Things I've Read

I didn't have anything new on my pull list to pick up this week, though I did think about getting Velvet 1, but then I saw it sold out, so I might try for the reprint. Anyway, I read some of the comics sitting here on the To Read stack.

Codename: Action 1-2
This seems to be a Cold War era espionage/superhero type book. I'd decided to pick it up based on the write-up in Comic Shop News. The only superhero type characters I recognized were Green Hornet and Kato. Chris Roberson is writing and the art by Jonathan Lau is very nice. A lot of characters were introduced in their own storylines that I suppose will all come together at some point. Meanwhile, a conspiracy to replace world leaders, and one costumed hero so far, with belligerant doppelgangers making aggressive moves against each other, and it's up to Operator 5 and Operative 1001 to get find out who's behind the scheme before World War 3 breaks out. It has a pulpish feel and is different enough to keep me intrigued.

The Shadow 18
The conclusion to the current story arc felt a bit padded, with the Shadow and his avenger of light antagonist repeated some of the same arguments for their own particular brands of justice spread over a number of pages that looked similar enough and didn't seem to advance the story other than to fill space because the conclusion really wasn't enough to fill an entire issue. The overall story was pretty good, though.

The Shadow Now 1
The start of an updated Shadow mini-series by David Liss finds Lamont Cranston in modern times, recently returned from meditation in the Far East, and working with a network of operatives that include many descendants of his original team, such as Margo Lane's great-granddaughter. An old enemy has constructed a rather devious plot to enact his escape from prison after a couple of decades, which leaves The Shadow in a difficult position: his network in ruins, on the run, and injured. I'm eager to see where Liss takes this.

Rocket Girl 1
I backed this Kickstarter project by Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare, and I have to say it looks great. I knew it involved a teen cop from a future New York City who goes back in time to prevent a crime against time, but what I hadn't realized was that, in a neat twist, the future is now and the past Dayoung Johansson, the Rocket Girl of the title, goes back to is 1986, which the book is calling the present. Confused yet? The narrative zips back and forth between the time periods and there's plenty to absorb. Just because she's out of her time period, doesn't mean Dayoung doesn't take her police duties seriously. This, so far, is a light-hearted book about an energetic teen out to save the future, where corruption is rampant. And the cause of that is Quantum Mechanics, the very entity she hopes to stop in 1986. Definitely a fun read and we sure do need more of that.

Astro City 5
A bit of a change of pace from the previous four issues, with snatches of story that seem to be part of a bigger whole that we won't get to see in its entirety for a while, apparently. But the Working Group On Unsettling Anomalies, Classification and Containment of 1931 is intriguing and I hope we get to see more of this story soon.