Belated Reviews

As usual, these reviews are a tad late.

Jennifer Blood 31
I never feel guilty about my pleasures, but if I did, this book would be my guilty pleasure. Reading about a woman who became a serial killer and also, sometimes, rooting for her, is the sort of thing that brings about mixed emotions. Anti-heroes are one thing; protagonists who are sociopaths is another entirely. I got bored with Dexter when it got too dull and put off dealing with real-world consequences of being a killer, but Jennifer Blood has kept the pace up. She's been caught, convicted, escaped, and is now on the run. Yet she doesn't appear in this issue, the start of an arc that apparently will feature people either influenced by her or whose lives parallel hers. In this story, a cop kills her husband and when someone figures it out, rather than turn her in, they blackmail her into killing for them. Jennifer is blamed by the media, keeping the story in the Jennifer Blood universe, but it's a nifty tale of an act of desperation that has horrible consequences. This comic isn't for everyone, but it sure can take a reader for a ride.

Captain Marvel 16
More in the Infinity arc, though a bit more character stuff than the previous issue. Since the only Marvel comics I'm reading are this one and Hawkeye, I have only the brief synopsis on the title page and character exposition to go by, but maybe because I also read the previous issue, this one was easier for me to follow. It was pretty good, but I'll be glad when Carol is back to her own adventures.

Shadow 17
I've been enjoying this take on the character, especially the current arc dealing with an avenging angel of light. That she, having been raised in religious orthodoxy and fanaticism, embodies light as she kills those she considers evil, while the Shadow, avenging hero, works from the darkness to strike at evil, makes for an interesting dichotomy, from both an artistic and story standpoint. I'm a bit too young to have heard The Shadow on radio, but I did have some old cassettes of his radio plays that I listened to growing up -- my parents had been Shadow fans -- and I've read earlier comics versions, so this is a character I've enjoyed on and off throughout the decades. It's nice having non-DC options worth reading.

Red Sonja 3
I got the one with Jenny Frison's lovely cover. Delirious and dying, Sonja recalls her youth, providing us with a flashback origin that is quite moving. Gail Simone is doing a great job with this book.