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Battleworld: Runaways, #1-4 - Written by Noelle Stevenson. It seemed like it would be impossible to capture the tone of the original Runaways series with only a single original character crossing over, Molly Hayes. [I guess Cloak & Dagger count, too.] But Stevenson managed it. The teenagers sound real, Hall Monitor!Bucky Barnes is adorbs, and it's just great. It makes me really wish that the Runaways title would continue once this ~Secret Wars~ Marvel event is over, but I haven't heard anything, :/
Zodiac Starforce, #1-2 - There was a fair amount of excitement online when this title was announced - a group of girls who used to be magical school girls but had left it behind a while ago. I think that all of the major characters of Sailor Moon made cameos in the first issue. The second one has a Totoro hanging on the wall, as well as a Sailor Moon doll & some kind of Luna pillow. Sadly, the references and the creators' constant, "We just really love Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura!" and repeating these two titles ad nauseum, is not enough to make a captivating read. The teenagers do not sound like real people, let alone teenagers. Two issues in, and I don't really care what happens to anybody, so I think I'll drop. Maybe I'll check it out from the library when it reaches the trade format?
Ms. Marvel #16-19 - Well, that's the end of her first run. And the entire last issue WAS ALL ABOUT FEELINGS. What a great series, an empowering lead, etc. I love Kamala Khan, although I'm doing my best to resist being sucked over to the Avengers title she's going to be joining in the near future. It seems that Ms Marvel will still have her own series, though, of course everything's "rebooting" due to the Secret Wars event. I'll be sticking around to see what happens now.
Battleworld: Siege, #1-4 - I'd noted at comics club that the only ~Battleworld~ events I was reading in Marvel's current catalog-wide event was Runaways, and asked if anything else was worth checking out. Someone suggested Siege, and when I saw that Kate Bishop and Ms America Chavez were featured as characters & also that Filipe Andrade was the artist, I went for it. This is the story about the people defending The Wall, which spans the planet & divides the patchwork Battleworlds in the north from those in the south. People are led by Abigail Brand, a character I hadn't encountered before. There are a handful of two-page spreads that I'd frame and put up on my walls, tbh, they're so pretty. I love Andrade's art, too, and having Kieron Gillen as the writer doesn't hurt either. I'm glad I read this, as it gave me a little bit more context for the huge event I was only seeing glimpses of in Runaways & Ms Marvel.
Gotham Academy, up through #9 - I'm still enjoying these, but feel that I need to reread the first 10 once #10 comes out, as a refresher for wtf has happened so far :[ BUT. MAPS FOREVER! AND OLIVE TOO I GUESS.
Toil and Trouble, #1 - Put out by Archaia, this is a 6-issue mini-series focusing on the three witches from Macbeth. The witches are used to manipulating the wars and people of Scotland, to have a hand in their ruler. One of them is taking a particular liking to a solider named Macbeth after she returns to Scotland - returning after having been exiled by by her sisters due to disagreement.
At some point, I ended up dropping Captain Marvel. I feel kind of bad about it, but am also seeking to cut some titles from my pull list, :[ Mini-series seem to work way better for me, lol. Maybe the only long-term US comics title that works for me is Saga? I think that Vaughan works hard to make it something that narratively can be read one month at a time, in six-month chunks. It's definitely a skill, and not a lot of writers seem to have it.
I also can't stand it when the writers and artists change. Maybe I've been spoiled by Japanese manga? But the stability of Vaughan/Staples is definitely a huge part of the draw for me when it comes to Saga.
Zodiac Starforce, #1-2 - There was a fair amount of excitement online when this title was announced - a group of girls who used to be magical school girls but had left it behind a while ago. I think that all of the major characters of Sailor Moon made cameos in the first issue. The second one has a Totoro hanging on the wall, as well as a Sailor Moon doll & some kind of Luna pillow. Sadly, the references and the creators' constant, "We just really love Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura!" and repeating these two titles ad nauseum, is not enough to make a captivating read. The teenagers do not sound like real people, let alone teenagers. Two issues in, and I don't really care what happens to anybody, so I think I'll drop. Maybe I'll check it out from the library when it reaches the trade format?
Ms. Marvel #16-19 - Well, that's the end of her first run. And the entire last issue WAS ALL ABOUT FEELINGS. What a great series, an empowering lead, etc. I love Kamala Khan, although I'm doing my best to resist being sucked over to the Avengers title she's going to be joining in the near future. It seems that Ms Marvel will still have her own series, though, of course everything's "rebooting" due to the Secret Wars event. I'll be sticking around to see what happens now.
Battleworld: Siege, #1-4 - I'd noted at comics club that the only ~Battleworld~ events I was reading in Marvel's current catalog-wide event was Runaways, and asked if anything else was worth checking out. Someone suggested Siege, and when I saw that Kate Bishop and Ms America Chavez were featured as characters & also that Filipe Andrade was the artist, I went for it. This is the story about the people defending The Wall, which spans the planet & divides the patchwork Battleworlds in the north from those in the south. People are led by Abigail Brand, a character I hadn't encountered before. There are a handful of two-page spreads that I'd frame and put up on my walls, tbh, they're so pretty. I love Andrade's art, too, and having Kieron Gillen as the writer doesn't hurt either. I'm glad I read this, as it gave me a little bit more context for the huge event I was only seeing glimpses of in Runaways & Ms Marvel.
Gotham Academy, up through #9 - I'm still enjoying these, but feel that I need to reread the first 10 once #10 comes out, as a refresher for wtf has happened so far :[ BUT. MAPS FOREVER! AND OLIVE TOO I GUESS.
Toil and Trouble, #1 - Put out by Archaia, this is a 6-issue mini-series focusing on the three witches from Macbeth. The witches are used to manipulating the wars and people of Scotland, to have a hand in their ruler. One of them is taking a particular liking to a solider named Macbeth after she returns to Scotland - returning after having been exiled by by her sisters due to disagreement.
At some point, I ended up dropping Captain Marvel. I feel kind of bad about it, but am also seeking to cut some titles from my pull list, :[ Mini-series seem to work way better for me, lol. Maybe the only long-term US comics title that works for me is Saga? I think that Vaughan works hard to make it something that narratively can be read one month at a time, in six-month chunks. It's definitely a skill, and not a lot of writers seem to have it.
I also can't stand it when the writers and artists change. Maybe I've been spoiled by Japanese manga? But the stability of Vaughan/Staples is definitely a huge part of the draw for me when it comes to Saga.
