Review- THE COMPLETE ALAN MOORE FUTURE SHOCKS

THE COMPLETE ALAN MOORE FUTURE SHOCKS (2000 AD, First US Printing, 2011; Softcover)

Collects selections from 2000 AD #189, 190, 203, 209, 214, 217, 219, 234, 237, 238, 240, 242, 245-247, 249, 251-254, 257, 265, 267-273, 278, 282, 291, 299, 308-310, 315-318, 320, 322-325, 327, 329, 331, 332 (cover dates December 6, 1980- September 3, 1983)

Writer: Alan Moore

Artists: Mike White, John Cooper, Paul Neary, Ian Gibson, Brendan McCarthy, John Higgins, Garry Leach, Ron Tiner, Jose Casanovas, Eric Bradbury, Dave Gibbons, Jesus Redondo, Robin Smith, Alan Langford, Jim Eldridge, Alan Davis, Steve Dillon, Boluda, and Bryan Talbot

Before Watchmen, V For Vendetta, or Swamp Thing, Alan Moore broke into the big time at 2000 AD, a weekly anthology magazine in the UK. Reading the list of artists that he collaborated with on this title reads like a who's who of British comics royalty, but think of it like the first season of Saturday Night Live. These were the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time-Players blazing the trail that the entire industry would soon follow. Everyone realized they were great later on.

The book is divided into four sections: Tharg's Future Shocks, which are sci-fi heavy tales; Time Twisters, tales about time travel and the ramifications thereof; a section with four unrelated tales; and, finally, Abelard Snazz, a series about a self-proclaimed genius who uses his intellect to create problems where there are none, albeit unintentionally so. Clever stuff.

The best stories are found in Time Twisters. Ring Road is a Twilight Zone style weird story. The Time Machine is another good one, but it is The Reversible Man which steals the show. Not only is it the best story in this book, it is one of the best stories that Alan Moore has ever written. It is a story about a man's life, from death to birth, and it's an incredibly moving tale. Moore rarely goes this emotional, preferring the cerebral to the gut punch, but when he does he can put your heart down for the count. There are reasons why the conversation about who is the greatest comic book writer of all time always turns back to him.

Those interested in the salad days of one comic's greatest writers should check this out. It's certainly better than Black Dossier. This is essential reading and belongs on your bookshelf next to Watchmen, V For Vendetta, and From Hell.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- 2000 AD trades are wider than standard US trade paperbacks, as UK comics are taller and wider than standard US comics.

Linework restoration: Mostly crisp and clean, although there are a few so-so spots.

Paper stock: Glossy stock, not optimal for black and white material.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

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

Review- ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 1

ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 1 (2000 AD, Second Printing, April, 2011; Softcover)

Collects the Rogue Trooper stories from 2000 A.D. Nos. 228-232, 234-243, 246-258, 260-262, 265-301, 303-317, and 2000 A.D. Annual 1983, 1984 (cover dates September 5, 1981- May 21, 1983)

Writers: Gerry Finley-Day and Alan Moore

Artists: Dave Gibbons, Cam Kennedy, Brett Ewins, Colin Wilson, Mike Dorey, and Eric Bradbury

Rogue Trooper is a G.I., or Genetic Infantryman, a sort of super-soldier modified to withstand the harsh toxic environments of Nu-Earth without a breathing apparatus. Mankind relocated to this new Earth but their chemical warfare in the Nu Earth future war polluted the atmosphere. The G.I.'s entire personality transfers to a biochip at the time of their death, and these biochips can be installed in various hardware. When Rogue's comrades are killed in combat he inserts them in his helmet (Helm), his gun (Gunnar), and his bag (Bagman). They can speak and retain their entire personality and serve as the supporting cast. 

It is really interesting to see how influential these British comics were on American comics. The third party narrative is used sparingly, mostly as a plotline recap since this was a weekly strip, with the rest of the story being entirely dialogue driven. Compare this to American comic books of similar vintage and you will see what I mean. Nowadays this is par for the course, but British comics are where that style started.

