Reviews: Severed #1; Knights of Pendragon: Once and Future

Severed No. 1 (Image, cover date August, 2011)

My friend loaned me this a couple of weeks ago, and I have been sitting on this review. (No, I don't know why.)

Severed is spectacular! I am a sucker for Americana, I am a sucker for Norman Rockwell paintings, and I am a sucker for serial killers. Combine all of those elements and you have Severed. Writers Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft have done the nigh impossible...they've made me want to read a monthly series again. I will resist and wait for the inevitable trade paperback, but I will actually bump it up to the top of the much ballyhooed backlog upon release. Artist and colorist Atilla Futaki is like Norman Rockwell on acid. Jaw droppingly good stuff here. I can't wait to read the rest of this series.

THE KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON: ONCE AND FUTURE (Marvel UK, 2010; Softcover)

Collects The Knights of Pendragon Nos. 1-9 (cover dates July, 1990- March, 1991) 

Watchmen's tone and pacing changed comic books forever. This is evident in pretty much every comic published in the decade after it, and extremely evident in this series. Future superstar Writer Dan Abnett (with John Tomlinson) do a quasi-superhero title with that laid back, decompressed Vertigo Comics vibe. I liken it to the “West Coast” sound of '70s Rock...there's no sense of urgency in anything that happens, and even the action seems seem to whimper rather than bang. This is well written but is honestly not my cup of tea. I like my comic books, especially superhero comic books, to have maximum impact and concise storytelling.

Future superstar Artist Gary Erskine also got an early break in the Marvel UK titles as well as 2000 A.D. His artwork is solid and his action sequences flow well enough but lack Alan Davis' bone crunching violence. Disney (the parent company of Marvel, as of late) has issued a mandate that all new material must originate from the US arm of Marvel. Pity that. We may never get the next Alan Davis or Alan Moore now. I can understand them keeping a clenched fist for, say, Spider-Man or Captain America, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't allow them some play with UK heroes, like Captain Britain (a supporting character in this title). 

All in all, this is a decent read with environmental overtones that hold up well. This is only available in the UK (or by Internet, as I got it), and I sincerely doubt that this book will be issued Stateside. The production values are similar to the other Panini/ Marvel UK books: super thick cardstock cover and paper, high resolution scans with little to no restoration and nice introductions by the creators.

Review: Captain Britain Vol. 4: The Siege of Camelot

CAPTAIN BRITAIN VOL. 4: THE SIEGE OF CAMELOT (Marvel UK, 2010)

Collects selections from Captain Britain Summer Special, The Daredevils Nos. 1-11, Hulk Comic Weekly Nos. 41-55, 57-63 and Marvel Super Heroes Nos. 377-389 (cover dates December 12, 1979- November, 1983)

These British trade paperbacks are heavy duty, man. Super thick cardstock covers, super thick paper...like I said, heavy duty. The bulk of this book was recently issued Stateside in the Captain Britain by Alan Davis & Alan Moore Omnibus, but here we get the earlier stories in their original black and white presentation. There are color pages in this book (i.e. the covers and The Daredevils stories), but many of these stories were re-colored when they were reprinted in the US ages ago. I am glad that I have both versions.

The first chunk of this book is The Black Knight's strip, which features Captain Britain as nothing more than a member of the supporting cast. Their inclusion is necessary, though, because it leads right up to the moment that began the aforementioned Omnibus, roughly 80 pages into this book. Alan Davis' early artwork leaves a lot to be desired, but he quickly picks up steam. His action sequences are great, and the traits that made him one of my all-time favorites become more apparent as he progresses. 

Alan Moore writes the last chunk of this book, and he is often imitated but never duplicated. It's so easy to dismiss the importance of these '80s British comic book creators. They really set the stage for the modern era of comics. I would even go as far as to liken Alan Moore to Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen had a revolutionary guitar technique which has since been stripmined of all originality, becoming commonplace and later a cliche'. Likewise, Alan Moore's sense of pacing and arc structure has been swiped by hands less capable and rendered impotent. Why can't artists learn from other artists without swiping the thing that made their source of inspiration special? It sort of cheapens things when we have copies of copies.

