POBB July 28, 2024

Pick of the Brown Bag

July 28, 2024

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, a review blog becoming more frequent every week.

 ...Sigh...

What is it about the X-Men that's so friggin hard!  

Gah! Gah! Gah!

Anyhow, that's the emotional part of the review.  Now, let's get to the subjective and objective criticisms of NYX.  First, what I liked.

The art by Francesco Mortarino is fantastic.  I have zero complaint about the art.  

The colors by Raul Angulo tend to shift from warm and natural for day scenes to nightclub purple and mutant green.  

All of it aesthetically pleasing.  So, yeah all the illustration is welcoming to the eyes.  

Sophie Cuckoo, nope that's apparently her real name, has a winning comment about Ms. Marvel's sobriquet that I'll not spoil here.  

In fact I liked Sophie's and Kamala's developing friendship throughout.  Why couldn't this aspect be in a story that I actually cared about?

It's also nice to see Kamala Khan's brother worrying about her.  He incidentally doesn't know or only suspects that his sister is Ms. Marvel.

Now for the rest...Something happened to Krakoa, the Mutant Paradise Island.  Mutants scatter across the mutant-hating globe without teleports to an idyllic refuge.

Some of these mutants include Prodigy, the aforementioned Sophie one of the Stepford Cuckoos and X-23 who is back to being Wolverine.

I realize that some reading this believe I just had an aneurysm and for my last act typed out some gibberish.  I understand.  So, let me explain.

Prodigy is exactly what his name implies.  He's a really intelligent mutant character.  Though kind of a priggish sphincter.

The Stepford Cuckoos combine the names of two science fiction novels that spawned popular movies: The Stepford Wives and The Midwich Cuckoos.  The latter gave us this...

X-23 is a female clone of Wolverine.  Real name Laura Kinney, she possesses all the powers of Wolverine and a similar personality, but her different experiences make her a different person.

Now, you may be wondering how I’m aware any of this.  Faithful POBB readers know.  I gave up on the X-Men very quickly; soon after the Tigra team-up from Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum.  Mostly for good when artist Paul Smith left the book.  

However, all of the characters I mentioned appeared somewhere else.  I am a fan of X-23.  Ever since Avengers Academy.   Tom Taylor wrote her in her own Wolverine book, and I was happy as a squirrel in a tree full of nuts.  As to, Ms. Marvel…

I like Ms. Marvel.  I believed her center presence on the cover indicated NYX wouldn't be a mutant war book and just something fun to read.  I didn't know Ms. Marvel was a mutant.  I thought she was an Inhuman.

Sure.  That explains it, but was it necessary? Was it necessary to make Ms. Marvel a mutant and an Inhuman? Does it make this character any more fun.  I'm going to say no.  In fact, it takes an already fun character and makes her damn annoying.

I mean if I were to take a shot of whiskey every time Ms. Marvel insinuates or outright mentions her newfound mutanthood I'd be smashed out of my mind.  

None of this mutant-pride flag-waving was necessary because it defies the writing precept of showing not telling.  

The fact is that scribes Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly could have simply had Kamala state, "They have a new curriculum I'm eager to try."  There's no reason to go full blown mutant technobabble since on page eight we get this exposition dump.

One or the other not both.  They could have also eased my troubled mind and foreshadowed Prodigy's blah-blah had Ms. Marvel stated to Bruno, "They have a new curriculum I'm eager to try.  STEM, a mutant inclusive history course, Bohemian architecture.  So many things to learn."  What exactly do editors do nowadays?

Kamala literally bumps into Sophie Cuckoo in the next scene.  They hit it off.  Sophie divulges that she's attending class for a specific reason.

After a discourse between Sophie and Prodigy we do not see, Sophie takes Kamala to a club.  There we meet Anole.  He's named after a harmless lizard.  Does that keep him out of trouble.  Nope.

A fight ensues, and the bouncer is accidentally hurt, which leads to ejection.  

During the fight, Kamala learns of something going down at a subway station.  She tries to engage Prodigy, who's uninterested.  

Calling the police would have been the best idea:

"Officer, this is Ms. Marvel.  I've got wind that something bad is going down on Rocket Number Nine.  Maybe send a bomb squad.  I'll meet you down there."

She only knows that the mutant racist group are planning something.  She doesn't actually know superpowers will be involved.  The police and perhaps Iron Man and Spider-Man would be best suited for helping her look for trouble.

