Black Widow #2 Written by Mark Waid Drawn by Chris Samnee Colored by Matthew Wilson Published by Marvel Comics on April 8, 2016 The first issue of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Black Widow was low on dialogue and context but high on intense action. It was a fantastic and thrilling comic but one that desperately …
Black Widow is off to a blisteringly great start that is simple but highly effective. More comics should take notes from the team of Samnee, Waid, Wilson and Caramagna to focus on utilizing each member of the creative team to make for a truly fun and exhilarating read that couldn’t possibly turn people away from picking up the next issue.
Archie #6 continues the new reboot’s streak of creating a modern and fun vibe for the series while still keeping to the core of the original series both in Waid’s writing and Fish’s art.
Archie #5 lacks the visual panache of its first four issues and makes the interesting, if unfortunate story choice of focusing on its least likable character. Villain-centric stories can be supremely fascinating (See Hannibal, Breaking Bad, or even Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca’s Darth Vader), but this is the equivalent of spending an entire issue on the douchebag lead of an Axe bodyspray commercial. And touching moment between Veronica and Archie and closure for Betty aside, the issue has really to add to the teen genre and falls behind both Jughead and books like Giant Days in the surreal humor department.
5. Paper Girls (Image) Paper Girls #1-3 Written by Brian K. Vaughan Art by Cliff Chiang Colors by Matthew Wilson Letters by Jared K. Fletcher Only three issues in, Brian K. Vaughn and Cliff Chiang’s Paper Girls has already piqued intense fandom. Grounded in the recognizably familiar–1988 Midwestern suburbia–with its head in the clouds–aliens on dinosaurs, time travelers, …
Archie #4 is an excellent showcase for Annie Wu’s energetic depictions of friendship, romance, and heartbreak with subtly powerful colors from Andre Szymanowicz and Jen Vaughn. Sadly, Mark Waid’s script gets bogged down in a cycle of dated and cliched teen melodrama instead of exploring the relationship and falling out between Betty and Archie in more depth. However, Jughead is funny as ever, and Veronica lights up the few pages she appears in.
After being teased for the past two issues, Veronica Lodge finally attends her first day of school at Riverdale High in Archie #3. Artist Fiona Staples makes her the most fashion forward member of the comic’s ensemble cast while writer Mark Waid gives her quite the complicated personality as she can go from a sly joker to a spoiled rich girl or a detached observer at the drop of a hat. Her arrival heightens the melodrama of the series to a boiling point as Archie starts following her around like a puppy because he is smitten with her and also because he accidentally destroyed her father’s mansion in Archie #2. However, the breakout character of the series continues to be Jughead.
Mark Waid is a living legend in the comic book industry. His career began with DC Comics in the 1980s with runs as editor on titles from Action Comics and Doom Patrol to Secret Origins and Wonder Woman. He eventually left his role as editor in favor of freelance writing for DC, specifically their Impact line, before settling in on an eight year run on The Flash. In the 90s, Waid worked for Marvel Comics on the X-Men series before heading back to DC to produce Kingdom Come with Alex Ross. He has worked on a number of Justice League titles for DC as well as Superman, Legion of Super-Heroes, and the Brave and the Bold. His work for Marvel includes stints on Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, The Indestructible Hulk, Daredevil, and several others. He has served as editor-in-chief of BOOM! Studios and has launched his own digital publishing website, Thrillbent. His most recent venture is breathing new life into the characters of Archie for Archie Comic Publications. Mark Waid is also the 2015 Guest of Honor at the Baltimore Comic Con.
Whereas Archie #1 was rooted in the teen soap opera, Archie #2 goes the teen sitcom route with a lighthearted issue about Jughead’s secret origins and Archie’s ineptitude at finding any kind of employment. Writer Mark Waid and artist Fiona Staples create a nice parallel between Archie’s inability to do something successful with his hands, and Betty’s ability to fix a car in a wink and a flash while also dealing with the realization that boys see her in a sexual way after she has broken up with Archie. Waid and Staples handle this in a not-too-creepy banner as Betty has her own Sia “Chandelier” moment in this issue’s montage to counteract her mixed emotions about breaking up with Archie and growing up.
It’s hard to stomach that Mark Waid’s Daredevil, which has been hitting stands every month for around four years, is about to end, but it is indeed going to be that time very soon. There’s a feeling of culmination in this penultimate issue, bringing back plot threads from not just the start of the “Marvel Now!” relaunch in 2014, but even before that from the first major part of Waid’s run. The result is solid modernistic superhero storytelling with high stakes, tough battles, and a constant questioning of the hero’s philosophy and capability. It’s a great read, page-for-page.
The series kicks off well, using as its starting point an opportunity for characterization left unexplored by the film. After all, in A New Hope, we see Leia consoling Luke over the death of Ben Kenobi, a man he’s known for all of a few days, while the massive grief she herself must be feeling at the time over the destruction of her entire planet, including her family, goes unspoken. With the Death Star destroyed and the Rebellion victorious (for now), Waid and Dodson kick off their story by exploring how Leia is dealing with the aftermath of her homeworld being obliterated before her eyes.
