Secret Weapons #0 Review

Secrets and Lies

Written by: Eric Heisserer
Art by:  Adam Pollina
Colors by: David Baron
Publisher: Valiant
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy

The Valiant comics line delivers a wonderfully integrated world. This book is a prequel which gives us Nikki Finch's story outlining and developing her past right up until the point when the Secret Weapons mini-series starts. Let's see how it was.

Imaginary Fiends #2 Review and ***SPOILERS***

Not The Spider-Woman You Know

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Stephen Molnar, Quinton Winter, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 27, 2017

***NON-SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM***

After an absolutely wild first issue, I'm excited to see where this one is going to go. Tim Seeley has set up an awesome premise with the idea of IMPs that start out as a child's imaginary friend, but can potentially develop into much more sinister fixations. For Melba Li, the IMP Polly Peachpit has haunted her for six years, but now she has to work with Polly to help solve other IMP cases for the FBI. Damn, just writing that sounds cool to me. Let's take a look here and see if this issue delivers as well as the first.

No. 1 With A Bullet #3 Review

Conversations with the Black Dahlia

Written by: Jacob Semahn
Art by: Jorge Corona
Colors: Jen Hickman
Publisher: Image Comics
Reviewed by: Andrew McAvoy

This book has been a highlight of the last couple of months. It was nice to see it arrive in my comic box for the start of 2018. This issue starts to deal with the aftermath of Nash's experience and draws out some interesting points on perception. Let's see how it goes.

Infinite Loop: Nothing But The Truth #3 - Review

Clockmakers and Rocket ships

Written by: Pierrick Colinet and Elsa Charretier   
Art: Daniele Di Nucuolo
Colors: Sarah Stern
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Publisher: IDW
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy

The previous two issues in this series have accomplished a lot. The stage has been set, we are invested in the characters, we are familiar with the context, and the wider developments away from the central storyline. In a mere two issues, a world has been made. Now its time to crank it up a gear in the critical third issue of this 6 issue story. Let's see how it goes. Buckle up. 

Injustice 2 #39 Review

Injustice 2 #39
Writer: Tom Taylor
Art Team: Bruno Redondo, Juan Albarran, Rex Lokus

DC Comics

Release Date: January 2, 2018

Cover Price: $.99

Battle of the Baddies
There's one things that will stop me from reading a comic in a heartbeat and that is if it lacks intrigue and surprise luckily Injustice 2 consistently has lots of both and it doesn't let up this issue. Last we left our characters Batman and Zod were battling things out in the North Pole and Batman, with the use of a few tools, had Zod on the ropes. That's how we left things so lets see how they resume this week.

Imaginary Fiends #1 Review and ***SPOILERS***

Polly, I'm Rotten To The Core

Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Stephen Molnar, Quinton Winter, and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 22, 2017

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this book. Tim Seeley isn't one of my favorite writers out there, but he isn't my least favorite either. The solicits seemed interesting, but I wasn't entirely sure whether or not that fun would follow through to the book itself or not. So let's call those mixed feelings. But let's jump right in and see if this book surprises me and is awesome, or if it falls flat.

The American Way: Those Above and Those Below #4 Review and ***SPOILERS***

A Little Less Talk, A Lot More Action Please

Written by: John Ridley
Art By: Georges Jeanty, John Livesay, and Nick Filardi
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 15, 2017

***NON-SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM***

From the first issue on, this series has tackled subject matter that is meant to make some people uncomfortable. It's very tough, real topics that need to be addressed in this country. That being said, this isn't exactly my type of series. It hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been tremendous either. It's simply been middle-of-the-road, and not very exciting. As the mini-series heads into the latter half, I'm hoping it picks up and grabs me for these last three issues.

EARLY PREVIEW: The Terrifics #1

Gee, Your Comic Book Smells Terrific

Written By: Jeff Lemire
Art By: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado
Cover Price: $2.99
On Sale Date: February 28, 2018

Bound together by fate, united by the spirit of exploration and hope for tomorrow, the Terrifics bound from the Dark Multiverse of Meta! When Mr. Terrific, Metamorpho, Plastic Man and Phantom Girl find themselves literally bound together by a tragic accident, our team of unlikely allies must rely on one another to make their way back home. But a startling revelation on their return trip brings them face to face with a new mystery: where in the universe is Tom Strong?

