The Longbox Short-List - Week of January 4, 2017

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

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA THE ATOM REBIRTH #1 - I love that almost all of the the Justice League Rebirth one-shots for this month feature characters from the Arrowverse (Atom, Vixen, Killer Frost...and one for The Ray). I assume this was intentional, and I am fine with that as I love those shows. This one spins out of Justice League Vs Suicide Squad and serves as a lead in to the new Justice League of America series coming soon.

U.S. AVENGERS #1 - Kind of a silly title, but since it's by Al Ewing and spins out of New Avengers, I can't wait to read it. BTW, it is so ridiculous to me that they did 50+ variant covers for this one. More than a little pointless.

UNSTOPPABLE WASP #1 - I will admit, the new Wasp hasn't really grabbed me in her assorted appearances, but Marvel has been putting out a lot of real good books with female leads, so I am likely going to give this one a shot. Hopefully in her own series she will stand out a bit more.

GREEN ARROW #14 - I loved the end of the last issue where someone has been imitating Green Arrow, making people think he's a murderer. GREEN ARROW has been really good since Rebirth, and is one of my favorite DC books.

GREEN LANTERNS #14 - Another favorite series! Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz make a terrific "buddy cop" movie, and the Phantom Lantern has been a great villain. I am reminded of some of my favorite parts of Geoff Johns' Green Lantern run where he managed to expand the Green Lantern lore without destroying what came before.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 - I am only buying this because it's part of the Justice League Vs Suicide Squad crossover (JUSTICE LEAGUE VS SUICIDE SQUAD #3 also comes out this week) and Bryan Hitch is not writing this one. Loved Hitch's art back in the day, but he writes some boring comics. This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I am not buying the main Justice League series.

STAR TREK BOLDLY GO #4 - This series picks up soon after the Enterprise was destroyed at the end of STAR TREK BEYOND. We have seen Kirk and company facing off against the Borg. Really good mini, but I am hoping we get another ongoing series soon. IDW's Star Trek comics are always very good.

OLD MAN LOGAN #16 - I typically try to stick to talking about the comics, but I saw the trailer for LOGAN again today. That movie looks incredible. The Wolverine solo movies have been a bit hit or miss, but making an adaptation of OLD MAN LOGAN seems like the right way to go. The comic itself is actually great. Wasn't too keen on an old, alternate reality Wolverine, but Marvel has done a great job making the character relevant.

• Batman #14
• Flintstones #7
• Nightwing #12
• Superman #14
• G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #235
• Mickey Mouse #16
• Uncle Scrooge #22
• Autumnlands #14
• Saga #41
• Avengers #3
• Captain America Sam Wilson #17
• Champions #4
• Hawkeye #2
• Moon Knight #10
• Nova #2
• Scarlet Witch #14
• Spider-Man 2099 #19
• Unworthy Thor #3 (Of 5)
• A&A The Adventures Of Archer And Armstrong #11
• Faith #7

In Case You Missed Them:

Comic of the week: Detective Comics #947 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez

Summary: Still pretty torn up over the death of Tim Drake, Stephanie tries to force Batman to stop being Gotham’s protector.  She doesn’t agree with the Victim Syndicate’s actions, but she does agree that Batman and company might be doing more harm than good.  She is able to use Batman’s files to take out Batwoman, Clayface, and Orphan. She confronts Batman trying to convince him that there might be a better way…

In the end, Batman refuses to stop.  Stephanie vows to stand in his way until he quits.  Batman and Batwoman talk about the future.  Batman decides to continue the training program, following the ideals Tim Drake had laid out. Batman also decides that Stephanie does have some points, and refuses to silence her.  But he will make sure she doesn’t do anything all too dangerous.  

Meanwhile, Tim Drake has managed to escape Ozy’s holding cell, but he sees something that shocks him so much Ozy is able to recapture him.

Review: Victim Syndicate was a really powerful arc dealing with the consequences of being Batman.  Stephanie’s reaction was brilliantly done.  She didn’t go full blown villain, but believes that there is another way.  Detective Comics has been really good since it went to more of a team format.  It might actually be more consistently good than Tom King’s Batman.

I also liked that we got a few more teases at the threat that has been lurking in the background since DC Rebirth started.  It keeps popping up in the most unexpected places.  Everything in DC is potentially important right now.  BUT, it’s written in a way where I want more, not that I feel forced to read more like Marvel does to it’s readers.

Score: 4.5/5

Civil War II #8 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez

Summary: Captain Marvel and Iron Man continue to battle in Washington DC.  SHIELD has ordered everyone else to stand down.  Medusa tries to tell everyone that Ulysses latest vision suggests they need to end this fight or all will be lost, but Carol and Tony refuse to stand down.  Carol lands one final blow on Stark that destroys his armor and puts him in a coma.  Ulysses shows them all a bunch of horrible potential futures.  Then Eternity arrives to take Ulysses away, seeming to suggest that he is now on the level of a god.   After the battle, Carol meets with the President who tells her that she has an unlimited budget to do whatever she wants.

