Animal Man #23
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Steve Pugh, Francis Portella, Lovern Kindierski, and Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Artists: Francis Portella and Lovern Kindierski,
Publisher: DC
Jeff Lemire is doing an absolutely tremendous job with this series in a variety of ways. His portrayal of Buddy’s acting career, the ups and downs, and the social media interaction is absolutely fantastic and extremely representative of the way the real world reacts to celebrities. Maxine’s struggle to find and resurrect her brother is both heartbreaking and endearing. Given the fact that this is comics and anything is possible, there is always the slight possibility that she will succeed in her endeavors. However, based on the way Lemire has been plotting this story, it doesn’t look like that will be the case, and I absolutely love that. I think her trying to save him and failing and learning from that would make for a great story. But then again, a little girl saving her brother would be pretty cool. No matter which way the story goes, Lemire has been doing such a great job that it will assuredly be a great read. 4./5
Batman and Nightwing #23
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz
Cover Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, and John Kalisz
Publisher: DC
Damian’s comic book existence was a roller coaster ride. In a short time he went from being a ridiculously annoying, pompous brat, to a beloved, loyal, caring boy. The thing about his death and the aftermath, however, is that it almost seemed like DC glossed over Nightwing’s loss. For the better part of Damian’s comic book existence, he was essentially Dick’s partner, brother, and son, and this issue really did a nice job having Nightwing embody the role of acceptance in terms of Bruce’s grief. Peter Tomasi has done an amazing job with portraying Bruce and Alfred’s grief. As usual, the art team did a magnificent job with this issue. 4.5/5
Superman Unchained #3
Writers: Scott Snyder
Artists: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, with Dustin Nguyen
Cover Artists: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair
Publisher: DC
Superman comes face to face with an alien being who is far more powerful than he is, he also learns about a secret government organization, and still all that isn’t enough to make this a particularly fantastic issue. The thing about this series so far is that there has been a lot of spectacular action, which, if this were a movie, would probably be amazing to look at. Unfortunately, it seems to be lacking a little bit in substance and story. Wraith is a sometimes good-sometimes bad guy, Lex Luther is running around free, but other than that, there hasn’t really been any form of direction for the story. Hopefully, considering the cliffhanger, the next couple of issues will establish a legitimate threat and direction for the rest of the mini-series, because right now it’s just a glorified action flick, which isn’t exactly what Scott Snyder is known for. 3.5/5
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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
