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What are you reading right now?
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What are you reading right now? (July 2024)
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Last week's adventures in comics.Batman the Brave and the Bold: The Winning Card ★★★
Yet another version of Batman and Joker's first face off. Mitch Gerad's art is great when we get it. About a third of the panels though are just text made to look like a old timey silent picture reel where the Joker tells jokes or sings a nursery rhyme. King does this all the time and it's starting to drive me bonkers. It seems like a way to stretch out the story and help the artist draw less more than anything else. The way this story came out was really stupid. It's issues 1, 2, 5 and 9 of Batman's latest anthology comic.
Dandelion ★★
Disjointed vignettes about a dystopian near future where the poor are given housing in the sky that floats on the breeze like dandelion seeds. The caveat is that they give up their citizenship to any country and can never return to Earth. There's just not enough story here to keep me interested.
Stranger Things: The Voyage ★★★
The rare Stranger Things comic from Dark Horse with an actual story instead of fluff. Russians have hitched a ride on a cargo ship to go back to Russia. They've also snuck a demigorgon aboard which of course gets loose and starts killing people.
Eerie Archives, Vol. 5 ★★★
Fun stories of the macabre from the 60's. These collections are a lot of fun and run the gamut from fantasy to horror to sci-fi.
Dracula Book 1: The Impaler ★★★
Wagner and Jones attempt at adding to Dracula's lore, fleshing out things that aren't explained in the original novel. This is about how Dracula gets his powers, studying at Satan's teat to become the most evil and powerful he can become.
Lore Olympus: Volume Five ★★★
There's this big revelation about Persephone but it's revealed pretty poorly and I have severe doubts to its authenticity. Then she disappears and everyone's looking for her and I just kept wondering what the Hell was happening. For such a simple art style, this book can get very confusing.
X-Men: Inferno Prologue ★★★★
This is a really terrific era of the X-Men. All three books are really good. This is the era of the X-Men after Fall of the Mutants. The world thinks the X-Men died saving the world. They are hiding out in the Australian Outback and can't be videotaped or photographed as they go on covert missions around the world.
The X-Factor issues are the weakest of the 3 titles. It's a book in transition after they saved NYC from Apocolypse during Fall of the Mutants.
The New Mutants are dealing with the death of Doug Ramsey during Fall of the Mutants. His funeral is just a great but sad issue. Reading these all at once though, Rahne gets over his death and fixates on Sam awful quick. I think that was a misstep. Illyana is trying to maintain her hold on Limbo without turning into the Darkchilde in another lead in to Inferno.
The X-Men just are consistently fantastic all through the Claremont era.
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, Vol. 4 ★★
More fluff of little consequence. If you enjoy goofy short stories of no consequence featuring Batman's sidekicks this is the book for you. Otherwise, don't waste your time.
Borealis ★★★
This was alright. It felt very rushed with only 3 issues and left a lot open. It's about an Inuit woman who is a cop. She gets sent back to her home town to catch the local gang there. Meanwhile there's some kind of tribal supernatural thing going on with her too.
Census ★★★
A slacker living in New York takes a job as a census taker, except it turns out this census is for supernatural beings living in the 5 boroughs. Irreverent and humorous.
The Hood, Vol. 1: Blood from Stones ★★★★
The Hood gets his start in this Max book from Marvel. The Max line was for mature audiences and didn't bleep out the curse words. It's a great start. Parker Robbins is a small time crook working with his cousin when he stumbles across a hood that gives him powers. One with darker consequences in the future. Parker is a scum bag. He sees a prostitute on the reg with a pregnant girlfriend at home. I really like that the story doesn't mess around with bleeped out curses. That seems so juvenile these days. There is some derogatory terms especially towards the LGBTQ community that would not fly these days and it was a bit jarring to see it.
Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Married With Children ★★★★
Hickman plays this pretty straight. There's not really any heady concepts in this. This version of Peter Parker is married to MJ and they have two kids when he gets the powers he should have gotten when he was a teenager. Things are subtly different and he clearly has bigger ideas for everything else, but this was surprisingly lowkey. Marco Checchetto's art remains top notch.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: The Hidden Codex ★★★
Not bad. A monk is set free after being captured by some Vikings. He becomes part of a secret society when his brother goes missing. Some of the more mystical stuff doesn't make a lot of sense but it starts off pretty strong.
Subgenre ★★★
A meta story about a private detective who then starts jumping into a fantasy world and back. You can tell that Kindt thinks this is way more clever than it is.
The Change ★★★
For a comic book written by a celebrity, this is the rare one that doesn't suck. The main character is clearly supposed to be Whoopi Goldberg. She's going through menopause and randomly starts getting powers as the book progresses. It's surprisingly pretty funny as I've never been a fan of hers. I have nothing against her, just not my thing. Her husband is running for State Senator in New York City. The bad guy is very undeveloped. I'm surprised he wasn't sporting a mustache he twirled. The book here is all setup and ends just as its really beginning.
