I Read Comic Books discussion

Spring is here! Happy April, everyone. What are you reading this month? Making progress of the Reading Challenge?

Tell us all about it in the thread below!

As always, if you'd like to see what the IRCB crew is reading, take a peek at the Top of My Pile posts over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ircbpodcast

For April Fool's Day I went back and read the Marvel Assistant Editor's Month comics. It was an odd event from back in the 80's where the editors went to Comicon and the assistant editor's took over for the month and did odd things with all the books. Some of them are really fun, John Byrne really got into it with his 3 comics. I found all of these in Marvel Unlimited. This article on CBR www.cbr.com/knowledge-waits-every-mar... has all of the issues listed including the ones not on MU like the licensed comics. There are also some issues on MU where the Assistant Editors joke was pulled if it was just replacing the letters page that month. This article has those missing pages.

Fantastic Four #262 ★★★★
John Byrne inserts himself into the Fantastic Four comic itself for Assistant Editor's Month. He asserts that he's retelling stories told to him by the Fantastic Four and he gets pulled into the trial of Reed Richards for not allowing Galactus to die. It's a cool issue. John Byrne is one of my favorite artists so there's that as well.

New Defenders #127 ★★★
Begins with a short 2 page story with Ann Nocenti having delusions of grandeur now that her boss is out of town and the Assistant Editors have taken over. Then we move onto the regular issue. I'd forgotten Iceman's parents live in Port Jefferson on Long Island which is less than 10 miles from me. The rest of the issue involves the Secret Empire and is kind of boring.

Dazzler #30 ★★★★
This one definitely wins the award for incorporating Assistant Editor's Month into the plot. Whatever Dazzler is going through isn't very good, but then she hitches a ride from editor Ralph Macchio and he takes her to Comicon while all the assistant editors run rampant back in New York. The meta nature of this wins the day.

Daredevil #202 ★★
This Assistant Editor's Month entry was pretty terrible. Basically Tarzan and his two brides come to New York and do strange things. It's all throw away content. Then in the back up story a kid dresses up like Daredevil to give a school report. It's awful.

Captain America #289 ★★★
The cover is the best part of Assistant Editor's Month. It's got an amalgamation of M.O.D.O.K. and Red Skull on it as Moskull and Bernie America saving the day. The main story is a continuation of what had been going on with Cap sent to the future in the 90s. The cover does come into play in the backup story where Cap's girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal, fantasizes about being Captain America.

Avengers #239 ★★★
Probably the most famous of the Assistant Editor's Month comics. The Avengers go on David Letterman and get attacked. It's OK. The better part of it is probably Hawkeye showing up at Avengers mansion with his new wife, Mockingbird, in tow. And she gets to meet Hawkeye's ex, Black Widow. Yeah, Hawkeye gets around. I do like the cover and how the Avengers are all facing backwards in the corner and the cover parodies the old cover dress of DC. Mike Carlin also takes over the Letters page and it's stupid.

Amazing Spider-Man #248 ★★★★
Well, this assistant editor took Assistant Editor's Month seriously. It's too separate stories. The first is a big fight with Thunderball on Long Island. The second is the kind that pulls on your heart strings where Spider-Man visits his biggest fan.

Alpha Flight #6 ★★★★★
This issue of Alpha Flight is terrific. Not at all surprising since this is John Byrne in his prime. Snowbird is on her own and has to fight one of the old gods. The thing is the entire fight takes place in a blizzard and the panels are completely white. There are still all of the panels, dialogue, narration and even sound effects but no art. I love how Byrne plays it completely straight and doesn't let on that he just got away with not drawing 7 pages of the comic this month. A great start to Assistant Editor's Month.

Uncanny X-Men #177 ★★★★
A good issue with the X-Men getting ambushed by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. For some reason the version on Marvel Unlimited has the Assistant Editor's Month page removed. It wasn't very good anyway so that's OK.

The Thing #7 ★★★★★
My favorite of all the Assistant Editor's Month comics. This is hilarious. The Thing is getting his butt kicked by this cheesy villain, Goody Two Shoes. Then you get to page 18 and you can hear the record scratch and the pay off happens. It's so damn funny. Just genius Mr. Byrne.

Power Man and Iron Fist #101 ★★★
Meh, this was supposed to be part of Assistant Editor's Month but it's just an OK issue where Power Man and Iron Fist are taken out on the first page and Misty Knight and Colleen Wing have to track down a cure before they die.

Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #86 ★★★★★
This Assistant Editor's Month issue was brilliant. Al Milgrom comes into the Marvel offices because his art pages have been rejected and then finds out Fred Hembeck is drawing it instead. If you don't know Hembeck, he drew cartoony stuff for Marvel for decades and his art is awful. So Hembeck draws all of the middle pages and they are hilariously bad with spiral knee caps and humongous eyes. The villain is The Fly and he keeps getting sidetracked by garbage. It's a really funny issue.

New Mutants #11 ★★★★
I love the original New Mutants run and this issue is no exception. The New Mutants are fighting Selene down in South America in an old Roman colony where they found Amara (Magma). Now onto the Assistant Editor's Month portion which is the whole reason I'm reviewing this individually. The letters column has been replaced with a contest to win the assistant editor's socks.

