Geekquality.com

We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.

It’s fun to begin the week with a book full of robots, with DW’s Transformers: Windblade #1 introducing the first “fan-created” Transformer in the franchise’s history. Windblade is the product of a poll conducted by toymaker Hasbro to create a new character for the series, and the fans specifically chose her gender as female. In a world in which the shape changing robots are supposedly genderless, Windblade (along with her best friend Chromia) obviously shakes up that dynamic. This tale of Windblade’s communication with the city-sized Transformer Metroplex is also the first Transformers title to feature an all female creative team. Written by Mairghread Scott with art by newcomer Sarah Stone, it looks like Windblade’s story will be well guided in this four issue mini-series. Backed by toy production, with Windblade having her own toy now as well, the inclusion of female characters who hold their own with male counterparts is an invaluable representation. Continue reading →

We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.

There are two stand out releases among the wealth of new cape comics this week, and one is from Image Comics, who had a fine course correction with Joe Keatinge and Leila Del Duca’s Shutter #1. Kate Kristopher was born in to a family of “explorers”, people who discover the mystical in a world where the mystical is seemingly right out in the open. Regular people coexist right along side the supernatural, from Minotaurs (in monocles, no less) on the subway, to fairies and demons texting each other and serving coffee. In a world like this, how fantastic can Kate’s family possible be? When she was seven, her father – the last of his line – took Kate to the moon. Now, 27 years old and having lost her father, Kate is making a living as a photographer and trying to live a normal life in a world that may very well be magical because of her ancestors. After all, the more discoveries they make, the less of the supernatural world there is to remain hidden. An attack by a talking robot at her father’s grave reveals to Kate that there’s more to her family than she knows and a normal life doesn’t seem likely. A young woman in peril, Kate is capable and her narrative isn’t just about punching her way out of her problems. In fact, Kate is still vulnerable and obviously filled with grief over her father, and her emotional complexity gives the book a lot more emotional depth. The art, meanwhile, is some of the best around; Del Duca and colorist Owen Gieni have given us a book that’s whimsical and emotional in equal measures, but also modern and dark. Continue reading →

We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.

In Dynamite One Shot’s Red Sonja and Cub, written by Jim Zub with art by Jonathan Lau, Sonja is an iconic powerhouse in her own right, but it’s really the young girl Kazuko who steals the spotlight. Sonja is wandering in a foreign land when she encounters a family under attack. The Red Devil does what she does best, and soon learns that the girl she saved, Kazuko, is on her way to her wedding. She is destined to marry a young man of the warring clan that just assassinated her parents, to end an ages old conflict between two mighty houses. Sonja feels Kazuko is “a political pawn … some kind of chattel” but Kazuko disagrees and is determined to protect her family, as well as their long time enemies, by ending the conflict. On their perilous journey Sonja teaches Kazuko a warrior’s way, instructing her in handling both a weapon and herself. When the ceremony occurs and Kazuko and her betrothed are attacked yet again, it’s the young bride herself who ends the conflict, using the weapon Sonja gave her to bind the ties of blood with her husband to be. While agreeing to an arranged marriage out of political and familial duty isn’t exactly a feminist idea, Kazuko is a determined character, and the choices that define her are her own. She wants to be married to her rival clan’s son, and she is determined that the violence that has marked her short life should end by her doing. When Sonja offers to take the girl along on her adventures, telling her she need not be controlled by others, Kazuko declines, telling Sonja, “I will honorably serve my family, but that does not mean my spirit is tamed. You have taught me much.” Kazuko is the heart of Zub’s story (no matter how many appendages Sonja severs along the way) and this is another Sonja story that is definitely worth a read. Continue reading →

We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.

This week sees characters of color in starring roles, starting with Marvel’s Iron Patriot #1 from Ales Kot and Garry Brown. James “Rhodey” Rhodes has adapted his War Machine persona into The Iron Patriot, in a tale reminiscent of what we’ve seen in the Marvel cinematic universe. Part of a tight-knit Black family, Rhodes is heavily guided by his father Terrance, and he’s also a role model to his niece Lila, a young woman with a Tony Stark-like love for the mechanics of super armor. She is stubborn and determined, and she takes to the young person’s airwaves (read: YouTube) to defend her uncle’s public decision to change his focus as a hero. War Machine was a black ops soldier, but Iron Patriot is a homegrown hero, and Lila is proud of him for it. She makes this book be about more than political intrigue and a secret enemy out to destroy Iron Patriot; this is a story about family, and a realistic one at that, at the center of this book. Continue reading →

We’re No. 1! is a weekly feature looking at first issues in new comic series, as well as one-offs and special releases. In his reviews, Jeff highlights stories with diverse characters and plot lines Geekquality readers can care about, as well as points out comics that miss the mark.

Caped hero fans had little fare to sate them this week, with only Marvel’s Daredevil #1 coming this week. Matt Murdock has become a public figure, his secret identity as Daredevil having been revealed to the world. Now he’s left his traditional home in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen for a place a bit more suited to his left leaning sensibilities: San Francisco. It’s a bit of an odd fit for him and the new surroundings serve as a big part of the story. For a blind man with super senses, knowing your surroundings well is part of the gig, and it’s interesting to follow Daredevil as he tries to work in a city not nearly as cramped at NYC. He’s also got a new partner, a lawyer named Kirsten McDuffie, who spends most of the book as the voice in Daredevil’s ear, the Alfred to his Batman. Hopefully in the future she’ll have more to do.

Continue reading →