Getting ready for October

As I have done the previous few years. Everyday in October I will be watching at least one horror film and reviewing it here on the blog. Now word of warning some of the  reviews may contain spoilers. I am still trying to figure out what movies I will be watching. One thing I have tried to do each year is avoid the films that everyone has already talked about many times. So no Friday the 13ths,Nightmare on Elm Streets,or Halloweens. Hope everyone enjoys this series of reviews.

Harbinger Files 1 and 2

Harbinger Files #1 and 2
Valiant comics

This was a 2 issue limited series that Valiant published in 1994 and 1995. It was a way to give more background information on two characters from the Harbinger series.

Issue #1 starts off right after issue #3 of Solar. Harada and Solar are in a jumbo jet. The jet ends up crashing out in a heavily wooded snowy area. And Harada is the only survivor. He is found by a man that lives in the woods. And this guy brings Harada back to his cabin and starts nursing him back to health. While this is happening Harada tells the guy his life story. We find out how Harada became the president of the Harbinger Foundation. Well near the end of the comic Harada sees that a helicopter is coming to get him. So he kills the man that has been taking care of him. This issue is written by Fred Pierce and Bob Layton. And Dave Cockrum does the pencils with Gonzalo Mayo doing the inking work. The art work doesn't look much like the work Cockrum did on the X-men. And if I hadn't read his name on the first page I would have never been able to tell he was the penciler. Over all this was a fun and informative comic. Harbinger Files #1 gets a B+.

Issue #2 is all about a new character who is named The Harbinger. We get to see him being trained by Harada and the Harbinger Foundation. But you can sense that The Harbinger wants to rebel against Harada. All through the issue we are given small clues to the identity of The Harbinger. Now I read this issue way after I had read the entire run of The Visitor. And in that series The Harbinger's true identity is revealed. And I bet if you read this issue after reading the first 25 issues of the Harbinger comic,you should have no trouble guessing who The Harbinger is. The story is written by Jesse Berdinka and Fred Pierce. The pencils are by John Ross and the inks are by  Mike DeCarlo. Now compared to the first issue ,this one is severely lacking. I have never really cared for The Harbinger character. And this issue didn't make me care for him. Harbinger Files #2 gets a C-.

Some good podcasts

I listen to a bunch of podcasts. So here is a list divided up into genres.

Comic Book Podcasts

Comic geek speak,Jamie's essentials,Comics with and without pulp,Murd's time bubble and Comics in Motion'
www.comicgeekspeak.com

Only the Valiant
www.onlythevaliant.com

The geek savants-Warning this show can be very vulgar and sleazy
www.thegeeksavants.com

Star Joes-covers comics and toys. Mainly focused on GI Joe,Transformers and Star Wars
www.starjoes.com

Horror/exploitation/cult movie podcasts

Profondo Cinema-covers horror/cult/exploitation and sleazy films
www.profondocinema.com

Night of the living podcast-horror podcast that covers movies,tv shows,novels,comics and even horror related porn
www.NOTLP.com

Deadpit Horror talk radio-Warning these two guys can get very vulgar and are not PC at all
www.deadpit.com

Wrestling podcasts

Colt Cabana's Art of wrestling podcast-Each week Colt interviews a different wrestler
www.welovecolt.com 

Wrestlecrap Radio-Comedic look at pro wrestling.Sadly it can be months between new episodes.
www.wrestlecrap.com

Iron Man/X-O Manowar Heavy Metal Marvel Edition

Iron Man/X-O Manowar Heavy Metal Marvel edition

This is the second part of the Iron Man and X-O crossover. We start with a group of Iron Man villains being led by one of the members of HARD Corps. But  the Avengers show up. And the team has long time members like Crystal,Quicksilver and Captain America. Plus  Rai,Solar and some lady called Windstorm. I have no idea who Windstorm is. Maybe she was in the Harbinger series. And I haven't read much from that series. Well all of the sudden during the battle reality starts shifting and then we see all the heroes and villains fading out.

We cut to a ship way out in the ocean and Armin Zola and some wizard guy are trying to find all the scattered pieces of the cosmic cube. It seems that this merged reality is going to implode unless someone can put the cosmic cube back together.

We next jump back to the dark ages and Aric is being chased by Romans. He hides in a cave. And finds a briefcase. This case contains the Iron Man armor and Aric puts it on. We go back to modern time and Tony Stark is a young kid and his dad is showing him an alien egg that SHIELD has lent to him. The elder Stark is suppose to find out how to make the egg hatch. Well Tony gets near it,and the X-O Manowar armor jumps out and attaches itself to Tony.

We jump ahead a few years I think and X-O and Iron Man are working together to get the last piece of the cosmic cube. They find it ,but have to fight off the Masters of Evil and some Spider-Aliens. But they triumph over the villains and head off to the ship when Zola is.

They arrive on the ship and through a very complicated way manage to get the entire Cosmic Cube. And then use it to change reality back to the way it is suppose to be.

This issue was written by Fabian Nicieza. With Tom Grindberg doing the pencils and the team of Bill Anderson,Al Milgrom and Larry Mahlstedt doing the inking. Now first off I haven't read the first part of this 2 part crossover. But besides the fun of seeing Valiant heroes teaming up with Marvel heroes,this comic is very lame. Iron Man/X-O Manowar Heavy Metal Marvel edition gets a D-.

Comics I have read this year so far

Over at the Comic Geek Speak forum a bunch of people are keeping a list of all the comics,trades,hardcovers and OGNs they read each month.

January 2011

TPBs/Hardcovers/Graphic Novels Read-6

Bone all in one edition
Crossgen Forge vol 1
Crossgen Edge vol 2
Crisis on infinite earths
Infinite crisis
Showcase presents Dial H for hero

Singles Read-38

Yeah 1-8
Squadron Supreme 1-12 Gruenwald mini-only the kinda plain art keeps it from being perfect comic.
Uncanny X-men 140-150
Avengers Annual 10- worst thing I have read this year
Sigil 21,22I am really really enjoying this space opera comic.
Impluse plus 1 First time I have ever read a comic with Impluse and it wasn't bad
Justice League of America Vol 1 issue 228 fun comic that has John Jozz beating up Aquaman.
Fantastic Four 2575
Sectaurs 1 was expecting this to be bad and it was better than I expected.

