I really like the John Romita tribute corner boxes on this week’s Marvels. It’s a touching way of honouring the legend.
Best Comic of the Week:
Barnstormers #2 – Scott Snyder and Tula Lotay are killing it on this series! Barnstormers is one of the prettiest books on the stands right now, and the story, of two strangers who end up running away together and staging airshows across 1930s America, while using them as opportunities to rob the rich people they come across, is exciting and unpredictable. Bix and Tillie are very engaging, and easy to root for, and the decision to make the narrator the Pinkerton employed to find them is clever. I feel like this book really captures the spirit of the Prohibition era. Lotay’s work really stands out, and each issue gives you a substantial amount of comics for only a dollar more than the standard price.
Quick Takes:
Avengers #4 – The Avengers are facing different members of the Ashen Combine, while Captain America and Black Panther explore that alien team’s home. Vision and Captain Marvel don’t show up in this issue at all, perhaps to give a little more time to the other characters and their fights. Reading this, I realize that some stuff has been going on in Scarlet Witch’s series that I’m not aware of, but I guess she has the power of the Darkhold now? I’m liking this series so far, but this is very much a middle issue for this arc, and just nudges the story along.
Batman Incorporated #11 – The various teams realize they have no choice but to directly engage with their Joker Incorporated targets as the Joker forces the issue, leaving the heroes with no apparent choice but to kill. Ed Brisson has made good use of this structure to dig into many of these characters’ morals, and it makes for an interesting story. With so many characters in this book, few of them get much space to call their own, but the plotting is still very effective. This issue has three artists, but it still works.
Children of the Vault #1 – I was blown away by Deniz Camp’s writing in the recent 20th Century Men series, so I had high expectations for this Fall of X tie-in series, which he’s writing. I’m pleased to see that my hopes were met, as this is an excellent comic. With Krakoa taken off the board, Forge’s defenses around the Vault fail, and the Children emerge. Strangely, they take a page from Orchis’s book and start winning the hearts and minds of humans. At the same time, Bishop frees Cable from Orchis’s custody, and they start working together to figure out what the Children are up to. Camp has a good handle on these characters and their convoluted histories, and is setting up an interesting story. Artist Luca Maresca is very capable, and makes the book look great. I see this becoming one of my favourites of the Fall of X series.
Damn Them All #7 – Simon Spurrier and Charlie Adlard bring this title back for another arc. The main character’s uncle (I’m blanking on her name) has released demons on the world, and now there is also some stuff going on with angels. Our hero is in a rough place, as is her small surviving supporting cast, and this issue mostly sets up just how bad things are. There are a couple of new characters introduced, and we get some great Adlard art. This issue didn’t immediately grab me the way the first issue did, but my expectations are still pretty high for it. We’ll see where it goes from here.
Danger Street #7 – For whatever reason, it’s taken my LCS a month to get this issue, so I’m reading double the Danger Street this week. This is another fine issue that seems to have more going on than we’ve seen in a while. Various characters in this odd story meet for the first time, and as their arcs converge, we get the illusion of forward momentum. Tom King has really taken his time with this story; every issue has been interesting but the process of moving the story has been at a glacial pace. Few artists could pull off keeping this book interesting, but Jorge Fornés has done a fantastic job here. On to the next issue!
Danger Street #8 – Things continue to almost converge, as the Dingbats free Warlord from jail, we learn the history of the Green Team and the Outsiders, and as the Commodore’s assassin prepares to fight the Manhunter. Oh, and Lady Cop has dinner with Jack Ryder, which ends in one of the funnier scenes I’ve seen in a long time. This book is good, but needs to pull all of its strands together soon, as Tom King is running out of road pretty quickly here.
