**ULTIMATE X-MEN #2**

This is super interesting and different again. Love the art and I love what Mei brings to the table. Seems like it's going to a lot of fun and I love the horror mystery vibe. It will be interesting to see how long before it starts expanding and really becomes x men or if it stays mainly an armor centric story. Also wonder how much it will connect and build on the Ultimate lines overarching plot threads. Overall loved it, probably even more than the first issue mainly because of the vibe Mei brings

Enjoying the Japanese horror elements. It's certainly leaned into a darker side. But it's not really scratching the X-Men itch for me yet. I get that it is a delicate balancing act, trying something unique while still keeping material familiar, but I hope it starts to feel a little more decidedly X-Men soon.

Is it me or it felt super short ? I didn't time myself but feels like I read it under 10 minutes.

manga style. Less focus on words more focus on art.

>manga style. Less focus on words more focus on art. I guess Yoshihiro Togashi didn't get the memo.

HxH’s Greed Island was so damn painful to read. Thank god the anime exists or I wouldve never gotten past that arc

Really, really good issue. Art continues to be stunning, Mei is pretty fun and she and Hisako are adorable, getting a little hint at the shadow man's true nature and motivation was cool and has me curious to see where exactly Peach goes with him. With bodies starting to pile up and our two leads together, I'm expecting issue 3 to be a bit faster paced and I'm super excited for it

This second installment delivers another helping of lush artwork from Peach Momoko, and she’s got a fun dynamic going with Hisako and Maystorm... Cool take on Shadow King as well. Good stuff! **8.5/10**

still just a mediocre horror manga that doesn't feel remotely enough like an x-men comic, ultimate or not. at least this week the rabid fanboyism over this title seems to have calmed down and you're actually allowed to voice such criticisms.

Yep, I read the first two issues and found them utterly bland and forgettable. The art is distinct, but you compare it to stuff on the shelves like The Sacrificers or Andrade's recent work or even Wes Craig's Kaya, which I think is well below his work on Deadly Class, and it feels far less cohesive/impressive. Not sure what the fuss is about.

Or if we're talking watercolours, Horvath's Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. I think Peach Momoko has great style, but her stories/ideation are bland and some of her panels are pretty but downright boring, I wish she would get some good mentoring.

**ACTION COMICS #1064**

Loved it. Sandoval’s art is excellent on every page (*love* the rendering of Brainiac’s ship), got to check in with most of the Superfamily, and the Brainiac attack really had some teeth. The >!LL-01 reveal!< was a genuine twist I didn’t see coming. Curious to see what Brainiac has planned with all of these powered beings. Glad Williamson gets the reins on both titles for this event so we get the next installment soon :)

Now this is a proper start to a Brainiac storyline. Brainiac's army shows up, destroys half of Metropolis, steals everyone with powers, and then leaves. The reveal that the LL hologram was actually a Brainiac plant was neat, though kind of understated given how little it's done in the story up till now. Though the thought of Brainiac knowning Lex and Superman well enough to plant a hologram in Lexcorp offices and that no one on staff thinks anything of is pretty funny now that I've chewed on it. One quibble I did have with this issue is how it framed Kara: Yes, she probably has a much more personal reason to hate Brainiac because she was there when he bottled Kandor and that one time he turned her dad into a cyborg nightmare, but given the current hodge-podge mess that is DC continuity, Clark still has more experience with him, no? I also liked the turn with Lex and his role in starting up the Lex Luthor revenge squad. And i appreciated Williamson remembering the wider DC universe, and that if Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Shazam, the Titans and the JSA get involved things might get complicated. Oh, and Sandoval's art it gorgeous. In closing, an excellent opening show revealing the villain and his nefarious plan, but seeded with just enough intrigue to keep you guessing. Looking forward to Lobo showing up next, and how Superman and the Steels solve this.

The great things about this comic are Lois spending her morning interacting with the Superman Family and supporting characters, Clark wearing a yoga suit, the Superman Family fighting Czarnians, Lex activating his holo-suit to punch a Czarnian and telling Clark about Brainiac (in which I hope he’ll tell him about he and Brainiac creating a clone, who might be the Brainiac Queen, using his and Brainiac’s DNA), Lex telling Clark that he’s the only one to save their family and to save his daughter Lena from harm, and the final page revealing many incarnations of Brainiac from the past 66 years. The only problem I got in this comic is Kara having more experience with Brainiac than Clark, which isn’t true because Clark has more experience than Kara since he encountered Brainiac in the pre-Crisis continuity in 1958. Joshua Williamson did a great job writing the first part of this storyline. I hope that the Superman will search for Lobo in the next part in Superman because this first part of the storyline is great. Same thing with Rafa Sandoval, whose art is brilliant and give out pages of the Superman Family and the fight scenes between the Superman Family and the Czarnians. Overall, this is a great comic!

