Saturday Splash Page #198

"East Coast Bound," in Runaways (vol. 2) #9, by Brian K. Vaughn (writer), Adrian Alphona (penciler), Craig Yeung (inker), Christina Strain (colorist), Randy Gentile (letterer)

Volume 1 of Runaways ended with the Pride dying to protect their children from the displeased Gibborim, and Alex dead after it was revealed he'd been the mole trying to manipulate events to protect his parents and Nico, who he had a crush on. Captain America shows up, the kids are briefly named wards of the state, but say screw that and reunite to live together.

Which is where volume 2, the first two years written by Brian K. Vaughn, with mostly Adrian Alphona on pencils, picks up. The cast live in an old Pride base under the La Brea tar pits and try to keep the city quiet now that their parents aren't around to do it. To the extent they have one, Nico is leader, at least out in the field, where they do a bit more superheroing than in the previous volume. They beat down the Wrecking Crew with, frankly, a lot less trouble than a group this disorganized should have. Then a group of former teen heroes - Darkhawk, Turbo, Ricochet, Chamber (except not really), Lightspeed, Phil Urich - trying to quit the hero biz seek them out to convince them they can also stop. It's kind of a mess, though Darkhawk does get to kill an Ultron. Points for that.

Later, they travel to New York to help Cloak when he's accused of putting Dagger in a coma, and run into the New Avengers, who mostly handle things terribly. I say "mostly," because Spider-Man finds Gert and a new team member and they have a calm chat over Chinese food, until Nico and Chase barge in and Nico hits Spidey with a knockout spell, eternally placing Nico Minoru on my shit list.

To be fair, if it wasn't that, it'd be one of 12,000 other incredibly stupid things she's done over the years. Still less irritating than Chase, who runs his yap a lot for a complete goober. Real "alligator mouth, jaybird head," energy from that guy.

There's a lot of interpersonal drama, much of it tied to new additions to the cast. A future Gert claiming to lead the Avengers shows up, dying, to warn them about a boy named Victor who will pose as a hero but turn out to be a huge threat. Victor Mancha eventually ends up on the "team", but it's presented as Nico's idea of a way to keep an eye on him, since Chase would rather just kill the guy before he can hurt present Gert.

In the meantime, Karolina comes out to Nico, by trying to kiss her. Because she interpreted Nico being, 'done with boys,' in a very specific way. Nico is not ready for that, which is when a Skrull named Xavin shows up, claiming his parents and Karolina's arranged a marriage to end a war between their two planets. Gender apparently doesn't mean much to a Skrull, so Xavin can be a girl, if that's what Karolina prefers, and off they go into space - for about 10 issues. Once Karolina's gone, Nico decides she's not done with boys, kisses Chase during the NYC adventure, then starts up with Victor.

That sort of rapidly shifting focus wasn't my teen experience - I basically for one person and that was that - but it does remind me of Alex in high school, where a different girl seemed to seize his attention every time we talked. Credit to Vaughn for capturing that aspect accurately. 

Vaughn keeps a plotline running in the background about a mysterious quartet, calling themselves The Pride, plotting to destroy the Runaways. That finally comes to a head in issues 13-18, most of which the Runaways spend on the defensive, getting repeatedly outflanked. I'd be annoyed by that, given how easily the cast handle superheroes who have been fighting tougher foes than them for years, given the Pride is made of a bunch of ordinary dopes. Well, three ordinary dopes and one hardened, but strictly human, criminal. But the New Pride are trying to kill the teens, while the New Avengers are trying to talk. You'd think with all the practice they were getting courtesy of Bendis they'd be better at it, but alas.

The battle against the new Pride ends with the timeline unchanged, the Gibborim still trapped, and one member of the team dead. Which results in a brief "breaking bad" arc for Chase in the final Vaughn/Alphona story, but no resurrections. When Victor questions letting Chase stay, Nico frames it the same way she framed letting Victor stay to Chase. They're keeping an eye on him, and if he steps out of line, they'll 'rip his heart out.'

Which is kind of funny, because this group, the original six from Volume 1, never really does that. Truly cast out the ones who betray them, I mean. Alex betrayed them, but they didn't kill him, the Gibborim did, when he tried to make sure his parents didn't take the blame for his plan failing. Heck, Alex claimed it wasn't a betrayal because he was never on their side, only using them for his plan, and still, as we see in subsequent volumes, they let him show up repeatedly without even kicking his ass, let alone killing him.

Victor, on the other hand, gets very limited benefit of the doubt. When he questions Nico about attacking Spider-Man for no good reason, Chase essentially tells him to be quiet because he's still the 'new kid.' Gert, who was right there conversing pleasantly with Spidey, immediately falls in line with Chase and Nico. When Nico's magic points at Victor as the mole helping the new Pride, Gert immediately swings a giant wrench at him.

When they're trying to figure out who Victor's "evil" parent is, he compares them to a group of abused children, who now assume every child is being abused. Which isn't wrong; they fought the Wrecking Crew because they assumed Piledriver abducted his son against his will, only to learn the kid wants to be like his loser of a dad. But there is a sense the whole mess with their parents has forged a link between them that sticks, even through the bullshit they pull on each other, and that it's hard for anyone else to ever really break in or gain the same benefit of the doubt.

Of the 24 issues Vaughn wrote, the two involving Xavin's arrival and eventual departure with Karolina are drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa. Three issues after the Pride story concludes are drawn by Mike Norton. The remainder are Alphona, whose work continues to grow stronger. Like last week, I think the combination of Yeung's inks and Strain's stronger, more shaded colors, brings out the best in Alphona's pencils. It really shows off the variety of body language and emotions the cast display, though I can't tell if Victor's hair stands up like Vegeta's because of his electric abilities, or Alphona's going for something else and it just comes off a little too stiff. Can't say I love how he draws Darkhawk, which is probably a complaint rarely uttered outside this blog, but outside of Old Lace or the Gibborim, Alphona is mostly drawing regular humans. They may have costumes or powers, but they're still basic humans. I would have been curious to see how he drew the Swarm, a man-shaped mass of bees, but Miyazawa draws that issue.

Vaughn and Alphona leave after issue 24, with Civil War in full swing and Iron Man having found the base. There's a Young Avengers crossover mini-series in there somewhere that also involves Noh-Varr, but I don't care about that. Joss Whedon and Michael Ryan take over as creative team, but managed one six-issue story. There were major delays, to the extent the final 3 issues came out of the course of a year. I didn't read those, but they involved Molly punching out the Punisher, and the team time-traveling to 1907, where they eventually picked up another new member, a young mutant named Clara.

Saturday Splash Page #197

"Youth in Revolt," in Runaways (vol. 1) #6, by Brian K. Vaughn (writer), Adrian Alphona (penciler), Craig Yeung (inker), Brian Reber (colorist), Randolph Gentile (letterer)

Alex Wilder, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Gertrude Yorkes, Karolina Dean, Molly Hayes. Six teenagers who only really know each other through their parents. Parents who are secretly the heads of The Pride, an organization that runs crime throughout Los Angeles and much of the West Coast, a fact the teens learn after they stumble on their parents sacrificing a young woman to a trio of gods who will soon arrive in the world and destroy it, except for six people. The teenagers go on the run, learning a few more surprises about their parents and themselves along the way.

I was a latecomer to Runaways. The third volume - which we'll get to in two weeks - had been done for 3 years before I went on a binge buying most of the first two volumes in those manga-sized digests Marvel used to do for books deemed to be aimed at younger readers. The first volume, which lasted 18 issues, is the cast trying to stay out of their parents' clutches long enough to figure out what to do.

It's as much a disorganized scramble as you might expect. They end up in an old hotel that's partially buried by an earthquake. They're low on money, low on food, and while collectively they have a fair number of skills, none of them are exactly survivalists. Plus, they're teenagers, so long-term planning and calm decision making are not always at their fingertips.

Molly's the youngest and ends up missing her parents, plus any time she uses her powers, she pretty much passes out. Karolina's distraught enough at learning she's an alien and her parents are murdering criminals she asks a vampire to take her life. (Turns out drinking blood of someone solar-powered is a bad idea.) Alex tries to play the capable leader, but is just as prone to getting swept up in jealousy as Nico, who seems less discerning in her choice of partners than Deadpool. Chase is smarter than the others or his father give him credit for, but that doesn't mean he's not more concerned with showing off and trying to act cool. Gert takes full advantage of the fact it's easier to criticize than lead or offer constructive solutions, which has got to wear on your nerves after a while.

