Seven to Eternity #10-#13: "Rise to Fall" (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Seven to Eternity #10:  This issue is interesting because we encounter people who are at least as strong as Garlis if not stronger.  That said, it isn't the easiest issue to follow, which is already a high bar for a series that seems to pride itself at times on its obtuseness.

Adam's opening letter describes he and Garlis enduring a month-long journey through a "treacherous, subterranean labyrinth" called the Great Hollow.  Unlike the swamp, which expels its poison onto you, the Moss Weavers who live in the Hollow "draw from the mind all evil, a cleansing that might sound pleasant but is, in fact, a vile madness."

The issue begins with a giant fish-like humanoid (almost like a Sleestak from "Land of the Lost") called an Elemntak emerging from a well in a lake.  He's holding in his hand a bubble containing Adam, Garlis, and the White Lady's owl and they're all sitting atop a whale-like creature.  (It's kind of hard to explain.)  Adam notes that he and Garlis both clearly feel lighter after the Moss Weavers' cleansing.  Garlis promises to fulfill his promise to the Elementak once he's seen to Adam's offer while Adam is forced to admit to himself that he's seeing Garlis in a new light.  Although he knows how brutal Garlis can be, Adam realizes that, like him, Garlis faced a dilemma and "made the best compromises he could."

Given this issue was written over four years ago, it's unbelievable how well Garlis' subsequent treatise on "high-mindedness and intellectualism" fits our current political discussion.  He observes that "progressive ideas" start in elite circles but never make it to the layman because he (the layman) finds them difficult to understand.  The laymen dismiss these ideas as dishonest because they're confusing and instead embrace simple ideas because they're easy to understand.  Garlis justifies his actions because he saved Zhal from "falling to the control of frightened, confused dolts."  It's the sort of speech an authoritarian progressive leader would deliver to justify her regime as preventing the MAGAs from taking power.

Lest we get lost in ideas too long, though, Adam and Garlis leave behind the Hollow and come upon dead bodies surrounding a destroyed coach.  When Adam observes that the perpetrators left no tracks, Garlis looks at the corpse of one of the perpetrators and announces that he was a "balloon man" or Sky Bandit of Volmer, the God of Thieves.  (They came from the sky, hence no tracks.)

Telling Adam that Volmer kills anyone who gets in his way, Garlis asks him how many nails he has remaining.  Adam responds that he only has one but can use the White Lady's lantern to pull more souls from the Well.  Garlis frantically tells Adam not even to think about doing so, because he wouldn't be able to control what he grabbed.  (Adam is clearly going to do so at some point.)

Suddenly, a four-armed warrior and her companion, Juk, arrive to kidnap Garlis.  Adam uses his grandmother's nail and her power to "strip away masks and illuminate reality," but Juk can turn energy forms into physical forms and Four-Arms (as I'm calling her) destroys his grandmother's now-solid spirit.  Four-Arms then hurls Adam into a tree, and Garlis takes the chance to kill the White Lady's owl, freeing him to make offers again.  Before he can, Four-Arms knocks him unconscious.  Leaving Adam on the ground, she and Juk take Garlis into the skies to the floating city of Skod and bring him to Volmer.

In Volmer's fortress, we learn that Volmer's wife, Ama, made a deal with Garlis at some point.  Garlis cryptically makes an offer to Volmer (I think) telling them that he'll "stop your [Volmer's, I think] captains from hovering around your lovely Ama's valley."  It isn't really clear what the deal here is, to be honest.  Based on a subsequent ribald conversation between two Sky Bandits, I think Ama is having sex with Volmer's captains.  But I don't see what it has to do with Ama's deal.  Also, Volmer claims Ama made her deal for "Solm" but we're never told what or who Solm is.  At any rate, Volmer threatens to kill Garlis but knows that he can't kill him without killing his wife, so he tortures him instead.

As the rest of the party comes across the destroyed coach, Adam makes his way to Skol.  With the White Lady's owl dead, he can now feel Garlis' seeing through his eyes and knows that he did, in fact, sell his soul to him.  Adam realizes that he's making his way to Skol to save Garlis in and of himself and not because Garlis can save him, a situation that surprises him.  Upon arriving at Skol, Adam encounters Four-Arms and her crew.  Poor Adam.  It's never easy.

Seven to Eternity #11:  This issue is unusually straight to the point.

At the Osidis farm, Adam's wife, Nival, tries to keep up appearances as the kids' realize that the roots are dying and their food is disappearing.  Nival tries to get the kids to focus on the positive, particularly since Rosie's (their infant sister's) fever has broken.  When one of the children sees through the window that the Mud King's servants are arriving, Nival hides the kids in a closet or the basement and rushes to the front door with a sword.  But she's startled to see that Garlis' servants are there bearing gifts, since, as one says, "the Mud King cares for his servants."

In one of Volmer's prison cells, Garlis explains to Adam that Volmer was a "soft coward who lost his bid for power and fled to hide in the clouds...blaming his fate on his father, as so many failures do."  Garlis also informs Adam that he's used his restored sight to send his people to provide supplies to Adam's family.  As Garlis reminds Adam that Volmer isn't his only son (i.e., he's arranged for their rescue via the Piper), Volmer enters with Ama.

Fearing Volmer will kill Garlis and everyone connected to him (himself included), Adam tells Volmer that he and his party are trying to get Garlis to Torgga to separate him from his "servants."  Volmer tells Adam that he knows that he was with a party of seven, and Adam claims that he took Garlis via the Great Hollow to prevent Garlis' "loyalists" from finding him.  Ama responds by outlining the events that we know are true, of Adam betraying his party and agreeing to go to the springs of Zhal after hearing Garlis' offer.  Adam interestingly insists that he never heard an offer, though Ama points out he has the White Lady's lantern, which she was unlikely just to hand to Adam.  Adam counters by telling Ama that the White Lady was a servant of the Black Well and promises to bring Garlis to Torgga once he's healed, which he needs to be for his family's sake.

Volmer has sympathy for Adam, telling him that he believes that Adam believes that, having rationalized his decision.  But Volmer says that he wants to spend more time with his father, cryptically saying that he won't spend the rest of his life in the sky.  He then rips out Garlis' remaining eye so that he can hear Garlis' offer without Garlis looking at him.  It's a lot.

Elsewhere, the rest of the party struggles with the fact that they don't know how to get into Skod without alerting either Garlis or Volmer.  Jevalia asks Katie why she's upset; when Katie says that she's worried about her father, Jevalia tells her that she knows Katie is also worried that Adam is a traitor.  Weirdly, Jevalia provides assurances that he's a good man "facing impossible odds," a more favorable view of him than we saw in issue #8, when she pays Dragan to kill Adam.  Before we can learn more, the Torgga witch appears in a vision and tells the party that the White Lady's owl is dead and Garlis has regained his "throngs."  Meanwhile, we see the Piper assembling a race of flying humanoids, who look a lot like Beak from the X-Men.

Seven to Eternity #12:  We get another surprisingly direct issue here as Volmer believes himself to have the upper hand only to realize that he never had a hand at all.

Volmer's guards bring Adam to Volmer due to Adam's deteriorating condition.  Instead of helping Adam, Volmer brings him on a walk so that he can lecture him.  (Volmer claims the sea air that Adam can breathe while they walk on the outside promenade will help his condition.)  

During the War of Whispers, Skod's residents apparently managed to refuse hearing Garlis' offers though soon found Garlis-controlled territories surrounding them.  As Garlis cut off Skod from the rest of the world, Ama approached him.  She accepted his offer to isolate Skod permanently from the war, not realizing that the catch was that any Skodian who set foot on Zhal's soil would die immediately.  As such, Volmer was forced to raise his city into the clouds.

