2016 Comic Challenge 041 Mr Monsters 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01

TITLE-Mr. Monster's 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01
PUBLISHER-Eclipse

In the mid 80s Michael T Gilbert took his Mr Monster comic book and started putting old pre-code horror comics in the backs of lots of the issues. This must have done well,cause not to long later it spun off into the Mr Monster Super Duper Specials. With most issues of  the specials focusing on a genre. I actually discovered Mr Monster cause of these specials. I was in a comic shop in Mobile Alabama. And was digging thru the cheap bins,which were 25 cents a comic. Ended up with a Mr Monster comic reprinting lots of crime comics. I loved it and have slowly over the past 25 years managed to get every issue.

In 2008 Mile High Comics was having a big sale. Which is the only time I will buy from them. Mostly cause their prices are usually way high. But when they have a sale you can get stuff for a good price. I was on  a 3D comic kick. And saw not only did Mile High have the 3D horror issue of Mr Monster.But it was extremely cheap.  I of course bought it.

So how is the comic? It starts off with a 3 page intro with Mr Monster and his lady Kelly. Then we get the first pre-code story. Which is Joe Kubert's Picture of Evil. A story that according to some sources is the first horror comic story in 3D. Being a fan of Mr Kubert I loved this story.

The second story, The Damned, is the only original story in the comic. Written and drawn by Gilbert,it is a neat exercise in graphic storytelling.

The final story is a classic from the late Bob Powell,Until I started getting all the various public domain comic reprints that Eclipse put out I had never heard of Mr Powell. And "The Blind,The Doomed and the Dead!" is classic Powell. Great artwork  and a great story. With your kind of standard horror comic twist at the end.

After the Powell story we get a one page wrap up from Gilbert.Followed by a letters page. I so miss comic book letter pages. As a kid and a teen I would write into my favorite comics. And the first thing I would do when I got my new comics was flip to the letters page and see if my letter got published.

Unlike lots of the comics I have reviewed this year,this one isn't a cheap find. To get a mint copy with the 3D glasses you are gonna have to spend at least $5 if not more. If you are a fan of pre-code horror comics this is totally worth tracking down.

Mr Monster's 3D Hi-Octane Horror #01 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 040 Hanna Barbara Presents #04

TITLE-Hanna Barbara Presents #04
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

This is a comic I grabbed at a con. I love both Quick Draw McGraw and Magilla Gorilla. So seeing this for cheap and it starring two of my favorite Hanna Barbara superstars I had to get it.

The first story is with Magilla.Were the pet store owner sells Magilla. Who is shipped off to the Lost Monkey Mine.Magilla enters the cave and finds his new owners. Who look like your typical hillbillies from various cartoons. And Magilla discovers he is there to work in the mine. Magilla finds out from the other monkeys that he is there to work the mine. So he helps them escape.

This story really feels like an episode of Magilla Gorilla. And like the other Archie Hanna Barbara comics the art looks just like the cartoon.

The second story stars Quick Draw. And is your typical Quick Draw story. With McGraw being his normal dumbass self and his trusty sidekick having to do the heavy lifting.

And just like the Magilla story this one feels like an episode of the Quick Draw cartoon.

The third story is the stand out. In this one we get a team up between our two characters that appeared on the cover.

There is a gorilla that looks almost exactly like Magilla. Who is robbing towns in the old west. So Quick Draw McGraw tracks him down. And like what usually happens Quick Draw gets out smarted. So the criminal gorilla gets away.

At the same time Magilla is on vacation in the old west. He walks into a saloon. And is mistaken for the criminal gorilla. Soon after arriving in town Magilla meets up with the Killer Gorilla and is conned into trading clothes with him.

And now since he really looks like the Killer Gorilla,of course that means Quick Draw arrests Magilla.

By the end the mix up is fixed. And Magilla gets a bunch of reward money for helping capture the Killer Gorilla. So Magilla spends that money on bananas.

Now the first two stories are decent. They are nothing we haven't already seen in the stars TV shows. It is the third story that makes this issue stand out. I like the team up. And thought it was pretty well written.

Hanna Barbara Presents #04 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 039 Brat Pack Maximortal Super Special #01

TITLE-Brat Pack Maximortal Super Special #01
PUBLISHER-King Hell

Starting right at the end of Brat Pack #05,this comic was Rick Veitch's attempt to test the waters and see if their was an audience for his King Hell universe. Since only this issue and issue 2 came out I doubt there was a big audience. I didn't even know this comic existed until I found it while digging thru the cheap bins at 5 Alarm Comics.

Dr Blasphemy is confronted by Maximortal. And we get glimpses at where Veitch is wanting to take this story line. Lots of meta-fictional stuff in this comic.And at the end Maximortal gives Dr Blasphemy a copy of the first Maximortal comic. Which shocks the good Dr.

The artwork is great as pretty much everything Rick Veitch does. And if you have read Brat Pack and Maximortal,which I have read,the writing in this issue is damn good. But if you haven't I doubt it would make any sense to ya.

Brat Pack Maximortal Super Special #01 gets a borrow. Unless you are a huge King Hell fan then it is a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 038 Yogi Bear #01

TITLE-Yogi Bear #01
PUBLISHER-Archie Comics

Yeah I am reading an Yogi Bear comic. A few years ago I was given what had been a cousin's old comics. Mixed in there was lots of comics based on various cartoons.

Our first story is Big City Bears.And in the first panel the head Ranger is throwing Yogi and Boo Boo out of Jellystone. Cause they won't stop stealing picnic baskets.

So our two bear pals hop a train into the big city.And they get a job singing and playing piano at a restaurant.They are loving the job. Then one night are watching TV and see a special on Jellystone Park.And they learn that the Ranger misses them. And the park isn't the same with them gone.

Yogi calls and sets up a meeting with the Ranger. And works out a deal for them to come back. It is right in time,cause they get fired from their jobs for eating to much.

The second story has Yogi winning the state lottery.Now I do wonder how Yogi can get the money,since he has no ID,Social Security number,etc.Yogi of course uses the money to order picnic baskets. But realizes quickly it isn't as fun if he doesn't have to steal them.


The other 3 stories are average at best.

One thing I want out of a comic based on a cartoon is art that looks like the cartoon. And this comic does that really well. The stories all feel like something Hanna Barbara would have done in the cartoon.

If I hadn't gotten this for free I doubt I would have bought it.

Yogi Bear #01 gets a Pass.

2016 Comic Challenge 037 D.P.7 #02

TITLE-D.P.7 #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel under their New Universe imprint

Yeah the New Universe.Also known as Shooter's Folly. To celebrate one of their big anniversaries Marvel created a new imprint. Set in the real world,with a few minor changes,the New Universe was a good idea that wasn't executed right.

D.P.7 was one of the more popular titles of this imprint. After the White Event a group of 7 people are at a clinic in Wisconsin. All of them have developed powers. And like the X-men some of them would rather not have the powers. Like Scuzz. A teenager who's sweat is full of acid. So he is constantly burning up his clothes. And also can not touch anyone.

In issue 1 our leads found out the clinic they were at had sinister purposes for them. So they ran away. And in this issue end up facing a group of mercenaries the clinic has hired out to find them and bring them back.

Some where's in my collection I got a complete run of D.P.7. And every few years sit down and re-read the entire run. One neat thing is you can almost see this title as a dry run for Jim Shooters Harbinger title at Valiant that came out almost a decade later.

D.P.7 gets a borrow. Unless you find it for a buck or less then it is a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 036 Punisher #01 MAX Series

TITLE-Punisher #01 MAX series
PUBLISHER-Marvel MAX

The start of the long running MAX series. For those that don't know MAX is Marvels adults only line of comics.

And what a way to start a series. Frank has been to his family's grave. Then infiltrates a mafia party. Where he kills one of the oldest members and calmly walks out. Of course all the mobsters chase him outside. But Frank has a plan. He has a full auto machine gun. And wipes out almost all the people after him.

Then we skip ahead and find out that Microchip,Frank's old partner,has put a hit out on Frank.

Before this the only Garth Ennis written Punisher I had read was the mini series that Thomas Jane movie was based on. And like most other Ennis comics this is a nice blending of ultra violence with a multi-layered story.

Punisher #01 MAX Series gets a Buy.