlight and carried the otherwise pretty mundane action, which looked like that was there just to move the plot and to deal with certain threats, which were there just for the quantity. Those interactions reminded me of the humor of JMS's Spider-Man, which was certainly the Romita influence. It's not really in line with how Rowell writes She-Hulk rn, but honestly, I liked the more classic bolder, Avengers by Stern-like Jen, we get here too, certainly fits the explosive and direct nature of this event better and makes for better interactions. I think that's the only way she can contribute to the event, by just enhancing certain moments with her strong personality. Janice's story here feels more complete, to be honest, but at the same time, she feels somewhat inconsistent, with what exactly she wants. The whole thing is written, even the whole run(maybe with few exceptions), very directly, there is not stuff under the stuff we see, everything is delivered through dialog. Makes the experience of reading really light, but sometimes it comes too strong and that's something i feel with Tombstone and Janice's conversation. Again the plot has so many moving pieces and it's focused on the action, so it fits perfectly here, so overall I'm excited for the arc in the future.

Maybe my memory is bad, but legit i think this is the best arc in this run and especially this issue i do not get how someone would hate it. This is such a joy to read. it's bombastic as hell, it's cheesy, it's goofy, but what are the sinister six, if not that. They all scream with character and the issue is not even focused on that so much. Just the exaggerated prideful expressions turning to faces full of fear, the dialogue, the action flows really well and the reading is exciting, because of all the explosiveness Mcguiness give it with his art. But again not to underestimate the plotting and how clear and concise it is,while again with the rhythm the arts gives it.

Really cool. This long action scene reminds me of something from Mission Impossible with being so incredibly long and tense throughout. It just holds your breath and does not let you take it and I like this, every moment looks like it could be a deal breaker. it's simple, but it breaks the monotony and it holds weight because this arc from its beginning was way more grounded and raw and here it goes hard in this rawness and accentuates it. I like this approach to this whole arc a lot.

This is most definitely on the anticlimactic side, not even like the ending to Immortal Iron Fist for example was anticlimactic, where the anticlimactic was the contrast to a run with was full of big moments. This just feels like a Saturday afternoon type of issue, not even in this charming type of way in the way that it does not manage to tie the web of themes of run. but it does deliver you the essence with it being so disjointed, reflecting the different story of it, constating where all the characters from it are clearly. it just kinda gives you the worst version of it all. but as far as the main story goes It's just another issue with a little more appreciation towards Peter. But I get it, this run as a whole was kinda Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck type of pulpy, it was not concise at all, disjointed, chaotic for a big chunk of it, overly long,, had a lot of inconsequential side sto,ries, and for the most part sort of directionless without much moving done, like kinda being in a limbo of sorts(at least for the most part). Still, there is a lot I enjoy and as a whole, I don't really mind it and honestly, I kinda enjoy those elements of it. There were also some high moments. But i mean the whole run is tainted like i truly believe that the backlash played a huge role in the whole way we all experienced it, it probably played a part of how it was being written too. I do get some of it, but largely i don't think it was all that justified and honestly i think the run got worse because of it, because it never really managed to truly take the best of the situations it created, because those situations were so very much hated( looking at you relationship with black cat). So a lot of my complains of being safe and being a limbo is kinda related to this i think. But i again we could never know for sure. Just a lot of the answers this run gave me personally, did not saddisfy me and came too abruptly. Back to this issue, for starters, i like how it starts with the duality between Peter and Spider-man and just uses the idea of how useless spiderman could be as an antithesis with Tombstone saying that Spider-man won, just that his winning does not matter when it comes to the world. Then we get the moment between Spidey and May in which May says to him, that Spidey hurts Peter's life, which moves this antithesis even further. So all those ideas are pretty old,they are not presented in any creative way, they could be applied to this run, but honestly not much more than they could be applied to any other Spider-Man run IMO, but the framing is good. It's a little bit on the nose tho, honestly, the whole issue is, there is really not much beyond the surface of the dialogue. Sadly this idea does not go to any interesting places and kinda ends up rushed on a very predictable place. I don't think Pete should have told May about being Spider-Man, because this would have been even worse, especially since May here was inserted here so abruptly and her dialogue was very wooden. This is why i say this issue lacks charm because the relationship between pete and may feels very stilted, especially because of JR jr is so easy to compare to JMS's run. The other stories while varied in tone were really not necessary again, they just clear the air really. There is not much for me to appreciate with them for sure, because they serve a pretty straight forward purpose without doing anything much outside of delivering just this in a form of story.

My opinion on Annihilation is controversial, that's exactly why I chose to express it. Nobody should agree with me or anything, i am just explaining how i feel. I do not love these comics, I do not hate them either, I think they are fine. I think it's commendable to fit so many characters into a comic and to rebuild so many characters with different mini-series. Not every mini was this awesome, sure, but in a way they all helped for the main event to not worry about building any foundation. Clearly, it is an ambitious story with a lot of moving peaces and it give a new life to the marvel cosmos and gives every one of those characters a new status quo, which can be explored. Like I admit it's an important moment for Marvel. But I feel that so much is so weirdly paced and so many things still slip through the cracks of this planning. Firstly I really do not enjoy Giffen's writing this much here for exactly those reasons. He is good at balancing the characters, but he is not that great with every character, he did a very good Ronan, but Ronan is quite simple and that's the thing he is good with the simpler, more one-note characters(btw Ronan is great, him being simple do not take away from him at all). The conversations between Richard and Peter were painful to me, especially since they do not have much of a relationship and it all came from nowhere essentially like the relationship between Rich and Gamora. The whole skip between the minis and the main event was really weird for me, because why do we spend so much time on building a foundation and to everything to be clear then to then skip and introduce characters off-screen? Especially since Giffen spend half his silver surfer building and nothing else, just establishing where the characters are. He did not do a great job with Nova for me, which is a huge contrast with Abbnet. I do not connect emotionally to how he writes this has a lot to do with the art too and in turn it's kinda hard for me to understand how tired Richard is for example, how much it all took a toll on him for him to take the decision he did. Like i mean i get it, but i do not feel it. Again, this is huge contrast to Abbnet's mini, where it's both clear in the art and in the way he speaks where he comes from. A lot of information comes from just talking, of narating, of exposition so it seems static for the most part, everything Giffen wrote from the Thanos issues which are probably not collected here is like this for me. Still, he has good ideas, good ideas about how to progress the characters, how to weave them together, but this is really not for me and i feel a lot of threats just disappeared or were not explored this well, where more could have been done with them. This simplicity has merits don't get me wrong, it makes it all digestible, but again personal i would have liked more flavor. Annihilius was a threat in some of the minis and has some moments here, but overall I really find him to be boring, i find his whole order and lackeys to be boring too. Once Thanos stepped in, his threat power even became smaller for me and he stepped into the maniacal villain-type early Ultron. Thanos did most of the stuff, Thanos actually was the one that was moving the needle for him. There really isn't much to him, even his main, secret motivation is pretty hollow given what we've seen in these comics.Also i did not like how the final battle was drawn ,sure it had a badass ending, (btw this comics uses the brutal quite good), but I felt it was missing panels, as honestly i did with a lot of this story. i don't want to be overly long, but yeah, this is a fine comics, but it does not stand above every event marvel produced for me, it's of the better ones for sure, but that's the most i can say now. Hope that someday i get the hype.

An awesome end to an awesome Ant-man story. For me this was the best Ant-man story written by Spencer and also a great argument for why he writes Spider-Man right now. While I am not a big fan of the art or the paneling in this book, the story is just so full of passion and heart that it totally makes up for that, which is something I find in many of Spencer's books. I don't mean the bad art, but the passion and the heart in his stories. He loves putting parts of himself in his stories and you can see that with the fact that usually he uses the same characters or his love for the little guy. He certainly has a specific style of writing and although sometimes he goes overboard with the humor element IMO, I really appreciate that about him. In this book Spencer manages to define what Scott Lang Ant-man's comics should be like. I must say that was the most enjoyable iteration of him and his world I've seen till this day. He does so much for the character though the whole series, but especially in this issue. The end of this issue is amazing. The narration, the themes, the progression of the character it all comes together to form this great emotional conclusion, that really makes you feel so much for the character. It also shows you in the purest form what kind of man, Scott Lang really is and what he represents. For me that's sign of a great comics.

The amazing John Buscema. The intensity, the expressions, the dynamism. Every panel explodes. It makes me want to stand up and punch someone. Ever since he started drawing the title, it been uphill and the fight in this issue was just the top of the mountain. It's outstanding that this early his mastery of the art is so profound.

i actually haven't really read any of the Moon knight's solos, but i enjoyed that. It does not move the story forward that much, but delivers great fight and some great moments IMO. I liked the narration, it really helped me understand Moon Knight's mindset at the moment. The dialogue between T'Challa and the Knight felt realistic given the situation. How I said I'm not that familiar with Spector, so I don't know if his characterization was legit. I feel ,that the whole issue lead, in a great way, to the ending of the issue (The whole thing, that happened on the Moon). The fight was amazing. It was really dynamic and brutal.

To be an avenger means something again.

Liked this way better than the previous. In The Avengers Mackay is good at creating separated spaces for each character and showing them off. I think we got a little bit of that here. It feels like there is a special place for all the characters here and most of the time it feels pretty natural. There is just that cooky quartet feeling of so many strong, extreme personalities at times clashing, albeit way less toxic and more fun, while at the same time, the direct contrasts, show their definite characteristics. I like how Mackay writes Cap, but with him and Baron Blood, it can get a bit stale and their interaction here seemed overlong, still, there is a good boiling synergy between the Cap's plot and the rest's. But when the team is involved is better, even if the action and the whole writing tactics are simple and sometimes too much on the nose, it gets more energetic. When Cap's plot transitions to that of the Avengers, there is a a boom to it, but personally, I feel like Villa does not sell it as well, as it could have been. Admittedly it's a book about vampire nazis, the comic gets how unserious, ridiculous, and bombastic all that is, so the tone reflects that, and because of it being on the blunter side and a little bit sloppier in its pacing, it's not a mortal sin. Just there really isn't much to chew on here, besides the strong and direct characterizations and at times well-connected structure, but even in those aspects, it's not that special for me at least. I have similar sentiments about the art. Personally, I wanted way more out of this arc because I love the characters involved, but I am not too disappointed either. it's just a B movie for me.

This turned out really good. The art can be half-baked some of the time. But McKay showed deep knowledge and understanding of the continuity and managed to give space to every character and appreciate them for what they are, even when they are half-antagonistic to each other. It doubles down on what I liked what the last issue. This team has a lot of character and here that is shown throughout. It's a warm feeling reading it and seeing those guys getting along with each other and learning from the past, while also based on it, creating new relationships.

This issue certainly has some very cool stuff going for it. Ofc the bait, which is a ''spoiler'' no ''spoiler'', is super well done, i guess it could be interpreted as a jab at avx, but it's deeper than this because the whole issue is centered around it even too much. The Avengers and the x-men do not really have a reason to be fighting, but at the same time they kinda do, but because they are rational people who have been knowing each other for so long as of right now, and a bunch of they share history they want to be in each other's good graces. On a macro scale the issue does this, it tries to convince the reader that those characters have much in common, that they can be helpful to each other, that they care for each other, and are ready to spend time with each other to be comfortable with each other. This can be seen very clearly at the end of the issue in the pages with Carol and Scott, where the biggest issues of trust arise as the final challenge, the actual important challenge to the teams, after a lot of slice-of-life issues. Then Mackey assures us that those are nonissues and that both teams would finally be in a good relationship. As a fan I think something like this is needed. The relationship between X-Men and the Avengers is so rarely addressed when their history is actually full of small or not-so-small hostilities. Sure we have the unity squads, but those are different. Here we talk about the main teams that often just occupy different worlds. So this issue takes the needed time to clear the air and to make sure where they stand. On a micro level, as usual with Mackay's Avengers, we get those small squares of moments with each character and some other character with big contrasts and similarities, where we get to explore a little bit of both and see those contrasts and similarities. Mackey really does have a talent of finding those openings to make an interesting connection, an interesting juxtaposition. It is on the nose, the way the conversations start is like in a video game, they start from a very high place and are just questions that one would not make out of the blue, so it's both forced and on the nose. But are insightful and are actually deep and at the end of the day, the characters are interesting because of this, because we see what they believe. Ofc if you like those characters you would likely know all this, but it's still cool to clear the air even there. It makes the characters deeper than more significant and it's obvious that there is a huge understanding of what makes them click. Maybe Mackay overdoes it, but it is effective and gives characters a feeling of having a soul and experiences, that they interpret in their own way, even if they talk like they do in Skyrim. Overall it's not perfect, the issue would have benefited from a little bit of more natural touch, of more variable tone even, i get everything is supposed to be all fun and heartwarming, but again it feels stilted to a certain extent, it feels rehearsed, like too much of it feels preplaned again from the dialogue to how the characters act. Again some good comes out of it, but i still think with little twinks issues like this could be even better, even if now this is pretty good.

This issue is full of McKayisms, which I would have loved to see explored, but sadly, it does not do a great job at it. Like a lot of the characters used do not get a moment to shine, actually pretty much nobody does, and it looks like the dephs that i came to associate with his writing on the title is gone, and here there is nothing that valuable in its place. The issue is like an example of an issue of Mckay but done in the worst way possible. It seems like it builds to be an underdog story about Sam vs the new masters, which is cool, but also quite flat, cos i don't really see the contrasts between Sam and the masters. As we don't see much of the madness or the personal motivations of the master for their evil deed or at least enough of it for me to feel it realistically. It seems hollow both in the execution of the structure and in the voices of the character and the thematic, even the drama, not that inspired at least, and at least for now. Because it really goes down to an underdog story with huge stakes, that personally i did not feel. Maybe it could be pulled off if Mckay tries something different, that he hasn't with title as cool breath taking moments and more instantenuas writing, but as for now I'm really not too excited about the future of this arc and having in mind that the scope of this issue is to establish all the pawns and the reasons to be excited, it really fails to deliver.

I feel like this is a run that is deeply imperfect, but is intriguing.It's almost paradoxical. It's also weirdly scattered. One could say that this arc is a fruit of a long planning, but i would say that it is a fruit of everything flaw of this run and for me it ends up feeling somewhat hollow.It's weird comics for sure, because it is neither plot driven,the plots are simplistic and everything even confusing explaned, like actually not much happens, but is neither character driven, because even if it has an understading on symbolical level of the characters they do not mold the plot that much or are developed. This is an issue after a whole issue that breaks the pace, an issue that even if i consider really good as a stand alone feels not in its right place and like it's own universe. And we are pretty much in the same place,where we've left for half an issue. What i am getting at is that we are spending too much time on useless battles and not progressing neither of the elements present here or not developing certain brushed plot points that are going to return, so this way they are not hitting. Now i like how the avengers managed to work as team, everybody filling up there role established in the first issue, that's how they made the bomb. Like look at their archetypes and you would see. This is a cool idea, Mckay gives each of them a defining role, which helps to understand and interpret the character. and they made the city, because people make the city like them, but they only modernized what it was the primary idea of the city of heroes. Like on symbolical level is great, nearly everything here is good on symbolical level, but the way it happens is so bare bones with so much over explaning the plot, with so bloated pace etc. This comics should be better than the sum of its moments.

I'm legit mindblown, this run losses me more and more. I was so excited for this big story, that was promised for like 25 issues by now. I understand what the story is saying, it establishes a link between the avengers and the court and how the impossible city is bassicly meant to be their ship, but why? what does it accomplish in the long run? They were meant to be the avengers and bassicly became them, which is triumphant on paper, but also it feels underdeveloped because their struggle is told in words and in fast forwarding. And it's a whole issue of it. It's both stale, not fluid and long. So we establish this complex cycle in an issue about characters that are very underdeveloped in a story that was supposed to big and grandiose, that we've been waiting for, but it is so terribly paced that losses all its juice and momentum. This is a fail for me. Maybe we will see the conection, maybe the avengers will win because of the city, which in turn would be because of the court, which in turn would be because of the avengers. So in turn to be a team player in defined role makes for a better society i guess? idk it feels like grasping at straws by now. This story is lost in its complexity, i hope that next issue would make things make more sense at least.

You can go so far with a premise so shallow as Sin stealing an ancient artifact. So not a terribly deep comic for sure, I do not think it does anything that good too, it's pretty much a straight-up celebration of the eras of the Avengers, especially pre-Dissambled and especially the West Coast/Stern era, but again not that deep, it's more like...pleasant. Like every time Wonder Man makes an appearance is an event for me and that's because he like some of the other characters here really is in somewhat of limbo of being an A-tier Avenger, but nobody doing anything with him. So even if again that's surface level and unexplored, that's something i can appreciate. I see that is trying to carry that warm and light, cozy feeling of Stern's work with that subplot and dialog especially, but maybe it's the art, maybe it's just the modern ambiance, but it does not authentic to me,the relationship do not feel that genuine. That's the whole thing as I appreciate it, i feel it's mandated, it does not feel that inspired. All the characters feel safe, even if they've been away for so long, even if they have changed a lot and are in a very different space. That's my guess as to why it does not feel real, it does not carry the substance of those old issues, because it does not treat the characters as real. Especially when Orlando tries so hard to make us feel at ease with the cozy team, to make them feel like everything is overly cool, by playing hard and constantly showing good well they know each other and especially with the contrast between the 2 teams, which did not hit for me at all because again stylistically both plots were equally bland and sin did not feel like a threat to me. It feels like overcompensation and again takes from the genuine interactions. He read some of the back issue or the editor at least, it's obvious by the references, but did not carry any of the meat and the heart behind them. In a way, I feel this is my main issue here, a lot of it feels just empty. Like even on the dialogue level, the fight feels soulless with a lot of cliches being thrown around and just words that could fit any character again the dialogue has a hard time translating to something deeper about the emotional states, so it feels weightless in the bad. The whole story is like that and it's weird how simple it is and how little moves, like the pacing feels unbalanced on the macro level. This comic has potential, but the approach is bad IMO. What I mean is the theme about people wanting to separate instead of assemble would have been awesome, especially since dissembled f it all up, if was explored in any way more than just the surface, maybe will be more explored in the future.

(rating for the whole thing) Weirdly enough I think this comic gets something or at least how an idea about what the Avengers are about, which is something I feel is often missing. Even if it's never stated explicitly. The debate about if the Avengers are doing too little or too much is often brought up in discussions outside of the comics. That they are too authoritative and so on and this does a good job of focusing a story on that, on them trying to avenge, to redeem. Ready to be in the wrong for the right reasons. I think that's a rebelliousness that is a part of the team, just not often has the space to show it. In a way, this is like the ultimate, but in reverse, where the most heroic and admirable traits are presented here. The characters confront their sins and atone for them with their all. Tony is a loving father and a husband, ready to make sacrifices and completely defined by that, Thor is a god, filled with sadness and duty towards the people and Cap...Cap is a badass. One gripe i have is that it felt like the story clearly favored Cap over the other characters and I get it, he was the window to that world, and he was the one leading us through it, which considering the political undertones was a great choice, obviously, those were the main themes here and the whole leading was done really well in my opinion. The world was progressively expanding, and our understanding of it, of what happened, and new characters were added like we never got bombarded with anything(maybe just a little bit in this issue). Respect to the way The Red Skull was written btw. Respect to how everybody was written, even if they got a little screentime. The comics were very collectively paced, which is nice. it felt cinematic, and especially with Cap, his arc was so well tied with everything else. He was growing, as well as the story, itself. From small to big. But in the end, I think it got a little bit too big for its own good, but I get it Big Battles tend to get a little bit like that. Still, something needed a little bit more to tie stuff in a manner that fits the rest of the book. But even if rushed and in a dumb fight, as ideas I like what happened here and what it meant for the characters, even if some of them were rushed too. Some of those faults can be traced to the earliest issues even, where only the cap shined, but then it was not a problem, it was in the end because the idea got clear. At least to me. That said the last few pages were really heartwarming. The passing of the torch and the idea of the avengers to be together living on in the next-gen, while the older heroes can finally lie calmly.On a sidenote, i feel like atoning for your sins and just taking a break from it all after it is a Zdarsky thing. Acuna is great on the other side, He has great visual language and awesome control of the colors and how they flow and create an environment.. don't Zdarsky and his writing style took the most of him, but still I was never harming it. I just think I should have felt some stuff way more. Overall, it was a nice mini, it had the heart of the Avengers in it, but maybe if it was only Cap would have been even better. 0.5 points for Tony and jan being together.

Usually i rarely get on the site anymore. But man, this is great. I'm biased, I love the avengers and having read, the issues referenced here and knowing everything that happens afterwords, i can say this is a perfect throwback comics. Captain america's feeling of alienation, rick's growing respect for the captain, jan being playful, hank being insecure and overprotective of her, but their love still flying in the air, Thor and iron man being the stars, the ideals of the team, that comes only when needed, the whole teamwork aspect, it just feels good seeing that rendered so well, cohesive and ofc even better than it was in the original, because all that stuff was always the second the action then. The characterization is crystal clear and straight to the point. Plus the dialogue, it has a vintage quality, but it's not distraction and only adds to the feeling this comics brings, which is mutual respect for the job, when the heroes were at their best(well cap was not, but that's an other story), which is the thing i love most about the originals too. The characters are not close here, they have the same job, but only when they are needed , they are together and they are still trying to make the whole concept of superhero team work. That's the way i remember those days and Levitz, gives us the perfect representation. Alan Davis is obviously a master at what he is doing and even after so many year he is still coming out with strongly and inspired. 10 is maybe too high, but i'm biased.

A classic issue IMO. This issue is called "Dying City" and it really lives to it's name. The issue is a part of the "road to no man's land", specifically "Aftershock" crossover and although there were some really strong issues within this crossover(it's a pity, that Shadow of the bat or Chronicles are not on the site), this IMO is one of the most important ones, not because many things happens here, but because it's one of the most important issues to understand why Gotham ultimately became No man's land . Actually it's one of the issues leading to "Road to no man's land". As I alluded earlier, the issue's title is a great indicator of what to expect here. A slowly decomposing city. But what I love here is how realistically this slow death and it's effects on the normal people and the protagonists are portrayed. Although you can say that for a big part of the event, this is the moment, when you really start to feel that maybe realistically, the hope is vanishing too, because the writer shows very good reasons for it, again very logical reasons. Also usually you just see how the protagonists react to some little situations. All that is build really naturally, without any rushing and also progresses the story in the same way, giving you hint of the things, that are going to happen next. That's achievement, considering how many people and titles were involved in those huge events. As for the characters, they are awesome as expected for the whole Moench's era. The effects the quake has on them are also in line and logical for the specific characters . Although Batman and Gordon are pretty much the main characters here, the things happening here are clearly bigger than both of them and even they know it. Both are in a very weird place for them, which is great. Batman, the person who defies nature with his determination, feels helpless, not knowing what to do from now on. As he said he is bad with death, even worse against senseless deaths, without no one to blame. So clearly this is his worse nightmare(there is huge and great emphasis on that) and slowly is becoming even worse. Gordon is in an even worse position, feeling like he failed in his duty, fearing even more the things that are coming next. But even with that, they still find reasons to stay and fight, making them even closer(for now). Btw the dialogue is awesome, really precise with delivering the themes and the characters emotional states in the moment, but also really natural. Not forgetting Aparo's art, which makes everything better. There is that sense of shared pain and in the end you feel like maybe there is some hope for the citizen of Gotham, only for that to be broken in the last few panels. I just love this issue and I'm sure I just touched the surface on why is that, because there is just so much to be said about it and also the whole era in general, because to be honest even that "Contagion" happened some years before this, it's effect can still be felt and makes the story even better. It's just a perfect chapter leading to NML and one of the standouts of the "Aftershock"/"Road to NML".