Incredible Hulk #291 ★★★
Was Ann Nocenti an assistant editor on every comic Marvel put out? She's been in at least 3 of these Assistant Editor's Month comics. In this one Bruce Banner shows up at Marvel and talks to Ann about how Thunderbolt Ross is a traitor. It's played completely straight. They also mention how Marvel just puts the heroes actual stories into comic book form. Then most of the story is a look back at Ross's history.

Thor #339 ★★★★★
Still the best run of Thor ever as far as I'm concerned. Walt Simonson just can't be beat. Even though Thor could as this is the aftermath of Beta Ray Bill beating him. It's cool. Read it if you haven't. If you're looking for the page having to do with Assistant Editor's Month it's missing from the copy on Marvel Unlimited.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #7 ★★★★
The Impossible Man shows up and goes on a scavenger hunt stealing stuff from around the world and leaving the X-Men holding the bag. They eventually wind up in the Marvel offices where it ties into Assistant Editor's month. Fun stuff.

Last week's adventures in comics, non-April Fool's edition.

Batman and Son ★★★★★
What a terrific beginning to Morrison's run. Teamed up with Andy Kubert, the book looks fantastic too. This is Damian's introduction. I'd forgotten how much of a psycho he is at the beginning, straight up murdering the bad guys before Batman can stop him. That's part of what makes this run so great, the journey Damian goes through over the course of the 7 years Morrison writes Batman.

I will say I straight up hated the prose issue with John Van Fleet's illustrations. Morrison's one of the best comic book writers but his prose is terribly overwritten (that's still the same these days. I tried to read Luda when it came out and it made me want to end things.). I love how he leans into the Ra's al Ghul stuff that most writers steer clear of. The Ninja Man-Bat's are badass. I'm looking forward to revisiting the rest of this run.

West of Sundown, Vol. 1: Out Beyond the Dust N' Dark ★★★
The elevator pitch is the Universal Monsters set in the Old West. It's a bit more nuanced than that though. Yes, there is a vampire, but she's not Dracula. It's just some of the archetypes. A vampire, Frankenstein's monster, a mad scientist, etc. It's solid. I found the dialogue a bit wooden and the story overly complicated at times. Hopefully volume 2 will smooth both of those things out.

West of Sundown Vol. 2: Youthful Blasphemy ★★★
For some reason, this just never lives up to the sum of its parts. I mean, a wierd Western featuring a vampiress, Frankenstein's monster and a mad scientist? And then you add in Dr. Moreau? Sign me up. But it's just OK. The plot is too convoluted. Just too much going on, making it more cumbersome to follow and enjoy.

End After End Vol. 1: At the Moment of Your Death ★★
Five issues in and I feel like it's just getting started. It's about a guy who dies and wakes up in a world of neverending battles. That's pretty much the whole story with very little explanations. There are a lot of flashbacks to his life, but they seem to go nowhere unless volume 2 turns this into some kind of Jacob's Ladder scenario. The art often feels unfinished as well. It goes down that manga road of not finishing faces or backgrounds.

Fearscape Vol. 2: A Dark Interlude ★
I guess it's appropriate that a comic about the evils of sequels stinks since it is, itself, a sequel. This was awful. It just droned on and on while I kept checking the page numbers to see how much longer I needed to suffer through this. Damn, my completist nature!

Death Hawk: The Complete Saga ★★★
Some surprisingly solid space opera. It started out in the 80's, Adventure Comics folded after 3 issues and years later all of it finally came about. Death Hawk is kind of like Indiana Jones set in space. It has a pulp feel to it along with similar twists and turns. You could do much worse than reading this.

Wonder Woman, Vol. 3: The Circle ★★★★
Part of a different era for Wonder Woman. She's lost some of her powers and working as an agent for the Department of Metahuman Affairs as Diana Prince. I like how Gail Simone hits the ground running here. All the stuff with the Amazons and the reason why Hippolyta's personal guard is in prison is all pretty cool. Then we head to space for a unique look at the Khund. Good stuff here. I love the Dodsons' art too.

Wonder Woman, Vol. 4: Ends of the Earth ★★★
Wonder Woman gets jettisoned to another world where she has to team up with Beowulf and some other obscure Bronze Age characters to fight a demon. Then the Queen of Fables comes along to make a cheesy Hollywood movie about Wonder Woman. It's all not bad, but also not Simone's best work. The art is all really good though, from Aaron Lopresti and Bernard Chang.

Wonder Woman, Vol. 5: Rise of the Olympian ★★★★
Wonder Woman gets her own version of Doomsday. It's similar not just in its threat level, but also in how vague her background is, but I guess you're not supposed to think about that. Meanwhile in the background, Zeus is up to some shenanigans that will pay off down the road as he looks to replace the Amazons. I do like how the Secret Society plays in the background of most of DC's stories in the post Final Crisis era. Aaron Lopresti's art is great.

nosferatu : sovereign of terror ★★
An old independent vampire comic from 1991 repackaged and reprinted 30 years later. Like a lot of reprints from that era of independent comics, the transfers aren't great. Neither is the story for that matter. It's about an eternal battle between Count Orlok and a cursed knight.