Review: So basically, this crossover took forever just to tell us “Carol is awesome because she can beat up on Iron Man.”  And then we get a montage of potential future Marvel events.  Pretty much that is all Marvel is lately, a string of events without any lasting impact.  The sad part is that Marvel puts out a lot of comics that I enjoy reading, but their events are mostly pointless.

My favorite part of this issue was that in the end, Poochie decided to return to his home planet.   Bit of a cop out ending there, but at this point, not sure I could have possibly expected anything else.

Score: 2/5

Extraordinary X-Men #17 by Jeff Lemire and Eric Koda

Summary: This story is told around the frame of a young mutant in X-Haven dying of M-Pox.  She’s a huge fan of Storm, but with everything that has been going on, she has never been able to meet her.  The girl’s older sister, Alisha, makes it her goal to get Storm to come see her before she dies.

Storm has a lot of doubts after her meeting with the other “heads of the families” about whether they should take the fight to the Inhumans.  She says that war goes against everything she believes in. This is not being a hero or battling evil like Sinister or Apocalypse.

Alisha finally gets Storm to come see her sister, and this galvanizes Storm that they have no choice but to go to war.  She even makes the girl an official X-Man before she passes away.  

Review: Definitely one of my favorite X-Men stories in a long time.  I am really hoping that ResurreXion gets the X-Men line back on track.  The last few pages show the Storm that I have been a fan of almost as long as I’ve read comics.  Strong willed, determined to fight for her people.  For me, the X-Men works best when they have smaller character pieces, and this was a very good one.  

Score: 4/5

The Flash #13 by Joshua Williamson and Neil Googe

Summary: Kid Flash wants to give his Aunt Iris time to have a real date with Barry Allen, so he decides to do everything he can to keep Central City peaceful. He ends up in a battle with Tar Pit who is robbing a toy store.   Wally manages to take down Tar Pit, but finds out that Tar Pit is trying to get money to pay his brother’s debts and ransom back his niece and nephew.   Wally is reminded of his own father being a criminal and decides to help Tar Pit find and rescue them. Kid Flash uses his speed to find them and turn the bad guys over to the cops.  

In the end, we see Captain Cold seemingly has returned to being a bad guy setting up next issue’s “Rogues Reloaded.”

Review: Kind of a simple cliche story here, but I actually love comics like this.  Focus on the supporting cast, fun little holiday story, good happy feelings all around.  Typically this means the next few issues of the series will go to a dark place, but I am okay with that too.  We got the Rogues back to being bad guys...maybe?  The Flash has been one of DC’s best books since New 52 started.  And Wally 2 is really growing on me!

Score: 4/5

Hulk (2016) #1 by Mariko Tamaki and Nico Leon

Summary: After waking up from her coma, Jen Walters has a new condo in New York and is starting work at the law firm of Ryu, Barber, Zucker and Scott. She keeps finding herself getting “weird” cases, including dealing with an eviction case for a shut-in with regenerative powers.  On her way home, she is greeted by a woman named Florida Mayer who is writing a book about dealing with trauma.  Jennifer rushes off, feeling the Hulk trying to rise up inside of her, Later, we see the shut-in talking to some kind of shadowy demonic presence to promises to protect her.

Review:  Not quite what I was expecting, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I was really expecting some kind of raging, mindless Hulk here, but this was a real solid blend of classic She-Hulk “superhero lawyer” with Banner’s desperate attempts to keep the Hulk under control. This is a new take on Jennifer Walters and I am really interested to see where it goes from here.

My only complaint with this one is that it seemed to end just as it was getting started. I have had this problem with quite a few Marvel first issues in recent months.  Hopefully once the book finds its footing it will get even better.  

Score: 3.5/5

Spider-Woman #14 by Dennis Hopeless and Veronica Fish

Summary: Spider-Woman is mourning the death of Porcupine.  Despite their fighting, Carol Danvers arrives to take the baby off her hands and let her find out who killed Roger and get some revenge.  Jessica goes to visit Roger’s ex-wife, who blames her for his death.  Jessica doesn’t understand, until Ben Urich explains that Roger was in love with her.  He also reveals that Roger’s last known location was in a bar owned by Roderick Kingsley, the Hobgoblin.

Jessica goes to smash some heads and try to get some answers.  Carol calls her and says she is watching video through her SHIELD contacts showing Porcupine robbing a bank.  Jessica goes to check it out.  She isn’t sure if this is Roger or someone new in the Porcupine costume.  He attacks her, giving her a pretty serious beatdown as the issue ends.

Review: Spider-Woman continues to be one of my favorite series, despite the near constant interruption of crossovers.  Jessica dealing with the loss and maybe betrayal of her most trusted ally makes for a real compelling story.  This has been an excellent arc, really highlighting everything I enjoy about Dennis Hopeless’s writing. Roderick has been “leasing” supervillain names out for a while now, so I am assuming that is not really Roger, but either way, it was a great cliffhanger and has been wanting the next issue RIGHT NOW!

Score: 4/5