Pick of the Brown Bag
May 9, 2018
by
Ray Tate
The Pick of the Brown Bag returns with reviews of The Green Hornet, Oblivion Song, Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Rough Riders, Runaways, Savage Tales Vampirella and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. The POBB can also be found on Twitter: #PickoftheBrownBag.
Oblivion Song by Robert Kirkman intrigued me enough that I put it on my pull list. The second issue was a flashback story, mostly, with foot rubs. Nary could two issues be so different in tone.
For the third, we’re back to exploring a monster-filled dimension with scientist Nathan Cole. Nathan is also seeking his missing brother, but he never loses sight of his role in the greater scheme of things.
Suggesting that the monsters are just innocent animals despite their devouring human life is the kind of the thing a scientist would argue. Nathan jumps into this masterfully illustrated kaiju to rescue people trapped there not to execute the beasts.
I also like how phenomenal artist Lorenzo De Filici emphasizes the Red Cross medical kit. It’s a constant reminder that Nathan is here to help.
The Lone Ranger bids you an adios and disappears with a hearty “hi-ho silver.” Kirkman examines the consequences after the rescue. Nathan and his team question whether or not he should be saving people that have lost their humanity to a horrible environment.
In this sense, Oblivion Song is actually like Terry Moore’s Motor Girl. Kirkman accurately exposes the vagaries resulting from PTSD making it a thoughtful exercise amongst the monsters.
Kicking off the latest volume of Rough Riders, the legendary magician/escapist Harry Houdini uncovered a supernatural plot that threatened the world. He called together his old comrades the Rough Riders: Monk Eastman, Annie Oakley, Jack Johnson, Thomas Edison and President Theodore Roosevelt to thwart the menace.
It appears however that this was all a trap. Roosevelt’s ancestor wronged an innocent person.
In Baron Blood tradition, the spooks answer the curse put on the Roosevelt line. Fortunately, the Roosevelts are notoriously tough, even tougher in the steampunk world of the Rough Riders.
Alice Roosevelt was Teddy Roosevelt’s only daughter. Writer Adam Glass introduced her into the tale innocuously at her wedding. She seemed to exist in the story to demonstrate strife between she and the President and add more historical context to the book in general. Little did the reader know that Alice would play such an integral part in the current series.
Artist Pat Olliffe conjures Alice’s accurate likeness with the same skill he did and does for all of the Rough Riders. He furthermore seems to relish cutting loose with turn of the century styled Iron Man suits, Evil Dead themed demons and demonic possession and a particularly explosive comeuppance for Thomas Edison, who betrayed the team in the first two volumes.
I still think Nikola Tesla was beyond Edison. I will always admire his genius more. However, the historical Edison differs strongly from Glass’ schemer. Look him up if you want the truth.
Rough Riders is an action-packed horror story of excellent vintage. In addition, as you can see by the scene above, the characters exhibit more heart this time around. Unlike the flawed previous volume, I can recommend this entire series, and if Aftershock ever collects all three volumes in one nice hardback, the entirety would be well worth the price.
Savage Tales is the name of a classic black and white Marvel Magazine that featured such Robert E. Howard creations as Conan and Kull. When Dynamite inherited Red Sonja from Marvel, they also acquired the Savage Tales title. An odd acquisition since Savage Tales later became the home to Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil. So, it wasn’t as though Marvel was just using the magazine for licensed properties.
Literature’s first altruistic vampire headlines this Savage Tales one-shot. Vampirella began her adventures in the sixties. She since operated in the present day, of every era hence. In Savage Tales, Vee is thrust into the Hyborean Age.
The story by Erik Burnham showcases Vee’s abilities while Anthony Marques and J. Bone, reminds readers that Vampirella is not for kids.
Though Marques adheres to a cartoon style, the fullness of Vampirella’s figure is straight out of the spicy pulps. Mind you. Vee exudes dangerous curves. She’s certainly not sylph-like.
Traditionally bards, authors and script writers treated vampires as the ultimate corruption or the ultimate sin. As a result, vampires frequently preyed on children. For example, Dracula feeds his brides with a freshly snatched baby. At least that’s the presumption. Stoker isn’t explicit, but the scene in Dracula was enough for filmmakers to fill in the blanks.
What better way to show Vee’s differences from the normal bloodsucker than to pair her with a child? Wait. I guess Vampirella is for kids after all.
Fernando Ruiz provides the artwork for this chapter, and though in early scenes he depicts Vampirella as a hooded “Northerner” he gets the chance to strut his stuff when Vee discovers not the conductor of the danse macabre but at the very least a percussionist that’s styled as a Robert E. Howard villain.
