A weekly column in which Jake gives
short blurbs about the comics he’s
picked up that week. Reviewed in the order read, which varies but generally by
increasing anticipation. Disclaimer: he
knows very little about art, at least not enough to considerably honor such
tremendous undertakings, so…yeh,
there’s that.
Marvel Zombies #2
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Kev Walker
Color Artist: Guru-eFX
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Marvel Comics
Elsa Bloodstone’s sullen sojourn into the Deadlands continues as she and her
mysterious, whiny charge continue to face challenges more horrible. Spurrier doles out more black humor as our
intrepid heroes encounter a zombified M.O.D.O.C. (spelling intentional). Her companion remains stagnantly obscured,
Spurrier gives us more depth with Elsa, further revealing her tense past with
her father and allowing it to affect how she acts in her current
situation. Marvel Zombies is less a
horror tale and more of a dark adventure with a sarcastic, bitter protagonist. Meanwhile, on art, Walker and Guru do amazing
work with what little they are given.
There’s only so
many ways you can make desolate rubble look great and, though they ably use all
those ways, where the team really excels are the characters, particular
stand-outs being the aforementioned zombie as well as a zombie Carnage. The issue ends at a crossroads adding a new
element that could tip the series into banality. However, both the plotting and character work
evinced so far means Spurrier knows what he’s doing and will likely avoid such a fall.
All-New Hawkeye #4
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Roman Perez
Colors: Ian Herring
Lettering: VC’s Joe Sabino
Marvel Comics
The Bartons adjust to circus life while
Hawkeye and Hawkeye deal with their three new charges living in Clint’s apartment before the other
shoe inevitably drops. In a reverse of
last issue, Lemire spends more time and panels on Clint’s past than he does the present day, a choice that works out
for the better and certainly better than the last issue. Perhaps it shows a preference for Clint’s past exploits. Or perhaps more accurately, it shows the
strength of the modern narrative that it can exist and feel substantial with
such significantly reduced page time. If
you’re paying attention,
you’ll notice that Ian
Herring is now solo on colors, with Perez no longer providing a “w/“. Despite this, there
does not appear to be a noticeable change in effect or style, which is to the
credit of the cohesion of the team.
Because of the squished nature of the present day story, some of Perez’s panels come off feeling a bit
undefined, though not unreadable by any means.
Further, his utilization of small grid montages works to great effect in
both story progression as well as emotional development. One would think that, with the oft-delayed
previous series finally ended, there would be a sense of freedom or relief from
reading the latest installment of the newest volume. However, there was none here which speaks to
the strength of the story that the All-New team has created.
Spider-Woman #9
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Penciler: Javier Rodriguez
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez
Inker: Alvaro Lopez
Lettering: Travis Lanham
Marvel Comics
This book is wonderful. I know, normally I save lines like that for
the close, but I just put it down and had to just belt that out. Everything, from the writing to the art to
coloring to lettering, is just fantastic.
Jessica Drew sets out on a road trip to solve more of Ben Urich’s D-List unsolved mysteries,
with Urich and the bumbling Roger née
Porcupine in tow. The opening shots of
the book are paneled like tourist photos on Urich’s desk with file descriptions Post-It’ed to the side, which makes for a very lovely read. As the crew makes there way to Denver, the
coloring gets darker which shows both the growing seriousness of the tale as
well as Jess’s
intensifying frustration with Roger’s
ineptitude. Speaking of Roger, the man
plays as one would expect for a D-List villain (D-List is probably
generous). Wholly unaware and
infuriatingly useless, it would have been easy to turn the man into a one-note
joke at best or flatly annoying at worst.
However, Hopeless authors a monologue that thoroughly endears you to the
former evildoer without ever changing him.
He remains a once-villain and an oaf, but now the reader empathizes with
his shortcomings. The previews for the
book post-Secret Wars (YAY!) are a bit troubling, given their off-putting
nature. But if the product remains as
constantly stellar as this, you can be sure it’ll still be worth a read.
Magneto #20
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Paul Davidson
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Marvel Comics
“Don’t
you even want a few moments of peace?” “You know better than that.”
Some of Magneto’s
last words to his daughter, Lorna, tell you all you need to know about the man
as Magneto wraps up his penultimate issue.
With Erik desperately trying to save the world by destroying another,
his companion Briar Raleigh’s
machinations come to the for. While the
long-teased revelation isn’t
flooring, it is sensical and satisfactory and more importantly doesn’t distract from the epic events
of the main story. Magneto’s inner monologue is quite
possibly at it’s best, being
appropriately heavy. This is some of
Bunn’s best work since the
opening issues (not to say that those in between have been subpar by any means)
and the synergy between writer and character is near flawless. The art also gets a chance to flex its
muscles, with the aforementioned Briar’s
schemes coming out in a more clandestine manner. However, it is the cataclysmic moments of the
present that Davidson and Mounts truly shine.
The black-cad Magneto coursing with godly amounts of power could be a
bit much to play with but the Pauls portray it perfectly. The final splash page shows Mags rippling
with such great power—too
much power as its killing—and
you can definitely feel it in the art.
The Master of Magnetism has one last issue to grapple with his Sisyphean
task and it’s a hell of a
ride.
Book of
the Week
Loki: Agent of Asgard #16
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Lee Garbett
Color Artist: Antonio Fabela
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Marvel Comics
Meanwhile, on the other side of the
apocalypse, the Battle for Asgard rages on and we learn what the heck is up
with Loki (mostly). Despite being the
end of the world as we know it and the accompanying death and destruction,
Ewing keeps things remarkably light for a cataclysm, working in some
guffaw-worthy jokes and some genuinely cool moments (Freyja remains one of the
best characters). Things get meta, as
one would expect with a book involving not one Loki but two (give or take
several shades and former selves), but not so much that it flusters or frustrates.
In fact, Ewing uses it to his advantage, neatly carrying the Loki-mantra that’s been running through the
current Marvel U while adding his own flair.
Garbett and Fabela continue to stun and amaze giving the moments of
battle epic stage while neatly working in the softer character moments along
with several neat panel tricks that are a sight to see. With one more issue to go, Loki: AoA looks to
wrap up in a way satisfying for the newly christened God(des) of Stories.
So what did you pick up this week?
Agree or disagree with anything said here? Let us know in the comments.
Labels: All-New Hawkeye, Comics, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Magneto, Marvel Comics, Marvel Zombies, Spider-Woman