Strange Fruit # 1 is not a comic for everyone. It is true the artwork is beautiful, and Jones ensures each frame is well-colored and thought out. The writing, however, suffers from wanting to be everywhere at once and appears to focus on nowhere. The more difficult topics of race relations and struggles are better left for other comics. Strange Fruit # 1 may be lacking the level of sensitivity and critical thought needed for some readers on the subjects. Still the comic and story arc are in their infancy, and it would be generous to grant it more time.
After 600+ issues, Archie is going the way of most comics and getting a new number one issue. And a slice of life comic hasn’t looked this gorgeous as Saga artist Fiona Staples gives all the inhabitants of Riverdale a fashion facelift along with bringing rich colors and facial expressions to the new comic. However, she hasn’t abandoned the stylized elements of the Archie mythos as the letter jacket and Jughead’s crown shaped cap remain intact. This mix of classic and new finds its way into Mark Waid’s script. The plot of the first issue (which stands on its own with a tiny bit of serialization) is classic Archie filled with romance, pranks, and high school pitfalls, but Waid adds some fourth wall breaking humor and revamps the characters of Jughead and Reggie to make them less annoying than their older incarnations while keeping some of their core elements.
Daredevil is a character more or less defined by two extended runs by two specific creators. Created in 1964 by Stan Lee and Bill Everett in a clear attempt to tap into the success of Spider-Man, Daredevil has one of the all time great superhero hooks: he’s a blind lawyer who puts on a superhero costume and takes the law into his own hands. Unfortunately, that hook only takes the character so far, and like the X-Men, Daredevil existed in his early years as something of an also-ran at Marvel
While the Disney overlords are keeping a clench fists over anything bearing the Star Wars name, this is about the closest they’ve gotten to a bona fide risk. Though restricted to a simple miniseries, one of the first flagship titles Marvel is churning out is a solo book starting the franchise’s leading female character. The book delves into Leia’s character and her place within the Rebel Alliance. Mark Waid does a fantastic job conveying subtlety through her actions and words, Terry and Rachel Dodson give a new spin to the look of Star Wars, and it all leads up to one of the most satisfying first issues in ages.
First and foremost, The Gutters was a twice weekly webcomic that made fun of various aspects of the comics industry. It took the comics news of that week and spinned into something hilarious and self-contained with a rotating cast of artists, including ones you might know like Annie Wu (Hawkeye), Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan), Joe Eisma (Morning Glories), Nick Bradshaw (Wolverine and the X-Men), and even comics legend Neal Adams, who pencilled a heartfelt tribute to the late Joe Kubert in 2012. The humor of The Gutters is highly topical. However, in the tradition of the best MAD Magazine strips or SNL sketches, it can act as a nice time capsule to 2010 when people were arguing whether Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes (or Clint Barton) should be Captain America, or 2012 when the circle of snark around Before Watchmen and if it was doing irreparable damage to comics was going on.
5. Captain Marvel (Marvel) Captain Marvel #9-#17 Writers: Kelly Sue DeConnick (9-17), Christopher Sebela (10-12), Jen Van Meter (15-16) Pencillers: Filipe Andrade (9-12, 17), Scott Hepburn (13-14), Gerardo Sandoval (13-14), Pat Oliffe (15) Inker: Filipe Andrade (9-12, 17), Scott Hepburn (13-14), Gerardo Sandoval (13-14), Drew Geraci (15-16), Tom Nguyen (16) Colorist: Jordie Bellaire (9-13, 17), Andy …
Rocketeer/Spirit: Pulp Friction #4 Writers: Mark Waid Art: J Bone Colors: Rom Fajardo Publisher: IDW Comics With most of the detective and leg work out of the way, Mark Waid and J. Bone get to cut loose with big panel action sequences and make their final statements about the similarities and differences between The Spirit …
Rocketeer/Spirit: Pulp Friction #3 Writer: Mark Waid Penciller: J. Bone Colorist: Rom Fajardo Publisher: IDW Rocketeer/Spirit #3 is a pretty over the top comic. Characters (especially the good ones) overreact to everything. When the Spirit tells the story of the death of Denny Colt and the birth, the heroic, man’s man Rocketeer runs off squealing like …
The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction #2 Writer: Mark Waid Penciller: Loston Wallace Inker: Bob Wiacek Colorist: Hi-Fi Publisher: IDW Action. Adventure. Beautiful women with dimples on their cheeks. Rocketeer/Spirit #2 is stuffed full of nostalgia and clearly draws from the comics and film serials of the 1930s while adding deeper characterization and an interesting, if highly unlikely …
Most comics fans have a favorite comics series of all time, as well as favorite writers, artists and story arcs. This week I asked the comics team at Sound On Sight to join me in determining what currently running series or ongoing writers run on a long-running series they are most into at the moment. …
With Scott Snyder’s highly anticipated Batman: Zero Year just around the corner and Man of Steel hitting the box-office this month, I felt that it was a perfect time to delve into some of the best re-vamped origin stories in comic books. While many may fall flat (looking at you Marvel: Season Ones) some have …
Disclaimer: Alan Moore is not found or mentioned in this article. (Except for now) Wizard magazine used to be both a blessing and a curse to comics fans. It had exclusive interviews with creators and fun features, like “Casting Call” and “Top Ten Writers and Artists”, but it was also criticized for mainly focusing on Marvel …