Rachelle Rosenberg

Doctor Aphra: Remastered

This third volume of Doctor Aphra continues the blend of action, humor and moral ambiguity that makes her such a compelling character.

Gillen and new writer to the series, Simon Spurrier (Coda), turn several story elements on their heads to keep the reader guessing and Aphra on her toes! Aphra now takes orders from assassin droid Triple Zero, leaving Aphra in an especially precarious position, as TZ has no attachments or particular regard for the sanctity of life. She’s instructed to complete a near impossible mission: retrieving the assassin droid’s earliest memories from the Empire. Triple Zero’s commitment to violence, and playing with Aphra’s mind, is one of the most delightfully disturbing aspects of this book, and I am here for it.

Most of the arc dedicates itself to the memory heist, a plot which, like the Mandalorian’s heist episode, introduces us to some new characters – most of them quirky, with a particularly delightful odd couple. Gillen and Spurrier give each crew member space for their own backstories and charming weirdness, and also waste no time in giving Magna Tolvan some sympathetic backstory too.

A new art team, penciller Emilio Laiso and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, brings consistently gorgeous art that fits right in with the other two volumes, and the Star Wars universe at large. This volume is quite a bit darker than the other two volumes, as Aphra is pushed to make even more morally ambiguous decisions, and the art does a great job heightening the suspense and sometimes discomfort of Aphra’s actions while bringing more aliens, droids and giant spaceship scenes to life.

Because of this aspect – our lovable archaeologist who no longer skirts the grey, but dives right into it, and swims right up against something darker – the creative team keeps the spotlight on Aphra, even with a large injection of secondary characters, and leaves her in a different, and not necessarily better place. Where most middle volumes in a long series will start to drag, this feels like an important part of her story arc, and not at all a waste of time.

spoilers. Aphra finds some romance too, as she and Tolvan begin a dance of attraction to one another, being pulled apart by their different allegiances, and intentionally double crossing, shooting at, and saving one another. Here, I’m a bit torn. On one hand, Gillen and Spurrier could have actually taken some time to develop their relationship. All we see is the two of them quickly progressing from attraction into spending a night together. I’m not saying the two have to put a ring on it first, but it’s hard to be invested in a relationship that’s only based on attraction, some flirting and a few kisses. At the same time, perhaps Aphra and Tolvan’s personalities – as well as their positions squarely on opposite sides of the war, and the “we might get shot any second” world they occupy – led them to make this choice perfectly in-character, without second thought to an actual *relationship.*

We’ll see how it develops. Regardless, it’s so nice to see a queer relationship in Star Wars; it’s at least being treated respectfully by the creators, even if they aren’t women. All the romantic scenes, including the morning-after one, are done very well.

I’m really enjoying the series and looking forward to volume four.

The Unbelievable Gwenpool: Totally in Continuity

by Christopher Hastings, Myisha Haynes, Gurihiru, Alti Firmansyah, Rachelle Rosenberg
collects Gwenpool #11-15 + Holiday Special
volume reviews: one | two | three | four| five [complete]
miniseries: Gwenpool Strikes Back

Unbelievable Gwenpool used to be my palette cleanser between books, but no longer! This volume was an unbelievable waste of time.

Gwen’s stories used to be on the fluffier and wackier side, but they still made sense and served a greater purpose: to flesh out Gwenpool’s understanding of herself in a comic book universe, her “powers,” and the limits of her recklessness. But here, the one-off adventures feel aimless, uninspired, and uninteresting. Gwen goes to a town to take care of a vampire, and then she and her MODOK gang are caught in a DnD-type dungeon hosted by a villain who jumped right out of a mid-90’s video game.

In my review of volume two, I mentioned that Gwen works better with a foil – her chemistry with Miles Morales was off the charts. But she’s clearly outgrown her makeshift team. She does get one brief scene with Deadpool, the other uber-violent, fourth wall breaking Marvel antihero. They trade a few good barbs, but the team up is far too short, and doesn’t have a satisfying conclusion.

Usually series regular artist team Gurihiru is the saving grace when Gwenpool’s story is lacking. But they’re only on part of one issue – Gwen notices when the art changes, which is cute, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the other artists are absolutely terrible. Possibly the worst I’ve seen out of Marvel. Haynes’ inconsistent and sloppy faces, Gumby-esque bodies, and thick cartoonish borders were just so bad. Firmansyah was moderately better but not enough to save it. Rosenberg’s colors are flat and dull, which doesn’t help at all. Not even an issue with MY GIRL KATE BISHOP could get me to finish this, the art was so bad.

Didn’t make it through the holiday special, either. A ghost Hitler was basically all I needed to see from that issue to be like NOPE.

Ugh. If this is “totally in continuity” I’m done with this Gwenpool series. I’ll be skipping right to Gwenpool Strikes Back, jumping after West Coast Avengers, and hoping it’s marginally better than this one.

OK people, this is the third negative review in a row. Here’s hoping the next one is good.