Another very strong issue. I generally love how Gotham is portrayed like a living being and this issue was not an exception. As Batman said "they expect the city to support and protect them and not the other way around" and I really like that theme too. As you can see also the hero are really understanding of the choice, that some people make and this and the previous issues make it even more understandable by showing you, how bad actually the situation is. Still there are people who actually support the city or at least what's left of it, such as the doctors here and they both were really awesome. The nurse's romance with Bullock was really cure and while her conviction was really inspiring, admirable and a good reason for Bullock to fall for her and the male's doctor was not so sure, showing us a lot more realistic struggle. Ultimately his little arc was also on point with the themes too. Also I wanna note how awesome Montoya is. The end of the issue is again kinda sad and again giving that impression that Gotham maybe is really doomed, but also kinda rushed I would say. I guess that it can relate to the theme that Gotham is being punished from above(an interesting theme), but I'm not sure about that or the more plausible theme is that the city itself is against them, judging by Gordon's words. but again and i'm not sure it would make total sense. Don't get me wrong I think that the bridge falling should have happened at some point, just it could have been more powerful IMO.

If you look for an portrayal of the Riddler in all his all terrifying glory, look no further. The issue does not go that much in depth what makes the Riddler, but it totally get the way the Riddler acts and the way he compose himself. Trust me that not a small thing and arguable is even more important. If you are not that familiar with the Riddler, this right here is a perfect starter. His internal sense superiority and the way he challenge people just to prove it to them, how that fills him with fulfilment, his narcissism , how methodical he is, the disregard to the fellow human being, even just the way he walks. There is just so much to him and you can get so complete picture of the character here . The issue also does not shy away of showing how horrible his acts are. This way you get this nice contrast between him being content, totally not caring about other's pain, because of his sense of being superior and the other being in agony and fear, or straight up dying in insanely horrible ways, because of him and his mania. I particularly standout moment I would say was, that one moment, when that one woman decided to fight back. Such a brave and heroic act. But of course the Riddler does not care about that. He is so overly protective of himself, so just a single touch of someone he considers lesser than him, repels him. It's so weird seeing someone treating himself this way, when there are so much people suffering around him. Again it's great contrast. The fact, that she spent 17 years in defense class , only to be killed just like that was particularly sad. I doubt the Riddler spent time in anything like that, so that's a reminder that his mind is really something powerful, but also dangerous and sinister, that bare fighting can hardly win against. Of course this is an extremely tragic way go, not only it means that all that time training was wasted, but it puts fear into anybody else who wants to follow her example. Overall a great issue, that I did not know about. Definitely recommended.

Well, I can say that I enjoyed some parts of the issue and it's probably my favorite issue of that whole arch, but that's not much to be honest . Overall I would say that it was not worth it in any way : not worth the hype, not worth the build-up and probably not worth the art. It's amazing how something intended to be so big, feels so small and shallow in the end, at least to me. And even if we put that aside, plus the fact how unoriginal even for Batman, that whole thing was, I think we still have a pretty weak story with great art to look at. Regarding the issue, finally something happened . Actually a lot happened and that's not even counting the bonus stuff and i kind of liked that, just for the change of pace( having in mind how uneventful that whole arch was). There was just that rushed feel to everything on here , which again is so strange for something that was planned for so long . Other than that , most of it, was played by the book, with some little surprises(some of which good, some not so much) and some wasted opportunities .My points come, mainly because of the art. Also the ending made me sure, The Joker war was pointless.

I think that is one of the better issues from the current Batman. I like the concept of the new villain and i am excited to see more of his backstory. The problem here is the pacing and the overall the lack of build-up for Ghost-Maker.

Well, it's pretty obvious, that Dc is just waiting to release Future State, having in mind that Future State starts literally tomorrow its really not surprising that we get this. Look at the flash, after Williamson left nobody dares to start something big with him, just to be ready for Future State, that's why we got a filler arc and a filler issue. I think this annual is pretty useless too. Look at it, it does not change anything, do or give the audience anything new. But don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great filler issues ,as we all know some of the genre's best can be considered filler to the main plot, think about "the kid who collects Spider-man" or of a more recent ones like superman man of tomorrow series. In those stories we get usually a simple tale of a character we love in situation not typical for him or her, showing us a part of the character , we don't see often in their bigger adventures. But this is different. Everything we get here,we've already know, with some little tweaks, which by the way certainly do not deserve a full issue. We already knew the origin of The Clownhunter with the difference that this time we can see it visually , for me it was unnecessary. I mean, I don't even think it's that of good origin tbh, we've seen so many identical scenarios, even for that reason alone its not worth showing it . Other than that , I like Stokoe's art, it reminds me of the old underground comix masters with some flavor and for a character like the Clowhunter, who is more punkish, angry, sloppy, kinda of amateurish, it that style fits pretty well. It's sad that this issue does not really use more of the strengths of this type of art style. On the dialogue side again we don't get nothing new, delivered in the familiar Tynion fashion. The whole no killing thing's been over a thousand times already and better with better characters(Jason). Tynion continues to rehash old themes, which are pretty much already perfected by somebody before him. This can be a start for a great arc for the Clownhunter, but till then I don't think this issue is worth it.

I think this issue was very weirdly paced and constructed. It feels to me like there was beginning, a big interlude, some kind of middle and not much of end. By big interlude I mean, I mean a really big one, that not really related to the story we have at hand, which is so strange considering how many subplots are already in motion. It breaks the pace and the momentum of the story IMO, especially considering it was mostly just dialogue, not even that interesting or that good at that, aside from few glimpses here and there . I guess Tynion is setting something up (again) , but I'm not sure this was the right place for it. That whole thing needed to be way less pages The Batman's parts were the ones that are actually important to the narrative and although kinda short, with the helping hand of the great art done by Jimenez, they were enjoyable and intriguing, but also nothing too spectacular. The reveal of Saint's plan was nice and Peacekeeper looks definitely intimidating , so much so that even batman was surprised, again a big shoutout to the art team for that. Also for the more dynamic and fight scenes. The art really does add to the book. I feel like the issue ended on a pretty weird note and again I think that has something to do with the pacing. It feel like an end of a Dbz episode, but in Dbz that was part of the tone. Here it feels out of place and i don't see a reason for it, aside from Tynion being lazy. Generally the whole run has pacing problems and looking from above this issue is even worse than most, because the others were setting a character arc or themes, Batman was gaining intel, the reader was gaining new info about the situations and here most of the issue, aside from the last few pages ,which are not nearly enough, feels so shallow. Also the slow pace's been going for too long now IMO. So both the pacing of the issue itself was bad and pacing of the issue within the run was bad. Plus it was not concise at all.

I'm enjoying Fear State. Overall I find the arc really engaging and I'm always looking forward to read more of it. I think this story arc is the highlight of this run. But still the usual issues with the dialogue and pacing remain, but at least now that does not bother me that much as it did in the past and that's maybe because there is just so much I like here already. Also big respect to Tynion for using and writing Scarecrow so well(a character so underutilized) and constructing such a big part of the story and themes around him.

Kinda rushed in my opinion, but still good. Just with so much build-up and slow pacing in general, this finale feels really weird and anticlimactic. I don't know how, but Tynion never got his pacing right with this run.But most of the other things here i liked. Clearly the art was a big standout as always and personally in the end I can say that i liked Tynion's run .

The things i liked the most were the more comedic and lighthearted moments and judging by this first issue I guess that's what Williamson is going to try to do with the book. The party, Batman Inc, Batman giving autographs, people loving Batman are all evidence for that. You know, It's been a while since Batman's been that way and it's certainly refreshing after the darkness and depression of the recent runs. Ofc Williamson does not go extreme and the issue still feels like an issue of Batman. The change of tone also comes quite naturally from the story itself and from that that now people love batman. Bruce is clearly not used to that, which creates an interesting dynamic. The twist in the end was good and really exciting.

Not as interesting and fresh as the last issue, but still perfectly enjoyable read. I liked the detective and mystery elements the most and the introduction of Abyss was great and suspenseful, thanks to the great art. Honestly the art is a big selling point for me. The stuff with Luther, while very curious is only going to get more interesting with the story progressing in my opinion.

Overall this was a good story, with great art and a nice message, which can even be interpreted as a commentary on Batman, that he should not be so broody and dark all the time, which considering the last runs comes at the right time. Williamson kinda overdid the whole darkness thing IMO, but at it's core it's about how batman should not fall pray to the darkness and to appreciate and enjoy the good things, when they come. He can't solely exist in the darkness, he needs also light to work and to function and that sometimes the light also needs batman. And that honestly is a great idea, where you can go quite deep and I think he knew that, so he was a bit overexcited about it, so that's why at times the themes seemed heavy handled. Ofc there can be more interpretations of what this arc meant. But yeah all in all Bruce was pretty good during this arc. Abyss is a fine character, nothing spectacular, kinda simple, but understandable, with a nice contrast to Batman, which is not a small feat and served the story and the themes well. Do I think we will see more of him? Probably no or at least not much. Maybe I needed more time not knowing about him and his story, to build up the mystery and the menace, for him to hit me harder. Because right now he feels like a character, that soon will be forgotten. As for the art, Batman's been on a streak of great artist lately. Honestly it's even hard to chose between Molina and Jimenez. Molina is somewhat less dramatic, but more realistic and adding the colors more atmospheric.

I like how alive Gotham feels, it reminds me of Alan Grant's tec in this aspect, albeit it's done very differently.

I had this vibe, but i was not sure. Now i am. This is definitely inspired by norm breyfogle and alan grant.

Reading this, I feel like reading a silver age comics, which I think we need more of in the modern world of comics. It's just a cool self-aware, crazy-fun little story, without really any serious consequences, providing some pretty meme worthy moments(looking at you, Batman with your kryptonite Battank). The way Batmite and mr. Mxyzptlk play with Supes and Bats , made me nostalgic of the time when i was a kid, because most of times when I played with those specific toys, the battles were very similar to the ones we see in the issue. On the other hand its very funny, how Williams takes that whole discussion about who would win in a fight, so often seen on forums, in cons and overall are such a big part of the community, turns it to the extreme, and shows us what would happen, if that discussion happened in the comics world, in quite a genius manner. Overall the whole issue is like that. It celebrates the childish nature of the 2 iconic characters and our appreciation for it, with some some meta commentary. Other than that, the art is fine, It' s clean, more cartoony looking than realistic but not too much, with some good expressions. The coloring is good too, the colors are pretty light and saturated, and it fits well within the aesthetics of the comics. Overall pretty great issue!

This issue is great, it deserves all the praise it gets. It took everything great about the silver age with the characterization and the plot and added a modern spin on it. It's nice to nice to Batman so caring, calm, somewhat hopeful and concerned about his friend, trying to do everything he can think of to save him from his worst nightmare. He is not cracking jokes or anything, he is still serious, but he does not seem drowned in darkness, anger and sadness. This is such a great characterization. Superman although, I feel was in the issue less, was also great. Doing the job with a smile and enjoyment. The whole issue is about them helping in each other in a time of need. As Supes helped Bats in past with the Penguin, now it's Batman's turn to help the other half of the world's finest. The thing is that this is a harder job, especially in situation like the current. The issue assumes you know those characters and puts in the moment, it does not define or explain the characters and the relationship between the two, but shows it by the dialogue and the way the characters act, to the reader so this way feels extremely natural. Nothing feels forced. Even when Metallo falls into his self-pity and goes on to explain how his humanity is stripped, feels in character. Great writing from Waid! The art by Mora is arguably even more spectacular. Clean, polished, slick with good expressions and great dynamism. We all know how great Mora is and here he is probably at his best.

This issue in particular shows how mind-numbingly mid this series is. It's of a quality of most fanfictions or VNS. When it focuses on the actual plots it's really bad. The 2 plots are undeveloped and totally tonally inconsistent. It makes me doubt the identity of this comic. It seems nonexistent. Not even talking about the art, which shifts out of a sudden from one style to its totally extreme other half, both styles can work, but do not because they do not match and the writing does not support much of either here at least. While the whole book is so lazy, it's cliche, so full of exposition and holes and conveniences, and just shifts in character out of the blue, without any of the heavy work behind it. Nothing really really hits me. Idk how I am supposed to feel while reading it. Man-Bat is paper thin and always repeats his motivation all the time, without it being original or meaningful tbh, which makes the already terribly static comic, even more static in slow. It's a bad finale to such a long arc because even after all it feels rushed, it feels so simple and the comic itself does not let it breathe. It's more concerned with the next story. The whole concept of Damian in school seems wasted now. I could not explain how disappointed I am. Because when it was just Bruce and Damian, it was getting better, their relationship and adventures were fun. But this is not like that. My headcannon is that Williamson is more concerned with Superman rn, which is understandable and this comic just draws the shortest straw. If that's the case, I think they should just it to another writer.

Well I liked this one. It's a different take on Batman, but truthfully not that radical IMO and I totally support that, it's not like it's going to change the character you love all of a sudden. Plus i really liked that both Ennis and Sharp are trying to focus on the effect batman has on criminals and the are doing really interesting stuff with that. And that was pretty much the main thing, that made an impression, beside the art in general I mean, which deserves all the praise. Still the start of this series is kind of slow and not fully griping at least for me, but maybe that's by design. We will see. A kinda not important side-note: the cover really reminds me of the Spider-Man Super Special Featuring Scarlet Spider Part 2. It's not like fully identical, but still both feature a reptile creature with the reflection of the hero in their eye. I wonder if it was an intentional influence, because if it was, kudos to Liam Sharp for that reference.

The way this book handles Jason's trauma and it's themes is really something else. That comics is one for the ages.

I get why many people are not into this series. Yeah ,it's not one of the best batman's comics, but i kind of like it, despite some of the flaws. I like that we get a more humane version of Bruce, also the fact that most of this series is spend in the cave is a great touch IMO,because it grounds the story in a good way. I'm not crazy about Scorn and his army,because it does the exact opposite .It makes the story more grand and i dont think that fits the tone very well,but its not a game changer. The biggest thing, that makes this issue really shine is Bruce and Alfred's relationship imo.

Well there was a lot of unpack here. Ideas and themes, set-up in past issues were fleshed out, and big, big revelations happened. Now I get why there is "curse" in title of the book. It's a sad tale really, although we still have an issue to go and there are hints, that things are going to turn around for the good guys, I think, I don't see how this "curse" and it's effects are gonna be lifted from Black Knight or his legacy. But yeah, overall without going too much into details, this was pretty crazy issue.

Badass, trilling, packed with great action with distinct and awesome visual style. Honestly it's like an action movie translated into a comic book, thanks to Samnee and his understanding of the medium. Both him with Waid really had a vision about this book and IMO it shows. Although I would advice the future readers to not go expecting too much out of the book writing-wise or something too deep, because although the book has it's moment on that front too, this comics is mainly concerned with the action, the thrills and the atmosphere and for me, if you want to do something like that, Black Widow is one of the best characters to use, because it fits perfectly with her character.

I think that series has pretty much everything, that a Black Widow's comics needs to be great, at least for now. The art is top-notch in every way it needs to be, the premise is amazing and fairly original and it seems like the story is very well put together. The mystery just keeps going deeper and deeper in very unexpected ways. It constantly really makes me wonder what exactly is the situation, she is in. I feel, that in this issue we got some clues, but at the same time we are shallowed by new and new reveals, that turn everything upside down. I hardly have any complains with that book tbh.

This is a good event comic. it uses its tie-ins well, while also balancing them all, it's easy to read, with each issue being clearly and neatly constructed, and it has great and well-communicated vibes, but Pepe Larraz elevates everything about it to infinity. Even when so much of it, is static, he still manages to make it shine in different ways and create moments that I feel will be imprinted into my memory. What more does an event need really?

Kinda late to the party, but this was an awesome action comics. Big kudos to the art department btw, because that's a big reason why I liked this so much. The art does wonders with the action here, giving it so much flair and energy. Everything is messy, gory, unpolished and raw and that's so cool. Still although, all those fights are badass as hell, they are actually also pretty disturbing and I think that's intentional. As for the story, well it takes an interesting, but understandable approach and for a person, who reads mainly superhero comics like me, It's refreshing to see a hero, that's openly not fighting for the greater good or some higher ideals. A character like this, fits the tone very well and even enhances it.

Overall I enjoy Coates on the title, but every time when it's time to read the new issue, I realize, that I forgot what happened in the last issue. I guess it's normal, when the series is not even monthly at this point. Something I find ridiculous for a character such as Cap, especially when Slott's Fantastic Four is bi-weekly right now, while also there was a huge show with his name on it a month ago. But I don't think that's not the only reason why I can't remember what happened last. There is also that pacing, that Coates is so famous for. Everything is so slow and 29 issues in, i think we are way past the point for such a slow storytelling and slow progression of the different characters. Don't get me wrong I enjoy those conversations, but they feel a little bit repetitive and I get the feeling that nothing much is happening. When you combine those 2 things, I think it's pretty understandable how incompatible they are. Slow pacing plus long intervals of publishing. But enough about that. Let's talk about the issue. Again the issue was full with conversations and talking, but actually something happened in the end at least. There are some things, that bugged me about Cap here, but I can understand where he is coming from and that the Cap here is the interpretation of Coates. So it's not a big deal and for the most part I really like his Cap. Sin and Alexa were pretty interesting too and the moment in the end was really powerful IMO and I'm curious to see what is leading to. To be honest Coates is doing a great job with the supporting cast, although sometimes he loses the focus of the because of it, and the pacing suffers again. I don't think this issue was like that, but again it was pretty formulaic. The dialogue is good and half of the reason for this, is the art, which is quite nice and does the story a lot of favors with some great expressions and it's overall understanding of the emotions and the feelings behind it.

What was interesting here was that most of the issue you spend with Overtime and, so when it's time to see him against Cap and Black Widow, I can't help, but kind of want him to do what he wants to. Part of it is the fact that you are not presented with the why not? What I mean by that is the heroes really do not try their best to shows him the error of his way, especially Widow. Idk, if that was intentional or not, but it's there IMO. Apart of that the issue shows Overtime as a humane character, feeling remorse and with good set of morals, numerous times. He is really like most of us and for a normal person, his reaction and feelings are normal, even too reasonable IMO. Still I think that this issue would have been better, if the writer tried to stick to that idea more closely, making the whole issue about Overtime and showing Cap and Widows as antagonists, because what we got was kind of messy and not really clear IMO. Especially if it was done with a more distinct and creative art, that represent his internal feelings better. Don't get me wrong the art was quite great, even better than what this issue deserved and the action was cool, part of that is that the time stone is generally a really cool power to have. Still for a cap book, the art style is nothing new and makes the book blander, when it's already kind of bland. The art on the next story was great tho and it made the next really distinct and fun, more than the story actually was. The expressions, the angles, the coloring, the panels make this joy to look at and makes me feel a lot, despite it's simplicity of colors. I really cannot say how much I liked the art here and it's sad that the writing did not use it's powers, cos the story itself was not necessary and a lot of stuff the artist did, although awesome, was not supported in any way by the story. Probably the best thing about story, was the boxing match, because it shows us the semi-professional relationship between Nick Jr and Cap, plus again the art make me feel every punch and kind with it's masterful use of angles, panels and colors. But it does not shows us much more. I mean there were a few little things here and there, but ultimately it did not deliver any kind of specific relationship. After all it was just a back-up, so truthfully I did not mind it too much and just because of the art I'm ready to give 10s tbh.

While my excitement for this arc is definitely the highest it's been in this run so far, it's still full of weirdness. The way Straczynski writes cap, especially speaking here is so absent of any tack. I get making cap more vulnerable and relatable, that he has some issues on his own, especially some of those in some ways were fundamental to the character(not all). But the way they are expressed is such a detriment here, it makes an otherwise very well balanced comics feel heavy and unnatural in its structure. Steve is word-vomiting his problems and where they stem from and he goes deep, without being asked,to a person who probably do not even care that much. it feels like he is overly anxious but the moment is not presented as this, there are no indications that he needs to talk to somebody so much to forget he talks to a real person and so vent machine. The comics treats it like it's totally normal conversation when it's completely one-sided. There were moments like this in Stracynski's ASM, but the difference is that they were letting Peter be anxious and the story was letting it's self admitting it, so they came off as comedic. But it's not just that, it's the way cap talks most of the time here. I know some people love how Cap is characterized here, but it's not my thing, even simply because Cap in my opinion would never let himself take more space than the other person, how he overly justifies every thought of his and every move, making it really more about himself. Still, I am open to my understanding of character being updated, if is done in a good manner. But if we remove those moments from the equation: This focus on the superhero team-up is nice on what it really means to superheroes, how they come to team up is fun, albeit not really insightful or meaningful and comes of more like interesting facts than actually something that affects their relationship much. I can see every one of the characters here benefiting from this situation, sure some of the stuff (with Cap) may not have been established in the best way, but i see the potential here. The issue is really just that a prelude to the coming adventure, it's not a lot of moving done here but it's alright, but it's alright. Thor and Spidey were also pretty good and written way more subdly, both kinda recall the tones and the way they were presented during the time JMS was writing them and it's well mixed.

