Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 7/13

Daredevil #9
Story: Charles Soule
Art: Goran Suduka & Matt Milla

Daredevil is probably my favorite non-cosmic or mutant Marvel character. I've read his book regularly since the Marvel Knights relaunch, and have picked up plenty of back issues and trades along the way. And I was absolutely in love with Mark Waid's run on the series, with it's lighter tone. And I was excited when Charles Soule, an actual lawyer whose legal-centric run on She-Hulk is one of my favorite Marvel series in the past decade. The tone of his first arc was darker, as was his Daredevil, more akin to Bendis then Waid, and it took me a little while to adjust to the darker tone. But this two part story, of Daredevil in Macau playing poker and fighting the Triads, finds a nice balance between the dark Daredevil and the light one, helped by the guest-star: Spider-Man. Soule writes a great Spidey, quipping away constantly, and the less quippy Daredevil is a great straight man for him, and brings out the sense of humor in Daredevil, who makes his own share of quips. The majority of the issue is a chase, as Daredevil and Spidey chase a briefcase, the reason that Daredevil came to Macau to begin with. Artist Goran Sudzuka draws some amazing fight scenes, full of acrobatic action and flying billy clubs. But it's the character moments between Daredevil and Spider-Man that really makes the issue sing. The two of them, riding a hydrofoil from Macau to Hong Kong while basically parasailing using web-lines and billy-club lines, and Daredevil enjoying it. And the end of the issue, as Daredevil explains to Spider-Man why Spidey suddenly has holes in his memory involving Daredevil and what the briefcase is continues to show that Daredevil didn't fully think out whatever plan he had to remove the knowledge of his identity from the world. With all that going down, Soule gives Spidey one of the best last lines I've read in a long time, " Watch out for those black-costume phases. They can really do a number on you." It's a smart callback to one of Spidey's legendary stories and an acknowledgment of exactly where Daredevil seems to be now. This issue has me excited to see where exactly Soule plans to take Daredevil.

Detective Comics #936
Story: James Tynion IV
Art: Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, & Brad Anderson

Detective Comics just might be my favorite book out of the DC: Rebirth relaunch. After last issue's finale, with Batman taken out by the group of armored Bat soldier called The Colony, this issue opens with a much quieter moment: Kate Kane, Batwoman, out at a bar with her ex, GCPD detective Renee Montoya, talking about Kate's time in the military and her role as a leader. There's clearly still strain in their relationship, but I have to say, it's great to see Renee again. A call from Red Robin gets Batwoman to the belfry to watch the video of the assault on Batman, and they quickly call in the rest of the team, as well as Kate's father, Colonel Jake Kane. And as the others, including Kane, gather, Oprhan, Cassandra Cain, is attacked by the Colony. And it's only once Kane is in the Belfry that the other shoe falls: The Colony is a military project that Kane is in charge of, and he's here to recruit Batman's team, as well as get access to the Bat computer for the mission he has for The Colony. And even as the team makes their escape, Kane is sure that his plan will still work. The whole scene with Kane talking to the team, and to Kate specifically, is brilliantly tense. All the problems that Kate and her father have been having since Greg Rucka's original run on Detective, all the secrets and lies that have been pushing them apart, come to a head here. The idea, that the government would use Batman's example to create a black ops force, is a cool one, and the fact that it's being used against Batman and his allies is all the more intense. And placing Batwoman's father, Batman's uncle, at the head of it? I love it. All of this while working in strong character development and interactions between the cast, especially Batwoman and Red Robin, makes it an exciting and thoughtful read. The art from Alvaro Martinez is excellent, especially in the hints of the fight between The Colony and Orphan; most of it takes place off panel, but you see the set-up, as the soldiers surround her against a rainy and lightning filled Gotham sky, and the end, as she finishes off one of the soldiers, crashing to the floor of the Belfry through the skylight. It's beautiful, and shows the strength and speed of Orphan, and is stylishly done. Each issue of Detective has been better than the last, and as the fight with The Colony amps up, I can't wait to see where it goes.

Stumptown #10
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Justin Greenwood & Ryan Hill

Each case private investigator Dex Parios has been involved in since the beginning of Stumptown have been byzantine affairs no matter how simple they seem on paper. But this issue, "The Case of the Night That Wouldn't End" is a one off story that has a couple of twists to it,because what good PI story doesn't, but is at its heart fairly simple: Dex is hired to find out if a man's wife is cheating on him, and she follows the wife to a motel. The issue actually features two of my favorite types of comics: a great one off issue, and a great mostly silent issue, both of which are few and far between in comics nowadays (and don't I sound like an old fogey?). Justin Greenwood tells the story with his art as ex silently watches her suspect and a younger man meet at the motel, but not everything is as it seems. There are little details about their interactions, plus what's going on with a courier skateboarding out in the rain that are hints to things going on deeper with all these characters. PI and mystery shorts are some of the trickiest to write, since you have to establish everything and have it pay off not only for the reader the first time, but also on a second reading if they already know the solution, and this story succeeds. Rucka doesn't forget about Dex's personal life, or lack thereof, as we get hints of exactly how bad Dex is at dealing with personal relationships through a series of texts. It's a really solid introduction to the world of Stumptown, so if you're looking for a good crime comic, and want to get in and try it before the new volume starts in January, this is a great place to start.

Thursdays With Wade: Joe Kelly's Deadpool Revisited Part 6

This week’s reading: Daredevil/Deadpool Annual ’97

Story: Joe Kelly

Art: Bernard Chang

In 1997, Marvel teamed up Daredevil and Deadpool in a joint annual centered on Typhoid Mary, a character closely linked to the former who had recently begun working with the latter. The company liked the approach so much that the following year, a whole slew of team-up annuals came out, including Iron Man/Captain America, Alpha Flight/Inhumans, Ka-Zar/Daredevil, Machine Man/Bastion and Deadpool/Death, making today’s reading another Great Moment in ’Pool-o-vation!

In addition to sharing Typhoid Mary, DD and DP at the time shared a writer in Joe Kelly, who had taken over Marvel’s other man in the red pajamas from Karl Kesel in summer ’97. He would stay on until 1998’s issue #375, working predominantly with legendary Marvel artist Gene Colan (Tomb of Dracula).

Handling Mary has proved a challenge for Deadpool, whose stance on killing has softened a bit since his story arc with Siryn in issues #3-5. He follows Mary to New York to help her get revenge on Daredevil (and because she owes DP money). He then gets pissed when he finds out she’s offing civilians whom she says also did her wrong. But then he goes and kills a bunch of generic mob goons, so Wade’s line is still very much blurry. That all said, DP clearly wants to help Mary resolve her issues.

“We monsters have our own way of doing things,” he tells Daredevil.

Wade’s arc in Kelly’s Deadpool is that of a heel becoming a (slightly less heel-y) hero, but at this point in the journey, he is by no means equipped to help others take the same turn. Of course, part of the problem is Mary doesn’t want to be helped. That said, by issue’s end, he’s not ready to give up, either.

“This quasi heroic stuff isn’t an exact science, you know,” he tells his roommate/prisoner, Blind Al, “but it’s a good thing.”

But this is as much Daredevil’s story as it is Deadpool’s, and so Kelly and Chang show us the first time Matt and Mary met. A flashback reveals young Daredevil knocked Mary out a window when he busted up a brothel trying to figure out who killed his father. Mary claims this one moment defines her and makes Daredevil responsible for every one of her kills, which of course is ridiculous.

As for Mary, she appears to have changed costumes and hair colors since Deadpool #7. Her red dreads are now jet black and stringy, her shoulder pads have spikes on them and she’s traded in pants for fishnets.

