Best Comic of the Week:
What’s the Furthest Place From Here #3 – Okay, this book is ridiculously weird, but I have to say that I love it. Matthew Rosenberg and Tyler Boss are telling a very strange post-Apocalyptic story about a world where children live in ‘families’ that center around a theme, in buildings that have been selected for them by the Strangers – two beings that never speak but enforce rules and bring them food. Our heroes are hunting for their friend, Sid, who ran away, and in the process have lost their home. Following rumors, they’ve moved into the Bold Folks Home, not realizing that it’s already inhabited by some Elders. There are plenty of amusing moments – watching the kids try to work a VCR is a nice touch – but this book is very dark and strange. We are not really meant to understand it all yet, but it’s compelling, and Boss’s art is incredible. I also appreciate how much art and story we get in these oversized but regularly-priced comics. This book is really good.
Quick Takes:
Daredevil: The Woman Without Fear #1 – In his recent Daredevil run, Chip Zdarsky had Elektra take up DD’s mantle while the original was in prison. Now, with that story having led into Devil’s Reign, Zdarsky takes this three-issue miniseries to dig a little more into Elektra. We know that she needs Matt’s help to take down the Hand, but Matt is distracted by the Kingpin’s new initiative against him and other heroes. Elektra learns that someone is coming after her, aided by the Kingpin’s files on her, and this leads her to explore some of her earlier memories, and her training from Stick and the Hand. Rafael De Latorre makes this issue look amazing, as he does, and Zdarsky adds some new depth to Elektra’s character. I’m intrigued to see the rest of this, and suspect that Zdarsky will be writing whatever comes after Devil’s Reign, as it feels more and more like the middle of his storyline.
The Department of Truth #15 – This is a very text heavy issue of Department of Truth, as James Tynion chooses to give the whole comic over to an old interview between a redacted official in the Department and Hynes, the tinfoil-hat wearing expert in aliens and UFOs. We learn about how he and Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to capture an alien, but in the process seeded new fictions, such as the Mothman. It’s an interesting issue, but I guess it’s not really a comic. It’s really a series of documents, interspersed with paintings by David Romero. I enjoyed it, and the way Tynion built the whole issue around a quiet revelation shared with us on the last page. I think this book needs to pick up the pace a little, though.
Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – As a long time Legion fan, I was excited to see that Brian Michael Bendis was bringing back his most recent revamp of the storied property in a six-issue miniseries that also features the Justice League. Bendis has the Legion run across a problem that displaces one third of Triplicate Girl in time, dropping her off in the midst of the Justice League. Seeing as both teams know Jon Kent, he becomes the facilitator for the two teams meeting up, as they face the latest version of the Great Darkness (I’m guessing it’s not going to involve Darkseid). Now, even though I’ve been reading more and more DC books, I have no understanding of its current continuity. Have characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Flash met previous incarnations of the Legion still? Is this a first meeting for everyone? I really have no clue, and while it isn’t necessary to know this to enjoy this issue, I would appreciate knowing, as decades of comics reading has convinced me that these things are important. Bendis manages to squeeze in a moment, or at least some dialogue, for each of the forty-odd characters that appear in this book, and that’s impressive. Scott Godlewski is an excellent choice of artist for this title, as he’s very good at alien characters and odd situations. I remain hopeful that this title will sell well enough to justify another Legion book, as I miss all of its incarnations, and think there’s a lot still to explore in Bendis’s version of the team.
Marauders #27 – Gerry Duggan uses this issue to wrap up some long running storylines, and arrange the deck chairs on the Marauder for Steve Orlando, who is set to take over the book soon. I’ve found Duggan’s run on this book a little confounding at times. Like Emma in this issue, the focus in this book has been all over the place. There are some changes in the leadership of the Hellfire organization, and then most members of the core team leave, opening up the roster for Orlando to try some new stuff. It’s all good, as I did enjoy this run. I’m hoping that Duggan, who seems to be rising in prominence in the X-Office, gets tighter on his X-Men title, and whatever else he has coming out.
Mazebook #5 – I am always going to be more excited about a book that Jeff Lemire writes and draws than I am any book he draws alone. This series has explored life after a parent loses a child, as Will slowly starts to unravel, convinced his daughter, who died a decade before, is still alive and calling to him. This series treated the city of Toronto like a labyrinth, and we know that labyrinths tend to have Minotaurs at their center. This issue is emotional and ends on the right note. Lemire is a very unique voice in comics, and I love that his higher profile work means that more personal and introspective projects like this get to breathe as well. He’s very prolific.
Odinn’s Eye #5 – I’ve really been liking this Bad Idea series which has been coming out weekly for the last five weeks. It’s a story of Ancient Norse times, following a young girl who has been sent on a mystical quest to restore the Allfather’s lost eye. It blends reality and fantasy nicely, and has wonderful art. I’m going to be honest though, this last issue was a disappointment, mostly because it feels like it’s reached the end of a first volume, and I doubt very much that this story is going to be continued. Bad Idea has always claimed that they won’t collect their series in trades, and this run was extremely rare due to a paper shortage, so I don’t see a scenario where a second volume will make much sense. Joshua Dysart is a masterful comics writer, so I’m surprised that this didn’t wrap itself up more neatly, especially given the generous page count of each issue. Thomas Giorello’s art has been terrific, and this issue gives him some very big and wild scenes to draw. The backup story, by Dysart and Keron Grant, was also great. It shows what happens when an alien race arrives on Earth, and is mostly interested in visiting the oceans and aquariums. I’m glad I was able to get all five issues of this series, which was a feat, but I do wish that it was better resolved.
