American Carnage #4 Review And Spoilers

Challenges and Hardships

Written by: Bryan Hill
Art by: Leandro Fernandez
Colours by: Dean White
Letters by: Pat Brosseau
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Last month's issue of American Carnage was pretty much a masterclass in how to ratchet up the tension, and make an already terrible situation near-apocalyptic for Richard Wright, our undercover FBI agent and hero (or perhaps anti-hero) of the series. And that tension didn't really let up. The issue ended with Richard present in Jennifer Morgan's home while it was being shot up by unknown gunmen who left a burning cross on the front lawn. Which, as Jennifer is herself a white supremacist, is a bit odd…

Chris and Reggie's Cosmic Treadmill ep. 129 - Insane Clown Posse: The Pendulum (2000)

Welcome to the Dark Carnival

Greetings, Juggalos! In this episode, neden hunters Chris (@AceComics) and Reggie (@reggiereggie) dive back into the world of the wicked clowns, when they read ICP: The Pendulum #1, published by Chaos Comics and created by Jesse McCann and Jerry Beck in 2000! After some biographical info and an explanation of the twelve songs attached to the twelve issues in this series, the foolios check out all twelve of 'em--songs and comics--lending their vocal talents to only the first issue. After a break, our pious jesters look at the spiritual side of the Insane Clown Posse, explaining the "Joker cards" and the attendant entities that represent their meaning. Plus: how to play "Morton's List!" It's a whoop whoop fun episode, you don't wanna miss it!

Damage #14 Review

Monsters Of Few Words

Writer:Robert Venditti
Art Team: Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan, Hi-Fi, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: February 20, 2019

There are three issues left in the Damage series, which no matter what way you cut it, at this point has to considered a failure at least on some level, with the New Heroes titles not gaining much traction. Anyway, I've invested this much time into the series, I might as well see it through right? Last time we left our 'hero' Ethan he was dropped on Monster Rock by Batman, and running out of time on the clock as Damage, so lets jump in here and see where that gets us.

Aquaman #45 Review and **SPOILERS**

A Tale of a Fateful Trip

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Penciller: Robson Rocha

Inker: Daniel Henriques

Colorist: Sunny Gho

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover: Rocha, Henriques & Brad Anderson

Variant Cover: Cully Hamner

Assistant Editor: Andrea Shea

Editor: Alex Antone

Group Editor: Brian Cunningham

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: February 20, 2019

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Three issues now into Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run on Aquaman…or is this the fourth? It’s the third, right? Having this happen right when the year changed really screwed up my perception of time. Whatever the case, either we should get some answers about what the corn is going on around here, or we are one issue past finding out just what in tarnation is happening on the Isle of Weirdo Water Gods. Let’s find out where we’re at in issue #45, which I have helpfully reviewed for your perusal, right here!

Lucifer #5 Review and **SPOILERS**

You Don't Know Jack... yet

Writer - Dan Watters
Illustrators - Max Fiumara & Sebastian Fiumara
Colors - Dave McCaig
Letters - Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
On-Sale Date: February 20, 2019

"Stylishly dark and smart!"

I wonder if that's a polite cover-blurbable way of saying "Yeah, we don't know either..."?

If we've learned anything from comics over the past two decades, that means this here issue of Lucifer is the penultimate for this storyline.  We've got plenty of questions... let's see if we get any answers...

Teen Titans #27 Review and **SPOILERS**

Pair up and Square Up

Writer: Adam Glass
Pencils: Bernard Chang
Inks: Cam Smith
Colors: Marcelo Maiolo
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
On-Sale Date: February 20, 2019

If you'd have told me a year ago that seeing an issue of Teen Titans on the horizon would make me smile... I'd have said "Huh, they probably put a new writer on it!".  I kid, I kid... okay, not really,

Coming off the heels of the recent Teen Titans Annual, we've got ourselves a fairly troubled and highly guarded bunch of teen-age heroes.  Let's play this out...

Catwoman #8 Review

Got Your Nose

Writer: Joelle Jones
Artist: Elena Casagrande and Fernando Blanco
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

I got a bit of crap for really enjoying the last issue of Catwoman.  Sure, nor a whole lot happened, but after the way the first arc of this series ended, I thought it was a bit of a reset for Joelle Jones to get back to the basics...Catwoman and Penguin.  Nice!  Two of my favorites ending the issue in grand fashion about to have a sitdown/meet and greet.  So, is this issue good enough to get the naysayers on the Catwoman trolley with me?  Let's find out...

Nightwing #57 Review

War Of The Classes

Written By: Scott Lobdell, Zack Kaplan

Art By: Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain, Andworld Designs

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 20, 2019

After the last issue, where we saw the Nightwing team joined by Ric Grayson so that they could take down the Scarecrow together, it looked like even though Ric had no intention of ever picking up his superhero past again....... fate had different plans.  Let's see wear those plans take our hero as he tries to continue his new life, while his old life slowly creeps back in.......... not to mention, the Joker's Daughter coming to town.  Looks like old Ric is going to have his hands full.  Let's check it out.

