Review: The Spectacular Spider-Girl: The Last Stand

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-GIRL: THE LAST STAND (Marvel, 2010; Softcover)

Collects Spectacular Spider-Girl No. 1-4, Spider-Girl: The End and selections from Web of Spider-Man Nos. 5-7 (cover dates April- October, 2010)

Writer: Tom DeFalco

Artists: Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema

Spider-Girl has had more lives than a cat, at least in terms of surviving publication cancellation. Grass roots campaigns to save May “Mayday” Parker from the chopping block were successful many times, but in the end, this is a business, and if a title isn't making money, then the ax falls. I am glad that Marvel at least let Tom and Ron finish up their saga before ruining the good name of Spider-Girl with their completely unrelated character relaunch.

Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz are 'company men' in the strictest sense of the word. They were both weaned on Marvel Comics of the '60s and turned pro in the '80s, soaking up every lesson that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby had to offer. It's unfortunate that this type of classic superhero storytelling is out of vogue. I can at least revisit my trade paperbacks over and over again. I just wish that Marvel would finish up the run of digests that they had going for the original series.

DeFalco is a master of the ongoing subplot, laying foundations for future events while dealing with the task at hand. It's really fun to watch unfold, and it's what has made me such a huge fan of his and Frenz's work since their run on Amazing Spider-Man in the mid '80s. The amount of goodness that they crammed into the four issue mini-series and The End one shot would take years to unfurl in the decompressed storytelling manner that so many modern day hotshots employ.

Tom DeFalco claims that this is really the end for Spider-Girl this time. I sure hope not, as I have grown quite fond of this "alternate future timeline" MC2 universe.

I read comics so that you don't have to.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2010)

Collects Project Superpowers Nos. 0-6 (cover dates June, 2009- January, 2010)

This series presents some good ideas, but they are sure taking their sweet old time to get anywhere. It just feels like a lot of nothing is happening...get on it with it already!


PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: MEET THE BAD GUYS (Dynamite, 2010)

Collects Project Superpowers: Meet the Bad Guys Nos. 1-4 (cover dates August- November, 2009)

Interesting one-shot character sketches. I especially like The Scarab's one-shot (Issue 4).



INDIANA JONES- THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OMNIBUS VOL. 3 (Dark Horse, 2010)

Collects The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones Nos. 25-34 and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Nos. 1-4 (cover dates January, 1985- November, 1989)

I had never read any of these issues before, and they were all pretty enjoyable. Mostly done-in-ones with the occasional 2 or 3 parter, these all flowed pretty well within Indiana Jones canon. The art by Steve Ditko is great, and I was unaware that he even worked on this series until these trades were released.




THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 10 (DC, 2010)

Collects Batman Nos. 16, 17 and material from Detective Comics Nos. 75-77 and World’s Finest Comics No. 10 (cover dates April/May- July, 1943)

Great reads one and all! I love Golden Age Batman, as these stories are way fun and bleed charm. Alfred debuts here is Issue 16, and is quite a bit different than he would be later on, being an amateur sleuth and all. Also in issue 16 is "The Grade A Crimes", a wonderful story about robbers who double as milkmen. The old tyme-y street lamps and two-color traffic signals also help paint this as a quaint period piece. It's funny how these things would be inserted into retro-flavored stories today to help create atmosphere, but here they are simply contemporary background things. I love it. The Joker, the Robber Baron, and the Penguin are the stars of the rogues gallery this time out.

In Issue 17's "Adventure of the Vitamin Vandals", Batman tangles with a shark. Unlike the 1966 movie, however, he uses a knife rather than a can of shark repellent. The story from World’s Finest Comics No. 10, "The Man With The Camera Eyes" is somewhat contemporary. In the tale, a man uses his photographic memory to memorize documents, written music, etc., which is referred to here as "other people's ideas". In this day and age we use the term intellectual property, but this tale shows the grey areas pertaining to theft and crime, and the perception thereof. That is what it made me think of, at least. Individual mileage may vary.

One interesting thing about these issues is that while there are 'Buy war Bonds' logos on the splash pages of most of the stories, Batman steers clears of politics for the most part. Unlike Timely's heroes (Marvel as they were called back then), Batman does not engage in fisticuffs with the Nazis or the Japanese. I am sorry if I spoiled any of the above stories for you, but comic books that are nearly 70 years old are exempt from spoiler tags.

