Lilith Wood Comic Reviews

On Saturday, the creative team publicly apologized for offending people with their treatment of the transvestite villain in Batgirl #37. The "queering the villain" incident wasn't a mis-step to apologize for and move on from though, it was a symptom. In the context of this book, inviting people to laugh along with the protagonist at a transvestite made sense. Making fun of transvestites and transgender people is still accepted in our culture, and this Batgirl run is mainstream and uncritical. It can be enjoyed for the brightness of Babs Tarr's work, or treated like a nostalgic pleasure. But if it is smart, it's smart like advertising. There's a lot of grown-up talent on this book's new creative team, but they are only playing at making Batgirl an ode to girl power.

C.O.W.L. #1 starts off gorgeous and exciting before bogging down into dark, dense panels of grim conversation.

The good news is that Captain Marvel is still just getting started on her restless space adventure and now that she’s thwarted the Spartax emperor, we can expect some dust ups down the road. Hopefully some of her new friends will be along for the ride, as they are as good a ragtag interspecies team as there ever was. DeConnick, Lopez and Loughridge work well together to show how people work together, so I think we’ll see more space camaraderie. I hope we see Carol change as a person - her decision to go into space was somewhat escapist, but I have a feeling DeConnick will keep putting her in the middle of situations that feel a lot like real life.

DeConnick and Takara make this issue funny and rambunctious enough to provide cover for the sweet, heartfelt parts. Carol tries to make wise decisions, but circumstances force her to learn from the young Tic, the obnoxious Rocket, and even her own stubborn cat. The isolation of Carol in space with a small assemblage of other oddballs has given us a chance to know her better. The fact that she alternately grows and is humbled is a large part of why this Captain Marvel continues to be so beloved. New readers jumping on here will be just in time to get excited for whatever's next.

Lovers of Westerns will want to check out Copperhead and give it a few issues to develop. I think the story is operating competently within this beloved genre, and time will tell if it really lifts off and differentiates itself. Clara and Budroxifinicus both have the potential to develop into strong characters, and the fun visual details, hints of mystery, and plot-thickening twists will make readers curious to find out what happens next.

I don’t think anyone routinely reading Danger Girl wants it to be anything other than cheap, glossy sexiness with a side of gore. The target audience seems to be men who are nostalgic for the “bodice-rippers for boys” they enjoyed back in the ‘90s. The book is freighted with the obsessive frustration of a teenager—nothing sexual ever seems to actually happen, but every non-sexual thing is dripping with a kid’s idea of what sex is. If the financials make sense to keep focusing on this aging demographic’s particular fix, then I suppose these books will keep showing up on the shelves. But with other comics (and other media) combining sexiness and storytelling better, I doubt May Day will make many new fans for Danger Girl.

Despite the lackluster art and the feeling of being pummeled by plot points, I still want to know what happens next in Doctor Spektor. At this point the crazy new occurrences cancel each other out and the story feels like it's treading water. If Waid can handle his own tangled puzzle, he needs to give us the feeling that we're moving in a clear direction in future issues.

Two issues in, the pulse behind the book is still a man who ate his own children’s hearts. I hope Del Mundo and Blackman keep Bloody Lips as a strong character and keep up their mind-meld in general. Del Mundo’s art grabs the eye of anyone who flips the book open, but I think Blackman’s solid writing will prove itself more and more as we go on.

Still, the biggest risk for this solo series was that the title character would always be sidelined and unfeeling. With this issue, Del Mundo and Blackman seem to be addressing that problem and blasting a way forward for Elektra. She hasn’t changed much yet but she’s been synced up with the more resonant Bloody Lips, and she’s experienced something that can smash her sense of who she is. As long as some light filters back into future issues, readers will want to see where Elektra is going.

Buy Jirni #1 for Paolo Pantalena's pin-up art or for cosplay ideas, but not for an exciting story.

The energy level of the issue keeps building until the visual release of Marik and Stel coming out of their small pod into the gorgeously painted ocean. Tocchini's art really soars in this underwater world. As Stel watches Marik swim, she has a nuanced emotional moment that doesn't feel sentimental or heavy-handed. Stel has been an emotional character from the start, but this issue let me feel things alongside her for the first time. With Low #3, Remender has proven that he can write about family dynamics. It feels like there is a long, satisfying adventure story ahead of us now, and new readers can jump on here and understand the gist of the story.

Memetic #2 tells the story of a destructively fascinating image, but fails to fascinate

When Kamala first wished and dreamed for powers, it was something she just wanted for herself. At the end of the fifth issue, it’s officially not just about Kamala any more. She speaks to a small crowd on a street corner, standing proud in her costume with her hands on her hips. She uses the word “us” and merges her own identity with that of Jersey City. This book has all the ingredients to keep charming us on details, beauty and wit. In order to keep us fully invested, Kamala can never stop learning or making mistakes.

