tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6272048235805456122024-03-08T03:33:05.585-08:00Dantastic ComicsThe World's Greatest Comics BlogDan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.comBlogger989125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-59100189652827237132024-01-21T06:58:00.000-08:002024-01-21T06:58:31.229-08:00Captain America: Home of the Brave<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36673430-captain-america-vol-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Captain America, Vol. 1: Home of the Brave" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527102141l/36673430._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36673430-captain-america-vol-1">Captain America, Vol. 1: Home of the Brave</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5363.Mark_Waid">Mark Waid</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6188852292">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Captain America: Home of the Brave collects Captain America #695-700 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee.<br /><br />I was a tremendous fan of Waid and Samnee on Daredevil so I had to pick this up. In the aftermath of Secret Empire, Captain America is driving around America on a motorcycle and encounters white supremacist organization Rampart, The Swordsman, Kraven the Hunter, and gets frozen in ice once again.<br /><br />This is really good stuff and not just because I think Chris Samnee is the bee's knees. The first three issues are linked but largely done in one stories. The three remaining issues see Captain America thawed in a future America torn by war and ruled by a dictator. <br /><br />Waid has a great handle on Captain America's personality and resists the temptation to go quip-a-minute Marvel movie style with the dialogue. While Captain America doesn't fight any of his iconic foes, he acts like Captain America should and goes a long way toward making me forget about all that dumbass Captain America being a Nazi stunt crap in Secret Empire. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-20402157758729581702024-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:002024-01-11T14:40:04.966-08:00Immortal Hulk Omnibus<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62956876-the-immortal-hulk-omnibus" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Immortal Hulk Omnibus" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1701642770l/62956876._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62956876-the-immortal-hulk-omnibus">The Immortal Hulk Omnibus</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/889752.Al_Ewing">Al Ewing</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6136269333">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Once upon a time, a British writer and his collaborators took a certain green character and made comics history. That was Alan Moore but Al Ewing does a comparable job in Immortal Hulk.<br /><br />I've never been a Hulk guy despite some of my earliest nightmares starring the Lou Ferrigno version. As soon as someone mentioned that Immortal Hulk had some horror elements, I had to take the plunge. This was my second time through since I couldn't resist getting a huge honkin' omnibus.<br /><br />This contains Immortal Hulk 1-50, Gamma Flight 1-5, and a bunch of one-shots that probably could have been skipped. Al Ewing and Joe Bennett, along with a host of inkers and colorists, were the creative team for the bulk of the material.<br /><br />So how much do I reveal? When night falls, the Hulk walks the earth, even if Bruce Banner was dead when the sun rises. There is lots of body horror, metaphysical elements, and large scale violence. Over the course of fifty issues and some change, the Hulk goes up against General Fortean, his father Brian Banner, the Abomination, Roxxon Oil, Xemnu the Titan, The Leader, and various other threats.<br /><br />I alluded to Swamp Thing in my initial statement and that's what this reminds me of, even on the reread. Ewing adds swathes of material to the Hulk mythology, like the Green Door, the source of Gamma radiation, the world below, and even a link between the Hulk and the Leader that is brand spankin' new as far as I know. <br /><br />When your main character is an engine of destruction, you need a strong supporting cast and we get that in the form of Charlene, the scientist that is initially working for General Fortean against the Hulk, Doc Samson, Absorbing Man, Titania, and Gamma Flight, Puck and Sasquatch formerly of Alpha Flight.<br /><br />Ewing explores all of Bruce Banner's personalities, from the classic Big Guy Hulk to Joe Fixit to Devil Hulk. As much as this could have devolved into Hulk punching stuff, it never felt like that. This is a smart book. In fact, Joe Fixit even says "walking up and punching it doesn't seem like it would work this time" at one point. I also liked that some time was devoted to the Hulk-Thing relationship as well. <br /><br />Is this a perfect book? No. I thought the ending fizzled a little the first time I read it and thought the same this time. I thought it dragged a little toward the end as well. However, I still think this is one of the best Marvel runs of the past 25 years, right up there with Waid and Samnee on Daredevil and Fraction and Aja on Hawkeye. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-31122926208075807912024-01-06T07:35:00.000-08:002024-01-06T07:35:26.483-08:00Daredevil by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee Omnibus Volume 2<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125665282-daredevil-by-waid-samnee-omnibus-vol-2-new-printing" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Daredevil by Waid & Samnee Omnibus vol. 2 [New Printing] (Daredevil Omnibus, 2)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684777972l/125665282._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125665282-daredevil-by-waid-samnee-omnibus-vol-2-new-printing">Daredevil by Waid & Samnee Omnibus vol. 2 [New Printing]</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5363.Mark_Waid">Mark Waid</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6115949916">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This collects Daredevil (2011) #28-36, Indestructible Hulk #9-10 and Daredevil (2014) #1-18, #0.1, #1.50 and #15.1.<br /><br />Here we are, the second half of the longest unbroken Daredevil run in the character's history. I've been wanting to reread this run for years and this specific volume for months and months. I had a giftcard burning a hole in my pocket so here we are.<br /><br />Mark Waid isn't my favorite comic writer by any stretch but he's one of my favorite Daredevil writers. With Chris Samnee handling the bulk of the art chores, this is even better than I remembered. Waid and Samnee put Matt up against threats like the Sons of the Serpent, the Owl, the Shroud, Diablo, the Stuntmaster, and others. Once Matt goes public with his identity and heads out west, the book really breaks some new ground.