The restoration on the Detective Comics stories seems crude, especially when compared to the great job that DC did on the core series. I would love to see DC remaster the aforementioned stories, and compile them in nice, chunky hardcovers like Marvel's Omnibus line. My cheap ass can't afford to buy 30 different Archives, plus I like the chronological by release date format of The Chronicles line.




THE BATMAN: TALES OF THE DEMON (DC, 2005 Printing)

Collects Batman Nos. 232, 235, 240, 242-244, Detective Comics Nos. 411, 485, 489, 490 and DC Special Series No. 15 (cover dates May, 1971- May, 1980)

When I was a small child, I loved Batman. I watched re-runs of the '60s TV series, watched the Superfriends cartoons, had the 8" Mego doll, the whole bit. Along the way, I was convinced that Marvel ruled and DC sucked, likely from the influence of others. The occasional glance at the Distinguished Competition's '80s output confirmed this belief. Here is where I officially and publicly rescind my disliking of DC Comics. These stories are every bit as good as what Marvel was doing at the time. Dennis O'Neil crafts some first class stories, and the artwork by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano (among others) is top notch as well.

The thing that I like the most about these issues is that while Batman fights Ra's Al Ghul physically, most of their fighting is a psychological game of cat and mouse and manipulation. It works on so many levels and is so good on all of them.

The only negative thing that i can say about this book is the modern re-coloring, which appears dark and murky. I guess that earlier printings have the original color palette. I wish that I had known that when I picked this up.




X-FACTOR: INVISIBLE WOMAN HAS VANISHED (Marvel, 2010)

Collects X-Factor Nos. 200-203 (cover dates February- May, 2010)

This was okay, but I am done with all of these X-Men offshoots. I haven't really enjoyed the non-Uncanny X-Men stuff as a whole for quite some time, and am going to stick with the flagship title only from here on out. There are just too many comics being put out by other publishers that seem more interesting than this title. I will no longer buy from habit.




SPIDER- GIRL VOL. 12: THE GAMES VILLAINS PLAY (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Spider-Girl Nos. 67-72 (cover dates February- June, 2004)

Marvel has been slowly collecting the original series in these digests. I hope that we can get the remaining 28 issues collected before all is said and done.




MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA MENACE VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Menace Nos. 1-11 (cover dates March, 1953- May, 1954)

This was Atlas' (what Marvel was called back then) answer to EC's horror titles. Stan Lee wrote most of these tales, and was assisted in the artwork department by a number of greats: Russ Heath, Joe Maneely, John Romita, Sr., etc. These are all terrific reads about zombies, werewolves, vampires, etc. Fun for the whole family...if you happen to be the Addams Family, that is.




ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 242, 243, X-Factor Nos. 36-50 and X-Factor Annual No. 3 (cover dates January, 1989- January, 1990)

Once this gets going, it doesn't stop. The first few issues in this book are fairly clunky reads, but after Louise Simonson finds her footing again, it's a fun ride. The whole Inferno crossover with Uncanny X-Men is good fun, ditto the 6 issue Judgement War arc. The only downside to this book is Walt Simonson's artwork on several of the issues. Yes, that's right, I said it. I am not a fan of his scratchy looking artwork, never have been. He has legions of fans, but I am not one of them.




SPECTACULAR SPIDER-GIRL: WHO KILLED GWEN REILLY? (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Spider-Girl No. 0 and material from Amazing Spider-Man Family Nos. 1-8 and Web of Spider-Man Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1998- March, 2010)

Spider-Girl takes place in an alternate future timeline called MC2 (Marvel Comics 2). Before the marriage (and daughter) of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson was ret-conned out of existence, this was merely a future time line. The stories in Web of Spider-Man deal with May as an infant. The Spider-Girl stories from ASMF feature Tombstone, a Spider-Man villain who debuted in the late '80s. I always thought that he was pretty cool, and that opinion is reaffirmed here.

Dark Junk Food For Thought

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 5: DOWN SOUTH (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Moon Knight (Vol. 5) Nos. 26-30 (cover dates March- July, 2009)

This was another solid read. I really enjoy this title, but fail to see why Marvel axed it just to get the spike in sales for another Issue 1. Marvel seems to be moving in the right direction, restoring the original numbering to their flagship titles, and this seems like a huge step backwards. On top of that, Issue 30 obviously points to the next arc, so why not just keep the series going? I love the Zapata Brothers, both as villains and allies in this arc. Their Facebook jokes were hilarious as well, and it would be nice to see them as a semi-regular feature in the title.

X-MEN: THE SHATTERING (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Astonishing X-Men Nos. 1-3, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 372-375 X-Men Nos. 92-95 and selections from X-Men 1999 Yearbook (cover dates September, 1999- February, 2000).

I wish that this were released prior to the two X-Men Vs. Apocalypse trades that came out a year or two ago, as these issues precede those and would have made for a more enjoyable read overall. Cable, Bishop, and Gambit all suck ass, and I can't stand the sight of them. This whole thing is largely overwritten and has cheesy dialogue all around, which is a shame considering Alan Davis' solid plotting throughout. This isn't as bad as most '90s X-Men, as there some interesting ideas set forth here which would unfold in X-Treme X-Men.

NEW AVENGERS VOL. 10: POWER (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects New Avengers Nos. 48-50 and Secret Invasion: Dark Reign (cover dates February- April, 2009)

Just like fans of the Detroit Lions, I cannot give up on the Avengers, even when they are "losing" because of Brian Michael Bendis' lazy writing. I mean, come on, the whole Secret Invasion: Dark Reign one shot is nothing but a conversation between people with the same lame jokes and wiseass comments that Bendis applies to every single character that he writes. I also despise his condescending attitude towards superheroes. If this jackass is too cool to write superheroes then he should go back to writing "real" comics. I honestly believe that Bendis is a double agent who takes a paycheck from DC and is being paid to destroy the Marvel Universe. He's pretty goddamn close right now, with the uber-retarded Norman Osborn running the show thing.

NEW AVENGERS VOL. 11: SEARCH FOR THE SORCERER SUPREME (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects New Avengers Nos. 51-54 (cover dates May- August, 2009)

More lazy Bendis writing, but at least something happens in this arc. I don't understand the whole "Doctor Voodoo" handle, though, because Jericho Drumm is not a doctor. He's still Brother Voodoo whether he is the new Sorcerer Supreme or not.

SWAMP THING VOL. 9: INFERNAL TRIANGLES (DC, 2006)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 77-81 and Swamp Thing Annual No. 3 (cover dates 1987- Holiday, 1988)

The Swamp Thing Annual was the most abysmal thing that I have read in quite some time. The core series remains an intriguing read. Unfortunately, this is the last trade that is available for this run of the title, so I will have to resort to online synopses of the issues following the ones reprinted here in this trade.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf By Night Nos. 1-4 (cover dates March- June, 2009), Tomb of Dracula No. 18 and Werewolf By Night No. 15 (cover date for both March, 1974).

This was the MAX (Marvel's adult imprint) mini-series and, as such, is set outside of main continuity. I am always thrilled to see my beloved Werewolf By Night in any capacity, and this was not a letdown. Super violent and fun, Mico Suayan's artwork is amazing. I also have to give props to Ian Hannin's coloring, as it really complemented the artwork. As I have stated repeatedly, computer color separations generally detract from the artwork, with many colorists going apesh*t with all of the bells and whistles and forgetting that they are there to add to, not replace, the linework. I would like to see more new WBN.

RAY BRADBURY'S FAHRENHEIT 451 (Hill and Wang, 2009)

The term graphic novel is bandied about with reckless abandon. A graphic novel is a book length comic book that has been previously unpublished in a periodical format, like this title. Most 'graphic novels' in fine book stores like Borders are, in reality, trade paperbacks, because they compile issues previously released in a periodical format. Watchmen and Sin City? Trade paperbacks, people! OK, that aside, I was glad to see this solicited simultaneously in hardcover and softcover. Given my hardcover fetish, that's obviously what I went with. I wish that I hadn't. What we have here is a glued, mousetrap binding style hardcover, dubbed as such by me because as soon as you let the book go, *SNAP* shut it goes. A softcover would have been preferable to that. I first encountered this story via the 1960's movie 20 years ago. We had a student teacher in some high school English class while whatever teacher it was had surgery or something. Anyways, he was a very engaging teacher, Mr. Johnson I believe his name was, and he found ways to make books seem cool. This being 1990, the Judas Priest court case over some kid's suicide was in full bloom, and the Parental Music Resource Center (PMRC) was in full swing, slapping those Explicit content stickers on albums and threatening to end life as a 17 year old Metalhead knows it. Censorship seemed like a very real threat to my adolescent way of life. He showed us the movie of this book, which I eventually read the book of, and it left a very real impact on me. Fast forward almost 20 years later, and I saw this solicited and had to order it. This is a wonderful graphic novel adaptation done with Ray Bradbury's blessing and will hopefully find yet another generation of open minded people. This story is the reason that I will never subscribe to the notion of the electronic book. It would take but a few keystrokes to eliminate something controversial, but it is much more difficult to destroy the physical book.