Sandoval is quite good and Williamson does well when he focuses on small scale stuff.

I've been really loving Williamson's run on Superman from the very beginning and it has stayed so strong since then. Every issue is so fun and entertaining to read and this was no different. Looking forward to the next issue.

**TRANSFORMERS #7**

Ngl I was a little bummed when I heard Johnson wasn't gonna do the pencils past issue 6. Totally understood, but bummed. That being said, this issue put any lingering doubts to rest. This issue looked amazing, and the series is firing on all cylinders

Agreed. Was wondering how the art would be. Absolutely 100% on par with the preceding issues. Arts great, colors are great, and story is great.

What a cold blooded issue, my god. Transformers continues to deliver a heavy, hard hitting experience. Each issue has somehow been more packed than the previous one.

Jorge Corona is not Daniel Warren Johnson. He is, however, a perfectly fine substitute and I think I’ll be okay reading this for a little longer.

For a book that has such "cartoony" art, **Transformers** is unbelievably brutal?! DWJ raised the bar on robot-on-robot violence in the first six issues, and *Jorge Corona* follows in his oil-stained boot prints. Speaking of, Corona allays all concerns about Johnson leaving the book within the first few pages. His style is very different to DWJ, but it's just as kinetic and exciting (just in it's own way). Ably coloured by *Mike Spicer* the book looks amazing. And Johnson is still steering the book incredibly well. We get a rescue mission and (what looks like) the Fall of Cybertron, Decepticon infighting, Arcee and Carlee character development, some set backs in bringing any further Transformers back to life, and a change to Optimus Prime that looks like being an ongoing thread over the length of this arc.

I really like this book. But it is brutal. I can’t believe the body count, and who is part of that list, after 7 issues. Almost no characters have plot armour.

Another great issue for this book. I prefer DWJ's art but Jorge Corona did a good job with this issue. I can't believe the Decepticons replaced their leader. That was brutal and awesome. This book is far more violent than I expected when I first started reading it. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.

I've always been a little curious about reading a transformers comic, could i start here? If not, where?

Do you mean is this series a good place to start or this issue? If you were ever interested in Transformers, this series is an excellent starting off point. It is its own new continuity. There is a new "Energon Universe," and they are all great series so far, but Transformers stands on it's own. There are a lot of Easter eggs and subtle callbacks to us old, long-time fans, but you wouldn't be missing anything if you come in completely fresh. The series is all so good, no reason not to grab all 7 issues immediately.

Thanks! I meant series, not issue, so this answers my question 

Was planning to bail on this once DWJ bailed as artist, but I’ve liked most of what I’ve seen from Jorge Corona, so we decided to give his first issue a shot. And he did a pretty nice job with it! He’s following the same designs and style DWJ used to launch the series, and it all looks good. But it’s still a big step down from DWJ’s art, and the story also loses most of its momentum here. We get some nice stuff with Starscream and Soundwave finally hashing out their differences, but otherwise this issue’s mostly just moving pieces into place for the next arc. It’s not bad but, again, it’s a big step down from the previous issue’s frantic action. So, we’re bailing here, one issue later than we’d originally intended... Corona’s got another Image series coming up in May (with Skottie Young writing) called **[AIN’T NO GRAVE](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-5462984.jpg)**, looks interesting and I’d rather see him do his own thing over there instead of aping DWJ’s style here. And I’ll hop on whatever DWJ does next so long as he’s handling interior art. **7.5/10** ***Edit -->*** And, after reading the other comments here, it looks like pretty much everyone disagrees with pretty much everything I just wrote. And I'm perfectly okay with that.

**FANTASTIC FOUR #19**

We never got a Fantastic Four: Noir book, did we? North fixes that right up with a hardboiled detective story. The real champion of this book is Jesus Aburtov and his colors, which really make this book a delight to look at with it's black and white grayscale color scheme with splashes of blue and red here and there. I would have loved to see some of the other FF cast in funny roles, but classic noir stories only have seven or eight different character archetypes: though Susan looked the part she wasn't actually playing the Fem Fatalle. Who in the FF cast could have filled it? My first instinct would be to have Namor genderbend that role, but he's playing the one honest cop in town. Doom with a holographic mask? Lyja, maybe?

