1. King Thor #4 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘Chapter 4: Conclusion – What is the Spirit of Thunder’ (Final Issue)
Writer: Jason Aaron / Art: Esad Ribic & Guests / Colors: Ive Svorcina & Guests / Cover: Esad Ribic
Epic, mythical storytelling at its finest, and one beautiful way for long time scribe Jason Aaron to sign off. Esad Ribic’s art is amazing.
2. Mountainhead #3 (IDW) ★★★★★
‘Chapter Three: The Other Shoe’
Writer: John Less / Art: Ryan Lee / Colors: Doug Garbark / Cover: Ryan Lee
Wow. That was … intense, grisly, and eerie as all get out. The sequence between Abraham and his mother was especially good and wonderfully depicted, as is the opening scene. This is turning into a wonderfully dark series.
3. Agents of Atlas #5 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘The Port City of Pan – Part 5’ (Final Issue)Writer: Greg Pak / Art: Nico Leon / Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg / Cover: Junggeun Yoon
Well that was an unexpected ending. Dragons, betrayals and answers to the mystery of Pan City fill this book. Another fun read with wonderful art. Amadeus’ expressions are priceless throughout. Nice to see the story will continue in a new mini-series.
4. Metal Men #3 (DC) ★★★★★
‘Of Metal and Monsters’
Writer: Dan Did / Art: Shane Davis & Michelle Delecki / Colors: Jason Wright / Cover: Shane Davis, Michelle Dilecki & Jason Wright
The remaining Metal Men fight a foe from their past – and it does not go well. The Nth Metal Man mystery continues to grow, and Magnus urns their HQ into a giant fighting robot. This book pretty much has it all. Tons of fun.
5. Batman #85 (DC) ★★★★
‘City of Bane – Part 11’Writer: Tom King / Art: Mikel Janin / Colors: Jordie Bellaire / Cover: Tony S. Daniel & Tomeau Morey
A tough call for this somewhat satisfying conclusion to the Tom King City of Bane era. As always, the Bat & Cat sequences were amazing. Gotham Girl saves the rest of the book. I suppose my main problem is that I was never truly invested in the Thomas Wayne mythos, so the final resolution did nothing for me. Still, what I liked I loved.
6. Gwenpool Strikes Back #5 (Marvel) ★★★★ (Final Issue)
Writer: Leah Williams / Art: David Baldeon / Colors: Jesus Aburtov & Guru-eFX / Cover: Elena Strikes & Judith Stephens
Funny, meta sort-of ending to this iteration of Gwenpool. It’l be interesting to se where they take her in the future. If you’re going to retcon a character, this was a pretty fun way to do it.
7. Invaders #12 (Marvel) ★★★★
‘Dead in the Water – Part 6 (Final Issue)
Writer: Chip Zdarsky / Art: Carlos Magno with Butch Guice / Colors: Alex Guimaraes / Cover: Butch Guice & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
A fitting end to this latest Invaders series. Namor is Namor, Cap is Cap, the fight ends too easily. Pretty sweet double splash page. I enjoyed the Invaders’ bonding scenes throughout this series, and this one had a couple of solid ones too. I hope they restore the Torch. I hate the new robot armor body.
8. Amazing Spider-Man #36 (Marvel) ★★★★
‘2099 – Part 13: Time After Time’Writer: Nick Spencer / Art: Oscar Balazuda / Colors: Steve Firchow / Cover: Tony Daniel & Edgar Delgado
I enjoyed this book a lot, although I was completely lost throughout. How any of this ties back to 2009 I have no idea. I do like the Doom plot, but again… no idea how this ties back to 2099. Did I miss something? May need to revisit those early 2099 books.
9. Flash Forward #4 (DC) ★★★★
‘Chapter 4: Flash of Two Worlds’
Writer: Scott Lobdel / Art: Brett Booth & Norm Raymond / Colors: Luis Guerrero / Cover: Doc Shaner
Nice West family sequence and some fun action with a multiverse Linda helping Wally save two Earths. I like the pacing of this book. It fits the story beautifully. Cool stuff.
10. Once & Future #5 (Boom! Studios) ★★★★
Writer: Kieron Gillen / Art: Dan Mora / Colors: Tamra Bonvillain / Cover: Dan Mora
Duncan takes charge in this exciting, if mostly action-less installment. The art continues to shine and the plot continues to thicken. It’s cool stuff, if a bit light on the charm of previous books.
11. Justice League #38 (DC) ★★★★
‘Justice/Doom War – Part 9’
Writer: Scott Snyder / Art: Jorge Jimenez & Daniel Sampere with Juan Albarran / Color: Alejandro Sanchez / Cover: Francis Manapul
Solid, coherent action in this surprisingly good JL book. Nobody behaves stupidly (except possibly Green Lantern), and editorial willing, Starro is dealt a fatal blow. What more can I ask?
12. Shapes #2 (Cave Picture) ★★★★
Writer: Jason Brubaker & Rick Rekedal / Art: Jason Brubaker / Colors: Jason Brubaker & Asdrian Amarteifiq
Our cast stumbles through the dangers of their new reality while questions and mysteries abound. The Shapes are quite fun. I’m glad our hero doesn’t know what he’s doing – he just guesses. It keeps the comic interesting. Fun stuff.
13. Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #6 (DC) ★★★★
Writer: Matt Fraction / Art: Steve Lieber / Colors: Nathan Fairbairn / Cover: Steve Lieber & Nathan Fairbairn
This book was a tad more serious in spots than previous issues, but Superman and Batman come in to provide the required laughs. Batman always wins, remember that. Words to live by.
14. Roku #3 (Valiant) ★★★★
‘Part 3 of 4’
Writer: Cullen Bunn / Art: Ramon F. Bachs / Colors: Stephanie Paitreau / Cover (C): C. Crystal
The action picks up and we get a bit of exposition. The stakes are set pretty high, but with only one book left, I’m curious how they can wrap all this up in a satisfying way. Its all moving very fast.
15. History of the Marvel Universe #6 (Marvel) ★★★ (Final Issue)
Writer: Mark Waid / Art: Javier Rodriguez & Alvaro Lopez / Colors: Javier Rodriguez / Cover: Steve McNiven, Mark Farmer & Morry Hollowell
A quick trip thru modern marvel history centering mainly on EVENTS!. The Galactus/Franklin bookends gave this final book a bit more pep than the previous issue, which was a welcome development.
16. Spider-Man #3 (Marvel) ★★★
‘Bloodline – Part 3’
Writer: J.J. Abrams & Henry Abrams / Art: Sara Pichelli & Elisabetta D’Amico / Colors: Dave Stewart / Cover: Oliver Coipel & Dave Stewart
Not what I was expecting in this book. Felt like a hard left turn. Still, it remains a compelling story at least. The plot development at the end is a bit eye-rolling, and I hope it’s over quickly in issue 4. A clearer narrative would be helpful too. Also: That Cadaverous font is hard to read.
17. Daredevil #15 (Marvel) ★★★‘
Through Hell – Part 5’
Writer: Chip Zdarsky / Art: Marco Checchetto & Francesco Mobili / Colors: Nolan Woodard & Rachelle Rosenberg / Cover: Julian Totino Tedesco
A rare misstep in this DD series. The Foggy scene was stiff and emotionless. The Fisk scene felt wildly out of character. The best part was the DD/Elektra sequence, but even that felt a bit lackluster. I know it’s unreasonable to expect the same high standard every issue, but his book was surprising, and not in a good way.
18. 2099: Omega #1 (Marvel) ★★★
‘2099 – Part 12’
Writer: Nick Spencer / Art: Gerardo Sandoval & Ze Carlos with Victor Nava / Colors: Morry Hollowell, Brian Reber & Andrew Crossley / Cover: Patrick Gleason & Rachelle Rosenberg
Some interesting moments in this EVENT! Finale, but not enough to satisfy the many questions this ‘series’ raised. An up and down narrative evidently aimed at rebooting the 2099 franchises instead of offering a cohesive story. Sigh. Feels like a waste of time. (Except for the Doom & Conan books, which were awesome).
19. Doomsday Clock #12 (DC) ★★★
‘Part 12: Discouraged of Man’ (Final issue)
Writer: Geoff Johns / Art: Gary Frank / Colors: Brad Anderson / Cover: Gary Frank & Brad Anderson
Maybe it’s the long delay between books, but I didn’t feel very connected to this ending. It was all a bit confusing. Superman is the messiah for all of the multiverse? Check. Manhattan is reborn as a new Clark/Superman in another reality? I think so…? It’s a head scratcher.
20. Tony Stark: Iron Man #19 (Marvel) ★★★
‘The Ultron Agenda – Part 4: Conclusion (Final Issue)
Writer: Dan Slott & Christos Gage / Art: Francesco Manna / Colors: Edgar Delgado / Cover: Alexander Lozano & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
This book read pretty fast with a lot of conveniences to move things along. Manna’s artwork, while pleasant to look at, can feel a bit stiff at times. This final issue felt like like more of a set-up for Iron Man 2020. Btw:, the 2020 armor looks ridiculous, but I do like the AI Stark concept. I may stick around.
21. Show’s End #5 (Mad Cave) ★★ (Final Issue)
Writer: Anthony Cleveland / Art: Jef Sadzinski / Colors: Julian Gonzalez / Cover: Jef Sadzinsky & Julian Gonzalez
Our story concludes in an epic final battle, which provides more questions than answers. It was something of a letdown and read like they had to compress a lot of remaining story into one final issue. What a shame.
22. Annihilation: Scourge – Omega #1 (Marvel) ★★ (Final Issue)
Writer: Matthew Rosenberg / Art: Manuel Garcia with Rafael Fonteriz, Cam Smith & Wayne Faucher / Colors: Federico Blee with Rachelle Rosenberg & Erick Arciniega / Cover: Josemaria Casanovas
There was a lot to like in tis concluding chapter of Annihilation: Scourge, but there was also a lot to not like. The undoing of the resolution at the end felt cheap, and undercut the emotion of the previous pages (Not that there was a lot). This read very matter of fact and dot to dot. I think the writing & art failed the story. The stakes never felt particularly high.
23. Spider-Man: Velocity #5 (Marvel) ★★ (Final Issue)
Writer: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum / Art: Emilio Laiso / Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg / Cover: Skan
Still not a huge fan of Haley. That chip on her shoulder along with her self centeredness is pretty annoying. It’ll be interesting to see what future writers choose to do with her. As far as the book goes, Great power, blah blah blah, Great responsibility… This is becoming a bit tired.
