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gokinjeespot · 3 years

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off the rack #1315

Monday, March 1, 2021

Hi folks. Long time no write.

I have been mostly isolating at home during the pandemic trying to keep myself and my family safe from Covid-19. I do go out and walk around our neighbourhood to get fresh air and exercise. I don't wear a mask outdoors like I do when I absolutely have to go into somewhere other people will be, like the drug store or my dentist's office. I get anxious when people come too close to me masked or not, but I also get angry when there is plenty of space to keep a safe distance and people don't move away. I have verbally admonished someone for being too close but have decided that I will keep my big mouth shut from now on and just get away from them myself. I don't know if I can keep my trap shut if I was confronted by the guy my brother did at work. This young guy came into the liquor store wearing a mask with a swastika on it. That would make me very angry. Angry enough to confront him? I don't know. I would like to be brave enough to ask him "are you for real with that mask?". Or "are you a Nazi?"…"you know the Nazis lost, right?". My brother would not serve him. It could have been worse though. That racist could have gone through his check-out without that ugly symbol on his mask and he wouldn't have known he was serving a bigot. I think it's better when you see them coming.

My thanks to Doug for lending me his comic books to read.

Daredevil #26 - Chip Zdarsky (writer) Marco Checchetto (art) with Mike Hawthorne (pencils) Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Marcio Menyz (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). This book may have been put into Doug's sub my mistake but it gave me a chance to catch up with what's happening with the Man Without Fear. This is part 1 of "The Black Kitchen" which ties into Marvel's "King in Black" mega event. Knull is now on Earth and is wreaking havoc. Kinda reminds me of the "Maximum Carnage" event back when I was reading on the regular. Here we have Venom symbiotes running amok in Hell's Kitchen. What I found interesting was the current situations of the main characters. Matt is in prison after being convicted of murder. He can still wear his mask to conceal his secret identity inside. Not true to life but hey, it's comic books. Elektra is now protecting Matt's turf as Daredevil and she's got super scary horns. Wilson Fisk is still mayor with Typhoid Mary as his head of security now. The big shocking ending is that symbiotes get into the prison and one bonds with Matt. Another symbiote bonds with Mary and she attacks Elektra. This sets up overwhelming odds for the good guys as any good comic book will do. Stay tuned.

Action Comics #1028 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Bendis closes out his run on this title with so much schmaltz you're going to need a shovel to get through it. Jimmy Olsen is the new owner of the Daily Planet. What the nique? Conner Kent goes to the farm team. Jonathan Kent goes back to the future and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I don't know if a new art team is going to come on board but I sure hope so.

Detective Comics #1033 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Brad Walker (pencils) Andrew Hennessy (inks) Dave McCaig (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). The art on the first page with Batman and Robin tumbling in the foreground with flashback panels behind gave me goosebumps. It's why I will always love reading comic books. Batman beats Hush by giving him a good old fashioned beat down. The rest of the Bat Family is saved and Bruce can take a breather. Now that the Wayne fortune is lost to him I'm curious to see where Bruce ends up after he moves out of the mansion.

Batman/Catwoman #2 - Tom King (writer) Clay Mann (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). The jumping back and forth in time is a little confusing for me but I really like this Black Label story. The relationship between these lovers is more than complicated especially where the Joker is involved.

DC kicks off 2021 with a plethora of comic books taking their characters 10 years into the future with their "Future State" event. Doug decided to check out the following.

Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1 - Mark Russell (writer) Steve Pugh (art) Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colours) Carlos M. Mangual (letters). The story opens with a meeting of the United Planets inner circle. They are debating the inclusion of the planet Lexor which is lorded over by Lex Luthor, the supreme anal pore that we all know and loathe. Lois Lane is Earth's representative and she votes to reject Lexor's membership until Superman lobbies to allow his arch foe's planet to join so that the poor inhabitants don't suffer from Lex's villainous ways. It's a morality tale of Unity, Progress and Compassion.

Future State: Robin Eternal #1 - Meghan Fitzmartin (writer) Eddy Barrows (pencils) Eber Ferreira (inks) Adriano Lucas (colours) Pat Brosseau (letters). In this future Gotham City the Bat Family has been decimated. Bruce is dead, Dick is in Arkham and Jason now works for the law enforcement agency that killed Batman. No mention of where Damian is. I have a feeling that the son of Bruce will show up later as a big surprise. Tim's the last man standing and he's vowed to continue the tradition of keeping Gotham safe. Too bad he doesn't live long fighting against the super cybers. The last panel reveals why this book is called Robin Eternal. Hint: the Lazarus Pits are involved.

