CBR - CBR Exclusives

Action Comics Annual 2023 Review

D. R. Bickham — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 21:30:12 GMT

The Action Comics 2023 Annual features the newest version of the Superman Family doing what they do best - defending the Earth against what would otherwise be insurmountable odds. The finale to the five-part "New Worlds" story was initiated in issue #1057. The story unapologetically barrels to its conclusion, barely allowing the reader to catch their breath - and that's a good thing. From the first page, the annual establishes that it is everything fans should expect of a story featuring the Man of Steel, establishing its stakes early on and featuring beats as heartfelt as action-packed. Additionally, the issue bucks the trend of many annuals by delivering a single story as opposed to several, and that one tale is well worth the price of admission, firing on all cylinders from the very first panel.

Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 Finale Review

Sayantan Gayen — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 17:00:14 GMT

From birth until death, every living being experiences challenges in life. People from every walk of society face misfortune, the death of loved ones, and the toxicity of their environment all the time. But sometimes, regret and shame can grow too hard to bear. In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, this is known as negative emotions, which pool up over time and become the source of something sinister called curses. As season 2 of the anime fully embraces the ugly side of curses with the adaptation of the Shibuya Incident arc, death, loss, and destruction are no longer words to describe life but the qualities that Geto and his ilk strive for, making the Finale the melting pot of everything ominous the series has been building toward.

Letterkenny Season 12 Review

Sam Stone — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:58:39 GMT

After twelve seasons running from 2016 to 2023, the popular Canadian comedy series Letterkenny has come to a planned end just in time to close out the year. Running for six episodes, all directed by series co-developer and executive producer Jacob Tierney, Letterkenny's final season runs with a much tighter focus than preceding seasons and a loose, overarching narrative rather than complete standalone episodes. And while Letterkenny doesn't end with a definitive conclusion, giving itself room to revisit and explore, it does feel bittersweet watching these familiar characters go off into an uncertain future.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Actors Reveal Their Shadowy Characters

Sam Stone — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 15:00:14 GMT

Not every human character in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a friendly face. Certain figures carry shadowy secrets as they hunt the main characters around the world. Tim and Duvall are two Monarch agents tasked with researching confidential documents about Titan activity and their classified history. Played by Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski, the characters accelerate the pace of the Apple TV+ series and remind everyone of the globe-trotting stakes in between the colossal monster mash.

Predator Versus Wolverine Finale Review

Sayantan Gayen — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 21:38:12 GMT

The Predator franchise has a unique comic book history going back to the late '80s when Dark Horse Comics regularly published limited series and one-shots, along with several stunning crossovers with Batman, Judge Dredd, and even, most recently, Archie. Last year, Disney finally settled its copyright dispute with the original Predator screenwriters, launching the comic books a year later than expected. But that did not dissuade them from going the crossover route, as they have a plethora of Marvel Comics characters to choose from, and who better to headline it than Wolverine himself? As the bad blood between Logan and the Yautja hunter continues, the fourth and final issue explores their long-drawn rivalry through the decades and gives a definitive ending to the bloody feud.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Cast Describe Facing Godzilla

Sam Stone — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 15:00:14 GMT

The ambitious MonsterVerse series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters features a group of young adults roped into the secrets of Titan activity in the wake of Godzilla's battle in San Francisco. Cate Randa travels from San Francisco to Japan, only to learn that she has a secret half-brother, Kentaro. She embarks on a global adventure with him and his girlfriend May in order to discover what truly happened to their father. This leads them to team up with Lee Shaw -- a grizzled veteran who's been linked to the Titans since their emergence.

REVIEW: Image's Shift #1

Sayantan Gayen — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:17 GMT

The modern-day version of shared universes started in comic books, with publishers telling stories about vigilantes whose lives sometimes crossed over in epic fashion. Image Comics is doing something similar in scale and roster, expanding its Massive-Verse into franchises of superhero-centric titles. But not all characters that readers meet are heroes, and some are intriguing enough to take another look at, giving them a chance to prove their worth. Shift seems to fit that exact criterion as Image places him in the center stage of a new oversized one-shot that tracks his backstory to the present. With the help of his amazing teleportation powers, courtesy of his Radiant-inspired suit, Shift, or Guy, as people in his profession call him, is ready to deploy.

Titans - Beast World Tour: Central City #1 Review

D. R. Bickham — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 23:00:19 GMT

DC's Beast World epic continues to rage throughout the universe as the spores created by the mutated Beast Boy spread throughout several well-known locations. Originating when the longtime Titan inadvertently morphed into Garro, the creature now affects both the heroic and villainous denizens of the DC Universe, its spores transforming them into often terrifying human/beast hybrids. With the infection already affecting Superman's home of Metropolis and Batman's Gotham City (transforming several of the heroes protecting those cities), the plague has now extended to the longtime home of several members of the Flash Family in Titans - Beast World Tour: Central City.

REVIEW: Oni Press' Invasive #1

Sayantan Gayen — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 18:30:18 GMT

In the horror genre, the darkest tales do not come from the supernatural stories where demonic beings play hide and seek but from the human ones that bring out the inner monsters in people that will put any ghost to shame. The current boom in medical drama in comic books is also making its way into horror, flinging the doors open to a subgenre already dripping in blood from head to toe. Oni Press' latest foray into the same cuts open into some horrible truths about an addiction that readers see every day but do not think back about twice. It warns of a cruel world, but even more so of the cruelty of the perpetrators, through gruesome scenes that can be hard for even medical professionals to stomach.

Reacher Season 2 Episode 5 Review

Joshua M. Patton — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 17:46:32 GMT

With the first half of Season 2 behind him, Jack Reacher and the rest of the surviving special investigators are finally starting to find more answers than questions. It's a bigger season than the first, with four times as many locations. However, the mystery itself continues to unfold slowly. It's a deliberate choice on the part of the storytellers because as much as Season 2 is about the murder of their former colleagues, it's also about the mystery of Reacher himself.