Marvel Pick Of The Week – December 10, 2014

Pick of the Week:

Rocket Raccoon 6, by Skottie Young and Jake Parker

Rocket Raccoon was one of the highlights of last summer’s megahit Marvel movie, Guardians Of The Galaxy. His cute little walking raccoon exterior made a hilarious dissonance to his cynical, bloodthirsty dialogue and penchant for oversized weaponry. Skottie Young launched his solo title with the same dissonance; the art was Young’s signature hyper-detailed, kinetic cartoon work, but the content was a little dark. Kids could love the colors and noise, but adults could see the subtle humor and the sad backbone of this lonesome, angry procyon. Jake Parker has since taken over the art duties, but the book has not missed a step, and you would be forgiven for not even noticing the difference (Confession: I didn’t realize that last issue was Parker, but looking back, I can see the figures have slightly less detail).

This issue tells another done-in-one story. Rocket is completing some mercenary work de-lousing Ego, the Living Planet (and I would happily read an entire issue of that), then telepathic space-dog Cosmo assigns him to complete a mission to help rescue a group of peaceful robots before arms dealers reprogram them into killing machines. His partner for this mission is Brute, a robot roughly the size of Rocket’s usual best buddy. Rocket and Brute have to shake down a shady gun salesman and break up a black market auction before this adventure concludes. Along the way, the art style suggests the best examples of Miyazaki, Calvin And Hobbes, and Skottie Young, keeping the tone light even when Rocket muses, “It’s crazy how many species we just kicked the %$#@ out of down there,” while holding a stolen firearm.

After months of reading issues of AXIS tie-ins shoving heroism further into the mud, it’s refreshing to see a creative team address a darker antihero without losing what made comics so much fun for us all when we got on board, without losing the comedic tone that propelled Rocket’s movie into the top position. This was a week with a large number of great Marvel titles, but this is the book I’d read again and again.

Honorable Mentions:

Amazing Spider-Man 11, for keeping the entertaining crossover going with a shocking death, scary twists, and a picture of Peter Parker punching Otto Octavius in his smug, superior face. This crossover still rewards casual readers and tells a tight but flexible story. Every time you buy an issue of AXIS and leave an issue of Spider-Verse on the shelf, the comics community as a whole dies a little bit.

Spider-Verse Team-Up 2, for matching Miles Morales Spider-Man, modern cartoon Spider-Man, and 60’s cartoon Spider-Man to tell a cohesive story while the artist draws each man in his own style. I couldn’t have been happier if they’d all split a yummy Hostess snack cake to celebrate the adventure.

Uncanny X-Men Annual 1, for letting Andrea Sorretino play with panel structure even more than we loved in Green Arrow as Bendis bounces Eva Bell around in Marvel’s timeline, visiting everyone from the Rawhide Kid to Killraven. This book was a visual delight, and the dialogue popped.

Death Of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy 6, for reminding us all that Mystique and Destiny were lesbian lovers. This was hinted at in the 80’s and explicitly stated in X-Men: Forever, but the point has seemed to drop in Mystique’s appearances over the last ten years, and I appreciate it resurfacing.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual 1, for letting Bendis do what he does best (write snappy vaudeville dialogue and surprise you with a little heart at the end) while Frank Cho does what he does best (draw sexy 60’s-style space ladies flying around sexy space being sexy).