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 May 10, 2022 . . . 433 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 432 comics documented
#389 - #394 THE HARD GOODBYE (SIN CITY, VOLUME ONE) graphic novel by Frank Miller (Dark Horse Comics, Second Edition 2005) A full review of this was posted to the blog for Monday, May 2. Essential reading. FIVE STARS.
#395 - #400 A DAME TO KILL FOR (SIN CITY, VOLUME TWO) graphic novel by Frank Miller (Dark Horse Books, Second Edition 2005) A full review of this was posted to the blog for Monday, May 2. Another essential read. FIVE STARS.
#401 - #406 THE BIG FAT KILL (SIN CITY, VOLUME THREE) graphic novel by Frank Miller (Dark Horse Books, Second Edition 2005)
The third entry in the SIN CITY series lacks the deeper characterization of the earlier works but makes up for it with a fast-paced, extremely violent, foul-mouthed knock-out story. This one does not take the foot off the accelerator for even a few minutes.
Testosterone-enflamed drunken intruders enter the red-light district of Old Town and run into a bevy of gun-toting prostitutes plus Mijo, a bad ass ninja warrior. However, they've unknowingly killed a respected cop. If news of this gets out, it will break a long-standing truce between the Old Town neighborhood and Sin City law enforcement.
Dwight McCarthy is back, stuck in the middle, and wanting to help his friend Gail and the whores avoid detection by covering up the crime. Things don't go so well. This gets more violent as the pages turn.
Still an essential read in the series, as it gives new background details on the world of Sin City. This can also be enjoyed without having read the previous volumes. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
There are short encyclopedic profiles of the major characters, especially young Jesse Hernandez and her dog mentor Sandor. Very impressive are the well-thought-out maps included: one of the former United States showing the dominant animal species in each area, and one of The Rest of The World.
Writer Marguerite Bennett has fleshed out her fantasy world so much that an entry is included for each U.S. state as well as foreign countries, summarizing what’s happened since the animals woke up.
For example, in Pennsylvania human animals work together in the mines and mills for resources, which they trade to other states. There are hunger-driven conflicts and the deer are saboteurs, killing any humans they come across. The forests of Maryland are haunted by a bloody red dragon and a slave-army of shambling man-beasts. In Delaware, humans seek refuge in the massive shipping yards, which have become bunkers against animal invasion. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
AMERICAN DREAM is pretty formulaic. It's been done before, just a harmless piece of superhero fluff. However, this happened to come across my t0-be-read pile at the right time. I was ready for some standard uncomplicated super-hero fare and this hit the mark.
Tom DeFalco is a veteran comic writer of the late 1970's and 1980's and this is a good example of his style, although I think he outdid himself here. This reminds me of a 1980s superhero comic. The dialogue is silly, although I appreciate the humor. The art by Todd Nauck added a lot to my enjoyment of the story.
Shannon Carter is a premier athlete with no super-powers who patterned herself after the hero she admired most. In this alternate Marvel Universe 2, she's a member of the Avengers (a very young group comprised of children of super-heroes).
American Dream helps Sophina track down her missing fiancé Marco, now captured as part of an experiment to transform illegal immigrants and the homeless into monsters. Shannons uncovers the army of crystal warriors, and learns that rogue scientist Silikong is behind it.
Things work out, of course. I had fun reading this. Right time, right place in my reading. A guilty pleasure. THREE STARS.
This is a re-boot of Mark Millar's KICK ASS and completely different from the original story. If you are interested in this because you loved the humor and realism of the original series or enjoyed the comedic film version, you might be disappointed. This is darker, not as realistic, and not intentionally or accidentally funny.
In my opinion, this is a better book. THE NEW GIRL, Book One is grittier, with a main character that I found it easier to empathize with. The action is ultra-violent and over-the-top, featuring several situations that one lone person (no matter how skilled or capable) can be expected to escape from or survive.
Main character Patience (great choice of name) is a strong African-American soldier just returned from the Afghan war to find that her husband has abandoned her children and left her with a mountain of debt as well as zero in child support payments. No part-time or full-time job is going to help her alleviate that financial obstacle and keep her family from starving. She turns to robbing criminals (using her military know-how and skills),donating half of her take to various charities in order to salve her guilty conscience. When she steals from a criminal organization that employs her brother-in-law,things get complicated.
The resolution is different than expected and satisfactory, and serves as appropriate lead-in to Book Two. Some critics have accused Millar of making an grab to cash in on the KICK-ASS name, but if that's all he wanted why wouldn't he just write another story like the others, exploiting those original characters? This is worthwhile. Great art by John Romita Jr, especially his way of depicting fight scenes. FOUR STARS.
Everything revolves around one question that is posed in Issue #1: "What if the Hulk exists to protect humanity from Banner?" It will be interesting to see all the ramifications of that notion, or if it really holds up. There are subtle indications in Issue #6 that Banner may not be pulling all the strings.
