Reading Wednesday, etc.

[dhampyresa]

(I am still sick, it sucks, woe is me, etc.)

Currently my approach to dealing with stuff is basically "If it ain't on a deadline, I ain't doing it", but reading wednesday is a deadline of sorts, so here I am, hello.


READING

Finished reading

Instead of digging back up something I finished (much) earlier, I'm going to talk about something I finished reading today!

2015
Chats d'oeuvre
D'un monde à l'autre (La Quête d'Ewilan, tome 1)
Le Jardin des silences
Lucifer v1 (Vertigo comic)
Prince of Cats
Sandman Overture
Spider-Gwen v1
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl v1
Magnus Chase and the Sword of Asgard
The Red Pyramid
Le papyrus de César
Tumulte à Rome

2016 (finished)

Marie des dragons intégrale
volume 4 of Les aigles de Rome

Scarlet Witch 1-5, by James Robinson (writing) and Vanesa Del Rey (1), Marco Rudy (2), Steve Dillon (3), Marguerite Sauvage (4) and Javier Pulido (5) (art -- the artist changes every issue): So at this point it should be no secret I love Wanda Maximoff a hell of a lot. I am so fucking glad Wanda got her own solo! One where she gets to unapologetically be the good guy, even. (These five issues to be collected in a TPB that comes out in June, fyi.)

I love this book, both that it exists and (most of) what it chooses to be.

First off, let me talk about the art. As mentionned above, the artist changes every issue, so sadly David Aja's gorgeous covers are not representative of the inside. I fucking love Wanda's design as depicted on these covers though. (Guess what I'm drawing this evening?) Anyway, the quality of the art varies from artist to artist and even from page to page on occasion.

Objectively, the best art is probably Marco Rudy on issue 2. It reminded me more than a bit of early 2010 Batwoman (art by J. H. Williams III) with the realism and intricate page layout. Excellent use of the layout and very dynamic fight scenes without sacrificing clarity. I also love the way Wanda's face is drawn.





The setting of issue 2 is the Greek island of Santorini. I've included part of the landscape/layout in the second picture so you can sort of see how the two blend together. Excellent work. I've been to Santorini, the comic is faithful to what I remember.

Overall, this is also my favourite art of the series so far. This being said, my absolute favourite page so far is this one (from issue 4).



I have been waiting SO LONG for Wanda to get a proper, badass, full-page-and-fancy-font introduction and it makes me so happy that she does!

So, overall: I like or love the art on all issues except issue 5. I just can't stand Pulido's art; it was the reason I quit She-Hulk way back when.

Story-wise, I am enjoying this book, although I do wish individual issues were not quite so stand alone, so far issues 1 and (especially) 5 don't seem to bring anything to the myth arc.

I enjoy a lot of the rethoric about magic in this -- and I love it so much that Wanda getting medicated for her mental illnesses is treated neither as a bad thing nor a hindrance to her magic, more like the opposite -- but none of it quite matches up with previous or even adjacent canon concerning magic in the Marvel comics verse or Wanda's magic in specific. But still, "No cure is without a curse", in the context of "no magic is without a cost" is something that needs to be said, if only on a meta level.

I have zero problem with Wanda getting a nemesis -- and in fact I am delighted that she gets to start building her own gallery of rogues --, but I could really have done without his introduction(s) being killing a Greek woman and killing a Nigerian man.

Somewhat pettily, I am also disappointed with him being the Emerald Warlock, both because it's such an obvious riff on Wanda's alter-ego of Scarlet Witch and because every time I see him I get a moment of "is it Doctor DOOM :D?" and it never is. I like Doctor Doom, okay. I will forever want someone to do something about the fact that he and Wanda almost got married! And his mother was a witch, so it's not like him showing up in a book focusing on witchcraft and witches would be odd.

What is kind of odd is putting Wanda at the center of such a book as an archetypal witch. Here's the thing about Wanda Maximoff: her hexes were originally just the manifestation of her mutant power of probability manipulation. Granted she is apparently no longer a mutant (thanks, MCU/I give it five years before she's back as Magneto's daughter), but as far as I know Pietro is still a speedster so there's no reason to believe her powers are suddenly more witch-y than they were before.

To be fair, Wanda's powers have always operated more or less on "as the plot demands", but I would have liked for something to be made of the fact that Wanda is an outsider to witches. Her powers are not their powers. She was not raised a witch. She's one of them, but also not.

In this vein, the reveal that "Scarlet Witch" is not something she chose for herself but a title tht has apparently been passed down the female line of her family is kind of sad to me. I liked that Wanda became a "proper" witch only after she had had the name -- that by naming herself, she had shaped her destiny.

Speaking of femaleness, the book draws lines between "male" and "female" magic. So far those lines seem restricted to which deity said magic is drawn from (Cernunnos vs Cerridwen, for ex), but still, it's uncomfortably gender essentialist.

