Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team #1-#4 TPB (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This series is as intense as the game and as "Cyberpunk 2077:  Edgerunners."  In other words, it's great.

Cyberpunk 2077:  Trauma Team #1:  Our protagonist, Nadia, walks a Trauma Team International (TTI) psychiatrist through the events of a call that ended disastrously, with everyone else on her team dying.  She and the psychiatrist have gone over the events previously, and Nadia reluctantly does so one more time.

TTI sends the team to Westbrook at 11:00p to save a platinum level client.  When they arrive, two security guards are huddled behind a limousine, which is lying on its side, and exchanging fire with, presumably, the perps.  One guard is already dead on the ground, and one of two surviving guards is shot through the head before the team exits the chopper.  Nadia and the other med-tech, Zander, cut open the limousine's roof and extract the client while Dodds and Mason cover them.  Dodds is shot in the head, distracting Nadia (though we can't see her face behind her helmet).

Nadia pauses in relaying the story to the therapist, who reminds her that she's trying to assess if Nadia is ready to return to active duty.  Nadia complains that she's been sitting in her apartment for weeks doing nothing, which makes her feel like she died, too.

Returning to the flashback, Zander radios the chopper and tells them that they can't move the perp so they're going to have to come get them.  Although he doubts their chances at survival, Zander tells Nadia to get her head in the game as she stares at Dodds' body, his helmet broken in half so you can see part of his face.  The chopper arrives and lays down suppressing fire, but a crazed looking guy wielding two swords leaps from the ground onto the chopper.  

Laughing hysterically, the assassin stabs Adson and Simmons in their faces through the chopper's windshield, prompting the chopper to spray fire into the crowd.  (Why, oh, why, anyone in Night City would ever stay on the scene of a shoot-out is beyond me.)  The assassin leaps off the chopper as it crashes and lands on the ground; he then slices the back of Zander's head.  The second chopper arrives so the assassin leaves Nadia alive though not before they meet each other's eyes.  (He walks past Mason's body as he leaves, though I'm not sure if he killed him at that moment or if Mason got hit by the guys firing on them or the wild fire from the chopper.  So many options for death in Night City.)

The psychiatrist clears Nadia to return to active duty.  As she leaves with her new team, the leader, Stratter, refers to her as new kid and doesn't listen when she tells him that she isn't new.  The team arrives in Pacifica, and Stratter tells her that she's going to experience a trial by fire.  She again tells him that it isn't her first op, and Knapp, the other med-tech, tells Stratter that Nadia's other team got iced but she saved the client.  Stratter responds, "Stay frosty.  Or get frosted."  Heh.

The team arrives on the roof, and the pilot tells them they're entering gang-controlled territory.  To get to the client, they have to go down two floors, so Stratter and Gordon start laying down fire.  The team starts going door to door in a typical Night City shithole apartment building when a gang opens fire on them, announcing that they're not taking "him."  Stratter gets winged on the shoulder and asks for some stimulants ("'dorph"), which Nadia comes to provide.  Nadia freezes, thinking of her her previous team's demise, and Gordon tells herself to pull herself together, which she does, administering the drugs.

Stratter and Gordon hold off the gang members as Nadia and Knapp follow a trail of blood to the client.  Knapp tells Nadia to pull herself together lest she get them all killed.  Stratter and Gordon leave their position to follow the med-techs, and the gang members follow down the hall.  As they enter the room where the client is, Nadia drops her medical case when she realizes the client is the guy who killed her team.  Dun-dun-DUN!

I'll note this last part - the client being the assassin - is particularly ironic due to Nadia earlier telling the psychiatrist that she joined TTI to help people.  Poor Nadia. 

Cyberpunk 2077:  Trauma Team #2:  Knapp (again) tells Nadia to pull it together and give the client a stim as Stratter and Gordon try to hold off the gang members who, as one of them notes, want the assassin really badly.

In a flashback, the therapist starts reviewing Nadia's team members.  We learn that she worked with them for two years, which the therapist notes is a very long time.

Back in the present, we see blood splash on the nameplate on Nadia's helmet (it's a great visual), and she raises her helmet and realizes they hit Gordon in the neck.  She takes off his helmet and applies skin foam and tissue glue as the gang members arrive and Stratter is forced to engage in melee combat with his gun.  Stratter realizes that it's quiet and screams that they've got an opening, and Knapp tells Nadia to leave Gordon to help with the client.  Suddenly, a gang member appears in the hallway, and Stratter curses that they lost their opening.  Knapp tells Nadia that Gordon is dead and the client needs her now.  He tells her not to pull a stunt like that again, reminding her the job is to save the client.

The assassin comments, "The customer is always right," which brings us to a flashback where Nadia and Dobbs are walking with boxes of noodles.  Suddenly, Dobbs' body becomes a corpse as he tells her that some of the people they help are good people, which he knows she believes since he doesn't think she'd stay with TTI otherwise.

In the present, the assassin — sorry, the client — notes that they've up 100 floors, and Stratter calls for Aerodyne to bring the chopper to get them.  Aerodyne opens fire through the walls on the gang members and creates an opening for the team to exit via tow cables.  But the gang members use an RPG to take out the chopper.  

As the fire-suppressant system (surprisingly, given it's Night City) starts raining down water on them, Nadia has a flashback to having sex with Dobbs.  She tells him to say something sexy after they're done, and he responds that his wanton sexuality is what got them into this situation.  (With a body like his, I'd be wantonly sexy, too.)  He tells them that they can't hesitate in the field, prompting her to ask whom he'd save, her or a client.  He responds, "You don't know the answer?  Nadia, I -" and suddenly she sees the client slit his throat with his sword.  She then sits alone on the bed in the flashback, Dobbs' helmet missing from the floor where it was when we first saw them in bed together.

In the present, the client picks up a gun and opens fire on the gang members coming at them.  As they get to their feet, Nadia pulls a gun and puts it to the back of the client's head.

Cyberpunk 2077:  Trauma Team #3:  Stratter pulls up Nadia's arm so she's no longer aiming at the client and tells her to drop the gun.  Nadia tells him that he killed her team and enjoyed it, and Stratter tells her that, "This is the damn job."

As Nadia, Knapp, Stratter, and the client start making their way down the stairwell (only 98 floors to go!), the client tells them that he thought it was an easy gig, killing the gang's boss.  But it turns out they loved the guy, so they're going wild.  The client tells them that they're going to have to get wild, too, if they want to survive or Nadia should've killed him.  Knapp tries to calm Nadia, telling her that the client is just baiting her, when the gang members open fire on them, hitting Knapp.  He tells Nadia that the body armor took most of the damage, and Stratter returns fire to give them time to move Knapp.

The client surprisingly helps, opening a door onto the 94th Floor (oof) so they can get Knapp to an apartment where Nadia can treat him.  Stratter hurls a grenade into the stairwell and then busts down a door into an apartment, which is occupied.  Nadia starts to tend to Knapp, but the woman distracts her when she tells them that her daughter is sick.  Stratter tells Nadia to move quickly, because the gang members are coming, but the client points out Knapp is dead.  Stratter blames it on Nadia not moving fast enough (which seems a stretch and probably a sign Stratter is losing it), and the gang members arrive on the floor.

