Let me tell you, folks, you’ve never met a lazier blogger than I. I’ve been off from work this whole week for my birthday, so I had all week to read comics and do reviews and post stuff. But ultimately, I’m late with this post and have only reviewed two comics this week…but they’re two new ones and good ones.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Plastic Man No More: Book One for its creative art style and solid introductory story.

Meanwhile, my week off has mostly been spent in glorious isolation. I’m trying to save up money to buy a new car, so I wasn’t about to go on any grand trips. I splurged on Star Wars: Outlaws for my birthday and it’s been fun! I’m enjoying myself with Outlaws, though it could be a lot more polished in my opinion. Other than that, I’m reading some graphic novels I had saved up and taking frequent naps. Watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire finally and did not care for it.

Comic Reviews: Exceptional X-Men #1 and Plastic Man No More: Book One.

Exceptional X-Men #1
Writer: Eve L. Ewing
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino

And with this, we have all the main X-Men titles now released. This is another good one.

After Krakoa, Kitty Pryde has relocated to Chicago to try to live a normal life, living with an old friend and working as a bartender. On her one night out, she finds a young mutant girl running afoul of the authorities and helps her get home safely.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I’ve never been a big Kitty Pryde fan. She wasn’t in the 90s animated series, and she was a member of Excalibur when I started getting into comics, so she was just never around for me to latch onto. But fans love her enough to give her her own From the Ashes ongoing, and I’m pleased to say it’s a solid, entertaining start. This issue goes deep into establishing Kitty’s current status quo in a post-Krakoa world, while not being overly reliant on the previous story. Kitty is simply in a bad place and is doing her best to run from all things mutant and X-Men. Solid starting ground for such a series.

I like the singular focus on Kitty because she’s going to be our main character, and there will be plenty of time to explore the other characters. Emma Frost makes a brief appearance; I’ve always liked her. Iceman may or may not be in this comic, so I’m fully in favor of that! He has a great history with both Kitty and Emma, so it should be an awesome main trio. And then we meet one of our new mutants, and she gets a solid origin. She’s a unique personality, bonds well with Kitty and should be fun. So all in all, very good issue that has a lot to offer.

Though I remain hesitant about all of these new mutant teenagers, between this comic and Uncanny X-Men. I’m all for it, I just fear they won’t be used much. Though I could easily be proven wrong when Bronze is a major player five years from now.

TL;DR: Really good introductory issue that uses its time nicely to establish the status quo of Kitty Pryde, our main character, while setting up the story and characters going forward. I enjoy character-focused comics.

Plastic Man No More: Book One
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artists: Alex Lins and Jacob Edgar
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Becca Carey

This is a rather random choice to review, but I’ve been big into Plastic Man lately and saw this show up basically out of nowhere, as far as I’m concerned.

After getting blasted by Solaris’s death ray, Plastic Man’s molecules start breaking down and he’s going all goopy. The Justice League thinks he’s still just joking around (because he is cracking jokes about it), but Batman points him towards a chemist who can help, but it’s gonna be pretty extreme.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

“The superhero is dying” is a very standard plot in modern comics. All-Star Superman, the greatest Superman story of all time, is all about Clark Kent’s last days as he’s slowly dying. So Cantwell isn’t exactly breaking new ground with Plastic Man’s death here. But he uses that well to kick off an interesting and entertaining story, and that’s what’s important, that this issue and this comic are entertaining on their own. Plastic Man is presented as a man with layers, from the jokester of the Justice League to a deadbeat dad with a lot to make up for. The dichotomy really makes the issue shine.

What’s especially excellent is the artwork! As you can see from the panels I’ve posted, half the comic is this dark, moody style as we dig into Plastic Man’s personal life and problems. The other half is a bright, colorful superhero cartoon style. It’s a great artistic choice for the issue and hopefully the series, and really elevates the whole comic. Cantwell and DC are giving this series their all and they’re off to a great start. The art team is doing great work, capturing the moods and the ideas necessary to make this comic stand out. I can’t wait to see where all of this goes.

TL;DR: Dueling art styles elevate this already excellent comic into something really special, as we explore a character who hasn’t had any real, serious spotlight in a while.

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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