Ennis has in fact matured a little over the decades, but that is not immediately evident in this particular issue, which reads as though Punisher Max never ended. I don't love everything about Ennis's style but he's a great storyteller. I rolled my eyes a lot back in the day, reading Punisher Max--but that doesn't change the fact that Punisher Max absolutely kicked ass. Ergo, *more* Punisher Max works for me, warts and all. more

In this issue, Jess pats herself on the back for being an excellent stealthy spy just before a big glowing zappy hulk apparently sneaks up on her. That's the high point of another round of endless samey thought narration about the past instead of things actually happening in the present and having no supporting cast, unifying theme, or anything really going on beyond Jess being bland and indeed not very good at spying. If all the ruminating on her past is meant to show how she's grown as a character, I hope we're going to address why she's suddenly so bad at everything. I am once again asking: why does Marvel hate Spider-Woman? more

Strong overall in art and writing; the only problem I see is that so far it hasn't done anything particularly interesting in the storytelling department.

It's fine. I can't give it a 9 or a 10 because there are no meaningful stakes*; will anyone who matters die (and stay dead)? No. Will the status quo change in an interesting way? No. We're just fighting vampires, which is okay if unspectacular. The designs on the vampire mini bosses are cool even if their dialogue is a little 90s. The whole thing is a little 90s, actually. I don't mind that.

It is, at least, much more interesting than the recently ended Blade comic.

*also literally more

If the HQ ongoing was just this, I'd be fine with it. This type of thing is the best use of the character. Great art.

Simple and harmless, this is perhaps the dullest way to go about reviving this IP. Humor? Self-awareness? No. Some expansion on the storytelling or characterization to make it interesting for modern audiences? No. This comic just takes the OG Space Ghost and plays it completely straight with dialogue that might be sort of throwback or it might just be bad. The art is fine but does nothing with the potential that the zany setting offers. Striking visuals could almost carry a book like this, and the goofy weirdness of the times opens the door for that, but there's nothing remotely ambitious or imaginative here. This comic isn't egregiously bad, it's just bland and a little irksome because there probably are ways to make Space Ghost interesting and relevant, but this isn't it. more

It's fine for what it is, but it isn't doing much to stand out.

What's not to like? Not the most ambitious issue, but that's completely fine because it was still engaging and we have every reason to have confidence in this creative team. This is a great book so far.

Completely bonkers, but in a fun way.

A story that's equal parts dumb and interesting, held back mostly by the way it's being told. If we were doing this in a more coherent way, some of the silliness would be easier to overlook.

The story got much more interesting in this one, even if it did wait until the end to do so. The dialogue still swings between weak and painful and the action's a little questionable. These covers are appalling.

Blade defeats the ultimate evil using a strat borrowed from (checks notes) Naruto.
This run ends the way that it started: bafflingly limp in characterization and thin in narrative.
The art was pretty good.

The main ongoing is still on the weak side, but this big issue was consistent in quality across the various stories.

The extra story at the back isn't anything special, but the TPB does it's job and this was my favorite comic of 2023. It works on every level. Its only flaw is that it isn't longer.

Same as the other minis telling different parts of this story: interesting stuff being presented in the most obnoxious way imaginable. A bunch of different minis is not the way to tell an already terminally convoluted story.

This didn't work for me. I see what they were going for, but this didn't gel. These stories are harmless individually and insubstantial as a collection.

This one falters a bit; there's some tonal whiplash and the arguing among the leads is already getting tiresome. The setting is great.

I'm not sure it's doing as much with the premise as it could, but it's thoroughly enjoyable.

There are things here that bother and puzzle me, but I enjoy reading it regardless. It's not perfect, but it's still more engaging and fresh than most of what Marvel is doing.

Everything here is completely fine in terms of execution, although it's on the bland side and tough PTSD lady is a very stale lead. Shape of Water kind of raised the bar on this premise, and it doesn't feel like this comic got the memo.

It's harmless, but there's not much in the way of story or characterization here, and this book actually manages to hint at some interesting stuff without ever going near it. This last hunt arc feels like a one-shot worth of story stretched over four issues. It's not openly bad in any way beyond having no plot, it's just hard not to see how it could've been much more.

Still unapologetically doing its own thing. It's not very subtle and there are some definite narrative weaknesses here, but this is a book that has its own identity and isn't relying on lazy writing or any tediously exhausted, load-bearing tropes. Do you know how rare that is in this comics landscape?