reviews

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.…

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The Legendary Star-Lord #11 (aka The Black Vortex #12)

There’s a metaphor here in Kitty’s reluctant but inevitable embrace of the Black Vortex and decision to become a cosmic entity despite the fact that the power will inevitably destroy her. I think it’s a metaphor for how I keep paying money for this fucking story.

Thor #7

I want to like this book, especially given the caliber of the people who hate it. But my underlying objection stands, not least as it becomes increasingly obvious that Roz Solomon is Thor, which was always the most obvious choice. I mean, they may yet subvert it, but at this point, if they subvert it, it’s going to be a cheap twist, and if they don’t, it’s going to be so obvious that it wasn’t worth doing a mystery. Either way, this is a yawn.

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #7

Fun, although I feel like the two plot thread aspect of the book ended up being a bit of a weakness here, with each plot feeling like it wanted about four more pages. Still, it’s called “Kick ‘Splode,” and it does what it says on the tin.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #13

It’s always terribly fun looking at a creator across books, especially when you see the same basic themes and reflections on storytelling cropping up in Doctor Who and Loki. Not that those are two books that exist that far apart from each other in the grand conceptual scheme of things. In any case, a climax, and the point where Ewing finally moves the book completely out of Gillen’s shadow, which, to be fair, is the sort of thing that really should take thirteen or so issues to do, given the size of that shadow. Fun stuff, and a nice setup for Secret Wars. (A side comment – it’s genuinely weird to have Hickman’s lead-up to Secret Wars dry up at this point. I know there’s two more issues coming, and I’m sure they’ll be long on blood and thunder, but it’s still a strange gap, and one that casts an odd shadow over the rest of Marvel.)

Ms. Marvel #14

The twists here are predictable, but generally in the sense of “it’s a classic because it works.” Still, for this book that’s a middling issue, and it was a really good week of comics, so here in the rankings this lands.

Uncanny X-Men #33

There are moments where Bendis’s propensity for avoiding normatively “big” moments in favor of little ones really pay off, and a “Kitty Pryde and Illyana Rasputin go on a road trip to Monster Island” issue as the penultimate installment of his Uncanny X-Men run is a prime example. Completely and utterly delightful.

Crossed Badlands #75 (aka Homo Tortor #1)

As Moore does future Crossed, Gillen does prehistoric Crossed. There’s something more than a little Tales of the Black Freighter about this, with its parallel timeframes and sense of impending doom. It’s only a first issue, and there’s much that’s going to have to develop, but it’s a big, fascinating conceptual start that parallels both the latest WicDiv (with its idea of human civilization having had various failed starts in prehistory) and Moore’s Crossed work.…

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From worst to best of what I voluntarily paid money for.

Cyclops #12 (aka The Black Vortex Chapter 10)

Once upon a time, Greg Rucka wrote this book. Now it’s a book in which a major plot twist is “Cyclops was just imagining his father’s voice in his head, but it was really his own self-belief.” And then the entire series ends with a heroic shot of Cyclops, who has submitted to the Black Vortex, flying off, ready to save some planets, because apparently the book has decided to celebrate April Fool’s Day and decide this is a good thing.

The Amazing Spider-Man #17

I admit, I think I’m just bored of the ultra-traditionalist Spider-Man as served up by Dan Slott. He’s been the major writer on Spider-Man for eight years now, and I think it’s probably time for a change. This is perfectly fine, but I found myself completely unable to formulate any sort of meaningful investment in any characters in it.

Blackcross #2

Oddly paced, with an ending that had me looking through the house ads at the end because I wasn’t confident there wasn’t another page. Effectively moody, but this looks set to be a very minor Warren Ellis work.

Avengers: Ultron Forever #1

Odd timing for this – it’s a book that clearly just exists because of the movie. But that means it’s doing “mash up alternate timeline Avengers in a big smashy book” right in sync with Secret Wars, which is not a great time to be doing that. But Al Ewing and Alan Davis are a fun pair, and it’s hard to fault things like the last reveal, or casually decapitating the Hulk. Or sassy Vision. Very much a silly Marvel book, but enjoyable.

Spider-Gwen #3

A weak issue here, long on fights and short on character, although the detail of Gwen being unmasked (but not, seemingly, recognized) is interesting. Not bad, certainly, but not particularly entrancing either. Still, even mediocre Spider-Gwen is a treat.

Avengers #43

It’s easy to like the return of Tony Stark to the plot, his absence having been a tangible lack in the Time Runs Out story. This is on the one hand clearly deliberate, but with so much of Hickman’s Avengers hinging on the Tony/Steve dualism, it’s also made every issue feel like shuffling pieces around the board waiting for payoff, which is already a problem with a “countdown to EVENT” storyline. In any case, Tony’s back, and it’s kinda marvelous.

The Dying & The Dead #2

Hickman’s working with tight, effective characterization, on a story that’s long on scope but still narrow enough to feel focused and deliberate, and it’s frankly marvelous two issues in. There’s a whole lot of hand still to tip, but thus far, at least, this is the most I’ve enjoyed a new Hickman series in… erm… ever?…

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From worst to best of what I bought, which wasn’t much this week.

