Kill or Be Killed, The Mighty Thor, Thanos, and More

This is Phil Lamar and you are listening to the

GeekCast Radio Network. is finding the right

one. This is one of my weekly recommends podcast

where I talk about the comic book week that was,

pick out some notable issues and give you my

thoughts and ideas about them. Up front, you

should know that I do get into some plot details.

I do stay away from major changes, major items

that occurred in the book, but if you're someone

who likes to do absolutely nothing about a book

that you're about to read, look at the show notes

and you'll see... each comic I'll talk about

and a timestamp for each one so if there's one

you want to skip you have that information for

you. I start each week with my recommendation

of the week. My recommendation of the week is

a little bit different where I'm not just picking

out the best book but I'm picking out the book

that I feel like would be the best starting point

or a good comment to read if you're a new reader,

old reader, you're looking to start a series,

continue a series, what have you. What I'm seeing

already is that this might be more challenging

than I realized. This week was a challenge to

find the recommendation of the week. There were

not a lot of major starting points. There were

good comics this week, but not ones that were

like, okay, this is a comic you can start and

read right away. So that left me with a choice

of what comic would make the most sense. as a

book to pick up and understand everything that

specific issue was attempting to accomplish where

yes, you may not have all the details but ultimately

you'll enjoy it the most even without the background

knowledge. So that let me depict what is actually

what I called the best comic book series of last

year with Kill or Be Killed number 17 and why

this works as a jumping on point because this

issue is really dedicated to one specific task

and that is the main character of Dylan attempting

to kill or murder a member of the hospital he's

currently located at and the process he goes

in order to get that accomplished. This specific

issue also demonstrates one of my favorite parts

of this series in general, and that's its use

of first -person narrative. Now, first -person

narrative is a trope that gets a lot of negative

attention. People feel like what it does is it

oversimplifies the obvious, it points things

out, it's like a lazy way to add in a lot of

exposition that your story can't naturally or

organically do. I think that's unfair and sometimes

first -person narrative can be really effective

story device. Look at good philosophy. example,

Martin Scorsese is a director that utilizes it

quite well on a number of films. And I think

Ed Brubaker is the same. It helps within the

crime genre because it's expected more so than

other genres like a horror story. You don't expect

as much first person narrative as you do with

a crime story. But it's also really important

when it comes to this book and why it's utilized

with this story. This story kind of ends up operating

like a person telling you about their life in

a way where they're not remembering everything

or key details are left out. There's almost like

a personal implication with everything, like

he's telling it to you directly and with that

messes up or forgets things. And it's important

because much of the story is bent upon the psyche

of Dylan, the main character, what is real, what

is fake. It's taking the idea of the unreliable

narrator and Switching it on a tent a little

bit in the sense of you don't know he's really

being unreliable He doesn't even know as a character

if he's being unreliable because he's still trying

to figure out what exactly is Reality what is

a figment of his imagination and it's not necessarily

a dream per se it's not like okay Is this all

made up? but the basic premise of this is that

he is off to kill people because a Demon is making

him do it. Is that demon real? Is it not? We're

really not sure yet even 17 issues and A good

example of how it just happens in this issue

specifically as he's attempting to kill this

person, this nurse that's in this mental health

facility because he feels like he's doing some

shady and some evil things to his patients. And

what we start to realize is, as Dylan is trying

to justify his actions, he comes to the conclusion

or begins to question the fact if all these things

that he's seeing, all these elements that he's

seeing that justify what he's attempting to do

to make the murder he's about to commit okay.

Are those things actually happening? Are those

things that Or he is imagining to make him feel

okay about what he's doing has become a psychopath

Like is that actually happening are all the things

that these people are telling him about his inability

to grasp reality true And that adds a lot to

this story because if you think about it It's

like the Punisher and he goes around killing

all these super villains But finding out at the

end of the day those people he thought were so

super villains weren't it was his mind playing

tricks on him and he was Justifying his actions

through his own twisted mind by placing these

sins or placing these ideas of these false Narratives

upon other people and but he didn't realize they

were false It's it's a complex and intriguing

idea that I think adds an additional layer to

a book that has many of them and in the sense

of like you're not sure now what's real like

where is he pushing himself or some of these

things that he Feels are happening that he used

to justify his past killings. It makes you wonder,

okay What exactly is happening here and it doesn't

focus on it too much It's just a little wrinkle

it adds and then it kind of takes it away and

settles things down and says, okay Well, no,

there is some sort of reality here. So we give

somebody in a grasp on so it's not like everything

is a dream or everything is a figment of imagination

There's enough reality there to grasp on but

it's slowly chipping away Bit by bit to make

you wonder. Okay, like if there are pieces here

that you're not being told and because it's becoming

coming from his person It's even more effective

because because pieces of dialogue that come

off as metanarrative or breaking the fourth ball

Maybe in fact him speaking to himself at the

end or it makes you realize that These things

not making sense adds up because it's coming

from his point of view. It's not an omniscient

narrator or you're not looking top -down it's

it's in out in the sense of you're seeing it

from his eyes bit by bit the story is all his

it's an isolated character study within a larger

tale and I think that's really something that

never really pointed to or overly focused on

but as this progresses more and more it's becoming

more evident that There are things to Dylan that

are darker than we even realized or more complex

than we're even realizing. I just find it so

fascinating in touch on top of the fact that

you have a book that looks into what would it

would take to murder someone and the guilt that

would accommodate that or the satisfaction in

a way to bring justice in a world you feel that

is lacking of it. How do you break down as a

person? How do you progress as a person? how

naturally he has moved from bit to bit and how

he's so much of a different character from the

first issue to now how from his first kill to

this next kill being the the cog in the machine

he doesn't want to be a part of now being an

active participant and seeking out this type

of justice and becoming more of the person that

is prolonging and Making a personal choice not

one that's out of necessity but out of desire.

He's getting to the point where Even if he finds

out that the demon is 100 % not real, the thing

that has led him to make all these decisions,

can he go back? Is there going back? Has he now

got to the point where he enjoys it? He likes

the action in a way. He feels good about it.

