2016 Comic Challenge 142 The Ray #01

TITLE-The Ray #01
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

I haven't read this comic since it came out in the early 90s. But back then the Ray was one of the few DC heroes I gave a shit about.

And like all good first issues this one spends some time setting up the who,what and where of the series. Ray gets his first apartment,hates his job at a fried chicken shack and is pretty sure his Fonzie like cousin is using him.

One evening the cousin talks Ray into flying the two of them down to Hawaii. To party,but turns out a giant hand has just shown up in a volcano. This being a superhero comic you know that it has to be a villain. Turns out it is Brimstone. One of the seeds Darkseid planted back in the Legends mini series.YAY continuity!

Ray is doing ok against this giant Apokaliptian monster of fire. When Superboy shows up,this is the early 90s clone Superboy not the various others. They managed to subdue Brimstone and haul him to a less populated part of the island.

The teen heroes end up in a fight. With the end results being Superboy is knocked out. The Ray is out of power and on the last page Brimstone wakes up.

The Ray #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 141 X-O Manowar #00 GOLD

TITLE-X-O Manowar #00 Gold variant
PUBLISHER-Valiant

Anyone that was into comics in the early to mid 90s remembers Valiant. And almost all of us wanted one of their Gold variants. Back then the above issue was going for between 50 and 100 bucks. I never had a Gold variant back then.

Back in 2008 I was talking to one of my older cousins. And he mentioned he had 3 longboxes back at his house. And he didn't want them. So before I headed back home I stopped by and got them from him. In those boxes was piles of early 90s Image and Valiant stuff. And it was in these boxes that I got my first Valiant Gold variants. Of course now that once 100 buck X-O zero gold is now at the most a 30 buck book.

But under that shiny gold and chromium there is a damn good story. Aric is a visagoth. Who gets kidnapped by a group of spideraliens. While on their ship he meets an old man. Who looks a lot like Elvis. Elvis gives Aric a map to the Spider Alien's biggest weapon. Which is the X-O Manowar armor. Aric dons it and escapes back to Earth. But cause of various time space things it is now the modern day.

I had the normal version of this comic back when it came out. Mostly cause X-O was the only Valiant title I bothered reading every month back then. Jorge Gonzalaz and Bob Layton scripted this issue. And Joe Quesada handles the pencils.

X-O Manowar #00 Gold variant gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 140 Youngblood Super Special #01

TITLE-Youngblood Super Special #01
PUBLISHER-Maximum Press

Yep I am back with more Youngblood.By the time this issue came out,cover date winter 1997,I had just gotten back into comics. But was ignoring everything coming out that was superhero related. Then a few years ago I found a big stack of Liefeld stuff. And it was cheap,average issue was costing me a quarter. When I bought it I flipped thru the comic,saw that Chris Sprouse was doing the art. And the comic ended up getting filed away in a longbox.

So about 2 weeks ago I was going through some of my boxes of comics. And pulling out stuff that I had either never read or had read but was wanting to read again. I flipped through this comic again and wanted to read it since the art by Mr Sprouse looked damn good.

This issue is about Sentinel going off with a team mostly comprised of new recruits to the Youngblood program. They get attacked and now this team of new and untested heroes has to prove they have what it takes to be part of Youngblood.

The story,written by Eric Stephenson,is kind of an average story. But compared to lots of the other Youngblood stuff I have read it is so much better. What really made the issue stand out to me is Chris Sprouse's artwork. I had gotten use to either Liefeld art on Youngblood or art from one of the many Liefeld clones on Youngblood.

I am guessing not many people read this issue. By 97 all except the diehard Liefeld fans had given up on all the stuff he was putting out. Plus when this came out Alan Moore was busy writing Supreme. So that title seemed to get all the attention.

Youngblood Super Special #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 139 Youngblood Vol 01 #08

TITLE-Youngblood Vol 01 #08
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Studios

Set right after Team Youngblood #11,this issue gives us the battle I wished had happened in the Team Youngblood issue.

Shaft and most of the Youngblood team go to capture/kill the villain who killed their teammate. And on the way there we get introduced to some new members. None of whom stand out.

But there is another story in this issue. We are taken to the alley Spawn is living in. And who happens to show up but Chapel. The man who killed Spawn.

I was surprised when I looked at the credits and saw that Liefeld actually drew this issue. I figured by this late in Extreme Studios run he wasn't doing much besides recruiting more talent. And Liefeld and Eric Stephenson wrote the issue.

I am kind of tempted to go dig out the next issue and read it. Mostly to see the continuation of the Chapel vs Spawn stuff.