The stories from The Daredevils Nos. 1-11 are the best of the bunch. Moore and Davis really fire on all cylinders here, and they play off of each other's strengths. Davis' storytelling, pace and action sequences play off of Moore's tight story structure and twists, pre-dating his work on both Watchmen and V For Vendetta. The Fury, Mad Jim Jaspers, Saturnyne and the Special Executive are characters that got their start here in the UK series, and Moore throwing in mainline Marvel Universe characters such as Arcade and the Black King (Sebastian Shaw) is a real treat.

It's great to now have the complete UK run in collected edition format. Not to be outdone, Marvel (US) has recently announced hardcover editions of these. I am going to resist the temptation of the upgrade. Besides, it likely won't even have sewn binding...will it?

Junk Food For Thought in 3-D

THE SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 7 (DC, 2009)

Collects Superman Nos. 12, 13 and selections from Action Comics Nos. 41-43 and World’s Finest Comics No. 4 (cover dates October- December, 1941)

Lots of fun Golden Age Superman here. From the menace of Lex Luthor to the Archer, it is refreshing to Superman fight villains instead of your garden variety thugs. The story where he takes care of a baby was hilarious, and closer to the truth than most parents would care to admit. I truly dig on the Chronicles line of softcover trade paperbacks. I just wish that they would have raised the price by a buck or two rather than cut the page count by 24 pages. Oh well, it's all good and will come out in the wash so to speak, right?

SPIDER-MAN: DIED IN YOUR ARMS TONIGHT (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 600, 601, Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 36 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Family No. 7 (cover dates August- October, 2009).

Wow, Issue 600 already? It seems like it was only yesterday that we got #500 (it was 'late '03 or early '04), and like last week when I rode my bike to the Book Bank to buy issue 300 the day that it came out (back when Venom was cool and had teeth instead of fangs and a tongue). Always nice to see old friends (Doctor Octopus, John Romita, Jr.'s pencils) with a new spin. With its now thrice-monthly publication schedule, Amazing Spider-Man should hit #700 in just 3 years time.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Two-In-One Nos. 53-77 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual Nos. 4, 5 (cover dates July, 1979- July, 1981)

Marvel's Essential line of black and white phonebook sized trades have had an uptick in price of $3 while simultaneously having a slightly lower overall page count (from 500-560 to about 500). They are still the biggest bang for your entertainment buck that you will get in spite of this. I just wish that Marvel would follow DC and Dark Horse, who put page numbers on their phone books. The bulk of this book is written by the team of Ralph Maccio and Mark Gruenwald who provide excellent characterization for Benjamin J. Grimm, a/k/a the Thing, the anchor character for this title. Lots of great arcs here, lots of great artists here, this is just a lot of fun Bronze Age goodness.

SPIDER-MAN: RED HEADED STRANGER (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 602-605 (cover dates October- November, 2009)

Fred Van Lente is a solid Spider-writer, having cut his teeth with the character on the kid-friendly Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and now in the big leagues with this title. ASM remains a great read, and is my favorite title that Marvel is currently publishing.

WOLVERINE/ POWER PACK: THE WILD PACK (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Wolverine/ Power Pack Nos. 1-4 (cover dates January- April, 2009)

This was as enjoyable as the rest of the Power Pack mini-series that have come out over the last few years. I wish that Marvel would try out a full-on series with Louise Simonson and June Brigman back on board and/or drop the cute-sy, mangish artwork.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 VOL. 3: VAMPIRE STATE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain Britain and MI13 Nos. 10-15 and Captain Britain and MI13 Annual No. 1 (cover dates April- September, 2009)

A satisfying end to the title. It's a shame that this book didn't catch on, as it had a great line-up: Captain Britain, Megan, Black Knight, Blade the Vampire Hunter, Union Jack, and Dracula as a nemesis.

