What I Bought 4/1/2025 - Part 1

Well, let's get to the remainder of last month's books. Mostly, anyway. Haven't tracked down a copy of Red Before Black #5 yet, but I've got at least until when the final issue arrives in June (assuming it does), so not too worried. For now, we're going to start with another book that's wrapped up.

Babs #6, by Garth Ennis (writer), Jacen Burrows (artist), Andy Troy (colorist), Rob Steen (letterer) - That's not where I would have expected Babs to put that crossbow bolt, but I guess it's working for her.

This issue is basically a big fight between Babs and Tiberius Toledo. Which mostly consists of Babs getting her sword (Barry) knocked away immediately, and then taking a Rocky-esque beating while Barry tries to convince Mork to throw him back to Babs.

To be clear, it's not a squash. Babs manages to suck Toledo's eye out through his visor and eat it at one point, so she gets some shots in. It's just, she takes a lot more while Mork dithers about whether it'll be better if Toledo wins, because things will go back to how they were in the good old days. At which point his friends point out there were no good old days, at least not for them. Babs gets her sword, and things pretty much go the way you'd expect from there.

There's a bit of an aftermath, which mostly revolves around the villagers not being all that appreciative of Babs' hard work - since Toledo was already leaving to be someone else's problem - and Mork deciding he's now redeemed himself entirely by doing one sort of helpful thing, so he and Babs can be together. Babs is not having that, and I was honestly surprised she didn't kick the shit out of him. 

Her logic (while in no way encouraging him) is that he may actually have changed, and beating the crap out of him would only make him a bitter little pissant again. (Not exactly how Ennis phrases it, but close enough.) Which is mellower than I'd expect from an Ennis character. They're usually like, "Oh, you changed? Yeah, right as you saw your side was losing and you might get killed. Fuck you." Maybe it's smart to give people the chance to grow, and therefore also the chance to backslide. I have my doubts most days, but sometimes it's a nice idea.

Anyway, that concludes the adventure of Babs, still broke and wandering medieval fantasy realms. Unless she gets a sequel mini-series.

A Charged Confrontation

{Pollock sits behind her desk in office, stack of papers spread before her. But her pen doesn't move, and the eyes that appear to be studying a monthly budget report are unfocused. Her air is that of a person waiting.}

Pollock: *muttering* Come on already, you devious. . .

{Three soft raps against her door. Consider the shoe dropped.}

Gruff Voice Behind the Door: Security check, Commandant.

Pollock: *a long sigh* Come in, dolt.

{The door remains shut.}

Pollock: *a longer sigh* Come in, Calvin.

Calvin: *enters the room, one hand behind his back* Don't worry, one of these days you'll remember to actually use my name when you want me to do something.

Pollock: *deadpan* Jump out the window, Calvin.

Calvin: *rolls his eyes* Just because you want it, doesn't mean you'll get it.

Pollock: That's hardly incentive for me to use your name, then.

Calvin: Well, you'll never know if I'm feeling self-destructive unless you try.

{Calvin steps farther into the room, peering into all corners. Pollock raises one hand, while the other slides to a desk drawer.}

Pollock: Hold it!

Calvin: *stops moving* So, how'd you know I wasn't your head of security?

Pollock: Was that a serious impersonation? That didn't sound a thing like him!

Calvin: How would I know? I don't think the guy's ever said two words to me.

Pollock: *frowns* That can't be right. Can it? Well, I suppose it's usually the panda or Deadpool he's contending with. . .

Calvin: That's right! I've never blown up one of your bathrooms.

Pollock: I don't like the way you said that.

Calvin: *resumes surveying the room, hand still behind his back* So, no security-slash-drug plants?

Pollock: *leans back in her chair, one hand still out of sight behind the desk* We're reworking those to focus more heavily on the pharmaceutical aspects. People still prefer bullets for security, but drugs are always popular.

Calvin: Yeah, people do like shooting things, but the drug market's pretty crowded. Lots of cheap weed out there.

Pollock: *sighs* Enough stalling. I know you're not really interested in my latest products.

Calvin: I could be, if they were something cooler than drugs.

Pollock: Where is the panda? Don't try and tell me they've outgrown this.

Calvin: Nope, they definitely haven't. *grins* Not sure where they are, though.

Pollock: *eyebrow twitches and she hits the intercom* To all employees, the panda is on the premises. We are initiating Arc Protocol, follow procedure and move to the nearest shelter.

Calvin: You're going to flood the place?!

Pollock: Not that kind of ark.

{A quick sweep of the security cameras shows all employees within safe zones. Pollock flips a switch and a hum fills the hallway outside her office.}

Calvin: Oh, that kind of arc. *eyes bug out* You're gonna electrocute them?! Wait, you modified your building to be able to electrocute people?!

Pollock: It's not that severe a shock. Just something to slow them down.

{There's a surprised yelp from somewhere in the building. Followed by a gasp and the sound of something very large crashing through cubicle walls.}

Pollock: I thought they'd react with a little less panic.

{Flips the switch back to its original position. The hum fades.}

Calvin: How did the city building inspector approve that?!

Pollock: I bribed the zoning board to classify this as an agricultural structure. Different rules on wiring.

Calvin: I, I can't even pretend to be aghast. Making drugs, bribing zoning boards, what kind of lame, buttoned-up villainy is this?

Pollock: You don't want deathtraps, but you complain about bureaucratic manipulation! Make up your mind!

Calvin: *raises one hand in a calming gesture* OK, OK, that's fair. Sorry, you're right. Rigging your entire building into some kind of electric weapon is pretty cool.

Pollock: *brings her other hand out from behind the desk, holding a gun, which she aims at Calvin.* Now, let me see what you're hiding. Slowly. This fires a buzzsaw blade.

Calvin: At least you're taking inspiration from the classics.

{Calvin brings his other hand into view. It's holding an unmarked pink box. One of Pollock's eyebrows rises.}

Pollock: *warily* Open it.

{Calvin swings the lid open. He starts to tilt the box towards Pollock.}

Pollock: *jabs the gun towards Calvin menacingly* Not so fast!

Calvin: How else are you going to see what's in it?

Pollock: I'll come to - no, that's a bad idea. *begins muttering to herself* Maybe I can angle a mirror? No, I'll be distracted. A drone? No, I'd need both hands to steer it. *louder* Tell me what it is.

Calvin: *very sarcastically* It's a special fart bomb the panda cooked up to stinkify your entire office.

Pollock: Damn it, I'm pretty sure you're joking, but I can't put it past you juveniles. I - 

{The office door opens. Chief of Security Androzier sticks his head in.}

Androzier: Boss - 

Calvin: Wow, I was way off. I thought you sounded like Judge Dread, or some old mountain man who gargles gravel.

Androzier: *takes a step into the room* What? *looks at Pollock* Did he switch bodies with Deadpool? Is this a Code Periwinkle?

Pollock: No, nothing like that. Chief, I need you to tell me what's in that box. *glares at Calvin* Do not shout, "What's in the box?!"

Calvin: Party-pooper.

Androzier: *still confused, takes another step inside* It looks like a cake. I need to update you - 

Calvin: Why he's barefoot? Is this some weird connectedness initiative you've got going?

Pollock: It's part of the Arc Protocol. *glares at Androzier* But you're supposed to put your boots back on after.

Androzier: They chafe when I don't have socks!

Calvin: Why doesn't he have socks? Are you taking away socks as some sort of punishment for bad employees?

Pollock: *at Calvin* Of course not, and he is an exemplary employee! *to Androzier* When he's not forgetting he's supposed to have an extra pair of socks on hand!

Androzier: I apologize deeply, Commandant, but I really need to update you - 

{The loud crashing noises have begun moving closer. And closer. And closer.}

Pollock: *buries her face in her hand* Oh no.