<br /><br />This is an 800 page tome and I didn't really reveal that much. Waid and Samnee portray a happier Daredevil with the darkness lurking just beneath the surface. I don't know how the next run puts the toothpaste back into the tube but it's probably not an elegant solution. Anyway, I liked this even more the second time I read it. It looks gorgeous with Samnee and the gang at the helm and the individual issues are pretty satisfying on their own. It's steeped in Marvel history without beating you over the head with it and very accessible, much like the last volume.<br /><br />Five out of five stars. I look forward to reading this run again in a few years.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-22723327837367327712023-12-22T05:10:00.000-08:002023-12-22T05:10:35.145-08:00The Three Stooges vs. Cthulhu #1<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202594858-the-three-stooges-vs-cthulhu-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Three Stooges Vs Cthulhu #1" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1703250177l/202594858._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202594858-the-three-stooges-vs-cthulhu-1">The Three Stooges Vs Cthulhu #1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19727433.Adam_F_Goldberg">Adam F. Goldberg</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6069928925">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
While fishing for their dinner, the Three Stooges encounter a delirious fisherman. They borrow his boat and find things man was not meant to see...<br /><br />American Mythology has been making hay with Three Stooges comics for years now but I never felt like picking one up despite being a Stooges fan in my youth. When I saw this was being released, it drew me in the same way Archie vs. Predator did.<br /><br />This is funny shit. Adam F. Goldberg and Hans Rodionoff capture the voices of the Three Stooges very well. It felt like an old Stooges short most of the time, albeit with a huge special effects budget. Diego Tapie hands the art and colors, drawing in a cartoony style that suits the comedic nature of this sanity blasting tale. Rob Jones does the lettering and is the reason I heard about this in the first place.<br /><br />So how do you stay true to both the Stooges and Cthulhu Mythos? Goldberg and Rodionoff tread the line. The Stooges are up to their usual antics but they keep Cthulhu from doing anything ridiculous. HPL is the butt of some jokes but it's all done respectfully and doesn't seem out of character from what I know of Lovecraft.<br /><br />Four out of five stars. I guess I'm buying more Three Stooges comics now.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-61506140941011419382023-12-14T15:21:00.000-08:002023-12-14T15:21:03.812-08:00Wednesday Comics<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7155567-wednesday-comics" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Wednesday Comics" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388418145l/7155567._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7155567-wednesday-comics">Wednesday Comics</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/321800.Mark_Chiarello">Mark Chiarello</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6037195644">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Wednesday Comics collects the run of Wednesday Comics published by DC in 2009 in a format resembling newspaper adventure strips. I bought the series when it was coming out and read it but forgot most of it in the ensuing years. I kept meaning to reread it but the newspaper pages were awkward and the issues were scattered between a few long boxes. Lo and behold, this popped up on Shopgoodwill and no one else bid on it so I got it for $6.99.<br /><br />Like I said, I forgot most of this in the past 14 years but I thought the stories were good to great for the most part. There were a couple I skimmed because I wasn't a fan of the artwork - Hawkman by Kyle Baker, Wonder Woman by Ben Caldwell, and Teen Titans by Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway.<br /><br />Of the rest, I'd have to say Deadman by Dave Bullock & Vinton Heuck, Supergirl by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor, and The Flash by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher were my favorites. Hell, I even liked the Metal Men strip by Dan DiDio but how can you dislike anything drawn by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez? You can't.<br /><br />Befitting the newspaper format, this is an oversized hardcover. Instead of reprinting the issues as they were published, the stories were printed together, making for a much smoother reading experience.<br /><br />It's funny that DC has this reputation of being Marvel's copycat boring brother, and sometimes they are, but they also published innovative books like this. And stuff like Watchmen and Sandman, if you've heard of those. Sadly, they don't do as many experimental works since Mark Chiarello got the axe a few years ago.<br /><br />The adventure strips of our ancestors would be proud. Four out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-66292395340168466962023-12-03T05:40:00.000-08:002023-12-03T05:40:38.268-08:00Adventures Into Terror volume 1<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146498174-adventures-into-terror-vol-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Adventures Into Terror Vol. 1: The Atlas Comics Library (The Fantagraphics Atlas Comics Library)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1698816002l/146498174._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146498174-adventures-into-terror-vol-1">Adventures Into Terror Vol. 1: The Atlas Comics Library</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2721.Gene_Colan">Gene Colan</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6014916731">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Adventures Into Terror Vol. 1 collects Adventures into Terror #1-8, published by Atlas Comics (aka Marvel) in the early 1950s.<br /><br />First off, this is a larger book than I thought it would be. Unlike the EC library, the dimensions are a big larger than a standard comic. Secondly, the restorations were lovingly done and the pages are cleaned up scans from actual comics with some cleanup, meaning the colors are faithful to the newsprint editions.<br /><br />The tone is similar to EC stories but the stories aren't as gore strewn and sometimes have a certain possibly unintentional goofiness to them. Russ Heath's The Brain and The Return of the Brain, for instance, when the severed head of a Nazi scientist runs amok. The other stories are more or less standard horror fare, apart from the Basil Wolverton story Where Monsters Dwell, and the surreal Find Me.<br /><br />The artists are a mix of legends and guys I've never heard of. Russ Heath, Joe Sinnot, Chic Stone, Gene Colan, Carl Burgos, Basil Wolverton, and Joe Maneely grace the pages. Fun fact - the Les Daniels Marvel book has a couple pages of the Basil Wolverton story in it AND a profile of Joe Maneely in it.