Best Comic of the Week:
Resident Alien: Your Ride’s Here #4 – Harry knows he’s got to get out of town in a hurry, because he’s sure he’s been discovered (Harry is an alien who has been living as a human doctor), but first he has to help find the little girl who was just kidnapped from her mother’s wedding. I love how Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse have expanded this book way beyond Harry’s story, making the cast a true ensemble. I know this is the last story arc for this series, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends, but I also know that I’m really going to miss this book.
Quick Takes:
Daredevil #28 – Over the last year, I’ve learned a lot more about the movements to defund or abolish police and prisons, and it’s left me questioning a lot of our popular media. Now it seems that Chip Zdarsky is having Matt Murdock think about the same things. He’s in prison, a place where he’s placed many people over his two careers, but it’s becoming clear to him that none of that has helped anyone. But, at his core, Matt is also a very rules-based Catholic, and so we get to watch him wrestle with his central contradictions. It’s pretty cool, as is Elektra’s quest to become a better person and more like Matt. This run has been great.
Eternals #3 – It’s taken a bit, but with this issue, I think I’m much more interested in what Kieron Gillen is doing with the Eternals. Characters that never die are hard to do much with, but that seems to be the appeal to Gillen, as he explores the ways in which the Eternals seem to lie to themselves about being unchanging. Thena is the focus of this issue, as her recent argument with her father makes her a suspect in his death. I’m starting to see the potential of this series, and am beginning to be more intrigued by the oddness of some of Gillen’s choices, such as having Ikaris spend the issue looking over a human child for reasons he doesn’t understand. Esad Ribic’s art really fits this title.
Immortal Hulk #44 – This book is just on fire these days. An underpowered Hulk faces off against the U-Foes while Henry Gyrich indulges his own hypocrisy, and Puck, Shaman, and Samson (in Sasquatch’s body) confront a monstrous hybrid creature in the desert. It feels like Al Ewing might be building towards his big finish, but then almost every issue lately tosses a new element into the story. There are a lot of moving parts here, but he and Joe Bennett handle them masterfully.
Rorschach #6 – Most of this issue is given over to the letters that Laura and Will were writing to one another before they were gunned down in an assassination attempt on the man running against President Redford. This issue gives Jorge Fornés many opportunities to show off his considerable talents and design skills, against the backdrop of the first Presidential debate. I’m enjoying this book a lot, even if I do find it kind of slow-moving.
Star Wars #12 – While Kes waits for word from Shara, he and Leia spend some time telling each other stories, and we start to get a better idea of how deeply Leia actually cares for Han, and why. This is a nice quiet issue, setting up the rest of this story arc. Charles Soule’s Star Wars is kind of inconsistent at times, but usually enjoyable.
Sweet Tooth: The Return #5 – Compared to the original Sweet Tooth series, this revisiting of the themes and a cloned version of the original main character is moving very quickly. There’s only one issue left, and we now know what Father’s plans for Gus and Earl are, but they don’t, and are in danger of carrying those plans out now. This has been a very good series. It’s nice revisiting old ideas, but looking at them from a new perspective.
Vampirella #18 – Vampirella continues to tell her therapist about what happened when she returned to Drakulon, her home planet/dimension. It’s a much more advanced place than I’d expected, and it’s not long before she finds herself getting wrapped up in some political intrigue as she starts to work to rescue her mother. I am a big fan of this book, and am still surprised by that fact.
X-Factor #8 – The team takes on the Morrigan in this issue, which feels a little disjointed. Writer Leah Williams leans a little too heavily on the ease with which people get resurrected on Krakoa this month, and I’m left wondering just who the Morrigan is – is she an established threat that I just don’t remember? I just keep thinking of the character from The Wicked + The Divine. I do like the way Williams handles the characters in this book, which is why it remains one of my favourite X-books.
Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:
Bad Summer GN
Batman Urban Legends #1
Post York TP
The Week in Music:
R+R=NOW – Live – A couple of years ago, my friend got to see this supergroup perform at the Blue Note in New York during Robert Glasper’s residency there, and I was consumed with jealousy and FOMO, thinking I’d never get to see this group perform together. And so, I was ecstatic when I learned that recordings from those nights at the Blue Note were being released as an album, featuring cuts from their first album and a cover of a Kendrick Lamar song. R+R=NOW are Glasper, Terrace Martin, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Taylor McFerrin, Derrick Hodge, and Justin Tyson. They are a who’s who of the LA (with a bit of New Orleans) jazz scene, and they are all at the top of their games. Listening to this reminds me of the magic that can happen at live shows, and allows me to imagine sitting in the Blue Note again, which is a post-pandemic goal of mine.
Your Old Droog – Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition – If you’re in the mood for some nice hard New York hip hop, this is your album. Droog and his producers have blended in Russian influences, and Droog has never sounded better. On many tracks, his voice reminds me of MF DOOM, although they have different flows. There are great features here (billy woods, Phonte, Black Thought, Tha God Fahim, and Mach-Hommy), but Droog rises above all of them.
