Happy Halloween! This is my favorite holiday of the year because I love the pageantry and silliness of it all. Unfortunately, I don’t have any kids of my own and never get any trick-or-treaters, so I don’t usually get to even indulge. Oh well. At least candy will be half off at the store tomorrow. And at least we’ve got some great comics to read, like Absolute Batman and my return to Void Rivals!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Absolute Wonder Woman #25 because it’s just a more engaging milestone issue than Absolute Batman #25. I’m not afraid to say it.

Meanwhile, I watched President Curtis this week, the Rick & Morty spin-off, and it was a hoot! Great cast, great premise and sharply written, with the exact sort of dry humor and dialogue I enjoy. I also flew through the new season of Slow Horses. Love that show. And I loved Wildwood last week! Great film! I’m really having a blast with stuff to watch these days.

Comic Reviews: Absolute Batman #25, Absolute Wonder Woman #25, Daredevil #8, Amazing Spider-Man #1002, Superman #43 and Void Rivals #35.

Absolute Batman #25
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Nick Dragotta
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: Tom Napolitano

Let’s kick things off with Absolute Batman because it comes first in alphabetical order! This is the big one! Hailed by everybody from Snyder to DC as a true milestone! And it’s mostly that.

Batman heads to Grimm Manor to confront the Joker head on, only to find his friends, Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler and Croc. They’ve all been recently approached by Grimm and convinced that he’s not only a legit guy, but that he wants to help Bruce get treatment. Batman turns from his friends and flees from the police, only to fall down a pit directly into the cave, where Joker taunts him and transforms into his full demon form for a fight! Joker is about to win when Barbara “The Bat” Gordon shows up to make the save and escape. She rushes Bruce to Harley for medical help, with Harley having returned following a final plea from Alfred. And boy, does Harley have a big secret to reveal to Bruce…

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think Absolute Batman #25 lives up to the hype that was promised. This is the first real confrontation between Batman and the Joker. This is the culmination of seven issues of comics, the biggest storyline yet! This is the turning point for Absolute Batman! But, ultimately, the fight with Joker doesn’t last very long, there are no new big reveals about him. The friend group is still in pretty much the same place they’ve always been. And other than one helluva final page twist, I don’t feel like this issue had any other big moments. The Robins don’t even appear, despite getting such a big launch in this storyline. And Batman and his allies are all, pretty much, in the same place they were at the start of the issue. Only now Batman knows a tiny bit more about Joker. So I guess I was just expecting some bigger story swings. Some bigger changes to the status quo.

Fortunately, of course, an issue can’t really be judged by what it doesn’t have.

What it does have is still pretty enjoyable. Batman is in fine form, as is the artwork. Dragotta is finally allowed to go all out with Absolute Joker, and that part is fun. I enjoyed Joker’s taunting, even if it’s mostly surface level stuff. And Joker turning Bruce’s friends against him works nicely. Barbara’s arrival is a nice pay-off to how she’s been built up in this storyline. And I really, really like that last page twist, which I won’t be revealing here. That really saves the issue by bringing new and real stakes to the comic. So there is a lot to enjoy with this milestone issue, even if I was expecting a lot more to happen.

Two quick things, also. It’s implied that Joker is ready to just blab Batman’s secret identity to the world, which would be a shame. I really like the status quo of Batman being a blue collar dude working construction sites for the city. But I trust Snyder to have a good story in mind. Also, I think “The Bat” is a bad name for Barbara Gordon. I don’t think “Batgirl” would work at all for this character, but I think “Batwoman” would have worked. When you’ve got “Batman” as your inspiration and you’re just a knock-off version of him, just going by “The Bat” doesn’t have any zest to it, any originality. But maybe that’s just me.

TL;DR: This big, milestone issue is pretty cool and has some good moments, but I don’t think it lives up to the hype being built around it. I think I just expected something more, something bigger to happen.

Absolute Wonder Woman #25
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Becca Carey

Whereas Absolute Batman #25 let me down at least a little bit, Absolute Wonder Woman #25 delivers on the hype and excitement!

We see in a flashback that Circe partially prepared Wonder Woman for Cheetah, and that Diana got her new Ceda Six tech armor from Hephaestus, so I wasn’t just imagining things when Ceda Six showed up a few issues ago. Wonder Woman prepares an anti-fear potion and goes to confront Cheetah, who has eaten Phobos and Deimos and they have joined Urzkartaga inside of her. Cheetah plans to eat Diana, too, so that they can be together. Diana refuses to fight Barbara, who has clearly gone pretty mad. Fortunately, a surprising hero arrives to save Wonder Woman from Cheetah’s jaws!

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Now this is an issue wherein our hero has a lengthy, meaningful confrontation with their classic archenemy, touching on their emotional connection, while delivering some fun new status quo changes. I just honestly think Absolute Wonder Woman did it better than Absolute Batman. And this issue is the middle of the current storyline, so we’ve still got more to come with this particular story! I enjoyed the talk between Diana and Cheetah, both of them wanting to be heard, while also both knowing that it would come to a fight. The design of Absolute Cheetah is insane, and her unhinged dialogue fits perfectly. I’m starting to get a little put off that all of the Absolute villains turn out to be giants…but maybe that’s just a thing.

