What I Bought 6/13/2018 - Part 2

If I'm going to lose Internet and TV service for an entire weekend, it'd be nice for it to happen when the heat index wasn't going to be over 100. I only want to spend so much time reading or sleeping, you know?

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #33, by Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - I learned last week that apparently alligators can climb trees. I thought rattlesnakes hanging out in trees was terrifying.

The cast make their way through a series of puzzle rooms, dodging death narrowly, including the final room which requires a combination of all their abilities. I did not solve the puzzle in the two minutes. Like I know what a frickin' Enigma machine looks like. They enter the final room and meet the villain who is. . . Mojo II?!

I was actually right? Welp, the world is ending. Spend your kids' college funds on something fun now. Should I be concerned my brain was operating on the same wavelength as Ryan North's?

Mojo II is defeated by a power Tomas had been too embarrassed to admit to having, and a good time is had by all. Until the cops arrest Kraven, and the rest of the group when they protest.

Does the puzzle room thing work in a comic? You can do mysteries, detective stories, where there are clues to decipher. But if you're going to present it as something the audience can try to figure out, I think you have to be a little more clear about what's there. In a Batman comic, for instance, he'd find a clue and explain what he'd found to a convenient exposition sponge. Robin, Gordon, Alfred, etc. North and Charm tried that with the final puzzle, but I couldn't tell what the cords under the countdown clock were supposed to be. I thought they were strings or shoelaces.

It actually was enjoyable to show the cast figuring out the answer, though, so maybe my issue is all the puzzles they breezed through without really showing how they figured out what to do. It makes it feel perfunctory, which it sort of is. Something to fill some pages until the cops can try to arrest Kraven, as part of this story where Doreen and Nancy are trying to keep Kraven from backsliding into villainy. It's getting things in place.

I'm still adjusting to Charm's art. Getting used to his version of Nancy. Something about how he draws Doreen's teeth reminds me of some cartoon about tiny munchkin people from my childhood. Makes her kind of elfin, or pixie like. Otherwise, it's fine. I can follow along with what's happening, what characters are feeling. He's able to sell the humorous moments for the most part. Although I notice Doreen's gone back to her old Squirrel Girl uniform, with the brown jacket. I liked that outfit fine, so no complaints there, just wonder if that's going to be the case going forward, or if she'll use them both interchangeably. Like Spider-Man using the black costume and the red-and-blue.