If you’re reading this when it posts on Saturday, I should be in New York City visiting Flame Con, the world’s premiere LGBTQ+ comic book convention! I’m going to meet the artist on my next Gamer Girl & Vixen graphic novel. I’ll have more to share about that soon, but it’s her first time on the East Coast, and it makes for a nice day trip for me!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Superman Annual #1 for a whole and hearty issue that does a lot with the ongoing story, while setting up even more! I don’t know if I’ve ever been this excited about Lobo.

Meanwhile, Baldur’s Gate 3 proceeds in spectacular fashion. I’ve currently got three games going, a co-op game with a friend where I’m a wild magic sorcerer, a solo game where I’m a heroic half-orc bard and a third game where I’m going to try to be evil. I normally hate being evil in games, but the evil route seems to have a lot of interesting differences.

Comic Reviews: Avengers #4, Immortal X-Men #14 and Superman Annual #1.

Avengers #4
Writer: Jed Mackay
Artist: C.F. Villa
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

I haven’t given up on this series yet, and I hope I never do! I want to read an ongoing Avengers comic, gosh darn it.

The Avengers face off against the Ashen Combine, and one-by-one, her heroes are quickly defeated while the villain taunts them (though we don’t see every encounter). Up on the Impossible City, Black Panther places bombs while Captain America looks for innocent lives on board. When they get ready to blow, the Impossible City reveals to them that it is sentient, and that everybody’s gonna die.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

Just like last issue, this one spends all its time just showcasing the Ashen Combine, and I’m starting to worry that they’re not parody villains. They’re just so predictable and samey. Every single encounter goes the same way: our heroes try their best, then the villain mocks them and overpowers them. Obviously the artwork looks different each time, but it’s still the same encounter three times in a row. At least it’s all generally entertaining. It’s fun to read, and the artwork is phenomenal, and MacKay does a great job with the voices of the characters. So it’s a fine comic, but two issues have now been spent just setting up the Ashen Combine, when I don’t think they’re much more than Black Order knock-offs. And I wasn’t even all that impressed with the Black Order, to be honest.

TL;DR: Solid writing and art make for a fine comic still, but if everything hinges on the ‘kewl’ factor of these two generic villains, the overall story is going to suffer.

Immortal X-Men #14
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colorists: David Curiel and Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

I gave up on Immortal X-Men some time ago, either because it got bogged down in a crossover, or I just had too many other comics to read that work and just lost track. I shouldn’t have, because Kieron Gillen is awesome and I love this type of intrigue. So I’m back for Fall of X!

In the wake of the Fall of X, Charles Xavier is a hermit, the last living soul on Krakoa. He’s just sort of zoned out, using his powers to keep Orchis soldiers from invading. Sebastian Shaw is sitting pretty following his deals with Orchis, but they have screwed him over on money, so he’s mad. Emma Frost gives both men a talking to.

Meanwhile, Exodus, Hope, Destiny and all of the residents of Krakoa have been teleported to some vast, empty desert. Exodus takes the lead.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

First of all, let me say that I am so so glad that all those mutants were just massacred. That really bummed me out about the Fall of X/Hellfire Gala thing. So to have this reveal so soon warms my heart and gets me excited for this story again. Now they need to be saved, or they need to step up, or something. It’s a story now, not just a massacre or reset button. Let’s keep that story going! And Gillen seems like a great choice to tell that story with what we see here. He’s setting up his post-Fall of X storyline and it looks good to me.

I enjoy pretty much everything in this issue. I like Xavier as this distraught hermit, in self-imposed exile. That totally works. I’ve never liked Sebastian Shaw, but he’s in a good place for a bad guy. I enjoy Emma Frost being the current leader of the X-Men, working behind the scenes to make so much happen. It’s great. And I love the ending, the reveal that all these mutants are alive, and that this small band of named characters are going to lead them to some kind of safety or promised land. The mystery of what really happened with the gates should be fun to explore.

And until we’re told otherwise, I’m just gonna assume Multiple Man, Mimic, Blob and all my other favorites are among those residents of Krakoa who are still alive.

TL;DR: The real twist of the latest mutant massacre is revealed and I am quite pleased, and very much looking forward to where things are going based on the set ups in this issue.

Superman Annual #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Mahmud Asrar, Edwin Gaimon, Caitlin Yarsky, Max Raynor and Jack Herbert
Colorists: Dave McCaig, Alex Guimaraes, and Gaimon
Letterer: Ariana Maher

I don’t normally review Annual issues (for not particular reason), but considering Joshua Williamson’s Superman is one of my favorite comics right now, and this was an otherwise light week, I decided to go for it.

While Superman fights a giant Toyman robot (courtesy of the new villains, Pharm and Graft), Lois Lane and the staff of the Daily Planet head out into the city and have various fun encounters. Lois goes to prison to interview Livewire and gets into a fight with Red Cloud. Jimmy tours Supercorp and learns that Parasite is being rehabilitated with a job. Cat Grant goes on a ride along with the chief of police and has a run in with Marilyn Moonlight. And a deep search of Daily Planet paper archives uncovers a big secret: Perry White killed any story relating to Lex Luthor’s early career as a hero before it ever saw print!

Meanwhile, Pharm and Graft have kidnapped Lobo to learn the secrets of his DNA. And speaking of the last of the Czarnians, we learn that Brainiac has a Shrunken City of Czarnia! And he’s got some Doomsday Dogs.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I’m glad I went for it with this annual because it’s a doozy! One of my favorite things about Williamson’s Superman comic is how he’s using classic characters and revitalizing them. I know that’s not an original idea, but I love the ways he’s doing it. Supercorp has been plain fun, the new version of Parasite is a hoot, and the idea that Brainiac has a Bottled City of Czarnia is an idea so brilliant that I don’t know why it’s never been done before! Has it been done before? What’s Google tell me…alright, looks like this is a new idea! Even more wonderful! I love it and can’t wait to see what it does for this comic and Lobo going forward.

The rest of the issue is great, too. I’m a newspaper man myself, so I for sure enjoy an issue where the staff of the Daily Planet get a spotlight to go out and do their jobs. I loved all the encounters we got, I loved the deep dive into the archives to uncover some newspaper secrets about Lex’s original career as a hero. It’s all great! With great artwork! This was a really wonderful annual issue that adds a lot of good material to the ongoing series.

The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the opening narration, where Lois decries that Metropolis is now the “City of Secrets” solely because of events of this series, like the secret of Luthor’s heroic past, or the secret of Marilyn Moonlight. As if mystery characters have never come to Metropolis before.

TL;DR: The creativity that’s been fueling this entire Superman comic is kicked up a notch with this annual issue, which has a lot of fun with some supporting characters, while setting up even greater and niftier stories to come.

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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