PGHHEAD'S 2023 COMICS ODYSSEY, PART TEN

       This marks the third consecutive year that I will attempt to document my comics reading by writing at least a mini-review. The goal is 1200 books read and reviewed in 2023, although I missed the mark in 2022 by 88 books.  Still, I like that number as it’s easy enough to track - - - 100 books per month on average. Wish me luck!

# GOAL FOR March 10, 2023. . . 234 comics documented

CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 239 comics documented

#220 - #225  PUNISHER #1 - #6 by Jason Aaron with art by Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta (Marvel Comics, May 2022) Regular readers of The Punisher may be disappointed by what happens here - - - Frank Castle abandoning the guns and bombs for a sword and an army of ninjas to back him up. Others, including myself, may view what Jason Aaron has done here as a welcome departure from the standard Punisher fare.

 

     After all, if you boil the character down to his essence he becomes more of a one-trick pony. How many stories can you tell with that theme before they all begin to seem the same? I'm not a regular reader of The Punisher so the changes Aaron puts in place here don't disturb me. I pick up Punisher comics on an irregular basis, when the mood strikes, and admit this is a guilty pleasure. My favorite Punisher series are the Garth Ennis run and Punisher:Max, also by Jason Aaron.

    In addition to the Punisher becoming the new leader of the Hand, a cult of assassins, Aaron provides some very early backstory that indicates the roots of what turned Frank Castle into the brutal vigilante go back even further to his elementary school days. Paul Azaceta provides the art for the flashback scenes, and it's entirely different from the incredible photo-realistic art of Jesus Sais. Azaceta's art is much simpler and Dave Stewart changes his coloring to match the mood. But, that dynamic art by Saiz is worth the price of admission. The detail is amazing and the facial expressions and body language run the gamut of emotions so well. 

     There is additional conflict within the story. The Hand claims responsibility for converting Frank Castle into the Fist of the Beast, having observed him since childhood and awaiting the right moment to convert him (resurrecting his dead wife). This angers Ares, the god of War and principal foe of Castle and his army. He feels a long-standing kinship with the Punisher, as if Castle was his pupil that he mentored throughout life, and feels betrayed by Frank's new allegiance. 

     It's not over in this first story arc. I have a feeling there are more changes in store. FOUR STARS.

#226  PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL: BLITZ by Torunn Gronbekk and Lan Medina (Marvel Comics, August 2022)  This is the second of what are announced to be five WAR JOURNAL one-shots telling side stories of the Punisher’s days leading The Hand. This reads a bit more like traditional Punisher as there are no supernatural elements or gods involved, but Frank is still wielding the sword instead of guns. 

   Frank Castle is using The Hand to disrupt Finn Fratz / Hate-Monger’s operations, but Hate-Monger is fighting back by sabotaging his drugs and arms stashes with explosives or deadly gas, taking out many of Frank’s ninjas. 

   Flashback scenes within the main story tell of how Frank Castle met Finn Fratz ten years earlier when Hate-Monger was instigating a war that destroyed a village in the Blezkvish Forest (don’t ask where that is, it’s made up).  Frank arrived too late. He’s not too late to find Fratz this time, although many of both sides die during the siege of Hate-Monger’s Alaska base. There’s a subtle point here about the cost of war and what drives leaders for those who want a little more. 

   I actually like what Aaron is doing in the main book better than this story.

THREE STARS.

#227  DEAD KINGDOM #1 of 5 by Etienne Derepentigny writer, artist, colors (Red 5 Comics, September 2022) An impressive debut issue from a talented creator. DEAD KINGDOM is about a group of knights attempting to fight as well as fully identify a mysterious plague running throughout a European kingdom in the Middle Ages. The infected turn into flesh-eating zombies.

   What elevates this beyond another zombie comic is the setting as well as the interesting main character, Kain. He’s a solider who went through an unspecified experience (the battle of the King’s Hill) that made him leave the force and take on the role of “peacekeeper”, intending to help a village evacuate before the zombies arrive.  But the captain, short on soldiers, forcefully enlists him because he may have some valuable knowledge (again, unspecified). The zombies arrive at the village, and are too much for the army to overcome. The captain sends Kain off to warn the kingdom of what’s coming. 

    Derepentigny’s art is not overly detailed yet effective, with some appropriate coloring. This reminds me very much of PESTILENCE, the great AfterShock comics series of 2018 by Frank Tieri and Oleg Okunev, although I’m not ready to put DEAD KINGDOM on the same plateau.  While the debut issue is promising, I’ll need to see where this is going before making any comparisons. I have the other issues, just waiting for the series to conclude before reading in full. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#228 - #230  GODZILLA: AWAKENING trade paperback by Max and Greg

Borenstein with art by Eric Battle, Yvel Guichet and Alan Quah. Cover by Arthur Adams (Legendary Comics, 2014)  Max Borenstein is the writer of the Godzilla screenplay. This was released prior to the debut of the Legendary/Warner Brothers GODZILLA movie and serves as a prequel to the film, providing background and origin.

   While the comic has its moments (particularly the art, which is very effective considering how many people worked on it) it tries to cover too much ground, not just the emergence of Godzilla in the 1940’s (information suppressed by government, including General MacArthur, in the aftermath of Hiroshima) up to the present day and then all the way back to pre-historic times. There are too many jump cuts to these flashbacks, which completely ruins any flow the story might have.

