Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose #55 ~ Raven Hex has stolen the book of forbidden magick - dark magic aplenty - and Tarot's on her sister's trail trying to work out what she's doing and (since in all likelihood it won't be good) stop her. I've noted before that there are basically three kinds of Tarot issue - comedy, philosophy, and adventure - and this is shaping up to be one of the big adventure ones, with Raven's trail leading Tarot first to the Witches' Market, which explains itself. All manner of weirdness is afoot there, challenging Tarot to pick her path through it and find the information she's looking for - and, just to keep her busy, an old plot point (good continuity) resurfaces unexpectedly and dramatically to stir up the mix. There's a little of the 'fan photo' thing that occurred heavily in the closing issue of the 'Witch Key' story, where page space is devoted to Balent's renditions of fans in cameo roles, but while the Witch Key instance was perhaps a bit indulgent (if heartwarming for fans), here it's used well, with each cameo character serving to help build the character of the Market as a whole, giving this new space where the story takes place a fuller sense of personality and nature. I'm also naturally curious to know what Raven's up to - she's always been and is still a dark witch, but though Tarot recalls her actions in the first issues of the title, she's not the same person she was then. She's still on the dark path, but there's lately been a sense of self-awareness about her that could make her more dangerous, or could make her a positive force in a sense, so I'm wondering if we'll eventually see Tarot trying to stop or, or perhaps help her in some way. She says early on, with a sense of sadness it seems, "Forgive me" - that doesn't strike me as the old Raven, who'd have been more likely to say "You'll see I'm right eventually." We'll see what Raven's up to in due course, though, but the ambiguity of her - not whether she's dark, but what form that darkness takes - gives this adventure a more layered, intriguing feel than usual.
Mercy Sparx #3 ~ I just don't understand the pacing of this comic at all. Issue #0 presented a witty, bitchy-but-likeable layabout devil and forced her into a mission she didn't want anything to do with. #1 skipped forward a year to when she was accustomed to her new job and doing it as a matter of routine, while her employers chuckled to themselves about how their plan was going. #2 was a rerun of #1. And now we find out that the employers are actually duping her and... uh, duh? The only surprise is that there apparently wasn't any effort put into deceiving her - Mercy is told to think about what happened (a demon giving her orders supposedly from heaven), and she thinks, and goes "Oh, yeah, that does seem suspicious." I'd assumed that some sort of convincing evidence had been given to her at some point - the idea that she could hunt down angels for a whole year on the say-so of a demon from heaven and never even question that just makes her look utterly moronic. Not in a thoughtless way, I mean actually mentally damaged. And having essentially wasted two issues on random battles that added very little to the storyline, there's nothing much behind the dramatic build-up now - Mercy has very little character, and since this issue seems to be trying to be serious, even the snarky humour from the earlier ones mostly deserts her. The art's still solid - though it seems a bit simplistic in a few places, and I'm wondering if it's being rushed - but there's just no character beneath it. One issue to go though, so I suppose I'll stick with it to see what happens.
Amber Atoms #2 ~ I want to like this, I really do - there's a lot to like about it. There's a classic pulp sci-fi adventure feel to it, Flash Gordon and so on, the story moves quickly, and the visual design is quite engaging, reminiscent of the sci-fantasy mix of something like Ythaq at times. The thing is, it's just not put together right. The storytelling is confusing, not because the necessary information isn't there, but because it's not presented clearly - Amber's tale is simple enough (although some elements of background seem to be kind of arbitrary), but the political subplot featuring the villain, or whoever he is, is a real chore to get through, with obtuse exposition masked in dialogue that tries to be characterful, but in fact falls flat and just serves to make it difficult to follow the story. The art's a little off too - faces and figures seem to get distorted too easily when perspective is played with, almost as if every third panel is trying to look like Aeon Flux, and there's a lack of motion in the action scenes that undercuts the excitement that should be present when fists and rayguns start flying.
