The Batman's Grave Review (Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch)

Gotham’s latest nutter is a Power Rangers-cosplayer calling himself Scorn and he’s got an army because he’s a Batman villain. Which means Batman gotta punch ‘im. For twelve bloody issues!

Killing For Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen by Brian Masters Review

Dennis “Des” Nilsen murdered 15 men between 1978 and 1983, and was eventually arrested when the drains in his London flat were found to be clogged with human remains - he had been butchering his victims in the bathtub and flushing pieces down his toilet! Because of the recent hit TV show, Des, starring David Tennant as Nilsen, Brian Masters’ 1985 true crime book, Killing For Company, where he interviewed the serial killer in person, has been reissued - and it’s a pretty decent read for the most part.

Best and Worst Books of 2020

Any year where the government literally confirms the existence of UFOs and it barely registers in the collective consciousness tells you just how harrowing the rest of the news must be like. And now monoliths are randomly appearing across the globe…?!

The Stranger Times by CK McDonnell Review

The Fortean Times and the National Enquirer are real newspapers in the same way that Dr Pepper is a real doctor. But while The Stranger Times may appear to be another such questionably-sourced publication, the news it reports - on subjects like vampires, werewolves, etc. - are all true. Hannah Willis becomes the latest in a string of Assistant Editors of The Stranger Times who figures this out shortly after starting - just in time to cover a dark magician’s infernal goings-on in the Manchester underworld that might make her the last hire of the paper… evarrr!

The Batman Who Laughs Review (Scott Snyder, Jock)

Eight issues of nonsense and I still couldn’t tell you what The Batman Who Laughs was about! Far as I can tell, it’s just an excuse to trot out the derivative Judge Death-ish Batman Who Laughs villain from Dark Nights: Metal for another barney, just ‘cos. He’s brought with him the Grim Knight (aka Punisher Batman) from the Dark Multiverse and together they want to, I guess, take over Gotham or something mindlessly generic.

COVID Chronicles Review (Ethan Sacks, Dalibor Talajic)

COVID Chronicles collects the short comics Ethan Sacks and Dalibor Talajic produced for the NBC News website earlier this year, coloured for this print edition by Lee Loughridge. Everything here is nonfiction and covers stories from the multiple frontlines of the 2020 pandemic.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Volume 1 Review (Haro Aso, Kotaro Takata)

21 year old Akira gets his dream job at a production office - only to find that his company is one of Tokyo’s notorious black corporations. Black corporations make you work way, way beyond your contracted hours, insisting you pull all-nighters and rack up thousands of hours of unpaid overtime. But it’s his dream job - he’s gotta stick it out!

Batman: Black and White #1 Review (Paul Dini, Emma Rios)

Batman: Black and White, DC’s award-winning Batman anthology title, returns for a new run since its last seven years ago. And this first issue is… meh, kinda crap!

Invisible Kingdom, Volume 1: Walking the Path Review (G. Willow Wilson, Christian Ward)

Lux (Amazon) and the Invisible Kingdom (the Catholic church) are both corrupt. A none (aka a nun - see how gosh durned imaginative G. Willow Wilson is?!) and a spaceship captained by a lesbian Han Solo are gonna tell everyone about how evil they is - that’ll show ‘em!

Everything, Volume 1 Review (Christopher Cantwell, INJ Culbard)

A new big box store called Everything opens in the small town of Holland, Michigan - and it contains everything anyone could possibly want! But strange things have started happening since the grand opening like sudden deaths, mysterious illnesses, and odd music filling the air. What does the new store have to do with them - and what’s their real business…?

The Seeds Review (Ann Nocenti, David Aja)

(Some minor spoilsies ahead)

It’s the end of the world and grey aliens are secretly among us collecting seeds of our doomed species or something dumb like that. A journalist unearths a human/alien romance and ponders whether to tell everyone because THAT’S what people apparently care about when facing oblivion, huh?? Doesn’t make sense - sounds like complete nonsense? Yeah it’s an Ann Nocenti-scripted comic alright!

Batman/Catwoman #1 Review (Tom King, Clay Mann)

An old flame of Bruce’s asks for his help in finding her runaway son - but will the Bat and the Cat find the kid before the shadows of Gotham claim him? Also, in the future, old lady Selina, recently widowed, visits an elderly man - but why and who is he?

Sara Review (Garth Ennis, Steve Epting)

1942, the Eastern Front and the wolf is in the door and advancing further into the Motherland. Sara is the best sniper in a team of female Russian snipers doing what they can to push the Nazis back - and it turns out she’s so effective that the Nazis have dispatched their best marksmen to take her out specially. Who will win the duel - Russian or German snipers?

Sentient Review (Jeff Lemire, Gabriel Walta)

In da future, humans leave Earth to go lives on a space colony - woah, thas original maaan! On the space ship, bad people kills all the adults - but not the childrens! Now it’s up to the babies and the space ship compooter to make it to the colony. But more bad people is coming - wuh oh! Time to get astoopid, it’s a steaming pile of sci-fi pap slopped together by Chef Lemire!