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 November 30, 2022 . . . 1100 comics documented
CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 1015 comics documented
Writer Matteo Pizzolo takes the familiar What If theme and applies it to political and social events in the United States and speculates a disturbing environment: “A contested Presidential election plunges America into turmoil. The streets erupt in political violence. Police precincts are burned to the ground. Protesters and counter-protestors clash in bloody conflicts. Local police join forces with the National Guard, but even their combined strength is unable to quell the rage. Filling the vacuum, militia groups rise into roving gangs of vigilantes. Their unsanctioned law enforcement proves controversial and is soon challenged in the Supreme Court. In a strict interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, the Justices overturn two centuries of settled law by recognizing militias as Constitutionally protected. In an instant, every paramilitary gang in America is suddenly deputized, transforming the entire country into a vigilante police-state. Lockdowns set in. Fear spreads . . . and whispers of revolution.”
What this means in application is brought home in the opening scenes, which focus on San Francisco and a single female resident (and possibly revolutionary) who happens to be illegally out on the streets during a citywide lockdown (Day 61). The armed vigilante gangs arrive and receive carte blanche from the local police to round up “any P.O.S. on the street past curfew” and do whatever they want.
What follows are several pages of engaging dialogue between the fleeing woman (later dubbed “Dust Girl”) and an apartment building landlord who spots her climbing the exterior wall and sticks a gun out the window to stop her.
The latter part of the first issue is a flashback scene with the same character nine months earlier and living with a moonshine cooker boyfriend in a small apartment. Events on the street outside their apartment portray a pivotal and foreshadowing moment when a group of homeless/squatters get into a conflict with police over property rights and it escalates from there.
A promising debut issue that reminded me of the Vertigo TRANSMETROPOLITAN series except that this is not some tech-heavy society of the future. This could be happening right around the corner. Heavy stuff. Guess I’ll need to read issue #2 to find out what it all means, and at least learn the real name of Dust Girl. FOUR AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
#992 - #993 DARK RIDE #1, #2 by Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan (Image, October-November 2022) The setting is very appealing - - a haunted amusement park. A full review of this title was posted to this blog for Wednesday, November 16. FOUR STARS.
Mary Jane has left Peter Parker. He’s striking up a new relationship with Black Cat, and has gone to work for the reformed villain Norman Osborn at Oscorp alongside Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel). Peter’s using a new high-tech spider suit and riding a glider courtesy of Osborn.
The Hobgoblin makes a return, and the cover of Issue #11 poses the question: who is it? The original — Roderick Kingsley? Or is new father Ned Leeds being coerced/manipulated into wearing the gear again? The answer is surprising, as is the reasons for all this. Issue #13 is a key issue, marking the first appearance of the Gold Goblin suit in action. THREE STARS.
#997 GOLD GOBLIN #1 by Christopher Cantrell and Lan Medina (Marvel, January 2023)
In AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #13 Norman Osborn, despite resisting his temptation to go Goblin, steps back onto the Glider as Gold Goblin (suit developed by Osborn and Parker) in order to save Spider-Man from the Hobgoblin threat.
Now he’s conflicted (as if he wasn’t before) torn between his new good guy persona (enabled by Sin Eater taking away his transgressions and leaving him a cleansed man) and his Goblin tendencies. Writer Christopher Cantwell puts him through the mental wringer as he agonizes over the decision.
When some young lads ask him for autographs after a put-down of Jack O’Lantern, he experiences a new feeling -- as a hero. So which way will he turn? This mini-series will explore that. THREE STARS.
The Goodreads synopsis does a fair job of summarizing what awaits within Volume 9 of SCALPED: “In this volume, war breaks out on the reservation as Red Crow loses his grip on the reins and Dash Bad Horse faces his toughest and fiercest foe yet.” Although that doesn't quite do it justice. This is by far the most violent and consequential story arc yet. I can only imagine what awaits in final Volume 10.
What I love so much about this series is how Aaron has added so many plot threads throughout the volumes and then just pulls them out at unexpected times. Issue #50 is devoted to a long history of abuse of Indian tribes and “scalping", which reminds readers that the title may be much more than just a metaphor.
Both Red Crow and Dash Bad Horse make decisions and take actions that I never imagined despite how closely I've been following this story. Damn, this is so good! I'd love to share those scenes with you but if you've read this far then you may be reading or planning to read this series - - and I would not want to spoil it for you. You should have the opportunity to experience the same gut-punch as me.
All I'm going to say is that choking scene in the jail will stay with me for a long time, as well as Dash's partial recovery from what happened to him in Volume 8 - - and right before the damage piles on in this volume. Damn, Part 2! FIVE STARS.
SCALPED reaches the end of the trail and its a bittersweet ending, but so satisfying. Several times while reading this I had to pause, look up from the book, close my eyes and marvel at the brilliance on the pages. Also, sometimes to dab at the tears. Sometimes to smile.
This is a modern crime masterpiece, and deserves a place on the plateau with the other comic book masterpieces. And, save a place on the plateau of great crime stories in all formats.
Aaron and Guera top themselves in this final volume in one of the most incredible showdowns between characters since the Gunfight at the OK Corral. Some do not survive, and those that do are changed forever. Every single plot thread is sewn up and finished. The future of every single character of importance throughout this series is detailed.
I did not believe I would ever read a crime comic that matched the level of excellence that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips have demonstrated over and over again. Move over, guys. This is it. Brilliant. FIVE STARS.
However, without a familiarity with the Project Superpowers characters, this graphic novel (originally published in six individual issues) may prove to be confusing to readers. I don’t think I would have the same appreciation for this had I not previously read some of those PS titles.
Project Superpowers originally debuted as a limited series co-plotted by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, who came up with the idea of reviving some Golden Age superheroes in new stories. These were all lightweight characters originally published by now-extinct companies like Fox Comics, Crestwood Publications, Nedor Comics and others. No longer under copyright protections, these characters were in the public domain and easy to access.
In the Ellis version of PS, these heroes were subdued and banished to an otherworldly phantom zone in a climatic battle that took place near the small town of Blackcross. In the opening scenes, a man sets himself on fire (a la Pyroman) and walks into the waters of Lake Nedor but doesn’t die. A pharmacist receives a package that releases a gas that sends him to the emergency room and leaves an imprint of a skull and crossbones (symbol of Black Terror) on his torso.
Several Blackcross residents have bizarre incidents where they experience the feeling of others trying to occupy their bodies. When some also have a run-in with the American Spirit, a demonic presence that seems intent on preventing the hero crossovers, the survivors band together to try and figure out what is happening, under the leadership of a resident possessed by The Green Llama.
Ellis maintains the dark and mysterious setting throughout, aided by the atmospheric details of Worley. The art and moody coloring remind me of Francesco Francavilla’s art. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#1015 FEAR OF A RED PLANET #1 (AfterShock, November 2022) A full review of this issue appears on the blog for Wednesday, November 23 FOUR STARS.
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