The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien ★★★★
I'll just start by saying I was in the bag for this book before it was even written. The Chronicles of Narnia was the first book series I became obsessed with and I still remember when I found them at the library when I was 8. Two years later I picked up The Hobbit and was immediately enthralled again. These two series were so formative on my childhood. Then to discover that the authors of both were longtime friends and colleagues? It boggles the mind. I just knew them as the two men who developed my love of fantasy from an early age.

This is not purely a graphic novel. Nor is it strictly prose. I guess you'd call it illustrated text as it has long passages of both. What it really is, is really good. If you like nonfiction and want to read about two men whose visions shaped the 20th century and beyond, this is the book for you.

What If... Wanda Maximoff and Peter Parker Were Siblings? ★★★
This is a prose novel not a graphic one. It's not bad, although I thought the ending was a little glossed over so it could be part of this larger story of America Chavez being a Watcher. It made this feel like it wasn't a complete story after the build up of this whole book.

The story itself is about what would happen if the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were separated as babies and Wanda was adopted by Peter Parker's family. It works much better than I expected. It hits most of the major bests in Spider-Man's life but now he has a sister. The story is told from her point of view as she learns how to use her powers as the Scarlet Witch while still suffering the many tragedies that occur in Peter's life over the years. After all the build up though, it felt like we just ran out of pages instead of actually ending the story.

Human Remains: The Complete Series ★★★
Huge shrimp monsters are portalling in and destroying any person with heightened emotions. This is understandably causing worldwide trauma as you have to keep calm even as you see people ripped apart right in front of you. Even though this is 8 issues there are some subplots that get dropped before they are resolved. The art isn't all that detailed, sometimes making it difficult to tell characters apart.

Superman vs. Meshi Vol. 3 ★
This quite possible may be the dumbest comic ever written. It starts off with Superman using his super Amnesia kiss to make Lois Lane forget he's Clark Kent immediately after he tells her. Then he does the same thing to Batman so they can have a second lunch. Later on, they do a version of Superman's death where the Justice League eats food from a microwave while Superman is in a coma and they talk about how great microwaved food is. This thing is so dumb. If only negative infinity stars were an option on Goodreads.

Lakota ★★
I wanted to like this but it's just not very good. It's another one of Mark Ellis's projects that was started in the 90's and not finished for 25 years. It's just not very good. It's way too busy with info dump after info dump. It is Jim Mooney's final artwork but he died before he could finish the book.

Lakota: Serpents of Aztlan ★
Unfortunately, just not at all good. This is only about a 30 page comic with the rest just being filler from looks like some very old comics. It's about a Native American hero who fights a bad guy from a rejected episode of Breaking Bad. It's nonstop infodumps and OK art. The writer lives in Ireland and always wanted to write about Native Americans and it shows in how he writes this.

Storm King Comics Dark & Twisted: Death Mask ★★★
The wife and wife creative team of Amanda Diebert and Cat Staggs team up to bring this tale of a mother's justice. When people start getting murdered in elaborate ways out of a movie, the lead detective realizes there may be more to this than just random killings. Not too shabby.

The Changeling: Volume 1 ★★★
Not bad. I don't know if I'll read the rest of it though. It's somewhat convoluted. There's 4 different types of lycans, but they aren't really lycans in the traditional sense. They all appear human except for maybe having a tale and pointed ears. There's some kind of prophecy with this main character that makes her an outcast. I didn't think it was very well explained until the end. Like I said it was OK, especially if you're into 90's manga.

Vagrant Queen, Vol. 2: A Planet Called Doom ★★★
A more complicated plot than volume 1. Had times where I was lost as to motivations but overall some solid science fiction.

One Operation Joker V1 ★★
This could have been funny. Batman falls into the vat of chemicals that made the Joker and reverts to a baby that the Joker decides to raise for "reasons". Then the Joker becomes an overwhelmed dad for the rest of the book and it drags so much. The artwork is good though.

The last 2 weeks trip to my LCS.

Storm #5
World's Finest #35
X-Force #7
Aquaman #4
Absolute Batman #7
Geiger #13
Incredible Hulk #24
Transformers #19
Ultimates #11
Uncanny X-Men #13
Birds of Prey #20
Absolute Superman #6
Gatchaman #8
Hornsby and Halo #6
Hyde Street #5
Immortal Thor #22
West Coast Avengers #6
X-Men #14
Ultimate X-Men #14
Absolute Green Lantern #1

I am still working on five nights at Freddy's called silver eyes and the title that I'm still waiting I haven't rated it yet I'm still reading it and then after I read that I'll get you guys know in a chat in a little bit

Last week's adventures in comics.

Hello Darkness Vol. 1 ★★★
These stories are OK. The back half is by Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan. It's their attempt to tell what would happen during a nuclear war. It's not very interesting to tell you the truth. The story everyone is probably wondering about is the 2 part Something Is Killing the Children short. It's fine. I'm sure it got people to buy this. It's nothing you haven't seem before though if you've been reading the monthly comic. The other random stories are really hit and miss.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Vol. 4: Retribution ★★
Things with Rabble finally come to a head with Miles's super friends in tow. I'm really glad the Cape Killers nonsense ends here. The artwork in this is a chaotic mess. It's so busy and chaotic I can't tell what's happening at times. Using speed lines instead of backgrounds also contributes to the confusion. Next up, yet another event. Ugh!