The Wild Storm #20 Review and Spoilers

Midnight Sun

Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colors by: Steve Buccellato
Letters by: Simon Bowland
Cover Price: $3.99

The clock is ticking and the sense of impending conflict between any two or more of the various factions introduced and explored in the first three story arcs of this series is becoming almost unbearable. But there's a UFO on the cover as well as a sly reference to a Justice Society of America that has yet to exist in the current DC Universe. I have a good feeling about this…

Naomi #2 Review

Dee Mother F-er, Dee!

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker
Artist: Jamal Campbell
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

If you ask anyone, they will tell you that I love almost any book with teen heroes in it.  It's a sweet spot for me and I think it's mainly because the younger characters make the writer focus on things that are a little more upbeat than say, heroes dying in a crisis.  Yea, they have their own set of problems, but I find them a lot more relatable as well.  So, I was looking forward to Naomi and while I was intrigued by the end of the issue, I just didn't think I got enough of Naomi and her friends for me to give it the highest of high marks.  Still, the Superman angle and the hope of some cool characters have me back for issue number two.  Do we get more of what I am looking for or another issue with rando Gilmore Girls speak?  Let's find out...

Batman #65 Review

Big Bang Theory

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Guillem March
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

The Price continues and I am enjoying this crossover enough.  I love Gotham Girl and while I am worried about where this story is leading her, I do like the spotlight she is getting.  So, what do we learn this week and does it feel right?  Let's find out...

Justice League #18 Review

Bad Brains

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Pasqual Ferry, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

The Justice League is obviously the place to be for the big goings-on in the DCU and while I have been enjoying it, for the most part, I still feel like I haven't gotten my footing completely.  That may seem damning for a series on its eighteenth issue, but that has been a bit of the fun...a bit a said.  The other bits have been frustrating and I need Snyder and Tynion to fill me in on some major pieces of information before I start giving this close to perfect marks.  Does this Legion of Doom issue get us closer?  Let's find out...

PREVIEW: Lucifer #5

Goosing Lucifer

Written By: Dan Watters 
Illustrated By: Max Fiumara & Sebastian Fiumara 
Colors By: Dave McCaig 
Letters By: Steve Wands 
Cover By: Reiko Murakami
Edited By: Amedeo Turturro & Molly Mahan 
Assistant Editor: Maggie Howell 
Executive Editor: Mark Doyle 
Cover Price: $4.99 
On Sale Date: February 20, 2019

Lucifer is silenced. As all the Devil’s bargains are repaid to him tenfold, the last of his senses are about to be taken from him. Meanwhile, a wastrel finds the gates to Hell outside the local pub, and what was once a man seeks revenge on a screaming skull.

Well! It looks like a thing has happened. Maybe? Check out some preview pages, what do ya say?

PREVIEW: Teen Titans #27

Love the Djinn You're In

Writer: Adam Glass 
Penciller: Bernard Chang
Inker: Cam SmithColorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letter: Rob Leigh 
Cover: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith & Tomeu Morey
Variant Cover: Alex Garner 
Assistant Editor: Andrea Shea 
Editor: Alex Antone 
Group Editor: Brian Cunningham 
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: February 20, 2019

Every Teen Titan has a secret—and they all come spilling out here! As Djinn helps Robin recover from his injuries after a brutal showdown with Red Hood, she tells him all about her dark past, revealing some unsettling truths about herself. Meanwhile, Red Arrow helps Crush find a new sense of purpose, and Roundhouse reveals the tragic story of how he got his powers!

Uh oh, looks like all the cards are being laid out on the table! Have a gander some some preview pages, how about it?

PREVIEW: Aquaman #45

My Namma Is

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick

Penciller: Robson Rocha

Inker: Daniel Henriques

Colorist: Sunny Gho

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover: Rocha, Henriques & Brad Anderson

Variant Cover: Cully Hamner

Assistant Editor: Andrea Shea

Editor: Alex Antone

Group Editor: Brian Cunningham

Cover Price: $3.99

On Sale Date: February 20, 2019

She’s heeeeeere! Witness the epic origin of Aquaman’s most dangerous foe yet—the nefarious Namma! Meanwhile, Aquaman, still trying to piece together his strange vision of a mysterious red-headed woman, agrees to accompany Caille across dangerous waters to meet her long-lost mother in exchange for recovering his lost memories. But as the two allies (or maybe more?) approach Namma’s island, strange events begin to occur that reveal a shocking truth about Caille herself!

