Best Comic of the Week:
Black Cloak #5 – Essex and Theron have to infiltrate the palace where Essex grew up in their effort to solve the mystery of Essex’s former betrothed’s death. It’s a very cool issue which reveals a few more things, including a much wider mystery of what is going on in the bowels of the palace. Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren are making one of the best comics of the year here, and each issue has been an absolute delight. I can’t get enough of this series, and its constant displays of unexpected creativity. It really is well thought out, and meticulously designed. The world it shows is a fantasy one, but it is also fully realized and believable.
Quick Takes:
The Ambassadors #4 – Olivier Coipel provides the art for this issue of The Ambassadors, which takes us to Brazil. A priest has been nominated to be the hero for his country, mostly because of his continued opposition to the militia that exploits his congregation’s favela neighbourhood. Coipel’s art looks great, and Mark Millar puts a little twist in things that works really well. I’m enjoying this series and its rotating stable of A-list artists.
Batman Incorporated #8 – I hate the Joker. I think he’s become the most over-used, uninteresting character in current comics, and usually would try to avoid him. That said, I do like the idea Ed Brisson is working with in this current arc, which has the Joker running his own version of Batman Inc., and pitting them against the team. This series has dozens of characters, so it’s hard for many of them to get much screen time, but this book is well-written and entertaining, and I hope it has a long life.
Captain Marvel #49 – I recognize that I messed up by not reading Kelly Thompson’s run on Captain Marvel, and that it took an X-Men crossover to get me to see the light. I’ve been enjoying the back half of this Revenge of the Brood story, and have started scouring the back issue bins for the rest of the run. This issue has Carol, consumed with grief, attempting to deal with the Brood once and for all, while a variety of X-Men and her other friends work to assist her. I like the way Thompson has pulled this all together, and will be around next month for this run’s conclusion. Black Cloak has made me see the light, finally, about Thompson’s writing, so I’m eager to see where she’s headed next in the Marvel Universe.
Danger Street #6 – Tom King and Jorge Fornes are telling a very strange story with this book, and it’s kind of hard to describe, as they’ve basically just taken a bunch of characters who wouldn’t normally be seen together, and have shoved them into the same book. This has led to a strange story, which is partly about a group of teens wanting to avenge the death of their friend, partly about Manhunter hunting down the rich teens that make up the Green Team, and partly about a cosmic threat so dangerous that it has Darkseid working with Highfather. It’s hard to see how the threads connect, and I have no idea what is going on with this month’s cartoonish cover. This very much feels like a writing exercise, but it’s still entertaining and unique.
Daredevil #11 – Matt is pretty broken after what happened on the island, but a broken Daredevil is the most unpredictable, so he goes to see the Stromwyns to make them an unexpected offer. Chip Zdarsky is writing the most memorable Daredevil run of this century, and it is just fantastic. I’m not sure why there was a backup story tacked onto this, featuring the new Iron Fist, but it was written by local creator Jason Loo, whom I’m a big fan of, so I liked that.
Don’t Spit in the Wind #2 – I started preordering this Mad Cave series by Stefano Cardoselli based on the cover art, and I don’t regret a thing. This is a very strange series, set on a ruined Earth and featuring the poor slobs who are working to fix things. There are locust swarms, crazed garbage worshippers, and now a giant monster to deal with. There’s not a lot of story in this issue, but Cardoselli’s very detailed yet rough art makes it all very enjoyable. I think Mad Cave is a company to keep an eye on.
Green Lantern #1 – I’ve really enjoyed Jeremy Adams’s run on The Flash, which is ending soon, sadly, so I thought I’d give his new Green Lantern series a chance. I’ve never been a fan of Hal Jordan – I find so many of the other GLs more interesting – so this book has a strike against it with me, right out of the gate. Adams is taking a back to the basics approach to this book, now that Hal is stranded on Earth after a decision by the United Planets. We’ve got Hal reconnecting with Carol Ferris, his main villain is hanging out at a local bar, and Hal is his usual blowhard self. Xermanico’s art is very nice, but there’s not much in this first issue that really grabbed me or made me want to come back (although I am going to pick up the first arc at least). The backup story features John Stewart, and is written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (a writer I’m also very impressed with lately) and drawn by Montos. It was fine, but there wasn’t enough John in it, as most of the limited space was spent establishing a threat from another reality. I’m hoping that Adams starts to work his magic quickly, because I want to like this book, despite not liking its main character.
Invincible Iron Man #6 – This issue is a bit of a fill-in, with Gerry Duggan having Tony write a chapter in his book about a thing that happened back when he was still part of the West Coast Avengers. It’s nice to see the silver centurion armor getting used again, but Duggan’s need to put Emma Frost in everything he writes feels a little forced here, unlike her appearance in the last issue, and I’m not sure that everything that happened here was important to the larger story Duggan is telling. It felt a little off.
Phantom Road #3 – Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta switch things up this month, introducing us to FBI Agent Weaver, who takes over the investigation into the body they’ve found near the truck stop from last issue. It turns out that Weaver might know more about the other world than we’d have expected, and that Birdie might not have been completely honest with Dominic when she first met him. I like how this issue adds a number of new layers to this story, and has me excited to see where things go next. Also, the art is just incredible in this book.
Saga #64 – Things are happening quickly in this book. Squire is going through some pretty big changes, while Alanna looks to get the family a new place to live (and jobs to go with it). Lately this series has had a number of storylines that need to be touched on in almost every issue, so none of the stories move too far, but it’s still one of the books I most look forward to reading every month.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #34 – Vader continues to struggle to regain control of the Force, while putting Sabé through something like a reprograming, and fighting off a very random group of people in a starship that just happens to find him. I like what Greg Pak is doing with Vader’s character, but at the same time, I’m finding it kind of dull and played out at this point. I’m kind of surprised at just how weak Vader is always portrayed as being in this series.
