Random Back Issues #106 - Ms. Marvel #11

Right, sorry. "Avian-American," perhaps? "Genetically modified artificial resurrection"?

Last time we looked at Ms. Marvel, Kamala was still trying to figure out her powers and learning that swimsuit costumes ride up in uncomfortable places. She's got all that under control now, which is good, as it's the big confrontation with The Inventor. Who, as you see above, is Thomas Edison cloned into the body of a cockatiel. I don't understand the thought process behind it, but it's hard to argue with the results.

He's been abducting runaway kids and using them as an energy source, reasoning the youngest generation aren't good for anything else. But during an attack on Kamala's school, he grabbed a few students, including her best friend Nakia. Plus, he's got a big robot to fight Kamala and the kids that used to work for him until she convinced them to switch sides.

Recognizing there's too much for her to handle at once, Kamala calls her other best friend and sidekick Bruno and gets him to call the cops. Any port in a storm. Meanwhile, rather than "embiggen" and try to smash the robot, Kamala goes small, crawling in among the gears (and the capybaras? The tail is awful short for rats) until she finds a wire that lets her control the robot.

Great! Problem solved. Or not, because the Inventor figured out electromagnetic pulses disrupt her abilities and she starts to grow. Inside a confined metal box that is not going to grow with her. This is how you end up with the kind of claustrophobia where you create massive hurricanes when Doctor Doom makes you into a living metal statue.

Fortunately, one of the kids went and retrieved Lockjaw, offered to Kamala as an ally by Medusa (back when Marvel was still trying to make the Inhumans matter), and the big dog tears open part of the bot and hauls Kamala (and a bunch of wires, and a bunch of capybaras) out by her ankle.

The cops show up, the Inventor climbs his disabled weapon to pontificate, it collapses, and that's it for the cuckoo bird. Time for post-fight sandwiches! Also, the Inventor's creator is hauled off, vowing to show who the real genius is, and one of the cops advises Ms. Marvel to be careful, because now bigger threats than this will be aware of her. In Jersey? Bigger threats like what? Toxic waste? Traffic snarl-ups? Multiversal incursions the Avengers are powerless to prevent because Jonathan Hickman sez so? Pfft, what are the chances any of that stuff could happen?

[7th longbox, 110th comic, Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #11, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)]

Random Back Issues #93 - Ms. Marvel #2

No, no, no, you have to clench your fists on either side of you and scream really loudly. Have you ever even seen Dragon Ball Z? Fake geek girls, I tell ya. *immediately beaten to death*

Having snuck out to a rowdy teen party, then been exposed to Terrigen Mists and breaking out of a weird egg, Kamala has also changed to look like Carol Danvers. Which does not produce the confidence and strength she hoped.

Wandering the fog, Kamala spies current Mean Girl Zoe and future fascist bootlicker Josh near a pier. While Kamala reflexively shrinks to bug size, Josh wants to sing, or dance, or drunkenly make-out. Zoe's not having it, and when Josh tries to dip her, drops her in the river instead. Kamala remembers something her father said about the importance of saving even one life, and is able to rescue Zoe while looking like Carol Danvers. 

Also, I love the little details Alphona adds for garbage that gets scooped up along with Zoe. I am very curious about "free-range maple syrup." Is this something Plant-Man is involved with? Trees that get up and move? Oh crap, it's not those plant-people that don't like K'un-Lun is it?

Zoe vows to never get wasted again while people thank "Captain Marvel" and compliment her return to her old costume. Kamala bails, thinking about how the boots pinch and the leotard gives her a wedgie. It occurs to me, is the costume Kamala's regular clothes, which she was able to change along with her body, or did her body actually grow over her clothes when she changed shape?

Still looking like a blonde Amazon, Kamala borrows a sweater from a guy with a shopping cart full of stuff and sneaks back into her room. Fails the stealth check though, as her brother hears her. Fortunately for Kamala, her body changed back to normal, so that's one less thing to explain, though she does try. Aamir takes this to mean some boy tried something at the party, which she assures him isn't the problem. Bad news, her parents know she snuck out. So she gets a lecture about how she's being willful and disobedient and her mother blames it on America. Then Kamala gets grounded. I guess no superheroing until that's lifted. Oh well.

{7th longbox, 140th comic. Ms. Marvel (vol. 3) #2, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)}

What I Bought 2/15/2019 - Part 2

One book is wrapping up, only to reappear next month with a new first issue and creative team. The other has a guest artist for a one-off issue.

Ms. Marvel #38, by G. Willow Wilson, Devin Grayson, Eve L. Ewing, Jim Zub, Saladin Ahmed (writers), Nico Leon, Takeshi Miyazawa, Joey Vazquez, Kevin Librana, Minkyu Jung and Juan Vlasco (artists), Ian Herring (color artist/artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I have no idea why they decided to bring in a bunch of other writers and artists to do a jam issue for Wilson and Leon's last issue on the book.

Kamala's in a bad mood, then she and all her friends in the convenience store get sucked into a weird video game simulation thing, where Kamala has to help them confront their various fears to help them remember who they are. Sort of. That's what she does with Zoe and Bruno, but with Nakia, it's more like Kamala needs to address the problem in their friendship that she kept the fact she was Ms. Marvel a secret from her for so long.

Which is perhaps the problem of having 5 different people write this issue. It's like not everybody was on the same page, or a game of Telephone. The message got turned around at some point.  For example, Bruno's brother is working at the Circle Q and appears to get sucked in along with the others. When Kamala, Nakia, Zoe, and Bruno have escaped at the end, he's nowhere to be seen. He didn't show up as a NPC during any of the video game levels, either, even though Gabe and Mike, who weren't there to be drawn in, did. Is that supposed to be the set-up for the starting point to Saladin Ahmed's run? Bruno's brother is missing, and aliens have something to do with all this? Considering no one notices, I'm doubtful.

It's fine if they felt he wasn't close enough to Kamala to be involved in the series of epiphanies. It's true, since he hasn't been around much since she rescued him in the very first story arc she had. But in that case, don't include him in the story, or make sure Leon doesn't draw him as one of the ones getting sucked in.

