Comics: Story of My Life
by Dee. 9/29/2018
Welcome, readers:This month, we have several mighty fine choices: Cover, Knights of the Golden Sun (preview), and Infinity Wars: Soldier Supreme.
Cover #1 (DC Comics): This is a great take on an international spy thriller: What if comic creators were enlisted as undercover spies for the CIA? The creative team behind this is Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack, known for their previous works together (Alias, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones). Mack is known for his gorgeous watercolors and also his collage work. Bendis is prolific, having also written Pearl, a recent work from his Jinxworld creator-owned publishing house, and many other books.
This is a comic which is pretty meta, but still engaging for those of us who don't see much of the comic industry behind the scenes.
Knights of the Golden Sun (Mad Cave Studios): A fight for the Throne of God pushes this story along, as the Angels are trying fill the power vacuum created by God's disappearance. The biblical characters have cosmetic design changes, including gender-swapped Gabriel (now Gabriella), Death (who is a hot babe) and Uriel (another attractive female). Lucifer has a design which looks more like a granite and steel warrior that you might find in a video-game as a mid-boss.
The art in this book is from Mauricio Villarreal, and he serves up some excellent dynamic panels and dramatic lighting for all of the Angels. His artistic influences include Stjepan Sejic, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira and Jorge Jimenez. Mark London (Battlecats) does compelling dialogue without it becoming too archaic or pretentious. When dealing with biblical figures, there's every possibility that it might happen, simply because of the source material.
Since this is about the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, anything goes regarding plot points, in-fighting and betrayals among humans and angels alike.
Release date: November 14, 2018.
Infinity Wars: Soldier Supreme (Marvel Comics): Marvel has shaken things up for the Universe, as Gamora has folded it in half through the use of the Infinity Stones, crossing several characters into each others' stories. This is similar to DC's Amalgam "what if" mashups for different narratives. In this one, Stephen Rogers is transformed by magic into the super soldier we know him to be. Along for the ride are Bucky Wong, Dum Dum Fury and the Howling Commandoes of Hoggoth. Though Stephen's facial hair is odd and probably wouldn't actually be allowed in the military, the story is fun for people wanting more of Captain America and Dr. Strange.
If you have watched all of the corresponding movies, you will get the references to everything that the book has in store for you. In any case, I look forward to many other combinations as well, including Weapon Hex (Scarlet Witch and X-23) and Ghost Panther (Black Panther and Ghost Rider).
Later,
Dee