Violet
Didn't find these AS interesting as the previous issue but I still enjoyed them. There's something to be said about how addicting Corben's art can be. I come for the classic premises and monster designs, nothing more and nothing less. In improvements, the Greek epic had a wonderfully Harryhausen Cyclops. Rendered perfectly in Corben's style. I actually found the short format to work notably well in βTHE THING IN THE SWAMP', with the sudden ending making it all the more horrific.
Giving this the same rating as the previous issue even though I had MAJOR issues with this one. I'll be honest, I really only liked THE GRAVE FLIES and this issues chapter in DENAEUS. I found the other 2 to be dull and derivative. Now, the reason I'm rating it the same as the previous despite my issues is that Grave Flies is so far my absolute FAVORITE of this entire series. Such a classic gothic style segment. Worth a read just for that in my opinion.
I also really enjoyed this chapter in Denaeus, especially with it's added depth to it's main female character. Although technically a sequel to Corben's DEN it just doesn't have the visual flair or surreal qualities the original had.
The first volume of Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden's Baltimore has just about everything I could ask for in a solid Gothic romp. Really moody Seaside setting, Weird War stories, a uniquely Mignola take on Vampires, Fungus Zombies, Antique Diving-Suit Zombies, and beautifully plotted monster killing sequences. Literally what else could you ask for!
Much closer to a 4.5/5. This is my first time reading one of these big DC events and I figured I'd start in somewhat familiar territory with Cosmic Odyssey's Mignola artwork. Further situated him as my favorite artist in the industry, even this early work is just packed with panels only he could realize.
Found the Strawberry storyline to be a bit flat but certainly intriguing. Hopefully they follow up on it in later volumes. The anthology stories were all hits for me, art and story were both solid throughout.
Loved the final issue, a great fun Sandman reunion story. Loved seeing my absolute favorite librarian, Lucien himself.
This volume had a lovely Halloween special to start with but was all down hill from there. Honestly worth reading just for that issue and the anthology story βSpellboundβ in issue 20.
Moreso a 3.5/5 than an outright 3 but yeah.
This is the first Hickman written thing I've read and...it's strange. I'm very very interested in the future of Hickman's writing at Marvel so I won't let the unevenness of this detract me. I love the FF so anytime they get to do cheesy fun adventuring is great! Problem is, the other half of this story is a very serious philosophical look inside the mind of Reed Richards. Very clashing storylines.
This one was a bit of a slog for me because I don't particularly like any of these recurring characters. Maybe I'm too young or out of touch but Mr. Natural just does nothing for me.
The bits I really liked were the offbeat one offs. Stuff like City of the Future, Ultra Super Modernistic Comics, Kitchen Kut-Outs!, and The Sad Book.
Another 5/5 for me. Conqueror Worm was just perfect, can't wait to start reading Lobster Johnson. The Third Wish was a little weak compared to the others but it's still better than most comics I've read. The Island might just be my new favorite Hellboy story. I'm such a sucker for esoteric lore and secret histories and this one is chock full of that. The panel after Hellboy drinks with some sailors and turns to find out they're skeletons is just quintessential Mignola.
Overall there were more misses than hits here but MAN did a couple of these deliver. The Kelley Jones Deadman story being the highlight, that man can do no wrong.
Lovecraftian Green Lantern was a nice idea and nailed the look of cosmic horror, just felt a bit short. The Post Apocalyptic Swamp Thing tale could easily be turned into a full miniseries, the concept was perfectly executed.
Absolutely some of the best Batman we've had in a long time. The main story arc Failsafe has the tone of an early Scott Snyder tale. Plenty of comic callbacks while in itself adding much to the long history of Batman. Does a lot with Batman's relationship with the Justice League, will work especially well for fans of βTower of Babelβ. An especially great one for fans of Robin, I myself found that aspect to be a highlight.
Zdarsky also impresses with the unbelievable backup story I am a Gun. With breathtaking artwork (Leonardo Romero) that evokes both Mazzucchelli and Dick Sprang. A psychological tale about Batman's invention ofZ ur-En-Arrh, this story is the highlight of the book for me personally.
Really a 4.5/5 for me. I could read an endless amount of Kelley Jones' Batman, he just understands Gotham City.
EDIT: Y'know after seeing the ridiculous amount of 3 star and under reviews I felt the need to bump up to a 5 star. I really think there's an insecurity among male comic readers that comics have to be grimdark and realistic. How else would be be able to tell these comics are Not For Kids and are instead made for their Mature Adult Male Pallets.
Sometimes Comics can be Gothic, Strange, FUN. It's like Tim Burton's Batman Returns all f*cking over again. Makes me sad.
This review won't be as long as the last since I don't have as much to say. Continues everything I liked from the first volume and improves on the anthology format. I found the wraparound story to be pretty strong here if only a little long. Definitely a volume packed with reveals and new story threads, don't expect many answers if any.
