The Recipe for 12/13/17

Pick of the Week:
Runaways #4 officially introduced us to Dr. Hayes, the creepy cat lady who has been monitoring the gang since the first issue.  On the surface she seems like a cool elderly yet resilient motherly type in the vein of Aunt May.  The blood samples she’s taking from Molly, Molly’s reaction when Gert says she is staying with the Hayes, and the telepathic cat spies leads me to believe that this will not end well.  It was also cool to discover that Molly shares some traits with her late mother because we never received a true sense of parents in the previous runs. I am glad that Molly continues to be more perceptive than her peers and noticed that Victor is playing possum.  I wonder how the Victor/Victorious thing will play out.  Did this issue confirm that Molly’s parents were siblings, the explanation that her dad was adopted by her maternal grandmother seems too weird.  It’s odd for two unrelated mutants to have the same powers.  The cats in this issue were so adorable (yes, I am a cat person)! The artist, Kris Anka, told me that the black cat with the white crescent on his face is named Rufus and he will appear in more issues.  Rainbow definitely understands the characters and what makes them tick.  It’s awesome on one level, that a Marvel comic could be so captivating without any action scenes yet doesn’t overwhelm you with dialogue like a vintage Bendis book.

Worthy Mentions

Royals #12 made me wish that we could find out more about the Progenitors and their place in the grand scheme of things.  Do their experiments interfere with the Celestials? Do they have some sort of agreement with the Celestials to divide the universe up so they don’t contaminate each other’s project?  I also found it interesting that an Inhuman could be elevated to the rank of a Progenitor.  Must say this issue made me a bigger fan of Javier Rodriguez and Kevin Libranda.

Rumble #1 was an artistic home run for David Rubin!  Arcudi writes compelling monsters and David Rubin draws the heck out of them.  This issue is a great recap of the previous run for returning fans and new ones,  I wonder how this King Rathraq development will play out, will he become an enemy of his former human allies?

Justice League of America #20 made me wonder which defeat is more humiliating, taser to the ear or being hit in the nads with a whip?  Prometheus’ ego/overconfidence was his undoing once again.  What idiots outside of a Shonen villain announce his plans in the middle of battle? It’s funny that he still managed to inflict lasting damage on the team without even knowing it.

Mister Miracle #5 is another King-Gerard masterpiece.  With this issue and the continued use of the old VHS tape effect on the panels, I question whether this is really happening or is Scott trapped in some Anti-Life fueled dream world. The idea is absurd in the sense that a god is enjoying his last moments of existence doing such mundane things yet it works and possesses a strong semblance of normality.

X-Men Blue #17 made me wish that they spent more time in 2099 to interact with the X-Men of that era.  It was one of the better 2099 books from what I remember  R.B. Silva did a good job with the art chores for this issue.  Bunn continues to write one of the better X-books.

Jean Grey #10 confused me with the ending unless it will be followed by 2 resurrections? Removing Teen Jean at this point will create a great temporal ripple.  Maybe the teen X-Men saga will end with them being restored to their proper place in the timeline.

The Meh Pile:

Many books were extra meh but nothing worth burning or mentioning.

This review was written in partnership with Pop Culture Network. They can be found on their website:www.popculturenetwork.com

A married pleasantly plump collection of flesh, blood, bones, tears, & hope