Robin & Batman #3 – I liked this prestige format series from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen that explores the early days of Robin’s career. This is not an in-continuity story, for whatever that matters, so Lemire took some liberties, giving Dick a connection to Killer Croc that was kind of interesting. Nguyen kills it on this book, using the same approach to his art that he used on Descender and Ascender. I often find that Lemire’s corporate superhero books fall a little flat, but I think this one did exactly what he intended it to do.
Star Wars #20 – There was a time when I knew the names of every character in Star Wars, but those days are long past. When Luke learns of a place where it’s easy to access the Force from Yoda’s holocron, he meets an imprint of Elzar Mann. I could tell I’m supposed to know who that is, but I had to turn to Google to learn this is a character from The High Republic, which I have not paid any attention to. Still, I enjoyed his talk with Luke, as writer Charles Soule works at explaining just how Luke leveled up so much between the second and third original movies. I like that he brought back whiny Tatooine Luke for a few pages…
Stillwater #12 – More big surprises abound as Laura returns with a plan to take out the leadership of Stillwater. This is a violent issue that ends with big changes for the town and the characters. I like how quickly Chip Zdarsky and Ramón Perez switch things up in this book, and keep the readers, and the characters, on their toes. It remains a great read.
Undiscovered Country #18 – I’m going to have to make a decision about this book. I enjoy it, but whenever I try to think about what’s happening in it, I realize that it doesn’t make any sense, and I wonder why I’m still reading it. This issue has the group face the Devil, as their time in Zone Possibility comes to its end. There are some good moments in this issue, but overall, I’m just not sure I can follow the bigger story. (Put another way, I can tell which parts are written by Charles Soule, and which are coming more from Scott Snyder). There is not another issue expected until April, so I guess I have some time to decide if this stays in the pull file or not…
The Week in Graphic Novels:
Home Vol. 1 – I was intrigued by this book when it was published by Image, but decided to tradewait it. It tells the story of a young boy who travels from Guatemala to the United States with his mother, only to arrive during the days when the Trump administration had just started their family separation policy. The mother is deported, but the boy develops strange powers while locked up with other children, and escapes. On the run from ICE, he’s able to locate his aunt, who it turns out, is not surprised at all to learn about his abilities. I like the way writer Julio Anta weaves together the standard superhero origin story with the heartless immigration policies of the United States, making young Juan a unique and very sympathetic character. The art, by Anna Wieszczyk, is a little more cartoonish than I would usually like, but it does a fine job of highlighting Juan’s age and innocence. I was sad to see that this is not a fully self-contained story, but it does stand on its own. I would like to see more of what Juan and his family have to face, and I like that this book is so blunt in its portrayal of America’s racism and cruelty. There are educational materials included in the back of the book, and I think this would be an interesting one to study in the classroom (I’m sure there are a few states where it would get banned pretty quickly, these days).
The Week in Music:
Nightmares on Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom… – This album encompasses a number of different types of music, from a producer mostly associated with the house and dance world. This is a very soulful album that wanders into reggae in spaces. The best tracks feature Shabaka Hutchings on wind instruments. I missed this when it first came out, so was happy to discover it a little later and add it to my collection.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland Presents Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined – One of my best musical discoveries of the pandemic has been Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a fantastic musician and singer whose work in the 1970s and 80s has experienced a real renaissance since a Japanese collector made his cassette Keyboard Fantasies into a holy grail item. Now, there is this release on which a variety of artists remix, rework, or reimagine the originals. Contributors to this project include some big names, like Bon Iver and Blood Orange, as well as fellow Canadians Joseph shabason, Thom Gill, and the unparalleled Jeremy Dutcher. I was most excited to see that Ana Roxanne, an ambient artist whose work I really like, is also on here. So far as remix projects go, this one has a lot more going on than most, and helps add to the wonder of the original album. I recommend checking it out still – it was rereleased last year, and is something that I treasure.
Ill Considered – Liminal Space – Ill Considered are a very exciting jazz band from London who have mostly been releasing recordings of their live shows. For this, their first studio album, they brought in some collaborators, and let loose. This is mostly free jazz, but it feels more structured and planned as well. It can be a challenging album in places, but an enjoyable one.
Jazz is Dead 10 – Remixes – The Jazz Is Dead crowd, which up until now has consisted of Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad and their various legendary jazz guests (Roy Ayers, Azymuth, Marcos Valle, and others), have opened their doors to this remix project. They welcomed a pretty international stable of artists to play around with their tracks. We see some big names like Cut Chemist, some underground heroes (Shigeto, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dibia$e), and some up and comers (Pink Siifu!). It’s cool to hear these new takes on these songs, and this is a pretty enjoyable. The sequencing is good too – the tracks fit together nicely. I can’t wait to see what Season Two of Jazz Is Dead is going to bring us.
Irreversible Entanglements – Open the Gates – The world needs more Irreversible Entanglements! This is Black Liberation free jazz, with lyrics/poetry by Moor Mother. It’s a challenging album at times, but the band does incredible work, and Moor Mother (credited with her real name – Camae Ayewa, and also playing synths) makes this a cohesive work. It reminds me of a lot of music from the 70s, but it definitely feels modern and relevant. I need a lot more time to digest this one.
Johnathan Blake – Homeward Bound – It took me a while to get this, but it was worth the wait. Drummer Johnathan Blake collaborates with jazz musicians like Joel Ross, Immanuel Wilkins, and Dezron Douglas on this album, and the result is a lovely collection of contemporary jazz. Ross and his vibraphone stand out on many tracks, and the album ends with an excellent cover and interpolation of Joe Jackson’s Steppin’ Out. I like this.
