Ten-Month-Old Comics!: The August 2 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Black Cloak #6:  Holy fucking shit.

Thompson told us where we were going on this series' first page.  In a mix of "The Mistborn Series" and "The Fetch Philips Archives," she told us Kiros is the last city in the world after a devastating war.  In subsequent issues, several characters alluded to the Queen making difficult decisions to keep Kiros running.  It turns out that decision is sacrificing takas to power Kiros' magic.  Yup.  It's dark, y'all.

Phaedra and Pax are trying to figure out where to stash Phaedra's brother's unconscious body when two workers arrive to take the next batch of taka.  McClaren is one fire in the next sequence in depicting Pax's horror as he realizes what they're doing, underscoring the crime's seriousness.  We watch the workers bring the taka to an outcropping in a large cavern.  They put a taka into a tank located on the outcropping, and we watch as the tank sucks out the taka's blood-like magic.  The still-living taka then becomes a wraith.  (Yup, Kiros' vermin are drained takas.)  Lest you feel badly for the workers having to perform such an odious task, one of them simply hurls the drained taka into the chasm.  The other worker then chastises him, not for treating the drained taka so indelicately but because "too many are surviving[,] the city is rife with them."  I told you it's dark.

Before Phaedra and Pax can escape and tell everyone, as Phaedra (though notably not Pax) wants to do, Lysanthir arrives and ensnares them.  He ponders how much power he can wring from Phaedra before the Queen arrives and brings him up short.  She comments that Lysanthir is ambitious and cruel, traits that she acknowledges served the city well but in which she doesn't want to revel.  (Ha!  She says it like she still has a soul.)  She approaches Phaedra and tells her that she knew Phaedra would discover the truth because Phaedra is like her, "see[ing] things through, no matter how difficult."  Phaedra doesn't pull punches here, which is why I love her, as she tells the Queen:  "You're a monster.  And you're not fit to be a mother, let alone our queen."  

Phaedra asks the Queen to account for Freyal's murder since she's going to kill Phaedra and Pax anyway, and she agrees.  In a flashback to the Salty Crow six days ago, a sexy AF Freyal opens the door to his mother.  She tells him that she knows he went to the old North Wing Catacombs, and it's clear she's there to kill him.  However, she notes he discovered the secret weeks earlier but hadn't told anyone yet.  (Was she trying to get him a chance to save himself?)  She tells him that he must accept no decisions are easy and someone always loses.  He asks if she ever loses, and she tells him that she's lost the only thing that mattered to her.  She then stabs him with the dracona dagger.  She weeps as Freyal dies.  I'm unmoved.

Back in the cavern, the Queen tells Phaedra that the knowledge she (the Queen) killed Freyal could destroy Kiros just as easily as the truth about the taka, so Phaedra  and Pax have to die.  Before the Queen can kill them, though, Phaedra plays her trump card, telling the Queen that the poison, and not the dagger, killed Freyal.  At this point, the Queen seems to put together the sequence of events that ends with Lysanthir dumping Dace's body into the lagoon and turns on Lysanthir.  He defends himself by saying that he followed the Queen for her safety.  (I don't buy that, but I'm not sure why else he went other than possibly to ensure the Queen actually killed Freyal.)  In a flashback, Lysanthir overhears Freyal's conversation with Dace.  Freyal tells Dace to bring him the poison, and she tearfully tells him that she loves him.  He encourages her to flee to Renna, since she and the Resistance will hide her.  (The Resistance!)  Dace tells him the Queen will "get away with it" if she doesn't tell anyone, but he tells her that Phaedra will solve the mystery (thanks to the poison).  A devastated Dace then drinks the poison, dying with Freyal.

An enraged Queen confronts Lysanthir as Valorie uses a magical rope to snatch Phaedra and Pax.  Once Valorie confirms they're clear, Ividor uses a spell that knocks the Queen, Lysanthir, and her guards to the ground.  Ividor warns Valorie to stay hidden since they'll come after her if they realize what she's doing, and he goes after the Queen with Phinneas and Devaki by his side.  The Queen stammers, "Ividor...you DARE to use your magic against your queen?"  Ividor simply responds, "Yes."  (Ha!  I heart him.)  The Queen (not really quick on the uptake) tells Ividor to stand down or she'll have his head and make it a national holiday, and he tells her that they're long past that, giving us her name, Taline, for the first time in the series, I think.  He then confronts Lysanthir, who defends himself by saying Kiros would've fallen and then launches a counter attack.

Pax tries to approach Valorie, but Phaedra tells him she's concentrating, possibly in casting personal shields for her and Pax.  (I'm not sure why Pax wanted to talk to her in the first place, but we have a lot going on here.)  As Ividor, Phinneas, and Devaki fight, Phaedra tells Pax they have to destroy the tank.  Pax is unsure, but Phaedra  is undaunted.  Her mom arrives to help, telling her that she's doing so "after far too long doing nothing."  She tells Phaedra they can use the taka blood in the tank to  amplify their magic so they can destroy it,  but she's suddenly thrown backwards.  Realizing Taline attacked her mom, Phaedra tells her that she'll die for that.  In an amazing sequence, Phaedra attacks Taline, telling her it's time to add some "non-innocent [blood] to the pile."  Ha!  Pax aims his gun at Taline as she and Phaedra tumble in the taka blood.  (I *think* Phaedra's mom opened the tank before Taline attack her, which then poured out the taka blood.  I initially thought Taline stabbed Phaedra's mom, which is why she was covered in blood.  But on the second reading I realized the blood is now everywhere.)

Taline tries to get Pax on her side, telling him Kiros will fall if Phaedra destroys the tank.  He calls bullshit, and she admits it won't fall but it won't have enough magic.  Like in "The Fetch Philips Archives," she describes a scenario in which magically powered machines will fail, fights will occur when people suddenly can't speak the same language, structures will collapse, etc.  She then pointedly asks where his family lives.  Pax tells Phaedra that people will die, and she acknowledges that.  But they're fighting for their future, she tells him.  He says he can't risk innocent lives, and she asks about the taka, telling him they can't build a world on innocents' blood.  Phinneas or Devaki then throws her his gun.

Pax pleads with her, and Taline reminds her that Kiros is the last city in the known (important word there, "known") world:  if she destroys the machine, nothing will remain.  Phaedra tells her that if they can't surviving without killing the innocent, then they deserve nothing.  (I'm on board here.)  She holds Taline at gunpoint and tells her to turn off the machine or she'll destroy it.  Lysanthir then attacks her, sending her off the cliff.  Pax is panicked when he can't see her, and an exhausted Ividor says she's lost before he loses consciousness.

In the water below, Sabri finds Phaedra and says simply, "Black Cloak.  Good."  Phaedra returns to the cave with her wings trailing lava (though I don't know where the lava was), revealing herself as half-dracona and "full of vengeance and justice," in her words.  Ha!  Saying "welcome to the new world," she destroys the machine.  Surrounded by taka, a tearful Phaedra says, "Goodbye, Pax," for reasons I don't totally understand.  (Does he stay below to die because he assumes his family died?)  The adorable hordes of meep-ing taka then flee, greeted by the seemingly now content wraiths.  

Topside, Phaedra observes a city in flames.  The final narration tells us that, years ago, there was a world-ending war, where victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat and the great evil was vanquished.  "Now, Kiros' terrible secrets unearthed, it has been plunged into chaos...it's a good start."

In the end, this first arc - and I hope it's just a first arc - is about internalizing actions' consequences.  A lot of our political discourse around the world is about avoiding consequences, blaming problems on someone else rather than telling everyone that we need to face them collectively.  But Thompson doesn't make it seem easy, using Pax to show that even good people struggle when the consequences are just that high.  As "The Fetch Phillips Archive" shows, the consequences may be truthful but they can also be dire.

The Sacrificers #1:  Remender kicks off a very Remenderian tale here, as a family is forced contribute its son as a Sacrificer.

