This week’s commentary isn’t much. We had Star Trek Day on Sunday- which since little is really far enough along to have something to share they didn’t need to make it an extravaganza as they had in the past. Just posting a curated list of episodes on Paramount+.
We’ve had a presidential debate in which one side is claiming victory and the other side seems to be whining about how it was unfair. I watched it. ’nuff said. It’s hard to say that the moderators were biased when all they did was say things like “no dogs were harmed in the making of this debate” and “No state allows babies to be killed after birth.” Things you wouldn’t think needed fact checking, but in a world of “alternate facts” I guess anything is possible.
Oh, the winner in the race for the most alternate facts- was the person who helped to make role of fact checking into a serious career. Which may be why the moderators had to keep commenting after he said something, and he kept needing to ask for time to comment. I guess I just wish both candidates had time to actually discuss (like sane people) their policies and how they are different, not just soundbites, and spin. Although one candidate did seem to be doing a better job of that, than the other. Just remember the cats and dogs being eaten in Ohio, someone should really do something about that, I see a cookbook coming out soon- maybe a reality cooking show- Netflix- get on that it’s a guaranteed hit.
Today we also have the anniversary of the terrorist attack that really changed the world… and not in a good way. I just remember trying to keep people up to date with the news while they were teaching, I’d send updates via email to the staff. We couldn’t say anything about it in front of the kids, but the adults needed to know.
This Week’s Comics (oh and due to shipping issues, some of these might actually be from last week):
Justice Society of America #11 (Tony Harris Variant Cover) – Helena Wayne from Earth 2 has been through a lot. Parents dead, world destroyed… typical bad day for a superhero. Now we’ve got the Legion of Superheroes visiting from the 30th century to stop Modru from not turning evil and therefore ruining the timeline. Then there’s a secret bad guy and a guest appearance by the Legion of Substitute Heroes… confused? It might all end up well in the end…
Batman #152 (Absolute Power Tie In) – So being an absolute Power Tie in, it really has nothing to do with Batman. The story does have Batman and Catwoman off planet to get Amanda Waller’s Mother Box (It’s a Jack Kirby MacGuffin from his New Gods series). There’s a fight, Batman does what Batman does. I’m torn, because I liked the way the last arc finished, and how more empathetic Batman had become, and now we are in the middle of a multi universe altering meg event, so I’m still trying to figure out if I want to continue reading Batman.
Captain America #13 – Final battle Cap vs. Death. Death who just wants to destroy the world because he is sick and tired of escorting the dead especially since mankind has become really good at killing massive numbers of people without remorse. It looks like he’s got a plan and it may work, but will he survive and be able to celebrate with a show at the Front Door?
Batman & Robin #13 – Will Damian and Batman survive their little junket to Dinosaur Island? When last we left our caped heroes they had been fighting Bane and his daughter along with Kobra who’d developed an even better venom. It’s amusing that the interludes are Damian at school going over things with his Guidance Counsellor.
Amazing Spider-Man #57 – Tombstone in Jail?!? What are the consequences for putting him there? What about last issue’s foreshadowing and the lion cub? Can Spider-Man save everyone who needs saving and bring down the bad guy? Who is the bad guy?
Primer: Clashing Colors #3 – The final issue in the first arc after her origin. Ashley has been betrayed and now must fight Deathstroke to save the Teen Titans from certain death by slumber!
Public Domain #8 – The behind the scenes story of a comic creator who ends up getting the rights to his character and now wants to publish an updated version. Will they have an ashcan done in time for San Diego? Torn from the pages of reality when Marvel Comics stopped publishing the Fantastic Four and mutants stopped existing and became inhumans in the Cinematic Universe.
The Domain #3 – See Above for the backstory, this is issue number three of the comic that is being produced in Public Domain. Three friends find a crashed spaceship take the power bands and are trying to figure them out as the only alien who was saved rolls his eyes at how stupid they are, and the crew of the ship that shot down the ship with the power bands goes after them. Just remember the aliens won’t kill you… no really they won’t.
Prodigy Slaves of Mars #2 – Edison has been framed, he’s escaped to his brother’s place, because we need two super geniuses to take care of this mess. Only to discover the secret stuff their father had been doing- now the title is starting to make sense.
The times they are a-changin’ After a little of over a year of Whimventuring and embracing retirement, I’ve decided to go back to work😱. Now, understand, this has nothing to do with being bored (I’m not), it has nothing to do with wanting to return to education (I’m not that crazy… no, really I’m not). It has nothing to do with much of anything except that with the way the future looks… November will tell a lot about if it will be Star Trek or the Hunger Games. I decided that if I still wanted to go galavanting around, and not dip into my retirement savings, I might want to supplement my pension. This is not starting a second career… I know some people think that’s what they need to do (and maybe they do) but I’m happy just work part time without too much stress. We are not starving, we are not about to lose the house, we are not about to become financially destitute. I just want to be able to still go to conventions and buy stuff that strikes my fancy and not be worried about buyer’s remorse. You know, after you buy something frivolous and realize just how frivolous it was and go “Oh no, I probably shouldn’t have done that.” We have a basement that has some frivolous stuff in it, hence why it is in the basement.
I’ve held back on getting some things, because I don’t want to experience the “Doh!” feeling that comes with buyer’s remorse, and now I decided I want some “Egg Money.” For those who don’t understand the term. Back in the old days, when women weren’t allowed to have bank accounts, or own property – a time that some people actually want to return to… 🙄 Some women would keep chickens in their backyards and sell the eggs. This money was theirs and they could buy whatever they wanted without asking their husband’s permission. It could be something for the kids, it could be a nice pair of shoes, basically whatever.
I’m fortunate that Sue is still working, and we use that and my pension to deal with household expenses and most Whimventures®. Sue and I, over the years, have turned a blind eye to each other’s hobby spending. We both don’t go too overboard- if anyone does, it’s me. So I just want to be able to be silly and buy stuff – go overboard if I want. It’s me, not her, I don’t think Sue really cares as long as the electricity works and the cats don’t eat her.
So this week I started my “onboarding” at a retail store associated with a maker of a highly sophisticated interlocking brick system. Yes, I have worked there before, but I took my onboarding seriously, things had changed and my last time time “training” was minimal at best. Unlike being a public school teacher where I was legally required to go through hours of annual online training on my own time, here I clocked in, and watched the videos, answered questions, and played the related games to prove I learned stuff. The insane part- I was paid to do it. Yes, the administration at school says they give you time, but really they give you time, and then a hundred other “really important” tasks to do during the same time while dealing with kids, and parents, so the only time you have is at home. If they wanted you to do this during your school hours, the videos would only be available at school and you would have time set aside instead of having to go to meetings that could be done as emails, or analyzing data that really isn’t telling you anything you couldn’t observe. So this small company from Denmark has it set up where I really don’t have access to anything, except at work. The other thing I asked about was (now that I have a company email if I could access it from my phone- nope internal only and not outside of work hours. So when I’m not “at work” I don’t worry about it. OK, I did go home and watch some related videos- but Dreamzzz on YouTube, was my choice and it was rather entertaining… of course now I want to buy some LEGO sets.
Oh, and this doesn’t put an end to Whimventuring® Sue and I are still going off to strange and interesting places. A few different things on the horizon including a junket or two. More on that later…
This Week’s Comics
Due to Labor Day there was an issue with shipping so DC comics was late, and then it was taken to another location, so DC will arrive next week. This week had a some nice books and other ones.
Star Trek 500 – A nice anthology comic covering multiple series and time periods from the franchise. If you like Star Trek- there is something here for everyone including following the emotion journey of love and loss taken by a tribble.
