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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 8.30.2017

We have quite a varied bundle today and I’m pretty excited for a lot of these. We’re getting some interesting developments on some storylines, some beautiful conclusions to others, and we’ve got some... hm. as well. Of course, wasting just a touch of time here so lets just jump into it since I’m getting this Roundup in right on the wire ; )

Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Gotham City Garage, DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman, IDW’s Ghostbusters 101, Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish, DC’s Wonder Woman

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #7 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Oh my gosh do I love this book, do I love this aesthetic, do I just adore every thought and texture put into it. As much as I absolutely, positively adored Rucka and Scott working together on Wonder Woman, it’s a truly wonderful thing to have Black Magick aailable to read again. And what an issue we have.

Story: There’s obviously quite a bit going on in Black Magick at this point. Rowan’s job as a detective is getting testier since, being pulled in multiple directions has led her to be disconcerting for her partner and it’s beginning to come to a head, especially as his own personal life is getting more complicated by the minute. And it’s amazing how tense her procedural drama elements feel when the whole time one’s nerves are being wracked by whether or not she’s going to blow her cover as a real witch. At the same time she’s beginning to really embrace the heritage that she has been flippant with all this time at best, not training her magic abilities or honing her family’s passed down skills until now. And in this issue you can really see the literal fire lit within her at last now that her closest friends are being threatened by the actions of this mysterious witch hunting society.

Art: Nicola Scott’s art is positively gorgeous, of course, but what really stands out about Black Magick is the use of tones rather than colors except for important magical effects in each issue. It gives a truly other worldly feel to the comic and draws your eyes to the textures used from the leather of Rowan’s jacket to the flickering of flames which gives it such a unique experience compared even to black and white comics. I really appreciate and feel inspired by the bold choices being used here.

Characters & Dialogue: Rucka is fantastic for giving all of his characters very distinct ways of talking, so much so that I feel like without seeing who a word bubble is directed toward most times I can already hear who it’s coming from. And I felt that was probably most significant in the precinct and when Rowan and her partner were on their stakeout. I love how well he understands characters and how to really portray so much with just the right word choice for each character. It’s so fantastically appreciated.

IDW’s Ghostbuster 101 (2016-2017) #6 (of 6) Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado

I am so sad to see this amazing, hilarious crossover come to its end but the journey has been well worth it, and I’ve heard that Answer the Call’s team is going to be getting a book which means we’re bound more lovely, fun adventures with the girl team coming soon. And I have to admit, I simply love that everything came together just as well as it did. Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening have absolutely mastered this franchise in a way I don’t think anything else can truly compete with and I’m so grateful for their positive and honestly loving portrayal of the Ladybusters throughout this comic.

Story: We’re at the end, so obviously there was quite a lot to wrap up -- saving both dimensions, giving as many characters defining moments as possible, so on and so forth. And it felt just as large and bombastic as one would hope as the different styles of both sets of Ghostbusters really got to be explored, things were figured out, and we even got some hints about how the multiverse versions of different characters might have been. It’s a truly inspired effort, honestly. And I just loved the conclusion.

How the six issues as a whole have been, I have to admit this is entirely satisfying. I make it no secret that, to me, comics best length of a long story is four issues, with six always tending to have a lot of flab that we could all benefit from trimming up. But this is a rare occasion where I felt there was no fat. Even with a bit of a slow first issue, this series was pretty much defined by its shockingly large cast and paying off the years of faithful attentiveness paid by the fans of the comics through all these years. It wasn’t just an introduction for the Answer the Call Ghostbusters into the comic universe, it was a celebration of all the change the franchise has experienced for the past thirty years. And that’s just quite plainly unique and satisfying on both a story and on a meta level.

Art: Dan Schoening’s style has become so synonymous with Ghostbusters that I practically can’t imagine how they would look outside of that style. It’s so distinct and yet the charicatures feel so perfect for the characters’ portrayals within the movies. This is the height of stylized art for me. That being said, I did think it’s a bit off putting how that signature style wasn’t always in full effect for the Answer the Call cast. As cartoony and expressive as the regular Ghostbusters are, the Ladybusters did tend to have that more realistic style Schoening sometimes has for side characters in the regular Ghostbusters books. I do think that it changed as he got more comfortable with the characters over the issues, particularly with Holtzmann, but there was a lot of give and take for the first few issues. This issue though was near perfection, and I loved the distinction between the entire lineup and how you could immediately identify who everyone was by glance.

Characters & Dialogue: Like I said, Burnham just owns this franchise as far as I’m concerned and as far as my love for it all goes. He has a distinct and unique voice not just for the original cast but for every character who has ever been involved with the franchise and he carries that distinct presence with every new character added, every old character reinvented, and every new franchise add on that needs to be folded into the IDW comics. Quite frankly, I love it, and the sheer amount of love for these characters and all of their potentials is what makes me continue to read the IDW comics after years and years of following them.

DC’s Gotham City Garage (2017-present) #2 Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Brian Ching

Well, I did give the comic a good try, and I don’t necessarily think there’s all that much wrong with it. In fact I could see it becoming a fan favorite rather quickly online in the same vein as a lot of other Digital First endeavors have here on tumblr. But for me, issue #2 just comes to prove that while the components exist for what DC has seen work for them in the past there, there’s not really a clear presentation here that would give me any more confidence in the narrative than, say, Ame-Comi Girls which found too much direction after squandering around a bit to advertise the figurine line. So I don’t think I’ll be following Gotham City Garage longer. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say a good amount of that is because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why it’s centered around Gotham. I mean. They’re in the middle of a desert. Without resources. Gotham has never since its inception not been a city with a giant harbor that gets poisoned every three minutes. The main characters outside of Selina and Harley have nothing to do with Gotham. The main villain is Lex Luthor. Why. What. Who. Whatever.

