When it comes to the sword and planet genre, Edgar Rice Burroughs was certainly the genre progenitor with his Barsoom series of books starring John Carter. Maybe not as renowned as the Barsoom books, but just as beloved, is Burroughs’ other sword and planet line, the Venus series with Carson Napier. This series of books imagines Venus (long before the Soviet Venera probes exposed the planet as a hot, harsh, and unforgiving place) as a oceanic planet, much like Earth. While the Venus series of books concluded decades ago, Napier’s adventures continue in other media, with American Mythology’s comic series, Carson of Venus: The Flames Beyond being the newest story arc.
I wish I had a more inspired rationale for why I choose the comics I'm going to read. Many are either properties I already like or recommendations from other fans. When it comes to finding new works, I tend to choose based on the cover and title. The one good thing about this is that I often go into stories with little to no expectations which is exactly how I approached Ghost Tree #1.
Well, bah. I’m late to the party for Descender, but not too late to get in on the ground floor of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s continuation in the upcoming series, Ascender. The original series centered on Tim-21, a robot who lived in a galaxy where androids were illegal and humans hunted them. The new series carries over a few characters from the previous series, along with introducing new ones, but with a fantasy twist.
The quirky jewel heist/buddy comedy continues, as suave jewel thief Mia Corsair and socially awkward hacker Brenda (a.k.a. “Killa-B”) prepare to steal the famed Net of Indra in broad daylight from a museum exhibit. The two are still working to bypass the exhibit’s security system, but Brenda can’t seem to concentrate, as she’s too busy thinking about her secret crush, a woman named Tallulah Blue who posts in the same online forum as “Killa-B.”
On a normal day in a supermarket, people gather to partake in a daily tradition. Something we don’t even think about; it’s second nature. We’ve moved from hunters and gatherers to purchasers and complainers. Customer service has taken on the slowly evolving task of the big hunt. We hunt for coupons now: deals - the ability to go about our business without being bothered. This is how the story of Dark Rage - inspired by true events - begins. Moments later, men in white masks, armed to the teeth, lay waste to nearly a dozen shoppers. It’s bloody, it’s tragic, and it changes the lives of two women who become inexplicably tied together, forever.
It's been said for awhile now that the end is fast approaching for both the gods inside The Wicked + The Divine and the book itself, but with only two issues remaining, this has never been more true. As the final battle with Minerva and the revelations of the previous issues come to a head, there is a lot to unpack right now. Laura and the other gods have banded together and set themselves up for their final confrontation. All there is left to do now is save the world and potentially kill themselves in the process.
Their peaceful life in Austin ended in a conflagration, and the Bowmans have found themselves on the run once again. Out of options, and with Bartlett's survival hanging in the balance, the family makes their way to a place where even vampires fear to go. Issue nineteen begins a new chapter in Donny Cates and Lisandro Estherren's supernatural/western saga that promises to be as gripping as it is game-changing.
I somehow missed reading and reviewing issue #10 of Coda, but that just meant I had the pleasure of reading two issues last night. And what a pleasure it was!
A quick recap from the last issue: Mal has been captured by Boss Moon, and the rest of the crew are on the run from the homicidal cult. So, we're basically on par of the usual level of shenanigans when it comes to this crew. Moving on to the present. Things pick up immediately from there, with the Serenity crew (with the addition of Chang-Benitez) still on the run, but an accidental fuel cell mishap saves the day. Elsewhere, Mal and Boss Moon trade barbs and blows.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart famously began composing music when he was only five years old. What was life like for him, being a musical genius at such a young age? What was it like for his family, having to put up with a five-year-old musical genius? That’s the premise of Young Mozart, a series of newspaper-style comic strips based on the composer’s early years.