2016 Comic Challenge 115 DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #23

TITLE-DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #23
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

It was summer of 82. I was with my parents,oddly enough about 40 minutes east of where I live now,visiting some friends of theirs.The county they lived in was a dry county,so all the guys had drove to the nearest wet county to get beer for the weekend. I have no clue why they brought me with them. All I remember was as soon as we went into the country store I headed straight for the magazine rack. Sat down and started reading the above comic. Someone ended up buying it for me. And  read it at least 3 times over that weekend.

This digest sized collection reprints 10 or so Green Arrow stories. Going back as far as the Jack Kirby and Lee Elias stories from the Golden Age.And going forward with a few classic Neal Adams drawn stories. Then best of all Mike Grell drawing and Denny O'Neil writing The Origin of Green Arrow. Plus a brand new wraparound story. Where Ollie is telling some of his past adventures to Dinah.

I like how who ever chose the stories for this digest managed to work in almost every major version of Green Arrow. From the boring stories but good artwork days of Green Arrow being Batman with a bow.To the much much better Denny O'neil stuff.

After I had totally forgotten about this comic,I lost my original copy decades ago,one night while browsing this online comic shop that was ran by the drummer from System of a Down I found a copy in good shape for a decent price. Sure it was a few bucks over what it cost back when I first got it. But it wasn't like I paid $15 for it.

DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #23 gets a BUY.

2016 Comic Challenge 114 Curse of the Weird #02

TITLE-Curse of the Weird #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

Starting in the fall of 1994 and lasting for 4 issues Curse of the Weird was a Marvel mini series that reprinted lots of pre-code horror/weird stories. I have no clue why I skipped this mini when it was coming out. But got lucky back in 2010 and found the complete run cheap at a con.

Like the titles the stories originally appeared in Curse of the Weird is an anthology title.In this issue we get 5 stories. Ghost of Grismore Castle is the first story. Written by Stan Lee,it has pencils by one of my favorite Silver Age artists Steve Ditko.The second story is titled Bat's Tale. Once again Stan Lee is the writer but this story has Russ Heath Jr doing the pencils. Up next is Innocent Bystander.Sadly the name of whoever wrote this story is unknown. And Dick Briefer handles the pencils.The 4th story is The Unsolid Man.Written by Carl Wessler and the legendary Joe Orlando handles the pencils.And the final story is No Sign of Life. Were once again Stan Lee does the writing. And the great Steve Ditko does the pencils.

Not only do you get 5 pretty good weird/horror stories. But also a bit of backstory for each story. With this being only a 4 issue mini I doubt we will ever see a trade of it. So it is nice that the single issues are worth at most cover price. And aren't that hard to find.

Curse of the Weird #02 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 113 The Ferret #01

TITLE-The Ferret #01
PUBLISHER-Malibu Comics

Ferret was the Protectors' version of Wolverine. In his normal life he is your average rock guitarist. But once he throws on his costume he becomes the Ferret. Out of all the spin offs from the main Protectors comic this was the best.And also the one that ran the longest.Now it is hard to tell from the above picture but the cover and entire comic was die cut in the shape of the Ferret's head.

Like with Airman we get R.A. Jones writing this title. But they did get a decent artist to handle the interior art.Dean Zachary handles the pencils and Ken Branch is the inker.The cover was done by Mike S Miller and Dean Zachary.

I noticed that in these solo Ferret stories he took on lots of drug dealers and street level villains. So while he was a Wolverine clone,his rogues' gallery was more like say Daredevil's or Green Hornet's.

Sadly like all the Protectors stuff ,the Ferret had a short run. Lasting only 10 issues. Now all I gotta do is find issues 4 and 8 and I got a full run of this series.

The Ferret #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 112 Airman #01

TITLE-Airman #01
PUBLISHER-Malibu Comics

Between the time when Image left Malibu,and the start of the Ultraverse,you have the short lived Protectors series. Were Malibu took a bunch of Golden Age public domain heroes and revamped them a bit for the modern age. After a few issues of the Protectors had come out,Malibu started pumping out lots of spin offs and one shots. Airman #01 is one of these one shots.

Honestly if I hadn't been trying to get a complete run of all the Protectors comics and stuff connected to them I wouldn't have held onto this comic. The story by R.A.Jones is bad. The interior art by Matt Reynolds is crap. But I can hear some people saying "The art on the cover looks decent." Well that was one of the drawbacks to the Protectors stuff. They usually had a good artist on the cover and a much inferior one doing the interior art. The cover artist for Airman #01 is Tom Derenick.

The comic feels like they thought it would sell well enough to merit an ongoing series. But since this is the only issue I must assume sales were not that good.

Airman #01 gets a  pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 111 Black Hole #01

TITLE-Black Hole #01
PUBLISHER-Kitchen Sink Press

I know that sometimes with indie comics they come out late. But this series is one of the worst examples of this. Starting in March of 1995.And the final issue came out in December 2004. Oh yeah forgot to mention this series was only 12 issues long.

Part of it might be this series started off at Kitchen Sink Press,who went bankrupt in the mid 90s.So only the first 4 issues came out for them. The rest were published by Fantagraphics.

The comic is about a new disease that is spreading thru the teenage population.If you catch it,it causes your body to mutate. And out lead finds a bunch of these mutated teens living not that far outside his town.

Written and drawn by Charles Burn,this is a series that after reading this first issue I knew I had to get the rest of the series. Thankfully I didn't start reading issue 1 until a couple of years ago. So now all I gotta do is track down the trade or hardcover collecting the entire run.

Black Hole #01 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 110 Fish Police #25

TITLE-Fish Police #25
PUBLISHER-Apple Comics

Outside of seeing a few episodes of the short lived animated TV show I know nothing about Fish Police. So when I found the above issue for a quarter last fall I grabbed it. It got shuffled towards the bottom of my "Maybe I should read comics out of this stack before it gets taller than I am"stack.

All I remember from the show was the main guy was named Gil. And in this comic he now has legs and seems to have a multiple personality. Honestly most of this comic made no sense to me. Then when I saw in the letters page that this is the next to last issue I realized why the comic made no sense. I am trying to start the story by reading the next to last chapter.

Steve Moncuse is the writer,penciler and inker. And I do like the artwork. We get 25 pages of his art i in the main story. A couple of pages of letters. Then the rest of the issue is made up of character sketches.