Youngblood Volume 01 #08 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 138 Team Youngblood #11

TITLE-Team Youngblood #11
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Studios

Yep once again into the early 90s with another comic from Extreme Studios. Team Youngblood was a spin off of Rob Liefeld's Youngblood. Each series was suppose to focus on the home or away team. But that was never really stuck too.

Rob Liefeld and Eric Stephenson seem to have wrote this comic. With Chap Yaep doing the pencils and Danny Miki/Marlo Alquiza/Jonathan Sibal handling the inks. I don't mind Yaep's art. He is the best of the many Liefeld clones that worked at Extreme Studios.

The issue starts with the Sentinel lead team. They have just lost a team mate and need help. Then a quick cut to Badrock. He is on vacation off in Colorado. When he gets attacked by the cyborg hitman Overtkill. So a many page battle happens. And near the end Shaft shows up and grabs Badrock. And they head off to take care of whoever it was that killed one of their teammates.

The fight between Badrock and Overtkill is ok at best. Lots of huge panels and what all. I would have rather that part was skipped and we got straight to the battle that I am assuming happens in the next issue.

Team Youngblood #11 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 137 Extreme HERO

TITLE-Extreme HERO
PUBLISHER-Hero Illustrated/Extreme Studios/Image

And it's another comic that I forgot I owned until when last year  I started thinning out my collection.Extreme HERO is a preview comic that came packaged with an issue of Hero Illustrated. In it is 8 short previews of upcoming comics from the Extreme Studios part of Image.

The cover is by Rob Liefeld and Danny Miki. And I am guessing the guy on the cover is Cybrid. And that is just based on that fact that Liefeld and Miki did both the cover and the Cybrid preview on the inside.

The first preview is Cybrid by Liefeld and Miki. We get 4 pages of a cyborg man running around fighting stuff.I looked all over online and could find not evidence that Cybrid got it's own comic. I don't remember him showing up in any of the Extreme Studios stuff I have read. And after reading this 4 page preview I can say it is no loss if Cybrid never showed back up.

Preview number 2 is Law & Order. No not the long in the tooth tv show that has infected too many channels. This was instead created by Marat Mychaels.Who also writes and draws this 2 page preview. Like Cybrid I don't think this set of characters appeared outside of this preview comic.

3rd preview is Code 9. Again you get 2 pages. This time with Eric Stephenson getting credit for script. And the infamous Chap Yaep credited for creation,story,pencils and inks.I have no clue what the lead in this preview is called. He talks about being a good man until he was changed by Code 9.The art is decent for Yaep. But really 2 pages isn't enough to let me figure out if I want to read more of this character. But it doesn't matter cause once again it looks like Code 9 never appeared again.

L.A.N.C.E.R.S. is the 4th preview. Again it is 2 pages ARRGGGHHH. Richard Hornie is credited as creator and for the story and pencils.And Danny Miki did the inks. This at least is somewhat connected to the Extreme branch of Image. With a footnote telling you to read Extreme #0. I haven't seen Lancers appear outside this issue,and know he didn't get his own series.

RISK is the 5th preview. And again,I am really starting to hate this,it is 2 pages.Chuck Jones,not the guy who worked on Looney Tunes,gets credit for everything but inks. And the 2 pages of story is shit.I seem to remember Risk showing up in a future comic from Extreme.Which is better than the previous 4 characters showcased in the increasingly annoying comic.

6th is Meta-Force.Created by Jeff Matsuda and Eric Stephenson,am I the only one who loves how Stephenson started off as Liefeld's jack of all trades and moved up to being a big part of the business side of Image.It seems to be about a kid that can bring stuff out of his dreams into the real world. The art is nice. But then I like Matsuda's art. Sadly I am pretty sure Meta-Force didn't show up again.

Up next is two pages of hype for whatever Extreme Studios titles were coming out the month this shipped.With a spotlight on the Jack Kirby created Phantom Force.

Then 2 profile pages of Dan Fraga's Black Flag. I know they show up again. Pretty sure there was a Black Flag one shot or extremely short lived ongoing series.

And our final preview is of Art Thibert's Black&White. I am sure they appeared again cause somewhere in a longbox I got at least 1 issue of their series. The art is nice. Thibert was a great artist but so slow that he rarely did pencils.

The rest of the issue is just full page ads for various Extreme Studio titles. I really like the Jae Lee art on the Bloodstrike ad.

I have always loved Jae Lee's art. But seems like he is another artist that is too slow to do a regular series.

