TOP Comic PICKS for Week #288/26/2020
Welcome to week 28, post-reading! This week was super relaxing for me in terms of reading because I had a much smaller pull list than usual, so the week's reads were easy to get through. Though it may be starting to sound predictable, three of my top five comics from this week were Dawn of X books. I can't help it that Johnathon Hickman, Leah Williams, and Zeb Wells (from this week's books) are all such fantastic writers with satisfying takes on their teams.
Additionally, I picked Bliss #2 from Image Comics, and Batgirl #48 from DC. Batgirl is in it's last issues, the final four of which I'm doing an ongoing review of, which you can find linked in the Batgirl section beyond the cut. Bliss is an eight-issue limited creator owned series with intriguing differences from our own world. At just issue two, this series has brought up a lot of darkness seen in our world, and how it effects those who live through it. This article contains in-text links and definitely some spoilers, so Continue Reading for the week's best in comics!
JUMP TO:
X-Men #11 by Johnathon Hickman, art by Leinil Francis Yu, colors by Rain Beredo
Already in Dawn of X, there have been a number of X-Men issues by Johnathon Hickman that have stopped me in my tracks with their excellence. This week's Empyre event tie-in, X-Men #11, easily fell into that category. I have a lot to say about this one, so instead of listing plot points, I'll try and stick to the meaty bits that I can really dig into and get sweaty about. In short, this issue was two things: a statement on the strength of the X-Men now that they have Krakoa, and a love letter to Eric (as they're calling him nowadays)--the infamous Magneto. The latter account, of being a love letter to Magneto, is visually clear from the first page on Krakoa. We see Exodus, one of the most dramatic mutants in terms of visual appearance, teaching mutants children around a campfire. This is a scene we've encountered before, in X-Men #7 just a few months ago. In that issue, Hickman writes that Exodus gathered mutant children around a fire to teach them of the Crucible. The Crucible is one of my favorite new mutant traditions brought in by Dawn of X: a ceremony where a de-powered mutant battles En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse) literally to the death. After sacrificing their physical body in a display of devotion to their people, they are revived as a full mutant once more by the Five. The Crucible was started in Dawn of X to begin the hard work of undoing the mistake of mutant Scarlet Witch having de-powered over one million mutants after House of M. While this is something she herself has recently started seeking recompense for, the mutants of Krakoa still see her as a "great betrayer". In X-Men #7, Exodus speaks to the next generation of mutants about one of their peoples' greatest foes. This time, he speaks to the children of their greatest hero. When we first see Magneto in this issue, he's in his home on Krakoa, floating as he meditates completely naked. His three X-Men costumes lined up along the wall neatly, in way reminiscent of Batman's cave of past outfits. These two visuals, the striking nude figure alongside his iconic outfits, send the reader powerful messages on how Hickman wants Magneto to be seen. The naked male form has signified power and strength since before English was a language. The most well-known examples in western culture are ancient Greek statues, where classical artisans spent unbelievable hours toiling to imagine the perfect body of masculine strength and power. These statues were almost always entirely naked, showing everything from men stealing away virgin women to men standing tall and unashamed, fully on display for your admiration. When Magik and other mutants burst into his chamber of solitude with news of the Cotati invasion, he does not cover himself. He sets his feat lightly to the ground and turns to see them directly. He stands tall, unashamed, fully on display, just like those ancient Greek statues, proving his sense of power and strength is not only physically well-founded, but supported in his mentality, as well. The outfits he goes to pick from for battle are lined along the room's walls--red and purple, white, and black. They symbolize the various eras we've seen of Magneto. His original villain look is the red and purple, the white is his more modern Dawn of X look, and the black made appearances in Brian Michael Bendis' Uncanny X-Men, when Cyclops led a rogue team, including Magik and Emma Frost. Having all three of these era's outfits on display is Hickman's way of acknowledging their existence, and that they are still important parts of Magneto's history. Even more significant is the outfit he chooses on this day: his classic villain look of red and purple. Magneto has spent much of his life battling humans and fellow mutants in this suit, getting himself labelled extremist, villain, and all kinds of evil synonyms. In wearing the suit to fight for Krakoa, he's redefining what those colors mean. The classic red and purple that X-Men fans have