What I Bought 12/8/2021 - Part 1

I came into work yesterday and found out the administrative assistant, who had been out sick Tuesday, came in just long enough Wednesday to dump a bunch of her work on my desk and send an e-mail to our Program Director telling him to tell me to do it. Lovely. Keep in mind I'm not an administrative assistant. Put me in a sour mood all day Thursday. In other news, three comics this week, and I managed to get 'em all! Whooo!

One-Star Squadron #1, by Mark Russell (writer), Steve Lieber (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - Ah, Weather Wizard's started up one of those cash hurricane booths to distract the heroes.

Basically, this is about a company for super-heroes that are struggling to get by. Join up and they'll help you make public appearances or bodyguard gigs to pay your bills. The '90s Superman supporting character Gangbuster shows up with various issues related to being hit in the head a lot, and Red Tornado decides to try and help him. Which is somehow the perfect moment for Power Girl, who is now taking business tips from Max Lord, to try and get herself installed as the one running things. Except she's reporting to five dorks in a skyscraper to have them put her in that job, so she's not really running jack shit.

I don't know what this is trying to be. Lieber is trying to be very expressive with the faces and body languages of the characters. Which is good, because all they do is sit around talking, so him trying to instill personality into that is helpful. Although it's weird to see Red Tornado eating a hamburger. I can't remember if he's still an android or flesh and blood. Brad Meltzer made him human when he wrote Justice League, didn't he? 

Anyway, I saw one person compare Lieber's work to Kevin Maguire on the old Justice League International, which, you could do a hell of a lot worse on artist to emulate! And if you want the cast to feel like everyday people with everyday problems, who just happen to have superpowers, having the artist draw them making mundane or goofy expressions when appropriate is a good way to go.

But Justice League International was also, at least some of the time, funny. This really isn't. I'm not sure it's meant to be. Probably meant to be depressing, that this is what these heroes have been reduced to. Cold calling people to get them to join up, or advising each other to do mall openings to raise their rating to get more work, like this is freaking Uber. "Maybe carry bottled water to offer after you save them from a burning building. They'll be thirsty, after all." Red Tornado's trying to do what the company purports to do, look after a hero struggling with mental health issues, and it's going to get him ousted because he's not focused on the bottom line.

Power Girl as the backstabbing opportunist who has decided money is what matters, is definitely a choice. Not like she hadn't run her own companies that were dedicated to trying to make the world a better place or anything. I mean, was Max Lord even a successful businessman, the insights of which others would want to read? Wouldn't his key to success be, "Develop mind control"?

I think Russell's brand of satire, or maybe it's his approach in general, just doesn't work for me. You can do commentary on depressing aspects of life, get the point across, and make me laugh. I've read a lot of books and comics that managed it, but not Russell's work. Now I have a month to debate if I should give it a second issue to be "fair", or just cut my losses here.

Lunar Room #1, by Danny Lore (writer), Gio Sposito (artist), DJ Chavis (colorist), Andworld (letterer) - Reminds me of the end of one of the DragonBall Z movies. Piccolo and Vegeta, just sitting on a chunk of ice. "Is it over?" "Wait for the fish to jump." *splash* "It's over."

Cynthia was a werewolf and an enforcer for some mob boss. Somehow she got cursed, and can't change into a werewolf any longer. Zac is a half-assed mage who tried to steal a magic sword from some university-looking place his twin brother Axton runs. He only got a piece of it, but it's enough to at least temporarily give Cynthia some of her old self back. Which gives him a lever to use to get her to protect him.

There's a lot of backstory hinted at. Zac was apparently locked up somewhere prior to his attempt at theft. Cynthia had a girlfriend (or maybe it's her old boss) named Angie who she still pines after, but mostly ignores her. Cynthia's condition, being "bound" as they call it, is common knowledge in the circles she works in. The specifics of most of this, the whys and wheres are left unsaid. Probably get to those down the line.

One thing I don't like about the format is, every time it switches from Cynthia's perspective to Zac's (or vice versa), they count that as a different chapter. Even if there's only four panels in the chapter, such as Chapter 6. This feels like one of those times it would be better to use thought balloons, if they feel the color-coded exposition boxes aren't sufficient to show the shift in whose inner monologue we're reading.

Sposito's art has a slick feel to it. Not a lot of excess lines, keeps the shading pretty straightforward and simple. Focuses on making the characters look distinct, gives them their own looks. Cynthia seems to constantly have her fists clenched, always seems to be leaning towards people, or moving with her head down like she's in a hurry. I don't know if she's leaning forward because she's used to scenting things, or she's trying to appear more aggressive to make up for what she's lost in power and status.