Look, there are a lot of comics out there. Too many. We can never hope to have in-depth conversations about all of them. But, we sure can round up some of the more noteworthy titles we didn’t get around to from the week. Today, Drew, Patrick, Michael and Spencer discuss Catwoman 41, Detective Comics 41, Batman Superman 21, Earth 2: Society 1, Constantine the Hellblazer 1, Starfire 1, The Fox 3, Kanan: The Last Padawan 3, Spider-Gwen 5, Descender 4, and Chrononauts 4.

Drew: What could be more optimistic than a new beginning? Comics culture has long embraced reboots of all kinds — in-continuity, out-of-continuity, soft, hard — but I think they all stem from the necessity to make stories accessible to new readers. The end of DC’s New 52 may seem like the conclusions of one such attempt, but this week finds DC publishing several first issues, and offering logical jumping-on points for virtually everything else. But DC doesn’t have a monopoly on new beginnings, as the rest of the comics we picked up this week put characters in ever more pressing (and character-defining) situations.

Catwoman 41

Drew: True to her namesake, Catwoman has always been an elusive character, which has been both a blessing and a curse. In the worst hands, that temperamental nature comes off as fickle and arbitrary (and often tied up in damning opinions of women), but Genevive Valentine has never fallen into those common ruts. Instead, she gives them new life by bouncing them off of the equally mercurial allegiances of Gotham’s organized crime world. It makes for subtle, slow stories that simmer with a tension that could blow at any moment — basically, the feeling I get whenever I encounter a strange cat.

There are other claims we can make about the feline nature of Valentine’s run, but Catwoman 41 gives lie to the notion that Catwoman was ever a truly solitary creature, as she’s confronted with the news of Batman’s apparent death. Valentine keeps the news from derailing the threads she’s been spinning all along, but it exerts a palpable pressure throughout the issue, straining Selina from both within and without. It’s a slow burn if ever there was one, but one that’s masterfully crafted from start to finish.

Patrick: And the issue lives and dies on Selina’s internal struggle about how to express her feelings about Batman dying. Obviously, she’s got to put forth a veneer of disinterest, when she’s just as attached to the idea of Batman as anyone — possibly even moreso. I absolutely adore this splash of Selina stoically ascending the staircase while she breaks down.

Artist Dennis Messina masterfully shows the character moving both up and down simultaneously as she traverses the page from left to right. What order do you read it in? Up the stairs and then down to the floor? Or the reverse? Or is it even possible not to take the page in all at once? Messina and Selina are expressing opposing ideas at the same time, and that’s more than I’ve ever asked of a Catwoman series.

Detective Comics 41

Michael: DC’s business model is arguably “everything is a little better with Batman in it.” As much as I hate to admit it, that is probably mostly true. Take for instance, the popularity of the GCPD – there’s something immediately more exciting about a cop drama when it’s set in Batman’s hometown. With Gordon under the cowl we have a lot more opportunity for said cop drama; which Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato take full advantage of in Detective Comics 41. If Batman more or less jumps head first into the new Robobat/GCPD team-up, then Detective Comics slows the story down a bit so we can see how our characters got to that point. Manapul and Buccellato cover a three week period in the lives of Harvey Bullock, Maggie Sawyer, Nancy Yip and fan favorite Renee Montoya(!).

The first few pages focus on Gordon getting used to being Batman, but the star of the issue is Harvey Bullock. Bullock is faced with all sorts of changes in the time following Batman’s death/disappearance. Bullock has a very complicated and interesting pathos when it comes to Batman; he wasn’t pro-Batman but he’s certainly not pro-GCPD Batman. Batman was a vigilante and Harvey “played by the rules” – but he still believes Batman is alive and wants to find him. As fantastic as Francis Manapul’s dynamic artwork is, I think that Fernando Blanco’s more traditional layouts and realistic-looking characters are a better fit for a murky cop drama (I don’t want to bring up Gotham Central but…Gotham Central!) Bullock is not a handsome leading man, so Blanco accurately depicts him as the bitter cop with five o’clock shadow and some body hair and fat to spare. What I was anticipating about Detective Comics 41 was the reintroduction of Renee Montoya into current continuity. While it is probably a safe bet she’s no longer The Question, Manapul and Buccellato give us the rough, smart and sarcastic cop that we all know and love. Montoya has always been a perfect foil for Bullock, and it looks like he’s going to need her…since Yip is planning to “Kill them. Kill them all.” I don’t know if it’s the caped heroes, the costumed villains or just the city itself but Gotham makes a layered “procedural” like Detective Comics that much more interesting. I’m looking forward to what the Tec team has in store.