The Enfield Gang Massacre #1 – I love That Texas Blood, Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips’s exploration of a small Texas town and the odd crime that it tends to attract. In this series, they dig into the past of Fort Lehane, showing us a legendary event from 1875. The town is starting to coalesce into something bigger than it was, with its citizens wanting to establish law and order, especially given the fact that the Enfield Gang keeps robbing the bank on a monthly basis. Condon takes some time setting up this story before throwing it all into chaos, when the bank manager ends up murdered, and the town’s feckless sheriff and a retired US Marshall decide to go ask Enfield about it. Phillips’s art continues to grow by leaps and bounds, looking fantastic here. The comic is printed on newsprint, and the paper absorbs the colours and gives the art texture that feels so new and cutting edge. This is an impressive new series from a terrific creative team.
Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Alpha #1 – With all that’s going on in the X-titles right now, it’s so strange that Ben Percy and the powers that be at Marvel decided now would be a good time for Logan to connect with Ghost Rider and go after a threat they first faced in the days when Kitty Pryde was new to the X-Men. I enjoyed this comic, which had a possessed kid get turned away from the Xavier School, only to return to cause havoc, drawing the attention of both Wolverine and Ghost Rider. Now the kid is back, or so it seems, and Logan and Johnny Blaze are connecting again. Geoff Shaw’s art is a big part of why I decided to not sit this out, so I guess I’m buying Ghost Rider this month. I didn’t even realize that it was Blaze driving the bike again…
Guardians of the Galaxy #5 – There’s been a movement away from grim’n’gritty in comics in recent years, but writers Lanzing and Kelly never really got that memo, so they have the broken and dysfunctional Guardians turn up at a massive space battle that is the target of the latest Grootfalls. This is one of those ‘everyone dies’ situations that probably won’t end up that way, but still, things look bleak. I hate the way these writers are turning Mantis into the movie version of herself, but I do like Kev Walker’s art a lot, so I’m sticking around for a little while longer.
Immortal X-Men #14 – The Hellfire Gala was a real shot in the arm for all of the X-books. This issue follows up on Charles Xavier, who is basically wallowing on Krakao, while Sebastian Shaw is frustrated that his power plays are not working out to his satisfaction, once again. We do learn what happened to the mutants that walked through the gates, and move the story along a little. This event is very well-coordinated, and Kieron Gillen’s additions to the larger story are much-needed. I’m really enjoying Lucas Werneck’s art on this series as well. If the Krakoan era does end, and we return to a more traditional approach to the X-Men, I do hope that Exodus sticks around in a prominent way, because he’s become one of my favourite characters.
Kaya #10 – I love Wes Craig’s art style in this series, and have grown to enjoy these characters, but this arc, which has Kaya pursuing her kidnapped brother through a wasteland, is not as compelling as the previous arcs. It just seems to be taking a little too long for her to catch up to him. I do like the dream sequence this issue, as Jin seeks refuge from his troubles in his imagination (or he’s having a vision – it’s not that clear).
Knight Terrors: The Flash #2 – As much as I admire Alex Paknadel’s writing, he wasn’t able to pull off a whole lot with this Knight Terror tie-in. Barry is fighting to save Wally’s life, and kind of loses himself in the process. But, surprising no one and spoiling nothing, it was all a dream. Yawn.
Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #2 – Flipping the script a little on the other Knight Terror series, when the nightmare figure that is in Hal Jordan’s mind realizes just how strong willed he is, he tries to get away from him. It’s good to see that Jeremy Adams is starting to explore Hal a little more, but I’m still not all that impressed or interested. It’s weird because I loved Adams’s Flash, but Hal is just not all that interesting to me.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9 – Miles and Starling continue to fight the Hobgoblin, as Miles continues to struggle with his spider-sense and his sense of self-worth. I’m hoping we get some clarity on these new weapons he can form from his bio-energy, as this latest relaunch hasn’t been all that clear on things like that. I like how Cody Ziglar is writing Miles, and showing us his vulnerable side as he works through some of his issues, but the larger plots aren’t really making a lot of sense to me; things keep happening at a chaotic pace without enough explanation or backstory.
