Recommended Reading for 1/8: Hopeless Savages: Break

I first met the Hopeless-Savage family because of a girl. I met her, and we went out on a date to a comic shop, an auspicious beginning to something that wound up not really going anywhere, and as we were browsing, she asked if I had ever read Hopeless Savages, and my response was, "What's Hopeless Savages?" Shocked and appalled, she grabbed the first trade of the series, tossed it onto her stack, and bought it for me so I would read it. The relationship with the girl ended, but my relationship with the Hopeless-Savages continues to this day, and near year's end last year, after a break of about a decade, they're back, and it's like they never left,

For those of you who, once like me, don't know about Hopeless Savages, the comic is published by Oni Press and created by Jen Van Meter, whose praises I have sung before in regards to her work on Dr. Mirage for Valiant. It's the story of the family of two 70s era punk icons, Dirk Hopeless and Nikki Savage, who got out of the scene and decided to raise a family. Their four children, Rat Bastard, Arsenal Fierce, Twitch Strummer, and Skank Zero, as well as the kids' significant others and friends, round out the cast of the book, and it is at its heart a book about family,and what we do for and with those we love.

Break, the new book in the series, takes place a few years after the end of the previous volume. Zero, the youngest of the Hopeless-Savage kids and often narrator of the comics, has gone off to college, and as Spring Break approaches, things aren't too great. Her roommate is uber-sorority pledge girl, she hasn't heard from her boyfriend, Ginger, all semester, and she just needs to get away, and is hoping a two week tour with her friends/her band, the Dusted Bunnies, are what will clear the cobwebs out, so to speak.

The spine of the story is Zero and the Dusted Bunnies'  tour, and the rivalry that brews between them and another band, but there are a series of interludes throughout showing exactly what the rest of the family, as well as Ginger, are up to; Nikki touring again, Dirk going to visit an old bandmate on his deathbed, Rat trying to really find his place in the world, Arsenal and her boyfriend, Claude, dealing with their new twins, and Twitch and his boyfriend, Henry, on a miserable tour playing on an orchestra for an ice show.

While the cast is massive, with all the Hopeless-Savages, plus their significant other, plus the Dusted Bunnies, plus Zero's nemesis band, Minnie Turbine & the Portable Generators, none of the characters get lost in the shuffle. There is even room for other characters to make memorable appearances, like Stink Keane, Dirk's old bandmate who is dying from years of over-doing it on the drugs and partying, and the mysterious professor, Sarasavi Wulliwulli-Filbert, who seemingly miraculously comes to the Dusted Bunnies rescue on a couple of occasions. Doctor WooWoo is one of those side characters who absolutely demands attention every time she pops up on the page, and I hope that we get to see more of her and Zero's relationship in future volumes.

These lively and lifelike characters are what makes Hopeless Savages such an incredible comic, Van Meter has a distinct voice and attitude for each of the family and all their friends, and they each read so distinctly. More than that, she knows how to craft a story that tugs to the heartstrings without ever being maudlin or seeming forced. The story that jumped out at me this volume, that really had me from page one, was Nikki's. Out on tour, she has an accident that breaks her leg, one that will require surgery. But Nikki's a recovering drug addict, so she is afraid what the pain medication required will do, and doesn't want to call Dirk, so instead calls Rat, her eldest. The interaction, as Nikki talks about what she's afraid of, in painful and beautifully written.

The balance between that intensity and the humor that is also deeply a part of Hopeless Savages is maintained perfectly as well. While you have Nikki struggling with her addiction and Dirk dealing with the passing of his friend, Twitch just really wants to get out of his lousy contract, and the only way to do that is to get arrested, and to paraphrase the old show biz aphorism, he can't seem to get arrested in this town. His story intersects with Arsenal's sort of classic, "We're in over our head," parenting story, which is a charming aside from all the intensity of the other plots.

I know I said that Zero's story is the spine of the book, and I've talked about the other plots more than hers, and partially that's because Zero is maybe the farthest from my personal experience now. I'm an old fogy after all, who never toured with my band on an old van. But there's things in her story, about friendship, that are universal. And the stuff going on with the war between the Bunnies and the Generators, both its origins and what is going on behind the scenes, is cleverly laid out by Van Meter, in a way that, when the big reveal happens towards the end of the book, it all makes perfect sense.