Story: I stand by the fact that the story for this comic has really fallen flat for me since the first issue. There are just a lot of gaps of logic that it feels like I’m just supposed to fill in myself or ignore until it’s addressed later. And while I’m a huge fan of starting a story with the action and world building through example and casual nuance, there is also way too much happening in far too small of a space that the medium of a short digital comic can really provide. In fact, if I hadn’t known about the statue line, the culture surrounding Mad Max the Road Warrior and Mad Max Fury Road, and the tremendous success DC has had with DC Bombshells, I don’t know for sure if I could confidently tie together everything that’s even happening right now that I do get. And the fact that the most familiar characters in the franchise are acting so outside of the characterizations most audiences would be familiar with isn’t very helpful in arguing against that analysis. If you’re not already a fan of these characters, two issues in there hasn’t been anyone really established save maybe Kara Gordon herself. And if you’re a fan of these characters, the changes in allies, the relationships on display, and just the general atmosphere is so different that you probably won’t be very engaged in figuring out why your favorite isn’t behaving the way you love them to.

Art: The art’s pretty good, but it’s running into a lot of the problems that most of these Digital First comics I’ve been reviewing have a problem with and that is the rushed feeling to the art, with this comic in particular it comes through most in the background art I feel, especially coloring.

Characters & Dialogue: Like I said before, I’m not sure who these characterizations are supposed to appeal to, but I’m fairly confident in saying that at least for these two first issues we don’t have a lot to work with because it’s just too many all at once, which isn’t learning from what made things like DC Bombshells and even, to an extent, Injustice work -- that being the slow introduction building our relationships with characters and their parts in the world before moving forward to giant team ups and so on and so forth.

DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #2 (of 6) Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett

I am like. On a whole new plane of self consciousness and worry about this comic now that I connected the dots that this probably came about because of the direct to dvd feature cartoon Batman and Harley Quinn which recently came out and, yes, I’m aware of how pathetically obvious that loos in hindsight. But like. Just for clarification I almost used the picture for this review being one of the shots of Harley walking around in her underwear to be like “Rick Burchett doesn’t draw double ass” which I think sums up my feelings on the animated feature pretty well.

Story: While I am concerned about how much influence the animated movie is going to ultimately haveon this comic’s storyline, I have to admit that there’s a very basic love in me instilled from childhood to just have my heartstrings automatically pulled by the concentration on the relationship between Harvey and Ivy. They’re genuinely one of my favorite relationships in all the the DCAU let alone Gotham, and it’s just so full of complexity and intrigue. But most importantly, we see an abuse victim like Harley moving into a relationship -- regardless of whether or not you see it as romantic or not oo-- where her emotions are validated and received openly by a partner. Not only that, but her intellect and unique perspective is valued by Ivy unlike with the Joker, which makes this issue a complete stark comparison to the previous issue.

As for Ivy’s henchman..... I don’t know. Guess we’ll see where that goes. It’s kinda offputting for now because I’m not used to Ivy playing well with anyone but Harley, though I’m certain itl’l be a plot point.

And man do I hope that’s Ivy’s mind controlling cereal from Batman: Gotham Adventures because that callback alone would make this series immediately worth it.

Art: I mentioned with the first issue both how I’m a fan of Rick Burchett’s art and also how I try to be pretty lenient with Digital First comics because I know the time scale for these are massively shrunk from what artists in the industry have grown accustomed to.

I think those defenses fall a little flat now that it’s apparent that unlike some other series, this isn’t a weekly updated comic, and the page count is still rather short considering the medium, so my excuses sort of dry out here. There’s a lot of off model art, bland gradient backgrounds, and the such. But at the same time... $0.99 comics on the regular is something you basically can’t find from any of the other mainstream comic companies.

It’s by no means terrible, but it’s definitely ushed. And the colors are very uninspired, even tones throughout with no attention to lighting or difference that would result from lighting scene to scene.

All that said, it gets a huge positive thumbsup from me for the simple reason that Rick Burchett remembered what so many forget -- Harley and Ivy have different body types and Harley’s the taller and more lean of the two. It’s glorious to see that played out in a hug.

Characters & Dialogue: Considering my rather large apprehensions I had and still have with this series, it’s honestly rather enjoyable to see that the voices of the characters comes through so clearly -- arguably more clear than in the previous issue. Harley and Ivy really steal the show throughout the issue, but the short moments between Bruce and Dick are pretty fun too. Ty Templeton obviously has a lot of experience writing for the DCAU version of Batman at this point, but it’s always such a comfort to see my favorite version of the character handled by people who really seem to understand the things that make Batman admirable to begin with, including the occasional sense of humor like we get when Bruce needles Dick slightly by taking the opportunity from him to make a pun. I hope this consistency continues throughout!

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015-present) #22 Brandon Montclair, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain

I don’t think there has been a more surprisingly lovely Marvel comic in the last few years than the always amazing, all-ages Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. I’ve been asked plenty of times to rec comics specifically for younger kids who want to follow superheroes, and the continuing pleasure I’ve gotten from being able to answer with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is truly something else.

