Best Comic of My Week:
Assorted Crisis Events #2 – The first issue of this series was impressive, as it revealed the thesis statement for this series on a macro level. This second issue, however, shows that writer Deniz Camp and artist Eric Zawadzki are working on a higher plane than it first seemed. The premise of this book is that regular people live in the kind of environment where temporal anomalies and “crises” occur regularly. With this book, though, we get to see, through a fragmented chronology, what that world can be like for an undocumented immigrant who has spent much of his life working in a slaughterhouse. We follow (non-linearly) as Jésus comes to America, grows up, gets a job working with his father, and eventually becomes a father himself. He ends up following patterns he didn’t want to, and gets stuck in ways that scare him. We see how certain memories stay with him, and through the kaleidoscopic pacing and Zawadzki’s fantastic art, gain a solid understanding of who he is. There is a quiet political aspect to this story that I appreciate, and which is becoming a trademark of Camp’s writing. I’m liking what’s happened so far in this book, and am excited to see more of it.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Martian Manhunter #2 – This series is turning out to be everything I’d hoped it would be, as Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez completely reinvent the concept of the Martian Manhunter. John, an FBI agent who survived a suicide bombing, has become host to the Martian Mind****er, an entity that is not actually from Mars. It saved him, and is now “working with him” to try to protect humanity, although a lot of things are not clear yet. Rodriguez visualizes their shared telepathy in very cool ways, and when they discover an active shooter suffering from delusions, they work together to try to save people. I like how this event creates further uncertainty, because if the shooter’s delusions about aliens are taken as part of his schizophrenia, what is really happening with John? The art and colours (also by Rodriguez) make this book stand out, but it’s Camp’s writing, and the way that he’s capturing so many of the problems of the present moment with his writing, that make this the most groundbreaking of the Absolute line.
Absolute Wonder Woman #7 – The two-part story drawn by Mattia De Iulis wraps up, as does Diana’s time back in the Underworld. We learn how she has prepared for an eventual confrontation with Hades, which again shows the value of the education Circe gave her growing up. Kelly Thompson continues to find a balance between Diana’s compassion and her ferocity that makes the Absolute version of her character so interesting to read. De Iulis’s art is lovely, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of it soon.
Avengers #25 – While the Avengers are busy fighting Doctor Doom (as part of the One World Under Doom event), the Mad Thinker forms a new Masters of Evil and invades the Impossible City, the orbital sentient city the team has been using as their base. Only Captain America is on the scene, and he and the City have to try to fight back. I like how this is a bit of a throwback to one of the most impactful Avengers stories of my youth (I’m glad Jarvis doesn’t take a beat-down this time around), and enjoyed the way the story played out. Valerio Schiti’s art is nice, and Jed MacKay gives Sam some much-deserved spotlighting.
Black Hammer: Spiral City #5 – This series continues to be bleak, but also very enjoyable. The various characters continue on their downward spirals (is this a coincidence, or did Lemire always see the main city in his comic this way when he named it?), as we move towards the last two issues. I was surprised to see Black Hammer turn up briefly in this issue, as this series has really focused on the powered people living in the gutters, just trying to get by. It’s a very good series, made all the better by Teddy Kristiansen’s artwork.
Dust To Dust #5 – The action in JG Jones and Phil Bram’s Depression era horror series kicks up a notch with this issue, as the local Sheriff investigates how the town trouble makers ended up with the mule of the family that died in the first issue, and ends up getting a beat down. We’re getting closer to learning about the various mysteries in this town as well. Jones and Bram are doing excellent work with this book, which is gorgeous.
Into The Unbeing Part Two #3 – This series just keeps getting weirder, as the surviving members of the cast continue to explore the inside of a gigantic corpse. One of their number has been taken in by an old explorer who wants her to see his god, while the other two, and the dog who narrates much of this issue, plan their own escape, which is less than successful. This book is unsettling and unusual, and I like that about it. Zac Thompson’s body horror predilections are at their peak, and Hayden Sherman’s art is terrific.
Justice League Unlimited #6 – With the We Are Yesterday mini-event underway, it’s time for us to learn Grodd’s plans, how he came to convince Air Wave to betray the League, and a little of what he has planned. Travis Moore drew this issue, and Mark Waid was joined in the plotting by Christopher Cantwell, which was a bit unexpected. I’ve been enjoying this series, but worry that the revelations about the threat the League has faced since the first issue have come a little too early; I’d have preferred to see this story build for a while longer.
Minor Arcana #6 – We return to the present with this latest issue, as Theresa turns a corner and perhaps begins to accept that there is something going on with her that is tied to the town she wants to leave (again). She meets up with a former lover and begins investigating the hotel that she keeps seeing in her dreams, but her attempts to learn about her grandfather are blocked by her mother. Jeff Lemire is slowly building up this series, which I think is going to run for a good few years. He does his best work when its focused on small-town family drama, and I like how this is weaving in some supernatural elements. It’s good stuff.
