Some thoughts on some recent comics
Nov. 2nd, 2016 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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scans_dailyThese are not reviews.
The Flintstones #5, by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh. This series is giving me a greater appreciation for Steve Pugh's art. I mainly associate him with dark, scary, and grotesque stuff, like ANIMAL MAN, but he's really good with the visual humor too, huh? He hasn't even changed his style much (if at all?), but it somehow fits this book as much as it ever did his creepier stuff.
Champions #2, by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos. Viv Vision keeps saying "affirmative" in this issue, which feels off. I feel like a simple, straightforward "yes" fits her voice more. Which I suppose goes to show how skillfully Tom King was able to characterize her in the VISION series, that I can split hairs like this. (Or maybe I'm spouting nonsense and I'm the only one who feels it's off.)
Anyway, nit-picking aside, this was a really solid issue. Much stronger than the previous, which I felt suffered from "first issue-itis."
Scarlet Witch #12, by James Robinson and Annapaola Martello. Half-baked theory: Robinson is completely sidestepping who Wanda's father is on purpose, to leave room in case politics at Marvel shift one day and some later writer needs to re-establish the Magneto connection.
If Robinson established a different father now, then all this mystic backstory he's creating would have to be retconned out to let Magneto back in. No writer wants that for their work, so he's set it up so that both Magneto-as-father and the witch mother can be true. (Magda-as-mom would have to go out, but who really cares about that? Magneto's the important part of that equation.)
Avengers #1, by Mark Waid and Mike Del Mundo. "Splitting" the previous AVENGERS title into this one and CHAMPIONS was a good move. I think both new titles are stronger than their predecessor. I suppose, since the character interactions are the major draw for a team-up book like this, roster shake-ups, which automatically create new interactions, are a good way to give a shot in the arm.
Midnighter & Apollo #2, by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco. I've read two issues of Orlando's Supergirl, and I'm wondering why it doesn't have a similar level of manic creative energy as his Midnighter work. Is it the ultra-violence? It's easy to call ultra-violence gratuitous and low pandering, but you could argue that it allows a certain energy that just isn't there when your characters *can't* go around exploding everyone and everything in sight. Where would Mario be if he couldn't flatten goombas into oblivion and blow up brick blocks with his head, you know what I mean? I don't know if I really believe that. I dunno, just something I've been thinking about...
The Flintstones #5, by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh. This series is giving me a greater appreciation for Steve Pugh's art. I mainly associate him with dark, scary, and grotesque stuff, like ANIMAL MAN, but he's really good with the visual humor too, huh? He hasn't even changed his style much (if at all?), but it somehow fits this book as much as it ever did his creepier stuff.
Champions #2, by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos. Viv Vision keeps saying "affirmative" in this issue, which feels off. I feel like a simple, straightforward "yes" fits her voice more. Which I suppose goes to show how skillfully Tom King was able to characterize her in the VISION series, that I can split hairs like this. (Or maybe I'm spouting nonsense and I'm the only one who feels it's off.)
Anyway, nit-picking aside, this was a really solid issue. Much stronger than the previous, which I felt suffered from "first issue-itis."
Scarlet Witch #12, by James Robinson and Annapaola Martello. Half-baked theory: Robinson is completely sidestepping who Wanda's father is on purpose, to leave room in case politics at Marvel shift one day and some later writer needs to re-establish the Magneto connection.
If Robinson established a different father now, then all this mystic backstory he's creating would have to be retconned out to let Magneto back in. No writer wants that for their work, so he's set it up so that both Magneto-as-father and the witch mother can be true. (Magda-as-mom would have to go out, but who really cares about that? Magneto's the important part of that equation.)
Avengers #1, by Mark Waid and Mike Del Mundo. "Splitting" the previous AVENGERS title into this one and CHAMPIONS was a good move. I think both new titles are stronger than their predecessor. I suppose, since the character interactions are the major draw for a team-up book like this, roster shake-ups, which automatically create new interactions, are a good way to give a shot in the arm.
Midnighter & Apollo #2, by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco. I've read two issues of Orlando's Supergirl, and I'm wondering why it doesn't have a similar level of manic creative energy as his Midnighter work. Is it the ultra-violence? It's easy to call ultra-violence gratuitous and low pandering, but you could argue that it allows a certain energy that just isn't there when your characters *can't* go around exploding everyone and everything in sight. Where would Mario be if he couldn't flatten goombas into oblivion and blow up brick blocks with his head, you know what I mean? I don't know if I really believe that. I dunno, just something I've been thinking about...
