What I Bought 9/21/2018 - Part 2

Norm Breyfogle passed away today. Damn. I don't think DC ever released that second volume of his Batman work. The first one was really good, and interesting to watch his style evolve towards what we think of when we picture his artwork.

Of the three mini-series I did find issues for last week, this is the only one that was wrapping up. So I figured Mata Hari deserved its own review post.

Mata Hari #5, by Emma Beeby (writer), Airela Kristantina (artist), Pat Masioni (color artist), Sal Cipriano (letterer) - I don't know what caliber round they used for that large hole, but it seems excessive.

Margaretha finally explains why she began spying for the French. To get enough money to be set for life with her most recent love, and hopefully her daughter. Of course, Bouchardon argues she was already spying for the Germans, while she insists she merely used them to get herself back into Paris. She contends that Captain Ladoux sent her on a mission, then refused to receive any of the reports she sent. Bouchardon says there's no record of her employment and she was actually sending reports to the Germans. We know which one of those stories suits the French Army better, so she's shot and that's that. Oh, Ladoux was eventually put in jail for a couple of years for being an enemy agent, but was acquitted. Take from that what you will.

Margaretha's story certainly paints herself as a scapegoat, for pretty much the entirety of her life. Men wanted her, or wanted to use her, then blamed her for it, or punished her for "allowing" them to do so, or for trying to get some measure of restitution from it. All of which is extremely easy to believe, but which doesn't mean she wasn't spying for the Germans. But we don't see much evidence presented. Is that because there wasn't any, or because the story is primarily from Margaretha's perspective, and is therefore slanted?

There are times what she tells Bouchardon doesn't match what she writes in the memoir she was preparing in her cell. She tells him it was easy to get information from the Germans, but writes in her book that it was not easy. Maybe that's a matter of knowing her audience. The Captain will not feel sympathy for her, because he doesn't believe her, so why bother playing for it? So she adopts the approach of confidence, of talking about how easily she managed it. For the audience she hoped would one day read her side of things, she takes a different approach. Which one is true, if it's an either/or situation? I suspect it would be difficult, but that's my personality. For her, perhaps it was easy. Men were always so willing to brag to her when it meant nothing to her, what's the difference if she uses the information? Although maybe the difference is that it matters more now, because it's her last chance to get the family she hopes for.

Kristantina gets to run the full range of emotions for Margaretha in this issue, from happiness with her Russian soldier, to fear, resignation, anger, confusion. The whole series has one of her performances running through it. Her offering all she has to Shiva to destroy her betrayers. She ended up losing everything, I wonder if she got what she requested.

The panels where she's putting on that performance are frequently set against a lavender background, a sharp contrast to the muted browns and dull peach colors that mark so many of the building interiors in other panels. But one notable exception is the panel where she travels to the front to visit her Russian. When she arrives at the station, the panel's background is that same lavender color. So what's that mean? She was putting on another performance, that the French are correct and she's traveling to the front for information for the Germans? Or that this is a moment where she loses something once again? She decides to try working for the French to get the money to care for Vadime and Nonnie, (she says), and this puts her in the position to be used as a decoy by Ladoux to protect himself. To be betrayed, and to ultimately lose her last chance with the two people she wanted most in her life.

What I Bought 7/5/2018

I got too much sun over the Fourth of July. Being outdoors in the summer is always a bad idea. Reading comics indoors is a good idea. Sometimes.

Multiple Man #1, by Matt Rosenberg (writer), Andy MacDonald (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Jamie's looking a little crazy on that cover.

So, Madrox Prime (and presumably Layla Miller) are still dead, courtesy of that stupid Inhumans vs. X-Men mini-series. But at least one duplicate had locked himself away in a lab earlier trying to allow duplicates more autonomy. But he's still dying for some reason. He steals Bishop's time travel device (which he casually carries on his belt like a pocketwatch). Then a bunch of Jamies start showing up at the mansion, telling Beast not to find the cure for the duplicate Jamie's condition. One of them may somehow be Jamie Prime? He absorbed one of the others, but most of them appear to be strange hybrids of Jamie and other Marvel characters.

I am not entirely sure what's going on. I have a theory, if I can take some time to pull it together. I don't know why the dupe Jamie that was in the secret lab is falling apart. Do duplicates have a set time limit they can remain separate? Because the one that became a priest was on his own long enough to get married and have a kid (sort of). Or is whatever the Mists did to Jamie Prime somehow transmitted to the duplicate, even though he was nowhere near there. Wouldn't make much sense, but that's nothing new. Lotta questions, no answers, or really even any idea which direction to start going for answers.