Of the three one-offs that have wrapped up this volume of the book, I liked this one better than the one about how Kamala might have gotten Inhuman genetics in her family line. But that's mostly because the video game reference stuff works better for me than stuff involving the Inhumans. Last month's issue was still a lot better. Not so much blunt force trying to drive some sort of message through.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #41, by Ryan North (writer), Naomi Franquiz (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist/trading card artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - I would never have guessed that was Peter Parker tied up with Nancy if the cover didn't say so. I feel like I've seen that jacket on someone else, but I can't recall who. Maybe that parody of grown-up Johnny Quest on Venture Brothers? Action Johnny?

Nancy and Peter are trapped in a net in a room filling with water. This is when Peter was split into himself and Spider-Man a few months back in Amazing Spider-Man. I would have just guessed "clone" if Ryan North didn't explain that in the issue. Squirrel Girl, Thor, and (She-)Hulk get stuck trying to outsmart the Ms. Quizzler to free them. Unfortunately, they're bad a trivia quizzes. Fortunately, Tippy had rallied all the squirrels to form a search party and already rescued the hostages. Wait, the squirrels gnawed through a glass skylight. Can they do that? Would there be anything for their teeth to gain purchase against?

I don't know. My class schedules never lined up where I could take Mammalogy. Squirrel Girl advises the Ms. Quizzler to prove she's the smartest person alive by designing things that would help the world, rather than taking hostages to force people to pit their intellect against hers. Which is a solid plan, since Reed Richards clearly isn't going to get off his ass and do anything.

I kind of like the Ms. Quizzler's design. It took me a bit to realize the dots on the vest/onesie/thing are meant to be blanks like you fill in on a multiple choice test. Which explains the four balls with letters on her head, too. I feel like 4 is too many. Maybe she could just do 2, one "true" and one "false"? North didn't opt to introduce a villain obsessed with quizzes because his artist has the word "quiz" in her last name did he? Marvel has a dearth of those kinds of villains, don't they? The puzzles and trivia obsessed types. None are leaping to mind at the moment. So there's a niche Ms. Quizzler could fill! If she wasn't going to go straight, I mean.

Franquiz's style reminds me more of Erica Henderson's than Charm's. Her Doreen in particular, since she's back to having more of a round face and messy hair, where Charm smoothed things out a lot. I notice when Tippy is sitting on Doreen's shoulder, she matches Doreen's gestures and reactions. If Doreen makes a smug look and holds up one hand, so does Tippy. If she's startled and indignant, same thing. Which is not any approach I can remember the other artists taking, but isn't bad.

The bit where Nancy becomes convinced Peter is Spider-Man, then Peter becomes convinced Nancy is Squirrel Girl was amusing. I'd say Peter should be smarter than that, but if I remember right, when he got split into two people, the side that got the powers also got all the smarts. The Peter side only got the sense of responsibility. The inclusion of Thor and Hulk - I don't really like making Jen kind of a less articulate Hulk - was basically pointless. Unless this is a stealth warm-up tie-in to War of Realms. Thor does mention that he doesn't hold the fact Loki likes Nancy against her. I should hope not. Even Loki can get something right once in a while.

What I Bought 2/7/2019

I prefer running in cold weather to hot, although running outdoors beats a treadmill any day of the week. Still, might be a bit too cold when I notice there's frost on my eyebrows. The last two books from January. One is an ongoing series nearing its end, and the other is a mini-series going into the final third.

Coda #8, by Simon Spurrier (writer), Matias Bergara (artist), Michael Doig (color assists), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Yeah, this issue will not be as placid as the cover suggests.

This issue is narrated by Serka, who has returned to the wastes where the Urken go when they feel the fury bubbling up from within. She was denied the opportunity to complete the quest she'd devoted her life to, and so she needs to blow off some steam. Hum, meanwhile has to get the hell out of Thundervale fast, because Notch, now ruler of the community, has to make a show of killing the ones responsible for the murder of the previous leader. He runs to Serka, and learns he understood nothing about her, while she understood him pretty well. Now he gets to live with that knowledge.

That did not go at all the way I expected. I knew his big plan to "save" Serka with his potion wasn't going to go as planned, that he was going to have misunderstood her curse. I didn't expect the issue was going to be that she doesn't see it at all the way he does, given how it was something she often tried to hide away from him.

The pages when Hum ventures into the Everstorm are gorgeous. It's mostly this swirling mass of dull browns and reds, which adds to the nightmarish aspect when he sees what's there. These giant bloated masses of shadows with gaping maws and dull red eyes. The first panel is small inset one of him trying to shield his face from the wind-driven grit, and the ring that glows in her presence is this simple red circle. Not flashing brightly like on the page before, but just a little bit of color that guides him to ruin. I'm getting maudlin, that's never good.

I'm a little torn, actually. The end of the issue feels like it should be heartbreaking, but I don't really want to feel bad for Hum, who could have avoided this disaster by trying to talk to her, to understand her point of view. I guess it's sad for Serka, to be so directly confronted with his weakness and lack of, trust maybe, in her. But I feel as though she'll hold up under this break-up better than he will. I really don't know what he's going to do going forward. March back and put his head in the noose, perhaps? Feels like the performance art a bard would favor.

Ms. Marvel #37, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I hadn't ever thought of Kamala having painted fingernails. Kind of assumed her mother would have objections to that.

Kamala and Gabe are supposed to be looking after their nephew, but are entirely incapable of it, and go running to the convenience store for help. Then the water mains burst and the town begins to flood, and they lose the baby. Fortunately their various friends are much calmer and more competent and take care of the baby until Kamala can stop the flooding. And her brother finally gets a job, one that will probably suit him well. Might make him insufferable, though.

Kind of a cute issue. I'm not much for babies, and the way Herring colored Malik's eyes in the last panel screams he's possessed by a demon, rather than just has superpowers. Maybe that was what he was going for. Maybe next month, Kamala and her friends must perform an exorcism on her nephew.

But watching all the different parts of the cast interact outside super-villain shenanigans is nice. I was a little surprised Harold - the retired veteran from the Legion of Substitute Ms. Marvels  story - knows the others by name, but isn't used to seeing them when they aren't cosplaying as superheroes. So they told him their names while superheroing?

It's kind of another breather issue, although it does conclude Aamir's long search for a job which doesn't offend his religious sensibilities. So Wilson is moving a few things forward before the end of her run. I wonder if she and the incoming creative team have been discussing things, trying to find a point to end her time as writer that will let things flow smoothly into the new team's run. It's nice to hope.

