The beginning of May is fast approaching not that you’d know it by looking out my window right now. It is snowing and that’s only made more ridiculous by the fact that I both bought and returned a lawnmower last week. My father told me not to “cheap out” when buying a mower and, as usual, he was right.
Last week’s column was notable since a tweet containing a link to it was faved by Joe Hill. That’s right, he faved a tweet that linked to a story that had the words “diarrhea cannon” in its opening paragraphs. I should probably retire now. I can only assume that he didn’t actually read the column, but a small part of me likes to thing he did and that his acknowledgment of the tweet was, by extension, an approval of it.
WYND Vol. 1
James Tynion IV (W)
Michael Dialynas (A)
BOOM! Box
Out today from the BOOM! Box imprint is the first volume of James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas’ Wynd. Here’s the blurb:
Wynd lives a quiet life in Pipetown – working at the local tavern, out of sight in the secret rooms beneath the floorboards, often stealing away to catch glimpses of the son of the castle’s groundskeeper as he works. But Wynd also has a secret… magical blood betrayed by his pointed ears, forbidden within the city limits. Joined by his best friend Oakley and Thorn, the groundskeeper’s son, Wynd’s strange dreams and an encounter with the city guard send him on the most dangerous adventure he could imagine, where Wynd will discover the magic in the world around him and, most importantly, the magic within himself. Collects Wynd #1-5.
If this column were an Instagram account or a Tumblr blog I’d probably have to re-brand it as a “James Tynion IV Fan Account.” Ever since his sensation run on DC’s Detective Comics I’ve been keeping a close eye on his work and practically daring him to do something that I don’t like. The only downside to that is that he’s been so prolific over the last year or two that I’m finding it hard to keep up.
So, yeah, this is me sheepishly admitting I missed Wynd the first time around. The same guy who has been complaining for months now about how small his weekly pulls have gotten. Luckily for me the first collected edition of the book is out today and makes for some excellent, albeit quick, reading. Which is to say I completely blazed through this collection in one sitting.
Wynd is a wonderful spin on the well trod trope of the epic fantasy quest but with themes of discovery and acceptance folded into it that that make it more accessible for a contemporary audience. It’s beautifully illustrated and I feel like once comic cons are a thing again (someday?) I’ll be seeing a lot of Wynd cosplays.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
I haven’t really written much about this show aside from the brief bit I did over in my Figure Friday column about preordering a Winter Soldier figure and also sympathizing with Sebastian Stan’s plight since I too am generically handsome. It is my curse, my burden.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially crossed into pizza territory for me: Even when it’s bad, it’s still something I enjoy. A grocery store freezer pizza is legitimately terrible but I’ll still eat it, just like I’d watch Age of Ultron or Thor 2 if they were randomly on the TV.
I’m not hoping for Marvel to fail with any of their cinematic outings but I have to ask the same question I ask of myself on a daily basis, “Isn’t it exhausting being so awesome all the time?”Just like myself, Marvel gets a pass…whatever they’re doing I’ll show up for. I think it speaks volumes that I’m interested in movies and shows about characters I wouldn’t have thought twice about 30 years ago.
The Falcon and the Winter Solider has been, like WandaVision, consistently excellent and it’s interesting to see Marvel taking the time to fill in the blank spots between big screen outings. It’s also refreshing to see that the production values have risen to match their cinematic counterparts. I’m not about to name any names (coughAgents of S.H.I.E.L.Dcough) but some TV outings all definitely looked like they were made for TV and shot on a Hollywood backlot.
It was interesting to see the subject of race being brought up in the context of the MCU. I won’t say they “tackled” the subject but an acknowledgement that racism still exists in a world full of superheroes was a start. Should Disney decide to really go for it there’s a specific comic book they could adapt that I’ll refrain from mentioning due to it being a little spoiler-ish if you’re not caught up on the show yet.
In a similar vein, I think it’s pretty apparent that we’re going to get something to do with the Thunderbolts comic in the near future. It seems like a few of the major pieces are in place right now and I’d almost count on some kind of post-credits scene this week confirming it.
