Gun Honey Collision Course #1 Review

 

Writer: Charles Ardai

Artist: Ang Hor Kheng

Colorist: João Rodri

Letterer: David Leach

Cover Artists: Derrick Chew, Adam Hughes, Sean Phillips, Shannon Maer, Cosplay, Ang Hor Kheng, Jasmin Darnell, Sketch, Claudia Caranfa, Rare Tempter, Ivan Tao, Jay Ferguson, Ariel Diaz, Kyuyoung Eom, Cedric Poulat, BRAO, David Dias, Godtail, Greg & Fake, Anna Zhuo, Warren Louw, Carla Cohen, David Sanchez & Tony Trophy

Publisher: Titan

Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 15, 2024

 

Joanna and Brook have laid low for nearly a year. The world believes they are dead. But neither wants to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders and living under an assumed identity. Joanna has a plan she hasn’t told Brook about. Yet. How will Brook react to her revelation? Who might it endanger? Let's strap on our weapons, leap into Gun Honey Collision Course #1, and find out!

 

Story

Dahlia Racers faked Joanna and Brook’s deaths. Dahlia’s pal Sarah Claride ensured US intelligence agent Gorman would never trouble them again. But that left agent Kruger waiting to pounce should Joanna and Brook resurface.

 

Joanna and Brook have been hiding out in Kalimantan, Borneo. But the former government operative wants his life back. So, Joanna reveals one of her carefully laid plans. Before they disappeared, she took out an insurance policy with a Japanese crime lord. Should former US agent Brook Barrow remain "dead" for a year, Hiroshi Yamato would release damaging information about Kruger. 

 

 

 

In Gun Honey Collision Course #1, Joanna and Brook travel to Yokohama, Japan. Joanna intends to lie in wait if Kruger’s agents attack Hiroshi Yamato’s operation. But Joanna and Brook arrive late. Someone has kidnapped Hiroshi’s son. If Kyosuke breaks under interrogation, Hiroshi Yamato is dead. So, Joanna and Brook must hustle to find Kyosuke to preserve their "deaths" and ensure people don’t learn Hiroshi Yamato’s secrets.

 

Joanna's plan puts everyone in danger. It only works if someone in Yamato's operation rats out Hiroshi and tells Kruger about the ticking timebomb. Now Agent Kruger is pulling the strings, wielding the might of the US intelligence service to prevent Hiroshi from releasing the secret government files that could destroy him. Joanna and Brook care about each other. But if they survive, will Brook trust her again? If people die because her plan went wrong, will he be able to look Joanna in the eye?

 

 

 

Art

Brook ends a perimeter patrol by climbing a tree overlooking Joanna bathing. As he drops beside the pond and trains his gun on her, Joanna grabs the gun from her leg holster and puts Brook in her sights. Birds fly over a jungle valley surrounded by mountains as Joanna climbs from the pool in Gun Honey Collision Course #1. Brook looks away as Joanna pulls on her pants and shirt. Then they return to a bamboo shack roofed with palm fronts where Joanna lights a candle before laying a fish on a wooden table and preparing their meal with a meat cleaver and a wooden mallet.

 

Ang Hor Kheng illustrates their planned route with a map. He shows Joanna and Brook working off their passage aboard a fishing vessel. But by the time they disembark, two armed men clad in black clothes and balaclavas have pulled Kiyosuki from his casino’s office, pushed Hiroshi’s son into a sports car, and sped away.

 

 

 

João Rodri lavishes a loaded palette upon Gun Honey Collision Course #1. Rodri steeps the Bornean jungle in verdant greens and browns, showing Joanna and Brook's suntanned skin beneath a blue and purple sky. Kiyosuke's dyed orange hair embodies the brightly colored casino. Glowing streetlights turn the black sports car gray as it roars across the orange cobblestones past Yokohama's magenta and mauve buildings. Rodri’s attention to detail enhances the lifelike realism of Kheng's art, whether characters fight in an arena or women strip to bathe in a picturesque Japanese Onsen.

