Comic reviews might have to take a back seat to life coming up next month. I’ve got a big project at work that is going to keep me busy around the clock! But we’ll see what I can get done. Until then, we’ve got a big, fun pile of comics this week, including Wonder Woman and X-Men!

Comic of the Week goes to Absolute Wonder Woman #12 for an absolutely perfect issue of this series. Kelly Thompson and her creative team are making this look easy.

Meanwhile, I watched the finale for Alien Earth this week and am mostly just whelmed. I’ve never been a big Alien franchise guy, but I liked the show well enough. Nothing special. I did really enjoy Haunted Hotel on Netflix, a new cartoon with 10 easy breezy episodes to get through if you’re into that sort of thing. And then my progress in Silksong has stalled because I can’t get past a couple of very early mini-bosses. I’m trying my best, gosh darnit! Fortunately, reviews for Ghost of Yokei are positively glowing, so perhaps I’ll grab that next week.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Wonder Woman #12, Black Cat #2, Void Rivals #23, Wonder Woman #25 and X-Men #22.

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Absolute Wonder Woman #12
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

Is Absolute Wonder Woman the best comic in the Absolute line? Yes, yes it is.

Wonder Woman has armed herself with the Trident of Poseidon in order to battle Clea, who is revealed to be from Atlantis. They do battle while Wonder Woman’s friends escape through her portal. But the battle ends with Wonder Woman revealing the hole to the ocean that Io’s people dug, and how Clea can use that to get back to her people. Wonder Woman chooses compassion!

But when she rejoins her escaped friends, she finds out that Io was teleported away immediately after stepping through the portal. Where did she go? Why, to Themyscira, of course! Which is big, beautiful and bursting with living Amazons!

Comic Rating: 10/10 – Fantastic.

This is an absolutely perfect issue of Absolute Wonder Woman. No notes. It builds upon and then ties off everything we’ve seen in this maze story so far, while then also expanding the series in big, unexpected ways. And on top of all that, this series continues to deliver a heroic champion in its main character. Wonder Woman gives Clea a chance to prove she’s not as evil as she seems, hoping that confinement turned her into a monster. Who doesn’t love it when a superhero hopes for the best out of their villains? It’s a big, heroic moment for Wonder Woman and it totally works in this issue.

And then everything else around that heroic confrontation is awesome as well! Ferdinand gets a moment to shine, Io gets to be cool, there’s mystery about her disappearance and some awesome, gentle scenes in response. So many little things happen in this issue that contribute to the whole; it’s wonderful. And then the reveal that Hippolyta and Themyscira are still around is pretty darn cool. It’s pretty much a reversal of expectations. I definitely thought Amazons would be extinct in this series, just by the nature of the Absolute Universe. But nope! They’re alive, they’re thriving, and now we’ve got so much more for Wonder Woman to experience! Should be fun.

Oh, also, I found this out late: there’s a post-credits scene that knocks all the socks off! Huzzah!

TL;DR: This second major storyline wraps up in truly epic and heroic fashion. Much more personal and human than before, while still being equally wonderful.

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Black Cat #2
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Gleb Melnikov
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer; VC’s Joe Caramagna

I’m not really feeling this series all that much, at least not after two issues.

Black Cat and her crew are now fighting crime, and they target some mafia goons running a side business stealing from vampires. Felicia warns the mooks at first, then goes to stop them directly when they don’t drop their schemes. She has to fight a vampire. And then Daredevil shows up to help, since they’re in Hell’s Kitchen. Also, she becomes internet famous at the end.

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

I think my biggest problem with this series so far is its connection to the wider Marvel Universe, which is a weird gripe, I know, but it keeps coming up. In the current Amazing Spider-Man series, Peter Parker is gone and Norman Osborn is filling in as the web-slinger. This is, apparently, a major impetus to Felicia deciding to fight crime…but it also implies that Spider-Man is the only crime-fighter in New York City. Or that the lack of OG Spidey is somehow causing crime to change. I just don’t buy it, even as they keep bringing it up. Feels forced. As does the idea that Tombstone and Sandman have nothing better to do with their time than spy on and plot against Black Cat, just because she’s got a solo series now.

The issue itself is pretty good. I like Black Cat’s personality and attitude, though I would like to see more civilian stuff. The general character writing is fun. The crime she chooses to try to stop feels a bit random, but perhaps that’s the point. It all flows well enough. And I really like the artwork. So the general construction of the comic is solid. There are just parts of the storytelling that are ringing hollow for me and putting me off.

TL;DR: All the building blocks are here for a good comic, but there are just some tonal issues I’m finding a bit off with the new Black Cat series.

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Void Rivals #23
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Conor Hughes
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Rus Wooton

Has everything been leading to this moment?! Yeah, maybe.

