| Dave's Capsules for March 2018 [message #365897] |
Fri, 30 March 2018 20:16 |
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Dave's Comicbook Capsules Et Cetera
Intermittent Picks and Pans of Comics and Related Media
Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups. Recommendation does
not factor in price. Not all books will have arrived in your area this month.
An archive can be found on my homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants
Awaiting news of whether I've been promoted with regular breathing.
Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): None.
In this installment: Lego DC Super-Heroes the Flash DVD, Adventure
Finders vol 1, Black [AF] America's Sweetheart, Ms Marvel v2 #28, Moon Girl &
Devil Dinosaur #29, The World of Krypton #1, Black Lightning Cold Dead Hands
$5 (of 6), Deathstroke #29, Justice League #40-41, Future Quest Presents #8,
Invader Zim #29, The Tick 2018 #3, My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #64, My
Little Pony Legends of Magic #12 (of 12-ish), Transformers vs. Visionaries
#3-4 (of 5), Transformers Lost Light #16, Atomic Robo the Spectre of Tomorrow
#5 (of 5), The Comic Book History of Comics vol 2 #4 (of 4).
Current Wait List (books either Diamond didn't ship or my store failed
to order): None, yay!
"Other Media" Capsules:
Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e.
comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention. They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes The Flash: DC/WB - The first conflict
between Lego Flash and Lego Reverse Flash (plus introducing the Atom, Ace the
Bathound, B'dg, a very funky Doctor Fate, and a yrev yrros Zatanna). By
making these a series of direct to video movies instead of a TV series, I
think they've managed to avoid the premise getting too stale, and the general
attitude of the stories suggests you not get too hung up on continuity
(i.e. don't go looking for earlier instances of Lego Flash doing things he
"first learns" here...there might be some, but it's kinda counter to the tone
to even ask). In some ways, this is a Lego update of Waid's "first" Eobard
Thawne story, using the "embittered fanboy" aspect. But since Lego DC
doesn't do subtle, RF goes full supervillain pretty soon after getting the
adulation he seeks. This isn't as good as some of the previous Lego DC
outings, but still worth the price of admission (which is $10-20 depending on
format and store). Recommended.
I didn't watch Krypton. I only got four episodes of Jessica Jones
season 2 watched, I may or may not review it once I finish. It's not as
engaging as season 1, though, as evidenced by the fact I watched four eps the
first weekend it was out and then none since.
Digital Content:
Unless I find a really compelling reason to do so, I won't be turning
this into a webcomic review column. Rather, stuff in this section will be
full books available for reading online or for download, usually for pay. I
will often be reading these things on my iPhone if it's at all possible.
Adventure Finders volume 1: Antarctic Press - AP made this available as
a Freebie Friday, taking a cue from publishers like Baen by making part one
free and inexpensive downloads of later parts. This is a Rod Espinosa
series, and it definitely feels like one. Strong female protagonist who is
on the edge of adulthood, strong but inexperienced and uncertain, wanting
more than her upbringing has allowed her? Check. Vaguely European fantasy
setting with tweaks here and there? Check. The Patriarchy being one of the
antagonists? Check. Lovely art? Check. Unfortunately, the story feels
like he's going through a checklist as well, or maybe filing the serial
numbers off a computer FRPG's plotline. If you've never read any of
Espinosa's works, but enjoy fantasy adventure stories, you'll like this. But
I'd recommend Courageous Princess or Neotopia instead, because even if the
later volumes go someplace interesting, the first volume hasn't really
inspired me to read further.
Trades:
Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.
Black [AF] America's Sweetheart: Black Mask - I forget exactly where I
saw this, probably facebook, but I put it on my Amazon shopping list as a
"make it to free shipping" buy and ended up buying it this month. The Black
Mask setting is one where superhuman powers started emerging fairly recently,
but only among black people. (blacksuperpowers.com is their site.) Black
Mask itself is definitely something of a rookie publisher, as evidenced by
some of the unusual choices in paper stock and page count (76 pages for this
graphic novella), as well as some formatting goofs (using staple-bound inner
margins in a square bound book, so I had to crack the binding to see some of
the captions and dialogue).