Looking around online this comic seems to be uncommon. But worth at most 2 bucks. I got mine with an issue of Hero Illustrated. And most issues of that I got for free or for 3 bucks tops.Unless you are trying to collect everything from Extreme Studios I see no reason to go out of your way to track this down.

Extreme HERO gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 136 2001 Maniacs Special

TITLE-2001 Maniacs Special
PUBLISHER-Avatar

I discovered the 2001 Maniacs film about 6 months or so before it finally hit DVD.Someone I knew had been sent a screener DVD of it and gave it to me. I loved the film and wanted more out of this rebooting of the Hershal; Gordon Lewis gore classic.

This comic tells the story of when the town the maniacs live in was attacked by a army from the North.So we get to see the slaughter and destruction of the town. Which is a good idea. It is a nice way to fill in some gaps but also not contradict what we already know from the first film.

Tim Sullivan gets the story credit.And Raulo Caceres is credit as the artist. Pretty sure Mr Sullivan was the director of the film. Caceres I do not know. But his art has that sameness look that most art on Avatar books has.

2001 Maniacs Special gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 135 Gore Shriek Vol 01 #04

TITLE-Gore Shriek Volume 01 #04
PUBLISHER-Fantaco

Ahh Gore Shriek! I have written about my love and pursuit of this b/w gory as hell horror anthology comic at least one time before here at my blog.

There are 5 stories in this issue. Plus a nice piece on Monster Magazines by Steve Bissette.That is one thing I love about Gore Shriek it not only has some great comics,but it also after a few issues started putting nice articles in every issue.

And while all 5 stories are entertaining,the first one by Steve Bissette is the best. Titled Sleeper. It is about a kid who hates Sundays.Mostly because while his parents goto church,he is forced into a dresser drawer and has to stay in it until they come back. Then one day something happens and they don't come back.

Gore Shriek #04 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 134 Bloodstrike #01

TITLE-Bloodstrike #01
PUBLISHER-Image Comics/Extreme Studios

There are times you want a great comic,say something like Grimjack or Badger. Other times you want crap. And thanks to the early 90s huge print runs there is so much crap you can get for cheap or even free.

Well after having read 3 good books,2 biographies and a entertaining book about 80s and 90s horror zines,I was ready for some crap.And it is hard to find more entertaining crap as the swill Rob Liefeld was putting out in the early days of Image.

Bloodstrike is a team of mercenaries. Most of which have ties to either Brigade or Youngblood. So in this issue,which I am pretty sure is their first appearance,you get an issue long battle. Which some what lets you know who the various members of the team are.

So who created and produced this turd? Let me check the credits page. Liefeld gets credit for Creator/Plot/Layouts. Dan Fraga does the pencils.Eric Stephenson is credited for script and as the editor. And finally Danny Miki is doing the inks.

Oh forgot a few things. Looking around it seems like this issue sold right at 1 million copies. Think about that,big titles like Batman would love to sell 1 million copies currently. Plus it has one of the most unique cover gimmicks I have seen. The blood on the cover will disappear if it gets heated up. Yep rub your finger across if and it goes away.

Bloodstrike #01 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 133 Original Turok Son of Stone #01

TITLE-Original Turok Son of Stone #01
PUBLISHER-Valiant

Back in the early to mid 90s Valiant was huge. They went from being a tiny company that was trying to create a new universe while using a handful of superheroes from the old Gold Key company.To being the number 3 company in the States.

After starting up the Turok Dinosaur Hunter series the demand for the old Gold Key series started going up.So in the spring of 1995 Valiant put out the first of 2 issues reprinting some of those old stories. But with redone coloring.

Under a nice looking Rags Morales cover we get 5 reprinted stories. 5 stories that show how very different Gold Key's version of Turok was from Valiant's version.

In these old Gold Key stories Turok and his buddy are trapped in the Lost Valley. Were they have to fight off dinosaurs. In the Valiant Turok series he is in modern day. Fighting off bionic dinosaurs. And not to long into that series run the premise was expanded.

Original Turok Son of Stone #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 132 Illuminati #03

TITLE-Illuminati #03
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

After Black Ant killed a scientist in the Fenris bar last issue we have all the other villains out to kill the Illuminati. We get a multi page brawl. Then they manage to escape.

Once they are safe Titiana starts to question if she wants to keep working with the group. The Hood has a talk with her,but it seems like she is out of the group. So the rest of them prepare for their assault on the Roxxon research facility.

They get there and at the last minute Titiana shows up. Once inside they make their way to the artificial Bi frost bridge. And then the new female Thor shows up.

