Review- FVZA: FEDERAL VAMPIRE AND ZOMBIE AGENCY

FVZA: FEDERAL VAMPIRE AND ZOMBIE AGENCY(Radical, 2010; Softcover)

Collects FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency Nos. 1-3 (cover dates October, 2009- March, 2010)

Writer: David Hine

Artist: Roy Allen Martinez

Colorists: Jerry Choo and Kinsun Loh

Remember what I said in my review for Time Bomb? About how creator owned comics seem to come in only four flavors these days? Vampires, zombies, time travel, and Nazis. Here, we have vampires and zombies. The writing, artwork, and especially the computer coloring are all top notch. 

I enjoyed this so much that it pains me to write the following:

The OCD zone- This book is a total piece of crap. While it appears at first glance to be of the same high quality production values as the other Radical Books that I own, it soon became painfully apparent that it wasn't. While it has sewn binding, the signatures aren't glued to anything save the cover. I could hear creaking almost immediately after I started reading it, as the glue was obviously brittle. By the time I was a quarter way into the book, the signatures were already half separated from the cover. The top half looks solid, the bottom half arches upwards. 

You can see where the signatures are sliding out of the glue. By the end of the book, it was almost falling apart. Total, utter garbage. While the story was enjoyable, I cannot advise anyone to pick up this book.

Review- Time Bomb

TIME BOMB(Radical, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Time Bomb Nos. 1-3 (cover dates July- December, 2010)

Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti

Artists Paul Gulacy

Colorist: Ranier Baredo

Vampires, Nazis, time travel and zombies. That's what creator owned comics have come down to these days, kids. This mini-series employs Nazis and time travel, both foolproof crowd pleasers. We always seem to come back to the Nazis because they are the ultimate villains. There is no gray area in their motives, no sympathy on the part of the reader. They are just evil bastards who make the perfect foil for any hero(es). I disagree with the blatant disregard of the timestream, and of history, that the good guys employ here. It's a miracle that they didn't create a divergent timeline or something. 

All in all, this was a satisfying read with solid artwork and superb coloring that is worth the investment of your time and money. I bought the 'prestige format'/ graphic novelette Issue 1 when it came out nearly two years ago, and can hardly believe how long it took for A) this book to be released and B) how long it took me to reach it in the backlog after that. There has to be a better way to keep up on my reading. It's really a wonderful problem that I have, though...too many good comic books to read. I'll catch up someday.

The OCD zone- Another high quality trade paperback from Radical Publishing. Laminated cardstock cover, thick coated stock paper...this one has it all. 

 

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Reviews: Batman & Robin Vol. 3- Batman & Robin Must Die; City of Dust- A Philip Khrome Story

BATMAN & ROBIN- THE DELUXE EDITION: BATMAN & ROBIN MUST DIE (DC, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Batman and Robin Nos. 13-17 and Batman: The Return No. 1 (cover dates August, 2010- January, 2011).

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artists: David Finch and others

This is decent, but I'm done with Batman for now. I'll wait for the Chronicles trade paperbacks to catch up. I've enjoyed Grant Morrison's run (what I've read of it) but have no interest in Batman, Inc. There are loads of different artists involved in the issues in this book, and all of the are above average in terms of quality. There are many super violent, over the top fight scenes.

I am not crazy about seeing heroes kill villains, although I do realize that this routinely happened in Batman's earliest adventures. It probably wouldn't bother me if I didn't have a 5 year old son. It's too bad that the 'real' Batman titles aren't in that middle ground where they can appeal to us adults, yet I wouldn't cringe giving them to my son to read. In any case, this was a fun read, and Pyg and the whole contagious addiction thing was a trip to say the least.

The OCD zone- This book has decent paper and glued binding, but it does lay reasonably flat. This can rest comfortably in one hand while reading and lay flat on the bed as well. I can live with glued binding on skinnier hardcover collections like this.

CITY OF DUST: A PHILLIP KHROME STORY (Radical, 2009; Softcover)

Collects City of Dust Nos. 1-5 (cover dates October, 2008- March, 2009)

Writer: Steve Niles

Artist: Chng

I like Steve Niles' writing, but I am sick and tired of dystopian views of the future. This series riffs on a number of familiar stories (1984, Farenheit 454, Blade Runner) but is decent in its own right. The artwork and computer coloring are breathtaking, which is par for the course for Radical Publishing's output. I have no problem plunking down cash for their products. My major gripe is that the title of this series has nothing to do with the events that occur here. Yes, it takes place in a city, but there is no mention of dust. No metaphor, no dust superpower, no drug called dust...nothing. It's as dumb a name as the movie Murder By Numbers with Sandra Bullock, in which the story had nothing to do with numbers.