Helen of Wyndthorn #4 – After another amazing adventure with her grandfather Helen wants to learn how to use weapons to “defend herself.” So her grandfather gives her one year to train. Afterwards, Helen goes off on more adventures only to end up… The current day story just follows the progression of the original tapes of the interviews and how they keep changing hands, now being sold off at a small comic con.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #24 – Miles is a vampire – because they needed to have something important happen during the “Massive Multi-verse Changing” even known as… what was it called again? Blood Hunt? Actually this is one of those issues that deals with character building and has to do with Miles girl friend “Starling” and her relationship with her grandfather. It doesn’t go well since Miles is a vampire and is getting really hungry and gets into a fight with her grandfather (who was actually going out to take care of the problem of Miles). Oh, and vultures are not birds of prey, they are actually classified as scavengers and carrion-eating raptors. I guess if Miles is a vampire and therefore classified as “undead” then he should be concerned about carrion-eating raptors.
Spectacular Spider-Men #7 – Guess what? AI is evil and will lead to bad things… The computer system set up by the bad guys: Mentallo & Arcade (paid for by Hammerhead) to give people their fantasies is now sentient. and after reading peoples minds Which opened up some weird sub-conscious wish fulfillment before deciding that villainy is the way to go and it will wipe out anything that gets in its way- even if that includes a silent “K” just so it can have a cool acronym based name.
Spider-Boy #11 – FINALLY!!! The world remembers Bailey (Spider-Boy, not my cat who still lives in obscurity). This includes his mom. Who has decided that she has neglected her parental role for too long and does this mean “Spider-Boy No More”?!? I’m actually concerned about Boy-Spider, but I’m sure that will come up sometime soon.
Ultimates #4 – In this universe lots of weird things have happened keeping the Marvel Universe from becoming the Marvel Universe that we know and love. All thanks to the “Maker” the twisted version of Reed Richards from the original Ultimate universe. So what happened to this world’s Reed Richards? What about Doctor Doom? Find out in this issue which has been uniquely put together with four different timelines overlapping in some places. A trip to read initially, but then again the Fantastic Four has always down things differently.
Shake of the Day:
You wonder why I am tired of “Epic Multiverse Changing Events” that after a short time just bring things back to the status quo? Here’s one from a decade ago by DC. Does anyone remember the jaw dropping ramifications of this event? Does anyone even care? DC/Warner Bros. was just happy to have gotten a little more of my money so I could keep up with everything that changed comics as we know it FOREVER!
After many days on the road, I’m finally getting back into the swing of being home… I’m planning on a Whimventure® for October, and another one in 2025, but really anything else is going to really be on a “Whim.” I’m playing around with a few projects around the house, including going back an getting my LEGO area in the basement reorganized, something I have been putting off as I have been focusing on comic books more than LEGO. While I don’t see that changing too much (my comics are still a bit of a mess), I do see more a bit more of a LEGO focus in my future. Nowhere near as much as when I was teaching or a member of the Indy LEGO User’s Group. I’m trying to focus, but there are some really cool set coming out in the next few months.
So last week, I was drawing a bit more, mostly just trying to get an idea or two out. I’ve been a member of the Draw or Die Club since I retired and while I may not follow the prompts that are sent out, I appreciate having that kick every morning to get me to draw something during the day. One thing I need to work more on is digital art, but I still like the feel of the pencil on paper. Then again I am lousy at inking and digital might at least help me there. That would mean i need to dust off my iPad and Apple Pencil.
So as we end August let’s see where I am in my areas of interest-
Drawing- I try to do something everyday, usually it’s a monkey or cartoony thing- I need to work on some sketching from real life, but then again I also need to get some cartooning projects done. I’m sure I have a comic due to FTF Geocacher soon.
Gaming- After Gen Con I’m really geared up for gaming, but it’s hard to find a gaming time, some changes in my schedule soon might make it easier, or harder. 🙄
LEGO Building- I’m working first on just getting things organized again… fewer elements just all over the place and more of them at least where i can find them.
Comics- At least Wednesday Mornings keep me on a schedule! After Heroes Con, I’m slowing down on buying art, but I still am fascinated by the original artwork and the various styles of the artists I love.
Curling Season should be starting back soon, I’ve just registered for the season with the Circle City Curling Club so expect me to “Put the rock in the house” or break something this season 🙄
MINIs- Well with the end of MINI Takes The States The big event is over. The other ones happen throughout the year, but unfortunately many of them overlap other things. I do need to get the classic back up and running… it’s like an albatross around my neck.
Geocaching- As I travel I do cache, so as long as I’m at home I might just do an event every once in a while. I do have a comic due to FTF Geocacher soon.
This Week in Comics:
Amazing Spider-Man #56 (LGY #950) – So Tombstone has it out for Spider-Man, and vice versa. After the whole “Gang War” crossover which ended up with an uneasy truce to bring down the “Big Bad” Tombstone has bee running the underworld, but the petty criminals think Spider-Man is working with him. Peter is having a great time supporting that illusion to keep complete power of the city out in flux. The comic bounces around in time, which isn’t too bad but ends up with courtroom drama, that’s just going to get more dramatic. There is also a side story dealing with Paul, MJ’s “Significant Other” as we learn more about his background to add more drama… because what is Spider-man without drama.
Captain America #12 – With the return of the Red Skull, Hydra and AIM are back firing on all cylinders, Will Cap survive the assault by Baron Zero and Batroc the Leaper?!? Wait, that’s not this story. Cap has gathered the change agents he needs to help Lyra save the world from Death…but like many good actors the question is “What’s his motivation?” This issue we get more of Death’s backstory and why we might actually sympathize with him. Curious about how this will end since Death has empowered people to stop our ragtag bunch… by promising them certain death if they don’t and only certain death if they do… OK he might not have told them that second part.
Ultimate X-Men #6 – I’m still wrapping my head around Peach Momoko’s story. Not saying I don’t like it, The artwork is beautiful, but since most comics take place with heavy western influences, having one focused so much on Japanese culture is and education, and even with the notes on the last page, I’m still going through this thinking I need to read this again once the first arc is done. One of those reasons why some comics are better as trade paperbacks or graphic novels.
The Flash #12 – See my comments about Ultimate X-Men when it comes to trade paperbacks. This arc has been weird and combining it with some of the stuff from Absolute Power makes it even more convoluted. It looks like we are coming to close and I’m still trying to figure out who the bad guys are! What seems to be happening is all the speedsters have gathered to give Wally West a big pep talk so he can do whatever needs to be done. Can you tell I just want to go back to super intelligent gorillas…
Detective Comics #1088 – Maybe the penultimate issue in this arc? Maybe? There seems to be a lot of fighting Batman’s rogues’ gallery going after the bad guys who have been controlling Gotham. It is interesting to see how each villain handles their opponent. Then we get into the whole mystical realm stuff again. Batman, like Captain America should really be more grounded in my opinion. Again with the side story that will end up being important to the big picture. I’m just wondering how, this Batman will fit in with the Batman who is currently in Batman Comics. Detective Comics Batman vs. Batman Batman, vs. Batman & Robin Batman… We knew he had a multiple personality disorder, but this might be taking it a bit too far.
Star Trek Defiant #18 – So We have Romulans being Romulans and Spock and Seal trying to figure out why… While Worf and the crew of the Defiant are trying o prepare for a Romulan invasion of Antara. An Agrarian society that seem to be lucky enough to fight off previous invaders and while the double barrel shotgun might not be much against any tech the Romulans have, a couple century old scout ships, and perhaps the most important person in Starfleet history (who happens to allergic to cats) might help them out.
Rogue Sun #21 – Some fighting, some more fighting, some character and plot development. Rogue Sun continues with his plan to take out Mourningstar which for a teenager seems like the logical and easy thing to do. To get there Dylan has a few things to learn (a lot of things to learn). He and Divinity are taking out one bad guy, while we learn that actions have consequences, and that even spirits know that sometimes teenage girls need to hear what they want, and not the whole truth. Now we lead into a murder mystery… I think the butler did it, except that there is not butler to be found.