To that, Vaughn adds the twist one of the teens is secretly leaving little notes for their parents, assuring their loyalty. Neither the Pride or the reader knows who it is, which means everything has to be evaluated. Does Karolina really want to go fight crime, or is it just about getting outside where she might be able to slip away? Is Molly really as much a child as she seems, forgetting her parents are supervillains, or is it an act to lower the others' guards? Meanwhile, the parents are playing their own games, forming alliances among themselves and against each other. Which six get to survive the Gibborim's ascension isn't set in stone. Could be 6 teenagers, could be two teenagers with their parents.

Minus a two issues guest appearance by Cloak and Dagger drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa, Adrian Alphona is the penciler for the entire series. His work is stiffer than it would be a decade later on Ms. Marvel, hewing more towards photorealistic. But he captures the awkwardness of teenagers at that point, the big emotions good and bad. Everyone has their own distinctive look, in clothing as well as body type.

Maybe it's Alphona growing more comfortable with the characters as the series progresses, but I think Christina Strain's color work later in the series helps as well. She uses darker, richer tones than Reber does. The characters and the action pop off the page, have more depth. In the early issues, Karolina's powers are like a diluted watercolor, or a glowstick that's wearing out. Later, her powers are stronger, more vivid and varied in color. Likewise, the flames from Chase's "Fistagons" are a lot more dramatic.

The volume concludes with a standoff against their parents, the traitor revealed, and not everyone makes it out alive. 

Sunday Spash Page #369

"Internal Destruction Engine," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #11, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alpona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)

The second volume of Ms. Marvel ended in 2010. Carol Danvers wouldn't get another series for a couple of years, and by then she was calling herself "Captain Marvel", with the new uniform and the new haircut (that only Ed McGuinness really drew her with.) Come 2014, we got a new Ms. Marvel, in the form of Kamala Khan.

Created by G. Willow Wilson, Kamala was unique in a lot of ways as a Marvel character. A Pakistani-American Muslim child of parents who immigrated to the States when Kamala was either very young or not yet born (I forget the specific timing). Living in Jersey City, where the bright lights, skyscrapers, and super-hero battles of NYC are visible, but at a remove from life there.

And while there had been several young heroes that were inspired by the Silver Age generation of Marvel heroes (I feel like half the guys on the New Warriors looked up to Spider-Man at one point or the other), Kamala was one of the few (certainly one of the few successful characters) that were explicitly positioned as a huge fan of superheroes. She writes fanfiction about Storm and Wolverine fighting an alien blob that farts wormholes, and checks up on superhero news sites, and has posters of Carol Danvers all over her walls. 

Like many Marvel teen characters before her, Kamala feels like she doesn't fit. But isn't from being a bookworm like Peter Parker, though she is a bit of a science geek, or a mutant like any number of kids that end up at Xavier's. Even when a weird fog causes her to feel sick, then burst out of a giant egg with powers and looking like Carol Danvers in the black swimsuit costume, that's not what makes her feel alone.

It's that her religion and culture make her stand out in a way she doesn't want. She can't eat foods the white kids in school eat, because the food is against her religion. Or she can't go to the parties the other kids do, because there'll be boys there, and she can't be around them without a chaperone. Or how people like Zoe treat her culture as some curiosity to gawk over, like a strange bird that happened to land in front of them. Lots of teenagers feel like the rules their parents impose, or their cultural norms, make them stand out, but it's always different when it's happening to you. Lots of people have older siblings that embarrass them, but not many do it by constantly quoting the Koran and refusing to get a job, because it wouldn't be holy.

Kamala comes to some kind of peace with that over the first six months of her first series, as she stops trying to look like some blonde white woman superhero, and just looks like herself, in a costume of her own. All this while fighting the creations of a Thomas Edison clone that got crossed with a cockatiel, that insists Kamala's generation is useless for anything except a power source for the works of a great mind like his. She has to adjust to the fact her powers were result of exposure to the Terrigen Mists, which means somewhere in her ancestry, there's Kree genetic tampering. Which, I guess is another connection to Carol Danvers besides the codename.

Honestly, she adapts to the Inhuman thing pretty quickly, but I don't know if that's a consequence of a) being so immersed in superhero stuff through her interests it doesn't seem so strange, b) being allowed to stay at a remove from "New Attilan" (Marvel at this time trying to make the Inhumans a big deal, gave them a city floating just off the shores of New York City) and keep living her life, or c) having her first introduction to Inhumans be Lockjaw, who Medusa sends to keep an eye on Kamala and becomes her sidekick. Well, one of her sidekicks, along with her best friend/pining love interest, Bruno.

Adrian Alphona draws most of the 19 issues the book ran before Hickman's Secret Wars got it canceled (see, damn it, there is that line again. Frickin' Hickman.) There is one issue drawn by Elmo Bondoc where Loki invades the homecoming dance, followed by a 3-parter drawn by Takeshi Miyazawa where Kamala is drawn into some factional in-fighting among the Inhumans, via the treachery of cute teenage boys. Dastardly!

But Alphona (and color artist Ian Herring, who I want to discuss more next week) set the visual tone and look of the book. Kamala is a short, kind of scrawny girl with hair that falls all over the place and a prominent nose. She wears a trapper or lumberjack hat a lot and loose coats or t-shirts with dorky logos and memes on them. Her initial attempts to cobble together a costume are slightly better than when Peter Parker puts a paper bag over his head, but only slightly. Even though her power lets her change shape and size, she doesn't get huge muscles. If her legs grow, they remain spindly things. Ditto her arms, even if her hands swell up to punch somebody. It honestly makes her look kind of goofy, but she mostly ignores it (the exception being when the dastardly cute boy remarks on it looking 'freaky', and she immediately gets worried he thinks it's gross.) 

Jersey City is no gleaming city of skyscrapers. It's mostly buildings 2-3 stories tall in the commercial areas, built joined together. No bright neon of the city, mostly muted streetlights There's a warehouse district with the typical maze of buildings in various states of use and disrepair, and residential neighbors hoods of houses that still have individual character. No cookie-cutter suburbs here! And it isn't difficult to get into some wilderness, abandoned factories or power plants surrounded by woods and steep cliffs. And Alphona fills the pages with little Easter eggs and odd tidbits that show how Jersey City has a weird and silly character of its own.

A lot of the fun of the book is in pausing to see what little details Alphona added into the background of a page. One of the Inventor's robots (which is equipped with brass knuckles that deliver an electro-magnetic charge to disrupt Kamala's powers) also wears a derby hat, which it doffs as it escapes with Lockjaw as a prisoner. Or Kamala finally gets a team-up with Captain Marvel - pity the world is about to end - and as they cross the city, there are two people on the roof below them, laying on a picnic blanket, with an entire fish laying beside them. One of the buildings below has a sign for 'Pets & Spices', and someone, somehow, crashed a car into the roof.

And Wilson gets in on the fun too, letting Kamala act silly sometimes or behave in a way where her friends and family have to stop and just sort of stare at her. Even her hallucination of Carol Danvers in issue 1, when Kamala says she would fight crime in the 'classic, politically incorrect costume and kick butt in giant wedge heels,' remarks Kamala must have a weird boot fetish.

Although my favorite bit is when Kamala has stopped an impromptu robbery of the Circle Q in her regular clothes and a sleeping mask she poked holes in. The cops arrive, and when she announces herself as Ms. Marvel, one cop responds, 'she's the blonde with big. . .powers,' while gesturing vaguely towards his chest. Kamala promptly grows until her head hits the ceiling and answers, 'I've got BIG powers.' I still laugh at that exchange, over 10 years later.

But, yeah, the book ran 19 issues. Kamala's brother got exposed to something other than Terrigen Mist (it was never explained what, only that Danvers insisted it wasn't the Mist) and developed powers he didn't want. Her mother revealed she'd known Kamala was Ms. Marvel for a while, and then Secret Wars mucked everything up. For about 3 months.

Random Back Issues #106 - Ms. Marvel #11

Right, sorry. "Avian-American," perhaps? "Genetically modified artificial resurrection"?

Last time we looked at Ms. Marvel, Kamala was still trying to figure out her powers and learning that swimsuit costumes ride up in uncomfortable places. She's got all that under control now, which is good, as it's the big confrontation with The Inventor. Who, as you see above, is Thomas Edison cloned into the body of a cockatiel. I don't understand the thought process behind it, but it's hard to argue with the results.

He's been abducting runaway kids and using them as an energy source, reasoning the youngest generation aren't good for anything else. But during an attack on Kamala's school, he grabbed a few students, including her best friend Nakia. Plus, he's got a big robot to fight Kamala and the kids that used to work for him until she convinced them to switch sides.