I know i'm late to the party and at that a party, for which not that many people are hyped for or attend even, but a party that like, now that i am here. Call me basic, but civil war is most definitely one of my favorite comics stories. And you know Civil War is complex story, so seeing after so much time Cap and Iron man talking about their motivations, during that time in a way, that's calm and understanding to the other's position,without throwing fist at each other gives me so much joy. To this day, i think that both sides had some nice arguments and for sure it's nice to see, that both of them understand. You can also feel, the disappointment and rhe regret that Tony feels about the whole thing, especially the initiative, not working out, while Cap also has an appreciation for the idea, but at the same time he has his critiques of it, resulting in a more nuanced point of view. The whole conversation comes really naturally, i get why Tony brought it up and at the same it feels as a conversation between 2 friends that respect and get each other, which pretty much can be felt through the whole series. I remember that some issues long ago Marvel tried the same thing actually, it was right after the Brubaker's era, when Cap has some issues, dedicated to him, teaming up with teammates with whom, he has an interesting relationship like Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, Black Widow and of course Iron Man. While issues are pretty much forgotten by now and for good reason, (they were pretty bland for the most part, especially i remember that the Hawkeye ones were pretty disappointing,but the black widow was alright) this one really puts the relationship between the 2 characters upfront, something i consider a right way, when a approaching a series like this and the best thing about this series. So that's why we get those talks about how the characters are feeling, which are not terribly necessary for the plot to move. So while that part of the issue was great, was also quite short. Like there is a plot going on, which gets the focus and honestly i'm not that interested in it, but it's passable, it keeps me going. Veronica kinda oversells it, but it's an entertaining enough. But yeah the plot most definitely do not shine, like there is nothing that grabs me in it, which is weird for me, having in mind how great Iron Man and Captain America's relationship is here.

Both books were better than this event was. The end especially was so unfulfilling, so anticlimactic but honestly, the whole thing was, stuffed with moments that did not matter in the long run and others that just were forced and because of it, did not hit. both creative teams did not mesh well with the story, because excel at so different things. But in the finale we are basically back to square one, every character changed their stance really fast, or at least to fast for my taste to make it work, it seems rushed, especially when a lot of this event was so low on plots and was moving slow. I think this story needed more, needed more care, and more time, it had the potential to be amazing because even when I actually liked Sentinel of Liberty, mainly because of the characterization of Steve, that series also could have dealt better with this plot. The big stakes just weren't justified for that series in my opinion.

This is cool. It brings back ideas from the 80s runs like Stern/Byrne's and JMD's( there were even some references to that). Like Steve having a life outside being cap, Being comfortable with being cap and enjoying being a normal citizen, but not too sure about what to do with Steve Rodgers . I think is cool, because those are underrated runs for the character and it's nice to see ideas modernized, especially when those runs are not the first choices for new reader and it's not like, it's the same thing here(obviously it can't be, because of the circumstances).I think that having in mind, the past runs of cap, some of which i liked a lot btw, but they were most of the times really grand with spying, other dimensions,conspiracies, big action, stakes etc(waid's last run is kinda an exception), this more street-level, happy and human cap feels really welcomed.A captain, that's actually human, , a part of the society and the people and finds joy in that. Steve also seems to go back to that period of his life and the past in general, which again it's understandable considering past events and that it was a very happy time for him. That actually seems like it's going to be one of the themes here. The writing fits well with all that, it's clear what the writers want to do with this series or issue at least and they exceed in it, creating a very happy and easygoing tone. It's a joy to read honestly and they write a very charming and likable, but still deep Steve Rodgers. A good example is Steve's narration, which i found really meaningful and true to the character.Maybe it was a bit too much at some points, like too much ideas, but we'll see. With all that being said, the ending kinda got me worried, that we are again going to see some big conspiracy at play here. Not that i particularly dislike that, just the the first parts of the issues felt too fresh and nice to be thrown away for something like that, like idk i want cap to be happy and to have a nice status quo for a while, because it felt like the character was in somewhat of limbo, but if they decide to stick with the things from the start of the issue, i feel like that's the perfect new direction for him, but if they decide to go with "i'm not sure about the dream road" which is established as one of the few things he is sure about, i feel the opposite honestly. Still i'm invested in the mystery here and i really want the other pieces. Either way it's too early to tell anything honestly. All in all good issue and solid art.

if anybody ever decides that wants a taste of what this run has to offer, but does not want to go through the whole thing, like a situation similar to God loves man kills or the dark phoenix for claremont etc, this is the arc for it. For starters this is some of the best work for every of the characters in it. Every single one of those characters has role, a specific role complements the others and also relates to them. In a way humanizes the characters, but also it does something way deeper than it. It shows how the brain, even the brain of so called God can't comprehent the death for what it is, even thanos, who has probably the deepest understanding of it. What i want to say is that we treat those abstract concepts like they have it for us. Like they somehow care or are resposible for us feeling bad, when death is so much above us all. Even Thor incounters the power of the invariable that is death both literally and in that he forgets the people which he wants to remember forever. What we get here is a proto aaron iteration of thor in a way, a God that feels fully obligated to be there for the people who worship him, which differeciate it from the real Gods like Death, because even when death is worshiped like with walker she does not wink. As thanos noted he operates in fully different ways, in ways that are far more open and close to people. There is also the question if he simply hates death, because he does not want to be alone in his immortality, which again it shows a deeper phicology behind every action of those character, like it is usually with thanos too Thanos interpretation is also very essential to the story. He has a very poetic way of seeing death. Obviously we talk about a thanos that is way closer to Starlin's than pretty everything ever since. He sees death as pure, as someone that constantly gives meaning to life, gives comfort to suffering and always leads the way of life and at the same time is hated for it. He sees her as a real woman, a woman he appreaciates and loves and what's why he wants her to be more protective of herself, like he is. So again the way he sees the concept is totally in a human form he could understand. For rick is slightly different, his connection to death is just starting to be explored, he is just a victim in the whole play of Gods and death. Its like the universe is playing a sick joke for him and like always his expecations are subverted to the tragic. He is tired of this role of always suffering for the others. In a way he does not care bout any of this, he just wants his normalcy. he reacts more animinalistically, more instinctively as most people do, he does not want to defeat death forever or to pretends he does. He just will not give up to save his loved one and this is because he is the most human of the bunch. As shows even in the end when he finally was wrong and death actually winked to him. I think this wink is also very imporatant, because it represent those moment when you feel like the missed you for reason, when actually even if you belive the world is based on cold logic, you somehow missed a sure death or incident. As other things go, the story really carries some meaning in every panel and for most character since they are not really recurring you get a full picture. As expected from david he weaves light unexpected humor, without ever letting it rot the seriousness of the story, it only refreshes it tbh. It helps the story flowing better and omg it flows so good. The light writing of PAD and the dense meaning of the story it connects perfectly. Surely Starlin had an output and that is exactly why it is so good, because this story combines the strongest trait of 2 terrific authors complimenting each other.

For a long time, i did not like this run, but with time i got used to it and i just let myself enjoy it and it's actually not that bad, even pretty good for what it is. A perfectly fine but not great run. Thompson writes Carol in very likable and down to Earth way IMO. Even here in the start of issue we can see that, when she talks to War Machine or Spider-Woman. Every bit of those scenes felt so genuine to me: the relationship between the characters, their dialogue and overall the way they acted. The premise here is good. Clearly there was a lot of thought put into the setting , but for a first issue, too much things happened . Some of the exposition felt really unnecessary, heavy and unnatural, but still for the most part the dialogue was on point. It just moved too fast, for my taste. The characters are still well-written and the hints of mystery are great and very well put. The Art and coloring on point too. The ending, again i felt that it came too early, but it got me interested. I'm genuinely exited for the next chapter of this arc, there is heavy amounts of potential here.

Probably the comic of the week for me. The relationships, personalities, the chemistry, the dialogue, the themes, Carol's fears and doubts feels spot on and it's fun. I guess you can argue, that the kiss with Dr. Strange came too early considering when she and War Machine broke up, but you have to understand how conflicted and emotionally weak, she is right now. The art is moody and soft, but when it needs to, it can get really dynamic and dramatic. Overall i feel like Carol is going through a great arc. Sure, she is extremely stubborn, but that comes from a place of insecurity, which clouds her judgement. Exactly that nuance, makes her feel so human to me. Of course also the humor and the dialogue are quite great, which helps too. Excited to see what comes next from Kelly Thompson and co.!!!

Not quite as strong as the previous issue for me at least, but still it's a totally solid issue in a generally totally solid run. The issue pretty much just goes further with what the previous one did and overall everything was pretty much expected. Still the way Thompson writes the characters carries the issue. She gets them and how they act, but also adds her more comedic-oriented flavor, which is a pretty good combo in my mind, making this issue fun to read.

For starters, i'm not really sure Eve Ewing fits this story very well. I don't think she is a bad writer, but to be blunt, she is far from perfect and knowing her more direct approach to writing, i don't think she can explore that premise fully. Of course that is my opinion, and i could be wrong, but judging by that first issue, i'm not sure really what to expect. I like the premise. It's not really that new, but having in mind that we talk about teens, it makes sense in a way, why a law like this would exist. And i really want that part of the premise to be explored better, because most of the issue, we spend exploring how unfair to the heroes that is. And i'm in no way against that, if is executed good .I understand where the heroes are coming from. But issues like this have 2 sides. Look at Civil War. And here we get too much of the one side, without nearly considering the other.Which Imo makes even the shown side suffer. At some moments it feels really forced, especially at the start of the issue. One thing i liked was the characters dynamic. It seemed really natural to me, having in mind the circumstances. And when they talked, without pushing their view , the dialogue was pretty good too.The pacing is pretty good too. The art is really strange here, it's weirdly inconsistent. At times the characters look extremely flat and totally disconnected from the background, but in the next panel they are fine. There are alot of inconsistencies with the perspective, character's faces, and the inking .Overall of the imagery looks unpolished and not in the good way. At times is almost like a collage. It makes the art really hard to describe and the whole issue disjoined, plus all changes pulled me out of the story. Not to say that, there are not well-draw moments, but in the end of the day, in this type of issue i value consistency more. Things can change, but for me, that wasn't particularly great start.

this is a really interesting title, which sadly would probably be remembered as a small backdrop. around so much mediocrity. By this point Rucka is probably seen as an old gard guy. Like he has been doing stuff since the 90s like Whiteout(a very good comics that people should check out) and he got pretty big 00s in dc. So he brings in a way this post crisis energy that i find missing in the way he treats those characters here. Personally i find DC extremely fractured right now and it has been this way for a long time. Not a lot of those iconic old character get the limelight or if they do, they hardly feel like characters, they are very rarely tangable and mostly just there for the one big story and bam they are gone. Continuity is out of the window. I know all this has not much to do with this comics, but it also has a tons to do because it makes those characters are usually just devices breathe and it makes it so efortlessly that it makes it seem like it has always been this way. the characters feel deep, even if the deep is not explored at the start. Rucka always had such a good way with dealing with things under the surface, with those stuff that are not said. it feels that there is so much more to them and we just see them in this light because the situation is like that, while those characters still snow their nuance and have emotional layers. It's really impressive. The story is also really feel strictured. It's tight, every issue very clearly defined, inspired maybe even too much by all the steps a heist fictions takes. It's nice because it does not feel slow, it feels purposful, we think with the characters we act with them and follow the processes. It's testament to how well rucka has though out the proccess. we know each step we take and we have to think through them. Again it humanizes the characters and shows us different sides of them in a very nonchalant way, but it shows us all the building blocks even to how for example in this issue the characters try to establish a relationship. Another standout is the art. I'm just stunned at how art this beatiful goes unnapreciated too. Scott's art is obvious with tons attention to detail, with a lot warmt in it, compassion, but also fluidity in the expressions and the body motions. it feels like just by looking at it you could get the hang of what the characters are feeling. Yeah they are villains, but they are way more relatable, grounded and understandable than the heroes here. Way less flashy and even more mature and the arts helps a lot with this. Overall it's a masterful comics, a very clear, without any misteps heist comics, very wonderful time that may even grow to something more but even know it's one of the big hits for me from dc and compared to birds of prey it blows them out of the water for me.once it ends i would write another review on it.

I feel like concept of status quo of cloak and dagger is really nice. They are bassicly divorced parents not because of the condition they find themselfs in, not because a lack of love. They are accustoment to it already and the say is treated is mature. Where my issue is how unnispired the plot of the twins is and how untied is it to what cloak and dagger are going through. it ends up feeling like a comics that they are not integral part of and could be switched off with someone else.

This is cool and in a way it's really close to what remender did with his run about the nature of the american dream, obviously here is way more contained, but it's also quite clear, it may come as overly poetic so much so that it seems surreal, but that's expected from Nocenti. Captain America is affected by some stuff happening in his book at the time(go read Street of Poison, it is worth it), but Noccenti uses his different mental state to highlight the disappointment in how far America has fallen and how other countries do what America used to do better. But what the thing, the former soviet republics are fighting for their freedom, but as Daredevil said, the countries are not the ones fighting, it's the individuals and that's what give the grain of hope to cap. Even if sistemically America is corrupt, there are people who still go there with the promise of the ameerica dream and are not ready to be consumed by the pessimism that surrods them and that's exactly the reason cap continues fighting, because even if there is one person who believes in the American dream, Cap would fight for this ideal.

To be honest, I am not a fan of this run and to be even more honest, I'm not a big daredevil guy, which it's really a pity. By far the most important man in comics, that came out of my country(which influenced his art) did his best work on Daredevil. But as far as my credentials go I've read everything from 2016 and sparsely some of the stuff before that like some of Waid's tenure, Guardian Devil, Man Without Fear, and some other issues from here and there. So why am I saying this? Well, it's superheroes, things are interconnected and sometimes that interconnectivity is exactly what makes the comics and with Daredevil I'm not deep into that. Or maybe I'm not the target audience, because even if I see that this comic is not that well regarded I honestly think it's the messiest comic coming out of the big 2 rn(I don't read everything), and that's bar none. I wanna stress that, not the worst, but just the messiest because there are still things I think are done in a very superb way. And since this is somewhat of a closer I will talk about the whole run to this point, as well as this particular issue. It's really easy to get lost in Matt's thoughts here and that's a huge compliment to the way Ahmed writes his monologue. I know matt has a flair for dramatism, for internal struggles and this comic keeps that tradition. Matt's monologue is a story in itself with his own valleys and peaks and rhythm, it's like music. Add the complementary art of Kuder to it and the comics turn into poetry. And I know not everybody likes Kuder here, but i think he is saving the book in a big time, exactly because his art adds to the monologue and strengthens it's punch, delivering in isolation some amazing, really powerful panels. And it does that with intricate shadows and positioning and at times some stuff in the background, even movement just a lot of it feels really deliberate. It's not as hitting all the time, but it uses that well when once in pretty much every issue, it turns it to eleven with the details, the scale, and the creativity, so much so that the writing could not match those moments. That's a pity because the writing does the opposite to the art, of what the art does to the writing. It weakens it, where my problems start really. As I said I think Ahmed is very good at this one singular thing here and this comic is so far of one singular thing. Btw I am not saying Ahmed is one trick pony or something. I think his Black Bolt is a modern classic and shows that he can handle a story that progresses with unfamiliar territory to its said hero, as well as writing poignant narration, but just this comic i feel like it's battling itself. Like constantly it goes against it's biggest strengths or just everything it does. I guess you could make the argument that is similar to Matt's battle with himself. For 12 issues we had so many plots and so little meaningful progression. From issue one i was most excited about Matt being a priest. The first issue had this really great atmosphere about the church, of warm and the kids, they had potential, as well as Matt in this role and don't get me wrong the first issue had some worrying things, but it had a promise. and 11 issues later, we hardly made any progress with that plot. I don't even mean progress in the classical sense, we hardly got any exploration of it. Honestly, I do not feel any way towards the church by this point, it does not seem like a priority, the characters there do not feel like characters and that's because we don't spend any time there and what's why when that kid learned that matt is daredevil seemed shallow to me. Again it's a pity because Zdarsky left space for new stories, for different stories with the character and that chance by this issue was completely wasted because everything is back as it was. I'm not that mad(not pun intended) that everything is back, I am mad because of the way it was done, which was cheap. Even when moments were built up, it felt short, it did not feel satisfactory at all for me. The build-up felt more necessary than organic and that's because it starts out of nowhere and kinda ends there. Even if the monologue is good, it does not carry any weight for the future, it encapsulates a moment beautifully, no doubt about it, but that moment is not carried in time at all, it feels forgotten after one issue. That's just Matt's emotional state, constantly changing without building it up for a longer period of time. There is more to it, but I want to talk about this issue. This was an improvement, it addressed my issues with the run and how it constantly jumps from one place to the other, and this way it does one step forward and 2 backward. But even then how we got this, how matt suddenly felt it, it's strange since we are constantly with his thoughts and it was not addressed by him before that. Like he has time to describe what Elektra's smell does to him, but not to say how tired by multitasking is. Greed as the Final Sin is pretty good Fisk is a great fit and i liked that it was kinda like Mister Frieze's boss fight, matt was trying all the methods he used, which were very dumb, very action movie, no brain moves, which was also a complain of mine and it was not working because he had to change himself to fix that, to accept it. It made Greed seem like a bigger problem to Matt and by the end of the issue that was pretty much proven and let's say jealousy and explanation for it, in a way, encapsulates this whole run, The issue does some lifting of the problems before, but again it felt like using an eraser, it does not really erase them that well, after it was done. It gives more meaning to Matt's whole journey of choosing life again and how by living you always are hurting someone and when you think about his interaction with Foggy, things connect really well. I think that is the longest streak of stacking stuff to make something better this series had. Still, I do not think the scene with his dad was needed, it felt like too much and it was not well integrated, even if on the art front was very impressive and again filled with inspiration. That's what I am saying because the writing does not match those impressive art moments, they seem more like a flex than actual important moments. Also, the issue ends with an interesting premise, one that seems logical, but still, I am not sure how it will turn out. Overall a slightly rushed issue, it did not feel as big as it should have been, it is also maybe kinda rushed, but it is better than most of Ahmed's tenure.

Schultz is not a writer I'm terribly familiar with. Her X-23 series I remember being somewhat forgettable, but I'm a sucker for early Laura, so appreciated the effort in revisiting that period. it felt like trying to capture the spirit of her second series(as far as I remember), but it really was just that, it was obvious that Schultz understood the source material but did not build much upon it and it came more as just a reproduction of it. I feel somewhat similarly here, Elektra has a great voice and also a great look, both of which are the basis Zdarsky established. She was one of the big winners for me from his run, so using the same pattern of speaking is understandable. That's good. She has her type of introversion and when she was with the team, her feeling of not belonging was greatly portrayed, even if was for a bit, but still, I don't think it capitalizes that well on this particular situation. That's the thing about reproduction without anything else to it, it can work in the exact same setting and that's not it, making Elektra here not a fully breathable character for me, that can react adequately to the thing happening here. I don't see her as well motivated here and even tho she has a good voice, again it's too straightforward, without going anywhere really which is different from Zdarsky. So on the surface is the same, but on the inside not really IMO. But it's the first issue, I would love it if the next issues focus more on the current status quo of Elektra being without Matt in her fight, etc. The plot also really does not have anything that I can get excited over. I like the owl, but he feels somewhat separated from the main threats, which are not threatening. Again part of the reason is because the perception of them by Elektra is not that strong. The gang war has so many players and idk I don't see the reason at least right now to explore that. So in conclusion the issue does not have much drive behind the pages, it's mellowly slow. Does not have a strong vision direction, but the art pops out the page, has somewhat of a cartoony feel, and does not have much weight to it, as for coloring especially reminds me of the current Daredevil. The issue shows respect towards the last run of Daredevil but does not bring much new to the table for Elektra, but it's just the first issue, so it's somewhat forgivable and maybe just sets the scene. The end shows that this comic may end up important for the event. But as for right now it feels forgettable and not really necessary.

Schultz could write a good Elektra, but her style of writing requires a very good story built around Elektra for this to have any weight and sadly I do not think last few issues especially had that. Wonders are possible with a more complete idea of a story and better planning.

A couple of great moments. Probably the best Jon Kent moment ever, it takes things established about his character since Tomasi and even the first issue of this event, when he was thought as incompetent by Black Adam. I Guess proving himself is really important to Jon. It just feels in character and satisfying, while also being very inspiring and heroic moment. But as a whole this issue and even story is messy. Williamson tries so many things, too many things. A lot of stuff is rushed and just falls flat, because it's just thrown out there. Sometimes it works on the smaller scales, as i said with Jon or even Oliver, but at times even those fail, plus building a comics on good unrelated character moments is not the greatest strategy for me at least, especially when with a event as big as this, with so many other characters thrown in. I guess if he has more space, he would do better, but in this penultimate issue it's obvious that he does not have time to resolve all in the best manner possible and to make the whole thing cohesive. This is what i imagine if someone says modern super hero comics and not exactly in the good sense even. It's a mess, tons of homages to older stories, mostly for nostalgia sake( which is the cheapest thing in every comics writer sleeve), very very action oriented and at that not very smart action, unremarkable dialogue, but at least it's pretty to look at in the more traditional sense. It's safe, that's what i mean, even the art, which at least is well done but safe, the other stuff is just safe with too much in it and sometimes corny. It's just a Popcorn event comics. And the ending was just laughable.

For me that was a great last issue to be honest. I know that there is a huge amount of hate going on toward Death Metal, and I understand where it's coming from, but i think that there are a lot of great qualities, that gets overlooked when we talk about death metal. Ofc art is subjective, but sometimes you have to look at some art deeper to understand it, as most of you probably know.And ofc even after that, you sometimes don't like it, which is totally normal. All i am saying is that sometimes you have to look deeper and looking at some the users reviews here, I get the feeling that some of them don't. Then again i could be wrong. Just don't jump on the hate train, without trying to enjoy it. However, i think that the themes and the symbolism are amazingly well presented. This really is the trinity's darkest hour. Evil is stronger, because it does not restrain itself. But even in the darkest hours, when the good guys are pretty much destined to lose, they still fight united , showing us that there is always hope. Batman fighting army of infinite number of evil robins, which seems totally impossible for him to win, without having a thought about giving up, mirrors his own infinite fight with the injustices in the world, but with patience and determination he wins . Superman facing his own worst fear, and choosing to sacrifice himself, only to be saved by Lex, shows us that even one of the worst villains , can be inspired to do the right thing by Superman, which is pretty much the goal of Superman existence. And wonder woman decision to finally follow the truth and her morals instead of conforming to the evil, which can give her a fake paradise, saves everybody. i think that all of these moments are close to the characters core, and shows us their most inspiring traits. Even in a way, all the heroes wins because of those traits. I know that sometimes Batman or Superman's missions seems impossible to accomplish with their morals , but here we see that there is hope for them. By saving the universe, Dc is pretty much directly telling us that those are traits, that they appreciate.That's why we get the talk between the 2 wonder womans . Dc wants to respect the past , but also look at the future, which i think it's the right way to go. A true inspiring and hopeful superhero comics. That for me is a 10.

