DEVIL'S REIGN #1

 

    For years now, Daredevil has been consistently Marvel's best book. The reason is fairly obvious: Marvel puts great writers on Daredevil and leaves them on the title for years. The modern Daredevil renaissance started when Bendis did a run that got everyone talking. Brubaker took over and, for my money, wrote one of the best runs of any mainstream superhero comic in the new century. Andy Diggle did Shadowland, which most people hated, but I enjoyed his run. Mark Waid did a colorful run. Charles Soule did a good run. And now we've got Chip Zdarsky, who put Matt Murdock in jail for murder, made Wilson Fisk the mayor of NYC, and made Elektra the new Daredevil. I don't necessarily think of Daredevil being a better, more interesting character than other Marvel heroes like the Hulk or Spider-Man or anyone, but perhaps his world is just a great place for writers to play in. Whatever the magic is, it's been the best Marvel book for over a decade now. Every writer makes it unique and adds some interesting choices. And now we've got the first big Daredevil mega event since Shadowland. Devil's Reign starts out with the same plot as Marvel's infamous Civil War event book. Wilson Fisk as mayor has added a new NYC law banning superheroes. This is because he's mad at Daredevil because Fisk forgot Daredevil's secret identity. The reason he forgot it is because The Purple Man, Jessica Jones' old nemesis, had kids that had a cult that made the world forget Daredevil's secret identity. Uh...okay. I'll admit that the first half of Devil's Reign #1 isn't that great. By the end, though, it had me hooked. Fisk starts stabbing The Purple Man at the end, getting purple blood splashed all over his face. Will this somehow give Fisk the powers of persuasion that The Purple Man has? Who knows? Also, Fisk is now running for President of the U.S. And since this is a Marvel event and not just a Daredevil story, we get a bunch of other heroes in this like The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man and Tony Stark, who's going to run for mayor of NYC against Fisk. So there's definitely a lot going on in this issue, which is #1 of #6. And since this is Marvel, get ready for the onslaught of tie-in books that nobody is going to read. Spider-Woman and Moon Knight are the only regular titles getting thrown into this storyline, but there are also a bunch of brand new mini-series coming out. There's Daredevil: Woman Without Fear, Luke Cage: City of Fire, Devil's Reign: Superior Four, and Devil's Reign: X-Men. There are actually a bunch of others, I'm just too lazy to list them all. For this main book. Chip Zdarsky is writing it and so far Marco Checchetto is drawing it. Checchetto's art is not the greatest, but it's decent. The story is pretty crazy, actually, which makes this a fun, wild read. I'm looking forward to #2. I can't even remember the last time I thought that about a Marvel event. ***

BATMAN #118

 

    When writer Tom King was fired from Batman, I swore that Brian Bendis would eventually be the new writer. I'm not sure what happened, but Brian Bendis' DC exclusive contract ended and he's not writing any DC books at the moment. Perhaps the DC brass actually read a few issues of his awful run on the two Superman titles? Or maybe none of his books sold well. Either way, the new writer on Batman is not, in fact, Brian Bendis. It's Joshua Williamson, DC's latest "it" boy now that James Tynion IV quit DC to go to Substack. Williamson was once a good, interesting writer. He wrote 3 Image books that were entertaining; Nailbiter, Birthright, and Ghosted. Sadly, he joined DC and for whatever reason his writing has fallen off kind of like how Jason Aaron's writing decreased in quality once he became a big name. I haven't read everything Williamson has written at DC, but the few issues of The Flash I did read were forgettable and his last Nailbiter series for Image was atrocious. But Batman has not been a great book in almost a decade. Tom King's run was hit or miss and Tynion's run was unexciting and mostly dull. So what was Williamson's big pitch going to be? Batman fighting The Penguin or something we've all seen before? Nope! Although Batman fighting a classic rogues gallery does happen in this issue. But Williamson's idea for Batman is actually something new and fresh. His great idea is to take Bruce Wayne and Batman out of Gotham City. First off, that's a terrible idea. I suppose a great writer might be able to pull it off...but even that I doubt. This first issue of Williamson's run starts off with a homage scene to the first scene in Tim Burton's Batman film. That's fantastic. Then there's a Billionaire's Ball that's also a costume ball where everyone is dressed up like villains such as The Joker and Mr. Freeze and what-not. Bad guys attack the ball, Batman saves the day. Then we get to the meat of the book; Batman, Inc., a motley group of "other" Batmen have been arrested for murder in some far off, foreign city. Batman goes there to investigate and ends up finding Lex Luthor there as well. The best thing I can say about this issue is the art. Jorge Molina and Mikel Janin did the art, although I'm not exactly sure who did what. Did they just both draw every page? Did Janin just polish it up? Did Janin ink it? The art looks prestigious, anyway. As for the story: you usually want to be hooked in a first issue and dying to read the next issue after a great climax. Seeing Lex Luthor show up just makes me care less about this book. And do I give a shit about Batman investigating a murder in another city far away from Gotham? Nope. I had high hopes for this new team simply because Tynion's run was so disagreeable. Now I'm just sad. Is it that fucking hard to write a good Batman book? Jesus. *1/2

