What I Bought 3/4/2026 - Part 1

Last week was rainy, which beats snow. And I suppose we needed the rain. Far as I know we've been in drought conditions since August. For now, we leave February and January behind, and move on to books from March.

Batgirl #17, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (penciler/inker), Juan Castro (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Might want to clean that sword, Cass. It's giving off quite the miasma.

Cass is back in Gotham and headed to dinner with the Bat-fam. Dinner Tenji and Jaya aren't invited to, although Stephanie is eager to meet Cass' new brother. But Cass is going to miss that dinner, because her blood starts going nuts. As in, it is somehow outside out her body, whipping around and tangling her up. Miyazawa draws it such that the tendrils obscure parts of the voice balloons for whatever Stephanie is saying over the phone, which is a nice representation of how this is seizing Cass' attention, and cutting Cass off from them again.

Or Cass is cutting herself off, because she goes to Tenji and Jaya for help, unwilling to let her family see her like this. Learned all the wrong lessons from Batman, I see. This is related to Shiva's family, the ones her parents took her and her sister away from. According to Jaya, Cass shouldn't have these abilities without a ritual, but here we are.

The Wu family's moved into Gotham, but something's up, because the guy in charge gets shot in the back of the head, by his assistant. Man, there are so many betrayals in this book. Call it Backstab Monthly or something. But the guy isn't actually dead, instead there's a portal to the Spirit World inside his skull. I'm just saying now, I didn't read that mini-series where she got lost there and Constantine and some new character Alyssa Wu created had to rescue Cass.

It feels like Brombal is making a point about Cassandra needing to accept her family's history as part of herself, instead of hiding or ignore it. The blood/shadow tendrils literally tie her up the harder she tries to control or deny them, which seems pretty on the nose. And I just don't know if she really does, in a real world sense of that being a message.

Some people just need to get away from their families and stay away. Shiva's sins, or the Wu Clan's sins, are not Cass'. She isn't guilty just because she's descended from them, that whole notion doesn't fly with me. It's too similar to the genetic determinism shit that got her turned into a killer post-Infinite Crisis. "Your biological parents are killers, so even though you've hardly met one, and rejected the other, you'll become a killer, too." So I don't know, guess we'll see.

Nova: Centurion #5, by Jed MacKay (writer), Alvaro Lopez (artist), Mattia Iacono (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - I know it's just the perspective, but it looks like Nova's the only one of the two smart enough to know you need to aim at your opponent.

First things first: Where Della Fonte drew Peter Quill with a beard and a really stupid mustache, Lopez draws it as a beard and goatee. Which has the benefit of making Quill look less stupid, but also takes a little of the joy out of Richard ditching the Nova helmet and immediately punching him. They fight a bit, usual break-up stuff. "You betrayed me, all the other Novas are dead (again)." Same song and dance we've heard a million times.

Quill is there because he knows Nova stole all that mysterium. More critically, the Kree-Skrull War (still a dumb name for a crime syndicate) know it, too. If Rich hands it over to Quill, he can get them to take it back and call it good. But Cammi really needs the mysterium for medical treatment. As in, the mysterium is the medicine she takes to keep some freaky monster from overtaking her.

My first thought was, we're dealing with another thing from the Cancerverse, given all the mouths and teeth and appendages. But no, it's some sort of weird monster thing the Worldmind found scattered records of in its databases. There's a nice panel before the exposition starts, where Lopez draws the Worldmind's face within the star on Rich's helmet. 

There's no time to settle that, the Kree-Skrull War are here (to be eaten by the Cammi-monster.) Because that Eden Rixlo guy double-crossed Quill, who apparently never considered this possibility. So has Marvel decided to include the original Star-Lord stuff, Engelhart and Claremont and all that, and the movie shit, and the stuff Giffen did in the early-2000s in Quill's history? I feel like that isn't compatible. Original Recipe Star-Lord was pretty on the ball, minus Doug Moench writing him, while Movie Star-Lord is a fucking idiot I wouldn't trust to tie his own shoes.

Can Richard rescue Cammi from the thing that's swallowed her up? Can he get the crime syndicate off his back? Can he get Star-Lord to ditch that terrible facial hair? Will Eden Rixlo suffer hilarious comeuppance? We'll find out next month.

What I Bought 2/5/2026

I spent 4 days last week looking after Alex's cat. I took his advice and set his TV to some Youtube "cat tv" station full of birds and squirrels when I had to leave for a while, but the cat seemed equally interested in the NBA player podcasts I'd watch sometimes.

Batgirl #16, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Juan Castro (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Does Batgirl think she's learned to cut fire? Maybe.

Let's wrap this war up. Nyssa was unconcerned that the Unburied were infiltrating Samsara, because she wants them there to kill via machine gun towers, under the logic that the blue poppies grew from the corpses of the Unburied's ancestors, so that will definitely happen a second time if she can produce the corpses. And the Unburied wrecked her Lazarus Pit, so she's trying to avoid death.

Jaya takes out the towers, and apparently is not on Nyssa or the Unburied's side, but some third motive. Oy. Batgirl seems busier fighting her ghosts than anything else, but pulls it together enough to choose against vengeance. Rather than fight Kalden to the death for killing Shiva, she figures out the pressure point thing Jaya uses to make Nyssa able to feel stuff again. Which leaves Nyssa unable to continue fighting. And Batgirl freed Tenji, who was chained up for. . . reasons.

Was Nyssa thinking he'd work as bait for the Unburied? Was it supposed to distract Batgirl, or make her fight harder against the Unburied? I have absolutely no idea what Nyssa's end goal was there.

But Batgirl chose against vengeance, the Unburied get their home back, so I'm sure they'll just be all peace and love now, and definitely won't opt to hunt down Nyssa and anyone they think might strike against them. And Batgirl is maybe returning to Gotham with her half-brother and Jaya.

I assume Batgirl's able to use Jaya's pressure point stuff to heal Nyssa - though it's not like it does anything for her aging and dying problem - because she chose freeing Tenji over attacking Kalden, and this represents healing her past emotional wounds. It doesn't really feel like that significant of a choice - Cassandra Cain has chosen saving someone over beating someone else up plenty of times - and it also doesn't feel like it would resolve any of her issues with her mother, but here we are. 

Nova: Centurion #4, by Jed MacKay (writer), Matteo Della Fonte (artist), Mattia Iacono (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - OK, I understand Nova's presence, and the former Nova turned wannabe Han Solo behind him. What's with the two red circles? Are they suns?

Nova's trying to get a recharge, but the technician is giving him a lot of static about how disrespectful it is for an Earther to be wearing a Nova Corps uniform, now that the Corps is gone. So, did the Corps get rebuilt and then destroyed again some time between the end of Thanos Imperative and now? I generally understood Rich was still the only Nova all throughout the Krakoa era, so how has word of that still not gotten around?

But he gets his recharge, and his being able to handle that much juice convinces the guy he really is a Nova. Meanwhile, some doofus named Eden Rixlo steals Nova's ship while Rich is buying groceries. What a fucking terrible name, what idiot came up with "Eden Rixlo"? Really? Gerry Duggan? I would have put money this guy was created by Jeph Loeb in his Sam Alexander Nova book. Good thing I don't gamble.

Cammi and Aalbort are on-board at the time of the theft, which is weird since Eden was apparently eyeing the ship the same time Nova was trying to get his recharge, which Cammi and the combat accountant were present for. Why wait? He could steal the ship, but not break in? Either way, there presence means this is a bad idea even if Nova didn't manage to get right on Rixlo's tail, including using the mines Rixlo drops as speed boosts (which was very cool) all the way to his destination.

But Nova did stay on his tail, and Cammi and Aalbort are in position to slit Eden's throat, as they arrive at some space station where Star-Lord is waiting. At least, the guy introduces himself as Star-Lord. 

Between the dumb hair and dumber mustache, and the stupid outfit that has what looks like backpack straps growing from the shoulders, it looks more like, I dunno, Andy Richter playing a cruise line captain. And he'd speak in some goofy accent. Something Scandinavian by way of Swedish Chef, maybe. At least the shoulder straps should make it easy for Nova to throw the Cruise-Lord into the airless vacuum.

What I Bought 11/5/2025

Last week dragged like an anchor, even worse than I suspected it would, coming off two vacation-shortened weeks. At least this week had a holiday in the middle of it, but now I've got a public meeting tomorrow. Will I, for once, resist the urge to try and offer information I think is helpful and just keep my mouth shut? We'll see!

Batgirl #13, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Juan Castro (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - At least one of them is smart enough to cover their mouth before walking through a field of weird flowers.

It's the start of the assault on the Unburied, with flashbacks to how the different characters tried to prepare. Cass wanted to learn to heal, but won't let go of her past, so it's a no-go. Jade Tiger gets picked at by the shape-shifter in the crew about how he doesn't measure up to Cass. Nyssa and Angel Breaker discuss why they're bothering with this at all, which seems to boil down to Nyssa' daddy issues. She wants to accomplish what he didn't, as the forgotten daughter. Well, I can get behind spite as a motive.

They infiltrate easily enough, and then Cassandra gets distracted by some play about the history of the valley, which reveals that it wasn't just Ra's who attacked these people, Nyssa was involved, too. I'm shocked! Shocked! Well, not that shocked. More shocked Batgirl didn't recognize a lie or some dissembling when Nyssa was telling her little tale in the previous issue.

Then Batgirl starts having a panic attack when the play reenacts Shiva's death, but hey! Here's Kalden the Unseen as special guest! Rather than talk, or deal with emotions, Batgirl can just take revenge! Revenge: The source of, and solution to, all life's problems.

I really do wonder how long Brombal is going to drag this storyline out. It feels like there's a lot of going in circles, to no particular gain. Couldn't we have explored Cassandra's unresolved and messy issues with Shiva while doing other stuff?

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #14, by Jed MacKay (writer), Domenico Carbone (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) -  Looks like Marc forgot his belt on tonight's patrol.

The guy summoning the ghosts is not a preexisting character I should have recognized. He's the strictly the guy that was a firefighter present at the Wrecker's rampage. Feeling the costumed types never notice the little people like him or the Wrecker's victims, he studied magic and did all this as a "voice to the powerless" thing. Which did involve putting together a costume of his own and giving himself the name "Executor," but he rationalizes that by arguing it's the only way to get them to notice him.

Does he want them to notice him, though? Is fighting Moon Knight and Scarlet Scarab really helping his scheme to take revenge? Assuming that's all it is any longer. He mentions it's hard to learn magic because even if you find texts, they were written by crazy people, as he reasons all magic users are a little insane. Which means he is now at least a little insane.

Don't love the costume, what I can see of it anyway. There's a dark robe with a hood and a rope belt. Sort of a big skull facemask, a little like one of Taskmaster's, but the jaw is uncovered. I'm not sure if it's feathers or living shadows around the fringes. Honestly, the whole thing is so dark, it just kind of becomes a blob of darkness. Black outer garments over grey shirt and pants. The fire ax is as his enchanted weapon or mystical focus is a nice touch. Nods to his fireman work, but also towards an executioner. 

He sets the ghosts of all the people Marc and Layla killed in their merc days on them, and goes after the Wrecker, who is getting yelled at by Reese. Which is probably not a smart move on her part. I think "Guy who fights Thor," trumps "vampire." But Executor arrives, and his plan was - to let all the angry ghosts possess the Wrecker. That doesn't seem likely to produce any results but more dead regular folks.

Which I guess will make this a case of him stewing in his own anger and pain and ultimately using these spirits rather than helping them or providing any peace or working to prevent there being more dead people. Like Marc initially using all his skills as a mercenary, where now he tries to help people. Maybe the Wrecker shouldn't be one of those people, but that'll be a lesson to grow on.

What I Bought 10/12/2025

I saw Serena Williams in a commercial for one of those weight-loss injection things. The notion she felt she needed to lose weight is not doing anything good for my self-image. (Though I remain unconvinced of the long-term viability of those injections. They seem like artificial appetite suppressants, and I know from experience your body adapts if you just cut way back on calories.)

Anyway, here's the one comic from this week I wanted. I haven't found Bronze Faces #5 anywhere yet, and I didn't want to order from the online shop just for Runaways #4, so hopefully I'll get to those two at some point.

Batgirl #12, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (penciler/inker), Juan Castro (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) -  It would be pretty freaky to look up and see the Bat-signal, and then Batgirl seemingly drops out of it directly onto your face.

Cassandra is traveling with her new half-brother and Jaya to see Nyssa Al'Ghul. She's trying to train up Tenji, while Jaya is teaching both of them about healing through chi and chakras and whatnot. That's not so bad. Cass is also having nightmares about killing, about Shiva demanding to be avenged, and when Oracle tries contacting her, Cass turns off the communicator. Not great signs.

Nyssa has some lair in a weird place inside a mountain in the Himalayas, which is supposedly open to anyone looking to heal. And she's not prepared to let the Unburied tear down her little fiefdom, so she'd like Cassandra's help. Tenji says no, heroes don't work with villains. Oh, wow, where do you even start with that? Bronze Tiger really ought to have shared a few stories from the Suicide Squad days with his kid.

Cass, however, is in. Especially since the plan is the same one Shiva proposed: Find the Unburied's supply of the special blue flowers, and destroy it. Great, let's get the fuck on with it then. Also, I know it's relevant to Nyssa and Cassandra's backstory, but I really wish Brombal would quit bringing up the post-Infinite Crisis "Evil Cass" stuff. Just leave it in the dumpster of my memory where it belongs.

Then the big loud one of the Unburied, captured by Nyssa's crew at the beginning of the issue, busts loose, and Cass takes him down with Shiva's sword in one page. The small panels showing where she's cutting suggest she's not killing, but going hacky-slashy is probably a development to be concerned about. Still, it's nice to see her kicking some ass. Maybe she's settled on a course of action now, though it remains to be seen how she plans to go about getting her "justice."

What I Bought 9/5/2025

In a surprising turn of events, the local store had both of last week's comics I wanted. Maybe he's gotten things stabilized a bit. That'd be helpful.

Batgirl #11, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - That cloud looks like. . .3 people about to get their butts kicked.

The lady with the scythe isn't there to fight Batgirl. She's part of that group that can turn their blood to a weapon, and since Shiva was descended from that line, Cass has the potential as well. So they want her to join them. Tenji, too, once she knows he's also Shiva's kid.

Of course, the offer is "join or die," and Cass kicked her in the face, so fight's on. Tenji stands up to his dad, determined to help, but when he almost immediately gets injured, Cass flips out and starts beating the crap out of blood lady. Bronze Tiger stops her, but Wu Lin won't take the hint and puts everything she's got left into basically a hail of blood needles. Only some of which Cass is able to keep from hitting Bronze Tiger's back, though he doesn't seem to bothered either way.

And then the third weirdo arrives. She was sent by Nyssa al Ghul, offering Cassandra an opportunity to team up with the League of Shadows, and her dad was the nice Shiva devotee who died very quickly several issues ago. So Cass agrees to come along, and Tenji's coming too, with his dad's blessing and some cool tiger claw gauntlet things. And maybe Bronze Tiger will stop hiding on a ranch and go out in the world to do some good? Maybe?

So, with this 3-issue arc in the books, what did it get us? Cass has a half-brother who looks up to her, but had an entirely different, sheltered upbringing. Which would seem to make him a liability in what's undoubtedly coming. Cass learned a little more about her mother, and is still trying to deal with the fact she's dead, or maybe the fact that Cass is bothered that Shiva's dead. If she is. I retain serious doubts on that score. And now Cassandra's returning to a place that was not a good part of her life, League of Assassins/Shadows-related nonsense from the ugly years of Johns and Beechen insisting that because her parents were evil killers, Cass would also therefore become a killer.

Nothing bad can come of that stroll down memory lane!

Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #12, by Jed MacKay (writer), Domenico Carbone (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Cory Petit (letterer) - Geez, what did Swamp Thing ever do to Moon Knight?

Marc's actually seeing his therapist! Yay! Because he has a problem. Well, at least he's seeking a second opinion. The Wrecker is being haunted, and seeing as he helped free Khonshu during Blood Hunt, which meant Marc could be resurrected, he figures he's owed a favor. Of course, Tigra and Hunter's Moon paid him, but as Marc notes, the Wrecker is the kind of guy to always expect a favor to be repaid in kind. Just like himself.

That seems to suggest the Wrecker is never going to consider the debt repaid, in which case maybe Marc ought to just sic Thor, sorry, Beta Ray Bill on the guy and call it a day. But he doesn't, so out comes the enchanted skeleton armor from that one Ellis/Shalvey story, and commence to ghost punchin'!

The ghosts prove resistant to punching, and in fact, get stronger as they're pissed off Wrecker found someone to defend him. Marc borrows the crowbar, and combining that with his outfit seems enough to start shredding the ghosts. At which point that Layla character from the TV show pops up, as whatever role she has as this Scarlet Scarab - I never finished the show, so hell if I know her deal - to advocate for Marc to get out of the way and let the ghosts take revenge on their killer.

It's kind of ridiculous that Marc seemingly never questioned why these ghosts were hounding the Wrecker, and only the Wrecker (he mentions he called the rest of the Wrecking Crew for back-up, and they couldn't see them.) But Marc doesn't typically ask that when someone comes into his place looking for help, so why start now? He wants to divest himself of the debt, he thinks this is the way to do it, let's get it over with.

Carbone and Rosenberg make the ghosts look like blurry, glowy-eyed rotting corpses. There aren't a lot of details to the spectres - the outline of their nose or a rib here and there - and a fair amount of what looks like lightning or electrical discharge around them. Certainly not like the ghosts in the earlier story, who Shalvey drew as basically fully formed '80s punks, just colored Slimer green. But this issue was mostly focused on the Wrecker being under attack. Now that we know why, maybe they'll become more distinct as we see their own backstories and reasons for wanting revenge. 

What I Bought 8/15/2025

I found out a few weeks ago the city arranges for a bunch of food trucks to get together in this one spot each Friday. I decided to use it as a way to try some different foods, except the pickings have been slim the last two weeks. I don't know if I got there too early in the afternoon, and some of the trucks don't show until later, if it was because of the miserable heat, or if the whole thing is winding down for the season and people are peeling off to other gigs. The weather's supposed to be much nicer this Friday, so I'm hoping for more options.

Batgirl #10, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (color artist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - An actual tiger would be more help to Cass than the boy has been so far.

So, we got Norbu the Untested here to end the line of Shiva. Except there's at least one more kid in that lineage than he expected. Not that it matters. If it was just Cassandra, Norbu is toast, in five moves. But Tenji's here, and he's less tested than Norbu, but not smart enough to stay out of the way. He gets injured, Bronze Tiger puts Norbu through the side of the barn. 

