Best Comic of the Week:
Rare Flavours #1 – I almost didn’t preorder this book, but I’ve been enjoying Ram V’s DC writing, and decided to give a new Boom! series by him and Felipe Andrade a shot. The main character, Rubin Baksh, is a rather large gourmand (he gives Shadow King vibes) who we learn from the first pages is probably much more than that. He has left his job at a cafe in India to try to launch a series of documentaries about food. He’s contacted a struggling filmmaker who has decided to give up his craft in the hopes that he would work with him, and their relationship is almost immediately conflicted. Baksh takes him to a chai stall and tells him the story of its proprietor, interspersed with a recipe for masala chai. This level of the story drew me in on its own, in a post-Bourdain way, but knowing that this guy is a god or a demon, and that people are following him makes the story even more interesting. Oh, and there’s some cannibalism. V builds this story very well, and leaves me wanting to know so much more. Andrade’s art is a little cartoonish, but beautifully evokes the place and people of this story. His colours are muted and so lovely. I’m glad I decided to preorder this series; Boom! has been on fire lately.
Quick Takes:
Alpha Flight #2 – Alpha Flight’s official team continues to work with former allies to try to protect mutants in Canada, while Department H moves their Box Sentinel program into high gear, going after a former Beta Flight member who is now in Oregon. I like how Ed Brisson is being so respectful of these characters and their pasts (I didn’t think I’d ever see Roger Bochs’s name in a comic again), as a truly good Canadian should. Scott Godlewski’s art is very nice, and fits the tone of the book well. Some of the ancillary Fall of X books aren’t working for me, but this one really is.
Antarctica #3 – Alternate reality stories that have characters meeting their otherworld alters can be hard to make work, especially when everyone is dressed similarly. I’m enjoying this Top Cow book by Simon Birks and Willi Roberts, but find it hard to follow sometimes. And it bothers me how casual people are about being in Antarctica.
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #1 – Rafael Grampá is an incredible artist who does not make nearly enough comics. I was excited to learn that he has a new Black Label miniseries, and it more than lived up to my expectations. Batman is early in his career, still testing out his equipment, and considering killing off Bruce Wayne so he can be Batman full time (which might lead to funding problems, now that I think about it). There’s a strange new killer in Gotham, who is connecting his crimes to an old cartoon. We’ve got all the ingredients for a good Batman story, and we’ve got Grampá’s incredible art. His Batman reminds me of Paul Popes, but his drawings of Detective Gordon make me think of Chris Bachalo. His villain is very creepy and unsettling. Grampá is incredibly detailed in his work, and you can tell this is a labour of love.
Catwoman #57 – Tini Howard takes the reins of The Gotham War for this chapter, which has Batman confronting Vandal Savage, who has bought his family home, and then trying to stop Red Hood from working with Catwoman. I like this event, and how Howard helps share Selina’s take on what’s going on, so the whole thing is not just Batman’s story. There’s a revelation at the end of this issue that got me very excited, as it features a return of a character I haven’t thought about in a long time, but whom I really like.
Dark X-Men #2 – I decided to come back to this series, which has Madelyne Pryor shepherding her own team of X-Men through the Fall of X. Her alliance with Gambit’s squad is uneasy, as they try to chart a course to rescue as many mutants from Orchis as possible. We see that Orchis has two villains working for them who have found a way to listen in on what’s happening in the Limbo embassy. This book is not essential, but it’s enjoyable and a little different. I guess I’ll stick around for the rest of it.
Dune: House Harkonnen #9 – Lots happens in this issue, as Vernius makes his move, as does Baron Harkonnen’s much-abused brother. This series is sprawling more than ever, as it moves into its last act, and again there is no sign of the Atreides. It’s getting a little hard to keep some of these characters straight in my head.
The Enfield Gang Massacre #2 – Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips continue to examine the history of the fictional county that is the focus of their That Texas Blood series. The people of the town are going after the Enfield Gang for murder, which apparently they didn’t commit. In this issue, the first big shoot-out at a bar gets explosive, and then the posse tracks Enfield down to the community where he lives, foreshadowing the titular massacre. This is a solid and quick moving book.
