My Favorite of the Week



Written by Peter J. Tomasi. Art and Cover by Jorge Jimenez.

The first 4 pages are a bit confusing. I have no idea how they fit into the rest of the story. But by page 5 the story becomes great. Jon runs into bullies at school. To maintain his secret ID he lets them get away with it until a "guardian angel" protects him. Damian is in disguise as one of his teachers & as the school bus driver. This whole sequence is so over the top that it is funny. Back at the Bat Cave Bruce admonishes Damian to do his homework instead of going out on patrol.

In Jon's home Clark & Lois give him encouragement on how he handled himself at school. When Jon goes to bed Damian shows up in his room & they go to Metropolis to investigate an incident. They get caught breaking into Lex Corp by... Lex Luthor!

Tomasi captures the characters of Jon & Damian perfectly. Jon always tries to do the right thing & please his parents. Damian also tries to do the right thing but HIS way... leading to conflict with his Dad & Alfred.

Jiminez is awesome at drawing Jon & Damian as pre teens not smaller adults.

This looks to be yet another hit by DC Rebirth.

9/10.

Archie #17: Cheryl Blossom plots to seduce Archie away from Veronica (while Veronica plots to leave her Swiss boarding school and return to Riverdale). This was a fun read watching Cheryl and Jason Blossom in action. There is a hilarious scene Cheryl stages to get Archie's attention. There is reveal at the end that plays into the Blossom family. I am so happy to be reading Archie comics once again, although they are not the same formula as the ones from childhood.
9/10

Story and Cover by Francis Manapul. Art by Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy and Matt Santorelli.

The Conclusion. Mongul takes possession of Superman's body while the White Mercy takes over Batman. With WW's help they all fight back & win against Mongul. White Mercy wipes Poison Ivy's memories of her existence. And everything returns to normal.

This series started with such promise. Great script & art. Then it veered in both aspects. Manapul's script really dragged on too long & stumbled to the point where I lost interest. He definitely benefits from a co-writer. Without his dynamic art the reason to buy this title is gone.

I see no reason to continue buying this title.

3/10 for this issue. 5/10 for the arc.

Written by Marguerite Bennett and James Tynion IV. Art and Cover by Steve Epting.

Batwoman gets her own title spinning off from Detective Comics. First of all Epting's art is stunning as always. The script is OK. It didn't grab my attention. It retold her life & how she became Batwoman ending with Batman asking her to investigate the source of the Monster Venom further. Maybe the first issue of her own title will be better...

Script: 2/5. Art: 5/5.

Starlord #3: Peter Quill is working for a bar that caters to super villains while continuing his community service work at a nursing home. Daredevil shows up asking questions about money that was never recovered from last issue's bank robbery. Peter's luck continues to sink when his sister shows up. The only character that will give him any slack is his charge from the nursing home.
Not much happens in this issue as we get some background information about the bar, Peter's friend, and events in Peter's sister's life. Despite the lack of big in your face action, I enjoyed this issue. The way it is written, I can "see" and "hear" Chris Pratt from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The art by Kris Anka (not sure if Kris is male or female) is very clear and not overly done. Lots of beefcake shots of Peter. The fight sequence between him and Daredevil almost looked animated in certain panels. It is a very nice 2 page spread. 3 issues in and I'm still interested. Nothing terribly heavy to get through, a fun character, and eye-pleasing art will keep this book on my list.
8/10

Script by Tom King. Art and Cover by David Finch.

Batman & Alfred set into motion plans to protect Batman's allies & friends from Bane.

A little too much set up. Come on let's get to the action. 2 parts in & Bane really hasn't appeared. I think overall it will be a good story. Finch's art is stellar. King relies on Finch to tell most of the story. Some may think that is a good thing.

7/10.

My Offbeat Pick of the Week




Written by B. Clay Moore. Art by Clayton Henry and Lewis LaRosa. Covers by Lewis LaRosa.

I waited until all 4 issues of this mini series from Valiant was released. Then I read all 4 in one sitting. When I read the solicits for the series I figured Valiant was doing a series to replace Turok. Yes there are similarities. Mostly the island lost in time with dinosaurs.

This is the story of soccer star Kevin Sauvage, his wife Veronica & son Kevin Jr (age 2). The first issue starts with a teen (age 15) fighting dinosaurs. Then a flashback of the family on an airplane. A flash in the sky downs the plane in the ocean. They swim to a near by island. Kevin manages to get some supplies off the plane before it sinks. Later he searches the island & discovers a beached boat. On the boat he finds some more supplies & decomposing bodies. When he leaves the boat he comes face to face with a dinosaur.

The second issue opens with the teen (Savage) finding an egg that hatches a baby dinosaur. Then another flashback. Kevin returns to his wife & son with his right eye & right arm missing. He dies in front of them. Then back to the teen fighting a man. Then another flashback of the Mom with her son. They discover that there is other people on the island.

Issue three opens with Savage fighting a man & dinosaurs. Then we flashback to Mom with her son (age 8) discovering a van & the camp of the others. In the center of the camp is a portal. Mom figures out that the portal may be their way home. Later she sees a motorcycle come thru the portal. The people in the camp kill the rider. The camp discovers her & her son. The leader kills her & the boy gets away.

Issue four shows Savage riding a dinosaur & then a flashback as he begins to kill everyone in the camp one by one. He decides he will go home & burns down his shelter. He fights the leader of the camp & as Savage kills the leader they both fall into the portal. The series ends with Kevin Savage Jr on a street in our world.

There are some parallels here with Tarzan, John Carter, Turok & others in this genre. This is the origin story of Savage. If it sells well I suspect it will continue with him adjusting to the world he was born in & missed out on for 12 years. The story flowed well despite moving back & forth between the past & present. The art was beautiful. Henry handled the past sequences while LaRosa did the present day art.

I really enjoyed this mini series. I hope it does well enough to get a second series.

8/10.