Convergence: Shazam! #2

While Gotham Gaslight attacks Fawcett City with zeppelins and bombs, Captain Marvel flies over to Victorian Gotham but is attacked by the Victorian Batman — and he has a surprisingly tough time. But before long, the real bad guy makes his appearance — Mr. Atom, mentally controlling Gotham’s wonderful Victorian villains. Who will prevail, and who’s the mind behind Mr. Atom?

Verdict: Thumbs up. The high point was Batman’s Victorian rogues’ gallery. Cap and crew were reliably heroic and wondrous. The main quibble is that our heroes never really reacted the way they should’ve to Victorian Gotham’s destruction.

Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters #2

The WWII heroes of Earth-X are up against the Nazis and a bunch of dead robot superheroes from the future. There’s a temporary truce between Plas and his allies and the Nazis, who are all, after all, humans from the same Earth. But that truce doesn’t last long when the villainous Silver Ghost figures he can take out Plas and get control of the robots for himself.

Verdict: Thumbs down. There’s basically no reason to have the Freedom Fighters in here at all. They’re strictly background players. And even if you consider Plastic Man’s origins as a straight man to all the weirdos in Jack Cole’s comics, this version of Plas just doesn’t have anything funny to react to. The art is pretty great, though.

Convergence: Booster Gold #2

The older Booster meets up with Ted Kord! There is a joyous reunion, but this Booster is terribly ill — he’s overdosed on chronal energy, so he’s aging to death at top speed. Meanwhile, the younger Booster, Rip Hunter, and Goldstar escape the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the only way to save older Booster may be to expose him to even more chronal energy, leading to a surprising transformation.

Verdict: Thumbs up. This was a lot better than I was expecting — lots of emotional heft and a wonderful surprise ending.

Today’s Cool Links:

• The best news about the end of Convergence is that it opens up all of the DC multiverse again.
• I think the erasure of the X-Men and Fantastic Four from Marvel’s merchandising is a fairly weird story.
• The death toll for the Qatar World Cup is already staggering — and they haven’t even come close to finishing construction yet.
• Need some happy in your day? Here’s a bird taking a bath in its owner’s hands.

Wytches #6

The final issue of this short but epic horror series sees Charlie Rooks deep in the Wytches’ caverns trying to find and rescue his daughter Sailor. But if they can escape from the hordes of monsters, if they can make it back to the surface world, if they can make it back home — they still have to deal with the problem that everyone they know has sold them out, and the wytches are still coming closer and closer. What escape is there from the inevitable?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Brilliant horror that digs deep into the bones of what frightens us about family and friends. Is there any betrayal worse than the ones that hit closest to home? Beautiful, scratchy, gnawing art to go along with the terror.

The Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time #3

Part of me wants to spoil as little of this as possible, even though most of what we see is setting up the confrontations brewing in the next issue. But we learn more about the Zombie Priest’s past and about the face he wears on his hat. Longfingers makes a break from the Arab and plans to kill the Goon. And the Goon warns Frankie to prepare to flee the town if anything happens to him.

Verdict: Thumbs up. This series is filling me with dread like nothing else out there. I worry the final end of the Goon is coming, and though I don’t want it to happen, it’s also impossible to look away, because this story is being crafted perfectly, and it leaves you wanting more and more and more of it.

Ghosted #20

Well, Jackson Winters is finally dead as a doornail. And Markus Schrecken forces Nina Bloodcrow to read from her blasphemous Book of the Dead, which turns her into a demonic monster and summons Death itself, so Markus can finally take the secrets of death for himself. Is there anyone left who can save the world?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Oh, I know, another really short description, ’cause there’s a nice twist early on, and then lots of excellent stuff that I don’t want to spoil. But the series ends absolutely wonderfully. It’s been a very fun story — and we close with a nice note from series creator Josh Williamson.

Daredevil #15.1

We get a pair of stories from Daredevil’s past in this issue. First, we learn how Matt Murdock learned how to reconcile apprehending criminals as Daredevil with defending them in court as an attorney. Essentially, he got assigned to the case by his old law firm when he was just a junior attorney and ordered to knuckle down and act like a real lawyer — figure out how to defend him no matter how you felt about him. In the second story, we learn about a time when Daredevil took on the extremely low-rent villain Diablo — and learned he’d actually figured out a way to make himself a threat, thanks to a street drug that painfully boosted all of his senses.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Two nice stories, excellent writing and art — it’s just an all-around cool comic, and if you’re not reading this series yet, it’s alright as a jumping-on point.

