Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle 1-12

Some thoughts on this excellent, wonderful series:

Standard Tom King “it’s been four issues and I still don’t know where he’s going with this” beginning.

Scott and Barda’s relationship is completely in the Hawkeye/Black Widow talking about remodeling the house in the middle of crazy action phase.

They do this for the entire issue.

King clearly gets the “once you have a kid, nothing else has a higher priority” thing.  Even a war of interplanetary proportions.  This whole series is the most insightful look into that mindset ever.  He gets what being a parent means.  I mean, most parents do, but he captures it on the page better than anyone.

I was just as paranoid about this.

Someone watched The Cosby Show.

Geez louise.  Gut punch.

*sniff*

Mitch Gerads’ art is sublime.  His mastery of body language is stunning.

So perfect.

One of the best pages of comic art ever:

King manages to interweave so many major themes here: suicide and its effect on families, parenthood, the very nature of what is real, and whether it should matter if you’re happy in the reality you’ve chosen.  Gerads portrays it on the page with a skill that I can’t imagine coming from many other artists.  This is a true masterwork.

A few final things:

A running gag that's in his Batman run as well.

Love this.  No idea if King made this up or not.

Heh.  Boom tubes as Lyft.

Why does Gerads have the steering wheel on the wrong side for the whole series?

So cute.

Cutest.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good (Pure joy for 8)

Mister Miracle, Skyward, Superman, Unstoppable Wasp, Mage

New comics!

Skyward 8

A neat twist at the end had me breathing a sigh of relief - I would have been very disappointed if Joe Henderson had followed through with the trite, overused plot he was using.  Instead, I’m still pleased as punch with this title. Keep it coming!

This issue's obligatory beautiful Lee Garbett art.

Superman 5

How long can nothing continue to happen?  This entire arc has been so devoid of anything interesting.  If it weren’t Bendis writing it, I would have dumped this issues ago.  If this arc doesn’t conclude next issue, I’m most likely not going to buy it.  

Mage: The Hero Denied 13

Two issues from the end, and I’m so tempted to not buy the rest.  What’s future me going to wish I did? Will I be disappointed that I don’t have the last two issues, or will I end up cutting the first thirteen anyway?  

Matt Wagner’s Grendel is so much better than Mage.  I’ve never had the urge to re-read Mage.  Huh.  Why am I buying this title??

And yet….

Unstoppable Wasp 2

I love love love this title.  There’s so much joy and optimism and fun and smiles and laughter.  It’s everything that’s good in this world in comic book form. If every person on Earth read this, it would eradicate road rage and talking during movies.  What else has Jeremy Whitley written? Princeless, huh?  Sounds good, now reserving at the library!

Mister Miracle 12

Whaaaaaa…….Okay.  So. Scott is living in this life where he’s happily married, one and a half children, and Highfather of the New Gods.  And it might all be some kind of dream where Scott’s trapped in the Anti-Life Equation. The apparition of his father comes out and says it - Scott has the option of returning to reality, but can’t bring himself to leave this seductively normal (for Scott) life.  

Or is Scott doing ‘fine’ and just having hallucinations of the dead people in his life?  

Is he dead from his suicide attempt back in issue one?  Is he in heaven? Is he a comic book character controlled by the whims of whoever’s writing him at the time?

I don’t know, I don’t care (in a good way), and it seems like Scott’s come to the same conclusion.  He’s happy, so who cares what real is? It’s not that he’s choosing to stay in the Matrix. He’s decided to entirely ignore the question of where he is at all.  

Not as good as Vision, but that’s one of the masterpieces from the history of comic books.  It’s still pretty fricking amazing, and the re-read’s going to rule.

Skyward, Mister Miracle, Pearl, Strangers in Paradise

New comics!

Pearl 2

Things are definitely on a slow burn.  Not a complaint this time around, as Bendis shows us a younger Pearl learning the tattoo craft from her mother.  Michael Gaydos does a great job in these flashbacks, and Pearl’s practice bananas are works of art in their own right.  I’m still in.

