POBB June 12, 2019

Pick of the Brown Bag

June 12, 2019

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, a weekly critique of current comic books.  I deal In the best and the worst.  This week, no worst and several deep dives.  

Our topics for part one include Detective Comics, Red Sonja Birth of the She-Devil, Supergirl and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.  Should time be fleeting, pop on over to Twitter and search for #Pick of the Brown Bag.

Robert E. Howard gave Red Sonja no proper origin.  In "Shadow of the Vulture," she bears flintlocks and sabers to conquer a favorite general of the Ottoman emperor Suleiman.  That is the last we see of Sonja.  One story.  Gone in in a scarlet flash. 

The Powers That Be at Marvel transplanted Sonja to Conan's Hyborian Age.  They gave her a rape-revenge background and a goddess to grant her extra oomph.  The goddess also demanded chastity from Sonja.  Marvel infamously concocted the notion that no man could bed Sonja without first defeating her in fair combat.  Demeaning for all sexes.

Dynamite adopted the Marvel version of Red Sonja.  However, over the years, Sonja's new custodians adjusted the Marvel origin.  In the second or third go-around, they got rid of the deific intervention.  They eliminated the rape.  They dumped the whole conquer her and you can have her business.  That occasionally comes up as comedy relief.  Sonja though now can bed whomever she pleases.

Luke Lieberman's latest redo mostly adheres to the Dynamite origin story.  Apparently, the last survivor of a village raid, Sonja survives through sheer willpower and the hapenstance of Ozzyus, a barbarian with a conscience. 

He adopts Sonja and raises her as is own.  He teaches her how to fight, and she in turn teaches others, like Sashanna.

Sonja now a young adult seeks Sashanna.  Her friend fell in the most dire of straits.  The trail leads Sonja to a Sultan, quite full of himself.

There's no way that this can turn out well.  In truth, he's playing right into Sonja's hands.   Because of the premise, Sonja is something of a detective in this story.  

Amy Chu gave us a seasoned Sonja with a striking intellect.  In essence, Chu related the adventures of Sonja, her potential realized.  Mark Russell's concurrent Queen Sonja likewise unfolds a tale with a Red Sonja tutored by the finest of warriors.

Luke Lieberman gets back to barbarian basics by revisiting Sonja's past and uncovering a few unknown facts.  This however is the lusty, busty, full-bodied Red Sonja Frank Thorne fans remember as the true character, and as such its an entertaining treatment of the character.

As Sonja continues her hunt, her youthful excess brings her to moral ruin.  Lieberman characterizes her as impulsive, capricious and unseasoned, which is exactly in this stage what she should be.  The Sonja that actually tracks down the Sultan is a glimmer of what she can become.

Thor villain Malekith conquered eight of the nine Realms in Mighty Thor and The War of the Realms.  Only Midgard resists.  As a result, it’s crossover season.  I’m not paying attention to the main story or the overall Big Event.  Out of rare respect I’m not going add Stupid.  That said.  Every War of the Realms tie-in has been worth something.  A triumph, really.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, to which I subscribe, blows you away, and not in the ordinary manner.  Ryan North in fact creates a layered comic book, exploiting War of the Realms in ways you cannot imagine.

Squirrel Girl soused out some Frost Giant activity in the colds of the North.  Sporting a smashing new outfit designed by her mom, Doreen Green can’t help but be struck by the pristine beauty of her homeland.  

North usually emphasizes the left hemisphere of Squirrel Girl’s brain.  You’re never surprised when you find a discussion of binary code in Squirrel Girl.  Perhaps the first time, but now you know Squirrel Girl is way more than just a funny book.

Still, Robert Frost accompanied by moving imagery that’s still roaming within the cartoon stylings of Derek Charm is most unexpected.  It gets even more surprising from there.

Squirrel Girl encounters the Norse more often than say Spider-Man.  Strange fact I know.  She counts Loki as a friend, and he’s guested in numerous issues.  Ratatoskr is an actual Norse myth.  She is a familiar who takes the form of a squirrel that runs up and down the World Tree to message between the eagle and the serpent at opposite ends.  In Squirrel Girl she is a chaos god, which isn't a far leap. 

Though enemies, Ratatoskr and Squirrel Girl teamed up to fight the Frost Giants and Malekith.  In this issue Squirrel Girl learns Ratatoskr’s reasoning, and it raws her.

The rationale splits her truce with Ratatoskr, but North doesn’t just stop there.  One of themes in Squirrel Girl is that everybody can do better.  Reform is always an option. 

Though Squirrel Girl is quite willing to bring a beat down, she would rather talk it out.  She once convinced the Rhino to turn over a new leaf.  Although Squirrel Girl doesn’t fully trust Ratatoskr, she knows she can do better.

Love the eye works.  Charm helps sell the scene.  So begins the journey of Ratatoskr’s self-discovery.  Ratatoskr begins to better herself and resumes her team up with Squirrel Girl.  This institutes some adjustment.

Heh.  I know what you're asking yourselves right now.  Why isn't he harping about Squirrel Girl flying like a real squirrel does.  Eliminating the gliding actual Flying Squirrel, and Rocket J. from Frostbite Falls, squirrels amazing though they are do not fly.  Neither do Doreen and Ratatoskr.  A Frost Giant under Ratatoskr aided their travel.  Yup.  She whacked them.  One of Doreen's powers is resilience, and Ratatoskr is a god.  Once again, Charm just knocks it out of the park, pun intended, with his rueful looks for Ratatoskr, in the form of Rachel.  Mainly because she likes the form and it reminds her of vow to Squirrel Girl.  