He feels like he's doing good for the first time,

having a major impact. then you add the additional

piece that there is someone that is also going

around dressed like he used to dress acting like

he used to act making you wonder okay is that

a copycat or what does that person know it there's

so much going on in this book bit by bit but

it never feels bogged down or out of focus it's

able to do an issue like this where it'll get

ahead of itself take a step back and really push

everything else aside just to have this one bit

of action over this one plot element, but how

that plot element seeps into the motivations

and the development of the character of Dylan.

It's just great comic book writing and great

storytelling in general. I know there was some

rumors going on that this book was ending soon.

I didn't see any Official word from image or

anything like that if this was ending I know

Ed Brubaker mentioned in his notes in the back

that he felt this series had a chance to go on

for some time So I hope it's not ending because

I've been really liking it as I've indicated

It was my favorite series of last year and it

continues to up that bar more and more, you know

Sean Phillips and Ed Brubaker can do no wrong

in my eyes to the fade out before this that we

talked about on the previous episode so I would

say Pick up this issue, see if you like it, if

it grabs you, the idea is fascinating, you feel

like you like the tone of it, the execution,

the characters, go back and read issue one and

really get an idea of where he's come from. I

think in a way it might make that issue even

more interesting because you're seeing where

he was at the beginning compared to where he

gets into in this issue. So yeah, there may be

some plot elements that are spoiled for you,

but ultimately when it comes to simply what is

good about the story it only will make it a richer

experience. All right well let's move over to

what I think was the best book of the week overall

and one of the best issues to come out this year

thus far as we're nearing the end of the Death

of Mighty Thor storyline with Mighty Thor 705.

Death in comics is usually catching a cold. It's

a nuance that will stick with you for some time

but usually doesn't have a huge longy impact

and in a few weeks you're probably gonna be back

to normal. Jason Aaron is making death matter

again for a lot of different reasons. The key

being what this death means on a character standpoint.

Over these last few issues what he's been focusing

on is how Jean Foster has been the victim of

a number of different tragedies. How a lot of

things have been taken from her really unjustly

and unfairly and that's been a consistent factor

to her deciding to be Thor. When you look at

why she's being money Thor and why it's leading

to her death, she has been riddled with cancer

and becoming Thor causes the chemo to leave her

system and she becomes sicker and sicker. Why

was she doing that? I think we're starting to

really see as she's ending her final days as

Thor. Because this is the first time when this

is a decision. This is a death that she is choosing

for it to happen. She's taking the power back.

She is the one making the choice to do what is

necessary in order for others to survive. She's

coming to the aid of people who don't even respect

her or maybe don't even deserve the sacrifice

that she's making. But... The question is, is

she doing it for them or is she doing it for

herself? And I think it's a combination of both.

Just to show that, no, you don't have me this

time. I'm taking it back. I am the one that is

going to have control of my life and no one's

going to tell me what to do, whether it be other

people or fate itself. And I think that's what's

made this such an important story on a lot of

different levels. Because yeah, even if she comes

back in six months or two years or what have

you, It doesn't take away from this story arc

or this comic because it's a poignant way to

look at the ways we as people react to the tragedies

that happen to us, how we cope with them, how

we get over them, how we use them to motivate

us, how you can choose to sit out and allow those

things to drag you down or you can push forward

and continue to go even when... all opportunity

for success isn't really there, even if it's

leading to an enviable conclusion that may even

mean your demise. There's a poignancy, there's

a tragedy there that's almost even a bittersweetness

because there's this opportunity to find happiness

or just feel complete. which is, I think, what

many are ultimately seeking. And I don't know,

I just, I was moved by this book. It's hard to

do that in a comic book, especially in superhero

sense, but what Jason Aaron has been melding

here, constructing over these last five years

that he's been in Thor has been great. And I

think the mighty Thor run out of all of his chapters

of his Thor story has been by far my favorite

because it's just... added a level of humanity

in the story of immortal gods that live forever.

It's something that you don't always see. I think

Walt Simonson did it really well too by adding

in a lot of human characters to stand aside,

these gods, these Asgardians. And what Jason

Amherst did was take it to its next logical step

in the sense of now we're taking an actual human

being and making them an Asgardian, but still

having the downside of being mortal. And what

does that mean when you have that power that

is ultimate, but also will corrupt you and lead

to the inevitable conclusion of your own mortality?

It's I think what we end up seeing is that because

of the fact that she has to face death and that

she has to face these challenges that others

don't, like Thor, like Odin, it makes her a better

person. And I think that's saying a lot about

who we are as people and universal truths within

that. I think that's, you know, that's a very

strong thing to say within a Thor book. You know,

this idea of rainbow bridges and man gods and

dark elves, all within that, we're just getting

this strong story about humanity and Overcoming

tragedy and that's I think brilliant in a lot

of ways. So I respect what Jason Aaron's doing

I'm curious where this is going next because

the question then becomes how does it her choice

impact others now? How does it impact Thor? How

does it pick pack Odin? How does pick impact

the other s guardians doesn't make Thor into

another person does seeing or bravery make him

worthy? Does it inspire him in ways that he's

never been inspired before? It opens the door

for a lot of questions. It's the end of a story,

but the beginning of a brand new one once this

leads to its inevitable conclusion. My only concern

really is that can you reach this level again?

