CBD Thoughts 9/10/25
Sep. 11th, 2025 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ixajawLots of good stuff came out this week! The DC stuff was about what I expected, but the Indies are really sticking the landing as well as a surprise win from Marvel for me. Lots of rambling under the cut.
DC:
Green Lantern Corps 8: All action, basically. Its juggling a lot. This means that no one really gets the focus. Not much to say, as the most relevant things happening is setting up the inevitable betrayal of the Starbreaker's followers (who aren't loyal to them in the first place) as well as the climax of Nathan's emotional (heh) arc. Without his own grief, he sees that Hal and Carol are perfect for each other. They kind of lay it on a little too thick, but that's a consequence of the incredibly large number of things to keep track of here. The lead up to this point has been trying to sell that idea as well, even if it was done in a way that doesn't really make me feel that so much as observe that's where their character arcs are taking them.
Nathan is like the sympathetic version of Spider-Man's Paul lmao. Or at least, their characters are intended to serve similar purposes. There was never any illusion that their relationships with the respective female characters would be a permanent thing, so they mostly serve as romantic obstacles. The difference is in the presentation. While he's certainly not landing on any top character lists, his reactions are at least understandable and pitiable enough that his sacrifice in this issue (presumed) has sufficient impact for his character. We shall see if he ends up returning in the future.
Also, Simon... not a good look there, man...
Keli's glove will probably be the lead-in to the arc following the Starbreaker one. How one will dovetail into the other remains a mystery, however, since they're literally happening on other ends of the universe. I imagine John will reappear to handle the glove shenanigans while the rest of the crew is dealing with the fallout of the Starbreaker business.
Aquaman 9: They casually drop the fact that Aquaman is now Superman/Wonder Woman tier in terms of power now and are clearly setting up future conflict with Batman. And he shaved! Nooooo! But obviously the biggest thing is Mera being alive in the end even though they just 'buried' her. There is clearly some sort of time shenanigans going on, as Mera is holding onto a baby Andrina... no idea where this one is going tbh. Art is stunning as usual, but I'm quite invested. I do wonder how they're planning to square that circle of Baby Andrina with Mera with Adult Andrina with Arthur.
I know we comic fans like to complain about not leaving characters dead... but honestly, I really like the dynamic of power couple Arthur/Mera, so I ain't even upset.
Absolute Batman 12: I sort of like this origin for Batman's Rogue's. Bruce has always been at the center of his most iconic villains, but here... it really is kind of his fault. I mean, not really, as the one at fault is Bane for having done this to Bruce's loved ones, but the intimate and visceral way in which Bane has targeted and disfigured his friend group, turning them into his enemies is absolute heinous. Which is what I wanna see in a villain. The tone of Absolute Batman remains pretty bleak, but I am watching on in horrified fascination. This issue was about establishing what happened to all his friends and why they will turn against him, if they haven't already. Oh, Selina... (I dig the mechanical tail. It's her tail, right? Hard to tell since she's obscured.)
Red Hood 1: Picked up on a lark. When we first got the preview, I was back and forth on whether I actually wanted to pick this one up, and having read it... I'm still on the fence. We have regressed Jason Todd as a character once again to being hung up about Batman and his death at the Joker's hands. I get it, its an iconic part of the character, but we've dealt with this how many times now? And this one doesn't seem to be doing much different from the rest.
I like the idea of Red Hood and Huntress teaming up as the sort of 'darker side' of the Dark Knight-style crusade against evil. Don't know if this will deliver.
Royale was so obviously a red flag when Hood said he could trust him, probably, but he died way too fast. You know his butt is coming back in some way shape or form.
Just... dunno. Not feeling it. It was a perfectly good first issue, and if you wanted to see an angsty Jason Todd trying to feel himself out then you'll probably like this one.
Marvel:
Undead Iron Fist 1: Okay, so unrelated to the plot or anything. WTF is up with Marvel's quality control lately. This is the sixth or seventh Marvel book in the past 3 months that has had a bad print job, with random pages having runny text/ghosting images. Which sucks because I'm digging Galán's art here and wish I could see it as intended.