Story: We seem to be closing up on the space adventures (and out of the territory of being forced to deal with Secret Empire as a crossover so ha take that editorial) with Lunella confronting the epitome of her own loneliness and fear of alienation through the form of the Girl-Moon. At the same time, Robo-Lunella and Doombot cause havoc for poor Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette who just want to take their daughter to an eye doctor’s appointment. What’s getting more and more emphasized, mostly in Lunella’s absence, is that her parents are increasingly worried about the distance and lack of relatability they have with their own daughter which sadly is beginning to come to a head not only outside of Lunella’s periphery but while she’s completely off planet. And their concern with her genius as well as her part time shenanigans as a superhero are driving especially her mother to lose patience. Hopefully, after “one last adventure” Lunella and Devil will come home and straighten things out.

It still astounds me just how much emotional maturity and clarity this comic has while still being simple enough that a very young reader could read and enjoy it. It’s also amazing how inventive this comic is, with adventures that would come straight out of the Silver Age but without the on the nose camp sensibilities or feeling entirely out of tone with modern comics. It’s just a good comic embracing the absurdity of what only good comics can do.

Art: I’m obviously still a huge fan and just love the art style for this comic, but one thing I really want to emphasize on this issue in particular is just how amazing and awe inspiring the choices in color were throughout, especially in space. Everything was jaw droppingly gorgeous and I just wish I had a third of the talent for picking color palettes.

Characters & Dialogue: Lunella’s still a great protagonist, but I was surprised that this issue really didn’t focus on her development as much as I would have thought it could. I actually felt the characters who received the most development even with far less page time were her parents, whose frustrations and concerns were clearly demonstrated and highly sympathetic. It’s just so good to see a story from a child’s perspective understand the nuances and difficulties of a parent-child relationship without being all perfect or all awful.

Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish (2008-2017) Chapter 84 Akiko Higashimura

All good things must come to an end, and nothing is more true to that saying this week than Akiko Higashimura’s nine year long epic about strange nerdy girls, sexual identity, and overcoming the cruelty of politics and poverty, Princess Jellyfish. I have been reading this manga for years, adored the twelve episode anime based on it, and am a little stunned and beyond words right now that we are actually at an end for what has become one of my favorite manga.

So here I go, giving my final review and a fond farewell to Princess Jellyfish.

Story: The hardest thing to explain about Princess Jellyfish has to be the story itself because, well, it’s sort of beyond explanation. Sure it’s a slice-of-life, sure it’s a Coming of Age narrative, sure it’s a story about the nuances of trauma and damage and how to overcome them all unique to the strengths of each individual character. But as structured as genre usually is in manga, at least that which gets transcribed and popularized here in the USA, I’ve never felt like any category accurately described Princess Jellyfish as a whole.

Halfway through the first arc, we watch it transition into a drama set with the fashion world as its backdrop, there’s political intrigue throughout, the question of gender gets constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed again with this finale ultimately deciding once and for all to prove to the women of the Nunnery that their love and appreciation of Kuranosuke has no gender itself, and that people they have loved and cherished all along have been kept at arm’s length by their own stony attempts at self-preservation. Not the other way around.

Ultimately I personally have a difficult time pegging this to a genre, even romance, because at the end of the day, it’s not romantic love that really saves everyone, though there is that. By the end of this last chapter, the love that saves all of them is the love of themselves that they inspired each other to find. Kuranosuke and Tsukimi most of all have come to love all parts of themselves and each other without really putting it to words before this last issue, and that’s what makes the ending so powerful as all the threads, all the plots, everything comes colliding together for a conclusion with Kuranosuke reuniting with his mother, Tsukimi learning that her mother truly meant she had been a princess all along and she didn’t need to change, to the Amamizukan’s being themselves for a fashion show and realizing they can brave a crowd.

Everything is beautiful and lovely, and I’m so grateful for it.

Art: I think when most people imagine manga or anime, there is a very specific aesthetic that has become somewhat standard for the medium. Which is somewhat sad in a sense because it really undermines how much style and variation there actually can be, and the simple, sweet, and almost solid looking style of Princess Jellyfish is one of the first examples that really comes to my mind. It’s very distinct and very much a product of Higashimura’s work more than anything else.

These later chapters, especially this finale, have a much more vibrant use of tones than previous chapters, which do give more depth to the images and add to the art’s complexity more, but it’s still so soft and not distracting that the real star is again just that distinguishable style.

Characters & Dialogue: I want to focus on the true magic of the entire manga but especially this conclusion: Tsukimi and Kuranosuke. For as much as I find it difficult to label Princess Jellyfish as a comic, I don’t share those difficulties with how I feel about the lead characters. Tsukimi and Kuranosuke are amazing, round, complex, and deeply flawed people who tuly improved each other over the span of 84 chapters. In different ways, they needed to learn confidence and love for parts of themselves that they had never been able to love before, and as they did so, they drew strength from one another that helped a friendship and love deepen between the two of them that is so unique and so unlike almost any other kind of romance I’ve seen before. I truly believe not only that Kuranosuke loves Tsukimi, but that he truly means it when he says that he just wants to be with her, that platonically, romantically -- he needs her because she helped him learn to be a better, more confident, more caring person.