Nadia wants to help the kid, and Stratter is apoplectic.  The client, though, tells Stratter to let Nadia help and he'll take care of the gang members if they give him a stimulant.  Nadia refuses, but Stratter administers it, correctly pointing out they need him if they're going to survive.  The client then goes wild, using knives he took from the woman's apartment to plow through the gang members.  At one point, one gang member gets his arm around the client from behind, and the client bites off part of the guy's forearm.  (It's a lot.)

In the apartment, Nadia is ministering to the girl when Stratter observes that she didn't save Gordon or Knapp but now she's saving this "little rat."  Nadia tells him that she's a medic and she's helping so he has to get his shit together.  (I felt the same way, as noted above.)  Stratter loses it, grabbing her by the neck and telling her that he isn't the one who has to learn his place.  Nadia then pulls a gun on him as the client enters and tells them that the hall is clear.  Stratter threatens Nadia with telling the company on her when they leave, prompting the client (whom I'm really coming to love) to comment, hilariously, "Nice to see my Trauma Team money is well spent."  Ha!

Stratter and the client exit into the hallway as Nadia gives the woman antibiotics, telling her to give her child one a day.  Stratter is furious, but the client tells him to let Nadia do her thing and give the kid a chance.  Huh.

In a flashback, Nadia returns to the question of whom Dobbs would save, and he tells her that it isn't that easy.  Nadia tells him that it is, that she'd do anything to save him.  Of course, we then get a flashback of her performing CPR on the client as Dodds' dead body lies behind her.

Cyberpunk 2077:  Trauma Team #4:  Holy fuck, this issue.

In the stairwell, the client says that he's fading, and Nadia gives him a stimulant.  It prompts him to comment that they make a good team and she may get her bonus.  She then ominously notes they're not out yet.  They enter the lobby and exit the megabuilding in a truly spectacular splash page from Valderrama.

On the street, Stratter tells the client and Nadia that the gang members are right behind them but the evacuation team is on the way.  Stratter then tells Nadia that she's done once he files the report.  Nadia reminds him they need a place to hide, and Stratter continues to rant about how Nadia wasn't ready for the field.

At this point, the client snaps his neck.

Yup.  Snaps his neck.  I was wondering how Nadia was going to survive this mission with her job intact, and there you go.  The client, again hilariously, comments, "Don't mention it."  Nadia is stunned, and the client is like, dude, I did you a favor.  Nadia tells him that Stratter was her teammate, and the client says, "You're Trauma Team, right?  Without that, what are you?  Now, he won't take that from you.  You're the last 'good little med-tech' standing."

At this point, the gang members pour from the building, and Nadia hustles the client to a safe place.  She takes a flesh wound from a bullet as they arrive in a dead-end alley, when a huge jacked dude chasing them arrives.  Nadia is fighting off a few gang members as the client goes toe-to-toe with the dude, telling him that he's platinum so he can't hurt him.  One of the gang members manages to knock the gun from Nadia's hand as the client tries to rip off the dude's head.  However, the dude grabs the client's hands and rips off his cybernetic one.  As one of the gang members deploys a cybernetic arm blade, Nadia grabs her gun and opens fire.  The dude then rips out the wires from the client's hand and starts the strangle him with them...when Nadia shoots him in the head.

The client is panicked at this point, again mentioning his platinum coverage as he demands Nadia save him.  They stumble from the alley only to find a mob of gang members ready for them.  The client panics more when Nadia smiles, but she tells him that she's smiling because back-up has arrived, which we see in the form of a chopper hovering above them.  The chopper opens fire on the gang members and lands.

The client makes his way to the chopper as Nadia contemplates all her dead team members.  She then pulls a gun on the client.  The newly arrived TTI team is shocked, and the leader, presumably, asks one of the other members if he has the shot on Nadia.  The client complains that he's platinum, and Nadia tells him that she knows what he is.  Dobbs' ghost appears again to Nadia and tells her not to do it for him, and she says it isn't for him.  The client mutters, "Neither one of us, huh?", and Nadia asks how it feels.  He responds, "Feels...platinum."  The issue then ends on an unclear note.  Given the last panel is full of blood and bullet casings, I'm guessing Nadia shot the client and the TTI team shot her.

Final Thoughts:  This series is great.  If you aren't familiar with "Cyberpunk 2077," it might seem a little much, but it's the perfect ending, since you don't get happy endings in Night City.  It becomes a pretty dark play on Shakespeare's quote, "So shines a good dead in a weary world."  

In fact, it's really the only good outcome for Night City.  Once the client killed Stratter, it was clear to me that Nadia was in trouble, as I figured TTI would get suspicious that she was again the teams' sole survivor.  (That said, maybe not?  It seems likely TTI has a lot of, um, turnover.)  But it was clear that Nadia really wasn't ready for action again.  I would've rathered Nadia work as a medic at a clinic or something.  But to Nadia's mind taking this killer off the street was probably the best thing she could do.

(In an example of pet peeve #2, we learn from the back cover that the client's name is Apex, though I'm pretty sure that we never saw him called that in the book, which is part of what made him so creepy, honestly.)

Eight-Month-Old Comics!: The March 20 Top-Shelf Edition - Part One (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Blade Runner 2039 #11:  This issue is a rare misstep for Johnson, as Ash takes a total fucking leave of her senses.

Picking up where we left off last issue, Cal gives Ash the name of his contact, telling Ash that the contact sources materials for Niander Wallace, Jr. and warning Ash that the woman is very dangerous.  

Meanwhile, at Wallace, Jr.'s, an LAPD captain informs him of Luv's disappearance and complains that Wallace, Jr. provided them with a faulty product.  (That's some chutzpah.)  At the Underground's headquarters, though, it turns out Luv isn't dead — she's a live and captive, tied to a chair.  Referring to Rash as a thing, Ash tells Freysa that they can't trust her.  Rash offers to help get Ash close to Wallace, Jr., and Ash — not unreasonably — tells Rash that she doesn't trust her enough for that.  Ash suddenly has a spell, and Freysa convinces her to take Rash with her to see Cal's contact.

As they fly to a nice villa, Ash again treats Rash as a thing, calling her a "machine built for murder."  Rash — also not unreasonably — points out the "old man in San Francisco" was trying to kill her.  At the villa, a small Japanese woman named Daisy greets them and offers them tea.   When Ash tells her that they're there for information about Wallace, Jr., Daisy refers to him as "Nandy" and informs them that she was his nursemaid.

When Ash insists on asking questions, Daisy calls in her pleasure model, an enormous dude named Hanii.  (Good for her, though.  "Nandy" obviously hooked her up well.)  Ash tells Daisy to cut the shit and asks what she sources for "Nandy."  Daisy replies that she gets goods you can't buy — "organic," "fresh."  Ash informs Daisy that she (Daisy) is going to set up a meeting with Wallace, Jr. for them at their usual spot; she tells Daisy to tell him that it's urgent and to come alone.  When Daisy reasonably asks why she would do that, Ash tells her that both she and Hanii will be picking up each other's teeth if she doesn't.

I need to stress her how huge Hanii is (and, no, I don't mean huge that way, though he probably is).  I get Ash sees herself as dangerous, but it's hard to believe that Ash —who just had a spell that prompted Rash to come as an escort — would seriously think she could threaten Daisy into setting up a trap for Wallace, Jr., even with Rash with her.  If it were that easy, someone would've offed him ages ago.