Random Spider-person because they have to appear in every book, but I'm glad it was Miles and not Peter or Gwen tbh. Given his recent adventures, he suits the setting more. I do hope this is the last we see of him in this series, though.
So. Danny Rand is back, but on a timer. He seems to be stuck in some mythological-type story, forced onto a sacred mission that has him both in hell trying to escape and on earth trying to rid the world of demons. I fuck with this. Bringing back Orson Randall as his teacher on this new adventure, where 'everything we learned was a lie' could potentially send this character into an intriguing new era. Is Randall the voice speaking to him throughout this issue? This issue was good, is what I'm saying. This is a 4 issue miniseries, so these next issues need to be PACKED to deliver on what was set up and promised in this issue. Excited to see it.
Punisher (Red Band) 1: Solid stuff. I think its very funny that they make a whole big deal of the red band thing being this more explicit, grittier, for adults only story, and then censor Tombstone's dialogue. Like. C'mon. Just let him say fuck.
Indie:
Transformers 24: GREAT! AMAZING! FANTASTIC! Dammit Starscream, you really can't see anything to completion, can you? Optimus chastising Megatron for begging for his life when he was about to callously murder a bunch of innocents just to hurt Optimus was a very nice showing of how Optimus is the nicest guy around, but not the completely soft fool Megatron accuses him of being. A satisfying wrap up to this storyline... and the end of Daniel Warren Johnson's time on the series. I'm sad to see him go, but this was a really good run. I actually have never been a Transformers fan despite having loved robots my entire life, and I was entranced the whole way. We have Kirkman and Mora on their way in, so there's still plenty to look forward to going forward.
Godzilla (Kai-Sei) 2: My biggest concern when this series was announced was the the humans would be boring. I can safely say that is not the case, and they're shaping up to be quite interesting. Obviously, not everyone has been able to show their stuff yet, but given the way Jacen and Rumi are shaping up, I have high hopes. The action/storytelling is a little hectic and results in the story jumping around, but its not any worse than the GL+Corps jumping around from DC. At least this plot's jumping around is limited to the events of this one book.
That said... as a non-officionado for Godzilla lore, they really are throwing out a ton of terms and just rolling with it. I admit I am a tad lost here, but I'm hoping they once a handful of issues are out I can reread and understand the whole picture better. It's a me problem, I think.
The talking Kaiju with the parasites (Yacumama) has a sick design, ngl, but it says its tasked with destroying earth, and isn't that the case for... pretty much every Kaiju that isn't like Mothra and sometimes Godzilla? My ignorance is showing.
Traitor guy is already flip flopping on his alegiences pretty quick. He's a mole for another agency. Whether THAT group will be wholeheartedly evil or some well intentioned extremists remains unclear.
Of course, you can't have a Godzilla book and not have Godzilla appear every few issues, so we're promised an appearance, but it's surrounded by some of those leeches. That doesn't bode well for its perfomance next issue... especially since the preview at the end says either it or Jacen is destined to die at the end of the first arc. We'll see how accurate that is.
All-New Harbinger 1: I've been trying all the new Valiant books. Bloodshot was unironically good (historically I have not been a fan but I'm legit excited for the next issue), and the Shadowman one wasn't what I was expecting but I'm still intrigued. I also have high hopes for next week's X-O Manowar. This leaves Harbinger as the odd duck, as its the only one I had zero knowledge or expectation of going in.
The majority of this issue is about establishing our characters, and as this is a team book, that's a lot. As such, a lot happens very quickly, with very little resolution. The book does take pains to make all the characters feel different from each other, which is the most important thing in a team book, though all the wildly different walks of life they seem to lead is a lot of take in all at once. Some of their lives seem almost normal, even though the history of this world and the technology, etc, are wildly different from our own.
Because it was establishing so much, it really just left me with more questions. So they're this team of super powered people who are tasked with protecting humanity. So far so good. There's tension between non-powered humans (Norms) and empowered individuals (Psiots) which takes various forms, but exactly how this all formed and why it persists in its current forms will obviously be addressed later. A lot of history, all fairly recent, has been thrown out in dialogue as well, giving the reader the same sense as the characters: that they're getting thrown into the thick of it out of seemingly nowhere. I could poke at all the character's individual circumstances, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse. Obviously, I'm meant to have questions at this stage.