The boy's tale is pretty straight forward.  He and his family are blue-feathered avians, reminiscent of pigeons.  The issue begins with his father reciting grace, thanking the "great Fathers and Mothers" for a land of "harmony, peace, and love."  As he concludes, he catches sight of the boy in the window.  He chases the boy to the barn and beats him with his belt, informing him that he's selfish to force his mother to look at him, "tonight of all nights."  That night, the boy's sister, Beatrice, brings him food that we saw her pilfer from the table during grace.  She kisses him on the forehead and thanks him.  

The next day, the boy's mother complains to his father that he wasn't allowed one meal in the house with the family, and the father simply responds it would've made it worse.  The scary-looking duo collecting Sacrificers then appears.  The father half-heartedly tries to convince them the family's sacrifice died during the winter, but, when the duo's leader raises a quizzical eyebrow, the father collects the boy.  The mother expresses outrage, and the father complains that they need the boy there.  (I'm not giving the father too much credit.  When the boy's collected, he's incapable of saying anything to him other than, "Son...I..."  Fuck you, dude.)  

As the leader threatens to collect one of the boy's four siblings instead, the boy avers that it's his duty as the Sacrificer to go.   Beatrice is hysterical:  she runs to him and hugs him.  As her father pulls her from him, the boy stoically tells her that his sacrifice means she's safe.  She tells him that she loves him, and he says the same.  He then joins the other children on the chain gang for parts unknown.  The challenge starting down this road with Remender is that it seems unlikely the boy and Beatrice will get a happy ending.

The issue's other story is much more difficult to follow, again in a Remenderian way.  We're introduced to the fire-haired girl, Soluna, who graces the issue's cover, and learn she's the daughter of a being, Rokos, who's apparently this world's sun god.  Her tale begins with her studying about a war that happened thousands of years earlier, that left "bones piled high as mountains."  It's clearly the Sacrificers are supposed to stop this war from happening again.

At the ringing of a bell, she bolts from her lesson and eavesdrops on her father's conversation with his mistress, Xia.  The mistress contemplates her previously youthful looks in a pool that reflects them, and Rokos mentions the upcoming Rejuvenation, which I'm assuming happens at the annual gala they also discuss and involves the Sacrificers.  

Xia complains that Rokos is spending too much time with his wife, Luna, and Rokos responds that Luna has begun to voice her "displeasure" to others.  It's unclear what provokes the displeasure, except it somehow pertains to the Rejuvenation.  Rokos tells Xia he would undo his coupling with Luna if he could and then notes he's aware Soluna is eavesdropping.  Soluna is angry her father isn't letting her attend the banquet and leaves, and Rokos sets off the process to light the sun, "the eternal chore."

It's interesting that we get another story about sacrificing innocents to stave off war here.  Remender and Thompson are certainly prophetic given how 2023 ends.

Star Wars:  Dark Droids #1:  Honestly, this issue is spectacular and exactly the sort of swing-for-the-fences story I hoped we'd get from Charles Soule during his tenure on Star Wars.

First things first, the threat that emerges in this issue *isn't* Ajax as I thought it would be.  Instead, it's a sentient droid consciousness inhabiting a small disc lying on the grounds of the Amaxine Station, where the Fermata Cage was.  We come to know this consciousness as the Scourge.  It claims it was organic at some point, seemingly referring to the period when it inhabited Dr. Aphra during "Star Wars:  Hidden Empire."  Since I'm not reading Aphra's title, I'm not really sure about much else.

At any rate, Soule uses the Scourge's musings to review the different types of droids that exist throughout the galaxy, from trusted friends like Artoo to disposable entities like the sparring partner Vader uses here.  During these musings, the glory that is Ross' art presents itself.  For example, the Scourge comments that some droids are lovers:  without the image of Lando with his feet on the Millennium Falcon's control panel, you wouldn't understand that the Scourge is referring not to, like, sexbots but the type of relationship Lando has to the Falcon.  

The action begins at the Station, as an officer dispatches a group of Imperial workers to collect everything remaining with the warning that Palpatine himself ordered them to do so.  A man named Captain Batten works with a KX-model droid and, like  Luke does with Artoo, treats him like a friend.  The droid discovers the disc, which sprouts legs and injects its consciousness into the droid, which the Scourge now controls.

Aboard the Star Destroyer, the Scourge starts taking over the droids.  Here, I'll mention Soule's care and attention is as obvious as Ross', as he builds the terror from the ground floor.  An Astromech droid the Scourge is controlling arrives in a room where two Imperial officers banter in the background.  Their discussion about their next possible mission is interrupted when one of them realizes the Astromech is rerouting the outgassing of the reactor's waste to the ventilation system.  One of the officers approaches the droid who then shocks her and the other officer to death.  In an ominous moment, another Astromech approaches and shocks them again, showing  the Scourge is more than a droid, since that maliciousness takes emotions to summon.

On the bridge, one of the officers warns the Commander all communications are down just as the outgassing pours into the room.  Ross is on fire for these next few panels, as the droids open the launch bay and we watch officers, Stormtroopers, and TIE Fighters float into space.  In an ode to horror movies, these sequences are silent, including when a medical droid uses its circular saw to kill a patient and another droid throws an officer off a balcony.

We then move to the glorious Colony of the Second Revolution, where we encounter Ajax.  A droid named Setar offers a bit of plating as  Ajax exposits that they're building a droid from their parts.  It'll be "serving none, loving all, self-ordered and self-governed, seeking only freedom and joy," containing a "seed of mind" built from the droids' experiences and understanding.  It's unclear if we're dealing with just one Christ-like droid or if Ajax is building many of them, since a droid named Gertee interrupts his reverie.

Gertee informs Ajax that one of their "crusaders," the mouse droid we saw witnessing the horror on the Destroyer before the Scourge took over its consciousness, too, reported the events to the Colony.  Ajax calls him Petyr, "a large soul in a small body."  We learn these crusaders are seeking out other sentient droids, who Ajak calls "the visioned," an occurrence that Ajax himself notes is rare.  Gertee tells Ajak that Petyr successfully reported on not just the Scourge's ability to take over a droid's consciousness but also its malevolence.  Ajak correctly sees the threat the Scourge represents to all droids and orders Gertie to prepare the troops.

Meanwhile, the Scourge revels in the data that he's now stolen from the Empire after taking control of the Destroyer, noting that he's able to use his advanced intelligence to make connections Palpatine can't, particularly given his expanded computing powers thanks to the other droids he controls.  

Ominously, Petyr launches into space onto an Alliance ship.  We see the Alliance leadership discussing how to get more information on the new Death Star.  Leia notes that sources have gone to ground in the wake of Palpatine crushing Crimson Dawn, and Ackbar opines that the Empire will have fixed the flaw the Rebels exploited in the Death Star last time.  The Scourge then takes control of Threepio, noting that his close proximity to the Alliance's leadership - and the fact the Alliance views him as family - gives him power.  Ruh-roh.

Star Wars:  Yoda #10:  I mentioned last issue that Yoda's contriteness went a long way to rehabilitating him in my mind.  It was hard to believe in his seemingly blind devotion to the Force when it didn't help him sense the threat Palpatine - let alone Dooku and Skywalker - posed.

This issue goes even farther, in a spectacular way.  Yoda dreams of Bree teaching him how to use the taratti, the instrument we saw in this series' first arc, though the dream becomes a nightmare quickly, as a demonic young Ani and dead Qui-Gon appear.

Reminiscing about the pastries Yoda used to make the Younglings in the crèche (!), Obi-Wan's spirit leads Yoda to the famous Dark Side cave.  Dismissing his fear as foolish, Yoda enters trepidatiously.  Dooku confronts him about the fact he (Dooku) tried to leave the Order but Yoda wouldn't let him, his commitment to the Light Side  preventing him from stopping Dooku when he had the chance.  Dooku alludes to what he was doing "all those times" he returned to the Temple, though he doesn't entirely clarify.  (Collecting intelligence?  Collaborating with Palpatine?)  Yoda then encounters the body of a female of his species, whom he calls Yaddle, and Dooku confirms that he killed her, "the first of many."  (Wikipedia informs me that this confrontation occurs during the "Tale of the Jedi" series, with Dooku becoming Darth Tyrannus by murdering Yaddle.)