This is issue is solely based of hype, which is like Williamson's favorite genre, so to me it feels somewhat hollow. Still only somewhat. I like that it pushes the charactezation and the struggle from the Zdarsky's run, but at the same time, it feels like it goes too much into the same direction, even after we got nearly a whole run dealing with the same issues of ''batman seeing his obssesiveness get the better of him in a different time period and paying the price,which is something incompatible with the robin''. I feel like it's a little bit too early to go through the same arc. I mean we could get a developmnet on the theme obviously, it may push into a direction of actually bats retiring, which i would support or it could even push further into Zdarsky's ideas of him getting older and unfit. This is like part of the issue, another part of the issue is seeing how Dick as batman, which i found nice. It feels as he has said, that he took the concept to a new hights while also embracing his past with the titans and finding ways to be more effective, while being the same person. There is a ressentment present, which gets explored a little bit too, it may be touched upon more in the future. I like this, i like when Bruce and Dick have more antagonistic relationship. It makes for a more interesting read and i like how we see they have totally different ideas of what the other wants. Williamson manages to do all those stuff fairly quick and surgically. He gets some core ideas about the characters and what they means, without going too in depth, but present in a clear manner the themes and the ideas, which i also find fitting in a issue that is supposed to be just hype, but it also comes with some caveats.When you get deeper you would see how poorly constructed it is, how those 2 people do not have a reason to find and can resolve the issue very easily if they wanted to.Or how the whole issue is a fight with some talking and then fight again, while bruce mostly just stays there. What i mean getting into is that is doing a storytelling that would be considered nuanced, it does not tries to build its moments or anything like that. It fires right away with just enough depth to be understood immediatly but to stil keep your brain active. So overall for what is it, is good. The voices feel natural and the characters understood. At it's core this is a spectacle issue and i think it does exactly what is expected out of an issue like it.

So far, I really like this run. This chapter was kind of uneventful, but not totally. We got to see insane Mr. Worth in action, completely blinded by rage and that was fun. He is simple, but quite intriguing as a character for me and clearly the highlight of the main story. Also I liked the idea of Bruce being captured by the police as a suspect. It was logical and it was cool to see how Bruce tries to handle this situation, but I would have liked if he stayed in prison for longer, because I felt that this had potential for more exploration. Also the whole issue felt really short. I quite liked the side stories too, but although there were some questionable things, that I am sure would rub some people the wrong way. In "3 minutes" we get a look into Batman and Robin in their early days and more precisely a look into the people behind the curtain, that help them: Alfred and Lucius and how they perceive it. Lucius's portrayal is one of those questionable things, I talked about, but overall I really enjoyed this little story and the commentaries it provides on Batman and Robin. The dialogue was good, Alfred was awesome(it's great seeing him for a first time in so long in such a good light) and beside all, I liked the contrast between him and Lucius. One serving as the insiders voice of why Dick needs to be Robin and the other as outsider's voice on how weird all that is for a normal person with a different experience . The story is definitely worth it and shows some great understanding of Batman, although I was kind of bummed out by the way the conversation ended. The other story "Exclusive" also was nice. It was cool to see such a different perspective of a critical reporter, although at times it got over the top. I get her point, but I feel like it could have been expressed better.

This issue especially feels like a modernized version of Lee/Ditko, or at least I get pretty much the same feeling reading it as when I did those old issues. Doc Strange being the underdog in the world of magic, using only his calm cunning to escape a situation, which by all means should be unescapable, showing that the real magic is actually the human mind or in this case even more satisfyingly the character's history, showing us real argument from in-universe, why a certain thing is that way. This issue just hammers that point and structures itself around it, around this one problem that needs solving. It's a thrilling ride for sure, especially the gamble the doc does because, till the end of it, I had no idea where we were going, or what exactly was the point of everything, so a gamble as this, seemed to put Strange in a terrible position, then we get the revelation that shows us the second face of the issue. A structure like that shows a lot of confidence and again makes certain moments so much more thrilling, but even without it the way the doctor is characterized and the dialogue makes it work, not even mentioning how great of a concept this issue has. And that is just a regular day for Stephen, which again a proof of the characterization and how crazy things get. Not to forget the art, which has great fluidity and elegance, breaking every stiffness. It's not expressive, but that's not really what this is going for, this is a calm and slightly cold mood, which is also seen in the colors. It would be blasphemy to say this is better than Lee/Ditko, which is probably my favorite silver age title, or at least one of my favorites, and Ditko the work Ditko did in those issues is something that can't be topped and Lee's writing was quite tight and focused but I feel it builds really well on those ideas, using the immense universe and history of the doctor, while also, in general, more somewhat of more complex characterizations, more inner conflicts and better relationships. For now i really prefer this series over the last 2 series. All in all Jed Mckay does exactly what he always does, which as expected is stellar.

There are supreme moments of greatness here, mainly related to Javier Rodriguez's involvement with the book. There is so much creativity to his art, it just pours out from the pages, sometimes literally and it gets even crazier with the series progressing. The writing also takes some interesting turns, but honestly not enough considering how powerful this art can be. At times i feel that there is some disconnect between the writing and the art, because for all the creative power and astonishment the art delivers, the writing delivers the same amounts of cliches, especially with it's dialogue. The book also suffers from having to deal with too many characters and with most of them not being that interesting or having much to do here, with the highlights for me being Wiccan and especially Newton(yeah, that Newton), who gets a whole issue to construct his character and it pays off. Don't get me wrong, every character gets a special thing, just most of the times it's either just a surface level thing(like Yao) or something not that interesting or original. Doctor Strange is also not terribly important, most of the time he is just there and sometimes acts as the narrator. Honestly the book should be called Sorcerers Supreme, because the there is no focus on Doctor Strange. Still the characters can be consider a plus to the books. But it really got overcrowded when the avengers came in. Also the pacing is all over the place at times. There are issues long battles, that don't go anywhere and issues dedicated to the character during those battles. So yeah things happen slowly here. I guess the book relies to much on the comedy and the dynamics of the team, during those battles, which did not work for me. Also some important plot points relied on exposition. So Yeah, i don't fully get the pacing here. It constantly feels like the writer spends time on weird and not that necessary things. I feel like I am bashing the book too much, so I would say that the premise is interesting and there are interesting ideas, that the art sells big time(as anything really ), but the writing for me feels shallow with few glimpses of inspirations here and there and even then not always works out that well. If not for the art I would have rated this comics probably somewhere around 5.

So much to love here really, but what shines through the most is the characterization(honestly I don't know when was the last time I read a kitty I enjoyed so much) and just how much this series has space to breathe and not be concerned with battles and big issues. Obviously Uncanny is way more refined, but still is something, that I can read and never be tired of, also because I feel like it takes its time in a way a lot of the comics that come from the Big 2 don't. I like the snappy nature of the dialogue, it feels mostly genuine, and it fits the lower stakes, it may come as cliche sometimes, or like too much, but it's like when it starts tipping its toes in those water, it pulls them out and for the important moments, it works really well. This issue actually used the snappy nature of the dialogue with the plot when better both with comedic intent and also surprises to shake the pages, but again not with too much to stray away from what this book is. Again it's like it tips its toes in a more aggressive territory and it's immediately back to slice of life/ the endless afternoon. But again it all works because the dialogue and the characters act so well together. There are small phrases, that indicate the characters in a very clear way, borderline too clear, but they are sprinkled between a lot of dialogue, that feel natural for people who have been through what those have been through, so they are never too much. This way it's not really hard to analyze what the characters think or feel, both are kinda intertwined, but again very clearly. I am a pretty young guy and because of my job I'm in a lot of contact with a lot of kids, especially teens, so I find the portrayal here to be quite accurate to a lot of those harmless, kinda random kids I meet, that kinda are this figuring out how to communicate. Those are lost kids, they are not really strong and like Kitty Pryde in the 80s, they feel vulnerable.But even now, part of the reason why Kitty is so compelling to me is because she is vulnerable. The comics let her not make her mind and even when made her mind, she is still not sure what exactly she is doing and this goes great with the chiller vibe, because the kids are also without much ideas about what they wanna do. Definitely, the art gives a very strong helping hand, with those expressions soft but very clear expressions and specific body language and a more brownish color scheme bringing a lot of comfort. The pacing is also something I love. It's slow, but it does not feel as such. Again because the characters are both well-defined and are interesting, they are just interesting personalities and their clashes are also like that. I also like that especially in this issue we get to see a character's identity and how this character sees themself be affected by his mutation, which again is quite claremontian or morissonian(?)(their ideas are extension of Claremont's anyway). It's a triumph for Eve Ewing to have so many ideas about what she wants out of the characters and to infuse the comics with so much personality especially so much of Kitty's personality and the whole idea behind her existence. So even tho we've seen Kate in similar position, to me it feels like progress, or at least interesting steps

There is something to be said of how well how comfortable i've become with those new characters. I can't say this for too many of the new additions elsewhere. It's team effort in realitity, because this comics deals so well with both the old and the new, the new characters humanize the old and the old give them legimacy. The mood of jokes and mocking is a big part for this, it puts all of them on the same plane, they all feel equal both on power dinamic level and on level of the writhing. Everybody is just so sincere with how they act, which leads to the comedy a lot of the time. Based on those dynamics, this is always the first title i pick every week(F4 also). This issue highlighs all this really well, as every issue of the run does honestly, but this issue even more so, because it connects more literally one of the main theames of the run: how kitty sees herself in those kids.it confronts this theme, how she wants better for the kids, because how much trauma being an x-men gave her. It's a battle of hers, that followed a lot of her comics, from Wheadon's tenure to this run, so its nice that it gets a issue focused on exploring just this, in a run that actually greatly expands in a new direction for her trauma and her growth and calm, even compared to when Wheadon wrote her. She finally finds the answer, finally finds why it was truly worth it. And it is because of the kids, which legitimazed them again and humanizes kitty. I am sad that this comics is ending, but damn it is a perfect ending.

I guess this was what kids felt when reading FF in the 60s.

if this run does not explore some of the most insanely creative comics logics and concepts with a good-natured smile on its face, it builds upon preexisting relationships and redefines them, while having tons of fun with it. It's so endearingly dumb and smart at the same and I am completely in love with it. Best comics out rn.

it had been a while since an issue brought tears to my eyes. Ben has been human for so many times by now, that it's amazing how North found a way to do it refreshingly, while staying true to the character.But that's honestly not the most important thing, but the important thing is how emotional, how real it feels. For a run that is so focused on the science aspect and on the wacky creativity and joy of the team, the emotional notes always hit hard and always hit close to the heart. But here is even better because this comics does not pretend to be new, it embraces that it comes like 800 plus issues into the series, that the characters are already matured and attuned with what they are, so it hurts when what they are is taken for good. Ben has a hard time letting go of what he is specifically and that's since Lee's days, the difference is that now Ben completely lives for the others, that is what he is accustomed to, to be the rock for the team, to be the unshakable and unchanging giant, he has embraced this to be how he sees himself. How he perceives that other people see him. It's fundamentally an issue that deals with a struggle that is typically a male one. The struggle to feel worthy of love, to be the guy that never causes problems, to be helpful to your loved ones, and to control and restrain yourself because of them. The way we see Ben is refreshing, because at least i never seen his identity being taken to such an extend from him, but when his shell is taken we see the true person under it, we see that fundamentally Ben wants to be helpful, fundamentally he lives for his loved ones and this is in the core of his being. to say some other things about the issue: the way it progress is also quite nice, it reveals more and more about how ben feels, it actually progresses, his grief progresses and i would say that every stage is explored well and is given time. We see him as being sad and depressed, just processing what happened, wanting to be outside his live, to actually trying to be normal, till the realization strikes, that he isn't and understanding his issue more, which leads to him forcing it and even putting himself at risk, being that desperate and weak, to him collapsing at the end. It's quite beautiful and impressive how such a full arc could be fit into 20 something paged issue with all the nuances and little emotions.

I found this 3 issue story to be really entertaining and in a way a perfect showcase of how a classic doom/f4 story would play out written by North. What i want to say is that this story carry over all of north quirks that make this run so spectacular, even more so to an extent. it's definitely more consise, it's tense and it's overtop. Some decisions would not make sense in the plot, it may look like plot holes but those decisions are fruit of how animated, how ridicolous are those character. Ofc doom could get rid completely of the 4, it would be easier to do even than scheme such a master plan, but we talk about ego, of pomposity , all things that make way more sense to the character that North writes. what i am getting to is that the decisions make sense for the way North writes. All those are brilliant characters, but are also flawed in a very stupid way and this is part of the fun and this is something that Lee did too. It's a concept like Parker's luck, it does not make sense logically, but it makes the comics way more fun and it fits the atmoshpere. That being said i do think the comics has some things to say. Yeah, those are things that may have been explored before too, but i feel the comics understands this and does not focus this much on them. For example, if we look into how exactly doom got defeated or how exactly the f4 managed to fix their situations we will see that everyone of them did their part, they all worked as a team with no ego, as a well oiled machine to defeat a seemigly undefeatable situation, sometimes having to go through horific things to do this. Even when they go purposely divided, they managed to find a way to work togheter because they knew this is the only way. They sacrificed and sacrificed to go through the obstancles. So it was a good showcase of what makes each member valuable and how togheter they are stronger and they know it, they accepted it, which obviously contrasts victor. The way north writes Victor here builds on top on what he did in the previous series. In the title he is usually way more ''fun''', way more obviously driven by his innability to accept his mistakes and desire to prove himself. He wears his psychological issues on his sleeve, even if he has a jacket over this sleeve. My point is that it's obvious what drives him and how exactly this need to prove himself the better man, without actually doing the work of becoming the better man is his demise. He believes he is better a priori or at least he wants to believe it. In the end, which is one of those rare moments when this comics actually tells you what it means this becomes obvious, when reed says exactly this, which again shows the difference between him and the four heroes. Still there is something to be said about doom's persistent and power of will of how mindbending, how universe bending is his stuborness and it shows that reality really is in the eye of the beholder. We think he lost because of his endless stuborness that could not match the finite nature of reality, but he does not see it this way. And for final what i mean by this being a classic tale. This story shows us why doom always losses, it shows us why he is threath, it shows us the extreme version of how every tale of the beggining of time of doom and the f4 goes. its both a simplified version, which makes it classic and both an extreme exaggerated version. Every story beat could be read as question and answer from one party to the other and vice versa, till in the end doom did not have the answer . this create a very cool push and pull to the story, moments of hope next to moments of complete disperation. It's tense, it feels big and at the same time, it never losses it tone and it's track. I think this is exactly what makes this story so masterful, because it manages to both have that timeless quality about it and this have his own voice, while being so entertaining and breathtaking throughout.

I'm not a big fan of Williamson's flash. Yeah sure there very some good issues and some good ideas along the way, especially in the beginning(i still think the first 20 issues were pretty good),but after some time, i started to see some flaws, that diminished my enjoyment out of the book, and the one that disturbed me the most , was how it seemed that Barry just can't learn from his mistakes . IMO that made all of it seems very repetitive, and although there were other things I did not like(plot holes, unoriginality, lack of depth, sometimes bad characterization ) that was the thing that killed the run for me. Reading this issue and seeing Barry forgive Reverse flash, letting himself FINALLY move forward, letting himself be the flash, felt really, really pleasing. I like that direction for the character. Although i did not like the way he did for obvious really, I don't care, I got what I wanted. Yeah the issue isn't perfect, after that moment, which was great, but not that big part of the issue, most of it felt like checklist of things that Williamson just had to show is(expect the thing with Twane's family, i don't know what that was). The end when Barry see the ghost(i guess?) of his mom, although a little bit corny, was a good ending to one very long run. Porter is not my favorite artist, but the art here is pretty good. IMO he really shines when he draws action and dynamic poses. Not sure that every of Williamson's subplots got resolved, but overall a fine ending, it really made me believe that better things are coming.

A generic filler issue.

Since Williamson left, the book's been pretty directionless. Dc just keeps feeding the fans with filler till the start of future state. To treat one of your biggest books this way, without putting any thought to it, i find disgusting. It's not like i have any strong feeling towards this specific issue (other than the fact that it is completely unimportant), i just hate the sentiment.

Yo, a flash book, that's fun and keeps the light hearted silver age sci-fi adventure tone associated with the characters, while also embracing the relationship between Barry and Wally. Although it is nothing groundbreaking in the larger scale of things, when was the last time the Flash was like this?

This was my favorite issue written by Adams so far, but literally every issue is better than the last and looking at what's coming next I won't be surprised, if they keep that trend . The book knows what it is and know what The flash is. It's just fun, exciting and hopeful adventure superhero comics and does not go outside of It's comfort zone, which is good. As for the issue I loved Jay and The Ray, their relationship and the progression of it. After Wally came, that thing kind of vanished(not totally) and was replaced mainly by situational comedy, which btw I thought was pretty funny and mostly well-constructed, but also a little repetitive at one point. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of different fun moments in the issue, like really fun, but never that much to become a parody of itself. That's just the tone of the book. After reading this, I can see a lot of people gaining some appreciation for Jay( and of course the Ray) and I think that is the main goal of this arc, to make Wally and the reader see how great being the Flash and his mythos can be.

While it is kind of weird, that the issue is clearly divided in 2 parts(both of which were great), it was still an amazing time for me. Generally this run continues to be fun, without being a complete parody or satire, and this issue is probably the best example of that. There is just so much love put into every page and I love how Adams is not afraid to do some risky things(the next issue). It's just awesome seeing how the characters interact with each other or with those extremely wacky situations. That's the whole thing, while this issue is very funny it keep the emotional core of the characters and does not distort them. But legit there were a few moments, where I laughed my ass off in the Legion's parts, especially the moments where Lex, Grundy and the Riddler were present. Clearly I expected the whole issue to be dedicated to the legion and Reverse Flash, but certainly I was not disappointed with what we got. This was probably the issue that focused the most on Wally and probably the most emotional one so far too. The arc, that Wally is going to through is great and the way it's progressing is not less stellar IMO. I'm not gonna delve too deep into everything(cos spoilers), but again the progression in this specific issue is amazingly good. IMO that should be attributed to the great understanding of what being the flash means, the difficulties that come with being The Flash and of course the characters and what they represent, that the writer displays here. Don't even get me started on how awesome the ending here is. The whole second part of the issue and even the run so far lead up to it, so it feels really earned and deserved, when you see it. It's literally the perfect closer to Wally's arc, the final nail in the damage control coffin and also the biggest obstacle, that he has to go though to become the Flash, we all know and love. The Flash needed something like this for some time now and IMO Adams outdoes himself with every next issue.

The issue is fun, like Adams has a very charming way of writing Wally and I liked that he put him in a situation, that's very unusual for him, involving magic. Also the idea, that Wally can't be corrupted at this moment is actually great and fits with the places, the character is supposed to be now, after gaining his family back and in general reappreciating how great being the flash is. On paper things should perfect for him and that only reaffirms that he feels the same. Especially after Heroes in Crisis, him being back to his peak mental health is great. Surely that's the highlight of the whole arc. Just Wally being his hopeful and pure self. All in all, the issue is perfectly serviceable, like dialogue is good, the things with the kids are nice, not too much happened in this issue and i did not enjoy the whole back and forth that much, but that's alright. Still I feel like something is missing .Just that thing that elevates a good comics to a great one. One reason for it, the art. The art can be quite bad at times, especially looking at some of the fingers( I can give a pass on that one, its not a big deal honestly and fingers are generally hard to draw, but still it's noticeable), but in the same time it's not very distinct, giving the issue a very average look. Also something I noticed in this issue, was that some panels look very rushed, compared to others, apparently that's because there were changes with the artists. The other thing is that the plot in this arc is not that interesting to me, especially in the Wally's part, that for sure something I liked better in the kids part, because of Jai, but even there was not spectacular.

100TH BABY!!!

Adams run was getting a bit weaker for me lately, but this issue brings it back home. It was beautifully structured with tons of energy and excitement, also so inspired. A true page flipper. The mystery of it is also a thing that drives the story really well. It feels bigger. That can be seen by the numbers of player here too. It's not just the West family. And btw every player is brought in an exciting way,in a creative way, while establishing some interesting stuff, which maybe we will get to in the future and also keeping up with the themes of the run. It shows you the situation, characters are in, it lays the foundation of their issues in very compressed and clear manner. For a comics being so quick paced at putting everything together, it does an amazingly good job at making everything count. Honestly i'm impressed by Adams, i know he gets flash, but still issues shows really shows how good of a writer he is. And the ending is just perfect. Also i don't miss Pasarin one bit. Cruz is way better choice IMO, especially here.

For me, Johns had the worst story, followed by Joshua Williamson, Adams, Spurier, and Waid at the top. Before going into detail, I want to say, that in general, this was a great anniversary issue, even the worst were not so bad(maybe only Johns), everything was quite good. My biggest critique is leaving Bill Messner Loebs out of the issue and bringing Williamson, who wrote like one issue about Wally. But that does not have to do much with the comics. In general, it's a nice variety of stories. So Johns. Lately, Johns developed a very decompressed style of writing. His best work for me is characterized by just page-turners, fully fleshed characters, and a constant inspiration behind everything, sadly lately a lot of that is lacking even in his JSA titles(I actually enjoy those, but still can't be compared with his old JSA), but especially here. Seeing him write a flash villain and especially Hunter Zolomon is normal for one to get excited, but here the idea is paper thin it feels like he tries to justify a decision by the editorial more than anything and honestly, I don't get much out of it. No new ground explored really and no plot really, even for 5 pages. And it's so wordy, with mostly exposition it breaks the flows Scott Kolins sets and the art is the best thing about the story. I guess they wanted to make new audiences with Hunter, but even if that's the case, that's not the presentation, because if I was a new reader I was going to be both confused and not interested because I can do pretty much the same thing by reading his wiki, which is sad because he is a good character. But again Kollins art is great, it's even more refined and still carries the energy, associated with him and he just knows how to set up a moment and that can be seen here. This story is like 5. As I said Williamson should not be here, even tho his story is actually good, and used his experience writing Barry well here. He even wrote it better than he did in his run for the most part and I think that is because Barry works better in limited spaces, when you see him and Iris in their best light. Here Barry is calmer, more stable, and not much of a talker, but always with a smile on his head and that's why when he is sad it hits. Again it rehashes old ideas and some fundamental ones, which are so ingrained into Wally, that there is no real reason to hear those things again, but that's Williamson usually, fan pleaser, not much more. But it's a heartwarming story, which should the huge appreciation Wally has for Barry and Iris, with some really calm vibes, hitting all the right emotional notes. While that is mostly done with narration again, here it goes really well with art, both complementing each other, for a difference from Johns story. Also, the other side of the relationship is very well presented. It's normal for Wally to be more direct in expressing his love, but Barry is way more introverted, so everything with him is coming from the art, so this way we get great contrast between the narration and the pages. Especially in the way it's presented why he sees Wally as a son. This story is 8 Adams actually wrote an amazing story. It retains his sweet light and naive humor, while finally again has art that's not rushed. My only complaint really is how villains had pretty much the same voice from the beginning and also not much character, it was not confusing or anything just felt not like real people that much and made the story a little bit blander, especially when that did not fit the story. But again the story is extremely funny and shows a great outsider's perspective. Again a fairly simple story, built around one idea, which is an especially good way to build a short story, showing the contrast between Wally smiling and being nice and the villains that are terrified of him, almost like he does not understand how much of powerhouse he is and his effect on his enemies. Mordu as the biggest hitter was the highlight, especially the fear and humiliation, he suffered through. The comedic chemistry and timing Pasarin and Adams developed during their run comes in a perfect form here and sells a lot of those funny moments. There is something to Pasarin's more realistic art drawing those silly expressions and moments because the humor it's just silly and aware of how childish it can be, which makes it really sweet. In general, the way Adams wrote Wally is really sweet, which is the total opposite of the next writer. this I feel is like 8.5. The difference between Spurrier and Adams is literally Night and Day. Adams wrote Wally consistently like a simple man, without delving too much into his psyche like Messner Loebs, but also without some of his flaws, here Wally is way more complex with changing thoughts, always on the move, trying to balance it all. It's anxiety-inducing and that's shown well. What it's obvious from the start is that he has a vision. His Wally is somewhat colder in his words, more analytical, constantly thinking, seeing more of his doubts, which he kinda tries to leave behind, in general, he is trying to focus on one thing, but he's constantly distracted. That's a nice base for him as a character and I like how we only get some hints about all that. There is definitely some feeling of distance, of not knowing the full picture, again a huge contrast with Adams. Aside from that, the story takes a lot of interesting decisions with lettering, and art, and even the monologuing has a more distant, more typewritten vibe adding to the fogginess of the story actually. But definitely, every one of those small decisions serves well here. Ofc we see the mystery, the cosmic horror Wally tries to ignore, which is inescapable.-9 Waid is in great form these days. Firstly I love that the story focuses on impulse, especially in this era of Impulse. A very fun story, focusing on the dynamics between him, Wally, and Max, with a slightly more animated twist than his og flash run. But the foundation is still there. Wally does not trust impulse and because of his immaturity, brashness and just being impatient, he really does not treat Bart kindly. I always loved their dynamic and saw the potential for being more extreme, like here, which is also reminding me of PAD's young justice. Every one of the 3 characters is fully alive, every word coming from their mouths feels true. Todd Nauck at his most expressive here also adds to that. Truly everything is great here, every panel counts, every panel serves its function and the characters' actions speak on a deeper level of who they are. It feels classic, when reading it, I feel like this is as essential as those characters get. Just nobody can write Wally as multidimensionally as Wade did and still does.9.5

Mr. Johns knew he was writing an unnecessary and character-ruining story and he succeeded beyond any imagination in that, so much so that till this day The Flash's writers try to follow his example and they too mostly succeeded in that. You should give props to an influence like that.

