Roche Limit: Monadic #2, by Michaeel Moreci (writer), Kyle Charles (artist), Matt Battaglia (colorist), Ryan Ferrier (letterer), Tim Daniel (designer) - Judging by the cover, the story has become another of those stories about shrinking down inside the President to defuse a tiny nuke, or remove a blood clot.Sasha remembers what was happening, and decides that, like it or not, she has to venture across that body of water. She also acknowledges that the Man and Girl are the husband and child she lost at some point in the past, and even though they are presumably creations of the aliens designed to learn about her, she can somehow awaken her husband's memories in this version of him. Elsewhere, Alex has seen the Black Tower and decided he needs help. So he finds his girlfriend Bekkah, just in time for both of the to be pursued by Moscow, the crazy blind swordsman mob boss who is serving as some sort of avatar for the creatures. He actually runs Alex through, but he survives long enough for Bekkah's sister, the cop, to show up and get them all out of there and try to head for said Tower.
So I don't know. The idea that the aliens want to somehow replicate humanity's individualism, but without an individual's capacity for self-sacrifice, is intriguing. It doesn't seem possible. If you're an individual, if you can make choices, then you can make that choice. You can also choose not to make that choice, but the choice still remains, whatever variables you put into it. Which suggests the aliens don't really understand what they're trying to duplicate at all? Which might explain the whole thing with Sasha's husband. He shouldn't be there, since he wasn't on the expedition to the colony. Which means this isn't really him, yet he can have the memories. I've mentioned before that these mini-series have at least captured the sense of an alien group, with abilities and drives people can't necessarily grasp. So humans have done things without realizing what they're getting into. Could work the other way, too.
Battaglia's colors are still excellent. The blue he uses for the water is this very placid blue, but it's a perfect solid sheet of it. There's no wind or waves, no shadows or ripples. It's how a child might color a body of water, and while it stands out distinctly for the dirty, dusty yellow of Sasha and her surroundings, it also looks distinctly fake, like it was painted on. And the purples for the streets of the city, I just really like that particular color. It works so well when you go from the inside Bekkah's apartment, all sickly green and faded yellows, then turn the page and you're into that deep purple, with the pink and red for energy and movement. The purple has a liveliness to it the color for the panels set inside lacked - I feel like breathing the air in Bekkah's apartment would be like sucking down fiberglass particles - but it's an ominous life. Crap's moving around out there you'd rather not see.
Wynonna Earp #3, by Beau Smith (writer), Chris Evenhuis (artist), Jay Fotos (colorist), Robia Robbins (letterer) - Arm wrestling for souls, tonight on ESPN17!Earp is sent into a bar, and rapidly gets hit on by some hick that swallowed a thesaurus. She punches him out, and then this large lady steps in, adn the two set to fighting. Which earns them both a chance to fight for money, which was apparently Agent Dolls' whole plan, because the large lady is the Valdez he called last issue. Of course, he neglected to tell Wynonna that, then gives her shit when she gives him shit about his poor leadership approach. They arrive for the fight, and find the rules changed somewhat, but they do alright, excepting Valdez getting shot twice, which was intentional on her part, to give Earp motivation?
I have a feeling Agent Dolls is going to get killed before this is all said and done, and if I'm meant to be sad about it when the time comes, Smith has some work to do. Because right now, I don't like the character very much. People who play the "need to know" card are never my favorites, especially when they play it with people who are actually in the line of fire, while they sit comfortably somewhere else. Plus, I think he's looking for any excuse to jump on Wynonna, out of some belief he needs to break her down so she'll be a more pliant agent. He sends someone in to fight her, and doesn't tell Wynonna it's set up beforehand, he really shouldn't be surprised she's still a little fired up afterward. Take a few punches, let her calm down.
Not so sure of this talk about Wynonna being "the heir". I should have expected it, but I guess I hoped we weren't going to get into chosen one/destined lineage stuff. Or maybe I'm just more interested in Valdez, the possibly thousand year old Mayan princess. That sounds pretty cool, and so far, she's basically Cassandra Cain if David Cain had fed her a ton of growth hormones as a kid, so not a surprise I'd think she was cool.
Different artist this issue, Chris Evenhuis. Not sure if Innes needed a catch-up month, or if it was a deliberate shift. It works well enough. Innes gave Wynonna a sort of gleeful smile when she was fighting, which wouldn't have fit the tone of this issue. Too many trust issues and secrets among the group, Wynonna doubting herself at the wrong times. Other than maybe the verbose demon hillbillies, not much humor. Evenhuis handles the violence and the anger well. He has a clean, straightforward style, nothing too flashy, but he makes sure all the information you need is on the page and can be followed. The initial confrontation between Wynonna and Valdez was good. Wynonna lunging forward to punch Valdez, three panels of Valdez slowly reacting (spitting blood, mulling it over for effect, cocking her fist), then the last panel being her fist smashing into Wynonna's face. Again, nothing revolutionary, just solid storytelling.
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