CREEPY ARCHIVES VOL. 4 (Dark Horse, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Creepy Nos. 16-20 (cover dates August, 1967- May, 1968)

There is a definite shift in quality from the earlier issues, with Archie Goodwin relinquishing much of the writing duty to hands less capable, ditto the artists stable. Not all was lost, as many of the greats still contributed to this series, just not as often. I have been told that the quality picks back up, and I hope so. This wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't as spectacular as the previous volumes.

ESSENTIAL PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN VOL. 4 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Nos. 75-96 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual No. 4 (cover dates February, 1983- October, 1984)

I started buying this title monthly with issue 92, and stuck with it well into the 140s, maybe even 150s. I bought pretty much every issue contained in this book as cheap-o back issues in the mid-80s, and it was a blast to go back and re-read these. Back in the day, I used to re-read the previous issue when a new issue came out, i.e I re-read issue 92 when 93 came out, etc. This continued until around Issue 100. I used to read my new purchases multiple times back then. These days, with trades and hardcovers, I haven't even read everything that I own once. I do have a system, though, and rotate stock religiously. I was a stockboy as a teenager, and the lesson of rotating the stock to keep it fresh is so ingrained into me, even when I put away dishes, etc., to this day. 

Bill Mantlo wrote this series until just before I started buying the title regularly, when Al Milgrom (who also handled the artwork with inker/finisher Jim Mooney throughout the entire book) took over. This is such a solid read, with great characterization and stories. Milgrom's artwork lives and dies by Mooney's solid inks. When Milgrom does his own finishes like he did in Secret Wars II, he sucks, but here he was on. I bought Annual #4 from the Book Bin on my 11th birthday that year. My Mom drove me there, and since it was a direct market retailer, they received their books 3 weeks ahead of newsstands like 7-11 where I did my regular purchases circa 1984. It was like taking a trip into the comic book buying future! The story was an even better read as an adult as it was as a child. OK, enough gushing and nostalgic rambling.

INDIANA JONES- THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OMNIBUS VOL. 2 (Dark Horse, 2009)

Collects The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones Nos. 13-24 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Nos. 1-3 (cover dates January- December, 1984)

I bought The Temple of Doom mini-series off of the stands back in the summer of 1984. In the days before home video, comic book adaptations and trading cards were the only way to relive a movie, as they generally took years to appear on network television, and would often be edited like crazy when they did. That would change a year later, when we got our Beta in 1985.

On to the comics! These were all fun reads, with artwork by Herb Trimpe, Jackson Guice, and Steve Ditko. Issue 19 was particularly good, as it featured a dragon which bore a striking resemblance to Fin Fang Foom, from Marvel's late '50s/early '60s monster days. They never named him as such, but it was obviously a wink to that long forgotten tale. The Dark Horse Omnibus line is always a treat, with it's chunky page count and nice paper coupled with an appealing price point.

MASQUERADE VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2009)

Collects Masquerade Nos. 1-4 (cover dates February- June, 2009)

More goodness from Alex Ross and the rest of the Dynamite crew. The Project Superpowers universe continues growing at a cautious pace, and my wallet is thankful for that. I am really enjoying these titles and am curious to see what happens next.

An interesting sidebar: My wife went into labor with my daughter the day that this trade came out. We went to the Dr.'s first thing in the morning and her contractions were far enough apart that we had hours before we were to report to the hospital. My wife, knowing that it was new comic book day, said we should go to the comic store and waited in the car while I picked this up. Now that is love. Would your wife let you pick up the week's new releases while she was in labor with your child? I didn't think so!

Battle for the Planet of Junk Food For Thought

X-MEN LEGACY: SALVAGE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects X-Men Legacy Nos. 219-225 (cover dates February- August, 2009)

I was afraid that something like this might happen... a writer having nostalgia for '90s comics. Ugghhhhhhh, Mike Carey should have left that stuff for dead. This was pretty crappy overall and will ultimately have no bearing in long term X-continuity.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN OMNIBUS (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America Nos. 305, 306, New Mutants Annual No. 2, Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 11, and selections from Captain Britain Nos. 1-14, The Daredevils Nos. 1-11, Marvel Super Heroes Nos. 377, 378 and The Mighty World of Marvel Nos. 7-16 (cover dates September, 1981- Annual 1987).

Alan Davis is one of my favorite artists/ writers, and it is fascinating to watch him evolve here. His early CB is pretty rough, and it takes a while for this book to actually get good, but when it does (around 50 pages in), it takes off. Alan Moore handles the writing for quite a while and does a fantastic job of rebooting the character. Jamie Delano picks up the writing chores after Moore leaves and also does a bang-up job. Captain Britain becomes a lovable buffoon in these pages, and this book picks up where the Panini UK trades left off. I have the first three of those, and am awaiting the release of the fourth (which was supposed to be out months ago already), but they don't touch the quality of this material. Loads of quality DVD-style extras in the back of the book made this well worth the upgrade from the two inferior Captain Britain trades that covered a portion of this 600+ page monster.

BLACK WIDOW: THE STING OF THE WIDOW (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man No. 86, Daredevil No. 81 and selections from Amazing Adventures Nos. 1-8 and Tales of Suspense No. 52 (cover dates April, 1964- November, 1971).

Dated, lovable latter era Silver Age/ proto-Bronze Age goodness. I adore the whole militant vs. establishment era of youth culture, as it is hilarious here in 2010. The art restoration was lacking in a few of the issues, with the fine linework being obliterated. Was this the results of stats? Low resolution scans? Fiche? Who knows. I wish that this material would have gotten the Masterworks TLC that it deserves, though. Of course, it would have cost Masterworks cabbage, too. All in all, a nice package, hardcover with around 150 pages with nice paper and sewn binding at half the price of a Marvel Masterwork.

X-FACTOR: TIME AND A HALF (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Factor (Vol. 3) Nos. 39-45 (cover dates March- August, 2009)

More enjoyable stuff by Peter David, with solid artwork by Valentine De Landro and Marco Santucci. Oh, and the Shatterstar thing was hilarious. Was it a swipe at Liefeld? One can only hope...

X-MEN: INFERNO (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects New Mutants (Vol. 1) Nos. 71-73, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 239-243, X-Factor (Vol. 1) Nos. 33-40, X-Factor Annual No. 4 and X-Terminators Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1988- May, 1989).

This one falls under the category of 'not as good as I remembered it being'. I only bought the Uncanny X-Men issues off of the stands, so my initial interpretation of this crossover was that it was great. I had the old softcover trade that didn't cover as many bases as this expanded hardcover edition does and it seemed like a better read. The X-Terminators mini series sucks. I bought the first issue off of the stands and was so put off by Jon Bogdanove's artwork that I never followed through with the rest of the series. This was an okay read here in late 2009/ early 2010, but it was tired by the end. On the plus side, it was presented in a beautiful oversized hardcover package with nice paper and sewn binding, so at least it has that going for it.

THE MIGHTY AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Mighty Avengers Nos. 21-26 and selections from Secret Invasion: Requiem (cover dates March- August, 2009).

WOW! Dan Slott's Avengers are worlds better than Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers, largely because these Avengers A) have actual adventures, B) fight villains, and C) actually act heroic. Amazing. That, and the issues took more than five or ten minutes a piece to read. It really feels like I got my money's worth, especially when compared to a Bendis picture book.

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST VOL. 5: ESCAPE FROM THE EIGHTH CITY (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects The Immortal Iron Fist Nos. 21-27 (cover dates February- August, 2009)

AAAargggghhhh!! This series has been cancelled, and I feel partially responsible. Let me explain. I buy the hardcovers of this series rather than the floppies, or single issues, and I always feel guilty when a series that I have followed in this format is cancelled. If only I bought this title monthly, maybe it would have survived, the self-imposed guilt trip usually goes. I know that trade sales are factored in to a title's overall sales, but I can't help but think that maybe people like me (trade waiters) are really ruining the industry, at least as far as less popular titles go. With the exception of issue 27, this entire series has been of such undeniable quality writing-wise, if not always artwork-wise, that I for one am sad to see it end.

SPIDER-MAN: 24/7 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 589-594 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Extra! Nos. 2, 3 (cover dates March- July, 2009).

I really look forward to reading this title, and since the Brand New Day reboot, it hasn't let me down yet. Amazing Spider-Man has once again become Marvel's best title, with each issue packed to the brim with quality. Fred Van Lente's done-in-one Issue 589 featuring the return of the Spot was just fantastic. I was around when Spot first came out circa 1984, and although most people hated him at the time, I dug him. Bendis would have stretched Issue 589 out to a 6 issue arc. Mild spoiler ahead: I am not crazy about Spider-Man revealing his identity to the Fantastic Four. I also forgot, or was unaware, that Peter was aware of that fact that the world once knew his identity. The new Vulture seems interesting, and I am looking forward to finding out more about him. Man, there is just so much going on in this title that it's really exciting. I have no problem sliding my hard-earned money across the counter for this title.

SPIDER-MAN: AMERICAN SON (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 595-599 and selections from Amazing Spider-Ma: Extra! No. 3 (cover dates May- September, 2009).

Joe Kelly's run isn't quite as good as the rest of the 'Spidey Brain Trust"'s, but that could be because he was dealt the Norman Osborn/ H.A.M.M.E.R. hand. Don't get me wrong, this arc has it's moments and is overall an enjoyable read, but it wasn't great. That's okay, ASM is still the best title Marvel has going right now and every issue doesn't have to be the greatest issue ever made.

SPIDER-MAN: THE SHORT HALLOWEEN (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Spider-Man: The Short Halloween and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Family Nos. 4-6 (cover dates April- July, 2009).

A hit or miss collection, with Spider-Ma'Am and Spider-Ham falling under miss and the rest being mostly decent.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel

Ah yes, cross-brand marketing at work. A few weekends ago it was super cold outside and there was nothing to do on a Sunday, so we went to McDonald's so that Billy could run around and burn some energy off in the play area. The toy that came with his Happy Meal was Alvin, and then he saw the ad for the movie... Fast forward a week, it was even colder outside, so I took him to see the movie. To say that my 3 year old loved it is a gross understatement. When we watch something like Wonder Pets on DVD and the 22 minute episode ends he says "There will be more". After the 90 minute movie, he also said "There will be more" and refused to leave. I was like "No buddy, that's it". He argued, all the way through the credits and until the theatre staff came in to clean. They had to tell him that there won't be more and that you have to go home. He really loved it. Me, not so much. I liked that he enjoyed it so much, and since 36 year old males are likely not the target audience for this move I think that it did what it set out to do. Cute for kids, lame for adults.

In Search Of... Junk Food For Thought

ESSENTIAL SPIDER-MAN VOL. 9 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 186-210, Amazing Spider-Man Annual Nos. 13, 14 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual No. 1. (cover dates November, 1978- November, 1980)

Sometimes one forgets how good something was! I owned all of these as floppies back in the '80s when they were cheap-o back issues and/or quarter box fodder, but they were all sold when my Mom died (see my first blog post for that story). ASM Annual No. 13 is fantastic, and I must have read it dozens of times circa 1983. My friend had 189 when I was a kid, and it was my first exposure to both John Byrne's artwork and the Man-Wolf. I have never been the same. 

My Mom bought me ASM 195 at Farmer Jack, and 196 up north that summer at a store near my Grandpa's cottage. In 196, there is a scene where Aunt May's house in Forest Hills has been ransacked. That summer up north, my sister and I were roaming around the countryside and found an old abandoned house. The door was kicked open so we decided to look inside, and it was completely destroyed. Chunks of plaster were on the floor, items strewn about, and my then 6 year old mind thought of that panel. Looking back, it's amazing how my Mom allowed my sister and I to roam around unsupervised. No cell phones, no GPS, just "be back by dark". I used to wander with a piece of chalk. My Grandpa taught me to mark the trees with it, and then I would be able to find my way back. By the end of that summer, every single tree likely had chalk markings! 

Back to the comic books! Keith Pollard's artwork is great, and I wish that he would return to Marvel. A neophyte John Romita, Jr. shows immense potential in Issue 210. Marv Wolfman, Denny O'Neil, Bill Mantlo, and Roger Stern all turn in solid stuff too. Lots of classic villains (Mysterio, Kingpin, Dr. octopus), soon-to-be classics (Black Cat) and some never to be seen again (Fusion). This phone book is just chock full of good stories.

JLA VOL. 15: THE TENTH CIRCLE (DC Comics, 2004)

Collects JLA Nos. 94-99 (cover dates Early May- Late July, 2004)

Wow! I had heard rumblings about the Chris Claremont/ John Byrne "reunion" arc over at DC, but never bothered looking into it until May. After a quick search of the Trade Paperback List, I discovered that a trade already existed! Man, this is some good stuff! Claremont's writing is flawless, Byrne turns in some of his best-ever artwork, Jerry Ordway's inks are a perfect complement to Byrne's pencils, David Baron makes excellent use of computer coloring (which, like CGI, is a hit or miss artform), and Tom Orzechowski's hand lettering is as pleasing to they eye as ever. In fact, if I could get a Word font for his and Artie Simek's 1970-on lettering, I would be ecstatic. Seriously people, I hate to gush, but this is as good as it gets. I would love to Claremont and Byrne work together again in any capacity, and would read whatever they did. Westerns, Jungle, I would take any genre, no matter how uninteresting it may be to me. Those two are like Lennon and McCartney: the fans love what they do together, but it is Hell for the creators involved. Why does the creative dynamic have to be like that? Creative people seemed to be wired differently than normal folk.

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN VOL. 13: ANIMAL ATTACK! (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Adventures Spider-Man Nos. 49-52 (cover dates May- August, 2009)

Once again, this series is decent and entertaining, but since I have made a resolution to drop all non-main Marvel Universe continuity titles this gets the axe.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN VOL. 3: THE LION AND THE SPIDER (Marvel UK, 2009)

Collects selections from Hulk Comic Weekly Nos. 1, 3-30, Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) Nos. 65, 66 and Super Spider-Man & Captain Britain Weekly Nos. 239-247 (cover dates September 7, 1977- September 26, 1979)

This is an uneven collection by all counts; story, artwork, and restoration. The SSMCBW stories range in quality from scans to washed out artwork, with the stories ranging from passable to laughable. The material from Hulk Comic is the best in the book, where Captain Britain essentially takes a back seat to strip headliner the Black Knight. The team of writer Steve Parkhouse and artist Paul Neary turn in a huge arc that could only be British. Very Dungeons and Dragons-esque, all medieval type stuff with gorgeously detailed black and white artwork, and worth the price of admission alone.

THE FILTH (DC, 2004)

Collects The Filth Nos. 1-13 (cover dates August, 2002- October, 2003)

Can't say that I am much of a Grant Morrison fan, but the cover of the first issue (pictured below) was in one of those features in Wizard Magazine where they ask an artist to pick their 10 favorite covers. I thought that it was a compelling image, did a quick search online, and then went out and bought the book. It was, at times, enjoyable, repulsive, violent, fun, perverse, thought provoking, intelligent, and retarded. Chris Weston and Gary Erskine's artwork is top notch, and the visuals often make up for the writing. The coloring by Hi-Fi Design is also fantastic. Digital coloring is difficult to do right, because so many colorists feel that because you have a million different colors that you have to use them all. Less can be more. I think that I need to read this a few more times for it to truly sink in. Think of it as a vastly inferior Watchmen.

DRAGON’S CLAWS (Marvel UK, 2008)

Collects Death’s Head (Vol. 1) No. 2 and Dragon’s Claws Nos. 1-10 (cover dates June, 1988- April, 1989)

I bought the first issue or two of this series as an import in the late '80s but dropped it because it was so expensive. I always wondered what happened with the characters, and spotted this book on Amazon.co.uk and ordered it from their US counterpart. Simon Furman and Geoff Senior turn in an often derivative but always entertaining Madmax/Rollerball hybrid with a uniquely British flavOur. These comics were worlds more violent than their Marvel US counterparts of the time. I enjoyed the team of Furman and Senior on the later issues of Transformers as well. British writers and artists all tend to have a certain, almost pessimistic view, of the future and of authority that always seems interesting to me. I hope that these two can someday relaunch this series and tie up the handful of loose ends that weren't resolved in Issue 10.

BIGFOOT (IDW, 2005)

Collects Bigfoot Nos. 1-4 (cover dates February- May, 2005)

Less a comic book than flipbook storyboard for a movie, this is an insanely fast-paced read written by Steve Niles and Rob Zombie with artwork by comics veteran Richard Corben. Lots of violent, bloody fun here, this would make a good movie. There are entire segments that make Bendis seem like a Victorian wordsmith, though. I used to watch the show In Search Of... with Leonard Nimoy as a kid, and have always been a sucker for Bigfoot, UFOs, the Lochness Monster, etc.

CLOAK AND DAGGER: CHILD OF DARKNESS, CHILD OF LIGHT (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Cloak and Dagger Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1983- January, 1984)

Bill Mantlo is one of those unsung greats. I have always liked his writing, especially on Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man in the late '70s and mid '80s and the Rocket Raccoon mini-series from 1985. Wizard recently did a piece on him, and it was nice to see a mainstream publication shine a light on him and his accomplishments. It's really unfortunate about his health nowadays, and I hope that the royalties that he receives from collected editions like this help to pay his medical bills. Cloak and Dagger are an interesting concept and a terrific read. Rick Leonardi's artwork is good, too. I never cared for him 'back in the day' but appreciate him now. The Marvel Premiere Classic format is wonderful for the presenting mini-series like this in a nice package with nice paper and sewn binding in hardcover. I'd like to see Marvel release more Cloak and Dagger in this format.

NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.: SCORPIO (Marvel, 2000)

Collects Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nos. 1-3, 5 (cover dates June- October, 1968)

This is one of those older Marvel trades, with lackluster restoration and coloring that is unfaithful to the original issues. Still, this was in the cheapie box at the Motor City Con in May, and I couldn't resist. Someday I will upgrade to the Masterworks, but my wallet cannot support yet another run of high end hardcovers for the time being. Jim Steranko was an amazing artist and decent writer for the era. His page layouts were revolutionary, and it is unfortunate that younger readers do not get the full impact of his brilliance. The only other artist that did as much for page layouts in the '60s was Neal Adams. All in all, this is a highly entertaining read and is worth the Masterworks cabbage if you can afford it. I hope to get them in the not-too distant future.

CREEPY ARCHIVES VOL. 3 (Dark Horse, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Creepy Nos. 11-15 (cover dates October, 1966- June, 1967)

I am thrilled to see this line continue, with Vol. 4 already in my possession (pun intended), Vol. 5 solicited, and Vol. 6 recently announced for February. Woo hoo! All of the usual EC greats contribute to this series, but Steve Ditko's black and white artwork really shines here. Once all of the dust settles and the entire run has been collected in hardcover, it would be nice if Dark Horse collected these in phone book format for the more budget conscious comic book fan and the masses in general.

The All-New, All-Different Junk Food For Thought

OK, not really. What I meant to say is that this is the first all-new blog post since I signed up for Blogspot last month. All of my other posts have been re-posts from my myspace blog (RIP). My last post over there was on July 4, and since then I have been sitting on my reviews. Here we go...

THE ZOMBIE FACTORY (Idea Men Productions, 2007)

Collects selections from Tales From The Tomb (Vol. 2 ) No. 2, (Vol. 4) Nos. 4, 5 (Vol. 5) No. 1, Tales of Voodoo (Vol. 3) Nos. 1, 2, Terror Tales (Vol. 2) No. 5, (Vol. 3) No. 3, (Vol. 4) No. 6, (Vol. 6) Nos. 1, 4 (Vol. 9) No. 1 and Witches’ Tales (Vol. 6) No. 1 (cover dates January, 1970- January, 1978).