February

Trades/hardcovers Read-4


Essential Marvel two in one volume 1 Reread this today to kill time till the mail passed. While not the best of the series 2 in 1 never had a truly bad issue.

Blackest Night hardcover This was the first Green Lantern I have read since the mid 90s. And I had no trouble following along with the story.

Project Superpowers TPB volume 1 Read this in floppie,but I found the trade for cheap.

Savage Sword of Conan Archives volume 3

Singles Read-4

Next Issue Project Fantastic Comics 24  The last story keeps it from a perfect comic.

World's Unknown 6-Killdozer adaptation
Sleepwalker 1-horrible horrible comic

Darkhawk 22

March

Trades/Hardcovers Read-3

JLA Crisis of Conscience

Old Man Logan- Heard all the hype about this series for almost 2 years now. So I finally sat down and read the entire thing today. What a great and fun comic. I was hooked as soon as the spider-mobile showed up. And now I really hope someday we get a sequel to it.

Walking Dead volume 9 -  As always this was great,but I hate how quick Walking dead reads. I opened the trade and about 20 minutes later I was finished.


Singles Read-101

The Boys 19-29 - I have fallen way behind on this series and now trying to catch up.
Wolverine the origin 1-6 - Not that impressed with the story but the art was good.
1602 1-8
Skull Kill Krew 1 and 2
Doom 2099 2,3
Excalibur -This was the prestige format book that came out before the series.
Excalibur Mojo Mayhem- Art Adams artwork=Amazing. Plus I got it for a quarter.
Black Hole 1
Chaos Effect Epilogue 2
The Ferret Vol 2 3,6
Man of war Vol 2 3,7,8
Married with chldren Bud Bundy,Fanboy in paradise
Married with Children Buck's Tale 1
MWC Kelly goes to Kollege 1,2
MWC Lotto Fever 1
MWC Quantum Quartet The big wrap up -  Been looking for this issue for years.
The Ray vol 2 1-4
The Good Guys 1-4 -  The first couple of issues have crappy art,but the story is fun.
Prudence & Caution 2
Bloodfire 6-9 -  The artwork is horrible,but the story ideas are interesting.
Geomancer 7,8
Magnus Robot Fighter 41,48,49,50,52,54
The Outcast 1  Worst thing I have read so far from Valiant.
Psi Lords 2,3,8,10
Punx 1 - so bad I couldn't even finish it.
Rai 17,21,23,28.
Secret Weapons 7,13,15,16,21
X-O manowar 36,39,41,50-x,61
Starslayer the director's cut 1-3
Magnus robot fighter Acclaim comics 2,3,4,5,8-15,17,18
Ninjak Vol 2 2-4

April


Trades/hardcovers Read-1

Shadowman -  This reprints the first few issues of the the first volume of Shadowman.Plus you get some always amazing Steve Ditko artwork.



Singles Read-8

Asylum 7 -  This was an anthology series put out by Liefelds Maximum Press.
Avengers 51  This is the series after the whole Heroes Return debacle.
Battlestar Galactica Journey's End 3
Scavengers 0,6,7 - Published by Triumphant comics. This is actually a good series. Only drawback is the art.
Shadowman Vol 1 32,42

MAY

Trades/hardbacksRead-11

Witchblade 10,11
Bat Manga
Essential X-men 3,4
Walking Dead volume 10
Witch
Heavy Water
Endangered
Headache
Black Smith

SinglesRead-41
Rescue Rangers/Darkwing Duck FCBD flip book
Captain America/Thor
2000 AD FCBD
Atomic Robo FCBD
The Tick FCBD
Bloodshot volume 1 0-7
Bongo Free for all 2011 edition
Curse of the Weird 2-4 - Great series that reprints pre-code atlas/Marvel stuff.Lots of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby artwork. Worth tracking down.
Dark Horse Presents 14
Deathmate Blue
Deathmate Red
Deathmate epilogue
Good Girl Comics 17
The Groo Chronicles 2
Groo the Wander 4,8,9,10,20,44,46,50,56,110
Gumby 3d 4
Monster Menace 1-4 - Reprints a bunch of the Marvel Giant monsters stories. Lots of Kirby and Ditko artwork. Another one worth tracking down.
Mr Monster Attacks 1
Mr Monsters's 3D Horror 1
Mr Monster's Hi Shock Schlock 1
Mr Monster's Horror 1
Vengeance of Vampirella 3,12,16,17,18,23
Vengeance of Vampirella Mystery Walk 0

June

SinglesRead-19

Crazyman vol 1 1-3
Crazyman Vol 2 1-4
Bombast
Nightglider
Captain Glory
Satan's Six 1-4
Secret City Saga 0-4

August

Trades,Hardcovers,and Graphic NovelsRead-1

Heartburst and other Pleasures-Reprints the Heartburst graphic novel and some shorts

SinglesRead-51

Bloodshot 11-32
Vistor vs the Valiant universe 1,2
The Vistor 1-13
Hard Corps 1-7
Young Zen Intergalactic Ninja 1,2
Zen Intergalactic Ninja 0-B/W issue
Zen Intergalactic Ninja 0-Color issue
Zen Intergalactic Ninja The Alternity Saga 1,2,3
Zen Intergalactic Ninja The Hunted 1,2

September

Issues Read-65

1984 #5
1994 #16
The Rook #14
Best of 2000 AD monthly #10
Spider-Man Magazine #1
Spider-Man Magazine #2
Spider-Man Magazine #3
Spider-Man Magazine #4
Wolverine and the X-men Magazine #1
Wolverine and the X-men Magazine #2
The Tick Big Halloween Special 2000
Armorines Volume 1 #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12
Chaos Effect Epilogue 1
DC presents Batman #1
Super Maximun Excitement #3-Great mini comic from Robin Bougie and another artist
Dear Mr Bougie #2-Fun collection of Robin Bougie artwork
Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20-this is the Valiant series
Ninjak Volume 1 #0,00,1,2,8,10,18
Psi-Lords 2,3,8,10
The Second Life of Dr Mirage 1,16
Secret Weapons 1,2,3,4,7,11

Trades/Hardcovers Read-6

Batman Hush volume 1-Heard the hype on this for a few years. And got both Volumes as X-mas presents.
Batman Hush volume 2-Great artwork from Jim lee but the Jeph Loeb story reads like bad fan fiction or something a ADD 13 year old came up with in study hall.
Mad for Decades-amazing collection of the best Mad stuff from the 50's,60's,70's,80's and 90's.
Essential Marvel Horror volume 2
Yeah-Great series that most people never read. Great collection with two flaws. It is reprinted in black and white. And they didn't reprint the letter pages which were connected the the stories.
The Tick the complete Edlund- I have read issues 1-12 before. But never issue 13 and was surprised with how good it was.

