Bring On The Bad Guys: Red Skull #1 - Marvel Comics

BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: RED SKULL No. 1, October 2025

It's a safe bet to say that the opening of this comic book should have caused its readers to anticipate an enthralling game of cat and mouse between the titular character and his highly intelligent target Reinhard Kramer. However, this tense battle of minds set during the finals dark days of the Second World War doesn’t actually last anywhere near as long as expected, thanks to Stephanie Phillips disconcertingly deciding to abandon her intriguing plot, and simply pen Johann Schmidt’s prey meekly submitting himself to his adversary’s demonic blade for the greater glory of the Third Reich; “My research -- The Atlantean technology passed down in my family for generations to make it possible… It -- It can’t be replicated. It must be protected.”

Indeed, Kramer’s change of heart to willingly sacrifice himself to the Red Skull is so shockingly abrupt that a fair few within this mini-series’ audience will doubtless feel its American author suddenly realised she was rapidly running out of sheet space, and needed to end her yarn far sooner than Phillips’ initial narrative allowed. This complete change of direction definitely leaves a lot of potential for a variety of Reinhard’s clones being systematically chased down by an increasingly agitated Schmidt on the 'cutting room floor', and will surely enrage the odd bibliophile that the twenty-five page periodical’s secondary tale by Marc Guggenhiem wasn’t abandoned to provide Stephanie’s plot with more room.

Furthermore, the “acclaimed writer and military-history buff” then suggests that the super-criminal’s hunt was utterly pointless anyway, because he’ll only receive his highly sought after prize of Captain America's soul if the First Avenger willingly signs his spirit away to Mephisto. This conclusion is genuinely perturbing, and apart from providing Blackheart’s father with another useable dagger which once belonged to the Lords of Darkness, doesn’t arguably add anything to the legendary lore of the facially-disfigured “protégé of Adolf Hitler”.

One thing which doesn't appear to be detrimentally impacted upon by this comic’s hurried ending though are Tommaso Bianchi’s quite lavish layouts, which do a terrific job of depicting Mephisto as the ‘face in the mirror’. In addition, the sheer savagery of Johann is clearly on display whenever the maniac is either cold-bloodedly gunning down malformed copies of Kramer, or perturbing piercing his fellow German’s heart with a knife. Perhaps therefore the only quibble some onlookers might have is that the artist appears to pencil the Atlantean-inspired scientist as being a bit too young for someone with such extensive medical knowledge.

The regular cover art of "BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: RED SKULL" #1 by Lee Bermejo

The Infernal Hulk #4 - Marvel Comics

THE INFERNAL HULK No. 4, April 2026

Whilst many a bibliophile may well enjoy Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s trip down memory lane as Bruce Banner’s alter-ego takes something of a tumble down into the depths of the Hulkscape and encounters a number of his past, green-hued personas, a number of readers will probably feel that this twenty-page periodical is perfectly missable. Sure, the American author pads out this comic’s rather bemusing plot with a number of action-packed sequences, such as Joe Fixit blazing away at all-comers with a submachine gun. But nothing actually seems to occur in the book which would have any impact upon this ongoing series’ overarching narrative; “What have you learned, fractured son?”

Indeed, the sole purpose of this particular publication appears to be to simply show that the consciousness of the Incredible Hulk is still somehow alive, and dwelling within the belly of the beast who has eaten him. Disappointingly though Just how this remarkable situation is possible isn’t in any way explained, nor even explored, and resultantly the entire cataclysmic battle against the Mother of Horrors smacks of the Army veteran-turned-writer simply setting up some adrenalin-fuelled events simply to fill up an entire instalment of this title’s supposedly “planned ten-issue run”.

Similarly as unpersuasive as this storytelling is arguably also the opening to “Alone”, which depicts the President (of the United States) simply abandoning a United Nation’s Ambassador to their grim and ghastly fate at the hands of giant, flying Pteranodon-like demons. This cowardly (in)action supposedly stems from the belief that absolutely no-one else can save Humanity from the all-powerful Eldest except perhaps Banner, so the best that the ‘Leader of the Free World’ can do is “close down all air travel over the North Atlantic”. However, any member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society would easily be able to name a good number of super-heroes who could debatably stand toe-to-toe against the mass-murdering purple behemoth, let alone the variety of impressively-rostered teams, groups and all-powerful cosmic entities.

