Backways #1 Review

Through a glass darkly

Written by: Justin Jordan
Art by: Eleonora Carlini
Colors by: Silvia Tidei
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy

Aftershock Comics as a publisher has delivered some wonderful books in recent months, with Fu-Jitsu, Dark Ark and Brilliant Trash combining entertainment value with ambitious storytelling and really fresh art. So I entered into this first issue of Backways with high hopes. Let's see how it was...

Dark Ark #4 - Review

Ark-ade Fire

Written by: Cullen Bunn
Art by: Juan Doe 
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Release Date: 20 December 2017
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy 

At the end of the last issue of Dark Ark, its captain Shrae and his crew looked royally screwed as an attack on his vessel came from both within and without. I suppose that this is only to be expected upon a vessel populated by the worst monsters in all of creation. Let's see how he fares in this latest installment. 

Unholy Grail #5 - Review

Ain't nothing like the Grail thing baby

Written by: Cullen Bunn  
Art by: Mirko Colak
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy

And now the end is near, and so we face the final curtain. Yes, as hard as it is to believe this is the closing installment of Bunn and Colak's masterly rendition of the Arthurian legends. Long before Game of Thrones this ancient story kept people entertained with its tales of dark intrigue. This series has done the tale of Arthur, Merlin and co. proud. Let's see how the final installment went down. 

Wonder Woman/Conan #4 - Review and Spoilers

Treading Water

Written by: Gail Simone

Art by: Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Colours by: Wendy Broome

Letters by: Saida Temofonte

Published by: DC Comics/Dark Horse Comics

Cover Price: $3.99

This series has quickly become one I look forward to every month. The decision by Gail Simone to supplement the main story featuring Conan and Diana with a developing flashback featuring a younger Conan and a girl called Yanna who looks (and acts) an awful lot like our favourite Amazonian princess has proven to be an astute one. With an increased opportunity for mirroring and foreshadowing, it's added greater emotional depth to the narrative and, indeed, last month's cliffhanger emerged out of that flashback plot rather than the main one. Having finally brought our heroes into direct contact (and conflict) with the Corvidae, the story's principal antagonists, we enter the second half of the story with a fairly clear idea of where the plot – and our heroic duo – is headed. What is less clear is how the action of the present ties in with the memories of Conan's past. Will we get some clarity this issue? Let's see…

DC Comics Best Covers of the Week 12/20/17

Too Many Covers, Not Enough Time

Comic book cover aficionados, assemble! We had a whole lot of great DC Comics covers this week, so many that I actually had to pare them down to this list of five! But pare them down I did, and surely came up with the best of the best of the best, at least where DC Comics is concerned. There were some other nice covers on the shelf this week, but let some other dope order those in a list!

Batwoman #10 Review and *SPOILERS*

Break the Chain

Written By: Marguerite Bennett
Art By: Fernando Blanco, John Rauch
Letters By: Deron Bennett
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Another month. Another issue of Batwoman. Thus, the dredge goes on. Batwoman has been on the wrong side of quality since the series started and it is a real disappointment to see one of your favorite characters be stuck in a rut that seems like it will continue going on for quite some time. We are here with Kate as she continues to investigate the Many Arms of Death in Marguerite Bennett’s overdrawn, boring, and repetitive epic. So much of this book has been set up with a lack of payoff and somehow even The Scarecrow isn’t enough to make this book very interesting. However, where we last left Kate, she was in a fear toxin induced nightmare and she was facing off with Scarecrow. She had used her incredible willpower to change her shape in the nightmare so that she was a giant bat monster. (No. Really. That’s what is ACTUALLY happening.) Now she comes to fight against Scarecrow and Fatima. What will be the outcome? Let’s just jump right in and find out.

