Reviews of random single back issues of comics

[khyron1144]

Exactly what it says one the label.

I know there's some other comics geeks here, besides me right?  Well, let's share our knowledge:

Review something you read (in the comics medium, preferably staple-bound, and preferably a single issue of something that is/was either an ongoing monthly or even mini-series, and preferably three or more months old).  I will share a few of mine to get the ball rolling:


Two notes:
1) These are mostly finds from the cheap comics bins, so they are from many years ago, sometimes.  I feel that enough time has passed, that I'm not really going to bother with spoiler warnings.
2) I am copying the format I use for reviews of RPG products over on rpg.net, with the slight modification of a five star scale for over-all quality where zero is horrid; one is bad; two is acceptable; three is good; four is great; and five is amazingly awesome.  For the categories, I strive to fill all categories and say something good about even the worst comics and one negative thing however much of a strain it is to find one about even the best.

Review of Arion Lord of Atlantis Issue #1


What is it?  Arion Lord of Atlantis issue #1
Comic book.  Glossy cover.  Non-glossy interior.  Color throughout.  Written by Paul Kupperberg with art by Jan Duursma.  Lettered by todd Klein.  Colored by someone credited only as Tatjana, I'm assuming Tatjana Wood.  Co-edited by Ernie Colon and Laurie Sutton.  23 story pages.  Dated November 1982.

This plot summary contains spoilers for a 27-year-old c-list DC sword and sorcery title that I picked up from a fifty cent box.  You have been warned.
Plot Summary:  The story kind of picks up in media res from the Arion backup stories in Warlord.  Arion is astrally projecting, and fighting the embodiment of a star.  Meanwhile, back on Earth, Arion's body is possessed by his enemy Garn Daanuth.  

This presents Wyynde, Arion's loyal sword-swinging companion, with a dilemma.  You see Garn/Arion is threatening the female member of the group, who does not seem to be named in either dialogue or caption boxes throughout the entire issue.  Wyynde stabs Garn and Arion's body receives a near-fatal wound.

By issue's end: Arion's body and soul reunite, and he recovers form his near fatal injury; Arion defeats the star; and Arion's mentor Caculha dies.

What's good about it?  There was definitely plenty of action.  The artwork was crisp and clean with as much realism as you can get in a sword and sorcery book where a giant woman made of fire appears.  Todd Klein's lettering is always beautiful and this book is no exception.  While there was no letters page, as such, there was a text page asking for letters and explaining how the creators of the book came together to create it.

What's not quite so good?  I am not incredibly familiar with the Arion backup stories in warlord, having read very few of them, and I was somewhat confused by the events of the book.  This could have been fixed with a few recap captions or dialogue balloons.

What the ....? moments:  It's 45,000 B.C. more or less and the king of Atlantis has situation room with a giant television screen: archaeology and evolutionary biology both say this absurd.

Who should get it?  Sword and sorcery fans.

Rating:  3 stars

Method Of Acquisition:  I believe it was the fifty-cent box at Apparitions.

[khyron1144]

Review of Solo Avengers #14



What is it?  A single issue of a comic book published in 1989, color throughout, glossy covers, non-glossy interior.  It's sort of an anthology format book with two stories.  A Hawkeye story is the lead feature, as it always was in Solo Avengers/ Avengers Spotlight and a She-Hulk story is the backup feature.  Both stories are around 11 pages once you subtract ad pages.

The stories briefly:  In the Hawkeye story, Black Widow infiltrates an A.I.M. base and just before she is captured phones Avenger's mansion.   Hawkeye is the only one home to get the message and he goes to rescue her.  Hawkeye fights the A.I.M. goons and rescues Black Widow.  The heroes find out A.I.M. has a strange elaborate plot that involves collecting brains in jars.  The alleged cliffhanger ending involves a giant robot activating and being about to attack the heroes.