Recognizing there's too much for her to handle at once, Kamala calls her other best friend and sidekick Bruno and gets him to call the cops. Any port in a storm. Meanwhile, rather than "embiggen" and try to smash the robot, Kamala goes small, crawling in among the gears (and the capybaras? The tail is awful short for rats) until she finds a wire that lets her control the robot.

Great! Problem solved. Or not, because the Inventor figured out electromagnetic pulses disrupt her abilities and she starts to grow. Inside a confined metal box that is not going to grow with her. This is how you end up with the kind of claustrophobia where you create massive hurricanes when Doctor Doom makes you into a living metal statue.

Fortunately, one of the kids went and retrieved Lockjaw, offered to Kamala as an ally by Medusa (back when Marvel was still trying to make the Inhumans matter), and the big dog tears open part of the bot and hauls Kamala (and a bunch of wires, and a bunch of capybaras) out by her ankle.

The cops show up, the Inventor climbs his disabled weapon to pontificate, it collapses, and that's it for the cuckoo bird. Time for post-fight sandwiches! Also, the Inventor's creator is hauled off, vowing to show who the real genius is, and one of the cops advises Ms. Marvel to be careful, because now bigger threats than this will be aware of her. In Jersey? Bigger threats like what? Toxic waste? Traffic snarl-ups? Multiversal incursions the Avengers are powerless to prevent because Jonathan Hickman sez so? Pfft, what are the chances any of that stuff could happen?

[7th longbox, 110th comic, Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #11, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)]

Random Back Issues #93 - Ms. Marvel #2

No, no, no, you have to clench your fists on either side of you and scream really loudly. Have you ever even seen Dragon Ball Z? Fake geek girls, I tell ya. *immediately beaten to death*

Having snuck out to a rowdy teen party, then been exposed to Terrigen Mists and breaking out of a weird egg, Kamala has also changed to look like Carol Danvers. Which does not produce the confidence and strength she hoped.

Wandering the fog, Kamala spies current Mean Girl Zoe and future fascist bootlicker Josh near a pier. While Kamala reflexively shrinks to bug size, Josh wants to sing, or dance, or drunkenly make-out. Zoe's not having it, and when Josh tries to dip her, drops her in the river instead. Kamala remembers something her father said about the importance of saving even one life, and is able to rescue Zoe while looking like Carol Danvers. 

Also, I love the little details Alphona adds for garbage that gets scooped up along with Zoe. I am very curious about "free-range maple syrup." Is this something Plant-Man is involved with? Trees that get up and move? Oh crap, it's not those plant-people that don't like K'un-Lun is it?

Zoe vows to never get wasted again while people thank "Captain Marvel" and compliment her return to her old costume. Kamala bails, thinking about how the boots pinch and the leotard gives her a wedgie. It occurs to me, is the costume Kamala's regular clothes, which she was able to change along with her body, or did her body actually grow over her clothes when she changed shape?

Still looking like a blonde Amazon, Kamala borrows a sweater from a guy with a shopping cart full of stuff and sneaks back into her room. Fails the stealth check though, as her brother hears her. Fortunately for Kamala, her body changed back to normal, so that's one less thing to explain, though she does try. Aamir takes this to mean some boy tried something at the party, which she assures him isn't the problem. Bad news, her parents know she snuck out. So she gets a lecture about how she's being willful and disobedient and her mother blames it on America. Then Kamala gets grounded. I guess no superheroing until that's lifted. Oh well.

{7th longbox, 140th comic. Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #2, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)}

What I Bought 10/12/2016 - Part 3

I kind of hate holidays which dominate all the channels that show movies. Halloween and Christmas are the two biggest offenders. Judging by some of the tumblr sites I see this may qualify as heresy, but I don't want to see nothing but scary movies all October.

Ms. Marvel #11, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa (artists), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramanga (letterer) - So we've progressed from defacing posters to smashing, um, emblems. Durn disrespectful teen heroes.

So Hijinx makes a fake threat to blow up a salvage yard to draw out Becky, who Kamala fights until Danvers shows up. At which point Kamala tries to make her case for predictive justice being stupid bullshit, except a) she mentions Rhodey, and b) she invites Tony Stark. Because when you're trying to have a reasonable conversation, bringing condescending cocky asshole Tony Stark along is a perfect idea. So everyone goes away angry, but Bruno is awake, so surely there will be good news. No, Bruno is thoroughly pissed and planning to go to Wakanda, which is where the only engineering college left open to him is. So everything is awful.

Not that I'm sorry to see Becky in jail, but I question arresting her for impersonating an officer. She was part of an officially sanctioned team, and Danvers had no problem with her imprisoning people up until the moment after she fired her, sorry court-martialed her. Which seems like it should be under an entirely different jurisdiction from the police.

Danvers is mad at Kamala, Bruno is mad at her. I can't wait to see who reads her the riot act next, he said sarcastically. I feel I should have more to say, and once we see the remainder of the fallout I will hopefully have some sort of reaction, but I can't avoid feeling tired of this tie-in. Because Civil War II is stupid as hell. Wasn't rooting for a big event to come along and trash all the things I liked about this book. I do enjoy the Canadian ninjas, and their attack method of throwing random crap at people. No wonder the Maple Leafs can't win a Stanley Cup. Something I didn't notice until now: When Kamala rushes to the hospital at the end of the issue, she's wearing one rubber boot, and one red sneaker. I feel I should make some joke about that one Tom Hanks movie, but I don't know the movie well enough. Something something, Jim Belushi going crazy over vanishing corpses.

Darkwing Duck #5, by Aaron Sparrow and James Silvani (storytellers), Paul Little (colorist), DC Hopkins (letterer) - I'm not going to question the cat holding an anvil on the basis of physical strength, but I do question it's ability to grip without thumbs.

Out of the case files, Darkwing tries to track down a missing cat from an experiment, the theft of which may be connected to many other mysterious thefts. As it turns out, the experiment made the cat, Fluffy, super-smart, and it's co-opted dozens of other cats into an army of thieves for it. Which Darkwing defeats by virtue of a passing street sweeper. Fluffy is the Hannibal Lecter-like criminal that was able to escape the prison with Mortimer's help in the first story arc, and the two are currently building themselves some sort of suit.

Reading this, I kept having a feeling of deja vu. Especially when Darkwing's attempt to disguise himself as a street vendor ended with some bulldog knocking his block off while calling him a, 'vicious and contemptible beast.' And again when he bursts into a hotel room to apprehend what he thinks are the foes behind the thefts, and finds a bunch of his arch-enemies all chipped in on pay-per-view for a beauty pageant. And then in the backmatter, it was explained this story originally appeared in the second issue of Disney Adventures magazine (though not presented as a flashback) in 1992. A magazine I happened to have (I think I got Disney Adventures for at least three or four years).

Can't quite tell if I feel ripped off or not. Isn't like the story was etched firmly into my memory prior to this. And Silvani had some fun with it, judging by the ridiculous face he gave Launchpad while he whispers, 'so cuuuute'. Or the glower DW gives him when he thinks Launchpad is messing with him. And there were a couple of gags in there that, if they weren't new, I'd completely forgotten, so that's a plus.

What I Bought 9/6/2016 - Part 1

No new comics came out for me last week. I did get 4 of the books that had come out last month in the mail that I wasn't able to find over my weekend trip, so let's get to those.

Ms. Marvel #10, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I got the variant cover, even though I have no idea what a Tsum Tsum is, and frankly it looks terrifying. But it was cheaper, and at least not as depressing as the sad regular cover.

Everything is falling apart. Bruno is severely injured, and may die. Kamala has lost all control of her little jackboot squad, especially Becky. And Danvers is so committed to proving this future crime stuff isn't a horrible idea, she won't shut the team down. Which is how we get Ms. Marvel making an agreement with the Canadian ninjas to pull off some sort of crime which is going to somehow prove the predictive justice approach is nonsense. Which can't possibly go wrong.

Between Stark trying to sucker Miles in, and Danvers using Kamala as some p.r. gambit, it's no wonder all the kid heroes are gonna form their own team. The adults are treating them like props in their pissing contests. Fantastic. Carol doesn't listen to Kamala's concerns, certainly not in terms of responding to any of them, and just lists why it's important to her this work. I would question why Marvel seems hellbent on ruining her character, but they seemingly didn't think they were messing up Stark during the first Civil War, so perhaps they're still just dense.