I disliked williamson's run and this forms to be the opposite of it, so I liked it. It's a very quick read, it focuses on the nocturnal atmosphere, it takes its time, and it does not try so hard to impress you with everything that happens, but it still did impress me by letting the art immerse me into the world. It goes down to the people and overall it's a vibe, which I love i love Green Arrow belonging to the street and being an equal part of the world. The issue it does feel like it has an ending really, which in a way adds to the unpretentious, more fluid feel of the comics. Also respect to the lettering, it does help a lot too.

This is a kids book. I understand that, I will try to take it into account when reviewing the book, but still I will not pull my punches. I've read Year One, some time ago, but I don't remember much of it, so I won't compare the two books, which even without that, would not be fair. I've read this in one sitting and this is a pretty quick read, it took me probably 25 minutes to get through the whole thing. As a typical gen z, I generally like to get the information fast, but of course that has it's drawbacks. Some of which can be noticed here. Honestly not much happens here, so much so that most of some chapter can be removed, without impacting the story much. And that's the main problem with this book for me, it focused too much on the wrong things. Things are supposed to be simple, for the kids to understand, but in the moments where nothing or nothing of importance happens, we could have delved further into the lives of Ollie and his dad, to get a better look at relationship, their relationship with his mom, which is only mentioned, when she is so important to the story. Also the decision Ollie's dad takes to transform his company into a company that helps people, again it's not heavily motivated or even at all from the story perspective. Just so much things established as a problem in the first chapter, do not get a middle part and exploration and in the end are wasted. I understand that this book is more focused on showing us the survival aspect and that's okay, it does a fine job at that, after all that was what keep me reading, but even the survival aspect can be better if it was delved more into the things surrounding it. Probably the main things that Ollie has to surpass is his fear to take a life. While I like this idea and it makes sense for a character like Green Arrow, who is a protector of the human rights, too much time was spend on it and unnecessary, with no new information added, just the same struggle over and over again. This way the struggle loses it's power. Actually the first time he takes a life, it's like nothing happens and I mean I get that because it was a snake, which in general is not considered a noble animal, again not much of an excuse, but again it's a kid's book. The art is pretty much one would expect for a novel like that. It's simplish, especially in the background and a little bit wonky at times. For me it's alright, it convey what it has to, most of the time, the expressions are good, but the things that carries here is the coloring. It sets the vibes really well and it's probably the most consistent thing about the art. I would have liked a little more experimentation with the art, because a lot of the time used the same angles and had that stiff feel because of it. Again i get, that this is a kid's book and that things are supposed to be simpler and probably there is not as much effort put in it as with the normal comics( pure speculation ofc), but this it could have been more effective. I understand that maybe I am too harsh, but there are somethings I liked like the friendship between Ollie and the other kid. I liked that because there was a progression there and it felt natural for me at least, although when thinking about it was not so natural. Sharing their fears and them caring about each other was heartwarming. I liked that the other kid surpassed the bully cliche and in the end became a vulnerable and caring friend to Ollie, not also because the circumstance made it necessary, but because he saw that Ollie is a nice kid too, that tries to help. I liked that there was not backstabing and stuff like that. Also I liked that there were tense moments, which were nicely presented. All in all actually i did not dislike the book that much, I had fun reading it and again reading it so quickly definitely helped me. Still the I would have liked to see Ollie grow more at the end of his journey, apart of becoming more resourceful. Probably the biggest plus from this book is that it made me want to reread Green Arrow: Year One. Maybe I will post a review about it in the coming days.

So i never perceived myself as a Green Lantern guy, not because I have something against the characters or the concepts, just most of my knowledge about those comics comes either from other dc titles or the animations(which are usually very different). I always wanted to start with Johns, but for now looks like that's not happening, so I decided to pick up some old cheap TPBs , that I have from some time at home, waiting for me to read. So here I am starting with Lights out. I know that Venditti new 52 Green Lantern's stuff are not very loved by the mass, but I heard Lights out is kinda good and so far I must say, I agree. The first issue was not exactly my cup in the collection, but this one, I though was great. The issue can be kinda heavy on the narration side of thing, because the whole issue consists of one page panels and narration, but tbh this time that did not bother me at all, I even think those things added to the issue. Venditti manages to create a narration, that adds to the book, which btw is so rare these days IMO, using some really colorful and precise descriptions and also fleshing out the themes and the environment. In a way it makes the issue pretty poetic and overall the issue is pretty poetic and the the one page panels have fingers in that too. Plus they made the story way more epic and consistent(again poetic). As I said, I'm not too much familiar with Green Lantern's mythos, so I really liked the ideas and concepts here(those that I was not so familiar with).And yeah maybe that was because again I'm pretty new to that series, so maybe the ideas seemed fresher to me, but I don't know. Also I liked how the war came to be and of course how every faction had a reason to be there(again helped by the narration), related to their color. Also the issue did a great job on the so-called villain, it's not the most original or complex story, but again it gave the guy a reasonable motivation, some depth and nice backstory , which explain his actions and some things, that were weird from the previous issue in the collection. For now looks like the villain has a really strong point and man, I'm simp for stories that are like that. It adds so much intrigue, excitement and I'm just so curious to see how the heroes would react to that. I'm conflicted on how to rate this. It's not revolutionary, poignant or even original as far as stories go and probably not even that memorable, so it must not be a 10 . But for what it is, I enjoyed it a lot, more than I usually do. Tbh I don't even have any major complains. I think the issue was really well-presented and I'm for definitely glad that I've read it.

A disappointment, after one awesome issue, displaying Relic. There is that feeling of shallowness here and if it was not for the villain backstory and motivation in the villain's mouth issue, it would have been even worse. I mean such a giant things happen here, but for some reason they are not perceived as such by the lanterns. No change in the dialogue, no nothing. Everything happens so fast, but not the traumatic way and the shocking way, but just it's that shallow way, that does not carry anything with it, without packing a proper punch to make the story more effective. It's just a dumb battle fest with some little tactic. The lanterns just jump to fight without considering, that maybe the villain has a point. Idk if that is in character but seemed forced to me. Tbh everything feels forced and the story does not do, the things that tries do for me. i can't feel the cataclysmic nature, if the characters does not react to it in some way. At least the art is good to look at,.

A really pretty bad end to a promising arc. At least here some interesting ideas are presented, that can be explored in the future(which is now past).That's a thing, that elevates the story a little bit. But overall the arc was mostly useless IMO. Just it's like the consequences are not existent within that arc. The death that occurs(not really a death) here is a proof of that and again it's like nothing happened. It's a horrible death and it happened out of nowhere. The build-up was not existent or not noticeable and I'm not even sure it was necessary, cos the story did not allude to that. Relic was an interesting villain, but again he was wasted and it's no wonder why he is not that well-remember. Also as far as I know the story kind of contradicts a lot of other established things, but as I said I'm not so familiar with Green Lantern's comics. Overall the story was badly paced, repetitive, forced and sometimes even non sensical, the characters were static and also non sensical. The pity is that there was a potential for something great here, but it nearly falls on all fronts for me, except Sean Chen's art, which is expected.

Nothing too outstanding, but good enough. I'm glad finally there was some discussion about what happened and we see actually some consequences. Again nothing too spectacular, that much in depth or well-executed, but it's something. I would love to see Hal struggle a bit with the leadership and not taking his extreme decision so fast, but I liked that this time at least he had a point, although again extreme and that needed to be explored more IMO. The dialogue continues to not doing it for me, it I don't think it works well with the story. Venditti really is not doing that good here and the end of the issue kind of came out of nowhere. Billy Tan's still doing good with his art.

I think I got it. Venditti here loves to make so-called epic moments, without much thinking about it. The thing is that he does not really understand why those moments work, it sucks because the story generally suffers this way. Certainly he does it better in this issue, than some of the ones before it by at least explaining it a bit, but he has a long way to go IMO. Also there are interesting things here and overall I think the the latter part of the issue was quite good, but again with some flaws. Still there are many questionable things . Btw I will give some credit to the gravity line, I felt that.

This issue I actually liked a lot. The character were quite good here and looks like Venditti understood what is the most interesting thing about this status quo and moved to the next logical step, which is a really drastic one. I guess you can argue that was done too early and that the whole secret angle was not that well-explored and that it needed more time to more to the step. Maybe you would be right. But execution of the change was great. There were hints , that something is gonna happen from the previous issue and also it was logical why someone would do that, especially those certain someones that did it. The issue is called Harsh realities and certainly lives up to that name. The universe now knows those realities and Hal's squad can no longer do the things they want in the way they used to, they have to fully change their plans . It puts the heroes in a really really bad position and even if i was disappointed with last big arc's end, seeing how the universes reacted to the revelations here and the questions raised I'm hopeful for the future. And btw there were many question raised like: this universe would end for the same reason the last one did? Is the war between the corps going to happen, although they know how that ends? How the green lantern's will adapt to try to save the universe, when they are considered the initiator? All that is really interesting to me and i'm looking forward to finding out.

Well this is a double issue, but I've not been reading Soule's Red Lanterns, so mostly I would talk about the GL one, till the day I start reading Soule's Red Lanterns, because even if I do decide to write about RLs, It won't genuine and the reason for that is that I'm not familiar with the series. The art on the GL side this time made a bad impression , which I was surprised about , because i quite liked Billy Tan's art on the previous issues. There are just some weird thing happening with the characters eyes and the way they figures interact with each other sometimes. Overall there are just some weird panels. But it's not all bad and I overall liked the more dynamic scenes. As for the writing on the Gl's side, again I found it good, although not much happens here. The book kind of changes it's perspective again, when Supergirl is brought up, which is kind of annoying, because it was focused on a whole different thing but whatever. Aside from that the issue was mostly dialogue and it was not half bad. The conversation between Saint Walker and Hal was quite beautiful in it's execution .The calm nature and how Saint Walker entered the shadow after finishing talking about how the shadows effect hope right now, were really poetic and for sure were nice touches. Overall the conversation was very well build-up, with Hal expressing his ideas about this whole thing and Saint Walker explaining how it was all related to the spectrums. Also some hits about how John is better suited for leader than Hal and i know where that leads. So it was cool. Venditti is doing far better job with last few issues IMO and I think that most of the moments here were executed well and there were not the questionable thing, that were present in some of the previous issue . When the story is not about world ending, the book is nice. At lest for now.

Venditti is really taking his time with this arc and it shows. I really like the tactical/political nature of these last few issues. The issue starts strong with those heartfelt moments between Hal and his family. This is a great start because in this issue we really get a more humane and reflective Hal and makes the fight in the end more dramatic. I'm grateful that we got to see more of the struggles that Hal's going trough with being a leader of the corps and that how he justifies that. That's something i was waiting for, because from the start of this run, Hal's been a pretty bad leader, sometimes even too bad. So much so that it felt forced at times. So yeah, that for sure needed to be addressed. But tbh it could have been better. Saint walker talking with Mogo was interesting too and the whole dilemma surrounding him is well-build. As far as the dialogue goes nothing too spectacular, but that's expected by now. The fight itself was dramatic too and it exemplifies Hal's journey toward the better understand of the position he is right now. I just love that. Seeing a hero in a difficult situation and seeing how that effects him. Sure, that could have been more pronounced, but still the issue is very well-constructed and focused on that. The whole issue builds-up on the events of issue 27 and explores their effects on Hal. Creating a great, complex and mature look at the whole situation and also my favorite issue of the run for now.

A great, even awesome issue. For now this arc's been pretty low scale type of conflict, which is weirdly interesting considering how Lanterns keep insisting that this is war. It addressed some important things like Kyle's funeral, although it was an emotional moment and it really felt like a funeral, I think that should have been done issues ago and generally I felt like we are past this point. It's like everybody is right now realizing what happen like 5 issues ago. So yeah it feel kinda out of place. Also it happened out of nowhere .At least that's what I thought, when I was reading it. The truth is that funeral would end up important to the themes of the issue. The funeral and the moments before it also were very well executed and quite beautiful and the art helped a lot with that. The latter half of the issue again kinda came out of nowhere too, but was really fun. Probably the most fun this book's been under Venditti. And for my surprise the dialogue really portrayed the vibes of two guys drinking and talking, which is really funny considering the situation. That's the other thing the jokes really work here for me. There is one moment particularly that was comedic gold and that was the transition between the drinking and the fighting, and especially the panel after that, was so on point. One more thing Venditti really manages to make you feel like Hal's opponent is a not a bad guy and has a lot in common with Hal, during those moment they share together. I love those non-toxic fighting moments and the respect between the fighters. Of course Hal wins, but the way he does it really shows you the progress of his character and he pretty much wins because the lesson he learned during his leadership's day and actually was the difference between him and his opponent. The issue ends on a really strong note, but a dark one too, which shows actually how complex the green lantern's world is. Also the dialogue really communicates Hal's confusion and anger. It raises a really great question, which is compatible with the themes of this run. I t makes you think about complex nature of good and evil if the Lantern are actually right to interfere with other people's traditions and if they are actually really doing good. That's even more pronounced in the pages after that, which pretty much represents police brutality . So there is a really good rhythm to it. All that leads to the bigger question: do Lantern abuse a power, the whole universe leans on, in a way that's not totally theirs to abuse? Are they doing things that are above their rights, because the severe situation they are in? Hal came a long way and after the last issue it looked like he had it all figured out, but he still has things to learn, if he wants to be good leader and if he wants to get the Lantern's out of this mess and this issue is a proof of that. But tbh after reading it, I'm not sure that's even possible. Literally this run is getting better with each issue and even thought the Kyle's funeral came out of nowhere Venditti found a way to make it work within the themes of the issue. It makes Hal's later reaction even more realistic and Kyle's (supposed) death even sadder for the Lanterns. There is clearly a lot to unpack here and for that reason I love this issue.

The war is finally starting, so the tactical warfare has begun and we are still going strong. Venditii is nailing the light-hearted moments and although I'm not so familiar with GL, I love the relationships here. The corps really seem like a group of work friends and the dialogue has a huge role in that. Especially in a dark times for like them like these, it feels even more wholesome. Hal is generally doing a good job as leader too and he seems like a nice and really calm boss with respect to his people. Issue quickly changes from friendly fun to seeing the enemy eye to eye, but it was alluded to that and actually it took some time for the things to really escalate. During that time, the tension was building up masterfully. Hal tried to prevent the escalation, but the villain were one step ahead. Their plan to make the lanterns like the evil guys of story was good, but I'm also kind of confused by it, so much so that I checked the last issue and after that I was even more confused. Maybe I am missing something or something will be revealed later. But it was a wow moment and something I really did expect it. The way the Gls handled the situation was also really powerful. I have some concerns,but overall I like the bad guys motivations, how both parties try to outsmart each other and how the strategies change constantly. It makes for a really exciting and intriguing read. Art is also top notch and helps conveying the story and things behind it greatly. Generally the pages are really well build. Especially big impression is the change between the calmer and the more dynamic and bigger moments, which happens so seamlessly and always feels in place. Also the expressions. Some Examples: The expression of the durlan who shot the first shot, when the lanterns were boxed and Hal's expression with the progressing feeling of being trapped and how the next page just exploded, Jordan getting closer to the durlan and how he overwhelmed him with his power which again resulted in the panel just exploding .

The arc is still very promising, but still issue feel pretty transitional . I think that clearly the highlight here was the way the Durlans took care of Khuds. It was badass(logically ofc) and there was a great rhythm in the way it was drawn. The conflict was also logical and build upon the established characteristics of the 2 alien races. As for the rest well I think, that overall the issue was pretty empty and slow. It moves the story, but not by much and even that was not that well-done or even that much, but it was enjoyable enough. Hal's also pretty static here, which was something he was not in the previous few issues, but i guess something big is coming so it's normal. Just it was not emotionally or thematically strong as the previous of the series. Still it's interesting what twist and turns the story takes. What the Lanterns thought this war is all about, is completely changed and I think that in this issue we get the first real indicators of that. Actually the whole issue was about that and that made the issue more concise as an idea IMO. I'm not sure if that's a good change for now, cause here again that felt empty but I guess that's by design.

This is so bland and disappointing. The build-up was awesome in many ways. It made you feel like something really big, epic and important was coming. Well it was neither of the 3, maybe just a little bit epic, but not nearly as much as the potential here lead you to believe. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for not answering the expectations, if that decision was inspired and there was some thought behind it. Here I don't see that. The most interesting things were even pretty superficial and not given that much care like the wall moment and the tactic stuff( which was not much). It makes the build-up with it's themes and complexities seem meaningless and that for me is the biggest crime of this issue. All in all a really uninspired issue. I still like Tan's art tho.

Not a bad issue, but I don't appreciate the narcissism this shows toward Jordan and it feels like that's the driving force here. it feels like he is the only lantern here or more like it's only the earth lanterns that matter and Killowog a bit. The thing with the UP is treated as such a small mundane thing when everything leads me to believe that should not be that. Part of the reason is how nobody really reacts to them, there is not much build-up to their coming and only the earth lanterns communicate with them, as if they are the only lanterns. The United Planets do not give any vibes of authority when again we are led to believe they are. But even any vibe at all, they sound tired tbh. but the arguments they make are really sound. A shake-up in the dynamics, seeing the United Planets' new rule as bigger compared to what we have on earth would have made both sides stronger. But here it goes through the motion, so we get the same stuff in space that we have on Earth, even when both are so different. So some stuff feels weightless and kinda rushed tbh. The argument with Sinestro and the death of a certain character is an example of how just not giving enough and too fast of a payoff. Maybe it's supposed to be that way, but we will see. For now, I like way more when Adams takes his time and does low-stakes, more slice-of-life, earthbound Hal, but being good at only that feels like one trick pony. I feel like I'm too negative, this run has a lot of charm going for it, but this issue has some of it, in the snappy dialogue, but a constant understanding of how Hal feels. But this issue brings the weakness of that approach for me and that's everything is targeted around Hal, everything that happens even in space is serving him and he can be excused of anything, because he is that unique guy, even tho the run and especially does not support that claim. So his action feels even more childish here because, in the previous issues, we got why he acts this way. So the constant self-righteousness in this issue by Jordan and especially the way the story treats it, is a sign of one-dimensionality. The art is good, it has some rufer lines, but it makes for some good comedy in the it's repetition, honestly that art makes some of the moments better with the way it builds them, just the issue is deeper for me.

I feel like I've been too critical towards this run in the past but honestly, it's solid work. It's a safe run sure, but it takes the best out of being safe in being so consistent. At its best manages to find a perfect middle ground in a lot of stuff, while Hal remains the protagonist, as this issue examplifies perfectly. And that's important, especially when you do a serialized monthly run. In a way, I feel like finally the Johns saga(Venditti's Hal and Pals was part of Johns's saga for me) is over and we have a new exciting monthly Green Lantern run for masses, that is not only preoccupied with what he established, I mean the colors and the dynamics between them. The novelty finally wore off and even if the colors still play a part they are just part of the world. Xermanico is one of the artists with the best-developed art in DC rn IMO, while he still manages to be distinct, especially with the panels. Here I think he had a lot of room to show his strength as an artist and he did with all the details he added to those big scenes. Hal's monologue complimented really well the art and honestly, those few pages of the start are quite impressive, with the rising tension both in the art and in Hal's head. It was a like symphoniny, a roller coaster. The spectacle in this issue is really big, it's breathtaking with each page and it's fast, it's urgent. You get calm moments, only to get another boom, very soon after it and be disoriented again, but not too much, just enough to realize what is happening 3 seconds after it. And that's the best thing about this comic, it's never too much, while still creating intrigue. it's just easy to be loved by everybody. All in all, things kick into another gear here, while the way the story and arcs unfold remains really clear. P.S. JLI is one of my favorite DC comics ever(till issue 50 at least) but Maguire really isn't doing it for me here.

The story is mainly focused on trying to make John Steward, stand out between the 2 groups as a reasonable and moral individual, trying to preserve peace and the people who don't want to associated with the 2 groups. The contrast between the 2 timelines is nice( and brings some interesting themes, also shows you that John is familiar with conflict as this and that's been always close to him. Also makes you understand where he is coming from .In a way he and Sam Wilson are really close as characters. There are definitely some other interesting touches here and I was really impressed with some of them. Like when John kinda got offended when the other marine called him "son", considering how important his mother to him and to forming his character and moral. It shows the respect he has for her and the thing's she taught him. All that was cool and close to the characteristics of John Steward, but at times seemed too forced and especially the end, the subtlety was lost completely. Also the dialogue can be rough. But overall the story was great and presented well John, making me understand the character better than before.

