Comics of July 26, 2017 and Aquatic World Championships

My comic reviews will be delayed today. Long story short, I’m watching the Aquatic World Championships a lot, and the fourth finals session is on right now. It’s been quite a competition so far, with Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden not only breaking the world record in the women’s 100m freestyle on night one, but becoming the first woman to swim it in under 52 seconds. With a time of 51.71, she demolished it. Adam Peaty of Great Britain has already broken the world record in the 50m breaststroke twice, the second time becoming the first person to swim it in under 26 seconds.

Kylie Masse of my home country, Canada, broke the longest standing world record in women’s swimming, going 58.10 in the 100m backstroke, to take the first swimming gold medal ever won by a Canadian woman at the World Championships. And of course home country Hungary not only made its first relay final at either the Championships or the Olympics on this level on night one, but they finished with a bronze. The crowds went nuts. Tonight there will be the mixed medley relay final, and that’s always chaotic and fun. It’s also been officially added to the 2020 Olympics, so I’m sure people will take it more seriously this year. That’ll make it all the more exciting to watch.

Update – Canada won bronze in the mixed medley relay (tying with China). Also, the top 5 teams all beat Britain’s world record from 2015 (Britain came fifth). Really exciting race, with Canada’s Kylie Masse swimming an incredible 58.22 despite being sandwiched between two large men with massive wakes to slow her down, Penny Oleksiak easily swimming the fastest butterfly leg of the women in the field (56.18 is very impressive for a 17-year-old who had a minor shoulder injury earlier this year), and Kisil the Missile cursing past a bunch of people and making up a 10 meter deficit to just tie for bronze. Meanwhile, the United States broke the world record in the morning heats, and then beat that by almost 2 seconds for the final. Just an exciting race all-round.

Anyway, the comics I picked up this week include Cable 3, X-Men Blue 8, Doctor Aphra 10, Batgirl 13, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 72 and Detective Comics 961. I’ll update this post with my first impressions, and links to full reviews will be added when they’re posted.

Cable 3 review

X-Men Blue 8 review

Batgirl 13 review

Doctor Aphra 10 is fun. It continues Aphra’s attempts to auction off a dangerous artifact she found, with some smooth talking and some interesting perspectives from those who are offering to buy it. Of course in typical fashion for stories like this, something goes wrong. This series is like Indiana Jones in the Star Wars Universe, just with morally questionable lead characters. If that concept interests you, then pick this series up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 72 is weird, but enjoyable. It’s the second part of a 2-part story where the Ninja Turtles infiltrate a meeting with a bunch of immortal … weirdos. Not sure how else to describe this one. This series as a whole is an easy recommendation for TMNT fans though.

Detective Comics 961 is great as always. The situation with Azrael and his successor gets more intense, and the flashbacks go deeper into Batman’s search for answers. Not sure what else to say. It’s a Batman team book and Batman fans should be reading it.