X-Force, Vol. 1 ★★★
X-Force is back again. This go around Forge has created a device that sends X-Force to places where the world is about to end. There's not much as far as subplots go. There's a new character Tank with barely a personality. And of course, this book is cancelled as of issue #10 which also coincides with the 300th issue of X-Force. Marcus To is the artist and is work is always solid.

Heat Seeker: Combustion A Gun Honey Series ★★★
James Bond if Skinemax had the license 20 years ago. Yes, I know Cinemax isn't a thing these days but that's what I always think of when I think of movies that are supposed to be titillating for no reason. Basically Heat Seeker is a female James Bond who constantly is stripping her top off. For this outing, she has to protect a 12 year old girl and her father is a scientist who has created a nerve agent. The plot has a lot of double crossing. It's pretty much ridiculous. But it is also fun. So if you like B grade action flicks, you'll probably enjoy the Heat Seeker series.

Charred Remains ★
Unfortunately, this was terrible. It's about a woman whose parents died in a fire when she was a child. She saw this person she calls the "Fire Man" in the flames. Now there's some kind of conspiracy brewing in New Orleans. The storytelling is very obtuse. It's not helped by the artwork. This comic looks like it was dropped in a puddle. Mutti needs to spend some more time giving his characters more definition instead of rushing to push out as many comics as he can.

Neverlanders ★★★★
A fun all-ages comic continuing on the adventures of Neverland. A group of homeless kids from New York are brought to Neverland to be the next group of Lost Ones. The pirates are still around, now being a group of adults who want the power provided by the island of Neverland. I mean, it's Tom Taylor so it's no surprise that this is good.

Exceptional X-Men, Vol. 1 ★★★★
After Krakoa, Kitty Pryde just wants to live her life as a bartender in Chicago. When she sees some mutant teenagers being mistreated she reluctantly gets involved, becoming their teacher. Eventually, Emma Frost shows up more or less to make snide comments. This is a slow burn focusing on the characters. There are not a lot of plots or intrigue going on. Yet, I liked it quite a bit. Maybe it's just that it's the complete opposite of the Krakoa era which skimmed over character so they could throw 6 gazillion mutants at you instead. It doesn't hurt that Carmen Carnero is a terrific artist.

Hard Bargain ★★★★★
An excellent read. Of course, I'm a sucker for supernatural noir, especially when it's done this well. It's about a P.I. in a Los Angeles where magic and demons exist. He's investigating a case that has to do with his childhood friends and their fathers. What a terrific ride. I hope DeKnight decides to take a pause from Hollywood again in the future to make more comics. (DeKnight worked on Buffy, Angel and Daredevil among others.) The art is excellent as well. Just an all-around home run.

Deer Editor ★★
Basically a dad joke turned into a comic and played straight. The main character has a deer head and is a reporter while everyone else is human. I was onboard until the vampires showed up. Then the plot just dissolved into a confusing mess. Sami Kavela's art is always excellent.

Uncanny X-Men By Gail Simone Vol. 1: Red Wave ★★★★
My favorite of the 3 new X-Men books. Gail Simone has a great handle on the characters, particularly Rogue. We get new 4 new mutants as well, one of which is slated to turn evil. We also see that the X-Mansion has been turned into a prison for mutants although we don't get any details how that's legal or who is actually running the show. David Marquez's art is excellent. This book feels the closest to an old Claremont era X-Men book.

Joker Vol. 2: One Operation Joker ★★
How can a story about the Joker raising a baby Batman be this unfunny? The Joker plays it completely straight, not telling any jokes as he worries about being a good father. God, this is tedious when it should be funny.

Joker Vol. 3: One Operation Joker ★
Just when I thought this series couldn't get any dumber, it does. That ending was atrocious. It makes no sense the way it parallels Batman's beginnings. Just dumb beyond belief. Then Batman turns back into himself because he was left in the rain? I just don't get how the ratings can be so high on this thing. The only thing it is worth is to use it as toilet paper.

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 4: Gotham Nocturne Intermezzo: Outlaw ★★★
This is an interesting aside as Batman takes a backseat in his own comic. He's to be publicly executed in three days so leave it to Selina Kyle to put a team together to keep that from happening. I do feel like this will read better reading Ram V.'s entire run all at once. I'd already forgot what that reality engine they have does.

Minor Arcana Vol. 1 ★★★★
The main character has recently returned home to the small Canadian town she grew up in. (I know, a shocker that Lemire would set his new comic in a small Canadian town like half his other comics.) Her mother is the town psychic, but she's also sick and her daughter has returned to help take care of her as she goes through chemo. Oh yeah, and where her mom is a charlatan, she may actually be a psychic and is unaware of it. Good stuff.