This is an interesting collection of mostly B and C level black and white Horror from the '70s. Credits are nearly non-existent, which is a pet peeve of mine. It would be nice to know what issue which story came from, as well as who wrote and/or penciled it. The scans are way too dark, likely done to compensate for the deterioration of the pulp paper used back then. I'm sure that a C-level publisher like Eerie (no relation to Warren Publishing's superb Creepy and Eerie) didn't bother archiving their stats for later use. This is an okay read if you can find it, although I would have preferred a more comprehensive hardcover collection.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 VOL. 2: HELL COMES TO BIRMINGHAM (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain Britain and MI13 Nos. 5-9 (cover dates November, 2008- March, 2009)

This series is worlds better than most of the current stuff being put out by Marvel. It's a shame that this wasn't the first arc, rather than the always gimmick-y crossover spin-off that it had. Maybe if Marvel would let a series find its own footing rather then being shoved into crossover after crossover we wouldn't see the amount of launches, re-launches, and cancellations that we currently do.

SIN CITY VOL. 4: THAT YELLOW BASTARD (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: That Yellow Bastard Nos. 1-6 (cover dates February- July, 1996)

SIN CITY VOL. 5: FAMILY VALUES (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: Family Values Original Graphic Novel (cover date October, 1997)

SIN CITY VOL. 6: BOOZE, BROADS & BULLETS (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: The Babe Wore Red, Sin City: Silent Night, Sin City: Lost, Lonely & Lethal, Sin City: Sex & Violence and Sin City: Just Another Saturday Night (cover dates November, 1994- October, 1998).

SIN CITY VOL. 7: HELL AND BACK (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: Hell and Back Nos. 1-9 (cover dates July, 1999- April, 2000)

This is a super fast paced read, and it works for this type of series. Frank Miller's artwork is growing on me, as he makes excellent use of black and white and solids. The occasional color inserted into the black and white color scheme is interesting as well. I really like the paper that these books are printed on, as it has an intoxicating smell. I like how all of the characters and settings all circle around and intersect in each other's stories without becoming directly involved with each other, and without it being necessary to know any of the previous stories. One could literally pick up any book in the series and have an enjoyable read.

BLAZING COMBAT (Fantagraphics, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Blazing Combat Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1965- July, 1966)

The Warren magazines were the natural successors to EC Comics. Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales depicted the horrors of war in often unfavorable ways, and this series ups the ante with it's early anti-Vietnam angle. The title was blackballed by distributors and cancelled, which is a damn shame considering the quality. The EC stable turns in fantastic artwork all around, and Russ Heath does what is, in my opinion, his finest work ever. The book is a super high quality presentation, with superb uncoated, thick paper stock, spotless art transfers from pristine sources, and luxurious sewn binding, all in hardcover to boot. The only gripe that I have is that the Frazetta covers are shrunk down to 1/4 page in the back of the book. Aside from that, this is the definitive document on this series for the ages. Interviews with James Warren and Archie Goodwin provide invaluable insight into the minds of the men who made it happen.

SWAMP THING VOL. 7: REGENESIS (DC, 2004)

Collects Swamp Thing (Vol. 2) Nos. 65-70 (cover dates October, 1987- March, 1988)

SWAMP THING VOL. 8: SPONTANEOUS GENERATION (DC, 2005)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 71-76 (cover dates April- September, 1988)

This series doesn't seem to miss a beat after the departure of Alan Moore. I was delighted to see Alfredo Alcala's finely detailed artwork grace these pages.

THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN (Idea Men Productions, 2006)

Collects The Monster of Frankenstein Nos. 18-33 (cover dates March, 1952- October/November, 1954)

This collects the obscure series by Dick Briefer, and is outstanding! Gruesome, gory and violent, this is not some campy or watered down version of the monster. Briefer's artwork is unusual, but has a style that is pleasing to the eye. I wish that this series was collected in a full color, high end hardcover rather than this black and white trade. Oh well, when you are dealing with comics as obscure as this, you have to take what you can get. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Horror comics.