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.
#700 AMERICAN VAMPIRE 1976 (DC Black Label, December 2020) Writer Scott Snyder made such a name for himself with his fabled run on BATMAN. We might forget that it all started with AMERICAN VAMPIRE, the series he co-wrote with Stephen King for six issues, and then continued on his own. In my opinion, his horror stories (WYTCHES, THE WAKE, AMERICAN VAMPIRE) are superior to his super-hero fare.
Re-united with artist Rafael Alburquerque, AMERICAN VAMPIRE 1976 moves the story forward to the 20th Century in a big way. There is so much in this first issue, and all of it exciting:
Skinner Sweet, no longer immortal and defying death as a motorcycle stunt driver a la Evel Knievel - - - Felicia Book, a director of VMS (Vassals of the Morning Star who planted a mythic skull on a secret isle with the potential to kill “The Beast” - - - Travis Kidd, the rockabilly vampire hunter, using solar lamps to identify his prey - - -Ms. Pearl Jones of the VMS with the decapitating claws - - - President Ford’s Freedom Train, which along with Americana artifacts also carries an important map - - - the return of Jim Book.
It’s a lot to digest. It appears that Snyder is laying the groundwork for a major epic here. Issue #1 has definitely whetted my toothy appetite. Not sure I can juggle all this from month to month, so I’ll probably wait for the trade paperback edition. FOUR STARS.
#701 IMMORTAL HULK #40 (Marvel, January 2021) “So Here’s The Thing.” The current Leader storyline just keeps getting better and better. I’m summarizing for the folks who aren’t following this. If your’re reading this book, stop! SPOILERS.
Aboard the Alpha Flight space station, two bodies rest in deep freeze in the suspended animation lounge: Walter Langowski (Sasquatch) with a hole in his head, and Dr. Leonard Samson. What wakes and emerges is a combination of the two - Doc Sasquatch, big and green. Meanwhile, in the Alpha Flight holding facility acting commander Henry Peter Gyrich torments a subdued Hulk. He’s listless because there’s so much going on in Banner’s mindscape.
Sam Sterns/The Leader, who might be Bruce’s dad, has dragged “puny Banner” out of the head space and down to hell. That leaves crybaby Hulk and Mr. Fixit in the brainpan. Mr. Fixit busts out of the shackled Hulk body and easily subdues Gyrich and guards. “. . . You gotta be kidding me! We’re on a space station with GUNS that BREAK THE WINDOWS?”
Hulk/Fixit falls to Earth, splashes into the Coney Island Channel, and when he emerges it’s time for the classic re-match. I’m loving the twists and turns Al Ewing’s story is taking; and Joe Bennett’s pencils are crushing it. Love that Skottie Young variant cover. FIVE STARS.
#702 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #51 (Marvel, December 2020) “Last Remains, Part Two” More SPOILERS from me. Go to the last paragraph if you don’t wanna know.
A resurrected Sin-Eater (courtesy of Kindred) is cleansing criminals of their sins, including Norman Osborn / The Green Goblin. Norman’s trying to make up for his foul deeds, and reveals that spooky Kindred is really his son Harry. A battered Peter Parker feels responsible for what Kindred has done to his spider-friends. He’s not aware of who Kindred is. He doesn’t understand demons or possession, so he wants Dr. Strange to help out.
Strange gives Spidey the Hand of Visahnti to access the astral plane to get to the demon behind it all. Strange says the incantations but Peter can’t get there and gets kicked out. Meanwhile he set it up so Black Cat could steal the hand and record Strange’s recitation. He breaks through this time, into his dreamscape, sees a vision of Mary Jane meeting disaster, and finally ends up in a dark setting with Kindred and a table flanked by skeletons of all the figures from his past that have passed on.
Two things pulled me out of this story, and kind of spoiled it for me. 1) How would Spidey know in advance that he needed to steal the hand?, and 2) Why does it work the second time when the only difference is Black Cat says the incantation? Seems contrived.
I really enjoyed the opening chapters of “Last Remains” and though this would be a good story arc to follow. Now . . . . I’m not so sure. Fortunately, the stellar art of Pat Gleason keeps me from feeling cheated. I like his leaner, meaner depiction of Spidey - - reminds me of the way Ditko used to draw him. THREE STARS.
