Welcome back to Upcoming Comics – and Happy Halloween!
I hope everyone enjoyed their celebrations – as for me, I’m a little disappointed. I spent 50 damn bucks on a costume, yet couldn’t find anyone who wanted to hang or go to an event with me – I better get a good use for that Carrie costume, so help me god. >:(
We have a few housekeeping points this week – a lot of reorganization is happening behind the scenes here, hence some delay on a few articles. 2021 has been a year of burnout for a lot of people, it seems, and I’m excited to be stepping into the next year sooner rather than later. I’ll be taking a break in December, and it is sorely needed. The long and short of it is that starting now, these articles should be up a little sooner, with few tweaks and touches that harken back to Josh’s old Upcoming Comics entries.
I’m also out of lockdown, meaning I can finally start going to the cinemas again! I’ll probably start adding more opinions about old and new movies in these intros, such as my thoughts on The Suicide Squad, Shang Chi and Eternals.
Now, here’s what we have this week!
Upcoming Comics
Dark Knights of Steel #1
An entire medieval world will be forever changed when a spaceship crash-lands from a doomed planet. Monarchs will die, kingdoms will rise, and what seemed the end of the world for many…was only the beginning! An epic high-fantasy story set in a DC Universe where nothing is what it seems… From worldwide bestselling writer Tom Taylor (DCeased, Superman: Son of Kal-El) and acclaimed artist Yasmine Putri comes a generational tale of good and evil within a brand-new DCU!
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by Yasmine Putri
Cover by Yasmine Putri
Thoughts: Oh, hell yes. Alternate realities are generally where Taylor works best, and this particular aesthetic is my JAM. I’m very excited to see the potential this bad boy has, especially with such phenomenal art from Yasmine Putri.
Batman News Critic: Nick and Matina
Batman: Reptilian #5
After following a trail of carnage, Batman has finally come face-to-face with the reptilian that’s been menacing Gotham’s underworld. And this horrific creature only wants one thing: its mother. But who is its mother? Pick up this penultimate chapter to find out the impossible answer to that question!
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Liam Sharp
Cover by Liam Sharp
Thoughts: Batman: Reptilian is a wonderful mix of horror and comedy, portraying some of the creepiest images I’ve seen in a while before making my audibly laugh moments later. Very excited for the final instalments.
Batman News Critic: Brian
Batman #116
The only thing standing between an insane, heavily armed Peacekeeper-01 and a high body count in Gotham City is Batman. Their first bout didn’t go well for the Dark Knight, but the city is on the line and he can’t let the Scarecrow’s master plan come to fruition…and whose side is Miracle Molly truly on? The penultimate chapter of “Fear State”! Backup: With the Bat comms unreliable, Oracle has instructed the Batgirls to stay in the Clock Tower while she and Nightwing investigate who’s behind the Oracle Network hacks. But with the Magistrate’s forces instructed to attack the Clock Tower, will the Batgirls make it out before it’s too late?
Written by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and James Tynion IV
Pencils and Inks by Jorge Corona and Jorge Jimenez
Colored by Tomeu Morey and Sarah Stern
Cover by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey
Thoughts: Complications have prevented coverage of this book for a time, but we should be back in the swing of things this week.
Batman News Critic: Josh
Arkham City: The Order of the World #2
The Joker’s attack on Arkham Asylum left the long-standing Gotham establishment in ruin, most of the patients killed or missing, and only a handful of surviving staff-a few nurses, a gravely injured security guard, and one doctor. In the chaos of the assault, it is believed that several of the asylum’s patients escaped and scurried off into the dark nooks and crannies of Gotham City. Now, these Arkhamites walk among us, and it’s up to the Asylum’s one remaining doctor, Jocasta Joy, to round up her former patients. Meet these Arkhamites: a woman with no face, a pyggy in search of perfection, a man who feels nothing and burns everything, a woman who must devour life to save herself, a man unfit for the waking world who looks instead for Wonderland, a body with more than one soul, a being unbound from time who lives in the present and the past, a boy who seeks the comfort of vermin, and the twisted man who sees them all for who they are. And witness the avenging angel who stalks them. This fall, join writer Dan Watters and artist Dani on an odyssey through the deepest depths and darkest shadows of Gotham City and find all-new reasons to fear the night.
Written by Dan Watters
Pencils and Inks by Dani
Colored by Dave Stewart
Cover by Sam Wolfe Connelly
Thoughts: LOVE this series! I’m not covering all of my comics issue to issue anymore, but I’ll likely be covering all of this.
Batman News Critic: Nick
The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #4
The Riddler’s death has left more questions! But the Joker isn’t giving the police the answers they need. Instead he shares two more tales of the twisted treasure hunt for pieces of the puzzlebox. First, the Penguin enters a test of might and wits against Bane. Then, the Scarecrow must go toe-to-toe with Professor Pyg to find out what he’s really afraid of.
Written by Matthew Rosenberg
Art by Jesús Merino, Vanesa Del Rey and Ricardo López Ortiz
Cover by Chip Zdarsky
Thoughts: I haven’t heard a single bad word about this story yet, which is impressive considering how sick people seem to be of the Joker.
Batman News Critic: Casper
Batman: The Adventures Continue Season Two #6
Former Mayor Mayfield’s influence over Gotham grows as the campaign picks up speed. As Batman and his team investigate where Mayfield has been, Batgirl decides to infiltrate the campaign herself. How is Mayfield charming his way around Gotham, and why are clues pointing to Arkham Asylum?
Written by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini
Pencils and Inks by Rick Burchett and Ty Templeton
Colored by Monica Kubina
Cover by Jorge Fornés
My Thoughts: Season Two has some improvements over its debut season, but I think it suffers from a lot of the same problems… that being it’s just not that compelling to me, outside of some neat designs.
Batman News Critic: Pending
Teen Titans Academy #7
Gorilla Grodd vs. Gorilla Gregg! A fun, light outing to upstate New York for the students of Titans Academy becomes a nightmare when an entire town turns on them. But as Gorilla City expat Gorilla Gregg fights to save his friends, the young primate discovers, the threat leads him to his own uncle-Gorilla Grodd.
Written by Tim Sheridan
Pencils by Rafa Sandoval
Inks by Jordi Tarragona
Colored by Alejandro Sanchez
Cover by Alejandro Sanchez and Rafa Sandoval
Thoughts: I’m not the biggest fan of Sheridan’s writing – I think this concept is really cool, but anything beyond it has failed to really grab me.
Justice League Infinity #5
Superman, trapped on Earth-X, teams up with the Freedom Fighters to help them liberate the world from Vandal Savage’s control. Thanks to the added power of the newly arrived Superman-D, the Freedom Fighters might just have what it takes to break into Savage’s stronghold. But what secrets has the immortal tyrant hidden within its walls?
Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils and Inks by Ethen Beavers
Colored by Nick Filardi
Cover by Meghan Hetrick
Thoughts: This falls into the same issues as The Adventures Continue for me, but I do think this one handles its content a little better all the same.
Beyond the Bat
Welcome to Beyond the Bat! Here you can see everything else that DC is releasing this week, beyond the scope of the books we cover on the website.
(Yes, I know that Batman is in one of these issues – but seeing as it’s a follow-up to the fantastic Superman and the Authority, it’d probably mean we have to review that one first. Which, in all honesty, we might!)
Ratings
Most Excited: No “least excited” or “wild card” this week – if only because I want to point out how exciting it is for me to have three books I’m equally excited about coming out on the same day! Dark Knights of Steel, Batman: Reptilian and Arkham City: The Order of the World all have wonderful things going for them, and while comics have made me quite exhausted lately, stuff like that does a damn fine job of making me want to step back into that world.
Best wishes, and see you in the reviews!
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Author’s Twitter: @ObnoxiousFinch
