NEW COMICS 4 THIS WEEK (02/15/23)
*All comics will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10*
Batman: The Adventures Continues (Season Three) # 2 
Batman Beyond The White Knight # 8 
Batman Incorporated # 5
Fantastic Four # 4 
Hulk # 12 
I Am Batman # 18
Invincible Iron Man # 3 (9/10)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers # 105
Nemesis Reloaded # 2
Shirtless Bear-Fighter 2 # 7 
Spider-Man # 5
Torrent # 1
Fantastic Four # 4– After three issues, we finally get to see what happened to the FF disbanding and NYC turning on them within the opening pages as it goes back and forth between the past and the present. With the Negative Zone opening up and causing havoc on earth, we then see the four reunite five months later as they come across a dome that’s made out of The Thing’s skin but the aftermath of Reed Richards’ actions when it came to closing the Negative Zone come to light and not to mention the fallout between Ben Grimm and Reed; The Sci-Fi elements and the family dynamics are balanced out with precision as Ryan North reminds the readers why the FF is special and how they work out their differences as a family. North does a terrific job of solving the mystery how of Marvel’s first family split up (Which has been lingering since the first issue) but seeing them together really made this a hallmark issue. North and artist Iban Coello have brought the aspects of friendship and forgiveness to such great heights in a way that doesn’t come off as sappy or cheesy. After what unfolded with this issue, what comes next will be just as exciting.
Nemesis Reloaded # 2– The violence that we experienced last issue takes a backseat as Nemesis’ backstory gets unpackaged. Nemesis’ origin feels like a dark and twisted version of Batman but Mark Millar manages to make it brutal and gives us a clear understanding of his personality. While this story did not have that huge yet bloody narrative that this first issue had plenty to give us in terms of unveiling Nemesis’ not-so-humble beginnings (Something that has been dying to be told since the first series back in 2010) and I feel like Millar and Jorge Jimenez have a lot more in store for the readers since they left certain gaps in the origin story so it looks like the next issue will be even more drenched in violence.
Spider-Man # 5– Part five of “End of The Spider-Verse” gets the “Twilight Zone” meets “This Is Us” treatment for this issue as we get to see a Peter Parker who never got bit by that radioactive spider (Instead, Cindy Moon aka Silk gets the bit); In this alternate world, the burglar who would later kill Ben Parker breaks into the Parker house but Peter takes a bullet, he makes a recovery (but with this use of a crutch), now he’s popular with Flash Thompson as well as being the guy behind the chair for Silk. I have to say that this could have been an exciting story if something similar to this one hadn’t been done before and it has been done……several times in fact! Dan Slott had the chance to make this installment more powerful, but for the most part, it’s just basically filler material with Slott biding his time before fleshing out the conclusion. Yes, it’s great to see Silk living the life of the resident wall-crawler but with this chapter feeling so unoriginal in terms of reinventing Spidey’s history, let’s hope that Slott will give the following issues more impact and less filler.
Torrent # 1– Marc Guggenheim and Justin Greenwood continue to help build on Image’s newfound trend of creating new superheroes with a story that takes the innocence of a typical superhero story and then flips it on its head for a tale of vengeance. We meet Michelle Metcalf aka Crackerjack (who’s married with one son in her civilian identity) squares off with a villain named Mr. Skelton (Sounds more like that name of a wrestler) but to her chagrin, she gets some assistance from her “sidekick” Slipstream (He’s Bucky, Impulse and Miles Morales all rolled into one); But when he gets injured and his would is trade by Crackerjack (Who warns him to take it easy for 48 hours), he basically ignores her and heads out anyway only to get beaten down then sells out Crackerjack by revealing her identity to Mr. Skelton so this is when everything hits the fan. Guggenheim brings an extremely fresh take of revenge when it comes to Crackerjack along the dark path she’s heading toward is shown within the first page and the set-up helps makes her situation clearer. The meta-commentary and the homage to certain comic book factors help in making this series enjoyable but it’s the drama that really enhances the story, especially during the last few pages as Michelle’s life is ripped from her piece by piece. For anyone who wants an intelligent and strong superhero story that doesn’t talk down to its core audience, then Torrent is the superhero comic for you.
Well, that’s it for me this week. Thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.
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