Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
I’m still working on getting caught up on my reading, but hopefully, with some time off…
Best Comic of My Week:
The City Beneath Her Feet #1 – Every creator that publishes at DSTLRY always brings their A-game, and that’s no different with this new, unconventional series by James Tynion IV and Elsa Charretier. We are introduced to two women, a writer who is struggling with her second book, and a strange assassin (I’m assuming). They end up meeting one night, and going back to the assassin’s home, and start a very occasional relationship, wherein they would see each other once every few months. Charretier’s work is similar to what she’s been doing in Love Everlasting, but more expansive and minimalist, with more of a Darwyn Cooke influence. Tynion is so good at creating unusual titles, and this one definitely has me interested (although I can’t really say why without spoiling the end of this issue). This is worth watching.
Quick Takes:
Avengers #21 – It’s a bit of an interlude issue, as the Avengers travel to Alaska to play baseball against and then eat dinner with the X-Men. Since Jed MacKay writes both books, the crossover feels pretty organic, even if Beast looks wildly different in Valerio Schiti’s art than he does in Ryan Stegman’s. It’s nice to see this kind of cross-pollination again, since there are so many characters with deep connections on the two teams, especially now that Storm is an Avenger and Beast has reverted to an earlier version of himself. I liked this issue, and appreciated the tribute to Chris Claremont’s days of summer baseball games.
Avengers Assemble #4 – I’m still really enjoying this old-school approach to an Avengers comic, but I do wish the art was a little more classic or easier to follow. Steve Orlando has half the team confronting Victorious, as she tries to get into the mystic bubble around Latveria, devastating neighbouring cities in the process, while the other half of the team tries to track down the Serpent Society, although that doesn’t go so well. There is maybe a little too much happening this month, but this book gives me big Mark Gruenwald vibes, and that is something that is very much missed in the current comics market. I’m sad that this is all ending soon.
Batgirl #2 – I’m all in for this series, by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa. Cass takes Shiva to a Vietnamese restaurant where she’s made herself a third family, hoping to hide out from the mystically enhanced killers that are after them, but of course they get attacked there. Miyazawa’s art is fluid and his fight scenes exciting, and Brombal has a good take on the mother/daughter relationship between Shiva and Cass. This is shaping up to be a great series.
Batman and Robin #16 – I like the approach that Phillip Kennedy Johnson is taking to this book, as we learn a little more about the tactics being used by Momento, the supposedly dead serial killer who has come to Gotham. An old associate of Bruce’s also turns up, having made her career in France bringing Momento to justice. Miguel Mendonça drew this issue, and continues the look that has been established for this story so far. I especially like the scenes that have Damian clashing with Bruce about how he spends his time.
FML #2 – This series by Kelly Sue DeConnick and David López is fantastic. The perspective shifts to that of Patty, the mother who has been struggling to hold things all together. The news that her oldest child has turned into a huge furry monster after his dalliance with witchcraft last issue doesn’t really faze her, but trying to finish the book that she’s been paid an advance on is making her life terrible. This issue has her dealing with falling airplane doors, and we learn that she is still coming to terms with the disappearance of one of her bandmates some thirty years prior. This book is smart and sharp, and I can’t help but assume it reflects KSD’s own thoughts on aging and “adulting”, to use a term I hate.
Juvenile #1 – I’m not at all familiar with Jesús Orellana, but this comic looked good, so I decided to give it a chance. It’s set in a future where all adolescents get sick with the onset of puberty, requiring carefully monitored drugs and eventually surgery to survive. The kids are sent to institutionalized centers, where they are taught and treated, although not exactly cared for. We meet the residents of one ward of El Castillo, the first of the centers, and when Max, a new transfer with a bit of a history arrives, we get a good look at the place. The main character, Sara, is a bit of an outcast, and she feels drawn to Max. Of course, there’s a little more going on, which leaves us wondering about how much these kids understand the sickness that might kill them. Orellana taps into a lot; this had me thinking of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, The Nickel Boys, and the current hysteria around puberty blockers. Orellana’s art is gorgeous, and I like the way he uses wide panels to frame everything like it’s a movie (he is a director, after all). I’m glad I took a chance on this book, and intend to read the rest of the series.
Kaya #23 – Things just keep getting more chaotic in this series. Razel, our heroes’ new friend, takes them to a city haunted by ghosts that seem to interact with the real world, as a means of escaping the robots pursuing them. Kaya ends up meeting her future self, who has a warning for her, but we don’t get enough time with that before things get even worse. Lately, Wes Craig’s book feels like it’s moving at an accelerated pace that sometimes makes the story not hard to follow, but too quick to fully appreciate.
