REVIEW: Vagrant Queen #1 by Magdalene Visaggio, Jason Smith, Harry Saxon, & Zakk Saam

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Vagrant Queen No. 1 is the latest book from Vault Comics, which has been on a hot streak this year (at least for my tastes) with Cult Classic, Deep Roots, and Wasted Space, in addition to its several excellent ongoing titles. One thing I’m fond of saying about Vault is that the publisher has one of the highest minimum bars for quality of any in the indie comics game.

Really, a high level of artistry and storytelling is the only major commonality between Vault’s disparate titles, although they are all generally built upon sci-fi or fantasy concepts (Cult Classic notwithstanding, as it has more of a nostalgia-driven horror bend). With this in mind, Vagrant Queen builds on that reputation, while giving the publisher a book that is just a bit different from its other recent efforts.

Vagrant Queen stands out in that it puts good ol’ fashioned quips and space opera in front of the capital B Big ideas that have driven many other recent Vault books, including Deep Roots and Wasted Space. The concept is still a high-minded one, with a tagline on its back cover that really lets you know what’s for sale here: “They took her throne. She told them to keep it.” This is a sci-fi action book about a deposed princess with no interest in her own privilege.

Smith and Saxon excel at conveying impact in Vagrant Queen #1.

Smith and Saxon excel at conveying impact in Vagrant Queen #1.

Writer Magdalene Visaggio first earned my trust earlier this year with her work on Eternity Girl, the breakout hit of DC’s soon-to-be-concluded Young Animal line, and this debut made me an immediate fan of both artist Jason Smith and colorist Harry Saxon. That team uses wide but tight, almost claustrophobic panels for its action sequences, ones that really emphasize points of contact to convey the force of impact. It’s a great and exciting effect.

Really, I’m always and forever down to watch wily heroes shoot at gaggles of soldiers as they hastily board a spaceship to make an escape. This one is a fast read, too, one you may return to the start of once you’re finished to take it in a second time. Visaggio, Smith, and the team have built an intriguing lead in to a world here, one that promises prison world’s, exploration of monarchical hypocrisy, and a perfectly-coiffed sinisterly-smiling bad guy who I want to see more of—I’ll definitely be back for a second issue.

Overall: Vagrant Queen #1 is an action-packed and quick debut for another exciting new series from Vault Comics, one that almost surgically familiarizes us with our characters and our world. It’s a bit lighter on big ideas than other recent Vault debuts, but the action and pacing works so well that it hardly matters. 7.8/10

Zack Quaintance is a career journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Q&A: Toren Chenault, Author of New Superhero Novel 'Mystic Man'

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Artwork by Jes Richardson from Cover Bistro

Artwork by Jes Richardson from Cover Bistro

We first met Toren Chenault on Twitter, where he was promoting a simple concept we liked: peace, love, and comics (also the name of his blog). Soon after, Toren started talking about a novel he planned to release this spring, a first building block in an extensive superhero universe. Dubbed Mystic Man after its protagonist, this novel is available online now via Amazon.

Everyone who works on our site (obviously) is a writer, and we all know how difficult it can be to finish short projects (let alone an entire book). Even though this his first published work, Toren has finished four. So, to inspire ourselves and our readers, we caught up with Toren to ask about his new book, his experience with self publishing, and what’s in store for his future.

Let’s do this!

Q: Where did you first get the idea for Mystic Man?
A: The idea has always been in my head, but the first time I really considered writing this story was after seeing Man of Steel. I love the film, and overall I enjoyed the things Zack Snyder tried to do with the character of Superman. Where he really missed the mark to me was in the realism of Superman. I just didn’t believe it. Maybe it’s the inherent white privilege I think Superman has, I’m not sure, but I saw what the film was trying to do—it just didn’t quite execute it. So, when I sat down afterward, I asked myself the question, “How would the world react to its first superhero being black?” That’s where the spark came from.

Q: What was your writing process like?
A: I wrote the majority of the book in college, and I got the writing done whenever I could. I actually had to take a year off from college because of financial issues. That lit a fire under me. I wrote a good chunk of the book then while working a full-time security job. When I got back in school, the book was basically done, but I still made time for revisions. It sounds cliche, but I just fit in writing wherever I could.

Q: You’re a comics fan...what made you pick the novel format as opposed to comic books?
A: Maybe there’s a fancier response to this question, but I don’t have one. I just love books and I want people to read more. I read comics growing up, but books like Ender’s Game, 1984, and Brave New World changed my life as a teen, really shaping the person I am now. Comics can do that too (and have for me) but books did it first. The way I wanted to tell this story works best with a book. But, I do plan on showing off Mystic Man’s world through comics someday, too.

Q: What are some lessons you learned from the writing/publishing process?
A: Mystic Man is actually the fourth book I’ve written. It’s just the first I’ve published. During this process, I learned the value of patience. I’m a patient guy, but it’s something all young writers struggle with—we want everything to be done now. I have a vision for Mystic Man, for my universe, and I get frustrated some days (most days) that people don’t know or care about what I have to say. And sometimes, that type of negativity can bleed into my work. Patience is key in novel writing or when building something as big as a universe. It’s going to take time, years in fact, but that’s okay. I learn more about it each day.

Q: Can you talk about self-publishing and what was it like navigating that space?
A: I didn’t publish the three other books I wrote, but I did try. I sent queries out to agents, publishers. Nobody gave a damn. I decided I wanted to be a writer and storyteller at age 17 once I read the last page of Ender's Game, and I put everything I had into getting better. Mystic Man isn’t the greatest novel ever written, but I think it’s time to show everyone how much I’ve grown since writing my first books. Wasting time with big publishers wasn’t productive, and honestly, this was liberating, navigating that space. I know the Ebook/Amazon market is oversaturated, but it was nice to handle everything myself and oversee everything about the book. If I didn’t self-publish, Mystic Man would be just another thing on my computer.

Q: What comes next for you and for the world you've created here?
A: More books. Mystic Man is the most powerful hero in my universe, but he isn’t the first. Other heroes have been around for a while and some are even in this first book. Next, I’ll be introducing the other heroes in my universe. They’re all different, but Mystic Man is the hero that inspires them to be better. The next hero readers will learn about is my personal favorite. Her name is Victoria Gonzalez, the Shade of San Juan. After her, we go to Africa, and meet former child soldier David Batu. He’s the DreamCrusher. They’re my Trinity so to speak. Each has different roots, different problems, and most importantly, different powers. I hope this continues to grow because like I said, I plan on showcasing these heroes in comics. It sounds like a lot, I know but I think it can be done. And it all starts with Mystic Man.

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Toren Chenault, a native of the Cincinnati area, currently lives in Michigan with his girlfriend. A graduate of Michigan State University, he is a long-time superhero fan who counts Captain Atom, Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Divinity, Nightwing, and XO Manowar among his favorite heroes. Mystic Man is his first book. Buy it now here.

REVIEW: Pestilence - A Story of Satan #1 by Frank Tieri, Oleg Okunev, Rob Schwager, & Marshall Dillon

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An upcoming cover by Tim Bradstreet for Pestilence: Story of Satan from AfterShock Comics.

An upcoming cover by Tim Bradstreet for Pestilence: Story of Satan from AfterShock Comics.