Unholy Rollers

Unholy Rollers

This is Roger Corman's cash in on the whole 70's Roller Derby craze. The story I have heard is Corman heard about a big budget Roller Derby coming out that was starring Raquel Welch. And he quickly started making this film.

Starring the late ,and also gorgeous,Claudia Jennings. Unholy Rollers is the tale of a roller derby team the Avengers. Claudia starts off working at a cat food company. She is working in the canning department. But is tired of being sexually harassed by her Col Sanders looking boss. So one night the harassment gets to be too much and she quits. She goes home and informs her roommate about this. And the next day she goes out trying to find a job. Well she ends up trying out for the local roller derby team. And is one of the three people chosen. The team manager chooses her cause of her good looks plus she seems to have an idea about showmanship. She is sent off to see the derby league doctor. And he is super sleazy. Plus he comes off as a total quack. Well the night of her first game she gets put out on the track to replace an injured player. And she is an instant hit with the fans. The rest of the film deals with her trying to fit in with her teammates. And the trials and tribulations of her life.

Now I saw this film on DVD. But the DVD is a rip of the old VHS release. As far as I know this hasn't been released on a region 1 DVD yet. Maybe Shout Factory,who is currently releasing lots of the Corman stuff,will someday put this under rated film out. Unholy Rollers get a B.

Valiant comics

Valiant comics

Back in the early 90s a new company was created. This was Valiant comics. At first they started off small. Publishing a free give away comics. Then they got a deal,so they were publishing comics based on various Nintendo properties. And they also published a handful of comics based on the World Wrestling Federation. Well neither the video game based or wrestling based comics sold that well. But they did a deal with Gold Key. In this deal they got the rights to a handful of the Gold Key heroes. These heroes are Solar man of the atom,Magnus Robot Fighter,and Turok Son of Stone. The first of these properties to get published was Magnus. This is considered the start of the Valiant universe. Now Magnus didn't sell that well,but cause it was a property that some comic fans were familiar with it sold better than the previous stuff. Next they put out Solar. And this title again wasn't a huge seller but it sold well. Not long after this Valiant added the titles Rai,Harbinger,X-O manowar and Shadowman. About 8 months into the start of the Valiant universe,people started noticing how all the issues were well written and had good art. And the speculators found out that the print runs on these early Valiant comics were super low. And it seemed over night prices tripled for back issues of Valiant. Then the comic magazine Wizard started talking about Valiant. This just added fuel to the fire. Pretty soon back issues of Valiant were the hottest things in comic shops. At the time the first Valiant comic I bought was X-O manowar issue 4. I got it a few months after it came out for cover price. But in a few months people discovered this issue had the first appearance of Shadowman. So the issue quickly went from cover price to $30. Now I enjoyed what I had read. But cause of the escalating prices couldn't afford to buy the back issues. So I gave up on reading Valiant comics.

Now fast forward to summer of 2008. I was in Biloxi and talking to one of my cousins. I was telling him about my new job. And since I had huge amount of downtime at work,I had started bringing some comics with me to read. He mentioned that he still had a bunch of his old comics. It seems back in the early 90's he was speculating on comics. He told me to come by his house before I headed back home. I could have all his old comics for free. Well I will never turn down free comics so I went by. I get there and he has 2 short boxes and a small stack of comics. Well he had been one of the people in the early 90's speculating on Valiant comics. Once I got home I went through the comics. And saw he had about 200 various issues of Valiant. And over the next few weeks at work I read them. This reignited my love of Valiant.

Now I had heard back in 2005 about a website dedicated to collectors of Valiant comics. So now owning about 200 issues I went to the website. Looking around I found out that there was about 700 or so total comics in the Valiant universe. And about 80% of them are now super cheap. So I have been slowly buying the issues I need to get a complete run. Usually I have managed to get these issues for a buck an issue or less.

One of the things that I love about Valiant is so far everything from them I have read has been very well written. Plus they seemed to have a book for everyone. If you love action and the Punisher,they have Bloodshot. If you like the X-men or the 80's era Teen Titians ,Valiant has Harbingers.If you like more sci fi based stuff ,there is Magnus or Solar.

So far outta the Valiant stuff I have read the stand outs are. Turok, this is the story of a American Indian who for years lived in a land outside time. But thanks to the first big crossover event in the Valiant universe,Turok gets sent to the present day. And so does his main enemy. This is a series of bionic dinosaurs. Yeah I know an American Indian fighting bionic dinosaurs sounds incredibly stupid. But the various writers of the Turok title make it work. Then you have Bloodshot. Bloodshot is a former mafia hitman. Who is infused with nanites. These are tiny robots that live in his blood and can repair almost any damage. And also keep him at peak shape. The title started off as a super powered version of the Punisher. But quickly morphed into something entirely different. I must assume my cousin also really liked this title cause it was the one he owned the most issues of. Shadowman is a book set in New Orleans. Jack is a jazz saxophone player. But one night he is bit by what we later find out is a Spider-Alien. And after this every night he loses all fear and his strength,agility and stamina become the best a human can have. This title has a very dark feel to it. Magnus robot fighter is set in the future. In this future mankind has come to depend on robots for most normal things. And some robots have gained what is called "freewill". This means these robots aren't happy being man's servants. And at first Magnus is happy going out and destroying the freewill robots. Well early on in the title he realized that not all the freewill robots are evil. And the title becomes about how Magnus becomes a hero to the lower class and a champion of the freewill robots. There are more Valiant titles I love but I feel I have ranted way too long now. So in closing if you are tired of the comics that DC and Marvel are putting out. And you want something different that doesn't cost much,go digging through your local comic shops cheap bins and try out some Valiant.