Rosenberg's Madrox seems to fit with Peter David's version. He doesn't feel jarringly off, at least. Kind of goofy, a little hard for the others to track what's going on with him, and he's not very good at explaining it. Which makes a certain amount of sense, considering the trouble Jamie Prime always had discerning his actual memories from those he got from absorbed duplicates.

Andy MacDonald's art is clean and straightforward, but still a mixed bag. His art reminds me a bit of Chris Samnee, but thinner lines, fewer shadows. Jamie looks really young in some of the panels, like a dumb teenager, even when it's a Jamie who has been living off baked beans in a secret lab for who knows how long. There are some very good expressions in there, though, like Hank's scowly face in the panel below, and there's one of Jamie where I think he's reacting to the presence of tomatoes in the sandwich Guido handed him. If Jamie Madrox hates tomatoes, that's one more thing I like about the character then.

The fight at the end didn't have much flow to it. Everything is happening in the same room, but it feels more like a bunch of skirmishes scattered all over the place. Especially when a Jamie is just sitting in a chair as this erupts all around him. He said it had nothing to do with him, and maybe as far as he knew it didn't, but why just keep sitting there then? Find cover or help or something. 

Mata Hari #4, by Emma Beeby (writer), Ariela Kristantina (artist), Pat Masioni (color artist), Sal Cipriano (letterer) - That is closer to her face than I would be comfortable allowing a snake that size to get.

As Monsieur Bouchardon continues to try to pull a confession from Lady McLeod, her trip through her memories continues. She's performing in that circus, but needs more money if she hopes to win custody of her daughter. But the ways she's able to best earn money also make more easy fodder for her ex-husband to proclaim her an unfit mother. With that dream closed off, she decides she might as well take advantage of the opportunity she has, use these guys that drool over her to enjoy her own life, and try to maintain her connection with her daughter as best she can. In the midst of that, the War starts, she's in Germany, and forced to leave the country. Originally bound for Holland, as her country of birth, she tries to redirect to France, only to change her mind when the Germans show much greater hostility to someone going to 'enemy territory'.

Whether she's innocent or guilty, I have to think all this duplicity about her nationality and whatnot is going to end up being a strike against her. Bouchardon knows the alleged telegrams are forgeries by a Minister desperate to get her convicted, but is still willing to use them to try and scare her into a confession. It isn't as though the military court is going to require more than the flimsiest circumstantial evidence to convict the convenient scapegoat.

Kristantina shifts how much detail and focus she puts on faces throughout the issue. At first I thought it was just being rushed, since this issue was already delayed a month, but I don't think that's it. Lady McLeod's face, both in the past and the present, maintains detail. Her present-day face shows the lines of strain, age, the unpleasant living conditions. Or the face of her coworker who gives her an idea for her performance. But the faces of the other women in the prison you ridicule and whisper about her, or the men playing out their early-20th Century version of a casting couch, their faces are more vague. The lines are thinner, almost washed out by Masioni's colors. Ultimately, the specifics of those characters don't matter. They're just more people in a long string of them who told her she had one thing worth of value to her, and then judge her for using their desire for it to make a living.

Bouchardon should probably be similar, since he clearly thinks her life choices indicate she'd be a willing and eager spy for the Germans, but he's a repeat threat, there everyday badgering her. And he becomes more real not just because she can't get away from him, to a new place with new people, but because she still has hope she can convince him of her innocence, whether true or not, and get free. That's her goal of the moment, and there are no other options available. It's Bouchardon or it's nobody.

What I Bought 5/1/2018 - Part 2

I was really hoping the Toronto Raptors were at least going to make Lebron James have to work to advance in the playoffs, but no. Can we call the Pacers back and let them have another crack at it.

Mata Hari #3, by Emma Beeby (writer), Ariela Kristantina (artist), Pat Masioni (colorist), Sal Cipriano (letterer) - Ah, to be anywhere other than Paris when the French Army is looking to blame their massive casulaty numbers on you.

The story continues moving between Magreet's past and present. In the present, she's undergoing a suspicious doctor's inspection, who doubts her complaints of illness. Meanwhile, Captain Bouchardon is trying to find more evidence, and he found some mercury. Which could be to treat the syphilis she has, but which he believes must be for sinister purposes. In the past, her marriage isn't going so well, as one child falls ill, and her husband grows distant and unfaithful. When she divorces him, he complains he can't pay alimony. Then complains when she starts working in a brothel to support her daughter. Then mistreats her for it when she tries to reconcile for the child's sake. So she goes to Paris.