While this was consistently enjoyable throughout 400-odd pages, The Fort Neuro arc was my favorite. I love how the one base, the Napoleonic Complex, pretended to be from France. Dave Gibbons (later of Watchmen fame) was the original artist for the series, and Alan Moore writes the story from the 2000 A.D. Annual 1984. Cam Kennedy is nearly as good an artist as Gibbons. This is good stuff that holds up remarkably well 30-odd years after it's original publication.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

Buy ROGUE TROOPER: TALES OF NU-EARTH VOL. 1 TP at InStockTrades!

The OCD zone- The only covers that are included are #228, 231, 241, and 317.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: There is an uncredited additional page at the end of the cover gallery in the back of the book.

Linework: Things look good for 95% of the book. A few pages look murky, like a few of the pages may have been scanned from printed pages instead of sourced from film. The film was altered from original publication for the 2005 192 page collections. The *footnote box refers to previous books rather than individual issues.

Paper stock: Thick uncoated stock, zero sheen under any light source.

Binding: Sewn binding, six stitches per signature.

Cardstock cover notes: Dull matte coating, easily scuffed even when handled gingerly. I strongly dislike this style of finish. 

Review- SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? THE DELUXE EDITION

SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? THE DELUXE EDITION (DC, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Action Comics No. 583, Superman No. 423, DC Comics Presents No. 85, and Superman Annual No. 11 (cover dates September, 1985- September, 1986)

Writer: Alan Moore

Artists: Curt Swan, Dave Gibbons, Rick Veitch, George Perez, Kurt Schaffenberger, and Al Williamson

D to the O to the H spells D'OH! I bought this because I thought Wow, all of Alan Moore's Superman stories in one convenient package! What a great idea! Turns out that all of these stories seemed a might bit familiar, so I went and looked in ye olde collection file, and wouldn't you know it...I have not only read these stories before but already own them in the DC Universe: The Stories Of Alan Moore trade paperback from 2006. Oh well, I guess that I doubled my reading enjoyment by buying them all again. This has served as an object lesson as to why I need to better organize my collection file. My wife is going to convert my ancient Word file into a database so that this never happens again. 

I could certainly have done worse in terms of making a purchasing blunder. Having a cream of the crop writer like Alan Moore coupled with top artistic talent across four outstanding stories in a deluxe oversized hardcover doesn't exactly suck. Often times my love of Moore's work becomes outshined by his endless business shenanigans and criticisms of the industry. At the core of it, beneath the bile and perceived and real backstabbings, are some great comic books by a great writer. I don't think that anyone can read the touching two-part farewell story Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? from Action Comics #583 and Superman #423 and not be moved on some level. Just think how many trade paperback arcs today's star writers could milk out of those two issues. Moore never gives you a chance to catch your breath here and I love it. 

This panel, ALONE, is why Man of Steel (the 2013 film) stinks. Moore gets it that Superman shouldn't kill people.

A quick recap for those who don't know: DC was rebooting it's universe in 1986, the first major reboot that they had ever attempted in an effort to streamline their continuity and make their books more new reader friendly. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Anyhow, DC decided to try and tie up all of the loose ends by doing a “last” Superman story one month prior to the reboot, and Moore got to write it.

The Superman and Swamp Thing team-up from DC Comics Presents No. 85 is another winner. As in so many Moore superhero stories, he seems to have the seeds of what he wants to do with the story and the superheroes are props or bit characters no more or less important to the outcome than anyone else. This is fascinating to me. Moore's run on Swamp Thing (widely available in both trade paperbacks and hardcovers) is fantastic as well, for those of you who may not have read it. 

Hello, Superman...Hello.

Finally, we get the battle with Mongul in Superman Annual No. 11, this time with Wonder Woman, Batman, and Robin (2- Jason Todd) saving the day. Dave Gibbons provides some stellar artwork there, and I look forward to reading the Green Lantern: Sector 2814 trade paperbacks for more of his 1980s goodness. I guess he did the artwork in some other book that Alan Moore wrote called Watchmen. Never heard of it. Must have stunk.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is one of the DC Deluxe Edition hardcovers, their answer to the Marvel oversized hardcover and the Marvel Premiere Classic line.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Paul Kupperburg introduction from the original 1997 Superman: Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow? trade paperback.

