The Longbox Short-List - Week of February 10, 2017

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!

Comics shipping this week

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 – David F. Walker writing on what should be a pretty big deal project with Power Man and Iron Fist both getting Netflix series over the next two years? Definitely count me in for this one! 

AVENGERS STANDOFF – WELCOME TO PLEASANT HILL #1 – Great…another Marvel event. Groan. I am still trying to get over how pointless Secret Wars is. I like Nick Spencer’s writing, so this should be a good comic, but I have just about no interest in AVENGERS STANDOFF. It doesn’t even feel like we have a strong status quo for the various Avengers team to have them have a big stand off yet.

SHIELD #2 – This is probably going to come out much harsher than I intend, but I am constantly amazed by how unprofessional many comic companies are. The first issue of Archie’s Dark Circle book Shield came out back in October. Archie is far from the only culprit here (Image’s Velvet, Marvel’s Karnak and Powers come to mind), but it seems to happen quite often with Archie’s horror and Dark Circle books. Honestly, I don’t even remember what happened in the first issue of this series. Which doesn’t make me all that inclined to pick this one up, especially since I have a lot of new comics coming out this week.

TITHE #8 – Tithe is one of my favorite series, and this is the end of the second story arc. My only gripe here is that this issue costs 6 bucks! A double-size finale to the arc? Uhm, why not just split it over two issues and not kill the reader’s wallet all at once. I actually cringed when I saw the price tag on this one. 

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #4 – While this series has been a little slow moving, it’s been damn good. This story has shown us several new sides to Gilead, who has always been one of my favorite Valiant characters. He battle to return to life, even if a big part of him would rather stay in the afterlife with his family is one of the most intense comics out there.

DEVOLUTION #2 – The first issue of Rick Remender’s news Dynamite series came out swinging hard. I would like to know more about the characters, but the setting is intense and I think there is a lot of potential here to be even better. Really looking forward to the second issue.

HUCK #4 – Mark Millar is on a great streak with me. Over the last few years, he’s put out a lot of books I’ve really enjoyed, and HUCK might be the best of the batch. HUCK is a Superman homage with a lot of heart. Sometimes Millar’s work can come off as a bit cynical, but Huck is far away from that stereotype. Definitely worth a look.

ASTRO CITY #32 – STEELJACK IS BACK!! Tarnished Angel is one of my favorite Astro City stories. I know it sometimes gets some flak from reviewers, but I loved this story about redemption. It was also a really good murder mystery. It’s been far too long since we’ve seen what Steeljack is up to! 

CARNAGE #5 – CARNAGE continues to be one of the biggest surprises to come out of All-New, All-Different Marvel. This book doesn’t get a lot of press, but it’s a great horror story that explores some of the dark corners of the Marvel universe. Last issue, Eddie Brock was fully restored as Toxin, which could make a bad situation even worse. This book has some of the best cliffhangers in comics right now!

TITANS HUNT #5 – It looks like this series may have been reduced in issues, which is a real shame. It’s one of my favorite DC books right now. I’ve loved this look into a hidden chapter of the New-52. DC needs to do more books like this. 

SPIDER-WOMAN #4 – It’s always good when a relaunched book comes back with the same momentum it went away with. SPIDER-WOMAN continues to be one of my favorite comics. It has a great sense of humor, but still a lot of great action and story to it. Last issue, we got to see Jessica kicking a lot of ass even as pregnant as she is. I’ve really enjoyed this arc and this series.

SINESTRO #20 – My friend Babos called this “the best Green Lantern title on stands today.” I don’t disagree with him, but I will say that the competition isn’t all that fierce these days. Lost Army really lost something when it changed creative teams. But, Sinestro continues to be one of the DC’s strongest books. I really think they should put Cullen Bunn in charge of saving the Green Lantern franchise.

MIGHTY THOR #4 – Jason Aaron has really been doing some terrific work with this book. I was worried that it would lose some momentum once the mystery of “who is Thor” was resolved, but Aaron has proven that he still has a lot to show us here. The battle last week with Loki put a whole new twist on the Thor/Loki dynamic which I really enjoyed. Aaron continues to do the impossible, making me care about Asgard.

STAR WARS #16 – You know, part of me hates when they interrupt STAR WARS with the flashback issues of Obi-Wan on Tatooine…but those stories have been excellent. This issue is back to business picking up where Vader Down left off. Marvel continues to do an excellent job with the STAR WARS franchise. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #20 – I am a little behind on reading this series. I thought the reveal that Mother tried to murder Harper’s parents “because of Batman” was a little underwhelming. I actually like Harper, but I think they are trying too hard to make her more important than really makes sense. This story just feels like it would have had more of an impact if it had been Tim or Jason. That said, I still really like this comic, and I hope that we get another weekly Batman story in the not too far future. I tend to like this better than Batman and Detective most of the time.