Happy New Comic Book Day! With a new releases hitting the stands we got a new comic book reviews round-up. For this week’s comic book reviews round-up we are spotlighting Ain’t No Grave #1, Birds of Prey #9, The Boy Wonder #1, Crocodile Black #1, Daredevil #9, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1. Find out how all of these titles turned out with our comic book reviews below.
AIN’T NO GRAVE #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Ain’t No Grave #1 is a great example of how you build a world around a character. The western setting is so reflective of who Ryder is, both past and present. Both who Ryder was and is now is told throughout Ain’t No Grave #1 that makes her a character your compelled to follow on whatever journey she is on. The twist and turns taken by the creative team become something as the reader you embrace as part of the experience learning about what this world is about. That leads to Skottie Young and Jorge Corona delivering a strong start to a series that shows a lot of great promise.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
THE AMORY WARS: NO WORLD FOR TOMORROW #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert
Artist: Guillaume Martinez
Colorist: Valentina Bianconi
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
The Amory Wars: No World for Tomorrow #1 has all the elements that fans that have followed decade plus long saga from the beginning. It gives off the vibe that things are reaching their end point. For fans looking to get into The Amory Wars you’ll be better off reading the previous volumes that came before rather than jumping in at the end of the saga expecting to understand everything. Click here to read full review.
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of 10
BATMAN #147
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Jiménez
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Batman #147 is exactly the chapter that this Zur-En-Arrh Saga needed to move forward with. Batman of Zur-En-Arrh moves his plans forward in a way that both work to escalate the narrative Chip Zdarsky is crafting and builds towards the Absolute Power event. It’s a delicate balance that ends up working to make progress for all the players involved to have greater importance. Click here to read full review.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
BIRDS OF PREY #9
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kelly Tompson
Artists: Jonathan Case and Gavin Guiday
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Birds of Prey #9 is a lot of set-up for this roadtrip through the Multiverse to save Barbara Gordon. With this being more of an intro to this new story arc the narrative is carried by the Birds of Prey chemistry and the way they react to the first world they visit. The chemistry by the main team does make the way the Meridian and Zealot pairing works out feel forced in to remind the reader they are also part of the team. Though we do have great artwork by artists Jonathan Case and Gavin Guiday and colorist Jordie Bellaire capturing the magic of the Multiverse.
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
THE BOY WONDER #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Juni Ba
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
The Boy Wonder #1 delivers a unique superhero story that embraces the opportunity of having a title under the Black Label imprint has. Juni Ba’s fairytale-like approach to storytelling made everything from narrative to artistic direction blend well. It created an air of unpredictability that makes you want to come back to read what happens next.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
CROCODILE BLACK #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Artist: Somnath Pal
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Becca Carey
To Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Somnath Pal credit they know the world they are crafting in Crocodile Black #1. The world is grounded enough that when there are elements that appear supernatural it leaves you wondering what is going on. But while a mood is certainly created the characters that exist in this world just don’t capture your attention. There is nothing that sparks the wonder of what the character journeys for the people we spend time with will be. That in turn makes Crocodile Black #1 really feel more of a niche title than something that will grab a wider interest in.
Overall Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
DAREDEVIL #9
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Juann Cabal
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Daredevil #9 does a lot to push Matt Murdock out of his bubble and back into fully stepping back into the importance of his mission as the Man Without Fear. The confrontation with Bullseye and what he learns about Wilson Fisk show that Matt can’t be just a half in on being back to his superhero life. How Elektra, Foggy, and Cole factor into this make Saladin Ahmed’s run stronger as more of the beloved Daredevil cast is being brought in. It all leads to looking forward to what will happen next as Marvel’s New York City as a whole goes through a big change.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: BLACK, WHITE, & GREEN #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writers: Declan Shalvey, Dave Baker, Jesse Lonergan, Gigi Dutreix, Lorenzo Hall, Paulina Ganucheau
Artists: Declan Shalvey, Jesse Lonergan, Gigi Dutreix, and Paulina Ganucheau
Letterer: Nathan Widick
There is art to creating an anthology series that is unique to what other comic book reading experiences are. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 showcase how that experience can deliver an exploration for a franchise or characters that can be deep, fun, action-packed, and emotional. Each of the creative team works within the page count they are given to deliver on what has made the TMNT franchise so iconic. That iconic natures comes from the flexibility of being able to tell all sorts of stories with these characters that never feels out of place. This is absolutely a must-read for TMNT fans.
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10
TRANSFORMERS #8
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Artist: Jorge Corona
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Transformers #8 is an incredible display of storytelling. Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona make sure the reader understands how seriously they must take every character moment and event that takes place in this series. This is truly a must-read comic book. Click here to read full review.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
X-MEN: FOREVER #3
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Luca Maresca
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
X-Men Forever #3 is easily the best issue of this mini-series by far. That is thanks to the way the direction Hope Summers, Destiny, Mystique, and Nightcrawler arcs are developed. These four characters carry the story in this issue to feel important to what is going on in the Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X titles.
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
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