Comic Picks By The Glick

If there was any consensus about “Solo:  A Star Wars Story” it was that Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian was the best part of the movie.  So it’s only natural that we should get a miniseries that owes a lot to that particular take on this character.  Writer Rodney Barnes and artist Paolo Villanelli do a decent amount of justice to said take as Lando and his robot partner, L3-37, find themselves embroiled in a weapon smuggling operation.  It’s a weapon smuggling operation for good as these weapons are meant to be used by the defeated members of the Petrusian race who have been put to work in an Imperial droid production facility on the planet Kullgroon.  Lando is reluctant to help out at first, but when he’s promised enough credits to add a wet bar and classy furnishings to the Millenium Falcon -- and maybe even pay off a few of the people he owes money to -- he’s all in.

It’s a nice enough setup and Barnes throws in plenty of complications, ranging from organized goons to regenerating crystal spiders, to keep the title character’s struggle interesting.  Where the writer falters is in trying to show off Lando’s famous charm and charisma. This Lando is a clever think-on-his-feet kind of guy who also never. shuts. up. After a while his dialogue starts to come off as less smooth operator than “I’m sorry I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am!”  Same goes for the bickering between him and L3-37 which honestly left me wondering how these two managed to stand each other long enough to become partners in the first place. Villanelli’s art is nice, however. There’s nothing too surprising about it, but he nails the look of the character from the film and his storytelling is sound with plenty of detail in the art itself to appreciate.  Hardly an essential “Star Wars” read overall, but still one that will likely have appeal to those who loved seeing the character in “Solo.”

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

The Wicked + The Divine vol. 8:  Old is the New New

When an ongoing series produces spin-off miniseries or one-shots one of three things can happen to them:  They won’t be collected. They’ll be collected alongside issues of the regular series. They’ll be collected in their own special volume, which is what we have here.  Vol. 8 collects all six “The Wicked + The Divine” specials which spotlight the returning gods in different eras. From the gathering where Mary Shelley gave birth to “Frankenstein,” to the sacking of Rome, to an Agatha Christie murder mystery, and that time in the Dark Ages when Lucifer the Nun heard Ananke’s confession.  There will also be some off-season holiday cheer with the Christmas special and hopefully plenty of good laughs as Gillen, McKelvie and friends take the piss out of their series with the “Funnies” special. Gillen has also intimated that those of us who read the series in trade paperback form will be in for some surprises versus those who read these one-shots when they were published.  So in my case, reading this should make re-reading the whole series veeeeeeeeeeeery interesting.

This makes two straight volumes of this series that haven’t managed to disturb or shock me with their plot developments.  Could this mean that “Murcielago” is finally starting to trade on storytelling skill rather than shock value?  Only if your tastes trend towards psychopathic badass women facing off against equally bad opponents in over-the-top matches of skill.  Vol. 8 continues the “Sakura of Oblivion” storyline as an old-school revolutionary and his henchman try their damndest to bring chaos to Tokyo.  While deranged serial killer Yukio Senzaki tries to take on the cops themselves, Kuroko and the burly Urara try to take the fight to mastermind Higaki himself only to be waylaid by his assistant Shizuka and her mysterious power.  Meanwhile, soft-spoken and crazy-eyed sniper Reika makes her return to help with the fight and quickly finds herself embroiled in combat against a burly and equally skilled sniper. The real mystery here is finding out what Reika’s hoodied partner’s history is and how Hinako, of all people, connects to it.

While I doubt that we’ve seen the last of “Murcielago’s” ability to shock, mangaka Yoshimurakana demonstrates some real skill with the action in this volume.  This skill is seen best in the running rooftop duel between Reika and the other sniper as they each try to out-strategize the other. It’s an impressively kinetic conflict that leads to a satisfyingly brutal finish.  As for Kuroko, she gets to set up the fight with Shizuka before handing it off to serial-killer-in-training Rinko who demonstrates some real cleverness in cornering her prey after the lights go out. I was hoping for more from Urara, however, as her politeness and eagerness to fight were refreshing in this series.  The problem is that outside of an over-too-soon battle against some nameless thugs she didn’t get much of a chance to show off what she’s capable of. At least Yoshimurakana shows that she’s got some real chops as an action storyteller here. Now we just need to see if she can make the overall story as interesting as the hints of it that we get here.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Fortune and Glory:  A True Hollywood Story

Yes, this is the third edition of this particular comic after it was originally published by Oni, and reprinted by Marvel in a colorized hardcover edition.  It’s still one of the best things Bendis has ever done and deserving of a spot in everyone’s library even against all of the other stuff from the writer in these solicitations (of which there is a lot).  “Fortune and Glory” is the writer’s story of his time in the Hollywood machine after one of his early projects, “Goldfish,” is optioned and he experiences the fun of turning it into a screenplay and meeting with all of the execs who want to turn it into a film.  Or not. While there’s plenty of stuff about how a lot of these execs are full of hot air or are desperately trying to cover up their own vapidness, what sets this story apart is how we get to see the good side of the experience as well. It’s not a cautionary story so much as an adventure with its successes and failures.  It’s also something I wound up re-reading just now after picking it up to refresh my memory about it, so consider that too.