long held synonymous with evil has become his costume of heroism to all his nation, to all mutantkind. Letting his War Captain take charge of the Cotati on the moon's Summer House, Magneto takes lead on Krakoa. The battle is decidedly one sided, with the master of magnetism delivering blow after blow to the invading aliens. Alien is the important part, as Krakoan laws dictate no mutant can kill a human. The battle on Krakoa is over as quickly as it started, thanks to Magneto and the excellent battle skills of the X-Men, and he moves on to assist on the moon. All throughout these scenes, Leinil Francis Yu has drawn Magneto in traditional poses of power, such as the well-known "Superman" flight hover. He draws the former villain's battle scenes to appear almost effortless, casually throwing around massive power levels and hardly breaking a sweat by the end. Even draped in his infamous costume, Magneto is a sight to behold. Aside from Magneto, this issue was also a testament of the strength of the X-Men on Krakoa. Magik is their War Captain, a perfect fit alongside Cyclops' similar Captain position. The two battled together in Bendis' Uncanny years, and shared peices of the Phoenix Force for a time. We've already seen some great interactions between the two during recent fights, so it makes sense she would head off to battle alongside him on the moon. This leaves Magneto as the mutant in charge on Krakoa, a position he handles extremely well. As soon as he gets to the battlefield, he's in contact with key players through the Stepford Cuckoo's mental links, and the plan is immediately in play. Through the quintuplets, Magneto locates Magma, with the mutant ability to control lava, and Iceman, who needs no explaining. He mentally asks Magma about a request he made of her some time ago, to search Krakoa's deep earth for a thick vein of lava she could tap into in case of emergency. Swiftly communicating between the group, he expertly utilizes his available X-Men's power sets to most efficiently destroy the invading Cotati forces. In this case, that means having Magma burst the lava vein into the atmosphere, at which point Iceman super-cools it, leaving behind jagged shards of metal for Magneto to use as projectiles. Not only is this an incredible display of how in-sync the X-Men are, it gives some insight into the world of self-defense preparation on Krakoa. If Magneto has gone so far as to ask Magma to find a vein of lava "just in case", it can easily be assumed there is a lot more creative battle strategizing going on behind the scenes. Further than those two points, the issue still had moments that were just plain enjoyable. When two of the Stepford Cuckoo sisters begin their mental link with Magneto, there's a few funny back-and-forths about mixing up which sister is which, and they josh the elder mutant about wasting precious time. It's not an outright joke, but subtle humor is definitively where Hickman makes his best laughs. Another moment of jokeless humor comes at the end of the battle of Krakoa, when Magneto offers the invading leader a chance to leave. He declines, and Magneto proceeds to drop increasingly large satellites on him until he stops moving. He does it so effortlessly, he doesn't even have to move. When its done, He requests a Cuckoo sister to forward repayment to the owners of the satellites, minus the secret American ones no one was supposed to know about. It's a laugh-out-loud moment, in my opinion, without ever needed to tell a single joke. The fireside chats between Exodus and the mutant children have happened twice now, so I'm hoping to see a lot more of that. It further sets up Krakoa to be a success, at least partially, if the youth are raised with Krakoan values in mind. The education of the next generation of mutants in the Crucible and teaching them to grow up holding Magneto as their hero is the hard start to a new generation and a new age for mutants. Once again, don't feel like you need any extra information on the Empyre event than is given in this one comic. As the final tie-in to Empyre for the X-Men, this issue should be seen as embarrassing to the Empyre event writers. The whole event has felt forced, backwards, and convoluted--just an excuse to sensationalize a queer marriage while forcing the same straight-white male characters to be the "reluctant heroes" again, when it's all their fault to begin with. This one issue of X-Men puts everything I've read from the main Empyre event to shame, and I hope they learn something from that. X-Men #12 comes out September 12th and is the second prelude to X of Swords! I have a lot more hope in this X-Men based event than anything else Marvel has put out recently, so it's fair to say I'm pumped. I definitely would encourage anyone to give this Hickman run of X-Men a shot, especially if you have any love for the characters and who they are at their core. Hickman tends to be a bit of a complex writer, so don't give up if your favorite deep-cut character hasn't appeared yet. I have no doubt there is a solid plan running in every direction for Dawn of X, and it has something for everyone.
