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. . . .
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 916 comics documented
#888 - #889 HARBINGER #16, #18 (Valiant, 2013)
You don’t see as many titles from Valiant these days (not necessarily a bad thing, or an indication of bad things - - just an observation) but in 2013 they were producing a good amount of titles, and all premium quality.
Joshua Dysart’s ground-breaking run on HARBINGER is one of my favorites. I’d recommend starting with the very first trade paperback - that’s a classic.
These two issues cover the events following the Harbinger Wars event in Las Vegas, with the team of renegade psiots on vacation at Venice Beach and then a surreal excursion through Torquehalla, Torque’s own physically fabricated version of heaven. But is it real or just a construct?
If you spotted Toyo Harada in the background, then you know the answer. FOUR STARS.
“She sold her soul for rock and roll . . . time to pay up.” Potty-mouthed punk rocker Cherry continues her pursuit of seven demon escapees from Hell, pushing a deadline as her 27th birthday quickly approaches.
Cherry dispatches three more baddies across these two issues and kills them before she can learn enough about her next foe, as her quickly-expanding killer rage doesn’t allow for Q & A time. This time it was bi-sexual Miss Cocaine, drug dealer Mr. October and drug kingpin Lo (who looks like Modok crossed with Evil Ernie and planted on mechanical spider legs). I lost count, but I think there are two baddies left.
Lots of foul language, sexual references, fights, and nudity (somehow Cherry always gets naked for the fights). I was enjoying this title more when there were some interesting side plots and character development. The novelty is starting to wear off. Here’s hoping the final issue has some surprises and a return to form.
THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#892 - #894 LIVEWIRE #1, #2, #3 (Valiant, December 2018- February 2019)
This was intense, and a lot of story by Vita Ayala. Raul Allen’s small panel style of illustration was perfect for helping accomplish that.
This follows the events after Livewire (Amada McGee) in trying to prevent the elimination of budding young psiots by government troops, shuts down all power in the United States using her teletechnopathic abilities. That makes her Public Enemy #1, and even her former team doesn’t want to work with her.
Mercenaries capture her and implant a device in Livewire’s brain to disable her superpowers. But she’s too smart for them. However, an even greater threat is waiting in the wings. FOUR STARS.
#895 - #897 QUANTUM AND WOODY #4, #5, #7 (Valiant, 2013-2014)
Outlandish situations. Funny scenes. Witty dialogue. James Asmus does a good job scripting the adventures of these unlikely super-heroes.
Foster brothers Eric (Quantum) and Woody (Woody) Henderson are trying to prevent Thomas J. Edison’s mysterious splinter group (Edison’s Radical Acquisitions) from getting their hands on Dr. Henderson’s research. Woody is captured for experimentation by a mad-science army. Q & W accidentally kill the leader (the ancient Crone), blow up their island base, and escape with a mysteriously powerful goat and a teenage Crone-clone that Woody has a crush on.
Eric has a part-time job with Magnum Security, Inc., whose boss Mr. Magnum sends on a superhero suicide mission to infiltrate the heavily fortified separatist town of Stronghold, Montana where a dirty bomb has supposedly been constructed. It’s a ploy to use Eric to spark a separatist uprising so Magnum can earn fat government contract. While the exchange of banter between black Eric and white supremacist
Strongholders is funny, it’s also a frightful reminder of how some folks in the real world take this stuff seriously no matter how ridiculous it is. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Continuing my limited, sporadic exploration of manga . . . Story and art by Motofumi Kobayashi (black & white, with some occasional color pages) and translation by Clifton Lloyd Miles Jr.
The art is the best thing here, although it’s not enough to save the sparse storyline. There’s just not enough definition/explanation of the story and almost zero characterization (except for a couple of bossy generals on both sides). This just lacks clarity. Sometimes you can’t even discern which side is being featured.
The year is 1995, and things kick off when a formation of battle-choppers cross the airspace into West Germany. Then it’s Russia versus U.S.A. with German troops in the middle of it all. Mostly air battles and tank activity with very little skirmishes between foot soldiers. No nukes, although the possibility comes up in Issue #3, just before a truce is negotiated.
