Reviews- CROSSED VOL. 12 and MOON KNIGHT VOL. 2: DEAD WILL RISE

The only TRUE image of the hardcover on the Internet. I know, because I had to scan it myself!

CROSSED VOL. 12 (Avatar Press, 2015; Hardcover)

Collects Crossed: Badlands #62-70 (cover dates September- December, 2014)

Writer: David Lapham

Artist: Francisco Manna

Colorist: Digikore Studios

Once you have broken societal mores and nearly every taboo, what do you do for shock value? If you are David Lapham, you go even farther down the rabbit hole of depravity. Underage pornography? Check. Rampant heroin and drug use? Check. Selling children into pedophile human trafficking? Check. Rape? Sodomy? Gore beyond gore? Check, check, and check. I have a pretty high tolerance for sick shit, the result of having a parent who felt that taking her 9 year old son to see Psycho 2 and Poltergeist at the theater was a-okay and went on to see Horror movies well before he was ready. While a part of me enjoys the gore and the mayhem, a lot of this book turned my stomach. I guess that's the point, but I didn't have fun with it this time. It's possible that I have reached my point with this title. I guess that the litmus test will be when Crossed +100 comes out.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Some of the variants are presented here. They should release a book with all of the variant covers. That would be cool, as the “stories” seen in the variants seem more interesting than the one found here.

These hardcovers are Direct Market exclusives supposedly not available online. ;)

Paper stock: Good weight glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound.

Hardback cover notes: Super thick waxlike lamination on the casewrap make this dustjacket-free hardcover a joy.

 MOON KNIGHT VOL. 2: DEAD WILL RISE (Marvel, 2015; Softcover)

Collects Moon Knight #7-12 (cover dates November, 2014- April, 2015)

Writer: Brian Wood

Artists: Greg Smallwood and Giuseppe Camuncoli (#10)

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Wow, I am a long-time Moon Knight fan, but this just left me cold. I really enjoyed Warren Ellis' launch of this new series, as it had a different flavor than what had come before. This also has a different flavor, albeit one that totally sucks ass. The writing stinks, the artwork stinks, and the coloring stinks. I have already flushed this turd down the eBay toilet. This marks the end of my buying anything new from Marvel, and I came to that decision before they announced their sucktastic relaunch of “new reader friendly” titles. Yes, 60 new #1s that tie into endless crossovers are sure new reader friendly! I will live for collected editions of vintage material. Make Mine (old) Marvel!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 1.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- There is a typo that it made it past not only the original series editor but the collected editions editor as well. And to think, these are “professional” writers. Pathetic.

Paper stock: Semi-glossy coated stock, a bit on the thin side.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock.

Reviews- MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: FROM THE DEAD and MAGIC WIND VOL. 5: LONG KNIFE

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: FROM THE DEAD (Marvel, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Moon Knight #1-6 (cover dates May- October, 2014)

Writer: Warren Ellis

Artist: Declan Shalvey

Colorist: Jordie Bellaire

Well all right! Now we're talking...a modern Marvel Comic not rooted in a crossover or designed to read as a bloated six issue arc. Warren Ellis has constructed six largely stand alone issues heavy on the action and light on the talking heads. I am unfamiliar with Declan Shalvey's artwork but loved it, ditto Jordie Bellaire's color art. Colorists do a lot more heavy lifting in terms of the artwork than they did even a decade ago, almost acting as an inker at times. Moon Knight has been reinterpreted in a way that doesn't discard what has happened before yet feels fresh and current. I'll be back for Volume 2.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone

Paper stock: Good weight semi-glossy coated stock.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination. Marvel uses a thinner cardstock these days, allowing the book to be more malleable.

MAGIC WIND VOL. 5: LONG KNIFE (Epicenter, 2014; Softcover)

Collects Magic Wind #5 (cover date December, 1997)

Writer: Gianfranco Manfredi

Artist: Giuseppe Barbati and Bruno Ramella

Colorist: Connie Daidone

I buy too many damn books. I am making it something of a New Year's resolution to drop a lot of this ancillary stuff. I need to whittle my backlog down rather than add to it. The sad thing is that Magic Wind is good stuff. This is part one of a two-parter, but even the cliffhanger can't keep me hanging on.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone

Paper stock: Thick glossy coated stock.