X-Factor #2 by Leah Williams, art by David Baldeón, colors by Israel Silva
It's uncanny how quickly this series became a "must have" on my pull list. An almost entirely foreign team of mutants to me personally, yet writer Leah Williams was able to grab my interest and leave me in delightful awe from the very beginning. Not only that, she's made a point of showing important facets of the team's history, assuring the fans that their beloved characters are being well taken care of. X factor, while not the biggest draw of the Dawn of X books by any means, makes it into this pick list again with it’s unrelenting humor, catchy characters, and ability to make light of dark situations. The book is satiated in morbidity, as it deals with the idea of tracking down what happened to missing and most likely dead mutants before their revival. This is only issue #2, and CSI: Krakoa is full swing (or would that be CSI: Mutants?)! When Canadian Super Twin Aurora arrives at the X-Factor headquarters, called the Boneyard, she finds a mysterious package waiting for the team outside. Upon further investigation, it's discovered to be a bloody ballerina's slipper, covered in sponsorship stickers. In a humorous discussion between Daken and Prodigy while planning what to do next, the two men start to argue about their power sets, the panel for which I've put at the head o f this whole article. The slipper's sponsorship stickers end up coming from Mojo World, and with that first clue, the team heads off to investigate mutant murder! With the notable exclusion, that is, of Aurora. She cites that she's only been brought back to life about two hours ago, so she's given the opportunity to hang out at the Boneyard and sit this mission out. If you're unfamiliar with the concept of Mojo World, just think of an entire planet run as a television network, with every citizen both a player and a watcher. The whole thing is run by classic X-Men villain, Mojo. To describe Mojo is a little more difficult. Picture, if you can, a giant yellow blob of a person, elongated in the teeth and foreshortened everywhere below them, all attached to a technologically advanced, spider-like "throne". Mojo and his world were created by Chris Claremont during his Uncanny X-Men days as a commentary on how technology and television can infect society like a sickness. Little did Claremont know, at the time, just how pertinent his metaphor for society's attachment to technology would become in the future. Because everyone inside is a part of their own live stream show, the X-Factor team has to go through try-outs for their own show. A page of personal try-out screens for each member gives witty insights to how each character is viewed from the outside. Polaris is recognized as the daughter of Magneto, one of the only things she's commonly known for. Prodigy is discussed among viewers, and one viewer corrects another that the mutant is bisexual, not gay. Daken, unsurprisingly, takes the moment as a voyeuristic opportunity, and whips his dick out for the cameras, getting himself kicked off the show. While other team members are angry at his lack of forethought, Daken claims this is what he wanted from the beginning, since now he'll be headed back to the Boneyard to make a move on Aurora (who, at home watching this livestream, is shocked to discover Daken finds her sexy). The other members are all accepted into the livestream, and even get new team outfits to mark the occasion! The new uniforms are a great cross section of modern fashion and classic X-Men outfits, and sport a minimalist new team logo. As a group, the uniformed team looks sharp and ready for action--whatever that may mean. Similar to how Hickman has been writing the X-Men, every member of the X-Factor team has their exact moment to be useful. Even Eye-Boy, with his nonsensical appearance, has his moments to shine and drive the team's mission forward. When Mojo interrupts their investigation, the team easily overpowers him. Polaris takes control of his metal throne, and Northstar speaks as Prestige easily blasts away Mojo's soldiers--who I might add, look uncannily like Kelly Thompson's Jeff the Landshark, but in armor. Under duress, Mojo reports that the missing ballerina mutant was a player under Spiral's livestream. Northstar is a little too gun-ho on getting into Spiral's domain to find out more, and the team winds up under attack, again. This time, it's another streaming group, out to get more views and clout. It'll be up to X-Factor (minus Daken and Aurora) to beat this next team before they get any further in their investigation. X-Factor #2 ends with Aurora curled up on the couch at the Boneyard, watching her brother and the rest of the team fight on Mojo World. She's interrupted not by Daken, but by her brother's former sports career manager, Kyle. Kyle and Northstar were married in 2012's Astonishing X-Men #51, and haven't been around too much since them. Not only does Williams bring Kyle back in this issue, through conversation she makes it very clear that Kyle and Northstar are still canonically married, and Kyle has been living at the Boneyard with the team for as long as his husband. There's so much to look forward to in future X-Factor issues. This is only the second comic of the series, but already Leah Williams has proved herself to be another star Dawn of X creator, and I have full confidence in her abilities. She's teased bringing in Daken's sexuality, Prodigy's bisexuality, and now Northstar and his husband are both main characters. Aurora, Rachel, and Polaris each have aspects of their personalities and power sets that have already proved indispensable to the team, and I'm excited to see what else is in store for them. I can't help but wonder if there is going to be drama surrounding the leadership of the team, as the only "passive" member I can see NOT wanting to take up a leadership role is Eye Boy. With so many headstrong and confident members on the team, the story has years of arcs available to delve into. To finish up here, David Baldeon's artwork gives each character their own specific "look" while capturing the many differences of this broad cast of characters. Somehow, he's managed to draw a version of Mojo that doesn't automatically make my skin crawl, but still expresses the horror and disgust the villain is known for. Coloring by Israel Silva finishes off Baldeon's artwork in clear, vivid colors, which adds the the "uncanny" look of Krakoa and Mojo World. There are a lot of aspects to look forward to, artistically, as well. Mojo World is full of endless possibilities, from the livestreams to the inhabitants to the people who run the whole world. It's a perfect playground for artists to stretch their creative legs, a fact that has definitely not escaped this art team. X-Factor #3 comes out just two weeks from now on September 9th! I encourage any X-Men fans with a humorous bone in their body to take a look at these first two issues before then!
Hellions #3 by Zeb Wells, art by Stephen Segovia, colors by David Curiel
To the surprise of exactly no one, Zeb Wells did a fantastic job of showing Madelyne Pryor's furious drives and motives in this issue. The Goblin Queen's life is a trail of abused trust and abandonment, from the lie of her origin to the back to back betrayals of her entire adult life. The issue starts back at Mister Sinister's house of experiments, where Madelyne and so m any others were created. Shes stolen away with Havoc, her former brother-in-law and lover, to monologue her nefarious plans. His lips are gone, as she'd removed them with a spell in order to speak uninterrupted. She speaks poetically of her life story, but the reality is easy to translate. Believing herself to be from Alaska, Madelyne Pryor was an airline pilot. She met Scott Summers, had his baby, and both were abandoned when he discovered Jean--the "original" of what Maddie was--alive again. Madelyne eventually disappeared from the world, to be forgotten by Scott and the others. Any time she's made a resurgence, or an attempt to seek justice, it ends with tragedy for Maddie, and the world once again moves on without her. When explaining how upsetting it was to be left behind and forgotten, Madelyne adds that the X-Men are doing the same thing to her again, right now, by not recognizing her existence or welcoming her to Krakoa, as they did with so many other mutant villains. Every moment the X-Men ignore or push away Madelyne, they're giving her more reason to want to rain all hellfire on Krakoa. Under the Goblin Queen's spell, Havoc reaches his wit's end and uses a sharp edge to actually cut himself a new mouth. He screams out at her in a fury, telling her his own sad tale of loving a woman who only wants his brother. Seeing the carnage inflicted upon himself under her spell, the Goblin Queen leaps joyfully into her former lover's arms. This, she says, is the kind of passion she can on board with. Moving forward, Madelyne takes Havok into a room where many of the mutated former Marauders gather around Hellions team member Greycrow, hanging