DC:
Green Lantern Corps 8: All action, basically. Its juggling a lot. This means that no one really gets the focus. Not much to say, as the most relevant things happening is setting up the inevitable betrayal of the Starbreaker's followers (who aren't loyal to them in the first place) as well as the climax of Nathan's emotional (heh) arc. Without his own grief, he sees that Hal and Carol are perfect for each other. They kind of lay it on a little too thick, but that's a consequence of the incredibly large number of things to keep track of here. The lead up to this point has been trying to sell that idea as well, even if it was done in a way that doesn't really make me feel that so much as observe that's where their character arcs are taking them.
Nathan is like the sympathetic version of Spider-Man's Paul lmao. Or at least, their characters are intended to serve similar purposes. There was never any illusion that their relationships with the respective female characters would be a permanent thing, so they mostly serve as romantic obstacles. The difference is in the presentation. While he's certainly not landing on any top character lists, his reactions are at least understandable and pitiable enough that his sacrifice in this issue (presumed) has sufficient impact for his character. We shall see if he ends up returning in the future.
Also, Simon... not a good look there, man...
Keli's glove will probably be the lead-in to the arc following the Starbreaker one. How one will dovetail into the other remains a mystery, however, since they're literally happening on other ends of the universe. I imagine John will reappear to handle the glove shenanigans while the rest of the crew is dealing with the fallout of the Starbreaker business.
Aquaman 9: They casually drop the fact that Aquaman is now Superman/Wonder Woman tier in terms of power now and are clearly setting up future conflict with Batman. And he shaved! Nooooo! But obviously the biggest thing is Mera being alive in the end even though they just 'buried' her. There is clearly some sort of time shenanigans going on, as Mera is holding onto a baby Andrina... no idea where this one is going tbh. Art is stunning as usual, but I'm quite invested. I do wonder how they're planning to square that circle of Baby Andrina with Mera with Adult Andrina with Arthur.
I know we comic fans like to complain about not leaving characters dead... but honestly, I really like the dynamic of power couple Arthur/Mera, so I ain't even upset.
Absolute Batman 12: I sort of like this origin for Batman's Rogue's. Bruce has always been at the center of his most iconic villains, but here... it really is kind of his fault. I mean, not really, as the one at fault is Bane for having done this to Bruce's loved ones, but the intimate and visceral way in which Bane has targeted and disfigured his friend group, turning them into his enemies is absolute heinous. Which is what I wanna see in a villain. The tone of Absolute Batman remains pretty bleak, but I am watching on in horrified fascination. This issue was about establishing what happened to all his friends and why they will turn against him, if they haven't already. Oh, Selina... (I dig the mechanical tail. It's her tail, right? Hard to tell since she's obscured.)
Red Hood 1: Picked up on a lark. When we first got the preview, I was back and forth on whether I actually wanted to pick this one up, and having read it... I'm still on the fence. We have regressed Jason Todd as a character once again to being hung up about Batman and his death at the Joker's hands. I get it, its an iconic part of the character, but we've dealt with this how many times now? And this one doesn't seem to be doing much different from the rest.
I like the idea of Red Hood and Huntress teaming up as the sort of 'darker side' of the Dark Knight-style crusade against evil. Don't know if this will deliver.
Royale was so obviously a red flag when Hood said he could trust him, probably, but he died way too fast. You know his butt is coming back in some way shape or form.
Just... dunno. Not feeling it. It was a perfectly good first issue, and if you wanted to see an angsty Jason Todd trying to feel himself out then you'll probably like this one.
Marvel:
Undead Iron Fist 1: Okay, so unrelated to the plot or anything. WTF is up with Marvel's quality control lately. This is the sixth or seventh Marvel book in the past 3 months that has had a bad print job, with random pages having runny text/ghosting images. Which sucks because I'm digging Galán's art here and wish I could see it as intended.
Random Spider-person because they have to appear in every book, but I'm glad it was Miles and not Peter or Gwen tbh. Given his recent adventures, he suits the setting more. I do hope this is the last we see of him in this series, though.
