November Comics Round-Up (1)

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (Marvel)

"Only our second Issue One of the year!" proclaims the cover, happily setting the tone for the rest of the book. There's little else to say on Squirrel Girl - this carries on exactly as it would have done had none of that Secret Wars pap ever happened. Except Doreen is now a New Avenger and has access to their canteen. Ryan North brilliantly takes the piss out of the Marvel-Fox shenanigans by having it declared that Squirrel Girl is in fact not a mutant, but something slightly different and that is irrevocable and legally binding. Hilariously, at least one commentator is genuinely upset about this.

New Avengers #2 (Marvel)

Two comics featuring Squirrel Girl in one week, which is obviously marvellous. Other than that, this ticks along nicely. Evil Reed Richards and his bizarre experiments with the fabric of reality make for a peculiar and interesting threat. I like that he seems to be the only individual who is actually aware that the universe has been rebooted, having gained this knowledge from empirical observation.

Bombshells #15 (DC)

Dropped back into this after missing most of it. Soviet Supergirl protecting her family and homeland, with her sister Star Girl, is basically impossible to get wrong, although this doesn't really do anything spectacular with the idea.

Doctor Who - The Eighth Doctor #1 (Titan)

The very fine George Mann's new Doctor Who comic steps back an incarnation or two to give us new adventures for the eighth Doctor, perhaps the version of the Doctor most suited to the comic format. This is a late-in-the-day Eight, but he's in a good mood, channelling the exuberance of his earlier stories. This actually feels very like the heyday of the Doctor Who Magazine strips, but with fun new ideas. Emma Vieceli's art is charming, and new companion Josie is very likeable (and gorgeous).

Doctor Who - Eleventh Doctor Year Two, #1-2 (Titan)

This, perhaps, is even better. Si Spurriers and Rob Williams create an intriguing tale that builds on the questions of what the Doctor did during the Time War, but at the same time, they have a spot-on grasp of the eleventh Doctor. It's a look at actions and consequences, that makes us wonder if even the Doctor knows quite what he did during the War. The Squire, seemingly his companion during some great battle, is a wonderful addition to the team; clearly damaged, not quite sane, but very loveable. Plus, Abslom Daak is in it, working better than he ever did in DWM because Spurriers and Williams absolutely refuse to take him seriously. The threat in this story - a timeless void that was once a person - is abstract but very effective, threatening to pull the Doctor's timeline apart from his first incarnation to his last.

The Vision #1 (Marvel)

Not what you'd expect from a Vision comic, this sees the cosmically-powered, nigh-indestructable android settle down to raise a family. The robot family is an old, careworn science fiction idea, but it has mileage, and never tires as a way to explore what it means to be human. Lyrically written by Tom King, with great art and colours by Gabriel Walta and Jordie Bellaire.

Howard the Duck #1 (Marvel)

Finally, another series that has had two Issue Ones this year, one that is almost (but not quite) as silly as Squirrel Girl. Who does appear in it, albeit briefly. Howard works better as a supporting character in my opinion, but I like this, fronting a detective agency with Aunt May as his Mrs. Hudson. I also realy like his sidekick, the shapeshifter called Tara (look, I know these girls are cartoons, they're just kind of my type, OK?) Plus, an extra story, featuring, for some reason, "Gwenpool." Because, something.

Return of The Doctor Who Project

It's back! After a short hiatus (that's a very Doctor Who-y word) The Doctor Who Project has announced a return, and are now looking for writers for new adventures featuring their alternative tenth Doctor and his companion Hannah Redfoot.

Full details of submission rules and where to send them can be found here. Submission deadline is December 5th.

REVIEW: The Flash 2.4 - 2.5 (with added Arrow)

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM

This episode exists purely to set up Firestorm Mk. 2 for Legends of Tomorrow, which is does pretty efficiently if unremarkably. Jay Jackson is a likeable character, and has a pretty good rapport with Stein (if you can ignore the homosexual undertones. Good name for a band, that). Caitlin is an unbelievable bitch to him though, slagging him off because he's wasting himself earning a living instead of going to a college he can't afford. The fight with Tokamak is perfunctory. This also has the cheesiest dialogue of any episode yet, which in The Flash is really saying something.

