Best Comic of the Week:
Public Domain #1 – Writer/artist Chip Zdarsky is at a career high right now. At DC, he’s about to start his run on Batman. At Marvel, his Devil’s Reign event just wrapped up, and his Daredevil run is about to continue with a reboot. At Image, he’s writing the incredible series Stillwater and Newburn. Now he also is finding the time to write and draw this new series, which incredibly, is taking the piss out of corporate comics and their big movie franchises every chance it gets. A new movie is about to debut based on the character Domain, a big superhero at Singular Comics, and Miles Dallas, the son of Syd Dallas, who drew the character, is not happy about it. Basically, it looks like there was a Lee/Kirby situation, with the writer, Jerry Jaspers, getting all the credit and riches, while Syd lives in obscurity. This issue touches on a lot of what’s wrong with the comics industry, and the film franchises that have metastasized out of it, but it does so with humour and compassion. Zdarsky quickly has us interested in the situation and the characters, and squeezes in various sight gags or oddball comic moments. I think this is the first thing Zdarsky has drawn since Sex Criminals ended, and it reminds me of how much I enjoy his work. This is a really good debut, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this story.
Quick Takes:
Action Comics #1044 – Superman’s revolution on Warworld continues, with the addition of Orphan to his team. They go looking for Enchantress, but it’s starting to look like Superman and his crew are playing into Mongul’s hands here. I continue to really enjoy this series, as Phillip Kennedy Johnson gives us a fantastic extended science fiction story that just happens to solve Superman. Riccardo Federici and Will Conrad trade art duties, and complement one another well. The backup story, starring Lois Lane, Steel, and Supergirl, was a nice surprise, for a few reasons. I like that it’s written by Johnson and furthers the main story. I was really shocked to see that it was drawn by David Lapham, a favourite artist of mine, who rarely has anything to do with superhero comics. I was bothered by the appearance of Amanda Waller, however, since the recent Suicide Squad series established that she is currently supposed to be ruling Earth-3. Anyway, this book continues to impress.
Aquamen #5 – Team Aquamen work to stop the sleeper agents across America in this all-action issue. This title feels like it’s really clicking right now, and it’s all pretty good. I’ll be curious to see what direction the story takes after this arc, and whether or not Black Manta is going to stay as a principal character. I hope he does.
Captain America: Symbol of Truth #2 – The Sam Cap title is off to a very strong start, with this issue featuring Deadpool and a big battle in Latveria (we know who’s going to show up next, don’t we?) while Sam tries to figure out who is behind the efforts to put together some super soldier serum. At the same time, Falcon is looking after the migrants who were on the train last issue. In the wings, Hunter (the White Wolf) and Crossbones are making their plans, and subtly influencing everything that’s happening. It feels like writer Tochi Onyebuchi has a complex plan for this series, and artist RB Silva is really cutting loose on the action sequences. I’m pretty sure I like this book more than I do the Steve Cap title.
Deathstroke Inc. #10 – I guess that Joshua Williamson wanted Slade’s story to unfold in Dark Crisis for the next few months, so now we have a Year One story retelling Slade’s origins instead of following up on the Shadow War story. It’s still a good comic, with Ed Brisson writing, and Dexter Story drawing. I’m intrigued at seeing how some things are being changed or expanded upon from earlier versions, but so far, this looks like it’s keeping to the facts established by Marv Wolfman.
The Department of Truth #19 – Cole is finding it harder and harder to keep up the pace of working for the Department, which is causing his husband to worry about him. This issue doesn’t reveal any new big secrets, but it does feel like James Tynion IV is moving his pieces around the board, getting ready for something big. This book continues to intrigue me.
Draculina #4 – Priest’s story about Vampirella’s evil sister and her alternate reality preteen other self continues to unfold in a puzzling and glorious way. Belial, Draculina’s demonic father has found Katie, but so has Draculina’s spouse, who has been searching for her for a long time. This series is hard to follow, but in the best way possible. I like it a lot.
