West Coast Avengers [2024] #3 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 3, March 2025

Advertised as being the comic in which Iron Man and War Machine finally reveal just “how their Ultron became a hero”, Gerry Duggan’s storyline for Issue Three of “West Coast Avengers” probably didn’t live up to its audience’s expectations. Sure, the twenty-page periodical does provide its readers with some sort of insight into why one of Hank Pym’s mechanical monstrosities suddenly decided to join Tony Stark’s super-team whilst the convalescing artificial intelligence was orbiting the Earth. But precisely what the motivation for so shocking a change in behaviour could be is never debatably disclosed; “I will find out enemies, the Avengers, and make them allies. I will live to serve.”

Instead, the majority of this magazine has the “veteran of Deadpool, X-Men, Star Wars, and Gotham City” depicting just how dangerously dysfunctional this particular incarnation of the “Wackos” is, with the likes of both Blue Bolt and Firestar appearing to be utterly incapable of following their team leader’s instructions. Indeed, arguably the highlight of this book is Tommy Watt’s repeated attempts to best the One and his cyborg-cultists against Iron Man's wishes, only to keep being continually flattened by them.

Furthermore, Angelica Jones’ complete inability to pull her fire-laced punches, even though her opponents are still partially human, shows just how far down the slippery slope of alcoholism the former New Warrior has sadly fallen. However, rather than make the reader sympathetic to the young woman’s plight, Duggan pens her with such arrogance and hubris that the character becomes increasingly disagreeable – most notably when Firestar shows no remorse for burning a chap who is subsequently almost killed by the One as a punishment for hitting Blue Bolt into a lamp post.  

With such ‘choppy’ writing, it is therefore perhaps not too unexpected to find Danny Kim’s layouts rather disappointing too. This comic’s aforementioned opening featuring a number of Ultron’s holding court on the Moon’s surface debatably lacks any sense of true drama, whilst many of the artist’s panels appear to alternate between some rather impressively detailed close-ups – such as when Spider-Woman realises one of the One’s followers is terminally ill Meredith, to some rather bland, almost amateurish figures – as seen when a rather disconcertingly rotund War Machine decides to deploy his riot package in mid-air.

The regular cover art of "WEST COAST AVENGERS" #3 by Ben Harvey

The Golem #1 - Mutant Farm Comics

THE GOLEM No. 1, September 2025

Offered as an add-on during the June 2025 kickstarter for Issue Two of “Unholy Nightmare” by “Mutant Farm Comics”, Dolan Waddick’s storyline for “The Golem” must surely have delighted any of the campaign’s backers who added it to their pledge. Indeed, the comic book creator’s take on so iconic a mythical monster from Jewish folklore is incredibly emotional, and should readily tug upon the heartstrings of even the most cold-blooded of readers; “I love you, Bissel. Happy Birthday. Someday soon, we’ll celebrate on a beach.”

This genuine sense of attachment to both the pitiable Jerome Abrahams and his deeply endearing eight-year-old son, Adam, is undoubtedly the highlight of this short-story, and proves particularly impressive given that the writer achieves it within the space of just a handful of panels. In addition, it makes the second part of this horror tale all the more impactive, and easily explains just why the boy’s father readily loses all interest in life once the ‘apple of his eye’ has been so cruelly taken from him.

Of course, those bibliophiles more interested in action than careful character building will doubtless have soon found plenty of adrenaline-fuelled terror and physical mutilation to keep them happy in this comic too – courtesy of the titular character rising from its remains and taking a truly terrible revenge upon the Nazi soldiers responsible for running the Concentration Camp. These scenes don’t suffer from any unnecessary dialogue or exposition, and are simply allowed to run their course as the almost silent behemoth tears all of his former captors asunder, whilst simultaneously tenderly mourning the demise of his recently executed father.