SPIDER- GIRL VOL. 11: MARKED FOR DEATH (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Spider-Girl Nos. 60-66 (cover dates July, 2003- January, 2004)

Another solid, enjoyable read. Spider-Girl and the whole MC2 universe rocks.

Alice Cooper: Love It To Death, Killer, and School's Out 24K Gold disc reissues
I finally got around to picking these up, and they sound amazing. The original CD versions of Love It To Death and Killer were abysmal, sounding muddy with the 1% lag problem that was common on so many CDs mastered in the '80s. These sound crisp and clean without being compressed and punchy sounding. The bass drum doesn't sound like a cannon, it sounds like a bass drum, etc. I would like to see Billion Dollar Babies get this treatment, as they messed up the fade on Hello Hooray into Raped and Freezin' on the remaster earlier this decade, ditto Welcome To My Nightmare, as that remaster actually sounds remixed to me. It's nice to have all of the original packaging elements present as well.
Avatar
One of the most amazing and visually beautiful movies ever made. The CGI and 3-D are flawless and help to draw you in to the storyline. The plot is a bit predictable and it hits you over the head with its message, but it is a good message so I'll let it slide. I absolutely love the fact that this has nice clean edits that didn't rely on nanosecond camera angle changes or rock concert loud explosions, etc. (although there are great battle and action sequences throughout) to keep your attention. This is just an extremely well made and enjoyable popcorn flick that is almost Lord of the Rings good. Almost. It's nice that one of the best movies of the decade came during the final few weeks. No product placement and it hits all of the sweet spots, so it gets a 10/10.

Lights...Camera...Junk Food For Thought!

SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE CASES OF THE TWISTED MINDS (Tranzfusion, 2009)

Collects Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the Opera Ghost, Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Holmes and selections from The Sherlock Holmes Reader (cover dates 1994-1998)

This was a decent read with (at times) subpar production values. I'll be lenient with the criticism since Tranzfusion is a tiny independent company likely without the resources to hunt for quality sources for their trades. Parts of this book look like they were scanned right from the floppies. Seppio Makinen's artwork is always a treat.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE MAN WITH NO FACE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain America (Vol. 5) Nos. 43-48 (cover dates December, 2008- May, 2009)

More edge-of-your-seat, suspense-filled greatness by Ed Brubaker. I do have a problem with Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner taking a life in Issue 48. It seems unheroic. Then again, he used to attack the surface world in the '30s, and I am sure that he killed many Nazis or Japs in '40s comic books, so maybe I am off base with my criticism.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: ROAD TO REBORN (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America (Vol. 5) Nos. 49, 50, 600, 601 (cover dates June- September, 2009)

The quality here has dipped, being only good instead of excellent. The whole thing seems like they're just killing time until the Reborn mini-series dropped.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Journey Into Mystery (Vol. 1) Nos. 11-20 (cover dates August, 1953- December, 1954)

While inferior to their peers at EC Comics, these old Atlas Horror titles are a lot of fun. The artwork and writing vary in quality, but there is generally something enjoyable in each story. I am just glad that Marvel has decided to keep collecting these lost classics.

AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL VOL. 5: MAYBREAK (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Amazing Spider-Girl Nos. 25-30 (cover dates December, 2008- May, 2009)

Solid and entertaining stuff by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema. This title remains a great read and I am glad that it lives on online and eventually in trade.

HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 2: LOVE STORIES FOR DEAD PEOPLE (DC, 2009)

Collects House of Mystery (Vol. 2) Nos. 6-10 (cover dates December, 2008- April, 2009)

This series doesn't suck, but it isn't my cup of tea, either. I love the original House of Mystery, with the Horror anthology style of storytelling that employs a main character/ narrator ala the Cryptkeeper from EC's Tales From the Crypt. This series falls short in the regard that it has an entire cast that it's trying to build arcs around while interspersing short stories. The only one that even deserves a mention is the one with Bernie Wrightson artwork. The rest of them, while not awful, do not measure up to the original series either. This series seems more like a mediocre cable television series than a comic book. Consider this title dropped, and the first two trades will be available in my next eBay purging.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AVENGERS VOL. 9 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Avengers (Vol. 1) Nos. 80-88 and Incredible Hulk No. 140 (cover dates September, 1970- June, 1971)

Latter era Silver Age goodness by Roy Thomas and the Buscema brothers. Some of these issues hold up better than others, with the Halloween parade one being the worst of the bunch and the Red-Wolf 'arc' being the best.