I need to go back and check, but I feel like the longer this story goes, the more Becky's freckles are forming a domino mask around her face. Because she's actually. . . a Skrull! Wait, wrong event for this to be a sequel to. Unless Marvel is just mashing together their prior events now, which I wouldn't put past them. The sequence at the start of the issue, Bruno and Kamala's first meeting, was pretty cute. Kamala trying to leave and her mother calmly blocking her path with the palm of her hand on the forehead was a good touch.

The issue packs some emotional weight, but I was still aware that it's set-up chapter. It mostly just moves a few things in place for whatever the climax is going to be, but otherwise, not much happenin'.

Suicide Squad: War Crimes, by John Ostrander (writer), Gus Vazquez and Carlos Rodriguez (artists), Gabe Eltaeb (colorist), Nate Piekos (letterer) - More terrifying, a giant Amanda Waller, or a tiny Suicide Squad? Before you default to Waller, consider a miniature Captain Boomerang, able to sneak around in your underwear drawer. Now you can make your choice.

A metahuman European strike force abducts a former U.S. Secretary of Defense and drags him to the Netherlands to stand trial for war crimes. Waller is tasked with using the Squad to retrieve the guy (who is, in fact, guilty), and they do so. Not without complications, of course. The company the former Secretary works for sent Shado to retrieve him as well, and she gets him away from Deadshot and Rick Flag, meaning the rest of the team has to break off fighting one group of enemies to go catch up to another foe, with the first group still chasing them. But they manage it, and then Waller takes care of the Secretary.

For a done-in-one Suicide Squad story, I think this works well. Ostrander presents a clear mission, but also makes it one that the reader probably shouldn't entirely want to succeed, and which is largely pointless. You get at least a general idea of the interplay between some of the characters on the Squad, although El Diablo probably got shorted a bit (at least we know he's willing to needle Boomerbutt). The opponents (it feels off to call Strikeforce Europa antagonists) didn't get the fleshing out I'm sure they would if Ostrander had an ongoing series to work with, where he could bring them in periodically and build them up, but the potential was there. And Captain Boomerang acted like a total dick, which is always fun.

The art is, less great. There are just several curious choices made in panels throughout the book. In the last panel of page 3, the last of the Secretary's guards is shot in the head, with him in the foreground facing us. The guy I assume did it is in the background, but his gun is at his side, aimed away from the guy. And the way the wound is drawn almost suggests the bullet just grazed his forehead, and it's only on the next page you see him lying on the ground with a growing pool of blood. Later in the book, Lawton and Flag arrive to help the escape with an ambulance. They drive through the leader of Strikeforce Europa (who can turn intangible) and stop in front of the rest of the Squad. Next panel, Angel (the leader) is catching up to the rear of the ambulance and shooting, and from the perspective given, appears only a few feet behind it. Next page, the rest of the Squad and the Secretary pile into the back of the ambulance, undisturbed. No bullets start striking the read of the ambulance until after they're inside and closing the doors. Did she stop, retreat, was she knocked backwards by an explosion we didn't see? They are a lot of things that don't flow during the action sequences, and since that's what roughly 75% of the issue is, that's kind of a problem.

And yet, I enjoyed it in spite of that, because I'm always game to read John Ostrander writing the Suicide Squad. Which I guess makes me part of the problem for devaluing artists' contributions, or whatever I'm guilty of.

What I Bought 8/6/16 - Part 1

I did manage to grab a few of my comics in a nearby town while I was visiting my dad, but I already had a bunch of posts scheduled, so we're just getting to them now. Considering today's selection is Civil War II tie-ins, I'm sure you're fine with waiting.

Deadpool #16, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Mike Hawthorne (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Jordie Bellaire (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - Squirrel Girl's riff on Spidey's theme song is better than Wade's version of Captain America's.

Wade winds up trapped in the bank vault with the Mercs, rather than blowing them up and doing me a favor. So instead we learn what Solo did while disguised as Deadpool that made everyone love Wade: He saved an ambassador from assassination. But it turns out the whole thing was a set-up by Madcap to frame Wade as the assassin, it just didn't work out that way. And Madcap's attached to someone - probably Adsit - while he plots and regenerates.

When I do my Year in Review posts, I also use it as an opportunity to find books from that year's purchases that aren't going to make it into the larger collection. This issue is definitely one of those. For one thing, I think the people of Earth-616 (or whatever it's number is now) would be more impressed by Wade wiping out ULTIMATUM than saving one ambassador. Yes, it helped said ambassador and the U.S. President end a war, but was it a war the U.S. was actively involved in? If not, then I doubt the public would care. Also, do people not remember Wade had a teleportation device he carried around for years? Solo acts like it's some big deal he can teleport.

Let's see, positive things. The art on those last two pages, the ones in the woods with Madcap and his host. Good work all around by Bellaire, Hawthorne, and Pallot. I especially like the effect of headlights against the shadows of the trees. Also, Wade's scowling determined face in the final panel of the page before that. Hawthorne and Pallot do a really good job making Wade expressive through that mask in a way that still makes it seem like he is wearing something over his face. On the writing side, Wade complaining about people thinking he liked Mexican food to the point of Tourette's was funny. You know how these rumors take on a life of their own Wade. You keep insisting you're a mutant, and the next thing you know your movie says you are, too.

Ms. Marvel #9, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist, pages 1-3), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist, pages 4-20), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Come on, Kamala, you just had someone spray paint "traitor" all over posters of you six issues ago. You should know how that can be hurtful.

So Josh really was intending to do something that would knock out the power of the school. I had assumed it would be a science lab accident, but no. He was sad that Zoe broke up with him, but she explains she's actually interested in Nakia, and Josh is understanding. But he's still locked up, with Ms. Marvel's OK, until the time when he was going to cause trouble has past. Which earns her a rebuke from Nakia, and prompts Bruno to decide he's going to spring Josh himself, but he only succeeds in nearly blowing himself up.

It won't surprise you to learn the various tie-ins are not on the same page in this crossover. Deadpool had Ulysses state that he really only sees big tragedies - like Thanos coming to earth for a Cosmic Cube, or an earthquake - but here he's been warning them about convenience store robberies. Some things never change. I'm a little surprised how quickly the teen brigade Carol saddled Kamala with have gone foll police state, even immediately questioning if Ms. Marvel is emotionally compromised for knowing Josh, but I was very "no shades of grey" at that age, with accompanying blind spots, not to mention stupid in general, so maybe it's not surprising. Probably realistic that Kamala hasn't yet given up entirely on the idea. At this point her concern is that her squad is being overzealous, but she doesn't seem to have decided there's anything hinky about this whole thing. So hopefully it'll be a process, although you would think all her friends and family pointing how bad an idea it is would start to sink in. I mean, it didn't for Tony Stark in the first Civil War, but Kamala generally doesn't have her head lodged up her own butt like Tony does.

Miyazawa's art is excellent, as usual. I need to see the remainder of that newspaper headline in the paper Kamala's dad is reading. The raccoon escaped the zoo, but what did it eat all of? Doughnuts? Pizza? Strawberries? Why does Josh have rubber chickens in his cell? And I notice that when Kamala embiggens herself, she's making her fists even larger, out of proportion to the rest of her. Does it mean she's thinking with those and not her head, or that she's trying to maintain control and authority through force, rather than reason. I notice that when Becky and the cadets are arguing with Bruno, Nakia, and Zoe, Kamala doesn't try to enter into the conversation and discuss it. She gets big, then starts telling people what to do. And the cadets are under her command, and Nakia and Zoe don't know she's their friend (although I suspect Nakia actually does know, she's not an idiot), but Kamala's generally not resorted to that sort of thing unless provoked, rather than as a first response.

What I Bought 7/2/2016 - Part 2

The other two comics I was able to collect during the holiday weekend. One of them is an actual Civil War II tie-in, so brace yourselves for that barrel of laughs.

Ms. Marvel #8, G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa (artists), Ian Herring and Irma Kniivila (colorists), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I know I should recognize the poster Stewart is referencing with that cover, but I can't place. It honestly reminds me of some of the Soviet propaganda posters, but I'm not sure that's what he's going for.

Kamala is called up to Alpha Flight base, and Captain Marvel tells her about Ulysses, the kid who sees probably futures or whatever. They want to try using his abilities to see if they can lower crime in Jersey City with a concerted effort. Kamala is all for leading this group of plucky teens, despite the concerns of her new sister-in-law about arresting people for things they might have been getting ready to do. Good point, although not sure a guy driving a stolen experimental tank through a populated area is the best example. Guy had probably already broken some laws by that point. Anyway, Kamala is soon confronted with the problem when told a student is going to blow up her school and it turns out to be Josh.