Keeve Tennis then arrives, and I had to Google again to discover/remember she's from the "Star Wars:  The High Republic" series.  She tries to blame Yoda for leaving her to her fate, though Yoda doesn't accept that, saying it was her choice.  Suddenly, Yoda is lost in the skulls of everyone he failed to save.  Yoda begs for forgiveness, saying he couldn't have known, and, on cue, Palpatine appears, calling Yoda his greatest apprentice.  Palpatine tells him that there's no way back because of him, which Yoda accepts, saying it's hopeless.

Then, Bree appears again, saying Yoda taught him that there's no such thing as hopeless.  Handing him the taratti, Bree recalls Yoda telling him, an aphorism Yoda repeats, "the greatest teacher, failure is."  Bree happily says, "See, you do remember," to which Yoda remarks, "Yes.  I remember, Bree -- I remember everything."  With that, Yoda blasts his enemies and returns to us.  Holding the tarartti, he grumpily encounters Obi-Wan and confirms he will teach "the boy" when he comes.  As he plays the taratti, Yoda says he will also be ready to learn.

Honestly, it's all great.  It's exactly what I needed to see to forgive Yoda his trespasses.  I'm just sad the series ends here, because I'd love to see where Yoda went with this knowledge that he failed but he didn't lose hope.

Ten-Month-Old Comics! The July 5 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

No/One #4:  We get right to it here as Ben arrives at the sports bar from last issue that Chuck Tate frequents and Tate calls to him as "Jim."  (Given that ben looks like Commissioner Gordon, I did a double-take!)  Tate, "Jim," and the barflies watch one of Tate's old games, which gives way to a newscast that mentions Coach Cade  would've had a chance to win his 100th game this week.  Tate suddenly announces he has to leave for a big booster event.  Ben follows him, and we see Tate simply bringing home a pizza and watching some TV.  Ruh-roh.

Meanwhile, the newscast shows Julia's mother, Alaina, going on a rant about Julia in response to a question about an article in which she commented about Julia.  Separately, at a press conference, we learn Danielle Gaines from Edge News published said article when she half-heartedly apologizes to Julia for it.  Julia isn't buying it, pointing out  Danielle's shoddy journalism for publishing Alaina's rant without seeking comment from Julia.  Danielle proves what a hack she is by claiming she hit "publish" by accident.  Oof.  

Their argument is interpreted when Senator Kemp takes the stage and announces that he's introducing Proposition 87, which will allow Pittsburghers to "proactively defend" themselves, through preemptive immunity, from "attacks" including "doxxing, social media terrorism, and so-called accountability data drops."  Later, Danielle hacks out again when she pays the security guard we saw at the issue's start for a piece of Adam's mail that reveals who Copycat #3's next target is.

Elsewhere, Ben visits Tate at home, and Tate recognizes him as Ben.  Ben asks why Tate is protecting Cade and goes on a fakakta spiel where he hypothesizes that Tate is worried about revealing what he knows about Cade (i.e., more about the "Clarity" note) because it'll take away his accomplishments.  Not unreasonably, Tate is like, "motherfucker, you raised a fucking serial killer, MKAY?"  Ben acknowledges he's a bad parents and says that he's trying to atone for it by finding his son's killer, who's likely Cade's killer as well.  He loses me, though, when he tells Tate that telling the truth will make people respect him more than an interception.  Like, does he live in the same America I do?

Then, a lot of things happen at once.  Someone calls into Major Crimes to tell them that Danielle Gaines is publishing the next victim's name:  Tobias North of P3.  Julia confronts her mother, who complains that she did a softball interviews of Ben Kern and No/One.  Of course, neither statement is true:  Teddy did the Kern interview, and Juila didn't interview No/One - No/One saved her life while she was recording Kenny Chobsky pulling a gun on her.  But Alaina is somehow convinced her fear-mongering is helping the situation while Julia is reporting from a bubble (where people try to assault her...).  Then, Teddy (I think) calls Julia to tell her Tate confessed to Ben that "Clarity" was a woman.

The cops arrive at North's apartment building, but No/One disables the elevators.  He arrives just in time to see Copycat #3 (presumably, but who knows at this point) shoot North, and they launch into a fight.  No/One illuminates the circle on his helmet to blind Copycat #3, and Copycat #3 uses a taser to stun No/One.  Copycat #3 then flees and hits the fire alarm, escaping in the chaos as everyone evacuates the building.  Later, at the bar, one of the barflies mentions that Tate might tell them about the afterparty that happened after the game on TV, and Ben stays to see if Tate arrives.

P.S. The podcast definitely fills in some information here that could be essential to the plot.  

First, picking up last issue's storyline, Chobsky "met" Chris O'Neil on a pro-gun sub-Reddit where they got into an argument, which prompted O'Neil threatened to SWAT Chobsky.  

Separately, Senator Kemp's brother, who apparently staunchly supported him despite being a progressive activist, changes his tune and confirms that his brother is corrupt.  

Meanwhile, in an unsourced recording, Tate admits he helped Cade get drugs and girls, because Cade liked to party.  It turns out "Clarity" was a girl who Cade found dead in bed next to him during a Spring Break party (likely the one to which the barfly alluded above).  Cade called Tate who disposed of the body for him.  Tate says he never told anyone, but obviously Copycat #3 knew.  

Finally, North oversaw a cover-up operation, paying the employees caught dumping chemicals off the Jersey Shore to claim the company didn't know anything about it.

In other words, a lot of shady shit is happening in Pittsburgh.

Star Wars #36:  This issue is an odd one, as Leia and Admiral Ackbar put the lives of four of the Rebellion's best pilots (including Lando) on the line to score a symbolic victory, striking the Emperor's statue in Monument Plaza on Coruscant.  

The pilots are (rightly) skeptical about the plan, given it's basically replicating - as Leia notes - the attack on the parade they launched in issue #26 (which I remember not at all).  But Leia and Ackbar see value in striking at Palpatine and Vader while the Force Wave distracts them, so in the pilots go.  

The team loses two pilots almost immediately, discovering the statue itself is a trap, armed with laser canons.  Chewie manages to grab Nien Nunb after he ejects from his ship and bring him aboard the Falcon, setting up his origin story as Lando's co-pilot.  They escape through all the various layers of Coruscant, per Ackbar's plan.

Later, a furious Lando berates Leia for wasting the two pilots' lives on a failed plan.  But Leia informs him that one of them got off a good shot, and we see the destroyed statue on the issue's last page.  Although Leia crows that its all over the holonet, I'm Team Lando here, as it seems harsh that Leia and Ackbar sacrificed the two pilots' lives - pilots who were among the Rebellion's best - for a public relations stunt with limited impact.

Star Wars:  Yoda #9:  Like "Star Wars:  Darth Vader - Black, White, and Red" #3, this issue does an excellent job of making Anakin's fall all the more tragic.  

Given a pretty great sequences of events, Yoda finds himself orbiting Golatha inside the remaining megadroid's body.  Despite the fact that he's suffocating, Yoda uses it as a learning opportunity for young Skywalker, as he has a doubtful Anakin use his powers to stop the megadroid's spinning.  Throughout the drama, their exchanges are delightful and clearly amplify Yoda's devastation that he failed to save him, as we see at the issue's end when he finally acknowledges Obi-Wan's ghost.

I've been rough on Yoda for years, given the deference paid to him despite his failure to recognize Palpatine as Darth Sidious.  But Yoda finally acknowledges that here, telling Obi-Wan that he hasn't removed himself from the galaxy for penance but because it's better without him.  With that acknowledgment, Yoda is right back on my list of favorite characters, the rare Jedi who can acknowledge both his failure and his grief.

Eleven-Month-Old Comics! The June 7 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars #35:  This issue isn't terrible, but the character of Dr. Cuata gets lost in a lot of exposition and foreshadowing.  It's a shame because he's an interesting one, as he has a direct relationship with kyber crystals despite the fact that he isn't a Jedi or a Sith.  

