Comic Book PICK LIST Week #29!9/3/2020
Going in to this week, I knew doing a pick list would be easy. The week's comics totaled to about 24 books for me, including a number of #1 issues, final issues, and specials. With such a vast array of releases, there was bound to be a few that stood out among the pack. Even with 24 comics, my top picks were some no-brainers. Spy Island, Black Widow, Inkblot, Lonely Receiver, and We Only Find Them When They're Dead were all stupendous first issues, so for the first time, I have a pick list made up entirely of premier issue comics! These five comics all have reviews beyond the cut, with links to each one's section, so Continue Reading for the details on this week's best comics! As usual, SPOILER ALERT! For Black Widow, plot points are fair game, but major spoilers will be marked as well as I can.
JUMP TO: (in no particular order)
Spy Island #1
I've already written a pretty extensive review of Spy Island in the review section of my blog, so go ahead and check that out! It links to a new tab, and I'll be updating the review as the series goes on. This is probably going to end up as one of my top five mini-series' of the year, so don't miss out!
Inkblot #1
Being the first ongoing series by third generation comic artist Emma Kubert, Inkblot was always bound to be one of my top picks. The series is created by Kubert and lifelong industry pal, Rusty Gladd. Together, the two of them have created a world of fantasy and delight. For starters, Inkblot was a lot more complicated and intricate than I expected. The light and fluffy solicitation about a cat who "just doesn't care" is still a good description of the series, but this first issue is so much more than that. We are introduced first to the world of the story, and it's impressive fantasy history. The narrator speaks of her family and their influence on these lands. Her father conquered the world by discovering killing magical beasts will give them great power. Using that power, his many children spread throughout the lands to lead and rule with mighty fists. The narrator, however, chose a different path. While her siblings warred and ruled, she stayed in their ancestral home, filling tome after tome of the history of her family and their world. She and her other family members have lived in this world for centuries, giving her the time to fill up an entire library full of their stories. And though her siblings used their magic to inspire fear, the sorceress narrator chooses to use magic for research purposes, finding and creating new spells and incantations to make her days go by with some interest. The sorceress talks her way through her day, although no one is there to listen. This is a technique often used in older comics, especially from the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby types. This isn't a coincidence, as the creative team worked to give the comic this specific feeling. Its even addressed in the back of the issue by Rusty Gladd in an illuminating letter to the fans. It's a technique called the Marvel method, and ends up playing out a lot like a cross between Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men and Cornelia Funke's Inkspell, if they were comics. Inkblot has a particular fantasy feeling to it that might strike some readers as off, or being taken too far. But Kubert and Gladd have purposely built a world of high fantasy to share with other lovers of the genre, and still manage to keep it original. The story itself only picks up pace when the sorceress knocks over a bottle of magic ink in her sleep, accidentally creating a magical black cat. She explains the cat being brought into existence in a clever and entertaining way: she was dreaming of a spell to create a void, and so here is the void--a small black cat with big, curious eyes. It's a well-known joke on the internet that black cats with yellow eyes often appear as black holes in reality, or "voids" of darkness. While I can't confirm this as being their intention, it came off like an inside joke to the modern reader. Being a cat of magical origin, strange things start happening around the, as soon as it appears, most notably being apparent portal gateways to other parts of the realm. The first opened goes to a desert wasteland, which the sorceress reports is a land run by her much meaner sister. She and the cat are caught in a tight spot, only to be saved at the last moment by another portal, back to her library. If I had to guess, its the cat who is making these portals, and will continue to do so as long as it pleases. This is problematic, because while the world is established to be controlled by the sorceress' family, it appears as if the various members aren't all on speaking terms, and definitely have very different views as to how to rule. The interactions between the sorceress and the sudden cat are verbally one-sided, but somehow the team manages to capture all the curiosity and observational stares of real life cats. It works in a way that I haven't personally experienced in comics, yet, but I'm truly excited to see where it takes them. The story is very clearly only just getting started, with loads of information yet to be uncovered. I have no doubt we'll see a lot more of the family, although I doubt many of the interactions will be unexpected. Using the classic Marvel Method of creating comics, Kubert and Gladd have co-opped a fantastic new fantasy world, where quite literally anything can happen. The old-fashioned story telling style only adds to the fantasy elements, and evokes a strong sense of singularity with the narrator. This world is nothing like our own world or history, which is a nice change for modern fantasy comics. I can't wait to see what ridiculous places Emma Kubert and Rusty Gladd take this sorceress and her problematic magical cat.
