Sometimes a week will come along where all the comics I read are in the middle of stories and just put out issues where the story is moved along. Nothing wrong with that. Especially when the ongoing stories are as good as they are in the likes of Absolute Wonder Woman and/or Void Rivals.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Martin Manhunter #4 because, while it continues to tell an entertaining story, the artwork this issue goes even harder than it’s been going so far!

Meanwhile, I watched and enjoyed the first three episodes of Ironheart. Off to a good start. I’ve also really gotten into Taskmaster lately. It’s all free on YouTube, which is convenient. And last night I finally started playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Great game so far!

Also, all three new Gamer Girl & Vixen mini-comics have been added to Global Comix for you to read and enjoy for free! Just click the link and scroll down for the three new comics, with scripts written by me! It’s only fair I put my own comic work out there if I’m gonna review others!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Martian Manhunter #4, Absolute Wonder Woman #9, Ultimate Spider-Man #18, Void Rivals #20 and VR Troopers #1.

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Absolute Martian Manhunter #4
Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

I am fully on board with the awesomeness of Absolute Martian Manhunter now. I stumbled a bit on the first issue, but now that the story is much clearer, I am in, baby!

There’s a heat wave and it’s driving people to acts of violence. John keeps ditching his wife to go investigate and help people, all while she’s getting madder. When they finally have it out, John insists everything is fine, but she can’t see him the same way anymore. Meanwhile, even with the Martian fixing the sun, some crazy people blow up the various power plants around town and our heroes realize that the White Martian wanted all of this to lead up to darkness all along.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

There are two things to talk about with this issue, as with every comic issue: the story and the artwork. The story is good. I’m liking how episodic these issues feel. We’ve got a White Martian-induced heatwave to deal with, and then John avoiding his wife. Both are handled very well and build up to an excellent climax in the issue, where our heroes fall into the White Martian’s trap and John can’t stand up to his wife’s scrutiny. Both storylines are very fulfilling and move the comic along nicely.

And then the artwork is on another freakin’ level! Jeez louise.

Rodriguez is doing career-defining work with this comic. He could be doing industry-defining work. He keeps everything grounded enough to tell the direct stories, about the crime and the family dynamics, while using the Martian as a figure capable of moving through, like, fifth dimensional space. It’s fascinating and fun and works so well with the characters and the story. And then there’s the coloring. My god, the coloring. Rodriguez is reinventing how coloring works in comic books to tell a story. From the bright, harsh yellow to indicate the heatwave, to the continued use of a rainbow of colors to indicate emotions, every page is a kaleidoscopic delight.

TL;DR: Every page of this comic is a kaleidoscopic delight of nifty artwork, compelling storytelling and an industry-altering use of color.

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Absolute Wonder Woman #9
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

Why not read some more ongoing Absolute Wonder Woman? It seems to be the style of these times.

Wonder Woman threatens Doctor Poison until they reach an accord. The doctor then reveals that there is an Amazon trapped in the literal labyrinth that the government found under Area 41 and is using as a prison. Wonder Woman ignores the concerns of Steve Trevor and uses a magic door to go straight to the labyrinth, where she meets some mythological characters.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

As with a lot of issues I read and reviewed this week, the new issue of Absolute Wonder Woman is a solid continuation of the entertaining story. No big reveals, no huge moments, no series-defining adventures. Just the new Diana we’ve come to know and love interacting with supporting characters and going on a mission into danger. None of this is a knock against the comic. Far from it. I very much enjoy Absolute Wonder Woman and this issue is a stellar example of the overall general quality of the series. Wonder Woman herself remains a commanding presence, even when she’s an adorable little kid. There’s a brief scene between Young Diana and her mom, and it’s so darn adorable.

And then the adult Wonder Woman scenes are just darn cool! Thompson has built up a really fun supporting cast, capable of engaging Diana in entertaining conversations about mythology, so the world gets fleshed out. Then we go on an adventure into a labyrinth, where a couple of other classic Wonder Woman characters show up to get Absolute versions. Good times all around! I do find it a little silly that the government opposing Wonder Woman just happens to have built a prison around a literal Greek myth labyrinth, which is chock full of classic Greek myth monsters. But that silliness is easily overshadowed by the fun and awesomeness of Wonder Woman fighting/befriending monsters in a labyrinth.

