Sunday Splash Page #405

"Farewells at the Fountain," in Patsy Walker, a.k.a Hellcat #17, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer)

In 2015, Marvel canceled all their ongoing series as part of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's Secret Wars (since the universes all those books took place in were gone.) Even before the event was over, Marvel began relaunching the books. Because the mini-series was behind schedule, plus Marvel probably worried they weren't flooding the market sufficiently with just tie-in mini-series.

The number of books I was buying did not recover to where it was the year before, and most of what I did buy were titles I was buying that Marvel canceled then restarted. Duggan and Hawthorne's Deadpool. G. Willow Wilson and Takeshi Miyazawa on Ms. Marvel. Ryan North and Erica Henderson's Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. There were a few new titles, but Joshua Williamson's Illuminati died in about 7 issues, and I dropped Waid and Samnee's Black Widow after 6. Which leaves this book, also part of one of Marvel's periodic attempts to possibly broaden their market. Maybe draw in some younger readers, maybe draw in some readers who, gasp!, aren't dudes.

Charles Soule and Javier Pulido used Patsy in their She-Hulk series, Hellcat acting as Jennifer Walters' investigator. But the client list is kind of slim, and Patsy has to seek other employment. Where she's confronted with the fact that a) she's not cut out for retail, and b) people know who she is.

On the former, in addition to her low tolerance for unpleasant customers, she's too prone to changing into costume to pursue thieves, though that brings her into contact with a telekinetic named Ian, who eventually becomes friend and roommate. His using his powers to commit larceny because there were limited other employment opportunities gives Patsy the idea of starting a temp agency for people with powers. So they can pay bills without breaking laws!

On the second point, the issue becomes people know her not as Hellcat, but as Patsy Walker, star of all those comics about her teenage years. Comics which are being reissued by her old rival Hedy, who finagled the rights from Patsy's medication-addled mother. This forces Patsy to face a past she would rather flee, an image of idyllic teenage years that were followed with a lot of heartbreak and bad decisions. That Hedy later tricks both of Patsy's ex-husbands into attacking her, resulting in Hellstrom sending Patsy to Hell, doesn't help.

The book loses She-Hulk thanks to her grievous injuries at Thanos' hands in Civil War II, so Kate Leth brings in Jubilee (still a vampire and single mom) as an assistant for Patsy. Outside the sometimes-visible fangs, the main aspect of her vampirism is turning to mist, which art team Brittney L. Williams and Rachelle Rosenberg depict by drawing Jubilee as a fluffy pink cloud wearing her trademark sunglasses.

Most of the conflicts end up resolved with at least some talking, but also some punching. The main antagonist usually gets the latter, the flunkies the stern talking-to (or a kind ear, depending how stupid they were being.) Which is kind of funny since Leth writes Patsy as very eager to jump into action. But she's also willing to listen. Truly, Patsy Walker contains multitudes.

There's also a lot of magic. Magic and mysticism have been a big part of Hellcat's deal since at least her return from the dead, if not going back to Moondragon trying to train her mental abilities. Englehart and Breyfogle's mini-series gave Patsy a better understanding of magic and how to avoid it, via time spent fighting in Hell. Immonen and Lafuente's mini-series suggested Patsy had a lot more going for her than being able to simply sense magic.

(Christopher Cantwell will lean way into this in his 2022 mini-series, with Hellcat being a drug-addled mess haunted by her dead mom, and a "true form" that looks a lot like Tigra, but as that description should make clear, that mini-series was trash and is better off chucked into a black hole.)

Anyway, Leth and Williams keep bringing Patsy into conflict with magic. An Asgardian goddess using unhappy mortals with powers to commit crimes. Hellstrom dumping Patsy in another demon's realm. Even when Leth brings in the Black Cat - unfortunately in her terrible "Queenpin" phase - Felicia is out to steal a set of magical claws that let her control people if she slashes them. Finally, Patsy seems to catch some sort of other-dimensional flu that, when she sneezes, makes weird magic crap happen. Her favorite stuffed animal appears as a giant tiger that claims to represent all her fears. America Chavez's costume gets changed to rep Canada.

(That ends up resolved by Patsy talking about feelings with a demon, and accepting she can't try to hide away in an ordinary life.)

Williams tends to keep the art simple, though there's a lot of attention paid to clothes. Sometimes it's simplified even more, like when Patsy gets really excited and starts bawling or hopping around, eager to punch things. With most of the other characters drawn as significantly taller, she looks like a child wound up on energy drinks. It's a little strange to see in stories where Patsy's tormented with poor life decisions, or Ian runs into his abusive ex-girlfriend, but those are usually the times where Williams sticks to the stronger lines and stable designs, which gives the book about as serious an air as it can achieve.

The book ended at 17 issues, with Jennifer Walters sorting out the rights issue around the comics off-screen, making Patsy independently wealthy. It's unclear if she'll abandon the temp agency idea, but if her discussion with the demon was anything to go by, she's going to embrace being Hellcat again. Whatever that means when she was regularly changing into the costume during this series. I guess she might join the Avengers again or something?

It feels a bit like the end of Dennis Hopeless' first Spider-Woman series, where the Black Widow chides Jessica Drew for ditching the Avengers to go help people on Ben Urich's list. Like superheroics only matter if you fight the big fights, the ones that already have 50 heroes facing them down. Focusing on small-scale problems, people stealing purses to pay the rent, that doesn't count.

Random Back Issues #80 - Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #10

Just so long as she doesn't date Matt Murdock. Or Logan. Or Scott Summers. Or Gambit. Or. . . maybe just keep taking a break from the dating scene?

This was Patsy's post-Secret Wars (Hickman's version) ongoing. At this point, Patsy's gotten the rights to her likeness back from old arch-rival Hedy Wolfe with Jennifer Walters' legal assistance. Except She-Hulk's in a coma, courtesy of Thanos and/or Bendis, so there's no big green help when Hedy sics both of Patsy's ex-husbands on her.

So Patsy's stuck in Belial's realm where Hellstrom sent her. She runs into a fake She-Hulk, who tells Patsy this is her own fault, but that she always blames things on other people. The scene shifts to her old school, but the way it was portrayed in the comics her mother got published about Patsy, Hedy, and the rest. Patsy wants out, but keeps getting reminded of bad stuff going on back in her real life. When Patsy tries to argue none of this real, just overly sanitized fluff, fake-Buzz asks if that means she never felt anything for him.

That leads into a whole trip down memory lane of her relationship disasters, and how things are never neat and tidy. Fake-Buzz tries to blame her for his transformation into Mad Dog, and then it's on to marrying the Son of Satan. Patsy's taste in guys is legendarily terrible. Belial uses a false Hedy to makes his pitch: Patsy has a lot of mystical power in her, what with traveling between Hell and Earth a few times, and she could do a lot with it, if only she embraced her anger.

Because Patsy is not a dumbshit, traumatized teenager like Anakin Skywalker, she just kicks false Hedy in the gut, and Belial finally reveals himself. Patsy gets him to take her back to Earth, if he wants to prove he's got so much juice.

During all that, Patsy's friends, including her new assistant Jubilee (still a vampire at this point), are trying to convince Hellstrom and Buzz they got suckered and to get Patsy back here. Mostly via Jubilee verbally murdering those idiots. She points out to Buzz if Patsy really had something that could cure him, wouldn't she help Jubilee, too? And if she wanted revenge on Daimon, she could 'take the trash out.' Unfortunately, it's Belial's domain, so Hellstrom can't pull her out, no matter how much Jubilee threatens to bite him. Which may or may not make him a vampire. 

That's when Patsy and Belial show up, and Jubilee immediately punches the demon in the face. Love that even Belial is offended Hellstron jumped the gun. There's going to be a lot of gossip around the, well, they probably don't have water coolers in Hell. Hot cocoa dispensers? That would be suitably cruel, right? Can't be warm beer, some people like that. Maybe warm soda? Point being, all the other demons will get a good laugh at Daimon's expense.

Belial's still determined to have Patsy, because she has too much hate in her to resist unleashing it, but her friend Ian telekinetically levitates Belial into the air, and Daimon sends him packing. Both exes apologize, and that's pretty much it. The next arc was the worst of the run, as it involved the Black Cat in her "Queenpin" phase, targeting Patsy and her friends using friggin' mind control magic or some shit. Blech.

