With the origin story out of the way, You Never Heard of Me #2 is free to explore what Will does with his powers of foresight. Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli keep the stakes human and relatable as he decides to help out his fellow student Allie, who wants to stand up to a bully on behalf of another student named Rory, who is a makeup vlogger and picked on for his gender nonconformity. However, the comic isn’t some kind of anti-bullying PSA and uses Will’s heightened abilities to visual dig into the psychological nature of why people act out and pick on each other or choose to help and strike back. It also looks at how prophetic abilities can be a double edged sword and the butterfly effect of it all although thankfully Zanfardino and Romboli avoid timey wimeyness for the time being.
You Never Heard of Me #2 doesn’t have fight scenes like the majority of the books featuring superpowers, but Elisa Romboli does imbue her line art as well as her and Iolanda Zanfardino’s color palette with a physicality that jumps off the page. Will goes from being another face in the crowd with panels framing him at a distance to Romboli moving the camera closer on his eyes and braids as he connects with Allie on probably the deepest level she’s ever experience seeing both her good and bad days. Yellows flood the page, and I love how Elisa Romboli structures the panels of the vision to flow from Will’s eye like sun beams. It’s a happy, intimate moment, but when you turn the page, Romboli and Zanfardino’s palette is blue, and Will is in shock and horror as he experiences the potential worst day in Allie’s life. This kind of page-turn, visual whiplash creates an immersive reading experience and puts you in Will’s headspace as he struggles to act on these visions or continue to be Uatu the Watcher high school edition.
I love how You Never Heard of Me #2 flips Will’s character from active to passive depending on the situation. He has a whole mini arc in the issue where he goes from accidentally bumping into Allie to playing a key role in her anti-bullying efforts even as he’s just trying to chill at the library during his free period. This is yet another relatable element of this book because my level of being outgoing depends on how comfortable I am with the folks around me. Will and Allie go from strangers to weird tenseness as he tries to talk around his foresight abilities. Finally, they become legitimate friends hanging out in the hall with Allie trying to coax Will to use his powers in a more proactive way. Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli capture the frenetic stages of friendship from having a weird first impression to being inseparable and then going deeper and experiencing life’s challenges together.
Zanfardino and Romboli show Will’s talents in action from start to finish in You Never Heard of Me #2 with splashy, colorful visuals while still centering the story around him and his friends’ everyday lives. To the outside world, Will’s foresight looks like radical empathy, and a lot of the comic is him either verbally or visually putting himself in other people’s shoes to eventually solve their problems. It’s a triumph of heart, not fists, but You Never Heard of Me continues to introduce conflicts that won’t be solved with a single touch or in a single issue.
Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
What If..? Galactus Transformed Rogue (Marvel) – When it’s not failing at using Southern dialect and referring to the singular entity Galactus as “y’all”, What If…? Galactus Transformed Rogue is a sci-fi parable with a touch of humor. Ann Nocenti and Stephen Byrne also do a good job of showing the strain of selecting planets for Galactus to devour on Rogue while also counterbalancing it with why he’s necessary for the balance of the universe. Flickering cameos from the X-Men, Gambit, Mystique, and Destiny show how lonely Rogue’s life is in this one-shot although her costume is stylin’. Overall: 6.8 Verdict: Read
Toxic Avenger #4 (Ahoy) – In Toxic Avenger #4, Melvin faces off against his old bully Bonehead, who sold out to became a puppet for pro-nuclear waste corporate propaganda. But Toxie has a secret weapon, his crush Yvonne. Mat Bors and Fred Harper clear out some time for awkward teen romance between the laugh out loud satire and bugging out visual gags. The scrutiny on the battle between mutated teens has brought eyeballs to the cover up company’s videos, but they want to pull out the like US did in Vietnam. This issue sets up a gloves are off, humans vs aliens finale with a side of mutation and deadpan humor. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy
Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre #3 (IDW) – Tom Scioli wraps up this fever dream of a miniseries with a battle royale in Transylvania between Godzilla, the Universal Monsters, and a few surprise late entrants. There’s something so satisfying about Godzilla backhanding Dracula, or pages of Jay Gatsby and the G-Men riding motorcycles to evade the King of Monsters. Scioli’s art channels high energy toy advertisements while his scripting is very midnight movie although he gets a little literary and poignant towards the end using the final fight as a metaphor for misguided optimism about the rest of the 20th century. One conveniently introduced plot element ends up wrapping up the series, but all in all, I had a lot of fun with this mini. Overall: 8.1 Verdict: Buy
Absolute Wonder Woman #4 (DC) – Absolute Wonder Woman #4 is at its best when it lets Hayden Sherman‘s epic layouts and art do the talking instead of walls of text from Kelly Thompson. Thompson and Sherman continue to add elements from classic Wonder Woman comics to the series and remix them, and I love their occult-meets-P.I. take on Etta and Gia Candy, who play a key role in helping Diana save the day. Colorist Jordie Bellaire‘s reds and blacks are working overtime this issue as a dark, yet glowing magic-infused Wonder Woman squares up against the Tetracide. Absolute Wonder Woman #4 has boss fight energy, but Hayden Sherman’s art is glorious and the banter between Diana, Steve Trevor, and the Candys are charming. Overall: 7.7 Verdict: Buy
Metamorpho: The Element Man #2 (DC) – Al Ewing, Steve Lieber, and Lee Loughridge‘s Metamorpho: The Element Man #2 takes aim at nostalgia culture, AI art, and pop star standom in another groovy issue of a comic that transcends the Silver Age pastiche genre. Even more so than the launch issue, Metamorpho #2 masterfully mixes old and new with villains straight out of the 1960s (Or Austin Powers.) and social commentary about art and capitalism that is relevant today. Ewing’s plot is chock-full of science and chemistry which is also what Metamorpho and Element Woman have with Lieber and Loughridge turning the visuals up to eleven when they change into various chemicals. I also enjoy this book’s mature approach to relationships with some gaslighting and jealousy making appearances between pop star superhero antics. Throw in an epilogue sequence that widens this quirky, little books scopes, and Metamorpho #2 is on its way to the top of the best current comic charts. Overall: 10.0 Verdict: Buy
With the origin story out of the way, You Never Heard of Me #2 is free to explore what Will does with his powers of foresight. Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli keep the stakes human and relatable as he decides to help out his fellow student Allie, who wants to stand up to a bully on behalf of another student named Rory, who is a makeup vlogger and picked on for his gender nonconformity. However, the comic isn’t some kind of anti-bullying PSA and uses Will’s heightened abilities to visual dig into the psychological nature of why people act out and pick on each other or choose to help and strike back. It also looks at how prophetic abilities can be a double edged sword and the butterfly effect of it all although thankfully Zanfardino and Romboli avoid timey wimeyness for the time being.
