Finished reading Harley Quinn: Angry Bird, DC's Harley Quinn series continues as writer Frank Tieri brings an array of Gotham's own criminals lead by Penguin to Harley's corner of the DC universe. The book opens with Harley's friend Tony in a local bar where he's kidnapped while leaving, the news only gets to Harley when she notices that her friends have been following her as she's not been acting herself recently and has been pushing people away. Which causes Harley to look for Tony herself while everyone else start their own investigation not without have Red Tool to keep an eye on Harley before the two are attacked by a Man-Bat. The book then continues with Harley moving out of Coney Island to Brooklyn away from her friends which leads to the Penguin to implement his plan expand his business to New York by bring a group of villains from Gotham to help with his first move being a take over of Coney Island which has been left unprotected since Harley's left before expanding to the rest of New York. The final story takes place in a post apocalyptic future as Red Tool has captured an older Harley to bring her back to Coney Island as the Gang of Harley's has taken control of the state of New York with each having their own part and have been fighting each other for years with Harley being that last hope to stop the gang. Overall this was a great book as it continues Harley's story extremely well thanks to the amount of character development she has over the course of the book by building upon what has happened throughout the series. The book's supporting cast also has a great amount of development thanks the the amount of time the book makes for their own story and the way each character interacts with one another which includes some great moments of levity. The art throughout the book is great as the art team is able to put a nice amount of detail into the abilities each character and their equipment to great effect. 8/10.
Finished reading Batman: Bride or Burglar?, continuing the DC Comics series as Batman and Catwoman continue to plan their future together with their wedding around the corner which dealing with the multiple threats from around the DC Universe. The book opens with Bruce Wayne meeting with a boy named Matthew who has asked for advice in how to deal with the lost of his parents after finding his own murdered in their own kitchen as Batman takes on the case to find the murderer. The next story sees Wonder Woman asking for Batman's assistance to join her in another dimension as the two trade places with the Gentle man allowing him to have a brake from fighting an endless hoard of monsters which he uses to see his wife. However Catwoman soon discovers that time flows differently on Earth compared to the other universe as years begin to pass for the heroes how have stopped ageing. The penultimate story has Poison Ivy taking over the world's population apart from Batman and Catwoman who are able stop Ivy's control over them before her complete takeover of the world thanks to an antidote that Batman has on his desk. Once discovering that their free of Ivy's control Batman and Catwoman begin to come up with a plan to save the world from Ivy. The final story has Catwoman breaking into a shop to look for a wedding dress while the book flashbacks to multiple times Catwoman and Batman had met over the years. Overall this was decent book as writer Tom King continues the series with the lead up to Batman and Catwoman's wedding as the two deal with the views and opinions of their close friends while also being faced with multiple threats to Gotham and the world which leads to so very intriguing stories that sometimes miss their mark within the execution of a few of them thanks to some continuity errors among other head scratching moments. The art throughout the book is amazing that's to the almost breathtaking imagery especially during the Poison Ivy story with how much detail goes into the character and location designs along with the way the plants are within the story. While the creature designs and the action scenes during the Wonder Woman story also look amazing thanks to the way the book put focus on to the heroes combat abilities. 6/10.
Finished reading Suicide Squad: The Secret History of Task Force X, writer Rob Williams continues the series at the current version of the Suicide Squad come face to face with their predecessors as an alien threat reappears. The book opens with the Squad readying for the night in their cells when a small robot is stopped by Deadshot when it looks to attack Amanda Waller. While looking over the robot that it came from the Earths orbit along with it having a map to an abandoned airfield in Nevada, leading to Waller to split the team up into two groups with one going up into space to see where the robot came from which lead to the team to come face to face with the leader of the original Suicide Squad, Rick Flag Sr who has been living on a space station with his team member Karin Grace who convince the team to join them on a mission the the moon to stop the return of a extraterrestrial threat. Meanwhile the team in Nevada come under fire by a group of robots when they find a file on the original Task Force X by the head of Argent, King Faraday. Overall this was a good book as it sees the return of the classic Suicide Squad which leads to some great intrigue to how the team lead by Rick Flag Sr, the grandfather of the current teams former leader was formed and how one of their missions to keep the Earth safe from extraterrestrial threats has influenced the modern day Suicide Squad's with the Red Wave becoming a dangerous threat once again. The art throughout the book is great as the action set pieces by keeps the feel of tension fell moments as the team is fighting against hordes of robots along with putting a great amount of focus in the alien designs that makes each element look to be from a horror film that's to the was the different types of aliens are able to reanimate corpse as well as the Red Wave being able to possess and influence different characters. While the flashback story that is told concurrently with the main story does a great job in capturing the aesthetic of the time period thanks to the designs used to show case the classics science fiction along with the more espionage moments. 7.5/10.
