POBB July 11, 2018

Pick of the Brown Bag

July 11, 2018

by

Ray Tate

Welcome.  Let the stresses of yesterday drain away as you meditate on the Pick of the Brown Bag.  My name is Ray Tate, and I review the best comics of the week.  Or… 

…sound the orange alert should a title reek.  Before I begin, something monumental happens in Red Hood and the Outlaws.  If true, the unexpected occurrence will resonate through the Batman Family.  Check out Red Hood, you won't be sorry.

For this posting I look at Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Nancy Drew, new book from Aftershock Relay, Red Sonja, Sheena, Titans, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and X-23.  First I’ll take a crack at The Punisher.  Remember, if you haven’t time for the thick, rich Corinthian leathery reviews.  Try me on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Being a Black Widow fan, I scooped up The Punisher immediately and expected little enjoyment from anything else in return.  However, Punisher surprised me by being damn good.  If you replaced the killing with tasing or shields in the face, Punisher would be, I kid you not, a superior issue of Captain America.

Our feel-good story of heroes murdering Hydra begins with the Punisher, Black Widow and Bucky dining on burritos.
  

Let me reiterate.  Our story begins with shawarma.  Sure, burritos and shawarma aren't exactly peas in a pod, but the principal is the same.

Writer Matthew Rosenberg tailors the benign scene for the Punisher.  He massages the dialogue accordingly.  This results in an edgy matter where Frank threatens everybody.  He simply knows of no other way to behave.

Surly antisocial behavior certainly sounds like an ongoing element in a Punisher book.  However, Natasha and Bucky's presence skews the story in a different direction. 

Consider all the many good vibes from last week's Captain America: heavily armed psychopaths with flags tattooed to their faces, Bucky sniping said psychopaths before Sharon kills them all with an EMP, a father shot three times by high velocity bullets, Cap's pathetic buck-up speech and empty promises to the son, Thunderbolt Ross alive and well, Sharon Carter a whimpering old maid.  Natasha on the other hand tips poor, put-upon Jim five hundred bucks and likely smells as good as she looks while doing it.  Punisher is more optimistic than Captain America. 

Punisher is also decidedly lighter in mood and funnier.  Frank and Bucky just do not get along.  Frank thus doesn't mind making jokes at Bucky's expense.

A Punisher with a sense of humor is a new experience for me, but it's a welcome evolution in character.  Perhaps his time as Frankencastle opened up that door.

I imagine that the faithful readers of the Punisher's exploits must rank comedy as the lowest attraction on their personal lists.  Fear not.  The body count is high.  

And exciting.  It's refreshing to see three protagonists cutting off the heads of Hydra with songs in their hearts.  Best of all nobody commiserates over those deaths.  Hydra are evil fucks who deserve to die.

Frank Castle borrowed the War Machine armor.  Bucky mentions that Frank snatched the armor from Jim Rhodes' still warm corpse.  That's more palatable now because Jim Rhodes is alive and well in Iron Man.

Our happy-go-lucky trio attack a Hydra jail in the middle of the Mojave.  How did it get there? Why is Hydra jailing anybody? Doesn’t matter just revel in action orchestrated by phenomenal artist Stefano Landini.  No protracted shield throws here.  Punisher is positively zippy.

Baron Zemo runs the jail, and he releases the all super-powered prisoners.  That proves to be a problem for Frank and his allies, but Frank has a plan.  Kill as many as he can before he falls.  It's rather sweet that Frank saves Natasha and Bucky from this fate.  Punisher doesn't possess many human attributes, but he is loyal to his allies.

Fast-paced, with a simple plot that allows oodles of Hydra death, Punisher also surprises with comedy and friction-filled camaraderie.  I even liked Lee Louridge’s desert colors, and I’m really not one for a muted palette.  Only an appearance from Tigra would have made Punisher better.

Wait.  Can that be.  Behind Black Widow and Bucky.  By the cosmos, it is!  And so, Punisher cannot be better.  Thank you.

