* NOW WITH STAR RATINGS
(ala Wrestling Observer Newsletter PPV reports) *
HOW I RATE THE COMICS
VIA THE ALAN MOORE SCALE
***** Watchmen, Miracleman, V For Vendetta
**** From Hell, Supreme, Swamp Thing, Fashion
Beast, League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (first two series)
*** Axel Pressbutton, Tom Strong
** Promethea
* LoEG: Century: 1969
DUD (or lower) any of
his non-comics stuff
1.-4. Hero 9 to 5
(Markosia, 2010) ***¼
- originally published
as Hero 9 to 5 #1-4 (Markosia, 2010)
Writer: Ian
Sharman/Artist: David Gray
An amiable tale about
working-class superheroes in England, marred by an out-of-left-field rape
incident in the fourth issue. Jarring stuff.
5.-10. Marvel Boy TPB
(Marvel, 2001) *½
- originally published
as Marvel Boy #1-6 (Marvel Knights, 2000-01)
Writer: Grant
Morrison/Artists: JG Jones, Ryan Kelly & Sean Parsons
How can a guy who
produces so exquisitely perfect and delightful as All-Star Superman can also
serve up such a steaming, dense, incomprehensible piece of crap like this
reimagining of the Captain Marvel mythos.
11. Southern Knights #29
(Comics Interview, 1988) **
Writer: Henry
Vogel/Artists: Chuck Wojtkiewicz; Del Thompson; Mark Propst & John Dell III
Utterly uninspiring
superheroic shenanigans.
12. Genesis #0 (Malibu,
1993) ½*
Widowmaker:
Writer: Roland
Mann/Artist: Jimmy Palmiotti
Ex-Mutants:
Writer: Charles
Marshall/Artists: Patrick Rolo & Bobby Rae
Dinosaurs for Hire:
Writer: Tom
Mason/Artists: Curt Swan & Bruce McCorkindale
Protectors:
Writer: RA Jones/Artist:
Rich Buckler
George Perez (cover)
The wrap-around foil
cover reveals everything that was wrong with early 90s mainstream comics. Add
to it bad, “gritty’ writing and “killer” vigilantes and you get a
shitty-as-fuck comic.
13.-18. Kick-Ass 3 #3-8
(Icon, 2013-14) ****
Writer: Mark
Millar/Artists: John Romita Jr & Tom Palmer
I didn’t like the first
two issues and I expected this final chapter in the trilogy to continue to be a
major disappointment. To be honest, I was dreading reading the last six issues.
But to my surprise and pleasure, the series really picked up with #3 and didn’t
let up till the very end. Just a really fun read and a satisfying conclusion to
the Kick-Ass story. I didn’t fully understand why the Motherfucker turned good
– that seemed unbelievable and designed to be a shock twist – but other than
that, I enjoyed Kick-Ass 3 immensely.
19. Epic #2 (Comix
Tribe, 2014) **
Writer: Tyler
James/Artist: Fico Ossio
A juvenile superhero who
loses his powers when in the presence of hot chicks? That’s a new wrinkle to an
old story. Other than that, Epic wasn’t particularly good.
20.-21. Mandrake the
Magician #2, #8 (Frew, 1990-91) **½
Writer: Lee
Falk/Artists: Phil Davis (interior); Glenn Ford (#2 cover)
When my mum went into a
nursing home a few months back, I inherited her comics collection, which
included these two Aussie-produced mags, reprinting Mandrake strips from the
1940s. Frew had been publishing The Phantom for 40+ years at this stage and
obviously thought another Lee Falk creation might do well on the newsstands.
Originally billed as a six-issue limited series, the title must have done OK
for a while as Mum also had #8. But I don’t think Mandrake lasted too much
longer after that. As premises go it’s kinda lame: a magician constantly uses
“mass hypnosis” to thwart crooks – while always wearing a three-piece dinner
suit and top hat. His assistant – the super-strong but superstitious and
cowardly Lothar – is a pretty bad racial stereotype, even by the terrible
cultural standards of that time. With all that said, #8’s story “The Kordies”
(part one of a two-part series) was entertaining and the use of the zombie-like
Kordies – led by evil Baron Kord – is effectively creepy. As for Frew, the
company STILL reprints old Phantom strips, making it the most successful
Aussie-based comics company of all time.
22. Legends #5 (DC,
1987) ***¼
Writers: John Ostrander
& Len Wein/Artists: John Byrne & Karl Kesel
This was the series
where G. Gordon Godfrey (who was one of Darkseid’s stooges) turned mankind
against superheroes. Cool art by John Byrne and this issue sets up a bunch of
post-Legends series including the new Justice League and Suicide Squad.
