On the Past Not Being the Future

I am obviously a fan of comic books as an art form.  This blog is a testament to the copious amount of time I spend on them:  reading about them, obsessing over them, writing about them.  Comics often tell tales that move me deeply, in ways even the best works of literature can't do.  At the end of the day, someone reading all seven volumes of "Remembrance of Things Past" will still spend a finite amount of time with its characters.  Conversely, someone who purchased "Action Comics" #1 in 1938 could still be reading about Superman 80 years later.  (I hope someone is!)  In other words, the serial nature of comics allows these characters to work their way into your life in a way Proust's characters cannot.

It's why what Marvel did to Kitty and Piotr in "X-Men Gold" #30 and DC did to Bruce and Selina in "Batman" #50 are unforgivable sins.  It's why Marvel turning its back on some of its most innovative new series (and DC not even trying to innovate) makes me wonder why I'm still reading comics.  Lately, DC and Marvel are telling us nothing will ever change.  In so doing, they're telling me I know what stories I'm going to be reading five to ten years from now:  "Civil War III," "Infinity Wars and BEYOND," "Maximum Cloneage Redux," etc.  If comics are going to survive, they need to stop desperately trying to stay in 1968 at worst and 1992 at best.

The Problem with the Weddings
I feel like the only conclusion you can draw from "Batman" #50 and "X-Men Gold" #30 is that DC and Marvel believe their writers to be talentless hacks who can only tell the same stories over and over again and their readers to be mindless drones who can only read the same stories over and over again.  I can't see any other conclusion, as sharply worded as that might be.  The editors just don't believe their writers are sufficiently creative to let their characters evolve.  In dumping Bruce, Selina says that Batman can't be happy and fight crime, so she's sacrificing her happiness for Gotham's.  In dumping Peter, Kitty argues she can't marry him given it took them so long to get to the altar. 

These positions are incredibly cynical.  Simply because Batman has always been miserable while fighting crime doesn't mean he has to be miserable to fight crime.  Does DC think police officers should be monks?  In marrying Selina, Bruce could easily have found new motivation to make the world a better place.  He could fight for a world where he, his wife, his son, and his surrogate sons don't have to put on spandex and fight crime every night.  It's just as heroic of a motivation (if not more of one) as his misery-born need to ensure another child doesn't suffer the loss he suffered.  In fact, Selina herself says Bruce hasn't matured at all since that day in Crime Alley.  It's just hard to believe the editors at DC really believe that.  All these experiences and he's still the boy he was?  On the Marvel side, you have to wonder how long the editors feel is an appropriate amount of time to wait before getting married.  My husband and I were together for seven years before the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage constitutional.  Does Marvel believe we should've just called it quits because it took us so long to get to the altar?

To make matters worse, both women are portrayed as making impulsive decisions as a result of input from their best friends.  Holly tells Selina she thinks Bruce can only be Batman if he's miserable, and Illyana raises her doubts with Kitty when pressed.  Selina and Kitty then respond as if these doubts never occurred to them.  To believe the events of these issues, you have to believe Selina and Kitty aren't the capable, confident, and insightful women they clearly are.  It's a lot to ask. 

These colossal failures of imaginations are bad enough, but my disappointment with these issues goes beyond that.  DC and Marvel hyped both events for weeks, building up the excitement by offering a number tie-in issues.  The "Prelude to the Wedding" books DC published were some of the best Batman stories ever told.  (The Marvel ones...not so much.)  Nothing in either set of prelude issues implied either member of the happy couples had any doubts.  Why would Kitty propose to Piotr if she worried about their long path to the altar?  Why tell Damian she had his back if Selina worried she couldn't marry his father?  Why risk hurting Dick's feelings by selecting Clark as his best man if Bruce didn't think the wedding would happen?  If I remember correctly, "Batman Annual" #2 showed Selina with Bruce in his final days.  In other words, King never even slipped in a moment of doubt there.  Sure, he had some cockamamie excuse for why Batman and Catwoman, and not Bruce and Selina, were getting married.  But, otherwise, it was (allegedly) the real deal.  It again advocates this belief that both Selina and Kitty made impulsive decisions to agree to get married in the first place and equally impulsive ones to end their engagements.  It's like DC and Marvel are the embarrassed parents of the bride who called off her wedding apologizing to everyone who spent money to travel to the wedding.  Except, they knew the bride was going to cancel the wedding before the tickets were bought.

But, it's not just my disappointment in the stories that drives my anger.  Between the "Prelude to the Wedding" mini-series and the X-Men's "Wedding Special," I spent $24.95 on related issues.  My sister asked me to buy her two copies of "Batman" #50 so she could frame one.  At some point, it's hard not to feel like DC and Marvel are taking advantage of me, turning my enthusiasm for their product against me.  It's moments like these where I feel a little silly reading comic books as a grown man.  I start to wonder why I'm reading these stories if the characters aren't allowed to progress beyond adolescence.  To make matters worse, DC and Marvel aren't even allowing us to be a 2018 adolescent; they're forcing us to be 1968 adolescents.  

The Fading of Diversity
With the cancellation of "Generation X," "Hawkeye," and "Iceman" (to name a few), Marvel has virtually turned its back on any story that doesn't involve single, white men taking out their rage with their fists.  (DC never even tried to tell these stories, so at least Marvel deserves some credit for the effort.)  By my count of the relevant Wikipedia page, Marvel is currently running 29 solo series featuring men, 14 series featuring teams, nine series focused on events, seven series featuring a duo, and six solo series featuring women.  As far as I'm aware, only five of the solo series feature non-white characters:  "Black Panther," "Rise of the Black Panther," "Lando:  Double or Nothing," "Ms. Marvel," and "Star Wars:  Dr. Aphra."  (It's notable two of the diverse series are "Star Wars" ones.)  I believe Aphra is the only non-straight character with a solo series.  If I'm feeling generous, we can look at the duos and add in Cloak from "Cloak and Dagger" and Moon Girl from "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur."  But then we also have to add in Ant-Man and the Wasp (twice), Dagger, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, Devil Dinosaur, Gambit and Rogue, and Deadpool and Spider-Man.  As I said, it's mostly straight, white men taking out their rage with their fists.  

For me, canceling "Hawkeye" in particular felt like Marvel abandoning an innovative title whose creative team obviously put great care into the story it was telling.  It was easy to see a future where Kate split her time between superhero-related adventures and regular-person cases, giving Marvel a rare title that didn't focus entirely on the good guys punching the bad guys into submission.  Instead, they canceled "Hawkeye" and gave us "The Sentry."

"Generation X" and "Iceman" trod more familiar ground when it came to the punching, but they were groundbreaking because they focused on LGBTQIA+ themes.  "Generation X" was a cornucopia of queer kids, from Benjamin and Nathaniel's burgeoning romance to Quentin's undefined orientation.  In fact, Nathaniel's powers --being able to see the inner-most thoughts of any person he touches -- were a made-to-order nightmare for a teenager.  They reminded me of Miles Morales once expressing concern over Jean Grey reading his mind because she'd see a lot of "teenage-boy stuff."  Christina Strain gave Benjamin and Nathaniel a happy ending because Benjamin's feelings for Nathaniel were so all-consuming (as teenagers' feelings tend to be) they eliminated any possibility of Nathaniel seeing something he couldn't handle.  But, how interesting would it be to see where they found themselves in 40, 50 issues?  That would be some fertile ground for storytelling.  One of the best stories I've read in the last few years is when Gillen introduced doubt into Billy's relationship with Teddy in "Young Avengers."  Strain had a lot of places to go with that.  Combined with Bobby Drake's journey in "Iceman," "Generation X" allowed my middle-aged self some sense of wish fulfillment, as I got to see people like me represented in a way I hadn't seen before.  But, then Marvel lowered the boom.

This situation got worse from there.  Jane Foster gave up the hammer.  Sam Wilson passed on the shield and couldn't even maintain a solo title.  Bruce Banner, Logan, and Tony Stark have all returned from the dead, replacing their Asian-American, African-American, and female analogues.  Everything is "normal" again.