At any rate, later, at the Griffin Observatory, Wallace, Jr. is prepared for Ash, who shoves a bound Luv at him.  He informs Ash that he read about her "affliction" in her police file (which he used to build Rash) and devised a cure for it, which is how we end the issue.

Again, my main complaint here is that I don't believe Wallace, Jr. would be so easy to meet.  I get Daisy is in Wallace, Jr.'s inner circle and it's a sign of Cal's connections that he could get Ash to her.  But I don't believe Wallace, Jr. would leave himself so vulnerable, even if he was prepared for Ash (as he is here).  Also the idea that Daisy would set up the meeting but not warn Wallace, Jr. is absurd.

Also, since we're resurrected pet peeves, we get an example of pet peeve #1 here, since Cal is only in this issue for a hot minute despite featuring prominently on the cover.

Cobra Commander #3:  This series remains bloody and fun.

Ripper enters the Dreadnoks' bar with Zarana and shoots one of the patrons to get everyone's attention.  (Heh.)  Zarana reveals an Energon cube, which she calls "The Juice," expositing that they've all seen what it can do, that it's a kind of fuel unlike anything they've ever seen.  In order to sell it to the highest bidder, Zarana reminds the Dreadnoks that they need to make sure no one steals it first.  She informs them that Buzzer and Ripper saw someone sniffing around her brother's "old lab." 

On cue, Zarana's other brother, Zandar, interrupts, arriving with a chained up CC, whom he's dragged from the alligator pit.  Zarana remind her those swamps are off-limits (for reasons she doesn't explain), and Zandar dismisses her outrage, saying that he was trying to find the "good stuff."  Buzzer tries to remove CC's helmet and gets shocked.  Zarana asks who he is, and CC responds, "Your future master."  (Heh.)  Torch tries to use his blowtorch to get off the helmet but it doesn't work.  

Over the course of several panels, we witness the Dreadnoks torturing CC for information.  (At one point, Ripper hilariously uses CC's blood to draw a smiley face on his helmet.)  Later, Zandar tells CC that he isn't like the other idiots — he does his homework — and notes that he's never seen the type of tech that CC is sporting, even on "the darkest parts of the web."  CC tells Zandar that his brother (clearly Zartan) sent him on a secret mission because Zarana called him for help because she doesn't trust Zandar.  Zandar falls for it and storms from the room.  

Ripper then enters and CC tells him that he (somehow) knows that he was a former teacher obsessed with biker gangs.  Ripper apparently threw away his old life and "got lost in the role," which is why he plays extra tough.  Zarana and Torch then arrive, and CC taunts Zarana, asking if she's worried about Zandar because she's worried about losing control.  At this point, Buzzer, Ripper, and Zandar break into the room in a brawl, and CC hits his tracking device, which he earlier disabled.  The Dreadnoks then assemble outside in time for Protector to arrive.  

CC stumbles into Protector's arms and Protector breaks his chains.  Ripper then attacks Protector's face with his chainsaw, but it turns out it really isn't his face.  CC informs Protector that he's found the Energon, which, to Protector's mind, means the Dreadnoks are trying to deny Golobulus his due.  Protector then gets rid of his disguise, emerging from his outer skin with glowing yellow eyes and wings.  We're then treated to three panels of CC's unmoving, smiley face-d helmet as the Dreadnoks scream in agony and pain.

I kind of feel badly for the Dreadnoks, honestly.

Dawnrunner #1:  In terms of the story, the issue feels takes itself too seriously given Ram V is treading familiar ground here.  

First things first, this issue is beautiful, reminiscent of the dearly departed "Nonplayer."  My only complaint about the art is that it's so detailed that it's occasionally hard to tell what's happening, as if the lines in all their multitude get in their own way.

Moving onto the story, Ram sets out the premise well, giving details as we need them and not overwhelming us with information.  Ninety-six years ago, a portal, dubbed el Desgarrón, opened over Guatemala, and a race called the Tetza entered our world.  The Tetza were "an alien species with emergent and varying morphology," the only commonality being their "gargantuan size and the near-impervious nature of their skin."

In response, humanity did two things to survive.  First, in the "largest military effort in human history," we built "the Wall," an 1,800-mile long, 100-foot tall structure that locks the Tetza in a specific geographic enclosure.  Second, nations dissolved, and Earth's resources went to five corporations that build Iron Kings, or IK, the mecha that humanity uses to take out the Tetza.

Our introduction to the IK comes through the eyes of Anita Marr, an IK pilot, as she take control of Dawnrunner, the Cordonware Corporation's next-gen IK.  Given the attention she generates in the media on her run, it's clear the pilots are celebrities.  They're essentially athletes, as we see when a pilot named Xander tries to psyche out Anita by reminding her that he's only two kills behind her.  As she starts her preparations with her escort, Anita wonders how humanity turned something that was previously an existential threat into a sport.

The issue's sense of foreboding comes from a conversation between Cordonware's CEO, Andro Lestern, and a linguist named Murali.  Murali bursts in Lestern's office, furious that he's trying out Dawnrunner on a sole Tetza when they had an agreed Cordonware would only take action if at least three Tetza were present in the enclosure.  Murali complains that he can't study the Tetza if Lestern keeps killing them, but Lestern, not unreasonably, notes that the linguists have spent almost a century studying the Tetza and still can't tell "a Tetza poem from a fart."

Later, it all comes together as Lestern explains to, I believe, the CEOs of the other four corporations that Dawnrunner and Anita will now connect to each other directly; instead of the pilot manipulating the IK's controls, it'll be like they're the same person.  Meanwhile, Anita engages in combat with the Tetza, only unexpectedly finding herself merging with someone else's consciousness.

Ram doesn't clarify when we are, but it seems likely it's the past, when the Tetza first arrived.  Against the backdrop of a devastated city, a fellow soldier rouses Major Ichiro Takeda and informs him the military is preparing to drop "the heavy stuff" on the Tetza.  As Takeda tries to focus, Anita is trying to pull back her consciousness.  Takeda finally gets control of the body and tells the solider that he has to get to the research complex where his wife and kids are.  The soldier tells Takeda it's gone, but Takeda insists on going to find them.  Anita and Takeda seem able to speak to each other, asking each other who the other is.  They both answer, as does Dawnrunner, ominously.

Again, Ram and Cagle are onto something here, so I'm going to hang in there.  But it took at least two reads for me to get what exactly they're presenting to us, which dampens some of the kinetic energy that they're trying to infuse into this issue.

G.I. Joe:  A Real American Hero #305:  Hama throws so much at us here that I'm struggling to explain what I just read.  Not helping matters, at several points, the characters know more than they should know based on what we've seen.

In Springfield, CC and his squad examine the remains of the Vipers who detonated themselves while fighting Dawn last issue.  One of the men shows CC the surveillance video of the Vipers making their way onto the community centers's roof, and CC recognizes them as Vipers.  Despite only seeing their shadows in the video, one of CC's men comments that the Vipers were modified with Revanche technology, prompting CC to realize they came at Serpentor Khan's behest.  Hypothesizing that a third party took out the Vipers, CC orders a manhunt for the perpetrator.