The Wild Storm #10 Review and Spoilers

Plates Spinning Beautifully

Written by: Warren Ellis

Art by: John Davis-Hunt, Steve Bucellato and Simon Bowland
Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017


Why do we love comics so much? (I know I'm assuming here, but you've just started reading a comic book review so I'm reasonably sure there's some comic love going on in that heart of yours.) I would imagine that there as many answers as there are comic book fans, but for me it's the coming together of a number of different factors. First, there's the whole extended universe thing – the excitement you get from being plunged into a world that is rich and varied and capable of expanding in often surprisingly new directions. Then, there's the fact that it's a hybrid medium, a unique combination of image and text. Much has been made of comics' increasingly filmic qualities and I get excited about that too, but a page of comic art can be studied in ways that a film scene can't. That each figure is drawn, is deliberately posed, gives the artist greater control and, potentially, subtlety when it comes to conveying meaning (and, yes, we'll be getting to some specific examples in a moment). Although, like film and television, the comic is a collaborative medium, the creative aspects of that collaboration are smaller-scale, meaning that the story can be created more precisely. Plus, comics are fun. Their potential to surprise, to play with narrative form and structure, is exciting. Anything can happen in comics. Anything at all.

Or anything can not happen. Or be about to happen, as the case may be.  We've been here before with The Wild Storm. I've lost count of the times I've pointed out either on this site or in interactions with friends and readers online that this series is essentially one long-form story and we're not even halfway through it yet. But let me have one more go and try to explain why The Wild Storm #10 might well be the best issue of characters talking to one another and not doing very much you'll ever read…

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2 Review

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2

Writer: James Tynion IV
Art Team: Freddie Williams II, Jeremy Colwell
DC Comics/IDW Publishing
Release Date: December 20, 2017
Cover Price: $ 3.99

Escape From Gotham to New York
Donny had a little snafu last issue, which lead to Bane and Donny basically having a Freaky Friday experience, only changing worlds with each other instead of bodies. This is basically a good news-bad news thing for Donny as he ran directly into Batman and Robin but unleashed Bane on New York, his and his brothers home. So where does that take us next ... let’s find out.

Nightwing #35 Review

Ripped

Written by: Sam Humphries
Art by: Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017


It's time for a new creative team for Nightwing and that means I am taking the book over from Eric.  Nightwing is my favorite character and I am so glad to be back reviewing it.  It's not that I've enjoyed the book since Rebirth started, it's just that a guy should be able to review his favorite character, right?  So, is the book good enough for me to keep loving Dick Grayson?  Let's find out...

Trinity #16 Review

Three...Two...One

Written by: Rob Williams
Art by: V Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Dinei Ribeiro and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

Trinity is a book without an identity.  It didn't help that Superman Reborn kind of took the concept of this book and made it a bit obsolete, but we still have the three big guns so, come on!  Why can't we get some consistent storytelling here?  That's what I'm hoping for as we move forward and maybe it starts this week.  Well, does it?  Let's find out...

Aquaman #31 Review and **SPOILERS**

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Writing the Playbook

Story: Dan Abnett 

Artist: Riccardo Federici 

Color: Sunny Gho 

Lettering: Steve Wands 

Cover: Stjepan Sejic 

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: January 20, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Hey, this issue begins a new story arc in Aquaman…but we never did resolve that whole “Corum Rath” is king situation, did we? Also, something about Mera having been captured by fishy villains. Oh yeah and plus Arthur got his magic trident last issue. This feels more like the story is continuing, if you ask me, with this being the mythical “jumping on point.” Okay, let’s have a look at Aquaman #31 and see if that rings true!

Justice League #35 Review

Hateful 8

Written by: Priest
Art by: Pete Woods and Willie Shu
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

I liked the first issue of Priest's Justice League run enough.  It started off as a more personal and grounded story...that ended in disaster.  Going into this issue, I was left wondering if we'd see more of that and even if we'd see Batman at all. That's really messed up, but in an exciting way.  So, how was this second issue?  Let's find out...