Unity has arrived and all peoples on both sides of the battle are suddenly overcome with a white light…and then a blinding pain! The Unity is a trick! Everybody, and their world, is going to be sacrificed for the emergence! Darak and Solila rally everybody to go their separate ways and stop the Unity, which stops the emergence. Zerta Trion — who, I guess, is actually a bad guy — is not happy with Solila!

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

My only gripe with this issue is how quickly everybody suddenly turns against Zerta Trion. We’ve had issue upon issue of build up to her and what it all means…and then the emergence causes a bit of damage, and all of a sudden we’re told that she was lying and that Unity is bad. It flips on a dime. I found it a little jarring, especially since the fix is just having everybody get back on their ships and go home. I’m ready for Void Rivals to hit the gas and deal with the big stuff! And it is indeed big! Hughes and his art team do a phenomenal job with the scope of the emergence! They make it really, really big! Which, again, is poorly contrasted against how small the change feels. But perhaps that’s just a me problem. The storytelling, character work and artwork remain top notch!

TL;DR: The big moment has arrived in Void Rivals, but it’s immediately undercut by some storytelling choices that felt a bit off.

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Wonder Woman #25
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Daniel Sampere, with Jorge Fornes
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles

And just like that, some cats show up in this mouse story and everything is better now. That is not a metaphor.

The mother of the young girl is injured, but she’s still too scared to speak to Diana to help her find a doctor. Fortunately, a bunch of teen girls dressed as punk cats show up, capable of speaking broken English, and this comic jumped up several notches for me. They take Diana and the girl to their underground HQ (fighting a giant rat in the sewers along the way), and there’s an emotional moment where Wonder Woman says she feels unmoored after losing Steve and can’t join their rebellion. They take her to Emelie and her baby.

Meanwhile, we see several shocking flash forwards to the upcoming reign of the Matriarch!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I was very vocal about how I didn’t like the “Mouse Have Ears” gimmick in the first issue of this story, and I stand by that. But now that we’ve seen the story play out, and we’ve seen what King does with that gimmick, I am now fully on board with this insane and awesome story. The moment a couple of rebels showed up dressed like cats and speaking broken English, as if they’d manage to break through the catch phrase madness, I was hooked! It’s a shame a couple of them died taking Wonder Woman and the girl’s family to their HQ. That seemed a little shocking. But whatevs. We got an awesome scene of Wonder Woman stepping up, defeating a giant rat and being a hero. Still not sure that she should have brought her own baby on this quest though…

I loved how this issue started to build up Diana as a hero, while also noting that she’s not here to fight a rebellion, and she’s actually acting rather recklessly due to her loss. It’s a nice balance and a nice character story. I also really enjoy the development of the girl sidekick she’s picked up, and how the child actually manages to speak words by the end. Again, I really, really didn’t care for the gimmick in that first issue and would have liked some understanding right off the bat. Now that the understanding is here, now that it’s something the heroes have to fight through, I’m really digging the development.

Also, all the Matriarch stuff is great. I love the through line of Emelie in this comic, from kicking everything off in the first issue, to now being a major player with a baby, and then that baby being a villain in the future. That whole story idea is working well for me.

TL;DR: Everything about Mouse World snaps into place for me (though probably not everything, I’m sure I’m missing some subtext), and I’m now fully on board with this weird and awesome story. New characters, new concepts and some acts of true heroism are highlights this issue.

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X-Men #22
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: C.F. Villa
Colorist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

The Age of Revelation is right around the corner and I don’t know if I’m going to indulge. But I can say farewell to the current X-Men comic for now, at least.

Ahead of the big crossover, the Alaska X-Men sort out some of their issues, enjoy a little downtime, and welcome Cypher and his crew to the team. Cyclops sorts out his issues with the sheriff and gets out of jail. Psylocke wonders what to do with their prisoner, Trevor Fitzroy. Beast, Juggernaut and Jen react to Juggernaut killing Ocelot last issue. And some other stuff.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

I’m a sucker for comics where the characters get to hang out, shoot the breeze and act like people. So I really enjoyed this very grounded issue, which is mostly about characters talking to one another, hanging out at base and dealing with normal stuff. From Jen and Paul painting the base while talking about their situations, to Glob updating Juggernaut on their food stocks, to Cyclops sorting out issues with the sheriff, it was all enjoyable. This team isn’t exactly the most memorable X-Men lineup of all time, and I don’t know how it will be perceived by history, but I’m enjoying myself considerably. MacKay does a great job with the character stuff, and that’s largely what I’m here for. I wish I’d kept reading his Avengers comic, which often crosses over with this X-Men series.

Anyway, we’ll see how the X-Men pick up the pieces after the Age of Revelation.

TL;DR: Nice little downtime issue ahead of a big, multi-month crossover. I love it when characters get to just hang out and be people for an issue.

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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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