23. Get Lost #2 (NCG,
1987) *
Writers: Ross Andru
& Mike Esposito/Artists: Andru & Esposito (interior); Gray Morrow
(cover)
Terrible, sub-par Mad
magazine rip-off. This is a reprint of the original Get Lost from the
mid-1950s.
24. Unknown Worlds Of
Science Fiction #4 (Marvel/Curtis, 1975) **¼
Writers/Artists: various
I always loved this mag,
which I first read when it was reprinted by Newton Comics in the mid-70s.
Nostalgic feelings aside, however, it’s pretty ordinary sci-fi anthology stuff.
There’s an interesting interview with AE Van Vogt, where he reveals he’s a
Scientologist and a “good friend” of L. Ron Hubbard. Wacky stuff. The only
decent strip is Encounter At War, written by Jan Strnad and illustrated by
Richard Corben. But the poor B&W printing on cheap paper destroys the art’s
impact.
25.-28. Invincible Vol.
1: Family Matters (Image, 2003) ***½
29.-32. Invincible Vol.
2: Eight Is Enough (Image, 2004) ***½
33.-37. Invincible Vol.
3: Perfect Strangers (Image, 2004) ***
38.-43. Invincible Vol.
4: Head Of The Class (Image, 2005) ***½
- originally published
in Invincible #1-19 & Image Summer Special #1 (Image, 2003-04)
Writer: Robert
Kirkman/Artists: Cory Walker (#1-7), Ryan Ottley (#8-19) + friends
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THE
ORIGINAL COMICS OF THIS SERIES ARE WORTH?!!! Issue one alone is $1500 MINT! I
had Invincible #1-25 and I sold the lot in 2005 for THIRTY DOLLARS on eBay!!!
AAAAARRRRRGHHHHHH!
I stopped buying
Invincible and sold my collection at the same time that I quit The Walking Dead
(and yes, I sold the first 25 issues of TWD on eBay for a pittance, too). I’d
had enough of the torture porn that Kirkman had turned both titles into – while
I could sorta understand why he did in a zombie comic, I just couldn’t
appreciate him taking the torture porn route in what was, essentially, a
light-hearted superhero tale. To be honest, I started going off Invincible
around #8 when Invincible’s dad Omni-Man was revealed to be a mass-murdering
psycho from another planet. It wasn’t hard to quit the series when I did the
same with TWD. Having just read the Wikipedia entry on Invincible, I’m glad I
did, because Kirkman has taken the series into some truly dark territory.
Still...a few years back i saw the first four volumes of Invincible for sale
cheap on eBay. On a whim I bought them (along with the first two volumes of
TWD...don’t ask). I didn’t know what to expect when I reread the first 19
issues. I will say that I still hate the dark road that Kirkman took the series
in #8 when Omni-Man slaughters the Guardians Of The Globe. But much of the
comic is endearing and Invincible is such a likeable teenager...well, he is at
this stage anyway.
I won’t buy any further
volumes, but I’m glad I reread it – Invincible was once a very enjoyable comic
book.
44. Brinke Of Eternity
#1 (Chaos! Comics, 1994) DUD
Writers: Brinke Stevens
& Brian Pulido/Artists: Mike Holliman & Mark Morales (interior); Steven
Hughes (cover)
45. Brinke Of
Destruction #1 (High Top, 1995) *
Writers: Brinke Stevens
& Todd A. Kaylor/Artists: Mike Holliman & Ian (interior); boris Vallejo
(cover)
46. Brinke Of Disaster!
(High-Top Sports Productions, 1996) **
Writer: Dave R. &
Richard McEnroe & Cynthia Johns/Artists: PM Butler (pencils); Richard Mcenroe
& John Lockamy (cover)
47.-50. Marvel
Milestones Special (Marvel, 2006) ***½
- originally published
in Marvel Presents #1 (1975), Machine Man #1 (1978), Amazing Spider-Man Annual
#16 (1982), Bloodstone #1 (2001)
Writers/artists: various
51. Kid Colt And The
Arizona Girl (Marvel, 2006) ***¼
Writers/artists: various
52. Trident #1 (Trident
Comics, 1989) **½
Writers/artists: various
53. Terra Magazine #1
(Black House, 2011) **
Writers/artists: various
54. Moon Girl #3 (Red 5
Comics, 2011) DUD
Writer: Tony Trov &
Johnny Zito/Aritst: The Rahzzah
55. The Vic Bridges
Fazes Sketchbook And Fact File #1 (AC Comics, 1986) **¼
56. Hello, I’m Johnny
Cash (Spire Christian Comics, 1976) **
Writers: Johnny Cash
& Billy Zeoli/Artist: Al Hartley
57. Asylum #2 (Millennium
Publications, 1993) ***¾
Writers/artists: various
58. Star Wars #1
(Marvel, 2015) *
Writer: Jason
Aaron/Artist: John Cassaday
59. Pacific Rim: Tales
From The Drift #1 (Legendary, 2015) DUD
Writers: Travis Beacham
& Joshua Fialkov/Artist: Marcos Marz (interior); Marz & Whilce Portacio
(cover)
60. Doctor Solar #1
(Dark Horse, 2010) **
Writers/artists: various
61. Chicanos #1 (IDW,
2005) ½*
Writer: Carlos
Trillo/Artist: Eduardo Risso
Racist, sexist shit.
