Comic Review Bites

Artesia is an epic, Eisner-award nominated masterpiece of story and art. The world, its people and its pantheon are so richly detailed, but as the title says, this story is about Artesia. What an incredible character she is, embodying all aspects of the female, from priestess to warrior to daughter to sister to concubine and eventually, reluctantly, queen. As both concubine, priestess and captain to the king, Artesia begins the story obviously wielding a lot of power and influence. Even the gods have touched her and those that follow her do so out of the purest respect. She may seem too perfect, which is exactly why certain people want to see her brought down. But the conflict they bring is only part of her struggle. The inner journey that she takes as she struggles to accept all that is thrown at her, and more importantly, all that is expected of her, whether she wants it or not, is beautifully depicted in word and images.

Star Wars Legacy II: Prisoner of the Floating World by Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman

One hundred and thirty-eight years after A New Hope, Star Wars Legacy II mercilessly jumps right into the aftermath of Legacy with exciting lightsaber battles, dogfights, political conflict and more. It wastes no time on exposition, which means that yes, you need to read Legacy, both for backstory and for awesomeness. The Galactic Fleet, the Empire and the Jedi are clinging to their tenuous triumvirate in an attempt to bring order back to the galaxy after the death of Darth Krayt. Meanwhile, on some backwater planet, the feisty young salvager, Ania Solo, finds a lightsaber that inevitably leads her and her friends, a Mon Cal refugee and an assassin droid with morals, into a whole lot of trouble and brings her to the attention of, well, everyone.

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about Ania. I didn’t want her simply to be Girl Han of the Future and I didn’t want a repeat of Cade Skywalker’s struggles with the legacy of his surname. Skywalker is, after all, a pretty big name in this universe, even a hundred years later, but Solo is not necessarily the name bad guys remember and fear. Fortunately, within five issues, there was only one small motivational speech involving Ania’s ancestor.

If you enjoyed Legacy as much as I did, then this is definitely going to grab you. If you’re a Star Wars fan and haven’t read Legacy yet, then get on it! The series is a refreshing take, breaking out of the standard trappings of the Star Wars universe.

With thanks to NetGalley and DarkHorse Comics for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Dresden files: Ghoul Goblin by Jim Butcher and Joseph Cooper

A small town cop requests Harry Dresden’s aid in a pair of grisly murders that seem different in M.O. but share one important factor: a family curse. Dresden is struggling in the aftermath of werewolf events that got his best friend Murphy’s partner killed. Murphy no longer trusts Dresden, and on top of that, he’s developed a nasty head cold. But ever the good guy, Dresden joins Pres and stumbles into the typical small town strangeness as he tries to solve the mystery.

There’s not a lot of meat to this rather predictable story, but it was still enjoyable and definitely worth the read for any Dresden Files fan. I was worried that the art would lean too much into the bulky, over-muscled superhero type that is sort of implied in the covers, but Joseph Cooper did a great job of making sure Dresden’s appearance matched his self-deprecating manner. And of course, there was the obligatory trench coat.

With thanks to NetGalley and DarkHorse Comics for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

X-Men Vol.4 #4 by Brian Wood and David Lopez

The X-Men book featuring an all female cast has failed to impress me, relying on a typical big bad storyline and lots of explosions and lots of opportunities for the ladies to show off powers that we’ve seen a million times already. (Although Rogue getting to play with Psylocke’s recent medieval psionic adventures in the Danger Room was pretty cool). What I really care about is the interpersonal relationships between the characters, which I’m just not getting enough of. I don’t necessarily want a ladies night out, but I also don’t want issue after issue of things exploding and the women worrying about the expense. Storm and Rachel do end up having a disagreement over Storm’s decision to risk Karima’s life in the previous issue, but Rachel’s tirade felt forced and petulant, especially with her questioning Storm assuming the role of team leader. This was sort of resolved by the end of the issue and hopefully it won’t be too much of a dominant issue.

The best part about this issue is right there on the front cover. If there’s one thing I love about Wolverine, it’s how he deals with his girls. From Kitty to Oya and here, back to Jubilee, who is compelled to visit her old life, including, fittingly, the mall where she first saw the X-Ladies and wanted to have their babies based on their sheer awesomeness. Logan chauffeurs Jubilee and baby Shogo around, offering some touching moments and encouraging words on her new status as a mother.

Hawkeye vol.2: Little Hits by Matt Fraction and David Aja

I ❤ Hawkeye. Perhaps not as much as Pizza Dog, his tenants/neighbours and the women in his life, but enough to make sure this series is always on my shelf. This is all about Clint Barton and what he does when he’s not Avengering. Most of the time, that means getting himself into a lot of trouble and increasing his collection of bandages by doing the sort of wrong thing for the the sort of right reasons. I adore that entire issues of the this volume were dedicated to time spent with the neighbours in his apartment. As usual, Kate Bishop is a constant fixture in Clint’s life, doing her best to keep him from getting run over. She gets to have a few moments of glory to herself. As does Pizza Dog in a dog’s eye view story that deals with a particular plot that would have gone completely differently had Pizza Dog not gotten involved. My only frustration is the art, which keeps changing from Aja’s perfection to the harsher lines of the other artists which, while good, just don’t hold the same casual vibe that permeates the book, literally from cover to cover.

Cyberforce: Rebirth vol.1 by Matt Hawkins and Marc Silvestri

Image fans will remember this shiny, perky team from the ‘90s, but they definitely didn’t look like this. This is a very gritty reboot that changes everything we once knew about them, save for that fact that they are still cyborgs. Formerly soldiers of a corrupt leadership, Morgan Stryker’s team are escaped refugees, struggling with their cybernetic implants. Meanwhile, the evil corporation is set on weeding out the less fortunate and the obsolete in order to usher in a new era of blah blah blah. There are some mildly interesting twists and turns and its great to have Marc Silvestri’s art back, but otherwise, the story is fairly typical and filled with lots of violence, epic posing and cheesy one liners. In other words, it’s a reboot that tries to bring this story into the new century by being more brutal, but is still solidly grounded in the ‘90s superhero style of storytelling.

The entire five issue series and this volume are available for free on Comixology thanks to Kickstarter funding.