POWER PACK CLASSIC VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Power Pack Nos. 1-10 (cover dates August, 1984- May, 1985)

It's always nice when something that you loved as a child holds up when you revisit it as an adult. Case in point being Power Pack. I loved this at the time, as Louise Simonson's writing had real heart and June Brigman's pencils were wonderful. Fast forward 25 years, and the writing is still superb, but the artwork is just stunning. Not only have Brigman's pencils aged well, but I'd have to say that they were ahead of their time and rank her among my all-time favorite artists. Fill-in penciler Brent Anderson does a respectable take on the Power clan, but it's Brigman's pencils that bring these characters to life. Forget the manga-flavored non-continuity Power Pack mini-series that Marvel churns out these days and go right to the source. With Disney's recent acquisition of Marvel, one can only hope that we see a Pixar animated Power Pack movie based on June Brigman's pencils.

BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS (DC, 1999)

Collects Detective Comics Nos. 469-476, 478, 479 (cover dates May, 1977- October, 1978)

This starts off decent, with writing by Steve Englehart and artwork by Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom, and the kicks into high gear when Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin pick up the pencils and brushes. Len Wein wraps up with the final 3 issues in the book without missing a beat. I am not a huge Batman fan, but if every issue is of this caliber then maybe I will become one. I owned Issue 478 when my Mom bought it for me off the stands up north at some store when we stayed up north at my Grandpa's cottage one summer. The cover, with the lady melting out of her clothes, scared the crap out of me. I tracked down the issue via the Grand Comic Database's cover gallery feature and then went out and got a reader copy for like $3-4. I then did a search of The Trade Paperback List and found out that there was a trade for this arc, which I then acquired. My only gripes with this trade are A) I dislike the thin pulp-y paper that DC uses in trades that are priced the same as Marvel's, which have nicer paper and B) there are no issue covers provided and C) these issues are the re-colored versions from the reprint series Shadow of the Batman. This is a spectacular read otherwise.

ESSENTIAL X-MEN VOL. 9 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 244-264 and Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 13 (cover dates May, 1989- Late July, 1990)

OK, time for me to man up: I was wrong. Having read the old X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee trade years ago, I dismissed this entire era of X-Men as crap. I quit buying the title around maybe Issue 251, maybe earlier, as I disliked the stories circa 1989 and didn't (and still don't) like Marc Silvestri's artwork. Jubilee was, and still is, a horrible character. The Jim Lee stuff that I have seen did not impress me. In black and white Essential format, though, his linework is actually interesting. Dated and somewhat gimmicky, sure, but it definitely doesn't suck as bad as I once thought that it did. I do, however, still detest the Claremont/Lee collaboration that turned Psylocke from a British telepath to an Asian ninja. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Jim Jaaska's artwork in Issue 263 was good, and I have never heard of him before or since. Strange. Chris Claremont is a great writer when read in intervals. I tried plowing through this book a few months back and just stopped. Too repetitive, too many recaps, etc. If you read an issue a day, or every other day, then this stuff is pretty darn good. I remember being a huge Claremont fan in the '80s because of his everlasting sub-plots, and those are available in spades here, almost to the point of madness. Uncanny X-Men hadn't jumped the shark yet, but they were lacing up the ski boots.

Originally posted on my myspace blog on 6/18 & 7/4/2009

UNCANNY X-MEN: MANIFEST DESTINY (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 500-503, X-Men: Free Comic Book Day 2008 and selections from X-Men: Manifest Destiny Nos. 1-5

The core UXM issues are a good read, with decent artwork. For some reason, though, I cannot stand the stubble-laden Cyclops. He has always been clean cut. Emma Frost/ the White Queen still needs to be evil again, too. The short stories from the X-Men: Manifest Destiny issues are pointless character sketches with mostly crappy artwork. 

FANTASTIC FOUR VISIONARIES: BYRNE VOL. 0 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Fantastic Four Nos. 215-218, 220, 221, Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) Nos. 61, 62 and Marvel Two-In-One No. 50 (cover dates September, 1977- August, 1980)

Superb! The Marvel Team-Up issues are Claremont/Byrne in their prime. Every single story is a winner, especially the Blastaar/ Futurist "arc" in the main title.