In other weird art choices, when Deadpool’s packing to leave for his trip, and upon his return, he is drawn dressed in a baseball cap and short-sleeved polo shirt, one issue after he freaks out at the Hellhouse because T-Ray burned his mask off in front of everybody. Maybe he clicks on the old image inducer as soon as he leaves the house, but this manner of casual dress seems odd for someone who, at least at the time, didn’t want anyone seeing what he really looked like.

Meanwhile, while the boys in red are running around the city trying to get a handle on Mary, an unlikely friendship forms between their silly-nicknamed sidekicks. Weasel and Foggy eat and drink their way across Manhattan, then retire to Foggy’s place for poker and PlayStation. As a result of Foggy’s poor poker skills, Weasel takes ownership of Matt Murdock’s service dog, Deuce, which Wade in turn gives to Blind Al.

The issue ends with Deadpool taking Mary away, which means this arc’s not over yet. Tune in next Thursday for the conclusion of all this Typhoid business in Deadpool #8.

Total side note: There are a lot of classic cartoon references in this annual, including Snagglepuss, the Smurfs, Pepe Le Pew and Scooby Doo. But my favorite may be to the 1995-2002 Comedy Central series Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, which featured some of the earliest voice work of H. Jon Benjamin (Home Movies, Archer, Bob’s Burgers).


In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Thursdays With Wade: Joe Kelly's Deadpool Revisited Part 5

This week’s reading: Deadpool #6 and 7

Story: Joe Kelly

Art: Ed McGuinness

Starting with Deadpool #6, our man in red’s world becomes intertwined with that of another crimson-clad leading man: Daredevil.

We start where all plots have started so far in this series – at the Hellhouse, where two jobs have come in: one to break someone out of a mental institution, and one to kill that same person.

Despite a claim that he “gave up killing for Lent” (a byproduct of his time with Siryn), Wade takes the job(s), because it’s his book. He breaks into the Gutman Institute for the Mentally Unhinged by disguising himself as a doctor attempting to commit a patient, namely Weasel, who pretends he’s convinced he’s Ricki Lake, because it’s 1997 and that is a topical reference.

Meanwhile, it turns out that in addition to hiring Deadpool both to kill and kidnap her, the patient in question, a woman named Mary with three warring personalities, hired an obscure supervillain, the Vamp, to stop Wade. The Vamp’s power was turning into a big-headed, male-presenting monster called Animus, so get ready for a bunch of Crying Game references that seem less than enlightened in the age of Transparent and I Am Cait.

Once the Vamp is dispatched, Wade fulfills the part of the contract asking him to remove Mary from the asylum, after which she reveals herself as Typhoid Mary, one of the Kingpin’s personal assassins and a primary enemy/occasional lover of Daredevil.

She also likes high kicks. Or at least Ed McGuinness liked drawing Mary performing them. He also likes drawing Patch’s eyebrows as long and gravity-defying as his white Yosemite Sam mustache, so do with that what you will.

Oh, and she apparently used to date T-Ray, as we learn in issue #7. So there’s that.

The alabaster one’s vendetta against DP picks up again in #7, as he tells Weasel, effectively, that Wade’s ass is grass. “I’m going to nuke your pal Wade today. About 8 p.m.,” T-Ray says, channeling his inner middle school bully.

T-Ray’s threat leads Weasel to visit Deadpool’s house for the first time, to warn his buddy of impending doom. Wade isn’t home, but he does meet Blind Al, who freaks right out, intimating violent consequences for violating Wade’s sanctum sanitarium. More on that later.

Meanwhile, back at the Hellhouse, T-Ray makes good on his threat, using his as-yet-undefined magical abilities to burn off Wade’s mask, exposing his scarred face to the other mercenaries. In a rage, Wade kicks Mary out a second-story window. Mary survives the fall uninjured, but it helps her remember something important: She has to kill Daredevil! And that’s where we’ll pick up next time, with Daredevil/Deadpool Annual ’97.

Random bit 1: Blind Al in issue #7 mentions Deadpool’s Squirrel Girl Underoos. Now, Squirrel Girl was created in 1992, but she didn’t really become popular until the past decade. In fact, according to her Wikipedia page, the character was largely MIA between 1992 and 2005, save for this one reference, so one wonders whether this joke found an audience at the time.

Random bit 2: A scene in which Gerry the Bum talks to himself about Toaster Strudel, and the price its creator paid for crossing big Pop Tart. This is the first time we’ve seen Gerry since issue #1, and while it’s a funny bit, and in hindsight we know what his deal is, reading spoiler-free it just seems tossed in. That said, it remains my favorite Gerry scene.

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 9/2

Beyond Belief #2
Story: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker
Art: Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, & Mauricio Wallace

Now that the live stage show and podcast of The Thrilling Adventure Hour have ceased on a regular basis, it's great to have the comics return to help give me my fix of all my favorite characters. After helping their friend Donna get her house clear of ghosts, mediums Frank and Sadie Doyle head across the street to help a little girl named joy and her imaginary friend Mr. Fuzzypants deal with a monster problem of their own. The story is a perfect Beyond Belief, with clever plots and wheels within wheels storytelling; there are the imaginary friends of imaginary friends, monsters born of monster hunters. And the Doyles are as ever brave, not afraid of anything (the fact that they're gleefully drunk as ever doesn't hurt). AS with the other TAH comics, the story takes advantage of the visual medium in a way the podcast cannot, with Frank fighting creatures instead of simply talking them into defeat like the monster hunter he was before he met Sadie and settled down. Artist Phil Hester is one of comics best, an artist who brings his A game to anything he does, be it superheroes or monsters, but this issue he stretches his artistic legs. Some of the pages of the story are told by joy and Mr. Fuzzypants, and for that narrative, the backgrounds shift to a childlike crayon design, which gives it the perfect feeling of childlike imagination. While the Doyles are dealing with all this, we find out a little more about the neighborhood Donna has moved into, as we see a party going on down the block, attended by Joy's parents, among others, and well, I don't go to a lot of parties, but I didn't think human sacrifice was a part of most get togethers, and when things don't go as planned, well, let's just say it looks like the Doyles will be coming to the rescue again. As always, these horror tinged precedings are told with the usual TAH tongue planted firmly in cheek, balancing the scary with Doyles usual dry and urbane wit. I will happily read anything Thrilling Adventure related, and fortunately, Bne Acker and Ben Blacker continue to give their fans quality stories of walks in realms Beyond Belief.

Daredevil #18
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee & Matthew Wilson

All good things must come to an end, and so ends Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's impressive run on Daredevil. After over four years, Waid bows out this issue, having written two volumes of the series, of which Samnee drew the majority. Waid has done an impressive job of balancing the brooding with the funny, moving Daredevil away from the character that Frank Miller crafted, the tormented Catholic who loses everyone he loves, and into a character who looks on his life with a bit more of a smile. It's not to say that Daredevil's life is easy or the comic is a comedy. Going into this issue, Matt Murdock, Daredevil has rarely been in more dire straits: his whole life laid bare by the Shroud and the Owl, his reputation ruined, and the two people he loves most, his best friend Foggy Nelson and his girlfriend Kirsten McDuffie, in the hands of his archfoe, the Kingpin. The story spotlights everything about Daredevil that makes him a great character: he uses his mind to set up Kingpin's downfall, and then he uses his fists to aid in it. And Waid gives Matt a big win as well as the losses here, keeping the balance just right. A lot of this series has been about Matt discovering things about himself and dealing with all the issues that years of being beaten down by his enemies and fate have given him, and at the end, before he has to go out and talk to the reporters and explain exactly what happened to him during his time in San Francisco, he breaks down. Not nervous breakdown collapse breaks down, but talks to Foggy and Kirsten about what being a man without fear means, and it's not all for the good. But he perseveres and pushes through, We get to see Matt in his traditional costume again, and Chris Samnee gets to draw not just the impressive fight scenes that have been his trademark on Daredevil,  but also some of the personal, quieter scenes that show off a different set of skills, with strong acting from the faces and body language that flow in a different way than combat. Chris Samnee was an artist whose work I enjoyed before this run, but after it he's become an artist I will follow wherever he goes. I'm looking forward to seeing what Charles Soule and Ron Garney are going to be doing on their new run on Daredevil, but they have very big shoes to fill; this run is as definitive to Daredevil as Waid's run on Flash as to Wally West. It was a swashbuckling story of crime, the law, superheroics, and a man trying to make the world and his life better. If you never tried it, or are curious about Daredevil after you saw his Netflix TV series, it's really something worth checking out. It's not like any Daredevil of the twenty years before it, and I think it will be the standard the next twenty years are measured against.


