Simon N. Kirby, The Agent #5 - G-Man Comics

SIMON N. KIRBY, THE AGENT No. 5, June 2022

Providing an intriguing insight into the technological development of Simon N. Kirby’s cutting-edge super-suit inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington D.C. field offices, Rik Offenberger’s script for “Aktion!” must have ticked a lot of boxes for comic book fans who simply enjoy pulse-pounding pugilism and decidedly dirty treachery. In fact, this twenty-page story is arguably pretty much faultless as it quickly grabs the reader by the scruff of neck just as soon as disloyal laboratory assistant Mark Hollister cold-bloodedly murders poor Doctor Haas before the scientist has finished calibrating his latest ceramic trauma plate prototype.

Delightfully though, this publication isn’t simply about having the Rothlander Industries insider tackle the G-Men’s Quantico-educated leader in a one-on-one fist-fight either, with the Swastika-wearing Nazi villain soon being swapped out for the much more formidable Tigerstrike. Able to withstand an early onslaught by a number of the Agent’s best operatives, this villain’s assault upon the best the Super Service can provide is impressively mesmerising, especially once it becomes clear that Tony Tarantino’s striped alter-ego isn’t at all phased by the sizeable number of Kirby’s fellow protagonists confronting him; “Like the man said, I could do this all day!”

Ably adding plenty of “Thwamm!”, “Thwomp!” and “Waauugghh!!” to these Caped Agent Program proceedings are the prodigious pencils of Alan Faria, which do a great job in both depicting the sheer busyness of the brutal battle and the plethora of colourfully-costumed combatants it contains. In addition, the artist is very good at illustrating the sheer sense of betrayal upon the “third-generation” F.B.I. Special Agent’s face and the hero’s determination to best the Aryan Alliance’s disagreeable weretiger before he makes a bold escape underground.

Slightly more tongue-in-cheek is Offenberger’s “Twenty-One Candles”, an eight-pager whose opening birthday celebration scene and subsequent dance sequence at Club Baby Seals noticeably contrasts with the distinctly serious nature of this comic’s main narrative. Proficiently sketched by Dean Juliette, this tale provides plenty of spotlight upon some of the G-Men’s female members, such as Pocahontas, Maya Santiago, and the original Bette Noir. But suddenly turns disconcertingly dark upon the arrival of the colossal Xadrian and the mad deity’s grisly demise via Atomik Bombshell’s deadly microwaves.

The regular cover art of "SIMON N. KIRBY, THE AGENT" #5 by Alan Faria

Unstoppable Doom Patrol #6 - DC Comics

UNSTOPPABLE DOOM PATROL No. 6, November 2023

Packing every sort of super-villain a comic collector could imagine within its twenty-two-page plot, including a walking/talking pachyderm, Issue Six of “Unstoppable Doom Patrol” must surely have mesmerised its audience with its unrelentingly assault upon each reader’s senses. Sure, the pulse-pounding pugilism never stops as the titular characters are “caught off guard” by the Brotherhood of Evil in their very own headquarters. But American author Dennis Culver still somehow manages to provide several of the team’s roster with some notable character development, especially the likes of Niles Caulder, the Man of Muscle Mystery and the members of “the all-new Flex Force.”

Furthermore, this book contains an impressive hook straight from the start in the form of Flex Mentallo providing his fresh-faced, inexperienced trainees with “the ultimate test” against the Chief’s A-listers. This sort of narrative will arguably take many a nostalgia-hungry bibliophile back to the days of Stan Lee’s New Mutants and Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, as the inexperienced squad attempt to “capture the flag” from a determined Robot Man, Elasti-Woman and Negative Man.

However, this publication doesn’t stop there, due to General Immortus launching “his attack against the Doom Patrol right in the heart of their home base, the Shelter” and readily revoking memories of Magneto’s many assaults against the Uncanny X-Men with his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. So savage a sudden strike allows the writer to pen plenty of the aforementioned high-octane-laced pandemonium, whilst simultaneously intriguing his audience with all the different special abilities the numerous metahumans on show seem to impossibly possess; “Invisibility! Invulnerability! Super-speed! She’s got every power you haven’t thought of, so start naming them! Super-strength! Heat Vision!”