Can you have this level of stakes without a character

that has that consistent fear of death looming

over her with Thor if he becomes Thor again,

which seems inevitable at this point. Does it

become a little less impactful now because he

has to follow up Jane's story? It's pretty clear

Jason Aaron's been planning this from the beginning

So I trust that he has something to follow this

up with but he has not made things easy from

from himself So if you've not read Mighty Thor

go back to the beginning really go back to Jason

Aaron taking over Thor Thor God of Thunder a

few years ago and just keep reading and You may

end up becoming a Thor fan even if you don't

care about the character. I think if anyone's

gonna make you Get into this character Rich,

it's Jason Aaron. Alright, well let's move on

to the world of Marvel 2, another book with Thanos,

number 17. And Donny Cates and Jeff Shaw, man,

they like to tell some epic level stories. I'll

just say that this issue was brutal, and yes

Thanos wins, as this story arc has indicated,

and winning is one where he does like to get

a 10 -30 a little bit, but I just love this story,

this alternate future timeline, which I'm a huge

fan of in the vein of Days of Future Past, in

the vein of Future Imperfect, and like those

stories, this has a well -realized world where

you're given bits here and there and you think,

wow, that... Character could have his own comic

line and cosmic ghost writers now getting his

own line or his own miniseries I'm curious to

see where that goes or in this case silver surfer

or other characters that appear You know, it's

a story that is bottled up within a few issues

But you could legitimately have an ongoing series

to cover everything that it touches upon For

those that ever wondered why Thanos is such an

imposing figure why he's lasted so long why he

ends up being probably Marvel's ultimate big

bad This is that ultimate answer to that question.

It's just been so much fun, so much ridiculousness.

I think I've seen some people saying it feels

like fan fiction and maybe, but I think that's

also not a bad thing in a way because it feels

like a fan of the character understands what

makes a character tick and just amplifies that

to its highest degree. Getting it, you get a

lot of that nervous chuckle because of just the...

Ways he's willing to take the story and the things

he's willing to do to characters like he holds

nothing back him and Jeff Shaw hold nothing back

They showcase some really gruesome sequences,

but do it in a way that I think is suitable for

a Marvel comic I think he'll be ending this series

soon Which I can understand because I think this

is a story that cannot go much more than a few

more issues Otherwise, I think it'd be overstaying

its welcome The next issue seems like it's going

to its logical conclusion since it began. And

it's the throwdown that we've been waiting for

since he took over the title. So I love this

book. I love what he's been doing with Thanos.

I don't know if the Thanos series is going to

continue after him or whether they're going to

take Thanos knowing that he's tied to the movies.

For now, though, I'm just happy that exists.

And I hope that we get more comics that go into

the this universe, like the cosmic goers writer

series and. Just explore the different stage

that he's built because I think this is something

that should live on much longer after this Okay,

let's stay with marble and go to tales of suspense

Number 103. I debated about making this the recommendation

of the week because it is a story that is bottlenecked

into this one issue as we get a lot of back history

about Black Widow and why she is back. It's not

really a spoiler because it's on the cover. And

for those that don't know, it's like Black Widow's

back. Where did she go? Well, if you read Secret

Empire, she was killed at the end of Secret Empire.

So the question becomes is how is she alive?

Is she alive? Is this Black Widow? Is this another

person? And this somewhat answers that. I think

the piece that was holding me back from making

it the recommendation of the week is that I don't

know if I'm in love with the conclusion they

made in order to bring Black Widow or bring this

character, I'll just say, back into the fold.

Because you have the risk of undermining your

own story. Because if this is an option, does

it eliminate the power of death in a way, and

I don't want to give anything away. But as a

story choice, it didn't work for me as much as

I was hoping. What did really work for me, though,

is just outside of that one piece, the way it

was constructed and how this character was trying

to figure out what was going on was an intriguing

tale, especially when you have a gigantic, bare,

hybrid human as part of your tale, part of your

comic. I'm inclined to just go with it and enjoy

it. It's weird that all these other things are

going on and I can't buy as much but I have no

issue with a giant talking bear. I guess it's

the world of comics that we live in. The other

piece too that I missed was what I loved about

this series so far was the interplay between

Hawkeye and Winter Soldier. That doesn't really

happen here because it's just the focus on Black

Widow. It fills in a lot of gaps. It ties a lot

of loose ends where What this comic was set up

with the idea of is black widow alive? Is she

how is she alive? So that was like the the main

point it was going at and How would answer that

question and it was a big piece of how successful

this series was gonna be and the answer so far

as I indicated wasn't exactly what I was hoping

for or didn't have the Impact that I was hoping

for and Feels like one of those situations where

they're trying to have their cake and eat it

to still have the impact of the last story, but

being able to bring the character back in some

way without undoing what was previously done.

I don't know if that's an editorial choice or

what have you, but it simply think could have

been better handled. At the same time, the story's

not over. So maybe we learn more with issues

that come. There is some striking imagery in

this book. There's a specific panel of Black

Widow of a whole page layout that kind of surrounds

her story, gives you really her, her lifespan

in one page or what happened within one page,

which I thought was really effectively done.

The Black Widow series done by Chris Samney and

Mark Waite a few years ago had a similar concept

that worked really well too. So I don't know

if that was a callback to that series or not,

but. I do like just the art in this book. It's

a different look. It's not typical Marvel style,

but still has similar cartooning. So I do like

that. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I enjoyed

this series and I would still recommend it, which

is that one piece that was holding me back from

recommending it as a recommendation of the week.

It's just specifically with me, if you're going

to build up mystery and you don't hit it out

of the park. becomes a little bit more problematic

if it's just a small element of your overall

narrative. That being said, how it explored the

idea of what do you do when you find out you're

the product of this red room conspiracy and things

you will go through, the sacrifices or the allegiance

that you will break in order for the betterment

of what you think is the right decision, whether

it be Black Widow or her ever -loving bear sidekick.

I found really effective and really strong in

the best piece of this book. I still recommend

this series overall. The other issues I think

were a little bit stronger mainly because I was

missing my Hawkeye and Winter Soldier banter.

That was a lot of fun. I think we'll get it next

issue and leading to its final conclusion. I

would love to see a series where we have all

three of these people in one book. I would love

to see Matthew Rosenberg write like a Black Widow.

Winter Soldier Hawkeye team up or even do a solo

book of any of those characters. She really has

the voice of them down, especially Hawkeye, especially

Winter Soldier. It's hard to say with Black Widow

because it's perfectly a different voice. I just

like the SBNodge story he's building. It reminds

me similar of something like Ed Brubaker when

he did Captain America years ago. Same type of

tone and same type of story structure that I

really like. So if you enjoyed those pieces,

I don't think it's necessarily to that level.

That's a lot they'll live up to. But I think

it's a natural evolution to that and it could

lead to something even greater if he continues

with this story or continues with this comic

in a different form. We talked about one Donny

Cates book. Let's get to another Donny Cates

book and Donny Cates and Nick Spencer are teaming

up again for Doctor Strange's Damnation. Number

three, though it's really the fifth part of this

story, what we're seeing is the Doctor Strange's

Damnation book is now focusing on the other characters

that are in this story where the Doctor Strange

installments are just focusing on Doctor Strange's

story and I've talked about it previously how

weird the flow of this is doing that but I think

I'm settling in at this point and just have glowing

things to say about this book. Ultimately what

I love about it is just a team up of random characters

that we don't typically see. It's like playing

the best game of Marvel Ultimate Alliance building

this team up with Characters like blade man thing

and putting them in a situation where they're

fighting the Avengers have all become ghost writers

It's looking at what Don case likes to do. He's

like, let's just go for it Let's go to the it's

extreme but in the good way not in the crappy

90s way Some great character beats within this

there's a specific Sequence with blade and let's

say he hitches a ride in a fun way and I just

I don't know I read this with a smile on my face.

It's also great -looking story this the way that

they have combined the aesthetic of hell and

the aesthetic of las vegas they just seamlessly

go together really well and uh also love the

conclusion here and how johnny blaze is being

utilized and the characterization of mafisto

which is a character that he can be just like

a generic devil character But there's something

more stistic about him this time around. I love

how Donny Cates read Stannis and I'm really liking

how he writes Mephisto too. There's just more

personality. He almost feels more bitter because

of what's happening. It's like the situation

has made him even angrier or something like that.

Even more conniving than before. He's just doing

things for the fun of it. Almost like Joker asked

at least the final decision and his justification

for it. It felt very similar to something like

the Joker would do. And just because it's, you

know, it's like doing something for the fun of

it without spoiling that ending. But if you're

a Doctor Strange fan, I would advise going back

and reading this story. Even if you've not read

the other Doctor Strange issues that - Jason

Aaron or Don and Kate's have done the story within

itself has been self -contained enough I'm hoping

when they eventually put this in the tray that

they just combine the doctor strange damn nation

series and the doctor strange solo series into

one Story because they do it separately to read

damn nation 2 to damn nation 3 I think you miss

out on a lot and it's not as strong of a book

But they complement each other. Well, I continue

to praise this book every week that it comes

out I think I will continue to do so as we near

to conclusion I mentioned Bad 90s Extremes and

Weapon Age Number 1 screams as a Bad 90s idea

that's come back to haunt us from the grave as

it's this character that's a combination of both

Wolverine and Hulk all brought into one. I was

more really curious, I do like Greg Pak as a

writer and sometimes Planet Hulk may sound dumb

on service but ends up being one of Hulk's best

stories so I'm like okay maybe you can make this

work maybe you can make weapon age work and to

be honest it worked much better than I thought

it would I liked how not only is it just that

this creature is half Hulk, half Wolverine. Like

it's this Hulk looking creature with claws, which

is a little bit much, but hey, you know, it's

comics. It's okay to be a little bit much, but

the personality of the main character also seems

like a combination of both Bruce Banner and Logan

in the sense of he's this loner that's just trying

to find his place in their world that, but actively

tries to avoid getting into situations where

he can make a difference. But you can tell he

really is going to be making the right choice.

Like I just remember, you know, Logan or Wolverine

is the character that would do that. Like I don't

want to get involved. I don't want to be part

of it. I just want to find peace and Ultimately

still ends up making the right choice and saving

the town from the evil samurai You know Bruce

Banner has some of those qualities, but typically

it's the whole kind of getting tossed in a situation

and Fighting his way out not being as active.

There's some there's some exceptions to that

rule but I just liked how this combination of

Oval Hulk and Wolverine was wholesale not just

to look cool or have cool powers. There was something

to it outside of that. The biggest issue I had

with this book is just how well it's paced, mainly

with the ending piece. It comes to what feels

like a natural conclusion and we're ready for

the next issue, but then there's a tag -on piece

where you kind of see some backstory of the main

character's family, them trying to find him,

and I think why it doesn't work well is that

It's like when you have a movie and you have

an epic battle sequence like you did in say the

Avengers and then after that you get a lot of

plot to fill in pieces that you've yet to see.

It feels like it should have been flip -flop

and I think if they intertwine those pieces a

little bit better that ending wouldn't feel as

muddy or be harder to get through. It feels like

set up after the punchline in a way. That's a

problem you can easily solve next issue. So there's

enough here, I think, to keep me continuing.

It does feel like the Hulk book that we haven't

had right now. My only concern is that I don't

know how you get out of this just being contingently

derivative to the point where it feels pointless.

It feels like an okay miniseries. I don't know

how long this idea can go. But ultimately, it's

just going to be a comparison book to characters

that we don't have currently. And knowing Immortal

Hulk is coming back and knowing Wolverine is

coming back, does that delete its necessity?

Or can enough be done to make Weapon H into his

own unique character, like they've done with

X23 or other similar archetypes that started

as a clone of a different character but eventually

became their own thing. It's possible. I'm not

holding out a lot of hope, honestly, just because

this character doesn't have one shadow to get

out of it as two, and those are two mighty shadows,

so it almost is setting itself up for disappointment.

What if the concept that interests you enough

if the idea is like well that looks cool I think

what you get will be fulfilling enough to make

you happy to pick pick this title up and as I

indicated I think it is much better than I anticipated

it being so kudos for Greg Pak for taking an

idea that on face value sounds awful and gives

us something that's at least enjoyable enough

to read Speaking of Hulk -like books, DC continues

to do their Hulk -like book with damage number

3 in this New Age of Heroes storyline. And I've

liked the New Age of Heroes enough, Silencer,

The Terrifics was okay, Sideways I thought was

fun enough. Damage, though, is one that's just

not working for me. As indicated, it's very much

a Hulk clone and last time I talked about this

book I talked about how it had the concept that

damage can only exist for one hour and how that

hasn't really been utilized in an effective manner.

