In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!
# GOAL FOR JANUARY 31, 2022 . . . 100 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 82 comics documented
It’s an extra-long debut issue with great art (one thing you can usually count on in the Spawnverse) and a story that’s really not that complex - - just in the way it is told. This begins in the middle and proceeds a little before jumping into the before, then more before that, then back to before the middle, then back to the middle, and finally the Epilogue, which reveals that Spawn knows everything that is going on and wants to test the team before having them work directly with him. Oh yeah, there is also Plague Spawn, some werewolf soldiers, and a giant battalion of Russian troops.
I only picked this up because it’s a #1 issue, and I knew one of my long-distance comic friends/customers would be interested. Don’t misunderstand. This is a decent story. I’ve just not been able to get interested in Spawn after those initial 12 or so issues back in the original days of Image Comics. The only remaining question I have is this: is Frank Quitely drawing covers under the name of Puppeteer Lee? THREE STARS.
Another book with kaiju (giant monsters) featured. Seems like a trend since 2020 and still going. The Hobbs family has been protecting the city of New Hyperion from Kaiju for generations. Presently, the son operating the Defender Nexus, the giant armored suit (referred to as the city’s Titan) is an alcoholic with control issues. While fighting the latest 20-story monster he has a fall that takes out a city block, creating a public outcry and damaging the Hobbs reputation.
Mom and Dad Hobbs have to beg alienated rebellious lesbian daughter to come back into the fold. She agrees to pilot the robot until her brother recovers. But where is her brother?
What makes this interesting for me is the family dynamic. There’s plenty of drama. Kit is an interesting character. I’d like to see some more before final judgment. Thanks for the suggestion! THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
I enjoyed the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER movie from decades ago, but never really picked up on either the television series or the various comic books, including ANGEL, etc. I’d like to, but priorities prohibit that and this just isn’t at the top of my list. So, that makes it hard for me to judge this book and determine whether it’s above average or not. It is interesting, and Issue #1 gives a clear indication of where things are going.
“In an alternate universe in the not-so-distant future, the decay of the world and the rise of dark magic has dampened the effect of the sun on earth. Vampires now walk the streets unimpeded by sunlight — and have struck a tenuous treaty with the human race - - meaning vampires cannot harm humans, and humans cannot harm vampires - including the Slayer.
Buffy Summers now stands as the only Slayer let after the entire line was eradicated, nearly fifty years after she was first called. Friendless and alone, she wanders the streets of London in the shadows as . . . the Last Vampire Slayer.” THREE STARS.
If only all science-fiction comics were as good as SIX FROM SIRIUS, I'd certainly read many more.
I read this story in the original four-issue mini-series and considered myself extremely lucky to find a full set for sale in a local comic shop.
Originally published in 1984 as part of Marvel's experimental Epic Comics line, it features a veteran comics team at the peak of their creativity.
Writer Doug Moench has crafted an engaging, complex science-fiction plot involving a diplomatic effort to forge a peace treaty between two planets, with a smaller third planet (settled by a religious cult with an important role in the proceedings) being used as a pawn by both sides. A special ops team of six (from Sirius Hub) have been charged with rescuing a planetary ambassador from a space prison and help ensure that she can be present for the peace negotiations.
Double-crosses, counter-plots, life after death, extra sensory perception, religious themes, romance, and flat-out Mission Impossible-type action are incorporated into the story. A minor quibble, and a bit typical of some Epic and Vertigo comics from this era, is sometimes more dialogue and exposition than is necessary to the story. Still, 120 pages in 4 issues is a lot and you'll not read this as quickly as you may be accustomed to with modern comics.
Artist Paul Gulacy's work is exquisite including his ground-breaking use of color. Gorgeous, and highly intricate. The only downside, and a minor one, is that the details are so elaborate that you'll have to pause to make sure you understand everything that is going on in the smaller panels. FOUR STARS.
Poor Dr. Daniels is chained to his workstation, forced to patch up and repair victims. Some victims are bred and procured through factory farms, thereby making them unknown since they have no identity in the outside world. The latest means utilized is to kidnap people displaced by natural disasters (flood, etc) where they may be assumed to be missing or dead.
