Don Simpson's Megaton Man iBooks TPB

 

TITLE-Don Simpson's Megaton Man

SOURCE-iBooks TPB

Ahh Megaton Man,the 80s superhero parody that sadly got outshined by The Tick. Created a few years before the Tick,and using a similar premise,Megaton Man has been erraticly published for close to 40 years now.

I first heard of Megaton Man thanks to a short review of one of the issues in some fan press magazine I had gotten. Next trip to the comic shop I grabbed one of the issues from this first volume and loved it. Wasn't until the early days of Image that I found another Megaton Man comic. This time his crossover with Savage Dragon. I read Bizarre Heroes when I found the issues. And then kind of forgot about not only Megaton Man but also his creator the uber talented Don Simpson.

Megaton Man is kind of your basic Superman parody. His secret identity is a reporter for a newspaper. And of course there is a lady reporter he is in love with. Simpson takes the somewhat insane stories from the Silver Age Superman and transforms them into parody and also a warning. Warning the readers of the this series back in the 80s what was coming in the 90s.

Look at the art in Megaton Man. It looks like that early Image overly muscled look. And the being dropped into a comic world with a history that isn't explained. Yep that happened in many of those early Image titles.

5 issues,all in color,with some of the funniest writing of the decade. Really my only complaint about this TPB is the colors are a bit dark. 

Don Simpson's Megaton Man TPB from iBooks gets a B+

Arak Son of Thunder Issue 1

 

TITLE-Arak Son of Thunder #1

SOURCE-DC Comics

Back in what I guess is the summer of 1981 this oddball comic came out. Now I was a kid back then and by 81 all I wanted from Comix was superheroes and horror. So that cover made me think this was another Conan the Barbarian ripoff from DC. I skipped it. Many times over the decades since I have found big runs of Arak in the cheap bins and just flipped past them. Then back in the spring was at a big annual community yardsale. One guy had a pile of longboxes. Got issue 1 for a buck. And few weeks back as I ate dinner I read this and now am on a quest to get the rest of the run.

Arak is a Native American. Who is found in a boat by some Vikings. He gots adopted by one of them and grows up to be one of their fiercest warriors. While on a raid on a monestary Arak rebels against a very cruel Viking and we get a small hint at where this series is going. The issue ends with Arak fighting a giant sea serpent.

Created by Roy Thomas and Ernie Colon Arak was as I figured when I was a kid another attempt by DC to get some of the Conan  audience Marvel had. First appearing in an issue of Warlord,which is a series I need to write about one day,Arak lasted a few years and from what I have seen is a good series that cause it wasn't a superhero comic when that was the big thing,has been forgotten.

Arak Son of Thunder issue 1 gets a B+

Swamp Thing by Rick Veitch Vol 1 Wild Things TPB

 

TITLE-Swamp Thing Vol1 Wild Thing

SOURCE-DC TPB

Oh yessss after years the start of the run of Rick Veitch writing and penciling Swamp Thing is back in TPB form.  This is a series I was reading back as it came out. Was one of the reasons I made sure each month to get to the comic shop.

After the stint out in space during Alan Moore's run the Parliment of Trees has started creating a new Earth Elemental. And Swamp Thing is in charge of finding it a host. 

Lots of set up for the future issues. And like the Moore run,Veitch takes some older forgotten DC characters and brings them back updated for the modern world of the 80s.

The art,with Alfredo Alcala on the inks,is amazing. With the Moore run the writing was amazing and so was the art. This time the story is just damn good,which on my scale is a bit below amazing. Now part of that might be this is the start of Veitch's run and stuff that felt dropped to me might get picked up in the next volume.

Swamp Thing By Rick Veitch vol 1 Wild Things gets a B.