Strangers in Paradise XXV 6

Terry Moore gives us way more Francine than he has in previous issues, and it’s wonderful.  There’s nothing inherently exciting about what he shows us - Francine takes her kids to visit her ailing mother.  But the interactions ring true with their verisimilitude and the emotions are genuine. It’s a beautiful slice of life.  

It’s far more interesting than the main storyline, although stark raving furious Katchoo is laugh out loud entertaining.

Skyward 6

I’m discovering that this title is pretty much guaranteed to provide at least one or two stunning art moments every issue.  This one is no different. Lee Garbett was born to draw this series.

Beautiful eyes in the bottom panel.

Joe Henderson can also be counted on to add another cool dimension to his gravity-free world concept every month, and this time around it giant bugs.  Put the idea and the art together and you get comic magic.

Small figure amidst a stunning landscape.  Garbett's got it down.

Mister Miracle 11

Tom King and Mitch Gerads continue to mix the banal and otherworldly to perfection.  They constantly jerk around the reader’s frame of reference, and each transition is jarringly glorious.  Take a look at how much the creative team yanks us back and forth:

1. Parents packing an outing with their kid.
2. Travelling by boom tube to another planet.
3. Darkseid eating carrots from a veggie plate
4. Scott and Barda trading their kid in exchange for ending a war.
5. The kid pulling on Darkseid’s nose.  
6. Darkseid pulling his own eye out of its socket.
7. Barda crushes the eye.  
8. Barda zaps Darkseid.
9. Darkseid beats the crap out of Barda and Scott.
10. The kid cries because of the loud noises.
11. Scott stabs Darkseid in the face.
12. Barda admonishes Scott for swearing in front of the kid.

The best moments occur on that razor thin line where the mundane and the decidedly not juuust touch up on each other.  Of course I mean Darkseid munching on healthy veggies and staring at his grandson.

One issue to go, and I can’t wait to read this whole thing in one sitting.

Mister Miracle, World of Tanks, Strangers in Paradise, Catwoman, Superman

New comics!

Strangers in Paradise XXV 5

Blech.  Terry Moore gets into the conspiracy/plot part of the comic, and I find myself not caring a bit about it.  I think it has something to do with Echo, one of his other comics.  (Shared universe and what not.)  Tambi sets up an ancient piece of papyrus covered with Cleopatra’s mathematical scrawlings as what I presume will be the MacGuffin for the rest of the run.  Blah blah fishcakes. Katchoo continues to ignore Francine, and it continues to infuriate me.

World of Tanks: Citadel 4

Really not Garth Ennis’ strong stuff.  It’s not as bad as his horrible work (all the latest Section Eight comics), but it’s completely forgettable.  Do I even buy the last issue? (Assuming there’s only one more.)

Catwoman 2

The Joelle Jones art continues to shine, but her writing isn’t grabbing my attention.  I really like the parts where she hints at her state of mind post-Bruce-engagement, but there aren’t enough of them.  Though...looking back at the issue, there’s actually a decent amount of inner-monologuing about this. Must be that I want even more.  

“My bed won’t feel so empty if my body is too tired to recognize it.  Perhaps it won’t notice that I’m sleeping alone again. I can fight this static buzzing in my brain and hope that the repeating melody of his name will disappear from my mind.”

When you just can't sleep...

Some nice imagery there.  Yeah, taking back what I said about the writing, it’s the plotting that’s not doing it for me.  Mrs. Creel is a visually arresting villain, but I’m not caring about her schemes right now.

Don't think I've ever seen this composition in a splash before.  Love it.

Superman 2

Nooooo, not more Rogol Zaar!!!  When did Barry Allen start acting like Impulse?  Was anyone clamoring for a Nuclear Man cameo? This is such a useless, filler issue, and things are worryingly starting to feel a lot more like Invincible Iron Man Bendis than Ultimate Spider-Man Bendis.  