It's at this moment that Wolverine inexplicably makes an appearance.

Despite having hyped up sensory powers, I can't for the life of me think why she manifests at the moment Kamala doesn't need her.  

Oh, and Wolverine would have been perfect mutant kumbaya back-up to look for the hate group's shenanigans, but apparently despite what she says, Wolverine doesn't do heroism anymore.

Wolverine's non-participation warning doesn't deter Kamala who goes off looking for problems on her own.  Unfortunately for her and everyone involved, including the reader, mutant racists are not the cause for consternation.

Another fucking mutant looney with a bucket on his damn head.  Why? Because these stupid helmets are supposed to block out telepaths.  It's canonical.  Fuck me.

We do get a reveal.  Who is the dashing young lad in the bucket?  Got me.  They do a dramatic dum-dum-dum.  I still got nothing. 

In fact the whole team of Evil Mutants, can't tell if they're a brotherhood, gets a dramatic dum-dum-dum.  Except for "one," I got nothing.  I also got nothing out NYX.  No fun.  No good Wolverine moments.  Just mutant wtf.

POBB July 16, 2024

Pick of the Brown Bag

July 16, 2024

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, a comic book review blog hosted and originated by yours truly Ray Tate.  This week I critique a new independent, creator-owned title that's actually a continuation of an old independent, creator-owned title.

The brainchild of Batman writer Mike W. Barr in the late eighties, Maze Agency was a hot-selling, fair-play mystery series.  By fair-play I mean that if you follow the clues, you can solve the mystery before detectives Jennifer Mays and Gabriel Webb.

Jennifer Mays is an ex-CIA agent who began The Maze Agency, the title of her private investigation firm not just the comic book.  

Her lover Gabriel Webb is a writer/sleuth with a keen mind that often solves the crime.

Maze Agency floated from defunct comic book publishers Comico and Innovation.  The series had an impressive run, especially for a book not about superheroes.  Mays and Webb even teamed up with one of the greatest detectives in literature Ellery Queen; whom Barr counts as one of his inspirations for the series.  

Maze Agency further benefitted by nobody, but decent enough, artists, such as some guy named Adam Hughes.  Hughes replaced the even more obscure artist Alan Davis, who I don't know had more important things to do like work in a car wash, or something.  Who knows what became of these guys?

Barr never gave up on Maze Agency.  It's his baby, and he resuscitated the series and the characters several times after Comico and Innovation went out of the business.  Most recently, Mays and Webb appeared in the Moonstone prose anthology Sex, Lies and Private Eyes: ISBN-13: 9781933076454; ISBN-10: 1933076453.

I must admit to being surprised by Maze Agency's return to the comic book racks and I hope the book is here to stay.  

Barr this time around teams up with Scout Comics and artist Silvano Beltramo.  

Beltramo is an excellent illustrator.  He succeeds in not only resuscitating the cast, based on the original designs, but also renders the important clues highlighted by Barr's direction.

In this issue of Maze Agency, Mays and Webb investigate the murder of a movie revival star.  The double-entendre isn’t lost on me, and a little humor goes a long way.

Private eyes in real life rarely become involved in murder investigations, but it's a tradition in fiction and Barr sells it fine.  

The filmmakers hired the Maze Agency to provide security for their press conference.  Plausibility for Jen and Gabe’s involvement also comes from Lieutenant Bobbi Bliss.

Bliss appeared in the whole of the former series and it's great to see her back.  

Each issue of Maze Agency has a beginning--the murder--a middle--the investigation--and an end--the solution.  This superb return to form is no different.

While Maze Agency is more cerebral than visceral.  Things do get rather bloody.

Not to mention suspenseful.

Highly recommended.  

POBB July 2, 2024

Pick of the Brown Bag

July 1, 2024

by

Ray Tate

Unfortunately, life and scorching weather keeps getting in the way of my reviewing, but I'm still here.   I still consider myself an active reviewer.  

For this posting, it's time to wash the shit-taste of the latest so-called Supreme Court judgement out of our mouths and relish the lovely insanity of La Mujer Murcielago.  In English, The Bat Woman.

I first encountered The Bat Woman in...hang on a minute...I don't exactly remember where I first saw this poster.

It may have been as early as my childhood with Famous Monsters of Filmland.  

