Review- The Owl #1 and 2

The Owl #1 and 2 (Gold Key, cover dates April, 1967- April, 1968)

Writer: Jerry Siegel

Artist: Tom Gill

This was a campy retread of the 1940s Dell series designed to ride the wave of campy Golden Age nostalgia in the wake of the 1966 Batman TV series. I enjoyed the heck out of the complete lack of self awareness combined with absurd, unnecessarily elaborate exploits. Gold Key Comics were always decidedly old fashioned and out of step yet charming, and these are no different. If you were a kid jingling some coins in your hand at the newsstand then this would have been buried by anything Marvel or DC were doing at the time. I guess that it never stood a chance, which is too bad since these were fun reads with solid artwork.

Apparently the character was revived as part of Dynamite's Project Superpowers universe a few years ago. That universe is comprised of public domain Golden Age superheroes who are retooled. There is also a more recent relaunch in inDELLible Comics' All New Popular Comics, another public domain riff.

The OCD zone- This is the part where I go into tactile sensations and materials used in physical media. Those with heart conditions, high blood pressure, or women who are pregnant should exit my blog at their earliest convenience, as their safety cannot be guaranteed beyond this point.

Old comic books smell great. They should make a candle that smells like rotting pulp paper.

Review- DOCTOR SPEKTOR: DARK HORSE ARCHIVES VOL. 1

DOCTOR SPEKTOR: DARK HORSE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor Nos. 1-7, Doctor Spektor Bubble Gum Premium Comic and the Doctor Spektor story from Mystery Comics Digest No. 5 (originally published by Gold Key Comics, cover dates July, 1972- April, 1974)

Writer: Donald F. Glut

Artist: Jesse Santos and Dan Spiegle (Mystery Comics Digest #5 only)

Boy, was I wrong. I couldn't have cared less when this book was solicited a few years ago. Doctor Spektor...bah! Sounds like a third rate Doctor Strange. Who cares!, I sneered as I thumbed through Previews. My OCD homeskillet Ferjo Byroy bought it and raved about it. I remained unconvinced. You see, Ferjo is a sucker for anything and everything Gold Key, holding those books in almost mythical regard. We were at a comic convention a couple of years ago and there was a copy of this book in a nick and ding box for $5.00. Sure, it had a scrunched corner, but it was only $5! Ferjo strongly urged me to buy it. How could I go wrong for five measly bucks? And then it was filed away in ye olde backlog, never to be seen again...until now.

Donald F. Glut has made the rounds. I am most familiar with his work for the Warren Magazines Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, but do a quick search on him. He has had a long and storied career in many facets of nerd culture. He created Doctor Spektor, who is not a ripoff of Doctor Strange, The Phantom Stranger, or any other macabre comic book hero. Doctor Adam Spektor investigates all things paranormal, ergo the “occult files” part of the deal. His secretary, Lakota Rainflower, is a skeptic who keeps things grounded even though fantastic things happen in each issue. Doctor Spektor encounters all of the usual old school Horror things: ghosts, mummies, werewolves, vampires, and even the Frankenstein monster.

While the portrayal of Native Americans in the form of Lakota Rainflower is, shall we say, not up to modern sensitivity standards, this is an otherwise outstanding read. This is a product of its time, yet it also has a timeless quality to it. Jesse Santos' artwork is solid and has a Gothic flair to it. This won't make anyone lose any sleep from nightmares but it is a fun macabre read.

I have volumes two and three en route right now, but volume four is way out of print and super expensive. I hope that Dark Horse or current license holder Dynamite publish reprint it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Dark Horse Archives are nice books.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Introduction by Don Glut (5 pages).

Creator biographies (1 page).

Linework and Color restoration rating: 4.5 out of 5. These are cleaned up high resolution scans of the original comic books. While the color palette is faithful due to this method, the drawback is that the substandard printing of the original comics is present throughout the book. Line bleed, off register printing, and smudged, blotchy blacks appear everywhere. Gold Key had shoddy printing when compared to other comics of the day, and that is preserved here, warts and all, in “high def”.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. I have a new favorite paper stock...the stock used in this book. Uncoated stock with no glare in any light source, it looks like real pulp comic book paper but has the heft and weight of “archival quality” collected editions like this. In short, it is the best of both words.