<br /><br />I'm not completely sold on Fantagraphics' Atlas line just yet after one volume but I'd buy another Adventures Into Terror volume if they put one out. 4 out of 5 stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-44917298472590507962023-11-08T10:47:00.008-08:002023-11-08T10:47:53.899-08:00Blue Book Volume 1: 1961<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78302734-blue-book-volume-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Blue Book Volume 1: 1961" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684781902l/78302734._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/78302734-blue-book-volume-1">Blue Book Volume 1: 1961</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6852949.James_Tynion_IV">James Tynion IV</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5858552916">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This collects Blue Book #1-5, originally published on Substack.<br /><br />I was heavily into UFO stuff as a teenager but eventually outgrew it. Still, I'm a fan of Michael Avon Oeming and a book with just a black/white/three shades of blue color palette was impossible to pass up.<br /><br />I fucking loved this! Tynion tells the story of Betty and Barney Hill, a couple who were allegedly abducted by aliens in 1961. Tynion sticks to the facts, not going all in on the skepticism or the believer POV when it comes to UFOs. Oeming's art is right in my wheelhouse, a minimalist affair that is extremely effective. I was already familiar with the story of Betty and Barney Hill but Tynion weaves everything together into something compelling and new.<br /><br />Five out of five stars. I hope Tynion and Oeming do more of these.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-34263762071181977202023-11-08T10:47:00.005-08:002023-11-08T10:47:26.793-08:00Gotham City Year One<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125071232-gotham-city" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Gotham City: Year One" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684790835l/125071232._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125071232-gotham-city">Gotham City: Year One</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6423138.Tom_King">Tom King</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5824874349">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
When Slam Bradley is hired to deliver a letter to Richard Wayne, he gets caught in a web of kidnapping, lies, and murder!<br /><br />Tom King is hit or miss for me but I like Phil Hester and Jordie Bellaire so I was quick to pick this up and it did not disappoint.<br /><br />Slam Bradley is a PI hired to deliver a letter to Richard Wayne, only to wind up as the Wayne's bagman when it turns out their baby daughter Helen, aka the Princess of Gotham, is kidnaped. After that, things get complicated. Hester goes more Tothian than usual in this and Jordie Bellaire's stark, minimalist color palette is prefect for the tale. King's writing reminds me of a lighter James Ellroy. The ingredients alone led me to believe some twisted shit was going down and I was surprised a couple times.<br /><br />I'm not sure I liked the new revelation on how Crime Alley was named or that Gotham was a sunny place where people didn't lock their doors until the events of this book. Gotham was pretty bad in All Star Western, after all. Still, it's a Black Label book and probably not a part of continuity, although it's DC so does that really matter?<br /><br />Questions/Spoilers - <a class="jsShowSpoiler spoilerAction">(view spoiler)</a><span class="spoilerContainer" style="display: none">[This is just speculation and it doesn't matter much either way but was Slam Bradley previously described as half black? Since Constance Wayne and Slam Bradley banged, he could in fact be baby Thomas Wayne's true father and Batman's grandfather, making the caped crusader 1/8th black. <a class="jsHideSpoiler spoilerAction">(hide spoiler)</a>]</span><br /><br />Anyway, I liked this quite a bit. Gritty AF, captivating, and a great looking book. Is every street in Gotham named after a former Batman writer or artist? 4 out of 5 stars.<br /><br />
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-74047200653258094632023-11-08T10:47:00.001-08:002023-11-08T10:47:02.800-08:00Top Ten Compendium<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61908800-top-10" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Top 10: Compendium" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677560324l/61908800._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61908800-top-10">Top 10: Compendium</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3961.Alan_Moore">Alan Moore</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5809432364">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Top 10 Compendium collects all the Top 10 material to date. I wasn't planning on reading this but no one else bid on it so I scored it for cheap.<br /><br />So this is great stuff. Top 10 is the story of the police force in a city in which everyone has super powers. The concept sounded stupid to me but I wound up loving it. In some ways, it reminds me of Astro City. Neopolis, the city of the tale, is where all the supers ended up after World War II.<br /><br />Sight gags abound, as do homages to classic comic characters. Police procedurals featuring super heroes are old hat now but I think Moore was the first one to do it with Top Ten. The art is most of the book is great. Gene Ha and Zander Cannon split the art chores in seasons one and two and Jerry Ordway handles things in Beyond the Farthest Precinct. Cannon handles the art in Smax and Ha does the honors in the 49ers.<br /><br />The bizarre mix of characters shouldn't work. The cops consist of an android, an intelligent dog in an exoskeleton, a cowboy with huge guns, a satanist wizard, a half ogre from another dimension, and others. They work great together, though.<br /><br />The only negative thing I can say about this is things get a little chaotic after Moore leaves. Cannon and Ha do a great job on season two but they completely disregard Beyond the Farthest Precinct, which makes me think they should have put Beyond last in the book for easier disregarding.<br /><br />Five out of five stars. This one is something else.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-33920166194673069462023-11-08T10:45:00.003-08:002023-11-08T10:45:37.758-08:00Supreme: Story of the Year<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/821799.Supreme" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Supreme: The Story of the Year" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348273023l/821799._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/821799.Supreme">Supreme: The Story of the Year</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3961.Alan_Moore">Alan Moore</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5958633123">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I've had my eye out for this for the better part of a decade and even had a couple dreams about finding it at a convention. When it popped up on ShopGoodwill a couple weeks ago, I put a pretty high bid on it and was relieved when I only had to pay $16 plus postage for it.