Sunday Splash Page #108

"Best Idea Cave's Had All Day," in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #3, by Gerard Way and Jon Rivera (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer)

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye was one of the initial entries in DC's Young Animal line, which may or may not still exist at the time this was posted. I don't know exactly what the goal was behind the line - a new Vertigo, maybe - but it didn't exactly seem to pan out.

At some point, Cave Carson, explorer of the subterranean world, got himself a cybernetic eye. I don't know when, exactly - he had it when he showed up in the first volume of Resurrection Man back in the '90s - and apparently it had never been explained. So Way and Rivera spent a little time on that, while also having Cave reconnect with his daughter Chloe, and having the two of them try to cope with their grief over the death of Cave's wife Mazra, who is actually the princess of an underground kingdom.

The story initially seemed like it was simply a strange cult trying to unleash something held trapped by the people of Muldroog. It seemed likely Cave, Chloe, and Cave's pal Wild Dog (who gets to fulfill the typically fun role of Character Entirely Out of Their Depth) would have to face all sorts of dangers below the Earth's surface. Then the thing that was unleashed started hopping dimensions, they chased after it, they met a living version of one of Cave's old professors, a different universe's version of Cave and Doc Magnus. It does end up giving Cave and Chloe a chance for some closure, but the second half of the book still felt like it went off the rails. A little too big or scattered.

On the other hand, it gave Oeming the chance to draw a lot of bizarre stuff, including monsters, fungus creatures, inter-dimensional travel. Filardi brings out some interesting color patterns as backgrounds for some of those pages, and in general some really vivid colors that make things pop. Things have an otherwordly or almost hallucinatory feel to them.

After this ran for 12 issues, there was a second series, Cave Carson has an Interstellar Eye, where he and Chloe travel into space, which I bought for three issues before dropping it.

Random Back Issue #8 - Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #11

Agreed. Let's all ring in the end of everything by sitting on the couch and eating chips.

This was the penultimate issue of this series, by which point it had moved way beyond where it started. From Cave and his daughter Chloe returning to the subterranean kingdom Cave's deceased wife Mazra hails from, it had turned into a chase across dimensions and alternate realities after some bizarre creature called The Whisperer, which is your standard "destroy or incorporate everything into myself" life-threatening thing.

We find out Cave's cybernetic eye was created in a partnership by another reality's Cave and Doc Magnus, and sent out to find a younger version of Cave who could meet Mazra. All so the eye can observe her and bring its recordings back to be installed in a blank Metal Man body. Sure, makes sense. Magnus insists that they didn't intend for the two to fall in love or conceive a child, but it's 'appreciated'. Very classy, Doc.

On the next page, "our" Cave tells Magnus that if he refers to his marriage or his daughter as an anomaly again, Cave will crush his throat with his bare hands. OK then.

My favorite part of this book was the odd friendship between Chloe and Wild Dog (who is apparently an associate of Cave's and got dragged into all this). The two of them are both a little out of their depth, him more than her, and I think both of them would rather than just blow things up.

 There's a race to reach some crystal that's the key to Metal Mazra beating the Whisperer, there's robot punches, and yes, there's monster snot rockets. Delightful imagery, but Oeming and Filardi's art was what kept me on this book. Stuff could look so weird and vivid, but Oeming could sell the quiet moments when they were called for. There's a nice one in here where Mazra shields them and then smiles at Cave, and he just knows that it's her inside.

[Longbox #3, 16th comic. Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #11, by Gerard Way and Jonathan Rivera (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer)

What I Bought 5/16/2018

I thought I had a decent number of comics I wanted coming out this month, but they must all be waiting until the final week to come out.

Cave Carson has an Interstellar Eye #3, by Jonathan Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I wanted to make a joke about not crossing the streams, but they aren't. More just aiming at the same point. So I got nothin'.

Cave and Professor Bartow enter the Lazer Monk's mind and learn about this Progenitor, and why the Monks and the Nejire are fighting. Because they're being manipulated by the little grey goo things. Zot somehow ate the particles from Star's implosion which are counteracting it somehow. The two factions team up and drive the goo things off-world, and Cave and the others head off into space, possibly in pursuit? Also, someone is vacuuming up the pieces of Star floating in space.

I don't know what's going on with all this. The two stories about the Progenitor, one where he gets people excited about telling stories, and another where he was only after power and ultimately was driven mad by the goo and attacked his followers, for some reason make me think of Stan Lee. Could be about most any leader or "great" man that was kind of terrible.

Maybe they're going to loop back around to this world at some point, but they weren't there long enough for me to care about anyone on either side of the conflict. And why does the grey goo, which feeds off dopamine, need them to fight and kill each other? I'm sure the Monks and Nejire could experience happy feelings in other ways. In fact, by the end of the issue, they seem to have found other ways to be happy. Too bad the goo things are mostly gone.

I enjoyed Chloe nicknaming her gun "Uncle Jack" after Wild Dog, and having his logo painted on the side. Although Oeming forgot to draw the gun in the panel where everyone attacks the goo monster. Maybe he thought the sound effects were going to cover it. The pipe still looks really dumb, although I accept I may not be open-minded enough to accept people looking bad ass with a pipe clenched between their teeth.

Filardi's color work is still lovely. The grey tones for the darker story of the Progenitor, compared to the light greens and yellows of the more pleasant version. A lot of the panels, especially those in the mind, the background's are a variety of strange designs. Reminds me of the Trapper Keepers other kids had back when I was in elementary school.

It's a pretty book, but I feel like I'm buying it just to look at the colors. Not really worth that.

What I Bought 4/20/2018

I was on the road again for most of the week, and I spent Wednesday in a town with two comic stores. Neither one of them had any of the four books I wanted that came out this week. Real letdown. Fortunately, the store here in town had two of them, so let's review.

Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #2, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I'm sorely tempted to cut the cover to pieces to assemble the, whatever it would be once I finished folding where it says to.

Cave, Chloe, and Bartrow crash land on a planet at war. The Lazer Monks, who seem to believe in the immutability of destiny and sacrifice, versus the Nejire, who are all about the chaos. The Monks think Cave is the reincarnation of their Progenitor. Cave doesn't care, but is very rude and grabby about the Monks amplifying crystals. They show him some special Chamber, as the Nejire close in, when they aren't constantly backstabbing each other.

The conflict between the two sides, as extreme versions of order vs. chaos, or self-sacrifice vs. self-interest, could be interesting. I'm not sure yet. If this thing with the Nejire constantly assassinating their leaders to claim leadership keeps going, that could get old. Sooner or later, they'll run out of guys. There's another force at work, certainly in the Nejire, probably in the Monks as well. Its motive could add something.

Cave seems like someone who has read about how to interact with people, but doesn't comprehend it. I can appreciate his disinterest in this war, but that being the case, it's not really OK to start grabbing sacred crystals of the people he declined to help. Really, it's not OK to do that without their thumbs up whether he helps or not. He's just that much of a geology nerd.