And Tsukimi, I am so proud of her. I feel like I’ve watched her actually grow into a person in ways few characters can. We conquer depression, anxiety, trauma, loss, social duress, and self-loathing in ways that I can’t say I’ve seen tackled so deftly by others before. And all the while, Tsukimi maintained her signature weirdness and enjoyability all the way.

I just love this story and love these characters. And I’m so grateful that I had the pleasure of reading Princess Jellyfish for myself.

Image’s Saga (2012-present) #46 Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughn

Every time a new issue of Saga is released, an angel gets its wings. Or a devil grows its horns. Really, who knows who the real faults lie with in the confusing grays of war. If you can’t tell, I adore Saga on a deeply personal level and I feel like so few comics have ever held up to its standards of imaginativity, difficult subject matter, and just all around fantastic character building. Probably none because Saga is one of a kind and it is truly just owned by Fiona Staples’ art as much as it is Brian K. Vaughn’s seemingly boundless creativity.

Story: This issue is incredibly heavy, arguably the heaviest of any issue of Saga to date and considering the kinds of things that are touched on by this comic? That’s an honest to god accomplishment. But sometimes, you’re just unexpectedly given a speech on the difficulties of being realistic about black-and-white views of the world like being pro-life vs pro-choice by a naked six titted coyote alien and it’s one of the most visceral and understanding presentations of the argument you’ve seen in media that both firmly takes a side without demonizing the viewpoint of the opposition. And that’s just the A side of the tape. B side we’ve got Robot and Petrichor wavering between saving one another, hating one another, drinking with one another, and plain and simple tapping that like there’s no tomorrow. All while talking about issues of trans gender acceptance, gender fluidity, suicidal thoughts, mourning the deaths of loved ones, and all without faltering on the facts that Robot’s a pompous ass and Petrichor is needlessly antagonistic and looking for excuses to throw down.

Art: What’s there to say. The art is the story. Fiona Staples is easily one of the greatest talents in the industry, every panel she draws breathes a whole new life into the comic, and her unique character designs and ability to make the most outlandish concepts for anatomy and just life in general are beyond compare. There is just so much attention to detail and so many little emotional choices folded into every pen stroke I just love it.

Characters & Dialogue: I cannot believe I didn’t see Robot and Petrichor’s kiss coming. I have no idea why I didn’t. But I’m not only sincerely amazed by it but I am more than ready to see where this gets them. Other... than probably dead because this is Saga after all. It’s less safe than Game of Thrones. In any case, everyone’s amazing and I especially love how Marko’s flaws are becoming more pronounced and just apparent in general in the narrative. He’s not always the voice of reason and he’s not always right and while Alana’s impulsiveness and crudeness generally makes her mistakes more pronounced, the weight of Marko’s own shortcomings and the way so much of his own will has driven them toward many of the places they’ve been throughout the plot is becoming more apparent. I think that’s important, and just as important is beginning to see how young Hazel matures and grows into the jaded worldview of narrator Hazel, as she’s already seen so much and gone through so much that she can’t even remember the eyes of her best friend anymore after his death.

Like I said, super heavy issue.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2017-present) #29 Shea Fontana, Inaki Miranda, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

We are continuing with “Heart of the Amazon” and Shea Fontana’s leading role as the new writer of Wonder Woman after Greg Rucka’s stellar run. And while there’s no doubt that we are dealing with a different beast tonally and story wise, the spirit of Wonder Woman is as strong as ever and continues to exceed my expectations for this creative team switch.

Story: Diana’s protectiveness of her friends -- her only real family off of Themyscira -- continues to be emphasized in this arc and it really highlights something that that I feel like was my main reason for always being apprehensive about too much focus on the Steve Trevor romance in previous incarnations of Wonder Woman, and that’s that too often he is focused on to the detriment to her relationships with female friends, female villains, family, goddesses, and so on. But Fontana waited to bring Steve in on this storyline for just that reason, I feel, and because of that wait, their love and romance doesn’t take away from the platonic and other relationships which mean just as much to Diana, to the point that she’s willing to walk right into what is obviously a trap for them. Fontana gets it, she really gets where Diana’s heart lies and it’s what makes me look forward to reading these issues.

That said, I am hoping that after this storyline we get some more fantastical Wondy stories from Fontana because I’m curious about her take not only on Themyscira but on Diana’s relationship with the deities in general. Especially after the conclusion of “The Lies”.

Art: I think honestly that art is going to be my biggest point of contention on this run. In all fairness, they’re following up some of the best artists in comics right now, but at the same time it feels like we’re getting a very rushed version of this artist’s work. Probably not helped by the incredibly tight schedule we have right now of a bimonthly comic release. That said, other than nitpicks from me personally, I appreciate that the artist understands how to draw Diana toned (even if a bit too thin), with a more matured face, and most importantly of all tall as heck.

Characters & Dialogue: Everyone has a distinct voice and a really honestly pretty in depth perspective on everything that’s happening right now. We are visibly seeing Diana’s opinions and concerns being morphed on the page, and likewise the reactions of Steve and Etta feel timely and consistent with the actions of the moment. I really appreciate what a solid read Fontana seems to have on everyone so far and am happy to see it keep up consistently.

Now for my picks of the week. And if you can’t tell that I’m cheating this time around and picking multiple comics... uhhh well, that’s what’s happening. Because I am just absolutely floored by so many great comics this week and it really came down on the wire for me so I decided to settle for explaining why three issues in particular this week really captured my heart and mind.