Much of this comic’s impact therefore rests entirely upon the shoulders of Nic Klein, and in this respect the book definitely does not disappoint. Featuring some truly sumptuous splash pages highlighting the disconcertingly beautiful landscape of the Hulk’s bowel-deep home, many of the panels pencilled genuinely contain an incredible amount of detail to bewitch the perusing eye. In fact, the fantastic interior layouts are probably worth the cover price alone, regardless of whether an onlooker is swayed by the publication’s script or not.

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Artist: Nic Klein, and Color Artists: Nic Klein & Matthew Wilson

Conan The Barbarian #29 - Titan Comics

CONAN THE BARBARIAN No. 29, March 2026

Peddled by its London-based publisher as a title containing “new pulp-tastic tales in the tradition of Robert E. Howard”, Issue Twenty-Nine of “Conan The Barbarian” probably didn’t win over many readers on account of the comic not actually featuring the Cimmerian until its very last panel. Indeed, the complete lack of the heavily-muscled, fantasy hero inside this twenty-two page periodical is rather disappointing, especially as this book’s solicitation synopsis promises that he’s supposed to be being hunted in it by “a deadly new foe” disconcertingly known as the Son of the Tooth.

Of course some of the more widely-read fans of “the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre” may well point to Amalric’s predominantly solo adventure during the prose tale “Drums of Tombalku” – in which, believing his black-maned companion to be dead, the Aquilonian soldier essentially ‘goes it alone’ against a party of demonic black riders terrorising the oasis town of Gazal. However, this novelette was actually penned by L. Sprague de Camp rather than Conan's creator. and is merely based upon an “untitled fragment and synopsis” by Howard, rather than being an officially penned entry in the adventurer's literary canon.

Furthermore, the notion of an enfeebled Hyrkanian chieftain’s son successfully murdering his ten other older siblings without being discovered by so paranoid a people is debatably a bit far-fetched, even for a yarn establishing the background to a proficient “killer with [a] keen blade in hand and [the] teeth from old prey strung ‘round his neck.” True, the boy’s quite elderly father does eventually receive a confession whilst the two are out hunting together. But to see the older, much more experienced leader then get fatally out-fought by the far smaller adolescent in a knife-fight after “years of pent-up anger and fear” appears a highly unconvincing; “You are a monster and I am a fool. That is why I poisoned our meal with White Snakeroot -- So we may both die here for our sins!” 

Much more enjoyable than this publication’s narrative is therefore its artwork, courtesy of Doug Braithwaite’s pencilling. The British illustrator appears particularly good at highlighting the mass-murderer’s physical frailty during the character’s younger years, and subsequently ensures that the audience takes note of the cutthroat’s later professional prowess when he’s become a dangerous, highly experienced slayer of men for the cult of the Black Stone.

The regular cover art of "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" #29 by Roberto De La Torre

The Infernal Hulk #3 - Marvel Comics

THE INFERNAL HULK No. 3, March 2026

Touted as being a “pivotal issue” in which the comic’s readers will finally discover just “what happened to Bruce Banner in that cave”, this twenty-page periodical probably came as something of a disappointment to its customers. In fact, despite somehow being the forty-seventh best-selling book of January 2026 – at least according to “Icv2.com” – many a Hulk-head could debatably have given it a miss and been no less the poorer as far as the ongoing series’ over-arching narrative was concerned; “One of the bravest, most selfless, most brilliant scientists who ever lived transformed into a snivelling coward.”

For openers, absolutely nothing of any consequence whatsoever actually takes place within the publication, as Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s disappointingly sedentary script focuses upon the domestic life of Betty Ross and her ‘husband’ in sleepy Muncie, Indiana. Sure, General Thunderbolt Ross’ daughter has a disconcerting episode in the kitchen one night when she starts to self-harm after being unable to open a tub of ice cream. But many a bibliophile would debatably have preferred her ordinarily strong-willed character to have demonstrated her frustration at no longer being able to become the super-powered Harpy in a far less extreme manner than mutilating her own body with a kitchen knife.

