MARVEL COMICS
Week 13 in "Blood Hunt"
Last week I said "Blood Hunt" would end this week, but it's really ending next week. Probably.
STRANGE ACADEMY: BLOOD HUNT #3 (OF 3)
This one is pretty important, if the previews I've seen are to be believed. The kids (and Doctor Strange's ectoplasmic form) go to Latveria to recruit Doctor Doom into helping them bottle up the Darkforce enveloping the Earth. Doom, of course, had safeguards in place so Latveria hasn't suffered — it has sunshine and no vampires. Which leaves the good guys with no leverage. But Doom is willing to help ... if Strange makes him Sorcerer Supreme.
Marvel said this crossover is going to change the status quo. And Doctor Strange is being canceled. So, yeah, I bet this is going to happen.
Also:
- VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT #7
- WOLVERINE: BLOOD HUNT #4 (OF 4)
- BLOOD HUNT #3 2ND PTG PEPE LARRAZ VARIANT
This week in Ultimates:
- ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #6: T'Challa undertakes a dangerous ritual to gain the power to face Ra and Khonshu. I assume it will involve Bast. It's a battle of the Egyptian gods!
This week in Venom:
- VENOM SEPARATION ANXIETY #3
- VENOMVERSE REBORN #2
This week in X-Men:
NYX #1
I'm not sure why Marvel would want to resurrect this title. The original, which arrived in 2003, was canceled after its seventh issue — not exactly a barn-burner. And, while it introduced X-23, she was a teenage prostitute in this series.
The premise was that several homeless mutants (a time-stopper, a shapeshifter, a possessor, a non-mutant teacher and Laura) were on the run from X-23's former pimp, Zebra Daddy. It's like an episode of Starsky & Hutch gone horribly wrong.
I'm pretty sure all this is no longer in continuity, and I don't think the three non-Wolverine mutants have had any kind of major roles since. Heck, I don't even remember their civilian names, and I don't think they had code names.
So why remind True Believers of the abject failure that was NYX? Shouldn't Marvel let sleeping dogs lie?
I guess not, because here comes NYX Vol. 3. (There was a miniseries in 2005 titled NYX: No Way Home. I remember nothing about it.)
And this book doesn't seem like a barn-burner either, because it proudly says it's not about the X-Men. Which is, you know, the franchise. It feels like they're going for G-League instead of the NBA. It stars five mutants going about their civilian lives in New York.
Which I think is a narrative mistake.
We know they're going to get into costume every issue. We know they're going to have a super-powered fight with somebody every issue. We know that they're going to act like X-Men, even if they're not officially X-Men, every issue. Which means some excuse is going to have to be made every issue for this book to deviate from its core description and be an X-Men book anyway. Every issue. That's going to get old.
But, OK, the execution may surprise me. (I hope so!) And I like some of the cast. They are, at least at first, Ms. Marvel (a superstar, but no longer in signature New Jersey), Anole (boring), Prodigy (boring), Sophie Cuckoo (a cipher, but with potential) and X-23/Wolverine/Laura Kinney (superstar).
Legionnaire Luis says he's looking forward to it, and I'm looking forward to his reaction to it. If there's something here (besides Lipstick Wolverine, who appears on every cover) that doesn't scream cancellation, I want to hear about it.
Also:
- CAPTAIN AMERICA #11: Part Two of “Weapon X-Traction”
- DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE: WWIII #3 (OF 3)
- WOLVERINE #88 FACSIMILE EDITION features the first meeting between Wolverine and Deadpool.
- X-MEN: REIGN OF X BY JONATHAN HICKMAN VOL 1 TP
Elsewhere at Marvel:
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: DEFENDERS VOL 9 HC brings us up to Defenders #102. Only 50 issues to go!
MARVEL ZERO #1: Collects Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1 & Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe/Spider-Man #1.
DC COMICS
Week 5 in "Absolute Power":
ABSOLUTE POWER: ORIGINS #1 (OF 3): At last, the origin of Amanda Waller. My guess: Young Amanda is going to lose everything she cares about, and blame it on superheroes, when it's really her own fault. Then she grows up hating superheroes to avoid facing her own self-loathing.
ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #2 (OF 7): The Amazo that has stolen Aquaman's powers is named Depth Charge, and he has also stolen the throne of Atlantis. The Aqua-family (and there are a lot of them) launch a revolution. As I've said before, I'm curious to see if Aquaman can still breathe underwater after the power theft. I bet, just for plot reasons if nothing else, he probably can.
Also:
- ABSOLUTE POWER: GROUND ZERO #1 2ND PTG
- GREEN ARROW #14: The former Justice League and the former Green Arrow both hunt for T.O. Morrow, the creator of the Amazos.
This week in Batman:
- BATMAN: DARK AGE #4 (OF 6)
- BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #15
- BATMAN VS. ROBIN TP
- DETECTIVE COMICS #1087
- HARLEY QUINN #42
- POISON IVY VOL. 2: UNETHICAL CONSUMPTION TP
- ROBIN: TIM DRAKE COMPENDIUM 1 TP
Elsewhere at DC:
NICE HOUSE BY THE SEA #1 (OF 12)
Doggone it, here's another sequel that DC is releasing before the HC of the first one is out. I guess that's what puts the "wait" in trade-wait.
Unlike Nice House on the Lake, which I think was a sort of haunted-house movie where people get picked off one by one, the people in Sea are there by choice. A person named Max offers a bunch of people the chance to live forever after the end of the world, because they're the best in their field. The Doctor, the Writer, the Historian, the Actor, the Artist, the Priest, the Scientist, the Singer, the Politician, and the Mathematician. This is what happens after the end of the world, when they have to keep living with each other and the choice they've made.
Sounds like a terrific psychological thriller, where some people are going to get dead. Maybe all of them. Sounds great!
Also:
- POWER GIRL #11: Power Girl goes on a date.
- SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW DELUXE EDITION HC: I read this already on the DC app, but I'll get the HC on my shelf. It's soon to be famous!
IMAGE COMICS
This week in Ghost Machine:
ROOK: EXODUS #4
REVIEW: I've read all of this now, including the intro in Ghose Machine Special #1. And ... I'm undecided.
The premise is that in the future, on an overpopulated, polluted, resource-dwindling Earth, a corporation called Better-World offers a chance at a better life on exo-planets that they geo-engineer. (There is definitely some Blade Runner inspiration here.) On these planets, an "Earth engine" micro-controls everything to make the environment as Earth-like as possible, including the animals. Select people are trained as "wardens," and given helmets to control a given species. But on the planet Exodus, the engine has failed, and everything is changing as the planet reverts to its previous state. Most people evacuate, but the wardens (and some die-hards) are abandoned there, and war breaks out between them.
Our protagonist is Rook (no other name given), and that's my first problem with the series. Rook, who controls crows, doesn't want to stay and save Exodus; he's building a rocket to escape. So our protagonist isn't really interested in the core premise of the book (which is to save Exodus). And his species isn't very useful in a fight. I suppose they liked the name "Rook."
He's allied with a former flame named Dire Wolf, who controls, duh, wolves. She's committed to the fight, wants to save Exodus, wants to create a better world. Why isn't she the star of the book? She would make a far more powerful and dynamic protagonist.
But OK, I get what they're doing here. There's some sort of "instinct feedback" from the animals that is mentioned occasionally, that the wardens were told is mild and isn't a problem. But obviously, it does affect the wardens. Rook, for example, doesn't want to fight -- he wants to "fly away." Get it? GET IT?
So yeah, the wolf girl is wolfish. The pig guy is kinda sloppy. The turtle guy is slow (well, he is 118 years old). Any of which would make for a better protagonist, but who am I to question professional writers?
The antagonist is Ursaw, who has the bear helmet. Bears on the planet have grown to enormous size (as have most of the animals except, oddly, the crows) even as resources evaporate. Counter-intuitive, but it does make for spectacular visuals.