And Dan Grote reviews this week's battle between two of our favorite characters...

Deadpool vs. Thanos #1

Story: Tim Seeley

Art: Elmo Bondoc & Ruth Redmond

A long time ago (2002) on a space throne far, far away, Thanos, the Mad Titan, killer of stuff, cursed Wade Wilson with immortality, on account of Wade was getting too cozy with Thanos’ main squeeze, the living embodiment of Death.

The splash page on which this happened was the final page of writer Frank Tieri’s run on Deadpool, which cleared the way for Gail Simone and Udon Studios to take over the character. Thirteen years later, that coda is being explored in greater detail in a four-issue miniseries by writer Tim Seeley (Grayson) and artist Elmo Bondoc (the Loki issue of Ms. Marvel).

In Deadpool vs. Thanos, Death has gone missing. Not just taken a holiday, but completely disappeared. As a result, not only can no one be killed, but the dead are coming back to life (Yeah, I know, more zombies; let’s not dwell on it). Which totally messes with Deadpool’s assassination of Dr. Doom, who attempts to return the favor. While Wade heals from the more successful attempts on his life, he visits a place between life and death where he gets, let’s say, conjugal visits with Mistress Death (and a sweet, outside-the-mask mustache). This time, though, Death is trapped behind a mirror and begging for Wade’s help.

When he comes to, Deadpool seeks the expertise of Black Talon, a voodoo practitioner and rooster-headdress aficionado, who turns DP on to the idea of tracking down Thanos. After a fun montage featuring the Avengers, Cable, a poop joke and a Muppets reference, Deadpool shows up at Thanos’ space-doorstep, and tall, purple and rock-chinned commences straight up mega-murdering our anti-hero, having rescinded his decade-old curse.

Except it doesn’t take. Whoever took Death out of the picture, it’s not Thanos. And so the two realize they must team up to set the balance of life and death aright. Hope you like zany antics on a cosmic scale, because they’re gonna ensue.

For continuity geeks, a recap page lets readers know this story takes place before Deadpool’s Marvel NOW! relaunch of just a couple years ago. So don’t look for talk of Battleworld, incursions, the ghost of Benjamin Franklin or SHIELD agents who look like Pete Hornberger from 30 Rock. But if you’re a fan of DP’s retconned misadventures, such as the just-ended Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars, you’ll no doubt enjoy this, too.

5 Reasons You Should Care About... The Purple Man

Earlier this week, it was reported that David Tennant, the 10th Doctor himself, has been cast as Zebediah Killgrave, aka the Purple Man, in A.K.A. Jessica Jones, Marvel’s second Netflix series, after Daredevil.
The Purple Man is the perfect villain for a series starring Jessica Jones, to be played by Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad, Veronica Mars). In Brian Michael Bendis’ Alias series (not to be confused with the 2001-06 ABC series), Killgrave tortured Jessica and used his mind-control powers to force her to live with him and do his bidding. This led to her being ordered to kill Daredevil and getting beaten up by the Avengers before they realized she was brainwashed.

Before the series is made available for streaming later this year, here’s a quick study in Purple:

1. He’s an OG Daredevil villain: The Purple Man was created by Stan Lee and Joe Orlando and first appeared in Daredevil #4, way back in 1964. And just like the Man Without Fear, Killgrave’s powers and purpleness were the result of a chemical accident.

2. He’s got beef with the whole Jones family: At the end of Bendis’ New Avengers #2, amid the breakout at the Raft supervillain prison, Killgrave tries to take control of Jones’ boyfriend/father of her child, Luke Cage (“Do me a favor. Kill all these other ‘hero’ friends of yours, and then kill yourself”). However, Purple’s caretakers put drugs in his food that negated his mind-control powers. So instead, Cage starts punching the crap out of him, stopping only because Captain America ordered him to.

3. He once helped Dr. Doom enslave the world: In the graphic novel Emporer Doom by David Michelinie and Bob Hall, Doom hooks Killgrave up to a machine that allows him to control every mind on Earth. The plan is thwarted by Wonder Man, who snaps out of it due to time spent in a sensory deprivation tank.

4. He was in one of the last episodes of the ’90s X-Men cartoon: In the Season 5 episode “No Man Is an Island,” Cyclops takes a sabbatical from the team and returns to the orphanage where he grew up, only to find it being funded by Killgrave, who hides his purpleness under the same makeup used by shows filmed in HD. Killgrave later appeared on Disney XD’s Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, voiced by Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation).

5. His kids are every bit as messed up:  The latest volume of Daredevil reveals Killgrave has a number of Purple Children, born of different women he’d mind-controlled over the years but with the same skin color and power set. The children united against their father and used their powers to make him walk in front of a moving train, and went on to wreak havoc in DD’s new home of San Francisco, stealing a police car and taking over an arcade. They’re not all bad though: Killgrave’s daughter Kara was a member of Alpha Flight who went by the codename Persuasion.

Read this: Alias #1-28 by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos

Watch that: Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Season 2, Episode 19: “Emperor Stark”

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 10/15 and Special Digital Comics Review... From Earth

Daredevil #9
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

The Purple Man, Zebediah Killgrave, is a creepy character. A man who can bend minds of others to his will, Brian Michael Bendis made him a particularly nasty guy in his run on Alias. So what can be done to make him even more creepy? Why make five Purple Children, of course! Yes, if horror movies have taught us nothing, there's nothing creepier than evil kids, and Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are playing on that fear in the new issue of Daredevil, as the children of Killgrave make their mark. While the Purple Children were introduced last issue, we see exactly what they can do this issue when they confront Daredevil. But that's the end of the issue. At the beginning, we get to see Matt Murdock, Daredevil, spending time with Kirsten McDuffie, his law partner and girlfriend, and a disguised Foggy Nelson, his best friend who faked his own death and is in disguise in the world's least convincing fat suit, which is the butt of several jokes from the others and gives the issue a touch of humor before things go sideways. Matt is talking with them about the proposition of writing his autobiography, something Kirsten's publisher father asked about last issue. Foggy makes a couple of valid points against it, most notably that Matt a) hates to write and b) Matt has lived a hard, nasty life, and maybe revisiting the darker moments isn't the best for Matt's sanity. But Matt shakes that argument off, confident that he is happy and can deal with it. Meanwhile, the Purple Children are stretching their metaphorical muscles by testing their powers and stealing a police car. It's a good bit of character that the kids act like kids. They don't start trying to take over the city or developing a cult, they just use their powers to get what they feel like getting. And when Daredevil stops their joyride and confronts them, Waid again does something very clever with Daredevil's particular skill set and limitations: despite knowing Killgrave is on the loose, he has no idea the kids are connected to him until someone else mentions their purple skin tone because Daredevil is blind. I've been reading Daredevil for a long time, and while every writer regularly mentions Daredevil is blind, and often play up the advantages of his heightened senses, Waid has been the best about playing on the way the blindness can hamper his abilities too. The battle with the Purple Children ends with them forcing Matt to face the darkness in his past that he's not faced since Waid took over the book, because the Purple Children don't just convince you of something, they make you believe it, a fine distinction, but one that makes them all the more powerful than their father. The issue ends with Matt in the darkest place he's been in years, proving Foggy might have been more on the nose about where Matt's head is, and with an enemy who might be an ally in this situation looming over him. It's a disquieting splash page, and the art uses shadow to add to the ominous tone. It's been nearly five years since Mark Waid took over Daredevil, and he still finds new things to do with the character month in and month out.