The She-Hulk story involves She-Hulk arguing a case before the Supreme Court because besides being a superhero, she's also a lawyer.  She-Hulk is arguing that the Mutant Registration Act is unconstitutional.  Titania, a superstrong and nigh-invulnerable villainess, is on a rampage outside the courtroom.  Since She-Hulk is the only superhero nearby, she has to go fight Titania.

What's good about it? It was cheap, only 75 cents.  The She-Hulk story was funny and sort of clever.

What's Not So Good?  The cover was bit deceptive regarding the Hawkeye/ Black Widow story.  I was expecting more of a true team up, but Black Widow was out of the action for a large bit of the story.

What The... Moments  The basic format of Solo Avengers.  Who thought splitting a normal length book in half and giving the first half to Hawkeye always and then a random Avengers-related backup story was a good idea?

Rating:  The Hakweye story is two stars, the She-Hulk story is four stars.   Together they average a three star rating.

Method of Acquisition:  The 75 cent comics bins at Tardy's Collectors Corner

[khyron1144]

Review of Hardware Issue #1 Published by Milestone/ DC Comics
Reviewed by JustiN Taylor aka khyron1144  (I think I put that in the original version of this to try to establish copyright, should it be necessary)

What is it?  A comic book.  Glossy cover, non-glossy interior.  Color throughout.  Was originally available in deluxe bagged edition and non-bagged regular edition.  Bagged version included a poster, trading card, and other extras.

Plot Summary:  Curtis Metcalf is a genius.  He works for Edwin Alva.  Alva paid Metcalf's way through college, in exchange for him agreeing to work for Alva Technologies.

Curtis finds out Alva is corrupt and tied to organized crime.  Curtis builds a suit of super armor and becomes a superhero fighting Alva's criminal enterprises.

I suppose this is as good a place as any to mention that Curtis Metcalf is black, and Edwin Alva is white.

What's good about it?  Adding color diversity to superhero comics is a good thing.  The script is engaging.  Curtis's dialogue is not the exaggerated picture of blackness that say, Marvel's Luke Cage's is.

What's not quite so good?  It feels like all set-up for the future and no real action.

What the… ? Moments:  Just the basic problem of super armor’s implausibility.  Not technologically or physically, but legally and socially.  If Bill Gates built what is in effect the next generation of fighter jet in his basement workshop, there is no way the government would let him keep it for his own private use.

Who should get it?  Anybody who likes a good story told in comic book form.

Rating: 4 Stars (of five)

Method Of Acquisition:  The seventy-five cent box at Tardy's Collector's Corner on Burton Street in Grand Rapids, MI

[Ninja D!]

I miss the old DC logo.

[SDragon]

I vaguely remember Hardware. Mainly that it was from a short-lived 90's publisher (though, I thought it was Valiant, not Milestone), that it was about a black dude, and that I liked it at the time.

In retrospect, I think it might have had some ethnic exaggeration, in order to provide some contrast between the corrupt white businessman and the morally wholesome black dude from the slums. Not nearly as much as Luke Cage had, to be sure, but still.

Also, I forget if Hardware ever addressed the WTF issue (I think it did), but I do know that other powersuit titles have. Iron Man has, and the response is why Bill Gates or Tony Stark could get away with that: they have the money. Granted, Curtis Metcalf has the opposite issue; his enemy has the money.

Also, I remember most #1's from back then being all set up like that. The industry had pretty high expectations of the commercial viability for all of these new characters.

[Ninja D!]

Looks and sounds too much like Steel. Is Steel even still around?

[khyron1144]

I miss the old DC logo.

I'm the same way with the dragon-ampersand thing from the AD&D books of the early 2e era.

Looks and sounds too much like Steel. Is Steel even still around?

I think so, but I can't say for sure.  He was alive, active, and something of a central player in 52.  That was a few years ago now, though.

I vaguely remember Hardware. Mainly that it was from a short-lived 90's publisher (though, I thought it was Valiant, not Milestone), that it was about a black dude, and that I liked it at the time.


Also, I remember most #1's from back then being all set up like that. The industry had pretty high expectations of the commercial viability for all of these new characters.

