X-Men Legends #8 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 8, December 2021

Pushing a plot which is predominantly obsessed with pulse-pounding pugilism, Larry Hama’s narrative for Issue Eight of “X-Men Legends” probably pleased the vast majority of its readers after a debatably shaky start. True, the American author should certainly have got any perusing bibliophile’s senses reeling with Wolverine’s early battle against an entire crew of thugs who were hired to secure a Shanghai pier for the mysterious Jie Jie. But once “Ol’ Canucklehead” has sliced his way through the low-tier minions, this twenty-page periodical’s tempo somewhat slumps as its panels are packed with exposition explaining such unconvincing contrivances like Yurei just happening to also be able to conveniently time travel, as well as teleport Logan to the southern estuary of the Yangtze River.

Thankfully, such manufactured moments are soon forgotten once Jubilee has impressively broken free of her bonds, and teams-up with her fellow X-Man for a serious showdown with Lady Deathstrike. This action-packed sequence is absolutely spot-on, with all the combatants attempting to best one another with plenty of insanely fast punches, a bellyful of serious physical damage and some highly enjoyable quips; “Is a frog’s butt watertight?”

Perhaps however the surprising star of this comic is the mutant adolescent Yurei, who soon demonstrates a deliciously sadistic persona when it comes to selecting a location to abandon her would-be assailants in. Ranging from a zoo’s tiger pen just as feeding time approaches to a deadly mine-laden swamp, the politely spoken schoolgirl is equally as entertaining when it also comes to a killer quip just before she leaves her latest victim stranded.

Far less impressive is probably Billy Tan’s artwork, which due to the sparsity of this book’s script, definitely needs to shoulder the lion’s share of work. Indeed, at times it appears the Malaysian illustrator is desperately attempting to pad out his layouts by monotonously pencilling numerous cargo crates, forklift trucks and empty loading bays. Such ‘filling’ genuinely starts to bog down the storytelling and proves particularly noticeable once Jie Jie arrives at Shanghai supposedly in a hurry to complete her sale only to spend an eternity walking along the disconcertingly empty pier in an effort to liaise with her buyer’s Russian agent - Omega Red.

The regular cover art of "X-MEN: LEGENDS" #8 by Billy Tan & Chris Sotomayor

Batman: Gotham Knights - Gilded City #3 - DC Comics

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS - GILDED CITY No. 3, February 2023

It's difficult to imagine that many of this book’s bibliophiles were particularly won over by Evan Narcisse’s dubious decision to focus much of this comic’s narrative upon Nightwing and Robin’s successful endeavour to halt a roller coaster before its open cars plummet through “a broken section of track”. Indeed, the notion of the ‘dynamic duo’ spending a considerable amount of time simply stopping a horde of brainwashed people from visiting a condemned fairground, wolfing down large amounts of popcorn, sugary snacks and candy floss, arguably seems a strange setting for a storyline supposedly penned to help advertise an exciting new video game where the players must battle all manner of “notorious villains in epic confrontations”.

To make matters worse though, the American author doesn’t debatably do much better when it comes to writing what Batman is up to whilst his two proteges tackle the aforementioned “crazed victims of the Golden Iris Virus.” True, the Dark Knight is well known for seeking out those experts with more scientific or technical knowledge than himself if it’ll help his investigations. But turning to imprisoned criminal psychologist Harley Quinn seems a bit of a stretch, especially when he bizarrely has to fiurst fight his way through some of Blackgate Prison’s other inmates in order to speak to her; “Heya, Batsy! I see you’ve met my clients.”

Far more successful is the journalist’s flashback sequences to the Court of Owls on the outskirts of Gotham City in 1847. Nicely laced with some serious Frankenstein’s Monster vibes, the plight of a disorientated Runaway is rather riveting as he realises just how formidably well-organised and large the criminal organisation creating zombies actually is. In fact, the masked vigilante’s fate appears to be well and truly sealed by the ‘immortal’ Talons until the swashbuckling super-villain Vandar Adg of the Blood Tribe suddenly makes a surprise entrance.