Finished reading Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith - The Burning Seas, writer Charles Soule continues the series as Vader finds himself going to the planet of Mon Cala in search of a rouge Jedi while the Imperial fleet is bombarding the planet. The book opens with Vader being called to meet Palpatine who gives him a new mission to show a force of strength with the planet of Mon Cala being used as an example for Empire with Tarkin leading the charge of the operation as Vader along with a small group of Inquisitors are tasked with the mission to find a potential Jedi on the planet. Once Vader lands on Mon Cala an Imperial ambassador's ship is shot out of the sky which leads to an assault on the planet by the Empire while Vader and his team try to find the Jedi hiding on the planet who is revealed to be living on the planet with his own students and a complete knowledge on who Vader is and his life as Anakin Skywalker. The next story sees Tarkin along with a group he has assembled to hunt down Vader on the Chander's Folly on a request by Vader himself when Tarkin found himself in Vader's debt to him after asking him to change his mission while on Mon Cala. The final story by writer Chuck Wendig sees Vader traveling to Geonosis to investigate a constant string of sabotages on the construction of the Death Star where he meets with Orson Krennic who is overseeing the Death Star project before conducting his investigation. Overall this was a great book as Vader counties his mission to wipe out the Jedi while also continuing to consolidate the Empires's power and control over the galaxy, with the inclusion of Jedi master Barr leading to some great moments between him and Vader thanks to the way the two characters stories are influenced and motivated by each other own which leads to Barr feeling more of a villain towards the end of the story. The book has a great amount of character development throw the especially for the relationship between Vader and Tarkin with the foundations of their working relationship being forged thanks to the way the two deal with the different situations they find themselves in, while the story where the two are trying to hunt each other also enforces this thanks to the story being from Tarkin's perspective. The final story also has a great amount of character development thanks to the way that it has an intriguing connection between the Attack of the Clones and Rouge One films that not only builds upon Vader's story but those of Krennic and the Erso family. The art throughout the book is amazing as the action set pieces are breathtaking in places especially during the Mon Cala story thanks to the way the art makes use of the water base environment especially in the fight between Vader and an alien squid is used to amazing effect. Also the art during the books last story puts an interesting take on Vader as he appears to be taller which helps to give him a more foreboding presence. 8.5/10.
Finished reading Star Wars: Mutiny at Mon Cala, writer Kieron Gillen continues Marvel's main Star Wars series as the Rebel Alliance try to gain new recruits to the Rebellion with the heroes next stop being he aquatic world of Mon Cala. The book opens with Leia, Han, Luke, Chewie, C3PO and R2D2 being joined by Ackbar to meet with the current leader of the Mon Cala, Admiral Urtya in the hopes to get the Mon Calamari to join the Rebellion. However the group find themselves under attack by a group of Stormtroopers on patrol which leads to Urtya to decline the proposition to join the Rebellion when the lives of the Mon Cala are at stake. This then gives Leia the idea to break into a high security prison to free the King of Mon Cala, Lee-Char with the hope to encourage the planet to join the Rebellion and once Leia is given the go ahead by her peers the group plan on kidnapping Tan Hubi, the imperial Moff of the Mon Calamari with the first stop being to beak out a shapeshifter named Tunga in order to impersonate the Moff with the help of C3PO as the group take to Moff to the prison on Strokill Prime. Overall this was a great book as writer Kieron Gillen continues to expand the upon the new Star Wars cannon by showing how the Mon Calamari became a big asset to the Rebel Alliance and their continuing fight against the Empire thanks to Rebels planning a heist that leads to some great moments within the book while the team execute their plan. The book does a great job in the different character interactions with the main cast while retaining their characteristics from the films also build upon them leading to some great comedic moments with how the characters react to the different situations they find themselves in especially during the heist where the team kidnap a high ranking member of the Empire. While C3PO has a gets a great character arc as he helps the shapeshifter Tunga to stay in character as Tan Hubi in order keep their cover which leads to great moments of levity within when the book takes a more serious turn. The art by Salvador Larroca is great as as the designs for each of the characters, locations and spaceships are brought to life extremely well especially in some parts like the end space battle which has some breathtaking moments which is elevated by the colours used by Guru-eFX. 8/10.