Ubu Bubu #4 ~ This is just chaotic, but it's bloody hilarious. The storyline, in brief, is that there's this cat which contains a demon which seems to accidentally vomit up other demons, which then go on depraved murderous rampages (in this case, it eats people whole, as well as furniture and houses and so on), and then the cat demon and its friends don't really try to stop that from happening, but instead swear a lot and run for cover and generally be horrible to everyone. Also, Lucifer's around, stuck as an eight year old, shouting at everyone and waiting for the Rapture to occur. There's actually something of a coherent idea at the heart of it, once you get to the end, but really the attraction is that it's like those moments when something like South Park goes completely off the rails, being as deliberately vile, insulting, grotesque and cavalierly malevolent as possible for no other reason than because audacity is funny. The art is black and white and massively caricatured, but it suits the insane style of the writing, and all in all if you're the kind of person who can see thefunny side to rampant mayhem, destruction, and haywire bodily functions - which I admit I am, if it's done well - this is for you.
Hack/Slash #21 ~ The psychic old woman subplot takes the lead, finally reaching its apparent climax after simmering in the background for a while (and I don't just mean having Cassie arrested), while the cliffhanger from last issue... that just gets weird. I'm really intrigued to find out what the hell was going on there. Anyway, it's kind of a supervillain team-up as a couple of Cassie's former enemies join forces to mess with her life, while the love triangle (kind of, you know what I mean) between Cassie and Margaret and Vlad continues to be interesting and well written. The thing with that is, I just can't quite see where it's going to go - unless it's going to take the by-the-numbers route of Margaret tragically dying leaving Cassie and Vlad back at status quo, but that seems like the kind of obvious trick that Seeley would know better than to use; so far he's always managed to do something unexpected and impressive, rather than whatever you'd expect from a lesser comic, so I'm both hopeful and in the dark regarding what's coming up. Oh, and Gertrude's back, which is kind of awesome - I like her. Seeley throws in a brilliant motif this issue of popping everyone's website profiles to put a flag on their moods - it's things like this that elevate a comic from merely enjoyable to 'favourite' - and Emily Stone's art is lovely as always. And lastly, in her backup story this month, Lovebunny faces up to the fact that her rogue's gallery isn't that great, personified by the appearance of the Pimpanzee. I think nothing has made me giggle as much this week as "Bitch betta have my bananas!!"
Oracle: The Cure #1 ~ You know, there's a lot that's absolutely ridiculous about superhero comics. People flying, being invulnerable to bullets, talking to fish, doing kung fu in six-inch heels (believe me, no) - you have to grant a certain amount of suspension of disbelief just to enjoy the stories, and that's fine. But this idea about the anti-life equation being on the internet is something DC just need to drop and never refer to again, because it's stupid as hell, and more to the point, it doesn't add anything to the story: it doesn't make it more exciting, or more powerful, or more relevant, all it does is remind you, on every page, that whatever moron thought it up doesn't know how a computer works. And here, it means that the Calculator's not a hacker, he's a magician - he's got a magic spells that lets him make heads explode and crap. It's a shame, because that basic stupidity of concept undermines an otherwise interesting idea, a character study of Oracle, a woman who's been hurt and (due to recent events in Birds of Prey, which weren't that well-written either but let's not dwell on that) is feeling that hurt a lot right now. I'd really like to read a story about Oracle, and there are scenes here that would work, but just when you start to get interested, in comes the anti-life garbage, and you realise that the adversarial part of the story, the part where Oracle goes up against a villain, is just an insult to your intelligence, and it sabotages the whole issue. Shame, especially since the character-based scenes - especially Babs and her father having dinner, although that's far too brief really - are interesting, the art is attractive and full of personality, and Oracle even gets a sexy shower scene (I'm being generous and considering that a reminder that she's a many-faceted character with a sexual side, rather than just the writer deciding that she's got boobs so we should see them). But overall, y'know what, I'm really not interested in reading more of this one. Half of it's a good comic, but the other half's just... alienating, I guess. I don't enjoy it, and because it is what it is I don't want to enjoy it either.