First up, Black Magick is a unique experience all on its own already and its continuation has filled me with joy for an old obsession I haven’t had since probably middle school -- that being witches and covens. I love them. From Practical Magic to Hocus Pocus I love witches, I love magic, and I love when their stories are handled intelligently, maturely, and with a really empowering view of the witches in question, which Rowan definitely is. And beyond that, it’s also a procedural drama which is also a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine given how many of those I watched and still watch. It’s just a good mixture of both in a way that only Greg Rucka could tell so captivatingly and with a distinct artistic direction only Nicola Scott could manage so convincingly.

Next, I jut can’t ignore how amazing Saga is. I feel like it’s unfair almost to put it against other comics every week it comes out because I enjoy this comic on such a visceral and complicated level that I hardly know where to begin. And it’s amazing to me just how predictive and progressive Vaughn manages to be with issues of the day, especially in as relevant of times as there is now. It’s a beautiful comic, a well told comic, and most of all it’s an important comic. And it, along with Black Magick just prove that Image lately has been absolutely firing on all cylinders, I have to say.

Finally, we had two comics I really enjoyed coming to an end this past week and while there’s no doubt I’ve poured my love for Ghostbusters 101 in many posts, it is difficult to express how happy and sad I am to have read the final chapter of Princess Jellyfish. Not only is this a bit of a nostalgic comic for me, having been something I’ve read for many years now, but it’s just such a pleasant read. I tear up for these characters, for their triumphs and their failures, for their relationships and their screw ups more than I have almost any “slice of life” manga I’ve ever read before and it’s owed entirely to how beautiful the characters are, how unique the view on the fringes of society are, and just how lovingly the story shows that all people, no matter their background no matter their issues, deserve to be princesses.

And those are my picks of the week, and just my opinions in general. Do you agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed out on picking out a new release? I would love if you let me know!

And finally, another necessary plug:

I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

RenaRoo Patreon

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#Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #Rena Roundups #Princess Jellyfish (2008 2017)#Harley Quinn and Batman (2017)#Wonder Woman (2017 )#Ghostbusters 101 (2016 2017)#Black Magick (2015 )#Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015 )#Saga (2012 )#Gotham City Garage (2017 )

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renaroo · 8 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 28.6.2017

First off, I’m going to pump myself up some because I just read an incredible number of comics within one day or so in order to get this review out on time and for once I actually managed it so hoora for me. Second off, holy crap a lot of my comics came out this week and I was kinda slammed and didn’t really realize it until it was happening and suddenly it was a whole lot of “uh oh” but that’s just me, my ridiculousness, and talking about sheer volume.

The real question here is, how did everything shape up this week? And if everything was good what was the best? And at this point do you all even trust my judgment to say what best is anymore lol

Guess there’s one way to find out!

DC’s Batman Beyond, Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Detective Comics, IDW’s Ghostbusters 101, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s New Super-Man, Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish, Image’s Saga, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light, DC’s Wonder Woman

DC’s Batman Beyond (2016-present) #9 Dan Jurgens, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo

*long sobbing sighs are heard from the south of Alabama*

Okay, look. I have always prided myself on the fact that I’m not one of those comic fans that will buy just anything because my favorite characters showed up for three seconds one time in a splash page. I never consider myself someone who reads comics the way people read newspapers — just casually interested in the newest updates on this fictional world I follow at a distance. I come for the story and the characterizations and if they’re not there I won’t waste time and money. I mean there’s a lot of Dick Grayson comics I’ve flat-out ignored over the years and he’s one of my favorite fictional characters. Period!

But there’s… exceptions I can’t stop myself from.

Cassandra Cain, obviously. I make a point of owning everything with Cass in it. But the other is… I can’t avoid Batman Beyond. There is no part of me that can give up on Terry McGinnis, there’s a child in me who will always think of him first as Batman, who will always owe that cartoon for getting me even remotely interested in comics outside of Spider-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I am a sucker for Terry McGinnis and I can’t help it.

which makes it suck that much more that he’s had basically no good comics featuring him since… 2008? 2009ish? And what’s decent ends up irritating me or making me have to turn against it because of the shit treatment other characters I like get.

Before it was Dick and Barbara I was up in arms for.

Now it’s Damian.

The more they try to retroactively shove the main DCU continuity into the DCAU Batman Beyond universe, the less sense it all makes and the more they have to warp characters we love. This Damian might as well have walked right off the pages of Batman and Son because he apparently has lacked all growth and humanity that Damian has achieved — has earned — in the last several years of comics, preboot and DEFINITELY post-New52 and Rebirth.

So that bears the question of what’s the point.

My “what ifs” from last issue of wondering if Damian is somehow controlled by his spinal implants again, that maybe Ra’s al Ghul took over his body the way DCAU Ra’s had Talia — those that I was fearful of now seem more respectful of his character than what seems to be the answer we have instead.

I have a feeling this conclusion is going to get me raging.

But because I am a sucker, because I am a ridiculous fangirl, I’m going to keep buying the things that hurt me. gdi Batman Beyond, can you be good again

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #6 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Okay but like…

Goddamn there’s no comic like a Greg Rucka comic oh my god.

Alright so I’ve always been a fan of Rucka’s creator owned works and I think they’re easily some of his best works which, as a fan, is really saying something on my part, but I have been utterly amazed by how good Black Magick has been and how Rucka just has this incredibly unique way of making every issue feel complete even while it’s part of a longer storyline. Every issue counts and I feel that in this issue almost as pure as I’ve ever felt it before.

