Comics Crux

     

We love comics. We eat, drink, breathe, and to the absolute utmost, we live comics. So what did the Comics Crux Crew pick up today and why? Lets find out!

Jess (@MadamComicBook)- I’ve been looking forward to Everybody Loves Tank Girl #1 for a while now. I absolutely love Alan Martin’s Tank Girl and Jim Mahfood’s art has always been good in the past, so I am pretty pumped to see him take over the duties on this arc. I was a little disappointed by Nick McMahon’s performance on Tank Girl: Carioca, so I’m glad to get some new blood in there. Glory #28 was also a no-brainer. This series has been fantastic since it’s relaunch and I can not stress enough how much I love the way Ross Campbell draws the titular character. Some extremely crazy stuff went down in #27, with Riley ending up with the “bad guys” and then concept of who the “bad guy” actually was being dumped on its head. Then, of course there’s Wonder Woman #11 (best take on the character ever, courtesy of Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang) and Batwoman #11 (currently my favorite Gotham-centric title, which means a lot). I’m trying to patiently await their cross-over, but it’s not working. 

Jessica (@LadyGeeksUnite)- Valiant’s X-O Manowar #3. In the last issue, Aric of Dacia and his ally Gafti remained imprisoned by an alien race called the Vine. After weathering cruel treatment and conditions, they plotted to break everyone free from their strange prison. When they stumbled upon the mysterious armored suit Shanhara during the breakout, it shocked both humans and aliens when it chose to fit Aric. Now of course everyone saw that coming in the story, but I’m curious to see exactly what Aric does once everyone realizes Shanhara has chosen him instead of an alien. Does he try to take charge of the Vine race, since they worship the Shanhara? Does he kill them all without hesitation? Does he try both tactics? Captain Marvel #1 debuts today, with Carol Danvers taking up the helm. It explores her history as well as the late Mar-Vell, the first to take up the legendary title. From what I’ve seen of Dexter Soy’s artwork, I think it looks promising. I’m more familiar with DC stories and characters, so I’m eager to try this new series. 

Nick (@nnniicckk)- If you’re going to pick up one book this week, it’s got to be Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples Saga #5.  This sprawling space-epic features some of the most interesting and fun characters that I’ve read in a long time and is accompanied by a great artist in Staples.  Picking up from the fallout of a pretty jarring issue 4, we jump back onto the trail of Prince Robot IV (you read that right) and his mission to obtain Marko, Alana and Hazel.  Meanwhile, the Will rescued a young girl from slavery on the planet Sextillion, so it will definitely be interesting to see where they go from there.  It’s quite likely that he will remove the girl from her present situation, but I think it would be interesting for the Will to dig deeper into Sextillion and uncover the underbelly of this deviant world before we leave it.  Next up is Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre #2, written by Darwyn Cooke and drawn by Amanda Conner.  In last month’s issue, we discovered that Sally Jupiter did a whole lot to make her daughter distance and resent her in her future life. Now that Laurie has left home and has decided to go it on her own, it’s not exactly clear what is in store for her. While I enjoyed last month’s issue, the story decided to go take the rebellious direction extremely fast and if I were a betting man, I’d have to guess this issue will deal a lot with Laurie potentially dealing with this life changing direction and will begin to shape her into the character we know from Alan Moore’s The Watchmen.

Tali (@TaliAdina)- Last issue, Wonder Woman successfully escaped marriage to Hell himself.  Now as this new story line begins, it looks like our heroine’s gonna have fight on her hands with yet another relative in Wonder Woman #11. Don’t you just love family feuds? And in the midst of all this, Zola’s gonna have her baby. I wonder if it’ll be a boy or a girl? Catwoman #11 continues her adventure with her new partner as they search for Dollhouse and things seem to be getting steamy between the two. I wonder if she’s learned from her past mistakes? In Birds of Prey’s last issue, the team headed to the Amazon to save their teammate Poison Ivy who was wounded. Plus Black Canary discovered something amazing about her powers. I wonder what else is in store for the team in Birds of Prey #11?

Tatiana (@parisianfeline)-  Saga #5. Each month I avidly look forward to Saga, my new favorite series by writer Brian K. Vaughn (Y: The Last Man) and artist Fiona Staples (Northlanders). When I first picked up Saga #1 about two months ago, I was completely hooked: the art was spectacular, the dialogue superb and I love me some space opera and intergalactic war! Saga chronicles the journey of married deserter couple, Marko and Alana, and their newborn Hazel (issue one opens up with Alana giving birth) and the people who are trying to hunt them down. The opposing governments have deemed their union, and baby, as unnatural and have sent renowned freelancers (ie: assassins) to eradicate them. It’s not simply that the story is good - I’m compelled to understand the history of how Landfall and Cleave broke out into this expansive war, how and why Marko and Alana fell in love - for example. Next month is the conclusion of this first story arc - I’m both excited and saddened. But I can’t wait for issue 6!

Wesley (@geekwholanded)- Avengers vs. X-Men #8 is continuing the journey through the continuing adventures of the Avengers vs. The Phoenix Five. Brian Michael Bendis handles the writing on this issue with Adam Kubert handling the art side. Avengers vs. X-Men has come far with me from being the event I nearly dropped to becoming a story I can’t miss. Thanks to the Phoenix Five, I was roped into this story once more. I can only imagine how it’ll end. Mars Attacks #2 is one I’ve been looking forward to since the first was delightful. John Layman is a favorite of mine off of Chew and he lived up to my expectations with Mars Attacks. While I was unfamiliar with the trading card set it really didn’t matter, It was just that much fun. John McCrea’s art is paired beautifully with the demented glory that is Layman’s writing. I look forward to seeing if this issue will be as fun if not more so than the first one. Fatima: The Blood Spinners #2 continues a series that initially with #1, I bought out of curiousity. Now I’ve just gotten hooked into Gilbert Hernandez’s world and have been planning on discovering more out of this. Zombies created by a drug called Spin swarm this world and Fatima has to deal with them. Fatima is a likable character and Hernandez’s art works in making this dark surrounding come to life. Her journey is one that I’ve enjoyed taking thus far. The Infernal Man-Thing #2 is bought out of my love for the writing of Stever Gerber. I’ve been a huge fan of his since discovering his work on Howard the Duck. I’m glad Marvel is releasing this story because I enjoyed #1 so much. With the strength of Kevin Nowlan’s artwork I get the feeling that #2 will be as good if not better than #1.