Linework and Color restoration rating: 4 out of 5. The integrity of the original linework is excellent. While the original color palette is maintained, it has many liberal interpretations and “improvements” including but not limited to gradient shading and select recoloring of things such as people in the background, etc. It's not bad but at all; in fact, it looks pretty darn good. I am a purist, though, and rate these things as a purist would. Your mileage may vary.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful, thick uncoated stock paper with zero glare. Why DC couldn't use paper of this quality in all of their hardcovers is beyond me. The high gloss stock that they use these days makes classic material look garish, like the crappy paper Marvel used on classic collections a decade ago. The thin mando paper that they were using on books wasn't good either. This paper stock feels like something of quality.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding. This is a relatively thin book, so it's not a big deal.

Hardback cover coating rating: 1 out of 5. This has a weird, odd, gross rubbery feel to the cover. Given the choice between this and the non-existent coating found on their modern day hardcovers, I would sadly take the uncoated boards.

Buy SUPERMAN: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MAN OF TOMORROW? THE DELUXE EDITION HC at InStockTrades!

Also available in TP.

Review: Captain Britain Vol. 4: The Siege of Camelot

CAPTAIN BRITAIN VOL. 4: THE SIEGE OF CAMELOT (Marvel UK, 2010)

Collects selections from Captain Britain Summer Special, The Daredevils Nos. 1-11, Hulk Comic Weekly Nos. 41-55, 57-63 and Marvel Super Heroes Nos. 377-389 (cover dates December 12, 1979- November, 1983)

These British trade paperbacks are heavy duty, man. Super thick cardstock covers, super thick paper...like I said, heavy duty. The bulk of this book was recently issued Stateside in the Captain Britain by Alan Davis & Alan Moore Omnibus, but here we get the earlier stories in their original black and white presentation. There are color pages in this book (i.e. the covers and The Daredevils stories), but many of these stories were re-colored when they were reprinted in the US ages ago. I am glad that I have both versions.

The first chunk of this book is The Black Knight's strip, which features Captain Britain as nothing more than a member of the supporting cast. Their inclusion is necessary, though, because it leads right up to the moment that began the aforementioned Omnibus, roughly 80 pages into this book. Alan Davis' early artwork leaves a lot to be desired, but he quickly picks up steam. His action sequences are great, and the traits that made him one of my all-time favorites become more apparent as he progresses. 

Alan Moore writes the last chunk of this book, and he is often imitated but never duplicated. It's so easy to dismiss the importance of these '80s British comic book creators. They really set the stage for the modern era of comics. I would even go as far as to liken Alan Moore to Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen had a revolutionary guitar technique which has since been stripmined of all originality, becoming commonplace and later a cliche'. Likewise, Alan Moore's sense of pacing and arc structure has been swiped by hands less capable and rendered impotent. Why can't artists learn from other artists without swiping the thing that made their source of inspiration special? It sort of cheapens things when we have copies of copies.

The stories from The Daredevils Nos. 1-11 are the best of the bunch. Moore and Davis really fire on all cylinders here, and they play off of each other's strengths. Davis' storytelling, pace and action sequences play off of Moore's tight story structure and twists, pre-dating his work on both Watchmen and V For Vendetta. The Fury, Mad Jim Jaspers, Saturnyne and the Special Executive are characters that got their start here in the UK series, and Moore throwing in mainline Marvel Universe characters such as Arcade and the Black King (Sebastian Shaw) is a real treat.

It's great to now have the complete UK run in collected edition format. Not to be outdone, Marvel (US) has recently announced hardcover editions of these. I am going to resist the temptation of the upgrade. Besides, it likely won't even have sewn binding...will it?