Ghost Cage #3 – Nick Dragotta (with co-writer Caleb Goellner) made this odd and effective miniseries into something memorable. On its surface, this is a story about a tech support worker who got wrapped up in some corporate weirdness, having to guide an AI through various levels of the power company’s means of production to face manifestations of each power source. Things are metaphoric, as imagined through an anime-style series of confrontations. The first issue didn’t really click with me, but this final issue worked really well, and helps to show the depth and range of Dragotta’s art. It’s very cool looking.
Iron Man & Hellcat Annual #1 – Chris Cantwell has been exploring the relationship between Tony Stark and Patsy Walker in the monthly Iron Man title, but this annual feels more like an attempt to garner support for a new Hellcat ongoing series (it goes so far as to suggest readers contact Marvel to ask for this). It’s a good story, as Patsy heads to San Francisco to check out a property she’s just inherited. Of course, it’s not long before she’s dealing with demonic issues, once again. It’s a good issue, but I don’t see the basis for an ongoing here.
A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance #9 – It says something about Rick Remender’s writing, especially on this title, that when things slow down, and it looks like life is going well for Sonny and Xavier, I find each page flip makes me anxious, as I’m expecting something truly terrible to happen. Our main characters are in Mexico, and it seems like things have really improved for them. We get a nice quiet issue, which shows them eating shrimp tacos and swimming together, but Remender always has a surprise in store. André Lima Araújo makes life in Mexico look so inviting, especially when contrasted with the sad and sterile life we saw Sonny living in Vancouver at the start of this book. I really love this title, and after the brutality of the last issue, I was really happy with this issue.
Robin #15 – With the Shadow War over, it’s time for Robin to go back to his own life, which means once again striking out on his own and trying to live outside of Batman and Talia’s influence. That means connecting with his new friends, and I’m really happy to see that the supporting cast of the series’s first arc is going to be sticking around. I also like this new status quo that we’re seeing for Talia. Joshua Williamson has such a good handle on Damian, and I’m liking the approach Roger Cruz is taking to the art. This is one of DC’s best titles.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #24 – Sabé has Vader going up against an Imperial Governor who has been taking advantage of a colony she helped form. This is a standard issue – it’s good, but also not very memorable. Guest artist Marco Castiello does a fine job, but I prefer Rafaelle Ienco’s work.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #21 – The Spark Eternal has taken over Aphra, leaving Sana on her own to try to figure out how to help her. She’s not on her own for long though, choosing to put together a team of people whom Aphra has hurt in the past, figuring they’ll best be able to predict her moves. This title is entertaining.
Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #3 – I was surprised to see how this issue integrated events from the Crimson Reign miniseries, tying what I took to be an independent book set long before A New Hope into Charles Soule’s larger plans for the Star Wars storyline, but in a cameo sort of way. I love shared universe stuff like that. This issue has Han and his supposed father escaping the security forces that are after them, betraying Greedo (thus setting up the famous cantina scene), and traveling in search of an artifact Jabba the Hutt is after. It’s a very solid issue.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan #2 – It feels very much like Marvel has just pumped this book out to try to cash in on the TV show. It’s a series of done in one stories, this one featuring young Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon going on a mission to a world where light is failing. It’s interesting, but I didn’t get very drawn in to it.
The Swamp Thing #14 – In an interesting turn, alien plant life has come to judge the Earth and put an end to the war between the Green and the Gears. Levi, with help from Hal Jordan, has to try to communicate with these beings and convince them to take a different approach. It feels like there’s going to be a lot left for Ram V to resolve with only two issues remaining in this extended run. Mike Perkins continues to make this book look absolutely gorgeous.
What’s The Furthest Place From Here? #7 – This issue is quite a departure from what we’ve come to expect in this book. It features art by guest Josh Hixson, and is set long before the rest of the series. We follow Alice and Jack as their father takes them out of a city that appears to be under attack. They narrowly miss being found by cannibals, but soon the mysterious Strangers that have been shown to be engineering society in this book show up, and take the kids to a movie theatre. This shows how the society of families of children tied to specific buildings started to develop, and while it doesn’t answer many questions I had, it does raise a ton more. At the same time, I feel like I’m starting to understand this series better, and want to read more of it. I like Hixson’s art. It’s not as clean as regular artist Tyler Boss’s, giving the impression that things are a lot less solidified and codified at this point in the story.