In the B- and C-plots, Iris is hugely growing on me, absolutely refusing to take shit from her estranged mother, but it's a huge shame that Joe is becoming increasingly stupid as the series progresses. Assumption: his unheard of son is the series' version of Wally West. Patty is an utter delight... and then that cliffhanger! King Shark looks incredible, and I am so pleased that this series has the guts to have monsters like that running around (although how the hell he sneaks up on Barry is inexplicable).

THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT

A pity we couldn't have had more King Shark, but Tom Cavanagh is back as Harrison Wells, and that makes it all OK. So this, it seems, is the real Harrison Wells, albeit of Earth-2, and in that reality it seems he's a bit of a dick. Good to see that Barry gives him the benefit of the doubt; he's significantly more grown up than either Cisco or Joe, the latter of whom just immediately shoots the guy. He really can't get his head round this parallel universe stuff, can he? We can understand how Cisco would feel, though, and his scenes with "Harry" are great. Only Barry and Caitlin seem able to remember that the man they were fighting before wasn't Wells, but the man who killed him and took his form. Which is, admittedly, a bit confusing.

There's good fun to be had with the Earth-2 alter egos, with the minor villain Dr Light being here the parallel Linda Park. We know that we'll see Killer Frost later this season (presumably the Earth-2 Caitlin), and even if he doesn't turn out to be Zoom, surely we'll see Earth-2 Barry? Meanwhile, our Barry finally gets together with Patty, and though the literal blind date is ludicrous, their chemistry is so good it really works. A cracking episode.

HAUNTED

Arrow, episode 4-5. I'm a little behind on Arrow, which I still don't enjoy anywhere near as much as The Flash, so this was a bit of a cheat, and sneaking ahead left me a little confused. There's also so much backstory on Arrow now that I forget who loves/hates/banged/murdered who. However, this is the highly anticipated return of John Constantine, after his own series got the axe. Matt Ryan is still great in the role; I can see why he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I've completely warmed to him. We watched the Constantine movie afterwards to remind ourselves how bad it could be instead. Introducing magic, soul quests and demons into the world of Arrow creates an interesting clash, reflected in the strong yet uneasy alliance between Oliver Queen and John Constantine. Although it's perhaps a bit of a surprise Oliver didn't call on his favour from a bloody wizard during any of his earlier crises. In the end, the actual battle for Sara's soul was a bit easy, but still, this bodes well for future mystical adventures. I hope the CW manage to negotiate another appearance of Matt Ryan in the future (maybe in Legends of Tomorrow?) Talking of which - Ray Palmer's coming back!

Now, what I want to see in the new Star Trek

This week, CBS announced that plans were in place for a new Star Trek TV series, set to be available for streaming from early 2017. This will be some months after the thirteenth Trek movie, Star Trek Beyond, hits the screens, itself timed to mark the franchise's fiftieth anniversary. Naturally, every geeky outlet on the net has begun setting out what the new series should feature; that is, those that aren't already dismissing it as utter crap. Alex Kurtzman is set to be the exec. producer, having already co-written and produced the 2009 and 2013 movies. This could go either way, really, but I note that Kurtzman has a strong track record with television. In his favour: Star Trek 2009, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (hey, I liked it), Now You See Me, Alias, Locke & Key, Limitless. Against him: Star Trek Into Darkness, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cowboys and Aliens, The Island. Let's give him some leeway and see what he comes up with, alongside co-exec Heather Kadin. Certainly, it looks like the times he's had more creative control have generally produced better results, and we still don't know anything about producers, directors, and crucially, writers at this stage.

Without further ado, here's my penny's worth on hopes for the new series:

Keep moving forward

As yet, there's no word as to when this series will be set, or whether it will take place in the primary universe of the original franchise or the parallel universe of the new films. Frankly, I'm not too bothered which version of Trek history it takes place in. It could even take place before the split (i.e Enterprise onwards - maybe we'll finally get to see the Romulan War) or so far into the future that it's irrelevant which continuity we're seeing. What matters more is that we have new, original material, that fits with the Star Trek aesthetic and spirit, but doesn't shamelessly copy it.