My wishlist for future issues: Illyana Rasputin makes an appearance, so does Victor von Doom (New and Improved handsome edition or body armour edition edition, I don't care) and Theresa Cassidy as the Morrigan does too. I may be the only person who remembers that Theresa became the Morrigan in the latest run of X-Factor but she did and if we are bringing in Irish folklore, I want her in this book.

TL;DR: I ENJOY THIS. She's going Paris next issue, so that'll be... interesting.


Still reading

Contes et récits de l'histoire de Carthage by Jean Defrasne
Le Déchronologue by Stéphane Beauverger

I need to add a list of the comics I am currently following to this, if only so I don't forget what I'm reading from week to week.


Reading next

Do I look like I know? Thought not.

Books that I have already: Pyramids of London, by Andrea K Höst, Prisoner (Echo's Wolf, Book 1) (Werewolf Marines 2) by Lia Silver, Taking Stock by Scott Bartlett, February by Lisa Moore, The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan, The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett, Hostage by Sherwood Smith and Rachel Manija Brown, Le Graal de l'Inframonde by Vanessa Callico and Diana Callico.

Books that are out and that I haven't got: L'armée furieuse & Temps Glaciaires by Fred Vargas, Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, by Garth Nix, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, Melting Stones and Battle Magic by Tamora Pierce, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Beginning Place by Ursula Le Guin, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, the last two books of Kate Eliott's Spiritwalker trilogy, The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, whatever's out of the Craft Sequence series, Chroniques du Pays des Mères by Elisabeth Vonarburg, Lord of the Two Lands by Judith Tarr, Fortunate Fall by Raphael Carter, Barbara Hambly's vampire series, Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho, The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw, The Idylls of the Queen by Phillys Ann Karr, Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman and The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.

Books that aren't out yet (and when they're out): The Sleeping Life (Eferum, #2) by Andrea K. Höst (2015), Benjamin January #14 by Barbara Hambly (no idea), the Tris book by Tamora Pierce (2015), The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard (caveat), Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer and whatever Jenny Dolfen's next project is.

Books what I'm not sure if I want to read them: City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett: Still IDK


WATCHING

This is as far along in these shows that I have watched. I would love to talk about any of these. No spoilers for currently airing shows, please, but I don't care about shows that are complete.

jessica jones (s1e2 00:00)
supergirl (s1e3 00:00)
agent carter (s2e3)
lucifer (s1e11 00:00)
legends of tomorrow (s1e10 00:00)
clone wars (s3e06 00:00)
underground (s1e5 00:00)
shannara (s1e6 00:00)
daredevil (s2e1 00:00)
ds9 (???)
orphan black (???)

Legends of Tomorrow: WENTWORTH MILLER IS AMAZING

Clone Wars: I ship Ahoska/Riyo, so sue me.

Underground: HOW ABOUT THAT CATO EH


And now, sleep.

Comments

[yhlee]

Oh man. Hope you get better soonish.

[dhampyresa]

I eventually did, thank you.

[yhlee]

\o/

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Omg yes, you should get and read Ancillary Justice. It's SO GOOD, and it has a lot of interesting gender and identity and AI stuff and just worldbuilding in general.

I would have liked for something to be made of the fact that Wanda is an outsider to witches. Her powers are not their powers. She was not raised a witch. She's one of them, but also not.

In this vein, the reveal that "Scarlet Witch" is not something she chose for herself but a title tht has apparently been passed down the female line of her family is kind of sad to me. I liked that Wanda became a "proper" witch only after she had had the name -- that by naming herself, she had shaped her destiny.

Would you mind elaborating on this? I don't know much about Wanda's backstory, besides the No More Mutants thing. I do remember reading that she did her magic with probability manipulation, though, which is hella cool. That's how Black Cat's powers work too, and I am a math nerd and I love it.

I miss Theresa Cassidy, too!

Months late and several dollars short

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

I'll read it, since the whole series is now out!


Re: Wanda and "Scarlet Witch"

Scarlet Witch has been Wanda's codename since her first appearance -- iirc, even before we learned her name -- way back when she was part of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

At first this is because her powers look like magic, but later, after she joins the Avengers and finds out about her birth family (Magda and Magneto), we learn that she was given some chaos magic as a newborn by Cthon.

It's only then that she starts looking for specific magic instruction -- I like the meta reading of her subconsciously shaping the universe to give her a place to belong. She may not be Magneto's daughter, and she may not be an Avenger, but she is a witch.

This also shows in the way that she's friendly (at minimum) with all the other magic users I can remember her interacting with, be that Agatha Harkness, Magyk or DOOM.


Domino also has luck-based powers!

Re: Months late and several dollars short

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

I like the meta reading of her subconsciously shaping the universe to give her a place to belong
How so? (I think I've heard theories about the Phoenix Force/Jean Grey doing something like that, too.)

Aw, yeah, Domino! She was fun in Cable & X-Force.