{8th longbox, 15th comic. Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #10, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Megan Wilson (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer)}

What I Bought 5/3/2017 - Part 1

One comic that I wanted came out this week, and I was pretty sure neither store in town would have it, so I didn't even bother to go look. But I do have books from last month, so let's look at those, starting with the last issues for two books.

Great Lakes Avengers #7, by Zac Gorman (writer), Will Robson (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Tamra Bonvillain (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm surprised Deadpool doesn't have his own weight loss supplement, aka him coming to your house and slicing parts off.

The team defeats Dr. Nod with Maneuver 33, which really needed to be accompanied by the phrase, "My immortal brain needs beer,", but Mr. Immortal is an alcoholic, so probably it'd be more a call for help. Fresh off their victory, which has given Detroit bragging rights over Green Bay - well it's not like the Lions or the Pistons have done anything for Detroit on that front in the last 10 years, or 50 in the Lions' case - they're told they've been fired by none other than Deadpool. And that's how the book ends, the team sitting in stunned silence as they learn of their cancelation.

When Bertha is fighting Dr. Nod at the start of the issue, she's a couple stories tall. During the fight, the drugs wear off and she shrinks back down while fighting her agent and the doctor's assistants. And it's about that time the wolf-girl shows up. But since Robson didn't really draw anything around them to give a sense of scale, I thought Good had gotten into the drugs to become a huge wolf-girl, rather than Bertha having shrunk to closer to her normal size. The agent and the goons show up in a van full of the drug, so i figured they loaded themselves up before fighting, and you can see in the panels where they fight Bertha is various large people and some bricks. There's nothing to give it scale.

Having Dr. Nod's teeth apparently not grow with the rest of his flesh, so that he's a blobby-looking monster with a huge mouth and relatively tiny teeth was kind of nifty. I'm not clear on how Bertha's powers work, beyond having control over her mass. Presumably she'd need to increase bone density to support the extra mass, but would that extend to teeth? Anyway, it was a little touch of the absurd to the visual I liked.

The book was probably always doomed to a short life, but I would have liked to see it come together a little more. I'm still not sure what Gorman's overall plan was for the book. He had something in mind, but it didn't get very far along. Oh well.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #17, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Playing as yourself in a video game would have to be strange and frustrating, especially if they made you a joke character like Dan Hibiki, or Phoenix Wright in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. "My attacks are better than that! Iron Man doesn't have a huge shoulder cannon!"

Patsy receives a letter from Jennifer Walters, telling her Jen negotiated her an excellent deal on various rights related to her childhood adventures and so she's freaking rich. Patsy takes her friends to the mall, where they are menaced by a couple of her fans pretending to be villainous vampires, who actually have crushes on each other. So things are resolved with a minimum of fuss, as Jubilee notes Patsy hasn't sent many of her enemies to jail over the course of this title. Ah well, HYDRA Captain America would probably just let them out again, so why bother?

So the book ends on an upbeat note. Like the GLA, Patsy doesn't seem sure what she's going to do next, but she has options, and she satisfied with where she's at in life. A check for an amount so large you doubt its validity will do that for ya. I'd hope she would keep the temp agency going, even if she hired someone to run it. Probably a lot of people using that to help pay the bills.

I appreciated the letter from Jennifer Walters bit. Reminds me of Cable sending Deadpool a psimitar in the last issue of Cable/Deadpool (after Cable had been absent from the book for the final 10 issues thanks to Mike Carey's X-Men run). I don't think Jen leaving the book was entirely Leth and Williams' call - I imagine they could have kept her in, given Marvel's lax approach to inter-book continuity these days, but it might have been an awkward clash with Jen's new title - but it's nice to acknowledge these characters are friends. And friends wouldn't just entirely forget about each other. If a person really matters, you'd at least check in with them somehow.

The fashion sequence thing was a cute callback to Patsy's earlier books I assume. And it got Jubilee back in the classic yellow jacket and huge pink sunglasses, which is appropriate for a return to her mallrat days. And Williams draws it very well, like I figure there are certain artists it would be a weird look, but with Williams it doesn't seem out of place at all.Also, in looking at the panel of her room, I notice there's a picture of her giving Dr. Strange bunny ears while Ian laughs and Wong, well Wong is probably suppressing the laugh. The shock lines combined with the brighter, deeper color in the panel where Patsy's tossed the cross at the Somnambulisters was a good attention-getter. Then the color fades to a duller pink in the next panel because these aren't actual vampires and they can't keep up their acting. The defeated posture and 'Ahhh, help,' were a funny combination.

So the Patsy Party is over, but it lasted longer than I thought it would. That's something.

What I Bought 3/25/2017 - Part 1

I ventured to Columbia Saturday and was able to find most of the books from this month I'd missed. There was one I couldn't track down, but I should have it by next week. For now, let's start with the two comics that are about to be canceled. Time to wrap everything up!

Great Lakes Avengers #6, by Zac Gorman (writer), Will Robson (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Homage to that Excalibur cover with the apologetic janitor?

Doorman is trying to carry out his duties for Oblivion, but the ghost of Greg Garlick is really taking advantage of his good will to remain on this plane. Elsewhere, Bertha has some trouble dealing with Dr. Nod, who has taken way too many of his pills based on her powers. And a couple of, I don't know if they're hipsters, but they seem like jackasses, try to buy the GLA's RV. Then the team assembles to fight Dr. Nod.

The parts about Doorman trying to do his job, but not even being sure how old he is any longer was probably my favorite part. That whole thread about how much being a servant of the manifestation of some cosmic force can mess with your sense of perspective is just very interesting to me. The rest, not so much. I'm curious about Gorman's attempts to have the team interact with the local community in their own peculiar way. That felt like it was building to something, but not much chance of a successful resolution there, I imagine.

I really can't think of much else to say. The ghost of Greg reminded me of the Violator from Spawn, when he was in his creepy clown form. When Dr. Nod clocks Bertha and leaves, I think she's meant to be losing consciousness, but initially read it as her not bothering to try. A "why bother?" 

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #16, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Somehow I can't imagine Jessica Jones being much fun at a pajama party.

Patsy's magical sneezes are getting worse, but Hedy is dating Belial as a result of Hellstrom trying to get some payback for being suckered, and the two of them actually attempt to help Patsy. By Belial giving her a quiet place she can talk about all the stuff she's bottling up, because the stress is wearing her down and mixing dangerously with her own magical abilities and all the other magic shit she's been mixed up in so far.

Gotta love Hedy trying to dodge responsibility for sending Daimon after Patsy. Oh, you told Son of Satan his ex was out to get him and you're surprised when invokes Hell as a pre-emptive strike? Also, I know this is something likely beyond Leth's control, but Jennifer Walters is out of her coma. She's not checking in with any of her friends, letting them know she's OK. She's not, but certainly trying to convince herself and everyone else she is.

The issue has to have a lot of exposition, with the need to explain what's happening to Patsy, plus how Hedy started dating a demon. But it's still funny in places, and fairly interesting. I didn't really understand why everyone was glaring at her in that one panel before she sneezes them into Hell. As opposed to the panel of everyone glaring at her one page earlier, right after she insists she's fine. They're on her about keeping stuff bottled up, then she's supposed to just let bygones be bygones for all the crap Hedy's pulled, and then they're telling her to calm down, and my sympathies were firmly with Patsy. She's clearly been trying not to explode, not to let stuff out, and frankly, she deserves the chance.

Williams drew some great expressions for Patsy, pretty much the entire time she was at Hedy's. The screaming, "I AM RELAXED!", followed by a moment of trying to get herself together, then frustration, then despair in the course of 3 panels. Or the near-eruption at Hedy and Belial's nauseating lovey-dovey talk. That "w h a t" panel, and the way Cowles put that word in their helps. Catches the eye, though I admit I don't know if it's meant to be she can barely get the word out she's so pissed, or that she's still trying to rein herself in. I can't quite figure America, Jubilee, and Bailey all being extremely into Hedy/Belial, but Williams gave them some pretty great looks for the panel. I think Sharon's, "I'm not sure how to react to what I'm seeing," would most closely resemble my reaction.

I'm surprised Marvel gave this book as long a leash as they did, but I'm glad they did.

What I Bought 2/18/2017 - Part 1

I made a trip to visit Alex over the weekend, and took the opportunity to visit some comic shops up there. And was able to get all 5 of the comics I had missed over the previous two weeks. Hooray!

