Welcome back to another week of comic book reviews! This week with the holiday’s it was a bit smaller of a week. To be honest, my pull list was DC Comics heavy. With that in mind, this week’s comic book reviews include Batman #150, Birds of Prey #11, and The Boy Wonder #3. Find out how these turned out with our latest comic book reviews round-up.
ABSOLUTE POWER #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Absolute Power #1 is a grand slam of a start for the DC Universe’s latest big event. Mark Waid and Dan Mora nailed making this start work as a culmination of all the storytelling with Amanda Waller since Dark Crisis On Infinite Earth #7’s epilogue. This is a must-read comic book for fans of the DC Universe. Click here for full review.
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10
BATMAN #150
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artists: Denys Cowan, Jorge Jimenez, and Mike Hawthorne
Inkers: John Stanisci and Adriano Di Benedeto
Colorists: Tomeu Morey and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Batman #150 is exactly what happens to momentum for an ongoing series that is forced to tie into a bigger event. All the momentum that was created by the end of the Dark Prisons storyline is completely taken away from this series. Even for how much work Chip Zdarsky makes this side story involving a random character is just that: Random. If the decision has been made that because of Batman’s big role in Absolute Power not much character progress can be made in the tie-in’s involving the Dark Knight a different character choice should’ve been made. Dedicating this issue to have characters like Duke Thomas or Harper Row take the lead would’ve given much more weight to this story. Because it feels like what we do get with the random character and brief Absolute Powers tie-in was time and money wasted.
Overall Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 10
BIRDS OF PREY #11
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Robbi Rodriguez, Javier Pina, and Gavin Guiday
Colorist: Jordan Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Birds of Prey #11 is an excellent example of how to utilize multiple artists on one comic book. Rather than fitting them all into one style Kelly Thompson writes a story with scenarios that maximize Robbi Rodriguez, Javier Pina, and Gavin Guiday artistic talent. The way the Birds of Prey members are split between three timelines gives a unique energy to the pacing of the story. Thompson and company find a strong pace in the switch between the three settings to keep you engaged the entire time. It helps to elevate the stakes when things really pop off in the last few pages of Birds of Prey #11.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
THE BOY WONDER #3
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Juni Ba
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Aditya Bidikar
With each issue of The Boy Wonder we are seeing how connected Damian Wayne is to his brothers. With Dick Grayson it was very much big brother-little brother dynamic. While with Jason Todd, their similarities gave them a deeper emotional tie with one another. As we see with The Boy Wonder #3, Damian and Tim Drake are never going to be the closest to one another as this was more of a basic team-up rather than one that deepens their ties. That works for the arc that Juni Ba is taking Damian Wayne on as not every issue needs to bring him closer to his brothers. But what we do get to see is how they compliment one another when things breakdown. That leads the latest developments around the greater Demon’s Head story to get you more invested in what will happen next.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
SCARLETT #2
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Marco Ferrari
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Scarlett #2 nails putting over the title character as badass fighter and spy. Establishing that was key in making the infiltration of Clan Arashikage work. Where things are left create even more excitement to see how Scarlett can survive and be successful in the mission she was given. Click here to read full review.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
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