Revenge of the nerds Panty Raid Edition DVD

Revenge of the Nerds Panty Raid edition

Now since I figure that everyone reading this blog has already seen the film I will mainly review the DVD and all the extras.

Revenge of the Nerds has been one of my favorite comedies since it first come out. Somehow I convinced my parents to take me to the theater to see it opening night. And then I would rent it over and over when it came out in video cassette. Plus it was one of the first VHS I ever bought. So years ago I got the DVD release of it that had both part 1 and part 2 on the same disc. But there was no extras. Well a few years back I started hearing rumors about a special edition of the first film coming out soon. Well it happened to come out at a time when money was very tight for me so I didn't get it. But then fast forward a few years,and I was walking through Walmart looking for some DVDs to get to watch at work that night. And I saw that they had the Revenge of the Nerds boxed set. Which had all 4 films.Plus the first film was the special edition Panty Raid version. Well I got to work that night and once the elderly man I was taking care of went to sleep I put it on.

The DVD is loaded with all kinds of extras. First off we get a commentary with the director,Robert Carradine,Curtis Armstrong,and Timothy Busfield. Which is a great commentary with all three of the nerds telling behind the scenes stories. Then you get a series of deleted scenes. Most of these scenes deal with Stan Gable's nerd brother.And there is also a scene from when the Tri-lambs went to Vegas.  But we find out on the commentary that the Vegas plot line was dropped. You also get some trailers and stuff. But the big surprise is they have the unaired Fox tv pilot. I had heard about this pilot for years but figured I would never get a chance to see it. It is a 30 minute sitcom. And they condense the Tri-Lambs down to just Louis,Gilbert,Booger and Wormser. Well after watching it you can see why the pilot wasn't picked up. It is super lame. But has a few interesting cast members. Robbie "Cousin Oliver" Rist is playing Booger and Julie McCullough,the former playboy playmate and who was on Growing Pains for a few seasons,is one of the Delta Phis.

Now the movie to me is a comedy classic. And no matter how many times I watch it I end up laughing my ass off. And when you add in all the great extras you end up with the best DVD any fan of the movie could ever want. Revenge of the Nerds Panty Raid edition gets an A+.

Armorines issues 1-7

Armorines Volume 1 issues 1 through 7

Armorines was a Valiant title that started in April 1994. Now there is a zero issue that came out before issue 1. But so far I haven't got a copy. Armorines is a group of 4 marines,that have been equipped with suits of very high tech armor. I am not sure but I believe these suits are somewhat based on the X-O manowar armor.

The first 3 issues are about introducing us to the team and their first real mission. They are sent under the sea near Australia. They must go down to deactivate the nuclear power source on a sunken submarine. And also to remove some valuable data. Well once they get down there they first have to deal with a group of mutated sharks. And then run into a group of Spider-aliens. One of the Armorines is captured by the Spider-Aliens and the rest go to rescue him. This is a great way to introduce people to the team. And also helps establish to the reader the personalities of each of the members.

Armorines issue 4 starts off with the leader,Gunny and Sirot testing out some new force fields. Gunny and Sirot don't get along. And beat the holy shit outta each other. We find out that a Senator doesn't want Gunny on the team. Cause of Gunny's age and some stuff that happened in his past. The rest of the issue is filling in more back story of the Armorines team. Plus setting up the next storyline.

The next 3 issues are a story set in outer space. It seems that the Spider-Aliens are gathering all their ships right outside Earth's orbit. And the Armorines along with Hard Corps are set up to see what they are up too,and to stop them. Both groups barely make it out of the Earth's atmosphere,when something happens that takes out all electrical power on the planet. So both teams are in space and have no way to communicate with mission control. Once they get up in space,the Armorines and Hard Corps go out to investigate. And the Spider-Aliens attack. At first it looks like the good guys are doomed but a surprise appearance from X-O Manowar saves the day. Now issue 5 is continued into issue 33 of X-O Manowar. But since I don't currently own it I have no idea what happens in that issue. But in issue 6 we start off with the Armorines inside the Spider-Alien mother ship. The alien ship has pulled the space shuttle in with a tractor beam. So it is up to the Armorines and X-O to free the ship. While on the alien ship,they discover that the aliens have a huge amount of humans on their ship. Some of these humans have been kept in suspended animation for over 100 years. And with the Armorines suits running low on power,they free the humans and lead them in a huge battle with the aliens.

So far I have enjoyed the issues of Armorines I have read. I got all these issues 2 years ago at Coast Con. One of the few dealers there that had comics had an almost complete run of the title in his bins. After talking to him for awhile I managed to talk him down from $1 a issue to 10 cents an issue. This is because I was buying a huge amount of comics from him. I have learned that at cons it never hurts to try to haggle with the dealers. Most dealers,if you are spending a decent amount of money,are more than willing to give you a discount. Armorines issues 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 get a B+.

The Tick Big Halloween Special 2000

The Tick-Big Halloween Special 2000

Back in 2000 the Tick started up a series of one shots. Each one based around a holiday. This issue was written by Clay and Susan Griffith. And art from Dave Garcia. The story starts off with Tick and Arthur at a pumpkin patch. They are picking out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Well all of the sudden a pumpkin attacks the Tick. Well this startles the two heroes. And they start to fight off the evil animated pumpkins. Then outta nowhere Extension Agent of the USDA appears. He helps the two guys fight off the pumpkins. And then tells them that the evil pumpkins are caused by a mistake made by a scientist. He was suppose to be adding something to the pumpkins that would cause them to have faces. This way people wouldn't have to carve a face. But instead of adding the chemicals for this,the scientist accidentally adds Puma genes. Next we see the pumpkins attacking various people. And the hero the Spectacle sees this going on. So he goes and joins up with the other three to help fight off the evil pumpkins. This is a great example of the type of humor I expect from the various Tick comics.The Tick Halloween Special 2000 gets a A-.

The Rook issue 14

The Rook #14

This is the last issue of The Rook. It was published by Warren. The title feature is about a time traveler. He is known as the Rook cause his time machine looks like the rook chess piece. Like all Warren magazines this was published in black and white and is an anthology title.

We start off with "The Dane Curse' starring the Rook. The Rook goes back 1781 to stop the curse and runs into one of his ancestors. The Rook is seem when he appears and is mistaken for being a witch. But in this 11 page adventure he manages to get away. Strangely this tale ends with To Be Continued. If find this strange since this is the last issue of the magazine. They do mentioned that the Rook will start appearing in Eerie magazine. So I assume the story is continued there.

Next we get the story "A Study in Scarlet" which stars Sherlock Holmes. We get a great 10 page story. With great moody artwork. At the end Sherlock has managed to solve the mystery,but the culprit gets away. And again the story ends with To Be Continued.

The third tale is "The Goblin". We start off with the Rook and his old west ancestor Bishop Dane. They have traveled back 1917. This is so they can discover the origin of a strange creature they had run into. This creature is a strange little blue man. The find out that this creature is a creation of a coven and the leader of the coven dies. And Bishop and the Rook get arrested.  While this is a decent story,you can tell it is being used as a way to promote the new magazine from Warren. This magazine titled "The Goblin" is what replaced The Rook.

Up next is "The Fighting Armenian". In this tale we meet two super powered humans. One has had his powers for years. The other just got them. Nice little morality tale. With stunning artwork.

The final tale is a western titled "Eagle". A beautiful western tale. With two warring tribes of American Indians and the settlers stuck in the middle. Now I am not a fan of westerns in pretty much any form. But the artwork of this tale more than makes up for my bias against the genre.

If this issue of the Rook is a good example of what the prior issues are. I am sad it didn't last longer. It is a great set of adventure tales. And all of them have some great artwork. The Rook #14 gets a A-.

Best of 2000 A.D. monthly #10

Best of 2000 A.D. #10

This is a monthly reprint book ,reprinting stuff from the British weekly comic 2000 A.D. Before this comic I had read some Judge Dredd and a few Rogue Trooper stories. I saw this on a online comic shop for a buck and took a chance.

First off we get a 6 part story starring Sam Slade Robo Hunter. Written by Grant Grover and art by Ian Gibson. Set in the future. The story is about the World Cup. It is being held in England. And most teams are made up completely with robots. Well the 4 star players on the UK team have been acting very very strange. So someone hires Sam to find out what is happening. He goes and first checks the soccer robots. Nothing is wrong with them. So he figures out someone in the stands must be using some device to control them. So we get a long adventure with him trying to figure out who is doing this. And he finally does. But by then the 4 robots get damaged. So in part 6 of the story Sam Slade must join the UK team and try to help the UK win the World Cup. Now I have never been into soccer.Mainly cause to me soccer is hockey with less action and  a slower pace.  But this was a fun  and funny story. It is also the first time I have read Sam Slade and I would like to read more of his adventures.

Next we get the Judge Dredd story "Gunge". Written by T.B. Grover and art by Ron Smith. Some sleazy company has figured out a way to take stuff like slime,bacteria,mould,body hair and other gross stuff and make it into food. Well there is nothing against the law with this. But still Judge Dredd wants to stop it. So he uses the law and some clever thinking and in the end manages to stop it. This was one of the shorter Dredd stories I have read. And it has the normal humor I have come to expect from Dredd stories.

We get a 5 part Rogue Trooper story. Written by Gerry Finley-Day and art by Cam Kennedy. Early on Rogue Trooper get a major injury. And while Bagman is healing him ,Rogue Trooper in his injured state starts telling stories about when he was first created and being trained. It seems he has been holding secrets back from Bagman and the others that work with Rogue Trooper. This story is smartly written and has amazing artwork. And a great ending.

The last story is Tharg the Mighty this is your life. Tharg is the host of each issue of 2000 AD. And this is most a joke story. But it is perfect for what it is.

I really enjoyed this issue. The Robo Hunter and Rogue Trooper stories are the standouts. I am not sure if Best of 2000ad still comes out. If it does I would love to get it every month. I would subscribe to the weekly 2000ad but the cost is more than I can afford. Best of 2000AD 10 gets a B+.

Deadly Hands of Kung FU #6

Deadly hands of Kung Fu #6

Back in the 70's when Marvel started doing black/white magazine sized comics. After Savage Tales and Savage Sword of Conan this was one of the next titles.  I picked it up for 2 main reasons. First off it has  Shang Chi story,and over the past few years I had discovered I really enjoyed the Shang Chi comic. Secondly I found this super cheap. If I recall correctly I got it for $4 shipped off EBay. I have looked at the two big online comic shops. And to get it in the condition mine is it would run me at least $6.

Now I am not sure if the format for this issue is how it normally is. But this issue has two fairly long comics. And one article on 3,as of the time,current Bruce Lee movies. One article on style of kicks in Martial arts. Now I would have rather had 3 stories and one article. But oh well.

The first comic is  a story starring the Sons of the Tiger. They are a group of 3 martial artist who have a necklace that is in 3 parts. When they join the parts they get super human strength,agility,and stamina. The story is written by Jim Dennis and the art is by George Perez and Frank Springer.We start the story with Robert Diamond sneaking down a darken hallway. But he gets attacked by 4 men with bo staffs. Robert fights his way to freedom. And some time later the Sons of the Tiger are headed to a martial arts tournament. These fights aren't suppose to be full contact. But it seems the referee is on the side of the Son's rivals. So the rivals are making full contact. Even with this cheating Lin,one of the Sons,manages to win. He ask the judges to suspend the no full contact rule for the next 30 seconds.  And he goes and kicks some major ass. We jump ahead to later that night . The evil ref has kidnapped a lady that knows the Sons. So she manages to sneak off and calls Robert. So the Sons of the Tiger go to rescue her. We get a great few pages of fights all set at a circus. And at first they have the upper hand. But soon the over whelming numbers get the best of them. So they join the 3 pieces of the necklace together and power up. Powered up they easily manage to defeat the bad guys. While the artwork is great. But the story is very lacking. Really it seems to just be a way to show lots of martial art fighting.

We get the Bruce Lee movie article next.It is four pages. Nothing special at all. And really there isn't that much text. It is mostly pictures.

After that is a 3 page article of kicks in the martial arts. I am sure if I was into martial arts this would have been more interesting to me. But since I am not it isn't . Really if it was up to me they could have taken this article and the Bruce Lee one and used those pages for another comic.

