Lestat’s Comic Book Review Round-Up – June Week 1, 2019

It’s already June and we’re in the midst of completing some arcs and beginning new ones. This week’s Comic Book Review Round-Up covers "Uncanny X-Men #19," "DC’s Young Justice #6," "Female Furies #5," "DCeased #2," and "Batman #72," and "Thumbs Part One" from Image Comics.

"Uncanny X-Men #19"

It’s an Emma Frost special in this issue. What has the former White Queen and current Black King of the Hellfire Club been up to? Why don’t the X-Men remember her, and how is she involved with the Office of National Emergency? So many questions, so many cliché answers. It’s like this series has gone back in time with its tropes and sensibilities.

Emma Frost is always going to be a problematic character, irrespective of how compelling she is. While her barely there outfits may have made her popular, it is her unabashed power that has made her a fan-favourite among many readers. Much of Emma’s agency, however, is taken away from her in this issue. While she claws her way back, Emma is placed in a vulnerable situation and much of her motivation goes back to her love for Cyclops. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, but hopefully Scott is just a stepping stone for Emma to be back to her A-game.

What really bothered me about this book were the skeevy moments—I mean, did we need them? Two throwaway lines of dialogue by two bad guys to two women in this book for no other reason than to put the women in their place; to bring sexism to the fore and to, as always, pretend like this kind of stuff doesn’t have any effect on the women on the receiving end of these salacious statements. This series began with such promise and now it’s just tanked.

"Young Justice #6"

The finale of the first arc of Young Justice ends on a cliffhanger, but was the journey worth it? Six issues into the series and we’re still getting origin stories all in the name of neat little revelations that will make the characters’ decisions acceptable to the reader. While we get some much-needed background for Jinny Hex and Teen Lantern, both their stories are stultified by the need to rake over Superboy’s Gemworld arc yet again.

It amazes me how inert the female characters are, with the exception of Amethyst, though even she has nothing to do but postulate in this issue. I’ve also never come across a comic that is so static—people literally just stand around while the world around them dissolves. We never feel the stakes because the characters don’t. They can hold long conversations without being interrupted, so there’s apparently no actual threat to them.

This entire series has been making things up as it goes along, and it’s never more painfully obvious than the plethora of Chekov’s Guns and deus ex machina thrown into this issue. Everything from Robin’s sudden amnesia to Superboy’s family is retroactively fixed to set up the denouement. It’s all so juvenile. Just because the target audience of the series is young doesn’t mean you can treat them like fools.

Female Furies #5

Barda has escaped to Earth, but the Female Furies are close on her heels. They fight and soon realise that their battle is with someone else. Desperate to protect Scott Free from Darkseid, and to avenge the death of Aurelie, Barda and Lashina hatch a new plan. What they don’t know is that Granny Goodness is watching their every move. Does it matter though, since all the women of Apokolips remain powerless irrespective of what they do?

Female Furies has a lot of heart and is painfully relevant, but it feels like a ham-fisted soap opera with the occasional joke thrown in. Barda and Scott Free’s romance has been shoehorned in for absolutely no other reason than the fact that they are endgame; now Barda’s arc is primarily about Scott. Who thought that was a good idea?

The art doesn’t support the message because most of the female characters are conventionally drawn, with impractical outfits. It’s taken the creators five issues to accept that all the Furies would have faced sexism, but the words ring hollow because there has been no journey. This is yet another example of making things up as they go along. What is going on with DC?

"DCeased #2"

The techno-virus that Darkseid let loose on Earth begins infecting hordes of humans and now, even some superheroes. One by one they start to fall, with Superman, Lois Lane, Jon Kent, and Damian-Robin being the only ones who have a plan to stop it in its tracks. In the second issue, this group is joined by the Green Arrow and Black Canary, but nothing will prepare them for a possible death in the denouement of the instalment.

I was unsure of this series at first, but I really enjoyed this second issue—it was well-paced and leveraged the long-standing relationships between all the characters to give the plot some heft (though Ollie is a real dick and needs to turn it down several notches). I am unsure what the creators are planning to do with the Harley Quinn and Joker arc, but I think it’s high time people put their toxic relationship to rest. We don’t need it brought up every time they meet; in fact, let’s not have them meet any more. Harley doesn’t need Joker. I am excited for the next issue and I hope DC doesn’t decide to do an about-turn of the final panel because that would be a cop out.

"Batman #72"

Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start falling in place. It’s hard to review this issue without giving away any spoilers, but it basically re-treads everything that’s gone before to explain how and why Batman is in the situation he is in, as well as what Bane might have in store for the future. There’s a lot to unpack, especially since we’re 70 issues deep into the storyline, but the gist is in the meat and it’s wonderful to see the pieces start to form a shape.

The Batman series has been trying at times, but it’s always highlights like this issue that compel you to return. Tom King has hit upon a niche that suits him perfectly—Bat-Cat. Now the Batman series has been curtailed to give way to a Batman/Catwoman series, and this issue is an example of why DC and King have made that decision. Everything that is said in this book is basically how King feels about the Bat-Cat storyline and the reason why he wrote it. Is that how the Batman series will end, though? Can they drag it out for that long? We’ll have to see. But for now, Batman is in for more pain and trouble. Hope he has help.

BONUS Review: "Thumbs Part One"

In this new series from Image Comics, Thumbs lives in a dystopian world where games and technology have practically replaced all human contact. With his parents away working all the time, Thumbs and his sister Tabitha are cared for by a Mom—an AI babysitter that doesn’t get jokes. The end goal for Thumbs is to get an elite scholarship, but he’s not ready for what awaits him.

This was a compelling story with stark art and a muted colour pallet that drove home the depressing environment. I loved the splashes of pink that highlighted the use of technology, it was a bold choice for the story. Aside from the fact that I am really tired of creators only making stories about things they like (have you noticed how many pop culture products today have protagonists who are writers/gamers/artists?), this was a stunning book that balanced the pathos, mystery, and excitement of the plot. The denouement was surprising and I hope the second issue, out next month, will bring more female characters into the story.

Here’s to a brand new month of comics!