Review- SILVER STREAK ARCHIVES FEATURING THE ORIGINAL DAREDEVIL VOL. 1

SILVER STREAK ARCHIVES FEATURING THE ORIGINAL DAREDEVIL VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, First Printing, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Silver Streak #6-9 (cover dates September, 1940- April, 1941)

Writers: Jack Cole, Kane Miller, Don Rico, Carl Hubbell, Otto Binder, Bob Turner, D.B. Icove, Dick Briefer, Walter Galli, and Bob Wood

Artists: Jack Binder, Dick Briefer, Jack Cole, Maurice Gutwirth, Hal Sharp, John Hampton, Mac Raboy, Harry Anderson, Carl Hubbell, Dick Dawson, Carl Formes, Walter Galli, Fred Guardineer, D.B. Icove, Richard Norman, Kane Warren, and Bob Wood

The Golden Age of collected editions has made spoiled brats of us all. I remember a time when just the idea of obscure, expensive old comic books beautifully restored and slapped between two hardbacks was enough to send me into a tizzy. Fast forward a dozen years and there are hundreds of collections of this material available for purchase. The novelty of reading said old comics has entirely worn off for me. They now have to impress me either through story or historical significance.

Silver Streak Archives Featuring The Original Daredevil Vol. 1 falls flat on the story side, but the historical significance picks up the slack. Lots of legendary creators were cutting their teeth here. Kids who read this stuff at the time can say that they knew them when. The original Daredevil was one of the best-selling superheroes of his day, which seems curious considering that he is merely a footnote today. Like many forty-somethings, I had never even heard of him until Dynamite's Project Superpowers resurrected a slew of public domain Golden Age superheroes, bringing them into the present.

Like most Golden Age comics, this is an anthology series, with a series of features in each issue that run the gamut. Also like many Golden Age comics, this is not politically correct. One must understand the societal mores of the time and look at it in a purely academic sense, or risk being offended. I keep stuff like this well out of the reach of my son, as I don't want to have conversations about racial stereotypes from 75-odd years ago. And like many Golden Age comics, it is amazing to see how folks seemed to be chomping at the bit for us to get into what would become World War II.

Silver Streak is the headliner, although he would soon be eclipsed by Daredevil. Daredevil's first appearance in issue 6 shows his costume as half yellow, half blue. This is changed to half red, half blue by the following issue. The Claw, his arch-nemesis, seems to have limitless power. It is almost Fletcher Hanks bad in terms of believability.

Jack Cole's Dickie Dean, The Boy Inventor!!! is highly entertaining. The Pirate Prince is an excellent series about “that swashbuckling, daring Robin Hood of the sea”. The Pirate Prince robs pirates and frees the slaves aboard their ships, which is something when you consider the rampant racism and lingering resentment towards blacks in an era when people who remembered slaves were still alive. There is a sense of decency and humanity as to how blacks are portrayed here, which again flies in the face of many of these old comics. It seems downright progressive, and makes me wonder if a reboot of this series would work today.

The rest of the strips are of the garden variety. You have your western knock offs, your Tarzan knock-offs, your Buck Rogers knock-offs, random G-man types, airplane/dogfight stuff, humor strips, etc. None of them are remarkable but most are readable.

Old comics are often unintentionally funny. 

This was an okay read that didn't bowl me over. Like I said, there was a time when any old comics would rock my socks off. That ship has sailed though, as I have read enough of them for me to not be impressed by something solely because of it's age. I have Volume 2 in this line and hope to read it someday.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This book is light, weighing scarcely more than a pack of cigarettes. I do not smoke, but my mother did. She used to send me to the store on my bike to buy her cigarettes, back in the olden days when kids could go to the corner store and pick up their parent's smokes and everyone thought that it was a-okay.

Linework and Color restoration: Perfectly serviceable restoration, done by scanning original comics and then recoloring them with computers and correcting line bleed, off-register printing, etc. I appreciate the fact that Dark Horse put the time, effort, and money into doing this when so many other publishers just scan 'em and slap 'em into hardcovers.

Paper stock: I love the paper that Dark Horse started using in their Archives back around 2010. It looks like old pulp comic book paper but is super thick, high quality stuff. It is matte uncoated stock and has zero sheen under any light source. Plus it has that delectable Chinese sweatshop printing press aroma. I stop reading every so often just to huff it. Oh yeah, that's the stuff...

Binding: Smyth sewn binding. While the book block has room to flex in the casing you need to use two hands to read this, as it does not lay flat.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: The dustjacket has a nice shiny lamination. The hardback has that faux leather casewrap with die foil stamping for the lettering on the cover and the spine. 

