It’s taken me all summer, but I’m finally almost through the backlog – some of these books came out this week!
Best Comic of My Week:
Fort Psycho #1 – Matt Kindt has been on fire lately, and the debut of his new series with artist Brian Hurtt is very impressive. We learn that for years, an organization known as SAW fought against the terrorist organization The Seven Seals (basically, your typical SHIELD/Hydra or GIJoe/Cobra setup) until their fight culminated in a battle that left thousands dead. After that, both organizations were dismantled, and while the terrorists were sent to an Arctic prison, the ‘heroes’ were confined to their former base. We follow one such agent as he is imprisoned, and learn that the prison is not what he’d been led to believe. Then, in typical Kindt style, there is a twist that helps set up the ongoing story. This is inventive and exciting stuff, and Hurtt does a terrific job of helping build this world. I’m excited about this one.
Quick Takes:
Absolute Batman #23 – This book keeps putting the screws on Bruce, as he appears to be descending into madness. His friends and family try to reason with him, but he’s in full conspiracy theory mode, after the Scarecrow has convinced him that he is part of a decades-long plan. Then when he gets captured by the Robins, terrible things happen. This is a powerful issue that takes the time to check in on most of the cast. Nick Dragotta continues to outdo himself on the art and character designs here, and it’s not hard to see why this is the biggest book on the stands.
Absolute Green Lantern #17 – I’m still largely at a loss as to what is happening in this book, as we meet the Absolute version of Jessica Cruz, who has some pretty big issues, and some other stuff happens. I am really starting to think that I’m deficient in the ways I can’t wrap my head around what Al Ewing is trying to do with this series. Maybe I need to look for some explaining videos…
Adventures of Superman: Book of El #11 – We’re near the end of this year-long journey to the future, and before the big fight begins, Kal makes one last attempt to reach Kryl-Ux, the series villain, and appeal to his better side. Of course it doesn’t work out, so we know that the next issue is going to have a big fight. I’ve enjoyed this series, but also been frustrated by it, as it’s been hard to care about a lot of these future characters. I predict that Kal’s adopted children won’t be coming home with him (given the fact that no other writer has used them in Superman’s other books).
Batgirl #22 – Everything comes together in the end to the story about Cassandra’s childhood and her buried memories about another girl being trained to kill. Tate Bombral has now given time to both of Cassandra’s parents in this series, and I’m curious to see where he’s going to take things after the upcoming Bad Seed tie-ins. We know that one of Cassandra’s friends is likely going to betray her, but I’m assuming we’ll have more time before that comes to pass. This book increasingly reads like an older style of comic, with ongoing subplots; I’ve really missed that.
Batman #12 – Matt Fraction is doing a lot more to switch things up in Batman than any recent writer has, since Alfred was killed. This issue gives us a proper look at Verity Pennyworth, and introduces us to a number of new killers and villains who are making their way into Gotham at the same time. It’s almost too much to keep track of, as some of the other ongoing plotlines aren’t getting any mention here, but I like the level of newness Fraction is bringing to this book.
Captain America #14 – Cap and Doom continue to work their way through Hell, building an army to help them take on Mephisto, but the Red Skull already has an army. I like how Chip Zdarsky is writing this series, and especially how he portrays Doom. In this issue, Doom is confronted by the spirit of his first love, and it provides Cap the opportunity to see a different side of him.
Concrete: Stars Over Sand #2 – I continue to be overjoyed by the return of Concrete. Our hero has been hit by lightning during an evening walk in the desert, and after spending some time in a coma of sorts, is now wandering without memory of who he is. Meanwhile, Maureen is growing frantic at the fact that he’s missing, and is starting to fear what life will be like raising their child (who is in its own form of coma) without him. Paul Chadwick’s art is beautiful, as always, but this comic also reveals a lot about how he thinks about the world and that makes it more beautiful. I really like the way he uses omniscient narration to give us details, but also to show us what could have happened but didn’t. Very few writers could pull off a series that is so tranquil and thoughtful without forcing more action into the story, but I find this thrilling the way it’s presented, and can’t wait for the next issue.
