November 28, 2012

     Dave's Unspoilt Capsules and Awards
     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 
   Requiescat in Pacem: City of Heroes, 2004-2012 - May there be a reboot
     
     Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): Love and
Capes: What To Expect #4 (of 6), My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1

     In this installment: Love and Capes: What To Expect #4 (of 6), Double
Barrel #6, Transformers: ReGeneration One #84, Atomic Robo: The Flying
She-Devils of the Pacific #4 (of 5), Action Philosophers #13, Sanctuary #6,
Kitties, Marvel Super-Heroes Magazine #5, Young Justice #22, Avengers Earth's
Mightiest Heroes #8, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1


"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.

     Nothing this month.  The deleted scenes in the Amazing Spider-Man DVD
are pretty good, though.


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 iPod if it's at all possible.

     Love & Capes: What To Expect #4 (of 6): IDW - Definitely a fourth part
of six, here, from Zahler.  Abby dealing with a business crisis, Paul and
Amazonia dealing with relationship crisis, Amazonia's sister liable to
accidentally start a war or kill a fellow hero...about the only people for
whom things are going smoothly are Darkblade's sidekicks.  They get to
practice being threatening, on some vandals.  Yes, it's even a bad idea to
commit PETTY crime in a superhero-patrolled city.  Near the end, Amazonia
pretty much spells out the theme of the miniseries, though: superheroes
aren't really comfortable with genuine change, and all three of the main
heroes are faced with some pretty real changes in their lives.  Strongly
recommended.  $3.99

     Double Barrel #6: Top Shelf - The latest installment of Heck is almost
exclusively a dialogue between Hector and Geryon, who epitomizes the idea of
a smiling, damned villain.  The often-hinted-at reason Elliot is in bandages
is explicated, and Heck placed in rather ironic position.  Meanwhile, Crater
XV starts to move towards some sort of resolution, revealing a few more
secrets and setting up the next arc...we have a definitely penultimate
cliffhanger going on here, so I expect #7 or #8 will find some significant
resolutions, but in this installment Cannon sets up the natural next
conflict.  The How To segment this time is all about layout, the thing that
separates comics pros from pinup artist wannabes.  Recommended.  $1.99

     Transformers: ReGeneration One #84: IDW - While there's a little bit of
Hot Rod back on Cybertron, almost the entire issue is fight scenes on Earth.
One group directly attacking Megatron as a doomed distraction, the other
attacking the Ark as a doomed main mission.  It largely felt like it could
have worked just as well as an 8 page sequence...Furman padding out the arc
to make it to six parts or something.  Very mildly recommended.  $2.99

     Atomic Robo: The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #4 (of 5): Red 5
Comics - So, it's time for the badguys to reveal their plans and origins, so
we know where they're coming from and why they're a serious threat.  And with
that accomplished, time for a clever rescue and a last ditch attempt to save
the day.  One advantage of Speroni's looser style is that the rescue can be
foreshadowed without having to be overly tricky about it...if you're not
expecting something like that, the clues are hidden in plain sight.
Recommended.  $2.99

     Action Philosophers #13: Digital Exclusive: Evil Twin - Okay, this is
just the four new pieces done for the recent collection (Epicurus, Rumi,
Comte, James) in a single e-comic, but at a buck I don't feel particularly
burned for having re-bought it.  And if you don't have the collected Action
Philosophers (and why don't you?) it's a good sampler.  Recommended.  $0.99

     Sanctuary #6: Slave Labor Graphics - This one managed to sneak in past
me, so I don't know how late I am to the party.  More of the various motives
are revealed this issue, making sense of some of the odder behavior of the
past couple of issues.  Along the way, most of the villains are shown in a
somewhat more sympathetic light, even the spiders, although one of the
villains is revealed to just be a psycho who likes being able to kill and
hurt while cloaked in a noble cause.  Most of my quibbles about #5 are
answered here, and while some new mysteries are raised along the way, the
story as a whole is definitely hanging together more tightly now.
Recommended.  $0.99


Trades:

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

     Kitties: Couscous Collective - The latest oddball-sized anthology piece
from Couscous, aka "The Narbonicverse people and guests."  This time there's
some color stories mixed in with the B&W, and there's no text stories.  "The
Grimmest Hour" by Pancha Diaz and Evan Waldinger feels like an excerpt from a
larger setting, although the end credits don't mention an ongoing series from
the two.  It nevertheless does a decent job of explicating the setting
without feeling awkward.  "The Adventures of a Cat-Loving Girl" reads like a
little kid's story...which it is, being written by 7-year-old Joselyn Ann
Henry (no entry in the endpage biographies, I'm guessing she's related to
Garrity) and drawn by Shaenon Garrity.  It has that distinctive kid logic to
it, although sometimes it's hard to tell that from Shaenon's usual writing
style.  ;)  Lauren Davis contributes "Toxoplamosis" and gives the impression
of having been roped into the anthology despite not liking cats.  The second
Narbon-crew story is "Cat Politics" written by Garrity and drawn by Farago,
concerning the social life of the couple's cat.  It's in color, but not
really enhanced by that, I think it would have worked better left in B&W.
Karen Luk's "Moon Hunt," however, definitely needed the color, having been
digitally painted with nary a black line to be found.  The story is okay.
The main draw (for me, anyway) of this installment is "Career Day" by Wells
and Garrity, featuring Leo Panthera from Skin Horse talking at career day for
Artie Narbon's elementary school class.  It says something about the setting
that the kids don't find it terribly unusual to have a talking lion in class,
although Leo does have to fight some significant speciesism.  The final tale,
"The Cats of Ulthar," is a Lovecraftian Dreamlands adaptation by Jason
Thompson, showing that this anthology is totally up his twisted alley.  All
in all, it has the usual uneven quality that indie anthologies are known for,
but there's enough good stuff in there to be worth the price of admission.
Recommended.  $10


