Open "Mike" Night - DC Bombshells and New Mutants #98

By Gina Maillaro and Mike Maillaro

Weaver is running LARP’s at GenCon, so my lovely wife has decided to step in for him.

DC Bombshells #1

Written by: Marguerite Bennett
Art and Colored by:  Marguerite Sauvage
Cover by: Ant Lucia
Lettered by: Wes Abbott

Published by: DC
Cover Price: $0.99

Mike: DC Bombshells is DC’s latest attempt to create a universe of all female heroes.  This started way back in 2012 with Ame-Comi Girls.  These two books have quite a bit in common.  Both started as toys/statue lines and both started as digital-first series.  I liked Ame-Comi Girls quite a bit, and I was sorry to see DC let the series come to a pretty abrupt end.

Where Ame-Comi was basically a mangaized version of the DC universe, DC Bombshells takes it’s inspiration from World War 2 era pin-ups and propaganda pieces.  The Bombshell line seems to be doing very well. In fact, DC is even doing another month of Bombshell variant covers.  

Gina:  I totally love the concept behind the DC Bombshells.  I think it has a good fit in the WW2 era, by not having to reinvent a completely different universe or timeline, because women of that era did become dominant in areas that had previously been dominated by men.  I was however, slightly disappointed by the need to go “A League of Their Own,” as the introduction to this universe.

MIke: I think they did “A League of Their Own” just because that would be something they could safely assume most readers knew about.  I also think they saw they could get away with the Batwoman pun this way.  I thought it was a little silly that the female ballplayers had to wear masks.  Granted, a lot of baseball teams have done even stupider stunts over the years to get attention, but it still felt like a little bit of a stretch.  

One thing that surprised me, though it probably shouldn’t, was that Batwoman was a lesbian. Uhm...yeah...no duh.  She’s been a lesbian since they brought her back in 2006.  And it’s not like being homosexual is a new invention.  There is no reason at all a female baseball player/superhero in the 40’s couldn’t have been a lesbian.  

Gina:  But I understand what you mean, because it seems a bit forced to introduce it at this juncture, as if her sexuality is as big a part of her life as fighting crime and playing baseball. There are very few characters who are defined by their sexuality the way Batwoman was here. Truth be told, it felt like a ploy so that the male audience would come back looking for some girl on girl action.

Mike: Modern Batwoman has always been heavily defined by her sexuality.  That and ridiculously pale white skin.  

DC Digital books tend to be short, but they are only 99 cents.  I kind of felt like you didn’t get a lot here, but since it was basically 1/3 or 1/4 the cost of a normal comic, that didn’t bother me all that much.  Hell, for the last page reveal, that was worth a buck for me.  

Gina: I agree that the last page was definitely worth the money, and I read this book more as an introduction to the universe than an actual story, so I was very pleased to know that Waller is alive and kicking.  I just hope that the story lived up to the potential here, because Captain America cannot be the only kickass WW2 superhero.

Mike:  I am disappointed you didn’t say it here.  My wife was very excited to see FAT WALLER.  I am too, to be honest.  The Amanda Waller I grew up with was never a sex symbol.  She was a bad ass who didn’t care what she looked like. That was true in Ostrander’s Suicide Squad and in the DC Animated Universe.  But in recent years, Waller has some how started looking liked the version on the left.

I am sorry, but no one is calling this version “The Wall.”  I find this MUCH more offense than the idea of a black actor playing Kingpin or Johnny Storm.  

Gina:  I totally agree with that sentiment.  You would think the feminists in the comic universe would be all over it, but alas, even they have their prejudices.

Mike: Scores on this one?  I thought some of the writing was a little clunky.  A lot of the dialogue felt real strained and rushed.  Still enjoyed it though.  4/5.  I have read quite a bit of Marguerite Bennett’s work lately, and this just wasn’t one of her stronger works to me.’

The art was great though. 5/5. Marguerite Sauvage’s style really stands out here really bringing these “pinups” to like.  And it’s real nice to see a creative team with women doing the writing and the art!  

Gina: I agree with you here too.  Some of the dialogue felt forced and redundant, but I didn’t think it effected the story too much: 4/ 5.  I thought the art was fantastic, and truly held to the art of the era: 5/5.

New Mutants #98

Written by: Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza
Art by:  Ron Liefeld
Colored by: S. Buccellato
Lettered by: Joe Rosen

Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $1.00 ($1.99 on Comixology)

Mike: You picked this one, so you start.