Battle for the Planet of Junk Food For Thought

X-MEN LEGACY: SALVAGE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects X-Men Legacy Nos. 219-225 (cover dates February- August, 2009)

I was afraid that something like this might happen... a writer having nostalgia for '90s comics. Ugghhhhhhh, Mike Carey should have left that stuff for dead. This was pretty crappy overall and will ultimately have no bearing in long term X-continuity.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN OMNIBUS (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America Nos. 305, 306, New Mutants Annual No. 2, Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 11, and selections from Captain Britain Nos. 1-14, The Daredevils Nos. 1-11, Marvel Super Heroes Nos. 377, 378 and The Mighty World of Marvel Nos. 7-16 (cover dates September, 1981- Annual 1987).

Alan Davis is one of my favorite artists/ writers, and it is fascinating to watch him evolve here. His early CB is pretty rough, and it takes a while for this book to actually get good, but when it does (around 50 pages in), it takes off. Alan Moore handles the writing for quite a while and does a fantastic job of rebooting the character. Jamie Delano picks up the writing chores after Moore leaves and also does a bang-up job. Captain Britain becomes a lovable buffoon in these pages, and this book picks up where the Panini UK trades left off. I have the first three of those, and am awaiting the release of the fourth (which was supposed to be out months ago already), but they don't touch the quality of this material. Loads of quality DVD-style extras in the back of the book made this well worth the upgrade from the two inferior Captain Britain trades that covered a portion of this 600+ page monster.

BLACK WIDOW: THE STING OF THE WIDOW (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man No. 86, Daredevil No. 81 and selections from Amazing Adventures Nos. 1-8 and Tales of Suspense No. 52 (cover dates April, 1964- November, 1971).

Dated, lovable latter era Silver Age/ proto-Bronze Age goodness. I adore the whole militant vs. establishment era of youth culture, as it is hilarious here in 2010. The art restoration was lacking in a few of the issues, with the fine linework being obliterated. Was this the results of stats? Low resolution scans? Fiche? Who knows. I wish that this material would have gotten the Masterworks TLC that it deserves, though. Of course, it would have cost Masterworks cabbage, too. All in all, a nice package, hardcover with around 150 pages with nice paper and sewn binding at half the price of a Marvel Masterwork.

X-FACTOR: TIME AND A HALF (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects X-Factor (Vol. 3) Nos. 39-45 (cover dates March- August, 2009)

More enjoyable stuff by Peter David, with solid artwork by Valentine De Landro and Marco Santucci. Oh, and the Shatterstar thing was hilarious. Was it a swipe at Liefeld? One can only hope...

X-MEN: INFERNO (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects New Mutants (Vol. 1) Nos. 71-73, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 239-243, X-Factor (Vol. 1) Nos. 33-40, X-Factor Annual No. 4 and X-Terminators Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1988- May, 1989).

This one falls under the category of 'not as good as I remembered it being'. I only bought the Uncanny X-Men issues off of the stands, so my initial interpretation of this crossover was that it was great. I had the old softcover trade that didn't cover as many bases as this expanded hardcover edition does and it seemed like a better read. The X-Terminators mini series sucks. I bought the first issue off of the stands and was so put off by Jon Bogdanove's artwork that I never followed through with the rest of the series. This was an okay read here in late 2009/ early 2010, but it was tired by the end. On the plus side, it was presented in a beautiful oversized hardcover package with nice paper and sewn binding, so at least it has that going for it.

THE MIGHTY AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Mighty Avengers Nos. 21-26 and selections from Secret Invasion: Requiem (cover dates March- August, 2009).

WOW! Dan Slott's Avengers are worlds better than Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers, largely because these Avengers A) have actual adventures, B) fight villains, and C) actually act heroic. Amazing. That, and the issues took more than five or ten minutes a piece to read. It really feels like I got my money's worth, especially when compared to a Bendis picture book.

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST VOL. 5: ESCAPE FROM THE EIGHTH CITY (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects The Immortal Iron Fist Nos. 21-27 (cover dates February- August, 2009)

AAAargggghhhh!! This series has been cancelled, and I feel partially responsible. Let me explain. I buy the hardcovers of this series rather than the floppies, or single issues, and I always feel guilty when a series that I have followed in this format is cancelled. If only I bought this title monthly, maybe it would have survived, the self-imposed guilt trip usually goes. I know that trade sales are factored in to a title's overall sales, but I can't help but think that maybe people like me (trade waiters) are really ruining the industry, at least as far as less popular titles go. With the exception of issue 27, this entire series has been of such undeniable quality writing-wise, if not always artwork-wise, that I for one am sad to see it end.