Once & Future – Pen & Ink #1 – One of my favorite comics “Once and Future” has British mythology and Arthurian legends intertwined with the modern world… frankly, it is awesome and if you have a chance to pick up the trades I would. Your local comic shop (like Comic Carnival in Indianapolis) should be able to get them for you. What I have though is kind of a “Director’s cut with commentary Kieron Gilles and Dan Mora add comments on the first issue. These pages bring out a noir feeling to the story and I know I’ll be rereading this a couple times, not just the text, but insight into how it was all put together.
The Rocketeer Breaks Free #2 – Cliff, Bettie and Peevy enjoy a lovely vacation in San Francisco. I sure hope Cliff and Bettie visit the Cartoon Art Museum while they are there. Unfortunately, Cliff brought the rocket pack and now is in hot water for being the hero… Not really, but Bettie was hoping more “us time” less “hero time.” Sadly, the Germans aren’t listening to her and the Golden Gate Bridge seems to be the target!
Nemesis Rogues’ Gallery #2 – Nemesis is back and this time we get the story of how he recruited Robin to help him fight crime… no, how he recruited “Rookie” to help him commit crime. The Ultimate anti-hero is back and now he’s brought a sidekick.
This Week’s Shake
One thing the app I’ve been using has is a shake feature. Basically shake your phone and one comic from your collection will pop up at random. It also allows me to scan barcodes to put issues into my collection. While I’ve been culling my collection, I still need to go through and cull what I have on my phone. It currently says I have 5,719 issues. C’mon you knew I had a lot of issues, but probably not that many 🙄. Today I did a shake and this popped up. Crimson by Humberto Ramos. Published from 1998-2001. The story of a teenager who becomes a vampire, but is also “The Chosen One” destined to bring an end to vampirekind. I started reading it after enjoying Ramos’ work on Impulse. I even own a page he drew for Strange Academy. I still follow what he does and try (if I remember) to pick up his newer work – Like Spectacular Spider-Men.
I know it’s been a while… I’ve been busy. Then there’s the whole catching up part that takes time. While I’d ike to update you on the comics I picked up after my grand Whimventure® during MINI Takes The States, and Gen Con, I figured I’d just start with What I received this week. So basically skipping about a month.
Bailey, my helper. I would never have been able to get this posted without his assistance.
Welcome to my world, sometimes I have to figure out what’s going on because comics don’t always come out regularly. Don’t get me started on Mike Kunkel’s awesome HeroBear and the Kid. So while there are breaks between issues if the storytelling is good, you can usually slide right back into that world. Like when you have to wait a couple years before your favorite author’s next book comes out, or the sequel to a favorite movie. Sadly, sometimes during the break between books the author has had something happen in their real lives so that they’ve ended up losing the rhythm of the story or the voice of the characters. In the world of comic books it’s usually just a month… sometimes less, most of the time more.
There are those who no longer read “floppies” or what most people think of when they think of comic books. They only read who those in the know would call “Trade Paper Backs” the combination of a story arc (usually six issues) They also may just read complete long stories – these are considered “Graphic Novels.” these stories are designed to be published in one book, not broken into cliff hangerish endings after so many pages, like floppies. There are actually some titles I only pick up in Trades, because They don’t always come out in a regular schedule. Most of the time I read floppies.
FYI- If you are interested Thundercats #7 came out with 27 variants this week! Wolverine: Revenge #1 was next highest with 11 (a couple of them bagged due to “Mature Content”).
Here’s what arrived this week in my pulls- exceptions will be noted. I’m going to try to do this in the order I read them. Which might shed light on some of my process. I started with the big two publishers DC and Marvel. Mostly because I know what the quality of the story will be, and that in some cases they might be part of some overarching storyline, that I am not following so I really don’t need to read as closely. I try to write this up after one read, some issues I will go back and reread.
This Week in Comics
Superman #17 (Absolute Power Tie-In 🙄) – If you haven’t been following the Absolute Power multiverse changing mega event to end all mega events in DC, you might be lost- like me. It seems that somehow Amanda Waller (Head of Suicide Squad) has made a power play and has taken all the powers from the DC heroes and given them to Amazo Robots. She rules the world… The heroes are fighting to get it back. Superman and Zatanna now venture down the “Dark Path” into a magic land to find the one thing (MacGuffin) that will help them give the heroes their powers back. For those who don’t know, Superman has issues with magic (it’s his kryptonite… Ok it’s his other kryptonite). They end up at the Oblivion Bar where magical practitioners hang out safe from the crazy “normal” world. At the end they have to make a deal with the…
Titans #14 – For a while now, Raven hasn’t been herself. She’s been taken over by her evil side and want to become the “Dark-Winged Queen.” She does this by capturing souls of other creatures (good and evil) and placing them in stones in her crown. Nightwing has figured this out and the Titans are ready to fight and hopefully rescue their friend. Back in the early issues of the “New Teen Titans” written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Perez Raven worked on a story dealing with her father “Trigon” attempting to rule the Earth. This has actually come up multiple times in the various versions of the Titans comics. It’s like when you get a writers block- Raven goes bad. Although I will say, like Terra, Wolfman and Perez did an awesome job of putting in hints that you didn’t notice until you went back and looked after they had been revealed. Other writers, later on… not so much. Funny thing, and I most likely am wrong, but this is probably the first time the Titans actually call for help at the end of the issue. I’m not sure how they could do this, since according to “Absolute Power” super heroes have lost their powers, but I”ll find out when the next issues comes out.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual #1 – An Annual issue, as I have said before, either ties up story, or is completely out of continuity and helps understand more about the character. In this case, Miles Morales (currently a Vampire 🙄) is heading to Puerto Rico to visit his grandmother. He’s heading a few days earlier to spend some quality time, before his family flies out to join him. Basically the main story Miles, get’s to know what drives his grandmother to be so hard on everyone. The second story, he meets Storm (from the X-Men) as she deals with a… storm. The final one, Miles is back in NYC and is dealing with his new vampiric issues… please Lord, let this go away, it’s as silly as the original “Bloodhunt” and DC’s new version that recently was released.
Ultimate Spider-Man #8 – Have a mentioned I like Ultimate Spider-Man? Each comic covers a portion of the month in which it was released. In this case we get August. Here we have Peter heading off to his son Richard’s birthday party (and his daughter, May, who born the same month). We do a lot of character development which is why I like this title. By the end we find out where Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was on the Maker’s list and who is really uncharge of the underworld in each of the NYC boroughs. Oh, and Peter get’s a job offer.
Star Trek #23 – Lore is a crazy bad robot guy… he wants to destroy everything and has the means to do so. Unlike the last issue in which Beverly Crusher get’s to spend som time with Wesley, this is strictly Lore being crazy and the crew of the Theseus trying to stop him.
Huge Detective #1 – So giants are real and they popped up after a long sleep to discover the world is run by us… little people. IN the end (after the expected fighting) they take Australia and we have an understanding. This comic takes place in that world. After one reading I’m still going through it in my head. You have a regular detective and a huge one trying to figure out a murder/missing person Missing Huge case. Since this is the first issue, there’s a lot of exposition and world building going on. We Shall see how this fairs after a second reading and a second issue.
Night Club 2 #1 – IN the first Night Club, a group of teenagers become vampires (hmm… there seems to be lot of that going around) and decide to use their powers for good, becoming superheroes. In this universe, there was a massive fight in which almost all the good guys died, and then it all got reset (as it happens in comics). So now what happens to our vampire super teens? They keep trying to help, and get fame and fortune, and be teenagers. Of course there’s one in every crowd who messes it up for everyone. So far that story is just beginning.
