Comics Round-Up: Week of 4/21

by Teresa Jusino

Sorry for being MIA for the past two Thursdays, everyone!  Doctor Who week nearly killed me.  But you should know that of last week’s fare, the “favorite comic” slot was tied between Vertigo’s The Unwritten #12: Willowbank Tales (Silly rabbit, books are for kids!) and Marvel’s Black Widow #1 (Um, I’m sorry, did you think you were badass? Natasha is getting her intestines operated on WHILE SHE’S AWAKE!)  In addition to both telling great stories, both have amazing interior art.  Black Widow takes the prize for Best Cover, however, featuring a cool, 1960s-style Black Widow.

But enough about the past!  Let’s get into the present! WARNING – it’s a bit Spidey-heavy.

ULIMATE SPIDER-MAN #9
Marvel

By far my favorite issue this week is from one of my favorite ongoing series.  I’m continually impressed with the humor and poignancy in this series, and the current dynamic of Aunt May’s house being a sort of repository for orphaned or troubled young superheroes is amazing.  In this issue, Peter is forced into a haircut by his girlfriend and two of his exes, Kitty Pryde is profiled at school for being a mutant, and JOHNNYSTORMANDJESSICADREWMAKEOUTOMG!!  Since Jessica, aka Spider-Woman, is a clone of Peter complete with his memories in the Ultimate universe, Peter’s not too happy about that last bit!  But her budding relationship with Johnny Storm is offering her a great opportunity to finally figure out who she is when not in relation to Peter Parker.  Peter’s haircut and the subsequent reaction from everyone was great, and it is here that I need to give a shout-out to Bendis’ Bobby Drake for being hilarious.  If it were within my power, I would totally hook him up with the Black Cat!  However, all the laughs and teenage angst paved the way for a really sad scene where Kitty has to face down an anti-mutant task force that comes to collect her from school.  David Lafuente’s art shines here, and Kitty’s face is completely heartbreaking.  Each segment of this of this story was pitch-perfect, opening up a world of intriguing conflict for these terrific characters.

SIEGE: SPIDER-MAN (one-shot)
Marvel

Why hasn’t he ever thought of that?!  Take Venom OUT OF THE SUIT!  Luckily in this scene set during the events of the siege of Asgard, Spidey has a lesson in tactics from Ms. Marvel, and together they battle Venom.  This one-shot is great for two reasons.  First, we see that Venom could care less about any particular ideology.  He’s in this because he loves eating people, and Asgardians are the Kobe Beef of people.  Villains are wonderful whenthey’re angst-free, and it’s great to just have Venom be Venom.  The other reason this issue is great is the budding romance between Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel!  I know, right?!  I thought she’d need someone more mature, too.  Now apparently, Ms. Marvel’s feelings for Spidey are “complicated”, which means we’re in for something potentially interesting.  But to be honest, I’m still rooting for Norah Winters.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #628
Marvel

I borrowed this from a friend.  I didn’t even buy it this week, that’s how little of a s@#t I give about Juggernaut.  I wouldn’t have even borrowed it had my friend not alerted me to the fact that there was a short story at the back of the issue.  So I skipped the Juggernaut (and Captain Universe?) bit at the beginning and went straight for Waid and Peyer’s “Brother Can You Spare a Crime?”  I’m glad I did!  Now that Peter Parker’s unemployed, he can’t afford web fluid or, you know, FOOD.  And so Betty’s gotten him a job interview that he’d better not blow!  But when his interviewer calls as he’s doing his other job as Spider-Man, he demonstrates just how good he is at multi-tasking by answering interview questions as he’s fighting crime.  I love the practical approach this title is taking with Peter’s unemployment.  It’s an interesting look into the character.  Now, wake me when Juggernaut’s gone.

DV8: Gods & Monsters #1
“The Day I Tried to Live”
Wildstorm

In new comics this week, I decided to give this one by Brian Wood (and pencilled by Rebekah Isaacs) a whirl.  It opens with a superpowered young woman named Gem being interrogated by a mysterious organization.  We soon learn that she and seven other men and women like her have all been dropped onto another world that seems stuck in the stone age without knowing why.  When they start disappearing one by one, Bem worries that this is the end.  But it’s only the beginning, as the natives have begun to think of the seven of them as gods and goddesses blessed with magic.  While this first issue was a bit difficult to get through (ie: boring), it sets up an interesting examination of some complex ideas.  Issue #2 might be worth checking out.

Teresa Jusino was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so. She is a contributor to Tor.com, a website that covers sci-fi, fantasy, “…and related subjects.” Her work has also been seen on PopMatters.com, on the sadly-defunct literary site CentralBooking.com, edited by Kevin Smokler, and in the Elmont Life community newspaper. She is currently writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut Fall 2010! Get Twitterpated with Teresa, Follow The Pack or visit her at The Teresa Jusino Experience.

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