A New Year, new comics reviews
Happy New Year everyone! I’m currently home, recuperating from having knee surgery this morning. While the effects of my mess are not that strong, it’s the perfect time for me to do my weekly comics roundup. I’ve included stuff I bought this week, even though it’s not completely new in some cases.
New Avengers #13 - this was great. Once I got used to the Simone Bianchi artwork (very good, just very different from Mike Deodato’s much more realistic style) I really enjoyed the story. We start off seeing what the Illuminati are up to on Earth 23099 (pretty similar with some interesting differences), and we cut to “our” Earth, and eventually we see the ways in which these stories intersect, and we meet the Black Priests. Yikes. Do not mess with those guys. They’re pretty much indestructible and appear to contain multiple consciousnesses. So, now we are truly starting to see the other scary forces out there. My big picture takeaway is that it continues to be a fantastic, essential read. Great, thoughtful, high-concept work.
Ghosted #1 - I was not picking up so many books this past week so I picked this up kind of on a whim. I’m so glad I did! The elevator pitch on this book seems to be “Ocean’s 11 meets Supernatural” and that’s a pretty excellent pitch. The story is by Josh Williamson and art by Goran Sudzuka. I like this book a lot, so much so that I ordered the first Volume in TPB as soon as I read the first issue. The setup is a lot of fun - you have a thief type who is tasked with stealing a ghost, and the story in the first issue is a classic “putting the team together” tale. The art is very accessible, and I think this will be a fun read full of supernatural aspects but also crime and double crosses.
Manhattan Projects #17 - this book is so refreshingly, consistently weird. Weird and beautiful in its violent, disgusting way. This wasn’t necessarily my favorite issue (as I’m not quite sure to make of the alien who talks like some sort of surfer stoner character), but I love the main characters in this book - particularly Feynman, who is almost likable, and Einstein, who is completely gonzo and badass. Anyway, this issue continues the story where most of our heroes have been imprisoned by Westmoreland with the help of Oppenheimer, but then the stoner alien character shows up to change the game. A solid issue that continues the insane, wonderful, ridiculous story Hickman has been telling here.
Rocket Girl #2 and #3 - This book is a lot of fun. I enjoyed catching up on the story. We have Dayoung Johanson, teen cop from an alternate 2013 traveling back to 1986 to erase her own existence. It's a compelling, fun story, with an undercurrent of darkness to the wacky-adventure feel. The art is fun and expressive. It's also clear that there are bigger mysteries involved here. Why is she doing this? Why does she want to erase her own timeline? It looks pretty nice. Who is the mysterious figure that's helping her, and what is their connection to the Board of the Quintum company that we never see? Interesting stuff that adds layers to the story. I'm not sure this is something I need to read every month, but I'm glad it's out there.
Superior Foes of Spider Man #7 - I love this book. This feels like an essential read for me. Here we get a detailed look at the life of the Beetle and her dad, Tombstone, who we saw at the end of the previous issue. Now it makes that ending make a lot more sense. So, we get a hilarious look at her quest to become the Hilary Clinton of Drug Lords, and all the other hilarious stuff (like her datebook-calendar stuff which is fantastic). It's a great book. Buy it.
Superman Unchained #5 - This was a busy issue! On first read it felt a little too busy for me but then I reread it and had a greater appreciation for the way Snyder expertly weaves the differing story threads together to draw comparisons from the young Clark's life to his current predicament. The Dustin Weaver young Clark stuff is very compelling, and gets pretty unsettling at the end of the issue. Wraith is an awesome character. He's not clearly a villain or a hero, he's just very compelling, and pretty up-front about his motivations and thoughts (well, most of the time). He's a great character for Snyder to use to challenge the Superman mythos and status quo, by asking Clark some hard questions about the way he handles his life and dual identity. Great stuff.
Three #1 - I bought this sort of randomly, but I'm very glad I did. Extremely educational! I had no idea about the way in which the heroic warriors of "300" were only able to do what they did because it was done on the backs of slaves (who were even the ones who carried the shields!). I had no idea. The first issue is basically self-contained (and does not end well for the slaves). The art is very compelling (the facial work is excellent, I can see the Spartans' contempt for the slaves), and the story (and the history) is interesting enough that I'll want to take a further look. This is also worlds away from Kieron Gillen's run on "Journey into Mystery" and "Young Avengers", both of which I also enjoyed. He's clearly a writer with a diverse skill set.
