The new hotness in comic book movies journalism is click baiting via casting rumors without any sort of source. Granted it’s nothing really new, late 2013/earl 2014 has already made me sick of it thanks to “OMG THE ROCK SAID SOMETHING ABOUT GREEN LANTERN IN A HASH TAG” or “YEAH MISS MARVEL’S TOTES GONNA BE IN AVENGERS 2, TRUST US, DESPITE US BEING WRONG ABOUT THESE SORT OF THINGS MOST OF THE TIME!”
(( Yes I too find this a tad hypercritical coming from the guy who’s written for Bleeding Cool. But at least that site’s track record is pretty good)).
Back on topic, if it’s not on Variety, Entertainment Weekly or any site of that nature and pedigree, chances are it’s fake. Believe it or not, Batmans-news-movie-geeks.com is probably not your best best for valid movie news, nor is any site, that doesn’t think Marvel’s going to call Carol Danvers Captain Marvel when she makes her debut. //rant over
Here’s some quality picks that dropped this week:
Baltimore Chapter of Bones #2
Lobster Johnson Get the Lobster #1
Action Comics #28
Batman Black and White #6
Trillium #6
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1
Lazarus #6
Loki Agent of Asgard #1
Punisher #1
Fox #4
Regular Show #9
Archer & Armstrong #0.2014
Reviews:
Ms Marvel #1
G. Willow Wilson/Adrian Alphona/Ian Herring
Marvel, $2.99, 20 pages
Yeah, this is very much the comic I was referring to last week when I called it “The most important release by the Big 2 in 2014”
Not to get all SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOGGER on y’all, but while Marvel’s definitely doing better at getting more female lead titles out there, they ( as well as a lot of companies) could be doing better with book by female creators, and with minority leads. So Ms. Marvel fits that demand. Now the question remains, is said comics any good?
Of course it is, don’t be stupid, did you see who’s attached to this title?!
G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona were not the names I was expecting to hear when the book was formerly announced, but I’m glad it’s them. Wilson, who you may remember from Vertigo’s “Air“, is a great female comics writer who should have been given a book of this caliber and hype years ago if there was any SOCIAL JUSTICE in this world (#sorrynotsorr). She’s a proven talent, as is Alphona, who you SHOULD know from his amazing run on Marvel’s Runaways with Brain K Vaughn. No it’s no surprise that they deliver with this more-than-solid-debut.
Granted the teenager getting super powers story has been told over and over again, going back to a nerd getting bit by a spider, there’s enough fresh ideas tossed into this story to make it work. Wilson does an excellent fleshing out young Kamala Khan in a debut story that does an excellent job of showing off Muslim Culture without pandering or being too preachy. Alphona’s, with Ian Herring’s colors, art is also great. It’s bright, clean, and while it doesn’t stylistically look like your traditional Marvel book, continues that theme of nontraditional art in a Marvel Super Hero, like Hawkeye before it.
There’s no reason not to but this book honestly. It’s fun, and it introduces another cool toy in Marvel’s already massive and awesome toy box. It’s also a nice warm up for fan waiting for Carol Danver’s return next month in Captain Marvel volume 2. I wish nothing but the best for the book, and am eagerly looking forward to issue 2 already.
Also rest in peace Rainbow Toots (2014-2014). We hardly knew ye.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man #8
Nick Spencer/Steve Lieber/ Rachelle Rosenberg
Marvel, $2.99, 20 pages
I never thought I’d laugh that hard at a “Thanks Obama” joke in 2014 (this is probably a lie btw), but #SUPFOES, has gone and proven me wrong. Also I will now refer to this book as #SUPFOES because that is easier to type than 4 words (Thank you based Nick Spencer).
Steve Lieber returns to the book after taking an issue off and everything is okay. Well in terms of quality of the book, not so much for the actual members of the Sinister Six. But Lieber’s panel work is fantastic, especially in the early pages of the issue, crammed with all sort of fun visual gags and great art.
Spencer and Lieber have the Six in an odd situation and it’s great. 3 of the members want 1 of the them dead. Said one of is celebrating the biggest success in his recent history, and one of them is dealing with…..well it’s Shocker and hilarious, I’ll leave it at that. The issue is great, and the ending is crazy, especially if you’ve been keeping up what with’s going on in Daredevil.
There’s a rumor (UGH) floating around that #SUPFOES is ending at issue 15 based on an Amazon listing (again, Bleeding Cool so it’s a little more believable). Nick Spencer has stated on Twitter that this book has always skated the thin line between hit and cancelled. Either way, there’s plenty of time to “Save” this book, which you should be reading because IT IS GREAT, which I’ll continue to say until it stops being be. Which is hopefully a few year from now.
Chris Troy, local boomerang enthuiast, writes weekly for Forbidden Planet NYC, and can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr @theanarchris
