I didn’t get as caught up on my reading as I’d hoped to during my week off, but I did get through a good-sized pile of new comics.
Best Comic of My Week:
Escape #6 – I think that this series is stupendous. Rick Remender’s writing is so thoughtful and fully realized, and Daniel Acuña is the perfect artist to match the mood of the story. Our downed hero is desperate to complete his mission – to destroy a massive enemy cannon that is under an excessive amount of guarding and surveillance. This issue has him putting his plan into effect, and it’s pretty exciting. The thing I like most about this series, though, is the way his interactions with the enemies he meets are portrayed. Remender is not giving us the easy answers of WWII action movies, instead portraying both sides as somewhat justified and truly monstrous in their actions. It’s a cool switch from what we’re used to seeing. I love how moody and dark the art is, and cannot wait for this to return from its hiatus.
Quick Takes:
Black Panther: Intergalactic #3 & 4 – At the end of it all, I’m not sure what this miniseries did for T’Challa. Every time someone’s taken a run at his character for the last ten years (more like almost twenty), they’ve shaken up his status quo, and I feel like the citizens of Wakanda must have whiplash. This series establishes him as the head of the Wakanda Empire again, acknowledging the planets Ta-Nehisi Coates added to Wakanda lore, but also establishes that there are now a small cadre of robots that are basically African versions of Marvel characters like Archangel and Juggernaut, that now work with T’Challa. It seems kind of confusing, but I doubt we’ll see these characters again. I’d wondered if this series was a trial to see if Victor LaValle should get an ongoing series, but I haven’t heard any buzz and don’t really see where that could lead. The last issue says we’ll next see T’Challa in the Avengers Armageddon thing, so maybe after that he’ll get another solo series that has him do something completely different again. Remember when he became a school teacher in Hell’s Kitchen? You just never can tell what he’ll do next.
Dungeons of Doom #2 – I like the way this series is basically telling four different stories, as four different groups (Americans led by the Red Hulk, Latverian freedom fighters, some Hydra goons, and a Wakandan super spy of sorts) are all wandering around Doom’s gigantic underground dungeons, finding weird mystical items that are in turn trying to kill them. It doesn’t really do anything to set up the Armageddon story, which I’d expected, but it’s good comics still.
End of Life #1 – I hadn’t preordered this new Vertigo series because I’m never sure where I stand with writer Kyle Starks. I do love the work of artist Steve Pugh (the first of the old school Vertigo staples to return), and this looked interesting so I checked it out. It’s an amusing story about a killer who has to run for his life when he mistakenly helps rob the organization he’s part of, and he has nowhere to go but to the parent who both got him into that life and can’t stand him. Pugh is so good at balancing realistic and comedic art, and Starks strikes that balance as well. I’m going to grab the next issue (out by the time you read this) and see if I want to add this to my pullfile list.
Exquisite Corpses #10 & 11 – I’d always assumed that this was going to be a twelve-issue series, but a thirteenth issue has been solicited, and I’m wondering if any characters are going to be left alive by then. There are only a few killers left, and they, as well as the surviving townsfolk, are gathering at the centre of town, where it appears the game is going to come to its big conclusion. These are two bloody and dark issues, as James Tynion and his authorial collaborators (Jordie Bellaire and Che Grayson) winnow down the cast list. I really like this title and can’t wait to see how it all ends (or continues?).
Fantastic Four #8 – I know from talking to him at a few shows that writer Ryan North is a big fan of the John Byrne Fantastic Four run, so when I saw Sue in her Malice look on the cover of this issue, I got excited. I remember the first Malice storyline, which was essential to Sue becoming a stronger character (and a Woman instead of a Girl), quite fondly as that was the time in my life when I most enjoyed reading the FF. North, of course, has an interesting twist on things. The Fantastic Four track down Galactus, and discover just what threat he needs Sue’s help to stop, but we also see an alternate history of Sue’s, and it’s a bit surprising. I like how North just keeps coming up with new twists and approaches to this series, and I’m excited for the next issue. I wasn’t sure that Humberto Ramos was the right artist for the kinds of stories North’s been telling, but I’m enjoying the way he’s making them his own.