Leon gets in some funny visual gags of people adapting to the flooded streets. Bruno trying to use the sign for the "Smushee" machine as a sail. Harold giving his scooter amphibious capabilities with rocking chairs and some modified paddles on the rear tire. Random shark fins and pigeons calmly floating. I don't think pigeons do well in water, though. Maybe they're puffins in disguise! Those damn puffins. I kid, puffins are swell. Instead of CGI-ing them into some alien whatever in that last Star Wars movie, they should have just had Luke being a hermit on an island full of puffins. It's a big galaxy, far away. Something extremely similar to puffins could totally evolve there. Better listen to me, I'm a wildlife biologist.

(Note: You should not listen to me about this. I am probably talking out of my ass.)

What I Bought 12/6/2018 - Part 1

I haven't been able to track down all the books from last month I wanted. November's issue of Coda being the one I'm still on the hunt for. In the meantime, let's look at the books that I did find, starting with two from Marvel.

Spider-Girls #2, by Jody Houser (writer), Andres Genolet (penciler/inker), Jim Charalampidis and Triona Farrell (colorists), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't think you need a spider-sense to warn you of a knife one inch from your nose.

Pete and MJ head off to join the fight against the Inheritors, while the Spider-Girls go to warn the only other spider-person in that universe, which is Normie Osborn, thanks to mad science, I think. Then Normie turns into a full-on giant spider, and while the girls try to deal with that, two of Morlun's siblings show up. That's it, that's the issue.

So, no real progress whatsoever on whatever Annie is supposed to figure out from the scroll things. Which, you know, were the whole reason Mayday and Anya came their in the first place, to find a solution to the problem. So either the solution is going to be rapidly crammed into the third issue along with the big fight, or it's being saved for the main mini-series. Which is really what I should expect.

There are a couple of moments of humor, mostly involving Anya being sarcastic about things, but the levity is nice. That one relative of Morlun's thinking the world is primitive because they poofed into the Cloisters or something when New York City is right there if he turns his head two inches to the left was a good chuckle. I appreciate that Houser didn't even bother naming the two villains. We don't care, not really, they're just something to punch and have act menacing. They barely have one dimension to their characters, forget about two.

Genolet does a good job conveying tone with body language, kind of important since most of the cast are wearing masks for the entire issue. There's a scene where they're heading to warn Normie, and their postures and positions while web-swinging are all different. But Mayday and Annie's are much more similar to each other than Anya's. Which makes sense if you figure they were raised by Pete and MJ, and their versions of their dad were probably fairly similar (except for Mayday's being a bit older and having one artificial leg). It's a little detail, but a nice touch.

Ms. Marvel #36, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Uh-oh, Kamala's doing the "grim avenger" posing bit. Everybody watch out.

The entire issue is about why that one guy Kamala and Singularity met a couple of issues ago thought he recognized Kamala. The answer being, he met an ancestor of hers who looked just like her 800 years ago while he was sword-fighting a damn Skrull. Or it's just a hypothesis, since there are also people who look just like Bruno, Zoey, and Josh there. You know, I had almost forgotten about good ol' Josh, the guy who was arrested because they thought he was gonna blow up the school, then decided to become a fascist tool. He just kind of wandered off without facing consequences for that.

Where's the Punisher when you need him?

Breather issues are fine before the next big disaster, but maybe use them as an opportunity to set up or advance subplots with the supporting cast? Maybe it's just that my eyes cross when the Inhumans get brought up.

The swordfight wasn't bad, although you'd think a skrull would be a little more creative about incorporating shapeshifting into his technique. Watch One Piece or something. There's like 500 swordsmen with weird powers in that series, and they use their powers in ways that compliment their styles. No wonder the Skrulls could never finish off the Kree. What a bunch of putzes.

What I Bought 10/12/2018 - Part 2

I'm on the road most of this week, so I'm trying to get all this stuff ready over the weekend. If I had stayed up those 42 consecutive hours, I might be doing better than I am. But here's two comics from last week!

Ms. Marvel #35, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm not sure the Shocker can look menacing, even when you're the size of a mouse.

Kamala turns the Shocker's experiment against him by taking him into the temporal vortex with her, while Bruno tries to figure out how to shut the whole thing down back in Jersey. Shocker is reluctant to go back, because that means go back to the same old, same old. It turns out worse than he expected, because he ends up back in Brooklyn in front Spider-Miles. Although as long as he doesn't attack Miles, the kid shouldn't attack him, right? Can't just assume Hermann is up to no good because he's in the old union suit. Back in Jersey, Kamala and Bruno get to have gyros! And possibly talk about feelings! But definitely sandwiches!

I feel a little bad for Shocker, but he just didn't know when to quit. Or I guess he made the mistake of assuming the grass on the other side had to be greener than where he came from. Otherwise he could have just gone back to Jersey with Kamala, and as soon as blue girl goes away, start the fight again. I'm not at all clear on why he assumes they'll get powers from this stunt, though. Especially when last issue he said he didn't know what his experiment was doing. Then again, in the Marvel Universe any experiment will give you super-powers.

The whole bit with Kamala, Shocker, and Singularity arguing in the void was funny, between the girls being intensely frustrated and Shocker alternating between being stubborn and completely freaking out. I still like how expressive Nico Leon makes Shocker even through the mask. And as always, it's some of the small details that make things fun. The goat being tossed through the air by the vortex when Bruno reaches Shocker's lair, as well as the old couple sitting there watching the show. Who are then up in a tree on the last page, still in their lawn chairs, just enjoying the show.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #37, by Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist and trading card artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Man, stuck with loki as a pallbearear? There's no way he doesn't get bored and drop the coffin halfway through.

Squirrel Girl is dead! Well, her book lasted 45 issues in total, that's not a bad run these days. But also, she's attending her own funeral in disguise as Bass Lass, so she can figure how exactly there is a dead Squirrel Girl. Which is how she gets to watch footage of the death, and eventually comes to a conclusion. But most of the issue is spent on the funeral, including two pages of various characters delivering eulogies. Some of which are good, some not so good. I am not as enamored with the idea of PG-13 Jean-Paul Sartre as the text at the bottom of the page was, but I don't need no French philosopher to tell me about how hard it is being around people, whether he uses swears or not.

