Archive for April, 2015

Gwen Worlds Collide

Spider-Gwen3

Spider-Gwen #3

While Gwen’s dad is trying to talk her out of being Spider-Woman, the Vulture makes a surprise attack. He thinks Captain Stacy can tell him where Spider-Woman is — and lo and behold, she quickly shows up, and the only thing that makes it a close fight is that Toomes hit her with a ton of tear gas. Even then, she eventually trashes him — but then she has to face Captain Frank Castle, armed with a gas mask, a skull t-shirt, and some high-powered weaponry.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nice art, nice storytelling. Quite a lot of well-done action, too. Next issue should be interesting — we’ll get to meet the late Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May…

LadyKiller4

Lady Killer #4

Josie has been targeted for assassination by her own organization. She manages to get away from her handler — and then she manages to shadow him back to meet with another of his operatives. They have the obligatory fight, then come to an agreement — they both want out of the assassin biz, but to do so, they’re going to need assistance from another unusual hitman.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Wonderful action, great characters (I love Josie’s daughters, who always talk a mile a minute), and some great ’60s period detail. Just one issue left of this one…

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Worth the Blood

SouthernBastards8

Southern Bastards #8

We get the final story in the origin story of Coach Boss, where he works out a scheme to rise from being a lowly ball boy to become the coach of the local football team — and he only has to brutally step on a few people on his way to the top. But will he end up with any true allies on his side? Or just flunkies looking for a way to ride his rotten coattails?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Still the best bowl of burnt-to-hell Southern noir you’re going to find anywhere. The last few issues have gotten us to feeling a lot of sympathy for Euless Boss, but this issue definitely fixed that problem. Coach Boss is the villain again, and trouble is blowing up over the horizon.

RatGod3

Rat God #3

Clark Elwood finally starts to turn into something other than a complete schmuck. He fends off the advances of the dimwitted, quasi-attractive, mostly-freakish Gharlena, then follows her and the other residents of Lame Dog out to the cemetery, where he finds petrified skeletons and a procession of cultists. The cultists start throwing people into a hole in the graveyard, where they’re eaten by a monstrous rat-like being. Clark tries to stop them when they start to throw his beloved Kito in, but only ends up in the pit with a couple of the other cultists. Can he survive the trip to hell? Will he learn anything unexpected? And where (and when) will he emerge?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful Richard Corben artwork, and it’s really nice to see Clark act like someone with a little emotional maturity. But there are still ominous hints that he’s still in way more trouble than he can handle.

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Busting the Bat

GothamAcademy6

Gotham Academy #6

Batman finally shows up and takes on Killer Croc — and something happens with Olive Silverlock. It appears she has pyrokinetic powers that she may not even be aware of. She saves Croc, and Croc saves her during the ensuing inferno. After Croc makes his escape, Olive has an angry confrontation with Batman, and the next day, she and her friends resolve to form a group dedicated to searching out the Academy’s mysteries.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s a cool story with cool art, and it’s great to finally see a decent appearance from Batman, too.

Daredevil14

Daredevil #14

Matt Murdock has definitely embraced having no secret identity — he’s now wearing a fancy red suit — as in jacket, vest, and tie — with a Daredevil belt buckle, no mask, no sunglasses — which he’s wearing for both courtroom duties and crimefighting. He runs into a new supervillain calling herself the Owl — she claims to be the original Owl’s daughter, and she wants to find out where he is. When they finally track down his location, he’s hooked up to a vast number of telecommunication cables. But who’s holding him captive here, and for what purpose?

Verdict: Thumbs up. The whole story is outstanding, but you gotta give it extra credit for Matt’s fantastically bizarre new look.

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