Warrior Woman Wednesdays #19 by Kate Krimson

Spider-Girl #1 (“Family Values”)-Marvel-$3.99

3.5 out 5 stars

Summary:

In New York City, Anya Corazon/Spider-Girl is chasing the thief known as Screwball, who likes to record her burglaries and post them online. Spider-Girl makes Twitter updates about her whereabouts. Spider-Girl punches Screwball out and gives her over to the cops.

Anya goes to school and texts Gil, her dad, during her time in the halls of learning. When she gets home, her dad is still arranging things in their new home. Susan Richards/Invisible Woman comes over to keep Anya company, while Gil goes out to find some information for an article he is writing. Anya tries to get some advice from Susan on how to make friends, while taking a stroll in the city. During their walk, they knock out two purse snatchers. Susan gets a call that the Fantastic Four are needed and the Thing picks her up.

Anya stops two men who are trying to carjack a woman out of her automobile. She also stops another car thief, a jewel thief, a cell phone thief, and a cat thief. She tries calling her dad a couple of times, but he doesn’t answer. Turns out the Red Hulk was the cause of the Fantastic Four and Gil’s problem. The Red Hulk knocked over a piece of the building, which landed on Gil. While Anya tries to save her father, the Fantastic Four try to control the Red Hulk.


Writer (Paul Tobin): The cover of this comic declares “Warning! The only things standing between you and the most synapse-shattering super hero debut of the decade are your hands and this cover!” It didn’t deliver. The storyline is interesting, but definitely not “synapse-shattering” especially since it left the most action packed conflict to a mere glimpse at the end.

Illustrator (Clayton Henry): Henry does a wonderful job of capturing Spider-Girl in flight and in combat. He also depicts the fury within the Red Hulk quite well.

Spider-Girl #1 - comiXology

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #17 by Kate Krimson

Women of Marvel #1-Marvel-$3.99

2 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Story #1: “Medusa in Thrones” (Written by G. Willow Wilson and Illustrated by Peter Nguyen)


Crystal and Karnak are playing a chess-like game called Bak Taga. Crystal does not like playing it. When Karnak starts to make fun of her for disliking the game, Maximus comes into say that he doesn’t like it either. Medusa tells everyone to be quiet before Dr. Nial hears them because they are supposed to be studying. Maximus challenges everyone to run into the throne room and to sit on the first throne without being caught by an adult. Medusa goes into throne room. Two adults, Crystal’s mom and dad, are in there. Medusa lets them know that the kids are playing a game. When the others get there, Crystal’s parents start yelling at them. During the commotion, Medusa sits on the throne and wins the game.


Story #2: “Black Magic Women” (Written by Marc Bernardin and Illustrated by Romina Moranelli)


Black Cat and Satana are trying to steal the same treasure, a cameo that belonged to the last witch burned at the stake during the Salem Witch Trials. (Historically inaccurate by the way. 19 people were hanged during the Salem Trials and one man was pressed to death. No one was burned at the stake). They start fighting and Black Cat escapes on a modern, rocket-powered witch’s broom. Black Cat brings the cameo to Joaquin, the man who paid her to steal it. Joaquin wanted it because he’s a demon and it would make him stronger to wear that cameo. After hearing that, Black Cat decides not to give him the cameo. Satana shows up and together they kick Joaquin butt. Satana sends him back to hell. Black Cat and Satana decide to be friends.


Story #3: “Love and Illusion” (Written by John Layman and Illustrated by Davide Gianfelice)


Larry works at a hotel because Amora is a regular. She uses men for their money and throws them out when their broke. When she speaks to Larry, she calls him “Worm.” Jason Wyngarde shows up at the hotel and asks to rent the most expensive room. Amora is not happy about this man’s arrival. Apparently he can bewitch people just like Amora can and make duplicates of people. Larry punches out the fake Amora that Wyngarde conjured up. Amora makes Wyngarde “disappear.” After this, Amora stops going to that hotel and Larry finds out that Amora is an Asgardian sorceress. Larry is somewhat angry that is love for her was nothing but a spell, but he also likes the fact that “for the briefest moment in time a goddess knew his name.”


