Review- THE DEMON: FROM THE DARKNESS

THE DEMON: FROM THE DARKNESS (DC, 2013; Softcover)

Note: Book actually released in 2014

Collects The Demon #1-4 and The Demon #22 (cover dates January, 1987- April, 1992)

Writer and Penciler: Matt Wagner

Inkers: Art Nichols and Matt Wagner

As much as I loathe decompression, overly written comic books are no better. While one cannot complain about the amount of story crammed into each issue here, one can complain that much of the text in blocks and balloons serves no purpose. I had an instructor once tell me that my writing was “like a Victorian wordsmith”, a slam meaning that I write like I get paid by the word. I am fairly certain that fan favorite Matt Wagner must have been paid by the word, as there is no good reason to write like this unless you are trying to win a pissing contest with Don McGregor.

That said, this is an uninteresting story with serviceable artwork. The Demon is a good character but I am not a completist. The hardcover that collects all of Kirby's run and John Byrne's Blood Of The Demon (still uncollected because DC sucks) are all that you really need. I have already dumped this turd on eBay.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone-

Paper stock: Jesus Chrysler, DC, this paper stock is only marginally thicker than Charmin toilet paper. The plus side is that it looks and feels like real comic book paper and the book weighs less than a pack of cigarettes. The minus side is that it will brown and become discolored with time, just like real comic book paper. Many DC fans are so nostalgic and sentimental that they can't bear to see this stuff given any type of deluxe treatment and they actually prefer this lo-fi approach. It's VHS presentation in the Blu-Ray era.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination.

Review- THE STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 2 STARRING THE HAWK AND THE DOVE

THE STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 2 STARRING THE HAWK AND THE DOVE (DC, First Printing, 2011; Hardcover)

Note: Book actually released in 2012

Collects The Hawk and the Dove Nos. 1, 2, Legion of Super-Heroes Nos. 267, 268, 272, 274, 276, 281, Man-Bat No. 1, Showcase No. 75, Adventure Comics Nos. 467-478, Detective Comics Nos. 483-485, Legends of the DC Universe 80-Page Giant No. 1, Outsiders No. 13, and Tales of the New Gods (cover dates June, 1968- 2008)

Writers: Steve Skeates, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, J.M. DeMatteis, Mike W. Barr, Bill Mumy, Peter David, and Mark Millar

Artists: Steve Ditko with Inking by Steve Ditko, Al Milgrom, Dick Giordano, Romeo Tanghal, Dave Hunt, Bob Wiaceck, Frank Chiaramonte, Bruce D. Patterson, Jerry Ordway, Kevin Nowlan, and Mick Gray

There are no sacred cows in my mind. No artist, especially one as prolific as Ditko, is exempt from critical analysis of their work. I understand that he had to eat and many of the issues compiled in this book were Ditko cashing a check and nothing more, but that has no bearing on how I as a fan feel about this material.

The classic The Hawk And The Dove finally sees a collected edition. This concept was pure Ditko and very much of it's time. Two brothers are given powers by some strange “Voice”, and their powers are amplified versions of their personalities. The Dove is a hippie, all peace and believing the best of humanity, i.e. that criminals can be rehabilitated, while The Hawk is a pro-establishment, might makes right, pro-war kind of guy. Their methods of fighting are as different as their philosophies. This is a fascinating read with some superb artwork by Ditko. Unfortunately the rest of the series remains uncollected to this day.

Next is the story from Man-Bat #1, which is fantastic. It makes me wish that someone would have given Ditko a shot at the Caped Crusader, as his version of Batman is great. No cover is provided for that issue. If DC's collected editions that are artist centric do not feature artwork not by that artist, that would be one thing. If DC held true to that I might be able to at least understand that, but they throw in the non-Ditko drawn covers to Legion of Super-Heroes #268, 272, 274, 276, 281. The next story has Ditko's rendering of The Demon, a real treat since this was a Jack Kirby creation. Kirby and Ditko are like The Beatles and The Stones for comic fans. While I love both everyone tends to pick a side.

The title of this book makes it sound like The Hawk And The Dove get the lion's share of the book, but this is false. Starman's co-headlining strip from Adventure Comics #467-478 take up 102 pages to H&D's 73 pages. This could also be because Starman totally sucks balls, with my will to live decreasing with each passing page. I was a Marvel zombie in the very traditional sense of the term. You couldn't pay me to read a DC comic between 1979-1990, as they seemed stupid and cheesy with lame writing and even lamer artwork. I know this to be false today but such was my perspective at that time. Comics like this make a poor argument for DC, though. Ditko's work was mutilated by hack inker Romeo Tanghal. Making matters worse was Paul Levitz's embarrassing writing. I am serious, if you enjoy this abysmal dreck then you need your taste buds checked. Of course DC only provided the cover to #467. 