All this is very effective at producing sympathy in the reader. I can understand why she might well have taken her anger out by acting as a spy. All these people who want to use her, and then blame her for their desires, that would have to get old. It's difficult trying to line up what she's writing in her memoir, with what we see in the past and present. She mentioned that by getting married, making vows to a man, she had forsaken vows to her gods (which I assume are represented by the entreaties to Shiva that appear throughout). I'm not sure when she made those vows, and I'm curious how some of her actions would fit with that idea. If she's simply trying to give dumb men the opportunity to destroy their lives worshiping her, or if that's the other side of her, that is trying to find a person to be with. Was she trying to manipulate her lawyer by kissing him, or was she simply frightened and lonely?

At times I forget the memoir is being written as she's in prison, and may reflect her looking back, rather than her state of mind at the time the events we see are taking place. So I read a caption with part of what she's writing, and then judge her next actions as if she was already thinking that at the time, which I'm pretty sure is not what I'm supposed to being doing.

I'm curious about the choices in coloring for the mood of scenes. Most of the scenes in her present are given an orange hue, probably from a candle in her cell. Sometimes it carries over into the flashback scenes as well, as unhappy memories mingle with current unpleasantness. The circular panel that rings her in all the "Shiva" panels is always colored a light blue. Placid, calm, kind of at odds with her making an entreaty of a god to empower her to destroy, at the cost of everything she is. But maybe it's a decision she'd made long ago, and so actually doing it is very straightforward. What I was most curious about was on the final two pages, we see her ask to join the circus she saw in Paris, and convince her present-day attorney not to hire another counsel for her. And the circus memory is set in a dull grey background, all the colors, even the performers' costumes are muted. The colors are much brighter in the scene on the next page of her and the lawyer. It isn't a straightforward past vs. present approach, because many of the other flashbacks have bright colors. Maybe it's the point when she renewed her vows to the gods, and as she gained power, they took something from her, the joy in the life she's living going away?

Giant Days #37, by John Allison (writer), Max Sarin (artist), Whitney Cogar (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Well that isn't an ominous and sad-looking cover.

So Daisy's granny knows Daisy was dating Ingrid, and didn't tell her. This leads to an angry conversation, and Daisy returning to Sheffield to look for housing. Leading to a brief, but hilarious montage of the horrors of looking for a decent, affordable apartment. I feel as though that's an experience I've largely missed. Granted, I stayed in the dorms throughout my undergrad years, then spent most of my post-college years alternating between housing provided by temp wildlife biology jobs, and staying with one of my parents. But I've had a couple of apartments, and didn't have much trouble finding something I could tolerate.

Maybe I just have low standards.

Anyway, Daisy tries to get advice from Susan and Esther, but Esther is distracted trying to avoid her harridan of a boss, and Susan is only helpful when she talks in her sleep. Maybe the Spoonsan Daisy made was telling her useful things. Although that would raise its own concerns. Daisy does find a solution, and her grandmother comes to sort things out, so hooray! No family awkwardness!

Food question. Esther is working at some sort of cafe, and mentions she may have to harm someone for putting cream on their scone before jam. Does cream mean butter, or something else? Whipped cream? The only cream I really know is the one people who drink coffee use. I'm not sure if this is an English thing, or a general food thing I am ignorant of.

I am going to guess that the guy using the fake noses and glasses, with a pillow shoved under his shirt, is a character from one of Allison's other stories set in the area. Because that seems too random to not be someone with a pre-existing backstory. If I'm wrong, it's an interesting touch, and I'd be curious whether Allison or Sarin came up with the idea for that gag. Although I struggle to grasp why he needs the disguise. Is the apartment that terrible, he can't risk the tenant knowing what he looks like?

What I Bought 4/4/2018

I'm not sure why I went with a different approach for the April Fools' Day story. I think I was expecting it would be easier to type without having to go back and bold each characters' name prior to their dialogue, or italicizing something else. I think it worked in that regard, but I'm not sure if I preferred it otherwise. Whatever, here's some reviews of some comics that came in the mail this week.

Demon: Hell is Earth #5, by Andrew Constant (writer), Brad Walker (penciller), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Chris Sotomayor (letterer) - Interesting gesture Belial's making there. Either, "Who wants a big hug?" or "Look how swole I am, bros!"

