I‘ve been a fan of SUICIDE SQUAD for decades. There have been many teams and iterations to varying degrees of quality. This is one of the good ones. Equal parts fun and violent, this book does not disappoint. Recommended!

One of my favorite authors. But this is not one of my favorite novels from him. The style of prose is still fantastic, the characters are suitably ghastly and the gross-outs are multiple. But this one did not connect with me as much as his other books do. I‘m not sure why; possibly enough of this went over my head, and I‘ve not experienced the full weight of the story. Recommended for fellow fans, but not for everyone.

In the wake of Hydra‘s defeat after taking over government (with help from a villain posing as Cap) the population is understandably wary of trusting Steve Rodgers again. It‘s fascinating to read his inner thoughts about this crisis of faith as he battles disaffected soldiers with American flags on their faces. Very thoughtful read, recommended!

Terrible.
From ugly / stupid character designs and silly names to a barely there plot, this book seems to rely entirely on the novelty of superheroes as dinosaurs. Really, that‘s it. Lazy world building leads to nonsensical situations leads to me not caring about anything that happens here. Do not bother with this one. Absolute pass.

Devastating!
This is a tale about an angry young girl who sees giants impeding her personal happiness. This one digs deep. It gets to the heart of childhood, grief and growing up. This one is really good and it deserves ‘classic‘ status. Highly recommended!

Loosely based on the real-life experiences of the comic artist David Mack, this tale of undercover espionage in the art world is very intriguing. It doesn‘t get a high endorsement from me mostly because the art (though gorgeous) doesn‘t quite match the story. Others may be able to overlook this and enjoy the book, however it was too distracting for me.

A boy befriends a fawn as he is lost in the wilderness after a car crash. This story is very emotional and sweet, and it is very brief. A one sitting read. Worth checking out, but be warned, you‘ll likely finish this before you‘re satisfied.

A young woman suffers an attempt on her life, ending up in a coma. Her disembodied spirit lives on, and tries to connect with her surviving loved ones as well as trying to make sense of her new reality and solving her own murder. A well crafted mystery, engaging characters and a narrative that does not get bogged down in details makes for a very satisfying story. Worth checking out!

Ironically, this tale about a young android is one of the most humane and heartfelt stories I‘ve read in a while. By turns it seems the narrative might go to some disturbing places, but it eventually ends up hitting right in the feels. Very touching, and emotional. Recommended!

I feel like I‘ve seen this trope repeated recently: mysterious incident confers powers to random young bystanders who then coalesce into warring factions. However, this book does it right: we are dropped into the fracas immediately. No time wasted with the ‘how this all started‘ which is boring. Folks from the neighborhood react differently to this and pursue their interests accordingly, kicking off the action. Worth checking out!

Terrible.
I grew up watching ultra macho war movies, especially those set in Vietnam, so I am not against the genre. But this book tries to sell you the old tale of ‘war is hell‘ plus revenge today for a crime in the past. But the reveal of what the retribution is for, left me hollow inside. Once revealed, the heavily misogynistic themes of the story are understood to be the framework of the entire book, and not a villain to be rejected.

This is the third RECKLESS book I‘ve read. It‘s excellent, just like the others. I don‘t have much new to say, so I‘ll repeat myself: Ed Brubaker is the king of modern comic noir. If you enjoy dark crime fiction, this is the series and writer you want to follow. Highly recommended!

This book about an aging American super spy suffers from all the antiquated tropes we remember from old 007 fictions. The book leans into these purposefully, rendering your enjoyment a referendum on how much you either miss these old cultural touch points, or are hopelessly bored by them. I‘m in the latter camp. I prefer the Neo noir of Ed Brubaker‘s RECKLESS series which adheres to the noir aesthetic without drowning in outdated norms.

This book demonstrated to me how much I need a high concept to really enjoy sci-fi. Give me time travel, first contact or robot laws, and I‘m happy. This is a story about a group of mercenaries hired to seek valuable cargo in an extremely dangerous trek. With few tweaks, this tale could have taken place anywhere, anytime. The same could be said about STAR WARS, which I adore, so my thesis is debatable. I‘ll try another one of his books sometime.

