What I Bought 6/6/2019 - Part 1

The week after the tornado, I hit a deer trying to get to work. The vehicle is still driveable, but that's one more thing I get to worry about once I actually get into the new apartment at the end of this week. I hate deer. Nothing that big should be that fucking stupid. You want to commit suicide, run into a tree, not in front of my car.

In other news, I found a few of the comics I was looking for while I was out of town last week. So let's hit the two most recent issues of this mini-series.

Domino: Hotshots #3 and 4, by Gail Simone (writer), David Baldeon and Michael Shelfer (artists), Baldeon, Shelfer, and Craig Yeung (inkers, #4), Jim Charalampidis (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Oh great, who gave the Black Widow the Ultimate Nullifier?

The Hotshots jet avoids crashing because Outlaw uses a bit of that Space Hepatitis she got from the Celestial junk to boost the power on Stark's robots. So Buenos Aires doesn't get partially destroyed. There's some talking (and Diamonback makes out with Deadpool, which seems random) and then they continue on trying to track down Dr. Gavrie, only to run into a bunch of Sentinels modified by AIM. Meaning they look like giant AIM guys. Outlaw taps into more of the power and takes them apart, at which point the rest of the crew realizes they've been spreading around Space Hep A like crazy.

So, with Domino and her friends manifesting the power too, the tagalongs (Widow, Atlas Bear, the White Fox) decide maybe they should take the others into custody. To "help" them. Well, White Fox actually attacks Domino so try to contract Space Hep, which doesn't work. She gets booted off the team (to get mixed up in that War of Realms Agents of Atlas mini-series, I assume), and the rest resume chasing Gavrie, who is now calling himself Gavrie the Penitent. Domino channels a bit of what she's got and space kills him. And then everyone rejects the power, so that takes care of that, right? Except there was one other scientist chasing after Gavrie, and she's out to kill them.

You can always tell the point when Shelfer takes over art chores from Baldeon, because Outlaw's short pants get noticeably shorter. Although she used to rock a short skirt. Probably best she ditched that look before she started growing. I'm sure Deadpool would have approved, though. Shelfer's linework on faces seems more unsteady than Baldeon, especially characters further in the background. Seems to struggle to keep a given character's features looking the same as when they're the focus of the panel.

That said, he and Baldeon both have some fun with designs for showing the effect of the Celestial thing on the characters (I'm guessing Charalampidis has something to do with is as well. Maybe most of it). Domino gets the weird Celestial pattern imprinted on the spot over her eye. Outlaw looks pretty cool with glowy eyes shadowed by her hat.

That said, the pattern of this story seems off. I feel like every single issue so far has had Domino asking if Black Widow, White Fox, and Atlas Bear are willing to follow her orders and set aside nationalist concerns. Or her trying to assert her position as leader. I don't know if Simone's taking a more old-school approach - not quite the old exposition dump/recap, but trying to reinforce certain things - but it kind of makes Domino seem ineffectual, since she keeps saying it, and then five minutes later, White Fox is disobeying orders again. Of course, Domino sent her on her way, but we'll see if that sticks. I feel like we're supposed to see the other going along with it as them respecting Domino, but the way Natasha's written, it's almost more likely she's just amusing herself.

Also, where the hell is this thing about Diamondback coming off as a snob coming from? Is it the face she used to date Captain America? Are some of the old Serpent Society talking shit after they fell out with her over that?

And why did White Fox only try to pick up Space hep A from Domino? Diamondback and Deadpool are both also infected, but she ignores going after them? It's not like Domino's less likely to kill her than those two. Neither of them really does anything with their power either, so I don't know if they got rid of theirs or if it's still there or what.

I have to hope this thing will read better once it's complete, because it's paced oddly as it stands right now.