Monday, April 23, 2018

POBB April 18, 2018

Pick of the Brown Bag
April 18, 2018
by
Ray Tate

The Pick of the Brown Bag returns with weekly reviews.  This time around I’ll take a look at Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows, Aquaman, Batman, Athena Voltaire, Infinity 8, Infinity Countdown, John Wick, Rough Riders and Simpsons Comics.  If you haven’t the time for the in-depth reviews, check me out on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.


Voiced by famed comedian Albert Brooks, Hank Scorpio first laughed maniacally on televisionHe’s an ecologically conscious Bond villain transplanted to suburbia.  


Needless to say “You Only Move Twice” is one of my favorite episodes.  Scorpio, a beloved character.

Comic book writer Ian Boothby understands, nay, feels the majesty of Hank Scorpio.  His story starts out innocuously enough with Scorpio visiting a friend in Springfield.


Scorpio hasn't changed his tune: single, robust bearded crazy man seeks global domination.  That’s why we love him.

Scorpio discovers that he doesn’t actually need to work very hard to take over Springfield.  Unlike his previous attempt at conquest, everybody’s on board with the new and improved scheme.

Artist Rex Lindsey and Derek Fridolfs visually characterize Hank Scorpio as demented and as lively as his animated counterpart.  

Without the Groening design this guy would be one creepy son-of-gun.  His eyes goggling, and perfect smile a little too wide.  Their take on the regular cast is equally precise, and of course Art Villanueva’s colors make this story another candy-store treat for the eyes.


Despite being featured in only two films, the Continental quickly swept into pop culture to become casual litany. 


The chic establishment caters to operators and contractors of all sorts.  The Powers That Be behind the hotel foster bedrock rules to provide their clientele sanctuary.  This system allows the Powers to profit and to work mostly in peace.  Charon is the concierge of the Continental.  In this issue of John Wick, Charon introduces Mr. Wick to the workings of the hotel.  


Pak demonstrates a sharp ear for the euphemistic dialogue that helped create John Wick’s world.  More examples mimic Keanu Reeves delivery as artist Giovanni Valletta apes Reeves’ body language and expression.  

During the instruction, Russian crime delegate Maria quickly engages the two in conversation.  She was last seen ordering the death of John Wick.  Mr. Wick being a guest enjoys the immunity of the Continental, and there’s one question Charon needs answered.


Pecos and fellow psychopaths Billy and Buffalo are old acquaintance of John Wick.  The duo set fire to John’s neighborhood and killed most of everybody he knew.  


Wick hatches revenge straight out of The Art of War.  Even if you can dope out what Wick plans, it’s a pleasure to watch the execution.

Legendary magician and escape artist Harry Houdini tasks his old team the Rough Riders to save the world against an occult menace that seeks to punish President Teddy Roosevelt.

The twist means that the Rough Riders must protect Roosevelt and dispense with the undead at the same time.  So, the group split up, and given their previous friction, it’s not an easy partnership.


Harry pairs with his friend and comrade Jack Johnson, but it’s a little more complicated than that when Harry investigates.  His involvement uncovers the source of the hate, and it’s a late night popcorn chiller that benefits from new gory life courtesy of artist Pat Olliffe.

Adam Glass’ latest Rough Riders adventure is filled with inventive period twists that also rely on the cast’s personalities.  As such, the spooky adventure is a cohesive story with surprising richness.


Athena Voltaire picks up where we left off.  Though Athena disposed of her scuba diving Nazi assailant, the villain managed to cut her oxygen tube.


Writer/creator Steve Bryant solves that problem easy enough and simultaneously uses the opportunity to add a plot twist that reflects the mathematical chicanery some ancient peoples used to protect their secrets and/or treasure.  This further allows our heroes to organically lay a trap for the Nazis.  

I can’t emphasize this enough.  Athena Voltaire fights Nazis.  That penchant in itself entertains.  Bryant’s portrayal of the Nazis as tacticians and his use of internal continuity, as opposed to shared world continuity, to catalyze suspense doubles the worth of the story.