Honestly unless the next 2 issues of this series have a major change happen I will not be reading it anymore. That first issue was great. And issue 2 was almost as good. But this issue felt more like the writer wanted to make sure the first storyline was at least 6 issues long. So the fight at the Fenris club last way more pages than it should have.

Illuminati #03 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 131 Captain Harlock #02

TITLE-Captain Harlock #02
PUBLISHER-Malibu Comics/Eternity Comics

Long before the 2000's manga boom there was a small explosion of manga into US comic shops. Back in the mid to late 80s various indy publishers got the rights to reprint various manga in the states. So when on a trip to a not so close junk store and I found 2 issues of Captain Harlock I just assumed it was reprints of the manga. Turns out I was wrong.

Written by Robert W. Gibson and art by Ben Dunn,Captain Harlock is an Americization of the manga. Ben Dunn is obviously a big fan of Anime and manga. And this is the second comic I have read where he took an manga and adapted it for the US audience.

Since I have never read the original Harlock manga or seen any of the anime I can't tell ya how closely this adaptation follows the original material. I can say I did enjoy the story. And the art looks pretty decent.

Captain Harlock #02 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 130 Trollords #04

TITLE-Trollords #04
PUBLISHER-Tru Studios

Trollords is a great example of one of the many great b/w indy comics that managed to come out and do well enough for awhile,mostly thanks to the b/w comic explosion after TMNT was a huge hit. But also a great example of a great title that sadly was killed by the b/w indy comic bust that happened when the direct market got flooded with b/w indy comics. Most of which were horribly written and drawn.

So what is Trollords about? The three green guys on the cover live in the suburbs with Kelly. A young woman that is having some issues. Our 3 trolls Harry,Larry and Jerry show up at the right time and help save Kelly's life. I have only read 3 or so issues of this series. But all of the ones I have read do a great job blending normal life with just a few touches of fantasy.

Written and drawn by the team of Scott Veaderstadt and Paul Fricke,Trollords is a title I wish some company would either bring back. Or at least put out a trade of all the issues.The thing with these issues is while they are not worth much more than cover price,they are kind of hard to come by. I found my first issue in the early 90s. Back when comic shops were trying to get rid of all the left over 80s indy stuff. To make way for all the 90s indy stuff that was coming out. Since then I have only seen a few more issues. And they are always tucked away in the cheap bins.

Trollords #04 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 129 The Crusaders #01

TITLE-The Crusaders #01
PUBLISHER-DC comics/!mpact comics

Back in the early 90s when DC licensed out the Archie heroes for the !mpact line I had no interest in it. In 2005 when I got into collecting so called Dead Universes I did grab a few issues from !mpact. And since then thru various random lots of comics I have ended up with a few more issues from this failed subimprint.

Now with Archie doing so well with their Dark Circle stuff I have been wanting to go back and read the previous versions of these heroes. So while digging thru a longbox of comics I grabbed this issue out. No clue when I got it or where.

The issue starts off back in the early 60s. We see the aftermath of the first group of Archie heroes and some big battle at a bunker. The surviving heroes get the government to lock down this bunker. Skip ahead 30 years and The Fly,The Comet and Fireball are investigating this bunker.And over the course of the issue the rest of the main !mpact heroes show up. Then on the final page the menace the original group of heroes locked up in the bunker is loose.

Before reading this comic I had read maybe 4 issues of the Black Hood,1 of the Comet and a few of the Jaguar. So I really knew almost nothing about these heroes. Which is why it is a good thing this issue did a good job introducing me to all the heroes.

What kind of surprised me is this came out during the peak of the Gimmick age. Where any #1 or anniversary comic had some kind of special cover. Which also meant a big price increase. Not The Crusaders #01. Cover price is a buck. Which is what most comics cost back in 92. And the closest thing it comes to a gimmick is some bound in trading cards. And these aren't even perforated for easy removal. Nope ya gotta cut them out yourself.

Looking at the backs of the cards looks like they use the Garbage Pail Kids gimmick of having a puzzle on the backs of the cards.

Honestly this was good enough that now I need to make a list of what !mpact comics I have. So I can track down what I am missing. From what I have seen none of the !mpact stuff is worth more than cover price. So shouldn't be hard to track down a full set.

The Crusaders #01 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 128 Supreme #06

 TITLE-Supreme #06
PUBLISHER-Image/Extreme Comics

Yeah been a while since I read more of Liefeld's anti social version of Superman.

Last issue left us off with Supreme fighting Khrome near DC. Quickly Supreme realizes his punches are not effecting Khrome and uses his super vision and hearing to detect an energy signal. Seems Khrome is boosting his abilities using some kind of power source that happens to be in his ship. Supreme flies up destroys the ship. And comes back and traps Khrome in a wacky science fictiony gadget thingy.

