2016 - World Comic Book Review

Batman Annual #1 (2016)
DC Comics, November 30, 2016
Writers: Scott Bryan Wilson, Steve Orlando, Paul Dini, Scott Snyder, Tom King

The quintet of stories that collectively make up the 40-pages of 2016’s Batman Annual #1 all have the holiday season as their unifying theme, showcasing an impressive lineup of scribes that had a hand in shaping the classic and modern versions of the Batman character. With only a limited amount of pages allotted for each story, it is understandable that none of the stories can be considered an example of each of the writers’ best work. Fortunately all of the stories, save for one (which we address below), are meant to be lighthearted and tonally appropriate for the holiday season, and so quality of writing happily gives way to Christmas cheer.

All-New X-Men #4 (review)
(Marvel Comics, April 2016)
Writer: Dennis Hopeless

This title is one of a number of comic books currently published by Marvel Comics featuring characters from the seemingly legion members of the superpowered mutant team(s), the X-Men.

The cover features the present incarnation of Wolverine, standing within an inferno of green flame, body and hair burning away, a grin of ecstasy on her face. Wolverine is a Canadian superhero capable of hyper-fast healing of almost all wounds, has a skeleton laced with an unbreakable metal, and wields razor sharp blades made of the same material. Wolverine can suffer horrific injuries and bounce back with phenomenal pace. Traditionally Wolverine is a male character well over a hundred years old, with a chequered history of being a trained killer, a mercenary, a mobster from the South China Sea, a ninja, and more. Wolverine is arguably Marvel Comics’ most popular character. Presently, that character is dead.