Each week, CBR has your guide to navigating Wednesday's new and recent comic releases, specials, collected editions and reissues, and we're committed to helping you choose those that are worth your hard-earned cash. It's a little slice of CBR we like to call Major Issues.
If you feel so inclined, you can buy our recommendations directly on comiXology with the links provided. We'll even supply links to the books we're not so hot on, just in case you don't want to take our word for it. Don't forget to let us know what you think of the books this week in the comments! And as always, SPOILERS AHEAD!
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE LAST RONIN #1 (IDW)
While the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had plenty of time-traveling adventures set in possible futures, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #1 throws the last surviving Turtle into a futuristic dystopian epic. Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, Esau, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Samuel Plata, Luis Antonio Delgado and Shawn Lee's debut issue strikes a perfect balance of action and intrigue, with just enough the familiar TMNT sights to make it feel like a natural extension of the Turtles' modern adventures.
In the mold of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns or Old Man Logan, this story finds the once-joyful hero turned into a haunted, grim figure fighting impossible odds in a character-focused story with emotional depth and shockingly heavy moments. While it's still too soon to say whether this will ultimately be mentioned in the same breath as Dark Knight Returns, it has enough ambition and visual style to make a resounding first impression.
BATMAN: THREE JOKERS #3 (DC)
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and Rob Leigh's Batman: Three Jokers ends with a bang. Like its preceding chapters, this story focuses on a relatively grounded version of the Dark Knight as he tries to stop the Jokers from remaking one of the most important people in his life in their twisted image.
With Fabok delivering career-best work, Three Jokers explicitly morphs into a sequel – or at the very least a follow-up – to Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's seminal Batman: The Killing Joke. Like that 1989 graphic novel, the Three Jokers finale makes some substantial changes to the larger Batman mythology that may or may not shape years of future stories. As it stands, this is still a must-read final chapter from a story that's sure to go down as one of this era's defining Batman epics.
X OF SWORDS: STASIS #1 (MARVEL)
As the X of Swords crossover has engulfed the X-Men's corner of the Marvel Universe, Marvel's mutants have been getting ready for a battle that will define the next era of X-Men tales. As the epic story reaches its halfway point in X of Swords: Stasis, Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, Pepe Larraz, Mamud Asrar, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles set the stage for the X-Men's fight to begin.
Where previous entries in the crossover focused primarily on the X-Men gathering their weapons, this issue shifts the focus to their opponents and sees both sides step onto the playing field. While this issue is relatively light on action, it still sees some meaningful plot developments, especially for Apocalypse. Ultimately, the real star of the issue is the art, which gives the villainous Swordbearers of Arakko compelling, distinctive looks.
BATGIRL #50 (DC)
In more ways than one, the milestone Batgirl #50 marks the end of an era for Barbara Gordon, as she no longer seems content to simply be another member of the Bat-Family. In the book's primary story, Cecil Castellucci, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger, Mick Gray, Scott Hanna, Jordie Bellaire and Becca Carey show Barbara yearning to evolve into a different kind of hero in a topical, timely story with sharp visual style.
Along with the DCU introduction of the Arrowverse's new Batwoman, Ryan Wilder, this story also seemingly does the work of setting up Commissioner Gordon's new place in Gotham going forward. The book's two back-up stories, Castellucci, Marguerite Sauvage and Carey's "Stay Centered" and Castellucci, Amele, Trish Mulvihill and Carey's "Game Night," offer a pair of fun tales that show Barbara at work and play, perhaps for the last time in this incarnation.
DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL: RISE OF THE NEW GOD #1 (DC)
Without any real mainline DC characters and a near-total focus on the cosmic order of the DC Universe, Death Metal: Rise of the New God could easily be one of the most challenging chapters of the ongoing Dark Nights: Death Metal crossover. However, James Tynion IV, Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes and Ulises Arreola's grand tale about a new cosmic observer watching the fight between the Darkest Knight – the villain formerly known as the Batman Who Laughs – and the multiversal creator Perpetua is an approachable – if wordy -- read.
The main thrust of the issue follows a cosmic observer, the Chronicler, as he records the history of the DC Multiverse as it crumbles around him in sharp detail. With visits to an odd selection of characters like Psycho Pirate and the Joker, the special ties its grandiose musings on the nature of the DC Universe back to recognizable faces. The special also includes a solid, but somewhat out-of-place short story after the Green Lanterns and the Multiverse's surviving heroes by Bryan Hill, Nik Virella, Hi-Fi and Andworld Design.
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