Pestilence: A Story of Satan #1 marks the start of the second volume of an ongoing story in which the bubonic plague, aka The Black Death, of the late 14th Century was actually mankind’s first brush with zombies. Church and religion factor into its plot, as do the political power structures associated with those institutions. To up the stakes this time around, the antagonist is now Satan. So yes, there is quite a bit going on here narratively.

Make no mistake though, in spite of the historic and theological trappings, the core of this book is good ol’ fashioned zombie killing and survivalism, and the creative team is well aware. The plot constructs are mostly used as an interesting lens to filter the tropes of zombie horror through, to create a different set of circumstances for readers to imagine themselves in and contemplate what they would do if faced with the same odds, which to me is the core of any good zombie story.

And as with most zombie stories, there’s also plenty of cheese here. Satan is grotesquely and perfectly rendered by Okunev and Schwager’s artistry, while simultaneously being portrayed by Tieri’s script as a lord of fire and brimstone mixed with that one friend you don’t call much anymore because he swears around your kids, brags about the deal he got on his whatever, and punches you in the arm as a greeting. Satan is terrifying but also the absolute worst.

For example...WARNING, profane language...in the space of two pages, Satan says the following: “...stupid mortal c**ts…” “...you fleshbag t*at…” and “Shut the f*ck up!” The profanity works though, and in this book there is over-the-top fun on nearly every page. Tieri also does a great job nailing his plot twists and ending, making for a quick and suspenseful read that does its duty with exposition while also peaking at its end, thereby enticing anyone who enjoyed this first issue back for another installment.

In a larger context, this book fits nicely with the rest of its publisher’s line. It is essentially an action-packed, B movie-esque horror alternative that compliments AfterShock Comics’ more literary and mysterious takes on fear, specifically newer books like A Walk Through Hell and Her Infernal Descent (both of which I love). It is, to be blunt, one hell of a bloody good time (sorry!).

Overall: I recommended this book for fans of both alternate takes on history and of horror stories co-mingled with theology, and I suspect it's also well worth a look for fans of the zombie genre. Pestilence: A Story of Satan #1 is an uncouth variation of standard zombie tropes made more interesting by its continued secret history premise. 7.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

May 2018 New Comic Discoveries: Funny Books

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Humor in any medium is delicate, but especially so in novels or comics, where a joke must literally be spelled out. These mediums provide precious little help from timing, delivery, or any other human connection to help audiences sympathize with a joke’s teller. Also, as with any narrative, one bad joke early might sour a reader to all that follows. Humor, simply put, is risky.

For those reasons, I don’t often read humor comics. No Deadpool or Harley Quinn for me, and I often shrug when well-meaning friends recommend the genre. My track record with being glad that I read a humor comic is not great. I do, however, fancy myself a relentless optimist (as it pertains to comics, anyway), and so here I am with a trio of new comics discoveries for May that all have to do with humor.

If I were a funnier writer, I might try a joke here, but I know my limitations so I will instead end while still slightly ahead...onward!

Rock Candy Mountain #1 - #4 by Kyle Starks & Chris Schweizer

This book (which was recommended to me by Dan Grotes of WMQ Comics, by way of Will Nevin) is nothing short of a revelation, one of the funniest and most straight-up entertaining comics I’ve read in some time. Set in 1948, Rock Candy Mountain is a story of a devils and hobos and one-on-one combat, and it’s absolutely hilarious.

Rock Candy Mountain.

Rock Candy Mountain.

The story opens on a guy who is clearly the devil (we can tell because he has horns and is also red) literally shredding a ring of hobos. Satan is in search of a man named Jackson. When he’s done with the shredding, he realizes he’s left none alive to interrogate, remarking to himself, “I certainly goofed that one.” We eventually meet Jackson, as well as his new friend Pomona Slim, a failed actor trying to get home from Hollywood (by way of Pomona), who becomes the readers' window into 1948 hobo-dom. And we’re off to the absurd races from there. The thing I like most about Rock Candy Mountain, however, is how if you stripped the humor away, there would still be a compelling story at the core.

Jackson, what a guy.

Jackson, what a guy.

You can tell that Kyle Starks, the auteur who both writes and draws here, has put a substantial amount of both research and thought into this work. The world of post-war train jumping and drifting is well realized, and the driving plot of a man who sold his soul to the devil and is trying to find paradise for his family before it comes due is relatable, to be sure. The real heart of this story, though, is the buddy dynamic between hirsute, inscrutable Jackson and kind-but-unlucky Pomona.

 

 

Overall: Rock Candy Mountain's clever wit comes from a big-hearted place, one that reminds us of how at its best this medium can be fun and poignant. This book’s sensibilities could be described as grown up Calvin and Hobbes with way more hobos (plus some tramps, because as Starks points out, there’s a difference).

Punks Not Dead #1 - #4 by David Barnett & Martin Simmonds

Punks Not Dead, one of the vanguard of ex-Vertigo editor Shelly Bond’s new IDW imprint Black Crown—is a supernatural coming-of-age story that’s brimming with dry British wit. The concept itself is amusing: schlubby teen Fergie finds himself tethered to the ghost of deceased Sex Pistol’s bass player/vocalist Sid Vicious. Hijinx ensue.

Full disclosure: I went through high school lost in punk rock and comics (and later skating and hip hop), so I’m predisposed to like this book, although it’s been a couple decades since I was proudly into punk rocking. This, however, is a smartly-written book that thrives when it hits its greatest heights of bizarre, such as any scene involving Britain’s Department of Extra-Usual Affairs, or when the ghost and Fergie try to separate from each other.

From Punks Not Dead #4

From Punks Not Dead #4

Writer David Barnett and artist Martin Simmonds embrace the dynamics in this book with a reckless abandon, interlacing them with the aforementioned witty remarks, which makes a concept that could come off as cliched read incredibly charming (side note, I seriously considered putting Tini Howard and the legendary Gilbert Hernandez’s Assassinistas on this list, which expertly blends femme fatale badassery with a decades-long family drama, but I may write in greater length about that book in the future, so I kept that in my pocket).

Overall: There’s an odd universality to this ghost story, one that anyone who has turned to music during times of loneliness and alienation will surely relate to.

Great line: “This smells of something a bit more than Teen Spirit.”

Galactic Junk Squad #1 by David Moses LeNoir

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Galactic Junk Squad has an old school, Stan Lee enthusiasm to it, embracing the high science fiction concepts of the far cosmos as well as alliterative exclamations in equal part. This is evident from the early pages, wherein the artist’s gaze pulls us through interstellar landscapes as we slowly become aware of two voices arguing, two bumbling brothers, as it were.

Their tone soon becomes meta, as they debate their own character names and an editor’s note lets us know time in this world is measured by how long it takes between issues. Galactic Junk Squad soon reveals itself to be a family drama in which the members of the family look like Kirby-esque celestial beings. The family has been tasked with collecting artifacts of the past by a so-far-unseen power.

More importantly, though it’s a high-minded and hilarious story, one rich with sitcom tropes on top of a grittier version of Kirby’s New Gods.

