PGHHEAD’S 2022 COMIC ODYSSEY, PART 48
In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR December 10, 2022 . . . 1133 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 1054 comics documented
#1045 TRAVELING TO MARS #1 by Mark Russell and Roberto Meli (Ablaze, November 2022) I consider Mark Russell to be the best current satirical writer in comics. With TRAVELING TO MARS he takes a giant leap forward in the quality and complexity of his work as evidenced by the exploration of the main character. This could easily make a fine science fiction novel. We are lucky that Russell chose to create his work in the comics medium.
Also, his choice of Roberto Meli is evidence that he knows how to find quality artists to illustrate his vision in the best way possible.
Unlike his other mini-series that contain a healthy dose of comedy, this is a more serious work although the satirical jabs at corporate America and capitalism are still present. If you’re looking for a humorous story or an action adventure, this isn’t it. It’s all about the sad main character, Roy Livingston.
Roy has lived a mundane life of nowhere jobs and no family to speak of.
After learning he has terminal cancer, he becomes a candidate in 2048 for a one-way trip to Mars where a huge reserve of natural gas has been discovered. Unfortunately while Roy can claim Mars territory for his corporate sponsor there is no way to bring him home. Doesn’t matter to a man with only a few months to live. He’ll die on Mars.
We learn about Roy through the journal he is writing during his planetary travels. His observations and writings are the gem of the story, full of insights, reflections and little bits of wisdom. Roy is finally finding meaning to his life in the end days.
This book is not going to appeal to everyone. I appreciate good writing and in-depth characterization and TRAVELING TO MARS has all of that. You ask me, comics are getting better all the time. Look to the independent publishers willing to take chances on diverse genres and storytelling. I’ve been lucky to find a melange of gems lately. FIVE STARS.
Two new books that venture into extreme mature territory and fail to realize that shock and awe without characterization doesn’t engage readers . . . .
The possibility of a weird Lovecraft-influenced tale of body horror is there but it’s hard to tell if that is the creator’s intention.
What I can say with certainty is that artist Diego Simone’s quirky underground style does a commendable job of detailing the grotesque aspects of the story. His color work is equally psychedelic. Why Sumerian decided to present this in a slightly undersized format is unknown.
Huge purple and green slugs/leeches (“Feed it with anger. Feed it with pain.”) are being experimented on in a drug lab and used to create a new drug to produce mind-blowing thrills. Jessica Knot is apparently lab director and searches for a willing subject to test the dosage on. Her business card says “Dominatrix. Disciplinarian. Fetishist. Sadist. Goddess.”
The concoction is cooked over a spoon like heroin and injected.
The way Jessica sets up the subject is contrived, and it’s hard to imagine someone shooting up in public. However, the scene may take place in a private club where such things are permitted, but writer Plissken fails to share that bit of information. The first trip ends with Jessica leaving her business card: “If you want more, call me.”
The issue ends back at the lab, where there’s been a breakthrough with subject number twenty-six. Whether Peter, the man with the shaved head in the containment vessel, is the person from the private club is unknown.
“Flesh is Void. Void is Flesh.” Please excuse me. I need to void my bladder. TWO STARS.
In the afterwords, creator Vecchio explains how she wanted to tell a story about the dark web, the red rooms and snuff movies and confesses that researching took her to some dark places: “I found myself consuming gore content at any time of day. . . . . through it all I tried to not lose sight of what good there was in the world because I felt as though I was forgetting it.” She realizes “I was remembering that which makes me grateful to the human race . . . art. This is how I made peace with humanity, and from that feeling came Lovesick.” Some kind of rationalization that results in her sharing all those gross findings with us.
The promotional info from Image should help you determine if this is something you want to read:
The LOVESICK CLUB is an exclusive, subscribers-only site on the dark web that offers the best in erotic and ultra-violent entertainment. There, matriarch Domino and her fellow dominatrixes punish and torture none other than their own loyal subscribers, many of whom pay good money to meet their end by her hand in front of a large, anonymous audience.
But in the eyes of her rage-filled haters, Domino is the MOTHER DEMON, a deranged succubus who oppresses men by turning them into her slaves. For this crime against men, she must be hunted down and PUNISHED.
I love horror movies and horror fiction and even read extreme horror sometimes. LOVESICK doesn’t appeal to me. It’s all shock and awe. That’s not enough. TWO STARS, because the art and colors are interesting - -but stay away if you get squeamish.
The art here is much better than the story, but neither one created enough interest for me to follow this any further. This is promoted as “Guardians of the Galaxy meets Borderlands as a motley crew of electronic musicians fights to restore their dying planet. Frequency-bending warrior DJs. Cyborg Housecats. The Broken Rhythm of the Universe . . . . follow a ragtag band of misfits as they attempt to save a universe that’s off-key.”
Ninja Funk is the name of the team, who may also be a band. They don’t get to perform but there are enough musical references to make me wonder. The cyborg cat is Wolfgang, who utters “Gang,Gang” the same way Groot keeps shouting his name (ugh). JPG has mechanical arms and a tv set for a head. Lazerwolf is the leader in a armored costume with Wolverine-like claws. The villain is called B.A.D. Music and is even dumber than the name. ONE STAR.
If you lean towards comics storylines that challenge readers, come onboard.
Quick Recap: Lakota linguist Tad time travels back to 1492 to kill admiral Christopher Columbus on his famous voyage and thereby prevent an apocalypse in the year 2112 by altering events and changing history. He infiltrates the expedition as a new crew member, and quickly makes enough mistakes to indirectly cause the death of a young crew member.
New thoughts: I’m not going to spoil it by describing in detail what happens in Issue #2, but it raises enough questions to make your head spin. Was Emily a transgender character in Issue #1? She urinates like a man in this issue and seems to have bonded with wild coyotes. Does her discovery of a disembodied hand happen in the same timeline? Why would the Yellow Kid conceal his identity? Who is the weather-beaten staggering person they spot in the desert? A character from 1492? Has history already been changed? Is it possible that a timeline can reject an intruder, and is the 1492 sea storm (that wasn’t in the historical record) a sign that it is trying to get rid of Tad? Will Tad work up the nerve to murder Columbus? Will a diversion of the expedition’s course be enough to change history? Does the debate about possible changes to the timeline between Sosh and Yellow Kid mean that this Columbus mission is only the beginning and we can expect a second story arc?
I am definitely challenged. I have a feeling I’ll be constantly referring to back issues as this story moves forward. If you like your comics simple and predictable, stay away. FOUR STARS.
I’ve got too much time and comics money invested in this storyline, and now I’m just eager for it to end. For me, this issue lacks tension and doesn’t hold my attention.
It’s the beginning of the climatic battle for the Multiverse. The present-day Avengers travel through time and space to meet up with the Avengers of prehistoric times. As their battle of misunderstandings (sigh) progresses the Multiversal Masters of Evil arrive to end the history of the Avengers before it ever begins.
There’s more development here of Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider in his new role of All-Rider (he loses the skull persona and looks like a cousin to The Human Torch) and Valkyrie (when did she get so tough, maybe because Aaron has a crush on Jane Foster?)
I chose this issue as my nightstand reading before bedtime, and it worked to make me sleepy. I read it again this morning, in case the first reading wasn’t fair because of my state of mind. Now, I’m ready for a rare mid-morning nap. TWO STARS.
The story is equally engaging. Batman investigates some gruesome murders and the crime scene evidence seems to point towards the Joker. But the murderer seems indestructible and capable of physical feats the Joker is not noted for, as Batman learns during his first confrontation.
Not long after Joker shows up and blackmails Batman into helping him out with a big problem, hinted at in the final panels of Issue #1. Also, Harley Quinn is imprisoned in either a well or a mine shaft by unknown parties or party. A good beginning, with good dialogue and scenes with Harvey Bullock and Alfred.
It may seem unlikely to some readers of my reviews, but I’m actually trying to avoid getting involved with more series. I do buy debut issues in order to determine if I want to bookmark the series for later reading of the collected version. That was my intention with this title. However, I’m so curious now that I’m probably going to pick this up in the monthly issues.
FOUR STARS.
The story here is a sidebar to the Gotham Nocturne saga currently running through the DETECTIVE COMICS monthly, and it’s of some importance providing significant background into the current threat. Just as writer Scott Snyder expanded the legend of Gotham (the city) with his Court Of Owls epic, Ram V is doing something similar here by adding to the history.
The main story/flashback is bookended with two key servants (Shavhod and Gael) of the Orgham family descending into the lower levels of what’s left of Arkham Asylum. They retrieve a long-buried artifact of some unspecified arcane purpose because “the time has come to re-lay the patterns of power in Gotham. The time has come for this city to remember its purpose.”
The flashback details the settlement of “Gathome” in 1776 and the coming of Ethanol Orgham, a wealthy man of God who’s promised to build the first church in a lawless, non-religious community where a “witch” is the town doctor. Ram V mixes in early variations (inspiration?) on Batman, the Joker and The Phantom Stranger without making it too obvious or giving them a name. Good stuff. FOUR STARS.
In an article in the December issue of SFX magazine, North talked about taking a different turn compared to the original, which he says was all about paranoia while he plans to focus on trust in his version. So far, nobody is trusting anybody but that is likely to change.
In Issue #1 Maria Hill was alerted to a Skrull incident in Iowa, brought to her attention by Nick Fury - - who she quickly exposed as a Skrull. I’m still wondering why the Skrulls would want her to know something was going on. I’m suspicious of their intentions.
In Issue #2, Hill finds out that the Skrulls have figured out to fool the detection devices Reed Richards invented for all intelligence offices. She comes up with a blood test to ferret out the imposters and presents it during her first meeting with a gaggle of superheroes. Naturally, one of them is exposed and another Skrull gets imprisoned. As the issue ends, it appears that the Skrulls are wise to the blood test and have already figured out a way to fool that. This is fun so far, with good art by Mobili. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
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