In exchange for fixing Luke's lightsaber, Cuata asks Luke to heal a red kyber crystal (through a ritual that Gretta's people, the Fallanassi, used in the days after the Sith's fall) and engage with a clear one.  In the first case, Luke encounters a Sith in a throne room (a pretty spectacular scene due to Rosenberg's colors) and Vader.  In the second one, he encounters Yoda, which turns the crystal green.  Luke departs with both crystals and his repaired lightsaber.  Gretta informs us that her debt to her family is discharged, though I can't for the life of me remember what said debt is or why her helping Luke would discharge it.

One of the issue's more interesting parts is when Cuata describes lightsabers as comprising only five parts:  a power cell, the casing, the focusing lens, the emitter, and the crystal.  The rest is just wiring and an on/off switch, though that seems pretty oversimplistic, unless the Force gives Jedis knowledge of electrical engineering.  That said, Cuata highlights the fact that Luke found both his previous lightsabers so it's probably time for him to make his own.  I hadn't entirely realized that before, so I'm intrigued to see where Luke's journey to make his own lightsaber takes him.

Star Wars:  Yoda #8:  This issue is the best of the series, as Yoda's experience serve as a great foil to Anakin's confidence (or, overconfidence, to Yoda's mind) and vice versa.  Anakin's confidence is shaken when the Separatist droids on Golatha take out all of Company 326 before Yoda can stop them.  But Anakin's plan to burst into the Megadroid factory still works, even if Anakin and Yoda are forced to face the final Megadroid on their own.  Other Jedia Masters often dismiss Anakin due to his brashness, but it seems to intrigue Yoda, even if he has reservations.  I'm glad we get at least one more issue of them together.

Also Read:  Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi - The Empire #1

Ten-Month Old Comics!: The May 3 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Star Wars #34:  So much talking.  Soule is clearly setting up a huge story here, so I'll give him a pass.  But.  SO.  MUCH.  TALKING.

This arc focuses on Luke finding a way to fix his lightsaber.  I'll admit that I'm a little lost on which lightsaber has at this point.  He mentions the one Obi-Wan gave him, though I'm pretty sure he lost that one in "Empire Strikes Back" when Vader cut off his hands.  I don't totally recall how he got this one other than a vague memory of him finding it in a room full of artifacts in this series?  Maybe?

At any rate, he loses himself a little when he tells Artoo how strange this one now feels, and he heads to Christophsis, which is apparently the only place other than Ilum (which any player of "Star Wars Jedi" knows the Empire has locked down tight) that routinely produces kyber crystals.

He heads to a cantina to put out word that he's an interested buyer, and a woman named Gretta saves him from himself.  She reveals that the outpost runs on the bartender luring in a mark who wants a kyber crystal and then everyone taking him hostage and selling him to the Empire.  Luke is petulant as ever after Gretta kills everyone planning on kidnapping him, telling her that she doesn't know for sure they would've sold him to the Empire (despite the fact that they obviously would).  But Gretta is a fan:  she knew who Luke was from conversations on the "dark channels."

Gretta offers to bring Luke to the kyber, though Luke is super moralistic about her "being a killer," despite, you know, his own body count.  (The Jedi are always self-righteous and squishy on this point.)  Gretta reveals that her family was from Jedha, so his attack on the Death Star avenged their deaths.  

Luke leaves Artoo and heads into the Wastes with Gretta to meet a guy named Cuata.  He apparently worked with people like Galen Erso on the kyber crystals that the Empire used to make the Death Star's weapon, something I didn't realize used kyber crystals until now.  (It makes it all the cooler, to be honest.)  When his colleagues started disappearing, Cuata fled to the Wastes to continue his research.  After fleeing a creature, a concussed Gretta and Luke encounter Cuata.

As I said, this issue is way too wordy.  But it's an intriguing story, so I'm willing to accept a wordy issue to pave the way for the greatness to come.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #33:  Ugh.  I don't know why I'm bothering with this series.   Pak can't put Sabé behind him.  It was one thing when she was the arc's main focus, but she's really shoehorned in here.  

The story is ostensibly about the Force Wave that the Fermata Cage's destruction in "Star Wars:  Hidden Empire" #5 unleashed.  For reasons that aren't clear to me, the Wave causes a surge in the Force in this issue, delighting Palpatine and terrifying Vader.  Vader nearly takes out the Executor as he loses control of his powers, though Sabé (of course) manages to expel him from the ship after he breaches the hull.  She then collects his unconscious body as it floats in space and takes him to an uninhabited planet where he destroys their shuttle mid-flight.  

I know Sabé's resourcefulness is supposed to impress me here.  She pilots the disintegrating shuttle!  She grabs Vader mid-air with her winged jetpack!  Instead, it's all just as eye roll-inducing as it ever is.  To make matters weirder, Vader decides the entire episode is all about Sabé and her need to choose between her old life and her new one.  Sure.  Whatever, I don't care (to quote my son).

Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi - Lando #1:  This one-shot is fun and addresses a question I hadn't really pondered, namely how Artoo, Chewie, Lando, Leia, and Luke executed the plan to free Han as well as they did (or, well, as well as they managed).  (I didn't mention Threepio on purpose since, well, he wasn't really all that helpful.)  

Lando approaches a contact named Narin who's in possession of a map of Jabba's Palace.  As Lando goes to win the money Narin wants for the map, Narin contacts the Imps for Lando's bounty.  Lando tries to win the money from another contact, Elocin.  It's clear that she has a history with all three scoundrels and, against her better judgement, agrees to play Lando for the credits...after Chewie offers himself as the ante, agreeing to complete ten jobs for Elocin if she wins.  Their game is disturbed, though, when Narin arrives with the Imps, though Chewie, Elocin, and Lando make quick work of them.  

Chewie and Lando escape, and Elocin later sends them the plans, clearly harboring the affection for the scoundrels that Lando hoped she had.

Star Wars:  Yoda #7:  I'll admit I'm just reading this series because I feel like I should.  I like it better than "Star Wars:  Darth Vader," but it isn't all that interesting.  

Guggenheim goes down the well trod path of "size matters not" here as Yoda stumbles upon discovering that the Separatists are building "megadroids."  At least it wasn't the Death Star, which I assumed it was.  That said, that pleasant surprise made me realize the extent to which so many series in the "Star Wars" line are falling back on fleshing out previously told stories instead of telling anything knew.  It stands in contrast to the first few arcs of Aaron's "Star Wars," which were amazingly fresh.  To that end, I have to give Guggenheim credit for breaking the recent pattern.

But it isn't like a story where Anakin and Yoda try to stop a General Grievous plan is remotely new to anyone who watched "The Clone Wars."  Again, it wasn't terrible, but I'm left wondering what the point is.

Eleven-Month-Old Comics!: The April 19 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

The Forged #2:  Honestly, 13 pages of back matter in the second issue is probably a sign that a series maybe isn't worth the time.

Like many other science-fiction series, the problem here is that the idea is great but the execution isn't.  In a way, this series is sort of like a companion to "A Memory Called Empire," except focused on the front line not imperial ballrooms.

Rucka and Trautmann spend the first dozen pages or so throwing around a lot of almost incomprehensible jargon as Victory and Hap devise a way to save the team from the crashing Her Endless Radiant Triumph.  The main problem is that the Triumph's T-space engines will crack upon crashing, creating an emp blast that'll knock out their communications.  For reasons that aren't clear to me, Victory decides rebooting the suits will somehow protect them from the blast (which I'm not sure is how emp blasts work) but directs E.V.I.L. to flood the suits with kinetic energy-absorption gel before it goes off-line.

After surviving the impact, the team reassambles itself.  Rucka and Trautmann engage in Hickmanesque behavior here, equating "confusion" with "interesting."  For example, Hap investigates some sort of goo, which, if I had to guess, came from the Triumph.  Her assessment that the "heat-tolerance before dissolution is off" clearly means it's going to matter later.  It took me reading the Gamma entry in the back matter to realize that Hap shares some sort of symbiotic relationship with the drone, Spot, which is why Victory trusts Spot when it answers on Hap's behalf.

