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 Wicked + the Divine #11

Shall I trust that you’ve all heard of Wham Episodes?

That’s what happens when you’re reading a story or watching a show, and there’s a plot twist so sudden and shocking that it marks a point where nothing will ever, ever be the same again.

Henry Blake’s death in M*A*S*H? Wham Episode. The destruction of Vulcan in the movie reboot of Star Trek? Wham Episode. “I did it thirty-five minutes ago” in Watchmen? Wham Episode.

In this issue, Baphomet tries to kill Inanna. He maybe succeeds, he maybe doesn’t. But that’s not the Wham Episode.

Everything that happens after that is the Wham Episode.

Verdict: Thumbs up. No, of course I’m not giving you spoilers. This is too good and too horrible. You’ll have to experience it for yourself.

Rat God #5

Clark Elwood has been blackmailed into going along with Peck’s plan to kill his father and take over the cult in the tiny, backwards village of Lame Dog, but they’re effortlessly found out and captured. Peck’s father ties them in the dungeon to be eaten by the rat god. The monster devours Peck, but Kito’s brother Chuk helps Clark escape before being killed by the god, but Clark and Kito are still being pursued by the rat god and the mad cult leader? Will they manage to destroy their foes? And even if they can, will they be able to escape from Lame Dog?

Verdict: Thumbs up. An excellent end to the series — and as always, amazing, glorious artwork by the great Richard Corben.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Hey, Lubbockites! Did you know there’s a Kickstarter for a new comic convention in the Hub City?
• A sweet analysis of Arnold’s greatest action movie quips.
• Merciful heavens, the Duggars are horrible people.
• And finally, a palate cleanser: baby goats in pajamas!

Red Sonja #16

Sonja has died — or almost so — and meets Death herself, who looks a lot like Sonja, actually. Death wants her on her honor guard, but Sonja has never been one to serve anyone, and she’d much rather try her luck at killing Death herself. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the townspeople are tending to Sonja, trying to figure out a way to cure her, when she gets unexpected visitors — the great artisans she’d collected in a previous storyarc: Gribaldi the chef, Aneva the courtesan, Rat the beast-tamer, Osric the swordsman, Plaitius the soothsayer, and Rakaua the dancer. And then more visitors: from the very first storyarc in Gail Simone’s run on this title, Ayla, Nias, and Dark Annisia, resurrected with the aid of an alchemist’s potion. Can Sonja defeat Death? Can Sonja be brought back from the brink of death?

Verdict: Thumbs up. This may be Simone’s final issue on this series — it’s certainly written like a final issue. If it’s not the last one, Simone is leaving herself a big hurdle to top this one. It’s hard to get much more epic than a duel with Death and a reunion with all your friends. Great story, great art — more evidence that this has been a thoroughly glorious fantasy series.

The Sandman: Overture #5

The mad sun has thrown Morpheus into a black hole — where not even he may be able to escape. He gets a brief respite when his mother pulls him out for a chat, but while he wants to save the universe, she only wants to manipulate him into staying with her forever — and when he refuses, she drops him back into the black hole. But then he’s re-rescued by Destiny, who’s frustrated that there’s a ship in the middle of his garden — and it’s clearly been built by Dream, even though Dream has no memory of creating it. And the cat version of Dream has been keeping busy by traveling to the worlds being destroyed by the mad stars and rescuing people.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Not a lot of it makes sense yet — hopefully, that will come in the final issue — but the story is told with a great deal of style with a lot of gorgeous art by J.H. Williams III.

All-New Hawkeye #3

Kate Bishop and Clint Barton are aboard a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier waiting to find out what the spy agency is going to do with the mutant kids they rescued from A.I.M. Maria Hill strongly hints to them that they should do something to extract the kids from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s care before they’re used as weapons. After a few pages of whuppin’ and a ride out of the helicarrier on a flying car, they get the kids home — but how long will they be allowed to keep mutant super-psychic kids?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Great art and a nice story. A nice storytelling gimmick, too, with the pastel watercolor story of young Clint and Barney’s trip to the circus told along the bottom of each page.