There's also an prologue, drawn by Alphona, which I think is detailing the story of how Kamala's family eventually came to the U.S. At this stage, it's 1947 and they're having to leave Bombay and head for the newly created country of Pakistan because things were getting a little heated between Hindus and Muslims in the wake of India's independence from the UK.

So we'll see how this goes. My guess is Josh was going to blow up the school, but on accident. Science experiment gone wrong, that sort of thing, but Ulysses' power doesn't distinguish intent. Kamala will learn some valuable lessons about the limitations of this proactive, punish people for thinking, crap, which will put her at odds with her plucky gang of Crossfitting twit helpers.

I chuckled at Kamala's determination pose when she swears to do what Danvers asks with honor, commitment, courage, and all the other stuff. At least Carol has the decency to look unsure about all this, to the point she wasn't even amused by that. Although I guess she's more worried about untrained volunteers than the fact blindly trusting Ulysses power is dumb as hell. And the design on the tank is great. The scowly eyes, and even a nose drawn on it, the missile with "Oh Canada", and the fact it was hijacked by a Canadian ninja, who runs around in Jersey for some reason. Dude, start with claiming the Dakotas for Canada, then work east.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #9, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Tom Fowler (inker), David Malki (Mole Man's deal artist), Braden Lamb (trading card artist), Rico Renzi (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Credit to the Moloids for being so well-behaved on the subway, even if I suspect they probably got on without paying. Probably tunneled right under the turnstiles.

Mole Man is angry because Kraven is terrorizing his monsters. Squirrel Girl apologizes for accidentally causing Moley grief by making Kraven reconsider his life choices. Mole Man blows this one act of decency out of proportion and proposes on the spot. Doreen tries to let him down gently, explaining there are no squirrels underground. So Mole Man drops Central Park into a hole, and tries again, but Nancy's having none of it, and Doreen seems to get through to Mole Man again. So he drops landmarks around the world into holes, and vows to keep doing that until she goes on a date with him, and oh dear, Squirrel Girl is actually, officially angry. She beats Thanos with a smile on her face (I don't care what crap Starlin says, Thanos lost). Mole Man might die, folks. She's gonna punch him once in his 105 year old head and it's going to disintegrate.

OK probably not.

That full-page splash of Mole Man proposing is great. From the large diamond, to the monsters sitting there watching with interest, to Doreen's walrus stuffed animal, to her pose and expression. You see people, when they're proposed to, with that "hands over their mouth" look, because they're trying not to cry, because they're so happy or whatever. But she is just horribly embarrassed and trying to figure out how to get out of here. I'd kind of expect her tail to be drooping, just from being sad, but it might be up from being horrified (I haven't really checked to see how much the position of her tail corresponds to her emotional state in this book).

It's a strange issue, but a good one. The shift from Koi Boi's terrible fish puns, to that intense scene when Nancy smacks the taste out of Mole Man's mouth for touching Doreen, and then we're on to a fight scene and jokes about Doreen tossing in Nancy in the air to keep her safe until it's over. It feels like it shouldn't work, that really serious bit about respecting boundaries in the middle there, but it does, somehow. I guess because Nancy being extremely blunt and protective of her friend is normal for her. This is the lady who tried to help fight Doombots by throwing rocks at them (until Tippy came up with a better plan). You mess with her friend, she will fight you.

What I Bought 5/31/2016 - Part 2

I can't think of a thing to open this post with. Maybe a wrench would work.

Ms. Marvel #7, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color art), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Jeez, Kamala's not even officially into Civil War 2 tie-ins yet and she already turned scowly. Just wait kid, it's only gonna get worse.

It's a big Science fair, to hopefully impress people and get into good colleges without going broke! Yeah, good luck on that one, kids. Kamala's there on the Jersey team, and Miles Morales is on the New York team. One team for the entire state? There's snooping, and spying, and possibly some flim-flammery, and then Bruno tries to up the ante with a pocket-sized Mr. Fusion, which explodes, but remarkably, does not kill him or anyone else. And Ms. Marvel and Spider-Miles just happen to both be there, and let that awkward moment pass without comment.

So Kamala knows Miles' secret i.d., but not the other way around. I knew that was the case for her and Nova, but not also her and Spider-Man. It's a "Road to Civil War II" issue, so is this meant to pre-sage trust issues that will tear their Avengers squad apart? Or that super-special future vision NuHuman boy will threaten the ability of people to maintain secret identities? Or just a moment to step back and look at the other sorts of problems a high school kid has. Like getting into college, the pressures that creates, and the questionable decisions that arise from those pressures.

But what was the stuff the New York team was saying about their Re-aktron having a massive draw on the electrical grid? I thought it was supposed to just be "grabbing stray electricity out of the air"? is the whole thing a sham? Is Miles just a P.T. Barnum with super-powers? Eh, he's still behaving better than Peter Parker these days, sigh.

Adrian Alphona returns! This is always good. His art is well-suited for this kind of oddball science. He's draws strange things well, so that they look cool, but not too threatening. He draws the happiest shark I have ever seen, which is kind of terrifying. You know it's just a matter of time until Skyshark masters its floating membrane, and then it can travel anywhere it wants, attacking birds and small planes and hot air balloons. The identical vertical shading on Bruno and Kamala on page 13 was good. They're both, as Mike notes, taking it too seriously, and operating under a dark cloud. I don't know who gets credit for the fonts as each team introduced its inventions, either Alphona or Caramagna, but I really liked the work someone did there.

Wynonna Earp #4, by Beau Smith (writer), Lora Innes (artist), Jay Fotos (colorist), Robbie Robbins (letterer) - That's pretty much how I feel anytime I get out of the mall.

A scientist has developed a zombie plague he can spread by touch, while remaining unaffected himself. And he's infected a mall full of people to demonstrate it for potential buyers. The Black Badge team kills a bunch of undead, Wynonna and Valdez arguing almost constantly, as Earp refuses to kill a Boy Scout troop, believing there will be a way to reverse it. As it turns out, there is, once they're able to lure the scientist close and neutralize the contagion inside him. Also, Valdez broke his arms. And Earp receives a message from some mysterious sniper demanding she come home and face said sniper.

Innes plays up Valdez' size a little differently from Evenhuis. Innes definitely emphasizes Valdez' musculature more, where Evenhuis went with showing it by how she interacts. Taking a flying punch from Earp and being completely unfazed, or smashing a bar top with one punch. Innes does some of that here, Valdez is the only one killing any of the zombies hand-to-hand, opting for a Mayan sword, but still a little different. Innes' style probably works for the tone of this issue better. It's a zombie outbreak, which means gore and stacks of corpses, but it's treated lightly. There's never any sense the Black Badge division is going to fail to contain the problem, or even that they're in any imminent danger from the zombies, just a question of whether anyone can be saved in the process. So it's more, slapstick isn't the right word, cartoonish violence I guess, which lines up more with Innes' work.

I'm guessing with the mini-series shifting to an ongoing, the Del Ray cartel plot is going to become more of a long-running subplot. Which is fine. I like comics with a mix of immediate, shorter arcs, and longer background arcs that eventually come to fruition. I'm pretty excited for this book going forward.

What I Bought 12/1/2015 - Part 3

Two first issues from Marvel, one of which isn't just a reboot of a series I was already buying.

Illuminati #1, by Joshua Williamson (writer), Shawn Crystal (artist), John Rauch (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - You'd think the Enchantress would shrink the Gauntlet down to fit her hand. Unless that is the one thing beyond its power.

The Hood is trying to form yet another vast army of super-villains, but to start, he wants to arm them with weapons stolen from Asgard, and for that, he's going to use a select team. Which is where Titania comes in. She's out of prison, and intends to go straight, but finds it difficult to get work. Then when she does get a job working security at a pawn shop, three goons with super-weapons show up and wreck the place, and she gets blamed as mastermind. Then she has to defend herself from Luke Cage and Iron Fist (who did not acquit themselves well here. Not a good sign with their new ongoing on the horizon), before the Hood whisks her away in front of them. Thus sealing their opinion that she was up to no good, which leaves her with no choice but to throw in with the Hood, just as he intended when he sent those goons there. So duplicity is the word of the day.

I bought this in part because I've enjoyed books about villain groups in the past, and because Shawn Crystal was drawing it, and I enjoyed the work he did on Daniel Way's Deadpool run back in the day (one of the few saving graces of that run). So we'll see. I don't know whether this is going to be the regular cast, or if Williamson intends to cycle villains in and out from one mission to the next. Hopefully there'll be at least a few cast regulars outside the Hood. Would be hard to care otherwise.

