The Night's Getting Complicated

(Delusional) men want to be him, (delusional) women want to be with him.

Batman '89 is set maybe a year after Batman Returns. Batman is still at it, but seems to have settled back into "urban legend" status among some people, as there is surprise when a man in a costume breaks up an attempt to steal armored cars with a heavy duty Soviet helicopter. Batman and Commissioner Gordon still work together (though they've abandoned the Bat-signal for communication), but there are forces against it. Bullock is leading a push from within the police, and Gordon's daughter Barbara, now a sergeant, is trying to help D.A. Harvey Dent oust Gordon and expose the gang of Batmen (Dent's convinced it can't be one guy.)

Sam Hamm throws a lot of stuff in here. Harvey Dent, caught between what's right and his own aspirations, between his upbringing in Burnside and the expectations the elite (white) circles have for how a black guy acts and behaves. Batman encounters a young man wearing a cloak and covering his face, who protects the historically black neighborhood of Burnside (and kicks Batman in the face when he pursues a guy who ultimately stole diapers and baby formula for his sister.) Catwoman pops up, having been busy with her own business over the last year, but eager to pick things up with Batsy where they left off. Batman's eager for that, too, but always the reservations about some moral issue or another.

Quinones' Bruce Wayne is bigger and definitely fitter than Michael Keaton, but you can see some similarities, especially in the facial expressions. Hamm writes a Batman who is really morally inconsistent. He admits he chased the diaper thief because he was bored, and has no comeback when Selina points out he never investigates the guys Bruce Wayne has lunch with (there's a whole subplot about the armored car heist really being about some subpoenaed documents, not the $31 million.) Which is strange, because Bruce clearly did research on Max Schreck in Batman Returns when they were possibly going to work on that deal for the power plant.

But this Bruce Wayne doesn't seem to do any philanthropy work, no employment programs for ex-cons or encouraging education in economically depressed until he feels guilty about the thief being killed because the National Guard tried killing Batman. It's the young man, Drake Winston, who points out he needs to give people something inspiring. Also, Bruce takes the moral high ground with Selina, that he's not a killer, but the very first issue says one of the guards of the armored car died when the cars were dropped because Batman caused the helicopter to crash. Is he just ignoring that, or blaming it on the guys who were pulling the heist?

The story revolves around choices about who you are. What do you believe in, and whether you stick to that or abandon it in favor of expediency or, well, whatever. You can always find an excuse. Gordon feels he failed because at the end of the day, he relied on a vigilante to try and preserve law and order. It cost him his daughter, and ultimately his job (although Police Commissioner feels like being a professional sports coach: You're there to be fired, eventually.) Drake believes in trying to protect his neighborhood, that cops and other people of authority can't be trusted, but ultimately is willing to work with Batman, at least temporarily, to try and save lives.

Dent? Dent talks a good game. Talks about how giving a speech back in his old neighborhood acknowledging inequality felt good, or right, while in the next breath commenting on how many doors it seems to have opened for him. He does rush into a burning building intending to save Drake, but his fever dreams are everyone praising him for it. Drake admitting he was wrong about Dent being a cop, Dent becoming Governor, Bruce Wayne admitting he funded the Batmen. It's not enough to do the right thing, he has to benefit from it. So when he doesn't, it's easy to blame everything on chance and abdicate responsibility for his actions, even when he goes against what the coin says.

Hamm uses the classic bit of Two-Face liberally interpreting the outcome of the coin flip, where he's talking to the crime bosses and when Falcone mouths out, Two-Face decides the good head means a nice thing for Gotham, and shoots Falcone. Quinones uses a lot of split panel layouts as Harvey becomes Two-Face, showing different outcomes on either side. Or he'll start a row of panels with a profile shot of the scarred side as Harvey threatens a crooked politician, and end the row with a profile shot of the unscarred side as Falcone reminds him of all the times he failed to stop the mob through the courts.

I don't know about Bruce. Like I said above, there's a lot of hypocrisy in him, a sense that sometimes this isn't even about any vow to his parents, but just him enjoying being Batman. He mentions to Alfred that he's always told himself if he was doing more harm than good, he'd stop. Is he the right person to measure that? Maybe, ultimately, it's being Batman that matters most and everything else is sacrificed on that altar.

