Comic Reviews

This week one Batman finds a sense of humour whilst another watches some pretty intense polyamory negotiations; some very circuitous Clone Saga nostalgia hits all over the Spider-Man books; Doctor Aphra is just the most adorable hostage taker; and, the mad genius of the Bombshells universe resurrects the best Bat-family member that no one ever wanted to write for.

Dark Knights: The Batman Who Laughs one-shot

This was certainly a fun one. Okay, not overburdened with answers and very much like the other Dark Knights one-shots that preceded it but it felt like a fitting conclusion to the run of evil Batman origin stories. It was a fun detail that the art used the DCAU version of the Joker because, to my generation at least, he's not just the definitive version of the character but one of the most evil. Okay, part of that was that we were kids at the time and had pretty simple definitions of evil but... well, its just nice to see that version get his due as the Joker of the worst version of Batman's life.

On the character side the issue, even after everything we've seen from the other Dark Knights, works as a pretty good manifesto for why this Batman is the leader of the group and what he's capable of.

Its also another good example of why this crossover is hitting the spot for me a lot more than the sprawling events Marvel has been inflicting on its audience the last couple of years. This is one of two issues of the event this week. Just two and that's the norm. Yes, it has intruded on some of my regular reading and not always in ways that benefit those series (Green Arrow interrupting the storyline that's been running since Rebirth is a particular low point for me) but it isn't interrupting everything I'm reading from DC. Its also a lot more cohesive as a story because there's just fewer individual writers stirring the same pot. It has focus and that's very clearly to its benefit.

Amazing Spider-Man #791

Fall of Parker part 3

Okay, very specific nostalgia moment here. I know that putting Peter back at the Daily Bugle is meant to be one of those all-time classic status quos but particular details remind me of a time in the series that probably only I'm actually nostalgic for.

That said, they've got Peter David writing a Ben Reilly ongoing so maybe not.

Anyway, back during the bad old days of the Clone Saga there was a time when Peter was a staff writer at the Daily Bugle, a young professional with a full-time job. Dan Slott's big idea is that Robbie Robertson has brought Peter on as the Bugle's new science editor which, again, has that young professional thing going on that makes it feel less like the character is backsliding (which actually gets a lampshade put on it by Aunt May of all characters).

Peter and Mockingbird's relationship continues to be fun and interesting in a “waiting for the future trainwreck” sort of way. I really don't see it lasting and I think Slott is on my side on this which I'm glad of because even by Spider-Man standards this seems like a poor dynamic. I mean, its not the worst days of Peter and MJ but its close.

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #297

Most Wanted part 1

I have questions. For instance, why not launch this title with its Legacy numbering like they did with Captain America if they were going to switch the numbering all of seven issues in? Why is this marketed as the beginning of a new storyline when it so clearly isn't? Okay, these aren't Earth-shattering questions but since basic marketing seems to be a blindspot for Marvel these days they bear expressing.

Such minor irritations aside this was probably my favourite issue of the series so far with the sort of “issue as episode” structure that I'm always praising Tom King's Batman for. Peter returns to his apartment to find Teresa gone (btw, I really, really want it to turn out she's really Peter's sister, I would love that) and promptly gets ambushed by a small army of mercenary types who can shut off his spider-sense. Unwilling to compromise his identity, Peter spends most of the issue out of costume and unable to use his gadgets so there's an extra element of thinking through the problem as he flees from the mercenaries that really works for the character.

There also continues to be some fantastic payoff for last issue's conversation with Jonah and I hope that situation doesn't get reverse or retconned down the line. Again, nostalgia for the way the cast worked in the Clone Saga days but I've always prefered Jonah as a genuinely decent and principled journalist with a few very bad blindspots which seems to be how Zdarsky wants to portray him.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #14

Remaster part 1

This issue was adorable, not just in plot but in new artist Emilio Laiso's rendition of both Aphra and her developing nemesis Lt. (formerly Captain, until she last met Aphra) Magna Tolvan. The main meat of the issue is Aphra and some new friends raiding a backwater Imperial outpost with Aphra on getaway driver duty. In this role she takes over an Imperial flyer that Tolvan was getting in to for the purposes of shooting Aphra's new colleagues. What follows is an issue of Aphra flirting with Tolvan and Tolvan being very, very sad and needing a hug (but, obviously, getting a stun blast instead).

Its all leading to a twist ending that's all over the internet by now but that I won't spoil here. Suffice to say that I was worried some of this series' entertainment value was on the way out after The Enormous Profit but that the new status quo more than makes up for the changes to the supporting cast.

And for the record, I officially ship Aphra/Tolvan a hell of a lot more than Aphra/Sana. The chemistry is just palpable.

Bombshells United #12

World Tour part 2

A lot of stuff happens in this issue but, to be frank, the only thing I care about (and I recognise the massive disservice I am doing to this, perhaps the best series DC is putting out right now) is that Cass Cain has finally made her Bombshells debut and she's done it as the Black Bat.

The fact that DC made her the Black Bat, Batman Incorporated's assigned agent for Hong Kong, and then did almost nothing with her right up until the New 52, is a very old grudge of mine of which the latest manifestation is continuing resentment towards the Orphan identity she currently wears in Detective Comics for not being the Black Bat.

Trust the great Marguerite Bennett to come in and fix yet another longstanding DC editorial fuck up. Here's hoping Cass gets a decent length arc to name sometime soon.