Liefeld gets credit for story.Brian Murray gets credit for Pencils,story,script and colors. And Chris Ivy get Inks credit. The art looks like the last few issues so that is good. I kind of doubt Liefeld had more to do with this than saying "yeah Supreme figures out how to beat Khrome."

The fight between Supreme and who we are told is his arch-nemesis is kind of boring and flat. Only two things stand out from this issue.

Since Thor is public domain,Liefeld created his own version. Who looks like a Liefeld character but armed with a huge hammer. And the hammer IIRC hangs around for much longer than Thor does.

Look at the extreme gore in the page above. This is from right after Supreme defeats Khrome.I just double checked and this issue has no Comic Code Authority seal on the cover. I couldn't remember if Image bothered at all with the CCA.Thinking they might have at the beginning when you were finding Image stuff on newstands and in grocery stores. But nope. And really I doubt if even in 1993 if the CCA would have approved the above page.

Supreme #06 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 127 Old Man Logan Vol 02 #03

TITLE-Old Man Logan Volume 2 #03
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

So Logan ends up teaming up with the other Hawkeye,the female that I think was part of Young Avengers. And she uses her SHIELD access to find out where Mysterio might be.

They arrived and it is kind of obvious that Mysterio is long gone. But Logan goes nuts on some low level street ruffians that are there.Kate aka Hawkeye stops him and starts pointing out all the ways this time is from what he knows happened in this time. I am guessing that Marvel has more than one Earth. And our titular hero is from a different one from what I am just gonna call the Marvel Earth 616.

But the ending of this issue is what makes it. Old Man Logan is running from Kate and runs into Old Man Steve Rogers.

Old Man Logan Vol 02 #03 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 126 Old Man Logan Vol 02 #02

TITLE-Old Man Logan Volume 2 #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

Besides the last few pages this entire issue is either focusing on Logan's fight with the current Hulk. Or a flashback to when the Hulk's descendents were terrorizing Logan's neighbors.

Lemire is putting out a good story and the artwork is damn good. Even without me reading much Marvel until a month or so ago,I kind of knew that the current Hulk wasn't the Hulk Logan was after.

Old Man Logan Vol 02 #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 125 Old Man Logan volume 2 #01

TITLE-Old Man Logan Volume 2 #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

I had read the first few issues of the Bendis written first volume of this series and enjoyed them.Ended up with a backlog of this series so while waiting on a file to process I started with the first issue of the new volume.Instead of Bendis ,now Jeff Lemire is writing it.I can not remember who did the art on the first volume,but from my memory it looked similar.Andrea Sorrentino is credited as artist.

The so called Old Man Logan from series from a few years ago is now in the modern 2015 Marvel universe.And he quickly realizes if he kills certain people in this time his future might not happen. So all the people that stepped all over Logan before he lost everything,he is paying them a visit.

Yeah this has me enough that I am gonna read at least the first year of it. And of course I love the story ending DKR homage.

Old Man Logan volume 2 #01 gets a buy.

First trip to Maw Peb's Needful Things Junkstore March 9th 2016

Since I couldn't sleep my plan was to go to town.Hit the library book sale.Then Dirt Cheap. Then grab a bite to eat on the drive home.

Well the library sale was a bust.Even though they had 3 boxes of brand new CDs,saw names like Reba Mcintire and The BeeGees in there.

Dirt Cheap was a total bust. The toy department is over run with opened lego sets,yeah not gonna take a chance on opened legos,and various Star Wars flying drones that are missing pieces.

So while driving to a little corner store that I know has good breakfast stuffs,named The Guy with the Good Biscuits and the name isn't a lie,I spotted a junkstore. One I had driven past a bunch but it was always closed.

I pull into the parking lot and the only other vehicle is a old pick up truck with both the back window and passenger side window covered with black garbage bags.I put my headphones on and continued listening to a podcast. Walked up to the door and saw the name painted on a big window "Maw Peb's Needful Things".Looking thru the windows looks to be lots of household bullshit and clothes.So I enter,but if I see Max Von Sydow I am getting the fuck out of this place. I walk in and to my right is a huge shelf of DVDs,VHS,PS2 and X-box games.A lady comes out of a back room and I get her attention and ask her what the prices are. "DVD is 2,PS2 is 5,X-box is 10 and VHS is 50 cents."I go thru all the DVDs first. Mostly shit that was in the Walmart $5 bin 4 years ago. Lots of grey market Sonny Chiba films. Then on the next to bottom shelf I find a VHS.

