My July Reading

Batman: The Imposter

Batman: The Imposter takes a lot of cues from Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ (excellent movie). Gotham is dark and dingy, and Bruce Wayne is young and dishevelled. It’s not set in the same universe but it pretty much feels like it is. The Imposter focuses on…well, an imposter Batman, who’s been killing criminals. Some of the ideas discussed in the story are a bit on the nose and tired (Is Batman a bad thing for Gotham and/or Bruce himself blah blah blah) but it’s an enjoyable story and I’ll devour anything with Andrea Sorrentino’s name on it, and he is the real star here. His technical ability has further improved, the art is just stunning. He’s even seemingly managed to move past his ‘same-face’ problem, my one complaint with his art. A great mini.

8/10

The Manhattan Projects by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra

Hyper-violent, hyper-weird, and with a splattering of black comedy, The Manhattan Projects was Jonathan Hickman’s first ongoing indie series and centres on the idea that the real-life Manhattan Project was a front, behind which the greatest scientific minds on Earth dreamed up insane sci-fi ideas and constructions.

The Manhattan Projects is a weird comic. Like, to give you an example (with spoilers from quite early on in the series), one of the central characters is Robert Oppenheimer (real life head of the Los Alamos Laboratory, among those credited with being the father of the atomic bomb). Except it’s not Robert Oppenheimer, it’s his evil psychopathic twin brother Joseph Oppenheimer who killed Robert and took his place. Joseph Oppenheimer also has the ability to gain the knowledge of the people he eats, and as a result he has many warring personalities. That’s just a taste of the weirdness on offer (there’s also a 3-headed cyborg thing with the heads of a lizard, bear and wolf).

Jonathan Hickman is a man of big ideas, and there are big ideas aplenty here, and the absurdity of the characters, along with them taking everything seriously, helps these weird big ideas to not feel out of place. The scope of the series is huge, but it does a great job focusing on its characters who are the core of the story, they’re generally well-developed. There are some sadder moments too, although they feel a bit more manufactured and insincere, like it’s looking to get a reaction out of the reader, rather than build up an organic character arc or relationship.

The Manhattan Projects is also sadly unfinished and will most likely never return. Volume 5 ends in a great place but it also includes a lot of teases for the future, and I’m sure there was so much more story to tell. But alas, what we got was fantastic.

9/10

New 52 Nightwing by Kyle Higgins
The epitome of meh, New 52 Nightwing is a completely fine read but does almost nothing exiting or unique. Dick Grayson is enjoyably written and the drama between him, the circus and Sonia Branch (the daughter of Tony Zucco, his parents’ murderer) is the best part of the series, but still nothing exceptional. The two issues with Russell Dauterman on art were very enjoyable to look at. That’s about it.

6/10

Superman Rebirth by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason team-up again, following from their previous book Batman and Robin, this time focusing on Superman and Lois Lane’s relationships with each other and their son Jon. I was disappointed with this series, which is especially sad since it starts off so amazing. The wholesomeness is off the charts, culminating in the truly special standalone issue where they take a trip to the fair and it’s just such a comforting read. For the first 12 or so issues that is. Later on in the series, the wholesomeness gets traded off for high-stakes arcs that never feel tight or as well-written as they could be, and they’re almost all woefully dull. There’s also a very weird 2-issue arc that’s just propaganda for America and its military and it’s very, very weird. The art is inconsistent as there are a lot of artists, but it’s generally very strong, and a few issues drawn by Jorge Jimenez means it sometimes reaches amazing (see below).

6/10

Arclight by Brandon Graham and Marian Churchland
In Arclight, Brandon Graham crafts an intriguing fantasy word with blood magic and gender-queer knights, accompanied by some truly gorgeous artwork. It’s a really cool world that I enjoyed reading about, but the story and characters themselves fail to live up to their potential. Arclight follows its titular character, on a quest to recover ‘his lady’s’ body, which was stolen by like an alien or something? I understood the plot at first but as this short series progressed, I found myself more and more lost. The characters are quite bland, and what little dialogue there is appears to serve more as exposition. There’s little in the way of personality.

The art is really gorgeous though…

6/10

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns Omnibus Vol 1

Part 1 of Geoff Johns’ mammoth run on Green Lantern covers a lot of ground, from the return of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, to the epic Sinestro Corps War. It’s a fantastic introduction to the Green Lantern universe and it feels like it does a good job at showcasing the Green Lantern world to the reader. This series is both large scale and very personal, and Johns balances the two really well. This is a really solid series and I don’t know what else to say except bring in volume 2!

9/10

Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto

Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil run is still ongoing, so this covers up to the end of his Devil’s Reign event. This is also partially a reread for me, as I’d read the first 27 issues (out of the current 42) before. This could very well be my new favourite Daredevil run, although Mark Waid’s run is a strong contender too.

First things first, Marco Checchetto is perfect. His art is literally perfect and whenever he’s not on art the book suffers. Zdarsky’s writing is still fantastic of course, but Checchetto’s style fits Daredevil so well it’s almost unfair. I love how Matt Murdock is written in this series. Zdarsky focuses a lot on his Catholic guilt, and his first arc culminates in this beautiful page.

Here Matt’s come to terms with the fact that he killed a man. There was no scheme or tricks, he made a mistake and killed a man. This event is hugely important for the rest of the series, as Matt wrestles with this guilt and the idea of giving up the Daredevil identity. It’s really fantastic stuff. And Matt’s not the only character that gets a lot of focus. Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin, is here too and functions as the second half of the book. He gets his own storyline and development. Which is great, because he’s 100% one of the best Marvel villains.

There’s some stuff that doesn’t work completely for me, but that’s mostly down to how I feel about certain aspects of the Daredevil mythos. I’ve always found The Hand a bit dull, and Mike Murdock and Typhoid Mary aren’t my favourites, but they’re implemented well enough that they don’t distract from the excellent storytelling (and the Typhoid Mary stuff is very unique).

9/10

Grafity’s Wall by Ram V and Anand RK

A beautiful glimpse into the lives of 4 friends in Mumbai, Grafity’s Wall is a near-perfect slice of life book. Ram V’s dialogue is smooth and natural, and Anand RK’s art, while not what I typically enjoy, is stylish and colourful, giving the city a stunningly unique look. I found the climax a bit clumsy, but despite its short length, Grafity’s Wall gives all 4 protagonists distinct personalities (and even though I’m saying this I do think it could have done with being a bit longer)! Giving a look into a world seldom explored in American media, Grafity’s Wall is a must-read.

9/10