Now we get a short 2 page article about the creation of a new "pulp" novel. That has a martial artist as the lead. Funny thing this artist is named Richard Dragon. I am pretty sure that is the same name of a someone in the DC universe. I am wondering if this novel ever came out.

To wrap the issue up with get a 16 page Shang Chi story. Written by Doug Moench and art by Mike Vosburg and Bob McLeod.Shang Chi walks into the nearest town to get something to eat. He stops at a burger joint. A couple of bikers start to rag on him. But one of their girlfriends goes over to talk to Shang Chi. This pisses off her boyfriend and his biker friends. A few of them attack Shang Chi but he easily defeats them. As he is leaving the girl ask to go with him.They walk around the city and talk. But the biker gang find him and attack him. We get a nice fight that last quite a few pages. Finally it is down to Shang Chi and the leader of the gang. The leader tries to attack Chi with a knife but the girl jumps in the way. She gets stabbed and dies. This pisses off Chi. And he goes into a rage. And beats the living shit outta the gang leader. After knocking the leader out. Chi feels great sorrow for doing this. And he heads off. I love the artwork in this one. It has a flow to it that makes it seem like a great martial art film. It is the best thing in this issue.

Like I said earlier ,I am not sure if every issue has the same format as this. If so I really don't see me getting anymore issues. Partially cause most back issues of this magazine cost at least $7 or more. And I can't justify paying that much for one great story,one middle of the road story. And some meh articles. Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #6 gets  D.

Spider-Man Magazine #4

Spider-Man Magazine #4

First off we get a story reprinted from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4.
Written by Jeff Parker and pencils by Patrick Scherberger. We start the story with a battle between Spidey and what is basically a sentient piece of street. Human Torch shows up and helps Spidey defeat the villain. Well Spidey and Torch start arguing and this allows the villain to get away.Torch goes back the Baxter Building and accidentally lets a lethal alien loose. He calls on various heroes for help,but they are all busy. So he bites the bullet and goes to find Spidey. Spidey figures out that this alien will appear at Coney Island.And it turns out to be this huge read alien that seems that it's only knowledge of Earth comes from MTV. So we gets lots of bad lyrics from various songs.Well the alien who's name is Goom,goes on a destructive rampage through Coney Island. And Torch keeps him distracted while Spidey creates some invention to take care of Goom. Pretty fun story that shows off the friendship between Johnny Storm and Peter Parker.

Our second story is reprinted from Spider-Man and Power Pack #4. Written by Cleveland boy Marc Sumerak and art by Gurihiru. We start off with Spidey fighting off about 5 or so of his villains. He defeats them and sees Katie Power standing on a nearby rooftop. He goes to talk to her,but she shots one of her energy blast at him. It seems that part of the Venom costume has taken over young Ms Power. Well it seems these first few pages are all a nightmare Katie is having.  We go to the next day and the Power Pack kids are on their way home from school. When they see the Rhino rampaging thru the streets of NYC. The Power Pack call upon their costumes,but for some reasons Katie's won't appear.Rhino quickly takes out the other three members,But Katie hits him with a huge energy blast. This stuns Rhino and he tells her "good idea that wasn't part of the plan. But you are covering your tracks." And Rhino heads off. We next see the power kids sleeping,and a familiar black costume is going over Katie as she sleeps. She attacks her siblings then jumps out the window.They trail her to a warehouse. And when they find her ,they get surrounded by Vulture,Electro,Rhino,The Shocker,Mysterio  and the Lizard. It seems that the Venom possessed Katie is working with these Spidey villains.Well Julie Power flies off trying to avoid being shocked by Electro. And she finds Spidey tied up hanging from a rafter.It seems that the Venom suit is taking over Katie at night and one night she snuck up on Spidey and took him captive. Well thanks to Spidey the Power Pack kids manage to defeat his villains. And when they do this Electro lets out a huge electric shock. This removes any traces of Venom from Katie's super hero costume. Another fun story. I will have to see if there is anymore issues of this Spider-man/Power pack series.

Third up is a story reprinted from Marvel Age Spider-Man team up #4. Story by Todd Dezago and pencils by Ron Lim. We start off with Spidey facing off with the Looter. The Looter is a z-grade Spidey villain that gets his powers from a moon rock. Well he is trying to get his powers back. And in doing so he sets off an explosion. Well this blast Spidey way up into the sky. But thankfully a passing by Thor catches Spidey.And he shows Spidey some strange wormhole in the sky.This wormhole is being used by some trolls to come to Earth. Thor and Spidey fight them.But every time they try to hit the troll leader he disappears.So Thor opens a portal to take him and Spidey to Asgard. They get there and see that time has been frozen. The trolls have found a way to freeze time on both Asgard and Earth. But again everytime Thor or Spidey try to hit the troll leader he disappears. So Spidey comes up with a plan. He has Thor send him back to Earth. The plan is for both of them to hit the troll leader at the same time on Earth as well as Asgard. This works and the trolls are defeated. Great story with one line that really stands out. Early on Spidey mentions how he has trouble understanding Thor and that Thor should watch more TV so he can learn modern English. Thor's reply is "Ah,I've enjoyed TV! Mine favorite relates the antics of a short yellow man who lives under the sea.... .... Robert the sponge with the straight trousers!" Great line that had me laughing very hard.

The final story reprints a story from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #4. Jeff Parker does the writing and Mike Wieringo does the pencils. Reed finally makes it back to Earth and he seems to have found a way to stop the invading aliens. We get about 5 pages of Spidey and the FF battling mutated animals. Then we find out that the Impossible Man should be able to defeat the evil aliens. This works and we get a nice happy ending. Over all this 4 issue long story was OK. But it really felt padded. It seems to me that the writer had enough story for 2 or at most 3 issues but was told it had to be 4 issues.

Spidey story was kind of lacking. But not so bad it really hurts the rest of the magazine. Spider-Man Magazine #4 gets a A-.

Spider-Man Magazine #3

Spider-Man Magazine #3

For this issue we again get 4 stories,a few pin ups,and a poster.

