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.
New Avengers #4
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Gerardo
Sandoval
Color Artist: Dono
Sanchez Almara
Letterer: VC’s Joe
Caramagna
Marvel
The New Avengers assemble to deal with
their second threat in twice that many issues while Hulkling fights a Space
Wizard to be King of Space. That might
be a bit glib, but it’s a reflection of the issue. Ewing keeps the tone fairly light, which is
odd when you have an eldritch tentacle monster with a terrifying transformation
sequence. The threat, shocking though it
might be, never feels legitimate, perhaps because there’s nothing for us as an
audience to hold onto in the face of potential loss. In spite of the excellent dialogue, the
characters are little more than quippy mouthpieces at this point. Ewing’s Mighty Avengers, through its ups and
downs, always had you feeling and emoting with the characters, rather than just
being entertained by them. That’s lost
in New Avengers, likely thanks to the brevity of story arcs so far. The story feels like it has no room to
breathe at this point and shows no signs of slowing down. While the pace would certainly work for a
single hero’s book (a la Moon Knight), a team with eight members (not including
supporting cast) would appear to need a bit more space (heh). Unlike last issue, the art feels quite
appropriate for the story. Sandoval
handles the scenes with Moridun amazingly, and if there’s ever a book where the
hero routinely punches Cthulhu in the face, he’s your man. Almara’s colors enhance these scenes,
shrouding Moridun in murky darkness that clashes with the Avengers’ brighter
costumes. While there’s some interesting
points set up in this issue, the rapid-fire storytelling continues to detract
from the enjoyment of this team book.
The Unbeatable
Squirrel Girl #3
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Erica
Henderson
Color Artist: Rico
Renzi
Letterer: Travis
Lanham
Marvel
Better late than never! (It’s funny because the book is currently
dealing with time-travel). Nancy tries
to help Squirrel Girl escape the past but ends up running into one of Doreen’s
oldest and most fearsome foes, Doctor Doom.
In an incredible balancing act, North milks the Doom-humor (guy still
wears a mini-skirt, c’mon) for all its worth (which is a lot), while still
making him extremely threatening when the time (heh) comes. There’s also a handful of excellent cameos
and easter eggs galore in the issue, continuing the trend of the series being
nothing but fun. Henderson and Renzi get
a lot to play with in the issue, thanks to Doom’s typical rampage. Though, it’s likely that the strongest scene
is SG’s dressing down of her fellow time-trapped compatriots. With another issue stronger than ever,
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl continues to be awesomely funny and funnily awesome.
Angela: Queen of
Hel #3
Writer: Marguerite
Bennett
Artist: Kim
Jacinto (Stephanie Hans)
Color Artist:
Israel Silva
Letterier: Travis
Lanham
Marvel
Angela faces her second trial in Hel
and demons from her past return to haunt her.
Bennett uses the rigors of Hel as narrative devices to expose more of
Sera and Angela’s past more ably than prior in the series. Some of the dialogue is a bit cheesy, and
while it’s always been Sera’s penchant to drop references and break the fourth
wall, when Tyr and Balder make an allusion to Game of Thrones, one has to
believe that that was a darling that should have been killed. Despite this, Bennett does move the plot
along rather nicely and introduces some new characters that should be fun to
have around. Meanwhile, on art,
Jacinto’s art finally starts to excel as there are some glorious splash pages
and panel transitions littered throughout the issue. While Hans’s substory is at its usual
grandeur, the amount of effort Jacinto and Silva put into the main story
finally makes the book’s art seem equal in terms of footing. Despite some snags in the joke department,
Angela: Queen of Hel charges ahead to what should be a fun showdown next
issue.
Ms. Marvel #2
Writer: G. Willow
Wilson
Art: Takeshi
Miyazawa
Color Art: Ian
Herring
Lettering: VC’s
Joe Caramagna
Marvel
Ms. Marvel tries to get to the bottom
of the seemingly sinister Hope Yards real estate development as her personal
life continues to flounder in the wake of her heightened superhero status. Wilson continues to craft an excellent young
superhero story, one that is sincere and earnest, to a fault sometimes. It’s still interesting to see the emotional
turmoil firmly on Kamala’s side of the story, rather than Bruno’s, and the more
personal scenes with Kamala and her brother are lovely and charming. Miyazawa continues the trend of excellent
storytellers on the art side of things.
The sight gags with Bruno’s hamster (?) and the level of detail in his
room art fantastic, as is the character’s emotions and fight choreography. While new developments might seem like something
of a thematic retread from last volume, there’s enough promise to make Ms.
Marvel’s next battle seem like something completely new, with an amazingly
competent level of storytelling to back it up
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Spider-Woman #2
Writer: Dennis
Hopeless
Penciller and
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez
Inker: Alvaro
Lopez
Letterer: VC’s
Travis Lanham
Marvel
Pregnant Jessica Drew versus a squad of
warrior Skrulls on the march; the bad guys don’t stand a chance. Held hostage by the aforementioned bad guys,
Spider-Woman is forced to fight smart, something that Hopeless is an expert at
showing us as evidenced by this issue.
Jessica’s deliberation and planning is a treat on all fronts and her
speech to the other mothers in the ward is wise and measured. If Javier Rodriguez isn’t nominated for some
kind of award for this book, there is no justice in the universe. Everything, from the excellently choreographed
and shot fight scenes to the incredible designs of the various pregnant aliens
in the background, is perfect, no other word for it. Lopez’s inks compliment his style
wonderfully, making this a clinic in terms of art in comics. Even if you disagree with the new direction,
you can’t ignore the fact that Spider-Woman is just plain fantastic
comics.
So what did you pick up this week?
Agree or disagree with anything said here? Let us know in the comments.
Labels: Angela: Queen of Hel, Comic Books, Comics, Marvel Comics, Ms. Marvel, New Avengers, Review, Reviews, Spider-Woman, the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
