2016 Comic Challenge 010 Razor-Bleeding Heart #01

TITLE-Razor Bleeding Heart #01
PUBLISHER-Avatar

OK back in the mid 90s I ended up with about 20 copies of Everett Hartsoe's Razor #1 that I got for under 50 cents each. When the bad girl craze hit I sold all but one and made enough to pay for my con trip that year.

Outside of that issue and one other I had read nothing else from Razor. Who was pretty much a 3rd rate female Crow.

This issue starts off and I get informed that Razor is now a vampire. So I am thinking OK they are changing stuff up. This might be worth the buck I paid for it a few years back.

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Nah that didn't happen. Lightning Comic's Hellina,really I am sure no one else remembers this shitty bad girl character from 94 or so,shows up and fights Razor.

Then the book shifts into straight up "Hey you better be 18 and show ID before you buy this comic that is kept behind the counter in the short box with Omaha the cat dancer and old copies of the Cherry special Neil Gaiman wrote a story for" land. Yeah I mean I know Avatar has kind of taken the bad girl stuff to a new level. But this was Faust level perversion stuff.

And the worst part bad written and drawn 2nd and 3rd rate clone hack tripe.

Razor Bleed Heart 01 gets a Pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 009 Supreme #2

TITLE-Supreme #2
PUBLISHER-Image

Once again Rob Liefeld is writing and Brian Murray is handling the art chores. Like with lots of the early Image stuff there is a 2 page spread to show the reader how vast and connected the titles of Image are.

Supreme goes to visit his arch villain Grizloc.Who is currently in jail.Grizloc keeps on taunting Supreme. Which just causes Supreme to try to kill Grizloc. Sadly he is stopped by the superhero team Heavy Mettle. And the rest of the issue is a big brawl between Supreme and Heavy Mettle.

Like lots of the early Image stuff there is way too many single and double page splashes. And this time the art has this weird muted colors thing going on.

And while I know the first issue had the highest print run of any issue of Supreme,issue 2 is the one I am always finding copies of. Since 1997 any time I have looked in the cheap bins,be it in a comic shop or at a con,I always seen piles of copies of Supreme #2.

Because of the muted colors and the very little story development in this issue,Supreme #2 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 008 Jericho Season 3 #4

TITLE-Jericho Season 3 #4
PUBLISHER-IDW

I was hooked on Jericho with the first episode. And was very happy when thanks to a fan campaign it came back for a short second season. And while the writers wrapped up lots of the major story lines with the 7 episode long second season. You could tell they had plenty more ideas if the show had managed to get a 3rd season.

Skip ahead a few years and I find out that season 3 of Jericho happened. But it was in comic book form. So I the 6 issues that made up season 3. And after re-watching the first 2 seasons started reading season 3.

Now for some reason,and I can't remember why,I only read the first 3 issues of season 3. And it was about 3 days ago when I remembered I had not only season 3 but also season 4 to read.

And season 3 picks up right at the end of season 2. Hawkins and Jake have delivered the last nuclear bomb to Texas. So now they must track down the mysterious John Smith. The supposed mastermind behind the attacks. While they are trying to break into the maximum security prison he is being held in,the citizens of Jericho along with Major Beck are forming an army. To help defend Jericho from the ASA,Allied States of America. Who are the group that lead the nuclear attacks on the USA.

The issue is written by the staff that wrote Jericho seasons 1 and 2. And the art is by Matt Merhoff. Who I have never heard of. His art kind of reminds me of the artist that did the first 4 or so issues of the X-Files comic Topps was putting out years ago. He does a good job of making each character look like the actor/actress that portrayed them on the show.

Jericho Season 3 issue #4 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 007 Supreme #1

TITLE-Supreme #1
PUBLISHER-Image

In fall of 92 Supreme started. Written by both Rob Liefeld and Brian Murray and with Murray doing the pencils and Liefeld doing the inks.

