| Dave's Comic Capsules for May 2019 [message #384238] |
Wed, 29 May 2019 20:13 |
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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
If it's not actually raining, I'm mowing. Very damp late spring.
Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): The
Unstoppable Wasp v2 #7
In this installment: Adventure Finders Book 2 #2, FCBD Books (Dear
Justice League, Midnight Sky #0, Dragonfly and Dragonflyman #1, Cristiano
Ronaldo's Striker Force, The Tick, Kodansha Comics, CBLDF Defend Comics,
Vampirella, Hope #1), The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3, Captain Marvel #5,
Marvel Rising #3 (of 5), Ironheart #6, The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #7-8,
Deathstroke #43, Teen Titans #30, Beasts of Burden: the Presence of Others
#1, Kaijumax Season 4 #6 (of 6), My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #77, My
Little Pony Spirit of the Forest #1 (of 3), Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #5
(of 5), Transformers #4-6.
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.
Nothing this month.
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 #2: Patreon.com - So, if the main characters
can be likened to a party of D&D adventurers mostly in the Level 5-7 range,
the character who joins them is closer to, um, a Solar Exalted. She actually
first appeared in two issues under the "Edge of Empire" banner, available to
the higher tier Patreon subscribers (and in print at some point in the past,
I guess). The Edge of Empire books are set in the same United Kingdoms world
as Adventure Finders, but involve the major movers and shakers of the world,
"endgame content" characters if you will. They see the injustices of the
society they protect, but have the power to trivially crush the wicked.
What's made clear in this issue is that Clari and her friends are subject to
those same injustices and very much lack the power to crush the wicked. Or
even hold their own against the wicked. In that respect, this is sort of a
cut scene for the party, in which a powerful NPC protects them from someone
who they'll eventually be able to handle on their own. (There's also a bit
of political caricature in this issue, but unless you follow Phillipines
politics or Espinosa's facebook account, you won't know it's based on a real
guy.) Basically, this sets up the idea that Clari and the others won't
always be able to overcome the evils of their own "side," while letting them
survive the attempt. In Book 1, they always managed to get through that sort
of thing without unusual amounts of help (a few men-at-arms siding with them,
that sort of thing), but now they're in it deep. On the one hand, this
raises the stakes immensely...it's not just casual sexism and a few jerks,
it's a very powerful force in their world. On the other hand, by bringing in
one of the nigh-demigods from Edge of Empire, Espinosa shows that there's
very powerful forces on the other side too. Recommended. $1/month basic
pledge.
Trades:
Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.
Nothing this month.
Free Comic Book Day 2019 Books:
My store's pretty cool about letting you just take whatever interests
you, no limits or hassle, so I grabbed some stuff I might otherwise have left
on the table. As usual, these are basically meant as teasers to get you to
pick up the series or the full GN, so I will simply mention if it did that
for me (or would have if it was a series I didn't already get).
Dear Justice League: DC - A few chapters of a young-readers GN. Pretty
twee, and while I do get a fair number of "aimed at little kids" comics, I
won't be getting this one.
Scout Comics Presents Midnight Sky #0: Scout Comics - As with a lot of
the smaller publisher FCBD offerings, this has short previews of several
books and one-page ads for a bunch of others. Midnight Sky, drawn by my
brother, gets the cover and the lion's share of pages. It does a good job of
setting up the premise and making the reader start asking questions, although
I'd be getting it anyway for obvious reasons. Gutt Ghost is just nasty, and
Long Live Pro Wrestling was meh. Didn't really inspire me to add anything to
my pull that wasn't already going there.
Dragonfly & Dragonflyman #1: Ahoy Comics - Set before the recent
miniseries, with similar tales told in both light and dark universes. It
definitely sells the flavor of the two homages, although as a prequel it
might have worked better last year.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Striker Force FCBD Special: Graphic India - I only
vaguely knew who this guy was, mostly from a TV commercial in which he gets
locked out of his hotel room and ogled by the maid. As "why they need a
sports star to join a super secret agency" premises go, it's not totally
stupid (they have a Plot Device that needs to be delivered accurately at
targets but can't be launched mechanically, so they need someone really good
at accurate kicking), but the book as a whole is...not inspiring me to pick
up the series.
The Tick FCBD 2019: NEC - Three short stories and some pinups. Decent
for the most part, but given my disappointment with the 2017-18 ongoing, it's
not good enough to get me to give that book a second try.
Kodansha Comics FCBD Special: Kodansha Comics - Short chapters of Witch
Hat Atelier, Magus of the Library, and a "collector's edition" of Cardcaptor
Sakura. The two I hadn't heard of before are "D&D through the Japanese
lens" fantasy with minor twists to them, and none of the three books
convinced me to pick up a series. But this was one of those really long shot
FCBD books I grabbed on a whim.