Detective Comics 2026 Annual #1 – I enjoyed both stories in this issue. First, Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott have Batman and Lobo working together to solve a murder on a distant planet that Batman’s been blamed for. I don’t like Lobo, and I don’t usually like Black Mercy stories, but this worked, especially due to Scott’s lovely artwork. The backup story was a little odd. It tells the story of an artists’ collective that is torn apart by the newest tenant, who has it out for Batman. This story was written by Dave Wielgosz and drawn by Fran Mariscal, both of whom are new to me and have an interesting approach.
DoomQuest #3 – Similarly to how Ryan North uses his Fantastic Four run to play with weird scientific concepts, and his Flash run to play with weird speed concepts, he’s now turned a historical eye towards this book. Doom is untethered in time, and wherever he turns up, he is determined to shift historical events so that they favour Latveria. In this issue, he finds himself in George Washington’s body, just after the British took Boston, and Doom makes good use of the opportunities afforded to him. North writes Doom well, and this book is pretty compelling. It’s clearly not going to allow the changes Doom is making to stand, but it’s fun to see him apply a modern (and he would say, superior) understanding of history to sway events in his favour.
Endeavour #3 – With about eight pages left in this issue, I was convinced that there would be another one, but this really is the end of this DSTLRY series. Stephanie Phillips and Marc Laming gave us an interesting comic that could never really figure out what it wanted to be. At first, it seemed like it was going to be a relationship drama, as a small group of families embarked on a cruise in a recreation of Captain Cook’s famous vessel. Then the ship rescued a woman at sea and that led to a disease killing off all the adults on board. From there, we moved into Lord of the Flies territory, and that was going well, but the disease part of the story kept coming back, until it got jettisoned in this final issue. The ending felt really rushed, like Phillips had planned to do more with this series, and maybe had an issue cut. I’m not sure what’s going on with DSTLRY, who are finally releasing the rest of their previously solicited titles, but haven’t announced anything new for a while. It would not surprise me to learn that this was intended to have a lot more run time, and the rushed ending left me unsatisfied.
Fantastic Four #15 – For the FF’s 65th Anniversary, Ryan North does two interesting things. First, he decides to centre the entire first half of the issue on a woman who lived in the 18th century, and became a very accomplished (if not recognized) scientist because of an early interaction with the FF, who are trapped moving backwards through time. It’s a cool approach to a story like this, and I enjoyed it. I also liked the way North had the team review some key moments from their past, although I think we could all argue about what made and what didn’t make the cut. North’s tenure with this team has made this book a favourite of mine, and it was nice seeing Humberto Ramos return to draw this issue.
Galactic #2 – It’s been so long since the first issue of this DSTLRY series came out, I could barely remember what happened in it, but I feel like it was easy to catch up with this issue. Curt Pires and Amicar Pinna are making a real love letter to Star Wars with this book, only without droids or the force. These two bounty hunter types (basically Han Solo with a dog guy) had delivered a princess to some bad guys, but then in this issue, feel different about it and end up rescuing her again, but then crash onto an ice planet. It’s entertaining and very nicely-drawn, but doesn’t really say anything new about the stories that have so clearly inspired it.
Iron Man #8 – Joshua Williamson is bringing a lot of energy to this Iron Man run. We’ve got Tony fighting Whiplash while Madame Masque and the rest of AIM plot. Citizen V shows up (I’d forgotten about that plotline) and reveals a little bit more about himself, and generally, things move at a good pace. I was worried that Williamson would end up putting this book on the backburner in favour of his myriad DC projects, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
JSA #22 – Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui help the Spectre find a new host as this arc wraps up, and I have to say that I’m really enjoying the way this title brings back the best of the Geoff Johns run while allowing the characters to move forward. I’m enjoying this run and the fact that I get to see so many beloved characters handled respectfully.
Justice League Unlimited #21 – There’s a lot happening in this issue, as Mr. Terrific’s team has to deal with Despero in space, and the rest of the League are hunting for Brainiac Queen on Earth. Mark Waid keeps a lot of balls in the air, as he sets up the 5th week Special focusing on Batman and Lex Luthor, and finds something for all of his most regular characters to do. It’s another solid, very busy issue.