This was like the book that they tried to make

it work, but it just didn't have the same type

of gravitas you would have. You had this continuous

counter that was showing how much time was left

until you would no longer be damaged. And ultimately,

I'm like, it didn't have the impact that it was

looking for. And I looking at why that was, I

think it's because I still don't really care

that much about the character inside of damage

or If he stops being damaged and Wonder Woman

is able to overpower him, is that necessarily

a bad thing? That seems like a thing I should

be rooting for. I should want him to stop punching

Wonder Woman or want him to stop fighting Wonder

Woman because he's causing so much destruction

even if it's not purposeful. So ultimately I'm

not sure what I'm supposed to be rooting for

or hoping for or what the stakes are here because

are we supposed to be hoping that Wonder Woman

So able to overpower damage. Are we hoping damage

is able to overpower? Wonder Woman to get away

so he doesn't become Part of Amanda Waller's

plan. I don't know I it just feels like this

was an idea like okay Wonder Woman and this and

damage are gonna fight and it's gonna be huge

and yes The art is fantastic. It looks beautiful

It has a sense of epic scale that you would want

in a whole book or in this case a damage book

You can feel the punches you can feel the strength

That is all there on the page, but everything

else just doesn't work nearly as well. Alright,

well let's move over to the world of Batman with

Batman number 43 as the Everyone Loves Ivory

storyline comes to its conclusion. And the purpose

of this storyline was that Ivy was able to control

the entire planet, but of course Batman and Catwoman

were able to get away from her control and this

was Batman's attempt to find a way to get Ivy

to come to her senses or get Ivy to let go of

the controls she seems to have on all humans.

And what I really enjoyed about this was the

way he went about doing just that. You're in

a situation where punching and kicking are not

necessarily going to be the way that you can

solve the situation. So you have to utilize your

detective skills. You have to utilize your ability

to understand the psyche of your villains, which

Batman probably does more so than any other superhero.

And that's demonstrated here. Specifically, what

we are also seeing though is how Batman's approach

has changed as he's slowly evolved through Tom

King's run, especially after the button. As you

see Bruce and Batman try to get to some level

of normalcy. how he's utilizing relationships

in a different way to better understand himself

and how then that comes into play with the way

he approaches the situation with Ivy. It's the

systematic connection that has been linked really

since that moment that he proposed to Catwoman.

And I think that's what I've really enjoyed about

this progression so far is seeing kind of Batman

try to understand human emotion in a way that

he hasn't previously. He's always very clinical,

a person that looks at logic, almost like Spock,

but now he is making decisions that are emotionally

based. And it's not like it's never been done

before, but I appreciate the conclusion and how

this went about it. The one fly I would say with

this issue comes at the very end where there's

a piece of the World War and Drogon Riddles that

is wrapped up to try to Bring this all around

and I understand its purpose. I understood what

Tom King was trying to go for. And I liked the

idea that what's driving Ivy is this idea of

regretting the decision she previously made and

how it caused her to go down a road that she's

not proud of. but then to try to provide some

sort of redemption and understanding of what

true villainy is and how it can affect those

and how it separates the heroes from those that

are villains. I like that idea, but it doesn't

structurally flow in the story as well as I would

expect, especially for a Tom King book. What

Tom King excels at more so than anything is his

structure and rhythm. And that beat was out of

that. It was out of sync. It felt tagged on a

little bit more and Not as integrated as I would

expect for a Tom King narrative overall. I like

this arc It's probably not my favorite not close

to my favorite when it comes to the different

story arcs that Tom King has done on Batman Mostly

because it didn't flow as well as many of his

other stories. I like the attempt. It was ambitious

This is probably the most ambitious story that

he's told within the pages of Batman and I think

And with that ambition came a little bit of clumsiness,

but ultimately I think the end game was achieved.

