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eddycurrents · 5 years

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For the week of 3 December 2018

Quick Bits:

Batman #60 sure is something. There’s echoes of Knightfall with Batman seemingly going off the deep end when it comes to beating up villains in search for answers about Bane. You’ve got to wonder if it’s all just misdirection, bringing about extreme alienation from Gordon all the while. The scenes of Batman running amok through his villains are illustrated by Jorge Fornés (with colours from Jordie Bellaire) and you’d swear it’s the second coming of David Mazzucchelli. Fornés’ style is perfect for Batman.

| Published by DC Comics

Blackbird #3 is still keeping us off-balance, giving us hints of the Paragon world, but still navigating the edges, leaving us almost as in the dark as Nina. There’s a revelation this issue, though, that may make everything make sense. Great art from Jen Bartel, Paul Reinwand, and Tríona Farrell. The designs for the Paragons and the “true” appearance of the city are very well done.

| Published by Image

BPRD: The Devil You Know #11 kicks off the end with the first part of “Ragna Rok”, but before getting to Rasputin’s wrath, we get Varvara’s origin story. Great art from Christopher Mitten, Laurence Campbell, and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Dark Horse

Clankillers #5 brings the series to an end as Cillian and the remaining forces confront Fin as possessed by the spirit of Balor. This is a good end that seeks to break the cycle of violence we’ve seen since the first issue. Overall a wonderful series from Sean Lewis, Antonio Fuso, Stefano Simeone, and Dave Sharpe.

| Published by AfterShock

Crowded #5 pushes us closer to the conclusion of the first arc, literally, as the narrative is hijacked by the Reapr sensation, Trotter. It’s very interesting to see how damaged overall these characters are that Christopher Sebela is giving voice to. They all seem to have some fundamental flaws that have broken them and led them into a world where crowd-funded contract killing seems like a good idea.

| Published by Image

The Curse of Brimstone #9 is one of the New Age of Heroes books I actually quite like, so of course it’s ending soon. That said, I’ll see it out to the end, even if the Doctor Fate this issue seems a bit at odds with the one in Justice League Dark. Still, Justin Jordan, Eduardo Pansica, Júlio Ferreira, Rain Beredo, and Wes Abbott give us an entertaining tale exploring the nature of Brimstone.

| Published by DC Comics

Dark Ark #12 introduces all sorts of complications as Shrae and the monsters approach landfall, ratcheting up the tensions and machinations amongst the factions, and the looming threat that Shrae and his family may not be much longer for the world as their patrons leave them. Cullen Bunn and Juan Doe are crafting an amazing story here.

| Published by AfterShock

Death Orb #3 tosses us some pretty dark humour amidst the action and ever closer threat of planet death. The action sequence between the Rider and the Ninja, though brief, is very entertaining.

| Published by Dark Horse

Deathstroke #38 gets more complicated even as it begins to untie the Gordian Knot of Slade’s insanity. The plot here from Priest is fairly intricate, but it all makes sense if we accept that everything we’ve been told by him is the truth and we just weren’t shown his trip via the Zeta Beam. It fits better with what’s been going on outside the walls of Arkham. Also wonderful artwork from Fernando Pasarin, Jason Paz, and Jeromy Cox.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #1 is incredible. It taps into the same primal childhood nostalgia present in things like IT, The Goonies, Stranger Things, and more, wrapping it in a roleplaying game in a fantasy world, but with an ever-present feeling of dread and loss because something went horribly, horribly wrong. Great work here from Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles.

| Published by Image

Doctor Strange #9 is a wonderful single issue story dealing with an aggressive land developer trying numerous means through the years to acquire the property on Bleecker Street. It’s a different kind of adversary for Strange, but Mark Waid, Jesús Saiz, and Cory Petit make what might well be the best issue of this volume yet. It’s interesting to see a more human side of Strange here, caring for his community, but it works. Especially with the gorgeous artwork from Saiz, including some incredibly well designed creatures.

| Published by Marvel

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #2 continues to be highly entertaining as the Doctor and friends try to escape from the clutches of the Army of the Just. Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, Giorgia Sposito, Valeria Favoccia, Enrica Eren Angiolini, Viviana Spinelli, Sara Michieli, Andrea Moretto, Richard Starkings, Sarah Jacobs, and John Roshell capture the tone, atmosphere, and appearance of the television series perfectly, serving as a nice companion piece to the show and a good comic in its own right.