Convergence: The New Teen Titans #2

It’s the classic Teen Titans vs. the Tangent Universe’s Doom Patrol, with Cyborg’s life on the line — not to mention the fate of at least one universe.

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Robin: Son of Batman” series.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Loved Nicola Scott’s artwork, but I just couldn’t get into the story.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Ladies and gents: Bad Lip Reading presents “Redneck Avengers.”
• Hey, parents with kids who love comics: DC has some online all-ages comics for you! Including the brilliant “Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade!”
• Man, no one better mess around with the Grey Poupon.
• I’ve always believed we should burn the Confederate flag a lot more than we do.

A-Force #1

In the world created after the Marvel multiverse has been destroyed, the nation of Arcadia is a paradise, patrolled by scads of heroes, nearly all of whom are women, including She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Dazzler, Medusa, America Chavez, Pixie, Spider-Woman, Nico Minoru, Lady Loki, Storm, and more. But all is not perfect in Arcadia, after an unexpected attack from a flying megalodon shark, Ms. America gets honked off and throws it over the horizon — and breaking one of Victor von Doom’s laws — nothing passes the borders between the nations. The law is enforced by the Thors, and not even Sheriff Stephen Strange or Baroness She-Hulk herself can win her any leniency. The Thors take her away to an eternal prison, and She-Hulk decides to find out who’s hiding out in the ocean throwing giant sharks at everyone.

Verdict: I hate to say it, but thumbs down. The major problem is that this is built around a summer crossover with a lot of weird, un-superheroey rules built into it. When you’ve got a world ruled by Dr. Doom, who has the powers of a god, and everyone’s fine with that, that’s a problem. When there’s a whole enforcement arm of the global Doom-worshiping government that’s composed of a whole bunch of different versions of Thor, and they’re really nothing more than Doom’s puppets, that’s a problem. When you’ve got that many awesome characters on the cover, but most of them don’t appear inside the issue, and the one character who does something really unquestionably awesome is banished before the last page, that’s a problem. This book can be turned around, but it’ll have to break free from the summer crossover prison it’s trapped in.

Sensation Comics #10

In our first story, Wonder Woman helps defend a pop star from a deranged fan who’s angry that the innocent teenybopper he obsessed over in his youth has dared to grow up. But who’s the stalker, and who’s sabotaging the star’s tour? In our second story, Diana fights a dragon with a personal connection to the Amazons and to Wonder Woman’s mother.

Verdict: Thumbs down. In the first story, the bad guy was telegraphed way too early on, and like some of the in-story media commenters, I questioned why on earth one of the most powerful people on the planet was going to all this trouble to babysit a pop star. In the second story, I wasn’t real happy with the extremely high civilian casualties. That may be okay for DC’s grimdark New 52, but a lot of the stories in this series have been more all-ages-friendly.

Lumberjanes #14

The Lumberjanes are trying to earn a badge for basic wilderness survival — but they’re just no good at basic things like setting up tents or remembering to pack the can opener. How will they ever survive the snowstorm? Wait, why is there a snowstorm in the middle of the summer?! What are the monsters that attack everyone? Can the campers find Jen after she’s separated from the group? And who is the mysterious and vaguely ominous Abigail who rescues her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Fantastic art and writing. We get a story that’s simultaneously hilarious and genuinely frightening and unnerving. If you aren’t reading this, you really need to get with the program.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Let’s start things off on the happy side of things, with an antique carnival organ playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
• The “Batkid Begins” documentary trailer is predictably awesome.
• Here’s an airline safety video, guest-starring the Internet!
• Are prosecutors afraid to prosecute GamerGaters for death threats? Or do they actually approve?