CBLDF Defend Comics 2019: CBLDF - Their yearly anthology is back, a sort
of grab bag of pieces from various publishers (Oni, Boom, Abrams ComicArts).
There's no real theme this time, that I can discern, it feels more like CLBDF
had a slot open and just asked around for submissions. The only one that
even sort of interested me was Bill Griffith's autobio comic, "Nobody's
Fool," from Abrams. The excerpt shows how in 1963 he first saw the movie
Freaks!, which obviously helped inspire his most famous character, Zippy the
Pinhead.
Vampirella v5 #0: Dynamite - So, I was a bit surprised to find out that
Christopher Priest was going to be writing Vampirella, and the lead story in
this issue sets up his basic hook: Vampirella's existence has become public
knowledge (I guess in v4?) and now she has groupies and imitators to worry
about. The second story is a reprint of a Kurt Busiek/Art Adams story from
1993, which may or may not be in the same continuity. (Vampirella's origins
suffer from a bit of retcon churn, as far as I know...and the reprint makes
it clear that this has been a problem for her for a while now.) Definitely
intriguing, if nothing else. Will be adding to my pull.
Hope #1: Source Point Press - This one looked promising, with a
non-sexualized female hero on the cover and a title like Hope. But the
actual story is about everything falling apart, evil government agencies, and
the destruction (literal and figurative) of hope. Pass.
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.)
The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3: Marvel - Narrated by Kamala's mom, it
takes most of the edge off the status change seen in #1 (hint to Too Cool For
Captions writers: getting inside someone's head often helps!). The actual
plot is fairly standard: hero asked to help, things aren't what they seem,
maybe both sides are bad guys, etc. But what makes it different is that
she's got her parents along for the ride. Recommended. $3.99
Captain Marvel (2019) v(something) #5: Marvel - Yeah, that's it for me.
Four issues in a pocket universe and now the book is diving into War of the
Realms in #6...not a lot of chance that the stuff that interested me in #1 is
going to get addressed any time soon, if at all. Dropped. $3.99
Marvel Rising #3 (of 5): Marvel - A decent middle part. A lot of
fighting, some exposition, the villain's goals are clarified, etc. It does
feel more like a tabletop RPG session than a single-writer story, though.
And while Quake's narration does get inside her head, it's more annoying than
helpful. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Ironheart #6: Marvel - A done in one story in which Ironheart checks in
on Miles Morales, who has been in too many books and needed to take a break
after replicating one of Peter's biggest mistakes while over in Champions.
The villain appears to be new, and has no Grand Plan to worry about, but that
doesn't mean he won't show up again (or hasn't shown up before, he could be
just too obscure for me). Decent character building issue. Recommended.
$3.99
The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #7: Marvel - Of COURSE the book's already been
cancelled, with #10 slated to be the final issue. This is Nadia's birthday
party, with a huge crowd scene of heroes and supporting cast, many of whom
Nadia is related to in some way or other (Viv Vision tries to explain all the
family tree stuff, but throws an error message when she gets to Wiccan and
Speed). There's a little fighting, some of it Obligatory Marvel
Misunderstanding, and some "you got me a fight scene for my birthday!"
Strongly recommended. $3.99
The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #8: Marvel - Time for the science expo! Of
course, it's a trap, but it's not yet clear who set it and who's working with
whom on it. Also, there's more than one trap at more than one location, but
given that the book is working towards a climax (which will now have to be
the series finale), it's about time for all the traps to spring. Throw in a
bunch of new girl geniuses and some unpredictable supertech, and...maybe it
would have been a better idea to hold this thing outside of city limits?
Recommended. $3.99
Deathstroke #43: DC - The Terminus Agenda: Part 4 of 4. Damian's always
been torn between the examples set by his father and his mother, at least
since meeting his father. Deathstroke, whose own mask screams duality (a
point not-Two-Face focused on in a recent arc) wants to help Damian just pick
a side...preferably the one he considers sane, which is to say not Batman's.
