Top-5 Comic Pick List from 7/29/207/30/2020
This week's comics were a breeze to get through, for the most part. It was a smaller week, based on my average pull list numbers. While some books, like X-Men #10, surprised me with not being quite as inspiring as I expected, it left room for the others to shine ever brighter.
This week's top 5 comics picks ended up being, in no particular order, Cable #2, X-Factor #1, Captain Marvel #18, Vampirella/Red Sonja #9, and of course, Wonder Woman #759. I'm particularly proud that four out of the five titles are written by women, as well (Cable being the exception)! Some spoilers here, so read at your own discretion! It's a good time to be a nerd, because the comics industry is evolving in new ways all the time, and I'm just thrilled to be here. Continue Reading for the run-down on my picks of the last week!
JUMP TO: (in no particular order)
Wonder Woman #759
My top pick of the week is Wonder Woman, which should be a surprise to absolutely no one. I've been wanting a female writer back on Wonder Woman for a long time, which I've been very open about. When I learned Mariko Tamaki was taking the reins starting with issue #759, I couldn't be more excited! This issue had a LOT riding on it's tremendous success, and I'm pleased to report that it was indeed phenomenal. I've already written an entire review about the issue, which you can read here (opens in new tab). There's as few spoilers as I can keep out of the review, with a warning before I start delving into the plot itself. If you haven't read this issue, and have been looking for a good place to start reading Diana's solo series, NOW is the time! Speaking of Diana's titles.... Batman has Detective Comics, Superman has Action Comics, why doesn't Wonder Woman have Sensation Comics? I'm going to start a petition: give Wonder Woman her due Sensation Comics series! Female writers preferred.
Cable #2
I'll be the first to admit surprise at enjoying a "young Cable" series. I was never specifically a fan of the original version, so when I heard he was de-aged, it just felt like another comics ploy to get people to talk about something new and different. But I was actually wrong- Cable hasn't been de-aged, this is just a younger version. Cable, or Nathan Summers, is a time traveler, and one of the things they reestablished with this younger version is that the time travelling Cables basically share memories and information with one another as they pass through time and space. So while this is another Cable from another time, he has all the memories and know-how of the "original" version. With that being said, he is also the son of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor, although it looks like they're ignoring that part a little and saying his mother is Jean Grey now. Johnathon Hickman teased in a previous X-Men issue some family interactions between those three and Cable's sister, Rachel, so I'm happy to see Cable writer Gerry Duggan picking up on that. Another reference I'm enjoying is the thread dropped by writer Benjamin Percy in Wolverine #3, that the Cuckoo Sisters did Logan a favor, and want to be introduced to this young Cable in return. In Cable #2, Duggan doesn't miss a beat, and dear Nathan Summers is already in a relationship with all five sisters. Being a young man dating five women consecutively and with their permission, his ego is of course monstrous. Cable doesn't know, though, is the sisters are playing HIM. It seems like on Krakoa is a little dull for the Cuckoos and they've taken to tormenting the local impressionable boys. We get an entertaining interaction between Emma Frost, the girls' technical mother, and Scott Summers regarding the relationship/s. Remember, Emma and Scott themselves had an elicit affair under the nose of Jean Grey, which turned into a full blown relationship not long after, and for many years following. Duggan does a great job of handling their interaction while keeping both of them exactly at the sweet spots for their characters. It's just another sign that Head of X Johnathon Hickman has done an excellent job of placing brilliant writers where they'll shine the brightest. The issue ends with Emma requesting Scott have his son break the heart of only one of her daughters, Esme. Yeah, I wasn't sure I read that right, either. My guess is Emma sees too much of herself in Esme--too much of the manipulative, masochistic, and non-empathetic qualities she has likely identified as chaotic and destructive in herself and her relationships. She seems to be teaching her daughter a lesson in love, and I'm looking forward to seeing it play out. Of course, there was more to the plot than this love...sextant? Cable is on the hunt for missing mutant babies, at least one in particular at this point. He's using the Cuckoos to help him on the case during their dates, and discovered a mutant cult might be behind the stealing of the mutant-ettes. We get more entertaining dialogue between some human cops and Cable, and then those cops and Cyclops/Scott, and its probably my favorite lines in the issue aside from his interaction with Emma later. And then there's the hints at the original Cable's return. While everyone thinks he was killed by his newer version, he looks as alive as ever in whatever dessert-like wasteland he's making his way across. No doubt, his attempted killer is on his mind...
