Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2 – Brian Buccellato, Writer; Christian Duce, Artist; Luis Guerrero, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: After a first issue that mostly focused on Superman’s proposal to Lois Lane and the Legion of Doom’s latest scheme, the monsters of the Monsterverse are unleashed on the DCU—and it’s not just the two in the title. While Godzilla spars with Superman in Metropolis and a giant spider and mammoth terrorize the League headquarters and Themyscira respectively, the monster to actually get the most screentime this issue is the giant Bat-monster knows as Camazotz—which of course, heads to Gotham where he’s mostly met with non-powered heroes. The banter between the heroes as they try to stop the massive monsters is fun, although Jason comes off a little over-the-top obnoxious when bickering with the rest of the Bats. There are a lot of guest-stars, including Black Canary and Shazam, and the creative team does a great job of thinking up unique ways that their powers could give the monsters a run for their money—with an excellent cliffhanger.
Catwoman #59 – Tini Howard, Writer; Stefano Raffaele, Artist; Veronica Gandini, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Catwoman barely escaped with her life from Vandal Savage’s temple in The Gotham War—or did she? This new arc has Selina back in the classic costume, putting her crimelord path behind her, and taking advantage of a new lease on life—literally. She now has nine lives thanks to a close encounter with the immortality serum—or rather eight. Death is keeping track, so Selina deputizes Eiko in her absence and heads off in pursuit of an infamous and murderous crimelord to fulfill a last mission relating to her late lover Valmont. This is a fast-paced, pulpy issue that calls back to Selina’s classic adventures. While it’s a lot faster-paced than the previous arcs, it almost rushes through some events and setup. What works is the concept—what would Selina, or anyone, do if they no longer had to worry about dying for a while? But the ending has a clever twist that throws that concept for a loop.
Hawkgirl #5 – Jadzia Axelrod, Writer; Amancay Nahuelpan, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This series has been an intriguing combination of a deep, introspective, and personal tale and a high-intensity superhero adventure, and that’s never clearer than in this issue. Vulpecula is traveling through time, stalking Kendra as she attempts to find her lowest moment to get her to make a deal. The only one who can stop her is… Kendra herself, who is a sort of phantom following the same path. This leads to some great flashbacks to Kendra’s childhood, including focuses on her relationships with her grandmother and grandfather, as well as some much darker moments that were hinted at in her previous runs. When things eventually take a wrong turn, it sets up an incredibly high-stakes final issue—and also comes with an absolutely terrifying presence from our mystery villain. While I’m not sure this comic always 100% balanced its two sides, this might be one of the most effective issues yet.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