Finished reading She-Hulk:Jen Walters Must Die, writer Mariko Tamaki concludes the series as Jen finds herself against a familiar foe while also trying to find a solution to her current state as a Hulk. The book opens with Jen meeting with Professor Robyn Meiser Malt in a restaurant for an interview that was set up by her assistant Bradley. After leaving the restaurant Jen has her phone stolen by someone being controlled by the Leader which gives Robyn time to drug Jen whiles she's distracted and takes Jen to her lab where Robyn plans to use replicate Jen's powers for herself. The next story sees Jen going to self help author Flo Mayer for help with her current state with her Hulk persona after she nearly went to far in her fight with the Leader and Robyn. The final story see's Jen along with Patsy Walker at a high school prom when an anti-mutant rights group attack the prom in protest of a mutant named Burn had been elected class president leading to Jen and Patsy having to stop the group. Overall this was a great book as it brings an end to the series as writer Mariko Tamaki brings in the Leader as the main villain for the first half of the book allowing for some interesting story beats as Jen's views on the state of her powers differ from that of Robyn's who whats be be like her which the Leader is pushing. The book has some great character development for Jen as her story comes full circle within the scope of the series as she comes to terms with how her life and powers have been effecting Jen which leads to a great ending for the series. Additionally the book does a great job in giving the supporting cast their own character arcs with Robyn having a fleshed out backstory making her more of us one note antagonist. Along with Burn from the book's final story and Hellcat who brings some great interactions with Jen while also providing some of the best comedic moments. The art throughout the book is great as it does and exceptional job to bring the action set pieces between Jen and Robyn as well as the final fight with Jen against an anti-mutant rights group to great effect. Also the art puts a great amount of detail into the way that the characters are able to emote allowing for the more emotionally driven moments to be more effective. 8/10.
Finished reading Spider-Gwen: Gwenom, continuing the series of Marvel's Earth-65 as Gwen finds herself dealing with this universe's version of Venom which makes her life even more complicated. The book opens shortly after Gwen along with the help of this universe's version of Wolverine and Shadowcat have been able to cured Harry Osborn of being the Lizard which lead to the creation of a version of Venom that bonds with Logan casing him to go on a rampage. Once Gwen and Shadowcat are able to catch up and separate Logan from Venom it lashes on to and bonds with Gwen leading to Matt Murdock showing up with Gwen's interdimensional teleported to show Gwen the current state her father is in. Once back in New York Gwen shifts her focus onto finding Rhino to get revenge for her father, meanwhile the band members of the Mary Janes try to search for their friend along with the help of May and Ben Parker due to Gwen now showing up for some time as she has been Spider-Woman nonstop. Overall this was a great book as writer Jason Latour continues the series with Gwen dealing with a version of Venom that leads to some great storytelling thanks to the way that it effects her and the book's supporting cast. The addition of Matt Murdock's origin within the book is great as it provides an interesting backstory to the character that has some great twist the the main universe's version. The art throughout the book is great as the design of Gwenom looks extremely foreboding in places thanks to the way that the book has a sift in a slightly darker tone in the way that Venom effects Gwen. Along with the art doing great job in bringing to life each character's emotions that has a great effect on the story. 8/10.