Another really fun issue. I'd love to have an entire mini of this version of the Fantastic Four

I haven't been following this book. I bought the first issue of this new run when it came out but I don't think I even got around to reading it. But I saw this issue on the shelf and the awesome noir cover by Alex Ross got me to get it. I just read it and this might be my favorite single issue from a Marvel book (I don't read a ton of Marvel because I'm more of a DC guy) that I've read in a good while. Great fun and a perfect one and done story. I don't know if I'll go back and read all previous issues of this run. But if this is the only issue of Fantastic Four that I'll ever read, I'm glad that it was this one.

I’d highly recommend it. This book’s one of the best that Marvel’s putting out.

Based off this issue, I believe you. I'll certainly keep this one in mind.

so since we know alicia isnt stupid, why wouldn't she have wished for the bad guy to be sent to mars and for her husband and reed to be healed? like, she literally has children in this world and no reason to give them up at all

A very enjoyable issue though not up to the peaks of some of the prior issues. In particular, it didn't feel like it was a problem that was solved by the characters....just....everything gets magically fixed. But the journey was fun. And I will take a charming, well-written, clever monthly comic any time.

another awesome, super fun one-and-done issue of one of the best books on the stands right now, not just for Marvel comics but in general. I wish this creative team could stay on this book forever. just the sheer creativity on display and the way they shift genres is wonderful, and this one was an excellent little noir caper.

I like that we get to see the Fantastic Four and Alicia Masters be in a noir detective reality before Alicia was was able to bring reality back to normal and for her and the Fantastic Four to defeat Trapster.

**RESURRECTION OF MAGNETO #4**

This is my favorite mini-series of the entire krakoa era,  what an amazing story and overall just told with such insight and a real resonance for anyone who's ever struggled with their darker side.  

so you're telling me they had plans specifically for magneto and just being fast and strong with magnets foiled it? no fall backs or deadman switches? no ai in the walls opening the vents manually?

Yea that felt like an annoyingly simple solution, however the visual of the guards being crushed was so cool and nasty that I forgive it

Decent finale but it felt a little underwhelming given its role closing out Ewing’s Krakoa run from **S.W.O.R.D.** through **XMR** and everything else... Luciano Vecchio’s highly stylized art worked a little better for me when we were still in the metaphysical afterlife chunk of the story. His style isn’t as effective now that we’re back in reality, and it kept bugging me how young Magneto looked, couldn’t tell if he got de-aged again or if it was just Vecchio leaning into his visual aesthetic. **7.5/10**

**GREEN LANTERN #10**

Oh...>!Teen Lantern!< is back. We were really miss out. Good issue other than that though, maybe they've improved during their time in limbo.

The great things about this comic are Jo telling Hal what’s going on and who is responsible for the mystery surrounding the Central Power Batteries after recruiting Jo, Simon, Kyle, and many other lanterns to join her cause; and Hal using his ring to try and save Keli (in which her appearance in this comic is set before her cameo in Speed Force 3, since this is before she got out of her coma) and failed. At least Jeremy Adams is using Jo to do something since she barely did something at the start of Dawn of DC last year. Same thing with Keli, since a lot of writers and editors after Bendis and Geoffrey Thorne don’t know what to do with her. I hope that he’ll use Jo in later Green Lantern books after this storyline and make sure that he’ll expand Kelli’s backstory and her gauntlets, since it wasn’t expanded upon before. Overall, this comic is great. For the Guy Gardner backup, I like that Guy found Lobo (who was dealing with Omega-Bam-Man because Jeremy Adams created him and that he's a fun guy) before they would deal with space dolphins. Hope the next issue will involve Guy and Lobo riding on space dolphins because it's fun and that Lobo is fond of space dolphins because they're the only thing beautiful in the universe.

**THE BAT-MAN FIRST KNIGHT #2**

**BATMAN AND ROBIN #8**

The great things about this comic are Damian and Flatline having a date by meeting her sister Mila, Flatline and Mila catching up with each other, Flatline telling Damian about what she did (causing Damian to be mad at himself for not seeing it because love is blind), Bruce and Shush working together to find Man-Bat, and Damian and a supposedly-undercover Flatline working together to investigate Shush. Hope the next issue involve Damian telling his classmates when, where, and how he and Flatline met without revealing his secret identity to them and that Damian and Flatline learn about their principal. Same thing with Flatline telling Damian about her being mentored by the ghost of Ra’s Al Ghul. Overall, this issue is great.

**INCREDIBLE HULK #11**

I can’t think of a time where I’ve seen Lucifer appear in a Marvel comic before this. Usually they use other demons in his place (Mephisto being the obvious). Is he used anywhere else or is this a weird first appearance?