The Octobliterator reminds me of how Beta Ray Bill's people perceive Galactus in the Stormbreaker mini-series. They saw him as the manifestation of their destroyer god Astra, which was apparently a big, multi-limbed thing. Funniest joke for me in this issue was Captain America thinking Iron Man is trying to start trouble up with Captain Marvel again when Tony tells everyone to attack her. It's a fair assumption to make, because Tony's kind of an ass like that. Derek Charm gets to draw Carol in her Binary form, and makes that look pretty cool. Rico Renzi's colors help a lot. That big red heat blast was pretty cool looking. I also appreciate that when the Black Panther's trying to slow himself down after being blown back by a big explosion, Charm and Renzi drew the marks from his claws doing that. Probably not strictly necessary, but it was a nice detail.

Skrulls are not really my favorite villains, but hopefully North and Charm get some decent jokes out of the cast trying to figure out who is the real (Insert Character Name) and who is a Skrull.

What I Bought 9/13/2018

Took two different comic stores in different towns on different days, but I did find all four books I was looking for from last week. Small victories. There's supposed to be another four comics out this week I want, but finding all of them might be harder to manage. in other news, I learned yesterday they are doing a new version of Magnum P.I., with some guy who looks like he stepped out of an Ax Body Spray commercial playing Magnum. Ugh.

Ms. Marvel #34, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm impressed Shocker can bend that far backwards and maintain his balance. You'd think he'd need to put one leg further back to brace himself.

Shocker has no idea what his machine does, other than it creates portals, which he boots Kamala into. She's lost outside time until Singularity shows up to eventually get her back home. Everything I know about Singularity I've learned from Googum using her in his Deadpool and Nightcrawler strips the last few weeks. Back in Jersey, Kamala has to resume fighting Shocker, except Bruno intervenes, having figured out how her powers work.

There are some interesting implications for Kamala's powers based on what Bruno found, depending on what Wilson decides to do with it. In other news, I'm so happy for The Shocker. He got to do an old-fashioned showdown in the middle of the street against a super-hero! So cool! You go Hermann! Actually, it just occurred to me that Shocker's costume is padded to protect him from the vibrations from his gauntlets, so punching him really shouldn't even work, should it? I feel as though Spidey's run into that problem before.

I notice Bruno is the only one whose name is listed on the Emergency Power Shutdown Log in the lab, which doesn't surprise me. We never see anyone else in there. You think there'd be at least one other science nerd in the school. I have no idea what that place was Kamala and Singularity wound up in initially. Is that something left over from that A-Force book that existed for five seconds a couple of years ago? Or is it something that's going to be relevant to this book going forward?

There's not a lot else I want to say. It's a middle chapter of a story, it's setting a few things up for next month, getting pieces in place.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #36, by Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (artist), Madeline McGrane (minicomic artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Yes, that is certainly a picture of a squirrel covering its mouth.

New York is menaced by a giant ghost lady that cancels out all sound. Or steals it all. Everything is silent now. All the various heroes fail to defeat the ghost which, come on. I know Dr. Strange isn't at the top of his game now, but it's a frickin' ghost. Peter Venkman was a damn charlatan and carrying on inappropriate liaisons with his students and he could handle ghosts! Iron Man can't build a dang nuclear accelerator? Certainly T'Challa has protocols for dealing with ghosts. Anyway, Doreen and Nancy figure out what the ghost's problem is, find common ground, and noise returns to New York City. Hooray?

As far as silent issues go, it's not bad. I was afraid North and Charm were going to resort to a lot of gags about people writing stuff out so it could be read, but they mostly restrained themselves. They even refrained from any of the text jokes at the bottom of the page. When this got solicited I wondered if they'd hold off on those for this issue. There are a few jokes about t-shirts, or books that thankfully use pictures, but not too many. And I liked the shirt gag. I would buy a "I was afraid this might happen so come on guys what the heck" shirt. I have that reaction to people all the time.

I'm disappointed Yankees Stadium didn't sustain more damage from having heroes repeatedly swatted into it. Although the Yankees would no doubt demand the city pay for repairs, so probably for the best. Plus, there's not anyone on the Yankees I would particularly want to see get squashed under Ant-Man's butt, now that Jeter's retired. That would have been a hilarious way for Jeter to end.

What I Bought 9/2/2018

I found the one book that I wanted that came out last week, eventually, and here it is! I'm not exactly excited to be back at work.

Ms. Marvel #33, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I feel like Kamala's going to land very awkwardly, given the angle her body is at relative to those buildings below her. It's as though she was scaling the side of one of them, and pushed off to lunge at someone.

Kamala's powers are getting increasingly screwed up, but she's still pursuing the Shocker. He's built himself a lair! Complete with absurd, well, "death traps" might be too strong a word, but that would appear to be the intent. Meanwhile, Bruno is back at the school lab trying to finally figure out how the hell Kamala's powers work, along with his weird little Xavier school electronic encyclopedia thing. And there's a vortex in the Shocker's hideout, which is probably also disrupting Kamala's powers somehow. Bruno seems to have gotten results by increasing light wavelengths, so I'm guessing all the vibrational energy from the Shocker's gauntlets is exciting molecules and sending her powers out of control. Just spitballing here.

Even though he's being goofy, I love the Shocker trying to do his version of a Silver Age super-villain. I know the Shocker is a Silver Age super-villain, but he never really did the "lair" thing that I remember. And he's got mad engineering skills - look at the stuff he's coming up with on a five-fingered discount budget - so he can absolutely put together his own place. Although it looked structurally unsound from the outside, and his traps seem to be damaging the inside. Well, he'll get better at it with practice. And Nico Leon's artwork makes it look like he's having fun. The way he's throwing civilians in Kamala's way, or jumping around making her chase him through his version of Home Alone.

Can he be Kamala's arch-nemesis, the way he wants? Spider-Man doesn't need him, he already has plenty of enemies. I like Shocker more than the sentient computer virus or the annoying fascist girl (although it's more fun to watch her get punched in the face).

What I Bought 7/11/2018 - Part 2

The Cardinals finally fired Mike Matheny this weekend. Probably two years too late, but better than never. I doubt this is going to magically fix everything, but it's one less incompetent boob in a position he's entirely unqualified for in this world. Progress!

Ms. Marvel #32, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Friends don't dump friends into beakers with bubbly liquids, Bruno. Ha, I almost called it a test tube. Boy, would my face have been red!

