Looking at my pull list of 17 comics this week, I have to wonder. Is this sustainable?
Ideally I'd say of course a pull list like this is manageable, but the entire world is running very different from the world we had a year ago today, so I can't make any promises. What I can say is the series' I eventually DO drop from my pull list will be because of their quality first and foremost. I have seventeen comics on my pull list this week, and another beginning of a series I'm debating picking up or not. What's great about getting a bigger pull list every week is that the variety of comics you end up reading is so much more broad and satisfying. This week I have comics of ALL KINDS on my pull list, and I'm pumped to talk about every single one of them. I'm also excited about this week's Representation Spotlights, as we have some truly wonderful examples of representation in the comics industry. I've picked out Far Sector to speak on people of color as comics creators as well as in comics themselves; Horizon Zero Dawn for it's female creative team and female-driven plot; and I'm even doing a small commentary on male bisexuality in our masculinity obsessed society, with Sex Criminals and Deadpool (hell yeah Deadpool is queer!) as comic book examples. Continue Reading to dive into the wild wild world of comics in my pull list this week!
JUMP TO:
Spotlight on People of Color in Comics/ the Industry:
Far Sector, By N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell For a group of space police officers from countless planets, the world of the Green Lantern Corp is surprisingly white, male, and straight. If you're about to stick up your finger and start a sentence with "Well, actually," or anything of a similar sort, let me just stop you there. Go pick up the Green Lanterns 80th Anniversary issue from DC (it came out on June 23rd), and tell me how many women OR non-white men were given solo stories in that book. I'll go ahead and answer it for you. Three. To add to their own disgrace, they DC practically calls themselves out on it, by listing ALL the known Green Lantern members in the back pages. They show this vast, varied cast of characters they could have chosen from to write about, but they stuck with the straight white man. Hal Jordan got more time in that issue than the rest of the Lanterns combined. It is because of this lack of DC using their own embedded representation that I will recommend Far Sector to anyone. Well, that and the fact the plot is inventive and completely original, the characters are creative and well designed, the art is stunningly complex and beautiful, and the overall themes are strikingly relevant to our own modern world. So, you know. Just a few things going for it. Far Sector follows an African-American born Green Lantern, Jo, living on a distant artificial planet of inhabited by billions of aliens. She's the ONLY human around, but still finds herself facing very human themes in her work as "space cop". Jo has been established as omnisexual (I'm not sure sex with aliens fits in human gendered categories), and was formerly a cop in the US. She was discharged after witnessing the presumed racially motivated murder of a detainee by her former partner--something brutally relevant in our world. When Jo witnesses similar force being used in this alien world by police against protesters (again, wow, relevant), she can't stand by this time and let it happen. We're still learning a lot about Jo and how she became a Lantern. There's been some hints dropped, but we still have a good bit of mystery surrounding how and why she came to this status. Far Sector is written by N.K. Jemisin, an African-American writer known for novels before this first comic. She's an outspoken activist, and often uses social media to spread awareness of the grim realities of the writing world, and sometimes how to avoid them. During the recent scandals being uncovered in the comics industry, Jemisin was very up front about the fact certain industry "norms" were put in place by old white men, and they are only still the norm because incomers allow it to continue (I'm referring to "barcon" here). Jemisin is unapologetic in her success as well has her genuine self. Jamal Campbell, the artist for Far Sector, should have been put on a Green Lanterns book ages ago. He's most known for his work on Power Rangers for BOOM! Comics, where digital his style worked perfectly for their spacey, almost futuristic outfits. One look at the front page of his website will show you all you need to know about his abilities as an artist. Campbell has drawn his way across the industry, and I'm seriously hoping to see him expand his resume once Far Sector wraps up with issue twelve.