 

 

 

David Leach fires black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes in Gun Honey Collision Course #1. White and blue gunshots scatter across Kiyosuki’s casino. But the sounds of a desperate fistfight and an intense massage remind readers that Joanne's plan has deadly consequences. 

 

Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Charles Ardai’s Gun Honey Collision Course #1 is a fast-paced spy thriller. Ardai’s modern-day Modesty Blaise immerses readers in the Japanese underworld and launches two rival criminal empires into a gang war neither desired.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

I Heart Skull-Crusher #3 Review

 

Writer: Josie Campbell

Artist: Alessio Zonno

Colorist: Angel De Santiago

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Cover Artists: Alessio Zonno, Johanna The Mad & Frany

Publisher: Boom!

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 15, 2024

 

Trini’s Podunk Lil’ Team has qualified for the opening match in Queen Mob’s first national Screaming Pain Ball tournament. But they lost their Second Striker after he transformed into a Super Mutant during their qualifying match with the Bubble City Bullets. Can the team bond with their replacement player, Cutter Dan, before facing off against The Plague Town Masks? Let's get our heads in the game, leap into I Heart Skull-Crusher #3, and find out!

 

Story

Trini Wastelander, Cutter Dan, Coach Blood-Bone, and the bandit twins are the only qualifying amateur team in Queen Mob's new tournament. Now, Podunk Lil' Team must raise their game to take on the professional teams. Winning the tournament is their ticket to leaving the wastelands and living in the Bubble Cities. They could even end up on Skull-Crusher's team! But this isn't just a competition between teams. The Tyrant Overlords hosting the games must impress Queen Mob. Failure to please her could cost the rulers their jobs, if not their lives.

 

In I Heart Skull-Crusher #3, Podunk Lil’ Team is in disarray. Coach Blood-Bone is tired of being chained to the goal and forced to play. So he drafted David, the Mutant Bear. He's the team's new Goalie. The teammates aren't buying that David's a mutant, even if he wears a hat. But when Trini and Cutter Dan keep arguing over who is First Striker, Coach Blood-Bone knocks the players out and locks them in an abandoned building. If they can escape and reach their match tomorrow, perhaps they have a chance of winning.

 

Escaping the locked building won’t prove easy. Arsenic True, the captain of The Plague Town Masks, did a deal with the Bubble City Bullets’ captain. He watches Coach Blood-Bone trap them in the building and decides to make their dilemma more deadly. Arsenic True has a history with Blood-Bone. He knows how to get inside the Blood-Bone’s head and remind the coach that he spent years in an alcohol-ridden haze until Trini dragged him out of it.

 

The bandit twins want to live in the Bubble cities so they can rob rich people. Cutter Dan wants to eclipse his late brother's legendary status. Trini adores Skull-Crusher, but her true love is the game. Screaming Pain Ball is her passion. It gives her life meaning and makes her feel part of something greater than herself.

 

In I Heart Skull-Crusher #3, Josie Campbell casts out tantalizing facts about the Bad Week that transformed the United States Of America into Queen Mob's American Waste. Trini and her team confront a team of brutal killers and a Tyrant’s deadly tricks. But mostly, Campbell's story asks who we fight for and what we're willing to do to come out on top in life.

 

Art

Trini pulls her armored van off Damnation Alley beside a badly painted sign for the Shrieking Crater. The bandit twins stand together aloof while Trini and Cutter Dan Face Off over who is First Striker. Chained to the van, Coach Blood-Bone urges them to resolve their differences. Then he collapses, alcohol spilling from a hole in his spiked mace. An overview of the Bubble City shows the domed arena at its heart, in this society where attending matches and standing for the national anthem is compulsory.

