Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #3

Well, Lunella Lafayette has been captured by the modernized Killer Folk, but Devil Dinosaur still manages to rescue her — and soon enough, she also rescues herself and the Kree Omni-Wave Projector she’s obsessed with. She ends up losing the device to one of the cavemen, and after that, her exploits being toted around by a huge T-rex are all over the news. We get to see Lunella’s secret laboratory under the school — where she’s also letting Devil Dinosaur hide out. Her school ends up catching fire, and she and D.D. help get everyone to safety, but next issue’s big green guest-star probably isn’t going to care about that.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s such a grandly fun comic. It’s got dinosaurs, punk rock cavemen, a gloriously weird kid heroine, and so much more. Please tell me you’re reading this.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4

A bunch of computer science majors — including Squirrel Girl and Nancy Whitehead — are trapped in the ’60s, while Dr. Doom prepares to begin conquering the future. While Doreen plans to sneak into Doom’s hideout in Central Park and heist away his time machine, the rest of the students start building small EMP generators so they can shut down his electronics equipment. Unfortunately, Doom can’t be defeated nearly so easily. Luckily, Squirrel Girl has a few surprise allies from the future who can help her out.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Another fun comic. We almost get Doreen to defuse yet another major supervillain by talking to him and making friends — and the guest star at the end is pretty amazing.

All-New All-Different Avengers #4

Edwin Jarvis is employed by the Avengers again — not that he’s very happy about it. I don’t know if he’s just sick of butlering for superheroes or if he’s peeved about the Avengers’ new HQ — a run-down airfield in New Jersey. But the team gets called out to a mission before Jarvis can finish disapproving of the decor — a completely unexpected hurricane has hit Atlantic City. A metahuman called Cyclone is responsible, and dozens of people have been endangered. The new kids knock Cyclone down, but Vision puts him down for the count — in the most creepy way possible. And Thor lays a liplock on Captain America — and the reason why starts everyone wondering if she’s actually a thunder god…

Verdict: Thumbs up. Very nice superhero action, plus fun dialogue and interactions.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3

Squirrel Girl is trapped in the past, and no one in the present even remembers her, except for her roommate Nancy. Doctor Doom is hanging around gloating about his triumphs and earning the ire of passing superheroes, but Nancy, hoping she can get him to take her to the past to rescue Doreen, keeps telling everyone he’s just a cosplayer. Meanwhile, back in the past, Doreen has rounded up a bunch of other people who’ve been banished to the past — but when he and Nancy show up, he decides he should just stay in the past and use his advanced tech and knowledge of future events to conquer the world before any superheroes start showing up. That couldn’t possibly work, could it?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Just as much fun as ever. Stand out moments must be Jubilee taking a selfie with Doctor Doom, the fateful Wikipedia article from the future that tells how Doom won, and as always, the wonderful, madcap dialogue.

Lumberjanes #21

April wants to earn her knot-tying badge, but the camp counselor in charge of knot-tying, Seafarin’ Karen, decrees that everyone in the cabin has to pass for anyone to get the badge. Karen reveals that she’s been trapped at the camp ever since her ship was hijacked by selkies, who still float not far from shore to taunt Karen. They claim she’s stolen the skins they use to change into seals, and she claims they use selkie magic to cause whirlpools every time anyone tries to get to the boat. But Karen is, like almost everyone else at camp, hiding a secret…

Verdict: Thumbs up. So wonderfully weird. The selkies are hilarious, April’s homemade bestiary notebook is hilarious, Riley is hilarious, and Seafarin’ Karen is hilarious and also pretty scary. Also, that cover is just fantastic, isn’t it?

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1

So what do you get when an immense, quasi-intelligent tyrannosaur travels through time and meets a schoolgirl with a genius intellect and limited social skills? You get a great big bucket of glory, that’s what you get.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Oh, come on, you didn’t even need that much plot outline, did you? Brandon Mongclare and Amy Reeder write the story, and Natacha Bustos provides the art. We get a wonderful heroine in intelligent, awkward, arrogant Lunella Lafayette — and in the original Moon Boy’s brief appearance, he winds up being more interesting and appealing than he’s been in most of the other times we’ve seen him. Devil Dinosaur himself is still a bit of a cypher, but I’m sure that’ll change in future issues.