Bruce Banner split the Hulk up with his body turned into a giant starship. Banner pilots the ship from inside the Hulk's mind. He locks Hulk's psyche in the engine room, using the Hulk's rage to power the ship. He sends escalating levels of threats/opponents to fight him, with things turning up to a crazy Level Nine power surge in the final issue of this story arc.
Starship Hulk enters an alternate dimension/reality where Bruce Banner never became the Hulk, but his successful gamma radiation experiments transformed the world. It created various monsters, "abominations" that Banner dispatched to an outer space netherworld. On this alternate Earth, General Thunderbolt Ross has become President of the United States and turned it into a global united nation.
Things get really weird, as both the Banner we know and the alternate Banner try to patch things up and prevent Ross from destroying everything. Wild and crazy with stunning artwork by Ryan Ottley and colors by Frank Martin that really pack a visual punch. "Smashtronaut", indeed.
From here, a Thor/Hulk battle is renewed in the "Banner of War" storyline, a six-issue crossover between the two books. I'm not sure I want to read another slugfest, but I’ll probably return for Issue #9 to see where things might go from there. FOUR STARS.
Cullen Bunn knows how to create and write a solid horror comic, as evident by his vast body of creator-owned work for various publishers. However, I've never been excited by anything he's done for Marvel. This may be the most boring of his Marvel work that I have read, although I expect that it will go over well with true Venom devotees.
The Poisons would be laughable if they weren't so dangerous. They remind me of the zombie-eating venus fly traps of the Plants Versus Zombies video game. They get more dangerous once they merge with their reluctant captives. There’s a whole host of venom symbiote versions of Marvel heroes in this alternate universe that Eddie Brock/Venom finds himself trapped in.
Lots of fights throughout the five-issue story. Sometimes it's hard to tell which side they are fighting on. I was bored. Fights end. Eddie gets home. Two-page epilogue gives things a twist, keeping the door open for a return. Please, no. TWO STARS.
#429 THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES #120 (Marvel, 2008)
For the most part, the team-up of Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak on scripts did a bang-up job during their run on this title. However, the obligatory tie-in to Secret Invasion (the regular series that I loved) seemed to have knocked them off their perch a bit. This lacks some of the pizzazz of other issues.
This is the “Sacred Invasion”, bringing together an unlikely team of gods and demigods (“The God Squad”) to battle gods from the belief system of the Skrulls.
This issue was the final battle, which didn’t hold my interest (maybe because I don’t have the other issues in this story arc). The God Squad was led by Hercules and included Snowbird (Alpha Flight), Deogorge (Godeater), Ajak (Eternals) and Mikaboshi (Japanese shape-shifting god). THREE STARS.
Too often, these over-sized anniversary issues (from any publisher) suffer from too many on the art team because of rushing to finish before the scheduled release date. That’s a shame, because Manapul’s art on this one is really good - - but six different inkers and colors by Brian Buccellato that are too much of a monochromatic wash on some really detailed panels ruins the effect.
NYPD detective Sara Pezzini, who bears the Witchblade, faces off against old foe the assassin Ian Nottingham. I’m not a regular reader of Witchblade, and I fished this one out of bargain bin to see if I want to explore any further. This is okay, but it needed to really hook me and it didn’t. Very wordy in several scenes. THREE STARS.
It’s an all Doctor Doom issue as The Multiversal Masters of Evil led by Doom Supreme (a variant of Doctor Doom in mystical armor) come to conquer Earth-91 in One Million B.C., the Planet of the Man-Things.
But that doesn’t satisfy Doom Supreme. “As it turns out, given time, anything can become monotonous. Even the magnificently brutal butchery of your enemies.” Hold that thought. It’s a pretty accurate expression of my growing dissatisfaction with this imaginative romp by Jason Aaron in a multi-versal playground. This title really doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to get anywhere and I’m losing patience. I’m subscribed for one more issue, but that could be it.
Doom whines about his plight to a captive and tortured Man-Thing. The issue ends on the big reveal that there is a giant-sized doom even greater than the Supreme Doom. It’s Doom, The Living Planet. Next issue looks to be an all-alternative Black Panther story.
TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Good opening story with some great art that reminds of Frank Miller’s style during the early stages of his run on Daredevil some decades back. There’s a cool cover gallery and a back-up story by Declan Shalvey and Stefano Raffaele that I really enjoyed. Daredevil and Elektra rendevous on a rooftop for a date, and a dance like no other. The issue wraps with three pages of funnies by Chris Giarusso and Ty Templeton.
The opening story was a little bit puzzling, considering this is the 100th issue of the solo adventures of Elektra. You’d think it would be a celebration of sorts, but instead Typhoid Mary gets the spotlight. Still, it’s a good story and Elektra is in it, and she does get a couple of her own moments in flashback that lend some character reveals. Seems both Elektra and Mary spent some time together in a mental hospital when they were young women, and broke out together only to go their separate ways.
THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
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