This week, I'm trying something new.
It's been a little difficult to keep up my weekly pull lists, if I'm being honest, due to their repetitive nature. It isn't that I don't like some of these comics, it's just that explaining where we're at with them week after week can be a little derivative, which kills my creativity. So here we are, continuing my weekly lists under a new, uh, theme? That's not quite right, it's been a long week, already. Click any of the links below to be taken to a specific section of my write-up, or just hit Continue Reading for the whole shebang! X of Swords Finale Reaction Reign of X Green Lantern by Meghan Hetrick Instagram Updates POC Spotlight Comics Women in Comics Comic Pulls for the Week!
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SSG Updates: Since I've Been AWOL11/27/2020
Hey, guys, it's been a while!
Life, the pandemic, the holidays, and general stress has gotten the best of me, recently, inspiring me to work on personal, unseen projects more than my blog. I don't mean to fall behind on my posts, especially with time on my hands, but it gets hard to keep up the same pull list format after a while--but more on that later. While I've been on a bit of a hiatus, there has been a lot going on in the nerd world! I've picked jsut a few topics to discuss, surrounding comics culture. Click the links to jump to a section, or continue reading for the whole segment! Yara Flor, Wonder Girl, on the CW! Grant Morrison's Coming Out Marvel Cancellations General Life and Blog Updates! (AKA: Since I've Been Gone) Stay Sweaty! Since I've Been Gone:
Last Week's Captain Marvel #23 was a great issue, but I chose not to write a review on it, as I did with #22. I feel like even casual readers of this site will understand my enthusiasm for the work Kelly Thompson is putting out, and Captain Marvel is no exception. That being said, issue #23 was admittedly more of a building-up issue than a serious finding-out-of-things issue, so it didn't feel as necessary to review it. There have been other great things, such as Bliss #4, that I could write about, but let's be honest. There's a lot going on in the world right now, and it's a bit difficult to focus, as it were. I'm already working on a pull list for the coming week, 11/18, but don't be surprised if my blurbs are less intensive than they might have been before. As the world continues to tumble through turmoil, I'll do my best to keep this site active. On that note, the last thing I posted since my Black Widow review about two weeks ago was a review on Excalibur #14, which came out this week. The issue was thrilling and a joy to read, and just as much of a joy to write about. Hopefully, inspiration willing, I'll be posting an update to my Magik read list soon, with more details on the issues she appears in. It's a lot of reading and a lot of research, so that one will take time, But over Election week, I almost entirely finished a Madelyne Pryor read list, as well! That one is close to being finished, and hopefully I'll get it posted soon enough. (UPDATE: here it is!) There's a lot of exciting things coming up in comics! Marvel is finished with Empyre, and moving swiftly along into the King in Black event, surrounding Donny Cates' universe of Knull, god of the symbiotes. However, Cates himself has teased Thanos' return meaning doom for Knull himself, and Thanos is coming back in December's Eternals #2, so things are looking pretty grim for the so-called goth lord. King in Black will take place across almost ALL Marvel titles, going well into 2021. Speaking of Donny Cates, his indie series Crossover premiered recently, so the sound of "advocates" across the country slobbering at the mere thought of Cates noticing they tweeted him about reading it. The story was cool, the main character pretty lame, and certainly nothing like the mind blowing, world bending material it was heavily marketed as being. I'll read a few issues, see if it goes anywhere interesting. I have to admit, though, Cates' continual, repeated use of DC characters juuuust under the line of having to acknowledge the creators is starting to get a little morally gross. One time is funny, but using them and their themes over ad over without crediting those who created them, or even saying their name outright, is a little shitty. Meanwhile, over at DC, they've announced Future State--the two month event that jumps readers presumable 15 years into the future of the DCU, to see what heroes and characters are like at that time. Some of the announcements don't seem too interesting to me personally, but you can bet I'll be reading Immortal Wonder Woman by Becky Cloonan and Jen Bartel! Bartel doesn't do interiors often at all, and with her gorgeous art, this is one you won't want to miss. Personal top-tier creator Joelle Jones has been tapped for the main Wonder Woman series in Future State, staring an all-new character, Yara Flor! Yara is apparently part of a long-lost Brazilian tribe of Amazons, and will take the mantle as well as her position on the Justice League. There's a few interesting notes about Yara, one being that her initial creation seems to have been for "5G," the mildly conspiratorial idea that DC comics was rebooting their universe again, New 52-style. If Yara was originally created for that new universe, is it safe to assume Future State as a whole is the scraps of what 5G would have been? Additionally, Yara is highly reminiscent of Stan Lee's Wonder Woman from the Just Imagine... series Lee did back in the early 2000's. If there was inspiration taken from Lee's Wonder Woman, I'd like to see some acknowledgement. Either way, this is a 2-issue comic with Joelle Jones writing and drawing, so I'll be reading it. Other than Diana and her protegees, Future State introduces a new Batman--theorized to be Luke Fox--and new Supermen: both John Kent and Conner Kent. Bruce and Clark are still around, doing old-man superhero things in their own books. Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage are tackling the Kara Zor-El Superwoman title, a team I can't say no to! A Harley Quinn book is there, as well, but I haven't decided if I'll be pulling that, yet. I'm primarily interested in seeing where Barbara Gordon and Pamela Isley end up, especially after both of their recent changes of character. While I haven't seen Babs confirmed in anything, yet, Ivy will most likely just be featured in the New Batman title, which includes Gotham City Sirens stories. Several of my favorite Indie series' are finishing or going on breaks, coming up soon. Faithless II has it's last issue coming out next week, Spy Island only has one more, Bliss is on break until February, and as usual, Saga is STILL on hiatus. But, Monstress returns with issue #31 in January, so that's good news! And finally, I'm still trying to get a podcast together. It was going to be a team effort, but as time goes on, I'm beginning to see it more and more as a solo process. In the meantime, I posted a review of the new Ghost Spider action figure earlier this week, which can be found here! Until later, stay safe, stay sane. It's been a long couple of weeks, hasn't it? Between pandemic and politics, there seems to be a never-ending stream of news and updates to keep up with, and most of it is no bueno. I've been a bit AWOL on my own site because of it, which I don't feel great about, admittedly. But the world continues to turn whether I update or not, even if that world is too-often at odds with itself. This week, albeit a very small comic book week for me personally, featured a comic that pulled me out of my funk of refreshing Twitter trends and reading all about the unfortunate state of American politics, and that was Excalibur #14. Written by Tini Howard with art by Phil Noto, Excalibur was shining beacon of beautiful things to enjoy, paired with thoughtful plotting that leaves the reader with plenty to mull over. Continue Reading for my review and discussion of my pick of the week: Excalibur #14! Keep an eye out for the line marking where spoilers start! To absolutely no one's surprise, Black Widow continues to amaze. The best, in my opinion, of writer Kelly Thompson's three comic releases this week, I can't resist discussing the many fantastic aspects of this team's monthly efforts. You can find my review for the first issue here, and the second issue here, if you care about reading those before this. Continue Reading for the third installment discussion! This one just gets better and better. As usual, spoilers ahead!
Click here for the latest update!
As a major fan of Guerrilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn video game, it was thrilling to hear that a comic based on it was in the works! Set in the amazing setting of the game, the HZD comic is meant to continue the story of the game's alternate future world, expanding on the story while still holding true to what made it such a success int he first place. If you're unfamiliar with the world of the Horizon Zero Dawn game this comic is based off of, don't sweat it! There's plenty of filler pages to give the reader all the pertinent information about this incredible world and its well thought out societies. It wasn't until the Free Comic Book Day bonus "zero issue" that I discovered this whole series is written by one of the writers from the original HZD game, Anne Toole. Toole was one member on a female-heavy team of story writers and world builders in charge of building the story and world of the game. I have full confidence in her ability to not only replicate the unique qualities of the HZD world, but to translate that elegantly into comic form. On the artistic side, the interiors of this series are handled by Ann Maulina. Maulina is an artist from Indonesia who specializes in game design and web comics, which makes her a perfect fit for this comic. With Anne Toole and Ann Maulina backing up an incredible already established universe, this is one mini-series you won't want to miss. In-article links are provided beyond the cut for navigation, as well as some fun reference pictures, so Continue Reading for the ongoing review! As this is a full review, SPOILERS AHEAD!
Happy November! I can hardly believe the year is coming to an end already. Needless to say, it's been a weird and wild one.
This week's comics are absolutely stellar, with only three DC, nine Marvel, and four independent publisher releases. Of those, two are from X of Swords, three are by Kelly Thompson, and two are from Black Label. I've done another trio of spotlights this week, showing off comic book representation! For the spotlight on people of color in comics, I'm discussing Grag Pak's Agents of Atlas, the first all-Asian superhero team! Then, after the reveal of Kate Pryde's bisexuality a few issues of Marauders ago, I'm discussing the sexuality of the X-Men, and how that changes through the years. Finally, with her three upstanding comic releases this week, I talk about writer Kelly Thompson, and how she chooses to be fresh with her characters without tearing them down or tormenting them first--something very common (and usually masculinity driven) in cape comics. Without further ado, Continue Reading for more comics talk! |
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