Monday, March 18, 2019
My brain woke up at 2 AM and I fretted until the alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM. One thought that popped up was that it’s Monday and I better remember to post my comic book reviews. Time just flew during this bout of insomnia. I can usually fall back asleep knowing there are 2 and a half hours before the alarm goes off but this time it started to beep after what seemed like only 10 minutes. My perception of time fascinates me sometimes.
Catwoman #9 – Ram V (writer) John Timms (art) Josh Reed (letters). The Two-Step Cha Cha Cha. Isn’t that three steps? This one shot heist story reminded me of the TV show Leverage. Selina hires a crew to steal from a bad guy and helps the police put the bad guy away. Everything is explained in the end for those of us that wonder “how’d they do that?”. I really liked the art in this issue.
X-23 #10 – Mariko Tamaki (writer) Diego Olortegui (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Chris O’Halloran (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). X-Assassin part 4. This mad scientist story ends as one would expect. I felt like everything was tied up too smoothly so I hope the next story has a good hook or this book will be benched.
Runaways #19 – Rainbow Rowell (writer) Andre Genolet (art) Triona Farrell (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Molly runs away with Alex to start a new story. I’m always apprehensive whenever I see a new artist come onto a book that I like but Andre does an excellent job and I hope he stays on for a while.
Cover #6 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) David Mack (art) Zu Orzu (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). Aw Max, we hardly knew ye. The comic book artist turned spy completes his mission. It was an interesting concept and the art in this last issue has some cool James Bond type pages. Johnny Rivers had a hit single in 1966 called Secret Agent Man. I was 10-years-old and thought it was Secret Asian Man. I still hear the chorus that way.
Little Bird #1 – Darcy Van Poelgeest (writer) Ian Bertram (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This 5-issue story takes place in a future where religious zealots from the United Nations of America invades Canada. Little Bird is part of a resistance trying to keep the true north strong and free. It’s only been about 3 years since “We Stand on Guard” was on the racks so this story will seem familiar. The bad guy Americans have a different motive in attacking Canada this time so this story merits a look see. The art is nice and will appeal to fans of Moebius and Frank Quitely. You’ll be doing your patriotic duty if pick this up.
The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1 – Saladin Ahmed (writer) Minkyu Jung (pencils) Juan Vlasco (inks) Ian Herring (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). It’s been a while since I’ve read a Ms. Marvel comic book and this relaunch is pretty good at introducing new readers to this young super hero with a quick recap of her origin story and showing some of her friends and family. There are not enough changes to bring me back to the fold however but fans of Kamala Khan should be happy to keep reading.
Calamity Kate #1 – Magdalene Visaggio (writer) Corin Howell (art) Valentina Pinto (colours) Zakk Saam (letters). Meet Kate Strand, monster hunter. She blows into Los Angeles to crash on her old friend’s couch and immediately starts killing monsters. This new comic book doesn’t make a lick of sense. Take Kate’s monster hunter competition Javelin for instance. Why call yourself Javelin if you’re not killing monsters with a spear? This is a poor imitation of Marvel’s Elsa Bloodstone.
Age of Conan: Bêlit #1 – Tini Howard (writer) Kate Niemczyk (art) Jason Keith (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). If you’ve ever wondered how the love of Conan’s life got started you’ll find out in this new comic book. Bêlit is the young daughter of a pirate king who finds herself on the open seas where she will eventually rule the waves on her ship the Tigress. I’m a big Conan fan but I almost didn’t grab this off the racks because the art is too cartoony for me. It looks like it’s aimed at a younger reader but there’s a parental advisory on the cover. Other than some mild bloody violence I don’t see that it deserves the harsh rating. I think fans of feisty female swashbucklers will like this.
Assassin Nation #1 – Kyle Starks (writer) Erica Henderson (art) Deron Bennett (letters). I thought this looked like Squirrel Girl. Erica Henderson co-created this comic book about a assassin who brings together the world’s top 20 assassins so he can hire them as body guards because he’s being targeted by a hit man. If you like Deadpool but without the crazy silliness you are the target audience.
The Amazing Spider-Man #17 – Nick Spencer (writer) Humberto Ramos (pencils) Victor Olazaba (inks) Edgar Delgado (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Hunted part 1. This is a classic super villain team-up story. I guess Kraven’s last hunt wasn’t, because he’s back and has teamed up with Arcade to force Spider-Man to end his resurrected life. The two have trapped Spider-Man and a bunch of his animal themed arch enemies in Central Park and everybody is being hunted by cyborg Kravens. This mega Spider-Man event runs until May with added issues so that you’ll be getting a part of the story almost every week. You’re going to need to increase your credit limit.
Avengers LGY #712: No Road Home #5 – Jim Zub, Mark Waid & Al Ewing (writers) Sean Izaakse (art) Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega (colours) VC’s Cory Petit (letters). This is the issue where the good guys pull their fat out of the fire and a possible win can be gleaned. The surprise appearance on the last page made me laugh. I did not expect to see this mash-up.
Marvel Action: Spider-Man #2 – Delilah S. Dawson (writer) Fico Ossio (art) Ronda Pattison (colours) Shawn Lee (letters). I finally saw Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and thought that it was a cool cartoon. Anybody who liked the team up of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Miles Morales/ Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy/ Spider-Gwen in the movie will get a kick out of this all ages comic book. The three Spider-Heroes are all about the same age here and I think it works better and is more relatable for young readers. I actually like this book more than Amazing.