Review: Unlike the Girl Comics series that Marvel put out earlier this year, Women of Marvel appears to want to give a negative view of women. Medusa is smart, but uses her intelligence to beat the others in a game and get the others in trouble for playing the same game. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t betrayed Crystal, who’s the innocent child in all of this.


Satana and Black Cat wear outfits that were designed to pull a Janet Jackson/”wardrobe malfunction,” while they fight each other and the demon-man Joaquin.


Amora doesn’t need any explaining when it comes to how she’s a negative female image. She uses men for their money. She reels people in by putting spells on them. She’s like the Paris Hilton of Asgard.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #15 by Kate Krimson

Valkyrie #1 (“Tragic Opera”)-Marvel Comics-$3.99

Summary:


Under the name Valerie, Brunnhilde was working at a hotel in NYC. A male customer pushed her out of his hotel room window for not prostituting herself. She died, but an inner bolt of lightning sprung her back to life. The paramedics want her to stay with them to make sure that she was completely recovered. After she seems to regain some of her sense of self, she remembers that she has some unfinished business and busts out of the ambulance’s back doors. She goes back to hotel to find her attempted rapist/murderer (Ryan Sanduski), but also who she’s been for the past three years. The years of working at the hotel all seem to be a strange tale to her that she barely remembers. She doesn’t ever remember being Valerie, but she remembers being Brunnhilde. Unfortunately Sanduski checked out, but Brunnhilde decides to keep up her search for at least her real self.


She goes to Cresskill, NJ to visit her friend Janet van Dyne a.k.a. The Wasp. Brunnhilde seems now to be aware of the fact that her memory loss is due to being in the Slumber of Ragnarok and Thor, god of thunder, is the one who woke her up when she “died”. She doesn’t feel like she can go back to the Asgardians because Odin banished her. Janet tells her that was a long time ago and that she’s sure that they would be glad to see Brunnhilde. Janet tells Brunnhilde that she must follow her heart to make the right decision.


While putting back the puzzle pieces of herself, Brunnhilde starts putting other puzzles together. She realizes that Ryan Sanduski must be her old enemy Brian Calusky a.k.a. Piledriver and that her old friend Ziggy might be Siegfried, one of the paramedics who rushed to her rescue. After making this realization, she goes to Siegfried’s apartment where she finds Piledriver attacking Siegfried and his family. Piledriver almost kills her again, but Brunnhilde decides that dying once is enough and starts fighting back like she means it. During the fight, Piledriver calls Brunnhilde a man-hater and she teaches him a lesson:


“Those who fear me—Fear my strength, my independence…They are the ones who judge me in order to shield their own weakness…I am not cold and aloof; nor am I a hater of men…I am a woman of deep loyalty…Far beyond that which most mortals of this realm could ever hope to understand.”


Then she defeats him with one tough punch. Afterwards Siegfried begins to have a heart attack, Brunnhilde takes him and they ride off on a police officer’s horse to go to Asgard, so he can be healed. In her face is the pure look of absolute determination that she will never lose another battle, because she has “defended and avenged, fought the incredible and the mighty… and carried the worthy to their great reward” and she is “Valkyrior (female warrior), Brunnhilde, Shield Maiden of Asgard.” All of this is what truly defines Valkyrie.


Writer (Bryan J.L. Glass): Thank you, Bryan Glass, for writing the most feminist comic that I have come across thus far. Glass deals with women’s issues (rape and being deemed a man-hater just because one is a tough woman) and shows how a woman can overcome these obstacles by believing in who she really is.


Illustrator (Phil Winslade): Winslade also makes the comic a feminist one with his more than clear depictions of Brunnhilde as her true warrior self, who as Twisted Sister once said isn’t “gonna take it anymore.”