TL;DR: An excellent issue of Absolute Wonder Woman that moves the story along nicely, introduces some new Absolute versions of classic characters and contains the perfect amount of adorable child Diana.

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Ultimate Spider-Man #18
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

As mentioned, we’ve got another comic that just moves the story along nicely.

Harry and Peter reunite in the desert when Harry brings Ben and Jonah to babysit Peter’s family while he helps Harry do superhero stuff back in New York. They fight some bad guys to kill time before meeting with Gwen, who is facing some blowback from the rest of the Mysterios. But the big story is that the Black Cat has manipulated Richard to stowaway on the ride back to New York, where he’s lured into a trap with the Kingpin!

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Ultimate Spider-Man continues to be very enjoyable as things move along. A lot has been built up for these characters, and seeing them interact is always a great pay-off. From Gwen getting into an argument with the other Mysterious, to Peter and Harry reuniting, it’s all entertaining storytelling. And then putting Richard into the thick of the danger at the hands of the Kingpin is just great escalation. I didn’t see it coming and it’s about as bad as things can get — and should provide a great outlet for what the future Venom does next! Makes perfect sense that the poor kid got suckered into the trap by his feelings for the Black Cat. He’s a teenage boy. Makes total sense that this happened.

TL;DR: The story continues and escalates in pretty darn exciting ways. There are a lot of pieces on the board and all of them are being moved in entertaining ways.

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Void Rivals #20
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Conor Hughes
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Rus Wooton

As I mentioned last week, I finally got caught back up with Void Rivals, so how about a new review?

Darak has sided with his father on preventing unity, until Solila bursts up through the floor of the throne room, having been given a power upgrade by Zerta herself. There’s a big fight because the dad is a stubborn old fool, but eventually Darak convinces Solila to talk it out and explain her side of things. Meanwhile, the Skuxxoid is on a really fun adventure and Zalilak is anointed and armored as a true chosen of Zerta, tasked with aiding Solila.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

The most I can really say about Void Rivals is that Robert Kirkman could do this in his sleep. He’s making it look easy to tell an engaging, ongoing story for 20+ issues featuring a large cast of characters and some interesting lore. This issue was especially fun because we got the long-awaited reunion of Darak and Solila, each having changed quite a bit. The fight was awesome with great action as Solila got to show off her new powers, and then Darak held his own in a cool way. I especially enjoyed when Darak was able to get everybody to calm down and actually talk about their sides. His dad has been a fun supporting character to his side of the story, and the first meeting between dad and Solila goes as well as anyone could hope. This was a very enjoyable chapter of this excellent ongoing series.

But I really just want to talk about Skuxxoid.

So Void Rivals #19 was a side story setting up the new Skuxxoid adventure and it was a hoot! He or they are probably my favorite character in Void Rivals. I don’t know how much of Skuxxoid is based on their original G1 appearances or if Kirkman is making it up as he goes along, but he is such a fun character. Drawn like a traditional 1980s henchman, Skuxxoid is just a working guy making his way through a weird galaxy. And now he’s in a very weird but very interesting new adventure and I cannot wait to see where it goes.

And if I may say, I know everybody is excited for the Transformers to actually interact with and team up with G.I. Joe, but I doubt anything the Energon Universe comes up with for the main characters will be as fun as Akronus, of Cobra-La, explaining to Skuxxoid why the Junkions talk like Earth-television commercials.

That is peak comic books, as far as I’m concerned.

TL;DR: A lot of fun moments in another exciting issue of Void Rivals. Kirkman knows how to keep a story moving at a nice pace, and this series shows no signs of slowing down 20 issues in.

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VR Troopers #1
Writer: Mairghread Scott
Artist: Sebastian Piriz
Colorist: JP Jordan
Letterer: Taylor Esposito

I love the idea of using the VR Troopers as antagonists in Power Rangers Prime, a series I am very much enjoying. So I was more than ready to try out this spin-off series focusing on them.

Ryan, the lead VR Trooper, can’t sleep so he goes out for a jog and stumbles upon a break-in at Angel Grove Water and Power. He finds a mysterious, masked villain working on the equipment, with some unconscious human hostages. They fight, Ryan calls in backup, and then he’s forced to turn over his Virtualizer when the villain threatens the civilians. The villain can then partially use the Virtualizer to transform, which shouldn’t be possible. J.B. and Kaitlin arrive and the villain escapes.

