Aquaman: The Becoming #1 Review

If it walks like a YA comic, and it talks like a YA comic...


Written By: Brandon Thomas
Art By: Diego Olortegui, Wade von Grawbadger, Adriano Lucas, and Andworld Design
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 21, 2021

Aquaman: The Becoming #1 is definitely a YA comic. Readers are (re)introduced to Jackson Hyde as he trains to fill in for Arthur Curry who's away on a mission to Mars(???). All the while, Jackson battles laughably corny criminals, has breakfast with his mom, goes gaga for cute boys, and does it all with a winning smile and hair that just knows what it wants to do. It's all so wholesome and fabulous until a jealous Atlantean decides to put Jackson's privileged butt in his place.

Batman: The Detective #5 Review

All Is Revealed, But Was It Worth The Journey?

Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope
Colors By: Brad Anderson
Letters By: Clem Robins
Cover Art By: Andy Kubert, Brad Anderson
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 21, 2021

Batman: The Detective #5 finally... FINALLY.. answers the mystery of who or what is Equilibrium. Batman and Squire drive the European highways while the International Bat-network searches for Equilibrium only to discover Ducard had the knowledge of her identity the whole time. In what amounts to an issue that's half action and half flashback, the rationale behind Equilbirium's crusade may just shock you.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #4 Review

The one where Supergirl forces herself to watch a snuff film

Written by: Tom King

Art By: Bilquis Evely

Colors By: Matheus Lopes

Letters By: Clayton Cowles

Cover Art By: Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #4 takes Kara and Ruthye on a walking tour of atrocities as they chase Krem and the Brigands from one locale to the next days (sometimes hours) too late to stop mass murder. Between bouts of bickering over whether or not Ruthye is old enough to see this manhunt through to the end, Kara forces herself to endure and endure and endure until there's nothing left to do but scream.

Batman Secret Files: Miracle Molly #1 Review

Living Better Through Forgetting

Written By: James Tynion IV

Art By: Dani, Lee Loughridge, Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

It's time to dive back into those Secret Files that Batman likes to keep and for this one we'll be looking at the background of the new character Miracle Molly and her association with the Unsanity Collective. Hopefully, it will be more than the basic gist that we've been given where somebody just has their mind wiped so that they can be their best self with the insanity of modern life and what it entails stripped away from them. Let's check out Miracle Molly and where she came from.

The Flash #774 Review

The Flash's Fear State

Written By: Jeremy Adams

Art By: Christian Duce, Hi-Fi, Steve Wands

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Running back onto the scene to save your day from boredom, it's Wally West, the current and best Flash we have, and if you haven't been picking this series up since it came back from Future State... Well, you've been missing out on one of the best titles that DC Comics is putting out right now and one of the best runs of The Flash in years. Let's jump into this issue and see if that streak continues as a new villain is introduced onto the scene...... Dr. Nightmare. Let's check it out.

Nightwing #84 Review

 

All in a Nightwings Work

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Robbi Rodriguez, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Since Tom Taylor took over Nightwing, this book has been hotter than Hansel!  I haven't been as much of a fan of the fan service over story approach at times, but I am still glad Taylor has rescued this book from the disaster of Ric Grayson.  Unfortunately, this book is running straight into Fear State just as things were heating up, but hopefully, the momentum isn't thrown off completely.  Let's jump in and see...

Catwoman #35 Review

 

That Cat's Out of the Bag

Writer: Ram V

Artist: Nina Vakueva, Jordie Bellaire, and Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

One of the things I have liked about Ram V's Catwoman book was that it was its own thing.  Selina and the Strays were hanging out in Alleytown, fighting crimes and making up rhymes (and funny names for themselves). But, unfortunately, Fear State has put an end to that, and even leading up to the big crossover event, it was easy to see that the times they were a-changin'.  Batman and Selina hooked up a bit earlier than they had planned, and the Magistrate put the bullseye on a section of Gotham that usually doesn't get that sort of attention.  Reading some of Ram V's tweets (and reading his books), he is not a guy who prefers writing quick in-and-out types of stories, so I wonder how he will deal with being part of this crossover.  I guess we will start finding out right about now...

