New from IDW: 5/21/2014

New from IDW: 5/21/2014

7^th Sword #2

Back to the ballad of Daniel Cray! With the cyber-sapien having left the rulers of Zanzion to deliberate about what they should do in the face of this impending threat, Kathleen is trying to bring together a defense force. Secretly, her father has stockpiled all sorts of weapons that were adrift on the sand. Amongst them are crossbows, flamethrowers, an apparently faulty “Hammerhead” robot, and six Malathane, or sci-fi Katana. Cray seems to only want two things; a way back to Earth and to protect the boy from the crash in issue #1. To that end, he will be training the next six samurai of Zanzion. This is shaping up to be an excellent martial arts epic.

Dexter’s Laboratory #2

As we knew he would, Dexter has been enjoying his sister-less existence, making incredible headway with his backlog of destroyed experiments. In record time he both fixes and invents EVERYTHING! The revelation that “science needs sisters” was both comical and an excellent jumping point for a multiverse storyline. Our intrepid scientist has learned a valuable lesson and is not looking for Dee Dee who is a hapless victim of the dreamwish-o-tron 5000. He begins tracking her through the multiverse, which is good for a few jokes and a nod to Samurai Jack. Who doesn’t love Dexter’s Lab? No one in THIS dimension, I’m sure.

Danger Girl: Mayday #2

Still, Danger Girl cannot remember who she is, but Mayday has finally found a use for her. For those of you who don’t know who she is, this issue provides a pretty basic but acceptable background. The larger plot of the new series rears its ugly head as we are shown a female operative stealing a weapon that behaves an awful lot like acid in gas form. Danger Girl isn’t quite as lethal as Mayday has been hoping for, that is, until she gets the fleeting memory of whoever hurt her. After that, she is not only lethal, but just as dangerous as she her codename would imply.

Indestructible #6

This is such a surprisingly witty read. Stone finds himself in ridiculous situations that develop into even more absurd moments. In all honesty, this comic comes off a bit like the six episode British comedy No Heroics. The drama of a family dealing with newfound superheroes, the interesting mystery of the shadowy, villainous kidnapper, and the bizarre shenanigans involving the FBI and the Mighty have all made Indestructible and excellent read if you are looking for a laugh. I found the end of the comic particularly funny, as a career photographer eyeing him up in his birthday suit easily intimidates Stone.

Littlest Pet Shop #1

This issue seems to be half fun geocaching scavenger hunt, and half Michelle Obama trying to make our kids feel bad about their weight. Again. With a couple fun jokes, a surprise ending (if you are ten and have never seen a cartoon before), and an overall neat premise for the geocaching game (I am aiming to be a game designer) Littlest Pet Shop is a great family comic for children everywhere.

My Little Pony: Friends Forever #5

In this months issue, Fluttershy finds out that squirrels can talk. After looking like a fool and a nap, she begins to hear birds talking as well. After some tests by Zecora, and the equivalent of a My Little Pony interrogation, Fluttershy finds out that the cute little animals she has named are planning a party for her. Finally, we find out who the friend is that gave her the ability to talk to the animals is, and it is a doozy.

Monster and Madman #3

Absolutely stellar! Monsters and Madman has such an amazing artistic style, bringing to mind some of the darker, more penetrating Hellraiser comics from the nineties and early 2000s. This issue is a treat for fans of Universal movie monsters, or old tales that have been toyed with. If you love Frankenstein’s Monster, Jack the Ripper, or the Bride of Frankenstein, I can’t imagine you’d have anything but praise for this intense issue. Reading this twice wasn’t enough, and I’m already jonesin’ for next months issue. Homerun!

Rogue Trooper #4

Our Trooper’s honor got him into a mess last month, and it is no different now. Instead of dropping the military hunters that had just put a bullet through his leg, he merely escapes. On top of that, when the bloodthirsty squad attacks a gundog, a preemptive strike, he gives up his lead on them to make sure a minimum of them die needlessly. The leader catches up with him in a ravine and monologues. Note to self; never monologue. With this diversion over, the next destination is locked in and our Trooper “Just runs into tomorrow.”

Star Mage #2

Well, I am slightly less disappointed in this title. The second issue is largely by the book for this kind of story. Yes, the boy is an heir to unimaginable power. Yes, his father was a king, and you are a deposed prince. Oh, look! You are using powers you have no right to be using so easily! There were only two things that have made this comic bearable to me; Star Mage actually pokes fun at the parallels it has with similar series like Harry Potter, and the drastically violent turn at the end of the issue. I’ll keep reading, only because it’s getting better by degrees.

Transformers: Windblade #2

This was a surprisingly good issue. Transformer’s has a tendency to be pretty wordy, which detracts from the comic overall. I mean I enjoy a good story, obviously, but you kind of want to see robots beat the oil out of each other in a comic about giant robots. This series focuses on Metroplex, a sentient city, and his speaker, Windblade.  The horror of what is going on in this issue is really jaw dropping, if you take the time to think about it a little bit. Of the three Transformers titles that I read, this has been the best so far.

Thunder Agents #8

The end of a tale. Some of the story arches that come to a close were a little beyond me, but much of it was easy to infer. The three fatalities in the roster were surprising, but it is how two of them were lost that ultimately made the issue. Also, the end of the feud between Professor Jennings and Dunn had such an Occam’s Razor ending, I couldn’t help but smile. The world that THUNDER exists in feels well established in its super mythos, much like DC. I can only hope that more comes from this series in the future.

V-Wars #2

This story is what TruBlood should have been. The bulk of this issue is dedicated to showing the moral shades of gray that exist in a world where vampires never asked to be vampires, and the world is afraid to deal with it. I was shocked to see how political the narrative is becoming, especially with the themes of National Security versus Personal Liberty. Assuredly, there is enough action to keep people reading, but the cerebral nature of all of the events in the book, as well as the purposeful choices in characters makes this series a must read!

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