I looked closer at it once I got home and saw it was from an old video store.

But more on that in a bit.

The lady had went back into the back room. I was getting closer to the register and all of a sudden this huge great dane jumps up and barks. I was startled by the movement,didn't really hear the bark cause of my headphones. She comes back out tells the dog "Scooby be nice or no snacks today!" I chuckle cause the great dane's name is Scooby. Since she is back out I ask her if she has any toys in the store. Get pointed to a far corner.

The first thing I find was a blind buy DC mini statue thing. She tells me "Yeah all the toys are 1 buck if not in package.2 bucks if in the package." I figure 2 bucks is a decent amount to take a chance on the blind buy. Looking at the back there is only one figure I do not want,which was a crappy looking Superman.

I opened the DC mini statue package once I got out in my car. And here is who I got....

A pretty decent looking Cyborg. One nice thing to come out of the universe wide reboot DC did a few years ago is how much of a higher profile Cyborg now has in the non-comic merchandise.

Behind a stack of puzzles. I see a green package.So I pull it out.

 From the modern Nick TMNT toy line it is Head Droppin' Leonardo. I remember the old 80's line had the head droppin' action feature.

As you can see the packaging was beat up. I do like how they put the other figures from the line on the back. Seems like lots of the modern toy lines don't do this. As  a kid I would save the cards so I could figure out which figure to get next.

 Leo has 14 points of articulation. Most of them in his arms. His neck doesn't move. And besides at the hips his legs have no other articulation spots.

There is Leo with the head dropped. Unlike the old ones,were the head only stayed down if you held it down,these lock down. Then you squeeze the legs together to make the head come back up.

Leo comes with 2 swords. With one being slightly shorter than the other. And has a great set of scabbards on his back.

And there was another thing in the package that I remember toy lines  doing when I was a kid.

I got 2 huge foldout product catalogs. One of them is mostly cars with the Turtles permanently affixed to them.Then lots of pictures of a huge amount of action figures. This might end up being the toy line that gets me back into collecting modern toys.

Heading back to the register to check out,thinking that a $5 will cover what I am buying. Then the lady tells me the back room "While it is mostly clothes there is some books and VHS back there. Go take a look."

I walked back there and see another huge shelf. This time it is mostly books. With maybe 40 VHS near the bottom. And I find one that as far as I know isn't out on DVD or Blu Ray...

Shock'Em Dead!!! I rented this decades ago from Phar-More Video in Mobile Alabama.Back then I am sure I rented it cause I knew who Traci Lords was an wanted to see if she could act or not. Currently I want it cause not only is it not out on a digital format,watch as soon as I post this someone will link me to a Blu Ray of this,but also cause I am wanting to get copies of every 70s thru 90s Heavy Metal+Horror film.

So I mentioned when talking about Scream Blackula Scream,that the VHS was from a video store.

 I wonder when Video Stop closed.The sticker seems to say the store was inside Sack And Save. Which was a grocery store that our friends up here went to.And now is the Piggly Wiggly that always smells slightly of vomit. Then I looked at the other sides of the tape.

No idea how hard that will be to read. But it says West Coast Video. I am guessing this might be the name of the distributor? I really have no clue.

So I finally head to the register to check out. I jokingly ask her if they charge sales tax."Too early to bother with that.5 even." I hand her a five. And then get in my car and head home.

Finding this much VHS that doesn't look picked over is rare in this area.So I am adding this store to my "Must check every month"list.

2016 Comic Challenge 124 Good Girl Comics #17

TITLE-Good Girl Comics #17
PUBLISHER-AC Comics

I really enjoy all these various indy comics that reprint Golden Age stories. AC Comics is best known for their long running title Fem Force. In which either various Golden Age heroines or close copies of them are teamed up in the modern age to fight crime.

Good Girl Comics was a quarterly comic. With usually one new story,most of the time starring whatever Fem Force member was on the cover. Then the rest of the 52 pages is filled up with "good girl" art from the Golden Age.

Issue 17 is the penultimate issue of this series. The original story has Nightveil,the lady on the front cover fighting off sentient evil ice cream. Then there is 4 reprints of Golden Age stuff. With Sky Gal being the best known.

I am guessing this comic never sold well. In my many years of hitting comic shops and cons I have only seen 2 issues of this series. Both of which I bought. Might be the $3.95 cover price turned away curious eyes. Maybe it was cause it was in b/w.Whatever the reason now most issues of this series will run you at least $7 to buy an issue.

