Welcome to my birthday weekend! I’ve no big plans. Maybe see my folks. Treat myself to some nice food. I’m gonna buy the Wolverine video game for myself in two weeks. And then I’ve got good comics, like Absolute Superman and Daredevil.

Comic Book of the Week goes to Legion of Super-Heroes #1 for an excellent relaunch of this classic comic.

Meanwhile, I’m greatly enjoying Star Wars: Zero Company. It’s X-Com by way of Star Wars, which is exactly what I wanted. I’m just worried it’s gonna be over too soon with no endless mode — but then I’ll replace it with Wolverine, so I’ll be fine. Beyond games, I finished up the third season of Silo and enjoyed it, and I’m also currently making my way through the newest season of King of the Hill. So I’m in a good place, media and pop culture wise.

Also, stay tuned for a big announcement on one of my own comic projects soon! It’s far past time I introduced my readers to Cover Bard!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Superman #23, Daredevil #6, The Deadman #4 and Legion of Super-Heroes #1.

Absolute Superman #23
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letterer: Becca Carey

I had to go back and double check the first appearance of Toyman. There exists enough Absolute Universe material that I’m forgetting some of it from before!

In his search for Brainiac, Superman ends up on a search for Toyman, who is assisting Brainiac. He eventually finds a laboratory where Toyman was turning people into living dolls to be sold to rich clients. Superman gets angrier than he’s ever been and the Omega Men get him a list of all those rich clients. Superman flies around the world taking their wealth and toys and either giving it to the poor or destroying it. He eventually finds Toyman and, in battle, injures the man quite severely. For a moment, Clark hesitates in getting him to a hospital. Clark realizes that this hesitation is what Brainiac wants, for Clark to be pushed too far.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

The first half of this issue is pretty standard. We’re playing cat and mouse with Brainiac, and the story isn’t ready for that final confrontation, so Superman spends an issue a few steps behind the villain. It was alright. The artwork is excellent. The visuals are great. Even when Clark finds the human dolls, the issue is solid. Who doesn’t like the idea of just using Superman’s powers to take wealth away from the horrible billionaires of the world? But then we get to the moment where Clark hesitates to immediately save Toyman, and the issue rises a notch. The true purpose is revealed and I really felt that. Aaron built up to it nicely. It’s the idea that Brainiac is trying to force Clark to cross a line, that Brainiac is throwing the worst possible depths of humanity at this alien in the hopes that it breaks him. And that’s just a pretty darn cool wrinkle to this ongoing story. And it really helped tie off this issue with enhanced stakes and themes.

Also, quick note, I don’t think we saw a scene where Clark saved those living dolls, unless I missed a page. Or they were too far gone to save…

Double Also, not every Absolute comic can be about fighting the billionaire class…can it?

TL;DR: What starts as a somewhat standard issue comes together nicely with a big thematic payoff in the end.

Daredevil #6
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Flaviano
Colorist: Rico Renzi
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher

New storyline begins here!

Matthew Murdock is juggling being a law school professor, doing his Daredevil thing and hitting on that super hot co-worker of his. Then the Owl stages a hostage situation to draw him out and fill him in on a mysterious new crime artifact that’s about to kick off a gang war featuring the usual named gang boss villains. For example, Daredevil gets into a scuffle with Silvermane.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

The new Daredevil storyline has started, so I’m able to cast off my qualms about Omen, but this issue is more of just a starting/set-up issue than anything really to sink one’s teeth into. It even includes a montage of big events still to come this ‘season,’ like the first episode of a TV show. To that extent, it’s solid and does its job. We’re introduced to the new MacGuffin and are given a taste of Daredevil fighting some crime bosses. I’m pretty sure Amazing Spider-Man did a similar gang war with similar characters (Tombstone especially) not too long ago, but I didn’t read that so Daredevil gets a slight pass. The new art style has a bit of a cartoony flair, and that helps with the superhero action and villainy. So I’m interested to see where this goes. Ain’t nothing wrong with a gang war story when the gangsters involved are comic book super-villains.

I both like and dislike the civilian stuff in this issue. I’m all in favor of actually having Matt Murdock be a somewhat successful law school professor. One of my biggest gripes with the current Amazing Spider-Man comic is that Peter Parker isn’t allowed to have a consistent, steady day job anymore. It robs a superhero of a grounded foundation. This issue gives us scenes with Matt’s top student and his love interest, and a little one with Foggy Nelson. A grounded foundation is a necessity. A good and entertaining supporting cast is a necessity. And this issue does a lot to build that foundation. I’m just not personally vibing with it. I’ve never been a fan of the ‘forced’ love interest. Matt Murdock has a super hot, super badass new co-worker? Wonder what’s gonna happen there.

Also, Matt was running late for office hours and she had class in a few minutes, but she still invites him on a walk that apparently went out of the building, and yet she also then, minutes later, notes that they both have to be some where. Why did you invite him for an entire walk?

TL;DR: New storyline kicks off not so much with a bang, but definitely not a whimper either. New artist does a solid job of matching the energy of what could be an exciting story.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

I wish I had the time, energy and money to read all the fun new comics coming out of DC. I’m apparently missing out on a pretty great Zatanna comic. But I wasn’t going to miss this high profile Legion of Super-Heroes revival!

R.J. Brande, the richest person in the galaxy, has been murdered in the street on Earth. PI Brainiac 5, and his sidekick, Matter-Eater-Lad, are on the case. They search Brande’s office and find his hand-written notes on the revival of superheroes (which have been outlawed), and we check in on the main three Legion members: Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl in their current civilian lives. By the end of the issue, both the reader and Brainiac have discovered Brande’s killer and how that person connects to our young heroes!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

On the one hand, it’s a little by-the-numbers, but they are great numbers and this is a great first issue. By ‘by-the-numbers,’ I mean this is a pretty straight forward Legion reboot. We’ve got the main three, we’ve got a murder mystery, and the big reveal at the end ties it all together in solid narrative fashion. This isn’t some insane rework of the Legion concept or characters — unless you count the artwork — and I’m perfectly fine with that. I don’t need an insane rework. And if the writing and artwork are this damn good, a by-the-numbers Legion reboot should work just fine. All of the characters already seem interesting. Everyone has their own little corner of the world, their own thing going on. Brainy and Matter-Eater-Lad are a hoot. And the Brande mystery does indeed have a nice twist at the end, which is perfectly set up earlier in the issue, and has ties to classic Legion stories. Not only is this issue by-the-numbers, but it is also quite text book.

So, the artwork is spectacular. Hayden Sherman has been a rising star at DC, delivering an absolutely stellar Absolute Wonder Woman comic. I first discovered Sherman in Scott Snyder’s Comic Writing 101 class, where Snyder has recruited Sherman to do his Dark Spaces: Wildfire comic, which I reviewed on this blog. Sherman came to guest speak at one of the classes, which are all virtual. So it’s no surprise that Snyder brought Sherman along for both the Absolute Universe and DC’s All In. And Sherman simply knocks it out of the park with this issue. On some level, the artwork is madness. Sherman is given free reign, it would seem, to just go nutso with the borders and paneling. That works gangbusters for a book like Legion, which is supposed to be futuristic and weird. And then Sherman just goes to town with both the main character designs, which are perfect, and the futuristic worlds in which they inhabit. The crime scene is chock full of alien bystanders and looky-loos. It’s going to be wild to see Sherman maintain both this book and Absolute Wonder Woman…More power to him, for sure.

TL;DR: If you’re a fan of the Legion, or even not, this new relaunch is both a straight forward reboot and something truly special and satisfying. Off to a great start.

Shorter Reviews

The Deadman #4 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran and Good Old Neon

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

This was another excellent issue, even if it wasn’t as artistic and wild as the trip to Hell. Boston Brand remains such a likable dude in this series and I love seeing him interact with the bureaucracy of the afterlife. I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t actually get to meet God, because I’m often annoyed how fiction is so afraid to touch Christian religious figures like God and Jesus. But I’m also pretty sure that the angel secretary was God, so it all works out in the end. Deadman has a nice trip through Heaven and we got a nice comic book out of it. Then we get a really wild cliffhanger ending, so bonus points!

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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