Four-Month-Old Comics: The January 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Astronaut Down #5:  We get a pretty anticlimactic ending to the series here, as Douglas does the right thing and sends the transmission to his Earth.  Before he does, he knocks up Maddie, explaining that he caught glimpses of other realities during this travels and in most of them he saw their daughter.  In the transmission, he includes a message about learning how to bridge our divides and forgive each other, which felt more saccharine than we've seen Douglas be.  To that point, we aren't really given a solid reason for Douglas' change of heart, other than maybe feeling like it was OK to die so long as he procreated?  It's unclear.  All in all, it was an interesting series, though more notable for its concept than its execution.

Batman #131:  Zdarsky shows no sign of slowing down here.  In fact, this arc seems poised to exceed his first one in excellence if this issue is any indication.

Bruce awakens in the alley that we saw at the end of last issue.  A couple of punks have stolen his equipment and, notably, don't recognize him; one of them comments that Bruce looks like a "Venomed-up freak."  Bruce realizes that he's in Crime Alley, but something about it feels different.  His proof comes in the form of a skeletal Jim Gordon with the personality of the Joker.  He calls himself "Jimbo" and tells Bruce that they fight crime together!  "Biff!  Bam!  Pow!"

Bruce realizes that he's on a different Earth, one where his brownstone lays abandoned and someone else owns Wayne Tower.  Zdarksy underscores the seriousness of the situation when Bruce says this "Gotham feels...more foreboding.  Darker."  If that doesn't scare you, I don't know what will.  

As Bruce quips, it's still Gotham, though, and he follows a scream to an apartment where a Judge Dredd-like "Judge Dent" is terrorizing the residents, asking if they're sane or insane.  Bruce recognizes that it's Harvey and that Harvey and his goons are on Venom.  When Firely (ever the idiot, as Bruce mentions) sets the building on fire in an attempt to get Bruce, Bruce helps a woman escape but Dent nabs him before he can follow her to safety.  Zdarskey does a great job of showing how Bruce is struggling here.  He still hasn't recovered from Failsafe, and a Venomized Dent beats him to a pulp.  He survives only when a street kid saves him via two knives she throws into Dent's face.  

At the girl's dilapidated apartment, she tells Bruce that her name is Julia but everyone calls her Jewel.  Zdarsky shifts pace here as we segue from action to characterization.  Bruce asks where Jewel's parents are and she doesn't respond, leaving the room to get more alcohol for Bruce's wounds.  Bruce realizes that she has the same look of an orphan that he and his raven-haired boys do.  Bruce realizes that he and Batman are dead in this reality, which is why Failsafe sent him here:  his version of compassion was giving Bruce another Gotham to save.

Meanwhile, Selina is running her own operation but responds to a call from the Red Mask, who sends a carrier raven with a photo of Bruce and tells her to bring Bruce to him alive.  I'm not sure who Red Mask is, but, given the torture victims behind him and his Klan-like costume, I don't think he's a nice guy.

In the back-up story, we learn that Tim recognized the gun that Failsafe used on Bruce.    Jon Kent apparently took it from Toyman after Toyman killed himself (I thought Grifter killed him?) and stored it - and all other supervillain weapons he found - in the Fortress of Solitude while his father was in space.  We know that Toyman is alive given the introduction so clearly we're going on a Toyman hunt.

Later, Tim helps Dick take down one of Joker's goons calling himself Cutup.  Dick and Tim discuss how all the low-level goons are making a play based on the rumor that Batman is dead.  (As Tim says, the Banes and the Riddlers know not to believe it.)  Dick suggests Tim let Batman save himself while they save Gotham, which Tim isn't buying.  You'd think Dick would remember how Tim found Bruce the last time he died?  Then again Dick is the pretty one so...  

At any rate, Jon calls Tim from the Fortress and suggests that Toyman may have left some clues when it comes to the gun.  Dun-dun-DUN!

Again, this issue is great, and I'm so fucking happy we're finally getting the type of stories that Batman deserves.

Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty #8:  This issue is dense.

Steve goes into a gas station and calls Aaron Fischer, the Captain America of the Railways, telling him to activate the Captains Network.  It took some Googling to discover that Aaron is one of the heroes introduced in "United States of Captain America." Aaron manages to collect everyone but Black Widow, who Roger says has gone dark, and Hawkeye, who is apparently still in New York.  

Honestly, this entire sequence doesn't make much sense.  Does Aaron have some sort of magical railcar?  Peggy complains about having to ride outside the car, which Nick says made sense since A.I.M. is likely looking for them.  But doesn't it make more sense to ride inside the car where they can't see them?  Also, I don't get why Aaron had to assemble everyone.  Couldn't Steve just have called them all and told them to meet him in Kansas?  To that end, we've not told where the rest of them were during these five days.

