Fantastic Four:First Family Digest

Back in 2005 Marvel comics put a series of black and white digest that usually reprinted 3 issues. I had heard nothing about this but on a trip to my local comic shop I saw them up by the register. They were only a buck so I picked up 2. Got home flipped through them and realized these would be something great to add to my treat bags I give out on Halloween. So I went back and bought about 20 of each of the digest the shop had.

This digest is titled Fantastic Four:First Family. And it is black and white reprints of the first 3 issues of the FF series from the 60's. The cover is a reprint of the now classic cover to FF#1. The first issue we get two stories. The first story is the now well known origin of the FF. Reed Richards,Ben Grim, Sue and Johnny Storm go up into space in a spaceship of Reed's design. Well turns out the shielding on the ship isn't good enough. And they all get a huge does of radiation. The ship crashes back on Earth and they each discover they had developed super powers. The second story in this issue is all about the Mole Man attacking New York city. And this is were the image on the cover comes from. For some reason this reprint doesn't give the credits. But I know the story is by Stan Lee and the art is by the great Jack Kirby. While the artwork is good it isn't as good as the later Kirby artwork on the Fantastic Four series. But this issue is a good overall introduction to the team.

The second issue has the FF facing off against the alien race the Skrulls. This is the first appearence of the Skrulls. They are a race of aliens that can shift their shape into anyone. So the Skrulls start off impersonating the FF and causing all kinds of trouble. At the end of the story Reed hypnotizes the Skrulls and they change into some cows and forget that they are Skrulls. This storyline is later used as the basis for the great Skrull Kill Krew mini from the mid 90s. Kirby's art on this issue is a huge improvement on the first issue.

The final issue in this digest is a reprint of the third issue of the Fantastic Four.In this issue we get the first appearence of the Fantasti-car and also it is the first time the FF get their now familiar costumes. Outta the three issues in this digest this is my favorite cause they fight the Miracle Man. Who has always been a villian I enjoy. The FF first meet the Miracle Man when he is doing a stage show. And it seems he is all powerfull and can do almost anything. But after he goes on a crime spree,Reed figures out Miracle Man's secret and the FF quickly disposes of him.

As far as I know this digest plus two others are the only ones Marvel did. I have no idea why cause these are a great cheap way to introduce new readers to some of the classic Marvel silver age stories. Fantastic Four:First Family gets a B+.

Book of Lilah

Book of Lilah

Art by Javi Fernandez
Written by Jack Monaco

    For centuries a secret organization called the Keepers has protected the world’s knowledge. The Keepers tracks all the information in the world. And if they deem some info to be too dangerous for mankind, they will destroy it. But in modern day someone is out to kill the Keepers and only a 20 year old woman named Lilah can save them.

This OGN has a great premise. The Keepers are like librarians with superpowers. One of the powers they have that really caught my eye is they can enter one library and use their powers to warp them to any other library in the world. The artwork by Javi is good, plus the coloring really helps. It makes the art have this unique look. Now I have always been fascinated by libraries and books, so this story really caught my attention. After I finished reading it I was hoping that Kickstart will do a sequel or turn this into a series of OGNs. Book of Lilah gets a A-.

Cinema Sewer book 1

I first heard about Cinema Sewer back in 2008. It is a zine created by the great artist Robin Bougie. This book is a collection of the now out of print early issues of the zine. Bougie writes mainly about horror,exploitation,cult and sleazy porn. You can tell that Bougie puts his heart into this book. He hand letters everything. Which gives it this great homemade feel. My favorite article from this book is titled "Fuck you for breeding". In which Bougie goes on a rant about people that have kids ,cause it is what is expected of them. Another thing about this book is after reading it you will end up with a huge list of films you will want to track down. The artwork is by various artists. But to me the Bougie artwork is the best in the book. He has a style that kinda reminds me of Peter Bagge. If this sounds like a book you might like then goto http://cinemasewer.ecrater.com/. That way he makes more money off it. Cinema Sewer book 1 gets a A.

Howard the duck

Howard the Duck was a mid 70's comic book hit. So it is kinda surprising when it was made into a film. Cause back in the mid 80's very few movies were based on comics. Well the film came out and was a huge bomb. Not really sure why. Sure the movie isn't like the comic. But that still doesn't explain to me why a film this good was such a huge bomb.

Howard comes from a planet where instead of man evolving from apes they evolved from ducks. One night while he is trying to relax after a hard day at work,he is snatched from his apartment and throw through space. He lands on Earth in the middle of Cleveland Ohio. After some misadventures he meets up with Beverly and becomes the manager for her band. When I first saw this film  I had heard of the comics but had never read them. I loved the movie so much that I went out and bought the novelization of it. And bought the VHS as soon as it came out. Well I hadn't seen the movie in many years. But around 2005 I got the Essential Howard the Duck trade paperback. Which reprints almost the complete run of the old Howard comic. Now I loved the comic,and saw that the film really had almost nothing in common with the film. So when this film was released on DVD I didn't buy it. Thinking that now that I had read the comics I would like the film anymore. But earlier this year I found the DVD for only $5 and took a chance on it. Well turns out the movie holds up pretty good. Sure it is way different from the comic ,but it is still a fun adventure/comedy film. Plus I had forgotten how cute Lea Thompson is. Howard the Duck the movie gets a B+.

Witch

Witch

Art by Tony Shasteen
Written by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett

Witch is the story of Kylie Woods. A young woman that has for her whole life heard voices in her head. But now that she is becoming an adult she finds out that she is not crazy. And the voices are coming from her familiar, which is a 8 foot tall evil looking half cat half man. Her familiar reveals to her that Kylie is a witch. And that witches have are almost extinct. So with the help of her familiar and a male friend she must find the other witches before the witch hunters find her.

This was the first OGN I read from Kickstart Comics. Tony Shasteen’s artwork is stunning. He has a simple art style that makes the book easy to read. The story in my opinion is a nice mixture of Highlander, Buffy and Charmed. This seems to me  to be a great book to give to a young girl that is interested in reading. The lead heroine is a strong female role model. And the book is at it’s worst a PG-13. Witch gets a A.

Wild Cards III jokers wild Edited by George RR martin

Wild Cards was a series of Mosaic novels that first started coming out in the 80s. They usually were a collection of interconnected short stories. And were edited by George RR Martin. The basic plot is back right after WWII. This alien ship comes to Earth and sets off a genetic bomb. The bomb releases a virus,and the people that catch it have 1 of 3 things happen to them. 75% of the people died also known as drawing the Black Queen. 20% of the people end up mutated into various non-human forms,AKA drawing a joker. And the remaining 5% gain some kind of super power AKA drawing an Ace. This volume is mostly about an evil ace known as the Astronomer. Who wants revenge against a group of Aces who defeated him a few years ago. The Astronomer recruits some other aces and goes around killing the people who opposed him. I have loved this series of novels for years. But sadly most of them are now out of print and kinda costly. A few years ago Mr Martin revived the line and has been publishing one or two new novels a year.If you like super hero comics,sci fi,or just well written short stories this is a series you should try. Wild Cards III jokers wild gets a perfect A+.

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.