August 3rd, 2022
Caroline's Picks:
Demon Wars Iron Samurai #1 - Peach Momoko’s art shines the absolute brightest when she’s given the opportunity to do full pages, backgrounds and skylines not just character profiles. With her recent Marvel exclusive contract we’ve been getting lots of covers but getting her art for an entire series is just such a treat. I almost wish they’d stop having her do covers and let her shine on the interior for a series or two. This series is a follow up to her last Demon Days run, and a rather well done homage to the Civil War series as well. Mariko has entered into a new world and the residents of it have a problem that only she is able to solve thanks to her bloodline. The original body of the jaw armor she wears has awoken, and he is out for vengeance. He wants the last piece of his armor back, half of the demons agree with him and the other half side with Mariko. This begins the divide and becomes the central conflict this run is going to be built around. Like always I'm excited to see Momoko’s take on each of our cherished character and her versions of Iron Man and Captain America from this issue do not disappoint, and Black Panther!! I mean how can she possibly top that.
Golden Rage #1 - Listen there’s a Golden Girls quote on the back of the book, that alone was enough to convince me to pick it up. In the midst of a vicious attack one young woman is saved by… a granny? A bulked up granny at that. And she’s taken back to her island of other grannies to hide from the Red Hats and live out the rest of her life. She was deemed useless by society, an early menopause means she can’t produce children which means they have no use for her anymore. But here on the island with the grannies have offered her community and understanding. Together they can stay safe and live on, they understand how it feels to be left by society, to lose family and friends and be left to face the dangers of the world, but this time they’re together. This is definitely in the same wit and humor vein as Golden Girls and the old ladies as the main characters means you can’t help but feel that even more. This is definitely going to be one of the most fun reads of the week when each issue comes out. They’ve got me curious as to where our lady gang is headed and what's in store for them.
Poison Ivy #3 - Another month, another new issue of Poison Ivy for me to fawn over. This time around Pam is laying low, hiding out for a little bit until she thinks it's safe to move on again and initiate her next attack. So how about a little yard work to heal the soul? It's a nice little moment between Pam and the Green, how even though she’s lost almost all her trust and faith in humanity she still manages to find the one person, other than Harley, who can make her make exceptions to the rule. This issue definitely marks a solid halfway point in her story, she's begun making her turn towards the end and you can tell that something big is coming and soon. She keeps mentioning how limited her time is but I have a feeling that love will prevail in the end for her. Despite all her time in disagreement with humanity she’s always had the love for the planet behind her, and now that she has her love for Harley fighting for humanity too the internal battle is ready to come to head. Just three more issues to go and then hopefully she’s around some more.
Elle(s) #1 - I’m getting heavy Pixar vibes from this series and it is seriously just as good as one of their movies. The art immediately drew me in and made the flow from panel to panel is so easy to follow that it really does feel like reading fully formed storyboards or stills from an animated movie. Elle is the new girl in town, but she certainly isn’t struggling to make friends. She hit it off with some of her classmates right off the bat and they’ve spent the year having fun together. But Elle has some secrets locked inside, and they’re just waiting for the proper moment to come out and strike. It feels a little like Inside Out with all the different colored Elles just waiting to come into play. I’m very curious to see what all her different Elles are like and how her friends are going to react to each of them considering Elle has very obvious attitude changes when a different her takes over. How soon do we think until someone comes after her for this, or she gets herself into some trouble she can’t escape on her own?
Diarra's Picks:
Sword of Azrael #1 - Jean-Paul Valley has left Gotham, no longer the weapon The Order of Saint Dumas made him…well technically he is definitely still that guy, but he has joined a monastery in Europe in hopes the monks their can help him control Azrael. Jean-Paul finds the structured routine of the monks helpful, but today a commotion on the docks catches his attention. A fisherman offered to sail a woman to the shore, but once there he tries to extort her for more cash. Jean-Paul and the rest of the monks come to the woman’s rescue, but when she says she’s seeking Azrael, Jean-Paul doesn’t say a word. She claims to be on the run for her safety, but Jean-Paul doesn’t want any part of this. That night Vengeance (aka Bane’s baby girl) and her goons, attack the monastery. In hopes to save the monks who took him in, Jean-Paul turns himself in, but they aren’t here for him. Turns out she isn’t the damsel in distress we all thought! Oh, and there are also some creepy, bible accurate angels that are pretty cool.
