Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles VOL1 from IDW

 

Yea I have read the issues in this thick TPB a few times before. First time was back not long after the series started. I had it on  my pull list at Gulf Coast Comics. Then about a decade ago I tracked down scans of the entire Mirage run and over many months read that entire run. On this reading I saw so many things I never noticed before. 

Collecting issues 1-7 of Mirages first volume of TMNT and the  Raphael Micro Series this is a wild adventure that takes from from the rooftops of 80s era NYC,down into the sewers then off in space and a wild intergalactic war before androids and Triceratops looks humanoid beings.

Those things I noticed this time? So SO SO many pages that had that Jack Kirby feel. Not a swipe or even homage just more Kevin Eastmand and Peter Laird doing their version of Kirby.

And now that I know more about Duotone and it's uses in comics I spent so much time looking at it on every page.

If you have watched that 2000's TMNT series that aired on FoxKids then you know the basics of what happens in these issues. A bit toned down but that series did a decent job of recreating so many classic scenes from Vol 1 of the Mirage run.

I know there are a few color versions of these issues,and for me I prefer them in the original b/w look. Overall a great collection of a run of comics more people  need to read.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1 from IDW gets a A.

Turtles of Greyskull Comic Trade Paperback

 

TITLE-Turtles of Greyskull

SOURCE-Dark Horse Comics Trade paperback

I'm a sucker for these comic mini series that crossover TMNT with some other property. Saw this tpb and of course I was a Masters of the Universe fan as a kid. Figured I would get it read over a month or so.

Tim Seeley handles the writing chores,with Freddie Williams II on  the  art. Seeley I think  I have read stuff from before. Freddie Williams II I am sure I have comics with his  art. And that art fits this crossover so well. It is this mixture of slightly cartoonish art then some almost Liefeldian overt muscles.

Seeley takes a loophole Laird & Eastman left in the original TMNT comic and that is how we get this crossover. Yep Renet is how we get Eternia and NYC meeting up.

Shredder is teamed up with Skeletor,and using something called Purple Mutagen,to increase the powersets of all of the Foot CLan and Skeletor's goons like Beastman.

Then early on we start seeing  scenes from the first 12 issues of volume 1 of TMNT,but this time He Man is added. Like when the Turtles were out in Space fighting for the Tricertons,now they also got He Man with them.

Seems someone is missing with the time stream and causing "KNOTS". With Renet trying to figure out who. And who on the Masters of the Universe evil side would be perfect to fight the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Ninjor! I had forgotten about the EVIL Ninja villian from MOTU,or more than likely had given up on the toyline  before he appeared.

Thin thin trade,that is 4 issues and a pile of variant covers and sketches. The price of 19 bucks is a bit high and this is the kind of TPB that back in the day would have been 8 buck tops. What surprised me is this was from Dark Horse. I had no clue who currently had the Masters of the Universe comic license,and was thinking the TPB was from IDW,who have  the TMNT rights in comics.

Worth reading if you like both franchises. But don't pay cover price. 10 bucks or so.

Turtles of Greyskull gets a C+

Supergirl Being Super OGN

 

TITLE-Supergirl Being Super

SOURCE-DC Original Graphic Novel

I rarely read superhero comics from Marvel or DC anymore. Too many of them are so tied into other titles I feel like I need to read 10 comics to understand 1 that I want to read. But when I find Original Graphic Novels for cheap I will grab them.

About 2 months ago at the local library I found  this Supergirl OGN for sale. Was a former Library book. The books for sale is a name your price type thing. I just give them a buck for each book I grab.

Kara is a teenage girl. Enjoying her years in high school. She is part of the basketball team. Along with one of her best friends. And her other best friend is the studious but rebellious one.

See Kara was found in the field in  a spaceship. The couple that found her adopted her and been  raising her. And Kara has powers. She can fly, she is strong and nothing seems to hurt her.

Then weird stuff starts happening. Kara's coach gives her and her two best friends new watches. That are suppose to track their pulse and other things. But Kara and the rebellious friend are suspicious of these gifts.

Then an earthquake hits. Kara's basketball friend falls in the now open gap. Kara tries to save her using her powers but her powers fail. And we see that the coach runs a nearby secret lab. 

At this lab is another person like Kara. He is a Kryptonian that was sent to Earth to investigate it. He got captured and this lab has been running experiments on him to see if there is a way to use him and his powers as a fuel source.

This other alien talks Kara into going with him to raid the lab. We get a great fight. And by the end Kara realizes that while she might be Kryptonian by genetics she is an Earthling.

Well written and you can tell it is aimed at teens and young adults. It captures the feelings we all had as teens. That we didn't fit in. And nothing made sense. Mariko Tamaki is the writer and seems she is a New York Times best selling author.

The art is well done. My only complaint is the modern coloring done by computers hides some of the pencil and ink work. But I am slowly getting use to this new coloring but still not a big fan. Joelle Jones is the artist and is someone I will look for more of their work.

When I grabbed this the plan was read it whenever and then put it up for sale. Figuring at a buck I could ask 5 bucks and make a nice profit. Like a week after I bought Supergirl Being Super I pulled it out . Figuring I would read a few pages each night while eating dinner. Gotten into the habit of standing at the bar in the kitchen when I eat dinner. Usually got some music playing and I read a comic. I read while eating that night. Quickly cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes then went back to reading. Only reason I didn't finish this OGN that night was I had to be up early the next day.

I love how this works for any reader. You do not have to know about Supergirl or the DC universe for the story to make sense. But if you are knowledgable about either there is plenty of Easter Eggs through out the novel.

Supergirl Being Super gets a B.

Robotech Archive VOL 1 TPB

 

TITLE-Robotech Archives vol 1 The Macross Saga Volume 1 TPB

SOURCE-Titan Books

I am horrible about thinking "Oh I want to read this book or this comic" and now that I order all them online I go order it and the 2 days to 2 weeks later it arrives I toss it on the need to read pile and years later might read it.

The above TPB is an example. I had gotten a few issues of Comico's Robotech Macross Saga run,read them and wanted more. Looked and this Titan TPB that covered the Graphic Novel and first 11 or so issues of the run was cheap. Like 8 bucks with shipping cheap. Ordered it. It came in a week later. Got put on the Need to Read pile and sat and sat.