| Published by Titan

The Freeze #1 is a compelling debut from Dan Wickline, Phillip Sevy, and Troy Peteri. We’re thrust into a world where everyone has frozen, stopped moving, but by all appearances it’s just people, everything else is still in motion. It’s told through the perspective of the one person who didn’t freeze, Ray Adams, and the first issue raises a lot of questions as to what’s going on.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Goliath Girls #2 is a Comixology original from Sam Humphries, Alti Firmansyah, Brittany Peer, and Jodi Wynne delving into the kaiju genre with aplomb. It’s colourful and action-packed, with some great art from Firmansyah and Peer, and an interesting take on the kaiju that evokes more of the human/mech bond that we’ve seen in the robo variation on the genre like Mech Cadet Yu.

| Published by Shadow Valley

The Green Lantern #2 continues this excellent new take on the Green Lanterns from Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Tom Orzechowski. It maintains the Silver Age meets 2000 AD & Heavy Metal feel from the first issue, but still feels incredibly fresh and new. The art from Sharp and Oliff is just stunning.

| Published by DC Comics

Grumble #1 is a wonderful debut from Rafer Roberts, Mike Norton, Marissa Louise, and Crank! delving into a world of magic, con artistry, and running for your life from an intergalactic authority trying to erase you from existence. And a mook who’s trapped in the form of a pug. It’s rather funny and pretty great.

| Published by Albatross Funnybooks

Hack/Slash vs. Chaos! #1 is off to a decent start with Tim Seeley back in the writer’s chair for Cassie and Vlad, joined by Rapha Lobosco, Dee Cunniffe, and Crank! to round out the creative team. I don’t have a lot (read, pretty much any) of experience with the Chaos characters, but this still works framed as a straightforward Hack/Slash tale. Lobosco’s art is very nice for the story. He’s not delivering a straight-up Risso-clone style here anymore, developing more of his own grittier tone, and it’s great to see.

| Published by Dynamite

Her Infernal Descent #5 concludes the series with the final descent into the deepest reaches of Hell. I’m not really sure what happened, but this final issue is illustrated by Eoin Marron, replacing Kyle Charles, and he does a good job of taken us that last mile. This has been an interesting series, using Dante’s Inferno as a framework for a personal tale of one woman’s reflection on grief and her own personal hell. Lonnie Nadler, Zac Thompson, Charles & Marron, Dee Cunniffe, Ryan Ferrier & Marshall Dillon gave us something very unique to comics.

| Published by AfterShock

Immortal Hulk #10 has reached the point where I think I’m running out of superlatives for this series, it’s the most incredible Hulk story I’ve read in decades. Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Le Beau Underwood, Rafael Fonteriz, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit deliver another stunning chapter, concluding the battle between Hulk and Creel in a manner even more terrifying than Creel’s appearance.

| Published by Marvel

Immortal Hulk: The Best Defense #1, along with the Namor title this week, begins “The Best Defense” event. It apparently features four lead-ins of the individual original members of the Defenders, which can be read in any order and appear independent of one another, followed by the finale in The Defender: The Best Defense in two weeks. This one is from Immortal Hulk’s regular writer, Al Ewing, along with Simone Di Meo, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Cory Petit. It follows the same horror atmosphere and tone of the main Immortal Hulk book, presenting a mysteriously abandoned town and the desiccated corpse of Doctor Strange.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League #13 explores Joker’s recruitment to the Legion of Doom and his thoughts on their current activities in this third issue devoted to them from James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Arif Prianto, and Tom Napolitano. The art from March and Prianto is suitably dark and strange, perfectly encapsulating Joker’s madness.

| Published by DC Comics

Killmonger #1 is an interesting start, picking up an interpretation of the character similar to how he appeared in the Black Panther movie, but pushing him further. The art from Juan Ferreyra is gorgeous, running us through a variety of styles for the flashbacks, present day, dreams, and such that are just incredible, really enhancing the overall story.

| Published by Marvel

LaGuardia #1 begins a rich sci-fi tale from Nnedi Okorafor, Tana Ford, James Devlin, and Sal Cipriano. This first issue introduces us to a world where aliens of all sorts have made themselves known to humans and begun visiting, some even seeming to be living here, through the eyes of Future Nwafor Chukwuebuka and Citizen Raphael Nwabara. It’s interesting to see the sociopolitical and social landscapes of this story develop and how they intertwine with the characters, along with some gorgeous art from Ford and Devlin.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

The Last Siege #7 takes an impressive risk for its penultimate issue, choosing to go silent for the breakout of the full battle against the castle. It’s great. The storytelling through the art is wonderful, words would only get in the way. Landry Q. Walker, Justin Greenwood, Brad Simpson, and Patrick Brosseau really bring it this issue.

| Published by Image

Lodger #2 continues this incredibly unique crime story from David and Maria Lapham. It’s one part serial killer’s travelogue, one part revenge quest, and all parts compelling drama.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Low Road West #4 answers a few more questions, but leaves a hell of a lot more for the conclusion next issue. Just as we’re getting some answers, it swerves into more action as the kids get chased again by the government agents. This is weird, but good weird. The art from Flaviano and Miquel Muerto really sells how strange this world has become.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Martian Manhunter #1 contains the first depiction that I know of for green martian sex. It’s...maybe what you’d expect from a race than can change its form at will. The first issue of this 12-issue maxi-series from Steve Orlando, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, and Deron Bennett is unconventional, blending a procedural with a pretty brutal murder and a kind of personal history of J’onn on Mars. And it’s not at all what you’d expect. This is good. Weird, but good.

| Published by DC Comics

Marvel Knights #3 sees Tini Howard and Damian Couceiro join Donny Cates in the fun for a dive into how Frank Castle was tracking down the amnesiac heroes and watching his relationships fall apart in the process. This one feels harder, harsher, than the first two chapters, but it perfectly fits the Punisher. Also some dark humour.

| Published by Marvel

Namor: The Best Defense #1 gives us what’s mainly a political thriller mixed with a monster battle, as Namor searches for allies in the remote Atlantean colony of Vodan, in this tale from Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Ian Herring, and Travis Lanham. The art from Magno and Herring is worth the price of admission alone, but there’s also some very interesting hints at what might be coming in the new Invaders series.

| Published by Marvel

Ninja-K #14 brings the series to an end in fairly explosive style as Christos Gage, Roberto de la Torre, José Villarrubia, and A Larger World Studios tender Colin King’s resignation. The action this issue is pretty phenomenal, with some of the best art I’ve seen from de la Torre, outdoing himself very impressively.

| Published by Valiant

Prodigy #1 is another interesting new Millarworld project, introducing us to Edison Crane, a celebrity super-genius seemingly solving all the world’s problems, and he’s about to embark on one hell of one with a possible invasion from an alternate reality. In some ways, this is almost a more “realistic” take on what would happen if Reed Richards existed in our world, just slightly to the left, but it’s still a compelling story from Mark Millar, Rafael Albuquerque, Marcelo Maiolo, and Peter Doherty.

| Published by Image

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons #3 throws Morty’s dad into the mix as the group travel to a reality where D&D is real. This continues to be a nigh perfect mash-up of the two properties as Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Zub, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Robbie Robbins delve into some of the traditional elements of adventuring. Also, not talking about fourth edition is a good idea.

| Published by IDW & Oni Press

Self/Made #1 is a very impressive debut from Mat Groom, Eduardo Ferigato, Marcelo Costa, and Troy Peteri. It starts as a very well told, beautifully illustrated fantasy tale set in Arcadia of a quest to stop the evil from conquering the world, with a great character in Amala, but it becomes something so much more. Highly recommend this one.

| Published by Image

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Qui-Gon Jinn #1 is the first of this new series of one shots intent on giving more insight to the various characters around the Star Wars universe across the ages, as they fit in the new canon since Disney took over. It’s kind of weird to see this kind of thing again after the Expanded Universe already did it over decades, but I can’t say that this isn’t good. Jody Houser, Cory Smith, Walden Wong, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham deliver a suitably introspective tale as Qui-Gon tries to deal with the conflict between two warring factions of a world of wood/metal and by extension the light and dark sides of the Force. There are some really nice designs and images of Coruscant and the unnamed world Qui-Gon meditates on in the book.

