so caravan palace released a song called reverse recently (and I felt obligated to draw him)

(this is a style test btw, how do we feel about it?)

off the rack #1151

Monday, February 13, 2017

 Ottawa got about 20 centimetres of snow in the last 24 hours. I heard the grader go by at about 2 AM and I was out there before 5 AM clearing the near meter high snow bank plugging our driveway so that Penny could leave. I should have been more careful. Forgot that it's the thirteenth. Went to throw a big shovelful of snow and my back seized so bad the pain put me on my knees. I was a little over half done then. Did the rest very slowly in a lot of pain and managed to get it all cleared away. Stupid back.

 Kingpin #1 - Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Ben Torres (art) Jordan Boyd (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). I almost didn't take this book off the rack to read because the Civil War II: Kingpin mini didn't thrill me. I'm glad I had a change of heart and read this. Here is a Wilson Fisk trying to change the public's perception of him as a brutal crime lord. Matthew makes him more like the sympathetic character that was on the first season of Netflix's Daredevil TV show. That portrayal by Vincent D'Onofrio was very convincing. There is a scene next to a town car in this issue that flashed me back to the show where the Kingpin kills someone with a car door. The other main character is a beautiful writer who Wilson wants to hire to write his biography. Ben's art is really good, and he drew Sarah in a red haute couture gown that made me weak in the knees. This is being added to my "must read" list.

 Justice League of America #1 - Steve Orlando (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Joe Prado & Oclair Albert (inks) Marcelo Maiolo (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). I almost didn't take this book off the rack to read because Steve did not impress me with the Monsters story in Batman and Detective recently. I gave him another chance and I'm sorry I did. I don't like this team that Batman is putting together. His reason for gathering these characters is to show that a team of super humans can protect the Earth just as well as the other League that has a couple of gods on it. I get that but Steve belabours the point. Some fans might think it's cool to have Killer Frost, Black Canary, Lobo, the Asian Atom, the Ray and Vixen on a team but I think it's a stunt to create conflict within this team for drama. I'm taking a pass on this for now.

 Death Be Damned #1 - Ben Acker, Ben Blacker & Andrew Miller (writers) Hannah Christenson (art) Juan Useche (colours) Colin Bell (letters). The title should give you a clue to what this 4-issue mini is about. We're looking at some frontier folks what can't die. It's 1873 in Wyoming and a farmer's wife is looking for the men who killed her and her family. She doesn't realize that she can't be killed, but the undertaker finds out soon enough. This isn't simply a story of revenge however. There is some Native American Indian lore and rituals involved that makes for some spooky goings on. I found the art to be crude but serviceable so if you like old west ghost stories this may raise the hairs on your arms.

 Ms. Marvel #15 - G. Willow Wilson (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Ian Herring (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). This Troll villain just got a lot more interesting. Kamala thought she found the hacker that could expose her secret identity but she was wrong. I can't wait for the next issue.

 Wonder Woman #16 - Greg Rucka (writer) Bilquis Evely (pencils) Bilquis Evely, Mark Morales, Andrew Hennessy & Raul Fernandez (inks) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Jodi Wynne (letters). A new story starts this issue. "Godwatch" starts six months after Diana left Themyscira with a corporate C.E.O. being blackmailed by Gemini twins Phobos and Deimos. The C.E.O. Veronica Cale reminds me of the old Lex Luthor. Some high tech mind melding machine goes haywire and off we go.

 Moonshine #5 - Brian Azzarello (writer) Eduardo Risso (art & colours) Cristian Rossi (colour assistant) Jared K. Fletcher (letters). There's a full moon. Let the werewolves out.

 Black Widow # 11 - Chris Samnee & Mark Waid (writers) Chris Samnee (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). A S.H.I.E.L.D. facility is under attack by the Red Room Runts and Natasha makes it her mission to stop them and try to save the girls at the same time. There are some cool fights scenes in here.