Volmer tells Adam that his men had to attack the coach that we saw in issue #10 so they could steal water.  Adam isn't buying Volmer's excuses for his men's cruelty, noting that "rationalizing murders seems to be a family trait."  Volmer tells Adam that he can't take Garlis to Torgga until Volmer accepts Garlis' offer to free his kingdom.  (I don't really get this part since Garlis didn't make that offer.)  He's enraged when Adam refuses because he'll be dead in days, since he believes that Adam will free Garlis once he brings him to the springs of Zhal.  (Again, I don't get the problem.  Can't Volmer just demand Garlis offer to free his kingdom and then send Adam on his way?  Is he afraid it'll take more time than Adam has to wear down Garlis?)

Before Four-Arms and Huk can force Adam to walk the plank, the Beak-like humanoids from last issue (called Jolspians) start to impale themselves onto Skod in suicide attacks.  (Remender suddenly starts calling Four-Arms "Juk" in this issue and Juk "Huk."  I thought it was me, but I checked issue #10 and Four-Arms addresses "Huk" as Juk several times.  But, from this point forward, I'll use their new names.)  Volmer realizes the Piper is behind their attacks and orders Juk (Four-Arms) and Huk to guard Garlis.  Adam arrives at Garlis first, outraged that the Piper is killing the Skodians with the controlled Jospians.  He threatens to kill the Piper, which outrages Garlis.  Regardless, Adam frees Garlis and grabs the White Lady's lantern, and they make their way across Skod to flee.

The next part is unclear.  A pink energy aura seems to protect Garlis, and I think it comes from the Piper.  At any rate, something makes Adam flee into a building and activate the lantern, connecting him directly to the Well.  Given that he calls this decision in an aside to us his greatest mistake, next issue should be a doozy.

Seven to Eternity #13:  This issue is wonderful and terrible all at the same time.

Adam's journal tells us that his actions on this day set the stage for Zhal's freedom, the "liberation of [Zhal's] children from the whispers."  As such, the bar is pretty high for the tale that follows, given it's the turning point in the war against Garlis.

The action begins with Garlis hiding from the Piper, a curious act that Ama hypothesizes is because he knows "there is bartering yet to be done."  Garlis tells Ama that he knows what Volmer wants (presumably freeing Skod), but his answer is no.

Meanwhile, Adam travels into the Well.  If I'm reading between the lines correctly (an increasingly acute problem with this series), Garlis' spirit - which appears as a sword-wielding archdemon - informs us that the Mosak believe that mortals are seeds planted in soil to grow spirits that inhabit the "true world" in the Well.  The figure says that he believes that it is "the other," which I'm guessing means that the Well grows spirits to inhabit the true world in Zhal.  But we don't really get explore these cryptic comments enough to make them coherent (surprise, surprise) because Adam comes upon the Excellent Librarian, who tells him that the figure will "hear no more offers" (hence why I think it's Garlis).

The Librarian reveals that the swamp has infested the Well, though I don't know if we know how it happened.  Adam says that it isn't his fault, though I also don't know why Adam would think it was.  The Librarian then seemingly empties the Well into Adam's gun and returns him to Zhal.  (He asks Adam if he'll serve himself or Zhal, and Adam replies, "I am Zhal."  OK then.)

On Skod, Garlis seemingly kills Ama and then faces Volmer who stabs him.  Adam returns to Skod with Garlls calling for him.  Seeing Volmer ready to kill Garlis, Adam chooses "the path of mercy" and releases the Well's souls to destroy Skod.  Adam says he does it for "them," but I'm still not clear on who "them" are.  The people of Skod?  Given they all die, the only benefit that they gained from Adam destroying their home is the fact that they now won't die if they set foot on Zhal because, you know, they're already dead.  If it isn't "the people of Skod," I have no idea who "them" are.

On the ground, Katie and the rest of the party are going through Skod's ruins, and Katie wonders where the bodies are.  (Maybe Adam wasn't as brutal as we thought?  Did he somehow evacuate everyone?)  Dagan and Spiritbox find Volmer's body, though.  Katie asks Goblin to help her bring Volmer to the water to wash his wounds, and Volmer revives long enough to tell Katie that Adam killed them all before he dies.

Final Thoughts:  Oof.  Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel at this point.  This arc is stunning visually.  Opeña is just a fucking marvel throughout this arc.  If the Gliff Lands were a fallen Utopia, the Skylands are all colorful wonder.  It's hard to get your arms around its destruction, no matter how good of a job Opeña does showing it.

But the story itself feels like it's buckling under the weight of this majesty.  Remender does an excellent job of keeping us focused on Adam's overriding need to get Garlis to the springs to heal him.  Amidst all the chaos, it remains our true north.  But Remender is therefore reduced to giving us little more than hints when it comes to other parts of Zhal's history, mythology, and people.  From the Librarian's cryptic words in issue #13 to the exact nature of what Volmer wanted from Garlis, important parts of this story feel like they're missing and won't get addressed.

It feels like Remender can't decide if he wants to provide us a spectacular world-building experience or a deep dive into human frailty.  It's increasingly feeling like his desire to split that baby is weighing down the story, which isn't how I want to feel about this epic.  It also seems impossible that he'll have it done in just four more issues, but I guess we'll see.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The October 5 Non-Event, Non-Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!) (Updated with "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" #3)

Batman #128:  This issue is spectacular.  If you didn't believe Zdarksy and Jiménez were going to deliver an epic story after the first three issues, this issue will make a believer of you.

Zdarksy leans fully into the Tower of Babel as Bruce helplessly watches Failsafe use Superman's moves against him (as he would do).  Failsafe lures Superman into a position where he can stab him with a kryptonite shard.  Bruce and Clark are only saved because Black Canary, Green Arrow, Hawkwoman, and Martian Manhunter arrive.  

Realizing he's outnumbered, Failsafe leads them to a Gotham block that Bruce owns.  Showing how deeply the Failsafe program ran, Failsafe deploys a series of countermeasures designed specifically to take out Black Canary, Hawkwoman, and Martian Manhunter.  When Nightwing wonders how Failsafe plans to take out him and Green Arrow, Failsafe responds simply that he'll do it personally, since he can clearly just beat them to death.  Fun!

I can't explain how brilliant this entire sequence is.  Zdarksy shows how Zur-en-Arrh has anticipated the Justice League's every move since Bruce would've anticipated every move.  In so doing, Zdarsky also displays an extensive and intuitive grasp of Bruce's character.  Plus, Jiménez is on fucking fire throughout these scenes.  He not only delivers amazing action sequences but also somehow captures the terror on the heroes' faces as Failsafe surprises them at each turn.

To that point, Zdarksy also uses small moments to convey the situation's seriousness.  For example, Green Arrow dryly remarks, "That's...bad," when he and Tim discover Bruce slumped over Clark.  (Bruce lost consciousness after bandaging Clark's wound.)  I mean, I think we'd all respond with a certain level of terror at seeing Batman and Superman seemingly dead.

At this point, Green Arrow metaphorically throws the keys of the League's ship to Tim and tells him to escape with Bruce and Clark.  A barely conscious Bruce sends Tim to the Fortress of Solitude to heal Superman, since he's the world's hero.  Before he dives off the plane (so that Failsafe doesn't follow him to the Fortress), Bruce tells Tim how proud he is of him.  Again, it's a small moment, but it's also a sure sign that Bruce thinks that he's going to die.

But Bruce (and Zdarsky) isn't done.  Aquaman saves him, and Bruce awakens two weeks later mostly healed.  Aquaman then informs him that Failsafe has taken over Gotham to goad him into returning.  It's a full Brother Eye situation as some Bat-Family members (like Oracle) are captured and other ones (like Cassandra Cain and The Signal) are on the run from the robot minions that Failsafe has patrolling Gotham.  Zdarsky ends the issue with Bruce contemplating his cowl and asking himself what the plan is, in a way doesn't inspire much confidence.