Selina's probably the one most at peace in her own skin. She's apparently formed a one-woman company that deals with computer security, although a lot of the issues appear to be things she started that let her bug the cops' files. But she uses it to dig into the rot in Gotham, which is something that matters to her, destroying the Schrecks who grind people under their heels. She helps Batman, makes her interests clear, but she isn't willing to compromise who she is to fit into the moral framework he tries to impose. And the mini-series ends with her offering Barbara some explosive evidence, anonymously, as "Oracle", and offering the possibility of a team-up.

So I guess the next mini-series will reveal which way Barbara went, although he willingness to meet with Two-Face and try to arrest him sends a pretty clear signal what matters to her.

What I Bought 8/31/2019 - Part 1

The last week of August was the biggest of the month for me in terms of comics. Which, granted, means 4 books, but combined with 2 comics from earlier in the month, equals a decent haul. So let's get to business.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11, by Tom Taylor (writer), Juann Cabal (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - So is that one of Peter's regular costumes, or did MJ have one specially made? I feel like one Peter's been wearing wouldn't fit her that well.

While Peter sleeps off fighting a damn troll, Mary Jane goes about her business of helping people out. Which means taking May shopping for wigs, I'm assuming her hair fell out from chemotherapy. Then the subway train she's riding crashes into another troll. One dressed like a refugee from an '80s aerobics video. OK, sure. One of the backup dancer, er, aerobics people in Volstagg's Sweatin' to the Oldies, no doubt.

That is not a pleasant image. Frickin' brain.

MJ remains calm, helps people evacuate, keeps the troll occupied until Miles Morales Spider-Man shows up, distracts it long enough he can deck it, and then brings Peter some pizza for when he wakes up. A simple done-in-one, which is why I picked it up, since that was what I enjoyed most in the first six issues. And I liked this. I like Mary Jane being calm under fire, because she's had to deal with a lot of crap, and that she encourages May to buy lots of wigs, rather than just one. Although I agree with peter, why does someone need more than one hairstyle? At this point, I'd be content having enough hair to consider having more than one.

Cabal gives MJ some interesting expressions, in a good way. Really good at capturing that way people will hold their mouth in an odd position while they're concentrating on something. I feel like he overplays her cheekbones about half the time. Like you could scrape cheese on those things. Still not a huge fan of his fight scenes, not that he has much of a chance to do anything for this one. It's really more about what she's doing while Miles is dodging around the troll, but I find the action kind of flat until the knockout punch. That was a decent full-page splash.

Dial H for Hero #6, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - I've never received a "new phone, who dis?" text message.

Lots of people in Metropolis dialed "H" for hero and now there are tons of people with superpowers just running around like headless chickens. Summer transformed into LoLo Kick You again - looking more Mike Allred-ish most of the time - trying to keep things under control, but is hopelessly outnumbered. Also, there's a plane full of superpeople about to crash. There's always a plane about to crash in Metropolis.

Meanwhile, in the Heroverse, Miguel won't dial H on a damn blue - sorry cyan - dial to become an inspirational hero who can show those others how it's done. Because he thinks he can't inspire. But he can and does, and the plane is saved. But Mr. Thunderbolt's still on the loose with the red (magenta?) H-dial, and there are three more in total he needs to do something to the multiverse. Goddamnit, this is the fucking power ring emotional spectrum rainbow all over again.

Yes, I know, yellow, cyan, and magenta are the three real primary colors used in printing, but man, I did not need this story getting even more meta.

Miguel's arc gets a bit of resolution here, in that he stops worrying so much about whether the dial or other people think he can be a hero, or if it's even worth trying, and just does it. Of course, there's still the part where Mr. Thunderbolt tricked him and got the dial, but he's hopefully begun to address the underlying problem Thunderbolt exploited in the first place. Summer, I'm less sure about. She seems to be looking for a place where she can figure out what she wants, instead of carrying the weight of other's failures and disappointments. Not sure that's been resolved, other than Miguel doesn't seem to do that.

Quinones is playing at a lot of different styles, as basically every hero is done in a different one. I can't even begin to recognize them all, or even most. It works so that the characters feel like they're sharing the same space and interacting, rather than feeling posed around each other. And the part where the pages of Miguel's internal struggle are overlaid on what Summer's dealing with, so that we only get hints of the insanity she's facing, was a nice touch. Even if watching Miguel angst is not the most fascinating experience.