Spotlight on LQBTQ+
Sex Criminals and Deadpool: Normalizing Male Bisexuality in a Masculinity-Obsessed World A topic that tends to be ignored when discussing LGBTQ+ issues is the idea of male sexuality being directly tied to masculinity. Gay men have long had the stigma of being less masculine than their striaght counterparts. Similarly, if a man was to announce that he was even bi, and therefore attracted both the women AND men, our modern society is more likely to consider him less masculine in the sense that he is gay, when in fact he is not. While that may not seem like a big deal, our society has this idea that if a man is anything less than super-straight, he isn't a real man. Likewise, I recently read that in situation of domestic violence, when a man is violent against a partner, it is actually incredible fragility that they are feeling. There is nothing masculine about having to prove your strength through violence against others. Masculinity is tied too far into toxic patriarchal ideals that include a man's straightness as part of the definition of what it is to be a "real man". Two examples in comics that go against this toxic norm are Sex Criminals and yes, Deadpool. Being the broader example, I'll start with Sex Criminals. Creators Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky went out into the world with the goal of making rad comics and normalizing sex topics, and they've checked both boxes with flying colors. There are a number of characters in Sex Criminals who challenge traditional notions of sexual attraction, performance, and release. In addition to that, the topics about puberty and sexual coming-of-age, the psychological factors that play into our adult relationships and drives, and the complicated nuances of sexual desire are all well explored and normalized. One great example in Sex Criminals is one of the main characters, Jon. When Jon and Suzie get together in the beginning, their sex life is what we might call "normal". As time goes on and their relationship deepens alongside the plot, we start to learn things aren't so black and white for Jon. While he's currently in a relationship with Suzie, he's been in some with men before, and was equally committed. Additionally, when he and Suzie temporarily split, his next relationship is "open", meaning they have sex regularly with other people. While that partnership didn't last and Jon ends up back with Suzie, his sexual identity doesn't change based on who he's in a relationship. Jon is bisexual, whether he stays with Suzie or is dating a man. When he dates men he is still bisexual, not gay. Similarly, the character Deadpool is queer as hell. It is perhaps best said in the words of Deadpool Co-Creator Fabian Nicieza: "He is NO sex and ALL sexes. He is yours and everyone else’s. So not dismissive, but rather the epitome of inclusive. DP brain cells are in CONSTANT FLUX. He can be gay one minute, hetero the next, etc. ALL ARE VALID. Funny how you don’t understand the character at all regardless of his (or your) perceived sexuality. It is why he is insane, why his memory is so flawed, and why he was able to survive the cancer in his system. It is why he can like something one minute and hate it the next. It has ALWAYS been a part of the character’s makeup." So it makes sense that Wade has been portrayed as having a daughter, married to Shiklah (who's demonic form is VERY male in appearance), and still has flirty innuendos about sex and relations with all manner of human and alien. If you're looking for a comic character representing sexual identity liberation, Deadpool is your dude. This is something I'm proud to say remains canon, even in Kelly Thomspson's current ongoing run! A lot of partners would be shocked to find things out about their lover such as former relations with another member of the same sex. But normalizing those topics in pop culture and media like comics is a great step to getting the public to change the way their minds think, and start including bisexual and queer men as a legitimate group. And, without getting personal, I think it's incredibly unhealthy for our world to be so dead set on ignoring topics of sex. Better sex education leads to less unplanned and teen pregnancies, lowers the spread of STDs, and better mental health and smarter decision making when finally introduced to sexual situations. Feeling comfortable exploring your own sexuality and learning what you like and don't like in that category is incredibly important to everyone's self-identity. Quality, shameless representation of broad sexual orientations is a great thing to see in comics. Normalize it!
