Elsewhere #1 Review

Up, Up and Away

Writer: Jay FaerberArtist: Sumeyye Kesgin, Ron RileyPublisher: Image ComicsRelease Date: August 2, 2017Cover Price: $3.99

Between Extremity, Plastic, Regression, and a few others (greatly omitting Underwinter which is not a treat at all), Image one word titles have been a treat to jump into completely blind. Jay Faerber’s Elsewhere is yet another Image book I’m going to jump into and just see what it gives me. With a cover that seems to promise Amelia Earhart in a far off fantasy world I’m looking forward to what seems like a what-if tale in the adventures of Amelia Earhart.

Extremity #6 Review

Flame On!

Writer: Daniel Warren JohnsonArtist: Daniel Warren JohnsonPublisher: Image ComicsRelease Date: August 2, 2017Cover Price: $3.99

As we come in to the halfway point of this series, I have to reiterate that this has easily been one of my favorite books going. The amount of emotion that’s been felt throughout the book while also delivering on big bombastic action and sprinkling in world building at every possible chance. I think Tom King could maybe look to this book for a few tips on how to mix the big action and emotion while actually delivering a story. So as we go into the halfway point will the book continue sailing smooth on its skiff of praise, or does it take a turn for the worse? Find out after the jump!

Robotech #1 Review and **Spoilers**

Invitation Number 201

Written by: Brian Wood
Art: Marco Turini
Colors: Marco Lesko
Letterer: John Workman
Release Date: August 2, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Robotech has been put in comic form prior to this new series. But this is my first experience reading the property in this format. I came from loving the cartoon growing up and recently binged the entire 85 episode season in four blocks. So I was jazzed to see Brian Wood’s take on this property. Going into the debut, I’m hoping to get the nostalgia feel of the show, while getting a new chapter in the Robotech saga. Let's get into this and see what Brian Wood serves up.

Injustice 2 #17 Review

Writer: Tom TaylorArtist: Daniel SamperePublisher: DC ComicsRelease Date: August 2, 2017Cover Price: $0.99

With the last few issues this year or section, as we’re not sure if Injustice 2 is taking the same form as Gods Among Us, seems to be coming together to move towards its apex. We’re getting Plastic Man and his son, Jaime Reyes, and next we should be heading into the team making its first effort at moving toward their enemies. The series so far has been a great enjoyment outside of the short Supergirl arc, which may end up later being necessary groundwork, which is easy to look past. With that being said will the most recent issue continue the trend of careening towards a climax or will it be another Supergirl-style segment? Find out after the jump.

Throwback Thursday: Green Lantern/New Gods: GODHEAD #1 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Van Jensen, Justin Jordan, Robert Venditti, Charles Soule, Cullen Bunn
Art By: Ethan Van Sciver, Martin Coccolo, Gordan Sudzuka, ChrisCross, Pete Woods
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: October 1, 2014

One Ring To Rule Them All

GODHEAD has finally arrived and with it the Lantern crossover to end all crossovers.......  I really wish that were true.  With my luck we'll be jumping into another crossover two issues after this big mamma jamma is over.  Well it's here all you Lantern lovers, so we all better hunker down for the long haul as we jump into this epic story combining the Lantern universe and the New Gods, as Highfather searches for the one thing that can finally stop Darkseid and his siege of the Multiverse, the Life Equation.  Let's check this out............... Oh man I'm already exhausted.

Throwback Thursday: Justice League #50 Review and *SPOILERS*

Birth, Death and Everything In Between

Written By: Geoff Johns
Art By: Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $5.99

Release Date: May 25, 2016

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's get down to brass tacks here, we've got ourselves the ending to a story arc, that to my surprise is Part 10 of the Darkseid War story.......... and that's just crazy to me.  I know we've been reading this story for awhile and I don't know if that's a credit to the writer, but it certainly didn't feel like ten parts to me....... That's right, I'm going to start phelating Geoff Johns right away because that boy knows how to tickle my comics bone and boy do I mean bone.  In our previous issue we saw the end of times begin as Super Woman gave birth to what the Crime Syndicate believe to be their ultimate weapon against Mobius, but by the end of the issue it didn't really matter because Grail came a callin' with Steve Trevor sporting the Anti-Life Equation in tow and blew Mobius the hell away.  Yeah, our main big bads are out of play now, but it looks like things have never been darker for our heroes.  Let's jump into this issue and see how the Justice League plan to overcome this evil and if they'll all survive the battle.  Let's check it out.