Bruno and Kamala resume trying to understand her powers, so naturally they go completely on the fritz. Certainly the close proximity of these two possibly-more-than-friends to each other has nothing to do with that. It's bad timing, because the Shocker has decided to host a crime wave in Jersey City. I thought for a bit her power issues were the result of Shocker using his vibro-blaster things. It's kind of like electricity, which disrupts her powers, but not quite, so maybe it would disrupt them in an unusual way. But no, no, it's probably just emotional turmoil.

Funny to see Bruno state he's done climbing fences and being the sidekick, then the second Kamala leaps into action Bruno is scrounging through his bag trying to find something to help. Like Kamala was worried about, making the same mistakes in all new ways. I'm not sure what the way out is, though. They're friends, they care about each other. Bruno's going to want to help his friend, and Kamala would naturally get his perspective on something that was troubling her, although I suspect he'll share that duty with Zoe, Mike, and Nakia going forward. As for the possible romantic flare-up, I don't know what to do about that.

Leon shows the Shocker's powers as functioning as a pressure wave pushing things away from him. A lot of times, artists show them more as generic power blasts, that hit something and pulverize, leaving a crater. Or sometimes it's treated almost like electricity. But this way, Leon can represent its effect by showing things being blown away, which allows for amusing visual gags. Like the guy walking his dog past the pizza place in one panel, then they both go flying the other way in the next panel. There's one panel where the sound effect has shockwaves emanating from him out towards the people being blown away, which was a nice touch. And he's very effective at using Shocker's eyes to convey emotion, considering that's the only part of his face there is to work with.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #34, by Ryan North (writer), Derek Charm (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Is Kraven a good harmonica player? Can he hunt down a tune?

Everyone's in jail. Tony Stark can't get them out, but can at least get the cops not to snoop into their secret identities. Doreen yells at Kraven about his extensive criminal background, which, how did she not know about this? He had a supervillain trading card! Which, OK, fine, Deadpool was also listed as a super-villain on pretty much all the different series of trading cards I owned. But that is totally different! To be fair, the sequence of the Police Chief standing there, waiting for Kraven's record to print on their ancient printer made me laugh. Although I thought it was just taking a long time because there were so many crimes, not because the printer is old as the hills, but hey, the joke still worked.

There is a trial, with an annoying prosecutor named Courtney Alaska, which is not an awesome name, I don't care what Ryan North thinks. And she's deliberately baiting Jennifer Walters, which seems unwise. Yes, if she loses control and Hulks out, you probably win your case. Your skeleton will also probably be reduced to dust, which will limit your quality of life. Doesn't seem like a fair trade, but perhaps Courtney Alaska really loves winning cases that much. Poor life priorities, but she wouldn't be the first.

Everyone is acquitted - except Kraven, who is deemed beyond redemption. Which causes him to jump out a window. He encounters Spider-Man, who I don't recall ever actually saying he's going to catch villains just like flies before now, regardless of what Ryan North says. I am disagreeing with Ryan North a lot this month. If he'd stop being wrong, it would stop happening.

Derek Charm draws a pretty good Spider-Man. Reminds me of Mark Buckingham's work, from when he and Paul Jenkins worked on Peter Parker: Spider-Man back in the early 2000s. I'm gradually getting more used to Charm's art. His Nancy Whitehead is still the character I'm having the most issue with, but the pacing on a lot of the jokes - like the one about the cops' printer - still work with him as artist like they did with Erica Henderson.

What I Bought 6/27/2018

One thing I find frustrating about drawing is my brain continually pictures the things I want to draw from angles and perspectives I am not actually capable of drawing. The part coming up with ideas does not communicate with the part responsible for carrying out those ideas.

Ms. Marvel #31, by G. Willow Wilson, Saladin Ahmed, Rainbow Rowell, Hasan Minhaj (writers), Nico Leon, Gustavo Duarte, Bob Quinn, Elmo Bondoc (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Striped pants is an interesting look. I guess if you can make it work for you.

Kamala's sleepover with Nakia, Zoe, and Mike is interrupted by several things requiring Ms. Marvel's attention, which makes Kamala increasingly frustrated. So she decides to just come clean and reveal her secret identity to her friends. Who admit they already knew, because she's not good at maintaining a secret identity. Ouch.

I'm a little disappointed by the dull thud of "Yeah, we already knew you were a superhero," if only because Kamala's been intermittently stressing over keeping secrets from Nakia since her earliest issues. It doesn't feel like a great payoff for what seemed to be played up as such a big decision for Kamala. I suppose it's part of her personality to stress out over things too much. See also her recent freakout over kissing Red Dagger. The alternative was probably a lot of melodrama of her friends freaking out over being kept in the dark. So this is probably better.

The distractions - each of which is written and drawn by a different art team - are a mixed bag. Lockjaw's arrival is funny, if a bit random. Duarte's art is a different style than the book normally sees, closer to Skottie Young than Alphona or Nico Leon's. But it works for the more silly, madcap aspect of his section. Ian Herring goes with a much different color palette than he normally does, to the point I wondered if he even did the color work for those pages. Then Herring switches to a more faded color scheme for Elmo Bondoc's pages, closer to what Herring used when Adrian Alphona was still drawing the book. Bondoc's art is a little shaky, Miles Morales' head is oddly shaped in more than a few panels. Bob Quinn's was probably closest to Nico Leon's; the linework is heavier, he doesn't showcase that knack for a simplified style for more humorous effect Leon has, but the scene didn't call for it.

As special 50th issues go, this one was solidly fine.

Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #3, by Chad Bowers and Chris Sims (writers), Gang Hyuk Lim (artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - Not sure why Evil PhoenixHawk stole the fur trim from Kraven the Hunter's vest, but wannabe cosmic beings are odd like that.

I figured it's only two more issues, might as well stick around for the finish. The spirit of Powell's suit returns to explain the true origin of all those amulets, which involves the Elders of the Universe. The point to all this is to make Powell embrace the true potential of the power he has, somehow, pull himself together, and pursue the other Raptors before they get to Earth. Death's Head is still alive and tagging along, figuring there'll be a big bounty for a giant space bird. Good luck with that.

So much for my prediction on how the story was going to go. I figured Powell's "pattern" was lurking inside the amulet ripped from Darkhawk's chest, and he would be stirred to seize control from Robbie Rider when they attack New York, because the invaders always head for New York, and he sees his fiance running for her life. Darkhawk unlocking true potential and summoning a Darkhawk Gundam was not something I expected.

