Welcome back to another edition of comic book reviews round-up! This week we’ll be covering Absolute Batman #11, Amazing Spider-Man #10, Black Cat #1, G.I. JOE #10, Imperial #3, Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #4, Nightwing #129, The Vision & The Scarlet Witch #4, and VR Troopers #2. Find out how these comic books turned out with the latest comic book reviews round-up below.
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #11
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Clay Mann
Colorist: Ivan Plascencia
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Absolute Batman #11 is another home run. The spotlight on Absolute Bane provided a fresh perspective on the presentation of the Absolute Universe and how it is different from the main DCU. This spotlight lead to a brutal story that creates a lot of questions about the future of Absolute Bruce Wayne and his supporting cast. They are all questions that create even greater excitement for the future of this series. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joe Kelly
Artist: Michael Dowling
Colorist: Marte Gracia and Erick Arciniega
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Everything that happens in Amazing Spider-Man #10 continues to drive home that something is up with Peter Parker. There is a vibe that it is not simply that the brutal loss to Hellgate was a traumatic experience for Peter. As a result of the loss something changed about Peter because he isn’t the character we remember. Every interaction Peter has given the vibe that something is not right at all.
Creating the vibe that something isn’t right where Amazing Spider-Man #10 is at its best. It all sets up the big hook of this story, being that Peter Parker has been split into two characters. But the character split isn’t as simple as there now being a Peter and a Spider-Man. There is much more going on and that mystery is enough to drive interest in finding out what Joe Kelly and co. have planned for their creative run.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
BLACK CAT #1
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Gleb Melnikov
Colorist: Brian Reber
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Black Cat #1 does what every first issue of a first series should do. G. Willow Wilson and Gleb Melnikov present us everything that we can expect from this creative team on Black Cat. Everything from the dialogue to tone of the story in this debut issue gets you to understand why this is going to be a fun comic book to read.
Being fun is key to making the debut of Black Cat’s latest ongoing series a success. Black Cat is presented as a character who has a wide range to have different types of stories told. It is all done while staying to the core of the character being a thief at heart. That is not being hidden. Instead it is embraced while tying her more to the overall Spider-Man franchise in cool ways. If you’re a Black Cat fan make sure to pick up this comic book.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
G.I. JOE #10
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Andrea Milana
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Rus Wooton
G.I. JOE #10 is an excellent continuation of the spotlight Baroness and Cover Girl are getting. Major Bludd and Raptor thrive in their roles as villains that make you love to hate them and cheer for Baroness and Cover Girl. Adding in the progression of various series sub-plots led to another fantastic chapter in the Energon Universe. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
IMPERIAL #3
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artists: Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterers: Cory Petit and Ariana Maher
When it comes to major decisions and revelations, Imperial #3 more than delivers on that. Nova, Maximus, Grandmaster, and the big surprise character make game changing choices. But even for the wow moments this comic book delivers it does not mask the recap nature of this penultimate chapter. How Jonathan Hickman and company wrap things up in the fourth and final issue will be interesting to see. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
INVINCIBLE UNIVERSE: BATTLE BEAST #4
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Colorist: Annalisa Leoni
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #4 is a great mythology building issue. Battle Beast and Prince Salaka balance each other well. The way they complement each other enhances the dangerous situation they end up finding themselves. It all works to build up the anticipation for the next big fight Battle Beast will get into. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
NIGHTWING #129
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Dexter Soy
Colorist: Veronica Gandini
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Nightwing #129, and the “Other” storyline as a whole, is something I wish I liked more than I did. There are so many elements about this story that show why Dan Watters was chosen as the new Nightwing writer. Watter no doubt knows how to write a great version of Nightwing, that follows up in what came before. But there was just something off. Thinking about it a lot, what is off about Nightwing #129 is that Watters just simply went to experimental with the supernatural story that was told.
Nightwing having to deal with the constantly changing dynamic in Bludhaven is such an intriguing story. There is a lot of that intrigue here. But it does get lost in trying to make the story bigger when it was naturally getting there without this story. Hopefully the next story gets back to what made Watter’s first Nightwing arc so good.
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
THE VISION & THE SCARLET WITCH #4
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Jacopo Camagni
Colorist: Ruth Redmond
Letterer: Travis Lanham
One of the things to come out of Steve Orlando’s overall Scarlet Witch run is solidifying Grim Reaper as a great villain for the character. That is once again shown in The Vision & The Scarlet Witch #4 with what Grim Reaper brings out of Wanda Maximoff. This latest fight between the two gave Jacopo Camagni the opportunity to show off there strength with energetic set pieces.
The story in The Vision & The Scarlet Witch #4 shines with how much imagination it uses. Steve Orlando knows he has Camagni and Ruth Redmond on art to deliver great looking magic battles. That makes how Orlando delves deeper into Vision and Scarlet Witch’s dynamic even stronger. The fight with Grim Reaper did a good job at setting up the big bad that shows up at the end.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
VR TROOPERS #2
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mairghread Scott
Artist: Sebastian Piriz
Colorist: JP Jordan
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
There is some disappointment with how quickly VR Troopers #2 puts a pause on addressing what Ryan Steele arc that was set-up in the first issue. That is a major thing that hangs over the head of this entire issue. Though to Mairhread Scott’s credit the focus on Kaitlin Star did make up for this. Scott does a great job at presenting Kaitlin as a strong lead, at the same level of Ryan.
Delving more into how the Eltarians changed things in this Power Rangers Prime universe is a strong hook for VR Troopers #2 to explore. Through Kaitlin Star’s investigation we see how there are unlimited angles to explore this new universe from. The way Kaitlin’s investigation ends up bringing in more VR Trooper elements will certainly pop fans. That said, hopefully Scott finds a good way to make all three VR Troopers equal leads rather than just always focusing on one over the other two.
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
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