Overall: Galactic Junk Squad is one of those rare and fantastic comics wherein you can almost feel writer/artist David Moses LeNoir having fun, the sort of fun that you can’t help joining as a reader. This is a witty book with a true reverence for the comic tradition that it is apart of, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Vampironica #2 by Greg Smallwood & Meg Smallwood

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Vampironica No. 1 was essentially just a brief introduction to Archie Comics’ latest horror book. It was a fast and good-looking comic, one that got the horror started, laid on some heavily eerie ambiance, turned Veronica Lodge into the titular Vampironica, and gave all of us readers some of Greg Smallwood’s creeptacular imagery to feast our eyeballs on (much like Vampironica feasted on supple necks). But that first issue wasn’t a substantial read, and, truth be told, it didn’t really have to be. It was a hook and that was just fine.

Now, fast-forward a couple months (there have been delays), and here we are at Vampironica No. 2, which does a solid-to-very-good job of filling in any expository blanks left by its predecessor, questions like who turned Veronica, what's this story going to be about, and exactly what sort of vampire will she be? Vampironica No. 2, to put it simply, delivers missing context, while also upping the ante by throwing in usual Riverdale melodrama (of the Archie-Betty-Veronica variety, of course), plus an unexpected twist.

This issue strikes an excellent middle ground between horror and camp, the exact tone these Archie horror books need to hit in order to work best. Greg and Meg Smallwood (who joins her husband here for a story by credit) are clearly fans of both Archie and horror, and they seem to lean into what they're inner fans would like to see.

I won’t spoil it, but there is one particularly campy and grotesque dream sequence about midway through the book that let me know the Smallwoods were in full control, and that we as readers/Archie horror fans could just sit back and trust in the upcoming bloody fun.

Smallwood draws a great OMG! face.

Smallwood draws a great OMG! face.

Smallwood’s art is, of course, excellent throughout, but he especially excels with Veronica’s facial expressions, which run the usual Veronica gamut from OMG what am I even doing in Riverdale I’m a Lodge! to very charming and sweet. As far as the story goes, this is also a deceptively-dense script, one driven by three distinct types of storytelling: Riverdale, horror, and mythology.

By the time we reach our end, we’ve gotten key ingredients of our hero’s journey: Veronica has a mentor for the threshold she’s crossed, and we as an audience have a villain to watch machinate against her. This issue basically assures us that the book will go to some delightfully-dark places, made even livelier by Smallwood’s strong artwork.

Overall: Vampironica No. 2 delivers any and all missing context that the first issue that was withheld in favor of stylish brevity. Smallwood’s artwork is strong and creepy as ever, and the Smallwood’s story shows not just an excellent grasp of Riverdale, but that they might just have a bit more planned than Vampironica biting a bloody path through high school. 7.7/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Quantum and Woody! (2017) #6 by Eliot Rahal, Francis Portela, Andrew Dalhouse, & Dave Sharpe

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There may be a high intimidation factor to Quantum and Woody! #6 for some. It’s billed in part as a tie-in to Harbinger Wars 2, it’s six issues into a run, and it’s the first issue by a new creative team. Any of those things might discourage a new reader from picking up this book, but none of them should. Quantum and Woody! #6 is a simple but surprisingly emotional comic book that requires no prior knowledge of the characters, preceding issues, or even the Valiant Universe.

I’ve read Quantum and Woody! sporadically, depending on the creative team, but I’d caught all of this run from Daniel Kibblesmith and Kano. I also came into this book previously familiar with writer Eliot Rahal, whose own career is not short on humor writing, as he used to do stand-up comedy and also co-wrote an amusing The Paybacks book with Donny Cates. Kibblesmith is a blast on Twitter and his run on this book conveyed his humor well. That’s all a way of saying I came into this book maybe expecting Rahal to try to out-joke him, but what I found was a much richer reading experience.

Instead, this issue is a rare superhero comic wherein I could see myself very clearly facing the same predicament as the heroes: a burning building filled with imperiled people that the heroes as able-bodied passerbys (without their powers for a reason unbeknownst to them) felt obligated to help. No spoilers (always and forever), but Quantum and Woody have to make difficult choices, take risks, and ultimately sacrifice, leaning on each other for support.

See? Like I said, simple but surprisingly emotional. Much credit is due to the scope of Rahal’s script, which doesn’t ever needlessly exaggerate the situation or odds Quantum and Woody face. Francis Portela’s art (with colors by Andrew Dalhouse and lettering by Dave Sharpe) is also on point. Valiant in recent years has at times seemed to have a house style that favors full room perspectives and intricate detail, and Portela deploys it here expertly, also doing a great job of capturing the calamity that eventually befalls the heroes.

This arc stands to be brief—just this issue plus next month’s—but Rahal will be staying on the book longer, eventually teaming with Joe Eisma (who’s done some great work for Archie Comics of late) through the end of the summer at least. This issue stands alone really well, but Rahal also captures a few small moments that would seem to strongly indicate he has an expert grasp on the tentative, brotherly dynamic that drives Quantum and Woody! I for one will be following this title during his tenure to see where else he takes it.

Overall: Despite being six issues into a run and billed as a tie-in to Valiant’s big summer event, this issue of Quantum and Woody! stands well on its own as a simple but surprisingly emotional tale of self-sacrifice and heroism. 9.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

A Handy Guide for DC's Big comiXology Memorial Day Sale

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Midnighter Vol. 1 is one of our top picks, available for $5.99.

Midnighter Vol. 1 is one of our top picks, available for $5.99.

I am scared to count how much money I’ve spent on DC’s Memorial Day Sale on comiXology, which runs through Monday. Figuring out my budget is a problem for Next Month Me. I also suspect I’m not done yet and I’ll end up making more last minute purchases as the weekend winds down.

To that end, I’d like to enable all of you to spend money along with me. This is America, you know. All told there are 1,000 titles, most of which are marked down to $5.99 while a few others to $4.99. Deciding what to buy can be a bit overwhelming, which is why I’ve compiled this Handy Guide for Last Minute DC comiXology Memorial Day Sale Shopping. Behold!

Below you will find five categories: my top 10 overall picks, a list of significant runs to invest in, some essential classics it’s nice to have, the books that offer the biggest savings, and a quick list of all the $4.99 books.

Hope you find this helpful, and feel free to hit me up on Twitter to let me know what you bought!

Top 10 Overall Picks

This list skews toward books I’ve perceived as underrated or under-discussed recently, with my hope being readers will find new discoveries. I could have put All-Star Superman or Watchmen here, but how helpful would that be, right?