While the comic made almost no sense it did get me interested enough in the series that I do want to read the rest of it. No clue how hard it will be to track down the issues. But I kind of doubt any of them will cost me more than a buck or two an issue.

Fish Police #25 gets a borrow.But only cause it made no sense to me.

2016 Comic Challenge 109 Animal Man #89

TITLE-Animal Man #89
PUBLISHER-Vertigo imprint of DC Comics

After right at 8 years the amazing Animal Man comic comes to an end.While most fans if they have read any of the first volume of Animal Man have read the 26 issues that Grant Morrison wrote. And sure that run is great. The series managed to get even better after Morrison left.This is the final issue of Jerry Prosser's 10 issue run on the title. Fred Harper also ends his 10 issue run as penciler.

All the storylines that hadn't been resolved in the series get resolved with this issue. Buddy,Animal Man,manages to not only save his daughter from some evil entity,but also managed to get back into his human form. And it is in time to see his 3rd child being born.

I can see why the series ended here. Now I enjoyed Mr Prosser's run. But him coming on and replacing Jamie Delano,who is considered the second best writer on Animal Man,had caused  lots of people to drop the title.

Now I have read lots of Vertigo series. From the stuff that became part of the imprint once it started,like Swamp Thing,Sandman and of course Animal Man. To series like Fables,Exterminators and Scalped. But for me so far nothing has topped Animal Man. For 89 issues plus one annual I got a well written series that managed to work out answers to various questions I am sure most long time comic fans have thought about. Like how does a superhero make money? For lots of this series Buddy is trying to figure out a way to earn a living while also keeping up his superhero career.

Animal Man #89 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 108 Popeye:King Educational Comics Giveaway E-12

TITLE-Popeye:King Educational Comics Giveaway E-12
PUBLISHER-King Features

Another giveaway comic I had no idea existed until sometime in 2008.For right at 5 years the first Thursday of the month was an auction in a town about 10 minutes from my home. Normally it was full of old tools,furniture and other stuff I have no interest in. I would usually show up 30 minutes before the auction started. Would go look at all the stuff the dealers had set out to auction. And if I found something I liked I would stay until it came up for auction. So I walk in and see a box that contained at least 40 copies of this comic. All of them still in the polybag they came in. I asked which dealer's table they were on. Found out it was a guy I had dealt with a few times. "Yeah I doubt you would want to buy them all. But as long you agree to buy 5 of them I can let them go at a buck a copy." I agreed and he ended up being the first person to auction stuff.

Written by Joe Gill and with Frank Roberge doing the interior art,George R Wildmon handles the cover art. This was part of a series that was given out at schools. In this one Popeye educates us on various personal service careers. Stuff like being a barber. The comic is pretty much crap. Missing even the stuff that is common in Popeye stories.

So I ended up spending $5 for 5 copies of a crappy comic. Sounds like a bad deal. Then one night in 2010 I was looking at Lonestar Comics online site. And saw that they were offering money or store credit for this comic.I contacted them and asked how much they offered for copies still in the polybag. Turns out they had never seen any copies in the polybag. And ended up offering me $10 a copy each in cash or $15 in store credit. I ended up sending them 4 copies and got store credit. Which was quickly used to get more comics.

Popeye:King Educational Comics Giveaway E-12 gets a PASS!

2016 Comic Challenge 107 Amazing Spider-man NACME #02

TITLE-Amazing Spider-Man NACME #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

Before I got this issue in the summer of 2008 I had never heard of it. NACME is the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. And they put out two of these comics starring Spidey.

So how did I end up with this oddball comic? Well right before my birthday in 2008 I started a job doing home health care. I would goto this old man's house at 8pm. And from 8pm until 8am I was there to help him. He could barely walk and had a few other issues. Most nights he was asleep by 10pm. And since he slept until 5am I had right at 7 hours a night where all I had to do was be there. Right after starting this job I had a death in my family. I went down to the coast for the services. And had two different cousins give me a few longboxes of comics. In one of those boxes was 2 copies of this comic. Which unlike most of the others in the box,was bagged and boarded and appeared to be mint.

We got the usually damn good Dwayne McDuffie writing it. And Alex Saviuk handling the pencils.Chris Ivy handles the inks.

The comics is your standard Spidey story for this timeframe. Full of Spidey wise cracking a bunch while fighting crime.Since the cover mentions a Riot at Robotworld. And which major Marvel supervillain works best with Robotworld? Ultron of course. I have always liked Ultron,and prefer the wise cracking Spidey to any other version of Spidey.

A few years back my cousin's two boys were getting into comics. So I wen through my collection and made them a longbox full of stuff I either didn't want or stuff I had more than one copy of. I had 2 copies of this comic. So threw one into their longbox. Recently both the boys kind of got out of comics. And trying to make a few extra bucks my cousin looked the comics up. Seems there is a decent amount of demand for this comic. She ended up getting $5 for it. Not bad for what I am sure was a giveaway comic.

Amazing Spider-Man NACME #02 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 106 The Adventures of Chrissie Claus #02

TITLE-The Adventures of Chrissie Claus #02
PUBLISHER-Hero Comics

This came out around X-mas 1993. But I didn't get my copy until 2010.Chrissie is the college age daughter of Santa Claus. But she wants to live a normal life. So she has left the North Pole and is enrolled in college. It is spring break and her and her friends go down to Florida. Where the run into all kinds of trouble and wacky mishaps

This is a comic I wouldn't look at twice,even if I found it in the 10 comics for a buck bin. And when I got it,was an Ebay auction for 10lbs of random comics,it went to the bottom of my reading pile.

I find the "for children of all ages" blurb on the cover to be pretty funny. While there is no nudity or foul language in the comic. It is full of cheesecake artwork. This came out during the mid 90s bad girls craze. And it feels like the publisher was trying to make an all ages bad girl/cheesecake art book.

The Adventures of Chrissie Claus #02 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 105 D.P.7 #32

TITLE-D.P.7 #32

PUBLISHER-New Universe an imprint of Marvel Comics

Cover dated June of 1989 this is the final issue of DP7.Sadly the New Universe experiment didn't even last 3 full years. I love how the cover claims "32 in a thirty-two issue limited series". 

By the time of this issue only 5 of the original 7 are left in the title. And all of them are now living in NYC. They hear about someone who claims they can "cure" paranormals of their abilities. And the issue is about our heroes/heroines trying to decide if they want to lose their abilities or not.

