Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Wonder Woman" #2 / #3 / #4 / #5

The Lies (#3 and #5): It's an intriguing and highly captivating story about Wonder Woman's expulsion from Themyscira and her and Trevor's subsequent fight against Urzkartaga. And most important of all, it stays true its core themes of identity and the rewriting of history.

9/10

Year One (#2 and #4): A carefully woven and well-narrated Wonder Woman origin story, that excels in its nuanced and invigorating depiction of Themyscira and the heartfelt way it recounts Steve Trevor's life prior to Wonder Woman. This could well go on to be one of Wonder Woman's quintessential origin stories.

9/10 

Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Deathstroke: Rebirth" #1 / "Aquaman" #5 / "Batman" #5

"Deathstroke: Rebirth" #1: You'll sincerely hate Slade Wilson pretty much from page 1 here, and this evocation of strong disdain is probably Priest's greatest achievement, setting up Deathstroke as one of the best villains in DC's "Rebirth" universe so far.

7/10

"Aquaman" #5: "Aquaman" has become a pretty pointless affair by now, as it has lost even the last bits of verve that it might have had in the beginning. The action here is at least semi-entertaining, but the story is moving nowhere at all. Disappointing. 

4/10

"Batman" #5: The story of Gotham and Gotham Girl ends with a blast, and the additional pieces of information on the siblings' origin are truly fascinating. King has managed to establish a truly compelling pair of characters here, and I'm looking forward to see more of them in the next issue.

8/10

Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Detective Comics" #938 / "Superman" #4 / "The Punisher" #4

"Detective Comics" #938: We see more and more classic Batman themes and moves in "Detective Comics" recently, and it is all the better for it. The dynamic between Batman and his team has also notably improved, making this a solid read throughout. 

7/10

"Superman" #4: The series seems to have finally found its rhythm and footing, while Jon's significance to it grows with every issue.

7/10

"The Punisher" #4: It's a pure joy how pissed off and angry everyone here just is. Not as violent as you might have hoped for, but still really, really good.

8/10

Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Daredevil" #10 / "Black Panther" #5 / "All Star Batman" #1

"Daredevil" #10: It takes a while for this new story arc to get out of the gates, but once in full swing, it is a thoroughly strong statement, artistically and narratively, from Soule and Garney.

8/10

"Black Panther" #5: Not quite the action yet promised after #4, but the interconnectedness and complexity of the comic's themes and motifs still makes this a must-read of 2016.

8/10

All Star Batman #1: Its theme of the potential evil which lurks in every common citizen and just needs to be triggered is nothing new in Snyder's Batman lore (just think of the "Mr. Bloom" story line). However, everything else here isn't, as Snyder, Romita and Shalvey go crazy with what Batman can be in 2016. 

10/10

Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Deadpool & The Mercs For Money" #2 / "Action Comics" #961 / "Darth Vader" #24

"Darth Vader" #24: It's a small glimpse of what this series could have been, if only Kieron Gillen had remotely made use of the potential a character like Darth Vader offers. Too little too late, even though this one here convinces.

7/10

"Action Comics" #961: This is still solid, even though one cannot help but feel that Jurgens has to get the story to some kind of conclusion soon (or shake things up, respectively) if he doesn't want to risk that the series becomes directionless.

7/10

"Deadpool & The Mercs For Money" #2: If you didn't particularly like the first series, you should definitely give this one another try. Deadpool's better, the Mercs a lot deeper and more dynamic, and the cast of villains is highly compelling. 

8/10