Past Due Reviews [6]

 

Have you ever read a book and then forgotten to review it? Yeah? Well, that happens to me all the time! That's how I got the idea for Past Due Reviews. They won't be long posts, they'll likely contain a lot of comics, and my memories of the books themselves probably won't be great (some of them were read months ago, and I didn't sit down and review them for this or that reason). Hopefully the content is still relevant and helpful! 

Wicked Things #5-6 by John Allison, Max Sarin

Review for #5: That. Was. Terrible. I really liked the last issue and thought the story was finally going somewhere, but then #5 did NOT pick up where #4 left off. Why would the writer do this? What about continuity and consistency? Instead of a smooth and seamless transition from one issue to the next, we get a very confusing story that left me feeling lost and like I'd missed something. I even went back and re-read the ending for #4, but my memory wasn't the problem. The story simply took off in a completely different direction without even referencing the big stuff that had happened previously! WHYYY?

The inconsistencies were annoying, but I also hated that the misogynistic comments and views still weren't addressed this far into the series. (★★☆☆☆)

Review for #6: WHAT? THAT DIDN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE! AAARRGH - this series was a huge waste of my time. Additionally, the story started off with an attempted murder, jumped to robbery, and then ended with a shooting. Why am I mentioning this? Because only the last one had any sort of resolution. There were only six issues, so I'm not entirely sure how it managed to go from bad to worse in such a short amount of time. (★★☆☆☆)

Spider-Man: Noir (2020) #1-3 by Margaret Stohl, Juan E. Ferreyra, Dave Rapoza

Synopsis (via Goodreads): MURDER AND MYSTERY IN THE MIGHTY MARVEL MANNER! DATELINE, 1939! As the specter of war looms on the horizon, SPIDER-MAN: NOIR fights the good fight at home, stopping the injustices of a more friendly-neighborhood variety. But after a dame is murdered at The Black Cat nightclub and all clues point overseas, Spidey will have no choice but to board the next flight to Europe and kick off a globetrotting adventure through yesteryear of the Marvel Universe!

Review for #1-3: OMGGG - SO BORING. I honestly don't even know what this story was supposed to be about. A necklace? A murder? A terrible detective? What were they even trying to do??? I thought the time period would be fun to read about, but I was WRONG. The writing was dense, the story was snooze-worthy, and the characters themselves left a lot to be desired. I actually DNF'd the third issue! I couldn't make myself read another page of a comic book, which is really saying something since they have so few pages to begin with. (★★⋆☆☆)

We Only Find Them When They're Dead #1-3 by Al Ewing, Simone Di Meo

Synopsis (via Goodreads): For fans of Decorum and Something is Killing the Children comes a new sci-fi epic from Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk) and Simone Di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). Captain Malik and the crew of the Vihaan II harvest resources from the giant corpses of alien gods found on the edge of human space. While other autopsy ships race to salvage the meat, minerals, and metals that sustain the human race, Malik sees an opportunity to finally break free from this system by being the first to find a living god. But Malik's obsession with the gods will push his crew into danger at the darkest reaches of space and face -- unless the rogue agent on their trail can stop them first...

Review for #1-3: I went into this series knowing very little about it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story! It's a little hard to get into at first, but that's because it takes place in the future and the characters use terminology I'm not familiar with. I'm still not 100% sure what the bells mean, or what they're used for, but I think it has something to do with when they're allowed to start slicing and dicing in space. I wish we'd been given more background information on the world and how it had changed over time, and more character development would've been appreciated. We only get glimpses into their personal lives (sadly there were no flashbacks to the distant past), which made it hard to connect with them in the present.

The illustrations were phenomenal. I am obsessed with Simone Di Meo and cannot wait to see how she portrays people and places in future issues. Seriously, the artwork was stunning. Gorgeous coloring, breathtaking details, and even the morbid parts were beautifully conveyed. I just wish the characters had been written as well as they'd been drawn.

I'm always willing to give stories a few issues to find their rhythm, but I was super invested in this one from the start. However, the most recent issue (that I've read) really bummed me out. This one character's need for vengeance was fierce, but we don't really know why she's so obsessed with blowing this other character to smithereens. It seemed to be her sole purpose in life - innocent bystanders be damned - and it just wasn't believable with what little information we did have.

I was disappointed by the turn of events and felt like Ewing rushed the characters from point A to point B without much explanation. I get that they need to do the thing, but I'm still unsure about the why. A lot happened really quickly, and I wish the author had taken their time getting there. All in all, I'm happy with the series so far and looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here, but really hope Ewing explains more while doing less. (★★★★☆)