Superman: Worlds of War #1 - This $7.99 US anthology of four stories starts off on Earth and ends up on Warworld.

"The Many Lives of Clark Kent" by Phillip Kennedy Johnson (writer) Mikel Janin (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) is my favourite one simply because I loved the art so much. This is where we find out why Superman is missing from Earth.

"Time and Effect" by Brandon Easton (writer) Valentine De Landro (art) Marissa Louise (colours) & Dave Sharpe (letters) features the new Mister Miracle poking around Warworld. Why? We don't know. Guess we'll find out if we keep reading.

"Midnighter: Future State" by Becky Cloonan & Michael W. Conrad (writers) Gleb Melnikov (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Travis Lanham (letters) has Midnighter running around creating a bloody mess everywhere. It could have just as easily been Lobo or Wolverine in this piece.

Finally "Do Not Go Gently" by Jeremy Adams (writer) Siyam Oum (art) Hi-Fi (colours) Gabriela Downie (letters) features the new Black Racer trying to free the slave labour on Warworld. Unless you're a Jack Kirby Forever People fan you wouldn't care.

As a fan of Mikel Janin's art I would have felt ripped off having to pay for the three fillers in this comic book just to have his work in my collection.

Future State: Catwoman #1 - Ram V (writer) Otto Schmidt (art) Tom Napolitano (letters). Selina is still Catwoman ten years down the line as she attempts to rescue Gotham City citizens being transported to a reformatory by train. Similarities to Nazi behaviour is an easy way to make the bad guys evil. All the previous Batman related Future State books say that Batman is dead but this one has a surprise at the end. Hey, it's Bruce in shackles.

Future State: Dark Detective #1 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This title blows the whole Bruce/Batman is dead plot device clear out of the water. I can see why the bad guys controlling Gotham City wants the populace to think that, but how are they going to keep up the charade when Batman is clearly running around fighting crime? I like that Batman has lost the cape in this one. This $5.99 US book has a back-up story by Matthew Rosenberg (writer) Carmine Di Giandomenico (art) Antonio Fabela (colours) & AndWorld Design (letters) that I liked even more than the feature. It follows Cole Cash AKA Grifter as he tries to dodge the law. He gets arrested and meets up with Luke Fox AKA Batwing and a whole lot of fun ensues. The Huntress showing up at the end makes this more appealing.

Future State: Dark Detective #2 - Mariko Tamaki (writer) Dan Mora (art) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Aditya Bidikar (letters). This issue explains how Bruce Wayne/Batman "dies" and how Bruce continues to fight crime. I was disappointed that the back-up story didn't follow up on Grifter and Huntress but was a different story about Jason Todd/the Red Hood now working for the bad guys as a bounty hunter capturing masked vigilantes. It starts with him bringing in the Vigilante and ends with him teaming up with a ruthless Ravager to stop an old school Red Hood gang leader stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Rose has no qualms about killing their bounties but Jason brings them in alive, that's why their nickname is "dead or alive". Har. I like Jason's Akira bike.

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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For the week of 12 August 2019

Quick Bits:

Absolute Carnage: Scream #1 begins a three-issue tie-in to the larger “Absolute Carnage” event, from Cullen Bunn, Gerardo Sandoval, Victor Nava, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit. It spotlights a trio of former symbiote hosts, including the titular Scream herself, who was dead. It’s interesting to see the length that Carnage’s influence can have as he tries to prepare the world for Knull.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety #1 is a one-shot dealing with the other four symbiotes that resulted from the same experiment as Scream from Clay McLeod Chapman, Brian Level, Jordan Boyd, and Travis Lanham. Regardless of whether or not you’re reading the broader event, or know anything about the symbiotes’ history, this is a damn good horror story. It focuses on a family going through the nightmares of a separation and what happens when another horror is brought in from outside. The artwork from Level and Boyd is perfect and terrifying.