SPIDER-MAN: 24/7 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 589-594 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Extra! Nos. 2, 3 (cover dates March- July, 2009).

I really look forward to reading this title, and since the Brand New Day reboot, it hasn't let me down yet. Amazing Spider-Man has once again become Marvel's best title, with each issue packed to the brim with quality. Fred Van Lente's done-in-one Issue 589 featuring the return of the Spot was just fantastic. I was around when Spot first came out circa 1984, and although most people hated him at the time, I dug him. Bendis would have stretched Issue 589 out to a 6 issue arc. Mild spoiler ahead: I am not crazy about Spider-Man revealing his identity to the Fantastic Four. I also forgot, or was unaware, that Peter was aware of that fact that the world once knew his identity. The new Vulture seems interesting, and I am looking forward to finding out more about him. Man, there is just so much going on in this title that it's really exciting. I have no problem sliding my hard-earned money across the counter for this title.

SPIDER-MAN: AMERICAN SON (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 595-599 and selections from Amazing Spider-Ma: Extra! No. 3 (cover dates May- September, 2009).

Joe Kelly's run isn't quite as good as the rest of the 'Spidey Brain Trust"'s, but that could be because he was dealt the Norman Osborn/ H.A.M.M.E.R. hand. Don't get me wrong, this arc has it's moments and is overall an enjoyable read, but it wasn't great. That's okay, ASM is still the best title Marvel has going right now and every issue doesn't have to be the greatest issue ever made.

SPIDER-MAN: THE SHORT HALLOWEEN (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Spider-Man: The Short Halloween and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Family Nos. 4-6 (cover dates April- July, 2009).

A hit or miss collection, with Spider-Ma'Am and Spider-Ham falling under miss and the rest being mostly decent.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel

Ah yes, cross-brand marketing at work. A few weekends ago it was super cold outside and there was nothing to do on a Sunday, so we went to McDonald's so that Billy could run around and burn some energy off in the play area. The toy that came with his Happy Meal was Alvin, and then he saw the ad for the movie... Fast forward a week, it was even colder outside, so I took him to see the movie. To say that my 3 year old loved it is a gross understatement. When we watch something like Wonder Pets on DVD and the 22 minute episode ends he says "There will be more". After the 90 minute movie, he also said "There will be more" and refused to leave. I was like "No buddy, that's it". He argued, all the way through the credits and until the theatre staff came in to clean. They had to tell him that there won't be more and that you have to go home. He really loved it. Me, not so much. I liked that he enjoyed it so much, and since 36 year old males are likely not the target audience for this move I think that it did what it set out to do. Cute for kids, lame for adults.

Originally posted on my myspace blog on 6/8 & 6/18/2009

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA STRANGE TALES VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Strange Tales (Vol. 1) Nos. 11-20 (October, 1952- July, 1953)

Time was, I could never have dreamed of reading these stories. Now, thanks to the Masterworks, I have! These are inferior to EC's output at the time, but are decent and will help hold me over while Russ Cochran shops the EC license around since Gemstone has essentially collapsed. 

MIGHTY AVENGERS VOL. 4: SECRET INVASION BOOK 2 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Mighty Avengers Nos. 16-20 (September, 2008- February, 2009)

Another sucktastic, bloated, made-for-the-trade "arc" by the Michael Bay of comic books, Brian Michael Bendis. I will suffer through whatever this man wrote that is currently in my backlog, but after that, I am done. The '90s are made fun of because of Liefeld's laughable "artwork". The 2000s will be laughed at because of Bendis' laughable "writing". Decompression is the writing equivalent of stylized '90s art.

SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: THE TARANTULA (DC, 1995)

Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre Nos. 1-4 (cover dates April- July, 1993)

This was an enjoyable Golden Age/ crime/ noir flavored comic. I'm on board for Vol. 2, and can't wait to get to it in the backlog.