Later, during the debriefing, their boss, Zarysh, reveals that the Eltarians know the villain, but their identify is classified. Zarysh reveals that the villain crossed through from another dimension, and also reveals that Ryan’s father died experimenting with crossing dimensions.

Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.

This first issue is rough around the edges, but otherwise is a pretty fine start. I want to apologize right away for the upcoming rant, because I just want to be very clear on my thoughts on this issue.

The problem is I think this VR Troopers series is going to suffer from spin-off-itis, in that I think it’s just being put out to capitalize on the name brand, like a lot of nostalgia series these days. There’s no reason BOOM! couldn’t have treated this series as respectfully as they do their main Power Rangers series, especially since VR Troopers is a direct tie-in to the very excellent Power Rangers Prime series. But instead of the focus on character that has driven the Power Rangers comic, VR Troopers is much more focused on the story/plot, and it makes for a less interesting series. J.B. and Kaitlin are barely supporting characters in this first issue, and I don’t think Kaitlin’s name is actually said in the dialogue. I had to Google it and/or look at the masthead on the credits page.

The issue is instead more focused on the story, involving this mysterious villain and their, frankly, a little too extreme origin story. So they’re from an alternate dimension, and they’re probably Ryan’s dead father, and we’re already dealing with weird alternate dimension rules being in the Power Rangers Prime Universe. It just felt too much too soon for me. Especially since this first issue doesn’t do anything to explain the VR Troopers at all. This is the first time the VR Troopers have had any new media in 30 years. They’re not a household name/concept like the Power Rangers. And in Prime, they’re secondary antagonists, so they haven’t been the focus.

I just think this first issue could have spent a lot more time introducing the reader to the characters and the very concept of what VR Troopers are supposed to be and why we should care. In the Prime comic, they come off as asshole. So this series should be a great opportunity to round out their characters, either doubling down on the asshole part or giving more depth to why they would oppose the Power Rangers so willingly for their alien overlords.

But wishing the issue was something else is nowhere to review a comic, so what did I think of the issue itself? Like I said, it’s mostly fine. The mystery of the villain is solidly set up and is tied nicely into the VR Troopers themselves, so that’s not nothing. What little we do get of the Troopers as people is good. Kaitlin remains a nothing character, but Ryan got some development in Prime, and J.B. gets a little bit of worthwhile page time here. The fight between Ryan and the villain is mostly solid, but nothing to write home about.

I had some real issues with some confusing artwork at times, and that set me back a bit with the issue. It’s unclear where the hostages suddenly come from in the fight. They’re either barely shown or pushed into the background of the preceding pages, then suddenly they’re enough to stop the fight cold. And at one point, I thought J.B. and Kaitlin were the hostages and somehow I’d missed the villain depowering them and putting a gun to their heads, because of how similar they look as civilians with the hostages. The artwork doesn’t make it very clear that the villain can partially use Ryan’s Virtualizer, and it doesn’t help that very little explanation is given to how Virtualizers work in the first place. So how is the reader supposed to know the difference between it partially working and it simply backfiring? Again, the ins and outs of the VR Troopers are not well known.

And then there’s the page where the villain escapes. It’s just confusing. I’ll show you what I mean.

So the villain says they’re going to fight dirty…but their version of fighting dirty is just teleporting away? How is that fighting dirty? And then what’s that faded orange dude behind Ryan in that one panel? Is that part of the fighting dirty? Did the villain do that or is that something to do with being a VR Trooper? Or is that some mystery that’s being set up for a future issue? I don’t know and it’s never mentioned in the rest of the issue, so if it’s a set-up mystery, it doesn’t do a good job.

That’s my rant on the first issue of VR Troopers. I wanted to be thorough in explaining all my problems with this first issue. I’m pretty certain I watched the show when I was a kid, alongside Power Rangers (and Big Bad Beetleborgs!), but I remember zero details. I’m loving Power Rangers Prime and I really like the idea of taking the antagonist team from that series and giving them their own story. But after reading this first issue, I fear they just wanted to put something out to cash in on the name recognition rather than develop a fully formed series.

TL;DR: This feels more like a quickie spin-off to bank on the brand name than an actual, well-thought-out sister series to Power Rangers Prime.

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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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