Athena Voltaire’s foes never lose sight of the plan.  They stick to that plan, and that’s why they’re so successful.  When players deviate from the blueprint, they lose.

Ismael Canales and Emily Elmer create potent action cinematography that perfectly translates Bryant’s attention to detail and his tricky plotting.  Canales must also be commended for his skillful illustration of anatomy.  Particularly the parts that don’t often get their due.


Many artists hate to draw feet, let alone bare feet.  Canales rises to the challenge.


Dan Abnett’s current Aquaman saga swims closer to a conclusion.  There can be few twists to fathom now.  


The whole shebang began with the reintroduction of Deluge terrorist leader Corum Rath as a Trump-like challenger to the throne.  

The Council found Aquaman’s progressive steps to bring Atlantis and the Surface World together too novel.  So they sided with Rath, but the tide turned when Rath began to stockpile magic relics and seal off Atlantis with the Crown of Thorns.

Murk loyal to the throne but not a single king appeared to kill Aquaman in combat, but Aquaman survived.  We finally learn what transpired between them.  The development will satisfy both Aquaman fans and fans of Murk.  It’s not as clear-cut or collusive as you think.


While Atlantis believed him dead, Aquaman plied his trade in the bowels of Atlantis where mutants abided.  There he protected the realm via Batman’s method.  Exploiting his power and experience to create an apparition. 


As the story progressed, the forgotten hero reborn, Dolphin convinced Aquaman to step out of the shadows and lead a rebellion against Rath.  


He allied with King Shark, the remaining loyal Court members and the Widowhood, a whacky underwater sisterhood with mucho political clout that now supports Mera as the rightful Queen of Atlantis.  


Aquaman is wild about the idea, but Mera due to magical exposure now must live on the surface while she heals.  So, Aquaman fights to free Atlantis from Rath and restore the dignity of the throne.  That may be harder than he thinks.


Once again, Rath cheated with magic.  This time he transformed his silent mutant assassin to the handsome devil you see above.  Things get worse for Rath loyalists, but in a dish of just desserts, so do they for Rath his own crazy self.

The cover probably sums up how Batman feels after this tomfoolery dissipates.  Booster Gold decides rebirth is the perfect gift for his erstwhile colleague.


No, no.  Booster didn’t start the Rebirth.  That began as a result of the feud between Wally West and Abra Cadabra added to the restoration of Superman.  And somehow the Watchmen are involved, but that’s moot.

The story is a hilarity of the worst things you can think of happening if Batman were in dispose.  The fate of Batman’s sons is particularly rewarding, especially that of Jason Todd.  Jason actually carves out a good living in this topsy, turvy world.

Tony Daniel returns to provide the artwork.  The inclusion of Booster Gold grants him unusual opportunities.  His design for Booster is his most realistic presentation of anatomy.


Booster is neither musclebound or ripped.  He’s in good shape, but not Olympic athlete status.  

Whereas Daniel's latest version of Batman is a parody, especially with the ridiculous volume of NRA accoutrements.


In addition, Daniel displays his humorous side with Booster and his robotic cohort Skeets.  Booster is much more emotive, and Daniel's timing with Skeets is perfect.


Jody Houser reacquaints Annie-May Parker with her girlhood friend Normie Osborn.  The Osborn that finally got better.


Unfortunately, Annie’s new friend Lace has a different idea.


Needless to say, Annie spends the whole issue trying to talk Lace down and trying to keep Reece from getting diced in the crossfire.  All while maintaining her secret identity.


The plot hangs on the character development.  Annie matures rapidly because that’s part of the life, and she comes out of this better in the eyes of her esteemed parents.


If you’re concerned that this is the story where Normie resents Annie making new friends and not spending time with him, not to worry.   Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows is not that.  Instead, it’s another helping of “with great power comes great responsibility.” That's kind of the point of Spider-Man and his family, isn't it?


