GeekMom: Comic Book Corner – June 6th, 2012

Happy Comic Release Day! Welcome to another installment of GeekMom Comic Book Corner, where we recap our adventures in comics for the week.

Dakster Sullivan — What I’m reading this week: X-Men Season 1
This past week I decided to pick up X-Men Season 1. I wasn’t to sure at first how I would like seeing only five X-Men and all in yellow and navy spandex, but I figured I could work around that. At first glance of the cover, I thought Beast looked naked without his signature blue fur. On the upside, at least they gave him a cute face.  Something else I noticed was that some of the characters I would usually put on the back burner, took center stage this time.

The story follows the original five X-Men through their first year as a team. It was nice to see that the writers didn’t focus the entire story on only one member of the team and instead shared the spotlight with each of them. Their fight was one quarter defending a world that hates them, one quarter fighting the Brotherhood, and one half dealing with hormones and uncontrollable super powers.

In the first few pages, we get a glimpse into Jean Grey’s life. She not happy about being sent away to be “part of some bald guy’s freak show.” While on the phone with her parents, they try to convince her that it was the best thing for her. She arrives at the school and has a literal run in with Cyclops. It was in that panel I realized Jean has a sense of humor. Not long after her encounter with Cyclops, we meet Angel and the rest of the team.

When we first meet the professor, I can tell his attitude is a little different from what I remember in the animated series, but I can still feel his concern for his X-Men. The few interactions he has with Magneto shows me that even though they are on two different sides, they both respect the power of the other.

Eventually, we get to watch Beast, Angel, Jean, Iceman, and Cyclops go from just living in the same house to becoming a team. We get to see Jean grow as she learns how to use her powers in a fight, has a crush on one of her teammates, deals with her frustrations with the professor and eventually finds love in Cyclops. Cyclops goes from being an under-confident kid to the leader we all learn to love (or hate in some cases). Angel becomes more confident in being a mutant. Beast starts to see Professor’s vision and realizes that being part of the team is bigger than he originally thought. Iceman is the first to willingly take orders from Cyclops and has a great sense of humor while doing it.

In the end, the story is everything I had hoped it would be. A little bit of action, a little bit of love and a lot of heart.

A copy of this graphic novel was provided to me at no cost.

Kelly Knox — What I’m Reading This Week: Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2

If I wasn’t holding the issue in my hands, I wouldn’t have believed that a crossover like Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 could happen. The Doctor and his companions and the crew of the Enterprise-D, all in one eight-issue comic book series from IDW Publishing. The first issue introduces the readers to the story with an invasion by the Borg with their new ally, the Cybermen. The rest of the issue follows the exploits of the Ponds and the Eleventh Doctor in ancient Egypt.

I’m a Next Generation expert, but I have to admit that I don’t know much about Doctor Who, so I didn’t know the name of the mysterious new ally of the Borg. (I had to consult my Who-loving sister to find out who they were.) The first issue taught me quickly about the Doctor’s personality, however, so I appreciated seeing him in action before his adventures with the Enterprise crew begin. The painted art style is beautiful, and the last shot of Riker felt like I was seeing a photo of an old friend.

I’m looking forward to seeing the dream team take shape and take action against the cyborg threat, so I’m definitely picking up the next issue of Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 .

Nicole Boose — My Week In Comics 6/5/2012
I’m a freelancer in the comics industry and mom to a 3 ½-year-old. Here’s how my week went:

The writer I edit for, Mark Millar, wrote a travel diary for Comic Book Resources about his recent trip to Manila, Philippines. Seeing someone you work with being treated like royalty, with banners in the streets and secret agent escorts, is exactly as bizarre as it seems. So his collaborators responded in the best way we know how: with mockery and disbelief. (From an e-mail from artist Steve McNiven: “It’s common knowledge that Mark’s trip to Manila was faked, like the moon landing and Ricardo Montalban’s pecs.”)

Mark was there to do some signings and events along with the rest of the team behind the monthly comic series Supercrooks–Leinil Yu and Gerry Alanguilan, who live in the Philippines themselves, and colorist Sunny Gho, who’s based in Indonesia. I also received some gorgeous new pages from Leinil this week for the next Supercrooks issue.

After gabbing about it here for weeks, I finally finished reading Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland–one of the last things he wrote before he passed away in 2010. It was sad to reflect on his comment that while he enjoyed receiving calls and visits from admirers, he rarely heard from people in the comics community. I live in Cleveland now, and I guess I’m a member of that community. I wish I could contact him to say how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know his work.

I wrote a piece for my local paper announcing the comic class I’ll be co-teaching with cartoonist Len Peralta, for 12- to 18-year olds. If you know any geeky or comic-loving teens in the Cleveland area, please send ’em our way!

And most importantly to me, I spent the week with my lovely family, including a trip to the local comic shop and library with my little girl. One of the things we picked up was a magazine for preschoolers that included some stories in comic format. It’s pretty fascinating to see how young children take in, say, word balloons as opposed to regular illustrated prose. Also, how common it is to see comic stories in preschool magazines, integrated so seamlessly with the other stories, games, and activities. I never notice the comics community drawing any particular attention to this, but it’s there.

On my comics reading list for the coming week are a Yo Gabba Gabba comic my daughter picked out; Supercrooks #3 and The Secret Service #2, which I edited; Saga #3, which I didn’t; and the graphic novel Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel.

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

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

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