Binding: Sewn binding.

Cardstock cover notes: Dull matte coating, sufficiently thick enough to resist scuffing.

Review- ACTS OF VENGEANCE CROSSOVERS OMNIBUS

ACTS OF VENGEANCE CROSSOVERS OMNIBUS (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Alpha Flight Nos. 79, 80, Damage Control Nos. 1-4, Daredevil Nos. 275, 276, Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Nos. 11-13, Fantastic Four Nos. 334-336, Incredible Hulk No. 363, Marc Spector: Moon Knight Nos. 8-10, New Mutants Nos. 84-86, Power Pack No. 53, Punisher Nos. 28, 29, Punisher War Journal Nos. 12, 13, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 256-258, Web of Spider-Man Nos. 64, 65, Wolverine Nos. 19, 20, and the Apocalypse back-up story from X-Factor No. 50 (cover dates December, 1989- June, 1990)

Writers: Walter Simonson, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, Peter David, Mike Baron, Carl Potts, Chuck Dixon, Ann Nocenti, Terry Austin, James D. Hundall, Louise Simonson, Chris Claremont, Dwayne McDuffie, and Gerry Conway

Artists: Rich Buckler, Ron Lim, John Byrne, Jackson Guice, Jeff Purves, Jim Lee, Ernie Colon, Rob Liefeld, Paul Smith, Alex Saviuk, Mike DeCarlo, Klaus Janson, Marie Severin, Mark Farmer, Al Milgrom, Tom Palmer, Al Williamson, Bret Blevins, Bob Wiaceck, Joseph Rubinstein, and others

I really enjoyed the core of this crossover which was collected in the Acts of Vengeance Omnibus. This book collects the odds and ends of the event, including the “epilogue” battle between Graviton, Brothers Grimm, Goliath, Thundra, and Trapster against Spider-Man in Web of Spider-Man Nos. 64 and 65. Marvel really caters to the completist rather than the mythological mainstream bookstore buyer that DC keeps on chasing, and god bless 'em for it. Marvel's collected editions are exhaustively researched and amazingly complete. DC's often omits covers, for chrissakes.

Many of these issues are mediocre, although there is some gold in this sand. The aforementioned Web of Spider-Man, Power Pack, Doctor Strange, and Alpha Flight issues all rank as highlights for me. The Moon Knight, Punisher, and Wolverine issues were also highly entertaining. Others, such as the second Damage Control mini-series, will be skipped over when I re-read this book in the future. The writer of that title, the late Dwayne McDuffie, would go on to do vastly superior work on Fantastic Four and the Ben 10 Alien Force cartoon. 

The worst issues in the book are probably the favorite of the under 30 crowd: the Uncanny X-Men issues with the idiotic Claremont/Lee collaboration which turned Psylocke from a British telepath from the UK Captain Britain strip to an Asian ninja. This is asinine and has never been undone. Ninjas in general are often lame, and ruining a perfectly good character when you could just create a new character is just plain dumb. 

Is that Robin? Nope, it's Jubilee. Artwork by the overrated Jim Lee.

Also horrendous is Jubilee, whose color scheme is just like Robin's. Yes, Robin, as in Batman and Robin. Horrendous costume designs were just coming into vogue during this time and would last for the better part of the '90s. I find Jim Lee to be the most overrated artist in the history of comic books. He's okay, but people act like he is the lord and savior of comic book artists. He still sells, so I am in the minority, but in my opinion he is a huge part of the problem with comic books, not the solution. 

Is this an essential, must-own book? No way, Jose. Is this a fun, albeit uneven, read of one of Marvel's earliest crossovers? Absolutely positively. There is some good writing and good artwork throughout the book, but that's all it is: good. Never really good, or even very good. Strictly second and third gear stuff. If you go into this book with that in mind and read this book in small doses you will enjoy it. I couldn't plow through more than five issues at a time. I quit comics as this crossover was gaining steam and didn't come back until the early aughts. Read whatever you want into that.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5. 