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #5, by Jonathan Rivera and Gerard Way (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - Is Wild Dog demonstrating feet of clay there? Falling apart under the pressure of the circumstances?

The thing that caused terrifying visions last issue is some sort of demon trapped within a crystal the Muldroog once worshiped, but now try to keep sealed up. The elder Bornstein, the goo monster, is after it, and used initial interactions between his people and the Muldroog to get someone in to try poisoning their water supply, which reduces the resistance he'll face. he was after Chloe because he needs someone with Muldroog blood to open the vault to the Whisperer. Although he captures her grandfather during an assault on the stronghold, so never mind, problem solved. Most of the crew of the Mighty Mole 2 realize this situation is fucked up and defect, but Cave's plan to call Superman flounders on the rocks of Superman not bothering to send Cave a text that he changed his phone number.

Which is hilarious the more I think about it. That Way and Rivera go to the trouble of saying Cave is buddies with Superman, just to have his attempt to call in the Kryptonian cavalry fall flat on its face. On a different note, I appreciated that there isn't some big scene of Cave and his in-laws arguing and being hostile to each other. There's grief, but there's understanding. Mazra was an adult, she made a choice to go with Cave and live on the surface, no point in a lot of anger about it. It's nice to avoid that mess sometimes.

Oeming and Filardi continue to combine for some strong art. The strange masks Bornstein's people are wearing, with the huge ears and the red eyes remind me of something, maybe an old Golden Age hero, but I can't place it. There's a bit at the beginning where Cave, Chloe, and Wild Dog are listening to the story and eating hallucinogenic pudding, and Cave isn't fully affected because the cybernetic eye's perceptions aren't altered. So half of him has this stretched, yellow outline pulling away, and the side with the eye doesn't. I'm a little concerned about Wild Dog. Between the page showing he's reliving the various misfortunes that brought him to this point, and him having cut off the head of one of Bornstein's guys with a large knife, which seems more visceral than simply shooting them. Plus, the background for that panel is an extreme close-up of his face, like his spirit or something is looming out of control. Cave's getting the opportunity to try and deal with his shit, but I'm not sure he isn't messing his friend up worse in the process.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #15, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Fire sneezes or no, I think America is going overboard with an entire sink. Think of the security deposits.

Patsy has convinced all her temps to have a multi-holiday party at the office, which is ruined when Patsy's magic sneezes go out of control. She alters people's clothes, summons America Chavez from bed, apparently, brings forth the physical representation of her childhood imaginary tiger friend, and makes Jubilee tiny. Patsy does calm down Mister Sniffles, but her next sneeze makes him a giant, they say bee, but I thought wasp or hornet. The problem is dealt with, but then she makes the entire building vanish. Whoops.

America's jacket being changed to have the Canadian Maple Leaf on it cracked me up. Canada Chavez was a natural joke just sitting there, and Leth and Williams reached out and took it. Bravo. And this is a great issue for Williams to draw various horrified or stunned faces. Sharon's reaction to a giant bug smashing through the door. Or everyone else's reactions when Mister Sniffles was turned into a giant bug (scowly pink cloud Jubilee is great). Patsy's various looks of illness-induced dementia. I wonder if she's loaded up on various medicines or what. Being sick just makes me grumpy, in addition to being tired.

I have to assume they'll call in Dr. Strange to try and deal with this. I guess they could call someone else, but Stephen and Patsy are old friends, so why not contact him? I'm not sure how he fixes it, but it involves magic, and based on some of what was discussed in the issue about Patsy spending time in Bailey's bag while wounded, it's an illness. So magic illness, who do you call other than Dr. Strange?

On another note, I just noticed Ian is entirely absent from the episode. Maybe he wasn't in a party mood, or he and Tom needed some time. But I was a little surprised. You get used to a supporting character just always being there.

What I Bought 1/31/2017 - Part 2

It's not a new complaint, but I hate it when channels interrupt cool action scenes with commercial breaks. John Wick was on USA last week, and they went to commercial right in the middle of the cool night club shootout. Yeah, I have it on DVD, I can watch it whenever, but it's still nice when I come across something I like to watch on TV by good timing.

Darkwing Duck #7, by Aaron Sparrow and James Silvani (storytellers), Andrew Dalhouse, Paul Little, and Matt Herms (colorists), Brandon DeStefano (letterer) - I don't know what's up with Darkwing or Gosalyn's eyes. Darkwing rarely does the "no pupil" look a lot of other masked adventures do, and Gosalyn looks like she's possessed by Duckthulu.

Zombie potatoes attack St. Canard on Halloween, leading to an extended series of Walking Dead, riffs, I think. I'm positive Herb Muddlefoot carving a bunch of the spuds up with a spatula wrapped in barbed wire while wearing a leather jacket was a reference to that Negan guy I see people talking about. Gosalyn wearing Darkwing's hat and having her hair over one eye makes her Carl, correct? Anyway, DW suspects Bushroot, who has escaped from prison, but was drawn here by the call of his one-time would-be vampire potato bride, Posey, who is being used in dastardly experiments by some character I can't place. Oh, and Gizmoduck's in town. Not looking forward to Darkwing getting snippy because he feels inferior to Gizmoduck.

Teaming the heroes up with Bushroot works better than I would have expected, since his reaction to all Darkwing's usual stuff is so different from Gosalyn or Launchpad's. And Bushroot's point that, 'You have a sidekick who's carrying around my disembodied head for. . .well I don't even know why. . . and you want to talk about normal?' cracked me up. On a different note, the scene where Gosalyn and Launchpad discuss how each of them thought they were going to be the one to take over as Darkwing some day was kind of cute.

Silvani really likes drawing Darkwing wielding two gas guns. It's been coming up a lot in this series so far, and I'm not sure why. I guess the response would be, why not, and I don't have a good answer. Also, I know black is supposed to be slimming, but somehow wearing that black jacket made Herb Muddlefoot's head shrink. It looks far too small for his admittedly large frame. But Gosalyn's Halloween costume is appropriately grotesque, so good work there. Silvani mostly works within a six-panel grid, but modifies as necessary. Mostly by going to a five panel setup, with one panel that covers a third of the page when he needs more room for impact. Either to give us a better look at something shocking, or to layout the setting of the next scene for us. On the opposite end, he opts for going to three panels across the page for a specific sequence. The Ratcatcher going amphibious. Gizmoduck taking care of a bunch of zombie spuds. Setting something up, basically.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #14, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - Not a very good plan by Felicia, to control all these non-powered folks, and leave Patsy the Wolverine-trained vampire and the telekinetic.

Zoe tries to help Patsy and Ian get close to Felicia, who has swelled the ranks of her organization considerably by now. It doesn't seem to work, but it's really all a ruse to give Jubilee the chance to get the drop on Felicia. Which works for getting the magic claws away, but then Jubes loses her after Felicia headbutts her? Really, vampire strength and that works on you? But all the friends are saved, and Patsy has magic sneezes now.

The main current running through is Zoe possibly realizing how lousy she was to Ian, and that whatever fond memories she has of their relationship are not shared by him. Which is nice, and it was pleasant to see Ian stand up to her and lay it all out so she couldn't ignore it or bulldoze over what he was saying. The panel where we see Ian as he was, in a blank space with shadows stretching away in different directions was an effective attention-getter. Up to then, all these relatively sedate panels of two people in a living room, having an argument, and then here's a panel of someone feeling terribly lonely and divided.

I'm not sure if it was Williams or Rosenberg, but the art team seemed to be having some trouble with Felicia. Maybe it's just her costume. Drab grey is not really a visually arresting costume choice, and there were times it just didn't look great. But the art looked a little rushed in places. Not everywhere, but there were some places Williams was skimping on details, or shading. I did lie how tall she drew Felicia. Maybe it's just the perspective, where characters are being pushed down to loo up at her, but she seemed much bigger than the other women in the issue. Especially Jubilee. I had never pictured the Black Cat as being particularly tall (about the same as Spidey, and I think Peter is 5 foot 10 or 11), but then Jubilee is 5-5, something like that, so comparatively, Felicia would be big. And it lets her loom over people, which is a prerequisite if she's going to play a crime boss.

Overall, the weakest story so far for the book, but I'm hopeful things will pick up with Patsy's magical sniffles.

What I Bought 12/21/2016 - Part 1

I've made so many grumpy post this week. I should have called it "The Airing of Grievances" week or something. But today is not for that, because we have a couple of comics that make me happy. Mostly. So I guess there will still be some airing of grievances.

