Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #6 – Brian Buccellato, Writer; Christian Duce, Tom Derenick, Artists; Luis Guerrero, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: It’s the penultimate issue of this over-the-top crossover, with Lex Luthor now controlling Mechagodzilla and leading an army of mind-controlled monsters with the help of Grodd. The League, diminished by the loss of the still-comatose Superman, takes the fight back to the monsters—but are soon overwhelmed by the fact that Supergirl has been forced into switching sides as well. The main appeal of this issue is the huge-scale fights and great monster designs, but it does seem like it’s firmly out of continuity—a major character dies this issue, one who would never be able to be killed off in a crossover—and the ending drops Superman back into the fray with relatively little preamble or explanation. Still, it’s hard to complain about a comic that involves Superman and Godzilla punching each other with some great artwork, and that’s exactly what this book delivers.
Catwoman #63 – Tini Howard, Writer; Carmine Di Giandomenico, Artist; Veronica Gandini, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: Selina has been burning through her lives to complete her criminal bucket list, but she’s never found herself in a situation quite like this one—breaking into an undersea kingdom to rescue a captive director. This isn’t Atlantis, where the leadership can be reasoned with, though—it’s Tritonis, a militant armored kingdom currently occupied by a group of terrorist mad scientists, and the director who snuck in to film a documentary knows too much. After last month’s brutal tale of Selina in a Chernobyl-like nuclear wasteland, this issue almost feels funny and chaotic at points, with her escaping and then going back for the documentary film, annoyed all the way. But despite the offbeat tone, there’s no avoiding that her lives are ticking down one by one, her friends are getting worried—and some of her old enemies see an opportunity to start speeding up the process.
John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dead in America #3 – Simon Spurrier, Writer; Aaron Campbell, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Simon Spurrier has turned his caustic eye on the United States, as John Constantine heads to our shores on a mission and brings several famous faces with him. The main plot here involves Constantine and his companion Noah escorting a dying mystic through the southwest in search of a very different Swamp Thing, but my favorite part of this story—and the most emotional—has to be the subplot taking place between two very different people. One is a militiaman and hunter with delusions of grandeur stalking the hills looking for smugglers and other criminals, and the other is a migrant mother trying to escort her daughter safely across the border to a better life. The two circle each other before colliding in tragic fashion and changing the course of both lives. This series almost has a bit of an anthology vibe to it at points, even as the main Constantine story continues to evolve.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
