Review- NEXT MEN VOL 3: AFTERMATH

NEXT MEN VOL 3: AFTERMATH (IDW, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Next Men: Aftermath Nos. 40-44 (cover dates February-June, 2012)

Writer and Artist: John Byrne

Here we are, the end of the road for the Next Men. The ending was either brilliant or cliched, depending on your viewpoint. In one reality, I love it. In another, I dislike it a lot. Yet my mind seems to inhabit both planes of reality and both timestreams, and I am becoming unable to discern which one is which. I share the memories and experiences of both lives, and my frequent timestream slips are becoming disorienting. 

Perhaps one day I will sit down with all 3 Premiere Edition Hardcovers, the 2112 Original Graphic Novel (collected in the Compleat Next Men phone books and the Classic trade paperbacks but not the hardcovers- what the f*ck, IDW!), and all 3 hardcovers from the current series and try to map all of these events out. I am thoroughly disoriented after reading this book.

By the way, was Lincoln assassinated in this plane of reality of not?

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book has the same dimensions as an Avatar Press hardcover.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Nice, thick coated stock. This has a smooth feeling, unlike many Korean and Chinese coated paper stocks.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. This book has sewn binding which, while glued square to the spine, still lays reasonably flat while reading due to the fact that this is a thinner book.

Hardcover coating rating: 4 out of 5. I am not a fan of the screen printed covers where the coating is only applied to certain images. I prefer the Avatar Press method, where they use a super thick waxy coating on the entire hardback. I am beginning to like books with printed covers over those with dustjackets.

Reviews: The Green Lantern/ Green Arrow Collection; Next Men Vol. 2- Shattered, Pt. 2

 

The front and back of the slipcase.

THE GREEN LANTERN/ GREEN ARROW COLLECTION(DC, 2000; Hardcover with slipcase)

Collects Green Lantern Nos. 76-87, 89 and The Flash Nos. 217-219 (cover dates April, 1970- January, 1972)

Writer: Denny O'Neil

Artist: Neal Adams pencils with inking by various artists

My friend and comic book co-conspirator Ferjo Byroy (real name withheld to protect his secret identity) showed me this book. It is long out of print and impossible (or insanely expensive) to find. I tossed and turned as this beautiful book haunted my dreams. eBay searches proved that this book would set me back about $200, which was unacceptable. I figured that I would wait it out for the inevitable reissue. Ferjo and I periodically go comic shop hopping, where we map out a string of stores that we normally don't go to. I found this, sealed in its original factory shrinkwrap for cover price. I had to play my poker face to get this thing out of the store before I broke down and did back flips. 

 

I cannot praise Neal Adams enough. To steal a line from a movie: “I celebrate the man's entire catalog.” Adams, along with Ditko and Steranko, were at the cutting edge of comic art in the '60s. Adams' angles and panel layouts were groundbreaking for the time. Only Jim Steranko was as revolutionary as Adams in his prime.

 

These comics are art of the highest order. I can't believe that I've gone my entire life and have not read any of these issues. While fans of so-called “sophisticated” modern comic books balk at a lot of the baby boomer rhetoric and concerns of the era, this was groundbreaking stuff when originally published. Denny O'Neil is a great comic book writer, way better than any of the “great” writers working for the big two today. O'Neil tackled such weighty issues as racism, the plight of the Native Americans, drugs, street crime and the environment. A lot of posters on various message boards bag on these issues because a lack of set-up, i.e. Green Arrow's ward Speedy was only seen one issue before he was the centerpiece of the heroin addiction storyline. I'll take the backpedaling and occasional inconsistency rather than having to sit through entire issues of padding and set-up like we have today. 

 

Many modern comic book readers are so used to bloated, made-for-the-trade lazy writing that they almost can't stand it when something happens in each and every issue. People's standards for entertainment have sunk so low. I prefer the dialogue and second party narrative packed captions over talking head flipbooks of today. I can point to each issue in here and remember what happened, unlike many modern comic books where one scene is stretched out for an entire issue of double page spreads, splash pages and talking heads. There is nothing wrong with showing superheroes in action in every single issue of a superhero's title. I always thought that was the point. I don't think that showing superheroes fighting villains and having adventures is a bad thing. Boring talking head conversations are what's wrong with comic books today.

