Pick of the Brown Bag
August 15, 2018
by
Ray Tate
Shazam! It’s the Pick of the Brown Bag with reviews of the latest issues of Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Infinity 8, Iron Man, Relay, Stellar and Thor. First a look at the newest graphic series from Titan and Hard Case Crime Lis Salander in The Girl Who Danced with Death. No time for the blog, check out the tweets: #PickoftheBrownBag.
In short, wow!
The publishers of Stieg Larrson’s Millennium trilogy restarted the series with another author. I attempted to read The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz, but found it to be a dull affair. A slow burn that fizzled. It had a few decent action set-pieces but nothing interesting built around them. The Girl Who Danced with Death is quite the opposite.
An indictment of the rising darkness of racism and jingoism, Sylvain Runberg’s story also tackles invasion of privacy and of course misogyny. These topics fuel the original three books of the Millennium trilogy. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was in fact originally known in Sweden as Men Who Hate Women.
Runberg begins with a simple concert. Lisbeth, Trinity and Trinity’s boyfriend Bob the Dog seek to enjoy the music of Evil Finger.
Heroes seldom get vacations or even moments to themselves. Lisbeth Salander is no different in that respect. A group of masked men attempt to kidnap she and her friends. An extraordinary dumb move.
If you never had the pleasure of encountering Lisbeth Salander in the novels or the movies, you can digest the basics about her in this scene.
Lisbeth Salander is one of the fiercest women ever created. Like Sherlock Holmes before her, the imagery of her character suggests a living being and not a literary figure.
The Swedish legal system essentially treated Lis like a Hacky Sack. For that reason, Lis at first suspects the SÄPO, Sweden’s Special security force. Under the impression, Lis decides to break SÄPO’s NSA-like data collection system.
Simultaneously, Mikael Blomkvist investigates the latest Nazi attempting to secure power in Sweden. At a rally that could be unfortunately set anywhere in the civilized world, Mikael corners Sten Windoff.
You can see by the brilliantly illustrated hungry look that Windoff believes he has the upper hand. He intends to use Blomkvist and Millennium to his advantage.
Under normal circumstances, he may have succeeded. What Windoff cannot predict is Wasp, Lisbeth Salander.
Lisbeth provides Mikael with information about former Nazi activity tied into Windoff. Oh, and by the way, I’m sure that groups like Christian Identity and the White Wifflepoofs prefer their chosen monickers. Fuck ‘em. They’re Nazis.
Lisbeth’s discoveries give Mikael a great lead. Runberg demonstrates with Goran Virson that not every person is irredeemable, and not every man is a prick. Although as depicted in the original Millennium series, there are quite a few irredeemable pricks out there.
One of the stranger Nazi movements is the whining white male brigade that blames all their troubles on women. They feel that—ha-ha—women have too much and this perceived power dilutes their testosterone. The species of violent cretins would have been perfect fodder for Stieg Larsson. Runberg is quick to pick up on this social abomination.
Sparta another hate group that may or may not be tied into the polished Nazis running for political office. Sparta seek to break SÄPO for different reasons and hoped to force Lisbeth Salander into working for them. This would be dumb move number two.
Let me just say that when Lis takes out the many forms of trash in this first chapter, I actually grew teary. Seriously. I almost wept for joy.
That’s the plot without spoilers. This breakdown doesn’t begin to uncover the intricacies of the details associated with the Millennium trilogy, the smashing dialogue that suits each character, the new characters that fit snugly within the more familiar group, the development of the faces we know, and the nuanced relationships between the major and minor cast members.
That’s the plot without spoilers. This breakdown doesn’t begin to uncover the intricacies of the details associated with the Millennium trilogy, the smashing dialogue that suits each character, the new characters that fit snugly within the more familiar group, the development of the faces we know, and the nuanced relationships between the major and minor cast members.
Artist Belen Ortega elegantly and aesthetically translates the Millennium trilogy’s descriptors into an exciting visual narrative. Sylvain Runberg’s translator Rachel Zerner must be commended for a lean-cut that mimics the delivery of Stieg Larrson. In short, this first issue of The Girl Who Danced With Death is a perfect sequel.
There’s a line in Doctor Who where the Doctor says to River Song “I’m a time traveler. I point and laugh at archaeologists.”
This describes the Nazi revolution on the Infinity 8. Archaeologists must have gotten the Nazi movement all wrong because the Nazi Club—essentially a chess club with swastikas—offer a philosophy of peace, love and open their doors to all, including aliens. They even bake friendship cakes. Clearly, the archaeologists completely botched their discoveries.
