In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR April 10, 2022 . . . 333 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 316 comics documented
The is exceptional, especially when focusing on facial expressions or just the eyes in profile. The backdrops and setting really add to the atmosphere of the tale. This series also serves as yet another bridge between the current DEVIL’S REIGN mini-series and the upcoming new iteration of DAREDEVIL. The summaries on the opening credits pages have been very succinct, so I’ll just share some of them:
In her best to defeat the demonic Hand cult and win Matt as an ally, Elektra Natchios recently took up the Daredevil mantle. Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin of Crime and current Mayor of New York, has made his move against his old enemy, Daredevil, by outlawing super hero vigilantism within the city limits. Fisk has also deputized super villains as a new team of Thunderbolts to maintain law and order alongside the NYPD. . . . . .
Now, enemies from Elektra’s past are armed with knowledge of her every vulnerability, and Kraven The Hunter wants his next trophy to be the Woman Without Fear.
Elektra’s former ally was behind the scenes, working with The Hand and Kraven the Hunter to execute her. The final pages are also a lead-in to the new PUNISHER series, which looks to be a bit of twist on Frank Castle’s mission (not sure I fully comprehend this yet). I’ll be watching. FOUR STARS.
If you’re not familiar with the writing talents of Rich Douek, then THE OCEAN WILL TAKE US is a great starting point. I love the way he builds suspense and creates empathy for his memorable characters. I fully expect this series to ramp up the tension and horror once the important introductory parts are complete. If you like what you read here, check out ROAD OF BONES (IDW) and WAILING BLADE (ComixTribe), two great series from this Bram Stoker-Award nominated writer.
The action takes place within Almanzar High School, apparently in a California coastal town with the school located right beside the shoreline.
New student Casey March, a state swimming champion from Hawaii, tries out for the school swim team and learns that a clique of bullies dominates the group and resents new challengers. But beyond navigating those obstacles, there is something lurking in the waters of Almanzar Bay that could prove dangerous when the swim coach decides to hold team try-outs in the ocean waters.
There’s an opening scene that reminds me of the beginning of the first JAWS film, but not quite as shocking. However, it and several other scenes in Issue #1 provide a nice foreshadow of things to come.
The art is extremely appealing and engaging. Carlos Olivare’s charming art style reveals a manga influence. I was fortunate to read a retailer digital preview copy of this, which lands on comic shop shelves tomorrow. This is one to watch. FOUR STARS.
#298 - 309 FULL METAL ALCHEMIST 3-IN-1 OMNIBUS VOLUME 1-2-3 (Viz Media, August 2021) A full review of this manga series was posted to the blog on Friday, April 08. FOUR STARS.
This starts off as a battle between The Harvestman (the enforcer of Death) and a zombie version of fallen hero Thunderstrike with Clea stuck in the middle. As she later recounts to Wong, Clea sees this as a possible opening to bring Stephen back while Death and her minion are distracted.
Wong cautions: “I don’t like this, Clea. It feels like an escalation. Death has created a counterpart to the Sorcerer Supreme. An opposite number . . . . . And this ‘revenant” threat . . . things are stirring in Death’s Domain in ways that we don’t understand. At the precise moment when we are looking into meddling in her affairs.” Wong then reminds her of a long laundry list of things to do and threats to investigate.
To make matters worse, The Blasphemy Cartel from last issue returned to destroy the Shrouded Bazaar under Clea’s protection, which causes her to make a declaration of war. Plenty of stuff here for MacKay and us to explore. FOUR STARS.
#311 BATMAN #122 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter (DC, June 2022) “Shadow War, Part Two”. This continues the engaging storyline from SHADOW WAR OMEGA wherein an assassin took down Ras Al Ghul just as he was about to go public with the secrets of the Lazarus Pit. The art looks cluttered, but there’s plenty of action scenes as well as enough mystery to keep readers going.
