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Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan’s Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Geeklings, there are Wednesdays where I wake up and I’m like, “ooooooh today is going to be an awesome New Comic Book Day”. There are other Wednesdays where I wake up and I’m like, “Eff Yeah! Today is going to be awesome New Comic Book Day”. Then there are Wednesdays like today where the New Comic Book Day is so beyond epic, I can’t even begin to properly emote. Which means I mostly just stare blankly ahead while holding a comic book in my hand because my mind has been melted. That’s how good today’s books are.

I’m sure if you’re here at the Pull List then you’re looking for further proof. Well, allow me to prove it up. If you’re looking to the conclusion to a controversial book then we’ve got you covered. If you’re looking for mega reveals from a highly acclaimed event series then we’ve got that too! New event starting? Yep. Event concluding? Double yep. The last Batman story from a dynamic duo? Guys, maybe you’re not understanding what I’m saying here. We’ve got everything!

Listen, I’d love to give you guys a mess of veiled comments on this week’s books but I’d much rather just break them down with you. This way you can get hyped, head to the local comic book shop and get to reading. The Pull List is the gift that keeps on giving and let’s start things off with…

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Heroes In Crisis #9- The end is here for Tom King, Clay Mann’s, and Mitch Gerads’s Heroes In Crisis and this book has been a heavy read. King has done an incredible job exploring PTSD within superhero culture and has given us some very raw and real emotions. I’m still recovering from that Harley Quinn confession a handful of issues ago. A lot of Heroes In Crisis hits like a punch in the gut and while fandom is divided on the events, it’s hard to deny what King has set out to do here. Does he stick the landing? I think so. Issue #8 gave us the reveal that Wally West was behind the Sanctuary killings and issue #9 explains to us why. What follows is some intense timey wimey stuff and Wally West at his most Wally West. For those who were concerned King didn’t understand who Wally was, I dare you to leave this issue feeling the same way. As always, Mann’s artwork is just stunning as he effortlessly captures the emotion of King’s writing. I’m not sure where you fall when it concerns this book but I think it’ll be hard to ignore its ramifications on the DC Universe and I see that as a positive.

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Doomsday Clock #10- Yes, delays suck. Yes, they break up the flow of the narrative especially when you consider how dense and rich with history Doomsday Clock is. With that being said though, sometimes the power of storytelling eclipse the wait for said story. It almost makes it all worth it. Doomsday Clock #10 is the book of this series. Ever since DC Rebirth, we’ve wanted to know why Doctor Manhattan has changed the DC Universe and now we know. All of his driving factors, all his observance of time, all the changes are explained here. If you were wondering how Wally West showed up in Rebirth this issue even has an answer for that! We’re in the endgame now as Manhattan has revealed his cards and seems to have the rest of the DC Universe pushed to the side. Now it’s time for the showdown we were promised. Superman vs Doctor Manhattan. What will happen to the DC Universe afterward? Will there even be a DC Universe afterward? Geoff Johns and Gary Frank have created something incredible here. Look past the delays and look through the content. Not only is this a Watchmen sequel being pulled off, something I would have thought impossible, but this is an explanation of the DC Universe that not only changes everything but makes it understandable. This book is quite literally a game changer.

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Batman The Last Knight On Earth #1– Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are no strangers to Batman. In fact, some would argue that they’ve had one of the strongest Batman runs in recent history. Only to follow that up with a Batman-centric event, Dark Nights Metal that saw a slew of evil Batmen come out of the Dark Multiverse while cashing in on a number of previous Snyder/Capullo stories. If rumors are to be believed then The Last Knight will be their swansong Batman story, and what better way to go out then with a story that is so crazy town banana pants that it’s being dubbed the last Batman story? Bruce Wayne wakes up in Arkham with zero knowledge that he was Batman. The DC Universe has been destroyed. What follows is Bruce trying to figure out what happened to this world, who he is, and if whatever did this could be stopped. Oh, and he’s got the Joker’s head in a jar… and he’s talking to it. That enough to get you to buy this three issue mini-series? I thought so.

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Superman Leviathan Rising Special #1– Right off the bat, at $9.99 this is a very expensive book but let’s look at the quality of your purchase. For starters, Brian Michael Bendis is raising the hype levels of his newest Superman villain, Leviathan as we get ready for that upcoming event. Superman is in for the fight of his life as Leviathan is enacting his plan to bring him down. On top of that awesome, we get setups to two upcoming series featuring Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane. The Olsen book will be written by none other than Matt Fraction (all the yes please) while the Lane story is written by Greg Rucka (score!). We’ve got eighty pages of content here (eighty!) to put this summer of Superman in motion. Well worth the price tag once you break it all down.

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Amazing Spider-Man #22- Let me preface by saying I have thoroughly enjoyed Nick Spencer’s Amazing Spider-Man run and have found it refreshing and a return to form for the character. With that being said though, this “Hunted” storyline has felt a bit long and I’m happy that we can start to move on to something new. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some really fantastic issues within this arc, I’ve pretty much loved everything concerning Black Cat and Task Master/Black Ant, but on the whole, this fell kind of flat for me. But that’s not to say that nothing important is happening here and you have to know that at the end of an arc this long that the status quo for Spidey is about to change. Who lives? Who dies? What comes next? Nick Spencer has a master plan to his Spider-Man run and I think we’re just finishing the first phase. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story Pull List- Heroes In Crisis Ends, Dr. Manhattan's Reasons, & The Last Batman Story

Honorable Mentions- Ascender #2 & Daredevil #6

*phew* There you have it Geeklings, all the best books to get your mitts on this week. As you can see, the hype was real concerning the release of comics this week. As always, if you feel like I’ve left anything off of this week’s Pull List be sure to sound off in the comments. If you’d like to talk more comics with yours truly then you can find me over on Twitter @iamgeek32. There is a ton to discuss after this week’s batch of books so seek me out and throw me a line. Always down for a good comic chat. Now if you’ll excuse me I have some comics to finish reading. I hope you all had a kickass New Comic Book Day and wish you all some happy reading and many huzzahs! See you all next week.

 

Images from Marvel, DC, and Image Comics

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