<br /><br />Like a lot of guys my age, I was a rube when Image Comics formed and started churning out books. I read 10-12 issues of Supreme and wasn't impressed. Eventually, Alan Moore got a writing gig on the book and thirty years later, I've finally read it.<br /><br />Okay, so describing this without spoiling too much is going to be hard. Supreme has amnesia and finds himself in The Supremacy, a place outside of time where all the versions of Supreme go when there are Revisions in reality. Ethan Crane, Supreme's alter ego, is an artist working at Dazzle Comics. As he regains his memories, he relates the tales to Diana Dane, his co-worker and potential love interest as a villain's scheme slightly unfolds.<br /><br />That doesn't make it sound that interesting but, boy howdy, it is. Supreme's tales are drawn in a 1950s style and the whole book is a very meta love letter to Superman. It's a very fun book and I don't see how anyone could think Alan Moore hates comics after reading this. It's quite clear that he loves comics, even all the goofy ass crap. Instead of trying to explain away all the Silver Age silliness, Moore unapologetically rolls around in it like a dog on something disgusting.<br /><br />There are classic homages all over the place. Supreme started life as Kid Supreme so a lot of Silver Age Superboy stuff is there, like the robots, a Legion of Super Heroes homage, and a Supreme Hound. As he ages, we get Alan Moore's take on the old Justice League/Justice Society team ups, homages to the EC Comics, and even Moore's take on a very Spectre like character. Much like in 1963, he makes it feel like there's a whole box of comics out there I need to read.<br /><br />I feel like I'm underselling this. It reminds me of All-Star Superman in some ways and feels like an extension of Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow in others. This is one of those books I expect I'll discover something new every time I read it. There are references to all sorts of golden and silver age stories and I know some of them went right by me.<br /><br />Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-8215072256163454962023-08-25T09:17:00.003-07:002023-08-25T09:17:50.749-07:00Thor: The Mighty Avenger<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8846503-thor-the-mighty-avenger-vol-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Thor the Mighty Avenger, Vol. 1" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344271298l/8846503._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8846503-thor-the-mighty-avenger-vol-1">Thor the Mighty Avenger, Vol. 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/41597.Roger_Langridge">Roger Langridge</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5793720584">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
When a hobo dressed like Thor finds his way into Jane Foster's life, her life is turned upside down.<br />Aside from some of the Kirby material and Walt Simonson's run, Thor is hit or miss for me. This one is a big hit.<br /><br />Okay, so I mainly bought this for the Chris Samnee art but I wound up loving Roger Langridge's stories too. This must have hit during one of my hiatuses from comics.<br /><br />Over on Bluesky, comic artist Peter Kraus said this was one of his favorite comics and it's a romance comic disguised as a super hero comic. That's an apt description. The tone reminds me of the Allred/Slott Silver Surfer run without so much cutesy shit. Jane and Thor have some adventures as they grow closer together and fall in love.<br /><br />Samnee's art is the star of the show for me but Langridge writes some great done in one tales. Guest stars about like the Warriors Three, Namor, and Captain Britain. Aside from the lack of a proper ending to wrap it up, this is a perfect comic.<br /><br />It feels like it might have been created as a new jumping on point but doesn't seem to be tied to any established continuity. It feels a more like MCU Thor than 616 or Ultimate Thor.<br /><br />So yeah. I wish they'd gotten another few issues to wrap this up but it stands pretty well as is. Five out of five stars from me.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-77630339947181643922023-07-11T15:54:00.000-07:002023-07-11T15:54:06.460-07:00Pink Lemonade<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62918981-pink-lemonade" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Pink Lemonade" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1668012382l/62918981._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62918981-pink-lemonade">Pink Lemonade</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20464042.Nick_Cagnetti">Nick Cagnetti</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5672527414">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I don't usually lose track of time while reading but I was about a half hour behind schedule when I picked my son up today. Pink Lemonade is a naïve amnesiac riding a motorcycle, trying to make friends, see the sights, and live her best life until running afoul of a sleazy comic creator/filmmaker.<br /><br />This is one cute/fun/thought provoking book. Right away, it reminded me of Madman and Zot! with some Daniel Clowes thrown in. Beneath the surface, it's a battle of originality vs. commercialism and how being a good person is more important than being rich. Pink Lemonade, with her pink motorcycle and love for super hero OJ-Bot, is a shining light amidst a lot of Hollywood sleaze, making friends and influencing people.<br /><br />The story is cool and I love the retro-style art. Is it a perfect book? No. Some things could be fleshed out more and even a hint of Pink Lemonade's background would be nice. Was she really dead the whole time? Who the hell knows? It's a pure fun book. Buy Pink Lemonade or you're a dickhead. 4 out of 5 stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-62409952792942044762023-06-13T16:09:00.001-07:002023-06-13T16:09:42.526-07:00Batman vs. Batman: Contrasting the Morrison and Snyder Runs<p> So I recently happened upon a lot of Scott Snyder Batman books on Shopgoodwill and happened to the be the only bidder so I picked up the slipcase of volumes 1-3 plus volumes 4-7. Another lot netted me 8-10 so I picked up the whole saga for well below cover price.</p><p>As I read it, I couldn't help comparing and contrasting it with the other big Batman run I've read in the last few years, Grant Morrison's. <br /><br />Before someone readies their attack dogs, I enjoyed both runs but they're very different. Grant Morrison's is a love letter to Batman's long history while Scott Snyder pretty much makes up his own history. Bat-scholars will get more out of Morrison's run than casuals but seasoned vets and newbies alike can get the full effect of Snyder's run. Both runs deal with secret societies that have somehow evaded Batman's detection: The Black Glove in Morrison's run and the Court of Owls in Snyder's.<br /><br />Big stuff happens in both runs and Batman goes missing and/or dead in each. By the end of both runs, status quo is restored or very nearly so. The biggest threats in Morrison's run are new while Snyder plays the greatest hits, to a degree.