The OCD zone- Heavy duty, high quality coated stock paper really brings out the artwork and colors. This book also has sewn binding, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I am ill, but at least I don't hurt anybody. 

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Review: Driver For The Dead

DRIVER FOR THE DEAD(Radical, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Driver For The Dead Nos. 1-3 (cover dates July, 2010- January, 2011)

Writer: John Heffernan

Artist: Leonardo Manco

The gist: Allabaster Graves is a hearse driver who transports 'special' people's dead bodies to their final resting place. Sort of like a 21^st Century river Styx ferryman. Evil forces want the magical properties of one Moses Freeman's body (a very thinly veiled Morgan Freeman facsimile). Fallow must battle these forces until the dead can make it to their final resting place. Lots of voodoo references, but plenty of other Horror elements are featured, such as zombies/the undead, werewolves and vampires. Fun for the whole Addams Family. 

Op/ed: This was originally released as a series of three 56-page prestige format comics, which are skinny, squarebound books. Kind of like graphic novelettes, if you will. They were compiled into this book. What annoys me is that, save for the cover gallery in the back of the book, they try to pass this off as a graphic novel. No mention anywhere of this being originally printed as three comic books first. The covers are saved for the back, rather than serving as chapter markers. The practice of putting covers in the back of the book instead of in their 'proper' place annoys the piss out of me. Like saying that these were originally comic books and not a 'graphic novel' is a bad thing. 

I did enjoy reading this. The writing was decent and Leonardo Manco's artwork and Jerry Choo and Kinsun Loh's computer painting are beautiful. Radical Publishing always offers high quality writing and artwork. My biggest gripe is the whole Hollywood pitch angle, covered in the interview in the back. 

The OCD zone: Like all Radical Publishing books, this boasts super thick, high quality high gloss stock paper. The drawback to this is that it can be difficult to read in certain lighting, and it was difficult to photograph for my blog. The colors shown here look wrong when compared to the actual book. The book has heft and feels like something of value, though.

I dislike the uncoated cover, where certain sections of the image have a light coating and the rest does not. All of it is easily scuffed, even when handled gingerly. I cannot understand why publishers go for this 'fancier' production value, when the book would look like Hell if it were on a store shelf and handled a few times. Your mileage may vary. Indeed, some people probably prefer this look to the all-coated covers of Marvel trade paperbacks. I'm just not one of them. 

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An embarrassment of riches

THE WONDER WOMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 1 (DC,2010)

Collects Wonder Woman No. 1 and selections from All-Star Comics No. 8 and Sensation Comics Nos. 1-9 (cover dates December, 1940/ January, 1941- September, 1942)

Outstanding! This is incredibly well-written and well-drawn...heck, it's even well lettered. There is an underlying theme of bondage and dominance/submission, which is downright hilarious when you consider that kids scooped this stuff up by the truckload. It must have been so underground and so far off of 'Middle America's' radar that maybe no one noticed. I'll put it to you this way: Wonder Woman's magic lasso did not force people to tell the truth like it was portrayed to in the '70s TV show. Here it forced people to submit to whatever Wonder Woman ordered them to. Again, this made me chuckle as I read it.

I also had to laugh at the ret-cons in Wonder Woman #1, where they alter and insert different points into her origin. The Internet would be lit up with raging nerds over such a thing these days, but no one likely noticed circa 1942. Unlike Batman, Wonder Woman's primary enemy is the Nazi party, with several of these stories' publication date pre-dating America's involvement in World War II. I find it odd that Batman avoided politics in his title(s), but Wonder Woman is primarily a political title at this time.

All in all, a great read, and I am looking forward to the continuation of this line of trades.

IRON MAN: ARMOR WARS PROLOGUE (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Iron Man Nos. 215-224 (cover dates February- November, 1987)

David Michelinie and Bob Layton (with Mark Bright) are simply amazing. I had never read any of these issues before I bought this trade, and I am kicking myself for having missed much of this era of Iron Man on a monthly basis. I bought issues 189-192 off of the spinner racks at 7-11 circa 1984, and the odd issue here and again, but for some reason or another this title never grabbed my younger self. Pity. I think the main reason why I was so put off by Iron Man as a lad was because he didn't have any powers, he had a suit. Anybody could wear a suit and be powerful, so it didn't work for me. Fast forward to 2010, and the world is a much different place. Technology is in everything. My phone could outperform 1987 desktop computers, for chrissakes! This makes Iron Man much more believable, almost realistic. I choose to use the word realistic sparingly when referring to comic books, because quite frankly, there is nothing realistic about guys gearing up and fighting each other. In reality, everyone would get their rockstar paycheck and cash out. Of course I now realize that Tony Stark's "superpower" is his intellect.