 

Green Arrow is almost as unlikable as Marvel's facsimile, Hawkeye. Both are obnoxious, loud-mouthed hotheads whose hearts may be in the right place but are still unlikable. He does make a great counterpoint to Green Lantern's square disposition on social issues. Sometime Green Arrow changes Green Lantern's mind, and other times it is Green Lantern's tried and true voice of reason that prevails. I love how Denny O'Neil's overall vibe is one of working together to find a solution. Green Arrow basically echoes the counterculture's viewpoint and Green Lantern is the oldster whose eyes have been opened and is often willing to work for change. We all know how this eventually played out in real life, and we have been sold so far down the river by these same baby boomers that I doubt we'll ever get back to this type of meaningful dialogue. 

 

The OCD zone- This is a beautifully produced slipcased hardcover with thick, uncoated paper and sewn binding. It's 11 years old and harkens back to a time when DC produced top quality collected editions. The linework and color restoration are a tad rustic by today's 1200dpi standards but were worlds better than Marvel's at this time. They are still perfectly fine, with only the occasional iffy looking page. As always, I fall to the extreme side on the anal-retentive scale, so your mileage may vary. I know that I rest easy at night knowing that I own this beautiful book instead of the crappy trade paperbacks printed on DC's toilet paper grade that they use on classic material. 

 

NEXT MEN VOL 2: SCATTERED, PT. 2 (IDW, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Next Men Nos. 5-9 (cover dates April- August, 2011)

Writer and Artist: John Byrne

Whew! I read this whole thing in one sitting, and I am dizzy. This jumps back and forth and up and down so many times that I am still not sure what has happened...or did it any of it really happen at all? Did I ever happen, or have I been wiped out by a time paradox? Does time get more or less messed up when we were intervene, or does it stay the same because we intervened? This is the end of the second volume of the series proper, although Next Men: Aftermath is currently underway. This just came out yesterday, and I bumped it way up in the queue because I have been reading so many vintage comic books as of late that I felt I needed to read something modern to cleanse the palette. Now I am so confused that I will go and read some primitive 1940s Golden Age comics. 

 

Byrne's artwork and writing are top notch. The last few years have really been a return to form for him after some less than illustrious output in the mid-to-late '90s. 

 

The OCD zone- The cover image is screen printed on the book itself, no dustjacket. It has that same uncoated finish that it so easy to scratch or otherwise mar, so be careful handling this one, folks. The book does have a very nice grade of paper and sewn binding, so the innards will last even if you do not handle your books gingerly. I wear a HAZMAT suit when I handle mine in my sterilized bubble.

Reviews: Next Men Vol. 1- Scattered; South Park- The Complete Fourteenth Season

NEXT MEN VOL. 1: SCATTERED (IDW, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Next Men Nos. 1-4 (cover dates December, 2010- March, 2011)

Creator, Writer and Artist: John Byrne

In the immortal words of Keannu Reaves: Woah! This is one messed up, topsy turvy mindf*ck of a good time. Things are jumping back and forth so much and the concept of reality is stretched so thin that it's getting threadbare. I will assume for the sake of the story that this is the Next Men's reality and not another manipulation or simulated reality. I will definitely need to sit down and re-read the entire series again after the next (and supposedly final) hardcover comes out.

John Byrne's writing and artwork are at all-time highs here. It's wonderful to Byrne pour so much effort into his artwork, as it really shines here. Time travel has long been one of Byrne's pet themes, and he is really going for it here.

The OCD zone- The cover image is screen printed onto the book itself- no dustjacket required. I've got to admit that I prefer this to having a dustjacket, at least for a smaller hardcover like this. The paper is a thick coated stock. The book has sewn binding and lays completely flat, a huge plus for someone who lays his books down on the bed as he reads. A high quality product that gets a thumbs up.

I often toy with the idea of changing the name of blog to A day late and a dollar short. I often buy stuff when it comes out, but by the time I finally get around to reading or watching it, it's old news. Couple that with the delay of the material in collected editions, and I am quite far behind. Here in the nanosecond Twitter/Facebook reality of the 21^st Century, there are reviews popping up the day that this stuff is released. I simply don't have the free time to dedicate to the pursuit of my hobby. Sure, I eventually read (and try to review) everything, but there are times that it all seems futile. I have a family and the comic books and movies come second. Take, for example, the television series South Park. Prior to having kids, a new episode of South Park was a cause for celebration in the Shaw household. My wife and I would watch the episodes together. Once we had kids, I am up so early in the morning with them that the 10PM EST is late for me. I'm in bed sometimes, and if I am still up, I'm reading.