Today’s Cool Links:

• A very long but extremely fascinating look at Russia’s secret troll agency and their many schemes and dirty tricks.
• This short silent story has a great, funny twist on the Superman-Wonder Woman romance.
• Texts From Hieronymus Bosch.
• The world’s largest whoopie cushion — and the cat who must endure the indignity of it all.

Princess Ugg, Volume 1

Princess Ulga hails from the backwater mountain kingdom of Grimmeria, and she’d be perfectly content to spend her time as she always has — fighting rampaging giants. But she’s made a promise to her mother to travel to the far-off kingdom of Atraesca to attend Princess School — she is to learn arts like diplomacy and anything else she can pick up to help her people in their daily lives.

But while Ulga is amazingly competent in matters of war, weapons, animal handling, acrobatics, and athletics, she definitely stands out from her more prim and proper classmates. And when she gets the A-list alpha-bitch Princess Julifer for a roommate, things don’t get much better. She has trouble doing all the princessy things she’s being taught, like caligraphy, fashion, tea parties, lute playing, and her rough and tumble manner makes her the laughing stock of the school as they cruelly nickname her “Princess Ugg.” She has some teachers on her side, and some teachers opposing her — and even her own people believe she’s betrayed them in their fight against the giants.

Can Ulga learn the arts of princessing? Can she gain the acceptance of her classmates? Can she handle the trials of Julifer and her obstinate pet unicorn? Will she get any education? Will she give up? And what’s her secret mission in Atraesca?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Ted Naifeh is best known for comics like “Gloomcookie” and “Courtney Crumrin,” and this comic has gotten a lot less attention than it really deserves. It’s a fun comic, and I think it’s worth reading.

It’s definitely in the “Empowered Princess” sub-genre of all-ages comics, and Ulga is definitely one of the more unusual girl-power heroines to make it into the comics — a genuine barbarian warrior trying — and mostly failing — to fit in with more traditional princesses. She’s the ultimate tomboy, up against the sneers and snubs of the ultimate junior-high cheerleading squad. If that ain’t a tale for the ages, I don’t know what is.

Believe it or not, even though I do consider this an all-ages book, there’s probably gotta be a slight warning for nudity. Ya don’t see anyone’s goodies, but there are multiple shower scenes — the first time to contrast the low-glamour edge of Ulga’s typical morning with the typical morning of a princess like Julifer — and later to contrast the princesses’ slimmer bodies with Ulga’s muscular one. One could argue it’s a matter of body-positivity — but I don’t think I’m comfortable with that — the princesses are thin, and Ulga is athletic, if not outright musclebound. The only people who are heavier than normal are teachers at the school, and they’re not really the focal characters. To make things a little shorter (too late!), parents, thar be veiled nudity ahoy, so if that ain’t what you want your kids reading, don’t get it for ’em.

Having said that — it’s a great story with great art, and I had a blast reading it. If you or your kids want to read a fun comic with a rough-around-the-edges heroine who kicks serious ass, you’re probably going to want to pick this one up.

Convergence: Shazam! #2

While Gotham Gaslight attacks Fawcett City with zeppelins and bombs, Captain Marvel flies over to Victorian Gotham but is attacked by the Victorian Batman — and he has a surprisingly tough time. But before long, the real bad guy makes his appearance — Mr. Atom, mentally controlling Gotham’s wonderful Victorian villains. Who will prevail, and who’s the mind behind Mr. Atom?

Verdict: Thumbs up. The high point was Batman’s Victorian rogues’ gallery. Cap and crew were reliably heroic and wondrous. The main quibble is that our heroes never really reacted the way they should’ve to Victorian Gotham’s destruction.

Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters #2

The WWII heroes of Earth-X are up against the Nazis and a bunch of dead robot superheroes from the future. There’s a temporary truce between Plas and his allies and the Nazis, who are all, after all, humans from the same Earth. But that truce doesn’t last long when the villainous Silver Ghost figures he can take out Plas and get control of the robots for himself.

Verdict: Thumbs down. There’s basically no reason to have the Freedom Fighters in here at all. They’re strictly background players. And even if you consider Plastic Man’s origins as a straight man to all the weirdos in Jack Cole’s comics, this version of Plas just doesn’t have anything funny to react to. The art is pretty great, though.

Convergence: Booster Gold #2

The older Booster meets up with Ted Kord! There is a joyous reunion, but this Booster is terribly ill — he’s overdosed on chronal energy, so he’s aging to death at top speed. Meanwhile, the younger Booster, Rip Hunter, and Goldstar escape the Legion of Super-Heroes, but the only way to save older Booster may be to expose him to even more chronal energy, leading to a surprising transformation.

Verdict: Thumbs up. This was a lot better than I was expecting — lots of emotional heft and a wonderful surprise ending.

Today’s Cool Links:

• The best news about the end of Convergence is that it opens up all of the DC multiverse again.
• I think the erasure of the X-Men and Fantastic Four from Marvel’s merchandising is a fairly weird story.
• The death toll for the Qatar World Cup is already staggering — and they haven’t even come close to finishing construction yet.
• Need some happy in your day? Here’s a bird taking a bath in its owner’s hands.

Wytches #6

The final issue of this short but epic horror series sees Charlie Rooks deep in the Wytches’ caverns trying to find and rescue his daughter Sailor. But if they can escape from the hordes of monsters, if they can make it back to the surface world, if they can make it back home — they still have to deal with the problem that everyone they know has sold them out, and the wytches are still coming closer and closer. What escape is there from the inevitable?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Brilliant horror that digs deep into the bones of what frightens us about family and friends. Is there any betrayal worse than the ones that hit closest to home? Beautiful, scratchy, gnawing art to go along with the terror.

The Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time #3

Part of me wants to spoil as little of this as possible, even though most of what we see is setting up the confrontations brewing in the next issue. But we learn more about the Zombie Priest’s past and about the face he wears on his hat. Longfingers makes a break from the Arab and plans to kill the Goon. And the Goon warns Frankie to prepare to flee the town if anything happens to him.

Verdict: Thumbs up. This series is filling me with dread like nothing else out there. I worry the final end of the Goon is coming, and though I don’t want it to happen, it’s also impossible to look away, because this story is being crafted perfectly, and it leaves you wanting more and more and more of it.

Ghosted #20

Well, Jackson Winters is finally dead as a doornail. And Markus Schrecken forces Nina Bloodcrow to read from her blasphemous Book of the Dead, which turns her into a demonic monster and summons Death itself, so Markus can finally take the secrets of death for himself. Is there anyone left who can save the world?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Oh, I know, another really short description, ’cause there’s a nice twist early on, and then lots of excellent stuff that I don’t want to spoil. But the series ends absolutely wonderfully. It’s been a very fun story — and we close with a nice note from series creator Josh Williamson.

Daredevil #15.1

We get a pair of stories from Daredevil’s past in this issue. First, we learn how Matt Murdock learned how to reconcile apprehending criminals as Daredevil with defending them in court as an attorney. Essentially, he got assigned to the case by his old law firm when he was just a junior attorney and ordered to knuckle down and act like a real lawyer — figure out how to defend him no matter how you felt about him. In the second story, we learn about a time when Daredevil took on the extremely low-rent villain Diablo — and learned he’d actually figured out a way to make himself a threat, thanks to a street drug that painfully boosted all of his senses.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Two nice stories, excellent writing and art — it’s just an all-around cool comic, and if you’re not reading this series yet, it’s alright as a jumping-on point.

