Random Back Issues #140 - Step by Bloody Step #2

Why does this happen wherever I go with my fiercely protective armored giant?

The giant and the girl continue their journey, though tensions are continuing to run high, since the girl still doesn't know where they're going or why. The giant forbids her from visiting a village in the distance, so she scales a bluff at the first opportunity, only to find the village of greenish, goblin-like people being annihilated by enormous black airships. By the time the giant catches up, one of the ships targets them, and she slips from the giant's grasp, only saving her self by catching a thorny vine.

Pricked by the thorns, her blood prompts a burst of plant growth, lifting her high enough the giant can grab her and haul ass into a forest, all of which is observed by men in a smaller airship, who have taken hostage a farmer who tried to befriend the girl last issue.

Eventually, the pair reach a beach. While the girl alternately splashes in the waves and sulks in the shadows, the giant kills more potential threats and builds a big raft to cross the ocean. The girl does, while carving a scowly picture of herself on a tree, find several more carving nearby. Mystery!

Unfortunately, being extremely single-minded and direct makes their course easy to predict, so at the far shore waits a group of armed men. One shot wounds the girl, and when her blood hits the water, the giant goes berserk. Too bad the ones in his path are more of the green people, noticeably shackled around the ankles. They're slaughtered, to the horror of both the girl and the farmer, but to the glee of the soldiers, one of whom takes aim at the girl. The farmer shoves him, spoiling the shot - no doubt saving all their asses from that pissed off giant - and they withdraw.

The girl sees something in the sea and tries to push the raft there, but the ocean itself rises to bar her path, much like the desert did at one point last issue. The giant insists they keep going forward, and the girl's resentment only grows. Meanwhile, the farmer's been hauled before the prince? general? that's been tracking the pair, and gets an ultimatum: Help us out, or see what we do to your wife and kid.

Well, when you put it that way. . .

{10th longbox, 209th comic. Step by Bloody Step #2, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Mattheus Lopes (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer)}

Saturday Splash Page #121

 

"A Winter Murderland", in Step by Bloody Step #1, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist)

A 4-issue mini-series from 2022 about an armored giant who guides a young girl on a circuit of the world. It's a silent mini-series, because while there are sporadic dialogue balloons, they're filled with pictographs, and there's no translation. Bergara's art is expressive and clear enough that the reader can grasp the notion of what's going on.

The silence also keeps the page free for Bergara's beautifully detailed landscapes. The variety sells just how far the duo are traveling. Sometimes we see a gradual transition, the snowy forest thinning into a vast plain. At others, they reach a cliff and things have simply changed. The plain overlooks a wide stretch of narrow pools and swamps, or they've reached the ocean.

With no dialogue or expository captions, the only sense of how long all this takes is via the changes we see in the girl's appearance. From a scrawny, awkward child to a sullen teenager, to a determined, clever young woman. The giant is silent and stern, always pushing her forward, but not unfeeling. It won't let her go back, not one step, but it will go back and pluck a flower for her.

But with no explanation for why any of this is happening, we see distance grow between the two. At the same time, other powers have become aware of the giant with incredible destructive power and the young girl with blood that promotes incredible plant growth it escorts. There is a war of some sort going on, the clean human-looking types spending at least some of their time in vast airship city-castles, while the green, goblin or orc creatures live on the ground below. The precise causes or motives are unclear, beyond the airship-dwellers are quite content to use others to destroy their enemies.

Lopes' colors are more subdued than what Bergara used for his work on Coda. Still rich and varied, but no searingly bright neon bursts of magic or force. While there is certainly something magic about the girl and the giant, this is otherwise not a world of that sort of thing. The people here aren't scrabbling for the last shreds of a once-commonplace power.

The threats the giant defends the girl from are often simply animals that are hungry and see easy prey, illustrated in a wide variety by Bergara. Were-creatures, flame spitting mollusks, giant bugs. Or it's the cold, the rain, the danger of crossing the ocean. The general/prince that attempts to use the girl may recognize there is power there, but his motives are more simple and base. If he didn't have the girl, he would just use guns and the lives of those he can command or coerce.

What I Bought 1/31/2024

I've been trying to rewatch the DVD in my movie collection. I tried last year, but sputtered out fairly early. I'm not that far along yet - the last one I watched was Crank - but I've been sticking to it. Progress!

Coda #5, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Patricio Delpeche (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Yes, Hum, cling to that leg. For. . .protection.

Hum and Serka seem to have resigned themselves to the presence of Mildew and his sucker brigade, until the gnomads show up with their army, ready to wipe these "deluded fanatics" away. Hum makes a final appeal to Mildew, and Serka does likewise with the gnomads. Neither works. Even with Hum showing the truth about the false moon, and Serka pointing out Mildew's followers aren't going to try and fight, neither side is swayed.

Spurrier and Bergara lay those scenes out on facing pages, Hum on one side, Serka on the other, with the panels borders along the spine getting increasingly tattered and distant as no progress is made. The religious take Hum's arguments as tests meant to sway the, and the gnomad believes you "save" people whether they want to be or not.

This is the point where, if this was FallOut, I'd leave both sides to their slaughter and go do something else. Or kill both sides myself and then go do something else. Hum and Serka consider sitting it out, but they can't quite reconcile themselves to not trying to make the world a little better by doing something.

So they pull the old switcheroo. Serka knows about following a charismatic leader who promises the world but offers only death and ruin. So she knows how to short-circuit it. And Hum knows about being sneaky, about playing to win, even if it means playing dirty. I still feel like having his unicorn storm the gonamd's camp and trash everything is triumph through force of arm, but I guess the key is, he took the tools that made killing easy away from them, but left them alive. If they want to establish order through strength, they'd have to do it the old-fashioned way.

Of course, it's not a clean resolution. Doesn't work like that in their world, or ours, which is the rough point Spurrier's trying to make. Always be people looking for someone to promise them an escape, or looking for someone to push against and wrest control from. Do the best you can while keeping hope alive, something like that.

What I Bought 12/27/2023

Well, I hoped to have more than one of the three books from this week for today, but no luck. I should have some more of the last holdouts from this month by Monday, but we'll have to see if I make it back from traveling to another gig with Alex this evening.

Coda #4, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Patricio Delpeche (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Hum looks like he needs some coffee.