Which doesn't finish the fight, but puts it on pause long enough for Cass and Bronze Tiger to argue some more. Because Tenji knows the moves, but not how to use them. Because Bronze Tiger thought he could keep the kid sealed away from Cass' fate. Which is remarkably naive for a guy with his past, but I guess he's trying to make his son gentler than he is. And since Shiva apparently only came to visit on Tenji's birthday to spar with him, she wasn't much of an influence.

I still don't know when Bronze Tiger got the little stripe marks on his face. He either had the tiger-headdress, or he painted stripes on his face. These are like scars, or extremely faint tattoos. Not loving it as a look.

Which, fair enough, provided Tenji survives the experience. Norbu pulls himself off the canvas, amps up with some of those blue petals, gets ready to unleash his ultimate attack - and get decapitated by the second of the "Swords." Fine, "Blue Blossom Omnistrike's" a dumb name, anyway. It probably would have been a totally lame ultimate attack.

Moon Knight; Fist of Khonshu #11, by Jed MacKay (writer), Domenico Carbone (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - The cover suggests a much grimmer story than what we actually get, fyi.

It's Marc Spector's birthday, and you're getting a tour of his life from the perspective of his supporting cast. Meaning that we're seeing the entire issue through the eyes of a character that's unnamed for 60% of the comic. So the characters use the same sorts of language murder victims do in mysteries just before they expire. "Oh, it's you." "Sorry! Didn't see you there!" That sort of thing.

Admittedly, I couldn't figure out who was still alive from Marc's previous supporting casts that might bother to show up, so I was toying with the idea Marc had drawn back and let Jake or Steven take the reins. It would have been weird, but I could see some of the cast trying to speak with those guys about Marc. Get perspective from a man on the inside, so to speak.

But it's actually Diatrice, Marc and Marlene's kid, who we haven't seen since the Annual a couple years ago. And I would never have expected Marlene to let her daughter attend Marc's birthday party, especially when he was being hunted by the police for suspicion of being a drug lord two issues ago, but here we are. And then Zodiac tries to take Diatrice hostage, has a lot of blah blah about how being a dad's not what Moon Knight is, and Marlene blows Zodiac's head open with a shot gun.

OK, that's a lie, or maybe a wish. Neither Marlene or Zodiac are present, though I assume Marlene's around somewhere. No way she let her kid come here on her own. Whatever, Marc makes his new sword release the soul of the Midnight Mission, and so the crew have their base back. And Moon Knight actually got someone back that he lost! Only running a deficit of 50-to-1 now. Also, I figure Marc asking the Mission to be friends with Diatrice will factor in at some point in the future.

What I Bought 8/4/2025 - Part 4

I was traveling on the west side of the state last week for work. While I was at a gas station, I saw a quilt shop across the street. On the sign, beneath the name of the shop, was the tagline, "you screamed, he stopped." Read it, paused. Double-take. Spent a few seconds parsing the meaning. At least, I hope I parsed the meaning. There was only one that wasn't deeply concerning.

Batgirl #9, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - "Batgirl Must Die"? Damn it, did DC switch editorial directions again?

Cassandra finds Bronze Tiger, living on a ranch in Montana. Cass makes the decision to arrive in full Batgirl attire, on a black stallion. Did she rent the horse dressed as Batgirl? Buy it? Did she steal the horse? The horse seems pretty OK with her, but maybe she offered it an apple. Part of Batman's teachings: always have snacks to gain the loyalty of local fauna.

Cass is there to find out about the "Jade Tiger", but as Bronze Tiger seems reluctant to talk, she starts jabbing at him. Verbally, for giving up, for hiding away, for not doing anything to help the world. His response is all his attempts to help made the world worse, so she starts jabbing at him, physically.

Which prompts a young man dressed in green to attack her. A brief fight, and the guy's revealed as Tenji Turner, the son of Bronze Tiger and Lady Shiva. So we're doing the "Surprise! Siblings!" plotline. I find it a little weird Bronze Tiger is trying to ignore the questions about the "Jade Tiger", but as soon as Tenji intervenes, he chooses to refer to him as "Jade Tiger" rather than "Tenji." If you don't want to reveal it, why use the codename she knows?

Tenji doesn't know much about either of his parents' past, certainly not the darker stuff, but he knows of Cassandra (but not that she's Batgirl, or what a Batgirl is, considering he asks if she's a 'cave ninja.') That'll have to wait, because another of the Unburied shows up, looking to kill Cassandra. And two more on their way. Which will at least give Cassandra an opportunity to put all this energy and urge to fight to good use.

Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #4, by John Allison (writer), Max Sarin (artist), Sammy Borras (color artist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Shauna beating that pinata like it ruined her burgeoning romance with a self-absorbed boy. 

The war between quilt stores is settled with an all-night quilting face-off, which ends in disgrace for both teams, as the old lady declares both their efforts pitiful. 'I see both teams have chosen blind panic as their theme.'

Quilts have themes? I learn something every day.

The hatchet is buried, but the car arson and shop flooding remain unsolved. The shop owners have decided they don't care, insurance will cover it, and they'll cover the cost of Shauna's boat repairs. Shauna, on the other hand, must know who's responsible. Well, if she'd read Bryn's pamphlet, she'd have known, because his submission for poetry slam was in there, and it details the whole thing.

Hooray! I correctly deduced the culprit. Admittedly, I did so by judging off tropes and his general personality, but that's half of what Shauna does, and I pulled it off 3 issues earlier. Ha-ha! Point for Calvin, though Shauna, like a photo in one of those apps, is able to re-frame things so her attraction was actually her subconscious recognizing he was a hoodlum. That bit of mental buttressing complete, she's off to get the boat repaired and return to Tackleford. Bryn's left to be drawn into the pub dads' clique, the poor sod.

Either way, another Allison/Sarin adventure in the books. I know less about quilting than I do baking shows (or baking in general), but I might have enjoyed this more than the first Great British Bump-Off. Smaller cast made things easier to keep track of, and Shauna seemed to have more time to devolve into flights of whimsy and crushing despair for Max Sarin to depict marvelously. And since Shauna spent more time trying to be a double-agent for both sides, she wasn't doing as much investigating, which meant I didn't feel as bad for not being able to put together clues (because there weren't any, forensic evidence apparently not being much of a thing in the Allison oeuvre.)