Clearly this comic’s greatest asset therefore lies in the layouts of artist Abel, who manages to inject even the sweet scoffing miscreants at the old amusement park with plenty of dynamic life. Furthermore, the illustrator’s ability to pencil the acrobatic antics of both Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne’s costumed alter-egos as they utilise the Batwing's skyhook to slow down a runaway ride is one of the meagre memorable moments stemming from this twenty-two-page periodical.

The regular cover art of "BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS - GILDED CITY #3 by Greg Capullo

The Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries #4 - DC Comics

THE BATMAN AND SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES No. 4, March 2023

Whilst there’s understandably an almost childlike sense of fun with this comic’s scary shenanigans, as well as a number of opportunities to wrong-foot its audience, Amanda Deibert’s narrative for Issue Four of “The Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries” probably struck many a bibliophile as being a little too contrived for their liking. Indeed, this twenty-page periodical’s plot is absolutely packed full of manufactured moments, ranging from the Dark Knight inexplicably appearing at an old-age pensioner’s home in Beach City just as the dear old lady is about to fatally fall down the stairs, through to him suddenly capturing a heavily-disguised Catwoman simply because “no one else could crack the code” to Bruce Wayne’s safe.

Furthermore, the story never explains just how the felonious fortune teller Madame Clare Voyante is able to make her ghostly three-dimensional projections suddenly grasp hold of a rope pulley so as to ensnare the various members of Mystery Incorporated during this book’s finale. The intangibility of the long dead loved ones’ holograms is established straight from the publication’s start and is actually one of the main causes of Missus Richards’ terrifying trip down her bedroom steps. Yet later on, when in the guise of poor Velma Dinkley’s giant pet goldfish, the green-hued light show is both affectionately patted on the head by the turtle-neck sweater-wearing teenager and later depicted tugging away at one of Fred Jones’ infamous traps.

For those readers able to overlook these quibbles though, there are still plenty of laugh-out-loud opportunities to be had with “Goldfish”, predominantly in the form of Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo running around like scared, headless chickens. In fact, one of this comic’s funniest moments debatably comes when the ‘dynamic duo’ are seriously spooked by the spirit of “legendary surfer Kamalii Akana” whilst secretly tucking into a great pile of hot dog snacks; “Like, this is a great idea, Scoob. No one can see us back here.”

Definitely helping to give this book the look and feel of a “Hanna-Barbera Productions” cartoon from the Seventies are Scott Jeralds’ drawings. The “thirty plus year animation industry veteran” does a good job pencilling this publication’s quite considerably sized cast, with a splash-page set inside the clairvoyant’s tent proving especially eye-catching, courtesy of some heavy shadows by colorist Carrie Strachan.

Written by: Amanda Deibert, Drawn by: Scott Jeralds, and Colored by: Carrie Strachan

Alien [2022] #5 - Marvel Comics

ALIEN No. 5, March 2023

Enjoyably filled with various characters playing ‘the blame game’ with one another, Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s narrative for Issue Five of “Alien” is surely a great example of how to pen some truly catastrophic consequences to a person’s previous ill-advised decision-making. In fact, almost all of this particular comic’s death and destruction, from Steel Team’s shuttlecraft crash landing through to a swarm of deadly Xenos penetrating the survivors’ settlement, can solely be placed upon the human-hating Eli’s prejudicial decision not to warn Lee that she was about to stung by an alien-infected insect.

Intriguingly however, none of this responsibility seemingly occurs to the increasingly deranged robot, who ultimately decides that all his mission’s calamities are as a direct result of his team-leader’s poor decision-making, rather than anything to do with his hatred of Mankind. Such a descent into self-righteous insanity proves incredibly enthralling, and debatably leads to a genuinely shocking cliff-hanger of a conclusion, when the now partially damaged android decides to cold-bloodedly murder the colony’s last-remaining radiation-proof child; “I won’t let you. I won’t let you save a single one. They did this to us, Freyja. They killed our family. And you let them.”

