Best Comic of the Week:
Nights #2 – I think Nights might be my favourite comic right now, and I’m really glad I gave the first issue a chance. It’s not an easy book to describe. This issue has Vince, our main character, lost in a far part of town and deciding to take a shortcut home through the forest that his cousin has warned him to never enter. He’s joined by a talkative mole named Starven, who he opens up to about his feelings for his vampire roommate. There’s other stuff going on that’s largely hinted at. I love Luigi Formisano’s art, which makes strange story elements like ghosts and talking moles seem kind of normal. I also love the way Wyatt Kennedy has built these characters and their environment. There are layers to this book that will take time to fully explore, and while the weirdness is what caught my attention, it’s the heart these characters show that makes me love it. I guess this book is a little like What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, but with a more Whedonesque vibe. I’m really enamored.
Quick Takes:
Abbott 1979 #2 – Saladin Ahmed continues to show how much Detroit had started to decline at the end of the 70s as Elena’s powers continue to fade, and the Umbra makes another move on her. Luckily, she still has some friends left, but it’s not clear how much longer they’ll be able to support her. This series is really good, and unlike many other books that go on hiatus for a year or more, this seems to always come back stronger and better. Likewise, Sami Kivelä’s art continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
Batman #139 – I’ve really liked what Chip Zdarsky has been doing with Batman, but as he has no choice but to face the fact that Zur En Arrh, his other other alter ego, is taking over, Zdarsky brings the Joker into the book, and I could literally feel my interest dissipating. I am just so over the Joker that his inclusion in this story tossed me out of it, but I imagine I’ll get over it. Zdarsky is really good, so I’m sure he’ll win me back.
Birds of Prey #3 – Birds of Prey is one of the most fun books that DC is producing at the moment, and I love it. The team makes their way to Themyscira to rescue Sin, and when they are inevitably discovered, we see what contingency plan Dinah has put in place to keep Diana from stopping them. Leonardo Romero’s art is gorgeous and so perfect for this book, and Kelly Thompson shows deep reverence for these characters. I think she’s got me starting to like Harley Quinn, something that’s never happened before!
Damn Them All #10 – In this issue, Ellie makes her way to Parliament to see how things have changed since the demons appeared in London, and gets a few surprises, including figuring out what Cillian is really up to. This series has scaled up very nicely into a larger story, and I’m really impressed with the work that Simon Spurrier and Charlie Adlard are doing with it.
The Enfield Gang Massacre #4 – This title gets bloodier and bloodier, as the fleeing members of the Enfield Gang find that someone has laid a trap for them, and at the same time, the Army is now pursuing them. We also see the former sheriff get a little closer to finding out who is behind the murder that set all this killing in motion. This is a very serious and bloody book, but it’s also very entertaining and impressive. The team of Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips is really impressive.
G.O.D.S. #2 – So once again, it seems that Jonathan Hickman has a big picture plan for a series, and is going to be parceling it out to us in bits and pieces. The Centum needs more Centivars, so they go to recruit a college student while Wyn and Doctor Strange follow up on the threat they defeated in the first issue. I’m still not sure what this is all about, and resent that yet another organization is getting retconned into Marvel’s long history. I want to like this book, but I haven’t connected with these characters yet and I worry that it might be a little dull.
Guardians of the Galaxy #8 – As the secrets of Grootfall and the White Caps are explained, this series finally starts to make some more sense, but I’m still not sure how long this strange approach to the Guardians can really last. I’m not seeing a long future for this book. I feel like writers Lanzing and Kelly are getting closer to understanding the Marvel Universe origins of these characters (as opposed to making this such an MCU-feeling book), but there’s still a ways to go. I do like Kev Walker’s art a great deal though.
Hunt For The Skinwalker #3 – It’s hard to make a whole comic about people looking for supernatural manifestations of things that don’t really arrive interesting. When I preordered this book, I did it on the strength of Zac Thompson’s name, but didn’t realize this was an adaptation of another book. It’s not boring, but it’s not exciting either. A group of scientists set up on the ranch where cattle mutilations were happening, and lived for a few months in a trailer on the property, finding little proof of what had happened. To me, the strangest thing about this comic is that artist Valeria Burzo shows the scientists wearing suits while tramping through fields and the woods, and I’m highly confused by that. Why not wear something more comfortable? I’m glad that the next issue of this series is going to wrap it up.