I absolutely love the whole Justin Hammer thing, as corporations are evil, right? We all say so, yet we all choose to work for the biggest fish possible. On a simpler level, I like to think of companies as evil, hiring villains like Blacklash, Blizzard, and the Beetle to tangle with their competitor's bodyguard (Iron Man). 

THE AVENGERS: STANDOFF (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Avengers Nos. 62-64, Iron Man No. 64 and Thor No. 58 (cover dates February- April, 2003)

Marvel has been reissuing the long out of print Geoff Johns Avengers trade paperbacks as hardcovers. This particular arc was never collected during that initial run. I wish that Marvel's trade paperback program was as comprehensive back then as it is now, as those 5 trades would've made more sense had I read these issues. This is good, solid stuff overall.

Time Bomb #1 (Radical, cover date July, 2010)

Free works! So does steeply discounted introductory priced comics, like those $1.00 comics put out by DC, Dynamite, etc. This title was one of the ones featured in this year's Free Comic Book Day sampler by Radical, where they featured an 8 page preview of several upcoming titles. I likely would have not considered this title blind, but once I got a taste, I was in. I normally don't buy floppies/ single issues, but I went on one of my random guerrilla-style comic store stops, where I go and pick out 3 or 4 comic books (not trades) that I have never read before, just to see what I am missing. The presentation is nice, basically a 'prestige-format' comic. That means that it is glued into a cardstock cover instead of stapled. This title is a tremendous value, with some 50+ pages of story for $4.99 MSRP, much better than 22 or so pages for $3.99 from Marvel or DC.

I won't give anything away, but let's just say that Nazis and time machines are a can't miss scenario. The only thing missing are werewolves. There are two more issues, so let's hope that we see some form of lupine before all is said and done (kidding). I will trade-wait for the rest of the series, but am 100% on board.

NEW MUTANTS CLASSIC VOL. 5 (Marvel, 2010)

Collects New Mutants Nos. 35-40, New Mutants Special Edition and Uncanny X-Men Annual No. 9 (cover dates Annual 1985- June, 1986)

Chris Claremont, in his prime, was a writing force to be reckoned with. Character development? Ongoing subplots? Thought-provoking metaphor? Like Ragu, it's in there. These are such well-written comic books and are sadly overlooked by today's comic book fans. I didn't 'get' this series back when these issues were originally released. It was too far beyond my scope of what I wanted in a comic book at the time. Arthur Adams, the artist on the UXM Annual and the NMSE, is not my cup of tea. I didn't like his artwork back then, and I don't like his old artwork now. His current output is worlds better than this stuff.

This trade paperback also shows how much current X-Men offshoots blow. Read this and then pick any X-title published today... you'll mourn for this once-great franchise the way that I do.

HAUNT VOL. 1 (Image, 2010)

Collects Haunt Nos. 1-5 (cover dates October, 2009- February, 2010)

My friend loaned me the floppy of Issue 1, and I liked it well enough to pick up this trade paperback. While I was sad to see writer/ co-creator Robert Kirkman axe The Astounding Wolf-Man, this is a nice consolation prize. Inker/ co-creator Todd McFarlane is finally back where he belongs: behind the boards! While the day-to-day business of running a comic book company is surely something he must love, the fans just want to see him draw. McFarlane is pretty much the only one of the original Image guys whose work that I enjoy. Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, etc.? No thanks.

