| Dave's Capsules for April 2019 [message #383391] |
Sun, 28 April 2019 00:09 |
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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
Almost to the end of the school year. Teaching summer, but only nights.
Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): The
Unstoppable Wasp G.I.R.L. Power TPB, The Unstoppable Wasp Fix Everything TPB,
The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #6
In this installment: Aquaman (movie), Justice League vs. the Fatal Five,
Adventure Finders Book 2 #1, The Unstoppable Wasp G.I.R.L. Power TPB, The
Unstoppable Wasp Fix Everything TPB, Marvel Action Black Panther #1, The
Magnificent Ms. Marvel #2, Captain Marvel #4, Marvel Rising #2 (of 5),
Ironheart #5, The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #6, Teen Titans #28, Deathstroke #42,
Teen Titans #29, Synergy: A Hasbro Creators Showcase, Tangled The Series Hair
and Now #1, Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #4 (of 5), Transformers #3.
Current Wait List (books either Diamond didn't ship or my store failed
to order): Nothing this month.
"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.
Aquaman: DC/WB - I didn't see this in theaters due to there being just
too many movies coming out over the holidays and too little patience for
local theaters, so it marks my first new theatrical movie in a few months.
In some ways, this follows the standard Monomyth storyline...hero finds out
about his past, needs to take up a Great Destiny, travels to various exotic
locales and comes into his full power in time to face the Big Bad. But it
has critical differences...Aquaman is no callow youth, he already knows about
and rejects the basics of his heritage, and he doesn't need to learn to be a
hero. He already is one, his gruff demeanor notwithstanding. Ultimately,
the lesson he learns is that he doesn't have to accept his Great Destiny in
full, he can make his own version of it, an interesting twist on the
Campbellian structure. Recommended. Price varies by format.
Justice League vs. the Fatal Five: DC/WB - This is another DCAU-style
PG-13 direct to video movie like the Batman & Harley thing from 2018. What
does PG-13 mean in this case? More cussing, and a partial view of Thom
Kallor's naked butt, basically. Well, more seriously, it does delve more
deeply into Jessica Cruz's PTSD issues than a made for kidvid show might, and
Thom's modern-day mental illness problems. And ultimately, this is Jessica
and Thom's fight, the rest of the Justice League is barely more involved than
the Legion of Super-Heroes is. The climactic fight does feel a little deus
ex machina, though. Mildly recommended. Price varies by format.
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 Book 2 #1: Patreon.com - Espinosa didn't let a little
6.1 magnitude earthquake keep him from getting this out in April. Book 1
ended with Clari pretty beat up from all of the combat and running and combat
and betrayal, so Book 2 starts with her finally finishing her recovery and
finding that things are...unsettled. All little things at the moment,
providing conflict and perhaps some foreshadowing without totally undermining
the well-deserved respite the crew got. Of course, all good things must come
to an end, and for all the everyday petty problems with petty solutions, the
greater world won't stay at bay forever. Recommended. $1/month for access.
Trades:
Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.
The Unstoppable Wasp: G.I.R.L. Power TPB: Marvel - So, I'd heard talk
about this series for a while, usually in the context of "Why does Marvel
keep cancelling great books like _____?" discussions. But last month I saw a
big chunk of pages from the then-current issue (v2 #5) posted to Tumblr, and
liked what I saw. So I checked out a scan of the full issue, and then looked
up how much the TPB would cover (#1-5, conveniently!), so put the series on
my pull starting with #6 and started ordering TPBs. Now, the original series
turned out to have three TPBs, with this one collecting the whole series but
the other two being four issues plus backup material. This "omnibus"
(minibus?) edition of all 8 issues of the previous series uses a slightly
smaller page size, 6"x9", not quite a digest but not full comic page size
either.
Anyway, on to the content. Those parts of the Pym family tree that
aren't robotic are retconned, or at least that's the impression one has to
get after a while. His first wife was killed as part of his backstory, then
in West Coast Avengers revealed to be alive and turned into SODAM (later
MODAM), and then later that was revealed to not be Maria Pym after all, and
she was dead. The core conceit of the new Wasp is that while she did die, it
wasn't when Hank thought, but long enough afterward that she gave birth to
the daughter he never knew and never met. (He is currently dead again, death
being nohow permanent is also part of his family tree.) Nadia was raised in
the Red Room (Soviet-era spy training program that thanks to the sliding
timeline had to be active for quite some time after the fall of the USSR) to
be a combination assassin and super-scientist, which gives her a great
skillset for being a superhero. But she quickly realizes that her biggest
and best contribution would be to help mentor the next generation of girl
geniuses, leading to Genius in Action Research Labs, or G.I.R.L. While Janet
Van Dyne and Bobbi Morse act as mentor figures (and funding source, in
Janet's case), Whitley puts his money where his premise is by recruiting a
group of complete unknowns to join Nadia in her efforts. While there's
plenty of fight scenes, a lot of the conflicts are social, or at least Nadia
tries to make them social rather than resorting to asskicking. Nadia's
external past comes knocking, and is eventually dealt with in a way that
looks like a win for now. Charretier's art on the first six issues has a
vaguely indie flavor to it, while still being suitable for superhero stuff.