And it works as like a good progression to the

final wedding that will be happening. And it

seems like Batman has finally got to the place

where a wedding will make sense. I don't know

where that end game will go. Will he be married

for a period of time? Will the marriage actually

not happen? We'll see. But I am intrigued. And

I never thought I'd be intrigued about a wedding

in a comic book before, which is maybe the first

time. So there's that. All right. Well, let's

take a break from the big two and dive in. deep

to the world of any comic starting with Image,

specifically Descender No. 28 by Jeff Lemire

and Dustin Nguyen. And this comic is nearing

its end and this issue dedicated itself, these

last two issues really, to giving us a lot of

backstory to fill us in to what happened and

what exactly the descender means, where the name

comes from. This was a fantastic issue on a lot

of different levels. Mostly, When you talk about

ambition, as I mentioned before, this may be

one of the most ambitious comics out there today,

because this is going after the big questions,

some of the biggest questions about creation,

meaning of life, what drives us, humanity, the

mistakes humans will make, punishment. There's

so much going on in this book and we're learning

really about this world of Descender and where

these giant robots are coming from. Where the

beginning really lies with is it with organic

life is it with mechanic life still unclear exactly

but it answers a lot of questions it clears up

a lot regarding the universe of dissenter and

of course it looks absolutely gorgeous as every

dissenter book does but and I spoke as previously

of when there is a mystery that is driving your

story and specifically ones that linger in the

background over and over again. You are really

setting yourself up to a point where you need

to answer that mystery in a compelling way to

make that weight mean something made that weight

worth it and the sender has done that exactly

as we learn why the robot so long ago did what

they did and the reactions that the humans had

not necessarily exactly what I expected but in

a good way and how it kind of showcases just

how humans just seem to always mess things up

and We get stories like this where you have humans

versus technology humans versus machines and

humans are always the good guys always that You

know, we build these these creations we build

these machines and eventually if they learn to

become sentient and take over and suddenly now

they're the ones in control and what I liked

about this is how it kind of took that idea and

reversed it slightly and makes you wonder like

what if it was the other way around looked at

it from more of the machine point of view and

certainly looked at why humans are in their nature

Kind of their own worst enemies as well as the

worst enemies of others and how we tend to take

Gifts and misuse them for our own personal gain,

but I really like this book at nearing its conclusions

We're gonna be a sad day when the sender is no

longer out in the shelves But it's also good

to see a story like this come to its natural

conclusion highly recommend picking up this series

this is not an issue you want to pick up off

the shelves if you've never read the center before

because It directly ties to everything that the

narrative was building up towards, so it would

really be ruining it for yourself. But if you're

a person that was looking for a good science

fiction comic that is not necessarily about the

soapy future, that takes similar ideas, I tend

to always think of the movie AI from Steven Spielberg

and Stanley Kubrick, not necessarily in the sense

of it's going for the same ideas, but tonally

they feel very similar in their execution and

I highly recommend this book. Let's move over

to another title with the further adventures

of Nick Wilson number three The premise of this

book is that Nick Wilson was a normal guy, but

then became a superhero with Superman like powers

then Lost them and now he's just your normal

everyday schlub with a few job prospects It's

kind of almost in a midlife crisis with no real

direction and it's really trying to find himself

as he's no longer the hero He once was he actually

even met up with his Previous arch enemy to get

a job and they have this weird alliance in order

to benefit each other By building this museum

that is dedicated to their own life histories

It's it's an odd dynamic, but you see his arch

nemesis and his arch nemesis old sidekick and

his arch nemesis son They have this really intriguing

back and forth with one another but this specific

issue the reason I brought it up is because Nick

Wilson goes to his 10 -year high school reunion,

which seems a little bit tropey, but it actually

find it fascinating if you read the author's

that and he indicates that as a TV writer a lot

of the old has become new again a lot of the

common has become unique in the sense of there

used to be certain trope Storylines that each

sitcom each TV show would always do and always

regret and writers would hate doing it But the

audience would expect it so they would they would

come things like the high school reunion episode

things like the talent show the the Having two

dates to the prom like different ideas that we

sent and tend to see in a lot of different sitcoms

if you go back like every sitcom I had that type

of episode once once or twice within their run

and like different writers would approach it

in their own way or but ultimately it's still

somewhat formulaic. In today's world though in

the tv landscape so many have gotten away from

it those tropes are not nearly touched upon as

much to the fact that there's almost a nostalgia

for them and people are so far away from them

when you go back to them it's actually refreshing

it's you know it's like doing something over

and over again but once you stop doing it and

you move away from it you miss it in a way and

now doing an issue like this where you're having

a 10 -year high school reunion you can do it

and not be burdened by the trope that you're

borrowing from but in some ways the familiarity

of the story that you're telling makes you relate

to it more. It's odd in that execution, but I

like the idea of him going back to high school

reunion. There's some good interaction between

him and his past classmates and a lot of running

gags, a lot of like nine panel grids of specific

one shots of talking, different people, very

documentary -esque in that way. And Nick Wilson

just comes off as a very human character and

there's this great ending beat. He's having a

conversation with his old high school girlfriend

in a diner and their back and forth just feels

so natural. There's so much chemistry there.

And I think it gets back to what the book is

trying to do, going back and talking with, meeting

with someone that you once knew, in this case,

an actual person, or in this case, when it comes

to the narrative being told, getting back to

a type of story that we've seen in the past,

but haven't seen in quite some time. So I just

like how it ties into that in the sense of the

character piece, as well as the actual theme

of the book. And I would highly recommend reading

the letter in the back. I know people tend to

skip it, but there was a lot of good information

there just about the current state. Media in

the sense of television or movies and and how

the current landscape of television movies comics

are so different and there's so much freedom

but the drawbacks or the impact that can have

on audiences that was a perspective that I really

haven't seen before and Wasn't really expecting

to see at the end of the comic usually just think

of lettered pages or something like that But

ended up being rather informational and really

key to understanding what they were doing in

this issue Alright, well let's take a look at

kick -ass number two as this kick -ass saga continues.

This is a new kick -ass for those who have not

read this series. Looks like it is existing in

the same universe, but someone else has taken

up the moniker in this case. Her name is Patience.

She's an African -American former veteran that

is trying to live her life and find ways to support

her family. Her ex -husband just left her and

left her with a massive amount of debt that they

just are in trouble of getting out of. And it

seems like the only way is to utilize the skills

she gained as a soldier by robbing By robbing

drug dealers in conspicuous ways almost like

a modern -day Robin Hood with that though What

she's also seeing is that even though she doesn't

intend to be a hero or superhero though She's

dressing like one she's slowly realizing that

she feels the need to a certain situation comes

up where you have this young boy she continues

to run into and she learns about his story and

the trauma he's undergoing and is debating about

doing something about it or just minding her

own business and the back and forth that ensues.

What we're seeing here is that she's a very caring

individual and she wants to support her family

but also doesn't want to stretch herself too

thin and put herself in a situation where She

can't control or you know get involved with something

should be involved in so it's a very different

idea than the previous kick -ass where you have

a teenager who just wanted to be a hero who wanted

to get involved who actually Was really much

the opposite of that. So I do like this idea

of what they're doing here. It's at least taking

something like kick -ass and trying to do it

differently. And so far this has been okay. Like

if this wasn't called kick -ass, I don't know

if this is the book people would pay that much

attention towards. It's just doing a lot of things

that we've seen before and not executing in a

way that is all that superb. I do like John Romano

Jr.'s art and style that does not always work

with everyone, but one thing he does excel at

is violence and brutality. I mentioned that when

he does draw a silencer. That's the same here.

