For the next two weeks, I will be in New Mexico doing some training for my new job. Considering I don’t know anyone out here, nor am I adventurous enough to go exploring (aside from restaurants), I’m going to be doing a lot of reading! Lots and lots of reading! Old comics. New comics. Old comics that are new to me. It’s going to be a comic book palooza in my hotel room!
Alright, on to business! This week’s releases are listed according to our anticipation scale, with titles listed in alphabetical order within each sub-header. For each title, I’ll include the official solicitation, the talent credits, a random comment (or rant), and the Batman News team member that will be reviewing each book. Following that, you’ll find notes pertaining to other DC Comics titles, as well as our Graphic Novel Watch. And finally, we want to hear from you! What titles are you picking up? Why are you excited? What do you hope will happen in the book? Etc. So, without further ado, review our Anticipation Scale, and comment away!
The Anticipation Scale
NO! – A comic I downright dread reading and if I wasn’t a reviewer, I would never buy it.
“You Don’t Have to Thank Us” – The idea of reviewing it doesn’t make me ill or angry, but it definitely sounds like it’s going to be a chore. Still, I’m reading it for you. I’m putting it at the bottom of the pile, but I’m reading it for you.
Mixed – A middle of the pile comic. It’s probably got the same chance of being dreadful as it does of being stupendous. I’m neither looking forward to it or avoiding it, whatever happens… happens.
Intrigued – I think this comic has potential to be a fantastic read. There’s some slight hesitation there, but it’s definitely going to be at the top of the pile.
TAKE MY MONEY – Everything about this issue has me excited. If I don’t get to read this book on Wednesday, I will be furious. I would pay extra just to have it in my hands right now! That’s how much I’m looking forward to it!
And as a reminder, our review scale is based on a 10-point system. A rating of “5” means the book is mediocre/average, and the more toward “10″ we go, the more awesome/worth buying it is. The more toward “1″ we go the more awful/not worth buying it is. That’s how we rate things. It’s not like most video game review scores where everything under 8 is crap, and it’s not like a school report card where everything under a 7 is failing or close-to-failing. Please keep this in mind when reading our reviews.
August 15th
TAKE MY MONEY
Injustice 2 #32
Then, the fate of the world hangs in the balance as Starro and the Red Lanterns head toward Earth bent on destruction. Beetle, Booster and the Titans are in hot pursuit. Following close behind is Lobo, armed with a weapon that may ultimately do more harm than good.
Art by Bruno Redondo
Cover by Bruno Redondo
Written by Tom Taylor
Josh’s Stance: Yes, please!!! (*Whispers* Thank you!)
Batman-News Critic: Jay
Justice League #6
Did you read the write-up on issue #5? Do you really think anything’s gotten better for the Justice League in the past two weeks? Still Force? Still a thing! Ultraviolet Galaxy Lantern? Keeps attacking! Sinestro? Total garbage! Lex Luthor and Joker? Beating everyone to the Source Wall piece. If that happens? You don’t wanna know.
Written by Scott Snyder
Pencils and Inks by Jorge Jimenez
Colored by Alejandro Sanchez
Cover by Jorge Jimenez and Alejandro Sanchez
Josh’s Stance: This solicitation does this book no justice. See what I did there? …No…Justice… Ok, bad joke. Anyway, this run has been highly entertaining so far, and I’m looking forward to this chapter! Snyder’s Justice League is a bombastic, fun read, and it needs to be in your pull list!
Batman-News Critic: Brian
INTRIGUED
Aquaman #39
Guest-starring Task Force X, and continuing from SUICIDE SQUAD #45, also on sale this month! After Atlantis rises to the surface once more, Aquaman finds himself outnumbered and outgunned when Amanda Waller sends in the worst of the worst—the Suicide Squad—to send the Lost City straight to Hell in “SINK ATLANTIS!” part two!
Written by Dan Abnett
Pencils by Joe Bennett and Riccardo Federici
Inks by Vicente Cifuentes and Riccardo Federici
Colored by Adriano Lucas
Cover by Ivan Plascencia and Rafa Sandoval
Josh’s Stance: “Sink Atlantis” started off quite strong! I was hoping for the best, but prepared myself for the worst, and found the debut quite satisfying! I expect Dan Abnett to be the writer that delivers in this story, so I’m hoping it’s only up from here!
Batman-News Critic: Casper
Batgirl #25
On her return to Gotham City, family matters force Barbara to confront her complicated relationship with Dick Grayson. But does Dick have time for a heart-to-heart while subbing as Batman when Bruce Wayne is out of action?
This extra-sized anniversary issue also offers a look at the next arc of the series by Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier as the monstrous villain Grotesque murders wealthy art owners and defiles their bodies to create his own “art.”
And since this is the issue that keeps on giving, also look for a special backup story by Harley Quinn co-creator Paul Dini and artist Emanuela Lupacchino.
Written by Marguerite Bennett, Paul Dini, and Mairghread Scott
Pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino, Dan Panosian, and Paul Pelletier
Inks by Ray McCarthy, Dan Panosian, and Norm Rapmund
Colored by Jordie Bellaire
Cover by Rafael Albuquerque
Josh’s Stance: This should be a fun book, so I recommend picking it up! For one, you’ve got Paul Dini… enough said. Then you have Mairghread Scott who will be taking over the book, so it’ll be nice to see her depiction of Babs as a teaser for what’s to come. And then you have Marguerite Bennett, who, if I’m being honest, is the only writer I’m uncertain of. She’s never really one me over.