Adding an incredible amount of depth, tenderness and all-too understandable savagery to these enthrallingly-penned proceedings are the incredibly well-detailed layouts of Vu Danh. The decision to simply utilise the Vietnamese concept artist’s black and white pencils really adds to the sombre, almost hopeless existence experienced by Abrahams and his fellow prisoners. It also allows the audience to witness the tragic, physical frailty of the death camp’s inmates, as well as later emphasise the sheer hopelessness of their Nazi captors when the tables are well and truly turned against the vile regime.

Writer: Dolan Waddick, and Illustrator: Vu Danh

Planet Of The Apes Verses Fantastic Four #1 - Marvel Comics

PLANET OF THE APES VS. FANTASTIC FOUR No. 1, April 2026

Described by its New York City based publisher as “an exciting new chapter in Marvel Comics’ storied history with Planet of the Apes” when it was first announced in November 2025, Josh Trujillo’s plot for this four-part mini-series’ opening instalment probably caught quite a few of its readers off-guard by stripping Reed Richards’ famous super-team of their special powers. Indeed, for those bibliophiles expecting to witness the Fantastic Four dynamically going toe-to-toe against the gorilla soldiers of human-hating General Ursus, this particular twenty-five page publication will undoubtedly strike them as being rather sedentary in its storytelling; “Your quality remains undetermined, but you leave this tribunal with many questions.”

True, the American author’s narrative isn’t entirely confined to being a dialogue-driven courtroom drama, and does – courtesy of an adrenalin-fuelled flashback sequence – provide a genuinely scintillating bout of fisticuffs between Stan Lee’s co-creations and the Red Ghost. However, just how Ivan Kragoff managed to penetrate the well-documented security systems of the Baxter Building with his Super-Apes, let alone activated Mister Fantastic’s Di-Quantum Stabilizer is never explained, and may well resultantly strike some in the audience as simply providing this comic with some much-needed “Thok!” before the book gets too bogged down with a seemingly never ending carousel of conversations.

Perhaps this publication’s best moment therefore occurs just after a de-powered Fantastic Four miraculously arrive in one of the large crop fields belonging to Ape City, and are quickly captured by a handful of soldiers. This sequence does a good job of acknowledging one of the defining scenes in Franklin J. Schaffner’s 1968 movie “Planet of the Apes”, and certainly brings back memories of actor Charlton Heston deftly dodging one of the gorillas’ nets as they unsuccessfully tried to ensnare his silver screen alter-ego.

Likewise, Andrea Di Vito does a first-rate job in capturing all of Twentieth Century Studio’s science fiction characters – such as “Cornelius, Zira, Ursus, and of course Dr. Zaius!” Furthermore, the illustrator's backgrounds make it is very easy to imagine the increasing roar of a hostile crowd as the leading member of the Ape National Assembly, Minister of Science and also Chief Defender of the Faith desperately attempts to “follow the rules set forth by the Lawgiver” so as to ascertain just who these (new) talking humans actually are.

The regular cover art of "PLANET OF THE APES VS. FANTASTIC FOUR" #1 by Greg Land & Rachelle Rosenberg

Space Ghost #12 - Dynamite Entertainment

SPACE GHOST No. 12, April 2025

Considering that at the start of this twenty-two page periodical both “Ghost Planet lies in ruins” and “Space Ghost clings to life”, many a bibliophile were probably excitedly wondering just how David Pepose’s subsequent plot would show the titular character still saving the day. Indeed, with Moltar’s seismic resonator threatening to blow the entire place apart in less than an hour, and Dax literally bleeding out from a grisly wound to his side, it’s debatable whether things have ever looked quite so bleak for Hanna-Barbera Productions’ costumed cartoon super-hero; “This is bad, Jan… What’re we gonna do?! Space Ghost is down, the bad guys already stole Blip…”

Unfortunately, having created such a dramatically tense dilemma for the central protagonist to overcome, the American author arguably then simply decides to rely upon a series of unconvincing contrivances to ensure that the day is well and truly saved. Foremost of these has to be the notion that Alex Toth’s co-creation can just shrug off all of his numerous injuries at the hands of the savage Council of Doom by having one of his sidekicks partially-roast him alive using the flame-thrower on his Power Band. This solution is understandably incredibly painful. But afterwards seems to result in the brutalized cosmic vigilante being perfectly able to withstand “nearly the level of a nuclear bomb” single-handedly.