There are two artists in this volume, with Meredith McClaren providing the art for the main story, and Christine Norrie on the flashbacks to Dirk and Nikki's punk rock past, McClaren's style is loose and exaggerated, with wild, huge eyes, and a heavy manga influence. Dynamic is the best adjective I have for her style, as every page, ever panel, every character in those panels, seems to be in almost constant motion, which is tricky to do in a medium based on still images. The way she draws music, with the lyrics hovering and moving around the panel took me off guard at first, but as the book progressed, I found it a refreshing way to represent music in comics, one of the medium's few true failings in the hands of many artists. Christine Norrie has been working on Hopeless Savages since the beginning of the series, and her more realistic style contrasts strongly with McClaren's. But because these are flashbacks, the two styles compliment each other, rather than being jarred seeing the same characters at the same time looking so different.

Oh, and one more important aside. Zero speaks in her very own self designed slang, which can be daunting when you start reading it. But if you've ever read A Clockwork Orange, for example, you know that when you're immersed in a new way of speaking, your brain quickly assimilates the new lingo. Starting the book off with Zero just talking to the school therapist allows her to talk for a long enough time that you're able to get into her slang, which is a great insight into her character.

Hopeless Savages is a story about family, music, adventure, and love. It's charming, funny, heartwarming, and has just enough punk rock left to have an edge. After its long hiatus, Break is a great return to the characters, and a perfect place to start if you've never read the book before, and w welcome return for those of us who have,

Hopeless Savages: Break is available at better comic shops everywhere, and easily orderable if your shop doesn't have it. And if you love it, you can pick up Hopeless Savages Greatest Hits Volume 1, which contains all the previous Hopeless Savages story in one volume.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 16

Today’s reading: Deadpool #18 and #19, July-August 1998

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Walter McDaniel and John Livesay

Ilaney Bruckner is having a bad day. Actually she’s probably been having a series of bad years, but it’s hard to tell, given what little backstory she has.

No sooner does she get home to her remote alpine cabin from collecting firewood than a masked man in a red-and-black bodysuit and tattered, oddly form-fitting overalls arrives at her door with a man who resembles Wilford Brimley with a ponytail slung over his shoulder. The masked man demands shelter so he can nurse his companion – whom he does not seem to actually like – back to health. He also slings a never-ending series of fat jokes at both the Brimley-esque fellow and his hostess, who while thickly proportioned is still curved in all the ways that count by ’90s comics standards.

Feeling threatened, Ilaney grabs her shotgun and fires off a shot or two, but the masked man is agile and dodges the bullets. He commandeers her weapon, apologizes to her in her native German and then asks to use her snowmobile. Someone is coming for him, with a menacing voice that echoes across the Swiss Alps. The masked man, whom his pursuer identifies as Wilson, fires off Ilaney’s last bullet at his target, an armored hulk of a man. Wilson misses, the but the sound triggers an avalanche, burying the man Wilson identifies as Ajax and in the process destroying Ilaney’s house, her refuge from the unclear events of her past. Not only that, but as they make their getaway, the weight of three people wrecks her snowmobile, her lone means of transport.

Wilson, who at this point is wearing only a mask, pants and boots, his bare torso resembling one giant, muscular scar, says Ajax will not stay buried and will come for them. He explains that a long time ago, he blew a hole through Ajax with two automatic assault rifles at point blank range. Killebrew, his portly, elderly companion, rebuilt Ajax, and so Wilson believes the doctor, presently slumbering in a cave by a roaring fire, knows how to stop him. Ilaney questions his life choices, and Wilson fires back at her about being a hermit.

“You don’t know … you don’t know me,” Ilaney says. “And I do know hate. … Oh, do I know hate.”

Just then, Killebrew comes to. Ilaney offers to get Wilson, who’d left to find more firewood, but Killebrew stops her, confessing he has no idea how to stop Ajax.