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #80: "BEYOND" CHAPTER 6

  

   Nick Spencer left The Amazing Spider-Man to go work at Substack, the online newsletter site that somehow has seemingly billions of dollars to spend by offering contracts to every important comic book writer. Good riddance, as Spencer's run on The Amazing Spider-Man will go down as one of the worst in history. While the infamous, years long "Clone Saga" run might not have been the worst ever, it certainly was divisive. It ran from 1994 to 1996, a period that I didn't read Marvel comic books for one reason or another. The only thing I know about it is that Ben Reilly, Peter Parker's clone, became Spider-Man, and most people that read it back then either loved it or hated it. I doubt I'll ever read the "Clone Saga" simply because it took place over multiple years and multiple books and I don't think I want to read hundreds of issues. Well the new writers on The Amazing Spider-Man decided to make Ben Reilly Spider-Man again and be the star of the book. I'm not sure why they did this, though. I'd be happy if the book was just monthly and had one artist and one writer and Peter worked at The Bugle, look pictures, dated MJ, and fought bad guys. Oh, well. This issue, #80 (#881 in reality numbering), is Part 6 of 17 in the "Beyond" storyline. The book is now 3 times a month and has a whopping 5 writers working on it. No, I have no idea why there are 5 writers on this. Maybe if the story was shockingly awesome I wouldn't question it. After Spencer's terrible run, anything would be stellar, and "Beyond" has started out at least interesting. Peter Parker is in a coma. Ben Reilly is working for the Beyond Corporation who is controlling Spider-Man as a sort of corporate puppet with high-tech gadgetry. Of course the Beyond Corporation will turn out to be evil and Parker will wake up and return eventually. In this issue we have Ben Reilly fighting Kraven the Hunter. The climax has two big reveals; that the Beyond Corp wants to take out Miles Morales because they don't want another Spider-Man around and that Aunt May is getting Dr. Octopus to help her wake Peter up from his coma which is under mysterious circumstances. So there's a lot going on. The whole Kraven storyline, which lasted a mere two issues, was totally forgettable. It doesn't help that the Kraven mythos was fantastic but they fucked it up by bringing him back from the grave. And while this "Beyond" storyline is decent, I'm actually really excited what they're going to do after this. Will they keep 5 writers on board? What about the artists? This issue has Michael Dowling doing the art (it's okay) but they also have the superior Patrick Gleason doing some issues. All of the great covers are by Art Adams, although this particular cover is kind of lame. Spider-Man is a great character. Do you really need a frigging clone replacing him? Are they that bereft of ideas in this day and age? It took 5 writers to re-do the "Clone Saga?" Marvel's been floundering for awhile. Wake me up when they wake up. **

HULK #1

  

