Review- FCBD Offerings Part 2

And Then Emily Was Gone #0: FCBD Special (Comix Tribe, cover date, 2015)

I went to 8 stores on Free Comic Book Day this year so that I could get as many different comics as possible. I was pleasantly surprised by And Then Emily Was Gone, as it has a weird overall tone, both in writing and artwork. The Oxymoron back-up story was also very enjoyable. Who knows, maybe I will pick up one of their books after all.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

2000 AD Free Comic Book Day Prog 2015 (2000 AD, cover date 2015)

A smorgasboard of past, present, and future 2000 AD properties, the one that stood out for me was Judge Dredd. Nothing else really grabbed me but everything was certainly readable. I was pleased to see the announcement that there will be a second Daily Dredds hardcover collecting more of the UK Judge Dredd strip.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

Free Comic Book Day: The Phantom (Hermes Press, cover date 2015)

Predating Superman and every other masked hero that you know of, “The Ghost That Who Walks” is one of those characters that I was interested in but not enough to buy a hardcover of blind. Enter this sampler from Hermes Press, reprinting several short stories from the middle era (1960s-1970s) of the character, including a story with artwork by the godlike Jim Aparo. I will try to resist hunting down this line of books, as several are out of print and expensive.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Terrible Lizard #1: Free Comic Book Day Edition (Oni Press, cover date May, 2015)

Huh. Well how about that? Cullen Bunn isn't the first name that springs to mind when thinking of light-hearted, fun, all-ages comics, but I'll be darned if this isn't a slick comic that I am not afraid to share with my kids. It's a story about a 14 year old girl whose father does some dimensional breach bit and brings back a dinosaur of some kind who bonds/imprints with the girl. Good stuff.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Jurassic Strike Force 5 Free Comic Book Day One-Shot (Silver Dragon/ Zenescope, cover date May, 2015)

Hot on the heels of Terrible Lizard comes this offering from Zenescope's non-cheesecake all-ages imprint, Silver Dragon. This is a hybrid of a number of different concepts that isn't anything particularly fresh, nor is it particularly bad. It's readable enough although I don't think that I would pay for it. My 8 year old son enjoyed it quite a bit.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

Tales Of Honor Volume Two #0 (Top Cow/ Image, cover date May, 2015)

I can take or leave outer space stuff that isn't Star Wars or Star Trek, and Tales Of Honor is no different. While it's a solid and polished concept with decent artwork I don't care enough to spend any money on it.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Reviews- Free Comic Book Day offerings, Episode II

Free Comic Book Day offerings, Episode II

Free Comic Book Day 2014: Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 (Marvel, cover date May, 2014)

Bendis. Always Bendis. My 7 year old son was reading this but my wife confiscated it due to two swear words. I know, what am I doing letting my 7 year old read a comic book, right? These are sophisticated and for adults, man. And this is why the fanbase is shrinking and why endless reboots and gimmicks are the only thing propping this industry up on stilts. The fact that Bendis and Marvel slam anyone who speaks out about making their titles enjoyable to all ages further demonstrates why they don't get it. Childless adults join in the chorus of bashing anyone who speak out against this practice.

See, I am not pro-censorship; quite the opposite, but when you are aiming your property at children, and you are since you are slamming toys and tie-ins at them, then you have a certain responsibility to make that media accessible to and appropriate for them. If there are no new readers then they won't be old readers some day, Einstein. And what Brian Michael Bendis, Tom Brevoort, Joe Quesada and the rest of the clowns at Marvel don't get is that if parents won't let their kids read comics then those readers are lost. Lambast away, Brevoort, but the parents have the money, and if they decide that curse words in mainstream superhero comics are inappropriate then guess what? You lose, not them. There are plenty of other things vying for those dollars. I'm not going to be around forever...and when it comes to Bendis, I won't be around at all. My son enjoyed it, and that's the real shame, because I would have had no problem buying him this comic every month. Thanks to the reason listed above, my wife has seen to it that that ship has sailed.