Note DC's sucktastic gradient shade recoloring on what should be flat colors. 

Things go from bad to much, much, much worse with Legion of Super-Heroes. They say that if you can't say anything nice then you should not say anything at all. I disagree. If you pay money and something sucks ass like these comics do, shout it from the rooftops of the Internet. It is your right as a consumer and your duty as a comic book connoisseur to dissuade folks from buying bad books. The LoSH also get more pages than the book's headliner, with 109 to H&D's 73. DC has misled you not once but twice. Oh, and the assclowns omitted the cover to #267.

There are three random back-up stories from 1986, 1998, and 2008. The first is a Black Lightning one, which is lame. The next is a Spectre one, which makes me wish that Ditko got a shot at the character when he was in his prime, and finally, an Apokolips story which sucks. So out of the 400 pages, more than half of this book sucks. I guess that I will keep it for the parts that I liked but will never, ever reread Starman or Legion of Super-Losers for as long as I live.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2 out of 5.

Buy THE STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 2 STARRING THE HAWK AND THE DOVE HC at InStockTrades!

The OCD zone- DC's original Omnibus branded books are a joke. Cheap paper, cheap glued binding, and a garish casewrap design. This design is echoed in the opening pages of the book, with cheesy nostalgic affectations like faux benday dots and pulp paper anomalies added to images taken from film. These are done to give the book a kitschy, pop culture feel. The problem is that the whole thing is obscured by the dustjacket, so the type of idiot who would buy a book because of this godawful design never sees it to begin with.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Introduction by Mike W. Barr. (3 pages)

Pin-up page from Superman #400. (1 page)

The further into the book that you get, the worse the coloring is. Look at those harsh, horrible, gradient blends. Just awful.

Linework and Color: A mixed bag to say the least. The linework is tight and clean while the recoloring starts off strong, with authentic blends like those found in the original issues. Then it seems like the budget ran out and so DC brought in their intern first semester community college art students to do the coloring, with harsh airbrush gradients sticking out like a sore thumb everywhere. Just awful, amateur hour stuff like the coloring and the typos that the idiots created because they were in such a rush that they couldn't be bothered to, I dunno, read the sentence before turning a G into a S.

Paper stock: This is a hot topic for these books. DC fans are so accustomed to incomplete, nonsensical collections that they resort to binding their own floppies into hardcovers. As such, they are accustomed to cheap, crappy toilet paper like the junk DC passes off in these supposedly high-end hardcovers. The paper is slightly thicker than regular comic book paper, with it's only benefit being that it produces zero glare. Oh, that and the fact that it makes the book weigh almost as much as a pack of cigarettes.

Binding: Perfect (read: GLUED) binding on supposedly high-end hardcovers is a joke. A complete and utter joke. Folks who state that these things keep the books “more affordable” are in the wrong hobby. Connoisseurs of high end collected editions scoff at cost saves like this and how DC skimped on shrinkwrap a while back to save a half a penny.

Hardback cover notes: The garish image on the casewrap has a nice thick lamination to it. So DC used a good lamination on a crappily designed book with crappy paper and binding. Winning? 

Review- Blood of the Demon Nos. 1-17

Blood of the Demon Nos. 1-17 (DC, cover dates May, 2005- September, 2006)

Plotter and Penciler: John Byrne

Writer: Will Pfeifer

Inkers: Nekros (1-7), Dan Green (8-12, 14-17), and Doug Hazelwood (13).

This title is a prime example of why DC's collected editions department is still in the stone age. Marvel would have issued a couple of trade paperbacks as the series was ongoing and maybe an Omnibus. I would have likely bought this material twice. Instead, I got these as dirt cheap/free back issues with frequent buyer comic shop credit, with DC and John Byrne getting no royalties off of this. DC seems to have rectified errors like this nowadays, but Marvel has put 98% of it's comics in collected editions for the past decade. They have spoiled us, and we love them for it.

You know what the real shame of all of this is? These are some decent comic books that now only exist as back issues in bags and boards, hoarded away by collectors. No trade paperback or hardcover to remain in print for a number of years to gain new fans. They were published, released for a month, then *poof!*, they're gone, lost to the ages. Byrne turns the character back to it's Jack Kirby roots. No rhyming, no super technical demonology, just over the top macabre superhero fun. 

