Best Comic of My Week:
Bleeding Hearts #2 – There is so much potential in this book, I could almost feel it staining my fingers as I read it. This issue switches perspectives, showing us the story of the woman that Poke, our POV zombie with a beating heart, found at the end of the first issue. We learn about her and her daughter, Rabbit, and their life leading up to being discovered. What is interesting is that in the first issue, the zombies communicate with one another openly, but in this issue, Poke is silent as he rescues the two humans and then brings them their belongings. I’m very invested in this book already, and am curious to see what Deniz Camp is going to do next with this story. Stipan Morian, the artist, and Matt Hollingsworth, the colourist, give this book a very warm feel. Visually, this book makes me think a bit about Richard Corben, but in subtle ways. I really hope this gets as much space as Camp and Morian want to tell this story.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Batman #18 – It seems that Scott Snyder is taking Batman down an even darker path, as he crosses the kind of line the mainline Batman would never cross while taking down Absolute Poison Ivy. We also learn some interesting things about Martha Wayne and her connection to a secret organization. Eric Canete was a good choice of artist for this arc, as his Poison Ivy is truly disturbing. This continues to be such an excellent series.
Absolute Green Lantern #12 – This continues to be the most radically changed property in the Absolute Universe. Hammond is going after Jo, Hal, and their new squad, while the Tomar also arrives on Earth. I’m still not completely sure of what’s going on here, but I do like this book. I would appreciate a little more clarity soon, though…
American Caper #5 – I continue to be highly amused by this book. If it weren’t for the author’s names on the cover (Dan Houser and Lazlow), I’d assume that this is being written by David Lapham, the artist. It’s got his brand of twisted all over it, and could be read as a lighthearted companion piece to Stray Bullets. Finisher Chris Anderson is back in this issue, making things look a little different from the previous one, but the feeling of this book is still there. These seem to be the types of stories that Trump’s America is creating these days, where the satire feels a little too on the nose.
Batwoman #1 – I was excited to see that Greg Rucka was returning to Batwoman, with a new series, and was really excited to see that DaNi would be drawing it. Her work is terrific, and I’ve been looking forward to seeing her on an ongoing book. She reminds me of Frank Miller and Alex Maleev, and she draws really atmospheric scenes. I was a bit disappointed, however, to realize that we were immediately dealing with Kate’s sister here, and the Crime Bible religion again. I feel like Rucka said all there was to say about this in his first Batwoman run, and nothing about this issue made me feel differently. Hopefully there is something coming that I haven’t anticipated, because I’m happy this book exists. I just think that Kate needs to stand on her own without always recycling the same story about her family.
Captain America #8 – Things get increasingly complicated in Latveria, as Cap slides away from Nick Fury Jr.’s people to meet with the local resistance, and ends up discovering just what Salvation, the purported leader of Latveria, is really up to. Chip Zdarsky is making this book politically intriguing, and it feels even more relevant than it would have when he started writing this story. I really like the art by Jan Bazaldua, which seems to blend the best of JRJR with Gabrial Hernandez Walta. This is the kind of Cap book I’ve been waiting for, and it has me looking more and more forward to whatever this Armageddon thing is going to be.
Deathstroke the Terminator #1 – I was excited to see that Slade is getting his own book again, and despite not having read anything by writer Tony Fleecs before, I decided to preorder it. I’ve been a fan of Slade from back when he got his first series in the 90s (I was late to the New Teen Titans), and loved the Priest run from a few years back. This one starts off with a bang, as Slade is sent in blind on an assassination mission, only to find that he’d been played. Fleecs does a great job of reminding readers of his relationships with his partner Wintergreen and his daughter Rose, before shaking things up quite a bit. The art is by Carmine Di Giandomenico, whose work I didn’t much like when he started out, but is now really quite fantastic. This is a very kinetic issue, and Di Giandomenico does a great job of showing just how good Slade is at his job. I’m invested in this series, and excited to see where it’s headed.