Convergence: The New Teen Titans #2

It’s the classic Teen Titans vs. the Tangent Universe’s Doom Patrol, with Cyborg’s life on the line — not to mention the fate of at least one universe.

The backup story is the first glimpse we get of the new “Robin: Son of Batman” series.

Verdict: Thumbs down. Loved Nicola Scott’s artwork, but I just couldn’t get into the story.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Ladies and gents: Bad Lip Reading presents “Redneck Avengers.”
• Hey, parents with kids who love comics: DC has some online all-ages comics for you! Including the brilliant “Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade!”
• Man, no one better mess around with the Grey Poupon.
• I’ve always believed we should burn the Confederate flag a lot more than we do.

A-Force #1

In the world created after the Marvel multiverse has been destroyed, the nation of Arcadia is a paradise, patrolled by scads of heroes, nearly all of whom are women, including She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Dazzler, Medusa, America Chavez, Pixie, Spider-Woman, Nico Minoru, Lady Loki, Storm, and more. But all is not perfect in Arcadia, after an unexpected attack from a flying megalodon shark, Ms. America gets honked off and throws it over the horizon — and breaking one of Victor von Doom’s laws — nothing passes the borders between the nations. The law is enforced by the Thors, and not even Sheriff Stephen Strange or Baroness She-Hulk herself can win her any leniency. The Thors take her away to an eternal prison, and She-Hulk decides to find out who’s hiding out in the ocean throwing giant sharks at everyone.

Verdict: I hate to say it, but thumbs down. The major problem is that this is built around a summer crossover with a lot of weird, un-superheroey rules built into it. When you’ve got a world ruled by Dr. Doom, who has the powers of a god, and everyone’s fine with that, that’s a problem. When there’s a whole enforcement arm of the global Doom-worshiping government that’s composed of a whole bunch of different versions of Thor, and they’re really nothing more than Doom’s puppets, that’s a problem. When you’ve got that many awesome characters on the cover, but most of them don’t appear inside the issue, and the one character who does something really unquestionably awesome is banished before the last page, that’s a problem. This book can be turned around, but it’ll have to break free from the summer crossover prison it’s trapped in.

Sensation Comics #10

In our first story, Wonder Woman helps defend a pop star from a deranged fan who’s angry that the innocent teenybopper he obsessed over in his youth has dared to grow up. But who’s the stalker, and who’s sabotaging the star’s tour? In our second story, Diana fights a dragon with a personal connection to the Amazons and to Wonder Woman’s mother.

Verdict: Thumbs down. In the first story, the bad guy was telegraphed way too early on, and like some of the in-story media commenters, I questioned why on earth one of the most powerful people on the planet was going to all this trouble to babysit a pop star. In the second story, I wasn’t real happy with the extremely high civilian casualties. That may be okay for DC’s grimdark New 52, but a lot of the stories in this series have been more all-ages-friendly.

Lumberjanes #14

The Lumberjanes are trying to earn a badge for basic wilderness survival — but they’re just no good at basic things like setting up tents or remembering to pack the can opener. How will they ever survive the snowstorm? Wait, why is there a snowstorm in the middle of the summer?! What are the monsters that attack everyone? Can the campers find Jen after she’s separated from the group? And who is the mysterious and vaguely ominous Abigail who rescues her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Fantastic art and writing. We get a story that’s simultaneously hilarious and genuinely frightening and unnerving. If you aren’t reading this, you really need to get with the program.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Let’s start things off on the happy side of things, with an antique carnival organ playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
• The “Batkid Begins” documentary trailer is predictably awesome.
• Here’s an airline safety video, guest-starring the Internet!
• Are prosecutors afraid to prosecute GamerGaters for death threats? Or do they actually approve?