Regardless, whenever I first saw the poster, it hooked me.  A dangerous, sexy femme Batman starred in a film.  I had to at least see that movie.

I eventually did.  It took a while.  A long while.  I purchased a grey-market DVD.  Although at the time La Mujer definitely was in public domain.  I could only understand every other word, since Mexican is the spoken language, and the DVD lacked subtitles.  Nevertheless, I liked what I saw.  Years and years later, after a New York Times feature on Maura Monti, I kept my eye out for a promised top-of-the-line Blu-Ray.

Two Blu-Ray manufactures present La Mujer in all its glory.  Because I was already a fan of the film, I chose the Indicator brand distributed by Diabolik DVD, an excellent source for strange and cult film Blu-Rays.  

Indicator already enjoys a reputation for immaculate films on physical media.  Your other choice is VCI.  I have had very good experiences with VCI.  They used to be an alternate Alpha Video.  After they started releasing things like Burke's Law and Honey West, they stepped up their game.  I have no doubt that VCI's version of Batwoman is visually excellent.  As good as El Santo and the Treasure of Dracula.  This review however represents the Indicator 4K restoration.

As well as the pristine movie, Indicator includes informative extras.   Mexican cinema expert David Wilt, provides a long-running audio commentary.  Perhaps the best extra is a lengthy, fascinating interview with The Bat Woman herself, Maura Monti in the present.  You also get a feature on the history of Mexican cinema associated with comic books.  Well illustrated with many examples.  Another documentary with the subjects Mexican horror and monster movies.   In addition a spiffy 83 pic photo gallery and a trailer that shows some sparks throughout to demonstrate what shape the movie used to be in.  

Indicator furthermore includes a 74 page booklet, filled with photos, some unduplicated by the Blu-Ray.  The booklet boasts the smashing "The Mask of Bat Woman" by film professor Dolores Tierney.  An archival interview with Maura Monti from 1967 on La Mujer and excerpts from books and magazines that cover the subjects and genre.

La Mujer combines Lucha Libre and Batmania.  It's not a parody of Batman.  Indeed in some instances, La Mujer is as serious as a Universal monster-movie sequel, say The House of Frankenstein.  It's also sometimes smarter than expected.

Maura Monti plays Gloria, last name not given, a brilliant, wealthy socialite who is secretly the masked wrestler Bat Woman.  Monti performs the majority of her action sequences, Scuba-Diving, judo, karate, etc.  She takes on a whole gang of plug-uglies, and given her powerful build you can believe every moment when she physically overcomes the opposition.  

Maura Monti as Batwoman in wrestling gear pitted 

against her friend Esmeralda 

Monti however does not wrestle in the ring.  A professional female Luchadore grapples in the brief bouts.  Director Rene Cardona provides continuity by having Monti wear the wrestler's Bat Woman suit, before doffing it for the fucking amazing Bat-Bikini outfit, gauntlets, short cape, boots and cowl.  Oh, there's sex appeal all right.

Interpol agents Mario Robles and Tony Roca come to Mexico to investigate a series of murders; victimized wrestlers.  The Mexican authorities believe Bat Woman can provide an ample assist, and here we get the weird hybrid of Mexican wrestlers becoming crime fighters.  Bat Woman is different however because she uses the requisites of the Mexican wrestling world to her distinct advantage.  Gloria protects her secret identity partly through the Lucha Libre tradition begun by Santo.  Santo only removed his mask in public when he retired.  Really.  

Gloria acts more like a crime fighter than a wrestler, despite exhibiting talent.  Santo was quite the opposite.  You get the impression that Santo sort of fell into crime fighting.  In any case, Gloria also knows the Interpol agents of old, and they appear to be the only people who know her true identity.  Neither is a love interest.  

The Bat Woman though dripping with sexuality isn't interested in a date, at least at the moment, and only exhibits friendliness toward the agents.  Indeed, Bat Woman could be gay.  Could be straight.  Doesn't matter.  This is refreshing.  Usually, there must be some kind of romance shoehorned into a film.  Even Santo occasionally has a girlfriend in danger.  Not La Mujer.  No time for subplots or padding.  The movie runs a brisk 80 minutes unedited and doesn't waste a second.

