Blue Beetle #9 – Josh Trujillo, Writer; Adrian Gutierrez, Artist; Wil Quintana, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The final act of this intriguing reboot of Blue Beetle is upon us, as the main threat has emerged. Armed with Nitida’s beetle, Victoria Kord has created a new AI-driven robotic guard for earth known as Pinnacle, and it wasted no time eliminating a threat with zero prejudice. Victoria here is an interesting mix of her canon characterization and the cartoon-ish villain we got in the movie—she’s definitely not as even as Susan Sarandon played, but she’s far from being above manipulation. The core of this issue is the frayed bond between Jaime and Brenda, as the latter starts to realize just how deep she is down the rabbit hole and makes an ill-advised attempt to get the beetle away from Victoria. But Pinnacle isn’t going to be put down nearly that easily, and the cliffhanger sets up one of the biggest-scale showdowns Jaime has faced since the original run brought the Reach to Earth.
Red Hood: The Hill #4 – Shawn Martinbrough, Writer; Sanford Greene, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This creative team has built a very interesting world in the Hill here, creating a dynamic where the superhero wars in Gotham proper rudely intrude into the lives of ordinary people. When we last left things, the story had taken an oddly surreal turn with monster projections attacking the members of the Watch, generated by a low-level metahuman. It was a surprisingly comic-book-y twist for this more grounded series, but it nicely brings Batman into the fray for a team-up with his wayward son. Martinbrough has one of the best takes I’ve seen on Bruce and Jason’s frayed relationship, as it’s clear the two respect each other but have very different priorities. The main villain, Demitrius Korlee Jr., has loomed large in this series for a while, but the end of the issue indicates that he’ll be parlaying with Dana. The interesting thing is, he might not be the biggest threat anymore.
Sinister Sons #4 – Peter J. Tomasi, Writer; Vasco Georgiev, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The boys found themselves in a very unusual situation last issue—trapped in the belly of a giant space whale with an unstable astronaut named Major Tom. But that situation is about to get a lot worse with the arrival of deadly space pirates looking to rip apart their living ship and strip it for parts. Thus begins a wild and crazy adventure where Lor-Zod and Sinson have to ascend deep inside the whale’s nervous system to try to commune with it. But surprisingly, they’re joined by a major player—Sinestro, who returns to this title this issue and discovers that Korugar has been stripped of its battery just like all the other Corps. After reluctantly agreeing to help the planet rebuild, he’s pulled into the battle of the space whale and reunited with his possible son for the first time. I’m very curious how this interaction will go next issue, as it seems we’re getting into the meat of the story now that the duo can stand each other.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
