Unsurprisingly, as we get close to the holidays, the publishing schedule gets a little light. But there are still some superb books on the stands this week. For example…
1) Ivar, Timewalker #12
Fred Van Lente and Pere Perez end their brilliant, witty time travel series on a note that’s at once sad and hilarious. It turns out there are only so many ways you can save history… and sometimes, your happy ending doesn’t matter. It’s a brilliant conclusion to a superb book, and a must-read.
2) The Goddamned #2
Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera’s retelling of the Biblical Flood is mostly about just why God decided that it was better to drown the entire world than spare human life, and let’s just say that after this issue, you’ll be rooting for God. Guera plays with caveman and barbarian comics tropes while brutally underscoring the horror of what’s going on here, while Aaron… yeesh, let’s just say don’t let this guy teach a Sunday school class. A tremendous, and slightly disturbing, comic worth reading.
3) Wrath of The Eternal Warrior #2
Gilad Anni-Padda is dead. And can choose to remain so, in his eternal reward, happy with his wife and children. Or he can go back and fight. Robert Venditti’s look at a man with a mission is surprisingly emotionally complex for a book that features pages of demons getting chopped up, and Raul Allen handles heaven and hell with equal aplomb. A fascinating take on what could be a conventional character.
4) Superman: American Alien #2
Max Landis takes on Clark Kent, and this isn’t the nice boy we all know. He drinks beer, he’s awkward around girls, he’s just kind of a mess, like any teenage kid. But he’s still Superman, and, well, imagine you as a teenager with superpowers you barely grasp. Yeah. It gets bad. Tommy Lee Edwards does superb art here, giving the book a used, dingy feel for a fair part of it, and grounding Clark just that bit more. Whether we need another Superman origin is perhaps debatable, but Landis’ fresh take on it is a great read.
5) Big Trouble in Little China #19
Jack Burton making an ersatz Harry Potter cry should not be this funny. And yet, Fred Van Lente and Dan McDaid make it happen, with McDaid relishing the horror art Van Lente throws at him. A great expansion on a classic movie.
6) Weirdworld #1
Sam Humphries pulls a fast one in the newly ongoing mishmash of every strange book Marvel has ever put out. Becca Rodriguez is an Earthling newly sucked into Weirdworld who, fortunately, runs into heroes as often as she hits monsters, all lovingly rendered by Mike Del Mundo. And she can handle it; as this book carefully reveals, she’s already had the worst day of her life.
7) Secret Six #9
Gail Simone and Tom Derenick continue the plot of Black Alice sucking the magic of the world dry, but this issue is actually more of a standalone. A really disturbing and funny standalone that we won’t spoil here, but suffice to say, it’s a quick whisking together of H.P. Lovecraft, superheroics, and O. Henry. Pick it up, if you haven’t already; superhero books don’t get more darkly funny than this.
8) Judge Dredd #1
Dredd wakes up in a beautiful grassy field, only to quickly discover that he’s surrounded by people who are all basically animate Twitter feeds with fists. Dan McDaid is a great choice for artist, and Ulises Farinas and Erick Freitas preserve the satire of the original comics while giving it a much needed new spin. Hootingly funny and worth a read.
9) Ms. Marvel #2
Despite her likeness being used as a figurehead, Kamala Khan continues to fight against some extra sinister gentrification. G. Willow Wilson has done an excellent job of making this run of Ms. Marvel comics show the less glamorous aspects of being a superhero and the sacrifices that are often made in the name of the greater good, while also remembering to keep things fun and exciting. Takes Miyazawa’s stretchy and bright art continues to be perfect for a teenage superhero who kinda wants a boyfriend, but would rather keep saving the world. — Alyssa Fikse
10) Martian Manhunter #7
Mars lives! And, uh, so does Earth, but not for long, since the two planets are on a collision course. Rob Williams takes a hard swerve from the paranoid thriller of the last few issues to throw J’onn J’onzz an impossible choice… and then lays on a bunch of twists. Ronan Cliquet and Mark Deering deliver some solid, fun art that could stand to be a little more atmospheric, but, overall, an excellent read for one of DC’s underappreciated heroes.
