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 MARCH 10, 2022 . . . 234 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 216 comics documented
I’m not a Carnage fan. The little bit I’ve read here and there hasn’t grabbed me. The problem is that both host Cletus Kasady (serial killer) and symbiote Carnage (pretty much pure evil) are not likable, so I’m not truly vested in their stories.
I picked up this one-shot based on the recommendation and description by a comic shop manager, who made it sound like Marvel was trying to do with Carnage what they did so well with Immortal Hulk, by introducing a horror element into the storyline.
He wasn’t wrong. “Homecoming” by Phillip Kennedy Johnson is a tight bit of story with photo-realistic art by Edgar Salazar that features Carnage inhabiting a young homeless girl that is being abused (burn marks) by her squatter parents and doing what Carnage does best. Good pacing, with a sentimental touch - - but I don’t like how the little girl’s character takes a dark turn.
Temporary, I suppose, as the intro page reveal that only Cletus Kasady’s consciousness remains within the Carnage symbiote, who can now function fully without a permanent host.
The second story, “Unmade In His Image” by RamV and Salvador Larroca is a prequel/prelude/preview of the new Carnage series coming in March. Carnage infiltrates a maximum security prison where Hydro-Man has agreed to be the new host for Carnage, although the symbiote has a bit more independence in mind.
At least this was a good way for me to decide if I want to explore the new Carnage series. I don’t. THREE STARS.
#205 - #210 THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini (Image Comics, trade paperback, 2017) I wrote a lengthy review of this graphic novel and posted it to the blog for March 04. FOUR STARS.
It’s the story of two estranged brothers brought back together through dire circumstances. Hitman Kurt used to confess his sins to brother Kurt, a Catholic priest. Even beyond the grave, his ghost troubles his brother. When Father Dan is threatened and nearly dies, Kurts saves him and transfers some of his supernatural powers to his brother, creating the entity Haunt (kind of a cross between Spawn and Venom) in a symbiotic relationship.
There’s an interesting dichotomy between the two, that ramps up as several organization seem to have put on mark on the family. Kurt tries to control the Haunt life form through his brother’s body. Dan reluctantly helps although he’d prefer to just walk away. Lots of arguments and philosophical/moral debates between the two.
This series ran for 28 issues, and I’m guessing it did a far job of exploring the possibilities. I don’t remember why I decided not to keep going after Issue #2. I’m kind of regretting that. Has anyone in our group read beyond my stopping point? I’d just like to know if this one is worth exploring in trade paperback. FOUR STARS.
This is a spin-off series from SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN. I haven’t read the core series, but it’s not hard to pick up what this one is about.
THe House of Slaughter is a school that trains monster hunters, divided into White and Black teams and often pitted against each other (albeit with unfair odds) in training exercises. Aaron has a lot of potential but lacks confidence. And he’s made an enemy of three members of the White team.
Fortunately, a new member transfers from a different/house school and is assigned to be Aaron’s roommate. Jace, a.k.a. The Last Butcher, may just be the protection and shot of confidence that Aaron needs.
This just might become another series to add to my wait-for-trade-paperback list, but I’m not ready to do that just yet. Plus, the art here is a bit underwhelming. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
The Avengers and super-friends are on the brink of victory against Lady Lotus and her gigantic monsters. Warbird lets her emotions interfere and the tables quickly turn with all the heroes imprisoned.
Lotus’ plan is to subjugate them all via Dragons Bloom and use the experimental teratogenesis process to turn them into monsters. Since there’s nothing else to do with everybody bound up, Warbird gets to tell her origin story. Her father was a leader in the Jabari tribe of Wakanda who served as tour guides for an early exploration of Earth by the Shi’Ar Empire. Warbird is the result of Jabari/Shi-Ar mating.
After a rescue by the unlikely duo of Melinda May and Powderkeg, the team exits via a lower-level and uncover a secretive chamber with blinding contents. Things are finally moving forward in this title after a lot of false starts, but I’m getting pretty indifferent to this.
THREE STARS.
This story is a futuristic re-enactment of the clash between Roman general Flavius Aetius and Attila the Hun, order versus chaos. Oddly, both sides are now planetary societies with space-traveling technology but they dress and act like proper Romans and Huns: human sacrifice, too much reliance on priests and sages, goddess worship, brutality, etc. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Others may find this a bit slow, as Issue #1 is a set-up issue and doesn’t get around to the beginnings of the main event until later in these 48-pages. You can expect the standard Ennis treatment of events, going beyond the historical details and taking a deeper dive into these characters and even questioning some decisions, power plays, etc.
Great Britain controlled Burma prior to WWII, one of the remaining outposts of the British Empire. In 1944 Imperial Japan took control. The key mission of the Chidits, a special squad of fighters made up of many Indians and commanded by a British Colonel, must maneuver in the Burma jungles and attack the Japanese enemy wherever they find them.
Two years prior, Colonel Keith Crosby first encountered Doctor Alistair Whitamore during a retreat through Burma. Crosby helped escort a convey of medical vehicles hauling wounded and injured soldiers to safety, although there was not enough petrol to fuel all the vehicles, the Japanese were killing the wounded during late-night ambushes, and sacrifices had to be made - - resulting in a respectful but tentative friendship between the two.
I enjoyed this, but need to read it again as the story has numerous flashbacks and so much detail I’m not going to remember it by the time I pick up Issue #2 FOUR STARS.
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