What I Bought 4/18/2025 - Part 1

As readers of the blog know, I'm not big on self-promotion. (Did I just self-promote my lack of self-promotion?) That doesn't mean I won't hype other people's stuff. With that in mind, I announce Alex's second album, The Catalogue (featuring Requiem) is available on most (all? He said Saturday he hadn't seen it on Spotify yet) digital music, um, sellers? Distributors? The places you can go online to listen to music, will have the album to listen to!

It's lo-fi jazz hip-hop, so mostly very chill. I'm particularly fond of "Sunflower Sam" and "Lofi Moomba" myself!

Batgirl #6, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Don't worry, I'm sure he's just using the sword to cut through the giant rubber band you're caught in.

Cassandra's rescue plan kind of isn't working, but she does learn why the Unburied are after Shiva. She cam to their underground world, seeking a challenge, and took the blue flowers. The Unburied realized hiding away wasn't letting them live in peace, and so they decided to seek and destroy.

Jayesh gets them free, then promptly dies at the blades of Neguri. Shiva wants to burn the flowers, Cassandra is determined to just get her to safety, and then be done with her. She takes a page from Batman's book and uses a colony of bats as cover to get through the Unburied, even briefly kicking Kalden's ass. Outside, Shiva tells Cass to find Bronze Tiger, then apparently falls covering Cassandra's retreat.

I say "apparently", because this really feels like a set-up. Kalden mentions the Unburied have a 'sublime leader.' Shiva says she doesn't know who it is, only that, if they're strong enough to defeat Kalden, they're someone she hopes Cass never faces until she's ready. And she sends Cass to find Bronze Tiger to 'help' her. When Batgirl carries the two of them out of the cave, after knocking Kalden on his ass in 5 strikes (the same number he needed to beat her in their first encounter), Shiva's looking at Cassandra with an approving smile.

When Cass asks Shiva why she bothered the Unburied, it's the "I am Lady Shiva. I am what I am." that Cassandra reads as truth. The rest is 'pain' and 'avoidance.' Shiva knows how Cass "sees", helped her regain it once. If David Cain knew how to obscure that, why wouldn't Shiva? So I really think Shiva is trying to improve her daughter, unfortunately in the way she defines that. Which seems to be making her a better fighter/warrior/weapon.

Random observation: I like how, after they pull themselves from the underground river, Miyazawa draws both of them with that similar strand of dark hair plastered across their face. Initially it's even running across the bridge of both their noses, though Shiva apparently quickly pushes her to the side, where it sticks to her cheek.

Red Before Black #5, by Stephanie Phillips (writer), Goran Sudzuka (artist), Ive Svorcina (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - People in the backcountry will build giant statues to anything.

At least some of Val's PTSD issues stem from an incident in Iraq, where she tried to get a pregnant woman, whose husband had been killed for aiding the U.S. forces, to give up the true name of the guy responsible. She did this by promising Sarah she and her family could come to the U.S., which base don Miles's reaction, was something she absolutely did NOT have authority to do. Quite possibly irrelevant, as they came under fire and Sarah got a piece of glass through the neck.

Interspersed with that is the present day, where Miles is about to kill Val. But first he has to complain about how he felt guilty, too, and betrayed by Val, and that he didn't sell her out in military court. Who knows if any of that is true. Obviously beside the part about Val betraying him, because that's what she's done. It's also largely irrelevant, because Agent Lamb shows up and shoots Miles through the back. Hilariously, he says Miles will get medical attention.

Dude, you almost certainly hit him in the heart. He's dead. Anyway, Val convinces Lamb to help her rescue Leo, except Leo already escaped and kicked her step-brother's ass. Then Lamb lets Val leave, calling him a bleeding heart as that weird jungle fills the room (though unlike Leo, Lamb doesn't appear able to see it.) Leo helps Val escape the cops, and then there's a couple of old ladies, who will apparently be important next issue.

The 'bleeding heart' comment was interesting, especially given where Miles was shot (the gunshot seems too low to perfectly mirror where Sarah's wound was located, but that doesn't mean Val wouldn't draw connections.) She thinks Lamb wants to bring her in, but in a way that gives her some respect. And she uses that apparent weakness to escape. The same way she used Miles' apparent guilt and camaraderie to get her foot in the door with his organization. The same way she used Sarah's hope of getting her family someplace, well, I hesitate to safe "safer" given the state of the U.S. at present, but that seems like the basic idea.

Use them up, get them killed, though in Lamb's case it's probably just his career that died. But Val got used by the U.S. government and military, then cast aside (see the flashback in the earlier issue where she's not allowed to sit in on a support group for veterans because she's a woman.) Don't know the circumstances that led her to enlist, but it seems likely she saw a chance for better prospects and took it. Then got used up and spit out.

How all that ties in with what's going on between her and Leo, I don't know. Other than she called Lamb a bleeding heart because like recognizes like, and she's trying to save Leo. Whether Leo wants or needs that is another matter.

What I Bought 3/26/2025

The local store didn't have any of the things I wanted that came out this week. Or anything from this week at all, that I could tell. Makes it hard to want to support a local business. But there was one book from earlier in the month on the shelves I wanted, and here we are.

Batgirl #5, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (penciler/inker), Wayne Faucher (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) -  Batgirl entering her "blue flower" phase.

Cass got a tracer on Shiva before she was carted off, which leads her to the Unburied's base. She slips in, only to eventually encounter the three super-powered soldier types, who found the tracker and were waiting for her. Cass deals with the big guy, but the lady with the giant scissors knocks her out by blowing the flower pollen in her face.

OK, so the flowers give you super-powers if you eat them, heal wounds if you smear it on them, and act as a knockout drug when inhaled? That's ridiculous. And if the stuff was not from the flowers, have Spicer color it a little less blue, especially when they're fighting in a field of the flowers (located in a sunless cave, no less.)

Cass has a dream where she speaks with Stephanie, and lets out all her frustrations and feelings about Shiva. How she hoped Shiva was someone innocent, but found out she's a killer, and that's what Cassandra is afraid of in herself. But she wants to save Shiva - from the Unburied and all the killing, I presume - because it means she can save the little girl she was before she fled David Cain?