Itty Bitty Hellboy: The Search for the Were-Jaguar! #1

Art Baltazar and Franco bring Mike Mignola’s pulp horror heroes back in kid-friendly form. Hellboy and Liz are on the way to the Island of Rogers, where all the Rogers the Homunculi live. They only have one pair of underwear, and the one who wears that single pair is the leader of the whole island. So this mission of mercy is to bring all of them underwear. Because, good grief, those homunculi need undies! Meanwhile, Rasputin and Karl are on their way to the island to photograph the mysterious were-jaguar, but they’re soon captured by the Rogers. Hellboy and Liz meet up with Kate from the BPRD, and Lobster Johnson and Smitty go after the bad guys, with limited success. Will the Rogers ever get their undies? Will the were-jaguar make his appearance?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s always wonderful to see Baltazar and Franco making great all-ages comics, and they really out-do themselves when it comes to these normally-dark characters.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2

Some dire villain has used a convenient Time Platform to erase Squirrel Girl and Tippy-Toe from the current timeline while also sending them back in time to the 1960s! And the only person who can remember her at all is her roommate Nancy! Can Doreen and Tippy get accustomed to life in the ’60s? Can they make contact with other time travelers? Can they figure out how to get back to the present? Will Nancy find out who’s responsible for this villainy? Maybe someone who owns a Time Platform and hates Squirrel Girl and is on the cover of this comic anyway?

Verdict: Thumbs up. All the stuff we love about Squirrel Girl, just transported back to the ’60s. There are lots of little moments to appreciate here — Doreen’s newspaper ad trying to get in touch with other time travelers is really excellent, for example.

All Star Section Eight #5

Probably the most absolutely impressive comic book released last week, if not all last month, if not nearly all of the year. Sixpack wakes up from a massive blackout to find the Phantom Stranger knocking out some fantastic gangsta rap. The Stranger is soon joined by Etrigan the Demon, and they both rap about how great it would be if DC would release a trade paperback of Garth Ennis and John McCrea’s “Demon” series from the mid-1990s. And he meets up with Jean de Baton, Flemgem, the Defenestrator, Friendly Fire, and Shakes — the dead members of Section Eight.

They throw him back into the waking world — in fact, they might have thrown him a little too hard, because he finds himself looking at himself from the first issue of this series — an alcoholic art critic, just fallen off the wagon, freezing to death in the snow. We briefly ponder the mystery of Dogwelder — and Sixpack gets one more visitor. Is this the guy who’ll join Section Eight at last?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A comic manages to go from gross-out humor, rap parody, an in-comic advertisement for a trade paperback that namechecks DC editor Scott Nybakken as well as Marvel editor Jen Grunwald, and closes with a deeply touching moment where Sixpack tries to save himself from freezing to death in an alley. It’s not just something that’s fun to read — it’s something that must be read, and if you’re not waiting desperately to see what Ennis and McCrea manage to do in this miniseries final issue, you just ain’t paying attention.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1

As the cover jokes, it’s a brand new #1 issue for this series less than a year after the first one debuted. The fanaticism for #1 issues at Marvel is something that really should be put under control.

Once we get some people rescued from a burning building and Doreen and Nancy moved into their new apartment, the bulk of this issue focuses on a visit to NYC by Squirrel Girl’s mom, which Nancy is utterly delighted about, because Maureen Green has the very best stories about Doreen’s squirrelly childhood. And on top of that, there’s an attack by Brain Drain, an old-school supervillain who’s basically a brain and a couple eyeballs inside a robot body. Can our heroes stop Brain Drain? Even more important — can they reform him?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s still, pound-for-pound, the talkiest comic on the stands. But it’s a lot of good talking, a lot of great jokes, a lot of clever storytelling, and a lot of awesomeness spread all over the page.

The New Avengers #2

The Maker — slightly better known as the evil Ultimate Universe version of Reed Richards — has unleashed a bunch of crystal-headed zombies on Paris. And even worse, he’s managed to co-opt some genetically enhanced S.H.I.E.L.D. agents — enhanced with gamma radiation, in fact, giving them powers similar to the Hulk’s! Luckily, the A.I.M. team has a couple serious heavy-hitters on their side — White Tiger, with all the power of a Tiger God, and Squirrel Girl, with all the powers of a squirrel! They make short work of the crystal-headed agents, but unfortunately, the giant scorpion-gorilla monster who accompanied the agents manages to co-opt Ava and Doreen next!

Max Brashear realizes that all the crystal-headed people are still alive, just with a higher-dimensional non-consciousness imposed over their own. Can the A.I.M. scientists, Wiccan, Songbird, and Power Man figure out a way to counteract the dimensional frequency and returning everyone to normal? And what ancient powers are working with the Maker now?

Verdict: Thumbs up. I’m still grooving on Al Ewing’s storytelling and Gerardo Sandoval’s funky fresh artwork. I enjoyed the threat escalation in the story, too. The hulked-out agents are threats because of their strength, but they get handled by the Avengers’ heavyweight contenders — and then the heavyweight contenders get turned into threats themselves. It’s wonderfully well-done.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #8

The monstrous mind-controlling Norse squirrel goddess Ratatoskr has turned everyone against Squirrel Girl, including Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boi! Luckily, she stole Spider-Man’s web-shooters, and she manages to subdue her former allies and Ratatoskr, too! And then the rest of New York shows up and frees them all. Meanwhile, Doreen’s roommate Nancy Whitehead has traveled to Asgard to help Thor and Odinson find out how Ratatoskr escaped from captivity. And it turns out it was Loki! After winning Nancy’s eternal loyalty by turning himself into her fanfic cartoon character Cat Thor, Loki agrees to help round the monstrous squirrel back up. But will they be able to stop her murderous rampage in time?

