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 #38

 For 37 weeks I co-hosted Comic Book Coffee Break with Eric Mikols for the Radio Meanwhile Network.

You can find the early video episodes here and the 37th and final episode here.  While that version of the show came to a restful end, I'm still reading comic books.  So welcome to Comic Book Coffee Break: The Text Adventure. 

Let's talk comic books. 

First off, my coffee today was Blue Mountain Blend Medium roast. I had it with some creamer and a little Torani Irish Cream syrup. It was a good start.

First, Archie Comics.  

Over on my podcast, Howe's Things, I recently did an interview with Jamie Lee Rotante about her Betty & Veronica books, my favorite of which was Betty & Veronica: Senior Year. It works because it updates the characters while staying true to the classic roots. Talking Archie got me in the mood to revisit some of my old favorites so got a month of Archie Unlimited.

I started with Little Archie v.1 by Bob Bolling. This was not the Little Archie I was expecting. Typically when these stories pop up in a digest they tend to stick to the Archie pattern only from a different angle since the gang is younger.  This collection was more about outlandish Archie adventures with pirates, aliens and Mad Doctor Doom. While it was interesting to see them take Archie in a completely different direction, it rarely felt like I was reading the Archie Andrews I know. This could have been any little red-head and for that it didn't really work for me.  There is a volume 2 and I will likely read it because I'm a completist, but this was not my jam.

Marvel Comics

Over in the World of Marvel, I read volumes 2 & 3 of New Mutants Classics as research for my guest-hosting gig on the New Mutants episode of Previously on X-Men.  I had read the first volume years ago and tapped out because I just found it dull. It felt liked the Saved by the Bell: The New Class of the X-Men franchise and I was not all about it. I was glad that I continued on because things heat up when Chris Claremont teams up with artist Bill Sienkiewicz.  The art takes on a scratchy, abstract vibe and the story gets weird. This section includes the Demon Bear Saga which is a major basis for the 20th Century movie. While it didn't make me a New Mutants convert, I did appreciate it taking on it's own identity. It's worth reading once.

Elsewhere in Marvel, I read the final volume of Red-She Hulk, Route 616.  This collection concludes the Red Hulk run that began with the Ed McGuiness/Jeph Loeb stories.  For whatever reason I got really in to these back in 2012 and finishing this story was my reason for signing up with Marvel Unlimited. While I don't think these last two volumes where Betty takes over as protagonist really work, this run will always have a special place in my heart. It was colorful and big, and at times downright nonsensical, but that's how I like my Hulk. 

DC Comics

On the DC horizon I finished the mostly uncollected Firestorm series featuring Jason Rusch as the lead. While this story started with a pretty interesting hook, it devolved into a mess of crossovers and an overcrowded narrative. I feel the character deserves better, though he'll likely never see it.  I still don't get why they created an original character to take the Firestorm mantle for Legends of Tomorrow. Jason was right here waiting!

I've also been reading a lot of Rebirth Flash lately, so I picked up the out-of-continuity collection Flash: United They Fall by Gail Simone and Clayton Henry.  While the art feels modern and jazzy, the stories felt mostly like a waste of time.  They were fine, but nothing I would pull out and recommend to someone. Oh well.

Speaking of things that were fine, I read Batman V.6 Bride or Burglar by Tom King. This was the ultimate in wheel spinning.  Sometimes that's okay, but I just found these dull. Just get on with the wedding (that will definitely happen for sure) already.

Everything Else

Finally, I read an interesting little graphic novel called Far Side of the Moon: The Story of Apollo 11's Third Man by Alex Irvine and Ben Bishop.  I'm in research mode because I'm set to interview Alex Irvine for Howe's Things in a couple of weeks. This was a cool story about Michael Collins, the astronaut who gets the least amount of credit for Apollo 11. It was fascinating because I know nothing about this man and have never heard his name before this. The book is well done and informative. It made me want to pick up Collins' biography. I'm looking forward to the interview with Alex.

That's it for this week.  Next, I'm planning to reread the Truth arc from New 52 Superman and probably dig further into Alex Irvine's back catalogue.  See you then.

______________________

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.