2015 Reading Challenge Book 059 Astro City Tarnished Angel

TITLE-Astro City The Tarnished Angel
AUTHOR-Kurt Busiek
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-Free

I didn't start reading Astro City until around issue 8 of the second volume.And I read it until there was very very long delays between issues. With the Tarnished Angel storyline being the last one I read. Then back in 2008 I had managed to Stump the Rios on the Comic Geek Speak podcast 2 times. So I got an email from Peter Rios asking me what I would like as my 2 prizes. I wanted a CGS shirt and then asked him what trades/hardcovers they had as prizes. Saw they had this one and asked for it. About a month later I got it.

Originally published as issues 14 thru 20 of volume 2 of Astro City. This is the story of Steeljack. A super villain that has skin made of some kind of weird metal. Which means he can not be harmed easily. Plus he has super human strength. At the beginning of the story he is getting out of jail after spending right at 10 years for some crime.

Steeljack wants to got straight. He moved back to the slums of Astro City. But finds out no one wants to hire a super powered ex-con. And his parole officer basically tells him to just leave the country.

Then the families of various super villains he worked with in the past make him  a deal. It seems someone is killing off the low level super villains. And because of who they are the cops aren't really bothering to look into this. So their families hire Steeljack out to find out who is behind these killings.

Over the course of the 7 issues we get to learn so much about the various villains of this comic universe.Steeljack really really wants to put his criminal habits into his past.And the main thing in his past he wants to correct is that his mother never got a tombstone.

Steeljack figures out who is behind the killings. And tries to get some of the various heroes that populate Astro City to help. But because of his past they ignore him. So it is up to him to save the lives of a huge group of low level criminals.

The story is so well written. The mystery of who the big bad villain is can be solved with just the clues the reader is given. But it isn't so easy to figure out that you guess it as soon as you meet the person.

The artwork is amazing. The covers are all done by Alex Ross.With Brent Anderson doing the interior art. I love how Ross and Anderson make Steeljack look like Robert Mitchem. And the image on the cover was created just for this hardcover.

After the issues we get 14 pages of character sketches from Alex Ross. It is always neat to see how the character's look evolve between their creation and when they first appear. Then there is 14 pages devoted to sketches and pictures showing how Ross did the covers.

Plus you got the neat extras for this hardcover. Like the dust jacket. That seems to be made out of heavier paper than most dust jackets are. And I really like the built in ribbon bookmark.

Astro City Tarnished Angel gets a 4.11 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 058 Gigantor volume 1

TITLE-Gigantor Volume 1
AUTHOR-Ben Dunn and Fred Ladd
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-25 cents

I discovered Gigantor when in the early 90s Sci Fi was showing the old b/w cartoon early in the weekday mornings. I would watch it while having breakfast and got into the show.

I had heard there was some manga based on the show. So while at a local junkstore I found this trade. And had to get it. Worked out a bundle deal with the owner.

It wasn't until I started reading it that I found out it is American made manga. With Ninja High School creator Ben Dunn doing the writing,with some assistance from Fred Ladd. Who I think had something to do with the old cartoon when it was brought over to the states.I love all the parodies and inside jokes about American comics Dunn put in this book. Like his parody of DR Doom.

We get Gigantor's origin.Which I do not think was every told on the cartoon. And finally it is explained why such a deadly weapon was put in the hands of a 10 year old boy.


The artwork by Ben Dunn,David Hutchinson and Ted Nomura looks just like the cartoon. The shading,which is super important for a black and white comic,is very well done. And adds so much depth to the art.

Gigantor Volume 1 gets a 3.86 outta 5.

3 toys from the Junk Box 05/25/2015

Sorry it has been a bit since I  have done one of these. I was wanting to wait until I got 3 toys in. But looks like that will be at least a few more weeks. So since I can't sleep I wrote the following.

Got this Oliver Queen Green Arrow in a three pack. Along with Hal Jordan Green Lantern and Black Canary.I have always preferred the Mike Grell Arrow costume. Which is one reason why I wanted this figure. The bow he comes with looks really good. And the paint job is well done. The articulation is pretty good. Plus I couldn't pass up 3 figures for $8 IIRC.Just a few years ago most people that saw this figure had no idea who he was. Hell most of them thought he was Robin Hood. Now thanks to the CW hit Arrow people do seem to know who he is. Even if he looks nothing like the Arrow on the show.