And then she wakes up dangling from a ceiling in the same room as Shiva.

The notion Cassandra is both repelled by her mother and wants to save her because of Cassandra's own past is at least a sort of explanation for why she didn't just tell Shiva to piss off and go do her own thing three issues ago but, I don't know. I get it if Brombal decided Cass' relationship with Cain was beaten to death, but I'm not nearly as interested in Shiva as he clearly wants us to be. And she's the closest thing to a supporting cast Cassandra has in this book. No Bat-family, and every new character that gets introduced dies or vanishes shortly after. The Vietnamese family that runs the restaurant in Gotham, Jayesh (the priest that follows Shiva.) I'm assuming since he gave Cass a ride to the cave but didn't follow her in, he's carrying out his own part of some plan right now, but there's no evidence of it. That's just me assuming there's a reason he vanished after the 5th panel of page 1.

What I Bought 2/5/2025 - Part 2

I had Weird Al's "Your Horoscope for Today" stuck in my head most of last week. 'The position of Jupiter says you should spend the rest of the week facedown in the mud,' seemed particularly resonant, and I'm not even a Cancer. As to whether I'm a cancer, that's a different question entirely.

Batgirl #4, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Wayne Faucher (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - The guy at the store asked if Cass was using those throwing stars or if they were thrown at her. I asserted it was probably the second option.

So Cassandra trusts basically none of the people Shiva's thrown in with, but while they argue, the Unburied launch a surprise attack on the train. In the form of one of their guys blowing himself up while inside the train. Brombal introduces two more "grandmasters" to go with that Kalden guy. Chodak's a big guy whose voice balloons have thicker-than-normal lines, suggesting a deep voice. Nergui speaks in whisper and carries giant golden (magic?) scissors. The designs are distinct from each other, while sticking to the general pattern the Unburied followed, but nothing wildly creative.

That's about all we get on them, besides the fact they can fight pretty well. Shiva tries to withdraw with Batgirl, and it turns out Shiva has a few of those special flower petals. What a shock, he said insincerely. But she does confide in Cassandra that she thinks everything that was "soft" in her went into Cassandra, and not wanting to acknowledge that part of herself may be why she left her daughter to David Cain. Before that conversation can go anywhere, the grandmasters catch up, Cass gets KO'ed in one hit by Kalden, and Shiva's a prisoner. Cass used to be able to take more of a punch than that.

One thing Brombal keeps coming back to, either in Cassandra's captions boxes or Shiva's comments, is who is Cassandra, really? In this issue, she keeps trying to think of what Batman (who she calls her father, and I don't love that, given how much of a controlling dickhead he was back in her first ongoing series) would do. But it doesn't seem to be working well for her. Either she can't come up with a plan fast enough, or the "plan" is just "beat everyone up." Cassandra's been defining herself as being different aspects of the people who matter to her, or by rejecting others, but it's like trying to map a territory via negative space. You might get the boundaries, but the specifics are lost.

I have no clue what conclusion Brombal will have Cassandra reach, but I guess that'll come when this arc concludes.

What I Bought 1/3/2025

Well, the books from last year haven't arrived yet, but that's no reason to delay reviewing a comic from this year. Besides, with Snowmaggedon 2025 readying its assault for this weekend, who know when anything will arrive?

Batgirl #3, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - Strangers you beat on a train.

Shiva is trying to get Cassandra to trust her by actually talking to her, albeit in a manner that doesn't so much extol Shiva's virtues as it does dismiss Cassandra's connections with those she insists are her family (meaning, the assorted Bat-crew.) You know the spiel."They don't see the real you, not like I do. My blood is yours, etc."

What might have been more successful was Cass seeing train cars full of people who follow and worship Shiva's teachings, not simply as a destroyer, but as a protector and healer. Shiva leaves that mostly to one of her adherents, Jayesh, who treats Cass's wounds while explaining all the different faces he's seen of Shiva. Which is probably meant to get Cass to start seeing her mother beyond the simplistic deceiver viewpoint she's adopted thus far, especially as the conversation takes place during a walk through the train cars full of people who smile at her and go on about their lives and apparently love her mom. There's a nice panel where two kids are playing and as they run past, Cass pulls her cape in close so they don't get tangled or tripped by it.

All the while, Cass is searching for a threat and not finding it, until one poor ninja steps in and she's off to the races. We get five full-page splashes of Batgirl beating League of Assassin asses, while internally insisting there's nothing of her mother in her (rather, she's parts of all of her friends, like 'Barbara's will and Stephanie's heart.') Meanwhile, Shiva's chasing her down the train - and defending herself from the assassins, trying to reason with Cass. That the fight ends at a car with Nyssa Al Ghul and two people I don't know, and these are still more allies, doesn't do a lot to help Shiva's case.

Also, Jayesh's brother died when Cass and Shiva reached her temple, and Miyazawa draws both of whom looking like the guy that called out Batgirl, only to get beaten by Spoiler, in Cassandra's first series. I'm not sure if either of them is meant to be that character - Jayesh doesn't mention that fight, so it'd have to be his brother - or it's just a particular look some of her followers adopt.

I assume the point of the train fight is that Cass is behaving the way she claims her mother does. She doesn't protect anyone with that unnecessary attack, she only hurts people. I doubt these chumps would do much against the Unburied, but they might protect some of the non-combatants in the other cars. 

Still, it's hard for me to take Shiva at face value, even before we found out she teamed up with an Al Ghul. She claims the Unburied were coming after Cassandra whether Shiva showed or not, but doesn't explain why. Has never explained why any of them are considered threats to the Unburied, though I'm starting to assume Brombal is going for some "mystical plant" explanation for Cass's skill. Shiva got some of the plants, and the gain was passed to her daughter. It would explain all the insistence on blood Shiva's doing (beyond her trying to assert her connection with her daughter.)

What I Bought 12/7/2024 - Part 1

I tried to do the novel writing thing last month. Not officially; I didn't use the NaNoWriMo website even before they said it was fine if people let AI write their novels - what's even the point if you just let a machine do it - but I went into November with the general notion of writing 50K words of fiction, and maybe actually finishing the thing I'd been working on since June of last year.

I barely got to 21,000. Just couldn't get motivated, which has felt like a problem most of the year, really. Oh well.