With Wolverine breaking out of his adamantine statue-prison, Laura Kinney resumes her X-23 code-name and runs with new writer Mariko Tamaki.  Tamaki impressed me on Tomb Raider.  I think that if she hadn't relied on the conspiracy business that underpins the games she probably would have impressed me even more.  

Juann Cabal was the last artist on All-New Wolverine. Cabal's graphic depicted below is far more complete than my scanner can duplicate.  You can however see the breakneck action at play. 

Anyhow, Tom Taylor fans need not worry.  Laura and her cloned sister Gabby are in good hands.  

X-23 begins with a one page summary for those who came late to the theater.

We then hit the present day, literally and with style.  Our heroes fight a new group of antagonists.  

The characteristic wit that so assisted All-New Wolverine's success remains vibrant and varied.  The bad guys that smell of band-aids are an unknown cadre that attempted to steal Laura’s DNA to make an army of X-23s.  

Laura’s not down with that.  While not as emotionally complex as Taylor's Orphans of X arc, this new obstacle will do fine.  It's also more than just a Noisome Band-Aid Brand of Suliban.  Tamaki's complexity lies in the plot twists. 

Laura consults Hank McCoy at the Xavier School for the Gifted.  There she learns of the serial abduction of genetic experts.    

Hank McCoy is the Beast.  As the First Class films depict, the Beast is always working to generate a deterrent for mutagens in DNA.  This sometimes puts him at odds with the X-Men.  

The impression I received from Laura's and Hank's interaction indicates that they could in the future be adversaries.  The mood isn't pertinent to the story but a notable essay.  A less substantial mystery also presents itself at the manor.

This conversation between Laura and Gabby is just as brilliant as anything Taylor did.  Any fears I might have had lay assuaged.  The sisters meet another group of clones haunting the X-Men mansion.

The trio are what's left of the Stepford Cuckoos.  The Cuckoos are the proteges of Emma Frost.  John Wyndam wrote the novel The Midwich Cuckoos.  That novel served as a basis for The Village of the Damned.  

The Stepford Wives a novel by Ira Levin became a household phrase.  It defines essentially lobotomized, submissive, docile helpmates. This is the Little John part of the portmanteau.  

White’s never looked so good; the new costume design, courtesy of Cabal and colorist Nolan Woodward is gorgeous.  

It was very clever of Tamaki to recognize the similarities between the Wolverine sisters and the Cuckoos.  Gabby's up-front, welcoming attitude humanizes the Cuckoos.  It also reinforces the idea of mutant solidarity that Gabby likes to promote.  Tamaki also gets points fo not making the Big Bad Mr. Sinister, who features after a fashion in Astonishing X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows.  Dude, gets around.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and her friends get sent to the pokey due to their association with known criminal Kraven the Hunter.  

I’ve got to say it’s very odd that writer Ryan North adhered to the entire continuity of Kraven the Hunter.  I mean, all of it.  The Last Hunt isn’t for all-ages readers, what with Kraven burying Spider-Man alive and everything.

What’s odder is that North abandons the current even savager than her debut She-Hulk for the more familiar model.

This ambivalence in continuity is rather distracting.  There are still some good jokes to be had, but things become even more uncomfortable when Spidey actually shows up.

So, now we have Squirrel Girl’s friend Kraven who, sure, is attempting to become a better human being confronted by the guy he buried.  Spidey doesn’t appear to hold a grudge about that whole live burial thing, which is even odder.

In Amazing Spider-Man Renew Your Vows, Annie May Parker the alternate world daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Parker finally finds the evidence to demonstrate that she’s innocent of the crimes the internet seems to be abuzz about.  This isn’t a detective story.  The evidence actually gets up into the ladies’ faces.

Can you say evil clones?

The word clone for many Spider-Man fans is the f-bomb.  I avoided most of the clone nonsense.  I only encountered the Gwen Stacy clone for two issues and briefly enjoyed Ben Reilly’s tenure.  I’m not as abhorrent to the concept as others may be.

