The Longbox Short-List - Week of June 21, 2017

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 08:14

Welcome back to Critical Blast’s weekly look at what new comics you should check out each week. Just a warning, I make these picks pretty much a week BEFORE I actually get to read any of these comics, so if something is a stinker, I take no blame on that. Let's get to it!

Comics shipping this week

ARCHIE #21 – I am not all that sure how I feel about OVER THE EDGE. The first issue really felt out of character for so many of the characters here. I think there is a lot of ways to tell a strong ARCHIE story with more adult themes and real consequences, but so much of the first part of this arc felt like a stretch just to get all the pieces in the right place. I will definitely wait and see.

DOCTOR STRANGE #22 – Loving the weird cast of characters in this book. Daredevil, Spider-Woman, and Kingpin aren’t normally in a DOCTOR STRANGE story. Curious what favor Kingpin is going to demand from Doctor Strange. Dennis Hopeless is one of my favorite comic writers, and I can’t wait to see what he can do with Strange, especially once SECRET EMPIRE is done.

BATMAN #25 – Last issue’s proposal was a nice surprise. This time, we start THE WAR OF JOKES AND RIDDLES. Not sure if we need another flashback story, but I did enjoy ZERO YEAR, so I will certainly give this a try.

DAREDEVIL #22 – I think Charles Soule has a great vision for DAREDEVIL, but I think it might be a little too big. Last issue, Daredevil teased that he had a plan on how to end all crime in New York. Since that would basically end the comic series, I think we can all assume he won’t be successful, but the ride should be entertaining.

LUKE CAGE #2 – Last year, I had said that David Walker was my favorite writer in comics, and he’s been really amping that up this year even more. OCCUPY AVENGERS is by far Marvel’s best team book, and the first issue of LUKE CAGE grabbed me even more than Walker’s LUKE CAGE AND IRON FIST had been. Walker has pushed Luke Cage out of his comfort zone and is expanding on Luke’s past. The end result was a terrific first issue.

HIGHLANDER THE AMERICAN DREAM #5 – This was a great way to bring HIGHLANDER back. So much of HIGHLANDER outside of the first movie and the TV series was kind of awful, but I really enjoyed this one. Hopefully IDW will be doing more with HIGHLANDER real soon.