The Vision, #3 | King, Walta, Bellaire
Marvel
Marvel's creepy urban drama glides on, like a ghostly robot warrior. Cold, clinical, highly intelligent, and capable of destroying absolutely everything. It's worth noting the way writer King builds empathy for the Vision family while ratcheting up the sense of foreboding. Could things end well? No. There's no way our society's contemporary prejudices will allow a family of strange synthezoids to escape suburbia unharmed. We've just seen the Visions have a significant win - expect things to spiral quickly from here.
Paper Girls, #1 | Vaughan, Chiang, Wilson
Image
Would it be ingracious to want more of the first half of this book? Vaughan sets up a team of strong female characters, and I hope we don't lose sight of their chemistry as the scale of the drama explodes.
Paper Girls, #2 | Vaughan, Chiang, Wilson
Image
The level of detail in Chiang's reconstruction of outer-suburban Cleveland in 1988... drools.
The paper girls would now be 40 years old. Would they feel homesick for their childhood, I wonder?
Paper Girls, #3 | Vaughan, Chiang, Wilson
Image
Best meta-pun of the month goes to Terry, on the opening page, for "I am tripping my face off". Terry also gets the prize for "fastest reveal as a total douche".
Vaughan, the writer, has been quietly picking away at once-normal sins such as Terry's inappropriate advances, and reminding readers that there was a lot of dickishness in the past. It'd be good to think we're learning and getting better about dickishness...
The letters pages are worth a look, too.
Rose, #2 | Davis
Self-published
There's so much affection in every one of the strips presented here. The world is better for the idea of reality TV shows 19 Spider Bites And Counting, Airline Cheerleaders, and The Only Way Is Explosions.
It's true. The only way is explosions.
Prez, #1 | Russell, Caldwell, Morales
DC
There are two amazing things about this book: the satire is perfectly on-point throughout the book; and the fact that DC, of all publishers, released this book. Mark Russell and editor Marie Javins haz mad elevator pitch skillz. Seriously, this book matches the original 1972 Prez book for sheer bat-shit insanity. The biggest twist in the tale? It held on for six issues under the current DC management.
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'Six Comics' is a collection of thoughts about six comic books I've read in the past month (not necessarily released in the past month). The rules: at least one issue of an ongoing title I've never read before; at least one Australian book; and a preference for books whose creators and/or characters are more diverse than straight white and male.