Pitch perfect ending.
I rarely come across an ending that is completely satisfying. Not too happy / corny, not ultra bleak and depressing. Just the right balance makes it feel like it could not have resolved any other way. One of my favorite books in a long while. Highly recommended!

Stunning and horrifying. The book details the groups and individuals working hard to get the American people to ally with the Nazi regime before our involvement in WWII. It‘s amazing the number of US citizens who were very sympathetic to Hitler and his goals. If not for the unyielding efforts by a few patriots, we could have easily been subsumed into the third reich. The parallels between then and now are chilling. Essential reading!

A decent tale, marred by an inconsistent tone. Mankind breaks into a new dimension full of creatures resembling demons. Dubbed ‘Hell‘ a new strike force is set up to patrol it; Hellcops. At its core this is a procedural. But it wants to be taken seriously while simultaneously trying to be cute/ funny. The world building is detailed, but occasionally clunky, like when it‘s revealed the local currency is called ‘Hellcoin‘. Ugh.

Fantastic premise, ok execution. In a world filled with various ‘the ones‘ (people born to save humanity, or some lessor achievement) what do these saviors do after their victory is won? They continue life as all washed up celebrities do. But when Satan threatens our collective existence, this group of former heroes must step up and save the day… again. It‘s funny and light. It just didn‘t win me over completely, but it‘s worth a look!

This is an epic retelling of events in the DCU from the perspective of non-white characters. We witness the ups and downs of hero life narrated by Black Lightning (and family), Katana and Renee Montoya. This is a really amazing tale, my only complaint is the format. Illustrations floating around the page linked together by big chunks of text. I feel like the layouts could have been handled much better, but the great storytelling shines though.

Wildly imaginative and fun! A great story with good characters and a never ending sense of ‘what is happening here?!‘. Portals, time travel; just a delightful mish-mash of everything fun in sci-fi. Definite STRANGER THINGS vibe without stepping on their creative toes. Highly recommend!

The ‘spirit‘ of Batman observes his own funeral and the stories told by his colleagues and enemies about him. Neil Gaiman writes the final episode to close out decades of Batman and Action Comics. It is a masterful eulogy to the Dark Knight, and a fitting last visit to the years of adventures past, before welcoming future tales and iterations of the beloved character. Essential to any fan of comics!

Black Adam is infected by a lethal plague and transfers his powers to an unwilling medical student. Later he is tested to see if worthy to join the Justice League. I‘m not much of a fan of this character. The story is ok, the artwork is good. I just don‘t seem to connect with this book. If you‘re already a fan, check it out. Otherwise, you might want to move along.

It seems writers known for superhero stories have a secret desire to write pulp noir fiction. Some are terrible (BMB‘s GOLDFISH), and some, like this one, hit the target perfectly.
Fortunately, I came upon the origin story for the characters of an ongoing title. And, thankfully, this author avoids the obvious clichés of the genre for a simpler, more realistic tone. The result is a great crime series that I am thrilled to have found.

I really wanted to like Joe Hill‘s novels, but they are not very good. His comics, on the other hand, are fantastic! That he has started his own brand of comics is very encouraging. That he kicks off his venture with this firecracker of a story is further proof his true talents lie in this narrative format. Gory, fun, imaginative and daring. I absolutely cannot wait to see what else comes out of this endeavor. Highly recommended!

Fascinating!
This is the story of our ancestors and how we came to be. Combining knowledge from historical records, archaeological discoveries and even myths and legends into an easy to follow narrative, the author takes us on a journey from the deepest past to our current world. I can‘t get enough of books like this, and this is the best I‘ve read in a long time. Highly recommended!