Mark Gruenwald wrote this issue like he did the rest of the series. And it shows how much he loved these characters. This is one of my favorite things the late Mr Gruenwald wrote. He took what started off as a slightly more realistic version of the X-men and made it into one of the better written comics coming out of Marvel in the mid to late 80s.

Paul Ryan does the pencils. And out of all the artists that worked on the series,I find Mr Ryan's pencils to best capture the energy Gruenwald was putting into the scripts.

With Blur,one of the original 7 who isn't in this issue,now a part of the revamped Squadron Supreme I got the craving for some classic DP7 stuff. So I dug the issue out of my New Universe longbox.I doubt it would happen but I would love to see someone come and write at least another issue of DP7 that happens after this one.

D.P.7 #32 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 104 Archie's Funhouse Comics Double Digest #18

TITLE-Archie's Funhouse Comics Double Digest #18
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

Under this neat cover,by Tito Pena,Fernando Ruiz and Bob Smith,is a fun collection of old and new Archie comics. Archie's Funhouse seems to have replaced Pals N Gals in the Double Digest line up. In that Funhouse takes the focus off Archie and spotlights the other characters in Riverdale.

I am still trying to figure out who the piss yellow dog on the cover is suppose to be. I know it ain't Hotdog,since he is white and looks very different from the cover dog. And I don't think it is Archie's dog,who's name I can't remember right now. But that bright yellow dog stands out.

One difference I noticed with this digest,which is one of the first digests I have gotten in a few years,is that now all the stories except for the 1 page gag strips contain credits. For years the Archie comics had no credits. So fans had to get good and knowing the various artists' styles. A thing I have never been good at.

I love how now Archie's various Double Digests are only a buck more than most comics. When they contain right at 250 pages of comics. And your average comic has maybe 22 pages. Too bad more companies aren't doing digests.Back in the 70s and 80s both Marvel and DC published digests. But since the mid 90s neither company has bothered with this format.

Archie's Funhouse Comics Double Digest #18 gets a buy.

2016 Comics Challenge 103 Classics Illustrated #04 Last of the Mohicans

TITLE-Classics Illustrated #04 Last of the Mohicans
PUBLISHER-Gilberton Comics

Growing up I heard about Classics Illustrated from my parents and their siblings. From the fall of 1941 until spring 1969,Gilberton published a total of 166 issues.  Most of which went thru many many print runs. My copy of issue 4 is a 14th or later printing.

From what I have been told kids used these comics like how people my age used Cliff's Notes. Instead of reading the book you got assigned in school you could pay 10 to 15 cents and get a comic book version of it.Now I have never read the novel this comic is based on,but from what I can find seems like this comic book adaptation follows the book fairly closely.

The cover on this issue has some great artwork. I do wish I knew who did it. It is much much better than the interior artwork.As you can see from the picture my copy isn't in the best shape. Hell the cover isn't even attached to the comic any more.

So how did I get this comic that came out at least 20 years before I was born? A few years back I met a guy who collected VHS. Mostly wanting horror,science fiction and cartoons on VHS. One of my neighbors had been given a bunch of VHS by their kids. And I got told to come over and grab whatever I wanted. So I ended up trading a stack of VHS for right at 20 issues of Classic Illustrated. All of them were a bit beat up. But that doesn't matter to me. Finally after right at 40 years of hearing about these comics I got to read a bunch of them.

Classic Illustrated #04 Last of the Mohicans gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 102 Proof #01

TITLE-Proof #01
PUBLISHER-Image

Back a few years ago a guy I know from a comic forum came up with a neat way to not only get rid of comics he didn't want ,but also a way to make a bit of money. He started up Cheap-o-comics. Where for $5 plus $3 for shipping he sent you 5 random comics. It was in one of these random lots that I got Proof.

Created by Alexander Grecian and Riley Rossmo,Proof is a series about an X-files like group. They work for the government. And John "Proof"Prufrock is a Sasquatch. Who works for this team. They mostly track down cryptids.

The story in this issue is a nice balance of drama and comedy. The artwork looks great and fits the mood of the story very well. And after reading this issue I now want to track down the rest of the series.

Proof #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 101 Sin City The Babe wore Red

TITLE-Sin City The Babe Wore Red
PUBLISHER-Dark Horse Comics

Published in fall of 1994,this one shot collected 3  of the Sin City shorts that had appeared in odd places. And as always with Sin City Frank Miller is the writer and artist.

"And Behind Door Number Three..." is the first story. Someone has been killing the hookers in Old Town. The story is only 4 pages long. One of the hookers,I think it is Goldie,has a john at her place. She realizes there is something wrong with him. So yells for Gail to come help her. Seems he is the guy that has been killing the hookers. So Gail and Goldie tie him up then the story ends as Miho enters the room. And if you have seen the films or read the comics you know that Miho will make sure this slimeball gets what is coming to him.

"The Customer is always Right" is the second story in this collection.It is also the first Sin City story to be filmed. We get three pages.Our nameless hitman has been hired to kill a woman that crossed the wrong people. He meets her out on a balcony. During a rainstorm. He kills her. And we find out she hired him herself. Cause he would give her a more peaceful death than whoever it is she crossed.

"The Babe wore Red" is the final story. And the longest in the collection. It also is the first time in a Sin City comic that we got a color that isn't black or white. It is the red that the titular babe wore.Dwight gets a call late at night. And when he arrives the guy who called him is dead. But he meets a woman there. A gorgeous woman. Who just wants to settle somethings before she can move on with her life. With help from Dwight her issues are solved. And at the end we find out the titular woman is actually a nun.

While this isn't the best issue of Sin City,the first story is way too short.It is worth checking out. I am sure it is reprinted in one of the many trades/hardcovers Dark Horse has put out since the first film was such a big hit.

Sin City The babe wore red gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 100 Sin City Just another Saturday Night

TITLE-Sin City Just Another Saturday Night
PUBLISHER-Dark Horse Comics

Yep my very battered copy of one of the many Sin City one-shots.The lady on the cover is the stripper Jessica "I have no acting talent" Alba played in the two films.

