Forgotten Comic gems 01

Hellstorm Prince of lies was a series from Marvel comics that lasted 21 issues. Starting in April 1993 with Rafael Nieves writing and various artists,this series was in my opinion Marvel's attempt at a Vertigoish series. What always puzzled me is even with lots of violence and amoral actions this series still got a CCA seal. Nieves lasted as writer from issue 1 till issue 6. With issue 7 Len Kaminski took over the writing reins. Len lasted a total of 5 issues. The highlight from his run is a storyline where Hellstorm goes to hell and manages to defeat his father,who it turns out isn't Satan but just a high level demon. With this Hellstorm gains control of a region of hell,he is surprised to find souls in this region that to him don't seem to belong. So he takes them on a journey to Heaven. After a couple of adventures they make it to Heaven,where Hellstorm is shocked to learn that once you enter Heaven you loose all individuality and become one with this Borglike ball of light. This makes him realize that maybe Hell isn't as bad as it is made out to be. With issue 12 Warren Ellis takes over the writing chores. IIRC the only other Big 2 work he had did at this time was a stint on Excalibur. He stays on until the final issue,issue 21. Ellis goes balls out and even gives Hellstorm a sidekick of sorts in Cutter Jane. Jane has the ability to change her skin to a nigh-invulnerable state. And carries a gun that can detect and dispose of demons and angels alike. She is also fighting both the agents of Heaven and Hell and does this to keep the world in balance. The book really picks up it's pace under Ellis and you can tell he has a long running storyline running under the surface. Sadly the series was cancelled with issue 21. I assume it was cancelled from low sales. When this series started I was working part-time at a comic shop,and even with all the employees recommending it,it was rare for Hellstorm Prince of lies to sell more than 10 copies each month. And when you consider that this comic shop was the biggest one in a 6 city area that is really sad. Luckily now you can find most of this series in the cheap bins. I managed to put my newest collection,I had had a complete run from when it was first out but a former girlfriend had destroyed it when she burned about 75% of my comic collection,this time I managed to get issues 1-17 for around 99 cents an issue. The last few issues cause of being low ordered cost me more,averaging out at around $1.50 an issue. But even at these prices this series is a great choice for someone who loved vertigo or the 70's Marvel horror stuff. Overall i give the entire run a 8.5 outta 10,it would have scored higher but being it ended early. Also this is a series that had alot of trouble keeping an artist,this also hurt it's rating.

Cheap Complete runs 02

The last 10 issues of Malibu's Protectors comic show an noticeable improvement in the artwork. And also have the two best story lines in the series short run. After wrapping up the Ms fury storyline in issue 12,the Genesis crossover starts. Genesis was a way for Malibu to create their own universe by connecting 3 different titles. They are Dinosaurs for hire,Ex-Mutants,and Protectors. The crossover shook up the Protectors team,and when it was over they had about 3 new members and had lost a few of their old members. Overall this was the second best storyline in the Protectors run,the only detriment is that you have to get issues of Dinosaurs for hire and Ex-Mutants to really understand what is going on. Sadly even this crossover didn't help increase the sales of the title,so with issue 18 the final storyline is started. Titled "The Beginning of the ending" it ran 3 issues and had the Protectors going up against the biggest threat so far. Some members of the team die and in the last few pages of issue 20 the entire world is destroyed. Insuring that there is a small to nil chance of the Protectors ever coming back. This series is rarely mention now,mainly cause of the bad art. And cause around the midway point Malibu started up the Ultraverse which got all the acclaim. But if you are a fan of Golden age heroes and can enjoy a well written comic that has below average art it is worth picking up. I found most of the issues in cheap bins or for cheap online. But the last three issues had very low print runs so they usually cost a bit more,but with some searching you can find them for around cover price. So if you have read and enjoyed Project Superpowers give The Protectors a chance,you might be surprised. 8 outta 10.

What were they smoking 01

When I received this issue in a lot I bought off E-bay, I had to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Written by Mike Baron of Badger fame and Alan Smithee of bad movie fame. Art is by Jeff Butler. The art is nice to look at but the story is a serious WTF moment. Barkley is in California doing a personal appearance. Godzilla shows up in the ocean off the coast. Some kid gives Barkley a lucky coin, that for some unknown reason causes Barkley to grow to Godzilla size. Charles leads Godzilla to a military base and proceeds to play basketball with him. No I ain't making this up. Barkley manages to win his game of one on one. Then flash foward some unknown amount of time and it shows Barkley still super sized. Going out into the desert where there is a huge basketball court built. And Godzilla is there waiting to play him again,and this time Zilla has on what looks to be some Air Jordan shoes. I really have no idea who Dark Horse was hoping to attract with what is one of the weirdest crossovers I have ever seen. 6 outta 10

Cheap Complete runs 01

Back in 1992 a indy company named Malibu had managed to raise their profile. They published the first few comics put out by Image. Protectors was a super hero series where most of the heroes were reworkings of public domain golden age heroes. While it never had great artwork,you can say the first 5 or so issues had horrid artwork, the writing was good and interesting. In this universe there hasn't been super heroes around since an incident that destroyed most of Richmond VA. After the evil Mr Monday shows back up,the government decides to form a new government sponsored super team. So the Protectors are born,headquartered on a decommissioned navel ship. The team is lead by Man of war,a semi patriotic hero that is some level of invulnerability and carries a flaming sword. Other stand out members are Gravestone who is Malibu's version of the Specter,and The Ferret who is your basic Wolverine rip off. The first 5 or 6 issues deal with the team forming,and learning to work together. Then bam one of the heroes,Masked Marvel, who is also the president's son is killed by Mr Monday.This happens in an issue that on the cover had a tight close up of Masked Marvel's chest and the hole in his chest goes thru the entire comic. Lame gimmick but it did make this issue stand out when it came out. This causes the team to take a more proactive approach to fighting crime. Next up the team ends up getting transported to another dimension. Where it turns out the city that was thought destroyed is. Here they face a villain that is very Jokerish. After this storyline we meet a new heroine who is called Ms Fury. And that ends the first 10 issues,at another time I will talk about the next ten issues. Every one of these issues can be found cheap,I got a handful of them for free and the rest I never paid more than a buck for.Truthfully if you can handle bad art and have a interest in alot of the lesser known golden age heroes this series can be a fun read. 6 outta 10.