Spotlight on Women in Comics:
Horizon Zero Dawn #1 by Anne Toole and Ann Maulina I spoke a fair bit a few weeks back about the new Horizon Zero Dawn comics, and how excited I am for it. I can hardly believe it's finally happening! For now, I want to talk about the amazing female representation we get both inside the comic and on it's creative team. HZD #0 and this week's #1 are written by Anne Toole. Toole is been a gaming design contractor, notably working on the stories and worlds for games like Horizon Zero Dawn and The Witcher. She got into gaming through her career writing television for series such as Days of Our Lives, and recently worked on the web-series, The Lizzie Bennett Diaries. She's known in her writing for fantasy stories with a dark undertone, and tends to place female leads in her assignments. Ann Maulina is an illustrator and concept artist from Indonesia who's been tapped to draw the HZD series. She even does some writing of her own, with a self-published slice-of-life web comic series called Raruurien. Her style reminds me a lot of the Nickelodeon Avatar and Legend of Korra animated series', so I guess you could say it is influenced by Asian art styles.Scrolling through some of her work shows that she has honed her style meticulously to work on many levels and in many genres. Her art does just as well on soft, peaceful landscapes and silk-draped women as it does in the machine and metal world of HZD. In that sense, I supppose the best comparison is the modern Studio Ghibli animations. I first started playing Horizon Zero Dawn on Playstation just after it won Game of the Year. The draw for me was a female-led adventure game in an open world setting that offered multiple intensities of play and world building so intense, it would take a moment to snap back to reality after playing for a few hours. But one of my favorite pieces of the plot was how matriarchal much of the HZD societies are. Its a world build of many different cultures, all of which find it completely natural to follow behind a woman in charge. Seeing as this is something our own world has yet to be able to let happen, I found this game to be an incredible escape. Likewise, the comic already seems to be headed that direction. We follow character who would amount to a Military General in our world, and she has earned her title through and through. She recently watched as their hero, Aloy, rode off into the distance without a word. Now, she wonders if there is another threat coming, and how to get ahead of it before it's too late. I love the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, and I love the translation they've already made to comics. I'll be waiting with baited breath for these issues!
Giant Sized X-Men: Fantomex #1
Another Giant Sized X-Men Special means Hickman and another star artist pick! This time it's Rod Reis of New Mutants stepping into the artist chair. If you're unfamiliar with Fantomex, let me give you some key words. Frenchman, three brains, thief, genius, gentleman. He's given his form to Xaviar and the good of mutants, he's loved Kwannon, he's fought for the X-Men. And finally, he is being brought into Dawn of X! It's hard to say what Hickman will be doing with this special. It's been a good while since Fantomex has made any kind of appearance, so it's possible we'll catch up on where he's been hiding. There are also the theories that Fantomex gave up either one of his brains or temporarily gave up his body to save Professor X when he was shot at the beginning of Dawn of X, but that has yet to be confirmed. What I'm hoping for, though, is a fun reintroduction to a character who is often ignored due to his complexity. I mean, the man has three brains, and one of them is female, one of them is a Sentinel. It doesn't get much more complex than that (who am I kidding, this is Dawn of X. Of COURSE it's more complicated than that). It's also worth noting that Fantomex will be featured in an upcoming 3-pack of action figures from Hasbro, alongside Pslocke and Nimrod.
Dark Knights: Death Metal- Legends of the Dark Knights #1
There's still no main issue of Death Metal this week, so we'll have to be satisfied by this one-shot. And it should be very satisfying, because of it's killer creative team. On writing, there's Scott Snyder, Garth Ennis, Peter Tomasi, James Tynion, Frank Trieri, Marguerite Bennett, and Daniel Warren Johnson (Wonder Woman:: Dead Earth) is writing as well as drawing his own section. The other artists include Joelle Jones, Tony S Daniel, Jamal Igle, Francesco Francavilla, and Riley Rossmo. Much like the series of one-shots that came out for each of the Dark Knights in the original Metal series, this is a collection of short stories feturing various Dark Knights in the follow-up. They're all presumably now soldiers for the Batman Who Laughs. Based on the incredible creativity and twisted morbidity of the last series, I expect this book of one-shots to be completely enthralling. I love to see what creators come up with when given a little wiggle room with things like alternate realities and dark timelines. If any of this sounds like something at all in your wheelhouse, I definitely recommend picking this one up!
Horizon Zero Dawn #1
For as much as I've already said about Horizon Zero Dawn and it's creative team, you might think i'd be out of things to say. You'd be wrong. In the Free Comic Book Day #0 issue, one of my favorite things was the outfit design. While yes, everything in the comic is based on the game, I don't recall ever quite seeing it like this. When we're first meeting our protagonist Talanah in the hunting lodge, she's dressed in her people's traditional garb, which for her, includes a bare torso. A lot of times in games and concept design, women are given a less-clothed option for their outfit. This isn't news, it's one of the most talked about sexist points of these nerdy industries. But HZD doesn't bend that way. When we are introduced to a presumable antagonist of the same tribe, he's wearing exactly the same thing, stomach bared and all! And to make it better, the entire design of the page was so well done, it was completely natural and normal feeling. I LOVE outfit design equality! As this series goes forward (though I'm not sure how many issues--at least 5 have been solicited), I'm hoping to see Talanah meet up with Aloy again. I can see the two of them becoming hunting buddies easily. Based on the covers that have been revealed already, we might be getting some other new female characters, as well. No matter what we get, I highly doubt Anne Toole and Ann Maulina are going to let this series slip through the cracks, so neither should you!
