Venneh

He's gone.

We're still unclear, Busiek is apparently unsure because Allred was his source. That said, palliative care following an aggressive bout usually means metastasized, and terminal.

Jurassic World: One tweet summary: "you are female you should be a nurture and a care, eat my entire ass movie"

All of the below will be discussed in more detail on a future episode of our still untitled segment, lol. 4001 FCBD: solid prelude story to lead nicely into 4001, previews for the new Archer and Armstrong, Divinity II, Faith, and Bloodshot Island (Bloodshot puppy!!). Has some one pagers for some intriguing stuff too. 4001 AD 1: I am actually excited for a summer event comic. The hell is this shit? Continues threads from the last volume of Rai, and takes the fight back to Father, using a mech made from the Manowar armor. Also, new Japan becomes a giant goddamn space dragon. YEAH. 4001 AD: XO Manowar: Explains where that XO Manowar mech came from. Is basically built up to be Pacific Rim, but with the twist of massive failure at the end. Also explains why, say, no one tried to stop Father/New Japan. Single Issues: 222TPBs/Collections: 60Digital First Issues: 10

Counterpoints:

This was the first time I've really felt the length of a Marvel movie (but that could be because I went to see it at nine after a long day of work). Overall, really liked this.

Survivors Club 8: Well, I thought I dropped this, but apparently my guy didn't get the notice. Maybe it kicks in next month? Either way I guess I'm in this till the end now. And again, you can tell that they're trying their best to wrap it up in the space of two more issues, but man are they barreling along to try and do it. Boom!/Archaia FCBD Summer Blast: Combination of two Boom! original properties (Lumberjanes, Goldie Vance), two licensed properties (Adventure Time, Labyrinth), and two Archaia offerings (Mouse Guard, Cloud). Mouse Guard and Labyrinth are beautiful, Lumberjanes is as cute as ever, Goldie Vance is intriguing, as is Cloud, and Adventure Time is a thing that's there. March FCBD: Black and white graphic novel offering done by John Lewis that's an autobiography of his time in the civil rights movement. Excerpts from the three volumes, the art by Aydin and Powell is gorgeous, will likely look at getting all three volumes once they're all out. One Punch Man/My Hero Academia FCBD: Wrt One Punch Man: I definitely see what the fuss is about now. Looks fun, I'd probably pick up a volume of this if it were reasonably priced. My Hero Academia seems like a standard shounen manga take on X-Men. *shrug* DC Superhero Girls FCBD: Yeah, it's a tie in comic for a doll line, but it's actually pretty solid despite that? Like, nothing I'd go out of my way to pick up month to month, but definitely worth a read here and there. Attack on Titan Anthology FCBD: Previews of pieces from the full anthology. Looks to be taking place both in the world of the show, but also in the real world, in one of the more meta excerpts. Intriguing enough, will probably give it a page through when it's released. Kitaro: Birth of Kitaro FCBD: Looks like this was a FCBD offering from last year, but Drawn and Quarterly basically translates Kitaro's origin story (he was born of a mummy and a ghost after they died, and his dad regenerated his eyeball so he could be around his kid). Some beautiful linework, definitely worth checking out. Civil War II FCBD: ....Well, "Thanos! You're under arrest!" is sure a phrase that was said there. This is, as far as I can tell, probably an excerpt from the first issue, and it's... sure a thing that happens a lot. I look forward to the eventual tire fire. There's also an excerpt of them reintroducing a Wasp into the universe from All New All Different Avengers. She seems to have been a Russian superfan who basically helped herself to his life's work after he got dead? I don't even know. Alpha King 1: Picked this up at my comic guy's recommendation. Azzarello and Floyd write a weird ass meta comic about one of the characters featured on their (Three Floyds) brews, a king who's apparently hiding in the form of a mild mannered brewer who has his lady stolen by interdimensional mercenaries after him because of his beer, in something that only comes off as a slight power fantasy for Floyd, thanks to Azzarello. Simon Bisley does the art on it. ...I don't even know how this came about, but man, I kinda want to see how this plays out. Insexts 5: Alright, we get a bit more explanation of what's going on, and an awesome, intriguing new villain in the Hag and how she's using the men (and women) around our mains. Manages to veer nicely between the erotic and the straight up "what in the actual fuck". Kristiana's art is as gorgeous as ever. Cry Havoc 4: Okay, yeah, this is going full on meta up its own ass, but it's only six issues, so hopefully it manages to veer a bit away from this next issue. The different ways of bringing out Kelly's art as done by the colorists are still a neat touch. Ultimates 6: The story gets to take a bit of a breather as Ewing explains what the fuck is going on with Galactus these days, and brings in Christian Ward to do the art for the more cosmic issue here. Ward does real good in some moments, but not so good in others. It's still neat as hell to see him tackle Marvel cosmic, and hopefully as he refines his work a bit, he gets to do more and more stuff with them. Angela: Queen of Hel 7: Marguerite manages to wrap things nicely, get a goodbye in using a character that she clearly identifies with, and give everyone happy enough endings. Jacinto is still clearly struggling on the art here, but at the least Hans is there to draw some of the best parts of the issue, which I really appreciate. (Those flash forwards are clearly ways Margeurite was hoping to take the story at some point, but didn't quite get to. Would pay to see a one shot of that Guardians/Team Angela karaoke night.) WicDiv 19: The plot deepens, we get some pretty goddamn awesome fight scenes from Jamie and Matt, and things are set up for what's going to be a pretty neat confrontation over the next few issues. Bring it, boys. (Also, goddamn, that variant.) Single Issues: 219TPBs/Collections: 60Digital First Issues: 10

