Comic Carnival family, the past week has provided a great deal for us to deal with. This past Friday morning, a group of people that went out of their way to watch a movie as soon as possible became victims of atrocious violence. We don’t know why, and honestly I can’t think there’s a reason anyone could give that would satisfy us. These were our peers that were hurt or worse, and our hearts go out to them and their loved ones. Some of you may have been anticipating Batman Incorporated 3 (Morrison/ Burnham) on the shelf this week. If you could pick it up, you’d be treated to an almost psychedelic combination of plots focusing on “Matches” Malone gathering intel and nearly getting the crap beaten out of him by Batman, which (if you know the character) would be an amazing feat. This would be the latest chapter in a story where Damian, son of Bruce Wayne, is targeted for death by Talia al Ghul, Damian’s mother, presumably because time-outs or withholding desserts are cliche parenting these days.
But you will not find this issue on any shelf. In the wake of the events in Aurora, Colorado, DC Comics has pulled the issue. Not all DC Comics are being pulled, not even all Batman titles, just this one. As near as I can tell, the reasoning behind this decision is that there are two panels on the first page where someone draws a gun on a crowd. The location, time of day, and context are completely different, yet this is the only correlation that might explain DC’s reaction. I would not presume to say whether this is a gesture of sympathy or an overreaction, but it means there is one less comic on the market this week.
In contrast, I present Amazing Spider-Man 690 (Slott/ Camuncoli). It also has a controversial image on its first page - well, second if you count the recap page, but who does that?
Let me set up the scene: Curt Connors is gone. His human form has been restored and everyone involved feels very accomplished, but the Lizard is running the show. The Lizard is working to find a cure for his own humanity, but is only succeeding in regrowing his missing arm. With every “failure”, the Lizard needs to cut off the regrown limb so he can move about the complex without suspicion and continue his research. On the first pages of story, the audience is treated to watching a human being sear off his own arm, plotting mayhem as it falls to the ground, picking it up and feeding to an experimental creature that used to be a brilliant scientist. But that’s not the controversy to me.
The rest of the issue plays with the idea of addiction a lot. Morbius gets cravings under stress, Connors rediscovers the concept of guilty pleasures (that don’t always hurt or maim people), and Spider-Man is hooked on self-destruction. In all seriousness, between a vampire and a growing army of mentally unbalanced mutations, Spider-Man seems to hate himself more than his enemies ever could. But this is not the controversy I speak of. This is:
The very first time Connors chops his arm off, the hand is flipping the reader off. THAT is something I’m shocked got passed Editorial.
Debris 1 (Wiebe/ Rossmo) is an entirely new creature. It’s not a far-flung sequel, it’s not a spin-off, and as far as I can tell it’s not a reinterpretation of anything. For this reason, I feel protective of it - new intellectual properties are so rare that I feel they need to be cared for in a secure environment so that more can be bred, like pandas.
Machine life has choked the planet (could be Earth, could be something else) so tightly that there is perhaps one human colony left, with everyone toiling endlessly to produce food and water in sufficient quantities. Everyone has their own jobs, and Maya is a Protector, an elite warrior that scouts for and dissuades the machines from hurting the colony, either by slaying them or leading them away. The Protectors are losing ground. A desperate plan to find a potential cache of resources is hatched, and Maya alone can be spared to find it. Her objective is probably a myth, but that’s okay - things are so dire that even if she found it, the colony could easily be dead before she returns.
In a lot of ways, this is a standard post-apocalypse drama. Humans are so far below the top of the food chain they can’t even see it, and Hope survives but only barely. Debris does a good job of giving each element, though typical, it’s own distinct taste. Maya has the energy and drive of youth, but has learned early and hard enough to know her priorities; the colony is strained, but there’s trust and transparency enough that no one thinks the effort is going to waste; the machines have a shadow of life, but instead of mimicking it the machines seem genuinely cursed with it.
The writing is intriguing, even if the dialogue is a bit stiff. The art communicates both desolation and beauty well, and at the same time, but there are a few moments that don't connect as well as they should have. Overall, this is a good first issue of a good sci-fi comic book, and I really would like to see it live up to its potential.
Due to peer pressure, I picked up Aquaman 11 (Johns/ Reis). I’m a member of the camp that can’t take Aquaman seriously. I think he should be canned and stocked next to tuna, labeled as “Superman of the Sea”, and be done with it. However, Johns and Reis are a creative team that’ve done some impressive work before, which raised my hopes.
I’m a mythology nut. Stories centuries old about lands loved and lost intrigue me. This plays to that chord a lot, with a retelling of the origin and fall of Atlantis. And like with many myths, there are inconsistencies, but where the most classic myths have minor ones, in this single issue there are multiple, major about-faces that lost me. There were a lot of people I didn’t know in this issue, and the good news is that by the end I felt I knew as much of them as I did the more familiar characters; the bad news is that I didn’t come away knowing anyone.
If you’re already reading this, this is not going to be a pleasant issue. If you’re looking to jump into the title, don’t.
Goon 40 (Eric Powell) is Talladega Nights meets The Untouchables. Since the Goon has committed every crime ever, it’s only natural that he also deals with running moonshine during prohibition. And since nothing the Goon does can ever be simple or direct, this book takes a few, shall we say, liberties with the historical record.
The main story alone is out there enough to be funny - the Goon and a rival family compete for territory in progressively wilder competitions - but it’s the details that resonate. For example, at one point, a Charleston dance-off becomes so erotic, demonic forces arrive to break it up. Reread that last sentence, I guarantee the full weight of it hasn’t hit you yet.
This is one of those titles that not everyone loves, but everyone appreciates. It’s got humor, action, cheesecake, and enough sense to know when each of them will work. I laughed at it so much that I had to share it with someone, so I just gave it to a coworker that’s over 60 years old and a war veteran. He’s cracking up too. This is 50cc of silly, and this is a good time for it.
And I leave you there, with options aplenty to give you something great to read this week. Enjoy!
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