Clive Barker’s Nightbreed #8

Lylesberg’s attempt to learn Boone’s story gets him a lot more detail than he was expecting — Boone’s lived an entirely rotten life, with the death of his mother getting him moved into a succession of terrible homes, some run by his own family members, some utterly horrible foster homes. He finally meets up with his true love, Lori, but realizing he has a lot of emotional issues built up through his rough childhood (and his then-unknown kinship with the Nightbreed), she recommends he visit a therapist — though Dr. Decker probably doesn’t mean to do good things for him. Meanwhile, Otis and Clay, literary twins sharing the same body, grant an interview to a reporter who’s managed to find out some of their secrets.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m still fairly astounded that this series has been so much fun, and I’m incredibly glad I picked it up in the first place. If you were ever a fan of this awesome movie, you should be keeping an eye out for the TPB so you can get the backstory on all these characters you always wished you could know more about…

Gotham by Midnight #2

The threat that Precinct 13 is facing — the villain kidnapping and warping the brains of children — is apparently some sort of supernatural, demonic nun. While Jim Corrigan tries to hold her attention and dispel her, Rook, the Internal Affairs cop assigned to shut them down, has to try to get the kids to safety. We also learn some of Sister Justine’s backstory, complete with demonic priests. Hey, you don’t think there’s some sort of connection between the various demonic Catholic clergy, do you?

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m still getting used to some elements of the series — Ben Templesmith’s art is not the kind of thing you usually see in the rebooted DC — but so far, I’m enjoying what I see.

Today’s Cool Links: 

• It’s the new “Ant-Man” trailer!
• If you hate Jerry Jones like I hate Jerry Jones, this is going to make your day.
• Proper British actresses from Downton Abbey play Cards Against Humanity.

Daredevil #11

Matt Murdock talks to a former villain, George Smith, who used to call himself the Stunt-Master. He gave up crime years ago, but is frustrated that there’s a new stuntman running around and calling himself the Stunt-Master. He specializes in impossible stunts — and in fact, he seems to die every time he tries a stunt, before revealing his survival. Anyway, Smith is unhappy that he’s getting no money for the new Stunt-Master’s routine, and he wants Matt to do something about it. Matt isn’t too encouraging — Smith sold the name years ago — but he gets more interested when the new Stunt-Master starts calling himself a daredevil, a man without fear, and just outright calling out Daredevil to face him. And when Smith commits suicide, he decides to take direct action. How does the new Stunt-Master defy death? And why is Daredevil willing to risk his own life for a cheap stunt?

Verdict: Thumbs up. We get the standard outstanding writing and art we’ve come to expect — ain’t nothing wrong with awesomeness month after month after month, is there? I love the way this series puts mysteries together, letting Matt’s superhuman senses show us how the scheme is put together and then letting us watch him figure out the motive and work out a way to put the bad guys away…

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #3

Y’all hold on, ’cause this is gonna get a little confusing. The regular Avengers — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America (formerly the Falcon), the Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, Medusa, and Luke Cage — have all turned evil. And the Mighty Avengers — Spectrum, She-Hulk, the Blue Marvel, Power Man, White Tiger, and Kaluu — are not evil, but don’t know what the heck is going on. So now there’s gonna be a big ol’ fight. It’s gonna be pretty short, right? The evil Avengers don’t have anyone who can handle the Blue Marvel. But Tony Stark arranges for a global crisis on the opposite end of the planet, knowing the Marvel will fly off to take care of it. So the sides are much more evenly matched now — and the evil Avengers are guaranteed to cheat. Can the Mighty Avengers emerge from this with their skins intact?

Verdict: Thumbs up. These crossovers are often pretty silly, but this is a nice way to get the parts of it that work without having to spend too much money picking up every other issue. And beyond that, the writing’s great, and the art is nice, too.

Wow, completely forgot blogging for a week, then had to scramble to find a decent entry for this week’s Friday Night Fights. So we’re going to an old favorite — March 2004’s DC: The New Frontier #1 by Darwyn Cooke, as pacifist pilot Hal Jordan is locked in a life or death struggle against a North Korean soldier.

And before I forget entirely, Happy 2015, everyone — hope it’s a good one for you and everyone you know.

So the problem with taking over a week off for the holidays is that it’s hard to remember when it’s time to get back to work on your blog again. I finally remembered I needed to post some reviews and a Friday Night Fights pretty late yesterday, so here we are, scrambling to get something done.

It was a nice break, by the way. Got to go home and see the folks, got some excellent presents, had to drive home in snow and bad weather, had to deal with much less pleasant weather once I got home, and am still trying to get my brain wrapped around some other responsibilities I need to take care of. Not just the blog, but all kinds of stuff around the house I need to get put together. I got a ton of presents I need to get hammered on the walls and plugged into outlets, and so far, I haven’t done those yet. Luckily, I’ve still got plenty of time before I have to get back to the office, so maybe I can get some of that done this weekend.

But now, on to some quick reviews from the last couple of weeks’ worth of comics.

She-Hulk #11

It’s really disappointing that this series is on its next-to-the-last issue, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts. In this issue, Titania shows up and it’s a near non-stop slugfest all the way through, with some extra secrets that Angie and Hei Hei have been hiding.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Yeah, it’s a slugfest, but it’s a really great slugfest, starring the two strongest female characters in the Marvel Universe, with fantastic writing and art to go along with them. Worst thing about this issue: Just one more to go before it’s cancelled.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #9

A magical event has occurred that’s caused some of Marvel’s heroes and villains to switch allegiences. So the Avengers and X-Men have turned evil, while a group of supervillains have united as the new Avengers to save the world. Loki and the Enchantress are among the new Avengers, while Thor has become a brutish warmonger, no longer worthy of wielding Mjolnir. After the two newly-minted heroes capture Sigurd and Lorelei and return them to Asgard — where they’re subjected to an uncommonly cruel punishment for their crimes on Earth — Loki hatches a plot to remove the incredibly mighty Thor from the battle. Basically, he intends to go to the moon, where Thor left his hammer, and see if he himself is worthy enough to carry it. But can a God of Evil hold that weapon? And what will Thor do to him when he finds out about the plan?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a pretty fun story with tons of drama, and it sets up some pretty major ramifications for future issues of the comic, too.