Having reached the tear between Hell and Earth, Etrigan charges in, forcing the others to follow along and fight some of the forces of Hell. They think they're winning, but Belial steps out, casually stomps everyone but Jason Blood, and seems to complete his plan to make Earth a part of Hell.

That's pretty much it. It's mostly a fight scene, and it looks nice in places, but since we're aware that Belial is toying with them, it doesn't carry much weight, and there's nothing much to be interested in as far as the fight demonstrating character traits. Unless Blood taking advantage of the demons being too stupid to realize he can't do anything to them is significant. I'm not sure how he might turn that on Belial, though, since Belial should be aware of it. The others continuing to use Blood as a distraction they don't have to worry about harming is kind of amusing.

I thought Merlin was working with Belial, and his pleas for assistance were a ruse because Etrigan was essential to Belial's scheme somehow, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Doesn't mean Merlin doesn't have his own schemes going, though he hardly looks like he has any way to carry them out.

The color work is very pretty. The point of connection between Hell and Earth is a massive wall of pink energy, which makes a nice contrasting backdrop for the hordes of Hell, who are mostly shades of red and orange, with various darker colors for their clothing. The flames continue to look very nice.

At this point, I really wonder if there's any point in bothering to buy the final issue. Is it even worth it, to see how this ends?

Mata Hari #2, by Emma Beeby (writer), Ariela Kristantina (artist), Pat Masioni (colorist), Sal Cipriano (letterer) - I can't figure out what that is in the far background, behind even the trees. Part of a fan, or a curtain? The view of something through prison bars?

Monsieur Bouchardon visits the prison, hoping to gain a confession by seeming reasonable and friendly. Meanwhile, Margaretha tries to turn him in her favor with flattery and concern, while sharing some of her life story. Neither has much success. Bouchardon is having some problems with his wife, which he is almost certainly taking out on Margareetha, while also being encouraged by his bosses to get that conviction, whether she's guilty or not. France needs it! France needed generals who were less stupid, but whatever, sure.

It's odd, reading the book after the text piece from Beeby last issue mentioned Margaretha lied constantly, because I tend to doubt everything I see. Is she genuinely reduced to tears at the thought she might be interviewed by Bouchardon in a gown with a bloodstain, or is it a play for sympathy? During the interview, as she relates her youth, we see she was raped by the headmaster at the school she worked at, which turned into a recurring affair, I guess? She seems convinced he loves her, but is she old enough to give consent? She's 15, so I'd say no, but I don't know what the rule was in Holland in 1891. I'd still say "no", though.

Regardless, everyone blames her for the headmaster not keeping it in his pants (which is a recurring theme). What's interesting is that Kristantina draws 15-year old Margaretha giving the headmaster a sort of playful or beguiling look, right before he assaults her, but four panels later, her older self is giving Bouchardon the same look. So, she learned from that unpleasant memory and turned it into something she could use to her advantage? Or she's doing it unconsciously? I'm not sure how much benefit of the doubt I'm suppose to give here.

Masioni gives the panels with Margaretha and the headmaster a strong red tint, and there's a pair of panels near the end of the issue, one of her, one of Bouchardon, when she asks if Bouchardon has a wife, where there's some in the middle of both panels, as if it's hanging in the air between the two of them. Bouchardon has this slightly dazed, vulnerable look, and he's looking up, as if she's in a position of power. Although, in the next panel, she doesn't appear to be looking down at him. Instead she's looking at him as though he's on her level. Either she missed the moment, or she knows the key is to find his weak spot without making him feel weak or inferior. The really curious thing is there's no hint of the red in the panels when she's around her future husband.

I'd think it meant a passionless nature of the marriage, that she set out to find a husband, and he was the first guy who wandered along, but maybe not. Given the circumstances of those panels with the red tint, none of which are exactly happy moments, maybe the lack of red is a sign there's none of the danger, fear, or pain she experienced many other times. It's not there even when he's got her wrist in what seems like a strong grip, which might be an unpleasant or frightening moment.

What I Bought 3/7/2018 - Part 2

I've seen these posters online for Ready Player One, and then I've seen a bunch of mock-posters people made for it, and I can't tell the difference. I had never heard of this book before all this stuff about the movie, and now it sounds like it was another of those big nerd things I missed out on, thankfully.

Demon: Hell is Earth #4, by Andrew Constant (writer), Brad Walker (penciler), Andrew Hennessy (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - I like the touch of having Jason's immaterial leg partially phased through Etrigan's.

