Welcome back to another edition of comic book reviews round-up! This week we’ll be covering Absolute Evil #1, Absolute Superman #12, Amazing Spider-Man #13, Batman #2, Birds of Prey #26, Justice League: The Omega Act Special, Starship Godzilla #1, Ultimate Wolverine #10, and VR Troopers #3. Find out how these comic books turned out with the latest comic book reviews round-up below.
ABSOLUTE EVIL #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Nesi
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Absolute Evil accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do as a one-shot. Al Ewing, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Stefano Nesi tell a story around the villains that strengthens the Absolute Universe as a whole. By the time you finish this one shot you feel more informed about what is going on. At the same time, your concern for the heroes of the Absolute Universe grow because of what we learn.
A lot of that comes down to how Ewing, Camuncoli, and Nesi capture the voices of each main Absolute Universe villain. Each villain has an equal amount of credibility. There is even an understanding of how they balance each other out in an odd and interesting way. It makes the ending even more effective as a moment fans didn’t know they were waiting for until we get it at the very end.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #12
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Rafa Sandoval
Colorist: Ulises Arreola
Letterer: Becca Carey
Absolute Superman #12 is the calm before the storm that will be the latest battle between Superman and Ra’s Al Ghul. Like many past issues that focused on the world building around Krypton, we get that for Kal-El’s time on Earth. Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval do an effective job creating an entry point for readers to understand Absolute Superman’s journey post-Krypton’s destruction. It informs of why he is the way he is and how that has made Ra’s such a dangerous threat.
The biggest takeaway of all this is how Absolute Superman #12 positions Smallville. Even though it was never technically his home it’s established that Kal-El has constantly been drawn to the town. So much so that he is seen as a hero by most of the residents. It further highlights how even for all its changes there are iconic elements that the Absolute Universe can’t take away from Superman’s mythos.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Marte Gracia and Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Amazing Spider-Man #13 drives home that Peter Parker is still the most interesting character in this series. Especially in comparison to the main story of recent Amazing Spider-Man issues, it is what is going on with Peter that catches your interest. Having this whole lost in space angle has given new life for Peter’s life as Spider-Man. There are whole new opportunities that can and have already been taken up by Joe Kelly and Pepe Larraz.
It is the opportunities of Spider-Man in space that really makes you wish this is all the series was about. There is a weight to Peter’s decision to stay in space to hangout with the likes of Rocket Racoon and Symbie. All the while we have major developments around the ramifications of Hellgate brutal defeat of Spider-Man. The only problem this issue runs into is some unavoidable pacing problems because of the structure of the split storylines this series has.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
BATMAN #2
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterers: Clayton Cowles and Jorge Jimenez
Batman #2 works well to continue to establish the way Matt Fraction is following up on what his predecessors established. Fraction creates compelling voices for Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, and Vandal Savage that adds to how Gotham City is changing. Having Jorge Jimenez around helps to keep that sense of progression from recent storylines. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
BIRDS OF PREY #26
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Sami Basri and Vicente Cifuentes
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
The deeper you get into a creative run with a team book the more the chemistry between the cast needs to shine. That’s exactly the strength that Kelly Thompson, Sami Basri, and Vicente Cifuentes tap into with Birds of Prey #26. “The Unreality” storyline is really being carried by the cast chemistry. Which certainly helps the video game setting of this story so it doesn’t feel like filler. There is a lot of fun seeing the Birds of Prey members in their video game avatar form doing their investigation and fighting bad guys. It’s a fun issue that highlights the best parts of this series.
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE OMEGA ACT SPECIAL
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Yasmine Putri and Cian Tormey
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Justice League: The Omega Act Special does exactly what it needed to do. This is a giant set-up for the upcoming DC K.O. For those interested in the upcoming event and haven’t kept up with everything that’s gone on in the DC Universe the last year this is a good starting point. Based on this one-shot Superman, Booster Gold, and Flash seem to be at the center of the upcoming Darkseid related event. Though for those who have been reading the Justice League Unlimited, Flash, and Superman comics there are things that could seem repetitive. Overall, this one-shot accomplishes its job to strengthen the foundation for DC K.O.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
STARSHIP GODZILLA #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chris Gooch
Artist: Oliver Ono
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Starship Godzilla #1 delivers a fun, engaging entry into what the Kai-Sei Era is all about. Chris Gooch and Oliver Ono nail establishing the individual characters, cast dynamic, and language of the cosmic setting. There are so many things that Godzilla and science fiction fans in general will enjoy from this comic book. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE #10
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chris Condon
Artist: Alex Lins
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterers: Cory Petit
Ultimate Wolverine #10 once again drives home the urgency in The Oppositions ongoing war against The Maker’s Council. They don’t have time to rest and figure out their next move. That urgency mixed in with the incredible portrayal of Wolverine and Sabretooth’s relation made this another great issue in one of Marvel’s best current series. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
VR TROOPERS #3
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mairghread Scott
Artist: Sebastian Piriz
Colorist: JP Jordan
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
VR Troopers #3 continues the world building of the new Power Rangers Prime Universe. With this issue we get a return to a focus on Ryan Steele and how his history ties into greater elements of this universe. Though Ryan’s story only picks up at the end with the hook ending putting many things about what the Eltarians are up into question.
The focus on Ryan Steele is not that surprising. Though it is disappointing that JB Reese hasn’t gotten much development. And even Kaitlin Star is just placed in a position for information dump for the world building. There is still a lot of potential in this series but this issue wasn’t the best out of the first three VR Troopers’ issues.
Overall Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
For more opinions on anime, comic book, movies, and sports you can follow Kevin on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X.