Bingeworthy TV: Daredevil

Daredevil is a streaming series released on Netflix. It takes place in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen and stars Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer by day and a masked butt kicking vigilante by night. Matt has not let his disability hold him back in the least, but it should be noted that the accident that took his sight as a child enhanced his hearing and left him with an ability akin to sonar.

As a struggling lawyer by day Matt and his partner Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) take cases defending their poor and underrepresented neighbors. This is how they come to meet Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) wrongly accused of murder. Karen quickly becomes an important part of the team as an investigator.

Much of Matt’s vigilante work centers around Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio). His arch nemesis Fisk is something of a mob boss passing himself off as a philanthropist trying to gentrify Hell’s Kitchen, which brings Matt’s vigilant efforts together with his day job. Throughout the series Matt struggles with his love for the law and the reality that it is not always enough.

I love the character of Matt and how he uses his blindness to deflect suspicion of his vigilante tendencies, without ever coming across as helpless. The show, while having supernatural elements, remains grounded in real problems such as the effects of gentrification on the less affluent residents, human trafficking, and drug trafficking.

Daredevil takes place in the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe and if you are familiar with it you will pick up on the references, but you don't need to have watched these other movies and TV series to enjoy Daredevil. On a smaller scale Daredevil is companion to several other Netflix streaming series: Jessica Jones*, Luke Cage, The Punisher, and Iron Fist. All of these characters, except Punisher, come together in The Defenders.

~Becca, Technical Services

 *Read our review of Jessica Jones

Bingeworthy TV: Jessica Jones

There are a lot of television shows based on comic books these days, and it often feels overwhelming to try to keep up with them all (even before you consider the movies and comics...). I'm happy to say that you can watch and enjoy Jessica Jones without watching any other Netflix or Marvel TV series. You certainly shouldn't feel any pressure to read Brian Michael Bendis's comics that introduced the character, as the entire story has been altered, updated, and, in my opinion, improved.

This is not a series for young viewers. Bendis's original comic was part of an effort to break out of the restrictions imposed by the Comics Code Authority, and the TV series includes sex, violence, sexual violence, drug use, swearing, and alcohol abuse. When I read the comics, they often felt sexist and dated in a way that left me uncomfortable. In comparison, the TV series is an exploration of abuse, recovery, and revenge that feels very real.

Jessica Jones stars Krysten Ritter as the title character. Jessica gained superpowers in a tragic childhood accident, and as a young adult she was inspired to use those powers to help others. Unfortunately, this brought her to the attention of a manipulative, superpowered villain who abused and broke her.

Jessica copes with her trauma in unhealthy ways, primarily by drinking too much and isolating herself. Instead of a flashy career as a superhero, she uses her skills as a Private Eye, though she can't resist helping those in need. When a case suddenly provides a clue that might allow her to bring down the villain who hurt her, Jessica suddenly has a new and dangerous focus.

~Sarah, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: The Mighty Thor by Walter Simonson

Continuity is both the best and the worst thing about superhero comics. It’s a huge part of what fans love about these stories, but it’s an even bigger part of what leaves new readers confused and annoyed. In fact, “continuity,” as I’m using the word here, is an obscure enough idea that I should probably back up and define it a bit.

In comics and other long-running serialized stories, continuity is the history of the world and its characters, the idea that everything that’s come before is still true and still matters. This isn’t fundamentally different from what we see in a long-running TV show -- ideally the folks writing season 14 of Grey’s Anatomy remember what happened in season 1. If they write in some sort of callback to the early stuff, like an old character showing up, longtime viewers get a thrill of recognition and feel rewarded for the time they’ve invested. But, on the other hand, 14 seasons is a lot to keep up with and new viewers might be put off by the fear that they won’t know or remember everything they need to really appreciate a story.

Now let’s return to comics and take Marvel’s Thor as an example. Thor’s been in comics since 1962, which is a long time during which to accumulate a fictional history of friends, enemies, battles, and life changes. He’s had a few different love interests and secret identities. He had a robot arm for a while, turned into a frog once, and died (but not for long). Sometimes writers have misremembered things and contradicted each other about how something happened or what Thor’s magic hammer can do. Sometimes they’ve written “imaginary stories” that share details with the “actual” continuity of Thor but aren’t meant to connect with or change it. It’s a big thorny mess, but it’s full of really great stories, and, just like with the Grey’s Anatomy fan we imagined above, there’s a special joy in reading something that you understand is building off of a shared creative universe decades in the making.