The entire issue is spent trooping to the gateway to Hell, with brief stops for Etrigan to kill mutated giant snakes and lizards. Xanadu and Blood talk a little, mostly Jason bemoaning still being chained to Etrigan. And the Demon talks with Merlin a bit, mostly about why he's been off sulking in a corner of Hell like a guy from Chile, er, I mean, Achilles. They reach the gateway, there are many enemies visible, and the issue ends.

The characters keep wondering how long it will take to reach the gateway, and Merlin keeps saying that the land is part of Hell, and so they'll get there when it allows it. I know the feeling. Constant is meandering his way through. Maybe because there isn't enough story for 6 issues. At this stage, maybe one issue spent getting past the horde/being captured by Belial, and another to defeat him/deal with the fallout? It's been a small cast, but it doesn't feel like much is being done with it.

On the plus side, Brad Walker draws a cool giant, demonic rattlesnake. Etrigan tends to dominate the panels he's in. He either looms over the other characters, or he's the only one in the panel and he fills it. When he interacts with Merlin, the wizard usually has his back to us, and he's in shadow a lot. Not sure of the significance there, unless it's that he has motives we haven't seen yet. Maybe he's planning to become ruler of Hell himself. He's standing between Etrigan and what he wants, but so is Blood, in a sense. Blood tried running from Etrigan, while Etrigan rages at the one who shackled him to Blood. Constant is probably heading towards them realizing they need to come to some sort of agreement, but I don't know if it's going to happen.

Mata Hari #1, by Emma Bebby (writer), Ariela Kristantina (artist), Pat Masioni (colorist), Sal Cipriano (letterer) - It says something she doesn't think she has to bother to conceal the knife or the possibly bloodstained silk curtain any better than that to lure whoever it is to her. Or it's all an act, and there's no danger at all.

The story opens on the day of her execution, then backtracks, moving from her various travels through Europe, her farce of a trial (the French judicial system works as fairly for her as it did for Alfred Dreyfuss), her childhood, the time of her arrest (which is conducted by Monsieur Bouchardon, who is also the prosecuting attorney, one of those quirks of the French legal system I forget sometimes).

In this chapter at least, there are two narrations almost competing. One is Margaretha's story, the one she wrote and hoped would be published (Bouchardon scattered it to the wind, so no luck there). The other is Bouchardon's testimony at the trial, which contrasts with what we see in the panels. He's made his mind up on her, and every word or action simply confirms it. If she says she's innocent, it proves what a liar she is. If she asks for help getting dressed, it's her immodesty, using her body. Maybe he's right, but most of his assumptions are based on limited information from what we know, as well as judgment of her character based on her careers.

It's hard for me to see this trial as much other than the French military trying to cover their guilt in getting a lot of their soldiers killed by being incompetent fuck-ups. Sure, let's ride our horses directly into the machine gun fire, what could go wrong? But perhaps they have some evidence that will be shown in the next few issues.

Kristantina has a light line most of the time, but covers a wide range of expressions and looks for Margaretha, depending on the circumstance. The one that's most striking to me is how much she appears to have aged by the day of her execution, even compared to how she looks during the trial. Whether it represents the harshness of her conditions, and the strain wearing on her, or simply her not having any access to cosmetics or decent shower facilities (they put her in a prison/convent thing for prostitutes), it makes for a severe contrast, even as she gathers herself.

During the early stages of the trial, there are panels showing her from some performance, where her character is beseeching Shiva for a boon, namely revenge on her enemies. Which raises the question of who her enemies are. Is she thinking of this as the crowd bray at her and call for her death, or are we supposed to keep it in mind as we learn about her alleged activities in later issues? The panels get larger over the course of the scene, and Masioni gives them a much brighter color scheme than the panels of the trial. The trial is mostly dull greys and browns, the judges and spectators are varying degrees of faded colors as well. While the panels showing the performance have a gold ring around them and a light lavender background, and Margaretha's wearing a bright red dress, maybe a kind of sari.

Beeby mentions in the afterword that she has taken some creative liberties, although I'm not likely to recognize them, but her mentioning that Mata Hari apparently lied constantly was good to know. I was letting my own irritation with the French legal system influence my perspective more than I should. But Beeby, with Kristantina and Masioni's work, is really effective at evoking sympathy for the subject. So now I'm curious to see if she turns that on its head, makes the reader feel the fool for buying in.