Top 5 Comics For The Week Of July 6, 2022
Spoilers: it wasn't a great week for comics.
I’m back, back again. I’m going to do my damnedest to make my top 5 new comic books a weekly feature on here.
But.
There are weeks when it’s hard to praise comics. The week of July 6, 2022 is one of those weeks. A lot of books came out, but none were especially great. Also, my LCS was late in getting a few books, including Saga #20 and Strange Academy #18. Both of those stood a pretty decent chance of making the top 5. Anyway, without further ado, here are my top 5 comics of the week.
Fire Power #22. Image Comics. Written by Robert Kirkman. Art by Chris Samnee. Fire Power book has been a solid read from the get-go. This issue is no different. Kirkham’s dialogue is snappy, though, and he knows how to keep the audience engaged even in these somewhat transitional issues. Samnee’s art is fantastic as always. He might be the best action-scene artist working right now. His thick, somewhat sparse lifework fits the style of the story well and never gets in the way of storytelling. The book continues the build-up that’s been going on for the past few months. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next month, as it appears we are finally on our way to an epic brawl.
Twig #3. Image Comics. Written by Skottie Young. Art by Kyle Strahm. Strahm’s art, augmented by fantastic colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, does the heavy lifting in Twig. The plot is solid but not spectacular. Skottie has written other titles that I’ve preferred over this book. It’s a basic quest story that could use a few more twists and turns to be truly effective. Tonally it’s very, very happy-go-lucky. It never feels like Twig is ever in any actual danger. As an all-ages book, it’s not bad. When it first came out folks were comparing it to Jeff Smith’s Bone. That’s not really an apt comparison. Bone was a masterclass in pacing and drama. Twig is…fine.
Poison Ivy #2. DC Comics. Written by G. Willow Wilson. Art by Marcio Takara. Poison Ivy feels thus far like it’s a lite version of a 90s Vertigo book. This issue will draw obvious comparisons to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman issue which takes place entirely in a diner. However, while Sandman absolutely nailed the gothic horror, Poison Ivy struggles a bit in that regard. Being a mainstream DC book, it feels like Simone is afraid to commit to real darkness. It is an interesting enough character study on Poison Ivy. She wants to cure the world of the plague that is humanity before she dies. I don’t necessarily blame her.
Little Monsters #5. Image Comics. Written by Jeff Lemire. Art by Dustin Nguyen. I was under the mistaken assumption that Little Monsters was a limited series. It turns out it’s an ongoing series. That eases my trepidation regarding this book a bit. It has been slow-paced even by Lemire’s standards. This issue does feature the most action and drama thus far, even though it’s mainly depicted through vampire kids staring each other down. Dustin Nguyễn’s art is fabulous. Black and white with halftone dots for emphasis, it’s the highlight of the series. I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes. It feels like it’s building to a big revelation. It just needs to hurry the hell up a bit.
Batman #125. DC Comics. Written by Chip Zdarsky. Art by Jorge Jimenez. The first issue of Zdarsky’s Batman run mostly feels like a continuation of what came before. This is partly due to the fact that Jorge Jimenez is staying on as the ongoing artist. For the past 50 or so issues it seems like writers have been scared to actually do anything new with the Batman character. Some of that has to do with the fact that it’s DC’s flagship title, but it needs a shakeup. I was hoping that Zdarsky would bring the necessary change to the title, but for his first issue, it feels like more of the status quo. There is an upheaval to Batman’s rogue’s gallery that has the potential to be interesting. Oh, and there’s a new character introduced in a cameo. I’m cautiously optimistic that Chip will eventually right the ship on this book.
Those were my top 5 books of the week. Do you agree with my reviews? Did I miss any books? Let me know in the comments.
Please also check out the video link to my weekly Cranky Comic Book Reviews. I discuss these books a bit more and also talk about books that I liked a whole lot less than these. Cranky Comic Book Review