Dave's Capsules for March 2023

[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
Managed to get below 220 lbs for the first time in years.

Items of Note (strongly recommended or otherwise worthy):

In this installment: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (D+), Star Rangers
Bakemono Files #1, Chainsaw Man vol 4-11, Spy x Family vol 9, Hilo vol 9,
American Born Chinese (GN), Fantastic Four #4, Monkey Prince #11 (of 12),
Black Adam #8 (of 12), Gargoyles #3, Vampirella Year One #6 (of 6), Draculina
Blood Simple #1 (of 6), My Little Pony #10, My Little Pony Classics
Reimagined Little Fillies #4 (of 4).

February floppies expected to arrive in the mail next month: Black Adam
#9 (of 12), Draculina: Blood Simple #2 (of 6), Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday
Morning Adventures #1, Fantastic Four #5, Gargoyles #4, Monkey Prince #12 (of
12), Moon Knight #21, Superman: Lost #1 (of 12)


"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.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Disney+ - Normally I wait for the season
to fully end before reviewing it, but they seem to be doling this out in
chunks, and 11 episodes is enough for me to form a solid opinion (especially
since they make it clear that there isn't a strong Arc here). Basically,
this series is a sort of modern hip-hop love letter to 1970s kidvid.
Specifically the sort of cartoon or live action show that had a musical
number in every episode, tried to hit you over the head with a Moral, and
spent a lot of time in sitcom hijinks. However, it does this through the
lens of a super-intelligent inventor girl and the red "super-intelligent for
a dinosaur I guess" T.rex she hangs out with. And mad science makes a lot of
things work (for explody values of "work" of course). I mean, seriously, if
you looked at the basic plots and premises of most of the episodes, I should
be too annoyed to make it past the opening credits. Instead, with a few weak
episode exceptions (S1E2 is pretty dire), I've been enjoying this series.
Also, props to the creators for mixing up the musical selections, which get
pretty eclectic. The visual language and sensibility are hip-hop, but the
music isn't always from that genre (there's one 70s soft rock song that's
actually a diegetic plot point). A number of plot points from the comics do
get used, if not always in the same way. For instance, there's no indication
that Luna is an Inhuman or has any powers other than being scary smart, but
they do the mind-swap thing via a bit of mad science that Luna invents in a
failed attempt to deal with social anxiety. (For those who didn't read the
comics, Luna has the power to mind-switch with Devil, but it wasn't exactly
controllable at first. Or she had the power, I gave up after a couple years
when the writing started to slide.) There are occasional nods to other
Marvel characters (in S1E1 no one believes the Avengers are going to bother
with the problems of the Lower East Side), but it seems to be its own Earth
rather than trying to connect to the MCU or any other Marvel continuity.
Also, it's officially titled "Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur," but meh
on that. Recommended. Up through S1E11 available by the end of March 2023.

I got Batman: the Doom that Came to Gotham at the end of the month, but
didn't have time to watch it yet.


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.

Star Rangers Bakemono Files #1: Self-Published - This is a spinoff from
the Star Rangers webcomic (which started as a Kickstarted GN), featuring a
group of characters who don't fit neatly into the "costumed heroes versus
monsters" conflict. The main character is the offspring of a Scout (the
setting's sort of combination power ranger/sailor scout deal) and a Bakemono,
and she works at a restaurant that's a cover for several Bakemono who aren't
interested in the big conflict and would like to avoid Stellar Black (the
"evil" organization) as much as they'd like to avoid the Scouts. Of course,
when some Bakemono need to eat human flesh, staying under the radar is a
little harder, and the neutrals also have to police their own to avoid
drawing down unwanted attention. In this first issue, a different sort of
potentially unwanted attention comes in the form of a civilian-mode Scout
running into the main character and becoming smitten with her (pretty much
every character is a woman or presents as such, and I'm not entirely sure
anyone with a speaking part is interested in men except maybe as part of a
complete breakfast). Screentoned black and white 90s-retro manga style, an
interesting start to a story but clearly not a one-shot. Recommended. $5 at
https://kagura-art.square.site and a print run has been made for convention
sales.

