Happy American Thanksgiving, everyone! I had a lovely holiday with family, and then squeezed in a bunch of comics this week. Stuff like Absolute Wonder Woman and Mystique, even!

Comic Book of the Week goes to the first issue of Justice League Unlimited because I would say it lives up to the hype and excitement of what this comic could be.

Meanwhile, I’m on vacation for the week ahead and am loading up on video games to play. I’ve got another Baldur’s Gate 3 playthrough in me. I’m finally gonna try Hades because it’s on sale. And the Sniper Elite 5 DLC I’d been waiting to go on sale is now on sale, so that too! All of this is to say I’ve convinced myself not to buy Dragon Age: The Veilguard at full price, which is what I had been planning.

Also, this is gonna sound weird…but both Marvel and DC have comics that feature a character named Tuatara this week. When I saw the names, I wasn’t sure what I was reading, but I Googled and both characters have existed in past comics. So they aren’t brand new. It’s just that…two very different writers on two very different comics for two different companies…both decided to use their company’s Tuatara for a brief cameo appearance in comics that came out on the same week?!

Also, a Tuatara is a lizard from New Zealand, if you didn’t know, which I didn’t.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Wonder Woman #2, Iron Man #2, Justice League Unlimited #1 and Mystique #2.

Absolute Wonder Woman #2
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

The second issue is just as strong as the first! The Absolute comics are doing a great job so far.

Wonder Woman defeats the Harbinger and sends him packing, then touches base with Steve Trevor. We get a nice flashback to see how they met in this continuity. Then we see how Steve’s military commanders don’t like Wonder Woman sticking her nose into this business. Then the next monster comes and it’s a doozy, people!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

You guys, I’m serious here: the artwork on those final pages by Hayden Sherman is so truly amazing. I cannot express how gargantuan that new monster looks on the page. It’s like that scene in The Mist where we finally see a giant monster at the very end, while they’re driving away from the store. It’s like that feeling of seeing skyscrapers for the first time, captured on the comic book page. I won’t spoil the image here, just know that Sherman, Thompson and the whole creative team knock it the hell out of the park for all these monsters and dangers in this issue, while also giving us plenty of great character moments as well.

This second issue does an excellent job of introducing Steve Trevor into this new continuity, and I like how it follows the normal story, while adding its own twists. I love, love, love how adorable young Diana comes across when she meets her first boy! It’s so cute, especially as the artwork keeps her as a mighty Amazon. She’s just blushing in all the right ways, while Steve seems like a real standup guy through it all. And as a huge Greek Mythology fan — especially all the Pegasus myths — I very much enjoyed the scene where Diana and Steve just talk about Pegasus. That’s just plain fun. This entire issue is fun. And it’s got a different vibe from Absolute Batman and Absolute Superman, so these comics are all vibing quite well!

Also, should Kelly Thompson read this review, I was in Scott Snyder’s class the other week and you gave some excellent writing lessons! Thank you for your appearance there!

TL;DR: Another excellent, well-written issue where the artwork, especially, rises to unforeseen heights in comic book storytelling.

Iron Man #2
Writer: Spencer Ackerman
Artist: Julius Ohta
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

I’m not 100% vibing with this series quite yet, but I’m still reading, so that’s saying something.

Iron Man has completed his new, makeshift Iron Man armor and it does look pretty cool. He’s begun his campaign against the Roxxon/A.I.M. He’s making deals with super villains to do some light terrorist work, while also trying to negotiate with some of the board members. When he goes to attack an A.I.M. facility, he’s taken down by Monica Rappaccini, the Scientist Supreme, and her allies.

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

This is a good, solid second issue that moves everything along nicely sets up some new threats. We see Tony’s new suit in action, which is a big selling point for this book. I like the look of the new armor. But I still don’t like the new look of Tony Stark. He’s rail thin, with greasy-looking long hair and beard, and stopped over with a cane. I understand what it means…but man, he just looks so off-putting. I don’t care for it. But Ackerman is making fun use of all the characters available to him in an Iron Man comic — like Tuatara, apparently! — and the dialogue and action scenes are fun. I especially enjoyed the use of Force, a character I also didn’t know. That was a hoot. So all in all, a solid second issue that moves things along nice, even if I have some personal nitpicks.

TL;DR: Good, solid second issue builds off the first while bringing all manner of new characters and complexities to the table.

Justice League Unlimited #1
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher

DC’s All In has been going gangbusters, and a fancy new Justice League comic is just what the doctor ordered!