1. The Flintstones Vols. 1 & 2
The Flintstones by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh is one of the sharpest comic book satires ever, commenting on everything from the military-industrial complex to artistic struggles to consumerism. And it’s somehow also about The Flintstones. It takes a leap of faith, but if some or any of what I described sounds appealing, I highly recommend doing it. Total Price: $11.98

2. The Wild Storm Vol. 1
Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt are doing something ambitious and special with this new take on the old Wildstorm universe and characters, which is fresh and stands on its own yet brimming with plenty of nods to long-time readers. The sister title, Wild Storm: Michael Cray by Bryan Edward Hill and N. Steven Harris, is just as good (but, alas, not on sale). Total Price: $5.99

3. Green Arrow: Rebirth Vols. 1, 2, 3, & 4
I know, I know...this book has already gotten much attention, but I just had to include Benjamin Percy’s Rebirth Green Arrow run here. If you want to know why I like it so much, you can find that here. Total Price: $23.96

4. The Omega Men: The End is Here
Before Tom King was Mister Miracle Tom King, or Batman Tom King, or even The Vision Tom King, he was The Omega Men Tom King. This is the book that first brought one of the best current writers to my attention. If you’ve enjoyed his high-profile recent work, you’ll surely appreciate this too, like watching a rookie have a breakout game in sports. Total Price: $5.99

5. Cassandra Cain as Batgirl Vols. 1, 2, & 3
Just like Wally West is always and forever my Flash, Cassandra Cain is my Batgirl. She was, after all, in the costume when I read my first Batgirl comics. If you liked her in James Tynion’s recently-concluded Detective Comics run, you’ll like this book, too. Total Price: $17.97

6. New Super Man Vols. 1 & 2
This title is ending soon, but Gene Luen Yang’s New Super Man—a Chinese teenager genetically enhanced by his government—has been a highlight of DC’s Rebirth. It’s also one of the few titles from the initiative that takes refreshing risks rather than leaning on foundations of long-established characters. Total Price: $11.98

7. Midnighter Vols. 1 & 2 & Midnighter & Apollo Vol. 1
Midnighter, which starts in the New 52 and extends into Rebirth with the six-issue mini Midnighter & Apollo, is the book that first brought Steve Orlando to my attention. It’s complete with faith in the reader and nuanced character beats that make Orlando’s most recent work—Justice League of America and Crude—so favorably-reviewed on our site. Total Price: $17.97

8. Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes
There is a surprising amount of commentary about nationalism in this book (planetism, technically) that feels searingly relevant today. If you’re dying for the Legion to return to the post-Rebirth DCU, this quick read might just tide you over. Total Price: $5.99

9. Swamp Thing (2016)
The last few months of the New 52/DC You were a mess, as the publisher was aggressively looking to the future. Swamp Thing (2016), however, was a standout, and it also ended up being one of the last stories the character’s creator, Len Wein, ever told. Total Price: $5.99

10. Batman: New Gotham Vols. 1 & 2
I may have nostalgia bias here, seeing as this collects the first run of Detective Comics I read as a kid, but I’ve always thought Greg Rucka’s time on the title was underrated. It’s set in the aftermath of No Man’s Land, and it does a great job of depicting the central tenants of Batman’s world, including Bruce Wayne, Gotham City, and the GCPD. Total Price: $11.98

All Star-Superman is essential reading.

All Star-Superman is essential reading.

7 Essential Classics

This section is dedicated to books that all comic fans should own. I have many of these in hardcopy—and, as always, I advise you to support your local comic shop/community by purchasing in that format, too—but it doesn’t hurt to have digital copies, you know, in case you need to clean panel shots to post on Twitter.

  • All-Star Superman - $4.99
  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - $5.99
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths - $5.99
  • Kingdom Come - $4.99
  • Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? - $5.99
  • Watchmen - $4.99
  • Wonder Woman by George Perez Vols. 1 & 2 - $11.98 Total

 

8 Significant Runs to Invest In

The section above is mostly standalone books, so let’s look now at some of the best runs in this sale, which range in size from three volumes to as many as nine.

  • Aquaman (by Geoff Johns) Vols. 1, 2, 3, & 4 - $23.96
  • Batman (by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo) Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 - $53.91
  • Deathstroke: Rebirth Vols. 1, 2, & 3 - $17.97
  • Green Arrow Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 - $53.91
  • JLA Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 - $53.91
  • Justice League Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 - $47.92
  • New Teen Titans Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & JC - $53.91
  • Secret Six Vols. 1, 2, 3, & 4 - $23.96 & New 52 Secret Six Vols. 1 & 2 - $11.98

All the Biggest Savings

These books cost $29.99 or more but have been marked down for this sale to $5.99.

  • Aquaman: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Aquaman: The Atlantis Chronicles $34.99
  • Batgirl: A Celebration of 50 Years $29.99
  • Batman by Azzarello and Risso $29.99
  • Batman: Eternal Vol. 1 $29.99
  • Batman: Eternal Vol. 2 $29.99
  • Batman: Eternal Vol. 3 $29.99
  • Batman: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Batman: Ego and Other Tails $29.99
  • Batman: War Games Book 2 $29.99
  • Catwoman: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • DC Universe of John Byrne $29.99
  • DC Universe of Mike Mignola $29.99
  • DC: New Frontier $39.99
  • Green Arrow by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino Deluxe Edition $39.99
  • Green Arrow: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Justice League of America: The Nail $29.99
  • Justice Society of America: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Lex Luthor: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Lois Lane: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Midnighter: The Complete Wildstorm Series $29.99
  • Shazam! A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Superboy & The Legion of Superheroes Vol. 1 $34.99
  • Superman: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Superman: Doomed $39.99
  • Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder $39.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin $29.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino $34.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Don Newton $29.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan Vol. 1 $29.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan Vol. 2 $29.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway Vol. 1 $34.99
  • Tales of the Batman: JH Williams III $34.99
  • Tales of the Batman: Len Wein $34.99
  • Teen Titans: A Celebration of 50 Years $29.99
  • The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • The Multiversity Deluxe Edition $34.99
  • The New 52: Futures End Vol. 1 $29.99
  • Wonder Woman by John Byrne Vol. 1 $29.99
  • Wonder Woman: A Celebration of 75 Years $29.99
  • Zatana by Paul Dini $29.99

All the $4.99 Books

If $5.99 still sounds too rich for your blood, worry not! A handful of books have been marked down even lower, and most of them are classics like All Star Superman, Batman: Hush, Kingdom Come, and Watchmen.

Kingdom Come is on sale for $4.99.

Kingdom Come is on sale for $4.99.

  • All Star Superman $4.99
  • Aquaman by Geoff Johns Vol. 1 $4.99
  • Batman: Hush $4.99
  • Batman/The Flash: The Button: $4.99
  • Doom Patrol Vol. 1 $4.99
  • Flashpoint $4.99
  • Green Arrow: The Archer’s Quest $4.99
  • JSA by Geoff Johns Book 1 $4.99
  • Justice League New 52 Vol. 1 $4.99
  • Kingdom Come $4.99
  • Planetary Book 1 $4.99
  • Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Book One $4.99
  • The Legion by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning $4.99
  • Watchmen $4.99
  • Wonder Woman by Brian Azzareto Vol. 1 $4.99
  • Zatana by Paul Dini $4.99

 

That’s it for our guide. I’m sure a good many of you have already poked around, but Hopefully, our little list gave you some new ideas. I know writing it motivated me to spend more money (not like that’s hard with comics—I have a problem).

Anyway, enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, and we’ll see you next week for some great reviews of this week’s books, plus a list of New Comic Discoveries for May 2018 and maybe some other content if an idea strikes our fancy.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Marvel Ends Its 18-Year Brian Michael Bender (Sorry)

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Marvel Comics is waking up today, hungover after an 18-year Brian Michael Bender (sorry, couldn’t help it). Just imagine, there Marvel is in NYC, blinds drawn and AC up, shaking off cobwebs and trying to piece together the fog. It started innocently enough, a few rounds of a modern take on Spider-Man, then there was a Daredevil run everyone seemed to love, chased by Jessica Jones in Alias (which brought the Bender to a sloppy place in a good way), and, finally, shots of Avengers, X-Men, and Guardians of the Galaxy, plus an Iron Man nightcap.