Batman #35

The Rules of Engagement part 3

This issue was hilarious and touching all at the same time. For once in modern comics the cover tells not one lie: the main event is a big old sword fight between Selina and Talia (and, yes, I stand by my characterisation of that fight as “polyamory negotiation”). Its a great character study because, not unnaturally, Talia's position is that Selina is not Bruce's equal and she has all the old lines about how “the Detective” is the only man on Earth who has a chance of being her equal and that's why they are destined blah blah blah.

And Selina? Selina ain't having none of it. Selina is very clearly, very explicitly going into this whole engagement situation with no illusions about where she ranks in Bruce's priorities and how damaged the poor guy is. Frankly, he spent four months of pillow talk describing how he almost murdered a guy, this truth should be self-evident but its commendable that Tom King wants us to know Selina has a sense of reality about the whole thing. She knows Bruce isn't going to stop being Batman or put her above the mission, its not who he is and its based on profound childhood trauma he's never fully processed, perhaps now never can, not fully.

Oh, and we break periodically for comic relief courtesy of Dick and Damian who are as delightful as ever. Of particular note is Dick's diagnosis for why Batman chose to go on a suicide mission to face his ex before mentioning his engagement to his gaggle of sons which cuts right to the heart of the very same issues Selina's outlining to Talia which reinforces the fact that they're right and that Selina is capable of understanding Bruce on a level with one of the only people who has known him longer and more personally than she has. Good stuff. 

Comic Reviews

This week, Brienne of Tarth gives evidence; two jerks head into space; the Ninth Doctor and Rose end up all at sea; the X-Men aren't as astonishing as they think they are; and, Riri Williams experiences future shock.

Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Captain Phasma #1

The last time Marvel did one of these Journey To... series it wasn't what you'd call the most relevant comic they ever did. It was basically the story of how Poe Dameron's parents met. Okay, the details of The Force Awakens were super, super secret so what Marvel could do was rather limited and I didn't go into this thinking much had changed.

Effectively, this issue (and probably the whole arc) forms an extended epilogue to The Force Awakens as Captain Phasma narrates a not entirely frank account of how Starkiller Base came to meet its end. The dialogue is minimal, as suits the character, Marco Checchetto's art carries the bulk of the storytelling duties. If there's one thing that's clear from how the creators are treating the character its that they, and perhaps Disney's licensing department, view Phasma as being more the “new Darth Vader” than Kylo Ren is.

Frankly, I'm with them on that one.

This first issue doesn't shed any more light on Phasma's character than her appearances in the Poe Dameron ongoing have. She's still pretty much just a very efficient, very cold storm trooper in particularly cool armour. The writing captures her voice well and the art makes her look all kinds of badass in a way the film singularly failed to so I'm more than willing to pick up the next issue to see if things get more interesting.

Green Arrow #30

Hard-Travelling Hero part 5: Constellation of Fear

Its a reunion of the original Hard-Travelling Heroes! I was pleased as punch when some throwaway dialogue early in this arc referred back to the original Green Lantern/Green Arrow series because that's one of my favourite classic comics and here we get to see how the two Rebirth versions of the characters work together!

As it turns out they've mellowed towards one another and that's good because this issue the exact opposite of what the original Hard-Travelling Heroes was about: this is Ollie needing to get out into space, high above the people he's trying to save instead of convincing Hal to keep his feet on the ground and notice the little people. There's a lot of nice scenes where we get to see the two Greens be jers to one another in that way that people can be when they're totally comfortable with each other.

We drop in, briefly, on Star City and Dinah and Emi's ongoing investigation into whatever happened to the secretary Ollie is meant to have murdered. Honestly, I wish there was more to that plot because I like Dinah and Emi together and this brief scene is one of only a few rare snapshots we get of the two women being superheroes together.

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Special one-shot

The Lost Dimension part 2

So, is it all starting to tie together yet? Well, no. This issue does exactly what it says on the cover. After the Alpha one-shot set up events all across the modern series continuity (and the Fifth Doctor era) this one hones in on the Ninth Doctor and Rose. It follows up briefly on the Jack and Tara subplot from Alpha but in the main this is a standalone that has Nine and Rose running into Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint on the high sees. Its exactly as fun as it sounds as a one-off, though at times it does feel more like a second prologue to the story.

Anyway, interestingly Vastra and Jenny already know the Doctor which opens up the comics to do so much more with the Paternoster Gang in the future. There's more distrust between Vastra and Nine than she had with Eleven and Twelve, though Nine just isn't as trustworthy as his successors (unless you're Rose). Now that the series has long abandoned Vastra and Jenny (and Strax) I'd love to see Titan revisit the characters in depth.

Especially as the comics seem a lot less shy about Jenny and Vastra making heart eyes at each other than the TV show was.

Astonishing X-Men #3

Life of X part 3

I'm starting to wonder about this different artist on every issue angle. Its a nice idea in theory but it doesn't seem to be contributing much to the overall experience. I can see how it could but even with most of the series so far taking place on the astral plane there hasn't been the sort of stretching of artistic muscles you'd assume would be going on.

This issue art comes courtesy of Ed McGuinness, an artist I really like. For the most part he's called on to draw Old Man Logan wandering through various scenarios built by the Shadow King to sucker him into believing its all real and putting him under the King's control. So far to good.

Its not that its badly drawn, its just there's nothing about the scenario that merges with McGuinness' art style to create the sort of amazing showcase that a series with a different artist on every issue should be offering. Nothing here is bad, its just that this was sold, as most series of Astonishing are, as a series os especial specialness.

And I'm not feeling it.

