Pick of the Brown Bag
December 5, 2019
and
Thanksgiving Leftovers
by
Ray Tate
This week I look at Doctor Doom, Red Sonja, Superman Up in the Sky, Vengeance of Vampirella and Wonder Woman Come Back To Me.
Our leftovers from last week include Batgirl, Detective Comics, Ghost Spider and Red Hood and the Outlaws.
As usual, if you can't make time for the blog, head to Twitter and check out the tweets: #PickoftheBrownBag.
I would review the latest issue of Tom King's Batman, but he left me nothing to work with.
Batman delves into the life of the Big Bad before he intruded on the Dark Knight Detective's world. The narrative acts as a time machine, recursively taking the reader page by page to the Big Bad's very beginning. His origin if you will. All of it illustrated beautifully by Jorge Fornes whose style you'll remember from the Batman Annual and the dream issue with the Question.
Please. Make it stop. I'm begging you.
Let’s go backwards to see if this made sense. Cause the plot is complicated. Under the employ of alien Princess Sibella, aliens responsible for the historic Superman and Muhammad Ali bout back in the seventies set up a time/space transporter to teleport players to a virtual island. This was done for Sibella's own amusement and the enjoyment of her subjects.
Sibella wiped out her own memory and joined the entertainment. The Truman Show like setup netted numerous players and cameos such as Aquaman, but most importantly the production drew Wonder Woman into the fray who changed the direction of the story.
Come Back to Me began on the rock solid foundation of Diana and Steve Trevor’s relationship, giving the impetus to the title. The aliens transport Steve, and Wonder Woman follows.
On the island she meets Jonah Hex, clearly a development from Palmiotti’s and Connor’s love for the character and the realization that anybody can show up on the island. For that reason they also wrangle the Cheetah.
The point of this story however is to teach a haughty ruler a lesson and convey the idea that relatively good people can fall victim to a lifetime of malevolent societal nurturing.
Wonder Woman who is royalty herself is the perfect contrast and foil to teach Princess Sibella a lesson. Her civilization of Amazons is based on love and wicked magic lasso tricks.
Sibella in a sense ran Diana, Steve, Hex and the rest through a contest. The contest that Diana won originally to become Wonder Woman, the emissary who would take Steve Trevor back to his people, reflected the camaraderie of the Amazons. There was no bitterness associated with these games.
In the final chapter of Come Back to Me a new complication arises in the form of another alien race.
New to the DCU the Light Lords are the antithesis of Star Trek’s Organians, a species of energy beings who enforce peace between the Federation and the Klingons. Artist Tom Derenick gives them a fierce design. Conner and Palmiotti depict them as arrogant immortal devourers.
Their arrival isn’t foreshadowed and perhaps they are the one element of the story that seems tangential, yet they catalyze the foundation of Wonder Woman’s and Sibella’s alliance. They furthermore give Palmiotti and Conner the leave to demonstrate Diana’s intelligence and experience rather than her superpowers, which already came to the fore in previous chapters.
The Web of the Black Widow is not as entertaining or as meaningful as the miniseries from Jen and Sylvia Soska. Its plot bears a superficial similarity to Batgirl. However, and this is important, Web is way better than Batgirl, how can it not be?
Originally, Natasha used to be KGB. She carried out assassinations and dirty tricks for the Soviet Union. The KGB as James Bond knew it dissolved in 1991. So, this organization cannot be relevant to Black Widow’s contextual history; even when factoring in Marvel’s sliding time scale and science fiction clone bodies. The KGB became the MI-6 styled Foreign Intelligence Service commonly known as the SVR, and that must be where Natasha’s association now lies. It’s the same dance just a different, younger partner.
Given a new lease on life, Natasha sets about balancing the scales she tipped in Russia’s favor. The only problem lies in the time. Black Widow threatens to erase the benefits of the present reaped by her actions in the past.
Originally, Natasha used to be KGB. She carried out assassinations and dirty tricks for the Soviet Union. The KGB as James Bond knew it dissolved in 1991. So, this organization cannot be relevant to Black Widow’s contextual history; even when factoring in Marvel’s sliding time scale and science fiction clone bodies. The KGB became the MI-6 styled Foreign Intelligence Service commonly known as the SVR, and that must be where Natasha’s association now lies. It’s the same dance just a different, younger partner.
Given a new lease on life, Natasha sets about balancing the scales she tipped in Russia’s favor. The only problem lies in the time. Black Widow threatens to erase the benefits of the present reaped by her actions in the past.
In other words, if the SVR tasked her to assassinate a CEO, and the family of that CEO no matter how good merited from the hit, she nevertheless exposes the truth. Let the chips fall where they may.
Because Black Widow ruffles the feathers of the status quo, the Avengers become interested. Rather, the U.S. government probably asks the Avengers to become interested. The Avengers acquiesce in an effort to stop Natasha before she crosses a line and as a result becomes an enemy of the country. Again.