JOHN BYRNE'S NEXT MEN: THE PREMIERE COLLECTION VOL. 1 (IDW, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects John Byrne’s Next Men Nos. 0-12 (cover dates February, 1992- February, 1993)

OK, so I got suckered into buying this $50 hardcover less than a year after the black and white phone books came out. This is such a great read that I simply had to have it in full color and in hardcover. This is a nice package with heavy duty paper and sewn binding.

SPIDER- GIRL VOL. 10: SEASON OF THE SERPENT (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Spider-Girl Nos. 52-59 (cover dates December, 2002- June, 2003)

I got nervous when they hadn’t solicited one of these digests in a while. Once again, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, and Pat Olliffe deliver the goods. Oh, and my copy is cooler than yours because Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz both signed it at this year's Motor City Comic Con.

SUPERMEN! THE FIRST WAVE OF COMIC BOOK HEROES 1936-1941 (Fantagraphics, 2009)

Collects selections from Amazing Mystery Funnies (Vol. 2) No. 3, Big Shot Comics No. 1, Blue Bolt Comics (Vol. 1) Nos. 5, 10, Comics Magazine No. 1, Detective Picture Stories No. 5, Fantastic Comics No. 12, Jungle Comics No. 4, Mystery Men Comics No. 4, Pep Comics No. 3, Planet Comics No. 5, Science Comics No. 4, Silver Streak Comics Nos. 4, 7, Star Comics No. 5, Target Comics (Vol. 1) No. 11 and Wonderworld Comics No. 8 (cover dates May, 1936- March, 1941)

This is a totally sweet collection of public domain Golden Age superheroes. When I am in the right mood, Golden Age comics have so much charm that I can't get enough of them. The rawness of the artwork and the lack of refinement in the storytelling make this a blast to read. 

There are some gems in this book: The Face is a really good concept, and Project Superpowers' Death Defying 'Devil is found in his second appearance as The Daredevil. The always brilliant Bill Everett's Sub-Zero tangles with "Professor X". The Comet also pre-dates Cyclops of the X-Men by some 25-odd years, with his visor and eye beam look and powers. 

It's interesting how much Marvel swiped from the various Golden Age publishers who let their copyrights lapse. There are some stories in this book that I am dumber for having read, too. Stardust, the Super Wizard being one. It's tough to follow, and the artwork is Rob Liefeld bad. Instead of feet and the number of digits, Fletcher Hanks has trouble with necks. Stardust looks like a frickin' giraffe. 

Spacehawk, Superhuman Enemy of Crime by Basil Wolverton is enjoyable. I've got to hand it to Fantagraphics, this is a great package. It's a softcover with heavy duty uncoated paper stock with sewn binding! Unfortunately, due to the thickness of the paper and the glue required to hold the softcover on, it does not lay flat. 

The restoration was done rather interestingly. Rather than scan and clean up/ recolor old comics like Marvel does, this is straight up high resolution scans. For better or worse, you see the color limitations from the old oil based inks, the line bleed, the inconsistencies, and you know what? I love it! I like seeing this stuff spit-shined and restored, but this is like getting a mp3 rip off of vinyl. It has a different tonal quality that is somehow appealing, although I wouldn't want a steady diet of it. Whatever the case, it works here. 

This is a first rate collection and I hope that it sells well enough for further exploration. I would also like to see character-centric collections, i.e. any of the names I dropped above.

INDIANA JONES OMNIBUS: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2009)

Collects The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones Nos. 1-12 and Raiders of the Lost Ark Nos. 1-3 (cover dates September, 1981- December, 1983)

This collects the Marvel run, and the core title was a decent read. The Raiders of the Lost Ark adaptation sucked, though, with what must have been the worst art of John Buscema's career. Klaus Janson is a terrible inker, and I'm sure that he didn't help things any. I bought Issue 7 off of the stands back in '83.

THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 7 (DC, 2009)

Collects Batman Nos. 12, 13 and selections from Detective Comics Nos. 66-70 and World’s Finest Comics No. 7 (cover dates August- December, 1942)

Batman was the best comic around during this time period. The stories and artwork are more sophisticated than anything over at Timely (Marvel as they came to called later on). Early Batman villains are cool, too. The Joker, the Penguin, Two-Face...these are all great. A fun, economical read.

