*
NOW WITH STAR RATINGS (ala Wrestling
Observer Newsletter PPV reports) *
NEW!
HOW I RATE THE COMICS VIA THE GRANT MORRISON SCALE
*****
All-Star
Superman, We3
****
New
X-Men (the early issues), Batman
Inc., Batman And Robin, Dare, Arkham Asylum
*** Zenith,
Seven Soldiers
** Final
Crisis, Flex Mentallo
*
Marvel Boy
DUD
(or lower) Nameless, later New X-Men and any of his hippy-dippy,
pseudo-mystical crap
1.-9.
Captain America: War and Remembrance
(Marvel, 1990) ****
- originally published
in Captain America #247-255 (Marvel, (1980)
Writer: Roger Stern/Artists:
John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein
I expected this to be a
bit painful – and God knows Stern’s goofy, pseudo-patriotic dialogue that he gives
Cap is awful at times – but, surprisingly, I found myself enjoying this tasty
nine-issue run by Stern and Byrne. Byrne is at his artistic peak here and the
tales are rollicking, featuring Cap taking on the likes of Baron Blood, Batroc
the Leaper, Mr Hyde, Baron Von Strucker, Dragon Man and MachineSmith.
10.-18.
Captain America #193, 195-199, 203,
210-211 (Marvel, 1976-77) ***¾
19.
Captain America Annual #3 (Marvel,
1976) ***½
Writer: Jack
Kirby/Artists: Jack Kirby and friends
The King’s last run with
Marvel has been unfairly maligned. Sure, his writing style was bombastic and of
another era, but his “Madbomb” epic is actually a lot of fun as he puts Cap and
the Falcon through their paces as they battle a traitorous “elite” intent on
destroying the USA during the Bicentennial celebrations. Kirby’s artwork is as
epic as ever. In fact, it’s quite surprising now to realise that some readers
were more concerned about Jack’s art than his writing ability. A letter from
future Marvel staffer Ralph Macchio talks about having “nightmares” in
anticipation of Kirby’s “uselessly large panels”, only to be relieved that he’s
kept most of his panels small. What a douchebag. Thankfully, Kirby was happy to
use plenty of double-page and single-page spreads to get across the majesty of
his work.
20.
Captain America #115 (Marvel, 1969)
***
Writer: Stan
Lee/Artists: John and Sal Buscema
21.
Captain America Annual #6 (Marvel,
1982) *
Writer: JM
DeMatteis/Artists: Ron Wilson and Vince Colletta
What should have been a
fun tale about the four Caps (Spirit of 76, The Patriot, the insane 50s version
and the real Cap) being brought together by Mr Buda (last seen in the oversized
Bicentennial Treasury) is very ordinary and painfully forced. The concept of
the four Caps fighting together is actually really confusing as it’s just four
guys in the same uniform and they’re hard to tell apart. Ron Wilson’s art is
bad and Colletta’s inking makes it even worse. As for JM, this isn’t his finest
work. His attempt to showcase the 50s Cap’s racism is offensive, especially
when he has him using words like “darkies” and “jungle bunnies”. Hideous.
22.
Captain America #221 (Marvel, 1978)
**
[main story] Writers:
Steve Gerber and David Kraft/Artists: Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito
[back-up tale] Writer: Scott
Edelman/Artists: Steve Leialoha and Al Gordon
I bought this comic at
the time, but sold it years ago. But I rebought it recently because I’d always
liked the back-up yarn about Rick Jones becoming “Captain Avenger”. It’s a
dreaded “it was all a dream” story, though.
23.
Captain America #221 (Marvel, 1982) *
Writer: David
Kraft/Artists: Alan Kupperberg, John Beatty and friends
A bizarre wrestling tale
– part kayfabe, part real. Really one of Kraft’s poorer efforts, although the
wrestling yarn is fun, considering it takes place before the rock’n’wrestling
boom, which came three years later.
24.-27.
Captain America: Forever Allies #1-4
(Marvel, 2010-11) ***¼
Writer: Roger
Stern/Artists: Nick Dragotta, Marco Santucci and Patrick Piazzaguta (interior);
Lee Weeks (cover)
28.-30.
Captain America: The 1940s Newspaper
Strip #1-3 (Marvel, 2010) ***½
Writer: Karl Kesel/Artists:
Karl Kesel (interior); Butch Guice (cover)
31.
What If...Captain America Were Revived
Today? #44 (Marvel, 1984) ***
Writer: Peter Gillis/Artists:
Sal Buscema and Dave Simons; Bill Sienkiewicz (cover)
32.
Captain America Book and Record Set
(Power Records, 1974) *
- originally published
in Captain America #168 (Marvel,
1973)
Writer: Tony
Isabella/Artists: Sal Buscema, John Tartaglione and George Roussos
(interior);Sal Buscema and John Verpoorten (cover)
33.-34.
Captain America #27-28 (Marvel, 2004)
***½
Writer: Robert
Morales/Artists: Eddie Campbell and Stewart McKenny (interior); Dave Johnson
(cover)
35.-53.