Empyre: X-Men #2
I'll admit I didn't give the first issue in this mini-series he chance I should have. Which is ridiculous, because it was written by Tini Howard and Head of X Johnathon Hickman himself. So it's no surprise then that when I did get around to reading it, the comic was a delight. One thing I've been waiting for with baited breath in this new Dawn of X mutantdom is the return of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. While Wanda was referenced as a villain to mutant history in a particularly phenomenal issue of X-Men, we haven't seen her or her brother in mutant context in a very long time. It took Empyre to do it. Wanda went to Doctor Strange seeking a solution to her ultimate sin--depowering millions of mutants across the globe after House of M, when she muttered, "No More Mutants." It makes sense that the guilt of this event is still greatly affecting Wanda. She herself is mutant, daughter of mutant, sister of mutant, and yet she committed an atrocious crime in almost unknowingly taking away what made them who they are. As Doctor Strange couldn't give her the answer she wanted, the Scarlett Witch does her own research, and finds a way to bring life back to the dead. Her idea: if she resurrects the deceased mutants of the Genoshan genocide, their numbers will again grow, and maybe her sins could be finally forgiven. But the plan doesn't go how she wants. The Genoshans return, but as zombie mutants! This all happens during the Marvel event, Empyre. Genosha happens to be an apparently abandoned island off the coast of Africa, in decent proximity to Wakanda. Wakanda is a nation of great strategical advantage to the invading Cotati race, so they make their base Genosha. Little do they know Wanda has already made her way there, and millions of mutant zombies are between them and victory! In this issue, I'm sure we'll see more of War General Illyana/Magik coming to Genosha to see what's up. Magik is one of my favorite characters and easily my favorite mutant, so I'm really looking forward to diving in!
DCeased: Dead Planet #2
Tom Taylor's DCeased Universe is quickly becoming another of my favorite alternate DC worlds. There's already the Murphyverse, named after creator Sean Gordon Murphy, which appears int he Black Label series' Batman: White Knight and Curse of the White Knight. Then there's the Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti's Harley Quinn universe, which doesn't touch canonical DC either. You could even almost include DC Black Label as another universe, except it's more of a case-by-case basis as to which universe those comics belong in. The universe for DCesased is far more brutal than any of those. Darksied's goal has always been to perfect the Anti-Life equation and control all life in the all of creation. In DCeased, he kiiiind of does it. Using Cyborg as transmitter, Darkseid sends his anti-life equation through Earth's technology. Anything with a screen becomes a transmitter, and the result is ultimately zombies with one goal: spreading their plague. The first DCeased series showed us how earth fairs in this attack. It's filled with brutal losses, violent endings, and shocking deaths. But in the end, a small group of survivors makes it off planet Earth to find a safe place to call home. Dead Planet takes place some years after the end of the original DCeased series, when our surviving heroes receive a transmission fro their old Earth home, begging for help. It's anyone's guess if the signal is a trap or not, but they decide to take the trip anyway, with immediate and brutal losses. There's still a TON of bad things waiting for them out there now that they're back on Earth. If there's anything to do other than turn around and high-tail it as far away as possible, I don't see it. But of course our heroes will try and save the day, likely to further and worse losses in their ranks. This series is an absolute blast, just don't get too attached to anyone!