All-New X-Men #39 and Guardians Team-Up #3

Two parts of the largely unwanted Black Vortex crossover this week, and it plods along with the relentless lack of speed that characterizes multi-title crossovers. We’ve at least made it to the point where different books follow different characters, which is something. Curious to see how this works when it buggers off to some distinctly more minor titles come April, losing its anchoring in Guardians of the Galaxy and All-New X-Men. But it’s a fairly intellectual curiosity – this is not particularly interesting, and I’m glad the X-books are now freed up to go work towards the end of Bendis’s run.

Batgirl Endgame

A wordless one-shot that ties Batgirl into some Batman event I don’t entirely understand, but that appears to involve some sort of Joker toxin virus. It’s a slender thing, but worth highlighting this week in particular for an illustration of why spiking that Joker variant cover for Batgirl #41 mattered by demonstrating the virtues of letting Barbara Gordon be resolutely undefined by The Killing Joke, which remains the worst thing Alan Moore has ever written.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #12

One of those issues that sets up interesting things more than it does them – for someone with a better knack for remembering plot lines from recent comics, I suspect the rush of references here is very satisfying and fits together brilliantly. For me, who can’t handle a comic without a recap page, it’s less engaging, although I’m still really interested in where Ewing is going with Loki in the general case.

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #6

Ultimately, this just repeats the revelation from last month, although now with new details of exactly how it is that Nextwave is being considered in-continuity, where it had previously apparently not been. (That’s news to me, but.) Although the best line is clearly “The Beyonder? Oh god, I should have never taught that guy to poop.” Because remember, kids, while there’s apparently doubt that Nextwave: Agents of HATE, one of the greatest superhero series of the past decade, is in continuity, there’s no doubt at all that Secret Wars II is. Ah, Marvel. I bet next issue will have LOTS MORE PUNCHING.

Batgirl #40

Batgirl defeats the angst-ridden version of herself defined by her disability and victimization so that Gotham City can rock the fuck out. God, I love this New Pop aesthetic of comics.

The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl #3

I laughed multiple times over the course of this issue, which is really all you can ask for from a comic called The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl. Much like Batgirl, this is firmly in the New Pop style (see also Spider-Gwen, The Wicked and the Divine, and Sex Criminals), which is worth defining more rigorously, as it’s by miles the most exciting thing going on in comics right now.…

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Worst to best.

Moon Knight #11

One of the most pointlessly decompressed comics I think I have ever read. All the optimism I had when the very cool twist of someone stealing Khonshu from Marc Spector has thoroughly evaporated in the face of this.

All-New X-Men #35

So, next month issue #38 of this ties in with the not-very-interesting sounding Black Vortex, which does rather make one wonder what the release schedule of this is meant to look like. I can only assume that this Ultimate Universe crossover arc was not, in fact, intended to stretch out past the announcement of how Secret Wars would be working such that it was drained of all its excitement, and that this was not meant to become the exercise in “dear god is this arc still going on” that it’s become. Oh well.

Fables #148

It says very little good about this exercise in “oh god why have I bought over 150 comics called Fables in my lifetime” that the story of Lauda, which has very little to do with anything else in the plot, is by miles the best thing going on in the issue.

Amazing Spider-Man #13

This has lost some momentum from an exciting start, but has at least gained some of it back for the finish. I have to say, though, the Uncle Ben stuff feels like it was introduced far too late in the game to have the impact that the story seems to want from it. I just can’t bring myself to get that invested in the personal struggles of an alternate universe Uncle Ben, and the conceit of “he blames his own honorable nature for everything going wrong” is, while clever, just not doing it for me. I absolutely do not look forward to his inevitable heroic sacrifice next issue.

Captain American and the Mighty Avengers #4

This finally settles into being the book it wants to be, with Ewing getting to do his take on Sam Wilson as Captain America, as opposed to Sam Wilson as evil. It’s a promising book. I wish this had gotten to be the first issue. Still, four months to enjoy this before Secret Wars comes and fucks everything up again, I guess?

Guardians of the Galaxy #23

A few pages into its last issue, Planet of the Symbiotes reaches the planet of the symbiotes. I am to some extent reviewing past issues here, but I’m at a genuine loss for why we spent two near-identical issues fighting in space instead of just letting this be a two issue arc like it really wanted to be. Still, love the final page cliffhanger.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #7

An extremely compelling first half of a two-part story, with some excellent plot twists for Alice and some compelling mysteries for the other characters. I love the Eternal Dogfight, and there’s some excellent Eleven-specific beats in this. Continues to be the best Doctor Who comic ever.

Loki: Agent of Asgard #10

This promised to finally pay off the long-simmering consequences of Kieron Gillen’s landmark Journey into Mystery run, and it does so in spades, carefully and meticulously dooming Loki in a fascinating way.…

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Worst to best, everything I paid money for.