The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1 (Marvel,
2010) *****
- originally published
in The Invincible Iron Man #1-19
(Marvel, 2008-09)
Writer: Matt
Fraction/Artist: Salvador Larroca
Fucking awesome mature
(as in MATURE) superhero action. First, Tony Stark faces his worst fears when
terrorists use Iron Man technology to create bloody mayhem around the world.
Seems an old enemy’s son has decided to target Stark. Then, following the
Skrull invasion, Stark and SHIELD are out, Norman Osborne and HAMMER are in.
Tony decides to stop Osborne from accessing top-secret documents by storing
them in his brain, then slowly deleting the info using Iron Man tech. Only
problem is, the process is making him dumber and deader by the minute. How can
Stark – using increasingly older and more outdated Iron Man armour – defend
himself against the likes of the Sub-Mariner, Madame Masque, Crimson Dynamo and
Osborne himself in the guise of the Iron Patriot?
This is amazingly
well-written, beautifully illustrated comics. Sophisticated superheroes? Who
woulda thunk it?
54.-67.
The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 2
(Marvel, 2012) *****
- originally published
in The Invincible Iron Man #20-33
(Marvel, 2009-11)
Writer: Matt
Fraction/Artists: Salvador Larroca; Jamie McKelvie
68.-72.
Hulk Smash The Avengers #1-5 (Marvel,
2012) ***½
Writers/Artists:
various; Lee Weeks (cover artist)
Naturally, if we talk
about Shellhead and Cap, then we have to talk about The Avengers. So I read
this weekly miniseries and will continue with a big Avengers catch-up next month. The Civil War continues...
VALE DARWYN COOKE
Seemed
like an appropriate time to read (and re-read) some glorious comics put out by
one of the great storytellers of this generation.
73.-84.
Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art Of Darwyn
Cooke (DC, 2015) *****
- originally published
in a bunch of comics (DC, 1985-2015)
Read my blog review HERE.
85.
Marvel Double-Shot #3 (Marvel, 2003)
***
(Fantastic Four) Writer:
Jai Nitz/Artist: Gurihiru
(Ant-Man) Writer: Sean
McKeever/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
86.-88.
Batman: Ego And Other Tails (DC,
2007) *****
- originally published
in Batman: Ego, Selina’s Big Score
and other titles (DC, 2000-05)
3 comics
89.-92.
The Twilight Children (Vertigo, 2016)
*****
- originally published
in The Twilight Children #1-4
(Vertigo, 2015-16)
Writer: Gilbert
Hernandez/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
Darwyn’s final project
and it’s a fitting tribute to his genius. Gilbert’s magic realism doesn’t
always grab me in Love And Rockets, but here married to Darwyn’s extraordinary
art helps take it to another level. Love, lust, betrayal, aliens, CIA agents
and weird glowing orbs make this book a must-read.
93.-97.
Catwoman: The Dark End Of The Street
(DC, 2002) *****
- originally published
in Detective Comics #759-762, Catwoman #1-4 (DC, 2001-02)
Writer: Ed
Brubaker/Artists: Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred and Cameron Stewart
MY FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016 HAUL
98.
Mooncop: A Tom Gauld Sampler (Drawn 7
Quarterly, 2016) ****
Writer/Artist: Tom Gauld
99.
Indie Comic Previews (Boy In A Box
Productions, 2016) *
Writers/Artists: various
100.
Civil War II/Avengers (Marvel, 2016)
***¼
Writers/Artists: various
101.
Serenity/Hellboy/Aliens (Dark Horse,
2016) ***½
Writers:
various/Artists: Richard Corben and friends
102.
The Phantom (Hermes Press, 2016) *
Writer: unknown/Artist:
Jim Aparo
Reprints of dull
Charlton tales from 1970. Disappointing and Aparo’s art is pretty primitive.
A curiosity and
nothing more.
103.
March (Top Shelf, 2016) ****
Writers: John Lewis and
Andrew Aydin/Artist: Nate Powell
A helluva interesting
historic tale about Senator John Lewis and his experiences during the Civil
Rights Era of the 1950s and 60s.
104.
Attack On Titan Anthology (Kodansha
Comics, 2016) ****¼
Writers/Artists: various
I NEED this anthology!
105.-111.
Oni Press Starter Pack (Oni Press,
2016) ****
- originally published
in The Sixth Gun #1, Letter 44 #1, The Bunker #1, Stumptown
#1, Helheim #1, Kaijumax #1, The Life After
#1 (Oni Press, 2009-14)
A handy tasting tray of
seven classic Oni Press titles. I’ve read two – The Sixth Gun (great) and Kaijumax
(offensive) – but I’d not read the other five series. So five comics for $5 was
great value. I was impressed by all of them, except maybe The Life After. I’ll have to check them out.
112.
Camp Midnight (Image, 2016) ****
Writer: Steven T.
Seagle/Artist: Jason Adam Katzenstein
113.
Bazza The Bogan Barbarian: Sydney Zombie
Apocalypse (Silver Fox, 2016) ***
Creators: Sorab Del Rio and
Don Ticchio
114.