And the visuals are spectacular, because the art if fantastic. It's one reason my doubts about story structure haven't chased me away. Rook still has a way to go convince me this is a hero worth rooting for and a story worth telling, but I do like the art, and I'll be back for it next issue.
This is a preview for issue #2:
This week in Energon Universe:
VOID RIVALS #11
Elsewhere at Image:
NEMESIS: ROGUES GALLERY #1
REVIEW: I don't like Nemesis. Come to think of it, there's not much written by Mark Millar I do like.
But that's a different story. Let's talk about Nemesis, a character I haven't read since the first couple of issues of his first series at Marvel Icon in 2010.
I dropped Nemesis right away because I don't much care for stories where the protagonist is a bad guy, and never gets punished. Have I read too many superhero books for too many years? Maybe. But also, I have a sense of right and wrong. Of fairness. And a proper sense of disgust for things that are disgusting.
And Nemesis is disgusting. He's a murderous thug. Oh, a really smart one, an evil Batman who is always prepared and always thinks ahead and is really good at improvising, Bullseye-fashion, when he's in unforeseen circumstances. But still a thug who delights in the pain of others. Who thrills at hurting the innocent. Who enjoys being a terrible person.
Why on earth would I want to read about this guy? OK, maybe for about 20 minutes in my antisocial teenage phase. And it's transgressive, like The Boys.
But unlike The Boys, there's nothing redeeming about Nemesis' story, no hope for a good outcome despite flawed protagonists, no Hughie to empathize with. It's like Millar copied the shock value of Garth Ennis' work, but not the subtext that helps the reader wince past the gore and amorality in the hope of something better on the next page. The sizzle, in other words, without the steak.
So I find it disgusting when Nemesis has a man who has been kind to him blinded just for the heck of it. Who blows up the hospital that kept him alive after the events of the last series left him a quadriplegic. (He gets better). And so on. He's cruel for the sake of it, vicious as a matter of course. And he's never going to get his comeuppance.
And that repels me. I can't speak for everyone, but Nemesis isn't for me.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: THE CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON LIVES! #4
REVIEW: In my review of the first issue, I noted that there were no characters from, or references to, the three 1950s Gillman movies from Universal. But the second issue introduced such a character: Dr. Edwin Thompson, played by character actor Whit Bissell in the original Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). It doesn't change this story much, but it does tie the miniseries directly to the old movies.
The protagonist is a female reporter, flipping the script on the original movies by having the Creature's object of desire be a character of agency, rather than a passive victim. And she's never in a swimsuit! (Although she is attractive. This is a comic book, after all.) Anyway, our hero is after a serial killer she's pursued from the U.S. to Brazil. The killer, who is training Narcotrafficantes, likes to drown his victims, because he has a fixation on the Creature, whom he's pursuing. (As is Dr. Thompson.) It all converges in this issue, with an ending that left me satisfied. I won't spoil it any further than that, but the HC of this one is going up on the shelf next to Universal Monsters: Dracula.
Next up: Universal Monsters: Frankenstein!
THE SACRIFICERS #10: Guest artist André Lima Araújo (A Righteous Thirst for Vengeance) steps in for the next story arc. It starts here.
SPAWN KILLS EVERY SPAWN #1: How original.
SUPERMASSIVE 2024 ONE-SHOT is a 50-page crossover event in a universe I haven't sampled.
DARK HORSE
MOEBIUS LIBRARY: THE MAJOR HC
REVIEW: When I was a kid, I'd read European stuff in Heavy Metal and other places with dizzy wonder. Mobius. Druillet. Jodorowsky. Most of it seemed to be nonsense, but obviously, my young brain told me, I just didn't understand it. Not only was it grown-up stuff, but it was European grown-up stuff. Clearly it was too ffar above my unread, uneducated, inexperienced mind.
And, truth be told, there were literary allusions, movie references, metaphors and such in some of it (especially Jodorowsky) that I was too young to catch.
But sometimes silly nonsense is just that: silly nonsense. Such is the case with The Major.