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #13, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - Well, Felicia certainly knows how to pose impressively.

Patsy, Ian, and Jubilee were doing alright against Felicia and her goon squad, until they got dumped inside Bailey's magic bag. They spend some time stuck in there, Jubilee getting increasingly hungry, until the next time Bailey opens the bag, at which point they hop out. By then, Felicia has gotten Tom under her control. I'm sure having a friendly guy with no powers or combat experience will guarantee victory *rolls eyes*. But Zoe's heart has grown three sizes and may be ready to switch sides.

If all Felicia wants is whatever files and contact info for heroes Patsy has on her (poorly) encrypted computer, then why doesn't she, oh, I don't know, sneak in and steal it? Like a thief. There's no need for all this fighting and mind control, which is big and flashy, and could provoke a lot of hard feelings aimed specifically at her. Why the hell did she wait until now to steal the magic mind-control claw things, if they're so useful? She initially seemed like she was worried Patsy would catch wind of her because Hellcat isn't getting mixed up in crossover nonsense. Then why not deal with her when you have her wounded, off-balance and outnumbered instead of walking away?! None of it makes any damn sense. Felicia being the kind of casually cruel that helps someone up by grabbing the knife sticking out of their shoulder also doesn't track for me. Basically I don't buy in to any part of Felicia's characterization or actions in this story. Which is not entirely Leth's fault; Dan Slott put this in place, but she is the one trying to make a go with it, and sorry, no.

That is obviously a big difficulty to have with this story arc, which is too bad. The back and forth between Patsy, Ian, and Jubilee was a lot of fun. The lengths they go to trying to keep Jubilee from losing control, taking advantage of all the random crap Bailey has thrown in her Bag of Infinite Holding, that was amusing. Williams got to switch between a range of expressions, using her chibi style a few times, some humor stuff, and some more subtle stuff in the calmer moments. I wasn't expecting the page where they climb up the page towards the top of the bag, so I initially started at the top, then realized I was going backwards. I would have liked the colors to be a little brighter, but I imagine it wouldn't be very bright inside some strange pocket dimension existing within a handbag.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #15, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Zac Gorman (dream artist), Michael Cho (trading card artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Taskmaster appears to be doing the rare mime routine called "invisible dirtbike jump". It's very complex, but I think he nailed it.

While Doreen and a host of super-heroes get trounced by Taskmaster, Mew was just trying to live its cat life, watching mice (Doreen and Nancy should probably talk to their landlord about that) and sleep. But then Tasky destroyed a wall of the apartment and set Mew loose in the big city. Mew ultimately helps Doreen to devise a way to defeat Taskmaster, although she gets poor Pizza Dog to be the one in actual danger to manage it. Either way, Taskmaster is defeated thanks to his not having a tail, which does seem like something he'd struggle to copy.

I got a good laugh out of Squirrel Girl being worried Taskmaster was going to copy her ability to debate with people and convince her to turn evil. Though she could have thwarted that by employing the same tactic the Swarm used against her. North writes a weird Taskmaster, though. Much closer to Dr. Doom than what I'm used to from Tasky. Maybe that's how he sounds translated through cat ears. They think everything sounds like arrogant boasting, because cats are also arrogant, and think they're hot stuff.

The way the panels are framed, with all the focus on Mew and whatever she's interested in, pushing the Taskmaster stuff repeatedly to the margins was a good touch. Especially since they did the same with a lot of the word balloons. I'm surprised Mew would be paying that much attention to humans that aren't talking about food or Mew. I guess just because the words are visible in the panel doesn't mean the character in it is necessarily paying attention. Although I think as comic readers we take it for granted that everyone relevant or necessary can hear whatever is being said unless the story tells us otherwise. But hearing isn't caring or comprehending, is it?

Mew's attempt to catch the mouse was one of Henderson's stronger efforts in an action sequence. Maybe because there wasn't dialogue, so she had more space to focus just on movement and the details. She draws animals in general very well. The bit where Mew struggles to get Pizza Dog to understand what she needs him to do, with the resulting chase scene was a nice bit of work. Nothing ground-breaking, just well-paced, and the panel of the rock starting to fall while Lucky is sitting on it confused has a Looney Tunes feel to it.

What I Bought 11/30/2016

I've been seeing trailers for this film, Why Him? I appreciate Hollywood has cut the crap and done a film about how you don't want your daughter to marry James Franco because he's awful. At least I hope that's what it will tell people. Though he'll probably somehow convince Bryan Cranston he isn't such a bad guy, considering normal plot mechanics.

Great Lakes Avengers #2, by Zac Gorman (writer), Will Robson (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Feels like a million years since the first issue came out.

So the guy who owns the bar across from the GLA's new HQ is purposefully staying open past when he's supposed to, because he's a dick. He's good enough at it that Bertha trashes his club, landing them in jail. There's also a councilman Snerd decrying these superheroes interfering in the actions of villains who destroy economically distressed neighborhoods, which angers the young artist girl to the point she may or may not have thrown a bottle at him. Either way, the cops grabbed her, and were sufficiently brutal she wolfed out in a police station. Fortunately Bertha calms her down, and the angry lawyer from the first issue is back and comes to their aid. The councilman is unhappy, and also is the bar owner guy. Also Doorman senses Mr. Immortal dying of asphyxiation in that coffin and gets him out. Mr. Immortal was in there to try and kick a problem with alcohol, I think.

I want to like Robson's art more than I do. There are certainly parts of it I do like. The three-panel transition in the bar as Bertha begins to grow was done well. He's good with making Doorman expressive despite us not being able to see his face. The way he draws his cape, so that it looks far too big for Demarr seems appropriate. I think it's how loose it is around his neck, as though it was meant for someone much larger. But overall, he doesn't seem to know quite when to dial back on the emotion a bit. Everyone is too expressive, all the time, jutting parts of their faces out to comical degrees. It's fine in small doses, but not constantly.

It feels like Gorman is trying to walk this line between doing the kind of typical stuff with the GLA as third-rate heroes, and using them to deal with some more serious stuff. Snerd seems more than a little of a reference to Trump, especially with that rant about how powerful he is, and how it's only barely contained by his bigness. And Snerd's comments about poorer neighborhoods being breeding grounds for crime, which feels like him coding minorities as criminals. I'm just not sure about the GLA trying to deal with that. The tones seem like they'll conflict, but hell, it's early days. I'll give him a chance.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #12, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) -  The cats seemed so entranced by the chase. It's not like it's a laser pointer.

Zoe was a terrible roommate for Ian, and a terrible girlfriend. Basically, she's just horrible. Could the Punisher show up? I'd like to see Zoe die horribly, but it's not going to happen. Felicia has figured out she can't control Bailey's bag without Bailey, but it's going to prove difficult to control her. So she steals something from a museum that enables her to control Bailey. I would have guessed they were the Controller's control disks, but it seemed like a gem that splits into smaller pieces, so I dunno what that is. And Ian is finally ready to be a superhero and, look, I know I'm not much of a judge of fashion, but that is not a good costume. The buckles across the chest make him look like a damn drum major or something. I know, that's not the point, it's about Ian deciding to try and fight crime, or at least stand up to his crappy ex.

The extremely subdued colors in the flashback sequence were a nice touch. Compared to the vibrant purples, pinks, etc. in the rest of the issue, it really stands out as a period of dull misery for Ian. I still enjoy how Williams and Rosenberg depict Jubilee's mist form: A fluffy pink cloud with sunglasses. It makes me chuckle.

Things are going to get worse for Patsy in this story before they get better, but I'll have to wait until the next issue to see how much worse.

What I Bought 11/1/2016 - Part 3

I hate these flashing yellow left turn lights. Especially since lately, I seem to be stuck at a lot of lights that automatically go to it. I'm sitting right there, give me the goddamn green arrow! Also, not a fan of Marvel putting that #1 in the left corner of the cover for the first issue of a new story like it's the first issue of the book. Feels like a cheap bullshit bait-n-switch, though I'm hardly surprised they'd try something like that..

Ms. Marvel #12, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Mike Andolfo (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm up for a "Fightin' Crime Around the World with Ms. Marvel" storyline. Not what we're going to get, but I'd enjoy seeing it.

