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 - - all goals met by the group of Captain Blue Hen customer participants. 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.
#666 - #673 DEATHLOK Books One-Four (Marvel Comics, July-October, 1990)
These are four double-sized deluxe editions that listed at $3.95 in 1990 and contained 46 pages of story, so I’m thinking this should count as eight issues. A good, fast-paced action adventure written by Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright with the art divided between Butch Guice (Book One and Two) and Denys Cowan (Book Three and Four).
By now (2020) we’re all pretty familiar with the story idea of a loving family man trapped inside a murderous killing machine (Bloodshot, Spawn, etc), but I believe Deathlok preceded them all. I remember reading the first iteration of Deathlok (Luther Manning) in 1974 and thinking it was a pretty cool original concept.
Another family man, research scientist Michael Collins, discovers that the cybernetics project he’s working on for Roxxon Corporation is part of a plan to create the ultimate death-machine for hire - - a cyborg. Since this requires a human brain to compliment the A.I. computer technology, and Roxxon can’t risk Collins speaking to the press or government, he is murdered and becomes Deathlok.
Collins breaks free of corporate control and travels to South America to prevent Roxxon from exterminating an Indian village and trashing the rainforest in order to erect a damn. There he confronts the corrupt exec in charge of the project, Harlan Ryker, and prepares to kill him. But Ryker has a counter-offer: a chance to return as Michael Collins in his preserved frozen body as long as he accompanies Ryker to Japan for another dirty deal. Will he sell his soul in order to regain his humanity, or do the right thing and help Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. take Ryker and Roxxon down? Featuring a guest appearance by Sunfire. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#674 THE AVENGERS #377, Volume 1 (Marvel, August 1994) Quicksilver gets the spotlight in a solo tale that’s complete in one issue. While wandering the streets of New York, Pietro Maximoff encounters prejudice both racial and provincial. He interrupts a beat-down of street thugs by The Circle Of Pavane, a trio of super-powered children of Pavane, a mutant from Pietro and Wanda’s homeland.
Pavane has a long-time grudge against Pietro from an assumed snub and rejection when he was interested in dating Wanda, as a protective brother kept him at a distance. They come to an understanding before the issue ends, but not without a dangerous incident that helps to bring them together.
Nice speech with a friendly message from Quicksilver at the conclusion: “I am a mutant like you, after all. Closer in spirit no matter the divergent paths our lives have taken. . . . You’ve experienced hatred firsthand from people who hate our kind. . . Yet you chose to pass on your own petty hatreds to your children. . . . You were breeding a legacy of hatred, passing it onto the innocent. This, I find unforgivable.” Good story-telling from Joey Cavalieri and Grant Miehm. FOUR STARS.
#675 COMMANDERS IN CRISIS #1C (Image Comics, October 2020) Two other members of this group have already written about this title, so I’ll try to say something different here. I want to start off by thanking Matt and Joe for bringing this book to my attention. Sure, I scanned through it when it came out but passed on buying it because I’m a bit jaded when it comes to superhero titles. Glad I decided to take a chance. I’m really interested in this book for three big reasons . . . . .
- It’s a morality play disguised as a superhero team book. Time travelers from the future coming back to an undesignated year in order to steal . . . emotions! “No hope left in the future so they’re taking ours!” says Noah/Prizefighter to Nina/Frontier. To which she replies: “Hope? They should’ve gone farther back.” Gotta agree with her when at the same time there’s a debate in Congress about separating into 52 (!! love that number) separate nation states. And that last page line is an absolute killer: “Someone killed Empathy.”
- The various heroes are not from this version of Earth, and share a commonality: they were all American Presidents on their respective homeworlds. (“Commanders” - makes sense now). But it’s the powers of two female heroes that strike me as original that really make me want to see how this is developed. Originator creates innovate vocabulary words that instantly change reality. Seer can see into the future or past (obviously) but can only access power one minute at a time. Runner-up in my level of interest is Sawbones, action surgeon, who’s a badass.
- Steve Orlando is the writer, someone on my list of creators to watch. (Keep an eye out for Kill A Man, original graphic novel coming out in November - - Rocky gets a mixed marital arts prizefighting update, and how!) I’m not familiar with artist Davide Tinto until now. His style is expressive, fluid, and easy on the eye. FIVE STARS.
#676 ILLUMINATI #1 (Marvel Comics, January 2016) It was time to pull another book from the bargain “brick” purchases. Guess they won’t all be winners. The best thing about this is the cover art.
The original Illumunati (Bavarian history) was a secret society with a defined purpose. So, when Marvel resurrected the name for a group of super-heroes hiding away a cosmic cube - - that sort of fit. But here, the New Illuminati is a group of super-villains led by the Red Hood, determined to steal a pile of weapons from Asgard and as Hoodie says: “There is a new world order coming. This is just the first step . . of the New Illuminati.” That’s really stretching the definition and usage of the name. Ho hum.