X-Factor #1
The premier issue of Leah Williams' X-Factor was even better than I was hoping! When I see a new cape book with a team I'm only partially familiar with, I hesitate. Sometimes there's a reason I've never taken to those other characters, or maybe I just haven't found them interesting in a story before. One amazing example of me being proved wrong in my hesitation is Tini Howard's Strikeforce. I knew the women of the series (Angela, Spectrum, Spider-Woman), but the men I was less familiar with (Blade, Daemon Hellstrom, Wiccan, and Winter Soldier). Trusting my ladies to lead the way, I bought the book and am thrilled to have done so! I've said it multiple times before, but Strikeforce is the best team and team book at Marvel right now. Unfortunately, it's final issue #9 comes out next week, August 5th. X-Factor has immediately become a second example in me hesitating on a team for no reason. Williams pieced the mismatched team together like a beautiful collage, each character having a defining purpose and use in the story. Even a character as seemingly obscure as Eye-Boy is given a solid reason for being there within the natural progression of the story. One of my favorite parts of X-Factor #1 was the somewhat brief interaction between Polaris and her father, Magneto. Williams also doesn't pull punches about how powerful Polaris (Lorna) really is. I've always loved the idea of Lorna, but until a recent dive into 1980's Uncanny X-Men, I haven't come across her much. I'm not crazy familiar with her, but I'm loving to learn! She has similar metal-bending powers like her father, but she seems to be more in touch with the natural metals of the Earth, including Krakoa's. Remember, Krakoa is a living island, technically a mutant itself. We get a beautifully designed scene with Lorna talking to Krakoa, and working together, she builds a giant home base for X-Factor out of natural Krakoan metals. Each character had a small moment to shine in this issue, but I'm really looking forward to getting to know Williams' take on them as the series goes forward. This team's purpose is to assist "the Five" in investigating cases of missing and potentially murdered mutants, in order for resurrection to be properly completed. I love that we're getting to see so much of the resurrection part of this new mutant world. Not only did the Five offer a massive resurgence to some otherwise dull and forgotten characters, it created a whole world of options and possibilities for mutant-kind. It's going to be a lot of fun following the X-Factor team as they go on further investigative adventures!
Captain Marvel #18
It isn't a surprise that I'm a big Carol Danvers fan. While I'm very open about not enjoying certain writers' takes on her as much as others, this current run has been getting better and better as it goes along. This being the first tie-in issue for Marvel's Empyre event, Kelly Thompson is taking Carol to a whole new level, and places she's never been before (at least emotionally). Carol was dubbed Kree Supreme Accuser in Empyre #2, making her the executioner to the new Emperor's judge and jury. She and Dorrek are familiar with one another, since he was a Young Avenger and the son of her former lover, teacher, and teammate Mar-Vell. While they've yet to dive into THAT particular connection for this event, I'm sure the former Kree Captain's name will come up more than a few times going forward. Carol is sent on her first official mission as the Accuser, in this issue. The first combined Kree/Skrull city was horrifically bombed out of existence, with no survivors. The apparent attacker, pinned down by Empire soldiers, is her target. If you were on Kelly Thompson's twitter last week, you'd have seen her discussing a brand new character, Captain Marvel's sister! And if you saw that, it'd be no surprise to learn the rebelling soldier pinned down is none other than that sister. She surrenders to Carol after learning her identity, and the Accuser's all-weapon psychically tell the Captain of the soldier's origins. Carol is shocked by the knowledge she had a sister--her mother had a daughter she never knew existed, a product of Kree warrior breeding programs. The soldier tells Carol she is innocent--she never had a taste for violence, regardless of her breeding heritage. It goes without saying Captain Marvel does what she thinks is right and true, and saves her newfound Kree half-sister. Emperor Dorrek is not pleased, and I'd be lying if I said I'm not excited to see how this affects Carol's relationship with him and the Empire. Of course, it all depends on if her half-sister is lying. And if she didn't cause the attack, who did?
Vampirella/Red Sonja #9
While Jordie Bellaire did colors for this week's issue of Wonder Woman, she is also an accomplished comic book writer herself! This series of Vampirella/Red Sonja will be twelve issues, so we're getting towards the end here, and what a ride it's been. Our two heroines, as alike as they are different (I'm...not sure that phrase works), are caught up in a magical spell, tossing them together through time and space! They've been to the icy mountains in the 70's, New York City in the 60's, a nunnery in another time altogether, and now Drakulon! When Sonja wakes up on Vampirella's home planet, she's shocked to discover, she thinks, the spell delivered her to an entirely different time than it did Vampirella, seeming to have dropped her in decades later. But that isn't it, she learns from Vampi. When they arrived on Drakulon, together, Sonja was taken gravely ill. The only way to save her was the turn the She-Devil into a Vampire! And not only that, but there's a mysterious beast that's been poisoning the land, as well as Vampirella herself. A lot of people would hear this news and react less-than-pleasantly. The life of a Vampire, to many, would mean a life of constant hunger, insatiable thirst and bloodlust, and an eternity alone in the dark. Not Sonja. When she learns of her fate and the illness of her compatriot, Red Sonja is inspired to fight harder than ever. One might say she's thrilled with the new developments. Red Sonja, rememberr, is called Red not for the color of her hair, but the Blood she spills. She is the She-Devil with a Sword, striking fear into the hearts of all who survive her. She lives for battle, and she's just been made an even greater warrior than before. She makes quick work of tracking down the culprit, and quite literally throws herself into battle with it. Vampirella is pleased with the display, showing this was the only way to save them, and it's working out. There's something about the art for this series that just perfectly captures the friendship of Vampirella and Sonja. No matter what time period or planet they're going through, the brilliant yet simple artistry speaks for the story as much as dialogue, if not more. There's only three more issues of Vampirella/Red Sonja by Jordie Bellaire! It's a fun story of sisterhood through hardship, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it ends.
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