Kamala goes to visit family in Pakistan to try and clear her thoughts (or get away from them). There she gets to experience the joy of people treating her like an outsider because she's too American, instead of too Pakistani. She tries to stop some guys running a water extortion racket essentially, and gets chided by a local hero for not doing a better job because she doesn't understand all the dynamics. Which makes her a stand-in for the U.S. government, I guess. Except she's actually trying to help others, not just herself. I'm not clear on how Red Dagger was going to stop the villains without wrecking the truck, though. His shtick is he throws daggers. I assume he's going to try popping a tire, which seems like a good way to wreck a truck being driven on a questionable mountain road by some dumb thug.

Kamala seems resolved to return home and fight for her home and deal with her problems. We'll see how that works out for her. I expect things are going to be fairly hostile, but presumably Ms. Marvel hasn't lost everyone that was on her side. I am, now that I think of it, surprised we never saw her mother's reaction to what she was up to during Civil War II. It doesn't seem as though Wilson has done much with the fact she knows her daughter is a costumed crimefighter since that big reveal last year.

Mike Andolfo steps in as the artist this month. He does a fine job of working in a style generally similar to the other artists the book's had, although Ian Herring's colors do a lot to maintain that common thread. The yellows he uses in particular, both the solid golden yellow he uses as a background sometimes, and the softer one that stands in for natural light in a lot of the scenes of Kamala with her family, create a strong link with earlier issues. For whatever reason, his use of that color sticks strongly in my memories of the book, so it helps maintain that visual even with different pencilers.

Andolfo's characters are expressive, as he has a style just simplified enough to allow for some exaggerated expression where it fits, but detailed when needed. Although, there are a few scenes where Kamala is, I'd almost describing as sarcastically drawling at someone - the TSA agent on page 1, or Kareem on page 7 - where the expression seems appropriate for the dialogue and scene, but wrong for the character. Like, I can see myself making that face with that passive-aggressive comment, but not so much Kamala Khan doing so, if that makes sense. The surprised and awkward expressions she makes when meeting her relatives, her sleepy look on the last page, those fit the character, it's just those few other pieces felt off.

As a standalone issue, this felt slight to me. Well done, but slight. I think as part of the larger arc for her, the moment to stop and take stock between the recent disasters and whatever comes next, it'll work better.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #11, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - My boss recently described a confrontation we saw on the job as a bit of a catfight, which the rest of us found rather awkward. It prompted much discussion about whether he really understands what he's saying or not. I tend to lean towards "no". I certainly hope that's right.

Felicia recruits a gang of young ne'er do wells to help her get rid of Hellcat, 'cause reasons. First though, they want to get rid of all the people she could call on for help, and since Felicia is able to get ahold of Bailey's magical Bag of Infinite Holding, that might be pretty easy. Or maybe not, because one of the gang is Ian's abusive ex-girlfriend, who is letting the cat out of the bag about Felicia's plans. Look, the creative team started it with the cat puns, blame them.

I still don't really understand Felicia's reasoning for this. Fine, Patsy isn't getting distracted by Big Event nonsense. But she also isn't actively fighting crime. She's pretty much dealt with threats she just stumbled along (Arcade), or that came after her first (Casiolena). If Felicia is meant to be a halfway intelligent, sigh, crime boss, she ought to be able to work around Patsy. Like, if you wanted to avoid Daredevil, staying out of Hell's Kitchen was historically not a bad first step. It wasn't an ironclad guarantee (not to mention the 11 million other heroes in NYC), but it was a start.

But I continue to think the idea of Felicia Hardy as a crimelord is dumb, and misses the point of what makes the character fun, so Leth and Williams were already starting on an uphill slope.

I appreciate the fact that Patsy and Ian having a disagreement over whether he's going to us his powers to fight evil or not did not turn into some big break in their friendship. They each took some time to cool down, thought it over, then discussed what was really bugging them. Adults handling things with discussion, and saving the punching for stuff that needs punching.

I assume it's Rosenberg adding what I'd call "gloom lines" in some darker moments. It might be Williams' using them as a shorthand for shadows, though. They pop up in the corners of rooms in some panels, but I mostly notice them overlaid on characters, like Ian when he walks away after being frustrated by Patsy. They remind me of something I see in manga, usually right after a character has received some extremely depressing or insufficient advice. Although it's usually accompanied by that giant sweat drop next to the head there. So maybe I'm entirely misreading it, but I noticed it in the previous issue, and I associated it with scenes where the character's mood is worsening, a dark cloud is settling over them, and I like that. And I think there's a chance I'm right about it. When Jubilee leaves the sparring session, the shadows on her face don't have the lines, because she's in a good mood. When Patsy leaves Bailey, she does, because she's bothered by what went down with Ian.

Anyway, I'm half looking forward to, half dreading a showdown between my second and third most favorite (by some metrics) Marvel characters. Should be fun, but someone (Felicia) is going to come off looking bad, which will be a little disappointing I'm sure. Oh well.

What I Bought 9/21/16

I managed to pick up a couple of books last week. Not everything I needed, but the rest will be here later in the week. Course, it all adds up to a measly 4 books. Everything waited until this week to come out.

Deadpool #18, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Mike Hawthorne and Brian Level (pencilers), Terry Pallot (inker), Jordie Bellaire and Rochelle Rosenberg (colorists) - People lining up to injure Wade, something everyone can get behind, event he people who don't like Deadpool. Actually, those folks are probably trying to figure out where that line is.

Wade and Shiklah have a big knockdown, drag out fight over their relationship, all the way from Shiklah's bedchambers to the street. The fight brings out a lot of the problems in their marriage that were readily apparent from the start. Like how marrying the first guy you see after being asleep for thousands of years possibly isn't a good idea. And that Deadpool is not a reliable partner. But it's unclear if things are over or not. Even Wade can't figure it out, so he goes to the remains of his Avengers' teams HQ, which was also his cool building with the speakeasy in it. Runs into Rogue there, and takes her to see Eleanor. Explains his daughter is a mutant, and Rogue promises the kid will have her in her corner. Meanwhile, Madcap is still putting things together for his plan.

The thing I finally realized this issue is that Duggan and Hawthorne are having Wade get into a fight every issue of this tie-in, but they're all pointless, unnecessary fights. He and T'Challa didn't need to fight; Wade hadn't hurt Ulysses and he was leaving. Wade and the Mercs should have focused on getting out of the vault instead of killing each other, and definitely shouldn't have continued the fight while cops showed up. Wade couldn't pay them, so just let them leave. And then after all the fighting, they have to ride the same train home. Now this fight with Shiklah, which I don't know what's going to happen. It's all stupid fighting for no purpose, which is pretty much Civil War II in a nutshell. Bravo, Deadpool creative team.

I didn't enjoy this fight as much as the previous couple. It isn't badly drawn, Hawthorne's still doing good work, but it doesn't have as many clever bits to it as the previous fight. That and I was sad to see a married couple having a falling out. Why won't Marvel let any characters stay married?! Still, there were a couple of parts I enjoyed. The expressions Wade has on the page where the fight ends, first when Shiklah proposes they go back to bed, the one with a wolfman minus a head in it. that's a bit weird even for Deadpool (and it confirms Jack Russell won't stay dead, if you're one of his 4 fans). And the expression in the last panel on the page, as he declines. He just looks so sad and tired, which is never a good sign when it comes to Wade. Then the part in the subway when Wade thinks Shiklah is threatening his loved ones and flips out for a minute. And the fact she immediately recognizes why he flipped out, and even raises the possibility it wasn't simply poor phrasing. That was a little chilling.

Brian Level takes over art chores halfway through. There's just a bit of a shift in how Wade's drawn that I mostly notice around his mask, the lines on it not being as defined as usual, or the shape being slightly different, that makes me think that. Otherwise it's a pretty smooth transition, and I don't know if that's due to Level shaping his style to mimic Hawthorne's, or if Terry Pallot's inks are doing it. The colors shift somewhat, Wade's costume seems brighter than in the earlier pages, but otherwise, it's a smooth transition. There are times Level really nails some of the body language Hawthorne typically gives Wade. The pose Deadpool makes when he tries to lean against Rogue's closet door, for example.

I gotta say, I still hate Civil War II, but this has been a solid tie-in. Definitely the best one I've seen by Gerry Duggan over his time writing Deadpool.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #10, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Megan Wilson (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Why the heck are Boomerang and Shocker there? Nothing better to do than watch exes arm wrestle in a bar?

