A-Force 2016 #2 Feature Image Reviews 

Wrapping Wednesday: Micro Reviews for the Week of February 3, 2016

By | February 8th, 2016
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

There is 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-Force #2
Written by G. Willow Wilson and Kelly Thompson
Illustrated by Jorge Molina and Laura Martin
Reviewed by Jess Camacho

“A-Force” is something I should be in love with but it just hasn’t been able to win me over. With an all female team featuring characters I really love (hello Dazzler) and a creative team who’s work I enjoy greatly, this should be my favorite Marvel book. “A-Force” #2 is more of what the first issue did with a little more movement. There’s a bad space dude and the team doesn’t know or like each other all that much but have to band together to fight the threat. Wilson and Thompson do a really nice job building dialogue. The book is funny and none of the characters come off badly but I feel like I’ve read this story before. Superhero comics have patterns they follow and that’s not inherently bad. What is bad is feeling like nothing new is being added to it. It’s still unclear what the goal of this team is for the future. I also wish that in the post “Secret Wars” Marvel universe, Dazzler had been brought back to her more cheerful version because that’s why I like her.

Jorge Molina’s art is very strong. The panel layouts mixed with the level of action he brings to those panels is dynamic and exciting. Molina’s body type choices and designs are strong until you get to some of the faces. There isn’t a lot of variety in how he draws each woman’s face. She-Hulk is only different from Medusa in the most basic ways, such as hair and costumes but their facial features are so similar. Thankfully Nico is drawn as an Asian woman, adding some much needed diversity into this team. Martin’s colors are bold and I like the brightness she brings to the story. It’s important that this not feel too dark because of the sense of humor in the dialogue and Martin comes through.

Final Verdict: 6.5 – I want to love “A-Force” and while I’m not ready to give up on it, I do want a little something more.

Paper Girls #5
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated by Cliff Chiang
Reviewed by Michelle White

The first issue of this Image ongoing set us careening down an ’80s-tinged road to mayhem. Pitting newspaper delivery girls against assorted beings from across time and space, it’s only gotten weirder, establishing a universe where multiple species? armies? dimensions? compete with one another as the Earth undergoes some kind of apocalypse.

This arc-ending issue keeps us immersed in Chiang’s naturalistic but engaging vision of suburbia, with an avian monster and an organic-looking spaceship setting the normality of our main characters into relief. Our main gal, Erin, is a somewhat deadpan but still emotional anchor, reacting to all the wackadoo goings-on for us and coming across with a lot of grit. Meanwhile, Matt Wilson’s colours punch up Chiang’s knack for period detail, keeping to the flaring neons and smoky purples that still haunt the minds of 30-somethings today.

The story moves so fast it’s hard to examine, playing a lack of overt exposition for suspense. And while it’s not a new trick, it works – mostly because the visuals are so attention-grabbing and the situation so very, very weird. Plus, anyone who’s read “Saga” knows that Vaughan excels at exposition of the subtler variety, stacking detail upon detail in order to slowly put the picture together in our minds.

The issue ends on as mystifying a cliffhanger as you could ask for, putting the girls in entirely new circumstances. Signing up for the next arc feels like a necessity, but given the sheer talent of this team, that’s not a surprise.

Continued below

Final Verdict: 9.0 – A fun and stylish adventure with staying power.

Shutter #18
Written by Joe Keatinge
Illustrated by Leila del Duca and Owen Gieni
Reviewed by Matthew Garcia

The gang’s all back to launch the next arc of the constantly enthralling, always engaging, frequently fascinating, and overall satisfying “Shutter”. The Kristophers and their cohorts have gathered together to discuss their plans to take out Prospero, the secret organization who covertly rule the world. Like a lot of Act 2 of this series, Joe Keatinge and Leila del Duca focus less on the wild adventuring mayhem in favor of giving Kate a stronger character and expanding this world beyond her perspective. For this issue, we’re given the background on Huckleberry, the cowgirl and old flame of Kate Kristopher.

Del Duca and Keatinge intercut flashbacks to Kate and Huckleberry’s relationship with the PowerPoint about Prospero she delivers to her guests, giving us a sort of slide presentation montage of our own. Del Duca goes for cleaner lines and Owen Gieni provides flatter colors for these sequences, giving them this, like, purity, this romantic feeling. Keatinge and del Duca treat Kate and Huckleberry’s relationship like adults, and everything from their meet-cute to their break-up rings with authenticity and honesty. It would be easy for a book like this to be crazy and postmodern and whatnot for the sake of craziness and postmodernism, but it stays grounded in real emotions and reads far more effectively.

This issue is also a testament to how well this team workS together. They know each other so well that they’re willing to take risks with the material, willing to try out things with comics that other mediums can’t catch. “Shutter” is continually a treat every time it comes out.

Final Verdict: 8.4 – Lots going on, and some of the lingering questions can be frustrating, but this series is always a feat of strong storytelling.


//TAGS | Wrapping Wednesday

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