Top 5 Comic Book Moments of the Week: Magical puns, the next big Crisis, mutant religions and more
Spoiler alert for the comics released on February 26, 2020
Every week we bring you the five best new moments from the world of comics and this week, there was quite a lot to choose from. From spectacular psychic journeys to possibly the single most important moment in 'X-Men' comics since Moira X met Charles Xavier, it's been a great week to be a comics fan and we can't wait to share our picks for Top 5 Comic Book Moments of the Week with you. So let's get started, shall we?
5) Pun Magic
Most of the other entries on this list are deep, dark, and powerful. This one, less so. Simon Spurrier's 'John Constantine: Hellblazer' title has revitalized the character, taking its cues from the classic 'Hellblazer' comics and putting a very contemporary twist on Constantine's sordid world. 'John Constantine: Hellblazer' #4 follows in the same vein, introducing Tommy Willowtree, Constantine's hipster replacement who performs a form of magic that uses puns as spells. It's hilarious and we're totally going to be trying it out ourselves, more for the punning and less for the magic, but still.
4) Lost in a Silent Mindscape
This one isn't exactly a moment but the whole issue itself was extremely powerful so we had to include it on this list. The issue is mostly told as a silent comic with Russell Dauterman's vivid and wonderful art carrying the brunt of the storytelling and Matthew Wilson's colors practically popping off the page. 'Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost' #1 features some of the best facial acting we've seen in comics in recent memory with both Emma and Jean's expressions speaking volumes even while they remain silent as a human grave.
3) Don't bring me back without the pain
Benjamin Percy's 'X-Force' series has had a number of powerful moments but this one ranks at the very top. In this scene from 'X-Force' #8, we see Domino and Colossus go on a mission hunting down an army of Domino clones, which leads to Domino dying in combat. Since the start of the current 'X-Force' series, Domino has suffered a great deal of trauma and earlier in the issue, Colossus suggests that she could be resurrected without the memories of that trauma. But in this hard-hitting scene, Domino insists that she wants to come back with her painful memories intact, making a powerful statement about trauma and how it shapes us into the people we are, for better or for worse.
2) Batman Who Laughs and the next big Crisis
The Batman Who Laughs has been slowly acquiring DC's most powerful cosmic baddies, in addition to secretly infecting many of DC's Heroes with Joker toxin, making them insane, vicious, and utterly under his control. His fight, so far, has curiously been against the ordered mind of Lex Luthor, but this issue we find that he has something much grander in mind than winning a mere supervillain vs. supervillain fight. In 'Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen' #3, we find out that he's captured Nix Uotan, last of the Monitors, who only really come into play during multiversal Crises. The Batman Who Laughs demeans these Crises, and we learn that his ultimate goal? It's to initiate a Crisis to end all Crises. Given how large scale things have gotten in terms of DC Events, this is about as ambitious a goal as it gets - but the Batman Who Laughs is the one mind in the Metaverse who could pull it off.
1) Crucible and The Birth of a Mutant religion
Most weeks, it's hard to pick one issue as the best of the week but this week, it was a pretty easy job. Jonathan Hickman's 'X-Men' #7 is possibly the single most important comic that's come out all year as it asks some difficult questions about ethics, morality, and the consequences of how Krakoan society is evolving. The whole issue follows Cyclops as he tries to deal with a moral dilemma, which inevitably brings him to the X-Men's resident philosopher Nightcrawler and ends with the mutant priest declaring that he wants to start a mutant religion. The implications of this moment are massive and this is a book that will be talked about for months (if not years) to come.
That's all for this week. What were your favorite moments for this week? Let us know in the comments.