Then recently had a day where I had to drive people to two doctor appointments. Waiting rooms are always noisy. So I will put on a podcast and sit there read. Got almost this entire tpb read that day. So the  next few nights during dinner I would eat and read.

The story? It is pretty much the first 11 or so episodes of Robotech. Few minor changes to dialog. The art really in some issues looks like they traced the cels. Other times you can tell it was drawn by hand but looks so much like the cels it feels odd. The coloring for this era stands out. It looks so much better than the colors on a DC or Marvel book from this time. And what time frame am I talking about? 1985 IIRC. 

If you have never experiences the Macross saga part of Robotech this is a great way to do it. And it is faster than watching the show. I got 11 issues and the GN read in less time than it would take me to watch 4 episodes.

Now I am bias,I love Robotech and really love the Macross saga. Which  made this collection perfect for me.

Robotech Archive Macross Saga vol 1 gets a B+

Teen Titans Go Vol 1 Party,Party TPB

 

TITLE-Teen Titans Go VOL Party,Party
SOURCE-DC TPB

Yea I know the cartoon is hated. I saw it here and there and it was ok at best. This tpb supposedly reprints the first 6 isssues of the Teen Titans Go comics series.

You get a pile of 4 to 8 page stories. Imagine the old Archie digests but the stories got a slight superhero bend to them. And you will get cameos from people like Red Bee and Darkseid.

The art ? It looks like the cartoon so it works. The stories? They aren't bad. Lots of pop culture references. Like the story about the team going on a America's Got Talent like show,and facing the Brotherhood of Evil.

Or the really well done Slumber Party story. Starfire,Raven,Jynx and Bumblebee are having a slumber party. The guys all get sent out. And wacky hijynx happen.

Never would have bought this for cover price. 13 bucks when you factor in sales tax. The buck or so I paid is about what it was worth to me.

Cause these short stories made perfect reading material for when eating or when on the throne.

Teen Titans Go Vol 1 Party,Party gets a C+

Stormwatch Post Human Division Vol 1

 

So last month covered the 3rd tpb  in this run of Stormwatch. Stormwatch is an odd series for me. I got into it so so late. 

After the Authority took over the USA ,Stormwatch gets reformed. But this time funded by the USA.Less super powered members. But we still got Jackson King in charge.

Read this entire trade while waiting in a Ear Nose and Throat doc's waiting room. And was surprised at how dense this was for a comic from it's era. Yea you got splash pages. But then you would get page after page of multiple panels with piles of dialogue.

Art is good writing is good but with a catch. No clue how this would read to anyone that hasn't read at least all of Stormwatch vol 2 and at least the last 20 issues of Stormwatch vol 1. So this isn't a friendly to new readers TPB.

Oh and this TPB references a few times the Wildstorm vs ALIENS crossover. The TPB of that Crossover is LONG Out of print and the issues that make it up are not cheap.

Stormwatch's leader,Jackson King,is reforming the team. Using what super powers being they got left and the cream of the crop of the humans. And we get a surprise return from a few long thought dead members of Stormwatch.

If you have read and enjoyed previous Stormwatch vols Stormwatch PHD is worth tracking  down. I actually found the first 2 or 3 issues in the cheap bins and read 1 and 2 before getting these trades.

Stormwatch Post Human Division TPB 1 gets a B+

Constantine VOL 2

 

TITLE-Constatine VOL 2 Blight

PUBLISHER-DC Comics

While I have read a pile of Hellblazer,I have never read any of the John Constantine that came out after that long running ended.

This TPB collects the second batch of 6 issues from what is pretty much VOL 2 of Hellblazer.

JL Dark,the magic based JLA team,is all missing. Mister E is going and killing ever magic user on Earth. Absorbing their powers. And he is coming after Constantine next.

Being a Hellblazer comic of course while managing to survive this attack John also gets screwed. Now in debt to the daughter of Sargon the Sorcerer. Plus Constantine is no closer to finding where Zartana has disappeared too.

That is the first 2 issues of this trade. With the following 5 covering the Forever Evil event. 

John makes a backup JL Dark,which is Swamp thing,Nightmare Nurse and Phantom Stranger. They head to the outskirts of Heaven to maybe get help. 

The Spectre and Zurial stop John from entering Heaven. After meeting up with God,who appears as a Scotty Dog,John figured out what he has to do next.

Someone from John's past has been putting all this in motion. John now knows where Zartana is and what he has to do.

And while John and the rag tag team manage to defeat the evil mastermind it seems like once again John Constantine has to sacrifice to get the victory.

The writing was way better than I expected. This being connected to the proper DC universe I knew it might be toned down from what I got use to in the Hellblazer run. Really it didn't feel that much different than a story from that run.

The art,covers and interiors,were all nice to look at. Lots more bright colors than I am use to in a Constantine comic. And still it was good. 

Constantine Blight TPB gets a B+

WEHT Super Goof

 

Super Goof,not sure when I first saw a Super Goof comic. Betting it was mid to late 70s. But after I read one I was hooked. Already loved Goofy as a kid and making him a comedic super hero made this one of my favorite comics.

But what is Super Goof? It is a comic in which all your favorite Disney characters live in the same city. Goofy eats these super powered peanuts,that he calls GOOBERS,and he gains pretty much all the powers of Superman. These powers don't last that long. And Super Goof's costume is just a pair of red pajamas and a towel around his neck. So it looks like a superhero outfit some kid would come up with.

In the issue pictured above, which is Super Goof's only Dynabrite issue ,there is two stories. First is the one on the cover. Where Super Thief starts stealing various landmarks and buildings. Super Goof manages to bring back Big Ben and other things. But when the city bridge disappears he has no idea what to do. 

Thankfully Hewey Dewey and Louie appear and help Super Goof figure out what to do. Always loved the Junior Woodchucks. And can't forget how in this series Clarabell Cow is Goofy's girlfriend.

The second story has Super Goof and Mickey Mouse facing off against the Beagle Boys. Yep Disney most major character is a side kick to Goofy in this story.

When I got this comics I was wondering why now with superheroes being so big why hasn't Disney did anything with Super Goof since the comic ended in the early 80s?

