Books of the Week: 11/27/19

1. Martian Manhunter #10 (DC) ★★★★★
‘Through Carnage to Joy’
Writer: Steve Orlando / Art: Riley Rossmo / Colors: Ivan Plascencia / Cover: Riley Rossmo
J’onn and Diane grow closer during a big battle in the Mindscape against J’onn’s Three Great Beasts. Crazy good visuals run throughout this book. There’s even a few feels. The final coda didn’t add much, but it does remind you there is unfinished business to take care of.

2. Invisible Woman #5 (Marvel) ★★★★★
Writer: Mark Waid / Art: Mattia De Lulis / Colors: Mattia De Lulis / Cover: Adam Hughes
Tension filled ending to the IW mini-series. This was a great read with a lot of unexpected moments that really make it a stand out. This series really did a great job showing how powerful Sue actually is. Great stuff. Hopefully some of this will carry over to the regular FF title.

3. Fantastic Four: Grand Design #2 (Marvel) ★★★★
Writer: Tom Scioli / Art: Tom Scioli / Colors: Tom Scioli / Cover: Tom Scioli
This book packs a lot of FF history into a single narrative. It gets confusing at times, as I am unfamiliar with a lot of the source material, but still, it’s a interesting ride. Bold choice to retrofit elements from later FF stories into the earlier stories.

4. Second Coming #5 (Ahoy) ★★★★
Writer: Mark Russell / Art: Richard Pace & Leonard Kirk / Colors: Andy Troy / Cover: Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
Interesting view of history from Satan and God’s perspectives. The dialog in this issue sparkles, it’s so good. Sunstar’s quest to adopt a baby goes predictably wrong, but it has a heck of a payoff. Another solid book.

5. Fantastic Four: Negative Zone #1 (Marvel) ★★★
‘Ethical Dilemmas in Modern Science’
Writer: Mike Carey / Art: Stefano Caselli / Colors: Erick Arciniega
‘What Are the Fantastix For?’
Writer: Ryan North / Art: Steve Uy / Colors: Steve Uy
One-Shot featuring an FF and a Fantastix Story. The FF one was actually pretty good. It illustrates how Reed’s ethics often get the group in trouble. The Fantstix story was a fun surprise as I never though we would see them again. This was a somewhat siller story (Hell, Ryan North) than the first. Both stories were enjoyable, just not very memorable.

6. Venom #20 (Marvel) ★★
‘Oversight – Part 2’
Writer: Donny Cates / Art: Iban Coello & Ze Carlos / Colors: Rain Beredo / Cover: Kyle Hotz & Dan Brown
Fairly straightforward ending to the Absolute Carnage story, with a hint of what’s up next. Not bad, but not really much to write home about either. There are the Brock family feels, otherwise… meh.