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.
Hot Damn #3
Written by Ryan Ferrier
Illustrated by Valentin Ramon
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
“Hot Damn” should be a far bigger deal than it is now. Ryan Ferrier and Valentin Ramon’s miniseries is a perfect sister series to their previous collaboration “D4VE”. This series is genuinely hilarious and “Hot Damn” #3 takes everything up a notch. Ferrier’s characterization of God and Satan continues to be hilarious with the two of them being bros on the outs. What’s really interesting with “Hot Damn” is that Ferrier is balancing multiple storylines in a short miniseries pretty perfectly. On top of the epic struggle for power between God and Satan, we have Theodore’s very human desire to get back to the woman he loves. Neither is really taking away from the other but I do wonder how this will all come together. The dialogue continues to be hilarious and has just enough snark without becoming grating.
Valentin Ramon’s art just keeps getting better and better. The amount of detail he puts in each panel is breathtaking and always deserves the mention. His world building is phenomenal. Without him, I don’t know if “Hot Damn” would have the punch it needs to succeed. His characters are super expressive and the grossness to Hell is hilarious. The coloring is equally beautiful as Ramon takes care in differentiating the three worlds he’s playing in. Each has a very specific vibe and it just adds to how well rounded the world of “Hot Damn” is.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Another excellent issue from a series that deserves much more attention.
Jade Street Protection Services #1
Written by Katy Rex
Illustrated by Fabian Lelay and Mara Jayne Carpenter
Reviewed by Matthew Garcia
There’s a rebellious spirit to “Jade Street Protection Services” #1. Katy Rex and Fabian Lelay mix parts of Harry Potter with parts of Sailor Moon and “Lumberjanes” before finally sprinkling in a bit of “The Handmaid’s Tale” (for good measure) for this patriarchy-smashing, queer school adventure story. Or, at least that’s what this issue sets us up for. “Jade Street Protection Services” #1 spends most of its time setting up the relationships and building the world. The girls at Mattsdotter Academy have magical powers, yes, channeled through these weapons. This training seems like a formality, however, since their major objective is to find themselves a husband or bind their magic to some magus or something. But it’s not like any of these girls could care about that, especially when they stumble upon some dark information from one of their teachers.
It’s the relationship stuff that works best over here. Rex goes out of her way to start setting up group dynamics and letting us see how these girls all act. Lelay also does well capturing their expressions, nuances, and body language in these bits. Some of the action stuff is abrasive and sudden, however, and neither Rex or Lelay lead into these scenes as smoothly as others. But they’ve got a nice grasp on the characterization, and I think that goes a long way.
This is an all ages book, which is fantastic, and I suppose I would expect a bit of pulling back on the cursing. Hell, look at “Adventure Time” to see creative substitutes for harsher words. The weird thing Rex and letterer Taylor Esposito choose to do here is bleep out even the substitute curse words. So we have “r*inbow gl*tter p*ppies” and “sp*rkling fl*ff b*nnies” or whatever. Maybe it’s a way for these characters to rebel or it’ll be explored later on, but as it stands, it was just sort of weird and spineless?
In any event, “Jade Street Protection Services” #1 is an engaging start of a new series. With some well done characterization and some clever world building, Katy Rex and Fabian Lelay are crafting a series that has something to say, even if a lot of that relies on speculation at the moment.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 7.0 – Assured and well characterized, though the action scenes don’t quite bear the same dynamic as the conversational bits.
Jupiter’s Legacy 2 #1
Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Frank Quitely
Reviewed by Liam Budd
After more than a year long hiatus, and a prequel, Jason is back with his super-powered parents and ready to take on Jason’s power-mad Uncle. Their plan begins by setting off around the world to recruit a number of retired super-villains. Though the main crux is simple enough, head around the world and gather the team, it’s a well used trope we know well. Yet writer Mark Millar and artist Frank Quitely move the action on quickly enough to get back to the more important aspects of the story. My biggest wish however would be for Millar to stop introducing concepts and flesh out what already exists. It’s a habit of his to focus slightly more on the world-building and coming up with cool concepts than telling a story with depth.
