Each week, CBR has your guide to navigating Wednesday's new and recent comic releases, specials, collected editions and reissues, and we're committed to helping you choose those that are worth your hard-earned cash. It's a little slice of CBR we like to call Major Issues.
If you feel so inclined, you can buy our recommendations directly on comiXology with the links provided. We'll even supply links to the books we're not so hot on, just in case you don't want to take our word for it. Don't forget to let us know what you think of the books this week in the comments! And as always, SPOILERS AHEAD!
To accommodate the ever-growing cast of heroes and villains in and around Gotham City, the anthology Batman: Urban Legends #1 gives several fan-favorite characters a moment in the sun. The issue's lead story, a Red Hood tale by Chip Zdarsky, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Marcus To, tells a smart and sharply-illustrated story about that sets up a morally compelling story about the Dark Knight's trigger-happy sidekick.
From there, Stephanie Phillips and Laura Braga offer a charming short about Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, while Brandon Thomas and Max Dunbar throw the Outsiders into the start of kinetic, action-packed adventure. Finally, Matthew Rosenberg and Ryan Benjamin's Grifter tale stands out as the other highlight of the issue, with a script that perfectly captures the voice of Wildstorm's hard-luck hero, gritty art that sells the humor and menace of the story equally well and a legitimately surprising last-page reveal.
After going through several unusually grim storylines, Peter Parker is stepping into a brand new day, and Amazing Spider-Man #61, by Nick Spencer, Patrick Gleason, Edgar Delgado and VC's Joe Caramagna, gives him a new costume for the occasion. Outside of a few pages dedicated to the Kingpin's continuing plots against Spider-Man and a stop by The Daily Bugle, this issue is all about setting up a new status quo for Spider-Man and putting his new look through its paces.
While the suit is far from Spider-Man's usual look, the plot justifies it well, and Gleason and the art team sell it equally well, with several excellent images of it in action. Between this alternate costume and the of-the-moment reasons for its existence, the story almost comes across as a textual response to Spider-Man's recent successful video games, complete with Peter checking his phone mid-fight. Regardless of its influences, this is still a fun comic that marks one of Amazing Spider-Man's better recent jumping-on points.
While Amazing Spider-Man might come across as a response to the wall-crawler's video games, Non-Stop Spider-Man #1 captures the frenetic energy of those games with one of the web-slinger's most action-packed adventures. This Joe Kelly, Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend, Marcio Menyz and Travis Lanham story is a pure shot of adrenaline to the heart that sees Spider-Man race against time to save a friend and avenge another. While the comic does have compelling emotional stakes, it's true brilliance lies in its execution.
Between Kelly's terse narration and Bachalo and the art team's energetic work, this comic gives readers an almost-experiental Spider-Man tale, fueled by relentless narrative propulsion. These are all veteran Spider-Man creators and that experience comes through in this thrilling, funny and narratively bold tale. Paired with a biting back-up by Kelly, Dale Eaglesham and Morry Hollowell, Non-Stop Spider-Man is well worth sticking around for.
After seemingly consuming every part of Batman's world in 2020, the Joker steps into his own series with James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Arif Prianto and Tom Napolitano's Joker #1. Despite the comic's title, Jim Gordon is very much the star of this issue, which finds him adrift in a changing Gotham City. After confronting the Joker's violent legacy on Gotham and in his own life, Gordon is faced with a new chance to catch the Joker in a smart, moody story that doesn't shy away from big questions.
With the Joker cast as a spectral presence throughout the issue, the art does a superb job of portraying Gordon as a haunted man, tormented by a lifetime of loss. The issue's back-up story, by Tynion, Sam Johns, Mirka Andolfo, Romula Fajardo Jr., and Ariana Maher, shifts focus to the Joker's newest sidekick, Punchline, as she adjusts to life behind bars in a short, solid story.
Going back to their debut, teenagers have always been part of the X-Men's world, and a new class of young X-heroes comes into view in Vita Ayala, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo and Travis Lanham's Children of the Atom #1. After a much-delayed launch, this debut issue introduces a new class of heroes who've styled themselves after the original X-Men.
While Marvel's younger mutants are already appearing in New Mutants, Children of the Atom gives these its Generation Z heroes realistic voices and looks as they navigate high school and superheroing. With a compelling central mystery at its core, it's not entirely clear how these kids will fit into the X-Men's wider world, but it's still a solid debut for Marvel's newest mutants.
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