The last two each have different artists, who have a more standard superhero
comics style, but they manage to keep the character designs consistent.
Fleshing out the TPB are a cover gallery, design pages, and the FCBD Marvel
Rising story. Strongly recommended. $12.99/$16.99Cn
The Unstoppable Wasp: Fix Everything TPB: Marvel - And just under the
wire, I get to be fully caught up on Unstoppable Wasp. And this one has
regular comic size pages, covering #1-5 of the current series. The various
social conflicts and their resolutions continue this issue (and this may be
the first time I've seen a comics caption describe someone as "tiny gay
disaster"), but there's also a strong theme to the new threats in this
edition. Where Nadia's physical upbringing formed the main threats in the
previous volume, this time around it's all about the Pym Legacy as the real
threat...both internal and external. It starts with an external threat, but
Nadia's overreaction to it leads her into her first serious manic
episode...which the Gurihiru studio artists portray with haunting
effectiveness. Strongly recommended. $15.99/$20.99Cn (yeah, more cost for
fewer issues)
Floppies:
No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes? (And not all of them come out monthly, or on a regular
schedule in general, so I can't just call this section "Monthlies" or even
"Periodicals" as that implies a regular period.)
Marvel Action Black Panther #1: Marvel/IDW - This is my first Marvel
Action book, part of a line of titles Marvel is farming out to IDW. I
ordered it on the strength of Kyle Baker being the writer, but I'm a bit
disappointed in how the story could be told with almost any superhero with
decent connections in government or industry. Mildly recommended. $3.99
The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #2: Marvel - Looks like another "get 'em out
of the way during the crossover" arc like Captain Marvel. However, between
last issue and this, Ahmed does a decent job of establishing who Kamala is
and how others relate to her, even if the interactions are fairly short and
heavy on expository dialogue. The problem I had with last issue has been put
on pause, and will probably get resolved in some fashion by the trip to
somewhere else. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Captain Marvel (2019) v(something) #4: Marvel - Throwing characters into
an unfamiliar environment can be a good way to explore sides of their
personality that don't normally emerge. The thing is, you really need to
establish the regular personalities first, otherwise it's just a bunch of
unfamiliar characters who may or may not deal with this sort of thing on a
regular basis. Yeah, a shared universe means you get to assume a certain
level of knowledge on the part of the reader, but the load placed on the
reader in this story just ends up making everyone feel generic. It really
should not have been the first arc in a new "get readers who saw the movie to
buy the comic" series. There should have been several more issues in the
mold of #1, introducing Jessica and Jennifer and Hazmat and so forth, so that
the Makhizmo storyline could then be used to show new sides of those
characters. Even Carol barely gets back from another world before being
tossed into another world. I strongly suspect this was done so that she
could have a non-War Of Realms storyline to kick off her new title, but in
the old days you could just put a caption, "This issue happens before the
events of Big Crossover That Messes Everyone's Storylines Up" or something.
Neutral. $3.99
Marvel Rising #2 (of 5): Marvel - A lot of fighting and bickering
(sometimes at the same time), more of the characters in the merch show up and
a lot of the dialogue is catching everyone up on each others' relationships
and histories. I mean...I guess the plot advances a little, but so much of
this issue is treading water while everyone gets onto the same pages. Mildly
recommended. $3.99
Ironheart #5: Marvel - Ah, good, a break in the angsting. Only a minor
victory, perhaps, but Riri is back to being an active participant in her life
instead of bouncing around from obstacle to obstacle, which formed a sort of
malaise for the last three issues. It's not entirely a "sudden badass
conversion" plot device, fortunately, but she's stopped coasting and started
processing...whatever happened to her in an issue visually referenced but
never actually named. (Yeah, I'm still annoyed that they've decided to mix
tight continuity with a total lack of editor's notes. Readers who missed
important stories should be told where to find 'em, not expected to have
already read everything.) Mildly recommended. $3.99
The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #6: Marvel - Okay, I did kinda read things out
of order here. Like, WAY out of order (#5 scans, v1 TPB, this issue, THEN
the v2 TPB). But unlike Ironheart, I never really felt left behind. Whitley
definitely does a better job than Ewing at making sure important stuff gets
brought up often enough that new readers aren't lost (Nadia does a lot of
narrating to herself via captions, but there's also nametags and short info
bits on important characters when they first appear in an issue, a
manga/anime touch that nicely replaces the old school comics caption style in
terms of keeping readers up to date). I don't know if Gurihiru decided to
stop identifying as just a studio or if maybe that was just a thing for the
TPB, but Alti Firmansyan gets specific art credits this issue. They have the
standard manga-inflected style of most Gurihiru stuff, with a bit of a
