2016 Comic Challenge 219 Old Man Logan #08

TITLE-Old Man Logan #08
PUBLISHER-Marvel

This ended up being a nice change of pace issue. Logan still thinks the villain uprising is gonna happen. With this getting worst at night. So Jeanie,I am guessing this is a Jean Grey from the past,is trying to cheer Logan up.

The entire issue is the two of them visiting various sites of battles during the uprising.So Jeanie can show him that it isn't going to happen. While doing this we get lots of details,most of which never before revealed,of how the final battle between the villains and the heroes went.

Lemire keeps writing fun stories. The art team keeps the book looking dark and moody.But also never making it look muddy.

Old Man Logan #08 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 218 Crossed Badlands #100

TITLE-Crossed Badlands #100
PUBLISHER-Avatar

Yeah I know  I never posted a review of issue 99. Really because while it was good all I had to say about it was what I had been saying for the past few issues. This story seemed to be building up to this big reveal.

Well we don't get that. In this extra long issue there is the normal length story. Then the rest of the issue is piles of Jacen Burrows art.

The issue starts off 13 years after issue 99. Smokey and the human are sitting on a porch. Smokey's two wives show back up with supplies and stuff. It looks like my prediction this being the start of the smart Crossed we are seeing in Crossed +100 is right. Then a few pages later I find out I was wrong. Smokey's kid and wives turn on him. Thinking he is dead after a long fall into a river,the family heads up north. Where a supposed community of humans are. On the final page we see Smokey climbing out of the river. He grabs his ax and I assume he is heading off to kill his family.

Yep after what 5 issues of build up we get a total shitball ending. Nothing is resolved. I figured they would do something much bigger for the final issue of this series. Maybe they wanted it to end like how the original Garth Ennis story ended. Who knows.

Crossed Badlands #100 gets a pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 217 Swamp Thing #129

TITLE-Swamp Thing #129
PUBLISHER-Vertigo/DC Comics

Anytime I find issues of Swamp Thing for cheap I gotta grab them. So I have ended up with a bunch of random issues of the post Veitch run.This issue is written by Nancy A. Collins.And Scot Eaton,Kim Demulder handling the art.

Seems in the previous issue Swamp Thing fought a creature made of toxic waste. Which infected Swamp Thing. So now he is up in PA and trying to make his way back down to Houma LA. But he can't travel through the green cause he is afraid he will infect it.

Back in LA,Abby is getting use to her new home.Plus we see a female Swamp Thing looking on.

To wrap the issue up we see Swamp Thing confronted by the female Swamp Thing.Then the issue ends with us wondering what the fuck will happen next.

Sure it is hard for anyone to follow up the earlier runs of Alan Moore or Rick Veitch. I did enjoy the issue. But part of that is because I got this issue for a quarter.

Swamp Thing #129 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 216 All Star Squadron #01

TITLE-All Star Squadron #01
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

Back when this series started I wasn't reading much superhero stuff from DC. Sure I read the horror and war anthologies they published,but if I wanted some superhero comics I was a die hard Marvel fan.

Then I saw the above cover on the spinner rack at K&B Drugs in Pascagoula MS.Something about it caught my eye and I had to have it.After just one issue of this Roy Thomas written series and I was hooked. From then until DC had the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover I tried my best to get ASS every month.

Over the last 20 years I have been slowly acquiring every issue of the series.Never spending more than 2 bucks an issue,hell most of the time I was getting them outta 50 cent boxes at cons.

Starting the night before the Pearl Harbor attacks,we have Hawkman running into Plastic Man.After a bit of bickering they end up teaming up to fight some flying insect like villain.

The Shinning Knight is out on his winged steed.Flying over a new island with a volcano. He lands to check it out.Then finds out that Per Degaton has a secret base here.

The rest of the issue details the attack on Pearl Harbor.Which is when the first Firebrand dies. And then a bunch of mystery men goto the White House. Were the President asks them to team up as the All Star Squadron.

They head out to the west coast. Per Degaton has an underwater aircraft carrier. Which launches a bunch of Japanese Zeros into the California city.

It has been at least 8 years since I read this issue. Roy Thomas' writing holds up really well. Sure if you aren't use to early 80s comics it will seem kind of wordy. Rich Butler's pencils are decent. IIRC Jerry Ordway takes over the pencils fairly early on in this series.

All Star Squadron #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 215 Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #06

TITLE-Chilling adventures of Sabrina #06
PUBLISHER-Archie

Hey 2 issues in 2 months!!! Does this mean that this excellent series is back on a regular schedule? I guess we will find out in 30 days.

