Kickstart Comics

Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing 6 original graphic novels from Kickstart Comics. Kickstart is doing something that I think should be huge. Every few months they are publishing 5 or more OGNs. Each of them is one and done stories. Plus  they got a distribution deal with Walmart. Now it seems that not every Walmart is carrying them. But the ones that do have them priced at $3. Which is great cause if you buy these at a comic shop or online they cost $8. These OGNs are around 80 pages and so far have good art and great stories. Plus they seem to be covering lots of genres. One thing I have noticed about the various Kickstart comic OGNs is that quite a few of them have female leads. Which is kinda rare in American comics. So far outta the ones I have read they are at worst a PG-13,so these make great things to give to kids that are interested in comics.

Shadow Kingdoms The weird works of Robert E. Howard

This is a collection of the various stories that Robert E. Howard had printed in the old pulp mag Weird Tales. It reprints the stories in the order that they appeared. I got lucky and found this at a local store for $2.

Shadow Kingdoms is kinda a strange book. Looking at the cover you would assume it has at least some of the Conan stories that Weird Tales published. But since this starts with the first stories that Howard sold to Weird tales it doesn't have any of the Conan stuff. Instead it has some Soloman Kane and King Kull stories. Before I read this book the only works I had read from Mr Howard were the various Conan stories. But I discovered that I really really like the Soloman Kane stuff. And the King Kull stuff isn't too bad. There is also some one shots and poems that Howard had published. They range from pretty good to kinda blah. Shadow Kingdoms gets a C+.

The Losers

The Losers is a 2010 action movie based on the Vertigo comic book. We start off with a team of special ops guys down in Bolivia. They are on what they assume to be a normal mission. But discover they have been set up to fail. And someone wants them dead. Fast forward a few months later and the leader of the group is contacted by a woman who claims to know who set them up and is willing to smuggle the team back in the USA so they can get their revenge.

Now I have never read the Vertigo version of the comics. But have read a few stories with the older DC comics version. I saw the trailer before the film came out  and it looked like a lame rip off of the Dirty Dozen and the A-team. So I skipped it. But I kept hearing various people talk about how this film was better than the A-team movie that came out around the same time. Now I enjoyed the A-team film,and not just cause Jessica Biel was in the film. So I added The Losers to my Netflix queue. Got it in and was amazed at how good the film was. It is almost non-stop action from beginning to end. And has many funny moments. Two stand outs in the cast are Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Chris Evans. Now I had only seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen. But he impressed me with his performance as the Comedian. And in this film he comes off as a life long military guy. And he shows that he has a flair for dark comedy. Chris Evans I mainly knew as the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films. And He was one of the few bright spots in those two cinematic abortions. But after seeing Evans as the lead the Captain America film,I realized he has a talent for action with a dash of comedy. And this film shows that he is really good at doing comedic action. Another thing that impressed me was that it seems that most of the stunts in the film were done practical and not with CGI. The Losers feels like a throwback to the action movie heyday of the late 80s. The Losers earns a A.

Captain America the first Avenger

I have been a huge Captain America fan since I was really little. I think it was his appearence on the "Spider Man and his amazing friends" cartoon,plus the 2 late 70's made for TV movies that sparked my early interest in Cap.So when I started hearing in the late 80's about a Captain America film that was coming to theaters I was very very excited. Well as you know this film never hit theaters and went straight to video. Well I went out the day the VHS was released and spent about $80 for it. And the film turned out to be horrible. From the rubber ears on Cap's cowl to the Italtion Red Skull the movie was a perfect shitstorm. Well I figured I would never see a good Cap movie. Then a few years ago I started hearing about a new Cap film. I didn't have high hopes for it. And when Chris Evans was cast as Cap my hopes dropped even further. Well I drove down to Biloxi on July 18th so I could get a chance to see Cap at a decent theater. So I went opening night to a great theater to see the film. Showed up wearing my Cap shirt and hat.

