Masks (Volume 1 – The Mask Without A Face) [Hipster Hotline]

Well, well, well. This looks interesting.

Masks #1 – The Mask Without A Face (Written by Kid Toussaint, Art by Joël JURION) tells the story of several kids who somehow gain special masks, granting them unique abilities. But what made me want to share this comic are the characters themselves. Siera is a refugee living in France (This is originally a French book.). She’s smart, popular, and lives with a loving family. Unfortunately, she has a secret that could ruin her hard earned new life.

Al is an athletic guy with a cute girlfriend, but he also holds a secret that could ruin their relationship.

Hector and Jorge are two kids from Veracruz looking to make a quick buck. They get caught up with dangerous gangsters carrying even more dangerous cargo and things go downhill quickly.

Hipster Hotline: Comic Book Queers: Legacy

Nobody tells me anything anymore. Many years ago, there was a great comic book podcast called Comic Book Queers. Its hosts talked about comic books or anything that caught their eye. I loved it, but podcasts don’t last forever and Brett and Evil Jeff left the show and it eventually stopped.

Enter Comic Book Queers: Legacy.

I only discovered it a few weeks ago but its the same CBQ I remember which is a couple of comic book geeks fanboying or talking trash about the comics they read. Brett and Evil Jeff’s quick wit, comic book knowledge, and great chemistry are what makes this show so entertaining. I’m not a fan of podcasts where hosts seem like they don’t know what they’re talking about or throw out constant pop culture references in an effort to be funny. CBQ gives me the comic book geekiness I need blended with the natural humor of its hosts being funny because that’s who they are and not because they need to be.

If you love comic books, give this podcast a listen. If you don’t, give it a listen. It’s just that good.

 

Hipster Hotline: Spy x Family

To prevent a war, a spy must have a family. Yep, welcome to the manga called Spy x Family.

Tatsuya Endo’s Spy x Family, as I said, stars a spy codenamed Twilight. He’s your typical super-spy, tough, suave, a master of disguise. If you’ve seen it done in a spy movie, he can do it. Twilight quickly gets what could be his most important mission yet, preventing a war between the East and West. And, all he has to do is form a family so get can get close to the guy behind it all. Easy, right?

This is where things get interesting. See, Twilight can usually don a disguise, plays the role, then bam, he’s done and off on the next mission. But now, he has to play an everyday father and husband for however long it takes. And, that includes getting a daughter.

Anya, is a little girl Twilight adopts from an orphanage to be his daughter. She’s also an esper possessing mind-reading powers. Using her power, she quickly learns who Twilight really is and despite not being the super smart and capable child Twight was looking for, is able to get Twilight to adopt her. What makes Anya such a strong and fun character is her knowing her dad’s secret mission and even secretly helping him at times without revealing she can read minds.

Hipster Hotline: Star Trek TNG Mirror Broken

A comic book about the Mirror Universe Next Generation Enterprise crew. Read it.

Aw. I wish evil Picard had poofy hair.

Who says reviews can’t be short? Okay, I give you some details. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken shows us what’s going on with Mirror Universe Captain Picard and the regular members of the Enterprise crew. Honestly, I never even considered something like this happening. Even after watching Deep Space Nine and the prequel Enterprise’s Mirror Universe episodes years ago. Forget a TNG episode, why wasn’t this idea a movie? Anyway, it’s a comic, so let focus on that.

Like I said, it’s a good story. Evil Captain Picard and most of the TNG regulars are working aboard the I.S.S. Stargazer, Picard’s old ship for those who may have forgotten. So, why aren’t they on the evil Enterprise? Well, The Terran Empire has seen better days. After the events of the original Star Trek Mirror Universe episode, Spock took over and tried making the Mirror Universe less evil (Yay!), but the Klingons and Cardassians teamed up and stomped the Terrans all the way back to Earth’s solar system (Whoops!). Meaning, the Terran Empire doesn’t have the resources to build galaxy class ships like the Enterprise. Or, do they?

Hipster Hotline: Future Quest Volumes 1 & 2 (comics)

Take some classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon shows, updated them a bit and put them together in a crossover event comic and what do you get? Awesomeness, that’s what!

Future Quest tells puts Johnny Quest, Space Ghost, Birdman, The Herculoids, and other old-school cartoon characters together in a “quest” to save Earth from an organism absorbing monster. A simple premise but it works. It works really well.