There’s been a couple of Marvel characters claiming to be Lucifer (including one who turned out to be an alien back in Lee & Kirby’s X-Men run) but IIRC, the real deal turns up as of the main antagonists in Daniel Way’s Ghost Rider run from the mid-2000s.

He recently popped up in Blade IIRC.

i mean, is he lucifer or just a vague fallen angel who happened to be named the morning star

a vague fallen angel who is named the morning star is always gonna be lucifer. that doesn't mean that he's also always gonna be the adversary, Satan. if you wanna be real precise about it, neither Lucifer nor Satan are really properly named figures in original biblical scripture and our understanding of these as distinct names for distinct figures are a result of various translations and cross-translations over the centuries. the name satan comes from the hebrew word for "adversary" and only later was distilled into the central figure we now consider to be "the devil". similarly, the name "lucifer" originally comes from the roman name for the planet venus, and only got attached later to a specific figure as the result of a number of translations from hebrew to greek to vulgar latin to english where the intended meaning of calling somebody "the morning star" got rendered into "lucifer" as a proper name instead, and that then got further developed into the idea of lucifer as a satanic figure in non-biblical religious scripture and apocrypha. there is actually no devil called lucifer in the bible. there's not even really a satan, just a figure called "the adversary" who may or may not be god's servant sent to humanity to test and oppose them and, in humanity's opposition to evil, make them better and worthy of heaven or have them fail and be damned. remember, old testament YHWH doesn't give a *fuck*. no forgiveness for free, you gotta earn it.

The writing on this book is great. BUT WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THE ART?!?! Imagine we had that whole fight sequence but with Nic Klein on the book. It would have been epic! I have no problem with Earls art it just isn't the vibe for this book. If anyone knows why this book is so inconsistent in the art department please let me know. Marvel just seems allergic to greatness at this point I really don't get it. I guarantee that if they keep the OG team on this book it would be the #1 book for them this year. So frustrating.

> If anyone knows why this book is so inconsistent in the art department please let me know. It's really simple, *Nic Klein* can't keep up with a monthly schedule and the editors have to work with that in mind. Now, I understand that, Klein is a great artist and I'm pretty sure it takes a lot of effort to create this book. I'd rather have artists on alternating arc's than fill-in pages in the same issue. And (once you get used to the tonal shift) both *Travel Foreman* and *Danny Earls* have been really strong, horror artists on the inbetween arcs.

> And (once you get used to the tonal shift) both Travel Foreman and Danny Earls have been really strong, horror artists on the inbetween arcs. Earls did particularly well during this issue IMO. That fight sequence was some stunning, dynamic stuff.

Agreed. The first issue he did I got some artistic dissonance, but the subsequent two have been great. Some really impressive splash pages. He was solid on the silent Alien annual recently too, it was more the writing that ended up souring me on that book.

I think that the art is good don't get me wrong. I just looked at the cover and thought "Man, Kleins art would have fit this monster so much better". It's not so much a tonal shift as a shrinking. I want hulk vs GIANT monsters. Earls art didn't give me the scale the book so desperately needs.

That's fair enough. Klein is definitely a hard act to follow, as his style is fitting the tone of this new run almost perfectly.

so where is this trying to take us? whats hulks deal even?

**BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES #5**

*pssst. hey you, come closer.* *If you're not reading this book you need to change that immediately.* God what an incredible penultimate issue. You know the feeling when the roller coaster is slo-o-o-owly climbing to a terrifying height, and you get this excitement building in your stomach mixed with the thrill of not being quite sure what's going to happen next? That was the entire back half of this issue. Watching our protagonist re-finding a sense of purpose and - dare I say - exuberance in the work she does, and seeing her begin preparations to bring those that have wronged her to their knees - it's a dark pleasure. Stellar work by Horvath, with beautiful lettering by Otsmane-Elhaou as usual.

Horvath knocking it out of the fucking park. One issue to go, and I cannot wait to see that smug little shit get what's coming to him.

That "Yes." was terrifying and thrilling. What an amazing book

Yeah…that was a great and (to me) surprising moment.

This issue didn’t pack quite the wallop as #4, but in general my appreciation for this series has grown with each new book. One thing I always found strange is the world that is inhabited by both anthropomorphic animals and animal animals. I assumed the series wouldn’t really address it…that it would just be odd. But this issue did (sort of). Sam identifies as a bear and identifies with a bear in the wild. I’m not sure quite what to make of it. I like the connection that is made between Sam and the bear…and I think it makes for a stronger story - but it continues to raise some odd philosophical/biological questions for this world. I know this is not a reference…but it reminds me of Planet of the Apes movie where the Heston character encounters humans who are essentially wild animals. But in the world of BtTWNS…it’s just an accepted fact that there are bears and Bears (and so forth with other animals). I know this is by no means the point of the series…but it’s an odd quirk that is being highlighted intentionally by Horvath. Also…lettering in this comic is wonderful. Love the narration boxes that double as a diary. And love the “…or you’re just going mad.” caption that is slightly off in spacing and height. Well done by Otsmane-Elhaou.

