What I Bought 9/5/2014 - Part 1

A nice big batch of new comics. New to me anyway, but hey, some of these are even from last week, so that's pretty new, even if I won't get to any of those before Friday. Today, I'd like to take the opportunity to put Original Sin in the rearview mirror as swiftly as possible.

Daredevil #7, by Mark Waid (storyteller), Javie Rodriguez (storyteller, colorist), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - One thing I only noticed recently is that they've added two little on the second "D" in on the cover. Not this cover, but when they use the normal logo. They didn't have that in the previous volume, but it's a cute touch.

Matt gets SHIELD to airdrop him into Wakanda, where he is almost instantly captured and brought before their Queen. Exactly as he planned. As he notes, he was not going to stumble through miles of jungle hoping to find the prison holding his mother. Matt and Shuri fight a bit, then Matt talks her into releasing his mother and the other two ladies. He does this by having kidnapped that American general, and by having made it look very clear to the Army that said general has fled to Wakanda for some reason. So, to keep her hands clean, Shuri releases the illegal prisoners, though it's Maggie who saves Daredevil. On the flight back, Matt finally learns the truth of that weird memory. Maggie had really severe postpartum depression, to the extent she became convinced baby Matt had been sent to destroy her marriage. She tried to tear him away from Jack, and slipped on a plate of spaghetti. Then came back to herself and fled to protect them from her, eventually finding the Church and dedicating her life to helping others. It ends with a mother-son hug back in the States (or at least on an aircraft carrier).

So, that was not what I was expecting, obviously, but it's an interesting idea. I was reading through Scans Daily last night, looking for some images for this Saturday's post, and I came across someone mentioning how all the dead parents in comics tend to come across as saints. Never angry, never wrong, their lessons are always applicable. I think that's a normal human reaction, to try and forget about the less than stellar qualities of deceased loved ones, but I have to admit, I was curious to see how it might affect Matt if he had learned his beloved father had been a domestic abuser. But I'd likely regret it later. Probably just send Matt into another tailspin of depression. This is better, I think. Explains a few things about his mother's disappearing act, and opens the door for a more open relationship between the two. Not Superman flying back to see Ma and Pa regularly, but Matt and Maggie could talk on the phone some. That'd be nice. Have Maggie and Kirsten meet, and eventually Maggie and Foggy. Have they ever met? Seems odd, Matt's mom never having met his best friend.

Rodriguez draws the Wakandan soldiers with paint is elaborate patterns all over their skin. But he adds these touches of white, or lighter shades, or even letters in some cases, to make it clear it's a lot more than just paint. I think it's been to perform like some sort of low-grade Iron Man armor, or exoskeleton. Enhance physical abilities, provide some shielding, maybe the stuff on the head enables communications, targeting data, or allows for precise global positioning. It's a little detail, but it's a nice touch.

Deadpool #33, by Brian Posehn & Gerry Duggan (writers), John Lucas (artist), Val Staples (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - Aw, look at that. Deadpool's drawing his own covers now. Ow, ow, ow, I'm joking, Wade! It's a lovely depiction of you by your daughter! Let go of my kneecap!

We open in a morgue, where the coroner and the cops are left with a mass of Ultimatum corpses. Also Joshua Utler, and Eleanor? Oh no! Back to earlier, we watch Wade do his best to protect her, but even he can't fight when someone shoots him in the spine. Well, until Flag-Smasher throws her out the window, at which point he rips out one guy's Achillies with his teeth, throws a viper down another guy's vest, and headbutts F-S, then starts beating the holy hell out of the schmuck, until we see - gasp! - that Eleanor survived! She was caught by Evan! If you're not up on this, Evan is (as I understand it) a young man who is supposed to become Apocalypse someday (the previous one having died). Fantomex has tried his best to educate the boy to not do that, but Wade seems to be his sponsor in a lot of ways. Makes sense, Wade is a big believer in the idea that you aren't evil just because everyone says you're going to be evil.

His daughter safe for the moment, Wade tells Flag-Smasher to leave him alone, and make sure Ultimatum leaves him alone. Or else. About this time, Preston and Adsit arrive, and Wade convinces Preston to take in Eleanor, while he, Evan, and Quentin Quire set about convincing everyone else Ellie died. Which brings us back to the morgue, where the Ellie the cops are seeing is actually Quire doing a telepathic illusion. Quire offers to wipe Ellie's mind of all this, and of Deadpool as well, but Wade is adamant her mind not be messed with. Then he goes and buys the house across the street from Preston's, so he can keep an eye on his daughter. Thank goodness for giant sacks with dollar bill signs on the front. But the good news parade can't last, because his friend Kim (last seen when Wade and Shiklah went to Tokyo) calls to say he's dying. If it isn't one thing, it's another.

If this hadn't been listed as an Original Sin tie-in, it would have been fine. It wouldn't have been that hard for Preston to find Eleanor through other channels. The most "sin" part of it is the bit about Adsit seeing Wade kill his parents and torch their home, and that's barely been touched on. But whatever, Duggan and Posehn continue to show a good understanding of Wade as a character, and I like Wade when he's struggling with that fear that makes him want to kill everyone he considers a threat, and his desire to not be the sort of person who racks up that kind of body count. It's more of a fair fight with him than it is with most costumed adventurer types. I do wonder if they're going to do comedy hijinks with Wade trying to be a neighbor surreptitiously. Maybe the occasional one-off issue, but I'm not sure how it'll fit otherwise. Also not sure how Shiklah will take it. Oh, she got Dazzler back safely to the 1970s with Dr. Strange's help. None of those 3 are very happy with Wade. Oh sure, Strange can go back in time and so Clea can get wooed by Ben Franklin, but Wade can't bring Dazzler to the present to kill vampires. I see how it is.

I've complained incessantly about Lucas' art, so let's skip that. I will say I kind of liked how the blood on Wade's mask made it so you could see his teeth through it (it works at being creepy), and the twisted way he draws faces and bodies fit with Deadpool's madness and anguish when Flag-Smasher tossed Eleanor out the window. Flag-Smasher, what a tool.