Still here, still behind.
Best Comic of My Week:
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1 – I’ve been looking forward to reading this for some time now, and it did not disappoint. FBI Agent Jones was caught in a suicide bombing in a coffee shop, and has been struggling ever since. He’s a workaholic who refuses to let a concussion diagnosis sideline him, but he’s been struggling with the colourful smoke he sees all around him, and the way he keeps figuring out things about the people he talks to. Javier Rodriguez is a brilliant artist, and his way of depicting what’s happening with Jones makes reading this book an inventive treat. Writer Deniz Camp has become the comics industry’s newest start since the publication of his incredible 20th Century Men, and this issue helps show how cool his approach is. I’m really looking forward to reading more of this series.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Wonder Woman #6 – In the first of a two-part story, writer Kelly Thompson is joined by her The Cull collaborator, Mattia De Iulis. Like that series, this book is gorgeous. Diana has been snatched by Hades, who wants to know how she escaped the Underworld. We learn about how Diana gained some of her weapons, and the story of her meeting Prometheus. De Iulis’s art is very refined and glowing, but she fits nicely with the aesthetic that Hayden Sheridan established for this series. I am enjoying it way more than I ever expected to, and look forward to more. The two strips at the end of the issue, drawn by Dustin Nguyen, were a nice treat.
The Department of Truth #29 – Does anyone else feel like this book is hitting differently in the era of Trump 2.0? James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds have been slowly unravelling a story about a secretive government agency that manufactures consent to reshape reality, but now we live in a time where the wildest conspiracy theories are being backed by the American government, and so many people are lost in a sea of misinformation. Anyway, this issue is built around three conversations; Hawk tells Cole the truth about Nixon, while Oswald talks to another long-standing Department employee, and Ruby meets with a homeless man who has figured some things out. I’m not sure how long this series is set to run, but I am enjoying the worldview that Tynion has built here, and am curious to see where he’s heading. It’s just strange how much life is imitating fiction lately…
Dust To Dust #4 – I really like the way JG Jones and his co-writer, Phil Bram, are pacing this series. The story moves slowly, building characters and information about the small town it’s set in, with little forward momentum on the murder mystery aspect of things, until the end of this issue. Jones’s art is gorgeous, and while his washed-out sepia tones always throw me in the beginning, I think it’s a bold choice for the comic. I’m not sure how long this is set to run, but it’s feeling like more of an ongoing concern to me at this point, which I’m perfectly happy about.
Fantastic Four #30 – After Doctor Doom cured the Thing in One World Under Doom, it left him shattered and unhappy. As his family rallies around him, he continues to work to adapt to this new life, and seeks outside help from an old enemy. As always, Ryan North writes a sensitive and thoughtful issue, and it’s kind of nice to see that the comic doesn’t revolve around some kind of strange science for a change. This continues to be the best Fantastic Four run since Jonathan Hickman’s.
Into The Unbeing Part Two #2 – Zac Thompson and Hayden Sherman have crafted such a strange world in this series. Basically, some scientists are lost inside the barely-alive body of a gigantic being, and are experiencing different levels of transformation (physical, emotional, or spiritual). Sherman is going wild with the layouts and designs in this series, while Thompson writes the characters with consistency, while also showing how things are changing and how nothing can really be trusted. He writes a lot of body horror stories, but this one is so different and strange. I find it really compelling.
Justice League Unlimited #5 – We finally learn the identity of Inferno, the group that’s been attacking the world and tying up the Justice League since this series began, and I’ll admit, I’m disappointed that they’re not more interesting. I was kind of hoping they were some sort of new threat, instead of the umpteenth retread of something we’ve seen before. With that said, this is still a very interesting issue that manages to give lots of characters a moment or two in the spotlight. I feel like the situation with Air Wave got exposed too quickly, as I was hoping it would have more space to grow. I remain very impressed with Dan Mora’s ability to make a book this full of characters looking so good.
Superman #24 – For a long time, it’s felt like writer Joshua Williamson has been setting up multiple future stories, but I’d gotten so used to the existence of Supercorps as a force for good in this series, that I didn’t expect that would be the next challenge for him to face. As Clark talks to Mercy about selling weapons, Lois joins a Justice League squad to fight off some Khunds in Markovia. These two tracks of the issue are connected in a way that I didn’t see coming. This book has been really good, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon.