The Unbelievable Gwenpool: Head of M.O.D.O.K.

by Christopher Hastings, Gurihiru, Irene Strychalski, and Rachelle Rosenberg
collects Gwenpool, The Unbelievable #5-10
original series: one | two | three | four | five [complete]
miniseries: Gwenpool Strikes Back

I’m already experiencing withdrawals from West Coast Avengers…so it’s time to catch up on Gwenpool!

Gwenpool is far more than a female Deadpool knockoff. She’s actually Gwen Poole, a member of our reality – and huge Marvel comics fan – who somehow plopped into the Marvel universe. Even though she’s also an amoral anti-hero vibe with more than her fair share of fourth-wall breaking, witty dialogue, her encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel universe is what sets her apart from DP – and what makes her self-aware humor all the more funny. Gwen takes shots at diluted storylines, censorship, and narrative tropes like ensuring characters don’t die by asking their names, therefore making them more important to the story.

The funny gets funnier when Gwenpool teams up with Miles Morales – there is nothing funnier than an exasperated Miles Morales. It’s fun to see Gwen completely fangirl over Miles (and his mom) and try to explain the Secret Wars storyline, much to Miles’ bewilderment. (When Gwen tells characters they’re in comic books, mentions publishers, etc, it’s not too dissimilar from the holodeck characters in TNG who can’t really process the information.)

The main story picks up soon after the first volume, as Gwenpool and her cadre of D-list villains (headed by Baltroc the Leaper, another great casting choice by Hastings) try to continue on the MODOK operation without MODOK himself. The narrative is pretty forgettable with sea creature aliens and a reformed Doombot (not even close to the greatness of his ‘cousin’ on Runaways); but not unlike Squirrel Girl and other comedy books, the fun is in Gwen’s shenanigans – including dressing a pig up in a Gwenpool costume to throw off the aliens – rather than the story itself.

Gwenpool might be a blond Marvel fangirl in a comedy title, but she’s not afraid to translate her amoral philosophy into gleeful and often reckless violence. Gwen justifies her ‘actions’ saying that because comic characters (regardless of how young or innocent they are) aren’t real, their “lives” don’t matter. It makes her an unpredictable wildcard, not to mention completely nihilistic in a universe generally about justice and optimism – especially because she (rightly) understands that as the star of her own book, she can’t die, and as a Marvel character, there are some lines she probably can’t cross even if she tries. It makes the whole thing even more absurd from a meta standpoint, and within the pages, makes you wonder what exactly Gwen was like back in our world (though Hastings has made a point to not reveal that at all). Not unlike Deadpool, Gwen is an infinitely more interesting character with a foil (Miles, Baltroc, Cedric) and it will be interesting to see who she meets next, given her circumstances at the end of the book.

Gurihiru’s art is simply delightful and their* anime style makes Gwen deceptively cute and innocent. However, penciller Sasaki draws hands super tiny which I’m sorry you won’t ever be able to unsee, but it’s true! I wish they had also drawn the first issue with the Miles team up, Strychalski’s style isn’t necessarily bad but it felt a little too “children’s story book” for that particular issue.

Gwenpool is a great breather in between different books, and I’m thrilled that she has a new solo title, called Gwenpool Strikes Back, post WCA.

*I recently learned that Gurihuru is the name of an artist duo rather than a proper name: pencils and inks by Sasaki and coloring by Kawano. I therefore changed the pronouns to gender neutral plural. My apologies for the error. See their website for more!

Mockingbird: My Feminist Agenda

by Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons, Rachelle Rosenberg
collects Mockingbird #6-8 and New Avengers #13-14
volumes one | two – complete

“Feminist Agenda” has to be a sarcastic title. We’ll never know exactly why Mockingbird was cancelled after eight issues, but regardless, this final arc does away with any interesting structure or fun story of the first volume, and Bobbi fully disintegrates into a Mary Sue husk drinking Chardonnay on a cruise ship.

I think the only thing I liked about the book was the nod to Fraction-Aja’s Hawkeye run on the nerd convention pass. And…yep, that’s it.

I hate to say it but this book is an absolute mess. Cain follows a lead for information that might help ex husband Clint Barton with his court case and ends up on a luxury cruise. (This is a Civil War tie in. Civil War was dumb.) Somehow the cruise ship is hosting both a nerd convention and a Corgi convention (who in their right legal minds puts a bunch of dogs on a ship?) and things just get dumber from there.

Gone is Bobbi’s science knowhow or any knowhow in general. Her immaculate outfits, makeup and hair, the manicures, yoga poses and Chardonnay, the “exCUSE me you don’t know who I am? WOW” and the “I didn’t pay for my ticket but I can still use the free buffet right? #usingahashtag,” ugh it just shouts obnoxious white privilege. I say this as a white woman. It is obnoxious. Throughout this non-story Bobbi either sits in her room pining for Clint or making sex eyes at sort-of boyfriend Lance, also on the ship and the spitting counterpart to Bobbi – he’s a bucket of male white privilege, facial hair and abs. And SPOILER alert, the “villain” has the hots for Bobbi too.

