Wow. What a great week for comics all around! With many podcast favorites being released, the higher than average quality of Marvel’s Secret Wars tie-ins made it difficult for all of us to pick our book of the week.
Myles:
This was a tough week to choose for me. I already felt torn on which one to choose between Jem or UFOlogy, but in swooped G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, and Jorge Molina with A-Force #1. A-Force, conceptually, sounded awesome in that is was a book about an all-female team of Avengers, consisting of some of my absolute favorites like: Pixie, Miss America, Dazzler, Nico Minoru, She-Hulk, and Captain Marvel. That’s only a handful of the ladies on the team. I know, right!? It’s a dream team. So what’s the catch?
Well, I thought the catch would be its involvement in the Secret Wars event Marvel has going on right now. However, the concise blurb at the beginning sums things up enough that really anyone can get on board with the title. For all intents and purposes, A-Force takes place in its own contained little realm. So think of it as a What If or Elseworlds story. An alternate universe. I’m oversimplifying, but it’ll make it less intimidating for someone who may not be as continuity savvy.
This issue is mostly set up/getting to know the team, which is perfectly alright all things considered. It allows for fans to become acclimated to the status quo and newcomers to figure out who everyone is. Not to say there isn’t action. There’s plenty of that involving a giant shark. And the crux of what will set off the events of the book revolves around a routine gone awry.
What made me select A-Force #1 as my pick lies squarely on the fact that it’s just fun. Bennett and Wilson’s nuanced writing balances this ensemble cast exceptionally well, allowing you to get the feel of these characters without pages of exposition. The pace is brisk, but not so much that anyone will feel lost. And with this issue lining up the primary arc up nicely, I’d expect a lot of people returning for #2 and beyond. All of the characters are a delight, and are represnted by Molina’s absolutely gorgeous pencils. His art, like cover artist Jim Chueng, is the perfect superhero comic book art for me. Proportionally realistic and defined characters containing just the right amount of larger-than-life fantasy that makes the story come alive..
With this writing team, a cast of AMAZING female heroes, the pitch perfect art, and Miss America punching a giant shark in the face, A-Force is the best superhero book you’ll read this week.
Drew:
Why write about Star Wars? BECAUSE STAR WARS! Also, Patrick called Archie vs. Predator so I had to write about something else. The current run of Star Wars comics has been pretty great and that extends with this week’s fifth issue of the Jason Aaron penned look at the 3 year gap between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Our heroes have separated again following the big escape from the Imperial weapons factory. Luke has returned to Tattooine to search Obi Wan’s house for any kind of instructions for his Jedi training, which only reminds me that Luke wasn’t a very good Jedi for about 2 and a half movies. Leia and Han are searching for a new base after good old Yavin 4 had its location revealed. We all know they’re going to find Hoth, but that doesn’t matter! We’re back with our favorite characters, and thanks to Aaron’s dialogue they FEEL like our heroes too. I’m very thankful for John Cassiday’s nearly screen accurate depictions of the characters. I don’t know how much research and work went into being able to reproduce these characters but he’s pulled it off extremely well. The next issue is sadly his last on the series, and his replacement will have very big boots to fill.
Boba Fett is on big display here on contract with Vader to discover the identity of the Rebel pilot that destroyed the Death Star. Fett gets the opportunity to show off his skills at the old Mos Eisley Cantina where we also get some cameos of some of the characters that were hanging out in that fateful scene in A New Hope. It’s a fun scene, despite all the torture, but it does give credence to the reputation he has with our main characters in Episodes 5 and 6. I worry with the pace they’re setting with him if he’s a little too powerful in comparison to what we’ve seen out of other characters in the story, especially since we know he’s gunning for Luke “can barely swing a lightsaber” Skywalker, but they did pull off a similar showdown between Luke and Vader earlier in the series so my hopes remain high.
Welcome to the new Expanded Universe folks! Top talent on classic characters, a winning combination! This is the Star Wars comic you’re looking for.
Patrick:
It feels like forever since the first issue of Dark Horse’s Archie Vs Predator came out, and the 
anticipation for the continuation of this limited series has reached a crescendo for me this week. I went and listened to our episode with series writer Alex De Campi and got excited for the reveals to come in this second issue, and I re-read the first issue in anticipation. This story gets kicked into high gear with the Predator murdering and mutilating more Archie characters than I could even name myself. The Predator follows the Archie gang back to Riverdale and begins to hunt, though it’s motivations are still a little murky as there are some mysteries left unanswered.
A lot of backstory is filled in this issue with Archie and his pals getting informed about the Predator by Military intelligence. Here we find out that these aliens have been known to hunt mercs in the jungle and gang members in the city, a direct reference to the film series. We also learn that the Predator, like Archie, is a teenager, thus explaining his hilarious and apropos emoji HUD readouts.
There are so many great moments in this action-packed issue, its hard to mention them all so instead just go read it. We leave on a cliffhanger for series favorite Jughead, after paged of teens getting “Vworp”d to death by the Predator, but I am surprisingly OK with the death and destruction, because it is so much fun and so well done. The hallmark of this series is that it feels like an Archie comic, with the same humor and with beautiful art done by Fernando Ruiz who knows Archie forwards and backwards, and still can make the gore and bloodshed work well in Riverdale. I can’t wait for issue three and if you somehow missed the first issue, you need to go pick them both up today. Archie vs Predator #2 is on the stands today.