Black Widow #1
At long last, we've finally experienced Kelly Thompson's Black Widow! This series was supposed to start a long time ago, but was a victim of Diamond Distribution's 2-month shutdown and subsequent massive comics delay. The spring Black Widow premier has turned to late summer, and it was well worth the wait, as you can tell with this longer-than-usual review! The very first thing to strike me about this series was the art. From the opening panel, its clear how absolutely fantastic the artist's style fits a Black Widow story. Similar to Joelle Jones and Otto Schmidt in style, the art of Elena Casagrande is crisp, clean, and incredibly satisfying to behold. Combined with the always-stupendous coloring of Jordie Bellaire, and the interiors of Black Widow are some of the best comic art available, in my opinion. The vivid hue of Nat's hair is somehow matched by the rest of each panel, with attention to color given to each detail of the background. And that goes without mentioning how well the art fits Natasha's character, too. Like Schmidt and Jones, Casagrande's art is particularly perfect for the super-women she draws, cutting a graceful figure that doesn't feel breakable in the slightest. The story itself is going to be fun to unfold, as it includes a variety of fashionable-feeling mysteries. The issue begins in the thick of a spy adventure, with Natasha fighting her way through a hallway of goons. Notable here is that Nat doesn't wear shoes during her fight, on purpose. Whether this was for silence, comfort, or ease of fighting, I can't say for sure, but the idea to have Widow fighting barefoot seems to be THE most Black Widow thing she could have done. The freedom and athleticism her lack of shoes offered was a creative way to prove the three-woman team has a good handle on the character, and have only more good things to come. At the end of the hallway, Natasha calls for help with the door, and Hawkeye sniper shoots it with an explosive arrow. Nat's train of thought gives the reader insight to the Widow's personal life, if only a few key bits and pieces. She thinks about how Clint Barton might be jealous of her team-up with fellow hero Bucky Barnes--I believe as seen in recent Black Widow comics in the last year or so. Nat has had relationships with both these men, and still keeps them around as friends, but its fun to think about the mild dramas and jealousies she triggers in both grown men. It just goes to show how tightly she has them wrapped around her baby finger, and I loved it. Hawkeye dips out on their mission early, calling in a favor from Captain America to take his place. Ignoring the "what a life!" moment that was Cap casually stepping in to help, Thompson is bringing these fellow Avengers in to show that they will be important parts of the story going forward, and to confirm the status quo of Nat's place in the hero community. After her mission, the story jumps forward, to six months later. Natasha is in San Francisco, working with a construction company on a new high rise apartment building. She dresses like a fashionable modern woman of the City, with her long red locks messily chopped off on one side. In total, the look very much says "head of a classy architecture firm." The reader isn't given any explanation to why Nat is on the West Coast or if she's under cover, but it's made abundantly clear she's lost none of her poise or athleticism. She dances across the tower's open edges carelessly, and somehow moves like water across the panels. When she passes a local news crew and is caught on national news, though, we learn these six months are just as much a mystery to us as to her friends and fellow heroes. Clint and Bucky immediately link up upon seeing the news clip pf her in the background, confirming with one another they haven't seen or heard from Black Widow in months. Its a fairly quick interaction, but it says a lot about the relationship of Hawkeye and the Winter Solder, as well as confirming the odd and unexplained nature of Nat's situation. The issue ends with their missing compatriot motorcycling her way across the Golden Gate Bridge to a fancy mansion, where a strange man awaits her arrival. They embrace, exchange pleasantries, and the embrace becomes much more passionate. While this is a mish-mash of familiar and foreign things for Nat, its very clear that something isn't adding up with her supposed newfound life. The motorcycle ride across the Bay evoked extremely familiar Black Widow themes, but the man on the other side called her Natalie, and their interactions now-- and on the phone earlier in the issue-- all paint her to be submissive to him in the relationship, even if just somewhat, and even if in traditionally patriarchal ways. This in itself is something meant to cause major red flags and alarms to go off in the mind of anyone who knows Nat, including the reader. <Major spoilers ahead> As you turn the page, you learn that this is all a set up by Arcade, classic Marvel villain. As far as my pull list goes, Arcade last appeared in 2019's Ghost-Spider Annual #1, where he mistakenly trapped Gwen in a false copy of New York instead of Spider-Man. His plan was to fight Spidey with robotic villains while emotionally tearing at him with reminders of all his failures, especially regarding the villains at hand. With Gwen fighting them instead, his quips lost their jab, but the friends-turned-enemies she fought still had relevance to her in their own way. This time around, its hard to say at this point if he's going for such an emotional kill, but murder is most definitely on his agenda nonetheless. Speaking to two unknown benefactors, Arcade asks when he can do as his reputation suggests and kill the Black Widow. While I don't think there's a reason to fear for Nat's life, I can't wait to see how this all plays out. For starters, we don't know how much she knows, if anything. If Natasha is under some kind of "spell," will figures from her past life be able to clear away the fog? Bucky and Clint are on their way to save her, but what will happen once they get here? We don't know who her new beau is, or if he's in on the master plan with Arcade. There are so many factors yet to be revealed, and so many directions this could go. But with the Widow in a wedding gown for issue #3, its a fair assumption to make that things are going to get much more intense before its over! <End major spoilers> If you haven't read Black Widow #1 yet, you have until the second issue comes out on October 7th to track it down! As a fan of the character and a woman, I'm thrilled to be able to confirm that this premier issue was phenomenal, and every member of the creative team pulled their weight in getting it there. I look forward to seeing what they have in store for the future of Black Widow!