Most of this issue is side stories. The first one is the origin of the two snake familiars. Lots of little references to all kinds of stories and folklore.

Then we get a long ass original for Salem.Seems he was living in Salem and crossed some witches. Who turned him into a cat. Once the witch trials started his owner was trying to escape. And Salem is given a mission by Satan. He has to protect Sabrina. And maybe one that is over he will be human again.

The art is gorgeous as always. Plus hey only had to wait 4 weeks for a new issue. That is a major plus.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #06 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 214 Jughead #07

TITLE-Jughead #07
PUBLISHER-Archie

A new story arch has started. Chip Zdarsky is back writing the issue,but we get a new penciler.Derek Charm handles the pencils. Sure his style is different from Erica Henderson's. It actually looks closer to the modern Archie House Style.

It is summer break,and Jughead's Dad wants him to get out of the house and go do something. So after talking to Archie,who is working at the pool as a life guard,they decide to go up to Dilton's cabin and spend a weekend.

They get up there and it looks great. But then they discover that the Mantle family is having a family reunion near the cabin. So to get away from all of them they go on a hike in the woods.

While in the process of getting lost Jughead discovers Archie came along mostly to go check out some girls at an all girls camp near them. This is enough to take the usually peaceful Jughead and cause him to beat the fuck outta Archie.

After their fight they finally realize they are lost. No reception on their cell phones. Jughead has little to no outdoors skills,and Archie isn't much better.

This is a nice change of pace from the first 6 issues. Hell for a bit I thought this might be a 1 issue long story.

Jughead #07 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 213 Blue Bolt Volume 07 Issue #02

TITLE-Blue Bolt Volume 07 issue #02
PUBLISHER-Novelty Press

I got this issue at the same time as the other issue of Blue Bolt. Now the cover up at the top is from the scan of the issue at the Digital Comics Museum. Here is mine.

As you can see their copy is in much better shape. I did post both my issues covers at their forum. Mentioned what I paid and got told I got a good deal normally it would be 2 to 3 times what I paid per issue for the shape my copies are in.

But back to the cover. Pretty sure that is Blue Bolt with the blonde hair and red hat on the cover. As I said in the other issue review by this time Blue Bolt had gotten rid of his costume and his powers.This cover is signed by Tom Gill. Never heard of him before but I do like this cover. Hell my copy is already framed and hanging on my wall.

This issue starts off with the first part of a new Dick Cole story. Him and Simba Karno are going with Ted Todley to an island in the Caribbean.Where Ted's millionaire father has a castle.

Jim Wilcox handles the art chores and it is damn good. This feels a bit like a slightly longer weekly comic strip.

Krisko and Jasper are dog catchers. And this is a fairly short humor strip. The humor has aged fairly well. The art is by Jack A Warren,no clue who that is,but it looks decent for the era and a comedy strip.

Blue Bolt is now a pilot for a magazine. And this is a storyline called "Mystery of the Vanishing Totem Poles".Tom Gill handles the art. I like that this is set iin British Columbia.

Sniffy is a one page gag strip about what appears to be a homeless mutt of a dog. Think Benji's great great grandfather. The strip is signed by a Milt Hammer. I guess that is who wrote and drew it. But that is just a guess.

Up next is Fearless Fellers. A boy gang strip. Kind of like say the Newsboy Legion or any of the other youth gang strips Kirby created. No clue who does this. The art is decent. I was a bit surprised at how ,considering the time this issue came out in,good the one African-American member of the Fellers is written. But then there is the villains in this issue. Who are all Chinese. With yellow skin. And all the other racial tropes of that time.

Now it's time for my favorite strip in this issue. Sergeant Spook art by Don Rico. This ghost cop fights crime with the help of his living teenage sidekick. In these later issues of Blue Bolt Sergeant Spook is the closest you will get to a real superhero. The art is really good. I like the story. But your enjoyment of it will depend on how much you can handle all the golden age comic cliches.

Edison Bell is a Tom Swift like boy genius. It has no signature,but whoever did the art well... it is the worst of the art in this issue. It isn't bad really. But it has this flat plain look that some Golden Age art will have.

After that there is a one page Sniffy strip and a few ads and the issue is over. 52 pages,including covers,for 10 cents back then. Shit I got this for less than a 50 page comic from DC or Marvel would cost you now.