Furthermore, as Iron Man rather bluntly points out to the nuclear physicist, the customarily brave Banner is depicted within this publication as a selfish, spineless individual, who rather than help Humanity fend off Eldest’s seemingly unstoppable incarnation of the Hulk, would much prefer to simply skulk in the shadows with little regard for anyone’s safety. Perhaps unsurprisingly, such a huge departure from the ‘norm’ actually makes “David Hamilton” a rather disagreeable character, and resultantly causes his endless, dialogue-driven scenes to be quite a chore to progress through.

Lastly, the decision to chaotically mesh the distinctly different drawing styles of Kev Walker and Nic Klein together in a single comic must surely have thrown any and all onlookers completely out of the storytelling whenever the swap occurs. This amalgamation of artwork proves particularly annoying towards the end of the book, when a couple of panels featuring Klein’s readily recognisable Hulk is suddenly crowbarred in between Walker’s much less detailed Iron Man whilst Shellhead is talking with Banner in his backyard.

The regular cover art of "INFERNAL HULK" #3 by Nic Klein

DC K.O. Knightfight #1 - DC Comics

DC K.O. KNIGHTFIGHT No. 1, April 2026

Considering that this was the fourth best-selling comic book of November 2025, it’s still somewhat difficult to imagine that all that many readers were completely won over by Joshua Williamson’s script for Issue One of “DC K.O. Knightfight”. Indeed, this tie-in title to the Burbank-based publisher’s 2025-2026 crossover event probably had many a Bat-fan scratching their heads in utter bemusement as a beaten Caped Crusader inexplicably finds himself “trapped within an alternative timeline/possible future – in which Dick Grayson replaced him as Batman.”

Admittedly, this disconcerting plot taps so wonderfully well into the ever-popular “Elseworlds” vibe that Bruce Wayne’s desire to discover more about the decidedly different Gotham City initially quite cleverly mirrors the wishes of this mini-series’ audience too. However, by the time the billionaire industrialist finally encounters the protégé who replaced him as his birth-place’s protector, so many ‘wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey’ events have been thrown at the reader that it’s debatably difficult to fully comprehend just how incredibly diverse this Robin Incorporated dominated world actually is; “I used the training you gave me and shared it with the world.” 

Furthermore, the Dark Knight which Nightwing previously usurped in this bizarre dimension is completely unrecognisable from the mainstream cowled vigilante - having apparently slaughtered the likes of Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne for daring to challenge him. However, for some reason that doesn’t apparently stop Grayson from repeatedly offering his former mentor an opportunity to simply stand down, and even leads to Dick going so far as to untie the supposedly homicidal Batman when they first meet so he can provide anyone listening with plenty of brain-bamboozling exposition.

Much more convincing than this comic’s penmanship is debatably its layouts with Dan Mora doing a top-job in imbuing all of the numerous Robins with the gracefulness one would expect from such acrobatic sidekicks. Of particular note has to be the artist’s ability to depict such a striking contrast between Grayson’s fighting style as opposed to that of Wayne, with Nightwing clearly appearing a much more fluid combatant over the older, and slightly slowing down crime-fighting veteran. In addition, Colorist Triona Farrell deserves a little kudos for making this publication’s futuristic metropolis such a vivid-looking concrete jungle, with the brightly-lit, neon-populated skyline appearing rather reminiscent of that seen in Joel Schumacher’s 1995 film “Batman Forever”.

Writer: Joshua Williamson, Artist: Dan Mora, and Colors: Triona Farrell

West Coast Avengers [2024] #10 - Marvel Comics

WEST COAST AVENGERS No. 10, October 2025

Described by its New York City-born writer as “a glorious west coast sun set”, this ongoing series’ final instalment definitely manages to bring the comic’s opening story-arc to an impressive, satisfying conclusion. Indeed, despite the sudden decision to cancel the title supposedly being caused by poor sales, the grim fate befalling the supposedly “redeemed” Ultron may well make the odd bibliophile even believe that the book was always only ever going to last just ten issues; “Hey! I was just coming out to pitch this. Mine was gonna be made of… metal. Not stone, but… this is great.”