Lonely Receiver #1
Going into Lonely Receiver's first issue this week, I wasn't honestly sure what to expect. Solicited as a futuristic, cross species romance mystery, Lonely Receiver ended up being far more intriguing than I expected. The issue starts with the main character, Catrin, in the middle of breaking up with her most recent girlfriend. The woman calmly speaks while she walks her suitcase to the door, with Catrin shouting teary-eyed accusations behind her. Catrin narrates her train of thought while she screams, her inner self showing massive cognitive dissonance in trying to calm herself down, tell herself everything is going to be fine. The problem of the relationship, she tells herself, was that the partner was not fully committed to her. Catrin carries a small, round, oddly bulbous device that appears to be a personal assistant of some kind. Later in the issue, its discussed that the device is something similar to a cell phone, and they are regularly used in this society as an all-in-one tech accessory. After her breakup in the beginning of the issue, a still-emotional Catrin uses hers to access a program that builds life partners from scratch. The program asks her a series of somewhat arbitrary questions in order to build the personality of her ideal partner. As the body forms out of almost nothing, Catrin's desperation turns to an almost rabid excitement, noticing every detail about the figure before it was even complete. The next panels jump forward in time, to where Catrin's shorn off hair has grown out. She and her android partner wake in bed together, and get started with their day. Her partner seems to be slightly disconnected to her, personally, but all of her activities revolve around her relationship with Catrin. Regardless of Catrin not seeing the disconnect between her and her robotic artificial partner, their dynamic is comfortable and clearly very much routine. As Catrin goes through her day, she messages her partner, who doesn't message back very often. Through narration, we learn this is a new development, and that their contact is usually far more interactive throughout the day. By the time she gets home, Catrin is fully wrapped up in her anxieties of what might be going wrong in her relationship. Rhion, her partner, seems to be aware of the anxieties, and does put in effort to make up for the lack of communication. She manages to calm Catrin down and settle her worries, but they creep back in later that night. When she catches Rhion mentally in another place, the fighting starts again. Catrin backs her into a corner, and it turns out her worries were founded, when Rhion admits to loving over three hundred other people, who she meets regularly in the Garden. She says that while she cares about all of them, she cares about Catrin most. Through the issue, there are several mentions of a place called the Garden. While her argument with Rhion picks back up, Catrin grabs her android partner and initiates their entry into the Garden. Its a virtual space, where android partners can come with their spouse to enjoy one another in a private space, just for them. Catrin and Rhion seem to take some solace in being there, together, until a pair of beady eyes pops out of the dark and whispers to Catrin that her wife doesn't love her. Snapped out of the moment, Catrin and Rhion wake back in their bed. That night, Catrin dreams of herself and Rhion doing things "normal" couples do, while narrating her continual growing obsession with her partner. She snaps herself awake when her dream self discovers Rhion to be wet after stimulation. It triggers yet another argument, even worse than the last. This time, Rhion gets heated, with Catrin trying to calm the situation. But even androids have their limits, and Rhion explains angrily that she's had enough of feeling that someone's property. The argument gets physical, with Rhion slapping the other woman. They stare at one another, stunned, and in a moment, Rhion completely disappears. The issue ends with Catrin desperately trying to get in touch with her wife, but the only thing she can get to respond is that same pair of beady eyes, stepping out of her wall into a full formed figure. Lonely Receiver was partly so good to me in it's first issue because of all the mystery. How does the high-tech cellular device tie in to Rhion's person-hood, or her abilities as a robot? My theory at this time is that Rhion is experiencing upgrades of her own. Its a common theory that upon developing superior artificial intelligence, the AI will eventually be able to continue it's own development and growth. It's possible that Rhion started that level of upgrade on herself some time ago, and has moved her physical form to a virtual reality. Whatever is gong on with Catrin and her mysterious eyes is no doubt going to wind up being a disturbing look into her inner psyche, and I'm excited for it! The art of Lonely Receiver is a perfect match for the content. Artist Jen Hickamn uses coloring primarily to paint a futuristic world full of new and interesting things we don't yet understand. Her art is ethereal yet rough, making it exactly what a science fiction comic needs. From the multi-tonal hair, to the almost oceanic apartment plants, to the way she lights night versus daytime, Hickman's use of coloring is an integral part of the Lonely Receiver storytelling. Lonely Reciever #2 comes out October 7th, and between exploring what happened to Rhion and how it is affecting Catrin's psyche, I can't wait to see where it takes us.
