The Best Comic of the Week:
The One Hand #1 – I’ve become a huge fan of Ram V, so when I saw he had a new series launching at Image, I just preordered it. It’s a bit of a hard boiled detective story in a bleak future. Detective Nassar is retiring after a long career, but on his last day, a highly ritualized killing takes place, and it’s not long before Nassar is insisting that he be given the case, since he’s already put two different men away for this exact type of murder. V builds an interesting world, and Laurence Campbell’s art is the perfect accompaniment to this dark story. He evokes Blade Runner a lot in his art here, and gives this book a real sense of atmosphere. I hadn’t realized when I preordered this book that it will have a companion series, the Six Fingers, by Dan Watters, but now I want to read that too.
Quick Takes:
Alien #4 – I guess Declan Shalvey’s time with Alien is winding down, as he wraps up his story completely with this issue, and doesn’t really leave any space for a third installment. This run didn’t really live up to its promise in the end; like some of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s arcs, the potential for this series lies in the artificial beings, but no one ever develops it enough. Maybe this franchise is just getting tired.
Antarctica #8 – I do think that this series is losing me. I was intrigued by the first arc, but this second one is set before it, and shows the main character in a situation that doesn’t really make sense to me. Also, for a series called Antarctica, you’d think people would be more concerned about the cold. Contrast with Greg Rucka’s Whiteout, where the continent was a character in the story.
Avengers #10 – The whole fight with the Twilight Court was so Myrddin could get to the injured Kang. Jed MacKay reveals a little of what this series is really all about, as we learn that Kang and Myrddin are after the same thing, and need heroes to achieve their goals, but their conflict looks like it will have big impacts on the rest of the universe. This series is enjoyable, but it feels like the Avengers themselves are after-thoughts in this story. The next issue looks to be about Jarvis, so that might be a nice change of pace.
Batman #142 – It’s no secret that I really don’t like the Joker, so the thought of a Joker Year One story does nothing for me, even when it’s made by Chip Zdarsky, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Andrea Sorrentino, three creators I respect a great deal. The story was kind of fragmented, representing the Joker’s mind, I guess, and I’m not sure why some of it is set in the future. As someone who didn’t appreciate Scott Snyder’s Batman run, and the weird stuff retconned into it, I didn’t enjoy the references to the Year Zero and Red Hood stuff from that era. I did like seeing young James Gordon, but I’m ready for this to end and for us to return to the longer story Zdarsky is telling.
Birds of Prey #6 – I’ve really loved this series, and this issue, which has Leonardo Romero return, wraps up the attack on Themyscira, and sets up the series to continue with a new storyline. Kelly Thompson has a lot of fun with these characters, but this issue is a pretty serious one, with Sin’s fate being unexpected. Also, Dinah learns why Maps forbid her from involving Barbara Gordon in this mission, and it’s a surprise. I hope this book gets a good, long run, with Dinah, Babs, Sin, and Cassie making up the core cast, but with other characters rotating in and out. I also hope Romero sticks around, as I love his art on this book.
The Cull #5 – Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis have really impressed me with this series, and this final issue (of only the first arc, I hope) has two moments that stood out, but I can’t speak of either of them without spoiling things. The five teens who have developed powers while in the Liminal Space dimension work together to defeat the creature that appears to have laid waste to their town. This book has great character work, and De Iulis’s art is so beautiful. I really hope there’s a second arc coming, as the ending left me wanting a lot more. Also, it looks like Thompson has announced more Black Cloak, which has me very excited and looking forward to June.
Doctor Strange #12 – Bats gets the spotlight this month, as Jed MacKay and guest artist Danilo Beyruth tell most of the story from his point of view. He’s sure that someone or something is in the Sanctum Sanctorum, but no one listens to ghost dogs. I’m not sure what the story is about the two snakes that live in Strange’s house, or when they were introduced, but not knowing didn’t detract from the story. It was decent, although I don’t love the revelation of who is behind this latest threat; it’s the kind of story that gets done too often.
Fantastic Four #17 – Ryan North gives Sue the chance to shine in this issue, as she is called to examine an archeological dig that uncovers the body of one of her family, from thousands of years ago. North revisits one of the most revisited moments in Marvel history, although tangentially, and once again manages to tell a complete story in a single issue. There’s a new artist on the title, Carlos Gómez, and his work is fine. This series continues to be a really fun read.