At least I got the David Mack cover,

Mister Miracle 10

This issue saves the whole week.  Tom King’s mixture of the mundane with the fantastic always creates the tastiest of cocktails, and Mitch Gerads’ mastery of the nine-panel grid results in the most beautiful bits of storytelling.  Congratulations to both of them for their well-deserved Eisners at this year’s SDCC.

This shower breakdown is exquisite in its body language.

The absent-minded hair-stroking!

Thor, Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle 9

King sets it all up perfectly over the course of the entire issue, creating a perfect mix of mundane paperwork, dark humor, and even darker nostalgia.  It all combines together into an elixir that lulled me into a sense of complacency. And then oh my god, the last two pages completely gut punched me. Yet it’s only a sliver of what Barda and Scott must have felt.  To have things turn on them in the final moments of negotiation, and in such a personal manner, absolutely stunned me.

I’ve been writing these reviews more and more as if the reader has just read the issues as well.  There’s no recap, and clearly an expectation that you (whoever you are) know exactly what I’m talking about.  This goes back to who in the world I’m writing this for. Even if it’s just for me, does future me want to read this and know what’s going on without reading the issue in question first?  Hrm.

Thor 493-495, 497-501

I got these because Mike Deodato was the hot artist at the time.  In retrospect, as an added bonus, Warren Ellis wrote the first two issues that I have here.  (This was before I knew him as WARREN ELLIS.)

Unfortunately, these have that generic 90s comic aura that I can’t explain, but definitely recognize.  There’s a quality about them that screams, “I’m utterly forgettable and you’ll never think about me again.”  Bargain bin material, and not the hidden gem kind.

Even Deodato’s art can’t save these issues.  It’s early enough in his career that while the talent is apparent, the craft has yet to catch up.  The two issues that Ellis wrote are uninspiring, and the follow ups by William Messner-Loebs are even worse.  I’ll keep the Ellis issues to have a reminder of this era, but I may never read them again.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Boring (Cutting all but 493, 4949)

Thor: Reign of Blood 1

Did I buy this because Matt Fraction wrote it?  I can’t remember. He retells some classic Norse myths that I remember reading as a kid, but not well enough that I need to keep this around.  I’d rather read the original.

Loved this growing up.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Didn’t suck (cutting)

Runaways, Batman: Creature of Night, Mister Miracle

I think I’m caught up on writing…

Rest of this week’s new stuff:

Batman: Creature of the Night

I had completely forgotten that this miniseries existed, which isn’t the most ringing endorsement for it.  I am, unfairly or not, constantly comparing it to Superman: Secret Identity, and it constantly comes up short.  Secret Identity had a perfect hook: What if a regular kid in the real world named Clark Kent found himself with the powers of Superman?  We’re three quarters of the way through Creature of Night, and Bruce Wainwright is still trying to understand what’s going on with the Batman manifestation.  The story is as muddled as Bruce’s purpose. Busiek’s still wrapping up the origin, as opposed to the full, satisfying story that he told with Secret Identity.  Let’s see how he wraps it up in the final issue.

Mister Miracle 8

With this issue, Tom King illustrates a universal truth: It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, raising a newborn child is the most exhausting, rewarding thing you will do in your life.  Everything else takes a backseat. If the wife has to take the kid to the doctor’s and miss her previously scheduled one on one versus the opposing army’s champion, you’d better step up and fight in her stead.  It’s worth getting your ass kicked and having to retreat with your army to know that you’re properly feeding your son. It doesn’t matter if you’re fighting an intergalactic war, hearing your kid’s first words will put a spring into your step.  And the fleeting moments of peace you manage to catch with your partner will invariably be interrupted by the waking screams of your offspring. Weird, foreboding static effects or not.

I’m not a dad yet, but I can’t wait.