You Never Heard of Me #2 doesn’t have fight scenes like the majority of the books featuring superpowers, but Elisa Romboli does imbue her line art as well as her and Iolanda Zanfardino’s color palette with a physicality that jumps off the page. Will goes from being another face in the crowd with panels framing him at a distance to Romboli moving the camera closer on his eyes and braids as he connects with Allie on probably the deepest level she’s ever experience seeing both her good and bad days. Yellows flood the page, and I love how Elisa Romboli structures the panels of the vision to flow from Will’s eye like sun beams. It’s a happy, intimate moment, but when you turn the page, Romboli and Zanfardino’s palette is blue, and Will is in shock and horror as he experiences the potential worst day in Allie’s life. This kind of page-turn, visual whiplash creates an immersive reading experience and puts you in Will’s headspace as he struggles to act on these visions or continue to be Uatu the Watcher high school edition.
I love how You Never Heard of Me #2 flips Will’s character from active to passive depending on the situation. He has a whole mini arc in the issue where he goes from accidentally bumping into Allie to playing a key role in her anti-bullying efforts even as he’s just trying to chill at the library during his free period. This is yet another relatable element of this book because my level of being outgoing depends on how comfortable I am with the folks around me. Will and Allie go from strangers to weird tenseness as he tries to talk around his foresight abilities. Finally, they become legitimate friends hanging out in the hall with Allie trying to coax Will to use his powers in a more proactive way. Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli capture the frenetic stages of friendship from having a weird first impression to being inseparable and then going deeper and experiencing life’s challenges together.
Zanfardino and Romboli show Will’s talents in action from start to finish in You Never Heard of Me #2 with splashy, colorful visuals while still centering the story around him and his friends’ everyday lives. To the outside world, Will’s foresight looks like radical empathy, and a lot of the comic is him either verbally or visually putting himself in other people’s shoes to eventually solve their problems. It’s a triumph of heart, not fists, but You Never Heard of Me continues to introduce conflicts that won’t be solved with a single touch or in a single issue.
Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
Howl #1 (Ahoy!) – Alisa Kwitney and Mauricet‘s Howl is a fusion dish of Golden Age science fiction, beatnik navel gazing, and social realism with a mushroom on top as a treat. It’s an alien invasion story, but also the story of the breakdown of the marriage between writers Bert and Ziva in Greenwich Village at the dawn of the counterculture when the first issues of the Voice were on the stands and Jack Kerouac was about to hit the road. On the visual side, Mauricet easily transitions from kitchen sink reality to far out space stuff and gets high marks for his use of color and fashion design. Howl #1 is a multi-layered, non-linear delight for literature and pop culture heads. Overall: 9.1 Verdict: Buy
Exceptional X-Men #5 (Marvel) – Exceptional X-Men #5 focuses on Kitty Pryde’s past and Melee’s relationship with her family and the team while also setting up a TikTok meets 23 and Me app for mutants that definitely is the Big Bad going forward. In flashback sequences, Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero excel at hitting the highlights of Kitty’s ninja training as well as why she killed Orchis soldiers during Fall of X. Basically, it sets up the X-Men not being perfect people and the importance of making your own choices that flows into the Melee story where she tries to stand up for her cousin who is being bullied for being a mutant. It’s cool to see Melee apply the lessons she’s learned from Kitty and Emma Frost to the situation, but in the words of Master Yoda, more training does she require. Exceptional X-Men continues to not be a superhero beat ’em book, but digs into the lived experience of being a marginalized person with a side of superpowers. I love Thao’s phasing and invisibility abilities match her ability, and Carnero draws them in a clear way. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy
Ultimate Wolverine #1 (Marvel) – Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Bryan Valenza turn up the edge in Ultimate Wolverine #1. Logan aka the Winter Soldier is back to being a mindless assassin serving the mutant overlords of Eurasia and is on a mission to take out folks who were very close to him. This new take on Wolverine is sufficiently brutal with Valenza’s red and blacks emphasizing each claw strike and kill in Capuccio’s fluid line work. Condon’s script references X2 and The Ultimates (Vol 1), but in a sick, twisted way. This is a take no prisoners first issue that fits into the Maker’s demented Earth-6160, but isn’t weighed down by continuity. Overall: 8.4 Verdict: Buy
New Gods #2 (DC) – Ram V, Jesse Lonergan, Evan Cagle, and Francesco Segala‘s New Gods continues to be one of the most epic and personal comics on the racks. This issue looks at the power strugles on a Darkseid-less Apokolips while Maxwell Lord, Mister Miracle, Mister Miracle/Barda, and other players start to look for the newest New God, Mira. New Gods #2 is filled with epic shots of powerful beings in action courtesy of Cagle and especially Lonergan in the prelude, but the real hook of the series is the parallels they and V draw between Mira and her family and the Frees. It’s so charming to have Big Barda make cracks about Scott being on diaper duty for the rest of Liv’s early childhood and then see Mira’s family figuring out their place in the world after she manifests divine powers. Nothing beats regular people in extraordinary situations. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy
Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
Cruel Kingdom #1 (Oni Press) – The new anthology Cruel Kingdom defectively puts an EC Comics spin to the sword and sorcery genre. The lead story “Blood of the Robo King” by Greg Pak and Leomacs has a medieval Robocop energy as the inhabitants of a small village get sucked into the cycle of violence and expansionism. The story has a good message, but gets a little repetitive towards the end. Lord of the Rings meets Star Trek with a sinister twist in Al Ewing and Kano‘s “Friendly Visitors”. Ewing’s writing is wonderfully anachronistic while Kano has fun with the genre mash-up elements like forcefields and spaceships showing up in a copyright friendly version of The Shire. However, the story isn’t just a mere genre pastiche, but has a lot to say about colonization and imperialism. I could honestly read a whole series set in this world. “Death and Pickaxes” is a dark and twisted take on the Snow White story from the POV of the last survivor of the Seven Dwarves. Chris Condon and Charlie Adlard make their protagonist a greedy, lustful being that is struck by conscience all too late. Adlard’s visuals are fairy tale storybook meets horror novel illustrations and epitomize the dark fantasy genre of this anthology. Ben H. Winters and Andrea Mutti execute a simple, yet powerful deconstruction of the Chosen One archetype in “The Demon’s Face”. Mutti’s art is traditional fantasy until he channels some spectral in the final pages. Along the way, it’s kind of a critique of girlboss feminism aka “What if Eowyn became the Witch King instead of killing him?” If you like fantasy stories that are less heroic and more a dark mirror of current society with halflings, dwarves, swords, dragons, and smoky taverns, then Cruel Kingdom #1 is the comic for you. Overall: 8.5 Verdict: Buy
