Happy Halloween, everyone! We’re only a few days away from that glorious of all holidays! Too bad I didn’t read any spooky comics, and instead have some new issues of Captain America and Void Rivals.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Wonder Woman #2 for another strongly written, fairly badass comic book.

Meanwhile, I’m still working my way through Spider-Man 2, taking my time to enjoy as much of the game as I can and loving every minute of it. A lot has been spoiled for me because the internet is a terrible place, but I’ll survive and there will hopefully be a few surprises still to come.

Comic Reviews: Captain America #2, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #113, Void Rivals #5 and Wonder Woman #2.

Captain America #2
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Jesus Saiz
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Back for more Captain America!

In the past, Steve keeps antagonizing the American Nazi movement, often getting his butt whooped in the process. He rents a storage closet for cheap and makes friends with his neighbors, and they help out when some Nazi goons are messing with some Jewish people in the yard. Meanwhile, Baron Von Strucker and Baron Zemi have come to America to team up with the American Nazis.

In the present, Steve is still working on his building and has a brief team-up with Spider-Man. The new bad guy demon dude continues to build his empire in the background. And he hires a serial killer to be go after people he deems as change agents in a great Nexus Point to come.

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

This issue was a bit too wordy for my tastes. There was a lot to read, and none of it was particularly exciting or entertaining. Straczynski is still laying the groundwork for what he’s got coming, but I’m not hooked yet. Some new evil demon bad guy is setting up some new evil bad guy stuff, which is pretty par for the course for superhero comics. And Steve Rogers is engaging in some civic involvement, both in the past and the present. Seems reasonable, and like the sort of thing he’d do. Pre-experiment Steve standing up against the pro-Nazi movement in America definitely feels like something he’d do. But none of it is all that compelling just yet. And delivered in the way it is, with just constant talking by multiple characters, makes the issue rather long-winded.

TL;DR: An overly wordy and long-winded issue continues to set up the story to come, though none of it was particularly compelling.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #113
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Simona Di Gianfelice
Colorist: Raul Angulo
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Oh man, for once in it’s glorious series so far, the Power Rangers comic has lost me!

So, like, everything is bad and very topsy turvy. Dark Specter and Mistress Vile are traveling through the Morphin Grid to different worlds and possessing their Ranger teams. Meanwhile, a hodge podge of good guy Rangers gather at the Command Center, with Billy as a focus. He meets Dakkon’s new Rangers, and they reach out to the Hyperforce Rangers, who are also traveling through the Grid looking for our usual heroes. They’ve found a couple to rescue, like Dino Charge Purple Ranger, but they’re not having luck with their main mission. So Billy and Coinless Trini (or Dakkon Ranger Yellow) go to one of the Master Arches with the Power Eggs that Billy got from Grace to try to use them to tap into the Morphin Grid more successfully. But when they morph to activate them, there’s an explosion and Billy finds himself with a gun to his head from the Phantom Ranger.

Comic Rating: 4/10 – Pretty Bad.

So this is what happens when a Big Event begins to collapse under its own weight. I have very little idea of what’s going on, I have little ability to keep track of who everybody is, and this issue really sapped the interest I had in all of it. What I have loved about this Power Rangers comic over these past many years has been the grounded, human exploration of our familiar Rangers. But all of that is thrown out the window now. There are still attempts at it, there’s still strong writing and great art, but it is all over the place. Coinless Trini bonding with Mighty Morphin Billy? Maybe once upon a time that would have been good, but I’m only vaguely aware of what the Coinless Rangers have been up to, and that’s only because I managed to catch a spin-off comic they had a couple weeks ago.

And as interesting as I find the Hyperforce Rangers (only because of the existence of a Cerberus Ranger), I don’t know them as characters and their exploits do not matter to me. Yet they get a big talking scene, with a few other Rangers thrown in for good measure. Some of these ideas work. A hodge podge team of random Rangers, including some ‘bad guy’ Rangers from Drakkon’s squad, is a solid idea. But there’s just so much nonsense going on around it. And they’re not in some ‘one team against the world’ thing. They’ve got all sorts of allies spread around. And they think the words ‘Morphin’ and ‘Grid’ can gloss over everything. Are other Ranger squads from alternate realities? Is the Morphin Grid just the multiverse? It’s all so confusing!

