Comic Book Coffee Break #47

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. We left the house in a hurry this morning, but I managed some Folgers Noir with cream and a Vanilla syrup.  It served me well.

Let's talk Comic Books!

I'm reading and writing in the midst of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so I thought I'd spotlight Agent Jimmy Woo and Ryan Choi as the Atom. 

Marvel Comics

Let's start with Agent Woo, while I may have bumped up against him sometime in my reading, it was Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision, that really made me take notice. Last week I read Agents of Atlas featuring an elderly Jimmy Woo rebooted as his 50s self but in the modern day.  This week I read the digital exclusive Wolverine & the Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker & Benton Jew.  This was fun because you get to see Jimmy in his day mixing it up with a very confused Wolverine. I think the period setting worked a lot better on the Agents of Atlas vibe. This is a relatively brief 3 issues and I would have loved more. I'll likely pick up more Agents of Atlas, but I much preferred the retro feel of this.

DC Comics

Over in the world of DC, I picked up the first volume of Gail Simone's All-New Atom: My Life in Miniature. My library has this whole run and I'd been meaning to read it for years and finally picked it up. I'd read Ryan Choi in some of the Rebirth stuff and had seen him in the CW Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, but this was the first time I read something specifically devoted to him.  I'm a Gail Simone fan, primarily from Birds of Prey, so was excited to pick this up. It starts well enough, but then gets real weird, real fast. At one point a giant, naked women traps Ryan in a little ball then swallows him.  All this happened at a drive-in theater. I kept expecting these weird swings to pay off but they just didn't. It seemed weird for weird's sake and I don't think it worked. I don't blame Ryan Choi though. 

I've got a few more randos to finish out the week. Back to...

Marvel Comics

I read Deadpool: The Circle Chase by co-creator Fabian Nicieza.  (I actually started with the first appearance of Deadpool & Domino in New Mutants #98.)  This is Deadpool's first run at being a solo character.  It's worth reading for that, but I don't have much more to say.  He has some funny moments, but the characterization still has a ways to go, and honestly he hardly feels like the main character here. I haven't read a ton of Deadpool up this this point, so I don't know how it compares, but I have to assume it gets better. 

DC Comics

Finally, I got back to my New 52 Superman reread with Superman V5: Under Fire by Scott Lobdell and Ken Lashely.  The collection as assembled by DC is real mess with the tail end of Krypton Returns and a little of Doomed messing with the flow.  However, the Parasite story shoved in the middle is pretty decent.  Nothing ground breaking here, but I did enjoy the standalone sections more than I remembered. 

Next Time...

My copy of DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Super Hero Celebration arrived in the mail so I can't wait to dig in to that. See you then.

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #46

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break! It's Mother's Day so went out and got some Starbucks.  I'm having an iced coffee, black.  Good stuff.

Let's talk Comic Books!

So May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage and I decided to let that steer the ship this week.  

Marvel Comics

I finally got my hands on the original 3-issue run of Sunfire & the Big Hero 6.  I only saw the movie a few years back, and I really liked it.  I read the Chris Claremont redo (as discussed on the All the Books Show), then the 2 part manga (which we detailed in issue 11 of CBCB), but this original story remained illusive. It was fun to read. It's really Hiro's story with Sunfire's journey playing out in the background of the 3 issues. My experience with Sunfire is really limited to playing him in the X-Men Legends game on Gamecube. ("I require additional energy to do that.") I found myself rooting for his resurgence and curious about the events that got him here.  I really liked the story and would read more.  But alas, I've read all of Big Hero 6. It did make we want to track down for Sunfire stories though. 

Next came Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk. I was only familiar with Jimmy Woo from his appearances in Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision. I don't remember having bumped into him in comics ever. Atlas sees and aging Jimmy Woo rebooted as his younger, 1950s-era self. The story is entertaining enough, and I do like the 50s callbacks, but it still feels a little like if Doom Patrol was a network television series in 2003. It didn't grab me, but the premise is interesting. I might check back in later on.

DC Comics

I picked up the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series with v.3, Death Wish by Kelly Puckett & Chuck Dixon, art by Damion Scott. I read v.2, A Knight Alone, a full 10 years ago, but I was able to pick it right up. I like the character, but this art was rough. It's done in a very purposeful style and is very consistent, but it just doesn't work for me. I know that's subjective, but it really sort of ruined the story for me. My favorite issue was the Spoiler team-up, but that was not enough to raise it a star.

Finally, and I feel like this is a wild card among wild cards, I read Beware the Batman.  This is a 6-issue series based on the short-lived cartoon of the same name. In it, a younger Batman is partnered with Katana rather on one of the various Robins or Batgirls.  It's an unusual pairing that really brings out a new vibe for a Batman title. Katana is used well, particularly in issue 5 which is written by Katana creator, Mike W. Barr. There's also an issue that features Barbara Gordon/Oracle and Tim Drake. I don't recall these characters appearing in the show, but I don't think I ever finished it. 

I really like the Katana in this book.  I wish both the series and the comic had been given more time to grow. It feels incredibly original which is hard to do in a Batman story anymore.

Next time...

I plan to read some of the Ryan Choi/Atom series by Gail Simone and I might pick up Wolverine & the Agents of Atlas as well. What about you?

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.