<br /><br />In Snyder's run, I kept thinking he made The Joker and the Riddler a little too formidable. It's hard to imagine them going back to doing regular crimes after what went down. Morrison's run had more crazy crap in it, like Man-Bat ninjas and the Batman of Zur-En-Nah or whatever he was called. Snyder's was infinitely more accessible but the cases still felt huge.</p><p>Will either run be talked about in another twenty years? Hell, I have no idea. I enjoyed both runs. Morrisons' might be a little more memorable just because of all the weird shit going down. Snyder's was a bunch of summer blockbusters but does anyone remember those the following summer? Snyder's run is a great run of monthly comics. Morrison's is trying to be more than that but does it succeed? I read it last year and I only remember bits and pieces of it.</p><p>Which would I rather reread? Probably Morrison's but that's mainly because I know I missed stuff the last two times around. Morrison's is more layered, I would say. Snyder's is pretty straightforward.</p><p>At the end of the day, both men created great Batman runs with their respective creative teams.</p>Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-68726057842184210012023-05-20T06:45:00.003-07:002023-05-20T06:45:52.834-07:00Golden Age Greats Spotlight #17<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157385108-golden-age-greats-spotlight-volume-17" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="golden age greats spotlight volume 17" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1684449737l/157385108._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157385108-golden-age-greats-spotlight-volume-17">golden age greats spotlight volume 17</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/51107.Bill_Black">Bill Black</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5559301826">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This is a collection of original Ghost Rider tales from the 1950s published by Magazine Enterprises before they went tits up and Marvel scooped up the Ghost Rider trademark. Sure, the stories get repetitive after a while but they weren't meant to be read in three long sittings by someone in their mid-40s. The stories remind me of Scooby-Doo in a way. Whatever the threat is frequently looks supernatural but it's always some more mundane criminal that would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that pesky Rex Fury, aka The Ghost Rider.<br /><br />While I find the Ghost Rider character interesting, Dick Ayers' art is the star of the show. Many people know him as Jack Kirby's inker in Silver Age Marvel books but he could draw the fuck out of things in the 1950s. He's on par with some of the EC guys and it's a shame westerns comics died out because Dastardly Dick was one of the best in the west.<br /><br />My only gripe about this collection is that it's pricey at $30 for what amounts to a 200 page magazine, thought the paper is pretty sturdy compared to what a lot of comics are printed on today. Also, a master list of where the stories came from would have been nice, although most of the stories list where they are from at the bottom of the page.<br /><br />It looks like PS Artbooks is going to start reprinting the Magazine Enterprises Ghost Rider comics soon so this whets my appetite for more. Four out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-74677135850820588602023-05-12T13:38:00.003-07:002023-05-12T13:38:41.146-07:00Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium One<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61822767-the-sandman-mystery-theatre-compendium-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium 1" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677560725l/61822767._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61822767-the-sandman-mystery-theatre-compendium-1">The Sandman Mystery Theatre Compendium 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9934.Matt_Wagner">Matt Wagner</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5536304653">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Haunted by dreams, Wesley Dodds ventures out at night in an overcoat and gasmask as... The Sandman!<br /><br />I was drifting away from comics as this was originally coming out but managed to read the first trade sometime in that mythical time before Goodreads. When I saw DC was finally reprinting it, I jumped on board.<br /><br />I'm a little glad I didn't read this when I was young because I wouldn't have appreciated it nearly as much. Matt Wagner took the core of the Golden Age Sandman concept, added in a dash of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and turned it into a pulp crime book.<br /><br />Wesley Dodds isn't a muscle bound character like most super heroes. He's kind of dumpy, thick around the middle, and his only super power is his brain. Sure, he has a gas gun and can take a punch but he outwits criminals rather than rushing in to punch them out. Over the course of this book, he takes on various killers but his greatest adversary is his love for Dian Belmont.<br /><br />Boy howdy, Wesley and Dian are one of the best couples in comics. The book is as much about Wesley and Dian's complex relationship as it is bad guys getting what's coming to them. She's a smart lady and no shrinking violet. <br /><br />This thing is almost as gritty as James Ellroy at times. Make no mistake about it, this is a mature readers book. There's cursing, sex, racism, incest, gore, violence, and all the other adult content we all enjoy.<br /><br />Guy Davis handles the most of the art, though there are lots of fill-ins. Davis' art seemed scratchy at first but really grew on me after a while. The other artists like Warren Pleece, Alex Ross, Dean Ormston, David Lloyd, John Bolton, and the rest kept the mood set by Davis but gave things their own feel. Visually, it's a moody book and doesn't feel at all like a super hero book. If not for the gas mask and gas gun, Wagner's Sandman could be a forgotten pulp character from the 1920s.<br /><br />Sandman Mystery Theatre is a forgotten gem of 1990s comics. I hope this sells well enough for DC to put out the other half. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-40277181098495169372023-05-07T14:58:00.003-07:002023-05-07T14:58:47.636-07:00Superman: Space Age<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61908786-superman" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Superman: Space Age" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677558747l/61908786._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61908786-superman">Superman: Space Age</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163477.Mark_Russell">Mark Russell</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5534084020">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
