Griffin’s Picks for the week of 1/14/2026

1: Ultimates #20 - Marvel

            Behold… The Vision! Ultimates #20 marks the first full appearance of Ultimate Vision as well as another new hero that I won’t mention in an effort to avoid spoilers. As you may be aware by now, this series is written by Deniz Camp who's been doing fantastic work on Absolute Martian Manhunter and Assorted Crisis Events, so check those out if you haven’t already. Phil Noto is doing the art for this one and has done a handful of guest issues throughout the series including my favorite, #4.

            At the end of #19, it appears that Nick Fury was killed by Vision, but it turns out that Nick Fury has been an assortment of Life Model Decoys under the control of the Maker/H.A.N.D. the whole time, making killing him a bit more difficult than the Ultimates had intended.

You might be tired of seeing The Ultimates on my picks every time that it comes out, but I promise, it really is that good. For me, it’s far and away the best title in the Ultimate line from Marvel. It’s also going to be coming to an end soon, so if you’ve been slacking on reading it month to month, you’ll be able to get it all in trade paperback format in the coming months.

2: Batman and Robin #29 - DC

            Batman and Robin #29  marks the return of Scarface! Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, the writer of Infernal Hulk and art by Fico Ossio, this one is a must-buy for fans of Arnold Wesker and his diminutive, murderous, dummy.

            When the Quiet Man is captured, Batman and Robin find themselves in the middle of a gang war involving the Penguin and now Scarface vying for territory. This issue is the fifth part in the story arc and while I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to read it if you aren’t already reading Batman and Robin, it’s a fine place to jump in if you’re like me and only want to read a Batman story involving Scarface. For what it’s worth, I thought it was good enough on its own that I’m interested in seeing where the rest of the arc goes.

            If you can’t tell already, I’m biased when it comes to Scarface and the Ventriloquist. Depending on the day, they’re my favorite Batman villain(s?), and we haven’t seen too much of them since their three issue arc in Batman: Dark Patterns.

3: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #14 - IDW

            This marks the second issue in Gene Luen Yang’s (Superman Smashes the Klan, American Born Chinese) run on TMNT with art by longtime Turtles artist Freddie Williams II. #13 is a great place to jump in if you haven’t been reading Jason Aaron’s run but it’s worth reading if you have any pre-existing inclination to do so already.

            In Issue #100 of the previous IDW series, Splinter was killed and that’s been the status quo for a little over six years. But in the first issue of Gene Luen Yang’s run on the TMNT, it’s revealed that Splinter has returned in a new form, the villainous Ujigami, who’s killing enemies of the Turtles in brutal fashion. In an attempt to identify the killer, they make an attempt at using the current leader of the Foot Clan, Karai, as bait.

            I have mixed feelings about Ujigami, not because the idea isn’t well executed but it has more to do with the fact that the constant resurrection of characters in comics can get a bit tiresome. I appreciate the fact that Gene Luen Yang didn’t allow Splinter to just come back and return to the status quo from 2019 but the best thing that a character that fits into the ‘elderly mentor’ archetype can do, is die. Morbid, I know, but you can’t convince me that Aunt May has served any meaningful role in Amazing Spider-Man comics that overshadows the weight of her death in Amazing Spider-Man #400. Ujigami is an interesting idea that’s been well executed thus far, but I worry that it’s just going to result in Splinter’s return to normal at the end of the arc.