Who’s ready for another exciting installment of Comic Wolf’s Pull Box?! Nobody? That’s fine I’m doing it anyway. This week is a good one, between my actual favorite series coming out again plus further entries in Doomsday Clock and Phoenix Resurrection. In the comments/Discord you can take bets on whether or not Marvel will delay the fifth and final issue of Phoenix next week. Till then, on to the main event!
Doomsday Clock #3
I have to admit, after three issues my fears about Doomsday Clock are rapidly fading away. It’s a damn good book. This issue features the proper DC Universe the most heavily, having gotten through the build up of the first couple issues. A lot of the things I love about this #3 are connected to the fact that it’s a true DC/Watchmen collision. Seeing Batman and Rorschach interact is interesting, even if it’s an obvious thing to have happen. The cuts to an old movie throughout the issue makes a nice parallel with “Tales of the Black Freighter” from the original Watchmen, although it remains to be seen if this will be as persistent/important thematically. I also like the vague hints at the state of the DC Universe and the ways it is actually becoming like the Watchmen universe. Sure, a story about superheroes not being trusted is a bit overdone, but the fact that this is an open homage to Watchmen rather than presenting itself as original makes it more enjoyable. It doesn’t seem to be sticking too close to the original with this issue, just grounding itself in both stories. Also, I love, love, love the art. I can’t say I’m overly familiar with the name Gary Frank, although a quick Wikipedia search reveals he’s done some work on a few things I liked (Batman:Earth One, DC Rebirth One-Shot, Superman: Secret Identity). I have a feeling this book may be a break out moment for him. In terms of things I don’t like about the book, I am a little worried it may come to rely too much on just pulling characters out. Batman and Superman are obviously going to play a large role, but the Comedian appearing and hints of the Joker’s involvement are a little worrying. This particular issue also jumps around a lot, which is a little jarring, but the branching story paths were enjoyable because of the breadth of the worlds colliding. My one other complaint is something I don’t want to get into too much, but the series has just been delayed to a bi-monthly schedule which is a) annoying and b) messes up the whole premise of Doomsday Clock: it takes place in the DCU in one year from now and over the course of the next real life year all the other DC books will slowly move in the direction teased in the book. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow, but I’m impatient and waiting two years for this to wrap up is gonna suck.
The current story arc, “The Death of the Mighty Thor” ramps up! Jane Foster’s cancer has been getting steadily worse, and now everything Jason Aaron’s run has been building to is beginning to come to a head. I like this arc, for the most part. I like Jane as Thor, but from the beginning there has always been a finiteness to it. All the way back when Odinson became unworthy, we saw the future — that he would eventually return. All I hoped to get from the female Thor was a bunch of interesting stories for as long as she lasted. This story arc definitely lives up to that potential. Aaron’s writing stays strong, and this issue manages to be exciting and tense despite the fact that Thor herself is never actually present. The story skips over the Thor bit, focusing instead on Jane Foster and her friends/allies that have to see her dying day by day. That said, there’s no shortage of action. The Mangog is still attacking Asgard, trying to get its revenge. I don’t particularly like the Mangog as a villain. He’s very ugly to look at, even in this absolutely gorgeous book. He feels a bit like a Dragonball villain, in that he’s just hilariously more powerful than literal gods, and I’m quite confident that his defeat will not be very satisfying; just another level of “powering up” for Jane and Odinson who must be just about ready to replace her. However, the Mangog being dull isn’t a big deal since the focus is definitely still on cancer as the villain, with the Mangog as well as Malekith and his allies just serving as a reason for Jane to keep picking up the hammer. At a glance, it looks like there’s probably two more issues to this arc and this is definitely the one where things get real. Definitely a fan. In addition, this is the first (and probably only) one of the books I read to include a “Where is Wolverine?”. I thought it was pretty dumb, so there’s my thoughts on that too.
Old Man Logan