Deathstroke was caught on camera at the kill site, but he says that was an imposter in an old Deathstroke uniform. Talia sends out a huge ninja squad to take down his headquarters, as Deathstroke and son narrowly escape. Batman investigates, suspects Talia as hiring Deathstroke and having him shoot her (non-fatally, naturally) to avert suspicion. She says no and charms Batman into believing her.
Damian/Robin is pairing up with Deathstroke’s daughter Ravager to go kill her dad. The story moves onto DEATHSTROKE INC #8 from here.
“Secret Meeting”, the back-up story by Williamson and Trevor Hairsine is a new flashback to the early days when someone put a hit contract out on Robin, which was signed by Deathstroke - - a new telling of their first meeting. But there’s a twist at the end which is no joking matter in this continued story. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS for the full issue.
Back in 2011, and just prior to the launch of DC’s The New 52 titles, Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert created the FLASHPOINT core limited series, which spawned a plethora of tie-in mini-series.
In FLASHPOINT the DC universe is altered and only Barry Allen/Flash seems to be aware of the differences in timelines. Cyborg is the ultimate hero, not Superman (who’s a captive lab rat of the U.S. government). A war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman rages across western Europe, and Bruce’s father Thomas Wayne is Batman.
This three-issue series detailed Thomas Wayne’s origin story and featured a current storyline in which the Joker has kidnapped Harvey Dent’s twin children. That fateful day when a gunman ambushed the Wane family in an alley had a different result. Thomas fought back, the gun went off killing Bruce and driving Martha mad.
Just in case some of you reading this don’t know all the details I’m going to spare some of the surprises. Suffice to say, many familiar characters have different roles, especially Batman and The Joker. Thomas Wayne operates Wayne Casino with Penguin as his manager (who’s also aware of his Batman identity). Jim Gordon is still his favorite partner in investigation, although Gordon is married only to his job. Selina Kyle is a paralyzed Oracle. Harvey Bullock is a usually drunk detective, and Renee is his favorite bartender. Batman’s methods are brutal (eye gouge to Killer Croc) and he’s not above killing. I’ll stop there. Not all of these characters have happy endings.
If you’re a Batman fan, you need this in your library. FIVE STARS.
Frank Babbs is a wealthy Londoner and newly knighted by the royal family which should help his son’s political campaign. However, Frank has a shady past, which he recalls after receiving a phone call from a fellow member of The Dogs, a crime gang from the 1960’s. As AfterShock’s promotion describes it:
How deep must you bury a body to make sure it doesn’t haunt you?
Frank and Terry are about to find out. They were once members of The Dogs, a feared gang who ruled much of London’s underworld back in the swinging 60s. They thought they’d escaped their troubled pasts, but the past isn’t dead – it’s just bashed about a bit and very pissed off. Spanning different times and classes, DOGS OF LONDON is a brutal, bloody tale of violence, love, revenge…and sleeping dogs who refuse to roll over and play dead.
Some bodies they buried back in 1966 London have just been uncovered, as the police investigation begins. Peter Milligan has Frank narrate the story, giving the necessary background material about the gangs through Frank’s thoughts - - lending the whole proceedings a cool noir feel. This one is just warming up, and looks very promising. FOUR STARS.
Image has come a long way in 30 years. I know there are creators out there who aren’t happy with their Image contracts or the company’s business model - - but that’s not why I’m sharing this here. Just think: where might today’s comics be if a group of talented artists hadn’t broken away from Marvel and started this company? You only need to review the 30 years of titles presented here to realize how many ground-breaking and successful works came out of the Image stables.
The presentation here is perfect, a chronicle year by year from August 1990 through February 2022 with cover images and quick captions that note the high points (and there are many). The back material lists 30 years of awards received by Image titles, and that takes up five full pages.
This will mainly be of interest to those who are curious about the company’s origins and history. Count me among that group. FIVE STARS, for what it attempts to do here, and succeeds.
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