The Best Comic of the Week:
The Space Between #2 – I didn’t know what this new series from Corinna Bechko and Danny Luckert would be about – Bechko’s name was enough for me to preorder it – but even with this second issue, it’s upending my expectations. The series is about the people living on a generation ship, and it appears that it’s going to jump through different eras. The granddaughter of the couple from the first issue is the star this month, as we learn that equality is not what it sounds like on the ship, as huge societal changes have been mostly cosmetic. We also see the dangers of falling for a charismatic populist leader, almost like Bechko is speaking about something relevant to our lives today, as a reformist gains traction among the populace, but is working his own angle. This book is smart and dense, and beautifully illustrated. I have been really enjoying a lot of these types of projects from Boom! lately, and think this is an excellent comic.
Quick Takes:
Alpha Flight #5 – Every few years, we get a new Alpha Flight thing, and it always brings up hope that there might be an ongoing story in the works, but it doesn’t really look like Ed Brisson leaves us in that kind of position, given that this whole book has been about half of the team pretending to work for the Canadian government while secretly aiding the other half in their plan to rescue mutants. The last page does say that some of these characters will appear again in an upcoming issue of X-Force, which makes me happy. I enjoyed this mini, but would be much happier to see someone try to make a go of this team that doesn’t involve them being supporting characters in a larger event.
Avengers #8 – Most of the Avengers have been captured by Nightmare in his realm, but Wanda and Vision are facing the Twilight Court in the real world. The Nightmare Court are Arthurian-themed characters who apparently were in one of those Timeless specials, but they aren’t very interesting or new (it’s like someone was reading Once and Future at the time they designed them). If I’m being honest, after the fight with the odd villains in the last few issues, I’m not all that interested in seeing the Avengers take on yet another new group that is equally underdeveloped. I like Jed MacKay’s writing, but this book is starting to lose my interest, which I didn’t think would happen so quickly.
Batman #140 – Batman’s interior battle with Zur-En-Arrh continues, jeopardizing his exterior life, as he also is in the middle of a fight with the Joker. Chip Zdarsky never gives Bruce a chance to relax in his run, as we see him continue to erode. The backup story features Vandal Savage, and is also very decent. This is a good run.
Birds of Prey #4 – Leonardo Romero is killing it on this series. This issue has the Birds in battle against the Amazons and Wonder Woman, and the fight scenes are inventive and very dynamic. I loved seeing Barda go up against Diana, and am also continuing to enjoy the character interactions Kelly Thompson writes. I hope this series has a long life.
Daredevil #4 – Matt continues to try to balance living as a priest in his new life with dressing like a devil for the evenings. He confronts Bullseye, which is always fun (I like how German Peralta pays homage to one of my all-time favourite John Byrne covers), and performs an exorcism, which is different. This run has big shoes to fill, as Chip Zdarsky’s DD was the best he’s been in ages, but I am liking what Saladin Ahmed is doing with the character. It’s interesting.
Fantastic Four #14 – I assume that Ryan North has been writing notes for this series for years now, as he keeps coming up with plausible and unique science fiction concepts to explore. This month, as the FF prepare to welcome the return of their children and home, they discover that a tech bro has been using a task app to predict and shape the future. I like how North portrays this guy as believing his own press about how benign he is, but then he freaks out when he learns that someone else has been accessing his data. It’s a very timely portrayal that had me thinking of a certain tech billionaire…
The Invincible Iron Man #13 – Tony and Emma connect with a retired Avenger to try to secure some mysterium, while Ironheart meets up with Forge in space. This issue is amusing, although the lightheartedness of it doesn’t really support how serious the Fall of X event really is, or should be.
Nights #3 – I think that this is my favourite series right now. Wyatte Kennedy and Luigi Formisano have created a strange world where ghosts, vampires, talking moles, and strange creatures live alongside regular people, and are seen as typical things. Vince is falling more and more for Gray, his vampire roommate, and even learning some more things about her past doesn’t bother him. There are a few mysterious things happening in this book, as the creature we keep seeing has killed some people, and we learn that Gray was involved with a strange governmental organization. Formisano’s art is wonderful, and these characters are just so likeable.