Now, here we are.

Okay, Bender gimmick over. Thanks for indulging me. Anyway, Brian Michael Bendis’ 18-year tenure as a Marvel-exclusive writer ended Wednesday with Invincible Iron Man #600. For comic fans, it’s not that sad, mostly because next week Bendis will be back with Man of Steel #1 for DC. But for Marvel, the publisher loses a defining voice, a writer who co-created some of its best new characters in years (Miles Morales, Jessica Jones), who enticed talented friends to work there (Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue DeConnick, plus artists), and whose contributions to movies and TV are evident to anyone deeply-versed in his work.

Yes, Bendis is gone and Marvel has a new reality. Online there has been a bit of negative chatter (shocker!), with some folks saying Bendis will wreck Superman while others insist Marvel has lost all its big talent. I’m a perpetual optimist, admittedly, but I don’t think either of those things are true and here’s why.

My official take is that in a deadline-driven business like corporate superhero comics, it’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day, to only see right in front of your cursor, to lose the creative joy central to storytelling. I’ve spent the past decade writing for three media companies, producing content for newspapers, websites, magazines. Believe me, I know.

Was Bendis burned out at Marvel? He’s a consummate pro and would never say, but all parties seem to realize that Civil War II (2016), which he helmed, was a bit of a dud, and some of his mid-tenure runs at Marvel—X-Men and Guardians—aren’t cited by many as favorites. To my outside eyes, it looked like Bendis over-extended himself in late 2015 and well into 2016, trying to fill the MASSIVE gap left by Jonathan Hickman. Then in the wake of criticism, he stepped his game up and put out some brief-but-excellent work for the publisher, including Infamous Iron Man, The Defenders, and another go around on Jessica Jones.

Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Michael Bendis

Then there’s Marvel. Was it leaning on Bendis? Knowing full-well sales of his books would probably always be stable? Was having ol’ Bendis a crutch? Maybe so. But that said, Bendis departure comes amid a wave of similar exits, including Fraction, DeConnick, Rick Remender, Jonathan Hickman, Kieron Gillen (almost), and Jeff Lemire (almost again). This has all forced Marvel to elevate newer writers perhaps faster than it otherwise would have.

To that end, the whole bye-bye Bendis business has resulted in a spike in creativity, like for example when Donny Cates got Thanos just before Infinity War and told one of my all-time favorite stories with the character, Thanos Wins. It’s led to Kelly Thompson’s relationship-defining mini-series Rogue and Gambit, and to Matthew Rosenberg writing Phoenix Resurrection, firmly in the top tier of X-Men stories of recent years. Oh, and Tom Taylor has turned X-Men: Red into the best mutant book I can remember.  

Going back to the goofy bender metaphor from my lede, it’s a bit like a newly-sober drunk making major life changes because they skimmed rock bottom.

And there’s a lot to like at Marvel now. Here’s a quick rundown of five writers at Marvel I’m looking forward to reading (alphabetically):

  1. Dan Slott on Fantastic Four: I know, Slott is polarizing and (I’ve been told) had some poor moments on social media, but his take on Silver Surfer with Mike Allred is among my all-time favorite superhero stories. I hope he brings the same deeply-personal sensibilities to the first family.

  2. All Things Donny Cates: I loved what Donny Cates did with both Thanos and Doctor Strange, and the new books on his docket look great too, especially the Cosmic Ghost Rider, which grew from Thanos Wins.

  3. More Jason Aaron: Jason Aaron’s Thor run is now Marvel’s best uninterrupted take on any character, and Marvel has now given Aaron the keys to its biggest franchise, The Avengers. More about why I like that here.

  4. Kelly Thompson on West Coast Avengers: I live in California (Sacramento, the most underrated city in that state), and I know the sensibilities here well. The aesthetic of this book and the team lineup is right in line with them, somewhere between madcap fun and social responsibility. Her voice is also perfect. So, big expectations for her here.

  5. Ta-Nehisi Coates on Captain America: This seems like a critical and commercial home run. I’ve had comics out when non-comic guests come over, and Coates' Black Panther is the only one that’s sparked conversation. His name alone is huge. Also, given current social and political climates in the country, Coates as a Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction writer should have a relevant and important take on a character long functioning as an analog for the nation, its values, or both.

In terms of Bendis’ future, look—I’ve been reading Bendis’ work since I was 15 and Ultimate Spider-Man #1 hit my local shop with a take on the character I was desperate for then...a modern take that reflected my world. As I went to college, got a job, and met my wife, I kept up with this title throughout, watching Bendis grow as a writer, too. Spider-Man #240 was emotional for me, but the sting was short-lived because I’m following Bendis to his new publisher.

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He’s written two teasers for Superman so far, which put together total roughly one issue. I liked the fight scene in Action Comics #1000. It had a modern yet classic feel to it, as his best Ultimate Spider-Man work did. I was lukewarm on his depiction of the Daily Planet. My wife and I work in print media (I know, scary), and his newsroom was anachronistic, which took me out of the story. It’s nit picky, and your mileage may vary. There’s also been clamoring online for him to clarify what his plans for Lois Lane (one of my favorite characters in comics). He seems to be dancing around clarifying a narrative twist in interviews. So, here’s hoping months from now we hardly remember this concern.

Overall, I’m bullish on Bendis at DC. I expect the new universe to challenge and rejuvenate him. He may not convert his harshest critics, but I think fans who keep an open mind will find much to appreciate, although isn’t that always the case with comics?

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

ADVANCED REVIEW: Harbinger Wars 2 #1 by Matt Kindt, Tomas Giorello, & Diego Rodriguez

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I’ve always thought of Harbinger as Valiant’s answer to X-Men, which is, admittedly, a fairly obvious comparison to draw. Harbinger Wars 2 #1, however, was actually a really nice reminder that this franchise’s significantly more under-the-radar status allows it a degree of agility the now-hulking X-Men behemoth no longer has, and it uses that degree expertly in this issue to play upon current societal woes and concerns. Essentially, the first part of this summer’s Harbinger Wars 2 event is a poignant and engaging story, involving nearly all of Valiant’s best characters (where’s the Eternal Warrior at these days, btw?).

As it should. The Harbinger concept to me is the center of Valiant’s universe (or was until Divinity showed up, anyway), and this event is poised to treat it as such. It’s yet another tale of superheros turning against each, and as common as that has become these days, doing it convincingly is still tricky business. Without giving anything away, I’ll say this book handles it better than most in recent memory, rich as it with solid and believable motivations for the involved heroes to take their respective sides. The action of the shadowy government types here are a little harder to fathom, as they almost always are, but I digress.

But let’s keep it abstract, seeing as this is an advanced review (this book drops May 30) and I don’t go in for spoilers. Let’s get away from details and talk about the commentary. In a sense, the themes in Matt Kindt’s script are nothing we haven’t seen done or attempted by X-Men several times over the years: an outcast population, children on the run because of who they are, a government acting out of fear, a debate over what constitutes proper methods of resistance.