#703 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #52 (Marvel, January 2021) “Last Remains, Part Three”. I’m back, with more SPOILERS. You know the drill. If you want to avoid the spoilers, just jump ahead to the last paragraph.
After failing to get some help from Dr. Strange, Peter faces Kindred alone within his dreamscape/astral plane access. Kindred torments him with the exhumed bodies of those he says Spidey is responsible for their deaths, including Uncle Ben. That sets Peter into a rage, and as he punches Kindred little maggot-like slugs fly off his body.
I haven’t figured out what Kindred’s powers actually are except to bring back the dead (partially). He’s got these weird elongated centipede creatures that slither out of his body. He’s fast, he’s strong, and like Dr. Octopus has more arms that Spidey can defend against. He takes a real beating.
Gleason’s fight scenes are so dynamic. Thanks for that! When Kindred shows Peter what damage his possessed spider-friends are causing, Peter makes the ultimate sacrifice and Kindred accepts the deal. In the last panel, he deals a seemingly fatal blow. Really? We’ll see.
I’m just not feeling this. Maybe I’ve seen variations of this too many times before. THREE STARS.
#704 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #53 (Marvel, January 2021) ‘Last Remains, Part Four”. Again, with the SPOILERS. Jump ahead if needed.
Kindred accept’s Peter’s offer, frees the other Spider-Heroes from his control, and then kills Spider-Man. Peter envisions distorted versions of his past life (teenager living with Aunt May, MJ, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn) in a sort of death-dream / flashback that is being manipulated by Kindred.
But he’s not dead (surprise!) and Kindred wakes him up to see if he’s come to a critical realization. “(Sigh!) You need to accept this, old buddy. It’s the only way we can move forward. Just the TWO of us. Because we have so much WORK to do. You and I . . . Like I keep trying to tell you, Pete . . . It’s not WHO I AM . . it’s WHAT I WANT.” Nope. Peter’s too dense, so Kindred takes the mask off for the big reveal: Norman.
I gotta say again, Pat Gleason’s art made this worthwhile for me. Lots of great big panels and full page images. Yet, I’m thinking the story was stretched out a bit here on purpose. I detect filler. Spencer can’t get to the payoff too soon, still some issues to go. THREE STARS.
#705 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #51LR (Marvel, January 2021) “Fallen Order, Part Two”. These are the extra issues dedicated to some of the side stories of the Last Remains story arc, hence the LR designation on the numbering. SPOILERS beyond this point, so jump to the last paragraph if you’re reading this title or think you want to read it.
Peter Parker isn’t the only one feeling guilty about the Spider-Friends turning evil. Norman Osborn feels responsible for Harry/Kindred’s wave of violence. He turns to Mary Jane Watson to see if she can help.
Dr. Strange wants Black Cat to give back the Hand of Vishanti, and knows how to recognize a fake. She wants to bargain for it, asking him to get her to where Peter is so she can help him. Mary Jane comes home to NYC and gets involved in a car wreck during the Spider-Friends destruction. She gets rescued by . . . Norman Osborn.
Meanwhile, the Sin Eater is also on a guilt trip, feeling he failed. So he decides to take on the Spider-Friends, but he’ll need to cleanse the sins and take the power of Morlun. (I’m not familiar with this character, looks like a vampire hanging around the sewers).
Federico Vicentini’s art is decent but a bit cluttered. His bigger panel, full page images lack the impact of Pat Gleason’s work. I do have to admit that these side stories lend more flavor to the main storyline and actually enhance it. But I’m still not feeling the same interest as the earlier issues of this saga. THREE STARS.
#706 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #52LR (Marvel, January 2021) “Fallen Order, Part Three”. Hint: SPOILERS up front, opinion in last paragraph.
Because of Peter’s sacrifice, the Spider-Friends regain their sanity and start moving bystanders away from the bridge area that they nearly demolished.
Mary Jane does not take kindly to Norman’s rescue of her and doubts his sincerity/conviction.
Sin Eater betrays his followers and with the aid of a stolen bio-weapon turns them into creatures out of Spider-Island.
Dr. Strange transports all the friendly-once-again Spider-Friends to the astral plane to try and find/help Spider-Man. Someone is watching.
