I keep reviewing everything I want but the one I must want to read. In this case Superman Special #1 is the end of my favorite Superman run and was a sad one to read.
Here are the reviews graded in three categories
Cohesiveness: The ease of reading. How confusing is it?
Enjoyability: Was it fun?
Story: Was it well written?
Aquaman #36
The Crown Comes Down continues to slowly approach a conclusion. The jaw dropping aquatic landscape continues to impress while the book maintains both the heart and seriousness of the situation. Murks “acting” comes through just as hysterically as King Sharks support role. This story is SO much fun and the story continues to move forward. However, Rath has slowly become a more dull and dull villain. After starting in an incredible position of power, Rath has slowly devolved. Maybe the idea is that power corrupts ideals, but it feels like a sacrifice. By creating a villain SO heinous, characters actually have to consider at what point is honor less important than the future. The Motherhood STILL doesn’t get it too my confusion.
Cohesiveness: 5
Enjoyability: 5
Story: 4
14/15
Batman #47
Is there a world where Batman can be happy and be Batman? The End of “The Gift” hints that maybe there can’t. Last issue, I was convinced that King doesn’t understand Booster, but King finally found a tone at least consistent with “Booster Shot” from Action Comics. I think this issue has people in two boats. One, fun elseworld with a fun revisiting of Batman’s Origin. Or two a messy story where King fails to write a Bruce Wayne story. I fall in the first boat because Bruce Wayne without his parents dying then would be very different. The fun Booster exchange was also fun. “Did you just wink?” and Booster’s response were hysterical. It will be interesting to see what you guys think.
Cohesiveness: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Story: 4
12/15
Green Lanterns #47
As ghost of the past ends, so does a good storyline turned sour. The arc started really well and explained some moments of intense terror and fear for Jessica. Someone who has grown so much in conquering her own fear. But it’s the ghosts of the past that are still scary for Jessica. The premise worked but once the three way narrative became two, everything fell apart. The story with Jessica and Simon became a confused mess of fight scenes which was solved by a talk fest. The real world side didn’t fare much better as it seems constantine saved the day, but what did he actually do?
Cohesiveness: 2
Enjoyability: 3
Story: 2
7/15
Justice League: No Justice #2
Justice League: No Justice is a continually fun adventure that does the infinity war aspect of giving characters that shouldn’t work together awesome moments. Whether it’s Starro and the Atom or Lobo and Beast Boy, this series has been a lot of fun. The art continues to impress with more big spreads. I think Manapuls work is most appreciated physically or on a BIG screen like PC or TV. The big spreads become all that more impressive. With more big reveals as the story conitnues I continue to be excited and surprisingly the Waller/ Green Arrow thread continues to be a lot of fun. But with so many storylines to juggle some elements feel lost or rushed like the moment where they split into teams. The release the worlds element doesn’t fully make sense either.
Cohesiveness: 4
Enjoyability: Extremely strong 5
Story: 4
Event Comic (+1)
14/15
New Challengers #1
New Challengers #1 is a MESS. I am completely lost in so many ways because the goal is for everyone to be caught in a tornado of change but with too much happening, plot points and exposition don’t even land. None of the characters interest me because none of them got fleshed out. The big reveal at the end felt meaningless. Honestly that was incredibly rough. If I had to point out a positive, I have never read a Challengers of the Unknown title in my life and I at least get what the Challengers of the Unknown is about. It feels like the writer doesn’t really know what he’s doing yet. It’s no wonder this series was cancelled after only 8 issues.
Cohesiveness: 0
Enjoyability: 2
Story: 1
3/15
Superman Special #1
Story 1
This story was a mix of everything I enjoy about Superman. Father-son lessons, real world problems with rehabilitating soldiers, and crazy dinosaurs. I really enjoyed the dino art and it’s clear that the artists loved drawing them. It’s a bummer this is the last story of Tomasi’s run that Tomasi wrote.
Cohesiveness: 5
Enjoyability: 5
Story: 5
15/15
Story 2
Not a bad story. However, it feels like a story from Action Comics #1000 and doesn’t say anything else. Its sweet and gets at the heart of who Superman is but feels inconsistent with Superman’s actual powers. Fortunately, the heart of the story is what matters most.
Cohesiveness: 5
Enjoyability: 4
Story: 3
12/15
Story 3
Once Again, it’s not a bad story, but it doesn’t necessarily impress either. It’s another short story which could have gone into #1000. In this case though, the heart is in second chances but ultimately isn’t all that great of a story. It mostly is plot and action. Wrong series.
Cohesiveness:4
Enjoyability: 2
Story: 2
8/15
Not Reviewing: → Yeah it’s a lot of titles, I’m sorry I am not at a point to catch up on these series.
Batman Sins of the Father #8
WildStorm #13
Harley Loves Joker #2
Injustice 2 #58
Damage #5
Future Quest Presents #10
Cave Carson has an Interstellar Eye #3
Brave & the Bold Batman & Wonder Woman #4
Batwoman #15