Once again, I very much enjoyed the scene with Diana and Circe. That is such a wonderful relationship. And we meet a new god in Hephaestus, who is always a hoot. Now that I know it’s origins, I am fully on board with Ceda Six, and I liked the running undercurrent of Diana preparing some massive attack that requires the suit’s full power. We don’t see it yet thanks to the surprise hero arrival, but now we know it’s there and we have more to come in this battle. The surprise hero, who I won’t reveal here, is a great addition and development. Was wondering what would become of that dude, and this works so well!

Also, shoutout to Hayden Sherman for not only his amazing character designs, but the guy again delivers with the big double-page spreads.

TL;DR: The long awaited confrontation between Wonder Woman and Cheetah has come at last and this issue really delivers the goods, between an emotional character connection and some truly outstanding artwork.

Daredevil #8
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Frank Martin
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher

A newish storyline kicks off and it packs that nice, entertaining punch of Phillips’ Daredevil so far.

Matt has been pushing himself extra hard lately as Daredevil, which includes cancelling his law school classes and just not taking care of himself. He’s worried about having let Elektra leave with Fisk’s ledger, among other things. And now Mr. Fear is back, having given up his desire to make people feel fear because doomscrolling does it better than he ever could. Now Fear has developed a drug that makes people fearless, which is putting them into harm’s way. In order to better focus on this, Daredevil decides to quit being a law professor, but Mr. Fear shows up in his classroom taking the hot lady professor hostage.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: yeah, Mr. Fear is a lot like Scarecrow. Look, I don’t have any history of reading Mr. Fear comics, so I don’t know how he differs from Scarecrow, but this issue gives off major Scarecrow vibes. It’s hard to ignore, but we must. And if we ignore it, this is a solid villain introduction/revival. His design is awesome and his scheme works nicely. I enjoy when classic villains are applied to the present day in interesting ways, and Mr. Fear adjusting his modus operandi because of the fear instilled in people by the internet and the modern world is a great idea. Fully on board with that, and Phillips introduces it nicely with this first issue of the storyline.

The only gripe I have is the tired trope of Matt just being willing to quit being a law professor. Are superheroes incapable of having relatable real life status quos anymore? It’s my main gripe with Amazing Spider-Man these days. Let Matt have a life that he has to balance with being Daredevil. We’re only eight issues into him being a law professor and already he’s doing that classic thing of having to cancel classes and now wanting to quit. Ugh. Develop this more! Don’t abandon it! I don’t think the plan is to abandon it, I think it’s just a story beat, but still. Embrace it more, flesh it out, give him more new supporting characters through the university. And then hit them all with his fear stuff.

Artwork remains phenomenal.

TL;DR: The new storyline kicks off in excellent fashion, even if Mr. Fear just feels like a warmed over Scarecrow in general.

Shorter Reviews

Amazing Spider-Man #1002 by Joe Kelly, Pepe Larraz, Federico Blee and VC’s Joe Caramagna

Comic Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

This storyline continues to ride the line of having a nice emotional heft while still just not clicking with me. The villain’s design still irks me, but I think it’s a solid enough gimmick. He steals memories and turns them into weapons, then hits you with the emotional weight of those memories while also hitting you with a weapon. It’s just his design and name suck. I like Peter pushing himself both physically and mentally to really take the fight to Ravage, but it ultimately doesn’t go anywhere this issue and serves as a reminder that it’s just kinda dumb in 2026 that Aunt May doesn’t know that Peter is Spider-Man. I hope that’s the ultimate resolution for this storyline.

Superman #43 by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Alejandro Sanchez and Ariana Maher

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

I gave up on Superman after DCKO when things got really complicated and crossovery, because I just don’t have the patience for crossovers anymore. But I saw that the comic is back to normal, and I’m pleased to say that’s exactly the case here! We’ve got a nice balance of Superman and Clark Kent, with some solid Daily Planet reporting and new mysteries and classic villains. It’s the normal mix of Joshua Williamson work on Superman and the issue is a total ball! Great artwork too. Heroic and detailed, exactly how I like my superhero comics.

Void Rivals #35 by Robert Kirkman, Conor Hughes, Patricio Delpeche and Rus Wooton

Comic Rating: 9/10 – Great.

It has been forever and a day since I checked in on Void Rivals, but I got myself completely caught up this past weekend and I’m glad I did! This issue is the culmination of storylines that have been running since the start of the comic and it brings pretty much all of our main characters together, not just Darak and Solila, but also Skuxxoid, the gang from Cobra-La and now also ROM the Spaceknight! If you told me Pythona would become one of my all-time favorite characters in G.I.Joe lore, I’d think you were crazy, but Kirkman is doing some amazing stuff with Cobra-La in this series. And everybody else is fun, too! Skuxxoid is the coolest dude in the entire galaxy! I am full back on board with Void Rivals! It’s just so much fun right now.

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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