Marvel Monograph: The Art of Arthur Adams – X-Men ★★★
If you've never seen Adams's X-Men artwork this would be pretty cool. But this is mainly just interior art and covers lifted straight from the comics. Those can be found in collections already. There's some variant covers and a few pieces from the art boards or uncolored but overall there's just not much new here to make this interesting. Just go out and find the books Adams worked on. All of his X-Men stuff has been collected and it's terrific. I suggest you just do that instead.
Robin: Days of Fire and Madness ★★★
After Robin's dad was murdered, he moves to Bludhaven where he is recruited by a special ops group and he has to decide if he wants to join. It's an odd choice for any of Batman's sidekicks to contemplate joining a military group as they kill people. There's some OMAC tie ins too as they destroy a lot of Bludhaven and a whole bunch of D-level criminals escape.
Hellsing, Vol. 8 ★★
Plenty of action in this. Too bad it doesn't really flow together. I couldn't tell what was supposed to be happening half the time. A bunch of catholic priests in Klan robes can't getting stabbed with dozens of spears randomly. That was interspersed between all the fighting between Alucard, Nazi vampires and crazed Catholic priests.
Pink Lemonade ★★★
This gave off strong Madman vibes. Pink Lemonade is an amnesiac with a scar on her forehead just like Madman (although he actually died). She rides around on her motorcycle doing good. She makes friends along the way and then runs afoul of a movie producer who takes advantage of her. This part gives off strong Bob Kane / Bill Finger vibes.
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Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
Today's trip to my LCS.Birds of Prey #11
Scarlett #2
Space Ghost #3
Doctor Strange #17
Cheetara #1
Free Agents #1
Absolute Power #1
Last week's adventures in comics.Banshees ★★
An OK story about a freshman on campus investigating some murders that occurred 30 years ago. The series takes a turn toward revenge as it goes along. The pacing was really uneven and the person behind the murders felt phoned in as there was no investigation.
Shadow Roads, Vol. 1 ★★★★
The successor to The Sixth Gun. Picking up the pieces after the end of that, a new group of supernaturalists go after a monster stealing and eating the power of any powerful being it can find, not just in the Old West but anywhere in the world.
Space Usagi: Death and Honor ★★★★
The rare in color Usagi even if it is about his descendant instead of himself. It's got everything you expect in a Usagi Yojimbo comic, just set in space and in full color.
Canto Volume 3: Tales of the Unnamed World ★★★★
Two smaller stories. More of a volume 2.5 than a volume 3. I will just say that I love this series. Canto is just full of so much heart. It gives off strong Wizard of Oz vibes. This is the series that made me follow anything Booher does.
X-Men: Inferno, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
A mega-crossover from the '80's when Marvel knew how to do these properly. Marvel dropped little tidbits for over a year leading up to Inferno. All of the tie-in issues make sense. They all feature characters based in New York. And I didn't have to buy a 9 issue miniseries on top of everything else. It was just, "Demons are coming to NYC, how will our heroes deal with it?"
X-Men: Inferno Crossovers ★★★
I liked when Marvel used to do this, where they only had crossovers that made sense. Since Inferno affected all of Manhattan, all of the books taking place in NYC had crossover issues.
Ultimate X-Men, Vol. 1: Fears and Hates ★★★
We'll see how this goes. Momoko seems to be doing her own thing rather than setting this in the same universe as the other Ultimate books. But I'm sure it's just that this is the only one set in Asia. It's about Armor as she finds out she is a mutant. Then other girls start appearing as mutants as well. I'm not really sure where this is headed.
Ultimate Black Panther, Vol. 1: Peace and War ★★★
This is actually pretty well done. The plot just doesn't advance very fast. 4 issues in and we're still in first gear. The villains are Khonshu and Ra which I find interesting. This Wakanda is pretty much like the one from 616 except T'Challa is married to Okoye. Caselli's art is really strong.
New Gods ★★★
You may see a lot of Kirby books this month as it's "Kirb Your Enthusiasm" buddy read month with some comic book friends. I gotta say I expected something larger for this original New Gods series. Yes, the seeds are there with a lot of the Fourth World characters introduced. But it's mainly Orion fighting Darkseid's minions in Metropolis.
The Deviant Vol. 1 ★★★
The first half of Tynion's story about a Christmas serial killer who strings people up on Christmas trees. It happened 50 years ago and a writer is investigating the killings for a story. It's a bit of a slow burn and ends on a cliffhanger. Thankfully it's only 9 issues so there's just one other volume to wait on and see if Tynion sticks the landing.
Warhammer 40,000: Sisters of Battle ★★★
These warrior women try and put down a revolt on a remote planet. Not a lot is explained if you aren't familiar with Warhammer 40K roleplaying game. There's some strange Cult aspect that isn't really satisfactorily explained. Still, it's some decent sci-fi.
Lore Olympus: Volume Six ★★★
Finally the plot begins to progress in this book. A lot of it is Persephone and Hades hiding out in the Underworld from Zeus. Then we get to the end where Minthe and Persephone FINALLY have a confrontation. I've considered dropping this for awhile due to the spinning wheels but finally some things happen. Smythe's art seems to be growing beyond triangles and circles too.
Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection, Vol. 19: Assassin Nation ★★★★
A year's worth of Todd McFarlane drawn Spider-Man stories. Turns out at one point Todd McFarlane could actually meet a deadline. He draws 14 of the 15 regular issues in the book, with Erik Larsen filling in in the remaining issue. McFarlane has been more influential on Spider-Man than any other artist since John Romita Sr. He was the first to draw Spidey as the bendy acrobat that is now the norm for the character. He does draw MJ as a pinup queen though, always showing her in skimpy underwear or workout outfits. Michelinie brings in a lot of classic Spider-Man villains during this run such as Scorpion, Venom, Mysterio, Hobgoblin, and the Green Goblin. Also included is a surprisingly good annual drawn by Rob Liefeld as part of the Atlantis Attacks crossover and a one shot by Gerry Conway recapping Peter and Mary Jane's history.
Space-Mullet Volume 1: One Gamble at a Time ★★★
If you think you may have read this before, well you may actually have. This started off as a web comic back in 2017 and probably finally made it to print because of Johnson's popularity these days. This is your kind of by the numbers, down on your luck, space comic. The two main characters are space truckers. One is hiding out from a military he went AWOL from. The other is an alien that certain planets look down upon.
Today's trip to the LCS.Crocodile Black #3
The Hunger and the Dusk: Book Two #1
Avengers #16
Outsiders #9
Transformers #10
Geiger #4
X-Men #1
Death in the Family: Robin Lives #1
Get Fury #3
Galactor #1 (Gatchaman miniseries)
Ultimates #2
Incredible Hulk: Blood Hunt
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Check out everything Zack has going on:
- https://zackkaplan.com/
- https://www.instagram.com/zackkaps/
- https://x.com/zackkaps
Read Kill All Immortals #1 - https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3012...
Keep your eye out for The Midnight: Shadows - https://store-us.themidnightofficial....
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest, Vol. 5★★★★★
I caught up with what I own of this series and I want to get the next volume soon. Volumes 2 and 3 made me wonder if the creator knew what they wanted to do with the series but now I'm back to really enjoying it and wanting to see where it's going. I really like the Iceland setting and the mystery with the younger brother's "power" is really intriguing.
Sunhead★★★★
This was a cute coming-of-age comic. Nothing very new to say but I found it relatable. I really liked that it's made clear that the characters don't actually speak English and that the media they're interested has an extra wait time for translation.
Collected Hutch Owen, Vol. 1. ★★★★ 1990s Seattle indie comic about a guy who is basically a "punk", trying to tear down the system, man. (He won't succeed.) Lots of fun. I want more. I can get volume 2, but 3 seems unfindable.The Prince and the Dressmaker ★★★ I'm too old for a story this simple, but good for the right person.
These Savage Shores ★★★ for the story and ★★★★★ for the art by Sumit Kumar. Anyone know of more work he's drawn? It seems to be a common name so I've had trouble finding any more comics from him. I might rate the story higher if I understood it more, but the tiny font on the cursive script sections hurt my eyes.
Nijigahara Holograph ★★ Probably pretty good, but I didn't understand it.
I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 6: Last Gert Standing ★★★★. Skottie Young no longer draws it, but it almost looks like his work. This story is more fun than the last few. There are multiple Gert's.
Bodies ★★★ I read this hoping it would help me make sense of the Netflix show. But it is actually more confusing than the show. Still entertaining.
Mosely ★★★. A superman-vs-AI story. I like Guillory's work on "Farmhand" much more. (He wrote, but didn't draw this one.)
The Ballad of Halo Jones: Full Colour Omnibus Edition ★★★★ Pretty good Alan Moore/Ian Gibson SciFi work from the late 1980s. Has a "Heavy Metal" feel, but with a female lead. In volume 1 the "plot" is that she goes shopping. But the plot isn't really were the interest lies.
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees #5. No rating yet. Eagerly awaiting issue 6. (Hoopla messed-up and had #5 available for weeks before finally adding #4.)
Last week's adventures in comics.Sparks Volume 1: Portals ★★
A fluffy webcomic about two satyrs in training who may fall for one another in this LGBTQIA+ story.
Beyond Mortal ★★★
This world's version of the Justice League fights some Elder Gods as they begin to destroy the Earth. Nothing new here but well done. Luckert is an underrated artist.
Skinner ★★★
A sci-fi channel level horror story about some influencers who crash land in Canada and come across a killer. I almost immediately wanted them all to die. There's nothing special to this. It's all sizzle at three issues. I'm also not sure why one of the influencers brought their dog. That just seemed like the dumbest thing ever.
Moebius Library: The Major ★
The art is fine but this story is just gibberish. I couldn't follow it at all. Maybe it's a translation thing. Maybe it's just too existential for me to pay enough attention.
