Comics: Rock the Casbah
by Dee. 2/28/2019
Hello, fellow comics enthusiasts! Thank you for joining me in exploring February's comic selections: we have Old Man Quill, Cemetery Beach and Wonder Twins for your perusal.Old Man Quill (Marvel Comics): In the vein of Old Man Hawkeye and Old Man Logan comes Old Man Quill, which is in the same dystopian future universe as the others, the Wasteland. Our story finds Peter Quill, your favorite Star-Lord and mine, woken from cryo-sleep for a mission. The old team is back, with Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Mantis ready to save the universe from the Universal Church of Truth.
There are references to the Civil Wars, Groot, Skrulls and other story plot pieces that might stymie the new reader, but these are not huge pieces of the main story. Doctor Doom has taken over the planet and is ruling with an iron fist (forgive the pun). The Wastelands are desolate and filled with humans dependent on the mercy of Doom for everything including food supplies. The Avengers are nowhere to be found, and the Milano has crashed near a ghost town.
Cemetery Beach (Image Comics): Writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan, Red and Red 2, Trees and the Iron Man "Extremis" storyline) and artist Jason Howard (Trees, The Astounding Wolf-Man) have come together again for a gripping tale: Mike Blackburn is a professional planetary pathfinder that teams up with native guide and murderer Grace Moody to escape an off-world prison. Action-packed, full of explosions and death, this is a fast paced story. Even in the scenes giving context and exposition to our main character's situation, Ellis' storytelling moves the tale along at a good clip.
This story has an interesting palette of blues and yellows (for explosions, mostly) with brief pops of red. There are some cool panels showing an escape through the city and visually, this is a very interesting tale. There are just as many human monsters as there are Outerfamily (grotesque humanoid patchworks), and the character designs are more angular than just superheroic muscles everywhere.
Since we are currently at issue 6 of this book, I would suggest going back to read the first issues so that you don't start the story wondering what the heck is going on and more background on our main characters.
Wonder Twins (DC Comics): If you are familiar with the Wonder Twins from the cartoons, you know you are in for some silly fun coming out of DC Comics. With cameos from the Justice League, Zan and Jayna have fun and awkward high-school adventures described in my favorite line from Superman: "High school is a buffet line of humiliation, Zan. Everybody gets a plate."
This comes from writer Mark Russell (The Flintstones (DC Comics), and God Is Disappointed in You) and artist Stephen Byrne (Serenity, Trick 'r Treat: Days of the Dead and webcomic Steve Loves Internet), and is a lighthearted book. The color scheme is bright and the shadows are minimal, which helps to keep the whole comic a quick read.
The characters outfits remain the same, while Jayna's haircut is updated for sleeker, more current look. Overall, the comic doesn't try too hard to please a young demographic, which is better for it rather than "edgy" remakes of classic Justice League characters.
Talk to you soon,
Dee