Fishflies #2 – Jeff Lemire’s Surrealist rural story continues. Francine is an odd and unliked child who is harboring a criminal on her farm, but the criminal has turned into a gigantic fishfly after shooting a boy during a convenience store robbery. This story is starting to sprawl a little, as the police chief and the boy’s mother enter the narrative, and we see what school is like for Francine. Lemire’s art is always a little odd, and it works for this kind of story. I’m glad to see him drawing his own stuff again, and to see that he has an ambitious story planned for this miniseries.
Green Lantern War Journal #1 – I’ve had mixed reactions to the John Stewart backup stories running through the latest Green Lantern series, but I’ve become a big fan of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s writing, and wanted to see where this would lead. This issue is better, establishing an inter-dimensional threat that’s come looking for John, as has a protector from that other dimension. John’s trying to look after his mother, who appears to be in the early stages of dementia, but that doesn’t stop one of the new, United Planets-backed Green Lanterns from harassing him. Montos’s art is solid, and John has been one of my favourite Lanterns since the Mosaic days, so I’m hopeful I’m going to like this book (even though I’m bored of multiverse stories).
Guardians of the Galaxy #6 – We finally get the story of what happened to make Groot into a solar system-destroying monster (more or less – there are varying tellings of the tale) as the Guardians enter the state of death. This was an odd issue in a very odd series. I hate that the writers, Lanzing and Kelly, appear to have only ever watched the GotG movies instead of having read the comics that feature them, but I do like Alex Lins’s guest art. I wish I liked this book more – the art has been top notch since the first issue, but the characterizations are just so wrong (I don’t love that Moondragon is casually killed off in a flashback too).
Hexagon Bridge #1 – I preordered this based on the strength of Richard Blake’s art in the preview pages I saw (now that Image isn’t contributing to Previews, I wonder how many projects like this I won’t notice), and while this first issue doesn’t give us a lot to work with, it is pretty lovely. We know that in a couple thousand years, humanity will find a bridge to another dimension, but the cartographers sent to map it are stuck in a strange environment where reality seems to shift based on their thinking. Back home, their child’s dreams suggest they are in trouble, and people plan on sending an AI after them. The comic is surrealistic and a little unclear, but I found myself drawn into it nonetheless. I’m looking forward to the rest of this story.
Nightwing #106 – Dick decides to finally figure out what’s going on with the secret criminal bank he discovered a few issues back, only to get there after Heartless has killed the pirate that runs it. There’s a lot more going on than just that, though, as Blüdhaven’s strange past and institutions get revealed a little. Parts of this issue were tough for me, as I never read the era where Dick was shot in the head and thought his name was Ric, which is heavily referenced here. At the same time, it’s so nice to see a DC book that acknowledges its continuity, so the fact that I don’t know who his friend is gives me some comfort still. Stephen Byrne is the artist for this issue, and her work is nice, although I always want to see Bruno Redondo on this comic. The backup story did nothing for me, and I really wish that this series was $4 and shorter.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #38 – Is there any character in the Star Wars universe that’s had it rougher than Beilert Valance? He’s just constantly getting the rug pulled under him as he gets embroiled in one event after the other. Things aren’t going well at the autonomous droid facility near Kligson’s Moon, and we see how that same community dealt with overtures from General Grievous back during the Clone Wars. This is a decent issue.
Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad #1 – So R2D2 has been dumped in space after C3PO became taken over by the entity that is taking over droids across the galaxy. He manages to find a friend, who takes him to another planet, where he finds another friend (sort of, I guess there’s rivalry there), and then goes looking for a droid that is not a friend. It’s not a D-Squad situation yet, as R2 is not travelling with these other droids for long. There’s a backup story that sets up Ajax Sigma’s role in this larger event, but it details things that happened before the start of the Dark Droids event, and feels kind of tacked on. I suspect that nothing in this series is going to be essential to the larger event, but if you like trying to interpret R2’s bleeps…
Superman #6 – Superman continues to dig into Lex Luthor’s past, discovering that there is someone he imprisoned deep in the Earth a long time ago. Being the typical Superman, he decides to let the guy out without knowing anything about him, and surprisingly, that was a bad idea. Joshua Williamson has a good take on Superman, and Gleb Melnikov’s art works very well here. I’ve never been a big Superman fan, but I am enjoying this book, and am glad to see it didn’t lose much momentum with the Knight Terror stuff.
