Ringside #7

Ringside, Issue #7 progresses the three main stories, all of which revolve around CMW, a major-league professional wrestling promotion.  You have the old timers.  One's fallen on hard times, so another falls into organized crime to help him out, but he doesn't know that he's being scammed.  There's the young kids.  Reynolds is on his way up, working his way to the lower midcard, perhaps.  At least he has his foot in the door.  Finally, there are the promoters

I bought five or six comics last Wednesday, and this was the last one I read, but you know what?  I always read Ringside, and more importantly, I always buy it the day it comes out.  The dark, seedy underbelly of professional wrestling has always been laid bare: the Terry Garvin/Pat Patterson sexual harassment stories, Vince McMahon, Ted Turner, Bill Watts.  There've been a number of questionable characters in the wrestling world, and we've all heard about them in shoot interviews and tell-all autobiographies.

So where does Ringside come in?  One of the strengths of this title are the relationships between the characters.  In the on-stage world of professional wrestling, the characters are ten times as developed as the relationships between them because those relationships can be so fluid.  Ringside isn't like that.  Also, it steps away from the wrestling world on more than one front, moving into the drug world.  It'll be interesting to see how those two world collide.

Empress #6

Empress, Issue #6 starts off with the Empress Emporia being reunited with her three children.  Dane, the former captain of the guard and the Empress's closest companion, is aloof at first, but Tor, the very short captain of the "ship" brings him around.  The ship is a small device left over from some war that allows people to teleport nearly anywhere.  Also in this issue, Emporia is finally reunited with her sister, Valeria.

Again, I can't use enough superlatives to describe this series, but most of all the line art and coloring are gorgeous.  I love how one of the details comes back to bite the protagonists in the end.  I'm very excited to see how this series concludes with Issue #7 next week.

Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever #2

Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever, Issue #2 is in three parts with three distinct art styles, like before.  In the first story, Glenn's mother has come to visit.  She's part hippie, part Jesus freak, and part annoying, older mother.  The second story is Glenn visualizing his chores being three monstrous tasks.  The third story is a look at Henry and Glenn in different years: 1982, 1986, 1996, 2013, and 2038.  Finally, there's a gallery lasting a couple of pages and a full-page comic on the back cover.

I did like Issue #1 a bit better because the idea of Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig being a gay couple was still a little fresh, but Issue #2 is roughly of the same quality.  It's funny most of the time, although some of the jokes and situations are so obscure that by the time the joke hit me, the timing was off.  Perhaps this speaks more to my abilities as a reader, having just woken up from a nap, than the difficulty of the comic.  Still, for $5, it's a great buy, and I'll definitely look for more of them.

She Wolf #4

She Wolf Spell Number Four: Demon Trapping ends the first arc, which is available on paperback on November 16 for about ten bucks on Amazon.  Gabby is a werewolf.  Spell One is about her becoming a werewolf.  Spell Two is about her finding a friend who's a vampire.  Spell Three is a series of visions ending with how her ancestor began the werewolf curse.  Spell Four, this issue, begins with a remembrance of the events leading up to the first issue before moving onto Gabby and her friend summoning a demon.

I love the mythology of this series, and the humor.  On the first page, the yellow light of the crescent moon covers the two girls' parents.  Later, the light from the fireworks covers them as they look for the two girls.  The battle between the demons and the girls is over-the-top gruesome.  Heh, heh.  I like the way the two casually cast spells to catch demons the way a normal pair of teens would cast love spells from a library book.  The series will return in January.

International Iron Man #7

International Iron Man, Issue #7 continues the story of Amanda and Jude, Tony Stark's birth parents.  Issue #6 dealt entirely with them and how H.Y.D.R.A. attempted to assassinate Amanda, only for Jude to step in and save the day.  A few years later, there's a little baby that will grow up to be a genius inventor superhero.  Issue #7 covers the rest of the basis, Amanda and Jude's backstory up until young Anthony was adopted by the Stark family.

Of course, there's got to be more to the story, and I can't wait to read it.  I haven't read enough Iron Man, a few trade paperbacks here and there, in particular the most recent version of Invincible Iron Man, the one where Tony Stark stops being so philanthropic.  If you haven't read Iron Man, International Iron Man is the one to start with, and the second arc is better than the first.

Citrus, Vol. 5

Citrus: Secret Love Affair With Sister, Volume 5 continues the story of Yuzu and her strict stepsister, Mei.  The two have been dating since the end of the fourth volume, but as they start their second year in high school, Yuzu's blonde hair is causing a stir.  Yuzu keeps it blonde because her father's hair was blonde, but when a young first-year student begins to idolize Yuzu, going as far as to dye her hair blonde, it causes a scandal at the strict high school, leading to a student council election between the stepsisters.

I know, I know.  This is terrible.  I've always scoffed at teenage drama, shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place, but for some reason, it's more palatable to me in manga form.  Oh, and did I mention there's a bunch of scenes of the two hot stepsisters kissing?  I know what most people think; there's porn.  Why not just watch that?  Why enjoy the embers when there's a raging fire on any torrent website?  As Stephen King wrote in The Green Mile, "sometimes the embers are better than the fire."

Civil War II #5

Civil War II, Issue #5 is finally here.  The main artist on the project, David Marquez, had a child recently, so the delay is forgivable.  Now onto the comic.  It starts with the two sides clashing over the Statue of Liberty.  Like much of Brian Michael Bendis's work, there's a lot of dialogue.  On top of that, the artwork is very detailed.  There's a lot in this comic, including a lot of advertisements.  I'm normally pretty cool with ads in comics.  It's just par for the course at this stage, especially with Marvel and DC titles, but somehow they ruin the flow of this title.

Civil War II is a thousand times better than the original Civil War.  The basic idea behind the new conflict is future crimes.  An inhuman named Ulysses has the power to see the future, but Iron Man realizes that it's just something any super-powerful computer could do.  In fact, Iron Man has put Ulysses power into a computer of his own.  But what happens when Ulysses's visions becomes so powerful that everyone can see them?

I realize that I need to read more Civil War II.  It's pretty damn cool, and I've avoided all the tie-ins because I make money sporadically, and now I'm in one of the extra-sporadic periods.  My plan is to buy the trade paperbacks as they come out off Amazon.  I know I'm missing some of the story, but I simply can't afford to get all of the story as it happens.  Here's a shopping list for those that are going the trade paperback route in full:

• Civil War II: January (Hardback) $35
• Civil War II: Choosing Sides: November, $20
• Civil War II: The Amazing Spider-Man: November, $15
• Civil War II: X-Men: November, $15
• Ms. Marvel, Vol. 6: Civil War II, December, $15
• Civil War II Fallout, March, $11
• Civil War II: Gods of War: November, $16

I'll probably buy most or all of those.  I've been in the middle of Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5 since it came out.  It's a good title, but I haven't kept up with it.  I've also been meaning to read Hawkeye, Vol. 6 for about the same length of time.  I don't know if they'll come out with a Civil War II title about Hawkeye, given that his role in it is so pivotal yet so small.  I think it's better left untold.