Gone #2 – Jock’s science fiction story continues to entrance me. Abi has been stuck on the cruise liner ship she infiltrated for ten years now, although time dilation means that relatively little time has passed back home. For those ten years, the Sabs (short for saboteurs) who got her into this situation have been trying to take over the ship, while also running some kind of beacon to attract something that is left unclear to us. Jock has a lot going on in this book, as Abi finally finds where the crew are sleeping in suspended animation, and as the beacon brings a new threat. I like this story, and love Jock’s art. His work looks so good on the larger format pages DSTLRY books provide.
Kaya #15 – Kaya and Jin keep finding themselves in dangerous situations. Now they have connected with a rebellion in a city overrun by Atraxians, and learn that their exploits are being talked about everywhere. Wes Craig is doing a great job of steadily building this world and the tension within it, all while providing exciting and unique art. I like how this arc focuses more on Jin than Kaya, as he struggles with understanding his emerging abilities.
Love Everlasting #12 – There’s a lot that Tom King and Elsa Charretier have kept to themselves with this series, but now it’s time to shift the focus onto the Cowboy, the character that keeps turning up at the end of Joan’s story, and has basically just been a plot device until this point. I’m kind of assuming this series will wrap up in another three issues, so it makes sense that we are seeing a little more behind the curtain of Joan’s existence.
Saucer Country: The Finale #1 – It’s been years since Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly last released anything to do with their UFO/political series that started life as a Vertigo book, and I think that a text page recapping what has gone before would have been nice. It took me a while to get into this final issue, as I didn’t really remember where things left off, and that made the revelations of this issue less impactful than they would have been had I recently reread the series. Still, I can’t remember the last time I saw some Ryan Kelly art, so that made me pretty happy. This was a cool series when it first started coming out, and it seems like it fits even better in the current paranoid state of American politics.
The Space Between #4 – I’ve loved this series by Corinna Bechko and Danny Luckert. They’ve shown us a few sets of characters living on a generation vessel, the Dodonna, which in this issue, finally arrives at New Home, the last chance for humanity. The problem is, many of the people on the Dodonna don’t want to leave it, but are also not fully aware of how precarious life is getting on the ship. Some navigators decide to guarantee that humanity will have to leave its home, but at the same time, a doctor and her friend decide they should stay. Bechko does a great job of showing both points of view in this series, and stretching a story over centuries. Luckert’s art is very nice, although I would have thought things would start looking rougher on the ship by now, as it’s aged so much. I love how Boom! just randomly drops these excellent series these days, and it has me looking at their release schedule very closely. I hope to see Bechko write something again soon, as I’ve missed her work.
Ultimate Black Panther #1 – I haven’t felt very excited about the new Ultimate Universe, but then I enjoyed the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man and decided to give this series a shot. I like Bryan Hill’s writing, and love Black Panther, but this doesn’t feel like the kind of ground-up reinvention I was looking for. Instead, it feels like a What If? version of the mainstream 616 version of T’Challa. Things are familiar enough that this could be a poorly-edited fresh take on his usual status quo. Wakanda is hidden, T’Challa is king, and he does not want to risk revealing the existence of his nation to save some lives. Hill weaves in the work that Hickman has done in establishing this world, as Ra and Khonshu move to expand their territory, but I didn’t come away from this first issue with many reasons to keep reading. I feel like there are a lot of ways this book could have gone (maybe with a return of the classic Don McGregor version of Wakanda, or as a coming of age story for a young king), and I’m hoping it still has space to set a vastly different course for itself. Stefano Caselli’s art is nice, although the storytelling is a little decompressed. I expected more from this, but am adequately intrigued to give it a little more time to impress me.
X-Men #31 – One of the best things to come of the last two years of X-Men is the way Synch has become a more important member of the team. This issue puts him through the paces, as he tries to hold on to his failing health and the mind of his beloved, while still trying to be present for the team as Nimrod comes after them. I’m not sure when or how Spider-Man was brought into the fold, but I am enjoying his interactions with Nightcrawler (who has given up on his Uncanny Spider-Man identity). Mostly, I’m just really happy to see Phil Noto on this book again, as his work is such a treat. The Fall of the House of X has been exciting.
