Comics: Rise and Shine
by Dee. 3/28/2022
Hi folks,It's Dee, here with another monthly review of comics: for March, we've got Rogue Sun from Image Comics, Trial of the Amazons from DC Comics, and from Marvel Comics, we have Captain Carter.
Rogue Sun (Image Comics): From the streets of New Orleans comes a story about a fallen superhero, and the repercussions of his mantle passing down to the next generation. Meet Dylan, the estranged son of Marcus Bell who was also known as Rogue Sun. Under the pretense of the reading of his father's will, Dylan meets Marcus' second wife and her kids. Dylan becomes the new owner of the Sun Stone, and is summoned to fight crime soon after. His efforts in this first issue are clumsy, but no one said that first time heroes were intuitively awesome.
The color scheme is bright, the splash pages are well done, and the artwork in general tells a detailed story of New Orleans life. I look forward to the training and character development of Dylan as he gains more responsibility and accountability. The writing is interesting, as Dylan's high school relationships are summed up in a few well-paced panels. The story is compelling enough that I am interested in the next chapter, and how it will reveal more about his father's death.
Trial of the Amazons (DC Comics): This story spins out of the events of Nubia and the Amazons miniseries, so I'd suggest picking that series up (also because it's a good read). In short, Nubia is the new queen of the Amazons as Hippolyta (Diana Prince's literal goddess mother) stepped aside to go join the Justice League. Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman, has come back to the mortal realm after events in Dark Nights: Death Metal, so things are possibly going to change for Yara Flor, the newest incarnation of Wonder Woman from the Amazon Forest.
Three tribes of Amazons are alerted to the appearance of Doom's Door (a door to Hades that the Amazons guard) in "Man's World" aka Earth Prime. This leads to some intense discussion of what exactly the Amazons are going to do. This means an all out fight in The Contest, a time-honored tradition to see who will lead the Amazons.
This is a wordy issue that has many asides from the creators of the book as this is a crossover within Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman Evolution. And it's a lot. Diplomacy and politics are the name of the game to prevent war between the three tribes. The cliffhanger of this issue has me looking forward to how it plays out in the second issue, and what it means for the future.
The art focuses on tones of orange, blue and red to tell the story of rising tensions within a peaceful society, and the character designs are exceptional. Those of you looking for an intriguing read and gorgeous art will be satisfied with this issue; and I will be looking forward to the next issue.
Captain Carter (Marvel Comics): Partially due to the success of the Disney+ TV series What If...?, this comic brings an alternate reality to light in which Peggy Carter was given the Super-Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers. This is the story of her dealing with the present day. Political maneuvering is a bit dicey, as there are multiple superheroes these days and Captain Carter is considered under the purview of the British government. Since this is only the first issue, we are introduced briefly to the main characters, who will become major players shortly.
The art works with the storytelling, and they both move quickly as the action progresses. My favorite page out of the whole comic is the full page covered with newspaper articles about the Super-Soldier program with brief mentions of Hydra. This sets the scene perfectly for this version of reality without retreading the origin story of Steve Rogers.
And with that, my work is done.
Until next time,
Dee