So in addition to try to connect Darkhawk to the Phoenix, know we're tying his origin to one of the Elders of the Universe. And how did the Primitive Skrull and Shi'ar find their way to Null Space, or the Darkforce Dimension, whichever? This is a lot of needless complication, and it's also resulting in a lot of exposition in this 4-issue mini-series. I like that the Kree Commander briefly mentions they've run into trouble hunting for Infinity Stones, since you could be forgiven for wondering what the hell any of this mini-series has to do with that.

I was going to say Lim drew the Skrulls without wrinkly chins, but I guess we could argue this was far enough back they hadn't evolved that feature. The Shi'ar are almost entirely covered with feathers at this stage, so it's a while ago. There's a few panels in here I can't tell what Lim's going for. On the page where the first Raptor appears, he looks at the other Shi'ar in one panel, then at a bare patch of ground at his feet, then at his arm, then the Skrulls. What's he looking at in the second panel? If it's his feet, then angle needs to be different. We also can't see his head at all, so we can't even try to gauge by an expression. There are a couple others like that, where a different view, or pulling further back might have clarified things. On the other hand, the full-page splash of the Anti-Phoenix looked pretty cool, as enormous birds made of space go.

What I Bought 5/30/2018

The second half of May wasn't supposed to be so dead for new books. But three comics I was expecting to come out didn't, and I still haven't tracked down the first issue of Coda. So here we are.

Ms. Marvel #30, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Schiti is really going with a different style there. I wonder why.

Kamala is trying to figure out what to do about Red Dagger and Bruno. Bruno is trying to figure out what to do about Kamala and Mike. Zoe, Nakia, and Mike are trying to figure what to do about the new student, who Zoe is certain is a super-villain. When Kamala is finally aware of this, she confronts Kaylee, and gets trounced because that sentient virus has gotten itself a robot body. So it's turning into Ultron, if Ultron were an annoying twerp. Frankly, Ultron as a dinosaur is much cooler. Kaylee/Doc.X has something planned for the spring dance, but Kamala and the Red Dagger foil it, and then he decides to go home while Kamala sorts things out. OK, then.

I have no idea what Kaylee's plan was going to be. To use her popularity to incite violence against marginalized members of the student body? To humiliate a bunch of people by revealing their secrets? It never got off the ground, as far as we know, so that was kind of an anti-climax. I guess it's going to be an ongoing struggle with that virus, and so this is just another phase of the battle. It also seems to be dredging up the specter of everything Kamala is keeping from her friends and family. Red Dagger suggesting they reveal their identities to each other was running on a similar track. She's still avoiding that conversation. It'll have to happen sooner or later, though. She's letting too many things related to her friends slip through the cracks, and they're hitting their limit with it.

The fight scene at the dance was pretty well drawn. Doc.X's robot body is a solid design, and the teamwork between Kamala and Red Dagger was handled well. I especially liked the dual use of guitars as weapons. I wish that panel had been a little bigger, or zoomed in more. The musicians are supposed to be distraught, but they're just vague outlines, so it kind of blunts the potential hilarity. Probably not supposed to find it funny, but our heroes are dealing with relationship issues while Kwezi pretends to be a 19th Century European anthropologist with his commentary, so don't think it's meant entirely seriously, either.

Also, Kwezi's growing on me as a character. I haven't been super-interested in all these new characters Wilson's been bringing in, since it means less page time for the supporting cast I already like, but I appreciate that she and Leon are expanding the universe.

Leon's work on body language is solid as always. Kaylee's arrogance and dismissive attitude, Zoe's dramatic approach to everything. But hey, exclaiming someone might be a super-villain got Mike out of that bathroom stall, where Nakia's patient understanding wasn't, so drama gets results.

What I Bought 4/20/2018

I was on the road again for most of the week, and I spent Wednesday in a town with two comic stores. Neither one of them had any of the four books I wanted that came out this week. Real letdown. Fortunately, the store here in town had two of them, so let's review.

Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #2, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I'm sorely tempted to cut the cover to pieces to assemble the, whatever it would be once I finished folding where it says to.

Cave, Chloe, and Bartrow crash land on a planet at war. The Lazer Monks, who seem to believe in the immutability of destiny and sacrifice, versus the Nejire, who are all about the chaos. The Monks think Cave is the reincarnation of their Progenitor. Cave doesn't care, but is very rude and grabby about the Monks amplifying crystals. They show him some special Chamber, as the Nejire close in, when they aren't constantly backstabbing each other.

The conflict between the two sides, as extreme versions of order vs. chaos, or self-sacrifice vs. self-interest, could be interesting. I'm not sure yet. If this thing with the Nejire constantly assassinating their leaders to claim leadership keeps going, that could get old. Sooner or later, they'll run out of guys. There's another force at work, certainly in the Nejire, probably in the Monks as well. Its motive could add something.

Cave seems like someone who has read about how to interact with people, but doesn't comprehend it. I can appreciate his disinterest in this war, but that being the case, it's not really OK to start grabbing sacred crystals of the people he declined to help. Really, it's not OK to do that without their thumbs up whether he helps or not. He's just that much of a geology nerd.

Oeming draws a lot of panels in this issue with peculiar borders. Like they're meant to be seen as carved gems, or maybe interlocking pieces. A couple of them remind me of the tail end of a trilobite, or maybe a scarab. There are also a lot of pages with some sort of design of interconnected dots and lines. Given the outer space setting, I'd figure it's meant to be a constellation, but one so massive we only see bits and pieces of it. Usually, that part stays outside of the panels, but on a couple of pages, it overlaps the panels. I don't know what that means, though. The panels in question feature the Nejire, and one of the Monks mentions that the Nejire's absolute dedication to chaos and unpredictability makes them predictable. So it's suggesting all their actions, no matter how much they might try to be chaotic, are still part of a design? Whether that's the psionic parasite Chloe and Cave found, or something else, future issues will tell?

Ms. Marvel #29, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - The Archie look is not a favorite of mine.

Kamala is an aunt, as Tyesha gives birth to a son. Kamala is very happy, and she and Red Dagger kiss, just as Bruno comes home on vacation. He and Kamala try talking, only to be interrupted by some rude new student from Connecticut, who Zoe instantly falls for. And Mike misinterprets Kamala taking Bruno's hand to help him enter the school. Because Bruno didn't contact his actual girlfriend before coming home, apparently. If he's going to be that big a putz, it's hard to sympathize with him. Everyone is having confusing feelings, and the new girl is super-strong, and possibly crazy. Almost certainly evil. Damn, she's probably a relative to that annoying HYDRA girl. Lockup, or whatever she called herself.