Daimon dumped Patsy into the hands of Belial, a lord of lies. And this wasn't Daimon actually trying to help Patsy, he really did get duped by Hedy. Maybe that hellfire on his head is cooking his brain. Belial tries to get Patsy to buy into embracing her rage and taking control of her full power and cutting loose, which does sound fun, but Patsy is uninterested. She gets Belial to bring her back to earth by daring him to prove he has powers somewhere outside Hell, at which point Jubilee breaks his face, and Daimon banishes him. Then the boys apologize and the day is saved, while the Black Cat prepares to get Hellcat out of her way.

But Felicia, I'm pretty sure Patsy was Hellcat before you showed up in comics, and I know Greer Grant was wearing that costume as the Cat before you came along. So they can't really be biting your style, can they? That's not even getting into the fact her costume is yellow and blue, and yours is black with a little white fringe. That's like saying iron First is biting the Hulk's style because they both have green in their color palettes. So becoming a crime boss hasn't made Felicia smarter, clearly.

I've been trying to figure out what seems so different about Williams' art in the scene in Belial's realm. Some of it is Wilson's colors, I'm sure. Things seem more washed out. The colors are lighter, but not as rich. But it seems like Williams isn't doing any shading around the characters. What I mean is, in places where Patsy's hair should be casting a shadow across her face, it doesn't. It's as though everything lacks a certain level of detail, because it's just a surface illusion. Belial is going with easy, obvious stuff, the simple conclusions someone could draw if they wanted to to make a person feel bad, without looking at the deeper levels of who people are and why they do stuff.

Or it could be Williams is trying to use a style more similar to what would have been in those books starring Patsy and her friends from back in the day. Some of the peculiar background effects, like how the shadows in her mom's hospital room are a lot of narrow black lines, close together. Or the static on TV backdrops that appear a couple of times. Those seem like techniques more common to much older comics, and so maybe Williams and Wilson are trying to put things in that style.

What I Bought 8/28/2016 - Part 3

There was a report a month or two back where the Department of Health admitted there wasn't any proven benefit to flossing, or something to that effect. I'll probably continue to floss, though. I prefer not to see a bunch of crud jammed between my teeth, and it doesn't seem to hurt anything, so why not? It's a minor expense compared to some nonsense I waste money on. Speaking of nonsense. . .

Deadpool #17, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Mike Hawthorne (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I doubt that Wade and Madcap's upcoming rumble will resemble a Spy vs. Spy comic, but I wouldn't be opposed to it.

Wade and the Mercs are done. The bank employees let them out of the vault, but they cause so much property damage trying to kill each other SHIELD is called in. Which means Wade has to hear about it from Preston, and pay for damages. He tries to come over for Sunday dinner, and gets punched in the face. And Eleanor won't call him "Dad" any longer, which made me sadder than I expected. Then he returns to Shiklah and finds her in bed with Jack Russell. Who Wade shoots in the face with a shotgun, right after Shiklah promised Jack he was under her protection. So either that's going to be a big fakeout, or there's going to be some real problems for the married couple.

So maybe now we've seen the last of the Mercs. They're like an annoying visitor that keeps hanging around in front of your door, but keeps talking rather than just leaving. Go! Enjoy your ongoing series that will all be canceled in five minutes! Anyway, things are rapidly falling apart for Wade, which is not surprising in the least. You can't even tell whether he was actually cursed or not, because this has been building for awhile, and it was probably always going to end this way. And it can't be a good sign Wade at the very least tried to straight up murder Jack Russell (since I don't know if he succeeded or not). Contrast that with the last multi-part story of the previous volume, where Wade turned against his Roxxon employers, and even spared the life of Omega Red because he wanted to try a different approach to just killing. Now he's back to solving things with killing. Backsliding.

That said, the ridiculous fight between Wade, the Mercs, and eventually the police cracked me up. Wade being blinded by a flashbang, then yelling out, 'Here comes Sweardevil!', only to be hit at the belt line by Slapstick with a sledgehammer, causing Wade to ralph in his mask (great "WRETCH" sound effect, whoever did that, either Hawthorne or Bellaire I'm guessing), and the throw the puke-filled mask at Foolkiller, who freaks out. That's good stuff. Plus, Solo and Stingray ignoring all of it to finish burning their contracts. Or Wade claiming they were there to stop Kang, who made them think they were HYDRA before he escaped, and that's why they fought the police.

I don't think Wade in a banana hammock can not look horrifying, but as depicted, it was pretty much something I don't need to see or think of ever again, so good work Mike Hawthorne. And on Wade's face as Eleanor walked away from him and he was confronted with Preston. It's a vague, sketchy outline at the back of the panel, but he made sure to get Wade's big frown in there. I tend to think it was what Eleanor said about her therapist telling her not to consider Wade a father figure sinking in. The fact she's going with it has to hurt Wade, on top of everything else.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #9, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), megan Wilson (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Can no one in New York wear a proper shirt? Buzz is wearing that v-necked whatever, Daimon's in a coat with no shirt, that one lady has a pink sports bra, the dude in the back is in a tank top, the guy in the grey, tight-fitting t-shirt. I thought New Yorkers were supposed to be fashionable, bunch a damn slobs, look worse than I do.

Hedy, in her eternal assholishness, has convinced both of Patsy's exes she's plotting against them. Because that certainly sounds like something Patsy would do. But I guess the Civil War II idiot ball hasn't left the area yet, because they both buy it. As a result, they ruin Jubilee's attempt to get everyone at the office to relax with a night of karaoke. Daimon ends up sending Patsy to some realm to "reflect". And Ian may be developing an even bigger crush on Tom after seeing the guy sing. Oh, and Jubilee is still a vampire, and a mom. Wasn't sure if they were keeping both those things in continuity after Secret Wars. Kind of seemed like a good time to sweep the vamp thing under the rug to me, but I guess the character has enough fans who think the idea has potential that they're gonna run with it.

Williams and Wilson do draw Jubilee using her powers to turn to mist as a pink, fluffy cloud with sunglasses, which is one of the better depictions of that vampiric power I've seen. I might have used Alucard's mist transformation even more in Castlevania: Symphony of Night if he'd looked like that when he used it. Although I used it a lot anyway. I did notice during the fights at the end, Williams' lines were thicker and less crisp than usual. Things were rougher looking, almost a little rushed. Might have been intentional, because it seemed to vanish in the calmer panels in between. Deliberate choice for Patsy's frazzled mindset? She's dealing with a ton of other crap, and now here come two old idiots from her past causing trouble because they believed the lies of some petty jerk. She was pretty off her game, considering how easily Daimon got ahold of her. You'd think she'd be on her guard the moment he appeared, and I know she knew how to slip loose of magic attacks once upon a time (meaning, after Hawkeye got her out of Hell). And it isn't as though the creative is ignoring Patsy having been dead and in Hell, so yeah, I'm going to chalk it up to her not being at peak form.

I'm really looking forward to Daimon getting kicked in the chops by someone next month, though the more I think about it, the more I wonder if he's going along with Hedy's plan as some stupid way to help Patsy actually deal with her emotional problems. Not Buzz though, he's just a gullible moron.

What I Bought 7/26/2016 - Part 2

We're going with the other two Marvel books. One is doing its best to incorporate changes the event is bringing to its supporting cast, the other is mostly taking a piss on the whole stupid thing. Which is truly the most noble act of all.

Deadpool #15, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Mike Hawthorne (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I went with the Scott Koblish variant again. Wade kills Justice Peace and the rest of the Time Variance Authority, and makes the UGC code help him bury their corpses. Sorry, he lets the UGC code help bury the bodies. Big difference (according to Wade).

Wade breaks into Ultimates' HQ because he says he wants to kill Ulysses (he's narrating out loud on the assumption Ulysses can hear him in his visions), but since the kid didn't actually have a vision of Wade doing that, that must mean the kid is full of crap, right? Maybe. Wade is more interested if Ulysses saw anything about Wade's daughter, which he hadn't, so Wade starts to leave. And gets blocked by T'Challa, who behaves like a douche, and they fight. For really no reason. OK, Wade may have spoiled Game of Thrones, and he was leaving an upper-decker in their bathroom, but they were fighting before that happened. T'Challa even says Steve Rogers may have been brainwashed if he trusts Deadpool. Says the guy who was on a super-secret team with Namor and alcoholic butthole Tony Stark, that failed in its mission to save the universe, so cram it, T'Challa.

