Best Comic of the Week:
Nights #10 – Nights has become one of my favourite books of the last ten years, and it’s largely because of issues like this one. This series, which is more or less just about young people living their lives in an alternate version of Florida where supernatural elements are seen as ordinary, really digs into its characters, and this issue is no exception. In this series, when some people die, they come back as ghosts, inhabiting their bodies (which usually rot away, leaving them as skeletons). These ghosts are given 25 years to resolve their issues, and most live ordinary lives during that time. Matt was killed some years ago, by a creature. Now, as he and Ivory work to repair their relationship, Matt wants to kill the Roggenwolf that killed him, not knowing that it lives inside of Ivory (he’s never been able to face his guilt over killing his friend). As they hunt, they come across another person being hunted by a poltergeist, and Wyatt Kennedy uses this story to really help readers understand Matt better. As usual, Luigi Formisano’s art is beautiful, a strange combination of cartoonishness and realism that really makes this world work. I strongly believe that this is one of the best comics on the stands right now, and wish more people would check it out and talk about it.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Power: Task Force VII #5 – This issue focuses on Barry Allen running from one of the Amazos, and I mostly picked it up because it’s written by Alex Paknadel, whose independent work I’ve always found to be thoughtful and thrilling. I do appreciate the fact that this is a Barry Allen story that is not focused on him thinking about his dead mother, which for a while seemed like it was a DC mandate. The main story is fine, but doesn’t add a whole lot to the Absolute Power event, or to the regular Flash series. The last few pages focus on Steve Trevor, as he watches Amanda Waller contact some new allies in her fight. I’ve been enjoying the main event despite how poorly Amanda Waller is portrayed now, and despite the fact that I don’t feel a clear case has been made for why she is trying to take over. As far as summer events go, it’s been enjoyable.
Aliens Vs. Avengers #1 – I can really be a sucker for projects like this, depending on who is making them. When I saw that Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic were handling the meeting of the Aliens with the Avengers, I didn’t read any further in Previews. Therefore, I was surprised by the size of this book (and the price tag), and didn’t know that this would be set in an alternate future (the cover is a bit misleading that way). Basically, the Shi’ar have started to weaponize the xenomorphs, a plan discovered by Black Panther and his intergalactic empire. They are not able to stop these plans though, and soon, an Earth protected by aged heroes, has almost completely fallen. I usually try to avoid alternate future stories, but I did enjoy seeing the old Bruce Banner interacting with the head of the Weyland Corporation, and thought that Hickman showed a good understanding of these characters. Ribic is an incredible artist, and he does a great job here of making these older heroes believable. I know it’s going to take ages for this series to come out (I see that the second issue is just being solicited this month), but it will be worth it.
Convert #1 – I’ve long felt that John Arcudi is one of the best writers in comics who has never gotten his full due. I try to read everything that he writes, because he often has fresh ideas and approaches. Convert is looking like a great series. Arcudi is partnered with artist Savannah Finley to tell the story of Orrin, a biologist who is the sole survivor of an exploratory landing on an alien planet. When the rest of his crew is killed and his lander destroyed, Orrin is left alone on the planet with any help of rescue being years away. This gives him plenty of time to explore the planet, except that its flora and fauna are either not nutritious enough to sustain him, or are poisonous. We’ve seen these kind of stories before (it’s basically the sci-fi version of the Hatchet), but Arcudi makes things very interesting, especially with the surprise twist at the end of the issue. Finley’s art is really nice. At first, I was disappointed to learn that cover artist Simon Gane wasn’t handing the interiors, but Finley quickly convinced me that she is perfect for this book, especially in the way she depicts Orrin as he goes longer without food. The colours, by Miguel Co, add to the strangeness of the planet in lots of subtle ways, but do get a little muddy on a few pages. This is a promising new series that I am fully invested in already.