Health issues and an ambitious plot have delayed Adventure Finders until
next month.

Trades:

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

Chainsaw Man vol 4-11: Viz/Shonen Jump - Okay, caught up. Conveniently,
the first major arc ends at #11. Lots of black-blood gore, occasional mild
nudity, and apparently conflict within the Platonic realm of Forms. I'm not
deeply informed on the nature of Japanese devil/oni mythology, so I can't say
if this manga is tapping some deep element I haven't come across yet, but it
sure seems like the "devils" are more like conceptual embodiments. Not
necessarily evil, it's just that the negative ones feed on fear and have
motivation to come make trouble. In one of the big Master Plan reveal bits
later on, we find that if a devil is truly killed rather than sent back to
hell temporarily, its very concept is erased, as if this were a particularly
gruesome Nobilis game. Also, Denji and Power are lovable ultraviolent
dumbasses, so there's a little something for everyone. Recommended but
potentially a bit triggery even in black and white. $9.99 for most volumes,
if you find them at big box stores they're usually cheaper.

Spy x Family vol 9: Viz/Shonen Jump - Something of a mixed bag volume,
since it wraps up the cruise ship plot from vol 8 and then does a few side
story bits including one that focuses mainly on Frankie and the
Twilight-obsessed spy from the tennis mission. Sure, most volumes have been
episodic, it's just the contrast with a long arc that makes it feel more
disconnected. Recommended. $9.99

Hilo vol 9: Gina and the Last City on Earth: Random House - The mystery
of what happened to Earth is solved, although it's not the kind of mystery
where the reader is expected to have figured it out too much before the
characters do, since it involves a plot device introduced in this volume.
The mystery of What Is Up With Hilo Anyway is also resolved, and the whole
thing is tied up in the theme of wanting to hold onto who you are and what
you have and not let go even if it's unhealthy to cling to things. It's not
exactly about mourning, or about growing up, but it's also about both of
those things. And about zapping stuff with magic, hazzah! Recommended.
$13.99

American Born Chinese: :01 First Second - With this getting a high
profile live action adaptation coming to Disney+ in May with a number of big
names (some made bigger for having been in Everything Everywhere All At
Once), I figured I'd finally check out Gene Luen Yang's 2006 Graphic Novel.
It starts as a trio of stories, trading off chapters before coming together
at the end. One is a very realistic tale of a young boy born of immigrant
parents who is trying to fit in amid the casual racism of 1980s San Francisco
and consistently making bad decisions. Another features an older high school
student who is repeatedly embarrassed by his cousin Chin-Kee, a deliberately
offensive caricature of Chinese-Americans who seems to be set up as a more
metaphorical presence (e.g. he's not as bad as Danny portrays him, the
exaggeration is a result of Danny trying so hard to assimilate that he sees
his less-assimilated cousin as an embarrassing stereotype). And then there's
a retelling of the story of the Monkey King, which is where all the special
effects budget is going to go for the live action adaptation. A lot of the
details are different from any of the versions I've read before, but Folklore
Gonna Folklore. The core is still there, Monkey gets full of himself and
causes havoc in heaven until being humbled by the one above all and taught a
lesson in humility by a monk who is on a journey to the west. Monkey's
attempts to get recognized for his improvements mirror the two 20th Century
story threads, in which being untrue to one's own nature is a Problem...even
if one's own nature is also a Problem, just a different one. I won't go into
the details of how things wrap up (well, okay, Monkey learns humility, but
that's spoilers for a 1300 year old story), since I expect the show is going
to get a LOT of people exposed to this story for the first time and spoiler
concerns should be respected. I will say that you can tell this is an early
work by Yang, because some of the storytelling is a bit clunky or even
ham-fisted, and you're going to have to put up with some parts that are
deliberately uncomfortable (even moreso now than in 2006, I suspect), but
it's worth reading. Recommended. $14.99 (2021 edition)


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.)

Other than Vampirella Year One #6 (of 6), all of these came out in
February.