I was really enjoying this until issue 13, which had the “1 year later” blurb. I guess that this all ties into Infinite Crisis and 52 mini-series and crossovers, but I am not buying all of that crap just to figure out what I missed. Byrne sort of recaps it a little later, but issue 13 feels disjointed to me. Guess I had to be there at the time. I am curious if the items that Byrne recapped actually occurred on page during those series, and if so, in which issues.

The Demon's main nemeses are Morgan Le Fay and “Joshua”, a Christ-like fellow who is not at all what he seems. I won't spoil it for you, but there are some pretty cool things that happen in those issues. My main gripe is Byrne's everything is not what it seems, time stream slips, and back and forth versions of the same character. It gets tiring after a while. This seems like a warm up for his current Next Men series over at IDW, with things being turned on their head, only to be turned on their head again, and then finally placed back to their beginning position. Byrne resets everything to the original status quo by the end of the series. 

I did enjoy reading this in spite of those frustrations and repetition. Byrne's artwork seems to vary a bit throughout the series but is generally solid. I remain a fan of his work after all of these years. This series deserves to be rescued from back issue bins and re-released to the world at large again. I hope that DC sees the error of their ways and issues a nice, big hardcover of this run. I know that I'd buy it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- DC used paper which did not make the most out of the computer coloring, looking little better than newsprint. I love newsprint for old four color comics, but computer coloring demands a more vibrant coated stock. DC switched to the better paper with issue 15, but the cover price went from $2.50 to $2.99. Since I don't buy singles too often, this seems like a huge price jump. A 20 percent increase seems crazy. Whatever happened to .05 or .10 cover price bumps? Back when I was a kid...

Paper rating: 1-14: 3 out of 5; 15-17: 5 out of 5.

Review- The Demon: Driven Out Nos. 1-6

The Demon: Driven Out Nos. 1-6 (DC, cover dates November, 2003- April, 2004)

Writer: Joshua Dysart

Artists: Pop Mhan with Art Thibert and Jake Crippen

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. I would like to start this review out by stating that I received these comic books for free, and you know what? I still feel ripped off. Whose idea was this mini-series, anyways? The early Aughts were a time of confusion over at the Big Two, Marvel and DC. Manga was huge, and they were afraid that the kids would all jump ship and leave these square, Western world concepts in the dust, so they crapped them all up with Manga and Anime influences and tried to pawn them off as Manga. All of them sucked.

You can almost imagine how the conversation with the writer and editors went down. We'll combine the best aspects of Manga with The Fast and the Furious. It'll be colossal! Only it sucks. It sucks on multiple levels. First, it fails as a Manga read. You have the requisite Japanese family honor bullshit, you have the requisite spoiled, Westernized offspring who dishonors the clan, you have the appropriation of American popular culture, all in one nauseating package. It also fails as a straight up superhero comic book, because there isn't a whole lot of superheroing going on here. Everything about this just left me cold.

So yeah, these were free, but I still want my money back. Collected edition fans should be grateful that DC never saw it fit to issue a trade paperback of this steaming pile of shit. I'd try and sell the lot of them on eBay during my next purging, but who would buy them?

Junk Food For Thought rating: 0 out of 5.

Review- DEMON KNIGHTS #1-5

Demon Knights Nos. 1-5 (DC, cover dates November, 2011- March, 2012)

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artists: Diogenes Neves (pencils), Oclair Albert (inker), and Mike Choi (penciler, segments of Issue 4)

I had some frequent buyer bucks burning a hole in my pocket, and since they are only good on back issues, I decided to try this new title out for free since I was going to buy the trade anyways. As for the New 52, well...I have no opinion on it, honestly. The comic community was up in arms about it, but to me it is a sales gimmick that seems to have mostly worked out.

Unlike the classic Kirby series, this takes place in the Middle Ages and deals with an ancestor of Jason Blood. Also unlike the Kirby series, this is boring and not a whole lot seems to be going on. The writing and artwork are all serviceable, but I wasn't exactly flipping pages with bated breath. I did not get a resolution to this arc since I don't have issue 6, and I honestly don't care. Needless to say that I will not be buying the trade paperback that compiles these issues.

This wasn't a bad read by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't exploding with energy like Kirby's take on the character.

There is no OCD zone for floppies. Sorry.

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Originally posted on my myspace blog on 3/8 & 3/18/2009

Something that has been annoying me lately is the use of ... as dialogue in a word balloon as a reply. What's next, BFF? LOL? I am sick and tired of net-speak infiltrating our language and our culture, and have decided to rebel! From here on out, I will try to write like Charles Dickens and talk like an actor in a William Shakespeare play. Or not.