THE AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE VOL. 3: SECRET INVASION (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Avengers: The Initiative Nos. 14-19 (cover dates August, 2008- January, 2009)

This was pretty enjoyable. Dan Slott is a solid writer and has a pretty good grasp on the Marvel Universe. It's a shame that it took this many issues for this series to find its footing. I am dropping the title as I really dislike the whole Initiative angle and am no longer an Avengers completist.

X-FACTOR: SECRET INVASION (Marvel, 2009)Collects X-Factor (Vol. 3) Nos. 33-38 and She-Hulk No. 31 (cover dates September, 2008- February, 2009)

Good stuff by Peter David and company. The artwork is done by a rotating crew and is inconsistent but competent. I appreciate the fact that this series takes place in Detroit. Marvel should let Peter David take tour of the 'real' Detroit. I'm sure he could write some insane stories if he saw what the residents see.

AVENGERS: NIGHTS OF WUNDAGORE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Avengers Nos. 181-187 (cover dates March- September, 1979)

Absolute brilliance by David Micheline and John Byrne! Art of the highest order. Five stars. 10 out of 10. Someone needs to hand this trade to Bendis and say "Here, read this. This is how you write comic books. He would have stretched this out to like 3 or 4 trades worth of issues. 

This is the third time that I have bought this material in trade. First was the black and white "Backpack Marvel"* trade Knights of Wundagore. (*Backpack Marvels was a short-lived black and white softcover format, smaller than a standard trade, yet larger than a digest. They were released circa 2000 and vanished with 4 titles released.) Then was the full color hackjob Yesterday Quest trade, which omitted entire issues, covers, splash and recap pages, etc. Horrible. Some of those '90s Marvel trades really, really sucked. 

This one is first class all the way, though, with several DVD style extras in the back. Of particular interest is the alternate page of Avengers 182, which is way cooler than the one that was used. Boring nostalgic rambling: On one of our trips to my grandparent's cottage circa summer 1979, my brother picked up #187 at the IGA. He later gave it to me, and the cover has always stuck in my head as being super cool. I still have that comic book to this day.

DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING (DC, 1994)

Collects Death: The High Cost of Living Nos. 1-3 and Death Talks About Life (cover dates March- May, 1993, 1994)

Wow, this was the tenth printing of this book!?! This is an enjoyable Sandman tie-in that you don't have to know much about Sandman (like I don't) to understand what is going on. Not a fan of Chris Bachalo's pencils, but they are better here than they are in his more recent Marvel stuff.

SECRET INVASION: CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI13 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain Britain and MI13 Nos. 1-4 (cover dates July- October, 2008) and Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) Nos. 65, 66 (cover dates February- March, 1978)

This series has a decent concept but it was undermined from the get-go by it being spun out of a crossover. I have always enjoyed Captain Britain because he was a lovable buffoon, but that charm is nowhere to be found here. Still, it is nice to see the Black Knight (a/k/a Dane Whitman) back in action. This was all in all a solid read, but it has already gotten the axe, so I won't get too attached to it. The classic MTU stories from the '70s are prime Claremont/ Byrne and are worth the price of admission alone.

Originally posted on my myspace blog on 5/19 & 5/31/2009

FX (IDW, 2008)

Collects FX Nos. 1-6 (cover dates March- August, 2008)

This is the creator owned series by Wayne Osborn with artwork by John Byrne, and was a fun read. If you enjoy pre-'90s superhero comic books, then you'll love this.

JLA/ AVENGERS (DC/ Marvel, 2008)

Collects JLA/ Avengers Nos. 1-4 (cover dates September- December, 2003)

This is the best company crossover that I have ever read. Kurt Busiek and George Perez are so well versed in both universes that it never seems cheesy or pandering to either company. This is Perez's A-game. Each and every panel is a visual feast, crammed with so much rich detail that it borders on distracting. Busiek stuffs as much of each universe's respective continuity into this that it qualifies for a nerdgasm. I never bothered picking up the expensive $75 hardcover and was relieved when a softcover was solicited all of these years later. In retrospect, this book would have been totally worth the deluxe package treatment. It's grand either way, so whatever.

WONDER WOMAN: SECOND GENESIS (DC, 1997)

Collects Wonder Woman (Vol. 2) Nos. 101-105 (cover dates September, 1995- January, 1996)

This is competent stuff by John Byrne. His artwork took a turn for the worse here, but the storytelling and layouts are still solid. The writing is also good, and I unfortunately read the Lifeline TPB first, and have since forgotten how The Demon storyline gets resolved. I guess I could A) dig out the book and re-read it or B) look it up on the Internet.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 3: THE MAN WHO BOUGHT AMERICA (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America Nos. 37-42 (cover dates June- November, 2008)

Finally! The climax to the epic saga that has been building for years! I am totally loving the "new" Captain America, and Ed Brubaker has firmly cemented his run in the upper echelon of Captain America runs.