Detective Comics #1088 – We’re getting close to the end of Ram V’s baroque and complex arc. This issue has some of Gotham’s villains rising up against the Orghams, while Batman makes his move and confronts the family that has taken Gotham from him. Guillem March is an interesting choice of artist for this part of the story, because while he’s great, he has a more straight-forward superhero approach than a lot of the previous artists on this storyline have used, and it creates a tonal shift in the story, as it stays amazing, but becomes a little more conventional. I especially like the backup by Dan Watters and Christopher Mitten, which shows us how Talia al-Ghul is going to factor into the end of this story. This has been a truly impressive run.
Dune: House Corrino #5 – The story is picking up, as some of the plot threads start to come together. The artificial spice has caused problems for one of the Heighliners, but luckily Rhombur is on board and knows what to do. I can tell that we are in the back part of this story, and after three long miniseries, I’m ready for things to wrap up.
Fantastic Four #24 – It bothers me that the Inhumans are on the cover to this comic when they don’t appear inside it at all. Instead, Reed and the family continue to try to figure out why tiny particles are bringing squid-like aliens to Earth, and why all but one of these aliens are dead or die immediately upon arrival. Once again, Ryan North explores some very strange science, and gives us a story where Reed’s intelligence is balanced by his compassion. I love this run.
The Flash #12 – It looks like Simon Spurrier is moving to wrap up his first Flash story, and I’m hoping things will get clearer soon. This issue highlights something that I like most about DC, as the whole Flash Family of speedsters enter the speedforce to try to help Wally regain his sense of self after whatever the vague threat he’s been dealing with has done to him. I really like the extended families of heroes with similar power sets, because while that might not always make them an effective fighting force, it is visually very cool (as I write this, I haven’t gotten to the new Green Arrow, below, but I expect it to have much the same thing). Ramon Pérez and Vasco Georgiev both did great jobs on the pages that they drew (although I’d love a consistent single artist on this book).
Green Arrow #15 – It’s an all action issue, as the Green Arrow family go after Waller’s people, who have Professor Ivo in custody. Ollie is perhaps rethinking his choices. Not a whole lot happens in this issue, but we get some high flying arrow action, and artist Amancay Nahuelpan continues to impress with his work here. It’s a good series that I guess will be changing after Absolute Power concludes.
Grommets #4 – Since this book started, it’s been a fun look at life for a pair of middle school misfits in the 80s, but with this issue, things start to get a lot more serious. Rick, based on Rick Remender, learns that his parents are planning on moving, again, and he is more than sick of having to constantly start his life over. He ends up taking out on his friend Brian (based on Brian Posehn), who in the process reveals himself to be a little self-centred (as a thirteen year old?). Things get worse when the small party they’d planned at Brian’s house gets invaded by older jocks. I’ve liked the work that Remender and Posehn have been doing on this book, and have been really impressed with the art, by Brett Parson. I feel like Parson leveled up again with this issue, as things look even smoother and more realized than the first issues. This is a special book, and I like that this week is full of slice of life stories (see Resident Alien, below).
Life #1 – DSTLRY is carving out a real name for itself as a prestige publisher. This new series, Life, is shaping up to be brilliant. It’s written by Brian Azzarello and Stephanie Phillips, and is drawn by one of my favourite artists, Danijel Žeželj, with colours by Lee Loughridge. Surprisingly, it’s a flip book. The first half (as I read it) focuses on Bobby, a career criminal who, after being released from a three year stint, is determined to stay out of trouble. His much younger girlfriend, Jax, has different ideas, and soon has him getting involved in a safe cracking job on an abandoned prison planet. On the other side of the book, we get to meet Cory James, a serial killer who has been given thirty-two consecutive life sentences, and who is chosen to be part of a trial on a certain prison planet. Žeželj is an incredible artist, especially when it comes to conveying atmosphere and tone, and he is the perfect artist for this book. He gives this vision of the future a very run-down and lived in appearance, reminding me of the Aliens franchise. Azzarello and Phillips work well together, and I like how the different halves of the flipbook build towards the same thing. I’m curious to see how they use that format in the next issue, as I presume these two stories will collide. This is a gorgeous and interesting book, and it makes me realize that I’ve missed Azzarello’s writing.