{Clever Adolescent Panda barrel rolls through the wall. Their fur stands on end, making them appear like a gigantic, black-and-white sea urchin. Stuck to them are all varieties of socks, as well as several sweaters, a fleece hoodie with the local high school mascot grinning on it, and an afghan blanket. The latter of which is being held at the other end by a determined young woman.}

Pollock: Belinda, let go of the afghan! You know panda-related injuries are difficult to explain to the health insurance!

{The panda keeps gripping socks, but the clothing simply static clings to another part of their body.}

Clever Adolescent Panda: Get them off me!

Belinda: This was my nana's, I'm not letting some furball steal it!

Androzier: This is what I wanted to mention. All the rolling keeps building up fresh charge. The containment fields couldn't withstand that and all this mass moving at this speed.

Pollock: Damn. We need to siphon the charge all at once, with some long metal object. *glances at her sword* Well, a true genius finds ways to turn all setbacks to their advantage.

Calvin: No stabbing my friend!

{Calvin sets down the cake, then rushes over to seize one of Clever Adolescent Panda's hands. With his other hand, he grabs hold of a steel lamp near the window. The bulb flares like a supernova before every light goes dark. All the socks and other stuff fall off Clever Adolescent Panda. Alex flies off like he was shot from a cannon. With the afghan loose, Belinda is flung across the room, Pollock narrowly keeping her from going splat against the wall.}

Pollock: *sets Belinda down* You violated protocol.

Belinda: But that damn panda. . .

Pollock: Yes, I know, but the protocol is there for a reason. *looks around the room* Well, that tripped the surge protectors into shutdown. Chief, start up Epiphany Protocol until we get them re-set.

Androzier: *salutes* What about - ? *gestures at Clever Adolescent Panda, who is slowly rolling to their feet*

Clever Adolescent Panda: Where's Calvin? *sees the broken window* Oh no! Calvin!

Calvin: *sprawled in the parking lot, lightly broiled* Have I mentioned before how glad I am your new building is one story tall?

Pollock: I think they're under control.

{The Chief of Security guides Belinda out of their boss' office and begins shouting orders. Everyone pulls a plant out from under what's left of their desks and someone plays a few airy notes on a flute. All the plants begin to emit a pleasant glow.}

Pollock: Well, I think this is where the two of you run home with your tails between your legs.

Clever Adolescent Panda: *scoops up Calvin and throws him across their back* Yeah, well, enjoy that broken window and all the smashed cubicles!

Pollock: I will, as soon as I enjoy the security footage of your panicked flailing!

{Pollock laughs haughtily as the panda shuffles away, before noticing the cake is still sitting in its box on the floor.}

Pollock: Hmmm. *approaches warily* They aren't here to throw it. If it was spring-loaded it would have launched when he opened the box. *leans over the box* If there was some sort of trigger mechanism, it would have gone off from all that electric discharge.

{Pollock reaches in and lifts out the cake}

Pollock: Maybe the prank is the dolt made it himself? No, that would almost qualify as poison, a little too severe for them. . .

{Abruptly, the cake swells up, and Pollock belatedly remembers their last visit, with the plants that reacted to heat.}

Pollock: Damn - 

{There's a muffled *whoom* and Pollock finds herself covered in a mixture of whipped cream and raisins.}

Pollock: Did they just use whatever he had in the kitchen? *gathers some whipped cream on one finger* Well, at least it's edible.

The Web Draws Tighter

Bold words from a guy who spent the last 200 pages getting outwitted and outmaneuvered at every turn.

Let's recap going into volume 36: The Straw Hats' ship is beyond repair. Usopp, reeling from the news and feeling worthless, left the crew, then challenged Luffy for the Going Merry. He lost, but Luffy and the others left Merry to him. Another crew member, Nico Robin, is missing, and accused of attempting to assassinate beloved local industrialist/politician, Iceberg, last night. So the entire town is after the Straw Hats, including some especially strong carpenters at the shipbuilding company Iceburg runs. A local gang leader that dresses like Ace Ventura is after Luffy for destroying his house and beating up his gang. And, there's a notorious annual high tide, the Aqua Laguna, on its way.

The volume starts with the carpenters interrupting the fight between Luffy and Franky. This is when Luffy learns about Iceberg, and Robin's alleged involvement. It also establishes the carpenters as tough fighter in their own right, as Luffy gets kicked around by them while protesting his (and Robin's) innocence.

(The fight also establishes Franky as a wildly erratic character. He goes from laughing at Luffy's troubles to flipping a table (he presumably made himself off panel) and yelling at the carpenters for interfering in his fight. Later, he'll grouse at a bartender for charging customers money for drinks, then freak out when he learns he's still got some of the money his gang stole from Usopp, and buy rounds for the entire bar.)

Luffy manages to escape to confront Iceberg, but that only frustrates him further. Iceberg remains insistent it was Robin he saw last night. That doesn't help anyone find her, but Robin finds Sanji and Chopper instead, telling them she did attack Iceberg, and she's leaving the crew. From how she phrased it, the crew concludes there may be another attempt on Iceberg and try to stake it out.

That doesn't go well, as Luffy flies off half-cocked and gets separated from the others, who have to fight their way through an army of shipwrights, all while the real killers (and Robin) are already in there with Iceberg. It's talking, interspersed with brief scenes of the masked figures tearing through the shipwrights with ease, as Iceberg discusses what these people are really after (blueprints to an ancient, powerful battleship), and that his mentor always told him Robin needed to die because she was the last person left who could read the stone blocks that might reveal the location of that battleship.

Iceberg's attempt to pull a fast one on the assassins falls apart for a variety of reasons. Primarily that they were both closer to him and stronger than he suspected. They're able to figure out who really has the blueprints, but before they can track him down (it's Franky), Luffy and the most of the remaining Straw Hats bust in from two different directions.

(Sanji's gone off on his own somewhere, and won't pop up until later on. Which is kind of a thing he does a lot, drift off by himself somewhere and do something quietly critical. It's weird to me that a character that becomes such a loud, obnoxious dumbass around any woman can be that good at being covert, but I guess if you grade on a curve, relative to the rest of the crew, he's pretty quiet.) 

Franky, meanwhile, has gotten fed up at being unable to find Luffy and finish their fight. But his gang have figured out Usopp is alone on the Merry. And Usopp is out there working on repairs, largely oblivious to everything that's going on around him.

Sunday Splash Page #368

"Werecat Combat," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #19, by Brian Reed (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciler), Matt Ryan (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

One aspect of House of M was that Ms. Marvel was the "world's greatest hero" (whatever that means), because that was apparently the specific desire Carol Danvers had, that the Scarlet Witch granted. This volume was, in theory, Carol trying to make that a reality once the event was over.

In practice, it never comes around, at least not in the two years I bought the title (roughly half its 50 issue run.) Which could have been the point, I suppose. You don't set out to be the world's greatest hero, you just keep showing up to help and maybe one day it turns out you've become the world's greatest. If that was Brian Reed's goal, I dropped the book long before he got to it.

The biggest issue was, Civil War started up early in the book's run, and Carol sided wholeheartedly with ol' Tony Stank. Going so far as to team up with that dolt Wonder Man to run down and capture other heroes, like Julia Carpenter (going as either Arachne or still Spider-Woman at the time), and the Shroud (this might constitute the last time the Shroud was depicted as both sane and competent, depending on how you rate his two-issue appearance in Heroes for Hire vol. 3's Fear Itself tie-ins)

Reed never provided a reason for Danvers siding with the pro-reg forces I found believable (actually, I don't even remember what the justifications were now), and it's not easy for me to enjoy a book where I don't particularly care for the main character, and honestly like it when shit rains down on them.

