Comics of August 29, 2018

This week, in addition to my usual pickups, I also picked up a couple issues from last week that I either forgot about, or didn’t realize they were coming out. West Coast Avengers 1 and Batman: Kings of Fear 1. I haven’t had time to read them yet, but I’ll make sure to read them sometime today. But for now, it’s time to talk about this week’s releases.

The comics I picked up this week include Extermination 2, X-23 3, Star Wars Poe Dameron annual 2 and Red Sonja 20. Here are my first impressions.

Extermination 2 is good. Despite guest starring a whole bunch of X-Men characters, it remains focused on the original 5 teenagers, which it should. With Ahab being involved in the hunt for the O5, Rachel is finally getting some spotlight as well. The end of this issue is fairly intense and promises a tough fight in the next issue. And despite all the action and plotting, there is still a bit of room for some character drama, just not as much as I hoped. If you’re interested in reading the final story about the teenaged O5 in the modern era before they’re sent back, this is worth picking up.

X-23 3 is great. This issue explains exactly what the Stepford Cuckoos are trying to do, and it significantly raises the personal stakes for Laura and Gabby in this battle of the clone families. There’s also a moment that at least partially explains why Laura took on the X-23 name again, and it’s a fairly good explanation. There isn’t much action, but the action that’s there is fairly intense. This series is also the closest to Laura’s proper characterization that we’ve seen in a long time. X-23 fans should check this series out.

The Poe Dameron annual is good. There’s a bit of a race to take some sort of information archive, between a black market seller, the Resistance, and I won’t spoil the third group. When it’s revealed what the information is, it leads to a great emotional moment, complete with flashback art that really sells Leia’s mixed emotions. Apart from that it’s a fairly fun comic, but it’s never quite great nor does it leave a huge impact. Those who have enjoyed the Poe Dameron series will likely enjoy this issue, but I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone else.

Red Sonja 20 is fun. Continuing where the last issue left off, Red Sonja tracks down the original owner of the sword she found, only to find an old drunkard who is in no condition to reclaim his former glory. She and her small group of warriors decide to help, for the sake of the villages currently under threat from the vain entertainer who took over the former warrior’s castle. It leads to an entertaining montage, an emotional tale of the warrior’s fall from glory, and the beginning of an epic battle to continue in the next issue. If that sounds like fun, you’ll probably enjoy this issue.