Comic Reviews 09/26/2015
Groot (2015) #4 - There's some funny parts (the 80's robot, Numinus) and some action and a great last page (an homage to the famous page of Wolverine coming out of the sewer). The art is also really nice in a Disney sort of way. I'm totally digging this series.
All-New Hawkeye (2015) #5 - This is the final issue of the first arc. The flashback stuff shows Clint and Barton disagreeing about being thieves for the carnies. In the present, Hydra is trying to take back the children and horribly mutilate Hydra with their brains. Kate still wants to protect them, but Clint thinks they are too dangerous and lets Hydra take the kids (which feels really out of character for him). Then, the last page looks like a jump to the future with Kate wanting to get Clint to help her get the children back. I don't really care much for the flashback parts (they take up too much space and the art is appropriately hazy, but hard to look at). I kind of like the parts set in the present, doing a more standard superhero take with the Fraction/Aja aesthetic. I'm debating dropping the series as it's not really striking a chord beyond "good enough".
Batgirl #44 - The second issue of the somewhat convoluted plot with the tigers ends. There's some good use of Batgirl's friends to figure out who the villain is and an okay fight at the end. Then, Batgirl makes out with some guy (I forget: what happened to the cop?). The art isn't by Babs Tarr and not up to her standards. It's fine, but I didn't really care about the villain or the victims, so kind of in one ear, out the other.
Black Canary #4 - The old singer of the Black Canary band gets an issue dedicated to her origin while taking Ditto to some people that will give the old singer powers as payment. Then, some ninja character saves Ditto and gives her back to Dinah. Again, I don't really care about the old singer and am confused as to who the ninja is and am kind of annoyed that Dinah had nothing to do with Ditto's rescue. Again, just okay.
Casanova: Acedia #1-4 - Casanova escaped to a new universe at the end of the last series. Here, he doesn't know who he is, is working for another superspy who doesn't know who he is, and everything is just a bit different from what we are used to (same characters, different circumstances). Both guys are trying to discover each other's pasts while being attacked by seemingly random groups. I'm a little lost keeping track of all the parallels with the older stories, but the action is fun, the mystery is intriguing, and art makes everyone sexy. There's some backup stories with the music group (TAMI?) taking over Casanova's old job of destroying parallel universes, this time to wipe out alternate Casanovas. It's unclear how these two stories relate at the moment.
Deadly Class #9-14 - Much of these issues focus on the kids trying to kill off the one crazy guy who hates our main character. He has the head of the main character's girlfriend's ex-boyfriend (phew). There's some brutal action getting the head back, but then the head's gangster father shows up with some awesome backup (killers with various designs based on Mexican stereotypes) and the action goes off the rails. The high school drama is a little over the top (it is a school of assassins) and there's some crude body humor jokes, but the action became pretty awesome in the last few issues and I'm fully on board with the series.
Deadpool vs. Thanos #1-2 - Deadpool and Thanos have teamed up to find where Death has gone. Deadpool makes a lot of jokes, usually about how he gets to bang Death, while Thanos sulks. There's some random cameos (Guardians of the Galaxy) that go no where. There's some okay ideas, like the idea of the cult that committed suicide to call down Death, but they feel pushed to the edges. It's all fine, but not overly funny or super interesting.
Infinity Gauntlet #4 - Our characters ask Adam Warlock for the Soul Gem, he refuses, there's a fight, and Thanos gains a bunch of power at the end. There's some cool moments (I like how aloof Adam Warlock is and the Infinity Battle Armor (instead of Infinity Gauntlet)) and the rest is fine. It's a nice and creative departure from the original series, but no where as good.
Kurt Busiek's Astro City #1-6, 1/2 - This series gets a ton of praise and it's pretty good, but it's not as transcendent as I was expecting. The only issue that gets close is the really awesome first one about a Superman-type charcter who only dreams of flying, but spends all his waking life saving lives instead of enjoying his powers. The rest of the issues are good one-off stories about various characters (powered and not) living in a city of superheroes. They are generally uplifting and definitely well done, just none really stuck with me. I'm probably jaded.
Our Valued Customers #1-3 - These are collections of the single panel gag comics from the web focusing on stupid things people say about pop culture. I enjoy the hell out of the strips, so I bought these to support the artist. The books themselves are straight up reprints. I doubt I will be rereading the books as the jokes aren't exactly deep and reading all the strips at once show how often the jokes repeat, but they are funny nonetheless.
Prez #4 - Prez has gotten her cabinet and has a new mission (stopping civilian casualties from international American actions). There's two new characters introduced (a pig farmer that doesn't seem to have much point at the moment and an AI powered killing robot). There's also one dark, yet a bit funny, concept thrown in of the Internet fueled games controlling killer robots. However, despite all that, this issue feels a bit like it's getting pieces in order for later stories. I like this series, but this one isn't as strong as the first three.
The Sixth Gun #41-47 - Issue #41 is the issue that gives the back story of the Grey Witch (she was sacrificed as a child to dark gods, learned from them instead of dying, and is now trying to give them back their old power). The rest of the issues are setting up the final arc of this story. Our heroes are down and out while the Grey Witch and her companions are bringing about the end of the world. They have sacrificed an entire town to own the gate with the six guns and are going through the underworld to find the Devil's workshop so they can rebuild the world. Elsewhere, the world is dying and Earth is starting to fall apart (earthquakes, extreme weather, etc). Our heroes have attacked the town with the help of Thunderbirds and have fought their way to the opening to the underworld. It all seems hopeless and I want to know how it will all end.
The Wicked + The Divine #9-11 - There's music and parties and people jostling for things they want, but it all kind of blends in together. The big developments are that the skeptic journalist becomes a god, one of the gods decides to start killing other gods to extend his life, and the main character becomes a god (#13???), only to seemingly be killed a few panels later (now, that was a cliffhanger). I'm not super feeling this series, but it's good enough when it goes on sale for a buck a pop. I guess I'm just not into mythicizing pop culture.
If You Steal OGN HC - This is a collection of short stories by Jason. Most are cute, mildly funny, ironic tales. They look good and have a measured pace. It's all alright. The last story is a devastating look at someone suffering from Alzheimer's and is worth the price of entire alone.
Step Aside, Pops OGN HC - A collection of Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant! webcomics riffing on history, literature, and sometimes comics (and once a Janet Jackson song!). It's great, she's great, there's not much to say.