Emperor Aquaman #15– It’s kind of curious that Jeremy Adams and the powers at DC decided to change the name of this title for the last issue of a story arc, instead of waiting for the next issue, which starts the next arc. Arthur is back from the K.O. tournament, and I guess he’s leveled up his powers again, as well as gained new purpose and drive, hence the change in his title. This new direction sounds interesting, but also reminds me of when Black Panther ended up with an Intergalactic Empire. The idea of the Blue appeals to me (honestly, I’m surprised that after the Red got added to the Green, no one thought of including the Blue), but I’m not too sure how Aquaman is going to fit as an outer space series. I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out though. I find that Aquaman is only ever as interesting as his supporting cast, and like the squad that Adams has added around him.
High Strangeness Book Five: Infinity – I’m so happy I ended up buying this series. The first couple of issues led me to believe that this was a standard anthology series, where each issue told a single story of some sort of aspect of the supernatural or unexplained. With this issue, though, we see that all of these things are interconnected, as writer Daniel Noah and his co-writer/artist Christian Ward show a different plane of reality, as the character from issue four (I think) learns about how their life is connected to all things. This issue is incredibly psychedelic (which is why Ward was the only person to draw it) and a little confusing, but also very cool. It makes me want to go back and reread the whole series again, to look for the previously hidden connective tissue. I like experimental books like this, and am glad that Oni decided to publish it.
Imperial Guardians #1 – It makes me sad that this is just a five-parter, when it has Dan Abnett writing a cosmic book again. Sure, this is a strange collection of characters – Captain Marvel, Gamora, Darkhawk, Brawn, and Cosmic Ghost Rider (who I despise) are working for Maximus The Mad to help the new Galactic Union (not an empire, so the title makes no sense) get off the ground safely. It has a lot of potential – like the best X-Force run, this team wears all grey and operates as a black ops group for Star-Lord, but it seems Marvel has already decided it doesn’t have enough of a built-in audience. It’s wild that characters like Captain Marvel can no longer command their own series, let alone prop up a solid team book with a solid creative team. I guess I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts…
Nova: Centurion #5 & 6 – It looks like this Nova series is canceled, and I think that’s a real shame. First off, I’m not sure what the point of the Imperial series was if it couldn’t launch one ongoing title. We’ve seen the Black Panther miniseries end, Imperial Guardians (which I haven’t read yet) is a miniseries as well, and the New Exiles book hasn’t been solicited yet, making me think it’s not even going to happen. Nova was the bright point of this whole little line, and with superstar writer Jed MacKay running things, and setting up a new status quo, I really expected it to stick around for a while. I was liking this book a lot too, with the way that MacKay brought back Cammi and Pip, and gave Rich a new mission of sorts. This had all the hallmarks that made MacKay’s Moon Knight into such a special book, but I’m not sure that Marvel gave it time to succeed. Oh well, these last two issues, which had Rich and Peter Quill working out their issues, while dealing with Cammi’s secret problem and the Kree-Skrull War (the gangster organization, not another war), were fun. I’ll miss this book.
The Seasons #9 – This book returns with a tonal shift that feels perfectly suited for artist Paul Azaceta. Once Winter got ahold of the mirror from the first eight issues, the entire city changed and now things feel a little faux-Victorian, and are all in service of her “art”. Spring and Summer are trying to figure out how to stop her reign of terror and pretentious parties. This book is fun, and the darker tones appeal to me more than the oddball circus clowns of the first arc. I found this a hard series to get into, but I trust Rick Remender and it looks like it’s starting to pay off.
Sonja Reborn #6 – Priest’s fish out of water story featuring a sad woman from our world whose been transported into Sonja’s body is interesting, but kind of lacks the complexity of his Vampirella. This issue has Margaret returning to her body on Earth, and kind of reveals that there is a light versus dark thing going on with beings who are manipulating Margaret/Sonja. It’s interesting, but it’s also going on a bit of a hiatus, which will make it a little harder to follow when it returns.
Star Wars: Shadow of Maul #1 – This is pretty standard Star Wars underground fare. We meet a cop who is trying to uncover corruption on a pretty corrupt planet, and somehow, this is all connected to Darth Maul. I miss the days when an issue of Star Wars felt more important, but this is capable stuff.