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Elfen Lied Omnibus vol. 1

When it was announced that Dark Horse would be releasing this manga, my initial thought was “Why the hell is this being released now?”  The anime that was made from this manga was kind of a cult success back when it was released in the mid-aughts, mainly because of how it mixed slice-of-life cuteness with “Akira” levels of violence and drama.  It didn’t make the same impact as that aforementioned title, let alone other defining works like “Evangelion” or “Cowboy Bebop.” Which begs the question of why is the manga getting a new lease on life here in this day and age?

I got my answer in these solicitations.  It states that the Duffer Brothers, the creators of “Stranger Things,” cited “Elfen Lied” as part of the inspiration for their wildly popular series.  Knowing this, you might be forgiven for thinking that Dark Horse’s licensing and release this manga was part of the condition for getting the rights to publish “Stranger Things” comics.  That said, “Elfen Lied” has a special place in my memory for its more gonzo elements and the fact that the people who fansubbed it also included a content advisory warning along with the first episode.  I’ll be picking up the manga to see how the manga compares to my memory of the anime.

Yeah, writing up all of the Previews Picks in one column didn’t turn out to be shorter or more fun.  So we’re back to the old way for the foreseeable future. Well, with one minor change…

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hickman and Weaver -- The Human Machine

Unlike certain other comics series, it’s easy to understand why the conclusion to Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver’s epic tale of how the great minds of history contributed to the Marvel Universe took so long.  Hickman was busy crafting his tale of multiversal death and destruction in the pages of “Avengers” and “New Avengers” while also launching “The Manhattan Projects” and “East of West.” Weaver even contributed to a few issues of “Avengers” as well as the “Infinity” event and while he’s not a book-a-month kind of artist I imagine that Hickman was too busy with these other projects to give him anything to draw for the final two issues of “S.H.I.E.L.D.”  Now I can finally find out how it all ends with the arrival of this paperback edition. Sure, I could go buy the hardcover collection right now, but I’ve already waited close to five years for this concluding volume. A few more months aren’t going to matter.

The stories that inspired the movie aren't bad, even if their defensiveness does them no favors.

(And if anyone's wondering what I thought about the movie, I'll just say that it was fine.)

I’ve got some bad news for fans of this series.  While Yen Press has done a great job of putting out these volumes on a regular schedule, they’ve finally caught up to the Japanese release.  What’s more is that because “Delicious in Dungeon” is serialized in a magazine that only comes out ten times a year, new volumes are likely to only be an annual occasion from here on out.  (Vol. 7 has yet to materialize in Japan.) At least the unpleasantness of this fact is lessened by this latest great volume which serves up delightful helpings from its dramatic and comedic sides with practiced ease.

Most of the drama comes from the first three chapters which deal with the fallout from our group’s encounter with former comrade Shuro’s entourage and the other group of adventurers that they’ve had two dubious encounters with prior to meeting them in person.  Since Laios is such a straightforward and honest person, he eventually tells them that Falin was resurrected using Marcille’s knowledge of Black… I mean, Ancient Magic. Before things get out of hand, the parties are interrupted by a harpy attack which happens to be led by a chimera-fied Falin.  This mini-arc has a great mix of action, humor, and drama as most everyone finds a unique way to deal with the crisis at hand. That everything wraps up in a satisfying fashion -- with what I consider a GOAT image as Laios tamps down on his emotions to attack the chimera -- is really impressive when you think about the various tones and personalities mangaka Ryoko Kui has to balance here.

Things get back to a semblance of normal with the chapters that follow as our group winds up having to deal with shapeshifters, nightmares (which taste great after being sauteed in butter), and pick up a new party member with her own issues along the way.  You could argue that the series is falling back on its formula here, but each chapter is enriched by the great character details offered up by the mangaka regarding her cast. Particularly in the shapeshifter chapters as good-natured doofus Laios winds up having to play detective in order to figure out who’s really real.  All of this is worthy of the series high standard and worthy of being savored until the arrival of vol. 7.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com