By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
Video time, again! We’ve revamped the channel, added some new faces behind the scenes, and my hope is that this will be the first of many videos to come.
This first video covers Green Lantern: Legacy, which I consider to be the best Green Lantern story to come along in quite some time…
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
TITLE: Dark Crisis: Worlds Without a Justice League – Green Lantern #1
AUTHORS: Philip Kennedy Johnson, Jeremy Adams
ARTISTS: Fernando Blanco, Jack Herbert, Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Alex Guimaraes (Colorist), Troy Peteri (Letterer)
RELEASED: August 9, 2022
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
So what we have here are glimpses at two worlds made from the essences of John Stewart and Hawkgirl, respectively. Though what these two stories really amount to are brief character snapshots, i.e. a look at what makes each character tick. And from that standpoint, they both more or less succeed.
This issue also has a giant undead baby monster with bat wings. Because comics are bizarre and wonderful like that.
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
TITLE: Dark Crisis #3
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson
ARTISTS: Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sanchez (Colorist), Tom Napolitano (Letterer)
INKERS: Sampere, Daniel Henriques, Danny Miki
RELEASED: August 2, 2022
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
Three issues in, and Dark Crisis still hasn’t quite found its legs. What we’re missing is that sense of impending doom that’s so prevalent in a lot of the great event comics from the big two. It’s certainly prevalent in all of DC’s Crisis stories.
There’s a sense of disorganization to Dark Crisis that doesn’t do it any favors. I understand that some of that is the nature of the story they’re telling. But the fact that DC is renaming the series Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths makes me wonder how much of this is being adjusted on the go…
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
As a character with anxiety issues, Jessica Cruz is perfect for the role of Green Lantern, which sees her overcome great fear to serve and protect others. She might actually be my favorite Green Lantern of all.
So naturally, I was drawn to this piece by Suspiria Vilchez. It depicts Jessica using acrylic inks on acrylic paper. The colors are gorgeous. The character likeness looks and feels authentic. And the “water” effect with her finger is fun. It’s an awesome portrait very much worthy of its subject.
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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
TITLE: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #4
AUTHOR: Mark Waid
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain (Colorist), Aditya Bidikar (Letterer)
RELEASED: June 21, 2022
While I’m not a fan at all of other heroes popping up in a Batman/Superman book to pull focus away from our titular heroes, I can’t deny that the big selling point of this book so far has been Dan Mora and Tamra Bonvillain’s rendering of a variety of different DC heroes. In this issue alone we get more of the Doom Patrol, plus Green Lantern, Black Canary, a couple Teen Titans, and more. It’s a real treat.
As the cover illustrates, we get a new take on the Composite Superman/Batman here. It’s a decent design. Very slick.
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***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
TITLE: Justice League Infinity #4
AUTHORS: J.M. DeMatteis, James Tucker
ARTISTS: Ethen Beavers, Nick Filardi (Colorist), DC Hopkins (Letterer). Cover by Tucker.
RELEASED: October 5, 2021
Now we’re talking. Great cover. And a great premise with great execution, as Wonder Woman and Darkseid are “shipped,” as the kids would say. The result is epic, and actually somewhat moving. This is the best Infinity issue yet.
I think there’s a Hal Jordan cameo in this issue. Unless it’s supposed to be Kyle Rayner…
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
Couldn’t jam Infinite Frontier into an edition of “Weekly Comic 100s,” so we decided to upgrade the format. We’ll cover each story in this oversized issue in rapid fire fashion, and take a glimpse into DC’s future (not to be confused with Future State).
TITLE: Infinite Frontier #0
AUTHORS: Various
ARTISTS: Various. Cover by Dan Jurgens & Mikel Janin.
RELEASED: March 2, 2021
Justice League: Wait, so is Black Adam’s name changing to Shazadam or not? I thought it wasn’t.
Batman: This one’s split into two parts. I’m liking this premise where Barbara Gordon mentors Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain in a Birds of Prey sort of way.
Also, Bane dies. Let’s see how long that lasts…
Wonder Woman: Apparently Wonder Woman did something super big and important in Dark Nights: Death Metal, so now she’s elevated to “the Quintessence” council with Phantom Stranger, the Spectre, etc., and we need a new Wonder Woman. Which is going to be…Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta? I think? Honestly, I don’t really get it…
Wonder Girl: So Yara Flor, the Future State Wonder Woman, is going to be the new Wonder Girl. That could be cool. But she only gets a few pages here. Frankly, I’d rather have spent more time with her than the ladies of Themyscera. We still don’t know much about her, after all.
Green Lantern: Alan Scott: In a very heartfelt scene, Alan comes out to his children as a gay man. That’s pretty cool. I’m also excited DC is borrowing from The New Frontier, and making it canon that the Justice Society was shut down during the era of McCarthyism.
Teen Titans Academy: Not much to go on here. But I continue to be optimistic about Teen Titans Academy.