This issue is related to us, via Serka telling it to the Lunar Magus, upon whose prophecies Mildew is basing everything he's used to build his cult. So it details how Serka and Hum went searching for the Magus, who of course has three different hideaways. Serka is rather excited for the adventure, the monster fighting, puzzles to decipher and traps to avoid.

Hum is busy insisting they aren't on a quest and wondering why Serka's intent on doing this. Each of them is wondering about both Mildew (preparing some big show for his starving fanatics) and the Gnomads (gaining forces on their march to kill Mildew and his bunch.) Shown via glimpses through some crystal ball thing they brought to find the Magus. 

But really, it comes down to the child. Or children. Each of them wants this to time to be the time that works, and each wants a better world for their child (or children.) Hum thinks the way to that is forgetting all the magic and prophecies and just focusing on living and working. Though he doesn't turn away from the trip, doesn't try to talk Serka out of it. Serka doesn't want there to be another Whitlord, the dark kings that sold her people on a great reward in another world if they helped destroy this one.

There's a couple of lovely double-pages with small panels on either side of them couple talking. There's always a panel on the left side that shows one of their faces and just beside it, part of a larger image, in a faded colors of memory, is the same character as they were before. Serka as a crazed warrior in obsidian armor, spurred on by her Whitlord. Hum, an uncertain bard in the shadow of his king as said king proclaims they'll all fight to the death. Neither of them wants any more of that.

And I think Serka also hoped this would make certain the child (or children) survived birth. I don't know if she hoped the Lunar Magus had the skills to help a half-urken, half-human child survive, or if it was a belief that the quest itself would somehow carry the day. She mentions thinking this would make each of them their best selves, so maybe she thought that would help.

It didn't, so all that's left is to go home and watch another cycle of bloodshed gear up.

What I Bought 11/15/2023

I thought I found both of the new comics from this week I wanted, but upon a second glance, it was last month's issue of Fantastic Four. Oh well, leaves us with a Si Spurrier double feature.

Uncanny Spider-Man #3, by Si Spurrier (writer), Javier Pina (artist), Matt Milla (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I ended up with the variant with the Vulture on it, and he looks really blurry. Is it supposed to be 3-D?

Nimrod and Vulture discuss recent attempts to deal with the "Creepy Crawler", as he keeps interfering in their plans. Nimrod's also not pleased Toomes hired Silver Sable, who refuses to leave until the job is done, under the cover of "professional ethics." Which don't preclude her canoodling with Nightcrawler in her off time.

Spurrier and Pina spend 5 pages on Kurt and Sable talking on a rooftop, with basically all the panels focused on them from the shoulders up, because they're both naked. Then another page on the lyrics to a Lila Cheney song Sable apparently really likes. If it's so critical the comic end next month that they're double-shipping this month, maybe cut some of the filler and make it a tight 4 issues, instead of a bloated five.

Kurt abruptly leaves to try and talk to his mother again, only to get attacked by Feral, Cloak, and Dagger, turned into Hounds by Toomes experimenting with the techno-organic virus. Did Dagger get caught in some other comic, because she was just fine last issue. But I guess this is why she couldn't find Cloak last issue, so assume he got caught sometime between issues 1 and 2, and her between 2 and 3.

Kurt cuts his way out of Cloak with his weird glowy "hopesword", and then Mystique shoots Cloak in the head. They show the large exit hole, naturally. It only slows him down, though one can't help but wonder what happens once the techno-organic virus isn't around the heal him up. Not like Mystique would give a shit either way, even if her brain wasn't a mess right now. Kurt's still arguing with the little ghost Bamf, what ever it is, and Mystique pulls a fade again.

Milla's colors maintain the feel of the book with the shift from Garbett to Pina. The Hound designs are pretty blah, nothing really remarkable or memorable about them. Some bright yellow-white bits, the old "yellow network of lines against black backdrop" from Warlock in places. I'm sure ORCHIS doesn't want the Hounds to be individualized - they're weapons - but it's still not visually interesting.

Coda #3, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Patricio Delpeche (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Lo, and I tell you, fear not the big marble being eaten by the big snake, for it, like a mouse's skeleton, shall pass.

Hum is trying very hard to stay out of what the preacher, formerly Mildew the Breaker, is doing. This new prophecy, which involves rewriting the end of the old world for a bunch of suckers. And a miracle, of course, or the appearance of one, which the mad illusionist is capable of creating. 

Hum is trying to focus on names for the possible approaching baby, without alerting Serka to that fact. For her part, Serka is aware the gnomad is going to use his new weapon to kill the preacher. Which could solve their problem of all these people trampling their garden, or make it much worse. They choose to get involved, though Spurrier and Bergara ignore the crowds outside for the entire discussion. It's just Hum and Serka and the pieces of their life. Hum fussing over her, Serka slowly armoring up. Glimpses of their respective steeds. It's ultimately about them as a couple, deciding what to do.

The miracle does not occur, nor does Mildew die. It doesn't matter. People believe what they want to believe, the only apparent deterrent is to kill them, and neither of the leads are up to that. Though they both lie to the other about how things went, Bergara contrasting what they say in solid panels with the typical color scheme, against panels with no borders done in basic shades of yellow for the truth. 

I mean, at least kill Mildew. Fine, he's a martyr then. But he doesn't benefit. Because he's dead. See if the threat of it's enough to make him change his tune, since this is all just a ploy anyway. Instead, Serka's got a notion to go on an extended vacation to seek a solution to the problem.

What I bought 10/20/2023

If only one of last week's books was going to be available at the local shop, Coda is a better outcome than Moon Knight, but still, it's getting a little frustrating how often even the Marvel stuff I want to buy isn't there. I guess I'm still not good at picking the titles that really sell.

Coda #2, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Patricio Delpeche (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Wonder if it gets annoying to have so many people bumping into your knees?

Hum finds that he and the would-be savior child are to be exiled. Just because the town's called Gorepit, doesn't mean they're monsters. Oh, but they're going to kill Nag, because unicorns are symbols of the old ways, and that's no good in this new world of cold rationality. The child dies protecting Nag, and Nag obliterates the soldiers, in a very effective sequence by Bergara. I'm not sure they really needed the follow-up panel of the carnage on the next page.

With nothing else to do, Hum and Nag return to the farm, only to have the false savior's hype-man show up (with most of Gorepit's population), promising a great miracle will arise from the crimson lake where Hum and Serka live. Serka had been traveling with the little gnomes to the dark hold those bandits they killed hailed from, only to find out it's Gorepit and the bandits were customs officers. Well, one person's tithe is another's person's extortion, whatcha gonna do?