Phantom Road #6 – Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Hernandez Walta bring their creepy alternate reality series back to the stands. In the real world, the FBI agent continues to try to figure out what’s going on, while in the alternate world, Birdie and Dom explore an abandoned carnival, where nothing creepy could ever possibly happen. I like this series and am very invested in the mystery at the core of it.
Project Riese #4 – In case Zac Thompson and Jeff McComsey’s story about an underground Nazi city filled with strange science projects wasn’t over the top enough, now we have some alien beings, and learn some things about the German that’s pursuing our group of heroes. We also learn something about the most unlikeable of the main characters. Thompson and McComsey are having a lot of fun with this book, and I’m here for it. It’s really pretty good.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #40 – I’m starting to think that the most boring relationship in the entire Star Wars universe is the one between Vader and the Emperor. This constant testing of each other’s weaknesses is getting really dull. I can see why Vader might be tempted to give in to the Scourge, the entity taking over droids everywhere, just to avoid the tedium.
Transformers #2 – I’m still a little hesitant about committing fully to this series, because I don’t have a deep love for the Transformers, but I do like what Daniel Warren Johnson has done so far. A couple more Transformers are reawakened, as both sides in their endless war look for sources of Energon. Optimus Prime gets some character development, as does Spike, and the art is pretty great. I can see myself sticking with this book just because of how Johnson is drawing it.
Uncanny Spider-Man #3 – Nightcrawler is seeing Silver Sable now, or at least hooking up with her, while the Vulture is still paying her to hunt him for Orchis. Like with many ‘mainstream’ Simon Spurrier books, things are getting weird, but this is a solid series.
Vampirella/Dracula: Rage #3 – Vampirella is going after the cultists who took her child, and Priest uses this storyline as a chance to rail against corporate greed, as a big box store shuts down its location in a small town, after having shut down all competitors. I love Priest’s work, but this is getting a little harder to connect to lately.
X-Force #46 – After so long, we get some real resolution with this issue, as Piotr faces off against his brother Mikhail. Domino and Sage work to free the rest of the team as well. It’s a very solid action issue.
X-Men Red #17 – Apocalypse comes to Arakko with a task for Storm as her forces prepare to make their last stand against Genesis. This is an excellent issue with a ton going on; Al Ewing has done incredible work in this book, which is in a constant state of flux. I feel like it’s the X-book I’m going to miss the most when everything changes after the Fall of X event ends. It has so much more potential, but I don’t think we’ll ever get there.
The Week in Music:
Vagabon – Sorry I Haven’t Called – The new Vagabon album moves further into pop realms, leaving behind some of the more dreamy aspects of her last album. I like it a lot, and like it even more after watching her perform most of the songs the other week. Vagabon is an interesting singers, as she’s able to fit into a number of boxes quite well, and is a stellar songwriter.
Jeremy Dutcher – Motewolonuwok – Jeremy Dutcher is an incredible artist. His first album took archival recordings of his Wolastoqiyik ancestors, which he then arranged and accompanied in song. It was incredibly powerful to see him perform those songs. Now, on his new album, Motewolonuwok (which refers to his two-spiritedness), he sings in English at times, making some of his messages more accessible to the majority audience. His voice and arrangements are gorgeous, and his work is very thoughtful and impressive. I’m looking forward to seeing him perform these songs live next month.
Hania Rani – Ghosts – On her latest album, it feels like Polish pianist Hania Rani has really leveled up, delivering her usual beautiful compositions, but adding singing and some guest appearances, including one by Olafur Arnalds, which is fantastic. Rani is becoming a bigger and bigger name, and her accolades are well deserved. This is a lovely album.
Jazz is Dead 019 – Instrumentals – At the end of each ‘season’ of Jazz Is Dead, the ongoing series that has Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Mohammad collaborating with unsung legends of the jazz world, they release an instrumental album featuring the songs that vocalists sang over, without the vocals. This year, that means that all the songs are from the Jean Carne and Lonnie Liston Smith albums. It gives a bit of a sameness to this collection, but it’s still nice to revisit these songs in a slightly different format.