Reviews: Age of Bronze Vol. 3A: Betrayal; Project Superpowers Chapter Two Vol. 2

AGE OF BRONZE VOL. 3A: BETRAYAL PART ONE (Image, 2008; softcover)
Collects Age of Bronze Nos. 20-26 (cover dates June, 2005- September, 2007)
While Age of Bronze is exquisitely drawn and written, this will be my last stop into this world. Limited discretionary income, limited SPACE to store all of these comics, and limited time have recently forced me to make some hard choices. I am dropping a lot of things, and unfortunately Age of Bronze didn't make the cut. I do have one gripe about this book on the writing side. Whenever they refer to someone, it's not just by name, it's "John Doe, son of John Doe Sr." or whatever. I am sure that it is historically accurate, but it gets tiring after 160 or so pages. On the OCD side of things, it totally sucks that they do not include the covers in these books as chapter markers, or even as a cover gallery in the back.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO VOL. 2 (Dynamite, 2010; softcover)
Collects Project Superpowers: Chapter Two Nos. 7-12 (cover dates February- September, 2010)
As enjoyable as this story was, and as much as I've enjoyed this line, I am done with it. Financial, space, and time constraints are all factors. That, and things had to build up for 8 trades (line wide) to get to this point in the story, which is a sizable investment of time and money. I am really trying to get back to basics with my collecting habits.

Junk Food For Thought

IRON MAN: IRON MONGER (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Iron Man Nos. 193-200 (cover dates April- November, 1985)

Denny O'Neil is an exceptionally good comic book writer. This stuff holds up very well a quarter century after it's original publication. The only issue in this book that I bought off of the stands was #197 because it was a Secret Wars II tie-in. I really feel like I missed the boat not buying this title on a regular basis back in the day, but I can make up for it by reading these issues today.

It was a treat to see a D-lister like Doctor Demonicus (from the Shogun Warriors series from the '70s) and his giant, "mutated" green lizard (read: Godzilla, mutated just enough to avoid getting sued). All in all, this was a great read with decent artwork by various artists in a nice hardcover package complete with sewn binding.

AREA 10 (Vertigo/ DC, 2010) 

This is a graphic novel in the TRUE sense of the word, meaning that it is a comic book originally published in book format, hence the term graphic novel. People often mistakenly refer to trade paperbacks as 'graphic novels'. Watchmen and Walking Dead are great graphic novels. No, they are trade paperbacks. They compile comic books that were originally published in a single magazine format, and then reprinted/ compiled into a book format. There is a big difference, and it drives me nuts when people throw the term graphic novel around like that.

The format of this book is odd but neat. It's a hardcover smaller than a standard comic book but larger than a digest, in black and white on heavy pulp paper, 176 pages of story. Something like this could well be the comic book format of the future if all monthly comics were to stop being published.

The story by Christos N. Gage is very good, and while it is labeled as a Crime comic, it is in truth a hybrid between that genre and Horror. An edge of your seat page turner, there is only one scene towards the end that made them lose me. *S-P-O-I-L-E-R A-L-E-R-T* There is no way that the guy would take a drill to his head in order to fight the killer. No way. The rest of this book was pretty believable, but that part lost me. *END SPOILER* Recommended reading for fans of the genres listed above, this will also be available in softcover next year for the more budget conscious reader.

Swamp Thing Nos. 91-96 (DC, cover dates January- June, 1990)

The very first Direct Market retailer, or "real" comic book store that I ever went to was the Book Bin in Lincoln Park, MI. They were getting out of the comic business after 30 or so years, and were blowing out their stock for next to nothing. Even though the store had been picked over with a fine tooth comb, there were still plenty of cheap reads to be had. A quick history lesson for the 'civilians' out there. The Direct Market more or less got it's start because retailers wanted to be able to get pristine copies from the distributor to sell as back issues later on. They ordered many extra copies for this very reason. The Book Bin was in on this game for many, many years. The first time that I went in there was 1983, and there were already rows of back issues. I also recall playing the Tron video game there circa 1983 to the tune of Hungry Like the Wolf on the radio in the store. Why I remember that, I couldn't tell you. In any case, I got all of these issues for $1.00. The line of trades that DC was putting out ended with issue 81, and I was curious how things had turned out. These are decent, but the quality definitely ebbs in the writing department. Alfredo P. Alcala inks the title, and the artwork is still decent, but the story just seems to meander along. Still, this was a dollar well spent.

THE SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 8 (DC, 2010)

Collects Superman Nos. 14, 15 and material from Action Comics Nos. 44-47 (cover dates January- April, 1942)

Golden Age Superman rocks! I don't like to throw the word 'great' around often, or use it lightly, because when something is GREAT that to me means that it is something superior, the best, etc. The Superman and Action Comics issues collected in this book are, in fact, GREAT. Great writing by Jerry Siegel, great artwork by Leo Nowak, Paul Cassidy and John Sikela, great villains in Krazinski (a composer who lulls audiences asleep with his music while his gang robs them), The Lightning Master, The Domino, Lex Luthor...everything is just great.