Wayne of Gotham ★★
I love the Dragonlance books that Hickman has written with Margaret Weis, but his is terrible. Thomas Wayne was into eugenics? Bruce treats Alfred like a servant instead of the man who raised him. Give me a goddamn break. If it wasn't for all of the random appearances from Batman's rogues, I'd say Hickman had never read a Batman story before. This book seriously needed an editor too. There's spelling and grammatical errors. It takes place on two different timelines and Bruce is called Thomas and Thomas called Bruce at times. I caught those things on my first reading. An editor should as well. And then the ending of the story was just dumb. A giant mobile with mannequins on it? And some of those mannequins are actually assassins? This book is the worst.

X-Factor By Mark Russell Vol. 1: Please Like And Share ★★★
This is basically the same idea as the 3rd volume of X-Factor by Peter David. X-Factor goes corporate, working for fake TicTok. So we have some techbro stuff and all the general lying you'd expect from entitled billionaires. It's fine but I honestly expected a little more out of Mark Russell. I do like Bob Quinn's artwork.

Midnight Suns: Rise of the Midnight Suns ★★
An odd choice to make. It comes out around the time the video game came out (and let me tell you that game sucks.) but it's not the same setup or even the same characters as the game. A bunch of random magic characters (and Wolverine to sell more copies!) get together to stop the end of the world. The whole thing is really just a way to make Agatha Harkness not be an old grandma now that she has a Disney+ show. The whole thing just feels slapped together at the last moment.

Pathfinder Wake the Dead ★★★
Some solid fantasty D&D type action with this new Pathfinder collection. There's also a one-shot called Bad Alchemy and character sheets for all of the new characters in this so you can use them for your own adventures.

Mystique: Most Wanted ★★★
A pretty solid spy story with Mystique and Nick Fury's kid going head to head. I liked seeing SHIELD's new status quo working out of the basement of the CIA without all of the toys they are used to.

Agatha Harkness: The Saga Of The Salem Witch ★★
Clearly this was made to capitalize on Agatha All-Along getting released on Disney+. The comic book character is so different though. She's a really old lady. And then the issues contained are so different. You have her first appearance in Fantastic Four when she takes over raising Franklin Richards. Then when she goes to train the Scarlet Witch in Avengers. Then the stuff with Nicolas Scratch and the Salem Seven back in FF which all stinks. The latest of these was 1980. Then we jump to the Midnight Suns miniseries that came out in 2023 and also isn't very good.

The Ultimates by Deniz Camp, Vol. 1: Fix the World ★★★★★
This was terrific. This version of the Ultimates have been labeled terrorists even though they are the opposite trying to save this Earth from the Maker. Now they have 18 months until the Maker is back and they need to be prepared for that confrontation. Each issue is pretty much growing the members and there are some excellent issues. Doom's origin in issue #4. What's been going on in America in issue #2. The issue with Monster Island. And then issue #6 is just bad ass. I'm going to have to check out some of Camp's other work after reading this.

Ultimate Black Panther By Bryan Hill Vol. 2: Gods And Kings ★★★★
The series begins to ramp up as the war between Wakanda and Ra's and Moon Knight's forces begins. We also get a glimpse into this universe's Sorcerer Supreme. Good stuff. So is Stefano Caselli's art.

Ultimate Spider-Man, Vol. 2: The Paper ★★★★★
Reading this makes you realize just how bad the 616 Spider-Man comics have gotten. This is easily the best Spider-Man comic since Bendis was writing the original Ultimate Spider-Man. It's a slow burn of a comic and I'm here for it, it's so well told with terrific art. I like how it's told in real time with each issue being the next month in the life of the Parkers. This new Sinister Six is interesting. Who am I fooling? Everything about this book is interesting. It's easily the best comic Marvel is currently publishing.

Today's trip to the comic book store.

Gatchaman: Only One Earth #3
Absolute Flash #2
World's Finest #38
Detective Comics #1096
Exceptional X-Men #8
Redcoat #11
TMNT #8
Spectacular Spider-Men #14
Ultimate Wolverine #4
X-Factor #9
Godzilla Vs. Hulk #1
Flash Gordon #8

Last week's adventures in comics.

Absolute Batman Vol. 1: The Zoo ★★★★
This is supposed to be Batman without his money but his Batmobile shows he's got plenty of money stashed somewhere. That thing is ridiculous. That aside, this was cool. Batman, if the Waynes weren't the aristocracy of Gotham and just a normal family instead. Snyder throws some nice curve balls in there. I especially liked Bruce's childhood friends. Some of the new things the suit could do were more silly than cool but I'll be back for more.

Kosher Mafia ★★★
1936 in Cleveland, a bookkeeper and an enforcer have to go against the head of their criminal organization to out what the German Bund is up to.

Starfinder: Angels of the Drift ★★★
A decent comic set in the RPG world of Starfinder. Also included are character sheets so you can use the characters in your own adventures.

Farscape, Vol. 1: The Beginning of the End of the Beginning ★★★
A solid continuation of the show. Given that the creator wrote the story treatment for these, I'm not surprised. The artwork is just OK.

Farscape, Vol. 2: Strange Detractors ★★★
This certainly feels like an episode of a sci-fi TV show. It's about a virus that causes you to go all aggro. This is one Farscape extended universe story that feels right out of the Star Trek playbook.

Farscape, Vol. 3: Gone and Back ★★★
Farscape goes to the mirror universe. Well at least John Crichton does. It's one where he never met Aeryn which becomes the focus of the story.