Throwback Thursday: Infinity Man and the Forever People #1 Review

Written by: Keith Giffen and Dan Didio
Art by: Scott Koblish
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 11, 2014

New Gods on the Block

It's confession time and forgive me, but I have never read much Jack Kirby.  Sacrilegious, I know.  If you're not upset at me already, keep reading and I may get you there.  I'm pretty good at that.  New Genesis?  New Gods?  Fourth World?  None of that rings a bell.  At first glance I may not be the ideal audience for this book.  I think Dan Didio and Keith Giffen would beg to differ.  Infinity Man and the Forever People was made just for me.  Why?  For one, I love a fun story with cool characters.  Mainly though, this book is tailor made to introduce readers to the unique Jack Kirby world of Floating Cities, Mother Box technology and Highfathers.

DC Comics Best Covers of the Week 8/2/17

Name Recognition

Welcome to the month of August, when New York City reek of urine intensifies tenfold. I wonder if that had an affect on there being two "Green" covers in this week's list of the Best? Probably not. Click on to see which covers won the coveted Weirdy Award!

Savage Things #6 Review

Not A Sweet Candy Cain

Written by: Justice Jordan
Art by: Ibrahim Moustafa
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 5, 2017
Reviewed By: Josh Vermillion

This series has been balls to the wall crazy since the first issue, and I have loved every page of it. This is exactly what I want from a Vertigo series: a story for mature readers that doesn’t hold anything back and is always going in high gear with the action, intrigue, and merciless killings.

Harley Quinn and Batman # 1 Review

The Joke's On Us

Writer: Ty Templeton

Artist: Rick BurchettPublisher: DC ComicsRelease Date: August 2, 2017Cover Price: $3.99

Harley Quinn and Batman is a book I knew nothing about until I went to review it. The book seemed to come out of nowhere. When I actually took a look at it though, it grabbed my attention right away as it seemed to be harkening back to the style of Batman the Animated Series. Usually you get the argument of “Who’s your Batman?” and it mostly revolves around the ’66 Batman and the movies, but for me it was always the Animated Series. In the era of wacky cartoons such as The Animaniacs, or Freakazoid, or even Tiny Toon Adventures we had series like Gargoyles and Batman The Animated Series that went for a more serious tone and pushed the envelope in animation. The Animated Series was my Batman, and this series immediately grabs my attention when it goes with a very similar art style. So does the book live up to the expectations that the art style sets for it? Find out after the jump just what I think about it.

Justice League #26 Review

It's Your Kids...

Written by: Bryan Hitch
Art by: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Brad Anderson and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

Well, it appears that this Legacy story is going to be Bryan Hitch's last on this book.  While some will have mixed emotions about that, I just hope that he can wrap all his dangling threads and somehow make it all payoff in a kick-ass sendoff that will, at the least, make the ending memorable.  This whole "Time Crisis" idea has been building up since the Rebirth began in this book, so we can only expect to get an ending of some sort, good or bad, right?  I ask because Hitch's biggest problem seems to be ending his stories, but I'm going to maintain a wait and see attitude.  So, does this first issue of his last arc hold promises of a better day to come?  Let's find out...

Deathstroke #22 Review

Written by: Christopher Priest
Art by: Diogenes Neves, Jason Paz, Sean Parsons, Jeromy Cox and Willie Shubert
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

I have really been enjoying this book, but I have on big problem with it...the team should be called the Stroke Squad, not Defiance.  I mean, Stroke Squad is just so much cooler and there may be a song based on Billy Squier's The Stroke that I really like.  Other than that, though, I've liked just about everything Christopher Priest has done lately and having Terra show up last issue had me really excited for this issue.  So, do the good times keep rolling?  Let's find out...

Green Arrow #28 Review

Paper Thin

Written by; Ben Percy
Art by: Juan Ferreyra and Nate Piekos
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

I have not really been all out enjoying this Hard Traveling Hero arc mainly because it really has been paper thin.  Each issue features another member of the Justice League working with Ollie which is all well and good, but the story underneath, supposedly connecting it all has been paper thin.  Not only that, but it just hasn't been much fun.  Do things pick up this week as Ollie heads off to Metropolis?  Let's find out...

Shade the Changing Girl #11 Review and **SPOILERS**

Hooray for Hollyweird!