| Published by Marvel

United States vs. Murder Inc. #4 sees the five families send Rose and Gallo to assassinate the President. Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, Taki Soma, and Carlos M. Mangual deliver more twists this issue, upheaving the status quo and sending it into yet another direction. Also further reinforcement that Valentine really isn’t suited to this life.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Venom #9 kicks off “The Abyss” with a returning Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Frank Martin. Donny Cates’ narration for Eddie really takes us inside the character here, building out his fears, grief, and history as he tries to reconnect with his father. It’s an incredible deep dive for some really well done character building.

| Published by Marvel

West Coast Avengers #5 begins the next arc, following through the team’s relationship issues and tossing them into a creepy abandoned amusement park, ostensibly following through Madame Masque’s revenge scheme from the last Hawkeye series (though you needn’t have read that, I highly recommend that you do. It’s great). Daniele Di Nicuolo joins Tríona Farrell on the art and it’s nice to see him doing some work for Marvel.

| Published by Marvel

The Wicked + The Divine #40 begins “Okay” with a very interesting structure to the story. Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson, Clayton Cowles, and Dee Cunniffe present this story at a distance, through various forms of cameras. It gives the story a very different kind of feel, mimicking the viewpoint from a vlog on YouTube at points, security cameras at others, and some other forms of video viewing, keeping the reader at arm’s length.

| Published by Image

Winter Soldier #1 is an interesting start to this new mini from Kyle Higgins, Rod Reis, and Clayton Cowles. They set up Bucky as a kind of extraction agent in a new plan to pull crooked cops in over their heads, Hydra agents looking to get out, and the like out of their situations and give them a second chance with a “normal life”. It’s certainly a different premise. The art from Reis is gorgeous, as usual, channelling some of his best Bill Sienkiewicz influence.

| Published by Marvel

The Wrong Earth #4 continues its very interesting exploration of these two vastly different worlds representing two ends of comics culture, showing just how ill prepared the two forms of Dragonfly(man) are to their counterpart’s world. Great art from Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, and Andy Troy. I never get tired of how the art shifts when the story switches from Earth Alpha to Omega. This one’s rounded out with a back-up spotlighting the deadly (and somewhat careless) crime-fighting of Dragonfly and an assortment of prose.

| Published by Ahoy

Other Highlights: Avengers Assemble: Time Will Tell, Barbarella Holiday Special #1, Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams #3, Black AF: Devil’s Dye #1, Border Town #4, Breakneck #1, Cinema Purgatorio #16, Curse Words #18, The Dreaming #4, Gasolina #13, Giant Days: Where Women Glow & Men Plunder #1, Infinity Wars: Infinity Warps #2, Iron Fist #3, Kick-Ass #10, Meanwhile #9, Moth & Whisper #4, Night’s Dominion: Season Three #5, Noble #14, Now #5, Power Rangers: Soul Dragon, Rise of the TMNT #3, Road of the Dead: Highway to Hell #2, Snap Flash Hustle #1, Spider-Geddon Handbook, Spider-Man/Deadpool #43, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Terra Incognita #5, Star Trek vs. Transformers #3, Star Wars #58, Star Wars Adventures: Destroyer Down #3, Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #3, Unnatural #5, We Are Danger #4, Welcome to Wanderland #3, Wizard Beach #1

Recommended Collections: Black - Volume 1, Chronicles of Hate, Dark Ark - Volume 2, Doctor Strange - Volume 1: Across the Universe Galaktikon - Volume 1, Goldfish, Lumberjanes - Volume 10, The October Faction - Volume 5: Supernatural Dreams, Paper Girls - Volume 5, Paradiso - Volume 2: Dark Dwellers, Rick & Morty - Volume 8, Star Wars: Poe Dameron - Volume 5: Spark Fire, Warship Jolly Roger - Volume 2: Revenge, Wayward - Volume 6: Bound to Fate, Yellow Blue Gray & White Omnibus

d. emerson eddy asks himself regularly, “How did I get here?” This is not his beautiful house. This is not his beautiful wife.

#This Week in Comics

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