Action Comics #1051 review

You know Chekhov’s Gun – the idea that if a writer mentions a firearm early in a story, it has to be fired by the end. Here’s Chekhov’s Building – or rather, John and Natasha Irons’ Building. Talk about poking Lex Luthor with a stick. And sure enough, just a few pages later… It’s not […]

Dark Crisis: Big Bang #1 review

‘I’m looking for the man who murdered me’, Flash Barry Allen tells Kid Flash Wallace on the splash page. The line makes for a dramatic opening, but it’s a tad defused when, a couple of pages later, we get this. I admit, I can’t remember how Barry came back from the dead about 15 years […]

The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 review

Thirty years. It’s been three decades since Superman fell in battle with Doomsday. Since then we’ve seen dozens of creative teams on the various books starring the Man of Steel, some of them excellent. But we’ve never had as sustained a period of greatness as the Triangle Era. From 1991-2002 the Superman titles – the […]

Justice League: Road to Dark Crisis #1 review

There’s a Crisis coming. Isn’t there always? ‘Dark Crisis’ sounds like we’re going deep into DC self-parody territory, but let’s withhold judgment until it kicks off. This one-off is the pre-match team talk, as participants gather, knowing there’s a challenge ahead but not knowing if they’ll win or lose. The cover by artist Daniel Sampere […]

Blue & Gold #8 review

Ryan Sook’s movie poster cover is the perfect opening to the final issue of a spectacularly good-natured mini-series. Two shining heroes getting great reviews for their endless good deeds. And that’s pretty much how things stand as ‘Unmasked at Last’ opens. Michael and Ted’s Blue & Gold Restoration venture has been doing good all over […]

Blue & Gold #4 review

Booster and Beetle’s new venture, Blue & Gold Restoration, is open for business. In a promotional exercise, the boys meet a TV reporter. Getting on to the subject of how the boys became friends, the accounts differ. They do, though, agree on who they were facing. And that’s the set-up for a thoroughly enjoyable issue […]

Blue & Gold #3 review

It’s Michael and Ted vs a space princess in the latest issue of the long-awaited Blue Beetle/Booster Gold mini-series. The lady’s name is Omnizon, and she wants someone to take her to Earth’s leader. Of course, Earth doesn’t have one, with so many governments around the world. Instead of demanding the planet be handed over […]

Generations Forged #1 review

Heroes and villains lost in time. Unlikely team-ups. Angry gods. Reality rewritten. On the one hand, so far as Generations Forged goes, you’ve seen it all before. On the other GIANT cosmic hand, the aforementioned story points come up again and again for good reason – they’re guaranteed crowd pleasers when brought out by a […]

Generations Shattered #1 review

I’m a sucker for motley crews. Give me heroes from across time and space whom you wouldn’t usually see together, and I’m there. Enter the Golden Age Batman, Superman’s Pal Steel, New Titan Starfire, the original Superboy, the second Dr Light, the one and only Booster Gold, Last Boy on Earth Kamandi and Green Lantern […]

Nightwing #77 review

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the city, Nightwing was endeavouring to fight the self-pity Much-needed distraction comes in the shape of two cases – the weekly break-out at Arkham Asylum, and problems at a computer company. Batman takes the former, while Nightwing accepts the Dexiturn Technologies job. The blackmailer is asking for […]