I thought that the story was weak but did enjoy the artwork. There are two back-up features in this comic: The Thanos preview from the forthcoming graphic novel which might be interesting, and the Spider-Man preview for the Spider-Verse crossover, which looks craptastic.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 1.5 out of 5.

Rise Of The Magi #0 (Top Cow/Image, cover date May, 2014)

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzZzzzz.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 0.5 out of 5.

All You Need Is Kill/ Terra Formars split book (Haika Soru/ Viz Media, cover date May, 2014)

Viz Media is a Manga company, and since I am not big on Manga this didn't do much for me. For what it's worth, I liked Terra Formars more than I did All You Need Is Kill.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 1.75 out of 5.

Entropy FCBD (Epicenter Comics, cover date 2014)

This has a 22 page preview of the forthcoming Entropy series as well as two back up stories, Vegetable and Crosses. I found the back-up stories more entertaining than the main event.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.25 out of 5.

Bleeding Cool Magazine Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Avatar Press, cover date May, 2014)

I like magazines. I still subscribe to several even in this digital age, believe it or not. I spend too much time on gadgets and it is nice to break away from screens. Plus, I have an aversion to reading electronic gadgets on the toilet.

I do not rate magazines.

Free Comic Book Day: Project Black Sky (Dark Horse, cover date May, 2014)

Take one long defunct Golden Age hero (Captain Midnight), add one obscure yet fondly remembered by a handful of Silver Age fans character (Brain Boy) and you get Project Black Sky. It's a solid enough read, but there is no way on Earth that I am buying this. If someone wants to give me a copy I will review it, though.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Reviews: Top Cow First Look Vol. 1; The Waste Land; Captain America- The First Avenger

TOP COW FIRST LOOK VOL. 1 (Top Cow/ Image, July 2010; Softcover)

Collects Black Vault No. 1, Echoes No. 1, Genius No. 1, Last Mortal No. 1, Mysterious Ways No. 1 and Sunset No. 1

This is one of those $4.99 sampler trade paperbacks that I am such a sucker for. The main difference between this and the Vertigo samplers is that these were all as-yet-unreleased new titles. This is a great idea, as it sucked me in to two of the series for sure when the inevitable collected editions surface. Sunset by Christos Gage (writer), Jorge Lucas (artist) and Felix Serrano (colorist) is really good. It's the tried (or is it tired?) and true scenario of the old guard rising up for one last gasp, and I'm hooked. Echoes promises to be one fucked up read, and I can't wait to read more of it. Genius seems interesting but I won't be going any farther along. This book offers a tremendous entertainment value for a measly $5.00.

THE WASTE LAND (Perennial Library, 1990; Softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

I got this cheap in the graphic novel section of a local used book store, and let me tell you, it was still overpriced. For some strange reason the interior black and white artwork looked decent when I flipped through it in the bookstore. Art can be clever or it can be smart. When it is clever, it is creative and intelligent in a way that can speak to everybody, but intelligent folks can get a little more out of it. When it's smart, it usually when the writer or artist tries too hard to impress folks with his/her knowledge on a subject. The latter is always a chore to experience, and never enjoyable. The Waste Land is the latter.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Score another home run for Marvel Studios. While filled with continuity errors when compared to the source material, this worked extremely well as a movie. I had doubts when they cast Cap at first. The dude who played the Human Torch in those mediocre Fantastic Four movies? Really? It turns out he was believable as ol' Cap. That Agent Smith guy was superb as the Red Skull. I only wish that the Nazis sounded more German, like in the Golden Age Captain America Comics. They talk with lots of Vills and Unds, and I like my Nazis to talk like that. This flick was great overall. Action sequences, CGI, the Easter eggs...everything was wonderful. This has been a great year for the Marvel movies, and The Avengers looks awesome. Oh, and stay until after the credits.