Dave's Comicbook Capsules for July 2022

[Dave Van Domelen]

Dave's Comicbook Capsules Et Cetera
Intermittent Picks and Pans of Comics and Related Media

Standard Disclaimers: Please set appropriate followups. Recommendation does
not factor in price. Not all books will have arrived in your area this month.
An archive can be found on my homepage, http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/Rants
Dropped four grand on deferred home maintenance this month.

Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy): Happy Kanako's
Killer Life vol 3 and 4, How To Be A Mind Reaver vol 1 and 2

In this installment: Page Punchers Black Adam, Ms. Marvel (D+), Baymax
(D+), Green Lantern: Beware My Power, Kaiju No. 8 vol 3, Happy Kanako's
Killer Life vol 3-4, How To Be A Mind Reaver vol 1-2, Monkey Prince #5 (of
12), Black Adam #1 (of 12), Moon Knight #12, Final Faction #1, Draculina #4,
Norse Mythology III #5 (of 6), Arrowsmith Behind Enemy Lines #6 (of 6), My
Little Pony #2, Transformers: Last Bot Standing #2 (of 4), Transformers Beast
Wars #16-17 (of 17), Transformers War's End #4 (of 4) Transformers: Fate of
Cybertron.

Current Wait List (books either Diamond didn't ship or my store failed
to order): Moon Knight #11, Spectreman Heroes #2 (of 5), Vampirella/Dracula
Unholy #6 (of 6), Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings #1.


"Other Media" Capsules:

Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e.
comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be
available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this
section when I have any to mention. They may not be as timely as comic
reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two
(or ten) to get around to.

Page Punchers Black Adam: DC/McFarlane Toys - McFarlane Toys just got
the DC license (non-exclusively, as far as I can tell), and in addition to
some Super Powers retro toys, they launched Page Punchers as an early
offering. The premise is that you get a clamshelled comic featuring the
character whose toy is in there too. The figure is five points of
articulation and the sort of thing that used to come packed with DC animated
movies. Unfortunately, DC no longer makes standalone comics, so every toy
comes with a tiny piece of a massive crossover. To wit, Black Adam comes
with his Endless Winter Special, with the backup story removed and replaced
with a whackload of house ads. Black Adam: Endless Winter is not the start
of the story or the end of the story, although it does appear to wrap up a
few plot threads at least...but it's not like the rest of the story is easily
accessible. The figure itself is okay for what amounts to a $5 pack-in, with
a non-removable cape and barely sufficient paint apps. I got this out of
curiosity, but can't recommend anyone else get it. $9.99 at Target (I think
$9.96 at Walmart).

Ms. Marvel: Marvel/Disney+ - This definitely captures the spirit of the
Wilson comics while changing a LOT of stuff around (e.g. no longer tied to
Inhumans). At six episodes, it does at times feel a little off in the
pacing, but it gets the core elements of the story in and also a new ongoing
plot device. Ignore the neckbeard downvotes, this is good stuff. Watching
it in maybe two three-episode chunks (if you're not up for a 4 hour binge)
fixes a lot of the pacing problems, but not all. Recommended.

Baymax: Marvel/Disney+ - This is also six episodes, but they're really
short, to the point that binging the entire series is under 90 minutes. It's
more of a movie with arbitrary breaks. The premise is that each episode sees
Baymax trying to help someone with their immediate medical issues and ends up
helping them with longer term emotional problems in the process (usually),
with a final part in which those he has helped turn around and help him.
Surprisingly touching and full of practical useful advice, although it might
occasionally make some viewers uncomfortable (and we need to get over that).
Recommended.

Green Lantern: Beware My Power: DC/WB - More like beware this movie.
Oh, it starts off decently. John Stewart is thrown into the superhero life
when Ganthet (who is never actually named except in the credits) dies in the
process of trying to give him a ring. He's thrown into an interstellar war,
as he and Green Arrow (the rest of the League stayed behind) gather a motley
crew of warriors and heroes, including Adam Strange. This does seem like it
might be intended as a followup to the DC Showcase Adam Strange short. A
little kill-happy, with a lot of major villains appearing only as goons
(like, why have Kanjar Ro if he's never going to speak or even get a "created
by" credit?) and getting jobbed. But then it throws in the Twist, and it's
clear they're trying to do Kyle Rayner's origin with John Stewart instead,
and there's more killing and John implausibly holding his own against the
"I'm a GOD now" Real Villain until he inevitably refuses to kill the villain,
the villain takes a cheap shot cackling about mercy making one weak, and gets
killed by the guy who was complaining the loudest about everyone being
kill-happy. Avoid. Price varies by format and store.