I know that Kobayashi’s CAT SHIT ONE series has generated some buzz, but based on this disappointing experience I won’t be picking it up. TWO STARS, only because of the art.
This limited series continues the story from X-FACTOR where Scarlet Witch is apparently murdered during the Hellfire Gala celebration on Krakoa. Obviously, Magneto is Suspect #1, as bits of evidence uncovered by X-Factor’s forensics work and X-Force’s scalpel-free sensory autopsy.
The first part of this story didn’t feel right to me. It seemed a very clinical approach to a tragedy. I realize that not every Marvel character likes Scarlet Witch based on past indiscretions (Avengers Disassembled, House of M, “No More Mutants”, etc) but I was looking for somebody to be mourning her passing. However, grief and sorrow does enter the picture later in this over-sized debut issue, and is expressed in several different ways that are admirably detailed with discretion and without exaggeration.
Of course, Magneto reacts just like a guilty person (as you might have expected). We’ll see if he’s really involved. I suspect more to this, and is Scarlet Witch still hanging on in the astral plane or something else?
FOUR STARS.
Something is happening to Wanda’s body (floating in an unknown dimension/astral plane), just in time for the Avengers arrival (Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Vision). They’ve come for the body, of course. Professor X and Hope attempt a joint mind-probe on Magneto. It’s not very successful. Magneto gets some odd instructions from Hope, ends up confronting the Avengers and then confessing (forced?) Wanda shows up, but doesn’t seem to up to date on current events. Has some memory lapses, leading some to suspect that this isn’t really Wanda. Guess who nobody saw spying on them at this exact moment? Mystique. Okay, eliminate her from the possibilities.
Northstar is a really protective hubby. Kyle should feel smothered. Just in time for three kaiju monsters with self-healing abilities to keep both X-Men and Avengers busy. Meanwhile, Wanda in the clouds feels a little loss. Has part of her departed and landed on Krakoa? Is that why the memory loss? Wanda finds out who the mysterious figure in the white cloak is. You’ll never guess. Quite a twist. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
This was one of the Batman stories that I thought I didn’t need to read. Then I picked this up on a whim. I’m glad I did.
In Jeff Lemire’s thoughtful story, featuring evocative art and colors by Dustin Nguyen, young Dick Grayson is in early training to be Batman’s assistant Robin. His too-slow for Dick, too-fast for Bruce development is trying the patience of both (and Alfred). Any parent who’s tried to teach their child how to drive a car experiences similar emotions. Lemire handles it beautifully and reveals how both teacher and student experience similar frustrations and begin to question their own abilities.
I believe I’m going to enjoy where this is going. FOUR STARS.
Another book I passed on. However, after seeing it still hanging around the shelves in several comic shops I decided to buy a copy.
A taut, fast-paced story with a badass anti-hero (Johanna Tan) that reminds me of the best of the Modesty Blaise series, although Johanna is on no one’s side but her own. Along with her fighting skills, she’s the best at what she does: getting her clients the weapons they need, where and when the need it. (She smuggled a taser into the Vatican, for example).
Right after turning down a lucrative government contract, Joanna decides to handle the next job herself, since “it does make it easier when the target deserves it.” Things don’t go according to plan and this one ends on a cliffhanger. FOUR STARS.
Another promising debut issue from the Black Caravan imprint. The art team on this one is really impressive. There’s a lot of intricate detail in the illustrations by Theo Prasidis to appreciate; and the color work by Ruth Redmond is very expressive and appropriate.
J. M. Brandt’s script has several storylines occurring which I anticipate will come together in a future issue. The montage on the cover features a little preview of them all.
In 1865 a a trio of confederate soldiers are retreating (from what?) in the Louisiana swamp when they are surrounded by a horde of either zombies or former slaves (can’t tell, only shown from the back as they advance).
Cut to present day Baton Rouge where a rock band performs at a apparently Halloween house party, with a prophetic message in their song that will probably be important to this story. A provocative girl-on-girl romance begins. A homeless man (burglar?) takes a short cut through an old graveyard and makes a dangerous misstep which arouses something he probably wished would stay dead. FOUR STARS.
