COLD IN BERLIN 2 of 2
Tuesday, January 13, 2026
The Avengers - Short Skirt, Long Jacket [Emma Peel]
THE AVENGERS one of my favorite tv shows of the 1960's
MY WEEK IN COMICS - - - JANUARY 11, 2026
#14-#19 = HAWKMAN #1-#6 by Robert Venditti and Bryan Hitch (DC Comics, August 2018-January 2019) “Awakening, Part 1-4” and “The Fury And The Titan, Part 1-2”
Rather than re-tell an origin story or re-unite Hawkman with classic villains from his previous and scattered volumes, Venditti takes a different approach. He presents Carter Hall/Hawkman as a resurrected winged warrior who’s lived a thousand lifetimes.
Carter Hall is an Indiana Jones type of character, an archaeologist/explorer who one day realizes that’s he’s lived forever but doesn’t know why. He sets out to discover the true purpose of his past lives and reincarnations. He also realizes that he hasn’t just been a traveler in time, confined to Earth — but a traveler in time and space, having been resurrected on several different planets.
The first volume will remind readers of mythology of the epic “hero quest” tale, and the title reads more like an adventure book in the vein of John Carter of Mars with plenty of references to past iterations of Hawkman. It’s a refreshing spin on super-hero fare, embellished by the amazing art of Bryan Hitch.
ISSUE #1: Carter Hall travels to the waters south of Greece to submerge as Hawkman and explore the ruins of the Temple of Ooahk Kung, The All-See. He steals an ancient Nautilus of Revealment, and awakens the All-See statue of a giant gorilla god which pursues him. Hall seeks help from Madame Xanadu in London to decipher the spell, and learns of his past reincarnations as well as a threat to Earth from the Death-Bringers, giant winged Celestial-type beings.
ISSUE #2: Carter Hall visits the British Museum exhibit on the Egyptian Temple of Horus and finds himself transported as Hawkman into the past to encounter one of the earliest versions of himself. He recovers a map just before returning to England.
ISSUE #3: The trail takes Hawkman to prehistoric times and Dinosaur Island, where he is assaulted by a band of Feitherans (winged warriors) defending their aerie. He gets past them to the mountaintop, where a knowledgable wise man sends him on he next phase of his journey.
ISSUE #4: Next stop - the planet Thanagar, where Hawkman fights himself again, until he convinces winged policeman Katar Hal that they are kin. They bond over stories of the Deathbringers, who Katar Hal has seen in dreams and wondered if it was a warning. Hawkman recovers the next artifact/clue and returns to Earth via Indonesia.
ISSUE #5-6: The next adventure takes place within the micro-verse and a team-up with The Atom. Together they figure out the next stop on Hawkman’s scavenger hunt - the most deadly place with the microverse: Moz-Ga the living planet. They survive many battles to discover a buried spaceship, left behind by a previous incarnation of Hawkman, Avion from the planet Rann (home to Adam Strange).
As the first volume ends, the spotlight turns to the leader of the Deathbringers who learns his old foe (Ktar, yet another version) is on Earth.
A decent beginning to an interesting series. THREE STARS.
#20 = ABSOLUTE BATMAN: ARK-M #1 (DC Comics, March 2026) “A History of Arkham” by Scott Snyder & Frank Tieri with art by Joshua Hixson
The story opens at Arkham Asylum in 1945 as Dr. Amadeus Arkham reflects on its’ history before meeting a potential benefactor. Following an extremely traumatic incident in his childhood young Amadeus, now an orphan, dedicated himself to building his dream: a place where people with mental conditions could get the care they needed, Arkham Asylum.
The recollection follows the early days of the Asylum as a grown-up Amadeus takes pity on a bloodied, starving street orphan and takes him in to raise. He ended up shadowing Amadeus on his rounds and took a fascination in the caring of mental patients. Sadly, he was taken as a hostage when criminally insane Jack Doe broke out of the prison. Neither was ever seen again.
I’ll spare you any more details. This was a little creepy, and an engaging read. The art style of Hixson casts almost all the characters as pale and emaciated. His portrayal of Amadeus Arkham recalls images of author H.P. Lovecraft.
Fans of ABSOLUTE BATMAN will want to read this, as the ending features a new iteration of a familiar DC antihero/villain (depending on who was writing the story).
THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#21-#24 = STAR WARS: INQUISITORS #1-#4 of 4 by Rodney Barnes and Ramon Rosanas (Marvel Comics, September-December 2024)
The publisher’s synopsis . . . ..
