The Longbox Short-List - Week of January 11, 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/POWER RANGERS #1 – When I first heard about this, I really thought it was just a bizarre rumor. No idea how well these two worlds can blend, but I love crossovers, so I will definitely check it out.

DAREDEVIL #15 – DAMN! Soule doesn’t pull any punches on this book. I still have the end of the last issue branded into my brain with Blindspot getting his eyes ripped out by Muse. This was one of the most brutal and unexpected moments I’d ever read in a comic.

INHUMANS VS X-MEN #2 – The first issue was one of the best X-Men stories I had read in a while. Nice to see the X-Men actually having some bite again. I am still skeptical about the future of the X-Men line just based on how badly it’s been treated in recent years, but that last issue gave me a lot of hope and expectations. Don’t let me down, Marvel!

MS MARVEL #14 – While I typically enjoy MS MARVEL, I thought issue 13 was a bit of a mess. It was focused on getting people to vote, but it was done in a rather clumsy way. There was also a lot about the issue that wasn’t accurate, like saying “gerrymandering impacts mayoral race.” I do think comics can deal with important issues, but this was just about the worst possible example of how to do it.

OCCUPY AVENGERS #3 – Sort of the flip side of what I just said about MS MARVEL. OCCUPY AVENGERS first two issues featured Hawkeye and Red Wolf teaming up to stop a corporation from stealing water from Native Americans. While this could have been heavy handed, I thought the issues were handled well, and still had a lot of good superhero action too. This is a much more balanced way of dealing with issues in comic form.

FLASH #14 – The Rogues are back! I have been wondering what happened to Captain Cold after his brief run as a member of the Justice League. This issue seems like it will be giving us some answers.

SAVAGE DRAGON #219 – I love that after all this time, Erik Larsen constantly surprises me. Last issue, we saw Malcolm Dragon facing his limitations as he tried to figure out the best way to save his father in law’s life from cancer. It was a strong issue, though I was a little annoyed that we never seemed to deal with the ramifications of one of Malcolm’s babies ripping off a friend’s arm. This issue, we see the trial of Mr Glum, a long standing villain in Savage Dragon.

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #14 – The tribute to Space Jam continues. Like I said about MS MARVEL, the last issue was actually a bad issue of a series I usually like quite a bit, guest starring Jeremy Lin. Really hoping this arc ends quickly so the series can get back on track.

• Black-Eyed Kids #10
• Captain Kid #4
• Shipwreck #3
• Jughead #12
• Reggie And Me #2 (Of 5)
• Groo Fray Of The Gods #4 (Of 4)
• Action Comics #971
• Batgirl And The Birds Of Prey #6
• Detective Comics #948
• Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps #12
• Justice League Of America Vixen Rebirth #1
• Justice League Vs Suicide Squad #4 (Of 6)
• New Super-Man #7
• Red Hood And The Outlaws #6
• Scooby Apocalypse #9
• Suicide Squad #9
• Supergirl #5
• Titans #7
• Wonder Woman #14
• Spawn #269
• All-New Wolverine #16
• Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows #3
• Captain America Steve Rogers #9
• Dark Tower The Drawing Of The Three The Sailor #4 (Of 5)
• Doctor Strange And The Sorcerers Supreme #4
• Great Lakes Avengers #4
• Jessica Jones #4
• Mighty Thor #15
• Power Man And Iron Fist #12
• Spider-Man #12
• Star Wars Poe Dameron #10
• Uncanny Avengers #19
• Uncanny X-Men #17
• Ninjak #23

In Case You Missed Them

Here are some noteworthy books from last week…

Book of the Week: The Unstoppable Wasp #1 - Review coming in this week’s Open Mike Night column

U.S. Avengers #1 by Al Ewing and Paco Medina

Summary: The Secret Empire has resurfaced, piloting a massive helicarrier with a volcano on it.  Sunspot is leading his team from AIM Mission Control, using the new codename of Citizen V.  His team includes Toni Ho (daughter of Yinsen) as Iron Patriot, General Maverick as the new Red Hulk, Aikku who is calling herself Enigma, Cannonball and Squirrel Girl.  The team seems to be working to portray themselves as representing America, in order to bring SHIELD around to trusting them.  Suddenly, Captain America from the future arrives (a grown up Danny Cage).  

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a gold skull-faced pirate insists that American doesn’t exist, and the Skullocracy is about to rise.

Commentary: A real solid first issue.  I loved how they built up the characters, and this series picks up right from where New Avengers ended.  And a huge New Mutants fan, I loved the stuff with Bobby and Sam.  They are my favorite comic duo, and Al Ewing does them justice.  I also thought the idea of how America doesn't mean the same thing to everyone was an important concept.  Odd that it took a Brit to pick up on that, because there are definitely a lot of Americans who don't.

I have no idea what the Skullocracy is, and the villain at the end seemed odd to say the least, but I am real curious to see where all this goes.

Score: 4/5

Captain America - Sam Wilson #17 by Nick Spencer and Paul Renaud

Summary: Ariella Conner, a right wing nutter, is on a talk show talking about deporting Falcon.  She’s speaking at Empire State University, so Falcon decides to go confront her.  Falcon asks Rage to go with him.  Falcon goes to confront her on stage, but they are attacked by a group of left wing nutters called The Bombshells.  They hate both Conner and Falcon, feeling Falcon is not radical enough.   Rage and Falcon manage to take down the Bombshells without anyone getting hury, but Conner still hates them.  

Captain America arrives, impressed by Rage and Falcon.  He tells Rage that he appreciates him looking out for the new guy, and admits that Rage is doing things that Captain American can’t.  

Rage is heading home, and sees Man Mountain Marco and Speed Demon robbing a pawn shop.  He manages to chase them off, but the Americops arrive, assuming he was the thief and arresting him.

Commentary: I did think this comic was a bit much at time, with the Bombshells talking about Safe Spaces and Trigger Warnings.   I did think Spencer did a great job here showing how dangerous zealots on the far side of both the left and right can be, but there was just a lot of little things here that annoyed me. Real curious where this story goes from here, with Rage being falsely accused of a crime.  

Score: 3.5/5

Justice League Vs Suicide Squad #3 by Joshua Williamson and Jesus Merino

Summary: After Killer Frost’s power boost, the Justice League have been taken to holding cells in Belle Reve.  Batman escapes, though Waller was expecting him to.  Waller tells Batman about Maxwell Lord helping some prisoners escape and leading them to an island where some kind of powerful weapon is. Maxwell Lord wants to use this weapon to destroy Waller and take over the world.

Batman decides that the Justice League need to work with the Suicide Squad to take down this bigger threat.  Superman recognizes Lord from his own world, so seems inclined to stop him.  In the end, Waller reveals that these villains were her original Suicide Squad team.

Commentary:  This issue was really heavy with great character moments, which is why the summary was so short.  The Suicide Squad’s interactions with the Justice League were a real highlight in this issue.  Everything in this series is shaping up to be a huge story in the DC universe, and I have really enjoyed watching all the pieces come together.  I have no idea where this is going (add in events in the recent issues of Detective Comics and Superman), but I am expecting DC to be rocked to its core over the next few months.  

Score: 4/5

Nightwing #12 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To

Summary: Nightwing continues to try and prove that his old adversary Defacer is innocent of the crimes she’s accused of, including murdering a lawyer with ties to organized crimes.  He arranges for a meeting with the other “Run-offs” former Gotham villains who have come to Bludhaven to start a new life (much like Nightwing himself has).  

The Run-offs are reluctant to trust him, but to help Gorilla Grimm and Defacer, they agree to work with Nightwing.  Some business men involved in opening a casino seemed to be hiring thugs, and Grimm got dragged into the mess because he was in dire financial straits.  Nightwing and the Run-offs go to check out the Casino.  They are attacked by Orca, a former member of the Run-offs.  They manage to take Orca and the Whale’s End boys down, but Orca says they were just a distraction.  She says, “There are worse monsters out there.”  And we see someone in a devil’s mask  and motorcycle attacking one of the other business men.

Summary: I like that Nightwing’s book has such a distinct personality to it.  It’s far different from any of the other Bat-books (most of which I enjoy), and it just fits Nightwing so well.  While it’s been odd to see so much ret-conned in with the Run-Offs, it has been a very good story, and I can easily see these characters fitting into off-panel moments in Bat-Lore.  In this run, we have seen a lot of what makes Dick Grayson so unique, and it’s been very satisfying for this long time fan of the character.

Score: 3.5/5

Old Man Logan #16 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino

Summary: Logan wakes up to find himself in the desert back in the future he came from.  He has memories of Alpha Flight calling him for help against the Brood.  By the time he arrives there, Sasquatch and Brand had already been infected.

In the future, he is just outside Los Vega, which is where he left Banner’s grandkid with Danny Cage for safekeeping.  He stops in to check on them and finds out from Danny that Kang had taken the baby.  Logan heads off to rescue the baby.

Back in the present, Logan is rescued by Puck. The space station is damaged and Logan and Puck get sucked out into space.

Commentary: Odd that I picked two books this week that showed a future version of Cage’s daughter.  Wasn’t an all intentional.  I think this future is just mind control by the Brood...but there is something potentially huge about that.  See, in Old Man Logan, Mysterio’s manipulations led to Logan killing the X-Men.  If the Brood are doing the same thing to Logan, I imagine this could lead to some real big, crazy character moments as this arc goes on.

Lemire has done a great job making Old Man Logan into one of my favorite Marvel books.  This book could have been lame and gimmicky, but with All-New Wolverine, they are my two favorite X-Men titles by far.

Score: 3.5/5

Superman #14 by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Ivan Reis, and Joe Prado

Summary: Clark Kent is driving in Hamilton County when Red Son Superman shows up in the middle of the road.  Red Son has come to this world to warn that someone named Prophecy is gathering up Supermen, and their next target is New Super-Man, Kenan Kong.  Prophecy’s Gatherers have arrived, talking about their lyst.  Apparently, Pre-Flashpoint Superman is not on this lyst, so he is not a target.  The Gatherers tell him that anyone on the lyst will be processed and consumed. Superman and Red Son manage to fight them off.  

And then a group of heroes from around the Multiverse arrive, led by President Superman of Earth 23 calling themselves the Justice League Incarnate.  They head off to protect New Super-Man, who is already being attacked by Gatherers. They cover him in some kind of black goo, which makes the JLI unable to track him.  They head back to the JLI’s headquarters to figure out their next move.

In his secret base, Prophecy takes Captain Carrot from a holding cell and drains his energy away, turning him to a cute little bunny.

Commentary: Nice to see Multiversity wasn’t just forgotten about. I loved the Justice League Incarnate, and THEY NEED THEIR OWN BOOK NOW!  I would love to see Kurt Busiek on a project like that.  In this issue, some interdimensional threat is targeting Superman.  Interestingly enough, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman doesn’t seem to be a target.  Definitely some huge implications for the DC Universe with that.  

By the way, I really hate when fiction changes spelling of words just to make them seem more unique.  The Lyst sounds so ridiculous.  Didn’t really take away from my enjoyment of this great issue, but I rolled my eyes every time it came up.

Score: 4.5/5