What I Bought 1/4/2021 - Part 1

Work is gonna suck today. Nothing like getting yelled at by hysterical morons for two hours over shit that is beyond your control. The last 2020 comics to review have arrived. Current plan is to start Year in Review posts next Wednesday, and go from there. But we gotta get through these first. Two second issues to look at today.

Sea of Sorrows #2, by Rich Douek (writer), Alex Cormack (artist/colorist), Justin Birch (letterer) - Would the flesh even decay, trapped inside a sealed container like that? Especially with it being so cold deep in the ocean?

They found the sub, the found the gold. Problem being, the sub is on the precipice of a deep undersea trench, and it won't take much shift in weight for it to go over. And it's too damaged to haul up with a crane. So no taking gold until they address those problems. Which they're gonna do through the making of big balloons they'll inflate inside the sub. I feel like this was the strategy they employed in Raise the Titanic! Or maybe that was a superlight foam they pumped in.

Other problems: The main dive guy, Nick, probably has a death wish. Scratch that, definitely has a death wish. Not really who you want leading the show in such a hostile environment. The different parties on the ship are definitely not getting along. The siren is starting to pick people off, above and below the waves.

I'm not quite sure why there are so many sharks around the sub. Feels like Cormack draws three or four in every panel set underwater. Unless the siren can command sharks, too. Seems like they'd just be competition for food. This issue seems more focused on establishing mood. The rapidly decaying mental state of several people. Get people on edge (or more on edge in Nick's case), then turn them loose on each other. But it doesn't make for a very exciting issue.

 

The art on the undersea parts is nice, though. The way their lights don't illuminate much, but what they do is almost washed out in the glare. Like how I'd assume those lights would play havoc with night vision. The constant bubbles, the sometimes vague outlines you can barely make out. There's one that is probably a shark, but maybe it's the siren. The graininess of the work gives the blood kind of a peculiar texture, like its trying to partially solidify under the cold and pressure. Just a different way of depicting blood than I've seen in other comics set underwater.

Is that enough to make me want to keep buying it? *waggles hand indecisively*

Kaiju Score #2, by James Patrick (writer), Rem Broo (artist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - I see she has her Rubik's Cube. Little known fact that kaiju are fascinated by those. Also easily infuriated by them, though.

They get an opportunity to pull the heist. The kaiju's even sleeping right near the museum. But Marco's figured out his ace safecracker isn't who she says she is. Rather, she's a small-timer trying to save the lives of her crew by sneaking into this job on behalf of the Romanian mob. However, he doesn't any choice but to roll with it. Unfortunately, Pierson decided to audible and just kill the security guards, including their inside guy, which I'm sure won't come back to bite them. And the one thing Marco always overlooks rears its gigantic head.

Of the two, I like this second issue a little better. There's more going on, it's not relying so heavily on my investment in the mood to carry it. It spends a little time on the other characters, their motivations. Pierson isn't being a dick strictly because he's convinced Marco's going to botch this. I mean, he is a dick, that's clear, but he's also just unhappy with this situation. He's supposed to be on vacation, and he just wants to get it done as quickly as possible. So he's going to cut corners anywhere he can, because he doesn't give a shit about whatever beautiful design Marco had in mind. It's not about that for him, or protecting a family, or rebuilding his rep. It's just shit work. I been there.

While Rem Broo does an excellent job making it look completely disgusting, I could have gone the rest of my life without the concept of "ticks, but for giant monsters" in my mind. Yikes. I guess next issue we might get to see how Broo handles drawing a giant monster fight. Or at least part of it, since I assume that'll be in the background while Marco and the others try to make this work.