Last Week's Comics Today - 01/30/2017

The Justice League / Suicide Squad ramble below could have gone much longer.

Pick of the Week

Saga #42 - This issue ends with several all-black pages.  I don't know if those are really to hammer home what just happened or to allow your brain a slight mental break before returning to the real world after what just happened.  At one point I said, "They killed [redacted]!" and then tried to explain to her both that scene and the final scene.  She was more concerned with The Stalk.  Maybe someday she'll read it and understand.  Then we can share in the goodness and sadness.  Damn this book for being so good.

Honorable Mention

Aliens Defiance #9 - I'm not sure if it's surprising or expected, but things continue to get worse for the small crew of this beleaguered ship.  When faced with very likely dying very soon vs maybe dying sometime later, they choose the latter and let loose the alien queen they've had on ice.  So now they'll have to deal with that and it won't be nearly as "easy" as it was the first time.  Once again, an amazing read.

Briggs Land #6 - This tends to be near the bottom of my weekly read pile -- not as any sort of indication of quality, as it's outstanding work, just that I need to be prepared to read it.  I'm not sure if that's been the case the entire time, but definitely since the Nazi uniforms issue.  Anyway, multiple plans are hatched or set in motion here setting the stage both short- and long-term.  This is a book that's incredibly well executed.  I'm looking forward to the forthcoming TV series so the comic can hopefully reach a wider audience.

Ether #3 - There's a hand drawn map in here that reminded me of Weirdworld.  There's enough similarities between the titles that for anyone that enjoyed the Secret Wars title, I recommend picking this up.  While that heavier on action, this is a murder mystery with a gut-punch of humanity at the beginning or end of each issue.

Frostbite #5 - The cliffhangers in this series are great by themselves, but even better is how the characters get out of them in the next issue.  It's really well done.  If last issue weren't enough, Vic shows she's nowhere near helpless.  The cast should arrive at Alcatraz next issue and what happens there will be anyone's guess but it should definitely be interesting and make for a fun read.

Everything Else

Abe Sapien v8 - The end of the series snuck up on me.  I mean, I probably read about it months ago whenever the solicits came out, but must have promptly forgotten about it.  It's been clear for a while that BPRD is building toward a finale and as much as I'd like to see it, I'm a little in denial about the whole thing.  We learn a lot in this volume about Abe's early years, about how he became Abe (even if you think you already know), and where he fits in the broader picture.  It's fantastic and makes me want to re-read the entire Mignola-verse to refresh my memory.  For anyone that read Hellboy but not BPRD or Abe, you're missing a significant chunk of the story.

Detective #949 - This two issue arc went well enough that I'm signing up for Batwoman Rebirth #1.  Kate's father is in a completely different place than when I last read, but I'm not sure I want to go back to read how all that went down.  It's good and I'm looking forward to reading more Batwoman.

Justice League Suicide Squad #6 - It's a better ending than these things usually get, and it's satisfactory in places, but my brain wouldn't stop reminding me of certain aspects.  Eclipso "unlocks the darkness within" ...which only manifests as violence, for some reason.  With all the talk of "secret desires" I kept thinking sex was being felt out, and I understand why, but there are other base instincts that could have been represented and the variety would have been nice.  The eclipse itself reminded me heavily of Forever Evil, especially given the cast similarities.  Finally, there's the large-scale destruction.  The Earth has faced a fair bit of global damage due to metahuman fighting in recent months, which reminded me of Hitch's opening Justice League arc and how - unbelievably - only one person died.  Surely more people died here, but I don't know if it will ever be addressed or even commented on in either title, especially given Hitch's detachment from this event.  All I'm saying is, it'd be nice to see some consequences.  There's constant fighting, constant destruction, but hardly any rebuilding or downtime.  For me, that's where the real fatigue of events and "widescreen" stems from.

I've gone off topic long enough.  I'm interested in Batman forming his own league and have no comment regarding the last page.

Reborn #4 - Millar gets Bonnie and her father out of the scrape from the end of last issue, then gets them into and out of two more before this issue wraps.  It's a wild ride and I love seeing Capullo draw all of the craziness.