In addition, the Ringo Award-nominee would have his audience believe that Doctor Kander Ibal’s band of murderous renegades would throw away their victory just because Metallus destroyed some “magnificently coloured flames” conjured up by Jace, much to the great anger of Moltar. This internal squabble-turned-dissolution of Brak's fellow team-mates appears extremely petty, and whilst it does perhaps show just how obsessed with fire “one of the main antagonists of the Space Ghost franchise” has become. It doesn’t debatably ring all that true for a reason as to why the murderous band of villains would unceremoniously splinter apart just as they are on the cusp of a resounding, planet-wide victory.

Far more compelling than this publication’s penmanship is its layouts, with Jonathan Lau arguably providing all of this comic’s considerably-sized cast with plenty of spotlight. In fact, even poor little Blip, bound and gagged with Widow Web’s vines, is given a moment or two at Robo Corp Tower, even if any explanation as to just how the little monkey's cybernetically-enhanced brain powers the decidedly deadly Project Ultima isn’t terribly forthcoming.

The regular cover art of "SPACE GHOST" #12 by Francesco Mattina

Absolute Batman #13 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 13, December 2025

Described by its Burbank-based publisher as “Batman’s final showdown with the monstrous Bane”, Scott Snyder’s narrative for “Abomination” probably left many of its readers scratching their heads in mild bewilderment due to Bruce Wayne’s arch-nemesis barely making an actual appearance in the book. In fact, the Venom-enriched psychopath only features in a handful of panels, and during these the masked behemoth is simply depicted sedentarily sat whilst a small team of surgeons rather disconcertingly work on his cybernetically-enhanced spinal cord; “Soon you’ll have my replacement, and he’ll have his new Bane. Then, I’ll finally go home.”

Instead this eighteen-page periodical largely focuses upon Catwoman, and her apparent ‘on-and-off relationship’ with the titular character. Admittedly, this largely dialogue-driven encounter proves pretty interesting at first, especially when it appears that the young woman’s helmet “looks a lot like the gear Black Mask uses”. But this insight also reveals a decidedly disconcerting difference between the American author’s incarnation of Batman to that co-created by Bob Kane, in that the titular character will “cut a deal” will the villainous Falcone to rig a boxing match, just because he doesn’t have any faith that his friend Waylon can win it fair and square.

Quite possibly this comic therefore only comes into its own once the Dark Knight and Kyle team-up together to penetrate the Red Hood Gang’s headquarters at a seaside funfair. This confrontation shows just how formidable a partnership the fighting duo make and contains a pretty surprising revelation in that the criminal gang are led by a shaven-headed Harley Quinn. In addition, Snyder finally hints at just what physical metamorphosis his version of Batman has undertaken having almost been broken “in a place called Ark M, where they do make monsters.”

Setting aside any criticisms of the storyline though, it’s doubtful many bibliophiles will find Nick Dragotta’s pencils for this publication underwhelming. The illustrator definitely channels his inner Frank Miller for some of his panels – most notably a splash page showing this book’s lead pair leaping through a sunset-lit sky, as well as providing a genuine laugh-out-loud moment when Catwoman captures Alfred Pennyworth and almost strangles him with her tail.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #13 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin

Conan The Barbarian: Scourge Of The Serpent #1 - Titan Comics

CONAN THE BARBARIAN: SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT No.1, October 2025

Despite being proudly proclaimed by “Titan Comics” as the start of a “new Conan epic”, those readers well acquainted with the prose works of Robert E. Howard will doubtless find everything which occurs within this twenty-two page periodical disconcertingly familiar – especially those scenes depicting a young Cimmerian getting caught stealing from the museum of hapless Kallian Publico. Frustratingly, this is primarily due to almost all of “Stealing Faces And Finery” simply being an adaption of three of the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre’s short stories, rather than anything new which the Jim Zub has penned himself.

