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Infinite Frontier: Batman Vol. 4 – The Cowardly Lot Review!

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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

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Daredevil by Charles Soule Omnibus Review!

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If you were to ask comic readers what Big Two character had the most consistent or strongest publication history, you’d be hard-pressed to find an answer beyond Daredevil, especially Daredevil after Frank Miller’s revitalization of the character. Between Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev in the early 2000s, Mark Waid and Chris Samnee in the early 2010s, and Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s current run, most people would only be able to point to a handful of stories that didn’t meet the high bar of quality they’ve come to expect from the character.

Charles Soule’s run has a bit of a weird reputation in the midst of this, though. It followed the beloved and subversive Mark Waid run, taking every significant change from that run and undoing it. No longer was Matt in San Francisco, he was back in Hell’s Kitchen. His delightful love interest Kirsten was nowhere to be seen. His secret identity was back to being a secret. It would be hard for anyone who enjoyed Waid’s run to not balk at this abrupt change, especially because the story refused to explain how it happened for a year. But with the omnibus coming out, it seems like a good time to look at the run as a whole story. [Read more…] about Daredevil by Charles Soule Omnibus Review!

Suicide Squad by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo: Redeeming the Irredeemable

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In Task Force X, even the worst villains in the DC Universe can serve a higher purpose. But what happens when that purpose is called into question, and these villains are forced to strike out on their own? How do you redeem the irredeemable?

The team of antiheroes known as “The Suicide Squad” has been a part of DC Comics history for over 50 years, though most of its fame is credited to John Ostrander, Kim Yale and Luke McDonnell’s spectacular 6-year run on the title. Re-envisioning the squad as a team of villains forced to work for the US government, Ostrander and company were able to re-tool the title into something much more nuanced, tackling themes of exploitation and trauma while hammering home the life-and-death drama behind the team’s missions. While Ostrander’s run was widely celebrated for how it humanized its characters, the title began to stagnate after the end of his run, leading to a re-introduction in DC’s “New 52” that many saw as an all-time low for the series. With a growing reliance on bigger names, shallower stories, and high-profile movie tie-ins, the title was practically dead. That is, until 2019. [Read more…] about Suicide Squad by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo: Redeeming the Irredeemable

DC’s Starman: Robinson/Harris’ Masterpiece Revisited

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Starman by James Robinson is an overlooked masterpiece of comics in general, an early 90s comics in particular. On the face of it, the book tells a simple story about Jack Knight, the second son of the original, Golden Age cape. It’s a story about a reluctant hero struggling with timeless questions — about family, legacy, place, and (above all) time — even as he tries to figure out what it means to try and save the world and how he could ever hope to do it.

Questioning, trying, and hoping are things comics were desperately in need of in 1994. Robinson’s work comes two years after Spawn #1, with book and character being the poster child for 90s big-budget-yet-nihilistic anti-heroes. Starman is also part of the other big trend of the era: resurrecting an anachronistic IP and rebooting it from obscurity into headliner status.

Starman is absolutely informed by these trends. But what makes the book work so well, is how it is nothing like them. Let’s explore. [Read more…] about DC’s Starman: Robinson/Harris’ Masterpiece Revisited

Jonathan Hickman’s Full X-Men Run: Dawns & Endings | Krakin’ Krakoa #195

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In July 2019, writer Jonathan Hickman returned to the Marvel Universe after a nearly 4 year sabbatical to deliver House of X #1, a game-changing paradigm shift for Marvel’s X-Men comics. With collaborators Pepe Larraz, RB Silva, and Marte Gracia, Hickman completely reinvigorated X-Men and the fandom that surrounds it. After the massive success of House of X and Powers of X, Hickman turned to an ongoing X-Men series, set during the new status quo of the X-Men’s Krakoa era, a run that lasted from Fall 2019 through summer 2021.

Looking back at the full run now, what did we learn, what mysteries still remain, and how effective was Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men as a whole?

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