The OCD zone- I love the Marvel Omnibus format. It may seem like I don't review a lot of them, but that is because they take forever to get through. This beast was over 750 pages. I probably have two dozen more unread Omniboo in my backlog waiting to be read.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Much of the artwork in here is just okay, but it is flawlessly presented here in its mediocre glory.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Rest easy, folks: Rob Liefeld's New Mutants have received the hi-def treatment.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful thick coated stock with a slight sheen. These Chinese made books smell fantastic, the result of ink made from compounds of asbestos tiles, mercury from recalled thermometers, and lead paint chips. Once mixed with the final ingredient, the tears of the Chinese children working the sweatshop printing presses, you get an aroma that is delectable. The paper is also great, likely sourced from virgin Amazon rainforest trees. China's complete lack of respect for the environment is our gain, at least pertaining to the wonderful, toxic aroma of this book.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Like all late 2007-on Marvel Omnibus hardcovers, this has sewn binding. The casing is not glued square to the spine, allowing for a considerable amount of flex. The book lays perfectly flat from the first page to the last. 

Review- SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT

SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Shadowland: Moon Knight Nos. 1-3 (cover dates October- December, 2010) and Moon Knight No. 13 (cover date November, 1981)

Writer: Gregg Hurwitz

Artist: Bong Dazo

I have always liked Moon Knight. He is a C-lister, but I enjoy this multiple personality, schizophrenic cat. He is way out of his gourd here, and we even see the resurrection of his Marc Spector personality. This story weaves in and out of the core Shadowland mini-series, and can not really be read alone. It works as a stand alone read until he infiltrates Daredevil's Japanese looking temple. The artwork is a little more cartoony than I like for this character. Moon Knight needs a dark, scratchy type of artist. Dave Finch and Bill Sienkewicz did him best. 

Moon Knight No. 13, from 1981, features a Daredevil/Moon Knight team up and is provided here to pad out the page count in the paltry, overpriced offering. It has four issues at $19.99 MSRP. Lame. This is a fairly enjoyable read, but it's a skimpy book at that price point.

The OCD zone- Standard Marvel Premiere Edition hardcover, with the same nice paper and glued binding. This book is so thin that it lays perfectly flat in one hand, though.

Review- SHADOWLAND

SHADOWLAND (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Shadowland Nos. 1-5 (cover dates September, 2010- January, 2011)

Writer: Andy Diggle

Artist: Billy Tan

Like most modern Marvel Comics, this is a spit-shined production. The writing, the artwork, and the coloring are all slick and professionally done. The problem rests with the story itself. I cannot buy the premise that this enter mini-series is based on. There will be some spoilers from here on out. Sorry, but this time I cannot critique this book without discussing some specific plot points.

Shadowland is Hell's Kitchen in New York City. Bullseye apparently blew up a tenement block, killing 107 people. Daredevil made some pact with his enemies, the ninja clan The Hand, and built some ridiculous Japanese looking temple in the middle of the city. Given how much trouble that I recently have had with permits in the city I reside in just to build a f***ing garage, this would be no small undertaking. Not to mention scheduling contractors. Sheesh. “This crew can't come in until that crew has done this.” “Oh, it rained today. Maybe next week.” I find it hard to believe that Daredevil could get such a structure erected before someone came sniffing around. This is the premise laid out in the first issue. These events took place in Daredevil, which I do not regularly read. So going in, I couldn't buy it. 

Unfortunately for me and my wallet, I did buy this book. At least the artwork was pretty, right? So I soldiered on. Daredevil acts completely out of character, the result of him being possessed by some lameass ninja demon. As if having an army of ninjas in the middle of New York wasn't unbelievable enough, we have some ancient demon thing, too. Right. Elektra is also around to crap up the proceedings, as well as piss on Frank Miller's legacy on the title. Nice.

So all in all, this was a beautiful, highly polished turd. I couldn't buy it, couldn't get into it, and now relegate it to What If...? fan fiction status.

The OCD zone- Standard Marvel Premiere Edition hardcover, with the same nice paper and glued binding.

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Review: Moon Knight- Countdown To Dark

MOON KNIGHT: COUNTDOWN TO DARK (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects selections from Hulk Magazine Nos. 11-15, 17, 18, 20, 21 and Marvel Preview No. 21 (cover dates February, 1979- May, 1980)

This is probably as close to a Moon Knight Masterworks as we're going to get. The Marvel Premiere Classic line gets it right, though. Nice paper and sewn binding in a hardcover format at a lower price point than the Masterworks line, albeit with a lower page count. Moon Knight is, at best, a strictly third tier character in terms of popularity. I have always had a soft spot for him, what with his schizophrenia/ multiple personality disorder and 'more Batman than Batman' attitude during this era. Moon Knight was a regular back-up feature in the full color Hulk Magazine, and the artwork for those issues was originally airbrushed. I have no idea if these are all scans or insanely complicated color reconstruction jobs. Most of the pages look excellent, although there a few "fuzzy" looking, probably scanned pages scattered throughout the book. Most people probably wouldn't notice, but my uber-anal-retentive, OCD-laden eyes can pick them out.

