Last week I was so busy I only read like three comics, so I didn’t bother writing a column. This week wasn’t much better, and now I’m about a month behind on my reading stack.
Best Comic of my Fortnight:
The Voice Said Kill #3 – Simon Spurrier and Vanessa Del Rey are really outdoing themselves with this gothic swamp crime series. A very pregnant park ranger has been taken hostage by some criminals who have dragged her deep into the swamp, where they have a rendez-vous arranged with a cartel man who happens to have a submarine. No one’s plans are working out for them, though, so it’s not long before a smaller group are dragging the ranger back through the swamp again, with their options getting steadily worse. Del Rey’s art is gorgeous, especially the full-page image of a pond reflecting light. I’m really enjoying this one.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Evil #1 – I always find it interesting to see the ways in which DC’s Absolute line mirrors events in Marvel’s Ultimate line. This issue, written by Al Ewing, shows readers a meeting of some pretty bad people – Hector Hammond, Ra’s Al Ghul, and some guy who never jokes – among others. The person who brought them together wants them to work alongside one another to keep the world safe from the threat caused by some of the new heroes popping up, including Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman. This is similar to the way the Maker’s people have carved up the Ultimate version of Earth, while also reminding me of the Illuminati from Brian Michael Bendis’s time at Marvel. We see a few new Absolute versions of some familiar characters, and generally get a better sense of where these books might be headed. It’s a good read, and artist Giuseppe Camuncoli (with Stefano Nesi) does a fine job of keeping a mostly talking heads book visually interesting.
Absolute Superman #12 – With this issue, it feels like this series is finally fully established. We get a better look at Kal’s time on Earth from Sol’s perspective, as the young man and his AI protector share an emotional moment. Lois and Jimmy find themselves in Smallville, and we meet the Absolute version of Lana Lang. This issue sums up a lot of the themes of this book, serving as a thesis statement for its second year, as R’as al Ghul and Lazarus descend on Smallville. This continues to be one of the most rewarding books in the Absolute line, and I love the way Rafa Sandoval draws Kal’s cape/Sol.
The Department of Truth #0 – Before the last arc, we saw that Lee Harvey Oswald was ready to reveal the existence of the Department of Truth to the new President (who, although not named, was obviously the current one). This has caused big upsets in the Department. Oswald is still in charge, but it seems that things are really being run by the President’s new appointees, a young man and a woman who are determined to use the Department’s skills to help make America significantly better again. This book has always felt topical, but with Oswald getting ‘DOGEd’, and the aims of the Department being realigned, it feels more essential than ever. The point of view character for this issue is a guy who attacked a pizza shop because he was convinced that there were children being held in the basement, which sparked the creation of some wild fictions. I love the concept of this series, and feel like current events have re-energized James Tynion IV to rework his plans. This issue has a backup story by Scott Snyder and Joshua Hixson that starts to tell the story of Elvis Presley; I’m not sure if it’s continuing, but I hope it is as it is left incomplete. I’m not sure why this issue was given a ‘zero’ number, as it continues the story in a linear fashion, but I’m curious to see how these changes play out in future issues, especially since our usual POV character is now on the run, perhaps with the devil.
The Flash #25 – I think this marks the end of Simon Spurrier’s run on The Flash, unless he’s coming back after the K.O. stuff (although I suspect that this book is going to be rebooted yet again at that point). This issue wraps up the huge cosmic fight with Eclipso, but also the internal struggle that Wally’s being going through, manifested across the multiple versions of himself that he created to fight his war. As with a lot of big cosmic threats like this, the end of the problem comes pretty quickly, but it’s the interactions with Wally and his family that are most important here. Spurrier’s run has not always been the clearest-written thing, but it’s been interesting and has pushed the boundaries of what constitutes a ‘typical’ Flash story. I liked it, and hope that whatever comes next for this character is something I want to read.
Green Arrow #28 – The Crimson Archer story continues, with Ollie learning a lot more about the drug that this criminal is shooting into drug dealers. Roy and Lian are on the street too, trying to handle the case on their own. Writer Chris Condon gets a little preachy here, but there aren’t a lot of other comics acknowledging the overdose crisis these days, and I think talking about it in a variety of media is important. Montos’s art is great. It’s a shame that this run will be ending soon; I’ve really come to like it.
Green Lantern #27 & Green Lantern Corps #9 – The end of The Starbreaker Supremacy does a lot. We see a number of beings restored to their previous power levels, the return of a long-lost villain, as well as the memories of the Guardians, and the death of a pretty major character (maybe), all while the Corps and its allies fight off the Sun Eaters. The stakes are high, there are lots of small character moments that make these issues work, and a satisfyingly emotional conclusion. This is what I want out of crossover arcs. What I’m most happy about is the way that Jeremy Adams and Morgan Hampton are setting up future storylines. I’ve been concerned that DC is looking to wrap up most of its series after this K.O event, so this gives me some hope that some books are going to continue under their current creative teams.