What I Bought 8/3/2019 - Part 1

It's weird seeing people on Twitter going on about feral hogs all of the sudden. They were becoming unpleasantly common down in the boonies where I worked a few years back, and killing them all is no easy task since they breed a lot and they're fairly smart.

Last month's books, last month's books! For today, we're looking at a couple of books on their 5th issue, both of them might be in danger of falling off my buy list.

Magnificent Ms. Marvel #5, by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung (penciler/inker), Juan Vlasco (inker), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I initially thought that symbol on her knee was a gear of some kind, and I couldn't figure why they'd go steampunk with her costume design.

Kamala and both sides of the civil war have united to fight the Beast Legions, but they're going to lose unless Kamala can get inside the Great Machine (which none of the locals can manage) and use it to turn the tide. The Machine is left over from the original savior of the world, who was some roaming Kree soldier. She decided the planet wasn't fit for colonizing, but didn't slaughter the natives anyway, which is unusually generous for the Kree. Since Kamala's sort of Kree, she can use it to destroy the uninhabited spaceship that creates the Beast Legions. And she gets a new nanotech costume that responds to her thoughts. Yes, like a symbiote. No way that goes badly.

She and her parents are returned home, and the guy who does it goes ahead and pulls the old mindwipe on her parents, so they don't remember the trip or that Kamala is a superhero. Well, hell, Wilson never did anything with that reveal anyway, and I guess Ahmed doesn't want to, either. But since it seemed like a big part of this story was both Kamala's parents knowing, and getting to see their daughter in action first hand, wiping the information from their minds makes the whole thing seem like a waste of time. Which is not really the impression you want me to have coming off your opening story arc?

The new costume is. . . OK, I guess. I wouldn't call it good, or an improvement by any stretch, but it's not eye-searingly bad. There are unnecessary lines on it, in the red V-neck part, and on the blue where extends down her upper leg. Reminds me unpleasantly of all those redesigns Jim Lee did for the Justice League back when the New 52 started. Superman with the high collar and the Flash with visible seams all over his outfit. I don't think her costume needed more pointless detail. And the scarf now appears to have daggers on the ends? I hope we're not going to see her start stabbing people with them. I don't need Kamala putting in her resume for the Savage Avengers.

Dial H for Hero #5, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Scott Hanna (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - That is the weirdest eye booger I've ever seen. He might want some eyedrops.

Miguel chases after Mr. Thunderbolt through the origin stories of several heroes, until they encounter The Operator. Thunderbolt gives them both the slip, and Operator (who is Robby Reed) explains how he got here, trying to find the source of the H-Dial's powers. Which exists beyond the Speed Force Wall, which is a thing, apparently? While the Operator wastes time trying to explain to Miguel what a hero's origin really is, Mr. Thunderbolt is busy using the dial to give every person in Metropolis the chance to have powers, which he believes is only proper and right. This happens just as Summer arrives - in the Supermobile - hoping to get Superman's help.

Summer getting lost and ending up in Gotham while trying to reach Metropolis was the funniest part of the issue. I'm not even sure where Metropolis is in relation to Gotham these days. Across the bay from each other, or is Metropolis back out in the Midwest while Gotham's on the coast? No wonder she got lost.

Miguel's second meeting with Superman is touching, and I liked the detail that the wheel on Miguel's bike bent when he threw it at Superman, and that Superman asks him to be careful or he'll hurt himself.

I think Miguel's right about the Dial drawing from a "Powerverse" more than a Heroverse, if a person's origin is what they choose to do with the powers, then unless the dial actually gives someone heroic impulses, which this story doesn't suggest it does, then yeah, it's just handing out powers. You can use them for evil if you want. The cop lady that turned into a Vertigo character might have thought she was doing good, but I kind of doubt it. The guy that turned into an Akira Toriyama character lost himself in the joy of fighting. They just wanted power, being a hero didn't seem to factor in.

But maybe the point is the person already has made a decision before they dial and that informs what they get. I don't know.

