POBB February 27, 2019

Pick of the Brown Bag

February 27, 2019

by

Ray Tate 

My name is Ray Tate.  Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  If you don’t know the drill, it’s simple.  I pick the best and worst of current comic books to review.  Notable this week Batgirl, John Wick, MegaGhost, Star Trek and The Transformers.  That is all.  Annoying this week, The Flash, and a thumbs down vote for the Forgotten Queen.  Check out the Twitter feed for commentary on Detective Comics, The Fantastic Four, Life and Times of Captain Marvel and West Coast Avengers: #PickoftheBrownBag.

Greg Pak is writing James Bond and John Wick for Dynamite.  In each title, he’s presenting his own characters to compliment the established licensed figures.  Sometimes the concentration he gives to John Lee, his new Oddjob, undermines the star James Bond.  With John Wick it’s a different story.

Pak introduced a suitable origin for John Wick that tied into the actions of a murderous gang.  The killers were colorful in their own mind.  They based their names and their superficial appearances on western legends Buffalo Bill, Pecos Bill and Calamity Jane.  

They obviously didn’t know the stories.  Buffalo Bill Cody was a Pony Express Rider and a scout for the Union during the Civil War.  Pecos Bill is an imaginary cowpoke and Calamity Jane a nebulous person from the old west whose deeds and alignment are open for debate.

Only Wick earns the reader’s sympathy and fascination.  The gang are mere psychopaths who fancy themselves as something special.  It makes them just slightly more memorable than cannon fodder.

Those expecting a typical shoot ‘em up finale or even an over the top escalation of affairs just may be slightly disappointed.  Others I think will enjoy the twists.

Pak immersed this series in the world of John Wick.  His attention to detail is impressive.  After all there are so far only two films with admittedly thin plots propped up by outré deviations such as a hotel that caters to enforcers and a bravura performance by Keanu Reeves. 

Pak added his own insights about John Wick’s character.  These insights ring true.

Writer Mairghred Scott concludes her first political thriller in Batgirl.   

In previous issues, Scott put Babs through a ringer of electrocution.  The attack induced the failure of the chip and artificial neural network that grants her mobility.  Nevertheless, these scenes can be argued as "fantasy violence."  This series of Batgirl chapters is brutal.

Scott successfully turns the once nigh all-ages read into a book leaning toward a mature audience.  This is not to say that you’ll see skin in Batgirl.  Rather, Babs suffers severe bruising, swelling and other damage when defending herself against a professional killer.  

The Cormorant infiltrates a television studio where his target congressional hopeful Luciana Alejo is about to be grilled by a reporter.  Previously, Scott revealed the excellent motive behind Cormorant’s employ.  For this issue of Batgirl, Babs must team up with Jason Bard to stop Cormorant from fulfilling his contract.

The way the story plays out offers the reader original suspense within the framework of a tried-and-true plot.  Make no mistake.  Paul Pelletier’s eye-catching illustration enhances every riveting word in Batgirl.  

Scott drew her version of Jason Bard from the Bronze Age and his corrupt return to prominence in Batman Eternal.  I already covered the well-meaning square from the past.  

In Batman Eternal, Bard demonstrated a psychological hatred for Batman.  He tries to kill him after framing and succeeding Jim Gordon as commissioner of Gotham City. 

In the story, Alejo hires Bard and his security service to protect her and investigate the threats she received.  Bard claims to be better than the man reintroduced in Batman Eternal.  The reader should recall what a low bar Bard must overcome.  Batgirl on the other hand and the Batman Family though accused of being vigilantes are superheroes.  They acknowledge a higher standard.

I will never buy a book written by Josh Williamson again.  Originally, Tom King created Gotham and Gotham Girl as new protégés for Batman.  

The combination of Amanda Waller, Professor Hugo Strange and the Psycho-Pirate turned Gotham murderously insane and drove Gotham Girl into a fear-induced state of madness.  Whether or not King planned this out or the story evolved that way is moot.

Batman along with an IMF team comprised of villains invaded Santa Prisca. The goal: to snatch the Psycho-Pirate and reverse the damage done to Gotham Girl’s mind.  Batman succeeds.

I already explained why I don’t like to see Batman fail, and this was a big win.  So, you had better have a good reason to present Claire as the antagonist in your Batman/Flash team-up.

In a recent King Batman Gotham Girl stood amidst the villains in Bane’s circle.  That confused me.  I now feel that this was an editorial direction to the artist.  Not a decision from King.  I have my reasons.

Number one, the above scene depicts Batman and the healed Claire reaching an agreement for her to train in Europe.  Claire also knows that her powers will kill her.  She's made the logical decision to try not to use them in their fullest capacity.  Batman accepts her decision.  King appeared to be writing her out of the story, but not through a glass so darkly.   

Number two, this issue of The Flash conflicts with the precedent Batman.  According to Williamson, Batman decided only now to accept Claire's decision.  He only now seems prepared to help her train as a superhero.  

Number three, after this issue of The Flash...

...Gotham Girl is back to normal.  

So, let me get this straight.  You took something that was fixed, broke it, just so you could fix it again? You answered no questions and advanced nothing.  You asshole con-artist hack.  You just took me for twenty bucks.  That’s the last twenty bucks you’ll get from me.