Totally Spies feel to it...except where Shay's mom is concerned. Weirdly,
she doesn't fit the style at all, looking more like something out of J. Scott
Campbell's Gen13 work. I wonder if this was just a weird happenstance (maybe
Firmansyah was working from someone else's model sheets on the rest, but had
to come up with their own design for Mama Shay?) or if it was a deliberate
comment on her personality? Anyway, a very enjoyable read, and a great
thematic followup to the "Fix Everything" disaster, in which honest attempts
are made to fix things the right way. Strongly recommended. $3.99
Teen Titans #28: DC - The Terminus Agenda: Part 1 of 4. I haven't
really been following Teen Titans since the last crossover, but it looks like
Damian's latest obsession has been "I won't kill, but I will lock criminals
up forever in a secret prison in my basement." Yeah, no way that could
backfire on him with former Deathstroke teammate (and got no more time for
that kinda stuff) Kid Flash on the Titans again. Anyway, after being
manipulated into some pretty hard to excuse actions recently, Deathstroke has
shot to the top of Damian's basement guest list, and in this issue the team
helps him capture Slade. It's fairly well captioned and exposited for anyone
just coming on board for the crossover (like me), and while Priest's name
isn't on the cover he's in the credits as co-writing. It definitely shows in
some of the structure, and Deathstroke's voice (and virtual Wintergreen's) is
on point. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Deathstroke #42: DC - The Terminus Agenda: Part 2 of 4. Interestingly,
Glass doesn't get any writing credit here, but Priest doesn't get any in part
3, so maybe they only felt the need to collaborate more closely on the first
part (or upper editorial decided they didn't like split writing credits).
Way back near the beginning of this series, Deathstroke discovered that
capturing Damian was much like the Ransom of Red Chief. Time to return the
favor. Well, technically he's helping Damian deal with his displaced father
(and grandfather) issues, but his helpfulness is suspect. Oh, and Jericho
has a few pages, because this issue is all about dysfunctional family ties.
Recommended. $3.99
Teen Titans #29: DC - The Terminus Agenda: Part 3 of 4. Everyone wallows
in their suspicion and unease except Roundhouse, who helps several characters
come to a decision about what they need to do. In one case, definitely a
good thing. In another case...maybe a bit painful for everyone. But
definitely for Damian. Okay, both cases might cause Damian problems, but one
is a lot more immediate. An interesting read, but not really enough to keep
me buying the book after this issue. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Synergy: a Hasbro Creators Showcase One-Shot: IDW - Delayed from last
month, and honestly kind of disappointing. Very heavy on the pin-ups, a lot
of which are from existing covers, and a handful of short stories (two of
which are basically autobiographical). Katie Cook's autobio piece was
amusing, and Maighread Scott's autobio piece was interesting. The other
three vignettes (Arcee, new Snake Eyes, Jem's Stormer) were each three pages
and could have used more pages taken away from cover reprints to develop
their concepts a little better. Mildly recommended. $7.99
Disney's Tangled The Series Hair and Now #1: IDW - I picked this up on
impulse because it's written by Katie Cook, whose work I usually like (MLP,
Gronk, Nothing Special). But this just didn't grab me. Technically a
mystery, but pretty straightforwards, and without any real side stories going
on in the background to liven things up. Artist Catalano stays on-model, and
I was able to follow everything despite having only watched the first few
episodes of the series, but...eh. A few decent gags, but it felt a little
too bland. Mildly recommended, but I won't be picking up any other issues.
$3.99
Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #4 (of 5): IDW - As the penultimate issue
of the arc, it is appropriately loaded up with "OH S***" moments. I mean,
there's enough build-up for another two arcs, which I guess is Clevinger's
plan. The first half is fairly light "find a job for Jenkins to keep him and
the new recruits out of trouble," which has some good gags in it, but then
it's all "YOU DID WHAT?" and "NOW I SEE IT ALL!" reveals. Recommended.
$3.99
Transformers #3: IDW - Technically twice a month, but this month only
one shipped. The overly utopian backstory promised in solicits gets a little
more plausible this issue, at the cost of a LOT of infodump. (It's more of
an extended interbellum, plenty of Cybertronians have known full on warfare,
but not the majority.) One of my big concerns with Ruckley was that he'd set
up such an idyllic Cybertron that most plots would be extended cases of
someone carrying the Idiot Ball because they'd never done this sort of thing
before, but it's more comparable to the extended periods of relative peace
and stasis in many Egyptian or Chinese Dynasties. Although, given the brief
mention of the Nominus Edict (which the Ascenticons are protesting), perhaps
the Pax Romana might be a better analogy, complete with firmly established
boundaries to stop any growth. Still somewhat slow-moving, but the Last Page
Reveal suggests things might start to move faster soon enough. Recommended.
$3.99
Dave Van Domelen, "Well, what's [Jenkins] do in his spare time?"
"INTENSIFYING isn't really an answer, is it?" - Foley and Robo, Atomic Robo
Dawn of a New Era #4 (of 5)
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