Best Comic of the Week:
The Power Fantasy #1 – I’m always happy to see Kieron Gillen launching a new series, especially when it’s creator-owned. For The Power Fantasy, he teams up with Caspar Wijngaard, and introduces us to a few powered individuals who become involved in shepherding humanity. The book starts in the mid-60s, where two of these ‘Atomics’ discuss ethics and just what their shared mission should be. Then we jump to 1999, when one of the younger Atomics escalates tensions with the United States, leading to the President making a move with disastrous consequences. I feel like Gillen left a lot for readers to figure out in this first issue, but I don’t mind having to put in a little work to figure out the whole situation. Wijngaard’s art is fantastic – it’s a leveling up for him, as each page is so smoothly designed and executed. These characters really feel like individuals, and in the early pages, Wijngaard does so much to help establish who these characters are. I think that there are going to be easy comparisons made to The Watchmen, or the Jupiter’s Legacy stuff by Mark Millar, but it feels like Gillen is taking this in different directions. I’m intrigued by this issue, and looking forward to reading it again before the next one comes out to pick up on whatever details I missed. I think this is going to be a new favourite title.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Power #2 – If we’re going to be always trapped in cycles of event comics, I think that Mark Waid and Dan Mora are showing us how to do that properly with Absolute Power. This is a pretty big series, with lots of moving parts, yet it’s all handled terrifically (with one big caveat). The heroes that haven’t been captured by Amanda Waller are holed up in the Fortress of Solitude, trying to figure out their next steps and arguing over who should be in charge. Waller attacks, using a modified version of Jon Kent, and all hell breaks loose. I like how this issue gives another example of how Nightwing is being positioned to be a more prominent hero. What I don’t like is the way that, once again, Amanda Waller is shown as being evil. I loved the nuanced way that John Ostrander wrote her back in the day, and really miss that version of The Wall. Other than that, I’m liking this book a lot, and think that Dan Mora is demonstrating just how talented he is, juggling dozens of characters and making the action scenes so dynamic. It’s a great event, especially after years of lackluster events at both of the Big Two.
The Avengers #17 – I am happy to see Storm joining the team, as she’s long been one of my favourite characters, and there doesn’t seem to be a place for her on the current slate of X-Teams. This issue is the type that I always look forward to – Jed MacKay has the team reflecting on the events of Blood Hunt, and trying to decide if they failed to properly defend the Earth. I like the Avengers best when it focuses on team dynamics and provides characters who don’t have their own books (which at the moment, is almost all of them) space to grow. Valerio Schiti is a great choice of artist for this title; his work has become top tier, and looks terrific here. I’m not sure how I feel about Hyperion being the next big threat for the team. I didn’t read all of Jason Aaron’s Avengers run, and have no idea what is going on with his character these days. My Hyperion will forever be the Mark Gruenwald-written one from the Squadron Supreme series, and I find it confusing since it seems there have been three or four other versions of him over the years. Anyway, I trust MacKay so expect it will be good.
Batman #151 – Batman and Catwoman go undercover to retrieve the Mother Box Amanda Waller is using in this Absolute Power tie-in. Chip Zdarsky does well in terms of supporting the larger event. I don’t understand why DC keeps pushing the purple gloves narrative with Batman – he’s wearing a new suit of some sort, and the purple gloves look ridiculous. It was distracting for me.
Birds of Prey #12 – This series continues to be utterly charming. Dinah and the other Birds are trapped in a constantly-shifting reality that is influenced by the thoughts of whoever goes through the strange portals that keep appearing. Their plan is to send Sin through and have her think of something safe, and so they end up in a cartoon world (this sequence is drawn by the incredible Sophie Campbell). Kelly Thompson continues to impress with this book, not just because of how good she is in writing these characters, but also in how she thinks about and represents how a team of female heroes would operate in ways that are different from male-dominated teams. It makes the series interesting. I’m happy to see that we’re getting near to the end of this arc, as I’m getting a little tired of the world re-skinning, and want to see what happens next.
Daredevil #12 – Matt continues to struggle, as the demon-possessed Kingpin makes short work of him and Elektra, and he finds himself facing another crisis of faith. At the same time, something is chasing one of the kids that he’s supposed to be looking after. I find this book, by Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder is really growing on me, and getting more compelling with each issue.
The Deviant #7 – James Tynion IV is writing one of the creepiest series I’ve read in years with The Deviant. This issue digs into the serial killer replica crowd, and also demonstrates the depth of his understanding of people that might be labeled as deviant in our world. The FBI agent follows a lead on the mask that he believes Michael used in his killing, while Derek goes to interview the deviant killer, the old man that Michael was planning on writing a graphic novel about. There is a lot of ambiguity in this series, and the events of the last few pages have me rethinking a lot of what I’d assumed about how this series was going to end. Tynion is an incredible writer, and I love that he’s got books like this, Department of Truth, and W0rldtr33 all running at the same time. Joshua Hixson is also doing an incredible job of making a lot of talking heads pages visually interesting and informative. This is a masterpiece of a series.
Doctor Strange #18 – I hadn’t realized that this series was ending! This is the last issue, and it has Strange dealing with the fallout of the Blood Hunt event. I’m a little surprised that the book is ending with Strange left in such a precarious position – his long-standing status quo has been upended – and wonder if writer Jed MacKay will be adding him to the Avengers soon. This is a really good issue. It has Strange working through his loss, and being supported by Clea, all with gorgeous Pascual Ferry art. Ferry has an interesting layout for the pages in this issue that really enhances the story. I’ve been enjoying this book and am sad to see it go.
