Comic Reviews 11.10.2020

 Hey y’all! Sorry this post is a little. There were some unexpected issues that came up. Anyway, we’ve got another week of event comics along with a new #1 issue. I also read Crossover #1 and Origins #1. The latter I didn’t much care for nor had anything worthwhile to say about it. The former will likely reappear here in the future as it was excellent but quite hard to figure out in just the first issue.

You may have noticed there was no Featured Review this week, due to the aforementioned unexpected circumstances. So I want to recommend anyone that hasn’t read the Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer #1 and Batman: Three Jokers #1 Featured Reviews to check those out. I think they’re some of the best work I’ve done on the blog and easily the best of the Featured Reviews.

Miles' family is fun

Spoilers for: X-Men #14, Marauders #14, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #20, Mighty Morphin’ #1

 

X-Men #14

 

Writer: Jonathon Hickman

Artist: Mahmud Asrar and Leinil Francis Yu

Colors: Sunny Gho

Letters: VC's Clayton Cowles

Designer: Tom Muller

Cover: Yu and Gho

 

I hope you like exposition because this issue has a lot of it. In fact, the issues written or co-written by Hickman have been by far the most exposition and backstory heavy issues of the event thus far. Typically, the person in the Head Writer position on an event gets to tell the most important beats of the story. While one could argue that’s happening here, it seems more like Hickman is doing the grunt work so that everyone else gets to play around and have fun telling their story. It’s a very strange dynamic but not necessarily a bad one; Hickman is one of the best exposition writers in comics.

All this is to say that this comic does not advance the plot much but does give us the last piece of the puzzle that is the history of Arakko. Genesis explains how she came to wear the golden helm and lead the Amenthi hordes. It was, as expected, a last-ditch effort to save her people. Instead, she destroyed them. The telling is extremely bittersweet.

I love her design

Bookending the flashback story is a discussion between Apocalypse and Genesis. This conversation positions the two as representatives of two states that echo the Athens-Sparta dichotomy. Krakoa is a place of peace and creativity while Arrako (and now Amenth) is a place of war and chaos and doing what was needed to survive. Even though that had been hinted at in prior issues, for this issue to come out and state it was surprising. I imagine the upcoming duels will push this idea even further and ultimately show that Krakoa too has been forged in blood, although in a different manner.

The here, as in the entirety of X of Swords, if quite good. The most interesting aspect is the panel layouts. In the present, they are interesting and diverse while the flashbacks are told entirely with three giant panels per page. I’m not entirely sure what this is trying to convey but it allows for the art to really shine as the larger panels are very detailed.

 

Marauders #14

 

Writer: Gerry Duggan and Benjamin Percy

Artist: Stefano Caselli

Colors: Edgar Delgado

Letters: VC’s Cory Petit

Design: Tom Muller

Cover: Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson

 

Welcome to the big party before everyone dies! Storm literally—and figuratively—dances with Death. Wolverine drinks a lot. Cypher gets (accurately) called a soft boy. Oh, and both sides are planning to kill each other before their sanctioned battles take place.

The Krakoans spend this issue looking for weak spots in their opponents. This could soft spots in Pogg Ur-Pogg or which hand a particular Arraki fighter favors. Its an interesting glimpse into the way these trained fighters think, and the art is careful to align with what the characters are saying they have noticed.

The essence of Wolverine

Of course, the ending twist of Wolverine stabbing Saturnyne is the most important even here. I imagine she’ll be fine. One, she’s basically a goddess. Two, she’s too clever to have not expected this from someone. Wolverine was probably near the top of that list as well. So while it’s interesting and could lead to a big shakeup in this story, I don’t expect much to come of it. We’ll see though.

Stefano Caselli is a favorite of mine. His work is extremely clear and expressive. Plus he focuses on the details. All that remains true here. I mean, just look at that bucket Logan is drinking from. Few creators have ever succinctly summed up that character as succinctly as the opening monologue combined with that image does. It’s just phenomenal.

 

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #20

 

Writer: Saladin Ahmed

Artists: Marcelo Ferreira

Inks: Wayne Faucher and Marcelo Ferreira

Colors: David Curiel

Letters: VC’s Cory Petit

Cover: Javier Garron and Chris Sotomayor

 

This comic doesn’t release frequently but it’s always a delight when it does. Even this issue, which is just focused on assembling the team, is a fun adventure with character beats and some forward momentum in the plot.

AS Miles and his uncle are about to succumb to the sheer number of Goblinoids, Starling and Bombshell show up to save the day. Except they’re not enough. Good thing Miles’ dad and Captain America—who know each other from having worked together for S.H.I.E.L.D.—bumped into each other and also arrive to save the day. This is the team that’s going to stop Ultimatum and his goblins.

That extra panel is everything

It culminates in a bit of perfect characterization for both Cap and Miles. All our heroes are gathered around each other in a manner that would typically have Cap shout, “Avengers Assemble” and then they’d all charge. Because the best leaders know when to cede leadership—and Cap is nothing if not a good leader—Cap lets Miles take the lead. This bit is perfectly paced in both the art. The look on Miles’ (masked) face as he realizes Captain America just asked him what the plan is is incredible. The slight pause of the page turn and Miles commands, “We kick but!” is so good I got goosebumps.

The art here is excellent throughout as it has been for the entire series. The highlight is definitely the aforementioned scene but there is also a panel of Rio holding her baby in one hand and what appears to be come sort of machine gun in the other. You can scroll back up to the intro of this post to check it out. Her and Jefferson kiss before he takes off with Cap. It’s fantastic. Kudos to everyone.

 

Mighty Morphin’ #1

 

Writer: Ryan Parrott

Artist: Marco Renna

Colors: Walter Baiamonte

Color Assistance: Katia Ranalli

Letters: Ed Dukeshire

Cover: Inhyuk Lee

Here we go. The big relaunch begins. It opens incredibly strongly and ends incredibly strongly, but the majority of the issue is just a recap of the final issues of the preceding series. Issues where almost nothing happened and which made me once again question why the series was relaunching in the first place.

This issue opens many, many years ago with a tease of Zordon’s day of being a Ranger. This was my favorite scene in this issue. The Ranger suits here are incredibly well designed and should appear more. Of course, the cliffhanger implies they will be returning extremely soon as we learn Skull’s girlfriend Candace is from Eltar.

Please use these again soon

This entire issue hints at Candace being the new Green Ranger which would have been a fun and unexpected outcome. She’s always seemed as though she will eventually become part of the larger story, but I had never considered her as a possible Ranger. Nor had I seen anyone else theorize as such—although someone probably did. The internet is very big. So when the big twist with her was not the one that I expected, I was shocked. Just perfectly executed storytelling.

Renna’s Power Rangers debut is quite strong. Everything is clear and expressive. The action is impressive. The style evokes Daniele Di Nicuolo while maintaining a clear distinction. Once again, the fashion is a big focus area for me here and everyone is on point. Well, except Tommy, who is wearing a green hoodie even though he is the White Ranger now. Seems like something that might cleaned up the trade. Otherwise, this issue looks great.

 

As always, feel free to give your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter at @alexraysnyder. And if you like what you read here, consider throwing a couple bucks my way on Patreon to help cover costs.