Best Comics of the Week:
Stray Bullets #41 – 
I don’t remember exactly when I stopped buying Stray Bullets, but I know it was because the book’s insanely slow schedule, matched with the fact that I was in university, made it almost impossible to keep up with it, even though I had a lot of love for the book. Well, David Lapham’s finally returned to the series that established his reputation, and man, have I missed this comic. It appears that poor Virginia Applejack, the young woman who is basically the series’s main character, has been abducted by a couple of teenagers. She’s escaped, and stolen one kid’s father’s massive supply of cocaine, which means that the kids are all looking for her, while the father’s boss is looking for him. Everything converges in one incredibly violent and effective scene. Lapham is a wonderful cartoonist, and I’m excited to be able to buy his stuff regularly again.
Stray Bullets: Killers #1 – And as good as the last issue of the first volume was, the beginning of the second volume is so much better. The story is set in 1978, and focuses on Eli, a young boy who likes to sneak out at night to hitch a ride with his father to a strip club, where he hides under a table and looks at boobs, which he then goes home and draws. It all seems pretty normal and kind of innocent, although this is a David Lapham comic, so there has to be some sinister stuff going on. Every time Eli goes, he leaves his baby sister behind, which causes a little bit of tension in the book. He also discovers that the older sister of one of his friends is a dancer at the club, which causes even more problems, especially when something bad happens to her one night. Eli meets Spanish Scott, a familiar character from the first volume, who also works security at the club. As every issue of Sray Bullets does, this one ends in violence, and Lapham does an incredible job of building up expectations of that violence so that when it comes, it isn’t really a surprise, but it’s also shocking. What Lapham does best is peel away layers of normalcy and ‘appearances’ to get at the rot lying under the surface of suburbia, and I’m so excited to see where he goes next.
Quick Takes:
Abe Sapien #11 – 
Abe kind of wears out his welcome in the small town where he’s been staying, but after what happens to that place this issue, I don’t think anyone would want to stay there. This arc ends kind of strangely, but puts our hero back on the road, with the promise of more messed up places to come.
All-New X-Men #24 – The Trial of Jean Grey continues, although after the King of Spartax disrupts the proceedings, the actual trial is kind of put on hold. Jean escapes the Shi’ar just as the X-Men, the Guardians, and the Starjammers come to her rescue. This is one of the better-balanced comics in this cross-over, as almost every character is given something to do.
Avengers Undercover #1 – Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker return to the cast of Avengers Arena in this new series. It’s been some six months since the survivors made their way out of Murder World, and most of them are not doing so well. We check in with the core cast of this title (no mention is made of X-23, Reptil, or Darkhawk), before they meet up at Cullen Bloodstone’s mansion to learn that he needs rescuing. It looks like Cullen has started working with Baron Zemo, and it’s not hard to guess that the rest of this series is going to be about the kids going undercover to get him out. Hopeless has a terrific handle on these characters, and it’s nice to see them all again. I hadn’t expected to like Arena, and I ended up being completely caught up in it; now, I have very high expectations for this title, but also faith that it will live up to them.
Beasts of Burden: Hunters & Gatherers – 
It’s been too long since we’ve seen the dogs and cats of Burden, who protect their town from supernatural evil. Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson turn in another just about perfect story, as the crew have to deal with a giant monster that has been eating animals. They start the issue with some dark tidings from the elder dogs who oversee these matters, before we join our heroes in the middle of setting a trap for the creature. Jill Thompson’s art is so wonderful in these stories that I can’t adequately describe it. Her animals display the full range of human emotion, and are also painfully cute at the same time. Her watercolours are beautiful. I don’t like Dorkin’s humor comics, but I love this series; I just wish it came out more often.
Bloodshot and HARD Corps #20 – The second part of the Archer & Armstrong tie-in goes very well, as the HARD Corps return to Project Rising Spirit with Archer, and Armstrong gives chase in a Shriner’s parade car. The writing is nice throughout, but something weird is going on with Tom Raney’s art. It doesn’t look like his usual style, and I can’t decide if what we’re seeing is an improvement or not. Some pages look great, but others seem ill-considered. I think he’s trying to give this book a look that’s consistent with A&A, which I do appreciate.
