What a fun week for comics and comic book fans. We’re all still basking in the glory of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, of X-Men casting news, and all sorts of other good things. Yet didn’t review the new Spider-Man comic…that’s on me. Anyway, I did review some good stuff like Absolute Superman and Batman.

Comic Book of the Week goes to The Deadman #3 for a truly marvelous artistic experience.

Meanwhile, I’ve finally, at long last, wrapped up my time in Crimson Desert. I squeezed at least 3 to 4 months out of that game. Had a great time. Loved the whole thing. It would probably be my game of the year…except we’ve still got Wolverine and Grand Theft Auto 6 coming out. Beyond that, I’ve started the second season of Batman: Caped Crusader, and that’s going fine. And if you haven’t seen my review, I absolutely loved Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

I’ve also spent the past week arguing on Reddit that a certain character at the end of the film did NOT get their memories back. I feel like I’ve been taking crazy pills at how many people online seem to think that’s what happened. It’s insane! Come at me in the comments!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Superman #22, Batman #12, The Deadman #3, Iron Man #8 and Uncanny X-Men #33.

Absolute Superman #22
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letterer: Becca Carey

Personally, I think it will be perfectly natural for Absolute Superman to cameo in the Absolute Batman cartoon. We don’t need a cartoon series for every Absolute character.

Superman looks into a Brainiac lab in Argentina and gets walloped by Absolute Metallo, who is the latest transformation of Peacemaker Christopher Smith. Superman fights a villain with Kryponite blood through the streets, all while doing his best to reach Smith on a personal level. It eventually works, but Brainiac gets away.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I very much enjoyed this issue, which feels like a solid done-in-one. It’s an extended fight scene, but one that works very well through the writing and the artwork. Ferreyra is back as the fill-in artist, and once again, this book is painted gorgeousness. Every page feels inventive and beautiful. I’d share the whole darn book if I could. So many clever and fantastic double-page spreads that not only show off the action but really play with the setting and showcase the characters. And a great job is done with the freaky faces of Brainiac and Metallo, especially against the heroic visage of Superman. Good stuff all around on the artwork.

The story is good, too. It’s a great piece on the humanity and empathy of Superman. He’s no longer the rough, angry kid from the opening storyline. He does a great job getting through to Smith, through the radiation poisoning and the pain. I don’t necessarily think the art matches just how gruesome Aaron describes Superman’s injuries, but that’s not even a nitpick, just an observation. The writing really gets to the heart of Superman, especially the ending. And it’s also just a nice introduction to Absolute Metallo.

TL;DR: Really enjoyable story gets to the heart of Superman in a done-in-one, while also introducing a new Absolute version of a classic baddie.

Batman #12
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterers: Clayton Cowles and Jimenez

It’s a Verity Pennyworth world and we’re just living in it.

Verity Pennyworth has arrived at Wayne Manor to assist with all things Batman-related. She’s Alfred’s great-niece, trained by him and the Society of the Midnight Keys in all things superhero butlering. But she’s only part of the story. Several international assassins have arrived in Gotham to ply their trade, and they might be coming for Bruce Wayne. Verity proves her worth by anonymously hiring two of them to go after one another, which leads to an awesome fight with them and Batman in an elevator. Good times.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

This issue was a bit all over the place, to its detriment. We introduce a bunch of new deadly assassins, we get little snippets with Joker and Minotaur that are either just slightly confusing or intentionally vague, and then we’ve got this whole Verity thing. I’m going to call it right now: she’s a bad guy of some kind. We’re told in the issue that Alfred explained her arrival to Bruce in his post-death paperwork…but we’re told that by Mind Alfred, who is just in Bruce’s mind. Bruce hasn’t seen the paperwork himself. So I feel like that might be an unreliable narrator thing? How would Mind Alfred know what’s in paperwork that Bruce hasn’t look at yet? So that’s my working theory. I just don’t like her yet. Rather than just bring Alfred back, we’ve got a hot, young blonde lady who is immediately perfect? That’s a trap.