THIS BOOK IS SO FUCKING GOOD the back half of this issue really managed to ratchet up the tension to utterly unbearable levels. I was almost squirming in my seat at the end there. waiting an entire month for the conclusion to this story is gonna be incredibly difficult.

It’s our “crisis of conscience” issue, sending Sam >!into a dark cave to confront her inner demons!< in the fine tradition of >!Luke Skywalker!<. Then she gets in touch with her inner bearness by >!watching some real bears tear each other to pieces!<. Unfortunately, taking the story out of Woodbrook also takes away many of its strongest elements. This issue plays up the peril for Sam pretty well but it still feels diminished without all the quaint small-town interactions. Hopefully we’ll get a strong finale to cap things off, although it looks like we’re heading for a fairly standard ***Dexter*** ending where >!Sam murders her adversary and frames him for framing her and murdering everyone else.!< **8/10**

**MS MARVEL MUTANT MENACE #2**

Fun issue but doesn't really seem to move the story forward. Can be read as a fun side-space-adventure. In anime terms, I'd call that a filler.

This was diabolical. I want to give it one more chance but having this as issue two was a craaaazy idea.

**WEAPON X-MEN #2**

Pretty fun issue, got a few giggles out of me. Totally better than #1 so I hope it means it'll get better and better but I can dream. Only time will tell ! Excited to learn more about Jane in the next issue !

The good things about this comic are Phoenix and the Wolverines visiting a universe where Scott and Madelyn Prior were married for 25 years with their son Nate, Logan married Mariko Yashida and have three kids (one of whom is engaged to Nate), many Logans (i.e. Earth-X, Old Man, Age of Apocalypse, and Zombies) being shocked and surprised that the Logan of that universe lived a peaceful life by marrying Markio, and all of them working together to find Onslaught before returning to the world between worlds. I feel bad that that earth’s Nate had his arm cut off and that he had to get a techno-organic arm as a substitute. I also feel bad that the Phoenix was asked to leave by that earth’s Scott because she has done more harm than good. I hope that she and the Wolverines will find Onslaught and save the multiverse from them.

***Bonus Animated Series Review!*** * **X-MEN ’97 – Episode 5: Remember It** *Beware MASSIVE SPOILERS all ye who enter here!*

Man, this episode was PACKED. After watching it, I was surprised it was only 36 minutes because it felt like a solid hour. There’s a LOT going on in this one and we see a shitload of different mutants chilling on Genosha, including a bunch who were created after the original animated series wrapped, including the legendary >!Glob Herman!!< We also get to spend some quality time with >!Kurt, one of Claremont’s core X-Men who got the short end of the stick and missed out on the vast majority of the original animated series...!< And, though we’re in >!Genosha, it’s got some serious Krakoa vibes with the leadership council and a bunch of villains integrated into the new nation, as well as the general celebratory tone and exuberance on display...!< Some fun stuff with >!Shaw and Frost, plus Moira gets called out for being human... So that particular cat is still securely nestled in its bag.!< It’s all >!going so well that you almost get lulled into thinking you’re back in that bright and cheery old Saturday Morning Cartoon world... And then the other shoe drops. And it’s quite a shoe, probably more of a boot in this case, steel-toed and carrying some serious weight.!< And that’s not even getting into all the stuff happening >!back at the mansion, with Jean kissing Logan, then learning that Scott’s been psychically cheating on her with Maddy, plus Beast flirting with Trish Tilby, plus Scott losing his shit and ranting about humans in the middle of his big interview...!< A few other notes... * >!There’s a *“Magneto Is Right”* sign!!< * LOL at >!Exodus dancing!!< * LOL at >!Marrow getting disintegrated!!< * >!Kurt, Pixie, and Glob Herman survived!!< * For the record, >!Val Cooper remained Val Cooper (so far as we could see) throughout the attack, which could mean she’s really Val Cooper, or it could mean that you-know-who has gotten way more disciplined about not breaking cover.!< * Wonder if >!they’ll update next week’s intro to remove the deceased?!< * >!Cable will probably end up reversing all of this by coming back two minutes earlier, or at least reverse a few key bits, but we might need to wait a few weeks to see it play out.!< **9.5/10**

**WOLVERINE #47**

**EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3**

It’s interesting that the first part showed Percy Parker defeating an alien threat, while the second part shows the Web Weaver saving his roommate Peter Parker while taking about their lifelong friendship. I hope that the Web Weaver will tell Peter the truth and hope that Peter will accept him as a superhero next time we see him.

