Thursday is my birthday, and I’ll be turning 30! I’m looking forward to it, but I don’t feel 30… Anyway, there are plenty of comics that I desire should I anyone feel like buying me a birthday gift (kidding… kind of).
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.
OCTOBER 3rd
TAKE MY MONEY
Injustice 2 #35
Gorilla Grodd forms a deadly alliance and leads an uprising to take out King Solovar and conquer Gorilla City. Against the backdrop of all hell breaking loose, the Suicide Squad decides it would be a good idea for teammates Killer Croc and Orca to get married! Love and death reign side by side as the series draws toward its conclusion.
Art by Juan Albarran, Bruno Redondo, and Daniel Sampere
Cover by Daniel Sampere
Written by Tom Taylor
Josh’s Stance: (Singing) Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get married!
Hey, I bet this issue actually delivers a wedding! (Yes, that is a jab.)
Batman-News Critic: Jay
Justice League #9
THE ROAD TO “DROWNED EARTH”! Superman and Batman can’t agree on how to put back the moon—you know, the one that went missing in issue #1. On the other hand, Wonder Woman and Aquaman have faith in each other, working together on a new addition to the Hall of Justice. Martian Manhunter takes Hawkgirl under his wing to test out the limits of her recently broken wing, and Flash and Green Lantern get up to some hijinks in the Hall’s cafeteria. Can you say super food fight?!
Written by Scott Snyder
Pencils and Inks by Jorge Jimenez
Colored by Alejandro Sanchez
Cover by Jim Cheung and Tomeu Morey
Josh’s Stance: I don’t know about you… But I’m still loving Justice League! Are you loving Justice League? Yeah? Great! Because it’s a hell of a lot of fun! Kudos to Snyder, Jimenez and team for creating one of the most engaging books to read in DC’s lineup at the moment!
Batman-News Critic: Brian
Wonder Woman & Justice League Dark: Witching Hour #1
Just in time for Halloween, it’s “The Witching Hour,” a five-part weekly event that will rewrite the future of DC’s magical heroes!
Hecate, the witch-goddess of magic, always knew a day would come when the monsters she stole her magic from would return. Now she must activate the Witchmarked, humans within whom she secreted vast stores of power. And the most powerful of the Witchmarked? Wonder Woman!
Written by James Tynion IV
Pencils and Inks by Jesus Merino
Colored by Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Cover by Jesus Merino
Josh’s Stance: Justice League Dark has been an incredibly good read so far, and that has me pretty excited for this event! I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!
Batman-News Critic: Dan
INTRIGUED
Adventures of the Super Sons #3
The Super Sons find themselves tumbling through space and time without so much as a GPS to guide them! Having battled the intergalactic group of teen hoodlums known as the Gang, Superboy and Robin barely escape. However, they do end up having a shootout with gunslingers on a Western-like world before engaging in a swordfight to save a princess on a medieval-like planet. The Sons need to find their way back to Earth before the Gang does a planetary smash-and-grab with the whole planet!
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Pencils by Carlo Barberi
Inks by Art Thibert
Colored by Protobunker
Cover by Dan Mora
Josh’s Stance: I’m always down for Super Sons! I love the dynamic of Jon and Damian together!
Batman-News Critic: Jay
MIXED
Batman #56
The Dark Knight’s looking to drop both the hammer and sickle on the KGBeast, whose rampage across Gotham City takes a toll on Nightwing when he’s injured in the fray. Blaming himself for his ward’s fate, Batman gets grimmer than usual—and vows to take the Russian assassin down like the Berlin Wall. Is even Gotham City ready for that much violence? The streets will run red like borscht if the Dark Knight gets his way against this Soviet scourge.
Written by Tom King
Pencils and Inks by Tony Salvador Daniel
Colored by Tomeu Morey
Cover by Tony Salvador Daniel and Tomeu Morey
Josh’s Stance: I’m… Tired of Tom King’s Batman run. It’s redundant. We never get fully realized plots, and even the character beats he’s doing are starting to repeat themselves more than necessary to fit the argument that the repetition is for effect. Just keep him on maxi-series that deconstruct characters for twelve issues. And let him write more Sheriff of Babylon. But dear God, let’s hurry up and wrap his Batman run. His writing is fine, I just hate what he’s doing in this damn book.
Batman-News Critic: Elena
NO!
Nightwing #50
“Knight Terrors” begins here! The big issue #50 kicks off an epic four-part story that brings together critical moments of fear and doubt from the past and the present. A young Dick Grayson hopes to escape the shadow of the Bat and earn the title of Nightwing, while an older Dick Grayson must deal with a blow he did not see coming. A common enemy unites the timelines: the Scarecrow, as you’ve never seen him before! This story goes deep into the mythology and nightmarish development of Dr. Jonathan Crane.
Written by Benjamin Percy
Pencils by Christopher Mooneyham and Travis Moore
Inks by Klaus Janson, Christopher Mooneyham, and Travis Moore
Colored by Tamra Bonvillain and Nick Filardi
Cover by Jordie Bellaire, Nick Filardi, and Christopher Mooneyham
Josh’s Stance: Ugh… I haven’t read this yet, but I’m giving it major side-eye. Kind of want to flip it a bird or two as well…
Batman-News Critic: Josh
NOTES:
- Additional releases from DC Comics: The Curse of the Brimstone #7, Deathstroke #36, Green Arrow #45, Green Lanterns #56, The Unexpected #5, The United States vs Murder, Inc. #2.
