2016 Comic Challenge 266 Black Hood Season 2 #01

TITLE-The Black Hood Season 02 #01
PUBLISHER-Dark Circle Comics/Archie Comics

After what felt like a year,it was really 3 or so months,a new issue of The Black Hood is out.I have been praising this book to the geek Heavens since the first issue came out what a year ago. Thankfully this time we were told in advance that there would be a few months between issues.I like how they are doing the season mode of comics. Really I rather get 6 to 8 damn good comics then a break and another batch of 6 to 8 issues,than the standard 12 issues,one every month.

Duane Swierczynski is back as the writer.Greg Scott is the new artist.Who's art is similar enough to the previous main artist,sorry I am blanking on their name. Plus colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick's work takes the coloring from season 1 and makes it a bit more crayon like. Now that sounds like it would be a bad thing,but it really isn't.

Our lead has made his way across the country to California. Vowing to never kill again he ends up living with the homeless on the beach in some sun-drenched town.Seems on his trip acoss he donned a hood and stopped some criminals.And now out on the west coast he stops the so called Shotgun Twins from killing a man in a car on a hillside road.

After taking care of the twins,remember the Hood won't kill anymore,he settles in for a night of sleep with the rest of the homeless.We get a short bit about how here he is accepted,no questions are asked. Plus with-in hours of his arrival he was given a pack with basic survival items and some food.

Well the Shotgun Twins attack on the driver of the car had two reasons for happening. First off the driver did indeed do what he was accused of. But it was also to draw out the Hood.Someone connected the the mob in Phillie has been tracking our titular hero.

The issue ends with the mob guy going thru the homeless offering them food. He comes up to the Hood,offers the food that is turned down.Then draws a gun on the Hood as we get two be continued.

Come on people if you love Batman,Punisher,Daredevil,hell pretty much any street level hero read this damn book. Pretty sure Dark Cirle has all of Season 1 out in trades.

The Black Hood Season 02 #01 gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 265 Huntress #01

TITLE-Huntress #01
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

Huntress is a heroine I have enjoyed since back when she was still the daughter of Batman and Catwoman on Earth 2. This is a fairly recent mini series,2011 and 2012 I think. Got Paul Levitz writing and Marcus To on pencils.

Huntress is in Italy to fight mobsters that are trafficking women and full automatic weapons. After rescuing the women ,she talks to her contact and sets out to work  her way up the criminal chain.

This worked well for the first issue of a  6 issue mini series. Gave me enough that I want to read more. But set it up where this can all easily be wrapped up in 6 issues.

Huntress #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 264 Dark Knight III the Master Race #06

TITLE Dark Knight III The Master Race #06
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

After many months we get another  chapter in the third DK from Frank Miller.Well kinda from him. Frank Miller&Brian Azzarello get story credit. And for this issue,pretty sure the previous ones were drawn by Frank,is by Andy Kubert.

The green kryptonite rain has taken out most of the Kandorians. With only the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman being not effected by it.

Batman of course planned this all out. And has piles of Sons of the  Bat troops all over to attack the now depowered Kandorians.

The Kandorians take a retreat.But on their way out the leader shots a percise bolt of heat vision,which hits Batman's heart. So as this part of the main story ends Batman has died.

The backup story has Carrie Kelly fighting the daughter of Supes and Wonder Woman. Then Wonder Woman shows up,the daughter manages to break the Golden lasso. While this was not a bad read,I would have been happier with 10 more pages of the main story instead.

Between the long waits between the issues,and yes I know none of Miller's DK stuff has been known to come out on time,and then after the wait getting maybe 22 pages of the main story plus 15 pages of a back up story. Instead of say 28 to 30 pages of the main story and no back up. Yeah I know I should have waited until it came out in a TPB. But this is one of the few titles I have to go get as soon as a new issue is hot.

Dark Knight III The Master Race #06 gets a borrow

2016 Comic Challenge 263 The Killing Joke

TITLE-The Killing Joke Deluxe edition
PUBLISHER-DC Comics

I am assuming if you are reading this you have read The Killing Joke. If not go track down a copy and read it. It is one of the best Joker stories ever told.

I read it for the first time when it came out over 20 years ago. Pretty sure it was the first time I saw Brian Bolland's art. And was one of the earliest things I read from Alan Moore. But even on that first reading something about the ending didn't work for me. And it wasn't until months later at Gulf Coast Comics that I heard the argument on if Batman kills Joker at the end.I think he does. And from the original script pages it seems like Moore wanted you to wonder if that is what happens.

Now it is time for the complaints. This Deluxe Edition well Bolland has went back and not only recolored the entire story,but also did some touch up the art. I didn't notice any changes in the art,but the coloring to me looks bad. I know this is the original artist's going back and changing it. And it is how he has always wanted it to look. But my eyes are use to the old coloring and they to me gave it a nice dark look that this story needs. This new coloring makes it a bit too bright.

My other complaint is DC's need to add bonus stuff to the collection. An intro and afterword are nice,but to me the Bolland story from the old Batman Black and White mini series wasn't needed. Sure it looked nice in color for the first time. But it feels more like DC adding a few small things so they can charge more for what was originally a $4 prestige format comic.

The Killing Joke Deluxe Edition gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 262 Archie Meets Ramoes

TITLE-Archie Meets Ramones #01
PUBLISHER-Archie

After producing lots of great comics,even if half of them never come out on time,Archie made a comic that I had to have.One that odds are good I will even buy more than one copy of,mostly cause I love a few of the variant covers.

