Review- X-MEN: FALL OF THE MUTANTS

X-MEN: FALL OF THE MUTANTS (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects X-Factor #18-26, Captain America #39, Daredevil #252, Fantastic Four #312, Incredible Hulk #336, 337, 340, Power Pack #35, Uncanny X-Men #220-227, and New Mutants #55-61 (cover dates July, 1987- March, 1988)

Writers: Louise Simonson, Peter David, Ann Nocenti, Mark Gruenwald, Steve Engelhart, and Chris Claremont

Artists: Pencilers- Walter Simonson, June Brigman, Todd MacFarlane, Sal Buscema, Jon Bogdanove, John Romita, Jr., Kieron Dwyer, Keith Pollard, Marc Silverstri, Kerry Gammill, and Brett Blevins; Inkers- Bob Wiaceck, Randy Emberlin, Jim Sanders III, Hilary Barta, Al Williamson, Tone DeZuniga, Joe Sinnott, Dan Green, Todd MacFarlane, and Terry Austin

When is an Omnibus not an Omnibus? When it is the Fall Of The Mutants oversized hardcover. Clocking in at over 800 pages, this beast is an Omnibus in all but name as far as I'm concerned. While past trade paperback collections only collected the three main tie-in issues of each of the X-titles (9 issues total), reading that book felt like coming in 15 minutes late to a movie. The set up had already occurred and you spent the rest of the time trying to play catch up. This book goes in the opposite direction, adding so much of the set up that the plot sometimes feels lost by the time that you get there. It basically reads best in thirds (X-Factor and assorted tie-ins, Uncanny X-Men, and New Mutants).

The only issues that I bought when they originally came out were The Uncanny X-Men and Power Pack ones, and I honestly didn't feel like I was missing anything since this crossover didn't jump across each title. In all honesty, these crossovers and the emerging new breed of artists like Marc Silverstri soured me on the hobby. I was dropping comics throughout 1989, until by late 1989 or early 1990 I was done until Marvel Masterworks sucked me back in a dozen years ago. Look at me now...

"Artwork" by Marc Silvestri. 

Silverstri's layouts and storytelling ability are clear, but his artwork just leaves me cold. Wolverine was now the leader of the team and becoming overly wordy and heroic. Psylocke was still a British telepath. This was before that racist, Jim Lee, would change her into an Asian ninja. Can you imagine if someone today changed the ethnicity of an Asian character into a Caucasian? All Hell would break loose! I enjoyed the battle with Freedom Force, the Government-sanctioned renamed New Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. This was back when Wolverine battling Sabretooth was exciting and new. Now it is as common as a cold and would cause me to fall asleep.

This was one of those “things will never be the same again!” type crossovers, back when those were still fresh and not the boring cliche which fans suffer through one after another after another. Storm gets her powers back, The X-Men “die”, and Cypher gets killed over in The New Mutants. Oops, quarter century old spoilers. Speaking of that title, going from June Brigman's clean, beautiful artwork to Brett Blevins' super-stylized art is jarring to say the least.

This was a pleasant enough trip down memory lane, back to the old world when things seemed to make more sense. I was 13 and 14 when this crossover went down. The Uncanny X-Men were one of my favorites back then. Now they are dead to me, ruined by careless writers. This book holds up well enough today and is better than anything currently being published with a 'X' in the title.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

I wonder if the corner was cut off of the film. This looks like a patch job done using a floppy.

The OCD zone- Triple dip! I bought (some of) the original issues, the 2002 trade paperback, and now this. I can't wait to rebuy the UXM issues when the Masterworks get there. Kill me now.

Linework and Color restoration: Pretty good for the most part. There are a few spots that look iffy but not bad.

Paper stock: Wonderful coated stock with a slight sheen.

Binding: While this has smyth sewn binding and lays mostly flat, it seems to lay flat in “chunks”, like this book is three books sewn into one. Weird.

Hardback cover notes: Faux leather casewrap with foil die stamps.

