What I Bought 1/3/2018 - Part 1

The books I ordered last week arrived today. Good thing, as none of the books I wanted this week were on the shelves. In an effort to keep to the schedule I had planned for next week, we are going old-school. Reviewing comics the day I bought them, whoo! Who needs time for more careful reflection and thought? Today we're looking at two books dealing with Hell, because a boiling lake of fire sounds pretty appealing given recent weather difficulties.

Empowered and Sistah Spooky's High School Hell #1, by Adam Warren (writer), Carla Speed McNeil (artist and letterer), Jenn Manley Lee (colorist) - What's the worst part for our heroes, the flames, the vengeance-fueled blondes, or the school outfits they're stuck in?

Sistah Spooky (aka Theresa) gained her looks and incredible magical powers by making a deal with a devil, the same deal as made with all her snobby classmates (except they didn't get any magic). She was cruel to Emp for a long time because Emp reminded her of those classmates, but now they're friends. Which means Emp gets dragged into Hell with Spooky when the demon she made the deal with decides to give all those old classmates a chance to kill her and take her magic for themselves.

Warren is able to fill in any potential new readers on the backstory between the two, and Spooky's history in general. I knew some of it, but there was quite a bit I was unfamiliar with, so that helped. But it seems likely that a lot of what gets laid out here is going to factor into the story. The ugly history between Emp and Spooky, Spooky's girlfriend Hannah having died not too long ago, and the rescue attempt having failed.

And it seems relevant that for at least the first half of Spooky and Emp's chat in the coffee shop, Spooky doesn't really make eye contact. Emp is looking at her, listening and attentive almost constantly. Spooky is mostly looking around at other people, or at the ground. Which could be a sign of her not really caring, but then she does start making eye contact when Emp lays out exactly how shitty Spooky was to her and how much it hurt. It shifts the reading of it to where Theresa is still caught up in her own issues, but she was maybe honestly oblivious to her hypocrisy. It's telling that once called on it, she starts making eye contact more regularly and doesn't let Emp start in with self-deprecating talk.

I especially like how Carla Speed McNeil laid out Page 6, with the litany of cruelties running diagonally across the page, Emp in a panel in the upper corner, and Theresa in the opposite corner in the bottom, where it feels like all her past digs are toppling over on her. The demon's suit having the same coloring and pattern as the skirts in the school uniforms. And that office he was in, with the shadowy husks typing away endlessly was pretty creepy too. The color Lee used for them works well, because it isn't a simply black, like they were just shadows. It's a grey like ashes, with a few darker shadows to give a vague distinguishing to some facial features. It makes them almost insubstantial, like they'd blow away if you breathed on them.

The Demon: Hell is Earth #2, by Andrew Constant (writer), Brad Walker (penciller), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Yeah, I'd pay money to see Etrigan fight giant, burning minotaurs. I just did, in fact.

The bubble of Hell caused by the missile is expanding slowly, and corrupting anyone who touches it. Inside, Etrigan wants to kill the little girl from Blood's dreams, and is stopped by Blood threatening to talk endlessly about things of beauty and kindness. Like butterflies. The girl mentions Madame Xanadu, the three set out and find her fighting off the people from the bar she was at, who are quickly dispatched by Etrigan. Some talking ensues, until the Demon gets bored and incinerates the little girl. Oh well, that's that.

Most interesting thing to me is it referenced the Demon Knights series that was part of the New 52. Where Xanadu was in a relationship with Etrigan and Jason, apparently. I guess there's no reason that can't still be in continuity if they want it to be. But as a potential emotional lever on Etrigan, that past relationship could be a fun piece to have in play. I don't know which direction it will push him, but that's part of the fun. He might surprise us.

I would guess a lot of the credit for all the lovely fire in this issue goes to Sotomayor's colors. You would think in a scorched hellscape it would blend in, but they go with vague, featureless backgrounds, or against creatures that are very dark, that it's able to pop. Also, Etrigan seems to leak a little fire from his mouth whenever he's annoyed. Like someone who spits when they get agitated, or talks with their hands a lot. Not a bad touch, although this Etrigan doesn't seem very clever. I tend to think of him as being cunning, up to a point, and that's lacking here. Maybe that's deliberate, an effect of where they are, or it's just how Constant writes him. He lets Etrigan rhyme when he wants to, which is mostly when he's fighting and feeling good.

Walker's artwork is solid. Combined with Sotomayor's colors, the people altered by what's going on look a bit like the X-Man Sunspot when he powers up. Etrigan being extremely big and muscular is a deliberate choice related to the story. Walker still has a tendency to exaggerate faces, especially lips, to an extent that can be distracting. The little girl makes a face in one panel like she's posing for one of those duckface selfies, but that doesn't seem situation appropriate. It doesn't happen much, fortunately.