As you should know this being Sin City,Frank Miller writes and draws this crime drama comic. Usually with Sin City each story was many many issues long. But every once in awhile Miller would put out one shots. This was the final Sin City comic I bought before the first film came out. It was new comic day. I had just walked into the comic shop,when the owner says "Hey I had no idea you worked on Sin City." I looked at him with a puzzled look. Until he opened it up and I see someone with my name is listed for book design.

The story is all about Marv. Starting on a Saturday night. He comes to and has no clue where he is. And why he is there. So he searches his pockets for clues. All of which lead him all over the city. And with it being Marv that means a bunch of people are gonna get beat the hell up. And the story ends pretty much how it began. Marv comes too after blacking out and has no clue where he is.

Marv is my second favorite of all the Sin City characters. And sure sometimes Miller makes him way more powerful than a human should be. But that also happened in the noir films that Miller took his inspiration from.

Sin City Just Another Saturday Night gets a Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 099 Oceanverse

TITLE-Oceanverse
PUBLISHER-self published thru Ka-Blam digital printing

Out of every 100 comics I add to my listing at the online comic database I use,there is usually at least 2 or 3 they don't have. Mostly it happens with 70s era Archie and Gold Key stuff. This is the only modern comic that I own that isn't in that database.

So what is Oceanverse? It is 12 pages of what feels like the pitch for a daily action comic strip. You have to turn the comic sideways to read this book. Created by Michael Schwartz,who was inspired by the podcast Comic Geek Speak. At one time he was putting up a new strip in this series every few days. I think he has long since stopped doing it. And I have no idea how many of this collection of the first 20 or so strips got printed.

The inside front cover indicates this issue was passed out at the big CGS episode 300 celebration. I couldn't attend it. But not long afterwards I was mailed my prizes for beating CGS's then resident trivia guy. And as an bonus he threw in this comic.

Oceanverse is about a new experimental submarine. And the mission it's crew is sent on. In the 12 pages we get lots of world building is going on. Which does what it should do. In that it makes me want to read more Oceanverse.The art isn't bad. But I do wonder how it would look with pro-inks and colors.

Oceanverse gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 098 Monica's Story

TITLE-Monica's Story
PUBLISHER-Alternative Comics

Yep there is a comic book version of the Monica/Bill Clinton scandal. This came out in either late 98 or early 99.Written by Jon Lewis,with an assist from the Starr Report,and with semi famous artist James Kochalka.

We get to see stuff like the first time Monica showed Bill her whaletail.

We see how their relationship slowly built. And while the comic never gets super graphic in showing what happened. You do get scenes were it is obvious that Clinton is getting some oral in the Oval Office.

Then we get to X-mas Eve. And Monica sees that someone has sent the President a box of cigars.Which as most of y'all should know leads up to the most infamous part of the entire Starr Report. A scene that the artist does a neat way of showing it without going into full on porn territory.

Yep they used the Presidental seal to cover up Monica's vagina. So the comic starts moving forward in time. And of course all of us old enough to remember when this was all over the news,has to remember the famous stain Monica had on an old dress. And of course the comic has to show us this scene also.

Oh that wacky Monica thinking it is spinach dip.And our 33 page story,they use the inside back cover for the last page,ends with Monica thinking all is good.

I remember when I saw the advance order for this comic thinking "Ok if this wasn't from James Kochalka I wouldn't order it." And the comic shop I went to ended up only ordering 3 copies. My copy,one for the owner and one for the wall.

I do like how they managed to stick to the official story without going to far in showing graphic sex. The choice of James as the artist was damn good. His style is a bit cartoony with a dash of realism.

Monica's Story gets a buy. But only if you find it for under $5.

2016 Comic Challenge 097 Archie's Pals n Gals Double Digest #121

TITLE-Archie's Pals n Gals Double Digest #121
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

One of the few things better than an Archie digest is an Archie Double Digest. At a bit over two times the size the double digests are great deals. Pretty sure all Archie puts out now is Double Digests.

Since Dilton is on the cover I figured he might get the spotlight in this issue. Pals N Gals tended to focus on people outside Archie's big four,who are Archie,Jughead,Veronica and Betty. This issue has a couple of really good Dilton stories. And a few one page gag strips with Riverdale's resident head nerd.Plus you get a handful of stories where Cheryl Blossom is in the lead. First appearing a long time ago,Cheryl was kind of forgotten. Then Archie did their first big storyline "Love Showdown" and brought her back.Then the last third of the digest is all Lil Archie stories. With lots of Lil Reggie stories in this section.

Back when I was buying lots of Archie digests. I was getting them cause my job at the time gave me 7 to 8 hours of down time each shift. And a double digest would help kill a few of those hours.

Archie's Pals N Gals #121 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 096 Reggie and me #126

TITLE-Reggie and me #126
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

Coming out sometime in the summer of 1980 this is the last issue of the long running Reggie solo series from Archie. Now while Reggie didn't appear in the first few Archie stories,once he appeared he has been a constant member of the various Archie titles.

I have no clue where I got this comic. Over the past 15 years I have gotten into the habit of picking up any Archie comic I find that is a buck or less. I doubt I have even read this issue before. And look at that cover.It has the same trade dress that almost all the Archie titles used for years. From sometime in the early 70s until at least the early 90s.So I open it up and what do I see on the inside front cover?

Yep it's a Hostess Fruit Pie ad starring Josie. I love these ads. And see lots of the DC and Marvel ones uploaded online. But rarely see the Archie and Harvey ones.

Really it is kind of hard to review these Archie comics. Most of the stories follow one of 8 or so plots. And usually the art looks the same no matter who is drawing it.This issue has 4 stories. All of which are at least 4 pages. Plus something I think is missing from modern comics. It has an activity page.

And it is a very easy activity page. You start at the top and follow the line while writing down each letter. Which then gives you the message.

Another thing that stood out in this comic is how few of the pages are for ads. There is 4 pages,not including the inside front and back covers,that contain ads. I am sure in Marvel/DC comics at the time had more ads than that.

Reggie and me #126 is a fairly standard late 70s/early 80s Archie comic. You get 2 new stories and then 2 reprints.Who knows with this Riverdale live action pilot getting greenlit,Luke Perry has been cast as Archie's father,maybe it will bring more people back into reading Archie.

