Invincible Universe: Battle Beast #5
The folly of youth is thinking you’re Invincible! Endless parties and indulgences with no thought of consequence or responsibility to a greater good. That’s where we find Prince Salaka living out an endless summer vacation even as catastrophe is right outside his window. That is until he was bitten in half and entombed in the stomach of the monstrous Juggernaut. He seeks to redeem himself, reclaim his ruined kingdom and atone for the sins of his past.
Meanwhile, Battle Beast’s endless quest for death continues, and this time he faces the Juggernaut’s sister, a dastardly villain who is exponentially more powerful than her fallen brother. Could she be the means of Battle Beast’s escape from his wretched life of never-ending bloodlust?
Another great installment in the ongoing Battle Beast saga. Ottley delivers a masterclass in art as usual, and Kirkman continues to lean into comedy to great effect. Five issues in and so far this story has only gotten better. If you're not reading this book, it may be time to go home and rethink your life.
Star Wars:
Boba Fett Black White & Red #1
Boba Fett exists because, following the blockbuster success of Star Wars, George Lucas needed a guy in a suit to promote the next film. That's why Fett made his first public appearance in 1978, years before the premiere of The Empire Strikes Back at a local parade in San Anselmo, California. Despite being a completely unknown character, Boba Fett's striking appearance captivated fans, and he would go on to garner a cult following that has endured for nearly 50 years.
But who is Boba Fett? With only six minutes of screen time throughout the original trilogy, he’s mostly remembered for his unforgettable design, but beneath the Beskar steel surface, Boba Fett is a nobody. He’s a blank slate in an unbelievably cool suit, characterized by a handful of the coldest one-liners you’ve ever heard. At most, Boba Fett embodies the outlaw — the moral gray in the black-and-white world of early Star Wars. He’s less a man than a force of nature playing out his natural role in the galaxy as a hunter. That’s what makes the minimalist style of black, white and red so fitting for the famed bounty hunter.
Each story is a vignette of a bounty hunter who’s more myth than man. This first installment from Wolverine scribe Benjamin Percy and artist Chris Allen delivers a high-stakes imperial prison break. When the job goes sideways, Boba is caught between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, and it’ll take all his wits to survive.
The Bat-Man: Second Knight #1
Batman is old, so old that his first appearance in Detective Comics No. 27 (March 1939) predates the Nazi invasion of Poland (Sept. 1, 1939) by nearly six months. This is the era Second Knight is set in. We find the Bat-Man in a restless Gotham plagued by the waning days of the Great Depression and the beginnings of war in Europe. As if the citizens of Gotham didn’t have enough to fear, there’s a new killer on the loose, a hooded maniac killing good Samaritans in the most gruesome ways imaginable.
This book is as noir as it gets — brooding and atmospheric. Mike Perkins and Mike Spicer quickly establish the book's visual tone. Gotham looks like it’s been cursed with an eternal night, and the Bat looks downright unnerving, sporting the classic grey and a black so black it looks blue in the moonlight. The book is gorgeous, from the glowing lights of Gotham’s first big movie premiere to the back alleys where criminals carry out their vile deeds. Gotham is awash in a sea of bloody reds, midnight blues, sickly greens and murky shadows. The art lends a gravitas to the villains — Scarecrow looks absolutely unhinged, a vision of terror and debauchery intent on seeing Gotham paralyzed by fear, and with his new partner/apprentice, the Hangman, they seem poised to do just that. Speaking of the Hangman, he’s as earnest a sociopath as I've ever seen. He’s doing this purely for the love of the game, and Mike Perkins writes him accordingly: a sadist who has no greater ambitions than striking fear and making people suffer as he sees fit.
Perkins also does a phenomenal job writing period-accurate dialogue while still maintaining readability — “eggs in the coffee” is my favorite bit of period slang. Beyond that, the costume and character design are top notch, from the old-timey police uniforms to the primitive costumes of the Bat and his villains. Movie star Julie Madison’s wardrobe is another high point, her outfits scream old Hollywood elegance.
In terms of action, everything is stripped down and grounded. The action is exciting, but far from the extreme scenarios of the contemporary Absolute Batman or his main series. There are no Venom-juiced superhumans, but a Tommy gun in the wrong hands raises the stakes just as much. The violence is visceral as well, with grisly murders drawn out in sickly detail — the fear of the victims is palpable, and with every panel you’ll find yourself hoping the Dark Knight will come to their rescue, to no avail. It makes for a sense of desperation in the story. It truly feels like Bat-Man is doing all he can to keep a Gotham on the brink of chaos from tipping over the edge.
All in all, this is a fantastic entry into the Bat-Man mythos and a must read for Bat fans — great writing, art and a compelling mystery all packaged in the premium Black Label magazine format. The first of six issues — I have a feeling this series may be a classic in the making.
New Gods #10
“Leave him alone, he’s a good kid.” Kind words sometimes obfuscate dark truths. The truth is, kids that are good at being good may well be in a crisis they themselves don’t understand — so instead they lean into what they hear. They continue being the “good kid,” whatever that means. Such is the case of Serifan, the kid cowboy and member of the Forever People. He’s been playing a role his whole life: first as a God, then as a cowboy, and now as something far darker. What caused this turn from the light? This betrayal of New Genesis and its people? Is it disillusionment with the seeming futility of “good” in a world steeped in chaos and evil, where cruel men win and the good struggle not to be crushed underfoot? Who can say? But the 24-hour news cycle certainly didn’t help. To be fair to Serifan, we’re all prone to doomscrolling (at least this recovering news junkie is). Whatever Serifan’s reasoning, he seems to be out of his depth.
The minions of Darkseid have agendas all their own and have teamed up with megalomaniacal CEO Maxwell Lord. They’ve taken the new New God Kamal, and there’s no telling what horrors they’ll use him to unleash. It’s up to Scott Free and Orion to save the boy from the clutches of Apokolips.
Evan Cagle gets a break on art duties this issue, drawing pages 1-4 — an absolutely gorgeous sequence detailing Serifan’s youth, filled with countless hours watching old westerns and news about the happenings of Earth’s mortals. Ram V has a knack for finding the humanity in larger-than-life characters, and he quickly angles in on why Serifan has done what he’s done. Seemingly fed up with the endless struggle between Apokolips and New Genesis and the constant turmoil of the mortal world, he’s sought out his own solution by kidnapping Kamal — a very evil and foolish solution, admittedly, but he’s doing his best.
Pye Parr fills in for the rest of the comic, delivering a crisp and colorful art style that flows well with Cagle’s. Parr also does a great job with the action scenes — Wonder Woman and Big Barda’s showdown with the Furies is electric. This series continues to surprise every step of the way, and I look forward to seeing how the Gods handle the threat that’s coming next.
I've worked at Dr No's for just less than a year and I've been patronizing them for half my life. I like comics, video games, music and sometimes sports.
I’m a GSU graduate, veteran sandwich artist, and aspiring writer. Ask me about the X-Men or my anime car sometime.
I think all comics are good they're human expression, dreams put to a page through days, months and years of dedication. They're windows into other worlds, aspirations of all we can be, warnings of what we may become and everything in between. Above all I think comics can help us understand the things we often don't consider.
That's what I want these reviews to do, help folks understand maybe even appreciate something they haven't seen before, but yea lemme wrap this up I got books to file. Happy reading!
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