San Diego Comic Con is officially one month away. As I prepare for what I think is my ninth
year attending, it seems that things have scaled back a bit, and that is a good
thing. The off-site calendar isn’t
filling up as quickly as it used to, the waves of exclusives seem to be smaller
(Funko is the exception of this), and the overall buzz seems a bit
quieter. I am not sure if this is due to
the growing convention industry or due to companies not seeing a return on
their SDCC investments.
Pick of the Week:
Royal City #4 – This series continues to get better and
better as we explore a family that is haunted by the loss of a
child/brother. I am not sure there is
another author who better captures the emotions of family and struggle like
Jeff Lemire. He hinted at a big shift in
this series at issue six and I am completely intrigued. Patrick Pike is still struggling with his
return to his hometown following his father’s stroke. He was a successful author, but his second
book was a flop and he isn’t making any progress on his next book. His family has a wealth of issues they are
dealing with as well, but the central theme of the loss of Thomas, when he was
only 14, is haunting every family member.
They all have visions and communicate with him, hoping that he can
provide guidance as they struggle to recapture what they had back when he was
still alive. I absolutely love Lemire’s
more personal titles and cannot recommend this one enough.
The Rest:
Darth Maul #4 – I love the twist that Cullen Bunn provided
in the last issue. Maul was successful
in kidnapping the Padawan from auction setting up what sounded like a fun duel,
only to be duped by the host of the auction who shot down their vessel and
invited the other attendees to hunt them for sport. Maul is forced to team up with the Padawan and
the two make quite the impressive team.
It only serves to make Maul even hungrier to kill the Padawan, but there
is no question that a feeling of mutual respect lies between the two. Despite this, Maul understands that he must
not risk being found out and spoiling the fact that the Sith have
returned. It looks like we might finally
have our duel soon.
All New Guardians of the Galaxy #4 – I continue to really enjoy
Gerry Duggan’s run with this group of misfits.
I will admit that I know little about The Collector, but from what is
revealed about him in this issue I have high hopes that he will have a
meaningful appearance in one of the MCU movies in the near future. We learned that a piece of Gamora is trapped
in an infinity stone and in this issue she strikes a deal with The Collector in
hopes of tracking down the elusive stone.
Drax is still not destroying and Rocket is getting quite fed up with the
rest of the crew. Throw in what
transpires at the end of this issue and I am beyond thrilled to see where this
is headed. This series is a lot of fun
and one that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed the films like I did.
Daredevil #22 - The second issue that serves as a bridging
Daredevil back to New York and Hell’s Kitchen reached its conclusion
today. Daredevil successfully took the
stand at a trial without once again revealing his secret identity to the public
undoing what the Blue Children had done for him. While it is a simple little issue that was
ok, it serves as a nice transition to the return of Kingpin and a return to
what seems like old school Daredevil.
Charles Soule has done a great job writing this series and I am looking
forward to his take on classic Daredevil.
POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.
