Comic Book Reviews (Week January 19, 2022): Catwoman Issue 39, Power Rangers Issue 15 & More!

Welcome to my comic book review round-up for the week of January 19, 2022. I will be talking about Catwoman Issue 39, Superman: Son of Kal-El Issue 7, Power Rangers Issue 15, and more!

There weren’t a lot of comic books that I was interested in reading this week. Hopefully, that will change next week, but I kind of doubt it. Right now, I’m waiting for it to be April already so I can read the debut of Al Ewing’s X-Men Red comic book series.

Anyway, let’s begin by talking about Catwoman issue 39. It served as the debut of a new arc by Tini Howard, bringing Selina Kyle back to Gotham City. One of the complaints certain readers have about Howard as a writer deals with her putting too much text and not offering an enjoyable pace. With Howard taking over the current Catwoman solo with the current issue, I found myself agreeing with those complaints.

I’m not saying that the issue was bad. I did enjoy reading it. But there’s just something off about the whole thing as far as the pace and dialogue are concerned.

Having read some of Howard’s past work, in my opinion, it usually takes a couple of issues to grow accustomed to her writing style and get a sense of what kind of story she’s trying to tell. So, I’ll stick around for a few more months before deciding if I should put a pause on the Catwoman solo until a new writer takes over.

At least one thing’s clear. Howard’s not going to shy away from Selina being a queer character. So, that’s something I’m interested in seeing more of.

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: Up to you.

Superman: Son of Kal-El Issue 7

I get that certain readers aren’t into writer Tom Taylor addressing climate change in Superman: Son of Kal-El, but issue 7 showed why Taylor’s right to talk about such issues. Due to the fictional world of DC Comics, of course, climate change would cause certain creatures to rise from the depths of the ocean due to increased temperatures and barren seafloors. I enjoyed seeing Jon and Aqualad (Jackson) trying to calm down a gigantic sea monster who was confused about what was happening to her habitat.

As if trying to calm a leviathan wasn’t enough, Bendix decided to cause even more trouble for Jon Kent and I’m looking forward to seeing how he will handle Bendix’s Gamorra Corps. Apparently, the confrontation won’t end well for Jon’s reputation!

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: Pick it up!

Power Rangers Issue 15

From writer Ryan Parrott, Power Rangers issue 15 delivered another enjoyable issue in “The Eltarian War” arc. Parrott continues raising the bar and I can’t thank him enough as a fan of the Power Rangers franchise. The latest issue was action-packed and featured numerous awesome panels as the Rangers began taking down the Empyreals one by one.

However, things grew worse at the very end for our Rangers on Earth. But perhaps what happened on the final page will help turn tides in favor of the Rangers? Here’s hoping!

As for Zordon’s battle with Zedd and Zartus on the moon, I appreciated Parrott allowing Zedd to see through Zartus’s plan and decide to team up with Zordon to stop Zartus from getting the Zeo Crystal.

Power Rangers issue 15 finally gave us the Ultra Omegazord and I have a feeling we will get to see another Zord combination soon enough!

Does it have obvious queer characters? No.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

Seven Secrets Issue 13

Writer Tom Taylor’s Seven Secrets comic book series came back this week with an enjoyable issue that gave us a lot of plot progression. One of the stories focused on Caspar trying to figure out the truth about himself. I liked how, being a young man, he grew angry and annoyed about his mother keeping secrets from him. The way he jumped out of the plane (don’t worry, he can fly) to cool off and come back to apologize to his mother for acting up made sense for his character. The entire moment, while dramatic, felt organic.

As for the second story, boyfriends Amon and Canto had seen the three possible futures and were determined to kill Caspar to protect the world. Things continue to escalate in Seven Secrets and I’m not ready to get off this ride.

Does it have obvious queer characters? Yes.

Recommendation: PICK IT UP!

–

Which comic books did you read this week? What did you think of Catwoman issue 39?

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary