6 Autobots
allhailgrimlock

Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.   

Currently reading

Separate Orbits
Yael Mermelstein
Progress: 119/427pages
BATMAN #53 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman53, TomKingBatman53
BATMAN #54 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
MattWagnerBatman54, TomKingBatman54
BATMAN #52 ((DC REBIRTH)) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman52, TomKingBatman52
BATMAN #51 ((DC REBIRTH)) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
LeeWeeksBatman51, TomKingBatman51
Infinity Wars: Iron Hammer (2018) #1 (of 2)
Al Ewing, Humberto Ramos
Champions (2019-) #4
Jim Zub, Jacinto Benavente
SUICIDE SQUAD #46 ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
JosLuisSS46, RobWilliamsSS46
SUICIDE SQUAD #45 ((SINK ATLANTIS)) ((DC REBIRTH )) ((Regular Cover)) - DC Comics - 2018 - 1st Printing
JosLuisSuicideSquad45, RobWilliamsSuicideSquad45
Champions (2019-) #3
Jim Zub, Jacinto Benavente

A beautiful tale with a bittersweet ending

Scarlet Witch (2015-) #10 - James Robinson, Kei Zama, David Aja

There have been a couple these in this run: it isn't that Wanda isn't powerful enough to help - she does in whatever way she can - or that she isn't compassionate enough to help.   No, it's that in this case she doesn't realize what has really happened. 

 

The ending isn't horribly sad, but it isn't really happy either.   It's perfect: not inevitable, but Wanda never really sees what's right, well, behind her, trailing her as she tracks down the murderer of the Aoi Master of Kyoto.   The reader is given this information, and I know my reaction was wanting so badly to let her know how she could help two wrongs.   

 

Instead, she remains oblivious: she has been called Hiroshi Tanaka's death and she is resolved to solving the mystery.   She is, even, stubbornly stuck on this fact, so much so that she doesn't sense the other magic around her.   She's relieved by her distraction, but also determined to get to her homeland and fix magic somehow.  In other words, she's distracted by more than Tanaka's death and this adds up to her mind being clouded by the present and potential futures. 

 

I still wanted to take her aside, calmly - or not so calmly - explain what was happening and then have her find a solution to everything.   It wasn't to be.   Yes, she could have expanded her senses, found something amiss, but there's a fairly good explanation why she doesn't - even if I want to rail that it doesn't justify this particular injustice being ignored.   

 

Then again, it's not that bad.   It's an injustice, yes, but everything is at peace, in some sort of order, at the end and the concept of order smoothing over hurts is explained to Wanda in vague terms during the issue, thus lending to the ending a sense of that concept being put into play.   

 

So while my heart breaks, I'm also calmed by so much of this issue: how it all fits together, how none of this really reflects poorly on Wanda - who is doing what she can while stressed out, still traumatized and still distracted by other responsibilities calling to her, and by the beauty of the stark simplicity of both concepts and the artistic depictions of nature in this work. 

 

I think this may be one of the most open endings in this series, which is impressive because it's also the strongest stories.   I find that open endings are hit or miss for me: they have to be done with a great deal of care or else I find myself annoyed, or bored, or both.   This felt perfect: you weren't quite sure what would happen next with one character, but it felt natural in it's own way.  Not inevitable, but, yes, natural and perfect, and heartbreaking and reassuring all at once. 

 

I'm more eager than ever to continue this series.