Vampirella #1 – I’ve lost track of the number of times Christopher Priest has rebooted his Vampirella run, but don’t really mind, especially when Ergün Gündüz returns on art. Vampirella is trying to get by as a single mother, and she’s struggling. She does have a babysitter to help her, but it’s clear that she’s lonely and once again suspicious that her mother is interfering in her life. When a mysterious stranger turns up (we know who he is, though), she starts to spiral. Priest has made me care about a character I always saw as a joke, and I’m impressed with how his run has managed to cover wide ground, yet still return to the familiar.
Weapon X-Men #2 – I see that this series has been downgraded to a miniseries, which is slightly surprising, given that there was a time when a team based around Wolverine, Deadpool, and Cable would have been like printing money. Deadpool has given Wolverine over to his employer (wasn’t this the plot of the Miles Morales crossover too?), but then ends up joining with Logan to fight them, while Cable, Chamber, and Thunderbird come to help. I like Chriscross’s art here, but don’t really feel like Joe Casey has anything to say with this book. It’s enjoyable, but I probably wouldn’t have stuck with it as an ongoing.
We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #1 – Matthew Rosenberg excels at writing series where the reader slowly realizes that the world he’s built is not what it seems, is peculiar, and also follows its own internal logic. In this new series, drawn by Stefano Landini, we are introduced to Annalise, a young girl who lives on a remote island with her scientist father, his assistant, and a group of autonomous robots who play with her and look after her. We learn quickly that her father is involved in some sort of important research, but the girl’s need for his attention keeps intruding. It’s not long before we start to put together that there’s something very sinister about the father, and that’s quickly confirmed when we learn he’s keeping at least one prisoner on the island. I’m definitely intrigued by this book, and am liking what Landini’s doing with it. Like with What’s The Furthest Place From Here, I can see a lot of potential in this book and want to learn more.
Wolverine: Revenge #5 – I’m not sure that this series was necessary. It’s been a future story of Wolverine, showing him killing a bunch of villains, and then living with his choices for a while, while Sabretooth, who he’s kept alive and crippled for years, plots his own revenge. This issue shows their final confrontation, and has Logan fighting the child of someone else he’s killed. I think that Jonathan Hickman and Greg Capullo had some things to say about revenge, but it got diluted by the need for a sensational story. It is lovely, thanks to Capullo’s art, but this is not the kind of prestige character study I was hoping for. I’d hoped it was a post-Krakoa story, but ended up being more of an Elseworlds thing.
Wonder Woman #19 – Diana finally comes face to face with the Sovereign, in the White House, as Tom King returns to his framing of this whole story, and shows the (mostly) grown Trinity finishing her talk with the Sovereign in the future. I’d forgotten that there was another framing storyline involving another Amazon baby, and it looks like that’s where the story is headed next. King’s writing is sometimes frustrating; it’s always good, but this story has taken forever to tell.
X-Manhunt: Omega #1 – While the ending of this X-Men crossover event was satisfying, the beginning of this final chapter mostly just irritated me. We had a huge fight between a Limbo demon and a mech piloted by a mutant I barely remember, who just recently turned up in X-Force. I’m still struggling to understand Storm’s power-up, and why she has a flying city/zoo all to herself. The Xavier stuff at the end turned out to be the best part of the comic, as this event was clearly designed to finally move on from Krakoa and the Xavier-centricity of it. I find it odd that this storyline is laying the groundwork for Jonathan Hickman’s upcoming Imperial miniseries, as I’d prefer for Xavier to just go away and not be seen for a good long while.
You’ll Do Bad Things #1 – I like that Tyler Boss, the incredible artist behind a number of Matthew Rosenberg-written titles has become more of a writer himself. This series has him collaborating with artist Adriano Turtulici, and this first issue is impressive. We meet a writer who is struggling to write a romance novel; his years of writing true crime has him shifting each story he attempts to write into a twisted gore-fest, even though that is not what he wants. We see these attempted stories as part of the comic, but I’m starting to wonder if these stories are actually happening somewhere, given how much space they receive on the page. Turtulici is new to me, and his work reminds me a lot of David Lapham’s, which is a high compliment from me. There’s a lot to like here, and I look forward to reading the rest of it.
