The Longbox Short-List - Week of July 5 2016
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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!
4001 AD: SHADOWMAN – Stop taunting me, Valiant!! Shadowman was one of my favorite Valiant books. It’s clear that Valiant wants to do more with the character. He’s appeared in various forms in Ninjak, Books of Death, and now 4001. Stop teasing us and just give us a new Shadowman series already!!!
BATMAN #2 – Tom King got off to a real strong start with last month’s issue 1. We saw a side of Batman we don’t often see, faced with his own mortality. Tom King has been putting out some incredible comics lately, and I can’t wait to see what he can do with Batman. So far, so good!
JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1 – As much as I love big team books, Bryan Hitch doesn’t do much for me. I only read like three issues of his Justice League America before I had to drop it. Putting him on the core Justice League book is a major red flag for me, but I will still give the Rebirth issue a chance to prove me wrong.
FLINTSTONES #1 – I really enjoyed Scooby Apocalypse and Future Quest, so I will likely give this one a fair shot. I really liked the photo-realistic art style I saw in the previews for this one. DC is doing some real innovative stuff with their Hanna Barbara relaunches.
CIVIL WAR: KINGPIN #1 – Kingpin has always been a terrific character with a lot of depth. I especially love Vincent D'Onofrio’s portrayal in the Daredevil series on Netflix. I am curious about what role he will play in Civil War II, which has been a bit rudderless in my opinion.
TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #8 – Last issue, we finally got some info on where Bruce Banner has been the last few months. Civil War II #2 teased that something really bad is about to happen with Hulk…but we don’t know which one. As a fan of both Cho and Banner, I definitely want to know where this is all headed.
VOTE LOKI #2 – This could have been a throw away series, but I really liked the first issue quite a bit. Great political satire, and it feels like the natural evolution of Loki’s ever changing status quo. As I said before, Loki can’t be worse for our country than the candidates we have to choose from…
BLOODLINES #4 – This series has basically been completely off people’s radar. I am not even sure what the point of it is, but I have enjoyed the first three issues quite a bit. A really unique take on superpowers. I suspect like DC’s The Ray mini from a few years ago, this will just kind of vanish, but I still think it’s worth a look.
SUPERZERO #6 – One of my favorite comics!!! Superzero is the story of a teenage girl obsessed with getting superpowers. Last issue gave the story a huge twist and it seems like maybe she is on to something here about the need for super powers…
PUNISHER #3 – I haven’t read Punisher regularly in a while, but Becky Cloonan and Steve Dillion have created a real strong Punisher series here. Real glad I picked it up!
