Top Comic Books for the Week of June 25, 2014
The best of my pull list by Scott Bachmann
I’ve put to the top the comics that made my week. That doesn’t mean the others were bad, just that these stood out. Note: I get my comics from mail order by a week delay, and by ComiXology, so some titles may be older.
This week my mail order comics didn’t arrive, so I was left with only comiXology this week. (It may be time to go all digital or give some local comic stores another try.)
Avengers Undercover #6: This was a nice done in one. Death Locket was created by Dennis Hopeless for his Avengers Arena series, and his original creations were the best part of the series. Death Locket is the naive daughter of the mad scientists who created the Deathlocks, and is anything but a hero or a killer. As the Arena survivors made their way to Madripoor to confront Arcade, Death Locket tagged along and got separated. Now she’s having the time of her life being a rebel slacker in the teen clubhouse of villains run the Constrictor.
The kids can do what they want between ‘missions’ and are fed and given toys to play with – as long as they go on missions. Missions are whatever the Masters of Evil want to do, and with Baron Zemo as the leader, these are never nice things.
So here we have a girl, thrust into a death match, then thrust into a world of villains, and having the time of her life since someone is finally paying attention to her and being nice. Chase, from the Runaways, and also an Arena survivor, has been trying to tell Death Locket what the Arena survivors are really up to, which is infiltrating the Master of Evil and taking them down from the inside. This leads to a great confrontation on what Death Locket will become, and ends with a defining choice that ought to change her forever. That’s what Dennis is good at. Stacking up story points that make a character make an extreme choice, and then revealing that choice in a surprising and dramatic way.
Kev Walker’s art is full of action and detail, and it reminds me of reading Heavy Metal or Judge Dredd; it’s got that european style that reveals more the more you study it.
Black Widow #7: This came out two weeks ago, but I missed it. I’m now subscribed so I don’t make that mistake again.
The art on this series by Phil Noto is stunning. He paints everything which gives it a very different feel, like reading a story in the old Epic magazine. His panels are very cinematic, well paced and are worth the price of admission every month without the words.
That’s not saying the words are bad; in fact Nathan Edmondson’s writing is brilliant. It’s tense, darkly funny, and very human. Somehow he walks the line of cold super spy that feels like a spy, and a human being enduring what ever life throws her way. It’s a strangely intimate and personal story, like a diary, but not whiny.
Noto also manages to show the Widow as something other than cheesecake with an unzipped catsuit, while still making her drop dead gorgeous, but with a cold ruthless face. The super spy elements are often very light, with most of the series running like Bourne Identity using improvised weapons. This comic has the perfect team making a perfect book.
Scott is a contributing writer for Drunk On Comics. You can follow him on Twitter at @ScottABachmann.