PGHHEAD’S 2023 COMICS ODYSSEY, PART 6
This marks the third consecutive year that I will attempt to document my comics reading by writing at least a mini-review. The goal is 1200 books read and reviewed in 2023, although I missed the mark in 2022 by 88 books. Still, I like that number as it’s easy enough to track - - - 100 books per month on average. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR February 09, 2023. . . 133 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 134 comics documented
I don’t really see this as essential. It basically hints at things that may happen in 2023 and shows glimpses of several characters that will perhaps be involved in some transition scenes.
However, if you don’t read this you’ll miss one of the better stand-alone stories of the year from Marvel. I just happen to be a big fan of one-shots that work - - - tell a compelling story complete in one issue that doesn’t really require any previous reading or later reading (although that promotional promise is sort of violating that).
Kang the time-traveling Conqueror is on a quest for the Missing Moment, “one second in all of history that I cannot access, cannot experience, no matter what fantastic engines of temporal control I bend to the task. . . . One single second. Denied to me.” Kang runs into Myrddin and the Twilight Court, a high-tech upgrade of Merlin and the Knights of the Roundtable. I certainly hope to see them again in 2023, as well as more of Kang. A fascinating creation from Jed MacKay, and a very well-written story with compelling dialogue exchanges between characters.
My absolute favorite part of the story centers around this little nugget of wisdom: “Because the moment one fights to assuage hurt PRIDE, rather than to bring a villain to JUSTICE . . . is the moment when one’s cause is no longer just.”
No surprise here, Kang doesn’t find the Missing Moment. The adverts in the back of the book claim the storyline will wind through the storylines in six other 2023 titles. Sigh. I love Kang but I really don’t want to read that many Marvel books.That will blow up my comics budget, which I try to slant in favor of smaller publishers. FOUR STARS.
COMMON GROUNDS was unexpected and fresh - - - thirteen short stories lean on action and heavy on content/dialogue, albeit in a light-hearted and often funny vein. I didn't laugh out loud at anything here, but I smiled in appreciation quite often. The action centers around a chain of coffee-and-donut shops where superheroes and supervillains are equally welcome. It's a place to chill out, put your feet up and discuss everyday issues, such as the limitations of a high metabolism for a speedster - - equally high need for bowel movements. House rules - - no on-premises combat or take-downs.
The over-all art quality is a step above, with several prominent creators participating: Dan Jurgens, Chris Bachalo, Carlos Pacheco and George Perez to name a few. Troy Hickman scripts them all.
Among my favorites are "Beyond The Speed Of Life" (funny and sad); "Roles" (hats off to the savvy waitress); "Heir Of Truth" (a brother-sister team learn of their legacy and reevaluate family issues); "Time of Their Lives" (can't judge the book by the cover) and "Glory Days" (high school reunion for super-heroes). FOUR STARS.
ABSOLUTION is hard-core brutal action featuring an incredible fight scene every issue with some pulse-pounding photorealistic art. Many of us enjoy all-out bloody action with bullets flying for its’ entertainment value. Pure escapism, not to be taken seriously.
Just prepare to feel guilty as you read and enjoy this because that is exactly one of the not-so-subtle points that Milligan’s story makes. How far is our modern society from the ancient days of Rome, with gladiators killing each other in public arenas for entertainment? Except in this futuristic tale, things are taken one step further as everyone watches the live action from the privacy of their computers and tablets, and leave comments of support or derision via their Facebook chat messages.
Main character Nina’s hit-man/hit-woman assignments become mass entertainment with jaded television commentators critiquing her actions as they occur. Nina has to convince her audience/viewers/followers that she deserves absolution points. If her score gets too low, and at times it comes dangerously close, her skull explodes.
Brought to life through Deodato’s thrilling images, he incorporates some influences from Jim Steranko and George Perez to his realistic style. Also, Deodato employs an overlay page design where he draws a page without heavy panel borders and then overlays everything with a white grid - - page after page, throughout the whole mini-series. While I appreciate the technique, it becomes a bit over-used here especially when just a tiny piece of the scenery is included in a small individual panel.
As the story moves along, Milligan does a deeper dive into the psyche of his character for those that are pay attention to more than just the action and blood.
As Milligan asks in the postscript: “In the end, does the assassin Nina Ryan deserve, get, or even want such a thing as Absolution? Join us in the edgy, violent, morally-complex story - - - and then make up your own mind.”
I did, but I’m not sharing that. I was satisfied with the ending. FOUR STARS.
This Loki benefited from an early death by Thor (when his rebellious hammer flew him right through the Sun) as Loki climbs the Asgard throne after selling a weakened Odin as a slave to the Frost Giants. This is a Loki who has been successful at every endeavor, growing more powerful each time. He grows bored and silently observes the lives of other Lokis on other universes and comes to realize what the big stumbling block is- - so he eliminates it on his own world only to find a problem he can’t solve alone - - the threat of the Multi-Versal Masters Of Evil + Dooms + Mephistos - - and therefore builds the worlds-central Avengers Tower and assembles them all.
There, I did you a favor in case you’re not looking forward to buying another issue in yet another Marvel never-ending epic (but some admittedly, like this one, are fun). However, if you don’t grab this you will miss some engaging illustrations from Garron. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
There’s a lot going on here, in what is essentially a set-up issue with much to unpack. At it’s core this is a story about heroin addiction, which Cormack makes disturbing by interpreting as body horror (centipedes and tentacles swarming over a person). These scenes are so graphic they make the non-horrific scenes and backgrounds seem mundane, something I never thought I’d say about Cormack’s art. My sensibilities went from flaming hot to icy cold, numbing me enough that I had to read this a second time to make sure I understood what is happening.
It’s 1968. Jimmy Meadows is lead vocalist and writer for The Shades, a very popular rock band. Jimmy is the heroin addict. The band is nearing a contract deadline to record more music and won’t get at it until Jimmy cleans up.
He learns of an autobiographical book published as fiction that details an addicted writer who finds an ancient Mayan drug that purified him. The clues to where to locate the drug are within the pages of the novel. So Jimmy and his manager/best friend Joe hire Cisco, a native entrepreneurial environmentalist to lead them through the Mexican jungles in search of it. Then there’s Inez, a journalist writing a fluff piece on Jimmy while secretly trying to draw attention to oil companies causing environmental damage. Add some more band members who show up at the last minute, and a trio of research scientists tagging along - - and I get the feeling not everyone is coming back from this expedition. This is promising. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
In addition to a compelling and well-portrayed script by Orlando, this features art by MacDonald, a personal favorite. It’s nice to see what he’s capable of, having been exposed only to his work in horror comics before this.
There’s a lot to like about this title so far. Young Christopher Paige suffered throughout his youth from his crime boss father’s neglect and indifference, with his mother eventually becoming his sole parent. Once he begins to establish himself in Boston as a promising young surgeon and benevolent good neighbor (establishing a free clinic for impoverished residents), he changes his name to Christopher Boldt to further separate himself from family links. He’s gay, and in the beginnings of a romance. However, once he decides to get involved in politics and begin his campaign, his opponents dig up the dirt on his crime family background and go public with it.
This is most disturbing to Christopher’s father, who feels having a gay son is a sign of weakness pointing back to him. So he decides to put out a contract on Christopher. A very nasty solution for a very dangerous and brutal crime boss. Look out! FOUR STARS.
This issue Goliath and friends travel to the site of Maggie’s birth to welcome the new arrival. However, both have been abducted and the gargoyles search for who they think is responsible, including old foe Xanatos.
I’m sure this is interesting stuff for fans of the animated series. I’m not going any further with this for two reasons: 1) While Issue #1 did a bang-up job of introducing characters and their roles the storyline here assumes readers are familiar and doesn’t re-cap anything. I still needed a little bit of help, and I don’t feel like constantly referring to Issue #1. 2) The art style has changed from Issue #1. The imagery and colors take on more of an stylish look that I just don’t like as much - - and it also seems rushed and bit sloppy.
Hey, at least I gave this a chance to win me over. TWO STARS.
Wanda Maximoff has opened a witchcraft shop (The Emporium) that also features the Last Door - - a portal that appears only to the desperate who have run out of places to turn to. This issue Wanda is visited by Viv Vision, the synthezoid super-hero of The Champions and daughter of Wanda’s ex-husband. Viv says her nightmares are trying to kill her, and sure enough, Wanda visits her dream state and finds the culprit.
The art is interesting as are the conversations between Wanda and Viz. There’s even some humorous ice-breakers from new shop assistant Darcy.
However, I think this title is aimed at a certain audience and I don’t feel like I belong there. I found the short back-up feature with a team-up with Storm uninteresting as well. TWO STARS.
Two-Face plays a prominent role this issue. Batman heads into The Narrows area of Gotham and runs up against the Orgham soldiers in their wolf, demon, or many-eyed monster forms. To add to his troubles, the Orghams have used their supernatural Azmer chemical to turn citizens into unwitting pawns. Harvey Dent watches it all play out, as he fights with his Two-Face personality about whether to interfere and try to rescue Batman. I’m still thinking that he’s been exposed to Azmer as well and this has created a third personality within his mind, although the story doesn’t mention that.
If I wasn’t reading the credits page I would think that one artist drew this issue. That’s how close these two have made their styles mimic each other. I couldn’t pick up on this, but some reviewers claim that one artist does a page where Harvey Dent’s personality dominates while the other artist does a page with Two-Face front and center - - sometimes the pages facing each other. I need to study this more closely. FIVE STARS FOR THE FRONT STORY.
“A Tune That Listens Back” by Simon Spurrier and Dani continues it’s psychedelic trippy tale featuring James Gordon and the kid with the bird on his back. They are still exploring the Arkham library to learn of the kid’s origins, when a new ability manifests in him: he can see the music/darkness/lightness in others. This causes him to run away from Batman in fear.
As the kid utilizes his music-hearing powers, the art and colors go wild, changing hues and tones from panel to panel, interspersed with cryptic cursive text that I believe represents what the kid is learning from listening to the music in people’s heads. A wild story, but very confusing. FOUR STARS FOR THE BACK STORY.
No longer the treasure hunter with a disgraceful past, Drake Sinclair now holds four of the Six Guns. But, discouraged from suspecting that pairing all six together would reveal undead General Hume's buried wealth, he now seeks ways to eliminate the supernatural bond that possesses all owners of each gun. He hides them and goes in search of New Orleans voodoo magic for a solution which results in making a powerful Haitian witch (Marinette) aware of their location. She creates a monster out of one of her acolytes and sends an undead army to find the guns, which when all six are aligned are expected to plunge the civilized world into an end stage and introduce chaos and death. Drake goes through a major change in motivation (on the side of good) before the story ends.
Becky Montcrief still holds the sixth gun, a weapon that can divine the future, and remains in New Orleans with Drake and Gord as they seek answers. She is persuaded by a handsome fast-talking gunslinger (Kirby Hale) into unintentionally gaining access to the hidden guns, which he has a contract to steal for profit from an unknown benefactor. Only Billjohn O'Henry, Drake's long-time companion killed and raised as a golem-like creature (through the power of the guns), knows the exact location but he is immobile and mute.
Gord Cantrill, a former prisoner who helped at the Battle of the Maw in Volume One, has been researching the guns and learns that they also have the ability to do good. But, where is the elusive missing gun?
Add to this mix the introduction of the Swords of Abraham, a rugged band of Knights-Templar priests who show up to escort the body of General Hume (shackled and bound inside a chained coffin, lest he come to life again) to a final secured burial ground.
The story just keeps growing and growing, all the while becoming more engaging and hard to put down. Worthy of multiple reads (if I can ever catch up with the rest of my to-be-read piles). FIVE STARS.
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