Strange Adventures #4
What can I say about this series that will adequately remark on it's quality? A fair place to star is that it's fucking phenomenal. We have a story here with two main artists, because it is a story in two parts. One part is the past--events several years back in time that may have happened as we are seeing them drawn, but we aren't sure how reliable that side of the story is yet. It follows Adam Strange and his wife as they seek to save her planet, Rann, from an apparent invasion. The other part is the present, on Earth so far, where Adam Strange has been touting his victory on Rann over the invaders--who were slaughtered. There is an investigation from the Justice League into Mr and Mrs Strange's activities in that war; hence the not being sure about how reliable the Rann portion of the story is. I've said it before, and I think so has every comics reviewer ever, but the duality of the story paired with the dual art styles is one of the most incredible comics reading experiences I've ever had. In this issue, the JL's chosen investigator, Mister Terrific, is going to Rann to continue his investigation. If you're unfamiliar with Mister Terrific, I recommend reading issue #2 of this series. Tom King does an excellent job of displaying Terrific's intellect, and how he constantly challenges himself intellectually throughout his day, during every event. I'm looking forward to seeing what he uncovers on Rann, and how it progresses his investigation. I have theories, and I want to discuss them now. I think Adam's wife is the true villain in the story. Let me explain. Point 1. In I think issue #3, Adam Strange is talking to Hawkman about how he felt attacked during Mister Terrific's interview of him and his wife. Hawkman reminds him, this investigation was his idea in the first place. Why would he call for an investigation into his own actions, if he believed they were truly honorable and necessary in winning the war on Rann? Point 2. The Strange's daughter has come up a few times, to extreme reactions. Mrs Strange most notably flew off the handle when asked of the subject, while her husband seemed much more subdued and sad. In that same aforementioned conversation with Hawkman, Hawkman tells Adam he was asked about his daughter. Adam seems shocked by this revelation. We have yet to be revealed as to what happened with their daughter, when, and why the subject draws such entirely different reactions from her parents. Point 3. Mrs. Strange is obviously a great actress, and politically motivated. She seems to want praise and the power that comes with being the wife of a celebrated hero. When the investigation is brought up on a talk show with the couple, it is Mrs Strange who responds. And she responds with something VERY familiar in this political climate. She gets defensive, angry, and starts attacking Mister Terrific and the League's investigation. She also throws in another trump card--the distraction. She begins to claim that the same invading species that attacked Rann is now coming for Earth, and Adam Strange is their only hope. When she watches herself on the TV later, you can tell exactly how much pleasure she gets from her on air performance. Maybe I should save a lot for the top-5 pick list, but there's so much goodness this week I can't even be sure Strange Adventures will appear on it! But don't be surprised if it does. I have a lot more to say about the series already, and each issue makes the list longer. Strange Adventures is another 12-issue maxi-series by Tom King and Mitch Gerards, including Evan Shaner on art as well. It's a Black Label book to allow room for adult scenarios, and I recommend it to anyone who is AT ALL into investigative dramas.
Ant-Man #4
I'm not terribly thrilled with how Marvel handled this Diamond shit down for COVID-19. For some of their less forefront series, they didn't even bother delaying the books that weren't getting printed, they just put them out digitally. While this may not seem like such a big deal, it means comic shops aren't getting any money from the release, and any fan who wants to collect the entire series will not be able to do so. To make things even more confusing, they're now releasing said digital comics on print, so the comics half of fans haven't read already have reviews on them. This is just another minor annoyance brought to you by the comic industry during COVID! Ant-Man #4 and #5 were included in those digital-first release books. This week, Ant-Man #4 is getting a print release. The Ant-Man series so far has followed Scott Lang on his attempts to prove himself to his Daughter, Cassie, while still doing good by his insect companions. But there's a gigantic, evil horde of things only comparable to bug-Gods coming through town trying to cause problems, and Scott keeps getting in their way. While this is only a 5-issue series and issue 5 has already been released digitally, I won't be reading it until the paper publication, so I can continue it's section in my pull list.
Black Cat Strikes #4
If you haven't figured it out by now, this seems to be a pretty direct translation from the Spider-Man PS4 game plot where Black Cat...Strikes. There's still room for some bigger changes, but for the most part it's the same. Felicia came to Spidey not long ago claiming she had a son who'd been stolen. A son who would have been born about 9 months after Pete and Felicia had their whirlwind romance. I won't lie. I've always been team Black Cat when it comes to Spider-Man and his love life. But this comic has done an excellent job of showing Mary Jane's viewpoint during that relationship, and actually made me feel for MJ. Of course, this is also a universe where MJ is a reporter, not a model or a star, so she herself is different as well. It was only issue #3 that we learned Black Cat was lying, and if she has a son, he's not in danger. She was just using Peter to get at Hammerhead. I have no doubt we'll feel the brunt of that betrayal in this issue. Black Cat Strikes is only a five issue mini-series, so one more after this week's issue.