Batman #113 Review

 

Welcome to Primetime...

Writer: James Tynion IV and Brandon Thomas

Artist: Jorge Jimenez, Jason Howard, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

I haven't been loving Fear State so far, and while I know we're only two issues into it, James Tynion has been setting things up for a while now... only to set things up again.  That's not my main problem, though.  I understand how these big crossovers work and know that it's essential to get everyone on the same page at the start, but it still sucks for those reading all the books up to this point.  Again, though, that's not my main problem. My main concern is not seeing how the average Gotham citizen is dealing with all of this.  Sure, we told that Gotham is still reeling from the Joker War or that Gotham is panicking, but we rarely, if ever, see it on the page.  That doesn't bode well for a story about a city on the brink of losing its shit!  Tynion is setting up Gotham City's residents to be Scarecrow's greatest patient, yet we don't see them or their reactions to much of anything.  Let's see if that changes in this issue...

Shazam! #3 Review

Sympathy For The Devil's Son

Written By: Tim Sheridan

Art By: Clayton Henry, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Billy Batson's quest to find and return the Rock of Eternity to the center of the Multiverse continues this issue, but I'm not sure Billy has really thought about how he's going to achieve his goal..... You know, since the Rock is in hell and because of that Billy's powers as Shazam! aren't really working as they should and I doubt just simple good intentions are going to get the job done.  Maybe though, with the revelation that Billy's friend Dane, who came along on this quest is actually the son of Satan called Nevermore... Well, maybe Dane's got the juice to see Billy's plans to fruition.  Let's check it out.

PREVIEW: Batman #113

 

Writer: James Tynion IV and Brandon Thomas

Artist: Jorge Jimenez, Jason Howard, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

Ghost-Maker reveals a dark revelation about his past connection to Jonathan Crane while Batman puts together the pieces of Scarecrow’s master plan. Using the Unsanity Collective’s technology, the villain plans to detonate a “Fear Bomb” in Gotham City! Backup: Clownhunter has been dosed by the Scarecrow with a deadly fear toxin and is now traveling through his greatest nightmare of Gotham City. Will the Clownhunter center himself and strike back at Scarecrow? Or will he succumb to all his worst fears?!

PREVIEW: Catwoman #35

 

Writer: Ram V

Artist: Nina Vakueva, Jordie Bellaire, and Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

The Strays disable the Magistrate’s communication around Alleytown and replace it with their own ramshackle network. Harley Quinn believes Ivy is the key to helping the city, so she and the Gardener start heading to Alleytown to track down Catwoman and retrieve Ivy.

PREVIEW: Nightwing #84

 

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Robbi Rodriguez, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 21, 2021

When the Bat-Family receives misleading information and incorrect directions from Oracle, ones Babs didn’t send herself, they realize Oracle’s system has been hacked! But who is powerful enough to break into Oracle’s own super-secure network? And what personal information is now at risk? Not only that, this mysterious Anti-Oracle is taking advantage of Gotham City’s state of fear and has bombarded the city with falsities, spreading even more fear. With the Bat-Team’s comms unreliable, Nightwing heads to Gotham to find the source of Anti-Oracle’s transmissions.

Superman and the Authority #3 Review

 

The Elite Authority

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Travel Foreman, Mikel Janin

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: September 14, 2021

It is crazy how much I have enjoyed this series so far.  I know it was supposed to be a 5G thing, and now DC Comics is trying to squeeze it into the "everything matters" Infinite Frontier continuity, but I likes what I likes and I can almost say I've loved it so far.  However, I am starting to worry that there will not be enough space to tell a complete story.  Let's jump into the review...

Justice League: Last Ride #5 Review

 

Get Over It!

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Miguel Mendonca

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 15, 2021

We are into the second half of this story, and I am still waiting for something to grab me here. The mystery of what Batman did to Martian Manhunter seemed to have been solved and a letdown because it was nothing Batman did to Martian Manhunter.  I guess Superman disagrees, but he comes off in this book like a bit of a prick anyway, so who knows.  The end of the last issue was pretty cool, though, so I am looking forward to jumping into this month's issue.