Comics of October 17, 2018

This past weekend, I finally picked what will be my first book for this year’s NaNoWriMo. As usual, I can easily decide my second project while I’m working on my first, out of several options. With a couple longer weekends coming up, I should be able to find the time to catch up on some reading for the rest of the month, including at least one novel, and a stack of comics I still need to get through. I’ll talk more about this NaNoWriMo project in the weeks to come, but for now it’s time to talk about today’s comics.

This week, I picked up Weapon Hex 1, Mr. and Mrs. X 4, Thor 6, Red Sonja 22 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 87. Here are my first impressions, and if I find the time for a full review, it’ll be added in a link below. But if that happens, it won’t be until after I finish work tonight because I have things to do.

Weapon Hex 1 is good. Because this issue sums up the entire origin of a character in a single issue, there are times when it feels rushed. That said, it does a good job with what it’s got. It also creates several entertaining infinity warps characters, like a magically powered Punisher for example. The story mirrors X-23’s origin story a lot more than Scarlet Witch’s, but since X-23 is my favourite X-Men character, I don’t mind one bit. Most people probably know whether this 2-part miniseries interests them or not, but for those who are interested, you’ll likely enjoy it.

Mr. and Mrs. X 4 is great. It continues where the previous issue left off, with Gambit and Rogue in some sort of space prison. Of course, space prison can’t hold Gambit for long. There’s one particular moment in this comic that gets deep into Rogue and how she feels about her powers. This moment even causes a brief argument between Gambit and Rogue, but one that’s solved rather smoothly. It’s a nice moment that shows how much they truly care about each other, and that Rogue is trying to look at not being able to control her powers in the most logical way possible. That moment alone is almost enough to buy this comic if you like Gambit and Rogue. The action and humour on top of that just makes it better. I highly recommend this series to fans of these characters.

Thor 6 is … ok. I honestly don’t have much to say about this one, besides how it takes place in the far future, and pits Old Thor and Phoenix Wolverine against Dr. Doom at the near end of the Universe. I’ve very much enjoyed Jason Aaron’s run on Thor as a whole, but it’s starting to feel like it’s running out of steam.

Red Sonja 22 is fun. It’s mostly a one-off story where Red Sonja helps an overly intelligent troll rediscover his fighting spirit, in order to save a town that’s getting more visitors than it can handle. That about sums this issue up. Red Sonja fans will likely enjoy this issue, and Amy Chu’s run as a whole.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 87 is intense. An all-out war between the mutant dinosaurs from space and the EPF begins in this issue, on an island previously controlled by Krang. The Ninja Turtles get involved, along with their uneasy allies, the Mutimals, in hopes to save a mutual friend. There’s also a potential fourth party that could seriously shake things up. As complicated as this comic sounds, it does a fantastic job of explaining what you need to know. That and it’s entertaining. Ninja Turtles fans should be reading this series, whether they usually read comics or not.