The "Zur-en-Arrh:  Year One" back-up story is just as compelling as we watch Bruce undergoing his "treatments" to create Zur-en-Arrh.  Bruce wants privacy, but Commissioner Gordon gets him on the red phone when Joker starts poisoning people again.  Bruce meets Gordon who comments that Joker is behaving like he used to be.  Bruce observes that he's behaving like he was before Dick became Robin and lightened up everyone.  (I love this comment, a sly almost ret-con of Joker's more cartoonish iterations.)  But Bruce realizes the victims of Joker's poison aren't smiling and wonders if Joker isn't broken like he is, a truly terrifying prospect.

In case I didn't make it clear, this issue is a candidate for Issue of the Year.  I love everything Zdarksy and his creative team are doing here.

Blade Runner:  Black Lotus #3:  This issue  is rough.  The script is basically a never-ending sequence of the characters uttering clichés.  For example, Dixon, Junkett, and Miguel all utter some version of, "I knew there was something different about [Elle] when I first laid eyes on her."  The plot is better, but at times the visuals don't match what the characters are describing.  For example, when Junkett reveals her stash of explosives for Elle to bring to Barnes' facility, Miguel calls her a genius, even though he's just looking at a large metal box.  I'm hoping next issue is stronger than this one.

Minor Threats #2:  Although this issue isn't as great as the first one, it's still a good time.  

Brain Tease puts together the pieces to the puzzle of Stickman's motives and deduces that he's heading to the Trophy Room Nightclub to brag about killing Kid Dusk.  (Brain Tease realized that Stickman would've been able to see the Trophy Room's spotlights from his prison cell.)  Brain Tease is right, though not in the way he thinks.  

In a truly grotesque and shocking scene, Stickman's henchmen roll out Kid Dusk's corpse on a motorized wheelchair.  The Insomniac appears and cries over Kid Dusk's body, leading Playtime to realize that Stickman was chumming the waters to get revenge on the elite criminals who never approved of him.  Playtime follows Stickman's henchmen onto the roof, but she's wounded when one of their bullets ricochets off a pursuing Insomniac's armor.

Again, although it lacks of some of the first issue's charms, it compensates by showing the very real stakes at play here.  The Insomniac's rampage through the Trophy Room makes you realize the Continuum may be too late to stop him from going too far.  It also makes you wonder if Playtime is going to realize how far over her head she is here.

Undiscovered Country #21:  Now we're getting somewhere.

The Resistance duo bring Ace, Chang, and Janet to a bunker under the completely obliterated Forbidden City, where they're surprised to learn that Pavel is leading the Resistance.  Pavel explains that he survived and took over Destiny and then walks the trio through this sub-zone's status quo.  

We learn that America opened its doors 13 days after the team entered it and the team emerged with a cure for Sky.  Despite the world seemingly on its way to reconciliation, Chang and Janet saw something in America that convinces the AEA and PAPZ to destroy America.  Instead, America makes short work of the Alliance in a three-week war, establishing Pax Americana.

Beyond the obvious question of what Chang and Janet saw, I'm also curious how exactly Chang and Janet didn't know that America would win.  After all, Pavel describes America unleashing all the horrors that we've already seen on the world.  How did Chang and Janet not think it was going to do that?

Snyder and Soule don't dwell on that question, as it's clear we're not supposed to be thinking too hard about these hypothetical outcomes.  When President Graves somehow invades the bunker under the Forbidden City, his men mow down everyone.  Just like Charlotte and Valentina, Chang and Janet awaken to a new reality, one where they and Pavel rule the world.

Meanwhile, Charlotte and Valentina aren't doing so well.  They make their way to Sam in Pearl Harbor while discussing how they still feel their wounds from their previous deaths and feel weaker.  Sam confirms that they only have so many lives left, and an irate Valentina pins him to the ship where he's a captain so that he can die with them.  Instead of moving to the future, they discover themselves in the middle of the Civil War.

This arc has definitely lit a fire under this series in a positive way, but I'll also admit that some of these mysteries are getting old.  In a way, nothing here really helps us understand more about Aurora and the series' core mysteries, as we're spending our time just sussing out Zone History's mysteries.  I'm sure they'll be connected, but it's probably about time to get there.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 28 and October 5 Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

A.X.E.:  Avengers #1 (September 28):  Gillen delivers one of this event's best issues as he uses the team's invasion of the Progenitor to take a deep dive into Tony's psyche.  

As hackneyed as this sort of premise is, Gillen does a solid job of not letting Tony take the easy road to redemption.  His seemingly heart-felt acknowledgement that he isn't the strong one (in context of his fellow Avengers) is met with derision from the red-headed ladies in his life.  They harangue Tony for continually reassembling the same broken machine without focusing on the missing parts.  It's his father who points out most people would've stopped trying to fix said machine a long time ago.  He (i.e., the Progenitor) tells Tony that he's too hard on himself and passes him.  

It isn't just pschyobabble, though.  The experience makes Tony realize that the Progenitor is still judging people, which gives the team the possibility of passing.

The best part of the issue, though, is Tony's banter with Jean Grey and Mr. Sinister before the melodrama begins.  I wish Gillen would've cut down a little on the journey into the dark night of Tony's soul so we could've seem him verbally spar with Sinister some more.

Amazing Spider-Man #10 (September 28):  Holy shit, this issue was fucking CRAZY.

It didn't come as a surprise that the Progenitor took the form of Gwen Stacy to judge Peter or that he passed Peter because his heart shines so brightly it blinds him and "baffles the mind of man."  I have to hand it to Wells, though:  Peter's heart blinding him is truly an excellent summation of how Peter gets into the messes he does.  

Although it isn't surprising that even the Progenitor was moved when seeing into Peter's heart, I very much didn't see him temporarily resurrecting Gwen!  In fact, I almost thought Wells was permanently resurrecting her, explaining why he broke up Peter and Mary Jane.  But Wells goes even one better:  the Progenitor only temporarily resurrected her because he still needs Gwen, to judge Norman.  Ha!  I almost feel bad for Norman.  The segue of Gwen moving from a still grieving yet marveling Peter to an oblivious Norman is perfectly done.

Moreover, this issue flows better than "A.X.E.:  Avengers" #1 since Wells uses it as a way to give us a tour of Peter's current life, avoiding Gillen's navel-gazing approach to Tony (even if navel-gazing is probably appropriate for Tony).  Also, Dragotta's art is such a welcome relief from JR, Jr.  

I wish it didn't take a forgettable cross-over event for Wells to produce the first issue of his run that really felt like a Spider-Man story but here we are.

A.X.E.:  Starfox #1 (October 5):  This issue reads as if Marvel has big plans for Starfox, as Gillen ably presents his life story for everyone who doesn't follow his every move.  Starfox's history is muddled to say the least, yet Gillen somehow manages to impose some order on it.  

First, Gillen answers my questions from "A.X.E.:  Judgment Day" #3 by explaining that Stafox was in the Exclusion after Thanos killed him and the Machine resurrected him.  Since the Eternals didn't know he had linked to the Machine many years ago (the reason why Mentor and Sui-San had him, to prove a point Mentor was making at the time), they threw him in the Exclusion while they figured out how to make sense of a non-Eternal Eternal.  

As an avid reader of the "Avengers" in the 1980s, I was perfectly happy to spend this time with Starfox, atrocious art aside.  But if you aren't a die-hard Starfox fan I think you can skip this one, as I'm sure the main title will explain his deal with Zuras to save humanity by bringing them into Eternal spaces.

A.X.E.:  Death to the Mutants #3 (October 5):  I read this issue after "A.X.E.:  Starfox" #1, which I think was helpful even if this one clearly happens first.  

As a result of "A.X.E.:  Starfox "#1, I know that this issue addresses one of the four plans the heroes are currently putting in place to save Earth.  They tried to destroy the Progenitor, but, as we see here and in "A.X.E.:  Judgment Day" #5, they weren't successful.  We know that Tony's team in "A.X.E.:  Avengers" #1 is trying to kill the Progenitor, and we saw in "A.X.E.:  Starfox" #1 the remaining heroes trying to save who they can.

