Lestat’s Comic Book Review Round-Up – July Week 4, 2019

The penultimate round-up of July features Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1, Detective Comics #1008, The Flash #75, House of X #1 and Star Trek: The Q Conflict #6.

'Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1'

Following the surprise success of 2017’s Batman: White Knight, Sean Murphy returns with a sequel series where Batman must face off against the Joker once again. In the first issue of this series, we find out that Joker’s plan has something to do with Gotham’s past, and there is a suggestion that the Arkhams, the Waynes and the Joker himself may all be connected somehow. But what is the Joker up to? That’s anyone’s guess.

There were aspects of White Knight that made the series compelling, and doubtless, there will be a repeat here as well. The enjoyable aspect of this series is that it’s almost like an Elseworlds arc—it has its own rules and history, so Murphy has carte blanche to re-write the world in a different fashion. I particularly liked Batman’s introspection in this issue, though it’s quite brief. Bruce and Dick are still far too shouty though, so I hope Murphy is able to iron out the unnecessary machismo in the series. The major question is, will we see Jason Todd in upcoming issues?

'Detective Comics #1008'

This issue ties in, somewhat, with the Year of the Villain event currently taking place in DC Comics. The Joker is on the loose and he’s vying for Batman’s attention. The Joker does what he does best—terrorizes innocent people and taunts Batman needlessly. The Caped Crusader follows the Joker to an amusement park where he bides his time waiting for Joker to reveal his hand.

The art and colours were outstanding in this issue—from the Joker’s maniacal expressions to the breathtaking glory of Batman’s crisp blue costume—and I loved looking at each page. Though I haven’t bothered to read any of the Year of the Villain tie-in issues, the story itself does work on its own. As a standalone issue however, it brought nothing new to the plate; in fact, it felt very old school and camp, despite the ominous darkness of the Joker’s actions. A lot of the new Detective Comics issues have an old school vibe to it, and it feels out of place. This read like a filler bridging other arcs, and while the banter between the two characters remains compelling, this issue simply didn’t feel very original.

'The Flash #75'

The Flash must battle, not one, but two Turtles—one from the future and the other from the present. They are obsessed with bringing the multiverse to a halt and they need the Flash’s power to achieve their goal. But the Flash hasn’t defied the odds (and the advice of his future self) to be undone by these villains. With the people of Central City behind him, the Flash is the hero of the day.

This issue seems to wrap up the Year One arc, which is a pity, because I was really enjoying that. How the Turtle storyline fits in with Lex Luthor and the Year of the Villain event is still beyond me. Maybe Barry simply needs to transfer some of his learnings from the Turtle battles to his upcoming endeavours. Personally, I am going to miss the Year One arc because it introduced me to the Flash better than anything else. I liked him as a character and I loved how he worshipped Iris’ bravery. But the Flash promises to make amends for all the people he has let down, so let’s see how that turns out for him.

'House of X #1'

The X-Men have been rebooted. This new series features a world where Professor Xavier has built a new nation for mutantkind. The new sanctuary for mutants is Krakoa, and the benefit of this home is that the mutants now have access to Krakoan flowers which give them the upper hand. But, these X-Men are but a shadow of the former heroes that we have grown up reading about. They are caught up in their own persecution, so how will this effect humanity and the world?

I loved the overall feel of this comic, though several parts dragged with exposition or verbosity. The entire segment with the Cuckoos halted the pace, especially since Magneto was the more arresting character and his pedantic monologues were left to the end. The disparate segments were hard to follow—this is the first issue of a new series; shouldn’t the creators have toned it down? I’m not sure how I feel about this issue because there was plenty going on and some of it was less interesting than the rest. But, it’s the X-Men and I’m excited!

'Star Trek: The Q Conflict #6'

The Starfleet crews have been getting tired of Q’s incessant petulance—he refuses to stop the games and continues asking the crews to risk their lives. Now the captains have had enough. With the help of Wesley Crusher, Amanda Rogers and the Traveller, they devise a plan to put an end to Q’s charades while still managing to secure the safety of the universe. Will they succeed in this sixth and final issue of the series?

And so it ends. I have enjoyed this series thoroughly. This was the Star Trek crossover of our dreams, and the series did not let us fans down. Yes, the art could have been more precise and some of the characters were left out of the fray, but it was just so much fun to read. The creators captured the essence of the franchise and perfectly recreated the personalities of the captains. The tête-à-tête between the many disparate characters was also wonderful to see. It was at once nostalgic and original. I am going to miss this series terribly.

July will be the last of my round-ups, as I’m going on hiatus for a while. However, you can always get recommendations of previous titles from my round-ups so far. Happy reading!