Spider-Man Magazine #2

Spider-Man Magazine #2

Again we get 4 stories and some pinups. Plus a nice poster. This magazine was being published every 2 months. Which kind of sucks since 2 of the stories in issue 1 ended on cliffhangers.

The first story is from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #2. Erica David is the writer and Patrick Scherberger is doing the pencils. This time we start off with Doc Ock in jail. But he manages to escape and while doing this lets all the other prisoners out. We go ahead to the next day and Spidey is chasing a criminal. But it seems that Spidey's powers aren't working right. We cut back to an abandoned warehouse. And see that Doc Ock is teaming up with 5 other  Spidey villains. So we get Doc Ock,The Vulture,Electro,Mysterio,Kraven the Hunter and The Sandman teaming up as the Sinister Six. Doc Ock sends the other 5 villains out to cause havoc and to draw Spidey out. But since his powers aren't working Peter has pretty much retired his Spidey persona. Well after a few days and no Spidey,Doc Ock goes to the Daily Bugle and kidnaps J Jonah Jameson and Aunt May. Spidey finds out about this and goes to confront Doc Ock. And that is how the story ends. Great artwork and this is a nice variation on the first appearance of the Sinister Six.

The second story is from Spider-Man and the Power Pack #2. We get the same people writing and drawing it as the last issue. It seems that Peter is staying with the Power Pack kids until he can figure out how to get back to his actual age. We get a cute scene of Julie Power designing some new costumes for Spidey. With a nice nod to the Iron Spider suit. It seems that after they defeated the Sandman in the last issue he has washed up on the local beach.  So Spidey and the Power Pack go to fight him. And they work together to take out Sandman. Well during the battle Spidey gets splashed with seawater and it seems this counteracts the stuff that made him a kid. So by the end Spidey is back to his normal self. Another fun story.

The third story is from Marvel two-in-one #86. Written by Tom Defalco and art by Ron Wilson. Kinda strange this story gets reprinted cause it doesn't have Spidey in it. Instead we get a great issue teaming up the Thing and the Sandman. It seems that prior to this issue Sandman had been merged with Hydroman. Well they finally manage to separate and Sandman goes to the nearest bar to have a drink. The bartender realizes who it is and call the cops. But it is believed that Sandman is dead so the cops ignore this call. So the bartender ends up calling the Fantastic Four. And the Thing answers the phone. He heads down to the bar planning on fighting the Sandman. But Sandman doesn't want to fight. All he wants to do is have a couple of drinks. So the Thing sits down and has  a few beers with him. Well Sandman tells the Thing is life story. And the Thing realizes they have a bunch on common. Then at the end instead of turning Sandman over to the police. The Thing lets him go. I am pretty sure this is from around the time that the Sandman went from being a villain to being a hero. Great story that is  a total change of pace from most stories of this era.

The last story is from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #2. Reed and Sue are coming back from their vacation. And discover that this invading aliens have taken over the bodies of most people in North America. The FF and Spidey try a few different things to stop this but nothing works. The story ends with Reed going off to another planet to try to find something to stop the aliens. OK story but it really feels padded. Kind of like the writer was told he was gonna have to do a 4 issue story,but only had enough story for 3 issues.

Like the last issue we get 4 stories,some pinups,plus a poster. Another great issue.Spider-Man Magazine #2 gets  A.

Spider-Man Magazine #1

Spider-man Magazine #1

Back in 2008 I saw this magazine on the magazine rack in town. Flipped through it and saw that it reprinted 4 comics,plus had a poster and some pin ups. Well the cover price was $5.99. And with comics at the time costing at least $3 an issue figured this was a good deal. Well all four stories are reprints.But I had never read three of them before.

The first story is from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #1.Written by Kitty Ross and pencils by Patrick Scherbeger. It is another retelling of Spideys origin. The artwork is nicely done. And the story ,while being something I have read before,is decent.

The second story is from Amazing Fantasy #15. Which is of course the first appearance and origin of Spider-Man. Written by Stan Lee and artwork by the amazing comic legend Steve Ditko. Kind of surprises me that they put two tellings of the origin story in the same issue. But it is great to see this story again. Plus since it is magazine sized the artwork is bigger than I have ever seen it before. Near the end of the story where for the only time that I know of you can see Spidey's pupils through his mask is still shocking after all this years.

The third story is reprinted from Spider-Man and Power Pack #1. Written by Marc Sumerak and art by Gurihiru. We start off with the Power Pack kids having just moved to New York City. And while out on patrol they run into Spidey. Together they fight off Sandman. Well before he leaves,Jack Power gives Spidey his business card. A few pages later Spidey is fighting the Vulture in some cosmetic factory. And Spidey gets knocked into some vat of chemicals. This causes Spidey to become a 10 year old  kid. So at the end of the story we see Spidey going to meet up with the Power Pack kids. Fun story,I have always enjoyed Power Pack. And adding Spidey to the mix makes it even better.

