GeekMom: Comic Book Corner — October 31st, 2012

Happy Halloween and New Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week.

Dakster Sullivan – Avengers vs. X-Men: Consequences

The past two weeks have been torture for me since all of my local comic book stores have been sold out of Avengers vs. X-Men: Consequences. One store told me the popularity of it just came out of nowhere for them. Thanks to a friend at Marvel, I was able to read them digitally this week and get my AVX fix.

AVX: Consequences is a mini series that shows us what happened after the war between the Avengers and the X-Men was over and the repercussions that came from it.

Thanks to Hope, Scarlet Witch, and the Phoenix, the mutant population has started to flourish again and the world is coming to grips with the new influx of mutants popping up. For the most part, everyone is free to go back to the normal lives they lived before the war and others are helping to search for the rest of extermination team (lead by Cyclops).

Hope is trying to figure out where she belongs and just wants to try to be normal for a while. Cyclops is in a high security prison that couldn’t care less if he wakes up breathing. He appears to lack guilt for the deaths he caused and his only desire at the moment is to become a martyr for the mutant cause, a desire Wolverine is sorely tempted to fill.

After reading issues #1 and #2, I hate to say I’m starting to have some sympathy pains for Cyclops. I don’t believe what he did was right, but I also don’t think he should be receiving the torturous care he is getting in the prison. It will be interesting to see how he gets out and what his life will be like once he does. I can imagine his relationships with some of his former teammates is not going to be as great as what he might hope it to be.

I would love to see an issue focus on the school a little and what the students went through while the war was going on. I’m also curious to see what will happen to Hope now that she is free to live her own life for the first time.

The Avengers vs. X-Men graphic novel is up for pre-order on Amazon now.

Curious to know what I’m pulling this week? Check out my pull list on Comixology.

Corrina – The Shade and a look towards Batgirl

I receive my comics mostly in bulk from G-Mart.com. My comics arrive slowly but they’re discounted at least thirty percent off for pre-ordering and the shipping is free when I get up to $85.

This is why I favor trades but there are a few series where I absolutely can’t wait. The Shade maxi-series by James Robinson and a plethora of talented artists, including Javier Pulido, Frazer Irving, Gene Ha, Jill Thompson, Cully Hamner, and Darwyn Cooke, is one of them. It will no doubt be collected in a paperback and, when it is, readers should snap it up.

Robinson first developed the Shade (aka Richard or Dickie Swift) in his acclaimed Starman series. The Shade is originally a Golden Age comics character. Robinson shifted the mysterious immortal firmly from villain to anti-hero status in Starman. In this max-series, he’s being hunted, perhaps by one of his own ancestors. The maxi-series moves from Europe to Australia to England and features confrontations with versions of the devil, various gods, and, in one case, and supporting characters such as The Shade’s vampire daughter.

It’s all fascinating, gorgeously drawn, and is a reminder of what comics can be. The sales on the series appear to be weak and that’s a shame because the story is among the best that DC has published in the last year.

The other book I can’t wait for from DC is Batgirl. We’ve reviewed Batgirl here previously but having received my issues #7-13 in bulk, I read them all in one sitting and have an appreciation for the long game that writer Gail Simone is creating. When she started on Birds of Prey, Simone’s first story featured a controversial plot twist in which Black Canary is kidnapped and held hostage. This caused a bit of an uproar from Canary fans, who felt the character had been shown as incompetent a little too often. But Simone took that beginning and used it as a springboard to show Canary’s growth into a powerhouse, more respected and formidable than at any time in her very long comics history.

Reading these Batgirl issues, I have the distinct impression the same thing is happening with Barbara Gordon. Simone started with Babs’ recovery of her mobility from being shot by the Joker and, with each story arc, Babs has gained confidence physically and emotionally. It took over twenty issues to cement Canary’s growth. And I expect by issue #20 of Batgirl, Babs’ growth will be clear too.

I still miss my Birds of Prey. Oracle, Black Canary, and Huntress have all had their histories altered so they’re not the same characters they were before the new 52 reboot in 2011. Of the three, Babs has fared the best simply because most of her background is the same and because of Simone’s understanding of the character. If pressed, I would rather have Oracle back but given there were few definitive stories previously with Babs as Batgirl, I’m enjoying the chance to see one of them.

Rebecca Angel – Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 5

My two teens and I eagerly awaited for the library patron to return Library Wars so we could read it! Our group of libraries only has one copy of the series. It came in and we all read the Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 5 with amusement. This particular book had a contrived plot to give one of the side characters, Komaki, a romance. What was more interesting for me is how completely not American this series is. For example, the main character Iku has to hide her job from her parents because they might think it too dangerous and ask her to stop working. She’s an adult, not living at home, how could her parents approval stop her from working a job she loves?

Although I would like my mom and dad to approve of my work, their opinion is really not important to my decisions. But Japanese culture is different. Another big difference is the boss/subordinate relationship. Corporal punishment may not be encouraged, but it’s certainly not a cause for a lawsuit there. Sometimes, I’m affronted by the sexist attitudes in all manga, but I try to realize that cultural norms in Japan are different, not wrong.

I talk with my kids about these differences, and they shrug it off. I asked my sixteen year old daughter (a staunch feminist) if she was annoyed that Iku’s boss and romantic love interest is always patting her on the head like a puppy. “Mom, I just enjoy it for what it is. I don’t analyze it.” My thirteen year old son just thinks it’s a Japanese thing, and leaves it at that. In the end, the book still made me smile at the comedy, and sigh with the romance. Both of my kids read the next two books and say the plot keeps getting better as the series progresses. I’ll let you know!

Halloween ComicFest 2012

Halloween ComicFest 2012 is here and you know what that means? Free comics and plenty of fun at your participating local comic book store! Each one of the major publishers is releasing a free comic book today and to make it easy for you, I’ve listed the titles in bold in below. Check with your local comic book store to see if they are participating and what fun activities they have planned this Hallows Eve.

Looking for something else, readers? Check out this week’s listed books:

Action Comics Annual #1 All-Star Western Vol. 1 Guns And Gotham TP American Vampire #32 Aquaman #13 Batgirl Annual #1 Batman Adventures/Scooby-Doo Flipbook (Halloween Comicfest 2012) Batman Beyond Unlimited #9 Batman Eye Of The Beholder TP Extremely Moronic MAD TP Ghosts #1 (One Shot) Joe Kubert Presents #1 (Of 6) Justice League Dark Annual #1 Looney Tunes #209 Lot 13 #1 (Of 5) Masters Of The Universe The Origin Of Skeletor #1 (One Shot) New Deadwardians #8 (Of 8) Phantom Lady #3 (Of 4) Superman Earth One Volume 2 HC Superman Family Adventures #6 Swamp Thing Annual #1 Sweet Tooth Volume 5 Unnatural Habitats TP

A+X #1 Avenging Spider-Man Annual #1 AvX Consequences #4 (Of 5) Captain Marvel #6 Dark Tower The Gunslinger The Journey Begins TP Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe TP Disney Princess Magazine #9 Fear Itself The Home Front TP Fear Itself Uncanny X-Force The Deep TP Hit-Girl #4 (Of 5) Journey Into Mystery New Mutants Exiled TP Marvel Previews #111 Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes And Ultimate Spider-Man (Halloween Comicfest 2012) Mighty Thor #22 (Final Issue) New Mutants #50 (Final Issue) New Mutants Volume 6 De-Animator TP Red Hulk Mayan Rule TP Secret Avengers Run The Mission Don’t Get Seen Save The World TP Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16.1 Ultimate Comics X-Men #18 Uncanny X-Force Volume 1 Final Execution HC (PE) Winter Soldier #12 Wolverine And The X-Men #19 X-Men Legacy #275 (Final Issue) X-Men The Hidden Years Volume 2 TP

Acronym Key:  VC = Variant Cover  / HC = Hard Cover / TP = Trade Paperback  / CP = Combo Pack  / PE = Premier Edition

Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!