We start off with a story reprinted from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3. Written by Erica David and pencils by Patrick Scherberger.Picking up were issue 2 left off. Spidey is without his powers and surrounded by 6 of his foes. Spidey manages to run off and hide. And we cut to J Jonah Jameson and Aunt May. They are tied back to back. And May gets on JJ's case. Cause he is such an asshole. We go back to Spidey and he is surround by mirrors and facing Mysterio.But since he doesn't have his powers he can't tell which one is really Mysterio.But Spidey uses his brain and figures out which one is the real deal. He deals with Mysterio and heads off into another part of the warehouse.He is confronted by Kraven. It seems Spidey's powers have come back.And Spidey outwits Kraven and gets Kraven to step into one of his own traps.Next Spidey runs into Electro and Sandman,but again he manages to outwit them. Not that outwitting Sandman is that tough. Well it ends up being Spidey vs Doc Ock and of course Spidey wins. This was a fun little story and a nice updating of the original Sinister Six storyline from the 60's.

Next up is a story from Spider-Man and Power Pack #3. Spidey sends the Power Pack VIP tickets to New York Fashion week. We find out that Spidey got these tickets from Mary Jane. Not sure if this story is set before he was married to her or not.We flashback to 6 months ago. And the lead designer of Fashion week is leaving a store with some fabric. But he runs into Venom. Well Spidey and Human Torch show up to fight Venom. And defeat him by using a sonic blaster. As Eddie Brock is being hauled off to the Vault,we see the designer hiding in an alley. And parts of the Venom costume are laying by him.We got back the present day and the designer has used the alien symbiotic costume from Venom to design his newest outfits. All is well tell someone mentions that Peter Parker is there taking pictures. Well this causes the alien symbiotic to take control of four of the models. And it is up to Spidey and the Power Pack to defeat them.At the end of story all seems to be well,but we see that part of the alien symbiotic is now attached to Katie Power's super hero costume. This was another great team up between Spidey and the Power Pack.

The third story is from Spider-Man Team Up #3. Written by Todd Dezago and pencils by Lou Kang.Spidey is out on patrol when he sees a AIM agent come flying out a window.He goes inside to investigate and sees Captain America inside fighting off a slew of AIM agents. It seems that this is the first time Spidey has met Cap. They defeat the AIM agents and Cap tells Spidey he has to head out. Well of course Spidey tails Cap. Caps knows he is being followed and reveals to Spidey that AIM is working with the Grey Gargoyle.We get a great battle between Spidey and Cap vs AIM agents and Grey Gargoyle. This is like all the good issues of the old Marvel Team Up or Marvel Two-in-One issues. In that you get a fun story in which two heroes team up to defeat a villain. The artwork has a kind of manga look to it that I enjoyed.

The last story is from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #3.Written by Jeff Parker and pencils by Mike Wieringo.Some alien insects are attacking the Baxter Building. The Thing ,Human Torch and Spidey keep them busy while Sue Storm tries to get in contact with the High Evolutionary.She figures he might be able to help remove the aliens from the humans they have infected. Well she calls him and gets no answer. So her and the three guys travel to High Evolutionary's mountain fortress. There they are given a weapon that might be able to stop the alien forces. But Spidey has no idea how it works. So he proposes they go to Doctor Doom. And they manage to con Doom into explaining how the weapon works and making some duplicates of it.We go see what Reed is up too. It seems that some far only one planet these aliens have invaded have managed to stop them. And they did it by blowing their own planet.

The stand outs in this issue was the Power Pack story and the Captain America team up.Outta the three issues this is the best one so far. Spider-Man Magazine #3 gets a A.

Spider-Man Magazine #2

Spider-Man Magazine #2

Again we get 4 stories and some pinups. Plus a nice poster. This magazine was being published every 2 months. Which kind of sucks since 2 of the stories in issue 1 ended on cliffhangers.

The first story is from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2. Erica David is the writer and Patrick Scherberger is doing the pencils. This time we start off with Doc Ock in jail. But he manages to escape and while doing this lets all the other prisoners out. We go ahead to the next day and Spidey is chasing a criminal. But it seems that Spidey's powers aren't working right. We cut back to an abandoned warehouse. And see that Doc Ock is teaming up with 5 other  Spidey villains. So we get Doc Ock,The Vulture,Electro,Mysterio,Kraven the Hunter and The Sandman teaming up as the Sinister Six. Doc Ock sends the other 5 villains out to cause havoc and to draw Spidey out. But since his powers aren't working Peter has pretty much retired his Spidey persona. Well after a few days and no Spidey,Doc Ock goes to the Daily Bugle and kidnaps J Jonah Jameson and Aunt May. Spidey finds out about this and goes to confront Doc Ock. And that is how the story ends. Great artwork and this is a nice variation on the first appearance of the Sinister Six.

The second story is from Spider-Man and the Power Pack #2. We get the same people writing and drawing it as the last issue. It seems that Peter is staying with the Power Pack kids until he can figure out how to get back to his actual age. We get a cute scene of Julie Power designing some new costumes for Spidey. With a nice nod to the Iron Spider suit. It seems that after they defeated the Sandman in the last issue he has washed up on the local beach.  So Spidey and the Power Pack go to fight him. And they work together to take out Sandman. Well during the battle Spidey gets splashed with seawater and it seems this counteracts the stuff that made him a kid. So by the end Spidey is back to his normal self. Another fun story.

The third story is from Marvel two-in-one #86. Written by Tom Defalco and art by Ron Wilson. Kinda strange this story gets reprinted cause it doesn't have Spidey in it. Instead we get a great issue teaming up the Thing and the Sandman. It seems that prior to this issue Sandman had been merged with Hydroman. Well they finally manage to separate and Sandman goes to the nearest bar to have a drink. The bartender realizes who it is and call the cops. But it is believed that Sandman is dead so the cops ignore this call. So the bartender ends up calling the Fantastic Four. And the Thing answers the phone. He heads down to the bar planning on fighting the Sandman. But Sandman doesn't want to fight. All he wants to do is have a couple of drinks. So the Thing sits down and has  a few beers with him. Well Sandman tells the Thing is life story. And the Thing realizes they have a bunch on common. Then at the end instead of turning Sandman over to the police. The Thing lets him go. I am pretty sure this is from around the time that the Sandman went from being a villain to being a hero. Great story that is  a total change of pace from most stories of this era.

