What I Bought 5/15/2026

I spent the weekend at my dad's, so expect a variety of older films in the reviews starting next week. On the way up, in between searching used bookstores for his birthday gifts, I hit the comic store. I was only expecting to find one of the two books from last week, and I did, but not the one I expected. That said, it's definitely the one I'd rather have.

Touched by a Demon #4, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Oh jeez, what did this lady think would improve her life? If she could divide her focus better?

Mammon whisks Frons and Pazuzu back to Hell, leaving Wendy to come up with some sort of plausible explanation to the detective about what she just saw, and not incriminate herself as having murdered her family. She is probably not entirely convincing, but no one gets arrested so let's call it a win.

Down in Hell, Mammon isn't pleased Frons abandoned his post. Even worse, Frons started this whole life help agency without going through bureaucratic channels. On the other hand, Lucifer thinks the idea has promise. Frons has already damned 63 souls, including Wendy. If he can damn 3 more, bringing him up to a nifty 66, he'll get a promotion! And the lute he brought with him when he was cast out of Heaven, and subsequently traded for Pazuzu to get her away from her horrible boss

I did enjoy Mammon's complaint that there are souls that are supposed to be getting tortured that aren't because Frons is absent. Just sitting around, untortured, like they're in 'a hotter Purgatory.'

So Frons has a dilemma. He truly wanted to help people, but keeps fucking it up. Should he keep trying, and risk damning more souls, which gets him a promotion and recognition he finds he no longer desires? Does he accept there's no redemption for him?

There's a bit where he's debating what to do and asks Pazuzu and she replies that she was just helping him and, 'I have no moral opinions.' I started go back-and-forth with myself Friday night about which way to interpret that. Which word is the emphasis on, no or moral? Then I told myself there was no difference, then I argued back that there was. Is Pazuzu saying she has no opinions that are moral, as in they're all immoral? Or is it that she has no moral opinions, as in she doesn't even debate or consider morality? The former seems more likely for a demon, but somehow I think it's the latter. Like, morality isn't even something she thinks about. Sure, she hasn't loved how most of their clients turned out, but that could just be because she likes her boss and wants him to be happy, and the failures eat at him.

Anyway, Frons has one final conversation with Father Angelo, although they exchange contact info (which Frons immediately blocks). If the story continues, I think there was going to be something there, because Frons seems smitten. He resumes taking clients, this time an elderly woman who lives alone and is going to die soon. She has regrets, about opportunities missed and whatnot.

Frons could cast a time travel hex, allowing her to relive her life, but chooses instead to help her maximize her enjoyment of the time she has remaining. This, in turn, offers a glimmer of hope that Frons might be able to pull of his own redemption, if he sticks to trying to truly help people, instead of using demonic magic to offer quick-fix solutions. And that's where it ends, Frons, Pazuzu and Wendy as a little group. So Gudsnuk could come back to the story again some day, if she wants. The detective is still lurking, investigating the disappearance of Wendy's family, there's unresolved stuff with Father Angelo, there's no guarantee Bifrons won't still mess things up in the future, or that, if he keeps succeeding it won't start to cause a backlash from the higher-ups.

What I Bought 5/4/2026 - Part 2

I got through Read or Die: The TV Series back in April on my anime rewatch. It was pretty good. I appreciate the silly sibling stuff between the Paper Sisters more than I remember in the past. Then Mr. Joker showed his face around episode 15, and it was ten episodes of me groaning, "Just shoot the fucker, stop listening to his bullshit!" But they never listen.

Generation X-23 #3, by Jody Houser (writer), Jacopo Camagni and Marco Renna (artists), Erick Arciniega (color artist), Ariana Maher (letterer) - So that foul-up where Laura got resurrected during the Krakoa era with a full adamantium skeleton, instead of just her claws, never got undone? Poor quality control.

The whole thing where the previous issue ended with X-Infinite saying Laura must be held responsible for two deaths is not really followed up on. Laura's alone in the infirmary, until some of those weird time shards show up, then vanish. So now Laura's got questions, and X-92's got a lead on answers. Which, predictably, point to X-Infinite, who is experimenting with some of Laura's skin that got scorched off.

As it turns out the kid's attempts to file reports that everything in the facility didn't work as well as they thought, Laura, Infinite and 92, escape. Infinite admits that, once the scientists figured out he was smarter than them, they made him help with their work. So all the other kids having multiple powers is his doing, and it's the old, a "Wolverine's healing factor could save them," bit. Well, at this point it's more like Laura's propensity for stabbing could save them. 

With the apparently abrupt passing of Jacopo Camagni, I don't know if Renna's going to be the regular artist on the book going forward. If so, I don't know if this issue is representative of their work. I would figure they were working under a time crunch, since they probably weren't expecting to draw 13 pages of this particular comic. Here, at least, Renna's style seems a little simpler than Camagni's. Faces and bodies are more basic shapes, fewer little details. Might simply not had enough time for as much shading, because I feel like that's a big difference between the two. There's more gradation and depth to Camagni's pages.

That said, Renna's art works perfectly well. The fight between Laura and X-Infinite is easy enough to follow. I'm not sure why one of the soldiers who attacked the facility is a giant, robotic crab-centipede-person, but it was a pretty impressive reveal. Got me to stop, blink, and wonder where the heck that thing came from.

Touched by a Demon #3, by Kristen Gudsnuk - As the city burns, one man tries to hide his eyes behind some strange wrapping paper.

Having concluded demons giving humans advice is not helpful, Frons takes the priest's recommendation of providing tools literally. So this week's client, Max, was given a chimp's paw, granting 5 wishes. Not a monkey's paw, mind you. No ironic comeuppance! But do I get a free frogurt with it? If you wish for one, I guess.

So after wishing for $10 million in an offshore account (the password to which he forgot), and an endless bag of weed and Adderall (which might have something to do with forgetting the password), Max starts messing around with people's free will. Making the girl he likes love him, making her kinks conform to his, for him to feel fulfilled. Stuff like that. But, as long as he doesn't try to make a sixth wish, he's fine.

Then he casually wished for them to not have to go into work and an earthquake knocked their office building - among other structures - down. I feel like Gudsnuk missed an easy joke there. When Max makes that wish, one of the chimp's fingers uncurls, and it isn't the middle one.

Despondent over another failure, Frons comes to the priest's church to aid in their relief efforts with a big sack of cash he. . .summoned from Hell, I think. Then he confronts Father Angelo, who he blames for giving him bad advice. Angelo either hasn't twigged to Frons being a demon, or is just jerking him around, but he claims to have found something that suggested fallen angels could be redeemed, and seems to be semi-related to Frons' idea of shattering souls to create something of pure evil. Except, you know, the flip side. Frankly, the idea of the soul as something you can chip pieces off of like some oversized ice cream cookie cake is maybe the part I'm having the most trouble with.

