The second week of Villains Month has arrived, and with it some truly standout efforts. Superman's foes -- Zod and Brainiac, to be exact -- have particularly stellar comics that everyone should read. Plus, the debut of the revamped Lobo hit this week, and as expected, all the controversy was much ado about nothing.
At Marvel, Infinity grew even larger with the launch of Infinity: The Hunt and Mighty Avengers, while Locke and Key hit its penultimate issue over at IDW. Plus, Valiant's latest ongoing series -- Eternal Warrior -- made a splash.
Check out what the IGN All-Stars are doing in covering all of the latest indie comics on Comixology's Submit platform!
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DC COMICS
Written by Greg Pak | Art by Ken Lashley
"If this is a preview of what Greg Pak’s run on Action Comics will be like, then consider me super freakin’ excited. Out of all the Villains Month issues I have read, this Zod issue is by far the best. It gives a full origin story that builds up the strong and merciless character of Zod, while also peeling back his most personal layers to show you why he became such a monster. Suffice it to say, this story gave me chills." -Joshua
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Final Score:
9.5
Written by Tony Bedard & Geoff Johns | Art by Claude St. Aubin
"This Aquaman Villains Month issue follows the events of Forever Evil #1 through Black Manta’s point of view. With his origin excellently laid out in the main Aquaman narrative, devoting his Villains Month issue to his beginnings, which appears to be the trend, would be a waste. Instead, we get a surprisingly deep and contemplative look at a man whose purpose in life is a giant question mark now that Aquaman is allegedly dead." -Joshua
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Final Score:
8.0
Written by Ray Fawkes | Art by Jeremy Haun
"Villains Month plunges forth with Batman #23.2, starring The Riddler. Focusing on Edward Nygma this time around is a wise choice, considering that last month featured the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker, a character whose dedication to destruction is second to none. The Riddler, presented here by writer Ray Fawkes (who crafted the story alongside Scott Snyder) and artist Jeremy Haun, is a study in controlled chaos. The two issues serve as a neat counterpoint to each other on nearly every level, from text to visuals." -Melissa
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Final Score:
9.4
Written by James Tynion IV | Art by Jorge Lucas
"This Court of Owls story is a dark one, both visually and in tone. We get glimpses into the dark history of the Court in Gotham, of murder, betrayal, and survival. It's exactly what you'd want in a story centered around these masked fiends, and it's even set to the tune of a father comforting his daughter. It'd be sweet if it wasn't for all the death and creepy freaking masks." -Ben
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Final Score:
8.9
Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti | Art by Jason Masters
"We already saw the bulk of the New 52 Mr. Freeze's back story in a Batman Annual, so this Villains Month issue focuses on Freeze's attempt to recapture the past and the results are pretty gory. Following the trail of his deadbeat dad, he discovers a second family he never knew he had. As you can probably imagine, when he pays them a visit it ain't pretty. This is one hell of a dark story, filled with intense violence and horror, it's just too bad that the art doesn't match that tone." -Ben
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Final Score:
7.0
Written by Matt Kindt | Art by Neil Googe
"One of the pitfalls of revisiting familiar origin stories is that you're often forced to compete against some of the most highly regarded superhero comics on the stands. In the case of Harley Quinn, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's Batman: Mad Love is every bit as venerated as Batman: Year One and Batman: The Killing Joke for many folks. Our previous glimpse of Harley's revamped origin in the New 52 failed to live up to that standard. Unfortunately, Detective Comics #23.2 falls short of the mark as well." -Jesse
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Final Score:
5.9
Written by Matt Kindt | Art by Aaron Lopresti
"The benefit of the Earth 2-themed Villains Month tie-ins is that these issues are inherently divorced from the Forever Evil conflict and thus allowed a bit more storytelling freedom. Unfortunately, this week's Solomon Grundy one-shot fails to take advantage of that fact. This issue lacks the compelling narrative of last week's Desaad story. It's not a bad read, necessarily, just a fairly formulaic one that fails to offer a complete story." -Jesse
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Final Score:
6.5
Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato | Art by Scott Hepburn
"The Flash #23.2 takes a step back from the title's current events to explore the origin story of one of the title character's most interesting villains to date: Reverse Flash. While writers Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have worked with artist Scott Hepburn to create a book as visually stunning as any in the series, the issue is more of an extended explanatory monologue than anything else." -Melissa
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Final Score:
7.9
Written by Jim Starlin | Art by Howard Porter
"Last I saw Mongul, he had been defeated by Hal Jordan and Sinestro and was given a one-way ticket to a sciencell on Oa. Assuming that’s still in continuity, this is a flashback to when Mongul was at the height of his power cruising through the cosmos in his sweet Warworld ship. The co-creator of Mongul himself, Jim Starlin, writes this refurbished version of the tyrant’s history and character, and while he certainly covers all the bases, the issue isn’t as entertaining as it could be." -Joshua
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Final Score:
6.5
Written by Marguerite Bennett | Art by Ben Oliver & Cliff Richards
"It seems like there's a new DC-related controversy stirring up on the Internet every 15 minutes or so. One such incident cropped up recently when it was announced that the Lobo we all know and love (or enjoy in small doses, in my case), isn't actually the real Lobo. Instead, DC is using Villains Month to introduce the "real" Lobo, a slimmer, sexier Czarnian who resents the impostor who has been busy hanging out with Rob Liefeld and besmirching the Lobo name in the first two years of the New 52. One sympathizes." -Jesse
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Final Score:
7.2
Written by Sterling Gates | Art by Derlis Santacruz
"Killer Frost is probably not a villain everybody is clamoring to know more about. Fortunately, that doesn't stop Sterling Gates and Derlis Santacruz from fleshing her out in a pretty good Villains Month issue. We get a complete story here, from her origin to her reaction to the events of Forever Evil. The best bits are at the end, showing what us what happens to a villain who loses their hero and it's interesting stuff. In fact, it would have been nice if the issue had spent more time with that and less with her somewhat generic origin." -Ben
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Final Score:
7.5
Written by Tony Bedard | Art by Pascal Alixe
"By all rights, a story predicated on humanizing the most inhuman of Superman villains, Brainiac, should be a colossal failure. Instead, Superman #23.2 manages to pull it off. Tony Bedard and Pascal Alixe's revamped Brainiac origin proves to be one of the strongest Villains Month issues so far. Who knew?" -Jesse
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Final Score:
9.0
Written by Marv Wolfman | Art by CAFU
"Teen Titans was the very first New 52 comic to drive me away. The series just hasn't been able to channel much of what makes this particular group of characters special. And the fact that the far, far superior Young Justice cartoon was on the airwaves until recently didn't help. But with this Trigon spotlight bringing legendary Titans scribe Marv Wolfman back into the fold, surely it was worth giving the series another shot, right? And fortunately, Wolfman's story justifies the price of admission, though it's really CAFU's art that steals the spotlight here." -Jesse
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Final Score:
7.4
Source : ign[dot]com
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