The Best Comic of the Week:
Deep Cuts #2 – Alright, this might be going in the running as my new favourite series of 2023. With this second issue of their prestige format series about music, writers Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark take us to Chicago in the 20s. Gail Geldstein is a singer and composer who is hoping to produce her own shows on Broadway. The problem is, as her debut show approaches, it’s becoming glaringly clear that it’s just not very good. Gail figures if she can write a hit song, she’ll make it. In Chicago for a weekend, she meets a number of musicians who hang around the speakeasy scene. This story is exceptionally well-written, and touches on issues of cultural appropriation, racial tension, and sexism in subtle ways. The characters are fully realized, and the story clicks on every level. Also, this book is gorgeous. Helena Masellis penciled and inked the book, giving it a look that evokes the times, in terms of fashion and in layout and design. Igo Monti, the colourist, painted it beautifully. If I had to describe the art, I’d say it’s equally Tula Lotay and Rod Reis, if that makes sense to you. I love how this series is shaping up as an anthology about music, and am so glad that Image is publishing it.
Quick Takes:
Alien #2 – I’m liking Declan Shalvey’s approach to this Alien miniseries, which has Weyland-Yutani taking over a small science station on a remote planet after evidence of xenomorphs were found there. I like how he plays with the usual Alien tropes of having things slowly start to fall apart, as the W-Y people bully and threaten the family that lives on the station, and as the xenomorphs make their move. I did find one thing confusing though – if there are a large number of aliens frozen in the ice, it’s not really clear that they woke up when the drilling rig collapsed, as the static nature of the comic art didn’t really show movement. I think that sequence could have used some more editing or discussing, as I couldn’t really tell what was happening and why the crew weren’t attacked immediately. This is not a slight on Andrew Broccardo, whose art is quite nice; I think it’s more a matter of not having enough space in the issue to properly block out that scene.
Captain America: Symbol of Truth #13 – It feels like the various writers of this Cold War crossover had to pad it out a little to hit Legacy number 750 for their big finale, so we get a pretty forced fight between Sam and Steve in Dimension Z for most of this issue. RB Silva draws the hell out of the fight, and so it looks amazing, but it’s hard to give this any credit as a compelling or moving event. I just hate this Inner Circle stuff, and as much as I like Hunter, I am ready for this to be over with. Marvel really doesn’t know what to do with Captain America anymore, it seems.
Carnage #13 – It’s so odd that this issue doesn’t even have the Carnage Reigns trade dress on the cover. I found aspects of the first two issues of this mini crossover with Miles Morales’s title a little confusing, and now, in the third chapter, I realize that Carnage is not Cletus Kasaday anymore? But also it still is? I don’t really understand things, but at least now I get why we see Cletus sort of looking like Iron Man at times. I love Alex Paknadel’s indie comics, but this is not really working for me, and that’s not just because I hate comics about symbiotes.
Detective Comics #1072 – As the Orgham family prepares to open its new tower in Gotham, they also move ahead with their plans to destroy it as Batman, Nightwing, and Batgirl work to stop them. James Gordon finds himself in conflict with Commissioner Montoya, as Ram V moves this long and Byzantine story towards, if not its conclusion, a big moment. V’s run has been odd, but that is what has drawn me to it. It’s a Batman story that is not all that focused on Batman, and I think that’s what I like most about it. I was sad to see that Simon Spurrier is not writing the backup stories anymore, but Dan Watter’s tale of the Orgham family kept my interest.
Doctor Strange #3 – I’ve been enjoying this series, but think that Jed MacKay has hit his groove with this issue. Apparently Strange and Dormammu have an annual parlay, and its time has come around again. Strange is bothered by the fact that each appearance of Dormammu leads to the death of one of his followers, and we get our first look at their relationship’s similarity to that of Reed Richards and Doctor Doom. It’s a good issue, made even better by Pascual Ferry’s artwork. There’s also an unnecessary Sister Grimm backup story. I’d totally forgotten that Niko and some of the other Runaways had superhero names, so her inclusion in this story was a present surprise, and I guess part of this recent trend to showcase Asian American characters in random backup stories. I didn’t hate it, but I’m also not likely to remember it in a week.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #32 – Aphra’s got Luke Skywalker working with her now, in an attempt to access an ancient Jedi temple that is not easy to get to. The problem is, Luke’s connection to the Force is kind of wonky at the moment. This is a fun story, but I did feel like Luke just accepted Aphra’s kidnapping of him a little too easily.
Star Wars: Sana Starros #4 – Justina Ireland has managed to capture the fun of a Star Wars story that keeps adding layers of problems for the main characters. We meet Sana’s brother, who works for the Imperials, and looks like he’s going to block his family’s plans. This book is enjoyable.
W0rldtr33 #2 – James Tynion IV and Fernando Blanco are doing some really excellent work in this series. The general idea is that the Undernet has become active on the Dark Web, leading one kid to murder many people in his community. At the same time, there’s a naked woman who has killed the police that were holding the kid. A group of former hackers have been gathered to take on this threat, because they did it once before, twenty years ago, and now the FBI is looking into things. Tynion has a lot going on in this book, but he’s finding the space and time to develop a lot of these characters, and to put together a very interesting cast. This book is very reminiscent of some older Vertigo books, and I like how it’s revisiting the hacker ethos and aesthetics of the late 90s (including the annoying use of numbers in words). I’m deeply intrigued by this book.
Comics I Would Have Bought if Comics Weren’t So Expensive:
DC Pride 2023 #1
Power Girl Special #1
The Week in Music:
Codefendants – This Is Crime Wave – I am a huge fan of the underground rapper/folk artist Ceschi, and will check out any project with his name on it. He’s one of the Codefendants, along with Fat Mike and Sam King, who are from NOFX and some other band. I’ve never really paid much attention to the rock/hardcore scene, so I don’t know those other artists, but to me, this sounds like a Ceschi album. He sings on every track, and his aesthetic is all over this album. Unlike his solo work, he doesn’t seem to be as deeply in mourning as I’m used to, and is instead singing about the state of America, the justice system, and relationships. This is a really fun album to play loud, and might be the gateway that takes me to rock music.
Hania Rani – On Giacometti – Hania Rani was commissioned to create the music for a documentary about Alberto Giacometti, and this was fortunate for all of us. This album is gorgeous, full of Rani’s usual solo piano, but if it’s possible, this feels even more meditative and careful, as she constructs layers and emotions. Her work is always stupendous, but I feel like this album speaks to me more than some of her other recent film work.
Yazmin Lacey – Voice Notes – There has been some buzzing building around Yazmin Lacey for years now, and it’s easy to see why when listening to her debut full-length album. Lacey has a lovely voice, and is a skilled songwriter. These songs, which are mostly r’n’b, with a knowledge of jazz, float around the room.
Zilla Rocca & Andrew – Don’t Wait For Me To Leave – I’ve been digging into the Three Dollar Pistol catalogue lately, and picked this up as a way to minimize the shipping costs of just getting one disc on a recent Bandcamp Friday. Zilla Rocca, from the Wrecking Crew, pairs up with Andrew, the rapper who is determined to be impossible to Google, for this fun album. Andrew’s beats are a form of classic, sample-heavy boom bap, and he and Zilla have a great skill for finding the right hooks. In some ways, this album reminds me of earlier Atmosphere albums, balancing introspection with humour. There are some great features, such as PremRock, Alaska, Brian Ennals, Curly Castro, and Rich Jones, making this a bit of a survey of one corner of the underground. This album came out over a year ago, but I’m glad I got around to making it a part of my collection.
