Review: Tomboy #7

I feel like an ass. I actually got this issue right after the sixth because Mia Goodwin was kind enough to share it with me. Then life exploded as it likes to do and I forgot I had the issue. Oh, the shame. One thought kept popping in my head as I read this issue and that was, “Stop it.” Stop being so damn good. Show some faults, give me something anything to demonstrate that it’s not this damn easy to make a great comic. I read many comics so I know it’s not that easy, and yet Mia Goodwin and Michelle Wong do just that. They make comics look easy because they technically should be, but actually it comes from their talent and skills.

This issue. Oh, this fucking issue. The cat is out of the bag. We now know that the supernatural element is real, but somehow that only opens the door for more questions. In the ending to the last issue, well… you know. It’s on the cover so it’s not like you cannot figure it out. Jessica was killed, by Addison. Take a deep breath and let the soak in because it changes Addison’s character. Until then she had only killed guilty people, but now she has an innocent on her hands.

The pacing for this issue is by far the best of the series. I cannot even adequately describe how perfect it is. From the cop procedural aspect to the news feed narration. It is spectacular. It’s so good that I want to spoil everything and at the same time, I don’t. What to do, what to do.

Jessica’s death was the only one in the last issue which brings a new element to the story as a new detective makes an appearance and she is hard-nosed and doesn’t like Trent. The fire that Addison set has set the story on another path to play out in a way that now throws Ms. Trent into the spotlight of the murders even though she had nothing to do with them. It also attracted the attention of the Nurse and a reveal that she’s got some dark magic on her side as well.

The final sequence in Addison’s room is disturbing, creative, and chilling all at once. Who are the fairies that have been talking to her and directing her? What is their goal and how will this new one effect Addison? Even though there’s a finite ending to this story planned, there are so many new questions to be answered. I doubt that all of them will be answered and that’s okay. This story and the world have so many layers that it’s impossible to cover it all in a way that would do it justice. That and leaving it open for more is also completely fine by me.

Michelle Wong’s art continues to be the best and only suitable replacement to Goodwin’s artwork. The opening pages look and feel like the opening to a police procedural TV drama, but without the boredom. It’s exciting because we already know what happened, and we’re waiting for them to catch up. In that way, the story and art make us patiently hold on, but then once it is revealed its sprints to the end. This is probably the fastest I have ever read an issue of Tomboy. Going back to the closing sequence, it is all carried by the artwork. Goodwin gives the narration and dialog a rest and lets Wong’s artwork do all the talking. Again, it’s chilling. It is by far one of the creepiest aspects of the series thus far and amazing to look at.

Comics should be this good and no I do not actually want Goodwin and Wong to “stop it.” If anything I want them to never stop because I have adored this book so much. As a reader, as a reviewer, and as someone that just enjoys the hell out of a great story. Tomboy and others of its ilk are the reason I will never give up on comic books because, outside of novels, you will never get this pure storytelling. At the end of the day, that is why I read comics, for the stories. To see what someone else created and to enjoy it, to love it, to wish I had done it first, but knowing it had to come from someone else to enjoy it. It is inspiring; it is the reason we all read comics.

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Tomboy #7 Writer: Mia Goodwin Artist: Michelle Wong Publisher: Action Lab/Danger Zone Price: $3.99 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital

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CBMFP 246: Filthy With Drowzees

We're not done playing Pokemon Go! We'll start there. Thankfully there's not a lot of news this week because we have a lengthy episode for you. What news we do cover ranges from TV in the form of Powers and it's future on the Playstation Network and Fun.com's superhero inspired suits. You read that right. Before we dive into a lengthy discussion about The Vision from Marvel Comics and Tomboy from Action Lab/Danger Zone, we have a question from Patrick about our favorite Frank Miller panel/moment. Books reviewed on this episode:

• The Vision #1-6
• Tomboy #1-6
• Demon vol. 1
• Tetris

Previously on the CBMFP...

Review: Tomboy #6

Holy. Shit. The last issue of Tomboy was good. It was solid, but it was also the first time I felt like it was just another issue in the series. Up until then, each issue had stood out as this amazing issue in an amazing series. The last issue again, was good and way better than most issues out there so I didn’t score it average because frankly Mia Goodwin’s average issue is still ten time better than industry standard.

That all said. This issue blew my fucking socks off. For so many reasons.

That’s the truly crazy thing. There’s so many things, big and small, that are revealed in this issue that there’s no one thing that I can plainly say, “that’s why this issue is fantastic.” It’s really the entire damn issue that is great from beginning to end.

Before we get into all that… how about that cover? That is a cover with meaning, but a meaning you’ll only fully understand until after reading the book. Such a great composition too.

As for the issue. I’m not actually going to tell you what happens. I know right, total dick move, but as I said already there’s no one thing that’s revealed that makes this issue good meaning there’s a lot revealed and all of it is important to the story.

I will go nuts about the artwork and that will be the one and only place that I’ll include story elements. Take everything I’ve said about praised about Goodwin’s layouts in the past five issues and just crank it up ten notches. The demon shit is on point and freaky. It’s no longer something that’s cute and possibly delusional. It’s just straight up terrifying. Michelle Wong takes over on art and coloring, but it’s pretty spot on to Goodwin’s style. I had to do a double take when I saw the credits because it was that close.

There is a flashback sequence of our dirty cop that explains his entire backstory. Not only did this completely change my opinion of his character it revealed how connected all these characters were before the start of the story. Even more incredible is the one simple detail that Goodwin uses to frame each page of this flashback. Because of how she does this is gives you the impression that this flashback is actually his thoughts racing through his head and it’s brilliant. Almost as brilliant as the ending which made me drop my jaw.

There are just some really deep character moments in this issue and it’s fifty/fifty with the story and the art. Both work together in the perfect way that only comics can to deliver a rich and full story.

It’s amazing to me just how damn good this series has been. It reminds me of watching Sailor Moon as a tween and getting to the part in the series in which it broke from the norm of all the other animation I had seen. The episode in particular is when the bad guy and the best friend spend the episode together. It was a moment that changed everything for me in the magic girl genre. And that’s how this entire series has been. It’s been moments that have redefined and changed the genre, but the kicker is… it’s doesn’t really need to be defined as a magic girl story. It’s just one of the best comics out there and has a story that’s so incredible that it transcends genre description.

If you’re not reading it, I don’t know what the hell else to say to make you pick this book up. Pass on another issue of Spider-Man or Batman or Star Wars and give this series a shot. And if you do, I hope you pick up on how deep the sequential art is for this series. It’s quite possibly the best the industry has seen in years.

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Tomboy #6

Writer/Layouts: Mia Goodwin

Artist/Colorist: Michelle Wong

Publisher: Danger Zone

Price: $3.99

Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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