Altered States: Purgatori Grindhouse (Dynamite) – Ray Fawkes, Alvaro Sarraseca, and Salvatore Aiala throw the 90s Bad Girl icon Purgatori into a 70s teen beach/slasher movie in Altered States: Purgatori Grindhouse. The story plays with the Final Girl trope as the most moral girl, track athlete goodie two shoes ends up being the red hued demon and messing up the cultists’ day. There’s a real sense of athleticism and motion to Sarraseca fight scenes punctuated by Aiala’s red and black. However, for all the titillating variant covers, Purgatori Grindhouse feels like a PG-13 horror cutting back on the gore and freaky elements and feeling like a film you’d legitimately buy a ticket to instead of sneaking into. Overall: 7.3 Verdict: Read
Batman: Dark Patterns #2 (DC) -This isn’t definitely a week for serial killer comics as a young Dark Knight continues to hunt down the Wound Man in Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman‘s Batman: Dark Patterns #2. The mystery expands in this comic going from Batman hunting down a serial killer to police corruption, random arsons, and of course, the creepy formaldehyde addicted doctor. Watters’ captions put us in Batman’s deductive mind while Sherman indulges in some freaky imagery with their art. They have a real gift for making storytelling interesting on the page and panel to panel level like a scene where Batman talks to a reporter through the act of eating a donut. There’s a rawer, more dangerous feel to Gotham in this story with Batman and Gordon being in a much more precarious position that makes it exciting. Overall: 8.7 Verdict: Buy
Those Not Afraid #1 (Dark Horse) – Kyle Starks and Patrick Piazzalunga tap into American society’s endless thirst for serial killers in Those Not Afraid. It’s about two serial killers who cross paths and decide to basically have a murder-off to break the record for most straight murders. Colorist Marco Brakko brings the reds and blacks while Piazzalunga’s art style goes from straight up crime to something darkly humorous to match Starks’ script. This first establishes the killers and the non-murderer supporting cast with just enough of a twist to go beyond just setting up the premise. Those Not Afraid #1 is both a self-indulgent and self-aware take on the true crime genre. Overall: 7.8 Verdict: Buy
Christmas 365 #2 (Dark Horse) – The holiday season might be done, but Mikey Way, Jon Rivera, and Piotr Kowalski hit their stride in the second issue of Christmas 365, a series about the Rockwell family celebrating the titular holiday all year long. Christmas 365 #2 leans into the humor of the concept with parodies of “extreme” YouTube videos and wild moments like protagonist/patriarch Peter Rockwell overdosing on radioactive, cryptocurrency-bought egg nog or a silent tribute to fallen soldiers during a Memorial Day gathering. However, Way and Rivera give the series a little bit of heart, especially when Peter bonds with his daughter Tina over a story about he and his dad built a tree house from scratch. Christmas 365 #2 continues to be an over-the-top, silly read with just enough of a satirical bite. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy
Absolute Batman #4 (DC) – Co-writers Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, guest artist Gabriel Walta, and colorist Frank Martin dig into the early days of Absolute Batman in this stand-alone “year one” story. The story follows the thread of how bats inspire Bruce Wayne, and there’s many Golden Age flourishes like when Batman uses a gun or wears vampire fangs to break up a protection racket around Crime Alley. However, this is just small potatoes, and the narrative thrust of Absolute Batman #4 is about Bruce Wayne going bigger and more systemic with his war on crime. However, it’s still rooted in a young boy’s prize-winning science project. Snyder and Dragotta turn the Batman mythos on its head by making bats something that Bruce loves and doesn’t fear. And the art doesn’t miss a beat with fluid action scenes, the aforementioned homages, and a really cool ghostly effect from Martin when we get to a flashback with Thomas Wayne and his father. (Bruce’s grandfather died before he was born the same way mine did so I had a personal connection to this comic too.) Overall: 9.1 Verdict: Buy
Illyana Rasputin gets her first solo series in decades, and it’s unfortunately a middling effort. Magik #1 takes the Soulsword wielding mutant away from the X-Men and in Juneau, Alaska, which has some kind of Hellmouth situation and a limply named Big Bad called Liminal being bound by a family of magic users. (The Chosen One/Watcher figure is a blond male named Callen though.) I love how Ashley Allen writes Magik, especially in combat and when she’s saving the day, but the setup for the series is something out of a CW show despite a horror movie worthy intro complete with scratching nails sound effects courtesy of letterer Ariana Maher.
I also didn’t hate the art by German Peralta and Arthur Hesli. Hesli especially uses a deep, dark palette to show the forcefields, runes, sigils, and various magic energies flowing throughout the book. He and Peralta do a two page horror story masterclass to the start the comic before Magik #1 collapses under its own derivative, unwieldy world-building. However, even if the story feels like a Xerox of a Xerox, the art team makes everything look cool, especially when Magik is struggling with her shadow self, Darkchild and is dueling with Liminal. The baddie doesn’t have much personality, but would make a great Fortnite or Marvel Rivals opponent. Honestly, the scenes between Magik and Liminal have a 1990s energy to them, but are, of course, less demeaning to women. I feel like Liminal is someone Sara Pezzini would fight.
A solo superhero book lives and dies by its supporting cast, and Allen and German Peralta take a bold swing and introduces a completely new one in Magik #1. And then they kill everyone off except for a young determined scion of an apocalypse destroying line. Magik teleports into a funeral, and then the rest of the characters start dropping like flies. There’s nothing wrong with starting with a dead character ; it’s practically a genre fiction right of passage a la Watchmen, Twin Peaks, or Umbrella Academy. However, Ashley Allen and Peralta just keep offing characters we know nothing about to “raise the stakes”, which are Liminal trying to break through different force fields like The Master in Buffy Season 1 with a side of a video game fetch quest.