Here, we see the other plan go into effect, namely Phastos hard-rebooting the Machine that Is Earth to slow down the Progenitor's efforts.  (I'm not sure I totally followed this part, as the Progenitor is apparently somehow using the Machine to destroy Earth, but it's small potatoes at this point.)  The Machine assists Phastos in his mission, as it watches in panic as the Progenitor destroys the Resurrection Engines and is poised to destroy the Reality Loom.  

Gillen tries to get us to mourn the Machine, our narrator throughout this issue.  But the bro-ish voice that Gillen has used for the Machine throughout the series has never really connected with me.  It's hard to connect with an abstract entity, even one with a voice.  As such, though I get Phastos' devastation when it's clear that the hard-reboot has destroyed the Machine's personality, I can't say I was particularly moved by it.  

Oh, well.  Onwards and upwards.

A.X.E.:  X-Men #1 (October 5):  Jean Grey is a complicated character to write.  She's always so...good.  It's the Captain America/Superman problem.  Of course, the exception with Jean is the one that the Progenitor notes here:  she destroyed a world. 

I was excited about this issue when I saw it advertised at the end of "A.X.E.:  Avengers" #1, and it didn't disappoint.  It's a direct sequel to that issue, as the team makes its way through the Celestial.  But Jean takes center stage here as the Progenitor marvels, somewhat indirectly (and in a way in which I've always marveled), at the number of men who love her.  Despite all that love and respect, the Progenitor denies the idea that the Phoenix, not Jean, destroyed that world.  Jean weakly argues that she wasn't in control and that she's saved enough world to be in the black.  She finally segues into wondering when she's balanced the scales enough.  The Progenitor says never and fails her.

But Gillen totally nailed what makes Jean great and what so many authors overlook:  she's human.  She's pissed that she failed.  As Logan says, she was Charlie's star pupil:  she isn't used to failing.  She calls the Progenitor on his own bullshit as she notes that he judged her for destroying a world as he does the same thing.

The Progenitor at one point in this issue recalls how Cyclops told him to be scared of Jean.  This issue reminds us that he should be.

X-Men Red #7 (October 5):  Although this issue involves Magneto's death, its emotional core lies in the conversation that the Great Ring has as they face the aftermath of Uranos' assault and the coming of the Progenitor's justice.  

Isca the Unbeaten leaves the Great Ring after the Fisher King challenges her to a game of who understands the meaning of loss, forcing her to face - seemingly for the first time - her long history of betraying the Arakkii.  (Is it really for the first time?  Has she really not internalized the betrayals she's committed over her long life?)  

With Isca's departure, the entire Table of Dawn is empty, as Magneto is dead and Isca killed Idyll the Future Seer in issue #5.  To address the imbalance, Storm yields the Seat of All-Around-Us to Lodus Logos so a dreamer and a poet will rule Arakko.  She then takes up Magneto's Seat of Loss.

Arakko continues to be the most interesting corner of the mutant books to me, and I look forward to see where we go with this change in its status quo.

Blade Runner 2029 (2020) #9-#12: "Redemption"

This arc stats with a six-month jump in time, which surprised me.  But Johnson uses it to great effect to show how the LAPD, the Underground, and Yotun's movement are all struggling against each other to get to the Replicants.

Issue #9 opens with Ambrose, a beloved care-facility nurse, fleeing the facility after his employer brought in a Blade Runner to run a Voight-Kampff test on him.  His employer informed Ambrose that they found "inconsistencies" in his hiring in 2025 and made it clear that all employers are under pressure to root out Replicants.  

When Ambrose appears at the now-closed Diamant, Ash and Freysa bring him into the Underground.  But Pekka, one of Yotun's disciples, arrives to take in Ambrose for Yotun's movement.  She didn't come alone:  four diseased-looking Replicants attack Ash and Freysa.  Ash shoots two of them, but Pekka hustles Ambrose from the scene before Ash and Freysa can stop her.  Ash hypothesizes that the disease is a side effect of Yotun draining life from his followers.  At the movement's hideout, a deteriorating Yotun is clearly sucking all the life from his followers now:  Ambrose awakens trapped in one of the "donation" chairs.  

Later, Ash's boss informs her that he's going to pair her with a Blade Runner named Marlowe.  Ash refuses, and her boss gives her one week to find a lead on Yotun before he forces Marlowe on her.  That said, her boss clearly knows that she's helping the Underground and separately dispatches Marlowe to get confirmation.  He implicitly authorizes Marlowe to kill Ash if she is.

Johnson kicks it up a notch in issue #10.  Ambrose is now catatonic after rejeuvenating Yotun.  Pekka expresses surprise, since the other Replicants haven't fared that way, and Yotun vaguely pins it on the other Replicants benefitting from his "Awakening."

Meanwhile, Ash arrives at a clock tower to meet a man who reported that a Replicant broke into a vault there and escaped.  Ash exposits that Yotun has tapped the LAPD's communications system, so she's on a race to get to the Replicant before the movement can.  She offers to help the Replicant as she chases them, which is weird since the Replicant killed the vault's guards and thus doesn't really fit with Ash's "save the good ones" approach.  Before she can get to the Replicant, she runs into Pekka.  In a shocking moment, Pekka is shot before she and Ash finish their confrontation.  Ash turns and finds Marlowe holding the gun.

Marlowe "reminds" Ash that she's supposed to retire Replicants "on sight," but Ash isn't wrong when she screams at Marlowe that Pekka was her best link to Yotun.  Ash notices that Pekka has the same signs of disintegration as the Replicants she faced in the alley and goes after the Replicant who accompanied Pekka, though they manage to escape.  

Later, we learn that the vault's owner was a woman named Alice Leopold.  Her will pays for the vault and orders it to remain closed for another century.  Kalia gives Yotun what the Replicant stole from the vault:  one of Alice's journals.  To Kalia's surprise, Yotun tells her that he remembers writing in the diary.  He then surprises us even further:  the memory comes from Eldon Tyrell.  "Alice Leopold" was Tyrell's younger sister, Alice Tyrell.  Dun-dun-DUN!

Issue #11 is straight to the point as Johnson moves us to the end game.  Ash responds to a tip about Replicant activity in the industrial sector.  It turns out they were trying to sabotage a plant (for reasons that aren't made clear, other than possibly Yotun's ongoing war against Los Angeles) but all died on the spot.  Ash recognizes the degeneration symptoms and goes to find the Replicants' spinner.  As she examines it, Kalia appears on the screen.  She assumes Ash has killed the Replicants, but Ash informs her that they all died of the degenerative disease.  Ash realizes in time that Kalia intends to detonate the spinner and barely escapes.

Meanwhile, Marlowe uses a little girl he hired to trick his way into Freysa's apartment, where he demands the serial numbers and location of every Replicant that she's helped.  When she refuses, he threatens Ash.  Freysa manages to kill Marlowe before he kills her, but Marlowe tells her it's too late to save Ash.  

At Yotun's hideout, Kalia tells him that Ash said the Replicants died of the "weakness."  Yotun informs her that salvation is at hand, as Tyrell's journal shows him how to create new Replicants, a secret that Tyrell took to the grave.  The journal also confirms that Yotun is special as Tyrell did implant his memories in him.  (Last issue, we saw a dead owl was one of Yotun's earliest memories.)

Ash managed to get Yotun's coordinates from the spinner before Kalia detonated it and arrives at the temporary LAPD headquarters to gather up a posse.  But her boss strips her of her badge and gun and arrests her for working with the Underground.

And then it all coms crashing down.  