So now it's the cultists on one side, luring in people looking for the false beauty of their rose-tinted memories of the past, and the little gnomes with their science on the other, prepared to kill the cultists, on the other. Serka and Hum are caught in the middle. And it appears Serka's pregnant, but this isn't the first time, and it's not ever ended well.

Bergara and Delpeche color Gorepit in more muted colors. Slate greys, and even the red armor is kind of dull. Doesn't shine. Once the hype-man and his bullshit show up at Hum's farm, the colors shift more heavily to light pastels. Bright and sort of unearthly. Could be a signal of a return to time of magic, or that this is all a dog-and-pony show. An illusion that's appealing because it looks so much nicer than the reality of life where, as Hum puts it, anyone who doesn't focus on the harvest is buggered.

What I Bought 9/13/2023 - Part 1

Been a long week as the only one in the office. One person on vacation, the other two away on trainings. So all the calls from the public came to me. Yay. Oh well, the shoe'll be on the other foot next week, that's for sure!

Coda #1, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Michael Doig (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - What happened to the Nag's wings. It was flying, last we saw it.

Set some years on from the first mini-series, Hum and Serka have found a solid routine. Serka rages in the Everstorm as necessary, and roams the land helping others. Hum pretty much tends their land, fishes, and tries determinedly to not be caught up in any sagas. Bergara cleans him up a bit - I stress "a bit" - but he's still recognizably the grouchy former bard he was before. Serka seems bulkier than before, hair a bit wilder, but again, recognizable. Bergara doesn't exaggerate expression quite as much as he did in the first mini-series, but he can get goofy when he needs to.

Mostly with the little spriggan/fairy things proclaiming the savior is nigh. Because there's another chosen one about, and the kid's followers/retinue/manager swiped Nag as a piece of the pageantry. Hum attempts to recover Nag when the kid is presented at a nearby industrial town, and promptly gets arrested by the locals along with the kid (who does have some strange hold over Nag that makes it behave.)

Serka, meanwhile, encounters the wonders of "natural philosophy" while trying to protect a group of tradesmen from bandits. The gnomads she works with have developed guns, or something similar. They wear the contraption on their head like a plague doctor mask, but it shoots projectiles out the snout. I feel like it's not a coincidence the smoke that wafts from the barrel is the same shade as the stuff the industrial town is smelting (which Hum describes as "iron pus," as delightful image.)

Spurrier narrates the issue via a letter Hum is writing to "Little Gap", which I'm assuming is a child they're expecting. Or maybe a child that died young or in childbirth. Hum seems determined to leave all the questing and whatnot behind in the "old world." It's all garbage, he refuses to believe any of it or want any part of it. His mistake would be in assuming Serka feels the same, because she seems tempted, or at least interested, in the gnomads weapons. Not sure why; maybe she's grown tired of having to kill people up close, but doesn't want to abandon protecting others.

Either way, I expect their paths will cross at some point before all this is done. Hum's caught up in what feels like a story trying to regress things, and Serka's meeting the future, or at least newer ways of doing the same old thing.

Werewolf by Night #1, by Derek Landy (writer), Fran Galan (artist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - My comic guy opined Elsa's shoulder was really going to hurt when she fires that shotgun. I imagine that's part of the fun for her, along with monster skulls exploding.

Separately, Jack Russell and Elsa Bloodstone arrive at a castle a guy had moved stone by stone from the Bavarian Alps to the Rockies. What, a McMansion wasn't good enough for his human sacrifices and whatnot? Both of them there because this guy, Doctor Nekromantik, abducted a girl from a town nearby. Yet far enough away Elsa found the best approach to be hitching a ride on a private plane owned by vampires, killing the vamps, and jumping out when the plane's over the castle.

I've seen stuff on Tumblr that suggested Europeans didn't grasp how big the U.S. can be, but that's a bit much.

Anyway, while Elsa's prediction the doc will wait until midnight for his big play is correct, she's wrong about what the big play is. He's going to unleash a bunch of monsters from some place called the Suffering Wastes on Earth, in exchange for the secrets of the universe. Or so he says. His plan to betray the creature is somewhat complicated by Elsa and Jack successfully convincing the creature Nekromantik plans to betray it for an entirely different reason. Which is kind of funny, and not a bad twist, actually. I liked that.

End of the day, the problem is mostly successfully resolved, but Elsa's horrified to learn Jack's rocking long hair and a longer beard when he's human. Landy's Elsa is less hard-boiled than the version that's been around since NextWave. It's the same character, but almost like a younger version. The arrogance is more of an act, she's trying for one-liners to sound cool. Just in general, this version feels like she's having to try to act the way she's been written over the last two decades, rather than it being who she is. Which is fine, it probably makes her less abrasive, a little easier to interact with Jack if she's not constantly insulting him about his fur or smell (although she comments on that) or his being a stupid American or whatnot.

Galan takes the approach of coloring most of the comic in blacks and greys, minus some red eyes for shadow monsters. The exception is Elsa, who is always colored in her standard orange jumpsuit and hair. The scenes on the plane are all in color, and the morning after, when it's her and Jack in his human form are, too. Once he transforms again, he goes back to the greyshaded look. So I guess Elsa's in color because she's still human, or occupies the daytime world, while werewolf Jack, Nekromantik, and whatnot don't. Though that wouldn't explain coloring in the vampires on the plane.

What I Bought 7/8/2022 - Part 3

Lately, it seems like every week I get to Thursday and feel the week should be over. But there's always Friday to get through. That's probably not good. Today we have two fourth issues. One is the conclusion to a mini-series, the other is an ongoing series that is way behind schedule.

She-Hulk #4, by Rainbow Rowell (writer), Luca Maresca (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Ben looks like he's taking this more seriously than Jen.

We get a little glimpse of Jen's fight club thing with Titania until the Thing shows up, still seeking legal advice on the ticket for not having Lockjaw on a leash. We'll see if we get any more scenes with the fight club before the book ends. 

