By the time you are reading this, I am hopefully hours-deep into the new Spider-Man 2 video game, and I’m loving the heck out of it! I’m also loving this week’s comics, which featured some of my absolute current favorite superhero comics coming out right now. What a fun week!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Superman #7, narrowly beating out new issues of Nightwing and Scarlet Witch. When weighed against one another, Superman #7 just contains more story oomph. The other comics were great s well!

Meanwhile, my Cyberpunk 2077 replay has been cut short thanks to Spider-Man 2. No big loss. I’ve got the saved games, so maybe I’ll play both at the same time? We’ll see. Spider-Man 2 is great so far. I love the familiar gameplay, I love this world, and I’m on a Playstation 5 now, so everything looks so damn good!

Comic Reviews: Nightwing #107, Scarlet Witch #9, Sensational She-Hulk #1 and Superman #7.

Nightwing #107
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Stephen Byrne
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Wes Abbott

The cover does not lie. Nightwing is going on a pirate adventure! Awesome!

Ric Grayson and Bea used to be a couple, until Dick got his memories back and broke up with her. Now he discovers that she’s the head of a secret pirate society, and the adopted daughter of Captain Blud, the old sailor guy who ran the hold. Bea wants his help to track down Blud’s biological son, who is a real piece of work, so that she can deal with him and his potential claim to the throne. Dick agrees to help go on this voyage with Bea and her crew, though he’s having some weird freezing problems, and he’ll need to ditch Oracle in his ear.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I didn’t read the Ric Grayson era of Nightwing comics, so I don’t know anything about Bea, but Taylor does a fine job introducing her and setting up her past relationship with Dick. That adds a lot of personal stakes to this story, and the scene where he has to say goodbye to Babs to fully commit to this Bea adventure was really meaningful. And the rest of the issue was super fun as well! We get a lot of good info on The Hold and what has happened. And the reveal of a secret pirate society is just fun. So all in all, this is just another fun Nightwing issue setting up his next big adventure. And I am fully on board with this silly, yet potentially emotionally satisfying, pirate jaunt.

TL;DR: A new pirate storyline is set up with all the skill and charm of this ongoing Nightwing series. This should be a blast and a half.

Scarlet Witch #9
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artists: Lorenzo Tammetta and Sara Pichelli
Colorist: Frank William
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

This amazing Scarlet Witch series is going to come to an end to make way for a Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver series by the same creative team. That’s fine. I’ll just roll with the punches.

Wanda takes Joseph on a series of adventures over the course of a week that essentially involve Orlando flexing his knowledge about obscure Marvel characters. Or maybe he’s made some of these up. I don’t know. She helps Omega the Unknown fight off some possessed goat zombies. She visits the likes of Ganymede, Man-Thing, Jennifer Kale and even Crusader, the alternate reality daughter of Captain America and Rogue from What If…? #114. which I had as a kid and really enjoyed, and holy crap you guys, Orlando pulled Crusader out of his bag of tricks?! I already loved this comic, I didn’t need to fall in love with it!

Anyway, we also get cameos from Luna and Pietro, so I love this issue even more. Luna is a hugely underused character and I would love to see her more in this series, or the upcoming Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver replacement series. The issue ends with Joseph turning on Wanda and the Hexfinder coming through the Last Door.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Orlando has clearly been having fun taking such deep dives into Marvel obscurity. I wonder if any of the quickie scenes in this issue were actual planned stories that he’s had to cut short to get to the series relaunch. Sadly, we just don’t live in that sort of comic book industry anymore. But no matter, we’ve got those quickies here and they’re a hoot! Ahead of the big final showdown with Joseph and Hexfinder, we get a fun issue of Wanda helping out in all sorts of fun and creative adventures. I loved seeing Luna working with her aunt, and any use of Doctor Druid is a hoot. The appearance of Crusader was, unfortunately, spoiled for me before I read the issue, but her one-panel showing was still amazing.

Seriously, What If…? #114 was the final issue of the 90s-era What If…? I loved that little comic, and to see it referenced in any way is so, so cool.

The great thing about this overall Scarlet Witch comic is just how creative it has been. Orlando keeps coming up with really wild, really fun adventures with a mystical focus, while also seeding in long forgotten Marvel comics. I love that sort of thing! I love the idea of cracking open a Marvel Encyclopedia and finding obscure characters to reuse, or just calling on my own memory from my own childhood of reading comics. You best believe all those villains from Tom DeFalco’s ’90s Green Goblin comic will be coming back with a vengeance should I ever be hired to write a Marvel comic. So yeah, an issue spent going rapid fire through a bunch of fun and wild Marvel adventures makes for a very entertaining issue overall.

TL;DR: Creativity and fun abound in a jam-packed issue that sets up the finale.

