| Dave's Capsules for March 2016 [message #315310] |
Thu, 31 March 2016 19:06 |
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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 week.
An archive can be found on my homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants
Closing on a house (hopefully) at the end of April. Yay adulting!
Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): None.
In this installment: Lego Justice League Cosmic Clash, DC Super Hero
Girls, Daredevil S2 Eps 1-4, 1999 Book 5, Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga
vol 3, Invader Zim #8, Marvel All-New All-Different Universe, Moon Girl and
Devil Dinosaur #5, The Totally Awesome Hulk #4, Ms. Marvel v2 #5, Ninjas
vs. Aliens #1, Gold Digger #230, Astro City #33, Saber Rider and the Star
Sheriffs #1, My Little Pony Friends Forever #26, My Little Pony Friendship is
Magic #40, Transformers Deviations, The Transformers #50, Transformers More
than Meets the Eye #50-51.
Current Wait List (books either Diamond didn't ship or my store failed
to order): Toil and Trouble #5, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #3 AND #4
"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.
Justice League Cosmic Clash (Lego): DC/WB - I got the set with the
Cosmic Boy minifigure, which came in an impulse bag stuffed into the box,
rather than the usual display window trick. While the Legion was something
of a big selling point here, they're not on-screen for a whole lot of time.
The main plot, really, is your basic "need to learn to be part of the team"
cliche, but somehow the Lego DC stuff manages to take the tritest of cliche
plots and make them fun. THIS is the Batman vs. Superman we need. The
Cosmic Boy minifigure is nice, too bad there doesn't seem to be an Imra to
complete the trio (Lightning Lad was in a four-figure gift set at Target a
few months ago). Recommended. $15 or so.
DC Super Hero Girls: DC/Mattel - Just a few observations on the toy line
(Target exclusive) and the show (on Boomerang). I picked up the Bumblebee
(oddly no difficulty with Hasbro on that trademark) and Harley Quinn action
figures, which are pretty good for $10 toys these days. 6" tall, universal
joints on shoulders, elbows, hips and knees (but the knees are a bit
limited), swivel wrists and ankles, ball joint neck. Soft hands, so while
they can hold stuff, it's weakly. Fairly good paint apps, okay accessories.
I watched most of the shorts (known as Season 1) and the first episode
of the regular series. I was a bit worried based on the shorts that it would
be about teen hijinks and saving kittens from trees and stuff, but Season 2
involves an invasion from Apokolips (no one will ever be a better Granny
Goodness than Ed Asner, though), so the stakes will occasionally rise above
high school comedy. Too bad it's on Boomerang and launched with nearly zero
fanfare. Also, it looks like this is a one-shot, a single-episode "season."
There's clearly setup for later stories, but they're not trying to make this
a weekly series. Recommended.
Daredevil Season 2, Episodes 1-4: Marvel/Netflix - Unlike season 1,
which was a single extended origin story, this season is broken into a few
different conflicts. The first four make up a single arc, Daredevil
vs. Punisher, which is as far as I've gotten so far. I hear the remaining
episodes try running multiple arcs in parallel rather than in series.
The first four episodes (well, 3.96 or something, there's a stinger at
the end of ep 4 to set up the next plot) form a strong arc that uses the
Punisher as a Dark Mirror for Daredevil. The philosophical argument runs
basically as "You don't fix problems by letting the scum live!" versus "You
don't fix problems by killing people who might turn around!" And if the show
answers the issue at all, it's by saying you probably don't fix problems at
all, no matter what you do...the best you can hope for is to save the
occasional innocent (or kinda-innocent) from drowning in the problems.
Recommended.
1999 Book 5 (Episodes 37-40): Kindle - This is a relatively short
installment because Priest landed the Deathstroke gig and needing to get
ahead on a twice-monthly schedule kind of distracted from writing more 1999.
This is the start of a new storyline, with a somewhat more traditional
superhero bent (Episodes 1-36 were more of a pulp mystery with superhero
elements), featuring the 1999-verse's versions of Superman and Batman. Four
episodes isn't a lot, but it's enough to get a decent idea how the new supers
are being set up. Warning: the very first sentence may offend, but keep
reading, it's explained. Still offensive, but maybe a little less so.
Recommended. $2.99 at Amazon.com.
The Justice League vs. Teen Titans movie is supposedly out, but I
haven't seen it at any stores around here yet, so it'll go on next month's
column.
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.
Nothing this month.
Trades:
Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.
Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Volume 3: DC - And thus the series
wraps up, with the last third of the translated stories (mostly from Shonen
Gaho, rather than Shonen King) collected here. The endnotes include a list
of all of the original stories that inspired these...wow, Kuwata changed a
LOT. I'd thought these were completely original stories inspired by the
American comic and occasionally using elements of DC villains (like Go Go the
Magician being clearly based on Weather Wizard), but nope. But Kuwata tended
to take single issue stories and more than double the total page count,
adding in plot elements not present in the original. And sometimes the plot
is modified pretty significantly. Anyway, while the previous two volumes
tended to lean more on gimmick gangsters and semi-plausible scientific plot
devices (well, by standards of the day), this volume goes all out weird, with
robot criminals, travel to alien worlds, and of course the Matt Hagen version
of Clayface (although, as usual, he has a different civilian name).
Recommended. $14.99/$17.99Cn
Ottaviani's "The Imitation Game" will be in next month's reviews. I got
it on Amazon but waited until some other pre-order stuff was available to get
free shipping. :)
Floppies:
No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes?
Invader Zim #8: Oni Press - They may not admit to it, but this is
basically a Kill la Kill riff. While far from the weakest in the series,
it's not particularly inspired either. It feels like Oni stopped caring
after the first few issues and are just trying to milk the license and fulfil
a contract with Hot Topic or something now. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Marvel All-New All-Different Universe: Marvel - This is an update
handbook, with a few entirely new entries (like Battleworld) and a bunch of
updates. They totally changed the format from the previous Marvel Handbooks,
though, increasing the fog levels a bit. Still, if you only read a few
Marvel books and are curious what sort of stuff is happening elsewhere, this
will get you caught up (I suppose you could read wiki pages for free, but you
have to know what to look for, and this collects it). Mildly recommended.
$4.99
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #5: Marvel - Well, finally got an issue
shipped. Still waiting on 3-4, but I've read scans so I won't be lost. On
the one hand, I appreciate not having to spend several issues with Moon Girl
suffering through being grounded and "normal" and stuff, but I think Reeder
whipped through that part of the story so fast it felt like he decided he
never wanted to do that in the first place but changed his mind too late to
fix the ending of #4. Some plot elements move way too fast, others just sort
of hang there feeling like Gilligan trying to get off the island. Maybe my
frustration with being unable to get the regular issues has cast a pall over
my enjoyment of the book, but it just doesn't feel like it's living up to its
premise very well. Mildly recommended. $3.99
Totally Awesome Hulk #4: Marvel - Pretty underwhelmed by the first arc.
It really felt like it could all have been done in two issues, with excessive
padding (yet another monster fight, another incremental advance of the
flashback sequence that could have all been done well in three pages total,
etc). Pak has earned enough slack from me that I'm not dropping it yet, but
the next arc had better improve. Very mildly recommended. $3.99
Ms. Marvel v2 #5: Marvel - On the one hand, almost nothing happens this
issue other than the obvious unfolding of the calamity established in #4. On
the other hand, it does so in an amusing manner, so the predictability is
acceptable. Recommended. $3.99
Ninjas vs. Aliens #1: Antarctic Press - Ben Dunn takes another shot at
redoing the Ninja High School concept. This isn't a reboot, it's just a
generation later with another batch of aliens and ninjas in high school.
He's taking a vignette approach so far, with the issue broken into three
chapters which each introduce some fraction of the cast (including three
pages spent on a story-within-the-story). Salusians and Zardons on Earth are
taken as a fairly normal thing at this point, and none of the original cast
have shown up yet (one or two may have appeared in the previous series in
minor roles, though, I'd need to go back through the backissues). A bit
disjointed, but more readable than Science vs. Magic #1. Mildly
recommended. $3.99
Gold Digger #230: Antarctic Press - Fight fight fight sudden betrayal
and apparently abandoning the multi-issue arc in favor of something else?
Even re-reading the issue, I'm still not sure whether the same endgame is in
place with different players, or if this was all a distraction. Very mildly
recommended. $3.99
Astro City #33: DC/Vertigo - In proper noir fashion, an informant gets
killed and an Obvious Suspect gets revealed by the end of the issue.
However, even if the Obvious Suspect is the actual culprit, there's bound to
be at least one "no he isn't, yes he is" double reverse to stay in theme. :)
All in all, this is the sort of "middle and exposition" issue that will
probably read better when the whole arc is done, though. Mildly
recommended. $3.99
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs #1: Lion Force Comics - I never
watched this show as a kid, not sure I had even heard about it before seeing
the solicitation for the comic, but I like Maighreed Scott's writing enough
to give it a shot. Sadly, the anonymous studio artists have zero idea how to
visually tell a story, frequently showing before or after an action but not
actually showing things HAPPEN. This can lead to some confusing pages, where
I had to infer from dialogue that something had happened between panels. The
writing is okay, but the poor support from the art definitely hurts. Mildly
recommended, hopefully either the artists get better or Scott starts writing
scripts that are more art-proof. $2.99
Ragnarok #8: IDW - This is basically one scene, a fight with Thor and
the dark elf Regn versus a horde of nameless voiceless fire demons, ending in
a videogame-style boss fight against a much larger nameless voiceless fire
demon. 19 pages of the two named characters arguing while fighting mooks,
then 8 more pages of pencils and inks of 4 of the pieces. Very indulgent,
but then this really has always been Simonson indulging himself, yes? The
Thor story he could never tell at Marvel. It looks cool enough, but
ultimately that's about all it does this issue. The story content could have
been done in four pages. Mildly recommended. $4.99
My Little Pony Friends Forever #26: IDW - Shining Armor and Prince
Blueblood. Whitley's story has a thematic similarity to Raiders of the Lost
Mark, in that Blueblood is clearly someone who leans a little too hard on his
special talent without developing some of the mundane skills that should go
along with it. But where Diamond Tiara was a boss rather than a leader,
Blueblood is a boor and a twit...until he turns on his talent for diplomacy.