Reggie and me #126 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 095 Q-Unit Ashcan edition

TITLE-Q-Unit ashcan
PUBLISHER-Harris Comics

Back in the early 90s Harris looked like a break out company. They started off by bringing back Vampirella. Which was a huge hit. So they tried to expand their line of comics.Starting in fall of 93 all the various comic book zines started having 1 and 2 page ads for Q-Unit. Which from all the promotion it was getting I expected it to be a huge hit. Then I kind of got out of comics and forgot about Q-Unit.

Skip ahead to 1998. I now have a great local comic shop,Lynn's Comics in Nederland TX. He had a neat way of getting rid of comics/magazines he didn't want anymore. For every 20 bucks you spent you got to go pick out 2 comics or one magazine off this one series of shelves.Having had read and enjoy Hero Illustrated back in the early 90s I would grab an issues of it off the shelf. I opened up one of the bagged issues and had this Q-Unit ashcan fall out. I looked at it and remembered all the press Q-Unit got before it came out. And looked it up. Q-Unit lasted for 1 issue! Yeah they spend huges amount of cash promoting a series that lasted 1 issue LOLOLOL.

The ashcan has what I am assuming is the first 7 pages of the 1 and only issue. After which we get a bunch of pages of info on the various members of the team. Once I read all of this I realized Q-Unit was very much a clone of the much better and longer lasting Alien Legion. Sure the art on Q-Unit is pretty,Karl Altstaetter does it. But the story is nothing you haven't read before.

Now I am really curious why this series died so fast. Seems pretty much everything Harris did that wasn't Vampirella died a quick death.

Q-Unit ashcan gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 094 Pitt Hero Illustrated Premiere Edition Ashcan #10

TITLE-Pitt Hero Illustrated Premiere Edition Ashcan #10
PUBLISHER-Image Comics/Hero Illustrated

Ok who out there remembers Pitt? Now how many people remember Hero Illustrated? Yeah not many. Pitt was Dale "The Incredible Hulk" Keown's comic for the short time he was at Image. Hero Illustrated was the same company that published Electronic Gaming Monthly's answer to Wizard. The first year or so of Hero came with ashcan comics. Which is what the above is.

So how is the comic? Well there isn't much here. It is smaller than your average comic. But a bit bigger than a digest comic. It is hard to make out in the picture,but the cover has a red foil border and the title logo is in red foil.I flip the comic open and the inside front cover has the credits. Seems this is from Pitt #3. Dale Keown gets credit for "pencils & words".And someone named Brian Hotton also gets credit for "words". We get what I am guessing is the first 6 pages of Pitt #03. They are in black and white. Which works really good with Dale's artwork. A truck full of people are out hunting and end up running into Pitt. Yeah that is pretty much all that happens. After our six pages of story the next section is 9 pages titled The Pitt Gallery.Which has sketches,alternative pages,unused covers and other rare Pitt artwork from Mr Keown.

I actually read Pitt back when it started.But like lots of the early Image stuff there was sometimes many many months between issues. Which caused me to lose interest. And from looking at the covers I gave up on the series by issue 4.

I have no clue how hard it would be to get this issue. When I do find back issues of Hero Illustrated they never cost more than 3 bucks. And that is for issues that are still in the polybag. Really besides the nice foil cover there isn't much to this issue that makes it worth picking up.

Pitt Hero Illustrated Premiere Edition Ashcan #10 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 093 Dark Knight III The Master Race #03

TITLE-Dark Knight III The Master Race #03
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

With the one escaped Kandorian taking over the world,Carrie and Bruce goto the Fortress of Solitude to awaken Superman.

And on the other side we see Superman and Wonder Woman's daughter turning to the dark side.

Really this is more of a set up issue than anything else. The backstory with Hal Jordan is meh.

Honestly I should have just waited till this series was over and grabbed the trade. but DKR is one of my favorite series. And I loved the sequel,yeah I know I am one of the few,so I was gonna read this as it came out even if it was a dumb idea. And this issue with was. Nothing here was worth what I paid.

Dark Knight III #03 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 092 Squadron Supreme #03

TITLE-Squadron Supreme #03
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

So Nighthawk is surrounded by the Avengers team lead by Steve Rogers. He activates his team signal and then we cut to the other members. And get to see what they have been up to. Hyperion is a truck driver now. Blur is visiting Pittsburgh. And so on.

Most of the issue is a well drawn and paced fight between the Squad and Roger's Avengers. The stand out for me was Blur managing to defeat Quicksilver. Were it is hinted that Blur is faster than Quicksilver.

The Squad gets the upper hand,until the Golden Age Human Torch reveals a new twist on his powers. And this is when Tundarra,I think I got that name right,makes her presence known. And transports the Squad to Weird World.

Squadron Supreme #03 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 091 Illuminati #01

TITLE-Illuminati #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel comics

Titania has just gotten out of jail. And once her boyfriend,the Absorbing Man ,gets out she wants to move and try to live a normal life.

After weeks of trying to find a job.she ends up getting a job as security at a pawn shop. Thanks to She Hulk,who runs a program for ex-villains trying to turn over a new leaf. A group of 3 armed,and armed with some kind of laser like guns,try to rob the pawn shop. Titania of course uses her powers to prevent the robbery. Which causes her parole cuff to go off. And fairly quickly Luke Cage and Iron Fist show up.

Thanks to an appearance from The Hood,Titania escapes and is asked to join The Hoods new army of villains.

I have never heard of Joshua Williamson before,who is the writer.Same with Shawn Crystal,who is credited as artist.But the story so far and the art are pretty good. The art has a very slight cartoony look to it. Which works pretty well with the colors used.

Illuminati #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 090 Canadian Squalour 2010

TITLE-Canadian Squalour 2010
PUBLISHER-Colin Upton Comics

Another of the many mini comix I got from Colin Upton. This one talks about how Colin was suppose to be working on a comic with Harvey Pekar. And had been waiting a year and a half for all the details to be ironed out. Then one crappy day he goes to check his email and finds out Harvey has passed.

As I said in the previous review of one of Mr Upton's comix,it is obvious he was influenced by Harvey. And this comic is a nice tribute to a great talent. Done by a great talent.

This comix doesn't use the same style of shading as the last one. Instead it has a more scratchy/line intensive look. And the people are way less cartoony. That is another of Colin's great talents,he has more than one art style.