From the teaser for Magik #2, it looks like the title will be a globe trotting one with Magik and Callen fighting various supernatural threats in different locations. This means a rotating cast of characters, but just because they don’t appear in the next issue doesn’t mean they have to be one dimensional. One small human moment like the X-Men throwing Magik a birthday breakfast would have made the new characters in Magik #1 more endearing, but okay, magic, pink and purple explosions are cool too. The change of location from Juneau to Tokyo is enticing, but a last page teaser for an upcoming issue shouldn’t be more compelling than a full comic.
With her badassery, traumatic past, and connection magic and demon dimensions, Magik is an objectively cool comic book character. However, Magik #1 lacks a hook and supporting cast to let her spotlight shine going for recycled versions of supernatural/fantasy/horror hits of the past instead of something fresh and easy to latch onto. German Peralta and Arthur Hesli do make her look good while kicking demon ass and teleporting ungrateful Alaskans though.
Story: Ashley Allen Art: German Peralta Colors: Arthur Hesli Letters: Ariana Maher Story: 5.8 Art: 7.3 Overall: 6.2 Recommendation: Pass
Marvel Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
After whatever the hell 2023 was, I got back into comics in 2024. The Absolute and Ultimate lines helped me get back into Marvel and DC’s output, and I also finally read some stone cold classics, both old and new, like Starman, GenderQueer, 20th Century Men, and Something is Killing the Children. I really love that I can get Silver Sprocket’s books from Comics Plus and Hoopla from my public library, and even though I’m not a New Year’s Resolution person, I definitely plan on reading more of their catalog in 2025 (Caroline Cash’s Peepee Poopoo calls my name!) as well as the back half of Starman, Planetary, finally finding out what actually happened to Krakoa in the X-Books, and keeping up with new titles. (Metamorpho and New Gods were two year end bangers!)
Without further ado, here are my favorite ten comics of 2024
One of the happiest surprises of 2024 was the release of one last issue of Joe Matt’s Peepshow a year after his untimely passing. This comic deals with Matt moving to Los Angeles to pitch a TV version of Peepshow to HBO and deals with similar subject matter as the previous decades of the book like his frugality, personal feelings of inadequacies, and yes, obsession with Asian women. However, occasional distasteful subject matter aside, Peepshow #15 shows a cartoonist’s cartoonist at the height of his craft with impeccably placed sweat beads and speed lines as Joe Matt has another existential crisis. It’s also a love letter to a comics medium with one of Matt’s friends entreating both him and the reader to pore over some of the comics taking up space in his apartment.
In the launch title for DC’s new Absolute line, Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Frank Martin rebuild and revise the Caped Crusader from the ground up. Absolute Batmantakes elements from Frank Miller’s works, various Bat-films, and Snyder’s previous work with the character to create a beefy, working class Batman, who is currently bestie with what might later become his Rogue’s gallery. Scott Snyder and Dragotta take aim at school shootings, the prison industrial complex, and cryptocurrency while having entertaining action and chase sequences. They’re three issues into building a universe, and I’m excited to see where this book goes in 2025.
Rick Remender, Brian Posehn, Brett Parson, and Moreno Dinisio’s Grommets is a semi-autobiographical love letter to 1980s skate and punk culture set in the Sacramento suburbs. Remender and Posehn draw on their own experiences as teenagers while Parson and Dinisio turn them up to eleven with detailed and period-accurate visuals that are something out of Mad Magazine. It’s fun to watch Rick and Brian’s misadventures and the ups and downs of their friendship, especially once a timer is put on it when Rick’s parents tell him they’re moving to Phoenix. The past few issues of the series have been literal bloodbaths as punks and jocks clash, and of course, the cops don’t take the jocks’ side. Grommets really captures how epic, hilarious, and occasionally sad growing up was.
I read Sami Alwani’s Ignatz-winning “The Happy Art” on his Instagram, but it’s also available in the Pulping “Comics on Comics” anthology. “The Happy Art” is a quite meta comic about how hard it is to appeal to different audiences in comics and also about collective thinking, cancel culture, and all that jazz. Alwani portrays himself as a dog, and the story reaches new heights of absurdity with each page. I love the juxtaposition of Gen Z lingo with a fanatical love for comics as a medium, and how it changes styles and POV with each panel. Saehmeh is indeed based, and so is this very accessible comic.
Zoe Tunnell, Sebastian Piriz, and Rebecca Nalty tell a cute queer love story against the backdrop of kaiju attacks in Godzilla Valentine’s Day Special. Kaiju romcom is kind of the perfect subgenre, and Tunnell gives the full progression of the relationship between unemployed burnout-turned-monster chaser Piper and Earth Defense Force soldier Tam from loathing to sweet loving. On the art side, Piriz gets to dig deep into Toho’s library of critters, including a battle royale between Godzilla and MechaGodzilla that shows that building bigger bombs and weapons doesn’t lead to peace, but just more war. It’s also interesting to see the portrayal of the King of Monsters change as the book progresses from something jarring and life-changing to just a reality of life. This could also be a metaphor for the progression of a romantic relationship as well.
5. Belly Full of Heart (Silver Sprocket)
Madeline Mouse’s Belly Full of Heart is queer softness, love, and desire in fluid comic book short story format. Mouse uses pomegranates, starfish, cars, Adidas slides, and more as visual metaphors for love. Their vignettes flow from page to page and color palette to palette in a way that feels like a warm hug multiplied by eleven. Belly Full of Heart throws plot out of the window and focuses on feelings and vibes instead. It’s also full of silly humor with “Kissin’ at the beach/Pissin’ at the beach” getting inducted into the kind of rhyming couplet hall of fame. Belly Full of Heart captures the feeling of being 100% yourself around another person as Madeline Mouse rejects rigid panel boundaries and embraces hand lettering to craft one of the most beautiful and gender euphoric comics of 2024.