Teen Titans #4 - I can't quite put my finger on what but something about this feels off.  It's a fine read, kinda typical monthly superhero stuff, which isn't really my usual bag.  There's just something about Damian here that makes me wish only Gleason and Tomasi would write him.  They get him in a way that makes this feel hollow.  Ra's too, if I really think about it.  Hopefully I can enjoy the book more when the entire arc isn't focused on him.  Otherwise, I'll probably drop this in a few months.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #66 - Raph and Angel search for Alopex in Alaska.  It wasn't until that sentence I realized how many female character names start with "A."  It's a good read that moves Alopex forward in a significant way, even if it does seem implausible to borrow a helicopter in New York to fly to Alaska.  I'll just let that one slide.  Sophie Campbell is back and does an outstanding job illustrating everything.

Thief Of Thieves v06 - Honestly, this seemed a bit rushed.  The job within the comic, not the comic itself.  There was a lot of setup, virtually no planning, and then suddenly the plan was getting executed.  I feel like this title has historically taken more time to flesh those events out, with at least one storyline going on the side.  There was no story going on other than the job itself.  Still good, still highly enjoyable, but a minor mis-step I think.  Oh, and an ending that ensures I'll be back for more.

Indie Corner - 02/11/2015

Each week I'll spotlight a couple independent books I've read and may have flown under people's radar.

ABE SAPIEN v5

I was all set to complain about this book... until the end.  This marks the third volume of Abe wandering around the country and while reading I realized I really miss the old Abe.  Old Abe was a man of action.  New Abe is unsure of what he's doing, where he's going, and generally aimless.  But as I said, at the end of the book, Abe gets yelled at by a new character and I think (hope!) it's the push he needed.

The first few issues here are fairly stand-alone, well-written, and interesting on their own, but served as a reminder that Abe has spent far too many issues just walking.  Interesting characters and events come and go, but aren't satisfactorily explored.  Almost everyone Abe encounters is more interesting than he is here, and that's a serious problem.  I hope to see more of these characters and I really hope Abe busts out of this slump.

Wytches 4

WYTCHES 4

Last week was such a huge haul of comics I wasn't able to write anything about this book before the column went up Monday morning.  Even now, I'm writing this Sunday afternoon because I'm not sure what I want to say or how I felt about it.

When I wrote about the last issue of Wytches, I mentioned how the step-by-step art process shown at the back of the book made me dislike the art.  I thought the art looked better at an earlier stage, before some of the final colors were placed.  Time has softened that somewhat, but the colors are something I remain aware of more than usual.

The story is definitely still creepy and weird, but between the scene at the coast and the other at the ferris wheel, it felt weird for the wrong reasons - disjointed.  The last page alone ensures I'll keep reading, but I don't hold this series in as high a regard as I once did.

HABIBI

I bought this years ago, based on the strength of Blankets, Thompson's previous work.  It's spent the intervening years on a shelf because the size of the book was a little daunting.  In reality, it's a much faster read than it appears, taking about a week of bedtime reading to finish.  On one of the first nights, I wife walks in and asks what I'm reading.  She sees the title and author's name while I'm trying to find the words to describe the strange combination of religion, language, and children forced to grow up too quickly.  She goes, "Sounds like a white guy."  I say, "He is!  And the book is definitely about the desert..."  That essentially sums up my issue with the book - it's good, but it doesn't feel like Thompson should be the one to tell it.  It's hard to recommend, but definitely worth checking out for the art.

CONAN/RED SONJA 2

Last time I joked that this pairing followed the traditional superhero crossover formula of meet, fight, and team-up.  Still, I enjoyed it enough to ask my comic shop to grab the rest of the series for me.  Well, the joke is wearing a little thin now.  An indeterminate amount of time has passed between the first issue and this one, but once again Conan and Red Sonja meet, fight, and team-up.  Other than that, I don't really have much to say... the characters are decently written, the art is well-suited to the characters, but the story is rather thread-bare.  I'll still pick up the rest of the series, but I can't recommend it any longer.  Hopefully the next two issues are better than this one.

GHOST FLEET 4

I'm making this my last issue of Ghost Fleet.  Things got weird, and not in a, "This new wrinkle will be interesting to see play out." kind of way, but instead a, "WTF is even happening?" way.  Until now, I thought this series was a pretty standard heist/revenge story with a little Ronin or Pulp Fiction thrown in for not knowing what's in the stolen truck.  This issue we learn more about our two main characters Cohle and Trace, but the center of this issue appears to be a hallucination or metaphysical event that significantly alters things.  In a book that was hardly explaining itself to begin with, this new mystery is one too many.