Pick of the Week: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1

Seems like we were just here not that long ago for The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1...alas, relaunches, reboots, renumbering happens in comics causing varying degrees of confusion for readers.  Have no fear, our girl, Doreen, is unbeatable for a number of reasons and no relaunch can diminish her butt-kicking, nut-eating super powers!  It's hard for me to pick a favorite comic, but Squirrel Girl is easily my favorite super-hero comic.  It's body positive.  It's fun and hilarious.  I can't even think of a single thing I would change (well, maybe that it was weekly, but I don't want to kill the creative team so...)

We rejoin our heroine with a rescue already in progress.  With the aid of the dashing Chipmunk Hunk, Koi Boi, Nancy, Tippy-Toe, and unnamed squirrels and chipmunks, everyone is saved and the group heads off to an unknown apartment.  Adventures must be ahead! Don't worry if you're new to Squirrel Girl or missed a few issues before the relaunch as we're provided with a handy reintroduction to our main crew.  Spoiler: Tippy-Toe is a squirrel.  

I really enjoy the relationship development in this comic, especially the friendship between Doreen and Nancy.  Sometimes comics can simply be action driven (which has its place), but I've connected with Squirrel Girl because I'm engaged with the characters and would want to hang out with them.  Not that I don't love the butt-kicking action, but I would totally adore an issue that Doreen and Nancy break down reality shows and movies.  

Written by Ryan North, whose itty-bitty bottom of the panel jokes slay me every issue, drawn by Erica Henderson, colored by Rico Renzi, and lettered by VC's Clayton Cowles, Squirrel Girl is a fun monthly romp through the Marvel Universe.  There's also Trading Card art by Joe Morris.  (I really hope a set of Squirrel Girl Trading Cards will be released in the future because they are the best!!)

Bonus Picks: Batgirl #45 and Chew #51

Current Obsession: Marevl's Jessica Jones

Confession time: I've barely read any actual comics about Jessica Jones.  The ones I have read were because I was reading backstory on Squirrel Girl who at one point in the Marvel Universe was Jessica's and Luke Cage's nanny.  I bet she told some unbeatable bedtime stories and sang some amazing lullabies.  I plan to start reading Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos over the Christmas holiday which will be after I binge watch the upcoming Netflix show.

Since I haven't read the comic, it might seem curious that I am obsessed with the show.  First, I adore Krysten Ritter and have since I initially saw her as Gia Goodman, the spoiled daughter of the mayor on Veronica Mars. My favorite show she starred in was Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 which was sadly cut short at two seasons.  You have some time between now and the November 20th release of Jessica Jones to watch all 26 episodes on Netflix.  Ritter was wonderfully awful as Chloe and it will really be fascinating to see her in a much more dramatic role.
  

Second, I am always happy to support a female leads in all forms from comics whether it be on the page, the small screen or the big screen.  I want more comics, shows and movies with interesting an empowering women.  In order to get those, the studios need to be shown that people want them.  When those shows just happen to look amazing, all the better!

I am glad to see that Netflix has done a bang up job of promoting Jessica Jones.  Those teaser trailers were awesome, especially the bar scene set to Joan Jett's Bad Reputation.  Ass kicking greatness! Jessica Jones looks dark, gritty, moody and I can't take my eyes away from it.

Pick of the Week: The Beauty #3

The Beauty #3

Confession time: I am so bad to start blogging and then quit.  I think I got an intro post up on this one and then haven't been back since...I'm going to try to do better with at least a weekly post about what I am excited about in the world of New Comic Book Day.

Image has been doing something extremely smart from a marketing point of view by placing around five or six pages from their upcoming comics in the back of their current comics.  This move has me picking up several comics that I otherwise wouldn't have.  The first of those was The Beauty.  The Beauty has a bit of a strange premise in that people are catching a sexually transmitted disease that makes them absolutely gorgeous.  It's a STD that people are actively trying to be infected.  The downsides of the disease seem mostly unknown until it appears some of those infected are internally combusting.

In The Beauty #3, the lead detectives of our story, Foster and Vaughn, who both happen to be infected with the Beauty, are dealing with the fallout from not following the party line about the Beauty deaths.  That fallout includes gunfire in a parking garage and an introduction to the Anti-Beauty movement.  That movement also brings in a very concerning issue that has been playing out in current events: do pharmaceutical companies exist to make us healthier or to make a profit.  As a reader I couldn't help but think of the astronomical price raise of AIDS drugs that has been in the news.  The other wrinkle in the Beauty is how do you cure people that don't wish to be treated to avoid a return to their less beautiful selves.

The Beauty is written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, drawn by Jeremy Haun and colored by John Rauch with lettering and design by Fonografiks.


Bonus Picks: Black Canary #5 and the Hard cover Hawkeye Omnibus collecting the Fraction and Aja run (Pizza Dog forever!)

Comics for the week!

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