| Published by Marvel

Age of Conan: Valeria #1 begins the next Age of Conan mini-series focusing on the wider world of characters in Conan’s canon, from Meredith Finch, Aneke, Andy Troy, and Travis Lanham. This one expands on Valeria, from the Howard novella “Red Nails”, giving her a backstory and quest in finding her brother’s murderer.

| Published by Marvel

Analog #7 somehow manages to up the level of intrigue further as seemingly everyone alive that knows Jack tries to kill him, while Sam and Oona try to get more information on Oppenheimer. Great action scenes with the usual amount of black humour here from Gerry Duggan, David O’Sullivan, Mike Spicer, and Joe Sabino.

| Published by Image

Batman: Universe #2 continues reprinting the previously Walmart-exclusive story by Brian Michael Bendis, Nick Derington, Dave Stewart, and Josh Reed. It’s great. The humour is a wonderful touch amid a bevy of so many dark and grim Batman stories out there right now and the art from Derington and Stewart is amazing.

| Published by DC Comics

Batman & The Outsiders #4 is mostly a tale of preparation as both sides gather themselves and get ready for confrontation. It’s somewhat disturbing as to how easily and quickly Sofia has fallen under Ra’s al Ghul’s influence. Great art from Dexter Soy and Veronica Gandini.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Hammer/Justice League: Hammer of Justice #2 continues this wonderful crossover from Jeff Lemire, Michael Walsh, and Nate Piekos. There’s something very compelling about a Bruce Wayne who can’t stop being Batman even in a world where there’s seemingly no crime and disturbingly hilarious when Gail flirts with Aquaman.

| Published by Dark Horse & DC Comics

Captain Marvel #9 broadens the mystery in part two of “Falling Star” as Carol tries to track down Dr. Minerva and find out what’s going wrong with her powers. The conspiracy and secrets that Kelly Thompson is seeding into the story are wonderful.

| Published by Marvel

Catwoman #14 begins “Hermosa Heat” from Ram V, Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, and Saida Temofonte. It sets up a heist that pegs Catwoman as a number one target for assassination from a united group of crime families and it’s a great start. Nice use of a number of DC’s villains and gorgeous artwork from Andolfo and Prianto.

| Published by DC Comics

Collapser #2 continues the brilliant madness from Mikey Way, Shaun Simon, Ilias Kyriazis, Cris Peter, and Simon Bowland. This issue tries to explain away Liam’s problems as schizophrenic hallucinations to disastrous results.

| Published by DC Comics / Young Animal

Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins Series II #2 continues the quest to rescue Grog as Pike joins the party. The artwork from Olivia Samson and Msassyk is gorgeous. Especially the undead action scenes. Jody Houser again captures a lot of the humour and fun of the voice actors’ characters here.

| Published by Dark Horse

Detective Comics #1009 kicks off a pretty interesting predicament for Bruce in this airplane crash tale from Peter J. Tomasi, Christian Duce, Luis Guerrero, and Rob Leigh. It’s good to see Deadshot again and you’ve got to wonder who he was targeting among these businessmen.

| Published by DC Comics

Elephantmen 2261: The Pentalion Job #4 concludes this series in a rather interesting way. Definitely not what you’d expect. Wonderful art from Alex Medellin.

| Published by Comicraft

Event Leviathan #3 spends its time telling us why the Red Hood isn’t Leviathan while expertly evading the assembled detectives. Interesting that he outsmarts Batman and Robin here, let alone the rest of them. You’d think that this rather measured, slow pace of unveiling the mystery and telling the story would possibly be frustrating or boring, but it’s not. It doesn’t feel like a point extended and belaboured in usual decompressed stories, but rather natural elimination of suspects and events. It also helps that Alex Maleev's art is phenomenal and there are some genuinely hilarious zingers from Brian Michael Bendis.

| Published by DC Comics

Fantastic Four #13 concludes the Hulk vs. Thing fight. The artwork from Sean Izaakse and Marcio Menyz is phenomenal. Beautiful layouts, incredible action, and stunning colour work.

| Published by Marvel

The Flash #76 gives us part one of “The Death of the Speed Force” as it picks up on the previous threads of the new forces and attempts to start putting the family back together. Great art from Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Tomeu Morey.