AMERICA’S BEST COMICS PRIMER (DC, 2008)

Collects Promethea No. 1, Tom Strong No. 1, Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales No. 1, Tomorrow Stories Nos. 1, 6 and Top 10 No. 1 (cover dates June, 1999- April, 2003)

This is one of those off-brand (sort of; Wildstorm, whose parent company is DC, puts this line out) $4.99 sampler trades that I am such a sucker for. The bulk of this is written by Alan Moore, whose ideas here are hit or miss but never uninteresting. Tom Strong, Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales, and Promethea were all fun reads, and the Tomorrow Stories anthology stories were hit or miss. My friend loaned me the first Top 10 trade a while back, and I didn't much care for it then and I don't much care for it now. This book is an entertaining read, and at $5.00, you can't go wrong.

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN VOL. 11: ANIMAL INSTINCT (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Marvel Adventures Spider-Man Nos. 41-44 (cover dates September- December, 2008)

This series remains an enjoyable read. Why can't Amazing Spider-Man feature some more light-hearted, done in one stories like these, with some of the lesser villains? Man-Bull, the Puma, Orka, and the Lizard are all great.

EERIE ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Eerie Nos. 1-5 (cover dates September, 1965- September, 1966)

Eerie, along with it's sister title Creepy, are the finest post-EC Horror comics ever made. Most of the EC stable of artists contributed to this title, along with many Silver Age greats.

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE BEGINNING OF THE END (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Fantastic Four Nos. 525, 526, 551-553 (cover dates June, 2005 and January- March, 2008)

This was a X-Mas gift, and I really enjoyed reading it. I like the Fantastic Four, but haven't followed them since Byrne's run. These arcs featured two of the all-time great FF villains: Diablo and Doctor Doom. Fun for the whole family!

ESSENTIAL POWER MAN AND IRON FIST VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Daredevil No. 178 and Power Man and Iron Fist Nos. 76-100 (cover dates December, 1981- December, 1983)

B-level ‘80s Marvel is still better than most A-level ‘00s Marvel. We get to see Kurt Busiek cut his teeth on this title. Most of these issues are self-contained, but multi-parters become more common towards the end of the book. Ernie Chan's artwork is good, and can be great, depending on the inker. Power Man and Iron Fist are street level heroes and, as such, typically fight street level villains. That is something that is missing from many modern comic books: the street level villain. Now, everything is some kind of Skrull invasion or Norman Osborn led conspiracy. These issues are dated, but lovably so.

SECRET INVASION (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Secret Invasion Nos. 1-8 (cover dates June, 2008- January, 2009)

Crossovers, “events”, and Brian Michael Bendis all suck, and I am done with all three. This mini-series could have been so much more than it ended up being. I mean, they really could have undone most of the messy continuity and ret-cons* that have plagued Marvel in recent years, but it looks like they are instead going to super-size them with the whole Norman Osborn/ Thunderbolts Initiative garbage. It looks like I will be saving more money by not buying more modern Marvel comics. (*ret-con is short for retro-active continuity, where they will insert a back story into continuity that was never there before, often flying in the face of canon and logic.)

HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 1: ROOM & BOREDOM (DC, 2008)

Collects House of Mystery (Vol. 2) Nos. 1-5 (cover dates July- November, 2008)

This is the new Vertigo series, and it is a very interesting read. This isn't the way that I would have re-launched a beloved "brand" like House of Mystery, though.

SPIDER-MAN: AMAZING FRIENDS (Marvel, 2009)

Collects selections from King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special No. 1, Spider-Man Family Featuring Spider-Man’s Amazing Friends No. 1, Spider-Man Featuring the Silver Surfer Magazine and Spider-Man Magazine: Great Power (cover dates October, 2006-2008)

These stories are a non-continuity hodge-podge with varying degrees of quality. The best ones are the ones with Iceman and Firestar, "reuniting" the cast from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends animated series from the early '80s. This was a bit on the light side in terms of content, and I am going to be more selective with these sidebar releases in the future.