TL;DR: Darkest Hour is going off the rails in a big way with too much going on and no anchor to keep the focus and guide us through.

Void Rivals #5
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Lorenzo De Felici
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Rus Wooten

This little endeavor keeps humming right along and has lost none of its shine.

Solila and Darak are in imprison, and he’s dragged away to be tortured. She’s then visited by Mistress Vill and the Keepers of the Light, a mystical secret order, to which she was previously a member, but Solila quit to become a pilot/warrior. Mistress Vill informs her that all of this is by design, and they give her an artifact to continue her journey to parts unknown.

After three days of torture, Darak is rescued by a kid and brought to the Unifiers, a group who know the truth and who are fighting to unify the two societies. Darak wants them to rescue Solila as well, but they point out that he knows so little about who she really is.

Meanwhile, the Skuxxoid attempts to turn his prisoner over to the Judge Quintessons, a dude I had to Google because we’re deep in the lore and weird names here. Anyway, they’re displeased with Skuxxoid and are going to put him on trial, until he mentions he has that half-Zertonian ship to trade.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I really enjoyed this issue for how it went full speed ahead in fleshing out and expanding the world. The stuff with the Skuxxoid is off in its own realm, even if I do really like the guy. But it’s the stuff with Darak and Solila (whose names I will never memorize, it seems), is the good stuff. We meet the mysterious Keepers of the Light and the Unifiers in this issue, giving the two characters a lot more to do as they move forward. I also really enjoy them as people. Darak gets a chance to interact with new and interesting people, and he’s good at that. And there is so much swirling around Solila that I have no idea where it’s going.

All of that is to say that Void Rivals remains a strong and entertaining comic. I do not yet see how it’s going to tie into Transformers and G.I. Joe, but I suppose that’s not the point yet? I dunno. Kirkman is just doing a good job fleshing out these two original characters and their worlds and societies, and I’m enjoying the little adventure we’re on here. The relationship between the two leads is very strong and very fun to read, and I look forward to how all these new expansions are going to impact them.

TL;DR: While the story keeps humming along nicely, this issue really starts fleshing out the world a lot more, which is fun.

Wonder Woman #2
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Daniel Sampere
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Hot dog, this comic is really nifty! It’s got a very strong voice.

In order to take down Wonder Woman, Sgt. Steele sends a whole battalion against her, with Colonel Steve Trevor as his right-hand man (much to Steve’s reluctance). But Wonder Woman doesn’t back down and defeats all that they throw at her, from tanks to soldiers. This is contrasted with the final one-on-one duel that Diana fought all those years ago in that tournament, to earn the right to leave Paradise Island. She fought against a mighty Amazon warrior and defeated her as well. And that Amazon warrior was Emelie, the Amazon who killed those men in the bar at the start of the first issue.

Also, the issue is again narrated by the Sovereign, and apparently he’s speaking to Wonder Woman’s child.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Once again, I’m very impressed with the tone of this comic so far. Tom King knew exactly the voice he wanted to use when he envisioned this comic, and it comes through very nicely. I know the narrator is this villain, but the way he speaks about Wonder Woman is all manner of epic. And that, laid over the top of just some damn cool comic book action, is making for a really fun comic to read. Ultimately, this issue is very simple. We set up the story of Wonder Woman vs. the U.S. Government last issue, and this issue takes place in a nondescript location as she fights off a whole battalion of troops, from artillery to tanks to finally infantry. King’s own history with the government and military helps to really flesh out what’s happening.

And what’s happening is just plain cool.

This issue does a great job of juxtaposing the two stories. Wonder Woman fighting off a U.S. Army battalion, and then Wonder Woman dueling with this random Amazon warrior. The sword fight is full of bluster and badassery, as you can see in that picture above. And then we get the reveal that she was fighting this Emelie person, who kicked off the whole conflict at the start of last issue. So King has now successfully tied Diana’s origins to the new story in a solid way that doesn’t require any unnecessary retcons — though he does take a quick potshot on Diana’s actual origin, either being made of clay or being the daughter of Zeus. I enjoyed that, because a comic like this shouldn’t be hampered by weird backstory edicts from editorial.

TL;DR: This second issue is all style and substance, using a strong voice and some plain, simple badassery to build this new Wonder Woman 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.

—————-