If you haven’t been following Infinity Countdown, I can understand why.  You’re wrong, but I can understand.  Infinity Countdown may seem like a Big Stupid Event that’s taking advantage of a little known movie called Avengers Infinity War, but it’s not.  It’s really Guardians of the Galaxy.


Regular Guardians of the Galaxy writer Gerry Duggan first concludes the story of the Groot’s growth impasse and the murderous Groots springing up all over, where else, the galaxy.  It’s a satisfying comeuppance enhanced by regular Guardians artist Aaron Kuder and colorist Jodie Bellaire.

You may be asking yourself if the story concerns any Infinity Stone involvement at all.  Of course.  Duggan quietly drew in the Infinity Stones through Gamora and Drax, both of whom were perhaps irrevocably changed by the Soul Gem, once in possession of Adam Warlock.  

Gamora now seeks the Soul Gem to restore herself.  Peter Quill and Drax found the Power Stone, grown to gargantuan size on a planet protected by one fo the few good Nova platoons led by pregnant Nova Centurion Eve Bakian.  Rocket discovered the Brotherhood of the Talonar, crazy bird people connected to Darkhawk and the Shi'ar, infested the Nova Corps with moles.  All these apparently disparate plot threads tie together here.


The Talons turn out to count some familiar faces in their ranks, and the reveal is funny, gratifying and short-lived.  Bad enough the Brotherhood have their claws trained on the Power Stone, but the Chitarri from the cinematic universe also want the jewel.


As exciting as this development is, it doesn’t top the more amazing scene that concludes yet another of Duggan’s storylines, and creates the moment for Gamora to give unique yet sound advice.


The second issue of Infinity 8 changes the tone to an outright chase that’s more than enough to justify addition to your own brown bag.  Infinity 8 is a star cruiser that’s run by an alien captain whose people possesses a special time-space warping power.

In other words Agent Keren is on her own jetting, drifting and scrambling to survive a threat that’s promised to devour her.


The creature is a Kornalian, an alien species that once peaceful turned vicious when the Infinity 8 entered a debris field.  Keren sent to investigate found only dead craft and artifacts of a dead race, one of which fed another of the Kornalians.  The Buddha had a profoundly different affect on Sagoss.

Keren made the mistake of dismissing Sagoss, thus compounding her problem by isolating herself.  Of course, listening to the crew of the Infinity 8 turned out to be a bad idea as well.

As the resourceful Keren escapes and lovestruck Sagoss attempts to stage a daring rescue, artist Dominque Bertail flies our heroes through a remarkable landscape of pulp imagination.  

Even if you’re not into the kill-or-be-killed story, or the bodacious design of our hero and the occasional risqué, the settings alone will make you glad to be a fan.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

POBB April 11, 2018

Pick of the Brown Bag
April 11, 2018
by
Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  In this column I choose the worst and the best comic books of the week. For this issue I look at the new book Dead Hand, The Exiles, Legendary Red Sonja, Oblivion Song, Supergirl, The Titans, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and X-Men Red.  No time for the blog? Check me out on Twitter; #PickoftheBrownBag

On the whole, the comic books this week were somewhat disappointing

The new book Dead Hand starts as a combination spy/superhero tale set during the waning days of the Cold War.  It turns into something else that's intriguing.


Next, Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins drops to the past to uncover the life of protagonist Carter Carlson.  The trip down memory lane culminates in his disillusion of the Black Ops Unit he works for.  

The narrative then jumps forward where it seems that Carlson retired.  Like many ex-military, or ex-spies, he finds a quiet job in law enforcement.


Normally, the shifts in time would act as detriment, but Higgins somehow makes them work in the book's favor.  The flashback fleshes out the character and builds a lie based on a love for super-heroes.  The quick discard of the opening benefits the story because Higgins wasn't really setting up an A Grade masked man.  

As the tale progresses, the plot gets murkier.  Motives and actions come into question, and the beginning of the end lies in the accidental discovery by a stranger.


