The Weekly Round-Up #217 With Serenity Firefly Class 03-K64: Leaves on the Wind, Invincible, Saga, Sledgehammer 44 & More

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Best Comic of the Week:

Serenity Firefly Class 03-K64: Leaves on the Wind #1I have been looking forward to this comic for quite some times (years, really), and in anticipation of its launch, over the last two weeks I re-watched the entire (entirely too short) run of Firefly TV shows, and the movie Serenity, so I’d be back in the headspace Joss Whedon and his collaborators created for this series.  The comic picks up eight months after the end of the movie.  The crew of Serenity are wanted by the Alliance and the resistance that they rejuvenated through their actions at the end of the film.  The crew is in hiding, although Zoe’s situation will cause them to have to raise their heads.  Zack Whedon is writing this series, and he clearly has as much love for these characters as his brother does.  He captures their individual voices perfectly, and has the same ear for dialogue and future syntax that made the show so unique and enjoyable.  Malcolm and Inara are finally together, as are Kaylee and Simon, which is nice to see, while Zoe is still mourning Wash.  Jayne has left the ship, but I don’t think it’s going to be too long before we see him interacting with his friends again.  There are a couple of surprises, including the return of one of the most interesting characters to show up at the end of the TV show’s run.  Georges Jeanty has proven himself time and time again as the go-to artist for a Joss Whedon comic, and he continues to impress here.  I hope that this series receives the success that this franchise has always deserved, and lasts a lot longer in comics than the TV show did.

Quick Takes:

Avengers Assemble #23.INHI still don’t see how this book is being co-written by Warren Ellis.  I just don’t get any sense of his voice in there at all, as Wolverine takes Spider-Girl on a mission, and tries to teach her a few things about super-heroing.  It’s a light-hearted and fun issue, but like many of the Inhumanity tie-ins, I’m just not feeling it.

East of West #9 – Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s epic grows a little more, as we meet the King and Crown Prince of the Kingdom, who are being called on to bail out the Union.  I really like the breadth and depth of Hickman’s world, but am also beginning to feel like too many issues of this series are just about the arranging and moving of pieces on a very large chessboard.  It’s time for a more character-driven issue.

The Green Team #8 – And another attempt by DC at trying something new comes to a close.  When this series, written by Art Baltazar and Franco, began, it had a nice vibe to it, and showed some real promise.  As the book progressed, and it became clear that it wasn’t going to last, the writers starting rushing through their plotline, and ignored the strong character work that made me add the book to my pullfile list.  The end of this issue is very strange, and perhaps has some hints as to what’s going to happen when the Teen Titans (which will soon be canceled itself) gets inevitably relaunched, although I don’t think that combining two teen-centric superhero comics that have poor sales is going to generate more sales in the long run.  Note to DC, I would definitely check out Teen Titans if it’s written by this pair…

Guardians of the Galaxy #11.NOWThe Trial of Jean Grey starts in this issue, as we learn just why Gladiator is sending the Shi’ar after young Jean Grey.  As for the actual Guardians, it’s a bit of a slow issue for them, as Peter Quill is busy being hunted by his father, Gamora and Angela go shopping, and Tony Stark tries to leave a message on the answering machine.  I kind of like quiet issues, and Sara Pichelli drew this one, so I enjoyed it more than I usually have with this run.

Invincible #108 – I love the way Robert Kirkman will sometimes just shift this book into a new and completely different direction without a whole lot of warning.  Mark and Robot head off to another dimension looking for Angstrom Levy, and what happened there really really surprised me.  It’s almost impossible to talk about this comic without revealing spoilers, so I’ll just say that it surprised me, and made me very excited for the next issue.  Great stuff.

Revival #17 – Tim Seeley and Mike Norton keep expanding the scope of this series, but with this issue, they more or less resolve the plotline involving the professor who was sleeping with (and maybe killed?) Martha.  Of course, that opens up a few more mysteries, in this entertaining ‘rural noir’ series.  We also learn some secrets about the Check brothers, as Martha finally has a one-sided conversation with the reporter who has been hunting her.

Saga #18Surprises abound in this issue of Saga, as all of our various players end up in the same burning lighthouse.  Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples have done such a great job of developing these characters that I found myself worrying about many of them as this issue unfolded.  When it returns from a short hiatus, it looks like the comic is going to jump a couple of years forward in time; i’m looking forward to seeing where Marko and Alana end up next.

