The Best Comic of the Week:
Helen of Wyndhorn #1 – When I saw that Tom King and Bilquis Evely, who worked so well together on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow series, were collaborating again on a book at Dark Horse, I never read the solicitation text, and instead immediately preordered the comic. Coming at this with no preconceived notions, I was really impressed by what they’re doing here. The narrator of this series is an older woman who was employed decades before to be the governess of Helen Cole, the wild sixteen year old daughter of the pulp author CK Cole, who killed himself. Lilith retrieved the girl from the small town where her father left her, finding her locked up, and brought her to her grandfather’s massive estate, Wyndhorn. Much of this first issue reads like an episode of Downton Abbey, as we learn of Helen’s issues (she drinks herself to sleep every night, then wakes with night terrors) and the opulence of her new home after spending years on the road with her father. There is some class consciousness worked into the narration, as Lilith judges the girl while trying to help her, but then things shift when the monster of her nightmares turns out to be real. Evely’s art is gorgeous here, and King sets about arranging his pieces to tell a story that appears to owe a lot to Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. I’m definitely intrigued and ready for more of this.
Quick Takes:
Abbott 1979 #5 – I assume this is the end of Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä’s excellent series that has followed Elena Abbott through the 70s as she’s tried to defend Detroit from the Umbra, a shadowy force that has taken her beloved from her. This issue has Elena squaring off against her possessed girlfriend, and it comes to a fitting conclusion. I like how Ahmed has portrayed the community in Detroit at a time known for the start of that community’s decline. Kivelä’s art looks great, and I’m surprised that he’s not getting bigger projects by now; he’s a solid artist.
Batman And Robin #7 – Flatline’s in town looking for her missing sister, so Robin goes off with her while Batman continues to look into the cult that has sprung up around Man-Bat. Joshua Williamson is revisiting some of what made his Robin run so good, and I’m enjoying the long-view plotting that he is employing here. Simone Di Meo’s storytelling has improved a lot since his earlier issues on this book, so that the pages, which always look cool, are flowing better than before.
Dead X-Men #3 – The team continues to jump around in different realities, trying to stop the rogue Moira (Dark Moira?) from ruining Professor Xavier’s plans in the present. Not much of this story makes sense to me, but I do like some of the characters here, and have a completist point of view at times. I keep giving writer Steven Foxe a chance, and if I’m being honest, I keep being disappointed by his work.
Fall of the House of X #3 – At the halfway point in this story, we’ve got Cyclops making his escape from Orchis while Emma and Kate go after Dr. Stasis and work to free Firestar. There are a lot of moving parts in this story, and much of the action takes place elsewhere, but Gerry Duggan keeps things chugging along quickly, so there isn’t time to think about it all too much (although I’m not sure why Wolverine is fighting Stasis on the cover, when that doesn’t happen inside the comic. I know that there have been lineup and creative team announcements released this week for the post-Krakoan era, and it’s tempting to read into them, but I’m still waiting to see just how this storyline is going to end before I choose to believe the images that we’ve seen.
Fishflies #5 – A lot happens to move the story forward in this issue. The old guy that picked up Francine and the Bug is not as nice as he seemed (not a surprise), and the cop who is looking for Francine starts to put things together, and asks around about other similar occurrences that happened years before. Jeff Lemire has his own rhythm when he’s writing and drawing books like this, and while this is a unique comic, it fits nicely within his body of work dealing with rural communities. There’s an interesting twist at the end of the issue that really made the last pages stand out, and I found that exciting.
Green Lantern #9 – I’m starting to really enjoy this series, which got off to a bit of a slow start. Hal looks for the source of power in his strange ring, and ends up discovering a few surprises. I was happy to see Millennium referenced, and to see some clarification on Hal’s abilities and purpose. I also finally figured out that the backups, which have started featuring the other Earth Lanterns, are being written by the writers most associated with the characters they depict. Last month, Ron Marz wrote a Kyle Rayner backup, and this month we have Sam Humphries writing Jessica Cruz. Does that mean NK Jemison is coming? That would be swell.
The Immortal Thor #8 – Is this run finally starting to click with me? Thor talks to Gaea (who looks more like Man-Thing’s mother than his), and learns why she’s freed the elder gods who have been causing him problems. I like that Al Ewing is making this an ecologically-minded story, and am hopeful that the next few issues, with their focus on Dario Agger’s takeover of Marvel Comics will continue to click for me. The first issues of this run really didn’t.
Napalm Lullaby #1 – It’s always exciting to start on a new Rick Remender series, as it’s hard to tell where he’s going to go with things. This new book, with art by the excellent Bengal, starts with a riff on Superman’s origin story, but then jumps fifty years ahead, to show us a bleak and sad world where the church of Glokor seems responsible for much of the misery we see. We meet a brother and sister who seems to be working against the church, but we aren’t given a lot of information, really. Remender pulls a bait and switch or two, but grabbed my interest with this world (if not yet these characters). Bengal is very good at this type of book, especially the more kinetic scenes. I’m curious to see where this goes.
