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!
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 293 comics documented
#277 MANIAC OF NEW YORK: THE BRONX IS BURNING #4 of 4 by Elliott Kalan and Andrea Mutti (AfterShock, March 2022) Harry The Maniac turns up the tension in Yankees Stadium on Opening Day. No need for a Seventh Inning Stretch. Nobody’s yawning after Harry starts swinging the machete. More like a Seventh Inning Stampede! Things come to a fiery end as Volume Two wraps up in blood-thirsty fashion (including a vivid double-page spread).
Will young Lena Petrella arrive at City Hall in time to share the secret weakness of Harry The Maniac with Gina Greene? Don’t hold your breath! On second thought, you better hold your breath. It’s plenty smokey in here and my eyes are watering.
Is this really over? You’ll need to read Issue #4 to find out. I’m not sure. In afterwords Thank You column by writer Elliott Kalan he ends by stating “I hope you can join me in torturing these poor people a little more sometime.” FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Prior to this issue there were plenty of alleged side-stories involving a gypsy family of witches and shape-shifters, a new origin for Count Orlok/Nosferatu and/or Dracula, and the Mummy. Issue #3 introduces another plot-line involving the Frankenstein monster (now created by Mrs. Victor Von Frankenstein, and occurring on the volcanic island of Atlantis). And the Issue #4 cover reveal shows The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
The writers need to pull all these separate story threads together somehow, and the sooner the better. The direction of this title is very unclear. Also, the execution is very choppy, and abrupt. Scenes don’t shift at reasonable breaking points.
I do like the art, although it also is not without flaws. There’s an appropriate atmosphere created by the sketchy style that helps establish the settings and time periods, but sometimes the style gets in the way of clearing depicting what is going on. Some panels are just outright murky.
I’m not going to pre-order Issue #4, but I’ll scan it if I see it on a comic shop new release shelf. That’s kind of what happened with Issue #3, which I picked up in spite of all that. I’ll be a bit more critical going forward. THREE STARS.
Johnny Blaze (formerly Ghost Rider, now retired) is living a seemingly ideal life in small town America, with a loving wife and two young kids, and a decent mechanic’s job with his father-in-law. His bike-riding days are over, after a near fatal crash that resulted in a brain operation and a huge scar behind his right ear. Yet, he’s troubled by nightmares and daytime hallucinations. He’s been seeing a counselor, taking meds, and often drinking himself to sleep every night in order to black out the bad dreams.
Noted horror author (and comics writer) Benjamin Percy puts the supernatural back into the Ghost Rider series in a big way. I’m not going to spoil anything, except to say that this takes a very dark but very intriguing turn for the worst. Also, some secondary characters are introduced that are also quite engaging. If you like super-heroes (kind of) that are thrust into combat with evil, dark forces then I suggest you check this out. I think I need to read another issue, just to be sure. But I liked everything that was here. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#280 BATMAN #65 by Joshua Williamson and Guillem March (DC, April 2019) Part 3 of “The Price of Vengeance”. I wanted to read this because of the March art, which I admire (usually). Here, it somehow appears as if someone other than March drew this. Is it Tomeu Morey’s colors? Nah, I can’t put my finger on it.
This continues the crossover story arc featuring the ascension and fall of Gotham Girl. I remember this was a pretty decent storyline, and somehow her brother makes a re-appearance here, as powerful and misguided as before. There’s a lot of apologizing between the characters here (guest starring The Flash) as the root of this story is about the price ofpower/fame/glory and what it often takes out of the person (sometimes fatally) in return. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Here, two people are sharing the Blue Beetle persona. There is Jaime Reyes, a high school student who somehow had the blue beetle scarab attached to his spine and now reluctantly wields the power, at the behest of . . . . Ted Kord, no longer a superhero and providing the technology and funding for Blue Beetle’s escapades.
Rather than dive into a long origin story, Giffen reveals enough of his characters in their skirmish with some second-rate thieves Rant and Ruin with a secret agenda (puppets for an unusual main protagonist).
This was interesting. The art didn’t wow me. Nothing here to make me regret not following this series. THREE STARS.