Silk Cotton ★★★
This wasn't bad. It does rely on the reader knowing an awful lot about African and Caribbean mythology and horror. The art's technically pretty good. It doesn't always tell the story well though. Still, if you're looking for something different, this just may be it.
X-Men: Inferno, Vol. 2 ★★★★★
Inferno comes to a head and a bunch of demons and Mr. Sinister get their asses kicked. I really like that Marvel has went back and collected all the Inferno related issues. Previous collections only collected the main X-Men / X-Factor / New Mutants issues.
Navigating With You ★★★★
A queer romance between the two new girls at a high school in the South. Whitley handles this so well. But that shouldn't be any surprise. He's written a ton of great comics. Neesha has CP and stands up for herself like most New Yorkers. Gabby is a surfer girl from Florida. They bond over a manga they both never finished.
Ablaze Artist Spotlight Collected Set – Werther Dell‘Edera ★★
He Who Fights with Monsters is pretty good. It's about a golem that is raised in World War II to help the Jews. It's kind of your standard stuff for this kind of story. It has an interesting ending that felt like it would set up more to come but it never has.
The Voices of Water made very little sense to me. It's about voices people here when it rains. There's not really a story here though.
Conan the Barbarian Vol. 2: Thrice Marked for Death ★★★
I thought this was better than volume 1. Zub has toned down the narration some, although I'd like to see more go to the wayside. Doug Braithwaite was made to draw Conan comics.
Storm: Blowback ★
Good lord, this was terrible. You'd think Nocenti had never read an Uncanny X-Men comic, let alone actually written some of them and was an editor at Marvel in the 80's. Everyone's written completely out of character.
Gargoyles: Here in Manhattan ★★★★
I was too old for Gargoyles when it came out so I never watched the show. That didn't lessen my enjoyment of this though. It's a simple concept to get and it's well written. The art's good too, although the lack of background does bug the heck out of me.
Tales of Suspense ★★★
Marvel did a series of these one-shots with painted art back in the 90s. This one has Captain America and Iron Man teaming up while they were on the outs (way before Civil War). They have to switch places in a contrived way with Cap armoring up while Iron Man loses his armor.
Spider-Man: The Assassin Nation Plot ★★★★
A fun story where Spider-Man teams up with Silver Sable, Paladin, Solo and Captain America to stop an assassination attempt on the leader of Sable's government. McFarlane has been more influential on Spider-Man than any other artist since John Romita Sr.
Eden ★★
Well I can certainly see why this screenplay was unproduced. If you think about it at all, none of it makes any sense. It's about a family of criminals in the near future where the world is severely overpopulated and dying. They trick their way onto a generational ship where they find out things aren't what they seem to be. It took me as long as it took to read the blurb about the comic to figure out what this would actually be about. Then it just gets worse and worse as Sebela keeps trying to put artificial twists in this.
Domovoi ★★★★★
I really enjoyed this one. It's off-kilter, beginning with little explanation as these two thugs beat up the main character's uncle looking for some bones her grandmother stole. There's lots of magic and a talking cat in this story that feels like European folklore.
Daredevil: Black Armor ★★★★
This was good. It fits right in to Chichester's original run. In fact it has me wanting to go back and read it all over again. It could have even been a little longer. During the black armor era, Matt had faked his death and was living under an alias where no one knew he was blind. Yet, he was still terrible at keeping his identity a secret. This story has him looking into a bunch of missing people and ultimately going up against a whole bunch of villains.
Captain America Epic Collection, Vol. 21: Twilight’s Last Gleaming ★★★
The end of Mark Gruenwald's 137 issue run on Cap. Like most of it, it's fine. You can tell he's influenced by the 90's trend of kicking off the characters as this mainly deals with Steve Rogers failing super soldier serum. He gets stuck in this ridiculous looking armor as he becomes paralyzed without it. The armor basically turns him into Iron Man lite instead of the swashbuckling Cap. I do like the introductions of proteges Free Spirit and Jack Free. I'm not a fan of how long time love interest Diamondback gets kicked to the curb and Steve almost instantly forgets about her. She was one of the best parts of Gruenwald's run.
Shadow Roads Vol. 2 ★★★★
While not more Sixth Gun, this is probably as close as we're going to get as it's set in the same world. Unfortunately, just as we get some more world building that explains what the knife is, the story ends and it looks like that's it. They could have extended this series on forever and I would have read it.
The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains ★★★★
This has appeared in many different versions, originally a Neil Gaiman short story, Eddie Campbell kept doing illustrations for it that would appear behind Gaiman at readings and it eventually become its own book. It's mainly illustrated prose with some short comic book panels. I like Campbell's art but it's certainly not everyone's taste. The comic book panels do have atrocious lettering. It looks like a five year old lettered those passages.
The Goon, Volume 0: Rough Stuff ★★★★
The original 3 issues of The Goon before the title was picked up by Dark Horse and became the sensation it is today. Powell complains about the art but it looks as great here as later issues. I like the black and white version of Powell's art unobscured by color. All of the Goon's world building begins in these self-published issues. The Zombie Priest, Lobrazio, Fishy Pete, Merle the Werewolf, Franky's "Knife to the Eye", it all begins here. I love the deranged, off-kilter feel to Powell's world building.
Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War ★
This was a train wreck. It starts out being about Catwoman and Batman being at odds because Catwoman has reduced crime in Gotham by starting up a thieves guild aimed at the rich. Batman is against it and all the sidekicks are trapped in the middle. Then Vandal Savage shows up and we get a rehash of Superman: Savage Dawn from the New 52. It's the exact same plot and it's still dumb. I'm still a little shocked about how shitty this was.
Batman Vol. 3: The Joker Year One ★★
I am very much over the Zen-En-Argh thing (or whatever the hell he's called). None of it makes any sense. This entire volume was pretty much a waste of time.
Husk: A Tale From the Weedkiller Wastewoods ★★★
I found this on DC Infinite. It's some tie-in comic for a concept album by this Ashnikko person. It's something to do with fairies. I only checked it out because Tom Mandrake drew it and his stuff is great.
Today's trip to my LCS.Immortal Thor Annual #1
World's Finest #29
Destro #2
Incredible Hulk #14
Invincible Iron Man #20
Nightwing #116
Redcoat #4
Titans #13
Thundercats #6
Ultimate X-Men #5
Spectacular Spider-Men #5
Mod
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep....
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The Witches' Marriage, Vol. 1 (Volume 1) ★★★
This is about a power-hungry witch marrying another witch in order to steal her power. Then the power-hungry witch falls for her wife. The character tropes in this book are pretty extreme but there are some cute moments.
A Guest in the House ★★★★
I finally read this! Of all the ways I thought this story might end I did not predict the actual ending. Some of the art could be a bit grotesque at times but that contributed to the overall tone of the story. I liked the use of color for only certain characters and scenes in an otherwise grayscale book.
After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
A wheelchair user meets his favorite night sky photographer and they fall in love. The photographer helps his new boyfriend figure out accessibility so he can join the photographer for night sky viewing in cool places. Heads up, there's a bonus chapter at the end of this that's very spicy.
Last week's adventures in comics.Suicide Squad: Dream Team ★★★
Dreamer hooked up with the Suicide Squad but is trying to stop Amanda Waller because she sees what's going to happen with Absolute Power. Waller's even more out of control than usual.
Superman: Action Comics, Vol 1: Rise of Metallo ★★★
Not bad, but not as good as previous PKJ stories either. The Superman family is just too big and unwieldy. I hope once these characters get their own books some of them will go away from this. It's just too much to give anyone enough to do. The story is a bit generic. It's kind of your standard Metallo's back story. He doesn't even have that he's working for the government going for him now. The big reveal gets a big blah too as it seems like he shows up in the book nonstop over the last 20 years and he's so one note.
Wonder Woman, Vol. 1: Outlaw ★★★★★
This is the wonder of what you can do with Wonder Woman when you put her in the hands of a good writer. It's been a while since I felt that way, maybe the Greg Rucka days. Daniel Sampere's art is sublime. This book looks gorgeous. The setup is some unknown Amazon killed 19 men in a bar in Montana and now all Amazons are persona non grata in the U.S.
Trinity Special (2024) #1 ★★★★
I don't suggest buying this because it's only 6 pages of new material. It's on DC Universe and I'm sure it'll be in a trade. The rest of it is backups that have already appeared in the back of King's Wonder Woman series and Wonder Woman #800. That said, this is pretty good. It's little snippets of Trinity with the Super Sons in the future as she grows up.
The Goon, Volume 1: Nothin' but Misery ★★★★★
Part horror, part dark comedy. The Goon channels the humor of Ren and Stimpy and Looney Tunes in a 1940's setting. The Goon and Franky fight rival zombie gangs and fish people while saving children from being eaten by Santa's elves. I'd love to peer inside Eric Powell's head. There's some strange, dark thoughts in there.
The Goon, Volume 2: My Murderous Childhood (and Other Grievous Yarns) ★★★★★
How the Goon met Franky along with randy sea hags, pie-loving skunk apes, and gold-plated mad scientists. The Goon is kind of the bad guy yet, he also looks out for everyone in the neighborhood.
The Goon, Volume 3: Heaps of Ruination ★★★★★
I like that Powell keeps the stories down to one issue but then has returning characters. It's kind of the best of both worlds. Any new reader can jump on at any point and long term readers are rewarded. The Goon gets the gang together to rescue the Buzzard. A giant kaiju battle, a Hellboy crossover, and a vampire story. I loved the Hellboy crossover. I liked how Powell and Mignola worked it out so they both got to pencil some pages. The two characters have a lot of similarities and work great together.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 1: Cold Dead Fingers ★★★★★
Supernatural Westerns are one of my favorite genres and this is one of the best. The book put Cullen Bunn on the map and you can see why. Mrs. Hume has the Pinkertons searching for a special gun, the sixth gun, a gun that used to belong to her dead husband General Hume. At the same time, Gen Hume's horsemen are searching for his body because Gen. Hum is too mean and ornery to stay dead.
