Once a month the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge. It's a big selection this month so we'll be splitting it into two parts. Tune in tomorrow for part two.
Though Ralph Wiggum is one of the greatest Simpsons characters of all time, we're not sure if an entire comic really was the best way to go. He's much better off in small doses uttering non sequiturs that baffle and delight. Maybe a weekly comic strip would be more his speed, though we'll admit we spent 15 happy minutes engrossed in his prison riot Where's Ralph? puzzle.
Rating: 5 of 10
We haven't been following the latest run of Daredevil too closely, though we like the idea of Matt Murdoch's heroic career being something of an open tabloid secret. It's an interesting take on the alter-ego mystique. We've been seeing ads for this issue for some time, and now we know that it involves Daredevil descending under New York to find out why the Mole Man is robbing graves. The answer seems to be to dance with a blond corpse like Tom Petty in the "Mary Jane's Last Dance" video.
Flash remains one of those comics that tend to get ridiculous, but when it settles into an old-school superhero approach, it does it better than anyone else. #6 deals with the return of Captain Cold, now able to generate his freezing powers without technology. He's out for revenge on the Flash, who apparently caused a massive EMP explosion that resulted in the slow death of his sister when her cancer treatments couldn't be performed.
A new wrinkle is the limit being placed on Flash's powers. Overuse causes massive rips in space/time, and a meter that reads countdowns to him during the course of his battle ensures that the fastest man alive is always in a race that he can still lose. Fantastic storytelling.
Rating: 8 of 10
