Thursday Morning Superhero

Not much on my pull list, but I am excited to revisit the world of Scarlet by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The original story had a big impact on my perception of comics when it was published in 2010. It was right around the time I got back into comic books and was happy to discover something new thanks to a friend who recommended it.

Pick of the Week:
Scarlet #1 - The new arc in Scarlet takes place after a violent protest has shut down the city of Portland. It seems the Portland police department is corrupt and Scarlet didn't take too kindly being left for dead after her boyfriend was murdered by a detective. After she recovered she filmed herself exposing the corruption within the department and the city rioted in solidarity. This books picks up with the city essentially under martial law and with no power. Told from Scarlet's perspective, we get insight into what she is experiencing in terms of hero worship and the pressure that comes from being the mastermind behind the current plan. Drawing on current and past political corruption, this series is reemerging at a time that is likely to make it a bit divisive.  Bendis and Maleev do an amazing job recapturing the feel of the original and I am excited to see where they are taking this series.

The Rest:
Rick and Morty and Dungeons and Dragons #1 - I can't think of a more appropriate duo to write a series that merges Rick and Morty and Dungeons and Dragons than Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Zub. As someone who is looking to get into D&D myself, I identified with Morty as he was a bit intimated as he was checking it out. While my motivation is a bit different from his, it was a lot of fun to watch Rick take him on a journey that ultimately led to them in a virtual world playing as their D&D characters. Complete with a charactersheet of Alkazaar the Magnificent (Rick's character), this was a lot of fun.



Star Wars Adventures #13 - In this issue I learned that Max Rebo has a brother named Azool who is quite the scoundrel. There is something magical about a short story that centers around everyone's favorite elephant looking, keyboard playing alien. I cannot recommend this series enough for Star Wars fans looking for an all-ages title. As an old Star Wars fan it has been fun to revisit a diverse cast of characters for some light reading.








POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero

Pick of the Week:
Southern Bastards #18 - I love how this series has evolved and continues to tackle some of the ugly issues of society that has reared its head as of late. While I agree with author Jason Latour that it is unfortunate that this book is more relevant given recent events, it makes it all the more important to shine a spotlight on some of the issues with race that we don't want to admit are still a major issue in our country. This issue pulls no punches and gives me a lot of joy knowing that Earl Tubbs' daughter is going to ensure that his killer's suffer a similar fate. An absolutely brutal issue with stunning visuals from Chris Brunner, Southern Bastards remains one of my favorite books.

The Rest:
Redneck #6 - The first arc of this surprisingly good series ended with a bang. The Bowman family finally gets closure on the death of Slap, but it comes with a huge cost and one that has me completely clueless as to where this series is headed. It serves as a grim reminder about the history of this family and the skeletons in its closet that it must continue to fight in addition to the stigma of where ever they end up. Now that I have the full arc in hand, I look forward to sitting down and reading it from the beginning. If you missed this series, I cannot recommend picking up the first trade when it comes out enough. Fantastic series that I hope continues to do well.


Rick and Morty #30 - As someone very late to jump on the Rick and Morty bandwagon, I am very happy that the Oni Press book is a lot of fun and will do a good job filling the void that will be left in us all after the season finale next week. This issue gave us a day in the life of Beth and the frustrations she faces on a daily basis. No respect for her career, a husband who is helpless, and a father who is constantly bringing in horrors from other dimensions and threatening the lives of her family members. At moments it was very heartwarming, but the unexpected ending brought us right back to the Rick and Morty universe and serves as a great reminder on why Beth is so stoic and able to deal with so much. Really funny issue.

Duck Tales #1 - The rush of nostalgia that I felt when I heard Duck Tales was coming back made me feel like a kid again and had me craving a big bowl of sugary cereal. IDW comics launched a Duck Tales book this week penned by Joe Caramagna and it is an absolute delight. The first issue featured two self-contained short stories that have the same humor and feel of the television series. Definitely recommend it to the younger readers and also recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the original series and is excited to return to Duckberg.




POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero

Comic book covers are getting a blast from the past! While DC is attempting to make lenticular cool again, Valiant is upping its game with authentic 90's foil covers! The 90's were plagued with "foil" variants and it appears that Valiant found a stock of vintage holofoil and is giving Quantum and Woody the foil treatment in honor of its upcoming television series.  I cannot wait to see what these look like. Anyhoo, time to check out this week's pull list!

Pick of the Week:
Babyteeth #4 - Just when Sadie thinks things can't get any worse after discovering her son will only drink blood and may have caused some natural disasters as he was born, her father notices that she has multiple baby bottles filled with her own blood and is understandably concerned. Donny Cates' story about the birth of the Antichrist hit close to home this week as it had me question how I would approach a situation like this as a father. Clearly the initial impression is one of extreme concern for the mental well being of Sadie, but when a bounty hunter shows up to kill Sadie and her child his fatherly instincts kick in. If that wasn't enough to deal with in this issue, Sadie's sister Heather is now dealing with what appears to be vampires or some other sort of monster that will clearly play a role moving forward. I love the world that Cates has created and appreciate how real all of his characters feel despite the supernatural situations they all find themselves in. Definitely one of my favorite new series and Cates is an author you will want to keep your eye on.

The Rest:
Doctor Aphra #12 - This series continues to delight. When we last left Aphra she was just informed that Vader was crashing the party. Apparently BeeTee and Triple-Zero alerted him to the situation, without informing him about Aphra's role in everything, in an attempt to blackmail Aphra for their freedom. I was shocked when I learned it actually worked and really hope that a spin-off is in the works. Given a chance to flee, Aphra decides to stay and try to save the artifacts even though that involves dealing with both the ancient Jedi and Vader. This series is a lot of fun and I love seeing a good side of Aphra after her introduction into this series.


Rick and Morty: Pocket Like you Stole It #3 - I just recently hopped on the Rick and Morty bandwagon and absolutely love how chaotic the series is.  While I skipped the first two issues, this issue is chaotic and definitely fits in with the direction the show is going. Morty is attempting to take down the Council of Ricks, but needs to enlist the help of his mom and her army of Jerrys (his dad). Reading this makes me feel like I need to go back and read the first two to see how this stacks up with the show. It definitely seems like a good fit, but I need the whole story before I render a final judgement. Something tells me that fans of the show will enjoy this series as it seems very true to form.



POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.