Oeming draws a lot of panels in this issue with peculiar borders. Like they're meant to be seen as carved gems, or maybe interlocking pieces. A couple of them remind me of the tail end of a trilobite, or maybe a scarab. There are also a lot of pages with some sort of design of interconnected dots and lines. Given the outer space setting, I'd figure it's meant to be a constellation, but one so massive we only see bits and pieces of it. Usually, that part stays outside of the panels, but on a couple of pages, it overlaps the panels. I don't know what that means, though. The panels in question feature the Nejire, and one of the Monks mentions that the Nejire's absolute dedication to chaos and unpredictability makes them predictable. So it's suggesting all their actions, no matter how much they might try to be chaotic, are still part of a design? Whether that's the psionic parasite Chloe and Cave found, or something else, future issues will tell?

Ms. Marvel #29, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - The Archie look is not a favorite of mine.

Kamala is an aunt, as Tyesha gives birth to a son. Kamala is very happy, and she and Red Dagger kiss, just as Bruno comes home on vacation. He and Kamala try talking, only to be interrupted by some rude new student from Connecticut, who Zoe instantly falls for. And Mike misinterprets Kamala taking Bruno's hand to help him enter the school. Because Bruno didn't contact his actual girlfriend before coming home, apparently. If he's going to be that big a putz, it's hard to sympathize with him. Everyone is having confusing feelings, and the new girl is super-strong, and possibly crazy. Almost certainly evil. Damn, she's probably a relative to that annoying HYDRA girl. Lockup, or whatever she called herself.

This might be more teenage angst and confusion than I'm prepared to handle. Or I'd already decided Kamala and Bruno should stick to being pals and date other people. Or date nobody, whichever. I'm not sure I'm supposed to find Bruno's friend Kwezi as annoying as I do. Being called "Yankee Doodle" constantly would drive me nuts, and he's going to use Bruno as a subject for his sociology thesis? Well, Kwezi must be a true friend, because he's made it possible for me to feel sympathy for Bruno again. So I guess that stuff is OK then.

It's still the little details Leon adds to some panels I enjoy most. The pigeon looking on alongside Bruno and Kwezi as they see Ms. Marvel and the Red Dagger together. The nearly infinite number of devices plugged into that one outlet in the airport.

That said, the bit where Sheikh Abdullah seems to be freaking out a Kamala's confession, only to turn out to be joking, that was good. You could see it coming, but the way Leon goes from these close-up panels of his and Kamala's anguished faces, to one of him calmly smiling and saying he'll go make tea. Herring helps by using a lot of bright red for the freakout panels, then a very placid blue for the punchline. Plus, the panel of Kamala dropping to the ground in poleaxed surprise was funny.

What I Bought 3/21/2018

Found two of the books from this week, which was one more than I thought I would. In other news, I've felt very scattered lately. Pulling in a dozen directions, and I can't decide which one to commit to. There hasn't been time to stop and figure things out. It's frustrating.

Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #1, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I think Cave may have taken the same cavalier attitude towards cosmic rays as Reed Richards did.

Cave pays a visit to a musician friend of his, who is growing at an increasing rate, and ultimately will implode. They try taking him into space to allow him to do so without endangering anyone. But Star Adam passes on faster than they expect, and they don't get far enough away from his implosion, which is going to send Cave, Chloe, and the Dr. Bartow they picked up jaunting through dimensions in the previous series across the universe.

Negative: No Wild Dog. His presence as the guy not used to all this weird crap, but with a ready-made response was one of my favorite parts of the previous series. That and his slowly-developing friendship with Chloe. He made a good sounding board for her. She and Cave seem to be getting along, so maybe she doesn't need someone to listen to her fears and resentments. Rivera did a good job of explaining a few things that carried over from the earlier run quickly, to get it out of the way. Still, once I thought about it, this issue was all just set-up to get to the point where Cave can begin to go interstellar. Which annoys me, a little.

Oeming's panel layouts and Filardi's colors made a great combo in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, and that continues here. The page where Adam tried the night pudding, and realized he had an unusual origin, Oeming draws the panels as different part of Adam's body, with the central panel focusing on Adam, who is struggling to grasp this greater self he has. Filardi makes the background a neon green web, and the panels are deep shades of blue and lavender, with Mazra's hair as this luminous silver in the panels she appears in. It's really eye-catching. And then the next page, we're back in the present, and the panels are more straightforward, but much smaller and slanted, closing in from one way or the other, Adam barely managing to squeeze in. The reality of what he learned he was, against the limitations of his surroundings and physical body. He can't fit in that reality any longer. If I stick with this book past the initial few issues, it'll probably be due to the art.

Ms. Marvel #28, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't think the outfit really works on Carol.

Naftali finds Kamala, hiding out at a private school. I thought she'd gotten herself a job. Also, I'm surprised it was that easy for her to just switch schools like that. Meanwhile, Carol Danvers and the Legion of Substitute Kamalas are trying to stop the Inventor, and doing a pretty poor job of it. Carol did not bring her "A" game today. Kamala, inspired by Naftali to not just bail when she could ask for help, returns and fights the Inventor's Mega-Reptile Zord. The day is saved, he goes to jail, she and Carol have a heartfelt conversation, and none of Kamala's friends think anything of her reappearing at school right after Ms. Marvel made her triumphant return. This is what happens when you keep cutting spending on education.

I still feel bad for the giant screaming turtle. I think it's just in a lot of pain. Turtles are not meant to be that large! I don't feel bad for the guy driving a monster truck on the boardwalk, though. I mean, what the hell are you driving that thing around in public for anyway?  But as always, the little details Leon adds are a treat. The person on the first page vaulting a car while holding their pet under one arm. The teens taking a taxi because they couldn't keep up with Carol. I also enjoy that the Inventor's creatures did the badass pose thing, and the Subs responded with their own cool, if less intimidating poses in the next panel. Just needed some random dude to yell out, "POSE-OFF!" Then get stepped on.

Also, I think Herring softens the tones on the colors for the quiet, civilian talking scenes. Or maybe it's just that people aren't wearing bright primary color superhero costumes during those scenes. But I'd swear the colors are more varied, but also just not quite as bright. More relaxed, soothing, let's you just read the words, maybe. Between this and the story about the runaway train, I've been enjoying these last couple of stories quite a bit. Nice breather from dealing with HYDRA crap.

What I Bought 9/21/2017

Just the one book this week. And there's nothing coming out next week that I want. At least things will pick up a little in October. It's not my best review, but it's what I have.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #12, by Jonathan Rivera (writer/story), Gerard Way (story), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - It's like one of those restaurant placemat mazes. Help Cave and Chloe find the path that doesn't lead to a horrible other-dimensional beast!

Cave descends to Mazra's aid, but she still can't draw power from the crystal. Because she's still incomplete. They only used Cave's memories, and she needs to remember what everyone else remembers about her. Which is how we learn Wild Dog had a demo tape, and Mazra was the only one who liked it. I actually liked that quite a bit. He wasn't just Cave's friend, he was hers, too. With a more complete sense of who she was, Mazra is able to draw on the power she needs and destroys the Whisperer, saving the multiverse. Mostly. She's going to go off and clean up the mess left behind, while Cave and his friends got an upgraded ride from Other Cave, which they might explore with a bit before they go home.