Shade the Changing Girl #11
"Life on the Silver Scream"

Written By: Cecil Castellucci
Illustrated By: Marley Zarcone
Inks By: Marley Zarcone and Ande Parks
Colors By: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letters By: Saida Temofonte
Covers By: Becky Cloonan and Leslie Hung
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: August 2, 2017

Well, well, well... looks like this book's going to be going away for awhile.  Not too long, we hope... but, this is comics.  The word "hiatus" is a fairly nebulous one... and if I were a betting man (which thankfully, I'm not) I'd posit that this one's not coming back.

Barring bookstore sales, of course... if those are good, it wouldn't surprise me to see a Shade the Changing Girl, Season Two.  Well, maybe it would surprise me a little.

Anyhoo, if this really is the next-to-last... or next-to-next-to-last issue, let's hope it's a doozy!

Superman #28 Review and *SPOILERS*

American History...... Continued

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason

Art By: Scott Godlewski, Gabe Eltaeb, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I was really thrown off by last issue because where I thought we had ourselves a really solid first twenty five issues of this series, where at times I thought some issues were a little down, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason really showed me by making everything tie together into the Black Dawn arc, where Jon finally learned how to fly and we saw our Kent Family moving on to Metropolis.  Then we had a one-shot and then last issue we moved into this arc, where it was some of the most boring stories I ever read, while also shoving American history down your thoat and also letting you know what's wrong with the current state of our country........ spoiler warning, pieces of shit are what's wrong.  Anyway, let's move into this issue so we can end our Fourth of July jaunt and hopefully get back into some proper Superman storytelling with issue #29.  Let's suffer through.

Nightwing #26 Review and *SPOILERS*

What We Once Were

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: Javier Fernandez, Chris Sotomayor, Carlos M. Mangual

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I actually liked the Blockbuster arc and wanted to get more into that, but like we do every other arc or so, it seems that Tim Seeley has to go back to the well and find something to tackle that he thinks he knows or something that he thinks is safe and that's what this Spyral bit feels like to me right off the bat and that scares me because whenever that happens, the stories in my mind begin to tank a bit.  Hopefully, that's not the case here and things will continue to seem fresh and fun as Dick goes on the hunt for Giz' murderer with a little help from Huntress.  Let's check it out.

Green Lanterns #28 Review and *SPOILERS*

Jessica Cruz: The Greatest Green Lantern

Written By: Sam Humphries

Art By: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Blond, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Alright, are Lantern heroes found out that Volthoom was posing as Rami and when the villain tried to take Jessica's ring, which contains parts of his original Travel Lantern, Jessica and Simon were transported ten billion years in the past, where they wound up on Earth, but just not any Earth anyone has ever seen before.  Yeah, it was full of terrible monsters and shit that would make archaeologists shit their pants if they ever found their fossils, but all didn't seem lost because as last issue ended, our heroes were met by the seven original Green Lanterns and with that, it seems that our adventure in stopping Volthoom can finally begin......... hopefully.  Let's jump into this issue and see what's what, especially since Jessica's ring is one of the original seven and I have no idea what kind of hell that will play on time or on these original seven rings.  Let's check it out.

Cyborg #15 Review and *SPOILERS*

Metal On Metal Violence

Written By: John Semper Jr.

Art By: Cliff Richards, Will Conrad, Ivan Nunes, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Cyborg's fight against Anomaly continues in this issue and while our main bad guy of this series so far doesn't seem to be the threat that he once was, it's the actions of an Anomaly from a parallel world that we're currently dealing with now that our hero and his friends have been sucked through a wormhole to another world, where that Anomaly unleashed the OTAC virus, that began changing people into "Mecha-Humans" with the desire to make the world in their image.  Only a few humans are left to resist and as we saw in the previous issue, one of them is Cyborg's mother, who in this world is alive and summoned her son through Anomaly to come and save the people of this planet.  Hopefully Cyborg is capable enough to do it because it looks like in order to get the cure, he's going to have to go through the Metal Men to do it.  Let's jump into this issue and see if this installment picks up the pace of the series or if it's just more of the same nonsense.  Let's check it out.

Batman #28 Review and *SPOILERS*

This Is What I Said, I Said

Written By: Tom King

Art By: Mikel Janin, June Chung, Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's move back into the War of Jokes and Riddles.......... where we'll hopefully see some of that awesome sounding war, instead of Joker sitting and watching the news about what's going on with the war.  Yeah, I'm a bit frustrated with this arc so far because we really haven't gotten anything from it besides for the concept and after last issue, the origin of Kite-Man.......... So yeah, not much.  Let's jump into this issue and see if the war starts getting interesting or if it's shown through another single spread page and that's it.  Let's check it out.