Wyatt has one more guest issue before Alphona comes back. It will be interesting to see whether Wilson wrote this issue as more of a superhero story because it was a way to advance the plot while providing a nice set-piece for a guest artist with his strengths. Maybe she and Alphona will circle back later to spend more time on Kamala’s friendship with Bruno, her relationship to her parents, and the way she fits into her community and school. Or maybe this is a whole new phase for Ms. Marvel, and we will just have to see how it feels when Alphona’s influence is added back into the mix.

Whether Outcast runs as long as Invincible and The Walking Dead feels like a moot point, because it would be more in keeping with the maturity of this story for it to run for a while and then stop at a natural ending point. But with a TV show already in the works, there may be different factors at play than what suits the narrative.

The first issue of Rise of the Magi reads like it was hastily cannibalized for the zero issue that came out last month. It feels sewn back up and re-engineered, with a cramped recapping of the zero issue and then disorienting cuts back and forth in time and space.

Readers loyal to Pulido might be put off by Wimberly's fill-in issue, but it is simply too exciting to look at and too important to the story's over-all development to miss. Enjoy it as an island unto itself and join me in regarding this series as an on-going experiment.

Pulido will be back for the August issue, and will probably return his ad-man gloss to She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters can go back to her less fashion-forward, more preppily polished incarnation, and we can go back to enjoying banter, hijinks, shapes and colors without expecting too much more from the story.

The exploration of Captain America's status, regrets, and mortality were sound themes to match with Jen's wit and legal smarts. Soule and Pulido has always been bursting with potential and talent, and it's good to see that come to fruition. It's been fun all along to watch the team develop Jen and her world through details and dialogue, but this She-Hulk run has unfolded in fits and starts. I loved She-Hulk #8, but I half expected She-Hulk #9 to be a letdown, because Soule hasn't consistently held stories together well across multiple issues. Instead, the opposite happened. This second issue is strong and this arc feels even stronger than I hoped it would be. Readers new, old and lapsed should get in on this show while they still can.

Soule, Pulido and Vicente are all very skilled, and the plot hiccups might lessen when the whole series is read in trade paperback form. With this team's chemistry, they could roll out She-Hulk wallpaper of Jen and her friends chatting while grocery shopping, and it would be enjoyable. I would have welcomed another dozen issues, but it's been fun watching She-Hulk unfurl in 2014. Whether you've been following along or not, I recommend She-Hulk #11 as a great standalone fight issue, with pages and pages of action to gaze upon.

I’m worried about the next issue the way I would worry about running into Earl at the grocery store after seeing him break down like that. Has the tension been broken by the storm and the shouting, giving us some respite at the beginning of the next issue? Or will Earl and this story just get immediately darker and scarier? We have to look at a lot of ugliness in this book, but like Townes Van Zandt sang, there ain’t no dark till something shines. This story will stay compelling if it shows us glimmers of something in town that’s worth saving.

Southern Bastards doesn’t have to be just a tall tale or an awesome spectacle. It could be more. The story isn’t that far-fetched; small towns get this dark. But it’s not scary unless we can see who is scared and why. I think Aaron and Latour are capable of showing us Craw County in a way that would make this story as personal to us as it is to them. They have said their comic book is influenced by Southern literature, and I think it has the potential to be Southern literature.

Aaron and Latour have picked Southern Bastards back up in a surprising but fitting way. They dove back into the story with a sinister antihero instead of the hero we were used to. The story has folded in on itself and reemerged as something fresh but recognizable. This shows a command of their themes and story structure that suggests great things to come.

At a higher level, Templesmith seems to be setting this series up with a good structure for an unfolding mystery. One of the strengths ofThe Squidder #2, is that Templesmith introduces some glimmers of hope to this dark story. He rolls his dense illustration-style out like wallpaper, and readers will know at a glance whether it appeals to them. Those who don’t like the art right away might find this book impenetrable. But those of us who do like the art won’t mind the heaviness, especially since some of the gory scenes are so over the top that they act as their own sort of visually hilarious release valves. The Squidder #2 is worth a look for anyone who wants to get in on the ground floor of a post-apocalyptic underdog story with extravagant tentacle action.

Whether he's illustrating the giant alien trees, the interiors of shabby rooms or the faces of characters, Howard provides a subtlety that Ellis's dialogue sometimes fails to deliver.

It's not all empathy-building, atmospherics and ominous hints in Wytches #2. Having created a backdrop of paternal love and simmering anxiety, Snyder and Jock unleash some straight-up ghastly creatures. This issue builds steadily to a triple cliffhanger, and I don't think Sailor's parents are going to be acting like she is imagining things for too much longer. I recommend Wytches for anyone who likes to be creeped out, but even non-horror people will appreciate this portrayal of a very loving, very stressed-out father.