At any rate, Steve mentally calls Emma with the code she gave him:  hilariously, it's "Mommy."  Although Peggy refuses to submit to Emma, the rest of the group does and realizes that the Outer Circle used a M.O.D.O.C. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Control) to disappear them for the five days they needed to take over Lower Manhattan.  M.O.D.O.C. also apparently saw into their secrets, which could get interesting down the line.  

Again, though, this sequence has issues.  First, we're not told A.I.M. was somehow able to take down Cap, Peggy Carter, Sharon Carter, Nick Fury, and Redacted.  Sharon discovers a subdermal scar next to her ear, which implies they were attacked and A.I.M. inserted an implant M.O.D.O.C. to use.  But how did A.I.M. manage to take down this group, particularly since Black Widow and Hawkeye were also with them at the time.  Also, why not just kill them?  Also, did A.I.M. really need to take over Lower Manhattan just to get the neganite?  It seems like a lot of effort.

In other words, the authors tried to tell a larger story than this issue could contain.  Honestly, the best part of the issue is when Steve's art-class friends try to find him and run into Amari.  They've all got great chemistry together, and I'd love to see them fight A.I.M. from the inside now that they're captured.

Star Wars #30:  This issue is reminiscent of Gillen's initial run on "Star Wars (2015)," as I can hear the characters speaking in the actors' voices for the first time in a long while.  Amilyn, Lando, and Luke particularly jump off the page.  

The team finds itself in a serious pickle:  they learn that the Kezarat convoy has turned into the Kezarat colony because no one has found a way to escape No-Space in two centuries.  Uh-oh.

At this stage, my only complaint is that the story's flow remains clunky.  I think it's due to the extensive script, which I appreciate narratively but seems better suited to a movie or TV show.  I found myself almost tired of flipping pages at the issue's end, which isn't a good place to find oneself.

Hopefully now that Soule has set up the story it'll move more quickly.

X-Men Red #10:  Oof.  Like other issues this week, this issue has way too many stories happening at once, making it difficult to follow.  Moreover, Ewing leans a little too heavily into the Arakkii way of speaking in riddles, slowing down the pace even further.  If you strip out the verbiage, this issue's overarching theme is that the Arakkii are finally starting to learn how to cooperate.  

Khora uses her powers to amplify Cable's so that he can use his telekinesis to absorb the techo-organic virus Orbis Stellaris has sitting in the lab.  He creates a pretty fucking cool set of armor with it and becomes the Progenitors' focus.  As such, they take their attention off Manifold who works with Lactuca to teleport the Progenitors "all the way outside," which he hypothesizes is where they originated in the first place.

Meanwhile, Lodus Logos, Sobunar, and Wrongslide help Storm defeat Vulcan, encasing him in a mysterium suit until they can figure out his future.

Brand realizes that Roberto paid off Mentallo to relay Xandra's telepathic manipulation of Brand so Brand wouldn't realize Xandra was hiding Storm at the Autumn Palace. (I'm still not sure about this part.  Per my question last issue, I think now that Xandra also manipulated Vulcan to go there so that Storm could finish him, but Ewing doesn't make that clear.)

Roberto, Xandra, and company arrive to confront Brand, but she uses Cable's bodyslide technology to escape.  That said, she arrives at her safehouse to discover the Fisher King waiting for her.  I'm still not sure what the Fisher King's powers are, so I'm not sure what kind of threat he is to Brand.  But he uses her true name (Abigail Thanriaguiaxus, or "Born-as-Axus-Ended") and knew her safehouse's location, so it probably isn't good for her that he calls her an enemy of Arakko.

Underlining my point about how we have too much going on here, the issue ends with the revelation that Orbis Stellaris is somehow Nathan Essex, something Cable also knows after he asked Weaponless Zen (whose power is to draw the truth) to draw his identity.

I'm hoping Ewing uses the end of this arc to focus a little more next issue, because I can't keep all these plots straight much longer.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The August 10 Non-Big Two Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

007 #1:  I loved Kennedy Johnson's "The Last God" and I'm always game for a good James Bond film, so I was happy to give this series a shot.  I'll hang in there a while, but I'll admit after reading this issue that it might just be that hard to put a new spin on Bond.

The drama starts when M removes Bond from the field after he failed to extract a Russian asset (who ends up dead).  The Prime Minister wants someone to take the fall, and Bond warns M that he might not be there for him when M inevitably calls.  A week later, Bond gets a call from Gwendolyn Gann, the former 003, who asks for help because she's "stepped in something rather bigger" than she is.  Bond arrives at the designated rendezvous point only for Gann not to appear.  Instead, he watches some guys dump a body (presumably Gann's) into the river.

