The Best Comic of the Week:
Deep Cuts #5 – I love this series of one-off prestige comics about jazz music. This one, set in 1968, focuses on an aging, burned-out (in that 60s way) music critic who gets an assignment he doesn’t want – to review the work of a free jazz artist. Our writer hates free jazz, but sees writing about it in a snarky way as his path to recognition and revenge on the people who have held him back. Of course, nothing works out that way. Writers Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark have once again done an incredible job of capturing a specific time period and how it intersects with and informs jazz. The artist on this issue is the incredible Juni Ba, and he also does a fine job of capturing this time period, especially once LSD enters the story. This has been a wonderful series, and I’m so sad that there’s only one issue left.
Quick Takes:
Dead X-Men #2 – I didn’t love the first issue of this miniseries, but this one grabbed me a lot more, even though it feels like this team’s mission is no longer that important to the story playing out in Rise of the Powers of X. The art is split between Bernard Chang, Peter Nguyen, and Guillermo Sanna, and I liked all of their contributions. It is cool to see characters like Prodigy and Frenzy get some screen time again.
Detective Comics #1082 – Batman continues his journey through the desert, where he’s found Dr. Hurt and a nightmare version of Gotham (I’m assuming all of this is happening in his head), while back in actual Gotham, the Question comes across Batgirl as she tries to figure out how her dead detectives are connected to the Orgham family. Ram V’s tenure on this book continues to impress and intrigue.
The Flash #6 – I think that Simon Spurrier is starting to lose me with this storyline, as Wally comes across a very annoyed Barry, and they both struggle to understand what is going on with reality, or the Speed Force, or their relationships. I’ve been enjoying this run a lot, but Spurrier is getting more and more abstract, and the revelation at the end of the issue involves a character I absolutely hate, so that is a bit of a let down. I remain very impressed with Mike Deodato’s art on this book, and his inventive approach to laying out the page.
Green Arrow #9 – Ollie infiltrates the Hall of Justice, which has been taken over by Amanda Waller as her new base of information. He’s looking for Roy, who is apparently working with Waller, as Joshua Williamson uses this series to build the larger story he’s telling across the DCU. It all works very well, especially with Sean Izaakse’s art. This book doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of attention, but it’s very good.
The Immortal Thor #7 – Loki and Thor relive a past misadventure involving the Utgard-Loki, and I am still struggling to connect with any of this. The part of the story that has that Roxxon minotaur guy buying the Marvel Universe equivalent of Marvel comics, and working with Enchantress has me interested, but the rest of this is a bit of a slog. I’m not sure I’ve ever read an Al Ewing comic I haven’t liked, so this is a bit of a surprise to me.
The Invincible Iron Man #15 – It’s time for Tony and Emma to make their moves against Orchis, so that means we finally get to see the new Mark 72 armor, and learn just what Tony had Ironheart building in space. It’s all coming together well, as we continue to see Tony as a key player in the mutant resistance. It’s a decent comic, and I am starting to wonder if Tony and Emma are going to stay together when this is all over with. I hope so.
Jay Garrick: The Flash #5 – Jay and his daughter recruit Doctor Mid-Nite to help with their search for Doctor Elemental, the generic villain who is trying to use Judy for his own purposes. There’s really not a lot going on in this series, so while it’s entertaining, there isn’t much to think about or mull over. I had high hopes for it based on the strength of Jeremy Adams’s Flash run, but this has been kind of mid.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #17 – Now that the Gang War event is over, I’d expected that we’d see more of Miles being himself again, but instead, he gathers his friends together to try to reform Rabble, the villain that has been after him since the start of this series. I like the compassionate side that Cody Ziglar is portraying in Miles, but this is a character who works best around his family, and we haven’t seen much of them. The book is starting to feel a little adrift. I do like the scenes with Agent Gao, though, who Ziglar is still trying to turn into Marvel’s Amanda Waller.
Newburn #15 – It really doesn’t look like this series is going to be continuing past this arc, as Newburn comes after the heads of the city’s crime families, while the reporter that’s been digging into Newburn and Emily’s life makes a play to replace him. Chip Zdarsky and Jacob Phillip have given us a different type of crime comic than we’ve seen before, and it’s been a great character study. Is this ending with the next issue? There can’t be much left, and I’m excited to see if anyone survives.
Penguin #7 – I guess I hadn’t realized that the last issue, which showed Oswald’s earliest dealings with Batman, was the start of a whole flashback arc, as we continue with this Penguin Year One style story. Tom King explains how Oswald can be both the silly themed villain I’ve always looked down on and the criminal psychotic mastermind he’s now portraying him to be, and the explanation works really well. We see Oswald’s early interactions with some of the other characters who make up the supporting cast of this series, and retcon a much more complicated relationship with Batman than we’ve been aware of before. King is so good at these types of character deconstructions, and this is one of my favourite DC titles because of it. I highly recommend reading it.
Phantom Road #9 – The level of decompression in this book is very frustrating, but as Dom and Birdie deal with the hatched egg, they also stand fully revealed to one another. At the same time, the FBI agent comes to grips with how her past is tied into whatever is going on. Jeff Lemire and Gabriel Walta are making a great comic; I just hate that it’s such a quick read.
Rare Flavours #4 – We finally learn the backstory of the ancient demon who has been travelling across India with a young filmmaker. Ram V and Felipe Andrade are doing such stellar work with this series, building on their two main characters while also exploring and explaining some staple Indian dishes. It’s a unique series that is still holding on to its sense of mystery and menace. It is a rare book.
Resurrection of Magneto #2 – Ororo has found Erik, and he is stuck examining the long list of names of people he’s killed. Al Ewing does a great job writing Magneto’s character, and seems to really understand what makes him so compelling. He does well with Storm too, and getting at the tension in their friendship. I’m enjoying this, and like how it picks up a thread from Jonathan Hickman’s stuff that I’d forgotten.
Terrorwar #9 – Saladin Ahmed and Dave Acosta wrap up their science fiction series with this issue, which gives us a decent ending. I was a little disappointed by this book. The first issue suggested that this book would be mostly about class war, using the creepy ‘terrors’ as a foil, and it did end up being that, but it took a little too long getting there. I like Ahmed’s work, but I feel like he played it safe with this book, and found the ‘terrors’ to not ever really be scary enough. A little more editing or shaping would have really helped this book.
Wolverine #44 – Now that the focus is shifting back to Logan, my interest in this Sabretooth War is reignited. He’s ready to go after Sabretooth to get revenge for the people he’s killed, and it makes things more propulsive and interesting. I usually hate when books are double-shipped, but I think it’s the right choice for this storyline.
W0rldtr33 #8 – The group of friends learn what Gabriel Winter had planned for them as they inherit his wealth and his mission, while Agent Silk continues to search for the naked woman who is connected to the vicious killings caused by the Undernet. This series continues to add new layers and James Tynion IV reveals more information to us, and this makes it ever more interesting. This really is a great series.
The Week in Music:
Nautilus – A Story About You – Nautilus are a Japanese jazz/funk band that can really swing. This album features some covers, including an excellent one of Jamiroquai’s classic ‘Virtual Insanity’, and some original compositions. This band is a lot of fun, and this album is guaranteed to lift your mood.
Yīn Yīn – Mount Matsu – This is an album that would appeal a lot to fans of Khruangbin. Yīn Yīn are a quartet of Belgians who play something like Japanese surf music. In addition to Khraungbin, it reminds me of bands like Ratatat and Imperial Tiger Orchestra. I don’t listen to a lot of post-rock, but this appealed to me when I first heard it and caused me to seek it out.