Empyre #4
While I definitely think the main issues of this event are getting better, the event as a whole is becoming really hard to keep track of. There's one-shot tie-ins, ongoing series tie-ins with similar names, nothing seems to be coming out in the right order, and the continuity i s questionable. For example, last week Captain Marvel #18 had Carol basically betray the Kree/Skrull Empire, and it was listed as happening before Empyre #3, where she is still in good standing. It's getting to be a confusing event much like Infinity Wars was in 2018. Issue #3 of Empyre saw a couple of big reveals, at least one of which was surprising. It'd be strongly hinted at that Mantis was returning to Earth, and we did see that. Her son is the ruling leader of the attacking Empyre, and she hopes to use her motherhood to sway his advances. She claims it is the doing of his father, the Swordsman, that made him turn bad. I can't believe at all that a simple conversation will be all it takes to change her son's mind. We also saw Tony Stark actually feeling bad for his lack of forethought, which is refreshing. It was his cockiness in Empyre #1 that allowed the Cotati to murder millions of Kree/Skrull warriors and continue the advance onto Earth. When it all comes down to it, this entire situation could have been avoided if Tony just listened to Emperor Dorrek/Teddy. It was revealed at the end of issue #3 that one of the military advisors for Teddy is actually his Skrull grandmother in disguise, trying to use her position to turn Teddy into a "true king", meaning violent and ruthless. The Kree military advisor who confronted her actually wishes her well on her quest. I've noticed that it's beginning to look like Empyre will change some things, after all. I already knew about Captain Marvel #22 being a "new era begins" kind of issue, but now I see Fantastic Four #25 (their first issue back after the event) says the same thing. Additionally, I noticed there is a one-shot at the end of the event called Immortal She-Hulk. This is both exciting and worrisome, as in recent years She-Hulk was finally overpowered the way her cousin, Bruce, would be as the Hulk. While she's going through almost the reverse of those changes right now, I hope she gets back to legendary status and stays on the Avengers team. I would hate for She-Hulk to have just gotten a few years of peak power levels, only to go right back to the mediocre place she started.
Guardians of the Galaxy #5
I won't lie, the double Moondragon thing is a little confusing for me still. I guess the problem is I didn't read 2018's Infinity Wars event, which I've gathered is when there become two Moondragons. But here is the story as I understand it: The Moondragon in green we've so far seen in Guardians of the Galaxy is from another world. She is the daughter of her world's Drax the Destroyer, and married to Phyla-Vell, who came to this world with her during or after the Infinity Wars event. Phyla-Vell is their world's Captain Marvel, I believe. The Moondragon who recently showed back up in the same series, but wearing white, is this universe's Drax's daughter. Both Moondragons are named Heather Douglas. When it comes to one of them being poart-time evil, that's where I'm not sure again. It seems that our reality's Moondragon has a seasonal villain-hood, called Dragon of the Moon. In a few minutes of research, I only have more questions, so I hope writer Al Ewing gives us a brief summary of their history. All I know is the Dragon of the Moon was living on Titan and took advantage of a helpless Heather Douglas until she became Moondragon, and was evil until he was expunged. I've been really interested in the characters of Moondragon and Phyla-Vell for a while now, but their histories are so convoluted, its hard to know where to start or what's what. I'm hoping this issue will give me some clarity as well as a good starting point to branch out into their characters' histories.