The Flash #30 – Mark Waid and Chris Cantwell threw a lot of things in the air for this story arc, as Bart has tried to fix the Darkseid problem on his own, but they really managed to stick the landing. This issue has Bart trying to save Barry during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which would play into Darkseid’s hands. I like how this even wrapped up a plotline in the Challenges of the Unknown miniseries that I didn’t read – it feels like old school Marvel when dangling stories get resolved, and I miss it. This issue helps set up, in a behind the curtains kind of way, what is going to happen at the end of DC K.O. I don’t remember who is taking over this title with the next issue, but I am curious to see where new creators are going to take Wally and his crew. DC is in good hands these days, so I can finally trust that I’ll be entertained when new teams take over.
Good As Dead #6 – I’ve loved this substantial miniseries by David and Maria Lapham. The convoluted and involved plot comes to a satisfying resolution with this issue, as the villains who have been experimenting on people and keeping a remote American island community down are exposed, at least among a small group of people. The Laphams did a lot to set up these characters and make them feel important to the reader, so the deaths and mayhem of this final issue are both shocking and very exciting. I highly recommend checking this out in trade if you haven’t been reading it.
Iron Man #2 – I was a little reluctant to buy into this series at first, as I’ve been underwhelmed by a lot of recent Iron Man projects, but I like what Joshua Williamson is doing with this book. Tony is determined to find the various people whose careers he’d been watching who were kidnapped by AIM, and that means that he’s acting a little rashly and worrying Captain America again. Pepper and Melinda are a bit concerned too, but Tony’s doing his thing, which involves interrogating MODOK at a faux Roman bath. Carmen Carnero is leveling up with this series, and things are looking good for this run.
Justice League Unlimited #16 – As the DC K.O. tie-ins wind down, Mr. Terrific faces betrayal in Hell, while some seriously minor league Leaguers face some powered up villains on Earth. Ultimately, this whole arc was not really influential on the K.O. event, and seems to have been used to keep some of these characters busy. Still, it was an entertaining arc, and Mark Waid gave Dan Mora lots of opportunities to cut loose with some exciting action scenes.
Minor Arcana #14 – The pace keeps picking up, as Theresa wrestles with the knowledge that she is just making things worse by being back in Limberlost. Her old girlfriend’s husband has been shot because she told him where to look for two men, and it rattled her. Other plotlines are moving forward too, and I think we’re getting closer to finding out the secrets that underpin this whole series. Jeff Lemire has paced this book very well.
Nights #18 – The best part of this issue was the announcement that the series is continuing for at least one more arc! The earliest issues of Nights blew me away, and while I’ve liked this prequel arc, it hasn’t hit with the same force for me. This issue wraps up the story of Gray and Tsukumari back in the 70s, and gives us a bit of a montage of key moments in their time together at Chimera, including an early appearance of Ivory as a child. I really like how Wyatt Kennedy has created a whole world in this book, and getting some of the backstory has helped me to understand it better. Luigi Formisano’s art is very nice, and has me thinking about the Luna Brothers, as it resembles their work a great deal. It’s nice to see Kennedy’s name turning up in more places (he’s writing Wiccan for Marvel), but I want this book to continue for a very long time, especially if we’re heading back to check in on Vince and his friends.
Nightwing #135 & 136 – Dan Watters finishes off the story of the Cirque du Sin, and Nightwing Prime’s story along with it, before moving Dick into a new adventure in issue one thirty-six. I didn’t mind the Cirque story, which culminates everything that Watters started when he took over the series. I’m a bit surprised to see that DC didn’t move him, and like that he gets time to set up another story, this time with art by Denys Cowan! In the rebuilt Blüdhaven, a superhighway cuts through the middle of the city, and seems to be haunted by the ghost of a witch (I’m surprised it’s not haunted by the ghost of Jane Jacobs, but that would be a different kind of story). This ghost causes Dick to make a mistake that will haunt him. I find it odd that Watters is taking a supernatural approach to Nightwing, as it’s not the kind of story we’d typically associate with his character. Still, this was a decent issue with great art.
