Best Comic of the Week:
20th Century Men #4 – I love how unconventional this alternate history series set in 1980s Afghanistan is. In this issue, America attacks the Soviet forces, and most of the story is told through excerpts from various historical and first-hand accounts of the event, written after the fact. America has attacked with a group of super soldiers with suicide bombs, yet that’s not enough to stop Platonov, the Soviet superhuman. This is an intense issue that sprawls into American politics. I really like the work that writer Deniz Camp and artist Stipan Morian are doing with this book. It’s such a strange choice for a topic, and it is not a clear read, but these are the things that draw me to it. I find this book very rewarding, and I wish it was an ongoing instead of a miniseries. Both Camp and Morian are creators I’m going to be watching for.
Quick Takes:
Captain America: Symbol of Truth #7 – Sam wants to track down whoever just killed the Prime Minister of Mohanda, which means that he’s once again ignoring the sovereignty of an African country, which is kind of a strange look for Captain America. With Falcon in the hospital, he gets teamed up with Nomad, Ian Rogers, whom he thought was dead. This series is strange – I feel like Sam is not really the star of his own book, he’s just a plot device. I would like to see a little more of his inner life.
Damn Them All #2 – Simon Spurrier and Charlie Adlard are giving us an excellent updating of a typical John Constantine story, and it’s fantastic. Demons have been made very easy to capture, so it seems that just about every gangster boss has one of their own now, and our hero, and her new friend, a cop from New Orleans, are trying to figure out what should be done about it. Spurrier’s writing is very sharp here, and Adlard’s work looks great. I’m still not used to seeing his art in colour, and without zombies.
Detective Comics Annual 2022 #1 – It’s interesting to see Ram V tell a story of the earliest days of the village of Gathome, in the 1770s, when the Orghams first worked to have control of the town. The story, which involves a reality engine, helps to explain why Gotham has always been a nexus for characters like Batman, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and others who had analogues in these early days. I’m more than a little tired of these types of stories that depend on the past being just like the present (I’m thinking of the Avengers from 1 000 000 BC, for example), but I do like seeing Christopher Mitten’s art again. This book looks good, and does help explain a little more about what’s happening in the monthly title.
E-Ratic: Recharged #3 – Ollie finds himself getting closer to his visitor from another dimension, just as the powers that be make a move against her, and Ollie learns what kind of person his father really is. I like Kaare Andrews’s storytelling a lot. He has some strange ticks in his storytelling (I hate the substituted swear words – they’re ship), but his art is terrific, and he’s gotten really good at building characters. It’s too bad that there’s only one issue left in this, but I hope he gives us a third series soon.
Justice Society of America #1 – I got so excited by the news that the JSA were returning, I kind of overlooked the fact that Geoff Johns was writing it, and added it to my pullfile list. I should clarify that I love Johns’s first JSA run, which revitalized the team and made it a very unique legacy book, with an emphasis on it starring a Society of heroes. But that was 00s Johns, and he’s a very different writer these days. This book is definitely written by the newer version of Johns. The story is set in a future where Batman is dead, and his daughter, Helena Wayne, has brought together a new Justice Society, mostly peopled with villains or the children of villains. I have no idea if this is supposed to be the near future of the mainstream DC Universe, or if it’s set on a revitalized Earth-2 (is this a post-Dark Crisis book?). A time traveling villain (I assume he’s Per Degaton, but I don’t think he was named here) is going around killing JSAs, so once again, Johns gets to write a big slaughter. Mikel Janin’s art is lovely, like his art always is, but the colours are a little muddy in places, and I found the storytelling as hard to follow as the story. I’m not that interested in this story, and am extra disappointed because of how much I miss the JSA. The need to set stories in the future is something that I’m very over, as it reminds me of just about every 2010s story from Marvel. I hate that, like with many DC comics, I’m not sure how any characters are related to one another, and that’s wild considering how deep my DC knowledge runs. Their constant state of revamping has left me so disconnected from characters that I love, and with this series, I really can’t see who Johns is appealing to, aside from his small but vocal stans.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #29 – Things are starting to get confusing, as another of Padmé’s old handmaidens impersonates Sabé to get access to information about her, while Ochi continues to work in his own best interests, and no one seems to remember that Darth Vader is always a step ahead of them. I like how Greg Pak has made this book mostly about Sabé, and while she’s no Doctor Aphra, she does make a compelling main character. Luke Ross stepped in to draw this issue, and it looks pretty good, and in keeping with the work that Rafaelle Ienco has been doing.