Gina: OK, so for a person who did not read New Mutants with any regularity, I can say that this book is not the best “jump on” book.  It is clear that the team just went through hell, and is having issues picking up whatever pieces are left, but you can tell there are boat loads  of unresolved issues (like whatever the hell is up with Rayne), so if it bothers you to walk into a story in progress this may not be for you.  Having said that, I chose this book because I am on a Deadpool kick, and this is where Deadpool started kicking. So, since he is my main attraction this is where I will start.  Although he is not yet going to town with the 4th wall, Deadpool still has his signature wit and humour.  While the fight scene with him was short, sweet, and to Domino’s point, it definitely shows off a character that is going to be a cult favorite.   

Mike: The real odd part here is that so many of the loose ends (especially the ones regarding Rahne and Rictor) don’t get resolved in New Mutants or its follow-up series X-Force.  Peter David dealt with them some in X-Factor.  Rob Liefeld was basically just sweeping the loose pieces off the board here to get started on X-Force.  Since X-Force was a huge seller and New Mutants basically clung to life support before Liefeld gave it a kick in the ass, it probably was the best choice.  Though I am VERY biased, X-Force was my favorite comic when I started reading.

Even though Deadpool and Domino both made their first appearances here, the part about this story that always got me was Gideon.  He basically inserts himself into Sunspot’s life, even going so far as to kill Sunspot’s father (making it look like a heart attack), because he thought that Sunspot was one of those immortal Externals. Turned out it was Cannonball...not Sunspot.  Whoops.  

Gina: See, I told you it was a poor jump point, I didn’t even know that was Sunspot in the second shot.  I feel that if I read this at the time, I would be seriously disappointed in how this book connected to the reality that it was supposedly set it, but as luck would have it, 24 years later, it doesn’t really matter what happened in that reality, we all just got a really cool mercenary out of the deal… Chimichangas, anyone?

Mike: Oddly enough, there is a lot about this comic that is still relevant today.  It introduced Domino, who is still around.  Starring in Deathlok oddly enough...a comic that I might be the only reader for (CHECK IT OUT PEOPLE, IT’S GREAT!).  And this was really when they started turning Sunspot into a business man, which is a key point in him reorganizing AIM which is the core of the NEW AVENGERS series coming out after Secret Wars.

Deadpool definitely was a work in progress here, but by the time he returns in X-FORCE #2, his personality is much more defined.  Although it wasn’t until much later on (Joe Kelly, I think), where he really started to become aware of himself as a comic character and breaking the 4th Wall.  Early on, he was just an obnoxious mercenary who tended to ramble on and on.

Man, we talked about DC BOMBSHELLS having some clunky dialogue.  “Master Gideon, even with your powers of superhuman enhancement assimilation…”  This is almost Claremont level of over explaining.  

Gina: It is absolutely true that this dialogue made for a difficult read.  Part of me was praying that Cable could be the strong silent type in this comic… just so he would stop talking.  I generally wish that Boom-Boom didn’t talk in any comic and this was no different.  I mean I was a kid in the 90s and still had no idea what half the words she said meant.

Mike: Yeah, of all the characters we lost in the transition from New Mutants to X-Force...Boom-Boom we managed to keep.  Hell, she wasn’t even really a New Mutant, just a left over from Fallen Angels.  Boom-Boom and Jubilee both were painful attempts at making X-Men young and hip.  But I always liked Jubilee more.  Even if Marvel can’t figure out what to do with her, so now she’s a vampire lesbian with an adopted son.  I really wish I was making any part of that sentence up.  Though to be fair...she actually seems to be a good mom.  Go, Jubes!

Scores?

Gina:  Even with Deadpool, this comic left much to be desired.  It introduces characters that seem to be in the midst of a very relevant story, except you have never seen them before, and other characters who we have seen seem to be fixtures on a wall.  But I will give consideration that it was the early 90s and we were clearly MTV addled (if you dont believe me, watch a music video and check out Boom-Boom’s haircut and wardrobe).  So writing and art both get a 3/ 5.

Mike: I am a 90’s comic geek.  I love Liefeld’s art, especially back when he was just really getting started.  I agree on the writing, but I have to go 4.5 on the art.  There was some coloring issues, like you said, Sunspot in the end looks entirely different from his earlier appearance, but that is pretty typical of comics from the time too.  Granted, the art didn’t age all that well, but I liked it.  Again, this is my own personal bias.  I was and still am a big fan of Liefeld.  

Thanks wifey for helping out this week!   Weaver and I should be back next week finally getting around to reviewing Transmetropolitan!

Final Scores