Calavera P.I. #2, by Marco Finnegan (writer/artist), Jeff Eckleberry (letterer) - If people's torsos are turning into buildings, this might be beyond the skills of even a skeleton detective.

So, Calavera's back, as a skeleton in a fedora and trench coat. And she actually smacks him, yelling at how she mourned him anyway. Like, lady, do you think he's just wearing really nifty make-up right now? A priest shows up to offer some exposition, that the dead can return on this night, but only for one night, whether they finish their business or not.

Calavera gets a quick rundown on what the Great Depression's doing to the city, and especially the Mexican-American population. Scapegoating and forced deportation, mostly. Calavera also finds out she's been producing comics, pulps, and even films about him. Starring a white guy, of course. That's got to be a weird feeling.

Having burned 40% of the issue, and with over 30% of the mini-series already done, Finnegan decides it might be time for Calavera to get to work actually detecting. I'm just not getting the pacing. Why have the priest make explicit Calavera's got one night, then doodle around like this? Where is the urgency, if not from Calavera, who has no connection to the kid other than having been friends with his mom, then from her at least. Push him a little, demand they start asking questions, something.

Calavera does question the first homeless guy he sees on the street where she saw, who the clown gave a matchbook with a meeting place scribbled on it. He goes there, barely gets started doing anything, and two guys attack him, including one who stabs him with a shaving razor. Which has a blunt end, because it's meant for cutting, not stabbing. Am I supposed to assume this goon is a moron, or what? Just draw him with a switchblade or, you know, anything meant for stabbing. It doesn't do any good, and he at least gets the name of whoever wants to meet him, but then the cops show up to deport Mexicans and Calavera runs into Mike the Cop.

And then the clown just, drives by in a van, with the kid locked in the back. That's obviously bait, or maybe this "La Fantasma" figured out this wasn't going to get where she wanted if things kept proceeding at the same pace. I like the concept, but either the execution, or the things Finnegan's focused on, aren't clicking for me.

Batgirl #2, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - It helps break up the black on the mask, I know, but giving her mask big white eyes like that makes it look strange. Like Batgirl's version of the really huge, Erik Larsen-style Spidey-Man eyes.

Batgirl and Shiva escape, but Cass still isn't willing to leave the city. She brings Shiva to a restaurant she apparently frequents and the elderly Vietnamese lady that runs it, stitches up Shiva and convinces her to stop trying to order Cass around if she wants results. It's probably useful for Shiva to observe Cass outside of combat, which is pretty much the only thing they ever do around each other. Get a better understanding of what actually matters to her daughter.

Although we don't get any internal narration from Shiva, she explains the Unburied found that flowers that sprouted from the graves of 100 murdered fellow monks. The flowers grant powers, so other people wanted them, there was a lot of fighting, the monks and the flowers appeared to die, but apparently not.

Before Shiva gets around to explaining a) why the Unburied are back now, and more critically from my perspective, b) why they're after her, the monks catch up. There's another fight, and Miyazawa seems to have Cassandra use Batarangs almost like spiked brass knuckles. There's a couple of times where she's punching guys while she has the 'rangs projecting from between her fingers.

Which isn't a concern for Kalden the Unseen, blind and super-fast and proceeds to kick Cassandra's ass. She can't read his moves, but I can't tell from the faltering internal narration Brombal gives her in the the aftermath if he did something to wreck that ability, or just shook her confidence really badly. Probably the latter, but either way, she and Shiva are riding on the top of a train out of Gotham, and the blind swordsman probably just killed that nice family that gave her soup on a regular basis. But he's sad about it, you guys! He cried when he killed two firefighters earlier!

More seriously, I assume Brombal's planning to contrast Kalden with Cass. Kalden kills, then uses some power to experience the pain and terror he inflicted, but he keeps killing. Cass killed once and was horrified by what she saw in her victim's eyes, to the point she swore against doing it again. How that's going to play out, especially with Shiva, a generally unrepentant killer, in the mix, I don't know.

What I Bought 11/16/2024 - Part 1

The local comic store's orders haven't been showing up, which is why no reviews of new comics recently. However, I went with Alex to a gig in Wisconsin last weekend. Maybe not the smartest idea to do a 1,000 miles of driving in 40 hours, ahead of a week of inspections, but oh well. Among other things, we checked out a comic store, and it had all the books from the last two weeks I wanted.

Which is only three comics, but is still a welcome result.

Batgirl #1, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) - It feels like her foot is turned kind of oddly, but Cass is the fighting expert, so I guess there's a reason.

Shiva contacted Batgirl because they're both in danger from a group called The Unburied, but who basically look like The Hand's Blue Division. What the ninjas want, besides (apparently) Cass and Shiva's deaths, is not explained, but they're (apparently) dangerous enough Shiva decides it's better for her and Cass to run than fight.

I keep saying "apparently" because I can't shake the feeling Shiva's not to be trusted. Brombal and Miyazawa use this bit of smaller panels focused on Shiva's face or hand, with one-word captions describing what Cassandra is reading. Except Cass also mentions that her mother knows that skill, and knows how to deceive. And on the last page, when Cass leaps to Shiva's assistance, Miyazawa draws Shiva standing behind Cass wearing what I'd call a smirk. She was in a martial arts stance two panels earlier, but seems to have dropped it once her daughter gets involved. Is that because having someone to fight alongside her changes her approach, or because this is all part of her plan?

It looks as though Brombal's going to focus on Cass and Shiva's relationship. It's comparatively untouched compared to Cass' relationship with David Cain, and most of what we've seen is just them beating the crap out of each other, and temporarily killing each other. Shiva clearly enjoys pushing Cass' buttons, while Cass spends as much of the initial fight attacking Shiva in a way that lets them attack their opponents unexpectedly.

Calavera P.I. #1, by Marco Finnegan (writer/artist), Jeff Eckleberry (letterer) - Can he blow smoke rings with no lips?

In 1925, Juan Calavera is a private investigator who rescues a bunch of girls smuggling into L.A. for some rich white guy, with a little assistance from local reporter Maria Valdez and her trusty flashbulb. Despite the successful conclusion of the case, Calavera doesn't seem happy with the life he leads. So maybe it's fortunate that, later that night, his attempt to keep a grieving mother from killing herself or any innocent bystanders, ends in his death.

