Welcome back to another week of comics! I keep realizing that there are a bunch of comics that I enjoyed at one point that I lost track of for one reason or another. I had planned to get caught back up with Void Rivals this week…but it didn’t happen. My bad. Good thing I’m still all-in on the Absolute comics! Or most of them.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Superman #21 for a truly spectacular bout of fisticuffs!

Meanwhile, I went and saw The Odyssey earlier this week and loved it! Such a big, bold, awesome and beautiful movie. I wasn’t as captivated the whole way through like I was with Oppenheimer, but it definitely came together in a very strong and emotional third act. Beyond that, I’m finally winding down on Crimson Desert. Great game. I’m currently finishing up the second season of Monarch, which is fine. And I’m all caught up on Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Superman #21, Absolute Wonder Woman #22 and Amazing Spider-Man #33.

Absolute Superman #21
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Rafa Sandoval and Zander Cannon
Colorist: Ulises Arreola
Letterer: Becca Carey

This big, epic story comes to a big, epic conclusion and it lives up to all the excitement we’ve had so far.

Superman and King Shazam duke it out on the moon like only titans can, with Superman trying everything he can to get Shazam to see reason. The battle finally ends when Superman makes Shazam angry enough to say the magic word and turn back into a slave boy. Then Hawkman shows up and uses the Father Box to teleport Shazam light years away.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Great fight makes for a great issue. Unlike some of the previous issues, this one actually focuses on the mighty blows, and it’s all the better for it. You really feel like it’s a battle between titans. The art team goes all out with the battle, and it just felt bigger and more impactful than your usual superhero fisticuffs. So I had a lot of fun with that part of the issue. This battle has been going on for a few issues now, and this felt like a worthy climax as the two strongest duke it out. So props to everyone involved for that.

Beyond the fight, Aaron readily slips in some good character development stuff here and there. Lois narrates the issue from after the battle, and the narration is a strong hook. It helps the issue flow nicely so that it’s not just one punch after another. And then at the end of the issue, we get a little time jump with Lois explaining the new status quos of various characters. I liked that as well. Made the issue feel a bit more epic overall. And then I liked how all the characters acted, from Superman in the battle, to Shazam as a villain, to Hawkman’s continued awesomeness, to Steel to Lois to Jimmy to Talia; everybody was really on point this issue.

TL;DR: Great fight issue, great character work on the sidelines, and great overall wrap up to this pretty darn epic story.

Absolute Wonder Woman #22
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Dillon Snook
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

Between Absolute Wonder Woman and The Odyssey, the Greek monster Scylla is having quite the week.

Circe has been kidnapped by the monster Scylla, so Wonder Woman does battle with Scylla. She casts a spell linking her life with Circe’s, and that’s enough to get Hecate to step in when Scylla might kill either of them. Scylla leaves, but Hecate is not happy with Diana, who is not happy with Hecate. Mother and daughter regroup at their burned home, where Diana admits how helpless she feels in this moment, with everyone punished for knowing her. Circe helps boost her confidence.

Also, after some convincing, the Cheetah god gets Barbara to agree to its terms.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

This issue is also a big, fun fight and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Wonder Woman goes all out against a giant, mythical monster, and it’s not long until her mother joins in the fray. They use punches, they use magic, they put it all on the line; it’s a great adventure for the pair. And then it ends with a really touching moment between mother and daughter that I also really enjoyed, showing Diana’s emotional side given everything that’s happened. I missed it last issue that all of her animal friends from childhood were killed when Circe was attacked, and that’s pretty sad. This issue does a lot to portray both the badassery of Wonder Woman and her softer, emotional side. That’s a good balance and showcase for a single issue.

The Barbara/Cheetah stuff was good too. I’m not going to look up how to spell that god’s name, because who has the time? But he gave a really convincing argument. I can see why Barbara went through with it, and that definitely boosted that scene. I hope it’s not going to be the same exact thing as mainline Cheetah…but maybe it will be? I dunno. I really enjoyed the Cheetah & Cheshire Rob the Justice League comic, which had a lot of Cheetah/god stuff in it, and I just hope the Absolute version is something different. But I’ll live with it if it’s not. I just look forward to see how the character goes forward from here. Thompson has done a great job setting her up for this.

TL;DR: Great stories for both Wonder Woman and Cheetah this issue, wrapping up a quick but important two-parter.

Shorter Reviews

Amazing Spider-Man #33 by Joe Kelly, Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, Marcio Menyz and VC’s Joe Caramagna

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

Like most issues in Joe Kelly’s current Amazing Spider-Man run, the new issue is mostly fine. It’s reasonably fine. It’s a nice mellow sort of fine. It’s full of classic Peter Parker elements and characters, and some quality Spider-Man action, but nothing that has happened in this entire comic has really risen above being just fine. I’m not sure why, but I have at least one theory: there is no foundation to this comic. Everyone in Peter Parker’s life, or Spider-Man’s life for that matter, is ephemeral. He’s already lost the new job he got in this run, and he barely spent any time at the actual job or getting to know the new supporting characters that came with it. So they just don’t matter. He had a girl he was seeing, but she’s long gone. And his new space girlfriend feels like she’s just hanging around until he inevitably dumps her for whatever cliche reasons that exist for Peter Parker to do anything. Aunt May is still around, but she’s also got a random new boyfriend who exists for some reason. None of it really matters. Nothing in Peter Parker’s life really matters. And if nothing matters, there’s no drama to play up. There are no stakes. So in the end…it’s just the Amazing Spider-Man going through the motions that Spider-Man/Peter Parker are required to go through.

Peter Parker can’t keep a girlfriend and Peter Parker can’t keep a job and Peter Parker is flaky to his loved ones because those are the tropes of modern day Peter Parker. And if he can’t keep all of those things…then he can’t keep a foundational supporting cast that matters. It’s been a long, long time since Peter was reliably taking photographs for the Daily Bugle, butting heads with J. Jonah Jameson and being in love with Mary Jane Watson.

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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