Canadian Squalour 2010 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 089 Sad Sack and the Sarge #101

TITLE-Sad Sack and the Sarge #101
PUBLISHER-Harvey Comics

This has to be the first time I have read any Sad Sack since the early 80s.Issue 101 came out around summer of 1973. So  bit before I was born. But this was when Harvey was still at it's peak sales wise. Flipping thru the issue I see ads for lots of other Harvey titles. And just from these ads they seem to be publishing 8 Sad Sack titles in the next 6 weeks. 10 Richie Rich and who knows how many Casper and Hot Stuff the lil Devil issues. Before the direct market took over comics the newstands would always have a nice sampling from the big 3 all age companies.Which was Harvey,Archie and Gold Key/Whitman.

Sad Sack is pretty much a Beetle Bailey like character,even though Sad Sack started right at 8 years before Bailey. So you get a nice assortment of 1 page gag strips and 3 to 7 page more developed stories. The art isn't bad for a comedy comic. All the characters have a kind of cartoony look which works.

The only two stories really stood out. The first was Sad Sack and the Sarge in World of Gloom and Doom!Sad Sack develops a zit gun. Which is non lethal. And takes about how if you removed the killing and injuries war would be fun. Of course Sarge doesn't agree.Then the General shows up. And in a comic from the summer of 1973 meant for kids admits that hell let me take a picture of this page BRB.

Yeah.... didn't expect that at all.

The other story is one were either Sad Sack is out of the Army and married with a young son. Or the young son is Sad Sack as a kid. It is never made clear which is right. And that is what really made the story stand out.

Other things that are of interest.The cover price is 20 cents.The comic has 23 pages of comics,a couple page long text story about Lil Sad Sack. A handful of house ads. The few non-house ads are definitely targeted at younger kids. I do wish someone would get the rights to all the Harvey characters and do new stuff with them. Even if it is just say one double sized issue every 4 months.


Sad Sack and the Sarge #101 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 088 The Shield #02

TITLE-The Shield #02
PUBLISHER-Dark Circle Comics/Archie Comics

After a long delay,which sadly seems to plague various Archie titles,the next chapter in Daughter of the Revolution is out.

Written by Adam Christopher and Chuck Wendig,haven't heard of either of them before,and has Drew Johnson,Ray Snyder and Al Barrionuevo listed as artists.When I saw the comic had 3 artists I was expecting a jump is style and look somewhere in the book. But besides  a slight change in the flashback ,which oddly seems to have been done by the same artists as the first few pages,the art looks the same thru out the entire issue.

Our heroine is escaping with some woman. With what I am assuming is some black ops team after them they go underground in a tunnel. Taking a river for 150 miles.

Once they arrive at the end we see what looks like The Shield's version of a Batcave. With lots of versions of the uniform. Shield grabs one and dashes out when an alarm goes off. Which lets the duo know that the quasi-military group is there.

And we end up getting a neat twist,that I should have seen coming.

I am enjoying the little bit of the story we have gotten so far. I love how Shield is a legacy hero. Like say the Phantom or the Flash.I do hope that this is also the last of the long delays between issues.

The Shield #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 087 The Black Hood #09

TITLE-Black Hood #09
PUBLISHER-Dark Circle Comics/Archie Comics

This comic just keeps getting better. Black Hood is trying to figure out who has been kidnapping various homeless in town. And we get the history of the town's most well known bum. A former reporter gone drunk.

In his civilian identity Black Hood visits the bum and really gets nothing. But when he comes back as the Hood,he gets a pretty good clue. He goes out to the warehouse district,but gets ambushed.And they know who he is and proceed to beat the shit outta him.

Each issue of this series Duane Swierczynski weaves more and more threads together while creating new ones. Greg Scott's art is as good as it always is. And the cover by Francesco Francavilla is nice. But I do wish he would concentrate more on Afterlife with Archie,I do see that the newest issue is suppose to be on sale this month.

Black Hood #09 gets  Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 086 Self-Indulgent Comics #38

TITLE-Self-Indulgent Comics #38
PUBLISHER-Colin Upton Comics

Last year,or maybe the year before, I got a package in the mail. It was full of mini comics from the Canadian artist/writer/painter Colin Upton. And to make a great package even better every issue was signed and had a quick doodle on it.

This issue has Colin walking around Vancouver Canada. And he runs into a group of guys on a scavenger hunt. They need a sketch of themselves by a major landmark. And they lucked out cause Colin just so happens to be a damn good artist. He does the best with the meager art supplies the guys have,standard paper and some crappy markers. After they leave Colin starts to let his mind wander and wonder if they won the hunt and who they worked for. Then on the last page we find out they do and get a small scan of the sketch.

I have read a decent amount of mini comix over the years. But the art in the various ones of Mr Upton's I have read is just soo damn good. The shading is perfect.The linework is perfect. I suspect that Colin is a fan of Robert Crumb. The next to last page feels like a loving tribute to various piece of Crumb artwork.

If you have an interest in Colin's work here's his website.www.colinupton.com

He has lots of his comix for sale and the price is great. One small warning,Colin lives in Canada so if you live outside Canada the postage will be a bit higher than you would suspect,but not that much higher than US postage. And it takes a bit longer for sometime to get to you. But it is at most 3 or 4 more days.  To me Colin's comix are worth the extra postage and wait.

Self-Indulgent Comics #38 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 085 Adventures of Kool-Aid Man #04

TITLE-Adventures of Kool-Aid Man #04
PUBLISHER-Archie comics

Yes Kool-Aid Man not only had his own comic but it got at least 4 issues. I just looked and there is actually 8 issues of this series. Which started in 1983 and the final issue came out in 1991. Issue 4 was released in 1988. I know I had at least the first 2 issues of this series. As a kid all I drank was sugar free Kool-Aid. And of course I saved up my Kool-Aid points. The only things I ever remember getting with these points was the 2 comics and the Kool Aid Man Atari 2600 game.

This issue we get 2 stories.Both of which Michael J Pellowski wrote.The cover and interior pencils are by Dan Decarlo. Yep the same Dan that did so much work for Archie a few decades ago. And a Jim Decarlo handles the inks.

Honestly the comic isn't that good. But it is much more than just a shill for Kool-Aid. Plus it came with a great poster.

Adventures of Kool-Aid Man #04 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 084 X-force #01

TITLE-X-force #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Travel with me back to the summer of 91. New Mutants had just been cancelled and replaced with X-force. Rob Liefeld is one of the hottest comic artist in a long time. And of course since this was around the time the comic speculation boom started issue 01 was bagged with a trading card. 1 of 5 cards to be exact. And yes I did buy 6 copies of this comic. So I not only got all 5 cards but I had a copy to open and read.