Farscape, Vol. 4: Tangled Roots ★★★
Aeryn goes off looking to see how her genes may have been altered to cause her son's mutation. Meanwhile, John goes off looking for the mercenary who attacked their son. Good stuff. These books read just like further episodes of the show.

Farscape: D'Argo's Lament ★★★★
Reads like an unaired episode of the show. D'Argo and his companion have left their ship to get a lubricant that their living ship needs. The problem being that there is a gang war on the only moon where it exists. Now they have to figure a way to stop the war so can get what they need.

Farscape: D'Argo's Trial ★★★★
Details D'Argo's life before he was framed and arrested for murdering his wife. My favorite story of these Farscape comics yet.

Farscape: D'Argo's Quest ★★
Easily the least interesting of the extended universe Farscape comics. D'Argo's looking for his brother-in-law who killed his wife and he's not even on the right planet. Instead, he gets wrapped up with Roxil again and she's the most annoying character I've seen in a while. She just talks and talks, getting them in more and more trouble and it's all handwaved away at the end. The story was a mess. Plus the lack of any backgrounds in the art kind of drove me batty.

The Adventure Zone, Vol. 6: The Suffering Game ★★★
Not bad. Not a fan of all that swirling black stuff in the latter half of the book. Couldn't tell what was going on. One more book to go.

Wrinkles ★★★★
It's impressive how funny, touching and sad one short graphic novel can be. It's about a man who has Alzheimer's. His family can no longer take care of him and put him in a home. There, his new roommate takes him under his wing, showing him the ropes while also conning residents out of money. The two bide their time while Ernst's mental acuity continues to decline. There are times you'll smile and times you'll feel melancholy with this one.

Thundercats Vol. 2: Roar ★★★
The art's good. The plots are fine but the story moves as slow as molasses. We are 10 issues in and none of this feels like an arc. Just a bunch of one and done stories.

Thundercats: Cheetara ★★
A nothing little story about Cheetara getting premonitions of Thundera being destroyed when Liono was still a kid. There is literally almost nothing to this story. Really disappointing.

Defenders of the Earth (2024) Vol. 1 ★★
This is not good at all but then again Dan DiDio is not a good writer. I do hate to see Jim Calafiore's art wasted on this. I'm been a fan of his since his Valiant days in the 90s.

Gatchaman, Vol. 1 ★★★
Some solid G-Force action as it was known here in the U.S. Battle of the Planets was one of my favorite cartoons when I was a kid. I had no idea it was originally a Japanese cartoon called Gatchaman until many years later. I found this to be a worthy successor to the original series. It nicely brought back all of the elements that made the cartoon so cool. Chris Batista's art is perfect for bringing that same look in his wake.

Jonny Quest Vol. 1: Time Flies ★★★★
A well done continuation of the show. I'm not the biggest Joe Casey fan but this was good. Everything I wanted from a comic about one of my favorite cartoons.

The Eternal Warrior ★★★
Valiant's latest attempt at a prose novel featuring one of their characters. I thought this worked pretty well. I liked that they stayed in the same constrains as the comic book incarnation unlike when they did the Bloodshot novel. Gilad Anni-Padda has been around for thousands of years, righting wrongs and fighting wars. Here, a death cult tries to capture him so they can end the world through the Boon, which is the otherworldly place where he and his two brothers were granted their immortality.

Uncanny Valley Vol. 1 ★★★★
A fun comic about a boy who is part cartoon. Think Harry Potter meets Roger Rabbit. I do wish there was more plot advancement. It feels like a shorter story that was stretched out to more issues which is more or less exactly what happened. That being said, it's still a really cool book. Dave Wachter's art is inventive. I really like the different look of the cartoon versus "real" characters. Looking real forward to more.

Flash Gordon Vol. 1: Escape from Planet Death! ★★★★
This was a blast. Flash and Ming have to team up after Flash destroys Mongo and wakes up months later. Great art. Fun pulpy story. Really, really good.

Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 8 ★★★★
Five stand alone stories of Erica out killing monsters. I like the variations on what's going on in each one. Some of them she's actively killing monsters, sometimes she's dealing with how much it messes her up, sometimes she's dealing with the after effects. Doesn't really advance the story any further but nicely done one-shots.

A Legacy of Violence Vol. 1 ★★★
A guy in a Great Value Punisher logo mask is torturing and killing people in a village in Honduras. Enter a team of doctors from Doctors without Borders. One of the doctors had some kind of tragedy happen with his grandfather when he was a kid. (This is only the first four issues of a 12 issue maxiseries.) Now the killer seems to be focusing on him while murdering others for some reason and he keeps hearing the words Unit 731 (which is a unit of the Japanese military that experimented on prisoners in World War II).

I feel like this would be much better if Andrea Mutti wasn't doing all of the art and coloring. The only way you can tell the characters apart is by their haircut. All of the Caucasians look jaundiced. He's the exception to the rule that all watercolors look great. His art has gotten sloppier and sloppier over the years and he could clearly use some help with the artwork.

