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. As we reached the midpoint of June I’m a little behind, needing to be at #458 to stay on pace. Wish me luck . . . . .
#401 JAMES BOND, AGENT OF SPECTRE #4 (Dynamite, June 2021)
The most cinematic issue yet, with some great scenes of a helicopter chase plus a sufficient amount of explosions. Usurper Titania Jones versus Spectre leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld with James Bond right in the middle. Good stuff. FOUR STARS.
Issue #4 seemed to be leading up to a connection between an ancient Mayan mask and a discovery by young Lena Petrella (survivor of the subway massacre). Lena is back in this final issue, but not in the way I anticipated. I was expecting a bit more resolution here, but just like those Friday The 13th movies that resurrect Jason Voorhees, Harry The Maniac is coming back in 2022 for Volume Two, THE MANIAC OF NEW YORK: THE BRONX IS BURNING.
I’m fine with that. I’d love to learn more about this character, especially with the same creative team returning. Artist/colorist Andrea Mutti is a new favorite, and I’ll pick up anything he works on from this point forward.
Considering that MANIAC OF NEW YORK has been an extremely popular title for Aftershock, I’m wondering if Elliott Kalan was asked to re-write the Issue #5 ending to leave room for a second season.
Wrong. I was able to get an answer to this from Aftershock directly: There was no re-write on Issue #5. Aftershock asks all creative teams to plan for a soft ending in their four or five issue story arc, and to leave an opening for a possible return (sales dependent). THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#403 BUNNY MASK #1 (Aftershock, June 2021)
This was even better on the second reading. Paul Tobin (Colder) sure knows how to spin a scary story.
The best horror comics provide moments that creep out even seasoned readers and leave them feeling just a little uncomfortable. For me BUNNY MASK provided those creeps and shivers on nearly every page. from the demented abusive father with voices in his head to the sculpted and rune-marked underground cave/prison and the bunny-masked witchy woman found there to the ability of a glimpse of the troubling past to mesmerize former victim Tyler Severin to the final page revelations on the current situation with Bee Foster, daughter of the crazed Leo Foster. Whew.
Just as MANIAC OF NEW YORK wraps up its final issue (for now), BUNNY MASK comes out in the same week. The eerie art and colors of Andrea Mutti has a creep factor all its own. Horror Heaven. FIVE STARS.
During a power surge in their lab, the super-villain holograms on their video screen come to life and try to steal the data bank. As soon as the young techno-wizards take one down, it’s powers become absorbed into the other holograms until just one huge Green Goblin remains.
Yes, you may have guessed by now that this five-issue mini-series is targeted towards a young adult audience. Which means I am not the audience for this book. Over and out. THREE STARS.
#405 WITCH DOCTOR #1 of 4 (Image, 2011)
But I am the audience for this book, very stylish and witty with some great atmospheric art reminiscent of classic horror books: “Vincent Morrow, excommunicated from the medical community and headhunted into an existing new career in the black arts. Morrow serves the world with both hands - - one in magic, one in medicine - - as Earth’s protector.”
Monsters, jokes and weird medicine. Part Constantine, part Doctor Strange, part Marcus Welby, MD - - this is quirky and lots of fun. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
GREEK STREET is the reimagining of Ancient Greek tragedies/mythology as only the mind of writer Peter Milligan can imagine it, playing out in crime drama in modern-day Soho, London.
The first two issues introduce a host of characters and weave in several plot threads, with the primary one following the recent release from prison of Eddie (Oedipus) and his search for his family. He finds his mother and has sex with her. When she discovers his identity a scuffle ensues in which she is accidentally killed.
Eddie gets dragged into plots being investigated by Detective Dedalus, all of this being manipulated by the House of Furey (the Furies) and observed with commentary by female strippers (the three mad women, followers of Dionysus).
While reading this I felt like I needed a reference book by my side to make all the connections. I gave up on that and just went with it. An intriguing and fascinating read. FOUR STARS.
Hum is the main character, with a unusual mythical beast as companion/transportation - a unicorn-like steed with five horns - a pentacorn. He’s searching for his wife, abducted by marauders. Every odd village he visits has an odd task to perform in exchange for information, valuables or weaponry.
The intricately detailed art by Matias Bergara gets even more cluttered by the bright, vivid color schemes. It takes as much concentration to figure out exactly what occurs as it does to decipher the details/hints in the dialogue.