Mr. Thunderbolt still looks ridiculous to me with that massive chin, but most characters that come out of the H-Dial look ridiculous, so that tracks. The two-page spread of Miguel and Robby walking the dividing line between the two sides of the Powerverse was lovely. The way the sides mirror each other in some ways, but not all, and I really like the colors. They're bright and noticeable, but not overwhelming. You can still follow Miguel and Robby without getting lost. They're still the focus, but you can pause to enjoy the scenery if you want.

What I Bought 6/26/2018 - Part 1

Picked up this week's comics while retrieving my vehicle from the repair shop. Which was only two days ago, but feels like a hundred years. I was half-convinced before I started typing this I bought them over a week ago. Everything is out of whack in my head right now. If things will just remain calm and stable for a few weeks. . .

Dial H for Hero #4, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Tom Fowler (inker), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - Miguel has become a hero with the power of having a smartphone screen on his chest! Upgraded Arnim Zola, basically.

Summer and Miguel reach the Detroit Justice League HQ, where they find a bunch of Justice League robots and. . . Snapper Carr. Crap. Snapper insists they hand over the H-Dial to him, but then they're attacked by the robots, which have been modified by Mr. Thunderbolt's spirit, so everyone dials at the same time. Summer ends up as a gorilla filtered through Sin City, Snapper is some Moebius thing, I don't fuckin' know, and Miguel ends up as various newspaper comic strip versions of some kid running around in his underwear pretending to be a hero. Which makes him pretty angry, and leaves him vulnerable to Thunderbolt's suggestions, and everything goes wrong.

Snapper's meant to be a cautionary tale for Miguel, I think. Although Snapper's problem seems to be he doesn't think who he is, is good enough. Miguel seemed to act more like he was owed something. He'd been protecting the H-Dial, why did he get the crappy powers? Although he never tried to do anything, so who knows what his abilities were. Maybe it is a matter of thinking he's not good enough as he is.

Real mix of Justice League-bots there, but other than Vibe-bot, I didn't see many from the Detroit era. I guess Zatanna, although she was Satellite League, too. There's at least 5 of the Giffen/DeMatteis League. Including a Guy Gardner bot, complete with bowl cut! He didn't speak, so I can't determine if he's based off seriously brain-damaged Guy, or regular Guy (who is only a little brain-damaged). For a lot of them, Quinones seems to be using the Timmverse Justice League cartoon look, especially the Flash and Hawkgirl. Which is fine, those are good versions, design-wise. I wonder if Humphries specified any characters, or Quinones just drew whoever he felt like?

Ghost Tree #4, by Bobby Curnow (writer), Simon Gane (artist), Ian Herring and Decka Kinzie (colorists), Chris Mowry (letterer) - I thought initially they were sitting on big balls of yarn, but at least some of them are skulls. Still cute, in an Adams Family way.

Brandt and Arami reminisce, and we learn a little more about the current state of Brandt's marriage. Meanwhile, his grandfather is realizing how badly he handled things in his marriage, and tells Brandt to leave and return to his wife. Brandt's fully aware that he's running from his problems, but doesn't care. Then the demon returns, and tears the guardian spirit in two, before continuing towards the house.

The end of the issue tells us Arami's unfinished business is to be the successor to the guardian spirit. Maybe it burns out a spirit after a time, I don't know, but it seems like she's expected to step up. Was that fate, or just chance? Was she tagged for that purpose from the moment of death (or before it), or she's just the most suitable person who happened to be dead at the time? Can she refuse, and would that leave her trapped as a ghost forever?

And then there's Brandt. His avoiding his problems with his wife. Contrary to what he tells his grandfather, I'm not sure how much he really tried, since it sounds like the two of them never really hashed out their problems. Takes two for that, but typically someone has to make the first step. That said, is what he's doing here that terrible? He has the ability to see these ghosts, maybe it's a fluke, maybe it's for a reason. If he can help them find peace, even while avoiding his own problems, is that a bad thing? You could argue he's choosing to live as a ghost, avoiding his unfinished business, but the assumption seems to be the two of them can and should work things out. His grandfather ignored his wife to interact with ghosts, and that wrong. But if Brandt and his wife don't work together, why try to make it work?