At her parents', Dawn provides her report to Duke while Fred 23, the Morenos' neighbor, approaches the front door.   Fred 23 tells Moreno that the community center altercation has all of Dawn's earmarks, which seems a stretch given that the only evidence of the altercation was the three burn spots where the Vipers self-immolated and a surveillance video showing their shadows.  Fred 23 encourages them to turn in Dawn, and the Morenos attack him.  Dawn is shocked, which surprises her father, who tells her that they'd never turn her into the authorities.  They tell her to flee Springfield and that they'll follow her the next day after securing Fred 23.  (Couldn't they just secure him and leave with her?)

At the Pit, Stalker tells Lady Jaye to take Multo to Spirit so they can figure out how they're going to deal with the Vipers poking around upstairs.  Meanwhile, Airtight, Black Hat, and Mainframe are examining the remains of one of the Blue Ninjas who attacked Scarlett and Snake-Eyes, and we learn that they're 95 percent android, retaining only their human brain and spinal column.   One of the hands — despite being disconnected from the body — attacks Black Hat, though Stalker shoots it before it hurts her.

Elsewhere, Spirit informs Lady Jaye and Multo that the Vipers can't figure out the way into the Pit.  Getting permission from Duke to stop them before they find the entrance, the three Joes attack.  However, one of the Vipers manages to pull the pin from a nerve-gas grenade.  Spirit grabs his hands so he can't release the pin, and Lady Jaye kills him by shooting him in the head.  As he mentioned, though, his "hands" are cable and steel, so Lady Jaye can't move his fingers.  Instead, Multo uses his machete to cut off the hand holding the pin, handing it to Spirit.  Ha!  On Cobra Island (I told you this issue just keeps going), Serpentor Khan is apparently happy the three Vipers at the Pit have gone incommunicado, claiming it was all according to plan.

Moving to the Revanche facility in Baton Rouge, Dr. Mindbender notes a "glitch" in their covert plan there.  A Python officer supervises the mutated casino guests getting in line for their transformation when a Blue Ninja tells him that one of the chips that they're planning to install isn't on the original specs.  The Python escorts him to the storeroom, which is a comms dead zone, and attacks him, using his Clayface-like abilities to strangle him.  (He initially stabs him, and the Blue Ninja comments that he missed his power core, which the Python seems to imply he did on purpose.  But then why strangle him?)  Khan exposits that Revanche will eventually realize the Blue Ninja is missing and the subsequent investigation will reveal the chip negates Revanche control but by then it'll be too late.  (But will it be?  Like, this one Blue Ninja is the only one in Revanche that knows that they're going to install an extra chip in the dozens of mutants they've got ready to go?)

Khan and Mindbender turn their attention to Scotland, where we learn the "Zartan" we see with Destro there is a simulacrum.  They're trying to take out Zartan, as we see at the issue's end, to keep the charade going.

It's too much, honestly.  Like, I feel like we needed at least another issue to cover what Hama throws at us here for it all to make sense.

Seven-Month-Old Comics!: The March 6 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars #44:  So much talking.

I mean, I get it.  After all, Admiral Ackbar, Princess Leia, General Madine, and Mon Mothma have a pretty interesting discussion about balancing the Rebellion's need to show they'll bring back justice to the Galaxy against the its need to punish treason to maintain discipline in the ranks.  Leia suggests a compromise:  a secret military tribunal comprised of Ackbar, Medine, and Mothma.  I don't really get how that helps her drive for transparency, though, given the implication they won't announce the verdict against Lando if he's found guilty.

Anyway, Lando appears almost suicidal in his conversation with Lobot, admitting that he's going to let them hang him for treason because he's committed so many crimes.  To his mind, the best crime he's committed is committing treason to save Lobot, so he might as well get his just desserts for that one.  But Lobot tells Lando that he's delusional if he thinks the Rebellion is just going to embrace him (Lobot) after Lando's death.  As such, he convinces Lando to call in Salli Georgio, as we saw in "Star Wars:  Revelations" #1.

Again, I get all the need for a lot of dialogue to let these events develop.  The problem is that I was already pretty tired of reading by the time we start the trial, which is the main event, after all.  

The good news is that Georgio is as great as she was in "Star Wars:  Revelations" #1.  First, she obviously has some ulterior motive for getting her droid to plug into the Rebellion's audio system to record the trial.  (It clearly isn't just that she doesn't like taking notes.)  Second, she's correct when she tells Lando the Rebellion has him dead to rights, so she has to convince the tribunal — somehow — that they don't care about the truth.  She hasn't figured out that part, so she's stalling, though Lando isn't wrong when he says her attempt to blame his actions on the Jedi Mind Trick (again) probably isn't going to work so well with this crowd.  

But Georgio gets her distraction when a group of Silverhawk-esque mercenaries break into the facility where Mothma is located (she's tele-participating in the trial) and kidnap her.  Or, as Georgia says, "Yep.  That'll work."

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how great Lando looks in a beard — woof! — I didn't resurrect pet peeve #1 by pointing out that nothing in this issue has to do with Darth Vader or Han Solo, who both feature prominently on the cover.  With the scene set, I'm looking forward to seeing where Lando's trial goes.

Void Rivals #7:  And away we go.

Ten years ago, Darak worked as an "edgewalker," using a robotic exoskeleton to move crates for reasons that Kirkman doesn't explain.  Darak's foreman tells him and his colleagues to hustle, since the "bleeding edge" (of Agorria and the Wasteland) has so little gravity that any mistake could send them hurling off the Ring.  When a stack of crates falls onto one of Darak's colleagues, he springs into action, saving his colleague but sending himself into the Wastelands.  

In the present day, Handroid calculates Darak and Solila's trek across the Wasteland will take three months and notes they only have four to six weeks' worth of supplies.  However, Darak informs Handroid and Solila that he's been to the Wastelands before and saw something (what, we don't know, because we didn't see it when he looked upon the Wasteland earlier in the issue) that makes him believe they only need to last half that time.

Elsewhere, Zalilak appears, Darkseid-esque, in a room bathed in dark red light.  He informs the room's occupant, a young Zertonian studying a tablet, that an Agorrian has corrupted a Zertonian warrior and headed into the Wasteland.  Zalilak says the Zertonian is the only one brave enough to go after them, which the Zertonian questions.  The Zertonian wonders what could cause the panic in Zalilak's voice but then informs Zalilak that he's also read the sacred tests and guesses stopping the pair has something to do with preventing Goliant's coming.  

As such, he agrees to hunt the pair but ponders what Zalilak will do if he turns against him once his task is complete.  Zalilak is unconcerned, noting that their last confrontation was unpleasant and that the Zertonian seems happy in this room. 

After Zalilak alludes to the Zertonian's "current state,"  we discover that this conversation is happening inside the Zertonian's mind as his body is a Vader-esque rump filled with cybernetic implants.  Zalilak orders Guilan to free Proximus, and Guilan begs for Zerta's mercy as he does so.  After Proximus leaves for the hunt, Guilan falls to his knees, and Zalilak states that Proximus is simply a man, though the deadliest one of them.  

The issue ends with the creepy religious sisters we saw in previous issues meeting with their leader who informs them that Solila is on her calling's path and her destination approaches.