Bond goes to Gann's ransacked apartment and finds a note for him about Project Myrmidon.  As he sifts through the apartment, a sniper watches him from a rooftop across the street.  Through his telephone conversation with his boss, we learn the sniper is part of the group that spoiled Bond's attempt to extract the Russian.  Gann was apparently working for them, because the sniper and his boss discuss how she thought Bond could be an asset.  But the sniper is worried that Bond will expose them before "the London operation," and his boss agrees that he can kill Bond.

It's a totally fine Bond story, but it's also a standard Bond story.  Kennedy Johnson was able to breathe new life into the fantasy genre in "The Last God," so I'm willing to see what he can do for the spy game.  I'm just not sure what innovation is left.

Astronaut Down #3:  In this issue, we learn why Dr. Engle believed Douglas wasn't a good fit for the mission:  he felt like his reality's humans deserved to die for failing to stop the plague and prevent Maddie's death.  Honestly, as an American in 2023, Patrick is channeling something that we've probably all felt at one point or another in the last, oh, I don't know, seven years.  

This reality's Maddie is appalled when Douglas admits these feelings and demands he complete the mission, particularly as Douglas essentially killed her Douglas for it.  But Douglas refuses to sacrifice her even as Vernon-possessed bystanders arrive to kill Maddie so he has nothing left to lose. Instead, he activates his ejection protocol, resulting in him now "skipping from reality to reality like a stone on a pond."  

In so doing, he's destroyed his transmission abilities, which doesn't bode well for his reality.  But the new reality in which he arrives also has a Maddie so maybe he doesn't care (particularly given next issue's sexy cover, where he appears shirtless).  Patrick makes it really hard to root for Douglas' reality over him, to be honest.

Blade Runner:  Black Lotus #1:  Other than K's trip to Las Vegas in "Blade Runner 2049," we get our first real look at Earth in the Blade Runner universe in this issue.

We begin in the desert outside Los Angeles with Elle non-lethally taking out a group of scavengers who attempt to jack J's spinner bike.  She swipes their truck and arrives in a place called Jacktown, over which an enormous fracking facility looms menacingly.  Elle heads to the repair shop, and the bike impresses the owner, Junkett Jones, who comments that the cops used bikes like it "during the famine."  Junkett agrees to fix the bike in exchange for the truck.  As they complete the deal, a besuited man named Barnes offers to buy the bike.  Elle declines, and a man named Miguel arrives.  In the grand Western stand-off tradition, Miguel tells Barnes that Elle doesn't want to sell.  Barnes departs suddenly when he's notified that an inspector has arrived, leaving Elle with the locals.

Junkett realizes Elle is bleeding, and Miguel takes Elle back to "the farm," where his wife is a medic.  Through his conversation with Elle, we learn that the farm - or the "Inland Empire Clean Energy Co-Op" as it's known - and the facility are in a struggle because the fracking operation, which Barnes runs, is exhausting the water supply.  Miguel warns Elle to avoid Las Vegas, since it's a "no-go zone since the dirty bomb."

Returning to the facility, Henchman #1 tells Barnes that he recognized the truck as belonging to the Bushwhack family and wonders how Elle managed to take out the three of them.  (You'll see, dude.)  At the facility's "Employee Recreation Center" (i.e., the Golden Garter Club), Barnes meets a Mr. Menzes from the Wallace Corporation.  Weirdly, Barnes seems unaware that Wallace bought the Tyrell Corporation's remains.  Menzes' enormous bodyguard Tatsuo notes that Barnes was only able to retain his 32 Nexus 8s - including 12 pleasure models - because the Replicant ban exempts energy facilities.  Menzes is there because only 20 Nexus 8s remain.  Barnes claims the other 12 models broke or fled.

Menzes pulls back a sheet covering a pleasure model that was clearly killed and expresses surprise that the Replicants didn't attack Barnes or his men because even they have limits.  He announces that the abuse violates the contract and is confiscating the remaining Nexus 8s.  (I love that, in this world, the regulator was there for the Replicants not the fracking.)  After Tatsuo prevents Barnes from attacking Menzes, Menzes returns to his car.  In his conversation with a "Ms. Tyler," we learn he's really there searching for Elle and has a "dead or alive" order to retrieve her.

In an exposition-heavy sequence, we learn the co-op is a solar and wind farm that survived the Blackout because they didn't rely on the grid.  Their peace with Barnes is bought with their extra crops, but the situation is getting worse now that Barnes is exhausting the well.  The co-op runs on a "according to their gifts" philosophy, with Miguel's wife Nyoko serving as the medic.  She patches up Elle and shows her to her quarters.  There, Miguel and Nyoko's daughter Kaja invites Elle to play since the adults are all busy and the co-op doesn't get many newcomers.  In one of the issue's few character-driven moments, Kaja is surprised that Elle doesn't know how to play soccer and Elle touchingly admits that she's never "played" before.

