The Longbox Short-List - Week of March 23, 2016

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week.   Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that.  Let's get to it!

Comics shipping this week

BATMAN #50 - Bruce Wayne is back in the cape and cowl. Honestly, I have been a fan of Batman for well over 20 years now, but I have always been a real fan of shaking up the status quo. I loved when Azrael took over as Batman, and Dick Grayson was terrific in the role. Jim Gordon has Batman has been a little shake at times, but I still really enjoyed the shake up. I guess it was inevitable that Bruce Wayne would return to being Batman with BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE in theaters, but a big part of me would have liked if they held off a little longer if not permanent. 

GRAYSON #18, SECRET SIX #12, WE ARE ROBIN #10, and JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #10 - These books have very little in common other than the fact that they are some of my favorite DC books and none of them are surviving DC REBIRTH. Grayson is coming back as Nightwing at least, but I thought the superspy stories they have been doing with him are some of the best Dick Grayson stories since he stopped being Batman. My biggest concern with DC Rebirth is that so many of the books seem like safe choices. And losing these four incredibly unique books is a huge mistake as far as I am concerned.

SUPERZERO #4 - Aftershock puts out a lot of real quirky comics. Superzero is about a young girl who is obsessed with superheroes, and is determined to "give herself an origin story." It's one of the funniest comics I've ever read and definitely worth checking out. 

HYPERION #1 - I am still not sure if I am picking this one up. I do like Hyperion, and the concept for this one seems to have a lot of potential: Hyperion sets up across the country in a pickup truck to figure out what this new world is all about. It's just at this point I am already buying far too many comics. I think I will pretty likely give this first issue a look, but it's going to have to be really good to get me to continue on as a reader.

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #25 - I can't believe this series is already winding down. This was a huge improvement over last year's BATMAN ETERNAL. If DC can keep up this kind of quality, I would be eager to see more of these weekly series. We got a wide variety of characters here and a strong coherent story that really added to the Batman lore. I really hope they keep Mother around. Too often DC introduces new villains for Batman only to have they fade away and DC return to the same old rogues we've seen a million times over.

CYBORG #9 - I am happy that Cyborg is surviving the purge that is DC Rebirth. I just hope it keeps the same creative team. David Walker has been a terrific fit for this book. I never thought I would love Cyborg, but David Walker has convinced me that he really can be one of DC's top characters.

TEEN TITANS #18 - I have no idea why I keep buying this book other than the fact that there have been a lot of Teen Titans series in the past that I enjoyed. I keep waiting for this book to reach that potential, but in New-52, they just can't seem to find a way to make Teen Titans into an entertaining book. The sad part is that DC Rebirth is going to launch two Titans books. Unless they are as good as Titans Hunt, I am probably going to have to get off this death pact merry go round. 

Marvel Crossovers - Quite a few issues of Avengers Standoff coming out next week, and Apocalypse Wars continues with Uncanny X-Men #5. I haven't read the first part of Apocalypse Wars yet, though someone did spoiler the last page to me. Avengers Standoff started off real strong in the two Pleasant Hill books by Nick Spencer, but I did think Uncanny Avengers and Agents of SHIELD may have cooled my excitement a little. Hopefully Marvel can pull things together. I have really been enjoying Marvel post-Secret Wars, and I am a little jaded about their crossovers these days.

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #4 - I don't hear too much about this book which seems to be another part of Marvel's attempts at diversity. I've really enjoyed it, but it just never seems to get as much attention as Sam Wilson as Captain America, Kamala Khan as Ms Marvel, Jane Foster as Thor, or Miles Morales as Spider-Man. Amadeus Cho as a very new version of the Hulk has made for some real compelling comic stories, but for some reason, it's just kind of there. Marvel does have a lot of Asian-American heroes, and you'd think they would want to bring more attention to this one.

RINGSIDE #5 - Image's terrific series about life outside the wrestling ring has been terrific. Another book that doesn't seem to get much attention. There are a lot bigger and flashier books out there, but Ringside provides a strong, hard-hitting story every month. Really worth checking out.

DREAM POLICE #8 - Another really underrated Image series. Dream Police came out as a one shot from Marvel like 15 years ago. It tells the story of a police officer who patrols the dreamscape. He finds himself drawn into a crazy conspiracy. It's really a hardboiled detective story that takes place in a crazy setting, sort of like Crag Banyon or The Dresden Files.

X-O MANOWAR #45 - The only Valiant series that has been around continuously since the company came back a few years ago. X-O MANOWAR has long been one of my favorite characters, and I am glad that Valiant has continued to make the character exciting and relevant after all these years. It occurs to me, with all the renumbering that goes on in comics, in a few months, X-O will be my highest numbered comic (not counting Action and Detective that are going back to their original numbering after DC Rebirth).