The Weekly Round-Up #584 With Ginseng Roots #8, Star Wars: Darth Vader #10, Vampirella #7 & More Plus The Week In Music!

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Best Comic of the Week:

Ginseng Roots #8 – Since Craig Thompson started this series, which explores his childhood helping farm ginseng, but also stretches like the fine tendrils of a root, into all sorts of other things, I’ve been impressed with this book.  This issue is particularly touching, as Thompson gives it over to Chua, the Hmong farmer we met in the last issue, and his story.  Last time, we saw how Chua’s childhood contrasted with Craig’s, and now we see what adulthood has been like for him, as he followed his father into the industry.  Chua’s father passed about five years ago, and the loss has been huge for Chua and the local Hmong community.  Parallel to this is the continued shrinking of ginseng in the region, as farming it becomes ever more difficult and expensive at the same time that it becomes ever harder to find people willing to put in the long hard hours the root requires.  There’s an elegiac quality to this whole series, but especially to this issue, which comes out at a time when so many are adjusting to loss on a global scale.  I love this series for the love that Thompson brings to it.

Quick Takes:

Daredevil #27 – It feels like Chip Zdarsky is doing his best to make this King in Black stuff work for him, but as Elektra (in her Daredevil drag) and Matt face off against symbiotes in different parts of NYC, things get a little creaky.  I’m ready for this to be done and the story to get back on track.

The Devil’s Red Bride #5 – I’ve noticed with a few Vault series that the endings don’t always live up to the beginning and middle of a series.  That holds true for this one as well, but I still enjoyed Sebastian Girner and John Bivens’s journey through feudal Japan.  Vault is really on the come up, and is worth keeping an eye on.

E-Ratic #3 – There’s a lot of charm in Kaare Andrews’s new series, but like he’s done before, I feel like he might be biting off a little too much, trying to give us Oliver’s story, which is kind of the typical Peter Parker-esque teenage trope, but he’s setting it against the backdrop of a larger story about social conformity that has not been explained.  In this issue, it seems that the school principal, who has mind control powers, is influencing everyone, but it was established that the weirder aspects of the high school’s mission existed before he took over.  I know that this book is a companion to The Resistance, but nothing is ever explained, making it all very confusing.

Eternals #2 – I’m wrestling with the concern that Kieron Gillen’s Eternals might be a little boring.  A big part of that is that I’m very done with Thanos – in many ways, he’s become the new Deadpool, in that he shows up way too often, in places that aren’t right for him, and that say nothing new.  I think Gillen’s take on this group of characters could be interesting, and I like the way he has the planet Earth, or a machine version of it, narrating the series, but two issues in, I find myself ticking off comparisons to the Krakoa situation in the X-books, and waiting to care about any of these characters.  Sersi, who is usually my favourite Eternal, shows up in this issue, which piqued my interests some more, but I’m not sure I like this take on her.  Esad Ribic’s art is always nice, but Gillen is not playing to his strengths.  I’m going to give this a couple of issues to improve, but right now, I’m not feeling it.  

Low #26 – Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini started this series in the summer of 2014, which kind of blows my mind as it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago.  The central message of this book, which ends this week, is one of optimism and hope.  When the book started, it didn’t feel like that message was needed as much as it is today.  Stel has been put through the grinder time and again in this series, but never lost her belief that a better world is possible, and after years of watching her dreams crash around her, readers get to see if she was right or not.  This book has often been confounding; the long delays between issues have made it hard to keep track of some of the finer nuances of the book, and Tocchini’s artwork, while beautiful, can be hard to follow at times.  Still, I’ve really enjoyed this title, and am pleased to be able to see it come to a natural and appropriate ending.  I also think that we need messages like this in our lives now more than ever, and I have come to really appreciate the optimism of this series.

Rorschach #5 – With this issue, Tom King starts to look at the paranoid Presidential candidate who was almost assassinated in the series’s first issue.  I am enjoying this series, and the way King is using it to shape his vision of the post-Moore Watchmen universe, but I could use a little more forward momentum in the story telling, and soon.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #10 – I’m of two minds about what’s going on in this series these days.  I usually get annoyed when the comics try to incorporate elements from the newer Star Wars films, but at the same time, I’m curious to learn more about Exegol and the Emperor’s plans, as the last movie never really fleshed any of that out.  I thought including Ochi in this series was a cool idea, but I’m not sure how I feel about yet another Lovecraftian space monster (the same as the one we saw in the Solo film?) that can once again give Vader visions.  We just did that?  So, while I question the direction this is going in, I love every page because of Raffaele Ienco’s art.  Every page of this book is gorgeous, and the space battle scenes are really cool.  I do wish this book moved at a quicker pace though…

Sweet Tooth: The Return #4 – More mysteries are cleared up with this issue, as the connection between this Sweet Tooth run and the original series are made much more clear.  It’s cool to see Jeff Lemire return to this property, and to update it in a way that completely honors the work of the original.

SWORD #3 – Ever since Jonathan Hickman introduced him in the pages of Secret Warriors, I’ve wanted to know more about Manifold.  This issue gives him the spotlight, as he bumps around the universe, checking in on the Snarkwar, spying on Henry Gyrich, and doing what he can to aid the Earth in its fight against Knull.  Al Ewing continues to be my favourite writer at Marvel right now, as he continues to carve out his own corner, linking his Hulk and Guardians runs with this series, while finding space to help develop Eden’s character and explain his powers.  This is shaping up to be my favourite X-book, and potentially my favourite Marvel series at the moment, and that’s especially remarkable, given that this issue is a tie-in to an event I’m not even reading!

Undiscovered Country #12 – If every arc of this book is going to take place in a different section of America, I fear that this series might get a little tedious.  Generally, I prefer six-issue arcs to five-issue arcs (especially if I’m buying a trade), but this series often drags a little too long.  Writers Charles Soule and Scott Snyder are playing with interesting ideas here, but, at the same time, this series is moving a little too slowly.  I’m going to have to think about whether or not I want to return for the next arc.

Vampirella #17 – I don’t know anything about Vampirella’s history, but I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Christopher Priest is engaging in some revisionism here, as we see her earliest days on Earth, when she takes up with some strippers and pimps while getting her bearings.  The background is important as Priest helps set up Vampirella’s return to Drakulon, her home planet (dimension?) in search of her mother.  Szymon Kudranski draws the sequence set in the late 60s, and it’s a cool shift, as much as I like regular artist Ergün Gündüz’s work on this book.  Priest continues to impress me a lot with this title; I never thought I’d become a fan of this character.

X-Force #17 – I’ve always enjoyed Kid Omega since Grant Morrison introduced him into the X-Men, but Quentin Quire is often used poorly.  I’m happy to see him get a spotlight issue this month, as he works to figure out why he dies on just about every X-Force mission, and what impact this is having on his psyche.  At the same time, he’s investigating a mass murder made to look like it was perpetrated by Krakoans, and it seems like the mystery at the core of it is going to be difficult for him to deal with.  Quentin has a lot of story potential, so it’s good to see Ben Percy using him more effectively.  I am confused about his relationship with Phoebe Cuckoo, though, given that all of her sisters are currently dating Cable, and I thought she was too.  I’ll admit that I don’t pay much attention to the Cuckoos as individual characters though.

Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:

Black Hammer: Visions #1

The Week in Music:

Gerard Cousins – Escape – This is an album of Philip Glass compositions arranged for a solo guitar.  I have a great love for Philip Glass, especially his Solo Piano album, which Cousins mined for this release. It’s a neat take on some old favourites, and puts me in a similar state of relaxation and contemplation.  Another great pandemic album!

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