Comic Book Bitrot for 31 January 2024 - Swift Boating?
We Read The Comics So You Don't Have To
Welcome back to another edition of Comic Book Bitrot. As a reminder, you can find much of this content on Blogger. You can follow Zachary on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his website. There wasn’t any Lionsgate news I found interesting this week, so it’s just the normal column. “Normal.” I mean, the MAGA/GOP have declared holy war on Taylor Swift because… they’re f’en insane? A small part of this makes sense. She’s way more popular than they could ever hope to be. And we all know that they’re inherently hateful towards and afraid of women. Plus… conspiracies!
In this instance, it was from a person from my hometown. It really digs into the basic failure of their party. They simply have no good ideas to run on, so all they can do is support a fascist demagogue and wage a culture war. Fools. Run from Godzilla, er, Taylor, not towards. Let’s get to comics. We’ve got eleven titles this week. As always, titles are scored on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst.
John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead In America - Issue 1
DC / Black Label
Review by Zachary Hunchar
I’m always happy to get new, good John Constantine stories. Particularly when it is through a Vertigo/Black Label imprint. So, I was kind of excited about this. There was some hesitation as writer Simon Spurrier is sort of hit-or-miss for me. I think his work here is fine. He’s got John’s voice and the vibe right. The big problem is that it feels like editorial is interested in re-introducing Sandman and Swamp Thing to newish readers, and much of this is setting them up. I suppose it is right there on the cover—The Sandman Universe. Still, I’d rather it focus more on the misadventures of the character. Also, a bunch of things seemed to have happened that I missed, so the people he’s traveling with (future sacrifices) are a bit jarring. Still, there is hope for this. And it is still decent. It just could be better. The artwork is solid, with atmospheric inking. And the cover is pretty good. This book should appeal to fans and maybe draw some new people in.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Saturday Morning Adventures: Dungeons & Dragons - Issue 1
IDW Publishing
Review by Zachary Hunchar
There are two things I enjoyed about this comic. One is that the heroes are teens/pre-teens, and some aspects of puberty are popping out. It’s understandable and relatively universal. The second thing is the appearance of Drizzt Do’Urden, a famous character from the Forgotten Realms. Probably the most famous, and it was fun. Otherwise, this book is forgettable. The heroes are trying to find a cure for Dungeon Master, who is sick or something. And there are a couple of punch-ups that are OK. I think a fair amount of the disconnect is the art. It’s decent but not all that great at conveying the drama. The cover is all right.
Score: 6.5 out of 10
Damn Them All - Issue 12
BOOM! Studios
Review by The Wife
The end. As endings go, Simon Spurrier was able to stick the landing. Not all writers can do that well. Ellie and her supporting characters all grew and evolved organically through these 12 issues. What's even more refreshing is that they stayed true to themselves and had the will to do it. And it was beautiful and perfect.
Score: 9 out of 10
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Issue 147
IDW Publishing
Review by Zachary Hunchar
This is a tough one. I know a major creative team change is coming, and I’m uncertain if everything done in the run will be swept aside for a hard reboot. I hope not. Though it has been uneven (particularly late), I appreciate that the supporting cast has grown considerably. It’s almost impossible to keep track of everyone, but I see that as a plus. The turtles and Splinter are constantly at war with Shredder, and the Foot gets boring after a while. That being said, this time travel stuff has been confusing, especially without recaps. That being said, the family aspect of this large group comes through. There’s no doubt they care about each other, and they are heroes. It’s just somewhat tricky to hang on to everything happening. The visuals are not that great and detract at points.
Score: 7 out of 10
Avengers Twilight - Issue 1
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
The overall package of this book was interesting. It is well-written with a fascinating art style, and the cover is pretty good. But is this something that is needed? That is the bigger question. We’ve got a lot of older, future stories. The Old Man stuff. The Hulk Future Imperfect stuff. 2099. Lots of What Ifs? This is, I’m assuming, thirty to forty years later, and things aren’t all that dystopian. It’s just not all that great. And we see old heroes and some adult children. So, this is a story that lacks a threat, which makes the drama meaningless. I’m sure the threat will worsen, but it’s weak now. So, I guess if you stick around, you might be rewarded. But I’m not sure it is worth it on its own.