Justice League: Knight Vision Special #1 – The vision shared by Batman and Lex Luthor leads them into a conflict with Prometheus in this odd one-shot. While writers Mark Waid and Joshua Williamson maintain the animosity between Batman and Lex nicely, the thing that they learn during the fight doesn’t seem terribly important to me. I like how Waid has been writing the main series, but there is a lot of dependence on these one-offs to move the plot along.
Marc Spector: Moon Knight #6 & 7 – One of Marvel’s best books continues to provide a ton of entertainment with each issue. In order to rescue his friends from the Mansion Ravenous, Marc has to put a version of the Midnight Sons back together, so he spends one issue recruiting, and then this new team bursts through the door of the Mansion in Ghost Rider’s car, and fights his dragon. There’s a cool twist at the end of issue seven that I didn’t really see coming, and some very cool moments. Artist Devmalya Pramanik continues to level up, and these two issues are astounding. His action sequences are really impressive, full of chaotic energy and some very cool character shots. I’d love to see him draw more of Daredevil (but don’t want him to leave this title; he makes MK look so cool). This book never lets me down.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 – I’m glad to see that Miles is back on the stands, this time around with Bryan Edward Hill writing and Nico Leon drawing (Valentine De Landro handles some flashback pages). Hill seems to be returning the book to its roots, and has definitely gotten rid of Miles’s girlfriend Starling (and there’s no sign of Shift or some of the other newer members of his family) and severs some ties with some of the extended Spider-Family as well. He even has Ganke throwing some shade on the venom-sword concept. This reset works, as Miles seems to be focusing on school and local heroing, and feels like his life has some balance again. Of course, it’s not long before we meet a new villain who has some connection to Miles’s father’s past, and that seems to be what this first arc will be about. Leon’s art is clean but a little cartoony; it is nice to see Miles in his classic outfit again. I like this character a lot, so have some high hopes for this book.
Minor Arcana #17 – As Missy follows Theresa to the other-dimensional hotel, and they explore the Medieval-looking basement, we see just what led to their breaking up years before. Jeff Lemire has written Theresa as a complex, rich character, and the idea to have Letizia Cadonici draw the flashback scenes adds more texture to this story. It doesn’t move very quickly, but I’m always curious to see what’s next.
Nano #1 – Matt Kindt has been exceptionally busy, with books coming out at Bad Idea, Oni, and Dark Horse at the same time. This long issue starts off his collaboration with cowriter Alexandra Grant and artist Natacha Bustos. They introduce us to a pair of secret agents in a futuristic world, who seem to be working to take down a massive company, Nanocorp. Their previous missions have had to do with disrupting power to Nano’s enclosed city environment, but now with a new mission, they need to split up and go undercover. The man, Lukas, needs to pose as a worker in Nano’s male-only enclosed work environment while Sana has to pose as his wife and a gym teacher, and wait for him to complete a mission she doesn’t even know the details of. Kindt writes a lot of spy stories, and has a good understanding of the genre and how to bend it to suit his purposes. I like the extra-long page count to this issue, which gives us a lot of time and space with Sana, while continuing to hide the most important details. Bustos’s art works really well here, especially for the slice-of-life scenes, and kind of reminds me of the Los Bros Hernandez. It looks like the next issue is going to focus on a completely different character, so I’m excited to see where Kindt and Grant are taking things.
Superman #40 – I think that Joshua Williamson had a lot of fun writing this Superman Prime storyline. It is all sorts of self-referential and fourth wall breaking, as Manchester Black tries to get Prime to make big changes to the DC Universe to make it more to his liking. Prime is a problematic character because of his history and involvement with multiple Crises, but I like how Williamson made him likeable and sympathetic here. I wish that things weren’t moving on so quickly, with this upcoming multi-Superman crossover event (I don’t read any of the other Superbooks, so I need to decide if I want to skip it, just read the chapters in this title, or end up buying a whole bunch of other books). It was always obvious that Superman would be coming back, but I feel like it’s happening a little too soon.
Superman Annual: Year One Thousand #1 – In the preparations for Superman’s return, and laying the groundwork for the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes reboot, we get this oversized issue, that has Superman fulfilling the role that previously belonged to the Time Trapper. He’s aware that Darkseid is still out there causing problems, somewhere, and is getting ready to deal with it, but we also see another Legion-related threat. I’m excited for the Legion to come back, but know that it will never be my Legion. I’m actually a little less excited to see Superman return; I don’t think he’s been gone long enough for anyone to miss him, but I’m a little more intrigued by the Kingdom of Zod crossover, and fear I’m going to end up buying the whole thing. Damnit.
