Comic Picks By The Glick

A “Star Wars” story inspired by the new themed land of the same name at Disneyland?  I was all but prepared to pass on this because such a premise sounded deeply skippable.  Now that I’ve actually read through it, I can say that it’s a fair bit better than that and actually makes me want to see how this lines up with the actual attraction.  “Galaxy’s Edge” revolves around one of the actual stores in the park, Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities as the titular merchant deals with threats on two fronts. The more immediate one involves the First Order showing up on Batuu to crack down on all the unscrupulous activity taking place on the planet.  The other has him crafting a scheme to deal with the trio of thieves known as the Kendoh Crew, who have come to relieve the merchant of a particular item. But which item? Is it the baby sarlacc retrieved by Han Solo and Chewbacca? The lightsaber of Ki-Abdi-Mundi that was stolen by Greedo? The khyber statue that Dok and his pilot Hondo liberated from Jedha?  Or half of a Sith artifact whose other half was last known to be in the possession of none other than Doctor Aphra?

Readers with long and specific memories may recall that it was the mention of the good Doctor in the solicitations for this series that got me interested.  If there’s one character I wouldn’t mind seeing find their way into more “Star Wars” comics it’s her.  So while it’s great to see her here, it pains me a bit to say that writer Ethan Sacks doesn’t have the same witty touch that her creator Kieron Gillen, or Simon Spurrier do.  However, the flashback adventures he comes up with for the characters are entertaining enough slices of “Star Wars” fluff. Better still is the story he weaves around them in the present day as it’s nicely complicated bit of heist storytelling with some interesting characters.  Artist Will Sliney may not do a good likeness of Harrison Ford, but the rest of his art is slick and full of impressive detail. All this may not make “Galaxy’s Edge” an essential “Star Wars” comic read, but it’s one that wound up liking more than I expected to.

comicpicksbytheglick@gmail.com

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

The Weather Man vol. 2

There are the new Image titles that I buy with the expectation that they’ll be good (lookin’ in your direction “Die”) and those that I buy with the expectation that they might be good.  The first volume of “The Weather Man” was firmly in the latter category when I picked it up earlier this year.  I knew that Nathan Fox was capable of delivering some stylish visuals, but could the co-writer of “Shirtless Bear-Fighter” really deliver a serious sci-fi action story?

It turns out that the answer to that question was a resounding “Yes!” as the story of Martian Weatherman Nathan Bright turned out to be quite a compelling one.  Accused of a crime that was committed by the person he used to be, Nathan found himself to be the most wanted man in the solar system as EVERYONE wanted a piece of the man who had a role in killing everyone on Earth.  Now that he and his few allies have found themselves some breathing room, they’re going to go find his old memories and track down the person who was calling the shots in this terrorist action. Who knows, maybe they’ll succeed and even stop another massacre in the process.

The plot of this series does move forward in this volume, albeit incrementally.  There’s some drama at the beginning as Mari and Yori’s relationship goes through another rough patch.  It’s more the latter being angry at the former for trespassing against her boundaries, though we do learn a little more about Yori’s family life in the process.  This spat sends Mari into a funk which has her paying a visit to Komori late at night where she tells him about how she was masturbating in the previous volume, which…  Yeah, you can probably guess what a creepy shut-in like Komori does after hearing something like that. It’s also exactly as uncomfortable as you’d expect when mangaka Shuzo Oshimi puts any kind of sexual activity into his manga.  This encounter does appear to have long-term ramifications as evidenced by Komori’s rain-soaked proclamation to Mari at the end of the volume.

Yet the most interesting thing about this volume is how it suggests an explanation for the Komori-in-Mari’s-body conundrum that has likely already been ruled out.  At one point Mari starts talking to Yori about something that only the real Mari could have remembered. Yori suggests that the real Mari is still sleeping inside that body and the Komori personality that’s currently running the show is just remembering these things.  Here’s a better explanation: Mari has had a complete psychotic break where she only thinks that Komori has taken over her body. Everything that she’s experienced has been a delusion based solely on her observations of that lonely man. That she’s starting to remember “Mari’s” memories only means that she may finally be starting to come out of it at this point.

I really like this idea.  The problem is that it seems that Oshimi wants us to think that there’s some kind of supernatural explanation for what’s happened to Mari/Komori here.  What with that creepy look Mari gave Komori in the first volume and that mysterious phone call in the previous volume. My one hope here is that this evidence of the supernatural is flimsy at best.  So I could be right and this series will eventually take a deep dive into the realm of mental illness only hinted at in “The Flowers of Evil.” Or maybe a wizard did it. We’ll have to wait and see.

comicpicksbytheglick@gmail.com

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Batman:  Creature of the Night HC

Around 15 years ago, Kurt Busiek wrote, with Stuart Immonen providing the art, a “Superman” miniseries called “Secret Identity.”  It was set in the real world and followed a young boy with the name of Clark Kent. Mind you, this was a world where “Superman” existed in the same way he does in ours.  While the kid did his best to take all the ribbing in stride, his life winds up taking an unexpected turn when he finds out that he’s got more in common with the Man of Steel than just a name.