Ash makes Wojciech her call, and Wojciech in turn calls Freysa.  Wojciech distracts the cops transferring Ash to a new facility so Freysa can take out the cops.  Ash then takes Freysa with her to Yotun's headquarters in an upscale downtown building.  (She exposits how the wealthy have fled the city since Yotun's attack.)  As they arrive, Ash's spine continues to deteriorate, but she hangs in there.  They find a disintegrating Kalia, who tells them that Yotun is Tyrell.  

Ash exposits that every schoolkid learns that Tyrell was born poor in the mountains, so Ash takes Freysa there.  Seeing the police markings on the spinner that she and Freysa swiped, Yotun takes out the spinner, leaving Freysa unconscious.  Ash's back gives out entirely, but Yotun helps her to the spot where his memories tell him to dig.  He says that he doesn't know what's there, but he knows why it's there:  to provide answers on Replicants' creation.

Johnson's genius is that Yotun is right but not in the way he expected:  the grave contains owl bones.  Yotun realizes that the grave doesn't hold the answer but the original question:  could he (Tyrell) beat death?  It's this childish question that puts Tyrell on the path to creating the Replicants and changing the future.  Disappointed, Yotun is still hopeful that others will keep the fire that he started burning.  Freysa kills him before he can say more.  Freysa than carries Ash and tells her that there's a story she needs to tell her about "a miracle," with the post-script telling us that the story will conclude in "Blade Runner 2039."

Final Thoughts:  Johnson subverts a lot of tropes with this series, which is what makes it so gripping.  First, Yotun's revolution fails not because the authorities (or "good guys") stop it but because he isn't able to keep himself and his followers alive long enough to keep it going.  His hubris is that he could've kept it going if he had allowed himself to die (since he wouldn't have drained all his followers' lives).  But he believed himself to be Tyrell reborn, the Replicants' Messiah, and needed to see that become a reality by finding Tyrell's secrets.

Meanwhile, I only realized with the concluding scene that Freysa is the Replicant Underground leader from "Blade Runner 2049."  (Yes, I'm slow.)  I'm stoked that Ash's trilogy will interact definitively with the movie and can't wait to see where it all goes.  As all the critics say about this series, if you're a fan of "Blade Runner," you should definitely be reading Johnson's work.

Blade Runner 2029 (2020) #5-#8: "Echoes" (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

We begin this arc with Yotun and his crew escaping the scene of the crime (i.e., blowing up the skyship with the city's elite still on it).  Yotun muses about how the humans below their flying vehicle don't know how their lives have changed and their servitude is "inevitable."  Guinaldo is on fire in the next sequence as he shows just how brutal and powerful Yotun is.  A squadron of five LAPD spinners surround the crew's vehicle and order Yotun to land.  Instead, he leaps from spinner to spinner to take out the officers.  

Meanwhile, at Yotun's headquarters, Ash disarms the Redhead and flees, though, as Yotun's disciple Kalia observes, Ash doesn't have anywhere to go.  Ash realizes as much when she exits the facility and discovers that she's in the middle of an enormous waste-treatment plant.  Yotun arrives in one of the police spinners and re-captures Ash after her spine seizes.  Quipping that she belongs with the other "products to be disposed of," he carries her back to the facility.  

Ash awakens to Yotun's red-robed acolytes arrayed in front of her.  Several approach her one by one to reveal that they were Replicants that Ash had previously retired.  Yotun reveals that he revived them (somehow), just like he's going to do for Ash:  we end the issue with her in one of the Replicant tubes.

Issue #6 is unusual in that it features humor.  As we saw last issue, Freysa's friends Dyson and Farhad are helping Freysa locate Ash after one of Yotun's former disciples, Silka, provided them with his location.  (Silka appears motivated to help because Freysa helped her when she was initially freed.)  Without any explanation about why they're doing so, Dyson, Farhad, and Silka take over a power station and shut down power to five sectors.  When one of the operators asks how they got into the station, Dyson quips, "Violently."  Ha!  I'm glad to see someone has a personality in 2029.

Later, the group presents itself to Yotun and claims that it shut down the station as an act of good faith so its members can join Yotun.  The group also provides Freysa to Yotun as another "act of good faith."  Dyson, Farhad, and Silka claim they no longer believe in Freysa's preachings that humans and replicants can live together.  Uncharacteristically for a comic-book villain, Yotun isn't an idiot and sees through their deception.  As such, he brings Freysa with him on his next mission, which he claims is the most important one yet.  (I'm not sure why he didn't kill Dyson, Farhad, and Silka, but I'll allow it.)

Back at his HQ, Silka attacks Redhead and brings Dyson and Farhad to the tubes, since Yotun mentioned that Ash would "wake up" at some point.  They free Ash, who seems to have spent enough time in the tube to heal.  Kalia discovers them and kills Silka as Ash, Dyson, and Farhad escape.  They jump into a spinner, and Ash says that she heard Yotun's ramblings while she was in the tube so she knows where he and Freysa are going.

We begin issue #8 with Yotun's army engaging in an assault on police headquarters.  Yotun's followers are also rioting throughout the city in the wake of the attack on the skyship, largely emptying out the headquarters as the LAPD struggles to respond.  As they watch the assault from the sidelines, Yotun reveals to Freysa that he was one of the "angels" who saved her when she was wounded during the Battle of Mesa Echo Erebus.  Is it a stretch?  Yes.  But Yotun has interpreted them running into one another again - both of them revolutionaries for their people, in their own way - as a sign that she should join him.

As his troops fully seize the headquarters, Yotun takes over the communications system and broadcasts a message to the people of Los Angeles.  He informs them that he and his fellow Replicants have taken out the city's elites under whom they've all suffered.  (Between the skyship attack and the ongoing rioting, it's hard to argue with his assessment that he's now in control, to the extent anyone is.)  He declares that he and the other Replicants will now rule humans as benevolent gods.

Freysa isn't buying it, though.  She criticizes Yotun for really believing that he's a god, stressing how he's forcing his followers to give him blood to survive.  He isn't pleased when she tells him that he's just as bad as the humans, exploiting Replicants for his own gain.  He particularly doesn't like when she cuts his livefeed.  I was worried that he was going to kill her but instead he cuts out her right eye.  

Ash arrives, and Yotun wisely makes her choose between capturing him and saving Freysa.  She manages to get Freysa from the now-burning headquarters as Yotun escapes and is relieved that Dyson and Farhad ignored her instructions last issue not to help when they arrive in a spinner.  The group escapes as the building burns.

Final Thoughts:  I'll be honest:  at this point, I felt like Johnson had lost control of the story's narrative.  It's like Yotun's a force that takes over the story as he seems capable of doing anything he wants without any consequences.  After all, I get that the the LAPD HQ was nearly empty when Yotun and his forces arrived, but it isn't like the officers couldn't return with overwhelming force once they learned of the attack.

That said, issue #8 makes it clear just how powerful the Nexus 8s are so some of Yotun's "inevitability," to quote Thanos, makes sense.  It also makes sense that this power is fueling Yotun's superiority complex.  He makes a number of mistakes here, from healing Ash to leaving Freysa alive, that seem to come from his belief that he's invincible.  Although both decisions definitely fall in the deus ex machina category, Johnson at least lays the groundwork for why they make sense within the story's context..  Although Yotun's chickens haven't come to roost yet, Johnson makes it clear that they're coming.

Beyond wherever Yotun's own hubris takes us, I wonder if the elites are going to regroup and strike back.  I guess we'll see

Also Read:  Blade Runner FCBD 2021 (September 27, 2021)

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 21 and 28 Non-Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

New Mutants #30 (September 21):  Ayala's run on "New Mutants" has been a mixed bag for me, though I've never questioned her love of the characters.  When the first story's text box describes young Sam as "'nigh invulnerable while blastin'," I knew she took this 40th anniversary assignment seriously.