When it was coming out I grabbed the first 3 issues. Read them and that was it.While I did enjoy the series at the time I wasn't able to get to a comic shop that often,so I pretty much stopped reading most comics.

The premise is what if Superman was an asshole. Yeah that is pretty much the basic plot. Supreme is all powerful like Superman. But decades ago he left the Earth. And in this issue finally returns. And he is a total dick.

It wasn't until about 5 years ago that I started re-reading Supreme. I had just read most of the acclaimed Alan Moore run on the title. And wanted to see how bad the  pre-Moore stuff was. Cause every review I saw called this the worst of the Liefeld created early Image stuff. Between my local con and the late Torpedo online comic shop I managed to get an almost complete pre-Moore run for around 25 cents an issue.

Having now read the entire series it is kind of obvious that Liefeld was heavily influenced by Moore and Gaiman's runs on Miracleman.And that is what the pre-Moore issues of Supreme are. Miracleman for a younger audience.

Really the only bad parts of this comic are the same ones that were plaguing most of the early Image stuff. IE way too many single and double page splashes. And back up stories that have nothing to do with the main story. They mostly fill like they are there to fill up space.

Supreme #1 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 006 Supreme #0

TITLE-Supreme #0
PUBLISHER-Image

From the summer of 1995 here is Supreme issue zero.Even though it actually takes place between issues 30 and 31 of Supreme. Which means unlike most other zero issues,this one doesn't happen before the first issue of the series. So why is this issue zero instead of say issue 31? I am not really sure. Normally zero issues tell the past and/or the origin of the lead hero. And Supreme #0 does do both.

Written by Eric Stephenson with Todd Nauck doing the pencils and Norm Rapmond and 2 others handling the inking duties. All contained within a cover done by both Stephen Platt and Rob Liefeld.

In the issue we have the current Supreme being taken to an abandoned Army base. Where he is told the origin of Supreme as the general public knows it. Plus the real origin of Supreme. And while most people will tell you that Supreme wasn't worth reading until around issue 41,when Alan Moore took over writing it,for me the stuff before the Moore run is worth reading. Because of how oddball and out there the ideas are.

Supreme #0 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 005 The Eltingville Club #1

TITLE-The Eltingville Club #01
PUBLISHER-Dark Horse

I first ran into Evan Dorkin's Eltingville Club strips in the Instant Piano mini series. Never knowing until 2005ish that there was more than that one strip. And a pilot was made from that strip  for Adult Swim.

Skip ahead until October of this year. I was in a comic shop and found Eltingville Club #2. Since the cover had a massive crease on it the guy at the register let me have it for 60% cover. But being the huge comic continuity dork I am I didn't want to read it until I found issue #1. And I looked and could never find it.

Then last Black Friday while I was out scaring old people,my sweetie found the first issue for me. I am not sure why I didn't read it as soon as I got it.

We start off with Bill outside the gang's local comic shop. Seems the Owner has hired him to help out. And everything is going pretty good. Then the owner has to all of the sudden leave. So now Bill is in charge. To make things worse the rest of the Eltingville Club shows up at the comic shop.

Nice to see Dorkin can still make funny as hell stories. I laughed so many times while reading this.

The Eltingville Club #1 gets a Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 004 Pantha Ashcan #1

TITLE-Pantha Ashcan
PUBLISHER-Harris

Recently I found a box of comic book ashcans. Looking thru it I semi-remembered winning "a random lot of 50 ashcans" off Ebay.

I never read any of the Warren published Pantha stuff. But had at least heard of her.This ashcan is mostly a look at the pencils of Mark Texeria. And then a few pin ups.

I have no clue what this cost back when it came out during the 90s Bad Girls fad. But if it was more than a buck,and I am betting it was,it was a rip off. IIRC I paid like 20 bucks for that random lot of 50 ashcans. So this cost me less than a buck. Might have to see if the newish sorta comic shop in town wants to take it in for store credit.

Pantha Ashcan #1 gets a Pass.