This paper also has the sweetest smell of any book that I own. This is sweet smelling even by toxic Chinese standards. Whereas I theorize that the sweet smell of these Chinese made books is derived from paper sourced from virgin Amazon rainforest trees and ink which is a compound of broken asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, mercury from recalled thermometers with the final magical ingredient of the blood, sweat, and tears of the Chinese children working the sweatshop printing presses, this book must have an extra ingredient: heavy metals dumped into the vat from nearby manufacturing facilities.

Binding rating: 4.5 out of 5. Smyth sewn binding with 6 stitches per signature. The book does not lay flat, in part because the binding is tight, and in part because of the thickness and stiffness of the paper. The book block does have sufficient room to flex within the casing. The binding did seem to loosen up a bit by the time that I finished the book, and it is possible that with a few readings that the book will lay flat.

Buy DOCTOR SPEKTOR: DARK HORSE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 HC at InStockTrades!

Review- BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 6

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 6 (Dark Horse, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 33-41 (originally published by Gold Key Comics, cover dates February, 1971- June, 1972)

Writers: Len Wein, Arnold Drake, Paul S. Newman, and other unidentified writers

Artists: George Wilson (covers), Tom Gill, John Cerlardo, Joe Certa, Jack Sparling, Stanley Pitt, Reginald Pitt, Luis Dominguez, Jose Delbo, Alberto Giolitti, Alan Weiss, Sal Trapani, Win Mortimer, Hy Eisman, and Oscar Novelle

I have a soft spot for the Horror/mystery anthology series. Like Creepy and Eerie magazines of the day, this series boasts a cast of notable artists. Some, like Jack Sparling, Win Mortimer, and Luis Dominguez, are DC Silver Age fan favorites. Others are comic book journeymen of the '50s and '60s. All of them are good and this is some enjoyable watered down for the Comics Code stuff. While formulaic and predictable by modern standards, these are some fun reads nonetheless. 

Issue 33's Only Skin Deep is really good. I enjoyed how the couple arranged their date by using a computer, which was perceived in 1971 as an act of desperation. These days it is probably more common than going to bars. To the folks who read these issues off of the stands we are living in Jetsons times...with a little 1984 thrown in for good measure. To Millennials it may seem bizarre to think of it as desperation, as there every waking moment is dictated by technology. The story itself is one that I have read what seems like a dozen times before in these various Horror mags, with the man being a werewolf and the woman being a vampire, or vice versa. 

Scan of original panel for comparison. I find doing this sort of thing to be fun. Your mileage may vary.

There is some early Len Wein writing throughout this book. Dragondoom (#34) features Len himself, portrayed as Leonard Wayne, as well as his girlfriend (and later wife) Glynis Oliver. This is a hoot of an inside gag, and what makes it funnier still is that he is uncredited in the original issue. He did all of this to amuse Glynis and himself. 

In the everything old is new again department we have The Summoning from #35. It is basically the template for the 2012 movie Sinister, where a filmed supernatural being/creature comes to life from celluloid when watched on a screen. The similarities end there but the concept is the same. Issue 36's They Are Already Here is one of those stories that some college kid who took too much LSD at the time probably wrote. How there are dimensions around us that you just can't see, man. Oops, I mean LTD. The chemist uses a powerful hallucinogen known as LTD, not LSD. Totally different.

#37's The Mystic Clay is one of those quaint old world type tales, where clay from a “mysterious Asian region” possesses mystic qualities. The Internet has made the world a lot less mysterious and it makes stories like this a tougher sell to those who grew up in this brave new world. For those of us old enough to remember watching shows like Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, this stuff is fun. The Luis Dominguez artwork does not hurt, either. Speaking of Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, that is another Gold Key series that I would love to see get the high end hardback treatment, ditto The Twilight Zone.

