Action Comics #1029 review

Superman and Superboy are above the earth again, battling space shrimps. They’ve seen them off once, but Jon’s time spent in the 31st century has told him his father dies as a result of their encounter with the beasties. The unwelcome visitors have arrived via an inter-dimensional rift, with the supposedly friendly scientists of Star […]

Teen Titans Academy #1 review

Term begins at the Roy Harper Titans Academy, the DC Universe’s brand new school for ‘gifted youngsters’. I’m not being snarky, the phrase is right there in the splash page legend for this Future State spin-out, which tells us that Nightwing, Donna Troy, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy are ready to mentor the next […]

Go-Go listen to a Silver Age Lois Lane podcast

… or perhaps that should say ‘podCATS’ as this issue of Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane, #66 from, coincidentally, 1966, proudly proclaims: ‘They call me the CAT!’. Nobody does, truth be told, which gives the latest episode of the always delightful Checkered Past podcast its title, ‘But… no one ever actually calls her the cat’. […]

Captain Marvel #27 review

It’s the morning after the dystopia before. Carol Danvers is back from a dark 2052 where she had a major victory, but failed to save as many people as she would wish. A personal loss was her relationship with James Rhodes and now, 12 days on, Captain Marvel just wants to hide away from the […]

Nightwing #78 review

Dick gets a dog – and she’s adorable! Oh, you want more? Well, you don’t have to be a boy acrobat to find this first Infinite Frontier issue of Nightwing a wonderful jumping-on point. The story opens with a flashback to our hero’s first meeting with future Batgirl and Oracle Barbara Gordon, after they’ve both […]

Justice League #59 review

I’m not one for re-starting series willy nilly, but if ever a book deserved a new #1 it’s Brian Bendis and David Marquez’ Justice League. Even though the story continues from recent DC Universe events, it feels as fresh as a Themysciran daisy. The issue opens in the Hall of Justice with a conversation between […]

Sensational Wonder Woman Chapters #9 and #10 review

In an old folks’ home in London, Katie is enjoying her twilight years. To the amused frustration of staff, she’s not content to sit down with a cuppa and dunk biscuits to Countdown. Katie likes to go walkabout. She’s been a Wonder Woman fan since an encounter with the immortal heroine in the Second World […]

The Joker #1 review

Riddle me this? When is a Joker comic not a Joker comic? When the star of the show is Jim Gordon. Sure, the Clown Prince of crime appears throughout the issue, but it’s in flashback, or he’s an eerie figure haunting Gotham’s recently retired police commissioner. Joker #1 is a terrific study of Gordon, laying […]

Podcast time – Gene Colan and the Phantom Zone

In 1981 one of DC’s earliest mini-series appeared like a bolt from the blue – or rather, purple grey. The Phantom Zone, like such previous minis as World of Krypton, rounded up a lot of DC history but rather than take four issues, it sped through the decades in the first one. That cleared the […]

Wonder Woman #770 review

Where does the greatest superhero blessed by the gods of Olympus go when she dies? Where else but… …Valhalla? It’s not all mead and toasting for Diana, though – while her nights are spent carousing, her days are devoted to battle. In Wagnerian hero Siegfried, Diana has an instant friend, but he’s not the only […]