The basic premise is "What if the super-powered baby that landed in the
middle of flyover country from a mysterious place grew up to be a black girl
instead of a white boy?" Her heroic ID is Good Girl, and she basically has
Superman's powerset and All American heroic attitude. Her goal isn't just to
help people, but also to try to work against the fear and bigotry being
fanned by the whole "only black people have powers" thing. 96 pages might
have been better for this story, given how much of the issue is given over to
battling and arguing with her Marvel Cinematic Universe opponent (i.e. same
powers but stronger, and with an opposing philosophy). She doesn't really
get a chance to deal with her first PR setbacks before the fight scene
starts, and I think another dozen or so pages of trying to dig out of that
hole before being pounded into a literal hole. Osajyefo has some intriguing
worldbuilding here, but the pacing is a bit uneven.
Artistically, Jennifer Johnson appears to be drawing directly into the
computer, and has chosen to avoid the use of black lines except for deep
shadows and actual black clothing. I think the letterer might have done well
to consider using dark brown or gray instead of black, as the word balloons
look more out of place when they're the only black lines.
Mildly recommended. Shows some promise. $9.99
Floppies:
No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes?
Ms. Marvel v2 #28: Marvel - Teenage Wasteland wraps up with lots of
explosions, a mega mecha kaiju, and cancellation of the...well, not really an
apocalypse, but it would've been bad for the totally not-fictional Jersey
City. And maybe parts of Newark (which may or may not be fictional).
Kamala's fate is finally revealed (too horrible to mention here), and she
gets closure with Captain Marvel as part of the "please pretend Civil War II
wasn't as bad as it really was" reputation rehabilitation tour.
Recommended. $3.99
Moon Girl #29: Marvel - This issue really felt like it was marking time,
treading over stuff already discussed or shown in #28, just so that the arc
could be padded out to a full six issue trade paperback length or something.
Really, this issue is missable. $3.99
The World of Krypton #1: DC - A freebie that reprints part of the
mid-80s World of Krypton miniseries and then has a few teasers about the
Krypton TV show. I'd never read the original comic, I might get the TPB at
some point, it's kinda interesting. But it failed to sell me on watching the
show.
Black Lightning Cold Dead Hands #5 (of 6): DC - "Aha, you've fallen into
my trap!" "No, you've fallen into MY trap!" "I beg to differ!" Well, okay,
that's only the second half of the issue, but it's still kinda drawn out
given that the final issue is shaping up to be almost entirely a slugfest.
It's not exactly padding, as there's important Characters Figure Things Out
That The Readers Already Knew plot advancement and resolution going on, but
it still feels like it's peaking a little early. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Deathstroke #29: DC - Well, no outright reference to the movie
"Chinatown" as the arc named after it ends, but certainly an appropriate
level of "what the heck just happened here?"-ness. Several plot threads get
resolved, for varying values of resolution, and Slade's relationship with
Tara gets shaded from SUPER CREEPY to merely very creepy...still a stand-out
moment of horribleness for a guy whose baseline is "kills people for money."
Recommended. $3.99
Justice League #40-41: DC - #40 is a sort of bottle episode, except the
bottle is very doomed. So, I guess it's a lifeboat episode, as the two
Justice League teams need to decide who lives and who dies, and whether to
give The Fan the satisfaction of following his headcanon for the teams.
Also, Ceiling Bat is watching you debate. #41 just sort of skips past
resolving the cliffhanger of #40 and focuses on the more morally interesting
aftermath, with a bit of a Deathstroke crossover. #41 is all about how it's
hard to have principles, since the amoral and self-centered can really mess
with you by applying leverage to those principles. But Priest comes at it
from askew directions rather than the usual "...or the hostages die" sort of
manipulation. Recommended. $2.99 each.
Future Quest Presents: Mightor #8: DC - A one-shot featuring the new
Mightor introduced in the Future Quest maxiseries. Happy 13th Birthday, have
an alien invasion! Fun story from Parker and Steve Lieber. Recommended.
$3.99
Invader Zim #29: Oni - And now for a Dib-focused story. It's a bit
heavily into pushing a single joke (the idea that a soda brand named Poop
exists), but it's otherwise the sort of thing that might have made for a
lower-tier episode back when the show was running. Mildly recommended.