Generations: Iron Man and Ironheart one-shot

This one, I'm feeling. This issue has a whole list of pencillers, inkers and colourists that should make it unwieldy and confused but just adds to the experience as different artists hand in art that matches the different moods and sense of confusion Riri goes through in this issue, art gaining definition as she comes to understand what's going on around her. This issue also marks the first time one of the younger characters going through the Generations thing has been sent to the future, which I guess makes sense since the story being teased at the end of the issue is the return of Tony Stark.

Anyway, Riri is in the far-flung future we've been teased with a few times, the one where Tony Stark is the Sorcerer Supreme and those kid Avengers from that one cartoon turn up because that can't just be left to lie dead in the dust where it belongs. The two bond about futurism and its interesting to see because for the first time this is a pairing where both characters know each other. True, there's a gap of experience between the two because this Tony knows Riri far better than she knows him but no one is ignorant of the situation.

If nothing else this really makes me want to see more interaction between Riri and the real Tony Stark rather than the increasingly dodgy AI version. 

Comic Reviews

Its basically all Marvel all the time this week since DC hates five week months with a fiery passion matched only by their hatred of having the same continuity for more than two years. Okay, there was The Lazarus Contract conclusion and an issue of The Flash this week but neither particularly inspired me to write anything about them. Plus, Doctor Strange fell off the pull list for a bit because Nazis so this genuinely is most of my pulls for the week and not just me being lazy, honest.

Cable #1

Right, these post-IvX series have so far made me care about the Inhumans so let's see if lightning can strike twice and they can make me care about Cable, patron saint of 90s Second Amendment comics. It is James Robinson on writing duties, which is almost always a good sign.

Anyway, Robinson takes the time travel aspect of Cable and runs with it. As a first impression he has Cable swaggering into a Wild West saloon and Cable as old fashioned gunslinger is certainly a good take on the character. I mean, the whole look of him is basically old-style masculinity boiled down and distilled into a single character. Anyway, Cable is on the trail of some sort of time travelling arms dealers, first going after Wild West outlaws and then a bunch of sixteenth century ronin with lightsabers. Either of these would make a good single issue story but, sadly, they make a pretty a rather spare single issue that's long on atmosphere but rather short on story. Still, that's not a million miles from my previous experiences with Robinson (his Superman run in particular) and I know he's a writer I can afford a degree of patience to.

Hulk #6

I know an ongoing theme of these reviews lately has been me getting a bit tired of the decompressed storytelling style of Brian Michael Bendis and the like but this series absolutely lobbies for the right of that style to exist.

Its been six issues and only now do we get substantial time with Jen as the now neutrally gendered Hulk. We've had snippets of it here and there, other scenes where its implied but Jen spends most of this issue in her new grey skin and green scars form. We also get final confirmation of how this version of her Hulk form differs from her previous one and its entirely based on the idea of psychological triggers.

Mariko Tamaki's take on this character has been so good for the way it takes the decades long canard of the Hulk as mental health metaphor and actually used it to explore themes of mental health. I know that discussion of mental health is, in a lot of ways, something we're only getting good at now but the idea has been around for decades and its only truly being exploited now. Obviously, its no how to guide on how to handle depression and anxiety, few of us have the chance to beat up supernatural horrors as occupational therapy, but the underlying emotions Tamaki writes ring very true to me as someone who has some experience dealing with such feelings in others.

I am very much looking forward to seeing where the next arc takes this series.

Generation X #2

Thus concludes a short and sweet introductory arc. Only two issues in and we have a good sense of the cast, a mission statement for the series and even a good bit of information on how the new Xavier's works in practice (which, sadly, we haven't managed to get from X-Men Gold, the main series set there).

Throughout it all, Christina Strain writes Jubilee as the veteran she damn well should have been since the original Generation X folded. Now, nothing will diminish my love for her as written in Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat but she was the POV character in the 90s cartoon and so I have a lot of affection for her. Plus, the idea of training mutants for something other than superheroics, training them to survive in the outside world and maybe to act as ambassadors for mutantkind is an interesting hook.

Plus, Strain has a great eye for where to slot in a cameo with the likes of Gentle, Broo and Graymalkin getting walk-ons during the fight with the Purifiers. Oh, yes, and seeing Jubilee's palpable rage when she confronts one of the Purifiers was great, whether it was a conscious callback to Skin's death or not.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #7

There are two big takeaways from this issue. The first is how amazingly bad the Star Wars movie characters are at existing in Aphra's world. There's a moment when Triple Zero confronts Leia with how she “uses” Han and Luke as assets and Leia is horrified by the idea. One of the big themes of her character in Empire and Return is pulling back from how the war has dehumanised her and this marks as good a starting point as any for that journey.

The other takeaway is how conflicted a character Aphra herself is. Her shock when Luke refers to her as a friend is brilliant, as is her every reaction she has to presence of Sana. Boy, do I want to see an arc with them working together. Aphra has always had a certain “female Han” vibe to her so maybe an arc or two with “her” Lando would be cool. And I mean that comparison in more terms than just Sana being black: the two of them have old grudges and an older friendship, even if its more implied than anything else at this point.

And, yes, in this formulation Vader is Aphra's Luke. 

Comic Reviews

This week DC buttons down the hatches; the ghost of Donald Trump comes up against Judge Dredd; the teen team of my childhood returns; Luke Skywalker and Doctor Aphra get their party clothes on; and, Brian Michael Bendis slips a surprise into my pull list.

