Fantastic Universes

Writers : Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza Artists : Travis Moore & Patrick “Patch” Zircher Colors:  Tamra Bonvillain Letters:  Andworld Design Review by Steve J. Ray Summary “KNIGHT TERRORS”: PART FOUR. Recently reading Nightwing has been like waiting for a bus; nothing for ages, and then four come along at once! Ric Grayson may no longer be wearing the uniform, but  Detective Sapienza  has recruited a veritable  van-load of vigilantes  to pick up the slack! Positives There are many; for starters I love the turnaround in this story arc. Dick Grayson was a vigilante who also fought crime as a cop, and now Sapienza and his buddies are cops fighting crime as costumed vigilantes. Throw Ric Grayson into the mix, light the fuse and stand back… I’m sure fireworks are imminent. Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza are doing a great job on this story and sticking to their guns. I know that they must be having a tough time, as fandom can be ...

Writer:  Adam Glass Artist:  Bernard Chang Colors:  Marcelo Maiolo Letters:  Rob Leigh Review by Steve J. Ray Summary “And They All Fell Down.” Robin, Roundhouse, Kid-Flash, Red Arrow and D’Jinn have been ambushed and left for dead in the rubble of a building set to explode  with them in it . Lured into finding the body of assassin Lady Vic, we find the Teen Titans facing the aftermath of an explosion meant to kill them. Positives I would LOVE to see the script for this issue. If it was a full panel by panel breakdown I’m sure that writer Adam Glass didn’t ask artist Bernard Chang to lay out the panels like shards of shattered windows, or pieces of rubble… but I could be wrong. If it’s a plot script, with the writer just giving the artist guidelines as to roughly what should be on each page, then Mr. Chang has outdone himself. Either way, this issue is brilliant. I’m not giving anything away by asking you, dear reader, to look at the art...

“The Shadow Pact” – Part One Writer: James Tynion IV Artists: Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran & Adriano Lucas Review by Steve J. Ray Hecate has been defeated, but  Circe has absorbed her power . The members of Justice League Dark are completely unaware of this, but they have their own issues to deal with. Yes, “The Witching Hour” is over, but “The Shadow Pact” has been broken, and Detective Chimp is left feeling Blue, as the Devil comes to take payment. Oh, Bobo… we are in trouble! I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but I love this series. Dark magic, terrific characters, Earth shattering action and drama. What’s not to love? Little threads left dangling from issues 1-4, dealing with Doctor Fate and John Constantine, are picked up in this new storyline, and repercussions are felt by the whole team. Throw in some terrific guest appearances from old friends, and other Strangers, and this series continues to be on a roll. Shadow Box...

“Jason Todd” Writer: Richard Hatem, Jeffrey David Thomas Director: Carol Banker Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter I’m probably missing something, but isn’t this show called  Titans ? We’re six episodes into this season, and so far we have been seen very little of the team together. I understand that this is all for the purposes of laying a foundation – a team needs time to come together – but we just went from seeing them start to solidify… and now they’ve been separated again. This is extremely frustrating. I can’t complain too much, though. The show is still doing an excellent job of portraying characters I have always known and loved, but with grit and realism. Bigger brush strokes are given to us in every episode. The mentions of more key characters and their origins fill in the blanks of a big universe, nicely coupled with the realism of a circus folding after the loss of their biggest stars. I feel as exasperated a...

“Copycats” – Part Five Writer: Joëlle Jones Artists: Joëlle Jones & Laura Allred Review by Adam Ray The  Copycats  storyline is heating up. Tension has been building, leading to the beginning of a real confrontation. We saw Catwoman in  issue four  seeing the doctors where her sister resides. Across town, we witness just how vicious Raina Creel is as we see exactly what she did to her husband, the governor. The issue perfectly sandwiches two great moments of tension. The situations that both women find themselves in will have major implications going forward. This is the strongest issue in the series so far. The opening scenes do a lot for us. We get two tense stories running parallel. Jones brings us the viciousness of both Kyle and Creel. It’s so interesting to see the protagonist and antagonist act ferociously, but with completely different motivations. Selina is protecting her sister. Raina is protecting herself. Catwoman has spent a lot...

“Delicious” Writer: Scott Lobdell Artists: Pete Woods & Rex Lokus Review by Adam Ray Jason Todd has  followed a trail  leading to the cutest town in America. Appleton has all the makings of a place stuck in the 50’s. There’s a lot to say about a place that looks smiley on the outside, but where there’s no way of knowing how deep and dark the town really is. It’s truly a thing to be scared of. Sure Jason Todd is on the run for (nearly) killing The Penguin, but he is still poking at the strange criminal underbelly. It’s true that anti-heroes are on the rise. Yes Jason Todd is doing the right thing by investigating “Underlife.” Intervening is the right thing, but he’s very inclined to beat up Stepfords to do it. The issue is full of intense action, but I’ll admit that it doesn’t contribute much to the on-going storyline. Comics run as a series; they’ve got to keep us coming back for more; Jason Todd whaling on village bumpkins is very delicious. ...