Amusingly, Vampirella tries to eschew violent confrontation, but lucky for the reader, our Big Bad wouldn’t have it any other way.
The remainder of Savage Tales reprints a serial from the Dynamite vault called “Valaka.” Valaka is not exactly Vampirella, but the artist took some license to depict her with the same dress sense and blood thirst. Although, Vampirella usually feeds on blood from a bottle not a throat.
“Valaka” fits the definition of mostly harmless. The warrior that teams up with Valaka is mostly forgettable if not for the anachronistic soul patch, memorable for all the wrong reasons.
The story also features a double-edged sword of how to hide nudity.
The design of the woman’s hair is beyond bizarre, but that it should accidentally fall upon her breasts thus hiding her nipples is astounding.
The whole point of the blood rite is to combine sexuality with violence. That’s why a lot of the followers attend. To see naked women bound and killed. Hammer styled cults are evil. Why on earth would a self-respecting High Priest allow such modesty?
What’s weird is that the artist actually pulls off a really good hiding of the nudity by creating the depicted gutter break in the panels.
“Valaka” is a passable story with a few notable scenes of vampire action. Combine it with the better Vampirella tale at the forefront, and Savage Tales would be a good purchase from a bargain box.
Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, Peter’s maybe sister Teresa Durand and J.Jonah Jameson visited an alternate timeline to gain knowledge from the Tinkerer. This in order to stave off an alien invasion in their home continuum. Unwittingly Spidey changed that timeline’s future. Young Peter Parker overheard his older self speaking of the tragedies in his life, and Peter wanted none of it. So, Peter gave up the webs for good. The timeline changed, naturally for the worse.
With Norman Osborne and Doc Ock in charge, the whole world seems at peril. Fortunately, Spidey has an ally in Peter Parker. Guess again.
Okay. Fortunately, Peter has an ally in Gwen Stacy.
Yes. Absolutely. Once again, we have the two Amazing Spider-Man films with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone to thank.
Although the Marvel Adventures titles sharpened Gwen Stacy’s character, it wasn’t until Emma Stone’s rich performance as somebody best remembered as the girl that goes off the bridge that called forth a zeitgeist.
A universal hatred of Gwen Stacy’s needless death killed a third film, allowed Marvel to buy back the rights to Spider-Man and evolved the creation of Spider-Gwen.
Scientist Gwen Stacy—just like Emma Stone’s essay—helps Spider-Man gain access to the resistance. These heroes consist of exactly who you might think and reveal the fates of others. The story also grants Jonah an epiphany.
The way Jonah phrases the tone of the alternate timeline neatly expresses what ephemeral qualities a Spider-Man gives to the world. Before Deadpool, Spider-Man was the hero with all the wisecracks. He’s the one who humiliated his opposition and brought hope to anybody who saw him swing through Manhattan skyline or crawl along the wall. Spider-Man really is your friendly neighborhood hero. While you could be saved by Thor, Cap or Iron Man. Chances are it’s a Spider-Man that’s coming to your rescue.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl gains a stellar new artist in user friendly illustrator Derek Charm. Meanwhile, steadfast writer Ryan North advances Doreen Green’s and Nancy Whitehead’s vocations.
I don’t mind admitting that I found this entire explanation of binary involving The Library of Babel absolutely fascinating. I wish somebody had explained binary to me in this way before. Doreen’s course serves as a catalyst for a very naturally sounding off-tangent topic.
This gets Doreen thinking about Kraven the Hunter who serves as a frequent guest-star in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
So for those of you not in the know, Kraven is one of the few Marvel antagonists that defy Marvel’s sliding-scale of time. Everything in Marvel once occurred six to ten years ago. You can use the same scale for the first cycle of James Bond films. For example, James Bond ends with Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan’s Bond met Honey Rider and experienced the events in Dr. No, ten years ago. He fought the Roger Moore Bond villain Zorin six years ago. The same applied to Marvel, but Kraven doesn’t work that way. Kraven is a family. The Kraven in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is no fan of Spider-Man, but he’s not the same Kraven that buried Spider-Man alive in Kraven’s Last Hunt. He can’t be. This is also not the Kraven that humiliated Tigra. Mind you. Tigra’s presence among the Kraven clan appears to be indelible.
Squirrel Girl and Nancy want to keep Kraven on the straight and narrow. So they feel that if they spend time with him outside of fighting crime, they’ll help him feel self-worth and become a better person. Doreen is so determined to keep Kraven honest that she’s willing to give him knowledge of her greatest secret.
