Review- Free Comic Book Day Offerings Part Five

Free Comic Book Day Offerings Part Five

Free Comic Book Day: The Stuff Of Legend (Th3rdworld Studios, cover date 2016)

I have always found this concept to be interesting and have wanted to read more, but time and money haven't allowed me to do so. Fortunately for me my son has shown me the joy of checking out books from the library. I have checked out the first volume in the series and am looking forward to reading it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

Mix Tape 2016 (Devil's Due/ First Comics, cover date 2016)

Like the title states, this is a sampler of different titles. Mercy Sparx and Badger are both readable yet not very memorable. Squarriors is fascinating, though. Beautifully drawn, cleverly written, it is something that is worth a second look. How To Dragon Your Train is amusing and well done.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

FCBD: March (Top Shelf, cover date, 2016)

I have heard much buzz about this comic, which is the story of the Civil Rights movement. It is a powerful story presented in black and white. Comic books are every bit as legitimate an art form as music, literature, and the cinema. Like those artforms, comics are capable of being anything under the sun. March uses the strengths of this unique medium (pictures and words) to great effect and delivers a read that is as powerful as the real life message that inspired it. 

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.75 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day: The Phantom (Hermes Press, cover date 2016)

This is a sampling of Jim Aparo's brilliant take on the character from 1970. Hermes' restoration is a bit off. They should either do full blown, frame up restoration or cleaned up raw scans. Their hybrid approach doesn't work for me. My OCD homeskillet Ferjo Byroy owns all of these Phantom Archives and strip books. Maybe someday I will borrow them from him.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Worlds Of Aspen 2016 #1 (Aspen Comics, cover date May, 2016)

This is slick and polished and enjoyable enough...just not enough for me to plunk down money and buy.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5.

Assassin's Creed: Free Comic Book Day (Titan Comics, cover date May, 2016)

I know nothing about the video game, as I don't play video games. That aside, this is good stuff as a comic book. Everything works, the art is good, and the hook is strong. I have no idea how this relates to the game if at all, but as a comic book I liked it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

Avatarex: Free Comic Book Day Special Preview (Graphic India, cover date 2016)

Grant Morrison is prolific, that's for sure. He bounces from stuff like Batman to creator owned stuff and everywhere in between. Avatarex reminds me of Atomika for some reason, only with more mainstream friendly artwork. The other story in this book is a preview of 18 Days, another heady, larger than life concept. Both of these concepts are interesting, but not interesting enough to get me to open my wallet.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5. 

Reviews- FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013 offerings Part the Second

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013 offerings Part the Second

Note: Free Comic Book Day will be referred to as FCBD from here on out.

Ramayan 3392 AD FCBD Special (Graphic India, cover date 2013)

Writer: Various

Artist: Various

Colorist: Various

This jumps all over the place, bordering on being unreadable. Pass.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 0.75 out of 5.

Chakra The Invincible FCBD Special (Graphic India, cover date 2013)

Writers: Stan Lee, Aswin Pande, and Jeevan Kang

Artist: Jeevan Kang

Stan Lee is, without question, on the Mount Rushmore of comic book creators. God bless him for still being out there trying new things, especially when you consider his age and the fact that he's loaded and doesn't have to work. He has repeated his formula one time too many, though. This is basically his attempt at creating a superhero for India. It's decent enough but pretty forgettable.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.5 out of 5. 

FCBD 2013: Infinity No. 1 (Marvel, cover date May, 2013)

Writer: Jonathan Hickman, Scott Edelman (LR back-up story), and Warren Ellis (A: EW)

Artists: Jim Cheung (Penciler) and Mark Morales (Inker), Mike Zeck (LR back-up story), and Mike McKone (A: EW)

Colorists: Justin Ponsor and Jason Keith (A: EW)

This is a prelude to Marvel's upcoming Infinity mini-series, which will help catapult Thanos back dead center in the Marvel Universe in anticipation of the Guardians of the Galaxy and/or Avengers 2 movies. Everything is slick and familiar looking for those who wandered in off the street. If someone had only seen the films and never read a comic book then they would get this.

The Thanos back-up story is reprinted from Logan's Run No. 6 from 1977 was a quarter box find of mine circa 1983. It was my first exposure to Thanos and Drax the Destroyer. I had no idea until much later that they were tied into the Marvel Universe.

There is also a four page preview of the forthcoming Avengers: Endless Wartime hardcover original graphic novel. As the Marvel Universe becomes more intertwined with the Marvel movie Universe, I expect the film versions to become the dominant interpretations of the characters, for better or worse. I doubt that this book will suck, though. It's Warren Ellis and Mike McKone, for chrissakes!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5. 

Buck Rogers In The 25^th Century A.D. (Hermes Press, cover date 2013)

Writer: Phillip Nowlan

Artists: Richard Calkins

This a sampler of the Buck Rogers strip books that Hermes Press has been releasing. There are three “arcs” collected here. Two full color Sunday strips arcs which were originally printed in 1936 and 1937. I found these to be a tough read, nowhere near the quality of Flash Gordon. They were fascinating from a strictly historical viewpoint. I will not be buying these in hardcover.

There is also the original black and white dailies which ran from the premiere on January 7, 1929, and the six following strips. Buck Rogers did not journey into space, but instead fell into an abandoned Pittsburgh mine, where a strange chemical preserved him in suspended animation for 500 years. These dailies were far more entertaining if offensive to modern sensibilities. The Mongols are evil and have taken over the world!

There are images of the memorabilia of the 30s-50s throughout the back, which are equally fascinating.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5. 

The Red Ten: FCBD 2013 No. 0 (Comix Tribe, cover date 2013)

Writer: Tyler James

Artists: Tyler James (Penciler), Vic Moya (Inker), and others.

Colorists: Vasen Sorbal and others.

This is pretty derivative. The Alliance are basically The Avengers, and their nemesis, Oxymoron, is essentially the Joker. I am guessing that this will be a comic book riff on Ten Little Indians, judging by the text introduction which apes that poem, and the fact that there are ten members of the team. This is also billed as a ten issue murder mystery.

This was enjoyable enough, and some of the creators involved are decent enough that with some work they could possibly produce some good stuff. Time will tell.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.75 out of 5. 

Bleeding Cool: FCBD and Beyond (Avatar Press, cover date May, 2013)

Writer: Rich Johnston and others

For those of you who don't know, Bleeding Cool is like the CNN of nerd culture. Up to the nanosecond updates, rumors, gossip, and everything else to do with comic books, movie, and television series related to the medium. They launched the bi-monthly magazine last year, and it fills a much-needed vacuum since Comics Buyers Guide unfortunately closed it's doors earlier this year. I still enjoy print magazines since I have an aversion to reading electronic devices on the toilet.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

I will have lots more FCBD reviews over the next week or so. I spent the entire day hitting various comic shops in the Detroit area.