Deadpool #25.NOW – Before anyone picks this up thinking that, because of the giant #1 on the cover, it would be a good jumping-on point, you should be warned. This is the end of a long storyline that had DP sharing his head with a SHIELD agent. Basically, most of this issue is taken up with a fight between DP and Crossbones, who is in his underwear. From here, we can expect another one of the usually hilarious flashback issues, and then Deadpool’s continuity shifts to a digital-only series (which I believe has already been released), before a $10 issue marries him off to a character we haven’t even seen yet. In other words, after the next issue, I’m gone, which is a shame, because this has been a fun series.
East of West #10 – Death is looking for his son, who may or may not be the Great Beast, and that leads him to his companion Crow’s father. It feels like some of the various plotlines that Jonathan Hickman has introduced into this series are beginning to converge, especially with a certain character showing up on the last page, and it seems like it’s the right time for that, as the book is getting a little convoluted. Nick Dragotta’s art is wonderful in this comic, and I really enjoy exploring the world he and Hickman have created.
EGOs #3 – I’ve been enjoying EGOs, mostly because it’s filled the gap left by the fact that there are no Legion of Super-Heroes comics being published, but I’m not sure if I’m enjoying it enough to stick with the title. Stuart Moore finishes off his first arc with this issue, as the new team confronts Masse, the living galaxy, and I think I’m going to give the book one more issue to either completely wow more, or to convince me to drop it.
FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics #8 – Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez are continuing to play around with the core concept of this series, that physics is behaving strangely, and applying that to characters’ behaviour patterns as well. The team is up in Alaska helping an old friend of Cicero’s shut down her research, but the two younger agents are being given the chance to bond a little better. This is a very interesting series, with some fluid art. It’s worth paying attention to.
Hawkeye #17 – Okay, I get it that this book is way behind schedule and that Marvel is trying desperately to get it back on track, but I don’t know that I appreciate the fact that this is basically a fill-in all-ages issue about a cartoon dog trying to save his Winter Friends from the sun. Granted, I read this comic during the middle of a huge snowstorm, so it didn’t feel as completely out of place as a winter holiday-themed comic in the middle of March should, but Chris Eliopoulos’s art is not my thing. This series is starting to bother me…
Invincible #109 – Mark has found himself trapped in a different, and hostile dimension, but doesn’t waste much time in getting to work to come home. I would have thought that Robert Kirkman would have spun a story like this out a little longer, but it’s clear that he has big plans for issue 111, and is not wasting any time in getting there. This book is always entertaining, so it’s all good.
The Mercenary Sea #2 - The second issue of this new series is just as entertaining as the first, as the crew fight to protect their submarine from a local warlord, and then to be able to pay for the repairs it needs after the fight, sign on to help the British Navy sneak a spy out of Hong Kong. I like the sense of adventure in this book, and the way that Kel Symons is slowly building his characters. Mathew Reynolds’s art, which relies on a lot of digital wizardry, might not be for everyone, but I feel it gives this series a nice period feel, and makes it stand out compared to most other comics on the stands.
Mighty Avengers #8 – The whole purpose of Luke Cage’s new team is to be available to help the common person, yet eight issues into this series, our heroes are continuing to fight typical hero team type threats. This issue, the characters spend a bit of time trying to figure out how to help White Tiger, after her Tiger God took over her body, and then a few of them go off to fight Dr. Positron, a masked science villain. I really like this book – I adore the cast (and am even starting to like the Blue Marvel), and enjoy Al Ewing’s writing, so I’m not complaining, I just think that if this is how this title is going to roll, they should be upfront about it. Also, any issue drawn by Valerio Schiti instead of Greg Land is tops in my book!
Secret Avengers #1 – I wasn’t so sure that this book needed to be rebooted so soon after its last reboot, especially since the cast, general premise, and writer weren’t changing (okay, the co-writer was being promoted), but having read the issue, I can see it now. The new Secret Avengers is more of a comedy book, fitting nicely alongside Hawkeye and Superior Foes of Spider-Man. Maria Hill has put together her secret team, consisting of New Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman, as well as MODOK (but that’s a secret). Before the team can start working together though, Fury and Coulson have some problems with a milk run mission, and Hawkeye leads a bunch of AIM agents to the Russian bath where Natasha and Jessica are chilling out. Oh, and someone’s killing SHIELD agents and gunning for Hill. Ales Kot has a good handle on the lighter mood of this issue, filling it with gratuitous hidden nudity, while Michael Walsh gives the book a look that is also in line with David Aja’s work on Hawkeye, although more light-heartedly. I don’t think that Tradd Moore is the right guy to be doing covers for this series, as he gives the book an even more cartoony vibe, but everything else about this relaunch looks promising.