Batman-News Critic: Elena
Batman #53
The Eisner Award-nominated team of Tom King and Lee Weeks reexamine the relationship between hero and foe, as Batman relives not just that one violent night when he took down the King of Cold, but every time the two have come to blows.
Written by Tom King
Pencils and Inks by Lee Weeks
Colored by Elizabeth Breitweiser
Cover by Elizabeth Breitweiser and Lee Weeks
Josh’s Stance: Ok, before I crawl into my little hole of pessimism, I want to start off by saying Lee Weeks is quite possibly the best Batman artist in the business at the moment, and his art, alone, is well worth purchasing this book. Now… concerning Tom King and the script… I’m just not certain. There are aspects I really like, some that I don’t… And if we look at his stories so far, I tend to dislike overall products more than I like them.
Batman-News Critic: Elena
MIXED
Harley Quinn #48
Being stuck on an alien planet for months has really messed with Harley’s finances—she’s gotta become a working stiff again just to pay off all the bills she racked up while on Apokolips! And not only is the city threatening to demolish her Coney Island apartment building if she doesn’t pay up, she’s helping failed Fury Petite Tina to adjust to life on Earth, which ain’t cheap. Sounds like it’s time for the ramen diet!
Written by Sam Humphries
Pencils and Inks by Alisson Borges
Colored by Gabe Eltaeb
Cover by Guillem March and Tomeu Morey
Josh’s Stance: Back in the day, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie did a reality show called The Simple Life where they went around the country doing regular jobs… I’d kind of like to see a Harley Quinn version of that…
Batman-News Critic: Casper
Teen Titans Go! #29
Success! The Titans finally got their movie and all the fame and glamor that went with it. But are they doomed to wallow after their 15 minutes of fame are over? And then, the Teen Titans Go…back to Hollywood! Their L.A. adventure gave them a taste of the tinsel and they aren’t ready to give up those dreams quite yet.
Art by Jeremy Lawson and Erich Owen
Cover by Marcelo Di Chiara
Written by Sholly Fisch
Josh’s Stance: It’s fun that they’re playing into the movie for this issue, and Sholly Fisch is a reliable writer, so perhaps I’ll check this chapter out.
Batman-News Critic: Jay
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO THANK US”
Batwoman #18
It’s the series finale, and there’s a lot of drama to resolve for Kate Kane, both in and out of costume. As Batwoman, she teams with Renee Montoya to thwart Clock King’s latest time-bending enterprise: selling a drug that allows criminals to know if their crime will be successful—before it’s committed. But Batwoman’s facing a quandary to boot: Take this drug off the street, or use it herself to stop crime? The only fight tougher is the personal one: Should Kate and Renee give their relationship another chance?
Written by Marguerite Bennett
Pencils and Inks by Fernando Blanco
Colored by John Rauch
Cover by Dan Panosian
Josh’s Stance: Here it is, the final issue of Batwoman… That’s all. I honestly have nothing else to add. This book has been boring AF since it got the green light. Sorry. (*Whispers* No, I’m not.)
Batman-News Critic: Dan
NOTES:
- Additional releases from DC Comics: Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #6, Damage #8, Green Lanterns #53, Injustice vs Masters of the Universe #2, New Challengers #4, Pearl #1, Scooby Doo Where Are You? #94, and The Wild Storm #16.
GRAPHIC NOVEL WATCH:
Batman: The Caped Crusader Vo. 1 – Gotham City has endured much through its dark, twisted history, and even the cosmic changes wrought by the Crisis on Infinite Earths couldn’t give the town a fresh start—the grime is in its DNA. The Crisis did, though, allow for the reintroduction of familiar foes, albeit with a fresh take on the Caped Crusader featuring a back-to-basics approach to crime-fighting.
Criminals don’t always wear colorful costumes: some just stalk the shadows with sinister plots and evil intentions. A new threat, a fearsome assassin known as the KGBeast, is prowling the streets of Gotham City and he’s out to dismantle America’s Strategic Defense Initiative. After saving the United States government, Batman must then solve the mystery of ten murdered women before the killer claims even more victims!
An all-star cast of talent, led by writer Jim Starlin (Batman: The Cult, Mystery In Space) and the dynamic art duo of Jim Aparo (The Brave and The Bold, Batman & The Outsiders) and Mike DeCarlo (The Legion Of Super-Heroes), present Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1, collecting Batman #417-425 and #430-431 and Batman Annual #12!
Don’t miss out on the companion series, Batman: The Dark Knight Detective, to chronicle all of Batman’s post-Crisis adventures!
Harley Quinn Vol. 6: Angry Bird – First, Harley’s friends report sightings of a hideous winged creature kidnapping one of their own. It’s a bat! It’s a man! It’s a Man-Bat! Wait till he gets a load of…Quinn-Bat?!
Then, one of Gotham City’s greatest criminal masterminds, the Penguin, has clamped his beak on the Big Apple, and he won’t let go without a fight. As an army of Harley’s old frenemies from the Gotham underworld arrives to conquer Coney Island for their aquatic overlord, she won’t know whom to trust—or whom to beat completely friggin’ senseless.
Can Harley and company beat back the great Brooklyn invasion and save her adopted city from falling into the Penguin’s hands…er, wings…uh, talons? Oh, you get the picture. Now read the dang book!
The brand-new creative team of writer Frank Tieri (Harley Quinn And Her Gang Of Harleys) and artists Inaki Miranda (Fairest: From The Pages Of Fables) and Mirka Andolfo (DC Comics Bombshells) toss pretty much the entire Batman rogues gallery at our hellacious heroine in these tales from Harley Quinn #35-42!