I hate to sound like I am gushing, but really, this stuff just hits all of the sweet spots for this era. The stories still hold up in a very charming, dated way. I truly appreciate the Chronicles line of trades because I have never read this stuff before, and I cannot afford yet another line of $50 hardcovers.

Many of the things that made Superman seem so sucky to me when I was 10-11 years old are becoming more and more apparent. His super hearing, telescopic vision, x-ray vision, invulnerability, super-duper speed, etc., are all becoming more pronounced during this era than they were in the earlier issues. I loved these stories in spite of this corniness. I also loved the way that he keeps gaining more and more powers, such as the ability to modify his voice to sound like other people. He catches bullets in nearly every story, ditto his nonsensical smashing through walls. I'm not kidding, there could be a window five feet away and this lunkhead will choose to smash through the wall, damaging property.

In Concerts of Doom (from Superman No. 14), Krazinski loses Superman in a car chase. Being the heroic guy that he is, Superman breaks into the Auto License Bureau, where he illegally obtains Krazinski's address from his license plate number. Hilarious. In  The Invention Thief  (same issue), a young inventor is swindled out of his creation by a savvy businessman. This honest entrepreneur is portrayed to be the villain here, when it was in truth the fault of the inventor for not securing the proper patents or hiring a lawyer himself. Superman, ever the bully, refuses to put out a fire that was raging in the businessman's mansion until he signs over the rights to the invention back to that dimwit creator. The knucklehead probably traded his invention for a sack of magic beans after this story...who knows? In Saboteurs of Napkan (from Superman No. 15), Superman single-handedly defeats the Napkanese (read: Japanese) plot to overthrow the United States. Superman in Oxnalia, also from the same issue, finds Superman fighting the Oxnalians (read: Germans) who are under the command of Razkal (Hitler). Superman utters famous phrases like 'Up...Up...and Away", as well as lesser known ones like 'Papa Spank'.

All in all, an entertaining and sometimes hilarious read that you can't go wrong with, clocking in at 168 pages for a list price of 15 bucks.

EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: WARREN ELLIS VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Excalibur Nos. 83-90 and material from X-Men Prime (cover dates November, 1994- October, 1995)

Warren Ellis' writing is solid and holds up for the most part, while the artwork ranges from passable to laughably bad. The '90s had some of the ugliest artwork, ever. The then-revolutionary Malibu digital color enhancements look dated, but that is forgivable. I just appreciate modern coloring techniques even more now, and it's truly amazing to think how far technology has come in such a short period of time. This is a nice collection and a good read.

EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: WARREN ELLIS VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Excalibur Nos. 91-95, Starjammers Nos. 1-4 and X-Man No. 12 (cover dates October, 1995- March, 1996)

Wow, what a decline in quality from Volume 1! Things go south fast in all areas, writing, artwork...even the lettering and colors, for crying out loud. X-Man is THE worst concept ever introduced in the world of comics, and the other retardedly named characters, like Threnody, are equally dumb. Needless to say that I will not be picking up Vol. 3.

BLACK TERROR VOL. 2 (Dynamite, 2010)

Collects Black Terror Nos. 5-9 (cover dates November, 2009- March, 2010)

I was ready to chuck this whole line for a minute there. I was blue about the ever expanding hardcover and trade paperback lines from the various publishers, blue about my limited funds for all of these books, blue about the sheer glut of comic books out there. I almost allowed this to kill this line for me. I sat down and read this, with my mind already made up that I was done with it, and you know what? This was a fine read. I suppose that I will be sticking with the Project Superpowers line for a while longer. They only put out trades a few times a year, so I'll try and figure out some other corner to cut.

CROSSED VOL. 1 (Avatar, 2010)

Collects Crossed Nos. 0-9 (September, 2008- February, 2010)

Wow, this was truly stunning. I don't mean stunning in the adjective sense of the word, but stunning in the verb sense of the word. If this book doesn't offend, shock, or repulse you on a consistent basis, then you are a very, very sick person. Crossed crosses every single line of decency with the exception of child pornography, but there is a sequel currently being published, so give them time. Garth Ennis' writing is whacked, but it's really the beautiful artwork by Jacen Burrows that takes the cake. It's so clean and polished that it invites you to stare and linger even when you don't want to. If this ever gets made into a movie, it'll be NC-17 at least. I am disappointed in myself for enjoying a depraved work as this so much. It haunts you, even weeks after reading it. I want to read it again and again. If Saw seems too 'Disney' for your tastes, then give Crossed a try...you will be sorry!

SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE VOL. 8: THE BLACKHAWK AND THE RETURN OF THE SCARLET GHOST (Vertigo/ DC, 2010)

Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre Nos. 45-52 (cover dates December, 1996- July, 1997)
I am happy to see this line of trades continue. 2, maybe 3 more, and we'll have the entire series compiled in trade paperback format. Good reads one and all.