Review- ACTS OF VENGEANCE CROSSOVERS OMNIBUS

ACTS OF VENGEANCE CROSSOVERS OMNIBUS (Marvel, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Alpha Flight Nos. 79, 80, Damage Control Nos. 1-4, Daredevil Nos. 275, 276, Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Nos. 11-13, Fantastic Four Nos. 334-336, Incredible Hulk No. 363, Marc Spector: Moon Knight Nos. 8-10, New Mutants Nos. 84-86, Power Pack No. 53, Punisher Nos. 28, 29, Punisher War Journal Nos. 12, 13, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 256-258, Web of Spider-Man Nos. 64, 65, Wolverine Nos. 19, 20, and the Apocalypse back-up story from X-Factor No. 50 (cover dates December, 1989- June, 1990)

Writers: Walter Simonson, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas, Peter David, Mike Baron, Carl Potts, Chuck Dixon, Ann Nocenti, Terry Austin, James D. Hundall, Louise Simonson, Chris Claremont, Dwayne McDuffie, and Gerry Conway

Artists: Rich Buckler, Ron Lim, John Byrne, Jackson Guice, Jeff Purves, Jim Lee, Ernie Colon, Rob Liefeld, Paul Smith, Alex Saviuk, Mike DeCarlo, Klaus Janson, Marie Severin, Mark Farmer, Al Milgrom, Tom Palmer, Al Williamson, Bret Blevins, Bob Wiaceck, Joseph Rubinstein, and others

I really enjoyed the core of this crossover which was collected in the Acts of Vengeance Omnibus. This book collects the odds and ends of the event, including the “epilogue” battle between Graviton, Brothers Grimm, Goliath, Thundra, and Trapster against Spider-Man in Web of Spider-Man Nos. 64 and 65. Marvel really caters to the completist rather than the mythological mainstream bookstore buyer that DC keeps on chasing, and god bless 'em for it. Marvel's collected editions are exhaustively researched and amazingly complete. DC's often omits covers, for chrissakes.

Many of these issues are mediocre, although there is some gold in this sand. The aforementioned Web of Spider-Man, Power Pack, Doctor Strange, and Alpha Flight issues all rank as highlights for me. The Moon Knight, Punisher, and Wolverine issues were also highly entertaining. Others, such as the second Damage Control mini-series, will be skipped over when I re-read this book in the future. The writer of that title, the late Dwayne McDuffie, would go on to do vastly superior work on Fantastic Four and the Ben 10 Alien Force cartoon. 

The worst issues in the book are probably the favorite of the under 30 crowd: the Uncanny X-Men issues with the idiotic Claremont/Lee collaboration which turned Psylocke from a British telepath from the UK Captain Britain strip to an Asian ninja. This is asinine and has never been undone. Ninjas in general are often lame, and ruining a perfectly good character when you could just create a new character is just plain dumb. 

Is that Robin? Nope, it's Jubilee. Artwork by the overrated Jim Lee.

Also horrendous is Jubilee, whose color scheme is just like Robin's. Yes, Robin, as in Batman and Robin. Horrendous costume designs were just coming into vogue during this time and would last for the better part of the '90s. I find Jim Lee to be the most overrated artist in the history of comic books. He's okay, but people act like he is the lord and savior of comic book artists. He still sells, so I am in the minority, but in my opinion he is a huge part of the problem with comic books, not the solution. 

Is this an essential, must-own book? No way, Jose. Is this a fun, albeit uneven, read of one of Marvel's earliest crossovers? Absolutely positively. There is some good writing and good artwork throughout the book, but that's all it is: good. Never really good, or even very good. Strictly second and third gear stuff. If you go into this book with that in mind and read this book in small doses you will enjoy it. I couldn't plow through more than five issues at a time. I quit comics as this crossover was gaining steam and didn't come back until the early aughts. Read whatever you want into that.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5. 

The OCD zone- I love the Marvel Omnibus format. It may seem like I don't review a lot of them, but that is because they take forever to get through. This beast was over 750 pages. I probably have two dozen more unread Omniboo in my backlog waiting to be read.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Much of the artwork in here is just okay, but it is flawlessly presented here in its mediocre glory.

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Rest easy, folks: Rob Liefeld's New Mutants have received the hi-def treatment.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful thick coated stock with a slight sheen. These Chinese made books smell fantastic, the result of ink made from compounds of asbestos tiles, mercury from recalled thermometers, and lead paint chips. Once mixed with the final ingredient, the tears of the Chinese children working the sweatshop printing presses, you get an aroma that is delectable. The paper is also great, likely sourced from virgin Amazon rainforest trees. China's complete lack of respect for the environment is our gain, at least pertaining to the wonderful, toxic aroma of this book.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Like all late 2007-on Marvel Omnibus hardcovers, this has sewn binding. The casing is not glued square to the spine, allowing for a considerable amount of flex. The book lays perfectly flat from the first page to the last. 