Ben's also sent a few friends Jen's way as clients, which is a problem since her boss wants no superhuman clients. So she'll see them on the sly. She talks with Reed Richards long enough to confirm being around Jack of Hearts hasn't messed with her gamma levels (without mentioning Jack's alive again.) After that, she and Jack get back to trying to piece together what happened to him. Jack at least remembers one thing from his escape that leads them a different part of New York. Then they drink bubble tea and discuss power, lack thereof, having two faces, until someone with heavy footsteps shows up looking for Jack.

So, a lot of talking, but not much plot advancement. That seems like a familiar comment. Rowell seems to be trying to help the audience care about Jack by emphasizing the contrast between he and Jen. Becoming She-Hulk ultimately hasn't disrupted Jen's life too terribly, at least from her perspective. She likes the power, the confidence. Maresca doesn't draw Jen in her un-Hulked form as a diminutive, shy person, but she does draw her clothes as loose enough that you can see Jen dresses to be ready to shift if needed. It's something Jen's used to and has learned to plan for. 

Jack had a relatively normal life, apparently studying poetry in college, and his powers wrecked all that. He spent, as he puts it, his 20s flying through space because he was afraid of vaporizing his friends. For him, the novelty of his powers wore off long ago. They've left him isolated, with almost no one he feels can trust or call friend. The opportunity to leave that behind is tempting, even if he's smart enough to know someone siphoning off his power is dangerous. The t-shirt with the big heart looks silly on him, but Jack isn't uncomfortable wearing it.

Maresca's artwork is similar enough to Antonio's there's no real whiplash. Maresca's line is maybe a bit rougher, there's more of sketch quality to it, but I'm also wondering if Maresca was a replacement artist and this was on a rush schedule. Renzi's color work helps maintain a consistent feel, too. I especially like the bleakly grey color scheme for the law office. It's almost like one of those cartoons where the technicolor character finds themselves in an older, black-and-white cartoon world. All these super-characters in what's supposed to be a serious legal profession.

Step by Bloody Step #4, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Matheus Lopes (color artist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Ended up with the variant cover because the place I bought from didn't have the Bergara cover.

The giant is destroyed save for one gauntlet. The girl, however, can't get to him. That would be a step backward, and the world won't allow it. The father they befriended in issue 1 brings that gauntlet to her, and she continues on the path, finally reaching a tree growing from what's left of some column. Just like where the story started. There's a circular disc with instructions, but the lock is broken. She has to go back, but she can't, or can she?

Well, not alone, but the gauntlet can cleave through the force in her way, and also sends her back in time? Was not expecting that. So she walks until she's back to the fortress, to before the battle, when she was about to accept the champagne, and recombines with her earlier self. Instead of having a fun time at the party, she drags the prince off to the garden and uses a bit of her blood to get the plant growing and pulls a Poison Ivy on him. Then she saves the kid used as a decoy to lure out the giant, and then the giant saves them both and lets the goblins or whatever breach the walls of the fortress, take everything, and send the people within out naked into the wilderness.

After that, and a farewell to the family, all that's left is to finish the journey. Back to the tree, this time with the giant intact. Turn the lock, and the roles are reversed. The giant becomes the infant, the girl becomes the giant. Which someone causes the tree to bloom for a brief moment before the petals disperse. And the giant walks away, carrying the baby.

So there are things I don't entirely understand. Why they do this, what the purpose of the tree is. But I wonder if either the giant or the child know either, only that they have to do it. Presumably this has been going on for a while, not the girl's first time as the one being guided, but she didn't show any signs of remembering or understanding. So it stands to reason all the giant knew was that the girl had been the giant once, been protector on this journey, and then the roles reversed. So it isn't likely they could really explain it to us, either, even if Spurrier was doing expository dialogue here.

I like the layout where the girl springs her trap on the prince. Four tall, narrow panels descending across the page, focused on her, but panning slowly so that while the prince is focused on her in panel 3, he's missing that she's let her blood contact the plants in panel 4. Then the bottom of the page is a shot of a couple of rockets or flares signaling the battle's beginning, but we can just see leaves starting to break through the glass of the greenhouse. It's a nice bit for how things are happening relative to each other.

That and all the panels of her pushing her way back to the giant. All those short widescreen panels, done where it looks like the force is trying to tear her apart. Like she's walking into a firestorm.

What I Bought 4/30/2022 - Part 1

Turns out part of the reason some stuff hasn't been shipping when it was supposed to is possibly due to paper shortages. Huh, that's not ominous or anything. But I do have the four comics from April I was still looking for. They even split into neat pairs. Two written by Si Spurrier, which is where we'll start.

Step by Bloody Step #3, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist), Jim Campbell (glyphologist) - I assume the little triangles are like one of those wreaths Roman emperors wear, but it still looks stupid.

The relationship between the girl and the giant continues to deteriorate. The girl is entranced by the people she sees, and the giant seems to be growing either despondent or frustrated as she shoves it away. Which is when that princey guy on the cover sends the father of the family that tried to befriend the girl to lure her into a fancy party. The giant's given its own room, but isn't around as the girl tries all sorts of food and drink, then gets wooed by the prince and, eesh, I don't know how old he is (or her for that matte) but it sure looks like there's a troubling age disparity there.

Meanwhile, there's an army of the goblin/zombie looking types preparing a siege. The prince has the daughter of that guy that lured the girl in dressed up like the girl, and sends her out alone at the army. She dies, the giant draws a false conclusion and it kills a lot of people. When i say "a lot", I mean like hills of bodies. Then when it figures out it was duped and turns back on the prince's forces, it gets obliterated. Well, crap.

Bergara likes to use these layouts with one large panel to establish setting or some thing important, and then smaller reaction panels around it. When the prince guy shows up in some flying golden boat, that's get most of the page space as everyone watches it descend. There's one small panel in the corner showing the father with a big forced smile and some retainer's bland face behind him, and below that, another panel showing the retainer is jamming a knife against the father's back. The pages showing all the fancy clothes and food of the big party, interspersed with close-ups of the child eating or drinking, enchanted by the whole thing.

There's one especially nice sequence, right after the child takes a sip of something where we the giant wide-eyed, then something cracks at the base of the tree where the story began. The final panel is a hand between us and the child. So often that's been the giant keeping her away from people, but this time, it's the prince reaching towards her, asking to dance. All the things the giant's been trying to keep her from (for some reason) are finally available to her, and it seems like it's a bad thing. Unless Spurrier and Bergara are just messing with my preconceived notions. We don't know what the end goal for the child is. Maybe this is better for her. Hard for me to buy that this prince guy isn't an imperialist piece of shit, though.

