Not a lot going on this week and I didn’t post much. I really need to turn that around. But I tweaked my back yesterday and the pain really stopped any sort of anything from happening. Still read some good comics though, like Superman and Void Rivals.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Martian Manhunter for a wild and crazy first arc finale!

Meanwhile, I binged both the new season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Long Story Short this past week. Sunny is always a hoot, and Long Story Short — from the creators of my favorite show, BoJack Horseman — lived up to all the hype and hope I had for it! Such a wonderful show! I cannot wait for future seasons!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Martian Manhunter #6, Superman #29, Void Rivals #22 and X-Men #21.

Absolute Martian Manhunter #6
Writer: Deniz Camp
Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

We come to the end of the first planned story arc and it’s as wild and crazy as one might expect.

Chaos reigns! John is fighting off some goons, the Martian is incapacitated and some villain with the powers of the White Martian is stalking Bridget and Tyler in their home. John gets his act together, the Martian helps him take out the goons and then they go and save his family — but the White Martian has infected the whole town! And let’s just say…it’s wild, yo. Also heroic and tragic and cliffhangery!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Things are little crazy and hard to grasp as the beginning of the issue, but they come together very strongly when the story picks up and then it’s a triumph! Camp has a lot of fun with the battle between the Green and White martians, coming up with the sort of fights that two existential beings might have. And then Rodriguez does his normal insanity with this comic, creating visuals we haven’t seen in this medium possibly ever. And, again, may I highlight the coloring choices! The differences between the two Martians and their fighting colors is quite epic and quite insane to see on the page.

We also get a lot of good work with John and his family. That has been a nicely brewing subplot, and it’s cool as hell to see Bridget step up and be a damn hero. Bridget and Tyler have been strong supporting characters and I’m glad to see them come into their own with this issue. Granted, Tyler’s storyline is a bit more dire, but I’m sure it will lead to some great storytelling going forward.

TL;DR: The first story arc of Absolute Martian Manhunter goes out with all sorts of bangs, exactly as one has come to expect with this title. The storytelling, artwork and, especially, the coloring are next level comics.

Superman #29
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Ariana Maher

This story is getting a little bit complicated, but I’m still hanging on, I think.

Superman and Superboy Prime heads to the future to team up with the Legion of Super-Heroes and rescue Booster Gold — though apparently Darkseid’s machinations have erased Booster from Superman’s memory. When they arrive, they find a battlefield of dead Legionnaires, having missed the battle with the Evil Legion. They find some survivors and stage a rescue attempt on Booster, but it’s a trap!

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This issue was a lot of fun because Williamson found a very strong distinction between the voices of Superman and Superboy Prime, and then sent them on a wild adventure through time and space. Prime has a fun habit of breaking the fourth wall, sometimes literally, and I found that really worked in his favor as a character and as something to propel the story. Whatever baggage the character may have, I’m more than willing to set it aside to enjoy this new story for what it is, and I find it rather fun to have him join the fray. And what a fray!

Creating a new reboot of the Legion and making them evil is a great way to give Darkseid a powerful army for this big, overall storyline. And they are quite dastardly. We’ve only seen the main three so far, and this issue we get some great reveals of more classic members. We also got a Polar Boy appearance! He’s my favorite Legion character! So that was fun. Anyway, this issue is mostly about throwing Superman into the deep end, with the snarky Superboy Prime at this side, and it all worked splendidly. The danger is ramping up and the world is getting wilder, and this issue takes us right into the middle of it all.

TL;DR: There’s a lot going on in Superman comics these days, but the creative team handles it with aplomb and keeps the story moving nicely along. The characters are especially a lot of fun.

Void Rivals #22
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Conor Hughes
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Rus Wooton

Easily and effortlessly emerged as my favorite part of the Energon Universe.

The battle continues at epic proportions, as the Zertonian army tries to conquer the Agorrians to achieve unity. Everybody’s fighting! Solila takes on Proximus. Are they brother and sister? I don’t remember. Anyway, the battle comes to an end when everybody’s forehead crystal starts to glow and cause them all intense pain.

Meanwhile, Skuxxoid meets Skuxxoid Alpha and finds out that he’s likely the first ever division, so perhaps Skuxxoid Beta. They talk, but Alpha won’t tell him what happened to their family.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I don’t know what it is about Void Rivals, but I am very bad at keeping track of the minor details like character names, relationships and planets. I’ve only just really memorized Darak and Solila. Anyway, Solila and Proximus have a conversation where she clearly knows more about him than he knows about her. Are they related?! Have I simply forgotten that? It’s possible. All of this is to say that an issue like this can get a little confusing when the story is one big, hectic battle scene. It’s a fun battle scene, and Kirkman knows how to deliver standout moments to help keep the pacing and action under control. But it’s also somewhat of a big mush. Still cool.

And, as always, Skuxxoid continues to have the best storyline in the entire Energon Universe. I love how Robert Kirkman scanned over the entire Transformers history, picked out this random bad guy and has now sent him on a truly magnificent adventure. Here he is meeting the equivalent of his father, king and god, and said being refuses to answer the most important, emotional questions of existence. For Skuxxoid!

Optimus Prime is great and all, but have you read about Skuxxoid?

TL;DR: Despite all the characters, all the battling, all the plot, this comic remains a fun and exciting read.

X-Men #21
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Netho Diaz
Inkers: Sean Parsons with JP Mayer & Livesay
Colorist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Time for my favorite new X-Person to shine!

Jen Starkey is feeling down in the dumps because Hank is somewhat rejecting her advances after they had a sweet time at the Hellfire Vigil. She opens up to Quentin about her past feelings of loneliness and why she joined the X-Men. Then they locate Trevor Fitzroy and the Upstarts, the ones who tried to kidnap her in the first place, and Magik, Juggernaut, Quentin and Jen go kick their butts! It’s a tough fight, and they win when Jen unleashes a new reptile mode.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Out of all the new mutants introduced in From the Ashes, I still think Jen Starkey has been my favorite. I just liked the classic storytelling idea of the X-Men saving a mutant from bad guys and then she slowly but surely joins the crew. This issue finally highlights her story and why she stuck with the X-Men after being attacked, and I can’t wait to see more of her backstory…should she stick around. We all know how well new mutants stick around. But Jen is cool, and she gets a very awesome display of her powers in this issue when she goes reptilian! Good times, there.

I’m also a big fan of using O-Force again, so that was a hoot…even if I think they mostly end the issue dead. Still, MacKay is a champ for finding some random, weirdo mutants and revitalizing them into his new Upstarts, and picking from X-Statix is a great choice! We all want more of those random X-Statix mutants to be seen again! And it’s good to know X-Men is the sort of comic that can put those characters to better use than rotting away in comic book limbo. Who ever thought we’d see Orifice or Orb or Ocelot again?!

Hopefully the same fate does not behalf Jen Starkey…

TL;DR: My favorite new mutant of the From the Ashes era gets a spotlight issue and I’m pleased as peach.

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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