Good Girl Comics #17 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 123 House II:The Second Story

TITLE-House II:The Second Story
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

I would love to find out why Marvel did a comic book adaptation of the mid 80s horror film House II.I am pretty sure there wasn't an adaptation of the first film. And with this issue priced at 2 bucks for 48 pages I am guessing it bombed. Which I think I might be right about. I never see copies of it in comic shops or at cons.

Ralph Macchio,not the actor from Karate Kid,writes this comic.Alan Kupperberg handles the pencils and 5 people do the inks.The art is OK I guess. It has been right at 30 years since I have seen the film,but from what I remember the artistic representations of the actors in this comic look like the actors from the movie.

The story is a madcap romp. With dead relatives coming back. A zombie Cowboy nicknamed Gramps. And this weird worm thing that is kind of adopted like a family dog.

Pretty much unless you are a huge fan of this film or just gotta have all horror film comic book adaptations this is a book to skip. I got it in one of those 300 random comics for 10 bucks deals off Ebay. And the only reason I haven't gotten rid of it yet is I get this nagging feeling that in 10 years this will be a comic that is actually worth decent money.

House II:The Second Story gets a PASS!

2016 Comic Challenge 122 X-force #02

TITLE-X Force #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

The comic opens up with Deadpool being attacked by Kane AKA Weapon X.This is back when Deadpool was just a bad clone of Deathstroke the Terminator.After a short fight,which the highlight of it was Kane shooting off his fist like one of the Shogun Warrior robots,Shield Agent Bridge shows up.

On the X-Force side we see them out in the woods training.Doing a version of Tag. Their target is Feral. Who quickly outsmarts Cannonball. And uses him to take out Warpath.The rest of the team shows up. And Feral steps over the line and claws the shit out of Cannonball. So she is knocked out and they all head back into their new HQ.Oh and in the last few pages Tom Cassidey and Juggernaut show up.

While Rob Liefeld isn't the best artist,he isn't the worst. The art in this issue looks rushed and unfinished. With some pages looking more like a 10 minute sketch Rob did at a con and not finished artwork ready to be published.

X-Force #02 gets a borrow.

A quick trip to 84 Mart March 4th 2016

Right at 2 years ago one of my neighbors leased out what use to be a corner store about 3 miles from my house. His nickname is Sarge,because he was a Sargent in the USMC.He is an older retired gentleman. And he opened up 84 Mart. Which is a junk store.

I had just woken up. And needed to run to Dollar General to get something for lunch. When my father asked to to take this set of 6 wine glasses to the 84 Mart and give them to Sarge. Some friend of the family gave my parents a wine rack and then wine glasses,which have the New Orleans Saints logo painted on them.My mother doesn't drink at all. And while Dad does drink wine sometimes he has no need for wine glasses. So I took the box of glasses and headed out.

After grabbing something to make later on for lunch and a drink at Dollar General I pulled into 84 Mart's parking lot. It was a nice day,the sun was shinning but thanks to a nice breeze it wasn't hot. Sarge was sitting outside the store talking to some lady. I walked up and after him asking how my father's garden and orchard was going I handed him the wine glasses. Making sure to let him know they are free. "Looks like you got a bunch of stuff in since last time I was here. Gonna go look around." I turned on my mp3 player and listened to the newest episode of the CU Podcast while looking thru shelf after shelf of household nicknack's,glasses and assorted ceramic oddities.

There was nothing out front outside the store that caught my eye. So I walked into what use to be a 2 car garage. In which Sarge has packed right at 30 CRT TVs. of all sizes. Plus 4 or 5 older desktop computers.Once again seeing nothing I really wanted I went into the store.

Looked thru the toys and DVD/VHS/CD/video game sections. Nothing at all.So went to the big shelf he puts most of the books on. Normally he wants a buck for a hardback and 50 cents for a paperback.Last time I was in the store he had at least 30 of the hardcover Nancy Drew books from the late 60s to the late 70s.My lady is wanting to collect them so I planned on grabbing a few this trip. I looked thru every shelf and all the boxes around the shelving unit and there is no Nancy Drew books left. Oh well. Then at the bottom of a box packed with old Nat Geos and Playboy magazines I see a larger than normal hardcover with an almost totally black cover.I pull it out and now I have found the first thing I am gonna buy.

I am sure a bunch of yall reading this will remember those Time Life Book series. They had books on all kinds of stuff. And were advertised on TV all the time. IIRC you got the first book free then every month or 2 months got sent the next book in the series. My maternal Grandfather has the Time Life World War II and Western series. I can vaguely remember the commercials of the Time Life Books True Crime series. And with this one being about serial killers I had to grab it.

