Wrapping Wednesday: Micro Reviews for the Week of 03/11/20

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.

“Batman and the Outsiders” #11 is a great issue, hands down. The story that’s been building for the past ten issues, and even before that in Hill’s “Detective Comics” run, starts to come to a head here. Batman’s Outsiders battle against Al Ghul’s minions and neither side holds anything back. The fight makes up the meat of this issue and it’s one of the most impressive ones in recent memory.

Hill’s script makes it perfectly clear that the fight is personal. Black Lightning wants to avenge his friend. Signal absolutely loathes Karma after the villain injured him. Shiva and Cass don’t have a happy reunion but have come to an understanding, it would seem. Oh and Katana apparently can’t stand Kaliber. Her takedown of him is a standout moment, both cool and funny at the same time.

Not that there aren’t plenty of stand-out moments. Dexter Soy is amazing at action sequences, the fight is full of energy and movement. Sometimes, the action spills out of the panel or borders of the page. Other times, there are blurred backgrounds and limbs so you really feel the punches and kicks. Just about all of the Outsiders seem to get a cool action hero moment in this issue.

The comic isn’t just a slugfest either…though it could be impressive as just that. At the edges of the story, Batman and Ra’s put their plans into action. I never much cared for Al Ghul but Hill really makes the character compelling. Ra’s and Batman make for great foils, their influence felt even though they’re not in the thick of it. Like Batman, he is relentless. Like Batman, he can mold others into what he wants. Like Batman, he’s always ahead of his opponent. Even though the Outsiders win the battle, they’re forced to abandon their victory to save lives. Ra’s seems unstoppable and is definitely in the team’s heads. Now he’s bringing on Armageddon? I can’t wait to see where this creative team takes the story next.

Final Verdict: 8.0 – The Outsiders are ready to take on all challengers in a great issue.

With “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts” #1, Mark Laszlo tells an interesting, though perhaps to some degree predictable, story of a restless spirit. With the tale of the “myling” explained primarily through narration rather than dialogue (with some rare exceptions), he pulls together a classic campfire story, albeit one that has a somewhat surprising ending for such a dark tale.

While the story itself may not be all that original (barring the aforementioned ending), Laszlo’s artwork more than makes up for any clichés through its hauntingly realistic renditions of various people, from the mortal to the supernatural. The myling itself is horrifying in all of its incarnations, whether twisted into unnatural poses or otherwise seeming to have its limbs out of proportion with one another. Even in the framing device of the elder telling a story to a rather unusual audience, while comedic on its surface, it still lends itself well to an eerie atmosphere.

Patricio Delpecke’s colors help to further accentuate the ghastly atmosphere all around “Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts” #1. Warm colors are used in the framing device to give a sense of comfort, while cooler, darker coloration is used in the ghost story itself to provide appropriate lighting for an earlier age as well as useful for the terror or otherwise foreboding of each event taking place throughout the story itself. As with the illustrations, the best use of color is with the myling, an ethereal, seemingly demonic, sickly green glow emanating from a skeletal form and casting a terrible light upon already dark colors to instill further fear, rather than help assuage said emotions.

Final Verdict: 7.5 – The overall story may not be too original, but artwork and colors help raise this chilly ghost story up in the end of winter.

There is always an interesting dichotomy to the ideals vs reality of a place. We need ideals, they give us something to protect and strive for, a common goal, a mission. There sometimes comes a sobering moment in a person’s life, a moment when they learn that the reality of the thing doesn’t reflect what they have fought so hard for. This moment is the major crux of the conflict of “Ronin Island” #11, a conflict that challenges Hana to her very core. How do you continue to defend a place that has violated your trust? Do you continue? The internal conflict helps to elevate the external one, making a memorable penultimate issue.

Greg Pak does a good job of creating a slow burn to Hana’s final confrontation with her village in “Ronin Island” #11. For an issue that begins with a battle sequence, the most intense moment comes when Hana confronts the village elders for betraying the Shogun’s soldiers. The boiling over of tensions as Kenichi’s mother makes her opinions truly known, the promise of Ronin Island being a place for all people (at least in her eyes) is a lie. There’s a moment of betrayal in Hana’s eyes, perfectly captured by Giannis Milonogiannis, followed by the sadness of her monologue. She has killed for this place, a place that will never truly accept her.

