Had to double up again, because life has been too busy. I’m at the point where I’ve got two issues to read for a lot of titles. Hopefully I’ll have more time to read this week.
Best Comic of My Fortnight:
Marvel Knights: The World To Come #3 & 4 – As a huge fan of Priest’s Black Panther, I continue to be shocked that this series exists, and that it’s being drawn by Joe Quesada. I can’t imagine that many people who haven’t read Priest’s run will understand all that’s going on here, and even I have to think back to some of the deeper cuts (Achebe turns up!). Still, we have a typically Priestian story playing out over a few time periods, showing us how bad things get for the Marvel Universe (or at least Earth) and how it is all kind of T’Challa’s fault. There’s an interesting connection to another one of the major Marvel Knights books from back in the day, and a lot of lovely art to go with the general confusion. I look forward to the end of this series, so I can read it all again from the beginning and pick up on all the things I know I’m missing.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Batman #13 – Batman’s war with Bane continues as we meet the Absolute version of Catwoman and the Red Hood Gang. Bruce wants to take Bane down after what he did to him and his friends, but Selina is worried that he’s playing into the villain’s hands. Once again, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s vision of this character is electrifying, and I appreciate that so much of the characters’ backstories are getting filled in. This is a great comic.
Absolute Green Lantern #7 – Al Ewing expands on his vision of the Green Lantern and the associated colour spectrum in this issue. He’s joined by Jason Howard and Riley Rossmo for a story set in deep space. Mogo, which leads the Darkstars, approaches a world known to be harboring three Abins of the green energy. A battle with a familiar Abin Qard ensues, as a number of familiar characters are recast in new and surprising forms. This issue probably leaves me with more questions than it answers, but it’s cool to see the Absolute Universe expanding like this.
Adventures of Superman: Book of El #2 & 3 – I loved Philip Kennedy Johnson’s Action Comics run that had Superman fight in a rebellion on Warworld and adopt two Warzoon orphans. Johnson’s returned to wrap up the threads of that story, which involved one of the kids receiving an aspect of a long-dead god, and to be honest, this is the least interesting part of the whole saga. Now, Superman’s been tossed a thousand years into the future, and is learning to navigate an unfamiliar world with the help of a descendant and an old friend. It’s all good stuff, but it reminds me a little too much of Priest’s Superman: Lost storyline. I do like Scott Godlewski’s art though, and the way Johnson writes Superman. I’m just not as grabbed by the scope of this story as I was before.
Amazing X-Men #1 & 2 – At first, I was not enthused by the Age of Revelation event, but now that it’s underway, I am liking it. At least, that’s how I feel about this book, which feels like the tentpole one. Scott and Hank have come to the future, inhabiting their future bodies, just as things start to fall apart completely. A run-in with the Darkchild (didn’t it used to be Darkchylde?) reveals some secrets that I thought were just inconsistencies, and set the stage for this event to reach its conclusion. Jed MacKay is seeding stories for future X-Men stories, once things return to normal, and it’s great to see Mahmud Asrar’s art on an X-Book again. I’m still glad I’m skipping most of the tie-in titles, but I am liking this one.
Batgirl #12 & 13 – I really like the work that Tate Brombal has done on this book. Cassandra and her brother have decided that they need to try trusting Nyssa Al Ghul, who lives in a secret K’un-Lun like village in the mountains, where she helps to heal broken fighters, including a couple from Cass’s past. But is she telling the truth about her intentions and why the Unburied are after her, or is Cass being played again? This story is playing out great, and I like the tension the new brother brings to the story. I love Takeshi Miyazawa’s art on this title.