Justice League: The Omega Act Special #1 – It’s really hard to keep track of any given story at DC these days, as they keep throwing out these randomly-named one-shots to squeeze another book on the stand. Joshua Williamson writes this one, which is basically a continuation of what’s going on in his Superman book and in Mark Waid’s JLU. The breaking of time and the League’s conflict with Darkseid’s Legion continues to not make a ton of sense, but it does provide for some cool scenes, as the League teams up with the Time Trapper. I know that I have much of what comes after in my to-read pile, and I’m curious to see how this story transitions into the K.O. event, which I suspect is like Contest of Champions? We’ll see…
Kaya #30 – After spending the whole series trying to protect her little brother, Jin, from the forces that would hurt him or steal his powers, Kaya is now on the opposite side of that power and is the only one who can stop him. Wes Craig gives us an excellent issue showing how much the status quo of the title is changing. It looks terrific.
Mr. Terrific Year One #5 – This look at Mr. Terrific’s first year continues to interest me, as writer Al Letson continues to build on Michael Holt’s connections to other DC characters before he emerged as a superhero. It’s so nice to see regular Valentine De Landro art.
Ultimate Wolverine #10 – The Rasputins discover the location of Wolverine and the other members of the mutant resistance, and send Omega Red to take them down. This is another solid issue with great artwork by Alex Lins. I haven’t felt like Chris Condon has anything new to say about Logan in the Ultimate Universe, despite all the changes that have been made to the character, but I’ve been enjoying this nonetheless.
Void Rivals #23 – Lately we’ve been left wondering who is right in this book, the Agorrians or the Zertonians, and now that Unity is upon them, things are still not clear. What we do know is that Unity is not what Solila was expecting, and the repercussions will prove interesting. We also see poor Skuxxoid put under the knife in an unexpected way. Robert Kirkman seems to be having a good time writing this book, and he’s clearly moving towards one of his typically unpredictable tone shifts. This book is very entertaining.
X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1 – I’ve made no secret of the fact that I have not been looking forward to this Age of Revelation event, but I found this more enjoyable than I’d expected. Jed MacKay has laid out an interesting view of the future, and worked in some reasons for the existence of some of the other books being published in the line. I was a bit confused by the information that in this time Scott Summers and Hank McCoy lost their ability to process language (they call them Babels), given that the #0 issue ended with Scott talking. Is this an oversight, or foreshadowing that Magneto and his team are not telling our Scott, brought psionically from the past into his future body, are playing games and hiding things? I was a bit confused by the inclusion of Schwarzchild, whom I had to Google (he was in a recent issue of X-Men, on Wyre’s team). Anyway, this was a good proof of concept for this event. It didn’t give me the urge to pick up any other books in the line, but I feel less dread for the next four months than I previously felt. I did like Ryan Stegman’s art, and the more badass version of Glob Herman.
X-Men: The Undertow #1 – I do like that Marvel is publishing these online comics from time to time, and that they showcase less popular characters, but I do wish the quality was a bit better. The lead story features Lifeguard, perhaps one of the lamest characters Chris Claremont ever created, and while it’s cool to check in on her and see what life is like for the less heroic characters who have had to return to regular life after the fall of Krakoa, it’s not the most compelling story. I’m a huge fan of Alex Paknadel’s creator-owned writing, but his Marvel writing leaves something to be desired. The second story, by Tim Seeley, features Beak and Angel, and deals with the aftermath of Beast losing his memories. It’s well-written and nicely drawn (by Eric Koda, who is new to me).
The Fortnight in Music:
Yugen Blakrok – The Illusion of Being – Yugen Blakrok is a South African rapper whose voice and flow mystify me. She might be familiar from the Black Panther soundtrack, and I’m surprised that she hasn’t caught on more after that. She has a menace to her voice and lyrics that I find alluring, especially over the driving beats produced by Kanif the Jhatmaster. It took me some work to get a copy of this album, and I wish I owned her earlier one. She’s a talent to keep an eye on, for sure.
Atmosphere – Jestures – After so many albums, it’s really impressive to see that Slug and Ant are still trying to do something new. For this long album, they wrote a song for each letter of the alphabet, and arranged them in alphabetical order. Slug is a fantastic writer who is so comfortable in his lane, and Ant continues to play around with new beats. They have some guests on the album, who all have names that start with the letter of the song they perform on, which also makes this fun. I’m not a fan of long albums anymore, but there is a lot to like about this one.
Jesse The Tree – Worm In Heaven – I’m a fan of Jesse The Tree, who is one half of the duo sleepingdogs (with the rapper Andrew), and was lucky enough to see him perform at an intimate show last week where he was selling copies of his latest album. This release, on Strange Famous, is a solid example of current underground rap aesthetics. The beats, by Mopes, are all very decent, and Jesse sounds great throughout. There are features from underground legends (Sage Francis, Slug, and Onry Ozzborn) and some of the young guard (K-The-I???, Fatboi Sharif, Andrew, and Defcee). It’s a very entertaining album.
Earl Sweatshirt – Live Laugh Love – I’ve admired Earl Sweatshirt almost since the beginning (he was “missing” in Samoa when I first heard his name), and have enjoyed watching him mature and grow as an artist. His work is not always easy to understand, both lyrically and because of his overly-relaxed flow, but he’s always been a master at beat selection, and creating a mood. This album finds Earl moving into a more settled phase of his life, and he often sounds like he’s smiling while he raps. The beats, especially the ones by Theravada, are soulful and pretty. This is a really solid album.
