Welcome to Premier Panels! A roundup of You Don't Read Comics' highest rated reviews by our top-notch team of critics! In this installment, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen breathe new life to an old universe in issue #1 of their Descender sequel series Ascender. Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier send Batgirl on the trail of the Terrible Trio in issue #34 of her titular series. And Kamala Khan learns being the Chosen One isn't all it's cracked up to be in The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #2. All this and more in Premier Panels!

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Ascender 1 - Grade A

“Ascender #1 is a book full of possibilities. It drops readers into a familiar place that’s completely different and guides them along expertly without ever seeming like it’s guiding them. Lemire perfectly combines exposition with storytelling and lays out a trail of tantalizing clues to what’s going on. Nguyen’s art is terrific as always, fitting this new, more magic based universe perfectly. There’s a lot to like in this first issue, and it does exactly what it’s supposed to- reintroduce readers to a new, old world and get them interested in what came before and what comes next.”- David Harth

Read the rest of David’s review here!

Age of X-Mean: X-Tremists 3 - Grade B+

“Williams does well to focus the story on a romance between Psylocke and Blob. The specifics of that relationship add a delightful sense of sophisticated emotional connection that is so often missing from mainstream superhero comics.”- Read the rest of Russ’ review here!

Read the rest of Russ’ review here!

Batgirl 34 - Grade A

“The latest issue of Batgirl is the opening of a three-part story Scott is calling “Terrible.” The three-part story is off to an engaging beginning featuring a compelling combination of decent writing, decent art and a very precisely-balanced amount of stylish weirdness. The quality of Babs’ adventures appears to be looking up for the next couple of issues.”- Russ Bickerstaff

Read the rest of Russ’ review here!

Dial H for Hero 2 - Grade A-

“The second issue of Dial H for Hero is just as much fun as the first and is still a promising start to what could be an exciting new series. Here’s hoping future issues can manage some substance along with the razzle-dazzle.”- Jason A. Fleece

Read the rest of Jason’s review here!

East of West 42 - Grade A+

“East Of West #42 takes an event that readers thought they knew and puts an extra little shine on it. That shine not only changes the way the event itself is perceived but also takes what readers knew about the dynamic between Death and War and changes it into something else entirely adding an extra dimension to it. East Of West isn’t exactly an emotionally resonant book; in fact, it would be easy to say that emotion is one of the least important things about it. Beyond Death and Xiaolian, the motivations of nearly every character have been very cold. This issue takes another character whose motivation seemed that way and changed it and now everything makes a little more sense than it did. Hickman pulls this in a perfectly understated way that actually gives the reveal more power than if he had foreshadowed his way up to it for the entire series. The artwork from Dragotta and Martin seals the deal on this one. This issue highlights a creative team working at the top of their game, gelling perfectly to make something is more than the sum of its parts.”- David Harth

Read the rest of David’s review here!

Man-Eaters 8 - Grade A+

“There’s a lot going on in the eighth issue of ManEaters. In addition to developing the world of the series, it’s a brilliantly non-traditional, little one-shot that tells the story of a couple of characters. “Jennifer” and “Mandy” serve as character archetypes in the games. At issue’s end, a pair of articles tell the stories of the characters behind these archetypes. The vastly different outcomes of two girls looking to rebel serves to increase the tension of the middle school girl at the center of the series. Now that a little bit more about the world in which the characters live, the danger she’s falling into is given that much more depth.”- Russ Bickerstaff

Read the rest of Russ’ review here!

Magnificent Ms. Marvel 2 - Grade A

“Kamala has grown in strength and maturity with every challenge she’s faced since Ms. Marvel, and she’s going to need every bit of that strength to face the challenges coming her way. Being the chosen one isn’t easy, but with the help of her friends and family, Kamala might just make it work.”- Kellie Keener

Uncanny X-Men 16 - Grade B

“Uncanny X-Men #16 closes out Rosenberg’s first story arc with Marvel’s merry mutants and so far, his writing style is great for the book. He’s able to do a lot of exposition and dramatic work without the book getting boring or wordy. Sometimes, like with Havok’s nagging, it takes a while for anything to develop from it, but when it does develop, it fits wonderfully with what he’s trying to do with the X-Men in this new status quo. The book has a bit of a laser focus on Cyclops right now, which is nice, but Rosenberg will need to branch out and use the other characters more effectively than he has been so far. Larocca’s art is okay, but it suffers from a lot of inconsistencies, especially in facial detail and his fight scenes could feel a bit more kinetic. This is a solid issue, though, and its strengths make up for its weaknesses.”- David Harth

Read the rest of David’s review here!

The Warning 6 - Grade A

“Laroche is telling a story that in no way is extending itself directly at the reader. Typically by the sixth issue in a series like this, there would be a dizzying number of plot points and a nauseating amount of backstory hardwired into the narrative. Laroche sidesteps this in favor of a very visceral action disaster story that continues to build intensity half a year into its run.” Russ Bickerstaff

Read the rest of Russ’ review here!

Wicked + The Divine 43 - Grade A

“The Wicked + The Divine #43 gives readers the answers they’ve been waiting for. It’s a masterfully crafted issue. It lays out the reasoning behind the Recurrence and offers readers a glimpse of Ananke’s greatest trick. It takes what could have been a big fight issue and makes it something more and tops it all off with an ending that fits perfectly with what we know of the character who instigates it. With two issues left, this books shows that it can still surprise readers.”- David Harth

Read the rest of David’s review here!