All in all, it's a pretty slow issue, as Kirkman is clearly just setting up the upcoming arc's events.  I'm OK with that, but it doesn't make this issue the most thrilling read.

Twelve-Month-Old Comics!: The February 8 Edition - Part 1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #19:  The only problem with this issue is that it makes me pine for Kelly and Dodson to take over this title.  

Unlike Wells, Kelly manages to mix comedy with action and drama in an organic way throughout the issue.  Deciding to take their relationship to the next level, Felicia and Peter unexpected find Mary Jane and Paul at the same upstate spa.  (Hilariously, Felicia and Paul have a sotte voce conversation about using a Snapshot groupon.)  

Kelly milks the tension for all its worth, from Peter clutching shut his robe (and Felicia, to Paul's discomfort, reminding Peter that both she and Mary Jane has seen him naked) to Peter finally opening his robe to reveal "Here, Kitty, Kitty" boxer shorts.  Ha!  The comedic awkwardness also advances the plot as Felicia tells Peter that he needs to be honest with her (and himself) about his feelings for Mary Jane.  It's always fun when Felicia is the responsible adult.

Moreover, this tension isn't just the issue's point, as it so often is in Wells' stories.  Instead, it's the backdrop of Peter and Felicia discovering that White Rabbit has stolen gear that mimics the Sinister Six's powers.  She's dating a genius, Mychal, who installed safeties on the gear so they can rent it to rich tech bros to play "The Greatest Game," super-villain style.  Honestly?  I'm surprised this scenario hasn't played out yet in the real world.  Kelly's gift for comedy remains on full display throughout the action as Peter gets into a genius pissing contest as the bros trying to figure out how his Web-Shooters work, resulting in Felicia telling him to stop Spideysplaining to "entitled felons."

But it isn't all giggles and laughs as Mychal winds up dead and the bro seem to want to kill Spider and Felicia as they take off the safeties.

[Sigh.]  If only we got such a multifaceted story every moth...I guess I'll have to enjoy it while I can.

Batman #132:  Zdarsky throws us right into the mystery here as the issue begins with Bruce shadowing Jewel as she tries to save people from getting sent to Arkham.  

As they patrol the streets, Bruce learns that Judge Dent sent Jewel's father to Arkham due to his grief over her mother's death from cancer.  Jewel recognizes Bruce is having a hallucination (he's staring at Jimbo from last issue) and tells him that they aren't from "multiversal travel" (as Bruce thought) but from "Crane Brain," a drug the authorities pump into the air to find more victims for Arkham.  She gives Bruce pills that block the drug's effect and tells Bruce that Halliday Industries produces the pills at Athena Tower.  Bruce realizes that Halliday might have taken over the role that Wayne Enterprises played in his Gotham so heads there.

In an interlude, Red Mask visits Dent, who's stewing about the possibility that Bruce is out there.  In a show of power, Red Mask de-Venomizes Dent, shrinking him into a skeletal version of himself.  Red Mask demands Dent find Bruce, treating to take away his "gift" more permanently.

Bruce begins to show uncharacteristic signs of emotional trauma as he talks to Jewel.  He makes her eggs, and she's amazed at how good they are.  He comments on how his sons were always hungry, and an old friend taught him how to make them.  Later, Jewel works with Bruce to develop a persona so he can attend Halliday's upcoming fundraiser where, of course, Bruce encounters Selina.  She exposits for us that this world's Bruce Wayne gave up his billions to become a social worker before his presumed death.  She points out Halliday in the crowd...and it's the Joker.  Man, I did *not* see that coming.  Before Bruce (or we) can process that, Punchline arrives, and she and Selina attack.  Killer Croc joins the fun, and Bruce realizes he's in trouble.  He takes out Croc and marvels how the wealthy Athena Tower residents don't even flinch at the violence.

Then he sees Alfred.  At the issue's start, we saw that this world's Alfred is in a relationship with Leslie Thompkins, and it's clear that he used the money Bruce left him to buy their safety in the Tower.  Bruce shakes off the idea that it's *his* Alfred or *his* Selina, but he's distracted enough for a cop to shoot him, propelling him out the building.  Bruce falls through a warehouse skylight and, lying on the floor, confesses to himself that he misses his "sons" and "his" Selina.  It's a heartbreaking moment, but he tells himself that any Gotham is his Gotham.  Stumbling through the streets, Bruce tries to help someone fight off one of Judge Dent's cops but gets his ass handed to him.  In one of Zdarksy's most brilliant moments, as Bruce lays bleeding in the alley, he sees a bat and decides, "I shall become a bat."  Damn, this series is on fire.

The back-up story is just as good.  We learn that Toyman went on a rampage before he died, and the gun he used - the one Failsafe used on Batman - either turned people into toy versions of themselves or dissipated them.  Tim examines one of the toys and realizes that it's producing multiversal energy.  Correctly realizing that Toyman didn't kill himself but instead sent himself and the disappeared and toy people to another reality, Tim calls Mister Terrific.  

Mister Terrific provides Tim with a new invention, an outfit that creates a tether and discs so the user can travel multiversally.  Tim is surprised when he arrives in a suburban area but quickly tracks down the victims...only for Toyman and his army of toy-ified victims to find him.

In other words, it's great stuff.  If I have one complaint it's that Zdarsky feels like he's rushing a bit.  He probably could've found a way to delay the confrontation at Athena Tower to next issue.  I'm just greedy, though.  I don't want any of it to end.

Blade Runner 2039 #3:  As usual, Johnson does a great job of slowly unspooling the mystery at this series' core.  We don't know everything yet, but we know enough that Ash should be worried.

Ash visits Wojciech in a retirement home; it seems lovely so it's nice to see someone in this series might have a happy ending (hopefully).  Wojciech confirms that she heard rumors about a Replicant Blade Runner but doesn't have any more information about it.  She encourages Ash to leave it be, which we (including Wojciech) know she won't do.

Ash stops by a noodle place before heading to the sticks, and Cleo finds her there because Ash took her there once.  Ash is enraged that Cleo is there, but Cleo tells her that Isobel is missing.  Cleo takes Ash to her penthouse, explaining that they're not rich on Arcadia but money goes further on Earth.  She explains that she's a schoolteacher and married with a son.  She wants to know more about Ash, but Ash is worried about her safety so tells her to stay in the apartment.

At a bar later, Ash is worried about all these "coincidences:"  a Replicant Blade Runner, Cleo on Earth, Isobel in the wind.  Underscoring Ash's senes, Hythe arrives and tells Ash that she met the Replicant Blade Runner.  She hands Ash the data Wallace wants, figuring they'll be safer with her, and Ash saves her right before she's assassinated.  Ash and Hythe then take out two Wallace employees who originally picked up Luv at the issue's start.  

The issue ends with Luv arriving at Cleo's apartment, though I don't know how she realized "Mrs. Calhoun" was Cleo.  She had been reviewing traffic files (as part of her punishment), so maybe a traffic camera identified her?  We'll see.

Captain America:  Symbol of Truth #10:  Silva is spectacular here, as he walks us through Cap and Nomad trying to take out Falcon in a battle in the sky.  Thankfully, Onyebuchi more or less manages not to get in the way.  