While I'm still awaiting Cain's arrival, I lovedThe Caretakers. A story about Harry and Abel capturing stray Nightmares in the House. Another absolute standout was the short and sweet Gothic Romance drawn by one of my favorites Bernie Wrightson. A classic little story about a woman cursed with romances that end in monstrous circumstances. Really stunning art throughout, lovely tribute to both the Universal Classics and the later Hammer pictures.
This isn't going to work for everyone, I can say that with confidence. What Ed Brubaker and Marcos MartΓn are doing here is special. It's essentially a modern serialized mystery story where each chapter is a different length and ends with a cliff-hanger or hook of some kind. This isn't structured like a Comic written for trade. It's structured like chapters in a 60's YA Mystery novel.
What is is though is a loving tribute to the works of John Bellairs. The world and characters are grounded but carry the tropes of his classic mystery stories. A New England small town with no short supply of ancient secrets and occult mysteries to uncover. If you're familiar with those stories (or even that of Nancy Drew) you'll feel right at home. Of course this isn't a children's story so it's darker in tone, the natural evolution to this type of story in my opinion.
I can see this eventually becoming a 5/5 series for me, they just have to stick the landing with subsequent chapters. Personally, I have no doubts. I just hope it finds the right audience, it deserves it.
Really interesting Body Horror story, something we don't see very often in Detective Comics. Sadly I just cannot stand Viktor Bogdanovic's artwork. It's a shameless copy of Greg Capullo and I just find it sad that DC hired this hack.
I believe this is the first time I've done a DNF review. I've generally enjoyed Tynion's Batman (it is nowhere near as good as his indie work, Department of Truth especially) but this one has completely lost me. Ghostmaker is simply a terrible character, he puts a damper on the entire mythology of Batman (at least the mythology I prefer).
His existence inserts itself so deeply inside Batman's history it makes suspension of disbelief impossible. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Hush, this character is basically a failed version of the same concept. The worst part about Ghostmaker isn't the fact that his personality is utterly boring and contrived, nor is it his mediocre design. It's the lack of having anything interesting to say about the psychology of Batman when that's supposed to be the ethos of his character.
Couldn't possibly stress enough how much I adore this series. The writing is James Tynion IV at his absolute best, a culmination of all the work he's done over the years. The artwork is breathtaking and reminiscent of the very best work done at Vertigo and the like.
In general it reminds me of the type of book you'd have read during the early Vertigo days, fantasy and horror in it's rawest form bleeding into real world fears. The artwork and prose is hypnotic at times, sending you to a place where the line between fact and fiction is blurred. Of course truth is an incredibly important piece to this series, in my opinion it deals with all that rather well, never feeling overtly disrespectful. The School Shooting issue boiled my blood, feeling more relevant than ever. I also must confess my morbid curiosity in the Q conspiracy dived into in Issue 4, I felt they handled that well given how recent and scary it still is.
Coming in to give this a five since it's criminally underrated on here.
I'm really surprised by all the reviews too since I feel like my opinion is backwards. The first issue here, #574, is a really sappy war story about Flash Thompson. Not my thing for numerous reasons.
Flashbacks (#575-576) by Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo was a really great Hammerhead story. Aside from some distasteful jokes I thought the writing was very strong, especially for Spidey. Bachalo's art is gorgeous as always and the almost Black and White coloring really makes these issues standout.
Finally we have Old Huntin' Buddies (#577) by Zeb Wells and Paolo Rivera. Punisher stories told in the greater Marvel universe can feel censored and OOC but that was absolutely not the case here. Telling this kind of story in a more family oriented comic forced the art to represent violence in some really clever ways, while still giving us classic Punisher killings.
Speaking of the art, Rivera brings some of the best art thus far for the Brand New Day initiative. Evoking a real 1960's feel elevates this in such a great way. It makes sense given he had just done a Origin Retelling project for Marvel titled Mythos.In short, this is by far the strongest volume to come out since J.M's exit.
Normally love Tynion but this first trade just didn't do it for me, especially after the incredible finale of King's run. In all honesty, the best part of this was a backup written by Dan Watters with artwork by John Paul Leon. I would read a Bat-Book written by Watters in a heartbeat.
More of a 3.5 than a four since it's certainly not my favorite Gaiman. Giving it a four just for that chapter in Gotham, really lovely characterization all around. That appearance of Swamp Thing was also just beautiful and might just be my favorite scene in the entire book.
If I could give this a 4.5/5 I would, it's very nearly perfect. The Batman Secret Files #1 drags the whole volume down a bit, being an anthology it's quality is mixed. Everything else was fantastic.
I really do not like 90% of DC's event Tie-in issues. I don't know what it is but they almost always have dull artwork, low stakes, and little involvement in the main storyline. Dark Nights Metal was the biggest exception where some of the tie-ins exceeded the quality of (an already incredible) main storyline.
Only read this for completionism, I wouldn't recommend it.