When Killebrew finally admits as much to Wilson, Wilson throws him clear across the campsite. The two men argue about whether cycles of violence can be broken and how to let go of hate and anger. Wilson would seem to think such things are not possible – it’s hard to tell when they argue in English – and appears ready to deliver a killing blow to the old man. So she whacks him across the head with a torch. Asked why she did it, she tells Killebrew once more that she knows about hate, and that she’s tired of running, though there will be much more running before the day is done.

That’s when Ajax shows up again. End first issue.

The second half begins with Deadpool and Ajax wailing on each other. Ajax clearly has the upper hand. Ilaney and Killebrew watch, helpless, as the masked freaks go at it. Finally, Killebrew says goodbye to Ilaney and jumps on Ajax’s back with gasoline and a torch in a bid to slow his creation. As Ajax burns, he picks up Killebrew and snaps his neck. Wilson and Ajax’s Dr. Frankenstein gets to die a hero.

Ilaney grabs Wilson and runs till they hit a cliff, Ajax screaming “YOU’RE NEXT! YOU’RE NEXT” behind them. At this point, Wilson starts arguing with no one (It’s actually the ghosts of the Weapon X rejects, but she doesn’t know that). With Ajax barreling down on them, they jump into the water below. The plunge knocks Ilaney unconscious. Wilson revives her with mouth-to-mouth, then makes sex jokes. More arguing, as if someone were telling Wilson to leave Ilaney behind.

As Ilaney shivers in Wilson’s arms, she hallucinates reliving her past.

“N-no, colonel … I don’t want to b-be safe anymore. … D-done that to d-death. … I want to fly again. … I’m a g-good pilot, sir. … I tried. … T-tried to save them. … But after the accident. … I c-c-couldn’t sleep … because I could hear them screaming … sm-smell burning. … B-but hiding. … N-no g-good any more … I want to live. … I want to f-fly. K-Killebrew changed. … He got what he wanted. … I w-want to change. … I want m-my life back-k. Can I fly again, sir?”

“Yeah, kid. … You can fly,” Wilson tells her as she slips into oblivion.

A lot of other stuff happens in these two issues. Deadpool drowns Ajax and cracks his neck at the bottom of a lake. Killebrew becomes a Force Ghost. The reject ghosts don’t move on after Ajax dies and question whether they should have sent Deadpool on a blood quest given how hard he’s been trying to become a hero. Montgomery the precog lets Zoe Culloden know her superiors have tapped the substitute Mithras in case Deadpool doesn’t make the cut. Blind Al dithers on leaving the Deadhut again.

But on rereading this story for the first time in years, it occurs to me this two-parter should have been Ilaney’s story. In the age of Rey and Furiosa, Ilaney appears woefully underwritten, and it’s a shame she was created just to die. It would have been interesting to see her narration boxes tell the story of Deadpool and Ajax’s final battle, on top of her terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

As for Ajax, he’ll stay dead and buried for a good, long time, till 2015’s Deadpool vs. Thanos miniseries, when he shows up because Death (capital-D Death, as in Deadpool’s ex) has disappeared, leading to resurrections all over the universe. The man born Francis Fanny will also be the big bad in next month’s Deadpool movie, played by Ed Skrein.

Next time on Thursdays with Wade: Deadpool and Monty do Monte Carlo, as we get back to this Mithras Directive business. See ya then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/31

Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3
Story: Frank J. Barbiere
Art: Brent Schoonover & Nick Filardi