X-MEN: DIVIDED WE STAND (Marvel, 2008)

Collects X-Men: Divided We Stand Nos. 1, 2 and X-Men: Messiah Complex- Mutant Files (cover dates June-July, 2008)

This was a complete waste of time and money. A bunch of character sketches that do nothing but fill out pages, coupled with Handbook pages equals a must-miss trade paperback event primer. I am going to be doing some serious pruning on the X-titles, as this is getting ridiculous.

X-MEN: LEGACY- DIVIDED HE STANDS (Marvel, 2008)

Collects X-Men: Legacy Nos. 208-212 (cover dates April- July, 2008)

This title is one that will be spared the ax, though, as it has solid storytelling by Mike Carey. *SPOILERS AHEAD* I am enjoying that Bishop is considered a renegade, as he sucks and should be killed by a Super Skrull or something. I am disliking the whole 'insert Sinister here' part of Professor X's origin. Why is it that they are interspersing him into everyone's backstory? (see Colossus: Bloodline mini-series for more suckiness) The return of Gambit is most unwelcome, as I can't stand him, either! Aside from those sticking points, I enjoyed this book.

WATCHMEN (DC, Fifteenth Printing, 2005)

Collects Watchmen Nos. 1-12 (cover dates September, 1986- October, 1987)

I had to re-read this again before the movie came out.

JACK KIRBY'S THE DEMON (DC, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects The Demon Nos. 1-16 (cover sates September, 1972- January, 1974)

This series is from the Distinguished Competition, but the only thing in this series that ties it into the main DC Universe is that it takes place in Gotham City. The best character in this series besides Etrigan the Demon is Witchboy. This series is a real treat for Kirby fans, seeing him do countless monsters and ramping up action sequences like there’ s no tomorrow. Some of Kirby's human faces are hammy looking, but his monsters, machinery, and most importantly, his action sequences are second to none for the era. This is a very fast-paced read, and while the stories seem sometimes rushed with no regard to ongoing plotlines, this has a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vibe that is exhilarating. 

I really enjoy these early '70s Horror titles, as they fall somewhere between a pseudo-Super Hero comic and pseudo-Occult/Horror. It seems to me that people were very interested in Horror at this time. Maybe it was because of the Charles Manson cult murders, or the tension in the world at the time, but there were tons of movies (Rosemary's Baby) and music (Black Sabbath) where the emphasis was on the macabre. Now this book as a book is a conflicting thing, so here are Pros and Cons.

Pros: The book is light, due to the thin paper. The paper has a no gloss look to it. The colors are close to the original comic books due to this paper. The book is Made in the USA.

Cons: This is a $50 MSRP book, and as such, should have higher quality coated paper stock. The book clocks in at 383 pages, so it would have a much lower page count at that price point, but that is a trade-off that I would have been willing to make. I prefer my hardcovers to be as high end as possible, with the finest paper and binding. The binding in this book is glued, which is total, utter garbage. Hardcovers should all have sewn binding, especially books that cater to the niche that I am in: High end collected edition fans. No casual fan is going to plunk down the kind of coin that a book like this attracts at this price point, so DC should have just slapped a $75 price tag on it and used better paper. This paper feels like it will yellow and turn brittle with age, but I don't have a DeLorean and thus cannot travel to the future to verify this claim. This paper feels chinsy, almost like toilet paper when compared to the paper used in Marvel Masterworks, EC Archives, Dark Horse Archives, and even DC Archives. I'll admit that I have become spoiled by the quality of said books, but those books all have 220-300 pages in the ballpark of this book's MSRP ($50-60) and thus are the yardstick by which I measure quality book production. In closing, this is a fantastic read chock full of Kirby goodness that is marred by the paper and binding. If such things don't bother you and you are not a collected edition snob like myself, then pick this up.

UNCANNY X-MEN: DIVIDED WE STAND (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 495-499 (cover dates April- August, 2008)

Ed Brubaker’s winning streak on this title continues, aided and abetted by Michael Choi’s gorgeous artwork (495-498). This has a very old-school vibe, with the team being split into two and the separate stories intertwined. I really dislike the notion of Emma Frost still being on the team. They have had plenty of opportunities to have her be evil again*, but to no avail.

(* To the civilians, Emma Frost was the White Queen of the Hellfire Club back in the late ‘70s, and was evil until Grant Morrison’s run. He also brought in such craptastic ideas as secondary mutations.) Aside from that pet peeve of mine, Brubaker’s run has been solid gold.

