Happy Easter weekend, everybody! I’ll be heading home to see the folks and am hoping for a nice weekend where I finally, at long last, defeat this sinus infection. Thankfully, had a trio of really enjoyable comics this week, including Duke and Power Rangers.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Ultimate Spider-Man #3 because, while all three issues were enjoyable, I found this one to be the most engaging and entertaining.

Meanwhile, I’ve started watching Shogun and am enjoying it, after all the rave reviews. And I started playing that new Saints Row game that came out in 2022. It’s…fine. I can definitely see why it crashed and burned, but it suffices as a cheap Grand Theft Auto knock-off for the time being. I really need to finally play God of War: Ragnarok.

Comic Reviews: Duke #4, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #118 and Ultimate Spider-Man #3.

Duke #4
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Tom Reilly
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Rus Wooton

The action kicks up a notch in this issue, and that’s pretty fun.

Baroness has Duke at gunpoint, but he’s able to talk her down from shooting him. They team up with the other Joes and flee deeper into the Pit, where they find a bunch of decommissioned — but still awesome — vehicles. They use those to escape through the bad guys (including a survived Bludd), and Baroness makes her escape. Duke then takes a jet and flies to the coordinates he was tracking. He survives being shot down and sneaks into the secret facility, where he’s ambushed by a B.A.T.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Thankfully, nobody they teased as being dead last issue was really dead, which would have been a shame. So everybody is kicking butt and being good guys, or being bad guys, and having a blast doing it as they get into some high octane action and adventure. Duke gets to give a cool speech to turn Baroness onto his side, creating the potential for some character development far into the future. I like that sort of thing. I’m slightly disappointed that Duke doesn’t take his new teammates with him in the finale of the issue, but then this is the Duke comic and not the G.I.Joe comic. Still, we get some great Joe action, and that’s a hoot.

The best part of this issue is the action. From the early fight scene while Duke talks down Baroness, to when the Joes grab those vehicles and go to town on the bad guys. It’s fun on a bun, and entertaining action is exactly what this series needs. Williamson is also doing a great job setting up Duke as a leading man. I’ve never cared about Duke. Why would I, when characters like Bazooka and Snake Eyes exist? But Duke is pretty awesome, and I can’t wait to see him leading a real team of G.I.Joe.

Also, I hope Bazooka shows up soon!

Double also, it’s finally spelled out in this issue that Duke believes the bad guys built Starscream, and that thankfully clears up some confusion I’ve had about how all these series are connected and why that connection matters.

TL;DR: Action-packed issue covers a lot of ground and has a lot of fun doing so.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #118
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Simona Di Gianfelice, with Marco Renna
Colorist: Raul Angulo, with assistance by Jose Enrique Fernandez
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

I am for sure losing track of side characters in this unending, but still entertaining story.

So let’s see, the Rangers have a force field around Rita’s Palace on the moon, and most of them are staying up there with Lord Zedd…but there’s also Rangers at the Command Center. And they also can find time to do some friendly sparring and hanging out at Ernie’s Juice Bar? I dunno. Rita has turned against Dark Spectre and has fled to the moon with Tommy’s help, and the Rangers and Zedd help pull her into the force field where she’ll be safe. Spectre retreats. Kiya is up to no good.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This issue opens with a scene where Omega Trinity talks to Heartless Trinity about losing Scorpina and Bulk. And for the life of me, I do not remember what happened to either of those characters. This reinforces my major complaint about this storyline: it’s stretched too thin. I’m still holding onto the main focus of each issue, and that remains fun and exciting to read, but the bigger picture is a mess. I enjoyed the main story in this issue. Rita, teaming up with Tommy, to make a mad dash to the Ranger’s forcefield on the moon. It’s a cool bunch of scenes, especially the moment where Lord Zedd rescues Rita, and the moments where some of the more hardened Rangers are ready to let her get killed. It’s some good stuff and makes for a solid issue.

I’m less enthused with how various parts aren’t lining up. So a big deal is made out of the forcefield on the moon palace…but why are there also Rangers in the Command Center? Does that have a similar forcefield? Also, the issue ends with Jason and Zach sparring at the Juice Bar, and Trini joining them for a drink. Do they really have the freedom to just go hang out at the Juice Bar? I also don’t remember much of anything about the Power Eggs, but somehow Kiya is able to sneak in and steal some? This storyline is all over the place, and it’s getting too long in the tooth by far.

TL;DR: Another issue in this seemingly ceaseless crossover. The issue itself maintains some strong storytelling with the main focus of the issue, but the bigger picture grows murkier with every new chapter.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

This is for sure my favorite of the three Ultimate comics.

After May helps Peter settle on a cool suit design (classic!), Peter visits Ben and Jonah in their new office and gets on board with their search for the Green Goblin. Spider-Man sets up a stakeout and eventually finds Green Goblin fighting Bullseye, who was sent to kill him. Spidey joins the fight and together they defeat the assassin. When the dust settles, Green Goblin reveals that he has some kind of technological control over Peter’s costume and takes off the mask, then he takes off his own. Peter meets Harry and they decide to get a drink to talk it out.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

If this issue had been nothing but Peter and his adorable daughter figuring out costume basics, it would have already been magical. The scene, the dialogue and the artwork are so darn good! That kid is adorable! But then we jump right into a full-on superhero brawl, as Spidey injects himself into the a fight between Green Goblin and Bullseye. I didn’t expect to just see the new Ultimate Bullseye like that, but he makes for a solid foe for this bout of fisticuffs. He throws razor sharp playing cards, which are always a neat visual. His look is pretty basic for Bullseye, just an armored version with no mouth. So that’s fine. I really like the Green Goblin’s redesign. And Spider-Man is, of course, classic Spider-Man.

This series is, by far, my favorite of the new Ultimate books to come out, even counting Ultimate Invasion and that stuff. Hickman basically has free rein to reinvent Spider-Man’s world, and he’s found a nice balance of classic characters and ideas with new twists. I’m loving what he’s doing with Jonah and Ben. I haven’t seen enough of Peter’s family life, but there’s plenty of room to expand all of that. And the superhero stuff is fun too. Personally, I’d love to see more of an impact on how this new decision to become Spider-Man is actually effecting Peter. The whole point of this reboot is to take adult Peter Parker, complete with job and family, and throw him into being Spider-Man. So far it hasn’t seemed to be a problem whatsoever. I’m enjoying the parts where he seems to just stumble into crime-fighting, but I’d love a more in depth exploration of this stuff.

We have plenty of Spider-Man comics in the world, but only one with this premise, so I’d like to see the premise explored on a deeper level.

TL;DR: Another fun issue of Spider-Man comics, though I’d like to see a stronger focus on the unique aspects of the status quo instead of just another comic where Spider-Man fights familiar bad guys.

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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