11) Huck #2
Mark Millar’s Huck continues to be a compelling read in the second issue. Now that his secret has been revealed and the press is at his door, Huck may have even more requests of missing persons and things than he can handle with much more to get in his way. Still, the biggest takeaway from this issue is the growing sense of dread around the edges. There is no way this story will have a happy ending. Rafael Albuquerque’s art continues to be absolutely stunning, between the color washed landscapes and our hero’s cherubic face. Millar’s signature violence has yet to make an appearance, but that restraint suits the story that he’s telling. –Alyssa Fikse
12) The Spire #5
This book finally, finally explores Sha’s relationship with a princess in more detail, which to this point has seemed to be lesbianism for the sake of just having it in there. The fight she has with her girlfriend give Sha some needed dimension and helps bring Si Spurrier’s story into more focus, making it equal, finally, to Jeff Stokely’s imaginative art.
13) I Hate Fairyland #3
Skottie Young’s hilariously twisted take on a little girl driven insane by thirty years in icky-sticky-sweet Fairyland takes a turn for the even more darkly humorous in this issue, which thankfully asks the question of what happens when Gert, our “hero”, loses her immortality. It’s not pretty! But it is funny!
14) From Under Mountains #3
Sloane Leong’s art is absolutely beautiful, but Clare Gibson and Marian Churchland are already starting to get somewhat lost in their own mythology. This fantasy comic is compelling and even has some subtle points to make about power, perception, and how the interplay of both matter, but it needs to either focus or at least start throwing a summary page in the front.
15) All-New X-Men #2
Dennis Hopeless and Mark Bagley achieve the impossible. As difficult as it might be to believe, you might actually like Cyclops a little bit after you finish reading this issue. Hopeless and Bagley do manage to balance the heavy themes with some bits that may almost too goofy, but overall, the book works and young Cyclops struggling with his future gives the book some needed weight.
16) Dragon Age: Magekiller #1
As you might guess, being someone who specializes in killing mages can make you unpopular in a high fantasy setting. But while Greg Rucka’s script is a little talky, Rucka, Carmen Carnero, and Terry Pallot have a grand old time laying out our taciturn hero and his talkier, snarkier sidekick as they’re hired to… well, you can guess from the title.
17) Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl #5
Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie make this story of a phonomancer (i.e. magician powered by pop music) trapped in a music video hell surprisingly engaging for a talky look at how self-serious music fans are. Not the fastest-paced book on the stands, but worth a read, especially for McKelvie’s witty riffs on music videos.
18) Darth Vader Annual #1
The Star Wars comics take a break from Vader Down to remind you that Vader is not a good guy. Also that Triple Zero and Beetee are probably the most amusing sociopaths in comic books right now, but that’s another discussion.
19) The Mighty Thor #2
This issue of Jason Aaron’s The Mighty Thor is heavy on the super heroics and lighter on plot propulsion, but that is just fine after the exposition heavy opening issue. All of the realms are still in turmoil as Malekith the Accursed has declared war on the light elves, and Russell Dauterman’s artistic renderings of Alfheim are just trippy enough to work. With the introduction of some familiar and beloved characters, The Mighty Thor continues to have enough good elements to make it more than a rote reimagining. — Alyssa Fikse
20) The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3
Our plucky heroine is still stuck in the ‘60s, and Nancy probably should have thought through making a deal with Doctor Doom a little bit more. For a bubbly and sometimes saccharine sweet comic, the future looks pretty grim. All is probably not totally lost, but fans will have to wait a bit longer to see how Doreen, Nancy, and Tippy find a way to stop Doom and save the future while trapped in the past. Ryan North continues to write a heroine worth rooting for, while Erica Henderson’s artistic style perfectly compliments the narrative. — Alyssa Fikse
This Week’s Other Books:
DC:
JLU #16: I still don’t think that Jeff Parker’s Defenders-esque concept really got a fair shake in the long run, but at least this team book gets a happy ending. Pick it up from the relaunch, it’s worth a read, and hopefully this idea of a revolving team of heroes and villains gets another shot.