Justice League #35
Story; Geoff Johns
Art: Ivan Reis & Doug Mahnke

The prologue to the new arc on Justice League is an issue low on action, but high on character. It begins with a press conference announcing the partnership between Wayne Enterprises and Lexcorp that was established last issue. The scene does a great job of showing exactly how much the team trusts Lex Luthor, their newest member. The hero/villain team up is a trope in comics almost as old as the medium itself, but the twist here, that the heroes have to work with Lex in the light of day because the world now views Lex as a hero, is a nice twist. And it's not just like in the President Luthor years, where they could just avoid him. Nope, Lex is a full fledged Justice Leaguer. The whole team is on hand, ready to bust in and arrest Lex the minute Batman finds any evidence of Luthor doing anything illegal, which seems to be the razor's edge the team is going to be walking on for sometime. The press conference is a great showcase for how manipulative Lex can be, playing to the crowd, and just how much more clever Bruce Wayne is, invoking the death of his parents to slip in and undercut Lex in front of the media. During that press conference, we get to see what each of the Justice League members in the crowd are doing, and Geoff Johns uses the time to build the characters and relationships. We continue seeing Cyborg and Shazam as good friends, with Cyborg as the mature older brother figure to the more immature Shazam, who acts a bit more like a kid than he has in previous incarnations, where Billy Batson's teenage attitude doesn't creep through as much. Meanwhile Flash spends his time with Power Ring, who has at least for now mastered the evil ring that gives her the name, and I'm curious to see where the relationship between her and Flash goes. Batman then gets a guided tour of Lex Luthor's inner sanctum, one that again shows that the confrontation between Lex and the League is going to be a battle of wits between these two more than anything physical. Knowing what we do about Lex, it's clear he's sanitized the labs, since I can;t imagine he's not up to something even if it's not showing. We do get some insight into Lex's character with the appearance of his sister, Lena, before Neutron, the nuclear powered supervillain, bursts in to assassinate Lex, with a mysterious voice whispering in his ear, promising him his humanity back if he performs. We get a quick battle, where Aquaman jumps in and Johns once again proves that when written right, Aquaman can be a badass, and the issue ends with one of Lex's dirty little secrets being revealed, one that will set off the action of the arc, the titular Amazo Virus. Johns is firing on all cylinders on  this title, which continues to be the best it's been since the relaunch, nicely balancing character and plot, and giving just enough action to remind us what it's like when gods clash.

Spider-Man 2099 #5
Story: Peter David
Art: Rick Leonardi

Don't let that cover text fool you! Despite it saying that this issue is drawn by series regular penciler Will Sliney, it's not. Sliney has been doing a great job on this book, but this issue is drawn by Spider-Man 2099 co-creator Rick Leonardi, which deserves a call out. Now, I don't read anything else even tangentially related to Spider-Man, so my knowledge of the new "Spider-Verse" event is limited. This issue opens on one of the infinite earths (am I allowed to say that in relation to a Marvel comic?) where that world's version of Spidey 2099 is teamed up with Captain America, Wolverine, and the Genis-Vell Captain Marvel, whose series is one of Peter David's defining runs. Morlun, the Spidey-villain who eats the essences of Spider-powered characters, makes pretty short work of those guys, kills that universe's Spidey 2099, and moves on. In the traditional universe, good ol' Marvel 616, Miguel O'Hara, our Spidey 2099, still trapped in the present, feels a bolt of pain in his head when his counterpart buys it. In another universe, another Miguel O'Hara, this time the one who was a member of the universe hopping Exiles during Tony Bedard's run, is using his leftover tech from his time with the Exiles to try to reach Earth-616, the one reality Morlun fears since it was the site of his defeat. There are more Miguel deaths, and just as the Exiles Miguel is about to step through his portal, which 616 Miguel is watching, Morlun arrives. While Exiles Miguel falls, 616 Miguel gets hints of what is to come and heads off to find the person who might have answers. Peter David does a great job of explaining what readers might need to know about what is going on in this event without drowning the readers in details, or making them feel lost. David has always been a writer who knows how to take an event and do his best to make it show the strengths of a title he's writing without it interfering too much. He finds ways to work in the continuing plot lines going through the book in little scenes in between the big event scenes. I talked about Rick Leonardi's return to Spider-Man 2099 earlier, but I want to discuss it in context of the issue. Leonardi does spectacular work drawing Miguel in combat, both the alter-Miguel's fighting Morlun and 616 Miguel chasing bank robbers who are escaping in a helicopter. He has a sense of the way a body moves and that acrobatic style that works perfectly with characters like any version Spider-Man or Nightwing (a book he had a good long run on). I hope that Leonardi will come back to the book every now and then for a check in, especially if we get Miguel back to his own time; Leonardi really defined the skyline of 2099 New York. But for now, I'm happy to see him drawing Miguel in any era.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour #0
Story: Ben Acker & Ben Blacker
Art: J. Bone/Phil Hester

It was announced not too long ago that Image Comics would be releasing series based on the two cornerstone segments of America's favorite new time podcast in the style of old time radio, The Thrilling Adventure Hour. I've written a recommendation for the previously released graphic novel, and made clear my love for the show in any medium, but knowing that we'd be getting even more comics from these worlds had me hugely excited. And last week, I discovered that there were on-line zero issues for both the series (so it's not really released on the 15th, but I'm putting it in here), and immediately bought them, which is rare for me as I'm a person who loves his comics in his hands, and will usually wait for print editions of digital first projects. But I'm glad I bought the digital release, because this is some great material. Each story is an origin story, about the meeting of the two series principle characters, stories we've heard referenced on the show but have never actually seen played out, at least as far as what has been put up in podcast form, so it's a real treat!

Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars, is the story of, well, Sparks Nevada, who is a marshal. On Mars. Although, as he will tell everyone who he talks to, "I'm... from Earth." The story in this issue is Sparks dealing with his robot deputies going rogue, a flood, and picking up a Martian sidekick, Croach the Tracker, who is under onus to Sparks for saving his village. It gives new readers all the things they need to know about the Sparks universe, like robot rogues, martians, Sparks's usual problems with the ladies, and his love of paperwork. There's plenty of humor mixed in, with Sparks usual deadpan delivery. Knowing the show, I can hear the lines delivered by the actors (which makes sense, as the comic is written by series creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker), and it works perfectly in the different medium, with the cadence made clear by how the panels lay out the dialogue. J. Bone does a beautiful job rendering the red plains of Mars. His Sparks and Croach seem to have stepped right out of my imagination, and he does great design work on the rogue robot deputies. It's a charming story that will appeal to fans of space opera or Westerns.