The new Justice League Unlimited is up and running and we get a quick tour of the operations, with new, young hero Air Wave arriving at the Watchtower for his first day. He watches as a squad of Leaguers head to South Africa to take on some War Wheels that are destroying the town, where the world’s supply of Iridium is mined. We also get some newbie time with Star Sapphire, who is part of the away team and learning the ropes in the field. In the end, both she and Air Wave prove their worth. And meanwhile, there’s a traitor in the new League, and the villains behind the attack, Inferno, seem pretty sure of themselves. Also, Batman and Blue Beetle have a small subplot mission.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

As the first issue of a big, all-encompassing Justice League relaunch, this issue absolutely works and works pretty much perfectly. We’ve got big, glorious superhero action mixed with smaller, subtler character moments. The main story is interesting in its own right, with some great character moments. And then Waid brings in a couple of equally fun and interesting side stories and subplots. I’ll get into the specifics in a moment. But suffice to say, for Justice League Unlimited #1, this issue checks all the important boxes. We even get a nifty hook for an ending, which is always nice.

So the funnest thing for me was the big role for Star Sapphire. As a big fan of Geoff Johns’s Green Lantern run, I’m really into the various Lantern corps. And while I haven’t been reading the recent stuff with Star Sapphire, I always thought she was a great part of that run, and I love the idea that she’s in the core JLU team. She’s an excellent replacement for just slotting in one of the Earth GLs. I also love how she gets a subplot in this issue as a newbie superhero, with Black Lightning showing her the ropes, and her just a little overwhelmed in the fight. And then Waid gives us a specific heroic rescue for her to perform based around her very unique and specific power set. I thought that was lovely!

I also like the use of Air Wave. I don’t really know this Air Wave’s relationship to the Air Waves of the past, but I enjoy him as this newbie superhero who played a big role in the previous storyline, and now gets Justice League membership. He’s a great audience surrogate character and is used very well in that regard in this first issue.

And then, of course, the artwork is phenomenal! I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, person on the internet to gush about Dan Mora. He’s an absolute superstar, and I’m glad to see him having such success. This is perfect comic book superhero artwork, with bright, vibrant coloring from Bonvillain to round it out. This is the exact sort of artwork you want for a comic like this.

TL;DR: This issue is surely everything you could possibly want from a comic like this. It’s big, vibrant, superhero action written, drawn, and colored by the absolute best in the business. All the big heroes are here, with some smaller hero stories mixed in to round it all out. An excellent first issue.

Mystique #2
Writer and Artist: Declan Shalvey
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

I wasn’t too impressed with this second issue of Mystique. Not enough is coming together for me.

Mystique is tracking Destiny, and she first tracks down Avalanche off the grid to hash out old problems and use him for information. They fight, she gets what she wants, and it leads her to an old Freedom Force contact. Meanwhile, Nick Fury Jr. is also really interested in catching Mystique, though it’s not entirely clear why.

Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.

It goes without saying that the artwork is phenomenal. The barren, frozen landscape looks real cool. The shapeshifting is great. The characters look good. I dig it. My problem with this issue is that the story just isn’t coming together as well as I would like. The main thrust of this issue is a reunion/angry conversation between Mystique and Avalanche, and about their time in the Brotherhood together. I’m a huge Brotherhood fan, and Avalanche fan, and, well…none of it landed for me. And it’s largely because the history either isn’t there or its ancient history at this point, whereas Shalvey tries to make it mean something in the here and now. Mystique and Avalanche were in Freedom Force in the mid 1980s. And the character they’re arguing about — Abigail Benson — if she was a real character at that time, she doesn’t come up in a Google search now. So, like, what is this big character scene even about in 2024?

Avalanche was dead for almost a full decade before getting a very small revival on Krakoa (where he was nominated to become an X-Man!). So trying to build this very emotional confrontation between these two just doesn’t work when it’s based on non-existent supporting characters and stuff that happened multiple decades ago. It’s still well-written for what it is, but the emotions don’t land at all, and that weakens this second issue. And then it just doesn’t matter when Mystique tracks down this Benson lady and kills her.

I’m also just not putting the pieces together on the rest of the plot. Why are Mystique and Destiny separated at this point? After all that work was put into the two of them getting married before From the Ashes. And why do both Nick Fury Sr. and Jr. care so much about Mystique all of a sudden? It’s not like she’s ever not been a bad guy just out in the world. And if her personal mission is to find Destiny…why is that such a big deal? And I know, I know, obviously I just need to keep reading and hopefully everything will be spelled out for me in the end. I’m just saying that the emotional beats that are supposed to be carrying this story aren’t working for me in this second issue, which is an important issue when deciding to carry on with a new comic series.

And believe me, I’d love the Brotherhood getting more attention in X-Men comics…

TL;DR: The emotional scenes that are meant to propel the story just don’t land for me because they’re built on ancient, largely made up history and not anything in the actual series so far.

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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