When The Next Generation arrived, it stumbled early on by trying to recapture some of the camp glitz of the original series, but once it established it's own identity, it became quite its own animal, and a huge success to boot. The movies that have had the best reception have been the ones that were, tonally, very different to what came beforehand. The Wrath of Khan mined the original for inspiration but added new dynamics and a Hornblower aesthetic. First Contact took the optimistic and controlled TNG crew and put them through the wringer in a dark adventure against their greatest foes (and still ended on a hopeful note). The 2009 movie chucked everything away that had been holding the franchise back, taking favourite elements and characters and revamping them in a modern, flashy, action movie. The perennially popular Star Trek IV: The One With the Whales was perhaps the least Trekky of the lot, ditching outer space adventure for fish-out-of-water comedy, and still managed to be both a financial hit and a fan-pleasing sequel.

Conversely, Voyager and Enterprise, for all their charms, never caught the public imagination because they were riffing on story styles already mined by TNG. By the time Enterprise was cancelled, last minute attempts to revamp the show were too little and too late. Star Trek had become a genre into itself, and an out-of-date one at that. It drastically needed a reboot (and I say that as someone who genuinely loves Enterprise). Star Trek Into Darkness, although a commercial hit, was a lowest common denominator movie, slavishly reproducing the look and bombast of its predecessor without adding anything new, while providing echoes of classic scenes that meant little to casual viewers and infuriated fans.

The lesson being: don't be afraid to try something new. Be Star Trek, but not the Star Trek we've seen before.

Represent

Star Trek has an embarrassingly poor record at depicting alternative sexualities and lifestyles. There have been a handful of attempts to explore homosexuality and its social issues through alien allegories, all of which fell flat, largely due to never going nearly far enough. We've never had an openly gay character on any of the series. A couple of characters have been suggested as being closeted, but to play or write a closeted character misses the point. Gay characters should simply exist in Star Trek's future, as part of that world, not as a source of social drama or conflict. The same goes for people from other marginalised groups. The transgender, agender, polyamorous - the human cast should be as varied, if not more varied, than the alien races we meet. Trek has made a good effort to depict an egalitarian future for women and different races, but it needs to go further. We've had occasional steps forward with disabled characters - TNG had a blind character from the start - but again, it could go further.

That's not to say that these differences can't be the source of conflict, but that should come from outside. Star Trek, at its best, has been political, using science fiction to explore contemporary issues. Sure, it was often ham-fisted, but subtlety isn't always the most important thing. Have a gay character as part of the crew, then have him face homophobia on some backwards planet. Or transphobia, or victimisation of the disabled. "Can you believe it," they might say, "they used to think like this on Earth!" Humanity is vast, complicated and multifaceted. Let's explore it.

New aliens, old aliens

One thing that the more recent version of Trek have relied upon is previously established alien races, be they the widely recognisable Klingons and Vulcans, or obscure fan-pleasers like the Tholians or the Gorn. Now, I like this as much as the next fan, but we're supposed to be exploring strange new worlds. That's not to say we should completely forget the existing cultures; they still exist in this universe, after all. Just don't focus on them. I'd love to see a couple of Andorians, wriggling their antennae in the background, but we need to lay off the old faces sometimes. This will be the seventh Star Trek TV series (including the animation). There have been thirty seasons of Trek already. Of these, sixteen had a regular Vulcan main character, and eighteen have had a Klingon in the main cast. We've done these guys to death. Give us some new blood. Take us to an unexplored region of the galaxy, or another galaxy altogether. I'm not saying I won't smile like a prat if we meet the Talosians again, but let's keep that as a very rare treat. New life, new civilisations. And take advantage of the make-up, puppetry and CGI techniques we have now. These aliens could look like anything.

Embrace the format

This isn't a one-off movie; this is television, and television has changed. Even 22-episode ongoing series have long, complex stories running on, although they do still spread them out with filler episodes. However, more and more TV series are going down the Netflix route: self-contained stories told over ten episodes or so, with a strong central storyline that doesn't keep you coming week after week so much as demand you swallow the whole thing in one go. Look at Sense8 or Daredevil. Explore the universe with a new set of characters, and let us explore how it effects them. Let them grow, let them change. Alternatively, look at the sprawling epics like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Huge casts, whose stories are told over years. Can you imagine a cross between Deep Space Nine and Game of Thrones, with alien political machinations and warfare told against astonishing vistas and hundreds of extras building a coherent world? Or send out a ship, have the crew beam down to a new planet that we've never imagined before and stay there for a full season, truly exploring and impacting upon it. Maybe the budget won't stretch to these fevered imaginings, but the storytelling techniques still hold. It could be majestic.

