Dave's Capsules for February 2019

Archive of older reviews

Items of Note (Strongly Recommended or otherwise worthy): Nothing this month, but it was a pretty light month.

In this installment: Superman Krypton Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Hilo vol 5, Captain Marvel #2, Ironheart #3, Ms. Marvel v2 #38,  Deathstroke #40, The Wrong Earth #6, Star Trek vs. Transformers #5 (of 5), Go-Bots #4, Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #2-3 (of 5).


Current Wait List (books either Diamond didn't ship or my store failed to order): No missing books, just a lot of stuff missing February entirely. 

"Other Media" Capsules:

Things that are comics-related but not necessarily comics (i.e. comics-based movies like Iron Man or Hulk), or that aren't going to be available via comic shops (like comic pack-ins with DVDs) will go in this section when I have any to mention.  They may not be as timely as comic reviews, especially if I decide to review novels that take me a week or two (or ten) to get around to. 

They really should've made the
dough chunks green.

Superman Krypton Cookie Dough l Ice Cream: DC/Dreyer - Okay, I decided to give Superman's flavor a shot.  It's your basic "birthday cake" ice cream (yellow cake flavor, sprinkles) plus chunks of uncolored and red-colored sugar cookie dough.  And it's, well, kinda bland.  The dough chunks don't have enough flavor to stand out against the sugary general taste.  It's also Light, turns out all three flavors are, but that aspect didn't really make itself obvious.  (The Batman flavor is dark chocolate, which I'm not keen on in general, so there won't be a third review in this series.)  I skimmed the story on the cartons I could find, looks like Wonder Woman fails to stop Cheetah on her ice cream, so Luthor gets a plot device he uses to menace Superman.  Not exactly deathless storytelling, but did you expect it to be?  Mildly recommended.

(See my "What Makes An Event Special?" essay for why there's no movie reviews.  I'll probably get Alita when it comes out on disc, though.)


Digital Content:

Unless I find a really compelling reason to do so, I won't be turning this into a webcomic review column.  Rather, stuff in this section will be full books available for reading online or for download, usually for pay.  I will often be reading these things on my iPhone if it's at all possible.

Nothing this month.  Another victim of Short Month Syndrome, Adventure Finders didn't quite get an installment out.

"When everything
goes wrong" is part
of Shakespearean plot
structure, right?

Trades:

Trade paperbacks, collections, graphic novels, pocket manga, whatever. If it's bigger than a "floppy" it goes here.

Hilo vol 5: Then Everything Went Wrong: Random House Graphic - Retcons ahoy!  I guess we didn't get the actual story after all.  The cast gets split, with Hilo and D.J. returning to Hilo's homeworld where they slowly start to put together what happened.  Meanwhile, the rest of the cast has to maintain the facade that everything's normal.  Not really a spoiler to say that this goes...poorly.  This definitely has the feeling of a penultimate chapter, although I suppose volume 6 could pull an Empire Strikes Back and end with things even more dire.  Recommended.  $13.99/$18.99Cn


Floppies:

No, I don't have any particular disdain for the monthlies, but they are floppy, yes? (And not all of them come out monthly, or on a regular schedule in general, so I can't just call this section "Monthlies" or even "Periodicals" as that implies a regular period.)

Captain Marvel (2019) v(something) #2: Marvel - Okay, the premise takes a few pages to become clear, and I don't think it was supposed to be unclear...Makhismo didn't take anyone to his home dimension, he made a sort of pocket realm in part of NYC.  I don't think this was supposed to be a spoiler, hence mentioning it now.  A lot of "What's going on?" "We don't really know, but..." exchanges, and some plot device elements that will let them run this arc pretty long before it becomes a continuity snarl.  Still feels like bait and switch...I was interested in where #1 looked to be heading, I'm a lot less interested in where the story is heading now.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99

Ironheart #3: Marvel - After a pretty strong start, it's not doing well in the follow-through.  One problem is that apparently a big issue for Riri is PTSD over something that happened in a comic I didn't read, and Ewing seems to be assuming everyone reading this book read the previous thing.  This is where old-fashioned editor's notes ("see ComicName #Whatever for the full story!") would be really useful.  As it stands, "Surprise, PTSD!" comes out of left field.  Much like Captain Marvel, it's like the writer pitched #1 with no intention of really using it to set up how the story would run.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99

Ms. Marvel v2 #38: Marvel - Wilson writes a setup story (which seems to gently write off the recent "medieval AU" story as a dream Zoe had), then other creators write chapters of the rest of it.  A lot of ground is re-trod, although I expect the intent was to be homage rather than mere repetition.  Nice tying of a bow on Wilson's run.  Recommended.  $3.99

Deathstroke #40: DC - The Arkham arc comes to an end, and while some things are explained (such as how Priest is getting around some of the restrictions from the Bat-office), other things are left deliberately vague.  Priest is clearly not done messing with the Wilson family's heads.  Recommended.  $3.99

The Wrong Earth #6: Ahoy Comics - End of the first "season" of the book, and both protagonists find their own ways to accommodate to the worlds in which they appear to be stuck.  Each cites the same principle for nearly opposite reasons in pursuit of this, though, and while they've both found ways to fit in, they're not assimilating or really giving up on their core beliefs.  An interesting way to take it.  The last page stinger sets up the next arc, coming in 2020.  Recommended as a whole arc, although I've given up on the backups.  $3.99

The Cybertronium Maneuver

Star Trek vs. Transformers #5 (of 5): IDW - On the one hand, plot devices were pulled out of various hindquarters at an astonishing rate...on the other hand, that's perfectly in keeping with the tone of both of the cartoons involved in this crossover.  And like both cartoons, they leave things open for the possibility of a second crossover.  I don't see them building a franchise title out of this, and a lot of setups in the originals never paid off, so they'll probably go with that angle of the homage too.  Recommended, mostly for the nostalgia angle.  $3.99

Go-Bots #4: IDW - Plot definitely went into fast-forward mode, resulting in a lot of backing up to do exposition either via characters asking what happened, or having visions.  Not as interesting as the first three issues, but I think part of that is because Scioli has hit the point where he needs to bridge between how he wanted to start and where he wanted to go, and it feels a little more perfunctory.  Mildly recommended.  $3.99

Atomic Robo Dawn of a New Era #2-3 (of 5): IDW - So, three issues in, and there's at LEAST three main ongoing plot threads introduced (or re-introduced).  On Patreon, Clevinger has stated that this is the start of a several-series arc, and it definitely shows...if anything, I have to wonder what plot thread (if any) could possibly be adequately wrapped up by the fifth issue.  That's a minor point, though, since there's definitely more than enough reason here to go ahead and read the whole mega-arc.  Recommended.  $3.99 each.


Dvandom, aka Dave Van Domelen, is an Assistant Professor of Physical Science at Amarillo College, maintainer of one of the two longest-running Transformers fansites in existence (neither he nor Ben Yee is entirely sure who was first), an eater of perhaps too much ice cream, a long time online reviewer of comics, an occasional science advisor in fiction, and part of the development team for the upcoming City of Titans MMO.

"You better not be storming out to wage another one-man war from the shadows, mister." - Atomic Robo, who has had it up to here with such shenanigans.