Writer Doug Moench does some really neat scene changes that were pretty groundbreaking at the time but have since become commonplace. He didn't do as many caption/ third party narratives as most writers did back then. He used dialogue shifts to change scenes, i.e. someone would be talking and the scene would shift with someone finishing the line, but moving the other scene forward. Bill Sienkiewicz is a fan favorite artist, but not one of my mine. His work devolved into a scratchy mess as he went along, but here he does his best Neal Adams riffs to much success. It's a shame that he had to drastically alter his style a few years later.

This is a great read for those unfamiliar with the character. These issues were collected in black and white (along with his early Werewolf By Night appearances) in Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Reviews: Vengeance of the Moon Knight Vol. 1- Shock and Awe; Vengeance of the Moon Knight Vol. 2- Killed Not Dead; Battle: Los Angeles

VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1: SHOCK AND AWE (Marvel, 2010; softcover)

Collects Vengeance of the Moon Knight Nos. 1-6 (cover dates November, 2009- May, 2010)
Moon Knight has a very loyal, but very small, fan base. In this, his seventh (now canceled) series, we get a streamlined version of the hero. Gone is the harder edged, Marvel MAX-style Moon Knight from the 2006 series, replaced with a more heroic Moon Knight. I know that Marvel keeps canceling and rebooting his series to get the Issue 1 sales spike, but there will be a point where diminishing returns come into play and they just won't bother with him any more. The latest relaunch (not this series) is by the loathsome Brian Michal Bendis, whom I am certain will test my loyalty to this character to the fullest.

On to this series. The story by Gregg Hurwitz moves along at a brisk clip, thanks to decompressed storytelling. Artist Jerome Opena has a gritty style that is well suited to the material. All in all, I would rank this as an empty calorie read. A few minutes after you're done, you feel like you haven't read anything.

VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT VOL. 2: KILLED, NOT DEAD (Marvel, 2010; softcover)
Collects Vengeance of the Moon Knight Nos. 7-10 (cover dates June- September, 2010)

Wow, the train goes right off of the tracks here in Volume 2. You get a craptastic Deadpool guest appearance, then a movie continuity version of Sandman, complete with daughter and "good guy done wrong" motives. I really dislike all of the movie and Ultimate universe style continuity creeping into the main Marvel Universe. It has no place there and will ultimately render Marvel as incoherent as DC. I couldn't stand DC as a kid because nothing mattered because there wasn't any real, definitive continuity.

At least the artwork in Issues 9 and 10 by Juan Jose Ryp is an upgrade over Jerome Opena's from Issues 1-8. I really enjoyed Ryp's clean pencils, and the coloring by Andres Jose Mossa was equally tasteful. Issue 10 was a complete clusterfuck. Moon Knight is now in the Secret Avengers, and while I have that hardcover, I haven't read it yet. I walked into Issue 10 with no knowledge of the Secret Avengers, and this story was puzzling. It didn't serve as a conclusion to the series, and Moon Knight wasn't even the focal point of the story. Another gripe that I have is that all of a sudden Moon Knight has armor. Iron Man style armor. While his costume was modified in appearance in this series, and was made of some stronger bulletproof material, towards the end of the series it gets bootjets and all sorts of other stupidity. Moon Knight uses a samurai sword and has a bow and arrow all of a sudden, too. This series got really stupid really fast, and I was thankful to see it put out of its misery.

Battle: Los Angeles

Wow, this movie sucked. The worst thing to happen to science fiction movies is the incorporation of action movie elements. Big, dumb explosions, lame one-liners..they're all here! Michael Bay style nano-second camera angle changes are the norm nowadays, and since I have an attention span longer than 1.3 seconds it makes me queasy. The "running" camera angles give me a headache. They are the latest cliche, since The Matrix-style stop and spin camera angles have gone out of vogue. There is a general noisiness and out of focus look and feel to this whole movie, and it smacks of compensating for an inferior story. It's like Hollywood looks at a script and says "This is weak. Smother it with special effects." Then I imagine them getting a rough edit and saying "This still stinks. Shake the camera so that no one notices how lame this movie really is." I will still go and see comic book movies, but I am done with the Sci-Fi/ action movie hybrid.