So is it worth buying? For me it is. Even though I can goto Digital Comics Museum----Free public domain comic scans and download a legal scan of the entire issue,the comic geek in me just gets too much enjoyment of owning a comic that is 70 years old.

Blue Bolt volume 07 issue #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 212 Nighthawk #01

TITLE-Nighthawk #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel

This is the Nighthawk of JMS's revamping of the Squadron Supreme. I was enjoying that series until like lots of JMS's work it just kind of petered out without any kind of ending.

So now that Nighthawk is on the 616 Marvel Earth. He is attacking an warehouse owned by a white supremisist gang. Who is tracking guns and meth.

The art by Ramon Villalobos is really good. Nice amounts of detail plus a bit of darkness. David F Walker does an ok job with the story in this issue. I do wonder how this would read to someone that doesn't know this version of Nighthawk.

The cover above is one of the variants. Drawn by the great Bill Sienkiewicz. A guy I wish was doing a monthly series or something more than covers.

Nighthawk #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 211 Jughead #06

TITLE-Jughead #06
PUBLISHER-Archie

This is the last issue in the first story arch of the new Jughead series.

The gang makes a plan to stop Stanger from brainwashing more students at the upcoming Halloween dance. Jughead at first wants nothing to do with it. But then gets a clue as to why the new principal is ignoring Veronica's breaking of various rules. So he joins in on the plan.

There is a great fight between Jughead,who is dressed up as Captain Hero,and Moose. But our unsung hero manages to save the day.

Chip Zdarsky took my favorite Archie character and made him even better. All the homages to previous Jughead series were great. Erica Henderson's art fits this series perfectly.

Yeah gonna have to get the trade of this 6 issue run soon.

Jughead #06 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 210 The Black Hood #11

TITLE-The Black Hood #011
PUBLISHER-Dark Circle/Archie

The issue starts off with our lead giving up the Black Hood identity. And after that we are given a flashback. To the man that wore the hood before our Phillie cop.

Seems the previous Black Hood was also a cop. Who was using the Hood to track down someone known as Nobody.

Tracking down Nobody lead this version of the Hood to Phillie. And we get to see what actually happened the day our main lead became the Black Hood.

While this was good,it wasn't nearly as good as the previous 10 issues. According to an ad in the back this is the end of volume 1 and a new series will start soon. Looks like it will have the same creative team.

The Black Hood #011 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 209 Moon Knight #04

TITLE-Moon Knight #04
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Our group of 4 escapees get confronted by a cop. But Moon Knight/Marc sees him as Sobek. The cop ends up mortally wounding Jean-Paul/Frenchie. So Marc beats his head into the street.

Now down to 3 they make their way to a diner. Gena's Diner,which I remember from the Bill and Doug run on this series.Once she mentions her two sons I had a flood of memories of her in the original series.

Marc and Marlene leave the diner and are heading to the pyramid. They arrive and Marc is knocked in the back of the head by something. He turns to see who/what it was and is shocked to see Moon Knight.

Yeah this is getting really good. I do wonder how much longer before we get a proper answer to if this is all in Marc's head or if the Egyptian Gods are coming back.


Moon Knight #04 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 208 Moon Knight #03

 TITLE-Moon Knight #03
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Holy fuck is this getting good.

Marc,Crawley,Frenchie and the others are down in the subway/ancient Egyption temple. Khonshu shows Marc a way to get out,right when the Doc/Ammunt shows up with some orderlies. The group barely manages to escape. But something Marc sees causes him to doubt himself.

Off to the othervoid.Marc and Khonshu have a long discussion. Were Khonshu explains to Marc that his madness and mental instability are his greatest asset.

With this meta-physical pep talk over Marc runs off to meet up with his friends. They all end up meeting Anubis/a bus driver. Crawley pays Anubis's price of one soul to take them all away.

They reach a dock.Say their goodbyes to Crawley. Find a ladder and think that they are now in NYC. After making it to the surface they see winged people flying thru the skies and a huge pyramid in the middle of NYC.

This is one of the best Moon Knight series I have read since the original series.Lemire realizes that it is Marc's various mental illnesses that make him much much more than Marvel's Bat-clone.

Moon Knight #03 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 207 Moon Knight #02

TITLE-Moon Knight #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Took me a bit to find and then read the second issue of this series. Marc/Moon Knight gets a visit from his power bestowing Egyption God. Who tells him that one of the other gods has crossed over and Marc has to prevent more from doing the same.