When in what he considered a position of power (Grand Galloping Gala) he sees
no need to be diplomatic and treats other ponies as unimportant. But when
tasked with being a diplomat, he knows just what to do. However, since the
comics can't make major changes to characters who might reappear in the
cartoon, this is more of an explanation of why Blueblood remains an Important
Person, and not a Comeuppance In Which He Learns The The True Value Of His
Talent like Diamond Tiara got. Still, recommended. $3.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #40: IDW - Reading this was kind of
weird, because it focuses on a bit of backstory that has also been developed
by one of the more professional-quality fan comics I follow...and as a result
it feels less canonical than the fanwork. :) But while that fan comic
focuses on Twilight's schooling experience as itself, this issue is more
concerned with the trials and tribulations of Twilight trying to raise Spike
while also being a student. Without help. And if you think making the
equivalent of a gradeschooler raise a child of a different species with no
guidance whatsoever is a bit too much, then you've never met Princess
Celestia. Her teaching style has always been "throw them into the deep
end...of a pool full of monsters which are also on fire." I mean, looking
back, this is pretty much how Twilight has been taught all along. Is
Twilight Sparkle worthy to become an Alicorn? Well, let's see, Nightmare
Moon is scheduled to break free, let's see if Twi can solve that. She
managed that? Cool. Hey, there's this horribly dangerous spell no one ever
figured out, let's give it to her and not tell her it's horribly dangerous.
That should be a good learning experience. And so forth. So...yeah. In
that light, this issue is a perfect depiction of how Twi's first months in
school must have been like. Recommended. $3.99
Transformers Deviations One-Shot: IDW - This is like a Third Party toy
in comic form. Cling tenaciously to the 1984 properties, but redo them with
better technology and a higher price. In this case, it's a "What If?" sort
of story in which somehow the only survivors seem to be 1984 season 1
Autobots, and all the icky "newbies" die. The most "Geewun" thing I've ever
paid to read, and that includes Regeneration One. (The actual original
Marvel comics aren't Geewun, in fact they run counter to the Geewunner
attitude in that they move forward and actually bring in new characters and
new ideas.) And I haven't even addressed the actual writing, which reminds
me of bad fanfic from the 90s, in that it rushes through ideas and is more
interested in establishing who lives, who dies, and who gets a kewl new set
of powers than in telling a story. Avoid. $4.99
The Transformers #51: IDW - Spike is now more of a cartoony villain than
any in G1. That's really the main take-away from this issue. He's been
bitter and a jerk for a while now (not without cause), but now he's
practically cackling over how having ethics makes Optimus weak. Really, the
rest is just more of the "We want to talk" "Die robot scum" stuff from last
issue. Meh. $3.99
Transformers More than Meets the Eye #50: IDW - Another double-sized
extravaganza with backup story. The main story lets the other shoe drop
regarding the resentment over Megatron's pardon, although as others have
pointed out, some of the people who joined the mutiny have very strong
reasons to not go along with the methods no matter how much they may agree
with the goals. Still, compared to The Transformers #50, the "it all goes to
slag" storyline here is a bit more palatable. But it shoots for Epic
Disaster but is too riddled with "Wait, what?" moments to carry the mood.
The backup story is aimed squarely and solely at the people who have read the
entire series so far, and even then it's a bit confusing on first read.
Mildly recommended. $7.99
Transformers More than Meets the Eye #51: IDW - Y'know, shortly after
#50 came out, someone did a fan comic where Ratchet showed up, glared at
everyone, the DJD surrendered and everything was fixed. That's not what
happens here, but almost good enough. :) Recommended. $3.99
Dave Van Domelen, "There's a DIFFERENCE, isn't there. Between mechs and
organics. I used to think there were MANY -- I used to think there were ONLY
differences -- but now I realize there's just ONE. The sound we make when
we're in PAIN." - Megatron, TF:MtMtE #51
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