Marvel Pick Of The Week – August 20, 2014

PICK OF THE WEEK!

Elektra 5, by W. Haden Blackman and Michael Del Mundo

It’s easy to brush this off as a light and pretty book. Often, writers paired with powerful artists write loose stories to showcase the art. I loved Bendis’s collaborations with David Mack in Daredevil and Alias, but on second reading, they were pretty flimsy. In this book, the art serves to continue telling the story in creative ways, demonstrating a deep understanding of the character but also of layout. When Elektra clears her mind to foil a telepathic assault, the artist shows her features (like her pupil, iris, and teeth) softening and drifting away as smoke, showing how powerful this woman is but also allowing for an evocation of movement and sound, that this woman can achieve stillness amidst danger. On the penultimate page, the caption boxes are laid out such that the image of Elektra’s face betrays a smile only noticeable when the reader starts the sentence, “I will kill them all.” It’s a creepy but beautiful illusion of movement, and I keep watching that page to make sure she doesn’t open her mouth next. This artist is best on display in a double-page spread where Elektra must foil a cibopathic assassin by overloading him with her own backstory, and the result is a lunatic cacophany in a red palette. At first, I winced and looked away, overwhelmed, but I then spent a full two minutes looking at each part of the busy picture, finding new stories each time my eyes passed over it. With minimal sound effects, my absorption in the piece created in my head an echoing laughter and even an out-of-tune calliope. It is not enough to say this is a gorgeous book. This is a book that is pushing the limit of what a comic reading experience can be.

Honorable Mentions:

Daredevil 7, for redeeming an otherwise off-the-rack superhero story with a deeply sensitive exploration of what postpartum depression with psychotic features is like for women, the feelings of fear and guilt around that. Instead of a letters page, the book contains a page educating the reader about this phenomenon and explaining where people can get help. I am a psychiatrist in my day job, and this is an accurate and responsible way to help people. I’d rather read Daredevil than dump an ice bucket on myself anyday. Can I challenge people to read Daredevil 7??

All-New Ghost Rider 6, for replacing the groundbreaking visuals of Tradd Moore with Damion Scott, who takes the visual themes established but makes them his own brand of weird. With talent like these folks, even a relatively calm issue taking stock after the explosive first arc becomes a gripping lap in this race.

Secret Avengers 7, for playing Deadpool for humorous metacommentary again. I am sick of the cartoon we’ve been getting, a clown throwing pies in faces while knee-deep in offal. This Deadpool still uses violent gags, but in a toned-down way, focused more on funny arguments with his writer and snide comments about the readers. If Deadpool was still like this, I would be reading his ongoing title. Also, we get Hawkeye in his boxers. I am always happy to get Hawkeye in his boxers. Joss Whedon, I hope you hear this.

New Avengers 23, for slowing down after last issue’s action-packed destruction of a universe and pulling on my feels with the way a half-dozen powerful men say goodbye to the life they’ve known. And the swerve at the end caught me by total surprise, so I won’t spoil it, but man, that was good. I don’t know why it has taken two dozen issues to make this book readable while New Warriors is dead at twelve, but I will appreciate what I’m getting.

Original Sins 5, for writing a Dum Dum Dugan story I enjoyed reading, which is literally the only time I have been able to write that sentence in over two decades of comic fandom.