They are brought to captives like Dr Daniels, who is forced to feed them enough drugs to destroy their memories and then obscure their features through plastic surgery.
As gross as this is, it is the best artwork in terms of details and proper shading that I yet to see from the diverse Ed Piskor. This issue seemed toned down on the ultra-violence and I felt like I had learned to tolerate it until the final pages. That is one disturbing take-down of a victim by Poker Face, horribly illustrated. Buyer beware. FOUR STARS.
All this time with Banner working hard to contain the impulsive angry Hulk inside him, a raging Bruce Banner has been coming to a boil. And, he warns Earth’s super-heroes that he is leaving (through a dimensional portal) because “none of them will know how to deal with what he is going to become . . .”
The Hulk’s body has been turned into a starship. Banner’s psyche is the pilot inside of the Hulk’s mind. And the Hulk’s psyche has been imprisoned within the engine room of the starship, his anger providing the fuel to propel the ship.
Banner accelerates the ship by sending fighters with increasing levels of difficulty to the engine room to ramp up Hulk’s rage. First, it’s a handful of classic early-Marvel giant monsters followed by a huge Wolverine when more power is needed. Ottley knocks it out of the park in the fight scenes.
After bursting through the defenders of an alternate dimension, an alternate reality Bruce Banner captures the starship so he can study it. In his reality the gamma bomb was successful but destroyed his world and created monstrous survivors. There’s a side story revealing more of what happened in El Paso Texas with a mysterious monstrous being, events for which the Hulk/Bruce Banner is being blamed (of course). FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Another dip into my bargain box, not always a rewarding experience . . . . .
Aaron Kuder provides both words and pencils in this tale of spider-heroes in the multiverse. Peter Parker and Harry Osborn are both worried about Norman Osborn’s experiments at Oscorp.
Harry get a note from Peter indicating he may be dead and advice on how to proceed. Harry works his way into the Oscorp building and dons the Kobold suit to confront his dad, who now has spider-powers along with his multiple spider-limbs.
A little too formulaic for me, but hats off to the creative Kuder for giving it a try. TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#74 AMERICA #4 (Marvel, August 2017)
America Chavez, with undefined (at least as much as I can tell from one issue) powers (but similar to Captain Marvel) time travels into and out of the Utopian Parallel. She teams up with her future self to halt and confine an unnamed creature of energy. From that point, things become very confusing.
I’m in favor of Marvel featuring diverse racial and gender themes in their titles, but at least put a decent story and art together. I did not care for either here.
TWO STARS.
Lead off story is “The Return Of The King, Conclusion” by Brubaker and several artists. Daredevil’s marriage is crumbling. P.I. Dakota North in danger. A former Hand sensei who is either guiding Murdock’s hand or pulling his strings. The Owl. Lady Bullseye. Kingpin. Black Tarantula and White Tiger. DD handles them all, and then agrees to be The Man for The Hand. Whew!
The second feature, “3 Jacks” is equally good, a story from Daredevil’s earlier days by former scribe Ann Nocenti and David Aja. The final story is a reprint of Daredevil #191 by Frank Miller on story and art. “Roulette” opens with a gutsy scene of a maddened Daredevil at the bedside of a crippled Bullseye and playing a game of Russian Roulette with him. There’s a back-story behind the events. This is a complete-in-one-issue tale when Miller was at his best on Daredevil, churning out amazing morality plays every month. FIVE STARS.
From the trade paperback summary on the Goodreads website:
There's something terribly wrong with them. And the storm closes in.
The research ship Derleth disappeared in the Arctic forty years ago... so when its crew is found, why haven't they aged a day? How did they become capable of feats of unbelievable mathematics? And for God's sake, what happened to their eyes?
This one pushed all the right buttons for me. Hoe Hill takes a variety of themes and mixes them together to make something fresh and horrifying: alien visitation, body horror, deep sea terror, a Lovecraftian cosmic monster, a homage to The Thing and zombie films, and more.
A diverse cast with interesting characters. A unique twist on the origins of the threat and a wild conclusion. The art by Stuart Immonen is to die for.
This won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s worth multiple readings. It’s complex enough to reward a return visit. FIVE STARS.
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