The Rush #5, by Si Spurrier (writer), Nathan Gooden (artist), Addison Duke (colorist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letterer) - Sir, you might want to look behind you. Or maybe not. Might prefer not to see it coming.

Nettie shoots the "elk" (that's what they call it, and I guess the antlers are right, but the face looks like a moose to me) and kills it, which seems to surprise the hell out of both the Pale and the Carrion Kid. There's even a panel of the two of them pausing from their fight to just stare. The elk turns out to be a man, and what's more, the peculiar nature of Brokehoof seems broken. People are scratching gold out from beneath their skin, the Pale isn't killing the new prospectors, people are no more ga-ga over gold than they normally are.

Nettie, meanwhile, meets with Inspector LaPointe, who explains the identity of both the man who was an elk, and the man who became the Pale. Or, he explains a version of it, right before he reveals he's been the one profiting from selling Caleb's stake, over and over again. The good inspector wasn't affected by the gold fever, because he found a better way to profit from it. He's ready to get rid of Nettie as well, though he tries to dress it up as justice because of something she confesses from before she came here, but none of us are buying that. He may have underestimated how well he's got the system with the supernatural out there figured, though.

Nettie's sharp turn towards LaPointe makes me wonder if the ritual he describes seeing in the flashback wasn't about to recur, before the conversation took a turn. It certainly seemed like there was some godless rutting about to happen, and Otsmane-Elhaou was using wavy lines to connect the speech bubbles to the speaker, the way he typically has when someone sees to be falling under the particular spell of this place. Although maybe not, he uses them when Nettie is terribly confused and horrified by what's going on as well.

I don't understand exactly why the first ritual took place; maybe something in the land itself sensing an opportunity. A niche that was available for a predator. That might explain the Pale hanging up victims in a cabin to let their blood feed those pitcher plants. I guess we'll see what the final issue brings on this one, too.

What I Bought 4/4/2022 - Part 1

Alex and I did go the that comic convention on Saturday. Neither of us bought anything; me because I didn't see any of the comics I was looking for, Alex because he forgot to bring more than 4 bucks. But it seemed like a nice enough little convention, so maybe we'll try the larger one they have in the fall.

In other news, I am caught up on new comics for the year! Except for the ones that came out today. Gonna start with a pair of second issues.

Iron Fist #2, by Alyssa Wong (writer), Michael Yg (penciler/inker), Sean Chen (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Jay David Ramos (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Is that demon in the foreground encouraging use to stare at the new kid's crotch? Creepy.

Lin Lie is still running around Earth killing demons and collecting shards of the sword of his. He's also still struggling to control the Iron Fist, which has some of the natives of K'un-Lun feeling less than kind towards what they see as usurper. Lie's gets a pep talk from his friend Min and the new Thunderer (that's the part of the issue Sean Chen draws). It boils down to not being too hung up on being Iron Fist the way it's always been, and instead focusing on how to actually be good at it. Unfortunately, Lie's brother appears ready to release Chiyou, the Dark Destroyer, so Lie's going to need a better training montage.

I'm still confused as to why they don't remove the sword shards from Lie's hands if they are not only causing intense pain, but messing up his chi flow and thereby making it harder for him to use the Iron Fist. I guess because they react to the presence of other pieces, so that helps him find them, but couldn't he just carry them in a pouch?

I assume Wong's going to reveal it wasn't a fluke that the chi of Shou-Lao wound up in Lie. The first page of this issue shows some past Iron Fist fighting the dragon, which narration boxes talking about having to face fear and transcend it. So that's probably what Lie has to do. He feels he failed by letting the sword be broken, and that he's not cut out to be Iron Fist, either. He doesn't really defend himself from the accusations he's not fit to be Iron Fist, and I get the feeling it's because he's afraid he might fail miserably if he tried. Let his mouth write a check his skills can't cash.

I don't know if there was a particular reason Chen drew the pages he did, or if it just worked out that way to get the issue out on time. He and Michael Yg's art are close enough (possibly helped by Olazaba's inks softening Chen's work a little, the characters don't all look like you could cut a roast on their jawlines), there isn't a jarring shift. Yg adds a little more detail to hair, though. Lie's evil brother definitely has a bit of that bad boy manga heartthrob look.

Step by Bloody Step #2, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Matheus Lopes (color artist), Jim Campbell (glyphologist) - At least the giant taught to her to run from unmarked flying battleships.

The giant and the child continue their journey. The child grows increasingly resentful of the giant dictating their path. There's more going on than just the two of them, though. There seems to be a war between at least two peoples, or maybe an invasion by a group that look like basically white humans, of a group of people that are shaped similarly, but their skin is green and the eyes have no pupils. Not sure if they're like elves or zombies or what. The invaders seem to have an idea where the giant's going, and start taking steps to intercept it. As of the end of this issue, they haven't succeeded - yet.

So it's pretty clear this is some cyclical thing. Before they cross the sea, the child carves a picture of herself frowning in a tree, but notices other carvings in nearby trees. Possibly each child eventually becomes the giant who then retrieves and ferries the next child to wherever they're going. To what purpose, I don't know. The child's blood sparks growth of plant life. Does it sustain people the robed invaders are trying to subjugate, or do they just want that for themselves? But her blood landing in the ocean also sparked a berserker fury in the giant. Something exclusive to it, or the sort of thing it can prompt in any person?

Has the giant explained any of this? My guess is no. I'm not sure the giant can speak at all, or that it would tell her anything if it could. The girl is becoming more accustomed to being herded, but not any happier about it. She looks back with dull eyes when he keeps her in the shadows at the end of the issue. Of course he won't let her meet anyone else. In the first issue, the child tended to hang back and watch the giant fight with an awed or curious expression. In this issue, Bergara draws her more often glaring at the giant, or sitting to one side staring sullenly at something else. That something else may become the woman in the carriage she saw at the very end.

There's fewer scenes of the two of them just traveling peacefully, but they're still here. There's a two page splash that is just an ocean at night, with a couple of rocks rising from the water, and a trail of white showing the passing of the giant and the child. But as they're being actively hunted, I suspect those moments will grow sparse in the second half of this series.

What I Bought 2/28/2022 - Part 1

I noticed someone in the comment section for some of Jay and Miles X-plain the X-Men's recent posts that seems really irate that they won't give Scott Lodbell's writing in the Onslaught era enough credit. What a strange hill to choose to die on. The Internet, everyone. Anyway, here's a couple first issues.

Step by Bloody Step #1, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist) - Somebody forgot to check their giant armor suit for parasites.

An armored giant collects a child from a tree growing upon a stone dais, pillar, something. The two travel across many lands, the giant protecting the child from a lot of different hostile creatures. But the giant won't let the child near any people, on the rare occasion they meet others. Sometimes, when the child tries to approach something, the land itself acts to keep her away. And there are a couple of grumpy blue guys with a giant cyborg vulture that are very interested in the child. Or at least the kid's blood, which spurs tremendous plant growth.

I wasn't sure how this would work, being a silent comic. There actually are a few voice balloons, from the farmers they briefly meet, and the blue guys. But the voice balloons have a sort of pictograph writing, so we have to infer what they're saying anyway. It works pretty well, at least so far. We know there's something weird about the kid, and about the giant. We know the giant seems mostly interested in protecting the child, but will indulge her occasionally.

What it really reminds me of is an episode of Samurai Jack. Not one in particular, but that show would have these long stretches of Jack simply traveling through these beautiful or strange landscapes, until he ran into something he'd have to fight. That's kind of what this is. The giant and the child travel across all these different landscapes, and Bergara uses broad panels to show their travels, or the giant watching the child play or explore. Then we get broad panels of the giant fighting some creature while the child watches from a distance. The lack of dialogue helps there, too, since Samurai Jack would usually be silent during those stretches.

There's the occasional splash page to let Bergara and Lopes show off, sometimes intermixing the violence and the beauty of the setting, sometimes just one or the other. Bergara gets more creative with the creature and landscapes than he did in Coda, making it more of alien landscape. Lopes colors are not as vivid and bright as Bergara used in Coda, but they still contribute to the strange beauty of the setting. Plus, I think they fit a story which is, so far, a bit gentler. This world doesn't seem in be in the aftermath of a cataclysm, where everyone is just scrabbling to survive. There's danger, but day-to-day life isn't as hard.

Distorted #1, by Salvatore Vivenzio (writer), Gabriele Falzone (artist), Francesco Canneva (color assistant) - Aw man, come on, don't damage our nation's crumbling infrastructure!

There are people in this fictional world with powers, and people looking for those people. Some of them work for the government, and some lady sends a guy with mind powers -telepathy, but I'm not ruling out mind control - named Tom out to find and investigate (which may mean "abduct") as many as possible. There's another guy with teleportation powers, Brennar, also collecting kids with powers to fund his retirement. Who he works for is unknown.

The story seems like it might revolve around James, though, who is a teenager with some level of telekinesis. His parents seem to be expecting him to make some sort of decision, but it doesn't seem to be related to his powers, but they don't seem to know about them. He's got a friend who seems to like kickboxing who does know about his powers, who thinks he should start dating again.

I like that Vivenzio is trying to establish a lot of threads right from the start. Presumably these will all start colliding before too long, so it's nice to have a sense of some of the players at the start. It also seems like a lot of the powers come with drawbacks. Tom has headaches and needs medication. Brenner pukes when he uses his powers. The little girl he grabs at the end has acid spit, puke, and it seems to hurt her if she doesn't cough it up. We haven't seen anything for James yet, but he also doesn't seem to be taxing his powers locking doors and lifting tennis balls.

At the same time, it wouldn't hurt to use character's names more often. James is only described by that name in a single caption box on the second page. His friend, whose name we aren't told, refers to him as "J". The government lady, no clue what her name is. That's one of those things where I wonder if it would be better to have a more focused first issue. Maybe just focus on one plot thread. I guess as long as they all keep moving forward it'll work out.

Falzone's has a very strong line when it comes to people, at least the major characters. They all have sharply defined noses, jawlines. The government boss lady could cut a roast with her cheek bones. James' father, less so. Jowls, much softer shading on the chin and the nose. Like he's not in the know about his own son's life, and that makes him soft. Or being mixed up with these powers is hard and wears away the soft parts from people. Reminds me a little of Phil Noto, but less stiff. Characters look like they're in motion, rather than posing for a photograph.

Random Back Issues #34 - Coda #8

When she's trying very gently to explain to you what a dumbass you are.

This replaces Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #28 as the most recent comic to get the Random Back Issue treatment, as this came out at the beginning of 2019. Feels like a million years ago now. Kelvin, you gotta skip this post until you finish reading Coda. It's gonna spoil stuff

Coda #8 is a transition issue, written from Serka, the Urken warrior's perspective. The issue before, she finally got to confront the Whitlord who runs Thundervale. The Whitlords were the dark sorcerers who created the Urken to help them carry out their plans by convincing them there was some great holy reward if they did. Surprise! It was all bullshit, and Serka has become a wandering hero to atone, and also to see if she can find any of their old masters and, you know, kill them.

Unfortunately, this "Whitlord" was also bullshit. Serka headbutted to death an empty suit controlled by little rat things. It was good headbutt, though. So she's a bit out of sorts, and sneaks off alone to a community of Urken at the edge of a massive storm called the Everstorm. Where she allows her rage to take over and rampages until it burns itself out.

Hum, waking up alone, decides that when his wife leaves him a note promising she'll return and asking him to keep his promise not to seek her out, it is obviously time to do exactly the opposite. He's got himself a potion from the Murkrone to "cure" Serka, and it's time to act. If, he can get out of Thundervale alive. His old acquaintance the jester bandit isn't willing to let him go, and it turns into a hell-for-leather chase across the desert, Hum pumping more and more magical acker into Nag to keep it going.

Eventually the idiot rides directly into the Everstorm, and is nearly killed by another Urken before Serka finds him. He tries to get her to take the potion, and well, yeah, that wasn't a good idea. He winds up entirely alone, which is what sends him stumbling into position for the climax of the story.

The big theme of the issue seems to be that these two are married, but neither of them understand each other. Hum obviously doesn't understand her relationship to the berserker aspect of herself, except that it keeps taking her away from him. Serka thinks he doesn't understand what it's like to pin everything about yourself on one goal. He does, even if his goal is a really stupid and misguided one. But so is Serka's. The Whitlords would be a danger, sure, but she just wants to vent all that anger they cooked into her nature on them. She needs counseling, but the hubbie's out here offering pharmaceutical assistance.

