The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 review

It’s 1939, the world is still reeling from the ‘The War To End All Wars’ and another World War is on the horizon. The vile teachings of fascists are touching a nerve in a United States only just coming out of the Depression. And in a Gotham ruled by gangsters, city leaders are being murdered […]

Harley Quinn Romances #1 review

Now there’s a clever title for the annual giant love anthology from DC. OK, it took me a second to get it, as in the UK we don’t have Harlequin Romances, but it’s undeniably smart. As are the stories in this 86pp spectacular. OK, they aren’t all to my taste, but none are less than […]

Tim Drake: Robin #1 review

It’s funny, everything about this comic screams ‘Young Adult’ but it’s about a guy having a midlife crisis. Tim Drake has packed in college, bought a houseboat, dumped his girlfriend and is experimenting with his sexuality. He may still be a teenager, but Tim’s always been mature for his years. As we join him in […]

Detective Comics #1062 review

Evan Cagle’s moody cover, featuring a swanky new logo by Darran Robinson, is a declaration of intent. This new run of Detective Comics is going to be all about the melodrama – a play with music. The music arrives in the first scene, on the stage of an opera house in darkest Gotham. There’s an […]

Strange Love Adventures #1 review

It’s almost St Valentine’s Day, which means it’s time for another DC giant collection of all-new tales of ‘like, love and loss’. The book kicks off with a perfectly pink cover starting Harley Quinn and a dinosaur from illustrator Yanick Paquette and colourist Nathan Fairbairn. The throwback cover dress, complete with homage Comics Code Authority […]

Dark Knights of Steel #1 review

Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Medieval castle? And Jor-El and Lara alongside baby Kal? I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore in this limited series from writer Tom Taylor and illustrator Yasmine Putri. It looks like Olde England but we’re in The Kingdom of Storms, and as the last family of Krypton […]

Superman Red and Blue #6 review

Cards on the table, I bought the first issue of this anthology because I love Superman. The promise of timeless material, stories unconstrained by current continuity, was irresistible. And I still haven’t read the darn thing. There’s something about the USP – stories in which the title colours are to the fore – that puts […]

Action Comics 2021 Annual #1 review

On Warworld, some years ago, a tiny Superman fan joins her friends to listen to the local storyteller. Feeling suitably secure, Mr Byla begins his tale on a wedding day. The Els don’t go in for all that first dance business, it’s more a matter of first fight – a member of the bride’s party […]

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 […]

Crime Syndicate #1 review

I do like a good comic book homage, and the first issue of this DC mini-series has not one, but two. The first comes as Metropolis’ protector/dictator reacts to a less than glowing op ed in the Daily Planet. A nod to Action Comics #1 makes perfect sense as we’re introduced to Ultraman, Earth 3’s […]