New Comics Reviews 2/19/25: Thunderbolts Doomstrike, Weapon X-Men, Zatanna & MORE!
New Comics Reviews for Wednesday 2/19!
Hello! Here are our new comics reviews for the week of 2/19/25, featuring Thunderbolts: Doomstrike, Weapon X-Men, Zatanna, and Let This One Be a Devil! Be sure to check out Episode #770 if you want to hear our full discussion!
Joe’s Reviews:
Cover by Jamal Campbell
Zatanna #1
DC Comics
Story, art, and colors by Jamal Campbell
Letters by Ariana Maher
32 pages for $3.99
Solicit: SUPERSTAR JAMAL CAMPBELL KICKS OFF AN ALL-NEW ZATANNA LIMITED SERIES! Zatanna Zatara, the Mistress of Magic, is back on tour! She’s got her stage crew back together and is looking forward to a new, less chaotic chapter of life. However, her plans are disrupted before they even begin when her stage crew is abducted by a ghostly new adversary, The Lady White. Now, Zatanna is plunged into machinations of tricks, swords, and curses that threaten to tear her apart from the inside out!
Review: The first issue of Zatanna’s latest limited series is a delight from start to finish. It’s clear that Campbell knows this character inside and out, and he’s able to capture that feel of a performer and her family-like crew established by Paul Dini back in the early 2010s. Campbell’s art is a visual feast, switching from style to style at the drop of a hat. The ultra-vibrant colors contribute to the book’s magical feel. I’m not sure how many Zatanna stories Campbell has in him, but this debut issue makes a strong case that her latest mini-series should be upgraded to an ongoing.
Rating: BUY IT
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu
Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #1
Marvel Comics
Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing
Art by Tommaso Bianchi
Colors by Yen Nitro
Letters by VC’s Joe Sabino
32 pages for $4.99
Solicit: REVOLUTION…or REBELLION…LIKE LIGHTNING! Doom took over the world. And Bucky Barnes helped him do it. To atone for his unwitting role in Doom’s triumph, Bucky assembles a team with one goal: burn it all down. But when Bucky’s saboteurs – including Black Widow and Songbird – launch a no-holds-barred campaign to tear Doom’s Empire apart, Doom decides to prove that revolution ends in blood…
Review: The first thing you need to know going into this series is that it’s just as much a continuation of the writers’ work with Bucky in Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty and the previous volume of Thunderbolts, which was a struggle for me since I read one but not the other. The issue wastes no time setting up the plot and the story moves at a breakneck pace. It’s full of MCU synergy, which I can take or leave, but it wasn’t distracting. Doom’s true colors are already showing and any pretense that he’s acting benevolently is thrown right out the window. The inclusion of past Thunderbolts members was nice and there’s an excellent twist with the new Citizen V’s identity. Kelly and Lanzing make time for emotional moments amidst the blockbuster action, and the art by Bianchi and Nitro is dark and moody one moment, then bombastically vibrant the next. The figure drawing does get a little weird at times, but I really enjoyed the look of this issue. Thunderbolts: Doomstrike #1 is a worthwhile companion piece to the main event. You probably don’t NEED to read it, but you’ll be glad you did.
Rating: BUY IT
Matt’s Reviews:
Cover by Gavin Fullerton
Let This One Be A Devil #1
Dark Horse Comics
Written by James Tynion and Steve Foxe
Art by Piotr Kowalski
Colors by Brad Simpson
Letters by Tom Napolitano
Main Cover by Gavin Fullerton
32 pages for $4.99
Solicit: In the early 1900s, Henry Naughton returns home to the family farm in the swampy Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. One night, he encounters a strange predator stalking the woods. This sends the young scholar on a research project that uncovers the legend of Mother Leeds and the terrible birth of the Jersey Devil in 1735. James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe along with Piotr Kowalski bring the Jersey Devil to life in a supernatural tale of horror that peels back unknown layers of history and reveals local monsters and universal terrors.
Review: If there is anyone more qualified than comic horror master James Tynion to tell the “real” story of the Jersey devil I can’t think of them but teaming with Steve Foxe certainly paid off here. Artist Peter Kowaliski brings his hyper-detailed line work to this creepy historical monster tale to amazing effect bringing a small 1900’s town to life and drawing a terrifying version of New Jersey’s favorite cryptid. There’s a creepy black-and-white backup story too, which wasn’t mentioned in the solicitation, about a poltergeist following an only child and his family. Both stories center around true events as recounted by witnesses but the stories lean into the supernatural to great effect. Any fan of cryptid history and real ghost stories should pick this first issue up.
Rating: BUY IT
Cover by Alex Ross
Weapon X-Men #1
Marvel Comics
Written by Joe Casey
Pencils by Chriscross
Inks by Mark Morales
Colors by Yen Nitro
Letters by VC’s Clayton Cowels
Cover by Alex Ross
32 pages for $4.99
Solicit: WOLVERINE! DEADPOOL! CABLE! CHAMBER! THUNDERBIRD! Together on their very own X-team for the very first X-time — all in an X-tra-sized first issue! When a high-stakes mutant rescue mission from the ultimate global hot spot exposes the true enemy — possibly from within — an all-new team of all-action icons suddenly find themselves forged in fire. And the official membership policy is… no mercy allowed! Brought to you by returning X-writer, Joe Casey, and acclaimed artist, ChrisCross! Accept no substitutes — this is the one you didn’t even know you were waiting for! This is the real thing!
Review: Old heads will look at this creative team and feel like it must be the early 2000s but Casey and ChrisCross aren’t just reaching for nostalgia sales. Weapon X-Men is not a great title, this probably should have been another incarnation of X-Force but that title is currently taken, but Casey drops enough 4th wall breaking jokes speaking through Deadpool to sell the title and let fans know he came up with it even though there was a previous Weapon X-Men mini-series (that no one read last year). Casey did in fact come up with the title and it’s wonderful to read him writing X-characters again. ChrisCross is one of those artists I always wanted more of but seems to have vanished after his work on Captain Marvel and Firestorm in the early 2000s. His art is as explosive, and flashy as ever making this comic stand out as one of the best-looking in the recent slate of post-Krakoa X-titles. You can see these creators having fun on the page and the results are slam-bang X-adventure that finally gives two characters I love (Chamber and Thunderbird) something to do while being fully aware they’re smashing Wolvie and Deadpool into yet another comic. At least Casey can admit it.
Rating: BUY IT
NEED MORE THN?
Join us for the THN Gang Hang on Saturdays at 11:00AM Central. Check out our Discord for details. Head over to the THN Facebook Fan Page and check out our YouTube channel for extra content you can’t find in the show!
WANT TO BE A PART OF THE SHOW?
If you’re looking for a new read from the Comic Pushers, have a Hot Take or Ask a Nerd question, or just want to share your thoughts, send us an MP3 and we might use it for a segment!
KEEP THE SHOW ALIVE!
If you like what you heard, please consider donating! THN is a listener-supported podcast that we aim to keep ad-free; without your support, we don’t have a show. You can become a Patron where you’ll hear all kinds of Patreon-exclusive content, or just make a one-time donation via Paypal because you’re a comic nerd of the highest quality!
Excelsior!
