Aliens and Sedition Acts

Saucer Country #2

Arcadia Alvarado, Democratic Governor of New Mexico, has just announced she’s running for president — mere moments after realizing that she’d recently been abducted by aliens and that they are definitely not coming in peace. Harry, her chief-of-staff, and Chloe, the Republican consultant who’s helping troubleshoot her campaign, don’t really believe her, but Harry’s loyal to his boss, and Arcadia offers Chloe permission to write a tell-all book about her if her campaign fails. They hire Professor Kidd, a disgraced academic who can talk to the invisible spirits of the Pioneer 10 couple, to see if he can assist on the quest. And Arcadia’s ex-husband, who apparently has a past history of seeing weird stuff, goes to see a hypnotherapist to help him straighten out his head — and gets it messed up worse than before.

Verdict: Thumbs up. This series has just barely started, so there is still time for you to jump on board and enjoy this one — so go get it. The story is fantastic, the mystery is developing excellently, and the entire thing is even more fun than I was expecting. Go get it, people, go get it.

The Unwritten #36

The Tinker, elderly Golden-Age superhero, wakes up from being dead to find himself on an endless, decaying staircase. Eventually, he falls off — and falls and falls and falls — before landing on a great plain where a vast number of refugees — all from various forms of fiction — are fleeing something they call “the Wave” that will completely annihilate anything it reaches. Soon afterwards, the Tinker meets up with our old pal Pauly Bruckner, furiously foul-mouthed storybook rabbit, still desperate to regain his human form. The superhero and the bunny wander the countryside, encountering a castle of Pauly’s children, going through the Tinker’s inventory of legendary swords, and withstanding a stampede of the most famous locations in fiction. But do they have any chance against the Wave itself?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s great to see both Pauly and the Tinker again, and just as fun to watch some of the great elements of fiction track past, too — the Lone Ranger, Alice in Wonderland, Sancho Panza, Stormbringer, the Eye of Zoltec, the House of Secrets, the House of Leaves, and so many more. I think I love these once-a-year visits with Pauly more than anything else in this comic…

Batwoman #8

Once again, we’ve got several different stories told around different characters and time periods. Batwoman fight off a bunch of Gotham’s urban legends, Agent Chase pressures Kate to use her relationship with Maggie Sawyer to get info for her kidnapping of Sune from police custody. We also get to see the Hook’s origin, Jacob Kane keeps trying to rouse Bette from her coma, and Batwoman gets an unexpected ally in the fight against Medusa.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great story, great art, loads of creepy stuff and excellent action. My lone complaint is that this is the last issue we’ll get to enjoy Amy Reeder‘s fantastic artwork.

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April 16, 2012 · Filed under Batwoman, Saucer Country, Unwritten

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