I raise the diversity issue in the same post as the marriage discussion as I think they both stem from the same problem, a preference on the part of editors to tell the same stories they were telling in 1992 and, in some cases, 1968.  Bruce Wayne can have sex with every socialite in Gotham, but he can't be married to the woman he loves.  Sam Wilson can support Captain America in his crusade for freedom, but he can't carry that burden himself.  Thor Odinson, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark have to lead the Avengers.  Dick Grayson has returned to Blüdhaven.  It's not only that I increasingly don't recognizing the world I see in the DC and Marvel comics I read; it's that DC and Marvel seem so committed to keeping it that way.

An Argument for Change
I read this excellent piece (yes, I know it's a year old) that really got me thinking about the comics I was reading and buying:  http://www.comicsbeat.com/titling-at-windmillls-259-what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-marvel-comics-anyway/.  As someone says in the comment section, John Walker was a great Captain America exactly because he was a terrible Captain America.  Mark Greenwood was able to tell stories we didn't expect, because John reacted in ways Steve wouldn't.  I still remember -- 32 years later! -- the expression on John Walker's face as he left Left-Winger and Right-Winger to burn to death in an oil fire.  (In retrospect, that might not have been the most appropriate comic for a ten-year-old.)  In other words, good stories come from shaking up the status quo.

Marvel seemed to have learned that lesson, but then blamed sagging sales on its diverse roster and not its inane events.  At this stage, I'm hard pressed to think of a character who's gone through some sort of fundamental change that seems to stick.  Right now, all I've got is Sharon Carter, Groot, Iceman, and Thor.  Sharon is still old.  Groot's metamorphosis was an event-related change, so we'll see if that sticks.  Bobby is still gay.  Odinson is Thor again, but he's having to make do without his hammer.  Otherwise, it's all pretty much the same.  Dan Slott even undid all the changes he made to Peter Parker's status quo over the course of his 100+ run; Peter's life right now is hardly distinguishable from "Amazing Spider-Man" #546, when "Brand New Day" began (with one exception I'll discuss in the next paragraph).

I get the double-edged sword of continuity.  I can only appreciate "Batman:  White Knight" as an innovative take on Batman because I've got the security blanket of "Batman" and "Detective Comics" advancing a 79-year-old story.  I'm loving series like "Oblivion Song," "The Realm," and "The Weatherman" because they're so fresh and new; eighty years from now, they probably wouldn't feel as fresh.  But, some authors have introduced change in a way that worked.  Chip Zdarksy let JJJ, Jr. know Spider-Man's identity a few issues ago, and it totally jolted the Spider-Man franchise to life.  It's not all about replacing one character with another one.  Sometimes, it can just be changing a relationship.  It's what I was hoping to see with Batman, Kitty, Piotr, and Selina.  But, DC and Marvel have decided even that minimum amount of change isn't possible.

Where Do We Go from Here?
I stopped reading comics the last time because Marvel had gotten so greedy with "The Clone Saga" that I couldn't stand it anymore.  The unwieldiness of "The Clone Saga" alone wasn't enough for me to cancel all my subscriptions.  It was the unprecedented money grab that pushed me over the edge.  For over two years, Marvel asked every Spider-Man fan to buy a comic a week just to understand the story.  As a teenager during that era, I didn't have that sort of cash on hand.  I acknowledge, as a comics fan, that everyone once in a while I'm going to have to suffer through a summer cross-over event.  In those moments, I can choose either to dive into the deep end and buy books I wouldn't normally buy or stay in the shallow end and accept the fact I might be a little confused by the events in the issues I would normally buy.  Marvel robbed us of any decision during this era.  For two years, I was getting only 25 percent of the story at any given point in time.  It was just too much.

I haven't given up all hope.  The flipside to Kitty and Piotr breaking their engagement is Gambit and Rogue getting married, giving Kelly Thompson the ability to continue to excellent story she started in "Rogue & Gambit."  Bobby is apparently getting back his solo title.  But, if DC and Marvel continue to embrace a world where few of their characters can change in this way, I can see the percentage of my pull list comprising their issues growing smaller and smaller.  It's time to be brave.

Not-So-New Comics: The March 7 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #797:  OMFG, I totally had chills.  Gage and Slott build so brilliantly to the end here, it’s like reading the Stern era of Spider-Man, where every panel seemed to advance one of several mysteries.  We begin with the Goblin holding someone hostage; over the course of the issue, you really keep changing your mind who it is.  Peter?  MJ?  Liz?  Aunt May?  Normie?  Meanwhile, we get our hearts crushed alongside Peter as MJ starts to take off Peter’s shirt and then stops when she sees the Spider-Man costume.  It’s honestly the first time since “Brand New Day” I can remember them addressing their break-up under the "new" conditions.  MJ tells Peter they both would feel guilty if he gave up being Spider-Man for her, and she admits the city needs Spider-Man more than she needs Peter.  It’s hard not to disagree with her, given how amazing her life is right now.  But, Peter’s life isn’t amazing.  When she sends him out the window as Spider-Man it’s hard not to agree with him that he’s hit a new low.  But, this issue is really all about Norman.  He implies he’s put Harry’s nanny Emma on the board for an as-yet-unrevealed reason, and he rips out Phil Ulrich’s heart after Phil mistakenly believes Norman is still powerless.  But, it’s the end that makes this issue so great.  Jonah is revealed to be the hostage, and he tells Norman Spider-Man will beat him because he even did so after Norman threw “his” girl off the bridge.  GAME FUCKING ON!  Based on the parameters of the spell Dr. Strange wove so everyone would forget Peter’s identity, Norman suddenly remembers everything now that he's learned Spidey's identity.  He calls it the itch he couldn’t scratch.  (Based on the web of connections he built on his serial-killer board, he probably would’ve guessed it if the spell hadn't actively been preventing him from doing so.)  I really didn’t expect the authors to kick it up so many notches here.  We really do seem to be heading toward a do-or-die battle between the two of them.  I’m so fucking excited.  This series hasn’t sung like it does here for a really long time, since possibly “Big Time.”  Combined with “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man” — and particularly, at long last, the amazing art on both series — it’s a great time to be a Spidey fan.

Avengers #683:  This issue isn’t a miss exactly, but I can’t say it’s the same quality as the other issues so far.  As ghosts continue to rampage through the hospital, Nadia decides to sacrifice herself to touch the Pyramoid and save everyone.  She does so by shrinking Beast and sending him into Jarvis’ brain with an antidote to the alien parasite.  It’s a solid moment, and it's probably the first time I really thought about Nadia as an honest-to-goodness Avenger.  But, surprisingly, the Pyramoid rejects her, and she chases after Hank to save Jarvis instead.  The weirdest part of this issue is the authors go to great lengths to explain that people shrunk to microscopic size subsist on Pym particles (since they’re smaller than oxygen molecules).  But, they then defy all scientific reason by showing Hank as able to see Jarvis’ memories, as if the memory center of the brain is like a movie theater.  It’s odd, to say the least.  At any rate, Jarvis awakens and, as expected, confirms Voyager was never an Avenger.  However, before Hank and Nadia can stop her, Voyager uses her powers to grab the spirit Pyramoid and hide in a bunker within the hospital.  (At least, I think she does.  I originally thought she grabbed the Pyramoid so she could be transported to the Gamemaster and Challenger directly, as if it were her goal all along.  But, when I read the next issue, I realized it wasn't the case, that she simply hijacked the Pyramoid.  But, I don't understand how the hospital has a bunker.)  Beast's exposure to Jarvis' memories is what makes him believe Jarvis when he insists Voyager wasn't an Avenger, because Hank (conveniently) didn’t see her in Jarvis’ memories.  We’ll see where that goes from there.