Beyond Belief is the story of Frank and Sadie Doyle, toast of the upper crust, headliners on the society pages. And oh yes, they see ghosts. When we meet them in the show, Frank and Sadie are happily married, living in the Plaza Hotel and loving nothing more than liquor and each other, although they are regularly interrupted by supernatural things knocking on their door, often literally. But this story takes place when Frank is out hunting demons and Sadie is with her ne'er do-well boyfriend, Bobo Brubaker, running fake seances. But when they pull that scam in a real haunted house, Sadie's actual sensitivity to ghosts summons something nasty and Frank must sweep in to save everyone. It's love at first sight, and the bond between the soon-to-be-Doyles, one of the defining charms of the show, is apparent from the moment they see each other. Also apparent is their love of gin. So much gin. Bobo is not enamored with Frank, and so proves the heel he is, not surprising as Bobo has popped up as an antagonist of sorts on the show before (not that the Doyle's let much of anything actually antagonize them, just interrupt their drinks briefly), but Bobo is put in his place and the Doyle's are on their way to bliss by story's end. Frank and Sadie are my favorite part of Thrilling Adventure Hour, so seeing how they met was a real treat. It's paced well, and has all the hallmarks of a Beyond Belief, including an amusing twist at the end as to the origin of the supernatural nasty. Phil Hester does an excellent job crafting a truly creepy ghost and his hellhounds, not surprising if you're familiar with his horror work, but also does great likenesses of the Doyles, who more than any other character, feel like they look like the actors who portray them, comedian Paul F Tompkins and actress Paget Brewster.

If you're a fan of TAH you know you want to read these stories, and if you're someone who has heard me natter on about it endlessly since I discovered it, this is a great place to try it out. The two issues are available separately for $1.99 each, or together for $2.99, and you can purchase them right here. So check it out and be ready for the February releases of the new series!

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 7/9

Daredevil #5
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

Five issues into the new volume of Daredevil from Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, and we get the answers to why and how everyone believes Foggy Nelson is dead, and it makes for an excellent issue. Set in between the volumes, we see Matt being attacked by Frog Man and Foggy getting caught in the middle, proving the point that Matt was making to Foggy at the beginning of the issue, that the revelation of Matt's identity to the public puts Foggy in the crosshairs. Frog Man is not exactly an intimidating foe, and while Waid does a little here to make him more of a threat, he doesn't redeem him in the same way that he did the Spot at the beginning of the first volume. Waid also continues to use Hank Pym as a supporting character, and uses him better than pretty much any writer has in years, coming up with interesting ways to use Pym's shrinking technology. The plot is mostly to give Foggy an out that really proves the heroism inherent in Daredevil's best friend. Foggy has been fighting cancer for most of the last volume of Daredevil, and Waid has been clear that Foggy is a brave guy just for fighting with that, but in this issue, when presented with lethal danger, Foggy does what he has to; he tries to save people, even if it would cost him his life. Other writers have done things with Foggy, but that's mostly been in his roll as Matt's go-to guy. Waid has done a great job of letting Foggy stand on his own as a human being, and that has made Foggy a more interesting character. With this lingering question now answered, I hope Waid continues to develop Foggy, making him stand even higher in the ranks of comics's best supporting characters.

Grayson #1
Story: Tim Seeley & Tom King
Art: Mikel Janin

The new status quo for Dick Grayson begins with this issue, and I have to say, I'm pretty darn pleased with it. Writers Tim Seeley and Tom King jump us right into Dick Grayson on a mission for Spyral, the spy organization created by Grant Morrison for his run on Batman Incorporated. And while the stakes are clearly high, with a rogue nuclear powered metahuman, Russian agents, and a fight with the Midnighter, the thing that stands this book apart from so much of what DC is putting out right now is that it was fun. Not all ages fun, but Dick reads like he's having a good time while infiltrating Spyral and doing some good in the world. He isn't moaning and brooding. Dick Grayson has always been a character who quips his way through a fight, and so a lighter air is something that should be part of his book. I am of mixed feelings about him using a gun, but I have to say that he doesn't take a life, which is more important to me; Dick's parents weren't killed by guns, so he doesn't have the same hang-up Batman does about firearms, so I accept him being able to use one. As for his supporting cast, well I like this new Helena Bertinelli. She's smart and tough, just like her pre-New 52 counterpart. I am curious to see exactly how close she will be to that earlier version, a character I really liked. And as for Mister Minos, the seeming head of Spyral, this guy I don't trust. From employing the daughter of Otto Netz, war criminal Dr. Dedalus who worked for Spyral and Leviathan, to his mission to unmask all masked heroes, it's clear to see why Batman sent Dick undercover in Spyral. I look forward to future revelations about Minos, plus an eventual appearance by former Batwoman, Kathy Kane in her position as an agent of Spyral. I've stated before how much I love a standalone first issue, and this one does a great job of being a done in one story and still setting up plenty of plot threads to be answered later. If you've given up on the New 52 thanks to its unremitting darkness, you might want to try out this issue; it's something very different and worth your time.

Spider-Man 2099 #1
Story: Peter David
Art: Will Sliney

I'm a big fan of the original Spider-Man 2099 series, about a new hero taking up the mantle of Spider-Man in the distant future, and so when Dan Slott brought the character to and stranded him in the present during his run on Superior Spider-Man, I wanted to see more. And now, not only do I get a monthly dose of Miguel O'Hara (or Mike O'Mara as he's calling himself in the present), but ti's from original series writer, and the character's creator, Peter David. The issue matches the tone of the previous series, a tone familiar to fans os Peter David, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. The humor is bit more dark and bitter, similar to David's Sir Apropos of Nothing novels, but that doesn't make it less funny. There is one cute little gag, about Miguel renting unit 2099 in his building, but the rest of the humor, between the blood on the floor of his new apartment, his boss/grandfather, Tiberius Stone, jumping into a panic room, and leaving Mike out to be killed by a time travelling cop sent to eliminate him, and his confrontation with Liz Allen, the head of Alechemax, are all dark. Miguel isn't as light a character as Peter Parker, which is easily established when he kills the guy sent after him. Now, this guy was technically a member of some organization that's job was to patrol the timeline and keep it clean, but as he had no problem with collateral damage, it didn't leave Miguel with much of a choice, but still, this isn't what Peter Parker would have done. It's nice that this book and Grayson came out in the same week, as the tone, of action and humor, seem akin to each other, and both serve as good introductions to their leads and the supporting cast and world they live in. I'd wager this isn't the last Miguel has seen of other time travellers after him, and as the end of the issue seems to be one of those self-fulfilling prophecies that time travel causes and that makes the reader's head ache, I'm looking forward to seeing where David takes this.

Star Trek #35
Story: Mike Johnson
Art: Tony Shashteen

I've always been more a Star Wars guy than a Star Trek guy. I like Star Trek fine, especially Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but when it comes to the comic book/novel tie-ins, unless it's written by Peter David, I've never gotten too into it. But when I saw the solicitation for this issue, I knew I was going to pick it up, because it features one of my favorite characters in all Star Trek mythos. Yes, the crew of the new Enterprise, the one from the current movies, is meeting Q, the nigh-omnipotent consonant based being played by the brilliant John deLancie. After a stopover in the classic Trek timeline and a conversation with his old sparring partner, once-Captain-now-Ambassador Jean-Luc Picard, whose advice he characteristically ignores, Q pops over to the neo-Trek timeline to have a conversation with Kirk. It seems Q knows that something Kirk is going to do is going to lead to a cataclysm in that timeline, and he has taken some interest and wants to help avert this crisis. But in his Q-like way, instead of appearing and talking about it, he places the Enterprise in danger, kidnaps Kirk, and then sends the ship into the future (although it is unknown which timeline's future it is). Q is written dead on; I could hear de Lancie reading the dialogue. And the art is some of the most faithful to the actors I have ever seen, which is good, but I'm curious to see if keeping the look so spot on will be a hindrance for character as the series progresses. If it is, well, I'm along for the ride so I'll see. This is a good start to an arc, though, and I'm excited to see Kirk and crew meet some other characters from the other parts of the franchise.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 7/2