The winner for issue 38 is The Happy Weekend, where two star crossed lovers can't get things right. If only one would look and see what is right in front of them... #40's The Sadiki's Master is another Luis Dominguez masterwork, one of those monkey on your back, genie in a bottle, be careful what you wish for type of tales. Dominguez and John Cerlardo are my favorite artists in this book, as both consistently turn in quality work.

This is, barring some sort of miracle, the final volume of this series of Dark Horse Archives. They were cranking out these fast and furious, but I don't think that the sales were there judging by the ICv2 numbers. This book placed dead last in the Top 300 Graphic Novels the month that it was released, moving only 389 copies. It has been two and half years since this book was released, so I think that it is safe to say that this line is dead. That's too bad, because there is enough material for five more Archives. I did some five minute mapping on the invaluable Grand Comics Database to come to this conclusion. Between the gradual original content per issue decline from 26 pages (including cover and text stories) to 24 pages and omission of reprint stories and the all reprint issues, #78, 83, 84, 86, 90, 95, and 97 there is enough material for five 240 page books. Issue 88 features a new cover on what is otherwise an all reprint issue.

All of that stuff aside, this is a highly enjoyable book in it's own right. I'm glad that I picked it up when I did. I can't believe that it has taken me almost three years to get to it in my backlog.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Dark Horse Archives are really nice books.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Introduction By Leonard Maltin (1 page).

About Boris Karloff, a 2 page biography.

Linework and Color restoration rating: 4.75 out of 5. There are a handful of pages with slight pixelation, but the restoration is about as tight as it can be. I would say that this was scanned from the original issues rather than film. The printing on the original issues was godawful crap, so that's another reason why things look “rough” at times- because the source material was rough when originally published, a real disservice to the artists. The color palette is faithfully maintained. I'll leave it to colorists of the world to philosophize about whether there should be 10% more cyan here, 25% less there, so on and so forth. It looks good to me, it is faithful enough to the original comic books, and it looks worlds better than the original issues.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Thick semi-glossy coated stock with that sweet smell that the Chinese sweat shop printing presses achieve by using only virgin Amazon rainforest trees and ink derived from lead paint chips, broken asbestos tiles, and mercury from recalled thermometers.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful Smyth sewn binding with 8 stitches per signature. The book block flexes a little in the casing but the book lays almost entirely flat.

Buy BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 6 HC at InStockTrades!

Review- BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 5

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 5 (Dark Horse, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 25-32 (originally published by Gold Key Comics, cover dates March, 1969- November, 1970)

Writers: Dick Wood and other, unidentified writers

Artists: George Wilson (covers), Sal Trapani, Art Saaf, Mike Roy, John Celardo, Joe Certa, Frank Bolle, Bob Jenney, Oscar Novelle, Luis Dominguez, Tom Gill, Jack Sparling, Alberto Giolitti, Ed Robbins, and other, unidentified artists (possibly Till Goodan)

While not as edgy as the Warren Magazines of the day (Creepy and Eerie), Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery is still a fun, solid dose of homogenized newsstand friendly mystery/horror comics. Fans of DC titles of the era like House Of Mystery and the like will enjoy this book. Those weaned on Saw films who think that Crossed isn't edgy enough...well cripes, you've got bigger problems than not liking this book!

The stories all tread the same familiar ground, featuring ghosts, monsters, lost species/civilizations, haunted houses, and curses. Some of the edgier ones have swamp monsters and even zombie sailors. Boris Karloff plays the role of host and narrator, appearing in the splash page and final panel of every story, as well as popping up during the story like Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone. Speaking of which, now that Dynamite has the license to that property I hope that we see reprints of Gold Key's 1960s The Twilight Zone comic book. I had hoped that Dark Horse would do them while they were cranking these books out a couple of years ago, but no dice. Dark Horse has seemingly abandoned their Gold Key Archives, since there is only one more volume in this line. It's a shame, since the series ran for a good long while afterward. 

The painted covers by George Wilson are incredible. Painted covers for magazines and book covers are a lost art. While I am not anti-technology when it comes to computer aided artwork, I admire the skin and bones craftmaship of hand painting and drawing. There is no cheating and it is harder to correct errors. Also, art supplies were more expensive, so these cats had to be good if they wanted to make any money.