Superman: Lost #3 – Clark continues to try to find a way home after getting lost an inconceivable distance away from the Earth. A chance encounter with some space dolphins seems lucky, but the distance is still too much. I like the way Priest has set up and is telling this story, and Carlos Pagulayan’s art is fantastic. I loved their work on Deathstroke, and am happy to see them working together again. I assume that this series is completely out of continuity, but there’s nothing wrong with that, as Priest is showcasing some of the essential qualities that make Superman who he is. It’s a very good series.
WildCATS #7 – The start of this series was a little slow, but now I’m fully invested in this book, and find that it’s improving every month. Grifter’s tumbling through the Multiverse (and ends up in some familiar places, such as the original Wildstorm Universe, and, I think, the DCeased Universe). The rest of the team is scrambling to figure out what they can do to rescue him, although their attempt to bring Voodoo into their squad doesn’t go as well as they hoped. Matthew Rosenberg is keeping these characters fresh and interesting for this latest incarnation, and the book looks very good too. I hope that this is the last time these characters have to go through a reboot, because they’ve become very confusing to me.
Wolverine #33 – At first I wasn’t enjoying Beast’s big heel turn, but now, as even his own clones start to turn against him, I’m starting to like it more and more. Logan is on Beast’s trail, as are Maverick and, separately, Agent Bannister. It’s as much an X-Force story as it is Logan’s, but it’s entertaining, and Juan José Ryp’s art looks great.
X-Men Red #11 – I’d feared that this series wouldn’t return after Sins of Sinister, as the last issue wrapped up so many of Al Ewing’s ongoing storylines, but luckily, it’s back. Storm is summoned to Charles Xavier’s side, and she’s had enough of his ways. At the same time, Sunspot and Nova discover the next potential threat coming to Arakko. Ewing doesn’t have a very consistent cast or tone for this series, and yet it still counts as one of my favourite X-books. I would gladly see a lot more of Storm in this series, but am also happy to see more of the other mutants living on Mars. This book has a lot of potential, but I’d prefer to see it a step or two removed from the ongoing X-Drama, with a focus on what makes Arakko so different from Krakoa.
Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:
I Am Iron Man #3
Something Epic #1
Spirit World #1
Free Comic Book Day Offerings:
I did not get through too many of these this week, so this might be a regular feature for a while.
Fishflies #1 – FCBD Edition – I always love when Jeff Lemire draws his own stories, and this preview of his newest upcoming series definitely got my attention. It’s another small town story, which is what he’s best at, set in a town that gets beset upon by Fishflies once a year. A local kid interrupts a robbery at a convenience store, and things get a little wild. I’m hoping that this is just half of the first issue, which is advertised as being ‘giant-sized’. I just don’t know if that refers to the format, the page count, or both. Either way, Lemire has my attention with this, so I’ll be getting it.
Free Comic Book Day 2023: Marvel’s Voices #1 – So Marvel gives us a book designed to showcase their Voices anthologies series, but it barely features any of the characters on the cover, and some of the short stories in it aren’t even finished here, they’re continued in past editions of the anthologies that people would have to hunt down in back issues bins. I don’t think Marvel really understands the purpose of FCBD anymore. Why not have two all-new stories that might get people to want to read the anthology? This was disappointing.
Free Comic Book Day 2023: Spider-Man/Venom #1 – The lead Spider-Man story is kind of amusing, as it has Spidey fighting an escaped gorilla, and the public is on the gorilla’s side. I have no idea what’s going on in Spider-Man right now, but apparently he’s heavily reliant on gadgets for some reason. I liked the Venom story (I know, that’s not like me), but maybe that’s because Venom isn’t in it. Instead, it focuses on Flexo, a Golden Age era character that is a very new spin on a symbiote. The Hickman/Hitch preview of Ultimate Invasion does not have me excited about that story at all. I still would have been a lot happier if this was a single-issue story…
TCAF Purchases:
I’m taking a little too long to get through these too…
The Envoy and the Warrior #1 – This mini-comic is written by Simon Roy and drawn by Linnea Sterte. It’s a follow-up, of sorts, to Roy’s excellent Habitat series, which was first serialized in Island. I didn’t really get all the references, but it’s about an envoy sent to plead with a god of war to get involved in a situation, and the art is lovely. The story reminded me of what I assume an issue of Brandon Graham’s Prophet would have been, had it been made by Moebius.
The Week in Music:
The Soul Motivators – Do It Together – The Soul Motivators are a Toronto mainstay, a funk and soul band known for electrifying live performances. This album sounds and feels like one of their live shows. The band is swinging, and singer Shahi Teruko commands every track she’s on. This is fun party stuff, and is guaranteed to lift your mood.
Nick Waterhouse – The Fooler – You can always rely on a Nick Waterhouse to sound like it’s from a certain era, while providing modern lyrics and sensibilities. Waterhouse’s singing always reminds me of very early rock and roll, when it was still lifting itself fully from Black forms of music, and he’s always made that work for himself. Other than the title track, I’m not sure there are many that are going to become earworms, like on some of his other albums, but he and his band sound great. I love the old photo taken outside of City Lights Books on the cover, too.
James Holden – Imagine That This Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities – I wasn’t familiar with James Holden before listening to this album, but this satisfies my craving for some oddball electronic music. It’s experimental and a little self-involved, but it sounds cool.