Like dumping your toys on the floor and playing with all of them at once, IDW creates a book for all their IPs. REVOLUTION wisely begins with only GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS cautiously engaging with each other as the agents of MASK stand by. But once ROM arrives as a seeming rogue actor, all hell breaks loose. Then the MICRONAUTS are dropped into the fray adding some comic relief. Fun, but a bit cluttered, not enough time for all characters to shine.

A group of young protesters are gassed by authorities with an experimental substance, resulting in many of the crowd developing powers. Reminiscent of other teen heroes of color, Kamala Khan and Miles Morales, Virgil is a good student whom is bullied at school but has a close group of friends. Upon controlling his new abilities, he rises to defend folks from other powered kids. Serious and not as light and fun as the other books mentioned.

If you‘re a huge fan of the issue ‘Silent Interlude, this book is for you. It collects the original version plus a newly rendered take by a collection of modern comic artists. Also included are the vey first issue, couple other early ones, and Snake Eyes‘ origin. A must for fans of GI Joe, but for everyone else, YMMV.

One of the blueprints for the modern superhero team. These characters are morally ambiguous, cold, calculating and a bit rough. But when calamity strikes, they‘re the ones who beat it back by any means necessary. The tropes presented here may seem familiar now, but back when this was released, it was revolutionary. Fun and serious, highly recommended!

A young couple struggles in their marriage. A little boy is caught in between. And every night a strange being emerges from his closet. This is a fantastic example of a horror story using all the elements of comics to get the emotions across. My only complaint is its brevity. I wanted more! But the story only warranted the length provided. Consider this a horror short film in comic form. Worth checking out!

This prequel tells the story of Houdini‘s recruitment into a group of government sanctioned practitioners of the occult. The big bad is Jack the Ripper, portrayed as a monstrous demon. Lazy world building contributes to a bland retread of themes we‘ve read many times before. You‘re better off reading FROM HELL, or even LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN.

The fictional tale of Houdini‘s son being recruited by Teddy Roosevelt into a government division dealing with the occult.
Historical fiction is a delight when done well. In this case, the story hops between set pieces with minimal details connecting them. It wants to be taken seriously without the work to make a coherent narrative. On a positive note, the coloring of the art is vibrant and beautiful.

The joker is dead, but who killed him? Is he even really dead at all? Conceived and executed as a supernatural horror story, this tale finds the dark knight delving into Gotham‘s underbelly seeking answers he might not want to find. Tense and thrilling, a perfectly balanced mix of mystery and dread. I cannot over praise the artwork here, some of the best I‘ve ever seen. It is simply stunning. An instant classic!

All set up, no payoff.
A group of genius college students create a method for ‘inducing‘ super powers in humans. Nice premise, but most of the book is dedicated to people talking about this. Very little space is reserved for showing us people with powers. Lots of talking, minimal action. Plus, the ‘young people‘ dialogue is pretty bad. Maybe the next book in the series is entertaining. Guess I‘ll never know.

As a fan of the show I wanted to know more about the creators and the folks behind the series. A red flag was the early chapter dedicated to the history of Monty Python. Why am I reading this? The book was mostly a regurgitation of facts about places, characters and events from the show. Having seen most episodes, I already knew all this. The final straw was the chapter listing bios of every celebrity ever featured on the show. I just gave up.

Published a year after his death, LIFE OF CHE was a bomb dropped on the status quo of political dissent under the military regime of Argentina. It was such a threat to power the author was ‘disappeared‘ by the CIA after evading capture for years. Brutal artwork echoing the revolutionary struggles and sparse, poetic dialogue brings an artistic lens through which to view the life of one of the most compelling figures of the last century.

As with most short story collections, quality is inconsistent. Some tales are better than others, but the art is quite good across the entire book. Also, some stories end just as they are getting interesting. I would have preferred a single tale rendered in this style.

Batman never uses a gun. He never kills. But one day an imposter dressed as the dark vigilante murders criminals in cold blood and on live television. Bruce scrambles to clear his name as the GCPD close in on him. A taut and gritty tale set in a grounded Gotham where shadows cloud every motive and trust is a rare commodity. Highly recommended!