The foreword says such, in so many words: "The following story (or rather, one might say this non-story) was created over a ten-year period of total dramatic and joyful improvisation, alternately concerned with meaning, then suddenly quite cavalier and and anarchistic. The production was unstructured."
Unstructured = no story. Just pictures. And not professionally polished pictures, in many cases. The Baron walks through rooms with stuff Mobius just wanted to doodle. Odd wall hangings, strange creatures. Silly nonsense.
Which is great if you like silly nonsense, especially silly nonsense by Mobius. And who am I to condemn silly nonsense? I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, precisely for its juxtaposition of high myth and silly nonsense.
But this isn't that. It's just "cavalier and anarchistic." Maybe that's your cup of tea, and if so, have at it with my support. For my part, I was really looking forward to The Major, and was pretty disappointed.
SKINNER HC
REVIEW: I don't watch reality shows. I also don't hang around social media much. Too much narcissism, too many people with no talent pretending to be important, too much of the worst of humanity.
Well, here's a book featuring reality-show stars. And I love it!
For one thing, not many of them live long enough to irritate me. For another, most of them get killed in really satisfying ways.
Also, this a great ghost story. Well, in a cross between Yellowjackets and Alien kind of way. And the ghost is not only real, but pretty interesting. In a lethal, blood-drenched, terrifying way, I mean. Is "Skinner" an actual myth? Are there cryptid-hunters talking about him? I don't know, and it doesn't matter to the people in this story either, because he's real enough for them. And for the reader, who is given to understand the metaphysical mechanics well enough and early enough that it's the slasher version of a fair-play mystery. You're given all the information about your opponent that you need. Now, would you survive?
Would anyone? Especially celebrity reality stars? You'll have to read it to find out. And I recommend that you do. Great story, decent art, terrifying climax. What more do you need?
IDW PUBLISHING
STAR TREK: DEFIANT #17 starts a new story arc.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2024) #1 is written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Joelle Jones, which is almost enough to get me interested in the turtles. Almost.
The premise here is that the four have separated, but will be pulled back together by, you know, bad stuff. The first issue stars Raphael, who is in jail for some reason. I expect the next three issues to star each of the other three, and then for them to re-group in issue #5 or 6.
DYNAMITE
GARGOYLES QUEST #3
VALIANT
DARQUE’S SOULSIDE #1 (OF 2): "Road to Resurgence." Explores evil twins Nicodema and Sandria Darque.
ETERNAL WARRIORS: LAST RIDE OF THE IMMORTALS #1 (OF 2): "Road to Resurgence." Teams up the immortal Anni-Padda clan. I knew of Ivar the Time-Walker, Aram Armstrong and Gilad the Eternal Warrior, but apparently there's now a fourth, a sister: Vexana the War-Monger.
MORE COMICS
ADDICTION DEATH OF YOUR LIFE #1 (OF 3): A doctor who helps recovering addicts is shot up with a cocktail of drugs by a drug cartel to kill her, which instead gives her the power to drug people with a touch. She wants to shut down the cartel, and they want her blood to find out how her power works. It's published by the appropriately named Addiction Comics.
ALPHA BETAS #1 (OF 4): A trio of gamers find themselves caught in a cyberwar between the U.S. and a digital terrorist in virtual reality. Having grown up in a pre-computer world, I find these sorts of couch-potato wish-fulfillment stories a bit silly. But it's probably exciting to These Kids Today™.
ASTROBOTS #1 (OF 5): Based on the toy line. (Massive Select)
BETRAYAL OF THE MIND: THE SURREAL LIFE OF UNICA ZURN GN: A biographical GN about the Surrealist artist and noted schizophrenic. (Humanoids)
BIG BURN #1: A Bonnie-and-Clyde-ish duo in the near future sell their souls to the devil to escape earthly justice. But with their love now gone with their souls, they recruit an Ocean's 11-type team to steal their souls back from Hell. It's an interesting premise, and could be good if written well. (DSTLRY Media)
CARBON & SILICON GN: "Two androids crisscross the planet for centuries in search of themselves and each other while civilization crumbles around them." I've mentioned this before, but if all the humans die in a given story, I tend to lose interest in whatever robot or elf or talking dolphin remains. Someday somebody may write a story that changes my mind, but so far I tend to tune these depressing stories out, which should be 8-pagers in '70s Warren magazines. (Magnetic Press)
CONAN BARBARIAN #13
CRYPTID CLUB VOL 4: YOU DON’T KNOW JACKALOPE GN: Ahoy Comics alert!
