Comic Book Reviews (Week October 25, 2023): The Immortal Thor Issue 3, Black’s Myth Season 2 Issue 5, and More!

Welcome to my comic book reviews for this week (October 25, 2023). I will be covering The Immortal Thor Issue 3, Black’s Myth: The Key to His Heart Issue 5, Universal Monsters: Dracula Issue 1, and more!

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a DC Comics title, so let’s begin by talking about Alan Scott: The Green Lantern issue 1 by writer Tim Sheridan. Even though I like the Green Lantern Ring as a powerful weapon, I’m not the biggest fan when it comes to reading about what the Green Lantern Corps is up to. However, I was interested in picking up this solo series featuring Alan Scott because it promised to explore him being a hero and addressing his sexuality as someone operating during the ’30s and ’40s.

The romance between Alan and Johnny was handled well. You knew something bad was going to happen, but Sheridan still made me become invested in their relationship as the narrative jumped between the decades. And while I’m not a fan of certain people using a character’s sexuality as blackmail material, the unfortunate truth is that it happened. Heck, it happens to this day.

I’m looking forward to seeing where Alan goes next after a very interesting development that occurred near the end. And I think Sheridan will continue to handle Alan’s sexuality respectfully.

The visuals by Cian Tormey and Matt Herms are great. It’s the type of visual style I enjoy when reading comic books, so I might be a bit biased here.

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: Pick it up.

The Immortal Thor Issue 3

Saying that the current The Immortal Thor comic book series by Al Ewing is one of the best stories currently out there isn’t an exaggeration. Even if you aren’t a huge Thor fan (like me), you can’t help but appreciate Ewing’s style as he takes Thor on a perilous journey against an Elder God named Toranos.

The third issue focused on Thor’s interaction with Loki as the God of Thunder used his brain to solve a riddle. A bunch of fans tend to forget how smart Thor’s supposed to be as they conflate his comic book personality with the Himbo-esque version showcased in the MCU. As for me, I enjoy seeing a smart Thor.

Even though Thor’s extremely powerful, he’s realized that defeating Toranos would require a different approach. He needed to be strategic about it. He needed a team of allies. So, yeah, everything’s set for the return of the Thor Corps and I’m excited to see what will happen next.

As a fan of Storm, I’m ready to see her rejoin the Thor Corps. Having said that, I do hope to see her utilize her Omega-level Mutant Goddess abilities without using a mystical hammer that was initially created to control her. Let’s see what Ewing’s got planned for her.

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

Universal Monsters: Dracula Issue 1

Does the world really need yet another retelling of Dracula? Well, if you read Universal Monsters: Dracula issue 1 by writer James Tynion IV, you would say, ‘Yes! Duh!’

There’s just something mesmerizing about how Tynion and artist Martin Simmonds present a well-known horror story. From the dialogue to the visuals, I didn’t want the first issue to end. 

The debut chapter laid the groundwork through Renfield talking about his mysterious Master as he’s being examined by a team of doctors. You know what’s to come for the people of London as the narrative slowly builds the dread. There’s an anticipation for Dracula’s appearance and the creative team didn’t disappoint when the moment came.

The art took the story to a whole other level, adding more impact to what’s written on the page. The use of eerie silhouettes, the muted colors against the bleeding red… it’s a visual treat.

Does it have obvious queer characters? No.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

Black’s Myth: The Key to His Heart Issue 5

I was provided a free digital copy of Black’s Myth: The Key to His Heart issue 5 for review. The opinions I have shared are my own.

From writer Eric Palicki, the finale of Black’s Myth: The Key to His Heart offered a satisfying conclusion while keeping the doors open for a third season. As far as my opinion goes, I want this supernatural-mystery story to continue. There’s still a lot left to explore in the fictional world Palicki’s team has created.

The fifth issue picked up right from where the previous one left off. Strummer saw Claire, in her demon form, attacking Beatrice. What followed was a heartfelt moment of vulnerability as Strummer made Claire realize how being like them got to live as monsters without turning into killers. For Claire and Strummer, being a monster was part of their nature. What they needed to focus on was keeping the harmful thoughts at bay. For Strummer, a werewolf, that meant diving into her detective work to scratch the itch of going hunting.

With Claire reverting to her human form, Strummer took the time to talk to Beatrice and give readers answers to the current mystery. From my understanding, it all boiled down to Beatrice wanting to end her story. However, due to having a chaos demon inside of her, she had to put on a show to do so. Strummer did give Beatrice what she wanted, but not without asking Beatrice to do something for her first.

I don’t know about you, but Strummer making Beatrice wipe Claire’s recent memories came as a surprise to me. I wanted Claire to stick around and learn more about the hidden supernatural world as Strummer’s intern. But I think I understood where Strummer was coming from. She didn’t want a young Claire to remember how close she came to becoming a murderer. Then again, would Claire be able to keep the demon inside of her under control if Strummer and Ben weren’t around for support? And not to mention the “payment” Claire owed the witches. Hmmm. I’m conflicted.

It looks like Strummer and Carly’s relationship will continue even though Strummer had to agree to do more work for Rainsford to pay for Carly’s expensive lawyer. The drama! I’m here for it!

As for Ben, we got a scene where we learned more about how he operated in his line of work due to being a Djinn and being linked to Islam. It was an interesting moment as Ben’s faced with making a certain decision.

But yeah, again, I hope Black’s Myth comes back for a third season soon.

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

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Which comic books did you read this week? What did you think of The Immortal Thor issue 3?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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