What I Bought 6/29/2019

There were only two new books from the last few months I hadn't managed to find yet, so I ordered those online from my usual place. Tired of the constant nonsense where UPS and USPS can't get on the same page, I finally bit the bullet and went with the next level up on shipping options. The books got here in three days, which is a lot better than, "who the fuck knows," which is what it's been the last several months.

Infinity 8 #11 and 12, by Lewis Trondheim and Kris (writers), Martin Trystram (artist), Trystram and Hubert (colorists), Olivier Vatine (designer) - Gotta love an outfit that works underwater or in outer space.

Patty discovers a mausoleum for a heretofore unknown interstellar confederation that would dwarf the one the people in this story are part of. But, it doesn't appear to have anything to do with why their ship has stalled, so she's told to move on. Meanwhile, Ron has found what he's looking for: a different shrine, dedicated to a bunch of Earth musicians who died at 27. Which he then blows up, killing a bunch of his doped-up Symbolic Guerillas in the process. Because this will make him famous, somehow.

In theory, none of this matters, because the Captain of the ship will cancel this timeline, roll time back eight hours, something like that. Because Patty didn't find an answer to the question of what's happened to the ship. But the Captain could tell her what's going to happen, and she can stop it first, which he says he'll do. The last page, though, after things have been reset, shows Patty walk right past three officers, with no indication they passed on the information. I don't understand that, unless they're happy with how things turned out. The corporate guy Patty was really interested in (a giant talking fish named Led), ended up dead, so maybe that suited their purposes. All Ron's dead followers? Who cares, right? Bunch of deadheads.

I'm not sure what to make of the story. Something about the hollowness of looking for meaning in someone else's work, or that everyone is going to try and exploit everyone? Led seems to be supporting the Guerillas because he thinks he can earn some kind of cred. I don't know if he really wants to look hip, or if it's strictly a cash thing. Like how different beer companies are trying to do cans in various colors for Pride Month as a marketing thing. Mr. Shaser seems to tout a lot of ideas he doesn't really grasp, the dumb teenager who thinks he's the first to think of really obvious ideas. Willing to toss himself away for people who don't care a bit for him, and didn't mean any of the things he took from them. Ron's built up this whole mystique around himself where he pretends to abhor attention, to garner himself attention and fame. Most of the people following him seem to believe in what he says, and they are ultimately expendable. Nobody matters to him, except him.

Trystram has a variety of alien designs, and I like that the security bots in the mausoleum Patty finds don't look very similar to the robots on the ship. Presumably very different cultures behind their creation. The design for Led reminds me of how Doug TeNapel draws fish, at least a little bit. All his women tend to be long and angular, very slim, while the guys vary a lot more. Not a stylistic trait unique to Trystram, but figured I'd mention it. But the action sequences, brief as they are, are pretty smooth, and the pacing is good. After those three panels above, there's a panel of Ron's procession dancing past Moosh while he stands there confused. Then another panel of him standing there as Shaser walks up, and only then does Moosh finally ask what we're all thinking.