Game Madara

Review Action Comics 981 Action Comics #981 is the third chapter of the Revenge storyline, an arc uniting some of Supermans deadliest foes into a lethal squad. I often find the middle chapter of an arc to slow things down a bit and this issue holds form. There is a great cliffhanger. There is a nice building momentum in some side scenes. And there is a lot of fighting. But this issue didnt feel like it had the substance of the prior chapters. Its not like this is a miss of an issue. Its not like I disliked the issue. But as I have said elsewhere, I am expecting a lot of the Superman books these days. And this one didnt seem to hold up. I wonder if my overall apathy about General Zod is coloring my view. Because I do think Dan Jurgens up to this point has elevated this book substantially. Jack Herbert brings a fine lined elegance to the art here. I dont know if this style is best suited for the brawl which dominates this issue as well. Honestly, I think maybe I sound a bit too harsh he...

Review Action Comics 984 Action Comics #984 came out this week and was another incredible issue, wrapping up the Revenge storyline in a very entertaining and satisfying way. I really feel like this was a big blockbuster movie of an arc. There was tremendous action. There were incredible character moments. There was a reclamation of a supervillain who I was tired of seeing. And best of all, there was the return of some Superman mythos, something that will be fascinating to follow. Writer Dan Jurgens really weaved a wonderful story as the motivation of the villains completely flipped halfway through the story, keeping me very engaged and on the edge of my seat. I said it last issue and Ill say it again. This is the best General Zod story I have read in about 20 years. I have been bored with Zod prior to this arc where he suddenly became a deadly, strategic, and somewhat sympathetic character. After seeing Jack Herbert and Viktor Bogdanovic play with all the Superman family, we get Patri...

Review DC Comics Bombshells 31 DC Comics Bombshells #31 is the penultimate issue of this title and the penultimate issue of me collecting this title. I have been talking about dropping this title for a while. The series is coming to an end next month. There is a new title coming out shortly thereafter but I think I am out. The stories have become too meandering and too confusing. And the whole thing seems to be weighed down with the messages that Marguerite Bennett is trying to impart and proselytize to the audience. I have said it before and Ill say it here. Tell me a good story that has a message and Ill be engaged. Have a message you want to say and then construct the story around it and everything just feels forced and I feel preached at. And it is a shame that I am leaving because the first year of this book was brilliant. The story came first there. And it is also a shame because Supergirl has taken center stage in this last arc. On to the book. The book opens with the origin of ...

Review Action Comics 980 Action Comics #980 came out last week and was another chapter in Cyborg Supermans creation of a new Superman Revenge Squad. Written by Dan Jurgens with art by Patrick Zircher, the book is set-up chapter. Jurgens is taking his time putting this team together, perhaps in a way to build up suspense while filling in some of the gaps in these characters back stories. There is definitely a need, in the post-Reborn super-world, to smooth out the rough edges of continuity here. So Jurgens uses this issue to make sure everyone is on the same page historically. But there are all the other recent changes to main characters lives that we need to be kept abreast of as well. So the move to Metropolis and the creation of Batmans Justice League of America are all covered here as well. I have been very impressed with Jurgens run on the title so far. And I am always impressed with Zirchers art. But this issue felt like something of a pause. We seemed to downshift a bit. And mayb...

Bullet Review DC Comics Bombshells 33 DC Comics Bombshells #33 came out this week, the last issue of this volume of the characters and my last issue reading this. When this series started out, I was very impressed at writer Marguerite Bennetts ability to weave a very solid story about World War II and the arrival of super-women fighting the Nazis. The first year was fabulous. But since then, since the battle of London around issue 12, it has felt like the book has lost its way. There are a lot of ideas in this book but the stories havent read well. Its like those ideas havent gelled into a narrative. As a result, the book has been something of a mess. On top of that, there has been a bit too much cutesy dialogue recently ... something that I might have tolerated more of the story around it was stronger. And so this last issue wraps up the story. Bennett has brought a bunch of subplots together into a large battle in Russia. So Supergirls grief and Ravens familial issues and Loiss opti...

Review Action Comics 983 I have never been shy about my age. I am on the back half of my 40s and have been reading comics for over 30 years. I have read so many comics ... some might say too many. But I can remember as a kid, sometimes comics would just transfix me. Id be gripping the pages, so engrossed, pulled into the story. One of the most common types of books to grab me like that would be an outright brawl between heroes and villains under the most dire circumstances. Add a little plot and I would be transported into the universe. I long for those moments now. When a comic can make me be young Anj again, heart-pounding, watching titans battle, the fate of the world at stake, I am ecstatic. But with so many comics under the bridge (so to speak), it is hard to do that. How many world-saving fights can I read? All of this preamble is to set the stage for Action Comics #983 , a comic by writer Dan Jurgens and artist Viktor Bogdanovic. It is the Superman Family versus the Superman Rev...