After that, Finnegan jumps ahead five years, where Valdez is running some kind of production company, when she gets a call that tells her to 'find the detective.' Oh, and she better hurry, because her son's been abducted by a clown. So she tries a ritual, and Calavera's back among the living. As a trenchcoat-wearing skeleton, which is kind of odd since we don't see him wearing a trenchcoat prior to this. But I guess even nights in L.A. can get cold with no blood or tissue wrapped around your bones.

Finnegan sticks with solid blocks of color on this book, but in duller tones than were used in Morning Star. I like the look of it, and his design on his characters seems more consistent. Doesn't feel like the colors swamp his lines, faces don't end up looking strange sometimes. The brief fight scene is laid out in a simple progression, but Finnegan uses yellow rectangles against a darker background for highlighting a point of emphasis. It's a nice touch, or maybe I'm just more interested in this story than I was Morning Star.

Sunday Splash Page #348

"The Big Dance," in Mary Jane: Homecoming #3, by Sean McKeever (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Christina Strain (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

Homecoming was actually the second of two, 4-issue mini-series that preceded Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. However, the first mini-series (titled simply, Mary Jane), didn't have a splash page. And both mini-series (and really, the 20-issue ongoing that followed) are part of a single, continuous arc anyway, so it seems to work.

As far as the mini-series, everything builds to Homecoming, mostly because Liz Allan is obsessed with being named Homecoming Queen, and Flash being named Homecoming King. So everything has to be perfect for her big moment. Get that? Everything. Must. Be. Perfect. McKeever writes her as so high-strung and insecure I'm surprised her head doesn't fly off. It is funny to watch her yell at Flash for almost beating up some guys pranking MJ, but she flips out and nearly attacks a cheerleader from another school for talking to Flash. That Flash actually got in the way of that makes him the bravest man alive.

As for Mary Jane, she's trying to amp herself up for going to the dance with Harry Osborn, when really, she wants to go with Spider-Man. Harry's nice, and he takes her nice places, although that makes her self-conscious about her own financial situation, but he doesn't excite her. So she's going back-and-forth on that, trying to find a spark with Harry that's only occasionally there, while Liz keeps pointing out how ridiculous it would be to go to the dance with a guy in a costume. When she's not yelling at Flash for one thing or another.

Then it turns out Flash has a crush on Mary Jane, which is manageable, until Flash hears from Harry (while Flash is trying to get Harry to fix things with MJ, after Harry broke it off because she wouldn't help him cheat on a test) that MJ had a crush on Flash in junior high. And then Homecoming doesn't go the way Liz wanted, even beyond Spider-Man and the Vulture almost ruining the game-winning field goal, and things blow up real good. Emotionally. No actual explosions.

In the earliest issues you can see Miyazawa finding the range, so to speak. MJ's hair has a lot more bounce and curl in it early on compared to later. Not Todd Mac or Erik Larsen level curls, but not Romita Sr. hair that hangs straight down. And there's a few panels where the shape of her face or the size of her forehead shifts dramatically. But by the end of Mary Jane, he's found his groove (although Flash Thompson's affection for cowboy hats is an interesting choice.)

In the first mini-series, McKeever makes a couple of references to MJ's mother that never really get expanded on. She interrupts a call between MJ and Liz by loudly demanding MJ come down for supper, and the school counselor (who I think turns out to be the Looter), makes a remark about whether MJ's mom is working at the moment, since MJ's grades are sliding since she started working to pay for her Homecoming dress. Probably could have done more with that in the ongoing, and cut down on constantly expanding the net of people caught in relationship drama. Instead, he introduced a story right at the end about Flash taking a job to help his family pay bills, and the parents stay entirely off-screen, referred to, but never seen.

Saturday Splash Page #139

 

"Future Super-Ex Boyfriend," in Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #3, by Sean McKeever (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Christina Strain (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

We'll look at the two mini-series that preceded this in a couple of months in Sunday Splash Page, but for now we'll start at the end. Set in some vaguely mid-2000s Midtown High School, the book mostly follows teenage Mary Jane Watson as she tries to navigate high school and figure out what she actually wants in life.

That is apparently a very difficult question, because MJ vacillates constantly over the course of 20 issues. She wants to try dating Spider-Man, so they give it a shot and it's awkward. So she tries playing a shallow party girl instead - "going plastic," she calls it - but that gets complicated. She tries dating Harry Osborn, but just doesn't like him enough. Harry dates a lot of girls, but isn't above manipulating MJ's feelings to get her back. Meanwhile, her friend Liz Allan's constantly insecure about her boyfriend Flash having a junior high crush on MJ, or some other girl stealing him away. And there's always old Puny Parker, the quiet friend (?).

If I ever had any regrets about being an introverted social outcast in high school, this book killed them, but good. All this drama and arguing and no one being able to stick to anything for more than five minutes seems exhausting.

McKeever keeps adding other characters to provide new angles for drama, but it muddies the water. When you've got Spider-Man and Firestar sort of dating, but Gwen Stacy is figuring out if she's mad at Peter or he's mad at her for telling Mary Jane a secret, and oh, here's Felicia Hardy as the new bad girl at school trying to steal Flash away from Liz, it's a bit much. Things end abruptly, or have to get shoved on the backburner for several issues until there's time for a scene dealing with it. I guess there were only so many permutations McKeever thought he could run through with MJ-Harry-Liz-Flash-Peter-Spider-Man.

Takeshi Miyazawa, who drew the two mini-series, handles the art for the first 15 issues, before Jeremy Haun takes over for the last 5. Miyazawa keeps the characters looking young; rounded, smooth faces lacking even the hint of facial hair - surprised Harry's not trying to grow a crappy mustache. Spider-Man's a skinny teenager, while Peter Parker walks with perpetual slumped shoulders and thick glasses.

It's usually several panels a page, mostly close-ups. Since this is a book about teenagers having big emotions, McKeever gives Miyazawa and Hahn room to focus on expressions and body language. A lot of "panel 1: comment, panel 2: silent reaction, panel 3: reply or follow-up comment." Liz, who is drawn as significantly smaller than the rest of the cast, is all about big gestures and open expressions of emotion (usually anger.) Hahn's not as adept at it - there are some panels where you can guess what he's trying to convey, but the art doesn't carry it - but the effort's there. It's not repeated panels of the two characters with the same expression or posture the whole time.