That said, it was incredibly disingenuous to lead us to believe Joaquín killed his grandmother only to reveal that he only fed on the horses.  Moreover, White Wolf goes all pet peeve #3 here as he tells his general that he just wanted to take Joaquín off the board but got lucky when the "chemical" turned him into a vampire.  Does he explain what the chemical is or why he used a chemical instead of just killing Joaquín?  No, no, he doesn't.  

But given how awful the previous issues have been I'm glad I didn't hate this one.  That's where I am with this series.

Know Your Station #3:  I'm still not entirely convinced Marin or St. Brigid isn't behind the murders, but Elise and Marin do establish some baseline criteria for the killer that makes sense.

First thing first, they're called to Vesper Norton's suite where they find his body.  Like the Raulssons, the killer has...arranged it.  Whereas the killer strung up the Raulssons artistically, the killer has drained Norton's blood into hundreds of tiny vials and replaced the blood with Blue.  It's...a lot.  

But it also makes Elise and Marin realize that the killer has pretty advanced medical skills.  They feel like it all points to a staff member, but, as staff members, they don't feel like one of their colleagues did it.  Presumably their motive would be vengeance against an asshole billionaire, but, as Elise says, all the staff know the score so it seems weird one of them would go rogue.  But, given the "celebratory" nature of the killings, it also doesn't feel like a Board member offing other Board members for power.  In other words, they have no idea.

The issue has other strange revelations, like the fact St. Brigid deactivates *all* suite cameras when Elise is on Blue, not just hers.  Also, Elise confesses to Marin that she was a dishwasher with no background in security.  For some reason, though, Raulsson liked her energy when she onboarded and gave her the security job.

The issue ends with all the residents getting a message saying that they're next.  Gailey doesn't have Elise tell Marin that St. Brigid keeps telling her that she was the only person to access the rooms of the previous victims, which is ostensibly the reason why she isn't calling the police.  Marin doesn't trust the police to solve the problem anyway, so he isn't asking.  But at this point it's hard to believe that Elise is going to retain control over this situation much longer.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The January 11 Edition - Part 1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #17:  OMG, this issue is awful.

On the plus side, the art is great:  McGuiness should draw Limbo demons full-time.  

Unfortunately, the issue also has words.

Ben decides to get Peter to eat the apple by casting him, JJJ, Jr., and Robbie in a work-place comedy set at The Bugle with the demons as the other employees.  I'm not kidding.  I'm not saying it isn't funny, but it goes to this event's  - and series' - main problem, the fact Wells can't decide if it's funny or serious.  

In a great example of that problem and pet peeve #3, Madelyne expresses concern that Ben isn't taking their plans seriously enough.  If he really wants Peter to eat the apple, why not just threaten all his loved ones with death?  But I'm not giving Wells credit for Madelyne pointing out his flaws.

In other words, Wells doesn't really explain why Ben is playing with his food here, and the story suffers for it.

Black Cloak #1:  Holy fucking shit, this issue is the best issue of a comic I've read in a really long time.  

McClaren and Thompson employ restraint to create a totally immersive experience.  McClaren's limited line strokes creates a fully realized reality, and Thompson's equally sparse script underscores the tension between the characters as they're reluctant to say what they feel.

You need to buy this comic now.

The issue's opening text informs us that Kiros is the known world's last city due to a cataclysmic war that happened hundreds of years ago.  The heroes defeated the great evil, but something is rotten in the state of Kiros.  As the unnamed narrator says, it "turns out beings get along better when there's a great evil to be vanquished."

The action begins when a mermaid crawls onto the beach at the Lagoon, spits up some black-looking liquid, and then collapses on the beach.  A group of screeching mermaids stare at her from the water and then throw a dead body next to her before departing.

On Merchant Row, a satyr named Vaissac attacks a black-cloaked elf.  She punches him, as she apparently does every week.  She tells him that they could either get along or ignore each other.  He tells her that he'll never be "good neighbors" with a "fucking Black Cloak." As the elf enters Coffee, Curios & Curiosities, demonic-looking rats attack Vaissac, and the elf uses her...magic gun? to scare them into fleeing.

The elf is Detective Phaedra Essex.  The store's proprietor, Laurel, shows her the prototype of a robotic taka (a cat-like creature) that she bought.  Phaedra is appalled because she was raised with a real taka before they went extinct.  Phaedra then gets a call and heads to the Salty Crow in the Narrows.

A the Crow, a (sexy as fuck) elf with a gold-flecked chest wound is lying naked on a bed.  A pair of cops are on the scene with a detective, and one of the cops, Clem, tells the detective, Pax, that the elf's tattoos use royal ink.  Pax asks Clem if he "netted" the room, and Clem responds that someone named Nina had done so.  Nina apparently didn't have her "soulprint" on her, though so she wasn't able to identify the elf.  Pax has his soulprint on him, but before he can scan the body a photographer appears in the doorway.  Pax tells the other cop, Benny, to control the crime scene and "get that capture."  Pax puts a set of goggles (I assume the soulprint) on the body, but they don't work.

Phaedra enters and identifies the elf as Freyal III of Sidra, the heir to the throne and Phaedra's fiancé at some point.  Pax suddenly yells, "The capture!" and manifests wings before leaping out the window.  Phaedra sends Clem after Pax and spends a moment with Freyal's body, showing a matching tattoo and telling him quietly how much she missed him.

Pax returns and tells Phaedra that Clem has "the capture" and is taking him to the station, though I still don't know what "the capture" is or how or why it escaped.  Pax and Phaedra then discuss how the murderer clearly used a dracona dagger due to the gold-flecked wound.  Phaedra tells Pax that she and Freyal were raised together and were best friends though she hadn't seen him in years.

They discuss how the Crow is a "glorified flophouse above a bar known for prostitution."  They go to the bar to interrogate the bartender, and this scene is a marvelous fantasy version of the Mos Eisley cantina.  Apparently an elf girl named Dace rented the room for the last three cycles, and the bartender confirmed she was with Freyal when he first rented the room to her.  Upon leaving the bar, Phaedra calls someone and asks them to pull out the mermaid the Crow was keeping in a tank.  (She mentions she saw tail rot.  Oof.)

At HQ, the captain exposits that Phaedra is exiled from the elven realms.  The conversation is interrupted when she and Pax are sent to the Lagoon because Nida has identified the dead woman as Dace.  Disturbingly, Phaedra asks why the mermaids didn't eat her, cueing up the enormous chunk of flesh missing from her back.  

Nida (who's a bat-like humanoid) opens the mouth of the dead mermaid next to Dace, causing Pax to panic.  Nida notes the mermaid is dead, but Pax's panic at Nida even touching the body makes you realize we're not dealing with Ariel here.  Nida notes a bit of flesh in the dead mermaid's teeth and the nearby bile, and Phaedra realizes that someone used a strong enough poison on Dace that it can kill a mermaid in one bite.  Based on their interactions, Nida and Phaedra are in a relationship, and they're adorable.

Before Phaedra leaves, Nida tells Phaedra that she's worried about Phaedra seeing her family because of the "old laws."  Phaedra stresses that the Black Cloak "should" protect her, and Nida notes that "should" is a "fucked-up word."  Pax and Phaedra discuss how you usually dump bodies in the Lagoon hoping the mermaids eat them, but the murderer may not have known that someone had already poisoned Dace.  So we may have two people trying to murder her?  