If you’ve been following “Jupiter’s Legacy” then you’ll know it has been plagued with delays, with issues taking months to be released. During that time, if you’re anything like me, then you’d most likely forget what had happened and who characters were, the delays placed a huge strain on the readers. However, before this issue was released, I read the first volume over again, as a sort of refresher, and I’m so glad I did because this is one fine superhero comic, not perfect, but damn fine. The story is very well paced while we get a good deal of characterisation for one character who was in desperate need of a backstory. It is genuinely fun too which can be a double edged sword when it comes to Millar’s work, but not here. One of the biggest problems this title faced at the beginning of its run was it had no identity, it couldn’t decide whether it was an honest to God superhero comic or a dark, deconstruction of the genre. It seems with this second volume Millar and Quitely decided on a true superhero epic, I mean we have a young protagonist who believes in doing the right thing while facing insurmountable odds. If it could just fix its tone it would be perfect, this new assured identity comes into conflict with a simmering Millaresque vibe.
One of the biggest draws that this book has is of course Frank Quitely. In my opinion he is one of the greatest artists working in comic books today, his ingenuity and style was enough for me to pick up this title in the first place and stick around when they failed to meet deadlines. Everything from his characters to his landscapes are polished and immaculate which is even more astounding when you begin to notice how much detail he puts in. He doesn’t need to use splash pages to wow either, he is much more attuned to let the natural positioning of his panels tell his story, there is one point where Hutch strolls through a nine panel spread, showing off his effortless power and swagger. Quitely is a natural storyteller when it comes to comic books, he knows what he’s doing and he does it very well. My one criticism would be his all his major characters do appear to posses the same silhouette, but honestly I’m just being picky. Judging from this issue, I’d say the creative team used their long hiatus well, “Jupiter’s Legacy” is back on track, it’s just a case of whether it’ll lose its way again.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – An exciting return of a series with lots of potential, Millar’s writing is more assured and Quitely is excellent as always. Let’s just hope they do not succumb to the old pitfalls.
Mae #2
Written and Illustrated by Gene Ha
Reviewed by Brian Salvatore
“Mae” is the latest line in a line of stories I’ve just recently heard referred to as ‘portal fiction’ – you know, kid finds a portal to another world, etc. Gene Ha, one of the most underrated artist in comics, has crafted this story, a tale of sisters separated by a magical world, reunited after a number of years. While last issue had a ton of mystery, this one tried to go about filling in some of those blanks, to make a more well-rounded story.
Continued belowThe problem is, aside from Ha’s art, this is all stuff we’ve seen before, and seen done better, frankly. The best moments are the intensely personal ones, like Mae’s love of Doctor Who popping up, but for the most part, the book lacks anything outside of generic characterizations. Sick, grumpy dad who disapproves of the boyfriend, confused, collegiate best friend, dumb townies with their trucks and beer. Everything about this issue, story-wise, was predictable and rote, which works against the art, which Ha constructs in his usual, detailed and gorgeous way. Ha draws a book of a beautiful women without exploitation, and shines in both the intense action sequences as well as the moments between long-lost sisters.
But I kept having the same thought while reading this: “Birthright” is a much better realized, and emotionally tethered, version of this story. Here, Mae and her father seem like life hasn’t changed all that much since Abbie left – in “Birthright,” the loss of Mikey tore the family apart. When Mikey returned, it completely changed the course of their lives again – both Mae and her father seem content to live the lives they’ve been living, and that means the stakes feel low. How much would their lives really be different if Abbie was killed by one of the monsters? Not much, and that’s why this book fails to live up to its visual possibilities.
Final Verdict: 5.6 – Ha’s art shines; his script struggles
Spider-Man/Deadpool #6
Written by Scott Aukerman
Illustrated by Reilly Brown
Reviewed by Robbie Pleasant
While previous issues of the team-up comic have focused mainly on Deadpool trying to balance being a better person with being an assassin, and the role Spider-Man plays in his development, this issue is more of a humorous aside with a guest writer and artist. So hot on the heels of the successful “Deadpool” movie, Spider-Man’s MCU debut in “Civil War,” and other comic book films that also happened to mixed reviews, we have Spidey and Deadpool going to the movies.
The comic is pretty much dedicated to discussing the current state of superhero movies, to such a specific degree that I’m fairly certain the characters are winking at the audience underneath their mask with every line. That’s not to say there aren’t any points worth mentioning, though, with some nice jabs at how the X-Men are still left out of any cinematic universes, some of the many complaints commonly aimed at “Batman v Superman,” and Spidey’s constant cinematic reboots. It’s goofy, but it works.