I'm super excited for this book to come out, as evidenced by the fact that I'm posting preview pages two months before its release! And here they are!

Dastardly and Muttley #5 - Review and Spoilers

Looney Lovecraft!

Written by: Garth Ennis
Art by: Mauricet
Colours by: John Kalisz
Letters by: Rob Steen
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018


My experiences with Hanna-Barbera comics have not been exactly great lately, and I was hoping that this issue would see me break out of "what the hell did they think they were doing?" mode and actually give me something that I could enjoy. I know, I know. It's a radical concept, but, lo and behold, the Ennis/Mauricet team actually seem to embrace it, brazen innovators that they are. That's not to say there aren't problems this issue. There's an awful lot of exposition going on here, but the issue is, for the most part, a lot of fun. Allow me to explain why…

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1 Review And Spoilers

Pink and Hairy

Written by: Mark Russell

Pencils by: Mike Feehan

Inks by: Mark Morales

Colours by: Paul Mounts

Letters by: Dave Sharpe

Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

The Hanna-Barbera comics continue to bemuse, frustrate and entertain in more or less equal measure. By now, you'll be familiar with the concept. DC takes a fondly remembered franchise from your childhood and reimagines it in a hopefully entertaining 'edgy' way in an effort to breathe some new creative life into it. Whether the concept actually needed new creative life is neither here nor there. This is the 21st century. The past is simply a resource for a never-ending parade of pastiche, nostalgia or subversion. I rather liked Snagglepuss as a kid. A minor character, to be sure, but he had an instantly recognizable look and demeanor and, voiced by the incomparable Daws Butler, a warmth and vulnerability that was all rather appealing. What does Mark (The Flintstones) Russell do with all that? There's only one way to find out…

Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #3 Review and **SPOILERS**

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Do It For the Kids

Writer: Tony Isabella 

Artist: Clayton Henry 

Colorist: Peter Pantazis 

Letterer: Josh Reed 

Cover: Clayton Henry with Tomeu Morey 

Cover Price: $3.99 

On Sale Date: January 3, 2018

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

This is the city. I work here. I carry a Delaney card. I’m betting students don’t use Delaney cards anymore, but they were integral to classroom life when I was a kid. A Delaney card was a little card you filled out in the beginning of the year, and could be arranged in a special folder by the teacher to designate your seating assignment in the room. It had these miniscule check boxes for attendance and lateness, so of course the Mission Impossible for the perpetually delinquent was to snatch your Delaney card and replace it with an augmented version that was visually identical. It sounds like a foolhardy proposition, but I committed this successfully a half a dozen times between ninth and twelfth grades. I bet Jefferson Pierce wouldn’t have stood for that shit! Find out when you read my review of Black Lightning: Cold Dead Hands #3, right here!

Superman #38 Review and *SPOILERS*

And Boom Goes The Superboy

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason

Art By: Sergio Davila, Vicente Cifuentes, Gabe Eltaeb, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

While I was a little down the last issue of our Super Sons of Tomorrow crossover, this is still a story that I'm interested in and see some huge potential for what it may set up down the line...... That's all I got here...... Previously, we saw the Teen Titans break off into two groups, where Raven and Beast Boy went all team Tim Drake (Savior) to stop Superboy, while Starfire, Kid Flash and Aqualad felt that they needed to get to Damian so that they could help protect Jon.  Let's jump into this issue and see what team finds our pre-teen hero first and what the Titans of Tomorrow will do when they finally arrive in our time.  Let's check it out.