We Only Find Them When They're Dead #1
This comic was yet another brilliant first issue that started off this week. The creative team is flexing all their strengths on this one, putting out an amazingly fresh new series I already love. Writer Al Ewing has a pretty good history with Marvel, having written Immortal Hulk, Ultimates, and Avengers: No Surrender. He's stumbled recently with Empyre, in my opinion, but every good writer has a dud in their resume. Artist Simone Di Meo is best known for Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, also at BOOM! Studios, and combined with color assistant Mariasara Miotti's work, the art of WOFTWTD looks like a cross between the styles of Jamal Campbell of Far Sector, and Tamra Bonvillain of Once & Future. It's an incredible fit for the extremely sci-fi setting of this comic, and is no doubt a big part of what makes it such a great comic. Most of the comic is world building, which makes sense for a first issue of an indie series, especially such a high concept science fiction one. Though it is setting up the universe, Ewing and his team figured out a graceful way to tell story while teaching about their new universe. This is assisted in part by the lettering, provided by AndWorld Design. While most pages include your standard comic conversation bubbles, the visuals are matched with plain text description of the exact information needed to make sense of things. Without the traditional boxed outline and comic book font, this part of the text flows with the story much better than narration, and adds to the unique feel of the comic. The comic starts with a young boy, tagging along with a space autopsy crew for the first time. They are going to find a god, and over forty years later, he's leading his own crew on the same mission. While I'm still not completely certain on the meaning of some of the terminology used, the characters exchange the comfortable dialogue of a well-oiled wheel and a trusting team. With a few growing bangs of announcement, a massive, unbelievable, beautiful figure drops into the scene. She, if it is a she, is what they are referring to as a god, and like all gods, she is dead. As soon as she arrives, a voice calls out on the comms for the shift to roll out, and the ships of autopsy crews dart out, each racing for a slice of the prize. That's literal slice, since they're all here to cut up the god and take her parts off to sell. Through the story, we find out that there are potentially hundreds of autopsy crews of carious sizes vying for a piece of the god, and certain parts are much more valuable. When a crew tries to take their haul without checking out with the local fuzz, they're chased down and destroyed without a single warning. When Captain Malik and his crew are ready to leave with their load of god meat, the warden makes it clear that there will be no unlawful transportation of goods on her watch. This job has money it it, no doubt, but is also very clearly dangerous, if you're not very careful. The crew eventually makes it out of their day's work, and the Captain takes a moment to speak while the ship is in transit. He talks about the hardships of their chosen careers, and how its getting more and more difficult to get in a good day's haul. With the agreement of his crew-mates, Malik announces their next job--the find what no one has seen, a living god. It was a pleasure to read this first issue, with it's plot, art, and lettering all gracefully wound together. Di Meo and Miotti have created a world unlike anything I've ever seen or read, and it's only just the beginning. As the story moves forward, I have no doubt there will plenty more world building, questions to be answered, and amazing sights to take in. This issue featured a number of stunning variants, including ones by Christian Ward and Jenny Frison. I recommend this series to almost anyone, but especially fans of high concept science fiction stories backed by awe inspiring art. We Only Find Them When They're Dead #2 comes out on October 7th, which is plenty of time to track one of these issues down.
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