Star Wars #15 – The focus shifts to the planet Arrochar, where Princess Leia has agreed to marry the prince in return for providing the Rebellion a safe haven and new base. Brian Wood examines how this decision affects a couple of the main cast members, especially Luke, who acts like the impetuous and whiny teenager we remember from the first film. Stéphane Créty steps in on the art, and while his style fits with the previous artists on the book, it’s a bit rougher. I’m curious to see how this whole Rebel plan falls apart, since we know that before long, Wood is going to have to send everyone to Hoth.
The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #9 – The new Moon Knight series might be giving this title competition for the designation of best Marvel ongoing, but this is still a delightful comic book. Boomerang has to explain himself to the Owl, and that leads to a whole new web of lies. Nick Spencer’s writing on this book is so sharp, and I love the humour. I never thought that Boomerang would become one of my favourite Marvel characters, but that’s what this title has accomplished.
Unity #5 – Matt Kindt has the team embarking on a new mission, as the mysterious Dr. Silk may have gotten himself some Vine technology. Kindt is retconning a history of powered heroes (or, perhaps morally questionable government operatives would be the better term) going back to the Second World War, in order to give this new villain some context. I like the dynamics of this team, and Cafu is a good artist for a book like this. I was worried that Unity wouldn’t feel like it had a reason to exist past its first arc, but this issue proves that fear unfounded.
The Walking Dead #123 – Negan and his Saviors attack the Hilltop, before Rick is able to fully arrange his defenses. It’s mostly an action issue, with some nice character moments at the beginning of the comic, and with a cliffhanger ending that could herald great changes for the book moving forward (although I’m skeptical about how much Robert Kirkman is willing to alter the last few sacred cows this series has left). There are only three issues of All Out War remaining, and I’m thankful that the bi-weekly schedule means that I won’t have to wait all that long to see how it all ends.
Comics I Would Have Bought if They Weren’t $4 (or More):
All-New X-Factor #4
Batman #29
Black Widow #4
Captain Marvel #1
Fantastic Four #2
Magnus Robot Fighter #1
The Star Wars #6
Superior Spider-Man #29
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #2
Uber #10
Wolverine #3
X-Force #2
X-Men Legacy #300
Bargain Comics:
A+X #14-16 – The Captain America/Cyclops story, by Deadpool co-writer Gerry Duggan is a lot of fun, and some of the other short stories here, such as the Spidey/Magneto one drawn by David Lafuente, are enjoyable, but it’s not hard to see why this book isn’t long for the world.
Black Widow #1 – As much as I enjoy Nathan Edmondson’s writing (and I really hope his new Marvel commitments aren’t going to put an end to The Activity), I knew that Black Widow wasn’t going to be something I’d be buying regularly. This is a good issue – it sets up that Natasha is, on her off-time from the Avengers – making herself available for work-for-hire, so long as it fits her set of requirements, which I assume are mostly moral. Phil Noto does a lovely job on the art, but the book doesn’t really feel like the beginning of an on-going series. I don’t know if this is enough of a ‘direction’ to sustain a long-running series, but then, no Marvel series are long-running these days, so that might be an academic concern.
Fantastic Four #1 – So James Robinson’s first issue of Fantastic Four in its newly relaunched title is pretty much just like most writer’s first issue with the team. They fight a monster for half the issue. Reed thinks about stuff. Ben goes to visit and get back with Alicia. Johnny makes commitments he won’t be able to keep. Sue worries. I guess it’s All-New and NOW! because the costumes have been inexplicably switched to red and black? To be fair, Robinson starts the issue with Sue writing a letter to Valeria that hints at a number of bad things that are going to happen, but there is really nothing special going on here. Robinson’s appearance at Marvel has been pretty disappointing so far…
New Warriors #1 – I was on the fence about this book. I like Christopher Yost’s writing, and Marcus To has developed into a very good superhero artist, but I’m just not sure I’m up for a new New Warriors series. There are some interesting character choices, like Scarlet Spider, but this issue doesn’t even attempt to assemble the team, instead showing us various heroes running into problems with creatures that are attempting to purge humanity of deviance. I liked the book, but it’s not a $4 purchase for me; I think it’s going to be the type of thing I pick up when stores have sales, which is how I feel about a lot of the All-New Marvel Now books.