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #13 by Kate Krimson

X-23 #1 (The Killing Dream: Part 1) – Marvel Comics-$3.99

4 out of 5 stars


X-23/Laura, the female clone of Wolverine, is dreaming that she’s running away from death and destruction, when she runs into Wolverine. He tells her that he will give her freedom if she will be his queen and help him rule Hell. She wakes up screaming “no.” She is on Utopia Island, the X-Men headquarters. Although other X-Men youngsters are hanging out and eating pizza, X-23 decides to talk with Storm, who is remembering her lost love, Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner). Storm tries to make Laura feel better about not fitting in and asks Laura to play chess with her. X-23 decides to leave when she senses that Wolverine is nearby. Wolverine and Storm discuss Laura’s ability to change. Wolverine doesn’t think she can. She was raised to be a killer and that’s what she’ll always be. Storm thinks that Laura at least deserves a chance to prove him wrong. Cyclops and Emma Frost argue over Laura too. Frost thinks X-Men ruined Laura’s chances of enjoying life as a youngster. Cyclops doesn’t think Laura would have been able to anyway. Cyclops is the one who enlisted Laura in X-Force, the X-Men black ops group.


The next time we see Laura she is knocked out in the middle of a forest. Perhaps she has gone on an exhausting killing spree, but we will never know.


The next day the young X-Men give Laura crap for not hanging out with them last night. Hellion stands up for Laura. She tells him that she has missed him. The group continues to harass her, but Cyclops comes to the rescue. Cyclops sends Laura to a mutant halfway house, a place to transition from the life of a mutant to the life of an average Joe or Josephina in X-23’s case. But even in this new place, Laura’s dreams of horror continue.


Writer (Marjorie Liu): Liu makes us love X-23 by displaying how the character is one that we can all relate to. Laura does not fit in with regular human beings or mutants. She feels like she is all alone on a dark blood-covered island. She is the outsider that is within us all. It will be interesting to watch how she grows and learns to mingle with others.


Illustrator (Will Conrad): Conrad’s illustrations are fantastic. He illustrates Laura’s life in way that the reader can feel what Laura is feeling. Whether it is the pain and horror in her dreams, the awkwardness of her trying to socialize with others, or her loving of Hellion, all of Laura’s emotions can been seen on the pages thanks to Conrad.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #11 by Kate Krimson

Shadowland: Elektra-Marvel-$3.99

3 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Master Izo talks with Elektra out in a snowy landscape surrounded by tall cliffs. Izo appears to be trying to talk Elektra out of climbing those cliffs because of what is beyond them.


The writer hits rewind and plays a scene of Elektra taking out a bunch of guys. It turns out that she got paid to do so by a man in the C.I.A. While meeting with the C.I.A. man to collect her money, several ninjas show up. Elektra knocks out the C.I.A. man, so he won’t get hurt or do anything stupid.


The ninjas work for Daredevil. They say that he will no longer tolerate her presence. They say she has until the sun rises to be off the continent. She kills all the ninjas. These ninjas are members of The Hand, an organization that tricked Elektra into murdering Master Izo.


When she goes outside, she sees Daredevil fighting Bullseye on a big screen. Daredevil stabs him.


The story goes forward to Elektra climbing the cliffs that Izo tried to stop her from climbing.






Writer (Zeb Wells): Even though this comic is a one-shot, it sure doesn’t read like one. It tells the reader that the story continues in Shadowland #3. Well, there are things that I would like to know now. What is beyond those cliffs? Why does Daredevil want Elektra gone? The comic seems to only give a vague answer to this. How exactly did The Hand trick Elektra into killing Izo?


Art (Emma Rios): Rios is definitely good at portraying motion in her work, especially in all the fight scenes. When a punch or a kick is released, you would almost swear that you could hear that crack in bone it makes when it lands on the opponent.


