As we get further into the year, I find myself getting distracted from my weekly comics pull lists posts. Part of it is difficult due to your normal reasons--it seems harder to get things done when it is cold and dreary out, but I doubt anyone here needs an explanation of what seasonal depression is. But in this case, it's also because I've recently decided on a life change that will take months to put into place and use up a lot of my free time. With that in mind, I apologize if my weekly posts become even more sparse. Unfortunately this blog will get pushed to the back of the line of things to do as my life gets busier and more stressful in the coming months. BUT, with that being said, this change is a good thing and has been a long time coming, so the stress is equaled by the excitement. Onto more relevant stuff--Toy Con was this week, so I'm hoping to do a post on all the glorious things announced there. In the meantime, I have about 17 comics to prelude this week, so let's get started! DC Fans rejoice! I have 5 DC books on my pull list this week.
Starting us off, Batman: Curse of the White Knight #7. This is part 2 of Sean Gordon Murphy's Murphyverse saga, and I love it more and more each issue. Last issue was a big effin deal, as Harley was forced to kill the love of her life, Jack Napier, who was becoming the Joker and endangering their children. It was a tragic moment, as Harley had worked so long and hard to heal Jack and raise him up to be the best man, husband, and father he could. But the Joker sickness in his mind was too much in the end, and she pulled the trigger to avoid cause harm to their children. Not to be brash, but that does leave room for the Bruce/Harley relationship Murphy has been teasing since the first book. Just saying. Far Sector impresses me more and more each month, and I expect this month's #4 to be just as stupendous. Last moth's issue left us with a scene all too familiar in this day and age: people with different perspectives getting angry and violent in the streets over what is ultimately the same goal--peace in their lands. And to make matters worse, the police stepped in, and have been given the command to kill the protesters to make them scatter. As a Black American woman, our Lantern is clearly not going to let this fly. She's seen too much of the same damage on her own world, she doesn't want this one to fall to it as well. I expect to see some major badassery this week, and maybe we'll start getting an explanation for how she got her Lantern ring in the first place! The Last God is perfect for anyone looking for a high-concept fantasy adventure. I literally can't think of a better way to describe it, unless you include the element of horror it definitely has. I have to delight a little in the way the two stories cross over--done like the best of fantasy tales, our heroes in the present follow a story that reflects and often crosses over with elements from the story of the heroes from the past. It's a fun way to read stories that draws you in really well and hooks you because every time something of relevance happens in one story, it coincides with something equally relevant in the other. But definitely note, this is not a book for kids or the faint of heart! While I'm not exactly keeping up with Wonder Woman, I have been reading the past 3 or 4 issues because I want to see where it takes her. Recently author Steve Orlando has made the move that Diana of Themyscira is no longer a servant of the Gods--she no longer is tied to their will and their bidding. Learning this, I was really hoping to see a change in the portrayal of Diana. It's long been known that Diana struggle between fighting for whats right and showing mercy to mankind. In my opinion, this is an important aspect of her character, but one she pretty much never shows herself actually struggling with in the comics. Sure, she'll say someone made mistakes and deserves mercy, but she never shows any emotion rather than mercy in her fight against the truly evil. This feels like a very soft Wonder Woman, who flits about doing her Wonder Woman thing without ever facing consequences, making mistakes, or striking any deep emotion out of those who see her and fight her. It's very...blah. I'm hoping to see a change with her change to living in Boston, but that remains to be seen. also notable, this is the last Jenny Frison variant! Don't miss out on #752! Last for DC Comics is Batman Beyond #41. Last month's issue finally revealed the identity of the new Batwoman: Dick Grayson's daughter! It seems that good ol' Dick went his own way some years ago and started a family (or at least had a daughter). He returned to Gotham at the end of #40 to ask Bruce for help--his "adult daughter", as they made a point of saying, has gone missing.. Cue-- mask removal reveal! This is the first time we've been introduced to this character, which to me is the perfect solution, because we as an audience don't already know everything about her and her history. She's a blank slate for the creative team to fill with whatever characterization they'd like. I'm not sure how long this plot thread of Batwoman Beyond will go, so keep up while you can! Moving right along, I have three Inde books this week. At BOOM! studios is #4 of FolkLords. Issue 3 of this series felt like a change of tone, but in a way that sets the pace for the rest. Things got dark, fast, when our protagonist came across a Hansel and Grettle type situation, but worse than you'd have imagined. Upon his escape, he's made a new ally with a large, bear-ish type woman.together, they'll follow the trail and see what they can find about the legendary Folklords, that is if the Librarians don't capture them first! Evil librarians? This really is a backwards world. Invisible Kingdom has been a fun ride, and with this week's#9 they'r getting ready for a new thread of story. Space adventures are fun, but not so much when the characters are mostly stuck indoors with not a lot going on except talking. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this book plays out, since it has such relevant ideas: a mega-billion corporation that delivers products to your door (interstellar Amazon), is seemingly at arms against a church that believes in owning nothing. If you're familiar with dystopia's disguised as Utopias, you can probably guess that the two are actually working together for universal domination. Our heroine has tried to bring this point to light but no one seems to care. Alas, a hero's greatest nemesis: apathy. Meanwhile, she and her crew are trying to escape being sold as slaves from this random space scavenger guy, and the heroine is also doing a strange space version of going into heat with a species she can't mate with. It seems everyone is a little confused and uncertain, but the writing is clear. I just wish the art were a little more standardized. One page is phenomenal, the next doesn't look finished. Sex Criminals wraps up the indie's with #27. As far as I can tell, this series is about to wrap up! Which makes me sad but also glad to (hopefully) see all the characters get where and what they want. Currently, things aren't looking great. It seems we went through another time jump, and on the other end is Jon is prison for an unknown amount of time. We haven't seen why, yet, but he and Suzie are still together so I'm hoping to get a quick explanation this week. If you haven't started Sex Criminals yet, here's the basic plot to get you started: Jon and Suzie stop time when they orgasm. they thought they were the only one, then met each other and started robbing banks by having sex in the bathroom, stopping time, and taking their money. That's probably all you need to know, as far as plot goes. It's incredibly perverted with an amount of perverted detail that boggles my mind in each issue. Definitely 21+ read, but definitely worth the risk of someone asking "What on earth are you looking at??" Here comes Marvel! Rounding out with 10 comics just on MY pull list, we should probably get started. Giant Size x-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1 is the first of 5 Giant Size X-Men specials. We all know the history between these two. Jean loved Scooty, but also Logan. Scott loved Jean, but also Emma. Or rather, he started having a psychic affair (yes psychic--as in she would enter his thoughts and they would have sex that way) with Emma, which broke them up, but Scott and Emma were never really a couple. Not in the way Scott and Jean were. So you understand the potential DRAMA about to unfold. In addition, both women are also incredibly powerful telepaths with secondary mutations that just power them up even more. I can't wait to read this special! Ant-Man #2 will be the follow up the a lighthearted and fresh-feeling first issue. We're back with scott Lang and his daughter, Cassie, as Ant-Man and Stinger. Scott only just uncovered a hive of bug-villains with no good intentions, so I have no doubt it's going to take everything he and his daughter have to keep them at bay. I don't have a lot to say about this book yet, except I enjoyed the first issue and hope this will be the first Ant-Man book in a while to gain relevancy. Star #2 is the first of two books by Kelly Thompson this week. The first issue was surprisingly excellent, with Star struggling to find her place in the world with her new powers. She's a wanted criminal with a VERY wanted stone in her chest, so she;s going to have to be careful. Right now, though, she's been found by Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, who I'm sure has a thing or two to say to Star about changing reality. Si that makes at least two extremely powerful magical being in search for Star with hr last known whereabouts...it can't be long until a third comes across our protagonist, with less neutral intentions than either of the first. Alongside Sex Criminals, X-Men/Fantastic Four is the second Chip Zdarsky book of the week. Granted, he mostly draws Sex Criminals, But that makes it all the more impressive, IMO. I can't overstate my love for this series already. Issue one gave us jackass father Reed Richards, overprotective but still sane Sue Storm-Richards, and two very different--but very similar--teenage super-genius siblings. And then the X-Men! What a great scene that was, with the mutants coming to speak with Reed and Sue about their mutant son, and the tense atmosphere it created for the rest of the issue. You have to hate Reed just a little, for literally modifying his son against his will to keep him from going to Krakoa--the boy isn't a child anymore, and Reed needs to learn to give him some independence. As a former teen myself, I can understand how frustrating it can be to feel like your parents are controlling every aspect of your life. Luckily, the siblings saw the situation