The two books from last month I still needed. In other news, I'm taking another shot at Sketchtober. But I'm only going for one every other day. Mostly trying to redo the ones I did last year I wasn't satisfied with, but had other ideas to try. If I don't get one done tonight, I'm going to fall behind, so I better get this damn post done.
Coda #5, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Michael Doig (color artist), Jim Campbell - The cover is actually a wraparound that shows the giant striking a tower of the city with his fist. It's pretty cool.
Hum and Serka infiltrate Thundervale by posing as aspiring criminals themselves. It takes some doing on his part to get Serka to go along with that, not to mention bringing the confused wizard some akker, but it works. Hmm is relating the story to the still-living head of the elf he took, who was not a useful source of magic, but is useful as a Jiminy Cricket for Hum. At the end, someone arrives who may try to kill Hmm, or may surprise us by being friendly. I really shouldn't judge based on appearances, right?
There's a bit of humor, mostly in Serka and Hum trying to maintain their covers. It's harder for Serka, since she's rather impatient to get that Whitlord, and Hum's the liar of the pair. The wizard is mostly out of his gourd, but really enthusiastic, which plays off Hum's no-nonsense approach. And it makes the sequence where the wizard gains control of himself and issues a warning more effective.
So Hum's initial plan to get that potion he needs ran into trouble, but Thundervale has a lot of akker, so the question hangs whether he'll go through with it or not, if he can make the potion he requires. I'm curious if this will be the point where he gets the substance, then the second half becomes a question of whether he'll use it or not. All the people he meets keep pointing out that he's simply avoiding discussing unpleasant topics with Serka, rather than just dealing with them, that trying to change people is dangerous. He never has a good rebuttal. I'm curious if he's doing it simply to help her (as he considers it) by keeping her together, or if he's doing it so she's still there to keep
him together.
The illusions that either the wizard of Hum create are these bright things, vivid colors. But it's all fake, echoes of something long dead. Meanwhile, Hum is telling this story to the elf head in a dark room in a moving city of cutthroats and bandits. The only light is a blue flame Hum plans to use to erase the evidence of him crime, since the evidence could choose to speak at an inopportune moment. The fire is real, but it doesn't illuminate much but depressing surroundings and the two people conversing. But it does illuminate, rather than disguise.
Bergara draws, a double-page spread of sorts, to show the city on the back of the giant, centered around the device, the Destructor, that turns magic items into akker to keep the giant alive. The angle he chooses is slightly vertiginous, making it appear the buildings are bending over at top towards the Destructor, like they might topple in. It's an unsteady, haphazard look, a bunch of ants scrambling around, trying desperately to keep the giant alive with whatever scraps they can find.
Domino Annual #1, by Gail Simone, Fabian Nicieza, Dennis Hopeless, Leah Williams (writers), Victor Ibanez, Juan Gedeon, Leonard Kirk, Natacha Bustos, Michael, Shelfer (artists), Jay David Ramos, Jesus Arbutov (colorists), and Clayton Cowles (letterer) - When I first glanced at this cover, I thought it was by Amanda Conner, but no, Frank Cho. The fact the picture didn't feature her butt more prominently is what threw me. I bought it because this copy was in less-than-perfect condition, and therefore no more expensive than a standard issue these days, which wasn't the case for any of the copies with the standard cover.
Several stories about Domino's relationships, or off-time. The Simone/Ibanez story is how Outlaw got recruited, which involves a bar fight and a guy who combined an SUV with a Sentinel. Which sounds like a Reaver, honestly, but is not. Nicieza/Gedeon is Cable thinking about the fact he was close with Domino once, but it was actually Deadpool's old girlfriend, Vanessa/Coypcat. But he surely hopes it'll be a reality one of these days. Ohhhh-kay then. Dennis Hopeless and Leonard Kirk have Domino trying to cheer up Colossus after his wedding failed to launch. Leah Williams and Natacha Bustos give us Domino and Nightcrawler coming up with a support group for mutants with visible mutations, and the difficulties they experience in everyday life. Hey, Stacy X showed up as someone struggling with not being a mutant any longer! At least someone remembered she existed, and not just so they could brutally kill her for cheap shock value!
The Cable story is a weak spot, since it's barely about Domino. The story about Outlaw and the one about Colossus are light but entertaining. They play up the idea that Domino appears to take things lightly a lot, and some of that is her powers. But some of it seems to be just trusting others. She's fighting Outlaw, she trusts Diamondback to have her back, even if they were arguing about music five minutes ago, and even though Diamondback thinks Domino escalated this unnecessarily. She brings Crimson Dynamo down on Colossus, but trusts Piotr isn't going to throw up his hands and walk away from a friend in danger. Which is interesting, because Domino does not strike me as someone who would trust readily. Too long spent as a merc, too used to people betraying her or selling her out, too cynical. Maybe that manifests that she doesn't trust easily, or you can break it easily, I don't know.
Also, I wonder if Outlaw making two different comments about Domino's appearance within 10 seconds of their meeting is meant to be a nod towards the last story, about the mutant support group. I'm sure Domino's been called worse than "Ghost Lady" or "Spot", but it can't be fun.
Among the artists, Gedeon is the one I'd consider the weak spot, but apparently he's trying to ape some of Liefeld's perspectives and staging in the panels set in the bathtub, which is putting him under a severe handicap. Leonard Kirk's always good, and he draws a nice quick fight scene (Colossus should certainly use headbutts more often). I don't recall liking Ibanez' art when I've come across it in the past (although I can't remember where that was at the moment), but here it works well. The action is fluid, you can see how the fight is moving from one scene to another. The Design of professor Salvage's weapon is clever. It looks cobbled together, but you can the potential for it to be dangerous anyway. Natacha Bustos' art is expressive, but with some nice sense of fashion for the characters and a good grasp of body language. Which is important for a bunch of characters sitting in a circle, talking about stuff that makes them uncomfortable. Her work reminds me a little of Mike Allred, but not so Pop Art, which I consider a plus, Allred having never been a favorite of mine.
I don't know that any of the stories are essential, depending on how vital you feel it is to learn how Outlaw joined the group, but three of the four are at least fun, and maybe give a little insight into Domino's personality. And the artists seem up to the challenges of their stories, whether that needs fights, or dealing with emotions. The stories mostly get in, do what they planned to, and wrap up without overstaying their welcome.