Batman Superman 21

Michael: Batman and Superman have both received some big character changes post-Convergence, and Batman Superman 21 continues Greg Pak’s depowered and “unmasked” Superman story from Action Comics 41. I always get a little aggravated when comics use “editor’s notes” to reference things happening in other series. I get even more aggravated when said editor’s notes reference issues that haven’t even been published yet. Reading Batman Superman 41 made me feel how I felt when I read Action Comics 41: mostly confused. It seems that both books are building off of Gene Luen Yang’s Superman…which doesn’t come out until the end of the month. There’s a lot of time jumps in Batman Superman 21 including references to the book’s “Divergence” DC Sneak Peek; so if you missed any number of these then you’re gonna be in the dark a lot.

Greg Pak and Ardian Syaf  craft an issue of Batman Superman that is pretty light on the Batman; Jim Gordon is never seen outside of his Batsuit and he’s for all intents and purposes Robocop. Like I mentioned earlier, I am interested in this new direction for Superman – it makes no sense and all the sense in the world. Clark seems to have dropped the boy scout persona in exchange for the farm boy he used to be. It’s a little odd seeing Superman think of his enemies as “dirtbags” whilst kicking them in the nuts, but I’m happy to see this play out. And OF COURSE Luthor doesn’t believe that Clark is Superman. Oh Lex.

Spencer: That may be my favorite bit in this entire issue — the truth is staring Luthor right in the face and he refuses to believe it because he didn’t figure it out on his own. Brilliant. Also, Lex’s casual-wear is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week — kudos on that design, Syaf.

This does all raise some serious continuity snarls though: are Luthor and Superman still on the Justice League together? Is there a Justice League at all? I normally would try to interpret this book solely on its own merits, but the “Truth” continuity is backwards enough on its own without trying to account for Justice League as well. My head is spinning.

This is a fun issue though, and Superman’s realization that he has to accept both his current situation and the new Batman status quo is a feeling familiar to pretty much any reader of either character. We’re all facing this strange new DC together, and if Superman can deal with the new Batman, then I guess there’s no reason the rest of us can’t either, right?

Earth 2: Society 1

Spencer: I fell off the Earth 2 bandwagon last year when DC not only decided to make the franchise the center of its third consecutive weekly, but to destroy the planet itself — between the cost and my disinterest in seeing characters I’d come to care about lose their home and quite possibly their lives, I bowed out. Daniel Wilson and Jorge Jimenez’s Earth 2: Society 1 provides the perfect opportunity for me to catch up with these characters, and gives readers the chance to jump in on the ground floor of the new Earth-2.

I mean that literally — an entirely new planet has been formed for the Earth-2 survivors in the wake of Convergence. The narrative skips back and forth between the return of the survivors to their planet — whose landing is partially botched by Terry Sloane — and the new Grayson-as-Batman’s hunt for Sloane one year later. I admit part of the thrill of this issue is just seeing old characters again after a lengthy absence (be they the heroes of Earth-2 or deeper cuts, like my favorite JSA villain Johnny Sorrow), but I’m also fond of Jimenez’s art, which is slick and shiny in a way I’m not used to seeing Earth-2 depicted as, and perfectly suited for show-stopping splashes and spreads.

Of course, it’s not a perfect debut. Jimenez is fantastic at spectacle but not always as good at storytelling — there’s a few moments that are hard to follow. Grayson’s dialogue can sometimes be a little overblown (and the erratic switches between his gray caption boxes and his darker ones as Batman is jarring), and I’m still a bit frustrated by the way this franchise continues to focus on characters who already have direct Earth-1 counterparts at the expense of characters with less chances to shine (Hawkgirl’s a great example of this). Still, it’s a promising start, and I think the title has potential and a lot of room to grow — unless DC randomly decides to shake up Earth-2’s status quo again, of course.

Constantine the Hellblazer 1

Drew: When DC launched Constantine in 2013, one commenter quipped that they had effectively created “Heckblazer,” the watered down PG-13 version of the smarmy, hardboiled chain-smoker that Hellblazer fans loved. Constantine: the Hellblazer might just be the relaunch those fans were looking for, featuring decidedly adult situations and only oblique references to the DC universe at large. Indeed, this issue introduces John Constantine totally naked and covered in blood.

I honestly can’t speak to how specifically this series jibes with Hellblazer, since I’ve only read a few issues of that title, but writers Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV are quick to establish Constantine as a selfish prick, alone in a world of horrors. Where the issue falls a bit short is in the “con” Constantine pulls on Blythe — a ploy so obvious, even I saw it coming, and I’m not even invested in not getting sent to Hell. I’ll chalk that one up to the accelerated pace of the issue (honestly, the whole conflict felt a bit tossed-off, anyway), since I think there’s enough working here to warrant picking up issue 2.