The last story is from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #2. Reed and Sue are coming back from their vacation. And discover that this invading aliens have taken over the bodies of most people in North America. The FF and Spidey try a few different things to stop this but nothing works. The story ends with Reed going off to another planet to try to find something to stop the aliens. OK story but it really feels padded. Kind of like the writer was told he was gonna have to do a 4 issue story,but only had enough story for 3 issues.

Like the last issue we get 4 stories,some pinups,plus a poster. Another great issue.Spider-Man Magazine #2 gets  A.

Spider-Man Magazine #1

Spider-man Magazine #1

Back in 2008 I saw this magazine on the magazine rack in town. Flipped through it and saw that it reprinted 4 comics,plus had a poster and some pin ups. Well the cover price was $5.99. And with comics at the time costing at least $3 an issue figured this was a good deal. Well all four stories are reprints.But I had never read three of them before.

The first story is from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1.Written by Kitty Ross and pencils by Patrick Scherbeger. It is another retelling of Spideys origin. The artwork is nicely done. And the story ,while being something I have read before,is decent.

The second story is from Amazing Fantasy #15. Which is of course the first appearance and origin of Spider-Man. Written by Stan Lee and artwork by the amazing comic legend Steve Ditko. Kind of surprises me that they put two tellings of the origin story in the same issue. But it is great to see this story again. Plus since it is magazine sized the artwork is bigger than I have ever seen it before. Near the end of the story where for the only time that I know of you can see Spidey's pupils through his mask is still shocking after all this years.

The third story is reprinted from Spider-Man and Power Pack #1. Written by Marc Sumerak and art by Gurihiru. We start off with the Power Pack kids having just moved to New York City. And while out on patrol they run into Spidey. Together they fight off Sandman. Well before he leaves,Jack Power gives Spidey his business card. A few pages later Spidey is fighting the Vulture in some cosmetic factory. And Spidey gets knocked into some vat of chemicals. This causes Spidey to become a 10 year old  kid. So at the end of the story we see Spidey going to meet up with the Power Pack kids. Fun story,I have always enjoyed Power Pack. And adding Spidey to the mix makes it even better.

The final story is reprinted from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1. Written by Jeff Parker with pencils by Mike Wieringo. We start off with Spidey running into who he thinks it the Silver Surfer. But it turns out to be The Impossible Man. It seems Impossible Man has come to Earth to warn the Fantastic Four about a alien invasion. Well Reed and Sue of the FF are off on a vacation with their two kids. So it is up to Spidey, Human Torch and the Thing to handle this invasion. The invading aliens want to take over human kind. Kind of like how the Borg works in Star Trek. Nice story that really just gets going before it ends.

Besides the four stories you get a hand full of pinups. Plus a poster and some games. Overall for the price it is a great bargain. Spider-Man Magazine #1 gets a A.

Comics that are magazines/Magazines that are comics

Starting back in the 60's Warren publishing came up with a great idea. Thanks to the Comic code authority it was next to impossible to publish horror comics. But magazines weren't under the CCA so a comic that was magazine sized would work. So they started out with Eerie and Creepy. Both of these were huge hits so they added more. Vampirella is one that most comic fans remember. But Warren also did the sci fi based 1984/1994. And The Rook,which was about a time traveller. Well in the 70's Marvel jumped on board. And published stuff like Savage Sword of Conan,Deadly Hands of Kung Fu,Haunt of Terror,Dracula Lives,and Vampire tales. One thing all these mags had in common was they all had amazing black and white artwork. Now I was a little kid when the hey day of all these b/w comic mags were coming out. So besides a few issues of Creepy,Eerie and Savage Sword of Conan,I didn't read any of them. But a few years back I got interested in them and started collecting them. Sadly most comic shops don't have any. I bet it cause of the odd size. And when you do find them online they can be pricey. But over the next week or so I will be reviewing the ones I have. Plus talking about the color ones Marvel started doing back in 2008.

Guru the Mad Monk

Guru the Mad Monk
Directed by Andy Milligan
Source-Mill Creek Pure Terror 50 pack

I had never heard of Andy Milligan until years ago Tim Lucas did a 3 issue long article on him in Video Watchdog. This article got me interested into watching some of Milligan's films. Well I managed to see a few of his films,but kept hearing that Guru the Mad Monk was his best horror film. Well a few months back I got the Mill Creek Pure Terror 50 pack for a cheap price.

Guru is about a church in a tiny European village. Guru is the head of the church,and he is in charge of punishing all the criminals. It seems that other villages send their criminals to Guru's church. Well he has 3 main helpers. One is a hunchback ,who Guru treats like shit. Another is a lady who it seems is a vampire. Not sure cause it was never made clear if she is a vampire or just some sick person who loves to drink blood. And lastly we have Carl. He is Guru's main assistant. But Carl's girlfriend gets wrongly convicted of murder. So Guru helps fake her death and hides her out in the tower of the church. To page back Guru for his help Carl has to do all kinds of nasty things. Well it seems the head of all the churches in this country doesn't like Guru. And he shows up one day to replace Guru. Well this causes Guru to flip out and he kills his replacement plus the head of the church. Thanks to some help from the hunchback Carl and his girlfriend manage to escape.

It is obvious this film was made a very limited budget. But IIRC this was the only Andy Milligan film to be filmed on 35mm. Usually Andy filmed on 16mm short ends.The picture is good,and the colors look great. The sound is problematic. Lots of times it is hard to make out what people are saying cause the background noises and music drown out the dialogue. Also this film is kind of short. It is barely an hour. But it works at this length. Guru the Mad Monk gets a B-.

Headache

Headache

Art by Jim Fern
Written by Lisa Joy

The lead is Sarah a 18 year old girl. Sarah finds out that she is actually the Greek Goddess Athena. It seems that all the Greek Gods and Goddesses are real and now living on Earth and living hidden with the human race. Someone is killing off the various Gods and Goddesses and it is up to Athena aka Sarah to find out who is doing this.

Outta all the OGNs from Kickstart that I have read ,Headache is the best  one so far. The story reminds me of the Buffy the vampire slayer TV show mixed with Greek mythology. The artwork is great. It is clean and bright and eye catching. The central mystery of the story is well done. And Lisa Joy leaves you enough clues so if you think about it you can figure it out.  So if you enjoyed Buffy and/or have an interest in Greek mythology, find a copy of this OGN. Headache earns an almost perfect A.