IRON MAN: ARMOR WARS II (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Iron Man Nos. 258-266 (cover dates July, 1990- March, 1991)

Really well done comic books by John Byrne (writer) and John Romita, Jr. (penciler). These issues still hold up 20 years after they were originally published. I think that when the Essential Iron Man line of black and white phone books hits the late 1970s then I will start picking them up. Everything that I have read from 1979-on (via trade paperback) has been extremely enjoyable.

I read comics so that you don't have to.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: CHAPTER TWO VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2010)

Collects Project Superpowers Nos. 0-6 (cover dates June, 2009- January, 2010)

This series presents some good ideas, but they are sure taking their sweet old time to get anywhere. It just feels like a lot of nothing is happening...get on it with it already!


PROJECT SUPERPOWERS: MEET THE BAD GUYS (Dynamite, 2010)

Collects Project Superpowers: Meet the Bad Guys Nos. 1-4 (cover dates August- November, 2009)

Interesting one-shot character sketches. I especially like The Scarab's one-shot (Issue 4).



INDIANA JONES- THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OMNIBUS VOL. 3 (Dark Horse, 2010)

Collects The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones Nos. 25-34 and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Nos. 1-4 (cover dates January, 1985- November, 1989)

I had never read any of these issues before, and they were all pretty enjoyable. Mostly done-in-ones with the occasional 2 or 3 parter, these all flowed pretty well within Indiana Jones canon. The art by Steve Ditko is great, and I was unaware that he even worked on this series until these trades were released.




THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 10 (DC, 2010)

Collects Batman Nos. 16, 17 and material from Detective Comics Nos. 75-77 and World’s Finest Comics No. 10 (cover dates April/May- July, 1943)

Great reads one and all! I love Golden Age Batman, as these stories are way fun and bleed charm. Alfred debuts here is Issue 16, and is quite a bit different than he would be later on, being an amateur sleuth and all. Also in issue 16 is "The Grade A Crimes", a wonderful story about robbers who double as milkmen. The old tyme-y street lamps and two-color traffic signals also help paint this as a quaint period piece. It's funny how these things would be inserted into retro-flavored stories today to help create atmosphere, but here they are simply contemporary background things. I love it. The Joker, the Robber Baron, and the Penguin are the stars of the rogues gallery this time out.

In Issue 17's "Adventure of the Vitamin Vandals", Batman tangles with a shark. Unlike the 1966 movie, however, he uses a knife rather than a can of shark repellent. The story from World’s Finest Comics No. 10, "The Man With The Camera Eyes" is somewhat contemporary. In the tale, a man uses his photographic memory to memorize documents, written music, etc., which is referred to here as "other people's ideas". In this day and age we use the term intellectual property, but this tale shows the grey areas pertaining to theft and crime, and the perception thereof. That is what it made me think of, at least. Individual mileage may vary.

One interesting thing about these issues is that while there are 'Buy war Bonds' logos on the splash pages of most of the stories, Batman steers clears of politics for the most part. Unlike Timely's heroes (Marvel as they were called back then), Batman does not engage in fisticuffs with the Nazis or the Japanese. I am sorry if I spoiled any of the above stories for you, but comic books that are nearly 70 years old are exempt from spoiler tags.

The restoration on the Detective Comics stories seems crude, especially when compared to the great job that DC did on the core series. I would love to see DC remaster the aforementioned stories, and compile them in nice, chunky hardcovers like Marvel's Omnibus line. My cheap ass can't afford to buy 30 different Archives, plus I like the chronological by release date format of The Chronicles line.




THE BATMAN: TALES OF THE DEMON (DC, 2005 Printing)

Collects Batman Nos. 232, 235, 240, 242-244, Detective Comics Nos. 411, 485, 489, 490 and DC Special Series No. 15 (cover dates May, 1971- May, 1980)

When I was a small child, I loved Batman. I watched re-runs of the '60s TV series, watched the Superfriends cartoons, had the 8" Mego doll, the whole bit. Along the way, I was convinced that Marvel ruled and DC sucked, likely from the influence of others. The occasional glance at the Distinguished Competition's '80s output confirmed this belief. Here is where I officially and publicly rescind my disliking of DC Comics. These stories are every bit as good as what Marvel was doing at the time. Dennis O'Neil crafts some first class stories, and the artwork by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano (among others) is top notch as well.

The thing that I like the most about these issues is that while Batman fights Ra's Al Ghul physically, most of their fighting is a psychological game of cat and mouse and manipulation. It works on so many levels and is so good on all of them.

The only negative thing that i can say about this book is the modern re-coloring, which appears dark and murky. I guess that earlier printings have the original color palette. I wish that I had known that when I picked this up.




X-FACTOR: INVISIBLE WOMAN HAS VANISHED (Marvel, 2010)

Collects X-Factor Nos. 200-203 (cover dates February- May, 2010)

This was okay, but I am done with all of these X-Men offshoots. I haven't really enjoyed the non-Uncanny X-Men stuff as a whole for quite some time, and am going to stick with the flagship title only from here on out. There are just too many comics being put out by other publishers that seem more interesting than this title. I will no longer buy from habit.




