For the most part, this week we are just going to dive straight into the Pull List reviews. There is one quick item I want to address first, and then we’ll get to the reviews because there are a shit ton of books to cover and I’m about to head out on vacation. That also means that next week’s Substack will probably go out on Wednesday or Thursday instead of the usual Tuesday evening, depending on what time I get back home next week.
Don’t worry, though. Once everything settles after the 4th of July Holiday/vacation, I have a lot of content planned for this weekly missive, including a shit ton of reading recommendations, both from the Big Two and a lot of indies, as well as tips and stories about convention season, books I’ve been hunting, original comic art I’ve picked up, industry news and a lot more.
Now, that one item. DC recently announced that they will be launching three new animated series — Absolute Batman, Krypto and Joker: Laugh Riot. That last one will be an anime series, which is nowhere near my wheelhouse. The middle one will likely be an all-ages sort of show. But it’s that first one that has made all the waves.
Absolute Batman has been a comics industry juggernaut over the last couple years. Personally, I thought they would have given the book another year or two to build some runway for plenty of stories before going the route of an animated movie or TV series, but I’m really excited to see what they do with this show.
BUT …
It’s what happened AFTER the announcement that I want to talk about here. The prices on the secondary market for Absolute Batman keys, especially issue #1, pretty much doubled, if not more, in a matter of hours.
Now, that’s not really anything new. But I wanted to take this opportunity to offer a word of caution, especially to new collectors. DO NOT GO OUT AND BUY ABSOLUTE BATMAN #1 OR ANY OTHER KEYS RIGHT NOW. The hype just exploded and people are massively overpaying for these books. Have some patience. If you really want these books, wait until the hype dies down and the prices come back down to earth. Now is absolutely not the time to buy Absolute Batman key issues. Read the series, for sure. It’s massively entertaining. Just don’t waste money chasing books you can get for a hell of a lot cheaper in a few months or a year from now.
OK. Last thing before we jump into the reviews…
First up is Daredevil #13 — being that this is the 13th Substack newsletter — from Volume 2. The cover is actually a collaboration between my favorite artist of all time — David Mack — and two other industry legends and architects of the Marvel Knights era — Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti.
Then we have Daredevil #13 from the end of the Chip Zdarsky run. This cover, featuring a wounded Daredevil being cradled by the spirit of his dead father, Battlin’ Jack Murdock, was done by Marco Checchetto and Matthew Wilson.
And now, on to the reviews …
Steve Rogers is in a coma, on the brink of death but not quite dead yet. So why is his soul in Hell alongside Victor Von Doom? And why does Mephisto have them in his sights? I mean, if that setup doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will. This is Chip Zdarsky’s mainline Captain America book that will be running parallel to the Armageddon event and is definitely a book you’re going to want to keep up with alongside said event. And that last page reveal? Fucking loved it. I won’t go into that here because I don’t want to spoil it. But I’ll definitely have more to say by the time the next issue drops. This has been a great read from Issue #1 all the way to right now, so do yourself a favor and jump in.
Bruce Banner has the one thing he has wanted for so long — to not be the Hulk anymore. Unfortunately, that means the heroes of the Marvel Universe have no way of stopping this new Infernal Hulk. This issue raises two pretty big questions. First, how are mutants going to factor into Infernal Hulk’s plans. Second, how could this story intersect with Red Hulk/Thunderbolt Ross and what’s happening with the Armageddon event? I love the tension that’s building in this series as Banner struggles with his new reality and the extreme measures he might be willing to go to in order to save the world — and what that might cost him. PKJ’s Hulk run has been nothing short of epic and easily one of my favorite Marvel books of the last several years.
This should have been in last week’s reviews, but Midtown shit the bed again — and as you’ll see shortly, it wasn’t the last time. But I will say the book was absolutely worth the wait. Frank Castle is leading a team on a mission in the jungle and he already has the call sign Punisher and wears skull face paint, so pretty early on it’s established that this is not main 616 continuity. Meanwhile, Hulk is smashing and killing a lot of people in the very same jungle and we’re still not clued in on all the particulars as to why. But he’s on a collision course with Frank and his team. Then we throw in a cosmic cube, Hydra and AIM. We get some clues as to what they’re all up to, but obviously we don’t know the whole story yet. Just that whatever is going on, there are people behind the scenes who are pulling the strings of Castle, Hulk and, as the title gives away, Spider-Man.
