POBB August 25, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

August 25, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the newest Pick of the Brown Bag.   I'm your comics guru, Ray Tate.  For this posting, I take a tour of the new DC Wonder Woman title Sensational Wonder Woman.  A play of words on Wonder Woman's original home.

Sensational Wonder Woman is ideal for somebody that doesn't want to subscribe to Wonder Woman and/or doesn't want to get involved in a story arc.  This reader likes Wonder Woman, not necessarily her continuity, and the occasional good Wonder Woman adventure. 

Sensational Wonder Woman consists of stand-alone Wonder Woman tales with differing writers and artists.  Continuity is flexible, and so far DC published six issues.  The first I reviewed in depth earlier.  

The second issue of Sensational Wonder Woman by Andrea Shea pits Wonder Woman against frequent foil Artemis.  It didn't  start out that way.  Wonder Woman answered an sos from Artemis.  They nevertheless end up fighting in the gladiator pit on War World.  How they reach this point offers a twist or two.

Even if you don't know what a War World is, you'll catch on quick.  Older fans will be surprised at some of the new wrinkles in the shtick.  Of course there's always the tried and trusted.

Master of War World, Mongul becomes involved in the duel, and there's much rejoicing when Wonder Woman and Artemis soon hand this perpetual loser his ass.  

Mongul only had one moment of Bronze Age glory, which is one better than Kobra.  In Alan Grant's and Dave Gibbons' "For the Man Who Has Everything," the feature of a Superman Annual, Mongul overcomes Superman with the Black Mercy and stands toe-to-toe against Wonder Woman.   

If you gave Ally Babble an immersive hallucinogenic weed, he would have partially succeeded as well.  Come to think of it.  So would Kobra.  I'm also pretty sure Wonder Woman had the sniffles that day.

The art of Sensational Wonder Woman by Bruno Redondo is absolutely mouth-watering.  Dynamic anatomy in multiple clashes, and Redondo is equally adept at depicting the quieter moments.

In the third issue, Colleen Doran brings her skill for writing and art in a tale that depicts a kind of day in the life of Diana.  First Wonder Woman explodes onto the scene.  

The sharks are in fact Megs, which have somehow become the royal escorts of Themyscira.  They also show up in the adventures of Young Diana in the backup feature of Wonder Woman.  I don't recall them appearing anywhere in the Bronze Age, the television series or the films however.  Oh, well.  Not important.

After a meet and greet on the beach, a local blaze, not Johnny, quickly catches Diana's attention.  During the focus on Wonder Woman, Doran reboots one of Wonder Woman's nineties cast members, depicted on the cover.

She looks quite different.  So, this isn't a spoiler.  I never had any affinity with the cast member.  Still, Doran demonstrates the woman's worth and her sense of ethics in business.  That puts on a different spin.  

Doran's Wonder Woman gibes with the Lynda Carter version of the character.  She's friendly, an idol to millions of people and casually powerful.

In the third issue's side B Alyssa Wong throws a "Museum Gala" with invitees Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne.  

Mr. Freeze shows up, and Wonder Woman, who seldom needs to protect her secret identity, even when she had one, goes into action.

This story works through a combination of wit, the friendship between Diana and Bruce as well as the cartoony, energetic art of Eleonora Carlini.  Colors by Enrica Eren Angiolini add pizzazz.

In the fourth issue Corrine Bechko opens her story with Diana attending a climate change conference.  There she meets a woman who claims to be able to control the weather by moving the clouds to where they need to be.

Of course, this is a potty theory.  Nevertheless, she makes it rain without placing a single bet on Draft Kings.  Unfortunately the experiment gets out of hand, and Wonder Woman under the auspices of artist Dani finds herself battling her old enemy the Blue Snowman.

Nope.  I never heard of this character before either.  Can the wikipedia save us?  Apparently so.

A secret villain pulls the Snowman's strings.  This villain is well known to Wonder Woman fans.  Bechko though in dialogue shorthand explains what you need to know.  Even had you never read a single issue of Wonder Woman, you would still know what floats the boats of both foes.

With the fifth issue, Amy Chu teams up with Maria Laura Sanapo for a time-spanner that delves into Wonder Woman's World War II history as well as her current history.

This issue is a good example of how Sensational Wonder Woman doesn't follow the rules of continuity but looks at the historical canon.  

Since the nineties DC Comics eschewed Wonder Woman's World War II history.  George Perez reintroduced her as a contemporary character.  Subsequent reboots followed suit.  

Chu and Sanapo instead embrace Wonder Woman's immortality and present her as a Nazi fighter and an everlasting symbol of justice and feminism.

An elderly woman relates the story of her long friendship with Wonder Woman, but this history threatens her existence.  Since nobody believes her.  For the same reason, mad science in a comic book is just science, it will come to nobody's surprise that Katie speaks the truth.  

Yes, Chu's story is predictable, but nobody wanted to see this sweet, old woman put out on the street because of a potentially hyperactive imagination.  It would have been a disappointment had Wonder Woman not shown up, validated Katie's recollections and saved the day.  This isn't a Black Label book.

Sina Grace in the most recent issue presents a collage of Wonder Woman continuity.  Paul Pelletier is just the artist to illustrate this fun little villains team-up.  First, Artemis leads the Amazons on an attack on Parliament.

The opening scene reflects the universally reviled mini-series Amazon Attacks.  However, Diana knows something's up on page three.  

It doesn't take six miserable issues to find out the gist of it all.  Let me just say at this point.  I love Paul Pelletier's, Norm Rapmund's and Adriano Lucas' art even when Pelletier is not having characters bash each other's heads in.

That moment of realistic body language is just beautiful. Enhanced by the subdued colors.   

Diana's investigation leads her to Themyscira where she meets the first attacker from her Rogue's Gallery.  I don't really count Artemis as a rogue.  She's more of a hot-headed rival.

The design on Silver Swan is modern, and it's clear to me that Sina Grace didn't want to muddy the very streamlined plot with the question of the Swan's secret identity.

If this version of the Silver Swan were in fact Vanessa Kapetelis, Diana would have referred to her as Vanessa and try to reason with her friend.  As such, this is just the villain Silver Swan, an impediment to be squashed.

In a bit of a battle twist, Wonder Woman meets the host of this fight dance toot sweet.

If she looks familiar, you're not mistaken.  This is Queen Bee the head of HIVE.  Though this may not be the Queen Bee you're familiar with.  

Over the years, Queen be transformed.  Originally a Silver Age foe against the Justice League, the alien Bee became decidedly human or at least more humanoid in the nineties as a femme fatale in the Giffin/DeMatteis/Maguire League.  Grant Morrison returned her to his JLA as an alien menace.

In the New 52, she became the blonde fusion you see in Wonder Woman and the head of old Superman turned Teen Titans baddie group HIVE.  HIVE stands for...er...a little help?

Queen Bee not in a sharing mood continues the boss fight section of Wonder Woman.

Giganta inspired by the 1943 film Captive Wild Woman and the 1958 shlock Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman.  Introduced as an ape turned woman in Wonder Woman #9 and given the size changing powers sans simian history in the classic Saturday morning treat Challenge of the Super-Friends.  

We also see Dr. Poison looking extremely uncomfortable in full leathers on the tropical Paradise Island.  This is a deucedly fun exercise that's dependent on the smooth mix of easy-going dialogue full of quips and barbs, some hilarious use of Wonder Woman canon and of course Paul Pelletier's ability to illustrate every character in the DC Universe to perfection.

POBB November 25, 2015

Pick of the Brown Bag

November 25, 2015

by

Ray Tate

The Pick of the Brown Bag returns for a weekly discussion of the things we hold dear.  Comic books.  Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, because it's time to stuff yourselves again with reviews of All-New Wolverine, Black Magick, Groot, Hellboy and the BPRD 1953, Henchgirl, John Carter Warlord of Mars, Justice League 3001, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and We Are Robin.

Just released on DVD, Digital and Blu-Ray.  I went with the combo.  If you need a memory jog, I reviewed the Man From Uncle when it was on the big screen.  Follow the Link.

Oh, no! 

I'm in the comic shop and I don't know whether or not to pick up the latest issue of Vanadium Knights! 

Not to worry.  Just pull up the Pick of the Brown Bag on your iPhone.  

Ray never steers me wrong, but I don't have time to read all of this, especially the Tigra parts.  

Hey, no worries.  Ray now tweets: #PickoftheBrownBag.  
Oh, thank goodness.  He finally made it to the twenty-first century.

And now to the reviews...

We Are Robin entertains with the young charges fighting over a Talon looking to roost in Gotham City.  This is mostly one big fight that goes how you expect it until the Robins work as a team and control their anger.

This however is a Talon, and it takes Alfred, their benefactor, and the wonderful toys of Batman to turn the tide of battle and prevent tragedy.  Good issue.  Excellent fight choreography.

In the thirty-first century, on the prison planet Takron-Galtos, Batman attempts to gain custody of Tina Sung, the fifteen year old girl readers met in a previous issue.  Tina attempted to fill Batman’s shoes by donning a suit of bat armor and taking names.  Turns out, She may have a greater claim to the bat goodies than the well-meaning Cadmus symbiote.

As you can see, Supergirl accompanies Batman on his legal quest, but unlike Batman and the other members of the Justice League, Kara is the real deal.  A second hibernation-facilitated trip through time and space dragged Supergirl into the future with respect to Kal-El’s present.

Supergirl is the only draw to Justice League 3001.  Don’t get me wrong.  Keith Giffin’s Batman is enjoyable, and despite his being some weird fusion of a host and Bruce Wayne DNA, Supergirl defers to him as she would Batman.  So, he’s about as genuine a Batman as you can get without invoking time travel as a plot device.  The Leaguers are all just as ersatz.  Guy Gardner however since gaining a female host is far more complex and genial than he was.  The Flash only possesses the speedster’s powers, and this issue Giffin cleans house.  He recognizes that one of the Leaguers really isn’t doing anything to advance the cause.  So he removes the offending party in a signature plot. 

Extremely powerful robots with dialogue that recalls the Goofy Gophers attack Batman and Supergirl.  This is a classic Giffin strategy.  Just because the villain acts in a comedic manner doesn't mean that his actions will be funny.  Batman calls in the League, but they may not be needed since under the legendary Colleen Doran’s fight choreography, Supergirl kicks a lot shiny metal ass.  

Remember what I said about she being the draw? It’s a damn shame that this is the only book on the comic book racks featuring the Girl of Steel, but so be it.  Doran of course could be considered another overall asset, but take away Supergirl and you’re left with a substitute Justice League.  So my argument stands.  

Clones figure in the series All-New Wolverine.  The story begins with a send-up of Man of Steel.

The warders of this particular prison seek Laura’s help in corralling her murderous clones, but there are two sides of the story.

Needless to say Tom Taylor’s tale doesn’t break any new ground.  Instead, he concentrates on the fulfillment of a promise begun in Avengers Academy.  Taylor turns Laura into a genuine hero.  She fights for individualism; protects the innocent and turns on authority.  Taylor conveys these attributes through the use of her powers, which differ in nuance from Logan’s abilities.

David Lopez and David Navarrot handle the artwork, and I haven’t seen such beautiful flexibility in a character since Norm Breyfogle’s Batman.  Colorist Nathan Fairburn in addition brings out a lot of vividness that helps define All-New Wolverine as a superhero book.

Laura’s comrades the X-Men cameo in the episodic and lovely Groot.  This is the final issue of Groot, but no worries.  Marvel is just retitling the remarkable series to give Rocket Raccoon billing.  

Having just escaped the clutches of no mean bounty hunter.  Groot and Rocket take a tour of the riches that earth has to offer, based on the advice of friends.

The story spins out of the bullet points on the checklist when Groot and Rocket take Kitty Pryde’s advice.  

Best.  Least Confusing.  Least threatening.  Appearance.  By the X-Men.  Ever.  Thank you, Brian Kesinger.

The X-Men aren’t just in Groot for fun’s sake, or for cheap grandstanding sake.  Nope.  Groot actually needs no boost in sales from the X-Men.  By connecting with the X-Men, writer Jeff Loveless allows Groot to telepathically communicate with Jean Grey.

Best.  Least Confusing.  Least threatening.  Appearance.  By Jean Grey.  Ever.  Thank you, again Brian Kesinger and Jeff Loveless.

The conversation gives Groot the opportunity to reveal his origin and unveil the final piece of the puzzle.  How does Groot allude to the Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby original menacing tree-thing.  The conclusion is really quite sweet, and shame on you if you miss it.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl begins a new story in which Doreen travels back in time to the 1960s.

Historically speaking, the 1960s should be lousy with superheroes.  Because of Marvel's sliding time scale, the fictional cosmos does not mirror the historical run of comic books.

Squirrel Girl and Tippy-Toe adapt to their new surroundings while making efforts to contact their present via a trick picked up from Aquaman in Challenge of the Super-Friends and later employed in Star Trek the Next Generation and Doctor Who.

As the story progresses Squirrel Girl encounters other time lost strangers and begins to see a plot afoot.  Meanwhile, not even Doreen's parents are aware of their tailed wonder.  Only Doreen's best friend Nancy knows that Squirrel Girl exists.

The hilarious Squirrel Girl doesn't shoot for the slapstick mostly.   Writer Ryan North instead aims for overall amusement and a comedic clash of contingencies that leads to an outrageous cliffhanger featuring the metal-masked fellow on the cover.  At the same time, he displays the ladies' acumen, and Doreen's adaptive experience honed from a life time fighting bad guys.

The second issue of Henchgirl details Mary's plan to infiltrate the rich bachelor Greg Gains' costume soirée and shake him down for all he's got.  Thus sparing a hit on the orphanage.  Things go askew right from the start.

