SHORT REVIEWS (Wednesday 4/18/18)

BLACKHAMMER: AGE OF DOOM #1
This is the return of Jeff Lemire's super heroes stuck in purgatory book. The first volume (or season, or part...or take your pick) was 13 issues. But I guess, since Marvel and DC re-boot their books with new #1's every year, Dark Horse wanted in on the action so this isn't #14 (but it is!). Lemire also wrote two mini-series with the characters exploring their backstories during the hiatus. So it's back, and just as compelling and weird as it always was. The super heroes are a motley bunch. There's a tough guy and a woman stuck in a child's body and a witch and a senile scientist and a monster sort of creature. The big mystery is why are they stuck in a small town with no escape? Well, we've been waiting since the first issue to find out. Black Hammer's daughter appeared in the purgatory town in #13 but in this issue she's already disappeared to a sort of biker bar in Hell. It's weird, yes, but interesting. The art, by Dean Ormston, reminds me of Tales from the Crypt, which is a good thing as the book is sort of retro. **1/2

ACTION COMICS #1000
Jesus! 1,000 issues! Actually, shouldn't there be more? Didn't this start in the 30's? Unfortunately this isn't any sort of big issue culmination or anything, it's just lame, random stories. Scott Snyder and Tom King wrote bad tales here and there's a bunch of famous artists from yesteryear in it. The big deal is that this is the debut of Brian Bendis in DC. He wrote a 12 page story drawn by Jim Lee that sets up his run on both Superman titles this summer plus a weekly 6 part mini-series. Bendis' story isn't anything new. Superman fights some big bad and is stabbed while pedestrians around him joke about his red underwear. *

BATMAN #45
Writer Tom King has been hit or miss so far on this title. The previous Poison Ivy arc was bad but before that came a terrific issue featuring Batman, Catwoman, Superman, and Superman's wife, going to a carnival. I know. It sounds stupid but it was 2018's best issue thus far. King will always be known for the guy that had Batman marry Catwoman (this July 4th!), but this issue proves that when he goes strange he can knock it out of the park. Booster Gold is hilarious in this issue. He went back in time to save Bruce Wayne's parents and now, currently, the present is bonkers because of it. They also brought back superstar artist Tony Daniel on this arc. This feels like a great Alan Moore issue...which is a high compliment. ***1/2

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #799
I fucking love this cover. And Dan Slott's last story is actually a great one. The Green Goblin has merged with Carnage to become The Red Goblin. And the climax of this issue has Norman Osbourne's grandson also turned into a Carnage villain. That climax is silly and dumb, but the rest of the book is all action and tense and has a good build to #800 and Slott's swan song with this book. This is the best this book has been in a long time, although that isn't saying a lot as it's been just okay for years. Stuart Immonen did the art, which is a bit sloppy. ***

DAREDEVIL #600

Daredevil has always been one of my favorite Marvel books. It seems to be one of those B books that creators go wild with in strange, new directions. Ed Brubaker’s awesome run was probably ten years ago and yet I still think about it from time to time. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee tried a more lighthearted approach a few years ago that just didn’t do it for me. And I started reading Charles Soule’s current run but thought it sucked. I came back when he started his “Mayor Fisk” story and am glad I did. It’s not spectacular or anything, but the plot that builds up to this issue is a worthy story for the big #600. Soule added a new, Robin-esque sidekick to the book called Blindspot. Kind of silly that he’s named that since he ended up being blinded by the Bansky-like serial killer, Muse. In this issue, Blindspot faces the freshly escaped from prison Muse. The Kingpin is the mayor of New York and Matt Murdock is working for him as some sort of assistant. So of course The Hand shows up, shoots arrows into Fisk and sidelines him...leading to Murdock ending up being the next in line on the chain to take over as mayor. Pretty cool storyline to say the least. With art by the always great Ron Garvey, Daredevil is seemingly back where it belongs, as one of Marvel’s better, more interesting series. ***