Daredevil #0.1
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Peter Krause

I've been enjoying Mark Waid's new volume of Daredevil, with Daredevil now operating out of San Francisco, and this new issue collects the digital first story that bridges the gap between the first volume and the second. Called, "Road Warrior," it tells the story of Matt Murdock travelling with Kirsten McDuffie, his partner and love interest. Of course, Matt is Daredevil, and so when their flight is grounded halfway across the country by weather, and he finds one of the passengers has not heartbeat but is moving around, he goes to investigate and leaves Kirsten behind and gets into an adventure involving an Adaptoid and the Mad Thinker. There are a lot of things in this issue to love. Firstly, it stand completely alone; you need little knowledge of Daredevil going in, and while the story ends with Matt on his way to complete his journey, there is no cliffhanger. Waid has done more to really underline that Daredevil is blind and his senses and experience of the world are not like everyone else's than any writer I can think of, and this issue really uses those perceptions well. It opens with an internal monologue of Matt trying to put into words how his "radar sense" works, and not having the words because they don't exist, and I think that's a very cool observation. I also was impressed with the final fight for a couple of reasons. First, I like it when Daredevil is out of his depth. He isn't anywhere near the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe, and so often when he has to fight a villain who isn't one of his rogues, he has to rely on his mind, not his powers, to win, and he does so in a very clever way here. Waid also takes one of the main tropes of science fiction, the robot who wants to be human, and completely subverts it here. The Adaptoid, a robot Mad Thinker built, has begin to think it's human, and at the end, well, let's just say it's not Mister Data. If you haven't tried out any of Waid's run on Daredevil and want to dip your toe in, this is a great place to start.

Fairest #27
Story: Mark Buckingham
Art: Russel Braun

The final arc of Fairest begins. I'm going to miss the heck out of Fables and the universe of spin offs that it has built, and this final arc of Fairest ties very heavily into the events that are taking place in the home title. There is unrest at the Farm, the home for Fables who can't pass for human, caused partly by Reynard, the wily fox, rubbing his new ability to transform into a human form, and the other animal and non-human Fables deciding they are finally due the similar glamour that they were promised. Tying back into an earlier issue of Fairest, we spend a lot of time with Reynard, who is mourning his clumsiness and lack of romantic luck in his human form. With dissent building, Rose Red, the queen of the new Camelot she is building on the Farm, calls for King Cole and the Witches of Fabletown to come along and help settle the rumblings. It's a complex issue, with lots of moving pieces and different characters, but it's enjoyable if you have been reading Fables and Fairest for a while. There is also a feeling of symmetry, as the first arc that featured the Farm dealt with an attempted coup, and now we're here at the end with chaos about the ensue again. It's also interesting since this story is written by Mark Buckingham, the principle artist on much of Fables, whose first arc was that initial Farm story. While Fairest has mostly featured the female cast of Fables, and I'm sure they will play a big roll as this continues, this story was a spotlight for Reynard, whose final page reveal of who he has decided to woo is only going to lead to a bigger problem for him and some comedic chaos that I am very much looking forward to.

Rocket Raccoon #1
Story & Art: Skottie Young

From foxes to raccoons, we're now off to space to spend a little time with the Guardians of the Galaxy's favorite rodent and his tree sidekick. Rocket has been a character I've loved since he was re-introduced back during the Annihilation: Conquest event, and his recently raised profile thanks to what I'm sure will be a star turn in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film has led Marvel to launch this ongoing series from cartoonist Skottie Young. This first issue is a ton of fun, starting with a princess rescue, followed by Rocket on a date watching Groot, his partner who happens to be a walking and talking tree monster, in a wrestling match, and then Rocket on the run with a bounty on his head. It's a wacky buddy comedy sort of adventure issue, which is the perfect tone for this book; nobody wants a grim and gritty adventure about a talking raccoon. I must point out that you don't get a story that works on its own. This is very much the beginning of an arc, and has lots of hints of what's to come in this first arc. But it does better than many first issue in that we get a lot of character mixed in with a ton of action; this isn't a talking heads comic. If you're coming for a fun, light story, though, you're staying for Skottie Young's incredible art. His style is fun and cartoony, perfect for Rocket and Groot, but is hyper-detailed at the same time. You can spend hours pouring over the panels of the city Rocket is in, looking at the backgrounds with all the crazy creatures and designs. And when the other Guardians appear briefly, while they are all in Young's distinct style, they are still very much themselves. Marvel has done a lot of interesting, different comics lately, and this new series is a perfect addition of that stable: a sci-fi/action/humor comic. If you enjoy crazy outer space action with talking animals, you need to try out Rocket Raccoon.

Southern Bastards #3
Story: Jason Aaron
Art: Jason Latour

It seems that in one of those cases of bad fortune, the weeks I've missed doing reviews the past couple months have overlapped with the release of Jason Aaron's new southern crime series, Southern Bastards. I've talked about Scalped here before, and this book is a worthy successor to that title. Earl Tubbs has returned to his home town in Craw County, Alabama to put family affairs in order, only to find the place rotten to the core, and after the death of his old friend Dusty last issue, it's time for Earl to get some answers. Armed with a big stick, one very reminiscent of the one his father, who was the sheriff and a local legend, wielded, Earl heads into town and makes a show of beating down a couple of the thugs who work for Coach Boss, the local football coach and crime boss/gang leader/all around bad guy. It's an exciting scene, and the reverence the townsfolk play to the stick makes me even more curious to see what exactly the story is of Earl's father. And the more we see of the town, a town that seems deep friend and crinkly around the edges, and almost completely lacking in southern hospitality, the more we see how rotten things are. The issue ends with a message being prepared by Coach Boss's tugs for Earl, one that isn't a peace offering. Earl continues to leave voicemails for a mystery woman, someone I hope we get some answers about soon. It's a great series, full of atmosphere and grit. Plus there's a recipe for deep friend apple pie from Jason Aaron's mom, which looks delicious. If a comic can also provide deliciousness, you know it's a keeper.

And as a final addition, check out this blog post from my coworker, Annie Gribbins. Annie brought her daughter to her first con a couple weeks back, Wizard World Philly, to meet Evan Peters, of X-Men: Days of Future Past and American Horror Story fame. It's a great post, and fun for a grizzled vetran like me to read the reaction of a first time con goer.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 3/19

American Vampire: Second Cycle #1
Story: Scott Snyder
Art: Rafael Albuquerque

Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque's American Vampire returns with a new volume in an issue that i a great place for new readers to jump on. The final issues of the previous volume did a great job of closing that first chapter, and so our series two principle characters, American vampires Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones are in very different places than the last time we saw them; set in the sixties, a decade after the end of the last arc, Pearl is running a halfway house for vampires trying to flee they're past and make good lives without killing, and Skinner is, "The Sugar Man," a highway bandit riding a motorcycle, not the evil mutant. Each character has a gorgeous two page spread beautifully put together by Albuquerque that gives a montage of their pasts, and no knowledge of the previous series is required. The issue opens with a scene of Pearl defending her newest charge from a lynch mob, which is done very cleverly, playing off reader expectations, since the reader doesn't find out until later the girl is a vampire, and seeing a large group of white people with pitch forks and torches chasing a young African American girl conjures images that aren't out of horror movies, but historical horrors. There is more to the girl than seems, as she is tied to the mysterious Gray Trader, the villain who was hinted to in the final issue of volume one. Skinner, meanwhile, heads to hijack a cargo that is not what he expects, and seems to run afoul of the Gray Trader himself. The Gray Trader is the new mystery to keep readers guessing, and to draw Pearl and Skinner back together in the dance they have danced since Skinner turned Pearl. American Vampire has done an excellent job of building its mythology and developing different threads, and it looks like the second half of the series will be drawing those threads together into a new, terrifying tapestry.