Long Cold Winter #1 – I became interested in Stefano Cardoselli’s weird artwork with the series Don’t Spit In The Wind, which was also published by Mad Cave. That series ended up disappointing, as it didn’t have a lot of story, but Cardoselli’s dirty vision of the future stuck with me. This book, written by Francesca Perillo, has a similar feel to it, but (a little) more story. Peace Dog is a masked former soldier who is being hunted by bounty hunters, but is difficult to kill. A small robot, called The Kid, hires him to escort him to some northern mountains in return for a quieter life, so they head out, Lone Wolf and Cub style. Cardoselli gives us a very lived in and slightly abstract world, and while I wish Perillo provided more backstory and meat to this comic, it is compelling. I think I’m going to add it to my pullfile.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #27 – Miles heads to Wakanda for help with his vampire problem, but I guess T’Challa is still banned, so they end up in Birnin T’Chaka, the location from the recent Eve L. Ewing Panther run, with a few cameos of characters from that run to keep them company. Back home, Shift tries to replace Miles at school, with varying degrees of success. I like this book best when the supporting cast is involved, and am always happy to see the Black Panther in books, but man, do I hate Miles’s new costume. I hope this vampire stuff is resolved soon so he can go back to his old suit.
Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #3 – I’m still very bothered by this series. It has the occasional good moment, but really, I’m struggling to understand why Marvel and writer Alex Segura are trying to cram so much into this series instead of letting it build more organically. Adelhard continues to make moves to restore the Empire under his rule, while the New Republic seems kind of hapless. I see that time is moving forward, because now Leia is visibly pregnant, and I feel like so much of the stuff I’d like to see is happening off screen. Of course, these things all probably got covered in various Star Wars novels I’ll never read, but it keeps this from feeling important at all. Segura is not exploring any themes or building any characters; it’s like an overly-earnest fan fiction project designed to lead to a battle that we learned about in one of the new trilogy films. It’s frustrating me.
Storm #3 – This series really is odd, not in its content but in its pacing and structure. The first two issues were about Ororo getting dosed with deadly radiation, and looking for a way to save her life. In this issue, Brother Voodoo cures her, largely off-screen, but the catch is she can’t use her powers for seven days. To help pass the time, she goes to visit Rogue’s X-Men group, and trains with Wolverine for days (before they get down to a different kind of grappling). There are no real threats or reasons for her to use her powers (which I would think would be difficult, given their elemental nature; it would be as hard as not being allowed to use an arm and hand for a week), at least not until the end when she is summoned to visit with a character who is going to be at the heart of Marvel’s next big event. I liked this issue, especially Lucas Werneck’s gorgeous art, but still don’t really understand the purpose of this series.
Superwoman Special #1 – Joshua Williamson just kind of tossed the fact that Lois Lane now has powers into the regular Superman book, so I was happy to see this special that helps fill in a bit about how she got her powers, how she feels about them, and how they are looking to be a major plot point down the road, as their original owner comes looking for them. I’ve been enjoying Williamson’s Superman, and feel that this extra issue is necessary to help further flesh things out. I’m not reading Action Comics (there’s no way I can keep up with a weekly right now), so I appreciate that this helped explain some of what’s been going on in that book.
Ultimate Universe: One Year In #1 – Deniz Camp gives us a deeper look into the systems that the Maker set up to help him run his world in this one-off. Nick Fury runs HAND, the organization that enforces the Maker’s wishes and spies on everyday people, but he’s had enough and wants to make a move to take out the entire Council. This gives us a good overview of how things are going in the world, and how the Ultimates are upsetting things. Jonas Scharf does a good job drawing this issue, and it ends with a bit of a preview of the upcoming Ultimate Wolverine series, which looks interesting.
Uncanny X-Men #7 – The second chapter of the Raid on Graymalkin is a good comic, but I hate that Gail Simone and her artists show so many pages of what happened in chapter one, in X-Men. I like that we are seeing events from Rogue’s perspective, but there’s just too much overlap here, including pages that don’t feature Rogue or her crew; I doubt that many readers are reading only this title, so it doesn’t really make sense to me to double up on space like this. I also feel like the conflict between Rogue and Cyclops is a little artificial, but superhero fights often happen for artificial reasons…
Wolverine #4 – Saladin Ahmed’s Wolverine is growing on me with each new issue. Logan is still working to help the Wendigo kid reject the curse that is flowing through his system. He’s snuck him into the US, and they are staying in a remote cabin that still ends up being close enough to trouble that a transport accident ends up pitting Logan against the Constrictor. There’s some sort of issue happening with a conscious form of adamantium that is weird, but interesting. Martín Cóccolo is a good choice for this book; his art is clean.
The Week in Music:
August Fanon & Defcee – We Dressed The City With Our Names – This album got away from me when it was first released, so when I saw that they were pressing up another fifty copies of the CD, I knew I had to cop one. August Fanon is one of the greatest beat makers of our time, and is slowly gaining the recognition that he deserves. Defcee is a fantastic emcee who is also growing in stature lately. Together, they created a really solid little EP that showcases their talents perfectly. I’m really glad to finally own this.
Julius Rodriguez – Evergreen – I’ve been following Julius Rodriguez’s career for a little while now, and while both times he’s been expected to perform in Toronto, he’s canceled, he’s quickly becoming a favourite artist. He creates the kind of piano and key-driven jazz that sometimes just feels so good you have to just sit and smile. This album really showcases his ability to move from traditional jazz forms into contemporary, beat-oriented music. This album, which includes appearances by Nate Mercereau, Keyon Harrold, and Georgia Anne Muldrow, is really very good. I’m hoping that my plans to see him this summer in Montreal reach fruition, because I really want to see him play this stuff live.