The Flash #22

Boy, am I starting to hate events. I knew before I opened this that it wasn't the end, that Doomsday Clock was coming and this was just another tease on the way to the big thing. Still, up until this issue The Button was actually quite a nice, self-contained little story that looked like it was going somewhere. I admit, I did hope that where it was going was restoring Jay Garrick, if not the whole JSA, to the main continuity. As it is, that didn't happen and the story I'd quite been enjoying for the last few weeks just sort of fizzled out. I had a lot of fun while it was running and I do think that it was worth my time, especially the Batman side, though I do question killing Thawne again in a issue running an add for his return in three issues time.

2000AD prog2031

After months and months of being behind, I'm finally caught up on the best British comics ever, so here we go...

I can't tell you how much I love the Sons of Booth storyline running in Judge Dredd right now. 2000AD has never had any chill to speak of and seeing them take on the Trump phenomena in their own bitter, cynical is just beautiful. Plus, you just know, this being Judge Dredd and all, that a fair number of them are going to get shot in the had by the end of the story. Its interesting to see the typical “directionless white male” story that always seems to feed in to these things presented as a bad thing. Oh, young Kelvin is sympathetic enough in his basic situation (when you basic situation is Mega-City One, its hard not to be) but as we see him falling hook, line and sinker for the Sons Of Booth propaganda vids its clear that he is also very, very stupid. Then there's the moment when he dares to have an idea and the Sons' boss encourages him but one of the minions declares they don't need no experts telling them what to do, its perfect.

Aside from that, Scarlet Traces: Cold War book two has a bit of a filler episode with lots of people running around in the middle of an air raid and Defoe continues to broaden its list of suspected necromancers. Cursed: The Fall Of Deadworld is probably my favourite feature aside from Dredd this issue, mainly because of the beautifully twisted art design by Dave Kendall who has so many ideas for zombie Judges. Plus, there's probably the best installment of Brink yet as Kurtis and Gibrani wander through darkened corridors in the depths of the unfinished space station jumping at every noise and shadow.

Green Lanterns #23

Last issue, I said I was looking forward to seeing Guy Gardner training Jessica. Funnily enough, that's not the part of the issue I ended up liking. See, Guy's approach to training Jessica is just to keep shouting at her, the archetypal drill US Army sergeant, and unless there turns out to be more to it than that then I think Sam Humphries just doesn't get Guy.

On the plus side, Kyle training Simon in creative thinking is great. It hones in on something that's less a flaw in Simon and more of a limit: he's a very straight forward thinker and in this Humphries absolutely has it right. There's also a subplot with Volthoom reading about the New Gods which... eh, I can't say I've cared much for the New Gods since the New 52. Like the multiverse, they're an idea DC keeps fiddling with, doing nothing with the new version and then rebooting all over again. I mean, the initial New 52 version of them gave us the Orion subplot in Wonder Woman and then they got another reboot in Multiversity which, far as I can tell, no one has done anything with at all so I'm not sure I much care at this point. It would be nice if DC had a great idea for them for Jack Kirby's centenniary but I sort of doubt it.

Generation X #1

This issue might be the most wrenching transition between cover art and interior art I have ever experienced. Its not that the interior art is bad, after a couple of pages I was really into it, but it is so very, very much unlike the cover its almost painful.

As to story, its our first real glimpse at the “normal” working of the new Xavier's and the traditional new student, Nathaniel Carver, takes a long wander through the halls for cameos galore (Broo! Pixie! Shark Girl!) and the traditional bad first impression of the place as the rest of the book's teenage cast have a brawl that knocks down a wall and covers a room in goose droppings. Nature Girl was a bit of a missed opportunity in the Wolverine The X-Men days and I'm glad she's part of a main cast now.

Then, for the old bastards like me, there's the return of Jubilee and Chamber, original GenXers turned young teachers. I'm glad to see that Jubilee retains both her vampirism and her single motherhood even if neither are played quite as comedic as they were in the Patsy Walker title. This is definitely a funny title, I mean Quentin Quire's in it, it can't help but be. That said, the cliffhanger harkens back to one of the biggest traumas of Jubilee's life so this looks like its going to be a real tone rollercoaster.

Star Wars #31

Jason Aaron has certainly improved his Aphra since Vader Down (or was it Rebel Jail, the last time he wrote her?). I was actually a little worried that the Aaron-written parts of this crossover would be the weak ones but he does a really good job here of matching Gillen's tone, including a downright classic Triple Zero put upon quip. In spite of the title on the cover, this remains more Aphra's story than Luke's and I can't say I exactly mind. More Aphra is always welcome and more Triple Zero even more so.

Powers #8

Creator-owned series and their haituses... I'd completely forgotten I was subscribed to this. Not an unpleasant surprise but it did cost me money.

Okay, for a start I flat out do not remember anything that was going on in this series before the hiatus. I'm pretty sure this is the beginning of a new story and that it is a flashback. I only started following Powers with the beginning of this particular series so the fact that Walker is in a costume is my only clue that this is the past. On the one hand, that's interesting, seeing the world of our of control super people that I'd only previously seen the aftermath of is good. On the other, well, its a transition I wasn't prepared for and spent most of the issue until someone called Walker by name absolutely befuddled by.

Still, its an entertaining read and hopefully its going somewhere interesting that affects the present, otherwise I might drop this and follow it as trades which is probably the better way to read a mystery series. 

Comic Reviews

This week, my avoidance of Secret Empire reaches comes to its sad conclusion, Lana Lang and Cass Cain have family moments, Luke Skywalker goes on a date with his father's sidekick, and it turns out Storm is black.