Harley Quinn #33 Review and **SPOILERS**

So Long and Thanks For All the Flesh

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti 

Artists: Bret Blevins, Otto Schmidt, Moritat 

Colors: Alex Sinclair, Otto Schmidt 

Letters: Tom Napolitano 

Cover: Amanda Conner & Dave Johnson 

Variant Cover: Frank Cho & Sabine Rich 

Cover Price: $2.99 

On Sale Date: January 20, 2017

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

And now, the end is almost here…the end of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s time on Harley Quinn, that is. In another issue, the series will continue under the pen of Frank Tieri for…well, no one can say how long. He co-wrote a miniseries (I think it was Gang of Harleys?) with Palmiotti to get up to speed, and I think he did okay. But something will surely be missing from this title with its originators gone, and Tieri’s got big shoes to fill. Well let’s see how they begin wrapping up this run, huh? Check out my review of Harley Quinn #33, right now!

Dark Nights: Metal #4 Review

Hawks!

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, and FCO Plascencia
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

It's been a while since Metal #3 and while we have had some tie-ins, I have been waiting for the main title and am so glad it's here this week.  With a bunch of the regular books treading water and Doomsday Clock just beginning, I have been looking forward to the Metal story to continue and see where it is headed.  So, where is it headed?  Let's find out...

Green Lanterns #37 Review and *SPOILERS*

Sleeping With The Enemy

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: Carlo Barberi, Matt Santorelli, Ulises Arreola, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: December 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Now that Bolphunga is back where he belongs in a Sciencell and Singularity Jain is on the Green Lantern Corps' most wanted list, it's time to head back to Ungara to deal with the side story that's been transpiring throughout since Tim Seeley took over this book.  Yeah, it seems that the Ungarans aren't happy that the little Mol-ites that Simon and Jessica saved previously are now living on their planet, especially since they've been framed to look like one of them killed an Ungaran.  Hopefully Simon and Jessica can get to the bottom of this and soothe the unrest on Abin Sur's home world.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Super Sons #11 Review and *SPOILERS*

......Time Travel

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason

Art By: Ryan Benjamin, Richard Friend, Gabe Eltaeb, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: December 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Let's jump back into Super Sons of Tomorrow story with part 2 here and hopefully get some answers to how Tim Drake of Tomorrow managed to make his way back to our time after Hypertime bitch slapped him back into the future in Detective Comics.  On top of that, let's see how Damian and the Teen Titans will keep Super Boy safe since we now know that Tim has come back to kill Jon Kent before he can do something to destroy Tim's time.  Apparently Batwoman is okay now in his mind, but let's jump into this and see if my boy Kon-El will make his way back into continuity since we found out from our current Tim Drake that he has no idea who Conner is.  Let's check it out.

Superman #37 Review and *SPOILERS*

A Beat Down of Tomorrow....... Today!

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason

Art By: Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: December 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Holy shit, we're going to be dealing more with Tim of Tomorrow and it's going to be a part of a big crossover.......... Yeah, the comics have been advertising this and the solicits have been around for awhile, but goddamn, it's still strange to say.  In case you don't know, we dealt with the Tim Drake of Tomorrow in Detective Comics, where we found out that Mr. Oz had been keeping not only our Tim captive, but another one from the future, who had become Batman as well.  Well, he went and turned into a dick and tried to kill Batwoman because apparently her death meant that his timeline didn't need to happen, but before any of that could go down; Hypertime pulled Tim of Tomorrow back where he belonged........ and that's all she wrote....... Well, that's all she wrote then, turns out she's writing more here so let's jump into this issue and check out what this future Tim Drake has to do with the Super Sons of Tomorrow.  Let's check it out.

Batman #37 Review and *SPOILERS*

Double Date

Written By: Tom King

Art By: Clay Mann, Jordie Bellaire, Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Well, now that we know that Superman and Batman know all about each other and admire each other, it's time for their wife and fiance to finally meet........... Yeah, there's not much to say about this going in.  In the previous issue, Superman didn't want to call Bruce about him being engaged to find out why Bruce didn't tell him about it and Bruce didn't want to call Clark to tell him about the engagement, but after a lot of repeated dialog and a back and forth narration, we finally saw both couples come together to take down Dr. Double X.  Now it's time for them to finally meet proper I guess.  Let's jump into this issue and see how that goes.

