Spencer and Locke, Spider-Man, Second Coming, Excellence

Remaining new comics for the week!

Excellence 5

I’m out.  It makes me sad to say, since the art by Khary Randolph and concept/story by Brandon Thomas are both well above average.  It’s the story execution that completely fails for me. Thomas makes time jumps and leaps of storytelling logic that do him absolutely no favors.  I actively disliked my reading experience because of them, and I can’t justify buying this anymore, despite how positively I like the other elements of this title.

Second Coming 3

Maybe I’m just having a bad day, but this is probably my last issue of Second Coming as well.  I’m just tired of the third straight issue of the same things: Sunstar is a well-meaning idiot who’s utterly inept in just about everything he does.  Jesus is a sensible chap who’s discovering that society is happy to evoke His name to justify their actions without employing any of His actual teachings of love and tolerance.  God’s a dick.  

After a strong first issue, Mark Russell’s subsequently failed to bring anything new to the table.  (He had the same problems with Wonder Twins.)

Spider-Man 1

JJ Abrams teams up with his son Henry to write this alternate future story.  Sara Pichelli is her usual phenomenal self with some beautiful art. MJ’s dead, Peter’s spirit is crushed, and their high school son is starting to develop powers of his own.  It’s everything I could want out of a first issue, looking forward to more.  

Spencer and Locke 1-4

Spencer and Locke 2 1-4

I bought these completely on the strength of the elevator pitch - Calvin and Hobbes have grown up to become detectives, but with a much darker, fucked up childhood - Dad’s a drug kingpin, Mom was an abusive prostitute, Rosalyn sexually abused him, and now grown up Susie Derkins is lying dead in an alley.  

It’s a commendable effort by David Prepose and artist Jorge Santiago, Jr.  They do a nifty job of folding in tons of references to Bill Watterson’s classic work, and their twists are cleverly integrated into this piece of noir.  I’m glad they gave this a shot, and I’m glad that I gave this a shot as well.    

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Sojourn, Spencer and Locke

Another new comic:

Spencer and Locke 2 4

The final showdown between Beetle Bailey and Calvin & Hobbes.  Locke’s Spencer delusion (if that’s what you choose to call it) finally takes over in irreparable fashion, and Locke kills Beetle in a fit of rage while visualizing Spencer as the murderer.  The series ends in John Romita fashion, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be walking away from the title as well. This was kinda fun, but I don’t need to spend any more money on it if there’s a third volume.  

The classic that spawned a thousand homages.

Sojourn 13-18

I don’t mind Greg Land’s photo reference so much as his inability to maintain a consistent hair style on Arwyn.  It’s so very distracting. Storywise, Ron Marz is...fine. As nice as I still find that art, I’m finding it harder and harder to justify keeping this second-rate fantasy title in my collection.  I’m halfway through the series, let’s see how it closes out.  

Okay, it's not just the hair.  Something about that face is thoroughly disconcerting.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Spencer and Locke, Star Trek: Q Conflict

Finished with Misc box number 3!  Pretty much all GI Joe. If I didn’t have a such a huge chunk of it, I’d probably have cut a ton of the Marvel issues.  

Box Summary:

Time spent reading: 23 hours, 46 minutes

Issues read: 214

Issues cut: 28

Highlights (Good or better): GI Joe: Cobra (The Mike Costa issues), Girls

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 19 days, 21 hours, 15 minutes

Issues read: 3908

Issues cut: 515

Some new comics from the week:

Spencer and Locke 2 3

We get this world’s version of Watterson’s deranged killer monster snow goons and Stupendous Man.  Still interesting enough to keep reading.

Star Trek: Q Conflict 6

Things finish off in a fine enough fashion.  The series never fulfilled the promise shown in the early issues, but it’s entertaining enough.   

Spencer & Locke, Second Coming

Last of the week’s new comics!

Spencer & Locke 2 2

My comic shop underordered this title (I’m not surprised that a tiny comic like this isn’t getting more readership), so the reorders are just getting to me now.  Having mined most of the Calvin & Hobbes reference materials in the first volume, David Pepose continues the crossover with Beetle Bailey.  It’s done well enough that I would very much enjoy seeing how he’d spin other newspaper comic strips in this dark, twister manner.

Second Coming 1

So my faith is a very personal thing.  It works for me, and as long as it doesn’t hurt other people, I like to think that I’m pretty open to what others choose to believe or not.  I also have no problem when those with genuine intellectual curiosity question established religious doctrines. Faith can’t be blind, and exploring interpretations is a healthy thing. 

Which leads to Mark Russell’s Second Coming.  He spends the first half of this issue with an irreverent but completely valid take on the “traditional” Jesus.  

Nice penis fruit by Richard Pace.

Legit reaction.

The second half introduces the readers to Sunstar, the Superman stand-in for this story.  He’s got some relationship issues with “Lois” that any person can empathize with, so he seems fine for now.

Once God teams Jesus up with Sunstar, we get an interpretation of Jesus’ brother Shimon that struck a resonant emotional chord with me. 

So Russell’s got things off to a good start. I have no idea where this is going, and I’m looking forward to it. (Hopefully it goes better than Wonder Twins.)  He talks in the afterward about being accused of blasphemy and being forced to switch publishers.  For my money, I’m grateful that he’s taking this brave plunge into examining Christianity’s place in the modern world.  

“All I know is, as weird as the answers may seem, the questions these comics attempt to answer are important.  Anda s professional thought-experimenters, that is our duty to the world. We blaspheme, not to belittle the faith of millions, but to offer the world something new.”

Good on you, Mr. Russell.

Five Years, War of the Realms, Spencer and Locke

New comics!  I took another flip through Young Justice.  Passed on it again.

Five Years 1

I was positive that I was going to pass on this after the conclusion of SiP XXV.  I had no interest in an end of the world scenario.  But I took a look through this at the comic shop out of courtesy to Terry Moore, who’s certainly earned that much with his amazing work over the years.  And darn it if he didn’t drag me back in. He does this by giving me what I was looking for during the entire XXV run - life with Katchoo, Francine, and their family.  It’s delightful, and Moore is wonderful with the dialog.  

Was it too much to have provided this during the run that was ostensibly about these characters?  Will see how long I stay with this.

War of the Realms 3

The heroes continue on their separate tasks - Cap leads a team to find Thor.  Freyja sets out to destroy the Black Bifrost. Daredevil defends the Rainbow Bridge alongside, among others, Jane Foster.  When in the world did she develop martial skills? Captain Marvel and a squad hit the streets to take on Malekith. It’s fine for an event book, but it’s a little too vignette-y for me, lacking the focus that I’d prefer from the main title of a massive crossover.  Russell Dauterman’s art remains stellar. And Jason Aaron gives us a nice Spidey quip:

Oh Spidey, you rascal.

Spencer & Locke 2 1

Elevator pitch: Calvin and Hobbes grown up, but Calvin’s childhood was abusive instead of idyllic.  Now he’s a hard-bitten detective who still carries his stuffed animal around with him wherever he goes.  His dad’s a crime boss and Susie Derkins was murdered.

The first miniseries was really dark and compelling.  The second introduces David Pepose’s twist on Beetle Bailey, now a psychotic army vet who’s killing city politicians.  Spencer (Calvin) investigates the case while also dealing with the custody case involving his newly discovered daughter.

This probably wouldn’t hold up without the comic strip angle, but it’s definitely entertaining with it.