The final story is reprinted from Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1. Written by Jeff Parker with pencils by Mike Wieringo. We start off with Spidey running into who he thinks it the Silver Surfer. But it turns out to be The Impossible Man. It seems Impossible Man has come to Earth to warn the Fantastic Four about a alien invasion. Well Reed and Sue of the FF are off on a vacation with their two kids. So it is up to Spidey, Human Torch and the Thing to handle this invasion. The invading aliens want to take over human kind. Kind of like how the Borg works in Star Trek. Nice story that really just gets going before it ends.

Besides the four stories you get a hand full of pinups. Plus a poster and some games. Overall for the price it is a great bargain. Spider-Man Magazine #1 gets a A.

Comics that are magazines/Magazines that are comics

Starting back in the 60's Warren publishing came up with a great idea. Thanks to the Comic code authority it was next to impossible to publish horror comics. But magazines weren't under the CCA so a comic that was magazine sized would work. So they started out with Eerie and Creepy. Both of these were huge hits so they added more. Vampirella is one that most comic fans remember. But Warren also did the sci fi based 1984/1994. And The Rook,which was about a time traveller. Well in the 70's Marvel jumped on board. And published stuff like Savage Sword of Conan,Deadly Hands of Kung Fu,Haunt of Terror,Dracula Lives,and Vampire tales. One thing all these mags had in common was they all had amazing black and white artwork. Now I was a little kid when the hey day of all these b/w comic mags were coming out. So besides a few issues of Creepy,Eerie and Savage Sword of Conan,I didn't read any of them. But a few years back I got interested in them and started collecting them. Sadly most comic shops don't have any. I bet it cause of the odd size. And when you do find them online they can be pricey. But over the next week or so I will be reviewing the ones I have. Plus talking about the color ones Marvel started doing back in 2008.

Guru the Mad Monk

Guru the Mad Monk
Directed by Andy Milligan
Source-Mill Creek Pure Terror 50 pack

I had never heard of Andy Milligan until years ago Tim Lucas did a 3 issue long article on him in Video Watchdog. This article got me interested into watching some of Milligan's films. Well I managed to see a few of his films,but kept hearing that Guru the Mad Monk was his best horror film. Well a few months back I got the Mill Creek Pure Terror 50 pack for a cheap price.

Guru is about a church in a tiny European village. Guru is the head of the church,and he is in charge of punishing all the criminals. It seems that other villages send their criminals to Guru's church. Well he has 3 main helpers. One is a hunchback ,who Guru treats like shit. Another is a lady who it seems is a vampire. Not sure cause it was never made clear if she is a vampire or just some sick person who loves to drink blood. And lastly we have Carl. He is Guru's main assistant. But Carl's girlfriend gets wrongly convicted of murder. So Guru helps fake her death and hides her out in the tower of the church. To page back Guru for his help Carl has to do all kinds of nasty things. Well it seems the head of all the churches in this country doesn't like Guru. And he shows up one day to replace Guru. Well this causes Guru to flip out and he kills his replacement plus the head of the church. Thanks to some help from the hunchback Carl and his girlfriend manage to escape.

It is obvious this film was made a very limited budget. But IIRC this was the only Andy Milligan film to be filmed on 35mm. Usually Andy filmed on 16mm short ends.The picture is good,and the colors look great. The sound is problematic. Lots of times it is hard to make out what people are saying cause the background noises and music drown out the dialogue. Also this film is kind of short. It is barely an hour. But it works at this length. Guru the Mad Monk gets a B-.

Headache

Headache

Art by Jim Fern
Written by Lisa Joy

The lead is Sarah a 18 year old girl. Sarah finds out that she is actually the Greek Goddess Athena. It seems that all the Greek Gods and Goddesses are real and now living on Earth and living hidden with the human race. Someone is killing off the various Gods and Goddesses and it is up to Athena aka Sarah to find out who is doing this.

Outta all the OGNs from Kickstart that I have read ,Headache is the best  one so far. The story reminds me of the Buffy the vampire slayer TV show mixed with Greek mythology. The artwork is great. It is clean and bright and eye catching. The central mystery of the story is well done. And Lisa Joy leaves you enough clues so if you think about it you can figure it out.  So if you enjoyed Buffy and/or have an interest in Greek mythology, find a copy of this OGN. Headache earns an almost perfect A.

