Simon DelMonte's Profile
Joined: July 26, 2017
Recent Activity
Fraction has a feel for Batman, and maybe for Bruce Wayne, but there is just something about how he writes comics I will never quite embrace. Everything he does borders on the twee. Great art. And I just can't stand the whole "Vandal Savage is police commissioner" thing.
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Batman #4
As Bruce Wayne investigates the Crown of Storms, Batman pursues Anarky and discovers a criminal conspiracy hiding in plain sight that will change the game for crime and criminals in Gotham City...and the world!
The story is a bit silly - he was going to nuke Central City for make himself rich? - but otherwise this is surprisingly fun for a story with the near-destruction of a city. North has really struck the right tone for Wally.
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Flash #33
Someone has hidden a nuke in Central City, and the Flash has minutes to find it before it goes off! Just one problem: Wally’s already checked everywhere. In fact, he’s actually been checking everywhere over and over for days due to the “putting yourself in danger” trend that’s been making his life a huge pain! But if the Flash can’t find the bomb a...
Total fun, a return to form after the rather bland anniversary issue. And as ever, Robin steals the show.
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Batman / Superman: World's Finest #51
Uh-oh. That sounds like a T. rex. The World’s Finest team enters the lost world of Skartaris—home of Travis Morgan, the Warlord! In a magical realm where Superman’s powers are at risk, Batman and Robin trade their masks and capes for swords and sorcery!
Charming, surreal, sweet, silly, and I wish there were more than four issues.
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The Muppets Noir #3
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT!
While Kermit the Frog continues his concussed convalescence on The Muppet Theatre’s green room couch, his alter ego Flip Minnow, P.I., is about to catch a break in his missing persons case beyond the wall of sleep. A mysterious package delivered to his office turns out to be his quarry’s diary, which gives the am...
Great art, good character work, interesting story if a bit diffuse.
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Green Lantern Corps #16
As John Stewart recovers, Katma Tui and Soranik Natu survey the Korugar that’s survived a fractured spectrum and the rebirth of Parallax. Jessica Cruz tries to decide how to intervene in a conflict between two members of the former United Planets, a conflict Guy Gardner and his team were using to conceal their search for Butcher—the emotional entit...
Very good reworking of the classic Firestorm origin.
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The Fury of Firestorm #2
Who is Ronnie Raymond, and how did he become the powerful nuclear man Firestorm? Is there an answer in his past that sheds a light on how he went rogue?
Settles into a calm, mature groove with great art.
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The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #3
Ezra Cain meets face-to-face with the Brutal Dark…but it ain’t on his terms! His snooping around the Clockworkers’ Union has finally put his investigation on the shadowy sect’s radar. But a dash of good fortune comes Ezra’s way when reporter Sandy Williams gets a lead on the Brutal Dark’s agenda. She’s an old flame, though…is working together reall...
An interesting mix of the whimsical and the dark. Not many can pull this off.
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Flash #32
Okay, so maybe Flash’s world has gone crazy, and maybe he’s having to run around the city several times a minute just to save people from themselves, but at least things can’t get worse, right? I don’t know why people still use that rhetorical construction. Every time you say, “At least things can’t get worse,” you’re just setting things up to get ...
So according to at least one writer, the DC Universe is purely Christian. Ick.
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Swamp Thing 1989 #1
Over three decades since the controversy and cancellation, Rick Veitch's legendary lost issues are completed! After a renowned two year run on the series, Veitch's grand finale to Swamp Thing was cut short, and never to see print! Whispers and leaks hinted at the epic untold saga for years. Now, for the first time, that final story is told! As Swam...
Ho won Earth is a thug like Vandal Savage police commissioner? And yes, i know thugs like him are doing stuff in the real world, but within the context of a Batman comic, this many no sense.
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Batman #2
Injured, cuffed, and tossed in the back of a GCPD paddy wagon with a dozen uncuffed and violent criminals, Robin (Tim Drake) will have to use everything he's learned from the Dark Knight if he hopes to survive his own dark night.Will Batman arrive in time to help him, or will this mission change the waythe city and the GCPD view the Dynamic Duo for...
