Spider-Woman: Baby Talk

by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum, Javier Rodriguez, Alvaro Lopez, Travis Lanham
Collects Spider-Woman #1-5

Wow – I was surprised to see such high ratings for Baby Talk on Goodreads, and then each issue I became more and more surprised by just how fantastic and delightful this first installment of Spider-Woman was. I’ve been aware of Jessica Drew, but this was my first solo series of the character.

And part of it was, to be perfectly honest, my assumptions of a male writer on a story about a heavily pregnant superhero. I was so delighted to find out how wrong I was. Jessica is in her final weeks of pregnancy, and when she finally takes Carol’s advice to visit an intergalactic hospital for a maternity visit, things go awry to say the least!

I don’t have children myself, but my best friend did just have a baby, so I believe I have some small authority to be impressed by how well represented Hallum represents the complexities of pregnancy and childbirth. Many of the well-worn jokes are there, but not at the expense of Jessica. If anything, it shows us exactly who Jessica is as she’s faced with the dilemma of protecting others at the potential expense of her unborn child. Jessica’s relationship with Carol also shines here, and makes me real antsy for Jessica to show up in the MCU already.

Overall, Rodriguez and Lopez’s artwork here is fantastic. The action scenes with a hugely pregnant Jessica could have been over the top and funny, but actually showed a lot of respect and honor for Jessica. That being said, there are some great humorous moments that they land as well. I loved the issue with Jessica exploring the hospital – there were some beautifully creative scenes that made this arc stand out – and they also hit the emotional beats in the final issue.

spoilers this paragraph. And much of the aspects Hallum focuses on, especially Jessica as a single mother, are usually left out of pregnancy storylines – he establishes early on (in a hilarious way) that it’s unimportant who the father is. Jessica has a C-section, and after giving birth, Rodriguez does a lovely job of showing her breastfeeding (in front of Carol!) without making a big deal out of it. And the final issue is just fantastic, showing the mess of being a new parent and how friendships change. Jessica leans on fellow Roger (the now-reformed Porcupine) for advice, one of the most authentic scenes about parenthood I’ve ever seen in a comic; her fear of leaving her baby and then integrating her motherhood identity, while fast for one issue, still felt authentic.

For all the authenticity, my one gripe with the book is how Jessica kept calling the other pregnant beings in the intergalactic ward “ladies” and “women,” especially after wondering if “aliens” was offensive. I seriously doubt all other alien species have the same genders we do, and even among humans, not just women have children (shout out to trans men, non-binary, gender-fluid and other gender-queer folks especially during Pride Month.) Even Rodriguez showed a pregnant alien in the background of one panel who presents more male than their partner:

Regardless, this was just a delight to read – an easy five stars! Looking forward to volume two.

Once & Future: The King Is Undead

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, & Tamra Bonvillain
collects Once & Future #1-6

It’s not often that I read the synopsis for a book and say “F*** yeah!” aloud, but when I read “retired monster vampire hunter and her grandson,” I’m going to respond with “F*** yeah,” and thankfully, Kieron Gillen didn’t disappoint.

Older women protagonists are such a rarity in literally all genres, especially (too often patriarchal) fantasy, and while there are a few self deprecating lines from Bridgette about her age, it’s never at her own expense. Brigitte is a retired monster hunter and when she learns of a plot to resurrect King Arthur, she ropes in her grandson and an unsuspecting professor to save the world. Bridgette is an unflappable, badass woman, and I love her. I think she needed a moment of vulnerability towards the end, but that’s okay.

Once and Future is a very solid fantasy with a fun Arthur twist, it would translate very well into a TV show. (How is this not a TV show yet?) There are definitely echoes of other fantasy/adventure stories, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade came to mind more than once. The pacing was a bit quick, it throws a lot at the reader in a few issues without much pause. A few characters are a little underdeveloped, especially Elaine and Rose, and Duncan’s ‘coming of age’ arc also felt a bit rushed. But Bridgette rightfully steals the show, and there’s absolutely no filler.

Mora and Bonvillain’s art was the perfect match for Once and Future. It’s light and kinetic, with facial expressions that are consistent and just over the top enough. The psychedelic colors of the otherworlds was also perfectly done. (Nancy, I love how we chose the same word!) I also liked the amount of horror and gore – enough to feel like an adult story, not so much that it felt like horror genre.

