Runaways

Runaways 25-31

Original review, from just a couple of months ago.  Nothing’s happened to change my opinion since then.  I really don’t like reading about people who take advantage of others and use them as stepping stones for their own gain.  They generate the same gross feeling in my chest as bullies.  Doc Justice is scum.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Runaways

Runaways 19-24

And just like that, Rainbow Rowell gets back on track.  Andrew Genolet makes for a flawless transition from Kris Anka.

LOVE Chase's body language.  I totally do that when I have a shopping cart!

Kris Anka cover.  Taking this opportunity to mention how much Gib rules.

Great physical comedy.

Past reviews for more details.  Victor’s suicide attempt is still haunting.  (And I still don’t get how he comes back as a human.  Did I miss something?)

Literally the only panel where this is discussed.

Like I said before, these kids are so broken.

It’s hard to believe that I originally stopped buying this just an issue later.  A rare misstep by past me.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Runaways

Runaways 7-12

Reading these issues, it hit me more than ever just how broken these kids are with respect to their views on adults.  The traumatizing revelation that their parents were actually evil has led them to make that association with all grownups, and it’s absolutely tragic.  They’re cutting themselves off from an essential support system, isolating themselves and relying on each other in ways that kids should never have to.  It’s understandable and it’s heartbreaking.  At least Klara got out:

As for the rest of it, it’s all wonderful.  Molly’s dilemma when faced with the offer of eternal youth doesn’t go the way I expected.  While she certainly considers it, she doesn’t rashly follow through the way I thought she would.  Instead, writer Rainbow Rowell uses the youth cupcake to advance (read: end) Karolina and Julie Power’s relationship.  And the team doesn’t waste any time when faced w/ the decision to help their friend, screwing over Molly’s friend, Abigail, without a second thought.  (I feel sorry for her, but not really.)  It’s a refreshing take on the usual navel-gazing moralizing that most heroes would agonize over.  As teenagers, the Runaways just don’t give a shit about it.  They take care of their own.  Because they have to.

Plus, Kris Anka’s art remains delightful and the humor is top notch.

Love the teamwork.

Victor is such a Chase troll.

So true when you're in love...

Heh, looking at the old reviews, I wrote a lot of the same things...

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Runaways 13-18

My previous reviews pretty much cover everything.  Alex sucks, Nico’s stupid, Doombot shows up with his perfect one-liners in just the right amount.  Not nearly as good as the first year of issues, but not bad, either.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Runaways

Runaways 1-6

I’m not really a fan of re-reading something so soon after buying it, no matter how good it is.  Unless it’s absolutely spectacular, it’s going to feel at least a smidge stale.  The beginning of this run is four years old, but I just read the last issue of the run.  And...it’s good!  Rainbow Rowell really gets these characters, and Kris Anka is a perfect artist for them.

Of course Molly knew, she's the best.

Of course Chase is entirely clueless.  Poor Victor.

Victor's mouth is just a single line, but with Anka's brilliant placement, it speaks volumes.

That is all cats.

The main downer is Gert.  I get that being brought two years into the future is disorienting, being resurrected is no picnic, and discovering that everyone has moved on from the world you’re familiar with will discombobulate you to no end.  But she’s a total wet blanket, and her presence arguably makes everyone’s life worse.  I especially feel for Karolina.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Moon Knight, Pulse

Moon Knight 1-4

I just stopped buying this, and rereading it so soon after has done nothing to make me rethink it.  The art by Alessandro Cappuccio makes me regret it just a bit (he really draws a spectacular Moon Knight), but the writing by Jed MacKay (so good on Black Cat!) doesn’t elevate the character into must-read territory. 

A cute little turn of phrase.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Pulse 10

So I’ve already reviewed The Pulse.  Somewhat unfortunately, I didn’t update my database to reflect the fact that I had anything past issue 6, so I rebought the full run when it was on sale at my LCS.  On the other hand, the re-buy included issue 10, which is not included in the trade.  (It’s a random House of M crossover that’s really more of an Avengers tie-in than anything else.)

So at least I now don’t have a missing issue in the run.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Miracleman, Moon Knight, New comics

New comics!

Catwoman: Lonely City 1

This is the Catwoman version of Dark Knight Returns.  Set ten years in the future, Selina Kyle is old, just out of jail, and dealing w/ a post-Batman Gotham City where Bruce Wayne’s been dead for ten years.  Cliff Chiang surpasses all of my expectations on both writing and art duties, and on top of it all, Josie Mac shows up!  Looking forward to the rest of this.

