comic reviews Archives - Pop Culture Squad

Welcome back to Everything We Read This Week. This is the place that we make our weekly trip through this week’s pull-list. It features mostly spoiler-free brief analysis and commentary of each book.

We got to read some excellent comics by a variety of publishers this week. Quite a few of them are tackling interesting and complex social issues. Find the comics you like and remember, Read More Comics!!

We reviewed books from DC, Marvel, Valiant, Boom! Studios, Abstract Studio, Dark Horse, and Image Comics this week. As always, we hope you might find what we say interesting enough to try some of these comics.

Also, Don’t forget to check our hotlist of new books debuting this month over here. You will see books that we were looking forward to with the designation Hot #1 by them. There are a few of them out this week, and they are really good.

DISCLAIMER:

There is a 4 star rating system. It is simple and not to be taken too seriously as everyone gets their own impressions of art. These ratings are just to give our readers an idea of what we thought of the book, and they will be on the generous side normally. So don’t expect to see a lot of 1 Stars. After all, it’s not often that you have a bad book on your pull-list.

The rating system is as follows:

Great

Good

OK

Not Good

And here are the books we read in alphabetical order:

Continue reading “Everything We Read This Week – 06/19/2019” →

In this column we make a quick trip through the pull list. There will be a brief analysis of each book and commentary on if we will continue to keep the series on the pull list if applicable. It is intended to be spoiler free, but you never know. Right?

There is a 4 star rating system. It is simple and not to be taken too seriously as everyone gets their own impressions of art. These ratings are just to give our readers an idea of what we thought of the book and they will be on the generous side normally. So don’t expect to see a lot of 1 Stars.

The rating system is as follows:

4 Stars – Great
3 Stars – Good
2 Stars – OK
1 Star – Not Good

All-New Wolverine #34
Marvel Comics
Written by Tom Taylor
Art by Ramon Rosanas
Colors by Nolan Woodard
Letters by VC's Cory Petit

Tom Taylor continues to absolutely kill it with this book. It is easily one of the best books month to month and this issue is no exception. Beautifully drawn and colored. This continues the "Old Woman Laura" story-line that is just a fabulously imaginative futurescape. One more issue to wrap this up before Laura goes back to being X-23.
4 Stars
Avengers #690
Marvel Comics
Written by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub
Art by Pepe Larraz
Colors by David Curiel
Letters by VC's Cory Petit

This issues is essentially the epilogue to the "No Surrender" story-line. It is a collection of 1 to 2 page aftermath vignettes setting the stage for things to come in the Marvel Universe. The art is well done and feels like a part of the larger story. We will look forward to how the events of this story change Marvel going forward.
3 Stars
Batman and the Signal #3 of 3
DC Comics
Written by Tony Patrick (Story by Scott Snyder and Tony Patrick)
Art by Cully Hamner
Colors by Laura Martin
Letters by Deron Bennett

This is the final issue of this 3 issue mini-series. The story wraps up nicely. There are some lingering questions related to Duke Thomas, but it was a well done series over all. The art in this issue was on-point. The color was especially good by the wonderful Laura Martin.
3 Stars
Detective Comics #979
DC Comics
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Philippe Briones
Colors by John Kalisz
Letters by Sal Cipriano

The end of the Batmen continues and certainly ratchets up the intensity. The story continues to be excellently told, and we are certainly looking forward to the conclusion of this Tim Drake centric tale.
3 Stars
Doctor Strange #389 and Doctor Strange: Damnation #4
Marvel Comics
Written by Donny Cates and Nick Spencer
Art by Niko Henrichon and Rod Reis
Letters by VC's Cory Petit and Travis Lanham

These two books really need to be read together. The contemporaneous nature of this story in the main book and the side book has made the reader question why and how it was done this way, but Donny Cates has made it work well despite those misgivings. The Hell in Las Vegas story is wrapped up in these books and with a satisfying ending. The art is nice in both books. The painted feel of Rod Ries's Damnation is definitely eye catching.
3 Stars
Doom Patrol #11
DC Comics - Young Animal
Written by Gerard Way
Pencils by Nick Derington
Inks by Tom Fowler
Colors by Tamra Bonvillian
Letters by Todd Klein