   I can't even remember the last time I was really excited to read a new superhero comic from the big two. Marvel and DC have been pretty forgettable lately for various reasons, but when I heard that writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Ottley were going to be the new team for The Incredible Hulk, I couldn't wait to read it. Cates is Marvel's best writer these days. Not everything he writes is solid gold or anything (his Venom started great and ran out of steam, his Thor run is dull), but he's very creative. With Venom, he literally created an entire new mythology around the character and really reignited a pointless book. Plus, Ryan Ottley is one of my favorite artists ever since he worked on Invincible. Ottley's art just screams superhero. I'm still baffled why he mysteriously left The Amazing Spider-Man and hasn't been drawing anything for the last year. But here's two creators I love with a new #1. So...of course Hulk #1 is kind of a letdown. Maybe, just maybe, I'm not really a Hulk fan. After all, Cates' and Ottley's Hulk #1 comes right after the 50 issue run of The Immortal Hulk that Al Ewing wrote. A ton of people online mentioned multiple times how Ewing's run was one of, if not the, best Hulk runs in history. I tried reading it twice and didn't think it was very good...so maybe I just don't give two shits about the Hulk. I'm not entirely sure if Cates has continued things from Ewing's run or not...but the basic premise is that Bruce Banner is evil and can now control the Hulk from his mind. Banner defeats Tony Stark and takes over a base that Stark had. Everything else is a bit confusing. I will say that Cates is as creative as ever with this book, and that's one of the reasons I usually enjoy is writing. Obviously, we'll have to get further into this run to see what it's going to be about and if it gets better or worse. And while I love Ottley's art...I'm not entirely sure putting him on a Hulk book was the best idea. Ottley's art is more cartoony than anything, so his serious, brutal, powerful Hulk looks a bit less menacing than it's supposed to since the book looks like a cartoon. The color in the book is also not as vibrant as it should be (Frank Martin did the colors). I really hate being so excited about a new book and then being letdown. Maybe I should have reviewed What's The Furthest Place From Here? #1 from Image, which I just read and is a 4 star masterpiece. Oh, well. **

SINISTER WAR #1

 

    Writer Nick Spencer is finally leaving The Amazing Spider-Man in the Fall. Unfortunately, Marvel's genius idea is to have four different writers on it after Spencer's run. Their other genius idea is to replace Peter Parker with his clone and have the clone be the star. So until all of that happens, Spencer has to finish his run by changing the infamous "One More Day" storyline. There's also Spencer's big "Sinister War" storyline to unfold. This is the first part of it, although it's pretty much just a continuation of his Amazing run. If you haven't been reading it then you'll be totally fucking lost. It's also a short mini-series at four issues. It's also pretty dumb. This issue starts off with Dr. Strange having a conversation with Mephisto about Peter Parker's bargain. This happened years ago when Joe Quesada had Peter Parker make a deal with the devil to make his marriage with Mary Jane disappear. Aunt May was shot and the deal let her live. This happened way back in 2007 but fans still seem to hate it and bring it up often, probably why Spencer is going back to change it. I'm not entirely sure why they wanted to get rid of Parker and Mary Jane's marriage in the first place. I suppose it was to free up more stories involving his love life...although has he even dated anyone since then significant? The other reason was to create controversy to sell books. Either way, it looks like Mephisto will renege on his deal somehow and Parker and Mary Jane will get married again. While that subplot is going on, Peter Parker and Mary Jane go to her movie premiere where The Savage Six and The Sinister Six both attack everyone. There's a huge fight. Afterwards, Spider-Man ends up fighting Kindred. And that's part 1. The Sinister Six of course is the infamous group of villains with The Sandman, Kraven, Dr. Octopus, Lizard, and Electro. The Savage Six is a new creation led by The Vulture. Rhino is in it. So are a bunch of nobodies like Tarantula. Mysterio is in this issue but he's supposedly a good guy now. Also he's secretly the director of the movie that Mary Jane starred in. Yep, I said this issue was dumb. It also doesn't help that Mark Bagley drew it. His art is pretty basic and harks back to the 90's...if you're into that old school look. For a short four issue event book that's supposed to be a big deal for Marvel, you'd think they'd get a better artist. It also doesn't help that Spencer's run has turned into a fucking mess. It's never been good and never got better. The one storyline he's continued with for years during his run is the menacing, villain Kindred. Kindred turned out to be (lamely) Harry Osbourne, Norman's son. I'm still not sure if Kindred is supposed to dead, alive, a zombie, supernatural, or what. I'm not entirely sure if even Spencer knows. But the entire run has featured this boring, confusing villain and that certainly never helped. This issue, thank God, is breezier and less wordy than the usual Spencer issue. So it's at least short and mildly amusing. I can't even remember the last time The Amazing Spider-Man was a great book. Was it when McFarlane and Larsen worked on it? Maybe parts of that J. Michael Straczynski run, which featured "One More Day." Will putting four different writers on the book change anything? Sounds like a recipe for incoherence and disaster. I guess we'll see. **

