This is what happens when you turn 40 and go away for a few days: no posts! What also happens is the world throws a ton of comic books at you in a single week to review! After a few weeks of only two or so comics, this week we’ve got new Batman, new X-Men and a couple brand new DC titles.

Comic Book of the Week goes to the first issue of the new Birds of Prey for a really fun tale of getting the team together.

Meanwhile, I’m still 40, and nothing has changed. I bought myself some LEGO sets, saw the movie Bottoms, which is great, and my friends took me to an arcade bar where we played 4-player classic Ninja Turtles arcade, so that was a pretty perfect birthday. Other than that, I’ll spend the rest of my vacation playing more Baldur’s Gate 3!

Comic Reviews: Batman #137, Birds of Prey #1, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1, Scarlet Witch #8 and Immortal X-Men #15.

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Batman #137
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Gotham War is upon us and I’m all in. The fandom is freaking out at how all the characters are reacting to this war, but I don’t care. I’m fully on board to see where all of this is going.

The Gotham War has started and Batman is on a rampage, moving around the city at top speed to take out all of Catwoman’s newly trained thieves. The rest of the Bat-Family are largely on Selina’s side, or at least in between, and Batman just brushes them off. Selina uses Jason to set an ambush, but Batman sees through it and attacks Selina’s HQ, defeating and scattering her people. The Bat-Family all show up, but Batman is largely able to fight them off, before escaping with the help of Damian, who is firmly on his side.

Later, while recovering, Bruce learns that someone has purchased Wayne Manor from the bank. He rushes to the Batcave to put it in protection mode when he meets the new owner: Vandal Savage.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I love a good moral quandry, and that’s exactly what Gotham War is setting up. Catwoman has proposed a novel new approach to dealing with criminals, and all of our favorite characters need to think it over — except for Batman, who is dead set on the opposite side of the spectrum. I don’t, for a single second, consider any of this to go against established characters. It’s clear to me that Nightwing, Robin and the others are still processing. Batman, Catwoman, Damian and Red Hood have all made up their minds, and everyone else is still in the middle, giving thought to what’s going on. And that’s good storytelling. That creates actual conflict and character development.

If everybody was just as staunchly against this as Batman, what would be the point of ever telling stories again? These characters have their own minds and ways of handling stuff like this.

On top of that, Zdarsky continues his exploration of a Batman at the end of his rope. He’s tired, he’s worn down, but his code compels him to just keep pushing himself. It’s a fun take on the character, and one I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. Batman is at war with himself, with Zur En Arrh waiting in the wings. It’s a fun and entertaining approach to the character, especially in the middle of such an equally interesting crossover. So I’m all in to see how this progresses.

And the artwork is, of course, perfect. So doubt there.

TL;DR: Batman is in a really interesting place with this new crossover, and I’m enjoying how it’s all playing out as sides are drawn and twists are thrown about.

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Birds of Prey #1
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Leonardo Romero
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Lettering: Clayton Cowles

Just a really fun issue getting the team together! I like Kelly Thompson, and I’m all for letting her kick some butt on a new DC title.

Black Canary has a dangerous mission ahead of her: rescue her sister Sin from somewhere. More on that later. She recruits Cassandra Cain, Big Barda and Zealot, then they go get Harley Quinn as the team’s X-Factor. Once together, she reveals the last member: a future version of Mia “Maps” Mizoguchi called Meridian, who tells them that their mission is to rescue Sin from the Amazons on Themyscira before they accidentally bring about the end of the world.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

This is how you kick off a new team book! Comic revivals happen all the time, and it was only a matter of time before we got a new Birds of Prey. I trust that Kelly Thompson has a great idea and a great story to tell, and she starts things off spectacularly with this first issue. We get a nice look at all of the characters, their personalities and what they’re going to bring to the table. That’s what you want in the start of a new team book. Everyone is written very well, with more than enough sass, humor and butt-kicking. So I’m fully on board with this crew — even if I know next to nothing about Zealot or her place in the DC Universe.

The mission they’ll go on sounds neat. I’m a big fan of Maps Mizoguchi, so having a future version of her come back in time to be a superhero is nifty! Weirdly, she introduces herself as if anyone in this crew would know that one student from Gotham Academy, but whatever. A grown up, time-traveling Maps is definitely something that piques my interest! And they hae to break into Paradise Island? Sounds neat! Great characters, fun team introduction and a solid sounding story premise make for a great first issue.
And again, the artwork is perfect. Romero has a very particular style that I very much enjoy, and it works for this series.

TL;DR: This issue has everything you need for a strong relaunch of a comic like this. Great characters, fun introductions, an enticing story and artwork that really sings.

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Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1
Writer: Joanne Starer
Artist: Natacha Bustos
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher

This seems like such a random series, but I’m gonna check it out anyway!