Complications arise when an unknown agent taking Nat’s guise frames her for crimes she’s didn’t commit. This issue reveals the Big Bad as...
Complications arise when an unknown agent taking Nat’s guise frames her for crimes she’s didn’t commit. This issue reveals the Big Bad as...
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Anya.
I know! Right! Big shock!
If you're like me, the next words out of your mouth were probably, "Anya? Who's Anya?" Anya is--anybody? No? Well, I didn't know either. Some chick from the Red Room apparently. I mean. Black Widow's secret saboteur could have been somebody with real meat to them like Madame Hydra, Maria Hill or the Enchantress, but nope. It's Anya.
Now, unlike Cecil Castelluci's bucket of bolts, Anya actually has a brief, recent history in Black Widow comics. I had to look it up, but it's there.
I'm still underwhelmed by the revelation. However, there's a lot in Houser's book to recommend.
The frame catalyzes Nat's run-in with Hawkeye. Clint simply can't trust Natasha, perhaps because he should. I feel his actions can be ascribed to overcompensating. Black Widow originally a femme fatale seduced Hawkeye into battling Iron Man. As a consequence of that history, he must force himself to accept that “a pretty face can hide an evil mind.” Houser is that good of a writer to bring such nuance to the table. She scribes the Doctor Who comic book after all.
Let’s go backwards to see if this made sense. Cause the plot is complicated. Under the employ of alien Princess Sibella, aliens responsible for the historic Superman and Muhammad Ali bout back in the seventies set up a time/space transporter to teleport players to a virtual island. This was done for Sibella's own amusement and the enjoyment of her subjects.
Sibella wiped out her own memory and joined the entertainment. The Truman Show like setup netted numerous players and cameos such as Aquaman, but most importantly the production drew Wonder Woman into the fray who changed the direction of the story.
Come Back to Me began on the rock solid foundation of Diana and Steve Trevor’s relationship, giving the impetus to the title. The aliens transport Steve, and Wonder Woman follows.
On the island she meets Jonah Hex, clearly a development from Palmiotti’s and Connor’s love for the character and the realization that anybody can show up on the island. For that reason they also wrangle the Cheetah.
The point of this story however is to teach a haughty ruler a lesson and convey the idea that relatively good people can fall victim to a lifetime of malevolent societal nurturing.
Wonder Woman who is royalty herself is the perfect contrast and foil to teach Princess Sibella a lesson. Her civilization of Amazons is based on love and wicked magic lasso tricks.
Sibella in a sense ran Diana, Steve, Hex and the rest through a contest. The contest that Diana won originally to become Wonder Woman, the emissary who would take Steve Trevor back to his people, reflected the camaraderie of the Amazons. There was no bitterness associated with these games.
In the final chapter of Come Back to Me a new complication arises in the form of another alien race.
New to the DCU the Light Lords are the antithesis of Star Trek’s Organians, a species of energy beings who enforce peace between the Federation and the Klingons. Artist Tom Derenick gives them a fierce design. Conner and Palmiotti depict them as arrogant immortal devourers.
Their arrival isn’t foreshadowed and perhaps they are the one element of the story that seems tangential, yet they catalyze the foundation of Wonder Woman’s and Sibella’s alliance. They furthermore give Palmiotti and Conner the leave to demonstrate Diana’s intelligence and experience rather than her superpowers, which already came to the fore in previous chapters.
Superman Up in the Sky bears some similarity to that old nineties turkey Our Worlds at War. If you're unfamiliar with Our Worlds at War, good on you. Do me a favor. Don't look it up. Don't seek out the issues. Just don't.
So, this is the last issue and the last chance Superman has to save Alice and bring her home. Aliens abducted Alice. Superman is Alice's favorite superhero. For reasons hashed out in previous chapters Superman had no choice but to risk it all and save the life of one little girl.
Last issue, Superman fell into the clutches of the creature that took her. This issue, we discover why he/she/it took Alice, and how it ties into a robot invasion of earth.
Ah, hah, says those that suffered through Our Worlds at War, I see your point. Now where lies the difference? Firstly, there's the rationale behind the bots. It's a distinctive, arrogant motivation.
When the robots beat the Justice League down, it's...
...not remotely plausible. I'm sorry, but Tom King and Andy Kubert do at least try to make the robots’ power credible.
Kubert crosses Mandroids with Cybermen for their design which is better, way better than the tin cans from Our Worlds at War and their Looney Tunes accoutrements.
Furthermore, Our Worlds at War went on, and on, and on and killed Strange Visitor, a really enjoyable hero.
Nobody dies in Up In the Sky. The invasion, the decimation of forces lasts a single issue that grants Kubert the opportunity to illustrate half of the DCU.