Review- POWER PACK CLASSIC VOL. 3

POWER PACK CLASSIC VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Power Pack Nos. 18-26 and Thor No. 363 (cover dates January- September, 1986)

Writers: Louise Simonson, Terry Austin (#21), and Walt Simonson (Thor 363)

Artists: Brent Anderson (#18-21), Jon Bogdanove (#22-26), Bob McLeod (#20, inker #22-26), Scott Williams (inker), Terry Austin (inker, #21), and Walter Simonson (Thor 363)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If any Marvel property is ripe to be used by Disney in a Pixar CGI animated film, it is Power Pack. I can't believe that there are not rumblings of some kind. This is a surefire, family friendly concept if ever there was one: Jim Power creates an anti-matter machine which will unintentionally destroy the world. Aelfyre Whitemane (Whitey as the kids named him), of an alien of the race called Kymellians, intervened because a similar incident destroyed his homeworld. The ZN^RX (Snarks as dubbed by the Power children), wanted the machine for a weapon, and fatally wounded Whitey, who transferred his powers to the four Power children. The Power kids, who dubbed themselves Power Pack, also inherited his Smartship Friday. Yes, Marvel used the term Smartship back in 1984.

Artwork by Brent Anderson.

All of those events occur in the first volume of this series. By this point in the title the children are dealing with minor social issues and are plagued with guest stars, all of which caused declining sales and saw the title dropped from newsstand distribution with Issue 26 and become a bi-monthly Direct Market (comic shop) only title. I bought every one of these off of the stands, and began buying from the Direct Market exclusively in May of 1986, so this was no big deal to me at the time. 

Artwork by Jon Bogdanove

This title still holds up for the most part. We get treated to early Brent Anderson (Astro City) art, and Terry Austin (Uncanny X-Men, Avengers) also pops in for a while. Bob McLeod's artwork on issue 20 is great, and it also guest stars The New Mutants, a title that he helped launch several years earlier. I remember walking up to 7-11 in the snow on a Saturday evening in December of 1985 and buying that one. Louise Simonson's scripts have real heart to them, and it's a shame that this series has never caught on in any real way. 

Artwork by Bob McLeod.

I hope that we see more volumes in this line of trade paperbacks, but wouldn't be surprised if we didn't. They haven't exactly been burning up the iCv2 sales charts.

Review: X-Men- Inferno Crossovers

X-MEN: INFERNO CROSSOVERS (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 311-313, Avengers Nos. 298-300, Cloak & Dagger No. 4, Daredevil Nos. 262, 263, 265, Excalibur Nos. 6, 7, Fantastic Four Nos. 322-324, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Nos. 146-148, Power Pack No. 40, 42-44 and Web of Spider-Man Nos. 47, 48 (cover dates October, 1988- April, 1989)

Writers: Gerry Conway, Chris Claremont, Steve Englehart, Ann Nocenti, David Micheilinie and others

Artists: Todd McFarlane, Alan Davis, Keith Pollard, John Romita, Jr., John Buscema, Tom Palmer and others

One man's garbage is another man's treasure. This era of comic books is ripe with nostalgia for me, as I bought many of these issues off of the shelf the day that they were released. The Spider-Man issues hold a particular place in my heart. I haven't read The Spectacular Spider-Man or Web of Spider-Man issues since they were released, and I was surprised at how quickly they came back to me. There is a good 184 or so pages of Spider-Man in this 600 page book, which works for me.

In all honesty, there is nothing of any lasting significance that happens in any of the issues collected in this book, which is fine by me. You get competently done stories by many veteran creators, none of which rank among any of said creators' finest work. They are all entertaining and worth a read, however. I am happy to have this deluxe, oversized hardcover in my collection.

The OCD zone- The production values (color and linework) are excellent, although there is a dropped word balloon on Page 294, Panel 6. If it were in, say, Daredevil, I probably wouldn't care, but it was in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man. This is likely due to a pasted over word balloon that fell off of the source material used for this book. The paper and sewn binding are top notch as usual for Marvel. 