The Peril of the Brutal Dark #1 – I was excited to see a new series by Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. Their work on That Texas Blood and The Enfield Gang Massacre was terrific, and I liked the idea of them taking part in DC’s revived Vertigo line. What we have is an intriguing new book that owes a lot to Indiana Jones. Ezra Cain, the ex-cop private investigator at the centre of this book originally studied archaeology, so he’s a good choice to look into the disappearance of an artifact from the museum that very few people knew they had. The artifact is not the Ark of the Covenant, instead being tied to Greek mythology. We know that both Hitler and Mussolini are after this thing (I don’t think I mentioned that the series takes place in 1941), so we kind of have an idea of what shape this book is going to take, at least until the Brutal Dark is mentioned and not explained. I like the way this is launching off, and trust Condon to see this story through. Phillips’s art continues to improve and impress me, and he captures the grittiness of the time period perfectly. I hope that we get a number of these Ezra Cain mysteries in the future of this line.
The Power Fantasy #16 – From the beginning, I’ve found this series to be hard to pin down, in a very good way. Kieron Gillen posits a very different kind of world where people live in uneasy proximity to powered individuals, and they themselves have done what they can to police their own community, with each of the major powers making decisions or engaging in actions that the others disagree with. Things have been spiraling out of control for a while now, although the end of the last issue made it look like things might have finally turned out okay. In this issue, which is the last for a while, we learn that things really are not okay at all, and get an ending that is surprising and has me very excited about what the next arc will be like when this series returns. I’m working pretty hard to not spoil anything here, because it’s actually really cool. Caspar Wijngaard’s approach to drawing this book adds so much to it, and his double-page spread towards the end of the issue impressed me. This is the perfect time to get the first three trades (well, once the third one is out) and catch up on this series.
Save Now #3 – I’m really enjoying this series about a guy with the ability to restart time at various save points, with the only downside being that he continues to age linearly. He’s known for a long time that society was going to collapse, but nothing he could do could stop it, so he’s finally decided to ride it out with his wife and daughter. Matt Kindt is good at developing stories about the moral quandaries power sets can cause, and this keeps this one pretty interesting. Tomás Giorello is always an impressive artist, although I’m not sure that this is the type of story he’s best at. He’s good at realistic action scenes, of which there are many, but the quieter scenes seem to be wasted on him.
Star Wars #10 – It’s hard for me to accept just how far this property has fallen at Marvel. When they first got the license, they had A-list writers and artists, and created lasting additions to the Star Wars universe. Now, with this third monthly series lasting only ten issues, it feels like they have no clue what they want to do with the license anymore. I can see how it’s hard to tell new stories about the post-Return of the Jedi timeline. Novels and video games have crowded into that space, I assume, but you’d think they could do some work to help set up the world of the Mandalorian series, if nothing else. This issue does wrap up the threads that writer Alex Segura started playing with in his Battle of Jakku miniseries (that lasted longer than this ongoing did), but I continued to have a hard time caring about any of it. I think maybe Marvel should let the main Star Wars characters rest for a bit, and only return to them when they really do have something new to say or explore.
Superman #35 – This was a really great issue, showing Lois, Prime, and the Superman Robot’s last attempt to get information to Time Trapper and possibly help save the Earth. I like how Lois interacted with the Saturn Girl of Darkseid’s Legion, and the way Prime’s redemption story has played out. I hated this character previously, but now I’m interested in seeing what Joshua Williamson is going to be doing with him (I believe he’s taking centre stage in this book moving forward). I remain surprised by how much I’ve enjoyed this book, because I’m not a big Superman fan.