Batman #2 & 3 – I like Matt Fraction’s Batman story, even if it feels a little familiar. Vandal Savage’s police force has it in for Batman, and that extends to Robin, who some cops shoot, and then give a ‘rough ride’ in a paddywagon. Fraction has a lot going on here, but he’s keeping things balanced. I feel like he might be setting up a long story, like his Iron Man run, which would be cool. Jorge Jimenez’s art and designs are great. I’ve got hopes for this run…
Birds of Prey #26 & 27 – The Birds rush to win a game against the Shadow Army as they try to figure out the purpose of a Pokemon Go-type game, although that might be a cover for an attack on Oracle. This latest arc has gotten a little convoluted, but Kelly Thompson still makes lots of space for great character moments and, with Sami Basri (mostly) provides a different feel from your typical superhero fare. I’m going to miss this book when it ends soon.
Cheetah & Cheshire Rob The Justice League #3 & 4 – I love a good heist story, so I’ve been finding this comic, which has the two titular villains putting together a team to help them steal something from the Justice League Watchtower to be pretty thrilling. In these two issues, they finish their preparations, and put their plan into action. Greg Rucka has filled the book with some obscure or unusual characters, and is having fun with the group dynamics. Nicola Scott is, of course, wonderful in her depictions of these characters, and in capturing the atmosphere of this book. I love when DC runs with projects like this.
DC K.O. #1 – I’ve been looking forward to finally catching up to this point in my reading pile, and this ended up as convoluted and strange as I’d expected, but I still liked it. I had figured this for DC’s answer to Contest of Champions, and wondered what overly-complicated reason they’d come up with for all of DC’s heroes to fight one another in weird settings. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of fan service in this book, and I assume it will just lead into the next event which will actually deal with the threat of Darkseid, but it could also be a lot of fun. My biggest issue with this comic was that it had characters referencing something which I thought hadn’t happened yet, more than once. Did I not read it carefully enough, or was the game night shared by the Big Three at the very beginning not a vision of the future? Maybe they just saw it all very clearly, as opposed to it being a framing sequence to build suspense for the readers. Anyway, Javi Fernandez did a great job handling all of these characters, and Scott Snyder has me intrigued.
Good Devils Don’t Play Fair With Evil #1 – I don’t really read solicitations very carefully, so when I saw that there was a one-shot coming out by David Brothers and Nick Dragotta, I pulled the trigger immediately. In my head, this was going to be a single story, but instead it’s three stories that were previously published (although I’d only ever read the one that served as a serialized backup in Newburn). While I was a touch disappointed, these are great stories that showcase the madcap energy Dragotta brings to every project he works on. The first two stories are set in a post-Apocalyptic world that owes a lot to Mad Max, WWE wrestling, and roller derby. They’re fun. The last story, from Newburn, could have been developed into something much longer, as it needs more space to breathe. Brothers is on the come-up as a writer (I liked his Time Waits, with Chip Zdarsky), and Dragotta is a star. I’m hoping that a large percentage of his Absolute Batman fans will pick this up.
JSA #12 – Jeff Lemire’s year-long epic series ends with the Justice Society fully coming together to deal with the Elder Gods brought by the Injustice Society. This has been a good storyline; I’ve appreciated that he has portrayed the JSA much as they were during Geoff Johns’s first long run, and that he found something for almost everyone on the team to do. He’s acknowledged everything that’s happened in recent runs while giving the book a classic feeling. I love these characters and it’s nice to see them being treated with respect. Artist Diego Olortegui’s art is a little too much like Scott Kolins’s for me to be really happy with it, but I have to respect the sheer number of characters he’s juggled in this issue.
Life #6 – This has been my favourite series to come out of DSTLRY, which is saying a lot, given the high quality level on display at that publisher. This science fiction series is part heist movie, part quest for redemption, and it’s full of manipulative and double-crossing figures who keep showing their true colours at inopportune times. The thieves who came to a decommissioned prison planet to steal some diamonds didn’t expect that the cons would still be alive, having been given a life-extending drug that has mutated them terribly. With this issue, writers Brian Azzarello and Stephanie Phillips reveal how bad everyone is, and put them through a meat grinder. Artist Danijel Žeželj is perfect for this book; his thick black lines and slightly distorted figures really add to the atmosphere of the book. I really enjoyed this, but am left wondering if they’re going to continue the flip-book format in the trade; it would make it very awkward to read.