Oh, and the cop showed up at their office, looking into the disappearance of Wendy's family. And right as Frons' boss (Mammon) shows up. If somebody burned a roast I'm going to think I fell into an '80s sitcom. But no, in all seriousness, I'm really interested to see how Gudsnuk pulls this together with one issue to go. Interested and worried, since I actually like all these goofballs and I'm worried it's going to end badly for them. Especially Wendy, who did, you know, kill her asshole parents and her perpetually terminally ill older sister.

What I Bought 3/30/2026 - Part 1

The anime re-watch has reached Outlaw Star. It's been a while, so I didn't remember it takes nearly a third of the series to really get them out into space in their new ship. We're into April, and I'm almost caught up on comics from the first three months. So let's get to that, with a couple of second issues from early March.

D'orc #2, by Brett Bean (writer/artist), Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colorist), Nate Piekos (letterer) - Can't go anywhere without some guy in a cape showing up and dramatically screaming.

D'Orc tries climbing a plateau to hide from the forces on both sides trying to kill him, only to find a bunch of warriors looking strangely emaciated. Then a bunch of kids with odd masks show up and start stabbing D'Orc with knives that are stealing his time. Then the kids' boss shows up, and he's a time lord and D'Orc won't abandon the kids, so he gets all his time stolen and decays. Oh well, terrible fate averted!

Except the ghost of the headless chicken, thus far useless, is able to possess the time lord and reverse the aging and free the imprisoned orphan army. Then D'Orc insists they restore the time stolen from all those guys who were going to ambush him and remarkably, it doesn't backfire. The warriors don't try to kill him, and in fact agree to look after the orphans. So things are looking up! Too bad there's an angry dwarf on his tail.

So it seems like Bean is leaning towards the idea that the prophecy that D'Orc will destroy the world is going to occur in that he convinces people on both sides to abandon this light vs. dark and fighting to the death, and focus on gentler notions. Of course, there's also this berserker side of him that keeps creeping out, where Bean gives him glowing eyes and which Beaulieu sometimes colors the characters grey against a red background, and other times colors D'Orc red.

Not sure what that's about, and it feels like Bean is hinting more about the shield, or at least its abilities. The time lord thought the shield would make him immortal. Was he going to decapitate himself and exists as a ghost like the chicken?

Touched by a Demon #2, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Quite a disparity between the crying cursed family and the cheerful employees. At least we can see Frons keeps his employees happy.

So, Wendy killed her awful parents and her sickly sister, who was, let's face, going to die as soon as Wendy could stop her parents from using her as an organ farm. But it wouldn't help their salvation attempt to kill the girl, so instead Frons and Zuzu hide the bodies in the graves of some people who died in the 1800s, and give Wendy a job.

First job, get them more business! So Wendy and Elaine - an influencer who died in prison after some product she made go viral killed people - get the business popular on social media. By hawking free pens. Example 1,347 that I don't understand social media.

This does net them one client. Sergio feels he has blown his relationship with a wonderful woman and lost her and his son. So Frons and Zuzu not only help his confidence, but also help him learn to be more considerate and attentive to his wife's feelings. And they found the motel room where his wife and son are living! And she has a restraining order on Sergio? And the cops showed up? And. . .

Look, should I have laughed out loud at how things play out? Probably not. Did I? Obviously yes. I don't exactly know why, it's a horrible fate. Maybe because Frons and Zuzu worked really hard to help him, and Sergio seemed to take the lessons to heart. He was honest and clear about what he wanted, he acknowledged that he wanted to be loved, he wanted to show he was worthy of being loved, it was just too late, and he took things way too far.

Frons, despondent at another failure, wanders to a church. That he can't enter, but the local priest has to smoke outside, so they chat a bit. Father Angelo seems willing to investigate whether a demon could be redeemed, or be penitent at all. Which I guess is the question, does Frons regret siding with Lucifer, or does he just feel unappreciated in Hell and think the grass would be greener on the other side? He does seem to want to help people, but are his motivations the right ones?

Oh, and some cop is investigating Wendy's disappearance, and that of her family. Boooooo, butt out cops! Didn't you cause enough harm to Sergio's family today?

What I Bought 2/28/2026 - Part 3

OK, I didn't end up sleeping the entire weekend, as I unfortunately had a few things I had to get done. Like laundry. Booo. Now we come to the last of the stuff from the first two months. At least until I find the books I missed on this sweep, whenever that ends up happening.

Touched by a Demon #1, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Maybe lighting a car on fire to illuminate your storefront was a bad idea.

Bifrons followed Lucifer in his rebellion, but however many years later, is finding life in Hell pretty unsatisfying. He's stuck attending Anti-Christmas parties (every June 24th!), and Mammon won't give his ideas a fair shake. At least he has Pazuzu, who believes in him and likes working for him.

So he decided to earn his way back into Heaven by starting a life coaching agency to help humans' souls. For their first case, Wendy, a girl whose parents only had her to act as an an organ farm for the first child, who is constantly ill. Wendy tried being a high achiever to earn their love, but it didn't work, and she's about to lose her liver. Bifrons and Zuzu's response is heartfelt, but their advice was not well thought out, especially as she took them up on it.

So far, I'm not sure whether to laugh or be horrified. I think it's meant to be darkly comic, and it certainly is, but Wendy's story was so sad, I ended up feeling a little gleeful about the ending. The demons turning out to be kinder than the humans, but their version of help may cause more problems than it solves. I'm curious if the plan Bifrons' pitched to Mammon, about combining the souls their torments shatter into one, purely evil being, is going to factor in. Or was that just something Gudsnuk used to show Bifrons is more of a lateral thinker than most of the hierarchy in Hell? The sort of fallen angel who thinks of a life coaching agency as a way back to Heaven?

Gudsnuk's art is mostly like I remember from Henchgirl. Pretty simple, but distinct character designs. The linework is a bit smoother, steadier maybe. There are some panels with a gentler, more gradual shading, though Gudsnuk saves that for the more somber panels. The one panel of Wendy's sister, asleep in her bed, or the panels of Wendy reflecting on the misery of her life. It makes for a strange contrast to the panels of Bifrons and Zuzu hi-fiving about how they're totally going to pull this scheme off.

Sunday Splash Page #238

 

"Downward Spiral" in Henchgirl #5, by Kristen Gudsnuk

Henchgirl was originally a webcomic that eventually was published in single issue form through Scout Comics. Although I feel like Dark Horse published the collected edition. it was the first series I bought from Scout Comics, and maybe the first thing I bought from one of the smaller publishers simply because it sounded interesting, with no other knowledge of it.