Buffy the Vampre Slayer: Season 10 #1
Story: Christos Gage
Art: Rebekah Isaacs

While I thought Season 9 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was an improvement on the somewhat meandering Season 8, the real highlight of the Whedonverse comics last year was the wonderful Angel & Faith by Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs. Gage knew the character well, and wrote character driven stories that explored his two leads and pushed them to new places they hadn't been before, while mixing in humor and action in big doses. Isaacs is an artist who has quite a few credits under her belt, and is just waiting for that one big project for her to become a breakout star; her characters are distinct, well wrought, and she draws great action, great character pieces, and some creepy monsters. When it was announced this team would be moving over to the main Buffy series with the new season, I was excited to see what they would do with the whole Scooby Gang, and it has paid off. While Willow and Spike appeared in Angel & Faith, Buffy herself didn't, and Gage hits it right out of the park in issue one with his narration from Buffy's point of view; he captures her voice, while also making her the confident character that she has completely developed into over the course of the last season. This issue ties up a loose end from last season, using that as a way to bring all the relevant characters into play, as Buffy and her allies fight off an horde of zompires, the mindless vampires created by the lack of magic the previous year. By issue's end, the zompires are destroyed, but the new breed of vampire introduced at the end of season nine confronts Buffy, and while it looks like things might end poorly, a couple old allies reappearing tip the balance. OK, SPOILER hats on, so stop here if you haven't read the end of Angel & Faith, or want to avoid knowing a bit of the end of the issue, even though it was telegraphed at the end of A&F. Buffy's reunion with the de-aged Giles is a scene that warmed my heart. Giles was one of my favorite characters in the Whedonverse, and his loss was keenly felt when he left the series (something Buffy references in her narration). I'm sure there will be plenty of humor down the line from a father figure in the body of a thirteen year old, but for the end of this issue, the teary moment when Buffy and Giles embrace is done so beautifully and wordlessly that it was definitely the moment of the week for me.

Daredevil #1
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

For the past three years or so, Mark Waid's Daredevil has been a breath of fresh air. Since Frank Miller, Daredevil as a character has been mired in so much darkness that it's been hard to see the red costume in all that black. But when Waid came on, he brought some joy back to the character, making him fun and fearless without making him a poor man's Spider-Man. This was vastly helped by his artistic collaborators, especially Chris Samnee, who worked on much of the run. Last month saw the end of that volume, and this month sees the dawn of a new era. While many All-New Marvel Now! number ones introduce new creative teams on their books, the change in Daredevil is very much internal and plot driven. After the end of the last volume, Matt Murdock, Daredevil, has had to move to San Francisco, where he lived back in the 70s briefly. With his powers and identity public, Matt can work with the government of the city. I'm curious to see of Waid actually uses some of the material established with the Marvel Universe San Francisco back in Uncanny X-Men, or if he'll just start fresh; I have no problem with either, frankly, but am curious. We get an issue that has Daredevil going to rescue a kidnapped girl, and then must escape the terrorists who kidnapped her. It's a good place to start, because you get a good impression of exactly how Daredevil's powers work, something that Samnee has developed a great visual representation for, and to see the new status quo with his new partner, both in law and crime fighting, his maybe-sorta-ex-girlfriend, Kirsten McDuffie (in all fairness, there are very few female characters in the Marvel Universe who aren't Matt Murdock's ex). The two have an easy banter that is charming, and Kirsten is willing to stand up to Matt, and even hit him back in a metaphorical way. The final page sets up a mystery that I don't expect to last long, but definitely left me scratching my head in a good way. If you have heard good things about Daredevil, this is a perfect place to jump on, so go for it.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi- Force War #5
Story: John Ostrander & Jan Duursema
Script: John Ostrander
Art: Jan Duursema

So far today I have written up three new number ones that are places to start a series. The final review of the day is a final issue, and more than just the final issue of a series or mini-series, but the end of an era. John Ostrander is one of my three favorite writers in comics, and he has had a run on Star Wars comics that stretches over a decade. With the license shifting from Dark Horse Comics to Marvel Comics in 2015, a lot about Star Wars comics is up in the air, so this is definitely the last Star Wars comic by John Ostrander published by Dark Horse, and maybe ever. And it's a perfect send off. Working with his regular collaborator on these comics, artist Jan Duursema, Ostrander brings the story of the war between the Infinite Empire of the Rakata and the Jee'dai, the order that will someday become the Jedi of the films, to a close. Each of the major characters gets a resolution to their arc, and that's an achievement with such a large cast; but then again, Ostrander crams more into one issue than most writer do into three. Xesh, the Force Hound and sometimes Jee'Dai, and Shae Koda, have a showdown while Daegon Lok, the mad Jee'dai general, faces down Skal'nas, the leader of the Rakatan invasion. Sek'nos Rath, the Sith Jee'dai, faces his won darkness when he confronts Trill, the woman who betrayed him. And Tasha Ryo, the Twi'lek Jee'dai seer, finds her connection with the Force after it was severed. It's a very satisfactory end, and it leaves the world open if anyone wants to revisit it in the future. I am going to miss Ostrander and Duursema on Star Wars more than any other creative team, and I'm going to look forward to revisiting all their work in a re-read soon, something I intend to write up later in the year.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 2/19

Animal Man #28
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Rafael Albuquerque

We're near the end of Jeff Lemire's excellent run on Animal Man, and this issue is the big confrontation between Buddy Baker, his family, his allies, and Brother Blood and his allies and agents. A lot of the issue is combat, with Buddy facing down the last Totem of the Red, the beings who empower him, who has betrayed the others to create a new agent on Earth, Brother Blood, while his daughter Maxine is fighting Blood himself. But within all the grand comic book battles, drawn amazingly by Rafael Albuquerque, we get a lot of character. Maxine shows that she has the biggest heart, willing to sacrifice her power to save her friend, the Shepherd, and Buddy proves that his family and his love for them are his greatest strengths. Maxine's quest to resurrect her brother comes to its end, the only one it really can. Kids don't understand death, at least not in the way grown-ups do, and Buddy must have a hard conversation with her. Ellen Baker, Buddy's wife, isn't left out in the cold, and shows that she is as brave as her husband and daughter. The last page reminds readers of the deal Buddy made to save his family, and that things might be as happily ever after as it appears. Next month, the series will end, with an issue both written and drawn by Lemire, and it's going to be missed as the most mature series to come out of the New 52.

Daredevil #36
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

And this volume of Daredevil comes to and end with a perfect coda to everything Mark Waid has been doing for thirty six issues. There are SPOILERS ahead, so beware. The end of last issue was a big one, a major moment, when Matt Murdock reveals in open court that he is Daredevil. After spending so long hiding and trying to put that particular cat back in the bag, this is a huge deal. The reasoning behind it is perfectly laid out, and it works brilliantly. The speech Matt gives in court about why he tried to hide his identity after the Daily Globe revealed his identity is a powerful speech, and it is a speech a Matt Murdock by any other writer since Frank Miller introduced Elektra couldn't make. This is a Matt Murdock who has finally, truly, grounded himself again and doesn't have the same raw, bordering on insane, edges that he has for thirty years. Waid has had Matt grow as a character. It's wonderful that Matt does what he does not just to protect his friends and himself, but because it's the right thing to do to protect the law. For all his manipulations, Matt is a lawyer who really believes in the system, and the perversion of the Sons of the Serpent, a hate group, planting members in the institutions of New York, is something that Matt can't take. The final fight in the courtroom between Matt and the Serpent foot soldiers is a literal representation of what Matt has been going through since the Serpents plot began, with him fighting them in every way he can. The final pages are both sad and heartwarming, as Matt must pay for the years of half truths and lies he has had, and plans to set off on a new life. It all flows perfectly from what Waid has been doing, and is one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a long time. Next month, a new volume of Daredevil begins from the same creative team, with a new city and a very different status quo for Matt Murdock, and I'll be a long for the ride. If you haven't tried out this book yet, it's going to be a great jumping on point, so don't wait any longer.