Covert Art (Sana Takeda): Takeda portrays Elektra in her fierce yet flowing red outfit, which emphasizes her sexiness and her ability to swiftly take out an enemy.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #10 by Kate Krimson

Spider-Girl: The End-Marvel-$3.99

4.5 out of 5 stars




Auntie M has been teaching children about the “final age of heroes.” She tells them the next thing they will discuss is the death of Spider-Girl. Spider-Girl’s real name is May Parker and is also known as Mayday. Spider-Girl had one enemy that was hard to conquer, April Parker a.k.a. Mayhem, who is a clone of May. April had the same powers as May, but no real concept of right and wrong. April lived with the Parkers (Peter, Mary Jane, May, and Benjy). April disappears one night causing destruction around town. May’s friends, Davida and Courtney, ask her about the whole situation. Davida says May is better off without April and Courtney just wants to make sure that May is feeling ok. They run into a guy named Wes and invite him to go with them to a café. Wes is apparently in the comic book business. On their way to the café, May’s spider-sense goes off. April is following her. She tells her friends that she forgot a book at school, so she can take care of the April business without endangering her friends’ lives.


April says that she’ll let May live if she admits that she is not the original Spider-Girl. Before the reader knows what to expect, April and May start fighting. April sees herself as good because she’s killed bad guys like Tombstone and Hobgoblin, and May sees April as evil because she doesn’t believe killing is the answer. Their fight causes a fire. May tells April that they need to get out of the building, but April won’t listen. May gets trapped under some wood because she pushed April out of the way of the collapsing roof. May blasts April out of the building with her web and then the building explodes. Auntie M has to stop the story so the kids can go to bed. Torus Storm tells Auntie M, who the reader now finds out is April, that Bio-Preds are closing in on them.


After May died, April tried to replace her, but there was no fooling her family. Then, April began killing as many villains as she could. Some superheroes tried to stop her and she killed American Dream by accident. Bio-Preds were mercenaries that were supplied with the “Carnage symbiote” in order to stop April. The Bio-Preds killed everything in their way. April was the only thing that stopped them from killing everything. She saved the human race. Unfortunately, people have to live in the sewers to be safe from the Bio-Preds.


The Bio-Preds break into sewer home. Torus starts to fight them, while April goes to find her friend, Cassie, whom she has been working with on a plan to stop the Bio-Preds.


This all ends up being a vision that April had the day she was fighting with May in the burning building. because of this vision she saves May and leaves herself in the burning building. May mourns the loss of April with her family. Wes shows up to make sure that May is ok, because he knows that May is Spider-Girl and wants to make sure she didn’t get harmed. Wes tells May that he’ll keep her secret identity secret, since he has one too. His real name is Reynard, which I think means he is the son of Reynard Slinker, the thief and enemy of Spider-Man. May and Reynard kiss.


Writers (Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz): Although the story is a bit hard to follow at sometimes, it is definitely never boring. The unexpected is constantly around the corner. Almost every flip of the page reveals something new and surprising.


Illustrator (Sal Buscema): Buscema’s work is great. His costume for April is beyond amazing and his depiction of the two girls’ reactions to seeing one another die is heartbreaking.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #7 by Kate Krimson

Sorry about the delay. This week has been crazy busy for me, but I have a comic book review for this week.

Spitfire #1 (“Living in the Ruins”)-Marvel-$3.99

3 out of 5 stars


Summary of Background Story:


Spitfire’s real name is Lady Jacqueline Falsworth. Her dad is the British superhero Union Jack. During World War II, she was bitten by a vampire and given a blood transfusion from the Human Torch. The vampire venom plus the blood of the Human Torch apparently equals speed. After the war, Spitfire and her brother (Union Jack II) fought evil doers together. Later in life, she got hurt fighting Namor. Human Torch gave her another blood transfusion. Blade, a vampire hunter, tried to kill her when she started displaying some vampiric traits: fangs and regenerative powers. She forgave him for trying to kill her and they began a romantic relationship. They joined the MI:13, a British Secret Service agency and later defeated Dracula and his Vampire Nation.