Jonathan Hickman is basically getting to play with all the toys in this one. Very cinematic storytelling, structured like a summer blockbuster movie. Kubert’s art is insane. I don’t know off the top of my head if he and Hickman have ever worked together before, but I’m glad they are here. Love the way he draws Spidey and Hulk. This first issue is very Punisher-heavy to start as the story gets set up, but I think we’ll see a better balance in subsequent issues as Hulk and Spidey get more involved. Definitely worth adding to your Pull List.
*Also carried over from last week.* This was a beautifully written issue. I’ve heard a lot of people being critical of Joe Kelly’s run, but I think he isn’t getting enough credit for what he’s been able to accomplish. There’s tons of emotional weight to this issue, and despite what people were worried about before it actually dropped, at no point does anything here feel like a cheap retcon. Instead, it feels like we’re uncovering a story that was there all along, like when we learned Bucky was alive as the Winter Soldier all those decades.
I understand the reticence on some people’s part during the cosmic arc, but it really did set up some story elements that are starting to pay off now and, ultimately, I think it will prove worth it. IMO, this is the best ASM has been in at least the last 5+ years, if not more.
Definitely an improvement over last issue. Not that it was bad, just that it was mostly a set-up issue, while this is a solid pay-off for that. Plenty of action and it’s good to see Magneto back to his badass self since he has been sidelined pretty much since the start of this new era. And to be honest, that has been my biggest gripe in an otherwise enjoyable X run for Jed MacKay. I’ve been itching for Magneto to return to form and this was at least a step in that direction. We also get some solid art from Tony S. Daniel and the mindscape sequences with Ben Liu and Kid Omega feature great color work from Fer Sifuentes-Sujo.
How would I describe this book? Convoluted, nonsensical, written to try to be high brow but doesn’t give you a single thing to care about. Plot holes and contrivances everywhere. If that doesn’t give it away, let me say I literally enjoyed nothing about this and it’s a truly horrible ending to an entire universe that had such an amazing start. I honestly don’t want to say any more about it because It’d all be negative and I just don’t want to spend my time talking about how much I hasted something. For those who enjoyed it, more power to you. I’m not gonna yuck your yums. I just wish I could have enjoyed this as much as I wanted to.
Better than Ultimate Endgame, but still entirely skippable. Just a bunch of epilogues that don’t really mean anything, except for the very last page which teases the Ultimate Universe continuing. But it’s not worth the cover price. And to be honest, given how it went downhill so hard and fast, how many people out there are excited to see this universe continue at some point? I mean, I’m sure someone out there liked how it wrapped up and wants to see it survive. I just haven’t met any of them yet.
Better than either of the other “Ultimate” books this week. This one focuses mostly on the Punisher — of the 616, not an Ultimate Universe version. But other than the origin boxes giving random people powers, we don’t really know much. I will say I like the way Condon writes Frank Castle, though, and I think Condon is, in general, a very underappreciated writer. If Ben Percy wasn’t already doing a fantastic job writing a Punisher series, I would be saying give Condon a crack at it. But back to this book, I think the premise of the origin boxes having an impact on characters from the 616 has a lot of promise. I just wish it was coming with more momentum behind it, but the Ultimate Universe failed to provide it, which makes the task more of an uphill battle for this creative team.
Jason Aaron’s Absolute Superman just keeps getting better and better. And don’t get me wrong, it started off strong out of the gate. But he’s really finding his stride with this book now. This issue was a great read. Nonstop action. It does a great job of selling Teth Adam/King Shazam as a badass and totally unstoppable force. You 100% believe he is a threat to Superman and that Superman could actually lose this fight. At the same time, Aaron adds more layers to the character of Hawkman. He’s a flawed character who you think could be redeemed, but I can also easily see him coming to a tragic end, and Aaron has made me care about which ends up happening.
Rafa Sandoval is amazing on art, as always, and Ulises Arreola’s colors are phenomenal. But special shout-out to Vicente Cifuentes who seamlessly adds five great pages to this issue. I didn’t even realize there was another artist in the mix until I read the credits. That’s how good of a job he did.