Titans #3 – The Titans investigate the new Brother Eternity (which is the new name of Brother Blood), and discover that they’re up to their old tricks, with human sacrifice and blood-borne powers, but at the same time, maybe they aren’t? Tom Taylor is setting up a new take on the classic Titans villains, and it’s interesting. Nicola Scott is killing it on this book, which is gorgeous.
Uncanny Avengers #2 – Captain America and his Unity Squad are struggling in their fight against Orchis and the false-flag New Mutant Liberation Front. We still don’t know who Captain Krakoa is (although Andrea Strucker gets to find out), and Cap’s leadership comes under question by Rogue. Gerry Duggan is doing a good job of building the Fall of X event with this series, and Javier Garron’s art is very nice. I like how this works as a companion to the events in X-Men, and shows how non-mutant heroes feel about Orchis’s moves. It’s a good series.
Uncanny Spider-Man #1 – I’m glad that Simon Spurrier gets to continue his tenure of writing Nightcrawler’s adventures. In the wake of the Hellfire Gala, Kurt has disguised himself as a new Spider-Man, and he somehow manages to stay out of the way of the Orchis Sentinels that hunt New York for mutants. He’s getting some help from Peter Parker, and has a ghostly companion, but is mostly on his own. I think it’s curious that the Vulture is now working with Orchis, giving Kurt his own Spider-Man villain to fight. I liked this book, as I usually do with Spurrier’s writing, and really enjoyed Lee Garbett’s art. I’m not sure when Kurt and Parker became friends; they’ve barely crossed paths over the years, but I do like the way these X books are expanding into other corners of the Marvel Universe.
The Vigil #5 – We learn the truth behind the creation of the Vigil in this issue, and while I like it, it kind of limits the team to fighting a singular threat, instead of positioning them to be the South Asian answer to the Suicide Squad or Checkmate. I guess there’s only one issue left in this series, but I like the idea of this team continuing, kind of like how I’d hope we’d ever see The Great Ten again.
Wolverine #37 – I found this to be a very odd issue. Logan goes after the remaining clones from Beast’s Weapons of X plan, and ends up working with Bruce Banner, who is suddenly not hanging out with the kid he’s been seen with in his own book. Somehow, Logan, who has to hide in the bushes in New York City so Orchis doesn’t find him, manages to arrange trips to Canada, Japan, and Madripoor, the last two with an international fugitive, but that is not even mentioned. Nor is it explained how Logan’s clones, who have his healing factor, are able to be easily killed when we know he cannot be. This book has never been a priority in the X-office, but I feel like things are getting a little sloppier all the time. This book should be an essential part of the Fall of X, not dancing around the edges of it.
Wonder Woman #1 – I’ve been looking forward to seeing what Tom King was going to do with Wonder Woman, and this first issue did not disappoint, even though most of the issue passed before Diana turned up in it. An Amazon woman appears to have killed a bunch of men in a bar in Montana, and the United States government is overreacting, passing laws to bar all Amazons from the country, including Diana. I’m a little surprised that so many women would have chosen to leave Themyscira and make their homes in the US, but since many of those extradictions went poorly, it creates the conflict for King’s first story arc. We got a glimpse of his plans for Diana in the backup to issue 800, and it’s clear now that he has a big story planned for this book. Daniel Sampere’s art is nice, in that DC house style way, and I like that the story doesn’t have Diana interacting with her hero peers, instead focusing the story on her alone. It’s been years since I’ve read Wonder Woman (I think not since Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s incredible New 52 run), so I’m adjusting to her new status quo. I’m happy to be back, and love the inclusion of Sarge Steel in the book.
The Week in Music:
Puma Blue – Holy Waters – Puma Blue’s melancholy post-rock R&B always works for me. He has a lovely voice, and his compositions are so atmospheric and dark. This album feels like a further refinement of his sound and signature style, and it’s a very nice late night album.
Alabaster De Plume – Come With Fierce Grace – I was fortunate enough to see Alabaster De Plume perform this week, and picked up this latest album (EP?), that is mostly work left over from the recording sessions he had for his album Gold! These tracks are warm, with him mostly blowing gently into his saxophone, accompanied by other musicians. There are some vocals, with him exhorting people to be their best, or with singers like his touring drummer, Donna Thompson, harmonizing. It’s a meditative and lovely recording, and after seeing the live performance, it resonates with me a lot more than it did when I listened to it on streaming. De Plume is a pretty iconoclastic musician whose work I’m really growing to enjoy.