Sensational She-Hulk #1
Writer: Rainbow Rowell
Artist: Andres Genolet
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

She-Hulk is back with a new adjective and a new #1, and it picks up exactly where the last series/issue left off, so there was clearly no reason for the change other than marketing. Oh well.

Jennifer and Jack of Hearts are still hot and heavy, having learned recently that they can touch one another if Jack has absorbed his limit of radiation already. Oh well. Jennifer heads to work and takes an eviction case from two Deviants, Karkas and Ransak the Reject. They’re funny. She heads to Punch Club later, but Titania has brought her husband, Absorbing Man, and he’s spoiling the mood. Jack shows up to join in and Absorbing Man attacks him, and it gets out of hand. The mood is totally ruined Crusher storms off. Jennifer tells Jack she needs to talk a walk and will meet him at home later. Then she runs into the Hulk.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I’m really sorry, everyone, but I’m going to be a broken record in these reviews: I really don’t like the She-Hulk/Jack of Hearts relationship. I like a good romance in comics, but man, this one is just not working for me. Jack is such a wounded puppy dog, yet everyone fawns over him. And She-Hulk is so in love with him. And I know a lot of issues were spent with the two of them talking and the relationship supposedly building, but it didn’t work for me. And now anytime these issues focus on Jack of Hearts, I just don’t feel it. While on the other hand, I am loving the lawyer stuff and especially the Punch Club stuff. The meeting doesn’t go well this issue because of Absorbing Man, but bringing in some Titania/Absorbing Man marriage drama into this comic would be lovely!

So yeah, there’s nothing in this issue to warrant the new title and the new #1. It’s just a direct continuation of the last comic. But that’s fine. This sort of thing doesn’t bother me. This issue is really good, as a whole. The characters are fun, barring my own personal dislikes. The drama is fun. And there are a lot of unique and interesting things going on. It’s not just She-Hulk fighting super-villains. It’s interesting, character-specific adventures starring a fun character and her fun supporting cast. I will, for sure, keep reading, because Rainbow Rowell is great. I just hope she has some better drama planned for Jen and Jack.

TL;DR: She-Hulk is back like it never left, for both good or ill. But just because I don’t like a particular storyline doesn’t mean the writing, artwork and character development aren’t super fun.

Superman #7
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: Gleb Melnikov, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund and Edwin Galmon
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez and Galmon
Letterer: Ariana Maher

This is a big, 850th anniversary issue! Hooray for that! It’s also the last issue until next year for some reason. Hopefully that means Jamal Campbell is coming back on art. The art in this issue is still great, but Campbell really made this comic sing.

Perry White announces to the city that he’s going to run for mayor of Metropolis, but his press conference is interrupted by the new villain, Sammy Stryker, who Perry knows. Before they can chat, Supergirl, Superboy and other members of the Super-Family arrive to take him on. While they’re doing that, Superman escapes from his chains and joins the fight. Stryker is all about causing major damage, while the Supeses save lives. As he takes off, Connor discovers that Stryker shares the same tactile telekinesis power.

Meanwhile, Lois Lane checks in on Lex Luthor in the hospital and gets a big speech from Lex befitting an 850th anniversary issue. She thinks Lex is still evil, but he insists he’s good, probably. Then his mother shows up, and brings with her Lex’s secret daughter, Lena!

Double meanwhile, Brainiac also gives a big, 850th issue speech, and then sends his Czarnian soldiers down onto the planet Braal. He’s investigating why Earth has given birth to so many different metahumans.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Williamson has just tapped into something really, really fun with his Superman comic. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a Superman ongoing series more (All-Star Superman doesn’t count). He’s just having so much fun with his big cast of characters, using them in new and interesting ways. And while I suppose none of these things are really groundbreaking, and a lot of them are classic storytelling tropes, they’re still super fun! Lex Luthor’s surprise daughter?! A Google search tells me that Lena Luthor has been around for awhile, so she’s not brand new, like I initially thought, but it’s still a fun reveal. Should complicate things nicely for Lex’s side of this story.

Sammy Stryker is doing a solid job as a new villain so far. He’s dangerous, he’s big, he’s got a cool design with those big, heavy chains surrounding him like tentacles. I like the connection between him and Superboy, that should be fun to explore. And who doesn’t love an appearance from the Super-Family? I like them as a whole, and glad Williamson is using them. And even though there are a bunch of fun sidekicks, I’m still enjoying Superman the most in his own comic. That’s wild for me. And speaks highly of just how fun this comic has been and promises to continue to be.

Also, I am super in love with the idea that Brainiac has a Bottled City of Czarnia and is going to unleash them on the world. His exploration of why Earth has so many super-powers, while a place like Braal (home of Cosmic Boy) only developed one, sounds pretty neat! Again, Williamson is taking all these classic Superman elements and giving them a new spin that I’m really enjoying.

TL;DR: A bunch of new, fun and creative ideas are pushed, pulled and swirled around in a really fun comic!

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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