Just as beguiling as the Milkman’s fall from grace, is the way the “Eisner-nominated writer” deals with the eventual demise of Steel Team’s other members. Slowly whittled down one by one through repeated injuries or deadly ambushes, the veteran soldiers’ gruesome deactivations are rather ‘realistically’ depicted, and all intrinsically linked to the actions of “the monstrous Hybrid” created by Eli’s apathy - which once again reminds the reader that the mealy-mouthed killing machine is actually accountable for much of the carnage he’s desperately trying to deflect upon Freyja.    

Ably aiding Johnson in the storytelling is Julius Ohta and colorist Yen Nitro, who together produce some truly pulse-pounding panels throughout this tragic tale. Indeed, one of this twenty-page periodical’s many highlights is the way the creative pair lay out poor Astrid’s traumatic passing, as the artificial life form momentarily lets her guard down whilst ruminating about her home world’s natural beauty, and inadvertently stumbles into a deadly xenomorph trap.

The regular cover art to "ALIEN" #5 by Bjorn Barends

Rick And Morty Verses Cthulhu #3 - Oni Press

RICK AND MORTY VERSES CTHULHU No. 3, February 2023

For those readers unacquainted with Lovecraftian lore or at least the creator of the Cthulhu Mythos’ 1936 novella “The Shadow Out Of Time”, Jim Zub’s plot for this twenty-two page periodical possibly didn’t land all that well, considering it’s predominantly set inside “the glittering, triumphant city of the Yith.” In fact, Rick Sanchez’s sedentary sojourn at Pnakotus and subsequent slow-time exploration of the metropolis’ Great Archives, communal Nutrition Service Area and Privilege-Deprivation Cell may strike many a bibliophile as a strange way to build-up the anticipation for this mini-series’ upcoming final instalment; “Day Nineteen, I think. Time has no meaning in this f**king place. There’s sunrise and sunset, but most of the time these bobble-headed f**kwits just want to spend all day underground talking philosophy 101…”   

Mercifully though, things do finally start to heat up once one of the “twenty-foot tall, cone-shaped, alien plant-crustacean-librarians” falls in love with the Smartest Man in the Universe and helps him outwit the “Sacred Guards of The Bad-Bad Door!” Sure, the scene is pretty gruesome as Sanchez utilises one of the Buff Yiths’ box-shaped weapons to blow their insectoid heads clean off in a gratuitous display of gore and blood. But the subsequent release of a deadly Flying Polyp from beneath the castle-like conurbation leads to some much-needed adrenalin-fuelled antics for this comic’s finale.

In fact, the sheer chaos caused by the floating extra-terrestrial is arguably as riveting as it is utterly insane, and simultaneously leads into a genuinely touching moment when Rick loses his multi-eyed lover to the grotesque alien despite his best efforts to drag Huey’s mutilated body to safety. The poor love-struck pawn of the deranged scientist’s desire to escape is sympathetically shown to be highly dubious as to his partner’s anarchic actions. So it comes as something of a shock to see the timid bookworm’s fears fully realised as its quite literally torn apart within the polyp’s frighteningly-fanged maw.

Undeniably capturing the flavour of Lovecraft’s imaginary "intellectual utopia" with his proficiently pencilled panels is Troy Little, whose ability to imbue Sanchez’s strange-looking, multi-limbed Yith physique with all the insane inventor’s recognisable mannerisms, is one of the highlights of the publication. Furthermore, the artist does a splendid job in making Huey an incredibly sympathetic character, so when the long-necked curator does die, Rick’s evident remorse is actually made all the more impactful.

The regular cover art of "RICK AND MORTY VERSES CTHULHU" #3 by Troy Little

Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three #2 - DC Comics

BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE No. 2, April 2023

Pairing up the Dark Knight with the hyper-active Harley Quinn, Alan Burnett and Paul Dini’s narrative for Issue Two of “Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Three” probably pleased the vast majority of the comic’s audience. In fact, in many ways the twenty-page periodical’s plot contains the perfect mix of action, adventure and some intriguing insights into the Caped Crusader’s mysterious past when Cassie Kendall almost “changed the course of Bruce’s life when she was his high school sweetheart.”