The Infinity 8 is a star-cruiser run by an alien captain whose race can reboot time. For this reason, the Captain sends his finely built female agents to investigate, participate and observe the time stream.
That wasn’t the intent for this accidental disaster. He ordered Agent Moonkicker only to provide security for the Nazis on board. It should have been an easy assignment.
In the previous log entry, the Infinity 8 encountered a debris field that catalyzed a host of problems. Rebooting the time stream allowed the Captain to avoid these issues, but time recapitulated. The Infinity 8 flew into a new debris field, and this one presented an interesting find for the Nazis and Agent Moonkicker. They saved Hitler’s Head!
Although this premise is utterly preposterous, writer Lewis Trondheim and artist Olivier Vatine take the condition seriously. As consequence Infinity 8 becomes a tale of extreme horror.
Hitler’s words are chilling, and it doesn’t matter that the story takes place in a cosmopolitan universe filled with alien life. The point is that if Hitler survived and somehow updated himself, he would tailor his vision to fit the facts.
Nevertheless promoting a philosophy of hate that allows him to kill innocent beings. Because that’s what the original Nazis were. Politically installed serial killers.
Nevertheless promoting a philosophy of hate that allows him to kill innocent beings. Because that’s what the original Nazis were. Politically installed serial killers.
Trondheim and Vatine also demonstrate that Hitler’s intended takeover of the ship is facilitated by complacency. Hitler’s philosophy clashes with the new Nazi chess club. They witness his atrocities and do nothing. The LGBT community stupidly welcomes Hitler and the new Nazi regime only to be slaughtered for their misplaced kindness.
The moral of the story is very simple and written by Quentin Tarantino. “You only need to hang mean bastards, but mean bastards need to hang.” In this case, hang it like a piñata.
The Relay is a monolith of unknown origin that demands fealty and fidelity. It’s a malevolent dictator that provides freedom for a price. The Relay operates with the help of a police force similar to the Sandmen of Logan’s Run.
The Relay seeks to expand its planetary empire, and to that effect offers planet’s a simple choice: join or be exterminated.
Legend has it that a man named Hank Donaldson created the Relay. The current mythological trek is to find Donaldson’s World, and Donaldson himself. The explorers/policemen in the second issue find him, sort of.
The world they arrive on is Star Trek the Original Series raised to the Nth power. Instead of visiting planets that mimic Nazi Germany--"Patterns of Force"--or the Native American era--"Paradise Syndrome," they find Donald's World to be a hodgepodge of different time apery per city and town.
They reach Donaldson himself. All seems delightful, but soon philosophical conflict arises via Sergio Leone styled closeups.
In the end, Jad fails to convince Donaldson of his folly. He tries to buy time.
They reach Donaldson himself. All seems delightful, but soon philosophical conflict arises via Sergio Leone styled closeups.
In the end, Jad fails to convince Donaldson of his folly. He tries to buy time.
Is Jad our hero? If so, he’s completely ineffectual. Albeit due to an interstellar collusion ingrained in every citizen following the Relay. Of course, Donaldson's World isn't quite what it appears. So, perhaps the reader's loyalty to the innocent bystander is misplaced in this case.
For more pulpy styled science fiction, check out Stellar by Joseph Keatinge and Brett Blevins. Stellar is the name of the female protagonist. She wouldn’t call herself a hero. Aliens changed her DNA to grant her great power for the benefit of war. Think of Stellar as an alternate take, a very alternate take, on Captain Marvel.
Keatinge and Blevins slowly introduced Stellar as a merciful bounty hunter. This was the only way for Stellar to survive when she left the war. Nobody however likes a deserter.
A battle against her former teammates marooned Stellar on a ruined planet. After defeating them, she finds monstrous lifeforms and one Basselope treasure.
Stellar’s new look denotes the time she spent on the world. The creative team inventively show the passage of time through the lifespan of Stellar’s new four legged friend. This occurs economically on one page.
It turns out that the Big Bad Zenith never gave up looking for Stellar. Stellar however is willing to deal. She just wants off the planet and to be left alone. Fat chance.
Thematically, Stellar is an anti-war book. Throughout the entirety, Keatinge and Blevins show the costs of war. Stellar’s bounty hunting introduction is a far from a desirable occupation. After an accidental encounter, she helps set up a sanctuary for war orphans. She’s plagued by memories of war-crimes. The war is everlasting, and it's metastatic.