Captain America the first Avenger is the origin of Cap. It tells the story of how a 4F Steve Rogers is injected with the Super Soldier Serum and becomes the perfect human.  But before the serum can be used on more people a spy runs off with the last test tube of it. So Steve goes after the spy. But in the pursuit the serum is destroyed. Plus the spy has killed the one man that knows how to make the serum.From here we get to see the journey Steve takes that makes him Captain America. The acting from Chris Evans,Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving and Hayley Atwell is great. Jones is great as the army leader that at first doesn't want Steve but warms up to him later one. Atwell is a beautiful Peggy Carter and does good with her role. And Chris Evans impressed me as Steve Rogers and Captain America. Before this film all I can remember seeing Evans in was the Fantastic Four films. While he was one of the few highpoints of those films ,that is kinda like saying he is the best turd in the septic tank. But in this film he proved to me he can handle a role that calls for action and comedy. Hugo Weaving made a grear Red Skull. He is menacing and powerful in the role. The FX ,besides some wonky CGI that is used to make Evans look scrawny,is overall good to great. And the story ,which seems to be a blend of 616 Cap and Ultimate Cap is good. It explains lots of stuff for the members of the audience who aren't familier with Cap. But also includes plenty of Easter eggs for all the geeks,nerds and fanboys. The ending is perfect and sets up for the Avengers film that is coming out next summer. And like all the Marvel movies of the past 5 or so years there is a extra "scene" after the credits. Now I usually sit through the credits with every film. Mainly cause I like seeing who did what in the film. This time we get treated to a trailer for the upcoming Avengers film. And the highlight of it is a quick shot of Hawkeye in his costume. Captain America is so far my favorite of all the Marvel movies that started back years ago with Blade. Captain America the First Avenger gets a almost perfect A.

Silver Age Classics Adventure Comics # 247

Silver Age Classics Adventure Comics #247 is another of the reprint comics DC put out in 1992. This issue has the first appearence of the Legion of Superheroes. Who were the first team to appear in DC's Silver Age. I was a huge Legion fan when I was a kid. Mainly cause I was picking up the last year or so of Adventure comics. Adventure Comics in it's last year or so had become a digest sized comic that reprints all kinds of Golden age and Silver age stories. And most issues had at least 2 or 3 Silver Age Legion stories.

The comics starts off with a story titled "The Legion of Superheroes" which is written by Otto Binder and art by Al Plastino. This story is about how 3 of the Legion members travel back in time to see if Superboy is quailified to be a member of the Legion. While it is your normal Silver Age silliness from DC,what really stands out to me is how the Legion act like total asshole to Superboy. The second story is a Green Arrow tale titled "The 13 Superstition Arrows". Sadly it is now unknown who wrote this tale,but the artwork is by George Papp. This is from back when Green Arrow was just a Batman clone. The story is about some man who has died and if Green Arrow will use a set of 13 arrows to fight crime. Green Arrow ends up having to use arrows such as ,A three on a match arrow,broken mirror arrow,ladder arrow,and other such silly arrows. Overall this is a fun mindless story. The final story is a Aquaman story titled "Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad". Again it is unknown who wrote this story but the art is by Ramona Fradon. And Ramona's artwork is the only good part of this shitty story. I have never been a fan of Aquaman,and his Silver Age adventures are a chore to read. Silver Age Classics Adventure Comics #247 gets a C-.

List of what I got for my birthday

Ok this is just a quick list of what all I got for my birthday.

Mom and Dad-Philips dvd player that upconverts and plays divx/xvid,Grindhouse Experience volume 1
Aunt Net-Yeah! tradepaper back
Aunt Kat-The Tick Complete Edlund trade paperback
Grandpa-Heartburst and other pleasures trade paperback

Also my parent took my out to eat a  great Chinese place in Mccomb. 

Brides of the Impaler by Edward Lee

Brides of the Impaler is the fourth novel I have read from Edward Lee. When the whole Dorchester books fiasco happened earlier this year,lots of their books from the Leisure books imprint started showing up in the local Walmarts. They were marked down to $1.50. I having become a big Ed Lee fan picked it up.

The novel is about a woman who has recently married a big shot lawyer in NYC. She is the creator of a line of collectors toys and has had a very bad childhood. Her new husband buys this huge house right across the street from a massive semi abandoned church. Turns out their new home is where the church use to house various artifacts. A few of which have connections to Vlad the Impaler. You get the usually blend of graphic gore and violence plus some scenes of graphic sex that you expect outta Mr Lee. But this book was a total letdown. One have the main character mention quite a few times that she was raised in foster care and her foster parents did something horrible to her and her "sister". But it is never said what happened. Which is kinda weird cause this is mentioned at least 4 or 5 times in first half of the novel. Up until this book everything I have read from Ed Lee has been great,but this book is so full of plot holes and dropped plot lines that even paying $1.50 I felt ripped off. Brides of the Impaler gets a D-.

Mad Magazine presents Up the Academy

MAD Magazine Presents Up the Academy is a film from 1980 that was sponsored by Mad magazine. Mad had seen all the success that National Lampoon was having so they wanted their own motherfucking movie check.  Well the film ,according to Mad,turned out so bad that they sued and got their named removed from the cable and VHS releases.And also had a short scene with Alfred E. Newman removed. I had heard about this infamous film since I was a kid,and being a huge fan of Mad had always wanted to see it. Finally back near the beginning of the year I found the DVD at Biglots. And the DVD is the same cut as the original theatrical cut.

Directed by Robert Downy,father of Robert Downy Jr, this film has the screen debut of Ralph Macchio. It also has Tom Poston and Ringo Star's wife Barbara Bach. It is set at a military academy and is about the adventures of a group of misfits. Some highlights are one of the students hitting on and then smoking a joint with the lovely Ms Bach. Tom Poston as a very queenly instructor who loves conducting "bed checks". And Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas as a cruel soccer coach. Now this isn't a great comedy. But it isn't bad,and I really can't see why Mad wanted their name removed. It is better than anything MADtv ever did. If you are a fan of all the 80 teen sex comedies like "Private School","Zapped" or "King Frat" this is worth a watch. Mad Magazine presents Up the Academy gets a B-.

Flesh Gothic by Edward Lee

Flesh Gothic is the second novel I read from Edward Lee. I found it at the local used bookstore. And the lady that runs it told me if I like Jack Ketchum and had a strong stomach I should try out Edward Lee. Before this novel I had read his novella in Triage,and Infernal Angel.

Flesh Gothic is a story about a house that was once used to film some of the most graphic porn films. But a massacre happened in the house and many many people died. Well the wife of the man of directed the films hires a group of people to go spend some time in the house in hopes that they can figure out what happened . And hopefully find the ladies husband who has been missing since the massacre happened. The group of people sent to the house includes many psychics and a reporter. This book really reminded me of the "The Haunting". But it ,unlike the film,has massive amounts of graphic violence and sex. While not a book for the average fan of horror fiction. If you have a strong stomach and are not offended by descriptions of bizarre sexual acts it is worth reading. Sadly thanks to the whole Leisure Books fiasco from a few months back this book is now out of print and already starting to rise in price. But I am sure with some searching at used bookstores you should be able to find it for cover price or lower. Flesh Gothic earns a B+.

Silver Age Classics Detective Comics # 225

Silver Age Classics Detective Comics # 225 is  a reprint that DC comics published in 1992.  When DC was publishing this series of reprints I tried to get everyone of them. But I am sure I missed out on a few. I actually had forgotten about this reprint series till a few months ago when I was going through my comic collection finding stuff to get rid of.

Detective Comics #225 was published back in November of 1955 and is considered by some comic historians as the start of the Silver Age. Back during that time Detective Comics was an anthology comic that along with Batman had other heroes appearing in its pages. This issue had 3 stories. The first stars Batman. It is about a contest that is being run for charity and who ever donated the most money gets to become Batman for a day. This story is typical of the Silver Age Batman stories in that now comes off as silly and a bit cheesy. The second story stars Roy Raymond TV detective. Roy is the host of a TV show that is similar to Ripley's believe it or not. This adventure is titled "The money that came to life" and is written by Jack Miller and art by Joe Certa. I have never read any other stories with Roy but this one is entertaining in that Silver Age way. The third story is the reason DC picked this issue for the Silver Age Classics reprint line. Titled "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" it is written by Joseph Samachson with art by Joe Certa. It is the first appearance of  J'onn J'onzz the Martian Manhunter. J'onn is transported to Earth by an experiment of Dr Erdel's. But before the good doctor can send J'onn back to Mars,he dies. So J'onn uses his shape shifting powers and his mental powers to become a police detective and fight crime. J'onn has always been one of my favorite heroes from DC and this origin story is really good. Silver Age Classics Detective Comics # 225 get a A-.