Howard the Duck #3

Howard just barely made it back to Earth with the doohickey he was hired to steal from the Black Cat — and he immediately gets robbed and pistol-whipped — by Aunt May?! And the flipped-out dude who hired him is seriously ticked-off at the delays in getting his necklace back! He and Tara set out to track down Aunt May — Howard’s style of investigation involves running around a duck pond naked so the old folks feeding the waterfowl will think he’s a regular duck. When they find Aunt May, she remembers nothing about robbing them but agrees to help them investigate. After trailing an old coot who stole someone’s purse, they discover who is the ringmaster of scheme. Can they defeat him? And can they defeat the villain who’s playing them all for suckers?

Verdict: Thumbs up. As always, a very silly story. Howard crawling around the pond without any clothes is dang hilarious, and the running gag of Spider-Man thinking he’s failed to save someone and then breaking down into an emotional basket case is still funny.

Captain Marvel #15

Carol has returned home to Earth only to learn that her longtime friend and mentor Tracy Burke died just a week ago of cancer. The rest of the issue focuses on Tracy’s will and Carol’s reflection on her life, her relationship with her partner Teddy, and her posthumous attempt to get Carol to move on with her life.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderfully illustrated, wonderfully written study on death and mourning. The post-story note focusing on writer Kelly Sue DeConnick’s memories of her own late Aunt Polly just boosts the coolness of this issue.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Four-year-old girls want to see Wonder Woman punch things and sometimes bake cupcakes. Heck, we all want to see that!
• The new Mad Max film is so feminist, it’s really, really hurting the men’s rights nuts.
• This is the most metal heavy metal band name generator ever.

Astro City #23

Meet Sticks. He’s from a secret civilization of intelligent gorillas hidden in Antarctica. This is his first time in the big city, and he’s got his heart set on being a drummer in a rock band. Gorilla Mountain isn’t a very cool place — they’re obsessed with the purity of their culture, and the only job is serving in the military. Some of the younger gorillas have managed to pick up radio signals and discovered music. After getting busted several times for playing his own homemade drum kit, Sticks managed to fake a jet-pack malfunction and made his way to Astro City. But there’s this funny thing about being a talking, military-trained gorilla in Astro City — everyone either wants to kidnap you to turn you into a drone in their criminal organization, or they want to induct you into their superteam. Can’t a gorilla rock out with his pals without everyone wanting him to be a super-soldier?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Absolutely colossal fun. Sticks is a fantastic character — the type of guy who could easily carry his own graphic novel, not just a two-issue storyarc. But if there’s one thing “Astro City” does exceptionally well, it’s giving us amazing characters we wish we could see way more often.

Ms. Marvel #15

Well, the charade is over — Kamran may be cute and lovable and an Inhuman like Kamala, but he’s also allied himself with a bunch of supervillain Inhumans instead of the good guys. She manages to signal Bruno with her cell phone, and he tears off to try to get to New Attilan. Meanwhile, Kamala is doing everything she can to escape from the bad guys and periodically drop a little smackdown on them. Can she escape from Kamran and the other villains?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderful issue — a little fighting, a little running, a little betrayal, a lot of standing-up-for-yourself, and a nice dose of minor cliffhanger toward the end. Does Kamala know another Inhuman?

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #8

So apparently, the multiverse is being destroyed. I know, that’s usually DC’s deal, but this time, Marvel is doing it. Essentially, everytime two alternate earth’s collide, both of those universes wink out of existence. (This is all leading into the new “Secret Wars” crossovers.)

At the beginning of the issue, Steve Rogers reveals to the Mighty Avengers that Earth-616 has just 178 days left before it’s destroyed. And beyond a little exposition about the Illuminati, the rest of the issue is a slow countdown as the world comes to terms with the looming end of everything, and the Mighty Avengers help Rogers work to defeat the Illuminati’s plans and figure out a better solution.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nice demonstration of the tension of knowing that the end of the world is months or weeks away. We already know this is the next-to-the-last issue of this series — I hope they get a good send-off. And I hope we get to see all of these characters a bit more often and a bit more prominently.

Harrow County #1

Come on, now, with a cover like that, there’s really no chance I’d be able to resist this new horror comic by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook, right?

