The Longbox Short-List - Week of September 21, 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

TRINITY #1 – When they announced this book as part of DC Rebirth, I added it to my pull list, mostly because I liked Superman and Wonder Woman’s relationship. I do think the concept of these three characters as DC’s three more important characters is a bit of a forced concept, but I was willing to give it a try anyway. And then DC totally shifted the dynamic by killing off New-52 Superman. I am very curious what this “new” Trinity with the Pre-Flashpoint Superman will be like.

RAVEN #1 – WHAT ABOUT ME? WHAT ABOUT RAVEN? Raven has always been one of my favorite DC characters. And she is/was the best part of both Teen Titans cartoons. I don’t really love her New-52 costume, but I am still looking forward to this one. Raven doesn’t often get a solo focus.

BRITANNIA #1 – Not going to lie, I didn’t even look at the solicit for this one before adding it to my pull list. Valiant has earned that honor time after time. Britannia is a detective story set in 65 AD by Peter Milligan and Juan Jose Ryp. If nothing else, it looks like something very new and different.

CIVIL WAR II #5 – Even Marvel seems to steadily being losing interest in Civil War II. A lot of crossovers that barely even touched upon the storylines from Civil War II. I recently ended my long running Front Lines column, just because it was increasingly boring for me to write “decent comic, but had nothing to do with Civil War II” over and over again. There are a bunch more crossovers coming out this week, like CHOOSING SIDES, MOCKINGBIRD, X-MEN, VENOM SPACE KNIGHT, and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, but I am basically just reading them out of rote at this point.

NIGHTWING #5 – I was a little disappointed at the end of issue 4, SPOILERS, where we find out that Raptor is a bad guy all along. I liked when the character seemed to have a lot more nuance. Though I guess it’s possible they will do something like New Avengers where Raptor is a quadruple agent or something like that. But, I still really enjoy this book, even with the slightly cliché ending.

JOYRIDE #5 – Really fun series from Boom! Glad they announced that it will be continuing. 5 issues was just not enough for this one.

KARNAK #5 – Been a while since we got an issue from this great series from Warren Ellis. I barely remember what happened last time, so I guess I will be re-reading the first 4 issues before I pick this one up.

INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #7 – The reveal last issue about Stark’s mother was a little underwhelming (a normal woman who ended up working as a part time undercover SHIELD agent), but I guess it’s a lot better than revealing that Stark was Black Widow’s kid, Peggy Carter’s kid, or related to Cap in some way (all rumors I had heard). I still don’t quite see the need for two Iron Man series, but at least they have both been enjoyable reads.

Black-Eyed Kids #6
Revisionist #4
Archie #12 
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #7 
Batman #7 
Green Arrow #7 
Green Lanterns #7 
Superman #7
Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files Wild Card #6 
Back To The Future #12
Donald Duck #17 
G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #232 
Uncle Scrooge #18
X-Files #6 
I Hate Fairyland #9 
Ringside #7
Savage Dragon #216
Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. #9
All-New Wolverine #12 
Amazing Spider-Man #18
Astonishing Ant-Man #12
Carnage #12
Empress #6
Extraordinary X-Men Annual #1 
Mighty Thor #11 
Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat #10 
Power Man And Iron Fist #8 
Punisher #5 
Uncanny X-Men #13
Vision #11