Last Week's Comics Reviewed 09.21.2019

               Hi y’all! I’m so sorry for the late reviews, but I work a full-time job and go to school. Together, they did not leave me with much free time this week. Anyway, I reviewed a Power Rangers issue I missed last week. I’ve also decided to leave House of X and Powers of X off the review list for the next few weeks as I plan to discuss them as a complete after the two series end.

Comics Reviewed: Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers #23, Saban’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers #42, Event Leviathan #4, Young Justice #8, The Flash #78

Saban’s Go Go Power Rangers #23

Writers: Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace

Artist: Francesco Mortarino

Colors: Raul Angulo

Letters: Ed Dunkshire

Cover: Ivan Shavrin

               These Power Rangers comics sure are good. Its too bad they’re both at points in their stories where not much happens. There are essentially four scenes in this comic. And that isn’t necessarily bad, but the fact one of them in a big battle that takes about 15 pages is. At least that battle is against Warbuuny who, while not intimidating, is hilarious. The fact that the team leans in hard on the fact he’s the class pet to defeat him is fantastic.

               Elsewhere, Blue Emissary has whammied Jason. Jason regains his Shattered Grid memories and replays (slightly altered) events in his head. At the end, he has a vision of three silhouettes that threaten to be just as dangers as Drakkon. This causes Jason to tell the Emissary that he will join it, but they need to assemble a team first.

 

Sure you are, buddy.

               Zack and Trini realize that Zed is targeting their connections and decide to stop volunteering. Later, Kimberly and Matt are hanging out and have cute moment where he tries to do part of her gymnastics routine and fails. Then they wonder what it would be like if he had also been chosen to be a Ranger. This scene seems to set up two things: Matt’s ill-fated time as a Ranger (He’s not in Mighty Morphin’) and a similarly ill-fated romance. It’s going to break my heart.

               The art on this issue is, as always, excellent. Something I really want to bring attention to is the outfits in this comic. Everyone is always dressed in such a way that makes total sense for their character. It is especially clear in a short scene in the Command Center. It really adds to the characters and shows how well thought out this book is.

Verdict: Borrow

Saban's Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers #42

Writer: Ryan Parrott

Artist: Daniele Di Nicuolo

Colors: Walter Baiamonte with assistance by Katia Ranalli

Letters: Ed Dukeshire

Cover: Jamal Campbell

               As I mentioned above, this is a good comic in a slower part of its story arc. About half this issue is the Mighty Moprhin’ Rangers. They open the issue fighting putties. Dane is watching them to gather intel. Later, Tommy tricks Alpha into sending him and Kimberly to the Great Wall so he can impress her on a date. At the end, Dane shows up to finally engage with the team.

Lookin' good team

Meanwhile, The Omega Rangers go on an undercover mission. It goes poorly and they are discovered (What fun would it be if they weren’t?). This is after trying to convince Garrison to join the team and failing. This leads my favorite scene of the issue: Kiya telling Trini about her little brother being a goofball. This really humanizes Kiya and makes me care for her. As the scene continued, I began to wonder what happened to him. Trini did as well, so she asked. And It dawned on me at that moment: Kiya had accidentally killed him when she received her powers. Vaporized, actually. The art here does a lot of lifting by not only showing Kiya’s face as she recalls the event, but also depicting her memory of it. It’s very powerful.

Verdict: Buy

Event Leviathan #4

Story: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Alex Maleev

Letters: Josh Reed

Cover: Maleev

               Alex Maleev is an amazing artist. The dark watercolor style is fantastic. I just wish he was drawing a better comic. Not that this is a bad comic. It certainly is not. Boy does it move slowly though. This issue is a ton of standing around and talking. That isn’t inherently bad, in fact I love comics like that. But this issue is mostly versions of conversations from prior issues. It feels like the series is in a holding pattern until its time to move forward.

 

Give me the ongoing about this team

               Well, there’s two interesting scenes here. The first is a conversation most the detectives have about why Manhunter is here. They conclude that she was setup by Leviathan as a red herring. Something about this scene is a little off though. It has a very strong feeling that it is foreshadowing… something. Having thought about it, I believe Leviathan is Mark Shaw, a previous Manhunter with a villainous alter ego. Said alter ego is Dumas. As in St. Dumas. Shaw has light connections to the Order of St. Dumas; whose ultimate goal appears to be in a similar vein to Leviathan. I think. We don’t truly know what Leviathan’s goal is yet. I assume that will later be a big revelation.

               The other scene is the final one. As all the detectives hang out in the Batcave trying to decide their next step, Lois Lane steals one of Bruce Wayne’s cars. She drives to an undisclosed alley where she meets a second group of detectives working the case. This twist is interesting and could lead to some incredibly fun places. I just hope it is fun.

Verdict: Borrow

Young Justice #8

Script: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: John Timms

Colors: Gabe Eltaeb

Letters: Wes Abbott

Cover: Timms and Eltaeb

               Brian, what are you doing to me? As with Event Leviathan, this comic seems to be spinning its wheels. I’m not sure why we’re on Earth-3 or what the point of showing a post-Crime Syndicate evil Teen Titans is. It’s a fun enough read, but there isn’t much in the way of forward momentum in the story.  

 

Some Drake-on-Drake action

The biggest event in this issue is Robin meeting Evil Robin, AKA Drake. Drakes are very dangerous birds and so he uses his name as his codename. This is clearly the event that is going to lead to Robin’s new costume and codename. I would love to talk about that, but I want to see in the comic before making a final judgement. Next issue is the origin of Teen Lantern so maybe she can join the cast instead of hanging out in the background and making Green Lantern constructs.

John Timms remains a very good replacement for Patrick Gleason on this series. Eltaeb is doing excellent work here as well. Sometimes the characters are a tad too flat against the background though. I’m not sure who to blame that on, but it should be noted.

Verdict: Borrow

The Flash #78

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Rafa Sandoval

Inker: Jordi Tarragona

Colors: Arif Prianto

Letters: Steve Wands

Cover: Sandoval and Tomeu Morey

               What are we doing here? What is the point of this story arc? I assume it will end with some sort revelation about the Forever Force, something we don’t really know anything about other than ”It exists.” I love the idea behind the additional forces, but they don’t do anything outside of existing. The Black Flash is hunting them because they exist and are somehow causing the death of the Speed Force. Interesting premise.

Can someone tell me what's happening in this panel?

               Unfortunately, that interesting premise is turned into an issue where nothing happens. Ok, fine. Psych dies, but who cares? Outside of that, we’re right where we began. Hopefully, someone interesting ends up with the Sage Force. My money is on Golden Glider. Since issue 75, Williamson has been threatening a new Rogues arc and this issue sets the Rogues on a mission to find and recruit her. Sure, would be interesting if she receives the Sage Force and either uses it against Barry in the upcoming arc or sides with Barry against the Rogues.

               The art in this issue is fine. It tells the story well enough. I always have a problem with the way Sandoval draws faces. It can never quite put my finger on what it is, but I find them off-putting. By far my biggest problem with the art here is the cover. It promises a confrontation with Mirror Master. Mirror Master is in this issue, but he’s retired and has no interest in fighting Flash. I know comic book covers often don’t reflect their contents, but they don’t often outright lie.

Verdict: Borrow