Beyond that, I mostly recall vague impressions of what went on. Arana was positioned as an apprentice to Carol, seemingly mostly so she could be hurt by Doomsday Man to make Carol angry (and Arana's dad angry at Carol later.) There was something with a blue, tentacled alien that left a part of itself in Carol that let her heal faster. She got a SHIELD sponsored strike team that included Machine Man (Reed using the NextWave version that drinks heavily and insists on being called "Aaron") and Sleepwalker. Which is why I still had the issue the above page is from, as it's the one where, as part of undercover work, Aaron "disguises" himself with a big, bushy, sloppy handlebar mustache.

What can I say? It tickled my fancy.

That storyline involved Puppet Master setting himself up like a warlord in Chile, putting a bunch of superheroes under his control. The comic does not get into what he's using them for besides security, but come on, he only caught women superheroes, I feel like we're meant to connect the dots. Carol shakes his control (thanks to the alien thing), and then, when she has a chance to capture Puppet Master, lets him blow himself up instead, confident the unknown healing thing will protect her.

Which I wouldn't necessarily object to, except she has no idea how big a blast he plans to set off, and her team was still evacuating all the people Masters abducted, and had given no sign everyone was clear. He kidnapped a lot of average joes, what if they couldn't run fast enough? More annoying, even as Reed writes Carol's internal narration as her being willing to make tough choices and live with consequences, he has her lie to her team about what happened, saying she didn't have time to stop Puppet Master.

If she's willing to live with the consequences, why not have her lay it out, coldly and clinically, and use that as a springboard? How does her team react, does it hurt or help her standing with them? (I suspect Aaron wouldn't care, but Sleepwalker's human half almost certainly would be uneasy about it.)

Again, maybe that was all leading to some big epiphany for Carol, but it left a bad taste in my mouth, and after the Civil War mess, I wasn't inclined to cut the character (or Reed) much slack. When the book was about to start Secret Invasion tie-ins, I decided it was time to bail out, though I clearly should have done it sooner.

Saturday Splash Page #170

"Catch the Red Line," in Seven Soldiers: Guardian #1, by Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart (artist), Moose Bauman (colorist), Pat Brosseau (letterer)

Seven Soldiers of Spring is coming hot off the presses! Well, we're 20 years after the fact, but the presses are still hot.

Jake Jordan's a former cop just drifting through life after he shot an innocent kid he thought killed his partner. Jake's father-in-law-to-be convinces him to apply for the on-staff superhero for The Manhattan Guardian, a paper where, 'the readers are the reporters.' While his boss, a projection on a TV screen named "Ed" claims Jake's not a reporter, I'm not clear on whether Jake's gear is actually recording his battles with subway pirates and cyborgs programmed to model the real world twisted to revenge, as a way to cover the news.

Guardian is the mini-series that feels most like a traditional superhero book. Jake's caught between rival pirate crews seeking a 'six-sided god-machine,' or airdropping into a Disneyworld where the animatronics are repurposed (but not necessarily reprogrammed) military killbots. His back-up is a Newsboy Army of kids who parachute in with flamethrowers while a disclaimer from the paper blares that it's not responsible for what the newsboys do. He saves his girlfriend from the pirates, at the cost of her father, and possibly the cost of their relationship. Real superhero melodrama stuff.

Stewart and Bauman give it the bright, clean look of a superhero adventure as well. Jake's uniform is always pristine, no matter what he goes through, and shows off his muscles in a way his everyday clothes don't. Everything is bright and sometimes otherworldly, whether that's the blue in the place the engine is hidden, or the eerie green of the monitors in Ed's secret room.

In terms of sins and virtues, Pride keeps coming up, the opposite of which Wikipedia tells me is Humility. Jake wants to feel proud of the work he's done, to walk tall again, but loses sight of other things. Carla's mourning her father, and worried about losing Jake, while Jake's assuring her he can take care of her and her mother financially with this job. Jake has to, after an issue of considering giving up, come to the conclusion it's about doing the right thing when it's needed, even if you don't want to. He takes a few more words to say it, but it boils down to the old adage about power and responsibility. You can do something to help others, so you should, even when it's hard.

(It's weird this comes up, given tomorrow's book.)

As far as connections, the 'god-machine' will be a matter of repeated importance over the course of this whole event. I wonder if the place where Allbeard and No-Beard find it was the place where the last few knights went to ask the dwarves to split the very essence of matter itself (aka, the atom), ending the previous age of man, as we're told in Shining Knight. Chains dangle from the ceilings, and apparently glow with radiation (although it's the water beneath that glows), and there's medieval weapons strewn about, but I'm not sure that's an actual connection, or just something I'm seeing that isn't there.

Ed turns out to have been part of his own group of seven when he was younger (although his body never grew up.) The original Newsboy Army, who fell apart as they aged and the adult world intruded with things like college and working in the family laundry. They (but only six, because the dog was too old) went on one final mission, to Slaughter Swamp (aka, where Solomon Grundy was born) and ran into something they weren't ready for.

I don't know if  Millions accompanying them would have made a difference, or if they were never the right seven. Also, was the vet who told them Millions was too old under Sheeda control, or was that just another sign of time creeping in and stealing their childhood visions of the future? Their group magician, Ali, will pop in at least one other mini-series, and Lil' Scarface grew up to be Don Vincenzo, the undead mob boss in Shining Knight. Not a nice man, but one who still remembers the strange world he inhabited as a child.

What I Bought 3/26/2025

The local store didn't have any of the things I wanted that came out this week. Or anything from this week at all, that I could tell. Makes it hard to want to support a local business. But there was one book from earlier in the month on the shelves I wanted, and here we are.

Batgirl #5, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (penciler/inker), Wayne Faucher (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) -  Batgirl entering her "blue flower" phase.

Cass got a tracer on Shiva before she was carted off, which leads her to the Unburied's base. She slips in, only to eventually encounter the three super-powered soldier types, who found the tracker and were waiting for her. Cass deals with the big guy, but the lady with the giant scissors knocks her out by blowing the flower pollen in her face.

OK, so the flowers give you super-powers if you eat them, heal wounds if you smear it on them, and act as a knockout drug when inhaled? That's ridiculous. And if the stuff was not from the flowers, have Spicer color it a little less blue, especially when they're fighting in a field of the flowers (located in a sunless cave, no less.)

Cass has a dream where she speaks with Stephanie, and lets out all her frustrations and feelings about Shiva. How she hoped Shiva was someone innocent, but found out she's a killer, and that's what Cassandra is afraid of in herself. But she wants to save Shiva - from the Unburied and all the killing, I presume - because it means she can save the little girl she was before she fled David Cain?

And then she wakes up dangling from a ceiling in the same room as Shiva.

The notion Cassandra is both repelled by her mother and wants to save her because of Cassandra's own past is at least a sort of explanation for why she didn't just tell Shiva to piss off and go do her own thing three issues ago but, I don't know. I get it if Brombal decided Cass' relationship with Cain was beaten to death, but I'm not nearly as interested in Shiva as he clearly wants us to be. And she's the closest thing to a supporting cast Cassandra has in this book. No Bat-family, and every new character that gets introduced dies or vanishes shortly after. The Vietnamese family that runs the restaurant in Gotham, Jayesh (the priest that follows Shiva.) I'm assuming since he gave Cass a ride to the cave but didn't follow her in, he's carrying out his own part of some plan right now, but there's no evidence of it. That's just me assuming there's a reason he vanished after the 5th panel of page 1.

Sentenced to Prism - Alan Dean Foster

Evan is sent to a recently discovered world by the company he works for to learn why the research team they sent hasn't been heard from in months. Evan quickly confirms the answer is because they're dead, though he's not quite sure how they were overwhelmed so completely by the native life. With one member of the research team unaccounted for, but a location beacon pointing the way, Evan sets out to try and get that answer, only to find himself quickly in over his head.

Foster presents a world of mostly silicon-based life, and with habits, defenses, and senses entirely different from anything Evan has encountered before. Most of them run off light, but not by using it to create sugars like plants. They just turn it into energy like a solar panel. Some are motile, others lurk beneath the soil. Some eat flesh, some are just looking for minerals. Even though the company outfits him with the most high-tech, sturdily built, exo-suit they've got, it isn't enough.