62. Lucifer Fawkes:
Bloodflow (Rorschach Entertainment, 2004) ½*
Writer: C. William
Russette/Artists: Ryan Sergeant (interior); Shane White (cover)
63.-65. Sparks Limited
Preview Ashcan #1-2 (Catastrophic Comics, 2008) **
Writer: Chris
Folino/Artist: JM Ringuet
66. Ornette Birks
Makkonen Speaks Fluent English (self-published, 1996?) *
Writer: Pauli
Kallio/Artist: Ville Pirinen
67. Star Wars: Vader
Down #1 (Marvel, 2016) *
Writers: Jason Aaron
& Kieron Gillen/Artists: Mike Deodato (interior); Mark Brooks (cover)
68.-73. Vext #1-6 (DC,
1999) ***
Writer: Keith
Giffen/Artists: Mike McKone & Mark McKenna
Giffen isn’t as funny as
he thinks he is.
74.-75. Freedom Fighters
#1-2 (DC, 1976) *
Writers: Martin Pasko
(#1) & Gerry Conway (#1-2)/Artists: Ric Estrada & Mike Royer (#1);
Pablo Marcos & Tex Blaisdell (#2)
76. Bucky O’Hare TPB
(Continuity, 1986) **¾
Writer: Michael
Golden/Artist: Larry Hama
77.-80. Helen Killer
#1-4 (Arcana, 2007-08) ½*
Writers: Andrew
Kreisberg & Matthew JLD Rice/Artist: Matthew JLD Rice
Arguably the stupidest
concept ever: Helen Keller puts on wacky glasses and becomes a demon-possessed
ninja superhero. Godawful!
81.-85. Fantastic Four
by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 (Marvel, 2011) ****
- originally published
in Fantastic Four #570-574 (Marvel, 2009-10)
Writer: Jonathan
Hickman/Artists: Dale Eaglesham & Andrew Currie (interiors #570-572); Neil
Edwards (interiors #573-574); Alan Davis & Mark Farmer (main covers)
Actually, this was
surprisingly good.
86.-89. Marvel Universe
vs The Punisher #1-4 (Marvel, 2010-11) ***½
Writer: Jonathan Mayberry/Artist:
Goran Parlov
So was this.
90. Plastic Farm #17
(self-published, 2010) ***
Writer/artist: Rafer
Roberts
91. Random Order Comics
(self-published, 2004) ***
Writer/Artist: James V.
West
92. The Airmen (Mansion
Comics, 1995) DUD
Writer: David
Watkins/Artists: various
93. Zombie Boy #1
(Antarctic Press, 1996) **¾
Writer/artist: Mark
Stokes
94.-95. Eclipse Monthly
#3, #6 (Eclipse, 1983) **
Writers/artists: various
96. McBlack One-Shot
(Black Class Press, 2011) **
Writer: Jason
Franks/Artists: various
97. PeaceMakers #1
(Bittersweet Press, 1997) DUD
Writers/artists: various
Horribly lame
“superhero” action, not helped that the comic is misprinted and one section is
repeated, making the two stories incomprehensible.
98. Bloody Bones And
Blackeyed Peas #1 (Galaxy Comics, 1984) ½*
Writers/artists: various
I’d wanted this comic
for years after seeing the cover in The Comics Journal back in the mid-80s.
I’ve read it now, but it was awful. Totally schlocky DC House Of Mystery-style
horror.
99. The Cosmic Book #1
(ACE Comics, 1986) ** (all for Wally Wood & Alex Toth)
Contributors: Wally
Wood, Alex Toth, etc.
100. Reagan’s Raiders #2
(Solson Publications, 1986) -**
Writer: Monroe Arnold,
David George & Rich Buckler/Artists: Keith royster, Rich Buckler & Scott Gladfelter
Godawful political
superhero “satire”.
PLUS
101. Cyanide And
Happiness: I’m Giving You the Finger (HarperCollins, 2009) ****
Writers/artists: Rob D,
Dave, Matt & Kris
No comments:
Post a Comment