Comic Books Comic Book • Page 473

I've said this before, but yeah, Wilson's Poison Ivy rules. #24 I think came out a couple weeks ago? Which wrapped up year two and ended with Pam in a place that should be fun to explore in year three. And, Spirit World artist Haining did some good fill-in issues; most of the artists that have filled in for Takara have done great.

(This reminds me that really need to get and read Spirit World already, lol. The snippet I read was rad.)

 

Spencer Ackerman on Iron Man is so fucking inspired.

Really dig the new look, too:

 

Holy shit!

 

What are some other good single-volume DC stories, preferably about female characters? I've already read Batgirl: Year One, Woman of Tomorrow, Being Super, Lords and Liars, Crush and Lobo, Harleen, Elegy. I have Mera Queen of Atlantis and another for Poison Ivy that I haven't gotten to yet

 

huh interesting, I saw some issues of King Spawn at the comics shop just the other day. I've only ever seen the live-action movie and the first couple episodes of the HBO show. after seeing this post, I googled "King Spawn" to find more about the character and it led me down a rabbit hole:

I remembered I had some Spawn figures as a kid, one of whom had wings, so when I saw the name Angela on a list of characters I assumed it was her, and of course I managed to find the figure I had.

I looked into Angela's comics- and irl-backstory and apparently there was some legal disputes between McFarlane and Gaiman, after which Gaiman sold the rights to Marvel

and in Marvel comics she's dating Sera, "who is commonly described (in human terms) as a sapphic trans woman"...!!!

I need to know everything about this Sera character immediately.

 

Sera is the best. And has been basically unused for years now, but hopefully she comes back soon; she is a card in Marvel Snap, lol.

For her story at Marvel, read Angela: Asgard’s Assassin, followed by 1602: Witch Hunter Angela, and then finally Angela: Queen of Hel.

(I also really like a lot of Image Comics’ Spawn material, but honestly… that’s probably significantly less relevant to your interests overall, lol. Though the future cyberpunk Spawn series Rat City, written by Erica Schultz, does have a prominent nonbinary character.)

 

Excited for all the stuff DC announced at SDCC so far. The ultim-I meant the absolute universe could be fun.

But Ram V on the New Gods. Mark Waid writing a Justice League book. Jeff Lemire on JSA. Solid stuff. Hope they are good.

 

Ram V and Evan Cagle are doing fantastic work on Dawnrunner, which has one issue left. Seeing Darkseid on the “DC All In” promo art and hearing that he was part of Absolute DC’s origins made me groan tbh, lol… but with V & Cagle tackling the New Gods… shit, maybe DC isn’t gonna do stupid things with New Gods lore again after all!

Not sure what else I’m gonna follow, since I wanna keep my Big 2 spending down, and Marvel has some cool things going. I’m thrilled that Poison Ivy is continuing and will definitely stay on that. Also gonna follow Batman and Robin: Year One, the Chris Samnee drawn maxiseries they announced recently. Outside of that… Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Green Lantern both seem rad, but idk what I’ll commit to reading monthly (vs catching up down the line).

 

i picked up the pride variant cover of the first issue of horror series The Mammoth, added it to my pull list. not familiar with the author, artist, or publisher, but it looks nice

 

Finished reading Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story by Nicole Maines, who ofc played Dreamer on Supergirl. It's a good origin story overall and Galaxy plays a pretty big role (I'll have to read that next!) but tbh the ending feels a little rushed. regardless, this was obviously very meaningful to me, being about a trans character and all. I'm glad DC is publishing these kinds of stories for YA audiences. I couldn't help but think maybe if I saw myself in media at a younger age I wouldn't have realized/come out so late. But eh, there's no use in asking what if. Point is, I'm hopeful for future generations because we're getting more representation than ever before. Anyway, I've only read about half of DC's YA books I've collected so far, but I've liked each and every one of them. Just because they're geared towards younger audiences doesn't mean older audiences can't also get something worthwhile out of them.

edit: also finished Galaxy: The Prettiest Star and it is also a trans story and also very good

edit: also finished Angela: Asgard's Assassin and it is also a trans story and also very good

 

Most of my comic reading in the last few years has been digital, but felt compelled thanks to some of the X-Men relaunches to actually go get a few physical comics this week. Had a lot of fun and was definitely super satisfying walking out with a stack of new comics to read. Might keep doing this for new comics and stick to digital to read previous runs.