Also the Mercs have learned Wade has a safety deposit box in a bank in Jersey, and go there to burn their contracts so they can be their own team. But they suck at stealth, Ulysses saw them on a newsfeed, he told Wade before the fight started, and now Wade's going to try and kill them all. Unless that was Madcap, posing as Wade again. I don't believe it is, though.

The whole thing is a farce, but that's roughly how much respect I have for Civil War 2 myself, so that's fine. I really enjoyed the fight. Wade pretty much gets whooped anytime he tries to fight conventionally in it, but when he starts getting weird, he does better. The portion of the fight on pages 10 and 11 is very nice. Hawthorne does an excellent job of showing the progression of it, the back and forth, with moves being started in one panel, and then finishing in the next. I especially liked when wade launches a flying headbutt at T'Challa while he's trying to backflip away from Wade. That was Raphael's special move in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3; The Manhattan Project. Maybe next issue Wade will use Leo's spinning swords move, or Mikey's kangaroo kicking attack thing.

I'm a little surprised at T'Challa's behavior. Wade is actually trying to leave, he didn't kill the kid, he just wants to stop off in the men's room, just let him go. That's what people usually want, for Deadpool to leave their vicinity. But that's point, right? It's a big event so everyone has to act more stupid and belligerent than usual. And we get to see the Black Panther take a toilet upside the head, and actually respond to being kicked in the junk, by kicking Wade in the junk right back. Participation in this event has cost everyone their dignity. Fantastic.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #8, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Such a sad cover, given the context.

Patsy had a feeling something has happened to Jennifer Walters, and she's right, because here's America Chavez to tell Patsy She-Hulk's in a coma, and to bring her to see her friend. Though the medical staff are insensitive jerks. Where's the bedside manner? Patsy and her friends are all very sad, and this causes some difficulties for the landlord of Patsy and Jen's office space, so she asks Patsy to temporarily move her office into Jen's. And Jubilee, still a vampire, is joining the cast apparently. I wonder if she still has that baby she basically stole from the wreckage of a destroyed hospital in Eastern Europe? Shogo, or whatever his name was?

It feels bizarre to have Patsy switching offices when she literally moved into that one about two issues ago, but it works as part of the way these sorts of big, crazy events, throw people's lives into chaos. Patsy is deliberately trying to stay out of big superhero stuff. She doesn't care about Ulysses or any of that. But it can still cause problems. Friends get hurt, or die. Then there are complications arising from that, which have to be dealt with at a time when you really don't want to have to deal with them.

 Can't believe that mugger actually wanted to fight Patsy and Jen. It's She-Hulk, and he is some French-speaking guy with a knife. This was never gonna end well for him.

I liked how Williams drew Howard the Duck's beak more this issue than the last time he showed up. Much closer to a real duckbill. Also, I think Williams uses a thinner line when she draws more serious scenes. The weight of the line Patsy's drawn with in the panel on page 9 when she's looking at the picture is a lot different from the one of Jennifer getting ready to fastball special Patsy on page 13. I'm not certain why take that approach. Maybe the lighter lines are just better for more subdued scenes. The character doesn't bound off the page by being so sharply outlined from the surroundings.

I do think Williams needed to draw the giant pizza as even larger. As big as it is, I still think I could eat it in one setting, though I'd hate myself after. And I don't have that big of a stomach, but it isn't quite daunting enough. So that's my one complaint with the art this issue. I really wouldn't have expected Williams' style to work so well for such a somber story, but she handled it well. I think Rosenberg went with colors that weren't quite as bright as Megan Wilson normally does, which might have helped, too. Not positive about that, might just be letting a few panels influence my perception there, but it didn't seem quite as vivid. In a good way, like there's a dark cloud hanging over everything.

What I Bought 6/21/2016 - Part 1

I didn't get every book I intended to from the last 3 weeks. Deadpool #13 and Detective Comics #934 were far more expensive than I was willing to accept. Maybe next time (although I've seen scans of Detective Comics, and can't decide whether it's going to be for me or not.) Better to deal with the comics I have than the ones I don't, right?

Black Widow #4, by Mark Waid (writer), Chris Samnee (writer/artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I like the two birds watching the whole thing. Don't know why.

Natasha doesn't die of her wound, because she's saved by an old friend. Said old friend also tells her who is behind the little kid that stabbed her, where to find them, and hooks her up with some equipment. Which Natasha says is really old, but we didn't really see her use any of it, so I don't know what it was. She retrieves the file she was after, because the head of this new training program was waiting for her and gave it to her. Maya wants to kill Natasha, as a "prove myself" thing, but is advised to do it when Natasha is 100%. So Natasha has what she needs, but her comes that one SHIELD agent. Is he the Weeping Lion? Probably.

Things are starting to gain momentum, though I'm surprised by how many old friends Natasha has, given the mortality rate for espionage. But every time you turn around (or every time she gets a new series), there's another friend, still alive. And another enemy. The situation with her and Maya is going to be ugly, considering the very attitudes Natasha took to keep herself alive in the Red Room, are what helped her make an enemy of Maya in the first place.

The panels Samnee did of Natasha breaking in, set within a larger panel of a maze, was obviously some good work. I notice that when Natasha retrieved the file and went to the spot to drop it off, she started wearing some sort of eyeliner. Either that or she's really tired. Does it subtly alter her face, so people might not recognize her as readily, or is she just more relaxed now? I also like how Wilson colors the outfit Natasha uses for the break-in. The interplay between black and red in this series seems like something I need to look into more, when I get a chance. The red tends to be intense, but sometimes, even when a character is standing in a spotlight of it, if they're wearing black it doesn't seem to be affected. Anyway, I'm enjoying the book more the farther in we get with it.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #7, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Megan Wilson (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - I can't quite parse Jessica's expression there. It looks slightly weary to me. I'd be more befuddled, wondering how Patsy got into the Blonde Phantom's wardrobe, but whatever.

Jessica offers to help Patsy by going to visit Hedy (who of course owns some stupid froo-froo dog) and see if she can find anything they might be able to use to block Hedy's attempt to discredit Patsy. She also convinces Patsy to do a book signing at Tom's store, which is painful enough for Patsy she compares it to being dead. She and Jess try breaking into Hedy's apartment, and get caught. Smooth. Patsy finally blows her top, but sadly, does not kick Hedy in the teeth. Right about then, She-Hulk discovers Patsy's mom was doped up out of her mind on morphine when she signed the rights over to Hedy, so the contract is void. Well then, all's well that ends well, until next month when the book has to deal with Bendis killing or making comatose a member of the cast.

I admit I expected Patsy and Hedy to have some heart-to-heart, and Hedy would reconsider, and they'd mend fences, because Patsy's been making friends with enemies some of the time in this book. But no, I don't see that happening after how this ended. Which actually bums me out a little, I liked how they were portrayed as actual friends by Steve Engelhart when Patsy first came back to life.

I laughed at Luke Cage's reaction to reading the (I'm guessing) fan-comic of him and Iron Fist as a romantic couple. C'mon Luke, do you not spend any time on the Internet? Right, he has a kid, meaning he has no free time. Never mind. Huh, I just noticed Squirrel Girl came to the celebration at the end of the issue. Will Marvel do a crossover between those two books, or at least a team-up? C'mon, they had Squirrel Girl team up with X-23, sorry, Wolverine.

Williams uses the bit where she's goes a bit more exaggerated with character expressions judiciously, which I appreciate. It makes it more effective. Like the panel of Hedy being huffy and put off after Jess leaves at the end of her first visit. It's different enough from her regular style to catch the eye, but still recognizable. And I laughed at her drawing herself getting to meet Patsy. I wonder if that bit where she says she loves how mean Patsy and Hedy were is reminiscent of something she experienced at a convention (being complimented on something kind of awful), or something else.

Also, there's two panels in this issue where the character is placed in front of a solid black background. One is when Patsy mentions that her mother tried to make a deal with a demon to steal Patsy's body, and the other is when Hedy, having heard this, reacts with a blithe, 'Is that all?' The two panels are pages apart, but revolve are the same selfish (possibly drug-induced) act, one framing it as the fairly hurtful thing it is, and the other completely dismissing it. It's like two ends of a conversation the characters weren't even necessarily having with each other at that specific point in time.