The DVD box sets were a godsend. (I didn't upgrade to digital cable with On Demand until a few months ago...TV doesn't matter that much to me.) I was buying them so I could re-watch the earlier episodes. Then, as the kids came, I simply waited until the box sets were released to watch the episodes. Now, the box sets come out, and it takes me 5 months to watch 3 discs' worth of episodes. Which brings us to...

SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE FOURTEENTH SEASON (2011)

This was the most enjoyable season in quite a while. My biggest regret is that I didn't see them at the original broadcast time, because South Park has always been super timely. My favorite episodes were the Facebook one, the Coon & Friends trilogy, and the Shake Weight one. The Facebook one is great because I am a FB addict, and Tron rules. The Coon and Friends plays up to my love of the graphic panel artform, known in less pretentious circles as comic books. My wife actually owns a Shake Weight, and so that seemed really funny to me. One of the things about the DVDs that is not as funny is that the expletives are not beeped out like they are on the broadcast version of the show. For some reason, the beeps (they are silent) are funnier than the actual cursing. That's just my opinion, though. Your mileage may vary.

I guess that Season 15 is well underway on Comedy Central. Maybe I will peek at On Demand and see if I can catch some of the episodes now. Ahh, who am I kidding? I'll just wait for the next box set.

Review: Next Men- The Premiere Collection Vol. 3

NEXT MEN: THE PREMIERE COLLECTION VOL. 3 (IDW, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Next Men Nos. 21-30 (cover dates December, 1993- December, 1994)

Creator, Writer & Artist: John Byrne

I forgot how awesome this series was until I re-read the issues in this hardcover. Plot twists upon plot twists, things get almost confusing. You have to sit back and look at all of the pieces and then connect the dots, re-check lines to those dots, and then it makes sense...almost. Next Men is in my top 5 most satisfying reads for '90s comics books. I remember getting to the end of Compleat Next Men Vol. 2 (the black and white phone book released a couple of years ago) and being completely disappointed because the series was cancelled and I would never know how things ended. Byrne finally resurrected the series, and I bumped the first hardcover of the new series up in my queue because I need to know what happens next.

Byrne's writing is at its best here, and his artwork is excellent. I would rank this series as being right behind his work on Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four.

The OCD zone- Beautiful production. This is a super tall hardcover, being about the same size as a DC Absolute Edition or EC Library hardcover. The paper: extremely thick coated stock. The binding is sewn. The material is reproduced by scans of the original issues, which makes the colors seem muted when compared to many of their high end counterparts. Oh, and I am still pissed at IDW for making Vol. 1 shorter and narrower by inches. My bookshelves shall be forever inconsistent. A pox upon you, IDW!

Reviews: Next Men 2112; Planet of the Apes Vol. 1- The Long War

JOHN BYRNE'S 2112 (Dark Horse, Third Printing, 1994; Softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

Writer/ Artist- John Byrne

IDW is clowntown. They included this prequel/ sequel to Next Men in the beginning of Compleat Next Men Vol. 1 phonebook and in the first TPB of Classic Next Men, but omitted it from The Next Men Premiere Collection deluxe oversized hardcover. I dumped off both phonebooks to upgrade to the hardcovers, assuming that they would include this in the third and final hardcover. Of course, they didn't, so I had to track down a cheap copy of the old graphic novel in order to have it in color.

Next Men is and was way ahead of it's time, and reads very well nearly 20 years later. While Byrne's writing was still solid, his craft was beginning to deteriorate in terms of his artwork. The current Next Men series being published by IDW has much better artwork than you see here. Still, this is well worth picking up and reading in whichever format you choose.

PLANET OF THE APES VOL. 1: THE LONG WAR (Boom, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Planet of the Apes Nos. 1-4 (cover dates April- July, 2011)

Writer- Daryl Gregory

Artist- Carlos Magno

Yes! Boom gets it, Daryl Gregory gets it, and Carlos Magno gets it. The “it” is what it takes to make a great Planet of the Apes comic book. I generally avoid plot synopses in my reviews because that type of “review” is retread central and can be found on pretty much every other comic news site and blog. This trade paperback (TPB) is value priced at $9.99 MSRP and is worth every penny. If you are a fan of the movies past or present, then this is for you.

The OCD zone: Softcovers don't usually get much OCD coverage here, but this is a solid feeling book with nice paper stock. Much nicer than the tissue paper that Dynamite or Image use on their “introductory” priced TPBs.