Darth Vader leads a team of ruthless Dark Jedi known as the Inquisitors - and they scour the galaxy on the hunt for Jedi knights!
Weapons of the Emperor sent out into the galaxy to track down and kill any Jedi who survived Order 66, the ruthless Inquisitors are among the most skilled and deadly threats to those who served the light side of the Force. But buried in the annals of Jedi lore is the story of Tensu Run, the Jedi knight who faced the Inquisitors and Darth Vader! What became of him, and why did the Empire so greatly fear his existence? Prepare to find out why Tensu Run is on Darth Vader’s most-wanted list—and what threat he poses to the Dark Lord!
As Star Wars stories go, this is a quick, entertaining read - - but inconsequential. The art is engaging and the story is fast-paced.
As to why the wanted Jedi (Tensu Run) is so dangerous to the Empire - - it's because he is compassionate, humble and people love him so much they won't divulge any information as to his whereabouts, even under threat of death. The Empire can't abide that, and Darth Vader instructs the Grand Inquisitor to locate and dispatch him.
In the opening chapters Tensu Run is elusive and the Grand Inquisitor almost loses his life when he cannot find him and Vader gets impatient. The later chapters involve the Jedi fighting first the fifth Brother, the Seventh and Ninth Sisters, and finally Darth Vader with the inevitable and predictable finish. THREE STARS.
#25-#31 = JENNY SPARKS #1-#7 by Tom King and Jeff Spokes (DC Comics/Black Label, October 2024-April 2025)
When I'm in the mood to read an unconventional super-hero comic, I can usually depend on writer Tom King to provide that. One thing is for sure - - I won't have an indifferent response. As with so many readers of his work, King's superhero comics provoke strong reactions, either one way or the other.
At the core of this story is one powerful superhero (Captain Atom) going bonkers, declaring himself a god, and expecting to be recognized as such and the lone superhero (Jenny Sparks) who decides to take a non-physical approach to resolving the conflict. That she does so reluctantly, is a big part of the story. The Justice League wants her to act as intermediary/negotiator, and when that fails - as a set-up person for a big battle. When neither plan works, she keeps the conversation flowing and acts as analyst/counselor to Captain Atom until he comes to realize she's right. There's a happy ending.
The majority of the story takes place in a bar, where Captain Atom is holding five regular human beings as hostage.
For me, I really liked this story despite these flaws.
1) The story seems to be padded and could easily have been a four or five issue miniseries instead of seven. Especially when you'll have to shell out $35 at $5 per issue.
2) It lacks action, although there are a couple quick-paced scenes.
3) King portrays the other super-heroes as mostly dumb, sure to offend loyal DC fans.
I hadn't read any of the older 1990's STORMWATCH and THE AUTHORITY books which featured Jenny Sparks, so I didn't know anything about this character coming in. She apparently has control of lightening/electricity and has previously died and been resurrected - - so she may be immortal. She's a chain-smoking, irrelevant, independent-minded hero and her interactions with the Justice League are fun to view. Her best ability, in my mind, is to keep the conversation going and try to talk others into sharing her viewpoints. FOUR STARS.
#32-#36 = PUNISHER VS. BULLSEYE by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon (Marvel Comics, January-May 2006)
This one is worth reading mainly for another glimpse at the entertaining art of the late Steve Dillon. So, if you're a fan of Dillon and miss him, then you'll want to get this. Otherwise, avoid it because the story isn't anything you haven't read before.
I should also warn those expecting a bloody, vicious knock-down flight between Punisher and Bullseye, that this mini-series is essentially a comedy and devotes a ton of pages to making fun of crime families. If a group of mobsters was as dumb as the Patrillo family is portrayed here, then there is no way they would still be in business let alone have enough money to put out a contract on the Punisher, which Bullseye naturally picks up.
We've seen this kind of story before, and more effectively from Garth Ennis (with Steve Dillon). Ennis also does the dark humor much better than Daniel Way, who doesn't appear to know when to pump the brakes. THREE STARS.
Monday, January 12, 2026
The Beast in Me | Official Trailer | Netflix
THE BEAST IN ME mini-series on Netflix: Award worthy and convincing
performances from both Claire Danes and Mathew Rhys. This just gets more
tense episode by episode. Amazing what the privileged think they can get
away with. The script is good enough that it makes you wonder about
guilty or not guilty until half-way through when it reveals the cards.
FIVE STARS.
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