Crystal's work is smoother than I remember, but that might just be because he isn't drawing Deadpool. Wade's world kind of encourages things to look rough and weird. He and Rauch seem to be working really well together. The panels of Danny's Iron Fist, with the green swirling energy in the form of a dragon, around the skeletal outline of Danny's fist? That was really cool, as was the dragon's chagrined look when Titania effortlessly blocked it. Even if I do think that's bullcrap. I'm not saying she should have been knocked out, but her catching it like it was no big deal was nonsense. I'm pretty sure one of the best martial artists in the Marvel Universe ought to be able to land a punch on someone with no particular combat skill anytime he wants. Whether it does anything is another matter. Sorry, that just kind of irritated me. There's a lot of other good work in the issue, from the crumbling "BOOM" sound effect when the pawn store gets wrecked, to her discussion with the Hood, where one panel she's looking at him, and then the next, her gaze has drifted to the stack of cash on the desk in front of him.

So I'm in for a while, at least.

Ms. Marvel #1, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist, pgs. 1-21), Adrian Alphona (artist, 21-30), Ian Herring (color art), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Well, Kamala's officially reached the point where she got a cover of her pulling back civilian clothes to reveal her superhero outfit. I feel like that's probably a big milestone for a solo series. Not sure if Nova ever got that, and he's had like 5 ongoings.

Kamala's busy being an Avenger, which does have the perk that Tony Stark rebuilds your school (while welshing on his promise to help with physics homework), but also leaves one a little too busy to see what's going on around her. Like the fact some evil redevelopment scheme is taking over the neighborhood and gentrifying it, while using her face as part of the campaign. And they have hovering security droids that don't like loitering! Even worse, Bruno has taken Kamala's advice and is dating a nice young lady named Mike, who saved him from a bus sent flying by a giant toad. So that's another problem Kamala's not going to be able to punch out.

Kamala should be less concerned about Tony not helping her with her physics homework, and more worried that Tony's booting her off the Avengers in three months, based on the cover for All-New Avengers. Oh well, Tony never was any good at building a roster. Also, I have to imagine all these giant animals are the work of the Inventor's creator, who was last seen arrested and bitter no one was giving him credit for making a cockatiel with the mind of Edison. But is the gentrification scheme his as well?

As for Kamala learning the downsides of being a popular public figure, we'll have to see how she's going to handle this. Although if Stark could sue Scott Lang for using him to endorse Scott's company, I see no reason Kamala can't have the Avengers sue whoever is behind this. Maybe Murdock could take five minutes off from helping Luke Cage file bullshit cease-and-desist orders against Deadpool to do something useful. As for the Bruno and Mike thing, I don't really have an opinion. They still seem in the idyllic stage, but we'll see what happens when Bruno starts trying to help Kamala out of a jam and Mike's left hanging.

Oh, I do have one opinion. Bruno looks really stupid in that sock hat. Those are to be pulled down tightly over your head and ears to keep warm, not worn cocked way back when it clearly isn't cold out. Just terrible Bruno. You deserve to get kidnapped and used as bait at least once just for that.

Other than that, Miyazawa is now the lead artist for the book, with Alphona chipping in as needed, I guess. Which is fine. I like Miyazawa's artwork plenty. I am trying to decipher the look on Nakia's face in the second-to-last panel on page 7. Kamala's kind of absently playing with the lid of her coffee while looking sad, but Nakia kind of looks stern. Is she mad at Bruno for dating someone else? She doesn't look pissed exactly, but it isn't a strictly neutral look, either. It could just be friend solidarity, but presumably she's had time to get used to the idea Bruno's not waiting. Kamala's grumpy/furious face as she runs to switch into her costume was pretty great, and I appreciate that when she clutches her hair in frustration, it doesn't just immediately assume the shape shape and form after she stops. Part of it stay frazzled and mussed, which makes sense, but I'm not sure everyone who remember that.

What I Bought 10/20/2015 - Part 3

Wrapping up this round of reviews with two Secret Wars-related titles. Because everything at Marvel is Secret Wars-related right now. Still.

Marvel Zombies #4, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Kev Walker (artist), Guru-eFX (color artists), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Composite Zombie Ares is probably not the Sensational Character Find of 2015. I sure hope he isn't, anyway.

Elsa and the mysterious little child are trapped between an undead Ulysses Bloodstone, himself full of all the other pieces of Bloodstone he could get his hands on, and Mystique and her band of zombies, all rapidly getting stupid now that their Deadpool food source is blowed up. As it turns out the child is some manifestation of Elsa's stone that emerged to draw her to all the other Bloodstones, because they all want to be together. Things are looking pretty bad for our hero and her hallucination, especially as Elsa is turning undead herself, since dear old alternate dad tore her arm off with his teeth, but she distracts him long enough for the little one to blast the stones, Elsa eats a bunch of them, and uses that power to save herself, restore Ulysses to human, and kill all those zombies.

I think Spurrier ended the story on a Calvin & Hobbes line. 'Let's go exploring.' It does fit, as Elsa has rediscovered some hope for the future, and thinks she can actually make the world better, rather than simply maintain a miserable status quo. She barely regards the hordes of undead between them and the Shield as a nuisance, and Walker shows them walking off together towards hills bathed in sunlight, and everything is colored in warm yellows and pinks. None of the ominous grey clouds we saw throughout her trek south with the child, no dust cloud indicating legions of flesh eaters approaching. So the tone the creative team is trying to strike fits the quote, it just amuses me in the larger context of the world they're in. Then again, Calvin & Hobbes often had stories where the title characters went exploring and discovered things they were either unable to comprehend, or unleashed forces they could barely control (the duplicator, the snow goons). So there's every possibility Elsa will start something she isn't prepared for. I'm speaking as though anything that happened here is going to be referenced in the main Secret Wars mini-series, which I'm sure it won't, but not my problem (or Spurrier and Walker's).

The back and forth blasts between the zombies and Elsa near the end were nicely done. Walker placed the respective hits at the top of consecutive pages, and the way it's set up, Elsa is slightly lower in the panel she gets shot at than Mystique and the others are in the panel where they get blasted. So the spot where the zombies' blast comes onto page 17 from the left is a little lower than where they are when they get shot by Elsa's retaliation on page 18. And her blast comes from a place off the right a little higher than Elsa's placement on page 17. It's a little thing, but I it's a nice attention to detail, and really makes it feel like those two panels are connected, part of the same set piece. I hope Walker will be the artist on something else I want to read soon, whatever that might end up being.

Ms. Marvel #19, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Callback to a cover from earlier in the series, but I think it works better lie this than with Kamala's face hidden in shadow, which made her look slightly menacing. That isn't really her style.

Kamala's mom knows she's been superheroing, and is largely OK with it. Her father doesn't know, so I'm curious to see how that plays out. Kamala puts off talking to Bruno about their feelings, but has to talk to Nakia about how she hasn't really been keeping her best friend in the loop. Which is true, Nakia has largely fallen out of the book since the initial story arc. Bruno's been sort of Kamala's Alfred, but Nakia's totally in the dark. I don't know that there's any real resolution there, Kamala can promise to do better, but words are cheap, and once the dance party starts up, she heads off to talk to Bruno. For which I think her. I don't need to see any dance party. On the roof, as the world ends, Kamala and Bruno discuss feelings. They both love each other, in some sense or the other, but Kamala is too invested in helping others to have time for romance, which Bruno is very cool with. Then the world ends. Great hustle out there, Avengers, way to save the day.

So maybe everything was a little too tidy, since everyone wound up being OK with Kamala's choices, but this book has largely taken the approach that trying to help others is the right thing to do, and worth encouraging, and if people care about you, they'll understand and give you a chance. It's surprisingly hopeful for a Marvel comic, now that I think of it. Most people aren't suspicious of Ms. Marvel, she tries to help, and they see that and buy into it.

I'll be curious to see how close to this the new series picks up from. Will it be months later, or just a short amount of time? Mostly because, as much as possible, I'd like for the new volume to be a continuation of what Wilson and Alphona had going here. I would have liked to seen how they handled the subplot with Nakia feeling ignored if they'd had the time, or the thing with Zoe. I did laugh at how, even as Zoe is trying to be better, she's still being helpful because useless people get eaten first in zombie apocalypses. There's still that vein of self-interest in her actions, mingled with an apparently honest desire to be helpful that felt legit.

