Comics

Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #1

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Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #1Spinning out of the events of the (pretty damn awful) Spider-Man event The Clone Conspiracy which brought Ben Reilly back from the dead, although this time as villain rather than hero, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #1 begins a new chapter for character who doesn’t seem to quite belong anywhere in the current Marvel Universe.

The first issue of the new series picks up with Reilly wearing a stolen cosplay costume and attempting to resume his old moniker the Scarlet Spider in Las Vegas. Haunted by both his good and evil halves, who appear to him as hallucinations, this version of the character lacks any of the heart of the original and returns to a somewhat heroic path only because he has nothing better to do.

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Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #25

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Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #25 comic reviewWhile ultimately I don’t think Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #25 quite lives up to its promise, it’s hard for me not to enjoy a comic that so blatantly celebrates the Bronze Age pairing of Green Lantern and Green Arrow. When Mystery, Inc. travels into Karma Corners the group of meddling kids and their talking dog run across a pair of hard-traveling heroes (making reference to Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams famous comic run).

I enjoyed seeing Scooby-Doo and the gang interact with both Ollie and Hal, but the setting of Karma Corners is a bit corny (even for me). Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had including writer Sholly Fisch having fun with the fact that Green Arrow’s rogues gallery is pretty damn forgettable. The comic even gives us a (far too short) appearance by Black Canary.

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Astro City #43

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Astro City #43 comic reviewDuring this latest volume of Astro City we’ve seen the Broken Man pop-up from time to time with important messages directed to the reader. What we haven’t seen, until now, is someone interrupt and hijack one of the omnipotent figure’s tales. That’s what happens in Astro City #43 when his tale about the Gentleman, the Bouncing Beatnik, and Lord Saampa is interrupted by the Gentleman’s daughter Tillie (who has her own amazing story to tell).

Breaking the fourth wall completely and talking both to the Broken Man and to the audience, Tillie steers the story towards her father, the super-hero known as the Gentleman. In doing so we learn something very interesting about this young girl who doesn’t age and how her father burst on the scene as a hero of Astro City.

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Batman #21

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Batman #21 comic reviewIt’s been almost a years since DC Rebirth #1 relaunched the DCU, retconned a big chunk of the New 52 as the work of a super-villain, and teased a connection behind the entire chain of events to one of the best comic series ever written. Since then DC’s been pretty quiet on the subject for the most part, at least until now. It seems it’s time for the Dark Knight Detective and the Scarlet Speedster to search for the truth.

Batman #21 picks up the breadcrumb of the Watchmen button left in the Batcave. When the unexplained artifact gets too close to the Psycho-Pirate‘s mask things take an unexpected turn with the sudden appearance of the Reverse-Flash. You might expect the Flash‘s arch-nemesis to stick around to cause more trouble, but he too is drawn into the mystery of the button. You know what they say about curiosity, right?

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven #6

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven #6 comic reviewIt seems Buffy‘s days in the internment camp is coming to an end. After an ambush by some of the less-pleasant inhabitants working for the guards, Buffy begins to suspect something wicked behind the scenes of the already unpleasant situation. With the help of Willow, the Slayer and her bestie sneak into the heavily-locked-down area in the camp learn more. What they find will force them to make some difficult choices in the days to come.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eleven #6 is a turning point in the shortened season. Now that Buffy knows that the government is looking for ways to drain all magical creatures (which would kill Spike and countless others), she’s going to need a plan.

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