Writer Jody Houser uses clones for more than just on par villainy.  She opens up a painful history lesson that signifies more than benevolent differences in the two Marvel earths.

She demonstrates parental fear.  She wraps it in a bow of superhero patter, but the main idea is that the parents fear that their daughter is abusing her power or worse turning evil.  Houser doesn't dwell on this facet for long, and that's a smart move on her part.  It's just an idea we want to raise then shut down.

She signs in a guest appearance by Normie Osborn, who does not succumb to his legacy and instead remains Annie’s friend.

Spider-Man is naturally suspicious, and Normie is alarmed by the Web-Slinger’s appearance.  You can see the awkwardness in their expressions and interaction.

Scott Koblish is also responsible for this worthy pin-up.  It’s a wonder that Spidey can listen to Mary Jane’s concerns when she’s looking that painfully hot.  Kudos furthermore to Ruth Redmond's superior color complements.  I think I would have forgotten my name.

With her companions Taya and Lera, the comely warrior maidens that befriended her ally from another time Sir Max, Red Sonja sets out to return Skath’s beloved sword and treks to Cimmeria.  Hmmn, that sounds familiar.

How can you not love a book that starts out with a bodacious She-Devil beheading a goofball follower of Khulan Gath? The most awesome thing about this beheading is that writers Amy Chu and Erik Burnham follow through with some extra head humor that’s also practical in the battle against the cult.

You may ask why is the Cult of Khulan Gath still active given the death of their master last issue.   Although Taya blames Sonja first, she soon discovers her own partner is behind the delays.

This explains the teaser from last issue, but Chu and Burnham show nothing escapes the sight of Red Sonja for long.  Nevertheless, she continues the journey with the ladies.  Artist Carlos Gomez does something fascinating with the panel structure to create the illusion of time’s passage.

The widescreen panels and the adventures depicted within form a longer narrative but without slowing momentum.  

All these kingdoms come from the chronicles of Conan the Barbarian.  You don't need to know that in order to admire Gomez's multiple nightmares.  If you're familiar with Robert E. Howard's work, you’ll get an extra charge out of the cleverness of the construct.

When Sonja reaches the castle of Skath, more humor ensues.  She finds that her time in the future grants her the perfect definition for the evolution of the estate and its new owner.

Master Sandak is a brilliant visual creation that exemplifies Gomez’s overall mastery of art.  He’s not just a babe artist, but hey let’s face it, when Sonja’s on stage—damn.  

The Cowodi, outsiders, working for Caldwell Industries monkey around with ancient temples and release the South American Kraken.  Not happy enough with this circumstance, mercenary leader Ransome and evil scientist  Laura capture Sheena to torture her with electricity and threaten her friends Lirio and Chano.  Sheena naturally escapes through a feat of incredible willpower.  She doesn’t need a ring, but Sheena would kick up the Green Lantern Corps a notch.

The bad guys including head honcho Harrison Caldwell blow up the place with Sheena, Lirio and Chano inside.  They however survive the explosion.  That’s a little far-fetched, but if they hadn’t Sheena wouldn’t have noticed something special involving her blade.

This is a new invention.  Sheena’s knife was nothing magical in the original and subsequent tales.  Just iconic.  Writers Cristiana Trujillo and Marguerite Bennett appear to be inspired by the knife’s ubiquity.  It’s a clever addition, that lends Sheena Chosen One status.  The knife comes in handy when Sheena and her friends make another discovery.

With hope still at the bottom of the box, Sheena, Lirio and Chano set out to escape the Caldwell grounds.  Once free they intend to stop the monsters and dodge the trickery of nature that Sheena is all too familiar with.  

It’s another impressive issue that also runs on the principle that bad guys turn on each other and grandmas can be set in their ways. 

In terms of characterization, Bennett and Trujillo emphasize Sheena’s otherness in dialogue and action.  Her speech pattern is nearly identical to that of Lirio.  Her behavior exhibits the primal stances and body language of her village, a factor we can credit to Sheena artist Maria Sanapo.  Her uniqueness arises in her intelligence, yet it’s still shaped by her culture.

