Here are the books I picked up this week and my opinions on them.
Batman (2016) #11
Official site is http://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-2016/batman-11
Batman’s and his new crew have broken into Bane’s jail in hopes of abducting Psycho Pirate and using him to cure Gotham Girl. As I’ve written on in the past, Batman is often times a team book. You can only explore the character so much before that becomes redundant, so exploring the other character in Batman’s world becomes a necessity if you want to delve further into Batman lore. There are a number of mysteries at play here, primarily the circumstances around Catwoman committing mass murder and the true nature of the Ventriloquist’s mental illness. I guess we’ll learn more about this in the future since only crumbs were dropped in this issue.
Score: 5.3/10
Doctor Strange (2015) #14
Official site is http://marvel.com/comics/issue/55428/doctor_strange_2015_14
Bachalo’s art is great as always and the first thing I love about this book. The other thing is the trippiness of the story. Doctor Strange to me is the gateway to the kind of trippy, magical, horror stories that can’t be told through other superheroes. In this issue, Doctor Strange is in hell and needs to use his astral projection to go inside his own stomachand defeat some evil bacon he ingested before it kills him. Yeah, there’s some trippy stuff going on here. This is a funny, weird, gross issue and my favorite book of the week.
Score: 7.7/10
Infamous Iron Man (2016) #2
Official site is http://marvel.com/comics/issue/61548/infamous_iron_man_2016_2
I am seriously loving this book. The concept of a reformed Doctor Doom trying to be a good guy is so fun. It’s also really interesting to see this super villain try to reason and figure out what a superhero would do because he simply has no conscience. Additionally, I love Maleev’s art and it suits this book perfectly. I feel like Maleev’s ability to draw magic, darkness, and mystery is just impressive. I’m definitely going to keep up with this book and this is my second favorite book of the week.
Score: 7.5/10
Invincible #131
Official site is https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/invincible-131
So, Kirkman’s out of ideas for Invincible and has decided to end the series. I guess this is the beginning of the end and who knows how he’ll write it. Maybe they get a happy ending. Maybe they all die. I’m hoping for an ending that offers a critique of the superhero comic book genre, some sort of statement about the current state of comic books. That was what the point originally was. Kirkman seemed to want to subvert the standard superhero story when he first started writing this book. Who knows what he wants to do now.
Score: 5.4/10
Justice League (2016) #9
Official site is http://www.dccomics.com/comics/justice-league-2016/justice-league-9
I think Hitches best work was on Millar’s Ultimates series. His subsequent work hasn’t felt as detailed or fluid. Or maybe it’s just that the stories he’s been given aren’t great. Either way, this isn’t a great book.
Score: 3/10
Reborn #2
Official site is https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/reborn-2
If you’ve ever read a Millar book before, you should know what to expect here. If not, then expect to find a bunch of big ideas, imperfectly stitched together with some light humor thrown in. This is not a serious book, nor is it a fantasy book. It feels like any other Millar book where he takes some ideas he had and throws them all together. The story isn’t particularly meaningful, but it is fun to explore this new world. Also like past Millar books, Millar has managed to land another amazing artist in Capullo. There is some amazing art here and that alone could justify a purchase.
Score: 6/10
Spider-Man (2016) #9
Official site is http://marvel.com/comics/issue/55703/spider-man_2016_9
A Civil War II tie in. Nice to get some color on the other characters in Miles Morales’ world, but nothing much happens here.
Score: 3/10
Suicide Squad (2016) #6
Official site is http://www.dccomics.com/comics/suicide-squad-2016/suicide-squad-6
I read this for Jim Lee’s art and for some reason, they decided to have even less of his art than normal. Lee illustrates only half of this book, which in my opinion means the price should be half off.
Score: 3/10
Thanos (2016) #1
Official site is http://marvel.com/comics/issue/61697/thanos_2016_1
I was curious what happened to Thanos after Secret Wars and now I get my answer. Thanos is dying and some characters I’ve barely ever seen before seem to be scheming around it. Not a great issue and I’m not really interested in reading the next one.
Score: 2.5/10
Trinity (2016) #3
Official site is http://www.dccomics.com/comics/trinity-2016/trinity-3
My goodness,, Clay Mann’s art is amazing. It just has this very mythological, epic feel to it. I would buy this book just for the art, but any book that tries to delve into the mythos of a long standing superhero like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, deserves a purchase in my opinion. If you like these characters and like the art, you should definitely buy this book.
Score: 6.5/10
Elliot's View 