A few years back I went to this great thrift store with my cousin. She was looking for cheap work clothes for her husband. I of course looked thru the books and then toys. Found a bag of random Happy Meal toys. I saw this figure and a stuffed Triple H toy. With the bag priced at 50 cents I grabbed it.I first saw the Disney animated film Robin Hood when I was 4. And it became my favorite Disney movie. Because my father is a bowhunter,I have always liked heroes that use bows.The paint on this is a bit scuffed up.Only articulation is his shoulders and neck. I love how they made his tail out of fur.

I got lucky and found this WWE Super Strikers Slam and Launch ring at Dirt Cheap. Normally this ring is 40 to 50 bucks. But thanks to Dirt Cheap I got it for around $8.The two corners with the silver posts are launch pads. You put your figure in front of the post. Slam your fist down on the silver button and they are launched way up in the air. The shit above the ring has a chair on it. If you hit the WWE symbol the chair is dropped into the ring. I do like how the shit above the ring can be removed easily.Now I just need to get some wrestling figures the right size for this ring.

As always no idea when the next of these will appear. But I hope yall enjoyed another post about toys from the junk box.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 057 The Drawing of Three

TITLE-The Dark Tower II The Drawing of Three
AUTHOR Stephen King
FORMAT-Oversized Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-LMAO No!
PRICE-$5

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

With this book in the Dark Tower series we get away from the world building and start expanding the main cast. Roland ends up on a beach. And gets attacked by monster lobsters. He loses a few fingers and his bullets get wet. So now he is handicapped and his one weapon's ammo is unreliable.
He learns that there are 3 doors on this beach. Each one connecting to our world. And he is going to draw three people over to his world.

Behind the first door he finds Eddie. A heroin addict who is in the middle of smuggling some smack back into the states for a big time Mafioso. During this part there is plenty of really good scenes. With the gunfight at the Mafioso's HQ being so well done.

Behind the second door Roland finds Odette. A civil rights activist who thanks to an accident is trapped in a wheelchair. But the gunslinger learns she has a split personality.

And behind the third and last door. Roland finds the man that killed Jake from the first novel.

For the people that read the Dark Tower series this is usually the first novel in the run that they really enjoy. I believe this is because the first novel while shorter was much more dense. And you spend lots of time trying to figure stuff out. With The Drawing of Three you already know a bunch about Roland's world. Plus with a good chunk of the book happening in our world. In NYC in various time periods,you have a connection and understanding that isn't there with Roland's wasteland of a world.

I own 2 versions of this book. I got the hardcover and this oversized trade paperback. Both of which come with great artwork from Phil Hale. This artwork is sadly missing from the mass market paperback. Looks like the oversized trade paperback can still be found for a decent price. I got lucky and found it at a used bookstore. The owner wanted to get rid of it because the odd size of the book made it hard for her to rack it.

The Dark Tower II The Drawing of Three gets a 4.82 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 056 DAMN! Why did I write this book

TITLE-Damn! Why did I write this book
AUTHOR-JTG
FORMAT-Ebook
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$3

For those that don't know JTG is a wrestler that is best known for being under WWE contract for years and rarely appearing on TV. Just recently he wrote a short,about 60 pages,ebook. Full of stories about his time in the WWE.

It is obvious a few pages into the book that JTG doesn't want to go back to WWE.So unlike lots of wrestling bio books,he doesn't hold his tongue.

There is so many great stories in the book. Most of them about JTG's tag team partner Shad. My favorite is one about how Shad showed up for a show wearing a very nice suit. Shad and JTG run into Triple H,who is the bosses daughter. HHH makes a comment about Shad's nice suit. And Shad replies with "I am just wearing it to impress you!"

JTG also goes into detail about WWE's infamous wrestler's court. Where to settle various disputes,the wrestlers form their own judge and jury. I had already read a bit about wrestler's court in Hardcore Holly's book. But JTG goes into much more detail.

So if you are a fan of modern wrestling and want a cheap,fast and funny read grab a copy of this e-book.

Damn! Why did I write this book gets a 4.68 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 055 Pain and Passion the history of Stampede Wrestling

TITLE-Pain and Passion the history of Stampede Wrestling Revised and expanded edition
AUTHOR-Heath McCoy
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$5

I had been wanting to read this book for a few years. But the $20 price for a paperback kept me from buying it. Then a few weeks back I was at a outdoor Indy wrestling show,Powerslam Productions Slamfest 4,and on the gimmick table was stacks of wrestling books. Ended up grabbing this one and 2 others.