It turns out there are 6 guns each with a different power.
Bunn weaves a compelling story, one that I couldn't wait to get more of. Brian Hurt's art seems a little cartoony at first, but it turns out to be a perfect complement to the story.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 2: Crossroads ★★★★★
Bunn and Hurtt continue to impress. Our heroes are hiding out in New Orleans trying to figure out what to do next now that they have defeated Gen. Hume.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 3: Bound ★★★★★
In this volume we get the supernatural version of a train robbery as the undead come after Drake and Becky before their train can reach the Sword of Abraham stronghold. We also see Gord's backstory and how he's tied into the General.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 4: A Town Called Penance ★★★★★
Drake has been captured by the Knights of Solomon and Becky is looking to rescue him. She travels to Penance (a fantastic name for a town in the Old West, right?) where she encounters a settlement full of misshapen townfolk. Feels like we're mixing in some Lovecraftian horror in this volume. After dealing with the townfolk, Becky discovers the Knights underground lair. Bunn and Hurtt go completely wordless for the issue where Becky infiltrates the lair on the hunt for Drake and it is amazing. It's by far the best wordless comic I've read. Hurtt does a magical job of conveying everything on the page we need to know as Becky and Drake make their escape.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 5: Winter Wolves ★★★★★
Becky and Drake get trapped in a Winter realm when going through a crossroads. Now they must defeat a Wendigo to return. Meanwhile, Gord is gathering the troops and headed their way while being hounded by the Sword of Abraham. And our 9 foot mummy returns. Woohoo for more Asher Cobb! Becky brings down the thunder on Missy Hume in the final issue and Hell's coming with her.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 6: Ghost Dance ★★★★★
Becky falls sick after using the gun to attack Missy Hume. Now she must take a spirit quest to heal herself. Meanwhile, Missy Hume is sending Skinwalkers to attack Becky in the spirit realm. Becky sees many possible futures of using the gun to recreate the world and some of the past times the world was remade. There are a lot fantastic moments in these worlds, Bunn did a bang-up job fleshing these out. Gord and some of the rest of the crew go after the Skinwalkers and we get some killer action sequences, fighting in the midst of a storm.
The Sixth Gun: Sons of the Gun ★★★★
This is a prequel that shows what General Hume's four horsemen were up to after he'd been trapped and they each received their guns.
The Sixth Gun: Days of the Dead ★★★★
Another prequel Sixth Gun miniseries. This one about a member of the Sword of Abraham and a member of the Knights of Solomon have to work together to stop a Death God from coming fully to the Earth. It also shows why Jesup has such a hate for Drake Sinclair.
Moon Knight, Vol. 4: Road to Ruin ★★★★
A bunch of one and done stories that lead to a larger story. I like how Mackay delves into Moon Knight's history while still keeping things fresh. There's some excellent moments in this with the Tigra issue being the stand out.
Moon Knight, Vol. 5: The Last Days of Moon Knight ★★★★
A good end to what has been a great series. Even if it really isn't the end since this heads right into Vengeance of Moon Knight also by MacKay. MacKay has done a terrific job of mixing in new villains and plenty of Moon Knight's past from his gazillion different runs.
ThunderCats Vol. 1: Omens ★★★
A really decompressed opening arc. Most things are the same as the cartoon except Wilykit and Wilykat are there from the beginning this go around. That makes things slightly different as Lion-O was their age when they left Thundera.
Jane Jet: Book One - Nuclear Shadows ★★★★
This was actually pretty good. It's based on some public domain characters, Rocket Man and Rocket Girl. After WWII, Jane Jet as she's known now has finally had enough of her abusive husband. She goes on the run after their confrontation and is pursued by other science heroes of the fifties.
The Invincible Iron Man, Vol. 3: Iron & Diamonds ★★
Man, it's amazing how blah this gets when it stops being about Tony and Emma Frost and instead is just about the Fall of the House of X dumpster fire.
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MEN VOL. 1: ARACHNOBATICS ★★★★
Pretty, pretty good. Peter and Miles decide to get together on Wednesdays for coffee at Empire State University. They eventually stumble into some villains testing some fully immersive A.I. in a "You shall not escape" way. It's nice to see Humberto Ramos back in the Spider-Man fold.
Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen by Jack Kirby ★★★
I knew a lot of this returned during the 90's, mostly in the Superboy run when he became based out of Project Cadmus. It was still pretty surprising to see just how much it reused. There's some pretty out there stuff, especially at the beginning of this run. I get a kick out of the dialog. I guess Kirby was trying to use the lingo of the time for all the young people and they all talk like they are in a Scooby Doo episode and everyone is Shaggy. The Don Rickles two part appearance was pretty wacky. Rickles plays himself in it but also has a doppelganger named Goody Rickles working for WGBS alongside Jimmy and Clark. The Fourth World characters are in this a lot less than I expected.