SPIDER- GIRL VOL. 12: THE GAMES VILLAINS PLAY (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Spider-Girl Nos. 67-72 (cover dates February- June, 2004)

Marvel has been slowly collecting the original series in these digests. I hope that we can get the remaining 28 issues collected before all is said and done.




MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA MENACE VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Menace Nos. 1-11 (cover dates March, 1953- May, 1954)

This was Atlas' (what Marvel was called back then) answer to EC's horror titles. Stan Lee wrote most of these tales, and was assisted in the artwork department by a number of greats: Russ Heath, Joe Maneely, John Romita, Sr., etc. These are all terrific reads about zombies, werewolves, vampires, etc. Fun for the whole family...if you happen to be the Addams Family, that is.




ESSENTIAL X-FACTOR VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Uncanny X-Men Nos. 242, 243, X-Factor Nos. 36-50 and X-Factor Annual No. 3 (cover dates January, 1989- January, 1990)

Once this gets going, it doesn't stop. The first few issues in this book are fairly clunky reads, but after Louise Simonson finds her footing again, it's a fun ride. The whole Inferno crossover with Uncanny X-Men is good fun, ditto the 6 issue Judgement War arc. The only downside to this book is Walt Simonson's artwork on several of the issues. Yes, that's right, I said it. I am not a fan of his scratchy looking artwork, never have been. He has legions of fans, but I am not one of them.




SPECTACULAR SPIDER-GIRL: WHO KILLED GWEN REILLY? (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Spider-Girl No. 0 and material from Amazing Spider-Man Family Nos. 1-8 and Web of Spider-Man Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1998- March, 2010)

Spider-Girl takes place in an alternate future timeline called MC2 (Marvel Comics 2). Before the marriage (and daughter) of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson was ret-conned out of existence, this was merely a future time line. The stories in Web of Spider-Man deal with May as an infant. The Spider-Girl stories from ASMF feature Tombstone, a Spider-Man villain who debuted in the late '80s. I always thought that he was pretty cool, and that opinion is reaffirmed here.

Astonishing Junk Food For Thought

So Marvel, in their infinite wisdom, has yet another all-ages, new reader friendly line. No, not Marvel Age, or Marvel Adventures, but the Astonishing line. The main difference being that this is set in mainline continuity and is supposedly new reader friendly. Why don't they just make the regular titles more new reader friendly? I stumbled into various titles in the '80s and was able to catch up with what was going on, but that is hard in the age of multiple crossovers and lazy Bendis writing, all-conversation/ feeble set-up issues.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS GOLDEN AGE YOUNG ALLIES VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Young Allies Nos. 1-4 (cover dates Summer 1941- Summer 1942)

This series is a lot of fun at times, offensive to 21st century sensibilities at others, and ridiculous all around. This series features some of Stan Lee's earliest writing, as well as artwork by future I, Robot writer Otto Binder. The artwork is passable for the era. Unlike most Golden Age comics, the bulk of these 64 page issues are devoted solely to the Young Allies, with only a handful of back-up features appearing. There is a stray Father Time feature that is quite good, and the Vagabond is as bizarre as any of the other stories of his featured in other GA magazines. It's great to see the Red Skull as the YA's main adversary, as I am a sucker for him. We even get to see him unmasked here, which is pretty rare. 

Not everything is all rosy here, though. As stated in the introduction, Whitewash Jones is a product of the time. Think of Buckwheat from the Little Rascals and you get a general idea of the type of comic relief he provides. This isn't the type of book that I'd let my son read by any stretch, but it is fascinating from a historical perspective. One of the reasons that I buy all of these Golden Age collections is the fact that they are so rare and expensive in their original formats that I would never get to experience them otherwise, or certainly nowhere near the sheer volume of them that I have in the last 5 or so years. This book is totally worth picking up as long as you understand in advance what it is you're picking up. The production values on this book are top notch, with the highest quality restoration (only 1 page looks iffy to my eyes and probably wouldn't register to most people), paper and binding. It's ironic that this book is made in China, though, given the portrayal of Far Easterners in this book. I wonder if any of the workers on the lines ever look down at what is being printed.

BLACK TERROR VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2009)

Collects Black Terror Nos. 1-4 (cover dates November, 2008- May, 2009)

Yet another satisfying installment in the Project Superpowers universe. I am really enjoying all of these titles, and someday, when I am all caught up on my reading, I plan on sitting down and re-reading all of these in the order of release. I suspect that I will be able to catch up with my reading if comics go all digital ala the iPad. I have no interest whatsoever in reading comics on a computer or a screen, so when the day comes when print comics are dead then I can re-read all of these trades and hardcovers. I do realize that we will likely never see an end to print comics, but that has to happen in order for me to catch up on my backlog and re-read this fine series.

VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS (Bluewater, 2009)

Collects Vincent Price Presents Nos. 1-4 (cover dates September- December, 2008)

Wow, this was a surprisingly good read! I ordered this on a whim, always eager to check out new Horror anthologies, and this was one time when it really panned out. Solid writing and artwork throughout, the oddest thing about this series is that Issue 1 was the weakest of the bunch. Wouldn't you want to put your best foot forward? In any case, this was a lot of fun, and the only complaint that I have is that the cover of this trade has a bizarre rubber-y feeling coating rather than the typical waxy coating of most trades. Odd to the touch, but you get used to it quickly enough. Fans of Horror comics should definitely check this series out.

STAR TREK: CREW (IDW, 2009)

Collects Star Trek: Crew Nos. 1-5 (cover dates March- July, 2009)

I am a casual Star Trek fan. I used to watch re-runs of the original series when I was kid and religiously watched Star Trek: The Next Generation for the first two or three seasons. I saw Star Trek III: The Search For Spock at the old Wyandotte dollar show, and saw every movie released in the last 20 years at the theatre. I am just not a Star Trek expert, so if this defies continuity or not I cannot say. What I can say, though, is that John Byrne turns in a helluva entertaining series that I picked up on a whim in this trade paperback that should please fans of the series (any of them). My only gripe with this book is that the covers are collected in the back rather than in front of each issue as a chapter marker. OCD on that topic aside, this gets my highest recommendation.

THE COMICS OF FLETCHER HANKS: I SHALL DESTROY ALL THE CIVILIZED PLANETS! (Fantagraphics, 2008)

Collects selections from Big Three Comics No. 2, Fantastic Comics Nos. 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 16, Fight Comics Nos. 2, Jungle Nos. 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 and Planet Nos. 7 (cover dates December, 1939- February, 1941)

I bought this book as something of a goof because I saw the way that Fletcher Hanks drew necks and it made me smile. Over the course of reading the exploits of Stardust the Super Wizard and Fantomah, I became a fan of his artwork and ridiculous writing. Stardust seems to gain a new power in every panel of every story. Like many early Golden Age comics, these are super violent and loaded with a 'might makes right' mentality, and they rock because of this. Kudos to Fantagraphics for compiling his complete work over the course of two books, as these stories would otherwise be lost to the mists of time.

ESSENTIAL LUKE CAGE, POWER MAN VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2006)

Collects Luke Cage, Power Man Nos. 28-49 and Luke Cage, Power Man Annual No. 1 (cover dates December, 1975- February, 1978)

This is strictly second tier stuff, even by '70s standards. Sure, it occasionally rises to very good (the Claremont/ Byrne stuff) but for the most part, this is overwritten bravado tinged smacktalk coupled with Don McGregor's at-the-time-interesting political commentary which, in 2010, comes off a bit preachy. Frank Robbins is one of the worst pencilers that has ever graced the pages of comic books. He's like a fourth rate Harvey Kurtzman. The villains are strictly C- and D-list. Mr. Fish? Spear? Cockroach Hamilton and his shotgun Josh, which he refers to it as in nearly every panel that it is shown. This series has it's moments, but this batch of issues isn't anywhere near as entertaining as the first 27, or after the title morphs into Power Man and Iron Fist with Issue 50.

SUPERMAN: STRANGE ATTRACTORS (DC, 2006)

Collects Action Comics Nos. 827, 828, 830-835 (cover dates July, 2005- March, 2006)

When coupled with strong inkers like we see here, John Byrne still rules. Solid writing, good artwork, and tasteful coloring made this a joy to read. Even better is the fact that this was in the 1/2 off box at Big Ben's Comix Oasis.

CALIBER: FIRST CANON OF JUSTICE (Radical, 2009)

Collects Caliber Nos. 1-5 (cover dates May- September, 2008)

I can appreciate something that is well done, even if I am not totally crazy about the subject. I picked this up in the aforementioned half off box of trades because the artwork looked decent, and that sums up this book in a nutshell. Decent. Not great, not horrible, just competently done comic books.

WOLVERINE OMNIBUS VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Captain America Annual No. 8, Incredible Hulk Nos. 180-182, 340, Kitty Pryde and Wolverine Nos. 1-6, Punisher War Journal (Vol. 1) Nos. 6, 7, Spider-Man Vs. Wolverine, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 172-173, Wolverine (Vol. 1) Nos. 1-4, Wolverine (Vol. 2) Nos. 1-10 and selections from Marvel Age Annual No. 4, Marvel Comics Presents (Vol. 1) Nos. 1-10, 72-84 and Marvel Treasury Edition No. 26 (cover dates October, 1974- July, 1989)

