Astonishingly Awful's Profile

The second of the three stories stood out to me as the most engaging and artistically interesting one, while the first one was a nice but predictable homage to Jack Kirby. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the third installment that much. Despite pretty art I had a hard time understanding what‘s even happening.

First story: 7
Second story: 9
Third story: 5

For a potential new reader (I read a few Titans issues over the years but really don’t know much about them) this was a confusing read. Nightwing has lost the will to continue superheroing, which feels contrived, the team is attacked multiple times, and for some reason there’s a talking coffee machine. I didn’t really understand this comic, especially not the coffee machine.

On the posi tive side, the art looks great.

All in all, this book wasn’t the great jumping on point I expected.more

I have seen worse from Stephanie Phillips, but in the end, neither the writing nor the art are very exciting. What really turned me off was a scene in which a student educates Matt Murdock about the use of technology in learning, which makes me expect the worst of what’s to come in future issues. Make no mistake, this is DEI Daredevil.

The story is really fun in an old school way. I’m also happy to see Hellcat and Killerwatt, who was the standout star in the last West Coast Avengers series. However, what the inker did to Buckingham’s pencils is unforgivable.

It seems that last issue was an exception. We’re back to sloppy writing and average art. Also, I don’t care about any of these X-Men, so I might as well stop reading this shit.

Did I miss something? The entire Joker thing from last issue was forgotten. Now we have Poison Ivy is mayor and Vandal Savage is still commissioner. I am serious, when did Ivy become mayor? What kind of buildup went into that?

Something like a major super villain becoming mayor should be talked about. Bruce/Batman not being able to stop that goes to show just ineffective he is. The vill ains are really winning, and the people of Gotham are really stupid.

Bats spends most of the issue talking to Alan Scott Green Lantern about Savage. The whole thing which took pages would have happened in a single page when I was young and kids stayed off my lawn. When we first see Scott he’s walking through Chinatown and is accosted by a gang of thugs. They are dressed like cliched coolies. Not a good look.

This issue is, again, all set up. Again the writer is going six directions all at once. That may work writing for the trades, but this isn’t a trade. It’s a monthly book and the result is a lot of money spent on an issue where nothing happens.

Also Batman having coffee in a diner not attracting a thousand people taking photos with phones because someone tweeted it just wouldn’t happen in this in this day and age. I wish the writer would realize it’s 2026 and make the appropriate adjustments to his plot. I’ve mentioned this before but it stands.

I will give credit for Savage calling Batman and sidekicks a cult. As written now, he’s not wrong.

Overall the issue is a treadmill going nowhere.

Or I could be wrong.more

Another slow issue, although this one was definitely more interesting. I didn’t recognize Ryan Sook’s artwork at first. Usually, it’s excellent, but for some reason it doesn’t look as flawless here as I have come to know it. The bright colors that work well with the regular artist might be the problem. Still, not a bad book when it comes to the art, but I’m getting a little bored with Fraction’s w riting.more

I remember a time when a comic book featured a complete story, not just one scene. Fraction and Jimenez waste a whole issue on a conversation that could have taken up four or five pages (and that could have been more interesting). Jimenez knows enough about layout to make it look good, but all those black panels with text could have been put to better use.

A quick read, but the action is worth it! What David Finch is doing here is simply amazing from a technical viewpoint.

Now, I still have the same criticism I had with previous issues: not enough variety in settings, characters and creatures.

There are also some character twists, that feel like coming out of nowhere. The word that comes to mind quite often regarding Skinbrea ker is “unearned”. Kirkman doesn’t give his characters enough space to show who they are first, before having them make character-changing decisions, and that’s a problem from a storytelling POV.more

Maybe this comic is perfectly fine, and the only reason I’m not that excited about it is because I’m an old fart who misses the way comics used to feel and look back in the 80s. Or maybe it’s objectively mediocre. I can’t tell the difference anymore.

Gail Simone continues her reign of terror on the X-Men books. This issue, like all the others in this “Where the Monsters Dwell " story, is particularly terrible. Whether it's the dialogue of Gambit and Rogue, the bumbling villains like Lady Darkhold who are dispatched like something out of Scooby-Doo, or the dragon at the end...this book offers so much to offend X-Men fans. The art is also som ething to behold. Luciano must have been rushed or simply not given a damn due to the page rate. Many of the people have no faces even drawn on them. When the art switches to David Massina, it's equally as bad and very jarring.
I look at this issue only 1 way: this story arc is a mess, it's dumb, and it’s $5.99. Get the hell out of town! Fire Gail Simone. Someone please save the X-Men ! more

I’m glad Ivan Reis is back. Hyde Street was excellent since its beginning, but I feel that it’s really gaining momentum now.

What Johns and Frank are doing here almost exceeds the possibilities of a comic book. Pure magic!

I like absurd comedic superhero stories when handled by the right creative team. Unfortunately, Seeley and Sta. Maria aren't Claremont and Davis.

Also: WTF is even happening?