Velvet #8 Review (Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting)

Velvet is such an awesome series. It’s an espionage thriller at its best except this one stars a woman instead of a Bond/Bourne-type who’s trying to figure out who framed her for the murders of said Bond/Bourne-types. 

Velvet #8 isn’t the deepest of issues - the title really isn’t either - but it’s an absolutely compelling story executed to perfection by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting and that’s more than enough. Velvet has taken the head of ARC-7 hostage and begun a daring break-in to the headquarters she used to work at, starting with a fake bomb threat to clear out the building. 

C.O.W.L. Volume 1: Principles of Power Review (Kyle Higgins, Rod Reis)

COWL is the Chicago Organized Workers League, aka the world’s first superhero labor union. Makes sense I suppose, not all superheroes have the resources of Bruce Wayne’s billions. But you know why no writers really focus too much on how superheroes get their rent paid? Because it’s not even remotely interesting!! 

It’s 1962 and after years of protecting Chicago from supervillains, COWL have disposed of them all, effectively making themselves redundant. So when it comes to renegotiating their contract with the city, they find themselves at a disadvantage as the mayor is interested in cutting down COWL’s services and save the city’s budget…. zzz…….

Chew #44 Review (John Layman, Rob Guillory)

The last few issues of Chew have been a bit slow with Tony being slowly edged out of the picture while his former partner Mason takes on his daughter Olive as his protégé. But, as the final page of Chew #43 revealed, things were about to get spicy in the kitchen – and do they ever in this issue!

Savoy, Caesar, Colby, Vorhees , Applebee and a ton of FDA officers arrive at the gates of The Collector’s place to take him down. But you can tell it’s not gonna happen – Tony AND Poyo aren’t there, and the Big Bad of the series always has to be beaten by the hero (and his chicken).

Demon Knights, Volume 2: The Avalon Trap Review (Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves)

Ever hear a little kid tell you a story? I remember when I was in high school and did work experience in a class for 8 year olds. One of the tasks was for them to write what they did on the weekend and then read it out. The essays usually went like:

“I went to the park and played football and then we went and had an ice cream and it was good and then I saw a bird and it was black and then I went to my friend’s house and we played in the pool and and and and and and” – that x 25 for a whole week! And that’s why I’ll never have kids!

Rocket Raccoon #5 Review (Skottie Young, Jake Parker)

I Am Groot. 

I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. 

I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I AM GROOT. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. I am Groot. 

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Volume 2: The Crime of the Century Review (Nick Spencer, Steve Lieber)

Well, that was a let-down! After a slew of bad Marvel comics, I thought I could rely on Superior Foes to come through and it totally dropped the ball. Put simply, Volume 2 is a birruva mess. 

The first book’s creative team of Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber is broken up with the pair only collaborating on two of the five issues, thank you insane Marvel shipping schedule! In addition, there are three writers and five or six artists also contributing work – this many cooks in the kitchen? Never a good sign! 

I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow, Volume 1 by Shunju Aono Review

Shizuo quits the salaryman job he hates and becomes a manga artist. Midlife crisis or awesome comic? It’s both! 

I’m kinda tempted to waffle - and I could waffle about this one a LOT - about Shizuo’s decision to follow his dreams and how inspiring it is and how people today blah blah blah, but I’ll stick to the book instead. I will say this though: the author, Shunju Aono, shows both sides to Shizuo’s decision: how it makes Shizuo look like a selfish, moronic douche, because he’s no longer supporting his teenage daughter and retired father, but also how brave he is to do something most people only fantasize about, to follow their dreams while they still can. 

Eternal Warrior: Days of Steel #1 Review (Peter Milligan, Cary Nord)

Towards the beginning of this issue, the Eternal Warrior says that he’s tired with all of the fighting and, before it’s over, you will be too! 

The Eternal Warrior is Gilad Anni-Padda, Earth’s champion who receives commands through the Geomancer and fights whoever because the planet said so. He doesn’t know why, all he knows is that he’s part of a larger plan. 

