It’s time for another round of comic book reviews. There were a lot of major releases this week to talk about. With that in mind this week we’ll be covering Barbara Gordon: Breakout #5, Blood & Thunder #17, Iron Man #9, Neighborhood Watch #5, and Transformers #36. Find out how these comic books turned out with the latest comic book reviews round-up below.
BARBARA GORDON: BREAKOUT #5
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Amancay Nahuelpan
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Barbara Gordon: Breakout #5 continued to drive home how this series is opening Barbara’s eyes to a different part of the criminal underworld of Gotham City. It is an experience she would have never had without putting herself in this position as the initial premise of this series. This issue particularly shows Barbara that no matter her best intentions to find allies it won’t work out like it does in the world she is normally used to. The consequences of these intentions as she tries to discover more about what is going is amplified by Amancay Nahuelpan artwork. Nahuelpan, along with colorist Tamra Bonvillain, help create a dark mood around everything going on. This tone set does a lot to get over the ongoing narrative of the series.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
BLOOD & THUNDER #17
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Benito Cereno
Artist: E.J. Su
Colorist: Msassyk
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Blood & Thunder #17 does a solid job of giving us some progress with Akeldama Bledsoe, aka Blood, making her next move after her prison breakout. The spot we find her in throughout this issue does give weight to how much Akeldama had to go through to breakout. It gave Thunder an opportunity to show why it is the perfect partner for Blood. At the same time, this issue also highlights how scenes not featuring Blood or Thunder struggle to capture the same level of interest as those with our title characters. There is something just missing from all these side characters that makes the scenes very stiff. It does not take away from what we see Blood and Thunder do but makes this just a solid issue of the series.
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
IRON MAN #9
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Carmen Carnero
Colorist: Nolan Woodard
Letterer: Joe Caramgna
Iron Man #9 lives up to its promise of being one of the most shocking issues of the year for at least a Marvel comic book. What helps the shock for the reveal of who is under the Citizen V mask is someone that was never at the top of mind for returning. Joshua Williamson does a great job at playing with that so when you do go back to read this issue again it puts a whole new perspective on what a captured Tony Stark talks. This helps present Whiplash as a bigger threat because they are the cause of all this in putting Tony and his cast against a corner where difficult decisions needed to be made.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH #5
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Sara Gailey
Artist: Haining
Colorist: Rebecca Nalty
Letterer: Jodie Troutman
The drama is turned up several notches with an increase level of violence in Neighborhood Watch #5. The violence is handled well not just to add blood or shock value. Instead, it drives home how much on edge all these characters are from the murder mystery that has created so much tension in this previously normal suburban community. That violence makes the push of the red button moment that wraps up the story of Neighborhood Watch in the only way it could be wrapped up. It is something that everyone in the community needed to put what happened behind them.
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
TRANSFORMERS #36
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Jason Howard
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Transformers #36 nails how impactful of a threat Cobra-La is. The main cover of this comic book alone should tell you how big of a deal they are with the major Transformers debut we get here. It all works to show how the Energon Universe has opened the door for many different storylines for Transformers to deal beyond the Autobots vs Decepticons. Click here to read the full review.
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
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