DCEASED #1/ Words by TOM TAYLOR/ Pencils by TREVOR HAIRSINE/ Inks by STEFANO GAUDIANO & JAMES HARREN/ Colors by RAIN BEREDO/ Letters by SAIDA TEMOFONTE/ Published by DC COMICS

Review by MATT MORRISON

The zombie apocalypse comes to the DC Universe as Tom Taylor prepares to destroy another alternate reality, like he did in Injustice. Fans of dark humor and horror will get a kick out of the story, as Taylor works some solid character moments and snark into the script. The artwork is less dependable, unfortunately, with two artists with completely different styles depicting the action of the issue in a fashion that is both muddy and muddled, thanks to weak inks and dull colors. Fans of Taylor’s previous work and zombie comics will be able to cope with the artwork for the sake of the story, but mainstream superhero fans will likely want to steer clear of this miniseries.

 

 

DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1/ Words by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, TOM KING, SCOTT SNYDER & JAMES TYNION IV/ Art by JIM CHEUNG, ALEX MALEEV & FRANCIS MANAPUL/ Colors by TOMEU MOREY, ALEX MALEEV & FRANCIS MANAPUL/ Published by DC COMICS

Review by MATT MORRISON

Lex Luthor is cashing out his empire to empower the world’s most dangerous villains. Talia Al Ghul’s Leviathan group is taking bold action to destroy all of the world’s assassins. And the Batman Who Laughs is up to something, as is the Legion of Doom.

I’d be more inclined to take Year of the Villain seriously as an event if we weren’t still waiting to find out out how Doomsday Clock and Heroes in Crisis were going to forever change the DC Universe before this series forever changes the DC Universe. As it is, this book does very little to explain the events that are already taking place in other books and does even less to encourage interest in those events. What’s worse, various characters are written horribly out of character and some of this book doesn’t make sense. (Why are Green Arrow and Batgirl of all people teamed together?)  The artwork is good, but that’s not enough to make this worth reading, even with the book only costing a quarter.

 

 

DOMINO: HOTSHOTS #3/ Words by GAIL SIMONE/ Art by DAVID BALDEON & MICHAEL SHELFER/ Colors by JIM CHARALAMPIDIS/ Letters by VC’s CLAYTON COWLES/ Published by MARVEL COMICS

Review by MATT MORRISON

The tensions mount between Domino, her Posse and the other mercenaries that have joined the hunt for an Eternal artifact, as they suddenly find themselves on the wrong end of an angry Tony Stark.

Michael Shelfer joins the art team this month, but you’d never know it from looking at this issue. His style meshes perfectly with that of regular penciler David Baldeon, resulting in one fine looking book. Simone’s script continues to impress. All in all, this is one hot book that deserves to be a monthly series once this mini is over.

 

 

THE DREAMING #9/ Words by SIMON SPURRIER/ Art by BILQUIS EVELY/ Colors by MAT LOPES/ Letters by SIMON BOWLAND/ Published by VERTIGO COMICS

Review by MATT MORRISON

As The Dreaming falls into deeper disrepair under the new manager that has arisen to replace Dream, Matthew the Raven and Dora undertake a desperate quest to find Lucien the Librarian. The trail leads them into the heart of Faerie, where an entirely different battle is about to be waged.

It’s ironic that for all the hype DC Comics has invested in other books forever changing the landscape of their universe, The Dreaming has been quietly doing that to the world of Vertigo for several months now and nobody had made a big deal about it.  Simon Spurrier captues the essence of Gaiman’s original characters and the artwork by Bilquid Evely, Mat Lopes and Siimon Bowland is equally worthy of The Sandman‘s legacy. This is easily the best book of the new Vertigo revival.