 

Trini Wastelander and Cutter Dan evoke High School students, while the bandit twins emulate Harley Quinn armed with poison darts instead of a hammer. David takes ownership of the coach's chain. The Mutant Bear wears his hat backward, drools, and eats honey. The Tyrant Overlord orchestrating their first match resembles a power-mad Hercules, while the punk ruler Queen Mob hides in shadow. As the frantic action of their match commences, The Plague Town Masks attack, adorned in helmets and masks from prior world wars. Yet when the game reaches its most brutal moment, Arsenic True’s mask transforms into a Raven's head. But then, Alessio Zonno enjoys exaggerating Trini and her team's features to heighten emotional moments.

 

Angel De Santiago lavishes a loaded palette of soft but electrifying colors on I Heart Skull-Crusher #3. From the twins’ green and magenta glasses to silhouettes outlined in purple as the team faces drooling David, to the light streaming through window blinds that colors Cutter Dan’s brown dreads yellow while leaving Trini’s headband red, De Santiago keeps each page looking fresh and vibrant. Jim Campbell slings uppercase letters of varying sizes into dialogue balloons, emphasizes the murderous gameplay with sound effects, and gives trading cards a 3D appearance. The teams' names pop out with street style and vigor as the announcer introduces the opponents, reminding readers of the spray-painted sign that welcomed readers into Trini's latest mad, Furiosa adventure.

 

Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Coach Blood-Bone confronts his unsavory past, Trini sacrifices her ego for the good of the team, and Queen Mob takes an unhealthy interest in Podunk Lil’ Team, the only amateur team to challenge her bands of professional bloodsport killers.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Deadpool #2 Review

 

Writer: Cody Ziglar

Artist: Rogê Antônio

Colorist: Guru-eFX

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Taurin Clarke, Mark Brooks, Rob Liefeld & Declan Shalvey

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 8, 2024

 

Agent Gao offers Deadpool a spot in her new team, but he declines. Deadpool has been down that road before, but the chemistry was never right. Will Deadpool fare any better leading a team of mirthful money-making mercs? Let's leap into Deadpool #2 and find out!

 

Story

Deadpool excels at his work but wishes he was better at relationships. He thought he found love with Valentine, but as with his former teams, it didn't last. Wade left his daughter Ellie with Terry and Emily Preston so he wouldn’t screw up the father-daughter thing. Still, he’s got his symbiote-dog-daughter Princess. She loves him, so he’s not a total loser, right?

 

Lots of people define themselves by their work. Deadpool is starting to wonder if that’s all he’ll ever be good at. People may laugh at his jokes, but the ones he wants don't stick around. What if he used his superpower of making money for more than spending it on cool stuff he doesn’t need?

 

 

 

In Deadpool #2, the Merc With A Mouth nabs a secret lair. His corporate HQ may be worse for wear, but it's a place to hang his mask. Wade hires the Taskmaster away from Agent Gao, and Tasky brings Doug, his Guy In The Chair. Doug assesses their capabilities and suggests quiet, low-key assignments to increase their working capital. Then Deadpool spots a flashy gig that might raise his profile and nabs Team Deadpool’s first assignment.

 

While Deadpool tries to prove he can build something that'll last, his daughter plots to make his life more difficult. Ellie yearns to know more about her father and participate in his life. So, she increases her skillset and takes her first steps toward forging a more fulfilling relationship with her deadly-beater-upper dad.

 

 

 

Building his employee’s loyalty doesn't come quickly. Taskmaster insists he's a short-timer and only there for the money. Thankfully, Princess stands by Wade in Deadpool #2. She even offers him relationship advice in case Wade's inclined to listen. That’d be to his profit, as a team of villains that get high on The Most Dangerous Game have Deadpool in their sights.

 

What? Kill Deadpool even if they can get paid? How unCanadian!

 

 

 

Art

Rogê Antônio transports us to Eastern Europe, where Deadpool leaps with a dancer’s grace as he attacks a fortified compound. Princess bounds along, merrily chomping on the unnamed mercs. After the firefight and explosions, father and symbiote dog-daughter peer into the bunker in Deadpool #2 and find a limited-edition jacket with stylish bloodstain appeal. Score!

