A Little of This, a Little of That
Grixly #51, 53, 55-60, 62, 63, 64, 67-69 by Nate McDonough & co.
I enjoyed the two issues of this series I previously reviewed, so I bought out McDonough's online store of each available issue, and he was kind enough to include a few extras. Unlike those two issues, there are no strips drawn by others, though there are pin-ups, covers, and the occasional bit based on someone else's recollections. As with those other two issues, the focus on the comic remains McDonough's experiences buying and selling comics. Issues 56, 68 and 69 have a bit more slice-of-life outside of comics elements to them than the others mixed in. Some highlights from the series include a discussion about the role eBay plays in McDonough's chosen profession and how packing tape seems to suck up all hairs in #53. In #62, McDonough deftly discusses the pandemic-era speculation bubble. A lurid fantasy of dying in a car crash while holding an issue of Alpha Flight highlights #64. I felt personally attacked by McDonough's admission to shipping comics via media mail while calling people like me who follow the USPS rules on the issue, a “crybaby, pedant, volunteer cop, rule worshiping nerd, fucking loser.” Despite this vicious assault on my character, Grixly remains a tremendously fun read.
Battling Hate #1 edited by Albert Fuzailof
This comic was available exclusively at Cosmic Con this past February. Behind an original cover of either not-Clark Kent or not-Steve Rogers, it reprints a couple of comics relevant to the topic, along with a few essays. “Paintings for the Angel of Death: the Story of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt” by Rafael Medoff and Neal Adams recounts the story of young woman who painted a mural of Snow White to try and calm children at Auschwitz. Nazis took notice of it, and Mengele ordered her to paint Romani interred at the camp as, “He believed [photography] failed to capture aspects of the [Romani's] skin tones which, he claimed, helped demonstrate their racial inferiority.” Gottliebova survived the Final Solution by doing this, eventually moved to the US, worked as an assistant animator, and married one of the Disney animators who worked on Snow White, Arthur Babbitt. Thought lost, some of her paintings were rediscovered, and never returned to her by the Auschwitz Museum before her death in 2009. Thought wordy, Adams's realistic style (supposedly inked by Joe Kubert, but uncredited) serves it well, as does the decision to only color in Adams's version of her paintings. The second story in the comic is a reprint of an appearance by Kismet, the Man of Fate, credited by Roy Schwartz's intro as the first Muslim superhero. Omar Tahan, apparently the pen name of Ruth Roche, a Jewish Woman and associate of Will Eisner with an extensive comics resume. The comics itself relays a fairly rote WWII-era propaganda story. Flame, a femme fatale, and Bruta venture from Hades to help Hitler out because he “is making a mess of the job.” Upon meeting the duo, Hitler literally starts eating a carpet at Flame's feet which... sure is something. They brought a secret weapon for him to use, a cigarette holder that can turn men to stone (until exposed to fire). Kismet sees this from outside. Kismet is turned to stone, is the centerpiece at a Nazi dinner, and after a candle falls on his foot. He's about to use the cigarette holder on Hitler when an allied bombing raid hits the building they are in. The story stinks, but the art is oddly clean for the Golden Age. It looks like Battling Hate reproduced it from the original pencils (you can see white out marks).
Nightwing: Fallen Grayson vol 7 by Tom Taylor & Bruno Redondo Taylor's superb run concludes and sticks its landing. It may feel a bit rote, at times, but it pays off work these two masters spent 40 issues building. It does contain one really fun bit though, wear Bruce Wayne becomes Nightwing II while Grayson journeys to Nanda Parbat. Redondo gets in one last iconic splash of Grayson leaping to confront Heartless, the villain of the run, and it is still just as breathtaking as the first one. I wish this run had lasted longer.
Painkiller Jane & GI Zombie #1 & 2 by Jimmy Palmiotti and Juan Santacruz
Paperfilms, the company owned by Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and Justin Gray is the most reliable Kickstarter publisher I have yet to encounter. Exempting the Pandemic, they hit their estimated ship dates, if not deliver early. Their work rarely breaks new ground, but it never fails to entertain and always arrives well packaged. Painkiller Jane & GI Zombie fulfills those expectations. Somehow, despite being a fan of Palmiotti's writing, this is the first Painkiller Jane story I have read, though I am generally familiar with the concept (ex-cop gains fast healing and immunity to pain). GI Zombie, Palmiotti and Gray created original for the post-52 DCU, but his rights reverted back to them (Alan Moore must be jealous). This story marks the character's return to action after a decade.
The first issue opens with Jane and girlfriend hired two kill two defecting Russian scientists while the US government entrusted Jared Kabe (the titular GI Zombie) with escorting them safely. Kabe offers Jane triple her fee to help him, which she readily agrees to do. The remainder consists of fairly standard spy escort mission stuff, until Russian agents blow up the plane at the end of the issues. Only Jane and Kabe survive, and barely in the case of the former. She awakens after a week on a deserted island. The pair can see lights on another, larger island some distance away. Together, they swim there over the course of the day and discover that, frankly, it is Epstein Island with the serial numbers filed off. Cue even more gratuitous violence and nudity as they free the children from the clutches of not-Epstein.
Overall, this is a fun book, like most Paperfilms comics, but I will say that this might be the crudest Palmiotti comic I have read since the run on Deadpool he co-wrote with Buddy Scalera more than 20 years ago.