The story of Ben Solo‘s fall to the dark side from his perspective. We see all unfolding through his eyes, all the reasons for his choices, the moments of hesitation and of hard, cold calculation. Heartbreaking and inevitable, a tragedy in the truest sense. Recommended!

A futuristic take on the FRANKENSTEIN tale, full of interesting ideas and characters, but hamstrung by the trappings of the classic story. Every time the narrative focused on the superhuman zombie rampaging across the country, my interest level dropped. Like a boring version of the HULK, this monster is virtually indestructible and bent on killing everyone. No nuance there at all.

In a future of corporate run cities, their interests are violently protected by special agents called EN. VOIs. Joy is one of the best. One day a voice in her head pleads for her help to bring justice by betraying her employer.
Very interesting world building and fun interplay between Joy and her disembodied companion will satisfy any fan of sci-fi, but doesn‘t quite clear the bar for a larger audience appeal.

It‘s incredibly refreshing to find a new take on an old story. By combining police procedural with historical / vampire fiction the creator of KILLADELPHIA, has brought new life to two tired genres. Grimy noir and violent horror combine like great tastes together, complimented by excellent artwork and curt dialog. Fantastic debut, highly recommended!

This pains me greatly. I really like Joe Hill‘s short stories. But this is over 700 pages of generic post apocalypse ‘humans suck‘ tribalism, with a chemistry less love story at the center. Nothing here works, and it takes ages to slog through. The self immolation disease known as ‘Dragonscale‘ is the only interesting thing here. That it was not exploited in more interesting ways is a disappointment.

A young padawan is stuck undercover in Maz Kanata‘s pirate gang. Will she return to her Jedi order or will she be absorbed into the criminal underworld? Kind of a riff on Marvel‘s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which itself was a riff on STAR WARS… Light and fun, if somewhat derivative.

The first full length book written and illustrated by the amazing Alex Ross. The artwork is stunning (as anyone familiar with the artist would expect), but the coloring needs its own set of accolades. The color schemes are gorgeous and psychedelic, expertly complimenting this tale set in the Negative Zone. The weakest link is the story itself; an updated version of a classic Lee / Kirby FF adventure. But that is a minor quibble. Outstanding!

This is probably the standard introductory tome for the layperson to begin to understand psychopathology. They live among us, a solid percentage of the world population exists without a functioning ability to feel empathy. Not just hustlers and criminals, but politicians, CEOs and other successful people who pretend to be ‘normal‘. Good advice for how to avoid psychopaths and disentangle them from your life.

I admit to being just a bit tired of post apocalypse fiction. And this is an ‘after the end of the world‘ tale with no zombies, pandemic or alien invaders. It‘s simply the future we expect, after neglecting our environment and democracy for decades. But in the hands of this writer, we get a deeply human account of what life means after the fall. What is the purpose of continuing on. What keeps us going. At times sad, but ultimately uplifting.

This epic tale boasts on the back cover of how it “spans decades” and “from street-level to far reaches of space” and “starring literally anyone…”. To me these are faults, not bonuses. A story that is too epic and sprawling, means less connection to the emotional core. It means too many characters to care about. Too many jarring changes of venue, too many plot threads, too much of everything that ultimately means… I just don‘t care about anything.

I‘ve never been a fan of the ‘New Gods‘ or the ‘Fourth World‘. But this book is fantastic. It centers all the drama on the humanness of the characters, helping the audience engage and care about them. There is an amazing sequence where Scott and Barda mutilate and massacre their way into an Apokolips stronghold all the while discussing remodeling their condo, ending with a huge mic drop of a revelation. This is truly great writing!

It‘s never easy to create a sequel (or in this case, ‘sidequel‘?) to a classic. Especially one as beloved and foundational as WATCHMEN. This is a really good attempt, recreating the framework, style and pacing of the original while telling a new story. Especially exciting is the merging of worlds seen here as the DCU encounters characters and events from Alan Moore‘s creation. Solid, even if it never reaches the highs of its predecessor.