Working his own magic throughout this publication is artist Chris Burnham and colorist Brian Reber, whose talents combine together to create some truly memorable panels, such as when Robot Man absolutely smacks the overly-confident Elephant Man straight into tomorrow with a sock to his tusk-filled jaw. In addition, towards the end of the comic, when the Immortal Flame and Monsieur Mallah seeks to seemingly raise Dorothy Spinner back from the Dead, the illustrators do a marvellous job of imbuing the creepy night-time scene with all the palpable trepidation and strangeness anticipated for so unnatural a sequence.

Writer: Dennis Culver, Artist: Chris Burnham, and Colorist: Brian Reber

Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #8 - DC Comics

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE No. 8, December 2023

As a “series finale over thirty years in the making” goes, Alan Burnett and Paul Dini’s storyline for Issue Eight of “Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three” certainly seems to successfully strike home, courtesy of an outrageously audacious scheme by Ra's al Ghul to convince the Dark Knight into retirement by secretly incarcerating the super-hero’s Rogues Gallery in an underground prison. In fact, the Detective’s discovery of his potential father-in-law’s plan genuinely provides this twenty-page-periodical with a jaw-dropping revelation, especially once Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego learns that the super-villain’s solution to worldwide famine will actually cause sterility within a few generations.

Furthermore, the comic contains plenty of fisticuffs and punch-ups to keep the adrenalin-junkies content, as the Caped Crusaders face-off against a veritable army of zombie dogs and undead assassins. This notion that the sickly Dragon’s Head would readily take over the Court of Owls following the demise of its original council, is an easy plot-twist to accept, and resultantly provides the writers with more than enough Talons for the Bat-Family to sporadically battle as they tensely travel deeper into Gotham City’s maze-like system of subterranean tunnels; “My guess is the Owls brought you this way.”

Perhaps therefore this book’s sole disappointment might arguably come in the lack of limelight given to so many of Batman’s most notorious opponents. Admittedly, the likes of Talia al Ghul, Selina Kyle, Kirk Langstrom and Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot do well enough with each criminal actually contributing to the overall narrative. But Clayface, Killer Croc, Two-Face, the Black Mask and the Scarecrow regrettably are given just enough panel space for a brief cameo, potentially making some of the Dark Knight’s greatest adversaries appear as little more than afterthoughts.

So minor (and understandable) a quibble though is soon forgotten thanks to the stellar artistic contribution of Ty Templeton, Jacob Edgar, and Monica Kubina, who together produce a fantastic feast for the eyes with their prodigious pencilling, inking and colour choices. Indeed, the sheer grandeur of Ra's al Ghul’s hush-hush head-quarters really helps sell the scope of the international mastermind’s evil machinations, and provides an excellent backdrop to this masterwork’s cataclysmic conclusion once Catwoman has freed all the long-lived felon’s numerous prisoners.

The regular cover of "BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE" #8 by Ty Templeton

The Incredible Hulk [2023] #5 - Marvel Comics

THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 5, December 2023

Considering the sheer size of the malevolent swamp siren confronted by this comic’s titular anti-hero, some Hulk-heads may well have been anticipating “an epic brawl” between the Jade Giant, Man-Thing and the formidably-strong, multi-limbed, Floridan monstrosity. But whilst that may well arguably be the case, much of the battle’s impact is disappointingly lost as a result of Travel Foreman’s crude drawing style. In fact, many of this twenty-page-periodical’s harsher critics might even go so far as to suggest that the Honolulu-born artist’s inexpert illustrations wouldn’t look out of place inside an adolescent’s homemade fanzine rather than within the cover of a magazine produced by the current “comic book specialty market's top publisher.”