Though she attempts peaceful co-existence, nobody seems to want it, and she’s forced to fight. Stellar’s overt appeal is the presence of an intergalactic chick that kicks ass, and the book’s depth comes from the message.
New Batgirl writer Mairghread Scott introduces herself with two stories in an anthology of Batgirl stories. Scott’s second tale is a straight up crime story with terrific artist Paul Pelletier set up as her accomplice. Batgirl uses her eidetic memory superbly to uncover an old nemesis up to his old murderous tricks.
The fight’s exciting and the crime is far removed from the safety of Burnside’s near all-ages buffet of misdemeanors and technological wonderland of felony.
In Scott’s opener, she ties Batgirl into Tom King’s Batman continuity in a unique way. Don’t worry if you, for some stupid reason, haven’t read King’s Batman. This story and review won’t spoil much.
The tale vacillates between past and present, live and dead. The mother of a victim challenges Batgirl’s personal philosophy.
She also assuages the troubled vigilante in a sweet way that repays Batgirl for saving her son. However briefly.
Batgirl’s disturbance feeds into Tom King’s future series Sanctuary. Scott quietly examines an unexplored area in the superhero psyche. What happens when the hero in the long run fails?
Batgirl’s disturbance feeds into Tom King’s future series Sanctuary. Scott quietly examines an unexplored area in the superhero psyche. What happens when the hero in the long run fails?
I grew up reading comic books in the Bronze Age. For that reason, I am not a Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon shipper. Dick admitted to being in love with Batgirl, sound asleep at the time, but Babs didn’t reciprocate. When toying with the idea in a moment of fancy, she concluded the concept ludicrous. That’s because she was at least five years older than Dick Grayson and a Congresswoman. Dick still attended Hudson University.
That said. I sometimes feel sorry for the shippers. You suckers fell for a trap DC created in the Post-Crisis. The Powers that Be reduced Barbara’s age, threw Dick Grayson into her past and—here’s the important part—introduced her crippled. Disabled people can have sex, but I doubt the Powers That Be at DC knew that. I'm sure they thought Babs had to be chaste now. The horribly underrated Birds of Prey television series progressively thought differently.
It's a case of having your cake and eating it. Any Batgirl adventure happened in flashback. If Dick courted Batgirl or visa versa it was part of the tragic romance cut short by the Joker's bullet. Happily, this wouldn't affect Dick getting his jollies off in the present day with every cape and cowled woman in the DCU. Barring Wonder Woman and Thorn who had taste. As well as Supergirl who didn't make the cut to be resurrected the first time around. Barbara's most intimate relationship in the post-Crisis was with Black Canary and that was ear-sex. Ah, double standards.
It's a case of having your cake and eating it. Any Batgirl adventure happened in flashback. If Dick courted Batgirl or visa versa it was part of the tragic romance cut short by the Joker's bullet. Happily, this wouldn't affect Dick getting his jollies off in the present day with every cape and cowled woman in the DCU. Barring Wonder Woman and Thorn who had taste. As well as Supergirl who didn't make the cut to be resurrected the first time around. Barbara's most intimate relationship in the post-Crisis was with Black Canary and that was ear-sex. Ah, double standards.
Batman being Batman however made the point moot. It took twenty-five years and a second complete cosmic reboot, but Batman brought the technology from South Africa. Babs can walk again. She immediately resumed her career as Batgirl. Nightwing in the New 52 an older brother figure. Batgirl the younger sister. Neither seemed interested in the other. That anguished cry you heard? Shippers seeing their dreams dashed upon the rocks of despair.
So, after Rebirth, Babs and Dick are on a level playing field. They seem to be curious about each other. As you can see, in this alleged “Anniversary Issue” of Batgirl they finally, finally do it.
That's not post-coital bliss. That’s the image you see when you turn to the Urban Dictionary and look under the term Friend Zone. What says friends more than sleeping together without screwing?
So, after Rebirth, Babs and Dick are on a level playing field. They seem to be curious about each other. As you can see, in this alleged “Anniversary Issue” of Batgirl they finally, finally do it.
Nah.
That's not post-coital bliss. That’s the image you see when you turn to the Urban Dictionary and look under the term Friend Zone. What says friends more than sleeping together without screwing?
What’s shocking is how sex-positive writer Marguerite Bennett manages to stretch one simple sentence, “I might let you fuck me one day, far away, in the future, but not tonight” into five pages of bad rom-com dialogue. Challenge not met.
I like Scott's tales. Bennett's story is utterly awful to anybody but a shipper. The best short though comes from Paul Dini's word processor. Dini takes the Harley Quinn template that he created and produces March Harriet.
