What I Bought 2/15/2017

The last two weeks I've had 9 comics come out, and only been able to find 4 of them thus far. Very frustrating.

The Unbelievable Gwenpool #12, by Christopher Hastings (writer), Gurihiru (artists), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Boy Gwen, I bet you wish you were a hero now. Give you much better odds against Arcade.

Gwen wakes up in a strange castle, with no memory of how she got there. Fortunately, her old merc crew is there as well, to help battle through this dungeon. Gwen quickly surmises that's it's like a game, with traps and tricks to get around battles, strange old men who sell weapons in the middle of places no one would have a shop, and repeated warnings of an "unkillable, talking beast". While you can no doubt guess who created this deadly environment based on amusements because he's on the cover, can you guess who the unkillable beast is?

C'mon, it's someone who likes Death, can't die, and never shuts up. Yes, next issue Gwen, Batroc, and Co will somehow defeat Thanos! I wish. Thanos would be so humiliated he might actually stay dead. Jim Starlin would cause a time paradox by writing a comic declaring it was not really Thanos so fast, it would have been released last month. No, it's actually another character.

Anyway, Arcade! This blog is staunchly pro-Arcade, and I like the idea here that Arcade has decided to try his hand at killing mercenaries rather than heroes. Gwen would obviously know Arcade's poor track record at killing good guys (though he maintains his impeccable success rate capturing targets). Which would in theory give her a big edge. But she, Batroc, and our special guest star aren't good guys, so the rules quite possibly don't apply to them (although they will almost certainly escape).

Also, I enjoy how weary her friends have gotten of Gwen insisting their world is a comic book. Someone doing crazy stuff that they involve you in because they are sure your world isn't real and operates on a specific set of rules they claim to understand, that could get old fast. Beyond making them question their existence, it's watching a person constantly succeed despite no discernible talent or intelligence, just stupid luck they insist is knowledge. But there's no arguing with results, I guess, so Trust the Process.

I like the little scarf Batroc is sporting. It's stylish, and it's something to flutter when he leaps around kicking things. Also, Arcade's long hair works better with the Gurihiru art team than it has with almost any other artist I've seen. It makes him look like one of those pretty-boy manga characters, and he's being drawn in a style that more closely matches that. And the design for the way Arcade initially tries to present himself, as the burning, enormous shadow, is very cool. It actually disappoints me a bit Gwen no-sells it so completely. Come on, points for effort at least, Gwen! I am curious why Gwen has this constant pink tinge on her mask across the bridge of her nose. It isn't there in the first couple of panels she appears in, but it is after that. I'm used to that being shorthand for being tipsy, but I'm certain that isn't the case here, so who knows.