The TALKING COMICS REVIEW ROUND-UP

Every week, the Talking Comics collective posts a mega-list of the comics they’re most excited to pull off the shelves that week. Check back here to see if the comics on the Pull List met the team’s expectations with reviews and quippy quotables!!! Click the links to go to full reviews and reflections!!!

Also, check out our weekly Favorite Comic Book Covers of the Week column for more coverage of last week’s new books!

Also also, our very own Bobby Shortle is keeping an updated weekly ranking of every new DC Rebirth book!!! Check it out!!!

Reviews for New Comics – June 8th, 2016

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ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT

Ghoul Scouts: The Night of the Unliving Undead #1 – By Steve Bryant, Mark Stegbauer, Jason Millet 

BUY. An all-ages horror story that mashes Archie with Goonies, Ghoul Scouts was my wonderful suprise of the week. The remaining members of two separate survival scout groups find themselves in an all-out zombie melee in the woods of Full Moon Hollow! Funny, engaging, and clever, Ghoul Scouts is definitely worth picking up! – Joey

BOOM! STUDIOS

Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy #1 – Written by Chynna Clugston-Flores, Art by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell & Mingjue Chen 

• BUY. I’ve heard soooooo many good things about both Lumbersjanes and Gotham Academy that I simply couldn’t resist this brand-new team-up series from BOOM! While I may not be that familiar with the goings of of either solo book, the team-up issue from Chynna Clugston-Flores and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell & Mingjue Chen does a spectacular job of introducing all of the primary players and acclimating readers old and new alike with the mission statement of both group. A really wonderful issue that brings two important, dynamic groups of young boys and girls together. Check it! – Joey

DC COMICS

Action Comics #937 – Written by Dan Jurgens, Art by Patrick Zircher & Mikel Janin  

• Check it out – This is the one issue of the Rebirth titles that has me undecided either way. Steeped heavily in recent events across the Superman titles there’s no shortage of events here that made me think “what the hell?!” but that’s by no means a bad thing. Even though I felt incredibly lost at times, I did enjoy it. Dan Jurgens definitely took the ‘Action’ part of the title to heart, with some utterly bonkers events taking place and all drawn brilliantly by Zircher & Janin. This’ll be a title I’ll be giving this a few issues from here as I’m really interested to see exactly where the insanity goes! – Huw

Aquaman Rebirth #1 – Written by Dan Abnett, Art by Oscar Jimenez & Brad Walker 

• Check it out if you’re an Aquaman fan – I’m sad to say that this is one Rebirth title that just didn’t grab me. I’m using what DC are doing right now to give characters who I’ve never read a chance and there just wasn’t enough here to have me interested in what’ll happen with Arthur from here. Some parts of it felt a little like they were trying to disprove the misconceptions about the character, saying he really talk to fish etc. and after talking with Bobby about Geoff Johns and reading the first issue of the New 52 run, it appears DC shoe horn addressing those misconceptions a lot! No doubt if you’re an existing Aquaman enthusiast there’s something here for you, Abnett’s dialogue is unsurprisingly nicely written and the art is crisp and richly coloured. – Huw

Detective Comics #934 – Written by James Tynion IV, Art by Eddy Barrows & Eben Ferreira

• Buy it – I downright loved this! There’s such a refreshing change in Batman’s attitude here..Gone is Bat’s ‘I can do this alone’ exclusionary way, replaced with him knowing that many hands make light work and he’s got people close by who he trusts to aid him in his mission. He’s also acting like he has a duty of care to the people he’s drafted into this team and that was wonderful to see, Batman is going to give them the skills to survive.It’s all highlighted perfectly in the way he treats Batwoman, previously he was often hostile towards her and I always felt he treated her as an imposter who didn’t deserve to wear a bat logo. But that’s gone, he sees her as the experienced and capable superhero that she is and he trusts her implicitly. Throw in the intrigue about where Clayface’s story will go from here and I think we’re in for a really fun and interesting ride with this title. – Huw 

  

• This could very well be my favorite of the DC Rebirth titles. Yes, more than Green Arrow and even Wonder Woman. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed both of the titles I just mentioned, but there’s something here with Detective that’s got a big old smile stretching across my face. I love this comic’s inclusiveness. I love that we’re finally seeing Batman give Batwoman the respect she deserves. I love seeing Batman with a knowing smirk across his lips. And most of all, I love that it’s progressive in its dialogue but managed to never beat me over the head with its messaging. That message being that all of Batman’s trusted friends have a part to play in what’s to come, and that no hero is more important to the cause than the other. Oh yeah, and that whole bit about giving villains a second chance to prove themselves? Priceless! – Steve

The Flash Rebirth #1 – Written by Joshua Williamson, Art by Carmine Di Giadomenico 

