Comic Book PICKS week #3410/8/2020
Out of a week of so many releases that were so good, I had a hard time deciding what to use for my picks of the week. A few stood out so strong in excellence that I wrote about them practically as I read the issue, and that might show with the wordiness. But everything was so great this week, I had to say more, so there's a section at the end with five MORE (very very short) reviews on more comics!
The full reviews this week go to Black Widow #2, Spy Island #2, We Only Find Them When They're Dead #2, Marauders #13, and Horizon Zero Dawn #3! You'll have to click through to see what the others are about, so Continue Reading for more!
JUMP TO:
Black Widow #2 (new page)
Spy Island #2 (new page) We Only Find Them When They're Dead #2 Horizon Zero Dawn #2 (new page) Marauders #13 MORE! (short reviews on Inkblot, Champions, Thor, Lonely Receiver, and Far Sector)
We Only Find Them When They're Dead #2
I wrote a pick list discussion for the first issue of We Only Find Them When They're Dead, which can be found here! The fantastical plot of WOFTWTD is paired with equally fantastical art. Simone Di Meo draws an outer space that is as beautiful as it is deadly. Stark blues and golds contrast one another in home settings. On the ship, it’s almost as if every character is assigned a color, and each panel they’re in is brilliantly covered in an overlay of that color. It goes with the characters themselves as well as their location. Di Meo also uses an impressive variety of viewpoints and angles in his paneling. In some cases, tight framing of a character from below evokes a sense of compactness in the crew’s ship, while the scenes of flying spaceships are often viewed from non traditional angles. This is space, after all, and there really isn’t an up or down. The space sequences themselves are brilliant and stunning, with multi-colored waves of energy, and lens flare popping off every shining surface. Di Meo’s art, in my opinion, has found its best subject matter. Paired with his unique and momentous paneling, the interiors of WOFTWTD are worth the buy alone. This issue is told as a series of flashbacks wrapped around the current timeline. The flashbacks take place through the years, showing the events leading up to Captain Malik and his crew deciding to find a living god. Through the flashbacks, we’re given insight to the relationships of many of the character. About thirty years ago, Malik was on a crew with his parents and brother. On a day he’s taken so ill he has to stay behind, his ship is destroyed and all crew killed. While there has yet to be definitive reasoning given to their deaths, it’s written in a way that leaves you to assume his crew tried to pull something illegal and were illuminated. After getting the news, Malik winds up in a bar, where one of his future crewmates stops by with her condolences. This establishes her relationship with Malik is close and aged, spanning many years and many experiences. While I can see how having her around would be a comfort to the Captain, I can’t help but get the feeling she’ll be the one to betray them before this is all over. Further flashbacks show Malik in a relationship with Jason (Jay), a member of his crew. They talk about the potentiality of finding a live god, and Jason agrees to go along with the older man's plan. With this new context, the sneaky remarks from Jason directed at Malik are clearly playful digs at their ongoing romance. To make matters more complicated, the fourth member of the crew is Jason’s sister. In another flashback, Jason tells her of the plan to find a living god. She isn't a fan of the idea, calling it reckless and dangerous. But when Jason gives her an out, she stands firm. It would make sense that a protective big sister who practically raised her brother would want to be the one there to keep protecting him, suicide mission or not. In the current time, Captain Malik and his crew wait for the right moment to make their move. It isn’t made explicitly clear what the plan is, but a joke from Jason clarifies that the “meat” harvested from the day’s dead god will be feeding them for the coming months. When the local law-keepers seem distracted enough, the crew take their chance to jump to hyperdrive. In the chaos, they get away well enough, but there ends up being one major problem. There have been a number of hints dropped that a certain law-keeper, Paula, was the one who shot down Malik’s family and former crew, and that she has it out for him, too. Although the crew checked to make sure her ship wasn’t in service before they made this jump, it turns out that she disguised herself in another ship, and followed them to hyperspace. When Paula appears, her rage is translated ten-fold with vivid red lighting through the interior of her borrowed vessel, as well as shining on her face from her helmet. With a superior vessel, the occupants of Malik’s ship are basically stuck at her mercy. It’s a little early to be making grand assumptions about a brand-new universe, but I do have a theory about Malik and his apparent nemesis. She has the upper hand at the moment—if they stop, so will she, and then she can shoot them. If they keep going, one ship or the other will run out of fuel and cause a big problem for them both. What this sounds like is a standoff in the making, and these kinds of standoffs often end with reluctant team-ups. While Di Meo was careful to draw Paula’s eyes and expression as rabid with anger at Malik in the end of the issue, I get the feeling she’ll be on their side in some way or another before too long—if not as their hostage. But that brings up another problem, food supply. Malik’s crew carefully picked out enough god meat to last them a number of months, but adding a fifth body to feed will severely decrease that time. All in all, the mission might only be beginning, but someone on the crew will likely have their death sentence before this is all over. We Only Find Them When They're Dead is written by Al Ewing and drawn by Simone Di Meo. Only on its second issue, this is already a world I love to explore, and can't wait to see where the story takes us! The next issue comes out November 11th, so plenty of time to catch up!