Pax interviews a nearby guard, Jakel, who tells Pax that he wasn't working the previous night.  (Throughout the issue, we see the security surrounding the Lagoon to keep out trespassers.)  Pax asks Jakel to turn down his music, which Jakel suggests is a bad idea.  When Pax insists, he does, and the mermaids immediately start screeching.  Pax allows Jakel to turn on the music again, and, on my second reading, I realized everyone near the water is wearing headphones.  

Jakel tells Pax that someone named Edgar was working the previous night.  He exposits that the guards are under constant surveillance so Edgar wouldn't likely have let someone into the Lagoon for fear of getting fired.  Jakel says that they only way to enter is through a gap where the cliff meets the wall, though it's usually sealed.

On Lookout Point, Phaedra notes that anyone up there could see the whole Lagoon.  She interviews four hooligans and tells them that someone killed a mermaid.  One of the hooligans quips that mermaids kill people, and Phaedra responds that it matters when they all kill each other.  She tells the hooligan who seemed the most cooperative that she might have something to pay in exchange for information, but one of the other hooligans tells her that they're not "wraiths" and don't work with Black Cloaks.  HQ calls Phaedra and tells her that she's clear to go to Castle Kiros.  She leaves while Pax stays at the Lagoon to investigate.

At the castle gates, Phaedra remembers playing with Freyal and the taka, Mister Starlight.  They're using a dracona dagger to cut a "very powerful tree," and we learn dracona daggers have dragon blood in them.  Before she can enter the castle grounds, someone knocks Phaedra unconscious.

In the Queen's private chambers, the Queen apolgizes for the "misunderstanding," and Phaedra comments that someone people have trouble letting go of the old rules.  The Queen notes that Phaedra's black cloak likely precipitated the attack, again making it clear that Black Cloaks aren't welcome.  Phaedra disagrees, saying she believes that it was her brother Hadrian.  

The Queen tells Phaedra she's called for a healer and asks how Freyal died.  Phaedra says that they don't yet know but she asked to see her in the hope that she'd hear about Freyal's death from her and not a stranger.  The Queen archly asks if Phaedra isn't a stranger, because she hasn't seen her in 20 years, and Phaedra parries that her exile wasn't her choice.

The healer, Valorie, enters.  Before the Queen can leave, she asks Phaedra if it occurred to her that Freyal would be alive if Phaedra hadn't been exiled.  (It's an interesting use of the passive voice, there, since the Queen presumably exiled her.  Guilt, your majesty?)  Freyal and Phaedra would've been married, and she'd perhaps have a grandchild "instead of...nothing."  Phaedra tells that it weights heavily on her that three lives were lost, and the Queen is surprised to hear about Dace and the mermaid.  (I'm guessing Phaedra was fishing to see if the Queen recognized Dace's name.)  

The Queen leaves, and Phaedra and Valorie enthusiastically greet each other.  Valorie suggests removing Phaedra's cloak to heal the wound, but Phaedra panics, making it clear the cloak isn't just a cloak.  Valorie heals Phaedra, who says that she feels 20 years younger.  A guard then arrives to escort Phaedra to the Silver Gate.  In the halls, Phaedra sees her mother, but her brother arrives to drag her mother from that "traitorous trash."  Phaedra tells that guard that she knows how to leave, and the guard threatens that her cloak doesn't protect her as much as she thinks it does.

Pax meets her at the gate, and they take an elevator down to the Heights. Pax marvels at the view, and Phaedra tells him that it's a lie curated for royalty.  She notes the elevator doesn't go below the Heights, which means the royals don't even see half of Kiros.  She comments darkly on the forces that don't want the nobility to see the reality that exists in that other half.  

The captain calls them back to HQ, where they encounter more demonic rats, which are apparently called wraiths (explaining the hooligan's comment, since wraith are this world's rats).  At the Department, it's chaos because all sorts of people have arrived to confess to killing Freyal, to carrying his lovechild, to being his lovechild, or to witnessing the murder.

Before Pax and Phaedra can start interviewing them, a kid with a glowing knife murmurs, "For Kiros," and stabs Phaedra before cutting his throat.  We end the issue with Pax holding Phaedra's bloody body.

Beyond the murder mystery itself, we're also in the dark about a lot of dynamics at play here.  Why does everyone hate the Black Cloaks?  It seems the only thing that unifies everyone is that hatred.  Why are the mermaids cannibals?  Did they follow the Great Evil or were they victims of it?  What's a "capture?"

Again, this triple-sized issue is spectacular.  It's worth every moment spent with it.  The art is unbelievable.  Thompson's story is unbelievable.  I'm all fucking in.

Blade Runner 2039 #2:  Ho boy, the chickens are coming home to roost!

Ash takes Lexi, the replicant from last issue, to a desolate place populated with only a trailer.  Ash enters expecting Freysa but sees an unknown man.  She draws a gun before she realizes Freysa is with him.  Ash tells Freysa that she should've told her that they were going to have visitors, and Freysa introduces him as "an old friend from the trenches" named Sapper.  Freysa notes that Ash herself has brought a stranger, and Ash introduces Lexi.  It's clear through their interactions that their relationship is tense.

At LAPD HQ, a bodiless voice coming from the device on Luv's desk is chastising her for her treatment of the officer last issue.  The voice tells her she's confined to HQ but she tells the voice that she's going to Santa Barbara on Niander Wallace, Jr.'s orders and the voice relents.  

At the former Selwyn estate in Santa Barbara, "Ms. Penelope" greets Luv, who marvels at the fresh water coming from the fountain.  Luv notes that Penelope's butler is a Nexus-8 Replicant, and Penelope tells her that she has dispensation from the police to own one.  When Luv tells Penelope that she can sense Nexus-8s, Penelope marvels at the "poetic" nature of Wallace making Replicants to catch Replicants.  

At the trailer, Ash installs one of the eyes in Freysa, and Freysa installs the other one in Ash, since her eye was apparently looking "diseased" like her spine and, lately, her lungs.  Freysa encourages Ash to stay, but Ash tells Freysa that Lexi told her about the Replicant Blade Runner.

At Selwyn's estate, Luv tells Penelope that Wallace thinks Selwyn may have left 

"sensitive material" hidden there.  Penelope knows that Wallace wants Luv to turn the estate upside down looking for what Selwyn knew, but Penelope refuses.  Luv tells Penelope that she doesn't need Penelope's cooperation, and Penelope and her butler kick Luv's ass.  Apparently Luv's ability to detect older Replican models isn't so great, because Penelope reveals herself as Hythe.  

To make matters more interesting, Cleo arrives on Earth!  

This series is playing for keeps, y'all.

Captain America:  Symbol of Truth #9:  This issue is better than the previous ones but still not good.

The kid who magically knows everything happening in Mohannda tells the adults that the government has bombed the hospital.  Nomad knows that it's a trap, but Cap insists that they go, so they all go.  What, you wouldn't take all the resistance forces to one place where the enemy could easily annihilate them?  Coward.

As the team helps survivors at the hospital, one of them tells Cap that someone evacuated many of the doctors before the attack, but apparently no one thinks it's significant.  Instead, they just rescue the doctors so they can get to work helping the other survivors.  Everyone is surprised when militarized Phrox from Dimension Z appear, no one more than Ian, who notes that they helped Steve raise him.