This might be more teenage angst and confusion than I'm prepared to handle. Or I'd already decided Kamala and Bruno should stick to being pals and date other people. Or date nobody, whichever. I'm not sure I'm supposed to find Bruno's friend Kwezi as annoying as I do. Being called "Yankee Doodle" constantly would drive me nuts, and he's going to use Bruno as a subject for his sociology thesis? Well, Kwezi must be a true friend, because he's made it possible for me to feel sympathy for Bruno again. So I guess that stuff is OK then.

It's still the little details Leon adds to some panels I enjoy most. The pigeon looking on alongside Bruno and Kwezi as they see Ms. Marvel and the Red Dagger together. The nearly infinite number of devices plugged into that one outlet in the airport.

That said, the bit where Sheikh Abdullah seems to be freaking out a Kamala's confession, only to turn out to be joking, that was good. You could see it coming, but the way Leon goes from these close-up panels of his and Kamala's anguished faces, to one of him calmly smiling and saying he'll go make tea. Herring helps by using a lot of bright red for the freakout panels, then a very placid blue for the punchline. Plus, the panel of Kamala dropping to the ground in poleaxed surprise was funny.

What I Bought 3/21/2018

Found two of the books from this week, which was one more than I thought I would. In other news, I've felt very scattered lately. Pulling in a dozen directions, and I can't decide which one to commit to. There hasn't been time to stop and figure things out. It's frustrating.

Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #1, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I think Cave may have taken the same cavalier attitude towards cosmic rays as Reed Richards did.

Cave pays a visit to a musician friend of his, who is growing at an increasing rate, and ultimately will implode. They try taking him into space to allow him to do so without endangering anyone. But Star Adam passes on faster than they expect, and they don't get far enough away from his implosion, which is going to send Cave, Chloe, and the Dr. Bartow they picked up jaunting through dimensions in the previous series across the universe.

Negative: No Wild Dog. His presence as the guy not used to all this weird crap, but with a ready-made response was one of my favorite parts of the previous series. That and his slowly-developing friendship with Chloe. He made a good sounding board for her. She and Cave seem to be getting along, so maybe she doesn't need someone to listen to her fears and resentments. Rivera did a good job of explaining a few things that carried over from the earlier run quickly, to get it out of the way. Still, once I thought about it, this issue was all just set-up to get to the point where Cave can begin to go interstellar. Which annoys me, a little.

Oeming's panel layouts and Filardi's colors made a great combo in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, and that continues here. The page where Adam tried the night pudding, and realized he had an unusual origin, Oeming draws the panels as different part of Adam's body, with the central panel focusing on Adam, who is struggling to grasp this greater self he has. Filardi makes the background a neon green web, and the panels are deep shades of blue and lavender, with Mazra's hair as this luminous silver in the panels she appears in. It's really eye-catching. And then the next page, we're back in the present, and the panels are more straightforward, but much smaller and slanted, closing in from one way or the other, Adam barely managing to squeeze in. The reality of what he learned he was, against the limitations of his surroundings and physical body. He can't fit in that reality any longer. If I stick with this book past the initial few issues, it'll probably be due to the art.

Ms. Marvel #28, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't think the outfit really works on Carol.

Naftali finds Kamala, hiding out at a private school. I thought she'd gotten herself a job. Also, I'm surprised it was that easy for her to just switch schools like that. Meanwhile, Carol Danvers and the Legion of Substitute Kamalas are trying to stop the Inventor, and doing a pretty poor job of it. Carol did not bring her "A" game today. Kamala, inspired by Naftali to not just bail when she could ask for help, returns and fights the Inventor's Mega-Reptile Zord. The day is saved, he goes to jail, she and Carol have a heartfelt conversation, and none of Kamala's friends think anything of her reappearing at school right after Ms. Marvel made her triumphant return. This is what happens when you keep cutting spending on education.

I still feel bad for the giant screaming turtle. I think it's just in a lot of pain. Turtles are not meant to be that large! I don't feel bad for the guy driving a monster truck on the boardwalk, though. I mean, what the hell are you driving that thing around in public for anyway?  But as always, the little details Leon adds are a treat. The person on the first page vaulting a car while holding their pet under one arm. The teens taking a taxi because they couldn't keep up with Carol. I also enjoy that the Inventor's creatures did the badass pose thing, and the Subs responded with their own cool, if less intimidating poses in the next panel. Just needed some random dude to yell out, "POSE-OFF!" Then get stepped on.

Also, I think Herring softens the tones on the colors for the quiet, civilian talking scenes. Or maybe it's just that people aren't wearing bright primary color superhero costumes during those scenes. But I'd swear the colors are more varied, but also just not quite as bright. More relaxed, soothing, let's you just read the words, maybe. Between this and the story about the runaway train, I've been enjoying these last couple of stories quite a bit. Nice breather from dealing with HYDRA crap.

What I Bought 2/14/2018 - Part 1

It was 70 yesterday, and it's right around freezing today. I thought spring didn't start for another month? I actually found all the books I was looking for this week, so let's get to it.

Deadpool #294, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Scott Koblish (artist), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - The pin with the wicked grin on Madcap's cloak is a nice touch.

Madcap has pulled himself together and come looking for revenge. But Wade's life is already burned to the ground, so by the time Wade finds him and they start to fight, Madcap's already a little bored. When Wade's master plan for taking Madcap off the board reveals itself, Madcap's actually grateful for the change in scenery. Which leaves Wade, once again, alone in the wreckage of his life, as Stryfe hounds him to hurry up and kill Evan.

Wade's solution was pretty clever, and even plays off his recent appearance in Rocket Raccoon's book, I assume. Maybe Deadpool made some other trip to outer space I don't know about. Koblish drew Madcap more simplified than Hawthorne had been. Big open blank eyes and a big empty mouth. It reminds me more of how Madcap typically looks, in the few older appearances of his I've seen. He's getting off his pointless obsession with destroying Deadpool, and back to. . . whatever the hell it was he did prior to that. Annoying everyone, I think.

