RUN THE COMICS 5K, PART TWENTY-FIVE

 I’ve been numbering my entries, picking up where I left off with the I LOVE COMICS 3000 CHALLENGE as one of the participants on the Captain Blue Hen Facebook page. This started as a challenge from friendly comic shops in Ohio and Texas, originally as the 1,000 Comics Challenge, then the 2021 Comic Book Quarantine Odyssey, and then I Love Comics 3000 - - the threshold of which Captain Blue Hen passed just a few days ago.  I’m curious to see how long it takes me to read that many comics. My journey began with the 1,000 Comics Challenge on approximately March 15, 2020.

 

#464  DARK ARK: INSTINCT Free Comic Book Day 2020 (Aftershock Comics) If you’re unfamiliar with the creepy, twisted story-telling of Cullen Bunn here’s a way to get acquainted without risk. Even if you haven’t read a DARK ARK comic before, this is easy to pick up, understand and follow - - and it’s a stand-alone complete story. 

   The premise behind the series is simple and imaginative. The Bible tells us that Noah was selected by God to build an ark as the world was being drowned for forty days and forty nights. He stocked the vessel with a pair of every beast so that they could multiply anew when the waters receded.  The sorcerer Shrae heeded a different call, and constructed an ark to save the creatures of the unnatural world: vampires, man-spiders, griffins, dragons, trolls, monsters, etc. -  even unicorns (although they feel they do not belong with this group).

   The FCBD story reveals that there may be births aboard the vessel before the storm is over, and there is a competition of sorts between several species to be the first. Plus, newborn babies (some creatures hatch in groups from eggs) will be ravenously hungry, and the ship’s reserves may not be able to accommodate a mass feeding. Read on for the nasty details. It reminds me of a grim twist on a classic O. Henry tale. FOUR STARS.

   There’s also a five-page preview of new series SYMPATHY FOR NO DEVILS in the back of the book. Winston Wallis is just one of a few surviving humans on a world taken over by monsters (even though they wear clothes and act civilized). It’s his “lucky” ability that keeps him alive, although his choice of occupation as a homicide investigator may just burn through that luck. Promising and quirky. 

#465  ARCHIE BLUE RIBBON PRESENTS, FCBD EDITION 2020 (Archie Comics)  I don’t read much Archie, usually the occasional FCBD story or something I couldn’t resist from a bargain bin (cover, artist, etc. that caught my eye). The reason isn’t because they aren’t good stories - they usually are worth reading. For me, this is a title best appreciated through very infrequent reading rather than a more frequent occurance. I’ve been impressed with the changes over the last ten or more years, especially the way the stories seem to touch on aspects of teen life and development in a non-preachy or threatening way. There’s usually a subtle message about aspects of life mixed in with the fiction. 

   In the front story, “The Bond Of Friendship”, Betty and Veronica have a chance to compare their similarities and differences over an upcoming Career Fair. Betty looks to explore her career options, while Veronica looks forward to an opportunity to confront the guest of honor, a female senator who’s supported some landlord regulation bills, with her father’s list of grievances. She has a change of heart after hearing an ambitious, motivational speech from the senator. There’s a neat message about supporting each other and striving to be non-judgmental. There’s more to come in the regular title, as this is a continued story.

  The art style changes in the back story, a prologue to “Riverdale: The Ties That Bind” - - a little darker, and grimmer versus the clean lines and whimsical look of the front story. Jughead and Moose are room mates at a private school (not in Riverdale) and decide to spend a Friday evening studying at the school library, where the crone-like elderly librarian knows too much about them, waters her plants with cold coffee, and peers at them through reflective lenses in her chained glasses. Hard to tell where this is going with only five pages to read.  THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.  

#466  VALIANT: THE YEAR OF HEROES FCBD 2020 SPECIAL (Valiant Entertainment) With a cover shot of Vin Diesel from the Bloodshot movie, I expected more than a four-page story on the inside. In an untitled, uncredited story, Bloodshot blows up a ship full of Project Rising Spirit cybernetic security units before they can be sold to the Russians, and ends up underwater which turns out to be an odd meeting place. To be continued in Bloodshot #10. I’m kind of indifferent to this, and I do like the Bloodshot character. 

  The 22 page backstory, “X-O Manowar:Unimaginable” by Joshua Dysart and Doug Braithwaite is a good one, and a stand-alone. On a space mission, Aric is distracted and his mind keeps flashing back to his early days as a youth in 385 A.D. and his first battle as a lone armored warrior on horseback - - or is it simply a daydream? FOUR STARS on this one.

#467  FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2020: ALL AGES (Dark Horse Comics)  The front story by Greg Pak is a neat story featuring the Stranger Things settings but toned down for younger readers (no monsters here). Erica needs funds and decides to grab some green canisters she and her friends found in the secret Russian base. Her friends learn of her plans and try to find and stop her to avoid trouble. Its a short and warm tale about friendship and sharing. 

The backstory, “Changes” by Stephen McCranie is a Minecraft tale that is so game-centric that only regular players can appreciate it. The art is scaled down and simplistic in appearance, just like the game. Harmless story, but boring.  THREE STARS for the first story.

#468  HAWKEYE: FREEFALL #5 (Marvel, release date August 12, 2020):  I’ve been enjoying this clever and amusing version of Hawkeye by Matthew Rosenberg, but I guess it’s too late now for new readers to jump in and really appreciate this - even though the summary on the credits page does a good job of bringing things up to date. Hawkeye’s trying to correct an injustice - the Hood walks free while his hirelings go to jail. In his Ronin costume, Clint does his best to foul things up for the Hood’s growing criminal empire, including lying to his friends and enlisting a shape-shifting Skrull to cover for him. He may have gone to far when he lied to Spider-Man and said he was on a secret mission for Captain America. Now, his girlfriend has to bail him out, but at what cost?  FOUR STARS.

#469  IMMORTAL HULK #36 (Marvel, release date August 12, 2020) This can get hard to follow, but only if you try to analyze what’s going on too much. There are plots within plots, and The Leader working his schemes in the background. He’s on the cover, but hidden somewhere inside. I even get mixed up as to which aspect/version of the Hulk I’m reading about. Or, just go with the flow and enjoy the action and art, which is awesome. Hulk fights Gamma Flight.  FOUR STARS.

#470  ROGUE PLANET #3 (Oni Press, August 2020): Imagine a science-fiction/horror blend of John Carpenter films THE THING and GHOSTS OF MARS with Ridley Scott’s ALIEN and ALIENS.Stir in some H. P. Lovecraft cosmic monsters.  Wow. 

OK, here’s a less elevator-pitch description: An exploratory team from the salvage vessel Cortes went digging through a vast spaceship graveyard for their payday - and found a bizarre, murderous lifeforms instead. Back on the ship, the old ghosts of loved ones thought left on Earth appear, attacking and mind-controlling the ship’s mechanic Franco. The death toll mounts as a new faction appears: the alien inhabitants of Lonely Orphan.  

The ritualistic sacrifice scene even reminds me of the cannibal cook-outs in the old black & white Tarzan movies. Sheer mayhem from the mind of Cullen Bunn. FOUR STARS.