Even though this comic is pretty much a direct sequel to the New Mutants series,they spend over half the issue introducing us to the various X-force members and setting up their history.

When I read this when it came out I loved it. Liefeld's art was so different from what I was use to getting from the big 2. And I liked the idea of taking the New Mutants,who were always pretty much X-men Jr,and making them this pro-active more military style team. Going back and re-reading it...well it doesn't hold up that well. The art I loved back then cause it was so different,but now when I see it all I see is all of Liefeld's faults. The story could have been told in 5 pages.

But you know what,even though the art isn't that good. And the story is kind of a big cliche,I still had fun while reading this. I brought me back to a time when I just wanted something to read while bored in Algebra II class.

X-force #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 083 Typhoid #01

TITLE-Typhoid #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel/Marvel Edge

I have no clue where I got this comic. By the time it came out I had given up on Marvel. So I didn't buy it then. I don't remember buying it at a shop or con. I am guessing I got this in one of the many random lots of comics I won off Ebay.

I have always enjoyed Typhoid Mary. Having had read a decent amount of Daredevil comics where she appeared. And seeing that her co-creator Ann Nocenti wrote this issue I knew I wanted to read it. John Van Fleet's artwork reminds me a lot of Michael Gaydos art on Alias. I love it cause it isn't the standard bright cheery superhero art you get in lots of comics.

Typhoid is in hiding. Living a fairly normal life for her. Two guys with cameras and other equipment seem to be searching for her. And Mary ends up helping out one of her neighbors. Who's daughter is missing.

The comic seems to be flashing back in time fairly often.Lots of stuff,which is captured on videotape and viewed by the aforementioned 2 guys with cameras,showing her in the mental hospital. Since she is in her Typhoid makeup in these pages I am assuming she got put in the hospital after one of her arrests.

I want to give a quick shout out to Davlin.He recently mentioned Typhoid to me and that reminded me that I owned this issue and had never read it.He is a indy film maker based out of Ohio and has a few of his films up on this youtube channel Davlin's youtube channel click here

Typhoid #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 082 Yakuza #01

TITLE-Yakuza #01

PUBLISHER-Eternity 

After how bad the last comic was I just wanted something to get the stink of that comic out of my brain.So I dug into my longbox full of random comics I have bought cheap and never read. I saw the cover and thought Hey this might be OK. I was so wrong.

The story,what little there is,is crap. The art,even with Jimmy Palmiotti doing the inks,is terrible. The best parts of this comic are the cover and the fucking ads.

Yakuza #01 gets a PASS!

2016 Comic Challenge 081 Injustice:Gods among us Year One #01

TITLE-Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01
PUBLISHER-DC comics

This was a tie in comic for a DC hero fighting game. So I skipped it. Cause really how good could it be. But then I had someone constantly talking about how great the series was. Plus it is free.

The story is fairly simple. We are a few years in the future. Gotham is free of crime. Thanks to Superman taking over control of the world. And now Batman is gonna stop him.

Up next is a flashback. Were we see Superman finding out Lois is pregnant. And doesn't want her to go on a semi-dangerous assignment. She goes anyway.

From this issue,and I went ahead and read 2 more,what I have been told about the series I see it for what it is. A watered down mash up of Mark Grunwald's Squadron Supreme 12 issue mini,the whole superhero takes over control of the world and the non powered superhero member of the same super team must stop him/them. And Mark Waid Irredeemable.So take those two really good comics. Mash them together. Then water it down so it won't offend anyone. And you get this turd sandwich.

I am gonna be fair and finish reading the rest of Year One of this series. Mostly to see if it gets any better or just gets worse.

Injustice Gods Among Us Year One #01 gets a Pass!

2016 Comic Challenge 080 Squadron Supreme #02

TITLE-Squadron Supreme #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel

So now the half the world is after our team of heroes. Nighthawk goes to do an investigation of a oil refinery. And finds there one of horse aliens from the old Power Pack series.

And we get a glimpse of the Squad's new base. Which just happens to be in the trench Atlantis was in.

Most of the issue is just build up. But that makes sense. We gotta have some stuff spelled out so we know what is possibly gonna happen soon.

Gotta say while I did enjoy this issue,it wasn't nearly as good as the first one. But it would be hard to top issue 1.

Squadron Supreme #02 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 079 Squadron Supreme #01

TITLE-Squadron Supreme #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel

I almost didn't bother getting this comic. Pretty much every story I have read with the Squadron Supreme since Grunwald died has been shit.

So it was a nice surprise to see a well written story with them. Now I didn't read all of Secret Wars,mostly cause I found it very boring. But I heard enough to understand some of the changes Marvel has done to their main universe.

So we got a team of various people from various realities. With the Marvel MAX version of Nighthawk,Blur from DP7 and they even got Princess Power from the Grunwald run.

Seems Namor destroyed the world this teams Dr Spectrum lived in. So now the entire team is out to get him. And they do a damn good job. First they distract Namor so Hyperion can raise Atlantis above the ocean floor. Then Hyperion ends up decapitating Namor.

I am assuming this will be the more pro-active team in this new Marvel Universe. And I love that they got Blur here. Plus bringing back the original Princess Power.

Squadron Supreme #01 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 078 Freaks #02

TITLE-Freaks #02
PUBLISHER-Monster Comics an imprint of Fantagraphics

In the early 90s long time indie comic company Fantagraphics started up a few imprints. One of which was Monster Comics. While Monster Comics didn't last long,they put out a few great series. With the best being their 4 issue adaptation of Todd Browning's classic horror film Freaks.

This issue starts off right around the time Dr Blackman finds out about the circus folks camping out on his property. And going all the way to right after both of the male midgets get their physicals. The story was adapted by Jim Woodring.And it seems he pretty much just followed the shooting script. And F. Salano Lopez does the very detailed black and white artwork.

I wish Fantagraphics would put out a trade of this series and the King Kong series Monster published.But it seems this mini series is pretty much forgotten. In comic fan circles most people do not even remember Monster Comics. And in horror fan circles almost no one I have met knew this comic existed.

Freaks #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 077 Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07

TITLE-Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07
PUBLISHER-DC

Back in the 80s DC started up Who's Who. Which was like an encyclopedia for the DC universe.And I loved this series. Buying every issue I found.