Greg Rucka: he just gets comics.

In all seriousness, this interesting take on how magick works and how Rowan’s life specifically has been affected by her introduction to her long lineage’s powers — especially in light of what we know about present day Rowan Black and how she has not lived up to her potential as a witch just yet — comes together so well here. And I say that as someone who doesn’t really like flashbacks all that much in storytelling.

That being said, I’m so glad that this storyline is all in flashback and doesn’t have us whipping back and forth across timelines because I’ve gotten a lot of flashback fatigue from comics and movies lately. This is a nice, solid ground to stand on if we’re going into backstory territory.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #959 James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson

Alright, so I’m beginning to question about how the continuity of the various Bat titles are lining up anymore because, as we just went over a week? Two weeks ago? Bruce had just proposed to Selina. But now we’re getting some heavy flirtations with Zatanna here. Now, I’m all for threesomes and I actually multiship Bruce quite a bit and that includes shipping him with both Selina and with Zatanna, but this is kinda… stepping on the toes of whatever King’s doing. Which fine whatever. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a soft spot for longtime friendship and childhood crosshairs between Bruce and Zatanna thanks to how much I still just adore Paul Dini’s run on Detective Comics (1938-2011). So this pleases me almost despite myself.

That being said, there’s still a lot of unevenness in this story at the moment. Even with the cast diminishing through deaths and quitting and whatever, we have a lot of characters factoring in and out of the storylines from one to the next. It feels like we very barely have time to establish what everyone’s relationships are before we start hinting at even more shakeups. Are Jean Paul and Luke’s friendship going to be busted up after only a few issues of contact between them? Is Clayface considering taking up the doctor’s idea of a cure so soon after I still haven’t figured out why he’s even here? Is Tim’s not-death ever going to be brought up again before Bruce does something truly stupid?

And then there’s just that… looming threat of the summer event I just know is going to come up at some point.

There’s a lot of good in this issue, and I don’t want to knock it, it’s actually one of the more decent mid-story issues that Tynion’s produced so far. And I’ve been harping on him for that from the beginning so that’s saying something from me. And I thought the art this issue was actually very consistent and well done overall, even if I have to wonder how many times has everyone in the Batfamily stood in a perfect pose with a Batfan on them for the computer to scan and give a perfectly COOL holographic image of themselves. But that’s me being silly and questioning superhero world logic. A truly terrible road to go down.

A very interesting issue and I’m curious to see how the storyline with Bruce ties into the storyline about Jean Paul’s struggles with his religion and how his past has warped it. Not that… as a Catholic those… struggles ring true… or anything.

Anyway, seal of approval and waiting for the story to continue on!

DC’s Ghostbusters 101 (2017-present) #4 Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado

Alright, so IDW is just kicking ass with their properties this week and I honestly think that there’s nothing better to combat the absolute bile and grossness that was the internet fanboys of the Ghostbusters circles more than seeing just how amazing and interesting Burnham and Schoening have made this team up with all generations of Ghostbusters at once.

Erin and Holtzy definitely take the cake this issue and there’s a lot of fun, especially with how the Ghostbusters of different universes compare equipment, ghosts, and methodologies as they address one thing about the 2016 movie that actually did bother me quite a bit which was that the ladies just kept… dispersing ghosts and not capturing them where all incarnations before had made a point of the “conservation of ghost matter” or whatever before — establishing that ghosts would just reappear en masse if not absorbed and captured. The explanation was actually rather witty and made perfect sense with the narrative of the 2016 movie, actually.

One of my favorite aspects, though, has to be how many in-jokes they manage. Erin’s neuroses and figuring out how the various cameos in their universe fits into the original’s universe, the joke about Caddy Shack, and just so much more.

It was a really fun issue and I hope people are picking this up and giving it a chance, especially if you enjoyed the 2016 movie, and especially especially if you didn’t but are willing to see the potential that team had all along.

Marvel’s Moon Girls and Devil Dinosaurs (2015-present) #20 Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillian

It’s amazing that Marvel is ruining properties by turning them into evil Nazi stand-ins and warping everything good to come out of Marvel’s initial inception while, in the meantime, they have such good and pure creators making a story like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur who give us fantastic all-age stories with beautiful art, a lovable and flawed main heroine, and an honestly rather mature and disquieting storyline.

A kids comic where she learns she can’t save everyone. And it’s still poignant and beautiful. It’s still powerful and speaks on a child’s level.

But it sets up for the first time that Lunella, wonderful and smart and brave as she might be, is imperfect. She can’t save the world (or, in this case, the moon) by herself and she can’t always appreciate people’s feelings and their deserving of her empathy until she works on it. She’s been trying so hard to prove herself and show how good she is at everything, she’s allowed herself to stop thinking of everyone as her equal.

So much so that her replacement with an unfeeling robot only gets mild suspicions from her friends at school.

who hilariously know about Lunella’s super identity and her powers because fourth graders can’t keep secrets and i love that.

It’s just such a good story and it’s remarkable that we live in a time where Lunella Lafayette gets to be kids’ introduction to comic books.