Suicide Squad #1 (DC, 2016) ***¾
- originally published
as Suicide Squad #1 (DC, 2011)
Writer: Adam Glass/Artists:
Federico Dallocchio, Ransom Getty and Scott Hanna (interior); Ryan Benjamin (cover)
115.
Steve Rogers: Captain America
(Marvel, 2016) ***½
(Captain America)
Writer: Nick Spencer/Artist: Jesus Saiz
(The Amazing Spider-Man)
Writer: Dan Slott/Artist: Javier Garron
NINE COMICS FOR $27
116.
Harley’s Little Black Book #1 (DC,
2016) ****
Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti
and Amanda Conner/Artists: Amanda Conner, John Timms and Dave Johnson
117.
All-New Hawkeye #1 (DC, 2016) ***¾
Writer: Jeff
Lemire/Artist: Ramon Perez
118.
The Sandman Overture #1 (DC, 2013)
****½
Writer: Neil
Gaiman/Artist: JH Williams III
119.
Secret Origins Featuring Phantom Girl
#42 (DC, 1989) **¾
Writers/artists: various
120.-123.
The Supernaturals #1-4 (Marvel, 1998)
*
Writer: Brian Pulido and
Mark Andreyko/Artists: Ivan Reis and Joe Pimentel (interior); Jim Balent
(cover)
This Elseworlds-style
miniseries kicks off with the “Chaos! Event” (Whoa ! Subtle plug there,
Pulido!), which causes all non-supernatural superheroes to vanish. Fast forward
13 years later to Halloween. A second “Chaos! Event” is about to take place
that will destroy the planet, so it’s up to Brother Voodoo to bring together a
team of misfits: The Black Cat, Ghost Rider, Satana, Gargoyle and Werewolf By
Night. Together they must battle Jack O’Lantern and various other evil critters
including Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, Living Mummy, Fin Fang Foom, etc.
Whoa, this slice o’ late
90s cheese was too good (or is that “too bad”) to pass up. This weird weekly
series sums up everything that stank comics during this period (particularly
Chaos! Comics during this era). First up we have Brian Pulido as a writer. The
guy just plain sucks. Ivan Reis – who has gone on to become a very good artist –
draws in that horrible, cartoony style that Chaos! revelled in. All weird
angles and odd panel construction that made little sense.
Finally, the covers are
by Jim Balent! Sadly, they’re surprisingly cheesecake-free, which means they
just simply suck.
I mainly picked up this
series to get the free Halloween masks that came with each issue, including
“the rare Ghost Rider mask”...which I scored in the first issue. Hardly rare,
then.
124.
Legion: Secret Files #1 (DC, 1998)
***½
Writers: Tom Peyer, Tom
McCraw/Artists: various
OTHER STUFF
125.
Buried Treasure (self-published,
2016) ***
Writer/artist: Sarah
Catherine Firth (www.sarahthefirth.com)
It’s a cute yarn – it’s
meant to be profound, but falls a bit short.
126.
Weird Worlds Vol. 1 No. 1 (Eerie
Publications, 1970) *
Writers: unknown/Artist:
Dick Ayers (maybe others)
Downloaded off the net.
This is godawful sci-fi schlock, even by Dick Ayers’ low standards.
127.-129.
And Then Emily Was Gone #3-5 (Comix
Tribe, 2014) ****½
Writer: John
Lees/Artist: Iain Laurie
130.-134.
Atomic Robo: The Dogs Of War (Red 5,
2009) ***½
- originally published
in Atomic Robo: The Dogs Of War #1-5 (Red
5, 2008-09)
Writer: Brian
Clevinger/Artist: Scott Wegener
135.
Patience by Daniel Clowes (Jonathan
Cape, 2016) ****¼
136.-141.
SuperGirl: Cosmic Adventures In the 8th
Grade (DC, 2016) ***
- originally published
in SuperGirl: Cosmic Adventures In the
8th Grade #1-6 (DC, 2009)
Writer: Landrey Q.
Walker/Artist: Eric Jones
I bought this TPB for my
kids and my five-year-old son Dash liked it so much that he asked me and his
mum to read it. I found it a bit too try-hard as it tried to shoehorn a bunch
of Supergirl and Superman mythology into a storyline that would also appeal to
tweens (and younger kids like my son). It just missed the mark, then again, I’m
not the target audience.
142.
Powers #6 (Icon, 2016) ***½
Writer: Brian Michael
Bendis/Artist: Mike Avon Oeming
143.-145.
Race For The Moon (Canton Street
Press, 2015) ****
- originally published
as Race For The Moon #1-3 (Harvey, 1958)
Writers:
unknown/Artists: Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Bob Powell, Al Williamson and friends
Some classic Cold War
Era sci-fi action with tons of amazing Kirby art. A rare gem. Shame about the
cheap production, though – including misspelling Bob Powell’s name on the
cover.
146.
The Wizard King: Odkin, Son Of Odkin
(Vanguard Productions, 2007) ***½
- originally self-published
in 1981, parts reprinted in 1984 (Warren,
mid-80s) and World Of Wood (Eclipse,
mid-80s)
Writer: Wally
Wood/Artists: Wally Wood with help from Peter Hsu, Jack Robinson and Randy
Elliott
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