It’s inevitable that I’m falling behind again, and really need to carve out some time to catch up on my reading.
Best Comic of My Week:
Captain America #3 – I think Chip Zdarsky might be just the guy to write this book in this moment. I think an American writer might get tied up in concern for how the book would be received in the current political climate, but instead we have Chip gently drawing comparisons between Adolf Hitler, Dr. Doom, and implicitly, another current authoritarian character. This story is set in the years right after Cap came out of the ice, which is now during the American war in Iraq, and the parallels between his past and his present are interesting. Setting this back a few years also allows Zdarsky to avoid looking like he’s talking about the current American administration. And, because Chip is such a good writer, we also get a lot of insight into the other Captain America that he’s retconned into that era. Valerio Schiti’s art has always been good, but the recent evolution of his style is stunning. This is a really good book.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Batman #12 – I really like the way Scott Snyder is writing this book, and shaping Batman’s story so differently from the standard version. Bane has gone after Bruce’s friends, and that has resulted in the creation of the Penguin, Two-Face, and Riddler (we’ve already seen Killer Croc) in new and disturbing ways. These redesigns are very good examples of both how good an artist Nick Dragotta is, and how disturbing he can be. This book continues to surprise.
Batman and Robin #25 – Phillip Kennedy Johnson starts a new story arc, joined by artist Fico Ossio. A man is released from prison, and immediately starts acting like he’s not fully reformed. Batman and Robin face off against Tiger Shark, who is at war with the Penguin, and then the dynamic duo decide to take the rest of the night off, part of Bruce’s plans to better bond with Damian. Of course, this is when this ex-con, the Quiet Man, decides to pay the Penguin a visit. Johnson is very good at long-form storylines, and I’m curious to know if this is going to be a single arc, or a longer one like his last storyline. Ossio’s art is a bit scratched up and rough, and that suits this story. I like that the costume Batman’s wearing in Matt Fraction’s title is on display here.
Farmhand #25 – In a lot of ways, Rob Guillory’s excellent body horror series Farmhand climaxes with this issue, but I’m happy there’s one more issue to go, as there are a lot of characters that are going to need closure after how wild this issue was. Guillory’s book started out being about plant-grown transplant organs, but ended up being about malevolent plant gods, as these things tend to do. At the centre, though, has been the relationships that Ezekiel has with the various members of his family, and I’m looking forward to seeing how some of their issues are resolved.
Green Lantern Corps #8 – It’s lots of big action scenes in this issue, as the Lanterns and their various colourful emotional familiars take the fight to the grey lantern built by Starbreaker. Fernando Pasarin does a fine job of making sense of all that’s going on here, but I’m starting to get lost in this story. I prefer more character-driven uses of the Corps.
Imperial War: Nova: Centurion #1 – I was excited to see that Dan Abnett will be writing the upcoming Nova series, as he was half the writing team that handled what I consider the best long run of both Nova’s and the Guardian’s history. This one-off, written by Jonathan Hickman and Jed MacKay, moves the story of Imperial forward a little bit, and returns us to the days of Rich Rider chatting a lot with the Worldmind. I actually found that stuff a bit annoying, and don’t love the revelation of who is behind the galaxy’s problems, but I am really happy to see Rich back in comics, and am looking forward to more of a cosmic presence on the stands. I like the art in this one-shot, which is by Matteo Della Fonte. His work moves from the standard Marvel house style to something a lot darker, and it works for me.
JSA #11 – The team is finally getting back together, but it may not be enough as the Injustice Society is on the cusp of achieving their goals. I like how Jeff Lemire has structured this series, and think it’s wild that one year in, we have yet to see the team fully united. This book is fun, and rewarding for long-time fans.
Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma #6 – I really liked Ram V’s take on the Resurrection Man, even if I don’t think I fully got everything he was doing with it. This book got really cosmic, and sometimes I think I’m not a close enough reader to really make that work for me. At the same time, the character work was interesting, and Anand RK’s art was lovely. I think it’s fitting that this series also became a kind of tribute to artist and creator Butch Guice, who drew single pages for the first five issues and passed while it was being published. Guice is one of my favourite artists, going back to his days on the Micronauts, and I’m glad this series provided my last look at his art.
Survive #1 – I was looking forward to this submarine adventure comic, and the first issue didn’t disappoint. Robert Venditti introduces us to a sub crewman about to embark on a secret Russian mission, and then we rejoin him a few weeks later, as the sub takes on water and sinks to the ground. There’s at least one other survivor on the vessel, and the first thing he does when we meet him is tries to seal off our guy in a flooded compartment. I was a bit confused as to who is who at first, but what we learn about this guy has me even more intrigued for the next issue. Doug Braithwaite is very good at drawing people in situations like this, and this issue is tense throughout. I’m not sure why there’s a sea monster on the cover, as that doesn’t happen in the book (but is hinted at for future issues). The backup story was amusing too. I like these current Bad Idea titles, for the most part.
The Undead Iron Fist #1 – I haven’t been paying a lot of attention to Danny Rand over the last few years. I knew that he had some apprentice child Iron Fist, but had no clue that he’d died at some point. I picked this book up on the strength of Jason Loo’s name as writer (I’m a big fan of his Pitiful Human-Lizard series, and have liked a lot of his Marvel work). Anyway, apparently Danny died and was sent to hell, but in this book he’s back, and tracking down some demon-like creatures that possess people. This leads to an encounter with Spider-Man (Miles Morales). We also start to see how he escaped hell through a flashback, but we’re not that far into it yet. This was an okay start, but it left me with too many questions and not enough interest in the bad guys. I did like Enid Galán’s art, but I’m hoping for some more meat to future issues.
Vampirella #5 – This story keeps getting stranger, as Dr. Chary is visited by the undead German guy who pops up from time to time (but this version is from the future), while in the future we see Cicero confronting his mother and learn the truth about his girlfriend and her efforts to contact alien species. Priest has been writing this book for years now, and has woven together a very intricate, long story. Truthfully, I’m a bit amazed by it because there’s no way he could have known, when he started his run, that he’d be given this much time, space, and the quantity of relaunches to let so many of the seeds he planted bear fruit. It’s pretty impressive, and I hope that someone will conduct a long-form interview with him when it’s all over to learn about the process he took to plan all this. This is not a book for the casual reader (I guess that’s what the crazy costumes are for).
The Week In Music:
Mansur Brown – Rihla – On this album, Mansur Brown explores a variety of genres and influences, moving past his guitar-based nu-jazz roots to include dancier music, and some more rock-oriented pieces. This is an instrumental album that never gets boring or dissolves into the background; Brown keeps things fresh and moving throughout. It’s very good.
Nourished By Time – The Passionate Ones – There isn’t really anyone else putting out music like Nourished By Time’s. It’s a bit abrasive and strange, but also very catchy. It’s kind of bedroom pop run through a noise filter, but in a very soulful way. I’m a bit surprised that I like this so much, but it really works for me, and I’m happy to see Marcus continue to get attention and respect with this recording.
Alina Bzhezhinska & Tulshi – Whisper of Rain – This is one of my most favourite relaxing albums of this year so far. Bzhezhinska is a harpist who teamed up with producer Tulshi to make a slightly off-kilter ambient jazz album. I really like the way this one turned out, and it’s got me looking into the rest of Tulshi’s output (I’ve been into Bzhezhinska’s music for a while).