DC’s New Super-Man (2016-present) Vol. 1: Made in China Gene Luen Yang, Viktor Bogdanovic, Richard Friend

Kong Kenan is the New Super-Man of China and he could not be more of a change from the status quo of the American superhero archetype of Superman if he tried! Now, that’s not completely fair, obviously there’s quite a bit of convention bending to the genre in this story right from the start, but honestly it felt from the start like a very honest look at just what superheroes would mean for the world outside of America once the Justice League appeared and changed everything. And why wouldn’t other countries be scrambling to make sure that they could compete with not just the rising threat of super villains, but with the potential firepower that would be superheroes representing and being beholden to other countries.

DC and Marvel both have made varying attempts to answer those questions themselves over the years, and Kenan doesn’t serve as the first Chinese superhero in the DCU, but this is definitely the first time I as a reader felt like I was reading an experience and perspective outside of my own. Usually there’s a lens or veneer to these attempts to expand superheroes outside of the US that’s pretty transparent — they’re either very rarely seen or explored and so lend themselves to vague understandings of other cultures (such as The Great Ten in the preboot) or they’re Americanized in some way, usually by having them join a team of characters that are from the American perspective (Bushido from Super Friends) or having them come to move to America and have the whole experience of being an immigrant or student work visa (Ryan Choi’s The Atom).

For me, it felt like New Super-Man is taking the very notable effort of examining a purely Chinese character and setting from that perspective and building off of the uniqueness inherently built in that, but also showing how Chinese people’s views of the West and of American superheroes would reflect in their own attempts to make a superhero for themselves. And why Kenan, while initially seeming to be unfit to be a Super-Man given a history of being rather haphazard and a bully, could actually bridge that gap and provide a really interesting story of learning what being a superhero means for a culture so different from America’s own.

At least, that’s my take on it. While I’m happy to boast about the fact that I’m from a family of immigrants in America myself, I’m still a product of the West and Europe, and I’m reading the New Super-Man with that perspective, and assumedly a lot of other readers are, too. So it’s hard for me to tell how accurate my takeaway is here.

I’m only fleetingly familiar with previous works by Gene Luen Yang, but I have to give him major props here. I’m more familiar with his work with the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics than I am with his more acclaimed work (American Born Chinese and Boxers & Saints) which I desperately need to fix, but I have no doubt in his abilities to portray characters which are good but fundamentally flawed. That was a trademark of his works that I have read, and he really brings that to life in New Super-Man with Kenan. He is a very flawed, very human character that relates to readers based on personality before the differences between America and China can even be brought up in the narrative. And that’s what really made this a fantastic read by the end.

I’m very interested to see where this story continues with Vol. 2 and hope that the reader base for this story grows along with Kenan’s character.

After all, right now the world could use a Flawed But Good Super-Man almost as much as it could use a Chinese Super-Man.

Kodansha’s Princess Jellyfish (2008-present) Chapter 82 Akiko Higashimura

I believe that it’s pretty obvious, the further we go along with my comics reading and these reviews, that I had a pretty large variety of comic tastes. And really that just has to be indicative of my feelings about narratives in general. There’s a lot of things I appreciate about media’s ability to tell stories, and good stories and good characters, for me, almost always trump genres at the end of the day.

And I have loved Princess Jellyfish since the 12 episode anime adaptation of the first arc aired back when I was in college and @red-dye-number-five and I squealingly watched it as it came out.

The series is very soothing for me to read and this chapter was no different in that way. I have no interest in fashion, but the story of this found-family of adult women blundering their way through the world of fashion to save their community and home speaks to me. I really hate love triangles, but the complexities of the relationships between Tuskimi, Shu, and Kuronosuke has made for some of the most interesting and fascinating dynamics I’ve seen in a romance drama. And while I don’t usually go for coming-out stories anymore, the difficulties and self doubt and guilt we see with Kuronosuke over and over again as he tries to find his personal comfort with his gender and sexuality is honestly heart wrenching and I’m fully invested with.

I enjoy this series so much and as usual we have another chapter that fully delivers on its continued promises. This isn’t a perfect series, but for me it is a bit of chicken soup in the middle of the difficulties of life.

Image’s Saga (2011-present) #44 Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

I think in twenty, thirty years, we’re going to look back and find that the generation of comics that have come about in the 2010s have changed the medium to a diverse haven of storytelling that comics hasn’t honestly enjoyed since the Comics Code and so on. And thank god for it because we get to read Saga as it’s being published and experience it as the true game changer that it is.

We are experiencing a storyline, from the perspective of a woman, who has to undergo a medical abortion, is being sent on a trial of Jobe for it because of the regressive tendencies and behaviors of her own people, and getting to see how much that burden is adding onto her own torment. We rarely get stories about abortion let alone ones where it’s from the woman’s prospective, is pro-abortion but also honest about its difficulties, and clearly shows avid anti-abortion rhetoric and laws as being crippling and more hurtful to those going through the ordeal than helpful.

It is… unfortunately very relevant to our times.

As is all of Saga’s storytelling. People see the nudity and violence and sex and gore every issue and what I love about Saga is that those things are so average, so unremarkable, that the actual mature content like addiction, prejudice, racism, homophobia, transphobia, infidelity, parenthood, and everything else in between is given the gravitas and exceptionalism it deserves outside of the seedy details that too often help the important points get lost in other lotted “mature” content.

In other words, there’s so much peeing on beds that we don’t lose track of the intrigue of money laundering and collusion as the real stories.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #71 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Dave Wachter, Ronda Pattison

There’s not a whole lot to say about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles usually because, as with the best comics with the most consistent quality, they just are great and just should be read and there’s hardly much else I can say about why if you haven’t been sold on it already. It’s like me trying to explain to people why they should read Usagi Yojimbo. If you’re not reading it already I don’t know what I can say to make it understandable how much you need to read it.

