2016 Comic Challenge 289 World's Worst Comics Awards #02

TITLE-World's Worst Comics Awards #02
PUBLISHER-Kitchen Sink

Another of my odd finds at the local auction. I had never heard of this comic,which was a bit surprising cause I kept up with what Kitchen Sink was publishing back when this came out.

After a few pages showing how stupid and childish the science in most superhero comics are,the 3 hosts start counting down the top 10 worst comics ever.

Stuff like Dell's Frankenstein comic. Which had Frank as a superhero. And oddball stuff like Super Green Beret or Brother Power the Geek.

Then in the top 3,numbers 3 and 1,are comics I own. #3 is Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #7. Which was Jack Kirby's creator owned space opera series from the early 80s. While I own this issue ,I got it recently for cheap,I haven't read it yet. The #1 comic is Neal Adams' Skateman. Yeah the comic about a war vet that becomes a superhero that fights crime while riding a skateboard.

And I thought that would be the end of the issue.but the inside back cover the Siskel and Ebert stand-ins give Todd McFarlane's Spider-man #01 the worst comic of 1990 award. And yeah they picked a good comic. What a piece of crap that was the Todd Spidey comic.

World's Worst Comics Awards #02 gets a  borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 288 Marvel Tales 179

TITLE-Marvel Tales #179

PUBLISHER-Marvel

It was thanks to Marvel Tales that I managed to read so many of the first 100 issues of Amazing Spider-man. So anytime I am digging through cheap bins at a con or comic shop if I find any issues of Marvel Tales I grab them. 

This issue reprints Amazing Spidey #40.Which wraps up the long running Green Goblin mystery. And it is rumored that revealing who the Goblin was is one of the reasons Steve Ditko left the title. So ,and I do prefer Ditko on classic Spidey,this issue is drawn by John Romita.

But back to the story Norman Osborn has Spidey unmasked and strapped to a chair. Most of the issue is Norman explaining how he has spent so much time trying to figure out who Spidey is and then kill him.There is plenty of flashbacks and footnotes to what I am assuming was every Goblin appearance previous to issue 40.

Once Spidey is finally free we get a fun and kinetic battle between the two .I do wish this battle was drawn by Steve Ditko,but Romita's artwork is damn good. At the end of the battle the Goblin gets shocked and gets amnesia. And the issue ends with Spidey dragging Goblin to safety thinking what has been his greatest villain gone for good.

For me Spidey was at his best when it was either Ditko or Romita drawing him. Plus Spidey is one of the few Silver Age Marvel titles I can read now and not find corny as hell.

Marvel Tales #179 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 287 Grendal #09

TITLE-Grendal #09
PUBLISHER-Comico

Under that interesting cover by the Pander Bros is a neat exercise in comic storytelling.I do love how most issues of Grendal from Comico have wraparound covers.

By this time,summer of 87,Grendal was being written by it's creator Matt Wagner.With the Pander Brothers handling the pencils and inks. The art is great which is a good thing.

Except for sound effects and one thought box on the last page,the entire issue is silent. Not sure if this came out before the infamous silent issue of GI Joe. But I am sure it came out before the silent issue of Batman,which was the first part of the Many Deaths of Batman story.

With a silent comic the artist have to have a great sense of storytelling. A way to convey the story through the pictures.The Pander Bros do a damn good job.The artwork has this energy and sense of movement that is missing from lots of the popular artists now,Cough Jim Lee Cough.

The story is of the guy on the cover with the yellow puppet strings attached to him. He seems to be hallucinating while running through what appears to be a slightly in the future major city.

One small drawback to this comic is it reads extremely fast.Took me maybe 6 minutes to read it. Which for an issue of Grendal is extremely fast. But even then I had me wanting to see if I have the next issue in one of my boxes.

Grendal #09 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 286 Fantastic Comics #24

TITLE-Fantastic Comics #24
PUBLISHER-Image

Back in 2008 Image started up the Next Issue Project. Where they took public domain Golden Age comics and put out the next issue. And to make them even more Golden Age-ish they published them at the bigger Golden Age size.

In this issue we get 9 stories. With the stand outs being the cover feature Samson. Which is drawn and written by Erik Larsen. Now I haven't read much of the old Golden Age Samson stuff. But this story does feel of the era. Plus Larsen's art has a very Kirby feel to it.

The other major stand out is the Mike Allred drawn and Joe Keating written Stardust the super wizard.Before reading this new story of Stardust I had never even heard of him.And now he is one of my favorite forgotten Golden Age heroes. This story has a very Neil Gaiman era Miracleman feel.

For me really the only bad thing to this comic is the bigger size makes it harder to store.I usually end up tossing it into one of my magazine boxes.

Fantastic Comics #24 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 285 Caged Heat 3000 #01

TITLE-Caged Heat 3000 #01
PUBLISHER-Roger Corman's Cosmic Comics

For a short while in 1995 Roger Corman,the infamous low budget producer and director of 100s of b-films,has his own comic company. I remember seeing the ads,but never saw any of the comics in any shop. Found the above pictured issue at a con for cheap.

Based on the Caged Heat 3000 film,this comic tells the story of an all woman's prison that is out in space on a asteroid.

Some kind of space nun with all kinds of mental powers shows up. Right around the time a trouble maker,who has just murdered another inmate,is being sent to solitary. The space nun enters her mind,and we get hints that the space nun isn't on the side of good.

The rest of the issue is packed with what you would expect from a Corman Women in Prison film. Shower scenes,and lots of fights. Fights that of course include hair-pulling and clothing being ripped.

I might have to track down the next two issues,if they even came out,to see how this story ends. Cause even though the art isn't anything special the idea of space nuns and a female prison has potential.

Caged Heat 3000 #01 gets a borrow.