Yet another new favorite thanks to this group! I’m excited to read volume two.

Ok to air!

The Black Monday Murders is Antisemitic BS

by Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker

I was recently made aware of this book as an antisemitic graphic novel. As a fan of Hickman, specifically his recent X-Men work, I was both startled and concerned that Black Monday Murders centered around a secret cabal of bankers who control the world’s finances. I read most of volume one, and unfortunately, there were enough antisemitic overtones to ring the alarm, make me nauseated, and put down the book – and Hickman’s works for good.

If this is unfamiliar to you, you may have heard stereotypes of Jews as bankers, money lenders, and in control of world events through finances. (One philanthropist often targeted is George Soros.) This is an antisemitic trope dating back to the 1900’s and the fabricated Protocols of the Elders of Zion. From the Wikipedia article:

The Protocols purports to document the minutes of a late-19th-century meeting attended by world Jewish leaders, the “Elders of Zion”, who are conspiring to take over the world. The forgery places in the mouths of the Jewish leaders a variety of plans, most of which derive from older antisemitic canards. For example, the Protocols includes plans to subvert the morals of the non-Jewish world, plans for Jewish bankers to control the world’s economies, plans for Jewish control of the press, and – ultimately – plans for the destruction of civilization

In Hickman’s secret cabal, one of the families is the Rothschild family. All the others are fictional. I cannot overstate how hugely problematic this is. The Rothschilds are a real family of Jewish bankers who have been targets of real antisemitism for centuries, most recently from Congresswoman Greene. Saying the Rothschild family – who are again, REAL JEWISH PEOPLE – are murderous “pure bloodline” devil worshippers who control the world’s wealth – which yes, all shows up in this book – is about as blatant antisemitism as it gets.

By the way, another cabal family’s surname is Ackermann, which is also an Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish name.

Hickman even ties in Judas, centuries old antisemitism. This is not a matter of not doing enough research. It is doing exactly enough research to create a story absolutely undeniably antisemitic that Jews and more importantly white supremacists will understand.See more here.

THE LITERAL CHARACTER ON THE COVER HAS HORNS. WTF HICKMAN.

Listen, is there a possibility none of his is intentional? …Maybe. I’m willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to everything…except the Rothschilds. Who are real people. Who are constantly targeted for the exact conceit in this book. And any amount of research will show you that. There was no reason to use their name in this book if the rest of them are fictional. Absolutely none.

I am no longer reading comics by Jonathan Hickman.

And, Hickman: how fucking dare you. Comic books and the graphic novel genre were literally created by Jews because of antisemitism. University quotas and barring Jews from fields of work forced them into fields of publishing, pulp magazines, and yes, comic books. At the height of the Holocaust, a Jewish genocide rooted in conspiracy and scapegoat theories like the ones you peddle in this book. How. Fucking. Dare. You.

The Thing: Idol of Millions

by Dan Slott, Andrea Di Vito, Kieron Dwyer, Laura Villari
collects The Thing #1-8

The Thing is one of my favorite Marvel characters. Not only is he the perfect metaphor for those who are misunderstood and discriminated against because of their differences, but he also has special meaning to me as an openly Jewish character, whom artist Jack Kirby modeled after himself.

In Dan Slott’s eight issue miniseries, Ben Grimm is now a “billionaire playboy” and thrust into the world of riches, fame and celebrity girlfriends. Slott gets his character right, but the pacing of the book makes the series feel like wasted potential.

The first three issues are essentially pointless – I’m honestly not sure why this wasn’t condensed into one issue. Ben Grimm, several celebrities (including a short-lived girlfriend) and a few other superheroes and villains are kidnapped to “murder island” by an eccentric one note villain. Nothing of real consequence happens, and there’s no major character development for Grimm; unfortunately this entire plot was borrowed later for Gwenpool.

When Grimm returns to Yancy Street in the fourth issue, it finally feels like a story about his character. We see Sheckerberg again, the pawnshop owner who gave Grimm his Star of David necklace in Remembrance of Things Past, the 2001 issue that canonized Grimm as Jewish. Grimm’s plan to open a children’s center in his brother’s memory, which is a lovely concept – but it’s resolved in one issue and barely leaves room for any character development. (His realization about his riches, thanks to Franklin, was also shallow and rushed.) And instead of seriously updating the Yancy Street Gang, and perhaps making some important commentary on supporting youth in need, that element felt cliched and outdated. I wish this had been the grounding story in this arc that lasted 3-4 issues instead of “murder island” nonsense.