Bane: Conquest #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

Searching For Bane Fischer 

Written By: Chuck Dixon

Art By: Graham Nolan, Gregory Wright, Carlos M. Mangual

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: August 2, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

When this strange Maxi series pops up each month it really throws me off because where I loved Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan in the 90's, that that era has come and gone and trying to bring it back here just seems forced.......... which also seems weird to me because I'm stuck in the past and usually love that shit.  So yeah, Bane: Conquest has been a reviewer cliche for me, where it's been a roller coaster ride of emotions because where I wasn't too hip on the first or third issue, I found myself really digging the second.  Hopefully that trend continues here as we see what Bane has planned for the cybernetic inch worm of a man: Dionysus and what that character's criminal empire of information will do for our venom-ed up main character.  Let's check it out.

Savage Things #5 Review

He Of Sound Mind and Abel Body

Written by: Justice Jordan
Art by: Ibrahim Moustafa
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 5, 2017
Reviewed By: Josh Vermillion

This book is really good, simple as that. The main character is compelling in that he’s just enough of a good guy to make you want him to win, but also a really big dick that makes you kind of hate him at the same time. The art is great, especially when Ibrahim Moustafa gets to play around with the gory, fucked up pages. You really can’t ask for much more out of a Vertigo series in my mind.

Savage Things #4 Review

Dude is a Savage

Written by: Justice Jordan
Art by: Ibrahim Moustafa
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 7, 2017
Reviewed By: Josh Vermillion


Who says comics have to be about capes and superpowers and magic and crazy shit? This series has been filled with bloody deaths and asshole characters, but it’s more than that. There is a really good story that just so happens to involve those bloody deaths and asshole characters. Combine that with some great art you’ve got yourself a winner there, Vertigo.

PREVIEW: Green Arrow #27

Written by; Ben Percy
Art by: Juan Ferreyra and Nate Piekos
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“HARD-TRAVELING HERO” part three! Metropolis is Oliver Queen’s next stop on his quest to take down the Ninth Circle, but he may be too late when the evil financiers start a war with the one man they can’t buy: Lex Luthor! That’s more fat cats than even Ollie can handle, which means this is a job for Superman and Green Arrow!

PREVIEW: Nightwing #26

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: Javier Fernandez, Chris Sotomayor, Carlos M. Mangual

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“SPYRAL” part one! Huntress comes back into Nightwing’s life at his lowest moment. But is she here to help him find the man who killed one of Dick’s closest allies? Or is she here to carry out a mission of her own?

PREVIEW: Justice League #26

Written by: Bryan Hitch
Art by: Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert, Brad Anderson and Richard Starkings
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“LEGACY” part one! A group of heroes from a post-apocalyptic future escape into the past to stop their world from coming to be. But to do it they’re going to need the help of the Justice League—who just happen to be these time travelers’ parents! 

PREVIEW: Green Lanterns #28

Written By: Sam Humphries

Art By: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Blond, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“OUT OF TIME” part two! Simon and Jessica go from basic training on Mogo to training some of the first beings in the universe to wear green rings! Trapped in the past, the Green Lanterns of Earth must rally the first seven Lanterns to defeat a threat that could destroy the cosmos!

PREVIEW: Cyborg #15

Written By: John Semper Jr.

Art By: Cliff Richards, Will Conrad, Ivan Nunes, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“AFTERMATH” part two! Anomaly’s horrific dream is realized when the O.T.A.C. virus changes nearly all flesh and blood on Earth into cold hard steel. Now humanity’s last hope, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and a band of rebels led by Vic’s mother, Elinore Stone, embark on a suicide mission to find the cure. Their first obstacle? The infected super-scientist Doc Magnus and his newly twisted robot army, the Metal Men!

PREVIEW: Batman #28

Written By: Tom King

Art By: Mikel Janin, June Chung, Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 2, 2017

“THE WAR OF JOKES AND RIDDLES” part four! War is hell. Unless it’s in Gotham City, where it’s so much worse. The clash between The Joker and the Riddler continues to escalate, with the rest of the city’s villains picking sides and joining in. In the midst of the battle, Batman must try to save whoever he can while knowing he will forever be haunted by those he can’t.