The Ultimates #21 & 22 – This book continues to get so much praise, and it’s all warranted. As the fight against the Maker’s Council continues, Camp gives each issue over to one aspect of the larger story. Issue twenty-one focuses on Luke Cage and his Avengers. Much of the issue is framed by the Ultimates’ manual, which can be read on a few levels. Sure, it’s a set of instructions to resist the way the world’s ended up, but it’s also about our own current moment and the need for resistance. The issue’s also about comics in general, as Emmanuel DaCosta unveils the Defenders, a superteam meant to challenge and defeat the Avengers while also becoming major media personalities. The commentary around that reads as an indictment of both the comics industry and the contemporary fan base. It’s a good issue. Issue twenty-two is even better, as Captain America and a few Ultimates go after The Grand Skull, who we know is Bucky Barnes. Camp shows us scenes from his and Cap’s life together, as we learn how the Maker’s people corrupted Bucky, who despite leading a white supremacist organization, still sees himself as the hero. If I had any complaints about this book, it’s that I wish it had more time and space to really explore some of the ideas that Camp goes flying through. It’s really good stuff, and almost any one issue of this book could be the basis for a five issue arc.
Uncanny X-Men #24 – Seeing the X-Men fight against a bunch of old school monsters is cool, but I was bothered by the way characters like Werewolf By Night and Morbius never get a lasting status quo and are constantly being used as pawns. Anyway, the X-Men part of the story is good, but I don’t know why some (not as much as last issue) of the comic is used to have the Haven House guy (I’m blanking on his name, and don’t see it in the comic) tell a story about the Rawhide Kid that incorporates the Outliers into it. I guess Gail Simone wanted to keep them off the board during the X-Mens’ fight, and couldn’t just send them to the movies or something. David Marquez’s art looks better than ever in this issue, so that’s cool.
Wiccan: Witches’s Road #3 – I like this book, and am happy to be supporting Nights writer Wyatt Kennedy on a Marvel book, but I’ve always hated the villain Morgan Le Fay, so I was disappointed to see her turn up in this issue. Billy is being manipulated by Baba Yaga, and now Morgan as well, while he really just wants to do the right thing and restore Teddy to his body (he’s stuck in a puppet at the moment). This is kind of standard stuff, in that Kennedy is playing things kind of safe, while filling in a little more backstory for Billy, but it’s made well.
Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon #1 – Logan is tapped by an old acquaintance, a mutant tracker, to help her find a mutant that was taken by a private military company. They stumble onto something like the Weapon X program, which appears to have one of the Origin Boxes that Miles Morales brought back from the Ultimate Universe (this takes place after a comic that is not coming out until May, which is an odd choice I feel). Anyway, this company also has Nuke on their payroll, which is always fun. Chip Zdarsky is using this miniseries to lead into the upcoming Armageddon event, which I don’t know much about. He also is making use of one of the characters he introduced in his current Captain America run, and I’m curious to see how these elements play off one another. The art, by Luca Maresca, is serviceable in the current Marvel house style, and the story is intriguing. This probably could have happened in Logan’s own book instead of in a stand-alone miniseries, but it’s all good.
Wonder Woman #30 & 31 – First, Leah Williams and Jeff Spokes finish off their guest arc, which has Eris sowing discord among the Amazons because of baby Trinity. This issue was beautifully illustrated. After that, Tom King and Daniel Sampere return for issue thirty-one, which is set some twenty years into the future and shows the start of the Wonder War, the fight between the young adult Trinity and her childhood friend, who has become the Matriarch. I’m tired of future timeline stories, so this didn’t do a whole lot for me, but I think this must be the culmination of what King has been working towards since he started his run, and I’m curious to see what else he has to say about Diana and her daughter.
