|
Post by Khyron1144 on Jan 23, 2004 18:58:25 GMT -5
Official New Comic Day is Odin's Day when the new issues hit the shelves.
For me though, it was Moon Day, when my dad went to the local comics shop to pick up the new issues on our pull list since the last time he'd been there.*
Anway of of what we've got this week, here's what I've read: Justice League Adventures- not one of the ones on our pull list, but I saw it on the shelves and suggested we pick it up because DC's animated style line is one of the best. Astro City Local Heroes #5- Astro City is one of the best superhero books ever. JSA & Hawk Man- they're doing a six part crossover storyline (not surprising seeing as to how they have the same writer and Hawk Man is in the JSA anyway).** Former members of the JSA, including the reformed villain Black Adam are taking over Black Adam's former homeland by force. The rest of the JSA is going to go fight them. It's been done before; they called it Squadron Supreme. *** Conan #0- The twenty-five cent preview issue of the upcoming new Conan series. The art is great. The storyline is intriguing. I look forward to issue #1.
*A pull list is the list of comics you give your local comics shop to specifically order and set aside, or pull, for you. It ensures that if you like JLA, you should have an issue of JLA waiting for you every month when you come in. **JSA= Justice Society of America; the home of DC's Golden Age superheroes and their successors.**** *** Squadron Supreme was a Marvel story about their knock-offs of the JLA taking over the world and some other superheroes fighting them. ****Golden Age of comics, aproximately the forties when superhero comics just started to get off the ground.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Nov 21, 2004 17:01:07 GMT -5
I can't believe it's taken me this long to update this.
Many new comic book days and many moons have passed since then.
Latest new comic book day included an issue of JLA (they just started a new story arc featuring the Crime Syndicate of America, evil twins from an alternate dimension), Doom graphic novel (drastically marked down; collects two miniseries; I've read half of it; very good stuff so far), and an issue of Power Puff Girls (possibly for three year old half-brother, possibly for me).
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Nov 28, 2004 21:04:04 GMT -5
Friday was another new comic day.
I'm liking the new Thunderbolts series. Kurt Busiek is one of my favorite writers, but the guy they've got writing Thunderbolts now is still doing a good job.
Picked up the second issue of Green Lantern Rebirth. I'm looking forward to Hal retaking the GL mantle, but hope that Kyle Rayner doesn't get screwed over too bad in the process.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Dec 7, 2006 14:07:12 GMT -5
Many New Comic Book Days have come and gone since that last post.
I started a pull list of my own at White Caps: Noble Causes (how can you not love a book that combines superheroics and soap operas) Green Lantern Green Lantern Corps Ion (Green Lantern is my favorite superhero and now there's three Green Lantern-related books a month) Ex Machina Y the Last Man (Brian K. Vaughn is one of the better writers out there) Fables Jack of Fables Shadowpact (Bill Willingham is pretty good too)
That's all the books on my list that are still a going concern. Lucifer was on it, but reached its end and Swamp Thing was on it and died a sad death.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Dec 22, 2010 15:41:01 GMT -5
Two notes: 1) These are mostly finds from the cheap comics bins, so they are from many years ago, sometimes. 2) I am copying the format I use for reviews of RPG products here on rpg.net, except instead of the five-point style and substance scale, I use a more generalized five star scale where zero is horrid; one is bad; two is acceptable; three is good; four is great; and five is amazingly awesome. Anyways: review of Solo Avengers #14 What is it? A single issue of a comic book published in 1994, color throughout, glossy covers, non-glossy interior. It's sort of an anthology format book with two stories. A Hawkeye story is the lead feature, as it always was in Solo Avengers/ Avengers Spotlight and a She-Hulk story is the backup feature. Both stories are around 11 pages once you subtract ad pages. The stories briefly: In the Hawkeye story, Black Widow infiltrates an A.I.M. base and just before she is captured phones Avenger's mansion. Hawkeye is the only one home