$3.99
The Tick 2018 #3: NEC - Whenever a character has a Mysterious Origin for
long enough, the temptation starts to set in...reveal the truth! Thing is,
the truth is almost always a disappointment. And this whole arc demonstrates
that even in a humor book, that can happen. Nor is it being self-aware
enough to milk the disappointment for humor. Probably dropping this title
soon, the main draw for me was the artist, who isn't even on the book this
issue. Neutral. $3.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #64: IDW - This could be considered a
sort of thematic tie-in to the opening episodes of Season 8. Rarity and
Fluttershy both find out that the "rules of the game" for something they love
doing are perhaps going to get in the way of their enjoyment. Fluttershy
finds that animal shelters come with a lot of red tape (a more direct link to
"School Daze") while Rarity finds that the cyclical nature of fashion has
come back around to the not-actually-the-80s-but-looks-like-it styles of her
youth, leading to angst over the choice between breaking the rules of fashion
and being doomed to repeating herself. Rarity's problem has a more obvious
solution, and is resolved first, fortunately. Fluttershy's is a bit
thornier, and the resolution was a bit too pat. Anyway, loads of nostalgia
for readers who lived through the 80s, but otherwise only mildly
recommended. $3.99
My Little Pony Legends of Magic #12 (of 12): IDW - The end of the
sprawling "assembling the Pillars" storyline, and also apparently the last
regular issue. It's getting an Annual to tie off the remaining plot threads,
but I guess they want to use this spot on the publishing schedule for
something that isn't tied into last season. (Ponyville Mysteries is next, a
tie-in to a chapter book series rather than directly to the show.) This is a
very anticlimactic climax, though, something a prequel always has trouble
avoiding. A bit more of Stygian's motivations are laid out, but the cartoon
did an adequate job of that in the first place. It does, however, end on an
interesting premise that hopefully will get a decent execution in the
Annual. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Transformers vs. Visionaries #3-4 (of 5): IDW - A few days before I
wrote this review, it was confirmed that the IDW "Hasbroverse" would be
coming to an end, with all the crossover stuff ending and Transformers comics
relaunching in a new universal stream. It really feels like Visaggio knew
that before even starting this book, because it's full of low-impact deaths
and a sense of futility. I guess I'll read the final issue next month, but
even if I didn't know the end is coming, this series would have given that
impression. Don't bother with it, even if you're a Visionaries fan. (Heck,
why are you going to bring Visionaries back and not do the incantations?)
$3.99 each.
Transformers Lost Light #16: IDW - The Autobots Are All Dead. But the
series isn't over yet, so I imagine that Rodimus will somehow manage to annoy
Primus into kicking him back into being alive. The bulk of this issue is
about how the various characters deal with the "Oops, we didn't make it"
issue, including various forms of denial, skepticism, bargaining, etc. One
character is fully accepting, at least. Not that this is necessarily a good
thing. It is, as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy once suggested, less an
afterlife and more of an "apres vie." Not so much purgatory as a green room
for the afterlife, where Cybertronians get to chill out if they're not quite
ready to rejoin the AllSpark. Good character-driven stuff with some of the
sort of post-mortem musing that's appropriate given the imminent ending of
the continuity. Also, a definite feeling of "...then I will face God and
walk backwards into hell." Recommended. $3.99
Atomic Robo the Spectre of Tomorrow #5 (of 5): IDW - Got well ahead of
the online version this time. Seeing it on paper makes it really obvious
that there's mostly just one line weight in all of the art, something I also
found annoying in the She-Devils story in Real Science Adventures. The story
itself wraps up nicely, with Robo having a Clever Plan but still almost
having everything blow up in his face (and then there's an unforseen side
effect of the Clever Plan, natch). Recommended. $3.99
Comic Book History of Comics v2 #4 (of 4, I guess): IDW - The cover
claims this issue is about piracy, but that's really just a small part of the
story being told. Rather, it's all about how the changing retail environment
brings both opportunity and danger, especially once parasite capitalism got
involved. Every form of distribution is shown to have its corruption and
pitfalls, and yet none of this has killed comics yet. Why? Well, people
want to make comics, people want to read comics. Somehow, we'll find ways to
connect the two. Recommended. $3.99
Dave Van Domelen, "And yet, if Rodimus was ever going to engage in a
THEOLOGICAL CONVERSATION, this is exactly how it would play out." - Ultra
Magnus as Rodimus yells at Primus, Lost Light #16.
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