Secret Warriors #1

Oh, its a Secret Empire tie-in. I'm doing my best to avoid this mess but events being events, of course Marvel are using it to launch an ongoing series that they set up in their last damn event. I get the feeling I'd actually appreciate this issue more if I had any interest in the event because otherwise this is a pretty bland “getting the team together” issue with a slathering of green Nazis on top. Its not badly written, its reasonably engaging but I have no context for half of it.

I might actually drop this until Secret Empire is over and this series has a chance to tell its own story divorced from larger context and green Nazis.

Superwoman #10

This title has been hovering on the edge of being dropped for a few issues now and I worried that whatever lay in store after Superman Reborn might be the final straw. Surprisingly, Lana losing her powers a couple of issues ago has made me appreciate the series in a whole new way. I never really got the character. Part of the problem is I'm used to so many different versions of Lana but I didn't follow the New 52 Super-books closely enough to be used to this version.

K. Perkins writes the hell out of this issue, a real character study that goes into Lana's strengths and weaknesses as a person. Also, we get a bunch of background for Natasha and John Henry Irons, again characters whose previous incarnations I'm familiar with but whose current selves escape me.

Detective Comics #956

I'm trying to think of something to say about this issue beyond “Kate looks great in a suit and bowtie”. I mean, that's a valid critical opinion but I feel, given how much I've loved the arc, I should come up with something more.

I love Batwing and Azrael as a partnership, the whole science and magic thing really works. Cass continues to be my favourite character of the whole team and her final confrontation with Shiva is a joy to read. I've heard a lot of people complain about how this series “marginalises” Batman himself but so long as it turns out stories like this I'm all for it and Batman can muddle through with his two other ongoing series.

Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel one-shot

The Star Wars/Doctor Aphra crossover I didn't know I wanted until I read this issue. The thing is that once Aphra was out from under Vader's thumb I was so much more interested in seeing her fly solo in a proper EU series with no big famous movie characters getting in the way. After this issue I'm finally convinced that having her interact with the main cast has more mileage in it. Luke and Aphra at the Star Wars equivalent of a high society party is a great hook, not just for how they boune off each other because of how artist Marco Checchetto goes to town on the drawing the guests.

Tonally, this is much more an Aphra story than a Luke story, not just because Gillen is writing and Aphra sets the story in motion but because the gloriously over-the-top setting of the Screaming Citadel itself is much more the sort of place we're used to seeing her in. I like that, I like the mad as you like vision Gillen has for the Star Wars universe and I'm really looking forward to four more issues of Luke bumbling through that side of things.

Black Panther and the Crew #2

To my utter surprise, in spite of having Captain America on the cover this issue had nothing to do with him or the bloody Secret Empire event. Instead, the love letter to Harlem continues as Storm meditates on what the place means to her: her father's birthplace, the place she should have grown up in if her parents hadn't died in Africa. Its actually interesting, after all these years, to see a series address the fact that Storm is black, I know it sounds utterly mad that for all the hundreds and hundreds of X-Men comics I've read, the fact that one of Marvel's oldest and most well-explored black heroes is black has barely come up.

The simple fact is that her being a mutant and all the allegory that entails has sort of eclipsed the fact she's black. This, more than anything else, really convinces me that this series is going to go great places. Hell, even if it doesn't, the team-up of Storm and Misty is more than interesting enough in itself. Hell, I was almost disappointed when T'Challa finally turned up. 

Comic Reviews

This week the Guardians Of The Galaxy get all-new, the push to include Watchmen in the DCU continues to be less terrible than I assumed; I try out a couple of new series; Maria Hill gets high; Nightwing gets nostalgic; Nadia Pym gets romantic (but in a totally subtextual way); and, we say goodbye to Carrie Fisher once again.

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1

Gerry Duggan and Aaron Kuder certainly hit the ground running. After a very slow end to Bendis run (with, I admit, one hell of a final issue), the new team takes the Guardians back into space where they belong. Most of the issue is a fun little heist with plenty of cool ersonality moments for each of the Guardians and then off to meet their buyer and kick off the plot for the rest of the arc.

Some time seems to have passed between the end of Bendis' run and this. For one thing, Drax seems to have developed pacifism and Rocket keeps mentioning some assassins that came after gim recently (in his own title?). Still, most questions the issue raises do seem to be on their way to answers some time in the immediate future, which is a refreshing change of pace.

Batman #22

You known in spite of myself I am actually enjoying this arc. I remain as hardheartedly cynical about the whole Watchmen in the DCU thing as ever but this is actually fun to read.

Hell, more than fun, this arc is actually pretty interesting from a form point of view. The two Batman issues and (by the looks of this issue's cliffhanger) the two Flash issues actually seem to be telling distinct halves of the story. Oh, Bruce and Barry are together all the time, its not like they're pursuing their own plots by themselves, but the Batman creative team has one set of prioirities for where they want to take Bruce and the Flash creative team have another set of priorities for Barry. What I was afraid was going to be a month long road block in the two series seems to have thought out to be a sastisfying part of both ongoing stories.

Plus we get the return of the Flashpoint Batman, for my money the best idea that event had.

Jean Grey #1

A slow start. The whole deal here is Jean needs some “me” time, grabs Pickles the mini-Nightcrawler and goes for breakfast in Japan. The rest is a whole lot of internal monologue to get us used to Jean as a solo protagonist and a run-in with eternal jobbers the Wrecking Crew.