Hawkeye #16:  OMG this series was, like, the bestest series ever and I’m truly heartbroken to see it go.  I had no idea how Thompson was going to wrap up so many loose ends, but she totally did it.  It was all so emotional, you guys.  I totally cried when Kate convinced Eden to bring back her daughter to say good-bye.  Thompson builds to the moment perfectly, as Clint offers to let Eden kill him because he understands what it’s like to lose someone who love so much, someone who serves as your compass.  (Seriously, I was a BuckyNat guy, but I think I'm now a HawkNat guy.)  Meanwhile, Kate uses Clint distracting Eden to swipe her suitcase of blood samples, and Eden panics because it has her daughter's blood.  She is then forced to reveal the truth to Kate; she hadn’t resurrected her daughter (a question we’ve all had), because the person only appears for a short time.  Later, when Eden dismisses Clint as a liar putting on a show to give Kate time to swipe the blood samples, Kate disagrees, saying (truthfully) he was probably the only person not lying.  She just gets these characters, you guys.  Eden is a great character, and I hope we see more of her.   Meanwhile, I loved the moment where we learn Kate’s mom has been watching from the shadows all this time.  In fact, Thompson leaves us with a new mystery here, as we learn Kate’s mom has some sort of deal with Masque.  Plus, her mom makes Masque abandon Kate’s body, which Masque agrees to do since it hasn’t developed powers and is “nothing special.”  (Kate’s mom disagrees.)  Also, Johnny is an Inhuman or mutant!  He even saves Kate’s life.  (You’d think he would’ve shown us that earlier, given the frequency of dangerous moments they've faced, but it is what it is.)  I’m not sure what I’m going to do without Kate and her gang in my life.  [Sigh]  Finger-guns forever!

Iceman #11:  As Grace admits in the letters page, he didn’t have a lot of time to wrap up the story he was telling.  Whereas Thompson in “Hawkeye” had been telling a very specific story over the course of her 16 issues, Grace had taken an arc-by-arc approach for this title.  As such, the cancellation of this series feels more sudden than “Hawkeye’s.”  All that said, he does his best, and it’s good.  Bobby asks out Rictor to lunch, and Rictor notes the ridiculousness of a lunch date, showing Bobby’s cluelessness persists even in his out iteration.  Rictor serves mostly as a sidekick here as Bobby’s mother calls him to ask for help as their reclusive neighbor starts displaying powers.  Through flashbacks, Grace shows us Bobby’s long struggle for acceptance as his parents tried everything — including a priest — to "cure" him, and you don’t have to be an English major to read that part of the story more than one way.  I admit I wish we would’ve seen the moment when Bobby met Charles Xavier and realized it was OK to be a mutant (or, at least, that someone thought it was OK to be).  But, Grace wraps up the story nicely enough, as Bobby realizes he doesn’t need time with a boyfriend or a team; he just needs some time for him.  Grace leaves him on as solid of footing with his parents as we’re going to get, and it’s a nice way to end a series that I sincerely wish had been longer.

Infinity Countdown #1:  Honestly, a lot doesn't happen here, but it doesn't really matter, because it's just fun.  Drax saying "Uh-oh" as he and Talonar witness the Chitauri arriving above Xitaung?  Awesome.  Groot curing the Gardener of Loki's poison and him restoring Groot to his factory settings?  Better.  Groot then hailing his friends and telling them it is time to kick ass?  Fantastic. Logan leaving the Space Gem for an alive Black Widow in the back of a toilet in her Madripoor safehouse (from "Uncanny X-Men" #268)?  Brilliant.  OK, I guess a lot did happen in this issue.

Rogue and Gambit #3:  My greatest fear right now in life is this series is going to end with Gambit and Rogue not remembering the amazing progress they've made in therapy.  Thompson gives us a step-by-step tour of their best and worst moments, including the Antarctica incident from "Uncanny X-Men" #350 that I still remember clear as day, 21 years later.  If they do remember, nothing could possibly stop them.  I mean, what better therapy is there than beating up former iterations of yourself and your partner?

Star Wars #44:  Ooo, Leia, you sneaky daughter of a gun.  I honestly had no idea where Gillen was going for most of this issue, as the Mon Cala regent refused Leia’s request to provide the Alliance with his mercantile fleet, given the risk the Empire’s response could have for his people.  (We learn the former king had rebelled against the Empire, and Mon Cala was still paying the price.)  Leia — a princess of Alderaan, as Luke himself notes — understands...and then contacts Trios about breaking out the Mon Cala king who rebelled.  I did not see Leia committing to regime change coming, and I can’t wait to see where Gillen takes us.

X-Men:  Red #2:  Taylor really nails it here.  It seems like the X-Men will just retreat into their asylum in Wakanda, but Jean receives a plea for help from Trinary, an Indian technopath who saw Jean's speech at the United Nations, and off they go.  We learn the message was actually time delayed, as Trinary has already been imprisoned for compensating all women in India for the 25 percent gender pay-gap.  She's in trouble because she took it from the bank accounts of India's 25 richest CEOs.  (As Honey Badger says, I think we all have a new hero.)  Jean telepathically hijacks Lakshay Singh, the douchey head of India’s mutant defense force, and the team uses his knowledge to make their way to Trinary.  Along the way, Taylor reminds you just how powerful Jean is as a telepath.  But, all obviously doesn’t go smoothly as a group of anti-mutant protesters rush the prison's gates.  Jean is able to put most of them to sleep, but three of them are able to resist her suggestion (possibly due to Cassandra Nova's influence, but I'm just guessing there).  Her need to focus on the gun-toting trio forces her to drop her hold on Singh, who activates a Sentinel.  The twists and turns show the attention Taylor is paying to this series, telling stories on multiple levels at different speeds.  But, he also succeeds in showing Jean as a unique figure among the X-Men, not just because of her power but also the loyalty she inspires.  After a lackluster first issue, I'm interested to see where we go here.

Also Read:  Captain America #699; Spider-Man #238; Venom #163; X-Men:  Gold #23

Not-So-New Comics: The February 7 DC and X-Men Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #40:  King really uses the premise of this story to full effect.  Bruce and Diana don’t kiss (as it seemed they were going to do last issue), but King uses that tension to tease out their relationship.  Bruce admits he loves and misses Selena, and Diana tells him that, as his friend, she’d kick his ass if he fucked up that relationship by kissing her.  :)  Perhaps the most delightful part is Bruce talking about missing Ace and Diana saying she misses her kangaroo, Jumpa.  No, really.  Also, Selena is amazing as always, forcing the Gentle Man back into the breach even when most people would’ve felt bad for forcing him to end his precious time with his wife.  It’s a reminder of how strong she is as a character.  Generally, I hate these stories that pretend decades pass and the character isn’t really any worse for wear.  At least Rick Remender had Steve Rogers age during his 12 years in Dimension Z.  I mean, he raised a child even!  But, here, Bruce is basically just like, “Wow, that was a long 34 years!  Can we get a burger?  I’m famished.”  (If you do, Jokerize the fries, Bruce.  It’s worth it.)  But, King throws in enough great moments to make me look past that original sin.  All that said, it's probably time for some detective-ing.

Iceman #10:  Grace does the best with the cards he’s dealt here, as he has to abort his plan to move Bobby to Los Angeles as a result of the imminent cancellation of this series.  That said, Judah not unreasonably decides Bobby’s life is too insane for him, recalling Colossus has punched him and Daken has stabbed him in just 24 hours.  Moreover, Kitty says she's failed as a boss, acknowledging Bobby has been underutilized; as such, she offers him leadership of a team.  All that works.  The problem is the fight between Daken and Iceman still makes not a lick of sense to me.  I just don’t understand why Daken had such a mad-on for Bobby, unless I’m missing some significant shared past beyond his appearance in this series.  Based on his comments in the letters page, Grace seems to be using this conflict to work out his own personal demons, with Bobby refusing to embrace nihilism like Daken does.  I'm all for that, but it would've been nice if the conflict itself made sense.  Is Daken just mad Bobby is happy?  But, this optimism, if you will, also has Bobby weirdly assert that he refuses to be mad at Daken over killing his boyfriend (as far as he was aware at that time) lest he stoop to his level.  Um, no.  Being sunshine and light doesn’t mean that you just let the murder of your significant other roll off your back.  I get Grace is essentially writing this issue under duress, but the whole problem this series has been trying to address is Bobby’s inability to live his own authentic life.  (Has Grace read the "Velvet Rage?"  I feel like he has.)  Artificially repressing his emotions to make sure Daken doesn’t “win” is the same as him staying in the closet lest he upset everyone else:  it’s still letting someone else dictate his feelings.  In other words, the resolution to their fight undermines the narrative Grace has been pushing, and I don't see how he resolves it in the last remaining issue.  (Also, in a case of pet peeve #1, Bobby doesn’t save Anole from a fire, not only remotely, in this issue, which is a shame, because I'm pretty sure Anole would've enjoyed that.)