It's a sad issue, but Curnow and Gane still manage to work in a few jokes, plus the gag about the one ghost wanting some noodles. I laughed. Gane draws the little spirits or lights that float around Zero's head as having facial expressions sometimes, which is kind of cute. Zero's little ghost friends. Like the demon's previous appearance, Herring and Kinzie shift the color scheme to more reds and oranges. But the colors don't shift when Zero arrives, because Zero is no longer enough to repel the demon. Zero's color scheme is mostly green and white, so it really stands out against the backgrounds in those panels. Heightens the sense of vulnerability.

What I Bought 5/29/2019 - Part 1

Regular life update: A new apartment has been located, but I can't move in until the end of next week. Which would mean more commuting, but I'm out of town on a training this whole week. So that helps.

In the meantime, let's look at some comics from last month. Both on their third issue. Unfortunately, we're going old school with these reviews. No, I'm not going back to handing out a score on a 5-point scale. That was pointless and by the time I'm handing out 3.78/5, entirely meaningless. What I mean is, we're going without any scanned panels. Sorry! Maybe I'll come back and add some in later.

Dial H for Hero #3, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones and Arist Deyn (artists), Jordan Gibson and Arist Deyn (colorists), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - It looks like the bottom of Mr. Thunderbolt's hood projects out from his jaw like a couple of horns. Or a goatee, maybe.

Miguel and Summer have reached Central City, hoping to find the cop who took the H-Dial. Or, enlist the aid of the Flash to help them. The second one proves more difficult than you'd expect. That's Barry Allen for ya, never around when needed. The cop, despite (because of?) some encouraging from the The Operator, uses the dial to become some Vertigo imprint-style character. Miguel falls prey to her power of nostalgia, but Summer hates her past, and uses the dial to turn into an angry punk teen character and they fight it out.

So Robby Reed's the Operator, but he considers Mr. Thunderbolt his responsibility. So I'm still not sure if he's good, per se, because I feel like he's still kind of manipulating Summer and Miguel to deal with this for him. He encouraged the officer to not feel bad about wanting to use the Dial again. Which could just be him being an understanding fellow, because he's been there. Or it could be him wanting her to use it so the teens could track her down and retrieve the dial.

I'm guessing the "Bluebird" portions were drawn by Quinones, imitating artwork from, I don't know, Morrison's Doom Patrol, maybe? Vertigo stuff is outside my wheelhouse. Deyn drew and colored the flashbacks to Summer's past as a child dragged into the pageant scene by her domineering mother. The art feels more manga inspired in the faces at least, and the coloring is lower contrast than in the sections Gibson colors. The memory flattening out over time, losing the smaller details maybe.

I don't know which of them drew the parts where she transforms into a hero, Lo Lo Kick You (the first K is backwards). The style reminds me of Jamie Hewlett, in that Lo Lo looks a bit like a character from Gorillaz. The sections where Bluebird has the upper hand, the panel borders are wavier, and the layouts are more all over the place. Lo Lo's pages have more straightforward layouts, and sharp, thin lines for borders.

Magnificent Ms. Marvel #3, by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung (artist), Juan Vlasco (inker), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - The tubes are an odd touch. Like pieces of some machine, but also the border of a classical painting.

Kamala and her parents are transported to the alien world, into the castle of the "Rightly Ruling King". As you might expect, anyone who has to proclaim they are the rightful ruler, really isn't. Kamala goes exploring, and finds a prisoner being tortured in the dungeon. She rescues him, and they and her parents attempt to flee in some aircraft, which then gets blown up.

It looks like, if the legend is accurate, the one who originally saved the planet was Carol Danvers at some point. Unless there are time travel hijinks involved. Especially considering the pictures show the hero flying off, which isn't in Kamala's repertoire. Question is, did these guys make a legitimate mistake, going strictly by the symbol on Kamala's uniform and not noticing she and Carol don't look much alike? Or is this a deliberate thing? The King not wanting the people looking to anyone other than him for salvation or leadership. So he gets the "wrong" hero, she fails, the populace dismisses the legend. Cast off your old gods for the new.

Other than that, I'm curious to see what happens when Kamala's parents are actually mixed up in all this. So far, they've warned her she was getting to enjoy the hero treatment too much (accurate), and became extremely worried about her rushing back into their quarters with a shirtless alien boy. I did laugh when Kamala's mom insists they'll ride next to each other, and Abu can ride next to the alien boy.