Best thing here is a heartfelt dialogue between Titania (who wants to go straight) and her imprisoned beau The Absorbing Man (who reluctantly agrees to run away and become farmers - like that’s going to happen!). But she gets snared into joining the Hood, even after She-Hulk tries to find her a job. The rest of the gang is Thunderball, The Mad Thinker, Enchantress, and Black Ant. Ho hum, part two. This ran for seven issues, but I don’t care to seek it out. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#677 ROGUE PLANET #5 of 5 (Oni Press, September 2020) An appropriately horrific ending to a series that is a very successful blend of science-fiction with horror. Hopelessness, thy name is Rogue Planet! The art and colors by Andy MacDonald and Nick Filardi are stunning.
The final twist at the end caught me by surprise. Even though I never really bonded to any of the characters, I was super-engaged and worried about the outcome. Master writer Cullen Bunn strikes again! Now I need to read this over again from the beginning, to pick up those little details I didn’t notice the first go-around. FIVE STARS.
#678 DARK ONE #0, SPECIAL PREVIEW FCBD 2020 (Vault Comics, May 2020) This is a look at the first chapter of an upcoming graphic novel series. Brandon Sanderson is an award-winning fantasy novelist. The preview contains three and one-half separate highly detailed scenes from the story, that I have to think have been presented out of sequence in order to allow for a better overview. That might backfire, as parts of this seem like an entirely different story that was thrown into the mix.
Lots of characters, and lots of complex situations. A fantasy world. Serial killer in the modern world. A despotic ruler that everyone fears but no one sees so far. A prominent lawyer who employs the mother of a character from a different scene. The lawyer can cross over from modern to medieval worlds. The most interesting character is the young man battling inner demons, taking counsel from a disembodied faux sister, and a baffled therapist trying to diagnose his specific condition. I’ll certainly take a look when this comes out. FOUR STARS.
#679 WE ONLY FIND THEM WHEN THEY’RE DEAD #2 (Boom Studios, October 2020) I like comics that are out of the ordinary. WOFTWTD is definitely different and unique, but it doesn’t have its’ hooks into me yet. Al Ewing’s science fiction fantasy about the vastness of outer space serving as a graveyard for gigantic dead gods has me intrigued enough to pick up Issue #2, but it needs to enthrall me by Issue #3 or I’m going to bolt.
Captain Georges Malik and his lover/navigator Jason Hauer are both tired of harvesting body parts of dead gods and long to break away from the confines of Control and the Escort ships (like security guards at a prison) to search the unknown for a “live god”. They pull the remaining two crew members of their autopsy ship into the scheme and make their break, with a determined Escort Ship piloted by Paula Richter (who has a big murderous grudge against the Captain) in pursuit.
My other beef is with the art, often dark and muddy. I know there is a lot of creative experimentation being done with colors these days, but the vivid color changes from panel to panel aren’t really helping to tell the story and I can’t discern the choice of hues has any significance. It’s just annoying and disorienting - - unless that is the main intention. Issue #3 has to convince me to stay on this ride. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#680 BATMAN #100 (DC Comics, Early December 2020) The Joker War ends in satisfactory (for me) fashion, and I have new respect for what James Tynion IV is doing with this title. None of us expected this to culminate in a to-the-death final battle between Batman and The Joker. For a brief moment it looked like curtains for Joker, and not at the hands of Batman, but . . . . nah, ain’t gonna happen.
Fabulous art and colors, and several memorable and touching scenes. Last page introduces new foe, cool-looking-in-armor The Ghost-Maker, who will appear in Batman #102. Back-up story focuses on vigilante Clownkiller (who I affectionately named Rooster Clownburn) and gives some insight into his principles as Batman attempts to rein him in. I think we’ll see him again, and I welcome that.
FOUR STARS.
#681 BATMAN #101 (DC Comics, Late December 2020) I miss Jorge Jimenez on art, but Guillem March’s style is a sweet surprise. “After The Laughter” Bruce Wayne/Batman has to consider the path forward. Stripped of many of his resources as a result of the Joker War he has to reconfigure himself for a new Gotham. The fight scenes with Grifter (surprise!) are very well-done. Lucius Fox will continue to play a supporting role, as well as Selina Kyle/Catwoman (hurrah!). FOUR STARS.
#682 DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL ROBIN KING one-shot (DC Comics, December 2020) Sometimes we let our impulse purchases get the best of us. I didn’t need this $5.99 book, but I do enjoy the writing of Peter J. Tomasi, especially his handling of Damien/Robin. To be far, I’m not following the whole Death Metal saga so I’m missing the background details for this story. Robin kicks the crap out of a slew of DC heroes, major and minor. Does it really matter? Interesting art by Riley Rossmo, but not a style I want to see a lot of. THREE STARS.
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