Of course, this moment is ominous (because it's Elle) as Henchman #1 watches them from afar.  A few pages earlier, Barnes was in a rage over the loss of the Replicants.  He fears a walk-out once the men realize they've lost the pleasure models, though Henchman #1 is dismissive, saying the men can walk if they prefer skin jobs to paying ones.  Barnes throws a drink at him and blames Henchman #1 for the situation, implying he's the one killing the pleasure models.  (Henchman #1 is apparently Barnes cousin who he hired after Henchman #1's "discharge.")  Watching Elle and Kaja play, Henchman #1 orders an attack, though I'm not entirely sure why.

Although I love learning about the Blade Runner universe, this issue was a little too heavy on exposition.  Given how kinetic the Black Lotus TV series was, it felt odd to see Elle mostly just stand there with people talking at her.  That said, it looks like the action gets going next issue, which I'm excited to see.  It seems pretty clear Elle's "according to their gifts" gift is her ability to defend the co-op.  Poor Henchman #1.

Dark Beach #5:  As this series rushes to a conclusion, it all comes to a head, not surprisingly, at the Mayflower.  

It turns out Eve hid the incomplete data download that Schultz managed to get about Project Daydream at the Mayflower.  Thankfully, Roman doesn't realize that, because he's taken Lilly hostage as a way to get Eve to hand over the information.  Before Eve and Gordon arrive, Julyus appears to take out Roman.

Roman thinks he's outsmarted everyone:  once he gets the information from Eve, he'll upload it to a private server.  If he doesn't enter a password every two days, the information will get transmitted to a variety of economic and political elites, tipping off a "new age of corporate espionage and war."  Gordo tells Julyus that the New Reykjavik Corps of Engineers (NRCE) - whose chief, Jozef Stanley, hired Julyus - is trying to kill everyone to hide the fact they can anchor the Earth again.  Julyus contemplates his daughter and kills Roman.

Eve gives Julyus the data, and Julyus calls Stanley to tell him he's coming with it.  Julyus then tells Eve, Gordo, and Lilly that he's going to go into hiding but he'll let them know when Stanley realizes that he isn't coming with the data.  Gordo tells Julyus that they're going after the rest of it.  Gordo leaves the data at the Mayflower with a note for Duke, and then Eve, Lilly, and he head for the NRCE's Center for Science and Technology.

Looking at issue #6, we have two related questions that need answering.  First, it isn't clear to me what the "updated version" of Project Daydream is and why the NRCE decided to go with that plan over Daydream's original plan to re-anchor Earth.  Second, why does Stanley have "something to lose and everything to gain" by hiding the information that re-anchoring is possible?  Wouldn't he be a hero if he lead the project that made it happen?

Three-Month-Old Comics: The July 6 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #5:  This issue is surprisingly uneventful, given the events of this series' first four issues.  

Peter gets revenge on Tombstone by sending Digger to break up one of Tombstone's shipments.  Digger is jobless after he failed to arrive when the Rose was frantically calling for help last issue; we learn in this issue that he went for ice cream.  Peter convinced Digger that taking on Tombstone might get him back into the Rose's good graces.  To ensure Tombstone knows that Spidey is fucking with him, Peter is at Tombstone's mansion when Tombstone hears about Digger's rampage.  Peter indirectly threatens to confirm the other dons' suspicion (as seen earlier in the issue) that Tombstone is working with Spidey by going to stop Digger.

In that way, all's well that ends well:  Spidey gets even with Tombstone by ruining his shipment (which involved "a lotta capital," according to Tombstone), Tombstone has to take it on the chin so that he doesn't inadvertently confirm an alliance that doesn't exist (though he still benefits from the Rose's incarceration), and Digger gets to show everyone that he's still reliable(-ish).

Between scenes, Felicia visits Peter to express concern about the crazy stories that she's hearing on the street.  She wants to make sure that things "aren't...bad again."  She tells Peter that she knows that he's been playing hurt since the "accident with Ben," which I think means what happened six months earlier and not what happened at the end of the last series.  Peter admits that he doesn't know what to do, and Felicia tells him that he does:  he needs to stop playing hurt, because he's at his best when he's having fun.  We end the issue with him visiting Aunt May, which seems like a good start.

Beyond the big mystery (or maybe connected to it), Digger is the other mystery.  He mentions twice in this issue that he has "thirteen people" in him, which makes me wonder if Ben's accident didn't involve him becoming some sort of gestalt.  I really wouldn't mind getting to the bottom of this one soon.  I get Wells wants to keep up the suspense, but I can only handle it for so long.  I hope Wells gets that we all have PTSD from Kindred.

Also, I have to say that JR JR's pencils just keep getting worse.  I get that he wanted to portray Peter as hurt in his conversation with Felicia, but his cheekbone looks completely disconnected from the rest of his face.  We're well past the point where it's believable he's even alive if that's true.

