Sinister Sons #3 – Peter J. Tomasi, Writer; Vasco Georgiev, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The third issue of this series is an offbeat bottle episode of sorts, as Lor-Zod and SinSon find themselves trapped inside the belly of a giant space-whale with an unexpected companion—Major Tom, a slightly demented spaceman who has been trapped inside the whale for years and has built himself a bizarre ecosystem there. As Sinson schemes and Lor-Zod alienates their new potential ally, the trio all finds themselves struggling to survive during the whale’s feeding time. Visually, this is the best issue of the series, with an intense and bizarre landscape. This new character is interesting, although probably not too long for the world, and Sinson is becoming an intriguing and somewhat likable character. The same can’t really be said for the son of Zod, who is just as officious as he was in the first issue. But leaning into strange, fun sci-fi stuff is definitely the right move for this book.
Red Hood: The Hill #3 – Shawn Martinbrough, Writer; Tony Akins, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This has been one of the best looks at a grittier version of Gotham, taking place in a neighborhood where Batman rarely reaches and crime touches almost every life. But this is a Batman book, and so it only makes sense that those weird genre elements would make their way in eventually—in the form of a wild card that is hired by Killer Croc and Korlee Jr. to clean up Red Hood and his new allies. What form does this take? How about a nerdy gamer who can generate a horde of massive, voracious demons from his body? It’s certainly a bizarre twist, and Martinbrough takes his time building up to it by showing us the various lives of the urban vigilantes before all hell breaks loose in the cliffhanger. This is a strange sort of diversion from the tone of the first few issues, but it works because the creative team has done a great job of making this neighborhood seem real—so it makes the divergence feel all the more stark.
Speed Force #6 – Jarrett Williams, Writer; George Kambadais, Tom Derenick, Artists; Andrew Dalhouse, Colorists
Ray – 7.5/10
Ray: DC has been missing a teen team book for a while, so this oddball adventure filled a big void. Billed as a team-up for Ace and Avery, it turned into a larger adventure featuring Superboy, Blue Beetle, and randomly Roundhouse from the widely disliked TT run. They were up against an oddball coalition of rogues including Fiddler, Mad Mod, Music Meister, Sebastian Stagg, and wild card Klarion—and if that sounds chaotic, it is. This issue finds Ace going up against a digital music robot in a bizarre final showdown that delivers some great if not especially clear action, and doesn’t end with a big finale so much as a welcome break and the promise of more adventures. I liked the comparably lower stakes of this series, with it feeling more like a group of friends hanging out at points, but I feel like the two main characters sometimes got a bit lost in all the additional characters.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
