Review- SPIDER-MAN BY TODD McFARLANE OMNIBUS

SPIDER-MAN BY TODD McFARLANE OMNIBUS (Marvel, First Printing, 2016; Hardcover)

Collects Spider-Man #1-14, 16 and X-Force #4 (cover dates August, 1990- November, 1991)

Writer and Artist: Todd McFarlane with Writing by Fabien Nicieza and Rob Liefeld (X-Force #4), artwork by Rob Liefeld (X-Force #4) and additional Inking by Rick Maygar, Scott Williams, and Jim Lee

Todd McFarlane's adjective-less Spider-Man series, released during the summer of 1990, was, for all intents and purposes, the opening bell for the speculator bubble of the 1990s. We all know what happened, we all know why it happened, and we all see aspects of it being repeated by the industry today.

McFarlane was a breath of fresh air when he exploded on the scene in Amazing Spider-Man back in November of 1987*. I was a first day buyer back then and was immediately taken aback by this bold new take on the character. His version was like a creepier version of Steve Ditko's Spider-Man. He had been in the business for a few years already but he was new to me .

*Comic cover dates were four months ahead when purchased in Direct Market, or comic specialty shops as we called them back then. Cover dates were three months ahead on newsstands like 7-11. By the time that this adjective-less series hit the stands cover dates had been adjusted to being two months ahead for the DM, three for newsstands.

This was among the first Marvel series to be structured in arcs, with each issue being Part _ of _ of said story title. This was done so that it could be repackaged into books for the emerging trade paperback market for mainstream bookstores. As strange as it may sound here in 2017, there was a time when Marvel did not think of the collected edition when making their comic books. The full bleed artwork was also a new thing at the time.

This dark take on the character was fascinating because it simply hadn't been done before. The Horror elements are brought to the fore in this series. While McFarlane would like to make this out to be a more adult take on the character, his sexual double entendres are adolescent and embarrassing to read as an adult. This being the dawn of the '90s, !!!totally extreme!!! thinking was the order of the day. To be fair, the action sequences are a blast. McFarlane's exaggerated anatomy and almost cartoony depictions of people give his art a unique look which would be aped by numerous artists and become a cliché. Credit where credit is due, he did this stuff first and he did it the best. Motion lines, excessive detail, and unrealistic anatomy would dominate most of the 1990s because of him.

The first arc of five issues has been repackaged numerous times as Torment. This is the Lizard as his most brutal. The endless DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM sound effect jungle drum beats got old fast, especially since this wasn't the first time that I've read this material. My son wanted to read this book with me but bailed after five issues. He seemed bored with this, which kind of surprised me. I figured that the fast pace of McFarlane's stories would be right up his alley but I was wrong.

The second arc, Masques, has also been repackaged multiple times. I had the old original UK trade years ago but dumped it because I predicted this book once Marvel rereleased these arcs in Premiere Classic hardcovers. It may have taken several years for this to become reality but I have nothing but time and no shortage of stuff to read. McFarlane's take on the Hobgoblin and Ghost Rider both leave me cold.

The cover to the first issue of the third arc (Perceptions, also repackaged like Masques) is one of those boring, 'iconic' type of covers that have little to do with the interior and would plague comics in the early 2000s. Awful and lazy. The arc itself is very good, with Spider-Man teaming up with Wolverine to take on the Wendigo. Subtlety is something completely lost on McFarlane, and he drills his opinion of the then-emerging 24/7 news cycle into you. I'm old enough to remember when news was about reporting a story instead of creating one. The sensationalism spotlighted here seems downright tame when compared to clickbait garbage reporting that passes as news today.

My beloved Morbius The Living Vampire was the surprise villain in the fourth arc of the series, Sub-City. The writing in this one is pretty weak but there's plenty of action and Morbius so who cares. The book closes out with the godawful sideways X-Force crossover, Sabotage. X-Force sucks and Rob Liefeld sucks. Both are the epitome of everything wrong with mainstream 1990s comics, and I cannot spit enough venom at either one.

This being Marvel, there is an exhaustively researched section of DVD-style extras in the back. All variants and industry magazine covers, as well introductions and covers from previous editions of the various collections are included. This run means a lot to fans 10 or more years younger than I am. It's not the best era as far as I'm concerned but it's a fun enough read and serves as an object lesson why dark and gritty Spider-Man doesn't really work. For the younger set this is one of the defining runs for the character.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is pretty “thin” for an Omnibus, clocking in at 16 issues and a another two issue's worth of extras. It's heft is little more than an oversized hardcover from a decade ago.