Kindt, however, is an incredibly nuanced writer who doesn’t need to hit us over the end with any of that to make this story compelling. He puts all those questions and themes in here seemingly as a mechanism for understanding the reasons our characters have for fighting, then he gives them all plans that start to pull them together. Each page pulls our opposed characters closer, revealing more about their motivations as it does so and setting the stage for a massive rumble to come.

There’s a cinematic quality to this story, in both its structure and scope, as well as in the way characters from various Valiant franchises are introduced, presented in big splashy panels as if they were leaving room for an applause break. Tomas Giorello hits the artwork here out of the park, as he has during previous collaborations with Kindt in Valiant’s best ongoing right now, XO Manowar.

Overall: Come for the incredibly tense and entertaining story, stay for the subtle commentary on our times—exactly as a book about outcasts persecuted by vast governmental power structures should be. This issue is all rising action, bringing in power players and stopping just short of slamming together. I can’t wait for No. 2. 9.3/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Dark Horse Comics’ Black Hammer and Ether: Two Beautiful Stories of Sacrifice

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From Ether by Matt Kindt and David Rubin.

From Ether by Matt Kindt and David Rubin.

I recently read one of the best graphic stories to come my way in some time: Ether Vol. 1 by writer Matt Kindt and artist David Rubin. It was about a man who discovers a scientific realm beyond our own, seemingly inhabited by humanity’s notions of mythology. It is a land of living beings, all of whom firmly believe in magic. Our protagonist begins to visit the land and use his knowledge of science to debunk those beliefs and solve crimes there.

This land of mythology is so beautifully-rendered by Rubin. Many panels in this story could stand on their own as independent works of art. Ether, however, is not unique in this way, as many comics these days have a similarly-striking and imaginative visual quality (this is to take nothing away from Ether). Where Ether really stands apart is through the emotional depth Rubin and Kindt aspire to with its story.

That magical land—known to our characters as the titular Ether—moves through time differently, with months in the real world passing for every minute one spends there. When our protagonist first discovers it and begins to visit, he is happily married with a young family. Each of his visits, however, progresses the lives of his wife and daughters by several years past his own. He becomes addicted, their lives slip away from him—heartbreak.

I read this as a metaphor for the plight of anyone who is similarly driven, and as Kindt and Rubin are artists, I presume this metaphor was drawn through their own time lost at the keyboard or the drawing table, travelling through imaginative worlds grown from their own ideas as their families went on without them. As a writer myself, this gave the book—which stands on its own wonderfully as an engaging story rife with heroes and villains and mystery—a haunting undertow as I read, bringing me to tears somewhere during the fourth chapter.

That metaphor, while gorgeous, is not what this piece is about. I assume I’m far from the only one to pick up on it, as critically lauded as Ether has been in comics circles. What I want to unpack today is how another successful Dark Horse Comics property—Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart—could be looked at as a companion piece to Ether, another side of the same artistic sacrifice coin.

Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart. 

Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart. 

Whereas Ether examines the loss of one’s family as a price for spending life engrossed in work, Black Hammer depicts a different sort of creative sacrifice, one that has to do with being lost in the mystique of a craft, a professional culture, a niche artistic medium driven by nostalgia. Black Hammer is the story of a group of superheroes, all of whom are analogs for various characters from the Silver Age of comics. These heroes face down a global threat and find themselves confined to a mysterious farm for their troubles, lost to the world they were defending and stuck in a small rural area that doesn’t seem to be on any map.

It is, quite clearly, a paean by Lemire, Ormston, and Stewart to superhero comics, which all of them have spent parts of their careers within. It’s more than just a reimagining of a classic superhero mythos. See, there is sinister business afoot in Black Hammer, a mournfulness to the plight of the heroes on that farm, only one of whom seems satisfied with life there (and even then, who's to say he’s not deluding himself?).

Read a certain way it almost seems like the question underlying Black Hammer is what do we give up when we fall so fully into our nostalgia for superhero comics, how much of a risk are we at of being swallowed whole by it? It’s a poignant question in an era when vicious battles are waged online about the future of many pop culture properties, battles in which nostalgia is often held as a causation. I can only suppose the question is more poignant for the creators, whose lives work is being given over in part to these characters.

Lemire’s work is always somewhat obtuse in origin, difficult to figure out thematically (in the best possible way), but let's think about the timeline during which he may have conceptualized Black Hammer, which was in all probability near the tail end of his time writing exclusively for Marvel. When Marvel’s All New All Different initiative launched, Lemire was one of the central writers, taking on some of the publisher’s most prominent characters, including one of the central X-Men team books, Old Man Logan, and All New Hawkeye, which was a followup to the immensely successful run on that character by David Aja and Matt Fraction.

Throughout 2016, however, Lemire slowly began drifting off those titles, reducing his Big 2 superhero output to a mere two books today, one of which is yet to be released. It’s not a stretch, in my opinion, to suppose Black Hammer was a manifestation of Lemire feeling creatively trapped, a sense that maybe he was drawn into this work by nostalgia and had professionally been stuck on a farm. I’m not saying I know any of this to be a fact, but I think there’s a case to be made.

I’ll conclude by saying I find both Black Hammer and Ether to be among the most intriguing titles coming to comic book stores each month, and I find important questions for us all within them, specifically: what must aspiring creators be willing to sacrifice for our crafts?; and is there danger or risk of stagnation that could kneecap our futures buried within the warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia?

I really doubt either book will provide clear or concrete answers for such tough questions—great art is rarely so neat—but I trust there will continue to be a beautiful journey in the asking.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

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REVIEW: Crude #2 by Steve Orlando, Garry Brown, & Lee Loughridge

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Crude No. 2 by Steve Orlando, Garry Brown, and Lee Loughridge is a rare second issue that builds expertly on its predecessor while also standing alone as a rewarding read. On the surface, this issue is the story of a turf war between a dominant oil company in a far-flung industrial Russian city and an upstart rival, with an old man who has a history of violence  interjecting himself into the fray.

I’m not doing the plot justice (read this book for yourself—I strongly recommend it), but it’s equal parts bleak and compelling, heavy on ethos and fast-paced, graphic storytelling. It's very good. When evaluated as a continuation of Crude No. 1, however, this issue becomes a deeper and more rewarding part of a larger narrative about a man solving a mystery, seeking revenge, and potentially atoning for his life's chief mistake.

One of the qualities to Orlando’s work that puts him among my favorite comic book writers (dating back to his excellent 2015 Midnighter) is how he refuses to dumb anything down for readers. There’s a promise I’ve found made by Orlando comics, something along the lines of If you work to immerse yourself in this story, to really focus and engage with what I’m doing here, I will greatly reward you for your efforts.

And this new creator-owned book from Image Comics is his strongest work to date. In the first issue, Crude showed itself to be a story of juxtapositions of two lives, one of violence and another of domestic bliss, all within its first four pages: two of which showed our protagonist, Piotr, at breakfast with his family, and two of which showed him violently thrashing enemies.

One problem I see at times within modern comics is a somewhat gratuitous use of time jumps: Then. Now. Five Minutes Past Then. Next Thursday, etc., but Crude uses non-linear storytelling to great effect, thereby justifying every time jump. Crude is a story that must incorporate mistakes made through time—not so much the violence of Piotr’s past but rather his decision to keep it hidden from his son—and it uses juxtaposition to make those mistakes all the more powerful. The non-linear time elements in this book are, in other words, essential.