X-Men #25 – 27 – The Age of Revelation event infused some energy into this title, and Jed MacKay is running with it. We’ve got the X-Men’s foes making moves against them, with the establishment of the former Crimson Commando as the new leader of ONE, working with the boss of Beyond Inc. (I don’t know if she’s shown up in the Spider-books or not, as I don’t follow any of that) to divide and conquer the team, all while 3K continues to be a threat. I do find it kind of annoying how every second issue seems to be devoted to showing what the villains are up to without making a lot of forward plot movement, but I find I’m invested in this, especially after what happens to Glob Herman.
In Memoriam:
Sam Kieth – I was saddened to learn of the passing of Sam Kieth this week. He was a singular voice in comics, who had an instantly recognizable art style. I remember being a fan of his strange covers for Marvel Comics Presents, as well as some of the stories he drew in that anthology book. I liked the way he drew Wolverine, the Hulk, and some other characters like slouching, hairy troglodytes; his work was a great contrast to the typical approach taken in the 90s. I’ll admit, I didn’t really get his crowning achievement, The Maxx, but part of that might have been because I read the issues on a spaced-out, early Image schedule. I feel like revisiting it, with adult eyes, might be a good idea. Kieth was also responsible for me, for years, misspelling every other Keith’s name, largely because of how cool I thought his signature looked. My condolences to his family, friends, coworkers, and fans.
The Week In Music:
De La Soul – Cabin In The Sky – It’s been ages since De La released an album, and this one serves as a loving tribute to Trugoy aka Dave, a founding member of the group who passed away a few years ago. Posdnuos carries the bulk of the rapping on this album, but there are plenty of features from rappers like Black Thought, Common, Killer Mike, Nas, and Q-Tip to round out his voice. The production is from a number of people who were big when De La was, like Supa Dave West, Jake One, and people like that. This album could be from just about any era, and has a classic sound to it. Pos is as good as ever, and this moves from touching to amusing. There are way too many skits, but I guess that’s just in their DNA. This is an impressive album.
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Laughter In Summer – I first discovered Glenn Copeland’s music during the pandemic, on a list of music that was helping other artists I admired cope with lockdown. That led me down a bit of a rabbit hole, and I gained a lot of appreciation of Copeland’s music and story. I guess I first saw her as a child when she would appear on a local kid’s TV show (shout out Mr. Dressup), but had no idea about her career as a folk and new age artist, transition, and extreme poverty later in life, until a Japanese collector discovered his music and revitalized his career. Now Copeland is suffering from dementia, and this is likely his last album. It’s not an ambient or new age album, as I’d hoped, but is instead a collection of folky pop songs, often featuring his wife, Elizabeth Copeland. Age and illness has not diminished Copeland’s voice, which is rich and lovely, or his pen. Some of these songs are a little more theatrical than I’d like, but the love he shares with Elizabeth is so strong (when I saw them perform a number of these songs at the end of last year, they sang to each other, not the audience) that it carries the record. This is a really lovely piece of work.
Fabiano do Nascimento & Vittor Santos Orquestra – Vila – I’ve become a big fan of Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento in the last few years, since discovering his Solo Mundo album. Where he usually plays alone or in collaboration with one other artist, for this record, he teamed up with an orchestra, and the result is grand. Nascimento still plays quietly, but on some of these tracks, the orchestra provides huge swells of music and emotion. There are even vocals on a couple of the songs! This is also much more Brazilian than many of his other albums (he does live in Japan, and that is reflected in the austerity of his playing at times). This was a nice little surprise of an album.
Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore – Tragic Magic – I think we have a strong contender for one of the albums of the year with this. These two artists, both experimental ambient artists in their own ways, worked together at an instrument museum in Paris to create the songs on this album, and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard in a while. Lattimore played harps that are more than three hundred years old while Barwick worked with early synthesizers and other electronic instruments. I was already in love with this album when I got to see them perform it live this week, and they blew me away. This is incredibly gentle music that is thoughtful and thought-provoking. It is music of rebirth and reawakening, and pairs best with a nice warm blanket and a comfortable couch.