The story is silly and derivative, making Independence Day seem like a trailblazing, genre-defining work of art. The aliens are never clearly shown and are decidedly low tech. Where are the death rays? Do yourself a favor and save your money. Stay home and read some comic books instead of subjecting yourself to this movie.

Valley of the Junk Food For Thought

No longer am I just a nut who rants and raves about comic books in his blog. Now I am a nut who rants and raves about his blog and has been published. That's right, I am this month's fan reviewer in Comics Buyer's Guide #1668, available at comic book specialty shops and finer newsstands everywhere on June 16. They altered one of my sentences in my review for Vincent Price Presents #17, and now it makes no sense, and spell-checked 'cartoony' for cartooned in my review for Creepy #3. Regardless, it was an absolute thrill to see print. Now, back to our regularly unscheduled program...

IRREDEEMABLE VOL. 1 (Boom, 2009)

Collects Irredeemable Nos. 1-4 (cover dates April- July, 2009)

This was an X-Mas present, and while it was entertaining and intriguing, I am going to say 'no' to the rest of this series for the time being. I only have so much discretionary income for these things, and enough is enough. Sorry Mark Waid and Boom Studios, nothing personal, I just can't keep up with everything going on in this hobby anymore.




EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Excalibur (Vol. 1) Nos. 51-58 and Excalibur: XX Crossing (cover dates June- Early December, 1992)

The issues where Alan Davis actually draws the title are great. The ones where he doesn't...not so great. There are a couple of issues which were plotted by Alan Davis, but scripted by Scott Lobdell, a third rate writer who overwrites everything. When Davis is in the driver's seat, though, this is a good time. I love his action sequences, as their is a fluidity to them that is just amazing. You can almost 'see' the movement in your mind. I can't wait for Volume 3.




ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Fanfare Nos. 30, 38, Moon Knight (Vol. 1) Nos. 31-38, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu Nos. 1-6, and material from Marvel Fanfare No. 39, Marvel Super Heroes Spring Special No. 1 and Solo Avengers No. 3 (cover dates May, 1983- May, 1990)

Quality stuff by various writers and artists. Moon Knight was 'adult', 'dark' and 'gritty' even before Watchmen and other comic books made it fashionable.

It's funny how time changes your perspective on things. I recalled buying Moon Knight "for a while" in the '80s, but in actuality I bought Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu Nos. 1-3 off of the spinner racks at 7-11 circa 1985. 3 whole issues. The thing is, back then I read each comic book that I bought around a dozen times, so each issue that I bought seemed more important than now, when I read something once and hope that one day I will read it again. I am likely among the last of the Amish children, as I grew up in a household with no cable TV, the Internet was something out of science fiction, and interacting with other comic book fans meant talking to my two other friends who bought comic books... positively Little House on the Prairie to the kids out there today.




GOLDEN AGE SHEENA: THE BEST OF THE QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE VOL. 2 (Devil’s Due, 2009)

Collects material from Jumbo Comics Nos. 31, 51, 81, 84, 87, 92, 99, 107, 131 (cover dates September, 1941- January, 1950)

I got this in a $5 trades box, which is sort of like the quarter box equivalent for all of you floppy buyers out there. I was blown away by the quality of the artists of the Eisner/ Iger Studios. I was also blown away by the sexual overtones and graphic violence for the era, chuckling as I read this because this was marketed to children. Too funny. I would love to see some company sell this stuff to a child today. This is also as politically incorrect as every other Golden Age comic book. They feature another Jumbo back-up feature, Sky Doll by Matt Baker (credited as Bill Gibson) as a bonus, and I would love to read more of that stuff too. I am going to hunt down Vol. 1 of GA Sheena.

The restoration of the material in this book is interesting. High resolution scans with slight color correction to take the yellowing out of the pulp paper and printed on slick paper. For some reason, these contrasting presentations work very well together. I like seeing the dots, the line bleed, the imperfections of the aged paper itself. I love fully restored and remastered collections of vintage material, and I love this warts-and-all approach as well.