I can appreciate what’s being offered here, although I am definitely not the target audience. If you like NINJA HIGH SCHOOL by Ben Dunn you’ll feel comfortable with this one. It has a similar look, very eye-appealing anime-style art and situations. If fact, the storyline would probably do well as an anime feature on Cartoon Network’s late night Saturday line-up.
The beginning is a bit grim as the narrator, a mystic of sorts, speaks about the problem of rivalry within human existence and then mentions that his granddaughter may be partially responsible for the end of the world. (What?)
When Yuki was just a youngster, her grandpa took her to a zoo park where you can walk right up to the animal cages. (Seems quite different from American zoos, where there are barriers and separation). So, Yuki gets too close to a cute baby panda with her ice cream. When the panda steals her treat, Yuki reaches into the cage to punch and pound the panda and bite his ear.
Ten years later Yuki is training to be a martial arts expert while the grown panda has escaped from the zoo, bearing a grudge and looking for Yuki. In the third chapter/issue, Yuki is now a college student. The panda, walking around disguised as a human in a robe and a hat is closing in on the prey. He’s also got some serious fighting skills. Who knew? TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Commander Abigal Brand is Director of the Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D.), which monitors potential alien threats to Earth. But nothing runs smoothly, and now twisted Dark Avengers member and U.S. leader Norman Osborn has appointed Henry Gyrich (with nefarious plans of his own) as co-director of S.W.O.R.D.
Pivotal character Lockheed is one of my favorites from the cast, separated from his beloved Kitty Pryde and drowning his sorrows in bottle after bottle.
Abigal’s step-brother, the green-furred upright goat Lothi, seeks sanctuary and may be hiding an artifact wanted by contract hunter Death’s Head (from Marvel U.K.) Beast, Abigal’s boyfriend from the X-Men with new elongated snout, is on hand to furnish wry commentary and sexual innuendo. Unit, a ghostly humanoid robot with a data encyclopedia of a brain, is dangerous enough to be kept in maximum security and only consulted when there’s a situation that needs some computer-quick number/data crunching.
Writer Kieron Gillen and Penciller Steven Sanders spin an amusing and compelling yarn. A sleeper find in the bargain bins. FOUR STARS.
Returning to S.W.O.R.D. HQ Brand learns that Gyrich, to ensure the planet’s safety from extraterrestrial threat, has ordered that all aliens be deported from Earth immediately.
Since Issue #1, a contingent of Drenx pirates have been patiently waiting in a conference room to avert a war by way of negotiation, and Brand keeps pushing off the meeting by having subordinates serve tea and conversation. Lockheed avoids capture by hiding in the massive air ducts of the orbiting station; and Unit shows his devious side. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Help comes from several unexpected sources in a double-page spread that displays the dynamism of artist Sanders. Brand has a non-violent but satisfying reckoning with Gyrich. THREE STARS.
The latter issues weren’t quite as amusing as there was less time for clever banter during all the action. But overall, a good read and THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Will Conrad’s art is perfect for this story. He knows how to use the setting to create the atmosphere of impending doom and the expressions of fear and anxiety are picture-perfect. He has a photo-realistic style similar to Steve Epting and Mike Deodato Jr. that I really appreciate.
Write Rob Williams builds the suspense perfectly in Issue #1 which ends on a cliffhanger. Issue #2 picks up immediately from that last page and depicts the threat facing the guinea-pig prisoners of war and its bloody consequences.
There’s a diverse cast of characters among the prisoners, a good assortment of types for readers to empathize with (or despise). Realizing that many of them will not be here for the final issue helps build the dread. One of the characters that I thought would be indispensable to the plot doesn’t make it too far into Issue #2. Native American code-talker Nocona is a favorite. Hope he makes it.
Of course, this creature is the Nazi’s last ditch efforts to defeat the Allies. They arrogantly feel they can control it and put several safeguards in place. We’ll see about that. FOUR STARS.
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