Well a not perfect issue by any means IMO, I'm wondering if I can even call it good tbh. I mean there are some important things here, but mostly everything is rushed and forced to the maximum. Don't even get me started on the whole Hal and John fight. John was so bad for a big part of the issue, it contradicted his portrayal from the last so much. I get what they tried to do, at least I think I do. You can say that too much happened to him and that's why he acted like that, but that was not established at all, it came more as an excuse of lazy writing than anything else. Hal really did some questionable thing, but somehow John came out even more extreme. The other Gl book is not very subtle too, but that here is on a whole new level. I remember when people say that Iron man and Captain America should have talked more to prevent civil war by talking more, but actually they had a nearly whole issue of discussing why they thing their sides are right, here we get something like 4 panels and the arguments are on top of surface level, especially John. Hal was also so calm in his responses, so the punch was totally unnecessary and actually it was treated as something that never happened after a few panels, when it could have been a really powerful moment. Also in the previous issue John was showed to be the reasonable guy, the one who stays in the middle and here is like the writers did not understood what they've written, cos all those complex things about him go away, even the fact that he uses light, when everybody tries to preserve it, for dumb and unnecessary things is disturbing. It's like the guys that don't believe that COVID is real. But even for a more angry type of character, this moment would have been bad, because it came out of nowhere and was too much and treated as something normal, when it wasn't. The scene needed more care, to be longer and with better build-up. The issue is also not as concise or focused as the other series. At least the art for the most part and the stuff with the Durlans were interesting. Although again it was pretty simple, it was effective enough.

This series is pretty much the little brother of the main Gl series. This issue is a prime example. Half the issue we get the same moment, that happened in #27 of Gl, but viewed by different perspective, because I guess it was necessary, but it also shows how much tied to the narrative of the other book, this one is. I mean I really like the other book, so I don't mind that at all, although I would admit that moment kind of breaks the pace and the focus of the issue, in otherwise quite focused issue. But then again, that's nature of the whole run, and for me that can even be considered a positive . There is really not much here. I mean the mystery is coming out nice and I love how we get those little pieces and also that's the writers teams are not rushing it in any way, but there are not really any deeper character arcs or even themes. So it is kind of shallow or even bland, but in the same time the issue was enjoyable for me and adds to the overreaching story of the the books in a curious way. The characters interactions are interesting and varied in their voices. Everything is affected by the things happening now, of course that's not explored the same way it is in the other series, but it's noticeable and I really like that. So overall another one enjoyable chapter leading up to Uprising.

I don't follow this series, but I decided to pick it up to better prepared for uprising. The issue is a set-up to uprising and. We get a backstory on the durlans and also the reasons they hate the lantern, tbh they have a point, although their point is too extreme IMO. There are interesting points in their backstory, that represent some real world problems. Also we understood why they are so dangerous. It was explained in most basic way possible but however. The issue was fun, the tactical stuff is fun too and I really liked John here. Oh yeah and his girlfriend too. But yeah on story front, that's pretty much it. It prepares you for the war and not much more. Nothing too deep. There are some lazy moments too. But overall I liked it. It's kinda like those filler, that are not necessary too important, but somehow add to the narrative and tie some loose ends. That's actually the whole run in a nutshell, which I don't really mind, but here was even a little bit more. The art can be weirdly stiff and angular at times. It seemed rushed, which is understandable considering how unimportant that issue is. Scott Kolins is great as usual and portrays the alien and violent nature of the issue in such a good way .

Kind of disappointing follow-up to the amazing first issue of the uprising arc. This issue really showed me why I prefer the other series so much more. I think that we needed more time with the Lanterns in the prison to really understand their struggle and this way the moment of the liberation would have been far more powerful. It was weird, because last few issues were really slow and there was build-up and foreshadowing for some things, like how some lanterns acted weird suggesting something was wrong, the origin of the Durlans, the races that are fooled by the Durlans to oppose the lanterns ecc. But in the end, all those thing turned out to be of less importance. It's like the attention was not focused on the right place. The previous issue is a prime example. I know that the editorial is also hugely involved, so maybe there were was just some misunderstanding around the way. However I think that we should have gotten some time with the prisoners in the previous issue, because we already knew they were there and it was generally weird that nobody mentioned them in the previous issue. Like the issue before the previous finished with a cliffhanger(same with Soranik, but there is some hope for that) and then the next issue, that cliffhanger is completely forgotten and then suddenly you are transported to that prison for a few pages, before a big revolt. I will admit there was some setup for one thing that happened later, but it was pretty cheaply done and it felt like and afterthought, still it was something. Also issue #30 was mostly a filler, one that i enjoyed, but still a filler. The other variant was to make this issue dedicated to the prisoners, but again editorial. Overall the middle part of story here is kinda non-existent, which again ties to my last point. Too much time spent on the start and the end. Plus the books suffers with it's many characters and that's one more reason, why the battle felt empty, but it was well drawn. That's also why "he will avenged" and "no more lanterns treated like dogs" did not work for me and felt out of place. The art was epic and all, but the moments felt shallow, which made it even worse. Also there is also that this issue was not that connected to the other better Gl series. So yeah we mostly get a shallow battle, with some really dumb moments in it and shallow characters, because nobody present really has an arc in this issue(I don't count the 2 guys talking before the revolt, cause again that was so rushed and obvious), although again there was potential for so many cool things. It's sad that the issue was rushed in so many ways. The ending reveals were interesting and even exciting. It can lead to huge changes and that was pretty much the best thing about the issue. But I'm getting tired of hoping that the next issue is gonna be better, cause that was the promise for everything till now. But it's different the real thing already started and this needs to be more than exciting from now on. But yeah overall this issue was pretty bad IMO.

I think that this is a good, but also slow volume, not that I mind it. Where Venditti shines the most is the way he writes these characters. He translates his understanding of those characters very well to the page, something that I think he fails to do in later volumes, where he kinda overdoes it a little bit, that it seems forced. Don't get me wrong, at times he can fall to the normal comics cliches of monologuing and sharing a little bit too much, but that's mostly to make the things more understandable and add depth to the story, the relationships and the characters. Also there are some really character defining quotes here, which again ties to the understanding Venditti has for those guys. Sinestro, Hal, Guy, John even Soranik, all are very well written and constructed, while obviously Sinestro is the shinning star, given the premise. And the premise is actually awesome. It's one of those "that had to happen at some moment", type things. We were bound to get a story that deals with the same things at some point, it's just the natural evolution of the green lantern mythos. But in the same time, the story happened in a very logical time. Like the premise was not forced, it did not happen, because it had to happen. Given the situation, it's logical for those things to happen. As much as the next guy, i love badass moment and without spoiling anything, there some really badass moments here, especially the one in the beginning. Not much happens here, the progression is really slow, at times not existing, especially in the parts dealing with John and the rest of the corps, but still I was constantly interested in what's coming next. Again part of the reason for it, is that Venditti just knows how to write these guys, like i just enjoy their interactions with each other, plus the issues can be read really fast.

I've seen better first issues for sure. The whole first part of the issue, was seeing how the Squadron operates, where the only new thing were the villains, which by the way for the most part were just fan-service, without much thought put into them, aside from few of them . During that time Blade is pretty much exposition dumping and it was very repetitive. Excluding that, Blade is pretty good in that issue and the moments with Nighhawk were great. The art by McGuiness is bombastic and cartoonish as always, which fits the dialogue and the tone for the most part. Overall the second half was really intriguing and got me hooked up.

A curious, yet not fully original or that well-executed reimagining. It removes the driving force behind Pete- the guilt and does not do really anything that interesting with it. IMO the issue needed to do more exploration and probably more creativity.

Not bad issue by any means, actually quite enjoyable but I was not expecting that. The insight into Hyperion's mind is really nice. It's well-constructed and gives you a good idea of the character here. My problem here is with the things surrounding that. Some of the villains and the other characters feel like a filler. Part of this is because mostly they are present for usually 1 page, where Hyperion is telling you their history, which also is kind of flat way of presenting. Sure they are interesting(not all) to look at, but nothing more, because after a panel they are mostly forgotten. Just the whole issue is full of references, some of which relate in a very good to the story. Despite the flaws i found, the issue manages to give you some sense of this world and looks like it was mostly concerned with that and Hyperion. For that reason most of it feels to me like a tie-in. Aside from the last two pages of Keown's part, McGuinness's part is the one that's relevant to the story of the event. It's actually really hyping and relates in a good way to Keown's.

Stokoe's art is great and it fits the hyper-violent, radical and even sinister nature of the issue and the character, but overall the issue is just more of the same crazy, but also rushed and poorly presented ideas, that plagued the previous issues. Again issue is build upon of shock value and references and sure there are some fun moments because of that, but to be honest I don't think this event would go down as particularly memorable and at this point I don't think it's trying to.

Dumb yet glorious. I think that this is the perfect comics for early teen boys and certainly it manages to encapsulape why hulk is so popular with this demographic. North gets it very well and writes a very dumb comic,a very simple comic, but a very earnest one, that uses symbols that young boys like and find cool, without being edgy. Between all the drama and depth that hulk has, sometimes is good to just smash everything,to not think, but enjoy the destruction which sometimes/lately hulk forgets to do, even it is the core of the character.

This is a comics i don't think i get. I don't connect much to it much emotionally. to the dialogue or how certain things affect the characters. i like some ideas, on paper i appreciate some arcs but i think somewhere in the translation things got lost to me.The end i think it's a bit rushed too. Even if it's one of the main driving forces for this comics to be so beloved i don't think it was nailed. I liked how it tries to feel nostalgia for the start of the comics, seeing how things developed tho, even if it overdoes it maybe a little bit and cramps literal decades of stories and development for the characters into an oversized issue. The message of how powerful love is, being understanding toward your enemy and learning to rise above your biases is the best things this comics has going for and executes it quite well.

I think the relationship between Emma and Tony represents this run perfectly for me. From something so unpromising, so unambitious, so unserious at first grew something unexpectedly memorable, special, big, and even smart. Misdirection is something, that this run used many times, both in the story and outside and it did it so well. It made a story that was tense, surprising, always fun, and unexpected. It did not reinvent the wheel, while still putting him in a position that was not associated with him. everything this run did, it made the case for it and it made it good. It deserves its own existence. I will remember it very fondly. As for this issue: a lot of those final issues feel rushed, but this one did not feel like that at least for the most part. It kept with Tony's light monologue, sometimes sarcastic monologue for setting the mood and building the story as it happened in just one day fitting the spontaneous, low-key nature of it. A lot of the highlights of this run are in what's behind the ''cool'', behind its playful nature, and what those moments mean on a deeper level. Here we did not get much of that to me. But it's fine, it's the last issue, there is no time for more obscuring and in general, it seems simpler. there were still these great moments of poignancy, like the idea of how writing can clear your mind, which puts a whole other meaning to the whole run, and how this can be seen as a palette cleanser after Cantwell(i liked Cantwell a lot) and explains even some stuff about the characterization etc. About Emma, I really think I'm sad about it than Tony is. His reaction fits the issue, it fits, the more hopeful, freedom-filled tone of the issue, but this deserved way bigger impact. Don't get me wrong, Tony's pain is obvious, it's obvious how much he cared about this whole thing. There were some piercing quotes and sequences of panels, but I needed more of an emotional payoff, and what we got, came off as more necessary, than needed. At least they left on very good terms. It makes everything that happened here in a way more special, like time capsule. Still, I think this issue did a good job of icing a very nice and good cake, so obviously it's job was not very hard, and that's why it just tied some final stuff. It was not an intense issue. I think Tony is in a good mental place, in a mature one, if not anything the end of him and Emma certifies that. Seeing Tony and Rhody play ball, seemed like everything needed was done, and now it was finally time for the next run.

Extremis is one of those character arcs, that defined an era . It was pretty much the hox/pox for iron man at that point. It totally refreshed the character of Tony Stark, while also not drastically changing him and keeping his core in tact. Warren Ellis took his Iron man to the next logical step in his evolution and introduced a lot of new ideas, compatible with the character and his significance, which the run that followed was pretty much build upon(which btw is also quite great). Same can be said about Adi Granov , who brought a distinct visual style with his dark, smeared and slick realism to the series , setting an unique , but fitting tone for the arc and again influencing a lot of future Iron man comics. For me most than anything, Extremis, marks thе birth of the modern iron man. It's so rare to see a story so innovative, while at the same time getting the core of the character and building ideas upon that in such a fitting way. In my humble opinion, those 6 issues, totally changed the whole trajectory of iron man comics for next years and also being the main influence to the movies, changing the trajectory of the whole superhero movie genre in the public mind. it's no wonder that this arc is so often mentioned in the same sentence as certified classics as Demon in a bottle and Armor wars .

It's clear that Jed MacKay has an understanding of who iron man is, but the the presentation of that understanding did not work for me fully. I'm not a fan of those issues where there is a monologue, while the hero is pretty much doing repeated unrelated to it things. Also the monologue was not that good too IMO. It came to me as too obvious and direct, so it was really unnatural to me. The ideas behind were great tho and close to Iron man.

Personally I think this is one of the best superhero comics, that are coming right now ( ofc of the ones I read) and I think that this issue was probably the best so far. Cantwell knows and understands Iron man. It's evident from using old obscure villain to using themes familiar to iron man's comics. But more importantly he knows and understand his Iron man. I think this issue was a prime proof. It's understandable why Tony likes this place, when you understand his personal struggles within this run. Apart of that it cements some of the themes introduced in the previous issues. It's really a perfect, natural and smart continuation of the arc that Cantwell is cooking for the character of Tony Stark IMO. Like really I would have given this a 10, just sometimes the dialogue choices feel weird or out of place to me. As for the art, i have one word: Cafu.

Honestly this was a great issue. It takes you on surreal journey into Tony's head, it exlopres his struggles,his psyche from his childhood till now and delivers a logical and consistent finale. The issue is really focused on that, which makes it hella cohesive and i really liked it for that reason.Plus the art is f ing awesome and it's legit funny at moments. In general I think Cantwell is doing wonders with that series and this is for sure one of the standout issues so far in the run. I'm glad he took his time with this.

This run is absolutely phenomenal on many level. The art is consistently amazing and the writing so gripping. Special kudos to the dialogue, which can be both funny and hear wrenching. Cantwell took an ambitious idea and totally delivered. I love when superhero books don't shy away from showing the shadow of the heroes. Iron man is a layered character with complex motivations and this issue and run as a whole are just the perfect examples. Everything that happens here is build upon previous issues from the start of the run, which shows you that Cantwell had a plan for the book from the starts and follows that. Honestly it all feels like one big story more, it's so concise and to the point, like every issue is part of the puzzle and having seen it all, every part fits so perfectly.

I don't think this is particularly bad, but I feel that it goes for an intensity, roughness, and excitement I kinda can't feel. It's aesthetically pleasing for sure both from story and designs and has neat ideas and moments, but somehow when it comes to putting it all together it struggles with the balance, and from the good'' this is too much'' goes to ''this is so much, that it is nothing''. So individually I like a lot, I like a lot of the sophisticated, tense sharky dialog, I like the talks about economics and political allies, stark being in this position of a huge underdog and I like the idea of everything happening so fast has potential, plus the dream sequence with quite strong ideas, but as for right now as I've said mixing all those stuff mixes my feelings to into a black goo of confusion. It's all about context and here a lot of the context of one part of the issue does not fit with another. The dream sequence is an example of this IMO, which comes and goes so abruptly and it's not even like an explosion, because again it's not even that intense. It's like there is an understanding that a lot of this is so many times done, that the story tries so hard to distinguish itself and throws everything at you. If this manages to mix everything more smoothly this run has potential.

so, so cool in so, so unexpected way. Ackerman does in in-depth analysis of the economic powers of this world so well that the rest does not matter. Loved last run, but this is so much tamer, so much forward thinking, so much more important. It has that chess plays and tactic that made the last run so good, but here is deeper, tenser in a calmer, more profound way. Iron Man is all about compromises, making the best out of the limited situation, building a better path within the system. It does not carry the explosiveness of the last run, but if you are patient, kinda like One world under Doom itself. It's cerebral comics, a colder one. it has no ego, let's say, it goes all in on the cerebral front, as its front character, it is both very much explained and complex, without much behind the pages. all showing tony's dedication and elevation to a level to challenge doom, nothing else matters, both in the story and outside of it.

I feel like it's too early to have any concrete opinions on how the Bendis's run will shape up, especially seeing how slow the start is. However for now I don't see anything particularly interesting or really that much unique about the direction Bendis is taking his Justice League , but of course all that can change and maybe it's for a reason like this. The character's voices are pretty on point in my opinion, still there are some questionable decision with the dialogue and surely the whole Black Adam situation is the epitome of questionable, which I hope get explored more. Overall issue 60 is a set-up for what's coming next, while also being exactly what you would expect from Bendis, a lot of talking, some light humor and references and not much plot, with nice art. JLD does pretty much everything better .

Honestly I think is just average. Not so much as average compared to the other books, but average in the sense that there is nothing to particularly like here or to particularly dislike, because mostly nothing is happening. This book is just so non-ambitious with it's writing and it looks like Bendis is perfectly comfortable with that. Despite that, I appreciate the more down to earth approach he is pulling off with the characterizations and I personally think this is the best part about this comics so far. I enjoy that and this is literally the most interesting, well-executed and probably the most unique thing in this run so far. But still the stories need more meat. From themes to introducing new ideas to both plot and character development, this comics and especially issue is extremely lacking. Also we can add the terribly bad pacing, which is even bad by his standards. Again this issue is an extreme example of that. Think about how badly this issue established the next villain, when a chunk of the issue was about Naomi learning how to fight or the meeting with her parents, with not much of a progression for both. Too much time is spend on things, that do not matter or simply do not deserve that much time, because most of the stuff here is bland and empty story-wise. That's why I just can't feel any excitement for the things, that are coming next.

This volume in particular is pretty messy and the pacing is also quite weird, but honestly it compensates with it's atmosphere and aesthetic. It's well known that Milligan has a thing for the weird and the surreal and he definitely conveys that here, so in a way the messiness of the book, helps the surreal and twisted vibe, he is going for. Janin and the art team in general help with that too btw, but honestly Janin's art is always a hit or miss for me. Also there are interesting ideas thrown here and there, but in the end it feels like both too much and at the same time not enough. Don't get me wrong, there are things to delve here, there are some nice explorations and introduces you to the characters in a decent manner, but in the end, it kinda falls short because of it's own ambitions. The story definitely needed more time, better execution and more planning. In the end I appreciate Milligan's run and the things he tried, but personally, I consider Milligan's run to be the worst of all the JLD runs to date.

A nicely thematically constructed start to a new series. The issue shines with it's precise characterization. Zdarsky is telling an interesting and character-driven story, that's close to some of the core points of League, in a risky, but intriguing manner, that's maybe not for everybody's tastes. Personally I think the issue is great for what it is and that the potential is huge here, but it all depends on if the next issues deliver.

(review for the whole arc, might edit some stuff at some point) I feel like recently I've seen a lot of dislikes towards Louise Simonson's work. honestly her on X-factor or New Mutants I love a lot. Yeah, I do not think it's all perfect, but a lot of CC's work is not perfect either. Especially X-factor, which while very very underrated for how much of the current X-landscape and tropes are based on it, is stuff that the fandom loves dearly. it has stuff I'm iffy about, but even then it's kinda charming. But especially her start in The New Mutants for me is up there with Sienkiewicz's time on the title, both being the absolute peaks of new mutants comics. People say the Demon Bear Saga is the best CC/Sienkiewicz story, i like the Demon Bear Saga, but I prefer Legion, even if it has in a way fewer the new mutants in it, but that's a review for another day and the point is that this particular story ''a sudden death'' or whatever it's called, deserves the same spot IMO. Simonson did something I feel Waid did with his Fantastic Four or at least similar. She started her run, very lightly, the approach with the characters was way different than Clearemont's. For me Simonson and Claremont are like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.I felt like those were kids, I know people hate that, but I love it. She took away most of the confusing at times introspection and those big battles that were happening there, maybe she removed a little bit of the complexities of the characters, but she made each one stand out way more, while they were simple and way more instinctual. And I get how this could be seen as a negative, i again i see Simonson as Tolstoy to CC's Dostoevski, which means that her lighter touch towards the character also had merits and those merits were explored exactly in this arc i am going to talk about, it made the arc way more visceral. I Also, I felt like the whole thing, at least in those early issues had way more of a consistent vision of what it wanted to be. Don't get me wrong, CC's New Mutant was a generation run, but when we look at it, as a whole, it's on the disjointed side, especially some of those early issues. it had peaks but they seemingly came out of nowhere like the issue with cloak and dagger. The instinctual nature of this run is important because this arc is all about that, it's about how the pureness of those kids can lead to tragic consequences. As about how being an x-men is a choice, that even if means that you are a superhero, could be the wrong choice for mutants, which is a foundational concept to the x-men as a whole. It's the foundation that nobody is really right in regard to the ideological battle of the franchise. the new mutants were often in situations where they were outclassed, like the demon bear saga for example and while that was a terrifying moment for them, where the panic was all-consuming, no small thanks to Sienkiewicz's art, here is different. The previous issue Simonson did, framed this way better because it was made for the fall to be bigger. As I said those issues were fun, the biggest problems were the crushes the girls had on the boys, and Cannonball just being anxious about how much cooler Lila is, just a low-stakes, problems that seemed way bigger to the characters because they were kids, than they actually were, with few little things like the drugs and so on, which in a way alluded that the world is way more dangerous outside of their belief. Which came to fruition in this arc. Like here, the fault is totally on the new mutants, their lack of experience, their way of viewing the world, of feeling like they always win, because that's all they know, because consequences do not exist for me. What the characters experienced here broke their world in its totality. The stuff that was happening on the island was very intense and brutal, especially towards the animates, in a way foreshadowing what was going to happen to the mutants, the animates were crushed by the Doctor, they were abused and it felt like they had no way of escaping it, so they became what the doctor wanted them to be. The whole atmosphere of the island is terrible, I mean it's good, but from the moment the mutants stepped on it, all turned upside down, that was the boom, it felt like a different comic, which made it worse. it is exactly like how before ''The Unthinkable'' by Waid, he used a few of the previous issues to establish a light very creative, and warm tone, building or more like establishing the family dynamic of his run, which was based on jokes or just the quirks of each character. The issue themself were very well constructed and had a lot of heart in them, but they always ended on a good note, a light note. Untill at least the unthinkable came and the longer depressing storylines came, exploring the hurt slowly for a lot of issues. What happens in new mutants is similar. What happened on the island seemed like a nightmare, with its ups and downs, the mutants were finding peace, and they were getting excited, only to be crushed again and be powerless again and all contrasted so much to what they knew within Simonson's run. So we talk about a really, really good planing, that was pretty much impossible to see, but there, because the dangers were constantly around like again the drugs and so on. Simonson found a way to make the whole arc on the island feel unsafe, and dangerous, like another territory. All that was greatly accentuated by Blevins art. One thing about this whole story is that it does not hold its punches or if it does, it holds them for a sec only to find a better opening to strike, which also applies to Blevins art. his art can be disgusting, can be almost caricature-like, it's not even always about his style, but what it's about what is chosen to be shown and usually this is the thing that makes it hurt hurts. There are some particularly haunted panels here. It's like again, it wants to pull your heart out, it stands on those haunted places for too long sometimes. Don't get me wrong blevings unrealistic, exaggerated style definitely does bring a lot to the table. It makes them seem like children and very expressive children at that, with very big eyes accentuating their pureness. It's almost like this exaggeration, makes the story even sadder, it makes it scream, where another artist would have made it cry. It's a panic-inducing feeling, but again not quite like tha panic of Sienkivic, here it was not such a horror journey, it was more real, more grotesque, it's quite like a Disney movie that turned real, while retaining the disney style. And it's really respectable he managed to do this, when his art is actually very consistent in what it does, not like Sienkievic who is always fluid with his art. Btw i am not saying Blevins is the better artist, I am not this crazy. After this issue, after the tragedy that happened on the island, the comics delve deep into the sadness. It does not shy away from exploring, how much it affected the team, how extremely what happened pushed them, and all the wrong ways the team coped with it. It's hard to read because you see the kids are not doing themself favors, but it's hard to not empathize and understand that you don't have the right to judge a tragedy as that and the people who suffered from it. It can be ham-fisted at times, it can be over-explanatory, but those are kids, they are in panic, and oversharing comes from the lack of encountering such a thing. Each one of them takes what happened in a different, albeit most do similarly and some of them need a lot more time to heal. TBH I don't think all their mourning hits the same, clearly, some characters have a lot more basis in their sadness, as it fits them better to take it a certain way. Illyana, Rahne, and Magneto are the clear highlights for me. And especially Magneto the shift in his attitude, the moment he understood what happened are some of the most gut-wrenching pages I've read probably ever. What they've experienced brought them closer, it revealed what they did not talk about before, it established new connections between the new mutants and had an impact. As a final, I see Forge's battle with Magik and him being a reflection of what Illiana could become if she let her anger control her and her inability to deal with tragedy. Illyana is a very borderline character, she is very prone to extreme behaviors, becoming unrecognizable and trying to solve every problem, but in the wrong way, so this is exactly her nightmare when she loses the only constant she has in Colossus, her faith in Magneto and Dough. Plus also Illyana has the demon voices whispering in her ear, so is hard not to listen to them, when emotionally she feels so weak. The choice not to kill Forge shows that there is hope, no matter how dire the situation is, how every bone in her body wants to kill him and sees only that. And Forge pretty much says where that hope lies. Her friends, in the end, are exactly the people to stop her from making that mistake, which means that while they have each other to keep in check, they all can manage to survive it. Because they show her a different perspective, one which she being so consumed by anger can't. Obviously, the run continues and continues to walk the line between a child's fantasy to a child's nightmare and at times combines both.

