Books of the Week – 08/07/19

1. Absolute Carnage #1 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘Chapter 1: The Bleeding King / Chapter 2: The God Son / Chapter 3: The Long Red Dark’
Writer: Donny Cates / Art: Ryan Stegman & JP Mayer / Colors; Frank Martin
Now I get what all the fuss is about. This book was great. Amazing artwork and a story that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Not 100% sure how Normie got involved, but I suppose that got lost in editing.

2. Daredevil #9 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘No Devils. Only God – Part 4’
Writer: Chip Zdarsky / Art: Lalit Kumar Sharma & Jay Leisten / Colors: Java Tartaglia
Beautiful book that explores faith, duty, existentialism, and packs in some solid action to boot. The opening chess scene was perfection. The ending, even more so. Great work.

3. Savage Avengers #4 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘Chapter 4: Stress Test’
Writer: Gerry Duggan / Art: Mike Deodato Jr. / Colors: Frank Martin
Best book of the series. The art continues to be the best part of this series, but the writing really came thru this time as well. Great set pieces in a big, over the top adventure. Looking forward to the conclusion next month.

4. Immortal Hulk #22 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘Who’s There’
Writer: Al Ewing / Art: Joe Bennett with Ruy Jose & Balardino Brabo / Colors: Paul Mounts
Oh man, that ending. For a relatively quiet book, this was a riveting read. The intensity keeps building, until… BOOM!

5. Black Cat #3 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘Holiest of Holies – Part 2’
Writer: Jed MacKay / Art: Travel Foreman & Michael Dowling / Colors: Brian Reber
That was a lot of fun. I love a good caper story. Bats the ghost dog is always a delight. Lots of laughs, and I even got the payoff at the end I was hoping for. This has been an unexpectedly great series… so far.

6. Agents of Atlas #1 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘The Portal of Pan City – Part 1’
Writer: Greg Pak / Art: Nico Leon / Colors: Federico Blee
‘Behind the Veil’
Writer: Jeff Parker / Art: Carlo Pagulayan & Jason Paz / Colors: Dono Sanchez-Almara
Two Atlas stories featuring two teams, and both are really good. Beautiful art by Leon & Pagulayan, coupled with great writing by Pak & Parker make this book a joy. There’s a playfulness to the storytelling that I find particulary enjoyable.

7. House of X #2 (Marvel) ★★★★★
‘The Uncanny Life of Moira X’
Writer: Jonathan Hickman / Art: Pepe Larraz / Colors: Marte Gracia
Fascinating look at X-History thru the life (lives?) of Moira MacTaggert-something-something-X. Wonderfully written. Totally compelling.

8. Sensational Spider-Man: Self Improvement #1 (Marvel) ★★★★
‘Burn Job’
Writer: Peter David / Art: Rick Leonardi & Victor Olazaba / Colors: Rachele Rosenberg
‘With No Power’
Writer: Tom DeFalco / Art: Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema / Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Solid one-shot Spidey book. The first story, originally plotted out in 1982, is a fun, almost ‘What-If’ story. The second is a twist on the With Great Power mythos… (by some classic creative heavy hitters). Both are very good and quite enjoyable.

9. DCeased #4 (DC) ★★★★
‘Nuclear Option’
Writer: Tom Taylor / Art: Trevor Hairsine & Stefano Gaudiano / Colors: Rain Beredo
Things are getting real in the Dceasedverse. The art in this book is stunning. This series has turned out to be much better than I had originally anticipated. That cover though… wtf? I know covers don’t always match the story, but this isn’t even remotely close. Why not toss in the Unknown Soldier & Haunted Tank while your at it?

10. Batman #76 (DC) ★★★★
‘City of Bane – Part 2’
Writer: Tom King / Art: Tony S. Daniel with Sandu Florea & Norm Rapmund / Colors: Tomeu More
Well, that was odd. Good, but odd. The Gotahm Girl/Captain Atom fight was pretty cool. The Robins sequence was quite good too. Actually, pretty much everything was pretty good. Kiteman. Heh.

11. Invisible Woman #2 (Marvel) ★★★★
Writer: Mark Waid / Art: Mattia De Lulis / Colors: Mattia De Lulis
Nice spy, chase thriller. I really like Sue as a spy. Teaming her with Widow is genius. Their differences make for some great tension. The drinking scene? Kick. Ass.

12. Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History #6 (Marvel) ★★★★
Writer: Paul Scheer & Nick Giovanetti / Art: Todd Nauck / Colors: Antonio Fabela
The CGR saga comes to a close. This was a fun, if inconstant series. I actually liked they way everything wrapped up. Even Nauck’s art was slightly better in this book (some of those faces though… yikes).

13. Future Foundation # 1 (Marvel) ★★★
Writer: Jeremy Whitley / Art: Will Robson with Daniele Orlandini / Colors: Greg Menzie
Fun jail break story. Fits in the backstories nicely without interrupting the main story (much). My one knock would be the art, which is a bit of a disappointment. It’s not bad, just a bit… off.

14. Champions #8 (Marvel) ★★★
‘Give and Take’
Writer: Jim Zub / Art: Steven Cummings / Colors: Marcio Menyz
Nova’s back in a fun conclusion to the helmet heist story. Nicely written, with art that’s more hit than miss.

15. Lois Lane #2 (DC) ★★★
‘Enemy of the People – Part 2’
Writer: Greg Rucka / Art: Mike Perkins / Colors: Paul Mounts
Still gritty, with plenty of intrigue and mystery. I like seeing Lois as a real kick ass investigative reporter. It’s a side I don’t see often in the Supes books. Not sure how they’re going to stretch this out to twelve issues though.

16. Doom Patrol: Weight of the World #2 (DC: Young Animal) ★★
‘Space Divorce’
Writer: Gerard Way & Jeremy Lambert / Art: James Harvey / Colors: James Harvey
Not sure how I feel about this book. There are some fun bits, but overall I don’t quite get where they’re taking things. Still, there’s enough here to keep me reading. For now.