Hipster Hotline: Superb (comic)

We’ve had all kinds of superheroes. LGBTQ, females, males, adults, children, robots, even villains. But, what about a superhero with Down syndrome or at least one starring in his own comic? No? Then let me introduce you to Superb.

A meteor landed giving people superpowers, including Jonah AKA Cosmosis, a teenager secretly using his superpowers to help people. Uh oh! Cue the evil corporation trying to capture him because, you know the drill, superpowered people are dangerous. But Foresight wants to turn these super people into super killers, working for them, of course. In fact, maybe this was Foresight’s plan all along. What do I mean by that? Read the comic. …I’m winking right now, just letting you know.

Hipster Hotline: Machida-kun no Sekai

Mangaka ANDOU Yuki didn’t change the manga game,  but she did make Machida-kun to Sekai a solid story worth anyone’s time.

Machida-kun no Sekai stars a high schooler named Machida Hajime. A guy not that good at school or much anything else. But, the one thing he absolutely excels at is relating to other people. Machida knows how to talk to others, get them to open up which leads to him helping them in some way. This is a character piece. Every chapter Machida is either helping someone to trying to understand his own feelings about people and the world around him.

Hipster Hotline: Sonic the Hedgehog (comics reboot)

Nice tail. You know what I mean!

I’m glad SatAM comic is dead. Yeah, I said it.

Keep in mind, this is coming from a person who loved the cartoon back in the nineties and read at least three years worth of the series’ comic book continuation. But, it got convoluted. Mulitple Eggmen, Sonics, and an attempt to reboot that universe so writers didn’t have to reference anything that came before (and not show certain characters someone was suing over). Plus, it was a constant struggle between the game and show characters for screen time. It wasn’t a bad comic but it was time for a reboot—a hard reboot.

Hipster Hotline: Ghostbusters 101 (comic)

Ghostbusters IDW comics, great stuff. I remember reading them regularly then stopped during a storyline I wasn’t interested in (and can’t remember), but Ghostbusters Crossing Over pulled me back in. While waiting for the next issue I decided to check out a previous dimensional story about the OG Ghostbusters first meeting the Answer the Call team. I’m sure it’ll be good. I was wrong.

It’s great!

What’s there not to like? The OG Ghostbusters are doing their ghostbusting thing, making great ghostbuster banter and busting…ghosts. What more could you want? Erik Burnham knows how to write the characters and it shows. Now, take all that great interaction, add in the Answer the Call Ghostbusters and Kevin. Boom! Fun, fun, fun!

Hipster Hotline: Mech Cadet Yu (comic)

A boy and his mech. A classic. Maybe too classic.

Mech Cadet Yu is a comic series about Yu Standford, a janitor working with his mother at a military academy where–somehow–sentient mechs regularly appear and choose a human partner. Why? Heck if I know, but it’s science fiction, don’t ask questions. As you guessed, a mech chooses Yu and…and…and isn’t it pretty convenient the mechs have human-sized cockpits? And just what the hell do these thinking robots need human pilots for? Does Optimus Prime need a driver to–NO! No! Don’t go down the rabbit hole, Red. Just…let it go. Science fiction.

Questions aside, I like this series. Reminds me of Robotech mixed with Gundam. Definitely inspired by those or similar stories. The main character, Yu, is likable. His mom is fantastic, probably my favorite character, but the Chief engineer is up there too. If you’re familiar with these type of stories, you know Yu has an asshole rival and Park fits the bill. She, yes, she (and no romantic BS, the girl’s an elitist jerk) does the classic crap you expect, but she does get humanizing moments that keep her from being a walking parody. She’s the most interesting of the cadets. Yu is a good kid, but he’s your standard optimistic nice guy. Want more development from him and at least he later gets information that dents his ideas what a hero is.

Sanchez and Olivetti round out the squad. They’re window dressing. Basic as can be. They need development, stat.

The worst thing I can say is I wish more characters had layers. I don’t hate anyone expect the evil military people (shocked?) and the monster bugs, but I want more character dynamics and interactions. Give me some Park and Sanchez alone talk. Yu and Olivetti moments. I want them not just doing stuff around each other but forming genuine bonds. I’m more interested in the mechs than most the human cast. Also, start answering questions, comic. I’m getting less and less patient with stories all about piling up mysterious questions without at least hinting at answers. Lay down some cards, we ain’t playing poker here.

Mech Cadet Yu is pretty by the books in terms of plot, but the sparks for greatness are there. Make the characters more interesting and watch it fly. Veee!