Its nice. Its small and quiet and feels a bit too much like filler for a first issue to be throwing at you but I can't deny that its fun to read and I have a better handle on this version of Jean as a person than I did before.

Jessica Jones #8

In spite of the fact that this issue might peripherally involve “Captain America is a Nazi” plot threads, I must admit I liked it. I have missed reading Bendis' take on Maria Hill. Actually, now I think about it, didn't he create Maria Hill in New Avengers? Having her interact with Jessica Jones whilst stoned on painkillers is the icing on the cake. Even better, we get to see some more stoned people (somewhat more recreationally than Maria) having a lovely little conversation about who's going to take over the world: mutants or spider-people.

We also get another look into the back alley sort of world Jessica inhabits as she visits a woman called Raindrop, who looks like Katy Manning and seems to be an agent for hired killers. Sadly, not much happens on the family front in this issue but what does is a glorious one panel cameo by Luke that I just can't spoil.

Black Bolt #1

I wasn't going to pick this up but then I saw the name Saladin Ahmed on the cover, though I can't rightly say where I know the name from. I'm glad I did pick it up, though, because this is really bloody good.

For one thing, Ahmed sidesteps the problems of having a silent protagonist in a comic by bringing back narrative captions. Now, I know most comic writers have given up on the third person narration these days and I understand why. Usually they're clunky and just devolve into the writer describing things we can damn well see in the art. “He leaps across the room!”, gee, thanks Claremont, I'd have never guessed if you hadn't written it down on a drawing of the guy leaping across the room. Still Ahmed writes some damn lyrical prose in those little boxes that do a lot to set the tone of the story. Artist Christian Ahmed also shows some real range here, handling both lines and colour he's able to shift between a dreamlike style for moments when Black Bolt is alone and wandering and a more solid, clearly deliniated style for when he's interacting with other people.

Between this and Royals, I am in real danger of beginning to care about the Inhumans as a group.

Bane: Conquest #1

The other new title for the week is this, which I bought because the recent I Am Bane arc in Batman made me interested in the “ruthless, unstoppable destroyer” side of the character for the first time ever. Honestly, before this the only writer who could make me care about Bane was Gail Simone and she had a radically different take on the character. Plus its Chuck Dixon, the ultimate Batman writer, returning to DC! How could I miss out on that? I have to admit: the way Bane talks to himself gives me all sorts of nostalgia for '90s comics and Dixon's Batman and Robin runs in particular.

Dixon goes all in on the idea of Bane as a sort of darker Batman with him roughing up gun runners headed into Gotham Bay alongside a small team of sidekicks/goons. I'm not to sure why or how Bane is operating out of Gotham or if this even refers at all back to I Am Bane but I do like the basic concept. Dixon actually has Bane operating as a detective, albeit a rather heavy handed one. I'm hoping to see a lot more of Bane's team in the course of this year long run, I really want to see what their stories are, if only because I think it will liven the series.

Nightwing #20

I wish we had more chance to see the Robins as brothers. This arc has been great for getting Dick and Damian back together and Tim Seeley does a lovely line in sibling banter for them. The Morrison-era Batman comics with these two as Batman and Robin will always be personal favourites of mine and its nice to see that they're relationship hasn't been totally forgotten.

Unstoppable Wasp #5

This issue is about Nadia saving her girlfriend's life and no power on Earth will take that intrepretation away from me! Its also the first mission for Nadia's team of young lady scientists: finding a way to get the little bomb out of Ying's head, all the time with Jarvis moaning about how much mess they all make as they brainstorm well into the night. There is an absolutely glorious splash page of the brainstorming session itself so full of detail and character for the whole cast. I love this series so much.

Star Wars: Poe Dameron #14

This isn't at all subtle: this is Marvel's wake for Carrie Fisher. I don't know if it started off that way and they made some edits in the light of her passing but this issue is absolutely a goodbye to Fisher. Poe delivers a eulogy for one of his pilots lost in the previous arc alongside General Leia Organa and the rest of the issue is spent on thoughts of mortality before Poe and Leia have a heart to heart that absolutely smacks of Charles Soule writing the sort of scene that we will, sadly, never get to see the actors deliver.

Unless such a scene was filmed for The Last Jedi, this series will be the last and only word on the relationship between General Leia and Poe Dameron. If it is, then it works and we EU nerds have a genuinely moving issue to point to when we claim that Poe is all but Leia's adopted son.

Leia final scene in the issue, though obviously not the last we'll be seeing of her in these comics, is quiet and moving and a more heartfelt goodbye than anything I think the film can deliver through editing scenes that were never meant to be an ending into a conclusion for the character. I might be wrong bit if I'm not then we'll always have this. 

Comic Reviews

This week: a lot of praising with faint damnation.

Inhumans vs. X-Men #6

Without wishing to spoil, this was a perfectly fitting end to this era of the X-Men: loud, action packed and dull. To call the final solution a literal plot device is to be generous. I mean, the whole “Endangered Species AGAIN” angle was never a winner and I'm all in favour of it ending but it really did boil down in the end to the characters flipping a switch to shut down a storyline that never worked.

There are a few consequences, of course, and the usual teases but at the end of the day I'm interested in seeing what happens with the X-Men next now they aren't shackled to the crappy status quo of the last couple of years and my interest in the Inhumans has not increased one iota.

Detective Comics #952

League of Shadows part two: The Five Fingers of Death

The core Bat-titles just don't disappoint these days. After last issue introduced Lady Shiva as the ultimate killing machine she always deserved to be, this issue we get to see her in action and get an answer to one of those “Is that thing I remember still canon?” questions that was just going to hover over the arc until it got addressed.