At any rate, the team arrives at a lifeboat, where they realize the mission isn't a black box but a person.  Harpo and Pusher argue over which way they should go until Jo finds a literal arrow built from the lifeboat's crash debris. Something then bites off her arm, and we then enter into a tedious mash-up of "Dune" and "Starship Troopers."

After defeating round after round of bugs, the team finds the abandoned al-Ashanti Terraforming installation.  The team is surprised when the doors open for them and the installation is still powered.  They're able to take off their helmets due to the artificial atmosphere, and Victory has a memory appear from her conversation with the Cassandra and tells another Cassandra she can stop hiding.

The Cassandra's presence shocks the team, and she's pissed they're behind schedule.  That said, she's confident they can rearm for the "initial attack."  Victory tries to tell her that they're safe from the bugs, but the Cassandra interrupts, telling her that she isn't worried about them.  She reveals that they're there to protect her because, after 10,000 years, they've made first contact and "they mean to kill every last one of us."

In other words, meh.  It isn't terrible, but I can't say it's particularly interesting.  If I didn't have a 300+ issue backlog, I'd consider hanging in there, but I think I'm done.

No/One #2:  This issue flows a little better than the first one, as Higgins and Buccellato lean into “The Wire” vibe and make it a journalism and police procedural.

Chief Mixon arrives at Ben’s house to take him to work on his first day back in the office, though it isn’t as friendly as you’d expect, as he’s doing so to encourage Ben to retire.  Ben refuses, since he’s committed to finding Michael’s murderer.   Mixon points out Ben is the assistant chief for ops, so it isn’t even his job to do that.  Their conversation is interrupted, though, when Mixon is notified that Richard Roe struck again.  

Walt leads the Detectives Singh and Harper to a parking garage where Three Rivers University’s football coach, Nathan Cade, lies dead, with four shots to the chest and an extra casing on the floor.  Singh complains about Julia’s podcast getting out word about Roe’s modus operandi, and Walt notes that Roe left another note, this time saying just, “Clarity.” 
 
Outside the scene, Walt refuses to give Julia any more information, since the brass (particularly Mixon) is pissed that she’s out there putting them on blast.  Julia calls Teddy, who celebrates the fact Julia can’t get the scoop because it means the Powers That Be are paying attention.  But Julia is pissed when Teddy suggests that they’ll start having Alejandro do the reporting, reducing Julia to playing the role of the public face of the paper's coverage of the No/One story.  

As Walt returns from his smoke break, he spots No/One lurking in the garage and engages in a chase.  A helicopter quickly arrives to assist, and No/One uses some sort of taser device to take out one cop before successfully fleeing.  It’s all very Batman.
 
Later, Ben visits Aaron, who is truly as asshole.  Aaron declines to confirm if Cade was on his list but claims he wasn’t responsible for Cade's murder.  He notes that he thought Roe might go after Cade, though, after someone sent him Three Rivers’ football schedule with what Aaron thought was Cade’s autograph.  When he saw Roe’s note from last issue, though, he realized the same person wrote Cade’s name, since it had the same weird E.  He informs Ben that he told Alejandro from the Ledger about it when he visited because Ben was in the hospital.  Ben asks Aaron how No/One knew to save him, and Aaron says simply that he doesn’t know who No/One is because he would’ve been there for Michael had he known.  (I don’t believe that for a minute.)  Like last time, Aaron wants his dad to beg for his help, and Ben blames the situation on Aaron, who tries to blame Ben for it, unbelievably, since he was with Michael on the day he was killed.  (“I was wondering how long it would take to blame me for this.”  JFC, dude.)
 
At Teddy’s office, Ben and Teddy call in Alejandro, and Teddy is furious that he didn’t tell him about Cade.  (I can’t believe Alejandro didn’t run to him immediately when he found out Roe killed Cade.  Is Alejandro No/One or Roe maybe?)  Alejandro explains that he had spoken with a former player, Chuck Tate, who accused Cade of a “pay to play” scheme, though Alejandro notes it didn’t seem on the level of the four people No/One doxxed.  Alejandro tells them that he thought Tate had more he wanted to say but wasn’t ready yet.  Ben is clearly going to pay Tate a visit.
 
Later, at police headquarters, Mixon is for some reason forcing Ben to attend the press conference to discuss Cade's murder.   In the mens’ room, Ben runs into Senator Kemp, the victim who survived No/One's attack.  Kemp wants Ben to plead guilty to…something so he can then work with Kemp to go after No/One.  Kemp grandstands at the press conference, where, for some reason, Ben announces his retirement.

P.S.:  I listened to the first podcast.  I applaud the creators for trying something new.  That said, the acting is a little awkward if you listen to a lot of podcasts, since it's too expository.  Rachel Maddow doesn't give us her life story when she starts a podcast.  (Actually, she kind of does, now that I think about it, so maybe I'm too harsh here.)  

At any rate, it's relevant for two pieces of information that we get that I don't think we've gotten in the comic.  

First, we learn that the fifth "bullet" in Roe's gun is a blank, explaining why the cops find five casings at each crime scene.  Teddy (played by Patton Oswalt) explains that it's an homage to the random blank that firing squads often use.  He also explains that Roe had to pop out the casings physically given the nature of his .38 Special.  Singh alludes to this conversation in the issue, when he complains that everyone now knows Roe's modus operandi due to the podcast.  

Second, the tip that led the cops to Roe at the Carrie Blast Furnace also revealed to the cops that Roe uses a blank.  It means that, unless Roe outted himself to the cops, someone who knew Roe's modus operandi provided the tip.  

In addition to this new information, the authors may have mentioned it in passing in the series, but the podcast underscores more clearly the fact that the district attorney suspiciously never brought charges against anyone No/One doxxed.  It's clear that we have some sort of story there.

Star Wars:  Sana Starros #3:  Oof, a lot happens in this issue.
 
First, we learn that Deva Lompop is Grammy Thel’s auntie because she made a promise a long time ago to protect the Starros family as if it were her own.  (Given Deva looks about 20, I’m guessing she’s older than she looks if Grammy Thel is calling her auntie.)  Sana is outraged to learn that her brother, Phel, swiped a set of journals when he visited Grammy Thel.  We also learn that Phel is an Imp, which explains why he and Sana aren’t on speaking terms.  Sana storms to the bar to order a drink, where she meets a hot blue-skinned dish named Lanitra who invites her to her ship.  Deva appears and informs the pair that they leave for Hon-Tallos in three hours, apparently to steal a rancor.

 

At Wild Wollina’s Animal Adventures park, Grammy Thel and Mevera try to talk to Sana, but she isn’t having it:  she informs them that she’s leaving once they get Aryssha back because they once again chose Phel (because they allowed him to visit, I think).  To clear the park, Lanitra frees a three-headed monster called a hragscythe; Sana saves a kid from getting crushed in its stampede, and Deva uses her poison to put it to sleep.  Deva hilariously has Sana douse herself in juvenile rancor urine so the rancor thinks that she’s its cub.  (When Sana asks why Deva isn’t doused in urine, she remarks that rancors can sense predators.  God, I love her.) 

 

Wollina arrives along with a bounty hunter named Marl Jibs who’s apparently looking for Mevera, which is confusing because I initially thought he was there helping Wollina instead of them coincidentally arriving at the same spot at the same time, as I think happened.  (I don't know if we know why Jibs wants Mevera but details at the this point.)  Deva takes on Wollina as Jibs chases Sana, who eventually realizes she’s riding a rancor and has it attack him.  

Deva re-appears after her “productive chat” with Wollina, and they board the rancor into a crate.  Deva apparently helped Wollina build the park years ago, and we learn Lanitra is part of the Genetian Collective, a syndicate with a heart of gold because it wanted Deva’s help in shutting down the park.  (Lanitra declares, “Down with tyranny!” as they discuss the park’s closing.)  But Sana puts two and two together and realizes the Collective now owes Deva a favor, which she’ll use to get back Aryssha. 