 

Former SHIELD agent Emily Preston may have an LMD's strength and agility, but that does not mean she excels at cooking without burning her android body. Yet Ellie barely notices her foster mother's travails as she spins the cell phone adorned with a Deadpool symbol. Later, Ellie goes to the garage, where she sits at the workbench and uses what she has to build something new. 

 

 

 

Guru-eFX makes us want to wear that blood-stained jacket in Deadpool #2. Beneath a starry sky, blue snow-covered mountains serve as the backdrop to a lively firefight while Deadpool and Princess glow deep red. Tracer fire streaks past them like TIE Fighters attacking the Millennium Falcon. "Don't get cocky, Deadpool!" 

 

After the bunker belches a gout of yellow and orange, Deadpool snaps a selfie surrounded by green-tinged smoke for his daughter. The Prestons' attire brings vibrant color to the family's neutral kitchen, while blues and grays fill Team Deadpool's new HQ, a reminder of how Wade secured the lease.

 

 

 

Joe Sabino's uppercase letters demand your attention from inside yellow, white, and red dialogue balloons. Their generous size ensures Cody Ziglar’s dialogue-driven story—bookended by fierce action--won’t tax readers’ eyes. A vibrant boom showcases the power of a grenade, a sizzle hints that Emily Preston should watch where she puts her hands, a bleep rewards Ellie’s first attempt at a new relationship with her dad, and a slamming fist indicates a client’s satisfaction with Team Deadpool.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While money can’t buy happiness, it can buy lots of cool stuff! In Deadpool #2, Wade Wilson decides to invest it in his future. But finding the right business partners could prove difficult with a death cult on his trail and a daughter who wants more from him than the occasional text or selfie.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #49 Review

 

Writer: Zeb Wells

Penciler: John Romita Jr

Inker: Scott Hanna

Colorist: Marcio Menyz

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz; Giada Perissinotto; Chris Samnee & Romulo Fajardo Jr; Lucas Werneck

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 8, 2024

 

Peter Parker strives to be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But when energy from another dimension blots out the sun, vampires fill the streets, fly through the air, and convert citizens to their evil ways. Peter prevented the Monster Metropolis from overtaking Murray Hill. He stopped Madame Masque from winning the Gang War. How will he tackle an undead invasion of New York City? Let’s grab some garlic, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #49, and find out!

 

Story

Twilight strikes without warning and lingers into the day. So, Peter Parker takes advantage of his flex time at Oscorp to battle the bloodsuckers. Unlike the Gang War, Blood Hunt struck without warning. Peter didn’t have time to assemble a team. Perhaps his Spiderific buddy Miles could help, but he has his neighborhood to protect. Even the Avengers are MIA. If only Spider-Man had Anita Blake on speed dial.

 

Still, Peter prefers to help people than hunt them. When a mysterious caller asks for help, Spidey thwips off, only to get asked to put down a vampire. Zeb Wells brings the killers out to play in Amazing Spider-Man #49, from the vampire invaders to those who turn to Tombstone's hired help. Oh, and did I mention the person Kareem wants Spider-Man to kill? It's the Stabbity Bunny herself, White Rabbit!

 

The ethical morass Spidey sinks into grows clear as day when Spidey has an interview with a vampire. Spider-Man realizes he’s fighting a war in which how much good you accomplish is defined by tallying acceptable losses. If only Shay Marken could guide Peter out of this quip-free quagmire. But these are strange days when the criminal inmates at Ravencroft are safer than the law-abiding citizens going to work or visiting their local bodega.

 

 

 

With Amazing Spider-Man #49, Zeb Wells segues from his stories about insane supervillains and former superheroes who want counseling to tackle the plight of everyday monsters. What is the best way to punish those compelled to hurt others? Do they lack willpower or suffer from mental illness? Is it right to kill people because they can't defy their hurtful cravings? Is it ultimately a kindness to kill people to prevent them from hurting others and to save them from wrestling with traumatic memories of their actions?

