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.
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.