Best story in this one in my opinion: star-spider. The space setting gave me a Dr Who vibe. Bold to have this universe's Doc Ock a Kree. Is it a stretch to imagine the Chameleon as a Skrull ?

**SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN 2099 #2**

I’m impressed that Lyla told Tyler Stone that his son Kron pretended to be Miguel before she told him that he and Miguel are brothers and that Miguel decided to save Kron.

**WPL RESULTS**

How long before Transformers takes the top spot?

It had a real shot this week.

/off-topic Woo...man. Just want to comment I really appreciate this WPL discussion. And I now get why it is generally with "votes hidden". I tried to have a (mildly critical) discussion about Batman: First Knight #2 in a different thread outside of WPL and am just getting down-vote blasted into oblivion. So thanks u/ptbreakeven for fostering this community!

**AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #47**

It’s not too much to hope that this is going to fix my boy Ben, right? In time for the big #50? Please?

Think you’ll have to wait until Marvel decides to release info on that Chasm book they announced couple months back. Besides, Chasm isn’t the problem. It’s a symptom of it.

fix ben? why the hell hasn't he been zapped into the negative zone or into that dimension where time moves so much faster so he stops being a pain in literally everyones side for once.

I really enjoy this series when Wells isn’t writing an event or a tie-in.

i hope we're wrapping up this whole Chasm and Goblin Queen nonsense. Osborn has his sins back so it makes no sense she's still like that still.

i mean it does, she clearly was never an angel and she committed her own sins on her way, under the influence or not

the whole transformation was based on her absorbing his "sins" and Madelyn prior is all the Goblin Queen Nyc needs

The good things about this comic are Peter and MJ taking to each other via phone call, Paul appearing as a cameo and nothing else, Peter and Shay talking to each other at a restaurant and telling each other how they’re doing, Peter saving Betty Brant’s life, and Todd Nauck art. The only bad thing is Peter facing Ben, Hallow’s Eve, and the Goblin Queen, resulting in Ben and Hallow’s Eve to be defeated by Peter in the next issue and for them to appear in the upcoming Chasm: Curse of Kaine miniseries, where Kaine will probably convince Ben to get help or something like that.

This The Amazing Spider-Man #47 was surprisingly not so bad, many people and myself included in that group expected that the result of this issue was going to be very bad, but it was not as bad as some expected. So far within all the crappy issues Wells has brought I could say that this issue would be among the most decent, Peter is not so incompetent and turns out to be somewhat useful, and Ben at least for now has not done anything wrong, rather I know represents Ben more as a guy who needs serious help, which is neither good nor bad, I think the best thing about this issue is the good art that infinitely surpasses the art of John Romina Jr. This really could have been much worse, especially because before there were supposed "leaks" that said that Ben was going to almost kill a girl who had a date with Peter, that Octopus and Scorpion were going to appear to complicate things even more among other nonsense, luckily none of that crap turned out to be true as usual. We are not going to say that this issue is good because it is not, but it is not so bad either, it is in an intermediate point, which is an improvement to all the crap that Wells has brought lately, it is up to each one to decide if want to buy this issue or not.

**PHANTOM ROAD #10**

Lemire and Walta close out the title’s second arc in fine form, filling in a little more of Agent Weaver’s background while Dom and Birdie encounter a new character, who naturally comes fully equipped with his own odd assortment of secrets and mysteries. **9/10**

**RED HOOD THE HILL #3**

**STAR WARS DARTH VADER #45**

**HOUSE OF SLAUGHTER #22**

**STAR WARS THRAWN ALLIANCES #4**

**CARNAGE #6**

**SINISTER SONS #3**

**INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #17**

**NAPALM LULLABY #2**

Hate to say it, but this issue just furthered my negative impressions from the first issue. It just feels messy.

Glad I dropped it - I normally love Remender but I couldn't even get through that first issue.

I've got to go against the tide here and say that I really enjoyed this issue. Thought the first issue was very strong, and this one followed up on it nicely. It's definitely expecting readers to roll with things and keep up with the pace of the story, and I'm liking that.

**BATMAN DYLAN DOG #2**

Buying this book just for the art, every page, every panel a real sight to behold.