Floppies:

     No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes?  And like floppy disks they may be a doomed format.

     Marvel Super Heroes Magazine #5: Marvel - The comic story is by Paul
Tobin again, featuring Spider-Man facing off against five of the Sinister Six
over a lie told by someone else.  Mainly interesting for seeing the Six in
three piece suits...and masks.  Mysterio's bubble helmet requires a rather
larger collar than you're going to find in an off-the-rack suit.  Definitely
on the farcical side of things.  Most of the activities pages focus on Spidey
and the Six, but the Fantastic Four get a few pages.  Anyway, not one of
Tobin's better stories.  Very mildly recommended.

     Young Justice #22: DC - While there's a few pages set after the end of
season 1, the main plots have gotten going enough that most of the issue pops
between various scenes in the "just before season 2" stuff.  A very good
read, although probably best enjoyed by people who have been following the
cartoon, so that some of the subtler stuff will make sense.  Weisman isn't
afraid to leave some things unexplained, trusting that the reader will pick
up on how they fit into the animated continuity.  Recommended.  $2.99

     Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes #8: Marvel - In an unusual step, the
cover story is the backup.  The lead story involves MODOK hitting Hawkeye and
Iron Man with the body swap cliche, and while I think Karl Kesel overplays
the one-upmanship between the two Avengers, it's otherwise a decent execution
of the trope.  Elliot Kalan writes the cover story, in which Hulk and Black
Panther have a bit of friction in terms of different strategies.  It also
features the Madbomb, which has particular nostalgic resonance for me, being
the plot device of one of the first comics I ever read (Kalan makes it a Hydra
plot, though, rather than trying to explain the original plotters behind the
device).  Interestingly, it shares a plot twist with part of the one
full-length Xxxenophile story.  :)  Recommended.  $2.99

     My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1: IDW - I got cover B (Applejack
and Vinyl Scratch).  The Jill Thompson cover was kinda disappointing, and
while the Hastings retailer exclusive cover was good (and cleverly had the
use of a giant foam hoof instead of a foam finger), they wanted an extra
dollar for it.  When I heard that it was written by Katie Cook, I went
looking for other stuff she'd written, and found Gronk (www.gronkcomic.com)
which assured me she knew how to write at this level.  The art is by Andy
Price, who's done this and that here and there, but doesn't have a webcomic
to check (that I could find, anyway).  Price CAN do a spot-on imitation of
the animated style (as seen on his deviantArt account), but chose to imbue
this book with a little something different.
     While Hasbro's got to make sure that the primary audience (i.e. little
girls) will be okay with this issue, you can definitely see that both
creators involved are aiming the book at older fans as well.  For instance,
I'm 42 and I'm barely old enough to get the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"
visual reference on page 6, panel 3.  The plot is pretty transparents
(concession to the kiddies) but wallows in being aware of that fact
(concession to the bronies).  It's definitely a much more arch story than
they can get away with in the cartoon...as if the cartoon were Sesame Street
and the comic is the Muppet Show.
     Since Cook is also an artist, she contributes a little on that front as
well, writing and drawing a two page backup with Pinkie and Rarity and a
Carol Burnett gag.
     As an aside, Thom Zahler (Love and Capes) is writing the six issue
"Microseries" pony comic coming out in a few months.  I have understandably
high hopes for that.
     All in all, if you're already a fan of the current incarnation of My
Little Pony, you've probably bought this comic by now (it's sold over 100K
copies, which doesn't happen a lot these days, and that's not even counting
digital copies).  It's a bit continuity-dense to make a good introduction for
the uniniatiated, though...but if you like subversive humor cloaked in kiddie
frills, it might be worth giving this a try anyway.  $3.99 for most covers,
retailer exclusives vary by retailer.

     Dave Van Domelen, "Next question, troops.  Why do we leave them to
confess to the police, rather than walking them in?"  "Because staying out of
sight helps build our legend?" "No, because guilty must confess themselves to
be redeemed."  "Security cameras?"  "All true statements, but none of them
are why.  If we linger -- then we get stuck doing paperwork." - Darkblade and
his three sidekicks.  Also, "none of them IS why," DB.

Or go back to the 2012 Archive.