Blue Beetle #10 – Josh Trujillo, Writer; Adrian Gutierrez, Artist; Wil Quintana, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This series is wrapping up next issue, and there is a lot of ground to cover first. Last issue saw Pinaccle fused with the alien Scarab Nol-Dar, becoming an unkillable war machine out of the control of Victoria Kord. It injured Brenda and proceeded to tear its way through Palmyra City, leaving Jaime alone—at least, until Ted Kord stepped out of the shadows ready to save the day. This issue has some good pacing, with Jaime’s battle against a massive enemy being contrasted against the cloak-and-dagger battle to shut down Pinnacle from behind the scenes. It’s great to see Ted again, although I don’t feel like Victoria’s characterization was ever nailed down in this series. Really, the ending of the issue is where this story is strongest—nicely bringing it back to the central relationship between Jaime and Khaji-Da, as they’re about to embark on one final quest to save one of the scarabs.
Red Hood: The Hill #5 – Shawn Martinbrough, Writer; Tony Akins, Artist; Matt Herms, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: The battle for the Hill has been building for a long time, with the Harlowe sisters increasingly finding themselves at odds as Demitrius Korlee expands his hold on the area. The best thing about this series is the way it doesn’t shy away from the human impacts of superhero battles—both in property damage and civilian losses—and that gives every fight stakes. Korlee is a good deal smarter than your average serial villain, too, with a larger goal to accomplish and a willingness to cut deals as needed before the big unveiling of his Godmode project. That attracts the boldface names of Gotham, of course, which is the perfect spot for Bruce Wayne to make an appearance in his son’s book. There are some scenes in this issue that are incredibly tense, with high-octane action contrasted with one-on-one faceoffs in dialogue, and it’ll be interesting to see how this creative team pulls it all together for the finale.
Sinister Sons #5 – Peter J. Tomasi, Writer; Vasco Georgiev, Artist; Tamra Bonvillain, Colorist
Ray – 8/10
Ray: All of the books in this review column have one issue left, and this one probably has the most left to resolve. Last issue finally brought Sinestro in, as the Korugar dictator swept in to save the boys and their insane spaceman companion from certain death—but that doesn’t mean he’s there to help. Sinson, having spent the entire series desperate to meet the man he’s sure is his father, can’t bring himself to ask now and the two wind up dragooned into heading to New Korugar where they’ll become laborers helping to rebuild the place. There seems to be some slow-forming camaraderie building between the two boys, even if it’s mostly in the form of bickering, but it feels like Lor-Zod’s part of the story has essentially been forgotten. Sinestro will take up the majority of the final issue, for obvious reasons, and I’m wondering if this series was essentially all a leadup for another story somewhere else.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