The story follows Mari Posa, henchgirl for the Butterfly Gang, a fairly low-tier group of crooks who pretty well half-ass the butterfly motif. I mean, only one of them even bothers to wear wings! But it's how Mari pays her share of the rent, though she tries to dissuade the gang from swindling an orphanage in favor of robbing the fancy party of a local wealthy industrialist.

Gudsnuk adds in some other heroes, focusing primarily on lower-tier types. Like Fred, who can astral project, but his body turns into an extremely fragile mannequin when he does. He eventually teams up with a Sailor Moon parody, who becomes an object of hatred for Mari. One of Mari's roommates has the ability to produce carrots from her body. The power evolves to where the carrots can walk and think and feel.

The plotting is uneven, although I don't know how much Gudsnuk had planned when she started, and how much she made up as she went along. Also, when it was a webcomic, it may have been posted one page at a time, as there's usually some sort of punchline or strong moment to end each page. That might make things more difficult.

Mari is eventually abducted by her boss and #1 henchlady and given a drug to make her more evil, plus another drug to mess with her memory so she doesn't remember this. But it's hard to tell if it's working or not, or if it stopped having an effect at some point. Is her vendetta against Sailor Amelia because of the drug, or because she's jealous that Fred's working with Amelia? When she tries to help with a hostage situation involving her parents (which ends ugly), what was that? Unresolved "forgotten child" issues mingled with not really giving a fuck because of the drug?

The art style fits the comedy beats. It's lends itself to exaggeration, whether that's Mari freaking out because she can't find Fred's kneecap, or her telling Fred he can reinhabit his body, only to have a geyser of blood because he missed a spot. I mean, I think that was meant to be funny. I laughed. It's not as effective on the grim bits, when Coco or Monsieur Butterfly are trying to act threatening, although half the time they're entirely ineffective, so that may be by design. There is one scene, where Mari beats up a heroine that made her look bad previously, where Gudsnuk ends the scene with Mari standing tall and looking much more composed and indifferent about what she's done than normal. That worked well.

What I Bought 11/1/2016 - Part 2

That question I posed last week, if Luke Cage thinks about whether being bulletproof will wear off got a lot more relevant when I reached episode 7 a few days later.

Wynonna Earp #8, by Beau Smith (writer), Chris Evenhuis (artist), Jay Fotos (colorist), Chris Mowry (letterer) - That coat looks extremely warm and comfy.

Contrary to my expectation that we'd continue with Wynonna's vacation adventures, we instead follow her attempts to help a werewolf and his family relocate again through witness protection, before they're all killed by the dominant lycan clan, the White Wolves. This also involves the appearance of Smitty to help things along. I bought the collection of all the previous Wynonna Earp mini-series two months ago, so I was waiting to see if Beau Smith would put what I assume is his self-insert character into these stories. He's usually a tech/gun enthusiast, but now he's actually Agent Dolls' boss. So, promotion via reboot.

The story felt rushed, though. The werewolf, who everyone calls IBob because he's kind of a IT guy, makes a point of referring to Wynonna as his "friend" near the end of the issue, and Wynonna thanks him, and it feels as though this is supposed to be some big shift. But Wynonna didn't seem hostile to him previously, maybe because she'd hardly interacted with him. Smitty shoved him in a car Wynonna was already in, she took a little offense when he muttered something about her being a, 'crazy chick with a gun,' and then they were fighting off werewolves. She doesn't seem hostile as much as she doesn't know him enough to have an opinion one way or the other.

I like the visual of the member of the White Wolves that carries the Thompson with the drum clip. The way Evenhuis draws the werewolves, they have fur that forms a beard, and combined with the gun and his clothes, it makes that particular wolf look like some hillbilly bootlegger from the '30s. It's at least a little distinctive, and I can buy that supernatural creatures that are functionally immortal might find a look they like and stick with it for decades. Some might update, but others not so much. Besides that, there's a couple of panels where the shading Evenhuis (or Fotos) uses on the characters' faces (first Valdez, then Wynonna) reminds me of Tom Mandrake. That bit where the shadows obscure the lower jaw and chin, so the face has that death's head appearance? That makes for a nice visual.

Henchgirl #11, by Kristen Gudnsuk - Yep, that is certainly most of the major characters there on the cover. Not at all sure why they went with one big, 44 page issue instead of two smaller issues, but that's me wanting it wrapped up in a neat 12 issue bundle I guess.

Everything goes to hell. Consuelo has started calling herself the "Black Widow" (in Spanish) and swinging around a sword. I completely sympathize with Coco's frustration in not understanding what's being said (although I took German instead of French). In fact, Coco is so fed up she tells Sue and Tina about Mary being dosed with evil serum, and they mount an attack on the evil scientist's lab to retrieve the stuff so Sue can make an antidote. Except in the process Tina's arm is burned off by acid, and her carrot helpers go rogue. Plus, Mary is still trying to take revenge on Amelia, but only succeeds in providing the hero with her ultimate weapon (which was the Butterfly zapper thing Mary had been using). Which causes Amelia to go completely off her nut and tear down a building, putting Mary in the hospital. Then there's a time jump in the last few pages to a point where the carrots have taken over the entire city (and the federal government has washed their hands of it).

Soooo, that got kind of dark in the last few issues. People dying, people getting maimed, although we learn Mary somehow did not kill Gunpowder after all. Curious that it's OK for Amelia to have killed some people, despite having ostensibly been a hero the whole time, but Mary has to at least be innocent of that. Although she is guilty of "hooliganism", among other crimes.

The tonal shifts play up how much this was originally published one page at a time. So you get pages that end on a three-panel joke about Sue being confident she can make an antidote to the evil serum, to her moderating that statement over the succeeding two panels. But then you get a page that ends with Tina literally impaling a guard with giant carrot tentacles, with the blood spray and everything. I'm not sure if it's supposed to absurd (because carrots), or horrifying (because her arm is now made of carrots). I don't dislike this issue, there's certainly a lot happening, and Gudsnuk hits some solid emotional beats, plus there are some pretty funny moments in there. The fatalistic attitude Mary develops to try and justify killing Amelia - a series of different excuses that could almost masquerade as having some higher goal in mind - and Amelia's various arguments to rebut them cracked me up. Plus, that even when Coco is trying to be a good friend, she's still a terrible person.