I know that Midnight Radio technically came out in 2019, but it got a special edition remaster from writer/artist Iolanda Zanfardino so it’s eligible for my “Favorite Comics of 2024” list. Using a distinct color palette for each protagonist, Midnight Radio follows the lives of a diverse cast of characters brough together by a mysterious radio message urging them to be their own authentic selves. There’s a plotline with a healthcare company being responsible for the deaths of many people that was painfully relevant last year, and Zanfardino explores even more social issues like racism, xenophobia, social media addiction, and violence against queer people throughout her story. However, the main draw of Midnight Radio for me was the characters breaking off the shackles of corporate jobs, corrupt cops, unwelcoming families, and societal pressure and finding fulfillment through a variety of types of art, including indie games, music, and more!
Deniz Camp, Juan Frigeri, and Phil Noto’s Ultimates is anti-imperialist team superhero comic published by the world’s largest entertainment corporation that is also an ode to the single issue. As a collective unit, Ultimates builds to the assembling of Earth-6160’s mightiest heroes and the return of the Maker. However, Camp does the opposite of writing for the trade and gives each single issue its own flair. For example, Ultimates #4 is about Dr. Doom trying to bring the Fantastic Four back and can be read in five distinct ways to tell his tragic story with Noto channeling his inner Dave Gibbons and creating gorgeous symmetry. Deniz Camp and Frigeri connect new takes on She-Hulk and Hawkeye to the violence done towards the indigenous people of the Pacific islands and North America and breathe new life into old school anti-fascists Captain America and Jim Hammond’s Human Torch. Ultimates feels a lot like if Angela Davis wrote the Avengers, and that is a high compliment.
Influenced by comic book history as well as his own experiences as a cartoonist, Chip Zdarsky’s Public Domainis part love/hate letter to the medium and dysfunctional family drama. Public Domain #6-10 shows how the sausage is made with Dallas Comics trying to beat the clock and their new take on iconic superhero, The Domain. Along the way, there are old men arguing at bars, thinly veiled analogues for “star” comic book creators, and a look back at a love affair. Public Domain shows the difficulty of being creative under corporate constraints and also having a personal life while being caught up in the wringer of the comic book industry. It comes across as a real passion project for Zdarsky who crams each issue with visual gags, parodies, and of course, heartfelt moments.
Jonathan Hickman, Marco Checchetto, and David Messina’sUltimate Spider-Man was twelve issues of comic book comfort food as Peter Parker gets his powers as a thirty-something and must learn how to use them in a world undergirded by evil and corruption. In opposition to certain other writers and editors, Ultimate Spider-Man shows that a married with children Spider-Man comic can be compelling. There’s nothing like struggling fighting the Shocker while one kid knows your secret identity, and the other doesn’t and is kind of besties with J. Jonah Jameson. Speaking of Jameson, the story that showcased him and Uncle Ben digging into the Kingpin and Oscorp might have been the single issue of the year as the two old school newspapermen show their work and speak truth to power. On the art side, Checchetto brings a sleek high tech sheen to the suits and fights while not losing that classic Spider-Man charm, and Messina does a good job of holding down the fort in his fill-in issues. All in all, Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) is the Spider-Man comic I needed at 31 like Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) was the Spider-Man comic I needed at 13, and I love that it wrapped up its first year with a dark, Empire Strikes Back type ending.
2024 was terrible year for comic book adaptations and blockbusters, but was a solid year for films in general. I feel like “elevated” horror became my genre of choice from this year with my favorite picks touching on that subject matter in some way. Also, I became a member at my local indie theater (Shout out The Belcourt!), and it’s a fun experience to pay late 2000s prices to see the latest A24 or Neon film and then also have the opportunity to see Eyes Wide Shut in 35 mm or Hannah Montana: The Movie or Ghost World at midnight. (There was no overlap between those two audiences.) Seriously, if you have the means, supporting your local indie cinema is one of the best things you can do and also provides you a little escapism in our late capitalist hellscape.
But enough rambling, here are my favorite ten films of 2024!
10. Lisa Frankenstein (Zelda Williams)
Starring Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse and with a sparkling screenplay from Jennifer’s Body‘s Diablo Cody, Lisa Frankensteinis about a 1989 teenage girl, who falls in love with a reanimated corpse while the dealing with the trauma of her mother being axe murdered. Although the PG-13 rating stymies some of the horror elements, this film is a sweet, devilishly funny, and maniacally homicidal love story. Newton brings a buoyant, weird girl energy to the lead role of Lisa Swallows, and costume designer Meagan McLaughlin deserves an Oscar nomination for the Gothic-inspired fits she puts the lead characters in. However, my favorite part of Lisa Frankenstein is its expertly curated soundtrack of late 1980s college rock that overlays key scenes like “Strange” by Galaxie 500 washing over an animated sequence of Lisa and The Creature falling love, or “Head On” by The Jesus and Mary Chain when she walks in like the coolest girl in school. (Because she is.)
9. My Old Ass (Megan Park)
My Old Assis a throwback to classic high concept comedies like Heaven Can Wait, Peggy Sue Got Married, and a heavy dose of Freaky Friday with a contemporary sensibility like its main character being bisexual and her little brother having a shrine to Saoirse Ronan. In the film, Canadian high school senior Elliott (Maisy Stella) has a bad mushroom tea trip and meets her older self, played by an always deadpan hilarious Aubrey Plaza. Elliott gets advice from her older self about bonding with her family while she gets the chance and also to avoid a teenager who works for her family named Chad (Percy Hynes White) Despite the light science fiction and psychedelic elements, My Old Ass is a wise, beautiful film about cherishing family, friendship, and romantic relationships while you have them and to be more realistic about goals for the future. (Older Elliott reveals that she’s a 39 year old graduate student in one of the film’s funniest scenes.) The rural Canadian countryside setting is also an invitation to soak in and savor the film like Elliott does with her last moments of freedom before being thrust into the world of adulthood.
8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller)
Furiosa is the darker, more character driven little sister and prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road and fills in the backstory of Furiosa as she goes from a kidnapping victim to a commander of a war rig. Just like its predecessor, Furiosa has many balls-to-the-walls chase and action sequences, but the film succeeds because of the twin performances from Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa. Through just a look, they can convey fear, rage, or just resignation as the manically evil and aptly named Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) tries to find the mythical Green Place. An Ozsploitation villain is a perfect fit for Hemsworth’s comedic and physical skills, and he injects a little B-movie fun into Furiosa when it’s at the risk of getting too dour. However, the film works as both set-piece spectacle and a character study of one of the best action film heroines of the 21st century.
7. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass)
Love Lies Bleedingis a roid rage-infused lesbian romance thriller about a gym manager named Lou (Kristen Stewart) and a bodybuilder named Jackie (Katy O’Brian), who fall in love, murder abusive men, take a lot of performance enhancing drugs, and eventually go on the run. Rose Glass both explores and queers the Pumping Iron gym culture of the 1980s and brutally satirizes the “family values” of Reagan/Bush Sr-era United States in the dysfunctionality of Lou’s family, especially her father Lou Sr. (A menacing Ed Harris) and toxic brother-in-law JJ (A smarmy Dave Franco) Of course, Lou wants to find escape and freedom, but she ends up repeating old patterns, and Love Lies Bleeding ends up being tragic rather than life affirming. But it’s one hell of a ride, especially in its surreal third act, and Stewart and O’Brian have insane chemistry.
6. Queer (Luca Guadagnino)
An adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel, Queeris about the relationship between a thinly-veiled analogue for Burroughs named William Lee (Daniel Craig) and a beautiful, young US army veteran named Eugene (Drew Starkey) Through the literally down-for-anything conduit of Craig, Luca Guadagnino takes from the gay bars of Mexico City to the jungles of Ecuador in a search for something to scratch that itch and expand the consciousness. Like many of the films on this list, Queer has trippy visuals to go along with a mind-altering score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross as well as timely Nirvana needle drops. (Kurt Cobain and William S. Burroughs were actually friends.) Some of my favorite moments in the film are the ghostly representations of the desires of what Lee wishes he was doing with Eugene, but can’t because of illness or shame. He’ll probably lose to Timothee Chalamet or Ralph Fiennes, but Daniel Craig gives a Best Actor-worthy performance as Lee and digs deep into the grimy pits of love, lust, and telepathy.
5. Didi (Sean Wang)
Didiis both a universal and very specific coming of age story about about an eighth grader in 2008 named Chris “Didi” Wang (Izaac Wang), who makes videos with his friends and tries to find love and acceptance in the summer before going to high school. Sean Wang understands the vibe of the late-2000s Internet and social media as Didi uses Facebook to gather intel on the girl he has a crush on or hastily deletes his prank videos when he tries to become the filmer for a group of cool, popular skater kids. Throughout the film, he tries to put on a variety of identities, but still gets flak for being Taiwanese and not having the knowledge, skills, or lingo to fit in with various in-groups he tries to join. Didi is a film for anyone who struggled to fit inset to a music landscape of 2000s indie pop and pop punk (His older sister is a big Paramore fan!), and I love how Didi’s family members have their own arcs and struggles and aren’t just obstacles or comic relief. Shirley gives a beautiful performance as his mother Vivian, who must deal with an absent husband, two pain-in-the-ass kids, and a disapproving mother-in-law.
4. Wicked (Jon M. Chu)
Featuring two iconic performances from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as Elphaba and Glinda respectively, Wickedis a soaring musical fantasy blockbuster that doesn’t lose any of its source material’s subversiveness. Splitting the story into two parts was a shrewd move from Chu as it lets the musical numbers breathe, and he even finds some room for a new one with Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth passing the torch to the next generation in a spot-on, pro-Wizard propaganda number. Grande has Broadway pipes, but is in full pop diva mode as she exudes confidence and conventionality in contrast with Erivo’s rebel with a cause. However, it’s Peter Dinklage’s voice performance as Dr. Dillamond that sticks with me in the months after seeing the film as he makes a bold and clear stand for marginalized folks and academic freedom that has become more increasingly relevant with the re-election of Trump and putting Linda McMahon in charge of the Department of Education. To steal a line from Billy Bragg, Wicked mixes pop and politics very nicely indeed.
3. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
Opening with Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) convulsing orgasmically to the dulcet Dacian tones of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), Nosferatuestablishes itself as a slow-burn, Gothic freak fest that’s not afraid to explore the darker side of humanity and stare into the abyss of pure evil. Writer/director Robert Eggers’ winning streak continues, and he crafts a world where people take the undead and the supernatural completely seriously far removed from 21st century cynicism and postmodernism. Cinematographer Jarin Blaschke embraces the film’s German Expressionist-meets-Victorian penny dreadful roots in his use of chiaroscuro lighting, shadow, wide vistas, and sharp corridor. Nosferatu is a masterclass in classic horror storytelling with Willem Dafoe’s defrocked academic Professor Von Franz bringing a quirky occultist balance to the powerful physical performances from Depp and Skarsgard.
2. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
I Saw the TV Glowis an allegory for gender dysphoria couched in the visual language of cheesy fantasy horror TV shows, sad girl indie pop, and liminal spaces. (Also, jump scares from Fred Durst and Phoebe Bridgers.) It’s buoyed by soul-destroying lead performance from Justice Smith as Owen with Brigette Lundy-Paine’s acting as the Virgil to his Dante and introducing him to the show The Pink Opaque that is the only spark of light in his white noise suburban childhood. Both frightening and immersive, I Saw the TV Glow is the one 2024 film that has been a splinter in my mind as I compare my own experiences with pop culture and gender with Owen’s. (X-Men Evolution was my Pink Opaque.) It interrogated and transformed my relationship to reality and identity in a similar manner to The Matrix or The Invisibles, but with a lot less gunplay and more serialized storytelling a la the comics and television shows I’ve spent analyzing for over 1/3 of my existence. Maybe, the egg will crack one day.
1. Anora (Sean Baker)
While I Saw the TV Glow touched me the most personally, Sean Baker’s Anorawas the most engaging and well-made film I saw in 2024. The movie is about a sex worker named Ani (Mikey Madison) who has a whirlwind romance and marriage with Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a powerful Russian oligarch. From the opening strip club sequence, Madison is a riveting force of nature, who dances, fucks, quips, and fights her way out of extremely stressful situations. Along the way, she bonds with Igor (Yura Borisov), who steals the whole damn movie with his empathy, active listening, and stoic sense of humor. Anora is a romance, thriller, and full of social commentary about social class in the United States. Ani Mikheeva is a true working class hero and deserves all the fairytale endings.
