The Avengers Battle Hyperion and Paranoid Gardens Gets Even Weirder — September 18th Reviews

This week’s comic book reviews! While I try to read everything, I can’t review everything. So, if you’re a publisher who wants me to check out their upcoming releases, email me at [email protected]!

Marvel Comics

Avengers #18 — Jed MacKay, Valerio Schiti, Bryan Valenza, and VC’s Cory Petit — Hyperion vs. The Avengers turns out to be a tense and surprisingly touching affair with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes trying to stop the out-of-control 'hero’ before he cracks the Earth into two pieces. There are many great character moments here, with art from Schiti and Valenza that gets incredibly grand and cosmic but also masterfully illustrates conflict and intimate conversations between characters. A sort of happy ending for Hyperion isn’t what I expected, but this feels like an excellent epilogue to the Heroes Reborn event. 9/10

X-Men #4 — Jed MacKay, Netho Diaz, Sean Parsons, Marte Gracia, and VC’s Clayton Cowles — This issue is a lot of fun as Diaz and Parsons do an admirable job filling in for Ryan Stegman as the script from MacKay allows them to go bananas with some of the action sequences thanks to the time-portal opening villain Trevor Fitzroy (aided by some incredible deep cut villains from X-Statix of all places). Look how cool this is:

This book is starting to hit its stride. 8/10

Dazzler #1 — Jason Loo, Rafael Loureiro, Java Taraglia, and VC’s Ariana Maher — Dazzler is effectively the Taylor Swift of the Marvel Universe, and this comic succeeds by leaning into real-world elements while throwing an important message of acceptance at the same time. From the X-Factor crew as her stagehands, the original songs created for Dazzler, and some rip-roaring action, there’s really only one way to describe this book: Fun. And that’s what the X-line needs. 8.5/10

DC Comics

Wonder Woman #13 - Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Leonardo Paciarotti, Clayton Cowles — Given the stakes of the Absolute Power event, this issue felt like a much-needed lighter affair where Steve and Diana can’t keep their hands off each other despite the perilous situation at hand. Meanwhile, Damian Wayne is hilariously left gawking and planning what to do next. This issue features some enjoyable non-Wonder Woman moments, too, with Elongated Man and Plastic Man’s interaction making me laugh out loud. It also does a solid job setting up what’s next for the Absolute Power event 8.5/10

Multiverses: Collision Detected #1 - Bryan Q. Miller, Jon Sommariva, Matt Herms, and Marshall Dillon — I can’t claim to know much about the Multiverses game this comic is based on, but issue one proves to be a fast-paced affair with some surprisingly deep cuts that made me smile throughout. Sommariva’s art and Herms’ vibrant colors bring a consistent style to a book that could have been very messy. As far as video game crossovers go, this is a good one. 7.5/10

Jenny Sparks #2 — Tom King, Jeff Spokes, Clayton Cowles — Seeing Jenny call Superman a “**** gorgeous wanker” might be my favorite moment of the week between two characters I didn’t ever expect to interact with each other. Spokes art here is really something — and the Captain Atom plotline is genuinely terrifying and captivating. I’m still not entirely sure where this book is going but I’m along for the ride. 8/10

Dark Horse Comics

Paranoid Gardens #3 — Gerard Way, Shaun Simon, Chris Weston, Dave Stewart, and Nate Piekos — The overarching mystery unfolds with more pace as this strange (compliment) book gets even stranger. Way and Simon continue to build out this bizarre world in interesting and exciting ways. Weston should win an Eisner for this book — he can make even the mundane look interesting with highly detailed art with Stewart’s pitch-perfect colors. 9/10

IDW Publishing

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Nation #1 — Tom Walz, Erik Burnham, Vincenzo Federici, Mateus Santolouco, Ronda Pattison, Marco Lesko, and Rus Wooton — This comic feels like a nice bridge between what’s happening in the new series and what happened with the previous one, making it a can’t-miss story for those wanting to learn more about what’s going on in the current world of TMNT. 8/10