31 Days of horror Day 20 Lucifer Season 1

Title-Lucifer the complete season 1
Source-Warner Bros DVD

Having read the Sandman comic that Lucifer spun off from I had an idea of where I thought this TV show would go. Turns out I was very wrong.

After abandoning Hell,Lucifer now runs a popular night club in Los Angeles.  After seeing a pop star get murdered our lead feels something changing in him.

In the 13 episodes in season 1,we see Lucifer slowly changing. He becomes a consultant for the police. All the while having to deal with an angel that wants to get our lead back in Hell.

The main cast is pretty good. The plots are decent. And I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the show.

Lucifer season 1 gets a B+.

2017 Comic Challenge 298 Doom Patrol vol 2 #59

TITLE-Doom Patrol volume 02 #59
PUBLISHER-DC

We are near the end of Grant Morrision's long run on Doom Patrol. So he is wrapping up all the loose threads before handing the title over to Rachel Pollock.

After 3 pages of rigidly done 6 panel pages,all showing us how the world is ending,we see what is left of the team. The Candlemaker is killing the soul of the world. And of course only the Doom Patrol can prevent this from happening.

Thankfully years ago I read all of Morrison's Doom Patrol run,cause if not this issue wouldn't have made a lick of sense. The reason I read this was I just recently got another copy. Sure I got Morrison run in TPBs. But those are missing the letter pages,which were sometimes really good. And every cheap bin in every LCS I visit has piles of issues of Doom Patrol sitting there unloved and forgotten by the modern fanboys. Plus look at that cover. It caught my eye while flipping through piles of copies of mid 90s glut Marvel stuff.

Really with this series if you want to read it just buy the trades or see if your local library has them. Sure you can spend a few years and manage to get the entire run for under a buck an issue out of the cheap bins. But that is time spent you could use to read this great series much faster.

Doom Patrol vol 02 #59 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 277 Nevada #01

TITLE-Nevada #01
PUBLISHER-Vertigo an imprint of DC Comics

Look at that cover. You got the Vegas lights,and Egyptian themed dancing girl and a fucking ostrich.When I walked into Lynn's Comics in Nederland Texas back in the spring of 98 and saw the cover I knew I was gonna buy it. Then I look close,Steve Gerber is the writer. And Gerber is a writer that should be mentioned whenever people are talking about the best comic writers of all time. But sadly that rarely happens. Honestly before reading this issue I knew nothing about the cover artist and interior penciler Phil Winslade.I do love his art.

The story is fairly simple. A Vegas showgirl,who has a pet ostrich,is the only thing that can prevent the end of the world. Someone is killing people in Vegas in really weird ways.

For me the back story to this series is as good if not better than the series. Back when Gerber was writing Howard the Duck he got way behind on his deadline. So one issue of Howard was just huge blocks of text with various artists doing pictures to go along with theses walls of text. One page had a Vegas showgirl an ostrich and an evil lamp all fighting.The story is for years Neil Gaiman begged Gerber to tell him more of the story of the showgirl,lamp and ostrich.So right at 20 years later we got the 6 issue Nevada series from Vertigo.

Anyways if you like Gerber grab a trade of this series.I doubt it is that expensive,and it is worth it for the art alone.

Nevada gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 217 Swamp Thing #129

TITLE-Swamp Thing #129
PUBLISHER-Vertigo/DC Comics

Anytime I find issues of Swamp Thing for cheap I gotta grab them. So I have ended up with a bunch of random issues of the post Veitch run.This issue is written by Nancy A. Collins.And Scot Eaton,Kim Demulder handling the art.

Seems in the previous issue Swamp Thing fought a creature made of toxic waste. Which infected Swamp Thing. So now he is up in PA and trying to make his way back down to Houma LA. But he can't travel through the green cause he is afraid he will infect it.

Back in LA,Abby is getting use to her new home.Plus we see a female Swamp Thing looking on.

To wrap the issue up we see Swamp Thing confronted by the female Swamp Thing.Then the issue ends with us wondering what the fuck will happen next.

Sure it is hard for anyone to follow up the earlier runs of Alan Moore or Rick Veitch. I did enjoy the issue. But part of that is because I got this issue for a quarter.

Swamp Thing #129 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 200 Good Old Boys #01

TITLE-Good Old Boys #01
PUBLISHER-Vertigo an imprint of DC

Underneath that gorgeous Glenn Fabry cover is my personal favorite of all the Preacher one shots/mini series.

From before they died,we get a normal night in the life of Jody and TC. After a bit of fishing they head off deeper into the swamp for a bare knuckle brawl.

Once there Jody jumps down into the pit and is ready for the fight. But this time instead of a man he is gonna fight a gorilla.

In another part of the swamp a helicopter has crashed. On  board is your standard Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon ripoff and a lady obviously based on that 90s movie Cindy Crawford did.

Both our duos end up meeting up. Then Saddam Hopper,who has the most unique way of cussing that I have ever seen,sends mercs after the Cindy clone. Seems she has a tape in her panties that will convict Saddam.

Garth Ennis of course writes this one shot. And Carlos Ezquerra,who I knew from various Judge Dredd/2000AD things handles the pencils.

Ennis manages to parody and homage all the 80s action movie tropes in one issue. And isn't all in your face with it like certain other UK Veritgo writers would be.

Good Old Boys #01 get a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 184 One Man's War #01

TITLE-Preacher Special One Man's War #01
PUBLISHER-Veritgo a DC Imprint

Under that gorgeous Glenn Fabry cover,why was this never released as a poster?,is the origin of Herr Starr.

OK real quick there might be spoilers for the Preacher TV show up ahead,but since that show seems to be Earth 2 Preacher who knows.

Starr is part of German Special Forces,think Spetnaz or Delta Force,and during a mission meets a new compadre. Who ends up asking Starr to join The Grail.

The Grail is a secret,and I think Catholic ran,organization that has protected Jesus's bloodline for centuries. Yep in the Preacher universe Jesus had children. And to keep the bloodline pure the Grail has allowed them to only mate within the bloodline. Their main plan is to have a failed nuclear strike happen when the year 2000 starts. Then bring out the great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandson of Jesus as the new Messiah. But of course if you keep people breeding within their immediate family well you are gonna end up with a very very special needs Messiah.

Realizing that no one will buy this kid as the new Messiah,Herr Starr starts a group within the Grail that will take it over soon. And replace the Messiah with Jesse Custer.

As with everything connected to Preacher,Garth Ennis writes this issue. And Peter Snejbjerg handles the pencils. The art is nice and looks a bit like Steve Dillon's art in the main series.

Pretty sure you can still find this for cover price or less at a decent comic shop. And it is reprinted in one of the Preacher trades and hardcovers. So no reason if you are a comic fan to not track this down.

Preacher Special One Man's War #01 gets a BUY!!!

2016 Comic Challenge 180 Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01

TITLE-Preacher Special Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01
PUBLISHER-Vertigo a imprint of DC Comics

Yep  another Preacher one shot. And again it has a beautiful Glenn Fabry cover. This time not only is Garth writing it,but they also got Steve Dillon to handle the pencils.

Set before issue 1 of the main series,Cassidy is hitchhiking when on I-10 near New Orleans he smells something he hasn't smelled before. Another vampire. So he gets dropped off,tracks the other vamp down. And they have adventures.

IIRC this came out right before the main series took a 5 or so issue trip to New Orleans. So this one shot was used to explain some upcoming stuff.

But really what makes this stand out to me is the main theme. The other vampire Cassidy meets is obviously a clone of Lestat from the Anne Rice series of novels. I get the feeling Ennis is like me and hates all the horrible clones of what was at one time a decent character. So he takes the piss out of all the tropes from the Anne Rician Vampires.

Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 109 Animal Man #89

TITLE-Animal Man #89
PUBLISHER-Vertigo imprint of DC Comics

After right at 8 years the amazing Animal Man comic comes to an end.While most fans if they have read any of the first volume of Animal Man have read the 26 issues that Grant Morrison wrote. And sure that run is great. The series managed to get even better after Morrison left.This is the final issue of Jerry Prosser's 10 issue run on the title. Fred Harper also ends his 10 issue run as penciler.

All the storylines that hadn't been resolved in the series get resolved with this issue. Buddy,Animal Man,manages to not only save his daughter from some evil entity,but also managed to get back into his human form. And it is in time to see his 3rd child being born.

I can see why the series ended here. Now I enjoyed Mr Prosser's run. But him coming on and replacing Jamie Delano,who is considered the second best writer on Animal Man,had caused  lots of people to drop the title.

Now I have read lots of Vertigo series. From the stuff that became part of the imprint once it started,like Swamp Thing,Sandman and of course Animal Man. To series like Fables,Exterminators and Scalped. But for me so far nothing has topped Animal Man. For 89 issues plus one annual I got a well written series that managed to work out answers to various questions I am sure most long time comic fans have thought about. Like how does a superhero make money? For lots of this series Buddy is trying to figure out a way to earn a living while also keeping up his superhero career.

Animal Man #89 gets a BUY!

2015 Reading Challenge Book 87 Preacher vol 3 Proud Americans

Title-Preacher:Proud Americans
AUTHOR-Garth Ennis
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Nope
PRICE-$15

By the time this trade hit the shelves I was already hooked on Preacher. I had been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series from the Vertigo imprint,and Preacher was the polar opposite.

Most of this trade is all about Jesse and his two friends going to France and meeting the Grail for the first time.So we get the first appearances of recurring major villain Herr Star.

It is the first issue reprinted in this trade that sticks in my memory.While at an airport waiting for his plane to France,Jesse happens to run into a friend of his father's. One who was over in Nam with him. So we get the origin of Jesse's Fuck Communism zippo. This and the much later  on in the series Nam flashback story are my two favorite issues of the series. I would love to see a 6 to 8 issue mini that is Ennis and Steve Dillon telling more stories of Jesse's Dad in the war.

The art is even better than the last two trades. To me it was around this time that Steve Dillon got all the major characters figured out.

Preacher vol 3 Proud Americans gets a 4.95 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 083 Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas

TITLE-Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas
AUTHOR-Garth Ennis
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$12

Most years I take the time to re-read Preacher. I was gonna save it for the end of the year. But with all the news coming out about the upcoming TV adaptation I grabbed the first trade off my shelf.

Preacher at it's core is a love story. Jesse Custer is a preacher in a small Texas town.One night he gets really drunk and goes to the local bar. Where he reveals most of the residents secrets. He gets the shit beaten out of him. But the next day during the church services he gets the biggest turn out in a long time. Right before he starts his sermon something flies into the church. Goes into Jesse's body. And then the entire church explodes. Which kills everyone but Jesse.

Around the same time Jesse's ex Tulip happens to be heading towards that tiny Texas town. She has hitched a ride with a guy named Cassiedy. They find Jesse and so our journey begins.

Going back and re-reading this trade for what has to be the 20th time I am pleasantly surprised at how good it is. And how many clues Garth Ennis leaves as to what will happen in later volumes.

Now I am assuming some of the people reading this have not read Preacher. So here is a small synopsis. And since I plan on reading the rest of the series as part of my reading challenge I am only gonna cover what happens in this volume.

Jesse finds out the thing that flew into him is the offspring of a demon and an angel. Which at birth was imprisoned in Heaven. He also learns that as soon as this being,known as Genesis,was born God fled Heaven. And no one knows where he is.

The angels have been left in charge of Heaven. So they send the Saint of Killers out to find Jesse and Genesis. Yeah there is a Saint of Killers.

The first 4 or 5 issues in this trade cover all the above. After that we get a short story line. Cassiedy has a friend in NYC who is a reporter. Who deals in stuff like UFOs,Jesus appearing in various objects. So they go to visit him. And just so happens there is a serial killer on  the loose in NYC. And of course our trio run into the killer.

Pretty sure this was one of the first comics written by Mr Ennis that I read. And since then I have given anything he has wrote a try. The great Glen Fabry does all the covers. And his art is perfect for the series. It has this realistic,but ugly,look that fits the tone of the series. And you got Steve Dillon doing the art on the insides.I love Dillon's art. Hell I will buy any comic he draws.

Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas gets a 4.88 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 080 Human Target Volume 1 Strike Zones

TITLE-Human Target Volume 1 Strike Zones
AUTHOR-Peter Milligan
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-gift

A few years back I had got all the other trades collecting 75 percent of the various Vertigo Human Target minis,one shots and ongoing series. And as a birthday gift I got this trade.

It collects issues 1 through 5 of the ongoing series.Our title hero is discovered in his new identity and after some tense moments leaves and heads off to NYC.And we get two full adventures sent in NYC before the trade ends. The first we have an accountant who faked his death in 9/11. And now needs the Human Target's help. Then Christopher Chance ,the titular Human Target,is hired on the be a NYC baseball player. This time he has to find out why the star player has just jumped out his penthouse window.

I love how Peter Milligan took a fairly one note spy character into a really fleshed out person.Javier Pulido does the pencils. Also the interiors are on a nice grade of newsprint.

Human Target Volume 1 Strike Zones gets a 4.15 outta 5

My love/hate relationship with Grant Morrison 01

The first thing I ever read from Mr Morrison was his Arkham Asylum story. And I enjoyed it very much. But since then I have found that with any work from Morrison I either love it or hate it,no middle ground at all. So when he started "Invisibles" I didn't bother with it. But just recently I got the above issue in a random lot I won off EBAY. Now I had read the first 5 or so issues of the first volume of Invisibles. And had heard that the later volumes get even weirder. So with this info I sat down to read the 5th issue of the the 3rd volume of Invisibles. And I loved it,sure it was very strange and IIRC Grant has mentioned in many interviews about how while he was writing most of the three volumes that make up the Invisible oeuvre he was on either LSD or magic mushrooms. And while it shows in the writing it is still well written enough for anyone willing to take the time to actually think while reading to understand it. First off the cover by Brian Bolland is just stunning,and I would love to have it reproduced as a poster. The interior artwork by Sean Philips is a perfect choice for this very trippy story. The inks by Jay Stephens help add to the lushness that is the art. The only minor drawback to this comic is now I have a strong urge to go out and either buy all the floppies of all 3 volumes or get the trades. Now I wouldn't recommend this to anyone that doesn't like having to "work" to understand their entertainment,but if you like something that challenges you while you are reading it Invisibles by Grant Morrison and the various artists has to be one of the best. Invisibles Volume 3 issue 5 gets a A-.

TPB winners 01

Fables-Legends in Exile
published by Vertigo/DC comics

The first volume in the currently ongoing monthly series,Legends in Exile sets up a lot of the plot for the first few years of the series. Basic premise is every fairy tale,tall tale,or piece of folklore you have heard is true. And the characters from these tales live in a series of interconnected worlds. Some years ago a great evil referred to as the Adversary starts to take over the various worlds,and most of the characters are captured or killed. Some escape to the real world,The ones that can pass for human live in a Burroughs of NYC called Fabletown. The non-human ones live on a farm in upstate New York. Fabletown has it's own mayor who is Old King Cole,but the town is really ran by Snow White. Who is Cole's second in command. The fables of Fabletown self police themselves and the head of security is Bigby Wolf AKA the big bad wolf of Lil red riding hood fame. The story starts off with Snow White's sister Rose Red being murdered in her apartment. At first the main suspect is Jack,of Jack in the beanstalk,lil Jack Horner,and various other fables with a protagonist named Jack fame. Bigby is in charge of the investigation and over the next couple of issues find many clues. The Fables celebrate each year a holiday that marks when they left their homelands to come to NYC. And at this celebration Bigby reveals who the killer is,and it is a shock. This is the first storyline so it uses much of it time introducing us to the various main stars of the series. We find out that Sleeping Beauty,Cinderella,and Snow White were all married to the same Prince. Who it turns out is an incredible cad and has an ability to seduce pretty much any woman he wants. While truthfully not the best outta what i have read from the series so far,I am currently on the 5th trade, Legend in exile is a good read that has amazing artwork. And as you read the next couple of trades you can see where the author has laid the groundwork for the series. This series is written by Bill Willingham,who before I had read this I only knew from his 80's indy series Elementals. And has great artwork by Mark Buckingham. What I love about Buckingham's artwork is how he draws the females characters. While still gorgeous they don't have the over the top anatomy that most comic females have. They look like real life women,sure the are all very beautiful,but they still look real. My only real gripe about this series so far is the covers don't accurately portray what is happening in the issues. Most of the covers have a slightly surreal style,that kinda clashes with Buckingham's cartoony but realistic artwork. One word of warning this is a Vertigo series which usually means that it isn't for young readers,and this series isn't. With a fair amount of foul language and some graphic violence and some nudity I wouldn't let any kid under about 15 read it. But still Fables is a great series that thanks to Jamie D of WWW.comicgeekspeak.com for recommending. Legends in Exile gets an B+.