I picked Thor as my example here not because his history is especially old or complicated (in the grand scheme of things, he’s pretty average in terms of continuity baggage). But he’s got a movie coming out soon, Thor: Ragnarok, that looks like it will be pretty fun, and a good superhero movie usually leaves folks asking which comics they should read to follow up on a character they’re newly excited about. This can be a hard question to answer, but for Thor it’s easy.

Walter Simonson’s time as the writer on The Mighty Thor lasted from 1983 to 1987 and his is widely considered one of the all-time best collections of superhero stories. Carnegie-Stout owns them in a nice five-volume reprint from a few year ago.

Simonson’s stories are grand, heroic, and mythic. He shows us fearsome dragons, unstoppable fire demons, and armies of frost giants. He clearly knows and loves both Norse mythology and all the Thor comics that came before him, but peppers in these references with a deft touch that won’t alienate readers who don’t share his background.

Through most of his time as writer, Simonson also drew his comics (which is pretty uncommon in mainstream superhero books). He’s got a great eye for design and an obvious love for the ornate techno-fantasy aesthetic that’s been central to Thor since the character was introduced. This may seem an odd detail, but he’s especially great at enormous and improbable hats that somehow manage to look great on the page even though they clearly would never work in real life.

These five volumes contain multiple smaller storylines that build together to a grand and satisfying conclusion. It’s dashing, exciting, and optimistic in a way that’s not always been fashionable for superhero comics. The good guys face long odds and terrible trials, but they succeed through determination, teamwork, and the strength of their ideals. These comics are fun, fast-paced, and thrilling.

Now, I know I wrote above about how you can enjoy these comics without knowing every bit of background. But I also know that having some of that background can make these things more fun. Maybe more importantly, I know plenty of folks who have a hard time letting go of the fear that they’re missing something important, even after they’ve been assured otherwise. So to go along with these comics I’ve got a special extra-credit podcast recommendation: Thor: The Lightning and the Storm.

This 14-episode podcast came out over the summer of 2017. Hosts Miles Stokes and Elisabeth Allie read and discussed their way through Simonson’s whole Thor run. Each episode covers a few issues of the comic and provides some recap and explanation and a whole lot of background, lore, and critical analysis. It’s like being in a very small book club with two fun and knowledgeable friends who are super-excited to tell you the abbreviated history of each little minor character who pops up or to explain how any given plot point relates back to things that happened in the comic twenty years before. Miles has read these comics over and over since childhood and brings boundless enthusiasm. Elisabeth is new to Thor (though not to comics as a whole) and brings a fresh pair of eyes, catching and remarking on things that Miles has lost to familiarity. It’s a really good format and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to dig into background info and comics trivia.

And if you enjoy The Lightning and the Storm and want to dig even deeper into a truly tangled web of superhero history, then you can move on to the other podcast Miles co-hosts, Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men, but that’s a whole other can of worms we’ll need to open in a later blog post . . . .

~Andrew, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: Strong Female Protagonist by Brennan Lee Mulligan & Molly Ostertag

Sometimes it pays to take a chance on a book based entirely on the cover art or a clever title. Jumping into a story blindly with no real expectations can be a great way to break a reading slump by taking all the pressure off of yourself. Plus, there's a chance you'll discover a really great book you probably wouldn't've encountered otherwise.

I knew nothing about Strong Female Protagonist by writer Brennan Lee Mulligan and artist Molly Ostertag before I checked it out from the library, and I am so glad that I did. Like many of my favorite comics, it started life as a webcomic, and if you don't want to wait for the library's print copy, you can read it immediately on their website.

Strong Female Protagonist is a superhero story about a young woman who doesn't want to be a superhero but who finds it equally hard to stand silent in the face of injustice. When young teens started developing superpowers, Alison Green discovered she had some incredible powers. The government provided guidance, support, and merchandising opportunities, and Alison became Mega Girl. Until the day she discovered that maybe the world isn't cut into clear divisions of good & evil, and maybe the world shouldn't be turning to teenagers for saving. So Alison took off the mask and enrolled in college, but her life will never be normal.

This is a character-driven and thoughtful take on the superhero story that incorporates real world challenges and issues between the superpowered battles. There's an intriguing conspiracy that propels the plot, but the real focus is on Alison's struggles to adjust to adulthood. The art is less typical superhero comic, and has more of the feel of a cartoon, but with some incredibly detailed backgrounds. One of my favorite parts of reading a long running webcomic is watching the way that an artist's style changes over time. Not that you'll notice any sudden shifts (except for the addition of color in the most recent chapters), Ostertag's art is remarkably consistent.

