A world of four color magic arrives every Wednesday.
Stories and adventures of heroes and villains, good versus evil.
Tales that entertain and excite by talented writers and artists.
Here are my thoughts Among The Panels.
Lumberjanes #7
Writer: Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson
Artist: Brooke Allen
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
I jumped into Lumberjanes #7 with the hopes of laughing and smiling at the same old antics of our wonderful cast of characters but what I got was much different.
The girls in charge of Lumberjanes took a more serious route for this issue.
In the previous issue we got a glimpse into the fact something bigger going on with Jo and that she had ties to all the monsters and weird things going on around camp. They quickly jumped away from that and got back to the funnies but this time it’s all story. We first see the girls breaking into the camp leader Rosie’s cabin to steal a shiny glowing rock that we saw in an earlier issue.
They try to enact a clever ruse in the style only Lumberjanes or Scooby-Doo could pull off.
After achieving their goal they head off into the woods.
Jo and her “sister” put the shining stone and the golden eye that Jo found in an earlier issue together. In a flash of golden light a deer made of sparkling dust emerges and calls Jo’s sister Artemis and then runs away. The girls ask Jo what’s going on and then through about ten pages of exposition we are informed that all of the crazy things that have been happening is because Jo’s sister is really the daughter of Zeus.
Yes, that Zeus.
He is trying to retire and pass on his control over the universe to one of his children; so, he is making them battle through a bunch of crazy tests. The other child of Zeus is Apollo and he is the one sending the three eyed demon animals after the girls and he was also the one who is controlling the boys camp that ran into a couple of issues back. Just as she finished catching us all up they arrive at the same cave we also have already been to. Something crazy happens in the cave that I don’t want to ruin for anyone but I will say it’s kind of heartbreaking.
This issue is pretty far away from what Lumberjanes is used to providing. The seriousness of this issue is not bad at all but it also left me wanting so much more. The reason I love Lumberjanes is because of the humor and fast paced wit.
This issue focuses too much on providing us with all of the backstory they have been avoiding for the past 6 issues in exchange for the normal pace and awesomeness. I am not saying this issue is bad because it’s certainly not. It’s just not what’s normal and me, like most humans, hate change. The art is still one of the best around and the page layouts are only getting better with each issue.
Seeing as how there is only 1 issue left; I know they have a lot to explain but it felt weird to lose the humor. I just noticed a ton of really good opportunities for jokes that were left out to make this issue more serious. I just hope that the next and final issue of the run returns with the comedy bang I was expecting today.
Score: 3.5 out 5
Death of Wolverine #4
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $4.99
After closing the last page of Death of Wolverine #4, I didn’t really know how to feel.
I sat staring at the cover of the book trying to understand what I just read. It’s hard to really comment on something like the death of a major comic book character since, in the past, they come back pretty fast.
Hold up folk, there is about to be some massive spoilers.
This issue gets right to the point.
We find Logan jumping out of a jeep, he is now fashioned with makeshift claws made out of regular metal and tied on with leather straps.
He quickly dispatches the two guards standing in front of whatever facility he is about to rush into. He apparently knows exactly where he is going and ends up in the medical lab where our villain and the man who created Wolverine hides behind a glass wall.
Dr. Cornelius doesn’t waste any time explaining every little facet of his plan. We get all the information we need about why it is that he was after Wolverine, and expectedly it was for his healing factor. Dr. Cornelius needs it to perfect one of his greatest accomplishments and that of course is Wolverine. Logan smirks as only he can and then shows Dr. Cornelius that he is no longer a mutant. Cornelius orders Logan’s death and a man in a pretty futuristic suit appears out of nowhere. He explains that this man, aptly named Sharp, is the best you can get in brain programming.
A fight breaks out and Wolverine wins quicker than expected. Somehow in the midst of the fight the vats that hold the stolen Adamantium erupt and cover Logan from head to toe. Dr. Cornelius tries to escape but a few feet away from the helicopter he notices that he has a large piece of glass sticking out of his stomach and collapses. Wolverine, now covered in liquid adamantium, emerges and watches the Doctor die. The helicopter flies away and the last image we see is Wolverine, now a metal statue, perched on the edge of the building.
McNiven holds nothing back in this issue. His ability to draw so much deepness into all the characters on the page is mind blowing. He outshines the writing for the first time in this miniseries and he crushes every second of it.
