Roller derby is one of those sports where either you get it or you don’t. But if you don’t get it, Slam! (BOOM! Studios), Television Without Pity writer Pamela Ribon and artist Veronica Fish want to help you figure it out. And they do a hell of a job.
Slam! follows derby neophytes Jennifer and Maisie as they get through the newbie process, become best friends, and get drafted… to opposing teams. Helping make the book work: Ribon and Fish make Jennifer’s workaholism and Maisie’s struggle through a break-up is incredibly relatable. They’re strong characters that you want to see in action. The book is often incredibly funny, not least because Fish gets to stretch her artistic boundaries a bit and have some fun.
Slam! is one of those comics that reminds you comics are more than superheroes. The warmth and fun found in it is rare and gives this series a lot of promise. If you want something different on your pull list, this should be at the top.
Kill Or Be Killed #4, Image Comics
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips continue their deconstruction of the urban vigilante genre. This issue is largely focused on the notion that, unlike in the movies, finding a straight-up monster of a human being is far harder than it looks; the opening mocks dumb action movies and the issue takes other clichés apart with a crowbar, using the educated and uncertain Dylan to critique the idea of the righteous armed white guy cleaning up the city streets.
Still, Dylan has to kill, or the demon that saved his soul will drag him to Hell. Except, of course, this book always has another twist lurking, and this book ends on a chilling note that underscores the question of whether a demon is really after Dylan or if Dylan has just lost his mind.
Cave Carson Has A Cybernetic Eye #2, DC Comics
Gerard Way and Michael Avon Oeming deliver a riff on DC’s ’60s two-fisted action books, but it’s doing a bit more with it than just retreading the spelunking action. Way and Oeming draw a pretty clever line between those ’60s books and the modern action stories we enjoy, complete with the witty idea of a spelunking drill in a surface-level car chase, and the incongruous appearance of obscure ’80s Punisher parody Wild Dog, while giving it just enough mystery and paranoia to keep you reading. It’s a smart riff on an obscure character and is increasingly one of DC’s most entertaining books.
Harbinger Renegade #1, Valiant
Harbinger, the outlaw team of teen superheroes, won. They outed a worldwide secret conspiracy, unmasked the bad guy, revealed superpowered people to the world, and dealt a crushing blow to the power, and ego, of Toyo Harada. In exchange, their friends died, their lives were ruined, and their bonds of friendship and in some cases love were snapped. Oh, and every potential superhero in the world is now a target from everybody from the NSA to insane cultists.
Rafer Roberts and Darick Robertson find themselves wondering… What happens next, when they have to clean up the mess they made? It’s a fairly compelling question not least because Roberts puts the team in strikingly different places: Some are getting sober, some are B-list reality stars, some are, well, Faith. And it’s a smart take on the grand gesture; sweeping all the pieces off the chessboard often means picking them back up, after all.
Grand Passion #1, Dynamite
James Robinson and Tom Feister mix romance and noir in an unusual, folksy take on Bonnie and Clyde. Mabel is part of a bank robbing team that works jobs across the country, while Mac is a widower local police officer struggling with a corrupt force and a closed-minded community. Once they meet, it’s love… well, sort of, bar a few complications. There’s a lot of noir on the stands, but this manages to stand out with its unusual premise, and might just be one of the next great crime books.
Thanos #1, Marvel: Jeff Lemire and Mike Deodato bring back the Mad Titan in a book that has the feel of one of Marvel’s ’90s cosmic comics without the cheese. (Although why, precisely, Death goes around in a crop top and short skirt is a question I’d really like an answer to.)
Ether #1, Dark Horse: Boone Dias is a rational man in an irrational world of magic. Or so Matt Kindt and David Rubin want you to think, at first. The truth, as it begins to unfold in the book, is just a little more complicated, and Kindt’s clever plot paired with Rubin’s imaginative artwork makes for a heck of a read.
Britannia #3, Valiant: Peter Milligan, Juan Jose Ryp, and Jordie Bellaire continue their odd but compelling mix of detective story, Lovecraftian horror, and period piece.
Reborn #2, Image Comics: Mark Millar, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion follow up an excellent first issue with a slightly cheesy in places but still incredibly creative take on the afterlife, which is less harps and angels and more ass-kicking and fairies.
Batman #11, DC Comics: Tom King and Mikel Janin team up to work a Suicide Squad story into a Batman plot. And it’s a lot of fun, not least because of King and Janin’s reinvention of Bane as the scariest tyrant this side of Trigon.
This Week’s Best Collections
Mass Effect Omnibus Vol. 1, Dark Horse (Softcover $25): The Mass Effect comics often did a better job of exploring the rich world of the games than the games did themselves, and having them all in one place for $25 is well worth it.
The Flash by Manapul and Buccellato Omnibus Vol. 1, DC Comics (Hardcover, $100): The price may seem steep, but Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato delivered one of the best takes on the Scarlet Speedster in recent memory.
Uncle Scrooge And Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Collection Vol. 10, Fantagraphics (Hardcover, $30): Some classic comics are finally back in this beautiful reprint of some of Rosa’s classic Disney work.