This disconcerting visualisation of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s script also debatably distracts the reader from emotionally connecting with poor Charlie Tidwell, when the young girl relives the trauma of her ‘baby’ brother Earl dying at the hands of their abusive father. Charny’s despair is so tragically deep that it actually forces the onlooking Defender to painfully revert back to Bruce Banner. Yet due to the quality of the layouts any perusing bibliophile may well struggle to find even the smallest amount of sympathy for the unsatisfactorily sketched schoolboy's second demise; “If I wasn’t so… so clumsy, maybe he wouldn’t’ve… sniff. You didn’t even do anything…”

Perhaps this book’s biggest mystery though lies in precisely what threat the siren poses to the Nexus of Realities. Ted Sallis is very clear that the “mindless avatar of hatred and grief” is both “old and angry”. However, Man-Thing never explains how the wretched creature is physically threatening the cross-dimensional gateway, and eventually just resorts to informing an unconvinced Hulk that if the founding Avenger doesn’t help him, it’ll eat the Green Goliath’s unlikely companion. 

Somewhat more successfully delivered is this comic’s “backup story featuring a surprise guest character to honour Latin and Latinx characters and creators!” Penned by Vita Ayala, this unlikely fist-fight between the “World-Breaker” and Victor Alvarez initially appears to be little more than a staged set-piece to show-off Power Man’s impressive Chi-manipulating super-powers. However, once the Hero-For-Hire passes out and is temporarily cared for by the Hulk’s somewhat emaciated alter-ego, the storyline quickly transforms into a tolerable tale which focuses upon “Goggles” insecurities about being “nothing but a bootleg copy of a C-lister…”

The regular cover art of "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" #5 by Nic Klein

Conan The Barbarian #4 - Titan Comics

CONAN THE BARBARIAN No. 4, November 2023

It’s easy to see with his script for Issue Four of “Conan The Barbarian” that Jim Zub is clearly “a lifelong fan of the [titular] character”, if not an entirely devoted scholar of all things penned by Robert E. Howard. Yet whilst “Bound In Black Stone” enthrallingly smacks of something taken straight from the pages of a Forties pulp magazine, it’s reliance upon the reader needing to have a much broader knowledge of the Hyborian Age mythos to fully appreciate its cleverness, may well dissuade some perusing bibliophiles from seeing this title as a ‘jumping on point’ for the Sword and Sorcery hero.   

True, the Canadian author does spend a considerable amount of this twenty-two-page periodical explaining just why a drowning Cimmerian might suddenly encounter the ghost of a long-dead Pictish Chieftain, courtesy of a spell-binding flashback. However, despite this sequence somewhat enjoyably mirroring Conan’s encounter with Epemitreus in the 1932 short story “The Phoenix on the Sword”, its appearance arguably comes completely out of nowhere, and rather contrivingly seems to be solely based upon the adventurer just happening to have Brule’s mystical blade about his loincloth.

Perhaps this comic’s biggest disappointment though, rests with the off-screen demise of poor Brissa, who apparently rushes back to aid her heavily-muscled lover in the Black Tower only for the evil spire to fatally collapse upon her. Doubtless many within this comic’s audience will be hoping that so dismal a death for one of the tale’s foremost protagonists is simply a ploy by the Eisner Award-nominee to establish a sensational future return. But even if this proves to be the case, as it is the brave scout’s abrupt passing implies a disconcertingly lethargic way to end the book within its allotted sheet-space; “…One more victim of the Baneful Black.”

Fortunately, such quibbles are easily set aside once Rob De La Torre begins his pulse-pounding pencilling. The artist’s dynamic layouts for the aforementioned trip back to the days neighbouring King Kull’s pre-cataclysmic Atlantis are visually stunning, and should genuinely make many within this publication’s audience yearn for this comic’s creative team to produce a magazine solely based upon the supernatural exploits of the Borni Tribe’s leader too.

The regular cover art of "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" #4 by Roberto De La Torre

Titans #4 - DC Comics

TITANS No. 4, December 2023

Intriguingly treading the line between low-level crime-fighting and international terrorism, Tom Taylor’s narrative for “Out Of The Shadows” certainly seems to start well, courtesy of a touchingly intimate focus upon Beast Boy and Raven as the couple reconcile Garfield Logan’s doubts about the future of humanity by defeating a pair of knife-wielding neighbourhood bullies. But whilst this somewhat tongue-in-cheek transformation into a talking tiger proves entertaining enough, some within this comic’s audience might be left scratching their heads in bemusement at the rest of the book’s plot.

