Monday, March 26, 2018
28 years. That’s how long it’s been since I left Vancouver to move to Ottawa. Leaving my Comicshop family was difficult but my own family here helped ease the pain. I spent a little time catching up with one of my Comicshop cousins yesterday who I haven’t seen since coming home. It seemed like no time had passed at all since Colleen and I had last been together. I cherish friendships like that.
Weapon H #1 – Greg Pak (writer) Cory Smith (art) Morry Hollowell (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). I had a feeling that this new character would catch on with fans when he appeared in the Weapon X comic books and I was right. He’s got his own book now and if you’re not familiar with Hulkverine all you need to know is that he’s a mix of the Hulk and Wolverine. Pretty awesome right? In his human form he’s an ex-military contractor named Clay. He spends this debut wandering around the country trying to stay out of trouble but trouble always seems to find him. This reminded me a lot of the Hulk stories where Bruce Banner just wanted to be left alone. All his travelling necessitates a big global enemy and the Roxxon Corporation is just the evil conglomerate to fit the bill. I like this all new, all different Hulk so I’ll be following his adventures from now on.
Batman #43 – Tom King (writer) Mikel Janin (art pages 1-12, 17-17 and 19) Hugo Petrus (art pages 13-14, 18 and 20) June Chung (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Everyone Loves Ivy part 3. Now that he’s engaged to marry Catwoman he’s not so dark knight, but he’s still a good detective. Batman figures out how to stop Ivy from taking over the entire population of the world. Plus he figures out who the real killer of Ivy’s victims is. I like that we got to see how amazingly powerful Poison Ivy can be but not a huge deal was made out of it. The change of artists was subtle and I didn’t notice much of a difference until the very last page. Bruce and Selina’s wedding starts next issue and I’m going to crash it.
Kick-Ass #2 – Mark Millar (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Peter Steigerwald (digital inks & colours) John Workman (letters). I was confused when I flipped open the cover to the first page because I thought that Kick-Ass was caught by the bad guys at the end of last issue. I think I got this story confused with Mark Millar’s new Hit-Girl story. There’s a Robin Hood element to this new Kick-Ass. Her plan to make a living is fraught with extreme danger however and I hope she doesn’t suffer too much down the road, but I know she will. That’s why I keep reading.
Runaways #7 – Rainbow Rowell (writer) Kris Anka (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Best Friends Forever part 1. My favourite Runaway is featured in this second arc and I am a happy camper. Molly may be the youngest but her naiveté and upbeat attitude helps to make this book fun. I also wish I was thirteen-years-old again. Her best friend in middle school seems normal but the last panel is very foreboding.
Superman #43 – Patrick Gleason & Peter J. Tomasi (writers) Patrick Gleason with Joe Prado (pencils & inks) Stephen Downer (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Bizarroverse part 2. This issue was easier to decipher because there was more normal dialogue mixed in with the backwards Bizarro speech. I would skip this story until the Bizarros disappeared but I really love the art.
Avengers #685 – Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing (writers) Paco Medina (pencils) Juan Vlasco (inks) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 11. The Hulk is back big time but is he just mindlessly rampaging? There’s a hint in this issue that I found very exciting.
Super Sons #14 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Carlo Barberi (pencils) Art Thibert (inks) Dono San/Protobunker (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The Parent Trap part 2. Damian’s mom is going to kill Jon’s mom and the boys are trapped in an awful situation. I like how Peter is showing the boys’ evolving friendship.
The Mighty Thor #705 – Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC’s Joe Sabino (letters). The only thing standing between Mangog and the total destruction of Asgardia is Thor. This issue chronicles her ultimate sacrifice in a glorious battle that rocks the heavens. I don’t remember if we’ve ever seen Thor without her helmet on but the last panel of Page 17 shows us how beautiful she is. This whole issue has awesome art but that panel was breathtaking. The last page made me start to grieve.
Incredible Hulk #714 – Greg Pak (writer) Carlo Barberi (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Frank D’Armata (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). World War Hulk II part 1. The recent story titles have got me feeling some déjà vu. If they were just rehashing old stories I’d drop this book but this new World War Hulk is precipitated by a different situation than the last one. If you didn’t read the Hulk’s return to Sakaar story that just wrapped up you really should to find out where the Hulk’s head is at now. I’m going to be following this story with interest. As Logan says on the last page, “no way this ends well”.