Score: 6.5 out of 10
Titans Beast World - Issue 5
DC Entertainment
Review by Zachary Hunchar
Two main aspects of this event are definitely moving to the foreground. The first is that the Titans are moving into the same league as the Justice League. This makes sense because there was an event a few years back where they had to step up into that role. None of them have been sidekicks for some time, and it keeps things fresh. So, it’s happening clumsily, given the story points. The other aspect is that Amanda Waller took a very public role, which is disconcerting. Her plans are typical for her but shocking to much of the world. I’m not sure why this had to happen in this event, but I like where it is going. The artwork is solid.
Score: 7 out of 10
The Amazing Spider-Man - Issue 42
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
This is another issue in the Gang War story. The main books have been moving things along, but the side ones have been weak. This falls in the former and is fine. Most of the drama is about Tombstone and his daughter. They are the story's main characters, which has been fun because the drama is as much mob stuff as it is father/daughter issues. All of this went down after the disastrous wedding between Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln and is propelled by that drama. This series will mean little if you’ve not followed it for a while. Plus, it is challenging to keep track of all the gangs. Still, there is humor and good drama. And the artwork is fantastic.
Score: 7 out of 10
Superman: Lost - Issue 10 (of 10)
DC Entertainment
Review by Zachary Hunchar
This comic has finally reached the end! And it should have gotten here sooner. This book was so much about the theme of the title and so little about the characters. The underlying idea here was to give us manufactured soap opera drama without the consequences. You see, a Superman from an alternate timeline cheated on Lois, so it is no big deal. And now there is another Superman possibly floating around out there. It’s dumb. This thing was dumb. There is no sadness that it is over. It looked good. The art and cover are excellent.
Score: 3 out of 10
Star Wars: Thrawn Alliances - Issue 1
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
I’ll admit we only watched Star Wars Rebels after Ahsoka, so we came late to the Thrawn corner of things. He’s a refreshing villain as he’s skilled and competent. There is a lot of menace to him, and actor Lars Mikkelsen brought such depth to him. You can’t help but hear his voice in the Thrawn dialogue. I find it amusing, in a way. The story jumps back and forth between Vader and Anakin’s timelines. It is interesting as Thrawn doesn’t know who Vader is, but the context of the tale changes depending on when it is happening. I know what I wrote seems wonky, but it is reasonably accurate. I’m not sure this will go more than a few issues, but it is fun. And it has a good look with fine art.
Score: 7 out of 10
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong - Issue 4 (of 6)
DC Entertainment
Review by Zachary Hunchar
For some reason, giant dinosaurs are causing many problems for the heroes. Most of it is the drama about Superman “dying,” which is pretty much garbage. He’s powerful enough that he should be able to stop most of the kaiju, but if he does that, then the show’s over early. So, instead of more exciting things happen, everyone is mopey. At least Batman is pledging to do something. Green Arrow seems to be the most pivotal character in this story. He’s doing things. Oh, and Godzilla is heading to Atlantis for reasons. And, well, this being Warner Disocvery, they could get away with the line. It’s amusing. The art and cover are good.
Score: 6.5 out of 10
Jackpot - Issue 1
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
The editor’s notes confirmed that I thought this might be just a one-shot, and that’s fine. Marvel loves doing this and tweaking a canon character to get “new” IP without paying people for character rights. The Mouse don’t like to share. So, Mary Jane Watson getting powers seemed… inevitable. I’m surprised we haven't seen Uncanny Aunt May (folks at Marvel, my website is above if you want to talk ideas.) So, MJ has some random powers, and her suit helps her harness them. Seriously, call it Dial W For Watson. So, for this issue, MJ is trying to help out and deciding to make Electro her nemesis. It takes her much of the issue to deal with the villain, and even then, it sort of stops. If you can’t tell, I’m sort of indifferent to this. It’s not great. It’s not terrible. It’s just there. The art is alright. The cover is pretty great.
Score: 5 out of 10