Indeed, apart from the odd piece of tinkering, such as the Nemedian curator actually being seen desperately trying to open up the gift which will soon bring about his grisly death, there’s arguably little to be found within this publication that isn’t inside the opening stages of “The Shadow Kingdom”, “The God In The Bowl” and “The Haunter Of The Ring”. Of course such reworkings are perfectly legitimate for the officially licenced British Publisher to undertake. Yet such re-treads, especially of a tale as well-known as Conan’s brush with the magistrate Demetrio in Numalia, arguably smacks of this mini-series relying far too much on Howard’s old yarns, as opposed to the Canadian author enthralling his audience with something altogether new.

Furthermore, Conan isn’t debatably even the lead protagonist of this book, with that role surely falling to Kull the Conqueror seeing as it’s the Atlantean’s adventure whose footsteps are the first to be followed. In fact, Issue One of “Scourge Of The Serpent” is quite neatly book-ended by the King of Valusia, as the monarch is joined by the Pict Brule the Spear-Slayer as they uncover a plot to assassinate the incredulous sovereign by shape-shifting serpent people.; “You have shown great skill and bravery. But it is only the beginning.”

Sadly even the pencilling of “Ironclad” Ivan Gil may well leave some bibliophiles wanting a bit more help to make sense of some of the storytelling, as the Canadian author leaps between the three different plot threads with little apparent reverence as to whether his audience has had time to take in what has just transpired. Of particular note are the opening panels depicting James Gordon’s extreme physical reaction to Michael O’Donnel showing him an ancient blade - a scene which will doubtless require a couple of rereads to make any sense, and even then it's only later on in the comic that his extraordinary outburst appears semi-convincing.

The regular cover art of "CONAN THE BARBARIAN: SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT" #1 by Roberto De La Torre

Space Ghost #11 - Dynamite Entertainment

SPACE GHOST No. 11, March 2025

There’s a lot of all too familiar plot points to David Pepose’s narrative for Issue Eleven of “Space Ghost” which arguably suggest that the American author has disconcertingly run out of fresh ideas for his “Defenders of the Spaceways” before the ongoing title is even a year old. Indeed, considering that this twenty-two page periodical opens with the titular character once again leaving his three demoralised sidekicks behind for fear of them being injured during one of his adventures, some readers probably thought it prudent to check to ensure that this particular tome wasn’t somehow chronologically set in the central protagonists’ past; “Do you remember what he said when he agreed to make us his partners?”

In addition, the former crime reporter simply regurgitates a number of the cosmic vigilante’s most formidable enemies without even bothering to explain to the audience just how the majority of them ever managed to escape custody, or join forces with the ever evil Doctor Xander Ibal. Such evident omissions genuinely make it almost impossible for Pepose’s penmanship to prove even semi-convincing; especially when it concerns the supposedly dead Zorak who shockingly just turns up alive and well on the planet Orkon having viciously slain poor Commander Kovacs.

Similarly as unsettling though has to be the sheer serendipity of Space Ghost’s latest full-blown argument with his proteges, which results in the trio angrily departing their home in a spaceship just as the giant space mantis arrives to kill his arch-nemesis. This rather obvious manufactured moment provides the “award-winning writer of Punisher” with the opportunity to once again recycle one of his seemingly favourite twists, by having the adolescents dash back to their badly-beaten mentor just as he’s about to succumb to the injuries caused by his unrelenting enemies.

Fortunately for those who picked this particular publication up off the spinner rack, Jonathan Lau and Andrew Dalhouse are on top form, with both artists imbuing this rather fast-paced affair with all the pulse-pounding panels its script requires. In fact, it’s debatably a pity that the pair weren’t given the sheet space of a second issue to work with, as so many thoroughly enjoyable clashes between Dax and his ‘Rogues Gallery’ are frustratingly crammed into just a couple of pictures rather than be given the room they deserve – such as when he cleverly uses the Widow’s Web to smash the woman straight into an over-confident Brak.

The regular cover art of "SPACE GHOST" #11 by Francesco Mattina