NYX #2 – I am really behind the concept of this book, which looks at the lives of younger mutants living in New York City, but the execution of this issue felt a little clunky. Laura Kinney, the Wolverine, is investigating Mr. Friend, the guy who has been ‘helping’ young mutants, but who has also had them stealing things for him. That investigation leads to the revelation that a familiar other-worldly threat is behind all of this, and it seems that Laura is not going to be enough for this threat. What doesn’t make sense to me is that we’ve seen Laura reject the concept that she has to do everything on her own. I don’t know why she turns down Kamala’s help. I also don’t know why she’s not got Gabby with her these days, or who designed the ugly iteration of her costume that we see here. Laura’s character is one that has undergone a lot of work over the last decade, and this feels like a throwback version of her. We’ve seen this before from writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (I’m thinking of their Guardians of the Galaxy, which read like they’d only watched the movies and never read a comic with any of them in it), and it has me nervous about the future of this book.
Resident Alien: The Book of Life #3 – It’s kind of incredible that this comic, about an alien doctor who gets perceived as human, can spend an entire issue showing that doctor care for his infant daughter and occasionally chat with his partner or friends, and it would be gripping. Barely anything happens in this issue – Harry helps to look after an elderly patient, and then we get a year’s worth of bottles, diapers, and naps. Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse have made these characters so loveable and familiar, that I find myself rooting for them as they go through some pretty mundane things. Of course, it looks like other aliens are turning up next issue, so probably things are going to change. This is such a special series.
The Sacrificers #11 – Things continue to get worse on the planet, as the king orders a fresh round of sacrifices, one from each family. Soluna continues to travel with the pigeon’s family, and it is when she is with them that the beings that take the sacrifices catch up to them. I’ve been enjoying this very bleak series, and have liked these last two issues, drawn by André Lima Araújo as much as the issues drawn by Max Fiumara, the book’s regular artist. This is a dark series, but we live in dark times, so it feels a little informative.
Saga #68 – There’s not much happening in this book in terms of the bigger plotlines, but it’s a nice check in issue, showing us how Hazel and Squire are adjusting to life in the traveling circus. I was happy to see Petrichor return for a bit too; she’s one of the more interesting characters in this series. Fiona Staples’s art continues to blow me away.
Void Rivals #12 – The second story arc closes off with some strange happenings that I don’t fully understand. Our two heroes decide to part ways, at least temporarily, as they work to help their people, who are hunting them. Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici have done some excellent work in this series, and I’m glad to see that the story is continuing to grow.
White Boat #2 – Scott Snyder has some crazy ideas in this series. What started out as being a story about a man wallowing in guilt over his younger brother’s death when they were children, slowly changed into a Lost-esque story about a massive and strangely appointed massive yacht. Now, the boat has made it to an island (more shades of Lost), and we learn just what the White Boat’s mission really is. Artist Francisco Francavilla does an incredible job here, matching Snyder’s ideas with wild visuals, and creating a real sense of foreboding as Lee enters the jungle and discovers the strange things that the White Boat’s scientists have created. This is a very strange series, but it’s impressive. The DSTLRY format really helps create a sense of prestige for this project.
X-Force #2 – I wonder if every issue of this series is going to follow a formula like this. Forge discovers a threat in his glowing ball thing, and the team goes to deal with it, runs into some trouble, then manages to save the day. So far, this has felt a little formulaic, without a lot of space for character development or character check-ins. Sure, Sage/Tessa gets a lot of space this issue, as writer Geoffrey Thorne works to clarify her abilities for us, but we are two issues in and know nothing about this Tank guy (I still think he might end up being Colossus), nor is Forge’s fracture detector very clear. I know this is early days, but I want to see a little more that makes me feel like this team is viable for a long term run. Most of the team barely contributes to this issue. It feels a little like a throwback to me, but from a rough 90s era (which I guess makes sense if this is X-Force, the most 90s title ever).
