GREEN LANTERN/SPACE GHOST // SUICIDE SQUAD/BANANA SPLITS // BOOSTER GOLD/FLINTSTONES // ADAM STRANGE/FUTURE QUEST [Reviews]: The Con of Wonder!

A DC/Hanna Barbera mash-up yields lustrous spacerock to pack yer cosmic pipe with. James Tynion IV (Batman Eternal) and Christopher Sebela (Injustice: Ground Zero) tag-team it to bring the interplanetary lore, as Ariel Olivetti (Cable, X-Men) drops astral waves of multi-dimensional imagery. Two legendary galaxy drifters eventually collide when they answer the same distress call, only to find themselves busting up one another after they dust-off a few dangerous foes. They fisticuff into atmospheric descent, only to plummet themselves onto an alien world wherein the mash-up factor may actually intensify; all the while discovering they may not be alone. Space thugs with weaponized droids, and cone-headed combatants to boot??? What kinda moondust you been smokin’??? 3.5/5 Four-Fingered Wristband Rings.

Swords, Yakuzas and Gangsta ish!!!! This was a great prologue to the next arc of Deadly Class. As we travel back in time to 1980s Japan–and experience the origin of how Saya becomes the badass she’s been–it’s been revealed that Saya was raised, alongside her ambitious brother Kenji, by her father. Yeah, the head of Yakuza. All the same tropes you witnessed in Sons of Anarchy (drugs entering gangster tradition, family fueds, etc.) might explain why Saya enrolled at King’s Dominion in the first place. Rick Remender (Fear Agent) has, basically, written a Gangsta Yakuza movie in the making. It didn’t hurt to have artwork from Wes Craig and Jordan Boyd that finely placs the setting and the feel of a Yakuza epic. 4.5/5 Bibles.

With this wacky DC/HB crossover, I often wondered if the creators were fulfilling their fantasies while submerging down the rabbit hole on their latest LSD trip. When a comic has a smoking hound dog, a lion with better hair than myself, a bad-ass elephant and a monkey that frequently uses Crest Whitestrips.. well then, you know it’s going to be good. Suicide Squad/The Banana Splits was both very entertaining and aesthetically pleasing; this feeling of happiness surrounding me has not been seen in my past reviews. This is a new experience for me! The law firm of Bedard, Caldwell, Morales and Lawson were so good, they managed — not only to get all these freaks out behind bars — to get them to cooperate together. How cruel. 4.25/5 Bibles.

The Terrigen Clouds are no more. The Royal Family is no more. No more King or Queen. The Inhumans as well as the NuHumans have decided that the old traditions are best left in the past. With this being potentially the last generation of activated Inhumans they have decided to run as a Democracy. But first, before new business, they need to clear up a bit of old business. Maximus (the Mad brother of Black Bolt) and his gang of hooligans are trying to escape from justice, and Medusa and Co. are not about to let that happen. Al Ewing (Ultimates 2) has the herculean task of whittling down this cast of many not so familiar to all members of the Inhumans community into a handful of characters. Caption boxes with names and powers are always helpful (thanks Brubaker ? or was it Fraction…) The art on this issue is a tag team effort by Ryan Sook and Chris Allen (and Wong & Champage on inks) which blends together rather seemlessy. Where do the Inhumans go from here ? Why, to the stars of course–to be continued in The ROYALS by Al Ewing and Jonboy Meyers. 3.5/5 Lockjaw Forehead Fork Thingies.

Maybe it’s only righteous that I take a deeper look into the time-shifting madness of Booster Gold (since that was one of the few brightspots coming out of Convergence for me–where’s our Booster Gold Rebirth, DC?) and Fred & the Gang (seeing how Mark Russell‘s The Flintstones was my, perhaps shocking, #1 overall comic of 2016). Sense of humor wise, this imaginative DC/HB combination makes complete sense, and comes trademarked with Russell’s tasty dialogue–thanks to penning some shifty, robotically zany quirps from our pal Skeets. The only minus here is the artwork, which desperately needs Steve Pugh. Not that Rick Leonardi can’t hack it, but after witnessing 8 or 9 issues with Pugh’s majesty, it’s hard to fall back to anything of lesser quality. Still, some of Leo’s action panels towards the back-end were just fine (he really knows how to handle BG in motion!) and the coloring job is mutedly superb. Don’t forget the tremendous Jetsons back-up from Harley Quinn power couple, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, that’s sure to carry the strong legacy DC has installed with Hanna-Barbera. 3.75/5 Pebbles.

Maaaaan.. maybe i miss the cartoon from the 90s. Or, maybe all the movies just have me burnt out on X-Men. Or, maybe, this issue is actually as boring as it seemed. Diehard X-fans might enjoy it, but this prologue to the Blue & Gold just doesn’t do it for me. Ken Lashley‘s artwork is legit and Marc Guggenheim‘s dialog feels pretty natural, and that’s really important. And the pages that take place in the Danger Room are easily my favorite, with the chaos and complexity really well portrayed and awesome to examine. However, the foundation of the story seems very cliche, almost like an old cop movie or a 4th sequel to a spy movie. You know, the age-old “you gotta come out of retirement to help us solve this problem. Only you can help..and you might die..but just do this 1 last mission” storyline. If you can get past that, X-Men Prime sets the stage for a trio of possibly X-cellent titles. 3/5 Bibles.

As someone who has been thoroughly enjoying the nostalgia caused by the current arc of the Future Quest series, this spinoff involving Adam Strange was a nice break from the chaos. The immediate action pulled you in for the entire ride. The seriousness of conflict mixed with the humor was a perfect blend. Marc Andreyko (Batman: Streets of Gotham) and Jeff Parker (Aquaman, Justice League United) really know how to keep a reader interested! Not to mention the twist on the signature Hannah-Barbara art style by Steve Lieber. In the end, there was a bit of a teaser for the new Top Cat/Batman spin off that I personally cannot wait for. The cunning nature we all have come to love from Top Cat fused with everyone’s favorite crime fighter is sure to be a treat! This issue had very little missing and was fantastic! 5/5 Vortex Spawning Humanoids Agree!

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