We’re back, baby! Just as we are every week, talking about new comics and whatnot. Been a busy week. But I found time to read a couple of comics, like Wonder Woman and Exceptional X-Men.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Flash #2 for helping me to better understand and appreciate what this comic might actually be about. Though knowing myself, I’m probably way off.

Meanwhile, I’m wrapping up Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and had a blast with this game! Lived up to all the hype and expectations! I enjoyed the finale of Daredevil: Born Again and hope to have my full review/thoughts posted next week. And I’m currently working my way through The Pitt, a show that is also living up to the hype around it.

Double meanwhile, the Kickstarter campaign remains ongoing for The Museum of the Uncanny, a comics anthology in which I have a short story! So if you’d like to support my comics work and a bunch of other creative people, head on over and check out the campaign!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Flash #2, Exceptional X-Men #8 and Wonder Woman #20.

Absolute Flash #2
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Nick Robles
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Tom Napolitano

I didn’t really cotton to the first issue of Absolute Flash, but this second issue goes a long way in helping me to better wrap my head around what’s happening.

Wally West continues to run away from the Absolute Rogues, and we get a bit more backstory on what happened to him, as well as how his ‘powers’ work and how he’s reacting to them. He also gets glimpses of the future, and we tease a Flash of Two Worlds scenario.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

So a realization hit me while reading this issue, and it really helped me settle into Absolute Flash: out of all the Justice League characters getting the Absolute treatment, the Flash is the only superhero who is a normal human who suddenly gets a standard super power. Superman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter are all born that way and it’s their culture. Batman doesn’t have powers. And while it looks like Green Lantern might get powers, they traditionally have a ring. The Flash is a normal kid who suddenly gets super speed. And I think Lemire is really digging deep into the idea of taking a normal person and suddenly grafting onto them these crazy, superhuman abilities. It’s not as simple as having some chemicals spilled on you and now you can run super fast. Or the headache Peter Parker gets after being bitten by a radioactive spider. It’s weird and crazy and painful and mind-blowing and hard to control and chaotic as all hell, and now I think I better understand what’s happening in Absolute Flash.

To double down on that, the Rogues all have technology boosting them (I think). So, again, normal humans getting super powers is not an everyday thing in the Absolute Universe. And it’s not taken lightly. Or, at the very least, it’s not taken lightly in this growing Flash corner of the universe. This issue is a solid continuation of the previous one. We get a better handle on Wally West’s new powers, and how it’s not just super speed…or it is, but the writing and artwork are pushing the idea of it to 11, and that’s kind of awesome. I like the Rogues, their banter and their teamwork. I know using his speed to cross dimensions and time travel is a part of the Flash’s whole deal, but I don’t personally like it becoming part of Absolute Flash so soon. But maybe that’s not what’s happening. Too early to tell.

I’m also now fully on board with the unique art style for the super speed, the red lines as opposed to lightning. Definitely liking that more and more.

TL;DR: Took some thinkering, but this second issue helped me better understand what Absolute Flash is going for, and it raised the project as a whole. Solid second issue.

Exceptional X-Men #8
Writer: Eve L. Ewing
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

Ugh, I just do not care for everyone’s obsession with Mister Sinister these days.

While Mister Sinister puts Axo in a machine to use him for his evil purposes, a clone is sent out into the world to keep up appearances around Axo’s friends and family. Bronze and Melee take him out for some shopping and Bronze quickly susses out that something is wrong — especially when the clone melts.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

I like Exceptional X-Men because of the very personal feel of the comic. The characters, especially the new kids, are allowed to be people and do normal things and deal with their normal feelings. It’s great, and this issue has a lot of nice bits about that as the girls cotton to what’s wrong with Axo. And we get a cute scene between Kitty Pryde and her new girlfriend. I dig that so much. I also enjoyed the moment when Bronze and Melee try to contact the adults but don’t really have a good way to do it. Fun stuff!

This character focus is what really sells Exceptional X-Men, at least to me. Which is why I’m still very bummed out that Ewing traded in that excellently built story about Axo bonding with a mutant mentor running a new company for just another story where Mister Sinister vamps about and plugs Axo into an evil machine. To me, that is a far less interesting story and far less entertaining use of page space. I would have much preferred the real moral and ethical dilemma Axo was getting into with this new and original mentor figure.

TL;DR: I’m personally disappointed in the choice of villain and how it disrupted the story that was being built, but the strong character work gives this series life.

Wonder Woman #20
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Guillem March
Letterer: Clayton Cowles

The first main story is dealt with, and now it seems we’ve got a little filler storyline for funsies!

Queen Hippolyta woke up with Ares stabbed to death in her bed. She reaches out to her daughter for help, who reaches out to Batman. So basically, there’s a murder mystery on Mount Olympus and it’s up to Batman and Wonder Woman to solve the case!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Uh, yeah, this is what I’m talking about. Wonder Woman and Batman solve a murder mystery on Mount Olympus, wherein all the classic Greek Gods are the suspects and potential witnesses? Heck yeah! I only wish it was more in depth, like a better plotted or orchestrated murder mystery. It really is just Batman and Wonder Woman going around interrogating some gods. But it was still super entertaining and fun to read. I always loved the Greek Myths as a kid, and having our heroes just casually hanging out with them is always a hoot. King also makes plenty of time for Bruce and Diana to be friends and companions, which is important. And March does his usually great work on the art.

For some reason, people who complain about this series on the internet really hammer into the idea that King keeps relying on Batman and Superman to tell his Wonder Woman stories. I don’t see it at all, even in an issue where Batman is a major guest star. They are viable characters to be in each other’s lives, and of course you’ll call for Batman’s help with a murder mystery. King writes them well together. Didn’t King do that story back when he wrote Batman where they were trapped for a long time in a separate dimension together, and never hooked up? I liked that story too! Though I think they shoulda hooked up.

TL;DR: A lot of fun is to be had when Wonder Woman and Batman team up for a murder mystery on Mount Olympus. Just the idea is super fun on its own! Thankfully, the comic matches the potential.

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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