The rest of the issue is still, like I said, a bit all over the place. We get introduced to nearly half a dozen new assassins all at once, each with their own little scene. I really enjoyed the bit with the luchadores. And then we do get an awesome elevator fight, with two assassins fighting one another and Batman trying to get in between them. So the issue has one great, anchoring action scene. But I’m getting a little lost in the weeds as to what the Minotaur is up to and how it ties into these assassins, if at all. So there are a lot of balls in the air, and since a lot of them involve brand new characters, it’s not so easy to remember every single name and every single connection.

TL;DR: The new issue is a bit all over the place, and not just because of the big new character introduction.

The Deadman #3
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon

I skipped the previous issue of The Deadman because I think it was a busy week. But I’m fully on board with this crazy series.

Deadman and his sidekick, Bobby, travel into Hell, where they must pass through the various rings, for which Prince and especially Morazzo just go insane with the art styles. Seriously, it’s madness, which is quite fitting for Hell. They finally visit with Lucifer to ask him about the demons on Earth, and Deadman is also upset because the soul he saved from Hell in issue #1 is actually in Hell and being tortured. Lucifer gives them the business and they return to Earth, with Deadman quite angry at what he’s learned.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I will never be able to put into appropriate words how damn cool this issue is. The Deadman was already a very art-driven book. It’s very creative, very inventive, breaks the Fourth Wall in very interesting ways, and just does a lot to go above and beyond. I consider myself a very meat and potatoes comic book writer. This stuff is several levels above me to a vast degree. And then we get this issue. I couldn’t imagine half of this stuff on my best day. I wonder if any of it is based on existing depictions of Hell. Obviously we’ve got Dante’s Inferno in the mix, and classic stuff like Cerberus. But what else? And what did Prince and Morazzo come up with whole cloth? It’s gorgeous and it’s madness and it makes for a very fun trip through Hell.

Storywise, everything remains fun and entertaining. Deadman remains a cool character at the heart of this book. I don’t know very much about his previous characterizations and it doesn’t matter. This book could completely redefine him, for all I care. And it’s doing a fine job of defining him. Having his sidekick along helps keep the conversation and explanations flowing. And Lucifer is written quite fun. I like where everything is going, and the story feels nicely tied to Deadman and the Afterlife and stuff like that. And I would very much enjoy just seeing him take a trip through all manner of Afterlife and religious ideas.

TL;DR: You’re likely not to find a more artistically driven comic from the Big Two these days, and the creative team knocks it out of the park in that regard.

Shorter Reviews

Iron Man #8 by Joshua Williamson, Carmen Carnero, Nolan Woodard and VC’s Joe Caramagna

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good

I was enjoying Williamson’s Iron Man just fine, but dropped it for a couple of issues for reasons I don’t remember. Well I got caught back up, and this issue has kicked off a new story, and it’s pretty fun. More of the same quality writing as we had before. Williamson is good at reviving old villains and giving them some new life in a fairly straight forward comic. I adored what he was doing with Superman over at DC, but it’s not clicking the same way with Iron Man for some reason. But still, it’s all good fun, with solid writing around Tony Stark and solid superheroics. I wish we spent more time getting to know his new students, though. They need some fleshing out…but then we’re also only on issue #8.

Uncanny X-Men #33 by Gail Simone, Luciano Vecchio, Matthew Wilson and VC’s Clayton Cowles

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

I’ve been getting a lot of Gail Simone Facebook posts recently for some reason, and she said this issue was a good jumping on point. I’ve always wanted to get caught back up on her Uncanny, because I dropped it for my usual dumb reasons. But then I realized the last issue I read was #9…and we’re up to #33. So…that’s gonna be a lot of reading. Anyway, I jumped into this issue and it’s solid. I’m a little disappointed to see that not much of the status quo has changed over 20+ issues, but I suppose that’s fine. Everyone is written well, the action seems solid, the characters work together nicely, Rogue is a strong protagonist. I don’t think I’ve been missing much, other than a good, wholesome X-Men family story. I still wanna get fully caught up though…

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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