Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 #1 review

I almost put this issue back on the comic shop shelf, what with Dustin Nguyen’s cover image seeming so familiar. Then I clicked that it’s a companion piece to the Batman 80pp giant cover of a few months back. I’m not terribly keen on this illo -Supergirl and Ma Kent look pretty off, for one […]

Doctor Strange: From the Marvel Vault #1 review

The packing and unpacking that accompanied Marvel’s recent office move saw stories that were commissioned, but for one reason or another never published, come to light. It’s been decided to blow the dust off the work and present them under the Marvel Vault banner. First off, a Doctor Strange entry intended for the Marvel Universe […]

Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1 review

One of the Legion’s oldest foes is back – and she’s not. A new Emerald Empress emerges on Orando when a young woman, fleeing from a nobleman out to ravish her, winds up in thrall to something far deadier. At one with the Emerald Eye of Ektron, she conquers her people and sits around in […]

Secret Six #30 review

A slacker brat finally finds his purpose but his parents aren’t pleased. Bane’s first date is equal parts hilarity and violence. The Secret Six invades Oolong Island. And something fishy this way comes as the Doom Patrol mops up after one of the departed Chief’s shady experiments. The Doom Patrol? Yes, it’s crossover time, as DC’s craziest […]

Superman/Batman #79-80 review

Once upon a time DC’s editors were safe in assuming that their readership turned over every five years. That’s why the same storylines showed up again and again in the Golden and Silver Ages: Superboy gets a big brother, Lois gains super-powers, a new hero comes between Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman shrinks … That […]

The New Avengers #8 review

Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are in a restaurant, on their first date. Given that they’ve been wed awhile, this is a little surprising, but hey, they’re Avengers – busy people. The subject turns to whether Jess – who’s spent the last several years as a private detective while trying to ignore her super-powers – […]

Justice League: Generation Lost #18 review

It’s Power Girl vs cover boy Captain Atom after Max Lord’s mental whammy makes the Kryptonian see her old teammate as a kill-crazy Superman. The bout arranged by writer Judd Winick is reminiscent of Wonder Woman’s battle with Superman in Greg Rucka’s Sacrifice storyline; then, Superman saw Diana as the murderous Doomsday, but it was […]

Action Comics #897 review

Lex Luthor leers monstrously from David Finch and Peter Steigerwald’s striking DC Icons cover, but it’s the Joker who steals the show this issue. The story sees Lex track down a Black Lantern sphere to the Joker’s cell in Arkham Asylum and try to prise out of him whatever he knows. Which turns out to […]

Shazam #1 review

So here’s Mary and Billy Batson, forlorn after the events of the past few years. When Freddy Freeman – the only member of the Marvel Family to still wield the old wizard’s powers – comes to call, Mary’s full of self-pity. Twin Billy is more sanguine, and shocked when Mary betrays Freddy to the demon […]

Wonder Woman #606 review

Ah, now this issue is going to be controversial … or not. On the one hand, one of the most popular characters in the Wonder Woman mythos meets a sticky end. On the other, well, it’s ‘only’ an alternate world story. Of course, we don’t know what elements of the Odyssey storyline will bleed back into […]