#282 BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #8 by Michael Green and Denys Cowan/John Floyd (DC, October 2007) “Peace In Arms”, Part Two of “Lovers & Madmen”.
This is a flashback story which tells of the first encounter between Batman, and a brand new unseen foe who allegedly evolves into the Joker (I’m not sure of that, since I didn’t read any further than this.)
There’s some nice character development between Batman and Gordon, and Batman and Alfred. Bruce Wayne gets a break and hooks up with
new girlfriend Lorna, administrator of the Gotham Museum of Art. Oh, oh — isn’t that the villain’s next target? THREE STARS.
There’s a bronze-skinned Egyptian deathmask-wearing villain answering to King Tut who speaks in riddles and for awhile is thought to be The Riddler in a new guise. Until, he exposes the villain and teams up with Batman to try and halt his acts of aggression.
Turns out the villain is a disgruntled Egyptology expert who is miffed that the museum curators refused to bring the Tut exhibit into Gotham. Wow, talk about a grudge! Is the Riddler actually helping Batman solve the case or just gumming up the works? THREE STARS.
Anyone who is well-versed in Captain America has read many versions of his WWII origins and later revival in 1960’s America. They, as I did, may find this debut issue which covers Peggy Carter’s WWII origins and 2022 revival awfully familiar. Peggy Carter’s differences from Captain America, her strong will, attitude, loyalty to her mother country (England), and personality come out in several scenes here, but not many. This feels like it was written to formula, and failed to engage me.
The best story I’ve read featuring Captain America’s revival and adjustment to a new world is MAN OUT OF TIME, the mini-series scripted by Mark Waid. Read that, and then you’ll better understand why I’m disappointed in CAPTAIN CARTER. THREE STARS.
In his tenure on the title, Chip Zdarksy has been equal to the task and deserves his place among the pantheon of Daredevil scribes. That is just one of the reasons Daredevil remains my favorite Marvel character.
I normally collect Daredevil in hardcover or trade paperback and stockpile them for years for a future session of binge reading, which I’m long overdue for. But I picked this one up just to see what Zdarsky was up to, and I re-read it again tonight.
Daredevil #36 serves as a bridge issue between what has occurred and what is to come, and it does an exemplary job in transition, preceding the DEVIL’S REIGN mini-series as well as DAREDEVIL, WOMAN WITHOUT FEAR limited series.
Matt Murdock, remaining partially masked and serving time in jail as Daredevil is finally released. Elektra has been assuming Daredevil’s responsibilities in his absence. Wilson Fisk/Kingpin is now Mayor of New York and has been cloning Bullseye duplicates. One such duplicate sought revenge against Fisk, and he was saved by the intervention of Typhoid Mary. Fisk and Daredevil have a meeting, and it almost seems as if they have declared peace.
The story gets more upbeat as Fisk and Mary get married, honeymoon, and Fisk discovers an old file related to Murdock/Daredevil that revives some buried memories, and . . . . uh oh. FOUR STARS.
If you enjoy the JOHN WICK films, you will enjoy this. Keanu Reeves is at his best in films when he portrays a brooding man of few words who lets his actions speak for him. B, the half-mortal, half-god immortal fighter (also referred to as Unute, not a complimentary title) is a man of few words who lets his actions speak for him, in bloody, dismembering fashion. Except now, this 80,000 year-old man with critical gaps in his memory, is now a servant of the federal government (when they need a brutal, relentless fighter) rather than the protector of a tribal village with his superhuman strength (an alleged gift from the gods.)
If hyper-violent action films are your guilty pleasure (no judgement here, I’m a fan as well), then BRZRKR will please your peccant sensual gratification. As a bonus to fans, this character looks like a dead ringer for Keanu Reeves/John Wick.
BRZRKER is also noted for being the highest funded Kickstarter campaign of all time, as well as the highest selling original comic book series of the last 25 years. That’s why everybody needed a copy (F.O.M.O), including me.
