The Longbox Short-List - Week of April 25, 2018

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Tue, 04/24/2018 - 11:56

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s long-running 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 AND THE SIGNAL #3 – To me, DC really dropped the ball with Duke Thomas. I think the problem is that they have made it seem like he is at the heart of all these big things going on in the DC Universe as part of DARK KNIGHTS METAL, but forgot to make him an engaging character on his own. The Bat Family has a lot of great characters, and Duke just feels lost in the shuffle for me. It probably doesn’t help that this book has been so late. I barely remember what happened in the first two parts, and I am just glad that it’s over with….

HUNT FOR WOLVERINE #1 – In true Marvel fashion, Wolverine’s return is just about twenty issues long spread over four mini-series. Wolverine is a Marvel mainstay, so it’s not all that surprising that he’s coming back…though I have really grown fond of Laura and Old Man Logan as Wolverines. Just feels like a huge step backwards to go back to calling Laura X-23. But, I like the creative teams on these books, so I am curious to see how it all plays out.

ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #34 – Speaking of Laura! ALL-NEW WOLVERINE is coming to an end with a story set in a possible future called OLD WOMAN LAURA. Kind of a strange way to end the series, but the first part of this arc was great. I really hope that the only thing they change about Laura moving forward is her name. She’s in a great place character wise the last few months.

EXILES #2 – I had slightly mixed feelings on the first issue. It was very well done, and very much in the spirit of the old EXILES series. But I hate team books that can’t manage to introduce all the characters in the first book. It is just a symptom of every story being drawn out far longer than it needs to be.

MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #30 – Devil Dinosaur IS BACK!!! About time!!! I really enjoy this book, and the current arc with Human Torch and Thing has been excellent.