Linework and Color restoration: The restoration in this book is decent.

Paper stock: Fair weight semi-glossy coated stock.

Binding: Sewn Binding.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Dustjacket has the same lamination found on all Marvel Omnibus dustjackets. The hardback has paper casewrap with the image printed on it.

Review- NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC VOL. 7

NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC VOL. 7 (Marvel, 2012; Softcover)

Collects New Mutants Nos. 48-54 and New Mutants Annual No. 3 (cover dates February- August, 1987)

Writer: Chris Claremont

Artists- Pencilers: Jackson Guice (48, 50), Brett Blevins (49), Kevin Nowlan (51), Rick Leonardi (52, 53), Sal Buscema (54), and Alan Davis (Annual 3); Inkers: P. Craig Russell (48), Val Mayerik (49), John Beatty (50), Kevin Nowlan (51), Dan Green (52), Terry Austin (53, 54), and Paul Neary (Annual 3)

Yet another brilliantly executed collection of stories by the definitive X-Men writer, Chris Claremont. This picks up where Volume 6 left off, with the team split up across the timestream due to Magik's teleportation disc going awry. They see two different futures: one where mutants have been nearly exterminated by the Sentinels, and the other where mutants have taken over the world, subjugating normal humans. In this future, we see an elderly Katie Power of Power Pack, who seems to have all four of her siblings' powers. I wonder if their powers reverted to her after they died, since Whitey split his powers amongst the four of them in the first place. 

All of the artwork in this book is great, with the exception of issue 51 by Kevin Nowlan. His artwork is a notch or two below the rest of the artists in this book. We get treated to yet another Annual with artwork by Alan Davis, this one starring the Impossible Man. We also get to see the climax of the Magus/ Warlock battle and a spirited contest between The New Mutants and their rivals over at the Massachusetts Academy, the Hellions. These stories are all so great. Some folks bag on Claremont's “over-writing”, to which I say fie! Claremont crams a modern trade paperback's worth of story into each issue.

The greatest thing about this title is that the Claremont has fully developed all of the characters. They just all happen to be mutants, who just happen to go on adventures and fight villains. They are teenagers finding their place in the world, with the mutant backdrop serving as an amped up metaphor for adolescence. 

The New Mutants' "graduation" outfits. Yikes. Cypher's has enough pouches on it that it would make Rob Liefeld proud.

 

This book marks the end of Chris Claremont's run on the title. I would love to see a Volume 8, as Louise Simonson takes over the writing and there is still plenty of great artwork ahead. The next batch of issues are collected in the X-Men: Fall of the Mutants OHC and new printing TPB, but there is more goodness after that.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book smells nice.

Linework restoration rating: 4.25 out of 5. The restoration is solid throughout most of the book. There are a few rough spots here and there, but most folks won't notice them as they aren't too bad.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. The original color palette is faithfully maintained.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. I love this lightweight dull matte finish coated stock in softcovers. This is the same paper stock used in the softcover Masterworks.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding is par for the course in softcovers.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. I love love love the thick waxlike coating that Marvel uses on their cardstock covers.

Buy NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC VOL. 7 TP at InStockTrades!

Review- UNCANNY X-FORCE VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SOLUTION

UNCANNY X-FORCE VOL. 1: THE APOCALYPSE SOLUTION (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Uncanny X-Force Nos. 1-4 and a selection from Wolverine: Road To Hell (cover dates November, 2010- March, 2011)

Writer: Rick Remender

Artists: Jerome Opena (UXF 1-4) and Leonardo Manco (W:RTH)

My friend, co-conspirator, fellow OCD sufferer, and enabler, Ferjo Byroy, requested that I read and review this before he told me what he thought of it. I agreed, so he loaned me his copy for review purposes. Rick Remender is a name that keeps popping up in comics circles these days, but I have only read one or two other things that he's done. He seems solid enough, and has a good handle on the artform. The artwork in this book is just beautiful. Leonardo Manco, a personal favorite of mine, handles the chores on the Wolverine: Road To Hell one-shot, while the rest of the book is done by Jerome Opena, who is also a tremendous talent. I am unfamiliar with his work, as I would have surely remembered it. 