Project Riese #5 – Zac Thompson and Jeff McComsey’s Indiana Jones-like story about a giant underground Nazi complex filled with gold and alien life forms has been a fun ride, and as we approach its finish, it keeps getting stranger. There’s a lot that happens in this issue that is hard to describe. It’s enough to know that this book keeps getting darker, but is also full of wild ideas. Mad Cave is becoming one of my favourite publishers, because everything I’ve read from them so far is just a little weird like this.
The Sacrificers #5 – When Rick Remender writes a series like this, it’s often very unpredictable. Knowing that, I was still a little surprised at what happens in this issue, as the Princess follows one of her father’s servants home and learns the truth about what her society is built upon. At the same time, the Pigeon character becomes ever more suspicious of his surroundings, and begins to investigate. This is a really interesting series digging into the lengths to which a ruling class will go to hold on to their power and youth, beautifully drawn by Max Fiumara. It’s a fascinating world, especially visually, and I’m enjoying this book a lot.
The Sickness #3 – I’m fascinated by The Sickness, an Uncivilized Books series by Lonnie Nadler and Jenna Cha. It explores post traumatic stress disorder (although it’s still called shell shock in the two decades this story is set in) and the toxic masculinity that was so endemic in small-town America at the end of the Second World War. We follow two stories in this series, that of a Black doctor determined to understand the apparent mental illness of his patient, although there is a chance that there is a supernatural element at play, and the story of a young teen who is experiencing delusions. It’s a really interesting series that rewards close reading. I like how Cha gives strange visual effects to people’s faces, showing us that the kid is seeing things differently than we are.
Star Wars: Dark Droids – D-Squad #4 – The story catches up to the latest issue of Dark Droids, and gets us ready for its conclusion next week. This has been kind of fun, but also a little irritating, as any comic starring R2D2 will always end up being.
Subgenre #2 – Matt Kindt and Wilfredo Torres are doing some cool things with this oversized series at Dark Horse. Kindt is once again exploring genre, as he has a character who keeps moving between being a detective in a cyberpunk world and a barbarian in a fantasy world full of talking flying insects. It’s interesting, although this issue felt a little long before the genre jump happened. These are familiar themes for Kindt, who often writes books like this, but they are always enjoyable, and Torres’s art is gorgeous. This pairs well with Sean Murphy’s Plot Holes series at Massive.
Titans: Beast World – Waller Rising #1 – I picked this up because it seemed like a more important tie-in than most of the other parts of Beast World, but also because I love the Suicide Squad (which this is not). A few heroes band together to stop Doctor Hate and his plans, and while some of the choices in this comic make little sense, I still enjoyed it. Chuck Brown’s characters are all Black, and it’s cool that this is not even really discussed in the comic. I’m always happy to see Vixen turn up, and am glad that a plotline from the last Jon Kent comic gets partially resolved here (as Val-Zod is pulled out of the Phantom Zone). Keron Grant’s art is lovely, but with so many digital effects layered on some pages, the storytelling is really hard to follow. The end of the issue suggests a new network or heroes, and I hope we get to see them again; it might make sense that there be a grouping of minority heroes, and I’d be happy to read it, as there are some great characters here. And Freedom Beast, but you know…
Transformers #3 – Daniel Warren Johnson was a good choice for this project; he is so good at the action sequences, which often turn into brutal fights between Autobots and Decepticons, but also tries to give this story a human angle. I don’t know a lot about these characters, but am really enjoying the way this book is progressing.
X-Men #29 – A small X-Men squad heads to Latveria to try to recruit the mutants that are working for Doctor Doom. This issue feels like it is spinning its wheels a little until Fall of the House of X begins next month, but it’s still a decent issue. I can’t see any of these new mutants being all that important, but Gerry Duggan has earned my trust on things like this.
The Week in Music:
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids – Afro Futuristic Dreams – It’s great to see that Idris Ackamoor is still performing and still putting out new music. This latest album has him and his band exploring both Afro Futurist concepts (as per the title), and leaning heavily into their religious spirituality. It’s a very big sounding album from a spirit jazz giant, and I’m enjoying it.
Corto.Alto – Bad With Names – I’m not sure if Corto.Alto is the guy on the cover of this new album, or if it’s the whole band, but Bad With Names helps put Scotland on the jazz map, adjacent to London’s exciting scene. This album begins with orchestral string swells, but moves into breakbeats pretty quickly, and then spreads itself around a few styles. It’s an exciting and lovely album that helps capture the vitality of its scene.