The Resurrection of Junk Food For Thought

STAR TREK- ROMULANS: PAWNS OF WAR (IDW, 2010)

Collects Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Romulans, Star Trek: Romulans: The Hollow Crown Nos. 1, 2 and Star Trek: Romulans: Schism Nos. 1-3 (cover dates September, 2008- November, 2009)

Good solid stuff by John Byrne. I am not a huge Star Trek fan but know enough about the series to be able to follow what is going on. There are probably 'Easter Eggs' for the diehard Trekkies, but I was still able to follow this with ease. 

STRANGE SUSPENSE: THE STEVE DITKO ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (Fantagraphics, 2009)

Collects material from Black Magic Nos. 27, 28, Blazing Western No. 1, Crime and Justice No. 18, Daring Love No. 1, Fantastic Fears No. 4, From Here To Insanity No. 10, Rocket Squad In Action Nos. 11, 12, Space Adventures Nos. 10-12, Strange Suspense Stories Nos. 18-20, 22, The Thing Nos. 12-15, 17 and This Magazine Is Haunted Nos. 16-19, 21 (cover dates January/February, 1954- June, 1955)

This is another beautiful hardcover by Fantagraphics, who excel at doing comprehensive collections like this. This volume focuses primarily on Ditko's early Charlton stuff. I have been a huge Ditko fan ever since I discovered his pencils in Marvel Tales #163 in 1983, which reprinted Amazing Spider-Man #9 from 1963. The stories in this book are extremely text-laden and are best digested slowly, no more than 2 or 3 per sitting. Any more, and your eyes get heavy and you nod off. Either that, or the wonderfully toxic aroma of overseas ink knocks you out. Maybe they put chloroform in the ink to keep costs down...who knows?

X-MEN: PRELUDE TO ONSLAUGHT- BOOK 0 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Cable Nos. 32, 33, Uncanny X-Men No. 333, X-Man Nos. 15-17 and X-Men No. 50 (cover dates March- July, 1996)

X-Men, like most Marvel Comics, sucked pretty hard in the '90s. Not every issue or every arc, mind you, but there was enough suckiness in sidebar titles like Cable and X-Man to wash away any good that may have occurred elsewhere in the X-Universe. The idea behind Onslaught wasn't that bad, merely the long-winded execution of it.

THE SAGA OF SOLOMON KANE (Dark Horse, 2009)

Collects Marvel Preview No. 19 and material from Conan Saga No. 50, Dracula Lives! No. 3, Kull and the Barbarians Nos. 2, 3, Monsters Unleashed No. 1 and The Savage Sword of Conan Nos. 13, 14, 18-20, 22, 25, 26, 33, 34, 37, 39, 41, 53, 54, 62, 83, 162, 171, 219, 220 (cover dates August, 1973- April, 1994)

Robert E. Howard's other, non-barbarian creation, Solomon Kane is a puritan adventurer on a mission from God. What that essentially means is that he fights supernatural enemies like vampires, zombies, etc. Good stuff.

SPIDER-MAN: THE COMPLETE CLONE SAGA EPIC BOOK 1 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man No. 394, The Spectacular Spider-Man No. 217, Spider-Man Nos. 51-53, Spider-Man Unlimited No. 7, Spider-Man: The Lost Years Nos. 1-3 and Web of Spider-Man Nos. 117-119 (cover dates October, 1994- October, 1995)

Blame it on the French, because much like Jerry Lewis, they got a Clone Saga collection first. David Gabriel, a head sales department type guy at Marvel, used to post at a message board that I go to, and used to do Q+As. These were glorified wishlists from us to him/Marvel. I brought up that France got an Omnibus, why not us? This was like 2 or 3 years ago. Fast forward, and Marvel put out a 'Real' Clone Saga mini-series, where they published the story as it was supposedly originally intended. Marvel has a lot of synergy between their trade department and other departments, so that when something like that comes out, they will issue a collection like this. Or for a movie, etc. So, either thanks to my question (doubtful) or the new mini-series, we are getting a series of nice, fat, chunky trades. I will say this, though. Several of the other requests that I made (i.e. Power Pack Classic, Complete Onslaught) back then have since become a reality, so who knows? Then again, I also requested that they reprint Shogun Warriors, Planet of the Apes, and Man From Atlantis collections, and they are nowhere in sight.