Both the guest writer and artist are clearly having a lot of fun with the characters. From the very first page, where they recreate the iconic image from Spider-Man’s first comic (except with Deadpool) to the chase scenes through multiple film sets, there’s love in every panel. Of course, Reilly Brown is no stranger to “Deadpool” comics, as the comic mentions his role in creating Bob, Agent of Hydra, and he’s in full form, from Deadpool flying around on a swarm of hover drones to Spider-Man saving the day with an animatronic dinosaur. And yes, both those scenes make perfect sense in context. The comic is fast-paced, with witty dialogue and perfectly positioned panels that capture the action nicely, and provides plenty of entertainment on each page.
Story-wise, the plot is mostly an excuse to take Deadpool and Spider-Man on a trip through Hollywood, with all the jokes and references that follow. But it still follows a clear, self-contained narrative, while remaining a nice break from the murder and moral dilemmas previous issues have been focusing on.
Final Verdict: 7.9 – A very entertaining intermission, with a team that’s clearly having a blast working on it. Plenty of jabs at Hollywood and today’s superhero films, but all done organically and with plenty of affection.
Uncanny Inhumans #11
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Carlos Pacheco
Review by Ken Godberson III
After a kinda cringy issues 8-9 and the decent enough one-shot with Reader in #10, “Uncanny Inhumans” actually feels like it’s back on track with this issue. And what’s weird about that is that it is actually very entrenched in the plot of “Civil War II”. Now, let’s face it, “Civil War II” is a garbage fire. Grade A Shit. Apart from the main from the beginnings of the central conflict based around a black man dying just to give the white people pain, it’s based around a premise so ridiculous that the two central leads have to be twisted around to justify the nonsense. So it’s up to tie-ins to try and make it somewhat salvageable. And this book kind of does that, or at least it justifies why Medusa sides with Carol.
Continued below“Uncanny Inhumans” has been described by Marvel PR and other places as Game of Thrones in the Marvel Universe and I’ve always found that a bit quaint. Mostly because I can just imagine a Disney executive coming down and putting to the Rack whatever writer would place the phrase “There’s no cure for being a cunt” in one of their books. My immense snideness aside, I have to say this issue is the closest this book has gotten to that analogy. It does so by not making the Inhumans motivation “Change the Future/Go Full On Fascist” and actually treats Ulysses as a person. Essentially, their beef is “Tony Stark invaded our territory and kidnapped one of our citizens that we swore to protect. We will not let this stand.”
The real conflict among the Inhumans is how to approach that. House Boltagon will make Tony Stark pay, but how far are they willing to go. Medusa makes a good point in that they cannot attack Stark Industries. Their grudge is with Stark, but attack his company would not only endanger the lives of thousands it employees, but also impact global economy and potential civilian casualties from a full out assault and the world would have a new reason to mistrust “the woman with living hair they’ve seen on television”. So, they begin a surgical approach, going after Tony’s finances, his private life (like exposing his sexts to the world. I’m not joking), his tech secrets and his personal property. Of course, not everyone is up for this deft approach and would rather use a battleaxe over the rapier.
And yes, as advertised, this issue has the first appearance of Mosaic and we see his powers in action as part of the team going after Tony. It’s intriguing, makes me curious for his series, even if the ideas in my head for a character called “Mosaic” are a bit more interesting than this kinda-sorta Deadman power set.
Carlos Pacheco’s art is serviceable enough. I’ll admit it being a better fit for this series than Kev Walker or Brandon Peterson. Two things though: 1. Can we just not with the boob socks of Medusa’s costume. Like, can we let this form of design die already. 2. There are some instances where I feel like the character’s expressions should be… well… more expressive than it’s being shown. Really, I think the colorist David Curiel was the best aspect of the artwork. Like his work on the first Sam Alexander “Nova” and “Kanan: The Last Padawan”, Curiel has a very bold style very similar to colleague Justin Ponsor. It really comes to life when we get to see Tony’s A.I. assistant Friday trying to combat Grid’s attack in cyberspace.
The last time the Inhumans got tied into an event it was “AXIS” and it threw off the whole book. This very much seems to be the beginning of a reversal: using the lemon of the main event to realign its own characters.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – A real good return for this book.
