Comics Reviews (May 6th, 2015)
The Amazing Spider-Man #18
The storyline that fills the gap between Spider-Verse and Secret Wars ends, having accomplished its primary aesthetic goal of taking up three issues.
Convergence: The Question #2
Unsurprisingly, this runs up pretty hard against the fact that it’s two issues and the characters in question are presumably being wiped out of existence soon, although I’m not actually following Convergence and have no actual idea what it’s about. Rucka is still a delight with these characters, and not having him on a DC street level book remains the biggest problem with DC other than being run by Dan Didio.
Uber #24
One of those issues that you describe as “transitional” if you liked it and “filler” if you didn’t. Transitional, then, and with a couple rare moments of humor for Uber. I think the next “everything explodes a lot” issue of this is going to be extraordinary.
Secret Wars #1
An issue that is in some ways rough for the dedicated comics fan who has been following the promotion and lead-up to this series, but is surely necessary for the 200,000 some-odd readers who weren’t following Avengers and New Avengers. The Ultimate/616 punch-up is fun, not least in terms of how it could easily have been eight issues in its own right and is instead energetically spent as a one-off plot. Mostly, I’m glad this rumbles on with a second issue next week, and I hope it finds itself feeling well under way instead of catching up to its solicits.
The Wicked & The Divine #10
Another transitional/filler issue from Gillen this week, though this one is more blatantly the suture between Urdr’s arrival and whatever horrible and upsetting plot twists are waiting in issue #11. (Which has, I suspect, the best cover of 2015.) It works and gets from point A to point B, and has some excellent moments in the process, but this is nevertheless a quiet month for the comic.
Crossed: Badlands #77
This one’s not transitional. Instead the series accelerates gamely. It’s getting increasingly hard to see how the two timelines are going to reintersect, although this is the point in the story where that really doesn’t need to be clear. But they’re both moving with terrible alacrity. My only complaint is that we’ve had three issues so fast, and #78 is apparently waiting for June, which is not great pacing.
Spider-Gwen #4
The third issue of this left me slightly cold, but it really roars back into form here, including an absolutely brilliant Aunt May/Gwen Stacy scene. Everything about this book continues to delight.
The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl #5
It has a cameo from T-Rex. You know. The star of Ryan North’s other comic. God I love Squirrel Girl.