Nightwing #38:  Sam Humphries, whatever you do with this series, thank you for giving us Dick Grayson as a stripper.  You really understand us.  (That said, I was devastated Guppy actually killed his father.  Humphries is really playing for keeps here.)

Rogue and Gambit #2:  I don’t have a lot to say about this issue, because it’s so great it really speaks for itself.  Thompson does a thoroughly amazing job of making you feel like you’re eavesdropping on a conversation between two real people.  Rogue’s confession to Remy that she doesn’t acknowledge the first time they met — under the sway of the Shadow King — is electric; she’s standing close to Remy in a dark room telling him she wants their first moment to be something only they own.  Remy is so overwhelmed even he’s speechless.  Also, the art is some of the best I’ve ever seen, honestly.  You can tell how much care Pérez put into each panel, and it augments the sense of reality Thompson’s dialogue conveys.  This series is one of the best ones of the shelves, and, if Marvel knows what it’s doing, they’d hand the keys to Thompson full time.

X-Men:  Red #1:  This issue is fine, as Taylor does a good job establishing Jean's team's modus operandi.  A young child is left in a car as it's carjacked, and his sonic scream manifests itself given the threat to his life.  It blows out the windows for a city block before Jean's able to use her powers to calm him, and she's later appalled when she sees a man on TV using the incident to suggest genetic testing in utero so mutant children can be aborted.  She decides the United Nations need to recognize mutants as a nation, since it goes badly when they try to become a state, so she gets Namor and T'Challa to recognize them.  However, during a conversation with the British Ambassador (in full view of video cameras), she comes face-to-face with a disturbing presence who lets Jean know she doesn't approve.  Brilliantly, it's Cassandra Nova, and she explodes the British Ambassador's head, making it look like it was Jean's fault.  It's an intriguing premise and a helluva start.  My only real (though significant) complaint is we're barely given any time with Jean.  I'd be thrilled if Guggenheim was using this premise, as we don't really need to get to know Kitty anymore than we already do.  Guggenheim could focus entirely on this intriguing plot at hand and Kitty's response to the threat.  But, we haven't seen Jean for years.  Kurt makes a comment about being thrilled Jean is back, and I felt the same way.  In fact, Taylor does a great job of conveying the sense only Jean would think up this plan to turn the mutants into a nation, making you realize what the X-Men have been missing in her absence.  But, given how big of a deal it is that we do have her back, you would've thought we would've spent a little more time focused on her resurrection, particularly in terms of what it means for her personally and for her friends.  Like, are we not going to get a girl's night with Ororo?  Instead, we're thrown immediately into a team dynamic and global plot, and it feel premature.  I assume Taylor is going to address these issues as we move forward, but it felt like a mistake not to do so right from the start.

Also Read:  Batman:  White Knight #5; X-Men:  Gold #21

Not-So-New Comics: The November 1 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #146:  Duggan does a great job of establishing the status quo while also throwing us right into the middle of the action.  Someone’s sabotaging the Nova Corps from the inside, so the Guardians agree to help root out the traitor(s).  The Nova Corps' new commander Scott Adsit — yes, that Scott Adsit — sends Ant-Man and Gamora to a fleet of ships sending a distress signal, and they discover Ultron is spreading his virus through the passengers.  (It’s grim.)  Meanwhile, Peter discovers Richard Rider is still alive, and I can’t wait for that bro hug (and for Richard to ask why he’s blond and in possession of two real eyes).  I dropped this series during Bendis’ run after stories like "The Black Mirror,” where it just felt like he had no idea what he was doing with the team.  I like Duggan, though, so I’m excited to see what he does with this crew, particularly if it involves Richard joining.  Moreover, the Fraternity of Raptors presumably means the “Darkhawk” #51 issue Marvel is publishing in January is going to play a role here.  I almost literally can’t wait.

Captain America #695:  Waid makes the right call in starting from a place of hope.  He’s going to have to spend a whole bunch of issues detailing a world where not everyone trusts Steve anymore.  But, honestly, the world right now is grim enough.  We don’t need to lose all hope.  Waid has Cap travel to a small town in Nebraska he saved from a group of white supremacists called the Remnant right after he was unfrozen.  They renamed the town after him, and they hold a Captain America festival every year.  They believe in Steve, even if some people are mad he didn’t return from “the trap” earlier than he did.  Steve isn’t just there to soak in the adoration:  his intelligence sources discovered a reformed Remnant was going to attack the festival, so he’s on hand to stop it.  Waid clearly has big plans for the Remnant, and he seems to be inspired by the “debate” we had during the inauguration when someone punched Richard Spencer.  Waid is clearly on the “always punch a Nazi” side, and Cap is the living embodiment of that principle.  Waid sometimes gives short shrift to characters’ emotions (see his current "Avengers" run), but he’s pretty on target here when it comes to the townspeople’s adoration for Steve.  A grown-up version of the girl Steve saved ten years earlier is there, a stand-in for the reader when it comes to Cap inspiring us.  I hope Waid maintains a firm grip on those emotions as he has Cap navigate this strange new world.

Iceman #7:  After the OG Champions make short work of the Sentinels (since, after all, they're not fully programmed Sentinels), Bobby and Judah resume their date.  Grace makes the brilliant call of having Bobby refuse to dish the next morning after Angel tells the team he didn't come home that night.  I like the idea of Bobby having some privacy, even from us.  I don't need this series to descend into gay porn, after all.  (Hopefully someone'll just handle that on DeviantArt.)  Instead, Bobby tells the story about how he was a sexist asshole the first time he met Natasha and how she (unsurprisingly) called him on it.  The guys give him a gentle ribbing for his awkward attempt at hitting on her, but Darkstar tells him not to be embarrassed; he doesn't have to be, because it's part of the journey that brought him to where he is now.  Bobby holds onto his newfound sensitivity by visiting the Sentinel engineer and encouraging her to contact one of his old professors at UCLA, since she should be teaching mechanical engineering and not working in props.  It's a lovely moment:  he comments on the importance of having professors believe in you.  In the end, he finds himself at the Mansion enjoying life happening around him.  But, he also realizes the X-Men don't need him in the same way anymore so he decides to move to Los Angeles!  Hurrah!  My wish came true!  Complicating matters, his mom discovered his younger self (Lil' Bobby, as Warren calls their younger counterparts) is in the present.  Again, there are moments where I feel like we're off a beat or two in this series, but Grace seems to have a better handle on Bobby with each passing issue.  I'm definitely here for the long haul. 

Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man #6:  I said a few issues ago this series is becoming my Spider-Man series, and this issue proved it.  It’s the most emotional Spider-Man issues in years, and it reminds me of the good ol’ days.  Zdarsky might’ve been hired to write a funny Spider-Man, but he delivers two amazingly multi-faceted characters in this issue as Jonah and Peter go head to head.  Each one gives as good as he gets, as Jonah argues hiding behind the mask makes Spidey a coward (noting cops have to live with the consequences of their actions) and Peter reminds him he’s used his power and wealth to try to kill him several times (and endangered civilians' lives in the process).  But, Jonah is left broken when Peter tells him he’s nothing, admitting his vendetta — something he promised Marla he’d get past, as Zdarsky reminds us — is the only thing he has left, since it’ll be the only thing to prove it all hasn’t been futile.  Zdarsky does a brilliant job building the tension to this moment, and it’s released when Peter reveals his identity to Jonah, to convince him he’s not alone.  Wow.  Just wow.  It’s really a spectacular (heh heh) issue, and every Spider-Man fan should read it.  For years now — really, ever since “One Day More” — Marvel has bent over backwards to make sure its characters’ continuities doesn’t change.  But, they throw off that caution with abandon here, and it’s well worth it.  Game fucking on.  Move over, Slott.  Our new Spider-Man storyteller is here.  #issueoftheyear

Spider-Man #234:  Wow, a lot happens here.  First, Fabio returns, and we learn he left because he’s in love with Lana and he figured Lana would fall into Miles’ arms after he beat up Hammerhead for her.  He’s thrilled to see Miles is instead dating Barbara, but Miles is a little stupefied when he learns Lana loves him.  For her part, Lana is having a rough time.  Her mother is someone called Bombshell (as I’m sure long-time readers know), and she’s just been freed from prison as the result of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s collapse.  But, Lana makes it clear she’s a hero now and tells her mother that she never wants to see her again.  Miles decides to follow an ambulance not in his uniform as part of his ongoing uncertainty about using the Spider-Man identity.  But, most importantly, Uncle Aaron is back as the Iron Spider, thanks to Ceres the weaponsmith.  He’s putting together his own Sinister Six (including Bombshell) to steal a decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.  Interestingly enough, he outright says this Earth isn't his world, which again raises the question how much everyone here knows about their current circumstances.  Miles is going to have a rough few days.

Also Read:  Astonishing X-Men #5; Avengers #673; Darth Vader #7

Not-So-New Comics: The October 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Astonishing X-Men #4:  Detrimental to the story Soule is trying to tell, I’m not really sure what the criteria are for someone falling under the sway of Shadow King vice someone getting “saved” by Professor X.  Here, Fantomex, Gambit, Mystique, and Rogue all seem to embrace their hearts’ fondest desires, but it's Gambit who the Shadow King winds up possessing; Professor X is able to whisk away the other three.  It might seem nitpicky, but the whole point of this arc is Professor X and the Shadow King are playing chess for the X-Men's lives:  it would help if we understood the rules.  (It all feels more like checkers to me.)  But, we get a shirtless Angel with some chest hair here, so I’m not complaining all that much.

Avengers #672:  I stopped reading Waid’s run on this title because everyone was acting like assholes, and I have to say it’s unfortunately still true.  For a guy who just inspired Earth's mightiest heroes to unite against HYDRA, Falcon is a full-on jerk here, overruling Kamala like she’s a cadet Avenger.  Presumably at the end of this cross-over story everyone is going to learn something about respecting each other’s differences and seeing them as strengths, but it just makes me roll my eyes.  I'm intrigued a new satellite orbiting the Sun proved Counter-Earth doesn’t exist but also revealed a rift that belches a meteorite filled with an angry-looking bull dude at Earth.  You don’t see that every day.

Batman #32:  I really didn't like this story.  I mean, it says something when said story involves an artist as capable as Janín drawing Bruce in his tiny, tiny underwear all the damn time.  But, putting aside all the baggage, King delivers as close to a decent resolution as I could've imagined here.  First, Riddler reveals he engineered the entire war with Joker to get him to laugh.  It was the only interesting riddle left for him:  how do you make a Joker who doesn't laugh anymore laugh?  The answer was to create a foil like Kite Man and have him be the reason Riddler lost their war.  But, Joker doesn't laugh at this revelation, to Riddler's fury.  I loved the moment where Batman tries to interrupt Riddler's tirade and Riddler rebuffs him, telling him every story isn't about him.  (He also says they all don't kill him because he's fun, and it's probably as good of an answer to that existential question as I've heard.)  We now finally learn Bruce's deep dark secret:  he tried to kill Riddler in that moment.  He was so appalled Riddler callously killed Kite Man's son, whose last words to his father Bruce overheard, he couldn't take it anymore.  However, Joker stops the blade with his hand and finally laughs again.  Bruce is obsessed over this moment:  he tells Selena Joker "made" him because he "allowed" him (Batman) to be the guy on the right side of the line.  He asks Joker about it in Arkham and Joker tells him he'll understand why he did what he did when he understands the difference between a riddle and a joke (a confounding theme of this arc).  It's here where Selena shines and reminds us why Bruce loves her in the first place.  She tells him the answer:  who cares?  It's also her answer to Bruce's question if she can love him even though he tried to kill Riddler:  who cares?  Selena quite rightfully states that we're all the sum of our baggage.  If Joker made Batman, does it matter?  Is that all he really is?  This moment produces the single best page of the series since the two of them had sex under a starry night:  Selena has Bruce ask her to marry him again, but as a question and not a demand.  He asks.  She says yes.  I admit, I felt like a crowbar would immediately go through her, but hopefully the writers all do the unexpected and have them live happily ever after.  That would be something novel.

Batman:  White Knight #1:  Murphy does a solid job of selling us on a reformed Joker ready to take on Batman.  He has to use some sleights of hand to get there, but they mostly work.  He’s successful in doing so because everyone here is easily recognized.  Sure, Batman’s a little more violent than he is in “our” Universe, but we’ve seen him behave that way before.  As such, you can reasonably believe the set-up that starts the issue, of a careless and distant Batman single-mindedly pursuing Joker while Batgirl and Nightwing try to limit his impact on civilians.  The hand-waving part comes in the form of the pills Joker has Batman administer to him to “cure” him.  Here, Murphy is playing both sides.  On one hand, Joker seems pretty sane before he takes the pills.  He rails against Batman’s claim he doesn’t matter by stressing he only ever gave Bruce what he could handle.  In other words, he could’ve razed Gotham to the ground if he had wanted to do so, but he didn’t because he was really in it for the game.  The “cured” Jack Napier also echoes that sentiment.  He said he turned to crime from comedy because Gotham was a city so traumatized it couldn’t laugh; he had to start killing people to get a rise from it.  This continuity of thinking raises the question what exactly the pills cured.  The Joker we get here doesn’t seem like he’s suffering from a mental illness; he just seems like a guy whose moral code is different from everyone else’s.  Murphy might still reveal exactly that, so I’m not rushing to judgment.  After all, Napier’s first action is to sue Batman and Gotham for the disproportionate attack on him:  he stole a scooter, and, in chasing him, Batman drove a tank over rooftops, injured three construction workers as he blew past them, and knocked down the guard standing outside the factory where the pills were manufactured.  He then beat Joker senseless and administered the pills until Joker couldn’t breathe.  This lawsuit leaves the impression everything happening here is happening as part of a larger scheme; Joker might not be “cured” so much as playing a long game.  I’m definitely intrigued.

Darth Vader #6:  The Jedi at the end of this issue is so peaceful looking that I find myself wanting to cancel this series immediately.  After all, we’re about to watch Darth Vader and the Emperor’s Inquisitors stomp across the galaxy killing any Jedi who escaped their purge.  Soule and Camuncoli use this final image - of a Jedi petting her pet while sipping tea - as not only a sign of things to come but as a reminder of how completely Vader has embraced the Dark Side if he's willing to ruin this peace.

Hawkeye #11:  It’s rare for me to be 11 issues into a mystery and not feel confused.  Usually, I’m re-reading half the issues to try to remember all the breadcrumbs the writer left along the way.  But, Thompson has done a bang-up job of weaving enough clues into each issue that you remember where we’ve been and where we’re going.  As a result, Kate’s maturing in this issue feels hard won.  Thompson has revealed her father and Masque’s plans slowly but surely, even making sure to highlight areas where we’re not sure what the truth is, like whether Aggregate self-destructed or Masque detonated him lest he reveal his connection to her.  When Kate tears down her bulletin board and only tapes up the word, “Mom,” it isn’t cleaning the slate; it’s a sign we’ve moved onto the next chapter.

