Comic Round-Up: Week of 1/21/09

By Teresa Jusino

I love comics. You might have even noticed this.  My taste is varied, and while I have certain books I read regularly, I often walk into the comic shop and pick up something I know nothing about just because it looks cool.  I’m adventurous that way. So I thought I’d let Pink Raygun readers benefit from my sense of adventure!  Once a week, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve purchased and what I think of it.  After that, you’re on your own…

Apparently, this week was “TV tie-in week” and no-one told me…

Star Trek: Countdown #1
IDW
I had no idea this was coming out, so when I saw it on the shelf gleaming like a beacon in the deep, dark night, I knew I had to have it.  (Um, I like Star Trek.  And um, I’m really excited about the movie.)  I was not disappointed.  Adam provides a summary in his awesome review of the issue right here at PRG, and I agree with him 100%.  What I’ll add is that even without Adam’s encyclopedic knowledge of the Trek universe, it’s still an amazing story. I wouldn’t hesitate to pass this book off to non-Trekkie friends.  Star Trek is so iconic that even laypeople have a certain amount of basic knowledge – people know who Spock is on sight; people know who Data is on sight (even if they only know him as “that gold robot guy from The Next Generation”).  And really, that’s all you need to know to enjoy this comic, as all the backstory you’d need is well laid out.  Spock had me at “Friends, Romulans, Countrymen, we have the same ears…”  I’m very intrigued by Captain Nero (the character Eric Bana will play in the movie), and am already sympathetic toward him.  I anticipate that seeing him as a villain later will be difficult for me.  And maybe that’s the point.

The X-Files #3
Wildstorm
I have a rule that I’ll only buy comics based on TV shows if the TV show is no longer on the air (Sorry, Fringe, Battlestar Galactica, and True Blood).  I don’t see the point in reading the comic version of something I can watch for free (or with a paid cable subscription) and is probably told much, much better in its original medium.  Reading something like The X-Files, however, is like snuggling up to an old friend.  I’ve been buying this series since Issue 0, and have been enjoying them simply because I wish in my deepest heart of hearts that Mulder and Scully were still on television.  It’s certainly not an innovative or exciting comic series, but it’s exactly what you’d expect from X-Files episodes.  They’re strange to read in light of the most recent X-Files film, though, where we’ve seen how Mulder and Scully have evolved with time.  The X-Files comic takes place in the time of the show, so it feels a bit like a time warp.  What this series does is capture Mulder and Scully in amber (or honey???) exactly as they were.  If you’re looking for nostalgia, this will be your comic of choice.  If you’re looking for groundbreaking, you might want to look elsewhere.

Air #6 – The Secret Life of Maps
Vertigo
I was just about to give up on Air.  I’ve been reading it since the first issue, and while the convention of a flight attendant who’s afraid of heights is an interesting gimmick, it doesn’t make for a successful comic on its own.  For the past five issues, I’ve been forcing myself through dry dialogue and historical references, a romance that seemed contrived, and a protagonist who didn’t seem particularly interesting or special, because the series was getting such great reviews.  Writers I respect were quoted on the cover saying things like “It’s like a Salman Rushdie novel…”  So I thought that I might have been missing something.  Also, it’s written by a woman – an American, white, Muslim woman at that!  The woman who wrote Cairo, which I loved.  So I wanted to support her work both because I think she’s extremely talented, and because I think it important that we have her unique perspective and voice.  Yet I ended every issue with the same “BORING!!!”  After issue #5, I was going to stop buying it.  Yet when I saw issue #6, it had Amelia Earhart on the cover.  Call me a sucker for awesome women in history, but I bought it.  Issue #6 made me think twice about giving up on the series.  Tying Blythe to history in an interesting way (yes, involving Amelia Earhart and time travel…sort of), we’re finally starting to see what makes Blythe so special.  Also, the issue ends with a cliffhanger that is actually interesting!  Blythe is trapped in the body of a young boy.  Not just any young boy – Zayn, the love interest that has propelled much of her action in the series.  How the heck did that happen, and how did she end up in what looks like the Middle East?  Give Air a read and find out.

Amazing Spider-Man #583
Marvel
I’ve always been an Ultimate Spider-Man kind of a girl.  Then Spider-Man met Barack Obama, and I finally had my excuse to peer into the world of Spider-Man in the regular Marvel Universe.  As it turns out, I like it in there!  I wasn’t able to buy a copy of this issue this week, even in its second printing, so I borrowed it from a friend who was more lucky.  When the third printing comes out next week, I plan on snagging an issue.  However, it has nothing to do with the Obama story.  The Spider-Man/Obama story in this issue was actually rather lame.  But the Spider-Man story before that, entitled Platonic was wonderfully warm and heartfelt, celebrating the fact that it is possible for men and women to be “just friends” (as if friendship were something less than).  I like adult Peter Parker as much as I enjoy teenage Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe, and the supporting cast of characters in Amazing Spider-Man makes the series even more worthwhile.  Marvel, you just gained a new reader for your Amazing Spider-Man title.  You lucky bastards.

** I’d love to hear about your favorite comics for this week!  Comment below and let me know what you think I should be reading!**

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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.  As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She is currently at work on a collection of short stories. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. She has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan, which beat up her Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man crush in a fight proving once again that writing skill trumps gadget skill even when that gadget skill is attached to bulging biceps.  Teresa is also an aspiring fangbanger.  Visit her in The Red Room.

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