With the threats of Braniac and the Anti-Monitor looming in the background, Superman learns what it means to be a hero and what it means to be human...<br /><br />When I read Mark Russell was teaming up with Michael Allred on a Superman book, I had extremely high hopes. This book surpassed them.<br /><br />Mike Allred knocks it out of the park with his Silver Age influenced art. I love the way he draws Superman, Lois, Batman, even Pariah and Braniac. He also does a good job of making characters like Lex Luthor age over the course of the series.<br /><br />Mark Russell writes a great Superman, definitely leaning into the man part of the equation. His Superman is very human and even his powers can't stop what's coming. The best Superman stories focus on the man rather than the powers and this one does that nicely.<br /><br />I love that Russell and Allred don't even pretend to be beholden to any existing continuity. Their story starts in the 1960s and ends with the end of the world. Some characters' origins have been tweaked to fit the new timeline. I'm not a huge fan of The Flash but I'd read a Russell and ALlred Flash story after this. My favorite part is Lex Luthor, though. Instead of being a megalomaniac, he's just a sociopathic businessman taking advantage of a system that doesn't make any sense. He felt all too real to me.<br /><br />Does Superman: Space Age stand up against All-Star Superman? Yes, yes it does. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-45993722383713999892023-04-29T05:13:00.003-07:002023-04-29T05:13:47.557-07:00Booster Gold 52 Pickup<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2183274.Booster_Gold_Vol_1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Booster Gold, Vol. 1: 52 Pick-Up" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343772628l/2183274._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2183274.Booster_Gold_Vol_1">Booster Gold, Vol. 1: 52 Pick-Up</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10305.Geoff_Johns">Geoff Johns</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5514532622">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
In the aftermath of 52, Booster Gold and Rip Hunter work to save the Justice League from being erased from existence...<br /><br />52 brought me back into comics after some time off and I was ready for more Booster Gold when the event wrapped. I bought the first couple years of Booster Gold as it was coming out and was thinking about digging the individual issues out of the totes when I saw they were reprinted the trade. Here we are.<br /><br /> I think one of the reasons I liked this so much when it was coming out is that the issues have a pacing more akin to Bronze Age comics. There's no decompression and maybe a little compression. Lots of stuff happens. Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund supply the art and Geoff Johns and Jeff Katz handle the writing chores.<br /><br />Like I said, each issue is satisfying on its own. Booster and Rip try to fix time anomalies as best they can. Booster talks Sinestro into leaving earth, drinks whiskey with Jonah Hex, and has a heart to heart with Guy Gardner, among other things, all with an eye toward bringing Ted Kord back.<br /><br />Dan Jurgens on art could easily have felt like a throwback but Norm Rapmund's inks give his pencils a more contemporary look. I'm not a huge Geoff Johns fan but the guy knows how to pace a monthly super hero book. I don't think he'll ever write something the level of Watchmen or Daredevil: Born Again but he's a cut above most monthly super hero writers at this time.<br /><br />The Booster Gold doing Quantum Leap concept works as well now as it did when it was new. Four out of 5 stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-31635613622513544732023-03-04T10:29:00.003-08:002023-03-04T10:29:33.760-08:00Astro City Metrobook 1<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60301992-astro-city-metrobook-volume-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Astro City Metrobook, Volume 1 (Astro City Metrobook, #1)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1646652909l/60301992._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60301992-astro-city-metrobook-volume-1">Astro City Metrobook, Volume 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7338.Kurt_Busiek">Kurt Busiek</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5384882086">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Astro City Metrobook 1 collects Astro City 1-6, Astro City volume 2 1- 12, and Astro City 1/2.<br /><br />So I didn't really get Astro City when I was a teenager but I've read a fair bit of it as an adult and dug it. In fact, I've blocked a few people on Twitter who shit talk it. Anyway, I decided to free up some shelf space and trade in my old collections for these big honkin' Metrobooks.<br /><br />So Astro City seems like an homage to archetypical comics, and it is, but it mostly focuses on the human side of things. Samaritan can fly around the world in minutes but doesn't leave himself time to go one dates. Astra from the Furst Family is a third generation hero that wants to be a normal kid. Jack in the Box wonders how he's going to juggle being a super hero with fatherhood. There are dozens more examples to back up this viewpoint.<br /><br />The artwork by Brent Anderson is understated but it fits the human tone of the story. You don't need a behemoth with bulging muscles and eye burning coloring to tell human focused stories. The plot of Astro City turning against the super heroes due to a political demagogue is a plot that seems just as fresh today as it did in the 1990s. <br /><br />That's about all I want to say. I don't want to spoil anything for people who've never read this. This is my third time through Astro City and it just gets better with age. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-21840234261592809022023-01-14T13:20:00.003-08:002023-01-14T13:20:54.673-08:00Whiteout<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1158530.Whiteout" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Whiteout" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1501795499l/1158530._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1158530.Whiteout">Whiteout</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18327.Greg_Rucka">Greg Rucka</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4263426247">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
When a body is found frozen outside an Antarctic research station, US Marshal Carrie Stetko is on the case. Can she find the identity of the victim and why he was killed before she becomes a frozen corpse herself?<br /><br />When the local used bookstore announced they were closing permanently, this is one of the things I spent my store credit on.<br /><br />Greg Rucka spins a great crime yarn and this is no exception. The crime, other than the murder, isn't apparent until much later in the tale. His protagonist, Carrie Stetko, is one of the few women on Anarctica and a hard ass, exiled for killing a suspect. <br /><br />The mystery is a good one, as good as comic book mysteries can be. Steve Leiber does a great job conveying the hellishness of life in Anartica even in the best of times. In addition to standard comic techniques, I think I saw some charcoal and whiteout come into play. I usually walk around the house barefoot all year long but I put on a thick pair of socks while reading this.<br /><br />The ending was great. I think there's another Whiteout book but I can't imagine it being as good as this one. Four out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-49845348294761322942023-01-14T06:40:00.001-08:002023-01-14T06:40:44.644-08:00Richard Stark's Parker - The Hunter<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14540166-parker" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Parker" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340752848l/14540166._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14540166-parker">Parker</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/61386.Darwyn_Cooke">Darwyn Cooke</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5059062979">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