Sam realizes that they're in trouble since he puts together that the White Wolf has access to Zola tech.  Nightshade suggest that the White Wolf has "some sort of technology conduit" or "maybe a signal transmitter," though I don't get why summoning portals to Dimension Z would require a transmitter.  Anyway, she's confident she can understand Zola's technology.  

Sam leads the Phrox from the hospital but then decides the White Wolf must be keeping the transmitter in the sky because anyone could reach it on the ground.  (Look, I'm just trying to hang in here.)

On said ground, Nightshade declares a strong signal is coming from the Parliament, which is impressive since she's holding a gun and not some sort of signal detector.  But they all decide to head to Parliament.  Sam destroys the sky-based transmitter, but it only disables the portals.  (I'm not sure why they thought the Phrox would disappear simply because the portals were no longer working, but they did.)  

Suddenly, Falcon arrives in full vampire mode and declares that he's going to kill Sam for abandoning him.  I mean, what the fuck?  Last time we saw him, he was asking his grandmother for help and now he's a vampire intent on murdering Sam in Mohannda   What's next?  Is D-Man going to arrive as a zombie mad at Sam for missing poker night?

God, I hate this series.

Know Your Station #2:  We end this issue where we ended the last one:  Elise finds a body (well, two bodies this time), and she's the only person who accessed the room where they were killed, according to St. Brigid.  

It seems pretty clear that St. Brigid is, knowingly or not, assisting the killer in covering their tracks.  Given Elise is detoxing from the Blue, she isn't as sharp as she normally is, making it easier for the killer.  

Beyond the killer's identity, this issue's biggest mystery is where Pritchard's body went, given it disappeared from Elise's tub, where St. Brigid initially stashed it.  

If I had to guess, Marin - who whispers something to Elise that she won't remember since she's detoxing - is in love with Elise and killing her enemies, given Raulsson and his wife are the bodies Elise finds here.  We'll see.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The August 24 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm bailing on both "Captain America:  Symbol of Truth" and "Marauders" because Marvel has pushed beyond where my loyalty to these characters lie.  Both series read as if the editors failed to read them.  I'm not doing it if people paid to do it aren't.

A.X.E.:  Judgment Day #3:  Surprisingly for an event, people act...rationally here.  That said, the issue is confusing particularly after the twist at the end.  

We begin with the new god (a.k.a., the Progenitor) judging Captain America as a failure; he's tried to inspire America to be a better country for the better part of a century, but, despite America's role as the world leader, the world "is what it is," "worse every day."  As such, Captain America is a failure.  This pronouncement doesn't particularly bother Steve, and he urges Iron Man and his cohorts to solve the problem while he calms the world with a speech.

Not unreasonably, the Progenitor's judgment leads Druig to surmise that the Progenitor is judging people based on whether they fulfill their "aims and duties."  As such, he orders the Eternals to step up their campaign against Krakoa so they can fulfill their duty.  After all, as Uranos says, "any deviation is excess deviation."

Elsewhere, Tony and company try to find a way to stop the Progenitor.  Ajak is trying to commune with it while Tony identifies its weak point.  Phastos warns Tony that destroying it would create a backlash that affects the Eternals and destroys cities.  After Ajak and Makkari leave, Phastos warns Tony and Mr. Sinister that killing it may still end up being the only option, even if millions die.  But he warns them that the Eternals would have to try to stop them, given their third principle is to protect Celestials.  

Sinister tells Destiny about the weakness, and she convinces the Quiet Council to send a strike team to take out the Progenitor.  To ensure they don't balk at the prospect of millions dying, the Council withholds that information from the team.  Emma reveals that she's made outreach to the Deviants, who are similar enough to mutants that they can use Krakoa's gates.  They travel to Krakoa to take on the battle with the Hex so the X-Men can go attack the Progenitor.  As Phastos warned Tony, the mutants' attack prompts an immediate response from the Eternals.

Jean successfully hits the Progenitor's weak spot, triggering its destruction.  Jean is the first to realize the destruction isn't real:  they were inside the Progenitor's mind the entire time.  As humanity expresses relief at its survival, the Progenitor reminds them that their heroes aren't above judgment.  He then gives the White Queen, Kor (the Deviant's leader), Destiny, and Mystique "thumbs down."

With Tony and his team realizing that they have no choice but face judgment, Sersi travels to the Exclusion to free Starfox, who's imprisoned there for some reason.  She hopes that he can convince everyone to love each other, which is probably the best shot they have right now, admittedly.

Captain America:  Symbol of Truth #4:  Sam Wilson deserves better than this series.  It's all exposition and randomness.   Oof.

First, Crossbones and his men attack Sam once he enters Wakanda, which you'd kind of think the Wakandans would've prevented from happening.

Second, he delivers a supervillain speech telling Sam all about the White Wolf's plan to engage in a terrorist attack in Wakanda at the same time as telling Sam that he wasn't going to deliver a supervillain speech.  Hi, pet peeve #3!  

Third, when Sam uses birds to subdue Crossbones (yup, Crossbones), Crossbones spills the beans, telling Sam that the White Wolf has infected the Wakanda Forever emigrants (including the undercover Sam) with a virus that vibranium triggers.  How exactly does an inert metal trigger a virus?  No idea.

Fourth, Onyebuchi doesn't explain why Crossbones even bothered to accost Sam if everyone else is already infected with the virus.  After all, if he hadn't engaged him, he'd have no chance of stopping the attack.  

Instead of addressing these weaknesses, Onyebuchi instead spends time on the Falcon B story that that I still don't understand.  

First, Crossbones doesn't seem like the kind of guy to leave a hostage alive, but he conveniently does so here.  Thankfully, it means the Falcon can help the superhuman immigrants when they try to escape the facility.

Second, Onyebuchi conveniently has one of the immigrants explain that they staged the break-out when the guards' numbers dwindled as they left to accompany Crossbones to Wakanda.  Does the White Wolf really care that much about payroll that he left a skeleton crew (heh) guarding superhuman immigrants?

As if we don't have enough hackneyed plot devices in this issue, the issue ends with Sam fighting Black Panther, because apparently it's OK for Crossbones to come to Wakanda but not Sam.

In other words, I'm done.

Marauders #5:  This issue is incomprehensible.  I seriously have no idea what happens.  As far as I can tell, the Marauders get their hands on the timedrive, but it only contains the consciousness of one mutant.  Otherwise, it's just a mess, particularly the art department, which looks like a junior high student handled it.  Thank God Bobby is in "X-Men" now.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #26:  We've had so many of these issues - where events pass before us wordlessly but show us how they remind Vader of his life as Anakin Skywalker - that it's hard to feel the impact that Pak wants to evoke here.  We're supposed to feel for Vader as he contemplates not only his long history with sand but also his failure to save his mother or Padmé.  Vader drives into the storm to save Sabé, something that elicits laughter from the Emperor.  But Pak leans so heavily into the Kingesque approach, with barely any dialogue, that it feels almost like you'r reading a children's book.  It's time to wrap up this arc, as we're so far from the original story involving Crimson Dawn and Sabé that I really can't remember what it was anymore.

Also Read:  Amazing Spider-Man #8