Superman: Interestingly, we focus not on Clark Kent here, but Jonathan Kent. It looks very similar to what we saw in Future State. I’m not nearly as optimistic for that sort of thing here as I am with Wonder Woman…
Green Arrow & Black Canary: It looks like they’re undoing one of the deaths from Heroes in Crisis, which is a good thing. The less we have to remember from that book, the better.
Stargirl: Right off the bat, I love the art on this one. It reminds me of the original Young Justice book. A nice little teenager superhero outing by Geoff Johns. After all these years, I still miss him on Teen Titans…
Green Lanterns: We see John Stewart, Simon Baz, and Keli “Teen Lantern” Quintela here. If they’re going to do a new Green Lanterns book, I wouldn’t mind one about the three of them as a team.
The Flash: This one gets a little far out in terms of cosmic scope. But it ends with some news that should make Wally West fans happy. I’m certainly intrigued.
Overall: A good outing, worth the $5.99 price tag. This is what I was hoping those Generations Shattered and Generations Forged books would be like. A jumping on point for various parts of the DCU.
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
TITLE: Future State: Green Lantern #2
AUTHORS: Geoffry Thorne, Josie Campbell, Robert Venditti
ARTISTS: Tom Raney, Andie Tong, Dexter Soy
COLORISTS: Mike Atiyeh, Will Quintana, Alex Sinclair
LETTERERS: Andworld Design, Dave Sharpe, Steve Wands
RELEASED: February 9, 2021
Exactly how old is Keli Quintela supposed to be? Her superhero name is Teen Lantern. But, although Andie Tong does a fine job here, she looks like she could be about 10.
Also, I wouldn’t complain at all if they want to team her with Mogo again. Their dynamic was kinda cute.
I give colorist Alex Sinclair so much credit. He gives almost all of his work a truly epic feel. I suspect that comes largely via his association with so many classic stories over the years.
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
***”Weekly Comic 100s” keeps it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
TITLE: Future State: The Next Batman #2
AUTHOR: John Ridley, Vita Ayala, Paula Sevenbergen
ARTISTS: Laura Braga, Nick Derington (Breakdowns), Aneke, Emanuela Lupacchino, Rob Haynes (Breakdowns), Wade Von Grawbadger (Inker). Cover by Ladronn.
COLORISTS: Arif Prianto, Trisha Mulvihill, John Kalisz
LETTERERS: Clayton Cowles, Becca Carey
RELEASED: January 19, 2021
Our Batgirls and Gotham City Sirens back-up stories are underwhelming. It’s also a little disappointing to see Nick Derington strictly on breakdowns this time around (though Laura Braga is more than capable). But I’d still call The Next Batman among the best, if not the best, of Future State.
John Ridley is giving us a slightly more realistic, tech-conscious look at the Batman mythos. There’s a heavy emphasis on facial recognition technology, which we don’t necessarily see in the regular books. This is a smarter, more socially conscious Batman.
TITLE: Future State: Justice League #1
AUTHOR: Joshua Williamson, Ram V
ARTISTS: Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques (Inker), Marcio Takara. Cover by Dan Mora.
COLORISTS: Romulo Fajaro Jr, Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERERS: Tom Napolitano, Rob Leigh
RELEASED: January 12, 2021
The main story here is among the best released under the Future State banner, and one of the more fun Justice League stories I’ve read in awhile. We don’t focus on the heroes as individuals, but rather the League as an organization and what it’s become. There’s an intriguing idea here about keeping the group small and impersonal.
The Justice League Dark back-up story didn’t do much for me. But there is an interesting, somewhat funny character bit between Detective Chimp and Etrigan. It doesn’t make or break the story. But it’s fun.
TITLE: Future State: Dark Detective #1
AUTHOR: Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg
ARTISTS: Dan Mora, Carmine Di Giandomenico
COLORISTS: Jordie Bellaire, Antonio Fabela
LETTERERS: Aditya Bidikar, Andworld Design
RELEASED: January 19, 2021
Really happy to see former Power Rangers artist Dan Mora get a big shot on a Batman book. Hopefully this is just the next step in what will be big things for him.
The Batman portion of this issue has a lot of intrigue to it, with a sort of gritty, Commando-type approach to the Dark Knight. There’s not a lot of substance to it, but they’ve got the luxury of four issues to expand on things.
Oddly enough, the Grifter back-up story is the superior of the two. It’s not every day Grifter outdoes Batman…
TITLE: Future State: Superman of Metropolis #1
AUTHORS: Sean Lewis, Brandon Easton
ARTISTS: John Timms, Valentine de Landro, Cully Hamner, Michael Avon Oeming
COLORISTS:Gabe Eltaeb, Marissa Louise, Laura Martin
LETTERERS: Dave Sharpe, Andworld Design
RELEASED: January 5, 2021
I miss the cape. It’s just not Superman without it.
In this issue, Jonathan Kent has supposedly been in the Superman role for about a decade. And yet, there’s some doubt as to whether he truly deserves it or is ready for it. There’s a weird disconnect there. Seems like if he’s had the job for 10 years, he must be pretty good at it…
Still, I like the notion of the Superman legacy casting a long shadow, while also trying to be his own man. It feels natural.
