Hiram Lodge’s ambition and greed have had a negative impact on Riverdale, pushing people out of their homes and making the new...

It feels like it’s been a million years and half a million reboots since writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee exploded the brains of Bat-fans with the launch of the original “Hush” storyline in Batman #608.

Batman and Deadpool are back together for the second one-shot in DC and Marvel’s two-issue crossover starring the Caped Crusader and the Merc with a Mouth. It starts with Batman on a case to find a very dangerous, powerful artifact that can change reality. Enter Deadpool with handy exposition and fourth wall breaks, and the team-up begins. The reality distorting weapon sends them through a trippy sequence, including a hotel lobby filled with Marvel/DC Easter eggs, before they finally meet the puppet master of their intercompany crossover.

Mark Spears Monsters the Monster and the Wolf #1 begins in Antarctica where Clint Abbott is searching for a cure for the werewolf curse. He has traveled to the icy, isolated landscape because a doctor there may have developed a serum that can help him. Unfortunately for Clint, he isn’t the only dangerous individual in the area.

Partisan, while a very different story from Ennis and Epting, is a spiritual successor or sequel to Sara. Both deal with women swept up in circumstances beyond their control on the Soviet side of World War II, and both confront the brutality of war, the totalitarian nature of the state, and the price of hoping for a better future.

It’s the holiday season in Sunnydale, and while most people are ready for a break, the vampires and demons in town are still causing mischief. When a slaying mishap costs Buffy the money she had saved up to buy Christmas presents, the Slayer gets a job at the Popsicle Parlor.

Opening with a frazzled set of parents fearing retribution from their children over a meager Christmas, they turn to a book that arrives on their doorstep, which chronicles The Lobo Xmas Sanction. The book tells the story of how the Easter Bunny hires Lobo to take out Santa Claus, aka Kris ‘Crusher’ Kringle.

As the Grab-Bag subtitle suggests, this is not an issue themed by title. Rather, it was a mix of characters and stories. In addition to the Nick Fury adventure, the stories came from Amazing Spider-Man #24, Hero for Hire #7, Incredible Hulk #147, and Doctor Strange #180. This gave the reader a diverse line-up of top and secondary characters.

Following on the previous issue’s Hate Monger story, we get a smoldering, bluesy Christmas story that sees Fury try to spend the holiday with the beautiful Laura Brown. All that’s missing is a swanky jazz soundtrack. The quiet, romantic moment suddenly turns into an action adventure, and a great Christmas comic. It’s Christmas wrapping around a quiet epic spy vs. terrorist tale.

During the winter solstice, aka the longest night of the year, Sabrina and her coven must save their friend Ali who was kidnapped by a frightening beast and taken into another realm. The second story delivers a flashback to when teenage Zelda and Hilda Spellman break the solstice tradition, and a ghost from their past causes mischief on the special night.

Whether they’ve been outright scary like The Chenoo, over-the-top danger and action like Alien Alamo, smoldering horror-crime-suspense like The Ghosts of Matecumbe Key, or action-horror such as Joe Frankenstein, writer-artist Graham Nolan, the co-creator of Batman foe Bane, has delivered consistently entertaining comics through his Compass Comics imprint.

This issue picks up after Harley and her crew had a chaotic battle with Boffa and his minions, and Elvira was overwhelmed by people desperate for ice cream (naturally, the Gang of Harleys use an ice cream truck). Boffa has sworn to retaliate by hiring someone with superpowers to take them out, which leads Harley to call her old pal, Power Girl, for some backup.