to get the message and he goes to rescue her. Hawkeye fights the A.I.M. goons and rescues Black Widow. The heroes find out A.I.M. has a strange elaborate plot that involves collecting brains in jars. The alleged cliffhanger ending involves a giant robot activating and being about to attack the heroes. The She-Hulk story involves She-Hulk arguing a case before the Supreme Court because besides being a superhero, she's also a lawyer. She-Hulk is arguing that the Mutant Registration Act is unconstitutional. Titania, a superstrong and nigh-invulnerable villainess, is on a rampage outside the courtroom. Since She-Hulk is the only superhero nearby, she has to go fight Titania. What's good about it? It was cheap, only 75 cents. The She-Hulk story was funny and sort of clever. What's Not So Good? The cover was bit deceptive regarding the Hawkeye/ Black Widow story. I was expecting more of a true team up, but Black Widow was out of the action for a large bit of the story. What The... Moments The basic format of Solo Avengers. Who thought splitting a normal length book in half and giving the first half to Hawkeye always and then a random Avengers-related backup story was a good idea? Rating: The Hakweye story is two stars, the She-Hulk story is four stars. Together they average a three star rating.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Dec 22, 2010 15:42:28 GMT -5
Review of New Year's Evil Darkseid One-Shot What Is It? Single Issue of a comic book, glossy paper for both the cover and the interior, color throughout. Cover dated February 1998. Plot summary: Darkseid is missing, presumed dead by some. Desaad is trying to hold together an interim government until Darkseid returns. Virman Vundabar attacks this government, hoping to usurp Darkseid's throne for himself. During the inevitable fight, a giant statue of Darkseid animates and holds the combatants in place, while delivering a stern lecture about how New Genesis is the true enemy. What's Good About It? The artwork, layouts by Sal Buscema, pencils by Keron Grant, and inks by Ray Kryssing, with letters by John Workman and colors by Noelle Giddings; looks rather sharp. John Byrne is the credited writer and he delivers some dialogue that has wonderfully cheesy melodramatic comic book villain qualities. It also showed off two Apokolips natives, that I'd heard of from Who's Who entries and RPG sourcebooks and similar, but had never actually seen in action: Virman Vundabar and Kanto, the Assassin. What's Not So Good About It? I have no idea where this Darkseid is kind of, but not really dead storyline comes from. Other than cover date of February 1998 giving me a clue to an approximate era to start looking for back issues from. Nothing in the book mentions what longer-running series this one-shot spins off from or ties into. What The... Moments? It's a one-shot titled Darkseid, yet Darkseid himself does not make an in-the-flesh appearance onscreen, as such. Who Needs It? New Gods completists. John Byrne fans. People that want a slightly less complicated take on the New Gods character's than Grant Morrison's handling of them in Final Crisis. Rating: 2 stars
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Dec 22, 2010 15:48:52 GMT -5
Review of Hardware Issue #1 Published by Milestone/ DC Comics Reviewed by JustiN Taylor aka khyron1144 What is it? A comic book. Glossy cover, non-glossy interior. Color throughout. Was originally available in deluxe bagged edition and non-bagged regular edition. Bagged version included a poster, trading card, and other extras. Plot Summary: Curtis Metcalf is a genius. He works for Edwin Alva. Alva paid Metcalf's way through college, in exchange for him agreeing to work for Alva Technologies. Curtis finds out Alva is corrupt and tied to organized crime. Curtis builds a suit of super armor and becomes a superhero fighting Alva's criminal enterprises. I suppose this is as good a place as any to mention that Curtis Metcalf is black, and Edwin Alva is white. What's good about it? Adding color diversity to superhero comics is a good thing. The script is engaging. Curtis's dialogue is not the exaggerated picture of blackness that say, Marvel's Luke Cage's is. What's not quite so good? It feels like all set-up for the future and no real action. What the… ? Moments: Just the basic problem of super armor’s implausibility. Not technologically or physically, but legally and socially. If Bill Gates built what is in effect the next generation of fighter jet in his basement workshop, there is no way the government would let him keep it for his own private use. Who should get it? Anybody who likes a good story told in comic book form. Rating: 4 Stars (of five) Method Of Acquisition: The seventy-five cent box at Tardy's Collector's Corner on Burton Street in Grand Rapids, MI