TITLE: Future State: Superman/Wonder Woman #1
AUTHOR: Dan Watters
ARTISTS: Leila Del Duca, Nick Filardi (Colorist), Tom Napolitano (Letterer). Cover by Lee Weeks and Brad Anderson.
RELEASED: January 12, 2021
So in this one he does have the cape? What the hell?
This one was disappointing, as there wasn’t much of substance between our two title heroes. I gather there’s supposed to be some kind of intriguing dynamic between Jonathan Kent and our Future State Wonder Woman, but I don’t see it.
One thing I will say: This issue’s introductory Superman scene is pretty awesome, showing us that a “mundane” morning for the Man of Steel is anything but mundane. Plenty of charm to go around.
TITLE: Future State: Green Lantern #1
AUTHOR: Geoffry Thorne, Ryan Cady, Ernie Altbacker
ARTISTS: Tom Raney, Sami Basri, Clayton Henry. Cover by Henry & Marcelo Maiolo.
COLORISTS: Mike Atiyeh, Hi-Fi, Maiolo
LETTERERS: Andworld Design, Dave Sharpe, Steve Wands.
RELEASED: January 12, 2021
Our main story here is about John Stewart and a group of now powerless Green Lanterns. We’ve also got a back-up about Guy Gardner. But the back-up about Jessica Cruz is what steals the issue.
Jessica Cruz has a special place in my heart because of her battle with an anxiety disorder. This story sees her trapped on a space station with three Yellow Lanterns, who are literally powered by fear. But as she stays hidden, she’s got the element of surprise, and thus has the ability to turn the tables on them.
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
***”Weekly Comic 100s” keeps it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***
By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder
We’re going halfsies for this one. We’ve got two releases from this week, as well as two X-Men back issues. I’ve been diving further into Jonathan Hickman’s Dawn of X stuff. I must say, even if some of it has that typical X-Men level of convolutedness to it, I’m enjoying revisiting these characters and their world. And this is the first Hickman project I’ve really been able to immerse myself in. So it works two-fold.
TITLE: Frankenstein Undone #2
AUTHORS: Mike Mignola, Scott Allie
ARTISTS: Ben Stenbeck, Brennan Wagner (Colorist), Clem Robins (Letterer).
RELEASED: May 27, 2020
I’m hardly offended by Frankenstein Undone #2. But I can’t say I’m incredibly enthralled either. Hopefully readers who speak Hellboy will be a little more invested.
Still, the art is on point. I really like the look of Undone‘s Frankenstein. He’s got a lot more bolts and has a more deformed and monstrous look to him, as opposed to the conventional Universal movie-inspired look the monster tends to have. It definitely lends itself to more interesting action sequences, as we see here when Frank fights off a big snow wolf.
TITLE: Justice League #45
AUTHOR: Robert Venditti
ARTISTS: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira (Inker), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (Colorist), Tom Napolotano (Letterer). Cover by Francis Manapul.
RELEASED: May 26, 2020
I can’t say I know this for a fact, but so far this story feels like it was meant for a DC Giant. As we’ve discussed previously, those sold at retailers and meant for average joes. Thus, everything is drawn very simply and spoken plainly. I’m sure a few lines were inserted to indicate John Stewart is the leader. We’ve even got some paint-by-numbers mind-control fights between League members. Batman vs. Superman, Wonder Woman vs. Aquaman, etc.
That being said, none of this is meant as a dig. The issue, and thus far the story overall, is enjoyable for what it is.
TITLE: Marauders #1
AUTHOR: Gerry Duggan
ARTISTS: Matteo Lolli, Federico Blee (Colorist), Cory Petit (Letterer). Cover by Russell Dauterman & Matthew Wilson.
RELEASED: October 23, 2019
Other potential titles for Marauders: Put the Kitty Outside and What If the X-Men Were Superhero Pirates, and Places to Buy Booze for Wolverine.
No, it’s true. Kitty Pryde buys Wolverine a bunch booze in this issue.
I jest, but I really like this book a lot. It reminds me of the most recent volume of X-Men: Gold, which Kitty also happened to be the lead in. It’s got an easy concept with familiar characters. Gerry Duggan also gives us some fun character moments and dialogue. I had no idea about Marauders until recently. But I’m sticking with it going forward.
TITLE: Excalubur #1
AUTHOR: Tini Howard
ARTIST: Marcus To, Erick Arcinega (Colorist), Cory Petit (Letterer). Cover by Mahmud A. Asrar.
RELEASED: October 30, 2019
I’ve loved Marcus To’s work on Red Robin and Nightwing. So I was very excited to see his name here. He delivers accordingly.
But despite To’s presence, this book didn’t do much for me. Blasphemous as it may be to say, I tend to zone out when Marvel or DC go into Arthurian lore. And of course, that’s the centerpiece of Excalibur. A mysterious plant shows up in Avalon, and Morgain La Fey traces it back to Krakoa.
Apocalypse being on the team is intriguing. But it’s not enough to keep me hooked. Not now, at least.
(Special thanks to Super Fan Productions for an advance review copy of Frankenstein Undone #2.)
Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.
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