eye-to-eye and attempted an escape onto the Marauder ship! Attempted, because instead of returning to Krakoa as they expected, the shit is heading somewhere far away. the issue ended with Doom attacking, so come on. How can it get better than this? The second Kelly Thompson book this week is Jessica Jones: Blindspot #4. This series has been a blast, I'm so happy I decided to read it. Last week we had Jessica teaming up with one of my favorites, Elsa Bloodstone: Monster Hunter. We know the two women were both clinically dead--shot in their heads. But they woke up from death seemingly fine, which is just as much of a mystery as who did the shooting. At the end of the last issue, Jessica discovered her one clue to the whole thing, a deceased former client, was not as dead as everyone thinks. Did she go through the same experience of waking up after her murder? Will more super-women be targets, and will any of them remain victims? And last, why is someone killing these powerful women? I think we can hazard a guess there. There's been some crazy stuff happening in Scream: Curse of Carnage, and I have some interesting theories. Right now, Andi and Scream are being hunted by a mysterious symbiote-esque being who calls herself Mother, and who speaks of the coming of Knull. It sounds like she might be his version of a Lilith or even Eve--some high ranking female figure who was around when he was at the height of his power. She talks to Scream and Andi like they are a combination that will be useful for her when Knull arrives, and she controls a muddy army of "dead things" she apparently creates out of dead bodies and dead sea-junk. She lives in the ocean around New York, and at one point disguised herself as Andi's true mother to try and get to her. Whoever she is, she really wants Andi and Scream--alive. And it has something to do with Knull, who I hope appears in her book again at some point. This issue is supposed to build on the symbiote lore, so you won't want to miss out! Each week we have an X-Men issue, I swear Leinil Francis Yu--artist of the current series--tweets this one will be his favorite. And he;s been right; each ensuing issue has been better than the ones before it. Author Johnathon Hickman is playing a long game with the mutants, with this book at the helm. Last week, we had an issue ultimately dedicated to Mystique and her attempts to resurrect her wife--a future-seer who would potentially destroy Krakoa and all they've built. This week, we delve deeper into the resurrection pools--what they really are, how they work--at least, that's what I'm thinking. No doubt there will be a mystery at hand we won't see coming, such as what it is you become when you are resurrected by them. The whole ting is undyingly fascinating, and I can't wait to read more about it. The last issue of X-Force left us with just as many questions as when it began--who is this person who looks like Domino and uses her luck? My theory--it IS her luck, personified, and working for the enemy. Other theories include the previously seen Domino skin grafts, clones, or the resurrection pits. Whatever the answer is, it's going to be a difficult fight for Domino to get her mutant Luck power back. Meanwhile, Colossus (who was killed in Russia post-breakup with Kate Pryde and resurrected on Krakoa) hasn't been feeling quite like his old self either. Is there a second Colossus running around, too? As a third book for the mutants this week, Johnathon Hickman's New Mutants #8. This issue seems to be a split between the two stories about the two New Mutants groups--one on Earth, and one in Shi'ar Space. In space, Sunspot and his friends are just about done helping get the monarchy back on schedule without anyone dying. On earth, a few casualties aren't the only problem the New Mutants face, it's a scene that appears to be mutant attacks on innocent humans. While one group is theoretically on their way home, the other is just getting started with the problem solving. The last book on my Pull List this week is Avengers #31. Issue 30 left us with the answer to the "who's the next StarBrand?" question (finally). The human mother, ultimately accidentally in space jail, perished during the birthing of her StarBrand destined child. Now, there's no way I see a force of that kind of power choosing a baby to attach to, unless it knew this particular baby was something better. In that case, I can see the StarBrand aging up the child to a more reasonable age in very little time. That all being said, don't get too excited at all, because issue 31 doesn't pick up after issue 30. instead, we're going back a handful or two issues to some side plot with Tiny Stark being sent back in time. If it sounds like I don't care, it's because I don't. I'm not a fan of Tony as anything other than a funny one-liner here or there--I don't find the problems of straight white rich male aristocrat in a metal suit to be "up my alley". But, this is comics, and I'm aware what I signed up for, so I guess there's nothing to do but read these filler issues until it gets good again. All done! It's another excellent week for comics, and they're only getting better and better. If there's nothing here that sounds interesting to you, any local comic shop can help you out. There's dozens upon dozens of releases each week, what I go over here is only a fraction. Go get sweaty!
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