X-Men Annual #1 – Ryan Stegman wrote this amusing little annual, which is about a mutant with the ability to create anything he can think of, only he doesn’t have a lot of creativity, so instead he kidnaps comics artists Ryan Stegman and Sanford Greene, and gets them to draw the monsters he’s using to attack the X-Men (weirdly, it’s the Uncanny team that is featured here, alongside Phoenix, who returns to Earth to deal with this threat). It’s kind of a silly story, but Stegman’s writing is decent, and the art, mostly by Steve Skroce, but with some Stegman and Greene drawings too, depending on what their in-comics selves were drawing, is fantastic.
X-Men United #1 – I liked Eve L. Ewings work on Exceptional X-Men, in that it was a quieter, more self-contained look at the Marvel mutant experience. Now, she’s got Emma and Kitty running a whole school that only exists in the thoughts of the students who attend, and all of the X-Men are involved, or are at least invited to be. It’s an interesting concept, but from the start it feels like the school is more grounded in an actual place, and that we’re getting yet another iteration of the X-Men school. The new characters from Exceptional are given a lot of space, and seem more important to the running of the school than makes sense. I want to give this time and space to grow, but Cyclops doesn’t and is back to being a bit of a jerk. There’s potential here, but it feels a little undercooked so far. I feel like the art, by Tiago Palma, holds things back a bit too, much like how I felt when Paco Medina took over the New X-Men book back in the day. I’d like things to look a little more serious.
The Week In Music:
Gregory Uhlmann – Extra Stars – Guitarist Gregory Uhlmann takes some odd turns on this album, but I love it. It’s a strange and unpredictable album of free ambient music (is that even a genre), featuring Uhlmann on guitar, bass, synths, recorders, percussion, and piano. There are a few guests, and they are all people who fit in the same vein of unpredictably unconventional jazz (Anna Butterss, Josh Johnson, Jeremiah Chiu, and Alabaster DePlume make appearances). Fans of Carlos Niño would enjoy this one.
Eric Hilton – A Sky So Close – If you’ve been reading this column for a while, you know that I like a lot of different kinds of music, but still have these massive gaps in my knowledge. I heard and bought this album recently, in the same week that I bought a ticket to go see the Thievery Corporation, which I’d never really listened to. I was surprised to find out that Eric Hilton is one half of the original duo that evolved into the current band, but that he doesn’t tour with them anymore. This album does sound like a Thievery Corporation album, with it’s generous use of a sitar and dance rhythms, but without all the dub elements. This is more like Thievery Corporation and Caribou had a baby together. It’s that kind of warm, propulsive dance music that I’ve liked since I was a kid, and it’s got enough going on that it keeps my interest. I’m glad I discovered Hilton, and am not sure what took me so long.
Sophie Hutchings – Become The Sky – I am a huge fan of the way Sophie Hutchings can construct whole worlds with her piano. Her music is gentle and calming, but also always has a lot going on. The deeper I listen to this, the more I discover within it. It’s a really good album.
Asher Gamedze – A Semblance: Of Return – South African drummer Asher Gamedze is all over the place on this album. On some tracks, he and his collaborators ride some really cool grooves, but in other places, this can be a little hard to swallow, when he dives into more experimental sounds. Gamedze is a huge talent, and I like how this calls back to spiritual and conscious jazz from the 70s. It’s not an easy album to sit back and read a book to, though.
Joshua Idehen – I Know You’re Hurting, Everyone Is Hurting, Everyone Is Trying, You Have Got To Try – I love the way that Joshua Idehen blurs the line between spoken word and rap on this album, but I particularly like the way he’s partnered with the producer Saturday, Monday to make these songs work as well on the dance floor as they do in headphones. This is an upbeat and self-affirming project, reminding listeners that there is still a place for optimism in this world. He does not shy away from difficult subjects (“If you don’t know where to stand on a line, choose a free Palestine” or words to that effect stick with me), but manages to find a way to stay positive throughout. This is a really solid record.