Iceman #6:  Grace almost went too far here with Judah, Bobby's love interest.  First, they meet cute.  Bobby and the Champions have assembled in Los Angeles to mourn Natasha, and this trip down memory lane leads Bobby to worry he's always just "trying stuff on to see what fits."  He returns to the college where Professor X sent him to get his accounting degree, and he buys some self-help books.  This part is fine.  In fact, Bobby's text conversation with Kitty revealing these concerns is really well scripted; it's a clever way to drag this information from Bobby "I don't talk about my feelings" Drake.  (This characteristic is a theme of the issue, with Bobby realizing a woman was building a Sentinel in her backyard just as Warren was trying to have a heart-to-heart conversation with him.)  At any rate, Bobby is reading his "Born to Gay" book on line to buy a new pair of sneakers, where he meets Judah.  (Bobby is into sneakers, apparently.  He also apparently wears size 12s.)  As Bobby said, Judah spouts the sort of cheesy lines Bobby would, and it pushes the boundaries of believability:  it's like watching a poorly written "Will and Grace" episode.  (He tells Bobby he can teach him more about being gay than a book (sigh) and invites Bobby to a WeHo bar that night.  Here, we go from poorly written "Will and Grace" to even worse written "Queer as Folk.")  But, Grace pulls out a win when he has Judah kiss Bobby on a dance floor and then admit he's tired of the teacher/student shtick.  He tells Bobby he only goes to a bar twice a year, and he invites him to his place to talk.  But, as usual, Bobby has to X-Man as the aforementioned Sentinels attack.  (The woman building the Sentinels is trying to go from building weapons for super-villains to running her own prop company.  Bobby and Warren's appearance in her backyard earlier that day inspired her to have the Sentinels attack the X-Men to drum up business.)  Initially, I felt like Grace was moving Bobby too fast here.  Most of us don't have a remarkably handsome guy pluck us off the streets of Los Angeles and usher us into gay life in a West Hollywood club.  But, as Judah himself says, most of us don't have Bobby's arms.  That said, the more I thought about it, the more similar it was to my own story.  You just have a moment where you throw on your light and get out there, making stuff happen.  See, I was all cynical until I realized Grace really knew what he was doing here.  Grace and Thompson on "Hawkeye" are really working on making Bobby and Kate Peter Parker's heirs, focusing as much, if not more, on their personal lives as their superheroing.  I'd really be quite happy for Bobby to stay in Los Angeles, and I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Nightwing #30:  I get why Raptor decided to announce his presence in Blüdhaven by attacking a Paul Ryan analogue.  After all, Dick would quickly put two and two together when someone attacked a blue-blood politician making a name for himself by cutting health-care benefits for the poor.  (That said, Higgins should leave the politics to Spencer.)  I don’t get why (or even if) Raptor involved the Kobra Lanceheads, since they’re apparently a chaos cult seeking to sow discord.  Blüdhaven politics seems a little...specific for them.  Dick is confused, too, though, so I get the sense Higgins will get there.  But, I don’t understand what the point of Raptor revealing himself to Dick is or why, as Dick himself wonders, he’s suddenly willing to risk the lives of blue-collar workers.  (Sure, he knew Dick would save the waitress he slung over the balcony to buy him time to escape, but, as Dick says, the Raptor we've previously seen wouldn’t risk it.  He’s usually so confident he wouldn’t need an escape; he’d just beat Dick silly and leave.  Why the ruse?)  I also don’t understand why the Run-Offs are wearing their super-villain costumes for their group meeting about not being super-villains.  I really don’t understand why Dick tells himself he can’t endanger his friends in trying to find Raptor when, in reality, his friends (including Detective Svoboda) rejected him.  Whatever.  Hopefully we'll just wrap up this arc soon.

Spider-Man #21:  Huh.  It turns out Cable, not Jefferson, gave Miles the suit.  Apparently Cable is a spy now?  He seems to be starting his own agency to fill the hole S.H.I.E.L.D. left.  I guess it's cool, but it feels forced to me. In fact, it feels like Bendis had an extended stay in Japan planned for Miles, but he was forced to cut it short because of the Legacy re-launch.  Tomoe was an interesting character, and she seemed to have a vision for her relationship with Miles.  Bendis made it clear Miles was also intrigued as he uses flashbacks to show how Miles' Uncle Aaron taught him not to lie to girls.  But, Miles somehow knows Tomoe is queen of the Japanese underworld, despite the fact I'm not entirely sure how he knows that.  OK, the underground casino is probably a solid hint, but a lot of people who aren't queens of the Japanese underworld run underground casinos.  Miles eventually calls his father and discovers Jefferson didn't give him a tuxedo.  Somehow, he winds up finding himself in conflict with Tomoe, who declares he can't leave the building alive.  It's all very...sudden.

Star Wars #37:  Based on Gillen's name appearing on the cover for next issue, this issue appears to be the last one for Jason Aaron, and he doesn't waste it.  He somehow manages to tour his greatest hits, reminding us just how brutal this galaxy far, far away really was.  It's one of the few times I'm sad we don't get a valedictory letter from a departing author, because I'd love to get Aaron's thoughts on his run.  But, I guess his work speaks for itself, really.  He reminds us how dedicated both sides are as Kreel and his men seek to redeem themselves in Vader's eyes by destroying a Rebel outpost on Horox III.  Kreel is fanatical in his devotion to the cause, a fanaticism stoked not only by enjoying the faith Vader shows in him by allowing him to keep his lightsaber but also by finding himself in the Emperor's presence when he comes to speak with Vader.  We get an amazing sequence where he's basically the Empire's own action hero as he and his colleagues take out the Rebel base.  Aaron also keeps his face hidden from us, even as he sits on his victims without his helmet.  Kreel believes the Empire brings protection, and SCAR Squadron's victory here hopefully means he'll continue to be a presence in this series.  But, Aaron reminds us the other side is just as dedicated as our crew (with Sana) arrives at the remains of the Rebel base, appalled by the brutality.  Kreel and Sana are probably Aaron's greatest contributions to the Star Wars mythos.  Given we don't see them in the movies (yet), it's clear their fates lie somewhere else, and I honestly find those stories enthralling.  Aaron concludes with a final entry from the "Journals of old Ben Kenobi."  Sorrentino's indistinct lines are the perfect choice for this dark story of an orphaned Tusken Raider trying to survive on Tatooine.  Ben provides a helping hand, and Aaron reminds us one last time just how difficult the lives of every day people in this galaxy are.  Although I didn't really like Chuck Wendig's "Aftermath" novel, this story reminds me how many opportunities we're getting to see these sorts of stories.   Thanks, Jason Aaron, for your amazing contribution to that effort, bringing life to Star Wars that I didn't think possible.  You come back now, ya hear?

Also Read:  Batman:  The Dawnbreaker #1; Journey to Star Wars:  The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #3; X-Men:  Gold #13

Not-So-New Comics: The September 6 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #30:  I’ve complained in previous reviews that I feel like King has bitten off more than he can chew with the War of Jokes and Riddles.  Previous issues have focused either too narrowly on fringe stories or too broadly with excessive narration.  We’ve rarely seen the actual War.  We still have that problem in this issue, but I'm happy to say it's not as bad as it's been.  King uses Kite Man as the reader's surrogate, showing us the changing dynamic of the War now that Batman has thrown in his lot with the Riddler in the attempt to bring it to an end.  We work through a series of vignettes showing Kite Man with one or another of Joker's captains -- the Tweedles, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze -- and I realized King should've been using Kite Man this way from the start.  If he had, I think we’d have a much better sense of the story he’s been trying to tell.  But, it is what it is:  we at least get that insight here.  In the end, Riddler reveals he and Batman kept Kite Man as the last of Joker’s men on the field because they knew he was the weakest:  he’d cave and tell them where Joker was hiding.  Along the way to this moment, King shows us a flashback conversation Kite Man had with his deceased son, who tells Kite Man his mother described Kite Man as a joke.  Riddler and Batman feel the same way, obviously.  Before Kite Man speaks with them, though, Janín delivers the best single page of this story, showing a handcuffed Kite Man moving from crying to weeping as he waits for Riddler and Batman to interrogate him.  Janín just spectacularly conveys Kite Man's devastation over the loss of his son, and I admit I’m 100% rooting for him to stick it to Riddler and Batman.  I don’t know if King wanted that, but it’s where I am.