Milestone has something of a weird history.  It was actually published by DC through a licensing arrangement (hence, the DC bullet on the cover in the top left corner), but was more or less its own company.  In relatively recent years, DC has gotten hold of the Milestone characters somehow and integrated them into the mainstream DCU, so Static has made appearances in Teen Titans.

This was kind of the golden age of the speculators-buying-for-investment-potential bubble, you know before it popped and killed a number of the new wave of indy publishers and titles.


Not that anyone asked, but these first few reviews I'm posting are cross-posts  from other fora that I wrote a while back.

[khyron1144]

Review of New Year's Evil Darkseid One-Shot



What Is It?  Single Issue of a comic book, glossy paper for both the cover and the interior, color throughout.  Cover dated February 1998.
Plot summary:  Darkseid is missing, presumed dead by some.  Desaad is trying to hold together an interim government until Darkseid returns.  Virman Vundabar attacks this government, hoping to usurp Darkseid's throne for himself.  During the inevitable fight, a giant statue of Darkseid animates and holds the combatants in place, while delivering a stern lecture about how New Genesis is the true enemy.

What's Good About It?  The artwork, layouts by Sal Buscema, pencils by Keron Grant, and  inks by Ray Kryssing, with letters by John Workman and colors by Noelle Giddings; looks rather sharp.  John Byrne is the credited writer and he delivers some dialogue that has wonderfully cheesy melodramatic comic book villain qualities.  It also showed off two Apokolips natives, that I'd heard of from Who's Who entries and RPG sourcebooks and similar, but had never actually seen in action:  Virman Vundabar and Kanto, the Assassin.

What's Not So Good About It?  I have no idea where this Darkseid is kind of, but not really dead storyline comes from.  Other than cover date of February 1998 giving me a clue to an approximate era to start looking for back issues from.  Nothing in the book mentions what longer-running series this one-shot spins off from or ties into.

What The... Moments?  It's a one-shot titled Darkseid, yet Darkseid himself does not make an in-the-flesh appearance onscreen, as such.

Who Needs It?  New Gods completists.  John Byrne fans.  People that want a slightly less complicated take on the New Gods character's than Grant Morrison's handling of them in Final Crisis.

Rating: 2 stars

Method of Acquisition:  Part of a large blind grab-bag at Tardy's Collector's Corner.  I think, I effectively paid around 20 cents for it, taking into account how many other books were in the grab bag and how much I paid for the grab bag itself.

[khyron1144]

Rampaging Hulk #1 Review


What is it?  A comic book.  Indicia gives a date of August 1998.  Glossy cover, non-glossy interior, color throughout.  Pages have no visible numbering.  Contains a long lead feature and a short back-up.  Gleen Greenberg wrote both stories. Rick Leonardi did the pencils on the lead, while While Denys Cowan did the back-up.  Dan Green inked the lead feature, and Tom Palmer inked the back-up.  Tom Smith was the colorist on the whole book, while Bill Oakley lettered both stories.  Jaye Gardner was the editor, and Bob Harras was the editior in chief.


Plot Summary:  The lead story is a flashback to an earlier moment in Hulk continuity.  A caption somewhere claims six years ago, but it's a very comic book-time six years ago.  Marvel has been publishing Hulk comics for well over thirty years, and, yet neither Bruce Banner or the Hulk has aged a noticeable amount.
Here are the defining features of the moment of continuity that this story is being retroactively inserted in:

Hulk is dumb and talks in the third person.  This is before the personality-integrated smart-hulk phase.
Hulk is green.  This is after he was initially grey, but before he turns grey again in the Joe Fixit phase.
Rick Jones is not acting as his sidekick.
His former girlfriend, Betty, is married to an air force Major named Glenn Talbot.
Banner's identity as the Hulk is known to at least, General Ross, Betty's father, and Ross's Hulk-Buster team, if not the general public.  This makes Banner a fugitive.