When I found out the local used bookstore was closing for good, I headed down there to use up my store credit. This was one of my purchases.<br /><br />I last read the Parker series when University of Chicago Press reissued them and I forgot most of the wrinkles of the first book so this was an all new reading experience for the most part.<br /><br />Darwyn Cooke has crafted something amazing here. Unlike a lot of adaptations, it stands on its own but remains faithful to the spirit of the original work. I was skeptical that Cooke's Tothian style would be suitable for the subject matter but he brilliantly captures the tone of the series.<br /><br />His Parker is a little more handsome than I pictured Parker when I read the books but I was quickly on board. The baddest thief around is the baddest thief around in any medium. This was a slam dunk for me. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-74892705701606486192023-01-03T16:38:00.002-08:002023-01-03T16:38:05.738-08:00The Great Re-Read - Y The Last Man: Unmanned<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156534.Y_The_Last_Man_Vol_1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Y The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388178315l/156534._SY160_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156534.Y_The_Last_Man_Vol_1">Y The Last Man Vol. 1: Unmanned</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24514.Brian_K_Vaughan">Brian K. Vaughan</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19654649">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I first read this series as it was coming out in that quasi-mythical time before Goodreads. I recently scored the ten volumes for $5 apiece on shopgoodwill so I figured it was time for a re-read. I gather there was a streaming series that has already been cancelled. Anyway...<br /><br />The core concept of the series is that every male lifeform on the planet is wiped out by means unknown except for Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand. Yorick's maybe fiancée Beth is on the other side of the world in Australia.<br /><br />Pia Guerra's art isn't flashy but gets the job done. Saying it like that makes it sound like I don't like it. I do like it but there's nothing eye catching about it. <br /><br />Brian K. Vaughan's writing is punchy. It's humorous at times but never descends to the level of so many quips that I want to slap the shit out of the characters. Yorick is capable but not nearly as capable as he thinks he is. Good thing Agent 355 is around to pull his ass out of the fire a couple times per issue.<br /><br />I don't think I've spoiled much about this 20 year old comic. I will say that now that I'm 20 years older, I think Yorick is kind of a dumb ass for wanting to get to Australia in a world that is halfway down the crapper. Yeah, yeah, true love, blah blah blah, whatever. I also appreciate him getting into the damsel in distress role more than I did back in the day. Since I've forgotten the source of why all the men died and most of the wrinkles of the plot in the last 15 or so years, it's like an all new book.<br /><br />This volume is one loaded baked potato. We'll see if the rest of the books have a pace like this. I remember it being more decompressed than this but who the hell knows after fifteen years.<br /><br />Four out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-54550501844669964742022-12-30T12:41:00.002-08:002022-12-30T12:41:33.371-08:00The Twilight Man<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46189671-the-twilight-man" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559857208l/46189671._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46189671-the-twilight-man">The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2783303.Koren_Shadmi">Koren Shadmi</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5187538456">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Imagine if you will, the creator of one of the best anthology television series of all time, on a plane, relating to a passenger his life story. But an airplane ride is not just an airplane ride... in the Twilight Zone.<br /><br />I'm a lifelong Twilight Zone fan so I was jazzed when my in-laws got me this for Christmas. It hooked me right away.<br /><br />Drawn in a style evocative of the stark black and white of the Twilight Zone, The Twilight Man covers the life and times of Rod Serling, from his early years to his stint in the military to toiling as a teleplay writer for years before his big break finally came. It's mostly downhill after the Twilight Zone is canceled.<br /><br />It's crazy how much work Serling put in during the Twilight Zone's three year run, working fourteen hours and smoking four packs of cigarettes a day, which undoubtedly lead to his downfall years later. As with most figures of this type, Serling's downhill slide after Twilight Zone was sad, the Night Gallery movie excepted.<br /><br />That's about all I want to say for fear of spoiling my favorite parts of the book. Koren Shadmi did a great job capturing Serling's look and personality and also did a great job on other celebrity faces like Burgess Meredith and William Shatner. On a side note - isn't it crazy that we owe DesiLu studios for Twilight Zone AND Star Trek?<br /><br />Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-29579444247295318312022-12-29T15:20:00.001-08:002022-12-29T15:20:26.955-08:00Black Hammer Omnibus<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60198752-black-hammer-omnibus-volume-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Black Hammer Omnibus Volume 1" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1652109023l/60198752._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60198752-black-hammer-omnibus-volume-1">Black Hammer Omnibus Volume 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/543719.Jeff_Lemire">Jeff Lemire</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5183687573">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I got rid of my Black Hammer trades during the last purge since I saw this was coming out. It seemed like a great time for a reread and it was. I forgot most of the events of the first two Black Hammer trades so it was like mostly new material.<br /><br />This quirky little nightmare features the heroes of Spiral City stranded in a small town in the aftermath of their final battle with the Anti-God, a town they cannot leave. Is it heaven? Is it hell? Is it something else?