 

The cowboys with a hankerin’ for Pace Thick and Chunky might not ponder such rascally questions. But the red sauce in New York City is precious to Spider-Man, and he won't readily spill a drop of it. Besides, how could Peter forget those he hurt when Kraven infected him with Norman Osborn’s sins? Did Peter have no say whatever in becoming the Black Goblin?

 

 

 

Art

Kareem kicks down the front door, walks through the empty shop, and ascends a darkened staircase. Blood drips from White Rabbit's mouth while a silhouette stands behind her, regarding him with glowing eyes. Is it fate that a gun scope tattoo adorns Kareem’s head?

 

Fires no longer rage thanks to the Gang War. Still, the dark streets of New York glow the same yellow and orange. Stalled cars fill the streets, their blazing headlights illuminating the panicked pedestrians and the vampires swooping down to nab their prey. The Darkforce energy scrubs buildings of details. The webbing on Spider-Man’s suit also fades in and out. When he began his career with a less detailed costume, Peter grappled with ethical issues. Now, Peter is just as perplexed with how to tackle the recently turned.

 

 

 

In Amazing Spider-Man #49, Peter doesn’t join Kareem on the street. John Romita Jr and Scott Hanna let him linger on a signpost, gazing down at the gangster. Marcio Menyz imbues interiors with a gray cast as Spidey and Gun Scope Head hunt White Rabbit. Yet blue tinges the air to reveal a man with gray skin when Peter hunts her vampire master. If Tombstone isn’t in this story, why does everything and everyone remind me of the gang lord who took Peter's friend Randy under his wing?

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with red borders in Amazing Spider-Man #49. The font grows bold for inflection, swells for increased volume, and rarely shrinks. Spine-tingling hisses prompt immense letters to burst from balloons while the sound of metal clanging against metal strikes harder than an explosive scream.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Spider-Man revels in an angst-free dustup until a killer convinces him to save the gangland lieutenant of his best friend's ex from a life hiding in the shadows in Amazing Spider-Man #49.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2 Review

 

Writer, Artist & Letterer: Stan Sakai

Colorist: Hi-Fi Colour Design

Cover Artists: Stan Sakai & Emi Fujii; Jared Cullum; David Petersen

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 8, 2024

 

Yukichi wanders the streets. As bounty hunters mix with the locals, Yukichi’s thoughts dwell on Gen and Stray Dog. The young samurai wishes he hadn’t reprimanded them for pursuing a fugitive for money. Then again, Yukichi wishes he hadn’t helped Jimmu escape justice. Perhaps he should help Usagi’s friends capture Jimmu. But as Yukichi returns to Usagi and his cousin’s friends, he hears a cry for help. Will he aid a local beset by bandits? Or will Yukichi interfere with bounty hunters apprehending a criminal again? Let's grab our katanas, charge into Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2 and find out!

 

Story

Yukichi finds a boy clutching his leg in the alley. Yet when he kneels to help, Yukichi sees no irritation or swelling. The boy throws mud in Yukichi’s face. People rush toward Yukichi. As Yukichi wipes his face, he recognizes the bounty hunters who tried to apprehend Jimmu in the woods.

 

Yukichi and Usagi drove the bounty hunters off in the woods by bonking them with sheathed swords. But in Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2, Yukichi is alone, and it’s six against one. So Yukichi draws his sword and charges his attackers.

 

Usagi grows worried about his cousin. Yet when he rises, his friends counsel patience. Yukichi is a better-trained warrior than any of the bounty hunters in town. His cousin can take care of himself. Besides, Usagi has a more pressing problem. Yukichi has volunteered to pay for Gen and Stray Dog's meal. But the bounty hunters twisted his words and told the innkeeper the samurai would pay for all their expenses. After years on the road, living hand-to-mouth, Usagi knows how difficult it can be to fill your purse. But now Gen and Stray Dog expect the samurai to pay for a week's room and board!

 

In Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2, Stan Sakai focuses on what it means to be a samurai. Usagi and Yukichi’s code teaches them to do their best and live in the moment. Gen, who grew up in poverty, watching his mother die and his father scrapes by, has a cynical view of the world. Stray Dog may not mooch off others like Gen, but neither does he exhibit Usagi and Yukichi’s joy of living.