After some recent troubles, Superman suggested Fire and Ice move to Smallville for a chance to cool off. So they rent an old, abandoned hair salon and set up shop. Fire is eager to get into minor superheroing, but Ice is not so sure what she wants. While Martha Kent is showing Ice around town, Fire puts out a challenge on social media to all villains to come fight! King Shark shows up, and Superman shows up to stop him, telling Fire this was not the plan. But Fire is ready to burst! And Ice is ready to quit all superheroing.

So while Ice settles in and starts making friends and possibly running a salon, Fire calls Ambush Bug to help her cheat the system.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Fire and Ice have always been characters that interest me, but I’ve read so very little with them involved. But this premise sounded interesting, so I decided to check it out, and I’m glad I did. This is exactly the sort of comic I like. Take some comic book superheroes and put them in a grounded, real world scenario. There is some superhero nonsense, as expected, but this is mostly a story about these two best friends trying to start fresh and deal with that, and I enjoyed it!

Everything comes across very well in this issue, especially the two main characters. Fire is fiery and wants to be kicking butt, while Ice is ready to quit being a superhero and settle down. That’s a great start to this series, and I enjoyed how it was handled. There are some weird, somewhat forced moments to kick off this exact premise. Like…Superman has the ‘power’ to order other superheroes to go hang out in Smallville to refresh and have a time out? How is that a thing? And then the issue specifically says they’re only buying the former salon because it was available, but then just because a new supporting character shows up trying to get her job back at the salon, Fire and Ice are now opening a salon?

Whatever, it’s not a deal breaker for me to keep reading. And as I’ve been saying, the artwork is perfect. It’s very grounded, while still being a bit cartoony, which fits the title perfectly. This is the exact sort of art this series should have.

TL;DR: Fun start to a really offbeat title. Does a great job introducing the characters and their current conflicts, both internal and external.

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Scarlet Witch #8
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artists: Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli
Colorist: Frank William
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

Is Scarlet Witch my favorite Marvel comic these days? Maybe.

A mountain giant from Jotunheim comes through the door seeking leadership of his tribe, but he can’t get it from Loki, current ruler of Jotunheim and the frost giants. So Wanda goes to chat with Loki and they do battle in a truth-telling contest. Words cut deep and Loki concedes, then agrees to grant the mountain giant his title…if he can keep it. Meanwhile, Wanda is still helping Joseph recover from his trauma, though we also find out that Joseph is secretly working for the new villain, Hexfinder!

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This is a pretty cut and dry Scarlet Witch issue, which means it’s very creative, very curious and has some neat “action”. I love that truth battle between Loki and Scarlet Witch. It was a little silly at first, but Orlando made it work in the end, with Wanda securing a quality win. And it obviously worked for the two characters. Loki and Scarlet Witch are such popular figures these days, a crossover was inevitable, and Orlando found a great way to have them play off one another in something unique and fun to read. Gotta love that.

TL;DR: It was an inevitable crossover, and Orlando comes up with such a very fun way to handle it.

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Immortal X-Men #15
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Paco Medina
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Claytown Cowles

I think I’m getting lost again.

OK, so, a lot of stuff is still going on in Fall of X. Selene and Sebastian Shaw figure out that Xavier is holding a lone vigil on Krakoa and scaring off their soldiers, so they send in a few with psi-blockers…and Xavier stops them as well. Selene is trying to get control of one of the gates because it was built out of the bodies of her fellow Externals. She wants to bring them back.

Elsewhere, Exodus, Hope and Destiny are still leading 250,000 mutants through the desert. They save Mother Righteous from a pack of feral Wolverines (huh?), and she leads them to the oasis in the desert: the Atlantic Krakoa. So they’re safe for now. But apparently Apocalypse is out there, and he’s got Jean Grey on a leash, and might be behind the packs of feral Wolverines?

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

Last time I read a bunch of X-Men comics, I was really getting a handle on Fall of X…or so I thought. I read both X-Men and Immortal X-Men this week and I’m back to being lost. This story is all over the place, and it’s stretched too far to really focus in on any single character or group of characters. Immortal X-Men tries, at least, and makes some progress. But jeez louise this story is trying to do so much. Where did these packs of Wolverines come from? Need I be reading something else to know? Selene and Sebastian Shaw have never been interesting characters to me, so the focus on them is disappointing. At least Exodus, Hope and Destiny leading 250,000 mutants through the desert is a much more interesting storyline, so I’m on board for that…shame Mother Righteous had to show up. Don’t care for her or any of the Mr. Sinister clone stuff going on.

So yeah, nothing is really appealing to my personal tastes when it comes to X-Men comics in this story. It’s got so many plates spinning. All of them are well-written and well-drawn, and I trust they’re leading somewhere. But that somewhere is several different somewheres, all fighting for attention.

TL;DR: Fall of X got a lot more confusing and stretched itself even thinner this week, even if individual issues like this one are still pretty strong.

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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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