GRAPHIC NOVEL WATCH:
Batman: Knightquest: The Crusade Vol. 2 – Following the events of Batman: Knightquest: The Crusade Vol. 1, Bruce Wayne is still M.I.A. because of debilitating injuries sustained during a recent clash with Bane. Now it’s up to Jean-Paul Valley (a.k.a. Azrael) to carry the mantle of Batman in Gotham City. Unfortunately, Valley is wrestling with his own demons and is struggling to meet the high standards set by his predecessor.
Now The Joker has resurfaced with a crazy new scheme to destroy the Dark Knight. But what happens when the Clown Prince of Crime realizes that something is amiss with his longtime archnemesis?
The nine-volume saga of Batman: Knightfall continues in this fifth volume of the series. Batman: Knightquest: The Crusade Vol. 2 collects Detective Comics #671-675, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #24-28, Batman #505-508 and Showcase ’94 #7. Bonus material is also included.
Batman: White Knight – The impossible has happened: The Joker has become…sane.
Batman: White Knight follows the man now known as Jack Napier as he embarks on a quest to heal the city he once terrorized. After reconciling with his long-suffering partner, Harley Quinn, he sets in motion a carefully plotted campaign to discredit the one person whom he views as Gotham City’s true enemy: Batman.
His crusade exposes a decades-long history of corruption within the Gotham City Police Department and transforms Napier into a city councilman and civic hero. But when the sins of his past return to threaten everything that he has accomplished, the distinctions between savior and destroyer begin to break down for both The Joker and Batman alike-and with them any hope for Gotham’s future.
Writer and artist Sean Murphy delivers an extraordinary examination of comics’ greatest antagonists in Batman: White Knight, exploring justice, corruption, activism and the darkest depths of mental illness. Collecting the acclaimed eight-issue miniseries, this stunning graphic novel also marks the debut of the DC Black Label imprint, which features classic DC characters in all-new, standalone stories written and illustrated by world-class authors and artists.
Harley Quinn by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti Omnibus Vol. 2 – The amazingly popular run on HARLEY QUINN by the talented team of Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti is collected in a massive hardcover that includes HARLEY QUINN #17-30, HARLEY QUINN ROAD TRIP SPECIAL #1, HARLEY QUINN: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR SPECIAL EDITION #1, HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #1-6 and HARLEY QUINN’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1-6.
Justice League Darkseid War (DC Essentials Edition) – Justice League: The Darkseid War (DC Essential Edition) collects the entire “Darkseid War” storyline in this new Essential Edition, featuring brand-new cover art! For new readers and longtime fans, this is a definitive entry point to the DC Universe’s vast library.
Years ago the Justice League first formed to stop Darkseid and his parademon army from invading Earth. Now Darkseid will once again make the planet a war zone, as Earth becomes the front line in his battle with the Anti-Monitor, a universe-devouring creature who can reduce whole planets to rubble. To stop their planet from becoming collateral damage in this war of gods, the Justice League must uncover the secrets of the New Gods and learn the hidden truth behind the Anti-Monitor’s identity and his history with Darkseid.
From writer Geoff Johns (Doomsday Clock) and acclaimed illustrators Jason Fabok (Detective Comics) and Francis Manapul (The Flash) comes the epic event that changed the Justice League forever. Collects Justice League #40-50, Justice League: The Darkseid War Special and DC Sneak Peek: Justice League.
The DC Essential Edition series highlights the best standalone stories the medium has to offer, featuring comics’ greatest characters. These trade paperback editions focus on the easiest entry points DC has in its vast library, with seminal, groundbreaking tales that transcend the printed page. Start with the Essentials.
Suicide Squad Unwrapped by Jim Lee – This fantastic new hardcover features Jim Lee’s pencil artwork in its purest form!
Harley Quinn. Deadshot. Killer Croc. Captain Boomerang. Enchantress. Katana. All deadly criminals sent on the most dangerous missions possible by a government that wants them killed. Their newest challenge? A teammate so powerful that even these murderers and thieves can’t control him. Collects Suicide Squad April Fool’s Special #1 and Suicide Squad #1-8.
Teen Titans Vol. 3: The Return of Kid Flash – Being a Teen Titan isn’t so easy these days. Not only has their sweet Titans Tower HQ been destroyed, but the team is struggling under the leadership of Robin. Damian Wayne may be the son of Batman and a brilliant tactician, but his interpersonal skills are not strong.
Now the Titans are at a crossroads—Robin wants to recruit new members, while the rest of the team want to give Kid Flash a second chance after he seemingly betrayed them to join Deathstroke.
It’s all getting to be too serious for the one Teen Titan who just wants to have fun. But when Beast Boy leaves the team to join up with a bleeding-edge underground tech collective, he soon finds that sometimes fun can be deadly.
Someone needs to save Beast Boy from himself…but in their current shape, the Teen Titans might not be up to the task!
This collection from writer Benjamin Percy (Green Arrow) and artists Khoi Pham (X-Force) and Scot Eaton (Aquaman) also features a Starfire spotlight by her co-creator, Marv Wolfman (New Teen Titans)! Collects Teen Titans #13-14, #16-19 and a story from DC Holiday Special 2017.