<br /><br />Black Hammer is more than one of those homage comics that keep popping up. While it's partially an homage super hero comic, it's also a creepy ass mystery that also explores the nature of small town life a bit.<br /><br />While I love the mystery factor, the characters rise above their roots. Barbalien is a gay Martian Manhunter. Abraham Slam is an aging Captain America. Golden Gail is a older woman in a nine year old girl's body. Colonel Weird is Adam Strange if Adam Strange cracked under the strain of all the weirdness. And Madam Dragonfly would be the hostess of a House of Mystery type comic if she weren't the magical portion of the Black Hammer team.<br /><br />So now I have to wait until July to reread the next batch of reprints. Hopefully they collect all the tie-ins in softcover as well. Five out of five stars.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-77974640994580782822022-12-12T16:50:00.001-08:002022-12-12T16:50:03.486-08:00The Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5513643-the-sandman-by-joe-simon-jack-kirby" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Sandman by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327096229l/5513643._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5513643-the-sandman-by-joe-simon-jack-kirby">The Sandman by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/65993.Joe_Simon">Joe Simon</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5158372398">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The Sandman by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby collects 20+ Sandman stories from Adventure Comics in the 1940s plus Sandman #1 from the 1970s.<br /><br />I scored this on Shopgoodwill a while back. I read two or three of the stories in reprints in Adventure Comics digest about 40 years ago so most of it was new material. All the stories are written by Joe Simon and drawn by Jack Kirby. Simon inks the 1940s stories and Mike Royer inks the lone 1970s story.<br /><br />Ordinarily, I'm not a huge fan of Golden Age super hero comics but these were pretty good, no big shock considering the creative team created Captain America a couple years early and went on to create the romance comic genre. Plus Kirby was the architect of the early Marvel universe. Anyway, Simon and Kirby weren't happy with the deal they had at Timely and jumped to DC.<br /><br />Charged with revitalizing a poorly received character, Simon and Kirby ramped up Batman and Robin style antics of Sandman and Sandy. The stories are all ten pagers and Sandman and Sandy usually battle ordinary crooks, although crooks with gimmicks are not unheard of. There are no supervillains, though, and no recurring characters beyond Sandman and Sandy.<br /><br />The stories are pretty simple but entertaining in a bad guys getting punched in the mouth and hauled off to jail sort of way. They remind me of Batman and Robin without the Batcave or any gimmicks beyond their wire-poon guns.<br /><br />Kirby's art naturally isn't as refined as it would be twenty years later but there are still flashes of brilliance. I wonder how much of the heavy lifting was left to Joe Simon's inks. Sometimes the inks make Kirby's figures kind of grotesque and everyone seems leaner and lankier than they would years later. Again, this is 20 years before Kirby revolutionized comics at Marvel.<br /><br />My favorite story in this is easily Santa Fronts for the Mob. The mob recruits a brutish wrestler to play a department store Santa so they can follow him on deliveries and rob the rich people's houses. Sandman and Sandy punch a bunch of bad guys and "Santa" helps them. Good stuff.<br /><br />The reproduction is kind of muddy. I'm blaming it on the paper since the Archives editions came before this and the Plastic Man reproductions from the same time period are clear as a bell.<br /><br />Four out of five stars. For basic super hero action from the Golden Age, it doesn't get much better than this.
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Dan Schwenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430857663521602751noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-627204823580545612.post-13802545470017252942022-12-10T14:51:00.001-08:002022-12-10T14:51:35.277-08:00The Question Omnibus<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58690681-the-question-omnibus-by-dennis-o-neil-and-denys-cowan-vol-1" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Question Omnibus by Dennis O'Neil and Denys Cowan Vol. 1 (Question, 1)" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655759685l/58690681._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58690681-the-question-omnibus-by-dennis-o-neil-and-denys-cowan-vol-1">The Question Omnibus by Dennis O'Neil and Denys Cowan Vol. 1</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/28710.Dennis_O_Neil">Dennis O'Neil</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5149724770">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The Question Omnibus volume one collects The Question #1-27 plus The Question Annual #1, Green Arrow Annual #1, and Detective Comics Annual #1.<br /><br />It hasn't been that long since I read Denny O'Neil's run on The Question in trades but I had some money in my pocket after hauling a bunch of crap to Half Price Books so I picked this up.<br /><br />Along with Green Arrow, The Question was one of the corner stones of DC's Mature Readers line that was a precursor to Vertigo. The Question fights crime in Hub City, a stand-in for Denny O'Neil's home town of East St. Louis, Illinois. Vic Sage, TV reporter, fights crime both in his daytime career and by night as The Question, a faceless crusader for justice. Hub City is a cesspool of corruption and Vic's battle is uphill both ways.<br /><br />Denny O'Neil, with Denys Cowan and others on art chores, puts a Charlton character with 64 pages of story to his name through the wringer and turns him into a bonafide headliner. There aren't many comics that have the main character get shot in the head and dumped in the river to end the first issue. Vic Sage learns at the feet of Richard Dragon and becomes a much better crime fighter, the last good man in a city full of shitheads.<br /><br />Sage goes up against drug dealers and other criminals but his biggest enemies are corrupt politicians and a culture of incompetence and negligence. Much like Green Arrow, intrusions from the rest of the DC Universe are kept to a minimum, apart from the three part Batman/Green Arrow/Question crossover.<br /><br />While this was from the mid to late 1980s, the themes of corrupt cops and douche bag politicians never go out of style, unfortunately. Vic has an unfortunate haircut for a lot of the book but for the most part, it aged perfectly well. The mayoral campaign near the end of the book, in particular, has a perennial quality.<br /><br />The Question Omnibus volume 1 is an easy five star read for crime fiction fans who also like comis. <br /> DC, don't leave me hanging. Where's volume 2?
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