Back at the nut house Marc keeps on running into people from his past. Like Frenchie and etc. Then one of the other patients tells Marc they will escape that night. And to go down not up.

That night they make their escape. And end up in what appears to be an abandoned subway station. But instead of people in the subway cars they are packed with mummies.

Moon Knight #02 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 206 Jughead #05

TITLE-Jughead #05
PUBLISHER-Archie

Been awhile since I read some of this really good series. I let a few issues pile up.

After being told by their parents that their belief that the school is being turned into a secret agent school is insane,our 4 teens start trying to figure out a way to get rid of the new principal Mr Stanger.

They find out he was principal of a school a few towns over. The Archie gang head over and see that in this town each of them has a gender swapped twin. After talking to former student that was in school when Stanger took over,they find out that after a year he disappeared. Right after getting a bunch of the teens to sign up for the military. But the worst is they find out Stanger managed to shut down the local teen hangout in this town. So of course Jughead freaks out and they rush back to Riverdale to check on Pop Tate's malt shop.

Jughead passes out in the car and this issues dream has him as Captain Hero. Teaming up with the rest of the Super Teens and facing their gender swapped twins. We find out that Iron Mantle is behind all the chaos and that story ends.

Back in Riverdale Jughead wakes up in time to see that somehow Stanger got Pop's lease on the shop to end sooner than it should. Jughead admits defeat to Stanger and walks off.

Once this gets a trade of the first story out I am gonna have to buy it.

Jughead #05 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 205 The Walking Dead #156

TITLE-The Walking Dead #156
PUBLISHER-Image

The entire issue is Negan trying to join the Whisperers. And through this we get to learn a bit more about them.

Once he is allowed to join the group Negan quickly lets it be known that he is attracted to the groups female leader Alpha.

After the last 3 pages  I am now wondering where the fuck Kirkman is going with this. That is not a bad thing,it is stuff like this that keeps me reading this monthly instead of waiting half a year for a 6 issue trade.

The Walking Dead #156 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 204 The Walking Dead #155

TITLE-The Walking Dead #155
PUBLISHER-Image

Like the tide the pace of TWD ebbs and flows. This is obviously the start of a big story arch. Michonne is trying to rush back with a wounded man. Dwight is leading a group of troopers in a hunt for Negan. And Negan well.. Negan is in love with Alpha of the Whisperers.

Even the slow issues like this one are engaging enough I don't mind getting this monthly then later on grabbing a physical copy in the Compendium format. The letter page confirms my thoughts on this being the start of a big story arch. Our monthly cast of people will be going to war with the Whisperers. And it is promised to be different and top the All Out War plotline from a bit over 2 years ago.

The Walking Dead #155 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 203 Blue Bolt Volume 07 #03

TITLE-Blue Bolt Volume 07 issue 03
PUBLISHER-Novelty Press

Yep got another slightly beat up but complete Golden Age anthology title. I knew that at one time Blue Bolt was  Kirby and Simon created superhero. But after looking this up,I found the comic months ago but was waiting to buy it and ended up being given it as a early birthday gift,some where in the series Blue Bolt gave up his costume and powers and just became a totally human adventure hero.

I had seen this ad in an old comic before,gotta love Pepsi the Pepsi-Cola Cop.

 The art as you can see,in Blue Bolt is pretty good. And I like the Fleer Dubble Bubble ad on the previous page.

 Sergeant Spook is one of the Golden Age heroes I had heard of IIRC through the Digital Comic Museum. But more on that site at the end of this.

 Yep,a group of kids can call on the ghost of a dead cop to help them solve crime. It's a pretty fun strip.

The inside back cover. Rings,engagement wedding or friendship for $1.94.But hell that was a decent amount in the summer of 46.

But back to the previous mentioned website.The Digital Comics Museum is a site for comic book scans of comics that have fallen into the public domain. So these are totally legal downloads. And there is a few titles there that modern fans would know. Stuff like Shazam/Captain Marvel and Plastic Man. This issue of Blue Bolt is up there. And it is a full cover to cover scan. So if you want to read this issue,and flipping thru the DCM scan their copy is in much better shape than mine,Click here to go straight to the file. Now you do have to join the site to get the comic scans. As for reading it,well I use CDisplay. Google it it is a free comic reader program for Windows.

Overall I really enjoyed this issue. Sure I would have rather had a few more superheroes. But the art on most of the strips was really good. With the cover artist Jim Wilcox doing a great job on Dick Cole.

Blue Bolt Volume #7 Issue #03