Monday, October 8, 2018
Happy Thanksgiving holiday Monday to all you off the rackers. It’s a really low key one for me this year as our family did not all gather for a traditional dinner. Penny and I did attend a party on Saturday to celebrate the 60th birthdays of my sister and a bunch of her contemporaries. There was lots of food and tons of fun with the disco era revived on the dance floor. My thanks to Raymond for organising such a big bash and Amy for hosting. I would also like to thank brother-in-law George for driving me hither and yon after I lost my car keys. It was one of my worst nightmares come true but all is well that ends well.
Last Wednesday was my first shift handing out subscription service comic books to customers at Black Squirrel Books. It’s not ideal but things are evolving. Thanks to all our regulars for your patience during this time of transition. One thing I noticed working in a busy place is that time seems to fly by a lot faster. I felt energised by all the people coming and going so I decided to walk home from work that day. It took me 35 minutes and made me feel happily tired.
Typhoid Fever Spider-Man #1 – Clay McLeod Chapman (writer) Stefano Landini (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). Here’s a new 3-issue story featuring one of Daredevil’s arch enemies who has been absent from the racks in a while. I don’t know that fans have been clamouring for her return or maybe it’s Cosplayers. I really liked what Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev did with her in Daredevil but this crazy lady’s two dimensional characterization here falls flat. She traps Spider-Man into her delusions and causes mass hysteria in Manhattan, which is the big threat in this story that needs to be stopped. The next heroes to try and stop Mary are the X-Men in Typhoid Fever X-Men hitting the racks November 7. It all wraps up in December when it looks like Iron Fist will save the day.
Batman #56 – Tom King (writer) Tony S. Daniel (pencils) Tony S. Daniel & Danny Miki (inks) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). Beasts of Burden (not pizza burning) part 2. Batman finds out that it was the Russian assassin KGBeast that shot Dick and he’s going after the bad guy. I loved the appearance of the New Gods villain Kanto. He’s one sick sadist. I don’t believe that Nightwing is dead but Batman is going through Hell to avenge his ward.
The Magic Order #4 – Mark Millar (writer) Olivier Coipel (art) Dave Stewart (colours) Peter Doherty (letters). Now that their dad is dead the villain Madame Albany will sic her killers on the next generation of Moonstones. The kids’ attempt at diplomacy fail so it’s time to warm up the wands. Olivier is rocking the art in this story.
The Superior Octopus #1 – Christos Gage (writer) Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters). You can’t keep a good bad guy down, but can you make him a good guy? Otto Gunther Octavius calls San Francisco home now and he’s decided to be a super hero for its citizens. We’ll see how long that lasts. I particularly liked the hyperbolic way everyone spoke in this story. This is a good comic book to read if you want to expand your vocabulary. This is also an Edge of Spider-Geddon tie-in. I’m not reading that story since the last Spider-Geddon tired me out with all the Spider-Folks from different dimensions fighting those impossible to kill Inheritors.
Adventures of the Super Sons #3 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Carlo Barberi (pencils) Art Thibert (inks) Protobunker (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). I thought it was dumb when they separated Spider-Man and Peter Parker into two distinct bodies but here they made it fun to have Red Superboy and Blue Superboy fighting each other and then teaming up. Now we’ll see how they can put Jon back together again.
Die! Die! Die! #3 – Robert Kirkman & Scott M. Gimple (writers) Chris Burnham (art) Nathan Fairbairn (colours) Rus Wooton (letters). This is a great talking heads issue that made me think seriously about ethics and morals. With humanity seeming to be devolving right now it’s important to discuss matters that can affect society and our lives. The idea that we should all strive to be better is one I believe in. Action fans need not be disappointed though. There’s some blood spilled too. One brother’s secret gets him in deep doo doo by issue’s end.
Doctor Strange #6/LGY #396 – Mark Waid (writer) Javier Pina (art) Brian Reber (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). The Two Doctors part 1. Is there a doctor in the house? Uh, try two. Stephen returns to 177A Bleeker Street, Greenwich Village, New York to find that it’s occupied by another Doctor Strange. I like that we’re not kept in suspense too long and the imposter is revealed, which sets up the next challenge for Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme.
The Dreaming #2 – Simon Spurrier (writer) Bilquis Evely (art) Mat Lopes (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). The Foundation. What a wonderful experience reading this issue. Simon and Bilquis really capture Merv’s personality as he narrates this introduction to the new Master of the Dreaming. It’s like reading a House of Mystery story as the crises build up until the last page and we see the face of salvation. Here comes the Judge. Here comes the Judge.
Archie #699 – Ian Flynn (writer) Fiona Staples, Annie Wu, Veronica Fish, Thomas Pitilli, Ryan Jampole, Joe Eisma, Pete Woods & Audrey Mok (art) Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn & Kelly Fitzpatrick (colours) Jack Morelli (letters). It takes a village of artists to produce this recap of every significant event that has happened to the red-headed one since this new series started. Don’t panic. You didn’t miss 698 issues just 32. If this special $1 US one shot got you interested in getting the full picture you can pick up the first 6 volumes of the trade paperbacks to get all caught up. New writer Nick Spencer will pick up where Mark Waid left off with Archie #700 which hits the racks November 21. I will definitely check it out for the Marguerite Sauvage art.
Iron Man #4/LGY #604 – Dan Slott (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Self-Made Man part 4. It’s team-up time as Janet Van Dyne, the original Wasp, makes a visit to Stark Unlimited. The place is attacked while she and Tony are out and about so it’s time to put the armour and costume on to save the day. Valerio did a great job on the art. Janet’s beauty rivalled that drawn by Pepe Larraz.
