Tomorrow is the Super Bowl and I don’t care. I haven’t watched a Super Bowl in years…probably because I’m not invited to any Super Bowl parties. I should look into that and be more social. But instead, I’m just gonna read comics! Like a new Batman with major developments for my favorite Robin!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Superman #16 for an absolutely stellar use of Hawkman. Also, whether you like it or not, I’m going to continue to use “absolutely” when describing anything in the Absolute Universe.

Meanwhile, I’m finally catching up on Picard, which has been an OK watch so far. The Fallout season two finale was solid, but I think I agree with others that this season wasn’t as electrifying as the first. Perhaps the creators have simply settled into the idea that they’ll get multiple seasons to tell their story. I suppose that’s fine. And I’ve moved on to the DLC for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Money is a little tight at the moment and I won’t be splurging on any new video games anytime soon. Gonna have to stretch out this Avatar game as long as I can, then perhaps rely on some of Playstation’s free monthly games. Gotta save up for this fall, when we get Fable, Wolverine and Grand Theft Auto VI back-to-back.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Superman #16 and Batman #6.

Absolute Superman #16
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letterer: Becca Carey

Very excited to see how this new story develops.

We open with the origin of Absolute Hawkman, when he got his mace, wings and powers while searching the tomb of Teth-Adam circa World War II. In the present day, he has confronted Superman to talk, and the issue rides a very fun line of whether or not Hawkman is evil or just pragmatic. He tells Superman that being a superhero is fine, but you’ve got to do it the right way, and that involves working with the Powers That Be (like Lazarus) rather than so openly opposing them. When Superman doesn’t take the lesson to heart, Hawkman gets violent and the two throw down — only to get interrupted by the arrival of a gigantic Absolute Parasite!

Meanwhile, Lois and Jimmy get jobs at the Daily Planet and Brainiac takes matters into his own hands to force Lex Luthor into villainy.

Comic Rating: 9/10 -Great.

I loved loved loved the interaction between Hawkman and Superman this issue! I loved the character’s introduction in the Absolute Evil one-shot, and I love how he’s fleshed out in this issue. He’s established as a superhero who has been fighting bad guys since the Nazis, and claims he’s saved millions if not billions of lives over the decades…but at the same time, he openly works with Lazarus and all those other villains, and he has killed other heroes attempting to oppose them. It’s a neat line to walk, and I like how he interacts with Superman. He’s clearly an old veteran at this game, knows how the sausage gets made, and at least acts like he wants to coach Superman in how to be a ‘proper’ superhero. He’s a well-written curmudgeon, and I love his design. That it all leads to fisticuffs is inevitable. Thankfully, we’ve got Ferreyra doing a fully painted art style to bring that awesomeness to life.

The artwork is gorgeous in this issue! There’s a splash page where Superman punches Hawkman through a building and down through the street, and it’s breathtaking! So the action absolutely delivers. And I love the cliffhanger of setting up the two of them working together to fight Parasite. That should be fun! I just really enjoy when the villains can actually talk with the hero, and that’s exactly what we get with Hawkman here. I also like how he points out that he’s the first real super-powered being he’s had to fist fight, since mostly Supes has been fighting soldiers, robots or Big Bosses. That was a nice touch in an issue full of nice touches.

My only nitpick is with Lois and Jimmy getting immediate jobs with the Daily Planet. I’m a newspaper man myself, and I like the commentary that there’s no way the Daily Planet can maintain that gigantic building with the spinning globe on top. But it’s a little weird that former terrorist Jimmy Olsen and former soldier Lois Lane can just snatch up jobs at the paper.

TL;DR: Much like with Wonder Woman fighting Zatanna, we’ve got Superman fighting Hawkman, and the Absolute Universe continues to make great use of classic characters. Especially when it comes to great artwork.

Batman #6
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterers: Clayton Cowles and Jimenez

Oh man, Bernard sucks even more now. I hope this is going somewhere good…

In the wake of Dr. Zeller finding out that Robin is Bruce Wayne’s son, we find out that she didn’t put together that Bruce Wayne is Batman. So that’s something. Bruce gets grouchy with Damian back at home about it. Hugo Strange sends some new Monster Men out into the city as part of the crime storyline, and Batman has an awesome fight against some of them to save a lady. We also check in with the reporter and the kid with evidence against Vandal Savage. They take it to Harvey Bullock, who tells them to watch their backs. And we find out that Dr. Zeller is using her equipment on the Joker, who is also doing his best to charm her and get info on her meetings with Bruce Wayne. So that’s not good.

The biggest deal of the issue is that they slip in a scene where Tim Drake, uh, quits being Robin. He wants to go off and have a meaningful relationship with Bernard. Bruce accepts without hesitation and they hug it out. Damian is annoyed, though, and also Damian got accepted to college.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

OK, so my reaction to this issue is going to be incredibly biased, and I’ll try to save that biased stuff for the second paragraph. The rest of the issue is fun, but it isn’t anything special. I liked the fight between Batman and the Monster Men, but that was mostly because of Jimenez going all-out with the action artwork. I really think he’s done something just slightly different with the action in these issues. They’re very electric. And I really enjoy Faction and Jimenez doing little bits with Batman’s gear and equipment. I enjoy those. The title of the issue is “The Long Night,” but everything is so kinetic and the issue so full that it doesn’t really feel like a long, exhausting night for Batman. Seems like a pretty typical night. But I’m not holding the title against the issue. It’s a fun, energetic issue that checks in with most of the various ongoing stories.

I like that Dr. Zeller didn’t immediately assume Bruce is Batman. That fits with her character so far. I didn’t like that she was falling for the obvious trap of chatting with Joker. That has been well-established as a bad idea for his psychiatrists at Arkham.

Then there’s the elephant in the room…

Obviously, I need to be patient and wait for this story to play out. Did Faction have such a Robin-heavy start to his series just so he could give Tim one last bit of action before retiring him for good? Faction is a big enough name to be the one to finally graduate Tim Drake to something else. But man, this was poorly done in this issue, and this is the part I’m hugely biased about. Bernard sucks. He’s a wet blanket of a character. And no matter what DC has tried, they can’t seem to come up with any reason why he’s interesting. But all of a sudden, after everything he’s been through, Tim wants to quit so that he can have a happy relationship with Bernard? Even though he’s been juggling Bernard and Robin just fine for a while now. And I’m pretty sure Bernard knows he’s Robin? Didn’t that already happen?

I’m just saying, Bernard continues to be a total void of a character, and now he’s responsible for Tim randomly quitting being Robin. This guy really sucks.

Also, why the heck are they sending Damian to college?! How can they not make Damian in high school work?! That’s the most obvious story in the gorram world! And yet they somehow think college will be better for him? Why not have Tim go to college and that’s why he’s stopping being Robin?! Does that not make infinitely more sense?

TL;DR: All the various storylines in the Batman ongoing click along nicely, with some great art. While I don’t agree with some of the story choices involving the Robins, I’m more than willing to see where these stories are going from here.

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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