I barely had time to read this week, and next week looks even busier.
Best Comic of My Week:
Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #2 – Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips continue to build out their character and world in this second issue. Private Investigator Ezra Cain has two related cases on his hands – a Greek artifact has been stolen from a museum in New York, and a German guard at that museum has gone missing. This issue follows as Ezra starts to investigate, visiting his old archeology professor and learning that the old man thinks the artifact is a channel for vril energy (giving this a Mignola-esque feel), and also learning that a local union might be involved in pro-Hitler activities in New York. I like the slow pace that Condon takes with this book, and am really enjoying Phillips’s art (as usual). This new Vertigo title has a bit of the feel of some of the early Vertigo books, like Sandman Mystery Theatre, and I’m here for it.
Quick Takes:
The Department of Truth #36 – I was surprised that this issue was basically a flashback, focusing on Hunky’s earliest days in the Department, when he started monitoring all television transmissions. This book has been on fire lately, after the Department got DOGE’d, and this feels like it’s stalling the momentum a little. At the same time, it’s so rare that I get to see art from Ben Templesmith these days, and I hadn’t realized that he was guest-drawing this issue, so that was a very pleasant surprise. His aesthetic and approach matches this book perfectly, and now that I think of it, it’s weird that he wasn’t on this book before now.
Detective Comics #1107 – It’s curious that this is the second DC book I read this week that included a bit of a rant against AI, and not as an evil antagonist, but more as a source of environmental destruction. I guess creators are getting really worried about the suddenness with which AI is upending current systems. I don’t blame them. Green Arrow and Black Canary are in Gotham, and that means that Ollie has a conflict with Bruce, but also that the two heroes’ families get together at Wildcat’s old gym. Tom Taylor retcons someone into their shared past, but it’s managed in a very secretive way, leaving me to wonder who they’re talking about (I realize I could just google the name and see if this is based on something I’ve forgotten, but I’d rather wait until the next issue to find out). Pete Woods joins Taylor on this issue (or arc?) and does fine work, as always.
Fantastic Four #9 – Ryan North continues to explore the science behind the FF’s powers, and now he’s introduced another Sue Richards, only this one is immensely powerful and pretty crazy. She’s determined to lobotomize our Sue, to make her like herself, and to help unlock her potential. This is another excellent issue in a very good run.
Green Lantern #33 – This was a pretty mixed bag, and if I’m being honest, there was a lot that I didn’t like. It seems that this book is going to be sharing top billing between Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner. I’m not a huge fan of either character, really, but I’ve liked what Jeremy Adams has been doing with both of them. The focus on Kyle slows down Hal’s story quite a bit, and then we are given utterly pointless retreads of their origins, without any new insight. I can understand the desire to look back, since this is the 600th ‘legacy’ issue of this title, but again, it didn’t add much of anything. I was amused by how Kyle had to fight a film executive who thinks that the best way to make movies now is completely through the use of AI. It seems like maybe Adams is saying something with that. Anyway, here’s hoping this book gets back on track.
Iron Man #3 & 4 – I’m pretty pleased with Joshua Williamson’s approach to this book. He’s got a good feel for Tony, who most writers have struggled with over the last few years, and is making good use of a supporting cast (introducing a new love interest, while also keeping Pepper in the mix), and building some mystery around Citizen V (who is definitely not Zemo) while focusing on the current Madame Masque and AIM story. This feels like the start of a run that could last for a while, which would be nice. Carmen Carnero is doing very fine work on this book too, and I’m looking forward to more.
Minor Arcana #15 – At first I was a bit disappointed to see that Jeff Lemire was giving us another flashback to Bud’s past, but then this issue helped fill in some interesting blanks, showing us what happened after Bud was released from prison, picked up the Tarot, and had a run-in with the person whose wife he killed in his accident. Lemire has an intricate plan for this series, and it holds my attention nicely.
The Week In Magazines:
Comics! The Magazine #1 – I stopped reading comics ‘news’ websites a couple of years ago, because of the increase of gossipy nonsense, clickbait, and popup ads, but I do miss having a better look into the industry. I was curious to check out this new magazine, which is comic-sized and pretty inexpensive at $2.99. If I’m being honest, this gave off the vibes of being made by people who read too many issues of Wizard growing up, but there are signs of hope here too. I think it was smart to focus on Absolute Batman on the cover, but I’m not sure I came away from this having learned much about the industry or any upcoming books (other than wanting to check out Blood of the Virgin). I wish they explained the methodology behind their Top 100 list (presumably that was supposed to be in the solid black box that takes up a good amount of the page). Anyway, I picked up the second issue already but haven’t read it; I want to see this succeed, but want more substance too.
The Week In Music:
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, Macie Stewart – Body Sound – This has been quite a month for atmospheric ambient music for me, with most of the shows I’ve been going to leading in that direction. For that reason, this new album from this trio fits really nicely with my current headspace. In addition to all three providing vocals, Johnson plays viola, Kohl the cello, and Stewart the violin. They play around in the neo-classical ambient world, and provide us with some dark and exploratory soundscapes. It’s pretty cool, and I like that this came out on International Anthem, which is much more of a jazz label typically.
