There’s a lot to cover on Wednesdays. We should know, as collectively, we read an insane amount of comics. Even with a large review staff, it’s hard to get to everything. With that in mind, we’re back with Wrapping Wednesday, where we look at some of the books we missed in what was another great week of comics.
Let’s get this party started.
A.X.E. Avengers #1
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Federico Vicentini
Colored by Dean White
Lettered by VC’s Cory Petit
Reviewed by Alexander Jones
Marvel’s “Judgment Day” event crossover is in full swing. The House of Ideas is continuing the trend of publishing special tie-in issues to their crossovers. “A.X.E. Avengers” #1 is a deep dive into the current life of Marvel’s Tony Stark. The Avengers and X-Men teamed up to resurrect a Celestial known as The Progenitor who is getting ready to judge one of Marvel’s most important heroes. “Judgment Day” writer Kieron Gillen is returning with artist Federico Vicentini for a tie-in story focusing on The Avengers known as ”A.X.E. Avengers” #1.
Gillen uses the pages of ”A.X.E. Avengers” #1 to dig deep into the flaws of Tony Stark readers have seen in the recent “Iron Man” series by Christopher Cantwell and Angel Unzueta. Stark has to address his string of bad behavior and take ownership for it. Gillen dives deep into the frayed mind of Tony Stark. For the most part, the dialogue in this issue is witty and strong, but Gillen uses a joke Stark makes about liking mean redheads too far. However, for the most part Gillen continues to craft strong dialogue for characters like Mr. Sinister. Jean Grey’s reactions in this issue are fascinating and evoke lots of character depth.
The artwork from Federico Vicentini is great in this issue. Vicentini focuses on curved lines that allow his pages to have lots of energy. At times, the panels can look a little rough and it can be difficult to discern who is doing what. However the innovative layouts and character posing earn a more close read from the audience. I hope that Vicentini can keep this strong level of energy while streamlining the anatomy in some of his panels. Vicentitini’s fight scenes look great as well. Dean White’s colors work incredibly well with Vicentini’s art.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – ”A.X.E. Avengers” #1 utilizes a tie-in issue setting to explore Tony Stark’s newest mistakes.
The Roadie #1
Written by Tim Seely
Illustrated and colored by Fran Galán
Lettered by El Torres
Reviewed by Alexander Manzo
Tim Seely introduces “The Roadie” with a solid balance of exposition for the main character, Joe D, and setting the stakes for the rest of the story. The story grounds itself in the 80’s rock music scene and flashes forward to the present with the harsh reality for those bands that didn’t quite sustain the fame they once had. Joe D. seems like a minor player during that time, but it’s revealed that he possesses more power than he leads and can work with Satan and other demons using lyrics from the band. Seely uses this first issue to sprinkle in moments of fantasy that gives the reader enough to keep them interested while also utilizing the human emotions of Joe with his loneliness after being a roadie his whole life. The heart of the story stems from trying to protect the daughter he didn’t know he had and get an opportunity to have the love and family he didn’t think he’d ever get a chance to have. There is some humor to this dark story since Joe gets told about his demonic daughter by a woman on a porn video he was watching.
Fran Galán’s artwork pairs perfectly with this demonic story about rock n’ roll. From the jump, he gives the reader a glimpse into a rock show that mimics real show bands like Iron Maiden that have a strong stage presence. Galán uses a dark shadow of a demonic horse piercing through the lights of the concert and getting ready to engage with the audience’s spirits. Another vital tool in Galán’s arsenal is his ability to create strong, expressive faces. The reader can feel all of their emotions from Joe, from his relaxed, joyous look when talking about music and his embarrassment from not being able to fully satisfy a woman sexually but trying to play it off. Since this is a creator-owned story, the character design can be a little more cartoonish with exaggerated arm lengths or faces, and it’s refreshing to see a story filled with demons that there is a grounded and realistic feel to it.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: – 8.7 This is an excellent introduction to what feels like a well-balanced story of good vs. evil mixed with some demonic rock and roll.
Wildfire #1
Written by Scott Snyder
Illustrated by Hayden Sherman
Colored by Ronda Pattinson
Lettered by Andworld Design
Reviewed by Quinn Tassin
It’s hard to go wrong when you tell simple a simple story with clear stakes and well-defined characters. Of course, there’s quite a bit more to gain when you put an excellent art team and one of the masters of the craft in charge of said story. In “Wildfire” #1, we meet a group of female inmate working as firefighters in California. Their leader, a correctional officer called Ma, is dedicated to her work and the inmates working under her. She’s an excellent window into this story – someone whose life is monotonous and at least a little lonely and who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The inmates themselves are still a bit of a mystery. They have clear voices, to be sure, but we don’t know what makes them tick or even what crimes they committed (other than Brooks, who took the fall for her company in a high-profile ponzi scheme). All of this is easy to get; none of these women has all that much to lose but they’re all in this fight together.
The biggest single event of the issue, of course, is Ma approving a mission to venture to Brooks’s old boss’s mansion to steal millions of dollars worth of art and a server with up to $1.5 billion dollars in crypto stored on it. Again, simplicity works here. This is a whole lot of money, these women can all use fresh starts, and they’re more well-situated than anyone ever has been to conduct a heist like this one. That simplicity is complimented by an incredibly smart structural decision about both this issue and the series overall. At the top of the issue, we learn that five people are going to die in a mansion during this fire. At the end of the issue, we learn that those five people are our protagonists. Better yet, we’re told the four official stages of a forest fire and Ma’s unofficial precursor step, “The Trap,” when everything necessary to start the fire is moving into place. This issue is the trap which means quite literally all of the real acton lies ahead. This whole thing has been laid out for us, we’ve just got some blanks to fill in. Luckily, they’re incredibly intriguing blanks.
The art team plays a massive role in the success of “Wildfire” #1. So much of a character driven story like this one depends on the environments being well-rendered and the tone well-controlled. The team makes a smart call to give us a forest not bathed in shadow but rather affected by it. The hues of the sky are deep purples and red, making the impact of the smoke and fire clear while allowing for more full coloring of the actual firefighting crew than if things were just drenched in shadows. The most stunning visual moments arrive in quick succession. First, we see Ma’s routine in hundreds of panels on a double-page spread. The pages are an incredible representation of just how repetitive her daily life is and peppered throughout is a sequence of grieving for an apparently dead daughter. Immediately following that, we see billowing smoke, a forest ablaze, and the five-person crew getting to work. By making the fire so massive and the characters so small, we get both a sense of what they’re up against and how small they all feel. When it’s just five of you against a natural disaster, why not go steal some art?
Final Verdict: 8.2 – A smart, well-structured issue that promises great things to come