[3rd longbox, 48th comic. Coda #8, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/color artist), Michael Doig (color artist), Jim Campbell (letterer)]

Sunday Splash Page #112

"Good Advice is Always Ignored," in Coda #2, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (illustrator), Michael Doig (assistant colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer)

This 12-issue mini-series was one of my favorite comics of the last couple of years. I think in my review of one of Coda's earliest issues, I referred to it as "Mad Max meets Tolkein," which I generally stand by. There's probably someone who writes fantasy in that vein I could have cited, but it's not really an area I'm familiar with.

The idea behind Coda is basically "what happens if one of those great evils that are always after the magic MacGuffin actually succeeds?" In this case the word, is wrecked, but doesn't actually end. There are still people left, or all species and inclinations. They survived Armageddon, so what now? The answer, according to Hum, the grumpy, cynical bard the story follows, is basically the same stuff they were doing before. People scrabbling for power or security. The ones with power rewriting the histories to make themselves look better. Everyone falling into the old patterns of building walls, arguing, and deferring to the person who shouts loudest.

(There's one part near the end where the coalition of groups that are trying to work together are all shouting at each other. Eventually the yelling dies out, and when the leader asks why they stopped, one of them admits they were expecting her to yell at them to all shut up. Because that's what their bosses always did before.)

Hum is your typical antihero, mostly focused on his own goal, but can't quite convince himself to be entirely selfish and self-serving, so he ends up being helpful occasionally. He's almost entirely selfish and self-serving, to the point it almost costs him the thing he holds most dear, but not quite. He's deluding himself just as much as everyone else, just in a different way.

Bergara's artwork is great. There's a looseness and simplicity to the pencils that helps make the artwork expressive without getting stiff. The characters can react in outsized, comical ways, or quieter, more reserved fashion, and they both work, even in smaller panels. Hum does a lot of both, since sometimes he's pleading or gobsmacked, and other times he's trying very hard not to show anything at all. Bergara and Doig save the brightest, strongest colors for magic and magical creatures, since all that is supposed to be increasingly rare. So it's a big deal, something that everyone is after. They can shift to a very different palette for the Urkens' flashbacks, or the scenes were Serka unleashes her full rage. But even when they aren't doing that, the landscapes have this nice variety of colors. Sometimes the peaceful pastels, or gloom-soaked woods.

What I Bought 5/29/2019 - Part 3

I'm spending most of today on the road. South-central Illinois is not a visually interesting place to drive through. For today, we're looking at just one book, the final issue of a mini-series.

Coda #12, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/color artist), Michael Doig (color artist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Pictured, that book my dad's dog tore up two weeks ago.

So the next big clash between good and evil, or world conqueror evil and everyday petty evil, is on. Hum had a failsafe in case the Murkrone hexed him, and it works. His plan to finally kill the ylf, and rob her of her magic fuel supply, does not. The ylf is harder to kill than Deadpool, and even more suicidal.

This works out, though, as the ylf provides the fuel for the one hope the other side has of defeating the Murkrone. And one of Hum's (rare) random acts of kindness actually comes back to help him out at the end. Or at least doesn't harm him, which is the best you can hope for sometimes. The day is saved, and now the survivors have to decide what to do. Hum is optimistic. I would be too, if I was walking around with a horseshoe the size of the one he apparently has stashed somewhere.

I'm actually surprised how much of a hopeful note the story ended on. If it isn't "happily ever after", it's only because the characters acknowledge happily ever after takes work to achieve. The wicked are destroyed, those who seek peace are granted it, and Serka can't quit her stupid bard. That last bit feels a little questionable, but I guess she figures he's learned his lesson and understands her a little better.

And she can always kick his ass if he tries anything like that again.

I like Bergara's design for Nag's final transformation. Wings are the obvious direction to go for a flying horse, and he went a different way, but one that still makes for an interesting image. The purple vomit from the mutant scorpion was just lovely. The two pages of narrow triangle panels as the Murkrone reaches her end, and Serka tries to rescue Hum. They make for panels that read very quickly, give that impression that they're happening almost concurrently. Bergara and Doig color Hum's panels in reds initially, shifting more towards yellow as he begins to fall. Serka's panels start in purple (or lavender maybe), and then shift to green. And eventually the two threads meet, and the green wins out, Serka's attempt succeeds.

Overall, I really liked this series. It had a lot of wit, and strange things in it. I love the expressiveness of the art and the colors. You could argue whether things tie up too neatly at the end, but Serka makes the point that the last page is taking place about 20 minutes after the battle ended. It's hard to say how things will turn out in the long run.

What I Bought 5/8/2019 - Part 5

We're back with more comics, both from Boom, both 12-issue mini-series. One of them is almost to the end, while there other is almost to the midpoint. So they're both putting the pieces in place for a big moment.

Coda #11, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Michael Doig (colorist assist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - That's a placid, yet ominous scene.

The Murkrone is prepared to make her move, with a magic-powered airship. Oh, those never end well. There's no place to go but down. Serka and the assorted remains of Ridgetown, Thundervale, and the Urken are trying to devise some sort of strategy, but don't seem to be getting very far. Hum agrees to be the chronicler who will preserve the Murkrone's version of history to save the little kid, but actually frees said child and sends her away on Nag. He forced to drink the same potion the Murkrone made for Serka. Which is not a poison so much as a mind-control drug. I guess that explains he being able to talk with Serka through the war-gibbon last issue. I assumed that was some unrelated magical long-range communication thing.

In a lot of ways, it feels like the preparation for the big showdown next issue. But I think it's also Hum's big moment. When he chose to get off his butt and act to try and do some good for others. To save the kid (and Nag). To at least try and keep his promise to that poor, tormented ylf by killing it and ending its suffering. The kind of thing he would have sneered at, or done only as it brought him closer to his goal of "helping" Serka, previously.

I'm not expecting him to play much of a role in what comes next, which seems fitting. Things are settling into familiar patterns of someone trying to bring the world to heel, and a few brave, desperate, or angry souls trying to stop them. It's not the sort of thing he would be involved in, and as it stands, it's unlikely he will be now. A bystander, or a meat shield the Murkrone tries to use to slow Serka down at best. After all, he always asserted it was Serka who could truly help make the world a better place, not him. He did a little bit of good, and maybe that's what he should have been trying all along.