Most of the issue is fight scene, firstly polishing off last issue's cliffhanger and then moving into the big confrontation with Shiva. There's definitely a growing emphasis this arc on Orphan, which I for one wholeheartedly approve of. The more action Cass gets in this series the happier I am, especially now that Steph is off the board for the time being.

Christian Duce slots in to art duties this issue with a much more rounded and fluid style than the series has had up until now. I personally like it, it gives a lot of grace to Shiva's movements but I imagine the transition between styles in the collected edition is going to be downright painful to some.

Mother Panic #4

Broken Things part 1

Am I just being an old man about these Young Animals series?

Mother Panic is definitely my favourite of the Young Animals imprint, mostly because it gets to the point. Now, there are a lot of mysteries set up surrounding what happened to Violet Page as a child and how it affects her, both physically and emotionally, as an adult but the whole plot isn't drowning in obscurity. Take her headquarters: after the dreamlike introduction of the first arc we're presented with it now in more concrete terms. There's also Violet herself, who we get to see another side to as she's interviewed on a late night talk show, peeling back another couple of layers.

This series isn't just oddity for oddity's sake, which has seemed a bit of a problem for Doom Patrol and Shade The Changing Girl.

But is this just because its familiar? The art style and even the way the credits are arranged on the page have a very 1990s feel. Don't get me wrong, in every aspect of writing and production this is definitely superior to the comics I grew up with but I can't deny there's a certain comfort zone feeling to reading this series.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #5

I love the different flavour this series brings to Marvel's version of Star Wars. Okay, its a continuation of what was going on in Gillen's Darth Vader series but now Aphra is completely cut off from important canon characters who have to develop a certain way there's a lot more scope to explore the dirty side of the universe. Plus, Rogue One has come out now so the idea of Aphra isn't a million miles removed from the sort of characters we saw there.

I admit, I'm not that fussed about her relationship with her dad. It might be the whole hook of this first arc but I'm more interested in seeing which way Aphra and her band of merry bastards will jump in any given situation, especially the droids. Just imagining Triple Zero's dialogue in C-3PO's voice is a perverse pleasure all its own.

Jessica Jones #6

Well, someone's getting good at structure again. This has been a well-paced six issue arc, a nice little mystery with a satisfying conclusion that hasn't tried my patience at all. Issue 1 was big on in medias res and laying out a bunch of different plots that pretty much all came together here for a big finale. There's a bunch of other stuff to tie up, not least the status of Jessica's marriage, but those plots haven't been left to fester, they've all seen positive growth on an issue by issue basis.

Maybe its because this series and this character are Bendis' own baby that he pulls out the stops for it and avoids the kind of roadblocking filler that sometimes makes his ongoings a chore to read but it absolutely works and I hope this runs a damn long time. 

Comic Reviews

This week: a long forgotten design disaster makes its return to DC continuity, Star Wars goes gentler on paternity than usual; Brian Michael Bendis treads water; and, the Outsiders cosplay as the Justice League.

PICK OF THE WEEK

Detective Comics #950

League of Shadows prologue

As much as I like having on-cover titles to tell me when a new story starts, calling this issue the “League of Shadows prologue” is just plain terrible advertising. This is an anthology issue, plain and simple, catching us up with focus stories for various members of Batman's crew.

The issue opens with an introspective piece about Cassandra Cain and her ballet obsession. Have I mentioned how much I love that idea? It seems so perfect and yet no one thought of it before Batman & Robin Eternal. This short really goes into the psychology of Cass and the feelings she has but can't express because of her limited verbal skills. There's also a moment that is absolutely meant to be platonic but just makes me ship Cass/Harper because I've been starved of adorable hero cuddling since Tim got himself blowed up.

Speaking of, a Tim flashback story ends the issue. Not as personal or revealing as Cass' story as its more a tease for future events and a recap of where the various Robins are headed in their own titles but there are some nice moments including, of all things, the return of Robin's car from waaaaaay back in the Chuck Dixon days.

It still looks bloody awful.

Between the these two stories there's a two-hander between Batwing and Azrael, the two newest members of the team and, personally, the two I know the least. I've only experienced Batwing as an occasional love interest in Batgirl and this version of Azrael has clearly been slightly rebooted since Batman & Robin Eternal. By and large its a science versus faith story, which I normally don't have much time for, but for a change neither side is portrayed as unreasonable or irrational and we get more background on the Order Of St. Dumas who could stand to have a comeback sometime soon.

Non-prologue status notwithstanding, a fine oversized anniversary issue.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4

Book I, Part IV

As fun as this was, it was hard to ignore the feeling that not much happened. Most of the issue was Aphra and company running from last issue's cliffhanger and arriving at the next one. We're teased with a moment where it seems Aphra and her father are about to have the big row they've been headed for since he turned up but then it turns out she's too tired.

Still, Kev Walker keeps up the impressive visuals including an interesting riff on the standard template Imperial officer and no one ever accused Gillen of failing to deliver the character moments. Given price and infrequency, there are few creative I'll give a pass for a slow issue but this is one of them.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Grounded

On the other hand...

Now, I like Bendis but I can't help but feel this arc is just marking time until the end of the run. This issue isn't as egregious as the one where Ben Grimm shuffles through set-up for his role in Infamous Iron Man but its close. Plus, the next issue is going to be about Angela, a character who left the team ages ago to go be a lesbian space angel in her own series.

I'll probably see the series through to the end in case the character cliffhangers actually amount to something though I'm not counting on it.

