The weekend is upon us! It’s Comic-Con weekend and so much great news is coming out. Fun trailers, new comic announcements; life is good when you’re gorging on Comic-Con news. And the comics were pretty fun this week as well.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Void Rivals #2 for a strong second issue to this new Energon Universe.

Meanwhile, I conquered Barbenheimer last night and it was a hoot! Both Barbie and Oppenheimer were phenomenal films, in their own right. Also, this might be the weekend I finally finish off The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. I’ve put this ending off long enough, and I’ve got Baldur’s Gate 3 I can transition to in a couple weeks.

Comic Reviews: Black Panther #2, Hawkgirl #1 and Void Rivals #2.

Black Panther #2
Writer: Eve L. Ewing
Artist: Chris Allen
Inker: Craig Yeung
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino

I liked the first issue of this new Black Panther comic, so I’m back for more.

T’Challa has a run-in with the white-garbed thief, Beisa, who also think she’s just some dude who took up the Black Panther mantle. She manages to slip away, but he tracks her down to her apartment later. She’s searching for someone and pulling odd jobs for people, it seems. Meanwhile, Shuri is in contact with T’Challa and is providing aid, T’Challa is living under a fake identity with an image inducer, and the bad guys have still got themselves Deathlok.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this comic. It’s solid all around, in writing, artwork and both character and story development. It’s an enjoyable comic. I like where the main character is and what he’s facing. I immediately like Beisa as a villain. I don’t know if that name means anything, but I fully support giving Black Panther some interesting new antagonists right away. Gotta have that. I also really like the idea that everybody thinks this is just some dude who has decided he’ll cosplay as the Black Panther, instead of actually King T’Challa kicking their butts. It’s funny and should make for some interesting character development going forward. The only things I don’t care for are the seemingly random inclusion of Deathlok and how ordinary everything looks. I don’t read a lot of Black Panther comics, so maybe I’m totally off the mark on this one, but why does a major Wakandan just look like any other city? I dunno. It’s not like I’ve seen a lot of different cities of the world. A store room is gonna look like a store room no matter what city it’s in, I suppose.

TL;DR: This is a solid, respectable second issue that establishes more for the main character and his new story status quo, while filling in the world around him with good supporting characters and antagonists.

Hawkgirl #1
Writer: Jadzia Axelrod
Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

I’m not much of a Hawkgirl fan, but I’m always game for a new #1 issue to see what’s going to go down.

Hawkgirl has moved to Metropolis and is fighting an invading army of the Helioans with Superman, Power Girl and Black Canary. They’re all a little worried about Kendra following her break-up with Martian Manhunter, but she insists she’s fine (with little flashes to her lying on her apartment floor crying). During the fight, Hawkgirl is saved by an alien woman named Galaxy, who seems super friendly and super eager to help out with all the heroics. But Hawkgirl tells her to leave it to the professionals.

Later, Kendra has lunch with an old friend from college who is now finding herself. And she checks in with Batman on what he knows about Galaxy.

Meanwhile, there’s a villain named Vulpecula who is trying to get back to her home dimension, and uses Nth Metal and tricky deals with mortals to make it happen. And when she powers up her machine, it causes Hawkgirl to crash through the window into Galaxy’s apartment.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

First and foremost, there’s a little too much going on in this first issue. The focus remains squarely on Hawkgirl, which is important, but there’s so much else being juggled. From hanging out with her old college friend, to Galaxy, to Vulpecula, all of these stories weave in and out together, just packing the issue to the gills with plots and subplots. It was a little jarring, if I’m being honest. And with Vulpecula, it wasn’t entirely clear how it fit into the main story, and went in some weird directions that added to the jarring nature. The narration tried to keep everything together, but it was a little too attempted flowery to work exactly how it could have, in my opinion.

All of that being said, it’s still an overall enjoyable issue with a strong focus on Hawkgirl and dialogue.

This issue positions Hawkgirl in a good place for a main character in a comic. She’s got some personal demons, which she’s keeping from her friends. If I’m being particular, there’s nothing in this first issue that reads as specifically Hawkgirl, but I suppose that’s not a big problem. We’ll see how it plays out. The dialogue is really fun. I like the banter between the superheroes, and Galaxy seems like a fun character. Jadzia Axelrod wrote a YA graphic novel about Galaxy last year, and is now bringing the character into the mainstream DCU, which is fine by me. I just hope Galaxy doesn’t outshine Hawkgirl in her own comic.

Also, the art is excellent and captures everything very nicely. I enjoy detailed character artwork in my superhero comics, and this is excellent. Hawkgirl looks really damn good, especially the wings.

Double also, I do find it silly how the superheroes continue to insist that the Justice League is disbanded, even though Superman, Power Girl, Hawkgirl and Black Canary are all hanging out together doing Justice League stuff like stopping an alien invasion.

TL;DR: Solid, enjoyable start to the series with a strong focus on the main character and her current status quo. Though the issue is also a little overstuffed with characters and things going on, and it doesn’t feel like there’s anything uniquely Hawkgirl about it.

Void Rivals #2
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Lorenzo Di Felici
Colorist: Matheus Lopes
Letterer: Rus Wooten

We’re only two issues in and the Energon Universe hasn’t lost me yet.

Darak and Solila remain marooned and decide they need to work together to repair what little ship they have left to get off this rock. Darak reveals that when he took off from his planet, he had this vision of an ancient voice telling him the history of their two planets, and how the war was built on lies, and how they need to work together if they’re going to survive. Solila is still a little buggy about working with her sworn enemy, but they come together, fix the ship and take off. They are soon snatched out of space by the Skuxxoid, an alien race from the Transformers cartoon.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This is another solid, second issue that expands the world a bit more, while exploring our characters and the people around them. It puts in the work. Darak’s vision doesn’t turn out to be anything all that revolutionary, just the basic idea that their two peoples will need to work together. That’s a given. But the deeper look into his life, his family and his duty are neat. I have no doubt that Kirkman is being very picky about what he reveals about our characters and when, and it works nicely. No complaints there.

The interplay between Darak and Solila remains the highlight of the series so far. They’re pretty simple characters, but simple doesn’t mean bad. They’re simple, easy to understand, and their conflict rings true for the characters. It’s good stuff, and fun to read through as they embark on this very interesting adventure. The arrival of the Skuxxoid in the end is a pretty deep cut, but I suppose if you’re going to remake the Transformers comic from the ground up, you’d want to look over their entire history and find some really juicy bits to use here and there. So I’m eager to see where this goes. I’m eager to see where the whole series goes, because it’s still off to a strong start.

TL;DR: No big Transformers appearances, but still a solid second issue that expands the world and keeps the story going nicely.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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