Foster writes Evan as extremely confident in himself, so the entire book is basically one big exercise in Evan slowly being humbled. He does better at surviving without the suit than he probably ought to, but it's in the clumsy, makeshift manner of a person doing the best he can in an environment where he doesn't know the rules. Is the giant crystalline structure an inanimate tree, or the host to a mass of worms that'll love the iron in his blood? Is that a pool of water, or some sort of jellylike predator that would try to engulf him?

Foster eventually introduces intelligent species, each of which have a specific function they perform in what they call an "Associative." Some are scouts, some are knowledge-repositories, some are literally block-shaped things that prefer to group together and form walls to protect the rest from predators. A lot of the book is Evan interacting with them, trying to understand how their society, not to mention biology, works, while they're doing the same with him. There's some body modification, not all of it consensual, but Foster doesn't lean too heavily into the body horror aspect of it. Evan is written as being so reasonable, or more so self-assured, that the drastic changes in his inner workings are quickly accepted.

It's all generally interesting stuff, but it does mean the mystery of the final member of the research team, as well as what happened to them, gets sidelined for a big portion of the book. His exo-suit breaks at about the one-quarter mark, at which point the focus shifts to Evan's survival/the Associative for the middle half. Only in the last quarter does Foster finally resolve the mysteries. Even that involves a chapter with some bizarre creature calling itself The Integrator, which doesn't really feel like it fits with the rest of the world as it's been presented. Like this was the main antagonist of some other book, and shuffled into this book to try its luck.

'This is swell, Evan thought. I'm standing here debating political philosophy with a glass caterpillar by means of antenna stuck into my feeble mind. Furthermore, I am enjoying it.'

Lost in a Summer Haze

Yep, definitely not enjoying this more diffuse world. DC solicits over here, Image over there, Mad Cave someplace on their website. Where is the mandatory monopoly that will make my life easier?!

Anyway, June solicits were not great. Looks like Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave does end at 4 issues, so it would be done in May (if I'm still buying it.) I couldn't find a sign of any Dust to Dust issues coming out after April's issue 5 on Image's site, so maybe it's on a break? I didn't see Metamorpho in DC's listings, or Bronze Faces among Boom!'s stuff, either.

What's new? There was one website that had a listing for an entire It's Jeff! mini-series, but not by Kelly Thompson and Guruhiru, and based off Marvel Rivals? Is that a card battle thing? Anyway, it described Jeff as a 'fish-boy' - he's a landshark! - and promised he'd have a few new tricks and yeah, I don't think I'm trusting that. Rainbow Rowell and Elena Casagrande are releasing a Runaways mini-series that picks up somewhere after Rowell's run ended. It would be nice to see the threads that were left dangling picked up, but it's also tying into One World Under Doom, so that could be dodgy.

Other than that, Cosmic Lion had an anthology collection of weird super-spy stuff called G.H.O.S.T. Agents - Crimson Apocalypse. I don't recognize any of the creators that were listed, but that doesn't mean anything. Lots of creators I've never heard of.

What's ending? As mentioned, Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave would end a month before this, while The Surgeon, which solicited its final issue for May, will actually probably end in June. And Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt solicited its final issue in this month's stuff, but won't actually ship until July. Red Before Black is also supposed to end in June, but we'll see.

Also, Fantastic Four is apparently ending in June, so it can relaunch with a new first issue in July (creative team TBA.) I was very confused as to why you'd do that in the middle of a Line-wide Event that centers on the FF's #1 foe, until I remembered the movie coming out this summer. Probably a bad sign that entirely slipped my mind, yeah?

And the rest: Deadpool is celebrating its 350th issue, which means they padded it out with stories from past creators and charge $8. So I won't be getting that until a few months later, if at all (I never did get that oversized 25th issue of Moon Knight.) Speaking of Moon Knight, we've got Fist of Khonshu, and that book will be celebrating Moonie's 250th issue in July. Which doesn't seem right, but I guess if they're counting the Annual we looked at for Sunday Splash page two weekends ago, it's consistent with where they marked it when MacKay's run started.

Marvel re-solicited the second issue of The Thing mini-series that was originally supposed to come out in April, so recycle my comment about the ludicrousness of Bullseye trying to tangle with Ben Grimm. 

At DC, Batgirl is delving into Shiva's backstory, which is not something I'm sure I care about, and Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma will be at the halfway mark. On the manga front, Ize Press has volume 11 of The Boxer (still delving into Yu's backstory), and Seven Seas has volume 9 of No Longer Allowed in Another World, and it sure sounds like that's nearing a conclusion as well.

I didn't actually find them on the company's website, but I'm assuming Dark Pyramid 4 and Past Time 3 will both be out in June as well. Fingers crossed, because otherwise, this isn't looking like a great month, to say nothing of the months to follow, with so many things wrapping up.

The End (1978)

Sonny (Burt Reynolds, rocking a beard that makes him look like country singer Kenny Rogers, not a good look for Burt) receives a terminal diagnosis and decides to kill himself. But first we watch him harass a funeral procession, try to confess, and visit his ditzy girlfriend (Sally Field), his ex-wife, his parents, and his teenage daughter. Most of his "loved" ones he doesn't tell, except Field, and that seems mostly to convince her to have sex with him in an attempt to make him feel better. 

Emotionally, I mean. I don't think he's actually expecting sex to cure a toxic blood disease, and they spend more time discussing whether he was able to bring her to orgasm (No.)

Finally, over 40 minutes in, he actually takes a bunch of pills, and wakes up in a mental hospital, where he's immediately latched onto by a paranoid schizophrenic (Dom DeLuise, how many movies did he and Reynolds make together in the '70s?!), who agrees to help Sonny kill himself. Except they'll try something, Sonny will get cold feet, Marlon will relent, Sonny then berates Marlon for relenting.

The staff at this hospital are not very alert, or perhaps they just don't care, because the last 15-20 minutes, Sonny swipes a landscaping truck, flees the hospital to retrieve a gun from his girlfriend, but then drives to the ocean to drown himself. All the while, Marlon's in pursuit.

There's not many bits that are very funny. Sonny's bargaining with God at the very end ('I know you saved me, but you also gave me this disease!') Parts of his initial conversation with Marlon, who claims to be writing a book on suicides and has compiled statistics on them ('100% of failed suicides express a need to pee.')

But mostly, the attempts at humor fall flat. Reynolds plays Sonny as a self-centered, dramatic coward, who wants to dictate how everyone processes this - without explaining why, he asks his daughter to agree that they won't ever be mad at each other, in some attempt to try and make her think well of him after he's dead - but can't stop acting like such a shit that I imagine most of them would be secretly glad when he's dead. Every interaction with Field's character comes back to his frustration he couldn't bring her to orgasm, and that this is proof she doesn't love him as much as he loves her, because she won't really let herself go with him. Well it's probably difficult with his ego taking up all the space in the room.

The most interesting/surprising bit was Myrna Loy - who played opposite William Powell in the Thin Man movies - is in here for about 5 minutes as Sonny's elderly mother. I hadn't given any thought to whether she'd still be alive in the late-'70s, but I certainly didn't expect her to show up in a movie like this. It could have used more of her, frankly. I'd imagine she could still bring a wit and energy to the movie that would have made it more entertaining.

Rubber Meets Steel

Florida Man Stages Charity Dance-Off to Rebuild Home After Drunken Rampage.

Volume 35 of One Piece, which covers chapters 328 through 336, picks up where the previous volume ended, and continues to stack the odds against the Straw Hat Pirates. The crew sharpshooter, Usopp, is ambushed and two-thirds of the money the crew intended to use to repair their ship, the Merry Go, is stolen, while Usopp is badly beaten. His attempt to retrieve the money himself ends not only in failure, but with his being beaten even worse, and mocked by the "secret boss" of Water Seven, Franky.