Astronaut Down #2:  This issue gets directly to the point.  

Douglas discovers that this reality tackled the quantum cancer early, as it developed more effective approaches to communicate across beliefs and differences (thereby overcoming the "Don't Look Up" crowd's opposition).  As a result, they not only cured the mutation but developed a process through which they could transmit a consciousness and allow it to return.  (I'm still not sure why they're exploring this possibility, unless they're trying to prevent the cancer from happening in the first place.)  Douglas is paralyzed by the prospect of getting to return to his body and not having to die in this reality. 

Mission Control, however, is panicked that Douglas hasn't transmitted the "equation" (i.e., the cure) so they send Vernon to see what Douglas' situation is.  Vernon is enraged when he realizes that Douglas is having a picnic with his wife and attacks.  He dies but not before rattling Douglas.  Meanwhile, the situation goes from bad to worse in Douglas' reality when the cancer overtakes Florida City, where Mission Control is located.

Batman #125:  If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I stopped reading "Batman" when I just couldn't handle Tom King anymore.  Given my love of Chip Zdarsky, I decided to take a leap of faith here, and I'm glad that I did.

All but the last two pages of this issue takes place in "Another Time" when:  1) Tim is Robin; 2) Bruce has lost all his money; 3) Clayface is a villain, and 4) Barbara is Oracle.  A little Googling reveals that Bruce lost his fortune during "Joker War" (I vaguely remember that), and Barbara and Tim moved to their new/old status quos as part of DC's (ridiculous sounding) "Infinite Frontier" relaunch.  I still don't have an answer for Clayface, though it could be that he wasn't the one from "Detective Comics."  (There are a lot of Clayfaces after all.)

At any rate, Bruce awakens after a dream involving the three Jokers perched a top a mountain of dead Batfamily members.  Jimenez gives us gays some great fan service as he's only in a pair of briefs and, might I say, is pitching a tent.  He calls Selina, and they seem to be on good terms, though she has to go when "Valmont" appears with coffee.  Meanwhile, Bruce looks into the recent murders of wealthy people.  

The mystery is quickly resolved when the Penguin reveals publicly that he's killing everyone in Gotham who inherited more than five million dollars.  Bruce isn't moved by the Penguin's claim that he's doing it for people like him who had to struggle to get where they are, since it isn't true:  Cobblepot also inherited it.  It's here when Tim appears as Robin and mentions that Bruce is worrying everyone since he's spending so much time as Batman since he lost all his money.

Bruce agrees with Tim, though it isn't why Tim thinks:  it's because Bruce Wayne is a useful tool.  For example, Bruce gets him invited to the Flugelheim Gala, where all Gotham's rich people will be in one place.  (Tim expresses surprise that they didn't cancel it, and Bruce hilariously quips that, "No.  It's the hardest part of this job -- this city wants to die.")  As expected, Cobblepot tries to use gas to kill everyone, and Bruce swings into action after retrieving his utility belt from where Tim stashed it in a bathroom and pulling on his mask.

Bruce quickly takes out Cobblepot, which surprises him given how easy it was to do so.  He then realizes that Clayface is acting as Cobblepot.  Clayface tells Bruce that the building is rigged to explode if the gas didn't work, and Tim tries to get the doors open so everyone can leave.  While he's doing so, a goon gets in a lucky shot through Tim's throat.  The explosives he planted on the door before he's shot blasts open the door, and Bruce rushes him to the hospital since the goon hit an artery.  Tim exhorts him to take off his clothes so that they don't know that Robin is Tim Drake, and Bruce grimly remembers doing so with Jason Todd's body.

Later, Bruce arrives in Cobblepot's hospital room, where we learn that he's dying.  (Clayface gave up his location.)  Bruce expresses surprise that Oswald went this far, and Oswald tells him that he's dying of mercury poisoning and wants to kill the elites who refused to accept him.  Bruce argues that he killed good men like Colin Fitzroy, but Oswald laughs, saying Fitzoy was a boar who'd insult and pawn his staff at the Iceberg Lounge.  Knowing Batman under the mask is one of them, Oswald tells Bruce that he only ever sees his friends while they're wearing their masks; Oswald and everyone else see them as they really are.  It's a compelling argument, and Bruce seems to take it on board.

At any rate, Oswald announces that Batman was last on his list.  He reveals that he's called the police and, as he pushes the call button to summon a nurse, takes a cyanide pill.  Bruce tries to save him, but he can't.  Instead, a nurse enters as he's perched over Oswald's body, making it seem like he killed Oswald, which the cops therefore also witness.  Well played, Oswald.  Later, a distracted Bruce admits (to himself only, natch) that he's lost, facing a mystery "just out of reach."  Most intriguingly, "Now," a Batman-looking robot activates in the Batcave, announcing "Failsafe online."