Alphona really does take full advantage of these crowd scenes to fill them with all sorts of details. That's assuming Wilson doesn't have Alan Moore-like scripts that tell Alphona to draw things like a bamboo quarantine cage on wheels, surrounded with guards wielding piranhas on sticks. Perhaps I should write into the book and inquire about those. Also the person in the non-denominational, non-judgmental prayer area with the eyepatch and hair done up like a Minish Cap. And the little person in the Hazmat suit that keeps popping up. Crap, AIM knows Kamala's secret identity! I'm still trying to figure out the significance of when Herring goes with a solid yellow background in a panel, because it only happens a few times, and they aren't grouped together. It's usually at some emotional turning point, the football guy announcing the dance party as Nakia and Kamala are making up, or Kamala opting not to tell her parents the world is ending. I guess it comes when she chooses not to focus on the inevitable, but instead on the things she can do right then.

What I Bought 9/15/2015 - Part 2

I never cared one way or the other about fantasy sports until it got popular enough to deluge us with ads for leagues where you can make so much money if you play fantasy sports with them. 35 dollars turns into 2 million? That sounds entirely plausible and easily repeatable! Where do I sign up?

Atomic Robo: The Ring of Fire #1, by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Anthony Clark (colorist), Jeff Powell (letterer) - Nothing like a good old Days of Future Past homage cover.

Majestic-12 has basically taken over every super-science based group, ostensibly under the banner of "global security" to combat a giant monster threat. The scattered remains of Tesladyne have been trying to figure out what happened to Robo, and have correctly determined he was sent back in time, and that he would find some way to have his remains sent to someplace they'd be safe until a friend could find them. They find his remains, and narrowly evade some of Majestic's forces, who at least so far, do not realize they've been evaded.

General Brooks (head of Majestic-12) is tedious to me. She's the standard military character. The one who insists it is on everyone else's head if lives are lost, because those people didn't roll over and cooperate fully with a shadowy organization that is outright invading sovereign nations to take control of their facilities. Gee, I can't imagine why anyone would not be shitting their pants in their eagerness to assist. I get that the book isn't arguing her tactic of trying to guilt people she's harmed into helping her is right, that she's the villain, I'm not supposed to like her, but damn, give me one character who tells her "fuck you", if only out of sheer contrariness. Even if they get shot in the head after. There has to be someone like that. I can at least live with the hope that she catches a bullet before the mini-series ends. It's a slim hope, but I'll also settle for being crushed by a giant monster and/or a giant robot.

Beyond that, I'm not sure how well this first issue worked for me. I usually have trouble remembering the names of any of his Action Scientists (save Jenkins), or really defining their personalities. Using them as the central protagonists, rather than as someone to bounce off Robo, not entirely on board. But hopefully by next issue they'll have figured out how to get Robo's head up and running (or they've uploaded him into a different, less advanced body if I'm reading next issue's cover right). At which point equilibrium will be established. I figure even if Robo can't be the physical presence he normally, having his personality in the mix will be sufficient.

Wegener's work is excellent, especially body language. Bernie for the first half of the issue, where's he alternately drunk, depressed, and skeptical was particularly good. That panel of him sitting in the chair silently, after hearing the whole Zorth explanation. He just looks like a guy who's given up, or is trying real hard to give up, anyway. And Lang's reactions to him, ranging from looking tired to barely controlling her irritation, are also good. I'm not sure if this is to Wegener's credit or Powell's, but the sound effect for the missile the drone fired exploding was really nice. "POOM", with the Os overlapping partially, and the whole word in the center of concentric circles. I have no idea what a missile explosion in a forest would sound like, but for some reason that works just fine with me.

I do wonder how Lang got from a bar in Mexico to Rio in one day, on a motorcycle, with a whiny drunk guy riding along. Is that feasible, especially needing to keep a low profile?

Ms. Marvel #18, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I guess Kamala will get her wish soon enough. Maybe not the big happy Hulk part, but hanging out with Captain Falcon and Thor.

Whatever Aamir was exposed to wasn't Terrigen Mist, but he still got powers. Powers he doesn't want, and can't control, but he beat Kamran handily anyway, so good. Then he passed out and his face landed on Kamran's shoe (still attached to the foot sticking out of the floor), which was pretty funny. Kamran must have really expensive shoes with soles with a lot of cushion to them. Kamala and Carol get him to the school, where they part company, but not before Carol gives two things to Kamala. One, a necklace with both their logos and a locator beacon. Aww. Two, she tells her the world is ending. Way to be, Captain Bringdown! Aamir wakes up again, he and his sister (back in civvies) converse briefly, then their parents show up, and Kamala gets blamed for not looking after her older brother. What the hell? I was under the impression it was the duty of older siblings to look after younger ones. Just like parents, changing the rules whenever it suits their complaining purposes. Kamala opts not to point out the absurdity of her mother's complaint, and instead explains she fights crime. Then her mother reveals she already knew that.

OK, I wasn't expecting that.

I like the Khan family's use of laundry as non-profane insults. Aamir calling Kamran a "duffel bag" is a little obvious as an alternative to "douchebag", but Kamala calling her brother a wet sock amused me. I'd like to do that, but I don't think it would work. People would just look at me as though I were crazy.

I was a little surprised Carol hung back as much as she did. Kamran is enough of a loser Carol could have beaten him in a half-second. But she admitted she wanted to meet Kamala, to see why these people she knows speak so highly of the kid, so I guess it makes sense she'd hang back, and let the kid take the lead. She just offers a helpful nudge or fist as its needed. I also thought it was a little odd Aamir was the one who turned out Kamran's lights instead of Kamala. But the fact Aamir rejects Kamran's sales pitch entirely, having no interest in the idea of setting himself above others as some ruler, or even in having powers at all, was a win for Kamala. It's exactly what she told Kamran, that her brother wasn't like him. Whatever his justifiable gripes about how the world treats him because of his skin color or religion, Aamir isn't the sort who wants power so he can get revenge or settle grudges. I have no idea what the stuff he was exposed to was, or what'll happen with him having powers going forward, though. But considering everything's about to get rebooted in some form or the other, it could always be wiped away easily enough (It's been mentioned that the end of Waid/Samnee's Daredevil run might present problems for the new series, in terms of where it left things, and I expect the reboot to handwave away problems there as well.)

Alphona and Herring are doing good work as usual. I already mentioned Aamir passing out and landing on Kamran's foot as a visual I liked (the drool bubble sells it), even if it seems unlikely to actually work that way. Kamala clutching at her scarf when she gets anxious is one of those little body language things I like. It makes sense, if the hero is the sort to get nervous, they'd fiddle with parts of their costume. I bet Gambit twirls that staff idly all the time. Of course, he probably thinks it makes him look cool, but it doesn't.

Oh, and I know our schools are underfuned, but I hope that poster in the nurse's office behind Aamir is advising students to not try sucking snakebite venom out of a wound. That's a no-no, folks

What I Bought 8/19/2015 - Part 3

I'm getting pretty close to finish up a couple of series I've been picking up in back issues, and so I was scouting for other possibilities. I was going to try the stretch of Mike Carey's X-Men Legacy where he made Rogue the main character, but geez. Every five seconds it's another tie-in. Necrosha, or Avengers vs. X-Men, or Schism, or some other crap. Really off-putting. Oh well, plenty of other options out there.

Ms. Marvel #17, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Carol could at least try to look like she's enjoying the team-up a little bit.

Carol doesn't do a terribly good job convincing Kamala the world isn't ending, but does agree to help find Aamir. While searching for him, they came across the same idiots that got run off from the school by Loki's spells, and Kamala urges them to 'You have skills! Go use them for good instead of stupid!' The body language Alphona gives her there is great, with the one hand on hip, but the other hand with the thumb jerked in the direction of the school. It's a very good example of being fed up, but in a way that works for Kamala. She's not going to be snarling through gritted teeth, she's just exasperated. She can't believe these guys decided this was the right thing to be doing.

She and Carol make their way to the docks, find some kittens that someone did their best to provide for, fight off Kaboom (the Inhuman girl with the electricity powers), and find Aamir, floating and glowing in the Terrigen Mists.

While I appreciated Carol's attempt to assure Kamala that everyone feels like they're screwing up all the time, she should have used a different example than Iron Man. If Stark actually spent any time wondering if he was screwing everything up, he might not have done half the stupid shit he's done in the past decade. That aside, I did enjoy the interplay between them. Kamala has a tendency to babble, and Carol's believable as the calm veteran for her to bounce off. Also, it's neat how Carol largely lets Kamala lead. She agrees to help, even though she has other stuff to be doing. When Kamala decides to stop and deal with the out-of-control electricians, Carol helps, but lets Kamala do the talking. And she lets Kamala work through where Aamir is hidden. It's a mentoring approach, giving support when needed, getting Kamala back on course when the enormity of things starts to get to her, being willing to poke fun at her even. I forget sometimes Carol has experience in the mentor role from working with Arana among other things.

I like how easily Kamala uses her powers now. It's something she does naturally, and Alphona conveys that well. When she makes her legs longer so she can check out rooftops, but the rest of her remains normal size. Or how she makes one foot larger when she's standing on the crazy electrician. It's very casual, very controlled use of powers. Overall, it's pretty much been what I was hoping for, though we'll see how it concludes when the next issue comes out in two months.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #8, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - Maybe it's the angle, but Thor's head looks much too large.

The Thors and Nancy are in Asgard, trying to figure out how Ratatoskr got free, and how to get him back in. The answer to the first, as it so often is when it comes to things going wrong in Asgard, is "Loki", but at least he cops to it, and is quite taken with Nancy's forthrightness and love of Cat Thor. I'm not so taken with Cat Thor, but that's because Nancy made frost giants dogs. DOGS ARE NOT BAD GUYS! This may seem odd given the numbers of complaints I've made about my father's dogs (especially Charlie) over the years, but they aren't bad, just rambunctious (and some of them are stupid). Completely different. I give the fanfic a 2-star review, and one star is only because of Odin's "Aye, thee proclaims that every time," in response to Thor's "I gave them. . . Claws for concern?"

Back on Earth, the heroes are having some trouble with Ratatoskr, since it keeps turning Doreen's allies against her. Even the aid of Spider-Man's (stolen) web-shooters can't overcome the odds, but she's able to hold her own until the Asgardians arrive. With ear plugs. Squirrel Girl's big friendship speech mostly doesn't work, because saying not to be insecure and jealous is one thing, actually doing it is something else, but it helps just enough. Probably all the yelling was just really distracting, but the evil squirrel is defeated and imprisoned. Loki even provides a final twist of the knife with a note and a gift for it. I have to admit I enjoy this version of Loki. He's a good guy, but he's still a mischievous dick. So he keeps the Cat Thor head look just to annoy his brother a bit, but doesn't let it distract him from helping.

I have to say, even as much as I like Spider-Man, given the opportunity, I'd have stolen Captain America's shield instead. How could you pass up the chance to hurl that thing at least once? Plus, she could have altered the lyrics to that song to fit with her. "When Squirrel Girl lobs a shield that's been swiped, all the bad guys will, um have plenty of gripes." Something like that.

Henderson's work has a rushed look to it. The lines aren't as strong, faces are less detailed than they have been. There are certain panels where I think Renzi's colors are serving as the lines. It seems to happen a lot with Ratotskr, which makes sense given it's almost all black so lines would struggle to show up, but also Tippy-Toe, which looks more unfinished. Some panels are stronger than others, although given how much talking Loki does, she doesn't have much room to operate at times. But up to this point Henderson's drawn 8 issues, and they've all been on time (and I don't know if she's doing other books or commissions on the side), so maybe this is the limit to what she can manage without a skip month? If so, she's still well ahead of 95% of the artists working for Marvel and DC these days.

What I Bought 7/2/2015 - Part 2

I’m a little annoyed at my coworkers. They keep driving the work vehicle on errands around town, but don’t bother to gas it up. Then they casually mention the low fuel light is on when I’m the next one who is going to need it. With a great sense of responsibility comes everyone treating you like a chump.

Daredevil #16, by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid (storytellers), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) – I feel as though computer screens shouldn’t give off red light. It’s very eerie, and makes your shadow look weird.

Matt’s got an offer for the Kingpin: Use his influence to keep Matt’s friends out of trouble after this mess Shroud’s tossed them into, and he can “kill” Matt Murdock. Give him a new face only Fisk will know, so he alone can enjoy the ability to destroy Daredevil’s life whenever he chooses. Fisk makes no sign he’ll go for it, but his goons bring a report to him they found Julia Carpenter (the lady the Shroud’s looking for), and Matt gets ahold of that paper and rushes off. Unfortunately, the Owl located her, too, which sends the Shroud after her, and Jubula had thrown in with max to save her dad, but Julia gives her another card to play, and Matt’s in the middle of all that. In the meantime, Fisk sent Ikari after Kirsten and Foggy.

The question is, what’s Fisk going for here? It wouldn’t be beyond him to get Ikari out of jail and send him after Matt’s loved ones, to make sure no one destroys them but him. On the other hand, he purposefully makes a call to Ikari, knowing the Owl will hear it. Though I’m not sure what Leland can do about it in his current state. I hope it isn’t going to turn out Fisk engineered everything, from Bullseye’s attempt to create a better Daredevil, to Owlsley’s trying to harness a new way to gather energy, to the Shroud’s desperation. I know it’s tradition that all roads of Matt’s misery lead to Wilson Fisk, but I wouldn’t mind bucking tradition in this case. And I suppose there’s no reason not to kill Foggy, if that’s what his comment about the call from his oncologist meant. Marvel’s about to reboot the hell out of everything, why not?

It would have to be a little strange to be approached by Wilson Fisk (or someone on his behalf) and asked to paint a picture of Daredevil being devoured by piranhas. Although maybe there’s a real market for that stuff in the Marvel Universe. Lots of bitter super-villains around. Heck, maybe one of the super-villains is a painter, though I feel guys like Sandman or the Trapster would gravitate more towards sculpture.

Ms. Marvel #16, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (art), Ian Herring (color art), Joe Caramagna (letterer) – Well, we knew the streak of issues without a tie-in to some big event couldn’t last forever.

Kamala is drowning her sorrows over Kamran in kosher hot dogs, but no time for that, the world is ending in Manhattan! Which means mass panic, so Kamala has everyone head for the school to hunker down while she goes to check on her parents. And there’s Kamran, telling her his boss is going to expose her brother to the Mists to see if he develops powers. Hmm, figures. I completely dismissed Aamir as the one with possible powers, so naturally it ends up being him. My horrible success rate on predictions continues.

Kamran talks some shit, and Kamala does not punch him through a wall. I love how he’s going to treat the end of the world as a ‘convenient distraction’. Yes, it’ll be quite convenient when you’re dead, dumbass. I really hope Kamran didn’t make it on to battleworld. But Doom did bring a piece of Zombie Earth, so who knows. There’s a probably a Huge Douchebag part of it, too. The school is briefly under attack from idiots in track suits and medieval helmets, but Loki’s protection spell deals with them. As it is, Kamala’s having a little trouble dealing with the enormity of the task before her, which is when Carol Danvers shows up, wearing that stupid grey version of her costume from all Hickman’s stuff.

Hopefully Carol isn’t going to give Kamala a lot of grief about the codename. It isn’t like Carol’s the first one to go by Captain Marvel, or even the second. Or the third. Or the fourth. Accept it as a sign of respect for you from Kamala, and go from there. That said, I'm actually really excited for this team-up. I feel Carol has lots of valuable life experience she could impart to Kamala. Especially about falling for the wrong guy, but also about handling seemingly hopeless situations. 

I could have done without seeing Kamran again, he’s such a jerk. But guys like that never go away, they’re like Internet trolls, they love to hang around and make people miserable, just because. What did he gain from telling Kamala he has her brother? I guess he could be trying to draw her into a trap, but in that case, he might have been better served dropping some hints about where to find Aamir. I guess he’s supposed to be on New Attilan, but that’s a big place. So I’m going to assume Kamran was just trying to be a huge jerk.

One thing I like about Alphona’s art – and it was true of Miyazawa’s as well – is all the little details he adds that suggest a larger story. On the first page, what’s the deal with the guy sitting next to Kamala at the hot dog cart? Why are his clothes torn, and why does he look so forlorn? He’s not terrified, just worn down, so I don’t think he’s seen the planet about to crash into Earth. In the second panel, why’s that old man dumping water on that kid’s head? In the third panel, why is one pigeon wearing an Indian headdress, and the other one of those faux-Viking helmets with the horns? What is with the little people in the hazmat suits that show up a few times, both at the school and in the initial stampede from Manhattan? Did AIM kindergarten let out early for the Apocalypse? There’s a vampire doctor, and is that MC Hammer in the crowd in panel 4 on page 3? I love this stuff. The Marvel Universe is a big, strange place, “world outside our door” or not, and it should be full of strange stuff people don’t bat an eye at by now.