There two panels, which appear in both Crude #1 and #2, are at the crux of its story.

There two panels, which appear in both Crude #1 and #2, are at the crux of its story.

Crude's artwork also bears mention. The nature of our plot is such that there’s a significant amount of interiority. It’s basically a story of a man grappling with regret, which is a difficult conflict to convey in comics, but Brown and Loughridge’s art does an incredibly effective job working in tandem with Orlando’s scripting. In issue No. 1, when Piotr first sees the body of his son, the book excels at showing rather than telling, deploying panels that alternate between the body and the man’s reaction as he hears earlier dialogue echo in his mind, asking “this your son?” and we realize he’s weeping not only for his loss but because his own life of secrets prevented him from ever truly knowing his only boy. Powerful stuff.

Overall: Crude No. 2 introduces a framework for the challenges and mystery our protagonist must fight to overcome, and it does so in a suspenseful way that doesn’t sacrifice any of the interiority that made No. 1 so compelling. Orlando, Brown, and Loughridge are really building something special here, something that feels powerful as well as painstakingly deliberate. 9.3/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Batman's Booster Gold Arc: The Good, The Bad, & The Sanctuary

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Booster Gold in happier times.

Booster Gold in happier times.

Let me just start by saying Tom King is one of my favorite writers in comics. I bought all the single issues plus also hardcover copies of both The Vision and Sheriff of Babylon, and I’d do the same for Omega Men if a hardcover was available. I’ve loved this Batman run overall (Kite Man!), and King’s Mister Miracle maxi-series has gotten a ton of ink (or whatever the digital equivalent is) on this very site. I love Tom King’s work, which is part of why I feel obligated to apply a critical lens to his latest arc in Batman, “The Gift,” which centered on Booster Gold.

In The Gift, Booster and his flying Palm Pilot/best friend Skeet go back in time to prevent the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents, trying to create evidence of how awful the world would be without Batman in order to present it to Bruce as a gift for his wedding. I’ve got plenty of nit-picks with this concept—was Booster just going to film it and give Bats a video clip? did he plan on later going back to ensure the murder happened? what about Selina? wedding gifts are supposed to be for both the bride AND groom—but this is comics, and we could nitpick everything all day and still not run out of nits to pick, etc.

My central issue with The Gift is the characterization of Booster Gold. In The Gift, Booster is reckless and—to be blunt—kind of dumb. Even when the world has gone to ash around him and he’s got multiple deaths on his conscience, he’s wisecracking about how he should have just gone with a cheese tray, written closer to Deadpool or Harley Quinn than the character we’ve seen in the past. It’s a far cry from the bleak but tragicomic genius we’ve seen in books like The Vision or Mister Miracle.

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To me, Booster Gold has always been a tragic hero, though, one who is undone more by cutting corners, hubris, and bad luck than his own wanton stupidity. Born in the future as Michael Jon Carter, he was a star quarterback who got caught betting on his own games (at the behest of his lousy and I think also alcoholic father). So, he stole a bunch of super advanced tech and fled to the past, where he re-branded himself as a superhero and used his knowledge of other heroes there to his advantage. Also, he wanted to regain his lost fame, riches and fortune.

None of that is all that stupid. Narcissistic and selfish, perhaps, but also clever and calculating. As a result Booster is often depicted with a mix of daddy issues and imposter syndrome, which making him highly relate-able. A hallmark of his character over the years has also become his respect for the delicacy of the timeline, something that was even depicted well in the last 18 months or so in an Action Comics arc written by Dan Jurgens (the greatest Superman writer of our generation), in which Booster essentially stands up to Superman, who’s trying to save his own parents. It just isn't consistent that a Booster who recently went through that would then turn around and initiate the same idea as a wedding gift for Batman, even if he did intend to undo it.

My first inclination was to chalk this up to rushed writing, to King trying to spin the wheels on Batman for a few issues and bridge the way to No. 50. The more I contemplate this, however, the less I think that was the case. The end of The Gift leaves Booster a broken man, one vigorously cleaning a nigh-invisible splotch of blood left on his golden visor, which is hardly an ending at all. King, however, has shown himself to be expertly adept at ending arcs and story threads with the best in the business, and here there's almost no closure. King leaves us disturbed and a little perplexed, an odd note for a writer who has consistently tugged on reader emotions with subtle and savvy bits of narrative genius.

What I think is far more likely is that this is the start of a King story rather than the end of one. Now, this idea that The Gift is a seed for a larger Booster Gold arc rather than a simple guest spot in Batman isn’t all that original, not at this point. Outlets from Bleeding Cool to CBR have posited much the same, presenting more than enough evidence from King’s Twitter feed to back up their hypothesis. The standard line of thinking has quickly become that Booster Gold will be headed for King’s next concept, a PTSD clinic for superheros dubbed Sanctuary, and I’m on board with that. I certainly trust King—a man who has been to actual war—to tell that story and to tell it well.

What I would caution as a reader, however, is that there is a danger in making nuanced characters a blank slate defined by recent pain and suffering. As we saw in The Gift, it leaves entire plot points open to feeling contrived and insincere. One of the things that worked so well within DC's Rebirth was a strong emphasis on the core concepts of characters. To throw that away—even for an idea as strong as Sanctuary—seems like folly. And really, for an in-continuity, shared universe story like this one, it’s probably on the editor to enforce character growth and consistency from Action Comics to Batman to whatever comes next, etc.

One of the best Batman variant covers in recent memory.

One of the best Batman variant covers in recent memory.

But hey, enough with the negativity! King's scripts have a high bottom line for quality, and the artwork by Tony S. Daniel and Sandu Florea was great. Overall, King’s batting average is still really high on Batman, a book for which he must produce two scripts a month, no easy task for any writer, and I for one firmly believe that this wedding is going to be fantastic. I recently re-read Batman Annual No. 2, and it's still one of the best Batman stories in years, as well as one of the best Bat-Cat stories period. The Batman/Elmer Fudd Special is also a modern pop art classic, wonderfully-bizarre in conception and pitch perfect in execution, just downright great comic book-ing. Basically, for every Booster Gold fumble, there is an equal or greater Kite Man. King is also pretty busy right now—planning a wedding is never easy.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Bloodshot Salvation #9 by Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, & Renato Guedes

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Under the guidance of writer Jeff Lemire, Valiant’s Bloodshot franchise has grown in recent years from being a revival of another ‘90s heroes who carries big guns (plus also maybe a sword) and can heal from gruesome wounds, into a walking metaphor for the human toll of the military industrial complex. In Lemire's stories, our man Bloodshot has looked for love, found it, and become a dad—only to be dragged back into war and violence.

Lemire’s characterization of the principal Bloodshot—Ray Garrison—is top-tier, just like Lemire’s characterization in most books, but where his work on Bloodshot has really excelled has been in telling the story of the Bloodshot technology over time, bringing in past Bloodshots as metaphors for the military industrial complexes in bygone eras, including Vietnam and World War II. This issue focuses on another recent addition to Bloodshot’s supporting cast, his faithful dog Bloodhound, who we learn here is a veteran of WWI.

