July 11, 2017 Johanna Marvel Leave a comment

The Unstoppable Wasp: Unstoppable!

Ignore the hip-breaking weirdo disco cover — The Unstoppable Wasp is a new take on the shrinking hero that emphasizes science for girls. The first collection, Unstoppable!, reprinting the first four issues of the series, is due out August 30 in comic shops, September 12 in bookstores. The new wasp is Nadia, the previously unknown daughter of Hank Pym, inventor of size-changing particles. She was raised in the Red Room by the same nefarious group that trained assassins such as […]

July 9, 2017 Johanna Marvel Leave a comment

Hawkeye: Anchor Points

It is so cool to have a series starring a butt-kicking superhero woman I can read regularly. It seems (still, unfortunately) that only one or two of that type are allowed to exist concurrently, but at least writer Kelly Thompson can be relied upon to provide funny, action-packed stories that have an undercurrent of emotional meaning. Hawkeye: Anchor Points (reprinting the first six issues of the currently running series) takes Kate Bishop to Los Angeles, where she wants to be […]

July 9, 2017 Johanna First Second Leave a comment

Making Scents

Making Scents does something substantial with a silly premise, demonstrating the value of comics. As written by Arthur Yorinks, Mickey was found as a baby by Barney and Barbara Spitz, who raised and trained bloodhounds. So he was raised right along with these “brothers and sisters”, including scent training, making his eventual entry into another culture somewhat difficult. That happens after an accident, with Mickey taken by his aunt and uncle to their home. They’re older, and they never particularly […]

July 9, 2017 Johanna IDW / Top Shelf 2 comments

Bloom County: Episode XI: A New Hope

Today’s leading exhibit of “You can’t go home again” is Bloom County: Episode XI: A New Hope. The most interesting part of the book, to me, was Berkeley Breathed’s introduction, explaining why he started the strip again, but everything went down from there. I was excited when the comic returned two years ago, but reading them all together in this collection reveals too much reliance on nostalgia (a feeling of remember, you loved these characters) and redundancy (way too many […]

July 9, 2017 Johanna DC / Vertigo Leave a comment

Dark Night: A True Batman Story

There’s such potential in Dark Night: A True Batman Story. Fans of superhero characters are already prepped to want to know more about the author, Paul Dini, who was so instrumental in making Batman: The Animated Series. The idea of exploring how working on a fictional superhero changes after the artist has been severely mugged is a fascinating one. Unfortunately, I found the execution superficial and self-indulgent. At a time when he was helping write the animated feature Mask of […]

July 7, 2017 Johanna Boom! Studios / Archaia Leave a comment

Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition

Although paperback collections of the entertaining Giant Days series have been coming out, Boom! has now released the series’ first hardcover, with a nifty extra. Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition collects the first eight issues written by John Allison. The bulk of the book (the first six) are illustrated by Lissa Treiman, with Max Sarin taking over after that. These issues introduce Daisy (naive), Esther (goth object of desire and center of drama), and Susan (relentlessly practical) in […]

July 5, 2017 Johanna DC / Vertigo 4 comments

DC Super Hero Girls: Summer Olympus

As expected, DC Super Hero Girls: Summer Olympus features the group of heroes saving the day with friendship and teamwork, but it’s so good-hearted that I can’t fault it for being a bit predictable. Unlike the previous two books in the series — Finals Crisis and Hits and Myths — this one is more solo-hero-focused, as we follow Wonder Woman to Olympus for summer vacation. There are still plenty of other drop-ins from her many friends. Checking in with what […]

July 4, 2017 Johanna Dark Horse One comment

Glister

I’ve previously talked about how charming Andi Watson’s Glister is, but that was when you had to import the stories from the UK. Now Dark Horse has brought out a single-volume edition with all four of the stories and plenty of extras. (You can see some of them in this PDF Watson posted, ending up with encouragement for young readers to create their own stories.) Glister is an energetic, intelligent young woman who lives in a fairytale-like world. Her home, […]

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