Grendel: Devil’s Crucible – Defiance #2 – I couldn’t be happier with this latest Grendel series. Matt Wagner has his Grendel Prime traveling with the two Grendels he met last issue, who help to explain why the world is in the state that it is now. He also has to take on a group of about thirty bounty hunters on his own. Wagner is balancing plot and action perfectly, and adding to his long-running and always impressive series. I think Wagner’s art is better than it’s ever been, and love the new designs we’re seeing in this run.
The Incredible Hulk #15 – While I’ve gotten a little tired of this series, I liked this issue, which barely had the Hulk in it. Instead, we got to see what happened thousands of years ago, when the Eldest took over a desert kingdom. A precursor to the Hulk, who made use of the Green Door (a concept that needs to be better explained, I feel), came to defeat her. Regular alternate artist Danny Earl is a really compelling artist, and his work makes this issue sing. It reminded me a little of the Jason Aaron/RM Guera biblical series (Goddamned?), but with a bit more of a Marvel sensibility.
Kaya #20 – Wes Craig continues to do incredible work with this series. This issue has Kaya and Jin taking the Dragon Road, a dangerous path through a desert, since their original travel plans fell through. That leads to a meeting with some strange beings with some claim on Kaya, and with a familiar demigod. At the same time, the robots pursuing our heroes undergo a change in leadership that looks like it will be a problem for them. Craig’s art and storytelling is phenomenal, and this series always impresses.
ORE: A Starhenge Graphic Novella – I liked what Liam Sharp did with his first Starhenge miniseries, so I was sure to pick up this squarebound prestige format book that returns to that world. We are given the story of ORE (Ore?), the once-queen who digitally duplicated herself so she could fight the CAST, the artificial intelligence that was wiping out everyone in the galaxy. I’m not sure if this is a prequel to the first series or not, as there is time travel involved, and some of the hard science fiction details slipped past me. What I do know is that Sharp is an incredible artist, and has a pretty interesting story to tell. Most of this book is made up of longer illustrated text pieces, with only some pages being technically “comics” pages. I hope this is a project he is going to return to, as I feel he hasn’t told his entire story yet.
Public Domain #7 – Chip Zdarsky’s excellent series about people making comics continues, as does the widening of the generational divide between the original creators of the Domain and the younger people now involved in making Domain comics, both at the Marvel-stand-in company and at the new publisher. I wonder how much of this echoes experiences Zdarsky might have had when he was breaking into comics, how much is based on observation, and to what degree he already fears being the guy who is out of touch with modern sensibilities. It’s a very subtle book, which is not usually the case with Zdarsky. It’s also often funny, and I like that the Stan and Jack characters (maybe Stan and Steve makes more sense) are the only ones who can understand each other, but they also hate one another.
Ultimate Black Panther #7 – Things are not progressing quickly enough for me with this book. T’Challa and his allies are not happy that Ra and Khonshu are turning other Africans against them, and T’Challa is dealing with the guilt of having to fight men that he sees as his subjects, but the solution seems to be to talk a lot. I think it might be time to remove this book from my pull-file list. I love the Black Panther, but like it seems that no one at Marvel, in the 616 or in the new Ultimate Universe, know what to do with him these days.
The Uncanny X-Men #1 – I think that the X-Men, or at least these few X-Men, are in the right hands with Gail Simone and David Marquez. Unlike the adjectiveless X-Men book, which features Cyclops trying to re-create something like Krakoa (although more like the X-Men’ island, Utopia, which never gets discussed anymore) in Alaska, this looks like it’s going to be focused more on a few friends trying to make sense of the massive changes they’ve just gone through. Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine gather to fight a dragon and to visit a dying boy, which is an odd beginning for a team book. The depth of their closeness is on display, in a way that reminded me a little of the emotional intelligence of Simone’s classic Birds of Prey run. There’s a lot going on beyond these friends and lovers supporting one another – an evil government agent has taken over the Xavier School as a mutant prison (reminding me a lot of what’s happening in Absolute Power at DC), and some new characters turn up at the end. We’re getting flooded with mutant books at the moment, and it’s clear that not all of them are going to last the year. I like how Simone is taking her time building this one up, and I like how the contrast with Jed MacKay’s book is baked in from the beginning. If I’m being honest, I’m not a big Gambit fan, and I hate how Rogue is often portrayed since meeting him, but I really liked the tone of this issue. I think this might be my favourite of these new era relaunches, and the one I see as having the most potential.
Bargain Comics:
Marvel’s Voices: Identity #1 – I do enjoy a good anthology, and liked the array of characters on the cover of this one-shot from 2021. The earliest wave of these Marvel’s Voices books were pretty earnest, but I think that the interview with Larry Hama and the story that has contemporary Shang-Chi fighting with the Shang-Chi that could have been, dressed in his classic costume, was worth the purchase alone. There are some good stories in here, and it made me realize that I miss characters like Brawn, Silk, and Silhouette. I also think this is one of Jason Loo’s earliest Marvel comics, so that’s cool.
Marvel’s Voices: X-Men #1 – I guess Marvel decided to branch out from specific ethnicities or communities for their Marvel’s Voices line of anthology books, and chose to focus on the X-Men. These stories are decent enough. Like most of the Voices books, much of this comic is given over to new creators, and you can see that some of these people are very talented, if a little new in their career. Al Ewing has a good story in here, looking at how Arakkan society views LGBT+ relationships. The X-Men have always served as powerful metaphors for otherness, of many kinds, and it seems more and more that is resonating in and reflecting queer communities lately. It’s cool that comics like this exist, even if they aren’t always the most compelling.