Stillwater #16 – We finally get to learn just why it is that the citizens of Stillwater never die. The story is a bit unexpected, with roots in the Civil War, and in it lies the secret of how to lift the blessing or curse on the town. I’ve really enjoyed this title, and it’s cool to see this mystery uncovered. I think there are only two issues left in this book, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all ends. Chip Zdarsky and Ramón Perez have done incredible work with this title.
Superman: Kal-El Returns Special #1 – I wish DC hadn’t done so much to milk Superman’s return to Earth. We keep getting these stories showing him returning, and they kind of get redundant. Not one story in this book is bad, but none of them seem terribly important or tied into the work that Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Tom Taylor have been doing with these characters.
Vampirella: Year One #4 – Priest continues his look at unifying the stories of Vampirella’s early life. We see her growing hatred for Dreyvant Æpostyl, and finally get to the point where she meets the human responsible for her coming to Earth. I’ve really been enjoying this book, which gathers together some breadcrumbs that Priest has been dropping for his entire run. It’s a good read.
X-Terminators #3 – Leah Williams’s sitcom of an X-Book continues, with our four heroes dealing with the vampires, only to become the focus of a more powerful antagonist’s attention. This series is kind of fun, but I was hoping for something more like Williams’s excellent X-Factor.
The Week in Music:
Quelle Chris – Deathfame – Quelle’s latest album has been in rotation for a while now, but it took me a long time to get a physical copy. Quelle is a master of the underground hiphop scene, best known for spitting abstract raps over dusty piano loop-driven beats. On Deathfame, he explores the phenomenon where people like him don’t get their proper recognition until after they’ve passed, and makes it clear that he wants his flowers now. This is a lovely and challenging album that maybe got a little crowded out because this year had so many incredible releases. It’s worth giving a good, undistracted listen.
Clarice Jensen – Esthesis – The pandemic reawakened my love of ambient music, and this album by Clarice Jensen has so much of what I love in that genre. The sound on this just kind of washes over you, and transports you to someplace peaceful and kind of droning. It’s hard to write about ambient music, beyond saying that it’s pretty and I like it. That’s enough, right?
Kennebec – Without Star Or Compass – I don’t know who Kennebec is, or where they are from, but their lo-fi, ambient beats are very nice. This is their second album, and I think it shows a real refinement of their style. What makes this album special is the guest appearances by Sudan Archives, Yazz Ahmed, and Kalaido. Sam Herring, from Future Islands, appears twice as himself, and once more under his rap guise, Hemlock Ernst. There’s a shift between the instrumental tracks and the ones with vocals that keeps the album moving forward in unexpected ways.
Lee Fields – Sentimental Fool – Lee Fields has taken on the role previously played by Sharon Jone and Charles Bradley at Daptone, namely providing a rich voice to go along with some fantastic soul music. Fields, who is in his early seventies, sounds as good as he ever has here, and on songs about love, loss, and obligation, he feels very relevant.
Makaya McCraven – In These Times – This is my favourite album in jazz drummer Makaya McCraven’s impressive discography. He works with an incredible stable of artists (including Brandee Younger, Marta Sofia Honer, Jeff Parker, Marquis Hill, and Joel Ross) to create some great compositions. I wish many of these tracks were longer, as I find myself getting lost in the soundscapes that he creates. I’m never sure, when listening to a McCraven track, how much of it is the live recording, and how much he chopped and sampled later, and trying to figure that out is a big part of the fun of his music. This is a really nice album.
Daniel Villarreal – Panamá 77 – Pretty much every International Anthem release is a solid purchase, but for some reason, it’s taken me forever to own a copy of this album, by Dos Santos’s drummer, Daniel Villarreal. It’s an interesting mix of Latin-inflected percussive jazz. I like it.
Charles Stepney – Step on Step – International Anthem put together this collection of compositions by the master of soul, Charles Stepney. His songs were performed by Earth, Wind & Fire, Muddy Waters, Minnie Riperton, and many more, but these are not demos and unfinished tracks that he made in his basement, and they’re beguiling, uplifting, and sound incredibly current. Stepney’s three daughters worked to cement his place in history, and this album is their loving tribute to him. It’s very nice.
Lazerbeak – Lava Bangers II – It’s been ages since the first Lava Bangers album of instrumental hip hop tracks by Lazerbeak. That first one became the source for Lizzo’s first album, and helped launch her career. Now, after seeing his crew effectively disband (I’m actually not sure what’s happened to Doomtree at all, they’re mostly radio silent since the summer of accusations in Minneapolis and the dissolution of much of their scene), and putting out a trio of dancey New Age records, Beak has returned to his roots, making instrumental hip hop tracks that veer into house more often than not, and are occasionally as warm as some of the tracks he made for the albums named after his kids. I like this, but it feels a long way from the glory days of Doomtree, and that makes me kind of sad.