Marauders #13
My theory on what was happening in this week's Marauders was loosely correct--Storm takes a trip to Wakanda to steal a sword. But there is a lot more to it than that. While Marauders is usually written by Gerry Duggan, this issue had non-binary Black-American writer Vita Ayala at the helm. Which turned out to be the best possible decision, based on the subject matter. It begins with Storm and Kate Pryde--recently healed and recently resurrected. I struggle to figure out what Kate is supposed to look like, since the art is pretty loose and free with the age differentiation on her. Ayala's script constantly overshadows and dare I say fixes the errors of story caused by the art, further testament to their skill as a storyteller. As Storm speaks, strips of outer paneling like stained glass in a church show the various phases of Storm's legacy. This includes the beginning years of her life, becoming an African Goddess, and then an X-Men member. It even shows her beating the leader of the Morlocks, and her current role of welcoming resurrected mutants back into the world, and society. These panels feel like Ayala speaking their love of the character and her history to the reader, a genuine love letter to Storm. It feels incredibly appropriate after the Giant Size X-Men: Storm issue just a few weeks ago. This issue of Marauders also has Storm relaying a tale of extreme cultural relevance to Wakanda, about their great nation's early days. The symbolism and the relevance to our culture is striking in this sequence, with beautiful art of tribal traditions of ages ago. The sword she needs for tournament on Otherworld is Skybreaker, one that the people of Wakanda consider to be their nation's beating heart, and Storm believes from the start that it will be impossible to convince them to let her take it. While the art of the issue is my least favorite part, I have to note the outfit change Storm goes through, later in the issue. She arrives wearing her standard outfit, but it is white. I'm not sure the last time we saw Storm wearing her white costume, but I'm sure it's been some time. Bringing this out at this specific time translates the idea that this is her diplomatic look, as opposed to the standard black "working" look, for when she is doing business for the X-Men. She comes to Wakanda first and foremast as a diplomat of Krakoa, especially having been their former Queen, and the way she handles herself shows her ability to split emotion from duty. She meets in the palace with the Queen Mother and Princess Shuri, since T'Challa is away for an unknown time. When she speaks of needing a weapon, the two women leap to their feet, immediately and enthusiastically offering legendary weapons from their nation's armories. The art didn't do a good job of showing Ororo's regret at turning them all down, but Ayala's script certainly did. The shock and denial she receives when asking about the Skybreaker blade in question was much expected, but Storm still looks disappointed, no doubt at the thought of what she must do next. Shuri, while drawn to be any age between twelve and forty, sees the truth of her former sister's disappointment, and she confronts Ororo in her guest room that evening. Their talk is amicable from the start, but the way they address each other is stiff, clearly hiding the truth of what either is saying. Before long, the words become less formal, and their true intentions come out. Storm's frustration with Wakanda, already, due to their treatment of the Krakoan treaties. Shuri's frustration with Krakoa's medicines, and why they'd put a cure-all on the market. Shuri and the Queen Mother had both expressed to Ororo earlier that giving away such a symbol of Wakandan pride could start extreme civil unrest among their people, and Shuri reiterates that sentiment again here. The longer they talk, the more straight-forward their words become. Which is why, then, it is so meaningful that when they both leave the conversation and retire for the evening, the word they choose is not "goodnight," but rather "goodbye." Storm had spoken to the Queen Mother about staying a few days, until T'challa might return. But without having said it explicitly, the Ororo and Shuri both know she isn't waiting around for him. That night, wearing her black working look, Storm breaks into the shrine holding Skybreaker. As she gets through the various security measures, she remembers the times when her then-husband, the King, would explain them all to her in depth. She wonders to herself if he knew she would one day need to know how to do this. Just as she gets to the sword, Princess Shuri bursts in with armed guards, telling Storm she's disappointed in being right. It's a battle that looks almost hopeless, but the King makes his return just in time. He has words with Ororo, addressing her again as "beloved," as he used to when they were married. He tells her she should have known that he would allow her to take Skybreaker, no matter the cost he might face from his people. Even more incredible, T'Challa tells her he will overlook this security breach, and allow her to return to Krakoa through their planted gate, which she does. As soon as she goes through, however, he orders it to be destroyed, saying if she returns, she will have to do so as a true diplomat would. While it definitely feels like there is a lot of trust lost between them here, there won't yet be a war between Wakanda and Krakoa. Whatever favors Ororo might have earned herself by being their former Queen are no doubt over, though, after this last one. It isn't expressed if Skybreaker being taken will actually cause a civil war in Wakanda or not, but I'm curious if it will get addressed in any Black Panther related books in the future. The issue ends with Storm joining the other two teammates who have found their sword for the Otherworld tournament--Wolverine and Magik. She joins them in the circle, created by Polaris in part two of X of Swords, the last issue of X-Factor. There they will wait, for a few days, it would seem, while the others find their swords.
Other things that came out this week that were good, but I didn't write full discussions about:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
What you'll find on the SSG Blog:*Yancy St. PODCAST NOTES! Categories
All
Archives
September 2023
|