Busiek and Immonen essentially took a very dubious premise and made it into a perennial fan-favorite story.  I’ll admit that it took me a while to finally get around to reading it, and I was glad to see that it lived up to its reputation.  Now Busiek is back with artist John Paul Leon to tell the “Batman” version of this story. The setup here is about a young comic-book fan named Bruce Wainwright who’s living in Gotham City at the same time that a mysterious figure starts stalking its nights.  As this is being marketed as a “deliberate spiritual companion” to “Secret Identity” there’s good reason to be excited for what the writer will be bringing to the table here. That would include great instincts for character work and undoubtedly some twists to subvert expectations and set it apart from its predecessor

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.:  The Return of Effie Kolb #1 (of 2)

I like “Hellboy” stories as much as the next person, but do you know what they usually aren’t?  Scary. For whatever reason most comics pegged as horror don’t usually scare me. That includes the vast majority of “Hellboy” and Mignolaverse stories.  The big exception to this is a three-part miniseries Mignola wrote for artist Richard Corben, “The Crooked Man.” This Appalchian-set story had Hellboy encountering the title character and featured visuals that really clawed their way into my nightmares as Corben really dialed up the creepiness in his art.

Now Mignola is back with a sequel to that story… without Corben.  Joining the writer this time around is artist Zach Howard who has a long history on licensed IDW work such as “The Cape,” “Shaun of the Dead,” and “Spike.”  I like what I see in the cover he did for this miniseries, though I’m not really expecting him to bring the creepiness like Corben did to the original. I’d sure like to be proven wrong, though.

Huh… this didn’t turn out to be much of a recommendation.  Unless what I’m really trying to say is go and read “Hellboy:  The Crooked Man” if you haven’t already.

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

King Thor (or Thor by Jason Aaron vol. 16)

Seven years.  That’s how long Jason Aaron has been writing “Thor.”  It’s a virtual eternity in this comics marketplace where a creative team is kicked to the curb if their series doesn’t hit the ground running.  Aaron’s work on “Thor” has been consistently good to the point that he’s had successful runs with three regular artists -- Esad Ribic, Russell Dauterman, and Mike Del Mundo -- and been through enough relaunches that he can lay claim to writing four different “Thor #1” issues.  Six, if you count the first issues of the “Secret Wars: Thors” and this final miniseries.

“King Thor” is the writer’s bid to show us how the saga of Thor finally ends.  He’s getting around that tricky business of making it stick in the present continuity by focusing on the last days of Old King Thor in the far future.  He’s someone whose toughness is equaled only by his stubbornness, which has allowed him to survive battles against a necrotized Galactus, a phoenix-empowered Wolverine, and a Doctor Doom who became living god.  Now he faces his biggest challenge yet: Taking on his brother Loki who has been empowered by All-Black the Necrosword *guitar squeal*.

While it’s certainly possible that the final go-round in this blood feud could end with one or both brothers dead, my gut feeling is that Aaron’s got one good twist in store for us here.  I just hope it isn’t the return of a certain villain from his run that I’ve already been spoiled for. Still, with Ribic returning to pencil the majority of this, I’m expecting nothing less than greatness as Aaron brings down the curtain on one of the longest and best runs in modern superhero comics.

It takes more than just a gun to earn that designation as one of the best, and certainly the weirdest, zombie manga wraps up.

This current storyline has the feeling of a final arc, what with how everything hits the fan here, but it still feels like we’ve still got a ways to go yet.  That’s because Sato has finally revealed his plan for destabilizing Japan. It employs the same kind of stupid/clever planning that this series has specialized in regarding Demi-Humans and their abilities.  So while I guess that Sato’s scheme could actually work, it still has me thinking, “Wasn’t there an easier way to do this?” More importantly, this setup reduces his presence considerably in this volume. That’s never a good thing because we’re left to focus on Kei and the rest of the cast instead as they play catch-up.

Is that as interesting as it sounds?  Pretty much. I’ve never really thought Kei was a very good protagonist as he’s always lacked Sato’s charisma and has done little to drive the events of the story himself.  So we’re left with seeing him reason out the crazy old soldier’s plan and the rest of his allies split up into groups to find out where he’s holed up at. So while things are being set up for vol. 14 to really deliver on this title’s one strength -- action -- it means vol. 13 is a little lacking in that department.  Still, it has its moments -- Okuyama being really helpful when he realizes the jig is up, Kei getting some very unexpected backup thanks to Tosaki -- and they’ll have to do until next time.

comicpicksbytheglick@gmail.com