September 16th, 2020
J.R.'s Picks:
Detective Comics #1027 – It’s really weird. In a year riddled with DC anniversary issues, this one is easily the best one and it’s not even technically one of those specials. Detective Comics #1027 is a truly excellent collection of short stories from some of the best creative team-ups I’ve seen in a while. Rucka and Eduardo Risso tell a tale about coming up through the ranks of GCPD. Zdarsky and Fraction bring their dynamic duo to talk about Joker’s birthday presents to the dark knight. Morrison and Chris Burnham come back together to bring to light a pulp hero from Gotham’s past. That’s not even touching on the contributions by Bendis, DeConnick, Tynion IV, Walt Simonson and many more. A stellar book for any Bat-fan.
Iron Man #1 – Tony Stark takes a long hard look at his ego in the first issue from Cantwell’s run. After liquidating his assets while throwing Terrax out of the atmosphere, Stark tries to come to grips with both his impact on the world and his own mortality. Hell Cat comes to a swanky party Tone throws at his swanky new NY brownstone and points out the most obvious thing about all this: he’s just legit having a mid-life crisis. It’s great to see a superhero go through such a normal thing and this also gets Iron Man back to his basics. He even inadvertently creates a supervillain scientist at said party by blowing off his research. Classic Tony Stark, just what we all wanted to read.
You Look Like Death Tales From The Umbrella Academy #1 – With a title that long, you know it was written by the lead singer of an emo band. This new book follows Klaus after he’s kicked out of his family by his father for constant drug use and annoyingly summoning ghosts. He’s takes it in stride pretty well (after his siblings can’t help him) and goes into the big city looking for thrills. He finds them in a corner drug shop which he robs using phantoms and pisses off a drug-dealing, vampire chimpanzee. Hells. Yes. This then takes him on an escape trip to Hollywood where an aging starlet takes an interest in his “talents”. A hilarious ride that’s just plain trippy fun.
Stillwater #1 – Zdarsky and Perez brings the heat with this horror title. Daniel is a man with a huge chip on his shoulder and an enabler best friend. After losing his job for assaulting a co-worker, he starts a fight at a club and wallows in self defeat the next day. That is, until a comically old-school lawyer shows up with a summons saying he’s to inherit his great-grand aunt’s fortune in a small town called Stillwater. On a road trip there where the two meta-comment on how much of a horror set-up their situation is, no one where they stop at seems to have heard of this town. Things of course get buck wild when they arrive in town after they witness an attempted murder by two kids. This is going to be one hell of a thriller so get on the ground floor of this one now.
Diarra's Picks:
Stillwater #1 - After a bad break up and losing his job, Daniel could really use a win. And that’s just what he gets in the form of an inheritance. He’s never heard of this relative, but with both his parents deceased he doesn’t over think it. Daniel recruits his buddy, Tony, for the road trip and off they go to the law office of Joel Peterson in Stillwater. Things start getting strange quickly, as they can’t seem to find roads signs pointing to the area. Despite the lack of direction they make it to Stillwater, and it’s clear they don’t get many outsiders. When Daniel and Tony are trying to get some info from locals they witness a tragic accident where a young man falls from the roof of a building. They rush to his aid while locals seem unfazed, and they wonder how they could be so heartless. Maybe they know to mind their business and not ask questions...something Daniel and Tony are about learn the hard way.
Heavy #1 - In this strange purgatory like world, everyone has a role to play. Our buddy Bill is a Heavy. Heavies are kind of like historical enforcers, who travel in time and dish out cosmic street justice. There are a lot of timelines out there, and there’s a Hitler who needs to get his ass kicked in most of them. Bill enjoys his job, but he isn’t just doing this just for kicks. He and his wife were murdered by her jealous ex-lover. She went straight to the pearly gates, but Bill is stuck in purgatory earning his place upstairs. Every mission he goes on is getting him one step closer to seeing his wife again. It’s a taking a bit longer than expected for him to earn his proverbial wings, so he reluctantly agrees to get a partner. Unfortunately for Bill he has no choice in his partner and picks are final. Now Bill is stuck with the man he hates most.
Seven Secrets #2 - Last issue we saw Eva and Sigurd make the tough decision to give their son, Casper, to The Order. It wasn’t an easy choice, but they made an oath to protect these secrets and subsequently, the world. After being handed off to fellow secret holders, Casper was raised away from the organization...well at least until he was old enough to begin his training! All the agents care for him and take part in his training, except Eva and Sigmund. Casper would see them around the halls of The Order, and never understood why they were so stand offish. When another student spills the beans about his parents, Eva and Sigurd figure ‘heck, we can’t be parents, but we can at least be his sick super agent trainers!’. Casper is growing into an amazing agent, and it’s right on time because someone is about to let a secret slip!
Stone's Picks:
Iron Man #1 – Tony Stark is stepping back from technology. He’s trying to figure himself out by taking it back to his roots, but even he’s not sure what that means. Even when Stark means well, he ends up causing pain. After a long week of mishaps, Tony ends his week hosting some of the tech elite when he runs into a familiar face. The two ditch the party and end up investigating a burglary at a library. There were some cool images of Iron Man, but the story just didn’t work for me. Near the end I became curious as to who a certain character was, but overall, I think that it could have been better.
Star Wars Darth Vader #5 - Following the battle between Sabe and Vader’s forces outside the grave of Padme Amidala, Vader enters the tomb to discover the fate of his beloved. Vader learns that she was sent to a medical facility following the events that transpired on Mustafar. He invites the Amidalans to meet him at the site so that they may end this once and for all. A battle ensues with Vader leading his forces against Sabe’s. After a long journey Vader will acquire the answers to what happened to Padme. All that remains is for Vader to return to his master.
Seven Secrets #2 – The Seven Secrets continue to impress. This issue follows the life of Caspar after being given up by his parents Sigurd and Eva. With it being too dangerous for the boy to stay with the order of the seven, he is taken away to be raised in secret until his return at the age of 9. Throughout his upbringing, he is trained in a variety of manners to protect himself. After learning the fate of his father, Sigurd, he wanders alone to deal with his sorrow.