I didn’t really hate Tini Howard’s The Forgotten Queen like I did Josh Williamson’s The Flash.  Howard’s latest is just ordinary with a few flaws.  Howard juxtaposes the past and the present.  I’ll deal with the past first.  Since, this is where most of my peeves arise.

The immortal Forgotten Queen also named Tibutu sows the seeds of instability and chaos wherever and whenever she treads.  

She gets a kick out of using her power to incite violence, usually amongst men, so you can just dismiss the idea that The Forgotten Queen carries a feminist message about toxic masculinity.  

No, this is a pure fantasy with a supernatural anti-hero that just happens to be female.

Howard demonstrates Tibutu’s catwalk through history, but her main storytelling period arises in the era of Genghis Khan.  

Another example of Howard eschewing a simple sermon.  She portrays Genghis Khan accurately right down to his wife and concubines.  

Tibutu now known as Vexana seems intent to impress the Khan until she becomes his confidante.  There’s a tactical sense to this move, but you don’t get the impression that she’s interested in strategy.  Instead, it's an amusement.  The Forgotten Queen is smug, viperous and thoroughly unlikeable.  That’s all subjective.  

Objectively, I’d love to know why masked profanity was necessary.  Any expletive Vexana used should have been florid and descriptive like, son of a cursed dog or dung of camel.  

Our swear words do not have a lineage that dates back to Ghengis Khan.  They only go back to about the 16th century, but those words are the roots and actually common.  The masked profanity is intensely distracting.

In the present day, some looney tune is searching for Vexana under the pretense of being an archaeologist, excuse me "preservationist" seeking her relics.  She risks and kills one of two divers in the process.  So, I’m really having a hard time finding anybody to root for in this book and won’t likely continue.

The conclusion to Star Trek/Transformers is basically payoff after payoff after payoff.  The entire mini-series is a must buy for fans of either series.  So, if you haven’t been paying attention.  John Barber and Mike Johnson with artist Phil Murray and colorist Josh Burcham mashed the Transformers cartoon with the Star Trek cartoon.  For that reason, we get to enjoy Lieutenant M’ress, a feline crewman of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

The story began with a group of planes strafing a dilithium mining outpost on Cygnus Seven.  Naturally, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of The Enterprise investigated.  They found something more than meets the eye.

Oh, yeah.  You did not misread.  I dare.  The planes transform into a very familiar group of Decepticons.  Even more surprising the Klingons make a pact with the new lifeform, but not before a heroic talking semi-truck appears to save everybody from the attack.

One Mind-Meld later, and suddenly, the Federation personnel know the Autobots are alive and not just clever tech.  After a few misunderstandings the Autobots buried on Cygnus Seven team up with Starfleet.  This camaraderie includes the creation of an Autobot Fortress.

That’s right.  Kirk is mentally controlling a transforming Enterprise duplicate.  If that doesn’t warm your heart nothing will, but playing to type, Starscream makes his move, and it’s a brilliant, devious one culminating here.

Starscream takes over Kronos, the Klingon homeworld, forcing Kirk to ferry his Autobot allies into Klingon Territory.  This violates a whole kit and caboodle of Starfleet regulations, but Kirk wouldn’t be Kirk if he didn’t buck the system occasionally.  I will say this.  Kirk never bends the laws of the Federation flagrantly.  He always harbors a good, moral reason for his rogue actions.

Megatron is none too pleased by Starscream’s action.  He however registers no surprise at Starscream’s duplicity.  Starscream’s main protocols are cowardice and backstabbing.  It’s why we love to hate him so much.

Megatron is soldier.  He meets Prime in battle, and the rest of the Decepticons combat an away team of new Autobots that call back to numerous moments in both series.

The very final scenes impress even more since they not only rely on unexpected arrivals but also defy the conventions of traditional crossovers that usually end on a reset to the status quo.  Instead, the creative team embrace their little corner of insanity and let the story taper to its logical conclusion.

In this very special issue of MegaGhost Martin Magus learns a valuable lesson about sibling rivalry.  

I’ve already stated that MegaGhost is some weird H.P. Lovecraft themed Hanna-Barbera cartoon.  This one’s got a lesson that may have been found at the end of first season episodes of The Super-Friends.  It’s at once funny and meaningful.

Martin’s feeling pretty good about himself.  He and MegaGhost have been taking care of whatever supernatural menace the Ultra-Ghoul decides to unleash.  He’s also allowed himself some bragging rights.  His sister already learned about Martin and MegaGhost last issue.  We now include Cameron and Thelma in the inner circle.

When Ultra-Ghoul releases his latest menace on Dunwich Heights, Martin and MegaGhost meet the Familiars.  The name's actually a double-entendre.  Since, Martin recognizes them when they remove their masks.

At heart, the book is a boys vs. girls type of story in which Martin realizes he’s been a male chauvinist ass.  Ultra-Ghoul sees possibilities in the schism and exploits them to the fullest.  Ultra-Ghoul however loses much more.  Anonymity.  Now, Martin knows who’s behind the monsters.

To be fair, Ultra-Ghoul probably thought his latest scheme would ensure victory and saw no harm in introducing himself.  Alas, the Mechtoskeletons fail to live up to their threat.

In addition to all this goodness energetically illustrated by Gideon Kendall, writer Gabe Soria demonstrates how the women work cohesively, and in a surprising twist with science.  Stereotypically women simply aren’t good with important stuff like science.  Thankfully, rational society—not flat earthers—is turning this sexist idea off.