John Allison takes us unexpectedly back to the small Cornish village of Tredregyn for an unheralded second volume of one of his least talked-about titles, Steeple. Billie and Mags are still pottering about, doing nowt much. Brian might be turning into a werewolf. Rev Penrose is still fighting mermen. And a new character, who’s basically Jaco the Galactic Patrolman from Dragon Ball, appears for some more nonsensical whimsy. And well done to you if you remembered who any of those names are!
Despite having been writing comics for 30+ years at this point, Garth Ennis has written surprisingly few mainstream superhero comics. He’s written frequently for both DC and Marvel but he tends to favour “street level” characters like Hitman for DC and The Punisher, Nick Fury and one very forgettable and short-lived stint on Ghost Rider for Marvel. So Ennis finally doing a mainstream superhero comic, and for the biggest superhero no less, is kind of an event, particularly if you’re an Ennis and Batman fan like me.
While Skeletor King Arthur experiments on super-sizing his knights in Castle Gray-Camelot, Crypt Keeper Merlin’s a-schemin’ - but he needs something to distract those pesky meddlers, Duncan and his gran Bridgette. Time to bring another ye olde English myth to life - this time: Beowulf, Grendel and Grendel’s muvver!
Set in Bible times, where all the best stories are set, is a brutal nunnery where girls are treated like slaves until puberty starts a-gushing and they get taken to the mountain where they’re offered up to the heavens as virgin brides - and subsequently die horrifically birthing monstrous nephilim (“angels”)! Two girls rightly look at this ghastly mess of an existence and decide to Thelma and Louise it the fuck outta there, Old Testament-style! But God’s warriors are hot on their heels to ensure that they are not put asunder…
Peter J. Tomasi closes out his dismal run on Detective Comics with a (thankfully) final dismal volume, tying into the wretched Joker War storyline.
This is the fourth book in Riad Sattouf’s childhood memoir series The Arab of the Future and it’s my least favourite volume so far.
Somebody claiming to be Harvey Dent is funnelling firearms into the Gotham underworld for a violent uprising - but Harvey’s dead… isn’t he? Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne discovers his long-lost grandfather, Adrian Arkham, is still alive… or is he? Prepare to be underwhelmed by the obvious answers to these contrived questions in Batman: Earth One, Volume 3!
Prowler’s back on the… prowl… because of some baddie abusing crowdfunding… or something… Then Spidey’s back down in Under York to start a revolution with the Fantastic Four. Also, a day in the life of MJ and the continuing, er, adventures of May going through chemo.
Professional backgammon player Alexander Bruno discovers he has a growth behind his nose that’s pressing against his eyes and producing a permanent blot in his vision. By chance, he meets a high school acquaintance who’s since become a real estate mogul and decides to bankroll Bruno’s life-saving surgery. But what’s he expecting in return…?
Ready for the derpiest Thor there is? Heeeeeeere’s… Donny Cates! Durrrrr Black Winter coming. Duuuhhh Galactus need power to fight. Buuuuuuh. Thor help. Uhhhhh. Hit wiv hammer. Urrr… (overwhelmed with drool, fills nappy, collapses)
Wonder Woman is now Queen of the Amazons - but mean old Ares wants to make war, not love! Diana must show, for the third blimmin time now, that love triumphs over hate. Woo… hoo…
Something is destroying walking cities - but what? Meanwhile, a super criminal attempts a daring rescue by breaking into an ultra-secure compound of the mega-rich.
Small butcher-spacecraft carve up the corpses of dead gods floating in space. But then one of these small butcher-spacecrafts decides to “go rogue” and see a live god. Which is against the rules for some reason so a space cop chases after them.
A more righteously-minded Suicide Squad calling themselves the Revolutionaries quickly become conscripted into the Suicide Squad. Together, this bunch of unimaginative nobodies will do things for the duration of a book before shuffling off into oblivion. Get ready for some shuteye, this is Suicide Squad: Bad Blood!