Now, the story itself deals with a reborn Apocalypse being raised by Ozymandius, and X-Force making an attempt on his life. For those of you not familiar with the X-Men Universe these days, X-Force is the black-ops team that does the dirty work. Of course Wolverine is on this team, just like pretty much every other team in the Marvel Universe these days. So is Deadpool, and this is where I started groaning a bit as I read it. I can't stand Deadpool, as he is everything that was wrong with '90s comics in one package. The “kids” love him though, so humour this old fogy for the next paragraph.

I was half tempted to go back and re-read this book without reading any panel that Deadpool is in. I think that it can be done, as his interaction with the team is done mostly over comlink. If it were my copy, I could take a marker and just cross off the panels featuring him in them. I don't find him to be funny or kewl.

Like the previous Clayton Crain X-Force title, this heaps on the ultra-violence to satisfying results. While I like the golly shucks, superheroes don't kill people era of comics, this stuff is fun too. I won't go into too many details here, but I found the resolution to be a nice twist. I really enjoyed Apocalypse's new Horsemen. I always cringe at ninja Psylocke, and have yet to forgive Chris Claremont or Jim Lee for crapping up my beloved British telepath from Captain Britain. She has had more crappy appearances than good ones.

The verdict? I liked it...to a point. There are things that I really disliked about it, but nice artwork can make these pills easier to swallow. I won't be running out to buy this, but Ferjo could probably twist my arm to review the rest of the run.

The OCD zone- Standard Marvel Premiere Edition hardcover fare.

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Yesterday's comic books reviewed... today!

The term 'fanboy' irks me. Nearly all comic book fans use it to describe themselves, and for the life of me I can't understand why. It started out as a pejorative term, and comic book fans using it themselves does not empower them or the term. It would be like a black person using the N-word to describe themselves. It's a nasty word, and using it to describe yourself does not take away it's ugliness. Much like the N-word, we as a culture should banish the use of the term 'fanboy', as it is a term created by detractors to belittle us.

X-FACTOR: OVERTIME (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Factor (Vol. 3) Nos. 46-50 and X-Factor Special: Layla Miller (cover dates October, 2008- December, 2009)

Man, my loyalty to both all things X-title related and to Peter David's writing is fast becoming tenuous. This has it's moments, but the series seems to be losing its way. At least they finally reveal the story behind Layla Miller.

X-FORCE VOL. 3: NOT FORGOTTEN (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Force (Vol. 3) Nos. 12, 13, 17-19 (cover dates April- November, 2009)

On one hand, I dislike this series because it has heroes doing things that are completely unheroic. On the other hand, this is such a fun, super violent read with beautiful artwork by Clayton Crain and Mike Choi that I can't help but love it. Omitting Issues 14-16 and only including them in the Cable Messiah War hardcover ticks me off. I have no desire to read stuff with Cable in it and feel like I have been shorted in the story department.

Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) Nos. 1-8 and Peter Parker, Spider-Man Nos. 1-8 (cover dates on both series: January- August, 1999)

These were an awesome garage sale find just two blocks from my house. These issues came out during my sabbatical from comics, so I missed out on this relaunch. Both are written by the underrated Howard Mackie and ASM was drawn by John Byrne, while PPSM was drawn by John Romita, Jr. I was delighted to see Morbius the Living Vampire pop up unexpectedly in the latter series. These issues had a relatively low print run due to the comic market crash of the mid-to-late '90s, and to find them in such exquisite shape for so cheap was the icing on the cake. They look like the guy bought them off of the shelf the day of release, read them once, and then bagged and boarded them. He had like 5 or 6 long boxes but I had much of what he was offering. Fun reads for dirt cheap= a winner.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE HOUSE OF SECRETS VOL. 2 (DC, 2009)

Collects The House of Secrets Nos. 99-119 (cover dates August, 1972- May, 1974)

Another fine collection of old school Gothic Horror stories with solid writing and artwork. Alfredo Alcala's artwork is genuinely creepy and I can't get enough of it. Nestor Redondo is also very good, as are most of the other contributing artists. You can't go wrong with these black and white phone books in terms of sheer dollar per dollar entertainment value...nearly 500 pages for $17.99 MSRP.



AVENGERS/ X-MEN: UTOPIA (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Dark Avengers Nos. 7, 8, Dark X-Men: The Beginning Nos. 1-3, Dark X-Men: The Confession, Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Exodus, Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Utopia, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 513, 514, X-Men: Legacy Nos. 226, 227 and material from Dark Reign: The Cabal (cover dates June- November, 2009)

Times like these I hate buying my comic books in collected editions. My completist OCD compels me to continue my Uncanny X-Men and X-Men: Legacy runs, so I got sucked into this uber-retarded Dark Reign storyline. If I were a floppy (single issue) buyer, I would've only bought those 4 issues rather than this fat oversized hardcover, not caring whether the overall story made sense or not. Crossovers suck. SPOILERS The whole Norman Osborn running the show concept sucks so bad and is so unbelievable that I can't believe that it ever saw print. Comic books are not realistic, nor do I expect them to be, but there has to be a certain level of believability involved. Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin, for chrissakes! The Government would never give him control of an organization like H.A.M.M.E.R. Compounding this suckiness is the fact that he has his 'Dark' Avengers and 'Dark' X-Men....uggghhhhh. Horrible.




MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA BLACK KNIGHT/ YELLOW CLAW VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Black Knight Nos. 1-5 and Yellow Claw Nos. 1-4 (cover dates May, 1955- April, 1957)

The absolutely stunning artwork by Joe Maneely on most of the Black Knight issues and the first issue of Yellow Claw makes this an eye candy feast. Jack Kirby takes over Yellow Claw after the first issue, and his artwork seems more in line with his '60s style than on his Golden Age stuff like Captain America and the Sandman. I also put Bill Everett's cover to Yellow Claw #3 in this blog because it is so stunning. I mean, look at all of that detail! These stories are above average for the era in terms of quality and are fun reads. There is an in depth article about the life of Joe Maneely in the back of the book that is wonderful. There are several images from the plethora of other titles that he did, and I want to read them all! My wallet groans at the prospect at purchasing all of these Masterworks, but they are so worth it. I can't wait to get to the Menace volume in my queue to read Maneely's Frankenstein. My backlog is totally out of control...this book came out in September of 2009 and I just got to it and finished it.





AVENGERS/ INVADERS (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Avengers/ Invaders Nos. 1-12 (cover dates July, 2008- August, 2009)

This was a decent read, but something about it seems to be lacking... I am not sure if it is the story, the artwork, or the pacing, but this title never seemed to get out of third gear. I didn't throw this book at the wall in disgust when I finished it, nor did I scoop my jaw up from the floor when I was done.





SPIDER-MAN: RETURN OF THE BLACK CAT (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 606-611 and material from Web of Spider-Man No. 1 (cover dates November, 2009- January, 2010)

Another solid batch of issues, with the exception of Issue 611. Deadpool sucks, and is the worst of Rob Liefeld's terrible creations. The Mike McKone goodness in the other issues balances out the suckiness that is Issue 611.


SPIDER-MAN: THE GAUNTLET VOL. 1- ELECTRO & SANDMAN (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover) 

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 612-616, Dark Reign: The List- Amazing Spider-Man and material from Web of Spider-Man No. 2 (cover dates January- February, 2010)

It's nice to see some of the OG Spider-Man villains back in the game. Electro has been upgraded, and so has Sandman, and it all leads up to... what? I'm intrigued by The Gauntlet thus far.

SPIDER-MAN: THE GAUNTLET VOL. 2- RHINO & MYSTERIO (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 617-621 and material from Web of Spider-Man Nos. 3, 4 (cover dates February- April, 2010)

OK, The Gauntlet rocks. These are THE best Mysterio stories since Amazing Spider-Man #66-67, I kid you not. Dan Slott and Marcos Martin knocked this one right out of the park. I have finally figured out why ASM has been resonating with me since the 'reboot' some 70-odd issues ago, and that is the fact that there is actual joy in this title. Sure, Peter Parker gets knocked upside the head by life, but he never gets as morose as he did during J. Michael Straczinski's run. There is joy in this title, and there is joy to be had in reading this title, and that is something that has been missing from many Marvel titles for far too long. Hopefully the forthcoming Heroic Age will rectify this.

Junk Food For Thought (From Another World)

CITY OF OTHERS (Dark Horse, 2008)

Collects City of Others Nos. 1-4 (cover dates February- August, 2007)

Vampires, werewolves, zombies, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and it was in the half off box at the Motor City Con. We have a winner! This would have been good even at full price.

IRON MAN: DOOMQUEST (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Iron Man Nos. 149, 150, 249, 250 (cover dates August- September, 1981 and Mid-November- December, 1989)

Excellent stuff by David Michelinie and the team of John Romita, Jr. and Bob Layton. Doctor Doom is a great foil for Iron Man, and the time travel aspect of each arc is great. I would love to see more '80s Iron Man collected in trade or hardcover. Janice Chiang does the lettering on 249 and 250, and it is horrible. Her hand lettering totally detracts from the reading experience. Aside from that, my only gripe is the fact that this book has perforated glued binding, which is total, utter garbage and has no place in hardcovers. I got this brand new for half price at the Motor City Con in May.