I continue to greatly enjoy this book, and hope that it continues for a long time

What I Bought 5/10/2016 - Part 5

This has been a pretty good set of books overall, last Friday's hiccup aside. Even the ones I haven't loved had some good parts to them.

Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat #5, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Megan Wilson (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Does Jennifer crank her seat really low so she doesn't tower over people at her desk? I don't think she'd want to intimidate everyone, but she also enjoys being really tall.

Casiolena's plan, such as it was, falls apart in the face of Jennifer explaining to one of the henchpeople that magic probably can't fix his credit score, and when confronted with that reality, all the confused young folk with powers stop their rampaging. Even Casiolena's manservant was fed up with her, and tips Patsy's friends off to her location. The day is saved, not that it was in a terribly huge amount of danger. However, Patsy did not make it to her meeting with Hedy to settle this whole issue, and now Hedy's hired Jessica Jones to dig up dirt on Patsy. It seems to me that as a long-time friend/rival, Hedy would already know plenty of dirt (marrying the Son of Satan would seem like a big one), but maybe she wants the ind of dirt that doesn't spoil the marketability of Patsy's image? Not sure what can do that and still qualify as dirt.

That panel of Odin tiredly waving his hand "buh-bye" at Casiolena while she gets banished makes me smile. Though I always picture Odin really getting into it when he banishes someone, but maybe it was time for Odinsleep. I disappointed we didn't get to see more of the disaffected youth with powers, since some of them had pretty cool designs, but if they sign up with Patsy's temp agency, maybe they'll become recurring characters. I gotta say, the people in Leth's version of the Marvel U. are pretty reasonable. Once they recognize there's nothing to gain out of wreaking havoc, they stop. It's not a productive path, so why continue? Damage for the sake of it isn't a worthwhile pursuit.

It's too bad Casiolena didn't bring her dragons with her from Asgard. I'd have enjoyed seeing a few veteran superheroes lead a bunch of rookies in a battle against a sorceress and her dragons. And I'd be curious how Williams would draw dragons.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #7, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Joey Ellis (trading card artist), Rico Renzi with Henderson (color artists), Travis Lanham (letterer and production) - I'm impressed by the Swarm's dental hygiene. Those are some sparkling white teeth he's got. Can bees clean teeth?

OK, it's a Choose Your Adventure book, hosted by Galactus, where we, as Squirrel Girl, must save the from the Swarm, because he made sure to attack when all the other heroes he knew of were occupied. Which didn't include Koi Boi, so team-up. So you makes choices, most of which end in death or failure, though the failed choices usually offer the chance to backtrack to try a different path. I was disappointed Doreen was not able to use the "intense calculus studying" path to achieve victory. She's always adopting computer science stuff to help save the day. Math can also be useful, or so all my math teachers told me. They may have been lying.

Anyway, it's a decent enough issue. Not one of my favorites, but I did appreciate the creativity in how they defeated the Swarm. And how he thwarted her attempts to talk him out of killing all humans. Though, how can a guy made of bees hear? Can bees actually understand human languages? The Swarm shifts from looking fairly ominous, especially when his face is in shadow from his hood, with just the teeth and eye holes glowing, to looking like a goof, yelling "Lalalalala I can't hear you!"  Also, the disdainful look he gives them when they try to use smoke to defeat him. Although some of those squirrels looked kind of off-model. Chompsky's ears seemed unusually long.

Galactus in a dinner jacket was a nice touch, the the fact it looks like a short bathrobe made me think he wasn't wearing pants for some reason. He clearly is, the same purple pants he always wears. Although he's more of a force of nature in a form comprehensible to humans, so the pants are really an illusion, right?

What I Bought 3/29/2016 - Part 3

I do still buy some Marvel books, despite the company making a game effort to dissuade me, so let's look at a couple of those books.

Ms. Marvel #5, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Which Kamala are you? I think I'm the kind of disheveled one on the left, who I'm guessing is struggling to get going in the morning. I identify with that struggle.

Free of all her civilian responsibilities, Kamala's enjoying super-heroing it up. Unfortunately the weird duplicates have replicated like crazy, and are causing a panic. Not that they seem to be destroying things, they're just kind of a lot of them, and they're in the way. Even the first two aren't doing a great job of covering for her. Mike seems to have discovered the problem, but there doesn't seem to be a good way to fix it in a reasonable amount of time. And time is an issue, because there's one giant Mecha-Kamala about to completely disrupt her brother's engagement party. On the plus side, the two families seem to be getting along really well, except for all the stuff with Kamala's doppelganger melting after it drank tea.

I liked the slow burn on the reaction to the melting doppelganger. the increasingly horrified expressions as we go from panel 1 to panel 2, and then the complete freakout in panel 3, then the switch to Kamala desperately trying to change to civvies across the street, only to learn she's too late. It's funny, but also a good encapsulation of the way all this is spiraling out of control. She wants to be a super-hero, but there are all these other things other people want of her, too. And she can't make herself simply ignore those people. I mean, she could do the Batman thing, and just cut everyone out of her life and be Ms. Marvel 24/7, but she doesn't want to. Plus, there's no telling how her mother would react, and that is an issue for her that the old Goddamned Batman doesn't have to consider.

Also, were those Canadian ninjas? Their headbands had maple leafs on them. Leon continues the tradition of other artists on this book of adding nice touches to panels, or maybe they're in the script. The one ninja who keeps slipping on banana peels. The doppelganger riding on top of one of Loki's golems, while wearing a tricorne hat (maybe it's a tricorne). Kamala stopping to pet a cat in the middle of the ninjas chasing her down the street. And I like how the doppelgangers' faces are drawn much more simply than everyone else's, because they're cheap copies, comparatively. And they mimic Kamala when she's around, notice the two putting a finger in one ear and their other hand to their other ear while she's doing the same on page 11.

I don't know what the fallout from all this is going to be for her. It seems like it'd be hard to salvage without something giving way. Her friendship with Nakia is looking likely to crumble, but maybe something else.

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #4, by Kate Leth (writer), Brittney L. Williams (artist), Megan Wilson (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - And this is why I don't dance in public. You try to use a bat with nails in it to clear some space to show what you got, and Hellcat comes along and kicks ya in the face.

Patsy's on to another job, this time as secretary for someone named Tara, who is friends with Howard the Duck. I don't know, I don't read that book. Howard does drop by, and I gotta tell ya, that is not what a duck's bill looks like. It's more like a tern's bill, or a Herring gull. I can see what Williams is going for trying in trying to draw a duck's bill, but it isn't really working.

Anyway, after getting herself a tattoo, of herself, on her shoulder, Patsy heads off to have her meeting with Hedy Wolfe, only to be attacked by Bailey, the girl with magic bag. A girl who has to list jaywalking as one of her crimes is no match for the high-flyin' Hellcat, and Patsy calls in Valkyrie as well, to play bad cop. This seems like the start of a good plan, but then they fly directly to Casiolena's new hideout and promptly get captured. And it turns out Casiolena promised Bailey she would help with her student loans! Wow, that's evil. Also pretty gullible on Bailey's part. No one can help you with your student loans, not even Reed Richards, who totally could have recreated the universe as a place without student loans, but was just too fucking lazy and incompetent to do so. I bet you Doom's Battleworld didn't have student loans.

No, I'm probably never going to stop taking opportunities to pin random crappy things in the Marvel Universe on Reed Richards now. It's fun!

Griping about Howard's bill aside, I do like the designs for some of the other kids Casiolena's suckered into working for her. The redheaded twins with the energy fairy wings, the green looking guy with the diamond in his chest. I imagine Megan Wilson's colors help a lot, because it makes them all very bright and distinct from each other. I have no idea if they'll work as well once violence ensues and they're in action, but that'll be a question for next issue. The art is a little clunky at times, although mostly I keep getting distracted by the fact I think Valkyrie needs either some shoulder pads or a cape again. There's just a few panels where angles or proportions seem off. Williams does pretty well when she can focus a panel on just a few elements, and draw the heck out of those.

I do hope we get to see Patsy do some private investigator work in the near future, but Leth offers at least a sort of workable explanation for Patsy pursuing other lines of work. I don't know that Patsy's ever had what you might call a normal job. Child star, model, super-hero, published a book, dead, gumshoe. I'm probably missing something, but those are not necessarily doors open to every person with powers, which is the whole point of her temp agency idea. So yeah, I guess I can wait and hope for investigating soon.