And do not get me STARTED on that mess of a “final battle” that was all sorts of outright stupid. If it’s a comedy book, it’s a comedy book front to back like Squirrel Girl, you can’t just throw in random shit for no reason.

SPOILERS, look cheating on your spouse doesn’t make you an all around awful person, it might have given Bobbi some actual character development, but it certainly does erase any and all sympathy for her still having feelings for her ex. That’s the bed you made and slept in honey, literally. Also give me some indication that it’s anywhere in Clint’s character to still be interested in her after that. (Though I guess someone made the decision it was in his character to kill the Hulk, so you know.)

Bobbi’s now infamous final cover (because this book didn’t help the man trolls who also hate women) wants us to ask about her feminist agenda, but I don’t think she has one, and unfortunately I don’t think Cain does either (at least in this series). The series literally ends with two men fighting over giving her a foot rub.

Also foot rubs are disgusting.

Also a bunch of random stuff (like a boy scout guide to footprints?) that’s meant to be humorous but just comes off as random and meaningless, because the story has literally no substance. Two issues of New Avengers are thrown in to give the book a spine that I barely flipped through.

This criticism doesn’t at all condone the harassment Cain received for that final cover, or the shitty way Marvel cancelled Mockingbird and then dumped her Vision story midway through production (story on both here). But when you have female creators working on a solo female superhero series – still an unfortunate rarity in comics – it sucks when it’s not nearly as great as it could be.

Jessica Jones: Blind Spot

by Kelly Thompson, Mattia De Iulis and Rachelle Rosenberg
collects Jessica Jones #1-6
volume one | two

The newest Jessica Jones series, headed up by Thompson and De Iulis, started out as a digital three part story arc on Comixology, along with a bunch of other exclusively digital titles including Iron Fist, Captain Marvel and Luke Cage (the three “parts” were double sized issues). I’m curious how the sales piece is working out for Marvel (releasing issues digitally and trades in print seems like a bit of a risk), but I’m glad they’re at least willing to try with popular characters and especially Jessica’s case, a top of the line writer too.

Thompson and De Iulis take the best things about Bendis’ Jessica Jones run and, for the most part, make it better. Thompson has a great handle on the voice and inner turmoil of Jessica (without Bendis’ walls of text), even though her bad habits are somewhat mediated now that she has a family with new hubby Luke Cage and daughter Dani. (Does she even have a drink this whole volume?)

Jessica and Luke have a sweet and protective relationship, and for two people who naturally put up walls, it’s really humanizing for both of them. In the final issue, Luke realizes a mistake he made and tells Jessica she can be vulnerable with him in a really powerful scene. Giving Jessica a loving partner and a safe space with him makes her try harder to be better for her family, and that’s more interesting than where she started.

Also, look at those arms. Daaaaamn.

In Blind Spot, one of Jessica’s old clients, who ended as a cold case, literally turns up cold on her office floor. Jessica goes from murder suspect to PI with a vengeance, to one of the victims herself. The mystery is interesting with some unexpected twists, and of course lots of cameos – at this point, just expect Strange and Carol cameos in every Marvel comic.

Jessica also teams up with Elsa Bloodstone, a monster hunter constantly bleeped out with tiny skulls for letters. This was my introduction to the character and her no nonsense badassery made her a great pair with Jessica. Their banter during a squelchy fish monster battle in the Hudson River (yes you read that right) was a highlight of the book.

The story was definitely propelled not just by Jessica but other women whether they help Jessica get a phone number (Kate! Nico! Karolina!), kill fish monsters, or get in her way (Misty Knight). It’s a good balance since women are also all the victims, and it doesn’t feel too forced. The end brings in some #metoo metaphors that might be on the nose for some but considering Jessica’s personal history and the theme of the book, it absolutely works.

This is my first time seeing De Iulis’ art and it reminded me a bit of Cat Staggs’ also awesome work in Crosswind. The realistic style definitely works in Jessica’s world and was especially cool during the fighting scenes, but other times characters looked a bit wooden and lacked expression – very rarely did characters have creases on their foreheads and around the eyes so it looked really polished, but not too expressive. Jessica’s observations come in the form of black and white photos overlaying what she’s seeing with a short explanation, a cool visual addition that also reminded me of a similar style from Leonardo Romero’s Kate Bishop run. Movement was also an issue, the few panels above with Elsa tossing the axe and Jessica flying through the aren’t as exciting or kinetic as they should be.

Rosenberg’s art in #6 was very off putting but that might have also been because it was so jarring from De Iulis – where De Iulis is exact, Rosenberg was a bit looser, and going from one to the other it felt all over the place. I might not have felt that Rosenberg’s art was sloppy and difficult to put up with – especially with the good one shot story – had it not come at the end of De Iulis’ art.

Blind Spot finishes with a surprising cliffhanger. Looking forward to volume two and I’m thrilled that even with this experimental media format, Jessica Jones remains an excellent title.