The boys are back and better than ever in Power Man and Iron Fist #1. Luke Cage (Power Man) and Danny Rand (Iron Fist) are coming out of Secret Wars in a return to form as the Heroes for Hire.
Cry Havoc opens with a quotation from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Already, the book promises a story both deeply informed by literary tradition and steeped in lore. Even without the high bar set for mythology-based stories, *ahem, WicDiv* this will be an ambitious story to tell.
With clever dialogue and rapid plotting of Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, the fierceness, cuteness, and sadness of Babs Tarr’s art, and the battle of genres and tones created by colorists Lee Loughridge and Serge Lapointe, Batgirl #48 is an excellent outing for the title, and there are more cool reveals to come. There is definitely a lot of darkness to endure before the colorful fun returns. If it ever does.
Despite its flaws, Southern Cross #6 is a great read. Trippy horror art and a creepy plot worthy of Lovecraft makes it one of the most unique comics in both sci-fi and horror. With what looks like more to come in the second arc, Southern Cross is a cult classic in the making for Image’s extraordinary catalog.
Southern Cross #1-5 (2015) Written by Becky Cloonan Art by Andy Belanger Colors by Lee Loughridge Letters by Serge LaPointe Published by Image Comics In a dark future, ex-con Alex Braith travels to a refinery rig on Titan to retrieve the remains of her sister, Amber, after she died of mysterious circumstances. The ship Alex …
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #4 will make readers feel truly victorious and want to “punch holes in the sky” (from DeConnick’s sign-off on the series) in a battle royale that combines both hard punching hand to hand combat and beautiful aerial maneuvers courtesy of Laura Braga, Paolo Pantalena, and Lee Loughridge. Kelly Sue DeConnick and Kelly Thompson also don’t neglect character relationships as Captain Marvel inspires the Banshee Squadron to fight gods while also helping her old friend Kit find thunderous redemption. Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #4 is a single issue party celebrating the power of Carol Danvers as one of Marvel Comics’ most inspirational icons and wraps up DeConnick’s work on the character in powerful and occasionally tearful way.
In this one-shot, writers Scott Snyder and Brian Azzarello have decided to tone down Batman into a simple detective story. Set five years in the past, Batman wants to discover who’s murdered a fifteen year-old boy; sounds easy enough. But the world of Gotham is never as calm as it seems. Batman treks throughout the city questioning the likes of The Penguin, the leader of a local gang, and a GCPD detective, but in the end discovers that the young man’s demise came from the young man himself, via Mr. Bloom. Batman wasn’t there to save the young man and in the process learns that he doesn’t know as much about his home as he thought; a staple of the Snyder-era Batman run.
Imagine you’re thrown back to 1987. You are are teenager who hates school, grades sucking, jocks are out to get you and your friends, can’t focus in class. BUT, the jocks are the children of Joseph Stalin’s assassin, teachers are also killers just older and wiser, and the crush you have as a literal body count. Welcome to Kings Dominion School for the Deadly Arts, the most brutal high school on earth, where the world’s top crime families send the next generation of killers to train. At Kings Dominion School for the Deadly Arts, the backstabbing is literal and the pain can get you killed, which makes Deadly Class quite the exciting comic.
Ales Kot enters further into the realm of blending the real world with the supernatural, presenting Wolf as the sort of story that will bring in fans of John Constantine or the brilliant Fatale. The various, enigmatic characters are developed enough through the larger premier issue warranting a strong curiosity as to the direction that this creative team is going in.
With an opening page laid out like a page from one of those free newspapers, writer Brenden Fletcher and artist Annie Wu make the dynamic between Dinah (or D.D. as she is called by the press and her bandmates) and her band the Black Canary the focus in Black Canary #1. Touring and trying to make it as a indie punk band with an eclectic sound courtesy of silent guitarist Ditto and a charismatic lead vocalist comes first before the superheroics, but the kicking and action is always present. And instead of being something, like Scott Pilgrim, where characters accept the musical martial arts matchups without batting an eye, Dinah’s predilection for violence leads to tension between her and her bandmates creating the main conflict for the series along with some mysterious beings drawn in a looser style by Wu with pitch black coloring from Lee Loughridge.
Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #1 uses the characters and ideas brought up in Kelly Sue DeConnick’s seminal Captain Marvel run to tell a thought provoking and intense war story set in space with a diverse group of female leads. Each dog fight has a point as Carol Danvers progresses from soldier to possible revolutionary.
Even though readers don’t know much about the characters, Southern Cross #1 has visually interesting layouts and play of colors, a solid mystery hook, and is a good start to this personal, space-faring story.
X-Men #23 Written by G. Willow Wilson Pencilled by Roland Boschi Inked by Jay Leisten Colors by Lee Loughridge Published by Marvel Comics After recently signing an exclusive contract with Marvel, award-winning Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson begins her “Burning World” arc on X-Men, a comic that was launched a couple years to focus on an all female X-Men squad. The lineup for X-Men #23 is …
In Captain Marvel #9, Kelly Sue DeConnick and David Lopez switch gears from space opera to rock opera in space involving variations on the traditional fairy tale. DeConnick inverts gender roles, writes about 75% of the issue’s dialogue in rhyme, and reinvents the character of Lila Cheney (who I previously thought was a Dazzler knockoff while showcasing Captain Marvel’s ability to inspire heroism and self-sacrifice in other people. Artist David Lopez adds a lot of the humor to the proceedings with his penchant for expressive faces. He also spaces out his panels in a way which reflects the rhyming scheme of dialogue before bringing out creative layouts and speed lines for the big third act battle. Colorist Lee Loughridge adds to the musical flavor of Captain Marvel #9 by contrasting the colors of the musical notes with the rest of the panel. He also adds a bit of pop to the teleportation and other dramatic scenes.
Captain Marvel #7 Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick Art by Marcio Takara Colored by Lee Loughridge Published by Marvel Even if it’s basically a “bottle issue” set inside Captain Marvel’s ships, Captain Marvel #7 has Kelly Sue DeConnick’s characteristic humorous dialogue and strong characterization mixed with simple, expressive line-work from guest artist Marcio Takara (BOOM’s Incredibles comics, The Flash), who also has a …
Captain Marvel #1 Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick Art by David Lopez Colors by Lee Loughridge Published by Marvel Comics Captain Marvel #1 opens with its titular heroine and a motley crew of aliens trying to get a certain object and keep it away from evil aliens. This sequence sets up the premise of the book, which …