The X-Files: Conspiracy- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Story: Ed Brisson
Art: Michael Walsh

Every year or so, IDW Publishing does a crossover between its various licensed properties; in the past they were the two Infestation crossovers. They're not bad, they're not great, but they're sure fun. This year, instead of using characters that were created within comics as the connective tissue, the connecting characters are The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files. After receiving a fax from the future, The Lone Gunmen are travelling, attempting to gather the components they need to develop a cure for a plague that will wipe out millions. The plague and everything is a mcguffin to just get The Lone Gunmen to meet the Ghostbusters, Transformers, the Crow, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This issue is the TMNT issue, and is by the creative team of Ed Brisson and Michael Walsh, who did one of the most underrated Image mini-series of the past couple years, the time travel noir Comeback (seriously, track it down. If you saw and liked the movie Looper, this is right up your alley). I'm not reading the current TMNT series, but I didn't feel the least bit lost in this issue; everything I need to know about the current Turtles status quo is easily explained. It's really a Leonardo story, where the Turtles leader is getting stir crazy while the Turtles hide from their nemeses, The Foot Clan. The Lone Gunmen and the Turtles run afoul of an old X-Files nemesis from one of my favorite episodes of all time, "Bad Blood," written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. I won't spoil what that particular creature is if you haven't seen it or don't remember it, but it's one of the funniest X-Files episodes and an equally amusing use here. It's well worth checking out the issue, even if you aren't reading the crossover or either of the current comics if you remember that episode. Aside from that, we get a good Leonardo story, some forward momentum on the crossover, and some great art by Walsh, who drew the initial arc of The X-Files: Season 10 and who is fast becoming a favorite artist of mine. Conspiracy nuts and ninja turtles: what more could you ask for?

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 10/23

Daredevil #32
Story: Mark Waid
Art: Chris Samnee

Now that it's been confirmed that Mark Waid's excellent run on Daredevil is wrapping up, every issue is a treasure. And this issue features appearances by the Legion of Monsters! Now the appearance is small, and at the end of the issue, setting up next issue, but I still love these characters, especially Werewolf by Night, also known as Jack Russell (yeah, for those unfamiliar with him, you heard that right). But that's just something that speaks to my inner fanboy, which would be enough to get me to write the issue up, but there's so much more great about the issue. The opening scene, where the villain, The Jester, has left a dummy of a hanged Foggy Nelson, is one of the cleverest examples of Waid's use of Daredevil's powers and the lack of understanding others have of it. The Jester's surety that the horrible site of Foggy hung up before him would cause a reaction from Daredevil, but draws none, is clever and Jester's reaction was amusing, and this is inverted when Matt assumes that a mob in the small southern town he heads to at the end of the issue is preparing a race based lynching, when instead they are hunting monsters, something he couldn't tell with no site. Waid has done a tremendous job of writing scenes that remind the reader that Daredevil is blind and that radar sense is not the same as sight. It's also nice to see Daredevil and Foggy working together to help find an answer to the problem with the Sons of the Serpent; Foggy's cancer hasn't removed him from the book, but it's nice to see him doing something other than sitting in a bed. Four issues left, and the wild ride of Waid and Samnee's Daredevil doesn't look like it's slowing down.

Kiss Me, Satan! #2
Story: Victor Gischler
Art: Juan Ferreyra

I know I just wrote about the first issue of this Dark Horse horror comic last week, but when a good second issue comes around, I might as well keep writing. Barnabus Black continues to protect the witches from a line of bounty hunters. Writer Victor Gischler uses this to continue to expand the world he has created, introducing vampires, necromancers, and ninja zombies. I feel like Gischler has a whole world in his head, with all sorts of supernatural craziness, and he's slowly rolling it out. We also get to see more of our villain, Cassian Steele, werewolf chieftain, and I have to say, this is one bad guy. Sure, kill another werewolf in cold blood to maintain your power base, that's pack infighting; tell your pregnant wife you're going to kill the baby and you can always try again until you get a werewolf baby? OK, he's an A-1 bastard. The story is great, but what pushes the comic over the top is the art from Juan Ferreyra. The main action piece of the issue, a battle between Barnabus and animated ninja corpses, that starts out on cars and moves to a graveyard, is a sight to behold. Ferreyra mixes action with great body language and facial expressions. October is the spookiest time of the year, and this is the perfect comic for a chilly October night.

The Unwritten #54
Story: Mike Carey & Bill Willingham
Art: Peter Gross, Mark Buckingham, & Dean Ormston

The first volume of The Unwritten wraps up with the conclusion of "The Unwritten Fables," the big crossover between The Unwritten and Fables. The final battle between Tom Taylor and Mr. Dark plays out with a lot of very interesting twists, involving Tom's connection to The Leviathan, the font of all stories. But while much of the story is thoughtful, with Frau Totenkinder trying to explain to Tom exactly what he is and how he fits into the grand scheme of things, the rest of the Fables cast fights with the revanant Boy Blue and Bigby Wolf faces down his wife and children. It's a blood soaked issue, with many favorite characters meeting a final fate. Artists Peter Gross, Mark Buckingham, and Dean Ormston each draw pages suited to their styles, with Gross focusing on Tom, Buckingham on the Fables, and Ormston on the final pages, with scenes of horror as Fran Totenkinder morphs into a monster to hold Mr. Dark off as Tom performs the endgame. It;s a very clever ending, having been set up many issues ago, playing off both the classic poem The Song of Roland and what the readers know about the Tommy Taylor books, the in universe series of children's books. The issues wraps with Tom seemingly ready to find his way back home in time for the final twelve issues of the series, the maxi-series "Apocalypse." It feels like so many of the series I really love are coming to their end. But I can hope the ending will live up to the high quality of the series so far.

Velvet #1
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Steve Epting

New work from Ed Brubaker is always something to look forward to, and when he's partnered with one of those artists he has a rapport with, guys like Michael Lark, Sean Phillips, or in this case Steve Epting, you know you're in for a great comic. Velvet is a spy comic in the classic mold; it has touches of James Bond, touches of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy, and a whole lot of the action you expect when you have Brubaker and Epting together. Velvet Templeton, our lead, seems to be the secretary to one of the director's of Arc-7, a super secret black ops spy organization. But Velvet isn't Miss Moneypenny; Velvet clearly has a background that features plenty of spy training of her own. After an agent Velvet was fond of is killed, she begins investigating his death, and is quickly pulled into a case that features death and deception, and puts Velvet's life in danger. Brubaker wrote the best spy comic on the racks when he was writing Captain America, and he's bringing that same feel for the genre here. Velvet is a complex character, and after one issue you can already tell that she has a complex history. Like all spies, there are things that haunt her. The rest of the cats is sketched out, including Velvet's boss and some of  the other agents, and I'm sure we'll get to know them better, but this issue was the perfect introduction to our protagonist. Epting is an artist whose work has grown tremendously over the years, and this is easily the best work he has ever done. The shadow, the expressions, the action, all are second to none, and perfectly fit the grit of the 70s spy movie. Between Fatale and now Velvet, it's a good time to be a fan of Ed Brubaker.