Something Crawled Out #1 – Comic Shops will give away comics, like a drug dealer hoping that you will get hooked. As someone once wrote “Comics are the gateway drug to literacy.” Don’t tell my niece or the adults she hangs with this (those adults can be such a bad influence).
Being a first issue, it is trying to set the rules of the world and what is going on. All I have is that weird stuff is going on. Various characters being introduced. Missing people, and a weird guy with a gun and glasses wandering around in the night. while Eddie, our main character is working at the scary, gas station market when the lights go out. Then things start to get weirder…
Lawful #2 & #3 – I read issue number one and then missed the second issue, and it looks like the third… a quick recap. In this world, magic exists. If you do something bad (break the rules) you end up slowly turning into a monstrosity. Each offense causes something else to happen. It could be growing horns, it could be scales… There’s no way to fight it. after a while you get exiled for being a monster. Only good people are allowed in the city. Our main character, Sung, did something wrong as a child, so he has a very small patch of scales. His best friend, Eris, is a rabble rouser, and she has a tail, horns, etc. In the first issue, Sung became a clerk in the office of champions. Basically he does paperwork and gets to stamp papers for those who should be either brought for review, or exiled. Whose paperwork should cross his desk? Eris. He marks her’s for review and now has more scales. Of course his mom is sick and his father was a champion before he was brutally killed while doing his duty. If he loses his job, they get thrown out of the inner circle and his mom won’t get the medicine she needs. Hmm… what’s that saying about power corrupting? Let’s just say, by the end of the third issue, Sung has a lot more to worry about. The artwork is great and Greg Pan has written a great story that (as many great stories do) parallels our own society.
So why did I read them in this order? DC and Marvel are like reading something simple like Star Trek, they are franchises with decades of history in some cases weighing them down. If the story is complex and makes me think, I’m happily surprised. Ultimate Spider-Man being the exception. Then we start with the non-traditional comics. Many after a first reading will require me to read them again. I usually pull a comic I am looking forward to reading for the end. Like a nice dessert. “Lawful” with two issues to catch up on was that comic. I knew from the first issue (which I actually remembered, even after over a month long Whimventure®) that I wanted to know what happened to Sung & Eris and that world. Being one of those people who tries to “Be Good.” I can relate with Sung, but I also see how unfair and arbitrary the universe they live is can be. Sung is doing “good” by helping a friend who he knows isn’t all bad. Now maybe if they could figure out a way to reverse things if you did a good act… maybe they have but if that information got out it could shatter the harmony of the world. You can tell what my favorite comics are, by what I read last.
I saw a recent comic dealing with the basic differences between Star Trek and Star Wars that I found amusing and enlightening…
I come from a weird time. I grew up with Star Trek in reruns, and was 11 when Star Wars came out in the theaters. As an adult I definitely see differences and understand that Star Trek is Science/Speculative Fiction and Star Wars is Fantasy with Science Fiction aspects (planets, spaceships, & rayguns). As pop culture has taken over society and it seems like for the most part, the fans are different.
I’ve joked that real Star Wars Fans really don’t like Star Wars, and that’s what makes you a true Star Wars fan. There is a lot of discussion online about how bad whatever the latest thing is. Then we get into things like the original releases vs. Special Editions vs. Prequels vs…. Did Han shoot first? Disney is ruining the Brand. George Lucas is ruining my childhood. This director or that director is ruining… Don’t even get started with casting decisions! There’s a lot of bad talk happening in Star Wars fandom, and a lot of people being just mean (embracing the dark side). This is all coming from the people who LIKE Star Wars!
I enjoyed how Star Wars sparked a change in the world. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek Movies… it made science fiction popular and main stream. I recall my brother and I running around whacking each other with broomstick light sabers, while my mother wondered what happened to the broom and mop. Star Wars got me into reading as a middle schooler. “Splinter of the Minds Eye” by Alan Dean Foster was one of the first books I recall reading on my own.
You see, I’ve always loved Science Fiction from Flash Gordon serials to the 1950’s flying saucer movies… but I recall as a kid growing up in the Bay Area my dad taking us to a Star Trek fan club meeting and falling asleep the the episode “Arena.” I had starship plans, I still have the Technical Manual that I carried around as an elementary school kid. I could name off the various ships in the Federation. I had similar stuff for Star Wars- sketchbooks, The Art of Books I never really got into the toys for Star Wars since I was just old enough to not be as into toys, my neighbor had them. for the record: I preferred the Y-Wing to the X-Wing for the record. My favorite ship is the Enterprise (“No bloody A, B, C, or D”).
As a fan base one thing Star Trek has is the concept of IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) which helps when others talk about “best” and “worst.” In Star Trek they kinda accept everyone’s right to like even what you personally don’t. Which leads me to Prodigy. Canceled by the powers that be after one season. Paramount was able to sell the rights to Netflix after a massive online campaign to save the show. Kinda an internet version of what happened to the Original Series back in the 60’s. They are now trying the same thing to save Star Trek’s other animated series “Lower Decks” which they announced the next season would be it’s last.
The show was pretty much finished when Paramount decided to cancel it and make the show disappear from their streaming service. Netflix, this week, released season 2 of Prodigy in a 20 episode (about 10 hour) bingeable dump. Prodigy was the Star Trek franchise’s idea for a “kid show” co-produced by Nickelodeon. There are a lot of things to unpack from this series. I don’t want to give away any spoilers for either seasons. So I’ll start with where in the timeline does this happen? This isn’t much of a spoiler and because the first season has little to do with the Federation so it’s hard to tell. We know this happens after Kathryn Janeway is made an admiral. So sometime after Voyager’s return and during the time of the films. The second season tells us this all happened before the first season of Picard. So as the Romulans are being relocated (think the point in which the “Kelvin” timeline starts).
Season 2 actually ends with the Utopia Planetia shipyards being destroyed which was a flashback in Picard season 1. The crew of the Protostar is a bunch of misfits trying to escape slavery on a at that point unknown planetoid. A mix of young aliens with no idea about Star Fleet or the Federation. So this is an introduction to the universe of Star Trek with the main characters being like the companion in Doctor Who, the audience’s surrogate. Pretty much every detail is covered for a newbie even that none of the characters speak the same language, so how do you communicate?
A few spoilers, but with a second season you know problems from the first season have been sort of solved. The first season <spoiler> gets the crew and lost starship Protostar to the Federation and deals with what happens then, bad things, bad bad things. While the second season deals with how our characters figure out how to live in the Federation preparing to join the Academy and attempt to rescue someone mentioned in the first season who was lost in time… then hijinks ensue.
There are lots of twists and turns through both seasons, but my favorite possible episode 13 from season 1 which dealt with the crew landing on a planet that the Enterprise interacted with during their five year mission and a “minor” violation of the Prime Directive that impacted the civilization for some amusing results.
I have enjoyed this series and frankly all the various series for their own merit. IDIC. Have I liked every episode? Nope. I joke about the first season of most Star Trek series aren’t great. The actors need time to figure out their characters. The writers need to figure out the world. Around season three they get it. Prodigy like Lower Decks, being animation allows some freedom that would be difficult or expensive in live action. Season 2 is worth a watch and actually does a nice job of taking care of some complaints people had about season 3 of Picard. Not all the plot holes are addressed, but at least one is tidied up. I just wish they had episodes of Will Wheaton’s The Ready Room for these, or even each season… that would be amazing.
