Comics Reviews (October 19th, 2016)

Rough week. Let’s get started.

Black Panther #7

Ta-Nehisi Coates doesn’t actually think that ending works, does he? I mean, everything else is the sort of thing he usually does, which is to say use an issue to advance each of his plotlines a few pages with no real thought to the issue’s overall cohesion and often minimal thought to whether the events depicted form a satisfying chunk of story in their own right, but as I’ve been saying for, well, seven issues now, that’s legitimately hard stuff that I’m willing to give him time to work out. But come on. Other than that, no new problems here and no new merits either.

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #11

Another oddly organized issue – the cut away to Black Cat for the final cliffhanger scene is jarring and ends up feeling underweight just by dint of the lack of scene length and the fact that we skipped over Bailey actually getting captured. And it’s not like the previous scene ends on a particularly good end-of-storyline-for-the-issue note either. As always some lovely bits in the middle, but the overall messiness detracts.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #13

The best of a weak bunch – this isn’t a particularly extraordinary issue of Squirrel Girl. The Ant Man jokes mostly fall flat (although I liked his bewilderment that Doreen actually talks to the squirrels versus bossing them around), consisting as they do of “major guest star acts one way the entire time.” There’s wit and charm, and an actually competently structured issue, but it’s still nothing near this comic at its best.