Boy what a month so far! This has been a really amazing haul folks. I can't wait to get into it with you.
By the way, SPOILERS
The Amazing Spider-Man 46 and 47
I've read a
lot of Spider-Man. I've loved the character since I was two. I've read his history, multiple times, and have tried to get into whatever sources I can to learn more about Peter Parker. I won't pretend to have a perfect memory about the character, but I do know a whole hell of a lot.
This is a truly unique story arc. I'm telling you now, it's going to be a classic.
Yes, really.
Jump on it. Now.
Throughout all his years Spider-Man has had a rule against killing. Unlike most heroes Spider-Man's rule against killing has a very poignant edge: he's lost so many friends, in some truly brutal and awful ways, that he cannot imagine inflicting that same pain on someone else, for any reason. He believes in the sanctity of life because it's been desecrated so many times in his life that he must hold onto it with every ounce of strength. And that's been directly challenged plenty! When Otto became Spider-Man he laughed at the rule. Peter's had many conversations with folks like The Punisher and Wolverine about the necessity of taking lives. And they keep pointing out the same thing: Peter is only a deterrent. He cannot solve anything.
I've never seen a Spider-Man story where this point was hammered so hard. Sin-Eater isn't just killing people, but he's bringing them back without their powers and their evil tendencies! They're peaceful! Reformed! I mean Sin-Eater has a bunch of powers now, but all these people are reformed. Right? Right?
And Peter doesn't have a freaking clue yet. It's beautiful. I've not been this excited by a Spider-Man story for a very long time. And that's because we're seeing something incredible.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 53
So I'd accidentally stopped following this title a while back and decided that I wanted to get back into it.
Power Rangers has always been a concept that I found was hampered by its medium. I don't know of many adults who would say
no to a story about a group of disparate peoples defending the world from perpetual alien invasions. I mean, Pacific Rim exists people and it's awesome. I'm not saying that Power Rangers is Pacific Rim without a budget, but... OK, that's what I'm saying. We're going to move on.
I have found that the concept of Power Rangers has always been respected by the comics. Without the constraint of budget and corporate idiocy the creative teams have been free to explore concepts that the TV fluffed, like the Dark Rangers. Zedd is terrifying. Legitimately. The rangers are well-written and... I can't believe I'm saying this... but Rocky has a freaking personality.
That alone is worth it to me.
X-Men 11
I don't think anyone's really caught the joke of Hickman's X-Men comic run yet. Everyone's been talking about the incredibly progressive approach of this comic to a lot of things, and how Xavier's initial dream is dead. But that would be to ignore who Hickman is, as a writer, an artist, a person.
Hickman constructs machines of truly epic proportions, details them out, makes sure they work, and then throws them at characters whose flaws are just as big as the machines he constructs. None of the characters are moral; they're constructed of virtues and flaws, miniaturized versions of his universal machines, all running around and trying to manipulate everything to get what they need. Hickman is not a moral writer. That's what gives his stories such a mythological scope and what makes him so beloved:
That is full on display here. Magneto is painted as Exodus as a true hero, someone who is willing to defend those who cannot defend themselves. The tone is appropriately mythic, painting a former genocidal maniac as the hero of the mutant, while making sure that we see Magneto as some messiah to the mutant race.
This is Hickman.
He's doing it on purpose.
I'm excited.
Darth Vader 4
I was told very specifically to pick up this comic. I
was told that it was amazing and deserved my attention. I've actually heard that about all the other Darth Vader comics. And honestly I fight that sorta hype. Hard. I wasn't initially that interested in the comic, so that didn't help. But a buddy of mine insisted and he knows my... reservations, about hype. And Star Wars. And he told me to buy the damn comic anyway.
Boy I'm glad he did.
This is not what I expected.
Vader is post-Empire Strikes Back, reeling from being rejected by Luke. He goes to Naboo, only to encounter the handmaidens of Amidala. The sheer visual story-telling chops of this comic are... just amazing. I loved all the intercuts, color variations, the emotional build up, all of it... it adds up to something that could not have been done in any other medium but a comic book. I don't see that very often. I'm wonderfully surprised to see it here.
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