Gudsnuk does have a good sense of pacing in her panel layouts. Especially when there's a two-panel combo, or even a three-panel bit. Not just in humor, but also ominous scenes. That pause to let it sink, then the punchline, or the hammer. So there's a silent panel of Coco's scorched form as Fred tries to save her with that healing cloak, and then there's one where parts of her skin crumbles and falls away. Which is a heck of a way to confirm she isn't coming back, but is also kind of dark humor? I don't know if that's what she was going for, but it makes me think of those cartoons where a character gets shot at a lot and scoffs that they weren't even scratched, then they drink something and water spurts from a dozen holes. Only this time the character falls over dead instead of shaking it off. So maybe more Mel Brooks than Looney Tunes.

I had no idea what to expect with Henchgirl when I started getting it, but I've been pleased with the results.

What I Bought 9/6/2016 - Part 2

Speaking of comic-related websites, what the hell is going on with the Savage Critics site? At the time I'm writing this, it's been like three weeks since I could get it to load. It just keeps saying there's some database connection issue.

Atomic Robo: The Temple of Od #1, by Brian Clevinger (words), Scott Wegener (art), Anthony Clark (colors), Jeff Powell (letters) - Rushing towards a tank in a motorcycle while your passenger dual-wields handguns at whatever is chasing you? That's a pretty solid image to use to sell the book.

It's the late 1930s, and Robo is sucked into investigating a Chinese scientist believed to be in the hands of the Japanese Army, developing some of sort super-weapon, possibly working off the Odic energies Edison was trying to harness in the Atomic Robo: The Deadly Art of Science mini-series. And Claire Chennault decides it would be a good idea to send the most recognizable face in the world, as one of the Japanese lieutenants puts it, on a spy mission. He does have the aid of the Chinese resistance, and also the help of Helen, who along with her father, had been working with Robo in that Deadly Art of Science story.

Helen and the leader of the resistance in Shanghai, Chen Zhen, seem to be in a relationship, and I get the impression Helen doesn't want him to know she and Robo were almost, sort of, in a relationship. She was definitely the first woman he shared a kiss with. Not sure how that'll play out.

I'm not sure if this is true, but I feel like Robo is more glib when he's younger. His present day self (in Ring of Fire for example) seems a little more weary, whereas his past self is more like Spider-Man in that he can't help himself. I could be wrong, but continuing to make wisecracks when captured by Lieutenant Ichiro, including one about how they have the same barber, felt like something his older self wouldn't do. Ichiro's extremely scowling face in that panel, followed by his very cheerful one in the next as he announces he's planning to dissect Robo were both some good work by Wegener. I like Ichiro's design in general. He's kind of wearing a proto, radiation/space suit, but the wraps around his hands have that badass fighter feel to it. Which is a good combination for a guy utilizing strange energies to punch the crap out of Robo.

Henchgirl #10, by Kristen Gudsnuk - It's Coco's bored expression as she and Mari get ready to pounce I enjoy most there.

Mary is on the run, the cops are questioning her roommates and going through her stuff, so she's forced to turn to Coco. Which means listening to Coco's "tragic" origin story, and finding out she's been booted out of the Butterfly Gang. Fred won't take her calls, so there's only one last, desperate plan to fix things. She's been posing as Celestial Angel Amelia's biggest fan on Twitter, and lures her and Fred into a trap, depowering Amelia with anti-magic serum, stealing that healing cape away from Fred, and then the timewatch. Which she uses to go back to when she was 7, but with her adult mind and knowledge. So now she's smart, and confident, and can pass herself off as being psychic. Which is enough to convince her parents to let her join an afterschool program for superkids. Apparently the super-strength wasn't enough. Anyway, things seem to be going well, but there are two problems: One, she feels guilty about Fred, and about only using this future knowledge to help herself, and two, Fred breaks the watch, which brings her back to the present, leaving her 7-year old self very confused and with no clue what's happening. So everything is even worse now.

Some of the looks 7-year old Mary makes in this issue are pretty creepy. The one as Amanda tries teasing her, just before Mary starts giving her hell for having pigtails, that was a little demented. I really believed she'd been waiting years for the chance to get Amanda back for teasing her, and she was a little too excited about it. But it's interesting that Mary had gone into the past ostensibly to do things right this time. She tells herself to be a good person, and unmake her bad decisions. But everything she does still seems to be in service of herself, up to the point where she cracks under some guilt and tries to warn people about the recession and the alien invasion. I don't know if that's meant to be the lingering effect of the evil serum (I assume that's still in effect on her brain), or simply that she couldn't see the difference in what she was doing and what would actually constitute being good.

At any rate, she just keeps digging a deeper hole for herself, and I'm curious how Gudsnuk intends to dig her out of it, if she actually plans on doing so. I'm not sure how much further down she can take it though, before it's going to strain against the overall tone of the book. Because she's still working some jokes in there, about young Mary commenting how big her mom looks to her, and her mother taking that to be some reference to post-pregnancy pounds, or the cops not having money for evidence bags and being reduced to sandwich bags.

What I Bought 7/26/2016 - Part 3

I've been able to rewatch Age of Ultron more completely recently, which has stirred up some thoughts, so be prepared for that later this week. In the meantime, one of today's books is explaining some mysteries about its cast, the other took a much darker turn than I was expecting.

Henchgirl #9, by Kristen Gudsnuk - That memoir she's reading causes so many problems. People should never publish stories of their lives while they're still living.

The Butterfly Gang seems a little out of sorts. One guy is leaving to become a private investigator, they don't seem to have many good schemes lined up, and Coco's back to being rude to Mari because Mari wouldn't listen to her backstory. Of course, now that's she's been evilfied, Mari tries burning the hideout down, with no success. She has a confusing and unproductive conversation with Fred, then is turned away from the gala dinner celebrating her superhero parents, since they basically pretend she doesn't exist. Then they're taken hostage, and Mari saves the day. By blowing up the crazy villain by dousing him in his own gunpowder and lighting it. Then she fights a bunch of cops who try to arrest her, then Consuelo gets revenge by capturing her, but Mari escapes from the police van (with some help from a mysterious stranger) and returns to town.

That was an somewhat unexpected turn. Mari not only killed a guy, but was completely indifferent to him killing his hostage. It isn't the first time there's been gruesome death - see Mr. Great Guy accidentally decapitating his reporter girlfriend with a street sign he was swinging at alien invaders - but it doesn't feel like it fits as well. Probably because Mr. Great Guy did what he did accidentally, where as Mari deliberately took the actions she did. Even if her brain has been altered, it's hard to see how this isn't going to cause huge problems for her later. Even just from an emotional state, if her friends can ever manage to figure out what was done to her and fix it. She was reduced to tears over her gang shattering Fred's body while he was in astral form, and that wasn't even her fault. Gudsnuk seems to be steadily burning all of Mari's bridges, except maybe for Fred. She's hasn't ruined things with her roomies yet, but it feels like it's coming.