Summary of Comic Story:


In Kent, Pete Wisdom, Spitfire’s boss, introduces Spitfire to Ms. Amelia Bertram-Hayes. They are at a vampire shindig that is comprised of vampires that left Dracula’s little club. Blade is there.


In New York City six years later, Blade and Spitfire are looking for Hayes. Spitfire senses her presence in the city first and leaves Blade to find her. Spitfire crashes through a vampire bar wall with Blade following behind her. Inside they find out Hayes has been there before and that she used to spy for the Nazis. They go to Hayes’ place. Hayes traps Blade with a cross-shaped “Spellcaster.” Spitfire and Hayes fight. Of course, Spitfire wins. Blade and Spitfire give each other a victory kiss. Spitfire suggests going out for a “real beer.”


Writer (Paul Cornell): The story although interesting is a little too short and lacking in details. Considering Hayes’ Nazi past, readers are aware that is Hayes is far from being good, but we are not entirely sure why Blade and Spitfire are hunting her down. Pete Wisdom does not come into the picture in New York City. Did Spitfire drop him as her boss or is he not necessary for this mission? He could have have died in the past six years and we just don’t know.


Illustrator (Elena Casagrande): The illustrations are good, especially one of Spitfire zooming freely through New York City.


Cover Artist (Jenny Frison): Frison makes Spitfire look as though someone has managed to take a photograph of her running with the wispiness of her hair, and her arms and legs in the running position.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #5 by Kate Krimson

Lady Deadpool (“The Revolution will not be Televised”)-Marvel-$3.99


2 out of 5 stars


Summary:


Lady Deadpool/Wanda Wilson makes herself one hell of a greasy sandwich that looks so artery-clogging that even McDonalds wouldn’t serve it, while watching a cooking show that sounds like a parody of Paula Deen. When the cable goes out, Lady Deadpool decides to finally leave the house.


Meanwhile, Shosanna Einhorn, a journalist and heiress, talks with Arnold Prior, a retired admiral and U.S. Senator. Their conversation is a bit hard to follow, but it doesn’t matter because they are interrupted by Tristan Sheen, the founder of Bajillion Squillion Corporation, the current Cybersecurity Czar and the former CEO of Number Corp. He’s really rude to Shosanna and then Captain America shows up out of nowhere to help Tristan with a little project.


When Lady Deadpool enters the streets, it would appear that anarchy has taken over. Lady Deadpool decides not to focus on the chaos, but on Charles Randolph, actor/revolutionary leader, instead. She thinks that he’s so attractive. Randolph is leading a revolution for change. While Randolph gives his speech and kisses babies, Shamus Onus talks to Lady Deadpool. He says that he’s been looking for her for 11 days and wants to hire her as a mercenary. She decides to blow him off. Then, she focuses back on Randolph. He invites Lady Deadpool to a demonstration. She shows up. After that, she basically becomes a Randolph Roadie as his career in political speaking grows. . At one event, a man, who claims his wife left him for Randolph, throws a shoe at him. Lady Deadpool blocks it and the shoe knocks out a few of her teeth. Then, she shoots the guy.


Tristan has both Captain America and Sloane, Randolph’s girlfriend, working with him to take down Randolph. Lady Deadpool breaks into Randolph’s home to kill Sloane, because she wants to be the only woman in Randolph’s life. Captain America shows up and takes Randolph to a terrorist detainee center. Sloane tasers Lady Deadpool. Tristan visits Randolph in his cell. It turns out that Randolph is Tristan’s nephew, who is only good looking thanks to Tristan getting him plastic surgery.


Lady Deadpool gets info from Onus on Randolph’s whereabouts. She saves Randolph and slaughters at least four guards. Captain America shows up and fights her. She stabs him and he falls down. Tristan shows up, but Randolph chops off a piece of his head with nunchucks. Randolph is injured by a bullet leaping from Tristan’s gun. As Randolph starts to die, Lady Deadpool leans in for one last kiss for her dead decaying mouth.


