Happy Chinese New Year folks! Comic books are something that I read on a weekly basis. While the on-going fallout from the Fall of X seems interesting/confusing, and that the Darth Vader series has taken to great pains in filling in the ever large gap between episodes 5 and 6 with really fantastical stuff (galaxy-wide droid insurrection anyone), there are some books that have really got my attention:
Batman #143
Batman #143 continues The Joker: Year One storyline with the stunning revelation that the Joker was trained by the same guy who trained Batman, Dr. Daniel Capio. Dr Capio was seeked out by Bruce Wayne to help train the latter’s mind (see Batman: The Knight #8), and he might have planted the idea of having multiple personalities such as Batman’s Zur-En-Arrh personality. What’s scary is that in Batman #143, he has trained the Joker in exactly this, with 3 different personalities to boot: The Clown, the Demon and the third personality being the scariest, described as a dark ocean emitting cold death.
The Amazing Spider-Man #43
I didn’t really expect to enjoy The Amazing Spider-Man’s Gang War storyline, finding the New York ban on superheroes while the criminal elements have a classic turf war ala The Gangs of New York to be a bit absurd and funny at the same time. I love the art on this storyline, done by John Romita Jr. It’s Madam Masque vs The Beetle (Tombstone’s daughter) in a battle royale at Central Park in issue #43, with Spider-Man and co stepping in.
Alien (2024) #4
Last but not least is a comic book that was released last week. Alien (2024) #4 is the final issue for the 2024 limited series, which is also the sequel to the 2023 limited series of the same title. Zasha, the survivor from the 2023 series which saw her mom responsible for discovering (and subsequent release) xenomorphs on the ice moon dubbed LV-695.
Zasha’s out looking for Dayton, a synth responsible for her escape many years ago and the ending for the 2024 series is surprisingly bittersweet.
