We’re right in the middle of a five Wednesday month, which usually means the comics released in the next couple weeks will be spread so thin that unless you pick up something you don’t normally read, you’ll probably have a tiny pull list in one, if not both, of the next two weeks. For now, this is looking like my big week of the month. These days that’s still usually less than 10 comics. I think I prefer it that way over at least once a month where I’ve got 12 or more.
The comics I picked up include Generation X 1, Ultimates 2 7, Star Wars: Poe Dameron 15, The Mighty Thor 19, Star Wars 31, Super Sons 4, Red Sonja 5 and Superman 23. Here are my first impressions, and links to full reviews will be added when they’re posted.
Also this past week I started a series where I’m looking at every animated Disney Studios movie ever, in order of release. If that interests you, I’ve posted the first two already – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. I’ve now watched Fantasia for the first time, so in the next couple of days, I’ll be working on that post.
Ultimates 2 7 is alright. The main story in the first 6 issues is just amazing. This one kind of comes out of nowhere and acts as a Secret Empire tie-in that barely touches on the main story, as if the creative team was forced to do it. Basically the Ultimates team is trapped outside of Earth because of the new shield they just activated, and they’re trying to break through while holding off a chitauri army at the same time. The art is also weaker than usual. Regular readers of the Ultimates 2 series might want to read before they buy this particular issue.
Star Wars: Poe Dameron 15 is great. The resistance is running very low on resources, especially fuel. Poe’s squadron heads out to find a fuel resupply they’re expecting that hasn’t arrived yet. It turns out that the First Order found it first and set a trap. I won’t spoil the exact details, but it kind of feels like Speed in space. That’s a good thing. Those who enjoyed The Force Awakens should check this series out – it takes place in the months before the movie.
The Mighty Thor 19 is intense. It concludes the Shi’ar/Asgard war with a heavy phoenix focused issue. Odinson also shows up after missing from this series for a while, and there are both some teasers for the war of the realms, and a nice little nod to Jean Grey’s new solo series. Despite all the other stories it touches on, this story feels very self-contained and it’s a nice break from the larger, more complicated main story. Jason Aaron’s Thor run continues to be amazing on almost every level.
Super Sons 4 is good. It concludes the first story arc in a way that’s both predictable and not predictable. It’s not predictable in how the problem is solved (and who comes to the rescue of Superboy and Robin), but the very last panel is not surprising whatsoever. It’s still an amusing moment that I won’t spoil anyway. Beyond that, Jon and Damien just make a very entertaining team. They’re somewhere between friends and bickering rivals. As a team-up book between Jon Kent and Damien Wayne, this is at least worth checking out for both Batman and Superman fans.
Red Sonja 5 is fun. In addition to the action scene involving a giant demon monster attacking New York City, this issue answers some of the questions regarding how Red Sonja ended up in the modern world. As much as I like the normal art for the most part, I think I actually prefer the fill-in artist in the first half of the issue. Either way, the two artists seem to work well together. Going into this series I wasn’t sure what to think of putting Red Sonja into a modern setting, but I’m really enjoying this so far. Red Sonja fans should at least give this series a chance.
healed1337 
Red Sonja 5 – wow, were you reading the same comic as me? If you pick up a Red Sonja comic, what do you expect to see? Action, adventure and combat. This comic had none of those, apart from 2 pages showing a monster rampaging in central New York with about 3 people running away and no emergency services on the scene. The fill-in art was really rushed with sparse backgrounds and apart from hatching a plan to get rid of Gath, nothing happened in this comic. I have LOVED this run up to now; #2 was one of the coolest Sonja comics I’ve ever read but this issue sucked. Erik Burnham’s one-shot, which came out the week before, was miles better
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You’re allowed to not like it, but I’ve never felt the need for an action/adventure series to have action in every single issue. Red Sonja 4 is intense enough that perfectly I’m fine with this one taking a break to focus more story and build-up. Also I read two other comics this week with fill-in art that both took a took a noticeable dive in quality. The fill-in art here still looks clean and shows Red Sonja’s armour looking more realistic from a body placement standpoint. I always found that while Carlos Gomez’s art is good, Sonja’s armour rides too low on her breasts and it looks a bit silly. Also if you look through it again, you’ll notice both detailed backgrounds and blank backgrounds with both artists. The fill-in artist’s backgrounds show the ferris wheel multiple times with logos, multiple coloured-carts (whatever they’re called) and advertisements in front of it, and the shelf full of bottles of different shapes and sizes in the bar. So I’m not complaining about the art.
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As part of a larger arc, sure, it’s good to have quieter chapters and that would work if this was a trade paperback. Imagine being a newbie buying this issue, though … I would be really dis appointed with the lack of action. A running battle leading the demon to Coney Island through the streets of New York could’ve been great. He’ll, Sonja stopping a mugging would’very been better than nothing. Fiorito is a competent draughtsman and his Sonja actually looks prettier than Gomez’ but she looks nothing like a tough warrior … and if his Sonja armour rides higher at the bust than Gomez’, it rides much lower at the backside! Just a really disappointing issue for me overall but I’m sure #6 will be much better. The preview art on Carlos’ Instagram looks very promising
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Generation X was great. Really enjoyed it.
Ultimates 2 was filler. Well-executed, but still filler. There was some good character stuff in it, but it still felt like a distraction from the larger, better story the book’s been telling. As for the art, while Koch’s style has some elements I dislike, I do love the sense of scope she gives some panels.
Mighty Thor was good. Still not sure why this arc exists.
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