So refreshing to have a good venom series again.

So the first part is a two parter of Brock being tested on by The Maker. Who's that? Read Hickman's Ultimates. It's so damn good even if it's super short. The Maker is basically Reed Richards gone insane. So yes, scary, and very smart. Anyway, Brock eventually escapes but the fashion on how he does it is f'ing awesome. The next arc, the Abyss, is a nice look into Eddie Brock and who he is. A new background, some fucked up moments, but overall a life lesson on being "good' and "bad".

Overall, this volume is pretty great. It's a more introspective volume than the last. Less fighting and more on building Eddie as a character and finding out some really fucked up shit. They also introduce a new character that can really be something special. The fights, while short, are pretty awesome still. The art remains some of the best as Stagman always does an amazing job. The only negative would probably be the plotting is slower and it might turn some venom fans off.

BUT saying that I loved it. A easy 4 out of 5. Hope it continues to be this good.

Well didn't think it could get weirder but it somehow did.

This is mostly Maxx traveling through like almost a cartoon world. At first he's getting his back worked on and falls asleep and slips into a cartoon like world. Julie is also in her own dream-like world but you soon find out she's dealing with a lot of dark and personal issues. The book splits it up from her world she's in to where Maxx is meeting up and crossing over with different heroes such as Savage Dragon.

The book's strength is mostly in the art for me. Sure, it's very 90's, but it's so well done. The landscapes can be breathtaking, the change of art styles is fun, everything runs so smooth and clashes well together. On the flipside the stories wage from trying too much (especially the first one in cartoon world) to being very powerful and sad (mostly anything with Julie). I do like the mystery behind it all too still, even though it does get very odd to the point of being hard to follow at times.

Still, I do like mostly everything I'm reading. For the art alone this is a 4 or 5. But the story can be a bit much for me to fully invest in a 5. So A 3.5-4 it is.

Riri gets a new writer, and with that a different feel for the character. Is it better? In some ways yes, in some no.

This is mostly a great jump on point for Ironheart. If read about her, you probably have some idea who she is. A super smart 15 year old who creates armor and such like Tony Stark. She's so smart than when Tony went into a Coma she took over for Iron Man. It got the man-babies on the interwebs all upset but it was actually pretty fun. I enjoyed her intro volume a lot. However, what followed after it was overshadowed by the "RETURN" of Tony Stark. So she played only a small role, which was a shame.

Enter Eve. L. Ewing. A new writer ready to start something new. This of course also got the Man Babies very upset because this would be Eve's first comic book. So they already hated the character and now they hate that the character they hate, is being written by a new comer into comics. How fucking dumb is that? Pretty dumb, right?

Okay anyway, the comic is about Riri trying her best to live her normal life while also being a superhero. The 5 issue volume juggles her daily life pretty well with the superheroing part. Around half way we're introduced to our main enemy but of course behind the shadows there is someone else also pulling the strings. On top of that the story really wants to make Riri a character we should care for, and relate to, and her fears of failure, give her something new to attach to.

I thought the art was pretty solid through out. There's some great character poses, fights, and emotion displayed all through it. I enjoyed the characters here, as most of the sidecast feels real. With Riri using her friend she lost to a shootout as a A.I. support. This makes for some fun conversations and a better look into Riri's mind. I also thought the balance of life and superhero stuff was well paced and done.

Now the negatives that do show are mostly learning curves. As someone who is trying to write his own comic, I sometimes wanna slap myself for making a page TOO dialogue heavy. I know some authors love to do that, and Ewing here is no exception. She writes heavy dialogue, especially for issue 1 and 2. This is normal for most writers when they come over to comics. The thing is trying to learn that art can display a lot and to let the dialogue and wording compliment the art shown. Ewing has trouble doing that in the first two issues but seems to get a better flow as it goes on.

Also, the main villain here is kind of boring. A bad guy with a mysterious past, who wants to use Riri as a weapon to dominate the world...yeah been there. I think smaller scale would have worked better for Riri here.

Despite my two negatives here I did enjoy myself reading this. I actually like Riri, and I feel like she can grow to a real interesting character. Not a huge fan of her new look but having a 15 year old badass chick save a city filled with gang violence is pretty awesome. I want more and eager to see where Ewing will take her next. The more she balances out her dialogue/monologue into the art, the better this will become. Can't wait to see what's next! This is a 3.5 out of 5.

This was awesome.

I read some of this in the Supergirl run but it read ways better here. The way Guy is able to make the Reds a INTERESTING group of people is a surprise. As a leader he puts a lot of pressure on himself to be a hero. The others follow him as you can expect from a bunch of angry grumpy guys/gals. Atrocitus is the main enemy here and while the first half focuses on Supergirl becoming part of the team, it's the 2nd half of Atrocitus rise and revenge that is most compelling part.

Listen, at this point you just expecting big ass lantern battles. This is really epic and big with tons of people trying to kill each other back and forth. The stakes are high, plenty of them die, and the fights are never dull. Guy changes from a okay character for me to one of the most interesting ones in a long time. The only negative is some of the art changes halfway through.

Overall, a great arc for Red Lanterns and easily the best. Soule really puts some good stuff out here. A 4 out of 5.

This was a throw away story.

Oh, never heard of a story of where the bad guys won and now we get a new future? It's been done so many times it gets really fucking annoying. Nothing new here or interesting to really read. The dialogue for Cap is pretty terrible to be honest. The story moves quickly in some ways, and then half way it's so slow because it becomes so repetitive. The art was decent.

A 1.5 out of 5.

What happens when everything in the world freezes except one guy and when he touches you they come back to reality? Sounds cool, right?

Too bad this story's execution is lacking big time. Character's acting so out of character from one issue to the other. The mystery is so obvious it hurt when the reveal happened. The art is kind of bad at points, with facial emotions looking funny when supposed to be funny. The pacing is dreadfully boring. Overall...did not like it at all. A 1 out of 5.

Iron Man hits a snag finally as a solid fun run turns bland and boring.

My favorite things in comics is when we go inside the mind of someone and get to see a dream sequence. It's just so fun to see fake images of things while they argue with someone who isn't there that they love/hate, until they find themselves and wake up. That is volume 4 of Invincible Iron Man. Nothing new. Nothing interesting. Just Tony brain dead and the people close to him bring him back but while they do that, we get to visit the inside of Tony's brain for him to want to be Iron Man once more.

Now listen, I didn't LOVE this run but there were some really fun parts. While flawed Fraction made Tony pretty fun with some great fights. This has almost none of that. Boring fights, boring plot progression, and worst of all Tony, the main character, is boring here. Cliche is the best word to use for this plot. The only thing I DID like was Potts here second guessing things and also anything with her and Hill. All that was great.

Overall, a very weak volume. While not completely shit it was a step down from 1-3. A 2 out of 5.

This was a major let down.

The first half is about Guy hating himself for what happened to all the Red Lanterns. When the new gods show up he decides to go after them and Simon joins him. The second half is after the event and it has Guy walking around being lonely and emo while meeting a baby...yes...does it make much sense? Fuck no.

Overall, the first half is decent. It has the signature humor moments, badass fights, and cool moments. It's not amazing but it works. The 2nd half? Garbo. Bad dialogue, bad pacing, and a story no one cares about. A 2 out of 5.

This was pretty cool side story that I guess didn't matter much as this is the only real volume of it haha.

Guy decides he has to embark on a mission because the energy is getting drained from everyone's ring. Both Kilowog and Arisi join him on this mission to find out who is doing this. This is basically little adventures in space to try and find out what is happening while also tying up some loose ends from Peter. J Tomasi story of the green lantern corps.

I liked most of the flow of this story. The additional member was fun because it spiced up the lineup. The fights were brutal and especially some major deaths. I thought the art was mostly good and some kickass moments Guy's growth as a character was nice. The abrupt ending kind of hurt it for me though and the return of a character is just okay.

Overall a pretty solid followup to Tomasi's run on Green Lantern Corp. A 3.5 out of 5.

All things come to a end, and glad to say Harrow County ends strong.

Emmy is in for the fight of her life. Hester Beck has returned and she is going after her old friends and the town. Emmy is going to use her new powers to stop her. The build up is big, and the ending is a interesting if a bit unexpected turn. Overall a solid series throughout and this one is no different. A 4 out of 5.