NEW AVENGERS VOL. 8: SECRET INVASION BOOK 1 (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects New Avengers Nos. 38-42 (cover dates April- August, 2008)

Bendis, Bendis, Bendis... The man is not paid by the word, that's for sure. I flew through this hardcover in about 40 minutes. That's terrible! Issue 38 is nothing more than padding, with the whole of the issue comprising of a conversation between Luke Cage/ Power Man and Jessica Jones, and the team moving into a new apartment headquarters. I wish I were kidding, but that is really all that happened for 22 pages! Couple that with Michale Gaydos' laughably pitiful artwork, and you have Grade A crap. Issue 39 seems to be a 45 RPM single played at half speed to take up a full issue. 38 and 39 combined are almost one issue's worth of story. The rest of the issues move along at a brisk clip but are at least entertaining. Brian Michael Bendis has some interesting ideas but really needs to pick up the pace in this day and age of $3.99 floppies.

NEW AVENGERS VOL. 9: SECRET INVASION BOOK 2 (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects New Avengers Nos. 43-47 (cover dates September, 2008- January, 2009)

I am this close to dropping this title, as it is a poor value for the money. Too little story unfolding over too many pages for too much money.

WONDER WOMAN VOL. 3: BEAUTY AND THE BEASTS (DC, 2005)

Collects Wonder Woman (Vol. 2) Nos. 15-19 and selections from Action Comics No. 600 (cover dates April- August, 1988)

WONDER WOMAN VOL. 4: DESTINY CALLING (DC, 2006)

Collects Wonder Woman (Vol. 2) Nos. 20-24 and Wonder Woman Annual No. 1

An eye candy feast by George Perez! This is such an enjoyable read, and the artwork is so great that you almost have to read the page and then go back and just stare at the artwork, analyzing them like you would a painting. Perez is one of all-time favorites, alongside John Byrne, John Romita, Sr. and Gil Kane. The only sub-par issue is Annual No. 1, as it features artwork by some less than notables like John Bolton.

THE SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 6 (DC, 2009)

Collects Superman Nos. 10, 11 and selections from Action Comics Nos. 37-40 and World’s Finest Comics Nos. 2, 3 (cover dates May- Fall, 1941)

Fun, goofy Golden Age stories. These are all pretty cookie cutter, and could be swapped out with any story from Volumes 2-5. The only "super" villain in this book is Lex Luthor. Superman really, desperately needs some badass supervillains to fight.

AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL VOL. 4: BRAND NEW MAY (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Amazing Spider-Girl Nos. 19-24 (cover dates June- November, 2008)

The usual excellence by Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema. How can this book not have more readers than it does, while losers like Bendis hog the top of the sales charts? Are people really that dumb?

MIGHTY AVENGERS VOL. 3: SECRET INVASION BOOK 1 (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Mighty Avengers Nos. 12-15 (cover dates June- August, 2008)

I read this in under 45 minutes. In the House of M mini-series a few years ago Bendis wrote “No more mutants”, and I am now going to write: No more Bendis. I will not buy anything that this man writes. Issue 12 was total waste of space about Nick Fury's whereabouts after the Secret War mini, and didn't really belong in this title. Issue 13 was basically a prequel to the upcoming Secret Warriors Secret Invasion spin-off series. My biggest issue with these heretofore unknown heroes is that much like Heroes, Lost, and any other series geared towards the non-comic book fan, they are wholly derivative. I can see the suits, sitting behind their desks, Blackberry in hand, trying to figure out a team of heroes that could be a major motion picture option: We need a guy who flies, one who runs really fast, one that can control the weather and/or elements, etc. These heroes have already been created, and their stories were already told better years ago. Half of this book had nothing to do with this particular team of Avengers! I didn't buy this for a Nick Fury's Secret Invasion 2 part-er, I wanted to read an Avengers story. The only winner in this whole book was Issue 15, with solid art by John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, and Tom Palmer. Alex Maleev's "artwork" on Issues 12 and 13 sucks ass. If Dan Slott doesn't turn this series around when he gets on board, then I am jumping ship.