Darth Vader #5:  As I hoped, Soule shows us a glimpse of Darth Vader before he fully became Vader as we know him.  The Emperor sends him to the location of his greatest defeat, Mustafar, to corrupt the kyber crystal.  However, Anakin -- not Vader -- struggles to do so.  The crystal gives him a vision of a world where he turns to the light side of the Force, slaying the Emperor and returning to Obi-Wan.  But, Soule has Vader reject this vision, declaring his only choice is the path before him.  Soule captures the petulance we saw in Anakin in the prequel trilogy, as he chooses the easier path that limits his vulnerability (even if it damns him).  Camuncoli, Smith, and Curiel then do a spectacular job of showing the operatic nature of Vader corrupting the crystal.  By the time he presents his fully red lightsaber to the Emperor, it's clear all hope for Anakin to return to the light side is dead.  As I said when this series started, I think we needed to see that story unfold, to gain insight into how Anakin fully became Vader (something we didn't get from the movies).  Soule clearly agreed, and Vader's origin story is now complete.

Generation X #6:  Exterminatrix!  The Fenris Twins!  Kade Kilgore!  Bi-curious Quentin!  I have to say, I really enjoyed this issue.  Benjamin, Nathaniel, and Quentin make for a great trio, as Benjamin mediates between the two more dominant personalities and said personalities might actually learn a little something about each other and themselves along the way.  But, it's the tour down memory lane that I most appreciated, as Strain reminds us where this story fits in the larger continuity of these characters.  Nathaniel is really a great addition to the cast, as he challenges Quentin in a way no one else does.  Also, does he maybe have a crush on Benji?  Bobby should ask him for advice.

Hawkeye #10:  Aha!  Madame Masque used a Kate Bishop LMD to try to see if it developed powers like Derek Bishop's LMD did!  That makes sense.  How did she get her hands on a Kate Bishop LMD, though?  It presumably has Kate's DNA if it's possible for it to develop powers.  Did Kate's dad give her Kate's DNA?  I'm sure we'll see.

Iceman #5:  Grace delivers in this issue, as we see the fallout from Bobby revealing he’s gay to his parents.  Thankfully, it doesn’t go well.  I say “thankfully,” because it wouldn’t have felt right if Bobby’s parents suddenly shrugged at the idea their son is gay.  His parents have always been portrayed as conservative Long Island Catholics, and their response feels authentic.  In particular, I thought Grace did a great job in having Bobby’s father saying Bobby was dead to him because he couldn’t give him grandchildren and Bobby’s mother expressing relief when Bobby tells her he’s never had sex with a man.  It reminds us how disruptive the coming-out process is to parents' narratives about their children, from their hopes for the future to their view of us as adults engaged in sex.  Bobby’s dad goes one further when Bobby says he’s always felt like something was wrong when he was with women and comments he shouldn’t feel that way if he’s in love; Bobby’s father demands he not talk about loving men.  Here, Grace shows us how difficult of a road Bobby has in front of him.  His parents aren't just upset at the loss of possibility when it comes to grandchildren or dealing with him having sex with men:  they reject even the idea that he is capable of love.  Bobby’s father can’t imagine a man loving a man, and Bobby’s mother is just obsessed with the idea of Bobby touching a man sexually.  (His mother is also obsessed with pinning blame on his father, something I kept anticipating as the story progressed.)  Again, it feels like you’re eavesdropping on an actual conversation and not just reading a comic book.  The most poignant moment is when Kitty gives Bobby’s parents the letter he was writing them; she comments no one has really cared what Bobby thought about being gay because he’s been too worried about everyone else’s reaction.  I remember that feeling all too well.  I almost didn’t believe the ending, where Bobby’s father stays behind to tell Bobby he loves him.  But, I remembered the story from "Uncanny X-Men" #340 where his father is almost beaten to death by anti-mutant extremists for defending him, and it rang truer.  Similarly, I didn't think the metaphor of Bobby turning himself into vapor was necessary (and his use of wings made almost no sense from a physics standpoint).  But, it does allow Bobby to express a feeling we've all had, the desire just to disappear.  In other words, I don't remember a comic feeling as close to my own coming-out story, and I really salute Grace for that.  Looking ahead, Bobby’s story is just beginning, and I hope we get to see him excited about that at some point.

Nightwing #28:  This issue works for a number of reasons.  First, Seeley gives us “Grayson” readers some closure, revealing Mr. Minos was nothing more than a program Project Cadmus and Checkmate's joint venture ("Business Solutions”) created, presumably to ferret out the identities of superheroes.  It’s really quite brilliant and so much of “Grayson” retroactively makes sense now.  Second, Seeley hits some great character notes here.  After stopping Mouse from almost killing Blockbuster as revenge for killing Giz, Shawn realizes she made a mistake in acting from a place of anger with Dick.  However, she’s too late:  Helena told Dick she was only comfortable with him, and we see them in bed together here.  Shawn seems (somewhat unjustifiably) furious, and Seeley implies it’ll finally push her over the edge into bad-guy territory.  (Stopping Mouse postponed that dive, much to Pigeon’s chagrin.)  Seeley returned Dick to Blüdhaven 18 issues ago, and it continues to be clear it was an excellent decision.  Dick has spent most of the DCnU bouncing from one modus operandi to another, and Seeley’s decision to ground him in Blüdhaven has made for better stories, deepening our emotional investment as his cast of characters finally stays stable.  I’m excited to see where we’re going from here, since this issue definitely felt like it was drawing a line under some previous stories.

Spider-Man #20:  This issue is...odd.  I can't quite put my finger on it exactly, but it is.  Bendis has Miles decide to take a break, using his Spider-Powers to hitch rides (including hanging on the outside of an airplane) to Tokyo, somewhere he always wanted to go.  He saves two girls from a mugging by goons who look like they're in the Goblin Gang.  But, they seem to work for someone named Tomoe instead.  However, she shoots one of them to save Miles, so I'm not really sure.  She takes an interest in Miles and invites him to visit her club.  Then, someone, possibly Miles' father, uses the "Alternet" to direct him to a drop-point with a tuxedo and a gun for him to bring to the club.  In other words, instead of going to Tokyo to take a break from superhero-ing, Miles finds himself smack dab in the middle of international espionage.  As I said, it's just...odd.  It doesn't help that Bendis uses a frequent flashbacks to tell this story, where a linear approach would've worked much better.  I don't know.  It all just leaves me scratching my head.

X-Men:  Gold #11:  MARC GUGGENHEIM, KITTY PRYDE ABSOLUTELY SPEAKS RUSSIAN.  I'm not sure I can get past this oversight.  He claims in every letters page he's a long time fan, but, OMFG, how do you not know Kitty Pryde ABSOLUTELY SPEAKS RUSSIAN.  [Sigh.]  It doesn't help that the script and the pencils are extremely rushed.  Instead of capitalizing on the return of Omega Red, Guggenheim treats him like just another henchman for all the challenge he poses to the team.  Logan defeats him without even breaking a sweat.  Similarly, Peter regains his ability to turn into steel just in time to save Illyana from the mysterious magic-wielding mobster.  I not only sort of forgot Peter had lost his powers, but it also doesn't help we never really get insight into the mobster.  He was apparently using her to keep Omega Red alive so he could conquer Russia.  Um, Russia is pretty big, dude.  You really think you could take over the whole place with Omega Red?  Also, if you're such a kick-ass magic-user, why do you need Illyana?  On a side note, is Storm even in this issue?  I think I briefly saw a flash of her, but I have no idea what she does here.  I mean, how do you make Storm forgettable?  [Sigh, again.]  I really, really want to like this series, but Guggenheim isn't making it easy.  (Did I mention Kitty speaks Russian?)

