Best Comic of the Week:
Little Monsters #1 – Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen do great work together, so this new series was an easy purchase for me. We are introduced to the monsters in the title over the course of this issue – a group of kids living in the post-Apocalyptic ruins of a city. They do usual kid stuff – play angsty guitar music, play Capture the Flag, and argue. Slowly it becomes clear that these kids are different – they jump off buildings for fun, and are casually snacking on rats. Also, it’s odd that they have been doing this for about a hundred years. I like the way Lemire and Nguyen casually layer on the supernatural elements of this story, but keep the kids feeling like regular kids. Nguyen uses a very limited colour palette – this book is basically in black and white, but has muted spot colours throughout – that makes his art stand out in ways that are different from his watercolour work in Descender and Ascender. I’m not sure how long this series is set to run, but it’s off to a very strong start.
Quick Takes:
Apache Delivery Service #3 – I’ve been enjoying this Vietnam War era horror series by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins, but found that this issue was pretty disjointed. When we last saw our hero, Ernie, and the Frenchman who has recruited him to help find a trove of Japanese gold in the Vietnamese forest, they were trapped in a hole in a cave. Now they’re prisoners in a village, and we learn the story behind the symbols we’ve seen painted everywhere. But when the men escape, they somehow have their weapons and gear, which they acquired off-panel, and sometimes one of them wears a helmet and sometimes he doesn’t. I found this issue, especially the way a flashback sequence is incorporated into it, to be confusing. This is not typical of Kindt, so I’m not sure what is going on.
Black Panther #3&4 – It took me more than a month to get a second printing of #3, after the store I shop at never got their shipment of the first print, and it sold out everywhere, because it introduces some new character. Anyway, I like what John Ridley is doing with this story, and how he’s building the notion of T’Challa descending into a state of paranoia. His T’Challa is a lot more vernacular than either Christopher Priest’s or Ta-Nehisi Coates’s, and I’m not always sure I like how that fits, but the story is pretty interesting. T’Challa thinks he knows who is behind the attacks on his sleeper agents, and that is a bit of a betrayal. Juann Cabal continues to impress with the art on this book, and it was cool to see a non-mutant book acknowledge Krakoa and Arakko.
Devil’s Reign #5 – So last week’s issue of Daredevil kind of ruined the ending of this issue, as Chip Zdarsky addresses one of the stranger aspects of his Daredevil run in a violent way, and as the Kingpin lets his desire for revenge get in the way of his ambitions. I think it’s weird how much this event is really just the continuation of Daredevil, yet Matt himself gets very little screen time in it. I’m enjoying this, but I think I might have liked it more had it stayed in the DD wheelhouse.
Devil’s Reign: Moon Knight #1 – I feel like this issue got delayed somehow, as it probably should have come out before the most recent issue of Moon Knight and the last issue of Devil’s Reign. Jed MacKay, who is the regular writer of MK’s book, gives us a story of Marc in prison after Mayor Fisk’s anti-mask laws had him rounded up. The thing is, he’s there for a reason, and as is usually the case with Moon Knight, it’s not a friendly one. This is a good issue, although I felt that Federico Sabbatini’s art felt a little too light for this type of story. There were efforts to dirty things up, mostly by having random blobs of ink float all over the page like little flying insects, but it still just looked a little too light-hearted.
Draculina #2 – Priest’s new second Dynamite title is as multi-layered and confusing as any book he writes, and I’m one hundred percent down for it. Katie is struggling to manage the fact that when she lights a cursed candle she can’t get rid of, she swaps places with a murderous other-dimensional vampire. This book is entertaining, and I always love trying to figure out the multiple levels of chronology. Priest is a gem of a writer.
Eternals #10 – Some of the Eternals infiltrate the Avengers’ base (which is the corpse of a Celestial), and while Sersi distracts Namor, work to uncover the secrets of the Deviants. Thanos is after those same secrets, and is surprised to learn that his parents are imprisoned in the Exclusion, given that he thought he’d killed them ages ago. Kieron Gillen has really found his footing with this book lately, and it stays a compelling and unpredictable read. I usually love Esad Ribic’s art on this book, but his portrayal of some of the Avengers feels pretty off. His Tony Stark looks old and tired.
Justice League Vs. The Legion of Super-Heroes #2 – I’m really enjoying this book, mostly because when Brian Michael Bendis’s LSH book ended, it left me wanting a lot more. This issue focuses on the Gold Lantern, one of the Legionnaires unique to this newer iteration, as he is the only member of both teams left in the 21st century. In typical Bendisian fashion, this big crossover is mostly an excuse to have characters talk to each other, but he does it well. Scott Godlewski’s art is very nice, and one of the aliens in this issue looks right out of the pages of his Copperhead series.
New Masters #2 – I’m really loving this science fiction series by Shobo and Shof. We learn a lot more in this issue about Ola’s family and about conditions in Eko City. This book has very dynamic art and a very strong sense of place. Shobo and Shof are Nigerian, and give this book a distinctly afrofuturist style that makes it all the more compelling. This is probably the title I’m most excited about right now, and look forward to reading more of.
Star Wars: Crimson Reign #3 – This issue digs into the Archivist, one of Q’ira’s inner circle. She was a scholar who studied the Dark Side of the Force, and after being recruited into Crimson Dawn, was tasked with learning the final location of Yoda. This series is doing a fine job of connecting various Star Wars strands into a more cohesive whole, while also being interesting enough to stand on its own as a story. I’m liking it, and the way Charles Soule is showrunning the Star Wars line.
Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #1 – I’m a little surprised to see that Han and Chewie are commanding an ongoing series of their own set before A New Hope. Marc Guggenheim is one of those workhorse writers who is consistently good, but rarely blows readers’ minds. David Messina is a good choice of artist for this book, as he draws a good Harrison Ford. Han and Chewie get sent on a job for Jabba that involves having to work with Greedo, and for Han to return to Corellia. There are a few other subplots set up, and a big surprise ending, all of which have caught my interest for now.
Superman: Son of Kal-El #9 – Tom Taylor’s Nightwing/Superman crossover continues, with regular Nightwing artist Bruno Redondo providing the art. The pair are trying to figure out what The Rising is, and who is killing superheroes. The two titles are getting more integrated because of Dick’s involvement in The Truth, an onlines journalism site that is run by Jon’s new “friend” (I wonder when they’re going to talk about what their relationship really is). Taylor handles both Jon and Dick with a lot of sensitivity to their childhoods, and shows them as strong characters. Redondo is just so good at action scenes. I’m enjoying this corner of the DC Universe a whole lot these days.
Thor #23 – The fight with Mjolnir comes to its end with this issue, which looks like it’s going to have long-lasting repercussions for Thor. I’m going to be honest; I’ve been growing weary of Thor lately, and while I like what Donny Cates and Nic Klein have been doing on this book, I feel like the stories keep cycling through the same stuff. After the next issue, which is oversized and features work from various Thor creators of the past, there is going to be a crossover with Hulk, which I’m not reading, and that might be my opportunity to bow out.
X Lives of Wolverine #4 – This series is growing on me (with its penultimate issue) as it finally starts to feel like it has something to say about Logan. His cross-time fight with Omega Red continues, and shows a little more insight into his character and his multi-layered and much-confused memory. It seems that all of Logan’s fights with Red, which happen in different moments of his past, are happening simultaneously, and while the narrative works as written, starting to think about how Logan is experiencing these events makes my head hurt. I do still think that this series came out of the blue and was not grounded in recent Krakoan events enough. I am hoping for some resolution of some of the longer-running and less-interesting X-Force plotlines.
X Deaths of Wolverine #4 – Most everything gets explained with this issue, as we come to understand how and why future Phalanx Wolverine made it into the past, and just what his mission is. I’m not sure I fully understand all the reasons why Moira has become such a villain, as she does some pretty heinous things. It’s kind of nice to see Wolverine become the focus of this miniseries just as it approaches its ending – this entire X Lives/X Deaths mini-event has been confusing for me, but I’ve enjoyed enough of it for it to be all good.
Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:
Punisher #1
The Week in Graphic Novels:
Redfork – I think that Alex Paknadel is one of the more interesting writers in comics right now, so I knew I wanted to read this book. It’s a little hard to get TKO Studios comics here, because the shipping is prohibitively expensive, but I found this at a Boxing Day sale and finally found the time to read it. Paknadel partnered with artist Nil Vendrell and colourist Giulia Brusco to give us this creepy story about coal country. A small mining town is suffering – there is rampant opioid addiction, and the company that runs the mine is shutting down operations. Noah is released from prison (he was found guilty of murder after he and his brother tried to rob a dentist’s office of its drugs) and comes home to find that things are a mess. Then there is an explosion in the mine, and his brother is trapped, at least until he finds a mysterious person in the mine who rescues him and starts visiting the people of the town. There’s something buried deep in that mine, you see, and it leads to some modern Lovecraftian horror. This book is very well written, and has great art. All TKO books are attractively put together, and provide a terrific reading experience. I liked this book a lot, and am glad I finally got my hands on it.
The Week in Music:
µ-Ziq & Mrs Jynx – Secret Garden – When I was in high school, there was an Aphex Twin remix EP that I loved like it was a part of my body (especially the track by Reloaded). Weirdly, I’ve never thought of µ-Ziq, who appeared on it, since then, and was surprised to see that he’s still working and collaborating with artists. This collaboration between him and Mrs Jynx is beautiful. It’s that same kind of ambient house music that I loved so much as a kid, but even more refined and perfected. This could be great coffee house background music, but it also works well for active and deep listening. It came out last year, but it took me a while to find out about it and to give it a listen. I’m very glad that I did.
Robert Glasper – Black Radio III – Robert Glasper is one of the most prolific artists working today, and one of the most versatile. Like the previous Black Radio albums, I guess this is more of an R’n’B project than anything else, although it embraces hiphop and jazz throughout. Glasper brings in a large number of collaborators, including Killer Mike, Q-Tip, Esperanza Spalding, HER, Lalah Hathaway, Common, Musiq Soulchild, Posdnuos, and India.Arie, among others. Members of his other bands, like Justin Tyson and Derrick Hodge are all over this album as well, giving it that feeling of comfortable collaboration that comes from years of working together. I noticed that this album is billed as a Robert Glasper project, and not the Robert Glasper Experiment, like the previous two records. I’m not sure if that distinction is important, as the three projects line up beautifully. Glasper continues to explore the sounds of blackness, and to use his music to discuss important issues, and also gift us with some beautiful love songs. I can see another Grammy in his future…