Oda doesn't reveal Franky's true appearance until the end of this volume, keeping him behind a mask and cloak he's going to use as a disguise while he travels to the black market to purchase whatever he's after (this won't be revealed until many volumes later.) However, his gang, the Franky Family, are some of the dumbest looking jackasses I've ever seen, as Oda outfits them in giant metal diaper, or legless overalls, or something. They deserve the asskicking the Straw Hats give them, for their terrible clothing choices alone. As Franky's long gone with the money, this does nothing but get the crew on one more person's shit list once Franky sees what they did to his home.

(I see people conjecture Franky's based on Elvis, though apparently Eiichiro Oda says it was actually Ace Ventura that provided the inspiration. Given he reminds me of Johnny Bravo, I'd lean towards Elvis, but I can see the pet detective.)

The volume's central scene is the fight between Usopp and Luffy. Usopp, already feeling like a failure for losing the money, is distraught to hear Luffy has decided they'll get a new ship, since Merry is no longer capable of sailing. Since Usopp was doing his best to act as ship's carpenter (despite no training, and with his idiot captain racking up a lot of damage), this is perceived as another strike against his value to the crew. Deciding it's better to walk away than be left behind, Usopp leaves the crew and challenges Luffy for the Merry.

The fight, while highlighting Usopp's ingenuity, is ultimately never in doubt. This is a shonen manga; the clever but underpowered character never gets to beat the vastly talented protagonist. It's interesting, though, because it makes every argument between the rest of the crew a little more fraught. Zoro and Sanji butting head doesn't just seem like ordinary rivalry. Sanji trying to stop Chopper from offering first aid to a battered Usopp becomes the sort of thing, you wonder if it'll linger.

Now minus their ship, with one crew member departed, and Nico Robin still M.I.A., things are looking bad. Learning that Iceberg, the mayor of the city and owner of the Galley-La shipbuilding company was shot a half-dozen times the night before, adds a new element. While Iceberg keeps his suspicions on why he was targeted to himself, he's more than willing to proclaim Robin was one of the two who attacked him. Now the Straw Hats are on an entire city's shit list.

Luffy and Franky can't even have a simple (as simple as fight involving a teenager made of rubber and Cyborg-Ace Ventura can be) brawl between two guys who each think they have justified beef with the other, without getting attacked by the shipwrights of Galley-La. None of whom seem too concerned about fighting a pirate with a bounty of 100 million.

Sunday Splash Page #367

"Front Page News," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 1) #6, by Chris Claremont (writer), Jim Mooney and Joe Sinnott (artists), Janice Cohen (colorist), John Costanza (letterer)

I don't know what prompted Marvel to give a supporting cast member of Captain Marvel her own ongoing. I think Marvel's prior attempts at a superheroine solo book were things like The Cat (canceled after 3 issues) or Black Widow as a co-headliner in a book with The Inhumans. Was Carol Danvers really popular with Marvel readers of the '70s? However it occurred, she got her own book, and it lasted 23 issues. Gerry Conway wrote the first 2 and plotted the 3rd, which Claremont wrote (John Buscema drew all 3.) After that, it was Claremont all the way as writer, with Jim Mooney as the penciler for the largest number of issues (though also, Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, Carmine Infantino and Dave Cockrum, among others.)

What I find most curious is, initially, Carol has no idea she's Ms. Marvel, nor does Ms. Marvel have any idea who Carol Danvers is. Carol will be doing something, having lunch with Mary Jane Watson (who Conway tires to establish as a supporting cast member, a young woman who looks up to Carol, but that gets largely dropped by Claremont.) Carol gets a bad headache, most likely passes out and transforms to Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel goes to confront whatever premonition her "seventh-sense" provided, while wondering why she occasionally thinks of herself as an Earthling. She's a Kree warrior, after all.

Claremont dispenses with that near the end of issue 3, as Ms. Marvel finally remembers Carol while trying to stop AIM from interfering with Skylab's launch by unleashing the Doomsday Man. Then he takes an approach more similar to the Hulk: Carol and Ms. M share the body, and Carol grows to steadily resent the havoc the super-powered warrior plays with her personal and professional life. 

Carol's supposed to be editor of Jonah Jameson's Woman magazine. Hard to do properly when she's being dragged away to stop jewel store thieves or being assaulted by a lethal winged warrior. Ms. Marvel doesn't see the problem. She's saving lives, that's more important. This comes to a head at the end of year 1, when Salia Petrie, an old friend of Carol's, is in danger, but Ms. Marvel insists on being involved in a struggle between Moses Magnum and two other losers, against some sorceress named Hecate. She reasons the battle could destroy the world, so needs of the many outweigh the few, or the one. Carol is not impressed by this logic.

Rather than pursue the notion of Carol being stuck sharing her body with someone she despises, who forces her way to the forefront of the mind and usually screws up Carol's life in the process, Claremont instead has Hecate help Carol finally realize she and Ms. Marvel are the same person and always have been. I guess Carol's mind created this break inside itself to cope with the exposure to the Psyche-Magnitron. You'd think that would make Carol's guilt even worse. She can't foist the blame on someone else. But she's so darn happy about this revelation that she seemingly forgets entirely about her friend who died alone in space after her shuttle exploded.

(Claremont will reveal in the last issue that Salia survived, saved by some robot with a malleable orb for a head. No, not Ruby Thursday from the Headmen, a different robot with a malleable orb for a head. And he wants to mentally subjugate Carol like he did Salia, because Claremont.)

That inner conflict swept aside like an empty hamburger wrapper, Claremont shifts to, well, not a lot. He introduces Carol's parents mostly to show her dad is of the mindset women belong in the kitchen, but that never comes up after the 2-issue arc. A couple of love interests pop up, but whether it's the therapist guy, or cocky photographer Frank Gianelli, or whoever, none of them are terribly memorable. Nor do they get very far. Mar-Vell finally makes an appearance in issue 19, if you were waiting for that (I wasn't.)  Dave Cockrum gives Carol the black outfit with the yellow lightning bolt during his two issues as artist. The editor job falls apart in the penultimate issue.

The closest thing to a major subplot is mysterious figures trying to find and destroy something Carol has. That runs through the background for months, but most of the time Frank Gianelli's investigating it somewhere off-panel. It ultimately brings Carol into conflict with Mystique, and then the Hellfire Club, but the book gets cancelled before there's any resolution. (The final two issues would be published years later in Marvel Super-Heroes, culminating with Ms. Marvel's defeat at Rogue's hands.)

One thing that doesn't help the book is Ms. Marvel doesn't get a rogue's gallery. Mostly she faces one-off fights against guys in powered armors, or villains on loan from other characters. Scorpion, Tiger Shark, M.O.D.O.K., Ronan the Accuser in the issue with Mar-Vell. Mystique stays in the background. Doomsday Man's became a recurring foe in later volumes, but Carol only faces him the once here.

Deathbird's probably the closest Carol gets to an arch-foe, and she's a) always working for someone else, and b) Claremont doesn't get very far into her character or motivations, beyond revealing she's some sort of alien and she has some limited notion of honor. She's a decent visual, and the battles are presented as back-and-forth struggles, but that's about it.

Saturday Splash Page #169

"A Vow Renewed," in Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #2, by Grant Morrison (writer), Simone Bianchi (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), Rob Leigh (letterer)

Welcome to Seven Soldiers of Spring! For the next two months, we'll look at each of the mini-series Grant Morrison and a variety of artists created back in 2005. I've opted to ditch alphabetical order in favor of the order the mini-series were released, since I think the order was an intentional thing.

So we start with Shining Knight, which itself started 10,000 years ago as Camelot falls to a race of invaders known as the Sheeda. The Sheeda, in addition to riding around on giant spiders, have all sorts of advanced weaponry against which the bravery of the remaining Knights of the Round Table can only do so much. Still, Sir Justin (or Ystin) infiltrates the Revolving Castle to confront the Sheeda Queen. The Queen is wounded, but so is Justin, whose flying horse carries them both through a pool of liquid and emerges in the present (for 2005) day.

