POBB October 23, 2019

Pick of the Brown Bag

October 23, 2019

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to The Pick of the Brown Bag, in this blog I review the brightest and the dimmest books for the week.  For this posting, I look at The Amazing Mary Jane, Aquaman Annual, Contagion, newly minted Count Crowley, Detective Comics, Ghost Spider, Immortal Hulk, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Tommy Gun Wizards and Red Sonja and Vampirella Meet Betty and Veronica.  If you haven’t the time for the full blog, check me out on Twitter where I'll have a few words to say about even more contenders: #PickoftheBrownBag

Contagion, you already had me.  You didn’t have to bring in the Wrecking Crew.

These fellows are larcenous old school bank robbers.  They started as Thor’s enemies but memorably fought Iron Fist who teamed up with Captain America.  Later they spread their love throughout the superhero community.  Getting beaten up by the likes of Spider-Man, Namor, She-Hulk and most recently teen Jean Grey.

The fungus they fight is a gift from an enemy of the K’un-Lun people.  It took out the heaviest hitters:  the Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange and the Avengers.  Events look dire.  

On the genuine hero side, who’s left you ask?  

Some of these heroes will not be left standing.

The defacto Defenders only have a few days before the changes become permanent and the fungus kills the fallen.  However, you cannot help but think that there’s light at the end of this series.  

Ed Brisson’s tale isn’t art house dark.  It’s 1950s horror movie dark.  I mean Frank Castle, The Punisher, acts like a protector not a means-to-an-end executioner.  

In terms of pace, there’s no real aching drama.  It’s all gotchas, character-driven comedy and action.  It helps to knock out the orators of the Marvel Universe, like Reed and Dr. Strange, first.  Leaving behind meat and potatoes heroes like the Thing and Moon Knight who aren't known for their momentum crushing speeches.

Holy crap! What was that? I barely understood this double-sized issue of the Immortal Hulk.  I’m not sure that you need to buy it in order to extend the flow of the current series.  On the other hand if you're looking for something strange tangentially connected to the Marvel Universe.  This may be the issue for you.  As near as I can figure, here’s what you get.  

Al Ewing trips out with the last survivors of a doomed universe.  Guest artist Germain Garcia creates a tapestry of cosmic oddness that only takes shape when turning green. 

You need to really study his art in order to glean what’s going on, but that’s due to the highly alien nature of the characters not a flaw in the visual narrative.  

Somehow Mothra shows up, and the savior of the earth attempts to use the Hulk as a time machine to get a message to the one man capable of stopping the madness.  At least I think that’s the gist of the book.

The much anticipated Mary Jane isn’t bad but neither is it Frankencastle.  Mary Jane notices some peculiarities on the set of a Spider-Man movie that she’s shooting. 

Can there be a familiar fish-bowled villain behind the whole shebang? Is it a ruse? Has he killed the director Mr. McKnight and replaced him?

In the past, Mysterio messed with Spider-Man’s head something fierce.  Following suit in the newest Spider-Man: Far from Home.  So, it’s a little surprising to see Mary Jane on board with Quentin Beck, who looks exactly as he did back in the day.  Complete with the More-cut.

Still, Mysterio didn’t kill, nor sleep with, any of Spider-Man’s girlfriends, nor did he threaten his aunt.  He played by the rules of engagement and saw only Spider-Man as fair game.  So, yeah.  I suppose I can give him an even shake. 

Later, in the privacy of her hotel room, MJ contacts Peter with some cute selfies and innocent frolic.  All of it rendered by Red Sonja’s Carlos Gomez, who knows his bodacious babe business.  

Ghost Spider splits between Earth-616 and Gwen’s Earth-65.  Thanks to Peter Parker’s sponsorship Gwen attends college on Earth proper.  So, we see Gwen making friends and studying different subjects.

Writer Seanan McGuire also explains from whence that giant rat Spidey and Gwen fought a few issues ago came.  I suspect many readers just wrote off the rodent as a non-sequitur menace.  Turns out the rodent is part of a long game.  Not Tom King long, but long enough.

When Gwen returns to Earth-65, McGuire shocks the audience with a dramatic twist that begins with Gwen investigating a gunshot.

McGuire banks on the short history of Spider-Gwen and her faithful fans for a literally sweet payoff.  