Sledgehammer 44: Lightning War #3 – This mini-series, featuring Mike Mignola’s WWII armored hero, and his fight against the Black Flame, has been terrific.  Laurence Campbell’s art was wonderfully effective at portraying the moody setting of the story.  I hope we see more of Sledgehammer soon.

Thief of Thieves #19 – Another arc finally comes to a close, as all of Redmond’s plans come together, and once again Robert Kirkman provides a twist or two.  This series is a lot of fun to read, as it’s hard to see exactly where Redmond is going to take things, and Shawn Martinbrough’s art is always fantastic.  I do wish the title would get back on its regular schedule, as the delays hurt my enjoyment of things, but so far as fast-paced crime series go, this one is among my favourites.

Uncanny Avengers #16It took a while for Rick Remender to get his footing with this series, but now it’s working very well, as the few members of the Unity Squad still standing go after the Apocalypse Twins, while everyone on Earth tries to figure out how to stop a Celestial from destroying the whole place.  I love that artist Steve McNiven included a shot of Talisman among the heroes on Earth; it made this life-long Alpha Flight fan pretty happy.

Comics I Would Have Bought if They Weren’t $4 (or More):

All-Star Western #27

Batman and Robin Annual #2

Cataclysm Ultimates Last Stand #4

Inhumanity #2

Miracleman #2

Revolutionary War: Knights of Pendragon #1

Superior Spider-Man #26

Thor God of Thunder #18

Uber #9

Uncanny X-Force #17

Bargain Comics:

Batwing #24-27Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray’s run on this title is improving, as they make good use of the mandated Zero Year tie-in to help flesh out Lucas Fox’s character a little better, and to establish a new (if silly) threat for him to deal with.  I would like to see some sort of plotline that doesn’t involve someone getting revenge on Lucas or his family, but still, there is some good straight-up superhero comic work being done here.  The Gothopia tie-in is confusing, since I haven’t caught up on Detective Comics in a while, and the lack of trade-dress for it on the cover probably didn’t do much to increase the profile of this low-selling comic.  Darwyn Cooke’s covers for this series are incredible.

Superior Spider-Man #24 & 25 – Spidey-Ock’s battle with Venom has had all sorts of consequences, as the Avengers get involved, and Octavius is given a good opportunity to explain away all of his strange behaviour.  There is a ‘surprise’ return that I’m sure surprised nobody at all, and the Goblin sub-plot gets itself ready to come into the forefront with the next issue.  You really have to admire how well Dan Slott has laid out this whole series, and it’s great fun to watch everything snap into place.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #8 – The pairing of Spidey-Ock with Namor is an interesting one, as Namor is able to shake Otto out of a bout of hubris-induced lack of confidence.  This is a good read, and I like seeing how much Will Sliney has grown as an artist since he got his start on Boom’s Farscape comics.

 The Week in Manga:

20th Century Boys Vol. 7Naoki Urasawa’s classic manga gets really exciting in this volume, as he continues his story in three different eras.  We get plenty of flashbacks to the childhood of Kenji and his friends, all of which are somehow relevant to figuring out who the series’s evil cult leader, The Friend, really is.  We also get to see the beginning of the events of New Year’s Eve 2000, when the Friends attacked Tokyo.  In 2014, Otcho makes good his escape from prison, while a new character goes hunting for Kanna.  This incredibly involved series is a wonder to read.

The Week in Graphic Novels:

Wild Children – Ales Kot has gotten a lot of acclaim in his short career, from a few well-regarded Image mini-series to working at Mavel on Secret Avengers and his on-going monthly Zero.  This short graphic novel is where he got his start, and while it’s kind of interesting, in a Grant Morrison-esque way, it’s a touch pretentious and empty.  A group of high-achieving students take over a school, holding their teachers hostage with weapons and dosing them with LSD (or not), while spouting some pretty incomprehensible philosophy.  I think it could have been a great comic, but it needed a little more workshopping; Kot has definitely grown as a writer in the less than two years since this came out.

 

So that’s everything I read this week.  My LCS didn’t get enough copies of Saviors, and somehow I ended up with the wrong issue of Black Science.  What did you read and enjoy this week?

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com