mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

I had some fun with the previous JL volume, and now I'm back to being dazed and confused. From what I understand Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV worked on the story together with Tynion actually writing the dialogue. I'm not sure if the problems here are a result of Tynion's choice of words or Snyder's (because Snyder's occasionally guilty of the same things in his own work), but wow the flowery overly poetic writing really brings the book down for me. There's also some major plot revelations about the mythos of J'onn J'onnz (aka Martian Manhunter), Hawkwoman, and the greater DC universe that aren't fully developed and the choice of words Tynion uses makes things more confusing and vague. Apparently 2 more of the "7 energies of the universe" have been commandeered by the Legion of Doom, but the book makes no attempt to explain what they are or where they come from (something Drowned Earth actually bothered to do). Very disappointed with this volume. Really hoping the next even numbered trade wins me back over.

The best way to describe this would be kaiju/natural disaster movie with a mystery element that doesnt get a lot of time dedicated to it. From what I understand this took inspiration from Wagner's Batman: Night of the Monster Men which had more meat on its bones than this. Still a fun junk food read.

A very cool horror story examining why the original Bruce Wayne is the best Batman. The story pits Batman against the titular Batman Who Laughs, a version of Batman from an alternate reality who was corrupted by The Joker and is now keen on doing the same to Bruce and Gotham as a whole.

There's a ton of great moments and parallels between the Bat-family and the Gordon family. The struggles these characters go through internally and with each other really tie into the theme of becoming the ideal person, what that looks like, and whether that ideal is a set standard or just a case by case basis. Bruce and James Jr. start at different places, with one sane and the other in recovery, but both are trying to restrain their darker impulses and examining what their ideals are, whether they are something people should strive towards and whether it's possible to reach them at all.

Jock excels at horror. His art is perfect and terrifying, capturing the character's movements and expressions as they experience and endure the horrors thrown their way. The lettering, while difficult to read at times, does a great job showing Bruce slowly losing himself to the Joker toxin and the effects it's having on his mind and perception of reality.

I haven't always been a fan of Snyder's modern work, but I really enjoyed this story. If you're a fan of Batman and/or horror don't hesitate to pick this up.

The beginning story with Wolverine and Fury trying to clean up SHIELD's mess was pretty great, but everything after that was mixed bag. Not sure how much of this will be collected once Absolute Carnage wraps up, but either way I think you can pass on this one.

What do you get when you fuse Venom with cosmic-horror? You get something like this! Knull isn't much of a character beyond just being an ancient prideful lovecraftian-elder-god, but judging by this first volume, I don't think he was meant to be anything more than that. Kinda like traditional Spider-Man stories, this series doesnt seem to focus on traditional protagonist/antagonist conflicts, but instead is about the main character's life and his relationships with the people around him. Right at the beginning we get a good dreary look at Eddie Brock's primary relationship with the Venom symbiote. The symbiote appears to be suffering from some SEVERE mental problems and the relationship has devolved into something abusive and toxic (dare I say venomous?) and Eddie is suffering IMMENSELY because of it. Why doesn't he leave? Because Eddie is terrified of being alone, which is the basis for a lot of abusive relationships. This volume does have some problems holding it back (like the monologing villain) but the setting and groundwork has been set up for a kind of story I don't see terribly often in superhero comics. I'll definitely be picking up the next volume. Interested to see where this book goes.

5 years ago I never would have thought a Venom book with Eddie Brock as the protagonist would be able to cover the subjects of loss, grief, and loneliness AND ACTUALLY BE GOOD but here we are! This volume follows up the grand mythology of the last volume with a slow burning character story on who Eddie Brock is as a person. Those who really loved the mythology and world-building of the last volume might find this next one a bit jarring, but I typically prefer more character driven stories so I was pretty satisfied when I saw the book tackling Eddie as a character and how his relationships, past and present, have molded and scarred him. There's some pretty massive retcons to Eddie's personal history, but Cates does a splendid job in making these changes organic and enhance his discussion on Eddie's relationship with the abusive symbiote. Spoiler alert for the ending of the book

Spoiler

Eddie realizes the symbiote's been gas-lighting him from the very beginning of their partnership, and Eddie finally decides to walk away from Venom for good

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I never thought I'd say this, but ya'll, go Eddie.

Ok, so the plot itself is pretty simple. Carter Hall finds a totem of his past, teleports through space and time to one of his past lives, beats stuff up, repeat. There is an overarching threat that's motivating Hawkman to go on all these adventures, but it's not elaborated on beyond the standard "ancient doom incoming" trope.

The new lore bits and the tone of the book are really fun though. Vinditti takes the concept of a reincarnating archaeologist and goes "ok, but what if he wasnt always human in his past lives? What if in one life he was a Thanagarian and in another he was Kryptonian?" It's a fun twist on what's historically been one of the most convoluted characters in superhero comics.

I like this version of Carter too. Hawkman is a force to be reckoned with, but he's no longer a creepy, raging barbarian. Vinditti gives us an adventurous, swashbuckling archaeologist who's not only saved lives throughout history, but maintained generations long relationships with those people AND their families. It's fun to see Carter need help and simply reach out to a family he's known for generations to give him a boat ride or a place to stay while he's traveling. This plot has its problems, but it's got enough charm to get me onboard for the next volume.