This week, Zander Cannon returns with the latest volume of his acclaimed Kaijumax series. On the surface, a series about giant Japanese monsters imprisoned on a maximum-security island, policed by a staff of Ultramen and women sounds like rousing comedic fare. How many chuckles can Cannon elicit with a seemingly ever-expanding lexicon of kaiju-fied prison slang? Answer: many. (“No! Marianas no! I say smooth white balls to that.” Freaking love that.) But this book, like all of Cannon’s work, delves into so much more and, as he explains himself in this issue’s afterword, there is no other medium that allows for truly bizarre explorations of serious subject matter.
“Being bizarre and audacious right from the start gets readers off-balance and gets them to examine a story and forces them to admit they really don’t know how this is all going to play out.”
If you haven’t already done so, do yourself a favor and pick up the Kaijumax: Season One trade. Then, meet back here for the Season Two opener. You’ve now experienced the brilliant audacity of monsters painfully addicted to uranium, and the crooked prison guards who deal in suffering. You’ve wrinkled your brow at brutal assaults and illicit, improbable affairs. And you realize that, despite maybe loving giant mechamonsters and tokusatsu antics as a kid, Kaijumax isn’t for children. And, as a result, you love it all the more. Because now you expect something more.
Vision
Given Black Panther’s impending appearance in Marvel Films’ Captain America: Civil War, and a planned solo movie, it would have been easy for the company to simply inundate the comic shop with team book appearances; new series, both limited and ongoing; and half-hearted attempts at putting his face on as many covers as possible. You know, like Deadpool.
This new Mockingbird is written by bestselling novelist Chelsea Cain, with art by newcomer Kate Niemczyk and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg. Kudos to Marvel for publishing another book by a female creative team, and congratulations to Cain, Niemczyk, and all involved for kicking off this series with one of the best superhero psychoanalysis sessions since Peter David’s X-Factor. Cain, in the afterword, admits that this first issue doesn’t make “any sense at all.” But, after multiple visits to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical clinic, and a heavy sprinkling of puzzle pieces designed to set up an intriguing first arc, I have to agree with another Cain sentiment: many things that don’t make any sense at all are still awesome.
The Institute of Idle Time 