Mostly a running fight throughout the Titans' home as the inmates of Damian's
secret prison run amok and seek payback, but plenty of time for ethical
debate. Recommended. $3.99
Teen Titans #30: DC - The Terminus Agenda: Epilogue. For the most part,
this is the inevitable "team has found out about the leader's dark side, and
it's going to tear them apart" story, but it never quite reaches the "we
quit" stage, as everyone's too busy fuming and fussing and occasionally
fighting. The indication is that while at least half the time finds Robin's
actions morally repugnant (and aren't too keen on Red Arrow's actions),
they've still become close enough in a short time that they're not quite
ready to throw it all away without making an effort. Unfortunately, they
don't get a chance to find a resolution, as another complication shows up at
the end. Also unfortunately, I'm not interested enough to keep buying the
book now that the crossover is over. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Beasts of Burden: the Presence of Others #1: Dark Horse Comics - This is
another of those books I picked up after seeing a bunch of pages posted to
Tumblr (although I haven't yet decided if I want to go back for trades of the
previous volumes). The basic premise is that a group of housepets are part
of a network of protectors, keeping their territory safe from supernatural
threats (and keeping an eye on supernatural stuff that's not really a threat,
just in case). This one opens with a group of mystically sensitive
humans...who near as I can tell from a bit of dialogue here are the sidekicks
when they work with Wise Dogs (and cats). Not only can they understand
animals, the animals can understand them (I guess previous volumes establish
that normally the mystic animals can't understand human speech). Interesting
enough to keep up with, although horror isn't my usual thing. Recommended.
$3.99
Kaijumax Season 4 #6 (of 6): Oni Press - In light of how Oni handled the
"merger" with Lion Forge (more of a disembowelment) I'm rather less
enthusiastic about the company, but I'll try to compartmentalize that and not
let it color my review here. Fortunately, adorable little Dinobot EMTs go a
long way towards sweetening my mood. (Little by kaiju scale, still not too
much smaller than the Transformers ones.) The two main plot threads (prison
takeover by Goat, Chisato's pregnancy) both resolve in parallel, and frankly
the second one is a lot more satisfying even though it doesn't involve any
combat. Lessons are learned, growth happens. In the prison-side plot, much
of what could have been learned is not (for plot device reasons), but at
least the doctor regains her ethical agency. Recommended. $3.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #77: IDW - The retconning of Discord
continues, and the plot devices are all brought together so that things can
get worse. Some good schtick here and there from Cook and Price, but
otherwise fairly predictable (and as noted last month, there's just too many
Worse Than Discord cosmic entities running around in the comics lately).
Mildly recommended. $3.99
My Little Pony Spirit of the Forest #1 (of 3): IDW - This is basically
The Lorax retold in Equestria, with Filthy Rich in the role of Onceler.
Anderson's story is a touch heavy-handed in the "talking down to the kiddies"
way, but not obnoxiously so (I'm looking at you, G.M. Berrow). And while
Brenda Hickey isn't as good as Andy Price, she's getting close in terms of
visual storytelling and adding depth to the backgrounds. Mildly recommended.
$3.99
Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #5 (of 5): IDW - The ALAN plotline
dominates the issue, with the crystals of the hollow Earth one just getting a
few pages to firmly establish that last issue's epiphany was the beginning,
not the end. Lots of character development (or at least character
establishment) via debates about ALAN. And the impending vampire invasion.
Oh yeah, that's sort of a problem on the very near horizon too. It's always
tricky to balance this sort of conflict without making someone out to be
clearly wrong, but Clevinger manages it...everyone's right (except maybe
whoever decided to see how fireproof ALAN is), but no one agrees. It's just
a matter of how everyone prioritizes the various stances. Is the danger more
important, or someone's rights? Which danger is more important? Whose
rights? And so forth. Recommended. $3.99
Transformers #4-6: IDW - It's made very clear in these issues that the
solicitation bit about "a world that has never known violent death" was
definitely an exaggeration. There was a big war in living memory, but few of
those who fought in it are still alive to remember it. The Nominus Edict
(which is frequently referenced, but finally spelled out in #6) is a reaction
to that war, an attempt to bring security and stability through ethical
means. And it IS ethical...while many cracks are appearing in Cybertronian
civilization, it's not because there's some secret "energon is made of
people" sort of deal. It's just that a growing number of Cybertronians find
it stifling, and that's leading to unrest. Now, it's still possible that
Brainstorm was killed over some Horrible Secret At The Core Of Society, but
Ruckley does seem to be going for something a little more subtle than that.
He probably did find something that would tip the delicate balance, but not
necessarily away from the Edicts. One of the big points made in the
flashbacks is that Megatron thinks all equilibrium is unstable, and requires
only the tiniest of pushes to upset, so Brainstorm's death was probably over
something seemingly tiny. Oh, and Rubble gets in over his head in #5, but #6
is mostly Optimus Prime remembering stuff, so we don't see how Rubble fares
yet. Recommended. $3.99 each.
Dave Van Domelen, "PRIYA IS ALSO VERY EXCITED!" "I AM WEIRDLY INVESTED
IN THIS RELATIONSHIP! I JUST WANT YOU ALL TO BE HAPPY AND HAVE LITTLE
ASSASSIN ENGINEER BABIES!" - Nadia and Priya, The Unstoppable Wasp v2 #7 (and
yes, they're jumping up and down and shouting gleefully)
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