Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens - Review - DC Compact Comics

When I started to read this, I was a little confused because there was mention of the character Hush and I had not read that yet. I thought it was going to cause more confusion down the line so I held off on reading it, then I got sick and next thing you know it had been over a month since I started reading it again. I thought this was going to be a Harley Quinn book where the “gotham city sirens” were just going to be some goons and not actually her and Poison Ivy teaming up with Catwoman. 

For once I was glad that someone brought up how toxic the relationship between Harley and Joker was and it was awesome that Poison Ivy and Catwoman decided to do something about it. This was another great little mystery of trying to find out who is killing people and finding out some fun lore about characters. The unorthodox team ends up working out and seeing how they make it work was a fun journey. The artwork is moody, explosive and chaotic all in the best ways. I particularly liked the character style of Joker being more outlandish and freaky. 

I wish this hadn’t taken me so long to read but it was fun with all the different mysteries and stories each character had and how they all met up to one thing. 

Overall 4 / 5

Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens Paul Dini-Writer, Guillem March-Artist

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Batman: Hush - Review - DC Compact Comics

It wasn’t until I finished this book and spoke to a buddy of mine that I realized Batman:Hush ran from 2002-2003. Almost 25 years ago, and here I was reading it for the first time at the age of 35. While I was reading Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens, the character Hush was mentioned a couple times and I was a little confused for a bit so I made sure to read it next.

Jim Lee’s art was spectacular and I was super excited each time a new character was introduced and got to see their design. Right at the start we get looks at a monster Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Catwoman and The Huntress, one of whom I’m not very familiar with, the other being Lady Shiva. I am just starting to read all the main storylines in the DC Batman and Batman adjacent so there were a few things I didn’t really know about but have just come across from other material. For instance I have not read A Death in the Family, but know that Joker killed Robin, and that plays somewhat an important part in the plot. This book is full of villains, heroes, twists and turns and makes me wish I had read this years ago. I was kept guessing who Hush was throughout the entire read and was surprised at the reveal. Such a fun and pretty intense read with all the action and drama.

Overall I was able to follow the storyline and knew almost every character. I think from now on when people ask me what my favorite Batman story is, the answer will be Hush. 

Overall 5 / 5

Batman: Hush Jeph Loeb-Writer, Jim Lee-Penciller

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Far Sector - Review - DC Compact Comics

I’ve read a few of these DC Compact Comics and I swear each one just keeps getting better. This is my first entry into the Green Lantern universe and understanding a bit about what they do. If you want to get deep into the lore of it all, I don’t think this is the comic to do that for you. If you’re reading this and you DO HAVE a recommendation for a good Green Lantern story, please let me know in the comments. I’d say this story touched very little on what and/or who the Green Lanterns are. I don’t think it really affected my overall understanding of what was happening, so it didn’t really bother me. Ok now let’s talk about Far Sector.

There are 3 basic reasons why I liked Far Sector so much, one of them being the actual story and plot throughout. We are thrust into a world very different from our own and are introduced to our protagonist, Sojourner “Jo” Mullein, a rookie Green Lantern being assigned to a brutal murder. Sounds like the normal cop stuff, but in a world where emotions don’t exist and is the first murder in generations, it’s very far from normal. We get to learn of different races that co-exist, their origins and the start of this emotionless living. It was an intriguing and dramatic story with various twists that made me curious to learn more of.

Next were the colors! The use of monochromatic pages plus a wide range of colors overall was such a unique creative style I was not used to. There were also many pages that contained cool colors mixed in with warm that just worked so well together instead of sloppy. Lots of uses of pinks, purples and teals that I have not seen in other books yet. The art is great but combined with this color palette just makes it jump off the page.

Finally the last reason I really liked this comic book were the dynamic layouts. I saw a bit of this in Batwoman: Elegy but this just took it to another level. Being a pretty novice comic book reader, sometimes if there are non-traditional panels I struggle with following the correct way to read it. Far Sector does a fantastic job of this, crazy layouts, different variations, explosive panels, it’s got it all and without hurting the overall story. I do hope I come across more stories that are done like this because I really enjoy seeing how the art can be expressed in different ways.