 

Unfortunately, Jibs apparently swiped Grammy Thel in the chaos, which is impressive given the fact a rancor smacked him moments earlier.  He’s threatening to kill her if Mevera doesn’t surrender in 24 hours.  Also Ehllo and Phel discover Aryssha eavesdropping on people trying to open one of the aforementioned journals.  Ruh-roh!

 

It’s a fun issue, but, honestly, it’s a little too much.  After only two issues, it’s really hard to keep everyone and all the intersecting plots straight.  Hopefully we won't add any more characters or plots in the next few issues.

Star Wars:  Yoda #6:  As I've mentioned, my main complaint about the way Yoda is treated in the prequel era is that no one acknowledges that he had a Sith Lord (or two) sitting right next to him for many years.  Houser does a better job than pretty much anyone else of presenting that reality, as Yoda is forced to acknowledge that he failed young Gheyr when she leaves the Temple to prevent Krrsish's vision from becoming a reality.  Yoda chastises Dooku when he discovers Dooku knew about Krrsish's vision, but Dooku correctly points out the Order is often harsh on seers, such as it was with his friend Sifo-Dyas (i.e., the clones' creator).  In the end, Yoda is left with Krrsish - the one who acted from a place of anger and fear - as he watches the thoughtful Dooku and promising Gheyr leave Coruscant.  Yoda knows that he was wrong in the future that serves as this issue's framing device - as he waits for Luke on Dagobah - but I wonder if he knew he was wrong then.

Twelve-Month-Old Comics!: The March 15 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Black Cloak #3:  Thompson and McClaren deliver yet another spectacular issue as Thompson dives more into Kiros' history and precarious present.  

Over noodles, Phaedra exposits to Pax that people resent the Black Cloaks because law and order is a new concept in Kiros.  She stresses that they (the Black Cloaks) exist to prevent the sort of feuds that happened in the past, because Kiros, as the world's last city, would fail if those sorts of feuds reemerged.  It alludes to whatever happened to wipe out the rest of the world, and it seems clear that Freyal's murder is probably related to that larger reality (and not just succession politics).

In terms of that more specific mystery, Phaedra reveals that the scar on Freyal's tattooed arm was over the symbol for honor, meaning, as Pax says, he might've had something to confess.  Apparently Freyal and Phaedra had a secret spot in the Trees, so Phaedra explains that she's come there because Freyal might've left a message for her at the spot.  After Pax pleads with her to let him help her, she tells him about how the Kiros Three were in her apartment and tried to pin the murder on the dracona.  Pax tells her that the toxicology screen came back saying that Freyal had poison in his system and said poison used dracona blood as its base.  Given two dracona daggers are involved (presumably Thompson means the one used on Freyal and the one used on Phaedra), they agree someone is trying really hard to make it look like the dracona did it.

Pax carries Phaedra to the secret spot and asks how they go there without wings.  He correctly surmises they used "tech wings," which prompts him to comment on how he forgot how different their lives were...before.  Underscoring how tech exists here, Freyal's message is a hologram.  He confesses that he started unraveling after Phaedra left.  His mother became more distant, refusing to see him as a potentially good king.  But he unwound completely when he "found it."  He didn't know what to do, but he knew that he couldn't bring the information directly to Phaedra or "they'd" kill her.  It seems pretty clear that he killed himself as he contemplates ways of getting the message to her.  

As the Brownout ends, a flash of white light destroys the hologram, which Pax notes is their second "bright flash of light" (per the kids' testimony last issue).  They depart and, in the distance, a winged figure follows them.

During an interlude at the castle, Phaedra's friend Valorie is called before her professor, Master Ividor, after the Queen asked a question about the healing magic she used on Phaedra.  She walks him through the spells she used as well as a protection spell she created called the Hex of Solar.  Ividor is particularly interested in the purified dragon oil the spell uses, and Valorie explains that it's for regenerative purposes.  Ividor dismisses her and explains to the colleague that entered during the conversation that Phaedra survived the attack.  Dun-dun-DUN!  But Ividor doesn't think Valorie's spell was enough to save her, making it clear he may suspect she's part dracona.

At the Heights, Phaedra and Pax interview Dace's friend Renna.  Renna recognizes Phaedra as the "Black Cloak Frey was always going on about."  She noted Dace hated her because she was in love with Freyal and it was clear that he would always love Phaedra.  But Renna tells Phaedra that Freyal loved Dace as much as he could.  She tells them that dracona royals previously paid her a visit.  But Renna is street smart and knows that she could've been dealing with anyone, commenting that anyone capable of killing a prince is capable of magic that could fool her.  She remarks that there's nobody people like that can't get to, which makes Phaedra realize there is:  mermaids.

As I've previously said, it's hard to explain how dreamily wonderful this series is.  Moreover, Thompson opens up the world significantly in this issue.  Whereas before I could've seen it ending after ten or so issues, it's starting to feel like a much more immersive experience is in store for us, and I'm all for it.

The Forged #1:  I'll be honest:  the concept here is more fun than the execution.

The Forged are Her Eternal Majesty's SEALs, bred specifically to do her bidding.  We're introduced to a five-member team, which Victory leads, traveling on Her Majesty's Starfortress Her Endless Radiant Triumph.  The team's mission is to recover a black box from HMS The Ever Seeking Forward, which crashed on an uninhabited planet designated Gehenna D-54-C in the Hinterlands.  The team is skeptical about the mission, since it's pretty mundane given their usual missions.

Adding to the intrigue, the ship is carrying a Cassandra, seeresses who are part of the same breeding program as the Forged.  (She and Victory were in the same batch.)  They have telepathic powers and the Empress usually keeps them under lock and key, so everyone is curious about the fact that one is traveling on the ship with them.  The Cassandra calls for Victory and implants a memory into her brain that she then removes.  She then calls on the captain to deploy the team immediately upon arriving in realspace instead of engaging in standard security measures first.

Upon entering realspace, the Cassandra activates the memory she implanted in Victory, which prompts Victor to evacuate her team in their mecha suits immediately.  They plummet through space to Gehenna's surface while we watch the Cassandra board the deck and seemingly murder everyone.  Upon arriving on Gehenna's surface, Crazyjo spots Her Endless Radiant Triumph in ruins and plummeting towards them.  The team runs, which is how the story ends.

The back matter goes into more details about this reality, including the revelation that the Empress has lived and ruled for centuries from Homeworld in Sector Zero of the Throne Sectors.  For the most part, though, the back matter feels like a cheat, the reason why this story falls short of the heights Thompson reaches in "Black Cloak."  It's more exposition than character, but hopefully that'll improve.

No/One #1:  This story is complicated and immersive.  I love it.

Upfront, I'll mention this issue is hard to recap because it's pretty complicated.  Information unfurls slowly, so I'm going to use information provided later in the issue (particularly in the back matter) earlier than it appears, mostly to identify characters.

We begin with an artist and her boyfriend sneaking onto a patio connected to the gallery where her exhibit is opening, and they start to get busy on a couch.  (We're in Pittsburgh and it's snowing, so they must've been really horny.)  They discover a body lying on the patio as a Batman-like figure (i.e., No/One0 observes the scene from an above ledge.  

Later, at the crime scene, a detective named August Singh announces, "Fuck Richard Roe" to his partner, Kate Harper, and comments that they need to put four bullets in Roe's chest to, "send a message to all these fucking fakers."  We learn that this murder is the third murder related to a copycat, which the cops know because Roe is in prison.

The assistant police chief, named Ben Kern, arrives and learns the killer left a note in the deceased's jacket pocket.  Before he can ask the cops on the scene more questions, a cop arrives and tells Kern that Chief Mixon ordered him off the scene.  Meanwhile, a journalist named Julia Paige arrives and gets one of the cops controlling traffic outside the building to tell her that the victim is Louis Capel.  As Kern leaves, the press corps pepper him with questions, which is when we learn that his son, Aaron, is Roe.