~Sarah, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: Patsy Walker, A.K.A Hellcat! by Kate Leth, Brittney Williams, & Megan Wilson

When it comes to superhero comics, I prefer my stories to be optimistic, fun, and, well, heroic. Not necessarily heroic on a save-the-world scale; I'm every bit as happy to see a superhero who tackles smaller crimes and everyday injustices. In other words, I absolutely love Patsy Walker: A.K.A. Hellcat! and if you're looking for something fun to read this summer, you should definitely add it to your list.

Some readers will be familiar with a different version of Patsy Walker from Netflix's series Jessica Jones where the character goes by the name of Trish Walker, Jessica's adoptive sister. In fact, the character of Patsy Walker has been around since 1944 and has gone through many changes over the last 70+ years. Don't worry about all of that history and backstory though because this is a perfect jumping-on point for new fans.

I first met Patsy in a two volume She-Hulk series written by Charles Soule where Patsy worked as a private investigator for She-Hulk's law office. That series ended with Patsy being laid off, allowing her to start up a new business providing assistance to people with superpowers who need a job other than superhero or super villain. There are currently two volumes available, with the third (and sadly final) scheduled for publication this August.

This series is written by Kate Leth, who before writing for Marvel posted comics about her life and her work in a comic shop online. I've been a fan of her quirky sense of humor for years. Brittney Williams is the illustrator and I enjoyed her cartoony and cute style. Some readers were put off by her use of chibis, but it really worked for me. The bright, cheerful colors were done by Megan Wilson and they really added to the series's overall tone.

~Sarah, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 1 by Ryan North, Erica Henderson, & Rico Renzi

I love everything about Squirrel Girl. Just getting it out of the way, this is definitely not an unbiased review. She is my favorite superhero, hands down. I want to be her best friend.

All that aside, this hardcover collection of the first eight issues of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is absolutely delightful. Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics, Romeo and/or Juliet) has created a funny, strong, smart hero in Doreen Green, a.k.a. the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. A human girl with the proportional strength and speed of a squirrel, and also a large squirrel tail that she stuffs into her pants to be less conspicuous. Armed with her wits, her kick-butt abilities, her best friend the squirrel Tippy Toe, her awesome friend and roommate Nancy, and Deadpool's Guide to Super Villain cards, Squirrel Girl can beat anyone. She's unbeatable. In addition, North adds some informational running commentary at the bottom of each page.

Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi (Spider-Gwen, Howard the Duck) give us amazing art and coloring, a fresh take on the traditional comic style. The characters look realistic, and Squirrel Girl's outfit is practical - function over fashion. There are digressions into Squirrel Girl's "past" that are presented as classic comics. These comics are illustrated in that recognizable comic style of yesteryear. They are ridiculous (in a good way), and feature Squirrel Girl meeting Iron Man for the first time, and teaming up with Captain America.


Read this if you like Lumberjanes, Bee and Puppycat, Deadpool, or any number of other irreverent and weird comics. This is a great starter for new comic readers, young and old alike.

Squirrel Girl is an awesome role model for younger readers. She's going to college for computer science, she's body-positive, she's funny and confident. She has her own theme song (which is sung to the tune of the Spider-man theme). She talks to squirrels. She's here to eat nuts and kick butts, and she's all out of nuts.

- Libby, Youth Services

Staff Review: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, & Jacob Wyatt

Heroes and heroism are at the center of the 2015 summer reading program, when the library challenges readers of all ages to read something new. We do offer rewards to readers who meet or exceed the challenge, so be sure to check out the details for the Adult Summer Reading Program if you haven't yet.

At various points in our lives, we all look to a variety of people and professions for our heroes, but who is more obvious than a superhero? They might not be real, but they can provide inspiration to people of all ages. I'm still fairly new to the world of superheroes, but I have my favorites, including Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel.

Written by G. Willow Wilson, and illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jacob Wyatt, Ms. Marvel is both entertaining and inspiring. This is the sort of comic book I wish I could give to my teenage self to read because she would've loved it. There will be some spoilers from this point forward, so be warned!