Oblivion Song reiterated the premiere, only without action or suspense.  Half of Oblivion Song didn’t even thematically look like the same book from last month.  So, when I retrieved my comic books and saw the cover, I wondered why Oblivion Song found its way to my brown bag.  I flipped through the book.  I saw foot-rubs and discussion over beer. 


Sure enough.  Oblivion Song appeared to be a neorealist slice-of-life drama, and I don't subscribe to such things.  I identified this mistake to the staff at the Phantom of the Attic, and they promised to cross the outlier title off my list.  I put Oblivion Song back on the shelf.   

Luckily or unluckily, depending on your viewpoint, I started thinking that Oblivion Song misplaced another O title that was on my subscription list.  I couldn’t think of one O title that's part of my stack.  So, I looked over to the racks, and then I saw the cover to the premiere of Oblivion Song.  O, said I.  

Although I went all-in on Oblivion Song, this issue is nothing like the first.  It’s like a stage play about Oblivion Song, with no special effects, just backdrop art, talking, lots and lots of talking, and the aforementioned foot-rubs.


The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl would have been outstanding had it not been for the most recent "Enter Flash Time," Star Trek and various other projects like John D. McDonald's The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything.  In other words, the frame of reference implications of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity isn't a new idea.


The best part of Squirrel Girl occurs when Doreen and Nancy mess with Bullseye.  Kirby and Bonnie from McDonald's novel also met violence with humiliation.  The Doctor furthermore used sleight of hand to replace Jack Harkness' Squaring Gun with a banana.




"Bananas are good."

Given the slow time travel element, I wouldn't be surprised if the scene in Squirrel Girl nodded to Doctor Who.  However, the way Ryan North and Erica Henderson present the moment is all Squirrel Girl.

In general The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is a well-executed story of the type.  The characters are in top form, and you can do much worse.



McDonald's novel was a burlesque with lots of sexual hi-jinks.  The Flash is an intense forty minutes, and Star Trek is a mystery followed by straightforward drama.  Squirrel Girl just could be the right tone for you.


The premiere of Exiles on the other hand was a confusing mish-mash of exposition and unfinished Marvel earths threatened by Marvel's answer to the Anti-Monitor.  The Time-Eater turns out to be a cross between Pac-Man and a cosmic Grand Poobah, whose identity I'll not spoil.


The story begins in a parallel universe where the original Nick Fury apparently evolved into a Power Cosmic dude.  The Watchers chained him to the moon as a punishment for cosmos knows what and forced him to take the place of the more familiar alien.  

I know!  It’s a totally sensible oxymoron.  "Familiar alien" has been a totally sensible oxymoron at least since the days of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his adventures of John Carter Warlord of Mars.

Anyway, another Nick Fury brings the chained Nick Fury a bracelet that contains a shard of special crystal that…frankly I’m not sure what it does.  I’ll take a guess and suggest it’s like Man-Thing and pertains to the space-time nexus.


The bracelet calls forth Blink, a mutant time-space teleporter, from the original Exiles.  As far as I’m concerned, The Gifted on Fox better serves the character.


Clarice blinks to the moon, home of the bound Nick Fury, and finds the bracelet fetching.  Big mistake.  The bracelet takes over Blink’s GPS and bounces her through the various sloppily constructed Marvel Universes that require boring explanation to define.


Not to be a spoilsport, but Marvel actually bothered to redeem their lousy multiverse by basing a few series in them.  There’s for example the MC2 Universe and the Spiderverse.  I would have certainly rather seen the more substantial American Dream or Spider-Gwen in Exiles rather than also-rans like Iron Lad and Mad Max Ms. Marvel.  Maybe things will get better when the Tessa Thompson Valkyrie shows up.


Supergirl is similar to Exiles but not a total loss.  The story from Steve Orlando and Jody Hauser ostensibly finishes Supergirl’s battle against the D.E.O. as led by paranoid antagonist Director Bones.


Kara's and Cameron Chase's plan against the miscreants is well thought out.  It would have acted as an oiled machine like the schemes employed in the television series Mission Impossible. 



