Monday, May 13, 2019
I did not attend the Ottawa ComicCon this past weekend but according to their Facebook page at least 40,000 did over the 3 day event. I went fishing on Saturday and although I didn’t catch 40,000 fish I did have a very fun morning out on the lake with my friend Shane. He gifted me with a reclaimed from the garbage net that we needed to use to land a couple of the larger fish that we caught.
I’m feeling the effects of two hours slaving away outside cleaning up our gardens yesterday. The back lawn looked scruffy after we finished with the flower beds so I mowed for the first time. I have a love hate relationship with this time of year as the trees are budding and flowers and bushes are blooming. My sinuses are suffering however as the nose runs and the sneezes accost me while all the pollen permeates the air. Still and all, I’d rather be on this side of the dirt than the other.
Archie #704 – Nick Spencer (writer) Sandy Jarrell (artist) Matt Herms (colours) Jack Morelli (letters). Betty and Veronica’s scheme to find out who Archie’s new girlfriend is just might work. That’s assuming you know about a certain reality show competition. If not, you won’t care. I’ve never watched The Bachelor but I’m a huge Survivor and Amazing Race fan.
Catwoman #11 – Joelle Jones (writer) Fernando Blanco (art pages 1-10, 14-16) Hugo Petrus (art pages 11-13, 17-20) John Kalisz (colours) Saida Temofonte (letters). Uh-oh. This issue didn’t thrill me. The over the top chase scene was a bit much but I did like how it showed us that Catwoman is a bonafide kick-ass character. I didn’t believe her friend could keep up with her however. The scene with the bad guy in the limo bothered me because of the whip. And then there was the last scene to close out this issue. It’s a mystery that pops up out of nowhere unless I’ve forgotten who people are. I don’t recall a major point to all this activity so if the next issue doesn’t impress me I will be benching this book again.
Symbiote Spider-Man #2 – Peter David (writer) Greg Land (pencils) Jay Leisten (inks) Frank D’Armata (colours) VC’s Joe Sabino (letters). Introducing the super villain Hardrock. He’s like a white Luke Cage. He opens a restaurant franchise later in real life. These old black costume filler stories are fun.
Shazam! #5 – Geoff Johns (writer) Marco Santucci (art pages 1-3, 21, 22) Dale Eaglesham (art pages 4-10, 20 panel 3) Scott Kolins(art pages 11-13, 20 panel 2) Max Raynor (art pages 14-14, 20 panel 1) Mike Atiyeh (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The appearance of Black Adam is keeping me interested in this book. I would bench it otherwise.
The Unstoppable Wasp #7 – Jeremy Whitley (writer) Alti Firmansyah (art) Espen Grundetjern (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). Nadia’s birthday party is a hoot. I’m reading about all of her party guests and marvelling at how many of the details that I remember. If you’re a new Marvel fan this issue is a great Coles Notes to some of their iconic super heroes.
Batman & the Outsiders #1 – Bryan Hill (writer) Dexter Soy (art) Veronica Gandini (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The original title hit the racks in 1983 and I read it for a while but the team never caught my fancy. Here it is again 36 years later and I’m still not impressed. I liked the art enough to grab this first issue to read but there are a lot of things I didn’t like. I don’t like the super hero names Signal and Orphan. The reluctant leader Black Lightning is annoying. So is Bryan Hill overstating names in the word balloons. The straw for me was the Cable character at the end. It means that the girl the team is sent to rescue isn’t going to be killed by the bad guy, whose name is Ishmael. When I read the next issue blurb “Call Me Ishmael” I decided this book isn’t good enough to keep reading.
Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica #1 – Amy Chu (writer) Maria Sanapo (art) Vinicius Andrade (colours) Taylor Esposito (letters). Four of my favourite females team up to stop a demonic cult from killing the citizens of Riverdale. Sonja and Vampi going undercover as high school students is hilarious. It’s whacky stories like this that makes comic books fun.
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 – Greg Pak (writer) Gang Hyuk Lim (art) Frederico Blee (colours) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters). There are more new super heroes in this War of the Realms tie-in than you can shake a stick at. I like that the majority of them are of the Asian persuasion. We’ve come a long way since the Yellow Kid. It looks like Queen Sindr has conquered the far east and declared the territory New Muspelheim but wait until she meets Tutu Pele. I think she’s an Hawaiian volcano Goddess. There are a lot of characters and a wide geographic area in this story so you’ll need a score card. I’m going to keep track of the goings on.
Conan the Barbarian #6 – Jason Aaron (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). This Conan fan is a happy camper. I finally started reading the Conan Omnibus Volume 1 which I bought for the Barry Smith art and boy is Roy Thomas’s writing ever stilted. I like what Jason Aaron is doing in this book so much more.
Detective Comics #1003 – Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Nathan Fairbairn (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This is the payoff issue. The identity of the Arkham Knight is revealed. I was going to shelve this title after the reveal but I really like the art, especially the colours this issue, so let’s see what the Eclipse is all about.
War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #2 – The McElroys (writers) Andre Lima Araujo (art) Chris O’Halloran (colours) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters). Now we know why Ares is tracking these Wandering Avengers. Having just seen the Captain Marvel movie I get why the bad guys in this issue act the way they do. I like this team. They’re a good substitute for the West Coast Avengers.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #6 – Tom Taylor (writer) Juann Cabal (art) Nolan Woodard & Frederico Blee (colours) VC’s Travis Lanham (letters). Introducing Spider-Man kid sidekick Spider-Bite. I kid you not. Watch as they fight the Sinister Sixty in teeny tiny panels. This is a great one issue story that shows just why I love Spider-Man so much. Please buy this comic book.