• Buy it! – WHOOSH!! This is another Rebirth title that I’m using to give a character I’ve neglected in the past a crack (you’ll see me saying this a lot!) and I am 100% on board. I really wanted to like this book as I’m a big fan of Joshua Williamson and I’m really happy to say it’s up there with the top Rebirth titles for me so far. If you’re looking for the title that is the only one so far to directly address what happened in DC Universe Rebirth #1 this is where you need to be. The art is a sight to behold, there’s a wonderful dynamism to it that perfectly depicts Barry’s powers and it also carries great emotional weight in the quieter moments. I think there’s going to be a great depth to this title if the character moments and story here are anything to go by. Things in the DC Universe may well be leaning towards getting back to how they were for these characters pre-New 52, but there’s a lot for them that still isn’t as it should be and I’m excited to see how Barry and Wally go about trying to correct things further. Up there with my favourite Rebirth titles so far! – Huw

Wonder Woman Rebirth #1 – Written by Greg Rucka, Art by Matthew Clark & Liam Sharpe 

• Verdict: Buy it, please!!!!  I thought that WW:RB was a great preview for what could be a stellar run that restores Wonder Woman to her proper place in the comics firmament. Greg Rucka’s narrative captions create a marvelous internal monologue that bring Diana’s struggle over her place in the world into sharp relief, and neatly set up her few spoken words, particularly on that last page, with a statement that echoes what we fans of the Amazon Princess have been thinking since the launch of the New 52: “I will have the truth.”-Bob

• Buy it! – Diana knows something isn’t quite right with her life’s story and she is out to learn her definitive truth. I’ve been waiting to jump into a regular Wonder Woman title for some time and with the New 52 run being labelled as a depiction of her that wasn’t true to the core of the character I steered clear. Having only read Gail Simone and Greg Rucka’s respective runs I have limited experience with her. It’s a funny thing when you read an issue of a comic, really enjoy it and then look to others asking “this was really good, right?!” I knew for a fact that I liked it, but I wanted really badly for markedly more learned WW fans like Bob and Mara to as well. It’s clear, given the subject matter and the literal redressing of Wonder Woman that Rucka intends to ‘correct’ her course. I think this title may well be the epitome of what DC’s Rebirth is aiming to achieve. Written with Rucka’s trademark craft and beautifully drawn this has me excited for Wonder Woman and her legion of fans. – Huw

IMAGE COMICS

GRIZZLY SHARK VS SEA BEAR – By Ryan Ottley 

• Yes, yes yes! This is by far and away my favorite issue of this mini-series! Now, understand when I tell you that this series has been hilarious from the start, but hooooooooooooly @#*& did I lose my mind with laughter while reading this issue! It’s not every day that a comic lives up to and exceeds your expectations, but Grizzly Shark turned out to be much more than I could have hoped for. Consistently funny and visually riotous, this is a short but very sweet series that any fan of sci-fi or late night monster flicks is bound to enjoy! MUNCH!

OTHER PUBLISHERS

Dredd: Dust #1 – Written by Arthur Wyatt, Art by Ben Willsher (2000 A.D./Rebellion Comics) 

• Verdict: Wait for the Trade. You might not know this but Dredd (the Karl Urban film version of the character) has been living on in the form of comics since the early part of 2014. Unfortunately none of these very sporadically-released miniseries have been as exceptional as the movie, but for those that are looking for anything Dredd related until whatever official sequel/TV series is finally announced, these little stories will do just fine. Dredd: Dust #1 follows the familiar path of all its predecessors–Dredd and his rookie partner (in this one Judge Conti) investigate a strange series of events that leads into cracking open an even stranger series of events. Most of this issue is very police procedural but the latter half the book promises a bit more to come as Dredd and Conti enter the Cursed Earth outside Mega City One. Chances are this isn’t exactly the kind of book you can stroll into a comic shop to buy off the shelf, so waiting until this is collected (it’s only two issues) with whatever else is going to be released in the near future (hopefully sooner rather than later) is probably going to be your best bet. Until then check out Dredd: Urban Warfare for the first collection of Dredd sequel stories! –John D.

Attack on Titan Chapter 82 – By Hajime Isayama (KODANSHA COMICS)

• Buy it, big things are coming! – I can’t say too much about what happens here as to spoil it would be a crime. Let’s just say that the battle that’s been waged for several chapters looks like it may well have come to a conclusion and I’m very excited to know what happens from here. Could we finally find out the secret of Eren’s basement in the not too distant future?! This is a manga that never fails to deliver and this chapter is no exception to that rule. – Huw

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And that’s our Pull List for this week!!! If you happen to pick up any of these books, please join the conversation here or on twitter and let us know what you think! As we update the site with reviews and verdicts on these comics, we’d love to include your input!

#READCOMICS