Bloodshot Reborn #1-12 (loving it)The Hard Switch
Saga #1-18 (pretty good)
Mort Cinder (LOVED it!)
Catstronauts Mission Mars (w/ my kids)
Astro City, Metrobook Vol. 2
Marvel 1602
Doom #1 (okay)
The DC Comics Universe (book)
The Amazing Transforming Superhero! (Book)
Marvel Comics in the 1970s (book)
Today's trip to my LCS.Deadpool / Wolverine WWIII #3
Batman: Dark Age #4
Captain America #11
Feral 35
Rook Exodus #4
Something Is Killing the Children #39
Ultimate Black Panther #6
Void Rivals #11
Flash Gordon #1
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (Jason Aaron's new run)
It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted one of these and I've been doing more non-comic reading.Justice League: A New Beginning ★★★★
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, I more than I remember enjoying it the first time I read it. Having read a lot more DC since the first read years ago, there is clearly a level of assumed knowledge that leads to enjoyment. The story is more focused on the interactions between the league members while they fought their foes and that was what really brought this story to life. The infamous "one punch" scene between Batman and Guy Gardner has long been a family in-joke.
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters & The Wonder Year
The Wonder Year ★★★
Taking place immediately after Year One, we find Oliver mixed up in political events and beginning to use his new skills under a name chosen by the media, the Green Arrow. While similarities exist to Batman's beginnings, Oliver is tackling issues connected to his life instead of Batman's general crusade against crime.
The Longbow Hunters ★★★
A captivating murder mystery that kept me turning the pages, but not without the flow being interrupted by unclear sequences. Who fired the arrow was quite a crucial question, and having come to the wrong conclusion a few pages prior, it can be confusing. It often wasn't immediately clear it was a double spread which hindered things further. I'm not sure what the point of the slasher killings were, other to present the assassin as being not evil, but it's just dropped, never explained. I also thought Black Canary's situation was odd, she wasn't gagged so why didn't she just Canary Cry them into submission?
After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, Vol. 1 ★★★★
kaitlphere's review caught my eye as I hadn't yet picked something for the BOTM. It was probably going to be something Oracle related, so it was nice to pick something non-DC for a change, but also Manga, which I've read little off, and it's hot on the heels of all the Pride reading I did last month.
I enjoyed this romance as it takes shape between two almost equally awkward young men. That one of them is wheelchair bound creates some interesting tension as the occupant seems to see it as a barrier but the other simply as something to accommodate. That they are same-sex is delightfully irrelevant, a romance is forming between these two and that is the focus. I particularly enjoyed the facial expressions, they communicated a lot more than the words. I note the controversy in other reviews over a seeming lack of consent over pushing and lifting, and while I agree there is no explicit consent, I feel the context gives enough to imply consent.
Last week's adventures in comics.The Sixth Gun, Vol. 7: Not the Bullet, But the Fall ★★★★★
Our band of heroes return to Brimstone, the town where this all began. Soon they are in for the fight of their lives as the Grey Witch, Jesup and hordes of snake men come for them and not everyone makes it out alive.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 8: Hell and High Water ★★★★
It's down to Becky, Drake and Screaming Crow to stop the Griselda from remaking the world. So this volume mainly becomes one big battle and one without their magical weapons. There's still some great moments and Hurtt is really good at crafting action sequences.
The Sixth Gun, Vol. 9: Boot Hill ★★★★★
A fitting ending to a terrific series. This trade is the last 3 issues as everyone is in the land of the Dead trying to complete the ritual that will change the world. One side is trying to remake the world in the Grey Witch's image, a world of hate and suffering. The other side just wants to end the cycle of unnatural rebirth that keeps happening every time the weapons are used in concert.
The Sixth Gun: Dust to Death ★★★
While I love this series, these two miniseries are completely skippable. Brian Hurtt writes instead of draws Valley of Death and as a writer he makes a great artist. There are so many words and they say nothing. It's all just kind of a mess and a waste of time. Something about some Native American tribes that are trying to close a Crossroads and they are stuck on Death's side of the divide.
Dust to Dust was better. It gives Billjohn's backstory before the main series started. He's struggling to find a way to save his sick daughter.
Justice League, Volume 2: The Villain's Journey ★★★★
I liked this set of stories quite a bit better than volume 1 that was set 5 years ago. The characterizations seemed more spot on. Wonder Woman didn't seem like a dummy for one thing. Aquaman is being taken seriously which I love. Johns's writing is good. I wish Lee could get a consistent inker. Each of his issues has at least 4 inkers on it. I like that Johns paralleled the original Justice League run by having Green Arrow trying to join the team again in issue #8.
Justice League, Volume 3: Throne of Atlantis ★★★★
First up is a 2 part story with Cheetah. I like how they made her more of a threat and left time for some character moments while laying groundwork for future stories. Then we have the epic crossover with Aquaman. Aquaman's brother, Ocean Master, sits on the throne of Atlantis and attacks after a malfunction causes the Navy to fire on Atlantis. An unseen hand is behind it all. It's terrific stuff and looks fantastic behind the pens of Ivan Reis and Paul Pelletier.
