Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together

Purchased last Spring when Gynn was visiting the US.

Title: Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Date: December, 2016
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh
Artist: Brooke Allen, Carolyn Nowak
Colorist: Maarta Laiho
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese
Cover:  Brooke Allen, Maarta Laiho
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard

While fishing at the lake, the Lumberjanes discover a merperson, along with some of her former friends who she used to be in a band with.

April, dazzled by the ideas of both merfolk and bands, comes up with a series of plans to help the merband reunite, whether they want to or not. Not surprisingly, mayhem ensues.

This volume had a much-needed bit of backstory, with a flashback chapter that showed the arrival of all of the main characters at the camp. It contained some really great insights, and was a perfect breather after the frantic pace that had been set in the previous four volumes.

The merfolk story also something of a break from the longer-term plot elements, and was a nice self-contained tale with good character development and a lot of small, unexpected twists. Not to mention a rousing finale!

This is a good book, and it could function as a jumping-on point for new readers.

Rating: 9/10

Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal

Bought at the Eslite main store, Taipei, Taiwan, June 2019.

Title: Ms. Marvel
Issue: Volume 1: No Normal
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2018
Writer: G. Willow Wilson
Artist: Adrian Alphona
Colorist: Ian Herring
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Sana Amanat, Devin Lewis

Jersey City teenager Kamala Khan gains a set of shapeshifting powers and begins figuring out the whole superhero thing.

This is, in many ways, a fairly straightforward superhero origin story, with Kamala Khan as an updated Peter Parker, trying to do good in the world while she deals with the consequences of her new abilities and her sudden status as the mysterious neighborhood hero.

It's the details that make this work. The multifaceted supporting cast is terrific, and the main character is relatable. There are plenty of interesting bits of dialogue and interactions taking place between the super-heroics, and the book has a sly sense of humor and self-awareness. Having worked in Jersey City for four years, I also appreciated the use of the setting.

The only area I felt could have been a bit stronger in this volume was the villain, but he will hopefully get some more development as the story continues.

Rating: 8.5/10

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #28

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: John Carter, Warlord of Mars
Issue: 28
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 1979
Writer: Peter Gillis
Artist: Larry Hama, Ricardo Villamonte
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Diana Albers
Editor: Roger Stern

John Carter, on a surveying mission over unexplored areas of Barsoom with his friends Sasoom Thil and Kantos, discover an abandoned city, and are soon faced with a series of unexplained phenomena.

This was the final issue of this run, and this story was a self-contained tale that left a fair amount unanswered, with plenty of potential for further exploration. Because of the lack of follow-up, the ending was a bit unsatisfying, although it worked in a missed-connection sort of way.

Typical for its time, this was wordy compared to how the same story might be told today, and while some of the excess of text was useful in filling in details about the comicbook version of John Carter's Barsoom, a lot of it felt like it could have been cut.

It's too bad that the character introduced at the end of this story didn't get the chance to appear in further books in this series, and I wonder of some version of her has been brought back in the various reboots of John Carter that have some up since this was published.

Rating: 5.5/10

Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #1

From the stack of comics I bought at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester NH last year.

Title: Bitch Planet: Triple Feature
Issue: 1
Date: June 2017
Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Andrew Aydin, Conley Lyons
Artist: Maria Frohlich, Joanna Estep, Craig Yeung
Colorist: Marco D'alfonso
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Editor:  Lauren Sankovitch
Cover: Valentine De Landro

This is an anthology series set in the world of Bitch Planet, a patriarchal future in which "troublesome and offensive" women are imprisoned on an off-world penitentiary.

In the three stories in this collection, the only part that actually takes place in the Bitch Planet prison is a flashback sequence. Instead, the focus here is life under oppressive patriarchy, and acts of resistance and defiance.

All three stories were powerful, but all of them felt like they could have used a bit more breathing room. I haven't read the Bitch Planet main series (Yet! It's on my list!), so I don't know if there is any crossover of characters, but the lead characters in each of these stories had the potential for her own major plotline.

This is clearly a great companion piece for fans of the main series, but not as good a jumping-in point for new readers. That being said, I did jump in here as a new reader, and it did leave me intrigued enough to want to read more.

Rating: 7.5/10

Seductions

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Seductions
Date: 2008
Publisher: Aazurn Publishing
Writer: Gary Scott Beatty
Artist: Bill Bryan
Colorist: Gary Scott Beatty
Letterer: Gary Scott Beatty

The narrative in this vampire story starts off with something of a pickup artist vibe that was perhaps more of a turn-off in terms of sympathy for the main character than the author intended. Or perhaps not?

The gimmick here is that the vampire sleeps for ten years after each kill, so a lot of the book is quick flashes that manage to incorporate as many obvious cultural cliches from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s as possible into a couple of panels.

This is interspersed with backstory set in the 1500s that tells something of an origin story. The 1500s stuff is the best material by far, and provides the best character: the lost love-interest of that the vampire narrator now chases through an eternal existence of what felt like standard vampire angst.

The artwork looked great, but in spite of some attempts, this never broke far enough away from standard vampire tropes.

Rating: 4/10

Inbound #2

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Inbound
Issue: 2
Date: 2008
Publisher: Boston Comics Roundtable
Writer: Matthew Reidsma, Jason W. Salzarulo, Charles Schneeflock Snow, Kevin Kilgore, Rachel Maguire, Ron LeBrasseur, Jay Kennedy, Cathy Leamy, Justin Clibun
Artist: Matthew Reidsma, Shelli Paroline, Eric Haines, Kevin Kilgore, Rachel Maguire, Ron LeBrasseur, Jay Kennedy, Cathy Leamy
Editor: Dave Kender, Dan Mazur, Ron LeBrasseur, Shelli Paroline
Cover: Braden Lamb

Anthology from the Boston Comic Roundtable. Very nice collection with a good variety of stories, including a comic adaptation of Justin Clibun's true account of US soldiers in Iraq. There is a humorous science fiction story by Charles Schneeflock Snow and Eric Haines, as well as a silly tale of mad science called Too Many Robots by Ron LeBrasseur. Jay Kennedy and Matthew Reidsma each provide a different and unique examination of the superhero genre. There is also a very creepy dark fairy tale by Jason W. Salzarulo and Shelli Paroline, and one of Cathy Leamy's wonderfully quirky slice-of-life story, this one dealing with her sister living an alter-ego life. A wordless and surreal tale by Rachel Maguire rounds things out, along with a humorous fictional history of comics creators in Boston.

All of this was good, and I enjoyed the variety of styles represented here.

Rating: 8/10