So. Danny Rand is back, but on a timer. He seems to be stuck in some mythological-type story, forced onto a sacred mission that has him both in hell trying to escape and on earth trying to rid the world of demons. I fuck with this. Bringing back Orson Randall as his teacher on this new adventure, where 'everything we learned was a lie' could potentially send this character into an intriguing new era. Is Randall the voice speaking to him throughout this issue? This issue was good, is what I'm saying. This is a 4 issue miniseries, so these next issues need to be PACKED to deliver on what was set up and promised in this issue. Excited to see it.
Punisher (Red Band) 1: Solid stuff. I think its very funny that they make a whole big deal of the red band thing being this more explicit, grittier, for adults only story, and then censor Tombstone's dialogue. Like. C'mon. Just let him say fuck.
Indie:
Transformers 24: GREAT! AMAZING! FANTASTIC! Dammit Starscream, you really can't see anything to completion, can you? Optimus chastising Megatron for begging for his life when he was about to callously murder a bunch of innocents just to hurt Optimus was a very nice showing of how Optimus is the nicest guy around, but not the completely soft fool Megatron accuses him of being. A satisfying wrap up to this storyline... and the end of Daniel Warren Johnson's time on the series. I'm sad to see him go, but this was a really good run. I actually have never been a Transformers fan despite having loved robots my entire life, and I was entranced the whole way. We have Kirkman and Mora on their way in, so there's still plenty to look forward to going forward.
Godzilla (Kai-Sei) 2: My biggest concern when this series was announced was the the humans would be boring. I can safely say that is not the case, and they're shaping up to be quite interesting. Obviously, not everyone has been able to show their stuff yet, but given the way Jacen and Rumi are shaping up, I have high hopes. The action/storytelling is a little hectic and results in the story jumping around, but its not any worse than the GL+Corps jumping around from DC. At least this plot's jumping around is limited to the events of this one book.
That said... as a non-officionado for Godzilla lore, they really are throwing out a ton of terms and just rolling with it. I admit I am a tad lost here, but I'm hoping they once a handful of issues are out I can reread and understand the whole picture better. It's a me problem, I think.
The talking Kaiju with the parasites (Yacumama) has a sick design, ngl, but it says its tasked with destroying earth, and isn't that the case for... pretty much every Kaiju that isn't like Mothra and sometimes Godzilla? My ignorance is showing.
Traitor guy is already flip flopping on his alegiences pretty quick. He's a mole for another agency. Whether THAT group will be wholeheartedly evil or some well intentioned extremists remains unclear.
Of course, you can't have a Godzilla book and not have Godzilla appear every few issues, so we're promised an appearance, but it's surrounded by some of those leeches. That doesn't bode well for its perfomance next issue... especially since the preview at the end says either it or Jacen is destined to die at the end of the first arc. We'll see how accurate that is.
All-New Harbinger 1: I've been trying all the new Valiant books. Bloodshot was unironically good (historically I have not been a fan but I'm legit excited for the next issue), and the Shadowman one wasn't what I was expecting but I'm still intrigued. I also have high hopes for next week's X-O Manowar. This leaves Harbinger as the odd duck, as its the only one I had zero knowledge or expectation of going in.
The majority of this issue is about establishing our characters, and as this is a team book, that's a lot. As such, a lot happens very quickly, with very little resolution. The book does take pains to make all the characters feel different from each other, which is the most important thing in a team book, though all the wildly different walks of life they seem to lead is a lot of take in all at once. Some of their lives seem almost normal, even though the history of this world and the technology, etc, are wildly different from our own.
Because it was establishing so much, it really just left me with more questions. So they're this team of super powered people who are tasked with protecting humanity. So far so good. There's tension between non-powered humans (Norms) and empowered individuals (Psiots) which takes various forms, but exactly how this all formed and why it persists in its current forms will obviously be addressed later. A lot of history, all fairly recent, has been thrown out in dialogue as well, giving the reader the same sense as the characters: that they're getting thrown into the thick of it out of seemingly nowhere. I could poke at all the character's individual circumstances, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse. Obviously, I'm meant to have questions at this stage.
