A weekly column in which Jake gives
short blurbs about the comics he’s
picked up that week. Due to the new Marvel status quo beginning
(despite Secret Wars not yet ending), Marvel books will be read in order of
chronological sense, disregarding relative anticipation outside of their
timeframes. So, Battleworld tie-ins —> Secret Wars —> All-New All-Different
Marvel. Book of the Week will obviously
change this order, but know that it was read relative to its section. Disclaimer: he knows very little about art,
at least not enough to considerably honor such tremendous undertakings, so…yeh, there’s that.
Writers: Lauren Beukes & Dale
Halvorsen
Artist: Ryan Kelly
Colorist: Eva De La Cruz
Letters: Clem Robins
Vertigo
Six survivors of six separate sinister
events in 1987 gather to get to the bottom of what really happened to them and
to prevent their respective horrors from returning. Except, it’s possible that not all of them actually survived. Survivors’ Club is an interesting concept and one that benefits from
the variety of story the protagonists previously experienced. Beukes and Halvorsen take an interesting
path, making their first story less about a traditional horror tale and more
about a modern urban myth. They also manage to give us a decided look at all
six characters in the space of one issue.
While some fall into certain tropes, there’s a definite feel for those characters to expand beyond more
than that, provided they live through the next issue. Ryan Kelly, whose know to the column for his
extraordinary work on Three, manages the particularly wordy script rather well,
as none of the panels come off feeling too cluttered despite the amount of
words in them. His splash pages utilize
dynamic read-lines and his style, combined with De La Cruz’s colors, give the artwork a
decidedly creepy feel when the situation calls for it. Survivors’ Club looks to be a great series for anyone fascinated with
urban legends or horror stories.
Writer: Christos Gage (Tom DeFalco
& Ron Frenz)
Artist: Paco Diaz (Ron Frenz w/Sal
Buscema)
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata (Andrew Crossley)
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Marvel
Agent Venom and his Monster Avengers
showdown with the mutated Spider-Queen ends…on kind of a low note.
While it has all the makings of a climactic finish, there’s just something missing from
the heroic sacrifice to end the threat though I can’t place my finger on what it would be definitively. Perhaps, its the fact that it’s wrapped up so quickly in the
first pages of the issue, so pacing I suppose.
Gage does his best to give Flash and Pete a memorable final encounter
and his wrap-up is fairly interesting.
Diaz and D’Armata
do an excellent job of portraying the strangeness the realm is left with after
the battle and the choreography of said battle is pretty great. Meanwhile, the May Parker back-up story wraps
up as well, in a way that long-term fans of the character, as well as those
that read Spider-Verse, will appreciate.
Spider-Island was a fun, if unfortunately overpriced due to back-ups,
outing that ends less than satisfactorily.
1602 Witch Hunter Angela #4
Writers: Marguerite Bennett w/ Kieron
Gillen
Artists: Stephanie Hans w/ Kody
Chamberlain
Color Artist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Marvel
Ah, another Battleworld series ending,
another climactic showdown. This time
its Angela vs. the Enchantress for the fate of the realm and more importantly
Serah’s soul. As is appropriate for a series so rooted in
classical plays, the issue feels suitably tragic, with Angela going into a
fight it seems she cannot completely win.
Bennett weaves both high drama and gritty action into the final
confrontation and the effect is palpable.
Hans deserves some kind of medal for the art, because it alone is
something to behold. The Enchantress’s temptations and other magics
are frankly incredible, moreso in the fact that Angela stands out amongst the
illusions without ever feeling out of place.
Gillen has one last go-round with the characters although this time its
for the ever-important epilogue, one that’s just the right amount of meta and satisfactory
wrap-up. Kody Chamberlain is on art for
this endeavor and his style is less-painterly than Hans’s, which suits the mundane, but important events
therein. 1602 Witch Hunter Angela has
always been nothing short of incredible thanks to the excellent plotting and
character work of Bennet and the glory that is Stephanie Hans on
interiors.
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Esad Ribic
Color Artist: Ive Svorcina
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Marvel
Mysteries start to come unraveled and
the final pieces are put into play as Secret Wars is just two issues from
finishing. Doom deals with heretical
uprisings across his domain as the survivors from 616 and 1610 attempt to undo
his tyrannical godhood through various schemes.
Hickman keeps the ball rolling and the plot from getting too cluttered
despite the multiple events in the book.