The horrified look on Mari's mother's face as she's covered in the bits of Gunpowder after his explosive demise was classic. A great bit of stupefied horror, she can't even process what just happened. Plus, all the parts of him flying everywhere during the explosion. That was good. And that Mari went to the trouble of getting a fancy dress from somewhere to wear over her typical outfit before she burst in to save the day. It plays up the fact she wasn't really taking the threat seriously, but she did simultaneously want to make a big scene to get revenge on her parents for basically writing her out of existence in their memoir, but also look good at the same time, so maybe she'd get a little of that positive press her sister gets.

Wynonna Earp #5, by Beau Smith (writer), Lora Innes and Chris Evenhuis (artists), Jay Fotos (colors), Robbie Robbins (letterer) - Nothing like an old-fashioned showdown at high noon. Wait, noon? Make it 7 o'clock, I do my killing before breakfast. Actually, I usually don't eat breakfast, so let's go ahead and make it 6 o'clock. Get the day started off right.

Wynonna travels to Tombstone to have it out with the people sending her notes. Which appear to be demons in human form that were actually the Clantons, and who seem to have created some kind of time bubble with their presence, making everything like it's the 19th century, including Wynonna's motorcycle, which becomes a horse. John Henry explains his backstory, and provides Wynonna with a special demon-killing revolver that belonged to Wyatt and now we're ready for a big showdown. An issue of build-up, essentially, which is fine. It answers some questions about John Henry, explains some things to me about Wynonna, why precisely she's important. I'd have been fine with her simply having the name and making her own choice to do this, rather than it being any sort of destined thing, but it at least seems to be a destiny she embraces.

Evenhuis draws John Henry's reminiscing in the issue, which works pretty well. It's a style very distinct from Innes', linework is much lighter, more delicate. Seems appropriate, combined with the sepia-toned coloring Fotos uses for the sequence. It creates a definite distance between it and the reader, since the colors (other than the blood) aren't very bright or lifelike. The thin lines Evenhuis prefers also gives the whole thing a delicate feel somehow. I may simply be projecting that because John/Doc is sick through much of the flashback, and so he isn't in strong health, however he may appear in-panel.

As for Innes, I continue to enjoy the body language and expression work - Wynonna's surprise at her bike becoming a horse was a nice one, even the horse looks surprised - but the motorcycle doesn't look right. Wynonna seems as though she's too big for the bike. It's a little thing, but it bugs me every time I turn the page and his the double-page splash of her tearing down the highway on the bike. Maybe it's the perspective on that particular image, it doesn't bother me as much in other panels.

Also, it's an interesting tidbit Smith threw in for Wynonna that horses generally don't like her. But what the heck kind of name for a horse is 'Dick Taylor'? Although I know people who think it's weird my dad gives his dogs people names, too, so maybe it's just a matter of what you're accustomed to.

What I Bought 6/21/2016 - Part 4

The last of this round of reviews. I have nothing substantive to add to this opening paragraph. Maybe I should ditch them entirely.

Henchgirl #8, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Old school Nintendo cartridge cover. Solid choice.

Mari's really getting into being evil since being injected with that serum. Fred is roped into fighting crime with a new hero called Celestial Angel Amelia (Sailor Moon-style character), who hooks him up with a shroud that heals his injuries, which causes Fred to become a little more reckless in his heroing. Mari finds out the two are hanging out and tries to beat Amelia up, only to fail miserably.

So the girl who didn't want to stay on her parents' farm was Amelia, not some previously introduced character I didn't recognize. Good. I hate when that happens, makes me feel I'm not paying attention. I'm guessing Mari is going to try and enlist the Butterfly Gang in helping get revenge on Amelia, assuming she doesn't interfere with one of their schemes first. I'm not sure what's going on with Coco. If Gudsnuk's having her experience regret for what she did to Mari now that they're friends, or if she's just getting tired of being evil. Also, Mari seems less effective when she's trying to be evil, rather than when she just went along with the schemes and tried to get them done in the manner least likely to hurt people. Probably because super-villains typically don't take the logical approach to committing crimes, with the costumes, and big explosions, and grabbing attention.

When Coco starts to tell her origin to Mari (before Mari gets distracted by finding a treasure chest behind the couch), it shifts to Coco standing in a spotlight, with leaves swirling around, and a dark background. Very melodramatic, which made it funny. Gudsnuk's good about using those sorts of cliches for jokes.

Roche Limit: Monadic #3, by Michael Moreci (writer), Kyle Charles (artist), Matt Battaglia (colorist), Ryan Ferrier (letterer), Tim Daniel (designer) - The upside-down sidewalk splitting to reveal the world all the characters are trapped in is a nice image. Solid work there, though I wonder about the use of the shade of purple around the lower edge, since that usually coincides with the aliens, but it's on the "normal" side of things.

Alex dies of his injuries, releasing the pink glowing orb that is his soul, which gives Sonya and her sister an idea. They approach both that doctor and the deceased Gracie's underlings and convince them they need to kill Moscow and replace his soul with Alex', which will fix things somehow. Which requires reaching the tower, and somehow killing Moscow despite his rapport with the aliens. So that won't be easy, especially since he sussed out their plan almost immediately. In the other plot thread, Sasha reached the city with her memory-created husband and child, and finds a way to contact Elbus' ship. Except Elbus and Colt are dead, because it's been who knows how long. But old Hello Danny the android is still alive, and he recalls what Elbus had figured out about a solution. He doesn't tell us, but I guess we'll find out next issue.

So my guess is either Sonya's plan or Sasha's won't work. the question is which one. Frankly, given the power Moscow has on his side, I would bet against him dying. But he's the closest thing to an actual physical incarnation of the threat at this point, so I'd sort of expect him to die, just so we get that moment of the villain being defeated. Or it could be one plan would defeat the aliens, whatever the means at this stage, and the other is the one that's going to keep all these people from dying when this simulation/dreamworld collapses.

Charles' artwork shifts so much in how detailed it is, even within a single issue. Some of the panels with Sonya's face in it during the meeting with Gracie's goons are extremely simplified, almost just some vague dots suggesting noses or eyes. And then other pages, he gets much more detailed, a lot more lines, eyes much more defined, her nose more prominent. It's likely he has a very simplified style, a more detailed one, and another somewhere in between, and which he's using doesn't necessarily seem to have much to do with what section of the book you're in (he doesn't necessarily go simpler as you get to the end, like I'd expect if he was rushing). It's frustrating, because I end up liking some of Charles' work, and then hating other parts of it in the same issue.

What I Bought 5/10/2016 - Part 1

I actually have a pretty decent number of comics for this round of reviews. Hooray! I'm going to start with the only title I have two issues for, because I'm kind of scrambling for time again this week, and only reviewing one title goes a little faster.