Following the clues and performing no mean detective work, Bat Woman and her fellows trace the murders back to Dr. Eric Williams, a scientist, who yes, is quite mad.  You'll find out why.  Williams is a known quantity in Mexico.  He's not hiding.  He lives and works on a yacht out in the open.  Here introduces another engaging quality of La Mujer and the character of Bat Woman.

Bat Woman investigates this whack job on her own.  Interpol and the police demand evidence before they lay a finger on Williams' yacht.  Bat Woman is a vigilante.  She only humors the law.  Soon, she's trespassing and smacking around bad guys that try to interfere with her snooping.

The first part of the story almost acts like an episode of a Bat Woman television series, and a rather tame one at that.  We get cleavage and tease, but no actual nudity.  Mind you.  It's nice cleavage and tease.  We get a mad scientist, but no blood and gore.  Bat Woman's initial encounter with Dr. Williams takes the movie into darker directions.

S

P

O

I

L

E

R

A

L

E

R

T

Bat Woman during her escape scars Dr. Williams for life, and after that all bets are off.  Williams gets his mad on in a big way. Kudos to actor Roberto Canedo.  Transforming from distinguished man of sciene--albeit nutso--to cackling maniac.  Williams dedicates his life to humiliate and exploit Bat Woman.  His men having been on the receiving end of her chops and right crosses want to destroy her.  

Although a low budget film, La Mujer exemplifies body horror.  Don't worry, it's still mild when compared to Reanimator, but harsher when compared to the 1960s Batman television series.  Williams now wants to use Bat Woman as a reproductive female.  Not for himself, mind you.

The well-designed monster in the movie is played by underwater cinematographer Alfonso Barcenas.  For that reason the shots beneath Acapulco Bay between Monti and he are spectacular, imaginative and in some cases genuinely threatening.  Carlos Suarez is also notable as Igor. Suarez's lab assistant fawns all over Dr. Williams.  He sees his vision and wants to make it happen.

La Mujer takes some very interesting dramatic beats and doesn't fall too often to tropes.  Williams' means of securing victims is ingenious.  Certainly, his revenge scheme that also accomplishes his scientific goals is presented in a unique fashion.  Williams sees Bat Woman as a specific feminine threat.  He doesn't personally want to rape her.  He wants his monster to commit the crime, but in Williams' twisted scientific mind, it would be a simple mating.  Alas, Williams underestimates Bat Woman at lethal cost, leading to a genuinely explosive finale.  Highly recommended.

POBB May 3, 2024

Pick of the Brown Bag

May 3, 2024

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, a review of comic books that are widely known and largely unknown.  

Geoff Johns, associated more for his ties with DC Comics, ventures out into the indie world with the new brand Ghost Machine; t'isn't his first trek.  

Johns recently launched Geiger and Junkyard Joe published by Image Comics.  His latest foray offers the reader two new books: Redcoat and Rook Exodus.  

To be honest, neither appealed to my tastes, but that reaction is only subjective.  Objectively speaking, both may be in your bailiwick.

  Of the two, Rook is more original.

Rook is not related to the Warren Magazine of the same name.  

The magazine followed the adventures of Restin Dane, Time Traveler.  Rook Exodus confines itself to the space travel realm.

Johns and co-creator/artist Jason Fabok with colorist Brad Anderson and letterer Rob Leigh fabricate a dystopia.  

The creative team cleverly set the abysmal on a terraformed world.  Not earth.  By doing so, they eliminate oodles of questions.  Why isn't everybody dying of radiation poisoning? Why are animals actually thriving?  Etcetera.  Etcetera.  

I'll give kudos to Johns and Fabok.  They haven't made the mistake of others when tackling the subject.  Not a helluva lot of people survived the disaster; whatever that disaster may be.

The colonized planet "rebranded" as Exodus apparently suffered not from nuclear warfare but ultimately from economic disinterest.

Johns and Fabok defer from an explicit answer.  They identify the problem as failure of the World Engine, which is a perfectly cromulent science fiction sounding answer.  One thing is clear.  The corporation abandoned the colonists.  No free rides off Exodus.

Within this framework, the creative team generate a cynical vibe.  Not only did humans screw up the earth; they also mucked up this earth-duplicate.  

Rook begins with a snapshot of the planetary situation.  The inhabitants of Exodus want off.  They try and fail.  

This opens a window of opportunity for people like Rook, the protagonist, who salvages to survive.