What, that she's some kind of weirdo? We already knew that. Check out some preview pages, below!

PREVIEW: Justice League #18

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

The Legion of Doom returns as the history of the Legionnaires Club is revealed! Lex Luthor's mysterious connection to this ancient secret society runs deeper than even his Legion of Doom comrades ever suspected, and his secrets threaten to destroy everything. A blood connection to the dark underbelly of the DCU's history bubbles to the surface in this epic, villainous tale.

PREVIEW: Damage #14

Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Aaron Lopresti
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Stranded on an island of monsters! Following his run-in with the Justice League, Damage was dropped in a remote location in the middle of the ocean, a lost land of some of the most dangerous creatures to ever roam the Earth. And now Damage is one of them- but only for an hour a day. The rest of the time, Ethan Avery is an ordinary man, and he is going to have to survive by his wits if he ever wants to get back to the mainland alive. That is, if there isn't more to this island than is obvious on the surface. Is there a more sinister reason that all these monsters have been stranded together?

PREVIEW: Wild Storm #20

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Skywatch intensifies its preparation for war, increasing its attacks on the planet. For some of these conflict zones, Skywatch's greatest threat is not IO or conventional forces, but the people who escaped from its own experimentation camps. And the four people in London whom it knows little about, but who are preparing to take steps to alter the balance of the world...

PREVIEW: Catwoman #8

Writer: Joelle Jones
Artist: Elena Casagrande
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

What is it that they say about house-guests and bad fish? How they both start to stink after a couple of days? Well, Oswald Cobblepot has been hanging around Catwoman's new city, and Selina Kyle has been holding her nose for far too long. It's time to send the Penguin packing! I mean, the guy smelled like fish even before he arrived.

PREVIEW: Batman #65

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Guillem March
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

 "THE PRICE" part three! The two greatest detectives in the DC Universe take on the one cold case that will tear them apart!
As chief architect of the Sanctuary program that cost so much for so many, especially Wally West, Batman will be held accountable...by the Flash!

PREVIEW: American Carnage #4

Writer: Bryan Hill
Artist: Leandro Fernandez
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Wynn Morgan isn't just a wealthy Los Angeles industrialist, he's the unofficial king of a vast white nationalist movement and the prime suspect in the murder of an FBI agent. But a dead fed may prove to be the least of Morgan's problems when dissension in the ranks signals what could be the start of a secret civil war, with white-passing undercover agent Richard Wright caught right in the middle.

PREVIEW: High Level #1

Writer: Rob Sheridan
Artist: Barnaby Bagenda, Romulo Fajardo
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: February 20, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Hundreds of years after the world ended and human society was rebuilt from scratch, a self-interested smuggler is forced to traverse a new continent of danger and mystery to deliver a child messiah to High Level, a mythical city at the top of the world from which no one has ever returned. Don't miss the start of a new series from writer Rob Sheridan, co-creator of Nine Inch Nails' groundbreaking Year Zero alternate-reality game! 

PREVIEW: Nightwing #57

Written By: Scott Lobdell, Zack Kaplan

Art By: Travis Moore, Tamra Bonvillain, Andworld Designs
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: February 20, 2019

Destiny…fate…predetermined inevitability… these are all things that Ric Grayson has struggled to reconcile now that he has been given a second chance at life. A life recently unburdened with years of trauma, defeat and struggle when the hero known as Nightwing was shot in the head. Now, Ric must come to terms with who he is, and what kind of hero he wants to be…if he wants to be one at all. And while Ric is content to walk away from the mantle, one woman has been hiding in the shadows, waiting to solidify an identity of her own…an identity tied for all eternity to the clown price of crime…enter The Joker’s Daughter! 

Doom Patrol #10 (1988) Review

"The Soul of the Machine"

Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Artists: Erik Larsen, Gary Martin, Tom Ziuko
Cover Price: $1.00
Release Date: June 30, 1988

Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net

In honor of the Doom Patrol television show premiering on the DC Universe streaming service a few days ago (and oh man it was AWESOME), today I'm reviewing a two-part crossover from 1988 between Doom Patrol (#10) and Superman (#20). Why did I choose this crossover? Because I still have the issues from when I was eight years old.

Electric Warriors #4 Review

Out-Thought and Out-Played

Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Travel Foreman
Colours by: Hi-Fi
Letters by: Travis Lanham
Published by: DC Comics
Price: $3.99

There are a number of things one can say about Steve Orlando (and I shall be saying some of them later on in this review) but he doesn't really do 'safe'. Last month's issue took the series' central premise of interstellar diplomacy conducted through super-powered gladiatorial combat and lobbed weird alien cannibalism into the mix. The result was genuinely unsettling and pushed the whole series in a direction I wasn't expecting. Where do Orlando and the really quite impressive series artist Travel Foreman take us this issue? Let's find out…