In 2021 I’d like to cross over the 1,000 comics review barrier, meaning reviews that I (Mike Clarke a.k.a. pghhead) contribute to the blog. That’s what this odyssey is about, beginning January 01, 2021. Wish me luck . . . . .
#122-#126 OLYMPIA #1-5 (Image, November 2019-July 2020) I really wanted to rate this higher, as the circumstances behind the book's creation tug at the heartstrings. Curt Pires wrote this story with his father, Tony Pires, as he was hospitalized with cancer. It's a throwback to the glory days of heroic comics, a homage to the creative imagination and art style of Jack Kirby (particularly Thor for Marvel, and Fourth World for DC), told in old school fashion with a few modern-day twists thrown into the mix. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
I usually wait to buy Star Wars in trades, when I see them in the bargain bins. However, this one is getting some good press so I decided to check it out.
This is a brand new Star Wars series, in canon, that occurs in the timeline before the events of The Phantom Menace, Attack of The Clones, etc. It introduces two new characters: 1) Keeve, a female padawan who’s about to undergo her trial for admission to the Jedis, and 2) Master Sskeer, the one-armed, lizard like Jedi Master who is training her. It’s a complete-in-one-issue story, and a pretty good one. I may wait for this to be collected to keep going.
I was asked to pick up Issue #2 for a friend, so I got a chance to read this one as well (breaking my decision). At the end of Issue #1, Sskeer was appointed as Marshall of Starlight Beacon, a new space statin on the Outer Rim. He and Keeve plus bonded Jedi twins Terec and Ceret answer a distress signal from a drifting ship. They find the occupants slaughtered and the trail leads to a Sedri Minor, a small planet best known for growing huge forest-sized barley crops. Danger awaits. Sskeer is troubled, and hiding some secret. This was less interesting to me than Issue #1, so I’ll be reconsidering whether to get the eventual trade paperback for this. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS OVERALL.
#129-136 SMOKETOWN #1-8 (Scout, 2017-2018) A great crime comic that belongs on the shelf right beside the best of Brubaker and Lapham.
What makes the series so memorable is that SMOKETOWN plays out like an anthology of separate stories, although that’s not the case. Each issue has a link to previous and/or future issues, and characters reappear.
Everything is interconnected as the final issue brings it all to
a boil. FIVE STARS. A longer review appeared on this blog for Thursday, February 11.
#137-141 PUNISHER #219-223 (Marvel, February-June 2018) Part 2-6 of Punisher: War Machine. General Petrov takes over the rogue state of Chernaya in Eastern Europe using stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. resources. Nick Fury equips Frank Castle with the War Machine armor and sets him loose to take down the despot. Marvelous mayhem occurs. High powered entertainment with the Punisher taking no prisoners. Matthew Rosenberg writing with no handcuffs on the violence and Guiu Vilanova gloriously illustrating the carnage. FOUR STARS.
#142-145 PUNISHER #225-228 (Marvel, July-September 2018) Part 2-5 of Punisher: War Criminal. Frank Castle completes Fury’s mission, decides to keep the War Machine armor and return to NYC to take down Hydra, Zemo and Rogers, and gets branded a global terrorist.
Now the super-heroes come after him as well. The finale where Frank gives up the armor is a big surprise. More pure escapist entertainment. I was enthralled. FOUR STARS.
#146-150 DEAD DAY #1-5 (Aftershock Comics, August-December 2018)
If the dead could come back for just one night, would we want them to? If you missed this series, the trade paperback will be released on March 3, 2021. DEAD DAY is a clever twist on the standard tales of zombies/the undead.
Recommended. A full review appeared on this blog for February 13, 2021.
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