MY WEEK IN COMICS, #28 - - - July 14, 2024

For the last three years I have embarked on a Comics Odyssey, reading and writing reviews of comics towards an ambitious goal which I only attained on one of three attempts.  This year, I still want to read more comics and write reviews, but I’m not setting a specific goal.  I’ll just document them and number them. We’ll see how far I can go . . . . . . . 

#425 - #430  SIRENS OF THE CITY #1 - #6 of 6 by Joanne Starer and Khary Randolph (Boom! Studios, July 2023 - January 2024)

     Layla is a punk-rock attired runaway in New York CIty, 1987. She was abandoned at birth, raised in foster homes, pregnant at sixteen. Kicked out of the last foster home when her latent powers blew out the back of the house. Now she’s looking for Dianne Gold, who may be her true mother. She’s living on the streets after leaving her boyfriend (and father of her child) Jerome - pissed off at him and herself for what happened.

There’s some human drama here and gritty street realism that is really well done. That alone would be enough to make the book interesting. Add the urban fantasy that is the root of the story and you have a winner.

Plus, Randolph’s art really pops here. He does the colors as well; and utilizes shades of black and white with the occasional red and blue added in small portions to great effect. When I scanned the book and saw this art, it was an immediate impulse buy. And, I just kept going.

Layla may be a “siren”, and her unrealized abilities gain the attention of several underworld players when she uses them at a Chelsea Hotel party populated with some questionable and dangerous characters. There's some incredible world-building here as those with special abilities get lumped into two

competing groups: sirens (female) and incubi (male). The yet-to-be-born child that Layla is carrying will be a rare hybrid (siren & incubi mating) that is the object of attention of many factions who will resort to violence and death to obtain.

As the story progressed, Storer adds layers and layers that just makes this so enthralling. And, Randolph's art is just incredible, occasional droplets of effective color on a black and white canvas.

The story was a solid Five-Star rating for me, until the finale in Issue #6 which I found to be anti-climatic and disappointing. However, it does leave the door open for more adventures, which I would gladly welcome. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#431 - #433  WE ARE THE SMURFS: BETTER TOGETHER hardcover graphic novel by Falzar and Thierry Culliford, illustrated by Antonello Galena and Paolo Maddaleni (Amulet Books/Abrams, 2022)

 

    When choosing a book for my soon-to-be 9 year old, well-read grandson I always read them first to make sure there is nothing disturbing or topics he's not ready for yet. This is a great one to gift, because it teaches lessons in social behavior in a kind, gentle way while it entertains.

      

     The Smurfs are cute, endearing, and often funny. The art is simplistic enough for younger readers to clearly view but detailed enough to hold attention. 

     There are three short stories here that deal with feelings of unfair treatment, bad attitudes, and habitual lying - - and all three have important lessons to share. There is even an illustrated text section in the back, a guide by a psychologist specialist in early childhood disorders that elaborates and provides further understanding for young minds.

     I suspect that my grandson will enjoy this book and maybe even read it aloud to his younger sister and brother twins (soon-to-be 6 years old). Well done.  FOUR STARS.

#434 - #439  CANARY #1 - #3 of 3 by Scott Snyder and Dan Panosian (Dark Horse Comics, November 2023 - February 2024)  A mine collapses into itself in the Old West, which makes it difficult for the town of Canary to revive itself. Then normal, law abiding citizens of all types and ages begin doing terrible things. A federal marshall who serves as the template for popular dime novels is dispatched to accompany a black geologist to investigate whether the mine has anything to do with what’s going on.

   

  Scott Snyder tackles the weird western genre and puts together a compelling yarn, helped along by some brilliantly detailed art by Dan Panosian that suits the mood and atmosphere perfectly. Panosian also does the colors, and chooses his shades and highlights effectively,which helps create that Old West atmosphere.

     Snyder has done some research into this period of the American West and sprinkles some of that knowledge into the story, helping to both flavor the proceedings and authenticate the time period. Compelling characters, some subtle social commentary as befitted those times, and a creepy mystery to keep things moving forward.

     With the third act, the unnatural threats ramp up and this goes from weird western into full-blown horror, seasoned with Lovecraftian elements. I was entertained.

I read this in the three over-sized monthly issues, each of which contained two parts of the six-part story as originally featured on Comixology. Glad to see Dark Horse putting some of those titles into print.  FOUR STARS.

#440 - #443  DAREDEVIL & ECHO #1 - #4 of 4 by Taboo and Phil Noto (Marvel, July - October, 2023)  The Goodreads synopsis . . . . .

Something stirs beneath Hell's Kitchen! For months, the bloodthirsty and demonic Demagoblin has been kidnapping children for reasons unknown. Now, Daredevil and Echo discover why as Demagoblin works to wake an ancient and powerful evil deep

within the bowels of the city - one that has ties to both the Man Without Fear and the woman who briefly hosted the Phoenix Force! It falls to Maya and Matt to save not only the children, but also everyone in New York. A mysterious warrior from the past may hold the key to victory, but whose side is she on? And with something hellish going on, how long until Ghost Rider finds himself drawn into the battle? 

     As Daredevil stories go, this one falls near the lower end as far as importance, character development, etc go. It could almost be the same by substituting some other characters and not make a difference, as the main focus here is on the supernatural threat and the history of same. It’s notable for introducing an ancestor of Matt Murdock who was a Manhattan crime gang member back in 1835, reformed, and became a prominent supporter of his local Catholic Church (only to have his faith betrayed by a corrupted priest).

   If you’re a fan of the art of Phil Noto you may want to give this a look, although I don’t think it’s his best work and looks a little rushed and more simplistic than his average illustrations. THREE STARS.

#444 - ##449  GODZILLA: HERE THERE BE DRAGONS #1 - #5 of 5 by Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda (IDW Publishing, June - November 2023) The Goodreads synopsis . . . . .

In the 1500s, a ship of seafaring navigators run afoul of a lost world where there is only one king, the King of the Monsters!

Before humanity had successfully traveled the entire globe, it was believed that monsters ruled the oceans just beyond the horizon. “Here there be dragons…” was written on maps to denote the areas people dared not go.That is, until Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the seas, visiting foreign lands and collecting treasure. That’s what history tells us, at least, but history does not have the full tale.

Monsters did lurk yonder, living on an island that still doesn’t appear on any map, and among them was the king of them all…Godzilla!

     I usually approach any new Godzilla comics series with caution. How different can they be? Normally, it's just Godzilla fighting some new monster. However, I picked this one up based on the strength of the creative team and was rewarded for my support.

     Frank Tieri is a strong writer, especially with crime comics, and does a bang-up job here by setting this Godzilla saga into the midst of the Caribbean pirate days and incorporating some alternative history regarding Sir Francis Drake, who terrorized the ships of the Spaniards. He has this adventure of Drake and crew looking for a treasure on Godzilla's Monster Island narrated by a captured pirate, who is suspected of spinning a yarn in order to draw attention and avoid the hangman's noose. There's even a kaiju-worshiping cult minimally involved in the story, perhaps setting the stage for a second story arc.

     The art by the always amazing Inaki Miranda is among some of his best, gloriously enhanced by the color work of Eva de la Cruz. Anytime I see that team on art chores, I"ll be purchasing that book. Whether he is visualizing ships in sea battles or two monster fighting it out, the images are vivid and imaginative. The emergence of Godzilla's head from ocean waters, surprising Drake's ship and crew in Issue #1 is a classic. Very entertaining.  FOUR STARS.

#450 - #455  GONE #1 - #3 of 3 by Jock (Dstlry, October 2023 - May 2024) This serves best as a showcase for the artistic talents of Jock, embellished further by the larger format of Dstlry titles. As the story goes, it’s entertaining and engaging as much as a B-movie action flick, but misses the opportunity to world-build further. Readers learn just enough about this future society to follow the story, but logical questions like “how” and “why” are not answered.

 

    Young Abi (perhaps in her twenties) live on a poverty-level planet where every day is a struggle to find food and care for her expectant single mother. The planet seems to be a rest stop/loading zone for luxury space cruisers, and the planet’s natives learn how to sneak inside and steal supplies, etc. before they depart. 

   Abi and friends pair up with a group of strangers to pull off a bigger heist on one of the largest cruise ships patronized by the elite.  The strangers turn out to be revolutionaries (“Sabs”, short for saboteurs) who set up bombs inside the ship, which results in Abi and company being unable to leave and trapped inside. After the ship departs (minimal damage) they have to hide inside duct works and maintenance tunnels/storerooms for years in order to avoid the armed guards looking for them. This is the story of how Abi finds her way home. There are side plots involving her father (employed by the cruise lines) and another man who betrayed her pregnant mother. But, there aren’t enough details to really understand and empathize. 

    “Why” her planet is so impoverished and “how” it became a loading zone are never detailed further. Still, that art kept me going. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.