Cap.

Red Spider, White Web, Misha: 90s cyberpunk written by a Native author. As near as I can tell, she wrote this, and aside from some poetry, never wrote anything else. This is basically a fever dream of a book. I'm not entirely sure I ever had a grasp on what was really happening in this book, but to be entirely honest, I'm okay with that. It's a hell of a ride, with some goddamn gorgeous imagery, and if you can find it somewhere, it's worth a read.

Currently playing through Persona 4 (the original, not any of the special editions), and though I liked P3 FES, I'm liking this a lot more. I've maxed out Nanako, Chie, and Yukiko, and am on track to max out Rise and Dojima. Just at the end of summer break.

Kat and Mouse vols 2-4: Just a really fun, cute read that you can probably find for under $10 total (because Tokyopop from back in the day). Does some really good stuff with humaninzing most of the "mean girls", with a dose of science, and middle school girls being middle school girls. The Sheriff of Babylon 5: So glad this got extended out, as I have a feeling this issue was maybe a small part of an issue originally, but here it got extended out to be an entire issue by itself. It's just two people talking, but they drop some major bombs, backstory wise. And the color work here is fantastic, and the art is wonderful as always. Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 3-6: Random ass time travel done Ryan North style, and the beginning of the Howard the Duck crossover, which works pretty well, all things considered. Fun read, nothing I need to follow month to month, but fun to catch up on here and there. Howard the Duck 3-6: Again, playing catchup here on the remnants of the crazy ass space arc and the crossover with Squirrel Girl. Zdarsky is really good at cosmic hilarity, with the occasional bit of pathos. Quinones' art is solid, not anything that particularly stands out, but nice. Single Issues: 205TPBs/Collections: 60Digital First Issues: 10

I'm THIS close to putting Sheriff on my pull. I ended up dropping SC and I'm just gonna read it on the trade, it feels like it'll work better in one shot rather than month to month. And yeah, I kind of fucking love the Fix already.

Ms. Marvel 2-6: Willow proves she's still on her game with this - both with Kamala fighting gentrification, being out as Ms. Marvel to her mom, and dealing with Bruno moving on and his new girlfriend in general and in the following arc about the three ways her life is pulling her apart, and actually getting to touch base with the adults (Tony and Carol in light hints of what's meant to be their Civil War II tensions, I'm betting) on how to keep the craziness that is her life in general in balance. Also features an adorable subplot with her older brother falling in love and getting married. Not so hot on the penciller for the second art (Nico Leon, I think?), but he still does a solid enough job. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur 2-6: Okay, this is fucking adorable. Super smart black girl, trying to prevent her transformation into a Inhuman, and the dinosaur she accidentally picks up. Cho!Hulk showing up makes sense too. (Also: YANCY STREET GANG REPRESENT.) And Lunella just makes my heart swell, in general. Art fits well and doesn't look rushed or too sketchy. Definitely worth picking up on the trade. Single Issues: 196TPBs/Collections: 57Digital First Issues: 10

I was 8! Kat and Mouse vol 1: Early DeCampi, set in a private school in New England (hello excuse for school uniforms!), with a pretty solid manga-inspired artist (can't remember the name, derp). Girl moves to New England to go to a private school that her dad just got a job at, her dad gets blackmailed, and she teams up with a classmate to solve crimes! It's pretty cute, and DeCampi makes what could've been a pretty non-remarkable comic a fun, quick read. (Also, that period when Tokyopop was trying to do creator owned stuff.) Black Canary 6-9: So, I actually kind of feel sorry for whoever's on this book at any given time. There's random fill ins, a dive straight into craziness plot wise, and constantly switching artists. When they can get Wu, it's great. Otherwise? Not so much. Wu does some crazy stuff with kirby krackle in 6 and 7, and some downright amazing fight scene art in 7 particularly. Lee Loughridge on colors in 6 and 7 is phenomenal. If nothing else, just read issues 6 and 7, you don't need context, just enjoy the ride. 8 appears to be the start of a new arc with a random artist, but is interrupted by issue 9. 9 is a fill-in by Rosenberg and Moritat, and solid. Dark Knight III: The Master Race 3: Kryptonian suicide bombers. Yup. Miller's back again. Also, old guys in general, please stop trying to do teenage texting patterns, it makes you look ridiculously out of touch. Weird ass Green Lantern backup with what seems to be women Muslim powered individuals falling to his rightness and will and offering themselves to him and yup, that's Miller alright. Okay. Injection 7-9: Going to keep following this on the trade, but by god now that we've actually got the shape of the thing, it's a great combination of supernatural and fucking ridiculous in the way that only Ellis can manage. Prime examples include "The Adventures of the Elderly Ghost Sexer" and "Hail Dongzilla". Solid art by Declan, but the colors by Jordie are beyond gorgeous. Mythic 6-8: Alright, I did end up seeing where the story was going, as there's been some similar themed stuff lately, and it was still a real good ride. McCrea does great on art, especially in the transition to black in white in the latter part of the book. Probably going to try to read it in one shot again to see if it flows better, as the trade contains the first eight issues. Saga 36: God bless Ghus - because sometimes you just need some good old levity, or a seal child wielding a giant fucking axe. Also, the arc ends happily? The fuck is this shit? Looking forward to seeing where this goes next, as always. Sex Criminals 15: Matt, sweetheart? You clearly got fucked up by your dad's death. The meta isn't working. You're trying really, really hard, but it isn't working. Which is weirdly meta for this entire arc, but okay. This arc has just been going in circles. Work on getting the next issue out, but after that, just take a longer break and get your stuff back together. Batgirl 51: Okay. This now appears to be culminating in a three way crossover between the shared-ish worlds of Gotham Academy, Black Canary, and Batgirl. ...Not really sure if Fletcher can pull it off in the one issue he has remaining to do so. The artist is solid, but clearly trying to imitate Tarr, and doesn't pull it off so well. Black Canary 10-11: 10 now appears to be banking back into Batgirl, which, okay? I guess? 51 appears to take place after 8, not sure where 10 and 11 fit in in the overall scheme of things, because 10 also banks vaguely back into the stuff happening in 8. Starting to think Fletcher may have been a bit spread thin here. Artist wise, these two issues are split between three different artists, which, lord. This run has kind of suffered from being pulled five different ways, unfortunately. Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat 5: Again, really neat premise (Asgardian recruiting disaffected millennials with powers) that doesn't quite play out. But hey, Jessica Jones shows up next issue! All-New Wolverine 7: One off issue that crosses over with Squirrel Girl and also manages to provide some real character development for Laura and Gabby both. Up next? A Civil War II tie in. Oh fucking joy. Dark Knight III: Master Race 4: Pretty evenly split between Azzarello and Miller at the helm, as near as I can tell, which gives the feeling of whiplash, to be honest. Some really good one page splashes, too. But of course they draw Trump in FFS. And then Miller goes and does this universe's Batgirl, and Aquaman shows up to save her. IDEFK. Single Issues: 186 TPBs/Collections: 57Digital First Issues: 10

Wonder Woman 1-35: The Azzarello/Chiang run. I mostly like this run, with the exception of two major plot points. One: the Amazons doing breeding raping murder parties and trading all the boy babies away that happened as a result (pointlessly grim dark, betrays what the amazons have been for the mythos in the past). Two: Diana somehow becoming the God of war and never really doing anything with it (if they'd actually taken the time to explore it, great!). Chiang does an amazing job, especially with Matt Wilson on colors. and the other two artists (Atkins and Sudzuka) manage to get close enough to Chiang's style that it isn't super noticeable when they fill in (which is frequently). Stalls in a few places, but mostly a real solid run. Two Brothers: This got nominated for the Eisner, and we've had it on the to read shelf since NYCC last year, so I figured I should read it. This is a reimagining of a Milton Hatoum novel by Ba and Moon, and I will say this: the art is absolutely striking, and is great at illustrating the complete fucked upness of this family's multigenerational saga. I'm not that big of a fan of the narrative, but I'm going to chalk that up as being more of the fault of the original author than the boys. Not my favorite work of the twins', but still gorgeous nonetheless. Single Issues: 167TPBs/Collections: 56Digital First Issues: 10

Lumberjanes: Beyond Bay Leaf: Cute little special including ghost ponies, weird women, and just an overall nice read. Sucks that the back third or so is all house ads though. Single Issues: 131TPBs/Collections: 55Digital First Issues: 10

Divinity II 1: Again, Kindt creates a hell of a compelling character in the space of one issue, and I'm real interested to see how this is gonna play out. Harsine does some pretty great stuff art wise, too, especially with call backs to the first volume. The Valiant: Pretty awesome mini done by Kindt, Lemire, and Rivera. Not sure it needed to be its own event comic, but it has some real great moments story-wise, Rivera does some solid stuff, but the moments when they let Lemire (and possibly Kindt?) play around on the watercolor panels are great. Single Issues: 130TPBs/Collections: 55Digital First Issues: 10

But here's a solid question: if the people he's harrassed ever bought a suit against DC for hostile environment (see: the Supes office being all guys, past incidents, HR not really doing anything to help them), would they have solid grounds to sue the company on?

It's been an open industry secret for half a decade, and two of the sites reporting are minimizing it "because HR handled it". They need to do something, but short of razing most of DC, I don't see anything happening.

Mike - Del Mundo is taking over on that book shortly. You'll be in for a treat. Dept H 1: Yes, the title is a pun. I don't even care, it's Matt fucking Kindt. Each issue of this is apparently going to be a day down there, and it's ongoing. We get our setup for the series here, along with some flashbacks fleshing out our main. Sharlene, Matt's wife, is doing her first coloring job on this, watercolors over his pencils, and it's goddamn gorgeous. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. The Mighty Thor 6: Random Loki story interlude with a flashback story and kinda shitty painting job. And it looks like it's continuing next month, so I'm out for next month at least. Dragon Age: Magekiller 1-5: Rucka got to do a tie-in comic to DAI, using some unexplored parts of the lore, and you can tell that he loved every minute of it. We join a pair of original characters, who through various things, end up getting drawn into the Inquisition, and get their own neat arc against the larger backdrop of the Inquisition. Also, not a romantic pair, which I really appreciate. And the big characters who appear don't do so in an overblown way; they fit perfectly into the arc of the story. Art is solid, covers are beautiful, get this when it's inevitably collected into a trade. Lucifer 5: Garbett gets to show off in a pretty neat way this issue, and the threads from this first arc are wrapped up nicely, while putting the threads for the rest of the series in motion. Hopefully they only look forward after this, and not back. From Under Mountains 3-5: Christ, this book is gorgeous. The plot's started to come together properly, and I'm looking forward to what happens in 6. Captain Marvel 1-4: The reboot with the Agent Carter showwriters and Anka on art. Neat space book, good to see Alpha Flight bought in, as well as someone who remembers that Abigail Brand exists. Anka's needed assists on the later issues, and the artist change isn't too jarring, happily. Plus, bringing in Mar-Vell? I'm interested to see where this goes, and I'm liking this first arc. Single Issues: 129TPBs/Collections: 54Digital First Issues: 10

Apparently one of the key demands that DC had to meet is that Berganza couldn't come anywhere near Rucka's Wonder Woman.

Your daily reminder that Eddie goddamn Berganza still has a job with DC.

I checked this, and it's only the first issue that's $5; it's down to $4 after this. Still gonna trade wait it.

...does Vertigo need a GoFundMe? also, this is probably the end of Vertigo as we know it

Unity vols 1-2: Interesting to see how Valiant handled their first real team book, especially spinning out of what happened in XO-Manowar. First arc as a direct reaction to what Aric did presumably in vol 4 of XO was really well done, the second one also did solidly, but suffered a bit for being three issues instead of 4 (they padded it out with an issue of XO Manowar that you'd presumably already read at that point). Single Issues: 114TPBs/Collections: 54Digital First Issues: 10