A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
2021 was a fresh start for DC Comics. With a new soft reboot, DC made choices that led to CNN interviews and stories of fans returning to comics after decades away. This year has been full of great moments and the ire of Fox News, but what about DC as a whole? [Read more…] about DC’s 2021 Review Part 1: The Overview
With stories like Swamp Thing, Justice League Dark, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, and These Savage Shores, Ram V is rapidly gaining public acclaim and acknowledgement for his talent and ability to craft stories with a beautiful poetic quality. Catwoman: Vol. 5: Valley of the Shadow of Death
Valley of the Shadow of Death is an essential companion to James Tynion IV’s Batman run. Plot threads from Batman Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs and essential plots for DC’s Fear State occur in the story. Ram V is trying to kill three birds with one stone: taking out the corrupt heart of Alleytown, continuing the Father Valley arc, and setting up Alleytown to be invaded by the Magistrate heading into Fear State. In a sense, not one goal is accomplished well, and yet the book still succeeds. [Read more…] about Infinite Frontier: Catwoman – Valley of the Shadow of Death Review!
There’s a golden age in every run where every comics reader has hope for a new direction of storytelling. Then there’s a period of time where they see that direction struggle and realize that maybe this run won’t be everything they hoped it would be. Superman: The One Who Fell by Phillip Kennedy Johnson is a mediocre set of two different stories: “The Golden Age” and “The One Who Fell,” which is convoluted and confusing. Together, Phillip Kennedy Johnson has called them “a personal letter to his son.” But in focusing on that personal letter, Johnson often struggles to make the main story similarly compelling and enjoyable.
Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Pencils by Phil Hester (“Golden Age”) and Scott Godlewski (“The One Who Fell”)
Inks by Eric Gapstur (“Golden Age”)
Colors by Hi-Fi (“Golden Age”) and Gabe Eltaeb (“The One Who Fell”)
Collects: “Golden Age”: Superman #29 and Action Comics #1029 and “The One Who Fell”: Superman #30-32 [Read more…] about Infinite Frontier: Superman – The One Who Fell Review!
Written by James Tynion IV, (issue #5 by Matthew Rosenberg)
Pencils by Guillem March, (issue #5 by Francesco Francavilla)
Colors by Arif Prianto
Collects: The Joker #1-6
When James Tynion IV revealed he was working on a second Batman title, I was excited to see what it would be; when I found out the comic was Joker, I got nervous. It’s no secret that the Joker has been heavily overused over the past two years, from Stjepan Sejic’s Harleen to Geoff Johns’s Three Jokers to the Joker Movie and Lemire’s Joker: Killer Smile. Even in the last couple of months, we’ve gotten The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox
Fortunately, Tyion has a creative solution to the Joker burnout problem. Tynion’s Joker
Infinite Frontier is well into its seventh month of storytelling. The big Batman event Fear State is just beginning, and now is the perfect time for DC to release its first Infinite Frontier trade, Batman Vol. 4: A Cowardly Lot. This story, which collects parts of Infinite Frontier #0 and Batman #106-111, sets the stage for Fear State. But by focusing on setup, the trade lacks a clear narrative with which to drive the plot and as such is left feeling dense and empty at the same time. While a main plot thread feels absent from the volume, the individual moments, characterization, and world building are very compelling and still lead to a very enjoyable albeit unsatisfying read.
Written by James Tynion IV
Pencils by Jorge Jimenez
Colors by Tomeu Morey
Collects: Part of Infinite Frontier #0 and Batman #106-111
Batman Vol. 4: The Cowardly Lot [Read more…] about Infinite Frontier: Batman Vol. 4 – The Cowardly Lot Review!