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Ms. Marvel Volume 8: Mecca - In politics clearly ripped from the headlines, the Hydra guy is installed as mayor of Jersey City despite losing the election, and sets his goons to arrest and “remove” everyone with superpowers. Ms. Marvel needs to save her family and friends from said goons while the Third Circuit Justices get off their asses and fix the political mess. Also, Ms. Marvel learns to deal with not being the superhero ingenue and saves a train.
Clean Room Volume 2: Exile and Clean Room Volume 3: Waiting for the Stars to Fall: - Gail Simone abandons some of the Grant Morrison in favor of explaining a bunch of what’s going on and making more of it make sense and come together as a proper story with a point. It becomes clear that the original idea behind the series was, “What if Scientology (with the serial numbers filed off) was really right?” I suspect it was cancelled prematurely, as a lot happens in the last couple of issues and it feels a bit rushed. But it does wrap up appropriately, with relatively few dangling ends.
Saga Volume 8 - In case you weren’t up on abortion politics, here’s a good primer, set in a sci-fi/fantasy neverending war and narrated by a small child who has seen much of her supporting cast die. I’m actually hoping that there are a few more resolutions in this series soon. It’s become a bit of a saga, so to speak.
The Mighty Thor Volume 1: Thunder In Her Veins - I mean, it’s cool and all, but there’s nothing particularly new or special here? The gimmick with Jane as Thor is that her human self is dying of cancer, and transforming to Thor voids the chemotherapy. But as the main character, we know she’s not going to die of cancer (or at all, unless she comes back shortly thereafter) so the pathos falls flat. Meanwhile, Odin’s gone nuts, Loki keeps switching sides and Malkeith is starting wars among the realms. It’s just all been done, y’know?
Totally Awesome Hulk Volume 1: Cho Time - This, while also not brilliant, is a bit more entertaining to me, because there's a bit more teenage idiocy / coming-of-age story going on here. Amadeus Cho is a super-genius but is both new to being the Hulk and is dealing with the fact that he's still a teenager. I feel like “attempted but not quite perfect goofy fun and smashing” is better overall than “attempted but not quite perfect angst and political drama.”
Clean Room Volume 2: Exile and Clean Room Volume 3: Waiting for the Stars to Fall: - Gail Simone abandons some of the Grant Morrison in favor of explaining a bunch of what’s going on and making more of it make sense and come together as a proper story with a point. It becomes clear that the original idea behind the series was, “What if Scientology (with the serial numbers filed off) was really right?” I suspect it was cancelled prematurely, as a lot happens in the last couple of issues and it feels a bit rushed. But it does wrap up appropriately, with relatively few dangling ends.
Saga Volume 8 - In case you weren’t up on abortion politics, here’s a good primer, set in a sci-fi/fantasy neverending war and narrated by a small child who has seen much of her supporting cast die. I’m actually hoping that there are a few more resolutions in this series soon. It’s become a bit of a saga, so to speak.
The Mighty Thor Volume 1: Thunder In Her Veins - I mean, it’s cool and all, but there’s nothing particularly new or special here? The gimmick with Jane as Thor is that her human self is dying of cancer, and transforming to Thor voids the chemotherapy. But as the main character, we know she’s not going to die of cancer (or at all, unless she comes back shortly thereafter) so the pathos falls flat. Meanwhile, Odin’s gone nuts, Loki keeps switching sides and Malkeith is starting wars among the realms. It’s just all been done, y’know?
Totally Awesome Hulk Volume 1: Cho Time - This, while also not brilliant, is a bit more entertaining to me, because there's a bit more teenage idiocy / coming-of-age story going on here. Amadeus Cho is a super-genius but is both new to being the Hulk and is dealing with the fact that he's still a teenager. I feel like “attempted but not quite perfect goofy fun and smashing” is better overall than “attempted but not quite perfect angst and political drama.”
