We’re in February, everybody! And that’s a big month for me! If you haven’t seen the news yet, my own self-published comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen, is returning to Kickstarter for our sequel graphic novel! So go sign up for the Feb. 12 launch! And then read my reviews this week for comics like Avengers Twilight and Duke!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Power Rangers Unlimited for a nicely personal spin-off story starring the Rangers Slayer.

Meanwhile, I’m slowly working my way through Super Mario Bros. Wonder. I splurged on that game before Christmas, and who doesn’t love a good, classic Mario game? And I’m watching some AppleTV+ again. Hijack starring Idris Elba is a real delight so far!

Comic Reviews: Avengers: Twilight: Book Two, Duke #2 and Power Rangers Unlimited: The Morphin Masters.

Avengers: Twilight: Book Two
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Daniel Acuna
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

The artwork and writing on this series is top notch, as good as you could hope it would be. I’m just a little let down by the overall story.

Captain America is full speed ahead with the Avengers, and they arrange to send out a pirate broadcast on New Year’s Eve to rally the people. Steve fights off some Thunderbolt soldiers while the Defenders set up the broadcast, then he gives a big speech before they escape — but the speech doesn’t have an effect on anybody, and Steve realizes he can’t just say a bunch of pretty words about freedom to sway the people. Luke already knew this and chews him out. So they decided to go to Tony Stark for help, seeing as how he’s, like, being held as a brain in a jar by the bad guys.

Meanwhile, Cap tries to recruit Kamala Khan, but she won’t abandon her family. And we find out that Jarvis, the guy behind Stark Jr., is actually Red Skull and he’s working with Ultron.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

I may be missing the larger point to Avengers: Twilight, but in my opinion after two issues, the storytelling skill is being let down by the overall story. So far, it’s following a very cliche route about an evil Big Brother future and the heroic, underground resistance. And it’s revealed that the Red Skull and Ultron are the ones behind the Big Brother state, so it’s not even a fault of humanity, it’s the two worst bad guys teaming up. So it all feels very tropey, and I feel that diminishes the overall story just a bit. I’m very open tot he story taking some twists and surprising me by the end, so we’ll see. But two issues in, this a pretty standard story where hero comes out of retirement to defeat evil future Big Brother regime.

Nitpicks aside, this is still a very well-made comic, with solid character writing and some pitch perfect art. The revived Captain America is as strong a main character as he’s ever been, and the villains sure do seem pretty villainous. We get a fun Kamala Khan scene and I look forward to her being recruited. Honestly, I wish there was more recruitment and more future characters. The Stark kid is the son of Tony and Janet Van Dyne. Is he the only superhero child who is active? Future stories usually have fun with more kids. And is Kamala really the only retired Avenger Cap can reach out to? Again, I’m just nitpicking what I wish the story could be.

TL;DR: The writing is very strong, the art is phenomenal, and each issue so far has been a good, solid read. Just know that it’s exactly what it says on the tin.

Duke #2
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Rus Wooton

Still no sign of Snake Eyes or Ice Cream Soldier…

Duke visits his old pal Clutch for help, and they figure out a destination in the southwest. But they’re soon ambushed by Rock ‘n Roll and Stalker, who successfully defeat them and take them prisoner. Duke and Clutch are brought to The Pit, a prison safehouse, where they’re locked up pending future transport. And locked up alongside them is The Baroness!

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

The overall construction of this Duke comic is fun, and this individual issue is a good, solid, enjoyable read. But the bigger picture is a bit out of focus, which seems weird, considering how much work I assume went into this Energon Universe project as a whole. Like…what is Duke’s goal? To get people to believe that a jet plane transformed into a giant robot? That happened six months ago and in an entirely different comic, which isn’t synced up date wise. So how is all of that going to take him into conflict with the COBRA stuff that’s building in another different comic. And how’s that going to connect with the Destro stuff happening in this comic? And what happens if the Transformers go public before Duke makes it happen? It’ll be like that Monarch TV show that just wrapped up, with the characters pursuing a secret organization that was already made public in the movies. So I’m just not sure what Duke is after or why as I read this comic.

All of that bitching aside, the issue is good and entertaining. Duke gets a sidekick in Clutch, a character I’m not familiar with. And then Stalker and Rock ‘n Roll for show for a cool action scene. That’s fun. Obviously, G.I.Joe is not an organization yet, and we’re laying the groundwork to build it. I look forward to that. But for now, it’s just a quick, fun action issue with some great art. I just need to be patient and wait and see where all this combined universe stuff is going. I guess I just thought it would be paying off immediately? I dunno what I thought. I’m for sure eager to see the formation of G.I.Joe in the long run.

TL;DR: As an individual issue, this one has exciting action, good character moments and stupendous art. But the bigger picture of the Energon Universe is pretty fuzzy at this point in the story.

Power Rangers Unlimited: The Morphin Masters
Writers: Ryan Parrott and Rachel Wagner
Artist: Daniel Bayliss
Colorist: Arthur Hesli
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

I don’t always catch when the Power Rangers comic does a connected spin-off like this, but here we go!

The Ranger Slayer heads out into the world of the Morphin Grid in search of the Morphin Masters. She’s soon joined by the Pink Emissary, and it’s not long before I realized I missed some spin-off comics somewhere that gave origin to the Emissaries. Alas. She fights the Blue, Green and Black Emissaries, all corrupted by Dark Specter, and butts heads with Pink plenty of times, before they eventually find the Masters…but they’ve all got Grid Madness. Pink was corrupted by the others, so she fights Kimberly until Kim wins. The Morphin Masters invite her to stay with them, safe in their citadel, but Kimberly has realized that they can’t rely on deities to save them. They gotta save themselves.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This is a solidly written book with a deep focus on a specific character, who we’ve been following for years at this point. It fleshes out the lore in some fun ways, even if a lot of this Emissary background was known before this issue. I didn’t know it, so this was my first interaction with the Pink, Green and Black Emissaries. Of course they should have always been around, and they make for fun adversaries as Coinless Kimberly goes on a long, dark journey of the soul. I’m not even about to try to wrap my head around the inside of the Morphin Grid. It provides a nice setting as Kimberly and her Pink Emissary guide journey deeper and deeper into this madness.

And then they find madness at the center. The Morphin Masters are revealed not to be any great saviors, and Kimberly has to leave with the knowledge that she needs to be the one to kick ass and save the day. It’s a good lesson to learn, and a solid finale for the comic. It undercuts expectations that the Morphin Masters are some great anything, and it takes them off the table. I dig that ‘downer’ of an ending. Now she can return to the regular series, rally the troops and win the day. This was a worthwhile, full-throated spin-off adventure that accomplished everything it needed to accomplish.

TL;DR: As a spin-off comic, this issue tells a nice story with strong character work, and closes off a certain chapter of the main title’s ongoing story.

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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