This series continues to be visually striking. From the storytelling to the clean inks to the colors and lettering. The plot flows well for a Gerard Way book. That is not a dig. This issue follows up on the fallout of the Milk Wars crossovers and sets the group up for their next adventures. Over all a satisfying read.
3 Stars
Exiles #2
Marvel Comics
Written by Saladin Ahmed
Pencils by Javier Rodriguez
Inks by Alvaro Lopez
Colors by Chris O'Halloran
Letters by VC's Joe Caramanga

This book is probably the most difficult to analyze this week. The story is a continuation of the issue 1 plot of getting the band together. It takes Blink and her comrades to a couple of more universes, including a chibi X-Men 'verse, which is weird. The characterization is solid if not always agreeable. It also has a reappearance of original Nick Fury in his Unseen character form. There is certainly a big cliffhanger that can set the series up for some time. David Marquez's cover is beautiful.
2 Stars
Flash #45
DC Comics
Written by Joshua Williamson
Art by Christian Duce
Colors by Luis Guerrero
Letters by Steve Wands

This is another aftermath story. Seems there were quite a few this week. However it serves to set up the events that will spill out of No Justice and set up the Flash book for the upcoming Flash War. The original Wally West has a very interesting revelation at the end that leaves the reader with lots of questions, in a good way.
3 Stars
Legion #4
Marvel Comics
Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Lee Furguson
Colors by Dan Brown
Letters by VC's Travis Lanham

Peter Milligan's journey inside David Haller's mind continues to be thoroughly engaging. The panel layout and figure drawing is well done. There is little background detail, but that is to be expected given 90% of it take place in a mindscape.
3 Stars
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #303
Marvel Comics
Written by Chip Zdarsky
Pencils by Joe Quinones
Inks by Joe Rivera, Joe Quinones, Paulo Rivera
Colors by Jordan Gibson and Joe Quinones
Letters by VC's Travis Lanham

This issue continues Spider-Man's trip to the past with Theresa and Jonah. As usual, everything goes sideways for Peter and also his younger self. The mission completed but there are repercussions which will be dealt with in the next issue. Revelations are shared and there are some good suspense beats. Joe Quinones's art suits the time period it is set in, and he makes some nice nods to the past.

3 Stars
The Terrifics #3
DC Comics
Written by Jeff Lemire
Pencils by Joe Bennett
Inks by Sandra Hope, Jamie Mendoza, and Art Thibert
Colors by Marcelo Maiolo
Letters by Tom Napolitano

The Terrifics are still setting the stage for this book. They are stuck with the requirement to be in physical proximity to one another after their unexpected journey to the Dark Multiverse. This issue deals with getting some character development on all four team members as they get used to staying at Simon Stagg's compound and fighting a giant war wheel, because why not? I was not thrilled with Mr. Terrific in this issue, he seemed to be a bit of a meanie. Joe Bennett's Plastic Man and Metamorpho designs and transformations were highlights on the art.

2.5 Stars
Titans Annual #2
DC Comics
Written by Dan Abnett
Pencils by Tom Grummett and Tom Denerick
Inks by Cam Smith, Mick Gray, and Trevor Scott
Colors by Adriano Lucas
Letters by Travis Lanham

This is the conclusion of this latest incarnation of the Titans. The group will be restarted after Justice League: No Justice. It was a fine issue. The art was nice to look at, and the fact that two pencillers split the book about in half was not a major distraction. The story wrapped up the fight versus the Brain and Monsieur Mallah. The best take away is that the group of heroes fought together and for each other as a team of friends. A solid end to this incarnation of Titans.

3 Stars

Well that is it for this week. This is not inclusive of all the great books out there. Go find what you like and read it and talk about it. Comments are always welcome.

Tag: comic reviews

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