The One Hand #2 – I am loving this series by Ram V and Laurence Campbell. It’s a noirish police procedural set in a bleak future. A serial killer has returned, and Detective Nasser is postponing his retirement in order to solve the case, which he’s already solved twice before. Now he’s being subpoenaed on behalf of the man that’s been in prison for years behind these highly-ritualized killings. Nasser is also worried because his favourite girl at the robot brothel has gone missing. Campbell’s art is very atmospheric, and V’s writing is sharp and cynical. I love the (possibly unintentional) homage to the Wire at the start of the issue, and really, just about everything about this. Ram V is a buy-on-sight for me now.
Outsiders #5 – It’s another done-in-one story as Batwoman is invited to Nocturna’s nightclub for monsters, and the rest of the team joins her. I didn’t click with this issue as much as I have the previous ones; I’m not aware of the history between Kate and Nocturna (not sure where that story got told), and found the sub-plot with Drummer a little confusing. Still, Robert Carey does a great job of creating a sense of atmosphere in this issue. I can see how writing team Kelly and Lanzing are modeling this book after the old Planetary series in a number of ways, including the done-in-one approach, but I’m not getting the same sense of purpose I got from that series. I think it’s time for Batwing’s missions to connect in some way so we can better understand what all of this is in pursuit of.
Speed Force #5 – I really want to like this series, but I find that the plotting and sequencing of the story just doesn’t work for me. Avery, Wallace, and their friends figure out a way to mind-meld with Mas Y Menos and Superboy, but then we don’t get to see what happens in that mind-meld; instead we hear about how hard these heros’ lives have been from Roundhouse. There have been many moments in this series where I felt like I missed something, and that is kind of frustrating.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #44 – Vader and Administrator Moore continue to gather their forces so Vader can make his play against the Emperor, but since we already know that none of this is going to work, it doesn’t carry a lot of weight. I find it increasingly hard to care about the random people who provide dialogue and emotional weight in this story. Vader is a tough character to tell many stories about, because stoicism and rage are not all that interesting.
Transformers #6 – Daniel Warren Johnson is doing fantastic work with this series. This issue closes off the first arc, with Optimus and the other Autobots going up against Devastator in a fight to reclaim possession of the Ark. This issue really works to showcase the humanity of the Autobots, and gives Sparky a big hero moment. Johnson’s art is so good in this book; he draws some of the best fight scenes on the stands right now, and makes these ridiculous robots feel plausible, if not realistic. I did not ever think I’d be reading a Transformers book…
Ultimate Black Panther #2 – Having just reread UBP #1 and then reading this issue, I’m starting to see how this series fits in the new Ultimate Universe, and I’m starting to dig what Bryan Hill is doing with it. I do wish that this reimagining of T’Challa and his character had more happening than just an Elseworlds approach though. There is so much about the state of our world, Africa’s place in it, and the ongoing effects of colonization that could be discussed in this series, but instead it feels like Hill is just pulling some of the best aspects of the character’s different runs, remixing them slightly, and tossing them into the world Hickman created. I feel like this is not the freshest take on T’Challa, and so I’m mostly just enjoying this as an action movie, when it could be a lot more.
Wolverine #45 – As this Sabretooth War continues, it’s easier to see which issues are written more by Victor LaValle than Ben Percy. This issue, for example, barely has Wolverine in it, as Creed and Quentin’s head scavenge on Krakoa. The other Sabretooths (Sabreteeth?) work to betray Victor, and the Exiles approach the island. I’m enjoying this storyline more than I expected to.
Bargain Comics:
Escape From Wyoming #1-3 – When the last wave of Bad Idea comics came out, I didn’t feel the need to get almost all of them, like I had with previous waves. When I saw a set of this three-issue miniseries by Robert Vendetti and Jorge Monlongo, however, I figured it was time to read it. The premise is that the Earth is secretly being used as a supermax prison for aliens (wasn’t this the plot of an Avengers crossover event, back in the day?), and when some of the aliens escape, a wrongfully convicted ex-cop (also an alien) has to retrieve them before a failsafe blows up the entire planet. It’s a decent concept, and Vendetti pulls together all the story elements quite well (including having the alien cop buddy up with a local rural cop). Monlongo’s art grew on me, but it’s more cartoonish than what I normally go for. The covers, by Tom Fowler, suggest a more realistic, while still cartoonish, look, and I would have preferred his art. There are some decent, but too-short, backups by the usual Bad Idea crew. I guess this company is transitioning to using Kickstarter to fund their projects now? It’s been a while since they’ve put anything out in their usually convoluted and annoying way.
The Week in Music:
Fabiano Do Nascimento & Sam Gendel – The Room – Do Nascimento is a recent discovery of mine, and I fell hard for his recent album of ambient guitar music. Now he’s teamed up with Sam Gendel, a sax player, for this thoughtful and meandering album of instrumental music. Despite it being released on Real World, this sounds like something that would also belong in Leaving Records; it’s unconventional and sparse, and very lovely.