Elle(s) #1 - You all know I love representation in media, and mental illness is just as important as culture. Moon Knight did okay, but most recently the Doom Patrol tv series has taken a really well researched/informed look at Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). I am always apprehensive when these sort of topics are being discussed, but they aren’t making Elle out to be some “crazy person”. It is clear this isn’t a new diagnosis for Elle, but she and her mom just moved, so no one really knows her background. Being a teen at a new school can be scary on it’s own, but she makes some new friends that want to help. DID can be triggered by stress so between mean girls at school, responsibilities at home, and school work piling up, Elle is on the edge…an edge she is pushed over during gym class, releasing an alter. Now it’s time for some payback in the form of no mercy volleyball! I can’t wait to see where this issue goes, and I hope they continue to handle this topic responsibly.
Golden Rage #1 - What on the surface appears to be a funny comic about old ladies fighting might be a metaphor for so much more. Today is Jay’s first day on the island…the island where they send women who have reached menopause. She is left on the beach with just the clothes on her back and is instantly met with chaos. Lucky for her, Rosie is on the beach and offers Jay some assistance. Once back at Rosie’s, Jay meets her roomies, Caroline and Lottie, and they give her the run down on the place. This is still a lot for Jay, she may have reached menopause but compared to others on the island, she was still a young woman…which is where things get heavy. There is this phenomenon in society where middle aged woman are just kind of ignored. Whether it’s because they aren’t seen as a threat or no one wants to fuck them anymore, but it’s definitely I thing. As someone who menstruates, I learned about peri-menopause last year on NPR! Menopause and menstruation have been seen as taboo subjects, but with movies like Turning Red and comics like this, hopefully they’ll be easier to discuss!
K's Picks:
The Closet #3 - Existential family drama and the overwhelming feeling of not having it all together, all wrapped up behind one tiny closet. Short, bitter, and all around a fantastic read, and there's a deep appreciation for this spin on the horror angle. I was very confident I understood The Closet and I'm happy my theories and feelings got turned on their head. Last we left off, we were following Thom, a father who's trying to be there for his son Jamie. Thom takes his son on this long cross-country trip to distract him from a vile-looking monster. With every mistake Thom made I was under the impression the weight and stress of his family would turn him into a monster. What made this so great is it's not that simple and saying I'm satisfied is a understatement. To sum it up, the horror didn't cone from some monster peering out of some dark corridor, the horror came from a dark cycle of trauma and negligence.
Flashpoint Beyond #4 - Time shenanigans, caped crusaders and the plot thickens! Batman Flashpoint has successfully created a complex timeline with no way of predicting how Wayne's story is going to end. Dexter Dent becoming a Robin figure was always in the cards but I never would have guessed how he would use these new dangerous skills. Fortunately for this world's Batman, Reverse Flash's corpse was found with strange gears and pieces of a clock within him? Now I'm completely throwing all theories out the window and enjoying the ride because every turn has a cool spin on what we know as Gotham. As for our Batman in question, Thomas Wayne has changed into a man obsessed with fixing time, and I wonder what sacrifices have to be made to "fix" everything?
Edge of Spider-Verse #1 - Finally, we get to see more variations of our friendly neighborhood webslinger, in the form of a T-rex? Ok, I love some goofy antics (I'm looking at you Peter Porker). I see a lot of really cool potential for a color coded Spider-Rex, super fun ideas here. A spider meteor comes crashing down and smacks a T-rex giving it powers of the classic arachnid hero. Why is there a giant web slinging T-Rex? Madame Web comes into play, enlisting a webhead in Anya Corazon, aka Araña. It's looking like a grand battle across the verse. Also, Spider-Man Noir!