DICK TRACY #3: Dick Tracy alert!
DUNE BOOK 3: THE PROPHET GN (Abrams): This brings the first novel to a close. I have the first two GNs and have read them. I find the story, as ever, fascinating. But the art is kinda boring. I'll get it anyway.
EC EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 (OF 5): Oni's attempt to re-create the quality of EC Comics is here. I am honestly too cynical to believe they can succeed, but some tiny part of my soul retains a flame of hope that they will.
FLASH GORDON #1: I am thrilled to see foundational concepts like Flash Gordon get new life. But I have to wonder how it can be made interesting for a modern audience. Flash Gordon was boffo in the 1920s and '30s, but virtually every one of the exremely original elements that thrilled the audiences of yesteryear has been re-used, re-purposed and adapted. Heck, half of Star Wars is straight out of the Buster Crabbe serials. Flash Gordon has been virtually absorbed into the DNA of fantasy and sci-fi by now. So how can any of it seem fresh and interesting to These Kids Today™?
FREEDOM SHALL PREVAIL (PM Press): "is the first graphic novel exploring the life and struggle of Abdullah Öcalan, affectionately known as 'Apo.' Öcalan led the Kurdish freedom struggle as the head of the PKK from its foundation in 1978 until his abduction by the Turkish state in 1999."
I have never heard of this guy, but I have no doubt there are many of his stature on both sides of the Turkish-Kurdish blood feud. I'm sure they are important to the people involved in that fight.
I also don't think it matters a bit. The Turks and the Kurds have been going at it for quite a while, but their battle is a sideshow to, or is maybe subsumed by, much bigger quarrels. Sunni (Kurds) vs. Shiite (Turks) Muslim, for example. Turkey vs. Greece. Ukraine vs. Russia. East vs. West. NATO vs. Russia. China vs. everybody. As you zoom back, the battle gets bigger and bigger, and "Turk vs. Kurd" becomes a sideshow.
Somehow or other, the Turk vs. Kurd fight will end. But however it does, I don't think anybody's going to remember it.
GREASER: GEMINI BLUES #1: Thunder Road in the future. (Magma Comix)
LADY SATANUS: SINISTER URGE #1 ONE-SHOT (Coffin Comics): A lot of "fan service," I imagine.
MAN GOAT & BUNNYMAN: BEWARE THE PIGMAN #1 (OF 3) (Zenescope): Ibid.
MY NAME IS ZERO VOL 1 GN
NEXUS NEWSPAPER STRIPS VOL 2 #5 (OF 5) BATTLE FOR THUNEWORLD: Comic-strip collectors' alert!
PROJECT CRYPTID #11: Ahoy Comics alert!
PUTTY PYGMALION GN (Silver Sprocket): A queer take on the Pygmalion myth. Here's a PREVIEW.
RAMGOD #1 (OF 6): In the future, a former athlete and ex-cop competes in "the most dangerous sport," which is not described. There's also some folderol about the athlete re-connecting with his son. I expect some Rollerball vibes. Or, this being the 21st century, maybe it's Rollerball in cyberspace. Putting "cyber" in front of any word makes it COOL! (Massive)
RIVERS OF LONDON STRAY CAT BLUES #3 (OF 4)
SEARCH AND DESTROY VOL 1 TP (Fantagraphics): I get tired of trying to describe books like this.
TUNIS TO SYDNEY TP (Fairsquare Comics): "Dive into a poignant graphic novel that delves into the labyrinth of grief, resilience in the face of loss, and the complexities of human relationships." If that's your bag.
U.S. COMICS AMERICA VOL 1 TP (Kingstone): English separatists to Yorktown. Educational.