The last two issues are one-shot stories that loosely connect in disappointing ways. Issue seven (with an odd Disney’s Hercules reference on the cover) sees Ben still courting Alicia (happy with a new boyfriend) with an insane birthday present – time traveling to ancient Greece. Throughout the whole book, Ben continues to pine for Alicia, who is happy without him, and the fact that they (shocker) eventually end up together, with an incredibly weak send off for her boyfriend, is a disservice to Alicia making her own decisions for her own damn self. She is largely still relegated to love interest here and there’s still no investment in her character; she is grossly sexualized at the end of the last issue.

Speaking of which, the final issue is about Ben Grimm having a Bar Mitzvah. On the one hand, it’s cute to have him have a Bar Mitzvah on the 13th anniversary of becoming The Thing. However, it’s an extremely shallow portrayal of a Bar Mitzvah, and so many elements are off, particularly in the art. The synagogue interior is strange and has zero Jewish symbolism aside from a hastily drawn Star of David; the rest of it is basically in shadow. During the single-page service, Ben says his Torah portion is the Book of Job, which isn’t in the Torah, but far later in the Prophets – it would never be a Torah portion. A nice connection is made between the two, but if you’re going to include a religious minority’s lifecycle event, particularly since Grimm was created by two Jews and modeled after Kirby, please do it correctly.

Dwyer, Di Vito and Villari’s art continued to be hit and miss, and while it was consistent, didn’t seem particularly detail oriented especially when it came to facial expressions.

Idol of Millions was a rushed and unnecessary miniseries that doesn’t honor an iconic character who deserves better.

Bombshells: Enlisted

by Marguerite Bennett & Marguerite Sauvage
also featuring art by: Laura Braga, Stephen Mooney, Ted Naifeh, Garry Brown, Bilquis Evely, Mirka Andolfo, Ming Doyle, Sandy Jerrell, ML Sanapo, Marc Deering; colors by Wendy Broome, Doug Garbark, Kelly Fitzpatrick, letters by Wes Abbott
collects Bombshells #1-6

I was intrigued by this “what if” series, featuring the women of DC in an alternate 40’s reality, especially when I learned that Zatanna was established as Jewish and Romani.

The opening issues with Kate and Maggie are really great, especially as a queer couple in the 40’s. Marguerite Sauvage’s art is spectacular, and there are some lovely connections like women playing baseball.

But the story quickly expands from there, and we’re introduced to a large number of reimagined characters very quickly – basically every major woman character from DC, and it eventually starts to feel overwhelmed and fractured. This includes a tired and rehashed Wonder Woman origin, that could have used the same injection of creativity as the other women. I would have felt more grounded in the story had we stayed with Kate and largely met the other women as they intersected with her story, with maybe one or two side plots.

This is reflected in the artistic team which changes within almost every issue (after Sauvage’s first two), and no one can match Sauvage; if the entire book was drawn by her, it would have been a home run. Some of the art was quite bad, and it was disappointing to see some of the same male gaze T&A poses especially with Harley, guess we can’t have a woman book that isn’t still dominated by the male gaze. Maybe we’ll finally get there in 130+ years when we finally reach gender parity.

I’m also not a fan of the “Joker’s daughter,” and even though it’s interesting they are establishing Zatanna as Jewish, and Kate has an awesome Jewish moment…nothing for Harley? She’s Jewish and Catholic yet relegated to singing Christmas carols.

Finally, the “What If” nature of the book becomes a strange idyllic 1940’s that chooses to face and ignore the World War II era. For example, Maggie and Kate have a romantic evening without fear, and Amanda Waller is in a position of authority with diverse heroes including Hoshi – yet the actual Holocaust, racial and LGBTQ inequities, the internment of Japanese Americans, the darkness of this period is largely avoided. This is only exacerbated by the fact that while everyone loves punching Nazis, the actual Big Bad is an otherworldly creature. This is clearly meant only for entertainment purposes, which, while not a bad thing….also ignores the very political, WWII-foundations the comic book industry rests on.