A Fistful Of Comics: September 2013

I had a few highly enjoyable hours poking around London on Saturday and in the process topped up my supply of fresh comics. Here's what I came back with and my thoughts on each.

Lady Rawhide #1 (Dynamite Comics)

Zorro is not the only champion the people of Old Mexico have. A young woman with quick wits and flaming red hair battles injustice with a whip, a rapier and an astonishingly brief costume.

 Her name is Lady Rawhide.

 

 The scantily clad swashbuckler was introduced in the the early 90s "Zorro" comic and proved such a hit that she was given her own title. After Dynamite revived Zorro, it's not that much of a surprise that Lady Rawhide also came out of retirement. 

  Rather like Red Sonja, the immediate appeal is obvious but there is a bit more to this young lady than fanservice. Some impressive parkour skills for starters, and a playfulness that owes more than a wee bit to Zorro. Zorro probably never paused to give a pursuing soldier  peck on the cheek though.
 The art sometimes gives the impression that the penciller started with the boobs and worked outwards but it's decent enough and mostly avoids the porniness certain other artists are prone to.
 I do love a good swashbuckle so can see this one being a fun title to follow.
(And the obvious question is: Would I be buying this if were Lord Rawhide? What do you think?)

Impressive...upper body strength.

Shrugged2 #1 (Aspen Comics)

 Theo is an ordinary High-School student with one exception. Throughout the entire day he has a pair of beings from another dimension riding on his shoulders- the lovely Ange and Dev (who looks like the Gruffalo with a massive underbite.)  One wants him to better himself. The other wants him to party like it's 2099.

 The first of several comics I picked up on a whim. As it turns out this is another relaunched title, being issue one of vol 2. Which might explain why ,midway through, the action moves back Ange and Dev's home plane to play catch up and deliver a wee info dump.   
 I didn't really get on with this one. The art is Ok I suppose - definitely better when it comes to drawing the ladies and downright odd when it comes to some of the more demonic characters.
  Plus, establishing characters and situation aside, nothing very much happens. Theo says hi to his mates then meets a girl while his shoulder-surfing sidekicks argue about the merits of homework and allude to some of the stuff that happened back in volume one. The closest thing to action? Some demons doing a bit of free-running.
 I can't see myself picking this one up again.

 You know, I'm not even sure whether he can see his guardian whatever-the-hell-they-are.

Detective Comics  Harley Quinn #1 (DC)

 

  How, exactly, did respected psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel become the hammer-wielding headcase and #1 Joker fangirl Harley Quinn?  The psychotically perky, perkily psychotic Harley hijacks one of Batman's titles to explain it all.

I must confess I don't read much Batman so I mainly know Harley from the DCAU.  I can't help noticing that this version is a lot darker. Less cute, less wacky. More crazy, more killing for thrills...

Anyway, the off-kilter art style jars at first but suits the story.  And watching Harley gradually put together her wardrobe through spirited use of  blunt instruments is well worth the cover price. 

I enjoyed this one. 

 At this point, anybody who's been on the receiving end of 

High School "Mean Girls" behaviour probably cheered out loud. 

And now on to two series I have been following.

Fearless Defenders 08 (Marvel)

  Valkyrie and Misty Knight team up with monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone for a trek through the sewers of NYC's Chinatown. They find the monsters alright, as well as a couple of hings they hadn't bargained on, but help comes from an entirely unexpected direction... 

  So the obvious first question is: What in the holy blue hell is Val wearing on her legs? First trousers now Yeti Boots? Oi Marvel, cease and desist this shit.

 Ahem. After the slow-paced last issue, the gals get a bit more mayhem in this time around. That does lead to one of the more awkward action panels I've seen lately. (The person in question looks as though she's doing a high-kick routine and may have just dislocated a hip. I think the artist was having an off-day)

 That aside, the gals trade snarky one-liners, get to hit things in entertaining fashion and there's a couple of promising candidates if  Val ever has another recruitment drive. 

  I plan to stick with this one for a while yet.

Elsa and Misty have a Snarking contest. Judges ruled it a draw - 

Mainly because they didn't want to make either of these two pissed off 

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic #10

  All Big Macintosh wants to do is get some nails and go home to finish his DIY. 

As his quest take him from one end of Ponyville to the other, the taciturn stallion will accidentally invent a new dance craze, acquire at least one stalker  and ...finally have some fun?

  Very definitely aimed at the Brony fanbase, this issue is rather like the old "Police Squad" series in that you can have a lot of fun just by keeping an eye on developments in the background. Several fan faves make cameos at key points, in fact. The CMC also continue to wreak havoc in their usual fashion.

 It's nice to see somebody outside Twilight and her pals get the spotlight for a change and it's also nice to get a glimpse inside Mac's head as he gets more and more exasperated with the silliness around him. 

 Probably not for everybody but this series continues to be a small, calm oasis of charm and humour surrounded by titles trying to get "darker and edgier".

 Our hero is unexpectedly dragooned into a dance routine.

 That's all folks.