Reviews: Thor and the Warriors Four; The Zombie Survival Guide- Recorded Attacks; Green Lantern movie

THOR AND THE WARRIORS FOUR (Marvel, 2010; softcover)

Collects Thor and the Warriors Four Nos. 1-4 (cover dates June- September, 2010)

This was every bit as enjoyable as any of the Power Pack 'Team-Up' mini-series that we have gotten in recent years. GuriHiru's artwork is improving, with less Manga influence and more of a 'cartoon'y' type appearance. The story is fun for all ages, and the back-up story in each issue with Hercules is every bit as good. I love Hercules. He is such an arrogant buffoon, and he tells ridiculous stories to the Power kids. He believes that every woman that sees him falls madly in love with him. I always enjoy him whenever he appears in comic books.

THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS (Three Rivers, 2009; softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

Max Brooks' "historic" recordings of zombie attacks throughout the ages put a smile on my face. His writing is extremely decompressed, making this a super fast read. Artist Ibraim Roberson delivers nicely rendered undead fun. Who doesn't love zombies these days? They are in every facet of our culture, even used as part of Gardner White's (a local furniture chain) ad campaign. What screams family fun more than zombies?

Please note: I did not receive any money for posting this advertisement in my blog. This advertisement is provided for entertainment purposes only. Gardner White does not endorse nor provide recompense to the Junk Food For Thought blog...although maybe they should.

I like the way that the zombie attacks are arranged chronologically, and the ending is satisfying. This is a fun little book that's worth a read.

Green Lantern (2011)

The first third of this movie is cardboard stiff, with terrible dialogue and a rote like presentation. Yes, ho hum, this is how this happened, yes *yawn* this is that character, etc. Things finally get into and gear and the movie gets decent. The fight scenes are more "comic book"-like than the Marvel movies are. I am not sure how well that will sit with civilians, though. I liked the action sequences but felt that some of the CGI was rather amateurish. The whole movie just sort of underwhelmed me. Maybe I was just in a pissy mood because of the morons who walked in as the movie started and went past the sea of empty rows to sit in my row. They then decided it was a good time to converse. They stopped conversing and all took turns on texting on their cell phones throughout the entire movie. I hate humans.

Reviews: Marvel Masterworks- The Silver Surfer Vol. 1; X-Men- Mutant Massacre; Dark Reign- The Hood & The Smashing Pumpkins- Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 2

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE SILVER SURFER VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2008 edition)

Collects The Silver Surfer Nos. 1-6 and material from Fantastic Four Annual No. 6 and Not Brand Echh No. 13 (cover dates November, 1967- June, 1969)

My OCD sucks. I had an older printing of this same book and sold it off to upgrade to this refurbished back-to-press edition. Marvel Masterworks didn't have coloring faithful to the original issues when the line launched, because they didn't figure that people cared one way or the other. Comic book fans are among the most anal-retentive purist types around, so this was a gross underestimate of their target audience. The Internet has helped Marvel know just how anal we are! In the old printing that I had, the Silver Surfer was colored a light blue to simulate silver. When Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer came out several years ago, Marvel issued a Silver Surfer Omnibus with restored linework and coloring faithful to the original issues. I resisted the siren's call of a lush, over-sized hardcover because I already had both Masterworks. Then I read that it had glued mousetrap binding, and that made it much easier to avoid. They did some side-by-side views of the material, and it was then that I realized how god-awful my versions looked. The Omnibus fell out of print and life went on. Marvel reissued the Masterworks using the restored Omnibus files, and I resisted for a while. I was afraid that these would fall out of print, so I snatched them up. Then Marvel reissued them in softcover AFTER I plunked down the cash for the hardcovers. &$^#&^*^(*&^*&#$*!!!

This is some of the best writing of Stan Lee's career. Way melodramatic and riffing on Shakespeare, the Bible, etc., this character echoes much of Lee's personal philosophy and reflects the times that it was originally published in. John Buscema's artwork is simply stunning, especially on the first 3 issues where Joe Sinnott inks him. His brother Sal Buscema inks issues 4-6, and while I feel that Sal is a competent penciler, he is a terrible inker. He barely traces the linework of the penciler, and I prefer a more heavy-handed approach, like Sinnott has. Issue 3, the first appearance of Mephisto, is the best of the entire 18 issue run. Stan Lee really knocked that one out of the park, and John Buscema's artwork is just amazing. Well worth picking this stuff up if you've never read it, or re-reading it even if you have.