Before reading the book I knew a bit about Stampede. But not that much. Mostly cause I haven't seen much Stampede footage. Stampede was a Calgary based wrestling territory. Ran by Stu Hart and his family. It lasted for decades and produced some of the most technically sound wrestlers of the modern era.

But with anything that last a long time there will be the good and the bad. And sadly nowadays Stampede is remembered more for the bad than the good.

It seems cause of the long harsh trips the wrestlers loved to play ribs AKA practical jokes on each other. And Stampede developed a rep as having some of the worst ribs of any territory in North America.

The author works for a major Calgary newspaper. And his research into the history of Stampede is amazing. So many stories are told that I had never heard before. And you can tell he spent weeks talking to the various living members of the Hart family.

So if you have any interest in the territory days of wrestling this is a book worth tracking down.

Pain & Passion gets a 4.13 outta 5

2015 Reading Challenge Book 054 Full Dark,No Stars

TITLE-Full Dark,No Stars
AUTHOR-Stephen King
FORMAT-Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$6.35

After watching the film versions of "A Good Marriage" and "Big Driver",I wanted to re-read this collection of 4 novellas.I got this originally as soon as the paperback was out. After the Dark Tower series ended,I have gotten where I wait on the paperbacks of King's books. Plus for the past 20 years I have found his short stories and novellas the best stuff he has done.

In a few interviews King was doing to promote the book he talked about how he had wanted to write some darker stuff.And talked about how much he enjoys reading Jack Ketchum. That desire to write darker stuff comes through in the 4 novellas and one short story in this collection.

1922 is the first novella in the collection. Set in Nebraska in 1922,it is about a man who's wife wants him to sell off their farmland and move to a big city. He doesn't want to do this. And convinces his son to help him kill the wife.

After she is killed the body is dumped in an old abandoned well. Which fills with rats.The husband believes the dead wife is haunting him. And a series of bad things happen to him and his son.

I like that this story is set in the town Mother Abigal in the Stand was from. Plus IIRC one of the kids in IT moved to this town when he grew up. Overall this is a well done story. It feels very Edgar Allen Poe inspired.

Big Driver is the second novella.Tess is an author of mystery novels. And her fanbase is mostly elderly women.She goes to a small town library to give a speech. And one of the ladies gives her directions for a short cut. Of course this being a King story something has to happen.

While using the short cut,Tess's car hits some boards with nails and gets a flat. She has no idea how to change the tire. And there is no cell signal out there,so she has to wait on someone to drive by. Finally a huge man in a truck stops and offers to help. While he is trying to change the tire,Tess notices boards with nails in them in the back of his truck.

He then attacks,rapes and then leaves Tess for dead in a drainage ditch. She escapes and plots her revenge.

This story really has a much darker feel that pretty much anything King has written since the mid 80s.This ended up being my second favorite story in the book.

Fair Extension is next.And it is a twist on the normal sell your soul to the devil. It is a nice dark comedy. And King is decent at writing that kind of stuff.

The final novella is my favorite,A Good Marriage. This is King's fictionalized version of the BTK killer story.

A wife discovers her husband is a fairly infamous serial killer. And then plots out his death.

Last year this was made into a film. And I am not surprised. It has a very cinematic feel. And is my favorite novella King has written.

And only in the paperback we get a short story. Under the weather is the title of it. It is fairly short and has a twist I called 1 page in. But not a bad story.

Full Dark,No Stars gets a 4.87 outta 5

3 Toys from the Junk Box Batman Edition

Had to make a quick trip to the coast this weekend. We went from having a few months to get whatever anyone wanted out of Grandpa's house to "Hey can yall have it all out in 5 days?"

But while down I spent the night with my cousin. While helping her put a new bed together for her son. We also went through all his toys. Getting rid of shit he never played with. And yes he got consulted on what was given away.I of course got first choice.

Ended up getting right at 30 action figures. And 3 items that because of space issues in the truck I had to leave down there until my next trip to the coast.

No clue what toyline this Joker came from. I noticed I didn't own a full size Joker figure. I have had a Imaginext Joker for years now. Liked the paint apps and sculpting on this one. The articulation is shit. It feels a bit like the Kenner Batman the animated series figures.For having so such small feet Joker is surprisingly easy to stand up.