In the back-up story, a robot dubbed the Executor (who works for the Underbroker) hires Catwoman (for $500,000!) to track down Oswald's ten (!) children to inform them of the contents of his will, which the Executor will read in seven days' time.  (We learn the latter piece of information when Finbar Sullivan and the Yakuza try to take over the Iceberg Lounge.)

All in all, it's a good start.  I feel like I have the continuity answers that I need from Googling, and I hope that Zdarsky doesn't lean too much on that right now.  This issue was emotional and fun, and it's been so long since we've had a Batman story like that that I don't want the dream to end.

Captain America:  Sentinel of Liberty #2:  This issue is WAY too talky, but I'm hoping that we go somewhere now that we've got the exposition on the table. 

It turns out the shadowy organization has five leaders (just like the five points on the star on Steve's shield):  the Machine, the Money, the Power, Love, and the Revolution (who's the figure we saw at the end of last issue talking about getting Steve on the board).  Radio Company has been following their broadcasts, and it seems like they don't know that Steve has cracked their code (unlike what I thought last issue).  Why are they broadcasting codes openly over the radio?  God only knows.

The latest message sends Steve to the Forge, a new German power station just brought online that'll power half of Europe.  He's surprised when he runs into silver armored soldiers with Hydra symbology, Hand techniques, and AIM technology.  He's even more surprised when he discovered one of the soldiers is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who informs Steve that he and the rest of the soldiers are all acting on orders.

Relatedly, a very handsome looking Bucky arrives at a card game in Madripoor to interrogate the dealer who's apparently one of the five soldiers fighting for a mysterious cause (as we saw at the end of last issue).  It turns out the dealer is Peggy Carter, so it's going to get interesting soon I hope.

That said, again, this issue gets mostly lost in the worst kind of Steve monologue, as we have to slog through a fairly maudlin rumination over how he isn't in the loop.  Hopefully we'll spend the next issue or two punching Nazis.

Dark Beach #4:  Hoo boy.

Ruíz-Unger lifts the lid off the mystery here.  In a flashback, Schultz informs the Sun Freaks that the Center for Science and Tech assigned him to Project Daydream.  He learned that it plans on returning Earth to its original orbit, though he can't access information beyond that, since it's classified.  He doesn't know if the Center has already built the machine but did learn that Stanley didn't originate it:  Marie Clara proposed it 16 years earlier.  (I think that explains the time discrepancy.  The Center didn't move Earth to the outer solar system 16 years ago; they started planning to return it then.)  Then, we get to the connection with Gordo:  Clara, who I'm guessing is Gordo's mother, was found dead of an apparent suicide.

The Freaks have Roman develop a way for Schultz to get around the Center's security protocols, but, once they all leave, Roman immediately calls a "doctor" and asks about Project Daydream.  Shortly thereafter, we see someone calling Julyus to hire him.  Julyus murders Ket as she and Eve are having sex, and Raz finds Schultz dead at his desk.  If I'm not mistaken, we don't see Roman's fate, so I'm not actually sure that he's dead like we thought.

In the postlude, fourteen years ago, Stanley's creature warns Clara that it came to Earth because Earth has to return to the Sun before the "Realignment" and the "Correction."  Clara exposits that she created Project Daydream to protect Earth from the Sun's "violent outbursts," allowing them to return to the Sun.  Stanley, though, is adamant that they're not returning.  Clara is just as adamant that they are, but Stanley says that her Dyson sphere will allow humanity to travel between planets, though they seem to need the creature's intelligence to do that.  But I'm confused here since haven't we already traveled between planets if we're in the outer solar system?  At any rate, Clara says that it isn't the future that she wanted for her son (making it clear that her son is Gordo), and Stanley threatens her.

I'd still like a clearer timeline of events at some point, but I feel like that we have enough clarity now that we can really focus on the story itself in these last two issues.  Hopefully Gordo gets some revenge.

Three-Month-Old Comics: The June 8 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #3:  Jesus fucking Christ.  I was pretty close to terrified by the end of this issue, so I can only imagine how Peter felt.

The issue begins calmly enough, with MJ's boyfriend heading to Peter's apartment to get him to stop calling MJ.  We hear his side of a phone conversation with MC, in which we learn that he once punched Peter.  This time, he only wants to talk.  Outside Peter's building, he runs into the guy who's been hassling Peter the last few issues to pay his medical bills.  He's surprised to learn that Peter was hospitalized for a few months.  He pays off some of Peter's debt to give him some breathing space, clearly Wells' way of letting us know that he's a good guy.  That said, it's easy to forget that after the next sequence.  