TOM KING WEEK: STRANGE ADVENTURES #10

 Published on May 26th, 2021

    Adam Strange was introduced in 1958, though I never heard of him until this series. His character is pretty much a ripoff of Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter, the American transported to Mars to fight aliens and fall in love with an alien woman. Burrough's also wrote Tarzan, so he definitely was pretty creative. I'm not sure "creative" is the word I would use to describe Tom King. This book is similar to his Rorschach book in that they're both unfolding mysteries that take a really long time to unfold. We're at #10 of #12 and we've finally solved the mystery of this book. The basic premise is that Adam Strange turned into a sadistic murderer to defeat the alien race, the Pykkts. This has seemingly got him into trouble with the Justice League and a superhero called Mr. Terrific because of the killing of innocents and what-not. In this issue, Mr. Terrific tells Adam's wife, Alanna, that Adam's true, secret plan was to make a deal with the Pykkts. He would be able to win the war on Raan, the alien planet, if he would give them Earth. Also, Adam Strange faked his daughter's death and the Pykkts have her as collateral in case the deal falls apart. And that's the whole book. I guess Adam Strange is officially a villain now? Either way, he's another Tom King character that's flawed and has "problems." If it wasn't for the spectacular art by Mitch Gerads and Ethan Shaner (my pick for Best Art of 2020 was this book...it started way back in March 2020), I'm not sure I would care about this book or even continue reading it. Every issue is split between the current time on Earth and the past time during the war on Raan between Adam and the Pykkts. Even with two stories going on, most of the issues in this series feel like filler. Like every Tom King book, it seems like he could do a 12 issue mini-series in half the issues and you wouldn't lose anything. The book is also a little bit too depressing, dark, and ugly for my taste. I've never read an Adam Strange book before, but I kind of think back in '58 he was probably a happy-go-lucky superhero doing fun superhero things. And now he's evil, broken, misguided, a shell of a man. I'm not sure what the point of this book is, and that's kind of a deathblow for me. *1/2

TOM KING WEEK: RORSCHACH #9

 

Published on June 9th, 2021

    I always feel a little uneasy when a something new in the Watchmen universe comes out. The reason is that the writer of Watchmen, Alan Moore, famously was told by DC that he'd get the rights to it back when it wasn't in print anymore. DC then sneakily never let it go out of print so they'd never lose the rights to it. There actually hasn't been much of anything done with Watchmen until ten years ago or so when DC published the Before Watchmen event with multiple books and the Watchmen movie came out. Then there was the great HBO TV show and the Doomsday Clock comic book and now Tom King's Rorschach 12 issue mini-series. The only thing worthwhile in any of that was J.J. Abrahm's HBO show. The comic book sequels/prequels have all been pretty forgettable. Rorschach seems to be the ultimate in pointlessness. After 9 issues, I'm still baffled as to why this exists. The book is a why-dunnit. It starts with a guy dressed up in a Rorschach mask and a girl dressed up like a cowboy being killed while trying to assassinate a politician running for president. The rest of the story follows a detective trying to figure out who those two assassins were and why they attempted it. So far the answers are pretty dull. The guy dressed up like Rorschach was a retired comic book artist. The Kid, a girl in a cowboy outfit, is still a bit of a mystery, though she believes that giant squids are telepathically controlling the world or something stupid. I guess this squid conspiracy has to do with the Trump Qanon conspiracy stuff and how people lose their minds over that sort of thing. In this issue, we learn that a political worker was killed at Rorschach and The Kid's house in the desert. And that's about it. A slow burn is putting it mildly. This book literally could have been wrapped up in one issue. Jorge Fornes does the art, and it definitely fits the 70's political/conspiracy vibe. His stuff reminds me of Outcast's Paul Azaceta a bit. I think the huge problem in this book is that in every issue you're waiting for some huge bombshell to show up and make the book interesting. Otherwise, it feels like it's going nowhere slowly. *1/2