 

As Usagi admitted in the previous issue, Yukichi grew up in a sword school. He's new to life on the road. It’s easy for his cousin to look down on others who have watered down their principles. Sadly, Yukichi's inexperience will lead him into trouble in Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2. Pride cometh before the fall may not be a Japanese saying or a Bushido precept. Still, it is an essential truth of human nature. Gen and Stray Dog may be willing to overlook Yukichi’s contemptuous remarks. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters in the alley, whom the young samurai deprived of their prize, may prove less forgiving.

 

 

 

Art

A crow’s eye view reveals the scope of this village near the mountains. Locals and bounty hunters fill the dirt streets while boats ply the river flowing through town. Yukichi looks down as he walks, like so many around him. Tokage scamper past drunks slumped in alleys and a beggar kneeling before his bowl. Only when the young samurai reconciles a means to help Usagi and his friends without sacrificing his principles does he look up, and his usual alertness returns.

 

Stan Sakai populates Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2 with a heavyset bully, a mischievous urchin, and an older samurai with a scarred face. Gen smothers the pain of his upbringing with endless plates of food and bowls of saké. Gen’s partnership with Stray Dog evokes Bebop and Rocksteady’s brotherhood. Perhaps an abandoned temple outside the village converted to another purpose stokes Yukichi’s ire.

 

Hi-Fi Colour Design lavishes a loaded palette on Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2, as colorful roofs and clothing contrast with dirt streets and wooden buildings. The innkeeper and patrons spark life into the inn's browns, beiges, and grays. Puddles in the street reveal shading, highlights, and the ground beneath. As the nearby fields and forests exude a pastoral beauty, red suffuses a panel background in response to a brutal act.

 

Stan Sakai rewards readers with generously sized letters in white dialogue balloons. A giant shout swiftly becomes an ellipse and a colored exclamation mark, while a Pow and a skull follow a street scuffle. A Crack near the end incites horror. Yet this story of honor vying with pragmatism ends with a sigh.

 

Thanks to Dark Horse for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Yukichi’s lighthearted innocence has buoyed Usagi's lonesome journey. But a senseless attack on another samurai's honor could prove his undoing in Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #2.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 Review

 

Writers: Declan Shalvey, Dave Baker, Jesse Lonergan, Gigi Dutreix, Lorenzo Hall, Paulina Ganucheau

Artists: Declan Shalvey, Jesse Lonergan, Gigi Dutreix, Paulina Ganucheau

Letterer: Nathan Widick

Cover Artists: Declan Shalvey, James Stokoe, Paulina Ganucheau, Dan Berger

Publisher: IDW

Price: $5.99

Release Date: May 8, 2024

 

Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo form an effective crime-fighting team. Yet what might the heroes in a half-shell get up to on their own? Let’s grab a pizza, leap into the four stories in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1, and find out!

 

Green Screen

Story

Donnie wants to track all the crime reports in New York City. But the perfect algorithm eludes him. So, he blocks out the world while he sits before his computer monitors, wrestling code to compute the most effective way to fight crime. Declan Shalvey's story is aptly named. Once exclusive to TV and film studios, now everyone can use green screens to simulate reality. It takes Master Splinter to point out the obvious. His team needs him, even if only to prevent the pizza from getting cold.

 

Art

Declan Shalvey opens his story in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 with a shot of NYC skyscrapers. The TCRI building rises in the center of the panel. He then moves to a dog, walking on a leash with his owner. Shalvey follows with a shot of the subway before finishing with Donatello hunching toward four monitors, surrounded by pizza boxes, drawings, and his bō. The progression suggests his mutant heritage forced him to live underground, so Donatello works hard to justify his relevance to civilization. Once he realizes where he belongs, Donatello moves swiftly to catch up with his brothers. He peers down into a warehouse where his brothers battle an enormous enemy. Cowabunga!