For old-school fans, this issue is a wonderful reminder of where we've been.  In the first story, Danielle recalls when she first realized who Roberto really was behind his arrogance, when he repaired her belt after he damaged it in the Danger Room.  I was totally crying by the end.  I also loved the unexpected delight of seeing Karma and Shatterstar heading to a queer festival.  It occurs during an era where both Karma and Shatterstar were emerging from other people defining them, and Shatterstar pushes Karma to experience joy as her authentic self.  It was just lovely.  It was the friendship I didn't know I needed.  If Ayala is leaving the title, I wouldn't mind her penning the unexpected break-out hit of 2024, "Karma and Shatterstar!"

As Ayala said, this issue exists as a stand-alone way to celebrate these characters who mean so much to so many of us, and it succeeds wonderfully.  To another 40 years!

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #27 (September 21):  I don't know why, but, man, I just find this entire Sabé saga boring as hell.  Maybe it's because any feelings that Vader's interactions with Sabé inspire in him are just a replay of what we've previously seen ad nauseam between him and Padmé.  Maybe it's because the revelation that the Emperor was the one directing Governor Tauntaza's actions as a way to test Vader also isn't novel.  Whatever it is, I just hope Pak wraps it up soon.

X-Terminators #1 (September 21):  I have no idea what the $*%& is going on here, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the $%^* outta it.

Old Dog #1 (September 28):  Shalvey overdoes it in using a split narrative to tell this story.  I understand why he did it, since it sets up the shocking reveal at the end, that old man Lynch from the past is young man Lynch in the present.  But it was sufficiently confusing (even after reading the issue twice) that I don't feel inspired to return next issue.

Sins of the Black Flamingo #4 (September 28):  I can't tell to what extent I'm enjoying this series because I'm blinded by the incredible hotness of Moore's art.  I mean, that opening sequences alone...woof.  The plot isn't terrible, though it's pretty predictable.  But again thirst so...

Merrilee Pepper, our blond villainess and "curator of the Museum of American Heritage and Culture [and] Grand Dragon of the Florida Klan," walks us through Ezekiel's history.  It turns out some post-Revolutionary War era luminaries summoned him, only for God to burn them for their heresy.  But the criminal they hired to bring them the corpse that Ezekiel would inhabit watched from the shadows and collected the angel from the ruins.  

Sebastian is weirdly (and pretty unbelievably) oblivious here, as Merrilee has to tell him the obvious:  Scar was the criminal, and he's been using Ezekiel's blood to stay alive these last 200 years.  Of course, Merrilee wants the angel for herself to set up a 1,000-year Reich (because it needs a "1,000-year bitch" to lead it).  Sebastian and Merrill arrive at the rendezvous point with his friends, and Ezekiel surrenders himself to Merrilee all the while knowing that Scar is coming for him.  Scar does and, thanks to his trusty rocket launcher, takes Ezekiel.  

When Merrilee makes contact later, Sebastian offers her Ezekiel if she helps him defeat Scar.  Merrilee is too smart to fall for that trap, but they need each other if they're going to take out Scar, so I'm guessing we're going to see some fun double-crossing next issue.  And maybe some cock?

Star Wars:  Han Solo and Chewbacca #6:  Oof, this issue is a mess.  It's hard to follow all the various interactions here, as we haven't really had a good enough introduction to Tanna's crew to know who's who.  

Surprising no one except Tyra, when the crew gets to the Falcon, the urn is gone.  Along the way, we're introduced to a young thief named Phaedra who wants to use two other prisoners (Evazan and Ponda from "Star Wars") and Chewie and Max to escape from the Marshalls' prison.  

I also just realized in this issue that T'onga is part of Tanna's crew, which makes me wonder where we are timeframe-wise.  Also, Han has somehow washed ashore on a tropical island, despite the fact that he was dead in Tanna's ship last issue.  It's all...a lot.

X-Men #15 (September 28):  Duggan returns us to the Vault here, as Forge reveals to Cyclops that, at the Council's request, he has built an enormous gun point at the Vault.  He plans to use it to shoot a black hole into the Vault the next time the door opens.  Unfortunately, the gun misfires, for reasons that aren't explained, and the fourth generation of the Children of the Vault lay waste not only to Earth but also Asgard.

In a clever reveal, though, it turns out we're seeing what the Children think happened.  Duggan has Cassara repeat the scene of Forge walking through the forest to the Vault with Cyclops, only, this time, Forge reveals not a gun but a dome over the Vault.  It turns out he created a Matrix-like simulation within the dome; the events that we just saw occurred within the dome, though the Children think it's all real.  Clever, right?

I was wondering why Duggan was telling this story, if Forge has neutralized the threat, until we learn that they're at the Vault to rescue Darwin.  The X-Men accompanied Forge to take out the Vault's guardians who exist outside the dome but somehow don't see it as a threat, in a convenient bit of storytelling.  Using a suit comprised of Caliban and somehow embued with Mystique's powers, Forge enters the dome disguised as Perro, one of the Children.  Jean expresses concern about the suit falling into the Children's hands, which Forge dismisses, which means it'll definitely happen.

As clever as it all is, part of me wonders why we keep returning to this story.  The authors and editors seem to feel like the Children are much more interesting than they actually are.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 14 and 21 Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

X-Men Red #6 (September 14):  This issue is surprising, because I feel like we were led to believe that Uranos pretty effectively destroyed Arakko in his assault in "A.X.E. Judgement Day" #1 and "X-Men Red" #5.  Instead, the Earth-born mutants - namely, Magneto, Storm, and Sunspot - show the Arakkii how to work together to fight Uranos' machines, which apparently continued rampaging on Arakko after he departed.

Roberto reveals to Magneto that he's formed the Table of Shadow, the fourth Great Ring table that traditionally consists of non-omegas and forms itself to keep an eye on the three other tables.  The Night Seats are him, the Fisher King, and Syzya of the Smoke (essentially the Nightcrawler of Arakko).  Upon this revelation, Magneto has a weird conversation with the Fisher King, implying that their meeting in "X-Men Red" #1 wasn't an accident.  Instead, he believes it had something to do with Roberto already having recruited the Fisher King for the Table of Shadow.  Honestly, I don't entirely follow where Ewing is going here.  It seems to have something to do with the Fisher King assessing whether Magneto was worthy, though I don't get why he would have to hide his status as a Night Seat to do so.

Before someone can explain, Ewing instead moves to Magneto taking out the greatest threat to Arakko - an enormous silicone gorilla (yup) - by combining his power with Storm's, a lesson the Arakkii realize they might need to learn.  It sets up the Brotherhood and other Arakkii taking the fight to Uranos in "A.X.E. Judgment Day" #4.

A.X.E. Judgment Day #4 (September 14):  The Progenitor is going to kill everyone on Earth, sure.  At this stage, the only interesting component of this event is whatever Starfox's plan is.  It seems like it's going to combines Eternal and mutant technology to...make the world a better place?  Is everyone going to get resurrected?  Also, Magneto allegedly dies here.  Whatever.

A.X.E. Judgment Day #5 (September 21):  Oof.  Gillen does what he can, as the heroes throw what they have against the Progenitor in an attempt to stall him so that their brain trust can find a way to stop him from destroying Earth.  But we all know that they're going to win.  The mutants resurrecting Captain America so that he can lead whatever charge he's going to lead next issue just means that they're going to do so in the most clichéd and formulaic way possible.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 14 Non-Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #9:  This issue is incredibly random.  

As I'm guessing other reviewers have said, it's mostly the timing that spoils it, as it takes place during the Hellfire Gala.  Maybe if we weren't already onto the next event, the two months (in real time) that passed between "Hellfire Gala" #1 and this issue wouldn't seem so long.  Instead, everything about this issue seems dated, including Mary Jane rebuffing Peter's offer to get coffee given the fact that they seemed in a better place recently.  

Given this series at the best of times seems scattered, a delayed tie-in issue to a minor event during an allegedly major event doesn't help matters.  Wells is clearly in no rush to let us know what atrocity Peter committed six months ago; it's all starting to feel like the "Superior Spider-Man" all over again.  If you've read this blog before, you know that I don't meant that as a compliment.