BLADE: BLACK & WHITE (Marvel, 2004)

Collects Blade: Crescent City Blues No. 1, and selections from and Marvel Preview Nos. 3, 6 Marvel Shadows and Light No. 1, and Vampire Tales Nos. 8, 9 (cover dates December, 1974- March, 1998).

Like the title states, this a collection of black and white Blade stories. These are solid, enjoyable reads loaded with '70s smack talk. I love '70s jive fool comic book smack talkin'. I would like to see Marvel do a hardcover collection of Blade at some point in time.

WILDGUARD VOL. 1: CASTING CALL (Image, 2005)

Collects Wildguard: Casting Call Nos. 1-6 (cover dates September, 2003- February, 2004)

Good, fun, lighthearted stuff by Todd Nauck. I hope that the rest of the issues published since this book are collected in a trade paperback.

ROAD TO WAR OF KINGS (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Secret Invasions: War of Kings, War of Kings Saga, X-Men: Kingbreaker Nos. 1-4 and a selection from X-Men: Divided We Stand No. 2 (cover dates July, 2008- May, 2009).

This was a great read. It's nice to see comics that cover all of the bases, i.e. character development, a healthy dose of action, tying in to continuity, etc. Props to all of the creators involved! Now I want to get War of Kings hardcover, though...damn it! My only gripes are the fact that A) Vulcan is another Summers brother/relation; it is unnecessary and adds nothing to the character and B) there is a female version of Gladiator. Why O why is Marvel so interested in making female versions of everyone these days? It's so DC.

ATOMIKA VOL. 1: GOD IS RED (Mercury, 2006)

Collects Atomika Nos. 1-6 (cover dates March, 2005- January, 2006)

Wow, this title looks like nothing else on the market, both in look and feel. Sal Abbinanti and Andrew Dabb deserve mountains of praise for seeing this through to fruition. The tone of this book is oppressive and melodramatic, and I love it in spite of, or perhaps because of, it. I am very interested in seeing how this turns out, and with the next batch of six issues being nearly done, this will hopefully be collected in trade sooner rather than later. I give this title my highest recommendation. 10/10

X-FORCE VOL. 2: OLD GHOSTS (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Force (Vol. 3) Nos. 7-11 (cover dates November, 2008- March, 2009)

Mike Choi is one of the finest artists working in comics today, and this is among the better titles being produced by Marvel today. It's extreme and over the top, but I find myself loving it nonetheless. I am ticked that the next 5 or so issues are contained in crossover trades/hardcovers. Vol. 3 will jump ahead 5 issues! I really don't want to read some dumb ass Cable Messiah War or Dark Avengers/X-Men hardcover just for these issues. Maybe I should (gasp!) buy the floppies!?! Nah.

THE DEATH-DEFYING ‘DEVIL VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2009)

Collects The Death-Defying ‘Devil Nos. 1-4 and Project Superpowers: The Death-Defying ‘Devil Free Comic Book Day Special (cover dates May, 2008- March, 2009)

This has everything that a fan of superhero comics could want. I am loving the Project Superpowers universe and can't wait to see what happens next.

UNCANNY X-MEN: LOVELORN (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 504-507 and Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 2 (cover dates January- May, 2009)

Decent, entertaining stuff by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. Fraction seems to be trying to move the team in a new direction, with mixed results. While this won't be looked back on as the worst era of the team, it also won't be mentioned among the best.

UNCANNY X-MEN: SISTERHOOD (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 508-512 (cover dates June- August, 2009)

Wait a minute, Psylocke was dead? I mean, I knew that she was dead at one time, but didn't they already resurrect her? Did she die again? I'm confused! The X-Men are such a convoluted clusterphuck of deaths/resurrections that it has become a joke. At least they explained how she went from being a British telepath to an Asian ninja (thanks a lot for that suckiness, Jim Lee!). I haven't read much '90s X-Men, and with garbage like that, Cable, Bishop, and art by Rob Liefeld, why would one want to? Much of Matt Fraction's dialogue has a cheesy one-liner, made for a Michael Bay movie quality to it here. He is also bringing back many unwelcome aspects of the series. All is not lost, though, because Issue 512 is the best of the bunch. I would like to see a Hellfire Club mini-series further exploring the origins of the organization.