Superman: Son of Kal-El 5

Admission: I wanted to cut this last issue, but didn’t want my LCS to think it was because I’m against Superman being in a gay relationship.  Whatever.  This comic isn’t doing anything for me, and his relationship status has absolutely nothing to do with it.  Cutting.  

Miracleman: Apocrypha 1-3

A bunch of more short stories from quite the impressive list of creators, including Neil Gaiman, Mark Buckingham, James Robinson, Kelley Jones, Norm Breyfogle, Matt Wagner, Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross, Darick Robertson…

The stories themselves nothing too stand out, except for the Ross story, which is basically a retelling of Ray Bradbury’s Kaleidoscope:

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Moon Knight 1-6

The Warren Ellis/Declan Shalvey issues.  He’s definitely on his back half of his career at this point (2014).  It feels like he’s barely trying.  And yet, it really doesn’t suck.  Suboptimal Ellis is still entertaining.  And the sniper issue (issue 2) is really effective as each victim gets picked off one by one.

The moonblades have such a clean, elegant look.

Moon Knight really has the coolest cape ever.

Edna Mode be damned.

I don't know, he killed the other eight.  Bank doesn't always win.

Plus, I think Shalvey’s the one who came up with the “Moon Knight in a suit” thing (I’m not sure), and it’s a sweet look.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Miracleman 4

The missing issue in my Gaiman/Buckingham run came in the mail today.  Eh, not that interesting, but it’s worth filling out the gap.  (Gaiman tells us what happens to Winter after she flies off into space.)  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Miracleman, New comics

New comics!

Dark Ages 3

Tom Taylor loves his shock moments.  Here he has Quicksilver snap Okoye’s neck and stab Johnny Storm in the chest.  Even better, it comes in the middle of some great character work.

Nightwing 86

Nightwing and the gang take down a UFO.  It’s great watching them all be uber competent.

Everyone ships them.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow 5

By the time this is over, this has a chance to be my favorite Tom King story.  This is on Pure Joy levels.  

Miracleman 1-3, 5-6

The Neil Gaiman/Mark Buckingham run.  (The missing issue is in the mail.)  These are a bunch of short stories covering life during the Miracleman Golden Age.  

It took me a couple of issues to realize: These are all Sandman stories.  Swap Morpheus in for Miracleman, and these would fit in perfectly as a Fables and Reflections or World’s End one-issue tale.  They’re not as good (except for the excellent Miraclewoman romance), but it’s kind of neat to see the leap between these issues and Sandman four years later.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good (1), Good (2), Nice (3, 5, 6)

Miracleman

Miracleman 1-16

I’m not sure what to say about Miracleman.  For the longest time, this was infamous (at least to me) as one of those classic comics that was never going to be reprinted due to legal issues.  All the issues were scarily expensive, so the horrors of issue 15, which I’d only heard whispered rumors about, would never reach my eye.  

Then Marvel cut through all of the red tape and finally started rereleasing all of the issues, crediting Alan Moore as “The Original Writer,” since Moore is a grump about everything.  (I don’t know the details, maybe he has a good reason.)  

Early Moore really is a sight to see.  His ideas, while brilliant, seem so obvious once you read them on the page; They just make so much sense and feel so right.  And then they’re all wrapped up in that glorious Moore prose.  

I'm a little surprised that 'hir' hasn't caught on.

Moore predicted the internet age back in the early 80s.

There’s so much here that’s good - The retconned origin story, Gorgunza’s endgame, the creepy baby, Moore’s utopian vision, THAT LONDON ISSUE...I was glued to the comic as I was 

reading it.  

So.  Scary.

Creepy kids are super disturbing to me now.

Something about perverted innocence and all that.

London...

At the end of the day, Warpsmith did all the work.  Miracleman did nothing...

...except snap a kid's neck.  Not that it wasn't justified.

Love that John Totleben does studies.  Very Michelangelo of him.

This cover could pass for David Mack.

There are huge similarities between this and Moore’s Swamp Thing, which came soon after.  The horror undertones, the creepy, ominous narration, the emotionally distant storytelling...They’re basically siblings.  

Anyway, great stuff here.  I can’t remember how well I like Neil Gaiman’s followup, I’ll find out tomorrow…

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Miracleman Annual 1

Basically Miracleman 14.5.  Some gap filling stories that serve no real purpose.  Still, we get some rare Joe Quesada interior art, and some amusing stuff from Mike Allred:

Dolphins around the campfire are the new dogs playing poker.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice