lilacsigil

I'm cleaning out a lot of comics while we move house and I would rather pass them along to fellow fans if anyone wants them. Happy to send them anywhere for free. Feel free to let other fans know about this if you think they'd like anything.

Today's offerings:

X-Men: Emperor Vulcan, five issue miniseries, complete. Great for fans of Rachel Grey, the Shi'Ar, or wacky X-Men space adventures. Also good for fans of Vulcan but I don't know if there are any.

Vertigo: Shadows Fall, six issue miniseries, complete. Very early 90s Vertigo style urban horror, nice art.

Now that we're getting our comics once a fortnight, rather than once a month, I thought I might post the occasional comic review here. No spoilers!

White Tiger is a Marvel limited series by novelist Tamora Pierce and her partner Timothy Liebe. It features Angela Del Toro, the former FBI agent last seen in Daredevil as she comes to terms with the powers she has inherited from her late uncle, and tries to define what her responsibilities, abilities and limitations might be. Shortly after her partner, Agent Driver, was killed, Angela resigned from the FBI over their treatment of Daredevil. She then turned to him to begin her superhero training. This series continues her story as she engages with the complex New York superhero community, tries to find a new job that will use all her skills, and investigates the murder of her partner and a new threat that may be related.

It all sounds very serious, but in fact White Tiger is a very fun, smart comic. Angela has little experience with the superhero life, but she has years of FBI and martial arts training, not to mention an analytical mind, to keep her on the right path. She uses her contacts, both FBI and superhero, fights everyone from muggers to drug dealers to scary supervillains with determination and strength, and deals with the inevitable mistakes and annoyances with (mostly) good humour. Angela may not be a born superhero, but she does have a fine sense of justice and an excellent list of contacts. The cameos from various Marvel characters are great: they give a wonderful sense of community among the superheroes, something that the whole New Avengers and Civil War carry-on is sorely lacking.

I only tend to pay attention to comic art when it's exceptionally good or bad, so I'm not giving an in-depth critique when I say I enjoy the art by Phil Briones and Don Hillman. If you want to see how a superheroine can be sexy but not sexualised, this is the comic for you. White Tiger's costume, designed by David Mack, is practical (apart from the colour, as White Tiger herself mentions!), intimidating, hot and visually exciting. (My icon is from the beautiful David Mack cover for the second issue.)

The first two issues have been a real treat, and I hope the rest of the series lives up to this standard.

The fine people at comica_obscura suggested that we might like to fulfil requests that were not granted in the challenge proper. When I sent in my story, I volunteered to pinch hit, and a few characters were thrown at me. I wasn't required in the end, but it did give me a story idea.
This is for Seanan, who I don't know in the slightest, but who wrote a magnificent Fables fic.

And, for the first time I've written in the Global Frequency fandom, here's Aleph in
( Babe in Toyland )