A comiXologist recommends…not texting and driving!

MOTOR GIRL #1 by Terry Moore

As a fan of Terry Moore’s Rachel Rising, I was excited about Motor Girl before I even read this first issue. The premise alone is pretty wonderful: Sam lives in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. She works at a junkyard and fixes cars. When a UFO crashes in her yard and she repairs the space craft, she inadvertently starts a brand new business! 

We need to talk about Mike, her buddy who appears to be a talking gorilla? I sort just went with it – I mean if I’m going to suspend my disbelief for aliens why not talking gorillas? Plus it gave me some serious Tank Girl vibes, which in my opinion is always a plus! 

I tend to be drawn to beautifully colored comics, but Terry Moore’s black and white art conveys a lot of personality even without color. One of my favorite moments in the comic was when Sam bent over to do something and Moore drew her with a few belly rolls (which happens to literally anyone possessing internal organs, no matter how thin). It may seem like an inconsequential detail, but it lets me know that Moore envisions Sam as a real person, not a sexy pin-up girl. She wears a crop top because it’s 114 degrees out, not to give the audience a thrill. This sort of attention to character is what makes me feel like I can let my guard down and really dig into the story, which promises no small amount of sass and surprises!

Tia Vasiliou (aka “Lou”) is a digital editor at comiXology and co-host of the weekly ComiXologist podcast. She lives in New York during the week and desperately misses her car when she’s there.

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The Accused #1

Written by Marc Guggenheim

Art by Ramon Bachs and Garry Brown

Colors by Ruth Redmond

Not even Ulysses could have predicted this

The Marvel comics universe is vast, so it’s pretty difficult for one person to be really invested in every part of it.  Three parts of it that I have typically not much cared about are: events, Tony Stark, Matt Murdock.

Three things that Civil War II has made me inexplicably care about, even appreciate, are: Civil War, Tony Stark, Matt Murdock.

Who even am I anymore?

Here’s the spoiler-free summary – In the main event storyline, Bruce Banner asks Clint Barton to do something for him, something that lands Barton in no small amount of trouble (to say nothing of the personal trauma it must have caused him).  And Matt Murdock is called up to prosecute Barton in “the trial of the millennium.”  Murdock is gunning for Barton in a way that made me hate him at first. But then Murdock discovers something that causes him to change his mind about the right way to handle the case, about what the best outcome for it would be.

I adore Clint Barton and if I needed someone to do a really awful thing for me, despite the fact that Barton is every inch the human tire fire Matt Fraction once described him as, I would trust Barton to help me out.  I understand why Banner turned to him.  Barton is a good person, and he has no agenda beyond wanting a nap and possibly a sandwich.  He is the kind of guy who would do the wrong thing for himself if it was the right thing for his friend.

Part of my ambivalence toward Matt Murdock comes from my disinterest in his more dogmatic worldview. I would never trust Murdock to break his moral code for me, even if it were life and death.  And in this case, he definitely doesn’t do it for Barton.  He does it because it’s objectively the right thing to do, because he understands that a foregone conclusion is not a fair trial, even if he believes that outcome is correct. Sometimes understanding history is more important than seeing the future.  Otherwise, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.  This point makes Civil War II feel more organic inside the Marvel comics universe and less event-y.  Rather than re-setting the order of things, it builds on the foundation set up by the first Civil War event. 

At the end of the day, all superheroes want is to do good.  But do-gooding is a verb, not a noun.  It isn’t enough for an outcome to occur; it also matters how you achieved it.  And all of a sudden, I appreciate where Matt Murdock is coming from.  Geez, next thing you know I’m going to be crying over Spider-Man or something!

Tia Vasiliou (aka “Lou”) is a Digital Editor at comiXology and occasional podcast host on The ComiXologist.  Her preferred corner of the Marvel comics universe is wherever the Asgardians hang out.

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Animosity #1 @aftershockcomics

Written by Marguerite Bennett @evilmarguerite

Drawn by Rafael de Latorre

Colored by Rob Schwager

My cat is definitely my best friend.  We’re pretty much inseparable when I’m home, and she’ll even tolerate the indignity of a harness if it means she can go out places with me.  I would do anything in the world for my cat, and I’m pretty sure she loves me, too.  We may not speak the same language, but we understand each other.

On a basic level, Animosity is a story about that special bond between a girl and her beloved pet. When animals all over the world “wake up” and exact their revenge on humans via wholesale slaughter, trusty bloodhound Sandor protects his girl Jesse.  Because they love each other.

I’d like to believe that if the animals ever did decide to rise up against us, my cat would also elect to spare me.

The thing about Animosity is, you kind of can’t blame the animals.  We use them as test subjects, we raise them in inhumane farming conditions, we trap them in parks and force them to perform for our amusement, we hunt them for sport, we separate them from their young to sell them as pets, we destroy their habitats.  

But I think we can all relate to feeling like a pet is part of the family.  We’ve all talked to our pets as though they could understand us, as though they could answer us back.  (Come on, I know I’m not the only crazy cat lady who does this.)  But just because they can’t answer us doesn’t mean they don’t understand.  And just because an animal isn’t your pet doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be treated with respect.

Animosity is probably one of the most original books I’ve read this year.  Its dark comedic moments and exhilarating pacing make it a thoroughly fun read, but its somewhat gruesome premise will also give you a lot to think about.  Give your pets some extra snuggles when you get home tonight.

Tia Vasiliou (aka “Lou”) is a Digital Editor at comiXology and occasional podcast host on The ComiXologist.  Her cat, Lydia, is a Cornish Rex.

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4 Kids Walk Into A Bank #2 (@blackmaskstudios​)

Art/Design – Tyler Boss

Writing – Matthew Rosenberg

What should you do if you suspect that your dad is in cahoots with a bunch of criminals?  You should definitely take matters into your own hands!  That is an entirely reasonable course of action for an eleven-year-old kid!  What could possibly go wrong with this bank heist?

In the second issue of a five-part miniseries, we haven’t quite gotten to the heist yet.  And to be fair, other than the fact that they’re kids, so far there’s not much to suggest things would go south because Paige and her trusty nerd friends seem fairly competent compared to the adults involved in the situation.  Paige breaks a bully’s nose with a pizza, gets arrested, hacks police records, seriously considers stabbing a dude in the junk, and generally causes no small amount of calculated mayhem in her pursuit to discover what her dad and these thugs are up to.  Paige’s tough personality is balanced out by her friends, who are capable in their respective mouthy, awkward, brainy ways.  

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank manages to be sweet and funny and profane and violent all at once, described as “Wes Anderson remaking Reservoir Dogs.”  I also get kind of a Guy Ritchie vibe.   Scenes play out over many smaller panels, giving an aesthetic of quippy dialogue and fast cuts.  There are a lot of visual clues embedded into the artwork.  For an obvious example, each issue so far opens on the children’s conversation happening via their game avatars (D&D for issue one, a video game for this issue), providing insight into some aspect of their personalities. These referential details are a great complement to the narrative that happens through dialogue, rounding out the storytelling and context.  

I would be remiss if I didn’t also point out the stylish patterns and wallpapers throughout, designed by Courtney Menard.  The strong graphic motifs and thoughtful color palettes add a stylish touch to this very fun book.

Tia Vasiliou is a digital editor at comiXology and a frequent guest on the comiXologist podcast (where her nickname is apparently Auntie Lou).  You can also catch her on the I Read Comic Books podcast, where she does not yet have a confusing nickname.

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GrizzlyShark vs. SeaBear #3

Story, art, and letters by Ryan Ottley

Colors by Ivan Plascencia

Oscar Wilde.  Aubrey Beardsley.  Charles Swinburne.  Ryan Ottley? Okay, hear me out.

You might think that a story about half a guy (the top half, if you were wondering), a big dumb redneck, and a zombie baby trying to navigate shark-infested woods and bear-infested waters would be more of a Dadaist piece of literature.  But Dada as a movement is steeped in political critique, and while you could try to map social or environmental issues onto GrizzlyShark, its comedic resistance to moralizing or meaning reaches past Dada to the Decadent art and literature of the late 19^th century.

Art for art’s sake is a simple concept: the purpose of art is in the pleasure of an individual’s subjective experience of the work.  It could be an experience of beauty, or eroticism, or ineffability.  The Decadents took this a step further, aiming for the shocking or even the perverse in an attempt to transcend the dullness of heavy Victorian sensibilities.  

In the case of GrizzlyShark, decadence is achieved through humor.  Sharks swim through the woods, munching people they are drawn to with a drop of blood, in spectacular fashion. How do GrizzlySharks breathe?  How do they move about?  And OMG what the heck just happened?  You know what, just hush for a minute and laugh at the munch-munching, okay?  It’s funny, and trust me, you could use the unadulterated fun.  It’s as important to your development as a person as contemplating the meaning of existence, or building schools in underdeveloped countries, or whatever moral, important stuff you do in your spare time.

Maybe I’m being a little facetious here.  But Ryan Ottley’s commitment to the ludicrous makes GrizzlyShark vs. SeaBear an absolutely delightful read.  And delight doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to shake you out of the mundane for a moment.  GrizzlyShark does this beautifully, so pin a hothouse orchid to your lapel, sip some absinthe, and enjoy the decadence of laughter.

Tia Vasiliou is a Digital Editor at comiXology.  She used to be an art historian, and apparently isn’t quite over the habit of theorizing everything.  You can listen to her theorize comics on the I Read Comic Books podcast.

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Civil War II #1

Written by Brian Michael Bendis @brianmichaelbendis

Art by David Marquez

Colors by Justin Ponsor

Prediction for my future: SO MUCH UGLY-CRYING

So here’s the gist of things: Ulysses is an Inhuman with precognitive abilities. There are super-teams who think his foresight is a useful tool in keeping the world safe, and others who have concerns about the “probability ratio” of his visions.  So, although this event is called “Civil War II,” the only thing it has in common with Marvel’s first Civil War event is that a lot of super-people disagree about how to do their super-personing and some of them get hurt in the process.  

In a community as large as Marvel’s universe, it makes total sense that this sort of fundamental disagreement would come up every so often.  Different kinds of powers, training, and personalities are going to give individuals different perspectives on how to best protect themselves, each other, and the world.  I don’t usually get into big events like this, but the stakes here feel very real and I have a lot of feelings about it.  Please understand that I must now use all caps because lower case letters cannot fully express my emotions.

SO MANY OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE ARE HERE!

AW YEAH PENTAGRAM-ED HELLSTROM TORSO!

OMG HE IS HITTING ON WANDA SOMEONE WRITE A ONE-SHOT OF THAT!

DAVID & JUSTIN YOU GUYS ARE REALLY GOOD AT FACIAL EXPRESSIONS!

WELP GUESS I SHIP JEAN GREY AND ULYSSES NOW BYE!

OMG I AM TEAM STARK WHAT EVEN!

WAIT…

WAIT WHAT IS HAPPENING

I DID NOT ASK FOR THESE FEELINGS

PLEASE STOP

THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN

I CANNOT HANDLE IT WHEN THEY MAKE THE SAD FACES PLEASE NO

OMG I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE TWO I CANNOT TOO SAD TOO SAD

NO YOU DID NOT

OH GODS WHY

Tia Vasiliou is a Digital Editor at comiXology. You can listen to her flail about comics and feelings on the I Read Comic Books Podcast at ircb.us or on iTunes.

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Divinity II #2

Written by Matt Kindt

Pencils by Trevor Hairsine

Inks by Ryan Winn

Color by David Baron

Mother Russia rain down, down, down

Divinity II is my first Valiant book, and it’s hooked me into the universe with only its second issue. For those of you like me who are new to things, the short version is that during the Cold War, Soviet Russia sent three cosmonauts into deep space, where they encountered a presence.  One of the explorers, Abram Adams, returned to Earth imbued with god-like powers.  Heroes of the Valiant universe came together to make contact with the deity-like Abram, who intended no harm but wished to reunite with his family.  

Where Abram’s motivations in Divinity seem largely centered around his personal relationships, Myshka, another of the cosmonaut trio and the protagonist of Divinity II, doesn’t have any personal relationships.  She, too, touched the Unknown in deep space.  She, too, returns to Earth with near unlimited power.  But she’s focused on only one thing: the glory of communist Russia.  And no sacrifice is too great for that greater good.

I’m fascinated by the implication of casting a woman as the dogmatic Russian communist instead of the one desperate for her family.  Women are too often depicted as disempowered by their relationships as wives and mothers. The ideal of womanhood those roles impose is one of self-sacrifice through gentle nurturing.  Since Russia is often personified as the “Motherland,” what it means for an extraordinarily powerful woman with no intentions of using that power for nurturing is an interesting play on gender role ideals. This is especially brought into focus when she clashes with Abram.

You don’t necessarily need to read Divinity before you start Divinity II, because the creators do a pretty good job of making sure you know what everyone’s deal is in the story that’s in front of you.  But you should probably just read Divinity because it’s awesome.  

Tia Vasiliou is a Digital Editor at comiXology. She often dresses like Andrew Eldritch.