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Feb 3, 2011 15:09:03 GMT -5
Review of Arion Lord of Atlantis Issue #1 What is it? Arion Lord of Atlantis issue #1 Comic book. Glossy cover. Non-glossy interior. Color throughout. Written by Paul Kupperberg with art by Jan Duursma. Lettered by todd Klein. Colored by someone credited only as Tatjana, I'm assuming Tatjana Wood. Co-edited by Ernie Colon and Laurie Sutton. 23 story pages. Dated November 1982. This plot summary contains spoilers for a 27-year-old c-list DC sword and sorcery title that I picked up from a fifty cent box. You have been warned. Plot Summary: The story kind of picks up in media res from the Arion backup stories in Warlord. Arion is astrally projecting, and fighting the embodiment of a star. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Arion's body is possessed by his enemy Garn Daanuth. This presents Wyynde, Arion's loyal sword-swinging companion, with a dilemma. You see Garn/Arion is threatening the female member of the group, who does not seem to be named in either dialogue or caption boxes throughout the entire issue. Wyynde stabs Garn and Arion's body receives a near-fatal wound. By issue's end: Arion's body and soul reunite, and he recovers form his near fatal injury; Arion defeats the star; and Arion's mentor Caculha dies. What's good about it? There was definitely plenty of action. The artwork was crisp and clean with as much realism as you can get in a sword and sorcery book where a giant woman made of fire appears. Todd Klein's lettering is always beautiful and this book is no exception. While there was no letters page, as such, there was a text page asking for letters and explaining how the creators of the book came together to create it. What's not quite so good? I am not incredibly familiar with the Arion backup stories in warlord, having read very few of them, and I was somewhat confused by the events of the book. This could have been fixed with a few recap captions or dialogue balloons. What the ....? moments: It's 45,000 B.C. more or less and the king of Atlantis has situation room with a giant television screen: archaeology and evolutionary biology both say this absurd. Who should get it? Sword and sorcery fans. Rating: 3 stars Method Of Acquisition: I believe it was the fifty-cent box at Apparitions.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 6, 2011 3:27:16 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 6, 2011 15:52:04 GMT -5
Rampaging Hulk #1 ReviewWhat is it? A comic book. Indicia gives a date of August 1998. Glossy cover, non-glossy interior, color throughout. Pages have no visible numbering. Contains a long lead feature and a short back-up. Gleen Greenberg wrote both stories. Rick Leonardi did the pencils on the lead, while While Denys Cowan did the back-up. Dan Green inked the lead feature, and Tom Palmer inked the back-up. Tom Smith was the colorist on the whole book, while Bill Oakley lettered both stories. Jaye Gardner was the editor, and Bob Harras was the editior in chief. Plot Summary: The lead story is a flashback to an earlier moment in Hulk continuity. A caption somewhere claims six years ago, but it's a very comic book-time six years ago. Marvel has been publishing Hulk comics for well over thirty years, and, yet neither Bruce Banner or the Hulk has aged a noticeable amount. Here are the defining features of the moment of continuity that this story is being retroactively inserted in: Hulk is dumb and talks in the third person. This is before the personality-integrated smart-hulk phase. Hulk is green. This is after he was initially grey, but before he turns grey again in the Joe Fixit phase. Rick Jones is not acting as his sidekick. His former girlfriend, Betty, is married to an air force Major named Glenn Talbot. Basnner's identity as the Hulk is known to at least, General Ross, Betty's father, and Ross's Hulk-Buster team, if not the general public. This makes Banner a fugitive. So, at this moment in the past, that never existed before 1998, Bruce Banner is working at the Brand Corporation under an assumed name. He attempts to use the company's Gamma Accelerator to cure himself of the Hulk. The Hulk-Buster team burst