There's still more to be found in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. North refuses to cast the Frost Giants as just the enemy, as just monsters.  He gives them names.  He establishes loving relationships, friendships, and fosters a culture, based of course on ice and snow.  Some of these moments are comedic, but other times, the Frost Giants resemble the Inuit.  As North humanizes them, you don't look at them as mere things to be killed and you can sympathize with Doreen's goals for bloodless resistance.

Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker put a lot of thought and time into the creation of Arkham Knight.  The body armor the Knight wears updates with verisimilitude.  The functionality of the armor as well as the design sheathes the wearer completely.  Made of light weight material, it allows for quick action and decisive fighting ability.  

Because the Arkham Knight is certifiable and not really evil, the armor's not meant to intimidate but to inspire and engender trust.  The Knight seeks to replace Batman, but not for the usual reasons.  The Knight does not believe Batman to be old or too extreme or too light-handed with his enemies.  The Knight ironically views Batman as a detriment to the mental health and sustainability of Gotham City.

The Knight behind the armor also knows the importance of a face, which the Knight reveals on numerous occasions when attempting to recruit others to the cause.  The meaning of the Knight's name bears depth.  There's a reason why the Knight references Arkham Asylum and why some of her followers include the Arkham inmates, defeated in stunning detail by Brad Walker's whirling dervish of a Batman.

The story so far pitted Batman and Robin against the Knight's machinations all of which consist of systematically destroying Batman's legend.  From the eradication of bats to the absolution of the darkness.  None of which is remotely a good idea in any world.  The Knight however sees the bat as pestilence and the darkness a symptom of the Batman.  In the Knight's mind Batman is the harbinger of the darkness.

The tale furthermore created a strong enough threat.  The Knight alone is a vicious opponent.  The Knight in addition leads a band of brothers and sisters who have bought into the vision.  The Knight in turn teaches them how to battle like ancient knights, and this army more than the Arkham inmates proves to be more than a match for Batman.  

If you think that Tomasi and Walker are making the Knight a Mary Sue of a character, the key to Batman's survival is that he anticipated someday facing such opposition.  

Somewhere in Batman's history, he had the witty thought of, "hey, what if I have to battle old-time knights? What's the method of tilting combat then?"  It's right up there with Michael Keaton's nut-buster device in Batman's glove.

The Arkham Knight is one of the most satisfying Batman stories in decades not written by Tom King.  Tomasi has a flair for Batman, but his tales are usually quite out there: Frankenstein dissection, Frankenstein/Yeti team-up, retrieving and resurrecting Robin, the Hellbat designed with love by the Justice League.  The Arkham Knight is a straight-forward detective story with a remarkable antagonist that deserves to be beaten by nobody but Batman.

In a way there's little depth to Supergirl. This is essentially Kevin Maguire and Eduardo Pansica prettily depicting space battles between House of El and the cabal of sphincters that got together and killed Krypton.  Their illustrations, each style a recognizable contrast, nevertheless flows in unison.

That said.  Supergirl's reaction to Jonathan Kent is the most eye-opening thing in the story.

The real important bit of information to draw from the scene is that Superman and Supergirl can overcome Einstein's Time Dilation.  That is one twin travels close to the speed of light while the other twin remains on earth.  The traveling twin returns and finds his twin ancient.  Supergirl is shocked to see an older Jonathan Kent.  On one level, we should be shocked that she knows who Jonathan Kent is. 

So, before Brian Bendis took over the Superman titles, DC sort of warmed up the seat for him.  DC restructured Superman's New 52 origin story through the schemes of Mr. Mxyzptlk.

You must give DC props in this scenario.  They didn't do things by halves.  Superman's entire timeline restored and reordered to include among other things: his inevitable marriage to Lois Lane, his and Lois' less than inevitable parentage of Jonathan Kent, introduced without too much explanation and fanfare.  They also made certain Batman and Wonder Woman played vital roles in the lives of the couple. 

Supergirl's relationship with Superman, Lois and Jonathan changed.  Instead of being a relatively new hero to Superman, she pretty much synchs with Melissa Benoist's Supergirl.  So, she knew Jonathan Kent while he grew from baby to kid.  She's an older first cousin and acts that way toward him.

Writer Marc Andreyko is so good that you just acknowledge this change and accept the previously unexplored relationship.  In other words, with Star Trek, if you want to know some of the background on Khitomer, you watch the Undiscovered Country.  It you want to see any Supergirl and Jonathan Kent adventures in past issues of Superman or Supergirl, those don't actually exist.

Outside of the relationship material and the surprising fact that Jor-El is alive, Supergirl and the assassin Rogol Zaar fight for mental-control of his axe.

Oh, she dares all right.  Andreyko emphasizes the difference between Supergirl at the beginning of the story and this defacto conclusion.  She was bent on seeking revenge for Krypton.  Superman countered her want by gifting her Krypto.  

It's difficult to be full-blown cold-blooded killer when you've got a super-powered fuzzy companion watching your six.

Krypto reminds Supergirl of the rest of her life, and because of that, Supergirl seeks not revenge but justice for Krypton.  That doesn't mean she's going to wear kid gloves when dishing it out.

No.  These opponents can take it, and Supergirl's more than happy to oblige.