Did anyone else find Absolute Batman #2 to be a bit of a drop off from the first issue?
There’s a fine line in these books between being fresh and cool and being gimmicky. I thought Scott Snyder got a little too close to that line for my tastes.
Issue 3, out now, doesn't really get any better in my opinion. It leans too heavily on the audience knowing what the book is about, and tells us rather heavy handedly what it's about, without ever showing it to earn the plot turn in the last page of this issue. Of all the books, Absolute Batman is the one book not trying hard enough. Everything feels way too convenient. The idea of a "working class" Batman is an interesting idea that this particular book has not explored too well this far. If you squint with relative ease, this is just mainline Batman. I'll give it to the end of this arc to see where I go with it. It's unfortunate because as someone who grew to loathe Snyder, it says so much that I liked the first issue as much as I did.
But hey, Wonder Woman #16. Probably the single best issue of King's run so far. Detective Chimp serves as our focus in this story, yet another weapon in Wonder Woman's arsenal. What works about this book, and this issue in particular, is how Wonder Woman's revenge against the Sovereign is bloodless and the violence is minimal. King is subverting that expectation and it's so great. If he can seal the deal at the end of this arc to exemplify Wonder Woman as an ambassador of Peace rather than Lady Conan, I think this could be very satisfying.
Astounding because Jenny Sparks #5, out this week, continues to be unreadable trash. Believe you me, Heroes in Crisis, misguided and mishandled as it may be, is significantly better than this book. I remain unclear going into issue 6 (of 7) what the spine of this story is. I don't understand what it's about. I don't know what's going on. The character of Jenny Sparks, of whom I know nothing about, is awful and annoying. I don't know how Captain Atom relates to this story at all or how it relates to Jenny Sparks. There's something to be said for a story about the spirit of the 20th Century having to deal with the condensed nightmare of the first 25 years of the 21st Century. How Tom King manages to miss that by so great a margin is something I'm not sure in ever going to be able to reconcile.
Hellblazer: Dead in America #11 sees Simon Spurrier 's deeply disturbing examination of the inherent horrors of the American Dream conclude. I have to re-read it but I found myself pretty affected by the rage you can feel coming out of Spurrier 's pen. It's a stark reminder that this country isn't all it's advertised to be and that there's so much performative nonsense getting in the way of everything. This whole series was getting more and more hardcore with the politics and I'm rather surprised at how hard it went. It sets up a potential follow-up (or maybe that's my wishful thinking...the world needs more of THIS Constantine and much, much less of the chain-smoking Dr Strange garbage unfortunately co-exists). It also establishes a new and much welcomed status quo for Alec Holland, the Swamp Thing. I would very much love a black label Swamp Thing series, preferably written by Spurrier.
New Gods #1. I'm not gonna say much about this one. But it delivered. In both writing and art (my God the art!). I'm in. This book is gonna be special. Check it out. Don't sleep on it.