Runaways 1-6, X-Men Runaways FCBD

Volume 2 continues right where volume 1 ended.  The kids are living in one of their parents’ old lairs.  Rick Jones hires some C-list former child heroes to find them.  Brian K Vaughan introduces the world to Victor Mancha, son of Ultron.  It’s interesting to think about how one never knows if a new character is going to resonate beyond their first appearance.  Those C-listers - Turbo, Julie Power, Darkhawk, and the rest - show both sides of the coin. On the one hand (mixing metaphors, I know), they’re here because they’ve been otherwise discarded by Marvel, languishing away with no comic for a home.  On the other, they’re here, given another chance to prove themselves, like minor leaguers called up for a cup of coffee in the bigs. Julie Power is still in the current day Runaways, dating Karolina. Darkhawk showed up in Avengers Arena. And Victor Mancha is perfectly content as a head, still with his impromptu family.  (After playing a pivotal role with his immediate family in Tom King’s Vision.)

Here’s another Jo Chen cover!  (I’ll talk about Adrian Alphona, the interior artist, one of these days, I swear.  He’s also brilliant.)

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Waid/Kubert Ka-Zar, Mister Miracle, Pacific Rim 2

Pacific Rim Uprising

The reviews have been unkind to this movie, but I think that’s only because they generally liked the first one.  I, on the other hand, didn’t think as highly of del Toro’s original vision. I mean, I liked it and everything, but it doesn’t stand up after repeated viewings.  (Though there’s something to be said about the fact that I voluntarily watched it multiple times.)

Mako Mori is the best part of the first film, and for all the pageantry of Jaegers going toe-to-toe with kaiju, my favorite scene is her quarterstaff duel with Charlie Hunnam (whose character’s name I can’t even remember).  In the sequel, she’s ignominiously killed off, without even having the chance to pilot a Jaeger. Travesty.

She doesn't just deserve better.  She deserves everything!

The rest of the movie is the same as the first - Entertaining smash-up fights that destroy huge swaths of cities.  I don’t understand how this is any worse than Superman’s battle with Zod. I’m sure just as many people, if not more, died in the crossfire, despite the throwaway line that the city was evacuated.  (There’s just no way that was possible.) Not that I had a problem with that Metropolis fight, either.

And I hate Charlie Day’s character with the fire of a thousand suns.  Hated him in the first movie, hate him in this one. And he looks so much like JJ Abrams, whom I do not hate.  

Want to smack.

Don't want to smack.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy? No

Rating: Nice

Mister Miracle 7

Last new comic of the week.

Nothing crazy happens this issue.  Big Barda gives birth while her insane family sits out in the waiting room.  Nine-panel grids the whole way. Mundane on the surface, but the feeling of dread that looms over the proceedings is absolutely oppressive.  When the tv static effect that’s been cropping up throughout the entire series starts showing up halfway through the issue, I almost couldn’t stand the tension.  Something bad was going to happen, I just knew it.  That nothing did just makes it worse, because the shoe has to drop at some point.  I can’t wait, in all meanings of the phrase.

Ka-Zar 1-6

I don’t know how Mark Waid made a Tarzan clone interesting to read about, but he completely succeeded.  In just six issues, he examines multiple facets of Kevin Plunder’s character - his love for his son, his martial prowess, his connection to Zabu, his struggle to reconcile his longing for technology with the lifestyle he’s promised to live with his wife, the marital issues it creates with Shanna, his antagonistic relationship with his brother, and and and.  That I could go on for even longer illustrates my point. And the comics are fun, to top it off. I had a blast reading this, and can’t wait to read the back half tomorrow.

This might be my favorite Andy Kubert series.  And let’s not forget Joe Rosas on colors, who deserves just as much credit.

3 pages in, and Kubert gives us our first insane action pose.  I love it.

Let's look a little more at Gregor, shall we?

It takes a while to decipher how he's exactly posing here, but it's suitably impressive.

How is this kick possible?  How?

And I love his splash pages.

This literally took my breath away when I turned the page to reveal it.

Everything good about Ka-Zar is in this picture.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Good