Mary instead of hobnobbing with the rich guests and no doubt picking their pockets finds herself demoted to the downstairs where she encounters an old friend.

The follow-up to the recommended premiere is actually more structured.  The debut of Henchgirl was episodic.  Now that triple-threat creator/writer/artist Kristen Gudsnuk introduced the cast and the dynamic between them, she expands with the plotting of a crime; Mary's continuing schism between good and bad as well as the inherent laziness of criminals.  She does this without losing the initial freshness or the frivolity of the first issue.

Behind the boobalicious cover of John Carter Warlord of Mars lies comparatively chaste anatomy lessons by Ariel Medel.

The ballyhoo breasts furthermore obscure a really good swordplay survival tale featuring on the opposing end one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' more weirder creations.  Excellent all the way through.

The second issue of Black Magick lacks the action and adult situations that may have enticed wary readers to the first chapter.  However, Greg Rucka's and Nicola Scott's work is still worth reading because the story deals with consequences of what occurred.

A hostage taker lured Detective Rowan Black into the fray, and through a spell, she set him on fire.  Decisively ending the standoff.  Rucka strongly implied this isn't how Rowan normally accomplishes her police work.  Instead, the perpetrator knew Rowan's secret, and appeared to be part of something bigger.  She had to silence him.  

Never the less, Rowan is a police officer, and as such she must answer to the protocols that hold officers accountable for every situation.  We see abuses of police power frequently on the news, but that's not how it's supposed to work.  Every police bureau should have an Internal Affairs Department.  They're the cops that investigate cops, and as such, they're not well liked.

Rucka follows police procedure, and that's one of the things that makes this issue of Black Magick interesting.  We watch Rowan Black mostly tell the truth about her encounter with the hostage taker.  She has the burns to prove that she wasn't involved with something untoward, but Rucka and Scott still generate tension with the simple knowledge of the IAB's job being rooting out the truth.  In addition Scott and Rucka deepen the characterization of one of Rowan's circle and in general dramatize events subtly to create a satisfying police fiction, tinged with magic set in the present day.

Hellboy didn't begin with profoundness.  Hellboy began as a meat-and-potatoes hero chipped from the same vein as Ben Grimm beating the snot out of monsters from legend.  That's really all Hellboy was.  A demon raised as a human who fought against his kinfolk.  

Creator/writer/artist Mike Mignola started exploring Hellboy's hidden depths.  He became focused on the iron hand Hellboy wielded and the prophecies other characters associated with Hellboy.  Mignola could have just decided to ignore these prophecies as the ravings of madmen, but he saw the potential in them and followed his own words to the logical and somber end.  

I think Mignola made a mistake.  Despite all of the good stories that came out of this path, he started to lose the essence of what attracted readers to Hellboy in the first place.  That's why Mignola keeps revisiting Hellboy's past.  It's a simpler canvas on which to work, yet very rarely have these retrofit past stories been as satisfying as the originals.  The more Mignola tried to recapture the magic, the less genuine it felt.  This double feature is a rare exception.

In "The Witch Tree" Hellboy and his adopted father Professor  Buttenholme visit Sam Burke and Dr. Dixon.  A witch cursed the former, but unlike previous journeys, this isn't one where Hellboy and the Professor merely observe and listen to a narrative.  

This story packs the power of Hellboy's punch and fosters an anything-can-happen attitude common to the original stories.  While the nutcase behind this dance macabre mentions Hellboy as a prophecy, the freewheeling mood is so fun that you can dismiss these lunacies.

The first story makes some dubious claims about the monster in question.  That doesn't undermine from the enjoyment, but Mignola readers are usually used to more research.  No worries.  "Rawhead and Bloody Bones" is based on the solid grounding of fairytales, not Clive Barker as some may have thought.

As they did in the first story, Buttenholme and Hellboy visit a couple with an odd story.

The story of course turns out to be truer than thought, and Hellboy and the Professor rather than engage in combat  against the demons, find a quirkier means to end their reign.

Only one story stands out in this issue of Bart Simpson Comics.  "Career Day" is too derivative of other episodes, and I couldn't make heads or tails out of "Back Words."  Christine Seghers hilarious Peggy Carter/spy spoof though is a welcome treat where she casts Bart as a Blofeld type madman and Malibu Stacy in the role of Evelyn Salt.  Still waiting on that sequel.

The short consists of trap after trap and Malibu thwarting each one with clever parodies of spy gadgetry.  Because of the nature of the beast, the art by Mike Kazaleh  is extra cartoony as you can see but still on model and allowing for animated mastery.