X-MEN: MUTANT MASSACRE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Daredevil No. 238, New Mutants No. 46, Power Pack  No. 27, Thor Nos. 373, 374, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 210-214 and X-Factor Nos. 9-11 (cover dates October, 1986- February, 1987)

...and here we have what you would call the TRIPLE dip. I bought the Uncanny X-Men and Power Pack issues when they were originally released back in 1986, and then bought the softcover Mutant Massacre trade paperback several years ago. Then Marvel announced this expanded, high-end hardcover, and with this being a beloved memory from my youth, how could I resist? Nice paper and sewn binding, the only letdown was the inferior linework restoration in Uncanny X-Men Nos. 211-213. I think that those issues looked better in the otherwise inferior trade paperback release.

These were among my favorite issues of the X-Men that summer (cover dates were 4 months ahead in the Direct Market in 1986). I remember being bummed after John Romita, Jr. left the title, only to discover the wonderful artwork of Alan Davis. These issues were also the first time that Wolverine fought Sabretooth, although Marvel would ret-con that to an asinine degree later on. Sabretooth started out as a B-lister, fighting Iron Fist, etc, and then Marvel made him into a "star" in the '90s. Then they crapped up both his and Wolverine's backstories to the point that they don't even resemble the characters they once were and I no longer care about either of them. Back in 1986, though, Issues 212 and 213 were a different story. Wolverine was one of my favorite characters circa 1986, and the fight between him and Sabretooth was something that my comic book collecting buddies and I talked about ad nauseum back then.

DARK REIGN: THE HOOD (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Dark Reign: The Hood Nos. 1-5 and material from Dark Reign: The Cabal (cover dates June- November, 2009)

The only thing that I like better than comic books are CHEAP comic books! I found this in a $5 box at the Motor City Comic Con last May, and flipped through it. Once I noticed the Kyle Hotz artwork, I decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed his artwork on the two recent Zombie (Simon Garth) mini-series that Marvel put out a few years ago. The Hood is an interesting character even though I mostly dislike his appearances in New Avengers and the whole Norman Osborn/ Dark Reign concept. The $5 box is the quarter box equivalent for trades, so it wasn't a huge gamble.

The Smashing Pumpkins/ Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 2- The Solstice Bare

The second of eleven 4-track EPs, The Solstice Bare is a different beast than Vol. 1- Songs For A Sailor. The Fellowship finds Senor Corgan and company delving into electronica/techno/whatever it's called these days, and wouldn't have sounded out of place on his 2005 solo album TheFutureEmbrace. Freak U.S.A. (as it is titled on the CD's digipak), formerly known as Freak when it first appeared as a free download last July, sounds much better here than the mp3s on the main site. Tom Tom is a decent song, not as great as everyone hyped it to be, but decent. Spangled is absolutely gorgeous, the best post-reunion song. Cottonwood Symphony, the B-side on the accompanying 12" vinyl record in the box, is good as well.

The packaging on this release is fairly elaborate, with it being in a box with a reflective psychedelic "wall paper" wrapping. The vinyl is 180g 12", and unlike Vol. 1, all 4 songs from the CD are on it, with the B-side song being the only song on that side. The CD comes in a gatefold digipak, which again is nicer from Vol. 1's cardboard sleeve for the CD. I am a sucker for physical media. There is no other reason why I would buy this, since 3 of the 5 tracks are available for free on the website.

Drowning in my backlog

EX MACHINA VOL. 9: RING OUT THE OLD (Wildstorm/DC, 2010)

Collects Ex Machina Nos. 40-44 and Ex Machina Special No. 4 (cover dates February- October, 2009)

Ex Machina remains one of my favorite titles. Sadly, the series ended with Issue 50, so that gives us only one more trade of Brain K. Vaughn and Tony Harris goodness. This comic is a real page turner, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. (Although, given my backlog, I will have to wait for quite some time.) If you want a truly sophisticated "adult" comic that doesn't rely on adolescent pandering to be "mature", then pick this title up.

THE GOLDEN AGE SANDMAN ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (DC, 2004)

Collects material from Adventure Comics Nos. 40-59 and New York World’s Fair Comics 1939 (cover dates July, 1939- February, 1941)

After reading several satisfying volumes of Sandman Mystery Theatre, I decided to dig deeper into the Sandman catalog. For those of you who are not familiar with Sandman Mystery Theatre, it was a title published by Vertigo/DC in the '90s about the Golden Age Sandman. It was set in the '30s and '40s and is a terrific read. I did some digging around online to see if there were any collected editions of said character, and discovered that there was indeed a DC Archive published several years ago.