I like Scott's tales. Bennett's story is utterly awful to anybody but a shipper. The best short though comes from Paul Dini's word processor. Dini takes the Harley Quinn template that he created and produces March Harriet.
Apparently, she and Batgirl met before, or Harriet knows her by reputation. In any case, this is Harriet's story. She's strangely set herself up to be captured by Batgirl, specifically. So, I like that Batgirl is needed in this tale to make it work. Arguably, Batman would have been just as sympathetic, but to a villain, Batgirl is approachable. She seldom tries to terrify you.
Harriet's story is remarkable for a number of reasons. She's not a murderer. She could have killed Batgirl but chooses instead to wake her up. She also doesn't violate her secret identity. She needs her to listen and wants an appreciative audience. She also wants her victim to suffer as much as possible and she likes games. Batgirl is a superior player.
Harley Quinn didn't start out as bisexual, or as obsessively in love with the Joker. As Batman the Animated Series progressed and became more successful, Dini and Bruce Timm developed her sexuality. Here, Dini introduces March Harriet as a lesbian. This is very important for a number of reasons. It explains Harriet's motives. It more importantly explains her association with Jervis Tech, the Mad Hatter. Why he would sympathize with her and save her from Gotham's icy waters. She's just as much of an outsider as he. That in turn explains why she dresses like the March Hare and joins his spree. It also explains why he would never treat her like an object, an Alice despite her blonde hair and instead see her as a valued comrade in crime.
Harriet's need to confess is a little more inexplicable until the ending unfolds, all in Emanuela Lapacchino's inviting artwork. When Batgirl assures Harriet that the man who wronged her will pay for his crimes, she's grateful. She wants all of his crimes to be exposed. She wants all of his life behind his legitimate facade uncovered, and she knew Batgirl was the person to do it. She can also have fun in the process and extract a modicum of personal vengeance. March Harriet is an excellent foil for Batgirl, and I hope she and Dini return.
Tom King confounds the reader again, but in a good way. So, here’s the timeline. Three women turn up dead. The Gotham City Medical Examiner rules for natural causes. The cases attract Batman. He determines all the women displayed an increase in body temperature before they died. Batman deduces that Mr. Freeze must be behind the murders.
Batman brings a severe beat down on Mr. Freeze. Even he's shocked by the level of violence he delivers. Still, bad guy caught, right? Except there’s a problem. Commissioner Gordon’s people aren’t bunglers. So, why didn’t the medical examiner detect the temperature increases in the bodies? Somebody is framing Mr. Freeze.
Batman horrified that he may have sent an innocent man to the gas chamber or Arkham, joins the jury as Bruce Wayne and must persuade the jurors to free Mr. Freeze.
The story began as a legal drama/police procedural. The second chapter introduced an element of mystery. Who framed Mr. Freeze? Did anybody?
This third chapter becomes a philosophical discussion about Batman. What is he?
Tom King likes Batman and his affection for the character shows in every awesome moment he creates. I’d be hard pressed to say that about a lot, a lot of post-Crisis writers. They liked to portray Batman as unfeeling. In King’s run of Batman, Bruce feels too much. He tries to make the world a better place through his intellect and his fists. His object is equivalent to Superman. He's there to save lives. Not make them worse.
Tom King likes Batman and his affection for the character shows in every awesome moment he creates. I’d be hard pressed to say that about a lot, a lot of post-Crisis writers. They liked to portray Batman as unfeeling. In King’s run of Batman, Bruce feels too much. He tries to make the world a better place through his intellect and his fists. His object is equivalent to Superman. He's there to save lives. Not make them worse.
King demonstrates that hope through the jurors themselves. Their faith in Batman is borne from the fact that he saved the majority’s lives. King seemed to be creating a situation where Bruce must break that faith in Batman, but in fact, Bruce is down on his knees, begging for the jurors to see beyond the mystique and identify the man. It’s a fascinating and original treatise, beyond deconstruction and emphasized through the symbolism and montage of artist Lee Weeks.
Iron Man crackles with fun. Tony Stark introduces an immersive VR system to the world. Here, you are Iron Man, and you can use various skins to enter various worlds.
There’s a spy in the house of love, and his name is Aaron Stack, the Machine Man. Don’t worry, this isn’t much of a spoiler because writer Dan Slott has an even better surprise at the conclusion.
Along the way, he uses the Nextwave characterization of Machine Man as a springboard to create nemesis. Nobody really takes this guy seriously. Slott treats him like the prickly loser that he is. This only adds to the hilarity and travels the fun road to a kind ending.
