2017 Comics in Review - Part 4

Not as many titles today, because two of them account for over 20% of all the new comics I bought. Kind of how it went this year. A lot of titles I bought for a month or two, and then a handful that lasted the whole year. And it really wasn't because I was buying a bunch of mini-series, those only make up 17 or 18 of the total. There are only 4 one-shots. Books just kept getting canceled or I dropped them after a few issues. It'd be nice if this year turns out different, since that would mean I was enjoying what I was buying, and it would be selling well.

Steven Universe #1, 2: I gave this book a whirl because I do so enjoy Steven Universe, but I am not the target demographic here. The stories and the art are fine, but they're aimed younger. I think Melanie Gillman, Katy Farina, Whitney Cogar, and Mike Fiorentino are actually trying to make a book for young children. The nerve.

Tick 2017 #1, 2: Cullen Bunn and JimmyZ are writing about the Tick's origin, which involves Canada, and lumberjacking. I'm not sure the Tick is a character that really needs his origin explored, but if they throw enough weird and/or funny stuff in there, I can roll with it. Douglas Paszkiewicz, whose Arsenic Lullaby is a favorite of mine, drew the first issue, but then Duane Redhead drew the second issue. So I don't know what the artist situation is for the book. Alternating? A different artist every issue?

Tinkers of the Wasteland #1: I grabbed this on a whim, because the cover looked cool. Reminded me a little of a Gorillaz album. Written and drawn by Raul Trevino, about a trio of teens trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world. By stealing chickens from a bunch of Road Warrior style chumps. And there was going to be something about aliens in there. I couldn't get into the writing, though.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #15-26: Squirrel Girl celebrated her birthday, received a nifty flying suit from a wealthy benefactor who turned out to be evil, fought DINOSAUR ULTRON in the Savage Land, and might be going into space soon, if Loki can get his act together. Ryan North wrote all the issues (except for parts of the "jam" issue, #25), Erica Henderson drew all the issues (except #25, which had several artists), Rico Renzi colored all the issues, and Travis Lanham was the letterer for all of them.

High Point: Ahem, did you miss DINOSAUR ULTRON? Do you really need anything else? I can't believe we got Frank Cho's stupid Naked Lady Ultron a friggin' decade before we got DINOSAUR ULTRON. Let's see, what else? Brain Drain's dialogue. 'Would any cool bros here like to consent to hanging out? Complete my forthcoming high five in three seconds to indicate yes.' His straightforward nihilism is also funny. It resonates with me. I really liked the design on that flying squirrel outfit. It's mostly shades of brown, but the belt pouches and the blue chest emblem add just enough color to make it work. There are a lot of other individual gags or panels that were fantastic, as well.

Low Point: Issue 25. Those jam issues so rarely work. Too hit-or-miss, especially when the typical level for an issue of the comic is as high as this book's is. Other than that, I can't really think of anything. Melissa Morbeck (the wealthy benefactor) got tiring with her casual arrogance and dismissive attitude towards Doreen's attempts to reason with her, but that was the point. She's like all sorts of horrible people wrecking the world right now, and those people are very tiring to deal with, too.

Unbelievable Gwenpool #11-23: Gwen went solo, ran into Blade (drawn by Myisha Haynes), got trapped in a new Murderworld with her old friends where she nearly killed Deadpool (drawn by partially by Guruhiru and partially by Alti Firmansyah), teamed up with Kate Bishop and Ghost Rider to save her ghost friend Cecil (drawn by Myisha Haynes), discovered a new power and her evil future self (drawn by Guruhiru), and tried to kill Dr. Doom (drawn by Irene Strychalski). Christopher Hastings wrote it all, with Rachelle Rosenberg coloring everything not done by Guruhiru (since that team handles the line art and color art).

High Point: The fight with Deadpool was my favorite moment. The way Gwen is able to tip things in her favor, and the way Wade twists it back, the switch from Firmansyah doing the art to Guruhiru at the moment that happens. I think it helped demonstrate a difference in the two characters. Hastings didn't nerf Dr. Doom, and he writes a great angry Doom. 'You would open a dam because it is not satisfying enough to drown in a puddle.' Great line. And, Gwen responds by describing his speech as 'Shakespeare's angriest fart,' also pretty great.

Low Point: I didn't care much about the two-part L.A. adventure, issues 14 & 15. Might be my indifference to Kate Bishop and Robbie Reyes, but it isn't as though I'm some huge Blade fan, and I liked issue 11 just fine. But I think issue 11 told me something about Gwen as a character, whereas the two-parter just seemed like an excuse for Kate to be unsure about the pink girl trying to murder everyone.

Wynonna Earp - Season Zero #1, 2: This was going to fill in some gaps about the kind of trouble Wynonna got into prior to joining her current group. Which seemed to involve a bunch of angry mercenaries. The were certain things about the writing (by Beau Smith, with Tim Rozon contributing to the story) I didn't dig. A sharp increase in the animosity between Agent Dolls and Doc Holliday, or Wynonna seeming to recognize there was no point in trying to keep her friends out of this, only to immediately try to sneak off alone anyway. The big fight that was coming up might have been good, but Angel Hernandez' art wasn't inspiring a lot of confidence. And letterer Christa Miesner was taking an approach with the sound effects better suited for the Adam West Batman show than this particular book. I would normally appreciate a person being thrown across a room with a big WHOOOOSH sound effect, but it doesn't really fit the tone here.

That's it for the individual titles. Tomorrow we wrap this up with everybody's favorite thing: lists! Which things will win my coveted seal of approval? You can probably already guess, but click on the post anyway. Maybe I'll type something funny!