The first trailer for James Gunn‘sSupermanswept the Internet with its comics accurate tone (Including a bowl-cut sporting Guy Gardner), focus on the Daily Planet, and general hopeful vibes with an electric guitar cover of John Williams’ iconic Superman theme shredding through it all. However, arguably, the most memorable moment of both the trailer and various TV spots was the live action cinematic debut of Krypto the Superdog. Krypto saves a battered and broken Superman and reintroduced this adorable, heroic, and above all, good character to a wider audience. (My youngest sister now knows why I called the family Maltese, Krypto for all those years.)
However, Krypto has been flying, barking, fetching, and biting in the comics since he was co-created by Otto Binder and Curt Swan in 1955’s Adventure Comics #210 where he was a pet for the young Superboy’s adventures in Smallville. Throughout various Crises and continuity resets, Krypto has flown in and out of the comics making memorable appearances alongside Superman and his friends in Alan Moore and Swan’s “What Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” and even in the pages of recent DCeased and Death Metal comics. He even got his own child-friendly Krypto the Superdog graphic novel in 2021 where he teamed up with various other “super pets” like Ace the Bathound, Streaky the Supercat, and Beppo the Monkey against threats like Joker’s hyenas, Lex Luthor’s iguanas, and Penguin’s, well, penguins.
Throughout his appearances from the Silver Age books of the 1950s and 1960s to modern appearances in media like the Titans TV show, DC League of Super Pets, and the upcoming Superman and Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow films, Krypto reminds readers that there’s nothing stronger than the bond between a boy and his dog even if that boy has heat vision and X-ray vision or is a half-human/half-Kryptonian clone of Superman and Lex Luthor.
Here are some of Krypto’s best stories over the years from serious slugfests to more on the cutesy, kid-friendly side.
5.Adventure Comics #210 “The Superdog from Krypton” (1955)
As mentioned earlier, Adventure Comics #210 is the Krypto story that started it all as a young Clark Kent aka Superboy befriends a stray, white dog that can fly and have super strength just like him. Although the Silver Age Superboy comics are mainly known for the utter chaos that its titular character brings to Smallville and cleans up by the end of the issue, Otto Binder and Curt Swan’s story has real emotional resonance like when Krypto licks Superboy’s face after he rescues him from the dog-catchers. Also, Superboy feels less alone and more like “the other fellows” with his new pet dog that he has to bathe in lava and barbed wire because of his super-dense hide. They also build a real rapport as the story progresses with Krypto doing Superboy a solid and flying with his cape so Lana Lang doesn’t find out that Clark Kent and Superboy are the same person. The story concludes with Krypto flying free into space because that’s basically his backyard starting a tradition of Krypto flying into space and not reappearing for years at a time. Because of its timing, Krypto feels like Binder and Swan’s homage to Laika and other dogs that were shot into space by the Soviet Union to test space travel because that’s what his origin is except with Jor-El and Krypton.
4.Scooby-Doo Team-Up #9 “Truth, Justice and Scooby Snacks” (2015)
Sholly Fisch’s Scooby-Doo Team-Upseries was one of the most underrated comics of the 2010s. Published as one of DC’s digital-first titles, it was a weekly dose of Saturday morning cartoons with guest stars from all over the DC and Hanna Barbera universes. (The team-up with the Doom Patrol is my personal favorite.) In Scooby-Doo Team-Up #18, Superman is suffering from the effects of Red kryptonite so Mystery Inc. and the staff of the Daily Planet must team up to neutralize him and the Prankster with the help of Krypto the Superdog, who shares plenty of banter with Scooby and his “sidekick” Shaggy. Dario Brizuela handles the art duties, and his style is a wonderful fusion of DC Animated Universe and Hanna Barbera styles that sounds like milk being poured on cereal or smells like Eggos fresh from the toaster. However, Fisch’s script is pure Silver Age featuring the magic lake that gives Lois Lane and/or Lana Lang superpowers, Jimmy Olsen’s Elastic Lad serum (He has his own fan club!), and a plot centered around apes, super pets, and colored kryptonite. Because he actually has superpowers, Krypto takes lead on the actual heroic part of the story, and it’s nice to see him lead a world-saving effort and find friendship with Scooby and the gangin a fun, nostalgic story.
3. Teen Titans (2003) #7 “Wednesday” (2004)
During the 1990s, Krypto disappeared from DC Comics titles with his demise in “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” acting as his curtain call. There was an ordinary Earth dog named Krypton (Later, Krypto because Bibbo Bibbowski didn’t want to pay for an extra letter on his engraved collar), who appeared in various Super-titles, but he wasn’t the same as the Superdog. However, Joe Kelly and Kano brought back the actual Superdog in the 2001 “Return to Krypton” storyline, and he joined the life of another Superboy, Conner Kent, in Teen Titans #7 from Geoff Johns and Tom Grummett. This comic focuses on the individual Teen Titans on their day off including Conner, who is struggling being an ordinary teenager in Smallville living with Ma and Pa Kent. Superman visits Superboy and shows him some of his old haunts like meteorite-formed craters and trees carved with “CK and LL”. The older hero empathizes with the teenager and reminds him that he wasn’t just a goodie two-shoes growing up. And this is where Krypto comes in as something for Superboy to take care of and bond with. Initially, Conner thinks that having a Superdog will make him the laughing stock of the other young heroes, but a few games of high-flying fetch with tree trunks endears him to Krypto as he gets closer to Superman as well. Johns and Grummett use Krypto’s appearance in Teen Titans #7 to connect Conner Kent to classic Superboy comics while telling a more psychological complex story and showing that Superman is an inspirational figure even to edgy, surly teens.
2.Superman #677-680 “The Coming of Atlas” (2008)
“The Coming of Atlas” is a true Superman (and Krypto) epic that kicked off James Robinson’s run on Superman with a bang. Robinson and artists Renato Guedes and Wilson Magalhaes revive 1975 Jack Kirby creation Atlas as a Doomsday-like physical match for Superman, and it takes an assist from Krypto for the Man of Steel to rally himself and defeat this magically powered foe that is like Conan the Barbarian breaking bad. Krypto appears in the first page of Superman #677 playing catch with Superman and Hal Jordan in space as Superman talks about how much he loves the simple life and, of course, Atlas attacks and obliterates the Science Police while this is going on. Throughout “The Coming of Atlas”, James Robinson and Guedes physically break Superman down with Atlas and other shadowy forces while rebuilding him with the help of Krypto and Zachary Zatara because Robinson hasn’t met a legacy hero he didn’t love. I love that James Robinson gets into Krypto’s headspace with monosyllabic captions and the fierce, protective behavior of a dog that loves his owner, but isn’t afraid to get a little mean and mischievous at times. Finally, Superman #680 doesn’t wrap up with Krypto ignominiously slinking away into space, but Superman gives a speech in front of all Metropolis about how he saved the day. At least from the trailer, it seems like a lot of Krypto’s characterization in the 2025 Superman film comes from this story arc, and Robinson definitely would appreciate the appearance of a lot of B and C-list heroes.