X-FACTOR: THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN (Marvel, 2008)

Collects X-Factor (Vol. 3) Nos. 28-32 and X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead (cover dates April- August, 2008)

Solid writing by Peter David and excellent artwork by Pablo Raimondi (Issues 29, 30 and 32) makes this a must-read title. It's nice to actually see the team fight a villain! I won't say who; it'll spoil the reveal. The end of Issue 32 sees the team relocate to Detroit. There's even a drawing of the old train depot. One nice thing about being superheroes in Detroit: if they do damage to buildings, no one would notice. This series has been on something of a simmer, and I would like to see things kicked up a notch or two. It's possible that Peter David is setting up one Helluva payoff, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

X-FORCE VOL. 1: ANGELS & DEMONS (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects X-Force (Vol. 3) Nos. 1-6 (cover dates April- October, 2008)

This is one mo-fo over the top series aimed at the video game crowd. Clayton Crain's beautiful artwork and digital painting make this an eye candy feast. Writers Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost dredge up many ghosts of X-Men past from the rogue's gallery that would have been off left dead. The black-ops angle doesn't really do much for me, but as long as Clayton Crain hangs around so will I.

FRANK FRAZETTA ‘S DEATH DEALER: SHADOWS OF MIRAHAN (Image, 2008)

Collects Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer Nos. 1-6 (cover dates March, 2007- January, 2008)

I snagged this badboy oversized, slipcased, built-in bookmark, limited to one printing, high-end hardcover which had been mocking me on the high shelf at Big Ben’s for the last 6 months back in December. This is almost more of an art book than a comic book, with it's luxurious sewn binding and super high quality paper. It's a tall book, being the exact same height as the EC Library sets of yore. This was a decent read with great artwork. I like the whole D&D/LOTR/medieval thing, and monsters also don't suck. The Frazetta paintings in the back of the book are simply amazing. Frazetta is the best fantasy painter bar none.

X-MEN: LEGACY: SINS OF THE FATHER (Marvel, 2008)

Collects X-Men: Legacy Nos. 213-216, X-Men: Odd Men Out, and X-Men: The Unlikely Saga of Xavier, Magneto, and Stan (cover dates August-November, 2008)

Mike Carey is a solid enough writer, and Scot Eaton is a solid enough artist, so why is this series on such shaky ground? Mild spoilers ahead... Gambit and Sebastian Shaw are fighting side by side...ughh. I like Sebastian Shaw, a/k/a The Black King of the Hellfire Club, but to see him fight with a hero makes me sick, even if it suits his own purposes. Sinister is featured throughout this arc, battling with Xavier in Xavier's mind. Lots of backflashes and ret-cons* here. Rogue appears in her garish '90s costume why?? Mystique is briefly shown, although I am not sure if she is evil again or not. During the Claremont/ Byrne heyday she was the leader of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and was awesome. I am really leaning towards dropping this title. I dropped the X-Men during the Silvestri era in '89/90, and didn't come back until 2003. Thank to trade paperbacks, I have caught up on most of what had transpired during my sabbatical, and have come to the conclusion that there are more bad X-Men comics than there are good ones. Morrison's run was OK, Astonishing X-Men was brilliant, the Claremont/ Davis Uncanny run a few years ago was good, Brubaker's run has been great, and X-treme X-Men started out strong but fell short in the long run. Other than that, it's buyer beware. the continuity has become so convoluted that a re-boot is in order. Odd Men Out is an inventory story from the '90s by Roger Stern and the late, great Dave Cockrum that is largely forgettable. Some things sit on the shelf for a reason. The Unlikely Saga of Xavier, Magneto, and Stan completely sucked.

*Ret-con stands for retroactive continuity, where they change an occurrence that was once cosndiered canon and then make it appear to have never happened, or even worse, insert things into canon that more often than not shouldn't be inserted.

X-MEN: ORIGINAL SIN (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Wolverine: Origins Nos. 28-30, X-Men: Legacy Nos. 217, 218 and X-Men: Original Sin (cover dates November, 2008- January, 2009)

Oh my. This is quite a train wreck in terms of continuity, at least if this is supposed to be the main Marvel Universe. Writers Daniel Way and Mike Carey, along with artists Mike Deodato and Scot Eaton, all turn in solid writing and solid art. The problem is in the abundant ret-cons. Why are they trying to turn Professor X into such an asshole? I liked it better when he was uber-noble. They've taken a few questionable things that he did in the past, inserted tons of things that never (until now) happened, and voila...instant bastard! Why can't they leave this stuff to the Ultimate line or a What If...? story? These guys are all talented and could deliver great stuff if they weren't so intent on destroying the X-Men, and that is the biggest sin of all.