Henchgirl #6 and 7, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Mary's joy makes me want to visit a natural history museum. I haven't in so long.

The Butterfly Gang robs the museum of a a valuable gem. Which turns out to have a mystical property which forces the person holding it to speak the truth, and all this was a trick by Coco to get Mary to confess to leaking their "defraud the orphanage" scheme. The trick works, but they don't kill Mary. They take her to Dr. Maniac, who injects her with evil serum, so that she'll enjoy being evil more. Pretty much the first thing she does is lure Consuelo to the middle of nowhere and beat her to a pulp for breaking Mary's goggles during their brief run-in during issue 4. After that, Mary and Coco become quite the pair, having great fun robbing people, and there doesn't seem to be any hero capable of stopping them. Mr. Great Guy briefly pulled himself out of his alcoholic depression to try, but was pretty half-assed about it. Mary's friends are concerned, and don't really enjoy Coco being invited to movie night, but aren't yet sure what's happened.

I have this feeling Mary will have to fight her sister soon. Her family knows she's in the Butterfly Gang, and she and Coco aren't exactly being low-key. Unless her friends can figure something out. Fred's not one to approve of Mary's criminal career, but she did also save his life by putting his body back together, so he kind of owes her. Plus, Coco almost killed him once already, probably better not to push it at the moment. Consuelo tried the entirely reasonable approach of giving the cops Mary's name, but they took the same approach as Arnold in Terminator and just started with the first "Mary Posa" they found. Too bad for that lady.

I'm surprised that Coco and Mary are actually getting along so well once Mary got the evil serum injection. I'd assumed Coco was just tired of Mary messing with what she saw as the proper operation of the gang. Not paying attention to briefings, not enjoying hurting people, just not buying in. But it seems like Coco really wanted someone to enjoy committing crimes with, and now she's got Mary, and she's excited. It would have been better if she could have found some common ground with Mary without resorting to mind-altering drugs, but hey, super-villain. This seems like the sort of arc that's going to cause a lot of ripples down the line, even if Mary's friends do find a way to undo the damage done to her.

They end issue 6 with Mary's beating of Consuelo, and the last page is a full-page splash of Mary standing over her beaten body saying, 'I hope you've learned your lesson.' There's nothing particularly remarkable about the page in itself, but as far as I can recall it's the first time Gudsnuk went with a splash page (she definitely didn't in the previous two issues, which are the only ones I have handy). So it's effective, with our perspective being the same as Consuelo's: on the ground looking up at someone who is indifferent to the pain they just caused, looking down their nose at us, moon backlighting Mary like a badass. It's completely different to how she's been presented up to then. Even when she's doing something cool with her super-strength, there's emphasis on the effort behind it, or it's played for jokes. Gudsnuk built up Mary's character through everything to this point meant the moment felt earned as a big dramatic shift, and so it felt like the right place to use a full-page splash. As opposed to a lot of those comics that throw them in as padding, or for generic "cool" scenes that don't really mean anything. Maybe that's not happening as much as it used to. I feel like it started to happen a lot in the late stages of Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern, double-page splashes of pointless fighting run amok. This isn't that, which is good.

What I Bought 3/29/2016 - Part 2

I actually had more books from publishers outside Marvel and DC than from either of those two in this last bunch. Not by a lot, we're talking 4 books to 3, but it's still atypical enough I noticed. Here we have two different books, both starring female leads who are going to have to make some decisions about their careers.

Wynonna Earp #2, by Beau Smith (writer), Lora Innes (artist), Jay Fotos (colorist), Robbie Robbins (letterer) - I feel as though Wynonna must lose whatever is on that string around her neck all the time. Just seems like it would break really easily during strenuous activity like fighting werewolves.

So Mars Del Rey has his illegal organ selling operation inside a milk processing plant, and he's planning to ship out a bunch of brains to all the top presidential candidates. Earp's boss, unsure of who inside the plant is actually a bad guy and who is just someone paying bills by working at a milk plant, tries to keep Wynonna from going guns blazing. But if that's the case, he ought to keep closer eyes on her, because she and this John Henry guy quickly steal a milk truck, drive in, and start a gunfight. Basically because Henry told her everyone in town is a "Chupacabra", meaning part of the demon cartel. Which kind of forces Xavier to send his guys in, which leads to casualties, and so even though Mars is captured, Wynonna still gets chewed out.

I was surprised Mars del Rey was captured so quickly. I had expected he'd be the main foe, but apparently he has a brother. So maybe Bobo will be the main antagonist. Either way, I don't mind the pace. there's a definite sense of forward movement to the book a lot of other things I've read could stand to have. It seemed a little convenient that everyone in the milk plant was a bad guy, but I guess Smith wanted to make the point that Wynonna needed the assurance there wouldn't be innocent bystanders before she went in. I'm just not convinced John Henry is trustworthy enough to act strictly on his say-so.

There are a couple of times I thought Smith tried for some clever wordplay, but he was reaching a bit. Mars' line that, 'It appears my gambling buddy has dumped Lady Luck and taken up with Lady Law. That choice will be his Dead Man's Hand,' was a bit much. I appreciate the effort - I'm always up for a good turn of phrase - but sometimes it just isn't there. More good than bad, though, and a few lines that made me laugh.

There are a few places where Innes' characters have some odd postures and positions. As the gunfight breaks out, Wynnona's on top of the truck blazing away. That's fine, no concerns there. But Henry is down on the loading dock, seemingly not having drawn his guns, and walking like he's doing this odd little strut. It's mostly with people walking that something feels off to me. Innes' facial expressions and body language are excellent. The scared, confused look on Fred's face when he reaches the top of the semi, and finds no Wynonna. Wynonna's calm manner leaning on the milk truck window to convince the guy at the gatehouse to let them in. Innes really seems to like having something going on with Henry's hat. Either he's tipping the brim, or someone else is messing with it, or he's holding onto it to keep it from blowing off. Which is good. My experience with wide-brim hats is they are prone to getting knocked off. Or maybe mine was just poorly fitted.

Henchgirl #5, by Kristen Gudsnuk - The x-axis for the line graph on the wall says "Mountain range". That's a cute touch.

Mary is growing increasingly dissatisfied with her life in the Butterfly Gang. Coco is getting increasingly sadistic, seemingly delighting in any opportunity to hurt people as a way to achieve objectives. The group is certain they have a mole who leaked the whole "rob the orphanage building fund" scheme, but fortunately Mary is smart enough not to give herself away. Not that I think she has much to worry about from this band of dopes. The same can't be said for Fred, aka Mannequin, who the gang found. In desperation he astral projected, but then they just shattered his body. So Mary tries her best to put the pieces back together, and with a lot of tape and super glue, it works.