A notch lower than the first issue since it's mainly action and not plot. But great action.
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Deathstroke: The Terminator #2
Someone’s taken everything from Deathstroke, and hell hath no fury like an assassin scorned! He’s on the road to find a mysterious client, but it won’t be easy. He’s lost his money, his resources, his family, and his best friend and moral compass. What happens when the world’s most terrifying assassin has nothing left to lose?
A fun issue that doesn't require anyone reading a single page of anything else. Only think I am not sure about is college age Mary hitting on high school kid Clark.
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Action Comics #1097
The heroes of tomorrow have arrived in the past, and they need Superboy’s help! But what can a young Clark Kent do that they can’t? Find out as Smallville is turned upside down and the Reign of the Superboys continues!
The return of Giffen and DeMatteis to Booster and friends is wonderful. The Jurgens stuff is just okay, even if Jurgens created Booster.
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Booster Gold Vol. 3: The Complete 2007 Series
It’s hard being a hero when no one remembers you saved the world.
Booster Gold knows the cost of time travel better than anyone. But as Maxwell Lord rises and history threatens to fracture, Booster is forced into an impossible choice: save his best friend from a past death, or protect the timeline from unraveling altogether. As he jour...
Solid story but doesn't outdo the origin Paul Levitz wrote.
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JSA #18
“Year One” comes to an end as the greatest heroes of the Golden Age assemble to face down this devious threat plaguing Gotham City and all of America!
Could have been a great series. But you can't both write for the trade and have instant high sales.
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Nova: Centurion #6
IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF…EVERYONE?! RICH RIDER – the last NOVA in space and the final hope of the once-proud NOVA CORPS! Dodging danger, chasing every credit and skipping town whenever it all comes crashing down around him: Rich has gotten mixed up with the mob, his ship has been stolen and now, somehow, those are the least of his problems. Will NOVA s...
Given Smith's somewhat confusing track record with comics, this was a lot better than I expected. The Quitely-style art is a big reason. So is the script.
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Bizarro: Year None #1
This am how Bizarro got finished! Kevin Smith and Eric Carrasco team up with visionary artist Nick Pitarra to tell the definitive, in definitive origin of the beloved backward bad boy! When Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent’s boss Perry White leave the Planet for a strange adventure in outer space, they discover a dimension that mimics Metr...
Generally good anniversary story, but suffers from DC's unwillingness of late to have a single long story. Best moment is Adams's not so subtle jab at the Spurrier run on Flash.
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Green Lantern #33
In this special, oversize 600th issue, Hal Jordan will be tested as never before…and a new Lantern stands poised to step in should he fail. Hal embarks on a mysterious mission while Kyle Rayner finally moves back to Los Angeles and again takes up the mantle of Green Lantern of Earth. Join Kyle as he finds a job, navigates traffic, and chases down e...
Remember when anniversary issues were big deals, often the end to epic stories? These are fun little tales but there is nothing special about them, like Waid just couldn't be bothered going big.
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Batman / Superman: World's Finest #50
This issue features an adventure so big, not only are Robin, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Batgirl, and the rest of the Super-Bat Family joining in but Dan Mora makes his return to the series he helped launch!
Sadly, McKay was just getting going by this issue. If Marvel is going to insist books sell well instantly, the storytelling can't be decompressed anymore.
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Nova: Centurion #5
THE NOVA AND THE STAR-LORD! One war brought these two heroes together, and another tore them apart. Now the Star-Lord is a true lord of the stars, while the last Nova in space has been laid low. Can this friendship be mended? Or are some wounds unable to be healed?
And just like that we are back to the fun that goes with Wally and fmaily. North is a good choice to pick where Adams left off (and to allow us to all forget Spurrier was ever on the book).
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Flash #31
Wally West: father, husband, and fastest man alive. And now with DC K.O. in the rearview mirror, Wally can finally relax and live his best life. Or can he? Because an awful lot of people are suddenly relying on the Flash to save them—and intentionally putting themselves in danger to ensure that he does! Something sinister is happening behind the sc...
2025 In Review:
