Rob's Picks:

Godzilla vs. Hulk #1 – After taking on the Fantastic Four, Godzilla continues their tour of the Marvel Universe by going head-to-head with the Hulk! In this slugfest from writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Falling In Love On The Path To Hell), General Ross has finally caught Dr. Banner, allowing him to set his sights on another earth-shaking threat: kaiju. The new white whale for Ross and his Thunderbolts is, of course, Godzilla. Their master plan for taking out the atomic lizard includes two Mechagodzillas and a few other cameos from Godzilla’s cast of kaiju. When things don’t go as planned, Banner has to let the Hulk loose to stop Godzilla and an all-new threat. Being a one-shot, the simple plot and broad characters exist to serve the story as vehicles for action, which Duggan delivers in big, loud, gleefully schlocky doses.

Absolute Flash #2 – Wally West’s life was forever changed by the disaster in his father’s lab. In issue #2, the fallout from that disaster continues as he tries to evade a high-tech hit squad and come to grips with his new abilities. Along the way, we learn more about the accident and just what happened to Barry Allen. After being a somewhat passive protagonist in #1, Wally becomes far more active and determined. The first issue was the sort of slow-burn start you can expect from writer Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Descender), taking time building to its incredible climax. For the second outing, Lemire puts the pedal to the floor, giving us an issue packed with action that drives the story ahead at lightspeed. All the time taken getting to know Wally in #1 allows this issue to have the same emotional depth while giving more time to superheroics. Artist Nick Robles and colorist Adriano Lucas have taken Flash’s lightning and motion blur aesthetics to another level as Wally dashes through space (and time?!).

Zatanna #3 – Undoing the curse of the White Lady and rescuing her friend Adam has led Zatanna to a private hell trapped inside a television. This pocket dimension takes the form of a Hollywood soiree, attended by celebrities like millionaire Bruce Wayne. The master illusionist isn’t fooled for a second by this false reality, but that doesn’t make seeing through to the truth any easier. Searching for an exit is made extra complicated when a member of the Batman Rogues Gallery crashes the party. On the outside, Zatanna’s allies have to contend with the arrival of Brother Night. Jamal Campbell is outdoing himself as a writer and artist with each issue of this series. Hopefully the enthusiastic fan response earns this book ongoing status, because I do not want to see this end any time soon. Zatanna and her fans have waited too long for a book this good. Six issues is just not enough.

Solomon's Picks:

Sonic X DC #2
This crossover is back and keeps getting better and better! Picking up right where we left off, the team is on the hunt for Chaos Emeralds in hopes of stopping Darkseid from gaining infinite power and destroying Sonic’s reality. The art in this issue immediately caught my eye, and Adam Bryce Thomas is really proving that he is one of the best in the business with his sleek yet bold designs. The writing also felt stronger, but that’s definitely due to the fact that we’re officially in the nitty-gritty parts of the story. I’d say the pairings we were given in the last issue felt very 50/50—with half of them being “This makes sense and should have happened sooner,” and the other half being more of a “...Right?” Thankfully, this issue shut down any negative feelings I had about the weaker pairings, as every character had a perfect dynamic when they were given more than a panel or two to interact. An epic face-off between the two teams and Darkseid was exactly what we wanted, and without giving away too much more, just know we got exactly that. This left me way more pumped than the last issue, especially with the big cliffhanger that has me hyped for the next release. Come join the chaotic adventure now!

Ultimate Wolverine #4
Ultimate Wolverine has been one of the best titles in Marvel’s new Ultimate Universe, and the latest issue solidifies its status with its unique approach to narration and presentation. We open with Logan inside his test tube, remembering what Kitty Pryde said to him in the last issue. As he recalls her words, the team that’s been experimenting on him monitors his current state. Their panic reaches his ears while he’s in a hypnagogic state, and it bleeds into memories of his time in the wilderness. This is presented in a beautifully illustrated sequence where Logan is depicted as a wolf struggling against an enormous bear, before cutting back to the present where he is surrounded by the bodies of his captors. This series has been gruesome, ironically putting many of Marvel’s Red Band titles to shame, but this latest issue outdid its predecessors with several panels that are straight-up slaughter fests. I’ve been loving all the unique changes Marvel has been making to these famous characters and can’t wait to see what comes next.

Absolute Flash #2
Flash’s latest entry into the Absolute line was fantastic—in fact, it was so good I’m a bit confused why it wasn’t the first! We open in a similar spot to chapter one: Wally West is on the run. An interesting and unrelenting cast is chasing him, and we finally get to see him sport his trademark abilities through beautifully striking panels. Nick Robles’ art was absolutely the main event in this issue, and I have to spotlight the wonderful character designs that were shown off. Also, the lettering by Tom Napolitano was insanely creative and added so much flair to an already amazing issue, especially when it was used to emphasize the hero’s speed. As mentioned in the first review of this series, this second line of Absolute titles seems to be focusing on mental health aspects, and Wally’s anxiety appears to be the main trigger for his powers. I’m very curious to see where they take this, but I loved everything about this issue and urge you to grab a copy ASAP!