Is the "Next: Milk Wars" a joke, or will there actually be more of this book? I could understand if Oeming needs a break to get ahead of schedule, or work on other projects, or have a life outside drawing comics. I had been operating on the assumption this was it, though. On that level, it's a little undercooked. There are some ideas that might have needed more time. Cave seeing another version of himself, which helps him recognize some bad habits of his. It pops up a bit right at the end, and you could probably tie it in to his initial unwillingness to even consider the chance of meeting another Mazra during their dimensional jaunts. Not wanting to deal with emotions, not recognizing how important the idea was the Chloe and how his dismissal of it hurts her.

Maybe they're trusting us to connect the dots. But it also felt as though there was more they meant to do with the other members of the cast. They brought in Cave's old professor, Dr. Bartow, but they never did anything with him. He had a couple of comments in one issue, but other wise, he's just a figure in the background. Felt like there was more to delve into with Wild Dog, Johnny, the rest of the survivors. And if the book's returning, we'll probably get that. As it stands right now, it's lacking a bit.

I have been sitting here for like an hour, doing anything other than finishing this review because I can't figure out what to say about the art. The double-page spread of Mazra killing the Whisperer was underwhelming. I find it interesting when Oeming draws character's eyes as just two small dots. Doesn't seem to be a lack of space, or the character being placed really far away, just sometimes that's all he gives them. I did like the page where the blast from the other's weapons at the top of the page divided the rest of it into separate panels. Since that's really on color, it's a joint effort between Oeming and Filardi. They've done something similar a couple of other times, but it's a nice trick. Overall, this issue doesn't have as many of the flashier layouts that get my attention, but it's still good work. Filardi's colors have consistently brought a sense of strangeness to everything, with all these bright variable backgrounds.

What I Bought 8/17/2017

I figured I would only be able to find one of the two comics I had that came out this week. I didn't expect Cave Carson to be the one, though. I'll find this week's issue of Gwenpool eventually.

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #11, by Jon Rivera (writer/story), Gerard Way (story), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (color artist), Clem Robins (letterer) - That Javier Pulido cover, I don't know what to make of it. It reminds me of those page of cutout paper dolls. Here's the happy nuclear family, with his daughter from another reality losing her mind in the background!

Much exposition about how this other Cave Carson and Doc Magnus sent the eyes back through the crystals to find the universe the Whisperer came from before it was released, then have it bond with that universe's Cave so they could learn about Mazra, as some legend says she's the only one who can stop it. Blah, blah, fate of the universe, blah, blah, not really sorry about treating your life as an experiment, blah, blah, Chloe needs to break Magnus' nose. The Whisperer finds them, it attacks, Robo-Mazra protects them, briefly, before she's swatted into a deep abyss, but now Cave is convinced it's really her and he's going after her.

There are a few bits in here I enjoy. Wild Dog interrupting the Whisperer's speech by blowing up one of its lackeys, and Chloe's smirk as she remarks that she's sure he's smiling. Also an interesting layout on that page, with the bottom three panels laid out like in a triangle, with one big panel for the top two-thirds of the page. And the exploding head acts like one of those images with the sun shining at the peak of a pyramid. Don't know what the significance of that would be, but it was neat.

The Whisperer slows Mazra down by firing the EDX patriarch at her like a snot rocket. And it isn't one of those moments where the bad guy who thought he was a big deal realizes he's unimportant to the real big deal; the guy is totally on board with the idea. He's bought in to the point that acting as a booger bullet is fine, because he still thinks he's going to win at the end of this.

And there's a nice three-part set with Mazra within the issue. Initially Chloe is examining her and wondering if it's really her  mother, come back to her, and just barely touches her cheek before Magnus rushes in to warn about uncertain absorbent aspects. There are yellow bubbles that no one notices that drift in from the previous page, through the panel of Chloe touching Mazra, and into the one where Magnus appears. And in that one, Mazra's drawn strictly as a shadow outline, her face and eyes obscured.

Later, Mazra tries comforting Chloe, and Cave advises her to just ignore Mazra. Mazra's design includes bright yellow lines that run down her face from her eyes, so in the final panel, with those highlighted, she appears to be crying.

Finally, the Whisperer tries to smash the ship they're on, and Mazra blocks the attack, and there's one a panel of her looking at Cave and silently smiling, followed by Cave gawking at muttering to himself, 'It can't be. . .' I am entirely a sucker for those sequences where one character smiles at the other, and the character being smiled at just knows this is really them by the smile.

Overall, it's an interesting sequence, watching Chloe want to hope this could really be her mother returned to her, but the others unintentionally encouraging her doubts. And Cave still doesn't want to even consider the possibility it could really be her. And really, it can't be if it's based strictly off his perceptions and observations, how much would this version of Mazra know of what the original thought and felt? Still, Cave wasn't even willing to risk hoping, or perhaps didn't want to. Was content to wallow in his grief. And this Mazra believes she is the real deal, whether it's true or not. To see have to come to grips with all this, her family hurting and have them reject her, and still be willing and able to step up and defend them, was a well-executed.

Yeah, there were some parts of this I liked a lot, and some other bits I didn't care about as much.

Moles Aren't The Only Ones Who Use Their Tunnels

When I reviews Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #10, I joked that the cover suggested they were fighting Poison Ivy or Swamp Thing. But thinking about it some more, I think that would have some potential. It wouldn't necessarily be those two characters, but someone who considered themselves connected to the Earth. If we were opting for less antagonistic, the current Terra would be a good choice, since she's familiar with life above and below the surface, and is pretty level-headed.

Carson spent a lot of time tunneling under the Earth, going wherever he pleases, having adventures and facing danger and such. There's a lot of life under the earth's surface, a lot of ecosystems. Since Cave and his team don't always know what's up ahead, they can't always predict how their actions are going to impact things. Is there a bacteria from the surface they brought with them that nothing under ground has resistance to? Did a predator in a magma cave travel through a tunnel they created into a massive crystal cavern full or some floaty, luminescent lifeform? That's not unusual here, species finding a way to a new location because humans create a pathway of suitable habitat that ends up connecting to some distant place. Underground, especially in the early days, the crew of the Mighty Mole would have been operation almost blind. Everything they saw and met would be new, and it wouldn't be hard to screw up without realizing it.

And there's the part where IDX used Cave's travels as a jumping off point for a lot of their own exploration/exploitation of what's below the surface.

I don't think Ivy would be bothered by the tunneling per se; someone that invested in plants would know about how organisms moving through the soil help aerate it. But the likelihood of all sorts of unintended consequences from the exploring, the fact rare species might be endangered because the Mighty Mole disrupted a carefully sealed system and introduced external predators. More of humanity destroying the planet in what Ivy might see as being reckless greed. Whether that's accurate or not, and I don't think it would be for Cave, that would be Ivy's perception based on a lot of past experience.

The lack of sunlight might hinder Ivy a bit, so she might have to act against them on the surface. Either target Cave and his team during a return from a trip, or attack someone left behind to draw him up. Or maybe she could act through root systems, send those down after him.