One World Under Doom #3 – This event continues to interest me, especially with the way that Ryan North has applied the usual logic he uses in plotting issues of the Fantastic Four to figuring out how Doom has managed to secure the support of just about every leader in the world. The Avengers team up with some villains to fight Doom in Latveria while the Scarlet Witch and a pair of villains (including the almost unrecognizable Goblin Queen) dig into the leaders’ minds. RB Silva’s art is very nice, and the inclusion of the Dinosaur version of Doom makes things feel lighter than they are. This is a very atypical event, and it’s pretty reflective of the current political moment, when people around the world seem to be choosing authoritarianism willingly.
The Power Fantasy #8 – As we learn more about the second summer of love, we also get a better understanding of who Eliza, a character who’s been mentioned a few times but only recently shown, really is. I get the feeling that Kieron Gillen has been batting around the ideas behind this series over his whole career, and is determined to eschew a lot of conventions in writing this book now. It’s interesting, even if I have yet to really connect with any of the characters.
X-Force #10 – Geoffrey Thorne’s run on X-Force was clearly cut short, as this issue crams a lot in, and I have to say that the whole thing has been disappointing. I’ve liked the general concept of this book, and how Thorne was approaching Forge’s powers, but things really never clicked. This issue has the team facing the person behind La Diabla’s attacks, and that could have been cool with more space and time. We learn why Colossus seemed to be on the wrong side, but again, with no real explanation of motivation. We learn that I was right all along about Tank’s true identity, but with no explanation of why he felt the need to hide it and act so out of character. This book felt a little too amateurish, and it (and a few of the other X-books that got the chop) leave me feeling sceptical about any new titles coming out of the X-office. This could have been a lot better.
X-Men #15 – Jed MacKay keeps bringing up deep cut characters that show he’s a true student of both the X-Men and Alpha Flight (Madison Jeffries’s brother gets name dropped in this issue, which I appreciated). The team has to deal with a few threats at once in this issue – 3K make their move, with Wyre surveilling the team and Cassandra Nova reaching out to the new mutant consciousness which has just moved into the body of the dead alien spaceship from a few issues back, all happening while the team tries to stop that same new mutant from destroying Merle. It’s a solid adventure issue with lots of good little character moments. I like how the new characters in this book are integrating themselves with the team.
The Week in Music:
billy woods – Golliwog – billy woods is the best writer in any genre living today. On Golliwog, he gives us bar after bar, and quotable after quotable (“nine fingers can still tie a tie” is my favourite at the moment). This new album is dark and feels like the soundtrack to a horror movie. woods explores dark moments in his family’s past, rails against landlords (again), talks about the fate of Frantz Fanon, and generally delivers one uncomfortably thought-provoking song after another. He assembled a murderer’s row of gifted underground producers for this album, which features beats by frequent collaborators Kenny Segal, The Alchemist, Messiah Muzik, Preservation, and Steel Tipped Dove, as well as some others in his orbit, like Conductor Williams, Saint Abdullah, and DJ Haram. His Armand Hammer partner, E L U C I D is on a few tracks, as are al.divino and Bruiser Wolf. I’ve listened to this a bunch of times already and find myself wanting to return to individual tracks over and over again. woods’s voice exhorting listeners to “don’t trust anyone” has been haunting me all week. I’m pretty sure this is going to be album of the year on so many lists.
Lonnie Holly – Tonky – Lonnie Holly’s albums are never all that easy to listen to. He’s all over the place, genre-wise, and defaults to sing-speaking his poetry, which is often examining the legacy of enslavement in America. His work makes you think, so it’s not easy to vibe out to, but while he is a bit scattered, sonically, his morality and vision remain consistent. What really drew me to this issue is that he has guest appearances from varied artists like Open Mike Eagle, Alabaster De Plume, Mary Lattimore, Angel Bat Dawid, and my two absolute favourite living writers, billy woods and Saul Williams. There’s a lot to absorb here, but it’s well worth spending time with it.
Cinephonic – Refuge – I only recently became aware of Cinephonic, despite the fact that there are three albums released under that name so far. The main person in this group is Pierre Chrétien, whose work with The Souljazz Orchestra and the Atlantis Jazz Ensemble has made me a fan. For this project, his piano, guitar, and vibraphone are joined by a bass and drum player, and we get a rain-soaked sexy jazz album that feels like a soundtrack to a steamy noir film from the 70s. This is a really lovely album, and I’m glad I’m finally aware of it.
Oscar Jerome – The Fork – I first became aware of Oscar Jerome through his work with Kokoroko, the brilliant jazz band that plays West African music. Jerome’s solo work sounds nothing like that, but is just as entrancing. He plays guitar and sings, crafting meticulous songs with a lot of soul. I assume he’s working on a trilogy, as his last album was The Spoon.