A Legacy of Violence Vol. 2 ★★
This one feels like one of Bunn's quickie series without a whole lot of thought put into it. This group of doctors is running around a small town in Honduras and yet everyone speaks English. It almost feels like a old-school video game level of horror. Not to mention that if this killer is Shaw's grandfather's age, he couldn't possible be that much of a physical threat. Mutti's art looks a lot better when it's just black and white during the flashbacks. His color art looks like he flicked it on there from the other side of the room.

A Legacy of Violence Vol. 3 ★★
Good lord this was bad. I had the hardest time telling who was who. The art is so damn bad that everyone looks the same. The story is a meandering mess. Not to mention that the evil old Nazi killer would be in his 70s and not very threatening. Bunn can be really good or really bad and this falls in the latter category.

Today's trip to my LCS.

X-Men #15
Blade Forger #2
X-Force #10
Deadpool / Wolverine #4
Gatchaman: Ryu - Scavengers
One World Under Doom #3
Predator Versus Spider-Man #1
Thundercats #14
Avengers #25
Absolute Wonder Woman #7
Batman #159
GI Joe #6
Justice League Unlimited #6
Hornsby and Halo #6
Ultimate Black Panther #15

Marvel also sent me a Mark Buckingham variant cover of Amazing Spider-Man #1 for being a part of Marvel Insider now that it's shutting down.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Book of Cutter #1 ★★★★
This year's SIKTC one-shot. Maxine Slaughter heads to London to transition from white mask to black mask. Meanwhile we get the history of the different houses and how they came to the Americas interspersed throughout in text form. This says 96 pages but the original story is only half that. The second half of this is a page by page of script to page.

House of Slaughter, Vol. 6: Azure ★★
This series is so uneven. It's the complete opposite of Something Is Killing the Children. That is consistently great while this wavers beck and forth between fine and terrible depending on who the writer is for the arc. Sam Johns's stories are just not for me. Her writing bores me to tears.

Something Is Killing the Children #0 ★★★★
A zero issue that takes place right before the series starts. Good stuff as always. I can't wait to see how this plays into future arcs.

A Legacy of Violence Collection ★★
Cullen Bunn can write good comics. This is not one of them. It's about an old Nazi doctor running around torturing people in Honduras and the doctors without borders team stuck in the middle. The storytelling isn't very good. Andrea Mutti's art looks like he dropped the comic in a puddle. He's the exception to the rule that watercolor comics are really appealing.

Storm King Comics Dark & Twisted: The Killing Hole ★★
It's 1979. Two outcast friends dig a hole in the woods and hang out there. Eventually one of them does something really bad. Just not at all satisfying as a story. I think there was a reason Niles let this one sit for 30 years before telling it.

The God List ★★★
A used book dealer is given a book listing hidden masterpieces and is immediately attacked. He and a woman he just met travel to Europe to find these masterpieces while being constantly pursued. There are quite a few holes in this. It's more of an elevator pitch than a well thought out story. Still, I found the concept intriguing.

Incredible Hulk Vol. 4: City Of Idols ★★★★
First we get a flashback story to the ancient Hulk, Enkidu, who also fought the Eldest. Then we head to Vegas to finally try and save Hulk's friend who is trapped in a doll. Things go from bad to worse for a time. There's lots of cool body horror. Issue #19 is also issue #800 so we get some backup stories with Amadeus Cho, She-Hulk and the Red Hulk as well. The Red Hulk one is certainly a lead-in to the Red Hulk's involvement in One World Under Doom.

Incredible Hulk Vol. 5: Gods Drink Blood ★★★
Charlie's turning into a monster now that she's put on the Godskin. All these werewolves keep coming after her even though half of the time they look like vampires. Hulk's more along for the ride for this one.

John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Usher Down ★★★
This is a crazy story about some people who find Poe's House of Usher buried underground. It starts off as this haunted house story and then involves time travel and all kinds of craziness.

Twists Of Fate ★★★★★
A World War II story about the Spanish exiles who fought with the Allies. They were kicked out of France after being forced to flee Franco's forces in Spain, eventually becoming prisoners in work camps in North Africa. After being liberated they joined the Allied army and headed to Europe. It's a compelling story, told by an old man who has been forgotten, living under an assumed name in France. I like how the details of the war are told in color while the current time is in black and white as he begrudgingly tells his story to a graphic novelist.

Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon ★★★★★
Pluck Wonder Woman from Themyscira and have her raised by Circe in Hell instead? And teach her magic making her even more badass? Just show me where to sign up. This is terrific. Diana maintains the core of her indomitable character even as things get much darker for her in this life. This is Kelly Thompson at her best.

Feral, Vol. 2: Cat Lady ★★★★★
Man, this book is messed up. The Disney visuals interpreted through Night of the Living Dead. These cats are trying to escape a rabies outbreak that's mutated just in time to get captured by a crazy cat lady. This was demented but fun.

Seance in the Asylum ★★
This is set after the Civil War. It's about a medium working at an asylum who turns out she may not be the fake that she has always believed she is. This starts off very slow for only a 4 issue series. The art wasn't to my taste. It was scratchy with a lot of lines and it looked like those lines had been connected by Connect the Dots.