Digital Content:

Unless I find a really compelling reason to do so (such as a lack of
regular comics), I won't be turning this into a webcomic review column.
Rather, stuff in this section will generally be full books available for
reading online or for download, usually for pay.

Nothing this month. Adventure Finders is on hiatus, and Comixology is
increasingly useless. Amazon claims they'll fix it, but somehow I doubt
that.


Trades:

Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever.
If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.

Kaiju No. 8 vol 3: Viz/Shonen Jump - The main plot thread of "How can
Kafka manage to avoid killing or being killed by his coworkers" gets a little
time at the start, with the middle of the volume mostly being aftermath of
the big fight from vol 2, including Kafka making progress on his mundane
personal struggles. And then there's a new super-kaiju to deal with to wrap
up the volume. That does seem to be the pattern...start by resolving the
previous Big Fight, then downtime and investigation and personal life stuff,
then new Big Fight. I suppose it's a formula that can carry the series
pretty far, although since these are actually compilations of Shonen Jump
chapters, the pacing might just be coincidental so far. This continues to be
an enjoyable read in a semi-serious setting with a tolerable (for me) level
of sitcom-tropism along with shades of Magical Girl (except the hero turns
into a spiky monster with fangs and not a delicate sylph in a sailor fuku).
Recommended. $9.99/$12.99Cn/#7.99UK

Happy Kanako's Killer Life vol 3 and 4: Seven Seas Entertainment -
Volume 3 has Kanako having to lie low due to the police and underworld
attention of Volume 2, so she stays with her mother. And that leads to
introspection, which for Kanako is pretty dark. The panel where she's in her
childhood bedroom, holding her old box cutter and surrounded by all the
corpses of her "didn't kill herself that day but seriously considered it"
selves from high school while imagining slitting her own past self's throat
with the box cutter is pretty dark. Especially for a setting where one can
be a successful assassin without ever having to kill anyone who doesn't on
some level deserve it. Things get worse on a professional level when a rival
assassin finds her anyway and she ends up getting shot and put in the
hospital under police protection (and things get very soap opera as everyone
notices that X is totally into Y except the for X and Y, lather rinse repeat
for several characters). Volume 4 is an extended deadly dance between Kanako
and the assassin from vol 3, who reveals his own romantic interest in her
while posing as a friendly neighbor. Very messed up, very entertaining.
Strongly recommended. $14.99/$18.99Cn each

How To Be A Mind Reaver vol 1 and 2: Antler Studio - This is a
Kickstarter project, compiling the webcomic that I have previously reviewed
very favorably. The basic premise is that Monsters Are People Too (And Some
People Are Monsters), with the kindly if socially awkward Cthu (who may or
may not have once been human) helping those who come into his territory and
ending up helping raise a number of children who were orphaned or driven from
their homes for the crime of being magical. (In this setting, little kids
who show magical talent have a strong tendency to end up highly destructive
forces, so people aren't completely wrong to reject them.) In addition to
reproducing the strips, these volumes also include bumper pieces filling in
bits and pieces between the strips with single full page illustrations and
text blocks. The webcomic is already strongly recommended, and this
collection is recommended even if you've read the strips already. No price
on the physical volumes.


Floppies:

No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they
*are* floppy, yes? (And not all of them come out monthly, or on a regular
schedule in general, so I can't just call this section "Monthlies" or even
"Periodicals" as that implies a regular period.)

Monkey Prince #6 (of 12): DC - A bit of backstory for those not
familiar with Journey to the West, a little advancing of the undersea demon
whatevers plot, and Marcus's parents try to be a little smarter about this
demon essence. Frankly, the story felt a little rote in places, as if there
was a narration caption saying, "Of course, since this is only the second
part of this four issue arc, it can't be over yet." (Also, it would have
been nice to have a caption translating the Silver Horn Demon's exclamation,
my translation app said it was something like "Silver Horn King needs a
body!") Mildly recommended. $3.99

