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Comics: Thank You for Being a Friend

by Dee. 6/15/2023
Welcome to your fate, traveler *cough* I mean, greetings from Atomic Empire!
This month we have some exciting entries: from DC, Titans (2023), from Marvel Comics, Avengers (2023), and from IDW, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures (2023).

Titans (2023) (DC Comics): I am a big fan of Teen Titans, so this series catapults them into a position of responsibility and authority, now that the Justice League is gone (thanks to Dark Crisis). To quote the solicitation's description, "will the DCU ever be the same"? With the new Dawn of DC storytelling initiative, I bet not. Writer Tom Taylor (Nightwing, DCeased), and artist Nicola Scott (Earth 2, Wonder Woman Historia) will rock your socks off with this issue.

From the art to the script, this is an excellent (forgive the pun) team effort. The adult character designs for the Titans are really well thought out, as if they took a natural progression of the heroes and followed it to a logical conclusion. The digital effects on the art are really spectacular, which look better and blend seamlessly with the background. Outlines of each character are darker and thicker lines than what I would consider natural, so it's a little distracting.

The characters have several bonds within the group, so it isn't just a gaggle of superheroes thrown together. Peacemaker causes enough strain with global politics and themes of nationality versus patriotism. Everything considered, this comic is a well executed issue, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Avengers (2023) (Marvel Comics): Spearheaded by Captain Marvel, the roster of the Avengers fills out like this: Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Sam Wilson), Black Panther (former King T'Challa), Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), Vision and Thor (Odinson). Without being too exposition-y, there's a decent, abbreviated summary with references to Civil War II and other significant events within the lives of our favorite superheroes.

The art style by C.F.Villa is bright, detailed and powerful. The characters leap out of the pages with dynamic poses and innovative panel breaks (see the panel with Thor where the border is just lightning). These champions don't look anything like their MCU counterparts, so the character designs don't detract from the story. All around, a very enjoyable experience with complimentary art to an excellent script.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures (2023): Speaking of throwbacks from my childhood (ouch), TMNT was a big favorite. Yes, it's just like ye olde Saturday Morning Cartoons, with color-coded masks and goofy plots. Age-wise, I think that they're aiming at an audience under 13. This will hit many of the '80's parents in the feels, and encourage their kids' interest in comics at the same time.

The story this time has the Rat King getting into some unidentified chemicals and gains fantastic powers (like you do). Michelangelo and Raphael have fun break-the-fourth-wall moments early on, which sets a very casual and silly tone. The dialogue has cheesy moments, such as the standard villain's "grand plan" speech and other expositional interactions between well-established characters.

The colors are bright and saturated with highlights abound, and that's just fine by me. There are references to other characters that won't make sense to those who are just joining the TMNT party, but Shredder, Bebop, and Rocksteady are ready to fight the Turtles with enthusiasm. The panels are not constrained by the regular four-by-nine formula; they have inset circular panels and dynamic movement (not typical superhero poses) in the fight scenes.

The Myer cover (if you can find it, the C cover) is probably my favorite, because it hits some of the major plot points from the issue and still entices you to figure out wtf is going on. Overall, this does feel like an interesting story arc from one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons.

So long and thanks for all the fish,
Dee
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