I have to admit that I expected this to suck like most '90s Marvel Comics, but this was a terrific read. Kudos to my message board homeskillet Jeph York for doing the research and sequencing of the book. While my completist OCD dictates that things be collected in order of publication, he put The Lost Years mini-series and several back-up features first because that is where they occurred in continuity. My OCD twitched at this prospect, but I'll be d***ed if it didn't make for a seamless read.

Mark Bagley's love-it-or-hate-it artwork is featured throughout the book, as is J.M. DeMatties' writing. Like I said, this was an extremely enjoyable read, and I as of yet cannot see why this is so loathed among fandom. I have never read any of these issues before, and while I know the general outcome of this saga, I don't know the path that has already been laid out.

I remember hearing about this circa 1996, while I was on sabbatical from the hobby. It made me angry, like 'there's no way the clone won'. I had the floppies to the original clone saga, and I hunted down the Clone Genesis trade which collected it after I returned to comics in 2003. Upon re-reading, I determined that there is a grey area as to who really won the battle. Ross Andru routinely did 'camera angle' flips between panels, and I wondered 'what if he did one during the battle'? There was truly no way of telling them apart, and since the clone had been implanted with Peter Parker's memories and both believed themselves to be the real Spider-Man, it was plausible. Of course, it is also easier for me to enjoy this than readers of the monthly series at the time for a couple of reasons: 1. Hindsight. It is much easier to digest something knowing the overall outcome, and that things return to a status quo later on. 2. The fact that current Amazing Spider-Man doesn't suck.

One thing about Marvel at this time that sticks in my craw is that they expected fans to buy all four or five monthly Spider-titles, as there would be 4 part arcs every month that ran across all of the titles. That is completely unfair and likely discouraged new readers. Imagine some 9 or 10 year old kid who bought a Spider-Man comic book at this time trying to follow it, or someone who lived in a rural area who relied on subscriptions. It is insulting to expect, almost demand, that someone buy every single title that you put out in order to get a full story from one series. At least current Marvel, while still putting out umpteen crossovers, makes each title a stand alone read. You could pick up only one title month after month and not be lost. I also enjoy the way that many of the recent crossovers, i.e. Civil War, Secret Invasion, etc., have had a stand alone mini-series, and the crossovers merely fleshed out concepts that were touched upon in the main series. 

SHOWCASE PRESENTS SECRETS OF SINISTER HOUSE (DC, 2010)

Collects  The Sinister House of Love Nos. 1-4 and Secrets of Sinister House Nos. 5-18 (cover dates November, 1971- July, 1974)

This is another winner. Much like its sister titles, House of Mystery and House of Secrets, this was (after Issue 5) an anthology Horror title with great writing and artwork. The first 5 issues were double-sized Gothic Romance stories, if that makes any sense. Vampires, castles, the macabre, true love, etc. At 35-40 pages each, and crammed with text like every other comic book of the day, they offer quite a bit of depth and characterization. The format obviously tanked, and DC tweaked the title and format.

The late Alfredo P. Alcala is one of my all-time favorite comic book artists. The amount of detail that he crams into each panel is stunning, and his artwork looks even better here in black and white. A lot of his fine line work was washed out when they colored these stories in the original single issues.

These black and white phone books are the ultimate for vacation reading. They are cheap (MSRP under $20), light, and plentiful, so if you damage them and your OCD can't handle a dog-eared corner, there is no hunt required to replace them. I plowed through this in 6 days. I read 370 of the 496 pages up north in Caseville, MI, the land that time forgot. I couldn't get my Internet connection on my phone, there were 2 TV channels, and the whole area just seemed detached from the 21st Century, which is as frightening to me as these stories are. It seemed fitting to be detached from the now while reading these stories from the early 1970s which largely took place in the late 1800s.

JOHN BYRNE'S NEXT MEN: THE PREMIERE COLLECTION VOL. 2 (IDW, 2009)

Collects John Byrne’s Next Men Nos. 11-20 (cover dates January- November, 1993)

IDW are a bunch of f**king morons. High end hardcover reprint collections like this appeal only to the most anal-retentive, niche-within-a-niche-hobbyist like myself. So what does IDW do? They make Volume 2 larger and wider than Vol. 1. Like an inch or more in each direction. Morons!! I could feel twitching behind my eye when I first laid eyes on this book.

What's really sad is, this is a nicer presentation than Volume 1. The over-sized trim really makes this book feel luxurious. Nice paper, sewn binding, all of the OCD green lights that hardcover obsessives like myself fetish-ize. A pox upon you, IDW, for forever making my bookshelves be inconsistent within this line!