Ribic and Svorcina are on top of their game, providing a masterful,
near-perfect outing on art. Designs are
in motion for the end of Battleworld and it looks to be something quite
special.
Script: Al Ewing
Pencils: Paco Medina (Thomas
Labourot)
Inks: Juan Vlasco (Thomas Labourot)
Colors: Dave Curiel (Guru-eFX)
Letters: VC’s Joe Sabino
Marvel
Based off the hit free-to-play mobile
game! Yeah, you read that right and to
be honest I probably would’ve
given this series a pass except for two things: Al Ewing’s scripting and it’s
a really fun idea if you think about it.
The Collector and the Maestro (evil Future Hulk) play an intricate game
of gladiators on the shattered remains of Battleworld (spoiler!) using heroes
from divergent universes. In this issue
we see old-school Gamora going head to head with a Hydra-influenced Devil
Dinosaur and Moon-boy while a British Punisher (Outlaw) faces down Joe
Fix-It. It’s just a really fun time and Ewing does a good job of
embracing the lunacy of the thing while keep the stakes serious. Medina provides strong solid character work
and choreography. Meanwhile, Ewing and
Labourot’s back-up gives
us a bit of insight into one of the mysterious new players in this
Contest. Contest of Champions looks to
be a really fun time where you aren’t
sure quite what’ll happen
next. With light-continuity and a seemingly
rotating cast of characters, the series is perfect for both long-term and
casual readers.
Writer: Jay Faerber
Artist: Scott Godlewski
Colorist: Ron Riley
Letters: Thomas Mauer
Image
After a lengthy delay, Copper head
finally returns to wrap up it’s
second story arc and year one as Sheriff Bronson and the remainder of her posse
infiltrate the criminal hive of bastion to rescue Deputy Boo. The story is emotional tense and is wrapped
up quieter than one would expect, but in a way that makes sense both for the
current arc and in terms of long-term plotting.
There are a couple of humorous moments pepper throughout that fit
nicely. One flaw is that some of the
dialogue tends to skew a bit heavy-handed in terms of “this thing just happened and here’s why it’s
important and/or poetic” when
really the plot had already show us enough.
Other than that it’s
a very satisfying conclusion. Godlewski
and Riley continue to work wonders with line and color, setting the appropriate
mood for the final stand off use hues and character expression. The series is moving to the Saga format
(longer breaks between arcs so as to have those arcs not delayed) so don’t expect it to be around for
awhile but look forward to when it returns.
Writer: Jason Aaron
Art & Color: Jason Latour
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Image
The trend continues from last month in
Southern Bastards, as this week we get a solo look at Deacon Boon, a hunter and
deacon from Piney Woods who also works for Coach Boss, albeit with a vastly
different operating style and motivations than Esaw. Aaron works his usual magic, weaving us an
intricate tale of this conflicted man living in shades of gray and captivating
the reader with a glimpse of true country living. Latour is stellar in this issue with the holy
rollers’ use of a
multitude of snakes and the scene on the river coming to mind. Even though Southern Bastards has been
focusing more on this individual characters this arc, there’s pervading sense of excitement
as the series builds to the big homecoming football game, which, if the series
has been any indicator, will be nothing short of amazing.
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Siege #4
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artists: Filipe Andrade, Pepe Larraz
& Ian Herring, Gary Choo, Bill Sienkiewicz
Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Marvel
Now this is an ending. Thanos has arrived at the Shield. All is undone. It is glorious. Kieron Gillen crafts a wonderful climax as
the valiant defenders of the Shield fight a losing battle and all hope is
lost. Brand’s patented cynical narration definitely establish the series
as NextWave but tragic. Seriously, every
other page turn had me whispering “Wow” under my breath. Part of the reason for that is the art. Andrade’s main artwork gives the issue a haggard, exaggerated dynamic,
with Thanos appearing massive compared to the other characters. The double-page spreads by Larraz &
Herring, Choo, and Sienkiewicz are particularly fantastic, and each bring
something different to the table. Siege
was a hell of a ride, and, like all the best, it ends spectacularly.
So what did you pick up this week?
Agree or disagree with anything said here? Let us know in the comments.
Labels: 1602 Witch Hunter Angela, Battleworld, Comic Books, Comics, Contest of Champions, Copperhead, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, Secret Wars, Southern Bastards, Spider-Island, Survivor's Club, Vertigo