As for the final decision when it comes to the battle between Star Wars and Star Trek… I like both, but if I have a choice – I’ll watch Star Trek. I have kept up with Star Wars, and enjoyed my visit to Galaxy’s Edge in Florida (I made a droid & a lightsaber). Yes, Star Wars has books and various TV shows, but the core is really the movies, where the core for Star Trek is the television shows. I’ve invested untold hours in the Star Trek Universe and have the scars to prove it. Now if they would only build a Star Trek Theme Park. 🖖
Now to this Week’s Comics:
Public Domain #6 – I thought I’d lost contact with this one… The first arc was dealing with a family and the rights to a character the father had created… Now we get to actually doing something with this character. OK actually this is al the “Real World” stuff and the comic with the superhero will be coming out soon.
Black Radiant #29 & 29.5 – In the last two issues we had come close to the end, each version of Black Radiant was tasked with a challenge that could save the world… SO what happened? Who Lives? Who Dies? Which person is actually the better Black Radiant? Read it and find out.
Justice Society of America #10 – One of first Legion of Super Heroes Comics had the Legion go up against Mordru an evil wizard. With Huntress (Lost in the multiverse Helena Wayne) building a Justice Society from reformed villains we have a young Mordru coming in trying to change his future, and learning that while the end may justify the means… it isn’t always that neat and clean.
Batman #150 – I know a secret! So what happens if you know who Batman is? What would you do? This is the story of a small time crook (former henchman) who know Batman’s secret identity and what he does with the information… It is a bit surprising but fits with the newish direction of Batman.
Then, of course, theirs a short tie-in story for the summer blockbuster Absolute Power…
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 – Another crossover taking control of a comic? Wha? Huh? This time it’s the “Infinity Watch” Which I guess, for an Annual issue isn’t too bad. Someone needs to study Temporal Mechanics 101.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man # 22 – Blood Hunt yipee! Yes, Vampires, yes, fights, yes, vampires. Sadly I see that there’s a DC vs. Vampires comic coming up, so more vampires! I really need to find other comics to read.
Rogue Sun #20 – Rogue Sun the immortal hero fighting to save the world again occult menaces, decides to start taking his role a bit more seriously as he plans to take out his big bad guy. At least he understands he has some work to do before hand. How does skipping school and heading off with a biker girl aid in his training?
Sons of Star Trek #4 – The end of the series, so no spoilers! Let’s just say I thought it was satisfying and still would like to know all the craziness that brought the universe together- Tuvix, Mariner, Morn… So many right turns in Albuquerque!
Rocketeer Jet Pack Adventures – I found this on the shelf of my LCS and picked it up… It is a book of short stories (so I won’t destroy my imagination by having to look at pictures… I can make the pictures in my mind). The book is actually 10 years old and I need to sit back and read it.
It seems that after the last Earth shattering finale for the merry Marvel mutants we are back with new team line ups and new titles. This teaser is to get me interested in all the titles and… it’s not doing anything for me.
I’m having enough trouble dealing with two Batman titles, two Superman titles, multiple Spider-Man titles (that at least have different Spider-Men in them), do I really need to be reading all these X-Men books? I watched X-Men ’97, but a dozen mutant books?!? Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Exceptional X-Men, NYX, X-Force, X-Factor, Sentinels, Phoenix, Wolverine (also in Uncanny), Dazzler, Storm, Mystique, and let’s not forget the ad for Storm joining the Avengers!
Let’s not even get into the decades on continuity I need to wade through… If you love the X-Men (I do like the X-Men, but I really stopped reading them back when they had one title) this looks like it is a great time for you. New #1 issues, some new characters, and some cool stories. Enjoy! IDIC!
Not much going on this week… Mostly getting the house and the boys ready for our trip out west for MINI Takes The States. Yes, I’ve blogged about various MINI things it shouldn’t be a surprise to you. I’ll be taking a hiatus for the blog while on MTTS since I will be without a computer and my phone isn’t as reliable as I would like for blogging. If you want to keep up follow Cecil’s Adventures on Facebook and Instagram. I’ll post recap once I’m back.
With my older brother’s birthday I’m feeling a little bit older too. Fortunately he’s still older than me and for a few months TWO years older! I’m realizing that I need to focus bit more on all the stuff I have in the house that serves no purpose. So upon my return from MTTS I hope to redouble my efforts in going through things I haven’t touched in over a year. Is this stuff bringing me joy, or making me a bit overwhelmed? With Gen Con and New York Comic Con coming up, I need to do some serious thinking. My current plan is to just enjoy both Cons, but not really buy that much at either. We”ll see how that works.
This Week’s Comics:
Action Comics #1066 – The Battle of Hastings? (Sorry inside joke) The Fight with Brainiac is coming to a head with Brainiacs Queen online can Superman and his allies possibly defeat Brainiac? Who will make a sacrifice to help change the tide of the battle? The second story goes through Lex and Lena Luthor’s father/daughter issues.
Star Trek Defiant #16 – Can the crew of the Defiant survive against the evil hive mind that has taken over Starbase 99 and hopes to take over the universe? Again with the ultimate sacrifices… and then a bit of a twist once you think everything is over “and they all lived happily ever after.”
No/One #9 – In the penultimate issue- Pittsburgh holds a referendum and decides that you have the right to defend yourself if you think you might be in danger. That’s right- deadly force if you THINK someone might do something, sometime to hurt you. So after multiple bloodbaths because with great power there must also be great responsibility and people aren’t known for being very responsible… what will happen next? Sadly this is getting pretty close to reality, but comics are just silly and don’t have anything to do with social commentary. 🙄
Primer #4 of 4 – The conclusion of what seems to be the first arc of Primer’s story. Can Ashley save her foster parents from the crazed villain who wants all the superpower paints for himself? Will Ashley be able to get through the “Heroes Journey and become a real hero? Only reading this issue and a really cool costume can reveal the future fate of Primer.
The Department of Truth #23 – It looks like I missed issue #22, so I’ll need to go back and get it to see how that arc ended. This is a great starting point for those unaware of The Department of Truth. It’s a history lesson on how the department was set up and who started it all. It’s a Wonderful Story… (Hint, not a spoiler). For those who don’t know about the Department of Truth, in this world, if enough people believe something is becomes real. UFO’s were’t real until enough people considered the possibility, Bigfoot? same thing. Basically a world in which if a conspiracy theory can get enough people to believe it will tip the balance of reality. So who would have been put in charge of this when it first came to light?
U & I #5 of 6 – Penultimate issue and knowing this world I’m concerned about how it will all end, because not all comics in the Resistance Universe have happy endings. U tries to get Isabelle to see the world the way he does, and Isabelle’s Uncle conspires with the bad guys to find and eliminate U. Will it work? Next issue with tie everything up one way or another.
The Flash #10 – This arc is leading to the summer mega event Absolute Power which may be why I’m just kind “meh” about it. Are the speedsters actually the problem? What does math have to do with it? Will Wally finally join in? Will I be doing reviews that say “Absolute Power. ’nuff said”?
Detective Comics #1086 – In Batman the Zur En Arrh arc seems to be neatly finished, leaving Bruce Wayne with a clear new beginning and I’m happy about that. Detective Comics, Bruce is still fighting the Orgham’s and their control over Gotham. Let’s add in his Rogue’s Gallery to make things interesting. Which side will they take?
The Spectacular Spider-Men #4 – SO last time we dealt with Miles and Peter things were… weird. Miles was in a relationship with Kamala Khan, and Peter was married with kids to Gwen Stacey?!? Yes, I know, Gwen is dead on this Earth, then again so are a lot of the people Peter was dealing with. We get to peak behind the curtain and find out who has been responsible for Arcadium- Arcade and Mentallo. along with their mysterious (until the last page) funder. Fortunately, thanks to Shift and Peter’s psychological issues (aka the Parker luck) the veil is removed and you have two very angry Spider-Men out to take care of whoever made them happy.
What a very light week for me! Pretty much just a few comics and catching up with a title I had forgotten about (probably because I’m old).