A few random things I enjoyed on the art side this issue. The kid's confused look when she learns the magic words that will let her ride Nag. How, when Hum speaks the word that causes the combustion charm to ignite, it's not written as a word, but as a symbol in his mouth in the same green shade as the acker that powers his magic. The contrast between the Murkrone, sparkly and smiling, making her pitch, while right next to her is a grumpy looking Urken carving bloody pieces off an emaciated ylf to throw into a squat, ugly furnace. The way her speech balloon about how said ylf is not simply a 'tawdry treasure', carries the eye to the line of blood from the entrails, and then down to the screaming victim. The casual dismissal of him as anything other than a resource, because as she's said, all that matters is the story people believe, not what actually happened.

I do hope she dies painfully next issue.

Smooth Criminals #5, by Kurt Lustgarten, Kirsten Smith, Amy Roy (writers), Leisha Riddel (artist), Raven Warner (inker), Brittany Peer (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer) - I hope Mia warned Brenda about landing properly. Otherwise you end up with a superhero landing, and that's hell on your knees.

Brenda and Mia take a break at an arcade, where we learn Brenda has a crush on someone she plays against online. Because Brenda can't focus, Mia drags her to an open mic night T-Bird is playing at so they can meet in person. This does not go well, and leads to an argument between them, but they want to make the heist work, so they put that aside. Problem(s): the feds were checking out the net of Indra exhibit, and catch a glimpse of Mia. And Mia's old rival found her training area and has designed his own to copy it. Which at least gives us a funny scene of him being thwarted by the Talky Bears, and chastised by his henchmen for referring to Mia and Brenda as "girls", rather than "women". It's disrespectful, you see.

Kind of a sad thing when your stoic henchmen are more well-mannered than you are. What kind of classy thief is he?

Raven Warner handles some of the inking this issue. The only thing I really noticed was that sometimes Mia and her rivals' faces got much rounder looking for one or two panels. Also that there would be a lot more shading around the nose. There was one page where it looked like Mia had stuck her snoot in a coal bucket, for no apparent reason. Weird.

I like Mia demonstrating that they do have a plan for the heist by jumping around all over the arcade, as a way to both show off a bit, but also to put Brenda at ease and not let her use it as an excuse to avoid meeting her crush. It doesn't really work, but it seems like the kind of approach Mia would take, as someone who gives the appearance of being self-assured and confident. Or maybe she's just one of those people who talks with her hands, a highly acrobatic thief version.

What I Bought 4/8/2019

I ordered the last two books I wanted from last month before I went on the road trip. Because I was confident that UPS and USPS would flub the handoff long enough I'd return before the books got here. And I was right. They showed up last Monday, so here we are.

Also, the NBA playoffs have started! I'm so happy! The Nets beating Philly in Game 1 was highly enjoyable, and I don't dislike Philly. It was just funny watching the Sixers' fans turn on their team halfway through the second quarter.

Coda #10, by Si Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist/colorist), Michael Doig (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - If she tells you she has balloons down there, Hum, don't believe her.

Hum narrates from a cell. The giant is tearing apart Ridgetown to retrieve the ylf. The Murkrone has promised to make it an eternal power source for the giant if he breaks the wall separating her babies from the ocean. The giant is honorable, up to a point. The Murkrone is not. Hum still seems at loose ends, but Serka has decided on her next course of action, so we'll see how that goes.

Not sure why the Murkrone thinks gloating to Serka long distance is a good plan. You gloat if she actually drinks the poisoned thing you cooked up, as she's dying. Not when you just missed your shot. I guess she figures she's got the power from the ylf backing her up so she can be as cocky as she wants, but I'm pretty sure that's a bet that'll end badly for her. Well, she said she was going to restore things to the way they were, when people had specific roles to fill. I'm sure she expects hers to be "God", but it's looking like she's "Monologuing Dumbass Villain".

The images of the giant without his armor are pretty impressive. Convey the size and power he still has, while making it clear he's not too far off from ending up like that poor dragon out in the desert, begging passerbys to scratch his non-existent bum for him. More non-existent than ever after that explosion. Excellent work on the sound effect on the explosion, too. The center of it is where the explosion is, and part of it travels along the ground while the rest arches up and to the left corner, tearing through the mountain as it goes. Really well done. Bergara and Doig have made this book really enjoyable to just look at some times.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #4, by Tom Taylor (writer), Juann Cabal (artist), Douglas Franchin (finishes, pgs. 18-20), Nolan Woodward (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Well, I would certainly retreat from a horde of New Yorkers whether they were angry or not.

The Under Yorkers (ugh) come to the surface for the children and their mother. Spidey faces off against them, but when things look bad, everyone else in the neighborhood shows up as well. Then Mayor Fisk (jesus, really?) shows up, and basically gets public pressured into telling the guys to go back to their underground city. The day is saved, and now Peter gets to have an awkward conversation with Aunt May about whatever is wrong with her. I'm sure that'll be fun.

This is me repeating myself, but I continue to enjoy the small touches Taylor brings to his writing, while giving basically zero fucks about the larger plot. The bit where he coerces Fisk into doing what he wants by announcing to everyone that he knows the MAYOR OF NEW YORK will be there for his people. Or the bit where he says he got one of his many superhero friends to send the children far away, to another world or dimension perhaps, because some of them will do him favors just to make him go away.

But, I don't really care about this whole thing about kids trying to escape an underground empire. Or the old lady hero or any of that. It's not badly written, it just doesn't do anything for me. And yet another story about Aunt May being sick isn't likely to improve matters. So it's a matter of whether Taylor can create enough landmarks and distractions to keep me going on a trip I'm not really into. Jury's out on that one for the moment.

The double-page spread of Spidey dodging the gunfire, disarming the goons and saving a cat was a little confusing to me the first time I tried to follow what was happening. All the little panels with "Dodge the bullet." were making it hard to decipher what route I'm supposed to travel. The placement of the sound effects is clever, the BLAMs eventually stopping and the THWIPs starting. Although I notice when Spidey hits the one guy with the megaphone, there's a small "TNK" in the panel itself, but directly up and to the right there's a CLUNK! as well. Maybe the CLUNK is the guy hitting the ground?

I'm starting to think Cabal draws people with small feet, though. Spidey's in particular look off-proportion to the rest of him to me. They're at least consistent, Cabal doesn't have that issue, and maybe they aren't out of proportion. But they sure look like they are.