What I Bought 8/16/2019 - Part 1

I didn't mention it last week, but we officially reached 4500 posts with Sunday Splash Page #74. It snuck up on me, since I stopped really paying attention to my total posts some time in the last few years. I figured now would be as good a time as any to mention it.

We're looking at some books from the first two weeks of August today. The first issue of a mini-series, and a one-shot I took a chance on.

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1, by Leah Williams (writer), David Baldeon (artist), Jesus Arbutov (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - For a second, I thought the expression on Peter's face in the smartphone did not match his actual expression, but I think it's that it's close up, so some more details are visible.

Gwenpool is not actually trying to ruin heroes' lives to keep herself from fading from existence. She is, however, trying to get a superpower that is easier for writers and artists to represent in team books and guest appearances than her current ability to jump into the space between panels. I don't know, I feel like you should be able to work with that. You just play it as confusing the hell out of whoever she teams up with, as she vanishes, then reappears abruptly with something useful.

Setting that aside, Gwen hopes Spider-Man can give powers via radiation, but only succeeds in accidentally unmasking him in front of a bunch of bank customers she took hostage. That puts Spidey in a mood, and he leaves her webbed up, until a cancer ridden version of herself shows up to free her, and sends Gwen on a trip outside the pages to find Radioactive Man and get. . . something from him. Cancer most likely. Not helping disprove all those people who think you're Girl Deadpool, Gwen.

Baldeon's work is loose and expressive enough for Gwen and her hijinks. The weird baggy sweatpants and hoodie look over her regular costume. The 9-panel grid page where Gwen explains her current status feels clunky, but all of Gwen's gestures and twitches make me think of a person giving a presentation who is really uncomfortable with public speaking and can't keep herself still. With Gwen it might just be a matter of struggling to keep still, period. And I like the version of the "gutters" we get as everything is on the verge of ending for her.

Sensational Spider-Man: Self-Improvement, by Peter David (writer), Randy Schueller (plot), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist), plus Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - The costume inside isn't actually black-and-white. It looks more like a precursor to Spider-Man 2099's costume. Which wouldn't be a huge surprise, with David and Leonardi involved.

Peter's costume (and his back) get trashed fighting Firebrand, so Reed Richards whips him up a new, unstable molecule costume, with upgraded webshooters, which Spidey can barely control. Oh, and the web pits act as glider wings. Peter almost causes a helicopter crash, then barely manages to corral Firebrand before he kills his ex-wife for swiping all his ill-gotten loot. Plus, Firebrand's daughter is scared of Spidey in a black costume, so he mails it back to Reed.

Well, I'm not ever a fan of Peter getting new outfits from other people, so that's a strike there. Especially since Reed's apparently Neil Degrasse Tyson now, as he criticizes Spidey for calling the costume awesome, when that should be reserved for something like the Grand Canyon. Christ, Richards, could you try to not be a complete cock for two seconds?

Also, this is not some of Leonardi's better work. He needs a strong inker, and Olazaba's hit or miss here. There are panels in here where Reed's facial features are barely defined shadows. Like Puppet Master was making a clay duplicate but got bored halfway through. They did a lot better on the climax, with Firebrand's ex and Rita, the little girl. So maybe they just figured nobody cares about Mr. Fantastic and focused their efforts accordingly.

There's also a backup story by DeFalco, Frenz, and Buscema, where Peter tracks down some guys who killed an old many because his nephew wouldn't help them rob a warehouse. The kid did the responsible thing, but it didn't exactly work out, and Peter wonders if that's because the kid had no power. Kind of a bummer, especially when he doesn't give the kid an answer about whether the guilt of losing someone ever goes away. But I guess he couldn't say it does, since his over Uncle Ben hasn't, even if I subscribe to the idea Peter likes helping people and being Spider-Man, and it isn't only a guilt thing.

Frenz and Buscema on art looks pretty much like it always does, which is either good or bad, depending on your preference. Buscema's inks really make it feel like his art work, but I think Frenz' pencils help a lot. Either that or Buscema's going with softer inks than when he was on Spectacular Spider-Man back in the day. I always found his stuff back then a little too, sharp maybe. All the lines on faces were thin and stark and made everyone look kind of old and a little unpleasant (plus he gave Mary Jane what I assume was a beauty mark on her cheek that I thought was a mole every time I saw it). Which isn't the case here, or on their collaborations on Spider-Girl over the years.