There's not anything else I have to say. I appreciate Duggan providing some sort of resolution to the Madcap subplot, considering how pissed I was when he kicked the can down the road prior to Secret Empire. But, as he touches on here, everything has moved on. Wade has bigger problems, and there's not much weight to dealing with Madcap now. Nothing's at risk if he fails. Wade was desperate for the win, really needed to see someone he didn't like miserable for a change, and he can't even manage that. Next issue we get to see if Wade really does have a plan to trick Stryfe and save Evan. The way things are going, I wouldn't bet on it.

Ms. Marvel #27, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - A strange lightning bolt appears, and Kamala now has to contend with a bunch of miniature, alternate versions of herself. Just another Wednesday in the Marvel Universe.

Red Dagger and the Legion of Substitute Marvels track Zoe's phone to the Inventor's lair, where he's busy monologing about how he's going to use the elderly for an energy source because they contribute nothing. Zoe's not OK with that, and neither are her friends, but their opponent has created a giant turtle who nearly stomps on Nakia, only for Zoe to push her to safety (and nearly be squashed herself). The bad guy escapes, but our heroes realize they're out of their league. But there just so happens to be one other Ms. Marvel they could call.

So, Carol Danvers for the first time since Civil War II ended. Damn, now I remember that Civil War II is something that existed. Boooooo. It makes sense, at least. I know Danvers was portrayed in at least a couple of other titles after that event as not wanting to lose her friends over philosophical differences (Spider-Woman was one, probably whatever Danvers' book was called at the time, too). So she wouldn't take the approach of Kamala being dead to her, but she's been smart enough to let Kamala decide when she wants to see Carol again. It just so happens someone else is contacting her.

I'm expecting Gabe is going to get a chance to shine next issue. It feels like the others have all had the chance to do something at least a little cool. Mike with the inflatable fist, Zoe working with Harold to find his friends, Nakia being the one smart enough to track Zoe by her phone. Gabe was sort of cool jumping on the giant turtle - although that poor turtle looked like it was in agony when it first popped up, it doesn't know what the hell is going on - so maybe that qualifies. We'll see. Leon did give Gabe a funny reaction shot when Carol made her big entrance. And he gets to bag on Red Dagger's hero dialogue. Perhaps Gabe is the "Meat and Sarcasm" guy. Being a superteam's Sokka isn't the worst thing in the world.

My favorite panel in this issue is after Red Dagger and the Marvels make their big entrance, they all strike poses. I don't think they're deliberately mimicking the Ginyu Force, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was Leon's inspiration. Then the Inventor counters with the classic, "arms folded across chest while minions swarm the heroes" stance. He's kind of a goof, but he has at least some of the villain style down pat. Although it's hard for me to believe he was able to escape Red Dagger, a guy used to running across rooftops with ease.

What I Bought 1/10/2018 - Part 2

A friend gave me a TV their parents didn't need back at Christmas, and last night I hooked my N64 up to it. In the 20+ years I've had that console, I've never played it on a screen bigger than about ~21 inches. Between being a broke-ass college kid to a broke-ass wildlife biology guy who bounced from temp job to temp job, there was no point in getting a bigger TV. Also, I'm cheap on non-essentials.

Anyway, point being, it was wonderful to play Starfox 64 on a big-screen. This must be why people buy big televisions!

Ms. Marvel #26, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Giant monster needs a name. Chameleio? Chamero, The Thing That Should Not Exist? Extemporo? Skreechy? I'm bad at this.

The Red Dagger, with some help from Zoe, destroys the giant robo-monster. Afterward, Zoe starts to put things together, and returns to the seniors' home to talk to Harold. The two investigate the secret basement, where several of the other seniors are in chairs hooked up to some sort of machine, but are discovered by the Inventor, or someone dressing up like him. And since Zoe didn't tell anyone ahead of time, Red Dagger, Nakia, Mike, and Gabe will have to track her down the hard way. There's also the continuing adventures of Naftali trying to find Kamala, and I still don't remember this guy, and I'm getting more suspicious by the minute.

I got a good laugh from Zoe's attempt to use her crossfit to fight a, well she calls it a dinosaur but that's incorrect. The whole page is laid out well. A big panel across the top of her charging forward boldly, fist cocked, and then the next panel goes vertically down the page and she's this tiny figure ineffectually punching the creature's tail while it stares at her. The tiny "POOMF!" sound effect is a nice touch, Caramagna's work or Nico Leon's? Although she had the right fist cocked and threw the left. No wonder it had no effect. Then it contrasts with the next page, which starts with Red Dagger and his determined look pulling some wires, and then a big explosion takes up the rest of the page and he's flung into the sky, Team Rocket style.

I'm sure I should be more concerned about the elderly folks, but the humor in this storyline has been a welcome respite from the whole "HYDRA takes over the city" story. Leon seems to have a knack for funny stuff, or maybe it's Wilson's writing. Or both. She did the "Loki spoils prom" story when Leon was the artist, maybe she's working to his strengths, and writing something a little goofier.

Unbelievable Gwenpool #24, by Christopher Hastings (writer), Gurihiru (artists), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - I really hope there's a roof somewhere below them or that's going to be an awful mess on the pavement.

Gwen attempts to stave off cancelation by embracing villainy. Cool villainy, which means pulling a heist with Batroc. The heist goes mostly well, as Batroc uses Gwen's powers to good effect, and they escape. It's afterward Batroc reveals it wasn't really a villainous act, because the casino they robbed was run by the old Spider-Man antagonist Chance. Batroc was trying to be supportive of Gwen's attempt to be a hero, and set up a "rob the bad guy" gig to help her pay bills. Aw. Which means Gwen is out of options, or is she?

I like that if, even if Batroc doesn't buy that his life is a comic book, he accepts that Gwen has powers that operate that way, and uses them to pull off the heist. And while, as Gwen notes, Batroc probably won't act like this in any upcoming appearances outside this book, I do like this version of Batroc. He's kind of cheesy and arrogant, but also classy and witty and not a horrible guy.

Also, credit to Hastings for using Chance, even if I'd liked to see him in action a little more. I have a soft spot for that guy.

The coloring on this book for the shots of the city skyline is outstanding. Especially the lighting effects around the skyscraper. Just gorgeous. The page after they complete their escape had so much I enjoyed. Gwen's version of a tuck and roll landing, plus her various startled and stressed expressions, and the punchline to her method of escaping with the loot. A bunch of different silly things I liked. I hope the Gurihiru team work on another book I want to read in the future.