Ultimate Impact: Reborn #3 – Reading this, I was reminded of the Bloodlines Annuals that DC put out in the 90s, that were intended to launch the next round of lasting DC characters. I think within a couple of years, Hitman was the only one that wasn’t being used as cannon fodder. This series, which has some Origin Boxes from the Ultimate Universe falling into unintended hands in the 616 feels much the same. None of these new characters are particularly interesting yet, but neither have they been given any opportunity to shine. This appears to be a poor way to try to continue the Ultimate legacy.
Uncanny X-Men #33 – I’m not sure it makes sense to me that Rogue would go looking for a defrocked priest that we’ve never seen before to exorcise the Eye of Vishanti out of Gambit, but that’s what half of this issue is about. In the other half, the Outliers are not too happy that M and Quicksilver have come to Louisiana to take over while the LeBeaus are gone. That also doesn’t make a lot of sense, because Monet was running the Graymalkin Prison, and Kurt and Logan are much better suited than two of the most misanthropic mutants (or in Pietro’s case, editorially-mandated non-mutant) that Marvel has ever published. It leads to conflict, but it feels like conflict for conflict’s sake. I don’t know, when I read this book, I really like how Gail Simone is writing it, but so many of her decisions don’t stand up to any kind of logical examination.
X-Men #34 & 35 – In the build up to DNX, Jed MacKay allows for some character moments. Juggernaut gets a whole issue (drawn by Greg Land, which really surprised me as I haven’t seen his name in ages) focusing on why he’s chosen to be an X-Men and how insecure he still feels as part of the team), while issue thirty-five is divided between a few of the main players. Beast reveals to Illyana what he’s learned about the Chairman of 3K, and how it makes him feel, while Magneto has his own run-in with that group. This book has been making me happy for a while now, and it’s nice seeing so many of MacKay’s longer-running plotlines converging; I do hope that there is a plan for him to stick around long after the DNX event runs its course.
The Week In Magazines:
Back Issue #159 – It’s taken me a really long time to get through this examination of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. This magazine digs into the stories behind the actual comics, which reset the entire DC Universe in the mid-80s, and became the model for endless fiddling with DC continuity ever since. There’s not a lot of editorializing, aside from sharing with us some creators’ opinions and memories of how things went down, but it does a good job of clarifying why some things played out the way they did. We also get an extended look at reboot attempts that took place after the original Crisis. There’s lots of great art in this issue, and I enjoyed revisiting this time period this way.
The Week In Music:
Anthony Joseph – The Ark – There seems to be a recent resurgence in artists reciting poetry over jazz tracks, and I like it. Anthony Joseph’s album is very different from aja monet’s recent release though; his poetry is muscular and rides over the very cool jazz and fusion backing. He approaches rapping through much of this, as he speaks of the history of many things – poetry, jazz, England’s racial relations, and more. It’s pretty arresting stuff, and is hard to ignore or let fade into the background. It’s very cool.
Helado Tropical – Helado Tropical – Helado Negro has collaborated with Reyna Tropical to create this album, and it’s as unexpected as it is wonderful. Negro’s music is exploratory and a little dark, while Fabi Reyna’s music is equally exploratory, but a bit brighter. Together, they’ve made some really beautiful songs, layered with synths and guitars, and grounded in their warm voices. I’m still disappointed that I missed their concert, which was announced with little warning on a night that I already had plans, long before this album was released (especially since I’ve never seen Negro perform; I have seen Reyna once). While I enjoy both of their solo work, I’d be very open to them continuing to collaborate, as this is beautiful.
Seu Jorge – The Other Side – For this album, his first in some years, the Brazilian singer/songwriter and guitar player Seu Jorge enlisted the help of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson to arrange the music for an orchestra. The result is that Jorge’s voice, which is always so magnetic, is matched by swelling strings in so many places on this album. His voice is only getting richer as he ages, and while I have no idea what these songs are about (other than the one in English, that is), this feels like Jorge has a lot to convey. It’s lovely.