in and captures him while he's in a not fully either Banner or Hulk mid-transformation state. He's stuck in this half-state for a while. The Hulk-Busters take him to Gamma Base, where scientists study him to better understand what's happening to him. Meanwhile, in his head, the Banner personality and the Hulk personality are having a spirited debate/knock-down-drag-out-fight for control of the body. Hulk wins and completes the body's transformation into Hulk. He escapes his cell in Gamma Base in seconds. Thus ends the main feature. This brings us unfortunately to the back-up story. It feels like a PSA or Very Special Episode with a painfully obvious moral, what they might call Anvilicious on TV Tropes. Basically a large jock bully nicknamed Hulk is threatening a nerd kid. The real Hulk comes up and scares off the bully and then has a laugh about the divisive ways of humans. What's good about it? It hearkens back to an earlier day of Hulk storytelling. I like Peter David's take on the Hulk a lot, but there is a virtue in the simplicity of "Hulk Smash!" stories. The artwork on both stories was good. What's not quite so good? The back-up story. It makes its moral point in a rather ham-handed way, anvilicious as I've said before. It's also preaching to the choir. Comic readers are geeks much likelier to be bullying victims than bullies themselves. There's also no letters page or this-would-be-a-letters-page-if-we-had-any-letters-book-specific-text-page that books use in the first issue. What the ....? moments: Once the Hulk's transformation is complete, he busts out of his "Hulk-proof" cell in seconds. This is the best that the government can do? Who should get it? Dedicated Hulk fans/completists. Rating: Averages out to two stars. The back-up story and lack of a letters page brings it down. Method Of Acquisition: Possibly, the twenty-five cent bins at Gold Mine, either that or the fifty-cent bins at Apparitions or the seventy-five cent bins at Tardy' Collector's Corner. All of them are somewhere in the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 6, 2011 15:54:04 GMT -5
Review of Sidekicks: the Substitute one-shot What is it? A comic book. Glossy color cover, non-glossy black and white interior. Published by Oni Press. Indicia gives a date of July 2002. Written by J. Torres. Art by Takeshi Miyazawa. Lettered by Brian O'Malley. Plot Summary: There's a high school for super-powered kids. The new substitute teacher is a reformed supervillainess doing community service. She is is initially distrusted and students try to prank her. Hi-jinks and hilarity ensue. What's Good About It? The dialogue is clever and is where most of the humor comes from. I also like the artwork. The manga-inspired look isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I think it works here. What's Not So Good about It? This is my first exposure to these characters and I feel it does not make a great jumping on point. I have no idea who these characters are and what their powers and personalities are. I also had some trouble telling them apart visually at times. What the... Moments: Why manga-style artwork? An indie humor book has enough going against it to not want to limit its audience further, and there's a certain amount of irrational dislike against anime and manga out there. Who Should Get It? People who like the movie Sky High or the comic PS 238 are likely candidates. Archie fans who also like superheroes. Superhero fans who aren't averse to the high school comedy genre. Rating: 3 stars (on a 5 star scale) Method of Acquisition: Part of a five comics for $2 grab bag at 21st Century Comics and Games in East Lansing, MI
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 6, 2011 15:55:13 GMT -5
Youngblood #1 (published by Awesome) review What is it? A comic book with a glossy cover and interior and color throughout. Alan Moore is the writer. Steve Skroce is the penciler. Lary Stucker is the inker. Richard Starkings & Comicraft did the letters. The colors were provided by a company called Awesome Colors. Plot summary: A secret government organization is scheming to get ahold of an alien from another dimension. An alien with no physical form of its own that possesses people. It works. The alien possesses a soldier guy in the secret underground base and escapes. Youngblod, a superhero team gets involved. Suprema, a Supergirl knock-off, gets possessed. There's a fight. The good guys win and Suprema gets unpossessed. What's good about it? It's done-in-one rather