| Published by DC Comics

Ghosted in LA #2 is a bit of a weird one. The banter with the ghosts is wonderful, the art from Siobhan Keenan and Cathy Le is perfect, but how the story deals with a negging asshole is very odd. Especially as Daphne is then later castigated for bringing a guy back home, effectively breaking one of the terms of her staying at the house true, but he was prepared to rape her. It’s just...odd. Seems to be blaming the victim, framing them as her bad decisions in reacting to her ex seeing someone else, rather than anything else.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

Gideon Falls #16 takes a huge step with Norton, as he arrives in the farm town reality of Gideon Falls, and is essentially identified as Clara’s missing brother, Danny. It’s a very emotional issue from Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands, even as it gets even more disturbing.

| Published by Image

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1 is the very entertaining, funny debut of this new mini from Leah Williams, David Baldeón, Jesus Aburtov, and Joe Caramagna. It’s basically memes and shitposts as Gwen tries to figure out how to get a superpower in order to stay relevant in the 616. It’s hilarious.

| Published by Marvel

Hawkman #15 continues Carter’s problems with the Shadow Thief as he seeks help from the Shade. I love revisiting anything from James Robinson’s tenure on Starman, so it’s good to see Shade. The art from Pat Olliffe and Tom Palmer is a bit scratchier and looser than usual, but it fits the darker, shadowy aspect of the story.

| Published by DC Comics

Invaders #8 continues “Dead in the Water” from Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice, Alex Guimarães, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Travis Lanham. This one explicitly lays out what’s wrong with Namor and it’s fairly tragic.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Odyssey #12 is the culmination of Darkseid’s plans from Dan Abnett, Will Conrad, Rain Beredo, and AndWorld Design. It’s bleak as it sets up Darkseid’s new Apokolis of Sepulkore, drastically changing some characters in the process. I don’t know how or if they’re going to get out of this.

| Published by DC Comics

The Life and Death of Toyo Harada #6 is an interesting “now here’s what really happened” ending for this series from Joshua Dysart, CAFU, Doug Braithwaite, Andrew Dalhouse, Diego Rodriguez, and Dave Sharpe. It’s interesting to see how Harada survived and his mindscape confrontation with the kinds of creatures that currently possess Angela.

| Published by Valiant

Loki #2 is even better than the first issue, building out a very interesting quandary as Loki tries to figure out who he is now beyond ruler of Jotunheim and “Thor’s brother”, as he contemplates a status as “god of nothing”. Daniel Kibblesmith, Oscar Bazaldua, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles lead us on a rather humorous journey with a very interesting cliffhanger.

| Published by Marvel

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #9 may be the strongest issue to date, which is saying a bit since this series has been solid since day one, as Miles’ dad and uncle stage a plan to rescue him. Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garrón, David Curiel, and Cory Petit deliver an emotionally rewarding tale, with some very impressive layouts and action, particularly as the rescue kicks off.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #18 continues the confrontation with the Faceless Men. It’s less than positive. It’s interesting how this has gone south faster than expected, developing the previously unseen rivals on Oblivion fairly quickly and in rather surprising ways. Robert Kirkman, Lorenzo De Felici, Annalisa Leoni, and Rus Wooton continue to regularly upend the status quo with each issue.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Once & Future #1 is a thoroughly excellent debut from Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Ed Dukeshire, blending offbeat characters, humour, and British folklore.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Outer Darkness #9 is another highly entertaining issue as the crew comes across a science station whose staff have been driven to murder one another. I’m still loving how John Layman, Afu Chan, and Pat Brosseau are playing with mixing different conventions of horror, sci-fi, and episodic storytelling to build this narrative.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Punisher Kill Krew #1 is another spin-off from War of the Realms, cleaning up loose ends from Malekith’s forces’ spree on Earth from Gerry Duggan, Juan Ferreyra, and Cory Petit. It’s bizarre and hilarious to see Frank Castle continuing on against monsters, but very entertaining. Also, Ferreyra’s art is gorgeous.

| Published by Marvel

Punk Mambo #5 concludes this series with a confrontation between Punk Mambo and Azaire. The artwork from Adam Gorham and José Villarrubia is gorgeous, with very impressive attention to the different loa.

