Weekly Comic Review for 1/8/14
It’s the first review for this year’s comics. Let’s hope they do better this year than they were last year.
Afterlife with Archie #3 – The Riverdale gang is nice and safe in Lodge manor… or are they? To make the most of their time, they decide to go for a swim. Moose and Midge are absent because they are discussing a scratch Midge has but she says she’s fine. They snuggle up for a while and next thing we know, 2 zombies are falling through an upper window into the pool. Mr Lodge sees this and gets a cover over the pool, locking them in there as the other make their way out just in time. Only one teen is missing — Archie, who has left the house to see if his parents are ok. He finds Pops’ on fire along the way. It turns out the 2 lesbians escaped the zombie that came in but Pops didn’t. Archie really should have known better than to go out into the mess that was going on. The backup story is about a mean horror movie host and a former employee’s revenge.
Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps #18 – We start off with Kozol doing some PRS work and enforcing some political issues. It turns out it was a setup to capture him. As much as some of the Corps would love to let Kozol get killed, they come together to save him. (Though Granite ends up walking in on Genius and Lifeline in bed together when calling them in.) They end up taking on a group of Psiots called the Specialists who Major Palmer used to work with. It turns out one trap was just leading to another as Kozol’s predecessor, Oreck, wanted to capture some of H.A.R.D. Corps (and they do capture half the team) to get their technology. It should be interesting to see how they get out of this.
Earth 2 #19 – The battle drags on. A wave of parademons attacks while Batman and crew exit with their new team. There is one more stop to make on the way out. They find a young black male who turns out to be Kryptonian. With their last member rescued, they escape and are picked up by Hawkgirl. I’m ready for this to be resolved and for them to get on to some other stories.
Green Lantern #27 – The Lanterns are still pulling things together on Mogo when a Durlan infiltrates the ranks and takes down Hal. He then takes Hal’s form and makes an announcement to every planet everywhere that the Lanterns are using up the emotional energy and cracking down the law. I’m not sure how they manage to take over every device on every planet, but there are immediate attacks on the Green Lanterns all over. Things are just becoming a big mess here and not in an interesting way.
Kevin Keller #12 – It’s a New Year’s celebration and the Riverdale gang is making resolutions. No one seems to get able to keep theirs, but the worst news is that Kevin sees his boyfriend in the arms of another guy. Oops!
Quantum and Woody #7 – It’s part 2 of dealing with the rednecks. It turns out they are big fans of Quantum but wouldn’t believe it was really him until Woody shows up. Now it’s them and the rednecks vs. Quantum’s boss. The humor here just isn’t up to par with stuff like Archer & Armstrong sadly.
Scooby-Doo Team-Up #2 – Batman and Robin are back but this time they brought along Ace the Bat-Hound. Not being human, Ace and Scooby-Doo are the only ones immune to the Scarecrow’s fear gas. Scooby-Doo don’t Robin’s mask and cape for some humorous adventures that include a scene that’s an homage to the Dark Knight Batman and Robin. It’s a fun story.
Shadowman #14 – The Loa speaks to Jack, trying to corrupt him. It turns out there’s a few renegades. Alyssa suggests Jack fall in love with her to help control the Loa. To make things worse, Dox is blaming Jack for death and wants him killed. The story has taken a very dark and downward spiral. The art has followed the same dark path and I’m just not enjoying it. This new and sudden change may cause me to drop another Valiant title.
Trinity of Sin: Phantom Stranger #15 – Forever Evil: Blight tie-in – The Stranger tracks Blight down to Chris’ family where the Divine tells him to side with Blight. He tries but isn’t able to stick with it. He makes it back to the team and preps them to head off to Heaven. Still not sure where this is all going.
Young Avengers #15 – Resolution part 2 – It’s the last issue. Why can’t Marvel just give this team a chance. 15 issues is the longest run they’ve had and there is so much they could do. We end off at the party and find out how Speed showed up. First “the Patriot” showed up and Prodigy was able to figure out that it was a future version of himself after sacrificing himself for the team at some point. As the Patriot fades out, Speed is left in his place. Loki is also shows up and reveals that he backed the party. He’s turned out not to be all that bad and that he has a special place for the team. And, after some talk at the end, it seems this was the gayest version of the Young Avengers to date. (Which makes it all that much more sad that the series is cancelled.)
The books this week have a definitely divider between the good and the not so good. The top for the week are Afterlife with Archie, Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps, and Young Avengers. There’s a bunch of books for next week and this weekend will be crazy for me so I’ll try to get to them as soon as possible. Enjoy your reading in the meantime.