The last Eternal Warrior series I read, he was the Eternal Emperor some 3000 years in the future but for this miniseries, Days of Steel, Gilad is back in the past, somewhere in eastern Europe in the middle ages caught in a conflict between the Franks and the Magyars. 

Batman: The Dark Knight, Volume 2: Cycle of Violence Review (Gregg Hurwitz, David Finch)

The first volume of The Dark Knight didn’t do much to separate itself from the other Bat-titles but, judging by that first entry, you’d think this was a dumping ground for all of David Finch’s bad ideas - that lingerie-wearing bunny character sticks out as one of the most horrendous additions to the Batman universe in quite some time! 

But with Gregg Hurwitz jumping on board to write, the title seems to have some focus as a series that looks at Batman’s rogues gallery, specifically the lesser characters. I’d already read The Dark Knight Volume 3 before this one (it doesn’t matter, each volume is self-contained and can be read in order or not) and that one was a Mad Hatter story that, believe it or not, was really good. 

Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe Review (Christopher Hastings, Jacopo Camagni)

Fuck a duck (but don’t – unless its consensual), this book was baaaaaaaaaad!

I didn’t read Peter David’s X-Factor back in the day so I’m not familiar with Longshot. Here are his powers: he’s got psychometry which allows him to “read” the past from touching objects(?!) or something, he’s good looking and he’s lucky - yes, these last two are classed as “superpowers”!

Doctor Strange: The Oath Review (Brian K Vaughan, Marcos Martin)

This is one of those reviews you read after you’ve read the book but if you’re just looking for a quick yay or nay take on this, I thought that Doctor Strange: The Oath was an ok-ish story for an ok-ish character. I haven’t read many Strange books so I can’t say where this one stands in his canon/continuity but it’s not a terrible read. Does Doctor Strange even have a great book – who knows? If you want to read a Doctor Strange book, I’d say this is the best I’ve read yet (out of the two I have! The other being Mark Waid and Emma Rios’ Strange: The Doctor is Out). 

But I’m going to dip in and out of spoilers throughout this review so fair warning from here on out. 

The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff Review

In some parts of China some people believe that unmarried dead sons should be buried with a dead woman so they won’t be alone in the afterlife (I’m not sure if this is the case with unmarried dead daughters but given that Chinese society is patriarchal, I’m guessing no). 

After his older brother is accidentally killed it falls to Deshi Li to bring him a corpse bride within a week - either by grave-robbing or through even darker channels like murder! His search sends him deep into the countryside where he happens across Lily Chen, a girl desperate to escape her dead-end town and make a go of it in Shanghai. 

Cat Person by Seo Kim Review

If you read lots of contemporary indie comics like me, you’ll probably notice that Seo Kim’s Cat Person is a lot like them - A LOT. Checklist for an indie comic these days: cats, your slobbish self, and your other half. 

Kim loves her cat Jimmy and plays around with him in her place. Besides the cat, she makes comics about eating too many oreos, texting too much, and lots of other mundane activities. And finally she makes comics about her boyfriend. 

The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis Review

In Scarper Lee’s world, actual knives come crashing down from the sky when it rains, spinning wheels are TVs, and the weather is controlled by giant spiked mines floating in the sky, defying gravity. His parents are machines, his dad’s chained up in the shed, there are lions at the gates of his school, and a weird girl keeps following him. After his dad leaves the shed – either stolen or escaped – Scarper has to brave the strange world to get him back. But with his deathday fast approaching, will he live long enough?

Ok: The Motherless Oven is a weird book. That’ll be your reaction to the summary above and, should you choose to read it, that’ll likely be your reaction to the comic too. That said it’s much too easy to look at The Motherless Oven’s deliberately bizarre features and conclude that this is a difficult book to understand. Because if you look at it in its totality, it’s actually quite an ordinary coming-of-age story, one that’s been told a zillion times before.