New Comics Wednesday: July 8th Edition

Welcome back, kids. New Wednesdays equal new comics, and this week—while light on quantity—sees the release of Boom! Studios highly anticipated Strange Fruit by J.G. Jones and Mark Waid. See what I thought about it below.

Spoiler Alert: If you buy one comic this week, this is the one to buy. 

In other news, Project-Nerd is excited to announce that we are sponsoring Katrina Law at Denver’s Rocky Mountain Con in November. Come visit Project-Nerd and Arrow‘s Katrina Law on November 7th & 8th.

Also, I’ll be launching a monthly feature on creator owned books later this month, starting with Adriana Ferguson and Kristen Van Dam’s Minor Acts of Heroism, which I suggest you go check out here. So, be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks.

As usual, if you’ve got something you want reviewed (64 pages or less!) send it to reviews@cloud244.temp.domains and I’ll make sure to take a look at it.

Now, on to the comics.


Strange Fruit #1 of 4 (Boom! Studios)
Written by J.G. Jones and Mark Waid; Art by J.G. Jones 

Released in the wake of the Charleston, S.C. shooting and multiple church burnings in the South—and because of its highly sensitive subject matter—the timing of this book is both extremely necessary and very unfortunate. First and foremost, the protagonist is a black analog of Superman—and if we’ve been reminded of anything in the last couple of months, it’s that some people aren’t ever going to be alright with that. Second, it takes place in Jim Crow era Mississippi, a period of time that we in “post-racial America” like to sweep under the rug. Third, the book is by J.G. Jones and Mark Waid, both of whom—aside from being critically acclaimed creators with solid track records when it comes to diversity in comics—are originally from the South and identify as white males. Those three things have the potential to, under anything less than excellent circumstances, make this book a disaster—but that risk is what makes this book so incredibly important.

Thankfully, Jones and Waid treat the premise they’ve set up in Strange Fruit with an acute awareness and respect; setting up an unorthodox superhero story that doesn’t pull any punches when reminding the reader that—as it is today, as it was then, as it will be tomorrow—the deep South is a dangerous place to be black. There’s an inherent complexity to the yet-to-be-named protagonist. This is a superman who’s been thrust into a protective role in a conflict in which he may not have an interest. He’s an alien. He just got here. He has no apparent stake in the struggle for equality yet he’s going to be the de facto representative of a people who, daily, have to walk a tight rope between standing up for themselves and falling into line behind a culture of systemic discrimination—simply because of the color of his skin. It’s not a subtle metaphor, but when confronting racism—a villain who can’t be defeated with something so simple as a well placed right hook—there isn’t any room for subtlety.

It’s understandable that there may be some immediate negative reaction to a couple of white guys—talented, experienced, and accomplished though they may be—writing the narrative for a black superhero in 1920’s Mississippi. As reflected by the lack of non-white, non-male creators and characters supported by the industry, race equality is a continued struggle in comics. It remains to be seen, since we’re only one issue in, but Strange Fruit may very well be the most important comic that J.G. Jones and Mark Waid have made to date. It’s an unflinching look at one of the darkest periods in American history by two of comic’s most critically acclaimed and respected creators at the height of their careers. If I have one disappointment it’s that we’re only going to get four issues of it. Highly recommended reading for comics and non-comics readers alike.

Strange Fruit

Rebels #4 (Dark Horse)
Written by Brian Wood; Art by Andrea Mutti; Colors by Jordie Bellaire

Historical fiction can be a hard sell in that it is, after all, based on events that actually happened and, as a result, are often made less interesting in their fictionalization. Brian Wood’s Rebels takes a unique approach however by retelling the history of the American Revolution through the eyes of a single member of Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys militia named Seth Abbot. It provides a perspective that, rather than highlighting the already well detailed events, delves into the relationships between some of the larger than life, key figures of the American Revolution as viewed through the common soldier—like an oral history project that uses personal anecdotes to piece together the events. This is my first issue, and I’m looking forward to getting to know Seth better as he drags those cannons from Ticonderoga to Boston. Great work by Wood, artist Andrea Mutti, and colorist Jordie Bellaire.

Rebels

Star Trek/Green Lantern #1 (IDW)
Written by Mike Johnson; Art by Angel Hernandez; Colors by Alejandro Sanchez

Claiming this event to be the “Crossover Event of 2015” might be a bit grandiose on IDW’s part, but this has potential if Mike Johnson takes advantage of creative opportunities provided by combining these two expansive worlds. Since these sorts of crossovers are largely rooted in fanboy service, that’s a relatively big “if” that’s too early to call, as this first issue focuses on character introductions and figuring out some reason these two franchises would ever come crashing together. As a comic, it’s functional enough, and—for better or worse—artist Angel Hernandez does a pretty good job at making the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise look like the actors we all know from the big screen. I just wish it would’ve took some more chances with the premise, which feels predictable. I’ll give this one another issue to stretch out, but I’m not urging anyone to go pick it up yet.

Star Trek Green Lantern


Also available this week:

Boom! – Bill & Ted’s Most Triumphant Return #5, Bravest Warriors #34, Clarence #2, Lantern City #3, Sirens #4, 

Dark Horse – Abe Sapien #24**, The Tomorrows #1, Negative Space #1 

IDW – Classic Popeye #36, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency #2, Drones #4, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth #25, Long Distance #2, Maxx Maxximized #21, Star Trek: New Visions #7, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Color Classics Vol. 3 #7

Dynamite – Swords of Sorrow #3, Vampirella/Army of Darkness #1 

** No review copy provided


Project-Nerd is a press partner of BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, and IDW Publishing. If you would like to see your studios’ content included in our weekly release article, please contact our editors.

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