GeekMom: Comic Book Corner–July 3rd, 2013

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week. This week, I see a new side to the Man of Steel in Superman: Grounded, Sophie continues to explore The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #2, Rebecca spends some personal time with Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile, and Corrina takes a look at the new webcomic, Prodigal, a favorite story that was first published in print in 2010.

Corrina–Prodigal, from Thrillbent (web series) by Geoffrey Thorne and Todd Harris.

I first discovered Prodigal in 2010, when it was a miniseries from APE Entertainment. Now the series, featuring the “retrieval” team of Pae Mae Jacinto and Byron Lennox, is back. If you’ve lost something valuable, Pae and Byron find it for a fee.  They specialize in locating exotic items, such as a mystic item stolen from a group of seemingly-peaceful monks.

The first part of that story is up already on Thrillbent and it will be updated every Monday. If you like action, fun, and some crazy adventures involving giant robots, attacking ninja types, and globe-trotting adventurers, you have to check this out.

Throne’s writing credits include screenwriting credits on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, and the Star Trek: Titan Sword of Damocles novel.

Harris has art credits on the Hero’s Guide books.

The price (free) is right and I hope you’ll be hooked as quickly as I was.

Dakster Sullivan — Superman: Grounded

This week, I read Superman: Grounded by Michael J. Straczynski and Chris Roberson with art by Eddy Barrows. The two-volume story takes place after the events of New Krypton (written by Geoff Johns), and it shows us what Superman was going through in the devastating aftermath of War of the Supermen and his battle against the psychotically-evil Brainiac.

After spending a great deal of time on New Krypton and facing the loss of his people for a second time, Superman feels he has lost his connection to Earth. To get reconnected with the planet and its people, he decides to walk across America and observe it first-hand.

On his journey, Superman runs across a few individuals that help change him for the better: A woman who decides life isn’t worth living; a heart-wrenching  young boy whose father beats both him and his mother; and several Justice League members (including a young Amazon who has not yet joined the League).

Readers will unearth some satisfying back story on Superman and Batman’s relationship. Each story here served a purpose and helped the man of steel see what he couldn’t while flying around the globe or hanging out at Justice League headquarters in space.

Lois doesn’t have a strong part in this book, but in the scenes where she appears, she is commanding. Too, there are a few touching moments between Superman and Lois, including a heated argument that revolves around the consequences of speaking the truth and upholding justice.

If you pick this book up thinking it will be another action-packed story between Superman and a main villain, you’re going to be disappointed. There is a villain, but instead of it being Brainiac, Luther, or someone of that ilk, the lead villain in this title is depression.

I’m particularly close to this villain myself–it’s come after me most of my teenage and adult life. I liked how the writers captured the essence of what happens when someone is fighting depression, liked that we see Superman go through some of the same things those of us with depression regularly face: sadness, self-doubt, fear, and anxiety about the past and future. Readers will also begin to understand how depression can compel a mind to interpret events differently and cause an individual–even a superhuman one–to react inappropriately.

The art in Superman: Grounded did a superlative job of capturing Superman’s emotions, as well as the emotions of those around him. Without reading a word, I could see the despair that Superman felt, as well as the love and concern Superman’s family and friends had for him.

While the entire book may just be one small story after another, it was nice to read something more laid back from the man of steel, and not just another action-packed, testosterone-laden punch-fest.

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

Rebecca Angel — Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

I finally got around to reading Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile, after several people recommended it to me (some quite forcefully) over the years. The first storyline isn’t very interesting, but the characters and the world are.

Basically, all the fairy tale characters (European from this first glance, though perhaps the writers realize not just white people have fables later on?) have been driven from their lands by some vague enemy, into the real world to survive here until they can go back home again.

The fun is seeing how the characters are still very much themselves, but have developed and made choices that have changed them to become much more than silly storybook personalities. I liked that, and plan to read more.

Plus, the Big Bad Wolf is kinda hot. In a very typical way, but it always works for me…

Sophie Brown — The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys #2

Issue two of Gerard Way’s True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys starts out by giving us a little back-story on one of the original characters first seen in 2010’s “Na Na Na” video before picking up where the previous issue left off. The Nest has been destroyed by B.L.I. and The Girl is once again in hiding until she meets up with an old friend. Back in Battery City, Blue is attempting to save her friend by requisitioning a new battery pack, learning just where her kind stands in the eyes of B.L.I. as she does. More hints are given about the prophecies, both of The Girl and of Destroya, and a disturbing suggestion is made about the souls of those forced to wear the Draculoid masks.

This issue felt like it crammed in more story and more information about the Killjoys’ world than issue one, and as a result I enjoyed it much more. It was great to see a few scenes from the MCR music videos rendered out as flashback panels with lovely muted colors and the issue also expanded on a two-second scene from “Na Na Na” that I had never paid any attention to before. The setup for issue three makes me eager to see how the saga will continue as the characters have grown on me significantly this month and I now feel fully invested in their individual stories.

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

Action Comics #22 (CP) Ame-Comi Girls #5 Batman Incorporated #12 (CP) Batwing #22 Detective Comics #22 (CP) Dial H #14 Earth 2 #14 Fairest #17 Green Arrow #22 Green Lantern #22 (CP) Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1 Fearsome TP Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2 Alpha War HC Legends Of The Dark Knight #10 Movement #3 Scooby-Doo Where Are You #35 Stormwatch #22 Swamp Thing #22 Team 7 Vol. 1 Fight Fire With Fire TP Trinity Of Sin Pandora #1

Avengers #15 Avengers A.I. #1 (Skottie Young Young Variant Cover) Daredevil Dark Nights #2 (Of 8) Daredevil End Of Days HC Dark Avengers Masters Of Evil TP Deadpool Kills Deadpool #1 Dexter #1 (resolicited) Emerald City Of Oz #1 (Of 5)(Skottie Young Variant Cover) Guardians Of The Galaxy Tomorrow’s Avengers #1 (OS) Iron Man #12 Marvel Now Omnibus HC Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #16 New Avengers Vol. 1 Everything Dies HC (PE) Red She-Hulk #67 Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #1 (Skottie Young Variant Cover) Thunderbolts #12 Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 Revolution HC (PE) Venom #37 Venom The Enemy Within TP What If AvX #1 (Of 4) Wolverine By Mark Millar Omnibus HC X-Factor Vol. 20 Hell On Earth War TP X-Men Legacy #13

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!