Justice League of America: Rebirth one-shot

Or, as I think of it, “The Outsiders relaunch” because that is blatantly what this series is. I also feel pretty vindicated at having skipped three of the four prologue one-shots (I only read the Atom one because I always liked Ryan Choi) since this is a pretty good done in one getting the team together story. I missed three quarters of the series set-up, missed the Justice League vs Suicide Squad series that I'm pretty sure Batman is talking about when he references Killer Frost's face turn and I'm none the worse for it.

This is either good brand management or terrible, I'm not sure which.

Anyway, its the Outsiders with a JLA lick of paint! Batman assembling a team of his own to do... well, that's not entirely clear. This issue is long on introducing characters but not so much on situation. In many ways that's more important, especially considering that someone who paid more attention than me probably knows what this series is about and so what most are spending money on here is the question of whether they'll like these takes on the characters.

I do, as it happens. I like how earnest and open Ryan Choi is; I like that we're back to grubby 90s biker dude Lobo and that Canary hates him; I like that the League has second string rookies again in the form of Ryan and the Ray; and, I like literally everything about Rebirth era Vixen as being a Bruce Wayne that everyone knows is a rich superhero.

Now I just have to pick up the actual #1 and find out if I like the series' direction as much as I like these characters. 

First late comics reviews of the year

Thank you, Post Office, let's get this done.

All-New X-Men #17

Inhumans vs. X-Men tie-in

I want to care, I really do, but I don't. Oh, the stuff with Iceman going on cute dates with his pretty boy Inhuman boyfriend are all sorts of sweet and I would eat up an issue of just that but it all sort of tumbles down into one of those issues that's just context for a big fight scene in the main series.

I am, frankly, losing my patience with this sort of thing. I like a nice, big crossover as much as the next man but Civil War II just finished, IvX is ongoing and Monsters Unleashed literally started this week. I guess I just want normal issues more often because, really, this relationship needed more time. Bobby and Romeo met a couple issues ago and we get literally their entire relationship up to this point related in flashback between big fight scene splash pages I'm willing to guess I will see again when I eventually get around to reading IvX #2.

Monsters Unleashed #1

For all my moaning, superheroes versus kaiju was just a pitch too good for me to pass up. Plus, two of the big central character of this series seem to be Moon Girl and Elsa Bloodstone, two ladies I have a lot of time for.

For all the things I liked about this issue there is a lot about it that a bit... how to put this? “Standard crossover first issue”? We get a bunch of individual fights between big space monsters and various superhero teams: the Avengers here, the X-Men there, the Champions somewhere else. Actually plot important stuff happens off to the sides with a lot of foreshadowing and not a lot of actual explaining. There's the very consciously foregrounded new character and then the big sting on the final page.

I'm not saying this is bad, per se, its all quite entertaining but these events are running so frequently now that the formula is getting a bit obvious.

U.S.Avengers #2

$kullocracy part two

This issue gives us the big debut of the only character who didn't get a big set piece moment last issue: Danielle Cage, Captain America from the future and yet another character custom-designed to annoy the neo-Nazi alt-right wingdings. They hated a black Captain America? Here's a black woman Captain America! Even if Al Ewing's Avengers series weren't consistently one of the best thing Marvel have been putting out in recent years it'd all be worth it for the sheer right wing triggering character choices Ewing has populated his team with. Ewing gets an even better “deal with it” moment with Danielle than he did with Toni Ho last issue.

Anyway, we get some nice exposition here and I really mean that. I know big info-dumps are commonly considered the Devil but between Ewing's charming dialogue and Paco Medina's fantastically cameo-laden images of Danielle's future it was very, very entertaining.

And I'm not just saying that because Faiza Hussain turns up. I love that character and she absolutely needs to be used in a series again but I'm not that easily bought, Ewing!

But give me Faiza Hussain and a big panel of an entire Avengers team in tuxedos and you got me.

Batman #15

Rooftops part 2

More like this, please. If I Am Suicide didn't convince me that Tom King writes one of the best versions of Batman ever then this little two-parter certainly sold the deal. From the flashbacks where Bruce and Selina reminisce about how they first met, splicing the 1940s version with the Frank Miller version, to the absolutely wonderful conclusion of the story's mystery this was a very well-constructed little character piece.

And if DC ever gets around to commissioning another Catwoman series, King should be at the head of the line for writing duties. He writes the hell out of her relationship with Bruce, her relationship with one of her longstanding supporting cast and of Selina's own view of herself. He really does get her and this should be one of those times, like Gail Simone after she did that Wonder Woman appearance in Birds of Prey, where fans clamour for the writer to give the character more extensive treatment.

I just wish I loved the main I Am... storylines of this series as much as this.

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3

This series is fast becoming a comfort food sort of thing to me. Three issues in and I can feel guaranteed that I'll love Aphra's no-nonsense attitude, the murder droids will be enormous fun, there'll be some sort of heist action and the individual issue will satisfying in and of itself because Keiron Gillen is really good at writing for the monthly reader. Frankly, there's a damn good reason Aphra was the first Marvel-original Star Wars character to get a series.

And this issue has it all! The relationship between Aphra and her emotionally clueless father sings, Triple-Zero gets some fantastic one-liners and the whole plot revolves around the crew trying to sneak into the old Rebel base on Yavin 4 under the noses of the Imperial occupying forces. There's even a rather nice nod to Rogue One that reads less as “we have to advertise the new movie” and more as “of course Aphra would know about that, its her job”.