Wolverine is the best comic book character to come out of the '70s, and there are many people who would argue that he is among the best characters ever created. I would not be one of them, though. Wolverine, as he was originally created and appears in the first chunk of this monster 1,000+ page tome, was a borderline psychotic quasi-hero, almost as likely to go off on a teammate as he would an enemy. This unpredictability, coupled with his lack of an origin or past, made him intriguing. As time moved on, Chris Claremont decided to add layers to the character, with mixed results. His healing factor became a ridiculous thing, eventually making him nearly unbeatable. He was suddenly a samurai, which I always thought was retarded. Claremont made him 150 or so years old, also retarded. I bought into the fact that his healing factor slowed his aging, but I gauged it around 20-30 years, not a hundred (or more in stories told this decade). Later on, they ret-conned Wolverine into Captain America's past, etc., and that is when he jumped the shark. Nowadays he is in every single title, and it makes one wonder if he has the ability to bend time in order to fit into every character and team's life. 

The Wolverine ongoing series that started in 1988 (Vol. 2) reveals that he supposedly has had all of this spare time to foster a separate identity in Madripoor. Reading comic books requires a healthy suspension of disbelief, but this is ludicrous when you go back and re-read Uncanny X-Men until this point. When exactly did he have time to do this? Things like this have made me loathe the character anymore, but thanks to this book I can at least go back and revisit a time when he didn't make me vomit.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 1 (DC, 2003)

Collects Man of Steel Nos. 1-6 cover dates (October- December, 1986)

I have been a John Byrne fan since 1984, when I started reading Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight. When he went to work on this title for DC, I was very curious but wouldn't cross the "party line" back then. This was one of the first major character "reboots" which have since become a cliche, but this still holds up pretty well. Byrne's writing and artwork have a real fluidity here that make this a good read. I have issues with the book AS a book, though. I dislike the pulp paper that DC uses in their trades, as I worry that it will yellow and age with time. Also, Issue 5 has obliterated line work. These issues aren't that old or rare that they couldn't do a decent restoration job.

Sloan/ B Sides Win: Extras, Bonus Tracks and B-Sides 1992-2008

Sloan has finally listened to their die-hard fans and given us the rarities collection that we have clamored for. Unfortunately, it is only available as a download from their website, and the PDF isn't scaled for a printer friendly 5X5 booklet layout. I am glad that this has been made available (and cheap too... $9.99 for 26 tracks), but I would have been glad to pay more for a factory pressed physical CD version. 

This collection is by no means complete, as I own 3 songs that are not on here. Stove/Smother from DGC Rarities Vol. 1; Waterfalls from the Paul McCartney tribute album, Listen to What the Man Said, and their cover of Rush's In the Mood from the Fubar soundtrack are not included. Some of the earlier B-sides and bonus tracks are pretty rough around the edges, but some, like Dirty Nails and Pretty Together, make you wonder what they were thinking when they left them off of the original domestic releases. Strangely missing is the entirety of the Live Sloan Party bonus disc from the first US printing of One Chord To Another. I got one on eBay ages ago, and I'm sure that it isn't getting any more common. Hopefully Sloan will bundle the aforementioned songs and put all of this into a nice box set at some point. Hey, I can dream, right?

Junk Food For Thought in 3-D

THE SUPERMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 7 (DC, 2009)

Collects Superman Nos. 12, 13 and selections from Action Comics Nos. 41-43 and World’s Finest Comics No. 4 (cover dates October- December, 1941)

Lots of fun Golden Age Superman here. From the menace of Lex Luthor to the Archer, it is refreshing to Superman fight villains instead of your garden variety thugs. The story where he takes care of a baby was hilarious, and closer to the truth than most parents would care to admit. I truly dig on the Chronicles line of softcover trade paperbacks. I just wish that they would have raised the price by a buck or two rather than cut the page count by 24 pages. Oh well, it's all good and will come out in the wash so to speak, right?

SPIDER-MAN: DIED IN YOUR ARMS TONIGHT (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 600, 601, Amazing Spider-Man Annual No. 36 and selections from Amazing Spider-Man Family No. 7 (cover dates August- October, 2009).

Wow, Issue 600 already? It seems like it was only yesterday that we got #500 (it was 'late '03 or early '04), and like last week when I rode my bike to the Book Bank to buy issue 300 the day that it came out (back when Venom was cool and had teeth instead of fangs and a tongue). Always nice to see old friends (Doctor Octopus, John Romita, Jr.'s pencils) with a new spin. With its now thrice-monthly publication schedule, Amazing Spider-Man should hit #700 in just 3 years time.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Two-In-One Nos. 53-77 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual Nos. 4, 5 (cover dates July, 1979- July, 1981)

Marvel's Essential line of black and white phonebook sized trades have had an uptick in price of $3 while simultaneously having a slightly lower overall page count (from 500-560 to about 500). They are still the biggest bang for your entertainment buck that you will get in spite of this. I just wish that Marvel would follow DC and Dark Horse, who put page numbers on their phone books. The bulk of this book is written by the team of Ralph Maccio and Mark Gruenwald who provide excellent characterization for Benjamin J. Grimm, a/k/a the Thing, the anchor character for this title. Lots of great arcs here, lots of great artists here, this is just a lot of fun Bronze Age goodness.