Kamala, a normal teenage girl, suddenly gains superpowers that allow her to save people just like her hero, Captain Marvel. Unfortunately, she gained them after sneaking out of her house to attend a party her parents specifically forbade her to attend. And that's the charm of this series, in between superpowered battles, Kamala faces challenges and questions familiar to most teens and young adults. Everyone has to learn how to balance the expectations of family, friends, and society at large, while still being true to the person you are inside. Kamala is exploring not just what it means to be a hero, but how she can be a hero and a good daughter to her parents who moved from Pakistan to New Jersey to give their children a chance at a better life.

Not that Ms. Marvel is 100% serious all the time, this is absolutely a fun series. Seriously, if I were limited to one word it would be fun. Kamala's shapechanging abilities are versatile, unstable, and used to great effect. The art is both detailed, with interesting backgrounds that make the setting a real part of the larger story, while still colorful and cartoony. The book does assume you have a basic familiarity with superheroes, but you don't need to get any of the references to other series or characters to thoroughly enjoy this series on its own.

There are currently two volumes of this series available, with the third to be released later this summer:
Ms. Marvel volume 1: No Normal
Ms. Marvel volume 2: Generation Y
Ms. Marvel volume 3: Crushed*

~Sarah, Adult Services

*Volume 3 is on order and will appear in the library's catalog for holds by the end of the July.

Staff Review: Hawkeye: my life as a weapon

 Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon was my first ever "superhero comic." I admit it, I'm a snob. Maybe snob isn't quite the right word because at the same time that I avoided superhero comics, I've been happily consuming superhero cartoons, movies, etc. I was leery for two reasons:

1) With series that have been in publication for decades, with complex relationships, backstories, and alternate universes, it's really hard to know where to start.

2) My perception of superhero comics as just a little sexist, and thus not for me.

Like millions of other people around the globe, I watched and enjoyed Joss Whedon's Avengers movie. Of course, I also left wondering how some dude with a bow and arrows wound up on a superhero team with, well, actual superheroes. Although I was happy enough to see a dude in the role of damsel in distress, until he's needed in the epic final battle, of course.

I didn't think I'd hear anything else about Hawkeye before the inevitable Avengers 2: Out for Vengence (I am making this title up). Except that people whose judgment I trust started talking about The Hawkeye Initiative (link sometimes NSFW), Hawkguy, and Pizza Dog.

Illustration by Noelle "Gingerhaze" Stevenson

The Hawkeye Initiative invites artists to contort Hawkeye into the less practical poses one sometimes finds the female characters in comic books drawn into. It's a humorous take on an issue that, to be fair, is not limited to superhero comics. Add in the fact that Hawkeye is portrayed as a character who would be more than okay with sexy posing to agitate for change, and you've got my attention.

Hawkguy and Pizza Dog are references to the comics written by Matt Fraction and illustrated (primarily) by David Aja. That Aja is not the illustrator for all of the issues is my only real complaint about a book that is otherwise fun.This is a series that pokes fun at the characters and the world they live in. It's almost a mash-up of the quirky slice of life stories I love in graphic novels with crazy heroics and exciting action sequences. In one scene you'll have a rooftop block party, and in another a high speed car chase (with Mini Coopers, of course).

Kate Bishop is my second favorite character, after Pizza Dog.

If, like me, you only know Clint Barton and his alter ego Hawkeye from seeing The Avengers, you won't have any trouble following this story. In fact, if all you know is that Clint Barton is good at shooting arrows and getting himself into trouble, that's enough. Kate Bishop (also a crime fighting archer, and also known as Hawkeye) was an unexpected, but delightfully snarky surprise. Fraction's writing is, as I mentioned, quirky, and the stories tend to play out in somewhat non-linear fashion. Issues often start with Clint in some horrible position, and then back up to show us how he got there.

The fifth issue collected in this volume does veer towards over the top soap opera villainy, but I was able to stumble through without having to look up anyone in Wikipedia. I was also least fond of the art in this issue. I'm sure part of my dislike comes the fact that I'm not accustomed to having the artist on a graphic novel change from chapter to chapter, but it was rather jarring to have the characters look so different. Illustrator Javier Pulido does a fine job, but he's not David Aja.

I might have a bit of an art crush on David Aja. His lines are interesting to look at, and he makes an excellent use of shadows. It's such an interesting balance of flowing precision. There's a great sense of motion, and the characters are so expressive. I found myself coming back to the page where Clint focuses on making a trick shot again and again.

Isn't David Aja's art just the best? *sigh*

~Sarah, Adult Services