Of course even, supreme tactician Jim Phelps occasionally had to employ contingency plan A or B.

Orlando will be debuting a new DC series.  So, he uses these novel characters as spanners in the works.


Who?

A woman warrior appears out of nowhere and decides to skewer Bones and Apokolips’ answer to Josef Mengele Mokkari.  

I can applaud the sentiment, but I don’t know who this lady is, nor where she came from.  I cannot help but think her arrival would have had more impact had it been foreshadowed in previous issues of Supergirl.

Alternately, maybe Orlando should have drew in characters already familiar to DC comics readers to act as catalysts for chaos.  The Female Furies for example would have been ideal.


They're from Apokolips.  So they have a connection to Mokkari.  Being Jack Kirby creations, they're integral to the DCU.  They've invaded Supergirl's comics before and fought her in Superman: The Animated Series.



As such, Supergirl mainly succeeds because of Supergirl herself.  Independent of any one story, Supergirl is such a powerful figure of hope and strength that you can simply ignore the disarray.  Orlando's and Houser's tale also does a good job addressing the supporting cast.


Chase is notably impressive.  It’s hilarious that Houser and Orlando should choose now to show the potential in the character: as a rebel and a genuine lover for Superman’s and Supergirl’s personal physician Dr. Shay Veritas.  Previously, Orlando equivocated her with the dim-witted SHIELD agent Maria Hill.  Not to be confused with the superior cinematic version.



The uneven issue of Supergirl will nevertheless attract Kara's fans.  She gets in some good lines and throughout lives up to the S.  It's a pleasure to see Director Bones fail completely against her and Mokkari and Bones turn on each other like the villains they are.  Series artist Robson Rocha is a plus.  We may not know who the warrior woman is, but Rocha demonstrates her tangible threat in scene after scene of close combat.



Titans exemplifies why I read comic books.  It's a perfect issue.  Whereas Supergirl's extra antagonist is a head-scratching unknown player and Exiles is just a brain-freezing glop of costumes and rubbish earths, Titans benefits from familiarity, a beautifully constructed plot and a nuanced continuity that affects the story.



The Brain and Monsieur Mallah first pitted their evil plans against the Doom Patrol.  They inherited the Titans as nemeses through their association with Changeling, the artist formerly known as Beast Boy.  Doom Patrol member Rita Farr codenamed Elasti-Girl adopted Beast Boy.  The historical Doom Patrol didn't resurface in the New 52, and Beast Boy is a rejuvenated character.  



So, writer Dan Abnett shifts the Brain, Mallah and retroactively the Brotherhood of Evil to the League's Rogues Gallery.  It remains to be seen if the Titans know the Brotherhood, but their links to the League can work quite well should Abnett choose to grant them that knowledge.

No matter.  All the elements at play in Titans began at the very start of Rebirth.  Wally West returned to the DCU.  Nobody knew him except Barry Allen and the Titans.  Rogue Amazons and a crone created Donna Troy to kill Wonder Woman.  Wonder Woman and the true Amazons instilled false memories.  When Troy encountered Speedy, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Lillith, the founding Teen Titans members of the New 52, she believed in her connection to Wonder Woman.  Recently, Troy discovered the truth.  Worse she met a future evil incarnation.  The avatar that succeeded in fulfilling her purpose.  Troy fought against her future self and appeared to deny that reality, but the Justice League still stepped in and disbanded the Titans.  They also keep Troy under observation at the Watchtower.

Though the League precluded the Titans reuniting, the young heroes still fight crime on their own and stay in contact.  Roy Harper investigated a drug called Bliss being sold by Intergang.  During that investigation, he encounters Cheshire, a former lover.  Cheshire doses Roy with Bliss, and Roy calls Troy for help because he believes that Cheshire is actually a symptom of a greater hazard to the world.  Roy is correct.  Cheshire takes the place of Madame Rogue in the Brotherhood of Evil.  Unfortunately, Roy's accusations sound delusional.