This tiny Robin seems to be a Happy Meal toy. The paint and sculpting isn't good. Along with this one I got 2 other figures. One who I was shocked was made into a Happy Meal toy,hint it's a hero that started in the golden age.And was a JSA member. And one who I have no clue who it is.But yeah this Robin sucks. Never been a huge Robin fan so it isn't like I gotta have a cool Robin figure.

Saved the best for last. I loved the Fisher Price Imaginext toyline. Their DC superheros are some of my favorites. But they figures cost way more than I want to pay. This Batman came with the Imaginext 2 foot tall Batcave Playset.He has so much articulation. The paint is great. And the clothlike cape is a nice touch.It is weird I am a big Batman fan. But until I got this huge haul of toys,only Batman I had was  Batman Begins Batman.I like this Imaginext Batman so much more. Plus it looks like a dwarf version of the Adam West Batman.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 053 The Darwin Awards 3

TITLE-The Darwin Awards 3
AUTHOR-Wendy Northcutt
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-50 cents

I had heard of the Darwin Awards for years now. They are awarded to people who die because of their own stupidity. So I had made a stop at my local library. Was looking at the books they had for sale and saw this. Now what sucks is they had just raised their prices. Use to be it was 10 cents for paperbacks and a quarter for hardbacks. Now it is 25 cents for a paperback and 50 cents for a hardback.

There are so many great stories in here. Like the idiot that shot himself with a pistol "To see how it feels." Then a few days later did it again "To see if it hurt as much as the first time." Hell there is a great one set in my hometown of Biloxi MS. About some moron cutting a bottle of explosive gas open with a butane torch.

My only complaint about this book is how much wasted space is on each page. Most pages have maybe 2 paragraphs. And if they had not wasted so much space per page we could have gotten many many more stories.

The Darwin Awards 3 gets a  2.84 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 052 The Gunslinger original edition

TITLE-The Dark Tower Volume 1 The Gunslinger
AUTHOR-Stephen King
FORMAT-Trade Paperback with color inserts
FIRST TIME READING-LOL nah
COST-$9

There is a handful of books I love so much I read them once a year. The Gunslinger is one of them.And one of the few books I own in more than one format. Of the original edition I got the above pictured trade paperback,the normal sized paperback that is missing the art inserts and finally the limited hardcover.And if a new version of this edition came out with new cover art that I liked I would buy it.

So what is the book about. Our hero,if you can call him that,is Roland. The last of the gunslingers. In this world the gunslingers are their version of the military and cops combined. He is on a mission to track down and capture the man in black. No not Johnny Cash.

In this book,the first of 9 books in the series yeah I said 9,we get introduced to Roland and his world. Which appears to be very similar to our world. With stuff that we share. But also very different. Roland comes to the town of Tull. Which appears to be an old western town. We find out that a big war happened that changed this world. And that Roland is the last of a long line of gunslingers.

Also in this book Roland saves a boy from our world. Jake,who it seems came to this world after being killed in ours.While chasing the Man in Black. Who has taken a tunnel through a mountain,Roland has to make a what seems to be hard decision. And his choice lets us know so much about how dedicated Roland is to his final mission.

For the people that haven't read this book,honestly it is a hard read. Firstly it is nothing like any of the other books in Mr King's history. It reads like you are in chapter 10 of a 50 part series.And lots of stuff is left up to the reader to figure out. That is why when ever someone tells me they are going to read the Dark Tower series,I always tell them. "Do not give up on it until you finish book 2." Hell I see lots of people saying to skip the first book. But you shouldn't do that. All the stuff in this book that makes no sense is explained later on.

As for why this is one of my favorite books? There are many reasons. There is the way King blends so many genres into the age old quest storyline. This volume of the series is a blend of western,science fiction,fantasy,horror and psychological suspense genres.

Now you might have noticed I call this the original edition. That is because back before the 7th and final volume in the series was published,King went and revised The Gunslinger. At the time he said it was to make the book fit better with the later books in the series and to correct a few nagging mistakes.And it does do that. But I also have a theory on why we now have two versions of this book. Which I can't talk about because they majorly spoil later volumes in the series and the end of the series. I think to highly of this series to spoil it for anyone that hasn't read it. But if you want to hear my theory on why we have two versions of The Gunslinger track me down and I will be happy to tell you.

The Dark Tower volume 1 The Gunslinger original edition gets a 4.98 outta 5.