| Published by Valiant

Reaver #2 expands upon the party, allowing them to bond a bit and develop the characters a bit more. Some things definitely don’t seem to be as they seem. More low magic fantasy fun from Justin Jordan, Rebekah Isaacs, Alex Guimarães, and Clayton Cowles.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Red Sonja #7 continues on from the shift in the Lord of Fools one-shot, with Bob Q providing line art, as Sonja tries to outthink and outmanoeuvre Dragan’s forces. It’s interesting to see the tactics involved here, especially as Dragan seems to be losing more and more sanity.

| Published by Dynamite

Road of Bones #4 is the disturbing end to what has been a brutal horror story from Rich Douek, Alex Cormack, and Justin Birch. It definitely makes you think about how far someone will go for survival and possibly even what lies they tell themselves in order to carry on.

| Published by IDW

Rumble #15 concludes the “Last Knight” arc in a very interesting way. Interesting bits about sacrifice and family, even as the void begins consuming all. Gorgeous artwork from David Rubín and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Image

Second Coming #2 continues to be an interesting mix of dark humour and social commentary as Sunstar continues to go horribly, horribly awry in try to teach Jesus how to be a superhero. Mark Russell, Richard Pace, Leonard Kirk, Andy Troy, and Rob Steen are telling a very interesting story here.

| Published by Ahoy

She Could Fly: The Lost Pilot #5 brings this second story to an end as Luna finds out what actually happened to the pilot. It’s actually surprisingly normal given all of the oddity that has taken place in these series. Great work from Christopher Cantwell, Martín Morazzo, Miroslav Mrva, and Clem Robins.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Silver Surfer: Black #3 gets a little bit trippier as Silver Surfer tries to help Ego with a little infection problem. The art from Tradd Moore and Dave Stewart is gorgeous.

| Published by Marvel

Sonata #3 reveals more of the planet’s secrets and the peoples’ various mythologies about it. It’s interesting to see two different groups of people lay claim to an individual place and incorporate it into their religion in a sci-fi/fantasy story. It’s somewhat similar to how divergent faiths lay claim to Jerusalem. Beautiful artwork from Brian Haberlin and Geirrod Van Dyke.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

Usagi Yojimbo #3 concludes the first arc published by IDW, “Bunraku”, and it’s damn good. It’s taken me a bit to get used to the series in colour, though Tom Luth is doing a great job, but the story and art from Stan Sakai have remained fantastic regardless.

| Published by IDW

The White Trees #1 is a very haunting, moody fantasy tale from Chip Zdarsky, Kris Anka, Matt Wilson, and Aditya Bidikar. The artwork is astoundingly beautiful as three parents, legends from a past war that seemingly fractured their friendship, search for their kidnapped children.

| Published by Image

Wonder Woman #76 sees a fair amount of reunions as Themyscira and Earth are bridged again allowing for passage. Very nice art from Lee Garbett and Romulo Fajardo Jr. Also, one killer of an ending.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Amazing Spider-Man #27, Conan the Barbarian: Exodus #1, Doctor Strange #17, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #11, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #10, Go Go Power Rangers #22, Gogor #4, Hit-Girl: Season 2 #7, House of Whispers #12, Infinity 8 #14, Immortal Hulk: Director’s Cut #1, Ironheart #9, James Bond: Origin #12, Joe Golem: Occult Detective - The Conjurors #4, Orphan Age #5, Powers of X #2, Sharkey: The Bounty Hunter #5, Silver Surfer: Prodigal Sun #1, Star Trek: Year Five #4, Star Wars: Target Vader #2, Star Wars Adventures Annual 2019, Sword Master #2, Symbiote Spider-Man #5, Titans: Burning Rage #1, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #47, Unearth #2, Unnatural #12, The Warning #10, Xena: Warrior Princess #5

Recommended Collections: Amazing Spider-Man: Hunted, Archie by Nick Spencer - Volume 1, Asgardians of the Galaxy - Volume 2: War of the Realms, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark - Volume 1, Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 1: The Final Gauntlet, Lightstep, Mr. & Mrs. X - Volume 2: Gambit and Rogue Forever, Ninja-K Deluxe Edition, Sideways - Volume 2: Rifts & Revelations, Sparrowhawk, TMNT: Urban Legends - Volume 2, Vampirella vs. Reanimator, War of the Realms, Xena - Volume 2: Mind Games

d. emerson eddy might be a vampire hunter.

#This Week in Comics

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