After reading the end a couple of times I have come to the conclusion that I really hated it. I didn’t really know what I was expecting but the thrill the first few issues gave me sent me into this issue with a pretty serious high for a spectacular ending.
What we were giving was spoon fed to us with very little imagination and covering him with the metal that defined him is a little too on the nose. I get the symbolism but, come on there has to be a better way to “kill” him. I think that maybe that’s what feels so wrong about this ending; that he really isn’t dead in my mind. I can see it now.
About a year from when this issue came out they will find a way to insert his healing power through the adamantium giving Logan back his powers and his life. I just wish for once we could see the death of a character that actually meant something beyond a gimmick to sell more comics.
Was this the best way to end the life of one of the biggest names in comics?
Probably not, but I am sure that fanboys will be talking about it for years to come. Will they be talking about it positively, only time will tell.
Score 3.5 out of 5
Trinity of Sin #1
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Yvel Guichet, Jason Gorder
Publisher: DC
Price: $2.99
For a long while now I have avoided a lot of things from the New 52 besides Batman and a few other titles, but for the majority of the DCU I have tried to stay away.
After a couple of years someone I trusted said I needed to check out the latest Justice League event called Trinity War.
He promised I would love it and he was right; it blew me away and since then I have been following the three main characters in the new Trinity of Sin #1.
Putting Phantom Stranger, The Question, and Pandora in the same title sounds fun enough but after you read this first issue you won’t doubt the power of these three characters.
If you don’t know who these characters are they do a brief introduction for all of them; while carving out a story that involves all three of them.
The Question is just trying to figure out who he was and why he has been branded one of the three biggest sinners of all time. His story unfolds with a giant red demon who was impersonating his landlord attacks him. We quickly switch over to find the Phantom Stranger standing in front of a giant green tornado. He enters it and finds the tortured soul of a child. He frees the child and sends his soul to heaven. Just as he is starting to feel good about himself a snake-headed demon kills his partner, Dr. Thirteen, and then attacks him.
Once again we jump to our third character who is on vacation somewhere sunny. While Pandora is walking on the beach and enjoying herself another demon, this time in the form of a giant wave, attacks her and all of the other people on the beach.
Just as they are all about to die at the hands of separate demons; Pandora senses the other two sinners and uses their combined power to defeat all three of the demons. In a flash of power and light all three of them are standing on the beach surrounded by corpses caused by the wave demon. They have a quick arguing match with The Question which ends with him parting ways with them.
J.M DeMatteis is no stranger to these characters and he shines brightly in this book. It seems that he has a firm grasp of where he wants to take this story and he is not wasting anytime giving us the action and the intrigue. He sets up a really interesting story in this first issue that doesn’t seem like it can fail.
The art of Yvel Guichet with inks by Jason Gorder is phenomenal. We get three different demons in this book and they are all creepy and wonderful in their own separate ways. Yvel really understands how to draw a creature and make it pop off the page. Jason Gorder just sits back and intensifies Yvel’s awesome images but also manages to emphasize the already awesomely rendered pages.
If DC knows what they are doing they would not let this pair of artist and writer part ways. They have spun some kind of comic magic here and it’s nice to read one of the occult comics and not feel like they are just pulling things out of thin air and then expecting us to just understand what’s going on. DeMatteis didn’t hold our hands through this issue and Yvel made it easy to go from page to page.
This book can only get bigger and better. I can’t wait to see where this title goes.
Score 4.5 out of 5.
Edge of Spider-Verse #5
Writer: Gerard Way
Artist: Jake Wyatt
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Just when I think Edge of Spider-Verse can’t get any better another issue drops into my lap and proves me wrong. Edge of Spider-verse #5 is a dream come true for any comic and anime fanboy.
This time the Spider-Verse takes us to a neo-Tokyo type world where Spider-Man is a teenage girl inside a spider-themed mech suit called SP//dr.
This issue is spun out of pure joy and admiration for Spider-Man and anime alike. The world is spectacular and a little mystifying.
Our main character is Peni Parker. Her father was the original pilot of the SP//dr suit but died, and only someone who shares his genetics can don the suit.
The version of Uncle Ben and Aunt May are genetic scientists and seem to not actually be related but just good friends of her father.
The “spider” aspect of this book is a little confusing but it mirrors the kind of strange ideas that come with anime and manga.
Peni carries around a spider that no one else can see. They seem to be connected via brainwaves and are kind of a hybrid being. They refer to themselves as a “we” and Peni communicates for the spider when appropriate. The first villain we get to see them take down is Mysterio who floats around inside a huge glass eye. He is easily stopped and brought to justice.