Starfire 1

Spencer: Starfire is often written as a hot-blooded, temperamental warrior who is more than willing to kill. To be fair, those all are aspects of her personality, but by continually focusing only on these attributes, Kori is consistently sold short. Thankfully, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Emanuela Lupacchino are looking to take Kori in a different direction entirely with their new Starfire ongoing.

Occasionally this new direction veers a bit too closely to some potentially gross stereotypes, as Kori’s tendency to let her emotions drive her every action has her kissing multiple men on first sight and shedding her clothes at least once, but as far as I’m concerned, Conner and Palmiotti avoid taking any of these personality traits too far by treating Kori as a real person with real feelings, and especially by focusing on her overwhelming ability to feel compassion and empathy for others.

Like Conner and Palmiotti’s Harley Quinn, this issue can occasionally be a bit too talky and overly expository, but it benefits from a looser, less-manic pace than Harley Quinn. This is just a day in the life of Starfire, and it’s a charming look into a side of Kori many don’t fully appreciate.

Drew, I know you’re not the biggest fan of Harley Quinn (to put things lightly), so I’m curious to see if Conner and Palmiotti’s take on Starfire can win you over, or if it just similarly frustrates you. What’re your thoughts?

Drew: For all of the similarities of style, I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. I think a lot of that comes down to the optimism of this issue. Aside from a short bar fight, every character here is treated with respect, and the series seems to relish detailing the simple day-to-day interactions, from a jewelry appraisal to a conversation between concerned coworkers. Kori may not feel like the most intuitive character to explore the world at street level, but Conner and Palmiotti are smart to focus on her fish-out-of-water naiveté, which ends up bringing out the best in (almost) everyone she interacts with.

Perhaps more importantly, though, they manage to do this without making Kori the butt of every joke. She doesn’t understand idioms or social norms, but how people respond to that is just as funny as her obliviousness. Some of the jokes are broad, sure (and some are total duds), but none of them come at the expense of the humanity of the characters, and the issue never devolves into the kind of casual violence that makes Harley Quinn such an uncomfortable read.

The Fox 3

Patrick: The parade of bounty huntin’ weirdos continues in The Fox 3. Paul fends of a betentacled Madam Satan — who I’m now familiar with thanks to The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — while Shinji beats back Pneumo, the Shockwave Assassin. There’s a little more to it than that, and I like seeing Paul admit that playing the reluctant hero is starting to strain credulity a little bit — especially when he seems to enjoy fighting these weirdos so much. Sure, at one point he’s pinned under a pile of Madam Satan’s tentacles, but they look like hot chicks, so what does he care, really? Even when he’ tricks Madam Satan into being splatted by the El train, Paul can’t help but make a pair of groan-worthy puns (“love is rail” and “she had guts”). That goes a long way toward selling the appeal of the Fox’s lifestyle, which is something that Shinji is just taking for granted. Also, Shinji seems to be taking everything for granted — he’s totally underprepared to take on his would-be assassin, and he only comes out on top because his mother intervened. His mother! I don’t know if Mae’s Fox alter ego is part of the Fox canon, but I’m assuming it’s just as new as Shinji’s “Ghost Fox” and I couldn’t be more excited by the development. This is how Paul can live a normal life: not by giving up his superhero identity to be a family man, but by embracing the fact that his family already are superheroes.

Kanan: The Last Padawan 3

Patrick: I’ve been reading a lot into the narratives of the new Star Wars comics, especially as many of them can be seen as commentaries on these comic’s place within the newly de-canonized expanded universe. Kanan: The Last Padawan casts young Caleb Dume in a role similar to the average Star Wars fan — or, perhaps, my specific flavor of Star Wars fan — the optimistic dope that doesn’t know when to stay away. Caleb discovers that the distress call back on Coruscant was a trade set by the Emperor and has nowhere to return to but Plant Kaller — the very same planet on which is Master was killed by Clone Troopers executing Order 66. He’s obviously been burned by the planet, but has some positive associations — particularly when it comes to one roguish character: Janus Kasmir.

Caleb is cautious when he first gets on Kaller, biding his time until he can jump to Janus’ rescue, proving his worth the same way he used to back when he was a Jedi-in-training: slices dudes up with with lightsaber. The thing is, the old ways simply don’t work anymore, and while Janus takes him on for a time, it’s not without completely changing Caleb’s over all approach. That’s where I see myself in Caleb, in regards to my attitude toward Star Wars. I’m willing to come back to a series that burned me back in the early 2000s, even though I should probably know better. Luckily, I have a different set of critical tools now, and (as such) have been able to find a lot to like about the franchise right now. I’m cutting my padawan rat-tail, and dismantling my lightsaber and learning to explore the galaxy in a new way. Hopefully Janus’ betrayal on the final page isn’t indicative of some serious future disappointment, amirite?