Most of the Absolute Universe titles have been great, but none more consistently great than Absolute Wonder Woman. I can’t think of a single issue that disappointed or felt like filler — and that streak continues here. The art is fantastic and so in-step with the visual identity of this series since Day One that a lot of people will just assume this issue was drawn by series artist Hayden Sherman. But it wasn’t. It was actually done by guest artist Dillon Snook, who fucking nailed it.
And speaking of nailing it, Kelly Thompson writes Absolute Wonder Woman like it was what she was born to do. The voice she gives Diana is perfect. It’s strong, introspective, noble but with this underlying anger waiting to be uncaged. And she writes some of the most badass one-liners for Diana. We’re 21 issues in and hopefully Thompson has at least another 50 in her because I don’t want anyone else touching this book as long as she still wants to do it.
This series has been tons of fun and the latest issue has serious Last Crusade vibes — fighting Nazis on a Zeppelin and then jumping on a plane for some aerial combat. I loved it. Add in this mystical ancient Anvil and a threat of a 9/11 style attack on NYC and this issue never lets up. Nonstop action and killer art from Phillips, which should surprise absolutely no one. This is a genre that can be hard to nail — humorous but not too campy, period dialogue that sounds authentic rather than forced, action that can be as entertaining as modern day superhero battles, bombastic gunfights and car chases, etc. Condon and Phillips are a perfect team to do the genre justice. I can’t wait for this to come out in a deluxe collected edition.
Sold out at my shop and, once again, Midtown Comics can’t get their shit together and get orders out in a reasonable time. So this review gets pushed to next week.
Same as Escape #8. Sold out at my shop and, once again, Midtown Comics can’t get their shit together. Figures it happens with two of the books I was most excited for this week, and that it’s happened two weeks in a row and like five of the last six times I’ve ordered from them. Lesson learned.
Gunslinger Spawn is easily my favorite character in that universe. Absolutely love the character design and I’m a massive fan of westerns as a genre. Which also means I’m definitely partial to Jimmy Palmiotti’s book — Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger Spawn — as it’s set in the 1800s. But I’m a big fan of Erica Schultz’s writing and I like what she’s doing in the present day storyline, too. Curious to see where she takes it. Both series are worth your time, though I think the barrier to entry is lower for Deadly Tales because it’s not really wrapped up in any Spawn Universe continuity the way the present day book is.
Bloody, violent. Lots of fun. The world has a dirt and grime kinda feel to it. Not quite post-apocalyptic but not far off. Hudson — the character we’re viewing this story arc and world through — is a 90lb soaking wet kid from the streets, not some baby-faced Boy Scout, and that sells the vibe of the story and book as a whole even more. Writer Matthew Rosenberg keeps you guessing about where Spawn really is and what his plans/motivations are. I like that because when a book has you asking questions — not out of confusion but out of curiosity and excitement — they’re doing it right. This book is doing it right.
Every issue of this series has shown Shredder as more and more of a badass — and don’t get me wrong, it’s been fun — but I’m at the point now where I am ready for him to return to the main TMNT book and take his rightful place as the premiere villain of that universe. IDW books are free day-and-date as part of the GlobalComix Gold Subscription. If you’ve got that, check this book out. If you don’t, I think this is one you can wait and read when it’s collected and for less money. Issue to issue, I think it’s only for the most hardcore of TMNT completionists.
I always love a good Batman/Green Arrow team-up. The characters just work so well bouncing off one another. This issue is a classic story of heroes underestimating a mysterious adversary and learning the hard way that there’s more to them than meets the eye. The mystery deepens as they learn that she has ties to Prion, someone we know very little about but are learning more and more through flashbacks that connect Prion to Batman, Green Arrow and Black Canary. Bruce and Ollie always make for an odd couple, getting on each other’s nerves, and Dinah is perfect to balance them out and be the adult in the room when the kids can’t seem to get along. This arc has been a lot of fun and a nice break from the dire straits of the mainline Batman book. And over the course of this run I have become a big fan of Mikel Janin’s art.