That being said, this is a slow issue compared to TMNT’s usual action packed fare. And I think that’s for good reason. We need buffer time between stories, this is part one of a two-parter which provides just that, and it spends its entire time building on the lore and mythology of the world of TMNT as it has been realized by IDW. And it’s fascinating and complex and meaningful.

And of course as a mythology junkie I adored every second of it — learning about the Pantheon and the gods of this universe was fascinating and knowing how various previous canons of TMNT are being incorporated to provide it is amazing (I especially love Jagwar’s new self I’m in love). It was fascinating, as has been the amount of love Eastman and Waltz have shown TMNT overall.

It’s a good comic, a slow comic, but good. And I really enjoyed the read. Definitely something different added to today’s pretty sizable pot.

IDW’s Transformers: Lost Light (2016-present) #7 James Roberts, John Wycough, Jack Lawrence, Joana Lafuente

You know that vin diagram that’s things that are okay and then this over waaaaayyyyyy on the outside? Okay. Good. Because that’s what this issue is for me. Holy shit. My emotions have been played like a fiddle and I am sick and engrossed and devastated and uplifted and there are things that I cannot say or do or what. WHAT.

Okay so I wasn’t entirely sold on this recent storyline opening up the Lost Light, if I’m completely honest. I share a lot of the concerns I’ve seen other fans show with regards to just how much retconning of a pretty unforgivable past Megatron has been shown to have in canon prior to 2011 and how he’s being handled now. And this storyline in a lot of ways was both a redirection to what Transformers should always be about — the fighting of fascism — but also felt like we were going a step too far into the department of “see! Megatron wasn’t the REAL evil fascist, here’s what cartoonishly evil fascists REALLY look like” so as much as I enjoyed this story and as much as I really admire James Roberts’ writing in general, I was on the fence about what to feel about everything that had gone down.

Which made the fact that he took the time to dedicate an entire issue to the aftermath, gauging all the different reactions to the plots that had emerged, giving me a new lesbian couple and bypassing the gross route of having one remember and the other not, and then hammering in the Cygate romance to a conclusion I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT WANT OR NEED BUT AM TOTALLY INVESTED IN…. it’s not just cathartic. For the first time I genuinely feel like the sharpness, wit, depth of character, and real solid execution is back to the standards of what I still consider to be my favorite work of JRo’s which was MTMTE Season 1.

This was just… so much to take in, and so fast, and I swear not an inch of panel was wasted. I’m hoping that this means the pace is picked back up, the course is put back on track, and we return to what was making the characters so fantastic and loving and… oh yeah

TOTAL FRIDGE HORROR FOR THOSE OF US WITH CLAUSTROPHOBIA

I really liked this issue. It’s definitely my favorite of Lost Light so far and has me looking super forward to what happens next. Which is something I desperately needed since I learned Till All Are One, which has honestly been my favorite TF comic for the past year, is ending soon.

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #25 Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Liam Sharp, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

I have been curious since the announcement of Rucka’s departure from the title just how he was going to pull together his past and present storylines, how things were going to end up. And I have been met with the answers which are large, satisfying, and a bit saddening in knowing that we’re quickly approaching the end.

The idea that, without the lasso, something is simply missing from Diana and her life feels like a great commentary on Wonder Woman herself, and what not only embracing her history and iconography means for the character but what it means for her personality itself. Without the lasso, without her faith, without the support of the Amazons at her back, Diana is shorter with her temper, more quick to anger, more brutal. And it’s not her, it the her that people have tried for decades to turn her into to suit their interpretation of what a Wonder Woman should be. And it’s concerning to the people who love her — here exemplified in Steve, Etta, Bruce, and Clark — and unhelpful to the enemies who require her sense of compassion and understanding, which is what nearly all of Diana’s enemies have been constructed to show — here Cheetah and Veronica Cale.

She’s simply not Wonder Woman without those things, and it’s such a relief to have a modern writer with the caliber of Greg Rucka portraying that in a deft and almost poetic way as it has been in this title and especially in this wrap up issue. It makes me happy to have the character of Wonder Woman brought back to herself on the terms of someone who has as much love and respect for her as Rucka does.

It was a good issue, and while I will be the first to say that this run hasn’t been perfect and that Rucka’s shown some genuine problems in his writing through it, I am sad to see it all coming toward its end.

So if I had to sum up this week’s comics as a whole I would just say that I was smacked with a whole lot of emotions all across the spectrum. But as I consider it tonight and really think about what has stuck with me the most in the aftermath of getting through them all, I really can’t understate how much Transformers: Lost Light threw me through about twenty different loops -- I mean the subplot of Cyclonus and Tailgate’s romance alone would earn that spot of just WOW but literally every character, every development, every scene blew me away this week and it really uplifted me to enjoy the read as much as I did again.

But that’s just my opinion. What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something this week I should’ve picked up? I’d love to hear from you on it.

Until then, here’s to another Wednesday full of comics!

#Rena Roundups #SPOILERS #Wednesday Spoilers #Princess Jellyfish #New Superman (2016 )#Wonder Woman (2016 )#Detective Comics (2016 )#Batman Beyond (2016 )#Transformers: Lost Light #Ghostbusters 101 #Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015 )#Black Magick #Saga

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