For the last three years I have embarked on a Comics Odyssey, reading and writing reviews of comics towards an ambitious goal which I only attained on one of three attempts. This year, I still want to read more comics and write reviews, but I’m not setting a specific goal. I’ll just document them and number them. We’ll see how far I can go . . . . . . .
#778 - #782 GODZILLA: OBLIVION trade paperback by Joshua Fialkov and Brian Churilla (IDW Publishing, October 2016) Reprints Issues #1- #5. Every once in a while I get the urge to read a comic with giant monsters/kaiju. Every once in a while I want to read a comic for pure entertainment value, that I can enjoy in the moment and then forget about it. Godzilla comics usually satisfy those urges, and this one is just a cut above when it comes to quality and story-telling.
I love Churilla’s art when he can depict giant monsters in bigger panels, where he seems to excel. When he’s drawing scenes with the scientists in discussion or peril, or facial close-ups, it’s a bit weak.
Sure that there are parallel worlds where things might be better than our current globe, a group of genius scientists construct a portal. Once they turn it on, they enter an alternate world that has suffered for decades at the claws of giant monsters. Soldiers inform then that this world is over-run by kaiju and Godzilla keeps the other monsters in check, sometimes with the help of the Mecha-Godzilla robot construct.
Realizing their mistake, the scientists scramble to avoid the monsters and make their way back to the portal, only to watch the three-headed King Ghidorah follow them through. It proceeds to destroy their world, and the scientists create a fleet of mini-sized Mecha-Godzillas to take it down.
When that doesn’t work, they return through the portal to the alternate world and lure Godzilla into following them back. They mess up, and a ton of monsters get through as well. The final solution to their problem is pretty blunt and unexpected, sacrificing the many for the few.
A fun read, and it will curb my giant monster urges well into next year. THREE STARS.
#783 - #786 SLIGHTLY EXAGGERATED trade paperback - - A full review of this appeared on the blog for Saturday, December 14. FOUR STARS.
#787 WHERE MONSTERS LIE: CUL DE SAC #1 by Kyle Starks and Piotr Kowalski (Dark Horse Comics, October 2024) I missed the first mini-series (WHERE MONSTERS LIE) about a gated community for serial killers/slashers. I heard enough favorable comments about it to pick this up and check it out. There are several things I like, but not enough to make me want to continue or pick up the first volume.
The story refers to previous events briefly, and seems to turn on readers being familiar with the set-up here, which I wasn’t. It appears there are several gated communities for these “monsters”, called Site A, B, C, etc. and we are introduced to a new cast of killers, allegedly under the control, supervision and direction of a corporate manager.
This is labeled as a dark comedy. It’s dark alright, and some of the one-liners are so gross you smirk a little, but it’s not funny. The best thing about this series (in my opinion) is the art. Horror fans should give this a chance and check it out if you have time/money to spare - your
findings may vary. THREE STARS.
#788 MARVEL & DISNEY: WHAT IF . . .? MINNIE BECAME CAPTAIN MARVEL one shot by Steve Behling and Luca Barbieri with art by Giada Perissinotto (Marvel, January 2025) The publisher’s synopsis:
Inspired by MS. MARVEL VOL. 1 #1-4, our story finds The Chronicle newspaper reporter MINNIE MOUSE tasked with an exposé on a new hero on the scene in Duckburg, CAPTAIN MARVEL! But PEG LEG PETE - SCORPION complicates her plans with an attack on the Chronicle building! To make matters worse, JOHN D. ROCKERDUCK and the BEAGLE BOYS attack SCROOGE McDUCK'S money bin, and when Captain Marvel shows up to stop them, Minnie discovers an incredible secret about her past! What is Minnie's connection to Duckburg's sensational new hero, Captain Marvel?
In order to make that plot point work, Minnie has dizziness, black-outs, and memory loss every time danger is near and/or she transforms into Captain Marvel. We learn that her powers were obtained when she interviewed with Scrooge McDuck for a newspaper job. The duck witch Magica De Spell chose that moment to make a magical attack to steal Scrooge’s Number-One Dime, and Minnie was caught in the back-lash.
Now you know enough to pass this up, as it’s not so marvelous. Thank me later. TWO STARS.
#789 - #790 VOICES IN MY HEAD one-shot (Image Comics, October 2024) Synopsis from the publisher:
From Eisner Award winner Joe Pruett, comes a collection of disturbing tales, chilling revelations, and magical adventures. Drawn by some of today's top artistic talents, including Michael Gaydos (Jessica Jones), Phil Hester (The Family Tree), Andrew Robinson (Dusty Star), Szymon Kudranski (Spawn), and Juan Doe (Dark Ark), with a cover by Brian Bolland! 1:10 incentive cover by Timothy Bradstreet!
After almost a decade on the publishing/editorial side of comics, Joe Pruett returns to writing and announces plans for a lot more in 2025. This one-shot feels like a warm-up, dashing off a quartet of new stories plus a reprint of his first published work, colorized for the first time. Two of the stories were completed after receiving the artwork, and Pruett wrote a tale to fit the illustrations. Points for creativity.
The first story, “The Peculiar Courtship of Miss Penelope Pembroke” with art by Andrew Robinson is based on the Brian Bolland cover illustration. In Victorian times, young Pembroke was a beauty - a snobbish high society elite who delighted in turning down suitors. Many years later, in the afterlife she finds herself accepting a devilish marriage proposal.
The other impromptu story is “The Gears of Life”. Artist Michael Gaydos wanted to draw “ornate birdcages, gears, old machinery, crows, birds of prey, old scientific labs, mechanical stuff . . “ so Pruett worked all of it into a story about a Norse god brought back to life who finds he can converse with birds and gets a valuable philosophy lesson.
“Four”, with art by Phil Hester, reminds me the VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED/CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED 1960’s films until the final panels where who the four are is revealed. Juan Doe illustrates “Outside The Box”, about a nondescript demon hunter who traps escaped evil spirits within a cylindrical container (with lid).
The reprint features Kilroy, a dark mysterious figure who is a Crow-like dispenser of justice. In 1992 Germany, a Nazi revival leader kills the wrong innocent and gets a reckoning from Kilroy.
If this is a sample of Pruett flexing his writing muscles, I’m anxious to see what he comes up with when the adrenaline starts flowing again. FOUR STARS.
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