Since Who's Who was a hit DC started doing similar series by with a narrower focus. Which brings us to the above comic. I had been reading the Legion of Super-Heroes since the late 70s. And this 7 issue mini series covers almost everything from the start of the Legion back in the Silver Age until 1988.

Being the last issue this one covers from Time Trapper,always loved him,to Zoraz. But one thing it does that I have never seen in any Who's Who is a 12 page story.At the start of the issue we get Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel talking to a group of Legion trainees. Ty Templeton wrote the story. And the legendary Curt Swan handles the pencils.

Who's Who in the Legion of Super-Heroes #07 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 076 Archie Digest Magazine #245

TITLE-Archie Digest Magazine #245
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

When I moved back to Mississippi for the longest time the only comics I could find was the various Archie digests.This issue came out in the summer of 2008. Which was during a time when I was buying pretty much all the Archie digests.

Even as a kid I usually bought the Archie digests instead of the normal comic sized stuff from Archie. I think part of it was back then the digests were a around the same price as a normal sized comic. But the digest had so many more pages. What I didn't know back then was the digests were a mixture of old stories and brand new stuff.In the current day the normal Archie digests cost about half of what a normal comic does. And you get almost 8 times the amount of comics.

The cover story in this issue is what stands out to me. Archie is given a liquid by Dilton. Which causes all of Archie's hair to not stop growing. So we end up with a very Sasquatch looking Archie running around Riverdale.Since the cover is credited to John D'Agostino and Fernando Ruiz I am guessing either both of them or one of them did the lead story.

The various reprinted stories in here are fun. And from the clothing styles seems they are from as far back as the 40s. With a bunch of them looking like classic Dan Decarlo 80's stuff.

One little neat thing is while reading the digest I noticed that in one of the ads they are talking about how they are having a huge sale on overstock digests. And I have went and circled all the stuff I wanted to order. Which I ended up doing. Got like 30 or so various Archie digests and double digests for less than 20 bucks including shipping.

Archie Digest Magazine #245 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 075 Star Trek #53

TITLE-Star Trek #53
PUBLISHER-Whitman Comics

Cover dated July 1978,this Whitman licensed comic has a gorgeous painted cover. I do wish I knew who did the cover.George Kashdan wrote the comic. With Al McWilliams getting pencils and ink credits.

Kirk,Bones and Spock are down on a planet and have a run in with the Greek Gods.Which turns into a recreation of the Odyssey.

One fun thing about the comic is say a story like this if done  on the show would look cheesy as fuck. Cause of the budget. But in a comic they can do anything. And it is the stories when the writers take it way past what the show could do that stand out the most from this comic that had a fairly long run.

Star Trek #53 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 074 Walt Disney's Super Goof #35

TITLE-Walt Disney's Super Goof #35
PUBLISHER-Whitman

I mentioned in the last review my childhood love of Whitman comics. They had the Disney license for years. And besides doing comics of the various starts of the Disney cartoons,they also created new characters for the comics.With the most famous being of course Uncle Scrooge. Who I love. But as a kid one of my favorites was Super Goof.

Super Goof is Goofy's superheroic alter-ego. He eats these super peanuts and gains basically the standard superhero powers of flight,super strength and invulnerability.

In this issue we get two stories. The first deals with Super Goof taking on a super powered parrot.As shown on the cover. The second one has Super Goof facing The Beagle Boys. I seem to remember him fighting the Beagle Boys fairly often in his comic.

Sadly since the final issue of Super Goof, number 74,came out sometime in 1984 Super Goof has pretty much disappeared. I would love to have seen him maybe say show up on Duck Tales or Darkwing Duck. Or hell now with superhero movies being fairly popular do a Super Goof cartoon to air before one of the new Marvel comic films.

Super Goof #35 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 073 Married with Children:Bud Bundy Fanboy in Paradise #01

TITLE-Married with Children:Bud Bundy Fanboy in Paradise #01
PUBLISHER-NOW Comics

I love NOW comics. They mostly relied on licensed titles. Stuff like Terminator,Speed Racer,Green Hornet and the kind of under-rated Married with Children comic.Plus since they had newstand distribution I could get them without having to goto the comic shop. And in that cause of all their licensed titles they reminded me so much of Whitman comics. And as a kid I was a huge Whitman Comics fan.

When the Married with Children comics were coming out I would grab an issue here and there. Then a few years back at a con I found a huge stash of them in some dealer's cheap bin. All of them mint and looking like they had never been read.

This comic is all about how Bud has created a comic book. And is going to a con to try to sell the idea to a comic company. Since the issue came out at the height of Image/Valiant speculator hype it is mostly a parody of that. There is a Todd McFarlene parody that is damn funny.

What I find odd is this comic took 3 people to write it. Todd S Tuttle,Joan Weis and Geoffery White are credited with writing it.Looking at www.comicbookdb.com I see outside of Weis,who did a tiny bit of work for DC,all three of them pretty much just worked for NOW. Tom Richmond is the penciler. And seems he also worked on other MWC comics and did lots of work for Mad Magazine. Finally David Mowry is the inker.

One last thing. This issue came with poster of the cover. Which for many years I had hanging on my wall. Had quite a few people see it and mention how much they loved MWC but never knew there was a comic of it.

Married with Children:Bud Bundy Fanboy in Paradise #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 072 Mr T and the T-Force #02

TITLE-Mr T and the T-Force #02
PUBLISHER-NOW Comics

Yep in 1993 NOW comics teamed up with Neal Adams/Continuity Studios and Mr T to create a comic. I had kind of forgotten about this comic until I found an almost complete run in a dealer's 10 for a buck bin.

Neal Adams and Pete Stone are credited with story. With art credits going to Neal Adams&Continuity Studios.Plus Mr T being listed as Star and Creative Director. And the art has that samey look that almost everything from Continuity had.So what about the story? Mr T fights a cyborg Incan. And gets shot with needles full of drugs. Which causes T to start hallucinating. Yeah that is the story.Oh and some at risk teen is back at T-Force HQ and trying to decide if he should change his life.

From what I have read and heard every issue came bagged with a trading card. Most of the time containing cover art but missing all the logos and stuff. This issue comes with what I must assume is a panel from the first issue of Mr T and the T-force.

Mr T and the T-Force #02 gets a borrow.