Also Read:  Astonishing X-Men #3; Champions #12; Journey to Star Wars:  The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #1

Not-So-New Comics: The August 23 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Secret Empire #9:  Spencer does a solid job of keeping up the suspense here.  It's hard to get us on the edge of our seats the way he did in early issues, given it's pretty clear how the story is going to end:  the heroes will take on a Cube-powered Captain Nazi while Dream Steve convinces Kobik to restore him to reality.  But, the story unfolds well; I only had two nitpicks.  First, I would've loved some sort of chart showing which side possessed which shards.  I initially thought the heroes had two shards -- one from Ultron and one from the Savage Land -- but last issue they only seemed to have the Ultron one.  That said, I don't care that much; it's why a chart would've been helpful, since it would've been simple to understand the status quo.  (Instead, we get the weird "cast of characters" page that adds nothing to the story.)  Second, it's hard to believe Sam managed to free New York from the Darkforce Dimension and bring down the Shield with only one shard (assuming his use of the shard allowed those events to happen).  If true, you'd have to imagine Steve doesn't need some Cube-powered suit to take out the heroes.  He might not be able to rewrite history without the final shard, but it seems like he could easily just wish away his opponents.  At any rate, we are where we are.  Spencer includes some grace notes here, like Carol and Sam taking a moment to reflect on how fun it is to kick the HYDRA troops' asses.  But, for the most part, it's really about following the silver ball through the Rube Goldberg machine while we wait for Kobik to right her wrongs.

Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider #6:  I love Peter David, and I'm willing to ride this one until the end with him.  However, I'm surprised I don't really have a great read on Ben Reilly as a character after six issues.  (Conversely, Miguel O'Hara was a fully formed character after just the first three-issue arc of the original "Spider-Man 2099" series.)  David portrays Ben as desperate:  he's trying to save Diva's daughter simply because he doesn't have a lot of great options when it comes to employment.  But, honestly, it's sort of hard to believe.  He could pretty easily just use his Spider-Powers to rob enough banks to set himself up nicely and then decide what he wants to do.  Instead, he just seems to be hanging around Vegas in search of a larger plan.  In other words, after six issues, I still don't get the core conceit of this series.  He's not wandering the country like an outlaw like he used to do or serving as a city's reluctant hero like Kaine did in Houston.  He's just...there.

Detective Comics #963:  I've mentioned previously it's sometimes hard to remember what changed from the DCU to the DCnU, particularly when it comes to Batman's continuity.  For the most part, everything stayed the same, except for some outrageous changes that DC wisely promptly ignored (like Joker manipulating Jason's life essentially from birth to Tim not figuring out Batman's identity).  However, sometimes the change feels more abrupt, as is the case here with Anarky.  Anarky was playing a key role in Fabian Nicieza's run on "Red Robin" when the DCU came to an end, and I think that version of the character is fresh in most of our minds.  Moreover, Buccellato and Manapul introduced a completely different character using that moniker in their own run on this title.  As such, it's hard to tell what character we're getting here.  I acknowledge I don't get all the Bat-family titles.  Maybe he's already debuted in "Red Hood and the Outlaws" or "Teen Titans" (or "Batgirl" since I stopped reading it).  But, it's this uncertainty that detracts from the story Tynion is trying to tell here.  I get why Spoiler would be attracted to Anarky in the abstract.  But, since it's impossible to know what this Anarky feels, it's also hard not to feel at least partially confused.

Iceman #4:  I really, really, really wanted Bobby to make out with Daken.  [Fan sigh.]  That said, something still isn't clicking for me and this series.  At times in this issue, it was an effort to make my way through the dialogue, something I don't think I should've felt given the sexually charged banter the fight between Bobby and Daken brought to the table.  But, I'm hoping Sina finds his groove in the same way I hope Bobby does.  Each issue feels like an improvement, and I'm hoping we'll really be cooking with gas (or, I don't know, freezing the lake?) in a few issues if it keeps improving.

Nightwing:  The New Order #1:  To use the cliché, Higgins leaves us with more questions than answers here, but so far it's a good thing.  First and foremost, Higgins doesn't tell us why Dick decided to turn against the metahuman community.  All we know is he activated a device that stripped 90 percent of metahumans of their powers; the remaining metahumans either were forced to take inhibiting drugs or, if they didn't work, imprisoned until a "cure" could be found.  It's a pretty serious shift to the fascist, and Higgins certainly has to explain how it happened at some point.  It appears Dick had a child with Starfire, so my original guess -- that a metahuman killed Barbara -- might not wind up being true.  Moreover, Alfred himself opposes Dick's approach -- particularly the indefinite detention of metahumans who don't respond to treatment -- making it even more unclear why Dick himself would take this position.  But, we also have the larger question:  why give us this series now?  Did Higgins just decide to launch this miniseries because he had the idea, or will we see either the themes or the outcomes of this miniseries impact the "real world?"  I'm intrigued.

Also Read:  Generations:  The Unworthy Thor and the Mighty Thor #1; Pathfinder:  Runescars #4; Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man #3; Star Wars:  Doctor Aphra Annual #1; X-Men:  Gold #10

Not-Very-Deep Thoughts: The July 26 Other Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Iceman #3:  I really, really want to like this series, but, OMG, the art is so bad.  It's hard to get past it.  Grace does a great job of showing Bobby trying to be real with his parents in anticipation of telling them he's gay.  He even gives us insight into why Bobby uses humor to deflect emotions, as his parents do the same thing during their ill-fated dinner.  Actually, it's less "humor" and more "bitchiness."  In that way, we get a good sense why Bobby is apprehensive about telling them the truth.  But, Grace opens a door here as his mother admits they're not giving him a fair shot.  In fact, I thought Grace does a great job of using mutants as a parallel for gays when he has Bobby's mother mention that society might be totally fine with mutants (gays) now, but it wasn't for a long time.  They're having a hard time making that switch, and, frankly, I am, too (but from the other side, obviously).  But, the art distracts from the story Grace is telling.  It's almost like Vitti has been possessed by Rob Liefeld, with random lines populating all his figures.  These sort of solo X-Men series don't typically last long, and I just hope they smooth out the art problems to give Grace some space to tell the story he wants to tell.

Spider-Gwen #22:  After convincing Kitty to stop Logan from killing Harry, Gwen calls Reed to get a second opinion on whether the Lizard/Venom switcheroo will work.  But, she's really calling for moral support, and Reed does her a solid by not giving it to her.  She's convinced she's saving Harry, but Reed asks her what she really expects to happen here.  It's not like Harry can just live a normal life once he's divested of his Lizard persona; he's made mistakes for which he'll have to pay.  Moreover, he reminds Gwen she had numerous other options -- hiring a lawyer, calling in Captain America -- other than aligning aligning herself with the Kingpin.  Left unsaid, Reed is basically saying Gwen is doing what suits her interests, getting back her powers and freeing her father.  She's not really saving Harry for his sake; as we said, Harry is unlikely to walk into the sunset when he's cured.  But, Gwen does it anyway, essentially proving Reed's point.  I really have to give Latour credit here for allowing Gwen to be so morally ambiguous.  It's a difficult road to hoe, but he really nails the landing (to mix metaphors) here.

Star Wars:  Doctor Aphra #10:  Gillen continues to remind us that somewhere under that tough exterior Aphra still seeks a certain level of approval.  We saw her disappointment when Luke made it clear at the end of the "Screaming Citadel" arc that he couldn't forgive her for using him to get answers about Rur, and here Aphra selects a lower offer for Rur because the Shadow University promises to keep evidence of her cheating buried (allowing her to keep her doctorate) and even allow her access to Rur.  Now she just has to survive Rur itself!

Also Read:  Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider #5