February 2015

     Dave's Comicbook Capsules Et Cetera
     Intermittent Picks and Pans of Comics and Related Media

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups.  Recommendation does
not factor in price.  Not all books will have arrived in your area this week.
An archive can be found on my homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants 
        IDW books delayed by the West Coast dockworker strike.

     Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): Lego Justice
League vs. Bizarro League, Gronk: a Monster's Story vol 1.

     In this installment: Lego Justice League vs. Bizarro League, Gronk: a
Monster's Story vol 1, Rocket Queen and the Wrench #1, Q2: The Return of
Quantum & Woody #5 (of 5), Gold Digger Holidays Special #4, Sherlock Holmes
Steam Detective #1, Astro City #20, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2,
Spider-Man 2099 #9, Spider-Gwen #1, Ms. Marvel #11-12, SHIELD #3,
Transformers More than Meets the Eye #37.

"Other Media" Capsules:

     Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e.
comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention.  They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.

     Lego Justice League vs. Bizarro League: DC - Sequel to last year's Lego
Batman Be-Leaguered special (which is included as an extra on this disk, so
if you never saw that, watch the extra first).  Pretty much what it says on
the package.  Bizarro creates a Bizarro League to protect Bizarro World,
misunderstandings happen, etc.  Lots of good physical and verbal humor.  And
a bonus Bat-zarro minifigure.  To heck with uniting the seven, assemble this
League.  Strongly recommended.  $15-20 price point.


Digital Content:

     Unless I find a really compelling reason to do so, I won't be turning
this into a webcomic review column.  Rather, stuff in this section will be
full books available for reading online or for download, usually for pay.  I
will often be reading these things on my iPhone if it's at all possible.

     Gronk: a Monster's Story vol 1: Action Lab - This is a compilation of
the first few dozen Gronk strips (www.gronkcomic.com) by Katie Cook, done up
in color.  Basically a digital version of the trade collections that Action
Lab has been putting out (I ordered the first few, but they haven't come in
yet).  Anyway, even if you've read the strips for free, 99 cents isn't too
much to ask to get 47 pages of strips in color plus a few pages of bonus
material.  And it's a fun all-ages strip that's honestly good for all ages,
not just little kids.  Strongly recommended.  99 cents at ComiXology.

     Rocket Queen and the Wrench #1: Space Goat Productions - The high
concept here is "What if the Bat-Family were actually power armored heroes,
and their Alfred had a family, including a son who stumbles onto his dad's
secret life and ends up a sidekick?"  That doesn't all quite happen in the
first issue, it stops short of the son becoming The Wrench, but since he's on
the cover in heroic gear, it's pretty much a given.  Justin Peniston delivers
a solid superhero story in the Astro City reconstructionist mold, with good
art from Ramanda Kamarga.  $1.99 at ComiXology (Digital First, dunno if a
hardcopy is available or planned).


Trades:

     Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.

     None this month.  Was hoping to have a few hardcopy Gronks to review, ah
well. 


Floppies:

     No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes?  


     Q2: The Return of Quantum & Woody #5 (of 5): Valiant - Wow, the entire
art team was totally out of (insert preferred expletive)'s to give this
issue.  Not only did Bright continue to be pretty hack-ly, but now the
colorist is in on the apathy.  (Woody2 is wearing a blue dress early on, and
another character is wearing a red dress.  When Woody2 takes off the dress,
though, it has become the shade of red worn by the other.  Not even the
editors were caring at this point, apparently.)  Bright's increasing level of
hackery makes it a bit hard to follow the resolution of the story, and while
the ending suggests the possibility of future stories, I kinda doubt that'll
happen.  Mildly recommended, and a disappointment, since it feels like the
only one who cared about making this a good comic was Priest.  $3.99

     Gold Digger Holidays Special #4: Antarctic Press - Another mix of
Halloween and Christmas tales, although I'm pretty sure only one of the
stories is new to me.  The new story is almost worth the price of admission
on its own, a vignette about a choice of fighting costumes that manages to
establish several running gags in only a few pages.  And if you haven't seen
the other stories before, they're pretty good too.  Recommended.  $3.99

     Sherlock Holmes Steam Detective #1: Antarctic Press - Robert Bevard and
David Hutchison adapt the Doyle story "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington
Plans" into a steampunk-flavored version.  And most of it is just flavor, but
the ending takes a sharp left turn away from how Doyle's story went.
Hutchison's art is a little uneven in places as he tries to affect a more
Victorian style.  Similarly, Bevard seems to be struggling occasionally with
how and where to depart from the source material.  It's an intersting effort,
though, and if they continue this I can see both creators settling into their
comfort zones.  Recommended.  $3.99

     Astro City #20: DC/Vertigo - One of the longer arcs in recent Astro
City, it's not over yet!  This issue gets closer to the present day, though,
and explains why Quarrel and Crackerjack make such a fitting couple, just in
time for 'Jack to potentially remove himself from the relationship in a very
permanent and messy way.  I'm getting the feeling this story's been kicking
around in Busiek's idea file for a while, as it plays like one of the 4 issue
miniseries that Astro City was doing prior to the Vertigo relaunch.  And as
such, I'm starting to think I'd like it better if I'd waited for all the
issues to come out and then read them in a single sitting.  Mildly
recommended, mainly because this one feels too much like repeating the same
stuff, a parallel structure that works better when not stretched out over
several months.  $3.99

     The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2: Marvel - Y'know, in outline this issue
sounds pretty good.  And there's several good bits in there.  But I'm still
reaching the end of the issue and feeling...meh.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99 

     Spider-Man 2099 #9: Marvel - Hm, I guess maybe the final issue of
X-Factor takes place after this new complication is resolved and Mig gets
back to 2015.  Basically, Mig gets back to his own time after Spiderverse,
but despite everything being fine when he was there LAST ISSUE, suddenly it's
a variant on Future Imperfect.  To someone just reading this title, it makes
absolutely no sense, even with the explanation in mid-issue of how things
went all Dystopian.  I doublechecked the "story so far" blurb I normally
skip, it makes no mention of Superior Spider-Man's actions in the climax of
Spiderverse, which might explain the sudden timeline shift.  Ah well.  I'll
give it a couple more issues, but I suspect Secret Wars will only make things
worse.  Very mildly recommended.  $3.99

     Spider-Gwen #1: Marvel - One of the Spiderverse spinoffs, Hosun told me
to get it so I gave it a shot.  The first page briefly summarizes (in comic
form, not text) the important bits of her backstory as seen in various
Spiderverse books.  It's more than a simple "what if Gwen got bitten instead
of Peter?" since loads of other characters have different lives (Matt Murdock
works for Kingpin, Ben Grimm became a beat cop, etc), but the core idea is
that she got the Spider-totem powers and Peter died to provide her with
angst.  This issue sets up an ongoing story for Gwen (who is "Spider-Woman"
in-story), but spends perhaps a little too much time playing "Look what role
this character you know from Earth-616 has here!" games.  Not in terms of
panel space, mind you, since the characters would have to be drawn whether
they were new or reimaginings, but there's a certain narrative clunkiness to
"And hey, it's Frank Castle!" stuff.  And while I chuckled at the Ditko slam,
it also felt a little too hammered in.  I'll give it another few issues,
though.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99

     Ms. Marvel #11: Marvel - The Inventor arc wraps up.  Pretty much more of
#10's stuff, an extended climax.  Not much more to say, really.
Recommended.  $2.99

     Ms. Marvel #12: Marvel - Guest shot from Loki, establishing that this
book hasn't caught up with Axis...gonna be a big time jump if Ms. Marvel is
going to be tied into Secret Wars.  Wilson has a lot of fun with Loki, Agent
of Asgard, and fill-in artist Elmo Bondoc manages to preserve the general
feel of Kamala's world without being a simple copy of Alphona's style.
Recommended.  $2.99

     SHIELD #3: Marvel - Oooooh, Alan Davis art and a bunch of Dr. Strange
stuff.  Doc's out right now, so when something goes horribly wrong in his
home, Coulson recruits Spider-Man and mega-obscure Dr. Strange villain Pavel
P. Rasputin (no relation to Colossus, appeared as Mr. Rasputin in Strange
Tales #145 in 1966, according to the Marvel Appendix).  Waid plays dirty pool
here, though, introducing an entirely new character but making it seem like
he's another obscure pre-existing one.  Tsk.  Anyway, a fun read with good
art and characterization.  Recommended.  $3.99
     
     Transformers More than Meets the Eye #37: IDW - More time travel and
deliberately confusing bits, but Roberts manages to keep it just enough under
control to be follow-able.  While there's a lot of irons in the fire, this is
really Whirl's issue, despite Impactor being on the cover.  Recommended.
$3.99 


     Dave Van Domelen, "Gentrification.  Next year it'll be Viking dudes from
here to Newark Ave." - Vick, Ms. Marvel #12

     Bonus quote: "I'm an optimist by nature...but in no way does that sound
like a positive development." - Ultra Magnus

Back to the 2015 Rants Page.