After the citizens of Harrow County capture and prepare to destroy a formerly helpful witch who’d turned to dark forces to increase her power, she pronounces a curse upon them — even while she burns from a noose, she promises to return someday and see all the townspeople again. Years later, we meet up with Emmy, a country girl about to turn 18. Even with her father’s livestock dying mysteriously around them, she’s got a way with animals, sometimes bringing them from the brink of death. She feels stifled inside her home but gets a greater sense of freedom from the woods outside her house, even though she fears the old rotten tree not far from her window. And sometimes, she sees haints out in the woods, and she wonders what they have in store for her.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderfully slow but creepy story, alongside glorious art that mixes the beauty of nature with the monsters hiding in the dark. This first issue promises some epic horror — get on board early.

Injection #1

And another new horror series, this time by Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire, the creative team behind the amazing first set of issues of the recent “Moon Knight” relaunch.

We start off with Professor Maria Killbride, a patient at grim Sawlung Hospital, a woman with a cane and a overpowering with for a sandwich. The company she used to work for is calling her back into action to investigate a missing persons case, whether she wants to or not. The former members of her team haven’t quite landed in insane asylums yet, but they’re not the people they used to be — Brigid Roth is unhappily running high-end tech support, while Robin Morel has tapped into powers he’s not even sure he wants to deal with. And Maria finds herself exploring a very large space that shouldn’t be there at all.

Verdict: Thumbs up, at least for now. It seems interesting, but I can’t say I can really tell you what’s going on. But it is a first issue, after all, and sometimes, these take a little time to get cycled up to top speed.

Lady Killer #5

Josie has a plan to deal with the Company targeting her for elimination, with the help of fellow assassins Ruby and Reinhardt. But does Josie have a chance to prevail against the deadliest killers on the Company’s payroll?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great art and story, lots of bloodshed, lots of keen ’60s flavor. And it’s even left open at the end for a sequel…

Today’s Cool Links:

• The trailer for the new “Supergirl” TV series looks pretty good.
• The men’s rights goons are really freaking out about the new “Mad Max” movie — because it’s got (terrified whisper) girls.
• G. Willow Wilson has a great response to a weirdly shallow op-ed in the New Yorker slut-shaming the heroines from “A-Force.”
• Here’s a cool little animation explaining Fermi’s Paradox and why we never actually see any aliens on Earth.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5

While Doreen’s roommate Nancy is being held hostage inside the Statue of Liberty, she and her fellow hostages end up telling stories about Squirrel Girl. As one does, of course. But everyone else has some weird ideas about Squirrel Girl. Someone tells a tale about her adventures in World War II as Captain America’s sidekick. (This story also includes the character find of 2015: Bass Lass, a woman wearing a fish mask.) Other stories assume she’s a time traveler (with lots of historical Squirrel Girls as helpers) and confuse her with Spider-Man.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s an excellently funny story, with a ton of great gags. Bass Lass is just the high point of the story, and there are lots of other great characters and jokes. If you haven’t been reading this before — well, you’re crazy. But this is an excellent point to jump onto the bandwagon.

Spider-Gwen #4

Gwen Stacy has an encounter with some close family friends — and two people she dreads dealing with the most — Ben and May Parker. Their nephew Peter had once experimented on himself to turn himself into a monster called the Lizard, and in the ensuing battle between the Lizard and Spider-Woman, Peter had died. The public and the media blamed her for his death — and every time Gwen sees Ben and May, it’s a reminder of what she still thinks of as her greatest failure. But do Ben and May blame Spider-Woman — and by extension, Gwen? Or are they able to forgive?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice low-key story — but a wonderfully tense one, too. Gwen is on eggshells the entire time she’s in the Parkers’ home — a very realistic reaction. In our more familiar Marvel Universe, Peter Parker didn’t have to worry about such a guilt-inducing situation, since her father had already died…

The Wicked + the Divine #10

With her new powers as the triple goddess Urdr, Cassandra manages to uncover who tried to kill Luci at her high-rise apartment in the first issue — it was a couple of god fanboys, as everyone had started to suspect. Meanwhile, Baphomet has decided to kill all three of Urdr’s bodies during the Ragnarock music festival because he hopes he’ll be able to absorb the years still allotted to her so he can live longer. The attempt at deicide fails when the Morrigan interferes. Ananke is prepared to kill Baphomet, but Morrigan whisks him away to the underground. But the chaos has already pushed the crowds at the festival into a riot — Urdr moves to quash it by broadcasting her message of endless nihilism — but her bleak sermon just makes them love her even more. And Baphomet is still plotting to kill one of the gods…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful art, as always. More of a transition story after the shock revelations of the previous issue — it feels like we’re working our way toward some sort of climax.

