Comics

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1

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The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 comic reviewCollecting the first two digital issues of the new The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries, The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 brings Mystery, Inc. to Gotham City to help Batman with a mystery of who stole the gloves off his first costume from a museum exhibit. While Fred and Daphne look for clues in the present, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and Velma travel into the past (something which draws the attention of the younger version of Batman).

The new 12-issue series picks up where Scooby-Doo! Team-Up left off, this time giving us adventures all centered around team-ups with the Caped Crusader. The solution to the mystery is a bit circular as Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma cause the very event they were investigating (and a bit of Bat-hypnosis helps explain why Batman didn’t remember the encounter).

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Batman Adventures: Riddle Me This

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Batman Adventures: Riddle Me This comic reviewThe Batman Adventures: Riddle Me This trade paperback collects five Riddler-themed stories from comics inspired by Batman: The Animated Series (which is a bit funny given the character appeared so few times on the show compared to other top-tier Bat-villains). This of course means plenty of riddles and misdirects (some of which work better than others). The best story turns out to be the last of the collection when a reformed Riddler grows bored and attempts to publicly engage the Batman in “Poker Face” from Batman Adventures #11. The reformed villains shenanigans not only tick off the Dark Knight Detective but also Mayor Penguin who frustratingly can’t find anything to charge Nygma with as Riddler isn’t breaking any laws.

Robin works to solve riddles left by the incarcerated Riddler which lead him to the missing Batman in “The Real Deal” from Batman: Gotham Adventures #57. “The Oldest One in the Book!” from Batman: Gotham Adventures #11 features an escaped Riddler leaving clues for Batman to apprehend other villains not realizing he’s also leading Batman to his own door.

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Green Lantern #1

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Green Lantern #1 comic reviewA new volume of Green Lantern opens with Oa hosting a gathering of the United Planets Conclave with representatives from all over the universe. With the fate of the Green Lantern Corps and their role in the universe at stake, most Lanterns have been recalled to Oa under the leadership of John Stewart to keep the peace. Of course, something goes wrong.

Half of the story deals with the conclave and the Lanterns dealing with the threat that comes not from the Sinestro Corps or the Red Lanterns but from the representatives of Gemworld who attack while the conclave continues elsewhere. The other half of the story involves Teen Lantern, brought to Oa to the first time to undergo some testing by the Guardians to determine if she will be allowed to keep her gauntlet.

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Home #1

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Home #1 comic reviewWith all the other awful and incompetent aspects of Donald Trump’s presidency some may have forgotten the zero tolerance policy towards immigration that separated parents from children under brutal circumstances with lasting effects (hundreds have still yet to be reunited with their families). This provides the backdrop for the first issue of Home in which writer and Julio Anta and artist Anna Wieszczyk take an unflinching look through the eyes of Mercedes Gomez and her son Juan who attempt to enter the United States legally under refuge status only find the harsh reality of the “Icebox” facility far different than the promise of safety.

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Usagi Yojimbo: Wanderer’s Road #5

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Usagi Yojimbo: Wanderer's Road #5 comic reviewReprinting the story from Usagi Yojimbo #11, “The Tea Cup” offers a team-up of Miyamoto Usagi and Murakami Gennosuke who the rabbit ronin runs into on the road. Gen has accepted a job to deliver a valuable tea cup, but there are those who don’t wish him make that delivery. With nothing else to do, Usagi decides to accompany his friend as the two fight and bicker along the way.

The story, reprinted in color, offers a good example of the Usagi/Gen dynamic. There’s plenty of action for the duo on the road, and they even decide to help a pair of lost orphans (and despite Gen’s objections he takes far more care with the pair than Usagi would have ever guessed). We also see Gen isn’t above taking advantage of his friend by using him as a decoy to make the escape (and making Usagi believe the cup was destroyed).

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