SPIDER-MAN: RED HEADED STRANGER (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Amazing Spider-Man Nos. 602-605 (cover dates October- November, 2009)

Fred Van Lente is a solid Spider-writer, having cut his teeth with the character on the kid-friendly Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and now in the big leagues with this title. ASM remains a great read, and is my favorite title that Marvel is currently publishing.

WOLVERINE/ POWER PACK: THE WILD PACK (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Wolverine/ Power Pack Nos. 1-4 (cover dates January- April, 2009)

This was as enjoyable as the rest of the Power Pack mini-series that have come out over the last few years. I wish that Marvel would try out a full-on series with Louise Simonson and June Brigman back on board and/or drop the cute-sy, mangish artwork.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 VOL. 3: VAMPIRE STATE (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain Britain and MI13 Nos. 10-15 and Captain Britain and MI13 Annual No. 1 (cover dates April- September, 2009)

A satisfying end to the title. It's a shame that this book didn't catch on, as it had a great line-up: Captain Britain, Megan, Black Knight, Blade the Vampire Hunter, Union Jack, and Dracula as a nemesis.

CREEPY ARCHIVES VOL. 4 (Dark Horse, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Creepy Nos. 16-20 (cover dates August, 1967- May, 1968)

There is a definite shift in quality from the earlier issues, with Archie Goodwin relinquishing much of the writing duty to hands less capable, ditto the artists stable. Not all was lost, as many of the greats still contributed to this series, just not as often. I have been told that the quality picks back up, and I hope so. This wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't as spectacular as the previous volumes.

ESSENTIAL PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN VOL. 4 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Nos. 75-96 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual No. 4 (cover dates February, 1983- October, 1984)

I started buying this title monthly with issue 92, and stuck with it well into the 140s, maybe even 150s. I bought pretty much every issue contained in this book as cheap-o back issues in the mid-80s, and it was a blast to go back and re-read these. Back in the day, I used to re-read the previous issue when a new issue came out, i.e I re-read issue 92 when 93 came out, etc. This continued until around Issue 100. I used to read my new purchases multiple times back then. These days, with trades and hardcovers, I haven't even read everything that I own once. I do have a system, though, and rotate stock religiously. I was a stockboy as a teenager, and the lesson of rotating the stock to keep it fresh is so ingrained into me, even when I put away dishes, etc., to this day. 

Bill Mantlo wrote this series until just before I started buying the title regularly, when Al Milgrom (who also handled the artwork with inker/finisher Jim Mooney throughout the entire book) took over. This is such a solid read, with great characterization and stories. Milgrom's artwork lives and dies by Mooney's solid inks. When Milgrom does his own finishes like he did in Secret Wars II, he sucks, but here he was on. I bought Annual #4 from the Book Bin on my 11th birthday that year. My Mom drove me there, and since it was a direct market retailer, they received their books 3 weeks ahead of newsstands like 7-11 where I did my regular purchases circa 1984. It was like taking a trip into the comic book buying future! The story was an even better read as an adult as it was as a child. OK, enough gushing and nostalgic rambling.

INDIANA JONES- THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OMNIBUS VOL. 2 (Dark Horse, 2009)

Collects The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones Nos. 13-24 and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Nos. 1-3 (cover dates January- December, 1984)

I bought The Temple of Doom mini-series off of the stands back in the summer of 1984. In the days before home video, comic book adaptations and trading cards were the only way to relive a movie, as they generally took years to appear on network television, and would often be edited like crazy when they did. That would change a year later, when we got our Beta in 1985.

On to the comics! These were all fun reads, with artwork by Herb Trimpe, Jackson Guice, and Steve Ditko. Issue 19 was particularly good, as it featured a dragon which bore a striking resemblance to Fin Fang Foom, from Marvel's late '50s/early '60s monster days. They never named him as such, but it was obviously a wink to that long forgotten tale. The Dark Horse Omnibus line is always a treat, with it's chunky page count and nice paper coupled with an appealing price point.

MASQUERADE VOL. 1 (Dynamite, 2009)

Collects Masquerade Nos. 1-4 (cover dates February- June, 2009)

More goodness from Alex Ross and the rest of the Dynamite crew. The Project Superpowers universe continues growing at a cautious pace, and my wallet is thankful for that. I am really enjoying these titles and am curious to see what happens next.

An interesting sidebar: My wife went into labor with my daughter the day that this trade came out. We went to the Dr.'s first thing in the morning and her contractions were far enough apart that we had hours before we were to report to the hospital. My wife, knowing that it was new comic book day, said we should go to the comic store and waited in the car while I picked this up. Now that is love. Would your wife let you pick up the week's new releases while she was in labor with your child? I didn't think so!