Issue 25's Death Is The Hunter is a cool story about Lord Jason De Wolfe, an 18^th century English huntsman who often ruined farmer's crops during his hunts. He casually murders Silas Krane's son. Krane's grandmother was a witch, and the old black arts run in the family. Silas ends up casting a spell on De Wolfe, changing him into a wolf-like creature...which his own hunting party kills, mounting the head on his wall with his other conquests. 

Issue 26's The Petrified Creature has really unique artwork. Listing creator credits was sadly not an industry wide practice even at this point in time. This book does not list the artist, while my beloved Grand Comics Database (www.comics.org) credits Till Goodan. It is possible that the artist was identified after this book was published. Even the GCD doesn't have any information as to who wrote most of these stories. It is sad that so much of the history of our hobby is lost. That same issue's Beast Of The Bayou is a fun “swamp monster” riff predating DC's Swamp Thing. The original swamp monster in comics was The Heap back in the 1940s. Issue 28 has another swamp monster story, this one called Creature Of The Swamp.

My favorite regular artist in this book is John Celardo, particularly his work on When Children Speak. That tale is about a boy sent to live with his aunt and uncle after his parents die. Life on the farm is boring, so he designs robotic monster suits that “look just like the ones in the woods”. While many of these stories are fairly predictable, the craft and execution are all effective. Other favorites of mine is this book are issue 32's Eyes Of The Monster and The Goddess Of Greed. 

These stories are all fun escapist reads. While this series didn't set the world of comics on fire, sometimes reading something for the sheer pleasure of being entertained is enough. You could certainly do much, much worse than this book. I'm just sad that the sales of these Archives weren't strong enough for the line to be completed. Icv2 showed that only 421 copies of this book shipped during the month of it's release (March, 2011). 

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Dark Horse Archives are really nice books.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Foreward by Sir Christopher Lee (1 page)

Introduction by Frank Sinatra, Jr. (1 page)

Linework and Color restoration rating: 4.75 out of 5. There are a handful of pages with slight pixelation, but the restoration is about as tight as it can be. I would say that this was scanned from the original issues rather than film. The printing on the original issues was godawful crap, so that's another reason why things look “rough” at times- because the source material was rough when originally published. The color palette is faithfully maintained. I'll leave it to colorists to philosophize about whether there should be 10% more cyan here, 25% less there, so on and so forth. It looks good to me, it is faithful enough to the original comic books, and it looks worlds better than the original issues.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Thick semi-glossy coated stock with that sweet smell that the Chinese sweat shop printing presses achieve by using only virgin Amazon rainforest trees.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful Smyth sewn binding. The book block flexes a little in the casing but the book lays almost entirely flat.

Buy BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 5 HC at InStockTrades!

Review- Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Vol. 4

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 4 (Dark Horse, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 17-22, 24 (originally published by Gold Key Comics; cover dates March, 1967- December, 1968)

Artists: Joe Certa, James Winslow Mortimer (pen name: Win Mortimer), Mel Crawford, Joe Orlando, Luis Dominguez and others

These are lightweight, fun reads. They tend to be formulaic and predictable, but I enjoy them nonetheless. The artwork is serviceable but seldom exceeds what I would consider 'good'. Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery is basically a second-rate Twilight Zone, done in a very safe, palatable manner. One thing that I do give this series props for is the variety of locations and eras that the stories are set in. 

This series was not published under the jurisdiction of the Comics Code Authority, yet was tamer and more watered down than the stuff DC was putting out in their mystery/Horror titles of the day which were under the CCA. 

The OCD zone- Okay, now this is stranger than anything in this title: The first three volumes in this series were done from cleaned up high resolution scans. This volume, and volumes 5 and 6 (in queue) have full blown ground-up reconstruction and recoloring by Michael Kelleher (and company). Why would Dark Horse change the presentation this far into the series? No one that I know was complaining about it on the Masterworks Message Board's Crisis on Infinite Comics Forum, and we nitpick about everything over there. The paper used in this book is thick, coated glossy stock. 