Anyhow, just sharing here because comics are fun.

 

Issue 7 (of 9) of The Deviant by James Tynion IV & Joshua Hixson came out this week, and dang, this series is so fucking good. I feel bad for anyone who passed on it thinking it was “just a Christmas slasher comic” instead of an incredibly raw look at queerness in America.

Also, first issue of The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard. Took a bit to ease into the issue, but I love the pieces that they’ve set into place. Too bad we’ve had decades of things being compared to Watchmen in very stupid, shallow ways, lol, because this is gonna actually deserve that comparison (as far as considering super powered beings and history/culture in meaningful, compelling ways). My favorite character so far is the woman with a brief appearance who just wanted to paint and not be sad; relatable queen, truly.

Also, been reading some Betty & Veronica comics recently, especially those drawn by classic artist Dan DeCarlo. And, they’re just delightful, lol.

 

I’m only three (maybe four can’t remember) issues into Deviant and yeah, it’s pretty awesome. Just a really interesting angle to for this type of story.

Picked up Power Fantasy, expecting to enjoy it as I do with most Gillen works.

 

I recently started going back and reading the entire New Avengers/Mighty Avengers/Avengers run by Bendis. I’ve read some of the big events and at least know the storyline of the others, but had never read them all together as an ongoing story with the main books. Just finished Secret Invasion and my biggest takeaway to this point is just how rushed it all feels when reading back to back. Civil War really derails the direction New Avengers was going and then 2 arcs later, Secret Invasion does the same thing and I know it’s about to happen again following Siege. Probably would feel different if I were reading it at the time, but in trades it feels like CW was only a month ago and now the Skrulls are attacking.

 

I don't know if y'all have been reading, but Kelly Thompson's "Scarlett" has been amazing through 3 issues. I've also been picking up Oni Press' EC anthology series. just got "Cruel Universe" today and am looking forward to it. "Paranoid Gardens" 1 was really good too.

I just got back into new comics after a decade plus away. My kid and his boyfriend are big into books and they drew me back in, lol

 

Literally the only floppies in my pull at my LCS are the Oni Press EC anthologies. It's like reading Twilight Zone/Creepshow stories all over again!

 

ahh I went ahead and got/read Journey to the Funderworld. it was awesome, of course, but @Tim I should've listened to you, I didn't expect 1602 to tie into it bc it sounded like its own thing. I guess I'll order that next.

 

I haven't read "Cruel Universe" yet (it's on my table next to my laptop lol), but I loved "Epitaphs from the Abyss". I picked up the gold foil cover for each because I am a child of the 80s/90s lol.

I also found a Joe Hill Creepshow one shot from Image a couple of weeks ago, but haven't read it yet.

 

so yeah, 1602 Witch Hunter Angela is also awesome. Sera(h) is so funny in this one. I don't think I've disliked anything I've read by Marguerite Bennett. Some of the artwork in this volume is gorgeous, I love how it switches between different styles. While the other two volumes certainly make sense on their own, this is a worthwhile accompaniment.

 

I’m really putting a dent into my DC comics reading. I’m all caught up on Green Arrow and Green Lantern (at least as caught up as the DC app allows). I’m working my way through Taylor’s Nightwing run.

Ideally I can get caught up to date on all major DC titles and maintain that while catching up on the Marvel stuff I enjoy. Lofty goal, but I’m slightly optimistic!

 

Just got and read all four issues of Suicide Squad Dream Team. I'm not too jazzed that it's technically a prelude to Absolute Power as I'm generally not interested in all the big crossover events they're always having. It was interesting to see Dreamer and Waller clash (and hey, Harley's there too!), but their conflict (Waller blackmailing Nia with making public the location of her home, an alien haven) is more an analogy for racism than transphobia, which is fine tbh. Just because transness isn't centered doesn't mean it's no longer a story about a trans character. I love Nia and I love Nicole but I probably won't be picking up every Dreamer appearance (eg Absolute Power) unless Nicole's writing it.

I do wonder if the YA novels (Bad Dream) are supposed to be considered as taking place within the main continuity

 

went a bit overboard this am at the LCS. the zenoscope book was free lol