Deadpool #6
I've been looking forward to this issue since we first got hints of the plot! The mutants have made a new home on the living island nation of Krakoa! You can travel to and from there instantly with plant-based gateways provided by the X-Men, which are found around the globe in sanctioned countries. Deadpool, if you call, is technically a mutate. His mutation was triggered artificially by the Weapon X program, whereas they simply modified Wolverine's previous natural mutation. But, or long time, he's considered himself a mutant like the X-Men, so it makes sense he would think himself entitled to a Krakoan gateway, and especially after he became King of Monster Island/Staten Island. Based onthe solicitation, it looks like Deadpool is spending this issue trying to break into Krakoa! Check out this stellar cast of X-Men characters: Polaris, Storm, Wolverine, Magik, Cyclops, and Armor! Leave it to Kelly Thompson to make the most FUN X-Men lineup I've ever seen! Okay, I might just be excited, but come on! It's King Deadpool of Monster Island versus those X-Men of Krakoa. You KNOW its's going to be an absolute blast! Plus, this is Kelly Thompson's Deadpool, so we can count on there being a satisfying balance of meaningful dialogue to the humor. It's about to be issue #6 and she's long-since established Deadpool's personality of ridiculous humor and jokes to cover his deep depression and loneliness (I wrote a blog post about this once, and my laptop chose the moment I clicked 'save' to drop the internet, and I lost the whole thing). Wade has a long history with a lot of X-Men characters, as well as the team itself at a few points, so this issue will not be one you want to miss if you're a fan of any characters involved!
Undiscovered Country #7
It's a new plot line for Scott Snyder and Charles Soule's Undiscovered Country! This series is absolutely original and totally a thrill to read. I have been excited about it since the first issue, and it hasn't waned in the slightest. Undiscovered Country was an immediate success from #1, selling out several times since. Is there anything else I have to say to get you to read this one? Our varied cast of characters have made it through the first "zone" of what was once the USA, and into the next. According to the solicitation, this next zone is a gleaming, futuristic world out of science fiction, full of AI. While this may sound intriguing, if you've been paying attention at all, you know this is all going to go wrong before they get anywhere. I'm looking forward to finding out what mind blowing creations this team has come up with for a tech-based dystopia! And I wonder if this new zone is further out in time, or if the spiral gets closer to "real" time the further in you get? So many questions with each new development! I'm having such a great time learning about the world Snyder and Soule have made, now alongside artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Leonardo Marcello Grassi.
Far Sector #7
I've already gone over a lot of Far Sector in my Spotlight on POC in Comics this week, so I'll try not to repeat myself too much. The solicitation for this week's issue makes me think of James Bond high speed action scenes! Our girl Jo is going to become one with a computer to find her mark! One of the coolest things about Far Sector is the designs for the various alien races, one of which is a species of humanoids that are entirely internet based. This means they take payment in memes, talk in hashtags and @ tags, and are connected to the internet in a direct way. I wonder if this means Jo will be somehow using their tech to infiltrate a network....or something equally techy. Far Sector is going to be twelve issue, so we're just past the halfway mark now. Going forward, I'm really looking forward to finding out more about Jo's past, as well as how she ended up being a very unique Green Lantern on this space station of a planet (or would it be "planet of a space station"?). We've been getting hints that this is all part of some great conspiracy, but how does Jo and the Green Lanterns tie into that? The planet/space station has been around for ages, and has it's own very dark and complicated history, none of which it's citizens enjoy discussing. If you haven't gotten into Far Sector at this point, you're just being willfully negligent to one of the best comics coming out. Period. Go get it!
Strikeforce #9
Grab your tissues, it's the last issue of Strikeforce! Sad Face. Strikeforce was cancelled due to timing errors. So, total BS, if you ask me. Comics are delayed, pushed back, and given different release dates all the time, so saying the Diamond delay messed the series up is just excuses, especially since this is one of the best books Marvel has put out in a while, and easily the best team. Tini Howard will be finishing off her epic series bluntly, it looks like, because she was given no other option. We'll likely never find out what was a planned beyond issue nine, although they seem to have had lots of plans for the series still. In this final issue, we're supposed to be seeing Angela face off against the queen of the body snatchers--er, the Vridai. That's what the solicitation for issue 8 said, and at the end of that issue, they claimed it would be issue 9. Now, the issue 9 solicitation says the Strikeforce team is spending their final issue facing off with monsters from Deadpool's Monster Island. So....you see why I'm so frustrated, right? I just want this to be a fitting final issue. Too often comics get cancelled before they have a chance to prove themselves. GOOD comics, DIFFERENT comics. The industry of publishers seem to think that if a book doesn't do well and sell out it's first few issues, it isn't worth continuing. I thought the whole purpose of Marvel putting out SO MANY books was to appease a greater audience? You know, something for everyone. Enjoy this last issue of Strikeforce. It could have been more, but it is what it is.
