What I Bought 9/1/2015

So besides, Roche Limit, there was one other book that came out the last week of August, so let's get to that.

Marvel Zombies #3, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Kev Walker (artist), Jason Gorder (inker, pages 6-15), Guru-eFX (color artists), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Where the heck did Elsa's legs go on that cover. They vanish after Manphibian's(?) hand, but she has to be standing on something. Also, I feel like it'd be difficult for her to stand and defend herself from that posture. Not a solid base.

So yes, by using a spork to get pieces of Deadpool's brain to eat, Mystique and the other zombies have maintained intelligence and kept a self-replenishing food supply. Except now they have the kid, and she doesn't turn into a zombie even when bitten. Elsa gets a surge of power, grabs the kid, grants Wade an explosive death - his favorite kind - and then that big guy shows up and kills all the zombies. Well, I would have preferred a death for Mystique where she had time to really process everything falling apart for her, but I'll take what I can get. Elsa flees with girl, and as the run and talk, Elsa finally admits that her father was an awful man, and she shouldn't feel bad for being glad he's dead.

Which leads to a scene the next morning of the two of them on a lovely windswept beach, arms out, both yelling "Wheeeeee!" That's not something I expected from Elsa, unless she was beating someone to death with a sack of charcoal briquettes, but it's charming, even if I do find it a little odd that Elsa would be able to let go of her old habits of suppressing happier emotions in favor of sarcasm and disinterest so quickly (speaking from long experience of failure to do so here).

Then all the fun is ruined by the appearance of the big guy, who is a Ulysses Bloodstone, all amped up on pieces of the stone he's stolen from other Bloodstones and jammed into his face. Which makes for a sort of cool visual (assuming you don't get reminded of bad acne by it), but seems a less than secure location to store your power.

"Curses! How did you know punches to the face were my weakness?"

"I dunno. I just wanted to punch your stupid face."

I don't think he's supposed to be this Elsa's dad, given the kid mentions the dupe effect, but it would make a little sense, considering Elsa didn't see her father die. He went off, found a different Bloodstone, killed him for his stone, and left his corpse behind. Eh, maybe not. If he were going to take that approach, based on the flashbacks, he probably would have started with Elsa herself, since he felt she was such a disappointment. And the little girl is another Elsa, I assume, though I'm not sure how that relates to her being able to give Adult Elsa these power boosts.

I really do love that page of the heroines enjoying themselves. The pink tinge Guru-eFX gives the page makes for a pleasant, calm feeling. You notice the skulls in the soil near the ladies, but it doesn't make a big impact, because everything seems so calm and pleasant. They're just leftover from something long ago, no danger here. Wrong. The pink is lighter that then glow from Elsa when she's rocking the Kaio-ken look, where that red glow contrasts against all the darkness, the blues and the shadows, the things hiding in there that the Bloodstone protects them from. Of course, it also lights them up and makes them a highly visible target. Everything's a tradeoff.

Also, the panel of Elsa at her father's funeral, something about how Walker drew her face made me think of Chaykin's art. I think it's the little black dots that represent the mourning veil she's wearing, or maybe her beret. Feels like something Chaykin would have one of his characters wear, though he'd probably have her wearing nothing else but a smile.