X-Men #3 – And with this issue, Jed MacKay’s X-Men has clicked with me. I was a little unsure of the direction he was taking things, as the book felt a little too much like the directionless post-Claremont X-Men, but things snap into focus with this issue. Cyclops goes to the local diner to meet with Agent Lundqvist, an ONE guy who is unhappy that the X-Men did stuff in San Francisco last issue. This meeting is interesting, as it helps explain how Scott’s team came to end up in Alaska, but it also serves as a distraction as ONE moves on the factory in invisible suits. I still want to know why Magneto is floating around in one of Xavier’s old chairs, but I like how this issue focused on Temper, and helped show why she’s so angry and not nostalgic for Krakoa. I also like the coordination between this issue and Uncanny X-Men, although maybe this one should have come out after #2 of that title. Ryan Stegman’s art is growing on me, and I felt like Cyclops looked more like his proper age in this issue. This book feels a lot more on track now, which is good, and has me looking forward to future issues.
Bargain Comics:
DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 – This is the first of the DC anthologies that focus on heroes from specific populations that I’ve read, and it overall feels more organic and casual than the Marvel’s Voices anthologies, which always feel pretty earnest. Now, part of that is that DC has a really deep bench of top talent that also happens to be Asian – we got contributions from Dustin Nguyen, Sean Chen, Bernard Chang, Sami Basri, Marcus To, Ram V, Gene Luen Yang, Mariko Tamaki, among others, and pin-ups by people like Jae Lee, Cliff Chiang, Francis Manapul, and Jim Cheung, all behind a Jim Lee cover. This 100 page special is from 2021, so it didn’t include characters like The Vigil or City Boy, but it did demonstrate that DC has a pretty impressive bench of Asian characters. I guess Cheshire was the first? Anyway, this was good, and I learned a few things (I never knew that Connor Hawke identifies as ‘Blasian’).
Red Goblin #1-4 – This title had a lot of potential, but let’s be real, there was no way it was ever going to last very long in today’s market. Young Normie Osborn has been given a young symbiote, which he’s named Rascal, and he’s struggling to control it and keep it secret from his very strange family. I guess it was inevitable that writer Alex Paknadel had to base this series on Normie’s family’s legacy of Goblin-involved evil, but I think it maybe hampered things a little. I like artist Jan Bazaldua’s art, but I was often thrown off by how small he made Normie, while portraying him as a twelve year old-ish preteen. He’s got teenage proportions but is often toddler-sized. It’s a bit weird. Anyway, because I’m a fan of Paknadel I’d wanted to read the entirety of this series, so I grabbed these issues. It still hate symbiotes.
The Week in Music:
Why? – The Well I Fell Into – I’m never fully sure how I feel about Why?, the band fronted by Yoni Wolf. Yoni seems to be good friends with a lot of rappers and musicians I really like (he was a founder of Anticon), but then when I listen to the band, I don’t even get a hiphop adjacent vibe. But I do like what I hear. Wolf has interesting song structures and unpredictable lyrics, and on this album, his band has some really ear-worm-causing tunes. The album doesn’t include any credits, but I did just catch the band live and enjoyed the more stripped down sound (compared to the last time I saw them). This is an album that could appeal to people who like pop and alternative rock; I find it hard to pin down.
Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band – Wede Harer Guzo – This is a repress of a re-release of Hailu Mergia’s 1978 album, which saw him performing with the Dahlak Band, instead of his usual group, the Walias. It’s a standout of Ethiopian jazz, with driving rhythms and more vocals than the other Mergia recordings I’m familiar with. This was largely a forgotten album, and it’s cool that Awesome Tapes From Africa were able to release it. At times, you can hear that it’s not well mastered, (or remastered), but given the conditions in which it was recorded, at Addis Ababa’s Ghion Hotel, it’s mostly remarkably clean. I would have loved to have been able to catch this act back in the day.