This seems like a big set-up issue for the next phase of the story. Lots of discussion, hand-wringing, etc. Not much action. Yawn. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#707 LADY MECHANIKA: THE COLLECTED EDITION one-shot (Aspen, July 2011) This single volume reprints the first two issues by writer/artist Joe Benitez about a human/mechanical hybrid female hunter/warrior in a steampunk world of 1878.
In the first story, she’s among a band of hunters looking for a demon reported to be stealing children. Lady Mechanika encounters it first, battles, and treats the frightened demon with humanity. That’s at odds with the members of Blackpool’s organization who wish to exploit it. Lady Mechanika was hoping to learn something about herself from the demon, who may have had valuable information.
In the second story, we see the visualization of the town of Mechanika and are introduced to another mechanical woman with the same memory loss as Lady.
These two beginning issues set up the world, the characters, and the conflict for what promises to be an interesting series. I know there are fans of this title. It might have had a bigger audience if the issues came out on a regular basis, which they did not. While I liked this introduction, I’m not completely won over and won’t pursue it.
Benitez’s art is expressive and very detailed, vastly superior to his script. His style reminds me of the late Michael Turner (founder of Aspen comics) and I detect a homage to his work in many of the Aspen titles. THREE STARS.
#708 DOC SAVAGE #10 (DC, March 2011) I feel like I jumped into the middle of a story here, although this can easily be read as a stand-alone. It’s episodic in nature.
Doc is seen in more modern times, minus his merry five, and is in the midst of a battle in what appears to be Afghanistan. He assists the hunkered-down squad in the siege of a fortified building in his usual athletic function, managing to save them several times.
There’s some neat scenes where Doc imparts his knowledge and coaches a reluctant squad leader on how to command. Likewise, Doc learns that some of his standard methods for handling criminals or the opposition don’t work as well in modern times.
Interesting story. Good art. Sorry I don’t have the next issue, because I think this story gets more interesting. THREE STARS.
#709 VENOM #30 (Marvel, January 2021) “Venom Beyond” Finale.
Eddie Brock and his son Dylan have been trapped in a multiverse world where Eddie Brock is dead, his ex-wife Anne is Venom, and Dylan has grown up into the dictator Codex. It’s a world full of symbiotes.
The Dylan from our Earth plays a major role in the final confrontation with Codex. It takes another year and several months, but a gateway back to Earth is created. Eddie and Dylan return, but where have all the stars gone? This is the lead-in to the next big chapter featuring the King In Black.
Overall, I enjoyed the “Venom Beyond” storyline. The last issue had some satisfying and tender moments. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#710 BATMAN #103 (DC, January 2021) “Ghost Stories, Part Two”.
More background here between Ghost Maker and Batman, who have a past rivalry when they were both fifteen years old and training.
Ghost Maker doesn’t like the way Batman handles crime fighting in Gotham, especially coddling children like Clownhunter. He wants to kill him in front of Batman to clear his head and see how bad a job he’s doing.
Meanwhile Clownhunter makes his escape and tries to take on Harley Quinn with just his bladed baseball bat.
I like both of these new characters (Ghost Maker and Clownhunter). It will be interesting to see where the story takes them. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#711 SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN: KING IN BLACK #1 (Marvel, January 2021) “The Sword And The Spirit, Part One”.
This is an effort to show the roots of the upcoming King In Black epic can be traced all the way back in Spider-Man history to a time pre-Venom. Peter Parker had just returned from the first Secret Wars with a cool new black costume that he assumed was a gift of alien technology.
The story jumps around from Ravencroft where a symbiote presence makes a night-time deal to introduce something into the experimental lab.
The Watcher gets captured by Kang, who tries to steal his knowledge but both end up getting a vision of something very nasty. Spidey has to fight shadow creatures at Ravencroft, created by Alistair Smythe (the former Spider-Slayer) who has a new host guiding his actions. Alistair turns into the biggest shadow-creature, dubs himself Mister E and calls Spider-Man “brother.” Before the issue ends, Black Knight shows up as well as Rocket Raccoon.
Well, I liked some of this but not all of it. Too many guests for my liking. I really can’t think of a good reason for throwing them into the mix. Peter David’s dialogue is crisp and smart and the art is good. I may stick around a bit. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
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