than kicking off a multi-issue story arc. For a fairly cookie cutter superhero story, it is executed well. The attempts at witty dialogue actually made me smile. Steve Skroce's artwork vaguely resembles Rob Liefeld's without being a slavish imitation. Rob Liefeld's personal involvement with the book seems to be minimal. He simply owns the characters, and he drew one or two of the twelve variant covers. What's not so good about it? You remember that cookie cutter comment? Well I meant it. This book could have been done almost as well with any of DC or Marvel's superteams, like the JLA or Fantastic Four. In fact, I think variants on this theme have been done with the Fantastic Four. The other problem is this is Volume 3, Issue number 1 of Youngblood. Besides being a bad example of the chromium age tendency for excessive first issues of a single property to increase after-market value, it opens with action and contains very little exposition to explain who these characters are and what they do. I have a vague memory of having reading earlier versions of Youngblood, where the team was government sponsored. Now it appears to have gone private. Only two of the team members are at all familiar to me: Shaft and Suprema. What The...? Moment: Twelve variant covers. That's just excessive. Now aren't we all glad the 90s are over? Who Needs It? Youngblood fans. Suprema fans. Anyone who wants to see an Alan Moore superhero comic with no obvious element of irony or deconstruction or commentary on the genre. Rating: 2 stars (on my five-star scale) Method of Acquisition: 79 cents from the cheap comics bins at The Outer Limits in Wyoming, Michigan
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 6, 2011 16:04:21 GMT -5
Quasar #38 Published by Marvel What is it?A comic book. Glossy Cover. Non-glossy interior. Color throughout. The last story page is numbered 30, but the page numbering system is also including ad pages, so probably around twenty-some odd story pages in actual point of fact. Indicia gives a date of September 1992. Cover has a small logo in the upper right corner indicating this is an Infinity War crossover. Credits are: Mark Gruenwald-- Writer, Greg Capullo-- Penciler, Hary Candelario-- Inker, Janice Chiang-- Letterer, Paul Becton-- Colorist, Kelly Corvese-- Editor, and Tom DeFalco-- Editor Extreme. Plot Summary: Quasar and a character known as Contemplator are in a place called the Dimension of Manifestations. Quasar returns to Earth; Contemplator elects to stay behind. Upon his return to Earth, Quasar checks in with the Avengers. The Avengers are off to fight a cosmic disaster of epic proportions (the whole Ininity War thing). Cicrumstances require them to call in extra help from Alpha Flight and the various X-teams plus the Hulk. They mystically teleport to an alien planet. Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch are there teamed up with Thanos, a known villain, in order to combat the bigger threat of Magus (the whole Ininity War thing). Things degenerate into the inevitable two-super-teams-meet-each-other-for-the-first-time-and-get-into-a-fight scenario. There's also a side plot about Quasar's girlfriend stranded on an alien planet. Tangent: I have a comic box that I labelled Box Infinity. This is not a comment on the size of my collection: Rather, it's the box I use for Marvel-published "cosmic"-flavored books. For example, Silver Surfer, Quasar, Infinity-event (Gauntlet, War, Crusade) crossover issues of any title, and everything Adam Warlock, especially Warlock and the Infinity Watch. One of the reasons I picked up this issue was because it belongs in the Infinity Box for two reasons simultaneously. What's good about it? There were a few nice little twists on a fairly standard scenario, like Quasar using a force field bubble to delay the almost inevitable fight. Some of the dialogue struck me as decently clever. What's not quite so good? It's a fairly standard scenario. It's a little bit confusing. Every bit of plot in the book is continued from somewhere. None of these multiple plotlines are resolved completely either. What the ....? moments: It's a 90's D-list Marvel title tied in to the big crossover event crammed with guest stars, and somehow they manage to leave out Spider-Man, Punisher, and Ghost Rider. Who should get it? Quasar fans, Adam Warlock fans, and those who absolutely have to have every Infinity War tie-in issue. Rating: Three stars (on a five star scale). Method Of Acquisition: Fifty cent box at Apparitions.