Of course, as “Old Flames” progresses it becomes abundantly clear that the billionaire’s strong feelings for the blonde-haired socialite were badly misplaced, as the prolific partygoer seemingly had a string of other lovers during the couple’s relationship, including both Harvey Dent and Harleen Quinzel. But it isn’t until near this publication’s end that ‘the macaroni to Harley’s cheese’ is actually shown as being a cold-blooded criminal who will stop at nothing to rid herself of the restraints imposed upon her two hundred-million-dollar Trust Fund; “I hope you understand that I’m really the victim here.”

Perhaps this book’s biggest asset though lies in its numerous laugh-out-loud moments and double-takes, which should genuinely cause many a bibliophile to guffaw. Foremost of these instances is arguably Harley’s reaction to being thrown from a high-flying helicopter only to then indignantly discover her assailants have anticipated her fall into a skyrise swimming pool by dropping a hand grenade after her. This scene is extremely funny and leads into a series of humorous exchanges between the Joker’s ex-girlfriend and Batman, as the former trained psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum unknowingly keeps upsetting the cowled vigilante by telling him all about Kendall’s apparent disdain for Wayne when she ‘strung him along’ at college.

Helping to make such interactions even more amusing is Kevin Altieri, whose ability to pencil the Dark Knight’s increasing agitation and discomfort with just a narrowing eye slit or clenched fist, is breath-taking. Likewise, the American artist is able to imbue the Gotham City Siren with all the dynamic athleticism a zany gymnast should command, sensationally sketching Quinn cartwheeling, somersaulting and freewheeling from one panel to the next with great aplomb.

The regular cover of "BATMAN: THE ADVENTURES CONTINUE SEASON THREE" #2 by Kevin Altieri

DC's Terrors Through Time #1 [Part Three] - DC Comics

DC'S TERROR THROUGH TIME No. 1, December 2022

For those readers who enjoy good old-fashioned Nazi-bashing by some of America’s most memorable super-heroes from the Golden Age of Comic Books, Charles Skaggs’ “The Midnight Hour” will definitely deliver a few minutes of vintage entertainment with its carousel of no-nonsense punches, kicks and ‘in the nick of time’ rescues. But for those bibliophiles who actually like an adventure’s narrative to actually make some sense, the notion of the JSA suddenly disappearing whilst scouring the University of Pennsylvania in 1944 for German agents probably isn’t going to flow all that well; “No, hang back for now. There’s no telling what we might find here or where they’re keeping the Skull of Zosimos.”

To begin with, the entire team are captured ‘off-screen’ by a gaggle of undead goose-stepping goons because Hawkman bemusingly decides that having the Flash “scout ahead” isn’t apparently a good idea. This bizarre evaluation then leads to artist Tom Mandrake having to pencil Carter Hall’s alter-ego suddenly being tied to a sacrificial altar without any explanation being given as to just how the winged protagonist was imprisoned in the first place. To make matters worse, similar befuddling incidents occur for all the other Justice Society’s members, and appear to have been simply manufactured so as to allow Doctor Fate to be the hero of the hour by mind-blasting a luminescent ancient cranium. 

Much more straightforward in its storytelling is “A New Darkness” by Jeremy Haun, which arguably does a first-rate job in depicting the genuinely touching demise of Kar-Von as the Red Lantern attempts to rescue a group of hapless aliens in the Ethow Sector. Crammed with some intriguing characterisation, such as “the legendary wielder of both green and red rings” having to mentor a female member of the Corps who has previously lost her temper, this ten-pager initially seems to have been penned as a foretaster for a future publication focusing upon the two intergalactic law enforcement officers.

However, this notion is shockingly thrown aside when Juan Doe surprisingly sketches Kar-Von stoically battling a giant tentacled extra-terrestrial to a standstill, so his aghast partner can close a dimensional portal behind him and keep the universe safe. So unexpected an ending proves particularly unsettling, and definitely elicits the desire within the audience to learn more about Jan and her new mission to shut the remaining six monster-infested gateways which her ring detects at the tale’s end.

The regular cover art to "DC'S TERRORS THROUGH TIME" #1 by John McCrea & Mike Spicer