Spidey awakens in an abandoned subway tunnel with his hands chained to his ankles.  Tombstone proceeds to beat him to a pulp.  He asks Spidey why he busted up his deal with the Rose, and Spidey responds that it's simple:  he's a good guy and tries to stop bad guys.

This response sets Tombstone on a long, winding discourse about lions.  When a lion kills a man, scientists try to figure out why he did it.  When a man kills another man, they just throw him in a cage.  I'd argue Tombstone is gliding over some nuances here, but Spidey does what Tombstone wants and asks Tombstone what made him "bad."

With absentee parents, he was constantly bullied, unable to eat because his bullies stole his lunch tickets.  Learning the language of the streets, he filed down his teeth and adopted his whisper, getting his bully to lean into him to hear him, allowing him to attack and bite off the kid's ear.  Tombstone then justifies his descent into crime as making sure he could always eat.  At the start, he's talking about needing to eat in a literal sense.  Later, he's filling his larger appetites.  Again, it's kind of hard to argue that living in the penthouse that we've previously seen is the same as not going hungry as a child. But I'm not chained in an abandoned subway tunnel with at least a probably broken rib, so it's easy for me to say.

Tombstone then reveals his plan.  He has his men dressed as the Rose's men, and they're going to shoot up 125th St.  As such, some good guy will emerge to stop the Rose.  Tombstone adds that he's got Robbie Robertson inbound (as we've seen) because he's going to teach him a lesson about his son taking his daughter.  (I guess he hasn't mellowed after all.)  

In a twist I really didn't expect, Tombstone orders one of his men to kill Spidey.  Wells does an amazing job conveying Spidey's terror as he screams, "Lonnie, stop!  I've learned my lesson!"  It's...a lot.  Lonnie disappears as we see the guy lift the gun in the last panel.

As Nick Lowe said in his page last issue, Spidey's totally dead, right?  Like, I know he isn't going to die, but, man, Wells really sells you on the idea that he may.  In other words, it's a great fucking issue.

Astronaut Down #1:  This series' premise is interesting, though the execution is a little clunky.  

Earth is suffering from a "quantum cancer" that's killed 90 percent of the population.  The remaining humans exist in 22 "barrier cities" that hold off the plague.  We witness one of those cities - "Ohio City"- collapse in this issue, killing two million people in 17 minutes.  

In an attempt to prevent the cancer from happening in the first place, the "NSA" has been trying to send "astronaut's" consciousnesses to other realities.  Of the three astronauts we see selected in this issue, only Douglas manages to arrive in the body of an alternate version of himself.  Based on comments some of the characters make, I think it's the first time that they've successfully done so.  

My only complaint here is that Patrick gets a little preachy when it comes to the "Don't Look Up" overtones.  Craven politicians and religious fanatics opposed addressing the cancer when it first appears in Russia, wasting valuable time that could've produced options to prevent the cancer from spreading.  I'm not saying that it isn't realistic but maybe too soon?  At any rate, the speechifying slows down the story that's already pretty dense with scientific jargon.

That said, I'm hoping that now that we've established the premise we'll get to focus more clearly on Douglas' mission.

Dark Beach #3:  This issue is pretty straight-forward if uninspiring.  

In a flashback, we watch Gordo as he quits college after his mother died.  Gordo believes that she was murdered, and Duke unsuccessfully tries to convince Gordo to help him investigate her death, which Gordo dismisses as naive, that they could get to the bottom of a story the cops don't want told.

In the present, Gordo cajoles Duke into giving him the name of his Ghost Choker dealer so he can get high and try to figure out the old Sun mystery.  Lily finds him in his apartment the next morning and discovers the note that Gordo originally found in Ket's apartment that sent him to her.  (It was on Mayflower stationery.)  She tells him "Bermuda" (which is written on the note) is a ship she and Eve used to visit at the habor.  Before she can say more, Julyus the assassin arrives, so Gordo sends her to the Bermuda.  Gordo manages to trap Julyus in his house and makes for the Bermuda, where he comes face-to-face with a taser-wielding Eve.  

In the epilogue, the scientist from last issue stumbles upon a tentacled creature submerged in some sort of tank.  Dr. Stanley arrives and informs her that it hasn't moved in 300 hundred years.  It's interesting that Ruiz-Unger has added such an explicitly extraterrestrial hook to this series.  I'm really unclear, the best possible way, on where we're going with it.

I'm still curious about the geography of this world. For example, Gordo goes to New St. Louis to get the Ghost Choker.  He clearly doesn't go all the way from Reykjavik to St. Louis though.  As such, we're obviously dealing with some sort of compressed area.  But it's also clearly part of the story so I'm figuring Ruiz-Unger will reveal the truth at some point.

Marauders #3:  OMG, this issue is almost incomprehensible you guys.