Reviews: Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Vol. 3; Marvels- Eye of the Camera

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL.. 3 (Dark Horse, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 11-16 (cover dates September, 1965- December, 1966)

Things are definitely improving in this series with this volume. The writing and even the artwork, while done by the same crew as the first two volumes, are seamless and slick. Artists on this series include Joe Certa (who does the artwork on the lion's share of the stories in this book, totaling 14), EC alumni Joe Orlando (4 stories), Al Williamson and Reed Crandall.

On the OCD/ production side of things, this is an absolutely beautiful book. Nice paper, sewn binding, high resolution, digitally cleaned up scans...this is a nice package. Plus, these books have insanely low print runs, so if your OCD thrives on low print runs then this is for you. There is one area of complaint, however. Several of the covers are incorrectly placed. 11 and 12 are mixed up, as are 14 and 15. While annoying, they are at least included in the book. Those George Wilson covers are just beautiful. I would recommend this to fans of Creepy or EC Comics. 

MARVELS: EYE OF THE CAMERA (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Marvels: Eye of the Camera Nos. 1-6 (cover dates February, 2009- April, 2010)

This is the sequel to Marvels. Writers Kurt Busiek and Roger Stern turn in a moving story about the latter part of photographer Phil Sheldon's life. It made me think about what my legacy will be as far as my children are concerned. Artist Jay Anacleto is good, but not as good as Alex Ross on the original series. This was still a terrific read, and gets my highest recommendation.

Reviews: Spider-Man- The Gauntlet Vol. 5, Grim Hunt, One Moment In Time; Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Archives Vol. 2; Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn

SPIDER-MAN: THE GAUNTLET VOL. 5- THE LIZARD (Marvel, 2010, Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 630-633 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man No. 629 and Web of Spider-Man No. 6 (cover dates May- July, 2010)

Zeb Wells is the weak link in the writers of the 'Spidey Brain Trust'. He writes in a more Bendis-esque, ultra-padded style than any of the other cats involved with this title. Couple that with Chris Bachalo's manga-crap-infused "artwork", and you have one unenjoyable book. I would dump this book in a heartbeat if not for my Amazing Spider-Man completist OCD. At least they tried to do something new with the Lizard. It wasn't any good, but it was new, and they tried.

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 2 (Dark Horse, 2010, Hardcover)

Collects Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 5-10 (cover dates October, 1963- June, 1965)

This series is fun and entertaining. While not great, the stories are paced nicely and have artwork by many Golden and Silver Age greats, such as Alex Toth, Frank Springer, Paul S. Newman, Jack Sparling, and Joe Orlando. This book is worth checking out if you are a fan of the Horror/Mystery genres or appreciate vintage comic books.

BATMAN & ROBIN: BATMAN REBORN (DC, 2010, Hardcover)

Collects Batman and Robin Nos. 1-6 (cover dates August, 2009- January, 2010)

I picked up the .99 reprint of Issue 1 and was blown away. I ran out and bought the first two hardcovers (sucker!!) and really enjoyed this one. I have not been a regular reader of Grant Morrison's run, but quickly picked up what was going on in Issue 1. Bruce Wayne is dead. Check. The original Robin (Dick Grayson) is now Batman. Check. Batman's 10 year old son that he had with Ra's Al Ghul's daughter is now Robin. Check. With that basic knowledge, I was able to follow this with ease. I am not a huge fan of either Grant Morrison writing or Frank Quietly's artwork, but it seems to work here. This is pretty gruesome stuff, so parental guidance is suggested. I am more than a little sad that I can't share modern Batman comics with my son.

I have a double-standard with Marvel and DC. With Marvel, things must strictly adhere to continuity and characters must adhere to the foundations set by Stan Lee. Anything else pisses me off. I am also a completist with Marvel titles like Spider-Man, Avengers, etc. With DC, my knowledge is limited mostly to the Golden Age (1930s/1940s). I have no urge to own the complete run of anything, rather I am more than happy to cherry pick arcs here and there based on either the creators involved or any other whim I may have. Again, this is my 'big two' double-standard, and I am sure that there are DC fans somewhere griping about this the way that I gripe about Bendis' Avengers.