Also, boo to Marvel for not reprinting Miracleman #14. As someone who has paid $65 towards getting a full run of Miracleman in single issue form, I find the fact that they’ve decided to just not release a readable version of one of the best issues in the run a slap in the face. What, would it just not be a run of Miracleman without completely fucking up at some point? Moore was wise not to have his name on this shitshow.

Rat Queens Special: Bragga #1

I’ve not been excited about this book in a bit, and so came at this as a sort of “why am I pulling you again” issue, since a one-off special ought be a good place to showcase the book’s strengths. This was competent but doesn’t seem to have anything new to say over the last few issues, and I think I’ll drop it.

Captain Marvel #11

I’ve more or less enjoyed DeConnick’s Captain Marvel, and I like the basic idea of the character and DeConnick’s approach, but I haven’t felt excited by the book in a while, and I think this is my jumping off point. I thought the “let’s do an issue back on Earth” was going to be a great premise. Instead it’s mostly concerned with stopping a kind of two-bit villain from the end of DeConnick’s Avengers Assemble run. With both this and Rat Queens, I have the sense that the writers had a brilliant miniseries worth of concept, and are wasting it on a pretty good extended run.

SHIELD #2

Will not be adding this. I see what it’s going for, and the ending is sweet. Waid is good at this sort of book – I remain fond of his unloved The Brave and the Bold at DC. But it’s not grabbing me, and even Kamala Khan, who looks a strong contender for “most important new Marvel character of the last ten years,” doesn’t enliven this much, in part as I’m not massively sold on her characterization by Waid.

Daredevil #12

As I’ve said, we’re into the tail end of this run, and it’s best ideas are used. This is fine and fun, and I’ll read it to the end. Was a great Daredevil run. But I’m not going to miss it when that end comes.

Star Wars #1

Adequate. I’m not much of a Star Wars fan, but this is solidly written and paced. It seems to cover the same basic conceptual ground as Brian Wood’s Star Wars series late in the Dark Horse license. But it’s well done. I’m mostly sticking around because it’s got a Kieron Gillen series to tie into, though.

Silver Surfer #8

I’m interested to see how this plays out, which is good for the first issue of a storyline, but equally, it’s the sort of plot that tends to go very wrong for me when it goes wrong. Still, we’re getting Michael Allred-drawn Galactus next issue, and that’s exciting no matter how you slice it.…

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From worst to best, with almost everything being something I paid money for…

Miracleman #14

I say almost because I put this back on the rack at the shop. Apparently a printing error rendered key portions of the dialogue in this issue illegible. Look, I’m willing to pay $4.99 for sixteen pages of story on the grounds that it’s a high quality reproduction of a historically important comic. I think it’s a bit much, and I wish this had other formats, but it’s obviously something I’m willing to pay money for. But for fuck’s sake, Marvel. If you’re charging what you do for this book, you don’t get to have printing errors. This is properly appalling.

X-Men #23

Between frankly awful art and an overly leisurely first issue, this was quite the disappointment. G Willow Wilson on X-Men is an auto-buy for me, and I’ll stick out this arc, but man, I’d have bet on this being in the top three of any week, and certainly of a week with only six books, so this is a bit of a shocker.

Amazing Spider-Man #12

While I appreciate the “let’s do a crossover where you don’t have to buy more than the main title” to pull it off ethos of Spider-Verse, I have to say, if the way this is accomplished is having a huge swath of every issue consist of Peter Parker basically going “uhhh, fight scene, can you hang on for a moment while I take a phone call in which someone gets me up to speed on the tie-in books,” it might just be better to declare it a twenty-part crossover and tell people to buy every book.

Trees #8

If you thought the end of the first arc (and what was originally possibly to be the end of the series) was going to in some way clarify the pacing or logic of this book, you were hilariously mistaken.

Angela: Asgard’s Assassin #2

I was eating lunch while I read this comic, and the scene with Angela returning the ball nearly killed me. The rest is good fun as well – I did not expect this comic to be quite so funny, in fact, which is perhaps strange given that Gillen is co-writing it.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1

Everything I wanted from this title. Big, colorful, silly, and with tiny extra jokes printed at the bottom of most of the pages, which isn’t really a surprise given how well Ryan North uses extra punchlines over at Dinosaur Comics. A total hoot. Very much recommended.…

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This will, at least, be quick.

SHIELD #1

Will probably get the second issue of this, as I’m a sucker for Ms. Marvel, but I have to say, making this a Marvel version of Brave and the Bold with Coulson as the organizer is not really the take on a comics version of Agents of SHIELD I’d been hoping for. Still, reasonably promising, as first issues go.

Miracleman Annual #1

The Grant Morrison story is the disposable bit of Moore imitation you’d expect a 1984 Morrison blind submission to Warrior to be, and is of historical interest only. The Milligan/Allred story, on the other hand, is rather cute – a satisfying homage both to the barmy 1950s original adventures of Marvelman and to Moore’s reinvention of the characters. On the whole, this is disposable, but it’s also the most satisfying issue of Miracleman to date. 21 whole story pages for your $4.99, and frankly, reprinting Morrison’s original script is worthwhile backmatter.…

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