We also learn her roommate has been honing her power to produce carrots. Now her carrots are alive. They have limbs, and faces, and can cry when people lose their shit at the sight of a tiny, smiling, waving carrot, because what the hell? I mean, I feel bad for the carrot, because it was trying to be friendly and Mary got a horrified look, then ran into her room to put someone's corpse back together with office supplies. But seriously, that's weird and terrifying. I don't want tiny carrots roaming my apartment, I don't care how helpful they are now. They'll watch some TV and end up like that A.I. Microsoft put online that turned into a fascist racist in like 5 minutes. Then where are you?

It's interesting that Gudsnuk draws more detailed faces for what I assume are one-off characters. The son of the guy who owns the pizza place, the random wealthy guy they rob, the old lady Coco was threatening to try and get into the vault. The recurring characters tend towards simpler designs, a lot fewer lines, and I don't know if Gudsnuk does that simply as a time-saving thing, or if there's a distinct point. Like these random characters aren't really part of this story or world, they've just briefly intersected with it, so they don't look like they fit. I was toying with the idea that they're meant to look more realistic, kind of that reminder that even if you're just doing to "fun" crime Mary wanted to do, you're hurting actual people. But I doubt that fits with the overall tone of the series. Probably just me projecting. Besides, when I see those characters, I'm mostly struck by how strange they look, compared to everyone else in that world.

I continue to enjoy the book immensely. It has that silly tone that makes the moments of genuine emotion work as a counterpoint.

What I Bought 2/12/2016 - Part 2

I did end up not buying two books of mine that came out in the prior three weeks. Illuminati #4 because I missed it being listed in last week's releases, and Deadpool #7, because it was 10 bucks. I appreciate it's a larger than normal issue, but that's kind of a steep order. I try to stay below six bucks on individual issues, new or old. Maybe it'll drop in a few weeks.

Descender #10, by Jeff Lemire (writer), Dustin Nguyen (illustrator), Steve Wands (letterer and designer) - I'm going to go ahead and judge by appearances and say those people don't seem friendly.

On the Machine Moon, the Hardwire are trying to be friendly to their new visitors, not that Telsa is making it easy. If UGC officer school had a diplomacy course, she flunked it. The Hardwire wants to hear more about TIM's dream, because they think it represents him having a connection to some server where the A.I.s of all the machines that have been destroyed are backed up. Quon insists it doesn't exist, but TIM is willing to be helpful. Elsewhere, Andy and his partners visit his ex-wife, who leads a group of cyborgs that live on a world hit the hardest by the Harvesters. We'll see if she chooses to be helpful or not. And the UGC has gotten concerned that TIM is somehow going to bring back those same Harvesters.

I'm not sure how to feel about Telsa. I don't particularly like her, but I'm not certain that's fair. It isn't just the gruff demeanor, it's that she doesn't show much common sense for someone who seems very aware of how vulnerable she is, surrounded by being she considers terrorists, who certainly don't want her going home and telling her bosses where they live. Does she try to play nice? No. When TIM asks her if he can go play with the other TIM, she gives him a gruff, "I'm not you mom, do what you want." Maybe you want to keep him liking you, since he's the only reason you aren't dead right now? For someone trying really hard to prove to her father she belongs, and to everyone else that she didn't achieve her rank because of her dad, she's doing a less-than-stellar job.

Interesting contrast in colors between worlds. The Machine Moon is almost all white, with just some faint pink hues in places (except for that sculpture garden, and I do wonder if Telsa's right to be suspicious of that). Sampson, the planet of the cyborgs, is all these heavy greys and blacks, with a few lighter shades, probably to represent a hazy dawn. It's almost the exact opposite. And then the UGC offices are all this light blue. I don't really know what the significance is of the differences. With the Machine Moon, to represent some sort of sterility in their thinking, or a lack of anything to hide or celebrate because their past is so brief. Could be for a general absence, or suppression of emotion. For Sampson, a ruined, patchwork world or horrors, with patchwork people trying to embrace their situation.

Nothing really new for me to report with this book. It's still pretty, but I'm still not sure whether I care about the characters enough to stay with it.

Henchgirl #4, Kirsten Gudsnuk - I was trying to figure that cover out, because it seemed different from the others, less funny and more of a pin-up. And then I noticed Mari's holding her friends security badge and it made more sense.

The Butterfly Gang steals some chemical with Coco claims will help them find the mole in their gang, though she's vague on the "how". Mari then lets it slip her roomie works at the lab in question, and is forced to steal her security badge to aid in the theft, Which leads to a lot of totally deserved yelling from Susan. Then the story shifts, as we learn Mari is actually the daughter of two superheroes, who have published a book about their career, and their other daughter, the really photogenic one who became a costumed crimefighter as well. Mary gets a little frustrated about being left out of the book entirely, and she and her friends end up at dinner with her family. Which has lots of tension and awkwardness, and then Tina lets it slip Mari's part of a criminal organization, and her mom kind of burns down the restaurant.

I hadn't expected that Mary's parents would have powers, let alone they'd both be well-known heroes. I had kind of assumed she got her powers by accident, which might explain her general lack of direction in doing much of anything with them. Although I could see how super-strength could be pain, since people would probably assume she was dumb, and just use her for her muscles. Like the Butterfly Gang. She really needs to just beat them up and take over. Make them do nice things, or else. Yeah, that sounds like a flawless plan.

Gudsnuk occasionally does these more realistic faces, or maybe more detailed is a better description, but she uses them to good effect. Mary's sad face when Susan was chewing her out, because it looks kind of awful, and crying shouldn't look pretty. Plus, she's trying to get her friend to let her off the hook, which Susan really shouldn't. Now the Gang knows Mari's friend works for Gaintech, what happens the next time they want to steal something from there? There was also that extreme close-up on her sister's teeth, which was kind of terrifying. Now I'm wondering if Photo-Girl is going to snap from the constant pressure of living up to her parents' public personas and expectations. Especially since Mary seems to have largely cut off contact entirely. Probably for the same reason.

What I Bought 12/30/2015 - Part 1

Reviews! I found most of what I was looking for from the last two weeks. Except Deadpool #4, but perhaps I'll find that in the next few days. Work with what we have in the meantime.

Henchgirl #2 and 3, by Kristen Gudsnuk - Some day, I will end up at a high-class masked ball, and be sorely disappointed there's no robbery by a gang of crooks who share a theme. I'll also be glad I didn't get robbed or killed, but the disappointment will linger, like the smell when a dog pees on the carpet and you don't get the scent remover on there.

