Weekly Comic Reviews 03.23.2020

Hey y’all. Welcome back. This week saw a lot of news in the comics world, but the biggest is obviously the return of Power Pack! What? You didn’t even know that was announced? That doesn’t surprise me since it was announced at the same time as the well-intentioned, but completely tone-deaf New Warriors. I’m not going to get into that here because it would 500 extra words (Minimum) but plenty of others have written about it. Instead, I’m focusing on two of my favorite corners of the Marvel Universe. Enjoy!

New York a special kind of gross

As always, I will be using a three-tiered grading system. Buy means I think you should go buy this comic; it’s very good and worth your money and time. Borrow means that I think this issue is worth reading, if you can borrow it from someone; it may be worth the money for you but I’m not confident in telling you to purchase it. Pass means you should pass on the issue; I don’t recommend you buy the comic and generally don’t think it’s worth your time to read. Pass is bad.

Spoilers for: Excalibur #9, Outlawed #1

Excalibur #9

Writer: Tini Howard

Artist: Marcus To

Colors: Erick Arcinega

Letters: VC’s Cory Petit

Designer: Tom Muller

Cover: Mahmud Asrar and Matthew Wilson

I finally get to talk about Excalibur! This comic is weird, y’all. There isn’t much in the way of a guiding narrative, just several subplots that take turns being in the spotlight. There’s the one where Brian Braddock is acting dodgy and standing outside Excalibur’s lighthouse base in the rain because he isn’t Captain Britain anymore and the one where a cult of Apocalypse descendants are fighting the mutants on behalf of deposed queen Morgan LaFey. There’s a plot about how England is racist and don’t want a mutant Captain Britain. Rogue has some kind of Apocalypse powers. And Jubilee’s infant son Shogo turns into a dragon when they’re in the magical Otherworld. This comic is just the best.

This issue’s primary focus is the introduction of Opal Luna Saturnyne and the Starlight Citadel into the story. Excalibur go to the Starlight Citadel other than Apocalypse seems to want to conquer it. Saturnyne feels threatened (Rightfully so) by both this encroachment and the ascendancy of Jaime Braddock to the throne. She powers up her priests and sends them to attack Excalibur. The issue ends with Saturnyne conjuring Captain Britain forms of each member of Excalibur. Also, Meghan goes undercover with Cult Akkaba and teases Pete Wisdom about his crush on Betsy.

 

Jubilee is so cool

So, that’s what happens in this issue. The reason I hardly mention why things happen is because I don’t know. I’ve read this issue twice and I still am unsure of why most these events transpire. Apocalypse send Excalibur to the Starlight Citadel to… what? Preempt a strike against Jaime and mutantdom, I think. That’s why Saturnyne thinks they are headed there, but it’s never made clear what Excalibur are meant to accomplish. That makes all the non-character focused segments of this comic confusing and mildly uninteresting.

The quick entrance and exit of Brian Braddock, as well as Meghan mentioning that he’s been distant from her lately makes me think this is setting up for an upcoming story, possibly the next one, depending on how closely this series ties to X of Swords. Either way, I would like to know more about how he is feeling as he is being set up to have a major part in Excalibur’s future.

Marcus To is one of my favorite artists in comics. I fell in love with his art all the way back in Red Robin, which was over a decade ago at this point. While his style has changed and evolved, To’s lines remain clean while still allowing enough messiness to get across the darkness of certain scenes. This extends to his facial expressions which are easy to read, even if the character is far into the background of the panel. Arcinega’s colors really accentuate To’s art as well. The vibrant color palette used by in Otherworld really makes it feel magical. This is in great contrast to the darker, muddier colors used for scenes set on Earth.

Verdict: Buy

Outlawed #1

Writer: Eve L. Ewing

Artist: Kim Jacinto

Colors: Espen Grundetjern

Letters: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Cover: Pepe Larraz and David Curiel

This is Civil War but instead of the antagonists being fascists, they… hate young people? The idea is the new generation of heroes is one side of this conflict while everyone is the other. Although it should be noted that Captains America and Marvel defend the teenage heroes at a Senate subcommittee hearing. But the basic premise is Civil War but young vs (Relatively) Old. And while this not a big event per se, it is the launch of a big part of the various young heroes’ ongoing stories, including a new Champions series.

The first thing to notice is that this comic is drawn by Kim Jacinto. Jacinto’s art is fantastic. It is clear. It has a distinct cartooniness to it. The facial expressions are emotive and make it very clear what the characters are feeling at any given moment. Most notable, though, is that Jacinto’s art is closer to Humberto Ramos than Steve McNiven. In 2007, this art would never have been allowed on a big issue like this. It always had to be a McNiven or Doug Mahnke type that leaned toward hyper realism. That Jacinto got this assignment shows that editors and readers are both more comfortable with this style than at that previous point.

 

The banter is top notch

While the story of this issue is set up for what amounts to Civil War 3, I want to discuss something weird about this whole setup. Most of Marvel’s young heroes are minorities, including their new Greta Thunberg alternate. Because of that, this comic has a strange vibe where the American government is actively working against minorities but does not engage that idea whatsoever. That could be because this is only one issue and thus there was not enough room for that. If that goes unaddressed throughout the duration of this story, I feel it may squander a large part of its potential. Having said that, the writers working on the Outlawed titles are very thoughtful and intelligent and I’m sure this has occurred to them. Well, maybe not the New Warriors team, they seem a little tone deaf. But I trust everyone else to get this right.

As the kickoff to a new big storyline in the Marvel universe, I think this book is fascinating and gives readers a peak at all the major plotlines that will be driving this corner of said universe. Can’t wait for more.

Verdict: Buy

As always, fell free to give your thoughts on these comments or others you think I should read in the comments below or on Twitter at @alexraysnyder.