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.

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.

Moon Knight

by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, Matt Wilson, Matt Hollingsworth, Cory Petit
collects Moon Knight #1-7, #8-12 [complete]

While not as strong as their run on Daredveil, Bendis and Maleev’s Moon Knight is still pretty solid. It’s probably the first Moon Knight I’ll recommend to folks now that the original volume 1’s author is officially human garbage; and I’m also betting this run will mirror MK’s adaptation to the small screen, especially now that Echo has been confirmed to appear.

Marc Spector has moved to LA to produce a show about his life (which had some room for humor but doesn’t go much further than establishing his backstory); his efforts as Moon Knight to expose a kingpin in LA leads him to a few minor supervillains, a severed Ultron head, and Maya Lopez aka Echo.

Marc’s DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) usually takes the form of several “personalities” like John Lockley, but here they’re expressed as different Avengers, and all with different viewpoints that likely reflect Marc’s own personality. I don’t have DID nor am I anywhere close to being an expert, and while the use of Cap, Spidey and Wolverine is effective, I’m not crazy about the fact that Marc calls himself and is called “crazy” several times. Hopefully he gets an actual diagnosis because the tone it sets otherwise feels insensitive.

Otherwise I think his character work was strong and is what kept me reading more than the story itself, which dragged on a bit, and the villain is a bit of a snore too. That being said it would have been nice to see some aspects of his personality that weren’t just dark and troubled. The fact that he’s Jewish (and the son of a rabbi) doesn’t have to necessarily be front and center, but I was disappointed that it’s completely missing along with any other aspects of his character (especially since Bendis himself is Jewish).

Echo is an interesting foil to Marc, but she is mostly relegated to love interest aside from one or two fight scenes, which is disappointing. I appreciated that they don’t shy away from Maya’s deafness but they missed an important opportunity when the police try to arrest Marc and Maya – police often don’t consider people might be deaf, and they often confuse it with ignoring police or resisting arrest.

Maleev’s art isn’t my favorite, it’s a bit too gritty for me, but it still communicates the story well, particularly when Spector is disoriented. He is a very straightforward artist and when Bendis’ dialogue gets a little wordy he and the art team handle the text bubbles very well. Even though this is LA rather than New York, Wilson and Hollingsworth’s colors are still pretty dark, muddy and gritty, unless we see some city lights or something. I also liked how the thoughts of Marc’s Avengers were expressed in different colors, our first major clue that they weren’t the real heroes.

Overall this isn’t the best comic I’ve ever read but a solid introduction to Moon Knight particularly for those who are excited about his upcoming series.

review for issues #8-12 below

**MAJOR SPOILERS***

 I really didn’t enjoy this conclusion, especially because Echo is promptly killed off – and Bendis, you *chose* to kill off the only deaf and Native American woman superhero in existence, so it should probably be for a damn good reason! Nope, it serves no other purpose than for Marc’s growth. (We don’t see a funeral according to her tribe, none of her Avengers friends and family mourning her – even though she called Mockingbird in the first arc – literally nothing. She’s just added to Marc’s voices in his head.) Moon Knight’s face off with Count Nefaria didn’t wow me (possibly because Nefaria has zero percent wow factor in my book), and the Avengers taking care of business took the air out of the final fight.

The final pages basically meant that this was all a setup for the “Age of Ultron” event, which is…disappointing. If Bendis didn’t have to shoehorn in Ultron, he could have done a much better Daredevil treatment of Moon Knight.

But he also completely forgets about Marc’s Jewishness and again, kills Echo for reasons that feel very reminiscent of Batman: The Killing Joke and those are not the kind of Alan More comparisons you want. Blech. This was on the verge of becoming my favorite MK run, but for now, it stays with the Lemire & Smallwood series.

Truth: Red, White and Black

by Robert Morales & Kyle Baker

Collects Truth: Red, White and Black #1-7

This book has been on my list, but I wanted to read as soon as I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Truth is, as its name suggests, unsettling and hugely important. Morales and Baker reveal the first Black Captain America, Isaiah Baker, and his fellow Black soldiers were experimented on without their consent, unlike Steve Rogers. It redefines Captain America’s legacy, as it should. Morales based the story on the Tuskugee Study, a horrific medical experiment on Black men which ran for 40 years.

Morales’ story is straightforward, heartbreaking, and quickly fills seven issues – it easily could have gone on twice as long. Even though it ends in a dark and tragic place, there is still some hope, and it’s powerful to see Steve’s revelations and reactions to what has been hidden from him for literal decades.

A lot of folks on Goodreads didn’t like the art, calling it “cartoony.” I feel the need to push back here, because this is clearly very intentional. Truth’s art is not meant to look like other superhero comics. It’s deconstructing superhero comics – not just by redefining Cap’s legacy, but causing us to ask ourselves – are our heroes really the heroes? At whose expense, and whose erasure? And then, we arrive at deconstructing what (Captain) America stands for,

In my opinion, anyone who dismisses the art isn’t looking closely enough – as uncomfortable as it may be – at what Morales and Baker are trying to say.

Truth is a must-read for comic book fans, and I hope we see more of Isaiah’s story in the MCU adaptation.

Avengers vs X-Men

by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Jeph Loeb, John Romita Jr, Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert, John Dell (i), Mark Morales (i) Chris Eliopoulos (l)
collects Avengers vs X-Men #1-12

AvX is one of the big Marvel events I missed, one of several I’m reading through to fill in some gaps. I’m glad I read it purely as a Marvel fan, and that’s about it.

The story is easy enough to pick up – bonus points if you’ve already read Dark Phoenix Saga, House of M, and Messiah Complex (I haven’t read the last one). In a nutshell, the Phoenix is returning to Earth. Wanda in House of M made mutants an endangered species, and Scott Summers (Cyclops) believes that if Phoenix inhabits Hope, the first mutant born since Wanda’s declaration and a kind of messiah, the Phoenix will restore homo superior. But Cap and the Avengers see the Phoenix as a threat – and the confrontation begins.

AvX features a powerhouse of Marvel’s top writers in 2012, but because they divided writing duties by issue, it was disjointed and the changes in tone didn’t make a cohesive story. And while it might not surprise us that they’re all men, this is absolutely a story about men (Steve and the descent of Scott, especially), masquerading as a story about Hope and Wanda.

Hope might be at the center of the story, but it isn’t her story – not even close. It’s clear just from the fact that she’s often called “the girl” (even though her age fluctuates about 10 years or so), and the story is barely concerned with her growth as a character. Neither Hope, Wanda nor Emma Frost have any meaningful story arc that shows any kind of growth or change at the end. Emma remains an evil seductress, Hope is the rebellious teen with untapped power, and Wanda’s role in mutants’ disappearance gives her the biggest case for a redemption arc. But they drift in and out of the issues – Wanda really only appears halfway through after issue #0 – and are never given the importance in the story they deserve, especially considering both the beginning that centers Wanda’s regret and grief, and her and Hope’s role in the ending. Instead, pages are dedicated to Scott’s slow corruption and those who try to save him. And it’s telling that Steve, Scott and Namor can spend whole issues punching out their problems, but as soon as Wanda and Hope go at it, Steve (and the writers) shut them down.

Let me be clear: having male writers doesn’t automatically mean their stories will only center male characters. Chris Claremont is a perfect counterexample with his stories about Kitty and the first Dark Phoenix, Jean. It’s just far more likely that it will happen, along with the inevitable argument that certain characters are more popular with (and are the same as) certain demographics who will buy comics.

And for twelve issues, the other character work was pretty dismal. Is Scott actually evil or did he just fall victim to the Dark Phoenix? When Steve says he realizes he should have done more for mutants (shocker), showing us when and how he realized that might give us some sense of growth. Why is barely any attention paid to Wolverine and Beast, as they navigate being both Avengers and X-Men? And while it’s great to see Iron Fist featured in this story, his role is quickly diminished and never develops any kind of mentoring relationship with Hope. Most of the superheroes pop up for an issue or two and then completely disappear. There’s a MAJOR character death that I won’t spoil but it felt entirely thrown in.

I understand that these massive events are tied into the rest of Marvel’s ongoing titles, which provide additional stories and background. But a main event should also be a standalone story, especially if you’re recruiting the top-dollar writers for it. A tighter focus on Hope and Wanda, and emotional anchors in characters like Wolverine and Iron Fist, would have made AvX far more compelling and would have encouraged me to read the surrounding material, whereas I couldn’t wait to be done with these twelve issues.

The art was also a mixed bag. I’m not a fan of Romita Jr’s art and so the book really got off on the wrong foot for me. Not to be cruel, but his art was simplistic, lacked drama, had lots of unfinished panels, and Magneto had a squished face and who does that to Magneto? Later issues do become progressively better, first (Coipel and Morales) and then Adam Kubert who was the best. As far as I could tell, the only woman with a consistent presence on the creative team was Laura Miller on colors.

Basically, I would recommend only for fans of Scott Summers (in which case, you have other things to sort out), and maybe Namor (his extremely low rise pants were probably the best part of the whole thing), or, if you’re like me and want to cover the bigger Marvel events as a fan. Otherwise, read the cliffnotes and happily skip it.