What I Bought 11/30/2016

I've been seeing trailers for this film, Why Him? I appreciate Hollywood has cut the crap and done a film about how you don't want your daughter to marry James Franco because he's awful. At least I hope that's what it will tell people. Though he'll probably somehow convince Bryan Cranston he isn't such a bad guy, considering normal plot mechanics.

Great Lakes Avengers #2, by Zac Gorman (writer), Will Robson (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Feels like a million years since the first issue came out.

So the guy who owns the bar across from the GLA's new HQ is purposefully staying open past when he's supposed to, because he's a dick. He's good enough at it that Bertha trashes his club, landing them in jail. There's also a councilman Snerd decrying these superheroes interfering in the actions of villains who destroy economically distressed neighborhoods, which angers the young artist girl to the point she may or may not have thrown a bottle at him. Either way, the cops grabbed her, and were sufficiently brutal she wolfed out in a police station. Fortunately Bertha calms her down, and the angry lawyer from the first issue is back and comes to their aid. The councilman is unhappy, and also is the bar owner guy. Also Doorman senses Mr. Immortal dying of asphyxiation in that coffin and gets him out. Mr. Immortal was in there to try and kick a problem with alcohol, I think.

I want to like Robson's art more than I do. There are certainly parts of it I do like. The three-panel transition in the bar as Bertha begins to grow was done well. He's good with making Doorman expressive despite us not being able to see his face. The way he draws his cape, so that it looks far too big for Demarr seems appropriate. I think it's how loose it is around his neck, as though it was meant for someone much larger. But overall, he doesn't seem to know quite when to dial back on the emotion a bit. Everyone is too expressive, all the time, jutting parts of their faces out to comical degrees. It's fine in small doses, but not constantly.

It feels like Gorman is trying to walk this line between doing the kind of typical stuff with the GLA as third-rate heroes, and using them to deal with some more serious stuff. Snerd seems more than a little of a reference to Trump, especially with that rant about how powerful he is, and how it's only barely contained by his bigness. And Snerd's comments about poorer neighborhoods being breeding grounds for crime, which feels like him coding minorities as criminals. I'm just not sure about the GLA trying to deal with that. The tones seem like they'll conflict, but hell, it's early days. I'll give him a chance.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #12, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) -  The cats seemed so entranced by the chase. It's not like it's a laser pointer.

Zoe was a terrible roommate for Ian, and a terrible girlfriend. Basically, she's just horrible. Could the Punisher show up? I'd like to see Zoe die horribly, but it's not going to happen. Felicia has figured out she can't control Bailey's bag without Bailey, but it's going to prove difficult to control her. So she steals something from a museum that enables her to control Bailey. I would have guessed they were the Controller's control disks, but it seemed like a gem that splits into smaller pieces, so I dunno what that is. And Ian is finally ready to be a superhero and, look, I know I'm not much of a judge of fashion, but that is not a good costume. The buckles across the chest make him look like a damn drum major or something. I know, that's not the point, it's about Ian deciding to try and fight crime, or at least stand up to his crappy ex.

The extremely subdued colors in the flashback sequence were a nice touch. Compared to the vibrant purples, pinks, etc. in the rest of the issue, it really stands out as a period of dull misery for Ian. I still enjoy how Williams and Rosenberg depict Jubilee's mist form: A fluffy pink cloud with sunglasses. It makes me chuckle.

Things are going to get worse for Patsy in this story before they get better, but I'll have to wait until the next issue to see how much worse.