POBB November 1, 2017

Pick of the Brown Bag

November 1, 2017

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  I’m Ray Tate, the guy with the reviews of the week’s comic books, which consist of Astonishing X-Men, Batman, Green Arrow, Green Lanterns, Guardians of the Galaxy—a lot of gees this week—Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, Red Sonja and Superman.  As always, should you find yourself logy, you can always check me out on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Guardians of the Galaxy opens with some weird stuff involving the Shi’ar and the so-called “13 Talons of the Brotherhood of Raptors.”

Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on.  That is, the continuity behind what’s happening.  I understand that for some reason the Shi’ar and their little clique of birdbrains want to destroy the Nova Corps, but I don’t know when the Shi’ar became such sphincters.  I also don’t know when Darkhawk multiplied into the avian cult that follows the Shi’ar.  I don’t know when the Nova became a Corps again.  However, Guardians writer Gerry Duggan makes the long-range whys immaterial.  I don’t feel that I actually need to know the source of the cosmopolitic.  All I need to know is that the Shi’ar are no longer that slightly persnickety alien species that Lilandra led.  They’re the bad guys.  This Brotherhood that clearly relates to Darkhawk are praetors of the Sh’iar.  Neither group likes the Nova Corps.

Originally, the Novas patrolled the planet Xander.  While I wasn’t looking, their ranks and purpose expanded.  The Nova Corps are now Marvel’s de facto Green Lanterns.  However, Duggan treats them like a shiny Hill Street Blues, and they’re not quite so noble as the Lanterns.  Corruption lies within the Nova Corps, and Commander Scott Adsit, enlisted the Guardians of the Galaxy to infiltrate and sniff around.

Rocket’s dedication to rooting out the criminals among the Novas is one of the stranger items to be found.

I would have expected him to join the rascals in drink or liberate the loot they stole.  Instead, he seems to be single-minded about the job. 

As Rocket inspects the troops, Gamora and new Guardian Ant-Man attempt the rescue of a stranded ship.  Things don’t go quite as planned.

The appearance of Ultron comes as a genuine surprise.  I never expected to see him in space.  Usually, Ultron confines himself to earth, seeking revenge against Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne.  Ultron's also not too keen on Scott Lang.  Mind you, he probably likes him more than lousy hero Jack-of-Hearts.  Scott must feel like the universe is out to get him.  He joins up with the Guardians to forget his troubles on earth, and one of those troubles shows up looking to kill him.  It’s a clever plot twist that I don’t mind revealing, since knowing Ultron is out there doesn’t diminish the impetus of the drama or comedy.

The conclusion to “Work Release” in the Green Lanterns is altogether good but not outstanding.  GL senior John Stewart tasked Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz to rescue mole people from a planet about to be devastated by a Supernova.  The mole people however are deeply religious and see their deaths as the will of their god, known as The Core.

Jessica’s speech is an impressive exemplar of her maturity: from pawn of the Power Ring to full-fledged Emerald Champion.  The way of evacuation also exhibits growth, only this time in Simon Baz.  Senior GL Kyle Raynor accused Baz of lacking imagination when it came to constructs.  Writer Tim Seeley and artist Ronan Cliquet pick up on that in a double page spread of pure GL whimsy.  Baz’s sheer willpower answers the dramatic cliffhanger from last issue.

During this moment, Lisbeth's mother reminisces about when she decided to adopt Lisbeth.  Mr. Seeley grants the Ungarans a lot of culture and dignity, and he also uses them as counterpoint to a hopeless job search.  Racism isn’t just a human trait but sadly universal.  The Ungarans produced Abin Sur and Katma Tui, but they also spawned Sinestro.

For the past few months, I followed Green Arrow’s team-ups with the Justice League as he hunted down a group of nutbars known as the Ninth Circle.  I recommended each one, and yes, it will make a nice trade paperback.  This latest purchase represents the first normal Green Arrow issue I’ve read since the New 52 first burst on the scene.  It’s a complete smack to the face.  Barring Black Canary and GA himself, I have no idea who any of these characters are and how they pertain to Green Arrow’s life.  Sure.  Their names and their roles sound familiar, but these are superficial designations compared to the slam of history we get here.

Oliver’s mother returns.  Honestly, I never knew the status of Oliver’s mother.  Alive, dead, resurrected.  The Bronze Age never mentioned Oliver’s parents.  Anyway, it turns out that she’s got a past that just doesn’t quit. Unfortunately, I just can’t work up an iota of caring because it all seems artificial and demonstrated by an artistic montage that makes me think of South Park.

That detachment goes the same for Merlyn and Diggle.  The Arrow introduced Diggle, but the comic book version of Diggle has a different personality and unnecessary dissimilar  history.