Green Lanterns #38 Review and *SPOILERS*

High Tide

Written By: Tim Seeley

Art By: German Peralta, Ulises Arreola, Dave Sharpe

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's time to head back to Ungara to see what our Lantern heroes are up to now that we learned in the previous issue that Liseth Vok is a part of the Red Tide and that they're responsible for the death of Commander Psyt.  Yeah, there's a lot of alien names and concepts being thrown at us and hopefully this issue it will all come together in a way that I can really wrap my head around it and hopefully, make me more of a fan of this story.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Justice League #36 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Fan

Written By: Christopher Priest

Art By: Pete Woods, Willie Schu

Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 3, 2017

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Alright, this is my first Justice League written review since the New 52........ and while I'm all about the Justice League and their adventures, Priest's run so far hasn't exactly been the reprieve of Hitch's run that I was hoping for........ Yeah, it's written better and the issues make more sense than we previously had, but goddamn has it been all doom and gloom and where I'm looking for fun, we're getting the Justice League disassembled.  Hopefully things take a turn for the better as the series progresses because Justice League should be a fun book for everyone.  Let's jump into this issue and see if any fun can be had.  Let's check it out.

Cyborg #20 Review and *SPOILERS*

Wish Upon A Horn

Written By: Kevin Grevioux

Art By: Cliff Richards, Ivan Nunes, Gabe Eltaeb, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 3, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's the final issue of Cyborg and while I hate the idea of Victor Stone not having a book........ It's probably for the best because we haven't gotten anything decent out of this series and by the looks of it, this final issue isn't going to be much better.  In our previous issue, we saw Cyborg travel to Sudan, where he found a magic horn that granted him three wishes and for his first wish...... he wanted to be human again.  Which just really sucks because even though at the end of our previous arc before this we finally had Vic stop complaining about the whole "Am I Man Or Machine?" bit, but here he's back at it and it turns out that plain old Victor Stone isn't enough to contend with the evil General of Guardians of the United Republic.......... plus, Vic has malaria because every wish has a monkey paw effect.  Let's jump into this issue and see if Vic can somehow un-wish himself and put a stop to this evil horn and save this area of Sudan.  Let's check it out.

Batman #38 Review and *SPOILERS*

Master Bruce

Written By: Tom King

Art By: Travis Moore, Giulia Brusco, Clayton Cowles

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: January 3, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's time for a one-shot where we look at Bruce Wayne and think whether or not he actually came away from his parents deaths unscathed....... Yeah, yeah, I know, he's a damn psychopath in a bat costume, talking about saving Gotham, but besides for the obvious is what I'm talking about.  Anyway, with this being a one-shot there really isn't a lot to say going into this, so let's just get to it shall we?  

Batman and The Signal #1 Review and *SPOILERS*

In The Light of Day

Written By: Scott Snyder, Tony Patrick

Art By: Cully Hamner, Laura Martin, Deron Bennett

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 3, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I've been waiting for this book to come out since We Are Robin was cancelled and even with that, I had no idea that we'd be getting a Batman and The Signal book, I'm just talking about a book featuring Duke Thomas because he's easily one of my favorite new characters to come out of the New 52.  It's crazy too because as of right now, we only have the Joker calling Duke "The Signal" in Dark Days: The Casting #1 and now here for the title, but don't go thinking that the Joker named Duke, he'll have an explanation for it here........... and a whole lot of talk about his powers so let's jump into this issue and see how The Signal does on his own.  Let's check it out.

Green Arrow #36 Review

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Written by: Ben Percy
Art by: Juan Ferreyra
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

We are inching our way towards the Trial of Oliver Queen and I have to be honest, that's what I really want to see.  I am not sure if it will ever come to that, but a man can hope, right?  Until then, we will continue to deal with all the heaped on stuff that Ben Percy has set up since the beginning of Rebirth and while some of it's interesting, a whole lot isn't.  Personally, I will be so glad to leave the Ninth Circle and the Burned in the rearview mirror and get something fresh in this book.  Does this issue begin the process?  Let's find out...

Batman: White Knight #4 Review

Nightmares and Dreams

Written by: Sean Murphy
Art by: Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

I love this book!  It is fun even if it's not really "fun", it looks great, and it's everything I want in a Batman story...even if Batman isn't the major focus of it and it's an Elseworlds tale.  Maybe that's why it's so good...Sean Murphy doesn't need to worry about continuity and people like Eric Shea who yell all the time about continuity and so he can settle in and tell a story that's a tribute to so many things while still feeling fresh in and of itself.  So, do the good times keep on rolling?  Let's find out...