Jamal Campbell’s art style is a refreshing change of pace from what you typically get from most DC ongoing books. I really like it, though there are some instances where it can get a little chaotic and you need to take an extra minute to follow exactly what’s happening on a page. I really enjoyed how Campbell, who also writes the book, weaved in Memphis musical roots to feel more at home in the book’s setting, adding in Voodoo elements and more authentic cultural touches. The story is very captivating, though admittedly a little hard to follow here and there. But overall, I wish there were more books in the magical corners of DC — Justice League Dark, Constantine, etc. When done right, they’re a lot of fun.
I’m enjoying this run for what it is. The art style isn’t really my cup of tea and I’m more of a Barry Allen as Flash/Joshua Williamson run fan. I haven’t always had the best luck connecting with Ryan North’s writing style, but I am finding things to like here and there. For me, this is a good example of a book that I’m happy to continue reading one month behind street dates via the DC Infinite Ultra Tier subscription. Saves me some money and allows me to give some titles more of a chance than I’d be willing to if I had to lay down cover price every month.
I appreciate the “Filler Episode” title of this issue, because in more ways than one, that’s exactly what this story is. Being just over a month shy of 44, I’m also of an age where I can appreciate the name and origin of the character Y2K in this book. Definitely got a chuckle out of that. As for the story itself, it’s OK. Another fitting example of a book I’m not mad about reading, but I’d only stick with it as part of the DC Infinite subscription. If I had to pay cover price for every issue to keep up with it, I don’t have enough interest in the story being told in this run to justify that.
Black Label books are a great way for cool concepts to make it into readers hands that otherwise might never see the light of day. If a Black Label book or miniseries hits really well with audiences, maybe it gets a sequel, or maybe it just lives on its own as a great story. Here, the idea is that Jor-El made it off Krypton but his wife and child did not. So, instead of a father-son relationship between Jonathan Kent and Clark, you get a brother dynamic between Jonathan and “Jordan.” It also raises some interesting questions about how Jor-El as an adult raised on Krypton might handle situations differently than Kal-El raised on Earth. Jor-El is definitely a good character in this universe. But could certain events cause him enough frustration to break bad? I definitely want to keep reading to find out.
Deadpool has someone looking out for him, dropping notes out of the air that land in his lap and tells him something bad that’s about to happen. So, naturally, he finds some pretty funny ways of monetizing that info. It’s a fun, mindless read. Nothing earth-shattering, but that’s rarely the point of a Deadpool book. Fun enough, but definitely worth waiting the three months after street date when it hits Marvel Unlimited.
Overall, this was a good story and I liked the art, but I ABSOLUTELY HATE how Kingpin is written, especially since I don’t think he was really necessary to include here at all. Everything he did and said in this issue was completely out of character. And look, I get that these are fictional characters and if the writer writes it, the character does or says it. That’s the power they wield. Sometimes the way a writer handles a character is 100% in line with how you think they should be and other times it’s off the mark. It happens. But for me, this was so wildly off the mark that it really pulled me out of the story, which again has some strong positives.
I’m still going to read the next issue. Hopefully that was a one-and-done appearance for Kingpin and I can enjoy the next couple issues a lot more. Because the conflict between the Sentry and the Void and how it impacts Bob Reynolds, his wife and his teammates on the Avengers is always a rich storytelling landscape to explore.
Until next time, here’s this week’s Pull List …
BATMAN #11
SUPERGIRL: SURVIVE #2
WHAT IF … THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE SURVIVED THE SECRET WARS #1
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #32
IRON MAN #7
MORTAL THOR #12
PUNISHER #6
DOCTOR STRANGE #8
STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE — SAW GERRERA #1
ZORRO #2
SPAWN #377
SHE-SPAWN #3
THE SCORCHED #52
THE DEADMAN #1 (DC INFINITE ULTRA)
BATGIRL #20 (DC INFINITE ULTRA)
DEADLY HANDS OF KUN-LUN #2 (MARVEL UNLIMITED)
ROGUE #3 (MARVEL UNLIMITED)
PSYLOCK: NINJA #3 (MARVEL UNLIMITED)
INGLORIOUS X-FORCE #3 (MARVEL UNLIMITED)
NEW AVENGERS #10 (MARVEL UNLIMITED)
…and much more.
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