SPIDER-MAN: GRIM HUNT (Marvel, 2010, Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 634-637, The Grim Hunt Digital Prologue and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Extra! No. 3, and Web of Spider-Man No. 7 (cover dates May, 2009- September, 2010)

So this is supposed to be the payoff? After plowing through all 5 Gauntlet hardcovers, this is what it all leads to? While not horrible, I felt underwhelmed after that much investment, both in time and money. No spoilers, only these gripes: Ret-cons suck, as do resurrections. There is some sucky dialogue in here too, with Spider-Man doing several "..." replies, and even Arana saying "BTW...". I wish that I were kidding about that, but Joe Kelly is such a lazy writer that he saved a few keystrokes by doing that. Rather than have her say "By the way", they had her say something that has more syllables, as if anyone would really do that. Horrible writing.

SPIDER-MAN: ONE MOMENT IN TIME (Marvel, 2010, Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 638-641 (cover dates September, 2010- October, 2010)

G-R-O-O-O-A-A-AN-N-N....What a piece of crap! With the exception of the outcome of The Gauntlet/ Grim Hunt arc(s), I feel that the Brand New Day run has given us the best Spider-Man comics in 25 years. Rather than putting the whole messy Mephisto thing behind us and moving on, Joe Quesada feels that drudging everything up with more ret-cons is a good idea. This is borderline DC/ What If...? style storytelling.

The last few pages is Issue 641 were padding to the maximum. Showing the same panel 10 or 11 times, but with different coloring, and then on the 12th panel showing the same pose but with something different going on is piss poor storytelling. Oh well, we had a great run that lasted nearly 100 issues. Now we are getting Humbero Ramos' sucktastic "artwork" after this. Let the new 'dark ages' for Spider-Man begin.

The Return of Junk Food For Thought

SKRULLS VS. POWER PACK (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Skrulls Vs. Power Pack Nos. 1-4 (cover dates September- December, 2008)

This was a disappointing semi-tie-in to Secret Invasion. The original 20 or so issues of Power Pack in the '80s had real heart to them. They were geared towards children but were not dumbed down for them like this is. This version simply panders to them.

SPIDER-MAN: CRIME AND PUNISHER (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 574-577 and selections from Spider-Man: Brand New Day-Extra! No. 1 (cover dates September, 2008- January, 2009)

Yet another handsome hardcover in the Brand New Day line of Premiere Hardcovers. The story is great, but Chris Bachalo's manga-crap artwork is a total buzzkill. I subscribe to the notion that every issue is somebody's first issue. Building on that train of thought, let's say that little Tommy, an 8 year old kid from Anytown, USA, sees a Spider-Man movie or cartoon and decides that he wants to read a Spider-Man comic book. If he is lucky enough to live near a comic shop or Borders, he may actually convince his parents to plunk down $3-4 on a floppy, and then find...this? Bachalo is not meant to draw a mainstream superhero comic book like this. And this is the most mainstream superhero comic book on the market, and as such, should only have top flight artists working on it.

THE GREEN LANTERN CHRONICLES VOL. 1 (DC, 2009)

Collects Green Lantern Nos. 1-3 and Showcase Nos. 22-24 (cover dates October, 1959- December, 1960)

I bought this on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Gil Kane did the artwork. His artwork was nowhere near the grandeur he would achieve in the late '60s and early '70s, but it's like listening to an early Beatles album; all of the ingredients are there, but haven't simmered enough yet. John Broome's writing has a fun, zany flavor that could only come out of the Silver Age of Comics. A lot of the faulty science that makes the Silver Age so funny is in play here. I mean, his Power Ring can't affect anything that is yellow? I am sure that some writer in the last 50 years has addressed this with a better explanation. I'll have to wait for the Chronicles line to get there to find out, though.