Rat God #4

The clean-cut but still terribly rodent-like Mr. Peck wants Clark to kill his father, the leader of the town’s cult. Clark hilariously claims to be “a completely nonviolent person” after killing three of the town thugs. To get Clark’s cooperation, Peck offers to give him his beloved Kito, now strangely passive. Gharlena, the simple-minded innkeeper’s daughter, wants Clark for herself and is very upset by his continued rejections. Peck escorts Clark to a grand masked ball put on by the cult, where all manner of drunken and creepy misbehavior goes on — but someone already knows about their schemes.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Gloriously detailed and creeptastic artwork by Richard Corben. A fun penultimate chapter — can everything get wrapped up nicely in the next issue? Will Clark get what he wants? Or will Clark get what he deserves?

We got another giant buttload of Convergence comics this week, and once again, I’m going to try to get all of these cleared out of the way quickly.

Convergence: Nightwing and Oracle #2

The rotten-as-snot Flashpoint versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl are in Gotham City, looking forward to killing Nightwing. But Dick Grayson isn’t all that easy to kill, and Barbara Gordon’s awfully, awfully smart. And they both have some really great friends. Can an acrobat and a paralyzed hacker beat up a couple maniacal winged fascists and still find true love?

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Midnighter” series.

Convergence: Superman #2

While Superman battles the Flashpoint versions of Cyborg, Captain Thunder, and Abin Sur, the skinny Flashpoint Superman kidnaps the pregnant Lois Lane. He takes her to the Flashpoint Batman’s Batcave, hoping Dr. Thomas Wayne can help deliver her baby. Will Lois’s baby be delivered safely?

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Doomed” series.

Convergence: The Question #2

Renee Montoya, along with the Huntress and Batwoman, are trying to find Two-Face. Harvey Dent desperately wants to die, and since he’s not able to commit suicide as long as his coin keeps coming up heads over and over, he’s decided to track down the Harvey Dent of another dimension and get him to commit murder on his behalf.

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Starfire” series.

Convergence: Speed Force #2

Wally West has to battle the seriously psycho Flashpoint Wonder Woman and her Amazons, while Fastback, from the Amazing Zoo Crew, tries to defend Jai and Iris West. Can the Flash handle a foe who’s almost as fast as he is and a much more deadly combatant? And will the loveable cartoon turtle survive?!

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Green Arrow” series.

Convergence: Batgirl #2

It’s Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, and Tim Drake vs. the Flashpoint versions of Gorilla Grodd and Catman!

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Prez” series.

Verdicts: We had some good stuff and some bad stuff. Let’s unpack this thang.

First of all, the Batgirl story is the one I was looking forward to the most, and it was just not good. While I liked the fact that she solved the issue’s dilemma through brainpower, the rest of it was not worth the paper. Confusing, badly illustrated, not well written, poor characterization. Of all the characters here, Steph probably needed closure the least — the end of her regular series was actually very well done and emotionally affecting. I would’ve enjoyed this one more if we’d gone with a good ending for Cass, instead of a tacked-on romance between Steph and Tim.

The rest were much better. The Nightwing/Oracle story was probably the best, but it was written by Gail Simone about some of her favorite characters, so that was certainly to be expected. The romance subplot didn’t feel tacked-on — in fact, it was at least, if not more important than, the entire battle against the Hawks.

Superman’s story was fine, but it was stronger as a combination of a great Lois Lane story and a nice story about the more hard-edged Flashpoint Batman finding something he was willing to care about.

The Question’s story was great just because it’s wonderful to see Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner working on these characters again.

Flash’s story was alright, but not all that spectacular. I was just glad to see Flashback survived — I take it the Zoo Crew has been taking it on the chin in the other Convergence books.

Of the sneak-peeks we get of the new series… not a lot of them really appeal to me. I’d had high hopes for the Prez and Starfire series, and they just don’t look very interesting. The Doomed series looks somewhat interesting — I knew nothing about it before — but it still stinks like ’90s Image to me…