However, the main feed to Ghost-Spider is spoilt on the cover.  This issue is about the lurking threat of Spider-Man villain the Jackal.  

What’s interesting about the exploration is that there are two Jackals.  Originally, the Jackal was just an Empire State University professor that had a serious Jones for Gwen Stacy.  Her death drove him deeper to madness, and he worked his considerable acumen into a clone of Gwen Stacy, with the memories of the original.  His fuzzy mien is another story that I really don’t get.

On Earth-65, the Jackal isn’t part of academia, never met Gwen Stacy until she became Spider-Gwen, and he’s not lusting after her.  He’s a chemist for hire, and James Jameson’s employee.  A bit disgruntled.

Furthermore, his grip on sanity is far stronger than his counterpart on Earth-616.

Jason Todd former Robin and now Red Hood continues his tutelage of earth’s next villains,   After concluding that the miniature Doomsday wasn’t a threat Jason and his students uncover a covey of hilariously poorly designed bad eggs.

In the vein of Mystery Science Theater’s Night of the Blood Beast, the head idiot begins to speechify.

That went well.  Writer Scott Lobdell’s Red Hood and the Students vs. Loser Villains: The Next Generation is a massive joke with good laughs. On the serious side, Dr. Shay Veritas is in danger for the cliffhanger.

In an alternate timeline, Artemis and Bizarro must contend with a newly freed Ma Gunn. 

Artemis is an Amazon who in a previous continuity took the role of Wonder Woman.  Artemis in this cosmos is an Amazon exile from a lost tribe.  She gained employment as a Lex Luthor mercenary and developed a grudging respect for Diana of Themyscria. 

Batman 408 introduced Ma Gunn as a Ma Barker/Fagin cross.   Lobdell took advantage of the New 52’s clean slate continuity and turned her into a redemptive, sympathetic character.  She and Jason developed a friendship. 

Lex Luthor has been creating imperfect clones of Superman since Man of Steel.  In the New 52, he began the practice in Forever Evil.  Luthor was unaware of the current Bizarro, but he saved his life anyway out of his empathy toward the last.  This version of Bizarro is independent of the one currently causing troubles on the cover of The Terrifics.  The Bizarro in Red Hood and the Outlaws is above board.

Bizarro became hooked on a drug that preserved his super-intelligence.  A side effect of Lex Luthor’s life-saving serum.  The super-smart Bizarro literally trapped Ma Gunn in a bottle to prevent anybody from discovering his secret addiction.  

Part of that Red Hood volume bestows an explanation about how Bizarro’s stuffed toy Pup Pup became sentient.  Believe it or not, Pup Pup’s animation isn’t actually all that strange an occurrence in comic books.  In fact, Lobdell’s Pup Pup parallels Batgirl's newest villain Oracle.  

The difference lies in the evolution.  Oracle is a contrived piece of garbage with no rationale for its construction.  

Batgirl didn’t build it, and as I stated previously she never needed a computer program with tactical ability.  So what exactly powers the robot’s intellect?  

In her persona as Oracle, Batgirl simply provided information to crimefighters.  Either tapped from her photographic memory or organizational databases that she hacked.  So the Oracle robot is doubly inexplicable.

Pup Pup on the other hand debuted in Red Hood and the Outlaws.  Jason gives Pup Pup to Bizarro soon after he finds him.  Bizarro kept Pup Pup around even when turned genius.  In other words, Pup Pup unlike the Oracle bot was a constant, and because of that consistency the more resonant comic book creation.  

Detective Comics is without a doubt the most original of the comics in this week’s batch.  Writer Peter J. Tomasi is known for his whacky run of Batman comic books where almost anything an happen.  This issue, he comes up with an idea that was just sitting there for anybody to take.

Mr. Freeze frees his wife Nora from suspended animation.  She becomes his counter part in every way.  This is the most novel concept I’ve seen in a Batman comic book.  

Outside of that how is the issue? Tomasi’s story is subtle.  As the tale progresses, Nora’s emotional connection with humanity decays.  Just as Victor Fries lost his empathy.

She can muster sympathy and emotion for individuals like Bruce Wayne but by the end of the book no longer cares for people in general.  

Thus, Detective Comics works in the context of Batman’s latest duel with Mr. Freeze, as a general Batman themed story and surprisingly as a literate horror story.