Dark Beach #6:  For this series to make sense, you have to believe that Dr. Jozef Stanley had complete and total control over all decision-making on Earth.  

Breaking into the New Reykjavik Corps of Engineer's (NRCE) Center for Science and Technology, Gordo and Eve manage to retrieve, respectively, a photo of the captured extraterrestrial and the data on Schulz's computer.  They release the information to the public, and Stanley is discredited given the revelation that the solar flares occurred due to corporate greed and not natural phenomena.  The series ends with the New Reykjavik Council (having replaced NRCE) deciding to move Earth to its original position, placating its extraterrestrial watchers.  

(One quibble I have here is that the extraterrestrial apparently landed on Earth before we left our original position.  I thought Earth only attracted their interest as a result of moving ourselves?)

Returning to my original proposition, Stanley seems to be the only actor trying to keep Earth in its new position (so that he could get the extraterrestrial to reveal the details of interstellar travel, though I still don't entirely get why those two developments were linked).  Did no one else have any interest in staying?  If not, did Stanley really have that level of control over Earth that we only stayed where we were on his say-so?  

As much as I enjoyed the start of this series, Ruiz-Unger wraps up everything a little too neatly here for my liking.  He seems to leave all sorts of interesting possibilities on the table, mostly to free up space for the extraterrestrial plot that didn't really have any impact on the story in the end.  It's a disappointing end to an otherwise solid series.

Spider-Punk #5:  This issue is a muddled mess of an ending as the Spider-Band wins mostly because it's supposed to win.  I honestly don't understand the mechanics, like Osborn's suddenly producing a minion army from nowhere or Hobie seemingly disintegrating Osborn with sound or RiRi inexplicably gaining control over Iron Man's armor.  But I'll admit it doesn't detract from my affection for these characters.  I hope to see them again soon in a story that maybe challenges their worldview a little, as opposed to the fascist-bad/anarchy-good tale that we got here.

Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #27:  This issue is something of a return to form as T'onga and her crew take a job protecting a Pyke boss celebrating a recent victory over "a rival" at the Accretion Disco, a nightclub that hovers at the Crseih black hole's event horizon so you can feel a little extra "tingle" in your dancing.  It's exactly the sort of premise that I hoped we'd see in this series.  

But this team is battered, so it isn't exactly a good time.  Losha is obsessed with matching Vukorah's brutality so she can get revenge for the Nexu, and Tasu kills the Pyke boss after learning from the Nar Kanji assassins hired to kill him that said boss' victory was taking out a school while the students slept.

I know it's a weird complaint, but I found this issue almost too character driven.  Although I like the theme of T'onga taking the job to keep the crew together, the characters' trauma is real.  It almost feels wrong to watch them struggle through this job.  Valance's decision to reciprocate his fellow officer's advances fits into this category as well.  

After weighing down this series for so long with the ultimately futile search for Cadeliah, I kind of feel like we need the crew to get a big enough score for a beach vacation or something.

Also Read:  Star Wars:  Obi-Wan Kenobi #5

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 7 Non-Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

007 #2:  First things first, the Mark Aspinall cover is a thing of beauty.  I would love to see him take a turn as the artist on this series, even if I enjoy Finnegan's work.

Moving onto the story, Kennedy Johnson shows the same attention to detail as he did on "The Last God."  We learn that Gwen's note informed James that she had been working for M as a mole inside Myrmidon.  At Gwen's funeral, James signals to M that he knows the truth, prompting M to approach him later with the whole story.

M tells James that Gwen realized a deep-pocketed new player was building a nationless intelligence agency.  Concerned about their motives, she and M arranged for her fall at MI6 so she could embed in Myrmidon.  M tells James that Myrmidon has now moved beyond assassinations and data breaches and is planning some sort of full-scale military operation.  When M offers James Gwen's spot inside Myrmidon, he refuses, saying that he can't forgive M for disgracing her.

James arrives home only to encounter some sort of super-soldier.  James manages to kill him but discovers the rest of the Myrmidon crew in his apartment.  They were there to kill him but, when they overheard James telling the super-solider that "Gwen Gann sends her regards," they're now worried about what James knows.  I think James is going to have an uncomfortable few days.

Again, Kennedy Johnson does great stuff here, subverting a series of spy-story tropes.  First, James is behind the cueball for most of this issue, which is fun.  Second, James doesn't swing when M pitches him the Myrmidon job.  Finally, even if he did take the job, it's clear that Myrmidon is too on the ball to fall for his cover.  You really don't know what to expect, which breathes some life back into these sorts of stories.

Batman #127:  This issue is everything I wanted in a "Batman" story, which validates my decision to give Zdarsky a shot.

It turns out Zur-en-Arrh created Failsafe.  Surprise!  This arc is essentially a sequel to the classic "Justice League" Tower of Babel story.  As we see in the first few pages, Bruce believed that he didn't need a plan for if he went rogue because the League - particularly Superman - was his plan.  But Zur-en-Arrh believed that "they" did need a plan, so he created a Failsafe.  (As Tim says, leave it to Bruce to "create a contingency backup who created a contingency plan.")  Of course, Zu-en-Arrh erased the memory since he knew that Batman would call on him if he went rogue.  Of course he did.

Zdarksy makes it clear that Failsafe activated because it believed Batman took a life when he seemingly killed the Penguin.  I love this development.  As I've mentioned before, my favorite runs on Batman and Spider-Man are when the hero faces multiple crises of various intensity all at once.  Here, Bruce had enough on his hands with his alleged murder of the Penguin; he didn't need Failsafe added to the fire.

Bruce is appalled from inside Zur-en-Arrh's consciousness when he refers to Tim as his "soldier."  Tim is Bruce's son, full stop, so he takes back control of their shared body to save Tim.  With Failsafe looming over him, Bruce contemplates dying in a good place - on the stairs of Wayne Manor, surrounded by memories of his parents and his boys.  But, of course, it turns out Bruce wasn't wrong about his plan:  Superman arrives to stop Batman, just not the one Bruce thought he'd have to stop.

The back-up story isn't any less spectacular.  Selina follows the money trail right to the Penguin's new identity.  Apparently the Penguin installed a friend who did time with him as the bookkeeper at the bird sanctuary that his will endowed.  The friend then bought supplies from "less-than-reputable" companies, and a "modest florist" in Metropolis owned said companies via a shell company.  If you hadn't guessed, the Penguin is the "modest florist."  

Oswald makes a compelling case for why he disappeared, opining that Gotham was so dangerous they all became night people because sleep was risky.  He wanted a new life:  if he stayed in Gotham he knew that he wouldn't be able to take it when that "rich, brooding model" (i.e., Bruce) kept winning.  That said, he didn't want his kids to kill each other over the will; he just wanted to inspire some friendly-ish competition.  Selina buys it and chats with Oswald for an hour or so before leaving.

After Selina leaves, Oswald wishes Addison and Aiden luck in killing the Bat and the Cat.  He legitimately seems like he's done for a while, enjoying the quiet life in Metropolis while his kids continue the fight.  Selina herself contemplates that quiet as she decides to spend an extra night there.  

Both stories show Zdarsky's command of the characters and their motivations, a good sign this early into his run.  I think we're going great places.

Blade Runner:  Black Lotus #2:  Damn, this issue is d-a-r-k.

Barnes' troops invade the co-op to round up women so they can replace the Replicants the Wallace Corporation took back last issue.  It's a brutally realistic premise, and Collins handles it directly.  A now-wounded Miguel  wonders why Barnes would attack his only food source, a valid question that underscores Barnes feeling like he lacks any good options.  Lest you feel sympathy for Barnes, he later tells a kidnapped Nyoko to sedate the women and take care of any "accidents" or he'll use Kaja as a slave as well.  Yeah, it isn't an uplifting read.