In the next scene we find out that Peni fights crime alongside a really badass version of Daredevil. There is an amazing scene where they are busting up a bunch of thugs and if you are an anime fan you will lose your mind. Every person in the scuffle is from a famous anime. Gerard Way is masterful in his execution of this book. I kept getting the feeling that it was influenced by anime and then there is a scene where Peni is sitting in class surrounded by the cast of Neon Genesis. I was blown away by how many people they were able to include in these scenes.
Getting to the main point of the story; Peni is then approached on the subway by Spider-Pig and a leather jacket sporting Spider-Man. Her spider senses that they are legit and they are quickly on their way to fight whatever is after them. This issue stops abruptly and it bummed me out hard. I was just falling in love all over again and then it was over. What’s really upsetting is that I will never again get to be part of this universe.
I honestly can’t find anything bad to say about it in any sense of the word. Gerard Way crafts a fun and kick-ass story while still conforming to the event at hand. He brought his love of the comics from the world over and gave us a gift. His story paired with Jake Wyatt’s art is something to behold. I challenge anyone to read this comic and not be blown away.
One of the most awesome things about this book is that you can read it stand alone and not be let down. Anyone can pick this book up with very little information and enjoy the hell out of it.
This event has been something else for me. It has revitalized a love for comics and for Spider-Man that I had so many years ago. This is how popular comic stories should be told and I am sad that it is about to end.
Spider-Man comics don’t get any better than this. Rush out and pick up your copy and thank me when you fall in love with it.
Score: 5 out of 5.
Wild’s End #2
Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: I.N.J. Culbard
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $3.99
A little over a month ago Wild’s End #1 came out of left field and upped my appreciation of BOOM! Studios as a comic book publisher and really a champion of independent comics.
I was really astounded at how well written Wild’s End was and now that I just finished #2, I feel even better than I did before.
Wild’s End #2 is another triumph in writing for comics.
This issue picks right up where we left off in the last issue. A tiny spider-esk robot killed a pig-woman in her home up on top of the hill.
It then burned down her house and skittered away into the woods.
Our cast of characters happens upon the house just in time to see them bringing out a charred body. The nephew of the pig-woman shows up and in a couple of really well drawn panels is informed of her death and that it might not be an accident. The nephew joins the search party and they head deeper into the woods.
They hear gunshots up ahead and exit the woods to a pretty weird sight. In front of them they see the spider robot being shot at by a cat-woman holding a shotgun. She lands a perfect shot and knocks the robot unconscious. Our party rushes in and throws the robot into the shed out back. They try to console the cat-woman while she tries to get them to leave.
While this is happening the nephew grabs the shotgun and returns to the shed to finish off the thing that might have killed his aunt. When he is about to pull the trigger the robot wakes up and chases him back to the house. The shotgun jams while they are fighting and one of our other characters jumps in to try and save the day, but instead gets a laser blast to the face, killing him instantly.
Everyone is stopped in their tracks and the book ends on that cliffhanger.
There are not a lot of comics that illicit a verbal response from me but this one did. I was shocked that they killed one of our main characters just like that. The writing on this book is just so good that you honestly can’t see what’s coming even if you already know the story and what kind of things might happen.
Dan Abnett doesn’t disappoint at all on any page. He writes dialectic verbiage that actually makes sense and doesn’t detract from what each character is saying. He adds flavor to each word that makes this book feel more than it is. The story feels familiar to anyone who has read War of the Worlds, but it’s also so fresh and new that you forget about the source material it comes from. Reading classics is hard sometimes and I imagine that getting kids, these days, to read a classic is probably near impossible.
Reimagining classics in this way is a great way to get kids into reading. If they can get through a book like this they will be ready and willing to read something without pictures. Strong writing can pull a terrible book out of the trash bin and get hundreds of people to fall in love with the written word all over again. This book is one plank in a larger bridge of classics to comics.
Once again there is no denying that the art and styling on this book are what sets it apart from all the other titles on that bookshelf. It’s hard to get your book read these days and with writing and art this solid it needs to be read.
This issue has a variant cover drawn by industry favorite Jeff Lemire. I like that this book is getting some love and they are reaching out to get other names attached to it in hopes of drawing more of a fan base. This book needs all the attention in the world and I hope that people really give it the love it deserves.
Score: 5 out 5
