Monday, January 29, 2018
I don’t hate Mondays. Quite the opposite actually. Monday is one day that I don’t have any chores to do and can just do anything that I want. Not having to be responsible for anything other making dinner is very relaxing. I have a few obligations for the rest of this week so today will let me mentally prepare for them.
Congratulations to Pepe for making Marvel’s 2018 Young Guns list of artists. His work deserves the recognition. From the first day he walked into the Snail in 2013 while visiting the Lady Paloma to buy his own copy of the Thor Season One graphic novel, which he drew, to the day he had to return to Spain after his one year work visa ended, he proved to be a true friend. I am so glad I got to know him and Paloma and that we can all still keep in touch.
Legion #1 – Peter Milligan (writer) Wilfredo Torres (art) Dan Brown (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). This 5-issue mini features the son of Professor X, a mutant that I am not very familiar with. According to the title page David Haller AKA Legion was traumatized both physically and psychologically. He also suffers from multiple personality disorder with each personality having a different mutant ability. That’s kind of cool except that there seems to be a malevolent entity keeping David from controlling his mental illness. This is the kind of character that Peter Milligan loves to write about. This reminds me of Shade the Changing Man and his weird adventures. I liked the art which looks like a cross between Phil Noto and Mike Allred but the character and story did not appeal to me so I hope that David manages to find the help he needs.
Action Comics #996 – Dan Jurgens (writer) Will Conrad (art) Ivan Nunes (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Booster Shot part 4. Dan Jurgens is turning me off of these characters with this story. Superman’s actions are pissing me off. He’s fighting without thinking. Lois’s mission to rescue her father lost me right on the first page. I do not believe that a big huge cargo plane can fly that low undetected by the enemy. Not to mention the fact that her parachute wouldn’t have enough time to deploy at that altitude. If I didn’t like the art so much I would bench this book right here and screw reading it until issue #1000.
Avengers #677 – Mark Waid, Al Ewing & Jim Zub (writers) Pepe Larraz (art) David Curiel (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). No Surrender part 3. Pietro/Quicksilver is featured on the cover and he is the focus of this issue. We meet one of the players manipulating the two teams of bad guys while the other is still shrouded in mystery. I love how this story is unfolding. I’m glad it’s hitting the racks weekly. It helps to keep everything straight. These issues are flying off the racks for a good reason.
The Demon: Hell is Earth #3 – Andrew Constant (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Chris Sotomayor (colours) Tom Napolitano (letters). I love the art in this. And the writing isn’t the pits. A family reunion has the Demon out of sorts. But if Hell invades Earth, Etrigan wouldn’t give two forks.
Marvel Two-In-One #2 – Chip Zdarsky (writer) Jim Cheung (pencils) John Dell with Walden Wong & Jim Cheung (inks) Frank Martin (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). The art is so pretty in this issue. Ben and Johnny have a classic adventure on Monster Island. Some old foes show up just like the cover suggests. I loved the arrogance of Victor Von Doom and the playful flashback. This makes me look forward to the reunion of the Fantastic Four.
Doomsday Clock #3 – Geoff Johns (writer) Gary Frank (art) Brad Anderson (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). You get a feeling of déjà vu from the first two pages but then this story diverges from the original Watchmen and things get very complicated. There’s a lot going on with various scenes playing out involving many different characters. The most interesting one for me is what happens between Batman and Rorschach. I got a little confused there for a few panels but I was able to figure things out to my satisfaction after going back and scanning the page again. You really have to pay attention here to get the full effect of what Geoff and Gary are doing. I like being challenged by the comic books that I read.
Phoenix Resurrection #4 – Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Ramon Rosanas (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). The X-Men confront the Phoenix in this penultimate issue. One of them goes to talk to Jean. Guess who?
Amazing Spider-Man #794 – Dan Slott & Christos Gage (writers) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Threat Level Red part 1. There are two plotlines in this issue. One where the bad guy wins and one where the bad guy loses. Both bad guys could have won and that made me disappointed in the writers. I sure wasn’t disappointed with the art though. One of the many thrills that I get from reading comic books is when a favourite art team draws a favourite book. I don’t know if Stuart and Wade are exclusive with Marvel but it would be nice if they were able to draw a DC book with Brian Michael Bendis. That would make my nerd heart flutter. Have you noticed the random one page Wolverine snippets in some Marvel comic books? They are really cool. My excitement is building for Logan’s return to the racks.
