9/4 Comic Reviews: A New Dawn

Public Domain #1 by Chip Zdarksy

It’s back to business this week as we start the issue off with some interviews for letterers and colorists with a series of... eccentric candidates. Syd is clearly still discouraged from recent events and he seems resigned to his voice not being heard. He doesn’t even try to raise any objections when Cynthia and Davis make the decisions without asking him. Seeing someone who was brimming with positivity in the beginning slowly crumbling away is rough to watch, and the worst part is that no one seems the least bit concerned. After his run in with Jerry Jasper in the previous issue, he’s also begun to distance himself from Candy. We still don’t know what exactly happened between the three of them, but all this tension can only keep brewing for so long before it starts to boil over.

Speaking of Jerry Jasper, we see him in a meeting with the creative team of his own Domain book  as his own frustration continues to build with the direction the book is going to take. However, a bigger concern takes precedence when he gets some inside information about the Dallas team’s plan to create three Domains. When Syd was given the rights to continue writing Domain, they’d expected him to just be doing old classics, something harmless that would ultimately serve as little more than marketing for their media empire, but if his book is branching out and including a more diverse cast, then the rights would suddenly become more complicated and could potentially restrict Singular Comics from following suit. He barges into the gym where his sister, Dee is working out and... Ok, wait. There’s something else I need to talk about real quick. There are a few side moments in this next scene that really make it sound like Dee might actually be a serial killer who murders babies. It’s tucked into the background so well that it’s easy to breeze past, but Dee is definitely a serial killer, right? Is this going to be a thing? Is this meant to be a funny “Haha, she’s a terrible person and here’s another reason she’s a terrible person?” Cause, like, yeah, the way it’s set up is pretty funny, but now I’m going to be reading every issue waiting to find out more about how the head of Singular Comics is an actual serial killer! Are we ever going to see this mentioned again or am I just going to be trapped in these questions for the rest of my life? I don’t even know if this moment was meant to be important or not, but it still snuck up and punched me in the gut and I just don’t know how to process that. I didn’t expect my sanity to be at stake with this book, but here we are, I guess. Anyway... Dee (who might be a serial killer) realizes that Dallas Comics poses a greater threat than she’d expected and flat out says that they’re in a creative arms race now. Jasper’s rivalry was always just a matter of petty jealousy and didn’t pose much of a threat, but Dallas Comics is up against the blunt ax of capitalism now and that’s nothing to sneeze at. 

Meanwhile, unaware of all this, the Dallas team sits in for a meeting where Cynthia Mann reveals that she’s booked them a major convention slot and that they’ll need to have an ashcan ready to go in four weeks time. Suddenly, their book has gone from something that may or may not happen to something with an impending deadline and it’s time for them to get in gear. Of course, no one is expected to work for free and Cynthia hands out the first round of paychecks. To be honest, I’d completely forgotten about Miles’ whole backstory of divorce and gambling debts as his reason for getting involved in making comics. He’s finally trying to make some positive changes in his life and pays a visit to his ex-wife to pay her back for all the money he leeched off of her. Unfortunately, there were also a number of unsavory characters he borrowed money from and they might come calling soon...

This book proves to be a blast each week. It’s funny enough to make me laugh out loud while also being genuinely heartfelt. As this defective bunch of people tries to put together a comic book, you just can’t help but root for them. I’m looking forward to seeing how things unfold as they get closer to the convention date because this book, as is life, is many things but smooth is not one of them.

Venom War #2 written by Al Ewing with art by Iban Coello

“I mean, the chains are pretty cool.” 

Is a story that’s been full of high-concept sci-fi, the fractured bonds between a father and son, and revelations about the underpinnings of our universe rife with biblical symbolism all culminating in a superhero wrestling match complete with announcers not the most comics thing ever? I’m looking at that sentence I just wrote and I sure don’t understand it, but it’s unquestionably true. This book had me grinning ear to ear at the sheer insanity of it all. There are so many moving parts and half a dozen tie-in comics to help keep track of them all, but if the final page is any indication, we haven’t seen anything yet. 

The book opens with Meridius and Carlton Drake being their nefarious selves as they pitch their zombiotes (LOVE IT) to an incredulous Liz Allen. Liz has been far from a heroic figure in this book, even being willing to abduct and torture Dylan for the sake of finding a countermeasure against the symbiotes, but even she knows this idea is profoundly stupid and sure to be the death of them all. Of course, that’s just what Meridius wants. He’s happy to fuel the destruction if it means he gets his hands on Venom. The only real idiot here is Carlton Drake as he’s the one who thinks he has the ability to control the chaos. Unfortunately for him, that belief is immediately shattered when the zombiotes break out (because of course they did) and Meridius turns on him and infects him with a zombiote of his own. The zombiotes predictably try to attack everyone, but Liz reveals that her hatred of the symbiotes is, at least partially, directed inward and takes on her own symbiote form as Misery, a fusion of off-shoots of Anti-Venom and Carnage. Of course, she’s no match for a King in Black, but she’s at least able to get away. Meridius watches from the window and finds himself suddenly in the company of a man in a three-piece suit as red as his hair. It’s so obvious who we’re meant to think this person is that I assumed there must be some kind of wrinkle. There is, but it wasn’t the one I was expecting and it certainly bodes poorly for the Brocks. 

But forget all that because it’s time for the SYMBIOTE SHOWDOWN! In one corner, we have Eddie Brock, the King in Black, the human symbiote, and the bearer of Bedlam. In the other corner, we have the spectacular Spider-Man, the webslinger, and currently a man back in black. Pete’s no fan of symbiotes, but he and Venom have made peace and he proposes that he holds onto it until Eddie and Dylan work their issues out. He doesn’t think Eddie can be trusted at the moment and poor Dylan is too afraid of the symbiote to have it foisted on him again. Unfortunately, Eddie isn’t going to take that lying down and the smackdown begins. What follows is one of my favorite action scenes in recent memory. I mentioned in my review of the previous issue that Iban Coello turned in some amazing work that had me excited to seem him cutting loose with the symbiote action, and he more than delivers here. There’s a scene where Spidey throws a punch and his arm extends gum-gum rocket-style to hit Eddie square in the face and it is fantastic. All of the symbiote designs in this issue look insanely good and seeing them throwing down in all their eldritch glory is a sight to behold. Spidey’s new symbiote suit also looks great. It has more details than the classic version with white fingers and chains wrapped around his biceps and it looks SO COOL. As the fight goes on, both heroes slowly start succumbing to the influence of their suits and things get even more brutal. The fangs come out and the suits become unstable as they go from trading punches to tearing at each other’s throats.

While all this goes on, the Venom suit watches helplessly. It came to Spider-Man for moral direction, but now even he is losing himself in the violence. It’s clarified that the symbiote doesn’t take control of its host, but it lowers their inhibitions and makes it harder for them to pull back once their emotions flare. Even someone as noble as Peter Parker isn’t immune to it’s influence, something which only adds to Venom’s self-loathing. As much fun as the book is, this is still a battle for Venom’s soul and the book never loses sight of that emotional core. From the sidelines, Dylan Brock watches. Of all the characters in this book, he’s the only one who doesn’t want Venom and that rejection has stung the symbiote deeply. Overcoming that fear and rebonding with Venom may be the only thing that can end this conflict. As he begins to realize that, he musters his resolve and heads into the fray, embracing his legacy as the Prince in Black.

I hope Ewing and Coello are having fun working on this book, because it’s the most fun I’ve had reading comics in ages. It balances the joy of a kid playing with action figures with a heart full of love and loss. It’s a throwdown for the ages and it’s the struggle of a single alien trying to break free of a cycle of violence. It’s also got a one-page backup featuring Venom-Horse waxing meta-philosophical about the nature of how comics are created versus how we learn from them which is the best thing that’s ever existed. This book is insane and an absolute joy to read.

Dawnrunner #5 written by Ram V with art by Evan Cagle

“We turn ourselves into terrible things to save what we can.”

Upon finishing this book, I sat staring at that last page for a while. The weight of what I’d just read and the questions of what had just happened were bouncing around my consciousness so intensely that I had to just sit there and exist in the moment while my thoughts sorted themselves out independently of me. In that final scene, there’s a moment of peace and I felt that peace myself in a way that I don’t know how to fully articulate. This is a beautiful book and if you haven’t read it, I’d like to suggest picking it up yourself before you read any further. Read it with fresh eyes and form your own feelings about it before reading anyone else’s. This is a book that deserves to be read, reread, and endlessly pondered. It hints at a larger story which will never be explored in favor of spending its last moments with the characters. This isn’t a story about the world, it’s a story about the people struggling in it, and on that front it delivers something truly amazing.

Anita has been absorbed into the Dawnrunner and, together, they’ve become something akin to the Tetza they’re fighting. This new form has leveled the playing field against the opponent but it still isn’t enough for her to handle alone. But in this moment, friends and rivals alike join together to protect Anita, both from the monsters outside the walls and the monsters within. The cynical bloodsports have been abandoned and the fight is now about people saving people. They give Anita the support she needs and the Dawnrunner ends the battle. From there, her and Ichiro’s thoughts echo throughout their merged consciousness. There are thoughts and feelings still unspoken, but we’ve both seen their guilt firsthand. They’ve failed loved ones and watched people suffer, but in this moment of transcendent evolution, there’s hope. Andro Lestern’s hubris is what led to this point, but this isn’t his moment. What happens next happens in spite of him because humanity has never created anything that surpasses the human spirit. This society has been trapped in a status quo perpetuating violence and greed, but all it takes to break free is enough people making different choices. There may be more conflicts to come, but in this moment maybe having made the right choices is enough. 

Evan Cagle’s art is truly phenomenal. In some of the past issues, I’ve complained about how hard it is to praise someone who consistently does such an amazing job. He solves that problem for me with a two page spread so stunning that I paused reading and just stared at it. It’s a moment of perfect tranquility which is punctuated in the next page by a scene of intense violence. What this book is and what it does to the reader is unlike anything else in the medium, or maybe any medium for that matter. This final issue has certainly cemented Cagle as one of my all-time favorite artists. It was recently announced that he’ll be continuing to work with Ram V on New Gods as a part of DC Comics’ upcoming wave of new titles. These two make a truly astounding team and I’m so glad that we’ll be seeing more of them together in the future.

This was a short review, partly because I wanted to avoid spoiling anything and partly because I’m still processing what I’ve just read. Going into this series, I had no idea what to expect. I knew the creative team was full of tremendous talent and I knew the premise sounded like the perfect intersection all my favorite genres and stories. What we got was exactly that, but there was so much more to it. Ram V’s work is diverse in genre and theme, but there is a deep humanism that permeates everything he writes.  Even his darkest work leaves me feeling positive afterward because I leave with a greater understanding of what it means to be human. Please read this book. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

The Immortal Thor #15 written by Al Ewing with art by Jan Bazaldua

The trial of Uruz continues as Thor now struggles with the power he absorbed from Zeus and finds himself being corrupted by the wheel of fate. Hercules watches on the sidelines, powerless to help his friend. He understands that this is a trial of endurance, but does not understand to what form of endurance it refers. Thor is also aware that he’s failing the trial as he finds himself warring with his own corrupted thoughts. Power is intoxicating, even for the All-father, and this trial proves to be about resisting its lure. The wheel of fate represents the greatest conflict Thor has struggled with throughout this run. It feels like every moment of his life has been dictated by a greater hand whether it be the lessons imposed on him by his father, the prophecies and machinations of his mother, the corruption of his mind and myth by Amora the Enchantress, or the trials forced on him by his sibling in the name of preparing him for some coming threat. For all his power, Thor realizes that he’s lacked agency and freedom. It’s that realization which enables him to take that corruptive power and refine it into something protective, taking the form of an artifact from the earliest part of his comic history. Once again, he’s left his trial armed with a new tool and rekindled anger at Loki and their schemes. Loki had told Thor directly that they would be his enemy in this conflict, and he’s now starting to realize just what that entails. Despite the love and trust Thor feels towards Loki, as All-father he cannot allow others to be endangered. He’s forced to make a choice that may or may not have been the right one, but will certainly have consequences either way.

Tired from the fighting, he returns home and seeks rest only to be greeted by Amora in his quarters. Though the two are often enemies, their history is far more complicated than that. They’ve been friends and lovers as well and it’s clear that all of those feelings persist simultaneously, adding a measure of pain to their interactions. What Amora did, she did for a greater purpose than simply undercutting Thor. She has also suffered profound loss and seeks to undo it however she can. Thor sympathizes and does not even seem angered by what she’s done to him. He does, however, give her a warning. Part of her plan involved taking control of the Roxxon corporation on Midgard. It was barely even an afterthought and she says as much, but Thor has tangled with Roxxon too many times in the past. Capitalism is a bestial and violent god in it’s own right and she’d best be sure she really is the one in control. Unfortunately, this book, and many Thor books in the past, have given that bestial god a face and name and he’s not one to stay dead for long...

Jan Bazaldua continues to show her mastery of drawing Thor’s world. I’ve mentioned in the last few reviews about how well she conveyed Thor’s humanity, followed later by an issue focusing on him as an epic figure of myth. This book gives us Thor as both an epic figure and a deeply human character and both sides are portrayed expertly in the art. The scenes of Thor wrestling with his own power are full of crackling energy and the scenes between him and Amora later are full of pain and feelings that are unspoken but plainly visible on their faces. The last scene of the book doesn’t feature Thor, but it stands out as a particularly chilling moment as we’re presented with the new face of evil. I haven’t been keeping track of the solicitations for future issues, but my fingers are crossed that we continue to see her on this book because she’s delivering some truly standout work. 

I read a lot of books that are good, but there is something particularly consistent about the way The Immortal Thor is good. It may be the tone, as Ewing is drawing from the Norse Eddas which adds the weight of history and a flavor of epicness not often seem in mainstream comics. It may be the character-writing being pitch-perfect throughout each issue. It’s likely all of those things along with the fact that he’s consistently working with great artists who can balance all of the aspects of Thor as a character and make them shine. This book continues to be a standout each month and I’ll continue to sing its praises until Ragnarok.