Avengers By Jed Mackay Vol. 4: Storm ★★★
Some of the solicits are labeling this volume as Avengers Vs. X-Men but it is certainly not that. The X-Men appear in one issue where they play softball. There are some good stories here. The best part about it though is the addition of Storm. It's about time there is a mutant on the team again. It just makes sense and she's one of the coolest. I do like that the Black Panther plans a mission just so that he doesn't have to talk to his ex-wife.

Absolute Superman Vol. 1: Last Dust of Krypton ★★★★
A 12 year old Kal-El comes to Earth where he fights for the lost people in third world countries being exploited by the Lazarus Corporation. It's good. I especially liked all the moments on Krypton, seeing how this version failed. There was maybe one or two too many of Superman's cast thrown into the mix. It started to make certain things feel shoehorned in. Still this was really good and Rafa Sandoval's art is always welcome.

Kill All Immortals ★★★
Turns out Leif Erikson is immortal along with his children. After a thousand years, his daughter has had enough when he tries to kill her boyfriend and she turns on her family. I didn't engage with the long fight sequences though. They just felt like random snippets of fighting as opposed to a fight sequence that flowed together. I also felt the art was weaker in these sequences. I really liked the stinger at the end and it makes me want to see more of this series.

Birds of Prey, Vol. 3 ★★★★
Batgirl takes center stage as she goes undercover at a Goop-like company that is experimenting on Amazons. Then the cult after Sin comes after her while Barda and Batgirl help out Constantine. This was my favorite arc yet. Feels like Thompson really has a handle on the characters now.

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir ★★★
A graphic memoir about an Indian woman who always dreamed of moving to New York and after a dark time in her life, she finally did. Parts of this I quite liked and identified with as well. I grew up in the Midwest and moved to New York as an adult as well. I quickly identified with all her feelings of moving to this magical place where all these literary masters made their home. But the books shifts a lot of gears, focusing on a lot of different subjects. That's where it lost me some because of how disjointed it felt as a whole. Sohini's artwork is REALLY good. I hope she continues to make graphic novels and I look forward to reading her next one.

Aya: Face the Music ★★★
An African, soapier version of Love and Rockets. It deals with some harsher subject matter as well, like human trafficking, arson, the inability to pay hospital bills. It's all well done. I'll be checking more of these out as this is the 8th volume.

Hornsby & Halo, Vol. 1: Nature vs Nurture ★★★★
A bit of a simple premise but I thought it was done well. An angel and a demon are switched as babies in order to avert a war between heaven and hell. The angel is adopted by terrible parents while the demon is adopted by an altruistic couple. When they hit 13, they both begin to discover who they are. Tomasi and Snejberg have worked together several times and every time I've enjoyed their collaborations.

Redcoat Volume 1: Einstein & The Immortal ★★★★
A British soldier inadvertently steals immortality away from Benjamin Franklin. Then 120 years later he teams up with a 13 year old Albert Einstein to save America (if only to save himself). I like how Redcoat only cares about himself (or at least tries to). There are some down sides to immortality. You are always hungry for some reason. (I guess immortality burns a lot of calories.) That epilogue issue is a heart crusher. I'm looking forward to future arcs to see how he interacts with the rest of The Unnamed as this continues.

The Order of the Circle ★★★★
I quite liked this. It's set in London 1952 but a London where magic is real and a society of mages has helped since the middle ages. There's one witch that is looking for revenge though after the society framed her husband for murder and banished him to hell while taking away her voice so she could no longer practice magic. She's looking for a weapon that can kill the demon who dragged her husband to hell. It's cool stuff. The art was really good too, especially since this artist was new to me.

G.I. Joe Vol. 1: The Cobra Strikes! ★★★
Cobra is prepared this go around at Image. They've got a ton of manpower and tech. G.I. Joe consists of 6 or 7 people. Plus, we've got Energon in the mix now as well. The one thing I was really surprised by was how let down by the art I was. Jordie Bellaire is a top-notch color artist but it looks atrocious. It's so monotone and one note. It would have been better off in black and white than how drab this is and how it takes away from the look of the book. Tom Reilly's lack of backgrounds really sticks out like a sore thumb too. Most of the time it looks like each panel is just floating in space.

Transformers Vol. 3: Combiner Chaos ★★
I feel like Transformers has kind of lost what made the first 2 arcs so good. It's just nonstop boring fighting between random Transformers. There's so many of them that I don't care about any of them. Jorge Corona's art is just not for me. It's so overly busy. I couldn't tell who was even who half the time or what a panel was even depicting.

Strange Bedfellows: A Graphic Novel ★★★
In the future humanity was moved on to another planet, one where kids born there often develop powers. Our main character, Oberon, develops his late in life at 19. He's lonely and realizes he can bring what he dreamed the night before to life. That's where an old high school boyfriend comes into play. He starts appearing in Oberon's dreams and Oberon starts bringing him into reality as his power develops.

Today's trip to my LCS.

Defenders of the Earth #6
Godzilla / Spider-Man #1
Feral #12
The Goon: Them That Don't Stay Dead #4
Rocketfellers #5
Something Is Killing the Children #41
Thundercats #15
Ultimate Spider-Man #16
Void Rivals #18
World's Finest Annual 2025
Detective Comics Annual 2025