In a sharp deflection of tone, series writer Kelly Sue DeConnick teams with Marvel's Acts of Evil Vita Ayala for a comedy that also acts as a tour of Amnesty Bay’s locals.  

The half-human Aquaman grew up in Amnesty Bay, and it’s more of a home than Atlantis.  The story begins with Aquaman and new Aqualad Jackson Hyde tackling a low-rent villain.

The gun however is serious hardware.

Sea Daddy becomes the catalyst for events.  The wayward blast destroys Amnesty Bay's chance of a fireworks display.

Salty, also wandered off after Aqualad saved him.  The search for Salty and the remounting of the celebration invites readers to follow along with Aquaman as he introduces Tula his cousin and former regent of Atlantis.

Tula used to be known as the original Aqualad’s dead girlfriend, unrelated to Aquaman.  Needless to say Tula benefited greatly from the New 52.

The store owner Randy reaped the rewards from the soft reboot Rebirth.  Geoff Johns introduced a Randy as a sexually harassing abuser.

No worries.  Mera took care of the flotsam.  However, the Rebirth rejiggered time and space to apparently eliminate that unsavory aspect.  Aquaman's on first name terms with him.  So, this incident likely never happened.

In addition Officer Erika Watson enjoys the resurgence from DeConnick’s decision to base Aquaman in Amnesty Bay, her characters the sea gods demonstrate a stronger cohesion with the overall plan to mix deities, heroes and humans.  This folksy Aquaman Annual is brimming with good will, and it would almost be bad manners to rip on it.  Fortunately, it's written and illustrated rather well.  So, just one spoiler.  Sally’s okay.

Murders in Riverdale attracted the attention of Red Sonja and Vampirella.  They soon encountered school newspaper reporters Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.  The ladies forged a fast friendship and pooled their resources.  The gang uncovered numerous clues, but the culprits remained stubbornly out of reach.  That said, as writer Amy Chu lays out her cards, we discover this isn’t exactly a Sherlockian mystery.  Her supernatural elements mislead the art of deduction.  Although one clue derives from the purest form of sleuthing.

As Chu begins her revelations, comedy arises from the nature of the villains' schemes.  Chu also dabbles with  science fiction elements; fitting for a book whose one star is an alien vampire from Drakulon.  Red Sonja soon enters the fray, and Riverdale's denizens prove their worth in a satisfying denouement.  Loose ends answered in two months because apparently Red Sonja and Vampirella Meets Betty and Veronica isn't ending quite yet.  

Count Crowley combines a number of things I like: horror movie hosts, classic monsters, strong female protagonists and of course terrific artwork from The Witch Doctor's Lucas Ketner.  The story introduces alcoholic reporter Jerri Butler who loses her cool during a Renaissance Festival.

Her brother gives her one last chance which casts her as horror movie host Count Crowley.  Jerri attempts to be her own miserable self, and so we get Elvira without the charm or the tact.

She also happens to right about Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter.  It's in the Hall of Fame for Bad Movies.  Prometheus though is far worse.  Unsurprisingly Jerri is a hit, and that's bad news for the reporter.  She's going to be Count Crowley for awhile.  Worse, she discovers after the show that some monsters are genuine.

The Untouchables real life crime busters led by Eliot Ness combatted the machinations of Al Capone and his lieutenant Frank Niti.  In Christian Ward's story that hasn't changed, but instead of booze, the Lick is the thing that's been banned.  The Licks gives ordinary folk a taste of magic.

Ward though mainly oils the gears and cogs of tale with double-crosses, old flames, betrayal and old fashioned detective work.  The difference lies in the nature of these things.  For example, Al Capone isn't running the show.  The Toad is.  

Ward's been detailing the Toad's adventures in the back up narrative.  Although ruthless, the Toad may not be the true bad guy of the tale.

Surprises abound in Tommy Gun Wizards.  Ward's explanation of wizards is a new one.  When fellow Untouchables investigate a Lick distribution plant, they uncover something sinister afoot that's given significant hoof by artist Sami Kivela and colorist Ward and Dee Cunniffe.  Whether film, television or reboot, The Untouchables is always awash with testosterone.  Any woman that appears on The Untouchables is bound to be bad.  Candice appears to be no different.  Though Candice stands out, Ward makes certain that the good side of the female gets a seriously cool and unexpected moment.