I’d like to take a moment to babble on about some other places to get comics, specifically Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a rabbit hole for many creative people or people who like to get things before anyone else. I started playing around on Kickstarter when it first started and it could be a crap shoot as to whether the item you helped along would actually come to fruition. I did get some cool things like the watch band for my iPod nano which kind of made it the first Apple Watch. I also tried some other ones that weren’t that successful, like the animatronic Arduino run head, the creator realized that he had over extended himself since was just a kid in college and didn’t have access to the school’s laser cutter after he completed the class he was in… ugh. The early days of anything can be frustrating… but as the bugs got worked out it became easier to use and almost a guarantee for those who have the patience to wait things out. Comic book creators use Kickstarter (and other platforms) to see if they can get enough people committed to their idea so it can be printed. Usually this includes special bonuses if certain levels of funding are achieved. I mention comics, but it really encompasses everything. The areas I tend to follow deal with comics/art and board games. I am cutting down on board games, not because they aren’t excellent, but because I’ve found I’m not playing games as much as once did (I think I’ve mentioned this before). Back to Kickstarter… This week something wonderful arrived in my mailbox. That’s one thing that is cool, is you sometimes have no idea when something will arrive. This week it was Thorn by Jeff Smith. If you didn’t already know, Jeff Smith is one of my favorite creators. His comic Bone wasn’t originally all ages, but has become a staple in many school libraries. The characters started out at Ohio State University in their school newspaper when Jeff was a student. He’s taken the time to pull all those strips together and publish them for fans like me. A publisher would probably look at it and say there’s not a large enough audience for this, but on Kickstarter if you don’t get enough support… you just don’t do the project. No one is charged until the project gets enough pledges to get made. Sometimes I’ll wait until I know a project has broken (or is really close to) that barrier before funding it, other times, I just jump into it on a whim.
This Week’s Comics:
Thorn by Jeff Smith: The Complete Proto-Bone College Strips 1982-1986 and Other Early Drawings- I really enjoy seeing the evolution of a character. Seeing the early strips with Phone Bone and knowing what the character becomes is amazing. Having done a comic strip (off & on) for over a decade I think about how Cecil has evolved from a simple concept and (horrible) drawing to what he is now, this is what I get to do with Bone. Some of the basic story is there, but there are so many ideas that made it into Jeff’s college strips that didn’t make it into Bone. Understandably so, since many parts were tied to time current events of the day, and the college audience. I have a few regrets, one of those is not having the guts to actually do a strip in high school or college. The strips done in my school papers I saw as much better than anything I could produce, so why try? It’s awesome that creators are now releasing early works so we can see that it takes time and effort to get something great.
Power Pack into the Storm #2-#4 – I know I missed a few, but to sum it up the Power Pack get captured and Franklin Richard’s is the only one who can save them by getting help from the X-Men. When it comes to involving the X-Men and evil aliens it means the Brood are now involved. Will they be able to save Franklin? Does Mayhem know what she is getting herself into- we know, but she is clueless.
Captain America #8 – so Cap is now saving the world from mystic evil… what happened to just punching Nazis in the face? I’ve seen Cap trapped in other dimensions – which made me seriously stop reading for a while. Now he’s fighting an army of evil (in another dimension?) in order to save the innocent. His new mission- he must go and find four catalysts for change and bring them back to The Front Door…. I’m giving Straczynski some leeway since I usually love his stuff.
Batman #146 – Has Batman figured it all out? That doesn’t mean he’s won and this arc is over… it’s only part two so we’ve got four more issues to go. For it to follow the “Heroes Journey” he’s got a few more steps to go before he can leave the cave… a lot more villains to fight, and then there’s everyone who are now thinking Zur-En-Arrh is Bruce Wayne- even though he’s a robot. Maybe I’m just used to six issue arcs and not epic sagas. (Although I do like Saga)
Love Everlasting #14 – the Cowboy’s Tale continues… BLAM! Joan dies so many times I lost count, BLAM! but we do find out who is behind all this, will the cowboy survive finding out?
As of for blabbering this week- not much to say, just coasting as I wait for weather to get nice for more than 35 minutes and the next “whimventure®”
This week was a good mix of comics and I’m sure I’ll do a review of the Indiana “Comic” Con happening this weekend. I do hope I’m wrong, but from what I can tell, I know Indiana can do better when it comes to hosting an actual comic con and not a celebrity photo/autograph fest, but is that what people here want? Is it just me?
This Week’s Comics:
Man’s Best #1 – We were introduced to Athos, Porthos, and Lovey in the intro issue #0 now we get to relive that issue, but also find out what happens next to get the story started. We still don’t know the origin of the “Klangers” who they have been training to fight. or what’s up with a vanishing planet, but I’m sure it will all come in due time.
Spider-Boy #5 – The hunt for Bailey continues (and I don’t mean my cat… he’s chirping at some birds by the window). Also some backstory on Madame Monstrosity and her work and lost love 💕 I find it interesting how Bailey has avoided detection and has been able to survive… clever kid.
Star Trek #18 – Glass and Bone Part 6 Does Benjamin Sisko and the crew of the Theseus stop an intergalacticic war? What about what Dr. Crusher and Mr. Scott’s discover at the core of Tzenketh? Will this change things dramatically? (melodramatically?).
The Displaced #2 – In issue one we were introduced to our cast of characters- people from Oshawa who were out of town when the place vanished and now are forgotten. No one remembers them. We get a few of the rules in this universe- like they need to stay together or they might disappear. So they head off to a secluded cabin to figure things out… hmm…
Justice Society of America #9 – The search goes on… Helena Wayne (Huntress) is still woking on putting together her team of misfits . Sons and daughters of villains seeking redemption. This, of course, leads to some nice fights as sometimes words alone cannot sway people. Remember this is in combination to all the unknown sidekicks from the original JSA were rescued and are trying to find their place in this future. Quiz Kid (Mr. Terrific’s sidekick), has some ideas and then there’s the appearance of the Legionnaire… my oh my… what next? (Oh, the Tony Harris variant cover is what is in the photo- I know, I know I complain about variants, but every so often there is one I want.)
Superman # 12 – So with Bizarro having taken over the world through magic the only person Superman can trust is… the Joker?!?! Wait, that’s Action Comics, not Superman. In this issue of Superman the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad® is poisoning Metropolis (with Kryptonite laced gas) and it takes the combined resources of Super Corp. to try and save everyone and catch the bad guys. What happens next? ummm… Like with Batman and Detective Comics I’ve been waffling to decide if I’m going to follow both titles: Action Comics and Superman. DC has decided to do a crossover story that will be in both! 🙄 It looks like I’m still reading both for at least a while.
U & I #2 of 6 – In this universe where some people have powers and others don’t we have “U” who seems to be living in his own world who was saved by Isabelle (“I”). Now U with Isabelle’s help has decided his mission, who is the enemy he must fight. Sometimes comics get a bit real…
Of course he sees it a bit differently, but he now has a an idea how to help everyone… so he starts to stir things up… with Straczynski there is no way to tell where is will end up, or if it will be a happy ending.
Blue Book #2 – 1947 More strange things happening with flying saucers and the introducation of the concept of the “Men in Black” as we follow Kenneth Arnold. Of course next up is a little place in New Mexico.
Midlife #6 – Most stories in comics run in 6 issue arcs, this makes creating trade paperbacks easier. We discover the secrets of Ruben’s dad’s powers (shhhh… family secrets are uncovered) and while not all the loose ends are tied up it does come to a nice conclusion with hints of what’s to come.
Titans #9 – So the Titans help out and actually clean up after themselves (Teen Titans would never do that… heck, they would just shove all their dirty clothes into the closet and close the door). Of course we are building up to something bad happening in the next three issues (six issue arcs remember?) Amanda Waller has been brought in to create some future chaos after making a deal with the devil… or at least a close facsimile.