It’s absolutely charming that Doreen thinks that her identity is so carefully calculated when any fool should be able to figure it out because Doreen doesn’t wear a mask. To that end, they invite Kraven to an Escape Room, and along with their other friends, they have a lark.
That is until our mysterious bandaged man learns that actual super-beings comprise the latest contestants. Good job on concealing this fellow’s identity. I haven’t a clue.
Though I’m not a fan of Runaways I could not help grinning at the humor from this issue. There’s a big joke involving Doctor Doom who’s on the cover so hardly a spoiler. His interaction with the Runaways is unexpected, and writer Rainbow Rowell explains how this situation coalesced for those that came late to the story. Rowell furthermore demonstrates that each Runaway possess certain skill sets that offset their juvenile and occasionally thoughtless behavior. Visiting Julie Powers experiences the latter in spades, and the subplot involving Molly and a special cupcake blooms into something darkly funny.
Artist Kris Anka and his sometime inker Craig Yeung create entrancing body language for Doom, who was my original draw to the title. Doom is just wildly entertaining in every element of the story. His dialogue is brilliant. His movement so watchable. His function to the plot hilarious and surprising.
Mulan Kato is the newest Green Hornet. She takes over the role when current Green Hornet Britt Reid disappears. In truth, Britt has been working undercover to expose the new machinations of an old foe.
Britt comes from a wealthy family. That wealth derives from a silver mine in the old west. Heh. The fact is only tangential to the story. When Britt was a younger lad, before he founded The Daily Sentinel, he fell into a crowd that could nicely fulfill the dreams of conspiracists.
These are the men behind the hostile takeover attempt at The Sentinel and the bombing of Britt’s friend Sebastian’s boat. Home grown hero Oko makes a startling discovery.
Oko appeared the same time Britt disappeared. It seemed like writer Amy Chu implied that perhaps this was indeed Britt Reid donning a different garb. Chu quickly dispelled the notion. I’m wondering if Oko connects to the Espada at all.
Oko appears to be framing the Green Hornet, but Mulan or Britt could have lost the hornet during the fight. The Green Hornet gets the blame for numerous crimes. Remember. The Green Hornet pretends he’s a criminal. This is an occupational hazard.
After an exciting chase executed perfectly by artist German Erramouspe, the Hornet and Kato induct Kato’s friend Tai into the fold. Tai is a great character that provides comedy relief and a common person’s perspective.
The television series emphasized that the Green Hornet and Kato were not ordinary men. They never seemed to rest. Their lives always filled with danger and speed. The frantic speed of The Green Hornet matches the thrills of the television series.
Red Hood and the Outlaws splits the trio up for a kind of anthology. Jason Todd alias the Red Hood sets up the Penguin and meets with Faye Gunn, granddaughter of Ma Gunn. A reformed criminal with a link to Jason’s past. The portion is the least interesting of the three vignettes. In terms of writing, Artemis takes the cake. Scott Lobdell creates a very interesting and plausible scenario. Artemis number one was a hit woman.
Number two, she worked for Lex Luthor. Lobdell characterizes Lex Luthor and Artemis superbly. You do not doubt this new continuity because of the characterization.
Lobdell established that Artemis was not entirely heroic. He created a rivalry between she and Wonder Woman arising from her post-Crisis history. You can see a twisted version of Wonder Woman in Artemis’ path.
She’s no fan of Diana, and she would work to be the least like her without giving up a sense of honor. Sword for hire suits that intent. Aligning with Lex creates status and distinguishes her farther from the sterling Wonder Woman.
The old Lex is just the kind of guy that would get off on suborning a warrior woman. It would exalt him to a level of prestige few men can attain.
Originally, Lex Luthor was casually sexist. He for example underestimated Supergirl because she was a girl.
In the post-Crisis, John Byrne sometimes focused on Luthor’s outright misogyny. Lex Luthor tortured Lana Lang to force her to divulge Superman’s secrets. A short Lex Luthor story depicted Byrne’s version of Indecent Proposal with a hint of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Mr. Hyde in Lex’s characterization.
While the New 52 hinted at Lex Luthor’s villainy, mostly Lex has been above board, albeit not exactly a white knight. More of a mud blotched knight. It’s that Lex Luthor that Artemis appeals to and that Lex Luthor that responds.
Lastly, while the ways in which Bizarro says goodbye to his failing intelligence peek one’s interest. Dexter Soy is the star of the Bizarro portion of the tale.
His Bizarro looks like Christopher Reeves’ Superman.
