Honorable Mentions: Episode 53 Follow-Up

Sue's allowed to be her own person, goshdangit. 

Honorable Mention Highlights: November 27, 2019

• Killadelphia #1 (W: Rodney Barnes; A: Jason Shawn Alexander)
• Witchfinder Reign Of Darkness #1 (W: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson; A: Christopher Mitten)
• Ironheart #12 (W: Eve Ewing; A: Luciano Vecchio)
• Scream: Curse of Carnage #1 (W: Clay McLeod Chapman; A: Chris Mooneyham
• Venom #20 (W) Donny Cares (A) Ryan Stegman
• Invisible Woman #5 (W) Mark Waid (A) Mattia De Iulis)

Killadelphia #1 (Image Comics)
It's like True Detective meets Fright Night, but there's not really enough of either side for me to be completely sold yet. Admittedly, I could do with more of the vampire-side on the page, and less implied in raised eyebrows and hints. But, the characters already feel like real people, and honestly that's a really hard thing to establish in a first issue, so I'm interested to see where it goes.

Witchfinder Reign of Darkness #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
The tone of this books has me completely confused. One minute, I'm watching that extra creepy Johnny Depp flick about Jack the Ripper, the next minute I'm watching a weird Sherlock Holmes rendition where he's kind of an oblivious boob. I want to be into this, because of course, Mignola, but I'm still up in the air. This is also not the first book with this character, so I might be missing key dynamics, but I will say - supernatural Jack the Ripper is always my favorite.

Ironheart #12 (Marvel Comics) 
Eve Ewing's run has finally come to a close, and while we had some substantial reveals take place, I come away from the book feeling... wanting? Ho-hum? The whole run felt like a push to remind her "Family always matters!" but... she always knew that. It doesn't really feel like a magnificent revelation. Still, having a lead of four women of color kicking ass was definitely a fun ride while it lasted.

Scream: Curse of Carnage #1 (Marvel Comics) 
Honestly, this book has a bad case of the edgies. It tries really hard to be broody, with plenty of "get out of my head" talk and "no no no" shouts. The coolest bit are these weird, sludgey symbiote creatures made from like bits of fish and dead pirate skeletons. I am curious to see what the source of that is.

Venom #20 (Marvel Comics) 
And like that, Donny Cates wants to bring back the Ultimate Universe. I cannot even describe how excited I am for this. This particular issue was a much better end to the Absolute Carnage arc than what we got out of Absolute Carnage #5.

Invisible Woman #5 (Marvel Comics) 
Alright, here I am again, contemplating the end of a run that just felt... like an end. It was so refreshing to give Sue a run all her own, give her time to be independent, fully-fleshed out, and dynamic without her hoard of fellas to navigate the story line. But the climactic end of this book centers around a man taking away her ability to choose for herself. I don't know, it seems like a lazy way to end, but maybe I read too much into it, looking endlessly for Sue to be identified beyond Reed's wife and Franklin's mom. Guess it's back to the lab again. Sigh.