Red Thorn #2: There’s the hint of something interesting here, but it’s kind of lost in the mix of generic characters and drooling over the fundamentally uninteresting title character.
Batgirl #46: Unsurprisingly, being a superheroine is kind of stressful in this breather issue before the book kicks off its next plot.
Clean Room #3: You want to like this book, but its glacial pace undercuts the horror it’s trying to build.
Justice League #46: A fun continuation of The Darkseid War, but you might be better served waiting for the trade.
Batman: Europa #2: This needs to do more with its concept of Batman and the Joker forced to team up. We’re not here to see Batman fight robots.
Batman & Robin Eternal #11: The plot here is a fun read for Bat-fans, but might lose more casual readers.
We Are Robin #7: Bar the Tim Drake/Jason Todd fight we’ve always wanted, a fairly conventional crossover issue.
Marvel:
Starbrand & Nightmask #1: Your fairly basic high-school team of heroes book: Fun, but it doesn’t do much with the formula, even with the funny interplay between the two main characters.
Web Warriors #2: The tale of Electro is pretty funny, but this book still struggles to be much more than a justification for action figures.
Uncanny Inhumans #3: We know they have a movie coming, but this book only reminds us why Kamala Khan is way more interesting than her supposed liege.
Squadron Supreme #1: James Robinson is way too exposition heavy in a book that’s all fights, no thought.
Illuminati #2: A good concept unfortunately hits all the expected beats.
Image:
The Wicked + The Divine #17: Ananke’s foretold Armageddon, leaving who’s left of our rock gods in turmoil. Focusing on the unfocused Sakhmet, we follow her from orgy to training to stage and all of the typical weirdness we’ve come to expect from The Wicked + The Divine. We get a better sense of this feral cat of a character and just what makes her a threat. Brandon Graham’s ragged art doesn’t really suit this slick tale of deities and pop stars, leaving behind some of the rock n’ roll sheen that typified earlier issues. This is the last issue in the solid “Commercial Suicide” arc, leaving fans to wonder if the world will really end on September 23rd until April. Still, with Kieron Gillen still at the helm and Jamie McKelvie returning as the primary artist, the wait will be well worth it. — Alyssa Fikse
Axcend #3: You’ve got a problem in your goofy superhero comic when your villain is way more interesting and sympathetic than your hero.
Wayward #12: I still fail to see the point of writing and publishing what amounts to a manga when, uh, we’ve got plenty of manga already, from Japanese artists and writers.
Boom!:
Klaus #2: The second issue of Grant Morrison’s gritty Santa origin story is a little less weird in its second issue — no more psychedelic drugs resulting in homemade toys, sadly. Things settle into a more generic hero tale in this installment, focusing on the toy-induced aftermath. It’s probably for the best that this series is a mini, because the premise is already starting to wear a bit thin. Still, there’s enough to make it worth a perusal, and Dan Mora continues to excel at creating a fairy tale world that, while at the moment is repressed, has some beautiful bursts of color. Klaus may not be a must read, but it is a fun one. — Alyssa Fikse
Power-Up #6: Kate Leth and Matt Cummings wrap up their Sailor Moon parody/tribute on somewhat of a flat note.
Cognetic #3: A lot of sound, fury, and great monster art, with no real conclusion.
Hacktivist Vol. 2 #6: This sadly clumsy story of cyberterror winds to a stop.
IDW:
Starfleet Academy #1: A solid all-ages book for the young Trekkie in your life.
Valiant:
Imperium #11: Valiant’s gritty geopolitical supervillain thriller gets somehow more dark in this issue.