Later, Singh and Harper speak with Capel's family. We learn that the No/One is a hactivist who engaged in a data drop last year that implicated several people in....something.  (The authors haven't made that clear yet.)  Capel's wife refers to him a builder, and it's clear the family believes that he was innocent, despite what No/One revealed in his drop.

Meanwhile, Julia learns that her bosses at the Pittsburgh Ledger want to spin off her "The Drop" site, which they set up the previous year to cover the No/One and Roe news, into a podcast.  Julia protests the podcast, because she's moved off the Metro desk to sports.  Her bosses stress that The Drop drove traffic to the Ledger's site and clearly hope the podcast will add more readers.  They've hired a guy from Edge News who helped "future-proof" that company with a similar strategy.

I'll break in here and say that Julia's reluctance to dive into this story, which stretches throughout the issue, seems ridiculous.  I don't know many journalists who would forgo their leading role in covering an internationally relevant story because they committed to covering the local sports team.  Julia also seems not to realize that print is in trouble, which, if true, means she isn't as good of a reporter as she claims.  I'd like Buccellato and Higgins to explore her motives more in future issues, because they don't really make sense to me here.

Later, at a diner, Julia argues with her boss, Teddy Barstow, because she doesn't want to be a columnist and complains about "new media divisions and over-produced audio."  As they're talking, a woman named Danielle Gaines approaches them.  At the crime scene, Julia mentioned Danielle's name, and we learn here that she's the Edge News reporter covering No/One and Roe.  Julia also notes that Danielle was part of the hacktivist group Veritas.  It's a chilly encounter, which Danielle senses and leaves.  Julia agrees to do the podcast, though I don't get why Danielle's presence seemingly convinced her.

Later, Ben meets his other son, Michael, at his wife's gravesite on her birthday.  We learn that Aaron confessed to Roe's crimes, namely killing two people, attacking a state senator, and shooting two cops.  That said, Michael seems skeptical.  Later, Ben meets Aaron in prison.  We learn the copycat who killed Capel left behind five shell casing just like Roe (though only shot Capel four times) and the note in the jacket said, "I am the real Richard Roe."  Aaron doesn't give Ben anything, so he leaves.

As Ben drives home, he listens to a broadcast where we learn Capel was the last person attacked of the four people No/One originally doxxed, joining Dr. Julian Colon, Edwin Lin, and state senator Noah Kemp (who survived).  As one of the reporters ask why no one has arrested Ben, a masked figure approaches his car with a gun.  Ben says, "Do it," and, as the figure shoots, No/One appears.  The figure (which the back material confirms is Copycat #3) and No/One engage in a fight, and an errant bullet wounds Kern.  The figure flees, and a bleeding Kern asks who No/One is.

Meanwhile, we get a series of scenes where a guy in a car is ominously approaching a target.  Buccellato and Higgins build up the tension as these scenes are interspersed with scenes of Julia, Michael, and Singh, making it unclear who the target is.  It seems like it's Singh when someone calls his name, but instead it's Harper telling him that the shell casings match the original Roe gun.  We learn Michael is the target when we see him shot on the street, surrounded, again, by five casings.  The back matters confirms Copycat #3 is the shooter and Michael died, though Ben survived.

At this point, the rest of the back matter fills in some of the blanks.  

On Aaron's "Knowpedia" page, we learn the cops booked him under the "Richard Roe" name when they busted him for possession in high school.  (He apparently spiraled after his mother died when he was 12 years old.)  Most oddly, we learn No/One prevented Aaron (or, at least, Richard Roe) from murdering Senator Kemp in his first appearance and that Aaron shot the police officers as he fled the scene.  The cops found him and items linking him to the crimes at the Carrie Blast Furnaces after an anonymous tip.  

On a timeline, Danielle is all over the initial revelations, including publishing No/One's website link for the first time.  We also learn that No/One is the one who captured Aaron at the Furnaces, apparently leaving him restrained for the police.  Danielle was the one to out Aaron as Roe a month later.  We also learn No/One apprehended the first two copycat killers, Oliver Simpson and Luke Cavanaugh, though I don't think we learn who their victims were.

In other words, it's a lot.  I love it, but only a few people (including Buccellato and Higgins) could handle a story this complicated.  That said, it's still confusing.  We've got three copycats, so four murderers, and five victims (not including the two cops Aaron or Richard Roe shot).  I could really use some photos and red string.

Star Wars:  Yoda #5:  The point of this issue, presumably, is to show how quickly a student can fall to the Dark Side, as Krrsish attacks Gheyr due to his ongoing visions that she will turn to the Dark Side and attack him.  

However, perhaps unintentionally, the issue only serves to highlight how the Jedi Order failed its youngest members.  The cover image shows Yoda drilling the students for war, a reminder of how ridiculous his and other Jedi's insistences that they were a peace-keeping force were.  Moreover, Yoda intervenes after Krrsish shoves Ghery but fails to probe deeper when Krrsish says that a vision motivated his actions.  Given the hostility between the Trandoshans and Wookiees, Yoda seemed overly confident that his admonishment that such animosity doesn't belong at the Jedi Temple would work.  

Moreover, Dooku, still a Jedi at this point in time, does little (shocker) to assuage Krrsish's anxiety.  Krrsish didn't reveal the full nature of his vision to Yoda, per Dooku's advice last issue, but Dooku knows its severity and simply advises him to keep watch.  During their conversation, Yoda warns Krrsish that anger, fear, and hate are paths to the Dark Side but clearly doesn't believe he's a true threat.  He's clearly wrong, yet again.

In other words, I'm really starting to feel like the Jedi were asking for their comeuppance.

Twelve-Month-Old Comics!: The February 22 Top-Shelf Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Black Cloak #2:  This series is, bar none, the best on the market and everyone should read it now!

We begin with Phaedra on a slab in the morgue.  She isn't dead, though.  Nida enters as Phaedra awakens and informs her that the assailant stabbed her with a dracona dagger and informs *us* that only draconas are likely to survive assaults from dracona daggers.  Dun-dun-DUN!  Phaedra mentions off-handedly that someone attacked her at the castle, and Nida interrupts her, shocked, since Phaedra hadn't told her about the attack yet.  Phaedra dismisses the castle attack as "honor bullshit" but notes that the dracona attack was definitely not that.

To explain how she isn't dead, Phaedra recalls that the elves magically healed her after the castle attack, so they could argue the magic persisted and saved her.  Nida points out the small pair of wings Phaedra grew suggests she tell everyone the truth.  Phaedra refuses, saying people will kill her mother and possibly her father.  Nida is enraged that Phaedra has to live her life in exile, fearing "honor killings and retribution at any moment," thus directly tying Phaedra's exile to her heritage.  It sounds like she had to leave to keep the secret, but I wonder what the cover story for leaving was.  Phaedra tells Nida that she likes her life, but Nida isn't buying it.

After Nida leaves, Phaedra realizes that she's next to Freyal's body.  Upon inspection, she finds a scar in his tattoo, which the computer diagnoses as probably self-inflected.  A tearful Phaedra asks his body why he would do that and laments that he's cold, noting that he always hated the cold.

In a flashback, Phaedra's mother recalls when the tattoos were a solemn rite, which she hated, because she felt bound by it.  But she says all the kids think they're cool so they love them.  Phaedra replies that she loves Freyal and the tattoo is just a bonus.  She realizes though that her mother was saying that she didn't love her father, and her mother slyly tells her that she loved her father more than anything.  Phaedra realizes that the stories don't align, but Freyal arrives in time to distract her.  They have a lovely moment but, as they kiss, Phaedra feels an itch, not realizing that her nascent wings cause it.

Leaving the morgue, Phaedra encounters Pax as he reviews the "lookie-loos" he's had to interview (and accuses Phaedra of almost getting killed just to avoid the interviews.)  