It's kind of cool that the fates of earth's heroes depend solely on Superman, and his decision to pay heed to Kirk's message to Spock. "The needs of the one outweigh the needs of many."
Superman's polite obstinance of refusing to die and be stopped is also a sort of call back to the way Superman behaved in the past. He's not bombastic. He's simply a man gifted with powers, raised right by Ma and Pa.
Lastly, the questions Alice asks on the long journey home are hoots, and Superman makes stops along the way that entertain and answer some dangling historical and scientific queries.
Lex Luthor tasked the Red Hood to train the super-villains of tomorrow. Despite actually being a hero, Jason agreed. He simply doesn't want to see dead teenagers.
He was as surprised as much as the reader to see Dr. Shay Veritas as part of the scheme. Shay is the personal physician of Superman and Supergirl. In her own words, Shay is an adept of science not morality. It's Shay who provides the most interesting thing in Red Hood and the Outlaws.
Yeah. I really like this creation of Lobdell and Rocafort. I'm happy to see her in any book. The multiple Veritas is a weird little item that fits with the quirky nature of Red Hood and the Outlaws. There are other moments of interest in the issue, but not as outrageously funny or as absurd as some of the previous chapters or volumes.
The conclusion to Detective Comics is tricky. Mr. Freeze accepted his gift from Lex Luthor. A formula to reverse the damage done to his wife Nora Fries. Unfortunately, the formula turned Nora into an ice being like he.
That suited Victor Fries, until he watched Nora's emotions become not frozen in ice but seething in rage. So, distraught, Freeze threw in with Batman to stop Nora.
Given the justified #MeToo movement. It's very easy to suggest that Nora's motives are unadulterated.
Victor rescued Nora from certain death by trapping her in suspended animation for years. Her argument may appear valid, but I don't think so.
Nora's behavior escalates in murderous intent and madness. This is as Batman identifies Lex Luthor's doing. Nora isn't trying to make a statement. This isn't some askew Thelma and Louise release of repressed emotions. An arch villain twisted Nora from afar.
You can accuse Mr. Freeze as possessive and perhaps naive to think he could restart with Nora where they left off, but I don’t think his is an expression of toxic male dominance.
It’s unfortunate that two men are trying to stop a woman recently freed from incarceration of the worst kind. The inclusion of Batgirl would have been more appropriate, but Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke plausibly demonstrate that Nora’s gone off the deep end and into a deep freeze.
Nope. The cover is a complete cheat. Spider-Gwen beat the crime lord Man-Wolf a few issues ago. Unfortunately, J. Jonah Jameson bailed out his son. This issue is a scattershot of set pieces threaded by two Jackals.
The Jackal of Spider-Gwen's earth is pure business and scientific discovery. The Jackal on Marvel earth proper is obsessed with any version of Gwen Stacy. He was in fact behind the clone of Gwen Stacy.
Neither Jackal gets close to Gwen this issue. Gwen in between bouncing back and forth dimensions rehearses with the Mary Janes and stops a hostage hospital situation in stylish fashion, while visiting a friend in care.
So, not a bombastic issue. A good one for a try out if you want to get a handle on the story so far, but not necessarily a showcase for Gwen at her wildest heroism.
Oh look it's Hemorrhage. Well I certainly didn't expect this proto-Bloodwork to appear in Vengeance of Vampirella. Is he a welcome addition? Nah. I hate him like I always do. Only now, I get to hate him as Chris Hemsworth portraying a biker.
Hemorrhage's shtick is that he can control blood, which is really weird and kind of useless. He and Nyx slink around pining for the chance to torture Vampirella all over again while the lady from Drakulon tries to regain her memories. An adequate issue but nothing special.
The tide turned for the She-Devil, chosen to be Queen of Hyrkania. For the longest time, she seemed to get the better of Dragan the wannabe Emperor of the World with the personality of a lethal version of Rufus T. Firefly.
However, fortunes changed for Sonja and her people. Her cousin killed himself rather than be used as a hostage. Attempts at alliances failed, and a spy for the Emperor learned of her plans.
Some of her people fled her ranks. Now, it seems that Dragan's victory is inevitable. If not for one bridge.
Writer Mark Russell and artist Mirko Colak with gleefully gory colorist Dearbhla Kelly offer readers a return to Red Sonja's bloody beginnings and the recapitulation of the onset of this latest Dynamite Volume.
Framed for a crime he did not commit, shot by the Taskmaster, can Dr. Doom's life get any worse? How about a trip to hell and a fight with Mephisto?
Doom begins to figure things out in this issue, such as what his daydreams of being a respected leader, loving husband and father mean.
In addition Kang the Conqueror, who is even weirder and more whimsical than he was in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, keeps popping in and out of Doom's life, giving him tips about his future. Morgaine Le Fey who hides out in Queens seems to love him. All of this and Zora too.
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