Furthermore, the twenty-page periodical does a nice job of completing Blue Bolt’s character arc by showing the reformed criminal deservedly getting “paroled into service with the Avengers" by a judge. This moment genuinely proves a little emotional, and demonstrates just how well Gerry Duggan can progressively pen an initially disagreeable rogue like Tommy Watt when given some sheet space in which to do so.

Equally as impressive as the book's conclusion though, has to be the way the American author also manages to give most of the super-group’s considerably-sized roster a fair few seconds in the spotlight. Foremost of these moments probably involves Hank Pym’s robotic creation, who ultimately sacrifices himself so as to hold the truly evil Scorched Ultron in check for the foreseeable future. This situation is surprisingly tragic given the character's past history with the team, and sits well alongside other similar heart-breaking, sentimental scenes, such as when a clearly upset Jessica Drew stays on a beach beside her terminally-ill friend Meredith until the cybernetically-enhanced follower of the One dies.

Sadly, what does debatably let this book down is its layouts by Danny Kim. The artist definitely goes a proficient job of pencilling the Whackos’ fight against a seemingly unstoppable arch-nemesis. But once the “malleable armours of Ultron were brought to their melting point” a fair few figures appear to lose their discipline and degenerate into cartoon-like caricatures – most notably when Wonder Man has to choose between capturing the Scourge or saving a train from a sabotaged railway bridge. Furthermore, by the time the narrative has reached Watt’s aforementioned clemency, the illustrator appears to have abandoned any notion of providing his panels with any detailed backgrounds whatsoever, and even resorts to ‘a white nothingness’ for Watts’ final scene with Angelica Jones.

The regular cover art of "WEST COAST AVENGERS" #9 by Josemaria Casanovas

Space Ghost Annual 2025 - Dynamite Entertainment

SPACE GHOST ANNUAL 2025, June 2025

Weighing in with a fairly hefty twenty-eight pages, David Pepose’s narrative for this “very first Space Ghost Annual” may well have proved rather bamboozling for any readers hoping to just jump on on board the title for their first ride. For whilst the comic’s plot is absolutely packed full of dynamic action sequences and the odd emotional moment, it's far from being an accessible standalone story, and instead just carries straight on “after the thrilling events of Issue Twelve’s second-story-arc finale” with absolutely no exposition whatsoever; “Ever since the dawn of time, chaos and corruption have infected this universe…”

Indeed, even for those long-time fans of this ongoing series the revelation that Robo Corp’s nefarious leader Doctor Xander Ibal has somehow been completely “consumed by the infinite singularity of Ultima” may well come as something of a shock considering that the unscrupulous scientist has only just activated the artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the sheer speed in which the evil computer takes over the minds of almost all of the galaxy’s inhabitants repeatedly begs the question as to how it’s doing such a thing, as well as why it needs a little monkey known as the Binary Language Integrated Prototype to do so..?

Disappointingly, this book also seemingly suffers from some unconvincing developments such as Jace deciding he needs to undertake a lengthy spacecraft chase outside Robo Corp Tower so as to distract Ultima. Bearing in mind the Collective is already capable of simultaneously seeing through billions of different eyes and controls multiple satellites, why would it decide to focus so much of its attention upon a smart-mouthed boy who is clearly distracting it as part of a much wider ruse..?

By far this annual’s biggest asset therefore lies with the pencilling of Jonathan Lau and Andrew Dalhouse’s colours. The artistic duo do a great job in depicting a decidedly disconcerting view of a galaxy where every inhabitant serves a single unified purpose, and this then really helps emphasise the terror experienced by the few citizens who have a natural resistance to Ultima’s mind-controlling power. In addition, this publication’s visuals definitely don’t lack for plenty of zip, whether it be Jan running to reprogramme the Collective at its central core, or Space Ghost blasting into orbit in a desperate attempt to free his brain of the Collective's zombifying signal.

The regular cover art of "SPACE GHOST" ANNUAL 2025 by Francesco Mattina