Comics are, for many, a superhero’s realm. While smaller publishers, and even DC Comics, have steadily pushed at the boundaries of the medium, some genres are simply aren’t on the stands that often. In the debut issue of Moonstruck (Image), Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle deliver an unusual romantic comedy set in a town full of mythical creatures living and working next to humans, and it’s a good reminder comics are more than guys in tights.
The plot at the moment is simple: Julie, a barista, is navigating the waters of a new relationship while holding down a job. It stands out because of how Ellis and Beagle balance the mythical aspects with the plot. It’s important that everybody’s some type of mythical creature. There are moments where Ellis tries a little too hard; Julie is a carefully rendered character surrounded, at least somewhat, by caricatures. It’s clear that everybody’s mythological status represents their inner self: The vampire is a mooch, the centaur is non-binary, and so on, which is a clever conceit but future issues will need to flesh that out.
Still, it’s just the first issue, and Beagle stands out for her art here. Beagle’s outsize scales and sense of cartooning help carry the book, giving it a funny, gentle feel, like a Looney Tunes cartoon by way of Nora Ephron or Ernst Lubitsch. If the characters can feel a bit weightier, Moonstruck could be a welcome chance to broaden out comics, in more ways than one.
Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #2, Marvel
Chip Zdarsky and Adam Kubert settle into a really fun comedic rhythm here. Zdarsky, who is deeply versed in the more ridiculous aspects of Spider-lore, has a lot of fun updating Spidey’s struggling everyman persona, offering a string of clever riffs on past Spider-gags while making gentle fun of how convoluted and absurd things can get. What’s best though is Zdarsky and Kubert show off a Spider-Man who, despite all his problems, enjoys being a superhero. Sure, hooting with glee while riding Iron Man through the skies is undignified, but who wouldn’t?
Batman #27, DC Comics
Who thinks about the little guys? Tom King and Davide Gianfelice throw back, just a bit, to the ’70s with the story of Charlie. All Charlie did was help build the Jokermobile, but, in classic noir style, that one action sucks him into a quicksand of conflicting forces as he’s trapped between Batman, the Joker, and the Riddler. The final twist, here, is unexpected, not least for who he turns out to be (something King gives away a bit for hardcore DC nerds early on), but also for how King gives one of Batman’s sillier rogues an unexpectedly heartbreaking past.
Britannia: We Who Are About To Die #4, Valiant
Peter Milligan and Juan Jose Ryp wrap up their clever mix of Roman history, political intrigue drama, supernatural horror story, and detective yarn with a twist straight out of the classic EC Comics. Milligan walks a tough line, here, as his “detectioner” has to be both a man of logic and one struggling with the supernatural, striking a balance between Doyle and Lovecraft. But at the same time, there’s nothing like it, and it ends on a welcome note that more is on the way.
Normandy Gold #2, Hard Case Crime
An excellent observer of Game of Thrones recently pointed that it wasn’t that the show was an escape from the world’s problem, but a better way to contextualize them. This comic, about a rural sheriff out to avenge the murder of her sister, feels like much the same. It’s a little strange that Alison Gaylin and Steve Scott’s pastiche of the sex-laden, Nixon-skewering political thrillers of the 1970s would still feel so relevant now. Part of it is that Gaylin and Scott go all in; they know the style and pace of this side eddy of American pop culture so well there are points where you’ll wonder if it isn’t an adaptation of some long-lost paperback. But another part is that, perhaps, while we’re more than forty years away from Nixon’s ignominious failure, the cynicism it created still lingers.
Aliens: Dead Orbit #3, Dark Horse: James Stokoe’s rich, unnerving and gory take on the Aliens story manages the rare feat of being suspenseful at every turn, even when you already know the ending.
Astonishing X-Men #1, Marvel: You have to love a team book that opens with extreme urgency, and it doesn’t get more urgent than Psylocke losing her mind. Until it does.
James Bond: Kill Chain #1, Dynamite: In a bit of catnip for Bond fans, Andy Diggle brings back one of Bond’s oldest foes.
The Wild Storm #6, DC Comics: It says a lot that Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt can shift from elaborate action scene to exposition soaked in acidic comedy to back again.
Sisters Of Sorrow #1, BOOM! Studios: Kurt Sutter offers up an unusual, grindhouse-esque take on vigilantes: a group of abused women who snap and turn Punisher. Subtle it isn’t, but fun it certainly is.
This Week’s Best Collections
Ether Vol. 1, Dark Horse ($15, Softcover): This fantasy book seems fairly generic at first, but as you get to know the broken hero at its core, Matt Kindt’s story becomes a much richer, sweeter, and sadder tale.
Supergirl: The Silver Age Vol. 1, DC Comics ($30, Softcover): This is worth picking up for comics fans because, well, the Silver Age was never stranger or more Freudian than it was around Supergirl. Just ask Comet, the horse who is really a centaur who is in love with Supergirl. I’m not making this up.
Pre-Code Classics, PS Artbooks ($60-$70, Hardcover): Specialty publisher PS Artbooks have managed to dig out some incredibly hard to find early 1950s comics, featuring artists and writers ranging from Jerry Siegel to a young Joe Kubert, and are putting them out today in a series of slipcased hardcovers. They’re not cheap, but each is a fascinating little nugget of comics history.