When Jane Foster left the hammer behind, I thought for sure that I'd give up Thor along with her. The fact is that I've never been a Thor guy. My past involvement with the character is due to the art or some of the guest stars. Chris Hemsworth and the Marvel cinematic universe is the best thing to happen to Thor. The want to give Thor a sense of humor as well as embody a genuine Thunder God charges life into this otherwise traditionally staid hero. Writer Jason Aaron imbues that fitting comic element to his latest issue of Thor.
Niffelheim is the Realm of the Dead, once ruled by Hela, daughter of Loki, niece to Thor. Now presided by Balder the Brave. Killed by Mistletoe.
Thor, Loki, Tyr and Balder eliminated a Fire Goblin engine that contained a weapon of mass destruction. Turns out, it was Hela, and she and her brother Fenris attempted to dethrone Balder with prejudice. Loki struck a solution to the infighting. Balder will marry Hela over the objections of Balder's true love the deceased Norn Queen Karnilla. Fire Goblins and their Queen unfortunately crash the wedding.
At this crossroads, The Queen of Cinders attacks in the name of Malekith and her unholy alliance. The Nine Realms still war. Unbeknownst to the Queen, Loki killed Thor to send him to Valhalla. All in a ploy to recruit Valkyries.
I expected this to be a difficult task, some sort of clause in the Valkyries code of conduct I thought would prevent them from partaking. Aaron surprises with ease. Valhalla and the Valkyries are simply so far removed that they didn't know about the War. They're only too happy to fight and turn the tide. This involvement of women warriors is only one of the ways Aaron reinforces the message left behind by Jane Foster's wielding of Mjonlir.
While Thor and the Valkyries return to Niffleheim, Loki and the others wage battle against the Queen of Cinders and her Fire Goblins. On a visceral level, the fight is most satisfying as is Loki's commentary. However, the biggest surprise comes in two: a momentous breakup and the resumption of the wedding.
Niffelheim is the Realm of the Dead, once ruled by Hela, daughter of Loki, niece to Thor. Now presided by Balder the Brave. Killed by Mistletoe.
Thor, Loki, Tyr and Balder eliminated a Fire Goblin engine that contained a weapon of mass destruction. Turns out, it was Hela, and she and her brother Fenris attempted to dethrone Balder with prejudice. Loki struck a solution to the infighting. Balder will marry Hela over the objections of Balder's true love the deceased Norn Queen Karnilla. Fire Goblins and their Queen unfortunately crash the wedding.
At this crossroads, The Queen of Cinders attacks in the name of Malekith and her unholy alliance. The Nine Realms still war. Unbeknownst to the Queen, Loki killed Thor to send him to Valhalla. All in a ploy to recruit Valkyries.
I expected this to be a difficult task, some sort of clause in the Valkyries code of conduct I thought would prevent them from partaking. Aaron surprises with ease. Valhalla and the Valkyries are simply so far removed that they didn't know about the War. They're only too happy to fight and turn the tide. This involvement of women warriors is only one of the ways Aaron reinforces the message left behind by Jane Foster's wielding of Mjonlir.
While Thor and the Valkyries return to Niffleheim, Loki and the others wage battle against the Queen of Cinders and her Fire Goblins. On a visceral level, the fight is most satisfying as is Loki's commentary. However, the biggest surprise comes in two: a momentous breakup and the resumption of the wedding.
Introducing Mera's reign as Queen of Atlantis. Dan Abnett with Rob Williams present the second part of the Aquaman/Suicide Squad crossover.
Not being a fan of the Suicide Squad, I passed on the first chapter. Indeed, Queen Mera's coronation is the major draw for that issue, but the ceremony occurs at the very end. So, Aquaman fans can wait until Suicide Squad comes down in price or bite the bullet if they're so in need of seeing the pomp and circumstance.
You may rightfully ask what necessitates the Suicide Squad's infiltration of Atlantis. Mera would like to know that as well. Aquaman just wants to beat the crap out of them and eject them from Atlantis.
A wise decision. Amanda Waller tasked the Suicide Squad to blow up Atlantis with a magical bomb provided by former Superman foe Satanis. Satanis was a pretty big cheese in the Superman mythology. How the mighty have fallen.
In repelling the invaders under Mera's nose, Aquaman accidentally secures a role for he, Dolphin and the rest of the Ninth.
Mera does things as Queen that Arthur would never do as King. That's because Mera is more practical than Aquaman. She follows a different moral code than Arthur's more heroic creed.
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