SPIDER-MAN: DEATH AND DATING (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 578-582, Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2008 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man No. 583 (cover dates December, 2008- March, 2009)

The winning streak continues on this, the third Golden Age of the Amazing Spider-Man! These guys get it. Stories unfolding over multiple issues while having something actually happen in each and every issue. None of this Bendis talking head, feeble set-up, and then something happening in the 4th issue of the arc nonsense. No sirree, not only do I want to keep reading this title, but re-read it as well! Mark Waid and Marcos Martin's Shocker arc was fantastic. Everything looked and felt like a comic book, not the crappy double page "wide angle" Michael Bay style explosions that seem to mar many comic books nowadays. The artwork is crisp and clear throughout, servicing the story first and foremost. Of particular note is the team of Mike McKone and Andy Lanning, who deliver a great rendition of Spider-Man. Beloved scribe Roger Stern (from the first half of the second Golden Age of Spider-Man) returns for a done in one. Yes, a done in one. No 6 part 'arc', no tie-in to Dark Secret Planet or whatever the current crossover is. Dan Slott also deserves a mention here. He is one of the bright spots at Marvel in the 21st Century. To all of the naysayers, please give Brand New Day Spidey a chance! It truly does rock.

SPIDER-MAN: FAMILY TIES (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Spider-Man: Fear Itself and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Family Nos. 1-3 (cover dates October, 2008- March, 2009)

Ehhhhh, I don't know, man. This title screams sub-par from top to bottom. The Fear Itself one-shot (not to be confused with the Fear Itself original graphic novel from 1992) is somewhat enjoyable because it features the Man-Thing. The rest is pretty forgettable, and it is no wonder that this title has already gotten the axe.

SPIDER-MAN: ELECTION DAY (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 584-588 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man No. 583, Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! Nos. 1, 3 and Gettysburg Distress online only comic (cover dates September, 2008- May, 2009)

The core series stuff was great as usual, but the Obama story pretty much sucked. At least I didn't plunk down $100 for the floppy on eBay like some idiots did the week it came out.

SECRET INVASION: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Secret Invasion: The Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 1-3 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 35 (cover dates October- December, 2008)

Before I begin my tirade, please allow me to clarify one thing: This was an enjoyable read with solid writing and artwork. While it was a good read, the title of this book is entirely misleading. The Secret Invasion mini-series focused on Jackpot and Spider-Man's supporting cast, with Spider-Man himself being featured on only a handful of pages. The story did tie in to events occurring in both Secret Invasion and Amazing Spider-Man, but I was disappointed because this was essentially a Jackpot mini-series. I was also disappointed to see Marvel double dip and reprint the ASM Annual here, as it was recently reprinted in the Death and Dating Spider-Man hardcover. It does tie-in to Jackpot, but that just lends further merit to my argument that this is a misleadingly titled book.

X-MEN: SECRET INVASION (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Secret Invasion: X-Men Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 2008- January, 2009) and Fantastic Four Nos. 250 (cover date January, 1983)

This was a decent read, but the real question is why is FF #250 included here? Sure, it is a Skrull story, but I would have rather seen this mini and the Spider-Man Secret Invasion mini collected together in one trade. Maybe they could have called it Secret Invasion Companion or whatnot? The FF issue was collected in the Byrne Visionaries line some time ago, so it seems pointless to include it here, especially when it is superior to the marquee issues in the book!

NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC VOL. 4 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects New Mutants (Vol. 1) Nos. 26-34 (cover dates April- December, 1985)

I bought Nos. 30, 33 and 34 off of the stands back in the day. I am not a fan of Bill Sienkewicz's hyper-scratchy artwork. Sometimes "progress" as an artist is bad! Steve Leialoha steps in and is a breath of fresh air. Chris Claremont still had his craft at this time, but when you read a bunch of these issues in a row it wears thin. His repetition worked well in monthly intervals, not so well in marathon sittings.

BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2009)

Collects Boris Karloff Thriller Nos. 1, 2 and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery Nos. 3, 4 (cover dates October, 1962- July, 1963)

A somewhat tame but always charming collection of Gold Key reprints. The artwork and writing are below the quality of EC but are worth preserving in this format for posterity. I hope that Dark Horse can finagle the rights to Gold Key's Twilight Zone as well.