First off let me get my nitpicking complaints out of the way. The comic is titled Archie meets Ramones,it should be Archie meets THE Ramones. Secondly most of the issue supposedly takes place before their first album came out,a few months before,but there is a few songs and references to songs that came out years later.

The story is pretty simple. Archie and his band bombed at the battle of the bands. They are arguing and all but Archie leaves. Sabrina shows up and gives Archie a copy of The Ramones first album. He plays it and it wisks all of the band back to NYC back in 1976.

Thru a bunch of screwball comedy like antics The Archies meet the Ramones. Get sent on a scavenger hunt. And end up winning a battle of the bands at CBGB's,by playing I don't wanna go down in the basement.

Now  I am biased as fuck. I love Archie and The Ramones are  my favorite bands. So your mileage may vary.

Archie meets Ramones gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 261 CyberRad #03

TITLE-CyberRad #03
PUBLISHER-Continuity Comics

Our lead,CyberRad,fights a few robots and learns he is a robot like human. While all this is going on we get filled in on a bit of backstory to our lead's love interest. Plus a few small clues to CyberRad's past,like that his name is Simon.

Neal Adams gets credit for plot and layouts.Peter Stone gets the scripting credit.Then Richard Bennett handles the penciling and inking job. Finally Neal Adams' son Cory does the colors. The colors are good,not as good as they would get at Continuity later on in the 90s. The art looks good and has a nice flow to it.

Unlike the some Continuity Comics stuff I have read,this one made sense even with me jumping into it with the 3rd issue. I do own the next two issues in this volume of CyberRad.Might read them soon.

CyberRad #03 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 260 Earth 4 #02

TITLE-Earth 4 #02
Publisher-Continuity Comics

No real clue where in the Deathwatch 2000 crossover this issue falls. Mostly cause I haven't read much of the Deathwatch 2000 crossover. Really outside of Crazyman I haven't read much from Continuity. I remember seeing them on every newstand in the late 80s and early 90s. But they were always priced way higher than the stuff from Archie,Marvel and DC. So I never bought them. But now that I find them for a buck or less I have been slowly building up a nice stack of random issues from various Continuity series.

Earth 4 are a team of elementals. Urth is a rock looking guy that is somehow now infected with radiation. Him and the rest of the team are at a nuclear power plant that has started melting down. They somehow stop it,really I had no clue what was going on half the time.Between the nice looking but very low on story telling style art and the feeling that I just got dropped into part 20 of a 24 part movie serial.

Aron Weisenfeld handles the pencils.Richard Bennett does the inks,and Tom Roberts does the color. The color was always so good at Continuity. So bright and not muddy like the color at the big 2.The art is pretty but has a bunch of flaws that I bet are cause of the lack of experience from the penciler and inker.

On the other side,Neal Adams gets credited for plot.Peter Stone gets story credit. I do wonder if this issue would make anymore sense after reading the previous issues and crossovers cause of Deathwatch 2000.

For the 50 cents to a buck I paid for the issue...it was worth that price for the art and that super busy cover.

Earth 4 #02 gets a borrow.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 30 Dracula Unleashed DVD game

Title-Dracula Unleashed
Source-Interactive DVD Game

Somehow this FMV game passed me by until about a week ago.I owned a Sega CD back in the day,but had never heard of this game until someone supplied me with a rip of the DVD release.

Using FMV and onscreen choices this game tells the story of Alexander Morris. As he comes to London to investigate the death,that happened 10 years ago,of his brother Quincy. By choosing the right things at the right time you can manage to defeat Dracula and win the game.

The acting is pretty decent compared to other FMV games of the era. The interface is well done. And overall the game isn't bad. I doubt I play it more than once a year. But it is a nice way to kill time.

Dracula Unleashed DVD game gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 29 Psycho IV

Title-Psycho IV
Source-DVD

Pretty sure I have seen this installment of the Psycho franchise more times that any other film in the series. It  went straight to cable. And I caught it's first airing on Showtime. For years I had a VHS with Psycho IV and Meridian AKA Kiss of the Beast.

Norman is out and free. He is married. He calls into a talk radio show,hosted by CCH Pounder. And started to tell all his history. So we get to see how Norman was as a child and teen. All the torture his mother did to him. Plus why he killed her.

Thru out the film Norman hints he is ready to kill again. With CCH and the rest of the radio station crew trying their best to talk him out of this. And the reveal as to why he wants to kill again is a big shocker.

Since this installment in the franchise went straight to cable it isn't as well known as the other 3.For a long time it was hard to find the VHS and wasn't out on DVD. I was pleasantly surprised when I found the above pictured DVD set for $5 a few years ago.

Psycho IV gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror 2016 Day 28 Svengoolie MeTV airing of SSSSSSSs

Title-Sssssss
Source-Svengoolie airing on MeTV

Since I have to wait on someone to upload the episodes I am way behind on Svengoolie.So when I got home earlier tonight I was looking for something to watch,and something that while I had seen it before it had been a long time. Saw the dvd-r of the Svengoolie's recent airing of this show and threw it into the blu ray player.

Dirk Benedict becomes the local snake expert's lad assistant. The Doctor starts shooting him up with chemicals,saying they are to help if he gets bit by a snake. Of course we know this will cause Dirk to transform into a snakeman.

Lots of real snakes in this.According to one of Sven's segments there is only one scene with a fake snake.The acting is pretty good. And over all it is a fun way to waste 2 hours. The only big fault with the film is the non-ending.

Sssssssssss gets a B-.