Star Wars, House of Penance, Above the Clouds, Black Road: This Week in Comics #13

Though this week features the first review in this series of a Star Wars comic, Marvel’s taken a bold, brash stance on their new run. Started last year, the comics fill in gaps between movies, add side-stories and characters, and attempt to pad out some of the plot of the franchise. And this trend isn’t relegated just to Star Wars, comic adaptations and continuations have been going on for decades, and many Buffy fans still get their fix via the Dark Horse comic series (now on “season 10”) and the X-Files comics told a much more cohesive story than the new six episode television mini-series. Are comics the future of expanded universe storytelling within a franchise? They seem to be doing a pretty good job of it so far. Along with the new Star Wars comic, this week’s features include a story about a woman obsessively building a house, an indie comic about storytelling, and a grim Nordic action tale.

Written by James Robinson, illustrated by Tony Harris, lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna.

C-3PO #1 follows the famous golden protocol droid not long before the events of The Force Awakens. He, and a group of other droids, have crash landed and are stranded on a strange planet. With them is a prisoner droid, who engages C-3PO in a philosophical debate about the role of robots in human society and memories that have been wiped from their minds. The biggest draw of this comic is the reveal of how C-3PO got his red arm. The writing is, like the titular star of the comic, quick and chatty. And Tony Harris’ artwork is messier than you’d expect from a comic about the neat and tidy C-3PO, but it works to present him as a fish out of water in a strange and distant world.

Written by Peter J. Tomasi, illustrated by Ian Bertram, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Nate Piekos.

House of Penance takes place in San Jose in 1905. Mrs. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Repeating Rifle company, seems deeply disturbed by her past, and hires hundreds of laborers to build her grand home. The men build stairways that lead nowhere, secret doors, and she demands a new finished bedroom every night. In this world, writer Peter J. Tomasi then wanders between stories, as Ian Bertram’s pug-nosed illustrations add a pop of character to the work. Recommended for fans of industrial revolutionary stories.

Created by Melissa Pagluica.

Above the Clouds follows a young girl Eily who’s just been spurned by the man she liked. To soothe that burn, she dug into a book given to her by another warrior. It’s a fable about a dragon and a sacred tree, but the book’s not finished yet, and Eily wants to read more. This is a fun, beautiful little indie comic. Pagluica’s artwork is dreamlike, calling to mind everything from abstract water paintings to French bistro signs. The artwork begs the reader to look closer, to figure out who’s who (and who’s where) in the storybook-pages. Highly recommended for fans of fairytale and classic fantasy, and for fans of dreamy artwork.

Written by Brian Wood, art by Garry Brown, colors by Dave McCaig, lettering by Steve Wands.

Black Road takes place in Viking age Norway, as Christian crusaders first make their way up to the frozen north of Iskfold. A man named Magnus agrees to escort a Cardinal up the black road, a place too dangerous and treacherous to travel alone. Trouble immediately jumps the two, and Garry Brown’s thoughtful, blocky linework adds a rough-hewn gravity to this comic. Fans of historical fiction, especially historical Nordic fiction, should jump on this first issue and get in at the start.

What were you reading this week? Let us know @CreatorsProject or in the comments below.

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