Rook is so named because he possesses a helmet that controls the Corvus genus, which includes rooks, ravens and crows.  

Rook is a protagonist because he hasn't lost his humanity like others on this doomed world.  When the ship comes down, he's there first and foremost to help.

Alas. Rook Exodus is a somber exercise, and people must die.  So sad.  Whether it be by technologic mishap or giant grizzly bear.

Being a fan of the wondrous movie Grizzly, you would think such a scene would warm my heart, and yet...I would have been shocked had Johns and Fabok killed their main character so early in the game.  I don't even consider this a spoiler.

So, I'm left with the flavor that while pretty to look at, the gargantuan ursine actually posed little threat.  

I know.  I know.  You're saying to yourself.  Well, no name character is ever really threatened.  James Bond, Batman, the Shadow, these men despite being contextually mortal are practically death-proof.  Readers, such as me, find them fascinating! You have a point.

The trick is that if I'm really invested in a story, you can fool me. You can fool me into thinking that the star of the tale is really going to die, can die, will die.  Case in point.  

Known in America as "Missed by a Dollar"

In the Lupin III special, "One Dollar Money War" our hero Lupin seems to die spectacularly.  We see it happen.  The team even buries Lupin.  It's preposterous.  Lupin can't die.

I was so engrossed in the story that I bought the twist hook, line and sinker.  For a good fifteen minutes where Lupin doesn't miraculously reappear, I thought something unthinkable.  An assassin's bullet killed Lupin III.  You can call me a sucker if you like.  I don't mind.  You should though check out that anime.  It's a superior story.  Cracking score as well.

In Rook Exodus, it was simply too soon to pull out a giant grizzly bear.  I haven't decided if I even like the main character yet.

Anyway, after the bear attack, Rook reveals his cool car...

...his less than cool headquarters

...and what he does for entertainment around the old berg.

This is actually my favorite scene in the book.  Johns and Fabok consider an insidious agent that few have.  Boredom.  What does the protagonist do when not fighting giant grizzlies or searching for food and spare parts? I can furthermore see myself doing exactly the same thing.  Traveling the desolate world to watch movies.

Rook harbors another reason to view cinema.  The helmets affect the user aversely.  You begin to merge with the minds of the creatures you control.  Thus, Rook reminds himself of his humanity through entertainment.  Top marks for Johns and Fabok on this tacit aspect.

We see the extreme opposite in the form of the antagonist, toward the end of the book.  This antagonist is male, and the cast is mostly a sausage factory.  For me, that's a minus.  You may consider it a plus.  However, I'm willing to say that it's not a status quo that will last given the female helmet user on the cover.

Redcoat is somewhat self-explanatory.  The story follows around an immortal redcoat comically named Simon Pure.  There is no doubt in my mind that neither Johns nor co-creating artist Bryan Hitch are taking Redcoat remotely seriously.  So I won't either.  Nevertheless, I appreciate that they get history correctly before mucking it up with magic.

Paul Revere never finished his famed Midnight Ride.  The British captured him.

Of course what happens next in Redcoat is ridiculous, but it does set up the world which turns deserter, rapscallion, cheat and conman Simon Pure into a hardly pure eternal.

The idea of the Founding Fathers and heroes of the Revolution trucking in magic is a hoary old myth associated with Freemasons and Illumanti nonsense.  Though, It's perfectly fair fodder for comic books.

Still, I'm not sure Benjamin Franklin, even one inhabiting an alternate universe, is a really fitting subject for the mojo.  The real Ben Franklin was a practical scientist and an inherent skeptic.  Johns and Hitch already used Paul Revere properly and cameoed John Hancock.  Ben Franklin wasn't a necessity and its a lot to ask me to believe this Ben Franklin is the antithesis of the proper one.  

In any case, they could have used a nobody on the slab, or some obscure Revolutionary figure, because the ultimate identity of the recipient doesn't matter.  Through mishap, Simon gets the whammy.

That's really not a spoiler.  You knew he became immortal somehow.

Once immortal, the reader follows snatches of his long life.  Again, not exactly played for drama.

The most amusing aspect of Simon's newfound longevity is that the condition doesn't cure his natural cowardice.

The trouble with Redcoat is its lack of singularity.  When reading Redcoat, you can't help but feel overly familiar with the subject, since you've seen it done better in Highlander, Forever and pertaining to the Revolutionary War, Black Coat.