Posted in: Comics, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Valiant | Tagged: aftershock, babyteeth, Batman, christopher priest, comic book wins and losses, cullen bunn, dark horse comics, dc comics, doctor strange: damnation, Donny Cates, Garry Brown, Geoff Shaw, Green Lanterns, Harrow County, iron fist, jason aaron, justice league, Marvel Comics, Mikel Janin, Ninja-K, Quantum & Woody, russel dauterman, thanos, thor, Tom King, Tyler Crook, valiant entertainment

Comic Book Wins and Losses, Week of March 21st, 2018: Justice League and Thanos Ascendant

Time for the comic book wins and losses for March 21st, 2018! Oddly enough, this is a pretty light week on the whole. Plus, I can't say that much of what I read was a genuine "loss." Almost every comic this week was at least middling instead of outright terrible. In any case, let's get this started!

Win: Justice League #41 is Frigging Nuts

In addition to Christopher Priest just writing in Black Panther into Justice League, the newest issue of DC's seminal hero team puts our heroes into an all-too real position in which they could do nothing lasting to resolve the crisis. It's a painful deconstruction of the team, and it's damn compelling. This is one of the most interesting comics to come out of the Big Two in some time. I cannot recommend this one enough.

Loss: Iron Fist #78 Recapping the Origin

Iron Fist #78 was a decent enough comic, but the front half was a dull revisiting of Danny Rand's origin story that does very little to re-contextualize the story or make it necessary. This expansive return to Danny Rand's past dragged down the first half and would have killed the book if the ending wasn't a ton of fun.

Win: Thanos #17's Epic Smackdown

To compliment the most interesting superhero comic in recent memory, Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw brought one of the most fun superhero comics in recent memory. Two Thanos's versus Silver Surfer wielding Mjolnir. Sometimes it's just that simple, and Thanos built up this story well enough for this book to be a wall-to-wall cosmic smash-em-up celebration.

Loss: Green Lanterns #43 Was Wildly Mediocre

Green Lanterns was, for a long time, my favorite book of DC's Rebirth lineup. Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz make for such a charming buddy-cop team. It may yet still be my favorite book from DC, but this installment was easily the weakest issue of this impressive run. Its action is uninteresting, and the will-they-won't-they being set up between Simon and Jess is thoroughly unwanted.

Win: Thor #705's Also Epic Smackdown

'The Death of the Mighty Thor' is primed to bring tears upon tears, but, before that, we have one last epic smackdown between Jane Foster and an enemy of the common good: the Mangog. This fight was incredible, and it made for a great swan song for this Mighty Thor.

Loss: Damnation #3: Time for the Tie-Ins

Like Iron Fist #78, Doctor Strange: Damnation #3 wasn't an outright bad comic, but it is fairly insulting. It nakedly kills the pacing of the story to set up the myriad of Damnation tie-ins, and it kills the tension and excitement of what could have been another great battle comic.

Win: Batman #43: Ivy and Harley Forever

Batman #43 was a highly enjoyable villain-centric book, and it was quite memorable at that. One of the things that made it especially enjoyable was the implicit revival of the Gotham City Sirens and the on-again-off-again relationship of Harley and Pamela. I adore that as a couple, and it helps humanize the otherwise endless-meme-machine that Harley can often be.

Win: Ninja-K and Quantum + Woody Show Why Valiant is Great

Modern Valiant's comic output has been consistently very solid, and this week's Ninja-K and Quantum + Woody! installments were indicative of how good their comics have gotten. Ninja-K #5 was an exciting action romp, and Quantum + Woody #4 was a funny and engaging meeting between the titular heroes and the person who has been playing them.

Win: Harrow County #29

Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook's Harrow County is nearing its anticipated finale, and this week's installment brought back Hester in full force and showed her boundless cruelty. Plus, we get a heartbreaking moment with Emmy. As always, Crook delivers some gorgeous artwork to the county.

Win: Babyteeth #9

Donny Cates and Garry Brown brought a high-energy and intense issue of Babyteeth, bringing many of the plotlines to an explosive crescendo. Plus, Clarke gets to be absolutely terrifying. This was another great issue of a fantastic comic series.

And that's all for this week! Look out for the Comics for Your Pull List later today.

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