My car is freaking out in all sorts of weird ways and I’m not sure what the heck is going on. All I did was change the battery in my key fob. I don’t need this stress! Thankfully, we’ve got new Absolute comics this week to enjoy!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Batman #24 because I liked its energy just a bit more than Absolute Wonder Woman. But how can we complain when we get both in a single week?

Meanwhile, if you enjoy reading my comic book reviews, may I request you take a peek at my own comic book Kickstarter? I review comics every week, and sometimes I put my money where my mouth is and make my own comics! Cover Bard #1 has passed the 50% mark on Kickstarter so we’re looking pretty good if you’d like to snag your own copy to see if I have what it takes to actually write instead of just review comics. Much appreciated!

Comic Reviews: Absolute Batman #24, Absolute Wonder Woman #24 and Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2.

Absolute Batman #24
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Tom Napolitano

We’re still not at the climax of this epic story! The next issue is supposed to be a big one, but this one is pretty big too.

Beaten and battered, Batman retreats to the bat house at the zoo, where all his troubles started. He’s soon visited by his mother, who tells him all about the Court of Owls and what Scarecrow did to them. She gives him all of the intel they ever gathered on Scarecrow, as well as the means to slip into a new identity. Batman uses the info to find that cornfield where Scarecrow came from and ambushes him there, leading to an epic fight. Bruce crucifies him by hanging him up in the field like a regular scarecrow.

Meanwhile, Bruce leads Barbara to a cache of Batman gear so she builds her own costume. Alfred sides with Batman over his spy bosses, giving a nice speech about him. The friend group are convinced by the news that Batman is the bad guy. And we see in a flashback the Absolute version of the iconic “I shall become a bat” scene.

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

This was another issue juggling a lot of different storylines, and while part of me feels it’s not able to give any single one a lot of focus, they still add up to better than their individual parts. I liked the Bruce Wayne stuff the best. I loved the reveal of the “I shall become a bat” moment. That was a fun little wink and nod to classic Batman lore, while updating it to the Absolute Universe. I didn’t see the moment coming, but once it arrives, it settles in nicely in the brain. Then Batman getting his hands on Scarecrow is satisfying. It could have possibly been set up sooner than now that his mother and the Court of Owls had intel on Scarecrow, but it’s fine. Bruce is able to get the jump on him, and once Batman can actually throw hands, he wins. Works for me!

The Barbara Gordon stuff is interesting, but despite all the variant covers and hooplah, all she really does in this issue is get suited up. Honestly, this part of the story feels a little rushed to me. We don’t already have enough going on in this storyline? Heck, even with Tim Drake killed at the end of last issue, the Robins only get, like, three panels in this issue. And we don’t even see Clayface (I think). The Alfred speech is nice and helps to underline the Bruce/Batman scenes. And the friend group seems even sillier when they’re all just sitting in a booth at the local burger joint in their various super villain getups. But there’s no denying that this series still has the energy and excitement behind it, and everything is set up nicely for Batman to take the fight directly to the Joker in the big #25 issue.

TL;DR: There’s a lot going on and a lot to be juggled, but most of it is dynamite and builds to a fun climax in this issue and a potentially very exciting next issue.

Absolute Wonder Woman #24
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

Unlike Batman, here we’re just starting off a new epic story. Still very good.

The giant eye of Zeus has appeared over the city, but Wonder Woman knows that it’s actually Phobos and Deimos, the twin gods of fear. She dispels the eye illusion and confronts the two of them in battle on the streets, but they are able to tap into her fear of Barbara’s fate to win and break free of…something. Not sure. Wonder Woman heads home to prepare to save the city from fear, while the twins seek out a changed Barbara…

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I’m a little disappointed that the amazing visual of Zeus’ giant eyeball over the city was just an illusion that Diana dissipates with a single arrow. That’s a phenomenal look for Absolute Zeus and it’s a bit wasted. But the issue is awesome regardless. The fear twins are not nearly as exciting as villains as either Zeus or Ares would be, but I suppose we can continue to build up to those greater gods. Diana has a great fight with these losers, and Thompson does a great job with their twin dialogue. It’s fun. Sherman also steps up with a series of phenomenal double-page spreads. This issue is all about spectacle and awesomeness,

We’ve already seen Absolute Cheetah in the preview imagery, so her arrival at the end of this issue isn’t as impactful as I suppose it could have been. But I’m very excited to see that come to fruition. This issue does a fine job of reestablishing the importance of the relationship between Diana and Barbara, so I can’t wait to see Diana meet her new villain. Steve Trevor seems to have been left by the wayside in the grander scheme of things, in my opinion, but he gets a fun little scene with Diana in this issue. So everything is being juggled well enough, with some things a lot more exciting than others.

TL;DR: The real excitement is still around the corner, but this issue does an excellent job of giving us some action ahead of the big new villain.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2
Writer: Bryan Hill
Artists: Nico Leon and Valentine De Landro
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit

I’ll try a second issue of this series. Why not?

While on a date with the cute, quirky new foreign exchange student, Miles is pulled away when the hospital is attacked by Revenant. His mom works at the hospital, and is the villain’s target. Spider-Man fights Revenant until the villain charges Spidey up with energy and causes him to explode. We also see the flashback to how Jefferson, working for SHIELD, used Revenant when he was a civilian to get into a Fisk crime ring that SHIELD then busted. Jefferson felt bad about using the guy.

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

Honestly, I’m just not vibing with this series all that much. It’s pretty straight forward and standard. At least the artwork is fantastic. And the writing is solid. I just don’t find myself all that interested in either of the two main stories being told. Personally, I dislike a forced romance storyline, and this comic is weirdly aggressive in terms of making the new girl, Valentina, both super quirky and super into Miles right off the bat. They keep mentioning how her eyes are quirky, but they just look like mostly normal eyes in the artwork. And just…it’s a really aggressive romance so far, with dialogue added about how Miles and his ex are still friends, as if to salve that fan wound. Maybe it’s a factor of comics just not getting a lot of time to grow anymore, and Hill is just diving right in to whatever he wants to accomplish with Valentina. Either way, I don’t care for it.

Also not sold on Revenant yet, even while getting a bit of his backstory here. I hate the name. I hate generic sounding names in comic book villains or characters. He’s a giant, psychic viking dude; come up with a more fun and unique name. But the origin of his hatred for Jefferson is pretty rote. I don’t know Jefferson’s history with SHIELD, but he seems pretty squeamish about doing spy stuff, so maybe Nick Fury should have found someone else for his job? Hopefully the origin of his giant, magic viking self is more interesting. As is it, he’s just a big villain for Spider-Man to bump up against, with a somewhat forced tie to Miles’ personal life. In the grand scheme of things, I wonder how many villains have been tied directly to Miles’ personal life.

TL;DR: While this is definitely a solid comic with good writing and art, the storylines it’s pursuing have yet to really interest me.

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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