What I Bought 8/31/2019 - Part 2

I originally intended to go to Freestatecon last weekend, but my allergies screwed up my sleep so badly Friday night I didn't feel like driving three hours one way for anything. Oh well. Dropping back to comics from a couple weeks ago, looking at two stories both on their second issue.

Infinity 8 #14, by Lewis Trondheim and Davy Mourier (writers), Lorenzo de Felici (artist) - That doesn't seem an effective strategy.

The Major's going to die of that bite, but in a few hours the timeline will get rebooted anyway, so no big, right? At least, that's her bosses perspective, as they want her to get back to exploring the space mausoleum. She tries, but her ship can't make it through the horde of zombies swarming the ship from said mausoleum. She needs a better ship and help to get it, so she calls up the guy she met briefly last issue, and he and his crew of misfits manage to link up with her and start fighting through the typical mess o' the undead.

Considering they haven't even gotten to the larger ship they're going to try and use by the end of this issue, this timeline attempt certainly seems like it'll be a bust. Although all the previous attempts have been as well, unless you count eliminating possibilities as success, which I guess you could.

The reboot takes a bit of the sting out of Ann discovering what's happened to her daughter at the preschool. It's still an effective scene on its own, with the little girl for some reason standing off by herself, while all the other changed kids are trying to swarm Ann. The panels focus on Syb, standing in an circle of light facing the wall, and the swarms of kids are just at the bottom of the panel, silent but clawing and biting. Ann doesn't even have to see Syb's face to know what's happened, although we get to see it once, when Ann's distracted by the zombie of her ex. At least she got to shoot him with no repercussions.

De Felici's good at drawing the undead with a relentless drive. They don't necessarily look excited when they see the living, but almost desperate sometimes. They have to get them, even if they don't know why. Contrasts nicely with Ann's grim determination to push through them. Despite control's suggestion to let loose a little, I think she's still holding back. Impending death hasn't really loosened her up any.

Sera and the Royal Stars #2, by Jon Tsuei (writer), Audrey Mok (artist), Raul Angulo (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - That's just a very pretty cover. Love the colors on it.

Sera and Aldebaran, the Old Bull, drive off the lizard guys, the return to Sera's kingdom to see if they can get a bead on where the other Royal Stars are. When they arrive, they find Sera's uncle's forces have taken over, and he's king now. Oh, and her brother died in battle. On the plus side, she was able to awaken (summon?) the Scorpion, Antares, and her uncle believes in her where her father did not. The fact there are two of the Royal Stars standing right there might have a lot to do with that. And now the three of them plan to travel north, but the mysterious hooded folks are going to make their move, since the lizard guys failed.

I wonder how many of these Royal Stars there are. They mention three others besides the Bull, so maybe it's just four. If so, that would be good for Sera, she'd already be halfway there. Although I'm unclear what finding these four is going to accomplish exactly. Aldebaran made crops grow, I can see that being helpful, but I don't know what Antares can do yet, other than threaten to kill people. Which is helpful, but not a skill exclusive to her.

I really like Angulo's colors on this book, the combinations in particular. Aldebaran has purple skin, but a green robe with gold borders, and sometimes he glows orange-white, and it's just this variety of colors that makes him pop off the page. The colors aren't muddy or toned down, it helps sell Mok's artwork rather than obscuring it. I might have given them a bit more space to work for the part where Aldebaran makes the crops grow, to play up the size and extent of his feat more. The panels are fairly small, and focused more on character's reactions to it. I guess to prove that he's not the type to pull a fast one and make poisoned fruit to eliminate enemies. He actually is a helpful sort.

It feels like there's an unpleasant surprise reveal coming, but I have no idea what it's going to be.