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 1 ★★★
This is an interesting way to release Jack Kirby's Fourth World comics. Kirby was working on four comics at the time, writing and drawing all four with Vince Colletta inking them. He was putting out a new comic every 3 weeks. He was a beast. These collections are printing the books in the order they were released so this first volume has a lot of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen and then 3 issues each of Forever People, New Gods and Mister Miracle. I thought this was a dumb idea until I read it and it works pretty damn well. You get a lot more exposure to all the Fourth World characters this way (because the New Gods is really just an Orion book.)
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 2 ★★★★
These are pretty great. Mister Miracle is the stand out for me. I love all the crazy deathtraps Kirby comes up with for Mister Miracle to escape from. The fun part is they are all designed by Mister Miracle himself as part of his act. This volume sees the introduction of Big Barda. Right from the get go, she's the same character you've seen for years with her full battle suit and mega rod. When she's out of costume though, she runs around like a female bodybuilder in a bikini. This volume also has a two parter in Jimmy Olson where Don Rickles visits Metropolis along with his doppelganger Goody Rickles. The afterward by Mark Evanier details how that came about. Those afterwards are great. Evanier was Kirby's assistant at this time and provides a lot of behind the scenes info.
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 3 ★★★★
All of Kirby's Fourth World comics in chronological order. This is the third of four volumes and you can begin to feel things wind down. Kirby's phoning in the last few issues of Jimmie Olson, probably because he got tired of DC retouching his Superman. I like the Forever People and Mister Miracle issues though. Himon's story and how he helps Scott Free was good. The stuff with New Gods was just OK. Still it's Jack Kirby. Plus the Demon gets announced at the end of this. I also enjoyed the afterword by Mark Evanier. He talked about how Himon's appearance was based on the founder of San Diego Comic Con and how DC raising comics from 15 to 25 cents just about killed DC and signaled the death knell of the Fourth World at the time.
Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII ★★
I just went and saw Deadpool and Wolverine so I thought I'd come home and read this. Wow, this was surprisingly not good at all. The story contains a lot of Logan's internal monologue. The story is hard to follow and it took reading the recaps to pick up everything that was supposedly in the previous issue. Deadpool is not himself through most of this making it pretty boring.
Kubert's art isn't bad. It is filled with a bunch of two page turned 90 degrees spreads. It drove me nuts. It was like reading a crappy 90's Image book, flipping it back and forth.
Green Arrow, Vol. 1: Reunion ★★★
Ollie is back after disappearing during Dark Crisis. Time for his family to get flung across time. Given that things like Lian happened in other books, some flashbacks are really warranted. I don't think this is new reader friendly at all. But if you're a long term GA fan, you're probably going to like this quite a bit.
Green Arrow Vol. 2: Family First ★★★★
Boy, Ollie has a large extended family of arrow vigilantes, more than I even realized. Ollie's back after Dark Crisis and he's upset there's no longer a Justice League. Enter Amanda Waller to make things even worse in this leadup to Absolute Power.
X-Men (2024-) #1 ★★
This first issue of this new era was fine. It establishes that Cyclops's team is operating out of a decommissioned Sentinel factory in Alaska. The villains weren't at all interesting or well explained. Stegman's art is very different for an X-Men book.
My biggest annoyance was getting to the final page which is just a big QR code with no explanation that it's actually the last art page of the issue. I had to scan it with my phone and then try and read it by blowing it up and scrolling around from panel to panel. What an awful reading experience. That right there is enough to get me to just drop all the X-books. This will in no way stop pirating. It's just going to annoy the hell out of what readers they have left.
Amazing Fantasy #1000 ★★★★
Some stellar short stories by some really good creative teams for Spidey's 60th anniversary. Standouts were the ones by Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checcheto and Dan Slott and Jim Cheung. You're better off going into the Hickman story cold turkey. In the Slott story, Spider-Man is actually turning 60 and the story spirals out from there. Very nicely done.
X-Men Annual #1 ★★★
Firestar gets her moment in the X-Men spotlight. It's pretty solid. Trying to get through my odds and ends from the Krakoan era.
Today's trip to my LCS.X-Force #1 (with another one of those QR codes for the last page. Grr.)
Blood Hunt #5
House of Slaughter #25
Immortal Thor #13
Ultimate Spider-Man #7
Mod
What folks read this week:
- Mike: The Weatherman, Vol. 1 through Vol. 3
- Danny: EC Epitaphs from the Abyss #1
- Malachi: Our Bones Dust
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Re: Mike: I'm glad you liked After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, Vol. 1! According to Goodreads there's a volume 2!
Re: Chad: I remember reading the main storyline of Sixth Gun a few years ago and enjoying it! I haven't read any of the extra stories you found though.
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Black Hammer, Vol. 8: The End (other topics)The Weatherman, Vol. 1 (other topics)
Our Bones Dust (other topics)
After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, Vol. 1 (other topics)
EC Epitaphs from the Abyss #1 (other topics)
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