After reading my copy of Issue #1 twice, I penned a review for Captain Blue Hen’s 10,000 Comics Pyramid Facebook page and rated it Two And One-Half Stars. One of my criticisms was the absence of much in the way of plot, and the resemblance to other tales of yore (in comics specifically, this has elements of Valiant’s Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior and X-O Manowar, not to mention all the Conan and other barbarian warrior titles).
After reading Volume One, I’m going to revise that rating. There is a bit more substance in these first four issues, but it again reminds me of too many other stories.
However, if you are not a fan of veteran Ron Garney’s art, or unfamiliar with it, you’ll want to examine what wonders are on display here. In my opinion, this is the best work from Garney that I have knowledge of. Here’s what I said in that Issue #1 review:
The best thing here is the art. I don't think that it is Ron Garney's fault that this is so bloody and violent. He's just illustrating the script/descriptions that he was given. He seems to have altered his traditional style a bit for this one, sort of a mix between Sin City-era Frank Miller and the blocky style John Romita Jr utilized on his Spider-Man work. I like it.
Also, if you enjoy comic art then you’ll want the trade paperback in order to view the cover gallery in the back. There is some stellar work here.
Fellow comics reviewer Matt Lowder gave me the idea to seek out a library copy of this one. Not because I wouldn’t want to spend $16.99 for this and keep it in my personal library, but because I’m on a comics budget in a world of diverse and interesting work in comics. We’re in the middle of a quiet renaissance. I’ll dutifully wait patiently for the remaining two trade paperbacks and reserve them from my local library. THREE STARS.
Johnny Blaze managed to escape the sham family life of Hayden’s Falls that was managing to suppress the savage persona inside him. Now, he hits the highway on his bike in search of clarity as the Ghost Rider keeps attempting to manifest. Is that nasty surgical scar behind Johnny Blaze’s right ear trying to open up? Is that an eye trying to peer out?
Johnny finds work in Iowa, doing odd jobs at an odd motel called The Cave-Inn, seemingly built against the entrance to an abandoned mine. The proprietor is a strange one, and serves the Grendel-like monster that haunts the corridors of the mine.
I’m also very intrigued by a new character, FBI agent Warroad, a maverick who rejects the standard business suit for goth-like attire and uses her personal vehicle, a flame-painted hearse, instead of FBI-supplied autos. As she explains to her companion while pointing to her temple “I’ve got some spooky stuff going on up here all right.” She sees nightmarish visions all the time, including a flaming skull. FOUR STARS.
I’m not going to spoil it by revealing any details here. There are several twists within this introductory set-up story. The way the story is told is what makes the difference, and Joshua Williamson knocks this one out of the park. The art, colors and panel placement all work together to evoke several emotions while reading this - - a real delight to view.
There’s also a preview in this over-sized issue ($5.99, damn it!) of Flashpoint Beyond #0 which also appears worth investigating. Damn you, DC! More books I really don’t want to buy but really will. FOUR STARS.
dolls, then toys to give to locals in his community.
Soon, a gift from the stars makes his Good Samaritan personal mission into a yearly enterprise, gifting him with immortality and other abilities.He outlives his family, and becomes bitter as century after century passes by and the attitudes of children (and their parents) change for the worse.
When someone steals his naughty list, that’s the last straw.
Santa Claus appears about to do the same kind of things that Frank Castle/The Punisher would do in these circumstances.
Issue #1 is mainly an origin and set-up issue so I’ll have to wait for Issue #2 to see how nasty this will get.
“I had a family once. A wife who loved me...a child we loved together. That’s all gone now, been gone for hundreds of years. All because of that damn star. My name? It depends on where you live. Some call me Kris Kringle, others Papa Noël, but my real name is Nicholas Sinterklass, and this is the story of what happens when you steal my Naughty List.”
Author Nick Santora said the book was borne out of a general grievance among parts of society for the Christmas season. This is what he told an interviewer: “People complain about having to visit relatives or having relatives visit them. They complain about the gifts they get and how it wasn’t what they wanted, and I just think it’s a great time of year and the inspiration was for Christmas to get tough and punch back. That’s what Christmas does in this book — it punches back at all the complaining and criticism.”
I’m looking forward to what comes next. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