Wait? Oliver slept with Lyla!  Nah.  I don’t know who Diggle’s fiancee is in the DCU, and that also means, I don’t care if Ollie slept with her or not.  I know.  Heartless bastard.

Oliver’s penis got him into loads of trouble in the post-Crisis, and it’s one of the many reasons why I loathed the Green Arrow.  He cheated on the Black Canary.  Who does that?  Oh, but he bedded the nameless fiancee of the Diggle who’s not Diggle.  Was Oliver with Dinah at the time? No? Then who cares?

As for Mark Merlyn…This guy obviously pales when compared to John Barrowman’s performance, but at least he has an excuse.  The original Merlyn was just a mere bad guy bowman.

Justice League of America #94

Merlyn is still just a bad guy bowman.  So nothing changes in that respect.  The best of Green Arrow can be found in his interaction with the Black Canary as they attempt to shut down the Clock King’s latest scheme, but that lasts five pages.  The rest of the book consists of badly grafted retcons and a ridiculous nod to Robin Hood that makes one groan aloud.

With Darkseid dead, Apokolips tears itself apart, and the Hunger Dogs are the ones that suffer the most.  So, two of the denizens featured in Geoff Johns’ Justice League kidnap Lex to force him back to the throne.  Lex in turn abducts Superman. 

Superman’s notable for Peter Tomasi turning Lex Luthor’s and Superman’s relationship into a mirror of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.  It’s Lex season! Superman season! Lex season! Superman season! Superman season! Lex season! Fire!

I know what you’re saying.  I’ve spent two or three postings explaining how Lex Luthor lost a motive to kill Superman, but now he does this.  Nobody said Lex wasn’t still self-serving.  Lex wants to escape the “honor” bestowed upon him, and he’s willing to sacrifice Superman to do it.  Perfectly in character, and really quite reasonable since Superman should have fulfilled the prophecy in the first place.  Also, Lex isn’t setting up Superman for a kill.  He’s setting him up to rule a planet.  So, yeah, Lex may feel bad about it in the morning, but he can also take a deep breath and say, “I did not kill Superman.  In fact, he's emperor of Apokolips.  What's for breakfast?”

Lois Lane features prominently on the cover of Superman, and she does take up the lion’s share of the book.  When Lex teleported Superman to Apokolips, he also unknowingly scooped up Lois and Jonathan Kent.  They were in the vicinity.  The Boom Tube however split them apart on Apokolips.  Granny Goodness and the Furies capture Lois, but she soon proves her worth, and gets a promotion from slave to lieutenant.  

I really like this renewed effort to readdress Lois’ traditional spunk, but the twist is unfortunately old hat.  Lois impresses the bad guys by saving their asses from a hitherto unknown monster, that came from another movie.  The predictability lessens the impact.  Overall though Superman is solid entertainment.

Superman also guest stars in Batman, and while he’s in character, I really question what the hell this exchange is all about.

Other than that, it’s the giddy continuation of Batman and Catwoman’s team-up in the desert with a duel against Talia, and a callback to a previous issue of Tom King’s run that many, including myself, probably thought less important than others.

In Red Sonja Spike and Holly think Sonja’s last stunt, her homage to Breaker! Breaker! finally snuffed out the time traveled She-Devil.  So, they turn their attention to more practical matters—how to get home with so little cash.  Since they're in Vegas, the answer's obvious.  Little do Holly and Spike know that out of all the casinos in Las Vegas to pick, they pick the wrong one.

The biker gang Los Aranas owns casino.  That is, the boss of the drug cartel that owns the Aranas owns the casino, and sure enough, it’s not long before Red Sonja reunites with Holly and Spike.

Amy Chu’s and Carlos Gomez’s Red Sonja continues to be a grindhouse delight, and the creators pull a very clever twist at the end to promote the underplayed MacGuffin a prominent role.

Peter Parker as Spider-Man consents to an hour long interview with J.Jonah Jameson.  This self-inflicted torture is in service of information gathering to exonerate Spidey's sometime sister Teresa Parker.  The entire story is saved by the conclusion, but otherwise, this whole thing should have been a lot more fun.  The insults more refined.  The comedy heightened.  Even the serious moments come off as melodrama.  An epic fail in an otherwise excellent user friendly series.

While this is not the best issue of Charles Soule’s Astonishing X-Men, it’s still well worth your time and coin.  The story in the real world and the psychic realm takes a pause.  However, dialogue is strong.  As is the art. The interactions between characters plausible and indicative of a shared history.  

Furthermore, these gray hat X-Men save the lives of the people that want to kill them, making that shade a little lighter.  In addition, Soule takes the ridiculous Fantomex seriously and daringly begins to develop him beyond his caricature.