Nightwing #36 Review

Bleeding In

Written by: Sam Humphries
Art by: Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo and Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 3, 2018

The last issue of Nightwing was Sam Humphries first and while I think he may have played it too close to the vest, at least he seems to know the character.  I liked the idea of Dick doing his own thing with his cross-fit studio and while I would have liked to see the Runoffs, at least we got Svoboda...maybe.  She did kind of end the issue by shooting Dick, but it was pretty obvious that is was the work of the Judge, right?  So, does Humphries continue to get settled into the book this week with an even better issue?  Let's find out...

Deathstroke #27 Review

Born Again

Written by: Priest
Art by: Diogenes Nieves, Jason Paz, Jeromy Cox and Willie Shubert
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 3, 2017

Deathstroke has been one of my favorite books since Rebirth started and while I was all for this Defiance Squad story arc when it began, I'm starting to think it is dragging on a bot too long.  It's not that it's been bad, it's just been a bit more padded at points than I expected.  With only a couple of issues left, does Priest pick up the pace this issue?  Let's find out...

The Shadow/Batman #4 Review and Spoilers

Elongated

Written by: Steve Orlando
Art by: Giovanni Timpano
Colours by: Flavio Dispenza
Letters by: Taylor Esposito
Published by: Dynamite Entertainment/DC Comics
Price: $3.99


Another issue of Orlando-scripted vigilante goodness? Nice! Will last issue's admittedly rather tense cliffhanger be adequately resolved? Will Damian resolve his granddaddy issues? Will Orlando manage to continue his current writing-an-issue-without-any-noticeable-dialogue-problems streak? Will Giovanni Timpano's art continue to impress and surprise? The answer to these and other burning questions can be found below…

Marvel Madness Comics Podcast Ep. 34

Ep.#34: Spider-Men II, Tales of Suspense, Thanos, Phoenix Resurrection / Marvel Madness Comics Podcast

We’re back with a full slate of books for the Marvel Madness junkies this first week of the new year 2018. It’s a banner week in Buffalo, NY and for the Marvel Books, what do we mean by that? Tune in and find out. As always you know how we do, we get deep into details, and discuss whether or not to buy, borrow, or forget the following titles:

Secret Warriors #11 Review - Marvel Monday

All Hail Queen Lunella!


Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Artist: Javi Garron
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: December 27, 2017

Cover Price: $3.99

Last issue, Inferno was rocketing his way to Mister Sinister with the last chance at an Inhuman future in his hands. Inferno shattered the Royal Throne, to obtain the last of the terrigen crystals, with them he hoped to trade for his niece. In doing so he left his team holding the bag full of consequences at New Attilan. I for one can't wait to see how Rosenberg begins to wrap this story up.

Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #12 Review - Marvel Monday

Swinging into the 90's

Writer: Peter David
Artist: Will Sliney
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Release Date: December 27, 2017

Cover Price: $3.99

Last issue the Slingers kidnapped Cassandra in order to force Ben Reilly to go to the police and confess to brutally assaulting Thorne, a rival casino owner to Cassandra. Ben also has Death chipping away at his conscious using his newly acquired beauty as blackmail. Will the wall crawler continue his crisis of conscious in the clink?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - The Storms Of Crait #1 Review - Marvel Mondays

The garbage won't do

Written by: Ben Acker and Ben Blacker
Artist: Mike Mayhew
Publishers: Marvel
Release Date: 27 December 2017
Reviewer: Andrew McAvoy


Well, they say don't judge a book by its cover. Look at the beautiful cover that Marco Checchetto served up for this tie in with The Last Jedi - The Storms of Crait, a one-shot giving us some background to the mysterious planet Crait. Having been tantalized by Crait since viewing it on The Last Jedi trailer some months ago, and then having relished the planet's depiction in The Last Jedi earlier this month, boy was I ready for this title. Surely it couldn't disappoint? Well, it did disappoint... and don't call me Shirley.