by his ankles from the ceiling. Its important to note, as Madelyne does, Greycrow was a member of the original Marauders team who not only killed the Morlocks, but tried to kill Madelyne as she and her newborn son lay in bed, abandoned by her husband. They took the baby, Nathaniel Summers, AKA Cable, who has his own convoluted timeline and story from there. Madelyne savors this chance to get back at Greycrow, and feeds him alive to his twisted, zombie-like former teammates. The characterization of Psylocke, or rather, Kwannon, is satisfying in this issue, as well. It's been a very long time since the physical form that she carries has been solely inhabited and controlled by Kwannon. A classic Dawn of X "white page" prints a letter regarding this fact, and reminding the receiver to be wary. While it wasn't confirmed who the sending or receiving parties are intended, the speaker expresses concern over Kwannon having her own team. She was raised by ninjas of the Hand, a clan of assassins especially notorious in Daredevil mythology (for a recent look at Kwannon's past, check out Dawn of X limited series Fallen Angels, out on trade paperback now). Having given someone with that past, plus her history of being trapped in her own mind with no control over her body, a team of her own to be in charge of is a risk as it is. And the team members she watches over are all complicated psychological cases, themselves, which adds to the risk. And in a sense, they aren't wrong to want to keep an eye on her. In a scene towards the end, Kwannon is faced with a raging and berserker WildChilde. They'd bee fighting the whole issue, and at this point she'd had enough. Kwannon grabs him by the hair and gives him a swift uppercut to the brain with her psyblade, removing his consciousness and leaving only the base, animalistic emotions. With that done, she snaps his neck, killing him instantly. WhildChilde has a mutant regeneration factor and was able to revive himself back in a healthier mental state, but this still shows how far Kwannon is willing to go to keep things in line. Whether this will ultimately be a positive or negative personality trait will have to be determined as the team's missions go on. Hellions #4 comes out comes out in just a few weeks on September 16th, and is the last issue of this Madelyne Pryor story arc. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this won't be the last time we see the Goblin Queen in Dawn of X, as I truly do think she has a lot she could add to their world.
Bliss #2 by Sean Lewis, art by Caitlin Yarsky
I genuinely regret not having caught onto Bliss during it's initial release for issue #1. The book doesn't have a lot of hype behind it right now, but I find it to be a poignant examination of our own society, mixed with dark fantasy horror elements. All of that is backed by Caitlin Yarsky's elegant artwork, her style hitting somewhere between Tim Burton, Stephanie Hans, and Becky Cloonan. Her art showcases some of the best that digital painting has to offer, with smooth colors and a palette of deep, warm tones. The characters of Bliss are all caricatured, practically, into visual representations of their personality. The narrator of the story, for example, is a tall, hunched, narrow, and slightly greasy young man, pleading to a court on behalf of his criminal father. His father, seen so far only in flashbacks, is equally tall and slim, with the posture and body language of a man who's life of hard work and stress has yet to show any return. The trial's Judge, on the other hand, bares large teeth as he spits his angry words, his white judge's wig a furious mess on his head. The trial so far, since I never really wrote about thee first issue, has been the accused's son--a Mr. Ohara--not defending, but rather giving context to his father's horrendous actions. We are introduced to a drug called bliss, which takes away unwanted memories from the user. It causes the memories to literally seep in a black ooze from their eyes, to be collected by the drug running gang's leader. Primarily, it seems the drug is taken by the leader's pawns, who can't live with the knowledge of what they've done in her name. It's said that at one point in the gang's career, she held so much power in the city that the local river was overflowing with the black ooze of unpleasant memories. Ohara's father, of course, was one of those pawns. He got tied up in with the gang in a moment of desperation, as his son--the speaker/narrator--was a very sickly child, on his deathbed. The one