Avengers: The Initiative featuring Reptil ~ I'm a bit leery of special one-shot issues - they can be a fun bonus to a regular series, but often by their stand-alone nature they can feel kind of inconsequential; it's the nature of ongoing comics, after all, that the running continuity is part of the attraction. And this one's starring a guy, although that's just my personal girl-bias talking. Luckily it does everything right, with a 38-page story that really packs in the storytelling - you get to the end of this issue and you really feel like you've seen a journey for Reptil, from beginning through ups and downs to the conclusion. With Christos Gage writing it's no surprise that the script is pitch-perfect for the ongoing series - but for the length this could be a regular Initiative issue no questions asked - and Steve Uy's art also feels at home; he's improving too, although there's still a way to go in ironing out the awkward proportions and two-dimensionality in figures here and there. Most important (for me, anyway), this issue isn't just about Reptil, it's about the Initiative, the organisation and the people who comprise it - Tigra gets the lion's share of attention (pardon the pun), with various others having their moments, including a decently substantial (and very welcome) look at Cloud 9. We see how these people do their jobs, what it means to them, how the nature of the Initiative affects them for good and for ill - it's absolutely worthwhile for any reader of the regular series to read this one-shot.
The Incredibles #1 ~ I enjoyed the movie, and let's be honest with one another, Helen Parr (Elastigirl) is just damned sexy for a cartoon, so I got this on a whim - even though I wasn't sure I'd really take to it. See, the movie isn't really my kind of story - family drama, basically - but what made me appreciate it was that it did comic book action really well on screen, better than any other comic book action movie I'd say. Transferring it back to comic form loses that impact - there's nothing impressive about a comic doing comic stuff, it's just what they do normally. So I don't think I'll get more issues, but if you enjoyed the movie for its own sake, without the qualifications I put on it, I think you ought to take a look at this.
New Avengers #51 ~ This is an interesting issue, but one which gave me a bit of a sense of unease about following the title as a whole. There's two basic storylines going: one is that Doctor Strange is looking for his successor as Sorcerer Supreme, and Dormammu wants his pawn The Hood to get the job, leading naturally to a showdown. The other is the rest of the Avengers sitting around discussing the future of the group and appointing a leader - which is not as dull as it sounds, exactly. Bendis is great at writing dialogue, so a bunch of people talking is fertile ground for him to really bring out his A-grade material. The problem is that not a lot is really done - the discussion goes into a huge derailment about Jessica and Spider-Man having gone to the same high school, which just leaves everyone looking confused, and the actual goal of the Avengers - which I'm guessing is to kick Norman Osborn's arse - sort of falls by the wayside. There's discontinuity too with Ms. Marvel, who's operating as usual here, while in her own title she's being a spy and not using her powers and having nothing to do with superheroes - I'm not sure how that'll fit in, but until and unless it does somehow it's difficult to imagine how she can really be an asset to this book. I'm not dropping the title, but I'm not exactly cemented on reading it either; we'll see where the next issue goes.
Ms. Marvel #37 ~ The big Ghazi Rashid storyline comes to a conclusion here with the final showdown playing out (no surprise, since that's where last issue left us), and it's left me feeling kind of odd. On the one hand, for its own sake this storyline has a lot of power to it - unlike most comics, which kind of exist in a never-ending 'now', it had a defined beginning (in the Air Force flashbacks), an evolution into the current situation, and a defined end, here. It's a good story, but I'm not sure it fits into the ongoing title the way it's meant to - by setting its origin way back before Carol was Ms. Marvel, and now drawing on that origin to bring about the finale, it kind of makes Ms. Marvel incidental, regardless of her (finally) hauling out her powers again here. Where this title started, with Carol wanting to be the best of the best - that's not what this is about, so there's a sense of missing continuity, almost an arbitrariness in doing this storyline here, and moving Carol around the way it does. Next up it's a new direction - for how long, who knows? - and I'm not entirely looking forward to it. But we'll see next month how it goes, I'm at least going to give it a shot.
Wonder Woman #30 ~ Maybe my worries with last issue were just to do with the pacing enforced by the 'Origins & Omens' thing shortening the main story - this issue splits its attention in the same way, yet I feel a lot happier about how the story's being presented. On the one half - the subplot, basically, still waiting to burst over Wonder Woman's head sometime in the future - Zeus crafts his champion, in an unsettling mirror of Diana's birth. The 'Olympians' war trophies and Zeus's proud boasts of honouring Athena's wishes contrast eerily with the quiet dignity of the actual Amazons, on the island of rest - even in their ceremonial formality, their innate dignity and humanity shines though. Meanwhile back on the mainland Cheetah has pushed Wonder Woman nastily, and Wonder Woman pushes back - knowing Etta's life is on the line, Diana doesn't skip any weapon in her arsenal, even harking back to her execution of Maxwell Lord. I wonder what the fallout will be this time - I was dissatisfied with how the Lord thing was handled, but Simone's in charge of Diana now, so I don't expect that mistake will be repeated. Steve Trevor also gets his part of the issue, in a genuinely touching cameo and throwback to the Wonder Woman of old (I've been watching episodes of the TV show on DVD). Overall, another strong showing from one of the most reliably top-quality comics around.
Guardians of the Galaxy #12 ~ The cover says it all - Phyla's got a new role, and while it serves to give her the confidence and strength to get out of the fix she and Drax have been dropped in, it's just dripping with foreboding. On the one hand - not really a surprise, since last issue basically laid it out waiting - she's finally found Heather, yay! But of course, you don't go into the afterlife and rescue someone without paying a price, and Phyla's now under a heavy debt that could be all kinds of awful when it comes time to pay up. Still, that's space opera for you. The return of Wendell Vaughn is news to me - there's an editor's note referencing Nova, which I don't read (although I've heard it's good), so perhaps that's where the explanation is, but I'm a little uneasy at what's apparently happened here, Phyla giving up the Quasar identity and the quantum bands. There was a lot of fuss when Wendell died and Phyla became Quasar, with lots of Wendell fans refusing to even give Phyla a chance - I'm worried that Marvel may have just given in to them rather than stick it out with Phyla. Still, this is a good issue - now we wait to see next month how the rest of the team is doing.
Justice League of America #31 ~ I'm not happy with this issue, to be blunt, but then its problems are those of JLA as a whole for the most part. Apparently Hal Jordan's gone off and formed a new Justice League on his own - which the editor's note says we'll read about later (which is stupid, since it's a necessary prelude to what's happening here; can't DC schedule anything right?) - and the rest of the League's big hitters are feeling ambivalent about the whole thing: Batman's dead (about the only thing to happen in Final Crisis that hasn't since been ignored), Superman's off to New Krypton or whatever, and Wonder Woman... actually there's no explanation for her not being interested (and she doesn't seem anything like how she is in her own title - in fact, cross-title continuity across the board is laughable here). Oh yeah, Martian Manhunter's dead too, but it's not like anyone cares. Black Canary whines a bit about Hal and Ollie, and decides that 'her' League didn't achieve anything and just disbands it. So that's that, huh? Honestly, I resent that - DC's produced a lacklustre title, with the opening 12 issues lethargic and ill-conceived, and everything since then meddled to hell by editorial interference, and now it's basically being laid on Black Canary? Go to hell. She's a better character than this, she deserved better; in the one moment of honesty this issue, where it's admitted that sexism still rules the superhero world, we can pretty much read in the truth that no-one would treat Superman or Batman like this. I'm looking forward to this new League, since if I recall it's going to have Batwoman in it, but the end of this current League has soured me on DC, and McDuffie as a writer.