Howard the Duck #3

Howard just barely made it back to Earth with the doohickey he was hired to steal from the Black Cat — and he immediately gets robbed and pistol-whipped — by Aunt May?! And the flipped-out dude who hired him is seriously ticked-off at the delays in getting his necklace back! He and Tara set out to track down Aunt May — Howard’s style of investigation involves running around a duck pond naked so the old folks feeding the waterfowl will think he’s a regular duck. When they find Aunt May, she remembers nothing about robbing them but agrees to help them investigate. After trailing an old coot who stole someone’s purse, they discover who is the ringmaster of scheme. Can they defeat him? And can they defeat the villain who’s playing them all for suckers?

Verdict: Thumbs up. As always, a very silly story. Howard crawling around the pond without any clothes is dang hilarious, and the running gag of Spider-Man thinking he’s failed to save someone and then breaking down into an emotional basket case is still funny.

Captain Marvel #15

Carol has returned home to Earth only to learn that her longtime friend and mentor Tracy Burke died just a week ago of cancer. The rest of the issue focuses on Tracy’s will and Carol’s reflection on her life, her relationship with her partner Teddy, and her posthumous attempt to get Carol to move on with her life.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderfully illustrated, wonderfully written study on death and mourning. The post-story note focusing on writer Kelly Sue DeConnick’s memories of her own late Aunt Polly just boosts the coolness of this issue.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Four-year-old girls want to see Wonder Woman punch things and sometimes bake cupcakes. Heck, we all want to see that!
• The new Mad Max film is so feminist, it’s really, really hurting the men’s rights nuts.
• This is the most metal heavy metal band name generator ever.

Astro City #23

Meet Sticks. He’s from a secret civilization of intelligent gorillas hidden in Antarctica. This is his first time in the big city, and he’s got his heart set on being a drummer in a rock band. Gorilla Mountain isn’t a very cool place — they’re obsessed with the purity of their culture, and the only job is serving in the military. Some of the younger gorillas have managed to pick up radio signals and discovered music. After getting busted several times for playing his own homemade drum kit, Sticks managed to fake a jet-pack malfunction and made his way to Astro City. But there’s this funny thing about being a talking, military-trained gorilla in Astro City — everyone either wants to kidnap you to turn you into a drone in their criminal organization, or they want to induct you into their superteam. Can’t a gorilla rock out with his pals without everyone wanting him to be a super-soldier?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Absolutely colossal fun. Sticks is a fantastic character — the type of guy who could easily carry his own graphic novel, not just a two-issue storyarc. But if there’s one thing “Astro City” does exceptionally well, it’s giving us amazing characters we wish we could see way more often.

Ms. Marvel #15

Well, the charade is over — Kamran may be cute and lovable and an Inhuman like Kamala, but he’s also allied himself with a bunch of supervillain Inhumans instead of the good guys. She manages to signal Bruno with her cell phone, and he tears off to try to get to New Attilan. Meanwhile, Kamala is doing everything she can to escape from the bad guys and periodically drop a little smackdown on them. Can she escape from Kamran and the other villains?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderful issue — a little fighting, a little running, a little betrayal, a lot of standing-up-for-yourself, and a nice dose of minor cliffhanger toward the end. Does Kamala know another Inhuman?

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #8

So apparently, the multiverse is being destroyed. I know, that’s usually DC’s deal, but this time, Marvel is doing it. Essentially, everytime two alternate earth’s collide, both of those universes wink out of existence. (This is all leading into the new “Secret Wars” crossovers.)

At the beginning of the issue, Steve Rogers reveals to the Mighty Avengers that Earth-616 has just 178 days left before it’s destroyed. And beyond a little exposition about the Illuminati, the rest of the issue is a slow countdown as the world comes to terms with the looming end of everything, and the Mighty Avengers help Rogers work to defeat the Illuminati’s plans and figure out a better solution.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Nice demonstration of the tension of knowing that the end of the world is months or weeks away. We already know this is the next-to-the-last issue of this series — I hope they get a good send-off. And I hope we get to see all of these characters a bit more often and a bit more prominently.