U.S. COMICS STARS & STRIPES ONE-SHOT (Kingstone): History of the flag. Educational.
U.S. COMICS US CONSTITUTION TP (Kingstone): History of the document we're about to lose. Educational.
WINNIE THE POOH: DEMON HUNTER #1 (OF 4) (Antarctic Press): They've already made a movie along these lines, haven't they? Wasn't interested in that, either.
Replies
I'm not sure why Marvel would want to resurrect this title [NYX]. The original, which arrived in 2003...
Could it be that "generational" thing? I'm not familiar with any of the creators. Could it be they have warm fuzzies for this title from their youth?
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS: I am looking forward to this series (and next month's Cruel Universe) if fo no other reason than they have chosen not to resurrect old EC titles. That decision gives me hope that Oni Press is attempting to move the EC brand forward rather than immitate the past.
FLASH GORDON: I played by the rules of FCBD and picked up only five comics from my back-up LCS, but I wish now I hould have broken the rules and picked up the sixth, Flash Gordon, that I had my eye on. At least then I'd have some idea what to expect. I'm not as hopeful for Flash as I am for Epitaphs, however.
I have no recollection of there being an NYX title at all.I thought it was something new they'd come up with.
You don't remember the discussion of the image of her sitting on a toilet with a pacifier around her neck?
No, I definitely do NOT remember that one.
Perhaps you repressed it.
I'm not sure why Marvel would want to resurrect this title [NYX]. The original, which arrived in 2003...
It's 20 years. Possibly trademark fears?
I look forward for NYX mainly because I think that X-23 is an interesting character, but like many other of my favorite mutants she develops better outside books whose remit is to be about mutants. Never read any previous Nyx, but it strikes me as more of a street-level book, and that plays to my tastes. Also, Kamala interacting with Laura might be interesting. After the last few years I can do with less perception that everything is and should be about the Grand Plan of the Mutant Cause.
Hopefully that will help in discouraging further characterization of Laura as a "backup Wolverine". I don't understand why anyone would think that it is a good idea for her to allow (or a few years ago, apparently choose) to further dillute her hard-earned sense of identity.
About Nemesis - yes, the book and the character are both repulsive. There is very little danger of Mark Millar ever becoming a favorite writer of mine. His stories are usually depressing in all the wrong ways, and seem to want me to root for the most brutal and repulsive characters for reasons that I can't even guess.
From what I have read, this second "Nice House" series uses the same global situation of the previous one, but has a very different character dynamic at least at first. I am definitely following.
"Rivers of London" is apparently a fiction series - from TV, IIRC. It seems to have made some impact as a franchise for other media, including RPGs.
Flash Gordon is of course far less unique today than he was up until the mid-1970s. I still wish we had more stories about him; I suppose I have fond memories of the Dan Barry Sunday strips and that may make me biased.
I have watched "Pooh: Blood and Honey". In that movie he (and Piglet) are straight up villains and are entirely mute. This Antarctic Press book will not necessarily be good or even better than the movie, but odds are that it will be different.
I was hoping for your thoughts on NYX, Luis. Looking through your lens, it sounds a lot more interesting than my initial impression.
NYX, it turns out, has little to do with X-23 at least in this first issue.
This is indeed a street-level book, but with a very different tone from that of the previous "NYX" books. X-23 is in both, and the action is in New York, but that is all. X-23 herself is a very different character now, and in any case the main character is clearly Kamala Khan. I would even describe this as the current Ms. Marvel book, only with a good assortment of mutants added to its supporting cast and plots revolving around the challenges of being a mutant living among humans in a post-Krakoa world.
As with other books of this early Brevoort phase, it is something of a slow burn with healthy amounts of exposition and characterization for easing readers into the overall situation. I like what I see of the character dynamics, and there are plenty of interesting questions presented.
Recommended for Kamala fans. The tone matches her previous books well and plays to her strengths. I expect but do not know that the focus on her will hold for the remaining run, but it is clear that we will have some plots revolving around Sophie Cucko as well.