Join us on the Frontlines with our weekly review roundup. This is where we have assembled to give our thoughts on various issues that are released each week. This week we have Brant, Jay, Justin, & Kat, giving reviews for books from DC Comics, Image Comics, & Marvel Comics! Check out the reviews below and let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter. Welcome to the FRONTLINE REVIEWS, hope you enjoy the experience!
BATMAN #65
Written By: Joshua Williamson
Art By: Guillem March
Colors By: Tomeu Morey
Letters By: Steve Wands
Price: $3.99
I’ve been a bit torn with this crossover arc between Batman and The Flash. Joshua Williamson provides a nicely written narrative, but I don’t fully love the direction they are taking Claire. This feels like a story just to write her out of Batman, but she has so much potential as a character that they aren’t fully tapping into. This issue is a testament to that, there are a ton of promising ideas that just don’t have the time to be fully fleshed out. Guillem March provides some strong pencils for the issue. The vast amount of extremely talented artists continues to be one of my favorite aspects of Batman, but the story still feels directionless. ~ Kat @ComicUno
TEEN TITANS #27
Written By: Adam Glass
Pencils By: Bernard Chang
Inks By: Cam Smith
Colors By: Marcelo Maiolo
Letters By: Rob Leigh
Cover By: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith & Tomeu Morey
Variant Cover By: Alex Garner
Price: $3.99
We were promised answers in this issue about the past of some of the team members, and we got some. Not all, maybe not even enough in some cases, but we got some.
D’Jinn’s dark past was the most intriguing mystery since this team debuted together, and the revelation of it made sense and opened the door for a future arc centered around her. You felt for her and what she had endured, and it made the connection between her and Damian even stronger.
As for Roundhouse, I feel like we were teased a bit with the promise of his origin story, but still never got the full story. So I’ll be interested to see that develop further as the series progresses.
All in all, we had some great character moments throughout the issue, even with Red Arrow and Crush, both connecting on a different level. And the dinner Kid Flash attended at Roundhouse’s place was fun and lighthearted.
My only criticism of the issue, aside from not getting to know the full story behind Roundhouse, is that it slowed things down quite a bit, and for new readers jumping in might not have been the strongest introduction to the series. However, as someone that’s been reading it since this team came together, I did enjoy getting to know them better in their downtime and in the aftermath of several big battles. ~ Brant @BrantFowler
NAOMI #2
Written By: Brian Michael Bendis & David Walker
Art By: Jamal Campbell
Letters By: Josh Reed
Cover By: Jamal Campbell
Variant Cover By: Emanuela Lupacchino
Price: $3.99
Naomi is determined to find out the truth about who she is, no matter what and all clues point to the town mechanic. I really like Naomi, the mystery goes a little bit deeper her with the Mechanic running away and then the pic at the end, but overall I felt not much happened. The art is just beautiful, I love the tones used here it really lends to this whole small town feel of the book. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 ¼ Stars
MIDDLEWEST #4
Written By: Skottie Young
Art By: Jorge Corona
Colors By: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letters By: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover By: Mike Huddleston
Price: $3.99
Abel’s journey has taken him to a traveling carnival in search of an old witch that might be able to help him with his problems. Unfortunately, he has no idea what she looks like or where exactly to find her.
What I liked about this issue was we were introduced to some new spirited characters with great personalities, some hints at things to come, and the mundane survival tactics of a kid (and his fox) on the run. Stealing food from vendors, running from giant robots… you know, mundane!
I’m not particularly a fan of carnival settings, however, so I think that alone took down my enjoyment of a book that’s always in my Top 5. It was a bit of a slower issue as well, and we were only teased of progression instead of actually getting much.