X-MEN LEGACY: EMPLATE (Marvel, 2010)

Collects X-Men Legacy Nos. 228-230 and X-Men Legacy Annual No. 1 (cover dates November, 2009- February, 2010)

This was middle-of-the-road X-Men. Nothing groundbreaking or terribly interesting happening here. Gambit still sucks and needs to be killed off, though.




THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN VOL. 3 (Image, 2009)

Collects The Astounding Wolf-Man Nos. 13-18 (cover dates February- August, 2009)

*SIGH* Only one more trade left, and then this series is done. Bummer. I actually enjoy reading this title, and look forward to seeing things unfold.

This trade was delayed some 5-6 months from it's original solicitation date because Image did a last minute switch from printing it in Canada to China. Like many Chinese made trades, this has a wonderfully intoxicating fragrance. I imagine 8-9 year old children working in sweat shops, pouring broken asbestos tiles, lead paint chips, and mercury from recalled thermometers into a vat and mixing it with a big stick to make the ink that they use to print this book on paper made from virgin rain forest trees. Also, the book has sewn binding. Having a softcover with sewn binding is not an every day occurrence, but I would gladly welcome it. We need to keep those poor little Chinese children employed, you know.



THE EC ARCHIVES FRONTLINE COMBAT VOL. 1 (Gemstone, 2008)

Collects Frontline Combat Nos. 1-6 (cover dates July/August, 1951- May/June, 1952)

This was finally released in September of 2009, after 11 months of delays from its original solicitation date. Then there were the delays due to my backlog, and here we are some 10 months since it came out, and I have completed reading it. The reason that this book was delayed so long was because of Gemstone's financial troubles which have ultimately resulted in them losing the EC license. I guess that the book was ready to be released on time, but since the printer bills were not paid they kept this book hostage in a warehouse somewhere. I am really bummed out, because I want the entire 'New Trend' in hardcover format. There will be a total of 66, and so far 13 have been released with no word on when we will see the rest.

Like all EC Comics, these are among the finest comic books ever produced. EC mopped up the competition with their superior writing and artwork. In a few short years after these issues were published a jerkoff by the name of Fredric Wertham would help spearhead this company's demise.




FANTASTIC FOUR: IN SEARCH OF GALACTUS (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Fantastic Four Nos. 204-214 (cover dates March, 1979- January, 1980)

Wow, this is like a junior Marvel Masterworks, clocking in at around 204 pages with nice paper and sewn binding. This is a pretty entertaining read from my "golden age" of comics, with writing by Marv Wolfman and art by Michigan's own Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema, and a heaping helping of John Byrne goodness. I got issues 210 and 214 from those old three-packs that Marvel used to sell via Whitman's non-newsstand distribution. Back then comics were .40, and the bags were labeled 3 for $1.09. They would have one or two A-list titles, and the third was always some turkey like Thor or Ghost Rider, whathaveyou. My brother had issue 208, which he gave to me along with the rest of his collection in the '80s. I still have that copy of issue 210, and man is it beat up. I was like 5 or 6 back then, so what do you expect? In any case, fun reads and a fun trip down memory lane.




NEW AVENGERS VOL. 12: POWERLOSS (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects New Avengers Nos. 55-60 (cover dates September, 2009- February, 2010)

Regular readers of my blog know of my general disdain for all things written by Brian Michael Bendis, but I've got to tell you, this arc... this arc was not bad. I found myself actually enjoying it. These issues are crammed with far more dialogue than past issues, and while I don't particularly enjoy all of his 'witty' wise-ass banter, some if it works here. Some of it also simply his stylistic cue, so like certain things that, say, Chris Claremont does that drives me nuts and I overlook, I am also trying to do with Bendis. Again, I am not 'down' with the B, but this didn't suck, either.



THE MIGHTY AVENGERS: THE UNSPOKEN (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Mighty Avengers Nos. 27-31 (cover dates September, 2009- January, 2010)

Waitaminute, did my bus stop on the Bizarro planet? Bendis' Avengers were a better read than Dan Slott's?? Say what? I am serious, you guys. This time out, things were just decent in Slott's book, although artist Sean Chen (Issues 30 and 31) is pretty darn amazing with them pencils.