Wish me luck as I head into the Indiana “Comic” Con and The VEX Robotics State Championship. I’ll be working one and ignoring the other one…
Oh the joys of being out of town… it means you have twice the comics to read when you come back!
I’m not sure which comics are from which week so I’m not even going to try to figure that out, but there were some awesome comics released!
While on my trip I happened to stumble into a comic shop in Odense that was pretty amazing, it had a bit of everything, but it made me realize just how lost I am when it comes to European comics. This hole in my knowledge base I intend to fix, but it will take time. First place to start, there’s TinTin. I’ve read some of Hergé’s masterpiece and even sat through the film. Our first geocache, before Sue took over the ProfessorZoom caching name was “TinTin & Snowy” at a nearby dog park. It was archived at the beginning of 2024. 🙁
Faraos Cigarer as seen from my hotel room in Odense.They weren’t open, but were running a game night so we snuck in here are cars from TinTin.The LARP/Cosplay section of this amazing store… I just need a bigger suitcase (or two)
While I’d love to blabber on about my lack of knowledge when it comes to European comics Nothing Special Volume One – Through the Elder Woods the book came out while I was a away and I’d love to take a moment to blabber on about this amazing comic and all three volumes that hopefully will be coming out in paper form more sooner than later. First of all Katie Cook is amazing (amazingly amazing). Her style is cartoony (which I like) and she has been a standard at conventions for years. I have a cartoon of Hemi (bestest cat in the world) done by her and I own a few of her drawings and strips. Due to personal stuff she vanished for a couple years (starting around COVID and things piled on after that) and is now coming back. I found her at C2E2 years ago and started reading Gronk, her Webcomic at the time. When Webtoon started up they gave her the opportunity to tell another story in their format which is like having an infinite scroll. Nothing Special is the story of a teenage girl, Callie, who lives between worlds. Her father spends most of his time in a fairyland with magic and cools stuff, while she is in our world. It’s senior year and she stumbles upon DeClan who has carried a torch for her since kindergarten. They actually connect (over dead plants- it makes sense… really it does) and when her father goes missing on her birthday Callie heads out to find him with DeClan a perfectly “normal human boy” coming along to help. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is one of the stories from Webtoon that I followed religiously until towards the end of the third season, life got complicated for Katie and it took a hiatus. Having taken a hiatus (or two or three, myself I can’t complain). Nothing Special is especially funny, clever, and just a great read. If you don’t like it… we might need to discuss our friendship. 😉
This Week’s Comics Minus Nothing Special (see above):
Ultimate X-Men #1 – As the Ultimate Comics relaunches after the issues of the Maker in Ultimate Invasion & the stuff that followed it’s time to figure out what happened to the X-Men. We have Ultimate Spider-Man, which I enjoy. Ultimate Black Panther, which I don’t follow… I know I really should. Now Ultimate X-Men, which having not really followed and X-men comic since the last Ultimate X-Men and before that John Byrne and Chris Claremont were the creative team. I’m trying to piece it all together and it looks like this might take some time. The artwork is beautiful, and the story pasted with emotion, but I need to give it s few issues to figure out what is going on.
Love Everlasting #13 – We now get to see the first time the Cowboy had to deal with Joan… and it seems like its all part of a organized effort focused on Joan…but why?
Batman # 145 – Batman, Batman, Batman… Can you stop trying to confuse me? after that brief intermission, we are back dealing with Zur-En-Arrh the Batman personality that now is running Failsafe, the Batman robot Batman built for that moment when he might do something wrong, like kill. So mBatman is locked up with a joker who is physically incapacitated and Zur is going around cleaning up the city, and being a better Batman than Batman… When will Bat-Mite come back and save the day?!? What does Ace, the Bathound, think of all this?
Action Comics #1063 – Superman teams up with Bizarro Joker to solve the whole Bizarro problem… but at what cost? Can Superman trust the Joker? I can say, a “sane” joker is almost scarier than the crazy one.
Speed Force # 5 – Am I just getting old? Maybe it’s jet lag. Maybe it’s my lack on knowledge or interest in music… It looks like Wallace and Avery are figuring out what needs to be done to save the world of teenagers addicted to an app just as congress tries to outlaw TikTok (life imitates art?). SO how is the Speedforce, and Magic being used to create this (insert modern slang for crisis)? Can they stop it in time?
Wesley Dodds Sandman #6 – The conclusion 😢 of this adventure, will the Sandman be able to recover his notebook filled with formulas that in the wrong hands (the military) could create havoc across the world? Didn’t this guys learn anything from watching Oppenheimer? Ultimate weapons just lead to ultimater weapons that lead to ultimatest weapons, that lead to… you get the idea. Well, I guess if you are a weapon manufacturer all that matters is profits.
Spectacular Spider-Men #1 – SO Peter Parker and Miles Morales decide to take some time and just chill. every Wednesday meet at a coffee shop and talk over life as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. What could go wrong? If you’ve ever read a Spider-Man comic, you know the answer. Humberto Ramos is doing the art, so I had to buy it. I’m just hoping that I won’t get confused since I’m already reading a handful of Spider-Man titles that just got out of Gang War.
Captain America #7 – Has Captain America now become the Patriotic Sorcerer Supreme? int eh last arc he was fighting a demon that tried to cause problems in pre-WWII New York and now present day. So issue seven we get to deal with the repercussions of actions… by visiting The Front Door, a theater macabre or is that theatre… Spell check says they are both correct. then again is it macabre?
The Amazing Spider-Man #45 – So Gang War is over? Finally? What happens now? This is what could be called a “filler Issue” in which we set ourselves up for whatever comes next while tying up some loose ends fhat may have been forgotten over the past issues. Can we get MJ’s Aunt out of the asylum? What is going on with airplane mode around a ginormous green brain (did the Leader have a full lobotomy and no one told me?) And what about those not quite so mysterious fellows on the last page? I’m sure they are planning something nefarious like hijacking a truck load of Girl Scout cookies! Oh the horror! Oh the Thin Mints!
Batman First Knight Book One – Detective Comics #27 started things off for the Bat-Man. Bill Finger and Bob Kane created this character and comics at that time had multiple stories that were pretty quick reads, only a few pages. This takes us back to those simpler times, but expands the story with more details, and some stunning artwork. Missing is Alfred since he wasn’t in those early comics. The mystery- who is going around killing corrupt politicians (Oh, like our generation invented the concept of corrupt politicians- go watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). Then again there is something strange about the killers…
Dark Ride #11 – So we’ve established that We have an amusement park of horror run by a guy who made a deal with the devil. He’s done everything he can to not let the devil collect his soul… His son was last seen running into a ride to rescue his daughter. Now after much mayhem, there is a family ruin, I mean reunion, as a new ride is unveiled, a giant kaiju sized animatronic devil, who will be sacrificed? When will Mickey and a gang of lawyers come and save the day?
I Hate Fairyland #12 – A retelling of the Tale of the Billy Goats Gruff as only Scottie Young & Gert can do it…
Adventureman Ghost Lights #2 of 2 – Will Adventure get rescued and save the day? Will the ghosts win? What will the effects of the Super-serum be on Adventureman’s friends? Frankly, this is one of those series that you almost need to read the entire arc in one sitting. So much going on, but all of it amazing.