From there, Justin struggles not only to adapt to a very different world, but also survivor's guilt, although Morrison and Bianchi make it an actual weapon of the Sheeda. The 'Mood 7 Mind Destroyer,' a bulky, man-shaped specter with spider eyes, seemingly made of a million little black motes, that follows Justin around enumerating his failures.

(I think someone else already did it back when this came out, but I was trying to map these mini-series to different ones of the heavenly virtues. I wouldn't say I had much success, not the least of which because I'm not sure which set I should use, but I lean towards Diligence for Shining Knight, in that Justin is able to withstand the "mind destroyer" by refusing to abandon the principles and ideals of Camelot, even in a world that seems to have no use or respect for them.)

Justin's horse, Vanguard, descendant of Pegasus, ends up in the hands of Don Vincenzo, a mob boss known for coming back from the dead. Because he has something of the Sheeda Queen's, and as her forces reveal themselves in the present day, they aim to get it back. Justin, in an attempt to prepare this world for the Sheeda, surrenders to the authorities. But the only translator the FBI agent he speaks with can find turns out to be something other than what she plays at.

At times, Bianchi's style looks like it's leaning into photo-reference, at least for the more human characters, which makes some of the expressions look awkward. The giant spiders don't look particularly terrifying, and Nebulon (because Morrison brings out the foe of the 1940s Seven Soldiers as one of Sheeda's top guys) doesn't maybe capture the otherworldly horror of being confronted with a living universe. Still scarier than the Beyonder, though, jheri curl or no.

But Bianchi shifts seamlessly between making Justin look like a brave warrior and a confused or hurt teenager as the scene requires. Shadows are more prominent once the story reaches the present day, which is presented as a lesser, polluted time compared to the one Justin hails from.

The big reveal of the final issue is that Justin is a young girl, or female at birth at least. I'm not sure if Justin thinks of herself as a woman, and wears bindings because the knights wouldn't let her hang around otherwise, or is a trans man. Galahad refers to Justin in flashback as 'a schoolboy,' but that could be read either way. He doesn't know, or he knows that's what Justin would prefer. At any rate, Justin ultimately has to face and destroy a twisted vision of something beloved, and then keep fighting. Because the foe's not beaten yet, and a knight of Camelot can't stop until the battle's won.

What I Bought 3/14/2025 - Part 2

Sometimes, I really want to just freak out. I read these stories people share online of terrible customers or terrible customer service, and think, "Man I'd love to tell that jerk off." Which, I suppose, is really just me looking for an excuse to behave like an asshole. Life tends not to present me with such opportunities, which is it (for some reason) shielding me from my own worst impulses.

Anyway, here's the other book from last week.

Dark Pyramid #1, by Paul Tobin (writer), PJ Holden (artist), Sara Colella (color artist), Taylor Esposito (letterer) - Don't worry man, it's just the title logo. It can't hurt you.

A live-streamer named Hooky Hidalgo (that can't be his real name, please tell me it's not) is climbing around Mt. Denali and tumbles onto a ledge, where he finds a strange temple. As he enters the temple, Tobin and Holden switch to two pages of 9-panel grids, mostly showing the people who are watching or listening as they go about their days. Which means they're as in the dark as we are about what happens to him when the feed goes dead.

That "they" includes his girlfriend, Becca, who promptly sets out - with a financial assist from their subscribers - to Alaska to find her boyfriend. What she finds is a ton of Hooky's fans have arrived to find the guy, and taken up all the available rooms in town. Revealed to Becca and us in another 9-panel grid, so props to Tobin and Holden for using those to convey certain info without wasting a bunch of pages.

Still, no room for Becca. But wait! The local cops, who weren't helpful earlier, show up, offering to let her stay in the cabin of a friend of theirs while said friend is away. How nice!

Or not. A woman named Shailene sneaks in that night, warning Becca she's been set up to be killed, and the cops will write it off as a bear attack. You might wonder what's going to kill her that could be written off like that, and well, for a few pages, all we get is darkness and double-ringed voice balloons saying cryptic shit. On the last page, we finally get a good look at what's speaking, and I think the close-ups that only show bits, like it's an amalgam of mis-matched parts, work better. The unearthly green tint Colella uses to break up the shadows once it arrives doesn't seem to be coming from the creature so much as the ground beneath it. A nice touch which adds to the weirdness.

The Lazarus Tree - Robert Richardson

Author Gus Maltravers is asked by an old friend to visit him in the village of Medmelton. The friend is concerned about his teenage stepdaughter. Specifically that whatever's going on with her is somehow related to the unsolved murder of a notable poet in the village over a year earlier.

So Gus solves the murder in the course of figuring out what the girl is up to and who is putting her up to it. Richardson doesn't waste time having Gus ask questions, only to be rebuffed by the locals who are suspicious of outsiders. He establishes that's what the police encountered when originally investigating the murder, and restricts Gus to mostly interacting with a couple of villagers who are willing to help. Notably, people who either left the village for a lengthy spell before returning, or moved there after retirement. The ones who lived their whole lives there wouldn't talk if you put them through the Inquisition.

Which means there isn't much of Gus drawing the wrong conclusions. The two locals give him enough inside dope to make some educated guesses/shots in the dark that land. That, in turn, provides enough for him to make his way to the next deduction. Richardson plays with the notion that several of the locals are hiding various secrets, and the way gossip is quickly blown out of proportion frightens them, but those are things we're aware of, not Gus. There's also never a point where Gus comes under attack by shadowy figures trying to drive him away. Richardson adds a hint of something supernatural at one point, but never really does anything further with it.

It's not a dull book; Richardson keeps the plot moving. He cuts to scenes with other characters that show glimpses into their lives that are mostly depressing, but might convince you they'd have motive. But there's not much suspense when your main character is never in any danger, and seems more concerned at the start with what a teenager is up to after hours than who killed a guy Gus, by his own admission, didn't like (the poet was an arrogant, underaged skirt-chasing drunk, so no great loss to the gene pool.)

'Maltravers noted the preferred adjective. Not tragic, not wicked, not mysterious, but embarrassing, as though Patrick Gabriel had committed a faux pas by inconsiderately being murdered in the village and giving Medmelton a bad name.'

What I Bought 3/14/2025 - Part 1

I only found half the books I was looking for last week, but three is better than zero, so we'll roll with what we've got. And today, what we've got is a pair of books on their second issues, one of which on much more solid ground with me than the other.

Bronze Faces #2, by Shobo and Shof (writers), Alexandre Tekenkgi (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer) - That does seem like good headgear to wear in a fistfight, provided you can see what you're doing. Or you're Daredevil.

In the 4 months since the heist in issue 1, Gbonka, Timi and Sango have expanded their operation, bringing in more people, including some with actual experience at stealing things. Smart, though it does feel like the sort of thing that opens more potential holes in their group. Especially now that there's a determined cop, Detective Lai, on their tails.

Still, those are problems for a future issue. For now, the goal is a heist on a train carrying a lot of stuff for an auction at the site of a famous horse race. Most of the issue, Shobo and Shof show us what's happening through Ev, some video streaming person with a rich dad, who can't resist showing off some antique horse that's passed to her, and records all the security measures and passcodes it took to get to it.

Tekengki puts a scrolling view of various comments when someone is looking into the phone, which vary from excitement at potential drama when Ev remarks she might try to hit with a suave gentleman who bumped into her (and copied her palm print), to someone asking if the thieves, who now call themselves "Ogiso", intend to put the art in another museum, just in Nigeria, lol. You know the type.