Injustice 2 #37 Review

Injustice 2 #37

Writer: Tom Taylor

Art Team: Daniel Sampere, Rex Lokus

DC Comics

Release Date: December 19, 2017

Cover Price: $.99

Plastic Man Is Bae!

Well I missed my first Injustice 2 review in a long while last week due to tickets to various events all over town, aka drinking at Sabres and Bills games. Fancy man I know, but Im back this week, and holy crap guys, it got nuts!  Shit was introduced to the fan and apparently it was a hit all around, because the last two issues have been bonkers.  So after the Kents are found hiding in the Fortress of Solitude, allowing our group of heroes to hunt for the Titans in the Phantom Zone, what's left in the bag of crazy Tom Taylor has stored in his comic book ideas cabinet? Join me and let's find out.

PREVIEW: Wonder Woman/Conan #4

Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan
Release Date: December 20, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99


Our heroes have escaped the Corvidae, but if they want to save new friends from the witches’ wrath, they’ll have to work together. That would be a simple matter if their utmost desire wasn’t to end the other’s life! Co-published with Dark Horse Comics. 

PREVIEW: Batwoman #10

Writer: Marguerite Bennett
Artist: Fernando Blanco, Mick Gray, Marc Laming
Release Date: December 20, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99


“Fear and Loathing” finale! In order to escape a wonderland of nightmares, Batwoman must embrace the monster within to defeat Scarecrow once and for all. But Dr. Crane is the least of her worries, Colony is coming to the rescue and her father turned enemy, Colonel Jacob Kane, is leading the charge. Could this father/daughter reunion be the beginning of the end for Kate Kane’s career as Batwoman? 

PREVIEW: Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #2

Writer: James Tynion IV
Art Team: Freddie Williams II, Jeremy Colwell
DC Comics/IDW Publishing
Release Date: December 20, 2017
Cover Price: $ 3.99

The team behind the smash-hit crossover series is back to reunite the Dark Knight and the Heroes in a Half-Shell. When Donatello goes looking for a new mentor to help him improve his fighting skills, he opens a doorway to another reality, hoping to summon the Turtles’ one-time ally, Batman. But instead, he gets sent to Gotham City and someone else comes through the open portal—Bane! Suddenly, there’s a new gang boss in New York and he’s out to unite all the other bad guys under him. Can Donnie get back in time and bring Batman with him to help his brothers before Bane causes irreparable destruction? Co-published with IDW.

PREVIEW: The Wild Storm #10

Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: John Davis-Hunt, Steve Bucellato and Simon Bowland
Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017


The WildCAT and Jackie King at IO are planning elaborate heists. One heist could save the world. One could end it. And there’s no guarantee that either the CAT or Jackie and her team will get out of their respective capers alive. And IO director Miles Craven is distracted by many troubles and questions, including: What was Project Thunderbook? 

PREVIEW: Trinity #16

Written by: Rob Williams
Art by: V Ken Marion, Sandu Florea, Dinei Ribeiro and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

“OLD ACQUAINTANCE”! It’s New Year’s Eve, and as the snow falls on New York City our Trinity reunites to save the life of someone completely unexpected—one of the DC Universe’s coldest killers: Deadshot!

PREVIEW: Nightwing #35

Written by: Sam Humphries
Art by: Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

“THE UNTOUCHABLE: HUNTERS!” Nightwing finally feels like he’s got his life in Blüdhaven under control. But the one thing he wasn’t expecting was for a case from his past in Gotham City to rear its head here—a murderer he never set eyes on, but whose unmistakable signature has arrived in his new city! How many people will die before he’s stopped this time? Or worse than that...what if Dick can’t stop him? Incoming creative team Sam Humphries and Bernard Chang kick off a story that will take Nightwing back to his days as Robin and force him to question his future as well!

PREVIEW: Dark Nights Metal #4

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20, 2017

The Justice League has been broken and scattered to the far corners of the DCU, each member forced to face their worst fears alone…and the fears are winning. When an unlikely ally reveals a glimmer of hope, they must seize their chance, or risk their window of opportunity closing for good!