Well, Dick is back in the most predictable way possible. This whole thing felt like checklist, that the editorial gave to Jurgens : return Dick, Bruce has to explain to him how much cares for him, get rid of his gf and so on .And it done in such a dumb and unnatural manner. Actually nearly everything in this issue feels wrong and unnatural. i feel bad for Tim and Jason, they don't deserve this.

The art is amazing in every way possible. The coloring creates such a distinct, but also familiar mood to the Nightwing comics. But how can some of Taylor's dialogue be so cliche, surface level, totally not in the right place and straight up unnecessary. Barbara does not add much to the book too, actually I can say that her inclusion is pretty wasted and her relationship with Dick is pretty shallow here , which again is mainly because the dialogue IMO. It really sucks, because I really think the ideas are great here and overall the issue is pretty focused on those ideas. The pacing is also quite great and the conclusion is quite logical. Also the way Bludhaven is presented, is a great and for sure the city needed something like that. In a way that's thing with Taylor for me, he gets the characters, he can write fun comics, but most of the time it's without much of nuances and deepness that makes them unique. Really I feel like if Nighwing was replaced by Spider-man, I would not see a difference. That's why I think he is not the best fit for a solo character series, especially established characters, but pretty amazing in the event and the team books.

A very pleasant issue, full of passion and heart. The idea of Anti-Oracle is a good one and expected. It's Batgirl's nightmare, but still Barbara is a fighter and that's exactly what she does here, helped by Rodriguez dynamic art. The interactions shine big time. Seeing the love and care, that Batgirl and Nightwing have for each other is such a great feeling. Taylor makes sure to show us the both sides of that love and even where it came from, also the dialogue helps a lot. It's obvious that Dick is not hard on Barbs and that he does everything he can to make her feel better, to shake her up, to make her feel that this is not much of a deal, which is just the most Dick Grayson thing. While Barbara is angry and guilty, but tries to suppress that, till the fear toxin came in and it everything exploded.

This arc is fun. It's a little light, but it know what it is, which is a fun, not emotionally and plot heavy arc, which resulted in some really creative issues. Like Dick Grayson is hunted, for trying to do the good thing, that's pretty much it and that's enough. It's simple, without trying to overdo itself. Like is it the definitive Nightwing arc, does it try to reinvent the character ? No and it's not trying to. It's focused on the action and this issue especially shows his relationship with Wally. It's an old school team-up, helping a friend in need, but with more modern humor and ofc less wordy, which imo results in a better experience than a lot of similar attempts. Wally is a little bland here IMO, but it's no biggie. It's a chill issue, feeling good issue, which is pretty much the series in general. The art is kinda a step down, it's not too bad, but it does not have the energy of Redondo, although a lot times did very similar things.

This run for me goes contantly from being meh to being good to being meh again, it's crazy that it have been 10 issues already and my opinion shifts so much and at the same time, we are pretty much at zero point. I feel like it has a weird identity or we are just too early. This issue for me serves as an aftermath to the sureality of last few issues, issue that personally i did not enjoy much when reading. It puts Nightwing back into the real issues that plague the city.I have some stuff with how the issue feels somewhat hollow and forgettable. Obviously not every issue needs to be a banger, but this particually i feel have some pretty big flaws and feels stiched togheter not so good. We get this fight that feels weightless and does not have much stakes and then the issue focus on it's others plot and even then it does not do a great job with them. It did not flow well with me. The whole issue feels incomplete. Personally i would have liked to see more of nightwing primes dealing with his powers, more of a day to day life in bludhaven. I feel like we had a skip, that feels actually cutting some important stuff. At the same time this issue have a lot of things that feel obligatory and not that flesh out like how the league came, all of them felt stilted, emotionless in their voices.There is something to be said about dexter soy and how a lot of what we see here does not play with his straights, but even then the dialogue was really bleak. Generally i know some people like Zanni and co, but personally im way more interested in how the cast of character developes and i think Watters does a good job with them. All their developments feel significant and make the city more alive, but i just can't connect zanni to all of it and i think it even takes away from it, something which imo is extra apparent here/

This is competentent, but to me it feels somewhat creatively bankrupt. From what the city is, to the whole thing Jason is going through. It feels like Nightwing in the 90s and even some more recent red hood comics and maybe it is an effect that the writer wants to achieve, that wants to honor, but for me this comics has a hard time justifying its existance. There is things to like. For example Jeff Spokes art is spectacular and the visial direction that he decied to follow also. The colors create this heavy hot ambience, that weights on every page. It has this roughness, brutish and again weight, that fits jason really well and the action scenes feel more intese and unpredicable because of it. It feels like not only it has a good idea of atonomy, but also of weight distribution. The visual depiction of the mood of the characters with colors and position is very very nice. the place feel hot, but also frozen in its hotness and dryness. A minor complain would be some page compositon and paneling decision, which ended up maybe a little bit confusing or just were not at the height of some of the others, bacause of which some moments felt blander. As for the writing, i see a lot of people disliking how jason was written and helena also for that matter. I agree in the sense, that honestly, if we exclude the visuals, both of them do not really show much of a character in the way they speak or think. It could be made the case that it fits the atmosphere of the surronding and the mood, but where the mood of the surrondings feels opressed in heat and almost sureal in its proto rinascimento alla commedia divina glory, the words do not feel as stilled. This is an issue for both the dialogue and the naration, both lack this sense of not only urgency, but realistic intesity. The plot also fails to grab me too much. I like some of the things that it leaves open, but for some of the other stuff i feel like it rushes and at the same time, does not manage to provide a good enough hook for the next issues. I would have loved to see a more interesting approach to the whole thing, to exploring jason's situation or even developing the current plot, because now both look like half measures and the development we got do not interest me much. I honestly with the recent news do not know if this would be the last issue of the series. i could see the other issue being better, i could see how it is maybe planned to be better but as i said i truly don't know. I dont know if what Dc decided to do is right or wrong. As a non american is not truly my place to think anything about it, but a person who liked watching debates, i personally did not respect Charlie Kirk, not even because i do not agree with him,there are plenty of people i do not agree with but i do respect, but because of the tactics he used in those debates,the attitude he had in them, the missinformation he spread and the way he presented mostly the debates he felt confident in ''winning''.

By this issue it looks like Williamson is setting up a pretty nice arc for Damian. To me the issue feels very well-paced, well-planed and overall an amazing set-up. I really hope this would not turn into the next Flash, because for me that book was also pretty good in the start and not really after that, but looking at this issue i feel like Williamson knows what he is doing with the character, learned a thing or two and has a plan in mind. For one issue Williamson defined his Damian greatly and i think that we will see even more of that in the future. Damian here is strong, cocky, thinks he is above everybody and that he knows everything, which as you can probably tell, even in his case is quite ignorant. But ignorance is the quintessential teenage thing for a reason and tbh after all he is Batman's and Talia's son, plus years of training. So his point of view is not really that ridiculous for a character like him. Sure there are some weird dialogue moments and the art was pretty average compared some of the bigger names using similar kind of styles, but it was also fitting to the tone of the comics. Still Melnikov would not be my fist choice. But those flaws were not game-changing for me. The end really surprised me, but in the best way possible. I was not expecting something like this to happen so early, but also thinking about it after reading the issue, Damian deserved something like that and the whole issue led up to it.The point that Flatline brings, is a really interesting one, logical and it really shows Damian the weakness, he never thought he has. His surprise in the last panels is just the perfect as a finisher to the issue and the ideas represented here. I'm really excited to see how the events here would affect his character and his arc. Of course i'm curious to see how he recovers too.

Definitely a little bit slower and less personal than the first one. There are still some good character moments, but the issue is mostly set to introduce you to the mechanics of the tournament and the players. But I don't think, that was done very well, because it was mostly done with narration and exposition. This way, we only get glimpses of the characters here, but it's understandable after all it's just the second issue and that's good enough to get some foundation for the next issues. The issue is also a lot more light-hearted than the first, which i found a little bit weird, but not too much. I'm kind of worried that the next would be too much tho. Truth be told, i'm still mostly interested in Damian's journey, but this issue got me excited about Connor and Rose too, and that was the best thing here IMO. I just hope the series does not lose it's focus, because of the other characters. I found the beginning of the issue to be a little disappointing(but expected), considering the ending of last one, especially in how fast all that was brushed off. On the bright side the scenes with Alfred continue to be a delight and a really interesting way to show Damian's inner conflicts. We also get some more Flatline. I thought that her introduction in the first issue was awesome and related greatly to themes presented in the issue and to Damian, and she continues to be a really intriguing and fun character for me. Rose also, she works more like the voice of reason for Damian, plus the mystery of why she is here is also quite intriguing and has a lot of potential. And Damian continues to be the cocky badass, that he is. Overall the characters and the relationships were great, but the issue was kind of slow, which is not a big problem for me.

This comic turns out really interesting. It blends well the almost satirical with the genuinely sad, while is still so fast-paced. If you stop to think about certain choices, makes i think that a lot can be extracted from what we got here. I try to stay up with what's happening in America. Still, as a non-American citizen, i also try to not talk too much about it, because my life is too far from it to understand everything in all its complexities truly. Still, here it's somewhat unavoidable, so take it with a grain of salt. I love how this comic paints a picture,as I've said it does it fast, but in the same way there is a merit in this more direct approach. It's obvious that Eaglestar is bad from the start, it's just the way he talks, the way he presents himself and the others, it's meant to be disgustingly obvious, but in the same time, showing a little bit of fake decency, which makes it honestly even more disgusting. like he does not care or even sees the others as his equals to try to be more convincing. That's what Eaglestar is, a corporation that wants to take from the socially weak, wants to use them, but at the same time take from them. But it's also sad because people have hopes, they are so broken they have hopes that what he is selling might be true, but also these people's life is so broken because of the systemic oppression, that they are obligated to agree to the terms even if means selling themselves and being a happy slave. it's amazing how much it's packed in just 2 issues and again how full the picture of how the oligarchy's oppression over the afro-americans works. It's a lot to take, which is why Sam took a backseat for most of it and it raises the question if his dream is attainable or even if his dream is healthy for his community even? looks like this question is on his mind too. The first issue did a great job of characterizing Sam, of showing you with 3 pages what drives him, the dream to fly, for him to fly, and for the others. He is flying but is it possible for everybody? Right now the answer seems to be a no, which makes the future of the series really exciting. One thing that really turns me off is the art obviously, it looks so so rushed, proportionally is bad, it looks like half baked as hell. the coloring and the compositions are not bad, they do their job, even tho again are not distinct and it does not carry much of range. All this made the reading experience not that stellar, which would bring down the points for me. happily, it does detract much of the story, but just does not add much to it either.

I think, overall that was a pretty fine issue with pretty good set-up for the future of the series. Everything feels exactly like a kung-fu flick. The start of the issue was the best part of the issue for me. The whole story of the deadly warriors seemed really interesting , the art served it greatly and the transition to the present day was done quite naturally. For me the things started to get a little bit stale(not too much) when we were introduced to Shang-Chi and I think, the main reason for that was the art. Not that is bad or anything, I actually liked it till this point, because it served the vibes and the aesthetic, they were going for, pretty good . But when the things unfold in the city, I do not think its all that fitting. Other than that the issue got slower , mainly for establishing the issues that Shang-Chi was going through (in pretty basic, but not a bad way) and showing us his life now. All in all, normal stuff for a first issue. One other Standout, IMO would be the fight in the latter half of the issue(I like the first fight too). The art here worked for me and it made me feel the movement of the characters and the objects(probably because the lack of details). It all just felt natural and fast. The ending was cool, we will see what will come out of it.

it's weird to see low scores on this book. I think it's awesome comics. The relationship between Jen and Jack is ofc front center and it's amazing, feels so real, like you really see 2 real people interact, progressively getting to know each other and discovering how much they actually enjoy each others company, even tho they knew each other before, but never had a reason to took things to the next level. You know i can relate to that in pretty much exactly the same way. Yeah, there is no drama and that's cool. Everything about the book is low-key. Firstly She-Hulk is a tamer, balanced and seems a lot more comfortable in both her skins, which again it's a lot more down to Earth compared to the way, she was presented in Byrne's run and big part of Slott's run. That's the thing, there is no needless drama or even action here and i adore how much those 2 are missing, like clearly the book is telling you that's not the aim here. It feels like a book of 20s, when people talk about their issues and vulnerabilities more easily, which also gives the book a lot more mature feel( even the villains are more matured), which is even rare in this type of books. Plus the parallel of the 1 guy hating having his power and the other loving having powers, while both are respectable and understanding to each other's points and experiences is beautiful. I would like to see them becoming more romantically involved tbh and listen generally i liked Cantwell's iron man, but that's right here is what Iron man/Hellcat could have been, 2 characters that haven't interacted much, but discovering how much actually they missed. I love that the book is focused so much on that , it makes the whole thing much more concise. The art also amazing, has that chill and smooth feeling. I'm totally in love with this book, i would love if this becomes a decade defying for Marvel.

As expected, this arc does not carry the magic that the previous arc had is still pretty good, which is a testament to how good the fundamentals of the writing of the series are. Even if the mystique of the world is already pretty much gone, and having in mind that this is a slight rehash of the first arc, just with more info in, just the storytelling is cool and good, as well as the symbiosis of art, the pacing. Some moments do not carry the same weight and excitement, sure, but the characters still feel alive, the art, the paneling feel inspired, serving the characters well. Some stand out as the Gaby, she is something I am looking forward most definitely and to see how her trauma unfolds and where that would go. Still, everything feels more standardized. If you go past that, it's a blander copy(copy in a broader sense) of what we saw before; this is perfectly serviceable art. At least IMO

Personally I think that Spawn is underappreciated and a perfect combination of equally gothic and superheroics from the 90s. Spawn is weird, it's edgy, It's extreme. it's really over the top, it's the 90s. But in the same time it's a modern gothic tale(by modern I mean that is not set in 1800s),a twisted and sad kid's tale and that can be seen in most of the artistic choices McFarlane takes here IMO. The book has a lot of charm because of that and a lot of atmosphere. It takes you on a journey in the confused world of the already heavily confused Al Simmons and all that with the power of it's art. The story was made to serve the art and the art has that darkness and grit, but it's most definitely not realistic, not at all, it's heavily cartoonish and extra exaggerated, so much so that it can be said that the characters are becoming caricatures, which helps the books and the vibe it has. It makes characters like Billy or the Violator for example even more despicable and gross, characters like Spawn even more darker, mysterious and pitiful. So yeah that cartooniness most definitely brings a lot to the book as a whole and makes everything better in my mind. A story which is so over top and overly dark , needs an art that is equally over the top. It's like Hyperpop. It takes a lot of tropes and turns them to 11, but it's not a satire, it's still pretty much a superhero comics, although a very extreme one. It has drama, it has a lot action and a lot of masculine energy. As far as style go, I think this book is perfect tbh. The energy, the atmosphere, the flow can hardly be matched, at least for me. The substance and the dialogue can lack at times, but it's supposed to be like that. There is a lot to be said about this book and what I said is only the surface. Sadly a lot of times it's been treated like a garbage from the garbage past and because of that, it not always get the attention and care, that can possibly deserve.

I like that Slott does not really try to reinvent the wheel here or at least not that much as with his run on ASM. Also, there is certainly some old-school aspect to this storyline in particular. The themes ring close to Spidey, it's nothing new, not even for Slott's Spider-Man nor something is done in some spectacular manner, nope it just feels like one little adventure in the adventurous life of the character. It's pretty much what one would expect from a second title. The issue is really easy to read and comprehensible, it's really simple. it shows more of Pete's world, from family to even villains, like New yorks feels moving again. It really plays to a lot of the classic notes, Spider-man's comics do, but with the current status quo, so there is a certain comfort to all that, but it's certainly something older writers managed to do better in the past. This should be the base of what a good or even passable spidey comics should be.

Weirdly paced and meandering issue, that does not really feel like an issue. There are just things happening, one after the another. It feels directionless. I liked the scene with Lois and Clark, but after that It's seems like Bendis is just trying to find a way to fill the pages. Most of my points come because of the art.

I would admit the cover rules, but the comics itself not so much as with the whole series of Superman: earth one. I get the appeal, like the ideas are interesting and i can see why certain movie adaptations are inspired by them, but stories are too formulaic and basic to furfill their full potential. like the art is not standing out, the writing even more so at times. The dialogue especially becomes really generic and over done. That's the other thing, there is too much talking at times. JMS really does not trust the reader and at times he straight up explain what the point of the story is and that's usually done in pretty boring way. As a villain Zod is not terribly necessary, firstly because Tyrell already served a purpose that was too close to his. Secondly, there was no build-up to him coming to earth, when most of the other conflicts were started in the previous books. Thirdly, why would someone trust an alien, that they don't know nothing about, instead of the alien, that they know is good. Also how somebody noticed the massacre that he caused. Still he is still a better villain than Parasite, which btw is a low bar. The villain in those book generally were not it. They tried to make them too bad and sadistic, which helped make them more one note. The fight between Supes and Zod was too much like the fight between Spider-man and Morlun(first one),like there are moment that bassicly the same , which is not necessary a bad thing, because that fight is awesome, just interesting because both comics are written by JMS. But of course this fight is way worse when you compare them. Like when Clark calls his mother( and it was like nothing happened), it does not carry the same punch as when Pete called his aunt. The fight did not carry the same hopelessness that was present with spidey and morlun. Also Zod was not portrayed as the better fighter at all. The lexs were interesting and it was cool to see one character divided in 2 two people like that, but considering everything they were also unnecessary.

Interesting premise and interesting themes. The book is also very neatly constructed, the pacing is smooth which goes great with this more calm issue and the ideas are well-developed and well-presented. Taylor knows what he wants to do with this story and it shows in pretty much every moment of it. Honestly everything here fits my ideas for a perfect issue of a superhero comics. From his birth Jon was supposed to be more than those before him and now finally he has the chance to be that. But how? That's one of questions this book would try to answer( and kind of already did) and of course many more related to that. Honestly I think that's a great main premise, especially for the character of Jon. After the aging it seemed that nobody knew what to do with him and I'm so glad that Taylor tries to make something meaningful out of it, which is also not so different from the things, Superman's comics usually present. I think that this issue find this rare perfect balance of familiarity and innovation. One very minor gripe for me is the art. It's pretty serviceable and it's does not distract from the story at all, but it's not that visually interesting or memorable, especially compared to Taylor's Nightwing.

I forgot that this even exists. I remember loving this issue when I was around 14. Too bad I lost it.

in a way this gave me a really big retro vibes. Not only because it looks like it connects to some immortal iron fist, but of the way we are introduced to the narative. Sure it is fast, but it feels like what is happening is connected to the world around it, in those more random, more natural way, that it did in the 80s for examples. It is a very interesting choice on the writers part because, there is so much that is left unsaid, so many stuff that is said by riddles and is alluded more than confirmed. All this creates excitement in me, it makes me want to learn me and it does it in this fun, naive way which balances so much the potential seriousness and epicness of what this comics could become. The art albeit it may not be everyones cup of tea, i loved so much. it is so light and dyamic, so striking in the way it moves, it bends and it twisters, it flows and this way it give a lot of expression to the pages. All makes the mood i talked about earlier so well. Overall i am really excited in the future of this series.