 

Nathan Widick fills white dialogue balloons with large green uppercase letters in Green Screen and shares Donatello's thoughts with light green lowercase type in green narrative boxes. The letters are less distinct as if printed on a dot matrix printer.

 

The Brutal Sword Of Leonardo

Story

Dave Baker and Jesse Lonergan contribute a sword and sorcery tale to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1, as Donatello's experiment with interdimensional travel goes wrong. Or perhaps it goes right, as Leonardo arrives in a land that needs him. Leonardo bands the locals together, battles the monsters that beset them, and protects the Crystal Shard Of K’azz that powers their citadel. When a foe steals the crystal, Leonardo leads a quest to reclaim it. Baker and Lonergan's story reminds us how circumstances mold us and how power deludes us into believing we are indispensable.

 

Art

The Brutal Sword Of Leonardo may only be seven pages, but Jesse Lonergan packs each with a rampaging horde of panels to give his story an epic feel. Leonardo wields a broadsword and leads his animal friends through many dangers to the keep of Castle Death. The fantasy characters, settings, and situations evoke stories from Robert E. Howard, Mike Mignola, H. P. Lovecraft, and J. R. R. Tolkien. While I agree with his brothers that NYC needs Leo, I'd love to see a sequel. As Jesse Lonergan lavishes green on his art, Nathan Widick fills white dialogue balloons and narrative boxes with large, black uppercase letters. 

 

 

 

The Flame That Fuels You

Story

Raphael tried to combat the Foot Clan alone. His brothers came to his aid, but it didn't go well. As they return home, the turtles are wounded and frustrated. Did Raphael forget he was part of a team? Raphael dreams of fighting alone in Gigi Dutreix and Lorenzo Hall's story. Now, he doesn't have to play by their rules. What might he accomplish if he didn't have to coordinate with others and could fight crime without restraint?

 

Art

Gigi Dutreix’s ink wash art gives Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 a ghostly appearance. With arrows protruding from their arms and the wind buffeting their bodies, the turtles shout at each other and exchange blows. Yellow-green flames surround Raphael as he sleeps and burn at panel edges as he dreams. The flames swell to an inferno as Raphael demonstrates his might. Yet a significant realization banishes the yellow-green flames, replacing them with a vibrant green plant. Nathan Widick fills yellow-green dialogue balloons with black uppercase letters. Anger swells dialogue and prompts color change, while immense sound effects enhance the action in Raphael's dream.

 

Identity Theft

Story

Michelangelo brings Donatello a substance in a jar. Mikey accuses him of playing with snot, but Donatello can’t be bothered, so Mike grabs another of Donatello’s inventions. Donatello doesn’t crave solitude in Paulina Ganucheau’s story, so he plays videos of his brothers’ antics as he works. Then he realizes they’re having too much fun with his invention, and he leaves his lab to make sure he doesn’t miss out.

 

Art

Paulina Ganucheau imbues this story about a young inventor with an all-ages appeal. This final story in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 focuses on the turtles' camaraderie and doesn't take itself too seriously. Green fills Donatello's cellphone screen, his jar of goo, and what happens when his experiment takes on a mind of its own. Nathan Widick brings more green uppercase letters to white dialogue balloons, while the recorded videos speak with black uppercase dialogue in white balloons with green lines. Sound effects boost the fun quotient of Identity Theft as Donatello's creations attack their creator with snotty fists of fury.

 

Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

The stories in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White & Green #1 ponder the most effective means of crime-fighting, the influence of power, and how creation often springs from mistakes. Donatello dominates this quartet of turtle tales, reminding us how his genius helps the team battle their superpowered foes.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To preview interior art for "Green Screen" see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1 Review

 

Writer: Joe Kelly

Artist: Adam Kubert

Colorist: Frank Martin

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Adam Kubert & Frank Martin; Gabriele Dell’Otto; Inhyuk Lee; Rob Liefeld & Jay David Ramos; Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 1, 2024

 

Wolverine has a job. It's not one he wants, but it's necessary. A cop wants to end a killing spree. So she calls on Wolverine. Can he catch the superpowered villain that makes mincemeat of his victims? Or will someone else get in his way? Let’s extend our claws, leap into Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1, and find out!

