Lots of comics news this week and some new UrbaneTurtle content, so no time for rambling up top.
New Post—A look at Radiant Black Issue 1
This week saw the release of the new Image series Radiant Black by Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa. It’s a strong debut issue that promises to explore the superhero genre from a unique angle while tapping into the generational anxieties of the moment. The inclusion of iconography and tropes from Higgins and Costa’s Toku influences inject the title with a unique flavor that is fresh and exciting. You can read more of my thoughts about the book by clicking on the image below. The Michael Cho main cover is a beaut.
While I enjoyed it, after writing this up and thinking more about it, I want to add that it is a bummer that everyone in this first issue is white, and aside from Nathan’s mother, features only men. It’s still early and the cast has plenty of time to fill out, but for a series with roots and inspiration in Japanese media as well as Power Rangers, which has always been pretty committed to diversity, it is disappointing.
Comics News
Milestone Returns & DC Celebrating Asian Characters & Creators
Friday also saw the official announcement of the long teased relaunch for Milestone Media comics. You can read about it here. The first title is set to come out digitally on Feb. 26 with a new release of Milestone Returns issue 0 with additional material. A new 6-issue Static miniseries, also digital first, will start on April 12. Icon and Rocket launches in June.
During DC Fandome last year I finally got the chance to read some of these titles, and they are truly timeless. Icon’s first volume has such a strong voice and clarity of mission, it feels as fresh as ever. I hope that these series live up to the legacy of their forebears and offer something different from a lot of what is on the stands. The original Milestone books were groundbreaking. Static in particular is so beloved within my generation and those younger thanks to his cartoon that there is a lot to live up to.
The new design is pretty fresh and distinctive, with tons of character and a real playfulness. I like how it evokes both the more well known cartoon design and the original ball-cap look.
It looks like this is not another attempt to being Milestone in to the DCU proper and instead this is its own imprint on its own alternate earth. Given all the rights complications and negotiations to get these books in print it is probably for the best.
The last attempt to fold these characters in were pretty sloppy, and then they were fairly quickly retconned back out of existence which, because my brain is broken, leaves me wondering about the canonicity of any of that, say, for example, the horrible run of Teen Titans that brought Static on the team. Although I wonder how many casual fans (do those even exist anymore?) might wonder why he doesn’t get to hang out with Batman like on the show.
Here’s something cool—DC is celebrating its Asian & Pacific American characters and creators in a big celebration book this May. It’s got a neat Jim Lee cover with Cassandra Cain Batgirl front and center. Remember Cass? Man, she was a great character. It’s a ten dollar, 96 page book. Which is a lot of money and DC has been putting out a lot of these big celebration artist jam type books which I have largely ignored, but I think this one will be worth supporting to help send the message that fans want to see DC embracing its diversity of characters.
Here’s the list of creators DC provided.
Written by Gene Luen Yang, Mariko Tamaki, Minh Lê, Ram V, Greg Pak, Dustin Nguyen, Amy Chu, Alyssa Wong and friends!
Drawn by Bernard Chang, Marcio Takara, Dustin Nguyen, Trung Le Nguyen, Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Sean Chen, Sumit Kumar and others!
Portraits by Chiff Chiang, Jim Cheung, Jae Lee, Jen Bartel, Kevin Wada, Philip Tan, Gurihiru and more!
Cover by Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair
Variant Cover by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau
The New (to me) Teen Titans
Like I said in last week’s newsletter I’ve been thinking a lot about Dick Grayson as a character and Nightwing as a concept, which brought me around to finally starting to read New Teen Titans. It is interesting because much like Claremont’s first couple years on X-Men, it is a weird bridge title from the silliness of the silver age and the desire to tell more modern and dramatic stories. It’s good but also has plenty of hokiness and fairly shallow elements. Trigon’s whole deal is just being an evil alien who wants to rule the universe, while the other thorn in their side, Dr. Light is Doofenshmirtz-ing it up in an attempt to take over the world. Deathstroke the Terminator’s early appearances are also lacking in dramatic weight or characterization, which by reputation is kind of jarring going back to.
Anyway, Robin drops a “damn,” which I wonder is the first time a character cursed in a standard DC book? Raven’s mom also tells a very explicit story with art that is just barely PG-13 that I don’t know you could even publish in a main title today—and this was with the comics code. Its easy to see why it became a seminal series for the publisher, and it is setting strong roots to grow into something better, like X-Men eventually did.
Wolfman does a great job moving Dick into new territory as a character, and even in the early issues is showcasing some of the ideas about him that a lot of writers claim to feel about him, but does not always bear out in their stories.
I was surprised to see Curt Swan draw one of the first few issues, knowing his much more playful Superman work. It’s technically strong and keeps up with George Perez’s physical take on the character, but just can’t match Perez’s much more inventive and dynamic layouts.
Odds and Ends
If you’re looking for a good new comic to read, you should back The Scent of May Rain on Kickstarter. It is fully funded with 9 days to go so at this point you are guaranteeing yourself a physical copy. I loved this beautifully illustrated and touching book and recommended as part of my 2020 Year in Review. I also backed the creator’s last kickstarter, Young Offenders, and can vouch for the print quality and quick fulfillment.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League dropped its first trailer after interminable teases. I thought I would spend some time bagging on it but frankly I find his whole ouvre exhausting. The bookending of the trailer with voiceovers from two super villains is just the perfect illustration of everything I can’t stand about his take on superheroes. No room for selflessness, just paranoia and angst. Frankly I’m just ready for this to come out so the Snyder Cut people maybe stop spamming every twitter thread about Superman.
It’s not quite a pull quote (we’ll get there, people), but writer Curtis Clow used a quote from my review of Slightly Exaggerated #1 in an update on his Kickstarter for issue 2.
Issue 2 of TMNT: THE LAST RONIN comes out this Wednesday, 2/17 after a gruelling hiatus. While we’ve gotten so many “old man x” titles and Dark Knight Returns pastiches, this Eastman and Laird semi-collaboration is so true to the spirit of the original Mirage comics that it is only logical and kind of shocking it took so long for them to get their own spin on it. I loved issue 1, which was as much Samurai Jack as DKR, with some truly weird stuff and flashy visuals. I’m extremely excited for issue 2.
Are We Done Yet?
Yes.
Until next time, stay Turtle-y enough for the Turtle Club. (I don’t have a sign off for this thing yet, but also no one is subscribed to this, so hey why bother)