Recommendations:
Carly Vanders has a problem: she's now a superhero, but no one seems to appreciate her -- or even notice that she exists. And if she's perfectly honest with herself, that really sticks in her craw. But does the recognition of adoring crowds actually matter? Or is Carly allowing her envy of an old childhood rival to cloud her view?
Like everything else produced by this artist/writer team, the second volume of Kamen America features bright, adorable manga-inspired art and an entertaining story driven by a powerful - and sadly rare - moral sensibility. Specifically, Lim and Pellegrini take direct aim at the unearned emotional validation and "yass-queen-slay!" cheerleading that is sadly epidemic in mainstream comics featuring female heroes, electing instead to keep their leading lady humble and focused on doing good for its own sake. The result: a book that's a breath of fresh air in a genre otherwise weighed down by tiresome narcissism and political correctness.
The Kickstarter campaign for Kamen America 2 has already ended, sadly, but I've linked to the pre-campaign page for their Indiegogo for anyone who missed the first pass. Do pick this up if you can; I give it my highest recommendation.
The Archer's Cup, S.D. Smith
This is another addition to Smith's middle-grade Green Ember universe, which I have praised on this blog on multiple occasions for its able storytelling, depth of characterization, and strong themes. Here, Smith follows Emma and archer Jo Shanks as they attempt to recruit Blackstone Citadel to join the fight against the Preylords -- and incidentally stumble into a mystery that's tearing the secret citadel apart. Said mystery is pretty simple - I figured it out quite early on - but Smith's young audience should enjoy it regardless. And the message here - that love is not a passion but an act of an honorable will - is remarkably wise and necessary in a world that elevates lust and shallow sentiment over sacrifice and virtue. A good choice for a read-aloud!
Iron Man #3
So what do I think of this particular issue? Uh. Well. The art remains top-notch (and is the reason why I'm buying these at this point), and the story does dial back somewhat on the obnoxiously overt political commentary, so -- that's a marginal improvement, I guess? On the whole, though, it still isn't what I'm looking for. It still feels like Cantwell, at best, only partially groks Tony on a fundamental level.
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