GeekMom: Comic Book Corner — August 7th, 2013

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week. This week I look at a special one-shot Fantastic Four featuring She-Hulk, and Melody takes us into her two-year old’s comic book pull pile!

Dakster Sullivan — Fantastic Four #275
This week, I’m taking a suggestion from a friend of mine and reading Fantastic Four #275, where She-Hulk takes the spotlight for a one-issue special. It was suggested to me because they thought it was something laid back I could use to relax when my anxiety levels started to get high. A bonus is the villain, a sleazy reporter and his camera, takes a look at issues that are relevant to our times without being to “in your face” about the matter.

While sunbathing on the top of the Fantastic Four building, She-Hulk’s quiet time is interrupted by a helicopter, complete with a sleazy reporter. Understandably ticked off, She-Hulk goes after him and tries to knock more than his camera out of his hands. Eventually, the helicopter is able to shake her off their tails. After being picked up by her teammate, Wyatt, she heads back to the Fantastic Four headquarters, where She-Hulk changes hats from superhero to private eye in order to learn more about the helicopter’s origins and the man inside with the camera.

After locating the pilot’s home base, She-Hulk and Wyatt pay him a special visit. It doesn’t take much convincing for the pilot to realize it’s in his best interest to hand over the information about the airborne peeping-tom.

Armed with the law on her side, She-Hulk goes from superhero to lawyer in the form of her alter-ego Jennifer Walters. She heads to the offices of The Naked Truth, where her peeping tom turns out to be Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Vance.

When Vance refuses to hand over the pictures, it appears that Jennifer had lost before she had even begun. I’m not buying his excuse to print the pictures, but there was nothing anyone could do to stop them so late in the game. He doesn’t completely get away with it, though. The ending wasn’t what I was expecting, but I have to say it was a creative way to twist things in the end.

There are a couple of things I enjoyed about this issue:

• Subject matter – The writer, John Byrne, handled the topic of a pervert with a camera going after public figures pretty accurately. It’s very relative to today, especially when it comes to conventions, where boys with their hormones hanging out try to attack women with their camera flashes.
• Wyatt Wingfoot – According to this issue, Wyatt is a friend of Johnny Storm. According to the Marvel Wiki he is there for his friends, regardless of how small the situation may seem to everyone else. What made me enjoy his character is even though he went with She-Hulk to help, he waited to be invited to help rather than muscle in on her. Also, it was nice to see roles reversed with the writers putting the man as the sidekick and the woman as the strong and in control one.
• Artwork – I enjoyed how the artist (pencils by John Byrne and inks by Al Gordon) captured what happened on the rooftop without actually showing what happened on the rooftop.
• No history lesson required – This is a single issue story that requires no back history lesson to understand it. Girl gets wronged by paparazzi. Girl goes after paparazzi. Paparazzi loses.

I haven’t found this issue on Comixology yet, but I did find a copy available through Marvel’s Unlimited service. Check it out if you get the chance!

Curious to know what I’m pulling this week? Check out my pull list on Comixology.

Melody Mooney — Ella’s Pull Pile This Week
Ella, my two-year old geekling, had a busy little collector week again. We got an email from Earth 2 comic book store saying she won the non-con costume contest I mentioned last week. What a fun surprise! We went in to say hello, grab something more for her pull pile, and pick up her prize – a cute Mr. Toast Plushie from The World of Mr. Toast comic!

After a cuddle with the soft Mr. Toast, we sat down and looked at the Superman Family Adventures #1, “Look! Up in the sky!” (20 pages), written by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani [as Franco], with art by Art Baltazar.

In the introductory issue, Superman takes on Lex Luther’s robots in his beloved Metropolis! Super cute junior versions of Superboy, Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Krypto and Fuzzy (aka Krypto Mouse) join Clark Kent, Perry White, and Lois for a fun kid-friendly adventure. The artwork feels very retro and simple. Ella enjoyed the colors and wasn’t scared of the bad guys. These Superman Family Adventures from DC Comics are totally charming, and we will be adding more to our post-nap-time reading.

Looking for something else, readers? Check out this week’s listed books:

Action Comics #23 CP Ame-Comi Girls #6 Batman Arkham Unhinged Vol. 1 TP Batman Arkham Unhinged Vol. 2 HC Batwing #23 Detective Comics #23 Dial H #15 (Final Issue) Disturbingly Awful MAD TP Earth 2 #15 Fairest #18 Green Arrow #23 Green Lantern #23 CP In The Days Of The Mob HC Legends Of The Dark Knight #11 Looney Tunes #214 Movement #4 Saucer Country Vol. 2 The Reticulan Candidate TP Scooby-Doo Where Are You #36 Stormwatch #23 Swamp Thing #23 Trillium #1 (Of 8) Trinity Of Sin The Phantom Stranger #11

All-New X-Men #15 Avengers #17 Avengers A.I. #2 Cable And X-Force #12 Daredevil By Mark Waid Vol. 5 HC PE Daredevil Dark Nights #3 (Of 8) Dark Tower The Gunslinger So Fell Lord Perth #1 OS Deadpool Kills Deadpool #2 (Of 4) Emerald City Of Oz #2 (Of 5) Hunger #2 (Of 4) Iron Man #14 Iron Man #9 (Dynamic Forces) Iron Man Vol. 2 The Secret Origin Of Tony Stark Book 1 HC (Premiere Edition) Kick-Ass 3 #2 Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #17 Savage Wolverine Vol. 1 Kill Island HC PE Superior Carnage #2 Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #2 Superior Spider-Man #15 Thor By Walter Simonson Vol. 1 TP Ultimate Spider-Man Ultimate Collection Vol. 4 TP Venom Toxin With A Vengeance TP Winter Soldier Vol. 4 The Electric Ghost TP X-Factor #260

Acronym Key: VC = Variant Cover / HC = Hard Cover / TP = Trade Paperback / CP = Combo Pack / PE = Premier Edition / FI = Final Issue

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