So, at this moment in the past, that never existed before 1998, Bruce Banner is working at the Brand Corporation under an assumed name.  He attempts to use the company's Gamma Accelerator to cure himself of the Hulk.  The Hulk-Buster team burst in and captures him while he's in a not fully either Banner or Hulk mid-transformation state.  He's stuck in this half-state for a while. The Hulk-Busters take him to Gamma Base, where scientists study him to better understand what's happening to him.

Meanwhile, in his head, the Banner personality and the Hulk personality are having a spirited debate/knock-down-drag-out-fight for control of the body.  Hulk wins and completes the body's transformation into Hulk.  He escapes his cell in Gamma Base in seconds.  Thus ends the main feature.

This brings us unfortunately to the back-up story.  It feels like a PSA or Very Special Episode with a painfully obvious moral, what they might call Anvilicious on TV Tropes.  Basically a large jock bully nicknamed Hulk is threatening a nerd kid.  The real Hulk comes up and scares off the bully and then has a laugh about the divisive ways of humans.

What's good about it?  It hearkens back to an earlier day of Hulk storytelling.  I like Peter David's take on the Hulk a lot, but there is a virtue in the simplicity of "Hulk Smash!" stories.  The artwork on both stories was good.

What's not quite so good?  The back-up story.  It makes its moral point in a rather ham-handed way, anvilicious as I've said before.  It's also preaching to the choir.  Comic readers are geeks much likelier to be bullying victims than bullies themselves.  There's also no letters page or this-would-be-a-letters-page-if-we-had-any-letters-book-specific-text-page that books use in the first issue.

What the ....? moments:  Once the Hulk's transformation is complete, he busts out of his "Hulk-proof" cell in seconds.  This is the best that the government can do?

Who should get it?  Dedicated Hulk fans/completists.

Rating:  Averages out to two stars.  The back-up story and lack of a letters page brings it down.

Method Of Acquisition:  Possibly, the twenty-five cent bins at Gold Mine, either that or the fifty-cent bins at Apparitions or the seventy-five cent bins at Tardy' Collector's Corner.  All of them are somewhere in the greater Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

[SDragon]

Milestone has something of a weird history.  It was actually published by DC through a licensing arrangement (hence, the DC bullet on the cover in the top left corner), but was more or less its own company.  In relatively recent years, DC has gotten hold of the Milestone characters somehow and integrated them into the mainstream DCU, so Static has made appearances in Teen Titans.

From what I recall, at the time, image had everyone clamoring for non-DC/Marvel superheroes, which lead to publishers like Valiant and Malibu and such. Milestone, if I'm not mistaken, was DC's attempt to throw its own hat into that ring, right?

This was kind of the golden age of the speculators-buying-for-investment-potential bubble, you know before it popped and killed a number of the new wave of indy publishers and titles.

Oh yeah, definitely. That's why they had the two editions of this one. Sadly though, that, in turn, is what killed their commercial viability.

By the way, on the "six comic book years" in your review of that issue of hulk. Marvel has went on record stating that they try to keep time flowing at approximately a 3:1 ratio. In other words, the flashback should take place in roughly '80, as far as continuity is considered.

For some perspective on that, Peter Parker, who was 15 in '64, should have aged roughly 15-20 years since then. He should have graduated high school (check), gone to college (check), gotten married (check), and so on.

[khyron1144]

From what I recall, at the time, image had everyone clamoring for non-DC/Marvel superheroes, which lead to publishers like Valiant and Malibu and such. Milestone, if I'm not mistaken, was DC's attempt to throw its own hat into that ring, right?

By the way, on the "six comic book years" in your review of that issue of hulk. Marvel has went on record stating that they try to keep time flowing at approximately a 3:1 ratio. In other words, the flashback should take place in roughly '80, as far as continuity is considered.

For some perspective on that, Peter Parker, who was 15 in '64, should have aged roughly 15-20 years since then. He should have graduated high school (check), gone to college (check), gotten married (check), and so on.
[/quote]

It's an okay rule of thumb, but it's followed inconsistently.  For instance, poor Franklin Richards, seems to have reached an age of around eight years old quickly and then stayed there for close to twenty years.  Except for the weird 90s plot involving power-armored teenage Franklin from the future.

