Comics of July 11, 2018

I’m feeling kind of sore today, but it’s the kind of sore that will be good for me in the long run. Long story short, I did inspection at work yesterday. That involves nearly 8 hours straight of moving around 50 pound car parts. And then I went straight from work to a lane swim in a 50m pool, where I proceeded to swim all 10 races Michael Phelps swam in the first 4 days of the Bejing Olympics (the year he won 8 gold medals). That’s 2 400m IM’s, 3 200m butterflies, 4 200m freestyles and 1 100m freestyle. A total of 2.3 km swam, all within 90 minutes. I did it just to see if I could, and it kind of excites me that I succeeded. The fact that I still managed to get to work today means that I’m improving my physical shape at a quicker pace than I expected. I’m kind of shocked that I’ve made it this far considering I only swam my first ever 200m butterfly just over a month ago. A year ago today, I still couldn’t do one 50m butterfly in a 50m pool.

Anyway, it’s time to talk about comics. Today, I picked up X-23 1, The Amazing Spider-Man 1, Superman 1 and Red Sonja 18. Here are my first impressions, and my review (most likely of X-23 1) will be added in a link when it’s posted.

X-23 1 review

X-23 1 is great. Going into this issue, I had concerns about several things, but most of them turned out better than expected. Laura’s characterization feels spot-on, both with her actions and her internal monologues. Gabby is fun as ever, yet less obnoxious than she became in the later All-New Wolverine issues. And the Stepford Cuckoos have a legitimate reason for being the villains in this story. My only complaint is that we don’t get any kind of reason for why Laura is taking back what is essentially her slave name. But then again, we never saw the moment she decided to take on the Wolverine identity either. This shows a lot of promise for this series, and this issue is an easy recommendation for long-time fans of the character and newcomers alike.

The Amazing Spider-Man is good. It seems to be taking Spider-Man back to the basics, which means he’s down on his luck again (not entirely sure how I feel about that), but there’s also the suggestion that he’s … as tempting as it is, I’m not going to spoil it. It’s a long enough issue that I shouldn’t get back into too much detail. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue reading this series or not, but it’s clearly got potential. This is at least worth a look for Spider-Man fans.

Superman 1 is alright. It pretty much continues where the Man Of Steel miniseries ended. Lois and Jon are in space, and Superman’s lost his only way to keep in contact with them. Considering how much I enjoyed the previous volume which was more of a family drama book than a superhero comic, I’m not sure I like the direction this is going. And like the entirety of the miniseries, this issue still feels more like a teaser than an actual story. There is some great dialogue intermixed with action that feels so Superman though. I’ll give it that much. I’m not sure whether to recommend this comic or not, nor am I sure if I’ll be picking up the next issue.

Red Sonja 18 is fun. This picks up where the previous issue left off, with Red Sonja seeking the former owner of the legendary sword she found while traveling around in the future. There’s some great action, fun narration about the country she’s visiting, and a subplot introduced that could lead to big trouble. Oh, and the ending is both dark and kind of hilarious at the same time. Red Sonja fans will likely enjoy this comic, as will those interested in a barbarian-esque series.