thing keeping his family from being able to get him the help he needed was money, so his father hid his pride and his morals and took work from the gang. As the court proceedings and the story have gone on, we've seen bits of exactly what Ohara's father is said to have done. Generally, murders for the gang that runs bliss, but you can truly feel the ripples they made as you learn more of the details. One murder shown is a popular politician, said to be the next big step forward for her community. A montage of foul, murderous memories are followed by the symbolic downing of another bliss dose, followed by a hollow peace. The first issue touched on the societal unfairness that forced Ohara's father into that position in the first place, but its really expanded upon here in #2. Ohara continues his speech in defense of his father, citing that as a society, forgetting the horrors of our past is how we survive. The examples given are broad: war, suffering, and past transgressions are all pushed out of our minds on a regular basis in order to continue living our lives. What Lewis writes here about the ugliness of our world makes me think of another topic that's been on my mind lately. There are many theories about the connection between fear and courage, including that which N.K. Jemisin recently wrote in her comic, Far Sector. She says that courage is not necessarily overcoming fear, but rather choosing to continue living, despite fear being a part of your everyday life. While the example in Far Sector deals with topics very directly relevant in our modern society, Bliss takes a broader approach, discussing our toxic culture surrounding drugs, social classes, politics, and government. Much of these are things we, as everyday citizens, do not necessarily hold final blame for, but still carry the burden of in our communities. Back in the courtroom, Ohara continues, saying it destroys a person to take bliss so much. His father, he argues, needed to save his family's well-being so badly that he destroyed himself in order to continue doing what it took to survive. The trial is interrupted at the end of the issue by what can only be described as a tortoise priestess. She calls for a private audience with Mr. Ohara and the Judge, claiming to have an offer. Her name is Demi, and she claims to be able to tell the Judge every detail of what Ohara's father has done, and how, if she is given appropriate protection. she says she is on the run from her former boss, a "bad" higher spirit known as Lethe, god of oblivion. Bliss is planned at being a two-arc, eight-issue series, and I can already tell there will be a lot of build up between now and the end. Lewis is drip-feeding us differences between the world of Bliss and our own just as much as he's pointing out the similarities. I'm very much enjoying the world he and Yarsky have built together, as it feels like our own with a few key fantasy element twists. I would almost go as far as to say it is reminiscent of the late-great Terry Pratcehtt's Discworld, which I hope would be taken as high praise. The way the story is playing out surely won't be favored by some readers, as its a bit of a slow burn or, as I said before, drip-feed of plot information. I happen to be among the readers who enjoy that type of story, as seen with writers I love such as Johnathon Hickman (have I said "Hickman" enough in this post yet?). The writing style does seem to fit this fantastically drawn world, with it's Tim Burton elements mixed with harsh realities of the world. Bliss #3 comes out on September 23rd, so you have a whole month to catch up. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a mystery, a fantasy story, or a dark and introspective tale, as it solidly hits on all those points. I'm looking forward to seeing what Demi has to say, and how Lethe is going to respond.
Batgirl #48 by Cecil Castellucci, art by Robbie Rodriguez, colors by Jordie Bellaire
I'm working on an ongoing review of the last four issues of Cecil Castelluci's--and this whole run of--Batgirl, which you can find linked here, so I won't repeat myself a bunch here. I had two favorite takeaways. One, the glorious return of Luke Fox into Babs' life, and two--the possibility of Barbara returning to life as Oracle, permanently. Of course I talk about the return of her psychotic brother, JJ, as well, but he's not nearly as fun. Check it out!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
What you'll find on the SSG Blog:*Yancy St. PODCAST NOTES! Categories
All
Archives
September 2023
|