GeekMom: Comic Book Corner — The Return of a Batman Fan Favorite, Superman, and StarMage!

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week. This week I take a look at the new all ages comic book, StarMage, and Corrina jumps into the world of Batman with Batman: Eternal, Batman/Superman, and Secret Origins. 

Dakster Sullivan — StarMage #1 by J.C De La Torre and Ray Dillon

The first issue is pretty simple with a mix of current events mixed with flashbacks to our lead Darien Connor’s life. Darien is typical high school teenager with girl and bully problems to boot.

One day, he gets sucked up into an adventure and learns that he might not be as ordinary as he thought.

The writing and art went together seamlessly. I enjoyed the choice of colors for each scene and how the artist captured the emotion that really tugged at the heart strings.

The only thing I didn’t like about the story were the random flashbacks. I wasn’t 100% sure what was going on each time it switched, but after reading the issue a second time, I picked up on what happened.

I’m hoping the next issue has a few less confusing flashbacks and an easy to understand explanation of where Darien is from and how he is going to handle the fight that is coming towards him.

StarMage is a new series published by IDW for ages 10 and up.

Disclaimer: I was given a review copy of this title.

Curious to know what I’m pulling this week? Check out my pull list on Comixology.

Corrina — Batman Eternal #3 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman, Tim Seeley, Jason Fabok

She’s baaaack! Stephanie Brown, the crimefighting daughter of a C-list supervillain, returns to DC Comics after more than two years in limbo, a miraculous return after being erased from existence and after DC editorial deemed pitches concerning the character were “toxic.”

Steph makes her re-appearance in this new weekly series featuring the entire cast of Batman’s Gotham. For a weekly book, the pace of the first three issues has been very quick, with Jim Gordon being removed form his place as commissioner to allow the criminals a free hand in Gotham, and Batman and Catwoman quickly on the trail of the man who seems behind it all, crime boss Carmine Falcone. Stephanie returns to Gotham much as she began—over-hearing the crimes being planned by her super-villain father and wanting to stop them. But first, she has to escape him.

For the first time in a long time, a Bat-book from DC has my full attention.

Secret Origins: Superman, Robin, Supergirl, various creators

Two years after the universe has been rebooted, DC is starting to once again redo the origins of some of the most iconic heroes. Superman, his cousin Kara aka Supergirl, and Robin (Dick Grayson) are featured in this first issue. Greg Pak, Lee Weeks, & Sandra Hope tackle Superman with a nice retelling of his famous origin. I was worried they’d make him darker and more grim but, no, this is the classic tale of the baby rescued from a field who’s as much the son of the Kents as the son of Krypton.

Supergirl, Kara Zor-el, is the one who gets the angry origin. Once Superman’s older cousin, Kara eventually finds her way to Earth long after her cousin has grown up. He’s as much a stranger as the rest of the world. She misses Krypton, her friends, and her family and wonders if she’ll ever fit in. The best part of the story by Tony Bedard and Paulo Siqueira are the first seven pages set on Krypton which gives us a sense of the world Kara has lost.

No angst for Dick Grayson who remains one of the most optimistic characters left in the DC universe. This retelling of his early days by Kyle Higgins and Doug Mahnke has one of the sweetest scenes I’ve read in a long time between Dick and his parents. I was wondering when the tale would descend into darkness but instead it ends on a nice note with Dick honoring his dead parents with joy, rather than sadness. My only quibble is that I don’t like that Grayson has been aged up so he’s more of a little brother to Bruce Wayne than his foster son.

Batman/Superman Volume #1: Cross World by Greg Pak and Jae Lee ($22.99), to be released May 6.

Haunting.

That’s the best way to describe the story devised by Pak and Lee that features at least two sets of Batmen and Supermen, along with the Earth-2 versions of Catwoman and Lois Lane. Lee’s stylish art creates a dream-like atmosphere as the two younger versions of Batman and Superman are manipulated by a demon from Apokolips.

There are some fun moments and some meta-commentary on how angry the new 52 Superman seems to be in comparison to his older Earth-2 counterpart but, mostly, it’s a tense affair as four heroes race to save a couple of worlds. Yet the end makes it clear that the worse is yet to come. It’s a fine story, though not my favorite because of the dark tone, but Lee’s art is so atmospheric that any reader will be drawn in this story world.

Looking for something else, readers? Check out this week’s listed books:

All-Star Western #30 Aquaman #30 Batman Eternal #3 Batman Superman #9 Books Of Magic TP Catwoman #30 Dead Boy Detectives #5 Deadman Vol. 5 TP Flash #30 Green Lantern Vol. 3 The End TP Green Lantern Vol. 4 Dark Days HC Justice League Dark #30 Justice League United #0 Larfleeze #10 MAD Magazine #527 Red Lanterns #30 Secret Origins #1 Superman #30 Teen Titans #30 (Final Issue) Teen Titans Go #3

All-New Invaders #4 Avengers Undercover #3 Brilliant Vol. 1 HC (Premiere Edition) Captain Marvel #1 Daredevil #2 New Series Dexter Down Under #3 (Of 5) Elektra #1 New Series Fantastic Four #3 George Romero’s Empire Of The Dead Act One #4 (Of 5) Guardians Of The Galaxy #14 GeekMom Recommended  Iron Patriot #2 New Series Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 16 HC Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man #25 Origin II #1 (Of 5) New Mini Series Original Sin #0 New Event Powers Bureau #9 Savage Wolverine #17 Savage Wolverine Vol. 1 Kill Island TP Secret Avengers Vol. 3 How To MA.I.M. A Mockingbird TP Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #12 Thor By Walter Simonson Vol. 5 TP Thunderbolts #25 Uncanny Avengers #19 What If Age Of Ultron #4 (Of 5) X-Men Legacy Vol. 4 For We Are Many TP X-Men An Origin Story HC

Acronym Key: VC = Variant Cover / HC = Hard Cover / TP = Trade Paperback / GM = GeekMom Recommended Reading

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