The Pull List: 22 August 2018

These reviews, thanks to work pressures and international travel, are ridiculously far behind. There may come a time when I cut my losses on 2018 comic book reviews, but until then we shall continue plugging along. Here are titles read from 22 August, starting with the new miniseries Batman: Kings of Fear, from Scott Peterson and Kelley Jones.

There have been so many Batman comic books published over the decades that it really can get difficult for writers to find new angles and story ideas. Kings of Fear certainly doesn't kick off in the freshest of fashions: Batman recaptures a runaway Joker, and then has to enter Arkham Asylum to defeat him again. It's standard stuff for the character, although it does dangle some intriguing criticism of Batman's methods at one point that could lead somewhere if writer Scott Peterson is bold enough to extend it fully.

Visually there are some inventive panels and pages, but ultimately how much one likes it will come down to how much one enjoys the art of Kelley Jones. A noted Batman artist of past years, Jones has a distinctive and exaggerated style to which I've never quite warmed. Your taste may vary. (3/5)

Batman: Kings of Fear #1. DC Comics. Written by Scott Peterson. Art by Kelley Jones. Colours by Michelle Madsen.

Under the cut: reviews of Action Comics, Daredevil, Detective Comics, Justice League Dark, Star Wars: Darth Vader, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, and The Terrifics.

The Angriest: October 2018 in review

I spent the whole of October on long-service leave (it's an Australian thing) and mostly overseas, so there wasn't too much blogging going on around the net. A review of the 2000 Sega Dreamcast game Samba de Amigo did, however, get a huge number of hits on The Angriest. Over at FictionMachine, the most-read new review was of the Australian fantasy film Harmony.

In total October saw the publication of three new and festival film reviews, one older film review, one videogame reviews, and short reviews of 10 comic books. A full index is included below.