Endangered

Endangered

Art by Juan Santacruz
Written by Josh Williamson

Chris and Mikey are the teenage sons of who they consider to be the most boring man in the universe. Their father is a safety specialist, and is constantly making sure his sons are always safe. But one day their father goes away on a business trip and never comes back. Both of the boys are worried, and then startled by the sudden appearance of cute teenage alien girl in their living room. It turns out that their father is basically a space cop. And she is the last of her race. Their father has been doing all he can to protect her. But he was captured by an evil alien race. This race is trying to kill off the alien girl. So now it is up to Chris and Mikey to not only help their father escape ,but to also protect the girl from the evil aliens.

Now I have always been a fan of science fiction, especially the sub genre of space opera. And this is a good example of the space opera genre. The story is a mix of Green Lantern, Star Wars and a little shot of the new Battlestar Galactica. One thing that puzzled me is the cover artwork is kinda lame. But the inside artwork is good. The cover and the interiors are both done by the same person. Endangered gets a B.

Motormouth #2 and 3

Motormouth was part of the 90s Marvel UK line of titles. Written by Graham Marks ,pencils by Gary Frank with Cam Smith doing the inks. This is the story of a UK street urchin named Harley Davidson. Who is known as Motormouth cause she talks so much. She ends up with a pair of high tech sneakers that allows her to teleport anywhere.

Now really the story in these two issues is kinda stupid. But the art work from Gary Frank makes up for the bad story. Gary has a nice clean art style that is very eyecatching. This series only lasted 12 issues. And if they ever put out a trade I would buy it just for the artwork. Really there isn't much to say cause besides the art nothing about this series is memorable. Motormouth gets a C+. And that is all for the art.

Heavy Water

Heavy Water

Art by Alberto Muriel
Written by Jonathan W.C. Mills

Set in an alternative future, Heavy Water  is a world in which the Nazis won World War II. And now they rule most of the world. But a small resistance group is doing all they can to change history. They have figured out a way to travel back in time. So they Ben Hauklid is equipped with an old diary and then sent back to Norway in the year 1943. He knows he is the only chance the world has to be free again.

I have always enjoyed alternative history fiction. And this is a great example of it. The artwork by Alberto Muriel is great. And looks different than his artwork on The Blacksmith OGN. The reason for this might be that both OGNs have different colorist. Both books have good art. But I prefer the art on Heavy Water. This is one of the few Kickstart OGNs that didn’t feel like part one of a longer story. Once this OGN is over you know you have been told all of the story. Heavy Water gets a A-.

Blog that you should check out

Recently I discovered  a fun little movie zine. Crimson Screens,I got in issue 7 and it was an all action movie issue. Had a great article on Reb Brown,who I have always enjoyed. Well I just discovered that the guy that runs Crimson Screens has a blog. Figured if you enjoy my blog you might like his.


                                     WWW.crimsonscreens.blogspot.com

Spider-man:Doctor Octopus digest

This is the other digest that I mentioned in my FF digest review. Now I am not sure if there was a Spidey digest before this one. But I get the feeling there was. Cause this one starts with issue 3. Again Marvel doesn't include the credits. But these 3 issues are written by Stan Lee and have stunning artwork from the living legend Steve Ditko.

We start off with issue 3 of Amazing Spider-man. Which is the first appearance of Doctor Octopus. Great story that has a cameo from the Human Torch. Doc Ock has always been one of my favorite Spidey villains. And Mr Ditko draws a great Doc Ock. Plus at the end of the issue you get a fun pin up of Spidey that I suspect is drawn by Steve Ditko.

Issue 4 is the first appearance of the Sandman. Who is another of my favorite Spidey villians. I love how Spidey ends up having to use his brains instead of his brawn to defeat the Sandman. And the issue ends with Spidey doubting himself and wondering if he is crackpot that J Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle say he is. There is some great scenes of Sandman using his powers that are rendered by Ditko. The artwork has this raw energy that few artist of this era had.

Issue 5 is interesting cause it is one of the earliest Marvel villain crossovers. Cause in this issue Spidey faces Doctor Doom. Now I might be wrong but I think up until this issue Dr Doom had only appeared in a few issues of Fantastic Four. I found that I like the way Steve Ditko draws Dr Doom more than the way Jack Kirby draws him. You get a fun subplot with Flash Thompson dressing up as Spidey. I always liked how Flash was a huge Spidey fan,but he hated Peter Parker. The ending is kinda lame with Dr Doom running away cause he sees the Fantasti-car heading his way. But still it is nice to see Spidey clash against someone who is also a scientist. Spider-man:Doctor Octopus digest gets a A-.