Monster heroes are a genre I've always enjoyed, from Swamp Thing to Man-Bat to Werewolf by Night. And Marvel's new monster hero team, the Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D., are an eclectic mix of new and old characters. Th cast is large enough that it can be easily split on two for two and you still have plenty of characters interacting. This issue starts with half the team sent to check on a magical happening at a museum of Egyptology, while the other half is still at the base of S.T.A.K.E. (that's S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supernatural wing. They really love their acronyms). While team leader Dum-Dum Dugan, who's a robot now, leads Warwolf, Hit Monkey, and zombie Jasper Sitwell to the museum, the rest of the team has some downtime, which mostly means the monsters are in their cells, including Nadeen, the young girl the team took into custody last issue who was channeling Egyptian spirits. The two stories wind up tying together, obviously s the Sphinx, the old Nova villain, is behind both the museum attack and Nadeen. Writer Frank J. Barbiere gets to start the issue with both a wild action plot at the museum and a more character-centric bit with Nadeen, unhappy about being caged, talking with Kid Abomination in the next cell, who does his best to calm her down and make her understand, and we start to get a good feeling for both characters. As the stories intertwine, we learn what the Sphinx's connection to Nadeem is, and the action starts in S.T.A.K.E. base. Brent Schoonover draws a great series of action scenes, between ghosts at the base and mummies and spec forces mummies at the museum. This comic is old school action fun, a nice mix of characters thrown into fights with all sorts of crazy creatures; I like a good "modern" comic, but there's something to be said for an adventure story, something Barbiere knows from his excellent pulp inspired creator owned series, Five Ghosts. Oh, and one final note before going, while I really enjoy all these characters, the one who jumps out most at me is Orrgo, a classic Kirby created monster who now serves as support back at the base. I love his attitude, this sort of haughty superiority, who just seems to be enjoying himself when chaos ensues. I can only dream that someday the Fin Fang Four will appear and try to recruit him (and if you don't know who the Fin Fang Four are, look them up and then track down their comics. Totally worth it).

Lazarus #21
Story: Greg Rucka
Art: Michael Lark, Tyler Boss, & Santi Arcas

Lazarus is a title that falls into a category I've talked about before, a title that is so consistent in its high quality that I'm not sure what to say without being redundant. But the new issue, which wraps up the "Poison" arc, is an outstanding issue of an outstanding book. The war the Carlyle family is involved in is being fought on three fronts: Forever must lead her squad of commandos to make the final run against the Hock family gun emplacements, while Dr. Bethany is making last ditch efforts to save family head Malcolm from the poison ravaging him, while Johanna takes the political lead to keep the Carlyle's allies loyal. Those three plots showcase everything that Lazarus does: it's not just an action comic, or a sci-fi title, or a political thriller, but it's all three, and Greg Rucka does a great job of keeping all those balls in the air. But the book would not be as strong if not for Rucka's co-creator, Michael Lark. As this issue spotlights Rucka's ability to keep all the different plotlines of the series spinning, it also showcases Lark's strengths, as an artist who can draw both action and intrigue. The intensity of the scenes with Johanna and the other families as she shows them exactly what Carlyle can do is just as strong as the scenes where Forever storms the guns. Those scenes are particularly strong, as Lark not only knows how to draw down and dirty combat, both hand to hand and ranged, better than most artists in comics, but the flow of his panels and continuity is second to none. The world of Lazarus is dark, dystopian, and lived in, and Lark's art is gritty and perfectly suited to the story. This issue ends with what borders on a happy ending as Lazarus goes, with the Carlyles, who we are ostensibly rooting for, in a stronger position, although the cost was dear. The final page begins to answer the question of Forever, and sets up an interesting new status quo for the next arc, This is the last issue of Lazarus for a few months, as the creators prepare the next arc, and get set to release the first Lazarus Sourcebook, this one for the Carlyle family. I love the idea of expanding on this well designed world, and can't wait to learn more.

Thursdays With Wade: Revisiting Joe Kelly's Deadpool Part 15

Today’s reading: Deadpool/Death Annual ’98

Story by Joe Kelly

Art by Steve Harris and Reggie Jones

Congratulations, Deadpool, you’ve made it to your second annual! Time to die kinda sorta.

Deadpool/Death ’98 was part of a wave of teamup annuals inspired by the previous year’s Daredevil/Deadpool ’97. Others included Iron Man/Captain America, Alpha Flight/Inhumans, and Machine Man/Bastion.

The issue opens with a close-up splash page of a freshly teleported Deadpool about to receive a killing blow to the face from Ajax, the man who’s been hunting him since issue #14. The punch sends DP backwards over a cliff, cracking his neck on the ground below.

Now, Wade’s been killed by much worse over the years, but for the purposes of this particular story, it’s enough to make him leave his own body and reunite with the living embodiment of Death, whom we’re about to learn has a history with our antihero.

Buckle in, kids, it’s origin story time!

Prior to this issue, here’s what we knew about Wade Wilson’s back story: He’s a product of the Weapon X program, and his healing factor was borrowed from Wolverine. He signed up for Weapon X because he had a rare, untreatable form of cancer. He was a mercenary even before Weapon X, and he dated a young Boston prostitute named Vanessa, who would go on to become the mercenary Copycat and impersonate X-Force’s Domino for a year. Oh, and at some point he became friends with Bullseye.

What this annual inserts into the mythos is that Wade Wilson was actually deemed a failure by the Weapon X program after they experimented on him. He was sent to a facility where the program’s rejects were held captive for further experimentation by one Dr. Emrys Killebrew.

That’s right. KillEbrew. The second E is back. I asked Kelly on Twitter about the change in spelling, in case there were some fun backstory. He deferred to Mark Waid’s original spelling with the extra E and chalked the Killbrews up to simple, forgiveable human error.

Assisting Killebrew is a man who calls himself The Attending who wears an all-black bodysuit with a big white A on it. Picture Gaston from Beauty and the Beast cosplaying as Alvin the chipmunk. The Attending – real name Francis – gets his jollies by torturing the rejects and breaking their spirits.

The rejects themselves pass the time by placing bets on when they’ll die, hence their nickname for the facility: the Deadpool. GET IT?!

The Wade Wilson who enters the Deadpool is suicidal. His hair is falling out, and the body scarring is just beginning. He feels his mind unraveling. That’s when she walks in. A skull-faced dame in a purple, slinky dress. Death comments that Wade shouldn’t be able to see her, being alive and all. She seems extremely turned on for an abstract concept. The feeling is mutual, but there’s just one small thing Wade has to do to get the girl: find a way to die. “I can’t take the captain until the ship sinks, dig?” Death tells him.

So Wade tries to kill himself again and again. And each time he is thwarted by the Attending, to the point where he locks Wade into a wheelchair with arm shackles. Eventually, Wade’s desperation, fading grip on reality and knowledge of the Attending’s real name collide, and he begins to taunt and provoke his antagonist, improving his odds in the Deadpool. His fellow rejects begin to hold him up as a hero, which, of course, Wade balks at because this is effectively the prequel to a hero’s journey.

In retaliation, Francis lobotomizes Worm, Wade’s friend in the Deadpool. Wade snaps Worm’s neck to ease his suffering, violating one of Killebrew’s chief rules about killing his test subjects. As punishment, Francis rips out Wade’s heart.

Were this a couple pages ago, Wade would have been ready to embrace Death, both figuratively and literally, but what happened to Worm filled Wade with a need for vengeance. It also kickstarted his healing factor, effectively turning him into Popeye. Wade tears through the facility, killing guards, grabbing weapons, cracking jokes and claiming Deadpool as his new name as he makes his way to Francis, whom he blows a nice hole right through.

Vengeance achieved, Wade calls for Death to come take him, but with his healing factor now working at 100 percent, such is not to be. Wade has a way of disappointing the women in his life that drives them away, be it a bonnie Irish lass, a demon succubus or the living embodiment of Death.

We then return to the present, where Ajax takes off his helmet and reveals himself as Francis to Deadpool’s ostensible corpse.

“I killed him first! He can’t just come out of nowhere and kill me back! That’s not fair!” Ghost Wade declares.

He’s then confronted by the ghosts of his fellow rejects, brought to him by Death with a request to finish what he started and kill Ajax for real this time. He steals a smooch from Death and is resurrected, overalls and all (he was wearing overalls when he was teleported to Francis at the end of last issue), his quest for vengeance reborn.

But what about the Mithras Directive and all that galactic savior stuff? Later for that, we’ve got retroactive continuity stuff to clear up. Which we’ll return to in the next reading, Deadpool #18. See you then!

In addition to writing for The Matt Signal, Dan Grote is now the official comics blogger for The Press of Atlantic City. New posts appear Wednesday mornings at PressofAC.com/Life. His new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He and Matt have been friends since the days when Onslaught was just a glimmer in Charles Xavier's eye. Follow @danielpgrote on Twitter.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 12/24

The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage: Second Lives #1
Story: Jen Van Meter
Art: Roberto De La Torre & David Baron


Valiant's The Death-Defying Doctor Mirage returns with a second volume that starts out with an issue mixing, action, emotion, a touch of humor, and some solid supernatural shivers. After the end of the first series, medium Dr. Shan Fong-Mirage has retrieved the spirit of her husband, Hwen, from the afterlife, and you'd think they'd get a happily ever after. But when one of you is a ghost who can't physically effect the world around him, that happily ever after doesn't come easily. If you'd never read the first series, the first page does a great job of establishing where Shan was with her husband without being a recap page, and the first scene, at a haunted wedding, not only establishes their current status quo, but Shan's power set. It's the lightest part of the issue, as Shan is called in to break up a haunted wedding. We learn the rules of ghosts in this universe, we see how Shan makes money as an exorcist/TV ghosthunter, and we get the first inklings of how strained things are since Shan and Hwen can't interact physically. We're also introduced to their friend/agent/producer Leo, whose suggestion upon arriving back at Shan's place, that they find a willing host for Hwen so he can interact with the camera, meets with such a vociferous negative you know that's going to be important later on in the series. The plot of the issue follows Shan and Hwen as they try to recover a scroll that potentially possess a spell to grant Hwen a more physical form, but when their copy turns out to be destroyed, they visit their old friend Seline and her family, both the living and the ancestral spirits, who might have one of the few remaining copies of the scroll. But something goes horribly wrong when the scroll is opened, and something is freed. The thing that makes this book so engaging are the characters. Shan and Hwen's relationship and dynamic is delightful to read, and Seline and her family are charming. Jen Van Meter always has had an ear for dialogue and character (I'm super excited that my copy of her new Hopeless Savages OGN arrived last week and I can't wait to dig into it), and she provides a great mix of character and supernatural suspense. Robert De La Torre's art both proves to be perfect for when Shan and Hwen are just talking and interacting as a couple, and when they're dealing with ghosts; I enjoyed his work on the first series, and this one is even stronger. This is a great jumping on point for readers who haven't tried this series or any Valiant book before, a thrilling ride, and good for fans of both super heroes and supernatural stories.

The Rocketeer at War #1
Story: Marc Guggenheim and Lisa Morton
Art: Dave Bullock

IDW's Rocketeer mini-series have all felt very different, from the wild high adventure of Cargo of Doom to the mystery of Hollywood Horror. Rocketeer at War sees Cliff Secord, the Rocketeer, as a grunt in North Africa, fighting the Nazis as a solider is World War II. The issue is a classic war story with a pulp twist, as Cliff saves a pilot from a shot down plane, and chases a Nazi spy trying to steal a component from a plane. The pulpiness happens when Cliff grabs the spy who turns out be wearing a glider suit, and so we have gliding Nazis versus the Rocketeer, even if Cliff doesn't have his rocket pack. It's an exciting issue, with a lot of set-up for what's coming, as we also see the Nazis developing a superweapon, Betty join the WACs, and we meet the pilot Cliff saved, a feisty redhead named Molly O'Hara, who greets Cliff with a kiss. Its such a standard Rocketeer trope to see Cliff as almost pathologically jealous when it comes to Betty, I'm curious to see how it works with a flip, as Cliff has another love interest this time. I don't think it's surprising that Cliff is back in his Rocketeer costume by issue's end, ready to serve his country. A Rocketeer story wouldn't be a Rocketeer story without a cameo from a historical or pulp figure, and this issue has Howard Hughes pop up, which is a great nod to the Rocketeer film, where it was Hughes, not Doc Savage, who designed the rocket pack. Dave Bullock's art is perfect for this series; he's an artist with a style that hearkens back to the classic age, and his work with Darwyn Cooke on New Frontier established his chops of stories set in the 40s and 50s. The comic also has the first chapter of a prose story, "The Rivet Gang," from writer Lisa Morton. This first chapter has Cliff and Betty going to a fancy party and Cliff tearing off after robbers to find himself in a... sticky situation. Read the story and you'll see that's a pretty bad pun, but those are the best kind.

Saga #32
Art: Fiona Staples
Story: Brian K. Vaughan

Saga is about sixteen comics in one. There are issues that are love stories between leads Alana and Marko, while others are domestic dramas with those two and their daughter Hazel. There are political intrigue stories featuring Prince Robot IV. The previous arc wrapped up with a quest story featuring The Brand, Sophie, Lying Cat, and Gwendolyn. The stories with D. Oswald Heist spent a lot of time discussing morality and war. And this are just a few off the top of my head. This month's issue hits one of my favorite genres: it's a caper, as Alana and Marko break into an administrative building to get a lead on Hazel's location. As Hazel points out in her narration, Alana and Marko are closer now then they ever have been, working as a well oiled machine to find their stolen little girl, and it's important to remember they've been doing this for YEARS,and they're still at it. The issue sees them knock out a guard, use technology and magic, and jump out of a window into their passing tree-rocket in the tradition of the best caper movies.Between this and the previous issue, we've reset where our principals are, and know exactly what the stakes are at this point. And while I love Saga's story, it's one of the best marriages of art and writing in comics, as Fiona Staples is a master of design, and this issue's new creatures/characters, the constables on the world of Variegate, are nightmares out of a fever dream dreamed after reading Fahrenheit 451, but as you read the issue, their looks as unstoppable monster are pretty misleading. We get reacquainted with a couple more Saga favorites by issue's end, including Sir Robot IV, his son Squire, and adorable little seal-man Ghus and his walrus pet, Friendo (I had to write all them out because it's just amazing to have that assortment of characters with such amusing names), and the stage is set for what might be a big jailbreak story, another new story type for Saga Thirty-two issues in, and Staples and Vaughan are still world building like no other comic, and that's what keeps me coming back to Saga month in and month out.


This week, Dan Grote looks at the debut issue of an All-New, All-Different Marvel title...

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat #1

Story by Kate Leth

Art by Brittney L. Williams and Megan Wilson

What is it about 68 Jay Street that produces such wonderful books? She-Hulk was arguably Charles Soule’s best Marvel work, Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones have set Howard the Duck in the same Brooklyn building, and now Kate Leth and Brittney Williams have given Shulkie sidekick Hellcat her own book that may be even more fun than the other two.

Historically, Patsy Walker is something of a continuity mess. She started out the star of the company’s early teen-romance comics, then was rebranded in the 1970s as a superhero whose early, Archie-esque stories were written by her exploitative mother. She married Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan, and she was written into Marvel Divas, the company’s less-than-beloved attempt to craft its own Sex and the City-style book, alongside the Black Cat, Firestar and Monica Rambeau.

Soule’s Patsy – a feisty, hard-partying, charge-ahead PI bestie to Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk – began the character’s rehab, which makes fitting the new series’ inciting event: She-Hulk lets her go because she can’t afford a PI anymore, and Shulkie’s landlord figures out Patsy’s been living in a storage closet in the building and kicks her out (politely; they’re friends).

If you’re coming to this book from Netflix’s Jessica Jones, these are not the droids you’re looking for. Comics Patsy is, first of all, not “Trish.” She’s not a talk-radio host with a fortified apartment and funky trust issues. In fact, if this book contains any DNA from a Netflix original series, it’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, with the title character’s infectious optimism amid a sea of troubles and unwanted past publicity.

(Inserts break to let everyone quietly sing a few bars of the Kimmy Schmidt theme. Dammit!)

Patsy needs money. One would think that being the star of a long-running series of comics would open her up to royalties, but after her mother died, the rights went to her longtime frenemy, Hedy. After a run-in with a wannabe baddie Inhuman with the unfortunate nom de crime Telekinian (He can move objects with his mind, and his name is Ian), she realizes there are many down-on-their-luck Inhumans, mutants, and otherwise powered folk who need jobs, and not necessarily hero or villain work. So she pitches The Patsy Walker Agency for Heroes and Other Cool Friends What Are in Need of Work, a job-placement agency, which she’ll have to fund by working retail.

Oh, and she moves in with Ian. It’s OK, though, he reformed after she beat him up. Also, just like Kimmy and Titus!

Seriously, though, this first issue was a lot of fun. I was already a Kate Leth fan from her Adventure Time work and following her on Twitter, and artist Brittney Williams draws Patsy as an adorable go-getter ready to show Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl they didn’t invent young, female superheroes with moxie. Definitely pick it up.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 24: Batman Beyond "Out of the Past"

Batman Beyond
Season 3, Episode 5, "Out of the Past," 2000

Matt Says:

I had a hard time deciding how to wrap up the Advent Calendar this year. I knew I wasn't going to go chronologically by release, and so after some thinking I decided to end with the episode set furthest in the future. Batman Beyond was a series that followed the exploits of Terry McGinnis, a young man who an elderly Bruce Wayne took under his wing to be a new Batman. The series created a new supporting cast and many new villains, rarely going back to the classic rogues. One of the few exceptions was the series finest episode, "Out of the Past," where Talia al Ghul returns and offers Bruce the chance to reclaim his youth.

Much of the episode is pretty deep for a kids cartoon, exploring questions about aging and if its right to reclaim your youth at any cost. We watch Bruce haunted by his lost loves, by his body failing, bu his inability to save a girl from street thugs that he could have easily beaten not too long before. Bruce goes as far as giving in and using the Lazarus Pit before accepting that it's unnatural. Getting to see Bruce and terry fight side by side is one of the series highlights, accompanied by a version of the classic Batman: The Animated Series theme song, played with lots of synthesizer like we imagined music would sound in the future back in the late 90s-early 00s.

I've seen the episode so many times over the years, I don't remember if the big twist at the end of act two, the fact that [SPOILER for a fifteen year old episode] Ra's has had his mind transferred into Talia's body, really shocked me. Knowing the twist, there are tons of clues littered throughout the first half of the episode, and it's cleverly done.

And the final fun facts of this year's Advent Calendar. This episode features a brief cameo by Michael Rosenbaum, his first DC Animated work, but far from his last, as he would go on to voice Ghoul in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and have a starring role on Justice League/Justice League Unlimited as The Flash (as well as Deadshot). The episode also begins with the hilarious musical number from a Batman musical Terry brings Bruce to for his birthday. I dare you to watch the episode and not be singing, "A superstitious cowardly lot," under your breath for days. Finally, to keep up the tradition four years running of a post around the holidays featuring his work, this episode was written by the inimitable Paul Dini.

And that's it for this year's Advent Calendar. We hope you've enjoyed reading about some of our favorite episodes of these great cartoons. Have a safe and happy Christmas, for those who celebrate, and we'll be back next week with a couple posts before the New Year.

The Matt Signal Advent Calendar 2015 Day 23: Wolverine & the X-Men "Greetings from Genosha"

Wolverine and the X-Men 
Season 1, Episode 10, "Greetings from Genosha," 2009

Matt Says:

Bet you thought I'd go for another Cyclops-centric episode, huh? Nope, for Wolverine and the X-Men I went with an episode about my second favorite X-Man, Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler is as criminally miswritten as Cyclops in so many modern stories, but this animated series got him pitch perfect: swashbuckling, fun, but still with a sort of inner sadness from being treated as an outsider because of his looks.

But this episode, where he arrives on Magneto's mutant haven of Genosha, sees Kurt in a place where he doesn't have to hide or get sidelong glances from everyone he passes. He gets a tour guide in Scarlet Witch, and gets to go to a concert with her. But when things look to good to be true, they probably are, and Kurt finds the underbelly of Magneto's order, and what's great about Kurt is he doesn't think twice: he does what's right immediately, even though it means he has to give up his burgeoning romance with Wanda and the place where he finally fits in. That nobility is one of the many reasons Nightcrawler is such a great character.

One of the best things about Wolverine and the X-Men was the vast well of characters that the series drew from. X-Men stuck to '90s characters mostly, and X-Men: Evolution didn't stray too far from its core cast. This episode, set on Genosha, allows the animators and team to go wild with mutants. Dazzler appears in her original '70s costume.'90s Acolytes Senyaka, Scanner, and Mellancamp appear. Sauron is shown in Magneto's prison. And '00s characters Mercury, Pixie, Squid Boy, and Dust (a phenomenal character animated beautifully here) all have speaking parts. And sharp-eyed viewers even get to see Wolfsbane run across screen. It's an X-Men Easter egg hunt of epic proportions.