Fantastic Four #4: Marvel - And finally we get the story of why there's
a large hole in Manhattan and the FF are on the run. But rather than do a
normal flashback, there's an in-story reason for the flashbacks, dredging up
an obscure bit of FF lore as justification. Unfortunately, as often happens
with delayed explanations, it's kinda meh. North does seem more interested
in the consequences than the event itself, but the event itself leans even
harder than normal into Illusion Of Change. Mildly recommended. $3.99

Monkey Prince #11 (of 12): DC - The true origin of the Monkey Prince
(which raises as many questions as it answers)! Sun Wukong in the flesh! A
painfully obvious "out" for the end of issue cliffhanger! And a load of
danglers that probably won't be wrapped up in #12 even if it's double-sized,
so I guess we get to hope for a sequel miniseries? Definitely an interesting
companion to American Born Chinese this month, though...Yang writing the
Great Sage Equaling Heaven in two different stories almost two decades apart.
Recommended, but I worry that the final issue will fail to deliver on the
promise of the previous eleven. $3.99

Black Adam #8 (of 12): DC - Part of the original Black Adam origin story
(reprinted earlier this year) was that at some point he decided he should
rule Egypt, and he killed the Pharaoh. With the newer more complex take on
Teth-Adam, it's only right that this one panel bit of business get expanded
on. Shiny Happy Teth-Adam seen in Malik's visions last issue seems quite at
odds with, "For resisting me you get a broken neck!" So, basically, we get
an explanation of why serving the rightful ruler wasn't working out for
Teth-Adam...he's still a murderer and usurper, but his motives are a little
more sympathetic. Of course, this isn't a vision of Malik's this time, it's
a story told by Theo himself, so one can understand being a little skeptical
of its objectivity. Recommended. $3.99

Gargoyles #3: Dynamite - Given that the previous two issues were all
about parading everyone from the cartoon and the previous comic on stage,
it's perhaps inevitable that the people behind the baby-napping were the only
major antagonists who hadn't shown up yet. I guess the actual story begins
next issue, now that they've gotten the "should have been a handbook" issues
out of the way. Mildly recommended. $3.99

Vampirella Year One #6 (of 6): Dynamite - Other than Entropy (which may
never actually come out), this is the last of my orders from the previous
store. And, of course, the order got screwed up and it took me fifteen
minutes or so to get my copy. The store looks nice, but their three-tiered
inventorying system meets Diamond malarkey and leaves me fighting to get
books, glad I'm basically done there. Anyway, as for this story, it brings a
few more of the Sacred Six into Vampi's life, and finally lets her know that
she's stuck on Earth for...a while. Of course, since Dynamite is allergic to
ongoing series, this all leads into the next mini, Vampirella/Dracula: Rage
or some combination of punctuation in between the words. Anyway, the series
as a whole did a good job of collecting decades worth of lore and neatening
it up (with more than a few retcons, I suspect) before moving on.
Recommended. $3.99

Draculina Blood Simple #1 (of 6): Dynamite - A lot of this issue is
establishing the status quo, which has admittedly gotten kinda complicated in
only a few short years. Who the three Draculinas are ("Two!" Whatever,
Victory), the circumstances of their birth and of Vampirella's...let's call
it birth too, I guess. A few minor characters are introduced and maybe even
some survive, but this is about putting the major pieces back on the board
for the next game. Or games. With Lilith, you can generally be sure that
there's more than one game going on. Recommended. $3.99

My Little Pony #10: IDW - And the anticlimax. The comic isn't cancelled
yet, but it looks like they're just marking time with one-offs for the
foreseeable future. I'm out, though. The "climax" of the story is just
repeating something the readers got earlier, which is less foreshadowing and
more over-explaining. A weak attempt was made to recontextualize it, but
that only weakened its impact. Neutral. $3.99

My Little Pony Classics Imagined: Little Fillies #4 (of 4): IDW - Time
to rush through the rest of the adaptation while spending a lot of time
pointing out how unfaithful this adaptation is being. This is actually
helpful for those of us who have never read it or seen a faithful adaptation,
as the fourth wall breaks form a sort of negative space summary of the actual
story. Recommended. $3.99


Dave Van Domelen, "You never show me anything I approve of after you
say, 'BEHOLD!'" - Luna's friend Casey, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur S1E7
"Good Night, Moon Girl"