The original Sheena’s parents died from poisoning.  Subsequent versions changed professions yet still died in different accidents.  The result is the same.  The Shaman raises Sheena, granting Sheena a repository of knowledge that distinguishes her.  Bennett and Trujillo divide these traditions to Liro and instead turn Sheena into an unmatched geographer, the indisputable Queen of the Jungle.

In the opening of Kelly Thompson’s latest Nancy Drew chapter, the RIVER HEIGHTS girl detective finds herself in Bayport home of the Hardy Boys conducting and investigation into a mystery.

Bayport welcomes visiting River Heights Girl Detective Nancy Drew

In a bid for dramatic realism, Nancy’s mother’s death interrupts the sleuthing.  Of course, in the books, Nancy arrives fully formed with a bachelor dad Carson Drew.  Nancy’s mother’s death is never discussed, but Jenn St-Onge’s rendering of dread expressions tells you all you need to know.

This, Nancy remembers while regaining consciousness at the bottom of a cave.  Her spelunking expedition cut short by the same people that knocked out her old friends.

The Hardy Boys immediately suspect newcomer Pete, the good Samaritan that pulled Nancy out of the cave.  Pete we learn is hiding something, but the suspicions of foul play are misplaced.

Instead,  Thompson invests Pete with some well-constructed psychological baggage that still meets the all-ages criteria that Nancy Drew aims for.  Simultaneously she demonstrates Nancy’s skill at reading people and deduction.  In short, a strong but accessible Nancy Drew.  From RIVER HEIGHTS. 

After reading Dan Abnett’s Baroque explorations in the implications of reworked continuity from the perspective of the reworked, his latest issue of Titans may appear juvenile in comparison.  

Those bikes look like something a Titans cartoon character might drive to the sound of a knock-off flying Into the "Danger Zone.”  Really though, it’s just a solid comic book with stylistic flourishes.

Dick Grayson sold the idea of forming a new version of the Titans to the Justice League.  They even bought Donna Troy coming aboard.

Perhaps, the League observed Donna enough to know that she’s no threat to the future, despite an incarnation of her future self traveling back in time to take over the world.  Perhaps this is an additional observational exercise combined with a genuine need.  Maybe they feel that Dick Grayson should know at least one of his teammates.  Whatever the reason, Donna’s slicing and dicing giant rats.

The rats and the main threat are the result of the new paradigm shift of a universe that lacks a Source Wall.  The resultant energy bursts trigger the emergence of new metahumans.  Some benign.  Others not.

Titans lacks the complexity of previous issues delving into the nature of memory and the fluidity of the DC Universe, but it does present a fair play mystery amidst the lovely artwork of Brandon Peterson and Ivan Plascencia.  Titans isn’t a must purchase, but it is a nice auxiliary addition to the reader’s brown bag.

The sturdy and engrossing Relay opens with a futuristic taxi ride.  For everybody else it’s a cute nuance.  For others of a certain age, it’s a hit of nostalgia.

Back in the sixties, Gardner Fox's Space Cabbie searched for fares at the heart of Mystery in Space.  

The hack attention grabber dissolves to the plot of two law enforcers earning a living in a future world that may or may not be earth.  At the very least, it’s Terran colonized.  

The twist is that they don’t work for a local, state or planetary government.  They work for the Relay, a mysterious object that the natives built a religion around.

Jad and William act as tour guides for Andy Clarke’s, Jose Villarubia’s and Dan Brown’s illustration.  Together they produce a Michael Kaluta vibe.  The difference lies in the brawnier character design.

As the story progresses, the writers introduce Victoria a kickass chick that does more than takes names.  She introduces a conflict in philosophy.  

The story seems like a good science fiction semi-Utopia but a sinister edge develops as the first chapter closes. 

Oh, so you offer worlds friendship and federation.  Well, that doesn’t sound…

…Ah.  Annihilation.  So, you're not really offering them anything but an ultimatum.  I've seen that before.