Last week was a pretty great week in comics for Sam who gets the chance to read and review a trio of BOOM! Studios favorites. Giant Days and Goldie Vance continue to be awesome while The Woods trips itself up a little bit in it’s journey towards it’s grand finale. Meanwhile Jackson takes a look at the first issue in DC Comics’ latest offering, Midnighter and Apollo.

Not a bad pull list! What did you pick up last week? What’s on your list for this one? Let us know in the comments.

Sam’s Reads

Giant Days #19

Authors: John Allison
Artist: Max Sarin
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: BOOM! Studios DRC
★★★★☆

While the girls presumably get a few months of summer between terms, we only get one issue before they return to school for the second their second year. Their summers don’t seem all too thrilling anyway. Esther is working back in the corner shop making doughnuts, Daisy is washing dogs, and Susan is creeping around apparently working as a private investigator/professional stalker. But, hey! They at least have a local music festival to look forward to, right?

Esther dives right in and finds her people. But Daisy and Susan have way different experiences. Susan gets roofied by ‘The Cowboy’ – an unnamed nemesis – who apparently she’s had beef with before. (Why a nineteen year old has previous beef with a forty year old man I don’t really know – but considering I think the way McGraw is drawn makes him look thirty who knows how old ‘The Cowboy might be.) And Daisy has a hard time really getting into the groove of things despite finding some enjoyment in the ‘world music’ section of the festival.

In the end, Esther helps Susan through a very weird trip and Daisy saves the day with her ingenuity and Brownie badge skills. And ultimately we get a pretty decent story. I’m hoping next summer, though, they go big. Am I the only one looking for a summer backpacking trip with the girls? It’d be great!

I do want to say, though, that I loved what they did with Daisy in this issue. She’s not the kind of person who is going to really enjoy an outdoor music festival – and neither am I. But that’s okay. Ultimately she did find something to enjoy – though it wasn’t necessarily the music. I think that it sends an important message especially to college-age kids that you should try new things and be with your friends even when you’re doing something you may not enjoy. Because you might tend up liking it anyway.

Goldie Vance #6

Authors: Hope Larsen
Artist: Brittney Williams
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: BOOM! Studios DRC
★★★★☆

Goldie Vance always impresses me every month. It’s such a positive, upbeat series most of the time but it certainly has it’s hard-hitting moments. While this issue does a lot to advance the mystery of the super pretty, blonde ‘astronaut,’ it does a lot more to develop and challenge Goldie’s relationship with her best friend Cheryl. I love where that is going. Goldie learns that her friend Cheryl not only has a drivers license but her own car and a second ‘job’ that she’s never told Goldie about.

Ultimately, I think it’s going to come down to her not trusting Goldie to get it. Goldie clearly has a dominate personality and she clearly expects people to follow along with her. Cheryl is like her ultimate sidekick. But Cheryl obviously has her own dreams and interests. Soon, Goldie is going to need to accept and understand that.

So, what do we find out about the ‘astronaut’ girl? Well, we find out that she’s a former pageant queen and that she knows Cheryl from the pageant circuit. Cheryl has been doing very well for herself in beauty pageants and setting aside the money for college – something only her boyfriend knows about. The ‘astronaut’ girl is actually named Millie and she has her own dreams. While she may not be the science type according to her mother, she has big dreams of taking the sewing skills her mother taught her and using them to design spacesuits (which is actually super cool and creative if you think about it).

Girls following their dreams. Lessons for young girls reading the book about how to handle challenges in your friendships. Girls going on adventures and solving mysteries. This book is just amazing.

The Woods #26

Authors: James Tynion IV
Artist: Michael Dialynas
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Source: BOOM! Studios DRC
★★★☆☆

So, last issue we were told that we were coming up on the end of The Woods. This would be the ‘final year’ of the series. For the final year, though, we’re not getting off to a very quick start story wise. This issue did very little to advance the plot beyond getting all of the main characters on the same page. Creepy spectral Adrain and Isaac are apparently leading everyone to battle agains the planet or something. I guess at some point way back someone mentioned that the planet was like a computer and that somehow means they are poised to take over and, I don’t know, beat the planet or something

Everyone’s on board because who wouldn’t want to get home, right? But other than a little bit of time spent with Karen’s mom (while watching a news report with Sanami’s adventurer dad) this issue feels a bit like filler. It puts everyone on the path to doing something without doing anything. I do appreciate the touching moments between Sander and his family. And I do like seeing how the Bay Point kids have integrated into the New London society. But the bulk of it seems pretty bland.

And hen it ends with a naked bad guy that looks kinda like an adult Adrian in some weird cavern pool watching some projection of Earth. There’s also some unknown person that makes a comment about Karen’s mom needing a coat ‘where she’s going’ which leads me to believe maybe she’s about to get transported to wherever the kids are.

Damn it, The Woods. You’ve always got to drag me right back in to the story don’t you?

Sam Wildman  is a co-founder and co-editor at Nerdophiles. She shares Daisy’s opinion on music festivals – but she does like camping! Follow her on twitter @samaside.

Jackson’s Reads

Midnighter and Apollo #1

Author: Steve Orlando
Artist: Fernando Blanco
Publisher: DC Comics
★★★★☆

It’s only been four months since Midnighter carried his own title at DC but it’s felt like much longer. Thankfully, Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco are back to correct that this week with Midnighter and Apollo #1, the first in a six-part miniseries focused on the pair as a couple.

Even with an additional god-powered character in the mix, Midnighter and Apollo #1 picks up almost exactly where Midnighter #12 left off this spring, with the two finally together again and attempting to settle into a life as partners, both romantically and heroically.

There’s a lot of focus on the romantic relationship here. We spend time with the pair as they throws a dinner party, as they have sex and as they rush to each other’s side but the issue is still decidedly Midnighter’s, for better or worse. It makes sense, as he’s generally the more dynamic of the two characters and fans of the earlier series about the character will be pleased but it makes Apollo feel, well, a little like a nag.

It feels like there’s a reason for this, with much of the plot focusing on Apollo’s concerns about Midnighter’s use of lethal force as well as Midnighter’s continued hunt for Henry Bendix but it leaves Apollo feeling a little like just another weapon by issue’s end. He’s just there to punch a sentient train, get in a fight with a demonic hit-man and eventually be sent to Hell.

Those enemies are certainly worth mentioning. Orlando delves deep into DC’s history to pull a bunch of underused characters and concepts to the forefront and make them shine. A scene where Bendix interviews hitmen to take on his genetic son is a who’s-who of DC D-listers and longtime fans will get a laugh out of a few people who make an appearance, including Extrano, arguably comics’ first out gay character.

All of this lends itself to the sense of history and place that Orlando tends to build into most of his superhero work. There’s a real feeling that despite being a man built only to kill dating a god who has no interest in saving humanity, the characters feel real and have real struggles and difficulties just existing in the world. It’s about the most you could want from a comic this brash and exciting and it’s the perfect successor to Orlando, ACO and Blanco’s first run on Midnighter as well as a solid place to start for those less familiar with these characters.

Jackson Adams is a staff writer at Nerdophiles. Seeing Mawzir back really did it for him. Follow him on Twitter @JacksonInACup.