It is a little difficult for me to take anyone seriously if they start a statement with, "Hashtag," as the Ogiso do at the conclusion of their public statement. I initially thought that was Gbonka, because it seemed like the sort of thing an earnest, but painfully square, politician would do. But going by the masks, it was Timi. Ah, well, he's the hip young musician, and I'm a fuddy-duddy, so what do I know? Other than Sango is not happy about Timi and Gbonka making out, and the two ladies still don't seem to be seeing eye-to-eye. Tekengki is still setting it up so even when they do make eye contact, they're in separate panels and look as though they're looking away.

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #2, by Justin Jordan (writer), Chris Shehan (artist), Alessandro Santoro (color artist), Micah Myers (letterer) - That's what life in decaying, mining towns will do to you: You wind up with tapetum lucidum like a dang raccoon.

Harley left last issue's victim tied to the hood of a car with railroad spikes through his eyes (something about preventing the soul from escaping.) So the Weavers send more guys, who end up either shot or buried in a collapsed mine. The ringleader of the squad, to the extent he qualifies, at one point briefly sees Harley with a bunch of glowing eyed faces looming behind him. Not sure what the means. I was operating under the impression the Weavers knew the magic around here, but maybe Harley's got a little, too.

Preliminaries taken care of, Harley beats up a guy in a bar to learn how things stand, then starts destroying all their holdings, what there are of them. Mostly this involves burning down a huge warehouse full of pills, then hitching a ride on the underside of the lead goons SUV to get inside the Weaver's compound. 

And that's about it. Harley's hallucinations are getting worse, distracting him often enough he gets clipped by a few rounds. He comments at one point he has to live long enough for the curse to kill him, which might only be a day. I thought he had seven days, or does he mean something else? Either way, my new theory is the priest did it, as a way to use Harley to clean up the dying town. And there's a certain amusement in the man of God using heathen curses. I'm not sure if I'll stick around long enough to find out.

Burn Country (2016)

Osman's (Dominic Rains) trying to settle into a new life in California, having moved there after seeking asylum from Afghanistan. He's living with the mother of a journalist he worked with, and gets a $50/week job with the local paper, writing the police blotter. After some initial disappointment, Osman leans into the job, deciding to use it as a way to get to know the country and the people, a way to go out an investigate and observe.

After a rough first encounter, he strikes up a friendship with a local guy, Lindsay (James Franco), who promises to introduce him to people in the area, help him understand who the real criminal element is. Then a man turns up dead in the woods, and Lindsay goes missing.

People, at various points, ask Osman if he's glad to be away from Afghanistan, away from the danger. Or ask him what it was like. And Osman will explain, politely and earnestly, that, yes, there were some terrifying or surreal moments, but for a long time he wanted to move away simply because he thought that was what you had to do to grow. This is while there are corpses turning up in the woods, while Osman is getting chased through those same woods later and having to beat a guy with a rock to save his own life. No one he tells is too surprised by that, nor that the man apparently survived and left. The lady he's staying with, who is a local cop, assures him it was self-defense, so he's fine, completely missing that isn't really what Osman's freaked out about.

The movie cuts in a few conversations between Osman and Gabe, his journalist friend, who is still in Afghanistan working with a different, 'cultural translator', as one character describes it. We only see bits of what's going on; an overturned car in the road at night, Gabe standing on a mountain somewhere, no towns in sight. We don't know what's happening, but I think the implication is, if Osman was there, he would understand and fit back in perfectly. Where he is, though, is alien to him, and he doesn't really have a good cultural translator. Everyone is holding things back. (Gabe, for example, apparently has spoken with his mom in months, for reasons we and Osman don't learn.) Or it's that they know how things work here so intuitively, they don't recognize that there's anything to explain to Osman.

Rains shifts between striding with purpose to drifting through crowds of people gathered around a bonfire outside the house of some local Mister Big. He spends a lot of time tapping or pounding on doors, peering through windows, trying to get someone to open up, to let him in. Often he doesn't. Mom Cop may only roll the car window down enough to tell him to stay there. Lindsay's mother may open the door, but only enough to see there's a guy asleep on her bed while her son's whereabouts are unknown (unknown to Osman, at least.) He has moments of glee, and moments where he's so frustrated the polite exterior cracks and he loses his temper, unable to understand what people aren't saying or why.

I don't know that I entirely understand the whys and wherefores of the plot, which would be something Osman and I have in common then. Whether that's by design or because the movie was trying so hard to give us a sense of Osman's confusion that it overdid it, I'm not sure.

What I Bought 3/7/2025

OK, with books from previous months dispensed with, we move on to March comics. Well, one March comic at least. This month is one of those odd distributions. 2 books the first week, 5 the second, none this week, 3 the last week.

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #6, by Jed MacKay (writer), Domenico Carbone (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - Feel like Khonshu is warning Marc that he's not ready to handle everything Tigra's got in store for him. "Beware, my son, that backside is one moon I have no power over!"

Pretty basic set-up. Marc's more or less in a coma after getting his ass beat, and getting berated by Khonshu for acting like such a chump. Fairchild's smart enough to realize killing Moon Knight just means you've soon got a resurrected, even crazier Moon Knight on your ass, so he plans to keep M.K. under wraps like this for the foreseeable future.

Good thing Hunter's Moon can ask Khonshu - politely - where Marc is, so they can rescue him. Or Tigra can ask the same question, impolitely. Either way, Moon Knight's crew ambushes the vehicle carrying him, Fairchild's enforcer convinces him this is not the time to fight an entire team, and after some time in a good ol' Consecrated Sarcophagus, Marc's up on his feet, and ready to actually make a plan to attack Fairchild. I don't know, are plans allowed? Much better to charge in recklessly.

With Carbone's art, Marc looks kind of like some teen manga protagonist. Much younger than the other artists MacKay's worked with depict him (and much younger than Tigra, which at least sort of tracks with Marc somewhat admitting he's been acting like a dope.) I also don't remember Marc's hair poofing up that much in the front, either. Oh man, Fairchild must have beat him so badly he switched genres - and cultures - entirely.

Or maybe this is Into the Moon-Verse and we've swapped Moon Knights? Khonshu was griping about how if Marc would just die enough he was too crazy to use, Khonshu could get himself another one. Honestly, Khonshu's a real shit, always playing his kids against each other, withholding approval and affection in exchange for them jumping through his hoops. What a shitty god.

Sunday Splash Page #366

"Top Dog," in Moon Knight Annual (2022) #1, by Jed MacKay (writer), Federico Sabbatini (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer)

The only annual Moon Knight's had in the 3+ years MacKay's been writing the character, this one involves the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, trying to kill Khonshu. There's a prophecy that says it can be done, but only at a certain time, and in specific circumstances. Circumstances which apparently shouldn't exist, but do. Namely, that one of Khonshu's fists has a kid of their own.

Yeah, according to Hunter's Moon, Khonshu's fists can't have kids. I don't think is so much an edict Khonshu hands down as they are physically incapable of doing so. Maybe the idea is when Khonshu brings them back to life as his priest, he renders them sterile? Not sure, but either way, it didn't take with Marc, and Russell's kidnapped his and Marlene's daughter.

This story also marks the only time so far that either Marlene or Frenchie has appeared in MacKay's run. He writes Marlene as focused and distant. The only reason she's there is for their daughter, which she makes clear to Marc by telling him either come back with the girl or don't come back alive. She's learned her lesson about life close to Moon Knight, and isn't allowing herself the luxury of even considering trying again.

MacKay writes Russell as grimly determined to do something he doesn't like, because he's convinced it'll save lives. MacKay places werewolves as "berserkers" in Khonshu's forces, given that they gain their power under a full moon. If Russell can kill Khonshu, he thinks that will break the curse and there won't be anymore werewolves. My main issue with this is, I feel werewolves in the Marvel Universe are often portrayed as not discerning about who they attack, assuming they even retain any control of their actions. So doesn't that make them creatures who prey on those traveling at night? MacKay tries to square that with the notion that Khonshu's fists like Moon Knight or Hunter's Moon are the ones who keep the wolves in line and under control. I've not see much evidence of that, either.

