I swear to god, you guys, if this cold lasts any bit longer I’m going to start smashing stuff! I’ve had a whole week of this thing just rooting itself in my sinuses for a wee bit of a pressure headache! Argh! Anyway, new comics still came out this week.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Superman #12 for a truly excellent climax to its ongoing story so far. Fun stuff all around!

Meanwhile, I watched the first two episodes of X-Men ’97 and they were exceptional! I had high hopes going in, and was blown away by the style, depth, faithfulness and just all around quality job from everyone involved. They took the concept and really used it to its fullest, even if a couple characters don’t sound all that great. I think they should have recast everybody. But maybe that’s just me.

Comic Reviews: Cobra Commander #3, Nightwing #112, Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #2 and Superman #12.

Cobra Commander #3
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Andrea Milana
Colorist: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer: Rus Wooton

Alas, no sign of Croc Master. What a tease.

The Dreadnoks capture Cobra Commander and set about torturing him to find out what he wants, but he doesn’t break, not even a little. He even manages to turn some of them against each other because he’s a manipulative bastard. When they’ve had enough and are ready to kill him, he finally calls in his partner, who is revealed to be Nemesis Enforcer and he goes hog wild on the Dreadnoks.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

This series feels a little too low key for what it’s supposed to be…though I suppose I don’t know what it’s supposed to be. This issue is a great look at the manipulative capacity of Cobra Commander. I like how he just takes the beating from the Dreadnoks, then starts twisting the weaker minded ones into his little games. It’s fun. But then that’s the entire issue. He gets tortured for almost the full issue and doesn’t do enough to really come across as a super villain. There’s no proving himself as a magnanimous leader who recruits the Dreadnoks, there’s no sign of him as some great evil. Just a dude willing to take a beating and good at manipulating idiots. He’s evil, sure, but he also needs to rise up as the leader of Cobra at some point, right? Artwork is phenomenal, for sure.

TL;DR: A low key issue that does a great job showing off the main character, while not really reaching the heights I’d like to see. Also, no Croc Master, despite all the crocodile teases.

Nightwing #112
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Sami Basri
Inker: Vicente Cifuentes
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Wes Abbott

As with last issue, anytime Batman and Nightwing get a focus team up, I’m on board.

Batman narrates as both of them figure out pretty quickly that the murder from last issue wasn’t committed by Heartless, and that the little boy has been kidnapped by his uncle and flown to Ho Chi Minh City. They borrow the Titans’ jet and fly to Vietnam and rescue the boy.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This was a very good follow up to the previous issue, with plenty of solid Dick and Bruce moments to appease a fan like me. Longtime readers of my reviews will know that I’m a sucker for good Batman and Robin content like this, and Tom Taylor seems to love it just as much as me. So yeah, great stuff in this issue, including a nice scene of Batman interacting with Beast Boy as well. It very much has the energy of a dad interacting with his son’s friends, while simultaneously being elder statesman Batman interacting with a younger generation superhero. Very nicely done.

On top of all of that, the crime has a great conclusion. I was worried, based on the final lines of the previous issue, that we wouldn’t follow up on the boy and his uncle. But we do, and our heroes go to great lengths to see it through and save the day. The action is fun, the artwork is clean and awesome, and the character writing is as strong as its ever been. I’m going to be very disappointed when Taylor leaves this Nightwing comic. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever regularly read a Nightwing comic before this, so we’ll see what happens. But the man and I clearly have the same interests when it comes to modern day Dick Grayson stories, and this issue really touches on a lot of what I love.

TL;DR: Another fun issue teaming up Nightwing and Batman, which will always make happy.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #2
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Lorenzo Tammetta
Colorist: Frank William
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Two issues in and I’m fully on board.

The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver take on the Wizard and the Frightful Four Hundred. They’re separated, but working towards the same goal. Wizard is taking his orders from some unseen “Angel”, and Wanda is forced to tap into Chthon to break free and teleport away, and it weakens her badly. She flees to the Vision’s home or help. While Quicksilver studies the Frightful Four Hundred in a secret lab, and then gets a helping hand from his nephew, Speed.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I think the artwork is a real standout in this series so far. Everything is so crisp, clean and colorful. That’s what I really love in comic book art. And then the colors really, really pop! The Wizard and his henchmen are rocking some really great, really popping purples. And who doesn’t love a good villain design? Obviously Wanda’s outfit has looked great since issue #1. I’m not the biggest fan of Quicksilver in green (gimme light blue!), but it’s still a popping color. So the series is already killing it on artwork.

Story and character are no slouch either in this series. Quicksilver being perpetually angry is a hoot, as he zips around the world. And Wanda really pushes herself beyond the limit. We still don’t know why the Wizard is the villain in this. Does he have a big history with Wanda? I dunno. But he’s a classic villain, and this comic has done good with obscure villains. And he gets the requisite drama out of her, so I had a lot of fun with this issue. Bringing in Vision and Speed is a fine touch. Might as well make this a whole ensemble! Let’s have some big, colorful fun with it!

TL;DR: The colors and artwork really pop on this excellent second issue. Everything is humming along nicely.

Superman #12
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artists: David Baldeon and Norm Rapmund
Colorist: Rex Lokus
Letterer: Ariana Maher

Big climactic finish just leads to more stories! As it should be.

Metropolis is being covered in a poisonous Kryptonite gas, so a weakened Superman can’t stop it. Lex Luthor suits up in armor, knocks out Graft and flies out into the city to stop his mother and the gas. He fills Superman in on the truth: he teamed up with Graft in the past when he found out they were both studying Kryptonite, then dumped Graft once he had what he wanted. Superman teams up with the scientists at Supercorp to figure out how to nullify the gas and Luthor gets to work using the technique (after Superman convinces him to focus on saving people instead of stopping his mother). The day is saved and the bad guys go to prison (including Lex).

Once the dust has settled, though, something is still nagging at Clark: why did Pharm and Graft come out of hiding now after all these years?

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I didn’t have any idea how long Pharm and Graft were going to be the main villains of this book. I’m a little excited to see them already behind bars, to see what else is in store for us. Though Pharm never made much of an impression at all. I don’t think Pharm ever did a single thing in any of these past 12 or so issues. Didn’t punch nobody. May not have uttered a line of dialogue. Doesn’t matter, though, Graft handled things like a villainous champ. Though the villain in this issue is Lex’s mom, so that trades off a bit. Again, not a big deal, because the issue is great and very exciting. There’s a big threat and Luthor must put his money where his mouth is to stop it, while a weakened Superman embraces everything else that’s been built up in the series so far to help.

So this is just a really fun issue where Superman and his allies, even the bad ones, come together in all their heroic awesomeness and stop the bad guy’s plan. That’s classic Superman storytelling. David Baldeon does a solid job on art, really getting the detail and the energy across. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss Jamal Campbell, but they can’t draw every single issue, and Baldeon does a fine job. I like all of the Super-armors flying around. And I really love the concept of Supercorp and hope it continues to play a role in the series. I’d really like to start meeting some individual Supercorp members to grow out that part of the story more. That could be fun!

TL;DR: It’s a big, superheroic story finale in excellent fashion. This series has been truly great, and leads to a great finale in classic superhero fashion.

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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