Verdict: Thumbs up. This is an incredibly dialogue-heavy issue, and it’s still so much fun that you barely notice how talky everything is. Most of the fun goes on in Asgard, where Loki — or Cat Thor — provides the best of this issue’s laughs. I am disappointed that this series is getting the axe already, but it’s good that it’ll be back again in another couple of months.

Starfire #3

Key West is facing a couple deadly threats — an unknown castaway with mind control powers who manages to kill all the crew in a out-of-commission cruise ship and an underground monster who likes to eat random people on the beach. Can Starfire defeat these villains? Will she learn that you can’t drink baking soda? Will she find an unexpected ally?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Super-cool art and super-cool writing. The humor is quite wonderful — the aforementioned baking soda joke was pretty fantastic. And our special guest star is someone I should’ve expected, especially considering the writers, but it was still great to see her again.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #7

Well, everyone in New York has gone a little fight-crazy. Squirrel Girl, along with her roommate Nancy and her fellow animal-themed crimefighters Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boi have been dealing with people fighting in the streets, in classrooms, and everywhere else. The soon realize that Girl Squirrel is actually Ratatoskr, a Norse squirrel god who specializes in provoking people with slanderous gossip. Doreen figures they should ask Thor for help and takes everyone to Avengers Mansion — where everyone is arguing! And so, to keep everyone from arguing and saying mean things to each other, Squirrel Girl spends less than 30 seconds beating up Spider-Man, Captain America, Steve Rogers, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. As one does!

Luckily, Cap’s phone has Thor on speed-dial — the Odinson and Thor are in a cafe trying to break up fights with people who are arguing pancakes vs. waffles, but they know all about Ratatoskr. While they and Nancy go to Asgard to prepare a cage to hold the rodent god, Squirrel Girl, Chipmunk Hunk, and Koi Boi battle Ratatoskr — but can even Squirrel Girl’s legendary abilities handle the lying squirrel’s monstrous might?

Verdict: Thumbs up. There is so much going on in this comic. It’s amazing they can fit all of this into one issue. It’s funny, it’s exciting, it’s a little bit scary — and we even get to see a hint of Doreen’s fabled badassery.

Giant-Size Little Marvel: A vs. X #2

It’s more cartoon fighting between the pint-sized Avengers and X-Men! First, they fight over dodge ball, then they fight over who’s going to be friends with the new kids, Zachary and Zoe.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Skottie Young’s cartooning is just outstanding. Should I feel bad that I don’t recognize Zachary and Zoe? I assume I should know who they are…

Today’s Cool Links:

• What if horror master Thomas Ligotti reviewed pizzas?
• A quick look at Sherlock Holmes through infographics.
• If conservatives’ arguments about traditional/Biblical marriage don’t make sense to you, it’s because you think of marriage as something people do when they’re in love, and they think of it as something a man does to his servant.
• It’s flabbergasting that people out there can be so pointlessly cruel to other people. But pointless cruelty is one of the things we learn to expect from wingnut militias.

Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #1

Skottie Young glorious cartooning gets to move off the alternate covers and into a full comic of its own. Believe it or not, this is part of the Secret Wars crossover, though it seems to have very little connection to anything with Battleworld. It’s basically a whole comic book full of the Avengers and the X-Men looking for excuses to get into hilarious fights.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Marvel’s characters as particularly funny cartoon babies is something I will never, ever get tired of. I’d love it if they made this a regular series.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6

In this issue, we meet a new supervillain — Hippo the Hippo, who is a bipedal talking hippo! He’s very angry and wants to rob a bank that Doreen and her roommate Nancy are guarding. But before Squirrel Girl can kick his ass, we meet new heroes — Chipmunk Hunk, who can talk to chipmunks, has chipmunk powers, and is awfully good looking, and Koi Boi, who can talk to goldfish and slowly grow to fit the size of his container. After Doreen convinces Hippo to turn from a life of crime, she decides maybe Nancy has the power to talk to animals, too, so they head to the zoo so Nancy can talk to every animal there. Of course, a crimefighting emergency presents itself, but before Doreen can get into her costume, the day is instead saved by a teensy squirrel superhero called Girl Squirrel! But is Girl Squirrel friend… or foe?

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s very funny — and insane to a degree that you almost never find in comics today. The description I have above is seriously toned down, because if I mentioned all the crazy stuff that happened in this issue, it would’ve taken another three paragraphs to tell it all. Yes, this is absolutely a recommendation.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5

While Doreen’s roommate Nancy is being held hostage inside the Statue of Liberty, she and her fellow hostages end up telling stories about Squirrel Girl. As one does, of course. But everyone else has some weird ideas about Squirrel Girl. Someone tells a tale about her adventures in World War II as Captain America’s sidekick. (This story also includes the character find of 2015: Bass Lass, a woman wearing a fish mask.) Other stories assume she’s a time traveler (with lots of historical Squirrel Girls as helpers) and confuse her with Spider-Man.

Verdict: Thumbs up. It’s an excellently funny story, with a ton of great gags. Bass Lass is just the high point of the story, and there are lots of other great characters and jokes. If you haven’t been reading this before — well, you’re crazy. But this is an excellent point to jump onto the bandwagon.

Spider-Gwen #4

Gwen Stacy has an encounter with some close family friends — and two people she dreads dealing with the most — Ben and May Parker. Their nephew Peter had once experimented on himself to turn himself into a monster called the Lizard, and in the ensuing battle between the Lizard and Spider-Woman, Peter had died. The public and the media blamed her for his death — and every time Gwen sees Ben and May, it’s a reminder of what she still thinks of as her greatest failure. But do Ben and May blame Spider-Woman — and by extension, Gwen? Or are they able to forgive?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice low-key story — but a wonderfully tense one, too. Gwen is on eggshells the entire time she’s in the Parkers’ home — a very realistic reaction. In our more familiar Marvel Universe, Peter Parker didn’t have to worry about such a guilt-inducing situation, since her father had already died…

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4

Well, it’s a foregone conclusion that Squirrel Girl defeats Galactus, right? So how does it happen? Her powers involve squirrel strength and agility and the ability to talk to squirrels — she really shouldn’t stand a chance against the cosmic-powered Devourer of Worlds, right? So how does she do it? And do you really think I’m going to spoil the surprise?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good story. Super-weird story, really. Fun art, too. Some definite high points involve the letter column on the second page; how squirrels see Galactus; Galactus dissing Thanos; Galactus’s grubby keyboard and half-eaten Twinkies; and what happens when someone finally figures out Doreen’s secret identity.

Convergence: The New Teen Titans #1

The classic-era Teen Titans — Wonder Girl, Starfire, Nightwing, Cyborg, Changeling, and (ugh) Kole and Jericho — have been stuck under the dome without their powers for a year. When it finally drops and their powers return, they have to face the Doom Patrol from the Tangent Universe. Both teams are heroes, but will they realize it in time? And will they be able to work together? Besides all that, Nightwing is questioning his marriage to Starfire, Cyborg is slowly dying as his parts wear out, and Donna is missing her husband (ugh) Terry Long.

Verdict: Basically a thumbs up. I still hate the concept of this series, but this one at least hits on the idea that groups of superheroes should try to work together to save their worlds, rather than try to kill each other. It’s nice to see Marv Wolfman writing these characters, even if there’s too much of Donna mooning over the horrible Terry Long — plus it’s always great to see artwork by Nicola Scott.

Today’s Cool Links:

• DC Comics is finally getting serious about marketing clothing, action figures, and TV shows to girls.
• Brian Anderson has a new Kickstarter running for his comic about a gay Mormon superhero. Go support him!
• The Pie to the Face game is way funnier than it should be.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3

Squirrel Girl needs to get to the moon to stop Galactus. She has Iron Man’s armor — but that just makes Whiplash show up, and then there’s a big ol’ fight that wastes some more time. Plus there’s a bank robbery, and Doreen’s roommate Nancy has been taken hostage! Doreen takes out the bank robbers, too — using powered armor that is actually made of squirrels which is pretty much the weirdest and most awesome thing on this or any other planet. But can Squirrel Girl still make it to the moon in time? And how can a girl with squirrel powers, along with one backup squirrel, defeat the Devourer of Worlds?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Again, the squirrel armor is just gloriously audacious. And Nancy’s denunciation of “sucky Larrys” is probably the best single line in any comic this week. And for a comedy book, the beginning of Doreen’s confrontation with Galactus is appropriately epic.

Lumberjanes #12

Trapped in a dinosaur-filled lost world with the cranky shapeshifting Bear Woman, Molly and Mal make their plans to escape — by retrieving the Bear Woman’s lost glasses! And back in the somewhat more normal world, April, Jo, and Ripley are still gunning for merit badges, finally settling on the scrapbooking badge. But they’ll have to decide whether they want to win the scrapbook competition or just make a scrapbook they can all be proud of.

Verdict: Thumbs up. I love the fact that we’ve got one storyline that’s a genuine crisis — Molly and Mal are stuck where they have to worry about dinosaur attacks and may never get home — and one that’s an absolute non-crisis — April, Jo, and Ripley want merit badges! — and they’re both treated as equally earth-shattering, and that makes both of them even funnier.