Black Cat #12
I'm really glad I took a chance on this Black Cat series when it started coming out over a year ago now. It has been following Black Cat as she goes on a series of heists, of course, but there's more to it than that. We get to see Felicia Hardy's past, her mother, and her history with her butler/teacher. There's been some incredible and fun interactions with other Marvel characters who she's had history with, including good-ol Spider-Man. More recently in the series, she's been working on a series of heists as a secret project for her thievery coach, but we still don't know what it's all for. In the process, she's teamed up with Patch (Wolverine), and now broke into Tony Stark's base and tricked his machinery into making her a specialized Black Cat Iron Maiden suit! The series' J Scott Campbell covers are incredibly hit-and-miss, but usually has decent variants if you aren't a fan of his style/tendency to "phone it in". To be honest, I'm not really sure what the "purpose" of this Black Cat series is, besides just letting Felicia have a little fun. It appears to have a 13th issue with a release date TBD, and after that, who knows? I'd like to hope that this series goes on for a while longer, as Felicia really doesn't get much canon coverage these days, but it's been a trend recently for publishers to kill books before they get to 15, if they haven't been consistently selling out. A ridiculous ask, but nonetheless what seems to be happening. Either way, pickup Black Cat this week for some more Felicia Fun!
Fantastic Four #22
The last issue of Fantastic Four saw the Storm-Richards children taking their new Kree and Skrull friends back to Yancy street. Things are already chaotic due to the impending Cotati invasion, and to make matters worse, the former enemy children have got it into their heads again to fight, and start trying to kill one another in the streets of New York. Valeria and Franklin know what they have to do, and call for help from previous Fantastic Four members. Who shows up, but Spider-Man and Wolverine! It isn't all fun and games, however, when Logan mistakenly stabs the Skrull, thinking her an enemy. This week, it looks like we have Hulk and Ghost Rider coming in to help the kids out. Hopefully those two fair better! If you want to start reading Fantastic Four, you're about to have an amazing opportunity. October 21st's issue #25 marks the beginning of a new era for the Fantastic Four! This means new cover artist- Mark Brooks! And a new story-line, a great place to start for the series. This issue is also coming with Alex Ross' "Timeless" variant featuring longtime Fantastic Four character, Black Bold. There's even going to be an Artgerm variant, but he hasn't shown what that will be yet. Issue #25, mark it on your calendars!
Sex Criminals #30
This is it, guys, we've almost finished Sex Criminals. I started reading Sex Criminals early this year on volume after hearing the basic premise: when Suzie has sex, she stops time. One day, she meets Jon, who has the same power. WHAT A PLOT. This comic is written by Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen) and drawn by Chip Zdarsky (known for his writing on Daredevil, Spider-Man: Life Story, and more), so it's a great team to start off with. What's really interesting to me about this comic is the normalization of talking about sex. One way they do this is by packing the entire visual side of the comic with as many dicks, asses, tits, and vaginas as they can. While that sounds maybe pervy and gross, trust me when I tell you it totally works. As I mentioned in my spotlight on LGBTQ+ topics this week, Fraction and Zdarsky have done a phenominal job of making sex a normal and healthy thing to talk about. In our somewhat protestant society, this is a change we all need to embrace for the better. Sex Criminals ends on the next issue, which they're calling issue #69 (of course they would). I love how they started this book with the idea of going balls-to-the-wall with the craziness, and they've definitely succeeded. The cherry on the top is issue 69's NSFW variant: a photo cover of Matt and Chip. You won't want to miss it!
I'm also thinking about checking out Robert Kirkman's (The Walking Dead, Oblivion Song) new series this week called Fire Power! The first two issues are out this Wednesday, so it's worth taking a look! Kirkman's stuff tends to be worth a lot further down the line, just something to keep in mind...
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