While not as satisfying a read as Sandman Mystery Theatre, this was still very entertaining and bled charm. Several of the villains from the Vertigo series got their start here. DC's restoration for this volume is mostly excellent, except for the word balloons. I don't know if they worked from scans or photostats when restoring this book, but several word balloons must have been touched up. Sandman is referred to as Bandman several times, B-s are replaced with F-s, and there are a few other minor mistakes. There are less then a dozen throughout the 220-odd pages of the book, but it is more than enough to make my OCD keep me awake at night, tossing and turning over the imperfect restoration of these issues. Oh, and DC only included the covers that had the Sandman on them...I can't stand that!!

So yes, before the relaunched Sandman by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, before the guy actually made of sand created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko appeared in Amazing Spider-Man, and before Neil Gaiman made waves with his incarnation of the Sandman, there was THIS Sandman. I guess that we could call him OG Sandman...or not.

TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Dr. Strange No. 14, Giant-Size Dracula Nos. 5 and Tomb of Dracula Nos. 32-70 (cover dates May, 1975- August, 1979)

After many months in the backlog and a couple of months of intermittent reading, I finished this nearly 800 page monster tome (pun intended). This is dense, text-heavy Bronze Age goodness. Tomb of Dracula was writer Marv Wolfman and artists Gene Colan and Tom Palmer's tour De force. The series was to be cancelled with issue 70, but work on issues 71 and 72 was already well underway. They delayed issue 70 by several months, made it double-sized, and it was re-tooled to be the series finale. Had Marvel not included the extra, unfinished, unused pages, I would have never known that the published ending was not the creators' original intention. The ending was executed flawlessly and was a satisfying end to this epic.

This series is being reissued again as a series of affordable trade paperbacks for the masses. I think that are one or two of them out already, and they clock in around 200 pages each. I'd recommend this to any fans of the Horror or vampire genres that haven't already checked them out.

POWER PACK CLASSIC VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Power Pack Nos. 11-17, Marvel Graphic Novel- Power Pack & Cloak and Dagger: Shelter From The Storm and Uncanny X-Men No. 195 (cover dates June- December, 1985; MGN, 1989)

The first thing that I thought of when I heard that Disney bought Marvel is 'finally, we will get a Power Pack movie'. No, really. It makes perfect sense for this to be a Pixar CGI flick. While I would love to see them modeled after June Brigman's artwork, they would likely be modeled after the more recent, cartoon-y, cutesy, mang-ish GuriHiru artwork.Whatever it takes, I think that these characters would be excellent in a cartoon flick.

I bought all of these issues off of the stands, with the exception of the Marvel Graphic Novel with Cloak and Dagger. That was the weak link in the book. Everything else is wonderful. The writing and artwork all hold up very well a quarter century later.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE SUB-MARINER VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Sub-Mariner Comics Nos. 9-12 (cover dates Spring, 1943- Winter, 1943-44)

Wow, this has a steep decline in quality from the earlier Bill Everett written and drawn issues. Everett was away serving Uncle Sam during the time that these issues were made. The stories starring the series back-up feature, The Angel (by Gustav Schrotter) are a better read than the Sub-Mariner during this era. In "The Battle of Kwangto" (Sub-Mariner #12), Namor deals with a Captain Stark at Naval Headquarters. Now, I'm going to go all Roy Thomas and retroactively insert him into continuity as a relative of Tony Stark (Iron Man). It doesn't fly in the face of Marvel continuity (1961-on) and therefore, by his definition, BECOMES a part of the continuity. Retroactively, of course.

Sub-Mariner's primary enemy during this time are the Japanese, and he refers to them in any number of unfavorable ways. This WAS wartime, and they WERE the enemy. I look forward to future volumes, as I know that Everett returns down the road. His '50s Sub-Mariner ranks among some of the finest comic books of that decade; go check out the Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes volumes and see for yourself.

AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 1: A THOUSAND SHIPS (Image, Fourth Printing, 2008)

Collects Age of Bronze Nos. 1-9 (cover dates November, 1998- November, 2000)

Eric Shanower has crafted a compelling and engaging account of the Trojan War. His artwork is very detail-oriented, with each panel having nuances that require you to stop and look in order to fully appreciate it all. The story flows nicely, being as dense or as decompressed as the scene dictates. There are segments that you fly though, and others that make Chris Claremont look like Brian Michael Bendis. This comic book is both entertaining and educating, and I would recommend it to open-minded readers.  

