I’ve picked up a few random comics at Zia Comics lately. I think I got these mostly in lieu of buying $40 trade paperbacks. I’m glad there are at least a few new comics coming out now that I’m interested in.
The Darkness #3
This one is kind of evil. I mean, it’s unsettling in an unpleasant and not really entertaining way. A mobster commanding some cute and some scary-looking tentacle demons against his enemies isn’t exactly a heroic setting. As the story moves forward, the good guys and bad guys will likely be better defined, but not here.
Somewhat less said about this the better, storywise. I don’t know what the difference is between this rebooted series and the original is. It seems about the same. Marc Silvestri is the writer on the comic, not the artist, though the art is very good. It is un-inked. The pencils are directly colored over. It’s good, but looks unfinished. I wish I’d found a Witchblade comic, instead. At least, she’s a cop with a supernatural entity attached to her and she’s easier to root for.
Flash Gordon #0 New Worlds to Conquer Prologue
The cover sold me on this. In the premise, essentially Flash Gordon takes off to Mongo and overthrows Ming there. He then makes the mistake of returning to a post-modern earth. He’s a hero, but soon shuffled off into a military bureaucracy to train recruits and stay out of the limelight. Being Flash, he can’t stay out of trouble though and leads his students on an unauthorized mission.
There’s a very strange dichotomy in this comic where Flash is absolutely classic Flash, but everyone else is, unfortunately, all too modern. It’s a bit humiliating watching Flash Gordon dealing with basically HR people and Gen Alpha kids. Still, he’s smart and doesn’t waiver in his convictions.
Free Comic Book Day was supposed to have an issue of this series available. I would have got it, if I’d had the opportunity. The publisher also produces a Flash Gordon on Mongo series. I think I’d probably be more interested in that, but this wasn’t too bad. This company, Mad Cave, also produces comics of The Phantom, Gatchaman, and Speed Racer.
Moonstar #1 and #2
I am a fan of this character (7-1-25 New Mutants and 6-15-25 X-Force), but I am surprised to see a solo series starring Dani Moonstar. This seems like a mini-series, but it’s not indicated anywhere. This follows up on a Magik solo series storyline, which is somewhat summarized in the opening two pages. (I’m kind of sorry I missed that, because I’m a fan of that character, too.)
Dani is paired with her Pegasus, Brightwind, and returns home to be with her parents. However, her former teammates from the Society of the Eternal Dawn track her down and ask for her help. This is awkward, since she helped bring down their organization. Regardless, they need her help in finding a lost artifact that’s causing mass murders.
In nearby Boulder, Colorado, an immortal Viking, Kyron, is using the sword to create an army of undead. Dani’s status as a Valkyrie gives her some special insight in combating this threat. As such, one of her comrades sacrifices herself to allow the other one, Kian, to save Dani, so she can continue the fight.
Next issue, Dani and Kian go to a lost tomb in China following a lead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dani in a romantic relationship. It’s still not happening here, as her and Kian are constantly sniping at each other, but there’s some emotional tension. Kyron is there and Dani has to fight a spirit form of her departed grandfather. He makes off with another artifact and takes Dani’s soul, as well!
Well, I have to get the next issue. (Especially since they shut down the “archive” site I was reading new comics off of.) There’s all sorts of stuff going on in the story that relates to other X-Men stories, but I could follow along well enough. The artwork is kind of anime-inspired. Dani’s normally never drawn cute, but with those big eyes, she is here. I appreciate that the writer, Ashley Allen, also seems to be a real fan of the character and kept the continuity with Dani’s personality and backstory. I didn’t appreciate the $5 price tag, but I really enjoyed these, so I’ll make an effort to get the next issue.
Luna Snow World Tour #1
I nearly forgot about buying this one on a previous trip. After I read it, the comic immediately went on display, instead of the review pile. I absolutely got this for the retro-disco cover with Dazzler. It’s too ketch to resist. This is a variant cover and Dazzler, regrettably, isn’t in the book.
I don’t know much about this character’s history, but Marvel is publishing a comic book about her because she’s in the popular Marvel Rivals computer game. (From my watching, Cloak and Dagger are popular characters in game, so expect a revival of them.) From the intro, Luna Snow is an ice-powered superhero and a K-pop star. (She predates K-pop Demon Hunters, by the way.)
In recent continuity, she was working for Emperor Doom, but then turned on him. She starts her comeback tour and is immediately confronted with the consequences of her actions. Some of the crowd is angry that she was allied with Doom. Some of crowd liked Doom’s rule and mad she turned on him.
A riot ensues, but no problem. A new singer, Vibe, shows up and pacifies the crowd.
Luna is suddenly completely unpopular, while Vibe cleans up. Vibe’s doing a little too well and Luna is suspicious. Fellow superheroes, Sunfire and Wave, share Luna’s concerns and join with her, as kaiju show up at a Vibe concert in the Philippines. They have to fend them off.
Rick Jones, the Marvel Comics version of Jimmy Olsen, joins the group at the next concert in New York City. Vibe’s manager is revealed to be Starfox, former Avenger and brother of Thanos. He’s using his powers of Eros to spread love in an angry world and offers to make Luna his new avatar. She refuses and, ironically, Vibe is the one to drive Starfox off. The heroes’ reward for freeing the crowd from this supernatural manipulation is getting booed off stage. Luna and the others are okay with this result.
You know, I kind of loved this. The artwork is again cute and anime-inspired. There are not huge stakes in this, it’s almost a silly little story. Yet, there’s some actual deep themes present. Luna is having to deal with being famous and being manipulated. She’s also taking fallout for backing one side and then another. The public no longer trusts her either way. What’s interesting was the ending. There was no neat resolution; she’s still an outcast. The character just became interesting with new possibilities.
If Marvel was doing more thoughtful and sincere comics like Luna Snow and Moonstar, I’d be more inclined to buy more new comics. Unfortunately, these are outliers. I feel lucky I ran into these.
No comments:
Post a Comment