But, we're three issues in, and it feels like this particular story has barely gotten off the ground. They finally made it to the oh-so-important alien world, and immediately figured out something isn't right, but I have no idea where anything is going from there. Which could be bad, could be good. I just can't say I'm terribly impressed at this point.

Jung seems to be taking a different approach with Kamala's shapeshifting than past artists. Usually when she gets bigger, her overall proportions remain the same (except if she makes one fist or foot really big). Jung seems to have Kamala trying to bulk up more. There's two different times in this this issue where she gets a bit taller, but a lot broader in the shoulders and the torso. I don't know if there's meant to be a reason for that. Does it make Kamala stronger to do that? Is she actually increasing her available muscle mass?

What I Bought 5/8/2019 - Part 2

For today's selection, the second issue of a mini-series, and a Free Comic Book Day version of the first issue of another book. Both of them dealing with young people getting superpowers in unconventional ways.

Punchline FCBD, by Bill Williams (writer), Matthew Weldon (artist), Neeraj Menon and Tiago Barsa (colorists), Thom Zahler (letterer) - I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a person wear a pen around their neck on a string, other than in fiction.

Mel was a hero, given power by some person or group. They wanted her to pick a successor, she refused, they tried to kill her. She's bleeding out on a bench in a cemetery and meets Jessie, who offers to be a successor, since that might somehow take care of Mel bleeding to death. It does, and the remainder of the issue is Mel starting to teach Jessie the ropes of being a hero. Teaching equating to "you can fly, so go fly around and find a crime to stop." Little vague on instructions, but I guess she follows the philosophy of learn by doing.

The series is already four issues in now, so I'm guessing there's still elements of the mentor/trainee relationship, which Jessie being extremely eager but having little clue what she's doing, and Mel being the veteran that can be a little gruff, but is mostly nice. Which is fine, it gives the book a good starting point to play them off each other. There are a few mysteries, things hinted at for both Mel and Jessie, that can be expanded on as they go.

Weldon's art is kind of interesting because it's mostly what I'd call a more realistic style, but he'll occasionally do something like give Jessie stars for eyes when she's excited, or simply empty circles when she's stunned. It's an exaggerated touch that doesn't seem to fit with the rest of his style. It still works, you understand what he's going for, just surprising. He does seem to have a bit of trouble with eyes, one being smaller than the other, or one being too high or low on the face compared to the other. Since so much of the issue is talking and reliant on expression work to carry it off, it ends up being noticeable. I'm also not sure about asymmetrical costumes. One leg of the costume runs all the way to the boot, the other stops where a swimsuit would. Not sure why someone would go with that.

I don't know if this issue was enough to convince me to start picking up the series.

Dial H for Hero #2, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - The answer to who will catch them first is Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Nobody drives a lady across state lines in a stolen mayo truck on his watch!

Miguel keeps refusing to answer the phone. And to eat eggs for breakfast. He feels out of his depth and throws the phone in the river, where it is found and used by someone working for Mr. Thunder. Which gives Quinones a chance to do an Akira Toriyama homage. Which is certainly more pleasant to look at than the '90s pastiche last issue. There's also a cop working for Mr. Thunder who gets involved, giving Miguel a chance to use the phone after all, turning into some '80s mech anime thing. Then there's a fight, Miguel wins, decides they should take the phone to Metropolis, but the cop is taking it to Central City.

I enjoyed the hero bits a lot more this issue, since they went with source material I feel more fondness towards. The other characters around the heroes ended up being drawn and colored in the same style as said hero. I would have liked it for the contrast if they'd remained as they had been, but you could probably make a theory about it being a result of how the dial works.

That and Miguel actually acted to save lives, rather than just destroying a used car lot. Miguel's internal monologue being completely confused by what his transformed body is doing was funny. I'm concerned Mr. Thunder is going to end up being the kid from the '60s Dial H series, since he makes people say "Sockamagee" as a way of swearing to do something. The "actually this child character from a simpler age is a horrible lunatic" bit is fucking tired.