 

Story

Superheroes deal with morality. Hunters kill. Wolverine's cop friend doesn't want anyone else to die. So, she calls on the human weapon with adamantium claws to put down a predator. Unfortunately, someone else has found him first.

 

Like the cop, Vancouver’s endangered citizens wanted to end the killing spree. So the victim’s families put up a bounty. Wolverine knows what Deadpool does is necessary, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Nor does Logan like how Deadpool finds humor in the killing. People shouldn't enjoy killing. They should never joke about taking another person’s life.

 

But what is life? Wolverine muses on that in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1. Why even try to build anything significant? It’ll eventually end. Everything does. Dreams are just misfiring neurons, he concludes.

 

Joe Kelly portrays Wolverine and Deadpool as two brothers in arms. Their love/hate relationship binds them together and tears them apart. Yet in Kelly’s story, Wolverine does the tearing apart, while Deadpool tries to do a team-up. 

 

 

 

Only after they take down their adversary and Deadpool slips away does Wolverine realize what Wade said. But then it’s too late. Wade's gone, just like a dream or another crumbled monument.

 

So, another hunt begins. Logan tells himself he’s doing it to kill whoever created the mincemeat monster. But in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1, Logan’s also doing it because of what Wade said. And because he failed to respond before Deadpool slipped away.

 

Joe Kelly probes Wolverine’s conscience as Logan tracks “the world’s crappiest trail of breadcrumbs.” Wolverine may hate the jack@$$. Still, he’s got a responsibility to Deadpool, not to mention those Wade could endanger in his quest to become more like Wolverine.

 

 

Art

Wolverine leaps across the Vancouver skyline. He crouches beside a rooftop pool, gazing down at the street. After an explosion of concrete, water, and fire, he gazes up to see Deadpool trade his rocket launcher for a sword and a machine pistol. Wolverine ignores the torrent of bullets, leaping into the fray as Deadpool follows up with a flurry of throwing knives. Their opponent dissolves Deadpool's assault with a shield. Wolverine, he bats away.

 

Adam Kubert reveals Wolverine's competitive nature as he shoves Deadpool into harm's way while charging the City Of Glass slicer and dicer in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1. Kubert enhances the humor with Deadpool’s gestures, birthday greetings decorating the rocket launcher, and the way Deadpool leaps and lands on Wolverine’s shoulders. Yet as the living weapons watch paramedics load their opponent into an ambulance, Deadpool glances up at Wolverine, who refuses to return his gaze. Later, Logan sits at a bar and frowns at his drink. No girl clad in a hoodie sits beside him.

 

The sinking sun casts an orange glow over Vansterdam as Wolverine’s silhouette bounds across pink fields. Despite Deadpool’s sudden dislike for his footwear, his opponent’s boots shine brighter than the yellow in Wolverine’s suit. Yet nothing outshines the crazed killer's purple hooded shirt or the purple energy shields and tendrils he wields. 

 

 

Frank Martin adorns a bar mostly in yellow and brown, echoing Wolverine’s suit, even if Logan has changed into street clothes. Does the maple leaf on the wall and the bartender's long red beard remind Logan of Wade? Later, a red child's phone confirms Logan has found the right Skybnb, even if he didn’t arrive in time.

 

Joe Sabino casts Weapon X-worthy lowercase black letters into white and colored balloons and boxes. Whether it's lashes of sizzling electricity, barrages of gunfire, or the crash of shattered windows, Sabino enhances the energy propelling Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1 toward its heartrending conclusion. Yet the applause stretching like ribbons across the final pages reminds us why Logan has grown so disillusioned in Joe Kelly’s tragic tale.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

Final Thoughts

Wolverine hunts monsters. But is Wolverine a hunter or a monster? It’s a question Logan can't avoid when Wade Wilson reminds him of the difference between them in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII #1.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.