Just the way he can depict carnage, it's really

effective. And when you have a book like Kick

-Ass, like seeing the damage on people's faces,

it's where he is like best utilized. I mean,

he's a person who's done Punisher, he's a person

who's done Wolverine, but with thing with Kick

-Ass having like an R rated or mature rated title,

he can really dig deep in that even more. So,

but I know for some people, no matter what he's

doing, they just can't stand his style. It's

very blocky. And it doesn't have a very realistic

look to it. And for some people, that's just

something that will detract way too much from

them enjoying it. But if you're someone like

myself that can like it, or even if you're a

person who can at least just go with it as much

as you can, I think this is an okay story, okay

reimagining of the same kick ass. I do like that

it's not just trying to rehash what's already

been done or even try to just... Take kick -ass

story and give it make it a different character

This is really has nothing in relation to the

original kick -ass story outside of the fact

that she wears the costume So I do like the fact

that they're like expanding the universe a little

bit and how it corresponds with her girl I don't

know if they're gonna eventually join up into

To a joint series or to a joint storyline at

all but I would like to see her interact with

hit girl because I think it would be a different

type of Relationship than that of kick -ass where

she's just as capable of hit girl But coming

from it, from a different perspective, where

she has a family, she has a daughter, I could

see her seeing Hit Girl as a pseudo daughter

in a way too. So there's a lot of avenues there

to explore that they really haven't gotten to

yet. We'll see if they do. But if you're a fan

of the previous Kick Ass stories, I think you'll

enjoy this one enough if you're open to this

different interpretation. Alright, well let's

get away from the world of image and get into

valiant first with ninja k number five and yes

ninja k not ninja k what this series has done

is reimagine the ninja k or ninja k series ninja

k has always had ties to Bonnie's always been

like James Bond but with karate powers now they're

even like expanding that further where similar

to 007 where there's 006, 7, 8, 9. Same thing

here where there was a ninja A, ninja B, TEF,

and now K. And what this storyline has been seeing

is a lot of those patched ninjas have been killed

and murdered for different reasons. And here

he's parting up with a previous ninja and it's

been a lot of fun. I love the best part of this

book is the ending where he has to go toe to

toe with another ninja and just the way they

have to try to overcome one another and the different

methods. he uses to fight off someone who's just

as capable of him is a lot of great. It's like

Batman fighting Batman. It's everything you'd

want to see in a cool ninja story. And I like

the story overall. It's been enjoyable expanding

upon the lore of Ninja K, giving him more of

a history. Reminds me of something like that

was done with Iron Fist, back with Boo Baker's

run, adding in more history to the character

making. his moniker like this continuous crown

that is worn throughout generations. It's like

the same idea here and again it opens the door

for future miniseries to do more throwbacks to

other ninjas and like a Ninja K during or Ninja

B during World War 2 or World War 1. I think

that'll be a lot of fun to see moving forward.

Ultimately I think this is probably one of the

most reader -friendly Series valiant has right

now if you've never read another valiant book.

This has been a really self -contained series

so far So it's like it's a good one to jump into

and because it's reinventing a lot of things

The history that it's getting into is just as

new for the character as it is for the reader.

So Seeing and valiant and getting over to quantum

and woody number four and man. I love this book

It's been so much fun and this issue woody is

about to meet his biological father and I bring

this issue up really for one specific panel and

it's that meeting between him and his father

and It's just so greatly put together. I love

what I love about this book A lot is the panel

layouts that were been designed last issue had

this great one where they did a montage utilizing

panels that looked like photographs Here, where

quantum needed to stand is this page layout that

is just brilliant. It's blocked with five by

three panels. And the first set of three panels

is from a down -up perspective, where we see

the distance between Woody and his dad. Then

it closes in on Woody's face. And then it goes

back to that perspective with the dad in the

middle. And finally, the end conclusion of that,

which was rather effective, was a good rhythm

break up and a good way to utilize that meeting

and make it effective showing the distance between

those characters, but then using that with a

great comedic bit at the end. picking up a book

and seeing an artist play with the format of

comics and trying to take the ideas of how to

use panels and how to design this page and not

just make things that look cool, but present

it in an interesting way that tells the story,

that informs the story, that gives you character

moments. And this was an example of that because

not only does it look unique, it really provides

an insight to these characters and also can be

funny. A book like Kwan Minwari that has a lot

of comedy, has a lot of gags, has a lot of meta

humor. Sometimes the the craft can be messed

because you're just focusing on the funny stuff

Which is a big part of why this book is enjoyable

and a lot of fun, but I love that They don't

forget that you can find comedy in more ways

than funny dialogue or gags You can use the format

and you can use the art of a comic to make your

book better and make it funnier So it's I don't

think I've really seen something that's quite

like this before so I highly recommend this series

as well does this tie a lot into the previous

quantum of witty books and a lot of the plot

threads that started in those are continued here

not to the point where I think if you didn't

read those you wouldn't understand them or confuse

them but if you're a completionist who needs

to know every bit of every detail might be a

little bit much like be a little bit hard to

follow but ultimately I think if you look at

what's being told here a lot of those pieces

aren't necessarily important to the general story

The next issue is the last issue of this storyline

and I just hope that we get another Quantum and

Money book a lot sooner than we did last time

and it was not nearly as big of a break because

these characters work so well together and it's

been one of the best books out, period, let alone

from Valiant. Let's move over to Dynamite with

James Bond the body number three and this one

is focusing on the guts. We had one focusing

on the body, we had one focusing on the... mind,

and now this is focusing on the gut. And the

premise of this issue is that James Bond is working

with neo -Nazis undercover for an arms deal and

trying to circumvent them from selling weapons

to terrorists or other organizations. Overall,

again, I continue to like this book. I like this

idea that Alex Cott came up with showcasing the

different elements of James Bond. It is somewhat

of a gimmick, but it's been really effective.

This issue was good, but it's probably the weakest

of them so far, mainly because of one specific

moment that's really stood out like a sore thumb.

There's a sequence in which James Bond gives

this long diatribe about some of these people,

of course, are Nazis, so you can take a guess

of what it's relating towards. And the issue

I had with it, it's not that I disagree with

what was being said, it just felt like a situation

that wasn't suitable to the character of James

Bond. Alex Cotter, at this point, was doing a

really great job of giving Bond a voice that

felt like the character. Here, I felt like his

voice came through a little bit too much. Being

someone who's read some of the other books, like

Days of Hate and Generation Gone, The words that

were on the page didn't feel like there would

be words that you would hear James Bond speak.

And also it just felt like they were forced within

the situation because logically they didn't make

sense of why he would go on such a long diatribe

in the moment that he did. That being said, what

I did like is when it went into... the final

piece in where we get the explanation of why

this is called the stomach or what this has to

be involved with the stomach. That piece I thought

was great and did fall in line with the character.

It was just this one specific bit, this one conversation

he was having that was one way too overwritten.

and two, forced in there. It felt like the entire

premise, this entire issue, this idea was built

just to support that one piece. Like, okay, I

wanna say this, I have something to say, so let

me find a way to build a story around it just

to put this conversation up on a pedestal by

putting those words in the mouth of James Bond.

And it's surprising because he seems to understand

the character of James Bond so well, takes apart

all the different pieces that make him into who

he is. which is why I can still recommend this

issue and definitely recommend this series for

anyone who is a major James Bond fan. Alright,

let's take a slight turn to the world of Dark

Horse with Yusaki Ujimbo, the hidden number one.

Yusaki Ujimbo is one of the longest running series

currently in comics right now, and it's also

a huge blind spot for me. So when I saw that

there was a new mini series that was starting

up, I'm like, wow, this seems like a great opportunity

for me to jump on to this character and test

the waters to see if going back to his original

series or his ongoing series would be something

that I would appreciate or this seems like something

that is up my alley. With that said this first

issue of the hidden you we don't get a lot of

you Jimbo He is only really a small piece it

opens up with these characters on the run as

a Set up bandits. Is it trying to get some sort

of object? We don't know why we don't know how

but really the one piece that really stood out

to me is that There is this bit where you shaggy

you Jimbo has to step on a cross and he's not

really understanding what the purpose of this

is and then a coffin conversation ensues regarding

this new christianity that is popping up and

why they're doing that so I had me intrigued

from right away everything up to that was okay

I wasn't really sure where things were going

but the idea that they would be approaching the

religion from the standpoint of the imperial

japan that has me super intrigued like how does

that play into this story is that a piece of

this got me thinking of the movie silence for

example but taking it the opposite perspective

of what do people think of Christians that are

living within that moment of time and it was

not really something that we're expecting in

a comic about bunny dressed up like a samurai

so that was like wow that was out of nowhere

again as someone who's really new to this property

i don't know that if that's something that's

commonplace if it gets into different subjects

like that but it has me intrigued to see okay

is that just a small conversation that won't

go anywhere or is that eventually tie into this

underlying mystery of the murder that he's trying

to solve so I will continue to go with it and

if by the end I really enjoy and really like

it, go back and start from the beginning of his

saga just to see what exactly has made him such

a long lasting character where so many have been

rebooted and started at number one the fact that

his series is like nearing 300 at this point.

Something has to be going right to make it last

that long, at least I would assume so. All right

last comic of today and it's the first comic

I've ever done with Lion Forge comics in infinity

8 number one And I almost didn't read this book

because I thought it was the eighth infinity

because I'm stupid I guess but now it's the first

issue of this series and what the series is it

follows this I guess you would consider somewhat

of a police cop, but she works on this gigantic

spaceship to try to quell crazy aliens and investigate

different things and She sent to just in this

issue. She is sent to Investigate an anomaly

that they are worried that their ship is going

to run into it seems like there's a civilization

these planets that have exploded or something

has happened to them and they're covering a vast

distance to the point where They're not sure

what exactly that was because I wasn't showing

up any maps like what happened here She does

some investigation and what you see is like the

remnants of some sort of world that was destroyed

for whatever reason But the complicated matters

there are aliens on the ship that begin to go

crazy and we find out because they have this

desire to Eat the king or the dad like it's something

that's like their knack. That's their drug as

I talked about it's a very psychedelic type of

book it Not necessarily story structure, the

story makes sense, but I love the art style.

It partly reminded me of something like Forbidden

Planet from the 70s. It has a very throwback

look to it. Story -wise was okay. I've never

really read anything from Lion Force before.

What really caught my eye is that it felt like

almost H .P. Lovecraftian with all the different

character designs and some of the alien designs

and the different cultures that she's examining

from this universe or planet that was destroyed

for some reason. Within this first issue, I'm

not exactly sure where this is going or the ultimate

purpose of this comic is. Not in a bad way, not

in a way I feel lost or it feels purposeless,

but just that there's a lot of different avenues

that it can go down or it didn't really present

itself in a way that you can tell, okay, this

is what it is trying to achieve. The one thing

is there wasn't a lot of Greek characterization.

The main character of Yokio doesn't have much

to do in the sense of... giving you an idea of

who she is as a person. She's just kind of interacting

with things. There's not a lot of character moments,

but the universe and the world that it was building

has a lot that caught my eye, and the uniqueness

and the character design and the world just makes

me walk away from thinking, okay, there's something

here. This is fun. I would want to see this more.

I want to go with this more. There are pieces

here that can pull off and become something special.

It could go off the rails and be awful and pointless,

but... For first issue, if your overall goal

is to build an intrigue, it did just that and

hopefully it follows through with the promise

that it's built up in this first issue. But that

will bring us to the end of this week's episode.

A lot to talk about in the world of comics and

if you want to interact with the show, there's

a lot of different ways to do that. You can email

me at movierevolt at geekcastradio .com. I'm

also on Twitter at movierevolt. The show is on

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Podcast. In addition to that, you can go to the

website at kikasradio .com, leave a comment on

the episode post, and I'll interact with you

there as well. And if you're liking this show,

you're enjoying it so far, go to iTunes, give

us a rating, subscribe, tell your friends, family,

whoever, people at the comment shop, whatever

you may do. There's a book series you want me

to talk about, anything you would think that

I would enjoy that I have not mentioned on this

show, or if you disagree or agree with my takes,

again, a lot of ways to contact with us. Recently,

I talked with Greg Bepler regarding the Black

Hammer series. Later this week we'll actually

continue that conversation as we get into Black

Hammer Vol. 2. Coming up on the show I'll also

be speaking with DJ Valentine of the Simplistic

Reviews podcast on Gotham Central and other things

in the works that I'm really excited about. But

thanks to everyone that has supported the show

so far and always remember that comics are for

everyone. The key is finding the right one. Thanks

for listening and we'll see you next time. It's

time to