Black Adam #2 (of 12): DC - Okay, flashback to a month ago, explaining
what Black Adam was doing fighting not-Darkseid in the first place. So, now
Theo Adam wants to do this big "pass on the power to a worthy descendant"
thing, and Malik White (third year med student) ain't having NONE of it. The
third leg of this table of incongruity is diplomatic corps handler "Shep,"
who agrees that it's all kinda stupid but also incredibly important to world
stability so he'll roll his eyes on his own time of which he has none lately.
To his credit, Malik rolls with it and gets on with trying to save Theo's
life anyway. Make no mistake, this is not a comedy, other than some darkly
humorous elements. It's a story about being in denial and how Theo and Malik
each deal with things that Should Not Be. Recommended. $3.99

Moon Knight #13: Marvel - So, one of the things that was just sort of
there at the start of this series but not delved into a whole lot except for
occasional bits of Reese characterization, is the whole "Vampires in New York
City" plot point. With Zodiac dealt with, Moon Knight has decided it's time
to step up his efforts against whoever's been making so many vampires in
town, something kinda interrupted by Zodiac. And not coincidentally,
whoever's been making so many vampires in town wants to deal with Moon Knight
decisively. But the star of this issue is really Taskmaster, who explains in
painful detail why this is not a desirable gig. Recommended. $3.99

Spectreman Heroes #1: Electroid Zaborger: Antarctic Press/Phase
6/P-Productions - Not sure why this cost $9.99 when the issues are supposed
to be $4.99, maybe it was a premium for the B cover, which was the only one
Diamond shipped. After being very late, I got this a week before #2 was
due...and of course #2 didn't ship on time either. Anyway, the premise of
this series is retro-styled comics featuring several of the more obscure
tokusatsu shows from the 1970s, all produced by P-Productions. Matt Frank
draws and writes a one-page introduction featuring Spectreman, and the rest
of the issue is a translation of Hiroshi Kanatani's work. The story adapts
the origin episode(s) of 1974's Denjin Zaborger. The art style looks like it
was supposed to be in black and white, and in color it's a bit awkward in
places. There's nothing in the book to indicate the art has a pre-2022
copyright, so I guess it's just retro-styled, but it sure feels like a
restoration of a 1970s manga. 30 pages total. Mildly recommended. $9.99

The Blue Flame #8 (of 10): Vault - The book continues to refuse to
commit to which version is real, to the extent that matters...the mundane guy
having psychotic breaks as he tries to cope with trauma, the cosmic guy
flashing back on his own past or on an alternate reality, two realities
somehow entangled, etc. Both versions of the Blue Flame take drastic
last-ditch efforts to try to keep their worlds from falling apart, and in
both streams we see characters take actions outside of Blue Flame's
perception to try to help. Still, it feels like the writer is stretching the
premise and being too coy with the structural stuff. This might have made
for a better read all at once. Mildly recommended. $3.99

Vampirella Year One #1: Dynamite - I sort of get Tuckerized, and
probably killed off-screen, ah well. This book is framed as Vampirella
narrating her life to her unborn child, and I suppose that's something
important I'm missing in that Unholy issue Diamond won't send my shop. The
bulk of this issue takes place when Vampi is a schoolgirl, both shortly
before and shortly after the revolution that overthrows her mother.
Recommended. $3.99

Norse Mythology III #6 (of 6): Dark Horse - Well, they went with
Snurri's happy ending. Yeah, almost everyone dies, but compared to how the
real Ragnarok story likely ended, the "almost" is what makes it a happy
ending. Mildly recommended. $3.99

My Little Pony #3: IDW - Time for a side story. Well, it's not like
they're tossing in a story that's set before or after the main plot in some
nebulous Inventory Story Land, the characters are trying to advance the main
plot...they're just not getting to do so, and end up chasing a side quest
instead. It's okay, but it suffers from basically spending half the issue
failing to advance the main story and half the issue telling a very short
side story. The side story needed a bit more pagecount to feel like anything
but filler. Very mildly recommended. $3.99

Transformers: Last Bot Standing #3 (of 4): IDW - Sigh. This really
feels like the sort of thing that could have been done well as a single 22
page story in the 80s, padded out massively. It's not that the core idea is
inherently bad, it's just not good enough to support four oversized issues.
Very mildly recommended. $5.99


Dave Van Domelen, "On a scale of one to ten, how do you rate your pain?"
"I love all my pain equally!" - Baymax and a reluctant patient (I might be
slightly misremembering Baymax's line).