Comic Books Comic Book • Page 461

Idk. Maybe? Or maybe they’re just trying damage control, lol. It’d certainly explain how it got out there fifteen days early. But, they really seemed to have a schedule in mind.

Anyways, the cat’s out of the bad enough for them to announce this:

Like I was saying indirectly, Zeb Wells is one of the writers on The Marvels this November, and there’s weird MCU stuff going on with her origins (mutant maybe!?!?) and powers. So, there’s… something going on here. Still a wild choice on Marvel’s part.

 

It’s pretty fucked killing her off in an unrelated book imo. I know she’s been in ASM a bit but not enough for it to not be completely out of left field. I can see a trip to the Krakoa resurrection protocols for her coming up. Maybe even bringing over the light powers from the MCU which I wouldn’t really like.

 

They’re going to revive her as a mutant right before the movie.

 

100% agree, lol. Whatever I guess. She’s been aloof since G Willow Wilson left anyways.

 

Ewing Thor, y’all!

 

So glad this long-teased book was finally solicited. Looks like it’s gonna be dope as fuck. Love Kelly Thompson getting to live her best creator-owned life at the moment.

 

Ah, so many exciting comics in the latter half of this year to make it worth staying alive, lol. So pumped for another Ram V & Filipe Andrade collaboration through Boom!; The Many Deaths of Laila Starr was so, so, so good.

 

Stories about restaurants and chefs are so hot right now.

 

Has anyone read Azzarello's Wonder Woman run?

 

I really enjoyed it, but it does change quite a bit about her world and really doesn’t connect at all to larger DC universe or even past WW stuff so know that going in. If you think of it as an Elseworlds or Black Label story, that provides a new take on the character, I think you’ll enjoy it and the art is absolutely stellar.

 

I know Tim doesn’t like the Azzarello WW run.

I am a fan. Though I admit I would like her origin to revert back at some point. I don’t think the Zeus angle adds anything really. (And I know Tim would argue it takes a lot away).

Cliff Chiang’s art is great. The colors absolutely jump off the page.

 

Wow @scottlechowicz way to steal my thunder! How rude!!!

Anyways, yeah. Cliff Chiang’s art is absolutely gorgeous, and the story isn’t 100% without merit, but I would largely call the run “very bad Wonder Woman comics.” Many puzzling choices ranging from “meh” to “absolutely garbage,” imo. Bits of the New 52 era annoying-ness still follow her around.

 

Continuing New 52 Batwoman, just finished volume 5. Dang, this one packed in a lot of issues (i mean literally, issues #25-34). Andreyko's writing isn't quite as engaging as Williams', and the panels aren't as consistently interesting. Also I'm pretty sure Kate's relationship with Maggie only went the direction it did because DC didn't want to show them get gay married at the time. I'm still enjoying it, as it's still a fun Kate story, so it's not like a huge nosedive in quality, it just lacks a bit of what made the previous four volumes and Elegy feel so special.

 

Volume 6 was really fucking weird, and not in a good way. It was kind of terrible, actually. Still had a few fun moments, but what it did with Kate's character arc is really frustrating. I hope the Rebirth run is a return to form.

 

The people involved at the time have said it was because of a policy where NO ONE, gay or straight, was to be married. Which, isn’t a storytelling policy I personally agree with, lol (thank goodness Lois & Clark are a thing again), but I get the soap opera storytelling logic. The characters are ultimately tools for stories, not real people who should be happy, and developments like marriage & children need viewed through that lens. Too bad from what I’ve heard (I didn’t read it) the execution in Batwoman went terribly off the rails.

Marvel kinda had the opposite problem of Batwoman, where they rushed into Northstar getting married to a then terribly underdeveloped character. It would’ve been interesting to see what his dynamic with Iceman could’ve been like if Iceman had been allowed to come out before that marriage.

My understanding from bigger fans of the character is that the Rebirth era of Batwoman is mostly pretty good? I know her solo book was written by Marguerite Bennett, whose Angela work at Marvel fucking rules.

 

Supergirl: Being Super is so good. This plus Crush and Lobo, WW: Lords and Liars, and HQ: Breaking Glass--I love all these standalone DC stories Mariko Tamaki does.

The only other Supergirl story I've read is Woman of Tomorrow (which I also really liked). It's kind of funny to me that in one, it's her origin story so she never suits up yet, and in the other she's in her suit the entire time.

 

Can you elaborate on this? I've only read the New 52 runs for Batwoman and Batgirl but I thiiiink I get what you're saying, I just have trouble articulating it.

 

I get most of my books used, it's just cheaper that way, and easier to get a full set of a completed run. the only ongoing run I'm getting as it comes out is Batgirls. I'm really interested in the Harley and Ivy titles, though, and I just found out/think it's super awesome that Mariko Tamaki is the first female lead writer on Detective Comics

Anyway, I've spent way too much money over the past few days, I got a few of these at bookstores and the rest online and am waiting for them to arrive: DC's Bombshells, New 52 WW, Sensation Comics WW, All New Wolverine

 

I just subscribe to DC Universe Infinite and Marvel Unlimited.

I miss physical comics, but it’s just more economical cost-wise and space-wise.

 

Well, it can mean a lot of things depending on the character/title, but there’s specific things done with Wonder Woman lore that I do not like at all.

The key thing is making Diana the daughter of Zeus, which I believe still gets referenced in WW comics (like as recently as this year). Diana going from the child of a lesbian island with no father, into the offspring of mythology’s most famous rapist, is just such a wild mismanagement of her potential. The Azzarello run also introduced the idea that there were once male Amazons, which… no. And, Geoff Johns gave Diana a brother, named Jason. Johns also helped establish a warrior version of Diana (though a lot of that momentum got going thanks to Waid’s Kingdom Come); in the Johns Justice League, Diana says, unlike Batman & Superman, she takes care of her enemies by killing them, missing the whole rehabilitation angle that was in that character’s earliest stories by her creators.

As much as I find Tom King hit-or-miss, with potential to make some bad mistakes with Diana, I love that he’s said he’s emphasizing her using the lasso & hope he’ll be enough of a comics history nerd to make other similar good calls with the character.

 

DC's Bombshells is pretty fun so far. A bit fragmented but once it brings everyone together it's magic. Really cool reinterpretations of these characters

edit: I don't think Babs is in this (yet?) but I love this rendition of Alysia as a teen Batgirl

 

Signed up for Marvel Unlimited (again) and I feel like I never took full advantage of it before, what should I read?

I feel like I hear people say "choose a character you like and start there" but that feels so daunting.

I've read some of the Matt Fraction Hawkeye run and dug that, and I've read some of Hickman's Fantastic Four

 

I mean, "what to read by Marvel" is a fairly broad question, lol. Depends on what you're into, intrigued by, etc.

I'd say, if you dug Fraction Hawkeye but didn't finish it, you should probably finish it. And, the Hawkeye run by Kelly Thompson & Leonardo Romero (centered on Kate Bishop) is also quite good. Superior Foes of Spider-Man by Nick Spencer & Steve Lieber is another great series that'd be a natural next step after digging Fraction Hawkeye.

If you were into Hickman's work, House of X/Powers of X is a 12-issue story (split between two minis; surely Marvel Unlimited has 'em in a playlist together) he wrote as a dramatic step forward for the X-Men franchise that's still being played around with by other creators today. It's very good.

 

I know, way too broad of a question lol. There's just so much.