We've got two different books on their third issue today. One is still in its King in Black tie-ins, but the other has fully moved on to greener pastures.
The Choir went home, but made the mistake of stopping a robbery and getting noticed. Now she's vanished, and the annoying government guy is on Union Jack to go investigate. Complete with his new teammate, British Puck! I mean, Bulldog. Also, he has a red cross painted on his face, which should probably make me think Switzerland, but instead reminds me of that Crossed series thing Avatar publishes.
Snakes and Kelpie are there, because they and Choir had been keeping in touch, and there's a shapeshifter called, appropriately, Shifter. After a brief squabble, government guy allows himself to be taken hostage. but once they're in the car, it turns out he used to be a power-stealing villain called the Sponge. He weakens Shifter, then shoots him in the head, but pretends the guy committed suicide. Delightful. Couldn't just take away his healthcare? Anyway, he knows who's got Choir, so that'll be a thing for next issue. If Union Jack is going to get this team to rally around him, he's gonna have to get on with it.
I really wonder how differently this would read if Grist was doing the art as well. Because I read some of the dialogue, or caption boxes, or character names (the Sponge in particular), and I can picture it looking like Jack Staff, and it reads differently. Like how the captions would proclaim Jack Staff Britain's greatest hero, as he's busy getting his ass whooped or made to look like a chump. Like there's a sort of dry humor to it Di Vito's art isn't really suited to convey. I think Di Vito can do physical humor (there was a bit of that in the brief Dan Slott-penned The Thing series, Di Vito drew most of), but if Grist is being sly, the art is instead trying to make everything read straight.
So Felicia grabbed that piece of the Yggdrasil Staff, and while her body tears up symbiote dragons out in the real world, the source of the magic is inside her head, making a sales pitch. While he first leads her down what Felicia dubs a 'trauma exhibition', Strange wakes up and is not happy at what he finds. Although the expression Villa gives him as the ghost dog relates the situation is hilarious. I cackled at it.
Seems Felicia has to put down the power willingly to get away from it, and if she doesn't, that will apparently be worse than the King in Black. Yeah, I could see how giving the 'raw power of creation' free reign could be bad. The magic makes its offer to Felicia: Everything she ever wanted. The deaths of all her enemies? Sure. All the wealth, everyone kneeling to her, her father alive and reunited with her mother? Absolutely. Every lover she ever lost back and entirely devoted to her? That's where she draws the line, using magic to make people love her. So she rejects it, breaks free of her mind. But she's still got a little of the power left, and she and Strange are going to have to fight some more dragons. That, thankfully, will take place in the main mini-series, so we don't have to waste any more time on symbiotes.
I feel like Felicia would have balked at the offer sooner. I understand it might have been as effective dramatically that way, but I look at that she's a thief. What she wants, she takes. Why would she want this magic source to just give her everything? If she really wants to get back at Fisk, or Eddie Brock, she'll find a way to do it herself. If she wanted all the wealth, she'd just steal it. The fun is in the getting, not the having.
We could probably have some fun with analyzing the locations Felicia and the magic have their discussions, but it feels like a big enough thing to save for its own post, whenever I find time to get to it. I do notice Villa doesn't really shift his art style for the paintings showing events from her past. His version of her being badly injured by Venom doesn't attempt to mimic MacFarlane's style, for example. Reber alters his shading on his colors so that everything's a little faded or hazy. Not duller, but softer maybe, less contrast than on present-day Felicia and the magic. Memory being unreliable, or just losing its impact with time, maybe.
4 comments:
Property prices in most of England are stupid, so you could have a flat above a Tesco in Manchester and it could still be prohibitively expensive. So it could be a joke, or it may not be, or it could be a joke that works both ways. It's impossible to tell.
I wondered about that. Having not lived on my own in any place bigger than a small city (like, less than 50,000 people), I haven't had to deal with really expensive apartments. So I likely don't have an accurate view.
And based on the art, his apartment does have a pretty big window overlooking the parking lot, so that's probably pricey.
I've just done a very unscientific survey of property prices in central Manchester, and a one bedroom flat goes for £280K, which is about $387K.
So, yeah, bonkers.
Holy hell. OK, so it was being played straight then. Jeez, I mean I got a two-bedroom apartment right now and I pay less than $500 a month in rent.
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