Then there's also, things like Brand New Day, where basically Joe Quesada (Marvel's current Editor In Chief) has gone on record as saying that he came up with it because having Spider Man married and with a kid would have aged him up too much, so a reset button to an earlier point in continuity was needed.



*Funny true story.  Around this era me and my dad were in a Walden Books looking at their comics rack, when a pair of teenagers came in to pick up some of the Image books.  My dad mentioned that, in his opinion, Image had impressive-looking art but all the stories were crappy.  The teenagers looked at him in astonishment and said:  "You actually read your comics?  That creases the spine!"

[khyron1144]

Review of Sidekicks: the Substitute one-shot


What is it? A comic book.  Glossy color cover, non-glossy black and white interior.  Published by Oni Press.  Indicia gives a date of July 2002.  Written by J. Torres.  Art by Takeshi Miyazawa.  Lettered by Brian O'Malley.

Plot Summary:  There's a high school for super-powered kids.  The new substitute teacher is a reformed supervillainess doing community service.  She is is initially distrusted and students try to prank her.  Hi-jinks and hilarity ensue.

What's Good About It?  The dialogue is clever and is where most of the humor comes from.  I also like the artwork.  The manga-inspired look isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I think it works here.

What's Not So Good about It?  This is my first exposure to these characters and I feel it does not make a great jumping on point.  I have no idea who these characters are and what their powers and personalities are.  I also had some trouble telling them apart visually at times.

What the... Moments:  Why manga-style artwork?  An indie humor book has enough going against it to not want to limit its audience further, and there's a certain amount of irrational dislike against anime and manga out there.

Who Should Get It?  People who like the movie Sky High or the comic PS 238 are likely candidates.  Archie fans who also like superheroes.  Superhero fans who aren't averse to the high school comedy genre.

Rating: 3 stars (on a 5 star scale)

Method of Acquisition:  Part of a five comics for $2 grab bag at 21st Century Comics and Games in East Lansing, MI

[khyron1144]

Quasar #38 Published by Marvel

What is it?
A comic book.  Glossy Cover.  Non-glossy interior.  Color throughout.  The last story page is numbered 30, but the page numbering system is also including ad pages, so probably around twenty-some odd story pages in actual point of fact.  Indicia gives a date of September 1992.  Cover has a small logo in the upper right corner indicating this is an Infinity War crossover.  Credits are:  Mark Gruenwald-- Writer, Greg Capullo-- Penciler, Hary Candelario-- Inker, Janice Chiang-- Letterer, Paul Becton-- Colorist, Kelly Corvese-- Editor, and Tom DeFalco-- Editor Extreme.

Plot Summary:  Quasar and a character known as Contemplator are in a place called the Dimension of Manifestations.  Quasar returns to Earth; Contemplator elects to stay behind. Upon his return to Earth, Quasar checks in with the Avengers.

The Avengers are off to fight a cosmic disaster of epic proportions (the whole Infinity War thing).  Circumstances require them to call in extra help from Alpha Flight and the various X-teams plus the Hulk.  They mystically teleport to an alien planet.

Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch are there teamed up with Thanos, a known villain, in order to combat the bigger threat of Magus (the whole Ininity War thing).  Things degenerate into the inevitable two-super-teams-meet-each-other-for-the-first-time-and-get-into-a-fight scenario.

There's also a side plot about Quasar's girlfriend stranded on an alien planet.

Tangent:  I have a comic box that I labelled Box Infinity.  This is not a comment on the size of my collection:  Rather, it's the box I use for Marvel-published "cosmic"-flavored books.  For example, Silver Surfer, Quasar, Infinity-event (Gauntlet, War, Crusade) crossover issues of any title, and everything Adam Warlock, especially Warlock and the Infinity Watch.  One of the reasons I picked up this issue was because it belongs in the Infinity Box for two reasons simultaneously.