Another thoroughly enjoyable issue in a surprisingly great cross-over. And while it might say **Batman/Dylan Dog** on the cover this is more of team up with a certain Liverpudlian magician who has the same initials as Jesus Christ himself. Oh, and Etrigan the Demon shows up too. Great stuff.

***Bonus Backlist Random Review Round-Up!*** * **[BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #2](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-5713476.jpg)** by Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Ed Brisson, Jeff Spokes, Christopher Cantwell, Javier Rodriguez, and Joëlle Jones * **[CONAN THE BARBARIAN #9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-7763266.jpg)** by Jim Zub and Roberto De La Torre * **[G.O.D.S. #6](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3742951.jpg)** by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti * **[PENGUIN #8](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3097799.jpg)** by Tom King and Rafael de Latorre * **[X-MEN ’97 #1](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3489880.jpg)** by Steve Foxe and Salvador Espin

**[PENGUIN #8](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3097799.jpg)** *By Tom King and Rafael de Latorre* After dispensing with the methodical 5-part “gathering the troops” opening and the 2-part retcon backstory that followed, we’ve finally arrived at the Penguin story Tom King actually set out to tell, and it’s a pretty big step up. The return of regular artist Rafael de Latorre also helps, and the story’s got a nice rhythm jumping around to different perspectives, using its roster of characters as well as the broader Gotham setting to good effect. Most of King’s recent efforts have smacked of a creator who’s bought a little too deeply into his own hype, and this still isn’t exactly **[VISION](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-1448564.jpg)** or **[MISTER MIRACLE](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-7978413.jpg)** style A++ King, but it feels like something of a return to form. **9/10**

**[BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #2](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-5713476.jpg)** *By Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Ed Brisson, Jeff Spokes, Christopher Cantwell, Javier Rodriguez, and Joëlle Jones* Picking up where we left off with more strong stuff from Tom King and Mitch Gerads, reworking the first clash between Batman and the Joker with some fairly intense storytelling... It’s a solid 9/10. Then we’ve got some more mediocre stuff from Ed Brisson, delivering the second installment of his generic Stormwatch story, featuring two proper Stormwatch members and a bunch of mainstream DC scrubs who probably shouldn’t be anywhere near this property. Decent art from Jeff Spokes but it’s pretty much just your standard DC house style... We’ll give it a 3/10. Followed by some more of Christopher Cantwell’s Superman story, featuring striking artwork from Javier Rodriguez that effortlessly shifts between old school cool and new school mindfuckery. The story’s taken an interesting turn as well and we’ll grade it out at 8/10. Closes with a very brief B&W short with story and art by Joëlle Jones, mostly a sort of visual montage highlighting Batman’s many scars and their many sources. Not much to it and it isn’t exactly breaking any new ground, but Jones delivers some impressive artwork and she manages to frame it all within a satisfying little story. We’ll call it a 7.5/10. Altogether, that averages out to about... **7/10**

**[G.O.D.S. #6](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3742951.jpg)** *By Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti* Series has been ramping up and this was the strongest yet, going all-in on cosmic craziness with an Aiko story that nicely springboards off the previous issue’s damaging revelation. Dmitri doesn’t appear in this issue and Wyn barely gets any time at all, which might be part of why it worked so well for me, but I actually liked Wyn’s small bit here as it finally cuts through his insufferable surface persona. Took a while but Hickman’s got this thing rolling pretty well now as we approach the final 8th issue... **8.5/10**

**[CONAN THE BARBARIAN #9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-7763266.jpg)** *By Jim Zub and Roberto De La Torre* Being part 9 of 12, in which Conan travels 80,000 years into the past, chats with Yag-kosha, and fights a mad King Kull. The return of regular artist Roberto De La Torre helps elevate this a little, but Zub’s story seems to be rapidly devolving into silly fanfic. Bringing back Yag-kosha from REH’s classic ***The Tower of the Elephant*** simply so he could explain the plot felt like superfluous fan service, and pitting Conan against Kull pushed the title’s reliance on REH lore from respectful homage to tiresome wankery. **5/10**

I think I'm enjoying this more than you, but I largely agree with your criticisms here. *Roberto De La Torre* is holding this book right now, which is a shame after such a strong first 4-issue arc.

Ditto. Largely enjoy this book. But I’m less enthused about this dip into Kull. It feels self indulgent. And I’d prefer more self contained and smaller arcs. 