After interviewing a few lunatics together, they come to Romu and Iona, who I think are two of the hooligans who were at the Lookout last issue.  Iona tells Phaedra that they're there because mermaids get a bad rap.  Romu tells Phaedra and Pax that he and Iona stayed after the other two hooligans (Jessup and Tomig) left.  Apparently if the wind is right you can hear the mermaids, which Romu describes as a test of wills.  As they watched (Romu says they "do really cool stuff"), a figure in a "long, dark hooded cloak" floated to the beach carrying a body.  Romu then saw a flash of light, and the body was gone and the figure was already at the wall leaving.  Iona tells Phaedra that she saw the "big flash of gold light," but Romu had the spyglass so she can't confirm everything else other than that she saw a figure.

Suddenly, a noise signaling "ten ticks until the Brownout" happens, and Iona and Romu panic, telling the detectives that they have to get home before their parents get mad.  After the kids leave, Pax notes that their figure didn't have wings so he assumes it used magic to float.

At home, Phaedra realizes that she isn't alone, and three very well dressed humans reveal themselves.  The woman is surprised Phaedra senses them since they were "well cloaked."  Phaedra tells them that she knows who they are:  the woman is Elea Veris, and the men are Galal III of Veris and Aldric II of Solas.  Phaedra describes them as the three most powerful humans in Kiros.  

Galal is apparently the next in life for the throne now that Freyal is dead, which is an interesting political arrangement.  Phaedra notes that it would shift power from the elves to humans for the first time.  Galal tells Phaedra that they want their names cleared so they don't ascend the throne under a scandal, and Phaedra notes that the Queen is still alive and will outlive them all.  Galal responds with a muted, "Of course," instantly putting our suspicion on them (particularly given that they're magic users).  

When Phaedra asks what they want, Galal responds that they don't want anything from her:  they want to give her a "nice juicy lead."  Next, Phaedra is exiting her apartment and calling Pax to meet her at the Trees, where he apparently already is.  She passes through a beautiful gate warning non-fliers to proceed with caution and takes a ferris wheel-like elevator into the Trees.  Cryptically, the issue ends with Phaedra saying to the camera (if you will), "Let's see what you can tell me yourself, Freyal."

As I mentioned last issue, the world-building here is spectacular.  Thompson has created a world so full of detail that it feels impossible that we'd ever come to grasp its full historical, political, and social realities, even in 100 issues.  Moreover, we get most of this information not through expository monologuing but through character development.  Moreover, McLaren's love of the story is clear in each line she draws and color she paints.

 Again, I can't recommend it enough.

Dragon Age:  The Missing #2:  I don't particularly remember Solas as turning people to stone, but I might've glossed over that detail after learning that he was the elven god responsible for creating the Fade.  But it's a relevant piece of data, since Varric and Harding arrive at Lady Crysanthus' estate in Vyrantium to discover her petrified (and the Antaam sieging Vyrantium).  After shaking down Crysanthus' valet, Varric and Harding discover a secret room showing her efforts to help the Venatori make a strike against the Imperium.  (I'm assuming she'd benefit from a Venatori-led Imperium.)  She and the Venatori sought the Crucious Stone, some sort of elven magical artifact in the Arlathan forest, where only a few Dalish tribes reside.  It seems clear now that the invitation we saw at the end of last issue is one Crysanthus sent the Venatori and Solas intercepted.  To Arlathan we go!

Local Man #1:  I picked up this series because I loved Seeley's work on "Grayson" and "Nightwing," and I'm thrilled I did.  Like Seely, I was a 15 year old (well, 16 year old) kid when "Youngblood" hit the stands, and I couldn't have been more excited.  I didn't totally understand it, and the focus on sex made me nervous.  (Shaft made me feel...things second only to the way Spartan from "WildC.A.T.s" made me feel...things.)  Like Seeley says here, it felt freeing to see Liefeld tell the story that he wanted to tell, one of the first times that comics seemed to depict superheroes the way that they'd likely exist in reality.

I'm thrilled to say Seeley and Fleecs capture that feeling in a bottle here.  First, they ramps up my excitement when Jack's mother asks him if he's tried getting Brigade or Cyberforce to hire him.  The authors doesn't just get the vibe of that Imageverse (which they totally get) but make it clear we're actually in that universe.  I enjoyed Chad Bowers' reboot of "Youngblood," as it was filled with the same bold-faced narrative and brightly colored action as the original series were.  But Seeley and Fleecs are taking the vibe of that era and infusing it with...well, a plot.  The art drives home this point, as the issue's color palette is subdued when portraying Jack's present and bold when portraying Third Gen.

Getting to the basics, the aforementioned "Jack" is Jack Xaver, formerly Crossjack of Third Gen.  Third Gen enterprises fired Jack for reasons that aren't clear.  It *is* clear that he's a disgrace, something his mother actually calls him when he arrives home.  (Also driving home that point is when a guy recognizes him sitting at the bus stop and yells out, "Fuck Crossjack.")  Jack escapes home for a bar where a guy named Hodag busts past the bouncer.  Jack thinks he wants to fight him and doesn't give Hodag a chance to reveal that he's there to tell him about a "place" he went.

After Jack gets thrown from the bar, his high-school sweetheart Inga takes him to her diner.  You get the sense that Inga isn't as happy as her Facebook page implies she is, but their conversation is interrupted when Third Gen appears to serve Jack papers for using a shield in his fight, contrary to his agreement.  Jack declines Inga's offer of a ride home (possibly because he knows something might develop) and is surprised to find to his parents' elderly dog, Pepper, in a field.  Pepper is more than she appears:  Jack swears she was 14 years old when he left home, and she evades the projectile he throws at her in the field despite his later insistence that he never misses.

But Pepper isn't the only mystery, as someone kills Hodag in his cell as he's yet again talking about how he's hoping to tell Jack about the place that can make the pain disappear.

All in all, it's a wonderful start.  I'm here for where Seeley and Fleece are taking us.

Star Wars:  Yoda #4:  This series is taking the vignette approach of similar series, though the recent "Star Wars:  Obi-Wan Kenobi" series felt more coherent than this one.  

Starting off this arc, Yoda invites Count Dooku to spend time with the recent class of Padawans.  Dooku becomes the confidante of a Wookiee Padawan who had a vision that the Trandoshians were going to massacre his people.  It's notable because one of the Wookiee's friends is a Trandoshian, which Yoda sees as evidence of what Jedi training can achieve by removing Padawans from their people's prejudices.  When the Wookiee tells Dooku about his vision, Dooku suggests the young Wookiee tell no one of his vision, alluding to the fate of Sifo-Dyas, his old yet seemingly estranged friend.

It's all fine, but it feels more like AI-generated fan-fiction right now than anything else.  Like the first arc, I don't particularly feel like I've gotten any insight into Yoda himself.  It's mostly Yoda being Yoda.

Undiscovered County #23:  Snyder and Soule are vamping here, as we don't really learn anything new.  

Future Chang and future Janet bring Present Chang and Present Janet to a movie theater to reveal the world's greatest secret, whatever it was that they saw in America that made them decide to kill Ace, Charlotte, and Daniel.  However, Ace arrives with a souped up Buzz and ruins the party before we can learn more.

In the flashback (flash forward?), Future Chang and Future Janet reveal that they only need to stop Charlotte and Daniel from reaching the center of the Spiral (and not necessarily to prevent them from leaving America with the Sky cure).  Future Ace has Future Valentina flee, which she does, but Future Valentina doesn't reveal why Future Chang and Future Janet let her live out her days in the Empire.  She tells Present Ace that she doesn't know why they decided to act agains their colleagues, so I guess she wasn't a risk.

In the past, Charlotte and Valentina swipe Lavant's tablet, which controls time, and escape through a variety of timelines until Lavant attacks them at Gettysburg.  I don't really get the physics here, to be honest.  Lavant told Charlotte and Valentina that Aurora was able to create all these timelines, but he actually becomes Abraham Lincoln, implying a higher level of manipulation than I thought.  I guess that makes sense, since the whole point of Zone History is to manipulate events to see how they create different outcomes.

This arc still remains intriguing, as it feels like the "greatest secret" will change what we understand about how Aurora works and where the team fits into her plans.  But it's time to get there.