Milonogiannis’ art is good throughout. It feels reminiscent of illustrations from Japanese scrolls, with backgrounds being expressionistic. But what’s really stood out was the decisions that Irma Kniivila’s coloring. The majority of the issue embraces various shades of blue and purple. The colors matching the scenes that take place at night. But the other thing that the coloring achieves is making the reds and yellows of the fire stand out. As the issue progresses, the colors of the background begin to transition to the colors of dawn, correlating with Kara’s growing resentment of her home. By the end of the issue she’s given a choice, go with Sato and live or stay behind and die with her friends in one last defense of a land that isn’t what she thought it was. “Ronin Island” #11 features story and art that helps to show the importance of this choice, setting up what should be an exciting final showdown.

Final Verdict: 7.0 “Ronin Island” #11 utilizes an impressive color palette which enhances the art and story of an exciting issue.

Many comics are easy to summarize into a core concept. “Snotgirl” is not one of those, and issue #15 has the creative team balancing all of the different aspects of the comic as Lottie Person and those around her gather for Megan’s rehearsal dinner.

Leslie Hung’s art is as stylish and gorgeous as it has been throughout the series. The balance between painstakingly-rendered panels and manga-esque quick and rough ones perfectly encapsulates Lottie’s desire to be picture-perfect all the time, whilst actually being a hot mess for the majority of her existence. Rachael Cohen’s coloring melds with this style effortlessly and helps make “Snotgirl” one of the most eye-catching comics on the shelf. There are some standout moments in Maré Odomo’s lettering, with some agonizing vocalizations of pain near the end of the issue.

All of the visual aspects of the book help Bryan Lee O’Malley piece together the story. The stakes and intrigue in “Snotgirl” are constantly being ramped up, and issue #15 is no different. Lottie has to confront Caroline and her sister. Megan’s wedding rehearsal has to go by with (hopefully) only minor derailments. Cutegirl has to be cute. Esther has to be Lottie’s savior once again. Caroline has to be shady. This is one of the densest issues of the series, and the creative team manages to make it one of the most engaging as well.

At the end of the issue, the team announced that they will be going on hiatus. After reading it, it is perfectly understandable why this is. Creating a book as intricate as “Snotgirl”, even on an irregular basis, must be exhausting. Whenever Lottie, Caroline, and the rest of the cast return, they will undoubtedly have some fascinating tea to spill.

Final Verdict: 9.2 – There may not be another issue of “Snotgirl” for a while, but issue #15 is a damn fine one to be left stewing over.

Remember when you were watching the excellent Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and you thought the cartoon pig was a bit weird but still pretty funny? Well, apparently that appearance was enough for Marvel to give him a presence in the regular book line up, and if “Spider-Ham” #4 is anything to go by, this is definitely a character worth paying attention to.

Despite being the second to last book in the entire series, “Spider-Ham” #4 manages to be a fantastic read all on its own. Writer Zeb Wells has a keen grasp of how to make a comic book funny and the dialogue, situations, and the very nature of the characters themselves lead to some pretty good jokes. If there is any problem with the writing, it’s that it’s calling back to a lot of stuff we’ve seen before. If you’re a fan of Rick and Morty, any Deadpool book, or the MCU you’ll immediately understand all of the references in this book, but since it’s is so well written it’s easy to forgive and just laugh along.

Also, there is a twist reveal near the end of the book that will give you nightmare fuel for weeks.

The artwork on “Spider-Ham” #4 does a good job giving the book a lot of space to breathe and allows the reader to really understand what’s going on. Artist Will Robson keeps the panel count small and the panels big, which allows the narrative to be clear and gives each of the jokes and reveals enough space to process and land. The artwork itself has a soft haze to it that makes the artwork look a bit too mature as a send-up to silly cartoon animals, but it gets the job done well enough.

