Comic Reviews 04.25.2021

 Hey y’all. Welcome to this week’s early addition of Comic Reviews. Typically, I would be releasing these tomorrow, but it is the anniversary of Avengers Endgame and I wanted to take another look at that movie as some of my opinion of it has evolved in some ways. So that will be out tomorrow. But today is for comics and we only have a couple. I planned to write about the new issues of The Flash and Way of X as well. Unfortunately, the latter is so character focused that it is hard to review in this shortened format as opposed to a Featured Review and the former is boring with nothing interesting to discuss. Except how overwritten it is.

Anyway, let’s get to the reviews!

Spoilers for: Justice League #60, Nightwing #79

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Series Review

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a good television series. It is also bizarrely paced and unfocused. Every episode introduces new characters and concepts, often to the detriment of those previously introduced. Character arcs are never fully formed and themes rarely explored enough. And yet, the experience as a whole is for the most part satisfying.

Spoilers for the entirety of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier follow.

Comic Reviews 04.19.2021

 Hey y’all. We've got a some good ones this week. Because I was unable to do a review last week, I snuck in Green Lantern #1 here for fun. I also have done Featured Reviews for Batman: Black Mirror and Batman: The Detective #1 since the last one of these so you should check those out. Lately, we have a scheduling change for next week. There will be no Featured Review. Instead, this column will take it’s place because Monday is the anniversary of Avengers: Endgame and I want to take a look back at it. It’s going to be interesting.

With that out of the way, let's dive into the reviews!

Spoilers for: Green Lantern #1, Superman #30

Featured Review: Batman: The Detective #1

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Andy Kubert

Colors: Brad Anderson

Letters: Clem Robins

Cover: Kubert and Anderson

As mentioned in my weekly Comic Reviews a couple weeks ago, Batman is in a good place right now. His eponymous title has been consistently solid and often better than that since James Tynion IV came aboard. Detective Comics’ new creative is off to a promising start following their very good Future State miniseries. Tom King is completing the final act of his story in Batman/Catwoman. And now the poorly titles Batman: The Detective joins the group!

Spoilers for Batman: The Detective #1

The New Mutants Is Unlike Any Other Superhero Movie

The X-Men hold a unique position in the comic book world. They are the largest and most popular superhero team to exist. While there are independently popular members, the context of a team is where all of them truly shine, making them unlike the Justice League or Avengers. They are also extremely weird, all alternate timelines, half-clone daughters, giant purple genocidal robots, and metaphors for oppressed minorities. It probably should not work, yet it does.

Featured Review: Batman Black Mirror

Writer: Scott Snyder

Artist: Jock; Francesco Francavilla

Colors: David Baron; Francesco Francavilla

Letters: Jared K. Fletcher

Cover: Jock

Black Mirror is often be used to refer to two things in relation to Batman. The first is Snyder, Jock, and Francavilla’s seminal Detective Comics run, the final issues of the legendary series. It can also refer to the title of the leadoff three-issue story arc that began in Detective Comics #871. For the purposes of this review, we’ll be focusing on the latter.

The Falcon, The Winter Soldier, And The Lack of Cultural Impact

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is a good television series, there is no denying that. There is also no denying that it has failed to capture the imagination of viewers in the same way other “premium” series have, including fellow Disney+ shows like The Mandalorian and WandaVision. Plenty of people tune in every week to watch, but the show lacks the all-consuming cultural impact of either of the aforementioned series. This is because it lacks either of those shows trademarks: Mando’s tight, measured pacing within each episode and WandaVision’s intriguing characters.

Spoilers follow for the first four episodes of  The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.

Comic Reviews 04.05.2021

 

Hey y’all. We’ve got a small, but interesting pair of comics this week. Beyond these, I also read Silk #1 which was a solid, though unspectacular start to the character’s new miniseries. The new Power Rangers one shot was more interesting than it was good; I really enjoy how much focus the spacefaring aspects of the franchise are receiving recently.

I apologize for the lack of a Featured Review this weak, but I felt it best to keep the two review issues in this one post.

Anyway, on to the reviews!

Spoilers for: X-Men #19, The Flash #768