My only complaint is that the original issue covers are not included. They would have made for nice chapter markers, as there are none in the entire book. It is impossible to tell where one issue ended and the other began, as it read like one seamless story. 

AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 2: SACRIFICE (Image, Second Printing, 2005)

Collects Age of Bronze Nos. 10-19 (cover dates February, 2001- March, 2004)

The artwork and story remain exquisitely well done, crammed with details. I find this sort of 'historical fiction', or infotainment, to be lots of fun. I enjoy this series because it shows what comic books can be capable of being with enough thought and effort. I am primarily a Marvel guy can appreciate a well done title like this.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE PHANTOM STRANGER VOL. 1 (DC, 2006)

Collects Showcase No. 80 and The Phantom Stranger Nos. 1-21 (cover dates February, 1969- October, 1972)

OK, who do I petition to get this series done in color and in hardcover? I bought this on a whim because I have been intrigued by the character's appearance in the other DC titles that I have read (like the Superman- Man of Steel trades), so I skimmed my toe in the waters of this phone book and...wow! These are superb comic books, written largely by Len Wein (some guy who created a little known character called Wolverine a few years later) with artwork by Jim Aparo, a Neal Adams clone of the highest order, and Neal Adams himself. Adams in an absolute master of the art form, often imitated but seldom duplicated...although Aparo is pretty darn close. Adams mostly sticks to cover art, but what covers they are!

The Phantom Stranger's 'adversary', or counterpoint, is a skeptic named Dr. Thirteen, the Ghost Breaker, whose primary goal is to prove that the Stranger is a fraud. Mystery heaped upon mystery, they still don't really tell you the character's true origin or nature of his powers some 540 pages later. I have Volume 2 in my queue, and can't wait to tear into it.

THE FLASH CHRONICLES VOL. 1 (DC, 2009)

Collects Showcase Nos. 4, 8, 13, 14 and The Flash Nos. 105, 106 (cover dates October, 1956- May, 1959)

Like most little boys who grew up in the late '70s, I loved the SuperFriends cartoon on Saturday morning. The Flash was one of the characters on that show, but for whatever reason I decided that DC sucked when I was around 8 or 9 and never read a Flash comic book until now. This trade paperback was in the 1/2 off section at the Motor City Comic Con last May, and since I've enjoyed the other Chronicles trades so much I figured that I'd give this a try. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman all rocked in the Golden Age of Comics. The Green Lantern Chronicles trades skipped the Golden Age version of the character and skipped right ahead to the Silver Age version. The Flash Chronicles did the same thing. Whereas Green Lantern has a zany, fun vibe going on, Flash kinda sucks.

One of the first things that you have to adopt as a comic book fan is a healthy suspension of disbelief. Many fans erroneously state that they like Marvel because their comics are more realistic. I prefer to say that they are more believable, in that the pseudo-science used to define a character's powers has a set of parameters, and the character and their power operate within them. DC seems to have a whatever suits the story type vibe to their powers. I have an extremely hard time swallowing the concept of Flash. Barry Allen is a scientist who is struck by lightning, and that along with some chemicals gives him the power to run fast. So fast that he can break the time barrier or move at 1/1,000,000th of a second. For one thing, I doubt that his lungs could enable him to breathe running at those speeds, so he'd essentially 'drown'. For another, his costume doesn't seem to be made of some fricition resistant "unstable molecules" (as Marvel calls them), so it would be scorched right off of him. His skin would likely also be peeled off him and he'd die. So yeah, while I can buy an alien crashing on Earth and giving Hal Jordan a power ring to become Green Lantern, or a baby crash-landing on an alien planet and raised by farmers, or a boy witnessing his parents murdered in front of him and vowing to rid the world of evil...heck, I can even buy Paradise Island and the whole Greek God Wonder Woman crap, but I can't swallow this. Gorilla Grodd completely rocks, though, so not all is lost. Also, the Flash's costume is among the more dynamic ones in all of comic books. So yeah, The Flash sucks...sort of.

HERCULES: FULL CIRCLE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Graphic Novel No. 37 and material from Marvel Age Nos. 4, 65, Marvel Comics Presents Nos. 39-41 and Marvel Tales No. 197 (cover dates July, 1983- January, 1990)

Top notch stuff by Bob Layton. I read the old Hercules- Prince of Power trade years ago and loved it, and this hardcover picks up where that left off. This has a light-hearted tone to it, and even though Hercules is an arrogant buffoon, you can't help but root for him.