“Spider-Ham” #4 is a very funny book, helmed by a creative team that is very good at what they do. While long time fans of Marvel might be a little tired of the specific type of humor in this book, it does this type of humor incredibly well and is a fantastic read.

Final Verdict: 8.6 – It’s irreverent, it’s cartoonish, and it’s so self-referential that even Deadpool is rolling his eyes. In other words, it’s pretty gosh darn good.

Lots of words have been written about the verbose, decompressed scripts of Brian Michael Bendis superhero comics. However, Bendis continues to write scripts like “Superman” #21 despite the fact that he isn’t even writing them at Marvel comics anymore. Superman is in the middle of an important moment after revealing his identity at the beginning of the latest arc entitled ‘The Truth.’ However, “Superman” #21 squanders the potential that the premise of the arc has by reducing DC’s blue boy scout to a violence-prone action hero that has been fighting the same dull rogue for three issues. Bendis had a difficult time justifying the reasoning for the Superman and Mongul battle when the duo first threw fisticuffs and the resolution between their fight in “Superman” #21 is anti-climactic. The finale of the conflict will make you wonder why Bendis has been writing two Superman comics at the same time.

Artist Ivan Reis is a solid reason to pick up the issue. Reis draws a lot of detail on the page during Superman’s blowout Mongul fight. There’s a spread where Mongul is picking himself up from rubble that is filled with precise anatomy details and a beautiful puff of smoke. The issue also sports a couple great spreads and panel bleeds that are delightfully rich with detail. The art squanders during the sequences with Lois Lane. Reis draws humans who need less detail in an inconsistent manner. There are also multiple inkers including Joe Prado and Oclair Albert who are credited to the issue and it isn’t hard to see the pages that switch out one inker for another. Alex Sinclair’s colors look beautiful when Superman is locked in battle with Mongul but leaves me scratching my head when Lois Lane is talking to a fellow reporter.

“Superman” #21 is yet another issue of the core series that barely advances the plot forward. Bendis has a lot of ground to cover in justifying why this is the time for Superman to reveal his identity. Pushing Superman into a multi-issue fight with one of his most derivative foes leaves me scratching my head. The issue’s final cardinal sin is the last panel which lazily brings an obscure character back to the pages of the series in a horrifically cliched manner. Ivan Reis contributes uneven pencils with a handful of beautiful pages that don’t make up for the dull visuals from the Lois Lane sections of “Superman” #21.

Final Verdict: 4.0 – “Superman” #21 is a great example of how decompressed storytelling can ruin the momentum of a fascinating story premise.

Donny Cates has been writing the most metal “Thor” run in recent memory and issue 4 keeps that going with gusto. “Thor #4” is a relatively strong issue, though it isn’t quite up to par with the preceding issues. A lot of things happen in this issue but somehow it doesn’t feel quite as propulsive as it has in the past. Thor and Sif’s argument and Thor and Galactus’s tour of death takes up the bulk of the issue, though Loki briefly holding Mjolnir is obviously the biggest moment of this outing. Cates does good work with this issue, even if it feels more like it’s setting things up and hastily moving certain plot points along more than it’s really digging into the material.

The best part of this book is easily Nic Klein and Matt Wilson’s art. It’s gritty and atmospheric in a way that helps the whole thing feel grounded without losing sight of the epic scale of the book. They capture Thor’s attack on Galactus and the pair’s subsequent razing of planets with incredible intensity and their portrait of the Black Winter on the final page is an absolute showstopper.

Probably the most promising aspect of “Thor #4,” and this run as a whole, is the fact that it’s so hard to see where this is all going. Cates has set up a story that feels incredibly full of potential while being relatively fulfilling on an issue-to-issue basis and that’s not an easy thing. This issue is a worthy (no pun intended) entry in the story of Thor Odinson and we should absolutely be looking forward to the rest of this story.

Final Verdict: 7.8 – Whosoever holds this hammer if he be metal but a smidge overstuffed, shall possess the power of “Thor #4”.