One thing I do want to see next issue, is we learn Miguel and Summer went back to the diner, ordered the omelette, and Miguel was right to be wary of eggs. Sometimes a bad food experience is just bad luck, and sometimes it means you really shouldn't eat that thing. Alex told me he's only eaten shrimp twice, and he got really sick both times. So now he doesn't eat shrimp. Why take the risk? There's a million other things in the world you can eat, you know?

What I Bought 3/27/2019

I'm going to be out of town for the rest of the week. I may or may not have the chance to get on the Internet. Posts are set to go, but if you comment and I don't respond, that's why.

Today we've got two new books to look at. One's a first issue, and the other is the first issue of a new story arc on a book I haven't bought previously.

Dial H for Hero #1, by Sam Humphries (writer), Joe Quinones (artist), Dave Sharpe (letterer) - Do kids today even know how to use a rotary phone? is this one of those Youtube pranks like "watch a 5-year old react to a Game Boy"?

Young boy became a thrill-seeker after being rescued by Superman, but is stuck in dead end life with his uncle's mayo-themed food truck. Tries to jump Springfield Gorge on his bike, and as he falls to his death, a phone appears. He turns into a '90s hero, saves nothing and causes a lot of destruction. Then he and a girl he met earlier in the issue steal the food truck and leave town. Also, anyone who has used the dial before can sense when it's being used, so there are going to be people on the lookout. People like Lobo, Alfred, and Snapper Carr.

Might take my chances with Lobo. Nah, I can beat up Snapper with or without powers.

Quinones' art is nice, the colors are bright, the characters expressive. Although I've always thought his shading emphasizes cheeks too much. But it's a consistent thing so I get used to it. He does a good job mimicking the outward trappings of '90s art for the hero sequence, but he needs to be more inconsistent in terms of human proportions and anatomy from panel-to-panel. I like the white jacket Miguel wears when he's thrill-seeking. It comes off as brighter, more vividly colored than all the other clothes he and the everyday folks he interacts with do. The same is true of Superman when he appears, so it's like the jacket is Miguel's costume, the little bit of that world he's chasing he's able to get.

Humphries decides the first time his main character uses the dial he just smashes a bunch of cars, rather than doing anything actually heroic or useful. Interesting choice. Would certainly explain the reactions of all the costumed types who sense the dial being used. And there wasn't any indication Miguel wants to be a hero like Superman, he just wants the thrills at this point. So we'll see if that relates to what hero the H-Dial calls forth, and if Miguel can or even will want to try and use the dial more constructively. Hard to believe he's gonna be able to help save anyone at this point.

Infinity 8 #10, by Lewis Trondheim and Kris (writers), Martin Trystram (artist/color artist), Hubert (color artist) - Those earrings seem like they'd get caught on a lot of stuff.

Patty there on the cover is working undercover within a group called the Symbolic Guerrillas, actually trying to get info on a sentient talking fish's trafficking operations. But the spaceship they're on has run into trouble, and she's called in to investigate the problem in an alternate timeline. If she can produce a good result, they'll stay with that timeline. If not, they'll try another (this series is apparently a bunch of 3-issue arcs exploring the different timelines and agents they keep sending). The problem is a massive space graveyard, including at least one thing that glows green, and that someone planted a tracker on here. Is it the captain of the ship, the leader of the Symbolic Guerrillas, the talking fish?

There's a lot happening here. The weird space graveyard is the sort of thing that would normally command my attention, but I'm more curious about the Symbolic Guerrillas and what they're up to. Are they a weird artist movement, or a terrorist group, or what? There's a lot of drugs and free love, and Patty's outfit definitely looks like mid-to-late '70s, so I could see a Jonestown vibe. A mass suicide in a space graveyard would be. . . something, I guess. Also wondering how Patty's bad past experiences as some kind of an operative are going to factor in. Getting used by scumbags to enrich themselves under the illusion of nobler means.

I don't think I've ever seen Martin Trystram's art before, but they way he draws one character's eyes when he's out of his head on drugs is really familiar somehow. Most of the aliens fall into a basic bipedal shape, other than the captain of the ship, but there's a wide variety of designs. Every different part of the ship has its own color scheme, from the green in the fish guy's office, the the soft purple in the Guerrillas base thing, to a deep blue in the ship's command section. The parts where Patty is out in space have a deep blue/purple vibe going. Makes everything distinct, even if I'm not at all sure what effect Trystram's going for with each one.

What I Bought 5/10/2016 - Part 2

Sorry for no post yesterday. Still scrambling. I've got something planned, just couldn't bring it together in time, so expect it tomorrow, hopefully.

Deadpool #10, Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli and Iban Coello (artists), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I don't think Sabretooth would take such good care of his teeth. Unless his healing factor prevents tartar buildup?

Sabretooth tells Wade he killed Wade's parents because he wanted to die and thought Wade could pull it off. Which is bull, and not even good bullshit, but hell, Sabretooth is a dumbass, can't expect much better from him. He refuses to apologize, and Wade refuses to let it go, so there's a civilian-endangering motorcycle chase, which they both stop to rescue endangered civilians. Then Wade sucker-shoots Creed in the face, and we learn how Wade actually intends to kill him. Not by pulling him apart with a semi-trailer, but by making him breathe in the Terrigen Mists, which are, of course, now toxic to mutants.

You know, if Deadpool actually succeeds in killing Sabretooth like this, I will have to apologize to Reed Richards for giving him so much shit about recreating the Marvel Universe as a place where the Mists harm mutants. I can't decide whether it would be worth it to be rid of Sabretooth or not. Damn it, Wade, why couldn't you just cut his head off, then dump his body in an acid-filled coffin and leave it at the bottom of the ocean like Dracula did to you in that Secret Wars mini-series?!

This story is feeling really stretched out. The whole chase sequence, with the widescreen panels, and Wade making a series of fairly lousy attempts (and I mean in general, not just by his standards) at one-liners, only helping to make it seem more padded. Actually, the whole thing with Adsit knowing the truth and Wade not is feeling stretched out. It's been like 24 issues across two volumes, with a stupid 6-month break because of Secret Wars in there to boot. Get the fuck on with it!

In general, this book is not doing a good job of building goodwill with me before it embarks on who knows how many months of Civil War II tie-ins. Let's hope for some sort of excellent payoff in the concluding chapter, which came out this week.

Howard the Duck #6, by Chip Zdarsky and Ryan North (writers), Joe Quinones (penciler, inker, colorist), Joe Rivera and Marc Deering (inkers), Jordan Gibson (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer and production) - I know, I know, I didn't get the matching cover from Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and now they won't match. But I just really liked that other cover better.

Howard and Doreen scramble to find a way to defeat the cosplaying lunatic while their other allies buy time by being cannon fodder, basically. Which is the most helpful and least awful thing Hank McCoy has done in at least three years (our time). This results in Howard and Doreen finding a different, DC-themed supersuit, and letting Howard try to fight her with it. He gets beat up, but it buys time for everyone else to regroup and get the drop on her. And that's how Howard gets a cyborg cat, which would mean more if I was buying his book on the reg, but I'm not, so oh well.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first half. I don't know if that's because this book slanted more towards Zdarsky's sense of humor than North's, or because I just don't care much about Howard the Duck, or if it's just one of those things where I'm more interested in the story early, when there are lots of ways it could go, than I am later, once it narrows down to a specific path. That happens to me a lot with all kinds of fiction. It might have worked better without Kraven, Beast, and Rocket, since they felt largely unnecessary. It was mainly about contrasting Doreen, who is always ready to fight against evil and sure she can win, and Howard, who wants no part of any of this, and apparently finds the whole thing so stupid he keeps screwing up chances to end it faster (like forgetting he had a phone until it was conveniently useless). I was trying to decide why he kept declaring things, "Case closed!" when it wasn't, and the best I could figure was he was trying to come up with an excuse to bail, and hoping everyone else would buy in. Like Shaggy and Scooby barely peeking in one room, declaring they've searched it, then trying to flee.

I actually like Quinones' art better when he doesn't ink himself. Something about how he shades on people's face distracts me. Especially his tendency to give people really prominent, rounded cheeks. It makes their smiles kind of freaky But the pages where either Deering or Rivera are doing the inking, I didn't notice that, so that was nice. The parts of the battle we actually got to see were pretty good. I would have enjoyed more of that, but I get the sense "fight scenes" are not a big part of what Howard the Duck is about. But "Let's Eat Bread and Kick Heads" is a solid battle cry, though.

So neither book lit my world on fire, but maybe Monday's selections will do better.