While the "hero" of the series, Haunt, reminds me of Spider-Man enemy Carnage in appearance and powers, the premise of this series is different enough for me to give it a fair shake. Super violent and super fun, this is definitely not intended for children. I am on board for Vol. 2, and will come along for the ride as long as the quality is maintained at this level. 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Captain America Reborn Nos. 1-6 and Captain America Reborn Prelude (cover dates September, 2009- March, 2010)

The life of a trade waiter is one without surprises. No matter how hard one tries to avoid spoilers, if you go on any comic site you are bound to get snippets of information. While the bulk of a story arc will be unrevealed, you'll get the gist of key events before the issues are collected in hardcover (or trade paperback). This was very enjoyable in spite of the fact that I sort of knew the outcome going in. The Red Skull still rocks, and I hope to ________ (deity of your choice) that they don't mess him up in the forthcoming Cap movie.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: TWO AMERICAS (Marvel, 2010)

Collects Captain America Nos. 602-605 and Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? (cover dates February- June, 2010)

Ed Brubaker continues to kick out the jams and further cements his run on the title in the upper echelon. How could anyone not like this title? Do they not like comic books? I don't know what else one could ask for. 

Driver For The Dead #1 (Radical, cover date July, 2010)

I picked this up for the same reasons as the aforementioned Time Bomb. This title has the same high quality presentation as Time Bomb, with superb writing by John Heffernan and artwork by Leonardo Manco. The coloring by Jerry Choo and Kinsun Loh has a nice muted appearance that makes every panel look like a painting. I will wait for the trade paperback for the rest of this series but recommend picking this up in whatever format you prefer.

GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS OMNIBUS VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Marvel Comics No. 1 and Marvel Mystery Comics Nos. 2-12 (cover dates October, 1939- October, 1940).

I rarely double dip for the sake of an upgrade, but this was the exception to the rule. The 12 issues that this hardcover comprises were collected in 3 Masterworks hardcovers. Volume 1 had the poorest reproduction ever for a Masterwork, being almost as bad as an IDW G.I. Joe Classic trade. Volume 2 had glued mousetrap binding. So, when they announced this book, I sold my masterworks on eBay and pooled that money into buying this book. Let me tell you, the upgrade was absolutely worth it. The first four issues were remastered from microfiche for the Masterwork. Here, they actually spent a small fortune tracking down the original issues and scanned them to work from for the restoration. The difference is night and day. If the issues from Vol. 2 were remastered or not, I can't say. Possibly. Vol. 3 looked perfect when it came out, so there is no upgrade for issues 9-12. The extras in this book are breathtaking, with so much behind the scenes stuff and essays on the history of these issues. Combine that with the nice paper and sewn binding, and you have every reason to upgrade (or buy it for the first time if you are so inclined).

Issues 1-4 were the first Golden Age comic books that I ever read, only 5-6 years ago. In that time, between the Masterworks and other companies' reprint efforts, I have amassed a sizable collection of books that I previously would have never been able to own or read. Truly, this is an embarrassment of riches. Golden Age stories can either bleed charm or be a chore to read, depending on my mood or how tired I am. I am as interested in the historical significance of these issues as I am the characters.

The characters! Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner is the star of the show, in my opinion. Great stuff, truly groundbreaking. Aquaman was ripped off from ol' Namor. My second favorite character in these issues is Carl Burgos' Human Torch. I like how he was originally an android who caught on fire whenever exposed to oxygen, and then wound up being able to control his flame, and later still became human. I'm not kidding, they sort of just stopped mentioning that he was an artificial man. The Angel, by Paul Gustavson, is highly entertaining. He has Superman's red and blue caped image down pat, and somehow begins flying later on. Continuity sort of exists in these early comic books, but in more of a movie or radio serial format. Details are omitted, things are swept under the rug and forgotten about, and I am sure that no one was any the wiser. Ka-Zar, a holdover from the pulp era and a blatant rip-off of Tarzan of the Apes, is fun. The Masked Raider, your prerequisite Lone Ranger ripoff, is just plain dull at worst, and plain silly at best. I guess that a 10 year old kid crica 1939-1940 would hear stories of the Old West from their grandparents or whatnot, so they were still relevant. To me, cowboys and Native Americans are painfully dull. The other recurring feature in this anthology title is Electro, the Marvel of the Age! This 'Iron-Man', as he is routinely called, is a red, yellow, and green robot controlled by Professor Zog, and an obvious precursor to Iron Man. Good stuff, with faulty science and 'futuristic' technology that seems primitive by today's standards. The rest of the features are largely forgettable.

Since I owned all of these issues in the Masterworks, this was a pure re-reading. I've got to tell you, this stuff can be quite a chore at times the second time around. I picked this book up and put it back down several times. It took me three and a half months to get through the 840-odd pages. The trick is to read no more than 2 or 3 stories in a row, as I believe that this can cause mental retardation in small children and nausea/ headaches in everyone else. Kidding aside, this is fun and charming in its own way and well worth owning.

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?