We’re
back! And with some changes to the format. First, I’m going to stop Comic of
the Week. I don’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The other thing is
that these articles will now focus on new comics from the given week instead of
whatever I read that week. I want to be a bit more topical. And there aren’t
many comics this week. So, let’s jump straight in! And, as always, Spoilers.
Action Comics #1010
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Steve Epting
Colors: Brad Anderson
Letters: Josh Reed
Cover: Epting
I’m
on record as loving Bendis and its comics like this. This Superman comic is a
spy thriller centered on a bunch of secret organizations running around the DC
universe. Its such a novel move for a Superman story. And he and Lois have gone
undercover in this issue! It’s a ton of fun.
This
issue opens with an incredibly tense encounter between Director Bones and…
Talia al Ghul? This woman is using an electronic mask to hide her identity and
we do see her presumably true face. I actually have no idea who it is, but
several times in this arc, Talia has been mentioned. The exchange in this scene
really creates a tense opening. It also allows Bones to show why he was in
charge of the D.E.O: He’s pretty smart. He has suspects and realizes that he’s
being played by “his lawyer.”
 |
| Poor guy has no idea |
The
issue then shifts to Clark and Lois… err, Chaz and Andi and their undercover
mission. There’s a quick discussion about how bad Clark is at undercover
operations and it really makes total sense. He’s too honest and forthcoming so
of course he’d struggle! They meet up with Tiger from Spyral and he of course
doesn’t trust them. They get attack by a robot and Chaz reveals that he’s
Superman because even undercover Clark can’t let people get hurt. Clark handles
the robot then returns to find Tiger and Lois are gone. So that’s where we’re
headed next issue.
The
art in this comic is excellent. Steve Epting is a master at his craft. That’s
really all there is to say about the art. Everything is clear and looks good. It’s
a little moody, as befits the storyline. There’re some fun panel layouts too. And
the cover is also excellent!
Verdict: Buy
Age of X-Man: X-Tremists #3
Writer: Leah Williams
Artist: Georges Jeanty
Colors: Jim Charalampiois
Inks: Roberto Poggi
Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover: Rahzzah
This is
a pretty good comic. It picks up straight after the previous issue with Psylocke
on Blob’s table. She leaves, dejected, after a moment. The next day, Blob
returns to work. The gang brings in a mutant guilty of having a relationship.
Psylocke (probably) fakes erasing those memories from his mind. A couple hours
later, Blob gets a call to inform him that there’s an illegal party going down
in a couple days. As he’s informing everyone, Moneta comes in and accuses
Psylocke of not erasing the mutant’s memories. Everyone, especially Blob,
defends her. Moneta is sent home early.
And then
we get to my favorite part of the issue. That night (I think, its unclear), Psylocke
comes to visit Blob at his house. She wants to hang. She tries a couple of his
books while they drink tea. She hates them. I chuckled because I also don’t
particularly care for The Age of Anxiety
or The Waste Land. Psylocke then goes
into a monologue about how she doesn’t understand love. She relays a memory
about her friend understanding the first time she felt beautiful. But Betsy
never had that feeling. She hated her body. She developed an eating disorder
and couldn’t stand herself because of her looks. Until she was in Kwannon’s
body. Then she felt beautiful because it was someone else’s body. This is
incredibly moving. Not only because I have had some body image and
self-confidence issues in the past, but also because it is incredibly true to
how many people, especially women, feel. It is incredibly powerful and relatable,
and the best writing Leah Williams has provided in this series.
And then
the ever-compassionate Fred chimes in. He starts by acknowledging that his
words won’t change her mind about herself because it won’t. But those words
could maybe help put her on that path. And he tells her how beautiful she is
and that he would sell out everyone on their team to run away and be with her.
And it comes off not only as true, but also as incredibly sweet. And then a few
panels occur where the art truly takes over because you can see Betsy’s face
soften as she realizes that Fred truly means everything he said.
The
issue finishes with a raid on the aforementioned party. Nothing is going down,
but Moneta instigates a fight with some untrained children. So Blob fires her. There’s
no way that ever comes to bite him in
the ass, right?
As
mentioned before, Jeanty’s art is excellent. It is very clear and looks god. I
still love Fred’s mustache in this universe. I hope he keeps it when they
return to the main timeline. This is a good looking comic. And the cover is
absolutely gorgeous.
Verdict: Buy
Heroes in Crisis #8
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads (pg. 1. 6-20) and Travis Moore (pg.
2-5)
Colors: Gerads
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Cover: Gerads
This is
a bad comic. Its a dull mystery (which has been solved) with no interesting characters
involved. And I love Wally West. I teared up when I read the DC Universe: Rebirth #1. I loved having
that version of Wally back. He was never put to good use though. He barely
appeared win Flash and was… fine in Titans.
That’s inexcusable for one of your biggest star characters. And this series
makes two more mistakes with him: He is out of character and he is a murderer.
This
issue is about Wally’s confession. Wally showed up in this universe and was
incredibly sad that his old universe was gone. This led to him trying to get
his family back in “Flash War” and eventually ending up in Sanctuary. He tries
to get the computer system to share with him who is also there and ends up
seeing info on almost every hero that has visited Sanctuary. And it broke him.
 |
| This is Wally West? |
And then Tom King proves that he
doesn’t understand how Flash or the Speed Force works. It isn’t something that
is constantly trying to escape its user. It is a mystical force that has chosen
its champions. It wants to be inside them and help them be heroes. It is not
some Hulk-esque curse. It is the power of heroes and Wally West would not lose
control of it in this way. Wally’s connection to the Speed Force is spiritual.
He believes fully in it and its ability to help him. This comic just doesn’t
make any sense.
Wally stages the crime scene to
look like both Harley Quinn and Booster Gold could have been responsible and
then drops them outside where they woke during the first issue. He then goes to
the present, kills his present self and plants his body in Sanctuary. And this
is what was on the tapes sent to Lois Lane earlier in this series.
This comic is gorgeous. The art is
fantastic. It’s too bad it has to be wasted on this comic. Everything is
rendered beautifully with excellent layouts and clear storytelling regardless
of artist.
Verdict:
Pass. Pass. Pass.
No comments:
Post a Comment