At some point in the past, the Kin Crimson tried to assassinate Xavier while Cassandra was in control of him.  I don't recall knowing that Cassandra controlled Xavier during the period he was residing with Lilandra or the Kin Crimson tried to assassinate him.  But, I have bigger fish to fry.  During the attempt, Cassandra conveniently learned of the Shi'ar's Ten Shames as well as the Kin Crimson's Chronicle.  

With the mysterious book that Kate received confirming Cassandra's stories, Xandra declares that she's going to read the Chronicle.  Delphos objects, and Xandra attacks her.  Telling Gladiator to imprison Delphos as a traitor, Xandra announces that she pulled the location of the Chronicle from Delphos' mind:  a "pan-dimensional prison" named the Krag.  But Delphos already warned the other Kin Crimson members, so the Krag guards open fire on Xandra when she and the Marauders arrive.

It sounds straight-forward, but it isn't.  It's a confusing mess of mumbo-jumbo.  I like where Orlando is going plot-wise, particularly with the revelation that the criminally underused Fraternity of Raptors' leadership has remained in the prison for generations. But I'd really like to see this narrative flow more easily than it does here.  Moreover, the Marauders are essentially tertiary characters, which isn't great for a book in theory about them.

Past the Last Mountain #4:  As expected, this issue is brutal.

Kate awakens in the Dragon Lake Medical Center and, once released, finds Simon and Willa, who's seething that Dragon Lake isn't human-free as promised.  Even Kate is surprised at Willa's attitude, noting the magical creatures walking freely among the humans.  Their case worker, Sue, arrives and starts processing their refugee paperwork.  When Sue mentions off-hand that she can help them get jobs, Kate expresses shock that magical creatures live and work side-by-side with humans. When Willa says that they don't want to live with humans, Sue informs them that they don't have to do so:  they can head for the Rockies with the other free magical creatures.  When Simon expresses fear of Goblins in the mountains, Sue tells him not to worry:  they killed all the Goblins.

At this point, Willa loses her mind.  She asks when the humans will deem them enough of a "clear and present threat," like the Goblins, to commit genocide.  Sue somewhat understandably notes just how dangerous Goblins are/were.  But, it's too late.  Willa takes to the skies and attacks Calgary.  The Canadians try to take her in peacefully (because of course they do), but eventually the Defense Minister (a Griffin) orders her killed.  In the aftermath, we learn that Neil is facing federal charges of insubordination, and the Canadians drop off Kate and Simon at the Rockies.  

If the main story is brutal, the "Orc Girl" back-up story is even more so.  It expands on a seemingly throwaway comment Sue made in the main story, about an Orc who became an attorney in the 19th century.  

It turns out said Orc as a boy was swept down the river when trying to keep his more adventurous sister safe after she built a raft.  A group of humans pull him from the river on the other side.  Because humans and Orcs had an agreement to stay on their own sides of the river, the Orcs decline to go rescue him.  Devastated, his sister spends her childhood building a bridge across the river to get him.  She fails to complete the bridge, however, as life takes her along its path.  

Now a married woman, she discovers a token that reminds her of her brother, and she goes to find him.  Leaping from the bridge to the other bank, she makes her way through the human town, where she's stunned to see her brother dressed in a suit at happy hour with his colleagues.  She attacks him and flees, furious that he got the adventure that she wanted and that he never returned for her.  (The last part is pretty dickish, to be honest.)  The story ends with her destroying the bridge she built to get to him.

This series has really been a deep dive into hate and mistrust.  Allor didn't make it cut-and-dry:  not all humans hate magical creatures, and not all magical creatures hate humans.  He could've taken the easy road and told a story where difficult situations make people resort to their racial biases.  Willa is a great example of that, where her mistrust of humans dooms her.  When Canada couldn't promise a perfect world, she became the monster she claimed the humans were.  If you spend some time on Twitter, you know how accurately Allor nailed the current moment in which our society finds itself.  But Kate manages not to take this road, a remind that Willa (and people like her) make a choice to lose themselves in hate and mistrust.

Star Wars #24:  Zahra is too good a character to take off the table permanently, so Soule gives himself a secret door here, as Leia leaves Zahra for a creature to eat.  I usually roll my eyes at that sort of ending, but Soule makes the creature sufficiently fearsome that you can reasonably conclude Zahra died if she doesn't turn up somewhere else one day.  If so, Leia gets justice - not revenge, as she tells Zahra - by ensuring Zahra died forgotten and ignoble.  Zahra thought that she was going to kill Leia and demoralize the Rebellion.  Instead, Vader will only see her failure, stopping short of her goal of destroying the entire Rebel Fleet.  Soule makes sure to contrast the consequences of Zahra's insistence on hogging all the glory with Leia surviving because Chewie and Kes were there to help her.  With Zahra defeated, the Rebellion can now focus on resuming its war on the Empire.