I don't know how Cave feels about what's happened underground as a result of his crew's adventures. Obviously he wasn't pleased with IDX's actions, slaughtering the Mul'droog and releasing the Whisperer, but beyond that. . . Does he regret the exploration? It's how he met Mazra, so that's certainly a positive outcome, but how much does he know about what happened as a result of where he's been and what he's done? Does it eat at him, but he can't see a way to fix it, so that being confronted by someone accusing him of causing all kinds of harm leaves him agreeing? Or does he shrug at it as the cost of doing business? Can't explore under the Earth's crust without breaking some (incredibly rare) eggs.

What I Bought 7/27/2017 - Part 1

All three of the comics I was after this week were on the shelves at the store. Someone must have abruptly given up on Cave Carson (and also Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, but I already had that issue). I'm only reviewing one issue tonight, because it's been a long week and I'm tired. We'll get the other two Monday.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #10, by Jon Rivera (writer/story), Gerard Way (story), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - Was not expecting a Poison Ivy guest appearance. Or maybe it's Evil Swamp Thing! You'll have to read it to find out.

Cave's cybernetic eye has gone back into the socket, which means he's seeing his dead wife again. Still, he got his depth perception back, you think that'd count for something. The group is attacked by what's left of one of the crew of the other Mighty Mole, now some giant fungus/tree thing. They're saved by the son of a different universe's Cave Carson, with Cave being very excited at meeting a male child of his. Right in front of his actual daughter. Cave Carson: Continuing the long comic book tradition of scientists being shitty dads! Cave Jr. brings them to his world, where that universe's Will Magnus has his Metal Men restrain them while that universe's Cave Carson downloads everything from the cybernetic eye into a robot version of Cave's wife.

I'm sure there will be some reason for this chicanery, that Mazra is the key to defeating the Whisperer. We'll see if it works out that way. Cave insisted last issue that seeking out an alternate version of Mazra was a waste of time. She wouldn't necessarily know them, so she wouldn't feel anything for him. That was shown to be a lie in this issue, just from how excited he was to meet the son of some other version of him. So now he's confronted with one that I assume is going to be some sort of recreation of the Mazra he knew. Is this all going to turn out to be some big thing about getting Cave over his depression over the death of his wife? His eagerness to remain fixated on that is a symptom of what the Whisperer feeds off of?

Wild Dog is proving to be a much better team player than I expected of a gun-toting solo vigilante. Always seems willing to help, usually by hurting someone, but still. Chloe seems to use him as sounding board for her concerns about her father. He's out of his depth, but he hasn't backed down at any point. Although I notice his mask doesn't have that notch where he got a machete lodged in it last issue. Or did he pack a spare?

My favorite panel is the expression Chloe makes while mocking the exchange between Cave and his "son". There's a definite element of hurt behind it, plus Cave taking this proud parent approach with someone who isn't his son just begs to be mocked. On the other hand, Alternate Cave Carson's head looks out of proportion to his body on that last page. Possibly intentional - things are getting distorted over the course of this trip - but I'm not certain of that. I did also like the panel of Cave's memories of the Mighty Mole, where Oeming reduced the number of lines, simplified things a bit, the nostalgia effect. The way he drew Cave made me think of Tintin, a little bit.

As the group first comes under attack, Oeming and Filardi adds these pale green leaves encroaching from outside the panel border. They aren't part of what's going on, more like an addition to the border, but then they reappear as the group meets Cave Jr. Foreshadowing that he's a threat? The leaves reappear one more time, as Cave ends Alexa, but now they're white against an orange background. The animating force behind them is gone, they're empty now.

I feel as though the book's lost some momentum in the last few issues, but I was admittedly looking forward to more adventures under the Earth, so maybe I'm just disappointed with the universe-hopping stuff.

What I Bought 7/7/2017 - Part 1

I was at the movies over the weekend - although we won't get to the actual film until next week - and I saw the trailer for The Murder on the Orient Express. I initially thought they'd tapped Johnny Depp to play Poirot. That would have been a shitshow, just Depp mugging for the camera like a clown, though my dad's reaction when he found out might have been worth it. He's a big David Suchet Poirot fan. Anyway, here's reviews of some of the comics that arrived late last week.

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #9, by Jonathan Rivera (writer/story), Gerard Way (story), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (color artist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I went with the Michael Cho variant, not because Oeming's cover was bad, but there was a copy with the variant for a little cheaper, and it's still a good cover.

Pursuit of the Whisperer continues across worlds. Cave's eye is hiding on it, watching everything, for what purpose we still don't know. The Whisperer, through the old man it merged with, gives the usual spiel about how much better everything will be when everyone is united under it's control and guidance. Cave and the others get close of for their Mighty Mole to attach, the MM Mk 2's crew, fully on-board with the Whisperer land. There's a fight, Cave's side wins, although Wild Dog survives a freaking machete to the head, takes the Mk. 2, and get dragged into yet another world, of relative giants, one of which the Whisperer controls and uses to pluck our heroes from it's hide and flings them into the distance.

Story feels like it's playing for time. Rivera and Way threw in a few bits about the justifications the Whisperer's followers are duped into making that feel like an attempt to make a point, plus some stuff about rebooted universes and things carrying over from them, but the latter especially doesn't fit in the flow of the story. It's a big, desperate chase and then blurp, here's a page of blah-blah about rebooting universes. Even the story doesn't want to listen to it (and Wild Dog's asleep during the whole thing) because it abruptly shifts to Cave and Chloe arguing in the front seat about whether alternate universe versions of people will care about you, simply because your universe's version did. Which is a pretty dumb conversation. Why would they? You're the kid of some other me, so what? This issue is not a high point for the series from the writing side of things.

Filardi adds yellow speckles to the panels set on or around the Whisperer, or in worlds he's already affected. The characters don't interact with it or notice is, so it's more like interference on our perspective. It's over everything, but not to a distracting degree, just there, evidence of its presence, or influence. The fight scene was brief, and almost entirely focused around Wild Dog fighting that one guy, so there wasn't much sense of place or flow to it, but it's questionable how important it was in the grand scheme of things. They're ants scrabbling around on the back of a whale.

That said, the panel of a blade getting buried in the top of Wild Dog's skull was an attention-getter. For a moment, I completely bought in to the notion they'd killed him off. And the following panel, of him mocking the guy with the blade still in his head (with a background of neon concentric diamonds centered on where the blade is stuck), that worked too. It's an affecting image, even if I'd expect a lot more blood, even just a moment or two after.

Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #4, by Peter David (writer), Mark Bagley (penciler), John Dell and Andrew Hennessy (inkers), Jason Keith (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Foolish title, you can't stop those two from fighting. Don't you know you'll only wind up smashed or jumbled, like so many titles before you?

Kaine survives more attempts on his life and heads for Vegas where, in plainclothes, he's mistaken for Ben by both Aunt June and Slate, the latter is back from beating up one of the guys who tried robbing the casino. You'd think even bent cops would prefer you not rip the door off a guy's cell when you aren't supposed to be back there, but I guess there are a lot of bent cops in Vegas. Or doors fall apart quickly.

Slate drags Kaine upstairs to make "Ben" get back to work, which gives Kaine a chance to see everything Ben's up to. He winds up in Ben's lab, Ben's there, tries a sales pitch on Kaine, it doesn't work, they start fighting, including going out a window, which you'd think would attract Ms. Mercury or Slate's attention.

I thought Kaine was bigger than Peter or Ben, as a result of not being an entirely successful cloning attempt. You'd think some people would notice that, maybe not June or Mercury, but Slate, surely, from having fought with the guy a bit. But I think Kaine's died and been reborn a couple times, maybe he shrank in the cosmic laundry.

Hennessy is heavier on the inks than Dell, in that there are pages where the lines on characters' faces seem much more heavily emphasized than others. So the lines on Aunt June's face are more pronounced than they were in previous issues. Sometimes Slate's face is shaded in a way that makes the art vaguely remind me of Stuart Immonen's work. There's still a trend of characters inflicting damage to other people, and the panel being close in on the person being hurt, but very little of the character doing it is visible. So Kaine stomps a guy's hand, or kicks his face, all we see of Kaine is his foot. Which still feels like a way of implying disconnect between the act and the character. Kaine, or Ben, hurting someone, but it doesn't affect them, they don't care, it's just what they have to do (or tell themselves they have to do).

That said, I'm looking forward to what's hopefully a more extended fight sequence next issue. So far the book keeps doing these quick, one or two page skirmishes, before jumping to something else. I don't think they're strictly to keep things from getting too talky, that David and Bagley are trying to highlight some things about the participants by their actions, but it's hard to get into the flow when the fights keep ending just as they start to get interesting.

Also, in the second-to-last panel, I think Keith got it backwards and colored it in as Kaine saying, 'You wanna go? Fine.' when I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be Ben (since Ben is the one who says, "Let's go!' in the next panel.

What I Bought 5/20/2017 - Part 1

I did end up in Columbia, but at least it didn't storm. And I found three of the books from this month. Better than none. Start with the two that are still mid-storyarc.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #8, by Jon Rivera (writer/story), Gerard Way (story), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - Those look like fingerprints on the rocks. Enormous fingerprints. I have no idea if that's what's intended, or what's signified by it.

The Whisperer and his followers are moving across universes, converting people to their cause (represented by the skin at eye level being torn away and glowing blue bone and eyes revealed below). Cave and the others are trying to keep up, but are outnumbered and hole up in a universe where they find Cave's old mentor alive (albeit giving lectures to dead students). After a lot of discussion about what the Whisperer is up to, they are attacked by it and its followers, though it doesn't seem interested in finishing them off, so Cave will have the chance to deal with it.

It seems likely, given that Cave's wife is not buried in this alternate universe where she was in Cave's, that she's still alive. That Cave so adamantly denies Chloe's suggestion that maybe she is alive here only cinches it in my mind. But the refusal to consider the possibility makes sense. Cave has seized on this adventure as a way of, at best, pulling himself out of the depression he'd sunk into by way of action. It's a distraction, and encountering a living reminder of what he's trying to ignore, would make that difficult. Especially since she wouldn't be his wife, similar looking and acting and thinking perhaps, maybe even married to the cave Carson that existed in that universe, but not the same woman. And Cave couldn't stay, so what would be the point?

Granting that I don't know much about Cave's original comic adventures, it almost feels as though Rivera and Way are moving him backwards for this battle. More assertive, butting heads with this Johnny fellow from his old crew, no cybernetic eye. Chloe and Wild Dog both seem to be receding into the background a bit (Wild Dog more than Chloe, but she was closer to being a part of all this than he was). Is this Cave's chance to conclude old business that he should have finished long ago? Dealing with the Borsteins and the damage they've caused? Was it all brought about by his original explorations, and then it's reached this point because he washed his hands of it and stopped paying attention? I'm just spitballing.

Page 19 is a pretty one. Cave almost seems to have lost it, trying to yell at the Whisperer and Borstein to come out and face him as the followers swarm towards them. The lower two-thirds are set with a couple of large blue panels mirroring the eye sockets of those followers. The bottom of the page, bathed it a reddish-orange that matches what's rising from a smoking crater in the upper left corner of the page show hordes of the zombified followers, and some of them are climbing up the space between the two blue panels, to the panel above, where Cave is trying to stave them off with a flamethrower while the disembodied voice of the Whisperer/Borstein taunts him, by telling him he wouldn't want to leave cave all alone. So as you read that, your eye follows the fire of the explosion down the page between the blue panels, to the army below. And the blue panels show Cave looking downward towards the army, refusing to leave, while Chloe tries to get him and a wounded Wild Dog the hell out of there.

The specific way 'We. Are. Leaving!' is written there makes me think it's a reference to 'Marines! We Are Leaving!' from Aliens, but maybe not. Not that uncommon of a thing to say. It would fit, in the sense Cave staying to try and get revenge or strike back somehow is futile and getting their wounded to safety and regrouping is the best option.

Still enjoying Filardi's colors and what they add to Oeming's art. The Whisperer being this mess of bright orange and maroon tentacles and shapes, the neon green of the Mole's cockpit. And in general, I think his use of color helps to guide the eye through some of the more unusual panel layouts. I'm sure that's a collaborative effort from all parties, but it wouldn't work if Filardi's colors didn't grab the eye and draw it where it needs to go.

Copperhead #13, by Jay Faerber (writer), Drew Moss (artist), Ron Riley (colorist), Thomas Mauer (letterer) - I bet that guy got those horns stuck on a lot of stuff when he was a kid. Unless they don't develop until his species hits maturity.

The sheriff didn't actually quit, because she's still investigating. The Mayor was sleeping in the guest room in his house, because he was carrying on an affair. By the time Clara tracks down the other woman, she's dead the same way as the former Mayor. Current Mayor Boo is trying to keep Mr. Hickory calmed down, as it's hard to tell which of them is successfully manipulating the other. The dangerous criminal guy is still trying to make it to Copperhead. I'm guessing he'll show up sometimes at the very end of next issue.

I kind of wish this felt like more of genuine mystery I could be trying to solve. Maybe it's supposed to be, but it seems more likely (and the cover for the next issue being on the back cover of this issue doesn't help) like Ishmael is going to show up with a name of a killer for the Sheriff, she's going to go find the killer, there'll be a fight, it'll end somehow, that's about it.

Also, having Clara do the big "I Quit!" at the end of last issue, then immediately opening this one with her still investigating and having very much not quit, feels cheap. I didn't expect she'd stop investigating, but why try for that as your cliffhanger, and then blow it to hell on page 2 of the next issue? It feels like Faerber wasn't even really trying to for any suspense himself, so what's the point?

That complaint aside, there are pieces moving here I find interesting. This interplay between Boo and Hickory (and how Clara's going to fit into it). The Sheriff now owing a favor to Madame Vega. It feels like this thread with the escaped con has been going on forever, but I am curious to see exactly what his backstory is with the Sheriff, since it doesn't feel as simple as her having arrested him, or him being her son's father. And this murder mystery could play out in a cool way, it just hasn't been great so far. No particular reason to care about the now former Mayor, since he hadn't appeared at all prior to his death.

The complaint I've had about Moss not giving Boo the proper size, well I'm still not sure about Boo, but he drew the head of the Mayor's security large enough. Properly conveying size, making Clara's complete indifference to his attempts at intimidation more effective. Sometimes Moss nails the body language; some of the panels of Clara glaring. The one where she mutters to herself about everyone making things difficult while she talks to Madame Vega. There was a certain tiredness to that one, maybe because vega and Clara's panels are drawn so the two are in opposition, and Vega is drawn standing ramrod straight, while Clara seems somewhat hunched over, actually probably leaning against the fish tank behind her). It's a less aggressive approach than with the security guard, but she was hoping things were going to go smoother here.

Moss does seem to struggle with lips. The Sheriff's lips sit really oddly on her face in a lot of panels, usually when Moss is going for some more quizzical or disgusted expression. He gives her fuller lips than Godlewski did, and the coloring of them is darker, makes them stand out more. There's just certain panels where it looks like some attached lips the way you do on a Mr. Potato Head which is not ideal.

What I Bought 5/3/2017 - Part 2

I got a good chuckle at Marvel doing a press release asking fans to just be patient with Secret Empire. Aw, is Nazi Captain America not proving to be a big seller? Boo-hoo. Best news I saw all last week, low bar that that was.

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #7, by Jon Rivera and Gerard Way (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - Superman trying very hard to ignore the look Cave's giving him there. Or keeping an eye out for flocks of migrating waterfowl.

We see the story of Cave and his crew saving Superman sometime in the past. Or a version of the story, since the Whisperer is in Cave's head, trying to destroy him with all his doubts and fears. But the Superman in Cave's memories emerges to help him fight and Cave wakes up. Minus an eye, back on the surface, the Whisperer seemingly having destroyed everything.

Probably my least favorite issue to date. Just not a huge fan of these trips through a character's self-pity, although I was intrigued by the actual memories we caught glimpses of as Cave was being "digested". The one of Cave pointing and yelling at Superman for one. But otherwise, eh, not much there for me. These stories about how much Superman can inspire others are OK, but I've seen others I thought worked better. That one issue of Hitman, obviously, but also an issue of The Ray back in the day. It seemed primarily a way to put Cave out of commission long enough for him to wake up and learn the situation has gone entirely to Hell.

I notice that even in Young Animal line of books, Superman can't get his trunks back as part of his costume. Ah well, maybe in that new, "mature" line DC announced. Dark Matter? I like that panel of the lemur holding the piece of Kryptonite between its teeth. Between its intense look, the swirly lines projecting outward from it for emphasis, and the strange background Oeming and Filardi draw, its a real attention-getter. Kind of a strange choice, but this is also Cave's memories, which are also being warped, so maybe that explains. Also liked the page of Superman rescuing Cave from the Whisperer, the way most of the panels are drawn so we're seeing things from the angle the monster would. So most of it is shadowy tentacles, and Cave's a mostly featureless figure in the background, stumbling around lost and defeated, while Superman tries to protect him until he can pull himself together. And the first panel looks a bit like Superman tore him free of the previous page (the monster's wound resembles a torn page).

Superman gave Cave a chance to bow out, be taken to a place he'd never be hurt again, but opted to re-enter the story. We'll see how that works out for him.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #19, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Henderson going old-school with a cover involving fighting gorillas.

Melissa talks a bunch of shit about how smart she is and how she's going to control everything and how Squirrel Girl is a dope for trying to help people and therefore no threat. Then she uses Pym Particles to shrink down the device she built to help her control animals remotely and has cockroaches install it in her ear. That scene just reminded me of the scene with the ear parasite thing from Wrath of Khan, which I could do without. Doreen's attempt to stop Melissa is thwarted by a combination of bears and a teleporter, and now Melissa is going to attack New York with mosquitos, but blame it on Dr. Doom. Which seems like the sort of thing that might get the good Doctor feeling murderous, but oh well.

Well, North is certainly doing a good job making Melissa a thoroughly unlikeable character we will be excited to see defeated. Heck, I was ready for it last issue, and I still think Doreen should exploit the flaw in Melissa's plan where it requires her thoughts to control the animals, meaning if you punch her hard enough to mess with her brain, she ain't controlling shit. Concuss her like you play on the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense, Doreen! Or fine, any NFL defense. Don't want to offend the no doubt legions of Steelers' fans who read the blog.

The bears in their various get-ups are adorable, although I question making a bear a medical professional. Although with the changes to health care in danger of being enacted, having a bear for a doctor may be the most economically viable option for several people. Unfortunately. And I have to say, even without the glider wings, I like the new costume for Doreen. More than the one she got with the skirt at the start of this volume. Granting that many squirrels do have grey fur, it doesn't seem like a great color for a superhero costume. Oddly, brown doesn't bother me as much on that score, and the blue squirrel head symbol (although it seems awfully pointy for a squirrel, more like a fox) adds a nice bit of color. Overall, the costume is just sleeker. I doubt she'll keep it going forward, having been a poisoned chalice from a villain, but it's a solid design nonetheless.

I don't know how Squirrel Girl is going to stop mosquitoes, unless she learn to talk to bats (and white nose syndrome hasn't devastated their numbers too badly), but I'm excited to find out.

What I Bought 3/25/2017 - Part 2

More comics. In both these books, things aren't looking too great for the heroes by the end of the issue. Oh well, it's only a middle chapter, there are still opportunities to turn things around.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #18, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Everyone is always hunting Squirrel Girl and trying to put her on the wall. Kraven, that crazy cosplayer lady, now Melissa.

Doreen is really enjoying her flying suit, even offering to get ones for Koi Boi and Chipmunk Hunk. Nancy on the other hand is not convinced of Melissa's benevolence and quickly sniffs out that she is a one of those villains who conquers the world because she thinks she can save it, or rule it properly. And she uses the super-cheap electronic tags her company produces to control all sorts of animals, giving her an army of them.

One problem I had with this is, when Melissa's threatening to sic the rats on the squirrels, she's still standing right there in front of a super-strong person. Doreen, just jump forward and punch her in the face really fucking hard. I know this is not how problems are typically solved in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, but some people are asses and need to get punched. I don't think Melissa is the sort of character who will be OK if her plan proceeds without her. Maybe we'll learn different in the next issue, but my interpretation is her ideology boils down to thinking she's better than everyone else and that's why she should be boss. Folks like that are not prepared to risk dying for the cause, because how are they gonna benefit if they're dead? So punch her hard enough to make her worried about that possibility.

Not really the right attitude to have for reading this particular comic, I know. Should have saved that for the book below. I wonder if Alfredo the Chicken and Chef Bear will make a surprise return at the end of this story to help Doreen? I just know Chef Bear is good on the inside.

Henderson draws Melissa more from a middle distance and at eye level up to the point where Nancy sees through her lies and Doreen takes them out the window. After that Melissa is drawn either from a lower angle, so we're looking up at her, or she's drawn looking downward, even if not necessarily at the reader. And she's much closer to us, dominating the panels she's in. If she and Doreen share a panel, Melissa is always positioned as dominant, looking down, Doreen looking up. It's good, solid work. Also, I still really like the Flying Squirrel Suit design. Pity its creator was evil.

Renzi used a lot of purple in the backgrounds this issue. The sky is purple, a lot of the windows seem to be purplish, and he uses it for the background in a lot of the close-up panels once they're outside. I think it gets darker over the course of the issue as well. Makes sense with the situation getting worse, plus it's getting later into the night, so it's also appropriate from that perspective.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #6, by Jon Rivera and Gerard Way (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (color artist), Clem Robins (letterer) - All right, which one of you darn kids broke my window? I bet it was the guy in the mask. Who do you think you are, that one kid from the Mighty Ducks movies?

Cave and the others are too late to stop the release of the Whisperer, which merges with the elder head of EDX. Cave's attempt to kill the creature by ramming the Mole into its face comes up short, as they are confronted with a giant floaty brain. At which point Cave's cybernetic eye leaps out of his head and skitters away.

All this freaking out over one giant, floating brain. Where's the Star Fox team when you need them? They'd take this guy out and make it home for breakfast.

Cave, Wild Dog, and Chloe also drank the psychedelic night pudding to protect their minds from the Whisperer, which gives Filardi a chance to have some fun with the colors. The neon green he uses for the lighting inside the Mole, or the rainbows erupting from the guys Chloe shot. The red lines radiating out from Mad Dog's head, him as a source of violence, bringing death like the Sun brings light. I notice the current boss of EDX, son of the man now merged with a giant brain, was holding a bowl of something that also looked like night pudding. Is he also trying to keep his head clear. He certainly didn't look very happy for a man proclaiming victory, although he was pretty excited about the giant, floating brain. The sequence where Cave's eye deserts him is drawn as three panels that form a wide-eyed grinning face. Hard to make a guy's eye jumping bloodily out of the socket more disturbing, but that managed it. Nice work, Mr. Oeming.

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 1

It's new comics day, but for now, I'm looking at a couple of books from last month I finally acquired. There'll be a couple more Friday, and by Monday I'll review what I picked up today.

JLA Rebirth: The Ray, by Steve Orlando (writer), Stephen Byrne (artist/colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - I picked this cover because I thought it looked a little cooler, but something's off about how the helmet sits on his head. I think it's that it stops partway on the bridge of his nose. Also, his hand is a little large compared to his head, isn't it?

Ray spent his childhood indoors, away from light, until finally getting fed up and running away from home. He accidentally hurts some people when his powers flare up, so after that he spends years wandering the globe invisibly, until he finds his one childhood friend (who he's been telling this whole story via letters), now a politician, and short an eye thanks to Ray's powers, under attack by some evil so-called patriot with a shield. How HYDRA Cap made it to the DCU will have to be answered another day, because Ray saves the day, and decides to live his life and be a hero. Oh, and he is gay now, which is kind of what I expected after it was announced that would be the case with the version appearing on the CW. It's fine, doesn't alter the core of Ray's character, so whatever works.

I'm going to have to think about whether this version of Ray Terrill has a sadder origin than the pre-Flashpoint version did. The part where he spends years wandering the Earth, forming a negative opinion of humanity while observing it invisibly is definitely not cheerful. On the plus side, no sign of Happy Terrill and his Silver Age Superman style of parenting.

But it might have been good to see more of Ray being a hero and helping people. We're supposed to believe Batman would recruit this guy to be part of a Justice League, after all. Or maybe Orlando intends to cover that in the zero issue of the upcoming Justice League series. The fact Ray takes hope from his friend not letting one awful incident ruin his life, and decides to be an active participant, rather than an invisible observer, is not a bad ending. Ray quoting the Silverblade movie he watched on TV as a kid when he steps up to fight was a cute touch.

Stephen Byrne's work reminds me a little of Phil Noto's in the faces, but Byrne's work has more sense of motion to it than Noto's. The book is colored dark right up to the point where Ray embraces his powers and steps up to save Caden. All the scenes are at night, but even beyond that, shadows overwhelming everything. But Ray is sad, or lost, and either hiding or being hidden up to that point, so it fits. Somehow Byrne made Ray's haircut look even sillier than it did back in the '90s, though, which is impressive. This hasn't decided me on whether to buy Orlando's Justice League series or not, so indecision still reigns. 

Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #4, by Gerard Way and Jonathan Rivera (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - That's not a bad cover. The giant eye within the world. What's the significance of the two cities on opposite sides, or was Oeming just aiming for symmetry?

Cave and the others explore what's left of the underground kingdom, and then Wild Dog nearly kills himself because of something emanating from behind a door Chloe briefly unlocks. The recovery team in the Mighty Mole Mk. II show up, and most of them promptly get slaughtered by those crazy green guys. Our heroes reach a sanctuary, where Cave gets to tell the in-laws their daughter is dead. Meanwhile, Evil Corporate Guy has people draining a fluid from Old Drippy Fungus Man. I prefer to say draining to "milking", which is the word they use, and which makes me slightly nauseous.

I'm not sure where this is going to go. The mysterious door that causes suicidal hallucinations seems like it will be important later, but given the threat they seem to be facing, I'm not sure how. Paul doesn't seem likely to come to them, and I can't see the people being altered by the fungus juice as susceptible to the effect. Not sure what'll end up happening with Mazra's parents. I imagine things are going to be awkward between them and Cave, and I'm guessing there'll be some expectations they have for Chloe that are going to cause conflicts. But who knows what direction Way and Rivera will opt for? That's a major draw of the book for me, that lack of familiarity I have with the characters, the setting, the writers' tics. We're early enough the possibilities are wide-ranging, and that helps me get excited.

Oeming's art felt variable in this issue. Strong on some pages, weaker on others. Some of the faces were strange at times. But overall he and Filardi are maing a good team. The page of Cave going to explore the reservoir/fountain, where Filardi colors the arc of the glowstick as Cave tosses it looked very nice. I think they might be overusing the bit where at least half of Cave's face is in shadow, and the cybernetic eye is glowing out of it. It is very effective at making it appear something alien that doesn't belong there, though. I did enjoy the very satisfied smirk Chloe gets when she meets some inhabitants of Mul-Droog. And the effect when Chloe releases the lock on the door, and the glyphs on it drift down into the next panel where they start to work on Wild Dog's mind. There's actually a lot of panels and transitions in this issue I like, though there are times I start to lose track of which way to go one the page. Overall, the mixed bag is much more good than bad.

What I Bought 12/21/2016 - Part 2

Let's go with a couple of books full of giant, hideous monsters, to properly honor the holiday season. I have one other comic from last week besides these two. I'll do that Wednesday, hopefully along with some of the books from this week (there are supposed to being coming out I'm interested in).

Locke & Key: Small World, by Gabriel Rodriguez and Joe Hill (storytellers), Jay Fotos (colorist), Robbie Robbins (letterer) - Giant spiders menacing a quaint house? Feels like something out one of those '50s horror comics, or maybe Marvel's early '60s sci-fi.

This story is set in the early 20th Century, and revolves around a special dollhouse. You can use it to see where anyone is in the Locke house at any time, and if you tamper with things inside the dollhouse, it happens in the real house, done by a giant version of whatever you stuck in there. Like a hand, or a pencil. Or a spider that wanders in. And since the story is set a century before the events from the original series, given the Lockes tumultuous history, it's uncertain who might not survive.

It's a decent little done-in-one. I think you could follow what's going on without having read any of the earlier stories. It's just Hill and Rodriguez taking the opportunity to play in the sandbox they created some more. There's a lot of open ground unexplored, so here's one little thing that happened in the past. Inessential, but enjoyable.

Rodriguez is an excellent artist. The initial sequence establishes the rules of the dollhouse, the critical presences of both the family cat and the spider, and some of the personality traits of the family. The way Mary sees the dollhouse and is immediately planning mischief, while the younger sister Jean, is looking on with wonder and curiosity, but no real grasp of how it works. And their dad is there, prattling on about how it will allow the girls to understand their housecleaning duties in their, quote, 'natural empire'. Nice touch that when he's talking about that, Rodriguez draws him by himself in the panels, then switches to the two sisters talking between themselves about how they intend to use it. It sets the tone for the impending disaster. And in the panel when that disaster starts, Rodriguez gives Jean this great look. That look of excitement about something that has completely shoved everything else out of her mind. And Fotos uses the same red for the sunset in the background behind that he does for the spots on the spiders. And the way things are placed, Jean splits the red into two halves, like eyes. Nice touch all around.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #3, by Gerard Way and Jon Rivera (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - Cave trying to classic, "Angry Dad Finger" to stop the monster. Sadly, this technique is less effective than the "Angry Mom Finger".

Cave, Chloe, and Wild Dog tunnel into the earth to try and escape the strange monster pursuer. Then they're nearly eaten by giant worms. They escape that, and take some time to try and talk,as it turns out Chloe didn't know her mother was the princess of a subterranean empire. In the meantime, EBX has sent a mission to track them down, and the company's owner's father is up to something. Also, he may be made of goo.

I laughed at Chloe complaining to her father that Wild Dog nearly blew her up, only for Wild Dog to remember he hadn't finished blowing up her car yet and taking care of that. Just the way he can't pass up the chance to blow shit up. It's weird, but I think Wild Dog is more the everyman in this scenario than Chloe, who at least knows some stuff about the landscapes they're moving through. I'm curious if Way and Rivera will spend time fleshing out the team chasing our heroes, either to make us care about them (if there's a team-up down the line) or hate them. They're mostly cardboard puppets at this point, so we'll see.

I'm always a sucker for pages that are set-up largely without panels, just the characters moving across it to guide our eyes, and there's a couple of those here with the Mighty Mole tunneling through the earth. Those are nice. But I actually really like a pair of pages when they stop to catch their breath. Each has one panel at the top, establishing location and which characters are involved, then three panels across the middle, and one more at the bottom where the view pulls back and the conversation concludes. The first one is between Cave and Wild Dog, Cave explaining why Chloe might be angry about encountering giant worms, and in the three center panels, Wild Dog is progressively more in shadow as we move across. I'm not sure if it's so we focus on Cave, who is having to face past decisions that have led to current crises, or to emphasize Wild Dog being disappointed in Cave. They're at a distance in the panel at the bottom of the page, but it sure looks like Wild Dog turned away from him.

The next page, Cave tries to explain why Chloe wasn't told the truth about her mother. In this case, Chloe gradually turns towards Cave as the center panels progress, and rather than the eye remaining static, it moves in closer to focus on their expressions. It ends focused mostly on Chloe as she stalks away, leaving Cave sitting alone. It's interesting the first page is dominated by the reddish-pink colors and the panels are very rectangular. The second page, the reddish-pink is gradually overwhelmed by that green and black, and the panels are drawn more like entrances to caves, where the borders are formations reaching from the ceiling or floor.

So far Way, Rivera, Oeming, and Filardi continue to entertain and so I continue to stick with the book.

What I Bought 11/22/16

So hey, here's that book I decided to start buying last week! I saw some of the first issue on Scans Daily and decided it was worth looking in to.

Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #1 and 2, by Jonathan Rivera and Gerard way (writers), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (color artist), Clem Robins (letterer) - That is still a mouthful of a title. Also, it's never a good thing when you reach the end of a tunnel and find a giant eye.

Eileen, who was the princess of a subterranean kingdom and married to Cave Carson, has died. Cave is struggling to deal with what to do next, when he's visited by a member of that kingdom. Who is badly wounded, and then turns into a fungus monster. And it turns out Cave's boss may have something to do with this, and he's definitely trying to abduct Chloe, Cave and Eileen's college-age daughter. So Cave steals the Mighty Mole again (although there's a new version in development I'm sure will come into play), and with the help of Wild Dog of all people, attempts to save Chloe. Except the people chasing her also turn into fungus monsters.

I was glad to see Chloe and Cave have a reasonably good relationship. I was worried this was going to be one of those things were the father was a distant authoritarian and his kid hates him. Cave seems like he might have been a less-than-spectacular dad - that bit about awarding her meaningless ranks to produce greater effort was stupidly blunt - but he does seem to care about her, and she cares about him. Even if it seems like she's downplayed how much training she really got. Either that, or the training is working on a subconscious level she isn't aware of.

In addition to Wild Dog being a friend/mechanic/sounding board for Cave, Doc Magnus also showed up as the guy Cave goes to for getting that cybernetic eye. The Metal Men were there, not doing anything, just chilling. Magnus seems to be revamped to be sort of hipper, wearing the shirt of a sergeant in the Army unbuttoned and with goggles pushed back up on his forehead. Don't know if the Doc will pop up again or not.

There's these faint circles in the backgrounds for a lot of the panels. In the green circle  around the panel where Cave details all the things his cybernetic eye told him about Chloe. Or on the next page, in the light shining through the diner windows to the street outside. And sometimes when a character is shown only in outline a shadow form, there are the little circles, but not always. I'm not at all sure what those are about, it seems like some distinct stylistic choice Filardi is making, but hell if I can parse what it means. There are a lot of colors in this - I think meant to represent the eye seeing things in spectrums outside visible light - that make me feel like I need 3-D glasses. There wasn't some sort of promotion involving those was there?

There are also some panels where character's eyes have peculiar shading in them, or they're empty dark voids. Probably significant, but also possibly an error, or just meant to be lighting. It's early days for the book, I can't rule anything out yet.

One of the things that convinced me to give the book a whirl was Oeming's art, though I wasn't paying enough attention to the credits when looking online to notice it was him. I just noticed the art reminded me a little of Darwyn Cooke's and I figured that worked pretty well for me. The two-page splash on pages 2 and 3 of the first issue is a nice peice of work, showing Cave's progression from Eileen's funeral to his empty home. The movement of the action -Cave walking left to right across the top as he exits the cemetery to his car, then driving back to the left across a background of a map towards a highway. Then a panel moving down the page at the far left of Cave on that busy highway, with a couple of panels of him calling into a talk radio show. Then him walking into his house, then down into his basement lab, which takes us to the bottom of the page as he gradually reaches his chair. And the fact the dialogue balloons get fewer and farther between as we move through the page, signifying the loneliness he's descending into it (add in how disconnected he is from any of the stuff being said to him, there's no reaction shown at all.) Also, Oeming uses a much thinner line when Cave starts seeing Eileen through the cybernetic eye from the rest of the art in the issue.

Anyway, there's mysteries afoot, and I do enjoy the potential of a good mystery, so I'm on board for a little while, at least.