 Detective Comics #950 - James Tynion IV (writer) Marcio Takara (art) Dean White (colours) Marilyn Patrizio (letters). This giant sized anniversary issue starts off with the prologue to "League of Shadows" which features Cassandra Cain, my favourite Batgirl, who is now called Orphan. The last page made me happy we only have to wait two weeks before the next issue hits the racks. In "Higher Powers" by James Tynion IV (writer) Alvaro Martinez (pencils) Raul Fernandez (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Marilyn Patrizio (letters), Azrael and Batwing have a discussion about the power of faith and Jean-Paul's connection to the Order of Dumas. It ends with the activation of Ascalon and I'm itching to find out more about this new character. The final short by James Tynion IV (writer) Eddy Barrows (pencils) Eber Ferreira (inks) Adriano Lucas (colours) Marilyn Patrizio (letters), flashes back a few months ago to show Red Robin asking Batman what he's gearing everyone up for. This ties into what Batman is up to with his Justice League of America as well as his Detective Comics team. The big DC event of 2017 will be "Dark Days" so don't miss it.

 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #4 - Kieron Gillen (writer) Kev Walker (pencils) Marc Deering (inks) Antonio Fabela (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). That was a quick read. Lots of explosions and storm troopers shooting and missing.

 Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14 - Robert Venditti (writer) Rafa Sandoval (pencils) Jordi Tarragona (inks) Tomeu Morey (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). This issue has one of my pet peeves about comic books. One of the covers has Hal yelling at a Blue Lantern "You crazy fool. Your abuse of blue power destroyed every person on Earth". So a fan would see that and think "I want to read that comic book", only to find that the story inside is totally different. I hate that. Plus it's Kevin Nowlan swiping a Gil Kane cover. It's not even original. This issue is still worth reading though. The Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps are joining forces so that's new. Kyle and Hal are sent on a mission by Ganthet and that's where the Blue Lantern comes in. Just ignore the hype.

 Totally Awesome Hulk #16 - Greg Pak (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Nolan Woodward (colours) Cory Petit (letters). I like this impromptu team that Amadeus has found himself in. The alien invasion takes a turn for the worse as they are whisked away into space along with some civilians. If you know what Soylent Green is you'll know what the threat is.

 Action Comics #973 - Dan Jurgens (writer) Patch Zircher & Stephen Segovia (pencils) Patch Zircher & Art Thibert (inks) Arif Prianto (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). I love a good mystery and now they are going to solve the one about the human Clark Kent. Part 1 of "Mild Mannered" has Lois Lane on the case. Meanwhile, Superman and Steel try to save Superwoman/Lana Lang's life. There's plenty going on to keep this book interesting.

 Jessica Jones #5 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Michael Gaydos (art) Matt Hollingsworth (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Whoa, what an existential issue. I'm glad to see us getting back to the Alison Greene mystery woman storyline though.

 Guardians of the Galaxy #17 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Richard Isanove (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Gamora grounded is an opportunity to show what she's got. Here she tries to break into the Triskelion to get at Thanos. She's sort of successful. I love the way Valerio draws Sasquatch.

 Inhumans vs. X-Men #4 - Jeff Lemire & Charles Soule (writers) Javier Garron (art) David Curiel (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). So Gorgon isn't in a wheelchair anymore? One of the things I love about reading these massive crossover events is learning about characters that I don't read about all the time. This issue made me appreciate how Jeff and Charles take the time to use the names of each character and show their super powers. They also gave the unfamiliar characters (at least to me) personalities that made them more interesting. This came close to making me want to read Inhumans and X-Men comic books again. We know that both teams survive this was because they are already promoting new books for them so now I just want to find out how they all get along or don't.

 All New Wolverine #17 - Tom Taylor (writer) Djibril Morissette-Phan (art) Michael Garland (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Did you see who's going to be in Hugh Jackman's last Wolverine movie? It's Laura Kinney/X-23, our girl right here. I'm actually excited right now. This issue tackles the problem of Laura's uncontrollable killing sprees brought on by a special pheromone. It's used when her enemies want her to eliminate their rivals. Kimura used it recently but Laura's friends arrived to save her from killing. I would have benched this book because of the art but Tom's writing made it possible for me to enjoy this issue anyways.

 Unworthy Thor #4 - Jason Aaron (writer) Olivier Coipel with Kim Jacinto (present day art) Frazer Irving (Young Thor art) Esad Ribic (Worthy Thor art) Russell Dauterman (Unworthy Thor art) Matthew Wilson, Matt Milla &  Frazer Irving (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). I loved the flashbacks showing the Odinson's history with Mjolnir as he struggles to retrieve Jarnbjorn from the Collector's collection. I can't wait to see if Jason makes the Odinson worthy of wielding a hammer again.