Nova #1 – I avoided the Jeph Loeb issues of Nova (as per my rule about avoiding things with Jeph Loeb’s name on them), but since I got this for free at last weekend’s Comicon, I figured it was worth reading. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the story actually makes sense (although I question the suggestion that Rocket Racoon and Gamora have been Guardians of the Galaxy for seventeen years, in a Marvel Universe where Captain America has only been around for at most a decade). Loeb has Sam portrayed as a bit more of a jerk than we’ve seen other writers show him, but I’m not adverse to reading the rest of Loeb’s run now (the last Loeb book I read was either his horrible Wolverine run where he retconned him into being a wolf/cat person or something, or the first issue of his Ultimates run where he had the Blob eat the Wasp).
Nova #12&13.NOW – Gerry Duggan’s time on this book is beginning to improve again, but that could just be because of the inclusion of Beta Ray Bill, a character who does not get enough play in the Marvel Universe for my liking. Sam ends up helping a group of alien slavers by mistake, so Bill comes looking for him, and of course, they end up fighting. This is all pretty standard stuff, but it has some heart to it.
Savage Wolverine #13 – Phil Jimenez wraps up his two-part story that focuses on animal poaching (it’s a theme this week – see my review of Afrika below). I like a lot about this story, especially the way in which the X-Men are seamlessly woven into the story, which doesn’t happen as often these days. Obviously Jimenez’s art is great, and I like that he used Tyger Tiger, who we also don’t see enough of lately. Where things fell apart for me was that Jimenez has Logan communicating with an elephant, and also has Doug Ramsay use his translation abilities to listen to subsonic elephant communications through Cerebra. It’s a little too far-fetched, and felt kind of awkward.
The Star Wars #1-4 – I was curious to see how this adaptation of George Lucas’s original draft of Star Wars was going to play out. While the Star Wars movies hold very central places in my childhood, my adult self is very much aware of the weaknesses of Lucas’s writing. It seemed only fair to expect that his rough drafts would be worse than his more recent work. Basically, the scripting, which I assume comes straight out of the original document, is very stiff and confusing in a number of places, but it’s kind of cool to see ideas, moments, and characters that I know so well in a completely different light. It’s easy to list simple changes – R2D2 talks, Han Solo looks like Swamp Thing – but I think the biggest thing I’ve taken away from the first half of this series is that, for all it’s faults, the original Star Wars movie is many times better than what Lucas had originally envisioned. These comics are still a decent read, but had this been the movie that had been made, with it’s weird understanding of time passing, and its overly-crowded scenes, my childhood would have been radically different.
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #9 – This issue, which has terrific art by Marco Checchetto, has Punisher and Daredevil contact Spidey about the theft of goblin-themed weapons, which in turn leads to him discovering that his Spider-Army (or whatever it’s called) has been infiltrated by the Goblins. I like the way writer Kevin Shinick has Spidey-Ock interact with Daredevil and Punisher.
Thor God of Thunder #19.NOW – Jason Aaron’s Thor is getting a lot better lately, and I particularly enjoyed this issue, which starts off the ‘Last Days of Midgard’ arc. In the present, Thor’s new special friend, SHIELD Agent Solomon is pursuing environmental concerns, and making herself a thorn in Roxxon’s side, and gets Thor interested in her causes (mostly by playing hard to get). In the far future, Old Thor is wanting to fix the Earth. Esad Ribic is back drawing the book, so it looks amazing, and I really like the balance between humour and drama that Aaron is striking with his writing. The only thing that bugs me is the way Agent Coulson is used, as if he’s always been a SHIELD agent, and not someone that just joined the organization.
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1 – I liked the old Valiant Turok series back in the day, and because this newest relaunch is by Greg Pak and Mirko Colak, I expected some good things, and was not disappointed. This is very much a first issue, and so Pak is busy establishing that Turok does not get along well with the rest of his people, and also has to find some reasons for dinosaurs to show up (not that this is something that gets any sort of explanation yet). There’s an interesting twist that Pak throws into the last few pages that definitely has me wanting to read more. Colak’s art is very nice; I wouldn’t have thought of putting such a realistic artist on a book like this, but it works.
Wolverine #11-13 – Paul Cornell ends off his first Wolverine series by having Logan get stuck in a mall with the Hand, and Sabretooth’s crew of bad guys. There is a good sense of momentum to the whole story, especially since Logan has lost his healing abilities, but in places the writing feels a little too top-heavy. I get that Kitty Pryde is the moral voice of the X-Men, but having her take Logan to task for killing a Hand ninja (you know, the guys that always dissolve when they are captured or badly injured) feels off. Anyway, most of this stuff is just set-up for the newest Wolverine relaunch. I do love Alan Davis’s art in these comics.
