Marvel gave us the Secret Empire (didn’t read it)
I also didn’t read ten, 5-star comics, so I had to dip into the 4.5 waters for this month's list...
Written by Christopher Hastings
Art and Colors by Gurihiru
I was almost pissed off at the end - Ha, they pulled a fast one on me. Did they fool you too? Weird but interesting, I wanna know more. Thank God Gurihiru is back on art chores, the book is never as good when they are gone.
Written by Dennis Hopeless
Art by Victor Ibanez * Colors by Jay David Ramos & Chris Sotomayer
Let’s hope Hopeless does for this series what he did for Spider-Woman, by giving it a lot of heart and well developed characters. The first arc sets up a confrontation with the Phoenix. Can this Jean avoid her fate?
Written by Charles Soule
Art by Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque * Colors by Dan Jackson
The first of the final 3 chapters of this sci-fi epic: we now know the “whys”, now comes our protagonist’s last ditch efforts to save what they can of humanity. Endings have never been Soule’s strong suit, so while this was a good first step in the final step, all I can do is cross my fingers that he can finally stick a landing clean.
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by John Davis-Hunt * Colors by Steve Buccellato
Hmm, Engineer’s tech smells a lot like Stark’s Extremis upgrade from another book Ellis wrote. Did the armor always bleed through her pores or is that a recent addition? Very little progress on the plot but the dialogue is scintillating and scathing.
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Art by Marley Zarcone * Colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick
The situation on Meta is spinning out of control, while on Earth Loma takes a psychedelic tour of Gotham. This groovy stream of consciousness is like 60s new wave cinema, a little “Daisies” if you will. And it took a 2nd read-through before I could get into it, but once I did... well, here it is among the 10. Oh, Love Becky Cloonan's cover.
Written by Jody Houser
Art by John Paul Leon * Colors by Dave Stewart
Now this is more like it. We get dense, moody art that’s grittier (as it should be, it suits the tone of series) and a story that gets back to the lost girls (one girl in particular) seen at the end of the first arc. More of Violet’s past is shown, we learn how her powers work (or don’t, in this case) as our anti-hero reluctantly takes on the mantle of hero. Also, mom is a puzzle, how does she know what she knows?
Written by Jason Latour
Art by Robbi Rodriguez * Colors by Rico Renzi
With crossover done the book gets back to business. Even though it’s using the Spider-Man mythos for its stories (here it’s a new spin on venom), I’m still engaged and looking forward to seeing how Gwen handles the situation. There’s humor (the text message bit) but mostly it’s a dark set-up, and Latour sure knows how to make you hate his villains (first Castle, now Murdock). In issue 20 we are introduced to a couple of X-people.
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art and Colors by Tyler Crook
Not a lot of scares, it’s a strong character based issue with plenty of intrigue on the fringes.
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Phil Hester * Colors by Mark Englert
I love a story that surprises me, that hints that not all is what we think it is. Is our hero really the hero? What made the baddie (?) do what he did… and what of those cryptic comments he makes, the underlying hatred/resentment he has for Shipwright. Can’t wait to see what is revealed in future issues of this weird miniseries.
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Nick Dragotta * Colors by Frank Martin
Ah, the things you do for love. Plus, fate deals a nasty hand for one of the chosen. Hickman once again writes the book of the month (though in April it was with Black Monday)
My Honorable Mentions:
Red Hood and The Outlaws #10, Wicked + The Divine 455 AD #1, American Monster #6, James Bond: Service Special #1, James Bond Felix Leiter #5, Judge Dredd: The Blessed Earth #2
Writer of the Month: Johnathan Hickman
Artist of the Month: John Paul Leon (Mother Panic)
Back to April
Head Writer, wide awake nightmare... bids you salutations citizens of Earth!
Posts