Failing all that...

... let's have Archer in space.

Marvel Comics October Round-Up

October was the month of the big relaunch for Marvel Comics, and while Secret Wars is still stumbling on - in fact, there's even some pre-Secret Wars stuff on the shelves - the main lines have been relaunched with a slew of new issue ones. Some seem to be making the most of the new universe they're launching, others are taking characters back to their core appeal. I've finally managed to catch up on the first bunch, and here are my thoughts. Nearly up-to-date now; The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl relaunched this week too, but I'll hit that with the November titles.


Sam Wilson: Captain America #1: Sam Wilson goes freelance, pitting himself against the corporate facade of American politics and fighting for the under-represented, instead of acting as a weapon for a corrupt national security force. Marvel-America tears him apart, and real America does the same. Sam Wilson pits himself against the forces of hatred and intolerance and defends Mexican illegal immigrants from hate groups. This is exactly what Captain America should be - putting the real America to shame.

Doctor Strange #1: A definite success, relaunching the Sorceror Supreme in a stylish, unnerving way. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo work brilliantly together, illustrating Strange's deeply unsettling worldview. It doesn't seem that the big reboot has really made any difference to Strange, what with imagery from an early issue being used to illustrate his origins, but that's all for the better. This is a great fantasy comic.

The New Avengers #1: The first lot of Avengers to be introduced into the post-Secret Wars world, this is a mix of the Mighty Avengers and the Young Avengers retooled together as an official team, albeit under the auspices of AIM, which is a questionable authority. Plus, Squirrel Girl, happily acting like she's still in her own comic in spite of the serious chaos around her. There's an intriguing threat masterminded by the Maker, ie the evil Ultimate Universe version of Reed Richards, which is a good use of the melding of continuities that there's a place for now.

Uncanny Avengers #1: And the other Avengers team of the month, the continuing exploits of Steve Rogers and his desperate attempt at unity. It's often hard to see what the difference is between Marvel's various groups of superhumans and why anyone should care, but this does a good job making mutants, Inhumans and enhanced humans distinct, particularly with Rogue, the last of the X-Men to remain while the others have fled, slowly being killed by the Terrigen that has been transforming people into Inhuman beings. Thrown into this is Deadpool, so clearly not Avenger material that he had to join the team eventually.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1: Bendis doing good Bendis. Pletny to enjoy here. Again, I can't see how the reboot has changed anything, since this carries on directly from the events at the end of the pre-Secret Wars run, but I do like the new status quo, with Kitty Pryde as the new Star-Lord and the Everlovin' Blue-Eyed Thing having a whale of a time being an astronaut. Maybe the movieverse Chitauri are a continuity implant? I'm not sure. In any case, this is roughly 300% more fun than the Fantastic Four reboot, and Thing deserves that.

Spider-Gwen #1: Relaunched less than a year after its initial launch, Spider-Gwen looks to be be just carrying on happily as if no universe-collapsing events ever happened, so clearly Earth-65 survived the cataclysm. There's no reason that this needed to start over with issue one, but cool, let's go with it. Gwen continues to juggle her parallel lives while her father tries to clear her name with the NYPD. Meanwhile, the Lizard returns to terrorise New York, except that in this universe, Peter Parker was the Lizard, and died as such. It remains good fun, ticks along nicely. Nothing new here, but why break what's fixed? Oh, and then this reality's Captain America turns up, and she's not happy.

Karnak #1: Karnak of the Inhumans is a hell of an odd character to see headlining his own series. I bought this out of curiosity and on the strength of positive recommendation, but to be honest, it didn't do much for me. Karnak's power - to see the flaw in all things, and exploit it - is intriguing but rather opaque, and I'm not sure it makes for an exciting comic. However, I suspect the problem is with me on this one; I just don't think I really get what it's trying to be.