Best Comic of My Week:
The Hab #1 – I was really excited to see that Joshua Dysart would be writing a new series at Bad Idea; he’s one of my favourite writers, and since he’s not very prolific, a new book by him always feels like an event. He’s joined by David Lapham on the main story, and by Jacob Phillips and Bill Sienkiewicz on the backup story, which adds some context to the main event. In a near-future, one rich man has built a self-sustaining habitat for his family and some key employees, which they retreat to when the world finally falls apart. We spend the first half of the issue learning about the strange family dynamics (it is not a stretch to assume that Dysart took a look at Elon Musk and his family when plotting this), and then discover that there’s a problem within the structure. The creators take their time getting to the horror aspects of this story, which makes everything happening before feel suggest that this is going to be a family drama comic. Then, when things get weird, it’s even more unsettling. Lapham is so good at this kind of thing, so it really works. Usually I love when a new series is using newsprint, because I like the old comics feel, but some of Matt Hollingsworth’s colours don’t really fit nicely with this kind of paper. Still, I’m very much looking forward to the next issue.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Wonder Woman #19 – Diana continues her fight with Cale’s forces, hoping to free Zatarra from Cale’s control, while also trying to manage the powerful magic she’s deployed. This book continues to be the most endearing of the Absolute line, as Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman continue to create the run of their careers. In a flashback, we learn why Diana is so beloved everywhere she goes, but like, that magic shouldn’t work on me too, should it?
Captain America #9 – 11 – Chip Zdarsky is doing exciting things with this series. Cap continues to try to navigate the situation in Latveria, choosing to place his morals and a need to save lives over SHIELD’s mission for him, which leads to a faceoff with Salvation, but also gives General Ross the opportunity to push forward his own agenda, which is to take over Latveria for the United States. Issue eleven has a few surprises in it, which continue to set up the Armageddon event, and which keeps readers on their toes. Each of these three issues has a different artist, which is kind of annoying, but they also came out in something like five weeks, so it’s understandable that Valerio Schiti wouldn’t be able to produce at that pace. Zdarsky is one of my favourite writers at the moment, and this run shows why that is beautifully.
Imperial Guardians #2 & 3 – At three issues in, I’m really bummed out that this is just a miniseries and not an ongoing title. Dan Abnett is so good at writing series like this, and the way that each issue tells a complete story while building on some other plotlines (all of which revolve around Darkhawk) works really well. Both of these issues put the black ops group into difficult situations which they manage with creativity. The interactions between characters are really interesting, and I love how Abnett is tapping into the depth of Marvel’s established deep space lore. I do think that Darkhawk has undergone some retconning, because I thought he knew more about the armor than he seems to here, but he’s never really been a character I’ve spent much time with. This series has the potential to run for a while, so it’s too bad that it’s being cut short.
Inglorious X-Force #4 & 5 – These two issues have the team going up against Mr. Sinister, as well as give us some insight into Warren’s current powerset (this character just gets more confusing with every series he appears in, as we meet Blood Angel), and have Cable figure out what his cryptic note to himself really means, he thinks. I like this series and the way Tim Seeley is writing it, but I still can’t get behind the idea that Cable thinks they’ll all stay together to protect Ms. Marvel from a future he saw that is at least two decades out. The premise is thin, and that impacts the whole book. The revolving door of artists, all of whom are quite good, doesn’t help much either.
Knight City #3 – Matt Kindt and David Lapham work really well together, and this miniseries stands out because of that. Kindt has imagined a hero so powerful that he’s created a different reality that he travels to while sleeping. While there, he’s an ordinary person, and is probably a lot happier, even though things don’t always go his way. His arch-enemy has figured out a way to travel to that world, and plans on killing him there, at least until his test run reveals that death in one world doesn’t result in death in another (although maybe it would for that world’s progenitor). This is an interesting concept, and Kindt and Lapham explore it well. I especially like the combination of the two creator’s art styles, with Kindt colouring Lapham’s art in his typical style.
The Week In Music:
Kelly Moran – Don’t Trust Mirrors – It’s taken me a little while to get a copy of the new Kelly Moran album, but after seeing her perform it last month, I wanted a copy. She plays piano (often ‘prepared piano’, meaning she’s tied things to the strings and such) and creates an interesting blend of relaxing ambient music and some jarring and discordant pieces, often at the same time. It’s one of those albums where I keep finding new things to pay attention to with each listen.
Adrian Younge Presents Younge – Adrian Younge is shockingly prolific, and keeps dabbling in a variety of styles and approaches. Leaving behind (probably temporarily) the Brazilian sound he’s been perfecting, he instead gives us an album of cinematic music that could have been coming out of Italy in the 70s. For this album he worked with the Linear Labs Orchestra, a collection of his frequent collaborators, and their understanding of one another shines through on every track. This is a really impressive album.