That said, I sincerely love this book and can’t wait for the next issue. Young has crafted a brilliant modern fantasy world full of rich characters and overall interesting settings. I still highly recommend the series even though this one took a slight step down for me. ~ Brant @BrantFowler
AVENGERS: NO ROAD HOME #2 (OF 10)
Written By: Mark Waid, Al Ewing, & Jim Zub
Pencils By: Paco Medina
Inks By: Juan Vlasco
Colors By: Jesus Aburtov
Letters By: VC's Cory Petit
Cover By: Yasmine Putri
Variant Covers By: Mico Suayan & Rain Beredo
Price: $3.99
Nyx has come and night has fallen as has the Greek Pathelon. Voyager and her Avengers take on Nyx but can even Earth's Mightest defeat the night? Another strong addition to No Road Home, with the narration being done by Clint Barton it really grounded, which is needed in an issue about the Gods. The ending though, that was the best part. What happened to Clint? What is Hulk going to do to him? I can not wait until next week. The art by Medina is a great fit for this as he and Aburtov balance the light of the Avengers and the dark of Nyx and her children. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 ¼ Stars
HULKVERINES #1 (OF 3)
Written By: Greg Pak
Art By: Ario Anindito
Colors By: Morry Hollowell With Andrew Crossley
Letters By: VC's Joe Caramagna
Cover By: Greg Land & Frank D'Armata
Variant Covers By: Cory Smith & Romulo Fajardo Jr.; Dale Keown & Jason Keith
Price: $3.99
Hulk is more dangerous than ever and he is loose, so the government seeks out the Leader to help them kill him, but the Leader has his own plans and they include the Hulkverine. I had a lot of fun with this issue! I wasn't expecting much, but Pak really delivered a solid story here, the only bad part was the scene where the Hulkverine yells at the Leader and rips his shirt, both story and art-wise, this was the weakest part of the book. What I really enjoyed was getting the family dynamic. The art by Anindito as a whole was really well done (aside from the previously mentioned scene) and really made both the Hulk and Hulverine appear as serious threats. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
LOVE ROMANCES #1
Written By: Gail Simone, Margaux Motin, Pacco Dowling-Carter, Dennis Hopeless Hallum, John Adams
Art By: Roge Antonio, Pacco Dowling-Carter, Annapaola Martello, Jon Adams
Colors By: Jim Charalampidis, Lee Loughridge, Tamra Bonvillain
Letters By: VC’s Travis Lanham
Price: $3.99
Love Romances continues the one-shots celebrating old school Marvel genre titles. I’m a sucker for a good romance, I love a lot of the writers on board, and I had to get that MJ and Peter cover by Russel Dauterman - so I picked this one up. As an anthology series, none of the narratives were truly memorable to me. The strongest was Gail Simone’s, which opened the issue, but even that story didn’t make me feel fully attached to the characters. Love Romances is an, overall, skippable series. ~ Kat @ComicUno
UNCANNY X-MEN #12
Written By: Matthew Rosenberg
Art By: Salvador Larroca
Colors By: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letters By: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover By: Salvador Larroca and Rachelle Rosenberg
Variant Covers By: Superlog
Price: 3.99
Uncanny X-Men #12 This is Forever Part 2, opens with a reunited Cyclops and Wolverine patching their wounds from the fight that found them last issue while planning the next step. Wolverine reveals that he knows where more mutants are being kept, and then two then plan a way in using some guards. This, of course, doesn’t go exactly as they hoped but they get into the compound. Faced with a new smaller sentinel, our X-Men find out that mutants are powering the sentinels and trapped inside. Good thing Wolverine is the best can opener there is. Racing through the base Scott and Logan free all the mutants they can find including Magik, who says there is one more mutant left they need to free before they leave. This leads us to a reunion of the Summers’ brothers as we find Havok hooked up a machine. The escape comes with a heavy price through as Strong Guy, long time X-Factor member is killed shielding other X-Men. We also see the introduction of General Callahan who realizes the X-Men are back. Next issue might we see Cyclops back in his 90’s uniform? Matthew Rosenberg and Salvador Larroca are telling a compelling X-Men story and I’m excited to see where this goes, it’s time for a truly great X-Men tale again. ~ Justin @ExileState
Find out where these books and more fall in the Frontline Six's Top 5 on this week's Frontline LIVE Tuesday, at 10:00 PM ET!
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