For starters the notion that the Teen Titans should suddenly decide to return to the Southeast Asian island of Borneo at precisely the same location as one of its settlements is being forcibly removed by the gun-toting Demolition Team is arguably a little too manufactured, considering that it appears to occur solely upon Changeling’s whim to “lead a reforestation effort” with the agencies there. Admittedly, the young vigilante has been badly affected by the recent deaths of the area’s wildlife in a mysterious fire. But to immediately convince the rest of his friends to abandon investigating the Flash’s imminent death sadly smacks of the “New York Times bestselling author” sluggishly contriving the super-group’s separation simply so Wally West proves an easier target for his enigmatic assassin.

In addition, the sudden disappearance of both Nightwing and the Scarlet Speedster just when an alien-influenced Tempest arrives at the Titan’s headquarters also appears incredibly fortuitous for the extra-terrestrial invader. Indeed, the pair’s absence, weakly explained as being due to them “being off somewhere” arguing seems unlikely considering Linda Park-West has already made it crystal clear her husband won’t be participating in any adventures for at least the next twenty-four hours; “I wouldn’t say I’m a secret weapon. But you’re going to listen to Donna and Dick…”

Happily however, what this twenty-page periodical debatably lacks in convincing penmanship it makes up for with prodigious pencilling. Whether it be Nicola Scott and colorist Annette Kwok’s awesome-looking regular cover illustration, featuring Beast Boy being surrounded by a veritable menagerie of birds and animals, or a grumpy Peacemaker scrutinising the satellite images of Donna Troy’s battle against the Demolition Team, each and every panel within this comic is incredibly well drawn.

Writer: Tom Taylor, Artist: Nicola Scott, and Colorist: Annette Kwok

Blade #4 - Marvel Comics

BLADE No. 4, December 2023

Arguably using Stephen Strange’s guest star appearance as an opportunity to bring any new readers to this ongoing series bang up to speed with the storyline’s past events and characters, this comic’s “high-speed heist” certainly promises plenty of sense-shattering shenanigans. But whilst the vast majority of the twenty-page periodical does focus upon a bullet train whose “chassis is made of adamantium” and which “rarely slows below 180 miles per hour”, its perplexing plot may well prove just a little too bemusing for many a perusing bibliophile to properly enjoy.

Foremost of these oddities in "Mother Of Evil" is probably the absence of the Master of the Mystic Arts himself, who despite conjuring up a portal to allow Blade access “into the armoured fortress of a weapons collector”, doesn’t actually then fight alongside the vampire. Instead, the Sorcerer Supreme simply informs the titular character from a notable distance that Adana will “destroy reality as we know it” if not stopped, and then later adds that the only “sword of unknown power” which can apparently kill her will prove equally as dangerous to the Daywalker if he succeeds in appropriating it.

Similarly as disappointing though has to be the much-anticipated confrontation between Eric Brooks and Hamilton Achilles, which ends with the powerful, master criminal somewhat ridiculously tearing his own head in half as a sacrifice to Adana. Considering that the thick-set blood-drinker clearly doesn’t want this comic’s titular character to steal Lucifer’s infamous hand-weapon, this suicidal behaviour is debatably an incredibly peculiar move, and one that sadly smacks of contrivance so as to simply propel Blade into the lengthy narrative’s final instalment suitably well-armed; “That weapon has the will of the Lightbringer. It will change you…”

Sadly, such a confounding scenario also seemingly appears to have detrimentally affected the book’s illustration team, with both Valentina Pinta and Elena Casagrande pencilling a series of surprisingly stagnant layouts featuring wooden figures and lack-lustre action scenes. Indeed, Achilles’ aforementioned death may well strike many within this publication’s audience as appearing like something out of a cartoony Japanese anime show, with the wide-eyed vampire’s inexplicable self-immolation being difficult to visualise without repeated visits to the panel apparently depicting it.

The regular cover art to "BLADE" #4 by Elena Casagrande & Jordie Bellaire