The X-Cellent #4 – Things continue to get messier for the members of the X-Cellent, as Zeitgeist manipulates and bullies them, while Guy Smith has trouble keeping the younger members of X-Statix in line, and questions his own leadership. I continue to find this a very strange series, as I’m not sure why it’s being put out right now, and keep expecting it to acknowledge the current state of mutantdom in the Marvel Universe, and it doesn’t. I find I care less about this than I did the original X-Force/X-Statix run.
X-Force #29 – X-Force really needs a larger direction for it. Threats to Krakoa pop up, they get dealt with, and that’s kind of it. We have the longer arc of Quentin Quire’s hero quest, and the ongoing suspicion around Beast (who doesn’t even show up in this issue), but there’s not enough to pin any real enthusiasm for this book to. It really should be better (or maybe I should just finally drop it).
X-Men Red #4 – Al Ewing jumps around a lot with this book, suggesting that he has big plans for it. Magneto takes his seat on the Great Ring, which causes a debate among the Arakkans on loss and death. Storm attends a Galactic Council meeting to discuss something that’s happened in Shi’ar space (and is connected to what’s happening in Marauders). Sunspot is resurrected on Krakoa, and spends some time with Wrongslide, the being that was resurrected in Rockslide’s place. I like how Ewing is approaching this title so loosely, and building on the work of other X-writers, while making this book his own. This issue has different artists, including Juann Cabal and Michael Sta. Maria, but the credits inside don’t list any of them. It looks very nice. This is one of my favourite X-books right now.
Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:
Avengers #57
Batman Fortress #2
Variants #1
Flowers Department:
John Ostrander – I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to write about John Ostrander in this part of the column. He’s one of my all-time favourite comics writers. I first came across his name in either Suicide Squad or Firestorm, as I started reading them around the same time. In Suicide Squad (which I’ve written about in my Retro Reviews), Ostrander upended superhero conventions by giving us a team of villains working for the US government. It was one of the smartest series out at the time, had unparalleled character development, and occasionally had characters get killed off randomly, making it unpredictable. Firestorm addressed the Cold War and the environmental crisis in new ways, and felt kind of experimental. From there, I started to follow Ostrander’s career, enjoying his run on Spectre with Tom Mandrake a great deal. His Star Wars Legacy, at Dark Horse, remains one of the best Star Wars series ever written, and would have been a much better template for the recent three Star Wars movies than what we got. I know that there are more comics I’m leaving out (like his indie series Grimjack, his Heroes for Hire at Marvel, or his Martian Manhunter) because I haven’t read everything he’s written, but he remains one of the best in the business.
The Week in Music:
Nduduzo Makhathini – In The Spirit of Ntu – There’s something interesting happening in the South African jazz world. This album by pianist Nduduzo Makhathini is a lovely exploration of the sounds coming from that country, as it navigates difficult waters. The album gets progressively more mellow and understated towards the end, really leaving the listener with a sense of having undertaken a journey. I’m glad I picked this up.
Joey Alexander – Origin – Joey Alexander is a young piano prodigy who is growing up, and now writing and releasing his own music. This album shows what he’s been working on, and while it’s pretty standard jazz (he’s mostly just accompanied by an upright bass and drums), it’s also very smooth and nice.
µ-Ziq – Magic Pony Ride – I’m not sure if µ-Ziq has been steadily making music since I’ve been in high school, and I haven’t noticed, or if this album (and the excellent Secret Garden, made with Mrs. Jynx) represents a recent resurgence of activity. I’m very happy with his complex drum and bass textures, and the marrying of some wild drum patterns with some very pretty melodies. It brings me back, but it’s not just a nostalgia trip through the music of my youth; there are new ideas here that I like.