The Power Fantasy #12 & 13 – It took me longer than I expected to get into Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard’s series, but I think that’s because there was a lot of ground that needed to be established before they could hit us with the big changes that come with these two issues (and the one before that). It’s hard to talk about these issues without spoiling things, but it’s safe to say that the status quo gets upended, twice, and Gillen manages to surprise each time. This book is very smart, and now that I have a feel for these characters, it’s really compelling. Wijngaard’s art is really nice.
Resident Alien: The Book of Changes #2 – Harry and Asta take their visitors to the mall, and we get some “Perfect Strangers” style humour, but then we learn that the aliens are here for a reason, and they start to put their plan into action. This series is always great, and I’ve loved how slow moving it’s been, but I’m excited to see what happens when the aliens finally reveal themselves to the wider world after so many years of Harry staying hidden.
Transformers #25 & 26 – Robert Kirkman’s taken the reins of this series, and after a check-in with the Decepticons drawn by previous artist Jorge Corona, Dan Mora has joined him on art. I’m not sure how Mora can fit more stuff into his schedule, as he seems to draw most of the DC line any given month, but his cleaner approach to drawing the characters reflects the way in which the Autobots are gaining legitimacy in the story, by starting to work with the US Government (which, of course, can never be trusted). Kirkman continues a lot of Daniel Warren Johnson’s subplots, and gets the book moving in new directions at the same time. I like it.
The Fortnight in Music:
Blueprint – Vessel – Blueprint is one of those underground hiphop warriors I’ve always respected without really listening to a whole lot. Recently he came through my city, though, and while deciding if I wanted to go or not, I gave this album a good listen, and realized I’ve probably been missing out on a whole lot. Blueprint produces his own beats, and they’re pretty nice, belonging in the underground milieu he’s always been a part of. Lyrically, he’s sharp and very clear. His writing is not plain, but it is very easy to understand on first listen, with added layers becoming clearer with repeat listens. There’s a level of Christianity on this album that I’m usually uncomfortable with, but it works here without coming off as corny. Basically, he’s not a Christian rapper, but he is a rapper who speaks about his Christianity, if that makes sense. This is one of his all-time best albums, as he talks about this stage of his life, after twenty-plus years on the grind. I can relate to a lot of it.
Ancient Infinity Orchestra – It’s Always About Love – This is an absolutely beautiful example of the best of the spiritual jazz tradition, as it stands in 2025. Ozzy Moysey has returned with a massive collection of artists (there are 26 people credited in the choir alone!) to make some really gorgeous music. I always count on Gondwana Records to impress, but the scope and scale of this album surprised me. It’s a pretty moving piece of work.
Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu Plays Mulatu – I continue to be amazed at how prolific Mulatu Astatke has been in recent years. The father of Ethio-jazz is not getting any younger, but he’s been connecting with younger musicians and putting out some terrific music. On this album, he’s re-arranged many of his classic songs, and they sound fantastic. This is nothing like a remix project – instead, he’s playing old songs in slightly new ways, reflecting the years he’s spent with this music. It’s a really lovely album and tribute to his own career; it’s an interesting concept that I wish more artists would try to do their own version of.
Poliça – Dreams Go – I really had thought that Poliça had called it quits, so I was happy to see this album get released recently. I love Channy Leaneagh’s voice, and the way that Ryan Olsen produces this band. They’ve always been a little hard to pin down, genre-wise, and this album feels like a further maturation of their sound. In addition to the regular band members, there are guest appearances by a few other names that are notable to fans of the Minneapolis scene, like Psymun and Andrew Broder. I really hope they’re going to tour this album, because it’s been a long time since I last got to see them play.