Sons of Star Trek #1 – Those of us old enough to remember there was a time when we were trying to figure out life, the universe, everything. We tried to decide our path and wouldn’t listen to any advice. As I look back on it and look at how my life worked out I can’t say I made a bad decision, although I’m sure I made a bunch. The thing is I like who I am, if I learned anything from ingesting decades of science fiction and loving time travel stories it’s that one change, no matter how minor could change things in a drastic way. (Watch It’s a Wonderful Life for an example. Gosh, I’m just full of Frank Capra references today) Here we have three sons of major Star Trek characters – Jake Sisko (Son of Captain Benjamin Sisko), Nog (Son of Grand Nagus Rom), and Alexander Rozhenko (Son of Worf, son of Mogh, House of Martok, son of Sergei, House of Rozhenko, Bane to the Duras Family, slayer of Gowron. maker of chamomile tea.) All are at a turning point. So who comes along to help them out but… Q or as he calls himself son of Q or QJ (for Q Jr.). Now these three are in an alternate universe where things are… different. Morn is in a Star Feet Uniform, Tuvix is still around as is Jadzia Dax… It looks like Mariner, and Shaw are also on the crew of this ship… I’m sure I’m missing others. I’m also very curious as to what series of events happened to create this alternate timeline. This is going to be either a train wreck or a wonderfully wild ride… I’m hoping for the latter.
No/One #8 – The plot thickens… and I need to go back and reread all the past issues. The gun used in the current string of murders has been tied to a past killing that was controversial… Gee a militant white supremacy social club (we wouldn’t want to call them a gang) has decided to take matters in their own hands… and No/One… <spoilers>
Fishflies #5 – It looks like we are getting to a conclusion, but, I could be wrong. Francis and bug have met a couple of nice old folks who are not shocked or surprised by seeing a giant bug with a little girl… shouldn’t this send up some red flags? Some research is being done at the library (why you should always support your local library- who knows when you might be researching similarities between events in the past). And our helpful police man who has been removed from duty decides to do the right thing… will he be too late?
So this week was a bit lean when it came to titles but all in all some good things. I was actually able to spend part of yesterday catching up on some work in the Pit the Despair. Bagged and boarded a couple hundred back issues so I might be able to go back and read them in a decade or so. Mostly Justice Society and Golden Age heroes most people don’t care about. It was nice to catch up on some organization work. As always a bit of commentary then the reviews.
When I first started reading comics it was pretty much art first, story second. I liked to look at the pictures. I followed artists, not writers. I’d stop reading a comic when the artist switched. This was in the time of Frank Miller- Daredevil, John Byrne- X-Men and Fantastic Four, George Perez – Teen Titans, Walt Simonson – Thor, Bill Sienkiewicz – Moon Knight… you get the idea. I took a break from comics during the whole 90’s and when I returned (as a way to escape the stresses of grad school) I started focusing on art and story, in some cases story was more important than art. Maybe I had grown as an artist, maybe I’d matured as a reader, I don’t know. Now if you can’t tell I read a rather eclectic mix some with amazing art, some with amazing stories, most with a good mix of both. For this I thank the folks at my LCS (Local Comic Shop). I started stopping into Comic Carnival when it was on the way to my grad school classes which met on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I learned about the pull list when I kept missing some issues since new comics came out on Wednesdays. Over the next 30+ years things started to just show up in my stack. For those who don’t understand, most comic shops have a pull list for regular customers. the customer comes in is given a list of comics and basically, a couple months before the comic comes out orders it. When that issue comes out it is pulled. As the customer, I have already paid for it, but then after a while they get to know you and start pulling other things for you. I’d also get pulled aside and asked about things I didn’t mark on my list. “Bruce, you’ve always pulled Captain America, you didn’t this month…” I’d say I wasn’t interested in the way the story was going… then I’d be told, I had missed out on a super key issue that they’d sold out of and they’d try to get me a second printing… or it might be “OK, just checking.” The moral of this story… get to know your local shop, support them, they’re great people and they will take care of you.
Variant winner this week according to the CLZ Newsletter- Red Sonja #7 with 17 variants… although in the next line the mention Femme Force : Taylor Swift #1 had 18 variants… Ummm… why do you need that many? I didn’t need 25 Princess Diana purple Beanie Babies. Then again Quested had 9, Defiant and Power Pack each had 3. I received the “A” versions of each which means the one that everyone gets.
This Week’s Comics:
Star Trek Defiant Annual #1 – So what is an Annual? You’ve seen a few of these show up in my list. For the most part these are bigger issues. They can either start or finish a story line, or could be a one off story. In the case of Defiant this is a background story of Sela- you know Tasha Yar’s daughter who has played a villain over the course of a few Star Trek story lines. Here we get to see her come to grips with her mommy issues. It is basically starting off a new twist for the crew of the Defiant when they finally meet up.
Ministry of Compliance #2 – Issue number 1 was pulled for me, and I frankly kept meaning to pull issue number 2 but being me, forgot. This week I remembered. So the world is secretly being run by aliens (who look just like us) with various ministries in charge of various aspects. The Ministry of Compliance is the ministry in charge of keeping everyone in line. Right now, everything has fallen apart and there is a scramble to figure out what they should do next… I rarely will pull something from a comic, but I felt these three panels say a lot about the world we live in… Yes, comics do offer social commentary, and not just spandex.
Mech Cadets #5 – I was reading this back when it was Mech Cadet Yu and before Netflix turned it into a cartoon. The Earth has been attacked by aliens, we were rescued by giant robots that bond with their pilots. The Military Industrial complex doesn’t like being dependent of aliens so they build their own… Now aliens are back and those in power giving the orders aren’t listening to the people who know better. You think their hearts might be in the right place, but… so they are abandoning a unauthorized rescue attempt which could save the planet… gotta love egos.
Detective Comics #1081 – Is it real? Is it a fever dream? What are they putting Batman through this time, because it is so much fun to torture Batman. Last entry I said, I’m seriously thinking about dropping one of my Superman and Batman titles… In Batman, Bruce Wayne is getting beaten up by his own subconscious in the form of Zur-En-Arrh. In Detective he’s been hung and now is finding himself in some weird dreamscape… Where’s the giant penny? Where’s the giant typewriter? You know chum, this is getting to be a bit much for me.
Power Pack Into the Storm #1 – in an attempt to create an all ages comic decades ago Marvel created “Power Pack” a group of siblings who each got powers and saved the World from aliens. It was a cool comic, Louise Simonson did an amazing job. They’ve brought the team back and mixed them in with Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four. This is a flashback to an early adventure and with it being issue #1 it is just setting up the pack trying to save an alien princess and their friend from evil aliens…
Quested Season 2 #1 – Fun D&D adventure… I won’t go into it, because the intro at the beginning of the issue goes over Season 1 better than I could. Let’s just say the band has broken apart, but they will get back together at some point…
The Flash #5 – Wally West the original Kid Flash, who took the Flash mantle when Barry Allen was “killed” during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wally has been put through the wringer during all the various Crisis that DC comics decided they needed. He is back, with his wife and kids finally and trying to figure it all out. Last month he was wandering around a garden filled with statues trying to determine the meaning of life (42). This time around we are following his son Jai. Now as we know super powers are fickle, sometime heroes pass them along, sometimes, they don’t. In this case Jai’s sister got the super speed power and Jai… well he got a mixed bag, that includes things like super strength and some other weird things. In this issue Jai comes to grips with his powers, but also his destiny. Remember when you were a kid? I know for me at some point I had to let my parents down and let them know their idea (or what I thought their dream for me) wasn’t what I wanted. For me it was getting into a super elite private school and after the first week being asked if I was happy. I was honest (for probably the first time didn’t just say what I thought they wanted to hear) and said “No.” Like any kid, I figure I’d let them down, and I probably did, but they said “OK” and on Monday I was back at my old public school, with my friends. FYI- my old public school was one of the top schools in California, so I really wasn’t losing anything education wise, just I didn’t have to deal with ultra snobby kids. So Jai, after all this and thinking he’s going to let his dad down, tells him that he really isn’t into the whole superhero thing and then has to deal with the consequences. Basically one of those comics that focused more on character growth than action… which is OK.
Next week- same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel. Unless Bruce Wayne is dead (again) which means we’ll have to wait 3-8 months for him to return.