Wolverine #1 – And then we move into the new Wolverine series, where Logan is working for some guy named Offer, alongside three other powered individuals, at some sort of mercenary job that involves him having to rescue a Hand ninja from an orbiting space station. I don’t really know what’s going on, except that Logan is not acting in character, and that everything here contradicts what is happening in all of his other regular Marvel appearances. I don’t see how anyone would consider Ryan Stegman’s pencils an improvement over Alan Davis’s; his work is blocky and sometimes hard to follow.
The Week in Manga:
20th Century Boys Vol. 8 – Naoki Urasawa continues to widen the scope of his epic manga series with this volume. We finally get to see most of the events of Bloody New Year’s Eve, when our hero Kenji and his friends tried to stop the Friend’s robot from spreading disease throughout Tokyo. In the future (which, oddly, is our present 2014), we follow the young girl who goes to Kanna’s school, as she is sent to Friend Land, an indoctrination centre. This series never disappoints, as Urasawa keeps the reader guessing and intrigued throughout.
The Week in Graphic Novels:
Afrika
by Hermann
I love getting the opportunity to read French comics in English translation. I always feel like I’m missing out on a wide world of terrific comics, and so trust that the translation process works in a curatorial way, ensuring that only the best books make it to our shores.
Afrika is a handsome hardcover book published by Dark Horse, and it stars Dario Ferrer, a Frenchman who is living on a nature preserve in an unnamed African country. He spends his days trying to save the animals of the park from poachers, and generally just being surly and unfriendly.
A French journalist arrives at the park hoping to interview him and write about the poaching problem. He’s none to happy to see her, but eventually takes her out to see a recently killed animal. Later, they end up in a firefight with some poachers, and it’s established that Ferrer has had some military training. Later still, Ferrer and the reporter witness the scene of a government-run attack on a rebel village, and the secrets they learn force them to leave the country immediately, and by foot.
This is a quick read, with some nicely tense scenes. The cartoonist, Hermann, never wastes much time in establishing the bigger picture, so we have to trust Ferrer’s interpretation of events. There is a subplot involving Ferrer’s African girlfriend and another European who is always around, but it doesn’t go all that far towards adding much to the story.
Foster Anthology 2012
Written by Brian Buccellato, Troy Peteri, Vince Hernandez, Robert Place Napton, Eric Wallace, Mike Johnson, Sterling Gates, Kyle Higgins, and Paris Buccellato
Art by Jason Copland, Noel Tuazon, Steve Buccellato, Dan Smith, Don Hudson, Aaron Gillespie, Hector Collazo, Rod Reis, Karl Altstaetter, and Paris Buccellato
When I was at TCAF (the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, the best comics show you’ll ever attend) in 2012, I bought the first two issues of Foster from Noel Tuazon, the series artist. I really enjoyed these two books, which are set in Vintage City, a down and dirty American city that looks and feels like it got stuck in the grimier part of the 1970s. Vintage City has all of the usual problems of an American city, but is also home to a large group of Dwellers, mysterious and shadowy creatures who are descended from Cro Magnon man (if I remember it correctly), and who live in secret.
The series is about a guy, Foster, who is trying to protect his young neighbour, who is half-Dweller, from them. I liked the books, and was pretty happy to see that the series was being solicited by Diamond, although nothing past the first issue ever came out. It’s possible to buy ‘convention editions’ off of writer Brian Buccellato’s site, but they’re kind of expensive.
Anyway, I was at the Toronto Comicon last weekend, and saw that Tuazon was selling copies of the Foster Anthology, a Kickstarter project that Buccellato made. This book has a number of short stories set in the Foster universe, by a number of different creators.
The best stories are the ones set in various historical periods. Buccellato writes a story (drawn by Jason Copland, of Murder Book fame) about an attempt at a military alliance between Ancient Rome and the Dwellers. Troy Peteri and Tuazon have a very nice story about a trapper in the 19th Century who runs into the Dwellers in the woods. I also really enjoyed Kyle Higgins’s story about a cab driver in Vintage City who won’t pick up Dwellers. Rod Reis’s art in this story reminds me of Bill Sienkiewicz around the time he was doing Elektra Assassin.
It is my hope that the Foster series will get collected into a trade format soon, as I’d really like to see how the story ends (and am not interested in reading it digitally).
So that was my week of comics. What did you read this week? Share your thoughts in the comments please!
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