Collins unfortunately deploys a number of overly convenient developments to move along the story.  

For example, Nyoko decides to run to her tent to get her med-kit to help Miguel as Barnes' troops are ransacking the village.  She assures Miguel that she'll be fine, which makes zero sense.  A drone just shot her husband, and she can clearly hear her neighbors' screams.  Why would she assume she could just waltz to her office and get her equipment?  Of course, she can't:  Kaja runs after Nyoko, and Barnes' men kidnap both of them.  To make matters worse, Miguel later assures everyone that he's fine, calling into question why Nyoko felt the need to take the risk in the first place.

The most eye-rolling development though is the revelation that Miguel was previously a Blade Runner.  I mean, really?  It's starting to feel like every man in this reality was once a Blade Runner who saw the light.  In the "also bad" category, he then hands Eve the samurai sword that is one of Nyoko's family heirlooms. Honestly, I woud've enjoyed watching Elle try to find a way to storm Barnes' compound without her weapon of choice.

At any rate, it is what it is.  I'm ready just to watch Elle go to work.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 7 Marvel Non-Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Moon Knight #15:  This issue is such a wonderful tour of the cast's relationships that it feels wrong to analyze it too much.  I would just say that it leaves you feeling like Marc may actually have a life for the first time in a long time.  I'm sure that'll end well.  Come for jokes about DID, stay for the hug with Reece.

Star Wars #27:  This issue is better than the last one, thankfully.  

Soule does a great job showing Bevelyn and Melton's desperation as they flee the second Death Star with their kids in tow.  They aren't action heroes, so they make mistakes as they escape pursuit.  For example, they're forced to jump to the various pre-programmed destinations in their stolen shuttle's navigational computer since they don't really have a place to go.  

Eventually, they find themselves on Coruscant, with Melton hoping that it's a large enough place for them to avoid detection.  Based on the (presumably) Imperial ships heading to their crash site, he might've been too optimistic.  The good news for them is that Luke decides to take up their case after hearing about it at an intelligence briefing.  (He tells the briefer that he has a good feeling about it.)

I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure what Bevelyn and Melton thought was going to happen when they became Crimson Dawn spies.  It seems reasonable to assume that they'd have made some sort of plan for the eventuality that the Imps discovered their treason.  I mean, they should've at least made sure that they had their Crimson Dawn hander's contact information on them at all times!  

I'm also a little skeptical about all the Rebels refusing to help them because they're afraid that it's a trap.  I get they're scarred from Zahra's attacks, but they presumably have some way to meet potential informants while mitigating the possibility of a trick.

As I said in my review of last issue, I love Soule, but he feels off in this arc so far.

Also Read:  Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty #4; New Mutants #29

Blade Runner Origins (2021) #1-#4: "Products" (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This series starts off roughly.  

Even after reading it several times, I have no idea what the opening line, which the speaker says to his wounded colleague, is supposed to mean:  "They say you'd want to fight any obstacle with your last breath once you discover what life really is but I guess I'm going to have to settle for you, Avery."  I think he means that he's fighting to save his colleague rather than "what life really is."  I think?  

At any rate, Moreaux (whose name I only caught on his uniform after re-reading this sequence for the third or fourth time) speaks this line to Avery as they're apparently facing down waves of enemies at the siege of Kalanthia in 2007.  Avery orders Moreaux to clear the South Hall to avoid the enemy flanking them while he (Avery) goes to activate a box of Replicants.  The art is so unclear in the next sequences that it's hard to tell what happens.  I think Avery successfully opens the box and the two Replicants clear out the South Hall of "enemies" before Moreaux even arrives, but it's really unclear.  Fortunately, it doesn't matter because we don't really revisit this scene again.

In the present (i.e., Los Angeles, 2009), Moreaux is a cold-case expert for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).  His only human connection appears to be his comatose sister.  When his boss puts Moreaux on the case of a suicide in Tyrell Corporation's new HQ, he explicitly sends Moreaux with orders to solve the case in a way the Powers that Be won't mind.  At the HQ, Moreaux learns the dead woman is named Lydia Kine.  He's speaking with her assistant, Effie Koropey, when a woman named Ilora Stahl informs him that she'll be handling his engagement with the Tyrell Corporation -- at Mr. Tyrell's request -- from this point forward.  Ilora dismisses Effie and seems to offer Moreaux a job.  I'm not sure what her goal is there, as someone else would just take his place if she thinks hiring him would end the investigation.  At any rate, he doesn't take up the offer.

Later, Moreaux has a few drinks at La Plume Sauvage, where his drag-queen friend warns him to be careful of Tyrell for his sister's sake.  Issue #1 ends with a bang, as Lydia's brother Marcus appears to Moreaux outside Moreaux's apartment to tell him that his sister didn't kill herself.  Their conversation is interrupted when some goons following Marcus attack.  Moreaux gets them into his apartment safely only to discover a voicemail from Effie saying that a Nexus 5 (the next Replicant model at the time) escaped the night Lydia died.

Issue #2 is an improvement, though it still suffers from an odd rhythm to the characters' interactions.  Moreaux takes Marcus to LAPD HQ, where he figures he'll be safe, and goes to the morgue to look at Lydia's body.  His boss meets him there, telling him that he was supposed just to fill out the paperwork closing the case and leave.  Moreaux makes it clear that he isn't just going to look the other way and criticizes his boss for the "debt" they owe Tyrell because of him.  His boss tells Moreaux that he's happy to throw him under the bus, and it's clear that he isn't the only one Tyrell has bought when Moreaux arrives at his desk only to discover Marcus is gone.  We then see two cops taking Marcus to Ilora who is just beginning her attempt to shake down Marcus when a Replicant attacks their car and frees him.  

Later, Moreaux meets Effie at a diner, and she informs Moreaux that they built the Nexus 5s with an obsession with optimization.  Moreaux tells her that they both need to lay low.

The art and writing team again stumble in issue #3.  In terms of the art, I would've sworn that the Replicant who saved Marcus at the end of issue #2 was a blond European male.  But "he" looks like a black-haired Asian female at the start of issue #3.  This art decision is made all the more confusing when it turns out the female is in fact Lydia but she's actually a black-haired Asian man.  It's only when the writing team mentions that Lydia is now a man that it becomes clear Lydia didn't commit suicide:  she inhabited a male Replicant body to transition.  The art team's utter failure to convey these nuances make the entire scene difficult - if not impossible - to follow.  

Later, Effie and Moreaux are suddenly at each other's throats despite their fairly friendly encounter at the end of issue #2.  Effie apparently sees Moreaux as part of the system destroying society (given his job at the LAPD) whereas Moreaux sees Effie as creating the Replicants who are forcing more and more humans into the slums.  Why they're suddenly having this argument is never explained.

At any rate, issue #3 ends with Asa (formerly Lydia) arriving at Moreaux's apartment to retrieve evidence for Marcus that to prove he was Lydia.  Asa arrives just after Moreaux took out some invisibility-cloaked goons whom Ilora presumably sent.  Moreaux chases Asa through the streets as Effie just so happens to pass them in a cab.  She follows them only for Ilora to shoot her before she can tell Moreaux what she wants him to know.  Ilora then tells Moreaux that she'll kill his sister if he doesn't kill the Nexux 5 and Marcus.  Asa emerges from the shadows and grieves for Effie, who she claims was "right" for reasons that are as yet unclear.

In a twist that frankly made me roll my eyes, it turns out Asa isn't the Nexus 5 who escaped.  Ilora tells Moreaux that said Nexus 5 been causing havoc in the slums, but the only havoc we've seen is the havoc Asa has caused.  It's only at issue's end that we see some Replicants join (presumably) the Nexus 5 that we realize that they're two separate problems.  Later, Moreaux tell his boss that Lydia's death was a suicide and then throw away his badge

If any part of these four issues made sense to you, let me know.  Otherwise, I'm getting off this train before it derails.