I bought this issue when it came out, read it once, and decided to sit this one out. I like it better now that I took a bit more time to read it without rushing. I may return to this world again. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Another #1 issue I’m re-reading, while deciding which series I want to jump back into for a repeat experience or go further with something new. This is a subtle message about gentrification and the dismantling of old established neighborhoods (with their unique flavors of life). Taken to an extreme by the promises of a better life by the megacity developers.
Main character Clementine is a strong-willed resilient female with bad asthma, raised on a philosophy of survival skills and self-dependence which serves her well when the mega-city’s alluring invitation is turned down by her mayor/sheriff father and things turn ugly.
I’m picking up neat little details I missed the first time around. FOUR STARS.
#410 JULES VERNE’S LIGHTHOUSE #1 (Image, April 2021) Veteran comics writer David Hine takes the bare bones of Verne’s The Lighthouse At The End Of The World short story and puts an edgy science-fiction spin on it, even keeping some of the character names.
The original story was also adapted for movies in 1971’s The Lighthouse At The Edge Of The World starring Kirk Douglas and Yul Brunner. That’s much closer to Verne’s work, and remains one of my favorite action-adventure films of that time period.
A lighthouse of sorts is constructed on a small asteroid on the edge of the galaxy to warn incoming spaceships of the threat of The Stormfront, an area containing thousands of wormholes. The small crew that maintains the lighthouse answer a distress signal, not realizing that their system has been hacked and they are about to be overrun by pirates with designs on using their beacon for the wrong reasons.
The computer-generated art by Brian Haberlin is both interesting and off-putting at times, not his best work, but still above average.
There’s a lot of depth to the story and the character of Vasquez (with secrets yet to be revealed) is most interesting. FOUR STARS.
I’ve read the whole series during those long delays, so I wanted to revisit it. There’s only a hint of the horror to come in the debut issue, and I may have been so focused on that and missed the deeper story behind young Abraham. Raised solely by his demented father and trained as a burglar, Abraham is led to believe that the world is fake and full of traps for aware people like his deranged parent.
Abraham gets a shocking bit of news when he and his father are caught during a failed Oregon house break-in. It turns out his father, Noah Stubbs, kidnapped Abraham when he was an infant. Abraham’s real name is James Stensgaard, and Child Protective Services reunite him with his true family in British Columbia.
There’s great drama here as young James is forced to realize the truth and goes through an awkward period of denial and isolation as his real family works hard to make him comfortable. I loved the way that this played out. Well told.
Then the horror is slowly introduced as townsfolk in this sleepy winter village go missing and turn up disoriented after becoming lost in the mountains. Mountains were referenced in the beginning of the issue as the twisted thinking of burglar Noah influenced Abraham/James to believe that folks would go crazy from spending too much time the Rockies, calling it Mountainhead fever - - a mind cut off from reality and capable of things beyond comprehension.
Very interesting. Creepy art, with most all of the characters looking thin, malnourished and scared. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#412 SEVEN SECRETS #1 (Boom!, 2020)
Another re-read for me. I read the first two issues of this series and then started stock-piling them through the first story arc. I figured I needed to return to make sure I want to try and catch up with this series. Very cool anime-influenced art. Lots of action.
Great backstory of a secret society trained to protect the seven secrets that can bring down the world. Forbidden love. Betrayal. A son trained by the society and never seen by his member parents after birth.
Yeah, I do want to catch up with this one. FOUR STARS.
This reveals how the carbonate-frozen Han Solo was stolen from Bobba Fett and launched the Bounty Hunter Wars.
Of more interest to me was the inner story where Bobbo Fett has to enter a fight tournament. He paints his armor jet black and calls himself Jango, The Bespen Brawler.
In fact, I liked this better than Issue #1 of the main title.
THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#414 THE RED WING #1 of 4 (Image, 2011)
Jonathan Hickman borrows some of the excitement from the late lamented X-WING ROGUE SQUADRON series in this story about a fighter plane academy that mixes in some cool time-travel elements.
Neat art by Nick Pitarra.
THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#415 CHRONO-MECHANICS #1 PLATINUM (Alias, 2006)
I enjoy the Mad-magazine influenced art of Art Thibert but not so much his writing. This is a silly story about a quartet of time repairmen. When TIME, the machine that runs the universe breaks down they are transformed into the Chrono-Mechanics to fix it. This debut issue reveals how they recruited (more like abducted) a rock star to join the group.
This is a flip book, with the other side containing Issue #5 of SIX-GUN SAMURAI, a Western about a gunman who also packs a Samurai sword. Neat touches on the art. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
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