Mary's attempt to distract the Butterfly Gang from robbing the fund for the construction of a new orphanage, by having them rob a masquerade ball for the city "elite", fails miserably when she is forced to work with the catering staff, while her boss and his pet henchmen get drunk and participate in some disturbing rites, judging by what was going on in the background of some of the panels. Mary does, however, get a real job working as staff at various catering gigs. Now she can pay taxes! She knows that will help to repair the lousy roads in her hometown (she probably doesn't know that). Since her conscience is bugging her, she agrees to hand over all the e-mails detailing her gang's plan to help rob that fund to Fred, who got her the catering job (and works at the bank she helped rob, and is a superhero with a power well-suited to uncovering secrets, but not great at stopping criminal acts in progress). The fact Fred is the whistleblower is almost immediately discovered, so Mary hides him at her apartment.

Then there's an alien invasion, which most of the cast just watches on TV, and the "ace reporter" character accidentally gets decapitated by the Superman stand-in who isn't watching where he's swinging a sign post? That was kind of out of left field. I get it's a send-up of superhero stuff, and so sure, play on either the idea of fridging female characters for angst, or how some of these non-powered characters can be so close to this stuff but always emerge unscathed, or whatever. But that was a little darker than most of the humor up to that point. We went from jokes about heroes doing endorsement spots while fighting evil, and visions of comically sad and judgmental orphans haunting Mary, to dead reporter lady and her beau trying to heat vision suture her head back onto her body while sobbing. Bit of a sharp turn there.

That abrupt tone shift aside, it's still enjoyable. I don't laugh out loud at it, but I smile quite a bit. Gudsnuk is very good at twisting expectations and with timing. The page where everyone in the apartment is discussing what to do if the invasion continues, leading to Mary clinching her fist and declaring everyone is freaking her out, with shade over her eyes, only to follow that up by announcing she's going out for snacks. Also the reactions to Tina's super-power, which is really disgusting and raises certain questions that are almost certainly better left unanswered.

Gudsnuk's art has a simplified style to it that works pretty well with the tone of things, but she occasionally goes more detailed, usually when the scene needs a little more emotional impact. It's like a shift from the sort of silly, cartoonish world the characters normally inhabit, to some a bit more realistic, I guess. Because even if the specific source of the turmoil is not the sort of thing most people might encounter, the end result is. Being conflicted because her job is awful, but she's still trying to do it properly, and someone sees that and offers comfort, that's something most people would be familiar with.

What I Bought 12/1/2015 - Part 2

Both of today's books were impulse buys of a sort. One because I didn't even know it was coming out until the weekend before, the other because the title just sounded interesting when I saw it in Previews.

Empowered Special #7, by Adam Warren (story and art) - Alright, ridiculously huge firearms!

There are two threads in this issue. In one, Emp keeps fighting these normally calmer villains, who are now toting around major ordinance and acting completely kill-happy over various slights. Emp had a similar encounter some time earlier and realizes the weaponry has been designed to take over the user's mind and unleash their pent-up hostility. The other thread is Emp talking about how she really doesn't mind that even though she's been the Big Damn Hero saving the world for a while now, the villains, her teammates, and the public at large all still treat her like she's just a screw-up who is constantly getting captured. As you might guess, she isn't really as OK with all that as she lets on, which nearly has disastrous consequences when one of the weapons attaches itself to her.

Originally, Empowered was a series of sketches someone commissioned from Warren for a heroine in a skintight outfit that got tied up a lot. The buyer didn't pay up, so Warren turned it into a series about a heroine everyone perceives as being that, but then explores who she is really. In the earlier issues, she tended to get sad and depressed when people who make fun of her, so it's interesting to see that produce a different emotion. And I like how Warren uses it, where we know Emp is right, she's a much better hero than anyone gives her credit for, because they only look at the surface. So we sympathize with her, and depending on how you're inclined, you might have even rooted for her to take out her frustration a bit. No? Just me? Fine, whatever. But as it turns out, she's in control of things. Even if the disrespect bugs her, she's made a certain amount of peace with it, and doesn't let it ruin her life.

Warren's work is pretty much how I remember it from the last one of these I bought. He really makes the black-and-white work for him, especially when it comes to explosions. He draws excellent unfeasibly large weapons, too. I like the touch that the large ones appear to have maneuvering jets, or little turboprops to help the user keep them level. Not everybody can be Cable, thank goodness.

Henchgirl #1, by Kristen Gudsnuk - I couldn't find a credits page anywhere, so I'm going with what was on the front cover. I could probably check its website, since it's an online comic, but I'm lazy. Anyway, as long as she doesn't let them look inside the bag of mon - er, laundry, she'll be fine. There's not even a dollar sign on it, so they may not even ask.

Mary's a henchgirl in the Butterfly Gang, but isn't totally committed to it. She likes the money, seems to like acting cool at weapons buys. But she's pretty excited when her roommate gets her an interview for a job waiting tables at a family restaurant (which is one of the levels of my personal hell). She's not the only one in the gang, and the boss has a favorite assistant, who's kind of a suck-up, that Mary has to contend with. Mary did think she'd succeeded in diverting them from Coco's plan to rob an orphanage of renovation funds, by suggesting they rob a notable billionaire during his costume party, but instead they're going to do both.

I'm guessing Mary's going to try and figure out how to rob the rich guy, and thwart Coco's plan. Although the plan involves blocking the construction efforts, which is going to take place over weeks, so that might not work. Unless she can use her share of the cash from the robbery.

I liked it. It's charming, probably because the villainy is sort of old school. Not a lot of casualties or revenge plots. Instead we get themed gangs that pull heists and weird science monsters like a living road. There's a fair amount of humor from Mary's sort of awkward placement in society, where she's a villain, and she knows it's bad, and kind of hates it, but needs the money. Or maybe it's just being a henchperson and getting blown up for other people's schemes that bothers her.

I think the thing I laughed at hardest was when she went back to the bank they robbed at the start of the issue to deposit her share, and when the teller mentions they were robbed, she gives this incredibly fake, "Oh, that's terrible!" The combination of how Gudsnuk letters the "terrible" (all in caps, bold, slightly curved inside the speech balloon), combined with the pose she gives Mary, with one hand to her cheek in mock surprise, tickled me. Also, it contrasts nicely with how innocent she looks as she approaches the tell we, and how happy she is as she departs. There's a lot of good work with expressions on display. I've been trying to think of who Gudsnuk's art reminds me of, and I keep coming back to Faith Erin Hicks, but that doesn't seem right. Gudsnuk's is more rounded, her characters look, the word "squishier" comes to mind. Either way, it works for me, so we'll see when the second issue gets released.