Overall 4 / 5

Far Sector N.K. Jemisin-Writer, Jamal Campbell-Cover Artist/Artist/Colorist, Deron Bennett-Letterer.

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A Little White Rabbit Appears! White Rabbit Coffee Co. Now Open In Westminster CO

White Rabbit Coffee Co | 11187 Sheridan Boulevard #9, Westminster, CO 80020

Finally a local coffee shop (that isn’t a national chain) has opened up in our neighborhood. No longer do I have to drive down to Denver to get that local coffee shop vibes to read my comics at.

Having been open a few weeks now White Rabbit Coffee has become a great new addition to our community. Owned and operated by John Kirk, White Rabbit Coffee sits in one of the shops on the corner of Sheridan and 112th avenue. 

With Starbucks and Dutch Bros opening new locations on 120th ave, I was fearing we would start to lose more and more small businesses to our corporate overlords. Once we heard about the coffee shop opening up we headed on over to check it out. It’s important to support your local shops, besides comic shops I also like to frequent coffee shops to give my business to the community.

Now over the weeks the interior has slightly changed with more artwork popping up. John likes to fill the place with art and is slowly building an eclectic collection of artwork on his walls. As more furniture, artwork & merch was added, the more it was starting to feel like a place to hang out at. 

The atmosphere is always a friendly vibe. They’ve done a great job hiring charismatic & social staff that makes early morning chatter turn into sit down conversations that bring in more and more people. I missed the times when you could hang out at a coffee shop and not feel like you have to be quiet because of everyone clicking & clacking away on their computers. This local coffee shop has brought that community feeling back that many of us have longed for.

I’m a pretty basic person when it comes to my coffee, however whenever I’m feeling dangerous I like to get a hot mocha to start off my work day. Usually I’d have to go to Starbucks for that in which it always felt like I was drinking chocolate milk. The mochas have always been on point and my go-to drink to pair with their new pastries. 

White Rabbit Coffee is a taste of what a community could really be and we couldn’t be happier with its opening. It’s now become a weekly date for my wife and I to enjoy our coffee and do some reading. We wish the owner well and hope everyone reading this gives it a try! 

WhiteRabbitCoffee.com

Batwoman: Elegy - Review - DC Compact Comics

Going into this one I wasn’t really sure what to expect. For instance I didn’t even know who Batwoman actually was and did a quick Google search to see who she even was before reading. Kate Kane, that’s who I found out is Batwoman AND she is Bruce Wayne’s cousin? Not sure, but this is something I was looking forward to, which is reading something that I really don’t have any background info on it. Honestly I grabbed this DC Compact Comic because it obviously is somehow related to Batman and the cover/illustration of Batwoman is pretty badass. 

I enjoyed this one quite a bit and was surprisingly more interested in how Kate’s father dealt with a lot of “parenting” situations. Being a father of two young boys, I’m always looking for examples of supportive parents so I can learn how to and not to parent. Batwoman’s father is a military man who believes in honor and integrity. Seeing how he would support Kate throughout her journey as Batwoman AND as a queer woman was refreshing to see.

Then add in the supernatural like werewolves and you’ll have me locked in. I will say one of the main villains in the story has quite a frightening face, it reminded me of the clown Pennywise from IT. Towards the end of the book we encounter someone called the ‘Cutter’ which was quite an interesting more “detective” like story that I was enjoying. I might have to get the other volumes of that. 

The art was very stylish and I loved how Batwoman's red hair was so vibrant on the page. There were pages where it’s pretty dark and I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not. Being a graphic designer in the print business it got me wondering if the print was over saturated on this paper and now has got me wanting to compare them to the digital reading of it. 

Overall 4 / 5

Being a Batman fan, I was going into this hoping I’d like it and did, but not for the reasons I thought. Of course the action and suit was awesome, but when stories integrate personal struggles like this it offers a whole other perspective. Again this is another DC Compact Comic that I felt was totally worth the $10 price. 

Batwoman: Elegy Greg Rucka-Writer, J.H. Williams III-Cover Artist/Artist, Todd Klein-Letterer, Dave Stewart-Colorist, Jock-Artist/Penciller, David Baron-Colorist, Scott Kolins-Inker

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