    Mostly exposition and backstory with not enough monster action to satisfy me. The movie, while not really satisfying my Godzilla expectations, at least was more interesting than this. Oh, by the way, this changes the legend a bit.Godzilla is portrayed as more of a good guy here, protecting Earth from the bigger pre-historic monsters showing up all over. Godzilla (Gojira) wasn't created by the atomic bomb. It just woke him up.  TWO AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#231 - #232  THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #9, #10 by Justin Jordan and Eduardo Pansica (DC Comics, 2019) This was one of the brand-new titles of the “The New

Age of Heroes” period that never found its’ audience. Come to think of it, I don’t think any of these characters are still in the DC universe. Too bad, because this one had a decent horror theme with good story and art. It lasted twelve issues plus one annual. 

    Main character Joe Chamberlain was an activist, trying to save his small impoverished town, including making a deal with the devil. That gave him the power of fire and destruction as BRIMSTONE, a power which couldn’t be controlled with destructive results. Joe tries to track down the demon he made the deal with but the Brimstone power is trying to control him and take over.

    Issue #9 is a personal favorite, with a supernatural battle between Brimstone and Doctor Fate. I really like the way Fate is illustrated here, as well as the character handling (the poor guy has too often been the victim of a weak script - - don’t get me started about the version of Dr. Fate in BLACK ADAM  - - ugh.)

   In Issue #10 Joe is almost completely taken over by Brimstone, which is bad news for Annie, his supportive sister. Serial killer Wandering Jack (his dialogue is particularly annoying) crosses paths with both. But the Joe persona emerges at a fateful moment and the good guys prevail, at least for two more issues. THREE STARS.

#233 - #235  AMERICAN FLAGG! #1 - #3 by Howard Chaykin, writer/artist (First Comics, October - December 1983) In many ways this influential series

was ahead of its’ time, and still holds up. In other respects, it’s out of touch with

current trends and would be viewed today as inappropriate in nature and/or sexist. A deft blend of science fiction, political satire and consumeristic obsessions AMERICAN FLAGG had an acknowledged influence on the works of Warren Ellis, Brian Michael Bendis and others.

   The setting is Chicago in the year 2031. Religion is down-played and high-technology and material goods are elevated. Main character Reuben Flagg is a former TV star (replaced by CGI/holograms), former pilot and now a deputy in the Plexus Rangers (the local law enforcement). There’s been a worldwide power shift with the U.S. government and major corporate heads relocating to planet Mars. They make up The Plex and dictate commerce and government on Earth. Most Earth residents live near or inside massive fortress-like Pexmalls with the Plexus Rangers serving as militia to provide security and law enforcement.

     In “Hard Times” (the first three-part story arc) Reuben Flagg adjusts to his transfer

and new job, sleeps around a lot, and sees for himself the corruption within the Plexmall. When he uncovers subliminal messages that cause gang violence implanted within the most popular television show he finds a way to interrupt the broadcast. This ends the violence but only temporarily, resulting in covert agents descending on the Plex and the death of a secondary but important character (kind of surprising, still).

   Chaykin’s story can get hard to follow at times as he throws out a million little ideas at once and never gets down to specifics. The art can also appear cluttered (as much as the society of 2031) with constant bombardment of media messages/adverts. Panel size and placement is creative, considering Chaykin had none of the tools in 1983 that artists employ today. FOUR STARS.

#236  PHANTOM ROAD #1 by Jeff Lemire and Gabriel H. Walta (Image Comics, March 2023) I like Jeff Lemire, but lately I have the impression that he’s trying to do too much with a lot of current books (no names, not looking for arguments, just stating my observation)  and too many of them aren’t up to his usual quality standards. PHANTOM ROAD might have been just another spooky book, but Lemire’s story and Walta’s expressive art elevate it to another level. 

     This is just as much about the loneliness and isolation of long haul truck drivers and the effect on their personalities and family relationships as it is about some weird alien beings messing with any travelers who find themselves on a strange weather-beaten and ravaged desert highway. Symbolic?  Perhaps. The truck driver’s resolution at the end of the debut issue is a bit disturbing. This is one to watch.  FOUR STARS.

#237 - #239  DEAD SEAS #1 - #3 by Cavan Scott and Nick Brokenshire (IDW Publishing, January-March 2023) This is a cool blend of horror/action/prison drama that probably won’t get noticed amidst the glut of current comics choices unless some reviewers draw more attention to it. 

   The story begins in a Bronx apartment building where Gus tries to protect his wife and little daughter Natalia from a menacing dripping ghost. Ghosts are everywhere following an event referred to as Dia De Los Muertos. If you can’t afford professional exterminators then you have to learn to adapt, just as low income citizens adjust to living with cockroaches and rats.

   Cut to three years later, and Gus is among a group of inmates being transferred to R.C.V. Perdition, a huge ship owned by Barrico Industries and offered a chance to reduce their prison

sentences. Barrico Industries is the biggest company providing “preternatural management”. The ship holds all their captured “entities” in revenant containment vessels. They are at sea because spirits can’t travel or survive in moving water. They also are repelled by seeing their own reflection in mirrors, of which the ship has ample supplies. 

    The inmates are on the ship because they are forced to enter the containment vessels and collect the ectoplasm, which new studies have been shown to have many medical applications. Add the rebellious daughter of the owner who arrives unannounced to interfere with the operation and a group of pirates getting onboard to steal barrels of ectoplasm. Add fights, explosions, and you just know those ghosts are going to get out and cut loose. Plus, there is good character development and prison drama as well.  I see little hints of other artists in Brokenshire’s appealing style, like Jeff Lemire, Ed Piskor and Paul Chadwick. I’m enjoying this. FOUR STARS.