I haven't been so excited about a Cap's book in quite a while and this right here looks like the start of a new era. For a first issue, this issue is great. The way the issue start with the whole speech about the 2 dreams is awesome, because it sets the themes, establishes why those specific are happening and the conflicts(both personal and thematic) greatly, while focusing on a idea, that's close to Cap's core in an interesting way. Also the book is very well-drawn too, with good action. It's still just the start of the run and the issue knows that, so you don't get that many deep dives into those ideas or explorations. So I won't dive too deep into those ideas too, although I found them really interesting. Still I would have liked, if Sam was given more to do here than following Steve around and also if a bigger reason or motivation were given to him to join Steve in the end and become a captain again, because for the most part this was a Steve's issue, although the themes were about things bigger than both of them. That said I liked their more down earth and friendly relationship, presented here and helped that helped the feel good tone of the book as a whole and the sense of being part of something bigger. So in a way I also get why Sam does not necessary need a bigger motivation . I also quite liked the character of Aaron Fischer. Although he is normal teen, he is quite distinct. He is not angry or has a grudge against the world, despite the bad situation he is in. He just cares about the people like him and that motivates him, while using cap and the other people, that fight for society's wellbeing as his role models. Despite the fact ,that he is quite respectful kid, it's evident he is a kid, with an young free spirit. Overall I would say that the whole issue share it's themes and was paced quite nicely, resulting in a really pleasant reading experience, at least for me an amazing introduction.

This is such a useless mess of a comic. Kelly and Lanzing had an alright run on cap. Run that I thought had some good stuff in it, some bad, but looks like only the bad got transported to this. My issue in general with their Cap run was that it felt like all the thought was put into a few places and the rest was supposed to run off that. Same here, but the ratio between the 2 is worse. The first issue was okay, it started big, it did the big thing, but that's probably the only thing, this comics goona do and it's clearly done to serve the bigger thing coming, which is pretty meh for now. I get the a certain character could return and I see the effort to make his presence menacing, but the way they do it is so so tired and by the book. I think that this thing could have made even a bigger splash. The dialogue makes this such a hard read. A lot of dialogue does not mean bad dialogue, but here it does, because the characters are all sassy and paperly thin differences between all of them. So a lot of dialogue is unnecessary and shows even more how one-dimensional everybody is and just how uninspired a lot of the stuff here is. Also in general a lot of the characters here can be samey as an archetype, like it's not the justice league, where everybody is his whole different world, so that again just accentuates the issue and the writing does not tackle that issue at all. Also about the characters, it seems like it's just Bucky and the others do not have much to do here. It's not such a big issue for me, but the name of the T-bolts carries weight for a lot of people, so making this a book that just revolves around Bucky (I know he was a t-bolt during Secret Empire) and has a little to do with the traditions of the team is also kinda not a good look.I don't see much reason for the same t-bolts, especially since Hawkeye t-bolts exist. I know the t-bolts had various incarnations, way various than most titles, but again I feel like this is crossing even this line. Even then it does not move him that much, at least for now. Nothing here is revolutionary for the revolution here, it runs off old ground. i feel this issue spends a lot of time on the wrong stuff just, instead of making a standalone worthwhile it's pretty much serving the bigger story and that's why a lot of the stuff here does not carry any punch, while the plot is really really thin and clearly favors the Winter soldier in pretty much every category. As an idea, it is kinda good, but again not developed, because the plot was so simple and there was not much breathing room, because of the sameness of it all. I feel like Ewing's current Avengers inc. is all around the better execution of a similar idea. The episodic nature is way better delivered there and way creative, plus it does the episode justice, and the big story too.

(Score for the whole run, this issue, in particular, and finale, would rate like a 5) For this type of story, this run felt rushed. It started very well, very slow and methodical, used Beast World to up the stakes greatly and unexpectedly and it felt driven, the decisions Taylor was making felt meticulous, and now we are here. The finale felt even smaller than this run was and this run felt really small in tons of way, when all lead me to believe it was supposed to be the opposite. The finale was built for a long time, but a lot that led to it now feels inconsequential and because this run never really changed its tone, it does not feel like progress, the characters do not really carry their wounds. This run just never really evolved, it's like Taylor struggled to show its range with the title, as he did with Beast World but not here, and struggled to just break the cage of his own making. That's why it was just 2 men show most of the time and never extended to the others. So this is the essence of my complaints, as a constant vibe of warm safe space it does it very well,but does not do much more for me personally. Still, the maturity of this issue, of the whole run, of the message is to be applauded, it's one of few times the Titans were working to be an adult family and acted as one even tho a little bit too stoic from time to time, and that what I will remember this for, mainly.

While I liked Blur's spotlight better(although that one was not perfect either), this issue was the more emotionally potent one, but it could have been more better executed. As a person, who does not have any experience with Cliffjumper, I can say that the issue gives a good sense of who the character is. Which is pretty much the most important thing about a spotlight issue. Cliffjumper can be caring, sweet, considered, generally a very chill guy and all that is shown very well in this issue right here, but also he does not take too much pride in what he does like hurting other cybertronians but knowing that he is part of the "good guys" calms him. Still it's does not go too deep, but there were some interesting moments here as i said. What i did not like however was how quickly the end was brushed off. IMO it was comically rushed. There was heart in the story don't get me wrong, but the end left such a bad taste. It was almost like nothing happened, cause the effects of the ending were either nonexistent or again rushed. Also although the relationship between him and the girl was sweet, was an example of the giant and the little girl cliche and it was not really developed beyond that, which is expected because we are talking about one single issue. I liked that it was not a romantic relationship and it served the themes well-enough. Having in mind that her innocent and pureness, it's not wonder why Cliffjumper wanted to protect her and was angry after a certain thing happened. Her brother was mostly useless tho. The art was quite nice, but I mean I usually like the art in the transformers books. There were some manga inspirations for sure, the same can be said about the story too btw, so it fitted nicely. Also it was pretty cartoonish, you know transformers, so it had some of childish and joyful feel. There were some really nice panels tho. I liked the first page and i think it served the story very well and later when that page layout was repeated. Overall the art translated the story, the vibes and the peaceful atmosphere in a deserving way.

This issue got me saying ''Hickman did it again''. I'm aware he is not the writer here and I am not trying to belittle Camp's accomplishments, but because this is so good, just now I am starting to realize how greatly planned this whole universe is and I am more and more convinced that Ultimate Invasion did exactly what it had to do and Hickman just placed the pieces in their place. This issue and the last one make you understand why those pieces are in those places. it's impressive how much such a static issue, a pretty much low-stakes issue could be so captivating and socially/politically relevant. I like the whole premise of just building one step at a time, one place at a time, without distraction to that big thing, that we all expect, and just this honesty about the whole thing I enjoy a lot, the clear purpose of everything that happens. The issue is just focused on exploring that one place and the way we explore it is through a story. What I mean is that is constructed in such a way to wake an interest and constantly builds and transforms what we know about it. That makes the journey a lot more intriguing than it should be and the moment we understood what exactly happened is way more satisfying this way because the intrigue was already woken. Overall I think, this series continues to have great worldbuilding and delivers a lot of promise for the future, and keeps a lot of its ammo for it. I am still cautious about interpreting everything because I feel the way things progress, a lot of doors are closed for now at least to me to get something more concrete than theories. I think avengers fans are eating good.

This was totally insane. The callbacks to the og ultimate are brilliantly used, they bring a lot of tension. Definitely made me scared if things are going to be repeated. You know for a comic that was fairly tame with not much blood and gore and even action, this issue hits like a hammer. It uses its gore, its brutality to show you the stakes are different, and that this is an intense world, that the characters were not prepared for. Hulk plus Iron Fist seems like a dumb idea, but it's so great, so menacing and I think his first words of dialogue sum up his whole character perfecting. Again it's the character we know, the themes of it, but evolved, making out of him something truly terrifying in a more modern aspect of the old order being tame, but secretly insanely powerful because of tradition and discipline.

Gail continues to do this very interesting blend of low-stakes, slice-of-life and ambitious, dense, packed with stuff comics, which in a way is profoundly an X-Men way of doing comics. It may took a minute to understand how everything connects to each other, especially here, how so many subplots that seem so different could be connected, but i think that there is a connection. After all there is probably a series for all those subplots to be narrated at the same time. It's not fully delved into, after all, it's just the first issue or the second, i guess(depends of the perspective), but there are hints of the importance that being a mutant carries, of the community and the sense of belonging that it creates, we see it in gambit, in the reaction of some of kids and in the new character. idk if it's gonna continue in this direction, because as I've alluded earlier, it is vague, but it's definitely interesting. The issue very respectfully kept its secrets well, its mystique well and it's a mystique ingrained into the pages, especially because of the atmosphere and just the pacing and the new reveals, that we just don't get tons of explanation for, which wakes up my curiosity certainly. Gail does not hold your hand here, she reveals more if the characters can reveal more and are in a position to do so. There is no forcing and probably some detail would be missed be me and probably other first time around, because again things are shown, but not explained. For sure i am mostly interested in Gambit's plot, it had one issue more to establish his state of how much he likes his life and his comfortable spot and likes the people he is around. Here we get a little bit more than that, so that is fully established that he is in a great place. Gail realized there is no more to build around that and she decided to include the threat of it being destroyed to add more drama, a sense of worry into the reader, because we know already how important is everything Gambit has to him. That's the thing, Gail ingraines these comics with things to look forward to, because she is patient and does not show her full hand and she does it in a meaningful, profound way, with no cliffhangers and cheap tactics, the comics is packed with info and it feels meaningful and just know how much to give you and how much left unsaid and also to make an atmosphere of uncertainty through out

(Strange Tales 178-181 and Warlock 9-11) The strongest 10 that could ever exist.

Pretty good. It was an interesting turn for the issue to stray away from the main plot for something more personal and intimate but it was definitely a nice one. It shows a bigger scope perhaps, but that remains to be seen. It ties well to some of the core issues of Wolverine and even the ideas set at the beginning of the issue when obviously this side plot was not introduced about cycles and being in a somewhat new place but still falling in those same old cycles and being slaves to nature on a verge of a twilight. The story progresses quite well with Ahmed really helping those transitions with Logan's narration. The narration is good on another level too, as usual for Ahmed I guess at this point it's not so instinctual or off the dome, but it's constantly reminiscing and thinking so it paints the story how Logan interprets it, which is cool enough, plus it's tonally consistent and fits a more matured logan.And it's not heavy, not on words, nor themes or presentation. I feel like the atmosphere plays a fairly huge role too with the sun setting out and seeing a kid Wendigo losing himself in the lonely snowly forest. This could go in a lot of directions like how logan trying to be more human could backfire and be a reason for him to revert back to being a beast like with the Wendigo, but we'll see. Combined with the art, the narration shows control over the pacing and pages and it's good. So yeah this is one good issue with enough progression, enough heart, enough introspection, enough surprises and a good atmosphere, for now a step up over Percy.

I think the art suffers a little bit here. Also, the issue spends too much time on certain places, Ahmed really clears his vision on what the series is. Again it exemplifies what from the ashes does best, which is to present characters that feel like they have history, that constantly even when running from their trauma, they can't turn a blind eye to it. As I have said I think we spent too much time on the fighting scenes and just moments that does not carry much weight and it felt a bit chaotic in that the characters popped left and right. Still, there is a charm to it, I like the free-flowing nature of the comics, it makes what happens way more real, unforced, and honestly, wolverine is like a glue to it all. He somehow makes it all feel less random when the monologue is so good. Would have liked it even more if the end we did not move from the forest and Wolverine to see what the villains were doing, because it kinda broke the atmosphere and exactly this feeling of just observing Wolverine and his thoughts continually. Also the ending in general seems rushed. Overall not as meticulously crafted as the last, but still pretty nice reading experience

This comic never had much promise, but it made up for it with good art and narration execution. Now that's gone. We are so far from the initial little promise from the start, even after eight issues in, that we've lost even that.admitedly this issue picks it up a little bit, but it also left not such a great taste in my mouth. Personally, i can't take Adamantine seriously, and honestly, i dont think it's a me issue. Fundamentally the whole concept is so stupid and honestly everything that is good about this comics is ruined by Adamantine. Last issue was teribly paced because of it, this also. The little conclusion we had to this plotline for now also, it seems too abrupt, with too little of a urgency for something that was sold as so big. Honestly, it's the same issue with Daredevil. And i get that maybe it's part of the intent to make those plotlines to float one into another but here it's like they crash and it's like one is just forgotten for the next, like Ahmed did not plan how to scructure them and thats why it slammed them into one issue. Why i dont like this approach here? because this way the plotlines lose their punch, those big moments as well. Coccolo's art also i feel it took a nosedive; it looks rushed, it is not as refined, which is a shame because he is one of the best. here it lacks it's potency, it lack the direction, i learned to associate with it, as well as i feel that here it does not work well with Ahmed's writing, which btw is so static in itself and also lack the direction for a huge part of the issue that it had in the beggining. So the panels feel hollow. The end of the main story, i kinda liked, it actually was heartwarming, especially Logan reflecting on his mother, but considering what came after, it does come off as little cheap to me also . Plus, this plotline was the main attraction of the book, even if it was rushed for me, and its conclusion did not feel that earned. DWJ's story is nice btw and kinda the polar oposite to the main story. Intense with good energy

Overall i like the initiative of Claremont to expand on those old stories of his that did not have a room to breathe, like he did with Gambit. Here, i don't think it was needed, it doesn't feel as inspired and as driven, because there isn't much happening. I love the og wolverine Kitty series, but honestly, it was perfectly contained and idk how it fits with what is shown here. The artwork, a lot of the times, comes off as rushed. I get that it's maybe trying to have that more skeletal feeling of Klaus Janson, but it does not translate that well here. It looks wonky and cheap, with no finer touches. The issue spends a lot of time establishing where the characters are in their journeys, but it does not provide much to look forward to. Mostly, the appeal comes from the warm, nostalgic atmosphere.

I'm mostly meh on it. I haven't read much of the CC series post his original run, but the majesty of Claremont's Outback-era writing is completely gone here. I don't think even the voices ring as true as they used to or have that distinct flavor, for the most part. The ideas are for sure there, just presented in a way simpler and direct fashion than they were back in the issues referenced. The way Wolverine does exposition the whole time feels like something written in the 70s, which I doubt is the idea. And that pretty much throws off the whole pacing, because essentially the issue is one battle with Sabretooth, which I found to be pretty mid because again lacked much flavor. At least the battle had some progression, but very impressive one, but some. But it's a first issue, maybe some of the stuff he talked about would get some payoff in the future. Maybe this just lays a foundation and that's why it's so focused on explaining. after all, the period presented is ancient. But even then, a lot of it is explained in footnotes. Overall it's not a bad issue, it's certainly not offensive. I do not expect something revolutionary, but in a market full of X-men or even CC's X-men, it feels unnecessary, unambitious, and somewhat uninspired.

I think that Hitchman's coldness, and scarceness as a writer as well as the feeling of apathy and desolation he brings serves the story really well here. It's a very Hickman-like comic, without the overly intellectual part, much more is given to the art and to the action here than a lot of times, which I think is also a reason for the strong vibe. This comics in it's emptiness made me think and also made me sad, but it made me think not about the concepts, but about the characters, about Wolverine and Colossus and Deadpool. Again this is pretty much a pointless journey for Logan, he sees no redemption not for himself, not for the others, he sees a lot of those characters as no threat, but it's almost like this does not matter to him, like the reason is different and it's not even only about rage, this I feel like is where the feeling of apathy comes from. I feel this is accentuated in how fast he dealt with all his enemies and the unexpected order he did it. Like he started from worst to best, so the challenge morally was becoming bigger. this comic kinda lost its point already and this is a good thing, so I am really excited about where it's going now and i think that making you ask questions and just waiting to get the answer is the fundamental Hickman experience. This is definitely a very strong vibe.

A good and promising, but very flawed first arc IMO.

Great art, but nothing really happens here. There were some fun moments, but to me most of the issue felt forced and unnecessary. I did not enjoy it as much as i wanted to.

This continues to be a pretty intriguing and interesting story. The writers really get Diana and her nuances, while also integrating her to this new setting in a great way and the developments in this issues can prove that. Credits to the art team too, which continues his solid work and contribution to the overall feeling of freshness this story provides to the Wonder Woman's mythos in the recent years. Still there are some things that feel weird to me , mainly with the pacing. I feel like some important moments were not given the proper punch and sometimes impact, that's expected of them. At one point it felt even surreal. Not to say i did not enjoy those moments, because most certainly i enjoyed the whole issue. Excited for the next!

Loved this issue and this whole arc in general. Some could argue, that the events here happened too fast and that the Valkyries needed more time in the spotlight, but I really don't think so. The story was not build around that IMO. I love Diana's portrayal here, even more so after she remembered who she is. She is humane, reasonable, funny and of course still badass. Her battle with Thor can prove the last point. It was an epic fight, which lead up to her clash with Dr. Psycho. Helping somebody see through lies and manipulation is the most Wonder Woman thing there is and ultimately that was what she did here. Overall the story just has that happy vibe(for the most part) to it: Wonder woman helping with solving the problem by creating a peace day, there is party going on, Siggy is alive and well. It looks like everything is alright and everything from now on will be peaceful. Diana is happy and ready for everything to finally be over. "The end of her adventures". But then we get that horrific revelation in the last page with that amazing narration, opening some new questions, which when I think about it, are kind of close to the themes of the run. The whole issue led up to that last page and to the punch, that this page carried.

i believe in the current X-Men line, but this not it. it seems like it was just moving out of how fast it was paced, of always someone coming or something exploding. it feels like those comics were not supposed to be like that, like they try to make this story fit into their larger stories, but It does not come as naturally, because so many of those titles are so far way from what this crossover was about. At its core, it is just a dumb chase, like it was only meant to take a lot of those characters to the same place, without the proper build-up.That could have worked if we hadn't seen something like this in a while or if it felt bigger, but most of those comics are on their 9 issue. Right now it felt random. There were good moments, moments that hit close to the core of what the line is right now, but they are so scrambled, so disconnected in such a big tornado of useless and non-exiting fights and just running from one place to the next. It's weak, but also it's expected; they should have let the different titles breathe more before a crossover like this. As for the issue, some decisions are actually creative here. Like I can see the ideas or the moments it was built upon, I like how Charles left, liked how it was not paraded, and it did not feel big, symbolizing this new era we are entering. I really hope that Charles is out for longer, or even in general, but I am not that much of a dreamer. Like finally, the dream is officially over, and it's a bittersweet moment, it's not completely sad. Like everybody is free from now on, to build new foundations. Uncanny actually had some ground, that i believe would have worked if realized here, like the whole first arc was build on Charles being a cataclyst, even if he is not guilty per se for traumas, which is kinda close to Scott, if defended correctly. Plus the art humanized Charles. i did not like a lot of the things that were building this moment, the conflict in general was weak and here the pacing was quite off, just being really slow in the start with no real reason behind. I did not like Cyke and Wolvie's moments(not to spoil it), it felt out of this issue and also did not carry any consequence, because they were cool after 2 pages, saved by the plot. So yeah, again a lot of ideas for cool singular moments, not a nice idea of how to mesh them together.

As a single issue I liked it, but I genuinely do not know what to expect for the future. it feels simpler, more straightforward, direct, and explosive with character. In a way, it reminds me of Morisson in how direct it is and how strong are the voices here, while X-men do cool shit. There were also some callbacks Obviously it does not feel as revolutionary at least for now. That's the thing, I like what it's here, but I kinda feel like logan. I see the potential for the characters I see some boxes with them, that Mckay could explore, but as a whole, i do not feel that excited. But that's okay, not every era has to be so ambitious, a lighter series with a lighter status quo, focused on its characters, could be a formula for very pleasant comics. albeit rarely a truly great one.Like Hopeless all-x-men, which i really loved. Based on this sample I feel like this is what we are going to get. But the elephant in the room is that this does feel like something from 10 years ago. Some parts of the issue dragged a bit after the initial boom and we got some not-so-light exposition, which was not my thing, but I understand the purpose. Still, a lot of the dialogue flows smoothly and it's quite revealing, without it being so blunt about it. Everything really shines when Stegman and Mackay are dynamic, they are great. It's amazing how Stegman's art continues to progress. It's amazing how much he elevates everything. The scenes are built fast and characters pop out of the page and everything serves to make the characters cool. It's kinda like the mutant massacre era in that the characters are so scattered and bruised and rebelious but with some Outback optimism.

This is a big downer from the last few issues, which were capsules of pure intensity. Neither this nor the last was Stegman's strongest work; there is a lack of detail, volume and as i mentioned, intensity. Villa is worse, way worse. Like bad Stegman is a good artist, bad Villa, oh God. It's terrible, the characters look like slaps of paint, the movements look minimal, it's like older A.i. Also Villa's nonconcrete, rushed as hell style and Stegman's style of exaggeration and details(even if they are not so much here) is so badly slapped together. I can't see a thematic reason, and their renditions of the characters is so different, which even makes the issue look even more like A.I and puts me out of it. That said Stegman's still has some moments of greatness in some pages, where he has control over the action. But this still remains the cool title, not the emotional one, sadly, this cool here comes like the cool from 20-30 years ago, which honestly is the cool of a lot of x-men comics, contribution to the more wooden dialog here mainly. This arc has so many thing that reminds me of the last decade and I mean the appeal of the last decade, which is just giving us some new type of mutants, while the characters are not written badly, but without much soul either, and there is not much to it. Especially the end is so much a battle of the atom, which I hate with a passion. And also it's the second issue that fully relies on it's end, while it feels like everything else is written for us to go there. I really do not care about what happens next here, i don't care for the new group, because I don't know why I should care, nor the current antagonist. Like the new is coming out of the blue, there is also Cassandra Nova for some reason. there is so much, that happens so out of the blue, while we still do not get any meaningful development. And also last arc with Alpha flight was so very similar in it's appeal and it was better executed. it has this sense of worry, because so many things were happening so fast and there were so many reveal, but they managed to sell it. I think a little bit of realness and gritiness would have benefited this issue, especially when Stegman does not carry it with the dynamism that his art usually carries, but sadly, there is not much of this here; there is no urgency or sense of seeing something terrific, at least for me. This title is not like this all the time, but now it is. This issue has terrible pacing, progresses very little; very little of importance happens here.

i would love to write a review on this, but honestly it's so boring and so stuffed with characters and writing styles and things i kinda like and i dont really that i dont know where to begin. I understand the need to unite for a bit an era that is at its core very isolated, but in this issue also the different titles feel isolated and a lot of it feels dragged out. Also its overly santimental, not in the griefing for krakoa, but just in the characters interacting with each other. It does not ring true to them and to the nuances and maturity that those character are prone to displaying.

I feel like this is one of the best or not the best out of this event. It managed to be feel both like an issue and lay the foundations of the lore plus it presented very interesting internal conflicts and development for the characters in way that feels smooth and somewhat part of the story. It's not a small feat because a lot of books for me do not manage to do both. Dani as Cap is perfection for this specific moment and the potential for more personal conflict with revelation is there and is even alluded to. It does not reimangine the formula, but based on what is presented there is a lot that i am excited about. The art was also quite nice. Overall really solid work, but i would wait to see more action and development before a further judgement.