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Apr 15, 2011 15:29:02 GMT -5
Review of issue # 5 of Young All StarsWhat Is It? A comic book in DC's “New Format”. Approximately 24 story pages, all color. Cover date is October 1987. Plot Summary: It's 1942. World War II is happening. Some youngsters adjunct to the All Star Squadron are in Hollywood/The Los Angeles area for a dance/bond rally. Intragroup squabbles cause a pair of them to leave early. They end up at the closed Santa Monica Pier Amusement Park. Another pair of these Young All Stars tail them. Axis America, a group of super-powered saboteurs, fight the four All Stars. Three of the four All Stars are knocked out and captured by fight's end. This leaves Dan the Dyna-Mite to lead the rescue effort. And there's the cliff-hanger ending. What's Good About It? Writers Roy and Dann Thomas write stories that combine a Golden Age feeling with certain Modern Age sensibilities. Just to bring up, a random example: Internment Camps for Japanese-Americans. Today we can look back at them as a mistake. At the time, very few dared to speak up against them. Well, Roy and Dann Thomas do try to bring up some of the moral points against Internment Camps, yet the script still conveys a sense of World War II patriotism. The letters page is another small point in the book's favor. I like to read them. It gives a sense of what the fan community was like before the rise of the World Wide Web. ?What's Not So Good About It? Some of the WWII-era patriotism comes off weird to my sensibilities. Maybe it seems a bit jingoistic or something of that nature. What The... Moments: I'm not sure as to whether it was the massive ret-conning of the history of the DC Universe in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths or something else, but the casting seems to involve rather a lot of knock-off characters. There's Flying Fox (a Batman knock-off), Iron Munro (a Superman knock-off), Fury (a Wonder Woman knock-off), and Neptune Perkins (an Aquaman knock-off). Who Needs It? Superhero fans, fans of DC's 80s-90s Secret Origins series,and fans of Roy Thomas's writing should find this book to be worth their time. Rating: 5 Stars (out of five)
|
|
|
Post by Khyron1144 on Dec 10, 2011 21:43:42 GMT -5
Review of Morlock 2001 Issue #1 What is it?: A comic book cover dated February 1975. Published by Atlas (not the Atlas that Marvel Comics used to be but a new company of that name- a subsidiary of Seaboard Periodicals). Color. Uncoated paper stock. 20 story pages plus a text page giving plugs for this new at the time company's new at the time line of comic books. Written by Michael Fleisher; pencilled by Al Milgrom; inked by Jack Abel; edited by Jeff Rovin; colorist and letterer uncredited. Plot summary: It's 2001. The government is repressive and totalitarian. The Thought Police liquidate a rogue botanist and take his giant seed pods into custody. Out of one of the seed pods hatches a human-looking guy with silvery hair. The government names him Morlock. When it is discovered that Morlock possesses a sort of death touch power, the government uses him as an assassin/executioner. Morlock becomes unhappy about this situation. The government hires a pretty woman to act like Morlock's friend in an effort to keep him happy. When Morlock discovers the ruse, he gets angry and monsters out. I think his monsterized form is meant to resemble a tree with tentacles, but, to me, it looks like something made of feces. The monstered out Morlock eats his fake girlfriend and escapes the government's clutches. What's Good About It?: If the plot summary above didn't sell on it, you are beyond my reach. What's Not So Good About It?: It is derivative. In Morlock himself I detect hints of Swamp Thing/Man-Thing/The Heap as well as the Hulk and maybe a little Adam Warlock. In the future dystopia setting, one can see hints of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. What The... ? Moment: Once you read the book, you realize that the cover is deceptive because it depict Morlock twice, once normal and once in monster form, fighting himself. Who Needs It?: Well if you liked Man-Thing, Swamp Thing, or The Incredible Hulk, you may like this. Rating: 4 stars out of 5. Really, truly, and sincerely. It's goofy but I haven't had this much fun reading a comic in a while. Method of Acquisition: Out of the fifty cent bins at Lange's in Muskegon, MI
|
|