The books were usually not that thick. And had lots of big high quality pictures.The Time Life Books were nice looking but slightly overpriced coffee table books.So thinking this would be a buck I put it beside me in my buy pile.

Click on the picture to see a bigger version. But as this entry on Albert Fish shows the book is a combo of pictures and text. And to me reads and looks a bit like a slightly classier National Enquirer.

 Of course a book on serial killers has to have something on Ed Gein and The Boston Strangler.

The Son of Sam David Berkowitz on the left and the start of chapter 4 on the right. Each chapter is given a one word title.

I have so far only flipped thru this book twice since I got it a few days ago. I am actually reading a biography I bought when I went to 84 Mart last month.But once I finish that bio this is the next book I am reading.I might even check abebooks and see how much the other volumes in this Time Life Books True Crime series will run me.

And speaking of biographies....

 Yep got the Hardy Boyz WWE biography. You can kind of see that the dust jacket has a 2 inch tear on the upper left corner. I put some scotch tape on the backside of the dust jacket to try to prevent it from ripping anymore in that area.

That sticker on the upper left corner has the book costing right at 25 bucks.I am wondering if this book belonged to the same person who had the Adam "Edge" Copeland biography I got last time at 84 Mart.

 I find it kind of humorous that in this picture Matt Hardy looks a lot like Wesley George,and Jeff looks a bit like Wesley's twin brother Lesley. The Georges were a set of twins I went to school with for almost all 12 years.

 Remember when WWF/WWE had good tag teams? And you got some legit 4 star classics with the Hardyz vs the Dudleyz or Edge & Christian.

I am guessing this chapter covers when Matt and Jeff were feuding. It was a story line we all knew would happen one day. But when it finally did the results were kind of just average. Matt and Jeff didn't seem to be really into the story and stuff.

For $5 bucks or less I will buy pretty much any wrestling biography if I don't already own it. And finding one about one of my favorite modern tag teams was a nice bonus.

I was actually about to head outside and hand Sarge $2 for the 2 books then go home. When below the toy shelving unit I see what appeared to be a board game box. I squat down and pull it out and found.....

Yep they made a Turner Classic Movies Scene It? DVD game. Years ago I got the TV Scene It as a X-mas gift.Then back when Borders was going out of business my mother got me the Marvel Scene it in the "limited" tin. Which had like another dvd full of questions,more cards and best of all a few extra playing pieces.

Of course I opened it up and glanced to make sure all of the stuff or at least most of it was in there. From a quick glance it appeared to be complete. I even took the DVD out of the sleeve and check out the bottom of it closely for scratches. And there was none.

 On the left is the board.Which is folded up into the short game mode. I do enjoy that the Scene It? series has made the board so you can play either a short game,normally about 20 to 30 minutes tops.Or the long game which can take over an hour.On the right is the instructions.

                                      
 The upper left corner is a leaflet advertising TCM's monthly channel guide and magazine.I have read an issue or two and if you are into pre 1950s cinema it is worth the cost.The bottom left is a Scene it? product catalog.But the oddest thing is what is taking up the right side. It  is directions for the HBO Scene It? DVD game.

 Upper left is the die used in the game. Upper right is the box with all the questions.This appears to be missing a few cards. I am guessing this because my other two Scene It? games the card fill the box completely.This set of cards doesn't.Bottom left is the sleeve the DVD comes in. And lastly the bottom right has "The Biz" cards. I am sure this game is missing a bunch of these. No biggie most of the times I end up playing these games we just toss the DVD in and who ever answers the question first gets the points.

From left to right.Ruby Slippers from Wizard of Oz.Maltese Falcon from The Maltese Falcon.Rosebud from Citizen Kane.

My Marvel Scene It game came with 6 pawns.But that was a "limited" tin edition so might have had a few more than a normal Scene It game. My TV edition is currently buried in the back of my closet and I can't get to it. Still I am pretty sure the normal edition Scene It games comes with 4 or 5 pawns.

I didn't see a price on the box. I guessed Sarge would want 3 for it. So pulled a 5 out of my ancient beat to hell wallet,note to self get a new wallet soon,walked out the door and found Sarge still sitting out front talking to the lady. I asked him how much for the 2 books and the game."It's free.Y'all are always giving me stuff for free. You are the only one that comes and buys books and stuff." I tried to get him to take at least 2 bucks but he insisted it was free.

Overall not a bad trip. I got 2 books and a almost complete board game and it was free. Plus with the store being so close to my house I barely used any gas.