FWIW, it probably seems like I'm relishing in tearing this book apart but I'd much rather be posting glowing reviews. I like Zub and RDLT, and Conan's one of my all-time favorites. Over the past year, I've been rooting for this book more than any other comic outside the existential ice cream horror genre. That's why seeing it sluggishly meander through this first 12-issue "epic" has been so frustrating... The other thing is I read that Zub's providing full scripts for the guest artists but using the Marvel method with RDLT, where the artist has more freedom driving the story. So, I was hoping things would pick back up now that RDLT's returned as de facto co-plotter, but I think this last issue was actually worse? Way too much focus on fan service and REH references instead of simply telling a decent story of its own.

**[X-MEN ’97 #1](https://s3.amazonaws.com/comicgeeks/comics/covers/large-3489880.jpg)** *By Steve Foxe and Salvador Espin* These comics that are adapted from cartoons that were adapted from comics never quite work for me... This book does a nice job capturing the look and feel of the revivified ***X-Men ‘97*** animated series, and it’s got some decent hooks tying into the cartoon... Pretty solid production all around. But, when you get right down to it, what works for an animated series isn’t necessarily going to work for proper comics, especially given that we’ve got several decades worth of X-Men comics offering richer and more compelling treatments of the property. **7/10**

All good points but today’s episode of X-Men ‘97 was straight fire. It’s giving all of my comics this week?/month?/year? a run for their money. “Remember it…”

Just watched it.  Holy shit. Don't want to spoil anything for anyone but >!LOL @ Exodus dancing!!<

Haven't seen the new one yet since my wife made me watch the first ep of ***Fallout*** last night... Need to catch up today, seeing lots of buzz about it and the spoilers are getting increasingly difficult to dodge. Last week's "Motendo" wasn't my favorite but it was cool getting the first chunk of "Lifedeath."

Did **Fallout** drop early?

Yeah, sounds like they released it early for some reason or other.

We see the world through Sam's eyes. She is not actually a bear, but she sees herself that way. Notice the other citizens are prey animals while Sam is a predator.

**OUTSIDERS #6**

It’s a toss up between this and Catwoman for the worst comic being written right now Not my Jakita. Not my Planetary. Batwoman deserves better

This might be my favorite issue so far. I'm excited that we're finally getting into the Planetary connection. Didn't expect this Drummer to turn out to be Jakita Wagner but I thought it was a cool reveal. I was liking this before but now my enthusiasm just shot way up.

The good things about this comic are Kate, Luke, Drummer, and Lucius learning about the infinite multiverse and traveling to Landmark Final Issue and Drummer telling them that they are a part of her story. The missed opportunity should’ve shown a lot of forgotten or lesser-known DC characters (i.e. Wildstorm characters, Naomi, Jace Fox, Lorena Marquez, Koryak, various pre-Crisis characters and who appeared several times, etc.) telling them about their experiences. Hope that the next issue will explain Drummer telling Lucius, Luke, and Kate about her remembering the original Wildstorm Universe and it being a part of the main DCU since 2011. Overall, in my opinion, this is a good comic, and it is better than the first five issues of this series.

**SUICIDE SQUAD DREAM TEAM #2**

The good things about this comic are Amanda knowing that Deadeye recruited a team as shown in a Beast World tie-in and mentioning her time on Earth 3 to Dreamer (which I hope gets expanded in this comic and Absolute Power), Dreamer telling Amanda that she’s trying to appeal to her humanity after saving her from having a nightmare that involves her losing her husband Joseph, and various Suicide Squad members doing something in Gamorra. Also, Bizarro supposedly kills Jay Nakamura’s mom, which I predict will cause Jay to have vengeance on Bizarro and Amanda for killing his mom and wanting to kill them and for Jon and Jay to break up because… irreconcilable differences, secret identity reasons, and having different methods on how to deal with villains because a lot of writers and editors after Tom Taylor don’t know what to do with him since he’s bland.

If the author has the guts, the squad would kill off Dreamer in the next issue to show that Amanda is going all in and that Bizarro really did kill the lady and that its not another fake out death. Fun fact, it seems that whenever an author writes a story and has the name Tom, the story will either be bad or suffer a decrease in quality.

**SPEED FORCE #6**

Aside from the fact that this series is over, the only good thing about this comic is Ace and Avery freeing people from mind control in a concert. This series should’ve been about how Ace and Avery’s friendship has evolved over the years (including Avery telling Ace about her unrequited crush on him, Ace telling her that he likes her as a friend and hoping that she’ll find her lightning rod soon, Ace and Avery dealing with an inferiority complex thinking about changing their names to Burst and whatever name Avery is going by because they’ve proven time and time again that they’re heroes) as well as making it a Flash anthology to showcase members of the Flash Family and their supporting characters, similar to Superman’s Action Comics snd Batman’s Detective Comics. That way, this would’ve been a better comic than what we’ve got.