Red Goblin #7 – As much as I generally hate symbiotes and comics about them, this one is growing on me. The unadvertised appearance of Miles Morales, cast in the role of mentor for a change, definitely helped, as did Crossbone’s appearance. Alex Paknadel is one of the most inventive writers in comics at the moment, and while I can tell that he’s playing it safe with his first mainstream Marvel book (I think), he’s making me like and care about both Normie and Rascal (the symbiote). I think I’m going to be adding this to the pullfile.
Star Wars #37 – Lobot’s implants cause problems for the Alliance, but Lando is determined to keep it a secret and attempt to save his old friend. This is the first of the main book’s tie-ins to the Dark Droids event, but it stands on its own at this point. I like how Charles Soule is writing this book, but with Lando headed to Tatooine, it’s odd that Han’s name doesn’t really come up (beyond Leia reminding Lando who owns the Falcon). It’s kind of like everyone’s forgotten about him, and it’s starting to feel like the gap between Episodes V and VI is longer than I’d thought.
Superman 2023 Annual – Joshua Williamson takes advantage of this Annual to clarify his approach to Superman, and preview a number of upcoming storylines. Lois sends her staff out to do a day’s reporting, and that leads to check-ins on Supercorps, Parasite, Livewire, and the police. Lois starts to track down the secrets of why Lex Luthor’s first years in Metropolis were so well-hidden, and Cat Grant meets Marilyn Moonlight, who just might be more interesting than she first appeared to be. I’m not a Superman fan, but between Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s excellent work in Action Comics, and the way Williamson is building his story here, I can see myself sticking around for a while and starting to appreciate him more. There are a number of artists who contributed to this annual, but their work is pretty consistent, making this book work a lot better than other attempts to do this kind of thing have worked elsewhere.
Vampirella/Dracula: Rage #1 – Now that Black Adam is finished, Vampirella provides my main Priest fix (although Superman: Lost is excellent). This issue follows on from the Year One miniseries. Dracula survived (except, you know, there is no Dracula) the Unholy miniseries, and has come to Victory to talk about what’s going on with Vampirella. She’s lost her child (or she hasn’t), and she’s going to be blaming it on Victory (or she isn’t). As is often the case with a Priest first issue, we get a lot of conflicting and confusing information, some misdirection, and some jumping around in time, and it’s glorious. If you haven’t been reading his Vampirella, I’m not sure you could pick this up and understand much (I’ve read all of it and I’m not sure how this fits with the current Draculina series), but it’s pretty great for long-time readers. The artist, Christian Rosado, reminds me a lot of Roberto Dela Torre, and is a good fit for this title. I like when the interiors of these books are so much less cheesecake-filled than the covers.
WildCATS #10 – I get the feeling that this book is going to be coming to a close soon, as Matthew Rosenberg visibly picks up the pace with this issue, and squeezes a lot in. We’ve got the revelation of who John Lynch is working for (which should have had its own arc, really), a fight with Amanda Waller’s people, a fight with Batman, Black Canary, and whatever Roy calls himself now, and Grifter’s return all wrapped up in a pretty busy issue. I’m guessing, with Zealot slated to turn up in the new Birds of Prey, this book is on the way out. I just hope that Kelly Thompson keeps this current portrayal of her, rather than rebooting the character yet again.
The Week in Graphic Novels:
Griz Grobus and The Tale of Azkon’s Heart – This is the last of my TCAF purchases from this year, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to read it. This is a handsome hardcover book by Simon Roy, with co-writing with Jess Pollard and colour by Sergey Nazarov. It’s set on a world that has been long colonized by humans, but has kind of lost touch with its technology. When a young scholar robs the tomb of a town’s storied mayor, she finds the device needed to fire up Griz Grobus, the town’s robotic defender, although there’s a pretty big difference between what the town’s stories say, and the reality. Roy constructs an interesting world in a short amount of space, and then tells us other stories of some of these, or other characters. There is also a parallel story involving a long war, a siege, and a wizard’s mistake, which puts the powers of a god or demon into a goose. This book reminds me of Roy’s work on Prophet in terms of its sheer inventiveness (there’s a toned-down Brandon Graham vibe throughout), but it also reminds me of his excellent stories Habitat and Protector, in the way it explores civilizations that evolved upon the ruins of more advanced ones. It’s a recurring theme in his work that he examines from a curious and sensitive perspective. I would love to see more stuff in this world, and remember Roy saying that the book might be published through Image; if that’s the case, I highly recommend it.