Writer (Mary H.K. Choi): The story seemed a little lacking in details. Why was Tristan out to get Randolph? Why was Captain America willing to help this seemingly-evil guy? What exactly did Shosanna and Arnold have to do with the story? Half the time you won’t even know what’s going on. I’m sure my summary is hard to follow, but so was the comic. Also, I didn’t like how Lady Deadpool is more about falling love with cute guys than kicking ass.


Illustrator (Ken Lashley): The drawing, unlike the writing, was pretty good, especially the close-ups. The first close-up is on her killer sandwich, which oozes of death with greasy cheesiness seeping out the side and with Lady Deadpool’s big knife leaning in to cut it in half. The last close-up, which is fairly mortifying, is of Lady Deadpool getting ready for her big kiss. You don’t realize how wrinkly and warty her mouth is until you reach that close-up and you’ll probably wish you hadn’t.


Cover (Greg Land): Land’s cover for Lady Deadpool seems to capture her perfectly. It captures her soft side by showing her holding a teddy bear, her tough side by showing an arm and a pizza box with knives in them, and her couch potato side with her on the couch watching TV and eating pizza.

Woman Warrior Wednesdays #1 by Kate Krimson

Welcome to the first Woman Warrior Wednesdays blog. Every Wednesday the world is flooded with new comic books. On Wednesdays, I will try to review a new comic that is either about a woman or written by a woman or illustrated by a woman in order to bring you a drop from the flood. My first comic book review is on Namora. Hope you like it.



Namora #1-Marvel Comics-$3.99


Stars: 3 out of 5.


Summary (Spoiler Alert):


Namora with the help of a whale saves sailors in a submarine that is running low on oxygen. The whale leads her to an old Atlantean settlement. There she runs into a kraken. She soon finds out that it guards the settlement, when some settlers stop her from fighting the kraken. Namora tries to convince the settlers to move to Oceanus, but they say they cannot go because they grow weak whenever they get to far away from their mineral well.


Inside the well, Namora sees her daughter, Namorita, who she thought was dead. She cannot leave the well or she’ll permanently go away. Namora lost track of her daughter, when Lyrrah trapped her in a tomb for 50 years. Namora was freed by a robot who thought that she must be alive. When Namora was free, she went to look for her daughter and learned that she had been in a town where an explosion had taken place during the civil war and thought she must be dead. Namora leaves Namorita, because she believes that she is just an illusion.


At the bottom of the well, Namora finds a giant kraken. She swims up to tell the Atlanteans what she has discovered. She was able to feel the kraken’s memories. It is what is keeping the Atlanteans from leaving the area. It is trying to recreate a world in which it used to be worshipped.


The smaller kraken that lives above the surface grabs Namora. The Atlanteans can get it to drop her. It has grown too strong. Its power is connected to the larger kraken and its influence. Namora, however, is strong and can breathe air, because of her mother’s side of the family. She carries the kraken up into the air and kills it. The Atlanteans no longer feel controlled by the well. Namora tells them to get ready immediately to leave for Oceanus.


Writer: Jeff Parker


Parker brings the whole world of Namora to life and gives the reader enough information to understand Namora, but the need to know more about her.


Cover Artist: Stephanie Hans


Hans magically encases Namora in water that seems to swim with her body and through her hair.


Pencils: Sara Pichelli


Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg


Pichelli and Rosenberg depict an amazing fighting woman, especially when Namora bursts through the floor of the submarine and when she kills the kraken. Underwater life is seen in their work on the Atlanteans and their settlement. The blue Atlanteans seem a little too Avatarish, but are still interesting characters. The giant kraken’s appearance automatically horrifies the reader in its great, scary detail, but not Namora.


For more information go to http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=15560.