January was a packed month to begin 2017 in the world of comic books. From Civil War II fallout to a dream team-up of the Justice League and Power Rangers, DC, Marvel, BOOM! Studios and others certainly delivered moments to get fans talking. Now I break down some of these big moments from comic books from my library of January 2017 releases.
All-New Wolverine #16
Like Logan before her, even though Laura Kinney has embraced her role as Wolverine and has become a hero to look up to her past will always haunt her. Seeing Laura in this feral state reminded you of how dangerous she is if she ever enters this state of mind when fighting other heroes or villains.
All-Star Batman #6
This month’s issue dealing with Mr. Freeze causing an ice age that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger jealous was Scott Snyder’s latest way challenge Batman. With how post-apocalyptic things got seeing things end with Batman turning his body into an anti-Mr. Freeze and then locking himself in a container with him was an incredibly lasting visual. What makes this such a lasting image is the smile on Batman’s face while Mr. Freeze screams in absolute horror.
Archie #16
Mark Waid continues to find new ways to inject the current culture trends into the small town of Riverdale with his Archie series. Archie #16 was another example of this as Dilton Dooley created a version Yelp that got out of hand very quickly. Seeing how much damage was done does go to show both the power and fear these type of quickly spread.
Batman #14
It’s a rare sight to see Batman and Catwoman out on a date together. While it was not what most people would normally do on a date, seeing Catwoman drag Batman along for a heist was just fun. Making this even better is that Catwoman tricked Batman into stealing her own well protected antique and setting off an explosion to just have fun with him.
Black Widow #10
The natural progression of Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff’s relationship during Ed Brubaker’s run made me an even bigger fan of the two characters. When Bucky was forced to erase Natasha’s memories of their time together a few years ago was a sad moment as a fan of that relationship. Now the inner fanboy in me has hope thanks to Mark Waid and Chris Samnee that we may see Bucky and Natasha together again. That alone makes this interaction memorable.
Civil War II: The Oath #1
There is still something so chilling about hearing Captain America telling Tony Stark he is going to teardown everything Tony has built since becoming Iron Man. This is where the friendship between the two that has been established over the decades that helps to elevate this scene. In this brief bit of dialogue Nick Spencer was able to at peek my interest in how Steve Rogers’ endgame will turn out in Secret Empire.
The Clone Conspiracy #4
The Clone Conspiracy has had its fair share of big moments and this one of Spider-Man standing over the majority of his cast suffering from the Carrion Virus is horrifying. This does not only make you feel for everyone suffering from this, after being given the hope of a better second life, but also drives home Ben Reilly’s role as the villain of the story.
Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #12
A partnership between the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps is something that you never think you’ll see. Sure, a brief alliance would not be out of the ordinary but a long term agreement to work together makes you have the same reaction Hal Jordan and the others had when seeing John Stewart and Soranik Natu shaking hands.
Justice League/Power Rangers #1
In a similar moment to when Batman first crossed paths with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, it was an absolute blast to see the first issue contain a fight between the Dark Knight and Power Rangers. Even though the fight was brief it did not take away from how much of a fanboy dream this scene was.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11
When the new Green-White Ranger hybrid villain was introduced at the end of the first arc of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers your mind instantly goes to who is under the helmet. Seeing this new Ranger would be revealed to be an older version of Tommy Oliver was perfect. And the design of the suit is still just extremely cool.
Old Man Logan #16
Ever since being introduced to Andrea Sorrentino artwork I’ve been continuously been blown away with his style and how he lays out each page. This frightening image of a member of the Brood sneaking up on Old Man Logan perfectly captures what makes horror scenes so cool when done right.
Spider-Man #12
A relationship between Miles Morales’ Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen is not something I imagined would ever happen. But as Marvel showed us once again anything can happen in comics, including a pairing between Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy. In all honesty, I’m still not sure how to feel about this as a Spider-Man fan.
Superman #15
Seeing all the different versions of the DC Universe again, including the Timmverse, you can’t help but smile at how cool it is that so many different Supermen are interacting with one another.
Teen Titans #4
Beast Boy has never been known as the most serious members of the Teen Titans. To see him in such a light was refreshing and actually provided some personal growth for the character. It is also good to see how Tim Drake’s “death” has impacted those he was close to outside the Batman Family since it has only been previously touched on by Detective Comics.
Titans #7
A race between Superman and Flash is always going to deliver some good times. What made this race in particular special was the fact that Clark Kent and Wally West are the only ones that remember the previous version of DCU’s Earth-Prime. The heart-to-heart between the two helps to make this visual of the two characters racing resonate even more.
Trinity #5
Just another Superman moment that is very cool to see various versions of the character together. What’s different this time around is the context of how it is Mongul’s dream to kill every version of Superman that has existed. He seemingly lived out that dream as he sits on a throne made out of bones with iconic versions of Superman dead at his feet.
WWE #1
Shawn Michaels impact on the pro wrestling world is one of the greatest in sports entertainment history. He helped inspire multiple generations to pursue a similar dream and Seth Rollins is one of them. For the WWE comic to explore this and make Rollins a Shawn Michaels fanboy made the scenes between the two a lot of fun to see.
