New Avengers, Black Lightning

Black Lightning S01E02

I watched the first episode when it first came out, and I’ve fallen behind.  I just watched the second one, and it’s still really good. All the good guys are well realized with clear motivations, and none of them are annoying.  I particularly liked Jordan Calloway playing Khalil. He brought a fresh take to the kid with the classic bad background doing his best to work his way out of the neighborhood.  

More importantly, I thought I recognized Cress Williams (Black Lightning) from somewhere, and I was elated to confirm that he was Steve Sarris on Sports Night.  He's come such a long way.

I don't think I've seen anyone ever grimace as effectively as Williams.

I wonder what Felicia would think about him now.

I really need to catch up this.  And SHIELD. And Jessica Jones. And Runaways.  And Legion. Sigh.

New Avengers 21-25, Civil War: The Confession

The Bendis Avengers trades that I got over Christmas have become the palate cleansers of this project.  If I need a break from what I’m currently reading, they make for a great change of pace. Also, when I’m travelling, they are a lot more space efficient than individual issues.  The ads really add a lot of bulk. So while I’m out of town for a 5 day business trip this week, I’m taking a break from Runaways and catching up on unread trades.

I’ve also decided that I’m counting these Bendis Avengers as re-reads, and thus part of the stats that I’m tracking.  I won’t be reading them over again the way I do most new comics. This is for two reasons: Firstly, with 10 (I think?) volumes, that’s just a ton to have to peruse a second time.  And secondly, it’s Bendis. These things are darn good and staying in my collection, I don’t need another go around to decide that.

I don’t own Civil War, but I’ve read it.  Bendis does a far better job here than Millar did on the main title.  To be fair, that’s because he doesn’t need to hit the major plot beats, and has the freedom to focus on the character moments that make this storyline fascinating.  He spends issues on Captain America, Luke Cage/Jessica Jones, Spider-Woman, Sentry, and Tony Stark. He’s able to dig into how the events affected them on a personal level.  The Luke/Jessica issue is particularly strong, and I’m going to run out of ways to describe why I love how Bendis portrays their relationship.

I’ve discussed both sides of Civil War with my wife at length, and I eventually came to the conclusion that I would totally be on Iron Man’s side IRL (I do not want random people running around fighting crime outside the law.  It’s seriously a bad idea.). That said, he never fails to come across as a gigantic, short-sighted tool in every appearance related to the argument, no matter how much he extols his own visionary capabilities.  In the comic world, I’m firmly on Team Cap. And that made it especially satisfying to see Iron Man admit that none of this was worth it when he monologues to Steve Rogers’ body on the Helicarrier. Putz. The schadenfreude is super sweet.    

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good