Spider-Gwen 5

Spencer: In general I’ve been enjoying Secret Wars, but if there’s one regrettable casualty of this mega-event, it’s Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez’s Spider-Gwen. Issue five serves as an abrupt ending to this volume of the series, focusing on the origin story of this universe’s Black Cat and ending with a big fat “to be continued” that I only hope will be honored once Secret Wars comes to a close.

Still, if this is the end for Latour, Rodriguez, and their take on Gwen’s universe, at least they took Black Cat’s advice — this issue definitely closes the story out on a high note, burning out, not fading away. We get a full page of Gwen at her absolute funniest, a phenomenal Black Cat/Matt Murdock connection, more musing on Gwen’s nature and role as a hero, and perhaps most importantly, some truly psychedelic artwork from Rodriguez. Marvel claims to have big post-Secret Wars plans for Gwen, and I believe them, but I just hope that those plans include a return to this world. If Spider-Gwen 5 proves anything, it’s that Gwen’s universe is just as vital a part of the character’s success as the name and costume.

Descender 4

Patrick: If there’s just one thing that stands out to me about Descender‘s storytelling, it’s got to be Jeff Lemire’s slippery relationship with conceit. The set up for the series was relatively simple — kind of a Terminator meets Firefly, with a dash of cute Blade Runner. But the mysteries that are central to the series’s mythology frequently take a backseat to the equally interesting characters exploring that mythology. We’re just starting to understand Telsa’s family life, but rather than dwelling on the particulars of how General Nagoki’s daughter ended up on this robot rescue mission, Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen present a single devastating page showing her mother’s tragic death. That’s all cued of Quon’s question about her mother, and then presented without commentary or cryptic remark from Telsa. Which leaves me wondering whether I’m getting important plot information or important character information — because the main thrust of the story has yet to materialize, the two masquerade as each other all the time. That all means that any bit of information, every character tick could be the most important thing at at any. Tim-21 refers to his family as his family, but he’s quick to point out to Dr. Quon that he understands the real nature of his relationship with them — is Lemire foreshadowing? World building? Fleshing out Tim’s character? I love that I can’t say for certain.

Also Nguyen is just killing it in this series. The joy he can express on that little robot’s face is simply transcendent.

Chrononauts 4

Drew: My LCS owner hates time-travel stories. Hates them. So much so that I tend to spend more time teasing him about it than actually understanding his complaints, but I think they come down to two basic points:

1. Time-travel can (and often does) undo any narrative consequences, robbing the story of any tension
2. It’s a gimmick that has been done to death, so most time travel stories look pretty similar

I don’t always agree with him, but man, Chrononauts 4 shows just how true (and damaging) both of his complaints can be.

More a giant middle finger to the audience than an actual resolution, this issue finds Corbin and Danny undoing literally everything that happened in the first three issues, right down to the pre-time-travel sequences. That could maybe be a justifiable choice if we were invested in anything about this story besides the time travel, but since “bros in time” was and always has been the log-line for this series, it’s weird to see it suddenly resolve into some kind of parable about the value of making time for family.

I will say that I think all of the cheapness is intentional — Corbin and Danny seem immune to consequences even without the time travel, and their time-traveling car chase resembles basically every time travel movie I’ve ever seen — but it doesn’t make it any more endearing. It doesn’t matter how ironic a series is being when it has a kid punch its protagonist in the balls, that’s just not something I really want to read.

Spencer: I’m bummed you got to mention that scene of Danny getting punched in the balls before I could Drew, because I can’t get over what a perfect one-panel representation of Mark Millar’s career it is.

Seriously, you’ve just read every Mark Millar story ever. Congratulations.

Despite all that, though, this issue actually worked much better for me than it did for you, Drew. I’m certainly not invested in the loneliness of Corbin and Danny’s pre-time travel life, but it’s not as sudden a development as you make it seem — Corbin’s terrible home life is the entire reason he went on his time rampage to begin with, so finding a less damaging way to use time travel to fix his life feels like a fitting resolution for him. And as cheap a solution as time travel may be, Corbin worked damn hard for that happy ending — seriously, his surviving the desert and circumnavigating the ancient world on his own shows a remarkable amount of fortitude, and was something he had to do in real time to boot. And hey, there’s still plenty of “bros in time” action before everything wraps up, gorgeously delivered by Sean Murphy as always.

That doesn’t mean that Corbin and Danny aren’t still shallow and entitled by the series’ end, and that doesn’t mean that there’s not that trademark Millar cynicism coursing through this entire series. Chrononauts won’t be making my end of year favorites list, but I dunno, I think it delivered everything it promised, and had fun doing so. Whether that’s a story worth reading or not is something each reader will have to decide for themselves.

The conversation doesn’t stop there, because you certainly read something that we didn’t. What do you wanna talk about from this week?