The Week in Music:
Nicola Conte – Umoja – I only recently discover Nicola Conte, an Italian DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has put together a really lovely piece of work in Umoja. What first drew me to this is vocalist Zara McFarlane singing on a few tracks, but the whole project is really good. It feels like a bit of a throwback to the era of souljazz, but with a bit of a Brazilian-sounding twist. It’s warm, thoughtful, and very positive, and makes for a nice chill summer album.
ILUITEQ – Reflections Revisited – The Reflections album that came out about a year ago was a beautiful example of ambient music. With this ‘revisiting’, the band has brought in a number of people I’ve never heard of to remix their compositions. Some tracks have been shifted into a more dancey version of themselves, while others have stayed pretty ambient, only different from before. There are two CD only tracks here, which is always nice. This is good to put on when you need to concentrate on something other than it, but still have some brainspace left to enjoy it.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – The Ones Ahead – Beverly Glenn-Copeland came onto my radar during the earliest stage of the pandemic, when his sweeping New Age compositions were a kind of aural balm to the endless doomscrolling. With this new album, his first album of new material in more than twenty years, he focuses more on songs that are operatic in scope. There is a pretty even mix of songs that use a number of background singers and string sections, and quieter, more intimate ones. This music is lovely and the second song, Harbour (Song for Elizabeth) is one of the most beautiful and emotional songs I’ve heard this year. This is a really special album from an elderly artist who has lived a fascinating life.
The Budos Band – Frontier’s Edge – I’m disappointed that this new Budos Band EP is less than sixteen minutes long, but they are a great fifteen and a bit. There are only six tracks on this EP, but they perfectly encapsulate what the Budos do – a brassy, raucous approach to funk that overlaps a little with surf rock. It’s fun, and I hope it means that a longer project is on the way.
Secret Night Gang – Belongs On A Place Called Earth – The Brit-funk group Secret Night Gang leans into positive vibes on this new album. It’s a lot like their debut, but perhaps even more uplifting and fun. I like it.
IzangoMa – Ngo Ma – I love how Brownswood Records has been shining the light on the varied and impressive talents of the South African music scene. IzangoMa are Sibusile Xaba and Ashley Kgabo, with a number of collaborators, and they give us a variety of music that could be considered traditional, jazz, and electronic. The songs also vary in length, with some tracks lasting up to fourteen minutes. We get some stories in English, but I’m not sure what language much of this is sung in. There’s a global influence on this album, which reminds us how music connects us. It’s challenging in places, but ultimately lovely and affirming.
Little Simz – No Thank You – It’s taken forever for me to get a physical copy of one of the best albums of last year. Simz comes on strong on this album, asserting her own image of herself and her career, and making it clear that she can’t be pushed around by anyone. The beats are by Inflo (of Sault fame), and they are incredible. Inflo uses big, orchestrated tracks and layered vocals to support Simz’s sharp and pointed lyrics. This is an incredible album that just keeps getting better with repeated listens.
Phi-Psonics – Octava – The Phi-Psonics are a pretty traditional jazz band (keys, bass, drums, sax/flute) and this album, on the estimable Gondwana Records, is a pretty traditional example of how traditional jazz can still work for a modern audience raised on breakbeats and electronica. This is a very chill collection of tracks that sounds great at the end of a long day. It might be a good way to introduce people to jazz, as it doesn’t have a lot of improvisational flourishes that might distract a new listener. It’s all about the vibe here.
