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!