Troy rallies Dick and Wally to help Roy.  They all think he's the victim of drug-based hallucinations.  Roy expected their reaction.  He takes them down.  Roy now hunts Cheshire which Abnett juxtaposes against the Brain's climactic upheaval that's trapped the Justice League.  This is how you do it.

The Bliss is actually not just a drug, not just a means for the Brotherhood to fill their coffers.  Abnett comes up with a genius science fiction use that allows the Brain to enact his plan.  The plan is so devious and breathtaking in scope that the Brain even fools Batman, who is probably kicking himself for not listening to Troy.


The cover to Titans depicts a snarling Troy breaking free from chains.  That's a metaphor.  What actually happens is that a rueful, polite Donna Troy--who sweetly calls Batman "Sir"--teleports to Roy's aid then proceeds to kick Cheshire's ass.  All of these brilliant twists and a guest appearance by the entire Justice League rendered in a bona fide design by Paul Pelletier, Andrew Hennessey and Adriano Lucas whose eye-popping colors signify that this is a superhero book.


Red Hood and the Outlaws has a few good moments to its credit, but mostly it’s a daft split story with Jason Todd alias the Red Hood trying to bamboozle the Penguin and Artemis attempting to help Bizarro deal with his addition to synthetic green Kryptonite.


Legendary Red Sonja once again sticks with the basics of barbarian motifs.  The three bs.  Blood, boobs and beheadings.  The boobs arise from Sonja's excellent physique lovingly sculpted by artist Rodney Buchemi.  The blood and beheadings spring from Sonja's swordplay amidst a star-crossed love that only interests Sonja because Romeo is the son of her worst enemy, and he knows of a power that will make Khulan Gath master of the world.  A fitting theme given that Sonja freed Nemo's men from a previous mini-series and became Captain of the Nautilus.  Legendary is a steampunk adventure that certainly lives up to its name.  


X-Men Red impressed me.  It's weird.  X-Men used to rely upon the most esoteric, convoluted continuity of all time.  Now, the Powers at Marvel seems to be going out of their way to set up X-Men titles that adhere only to the barest history.  They also let really good writers sink their teeth into story craft rather than aligning the books.  This isn't to say that X-Men Red, or any other new X-Men book defies past X-Men stories.  The scribes simply don't require the reader to know them.

Red started when Jean Grey attempted to telepathically poll thinkers and philosophers, men and women, to conceive a plan to broker a peace between mutants and humans.  An X-Men foe skewered the peace plan by staging a murder and framing Jean.  This necessitated Jean forming her own team for protection and rescuing a mutant named Trinary, who solves the how done it.

The current chapter opens with the telepathically shielded enemy breaching the School for Gifted Youngsters and coldly eliminating one of the only students capable of seeing her.  It's a cruelty that defines the character.  She then performs her next trick which sets up the cliffhanger.

Before that, we join Jean and her team Wolverine, her sister Honey Badger and Nightcrawler in India battling a Sentinel.


Sentinels are comfort food for neophytes to X-Men lore.  They're big honking robots designed to kill mutants.  You cannot get simpler than that.  

The Sentinel serves as the focal point for numerous story elements.  It allows Trinary to demonstrate her mutant power.  It lets readers gauge the healing factors of the sisters, which also provide humor to the tense situation.

Tom Taylor is the writer of All-New Wolverine.  Generally speaking it's an action book with themes about free will and slavery.  X-Men Red addresses identity and acceptance.

Originally, I never saw mutants as a metaphor for gays and lesbians.  They just seemed to be a cool variation of superhero.  Over time, as I've witnessed hatred for the LGBT community, and heard the bigotry, it's now very easy to see the parallels.  Taylor drives that point home with the disturbing revelation, also seen last issue.   


Jean's words not only pertain to the LGBT population but also women and minorities in general.  Rape culture in India is an extreme example of dehumanizing women, and slavery reduced people to property.  Classifying mutants as monsters redefines them as things.  All of these methods make it easier to kill, which is the ultimate goal of the racists and fascists.