We only get about two pages of Moon Knight vs. Werewolf. Most of the comic is focused on either Marlene's perspective on Moon Knight, or the conflict in Hunter's Moon between loyalty to Khonshu and protecting an innocent life. Sabbatini draws Khonshu as this shadow on the wall that whispers in the ear of Hunter's Moon. Nobody dies, but it's not what I'd call a happy ending for anyone, except maybe the kid, since she gets ice cream at the end.

Saturday Splash Page #168

"The Mud King," in Seven to Eternity #1, by Rick Remender (writer), Jerome Opena (artist), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer)

Kelvin had mentioned this book in the comments of my Sunday Splash Page for Coda, as another book set in a world where the bad guy has already won. Beyond that, they're very different books. For one thing, it took five years for the 17 issues to come out. For another, here the Mud King has stuck around to rule, rather than depart for some other plane of existence. Which means there's still the option for resistance, but also the risk of reprisal.

Adam Osidis has spent his life living on the fringes. His father was friends with the Mud King when he was just Garlis Sulm, a couple of knights. But Garlis had a power to see through the eyes of anyone that would let him in. So all he had to do was offer them something they wanted badly enough. Adam's father held out, and got framed as a butcher and betrayer, retreating into the wilderness. But now he's dead, and Adam's dying, and the Mud King's found them.

What seems like a suicide run for Adam gets flipped on its head by the arrival of a small crew of resistance who capture the Mud King. They don't kill him, because supposedly every person who let him in will die, too, but there's a place they can take him that will break that connection. Then they can kill him. So Adam joins in, but that means there's opportunity to hear whispered offers.

Opena and Hollingsworth are an impressive art team, though. Opena creates a wide variety of characters, creatures and locales. Cities held aloft by balloons, massive reptilian behemoths with metal mouths that spit lightning. Spirits that burst from the barrel of a gun, or elongated serpents that rise at the playing of a flute. It makes Adam, as the closest thing to a regular human in the cast, seem that much more alone. There's no one around quite like him, no people that accept him willingly or without some condition. And that's how it's always felt to him.

One thing that comes up is the lies people tell themselves. The Mosak, the small squad that captures Garlis, I don't know how they know for sure executing Garlis will kill all the people who accepted his offers. Maybe they just tell themselves that as assurance that it was OK to take so long to make this move. They had to be sure, had to make a good plan because they have to take him alive. Definitely not hesitation over possibly getting killed themselves. (It turns out to be true, but I'm not inclined to give any character the benefit of the doubt as to their motives in this book.)

Some members of the Mosak look askance at Adam because of his last name, because of the lies the Mud King spread. They expect Adam to betray them because it's in his blood and aren't shy of expressing their contempt. Then they make the shocked Pikachu face when he decides to make his own play. "Self-fulfilling prophecy" is apparently not a term anyone in Zhal is familiar with. Adam's father no doubt had reasons for keeping the truth of things from his son for several years, then can't understand why a young Adam disobeys and talks to a girl that seems like she wants to make friends. He thought his son understood the danger, without ever explaining what the danger was.

Of course, Adam's lying to himself about why he's doing all this, too. If Coda had notions people could (with difficulty) pull themselves back together in the wake of catastrophe and build again, Seven to Eternity seems to say those efforts will always collapse in the face of individual desires. The best you can manage is to tear down whichever latest tinpot dictator has assumed control, but that does nothing to reverse the slow decay of your world.

What I Bought 3/5/2025 - Part 4

Hitting up the annual big used book sale for the county libraries today! Which means there'll probably be a lot of vaguely disappointed reviews of novels in the coming months! Hopefully I'll find at least a couple of interesting non-fiction books. In the meantime, here's the two first issues.

Bronze Faces #1, by Shobo and Shof (writers), Alexandre Tefenkgi (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer) - Very good, looking professional and stylish.

We've got Timi, Sango, and Gbonka (also called "Rose" in a couple of scenes.) Timi's father was an artist, sculptor of bronzes especially, who took in Sango and Gbonka under circumstances not entirely revealed yet, although it sounds like Sango's father is dead, and Gbonka's parents might not have been well off.

When Timi's father dies, all his works are sold to a British museum to pay off his debts. The three kids, now young adults, run into each other at an exhibition, catch up a little (and argue a little, as was apparently common.) Then Sango argues they should steal the art back. Timi's in, Gbonka's not initially, but saves their butts from a guard. Timi happened to grab a box that contains a list of every Benin Bronze taken from Nigeria, and their current locations, and the trio agree they're going to take them all back.

Shobo and Shof lay a lot out in this issue. The basic concept behind the story, these three deciding to retrieve cultural treasures, many taken under, shall we say, questionable circumstances. But also what each of them are doing currently, their financial situations, greater aspirations, and especially the dynamics between them. Timi's younger, and each of the girls seems to look after him in their own way, but Sango and Gbonka don't get along at all.

Sango seems to act on impulses and holds little back, while Gbonka is more cautious and thinking about consequences. Around each other they seem to bring out the knives in different ways. Sango mocks Gbonka's desire to become a senator or dismisses her from a discussion she calls a 'family matter.' Gbonka needles Sango about turning her back on her country, and questions her motives on everything. Tefenkgi often draws them talking without looking at each other. Backs turned or looking opposite directions, or we can only see the person speaking, so we don't see the reaction of the other. They both seem comfortable being close to Timi, supporting him or hanging off him, but they don't interact with each other that way.

And Timi clearly feels how he's caught in the middle and gets frustrated with it, but doesn't seem able to really stop it. I get a real sense he's kind of passive, especially as one of his first scenes as an adult is him surrounded by white guys making various sales pitches while he stands there looking, pleasantly neutral? Not saying anything, not leaning towards anyone, but not away from anyone, either.

We can see how their different skills could mesh beautifully for something like this, but also how easily they could self-destruct.

Mine is a Long, Lonesome Grave #1, by Justin Jordan (writer), Chris Shehan (artist), Alessandro Santoro (colorist), Micah Myers (letterer) - Looking completely deranged, fairly concerning. 

Harley's out of prison and returning home. Not for long; just to dig up some money (and guns) he buried and to give the cash to his daughter, who wants nothing to do with him. Because he killed her mother, his wife. Although the circumstances are thus far vague, and the way Shehan draws the glimpses we get, mostly the victim on the ground bleeding from a gut wound, trying to tell Harley something, I suspect everything's not as it seems.

Either way, he kept the guns, which might be good, because Harley was in town longer than someone wanted him to be, and he gets cursed. Either he kills the one responsible in seven days, or he dies. He says there's only one person who could do it, but kills the schmoe he thinks laid the item/totem/whatever for the curse as a message. The whole scene leading up to the killing, as Jordan has Harley explain what he's about to do, and Shehan draws several close-ups on Harley's face, Santoro seems to keep coloring the pupils larger and darker, until, combined with how narrowed they are, Harley's eyes are basically voids. Contrasts nicely with the shots of his victim's eyes, which are wide and terrified, the whites clearly visible. At least, until they're obstructed.

There's a lot of ways this could play out. I half-suspect it was Harley's daughter that set the curse, even if her mother's side is the ones that know about that kind of stuff, and they apparently don't believe she's one of them. But I only have Harley's word on how many people could do this, and he's been in prison over a decade. Things change. Granted, it wouldn't be much tension if it was her, because I'm pretty sure Harley would just let himself die then. But if he doesn't figure that out until well into the bloody swath he clearly intends to cut, it may be too late to keep someone from trying for revenge by targeting his daughter.

After one issue, this doesn't interest me nearly as much as Bronze Faces. Probably because it seems like it's treading such familiar ground, and so far, it hasn't done anything particularly creative. But maybe with the stage set, issue 2 will do a little more to get my attention.