1. Super Sons Annual #1 “Animal Planet” (2017)
The best Krypto story is Super Sons Annual #1 by Peter Tomasi and Paul Pelletier where he, Ace the Bat-Hound, Bat-Cow, and Detective Chimp reassemble the Legion of Superpets to bust a petnapping ring in Gotham City. I love the parallels that Tomasi and Pelletier draw between Ace and Krypto and Jon Kent and Damian Wayne’s interactions that extends into the love-hate relationship between Krypto and Streaky the Super-Cat as well as the wacky parrot Flexi, who makes his first appearance in this comic. (A parrot with Plastic Man-type powers is a genius idea, and I won’t hear any detractors.) There isn’t a lot of dialogue in Super Sons Annual so Pelletier’s hilarious visuals do most of the heavy lifting, and there are lots of memorable moments like Krypto carrying Ace while he flies like Superman sometimes does with Batman. The villain is alien who wants to set pets free, but he really just has cages for them in his spaceship and is exposed as a hypocrite. It’s fun to watch Krypto work in a group dynamic with Peter Tomasi and Paul Pelletier embracing the silliness of the Silver Age while showing the ability of comics to flesh out characters without words. Super Sons Annual is a highlight of one of the best DC Rebirth series while being an iconic story for Krypto and his canine, bovine, feline, and avian friends as they save the day while the human heroes sleep.
Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
Metamorpho: The Element Man #1 (DC) – Oh my god, this comic was so fun! Al Ewing DC Comics series debut, Metamorpho #1, is a Silver Age throwback complete with an omnipresent Stan Lee type approach to narration, thought bubbles, wacky comic book science, and of course, plenty of action and love triangles. On the art side, Steve Lieber and Lee Loughridge bring a bright, jaunty approach except when the mysterious Agent 3 is involved. This comics feels like discovering a long lost Lee/Ditko Metamorpho comic that they wrote to piss off Martin Goodman with its jabs at Rex Mason’s employer Silas Stagg and the flower power-meets-disco vibe of Jump City. Also, it’s super engaging that Metamorpho has more actual chemistry with Element Woman instead of the default love interest, Sapphire Stagg. It honestly feels like an Amazing Spider-Man letters page debate in the late 1960s/early 1970s between fans of Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, but Element Woman is a kick-ass character in her own right and connected to the series’ overall mystery. If you want to end your 2024 with a guaranteed groovy good time, then Metamorpho #1 is the comic book for you. Overall: 9.7 Verdict: Buy
Timeslide #1 (Marvel) – Cable and Bishop fight one of the Children of the Vault throughout time in a skippable one-shot from Steve Foxe and Ivan Fiorelli. Foxe writes some fun banter between the two men from the future, but it’s just mindless shooting through trailers for other, probably not good comics until time-stopper Tempus comes to save the day. Cable and Bishop’s adventure is self-contained in the end and a backdoor pilot for a Cable and Bishop miniseries, but supposedly there are ramifications for the whole Marvel Universe. In the end, the comic has okay action and some Easter Eggs for the hardcore fans, but is a lightweight, forgettable read. Overall: 5.7 Verdict: Pass
Exceptional X-Men #4 (Marvel) – We find out what Iceman’s really doing in Chicago, and Bronze must balance high school play auditions with being a mutant in the final issue of Exceptional X-Men for 2024. After the previous issue focused on Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost’s students as an ensemble, Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero focus on Bronze individually as she struggles with her abilities and regular high school things like getting out of her comfort zone to be closer to her crush. Bronze gets an action-packed mini arc in this issue while Kitty gets to further her story and set some boundaries between her and the two other X-Men teams. I love that Ewing takes this seriously and has Kitty call out Iceman in a powerful sequence that demonstrates how deadly she is. But this is still the fun, more slice of life X-Men title with memorable moments like the kids trying to figure out a musical theatre actress to compare Bronze to, or Iceman awkwardly talking about his past dating life with Kitty. Overall: 7.7 Verdict: Buy
Black Canary: Best of the Best #2 (DC) – Dinah Lance takes a physical and psychological beating in the second installment of Tom King, Ryan Sook, and Dave Stewart‘s Black Canary: Best of the Best. The narrative cuts from her fight against Lady Shiva to training with her mother Dinah Drake and finally her childhood focusing on an especially dark night for Dinah’s mother, the original Black Canary. Sook doesn’t flinch from showing the punishment Dinah Lance takes in the ring as well as the physical strain of her training regimen. He and King draw parallels between both Black Canaries and their tenacity in the face of great odds that might lead to their deaths or being physically incapacitated. I love when Tom King tells these small, intimate family stories, and there’s also the tension between Dinah wanting to win for her mother and also lose to treat her mother’s cancer. One thing that does take me out of the flow of the story is the generic sports commentator narration of the fight announcers that adds noise to the quiet emotion of the flashbacks and training sequences. Overall: 8.3 Verdict: Buy
Absolute Wonder Woman #3 (DC) – Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, and Jordie Bellaire weave together past and present and show the sacrifices it takes to become a hero. Bellaire’s reds are powerful and permeate the story from Diana’s battle with the fear-inducing, nigh-unbeatable Tetracide to the way she’s able to save Steve Trevor from Hell in the flashback. Absolute Wonder Woman continues to meld the mythical and modern with Sherman using ancient Greek black figure type pottery to elucidate the Tetracide’s backstory and then cutting to a news report later in the story. The only knock on Absolute Wonder Woman #3 is its world feels lessed lived in and fleshed out than its Absolute Universe compatriots, but Thompson and Hayden Sherman start to remedy that with the introduction of Barbara Minerva, who provides a human perspective on the gods and monsters. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy
