I went a bit overboard when it came to getting comics this week so I decided to do little reviews for all of them (in addition to the two big reviews for the comics I already did for Word of the Nerd this week). So here goes:

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James Bond #1

Writer: Warren Ellis

Artist: Jason Masters

Colorist: Guy Majors

Publisher: Dynamite Comics

I recommend: Buying it immediately if you’re a Bond fan.

I can’t stop talking about how good this comic is. I’m a HUGE Warren Ellis fan and I’m basically set to talk up his runs on Stormwatch and The Authority for days. I think that he’s just a fantastic writer who pulls so much out of the characters that he writes. So when I heard that he was going to be writing James Bond in the comics, I was excited. Ellis and Masters aren’t tackling Bond as he is in film, but they’re updating Fleming’s shark of a spy and bringing him into the twenty-first century proper.

It’s just such a good comic, okay? Ellis and Masters’ Bond is a snarky babe that makes me think of Bruce Wayne and the world that they’re putting forward is both appropriately and realistically diverse. I love that even though Ellis is trying to stay true to Fleming’s original work, he’s also looking at the England of 2015 and going “yeah, this has to show in my book”. Which is awesome because we get racebent Moneypenny and M!

Now I wrote an actual review for this book so if you want to know more about my thoughts on the issue, head on over to my James Bond #1 review on Word of the Nerd!

 

Unfollow #1

Writer: Rob Williams

Artist: Michael Dowling

Colorist: Quinto Winter

Publisher: Vertigo Comics

I recommend: following this comic to what’s sure to be a creepy conclusion!

Unfollow #1 lowkey messed me up. I’ve been kind of challenging myself to read darker books and when I saw the blurb for this book about a dying social media mogul who was dividing his fortune between 140 people, I knew that it was going to end so poorly. And honesty – I was super excited about it anyway because I’m apparently a bit of a sadist when it comes to fictional characters.

What I truly love about Unfollow #1 is the characters. When characters jump off the page in the first issue, you know you’re going to get attached and that they’re going to probably break your heart. Right now, I’m already feeling invested in David and Ravan in the book. I lowkey ID with David and Ravan is just heartbreaking in her brief appearance. Seriously, I need more. I must have more!

Unfollow #1 also got a full review from me over at Word of the Nerd so for a crap ton of spoilers and slightly more serious analysis, head on over there to check it out!

Monstress #1

Writer: Marjorie Liu

Artist: Sana Takeda

Publisher: Image Comics

I recommend: buying this in print and in digital so you can feel the pages and weep over the glorious art/writing combination.

At this point, if I see Marjorie Liu’s name on something I tend to buy it. From the cover I knew that Monstress was going to be my thing. When the previews came out and we saw the actual interiors with Sana Takeda’s lush art? I knew that I’d buy the issues and probably grab the trades when they came out as well.

There aren’t enough words for me to describe how intensely I enjoyed this first issue. Every single part of the issue moved me. I felt disgust and fear and sympathetic sadness on every page. When I looked at the little children that the Cumaea took and what they were planning to do to them, I felt anger. There are some comics where you can feel the emotion that went into making them and this is one of those comics. There’s something incredibly personal about Monstress and I’m really just moved by the intensity of the book. I feel as if I would’ve read this in whatever format that it was in but the comic just brings the characters to life in a way that really sinks you into Maika’s head and takes you on her path.

I really can’t wait until the second issue!

The Vision #1

Writer: Tom King

Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: Marvel Comics

I recommend: reading up on what happened first with Vision before picking this issue up but this is a good book!

I think that The Vision #1 is a creepy book but it also left me feeling sad.

Like intensely sad. This is the most disjointed of the reviews that I’m writing but that’s because I can’t quite wrap my head around what I’ve been reading. Tom King is the master of stories that kind of mess you up and move you and that’s 100% why I’ll read anything he’s written at least once. With The Vision, I was expecting more horror (like everyone’s tweets about it were like “omg this was scary” or “it fucked me up” and after reading the issue a few times I’m not sure if I get it), but I wasn’t expecting all of the feelings I got from the book.

I kind of just felt bad for the Vision and his family.

Like…

Damn.

Especially the mom, Virginia. Oh my god that ending –

There are definitely notes/moments in the story that ping my brain as some things that’ll be fucked up in the future but largely I was like “oh no, poor synth-thingies” the whole time.

I can’t remember ever feeling so bad at the ending of a comic before. I have no idea what’s going on but I’m kind of okay with that. While I’m not super sure what’s going on or what happened before the comic (I feel like I’m missing some relevant information), I’m really interested in seeing what happens next and about learning about The Visions and why they definitely kind of give me the creeps.

Tom King definitely rocks and when he’s partnered with a guy like Gabriel Hernandez Walta (who draws some of the most disconcerting faces I’ve seen in a while), you know that you’re in for a wild ride.

 

Extraordinary X-Men #1

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Humberto Ramos (pencils) & Victor Olazaba (inks)

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Publisher: Marvel Comics

I recommend: only getting this book if you’re up to date with the current state of the X-Men in Marvel because I am lost.

I bought this book because of Jeff Lemire’s writing and Storm and Nightcrawler on the cover. I have no other excuse considering that I’m so behind in the X-Men comics that the last thing I read, they were all in hell fighting Nightcrawler’s dad. But I like Jeff Lemire’s writing and the X-Men are awesome. So I bought this book and prepared to be super confused the entire time.

And I was.

Even with the handy recaps I was lost and I don’t know if that’s something that I’m okay with. The issue with all of these events and new changes to canon is that when you’re dropping back into a comic you haven’t read in a while or checking in on new characters, it’s extremely different to figure out what’s going on. There’s a lot going on in this book and it’s super busy.

I didn’t dislike it but it’s also not really a book that worked for me. It’s got decent art and so many characters that I like but I also have zero idea about what’s going on and no hope of getting caught up because there’d be too many books to read. Extraordinary X-Men #1 isn’t a bad book at all, but here my desire to support creators and characters I liked kind of kicked me in the butt just because it’s so hard to get back into team books when you haven’t read the characters in a while.