TokuNet Comics Corner: April

The TokuNet Comics Corner returns for April with twice the kaiju action.

Welcome back to the TNCC! We’ve got some old favorites, a rad return, and a surprising new book.

Task Force Rad Squad #4: Written by Caleb Goellner, Art by Buster Moody

Indie book Task Force Rad Squad comes back this month with more of its patented brand of grimy art and totally tubular text. In this issue, one of the monsters released back in issue #1 invades the dreams of team leader Clint, and uses his upbringing in the “stupid secret occult-themed government assassin academy for orphans,” the SLAYCADEMY, to torment him.

I’m glad TFRS is back. It’s a quick, fun read with great art. This issue gets a little more serious, and I use the term loosely, as it goes into Clint’s upbringing in the SLAYCADEMY. We learn that the leader of TFRS is really a child soldier who has to shred on his electric guitar to make the pain go away. This, combined with the cliffhanger ending, makes it look like Goellner and Moody have a lot more in store as they take TFRS to the next level.

Monstress #5: Marjorie Liu (W), Sana Takeda (A)

I mentioned last month that I’m not a huge fan of worldbuilding, so this issue of Monstress didn’t grab me as much as the earlier ones. This is supposedly the penultimate issue of the first arc, so everyone is walking towards a big climax in their future while talking about cryptic events from the past, and it’s getting harder for me to keep up.

Godzilla: Oblivion #2: Joshua Hale Fialkov (W), Brian Churilla (A)

Issue #2 of Godzilla: Oblivion is slowly moving the plot forward, as the human’s from the first universe inevitably realize they have to go back to the new one to enlist Godzilla in their battle against King Ghidorah. There’s not much to talk about this time around as the characters are pretty much going through the motions. Next issue promises some kaiju-on-kaiju action, and it’s then that we’ll see how well Fialkov and Churilla handle themselves.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2: Kyle Higgins (W), Hendry Prasetya (A)

We pick up right where the first issue left off, with Tommy fighting off both Scorpina and Rita’s voice in his head. Prasetya’s fight choreography is top notch, as the combat is both exciting and easy to follow panel-to-panel, which is something I notice quite a few artists have trouble with. Prasetya isn’t one of them, as he makes it easy to follow each blow even as the scene gets crowded as more and more Rangers show up to help Tommy out.

Higgins’ characterization is strong, too, as he continues to add dimension to these characters. The issue opens with Billy and Trini doing repairs on the Dragonzord, and their conversation reveals some of Billy’s insecurities as the nerd on a team of trained fighters. While we still don’t know what’s going on with Zack, I have faith that it’ll lead to something interesting.

New Avengers #9 & #10: Al Ewing (W), Marcus To (A)

“Avengers on TokuNet!?” It’s more likely than you’d think! What happens when you take almost every transformation serum in the Marvel Universe and inject them into a dude named Corporal Ziller? American Kaiju is what.

New Avengers is in the middle of a story about Sunspot’s rogue team of Avengers/A.I.M. agents, but if you’re checking out these two issues for the kaiju action like I did you won’t be lost. The battle against American Kaiju, a giant monster with the American flag tatted on his chest, is pretty fun. The New Avengers break out their secret weapon, a giant robot named Avenger Five, and have a good old-fashioned slugfest.