Well turns out I was partially wrong. Sometime in the 2000s on the House of Mouse cartoon in one episode Super Goof appears. But outside of that since the comic ended it is like Disney forgot about Super Goof or is embarassed by it.

Imagine if in the next Avengers movie if Super Goof flies in to save the day. Or how about in the next Guardians of the Galaxy,we have Super Goof hopped up on Goobers,rushing in to rescue Gamorra.

From what I can find the Whitman Super Goof comics never got reprinted or put out in a trade paperback. And even back when they were coming out non of my friends read Super Goof.

Now look at that cover closely. This comic is from 1973. But see that cover price of 69 cents. Back in 73 average color comic was 25 cents IIRC. So why is this one almost 3 times more? That is cause of Dynabrite.

Ok smartass what is Dynabrite? It was a short lived attempt by Whitman to put out comics on much better paper. The paper looks feels and smells like Baxter paper. Which if you don't know is a really white paper that makes the colors pop. By the  mid 80s DC and Marvel put out a pile of comics on Baxter paper. And they would cost $1.25 when your normal comic on newsprint was 55 to 65 cents. From what I can find only 9 Dynabrite comics came out.Most of them being Uncle Scrooge or Donald Duck stuff. This is the only Dynabrite Super Goof comic.

Hey Disney superheroes are hotter now than they have been in the almost 50 years I have been alive. Why not make a Super Goof cartoon tv show or movie? If yall can bring back the Three Cabarellos,which was a great cartoon go watch it,why not at least give Super Goof a DTV movie.

Lobo Portrait of a Victim

 

TITLE-Lobo Portrait of a Victim

PUBLISHER-DC Comics

Oh Lobo. DC's 90s era bad boy. For about 5 years Lobo was huge. He had a monthly title some mini series and a pile of one shots. There was even a 16 bit video  game  made for Lobo,that never got an official release.

He is a intergalactic bounty Hunter. Lobo loves to  drink booze bang woman and kill people.

Back when Lobo was at his  peak  of popularity I read a few issues. But by 93 when this one shot hit the stands,I was too busy buying  piles of indies comics to bother with some "capeshit" from DC.

Like most Lobo comics the story is simple. A husband is tired of his screechign wife and screaming kids. So he goes to join some of his old buddies for a night  out on the town.

They happen to stumble into a bar where Lobo is drinking. And Lobo joins them for their poker game.

Of course stuff keeps happening which angers Lobo. And causes Lobo to attack the dudes his playing cards with.

The late Alan Grant is the writer,and he wrote a pile of  90s Lobo stuff. Val Semieks does the pencils.

I am guessing Lobo made DC a pile of money during the 90s comic boom. Like this one shot,cover price is $1.50. By 93 most comics were a buck or $1.25. DC knew  the diehard Lobo fans would pay whatever for a new Lobo Book. 

Hell I remember DC putting out a TPB collection. IIRC it was 3 trades,one contained the first Lobo Mini series. The second trade contained the second Lobo mini series. Then that third trade,which has never been reprinted,contains THe Wit and Wisdom of Lobo. This is a 80 to 100 page TPB that is full of blank pages. Cause hell it is  Lobo there is no Wit and Wisdom.

Lobo Portrait of a Victim gets a B+

Celebrate America's 200th Birthday with Richie Rich,Jackie Jokers and Kool Katz

I can't remember when I first discovered Richie Rich from Harvey Comics. The other day I was going through some old pictures my mother has. They are from 77 or 78. And even though back then I either couldn't read or had just started learning how to,I had a stack of 10 or so Richie Rich comics sitting by me. This got me thinking back to how for about 5 or so years myself and my cousin were obsessed with Richie Rich. Buying every issue we found. Trading other comics from our collections for more Richie Rich comics. We even had a contest to see which of us could get the most Richie comics in a year. But after Harvey stopped publishing their kids comics in the mid 80s I pretty much forgot about the poor little rich boy. And the couple of hundred Richie Rich comics I had collected either got traded/sold or got burnt up in 96 when some evil evil person decided to cover with lighter fluid and toss a lit match onto almost my entire comic collection.

Skip ahead to 2009 and my parents had asked what I wanted for my birthday. I ordered the Dark Horse published "phonebook" trades of Richie Rich and Hot Stuff the Lil Devil. And these trades reignited my passion for Richie.

Ever since that time anytime I find a Harvey comic and it is 2 bucks or less I grab them.  By doing this I have build up a decent sized collection of various Richie comics. Back during their peak in the mid to late 70s Harvey had close to 30 Richie Rich titles. Stuff like Richie Rich Gems,Richie Rich and Dollar his dog and many many others. Back then as a kid I never paid much attention to what the title was,just would grab anything with Richie or Hot Stuff.

Now last year a buddy and I had went to the sadly now closed shop Comic Commander. This was a tiny comic shop that was so good. And it was a comic shop. Not a "comic shop" that is 25 percent comics and the rest is CCGS and Funko Pops. This place was 80% comics. And the other 20% being used dvds and action figures. We walk in and right by the front counter was two long boxes packed full of kids comics. If I had know the store was close to cloing I would  have just offered the owner say 100 bucks for both longboxes. But having no idea this amazing shop was closing soon I sat on the floor and for almost 30 minutes dug through  each longbox. Grabbing any Richie Rich comics I found. The resulting big stack of kids comics got placed on top the laundry hamper in my bathroom. Cause I learned years ago that Harvey comics are perfect for when you are in the bathroom and need something to read while taking a dump.

All of the above is just the preamble,a bit of my history with a character that was my favorite comic character when I was really young. And one that I wish was known by kids today. Figured this history of me and the character would come in handy. 

Cover date is May of 1976 on issue 15 of Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers. With this coming out in the Bicentennal year the cover is a nice touch. Who is Jackie Jokers. IIRC he is Richie's cousin. Who is a comedian. And kid that appears to be 10 or so that is the best known comedian in the world. Harvey would take Richie team him up with someone and make that a series. Being a bi-monthly series this issue came out near the beginning of the third year of the title. 

To connect the inside stories to that great cover the first page of the comic story is the 3 guys on the cover explaining how they will be playign various characters in the comic. Up first is Jackie Jokers as Yankee Doodle Dandy. Jackie starts off the comic with a 5 page story about the Boston Tea party. And while the story isn't bad the standout of this first part of the comic is the page below.

I love the various comic strips Hostess would do to advertise their various snack cakes. Sure most people of a certain age will remember the Marvel and/or DC ads like this. But seems like most have forgotten Harvey got in on the game too.

Kool Katz is second up,do not really remember him. And he is playing Paul Revere. This is a one page gag strip. With Katz as Revere riding through town at night screaming "The British are here!" then entering a hospital zone and changing to holding up a sign with "The British are here" on it. Harvey would do stuff like this in their comics. Having a longer story followed by a 1 page story. Kinda of like how every Harvey comic I have owned that came out before their revival in the early 90s has the first page of the comic being an ad. It was rarely an ad for Harvey comics. This comic has an ad for GRIT. 

Jackie is back next with a four pagers. Where he meets Ben Franklin and sees the infamous kite with a key being hit by lightning. I like how Harvey is trying to not only entertain the kids but also educate them a bit.

Like how the first page of any Harvey comic was an ad page,almost every centerfold in the comic would have a big ad showing you what all Harvey Comics are coming out the next 5 weeks. Each week three standard size Harvey comics come out. These are 25 cents an issue and have on average 21 pages of comics,1 or 2 pages of letters and the rest is ads. Then every week they put out one issue of one of their 52 page comics that cost 50 cents each. 

Now remember how earlier I mentioned how Harvey put on plenty of titles starring Richie Rich? Lets look at this ad and see how many Richie comics are hitting the newstands in the next 5 weeks. The last week in January there is Richie Rich Profits and Richie Rich Ca$h,both of which are the standard 21 pages of comics for a quarter titles. Richie Rich Diamond$ is the single 52 page 50 cent comic that week.The first week of Feb has 2 more standard length Richie titles,Money World and Fortune$. The 52 page comic this week is Harvey Collector$ Comic$. This title was usually a Richie title. That would reprint 2 older Richie issues. 2nd week of Feb for standard length Richie comics we again got two,Vault$ of Mystery and the title just called Richie Rich(which I'm pretty sure is the first Richie Rich comic series). And again the 52 page comic this week is Richie related. It is Gold&$ilver. I do not remember Gold&Silver but I bet I had a few issues of it as a kid. Week 3 of Feb in the standard size again we get 2 Rich  titles. This time they are Richie Rich Gem$ and Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers(the cover they show for this one is the issues I am talking about here).  For the first time in the ad the 52 page comic released the 3rd week of Feb is a Casper title. Wrapping up the ad we are now in very end of Feb. We get two standard page count issues of Richie. Millions and the other title is Riches. Plus the 52 page comic this week is Billions. That means in 5 weeks there is 15 Richie Rich comics. Cover price to buy all those comics adds up to $4.50. And today most single comics cost $3.99 or $4.99. 

Another Kool Katz as Paul Revere one page gag strip follows. Again it is lame.

Then a 2 page Jackie strip. Followed by single page Richie strip,with Richie as General George Washington.Feels odd to be this far in the title before we see Richie. Since his name comes first in the title. I bet Harvey did that to get the kids to buy what is really a mostly Jackie Jokers series.

Finally we get a story with both Richie and Jackie. Again it is a one pager.

We get the final Kool Katz story. This time being a 2 pager. I do like how each story not only follows the one before it. But as we see in the next story,also the final story in the comic, all the stories in the comic follow each other and tell what is one longish story broke up into many parts.

This final story,titled "Freedom at Last!" has Richie and Jackie teamed up again.Jackie gets captured by the British. Thankfully General Washington(Aka Richie) replaced the British in the firing squad. On the final page of the story we see Kool Katz riding by telling Richie and Jackie "THE BRITISH ARE COMING!". Richie lets Katz know that the war is over and we end with the following panel.

So while the story of the comic is over I got one final page to show y'all. 

Harvey was smart they knew kids would want merch of the Harvey characters. So Harvey made a bunch of 45s. From what I can find each 45 had two songs,a song on each side. I never had any of these and have never seen any in person. But I bet with some skilled searching someone might be able to find the songs on Youtube. What stands out to me from the top half of this page of ads is how while the ad is really really focused on the records,they also throw in small pictures of 10 NEW HARVEY COMICS you can buy.  As you can see the ad claims the 5 hit records is a 5 buck value. And the 10 new Comics is a $2.50 value.  A total value of $7.50,but Harvey has a deal for you. You get 5 records,for a total of 10 songs,and 10 comics for $5. Plus 50 cents postage.

The bottom half of the page is a ad for all the Sad Sack comics Harvey put out. Sad Sack appears to be almost the forgotten Harvey character. I have never seen any Sad Sack stuff that isn't a comic. Richie Rich has had a few cartoons,a handful of movies. Casper has had cartoons and movies. Even Hot Stuff,another character Harvey appears to have forgotten,has some merch. For years I had a pair of Hot Stuff the Lil Devil boxer shorts I got for Valentines Day. But never seen any Sad Sack merch that wasn't a comic. And on the occasions I find stacks of Harvey comics,be it at a comic shop,junkstore or as a kid trading comics with friends,that stack is lots and lots of Richie Rich and Casper. Maybe a few Little Lotta or Lil Dot. Even some of the Hot Stuff comics. But never any Sad Sack.

Well I hope y'all enjoyed my look at this comic that is almost as old as I am.

Skywald's Nightmare Issue 7 reprint by Gwandanaland Comics

 

TITLE-Nightmare issue 7
SOURCE-Gwandanaland Comic TPB

Nightmare was one of the 3 b/w magazine sized horror comics that Skywald published in the early 70s. While the art and stories were not always at the level of the Warren mags,like Creepy and 1984/1994,Skywald was a good second place in the B/W Horror Comic vein. Thankfully Skywald forgot to put a proper copyright notice on their magazines. Which means they are all Public Domain. So Gwandanaland Comics,a publisher that specializes in PD comic collections,a few years ago started reprinting all the Skywald mags. What I have here is cause I didn't read the description closely. I had already ordered a few volumes of Scream,another Skywald Horror Mag,and wanted to get some issues of Nightmare. I didn't read the description on Amazon closely. So instead of ordering a TPB that reprints 4 or 5 issues of the magazine,what I got is a thin TPB that reprints issue 7 of Nightmare.

In this issue we get 8 stories and one article. The article is on Dracula in cinema. And mostly talks about Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee.

The first story is The Penitent,wrote by Ed Fedoryi and the art credited to Ferran Sostres. Never heard of either creator. The story is told to us by a man with a long white beard. He is in prison and claims to be innocent. From what he tells and shows us it appears that this Prisoner lives in a world full of fantasy elements like dragons and Lizard-men. But like the Pre-Code horror comics these stories were inspired by we get a twist ending. Sadly it is a twist that sucks.

Group Jeopardy ,Script by S.F. Starr art by Amador,is up next.A group of people with various mental issues are at a place way out in the woods. And their doctor is trying to help them with their issues. But there is a mad killer on the loose who kills using a brutal bear hug. Thankfully the twist in this story is way better than the one in the first story.

Our third tale is The Giant Death Rat. At a wharf a group of rats are trying to get on a cargo ship that is headed to the new world,AKA North America. A few weeks after the ship is out in the ocean someone in the kitchen sees one of the rats. The captain gives an order to find the rat or everyone on board will die of the Plague. They don't find the rat,but not long afterwards one of the sailors comes down with a deathly illness. By the end of this 7 page story all but a few of the sailors are either dead or dying from the plague. The ship is set on fire to prevent the plague from spreading. And we go back to the wharf. The rats tell us how they are glad they didn't go on the ship since one of the humans aboard had the plague. Decent twist ending on this one and great art.

Batting clean up,aka Fourth,is GASP! A 3 pager that feels like a story rejected by every horror publisher so far. The twist at the end is just dumb. This one has art and script by Donald Brown. And yea the art isn't good and the story sucks.

After the 4th story is the 6 pager on Dracula in Cinema. Nothing in here any horror fan didn't already know. But I'm sure back when this came out and we didn't have as easy an access to info this article might have been pretty good.

5th story is The Alter of Blood. Which has the best art of story in this issue. That gorgeous art is by Pablo Marcos and Bob Kirschen is the writer. The story sadly isn't as good as the art. A demoness in Hell is trying to take over all of Hell. This 6 pager I am betting was aimed at the teenage boy audience that wasn't old enough to buy Playboy but could buy a horror comic.

A Father's Lament is our 6th story. Script by Ed Fedory and art chores are handled by Frank Cueto. A father and his son are off hunting in the woods. They find a body of a man. This man has a large ax in the middle of his chest. In the body's pocket they find a journal. Learning that the man was hunting a werewolf.  A werewolf that killed his family.  After what appears to be years of hunting this killer werewolf the man gets the upper hand and burys a silver ax in the chest of the lupine monster. This is where we learn the werewolf is the son. Our father and son team of hunters are shocked by this story they read. And the father let's his greed get the best of him. He removes the ax from the body's chest. Planning on selling the ax since it's head is silver. The son tells him to not do this since it is cursed. But the father ignores his son. And the story ends with the hunters talking about how hard it must have been on the father to kill his son,even if he is a killer werewolf,and off in the distance we see the werewolf alive again and about to attack the 2 hunters.

Lucky number 7 is Artifacts. A Sci Fi short story I have seen done many times before. A new World War happens. Most of mankind dies. The small band of survivors leave some sacred artifacts hidden in a cave. A few hundred years later some aliens that look like Vaughn Bode Lizards land on Earth. Go into the cave and find these artifacts. One of which is a metal disc. This is opened and inside they find a reel of 35mm film. The Bode Aliens rig up a projector and we see that this film reel is a Looney Tunes short!!  Script and art on this one are handled by Dennis Fujitake. Loved the art and the story was decent,even if I have read/saw variants of it for decades.

Our final story  is scripted by Al Hewetson with TORRENTS handling the art. I do wonder who TORRENTS is. This is a Sci Fi story heavily inspired by the mythos of HP Lovecraft.  And while it has some really nice looking art the story is crap. Like the Alter of Blood story this is one where you are better off looking at the art and making up your own story to go along with it.

Now with any Gwandanaland Comic you have to remember all they do is either find scans of the comics or get the comic and do the scans themself. They do not touch up the art or alter it in anyway. With their Skywald stuff the only thing that is changed is the ad pages and some of the text pieces are removed. This reprinting a single issue of Nightmare means it has 70 pages. IIRC it was like 8 bucks on Amazon. The bit of looking I have done on Skywald stuff is any issue of their horror comic mags in decent shape will run you way more than 8 bucks. So this reprint from Gwandanaland is a great deal.

The art in almost all the stories is really good. With GASP! being the only one with what I would consider bad art. Out of the 8 stories in the issue 3 of them I found to be pretty damn good. The others went from readable to Skip the story and just enjoy the pretty art level.

If you enjoy horror comics. And have read all the Creepy and Eeries stuff give one of the Skywald collections from Gwandanaland Comics a try.

The Saga of the Victims TPB from Gwandanaland Comics

 

TITLE-The Saga of the Victims
SOURCE-Gwanadanaland Comics #2420

Off and on for the past 20 years I have heard about "The Saga of the Victims". This was a 6 chapter comic serial. Appearing in issues of Skywald Publishing's Scream horror magazine. Scream was a clone of Warren's better known Eerie and Creepy

 

Josey Foster and Anne Adams are college students. Going to a fancy private college. Then one night their dorm gets invaded by demonic looking beings from below the Earth's surface. They learn that the leader of these dwellers from below is the Head Mistress of their college. Using their brains and a bit of luck our two college ladies escape. But end chapter one in a room where a man with no skin has just walked in.

And with this first chapter ,running 20 pages of gorgeous B/w art from artist Suso,establishes the forumula we would get in the next 4 chapters. Each starts off with "the Victims" escaping a cliffhanger from the last chapter. They run into something even more odd and creepy. End up about to die and chapter ends.

Like how they end up on a pirate ship full of zombie pirates. Josey and Anne are made to walk the plank. They fall into a shark infest sea. But a giant squid grabs them and drags them deeper into the sea.

But wait that Giant Squid is actually a submarine. Captained by a midget Nazi,who goes around the world in his Squid-Sub terrorizing various seaside towns and cities.

Just when I thought the writer,Alan Neweteon,couldn't top a Midget Nazi who piloted a Squid-Sub he strands the Victims deep in the darkest jungle. Where they get captured by a tribe of cannbials lead by a giant man who got a masters in psyhcology from Harvard

In the final chapter in this trade,Chapter 5,our leads faced all kinds of insane deathtraps

Before being put into a odd looking spaceship. Being taken to a huge castle.

Which in the final panel takes off into space. All through out the 5 chapters we keep being told that someone/something is torturing the Victims and will keep doing it till they two ladies give up. In Chapter 5 they strongly suggest that in chapter 6 we will learn who/what this ringleader is. And why they chose Josey and Anne to be the Victims.

Now I have hinted that this TPB doesn't contain every chapter of this sadly forgotten batshit insane comic serial.And there is a major reason for that. See Scream was a magazine sized comic that got published by Skywald. Skywald never put a proper copyright notice in their comic mags. Which means they are all public domain now. The issue of Scream that Chapter 5 ,issue 11 aka the Winter of 75 special,was the last issue of Scream to be published.

So what about the final chapter? Well from what I can find it has been published 2 times now. Once was in a horror comic that was published in Spain. This version is of course in Spanish. Then in the early 2000s there was a small print run of a hardcover collection. This collection has ,IIRC in color,all 6 chapters of The Saga of the Victims in English. This hardcover is long out of print. I keep checking a few used book sites and never find a copy for less than 200 bucks.

Honestly even with the story being incomplete this collection is worth grabbing. All of Gwandanaland Comics can be found for sale on Amazon. Or you can buy direct from Lance,the guy who runs Gwandanaland. If you buy direct from him you can get the volumes a slight bit cheaper but have to pay for shipping. Either way you get them they are made by Amazon's print on demand service. I think for the cheap price this volume is worth it. 

Trouble by Mark Millar and Terry Dodson or Is it as bad as Fanboys have said it is?

 

Since about 2005,closing in on 20 years almost,I have been seeing fanboys online and in person bitch about how horrible Trouble from Marvel was. I figured it was a combo of how many hate Mark Millar now and well the plan to have this 5 issue mini series being a "origin" for Spider-Man,more than likely the Ultimate Universe version of Spidey.

I never saw the issues in the cheap bins and until 2011 there wasn't a hardcover release. Then last year at a Books a Million I found 3 of the 5 issues for a buck each. Figured what the hell and took a chance. Read the first issue and knew then I had to have a nice collection of this series.

Terry Dodson does some amazing art. While the style of the art is modern it fits into the late 60s/mid 70s era the comic is set in. If I recall correctly Dodson's first published artwork in comics was the Rod Stewart issue of Rock N Roll Comix.

Now onto the Mark Millar written story. Mary and May are two 17 year old friends who go to work at a resort in the Hamptons one summer. There they meet Ben,the older brother,and Richie. May is the wilder of the two young adult women and starts dating Ben. Mary is more reserved and ends up quickly in love with Richie. Many years ago a fortune teller told the two girls that "No one will call you Mom" directed at May and "If you sleep with a man before marriage you will be a mother before you are 20" directed at Mary. This more than likely pile of garbage causes the two women to act very differently.May ends up sleeping with Ben,while using protection each time. But Mary lets Richie know early on that she "isn't that type of girl". 

Richie is ok with this and the quieter slightly nerdy Ben is very happy with this. Then after some rich assholes treat May bad one day at work Richie and May have sex. Which turns into them having sex often. They don't really like each other,but they appear to enjoy having sex with each other.

May thinking she will never be a mother doesn't use protection when she is with Richie,and she turns up pregnant. She refuses to abort the child,she knows her father will be physically abusive to her and her mother if he learns. So May runs away. Ends up living with an abusive piece of trash. When May reveals to Ben she is pregnant he lets her know that he is sterile.

Skip ahead a bit. Mary and May get back in touch. And Mary offers a solution to all the mess.Mary will take the child and raise it with Richie. 

And so if you believe that May is the Aunt May of Spider-man fame well that means that Peter Parker's dear elderly Aunt May is really his birth mother. 

For me,well I like this reveal. Sure there is a few things in the comic and Spider-Man's continuity that makes this story not work fully. Like how in the 616 Marvel Universe Aunt May is suppose to be many many years older than Peter Parker's parents. But then in the 616 comics I seem to remember at least a few times it being said that Uncle Ben and Aunt May were not able to have children which is one of the reasons why they were so happy to raise lil Peter Parker. 

The story really reads like a modern take on one of Marvels many 60s thru early 70s romance comics. I have read at the most 10 issues of the old Marvel Romance comics and this really feels like a expanded version. Instead of 22 pages we got 5 times that much.

Dodson's art to me looks like classic Romita Sr romance comic art mixed with modern Adam Hughes. The colors are bright and look great on the high gloss paper used in the hardcover.

And how is the hardcover? It is nice. the dustjacket has some really nice Dodson art on front and back. The interior pages are the issues,plus all the covers. Including the second printing of issue 1's cover. Which has some great Frank Cho artwork.

Since it appears this hardcover had way more printed then there is demand for you can find new old stock copies for under 10 bucks with a bit of searching. I am very happy with what I paid for this.

Trouble Hardcover is a good read with nice art. So instead of just believing what a bunch of whiny fanboys wrote online,go grab a cheap copy and read it and make up your own mind.

Disney Frozen Issue 2

 

TITLE-Disney Frozen Issue 2

PUBLISHER-Peachtree Playthings

It was last year in the early spring that I discovered Disney had a line of 4 monthly comics. These comics were exculsive to the Dollar Tree chain of stores. Cost a buck an issue and have 22 pages of story. 

This second issue of the Frozen title contains 2 stories. "Just When You Weren't Looking" and "Travel Arendelle"Both stories are credited to Georgia Ball on the writing side and a combination of Benedettta Barone/Michela Cacciatore/Grafimated on the art side.

Heads up I have so far managed to not see either of the Frozen films. Not really avoiding them just haven't seen them.

The first story has two brothers who are cooks and feuding. So Elsa talks to the rest of the village to get the feud to stop. Nothing amazing storywise but the art and colors looks really nice.

Elsa,Anna and Olaf got camping and hiking in the second story. But a avalanche takes out their canoe and tent. So the three have to survive and make their way back home. This story was a bit better than the first one. And has the same nice art and coloring.

Now sure I'm not the target audience for this title. And even with that I still feel like I got my buck's worth of entertainement out of this title. 

31 Days of Horror Extra 02

Ahh The Walking Dead...a great comic and a really good TV show. As yall might know the comic ended earlier this year. So I figured why not do a piece on one of the best comic series of the modern era.

I wasn't reading many comics when TWD started. Sure I went to the comic shop every week. But I had been cutting back on my monthly comics. The first issue came out and the comic shop owner  told me about it. I figured "Why bother reading this. Odds are good it will last a year then get cancelled." So I skipped the chance to get the first issue of the biggest hit Image Comics has ever had.

Skip ahead to 2008. I was listening to every episode of the Comic Geek Speak podcast. And they would review the trades of  TWD. Listening to these reviews I got very interested in the comic. But at the time didn't have a comic shop near me. Plus no bookstores near me. So once again I didn't start reading the comic.

The TV show starts. And I was hooked. Right after season 1 was over I found the Walking Dead compendium trade. A massive tome that reprinted the first 50 or so issues. I got it on sale for 30 bucks. Ordered it and the day it came in I went out to my back porch and sat there for 6 hours reading. The next day I made the long trip to the nearest comic shop and bought the next trade following the compendium. Yep I was hooked. So hooked on the series that I actually started a pull list at the comic shop,first time I have had one since 2001. And every month would drive almost 2 hours round trip to get TWD.

A few years later I am at my local Walmart and see they have the second Compendium. And for some reason it is stocked with the kids books. Even though there is a big "FOR MATURE READERS" warning on the COmpendium. I see a lady stocking the book area. Bring the COmpendiun over and show her that they might not want to stock this in with the kids books. She moves them to a different area. Weeks later I see they are back with the kids books. I ended up talking to the store manager and get told "It's a comic all comics get stocked in the kids section." I show the manager the violence and stuff in the book that makes it not for kids. But they refuse to move the book. Skip ahead a few days. I am in the book section killing time and I hear a lady at the returns counter screaming "YOU SOLD MY 9 YEAR OLD SON VIOLENT PORNO!" I look over and she is waving a copy of the second compendium at a very confused elderly lady working in returns.

I love the comic. I love how Kirkman manages to create characters that feel so real you get upset when one of them dies. And how he usually manages to create storylines that flow naturally and make sense.

The TV show...well I go through periods of loving and and times were I just feel like the show is spinning it's wheels. For example I really enjoyed the first season. But the second season was so boring I almost gave up on the TV show. Hell the season that aired in 2018/2019 I never even finished. It's not that that season was bad. Just it feels like the writers had enough story for 10 episodes then added filler to make it be more episodes. I know what happens in the last 3 episodes of that season. And still have them sitting on my DVR. But I doubt I watch them,

But back to the comic. Kirkman has said for years now that he had the end of the comic already planned out. It was going to end with issue 300. So when in issue 192 Rick Grimes died  I figured that his son Carl would become the lead and we would get a bit over 100 issues with a grown Carl as the main. Hell Kirkman even had covers created for issues 194 and 195. He even solicited those issues. Then the day before issue 193 came out the news broke that 193 is the final issue. This news was a shock to most people.

Honestly I haven't read the last 4 issues of The Walking Dead comic yet. Not cause I think they will suck. But more cause I love this series so much I don't want it to end. And in my mind until I read the final issue the series isn't over. It has been hard to avoid spoilers. But somehow I have.

Now that it is over I will say what I have read,pretty much the entire series minus those final 4 issues,is one of the best horror comics to come out since EC folded. Every time it looked like Kirkman had written himself into a corner he figured out a ingenious way to get out of that corner.

The TV show is good. But it feels a bit neutered. Maybe cause the network it airs on is afraid to do certain things. Like how in the comic at the end of the prison arc Lori,Rick's wife,and her daughter Judith are shot and killed. In the show Lori died giving birth to Judith. And Judith is now the only member of Rick's family left on the show. Some of the stuff that was toned down I understand. Like how Negan's abundant use of profanity is cut way down in the show. In the comic most of the time when Negan is speaking the word fuck is used at least 4 times. In the show so far he hasn't said the f-word once. But then there is stuff in the show that goes beyond the comic. The best example is Glenn's death. In the comic it is brutal and shocking. In the show it is 10 times more brutal. Might be cause it isn't just still images. Might be cause while in the comic I liked Glenn on the show Glenn was my favorite character.

One last thing before I wrap this up. I know so many people that aren't into horror/zombies but they love The Walking Dead. Like my mother. She has never liked zombie movies. And hates gore. But every week she watches Walking Dead and she even watches the spinoff show. She gets mad when the season ends. Just cause she knows she is going to have to wait months to find out what happens next.

So goodbye to one of the best horror comics ever. Thank you to Robert Kirkman and everyone else that worked on the comic.

20lbs of random comics

Yea I know it has been forever since I wrote something for my old worn out blog. Part of that is I have been busy and another part was I enjoy doing videos more than writing.

Well my birthday is coming up,July 10th,so today got in an early birthday gift. Years back I found a company based in TN that sells comics by the pound. They break them up into 3 categories.All ages,teen and adult...ordered 10lbs of adult,5 lbs of teen and 5 of all ages.

Ended up being,before shipping,right at 20 bucks. So that is a buck per pound. Which works out to right at 13 cents a comic. Not bad. Hell I haven't seen 10 cent comics since I stopped going to Coast Con a few years ago.

Was just going to do an unboxing video. But my mic was acting up and the audio was bad. Mostly cause I was filming out on my back porch,and the main A/C unit kept cutting on. And I cut my finger bad opening the box so yea decided to scrap that footage.

Ok lets get started on the pics.

Starting at the top I got the first 3 issues of The Silver Scream. Which reprints in b/w old pre-code horror. The next row has two Bacchues. A great indie title from Eddie Campbell. The next comic I had never heard of. But it looks decent. 3rd row has some 80s b/w explosion super hero parody,a very odd title from Image. Then the first issue of Bad World ,written by Warren Ellis,from Avatar.

Top row we start with an issue of Flaming Carrot! Then a 90s era b/w horror comic. Plus Darklon from Pacific Comics. Next row has another Flaming Carrot comic,a collection of pin ups and short stories from Pacific then the last issue of Prudence and Caution from Defiant,and yes I checked this is the standard English version. The last row has an issue of Shadow State from Broadway,A b/w indie title with a cover that appears to be made from tevek. And the last issue of Dogs of War from Defiant.

Sorry the pic is a bit blurry. Top row has an issue of Godland from Image,which I have heard is a good title.An issue of Dark Mind from Image,IIRC created by the guy behind the Dreamwave company. Then a comic from Image's Cliffhanger imprint.Next row has an Image title I have never heard of,another issue of Dark Minds,and part of the Coup detat series from Wildstorm.Bottom row has an issue of Sleeper,another issue of Dark Minds and Reload which I think is a title from Homage.

Top row starts off with Aria,from Image like every other book in this pic. Then an issue of Happy,which is written by Grant Morrison and is now a tv show on Syfy channel. Then Universe,never heard of this title. Second row is 3 titles I had never heard of,and the same with row 3.

Top row starts off with the Ballistic Studios,I think this was the name of Marc Silverstri's studio at Image,Swimsuit issue. Anyone remember these? Next is ThunderMace from R.A.K. Met RAK a few years ago. He is best know for creating Chaken the Forever Man. And this issue has a preview of Chaken. The last book in the top row is an issue of Ms Tree. I love Ms Tree and been trying to get a complete run of this great detective/crime title. 2nd row starts off with an issue from the 3rd volume of WildCats. Then a issue of Lady Pendragon with a nice Joe Jusko cover. And another issue of Ms Tree. 3rd row has a comic that teams up Voodoo and Zealot from WildCats. Hardcore #1,never heard of this comic. And another Ms Tree issue.

First book is Ms Tree. Then 2 Vertigo comics from DC. Second row starts off with The Psycho which has an amazing Dan Bereton cover. Up next is an issue of Jack Cross,I think this is from when DC owned Wildstorm. And that row ends with a manga,from Dark Horse,titles Devil. 3rd row has an issue of 13th Son,by Kelly Jones. A issue of Bite Club,a fun Vertigo mini series written by Howard Chaykin.Then another issue of Dark Horse's printing of the manga titled Devil.

Starting at the top left got an issue of the Dark Horse series Revelation. Then an issue from Dark Horse's printings of the Ghost in the Shell manga. And finally an issue of Grendal's Tales with a cool cover. 2nd row gives us another Grendal comic from Dark Horse. Then 2 more issues of Ghost in the Shell. The bottom row has another manga reprint from Dark Horse. A Samurai comic from Dark Horse. Then issue 4 of Don Simpsons Bizzare Heroes. Which is a great but forgotten title from the 90s comic boom.

Badlands is a neat looking mini series from Dark Horse. House of Night is also from Dark Horse. Then there is the first issue of the second volume of Flare. Which was a pre-bad girl crazy bad girl comic.2nd row starts off with one of the many 1st issues of Hellina from Lightning. Then from Knight Press,a company I have never heard of,the first issue of Hellgirl. And to end this row here is the first issue of the first volume of Flare. 3rd row starts off with another Hellina #1 from Lightning. Then the first issue of the Gilbert Hernandez drawn and written Dark Horse series Speak of the Devil. To wrap it up is issue 1 volume 2 of John Bryne's Babe series.

Getting near the end of the stack. Starts off with Heroes at Large from Speakeasy Comics. Then 2 issues of the Antarctic Press entry into the 90s Bad Girl boom Warrior Nun Areala. 2nd row starts off with issue 1 of Dark Horse's XXX mini series. Then another 2 issues of Warrior Nun.3rd row has  nice Dark Horse era issue of Flaming Carrot which still includes the trading cards. Another Warrior Nun comic. Then the oddest comic in this 20lbs...Supermodels in the Rainforrest. Which was published by Sirius. And is a b/w cheesecake comic.

 Lots of Marvel in this bunch. Starting off with the modern Elektra series,an issue of Dakken. Then 2 issues of the Marvel Max mini series Hellstorm. 3 issues of the Marvel Max series Supreme Power. A comic from Marvel's Icon imprint. And a late issue from the Marvel Max series War Machine.

Hey it's another issue of Badlands. Then Beowulf,based on Neil Gaiman's script. And to end the top row an issue of Kami. A manga reprinted by Viz. 2nd row starts off with Born,written by Garth Ennis for Marvel Max. Fringe from Calibur. And a old issue of Grendal from Comico. The last row starts off with an issue of the Marvel Max revamping of Terror Inc. Then 2 comics I have wanted for over 20 years. Amazing High Adventure issue 1,which is from 84 and I have never seen before. To wrap it up got issue 1 of the Epic run of Marshal Law.

Let's see got an issue of 22 Brides from Event Comics. A Farscape comic from Boom. Some crappy comic Gene Simmons wrote. A issue of Barry Ween Boy Genius. A issue of Wormwood,GARTH ENNIS!!! A Mad Hatter comic from Zenoscope. A later issue from the Swords of the Swashbucklers mini series that Epic printed in the 80s. Issue 0 of Furies from Avatar. And the final comic is a Pied Piper comic from Zenoscope.

And the final picture.Starts with an issue of the great Kings in Disguise from Kitchen Sink.Issue 1 of Black Hole,this is the Kitchen Sink printing. And some comic from Aspen. Second row starts off with Samurai from back when it was published by Aircel. A Witchblade/Red Sonja crossover from Dynamite. The Morningstar Special from Comico,this is part of the Elementals series. And to end row 2 the first issue of Ginger Fox from Eclipse. Bottom row starts off with a pirate comic from Dynamite. Lady Justice,created by Neil Gaiman,from Tekno Comix. NecroScope,based on the novels,from Malibu. And the final comic is issue 2 of Ginger Fox from Eclipse.

Out of the 20lbs got 5 duplicates. So that isn't bad. There is a few of the pictured issues  I think I might already own. But for the price I got a nice haul of comics.