Golden Apple Comics Blog
The P.O.W - 12/16/20 - RORSCHACH #1 / POST AMERICANA #1 / TASKMASTER #2
PICKS OF THE WEEK – Dec. 16, 2020:
- RORSCHACH #3: Tom king knocks another one out to the park with the best issue yet of this sequel series to one of the greatest comic books ever, and so far, he’s living up to the already staggering expectations. This issue focuses on ‘The Kid’ one of the two would be presidential assassins’ backstory as we see how a mind can be molded for madness and how insidious influence can lead to awful action all in the name of righteousness. What’s so great about this issue is how timely and profound its message is towards the political landscape we find ourselves in today. This issue and story is terrifyingly relevant to show the depths people will fall into conspiracies and how these lies will consume and take everything from them, as they will happily give over their lives with a smile. Jorge Fornes’ art keeps stride and pace with king’s writing with each panel and uses Watchmen’s iconic nine panel grid effectively for a satisfyingly tragic ending to a spectacular issue. Like title this series shifts your perception to what it means to believe in something, and with each issue you believe that King is the absolute right man for the job for such a titanic undertaking, and good god, does it live up to the hype.
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- POST AMERICANA #1: One-part the Mike Judge masterpiece “Idiocracy” mixed with one-part John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” and a dash of Total Recall and you’ve got the gist of this bombastic bombshell of a comic book from Writer Steve Skroce and Artist Dave Stewart. After the collapse of society, Humanity, or the top tier of it, are forced to rebuild underground. Naturally human foibles and greed take over and plans don’t go the way their supposed to as a group of rag tag rebels take out the corrupt new government to start anew above ground. What they find though is more twisted and terrifying than they could’ve imagined. The story rock and rolls along but Dave Stewart’s Art is what truly transcends in this series. It is gruesome, graphic and absolutely beautiful in a grossly good way. If ‘the worst is yet to come’ has been your mantra for the recent past then this is the series to look forward to in getting through your dark days.
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- TASKMASTER #2: For his second job helping Nick fury Taskmaster is, well... tasked with taking out one of the strongest people in the Marvel universe, a man of super strength, speed and stamina, Hyperion. With a little nod to your favorite Wednesday ritual and packed with bone breaking tension writer Jed MacKay and artist Alessandro Vitti throw down the gauntlet and lay the pain into the masked mercenary with little mercy. When a recon mission to take out Fury’s former friend, Phil Coulson, goes wrong he calls in the big guns with Squadron Supreme’s Hyperion answering the call faster than a speeding bullet. Mackay knows how to plot an action issue very well with the break out first issue and continues to give the smack downs with this lopsided standoff. Taskmaster won’t give up on his mark though, no matter the odds and that’s what makes this issue so fun. Seeing him pull out everything in his bags of tricks, while keeping his wits about him, to a take down a titan he stands no chance against is sight to behold. Vitti’s pencils and details are fast and fluid as arrows, as bombs and fists start flying and Hyperion lays into the hurt. This book is just plain fun no matter how brutal it gets. For a funny anti-hero that will never back down, Marvel has done it again with this super series and hopefully raises Taskmaster’s profile to be a major player going forward on earth 616.
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The P.O.W - 11/11/20 - PUNCHLINE #1 / TASKMASTER #1 / MISKATONIC #1
PICKS OF THE WEEK – Nov. 11, 2020:
- PUNCHLINE #1: DC’s biggest and baddest break out character of the year gets her own comic one shot in the Punchline Special from creator James Tynion IV and Sam Johns. With the dust settling with the fallout of the Joker War storyline, Punchline gets her day in court, and is using every avenue she can to twist and contort public perception and opinion to her favor to escape the consequences of being the Joker’s new beaux. Tynion and Johns bring in some key Batman side characters who have been over looked and under played and finally given some pretty meaty roles in this issue. They are the perfect lens to bring into focus the danger Punchline possesses even when she’s in the custody of the police. The writers have a commentary of how the world these days can make victims out of villains and use a cool device of podcasts and storytelling to move their point across. Mirka Andolfo handles the artistic duties with Romulo Fajardo Jr on colors. They make a very pretty book using manga inspired styles to pace their story. If you’ve been loving Batman and can’t get enough Punchline pick this book up to see just how dastardly and deadly this new Bat Baddie is and how after a killer entrance and here to stay.
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- TASKMASTER #1: Marvel delivers on a book in waiting for months now and it has been worth the wait. Taskmaster takes center stage in this great debut issue from writer Jed MacKay and Artist Alessandro Vitti. Mackay lays into the absurdity and humor of both the character and the situations Taskmaster finds himself in with planting him in a foursome golf match between some Mafiosos and Bullseye and the story just takes off screaming from there. If you’re a fan of the MCU and love the sort of fish out of water, meta understanding of how crazy all this stuff is then this is going to be at the top of your pull. For every joke there is also a lot action and momentum with chases and twists to keep you pulling the page. Vitti keeps up stride with his pencils throwing you action, reactions and panache right from the get go. This team looks to be having a hell of a time on this book and with the premise laid out for the issues to come this title is shaping up to be something comically brilliant in every sense of the word.
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- MISKATONIC #1: A. local and friend of the store Mark Sable is back with a new series from Aftershock that will make Cthulhu blush. Set in the days of the FBI’s inception, special agent Miranda Keller is almost fired until she gets assigned one more job to look into some mysterious happenings related to an anarchist bomb attack in New England. What she finds defies logic and sanity as she meets with a partner to hunt down who or what is the cause of the chaos and uncover any other weird dealings the town of Miskatonic is hiding just underneath the surface. If you loved HBO’s Lovecraft Country and can’t get enough strong female protagonists hunting down calamitous cults and mystical misgivings then this is the series for you. Giorgio Pontrelli’s art moves briskly along and gives the money shots when the order calls for it. For as much mystery as there is in this issue Sable and Pontrelli really give you a lot of bang for your buck by diving right to the heart of the matter and they don’t let up once the wheels start turning. Lovecraft enthusiasts and fans of old school horror should nab this off the shelves the first chance you get.
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