It’s a solid issue of Bloodshot, to be sure, and it’s the type of story Lemire, joined on writing duties here by Ray Fawkes, does well: one that fleshes out characters and is so entertaining that readers can forgive a one-month break from our plot (see his work on Descender for more great examples of this). The end result is an issue that both adds to the larger Bloodshot mythos but could also work as a poignant standalone for first-time Bloodshot readers.

All of that is a credit to the plot, which subverts expectations in terms of the roles the two main characters in the narrative seem poised to play at its start. The groundwork is laid for the sensitive doctor, who is seeing his first battle, to be our heart, our humanitarian, our entry point into a violent and savage world of war. Meanwhile, we also get a foil for our assumed protagonist, a seasoned military commander who barely tolerates the doctor’s presence, one I assumed would be a cynical roadblock, complicating the doctor’s efforts to save lives.

This issue, however, just isn’t that neat or simple, and, not to spoil anything, but there ends up being shades of gray throughout. There’s a particularly poignant bit where one character refers to “cost,” and it later becomes unclear if the true cost being referred to was lives or money. It’s a moment that puts the lens back on the reader and asks what are you as a civilian more concerned about: sending soldiers to die or finding more efficient ways to kill enemy soldiers at minimal taxpayer expense? Yikes.  

My only gripe with the issue is a small one, in that some of the commentary is a bit on the nose, with soldiers randomly cursing the war, or describing it as a pointless meat grinder.

Overall: Bloodshot No. 9 is a well-done issue, one that sets out to create an emotional origin story for Bloodshot’s faithful companion Bloodhoud and succeeds, all while paying off one of the better commentaries about the military industrial complex and our role in it as civilians, which is what I’ve long seen as the overarching theme of Lemire’s Bloodshot work. 8.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

4 Things Jason Aaron Got Right About The Avengers

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On Wednesday, Marvel Comics ushered in a new era for its flagship team book The Avengers, releasing a new No. 1 issue from writer Jason Aaron, artist Ed McGuinness, inker Mark Morales, and colorist David Curiel. The book built on plot points Aaron originally dropped in the massive Marvel Legacy one-shot last fall, and it marked the debut of this year’s new Marvel season, Fresh Start (although, no mention of Fresh Start was made by the book’s marketing, which I found interesting...).

Most importantly, however, this comic book was actually really very good. For real. The art team was cohesive and precise, giving the over-sized debut a polished feel, an almost high-budget aesthetic that seemed to declare this is THE Marvel book of the hour. What I found most engaging, however, was that Aaron’s plot and script seem to understand the enduring appeal of The Avengers in a way recent incarnations of the team have at times missed.

And that’s what we’re talking about here today. This book is not a throwback, not exactly—despite the traditional core of the team returning—but it does pay homage to some the most beloved and enduring aspects of The Avengers, without at all feeling dated in the process. Here are four of the major elements Aaron and the team simply get right about The Avengers... 

1. The Threat

The Avengers were formed originally because there was a threat that demanded they exist. In recent years, however, I think the concept has become a bit perfunctory, taking a wink-and-nod attitude that the team exists because the publisher, the fans, or whoever else expects/demands it. This book immediately gets away from that, establishing a convincing and compelling threat that spans millennia and brings our team together, even if some of them would rather not (more on that in a second).

This galvanizing threat is what made Avengers #1 work so well for me as a reader. I enjoyed Mark Waid’s preceding run on the franchise. I mean, he’s Mark Waid, and he just gets superheroes, but under Waid the book always seemed like an auxiliary title, rather than the publisher’s flagship, as that honor seemed to go to whatever event was beginning, middling, or ending (usually middling—boom, roasted!). In summation, Aaron’s run seems to be at the forefront of the publisher, giving it an exciting and dynamic sort of energy.

2. The Reluctance

Reluctance has been part of The Avengers DNA since the early years, when the original lineup minus Steve Rogers quit, leaving Cap to marshal a group that included Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch, all of whom were at that time villains. We get that reluctance here early and often, starting with a great buddy-buddy-buddy scene where Steve Rogers, Tony Stark and Thor Odinson meet in a bar for a beer, a shirley temple, and roughly three giant flagons of mead, respectively.

Just a few old friends, not wanting to be Avengers while having a drink at a bar called Aaron's.

Just a few old friends, not wanting to be Avengers while having a drink at a bar called Aaron's.

Not only is this reluctance foundational to The Avengers, it is in many ways the heart of Marvel superheroes all together, the main thing separating them from DC, whose heroes mostly run, fly, or grapple-hook eagerly into battle. Marvel heroes by comparison are more real and more flawed, like all of us, and they don’t always rise immediately to the occasion, like all of us again, with, of course, a few exceptions—thinking here of Carol Danvers. Aaron gets that right throughout, and his debut issue of The Avengers is better for it.

3. The Relationships

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All great teams have iconic relationships, be it the antagonistic banter between The Thing and Human Torch in Fantastic Four or the love story between Midnighter and Apollo in The Authority. I think it’s fair to say, however, that The Avengers have slightly more characters with special connections to their teammates, characters like Giant Man and The Wasp, or The Vision and Scarlet Witch, or Wonder Man and The Beast.

Right off in this debut issue, Aaron makes great use of existing bonds, specifically those between Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, while also laying groundwork for some new ones. My favorite scene in this entire book was actually when T’Challa and Doctor Strange used their individual expertise together to investigate a shared concern. It’s a somewhat odd pairing, I suppose, but it yielded surprising chemistry. I’m really hoping for more of that kind of interaction.

4. The Rotation

My all-time favorite run on The Avengers was by Kurt Busiek and George Perez in the late ‘90s, and part of what I liked about it so much was the feeling that week-to-week the team’s roster was dynamic, that new members could be incoming and existing heroes could be on their way out of the mansion. Mark Waid did a bit of this in his run, although it really amounted to just one big splinter when the younger heroes departed to form The Champions.

Going into this book, however, Aaron has said in interviews that one slot on the team will be essentially reserved for a rotating member, and for this first arc that slot goes to Doctor Strange. I like that idea, although my hope is that the rotating concept is a wider one, not limited to a neat one-in, one-out setup that takes place like clockwork each time we start a new arc. I’d rather see roster churn happen organically (and maybe even surprisingly) as a result of our plot.

Plus, One Minor Complaint

So, I guess everyone—characters, writers, publisher, fans—is just fine now about the whole Hydra Steve business? I know this is comics and change is the only constant and HUGE events one month have little impact the next, but this man was seething with evil to the point he oversaw the destruction of a major American city, like as recently as last year, which is even shorter in comic book time.

Obviously, we have to get this behind us, and Secret Empire did the heavy narrative lifting after its climax to explain what happened and get us moving in a better direction. Plus, we got a brief and rehabilitative Captain America run from Waid and superstar artist Chris Samnee. Still, all I’m saying is a bit more of a grudge held by other heroes might feel cathartic for us all, regardless of what our feelings were toward Secret Empire as a concept. The good news is this is just one issue, and there’s still time to dive deeper into that idea, plus other dynamics. I know I, for one, am looking forward to Aaron unpacking the presumably large baggage between Tony and Carol following the second superhero Civil War.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at@zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.