What's good about it?  There were a few nice little twists on a fairly standard scenario, like Quasar using a force field bubble to delay the almost inevitable fight.  Some of the dialogue struck me as decently clever.

What's not quite so good?  It's a fairly standard scenario.  It's a little bit confusing.  Every bit of plot in the book is continued from somewhere.  None of these multiple plot-lines are resolved completely either.

What the ....? moments:  It's a 90's D-list Marvel title tied in to the big crossover event crammed with guest stars, and somehow they manage to leave out Spider-Man, Punisher, and Ghost Rider.

Who should get it?  Quasar fans, Adam Warlock fans, and those who absolutely have to have every Infinity War tie-in issue.

Rating:  Three stars (on a five star scale).

Method Of Acquisition:  Fifty cent box at Apparitions.

[SDragon]

What the ....? moments:  It's a 90's D-list Marvel title tied in to the big crossover event crammed with guest stars, and somehow they manage to leave out Spider-Man, Punisher, and Ghost Rider.

How, exactly, did that happen?

I do notice that Hulk is on the cover, though.

[khyron1144]

Milestone has something of a weird history.  It was actually published by DC through a licensing arrangement (hence, the DC bullet on the cover in the top left corner), but was more or less its own company.  In relatively recent years, DC has gotten hold of the Milestone characters somehow and integrated them into the mainstream DCU, so Static has made appearances in Teen Titans.

From what I recall, at the time, image had everyone clamoring for non-DC/Marvel superheroes, which lead to publishers like Valiant and Malibu and such. Milestone, if I'm not mistaken, was DC's attempt to throw its own hat into that ring, right?

Probably true to a certain extent, but it's worth mentioning and emphasizing that one aspect of the Milestone line was that it was a superhero universe where black and Latino characters are the majority of the cast.  In a way, it's sort of a revolutionary idea that I'm surprised that it took that long to happen.


Also have a small batch that I haven't shared yet, here's the first:


Review of issue # 5 of Young All Stars



What Is It?  A comic book in DC's "New Format".  Approximately 24 story pages, all color.  Cover date is October 1987.
Plot Summary:  It's 1942.  World War II is happening.  Some youngsters adjunct to the All Star Squadron are in Hollywood/The Los Angeles area for a dance/bond rally. Intragroup squabbles cause a pair of them to leave early.  They end up at the closed Santa Monica Pier Amusement Park.

Another pair of these Young All Stars tail them.  Axis America, a group of super-powered saboteurs, fight the four All Stars.  Three of the four All Stars are knocked out and captured by fight's end.  This leaves Dan the Dyna-Mite to lead the rescue effort.  And there's the cliff-hanger ending.

What's Good About It?  Writers Roy and Dann Thomas write stories that combine a Golden Age feeling with certain Modern Age sensibilities.  Just to bring up, a random example:  Internment Camps for Japanese-Americans.  Today we can look back at them as a mistake.  At the time, very few dared to speak up against them.  Well,  Roy and Dann Thomas do try to bring up some of the moral points against Internment Camps, yet the script still conveys a sense of World War II patriotism.

The letters page is another small point in the book's favor.  I like to read them.  It gives a sense of what the fan community was like before the rise of the World Wide Web.

?What's Not So Good About It?  Some of the WWII-era patriotism comes off weird to my sensibilities.  Maybe it seems a bit jingoistic or something of that nature.

What The... Moments:  I'm not sure as to whether it was the massive ret-conning of the history of the DC Universe in the wake of Crisis on Infinite Earths or something else, but the casting seems to involve rather a lot of knock-off characters.  There's Flying Fox (a Batman knock-off), Iron Munro (a Superman knock-off), Fury (a Wonder Woman knock-off), and Neptune Perkins (an Aquaman knock-off).

Who Needs It?  Superhero fans, fans of DC's 80s-90s Secret Origins series,and fans of Roy Thomas's writing should find this book to be worth their time.

Rating: 5 Stars (out of five)