Comics Reviews (March 11, 2015)
From worst to best of what I bought this week. Rather a drab week on the whole, although I really did love my top two a lot.
The Amazing Spider-Man #16
A split story, with a fourteen page lead feature and a six page backup. The result was unsatisfying to me – nothing felt like it had quite enough room to be interesting, and the result falls firmly into a trap plaguing a couple Marvel books right now, namely “is it Secret Wars yet?”
Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #11
The shock final page reveal is the appearance of the character on the cover.
Thor #6
I gather that, among misogynistic assholes, this comic has become the preferred object of hatred for its allegedly pointless diversity. This is silly. The idea of a female Thor remains a good one. The idea of Rosalind Solomon as Thor, which is the main one they’re teasing, is an absolutely great one. The decision to make this a mystery and not just do a “Rosalind Solomon is Thor” book, on the other hand, is continuing to be badly underwhelming. I want to defend this comic, given the sheer toxicity of its attackers, but… it’s just not working, story wise.
Captain Marvel #13
More basically competent space adventure. I should probably drop this.
Star Wars #3
My basic lack-of-caring about Star Wars kind of flared up here, and I was definitely reminded that this is a book I’m only reading because Kieron Gillen is writing its counterpart. Nevertheless, I suspect this is the best Star Wars comic in recent memory, just based on how good it seems to be at being Star Wars. It’s just that this doesn’t much recommend it to me.
New Avengers #31
This was the first comic I opened this week, which means I have to grudgingly admit that I’m excited for Secret Wars. That said, it’s tough to think of a revelation that could have been less promising than “Rabum Alal is Doctor Doom,” simply because of how conservative an answer it is. Ah well. Still excited, I think.
Silver Surfer #10
Capable and fun, but I have to admit, this feels in hindsight like a box ticking story. Of course a run on Silver Surfer had to do Galactus eventually, and while this was a fine take on that, it was also notably less inventive than the book can be. I was mildly surprised to find out there was going to be an issue eleven, although I’ll admit, it sounds like a very exciting one.
Southern Cross #1
Picked up on a whim. I’m not quite as sold on Becky Cloonan as a writer as I am as an artist (where she’s one of my favorites), but this is a capable sci-fi mystery story, and I’m glad I checked it out. We’ll see if I notice and remember to grab the second issue, but if I see it, I’ll pick it up. So, not quite committing to this as one to rave about and follow, but it’s worth having a glance at if “sci-fi mystery” is up your alley.
All-New X-Men #37
In contrast to Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man, the two characters on the cover of this don’t even appear in the comic. Instead we get a rather lovely Jean Grey/Emma Frost story that, while surely unsatisfying to those who haven’t liked Bendis’s characterization of Emma Frost, struck me as exactly the sort of nice character-based X-Men story that was always the real promise of Bendis doing X-Men. Fun, basically.
Spider-Gwen #2
Still loving the hell out of this. A joy of what, on Tumblr, I took to calling the New Pop in comics, which is very much related to my proposed Golden Age of Adolescent Literature movement. Bright colors, teen angst, and Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham. Seriously, what more can you ask for from a comic?
Ms. Marvel #13
I love the “Kamala has a crush” angle here – Wilson doing teen romance comics is a spot-on and satisfying thing. One imagines there’s a sting coming, what with all the hints of weird Inhuman factions and the like, but this is nevertheless another great installment of what I’m pretty much willing to call the best comic book currently being written by an American.
March 11, 2015 @ 12:27 pm
I liked the Rabum Alal reveal mainly because Doom vs The Beyonder is one of – no, the only iconic moment in the original Secret Wars series, and also because it reduces the number of moving parts in the story at a point when, with six issues or so to go, the story needs to be doing that (same goes for the Strange/Black Priests thing, though I liked that one less). But then on the other hand knowing Secret Wars is coming is a curse too – it means the twist I presume is behind the reveal, that Alal is working to save bits of the multiverse not destroy it, has less impact (because we already know someone has to be creating Battleworld). I think it's a good twist, though – Hickman has been extremely fair about repeatedly pointing out how unreliable Black Swan's information is, and I get the feeling fandom has been entirely failing to take that hint and continued to take "Rabum Alal caused the inversions and is the baddie" at 100% face value.
March 11, 2015 @ 5:57 pm
Is it the best Star Wars comic in recent memory?
Well, no. But I suppose that also opens up a big question about what Star Wars is.
March 11, 2015 @ 11:15 pm
"Star Wars #3
… this is a book I'm only reading because Kieron Gillen is writing its counterpart."
I wacky-parsed that as Karen Gillan at first, so for a few seconds I was like, I didn't know she wrote much of anything and I'm amazed they're not playing up the Star Wars meets Doctor Who angle more.
March 12, 2015 @ 2:22 am
"…what I'm pretty much willing to call the best comic book currently being written by an American." Which is proof that you're not reading Sex Criminals. 🙂
March 12, 2015 @ 4:27 am
The shock final page reveal is the appearance of the character on the cover.
is it Daleks or Cybermen?
March 12, 2015 @ 4:33 am
I like William Gillis's take on this: http://humaniterations.net/2011/09/19/how-star-wars-should-have-ended-reflections-on-taste-the-expanded-universe-radical-politics
March 13, 2015 @ 1:19 am
Then this picture should haunt you forever:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/01/27/when-karen-gillan-retweeted-kieron-gillen/