You know what? This book has STORIES inside of it. Amazing. I read them (again) and this was a terrific read. I originally read these in the phone books that IDW put out a year or two ago, and they work better in color. John Byrne's artwork was beginning to get looser and scratchier here, something that he would stick with a few more years. Not my favorite period of his artwork, but the writing is still solid.

SPIDER-MAN: THE COMPLETE CLONE SAGA EPIC BOOK 2 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 395-399, The Spectacular Spider-Man Nos. 218-221, Spider-Man Nos. 54-56, Spider-Man Unlimited No. 8, Spider-Man: Funeral For An Octopus Nos. 1-3 and Web of Spider-Man Nos. 120-122 (cover dates November, 1994- May, 1995)

This is still good stuff, even if some of the ongoing plot lines are getting a little long-winded. Kaine has been in the shadows for the first two 400+ page trades. For real? Stil, lots of good stuff, lots of classic Spider-Man villains, and the artwork is mostly decent. Bill Sienkewicz is not the man to ink Sal Buscema's pencils, however. What a contrast in style and intent. 

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS VOL. 4 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Mystery Comics Nos. 13-16 (cover dates November, 1940- February, 1941)

This one's been on the back burner for a while now. It came out last summer (2009), but it was in the backlog long enough that Golden Age Marvel Comics Omnibus Vol. 1 came out, so I figured that I would (re-)read those issues first in order to get a true sense of continuity and character progression.

Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner is frickin' awesome, and is my favorite out of all of these Timely heroes. I love his 'might makes right' mentality, and how he suddenly decides to involve himself in that "situation over in Europe"...all over a girl. It must be pointed out once again the historical significance of these issues, as their publication pre-dates America's involvement in World War II by a year (cover dates were 2 months ahead back then. At the end of each issue, there is an ad which shows the release date, likely very approximate given the lackluster distribution methods in place in those days.)

Carl Burgos' Human Torch is also great, ditto Electro, the Marvel of the Age. That character started out hokey, and either A) Professor Zog and his robot have become more developed, B) the silliness of these Golden Age stories has dulled my brain, or C) the sweet smelling fumes from the toxic Chinese ink has brainwashed me. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby unleash another great character, the Vision, who comes to, and returns from, our dimension through smoke. Yes, that's right, ordinary smoke. Cigarette smoke, any smoke will do. No matter how hokey the concept might seem in 2010, these are terrific reads.

From a production standpoint, everything here is top notch. Paper, restoration, coloring, binding...everything that even the most anal-retentive OCD-laden comic book fan can complain about is up to snuff here.

SPIDER-MAN: THE COMPLETE CLONE SAGA EPIC BOOK 3 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 400, 401, Amazing Spider-Man Super Special No. 1, The Spectacular Spider-Man Nos. 222-224, The Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special No. 1, Spider-Man Nos. 57, 58, Spider-Man: The Clone Journal, Spider-Man Super Special No. 1, Spider-Man Unlimited No. 9, Web of Spider-Man Nos. 123, 124, Web of Spider-Man Super Special No. 1 and Venom Super Special No. 1 (cover dates March- October, 1995)

Amazing Spider-Man No. 400 is quite touching, and much of its emotional impact would be undone by a ret-con down the road. Even though these issues graced the stands some 15 odd years ago, I try to keep this a no spoiler zone.

Oddly enough, my least favorite material in this book is done by one of my favorite writers, Tom DeFalco. His dialogue for the Jackal is particularly bad. Oh well, everyone has off days, so I will chalk it up as a bad run for him. I know that he gets better later on in Spider-Girl. My only other criticism is that Peter Parker and his personal life is almost non-existent. This is all-action nearly all of the time, which is fine, but Spider-Man has always been at its best when the 'soap opera' aspect is played up and it somehow ties into the overall story or outcome of the action portion.

The Planet of the Symbiotes arc is pretty bad. Did they really need to spread this out across five double-sized issues? Plus, Venom as a hero sucks. Whose brilliant idea was that? He was great as a villain in his first two appearances, but once he got a tongue and sharp teeth, he jumped the shark.

On a more positive note, I absolutely love these big honkin' chunky trades, each being well over 300 pages. There is some real heft to these books, and in the world of trade paperbacks/ collected editions/ graphic novels, bigger truly is better.

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.