REVIEW: What If…? Vol 2, #9

“What if the X-Men died on their first mission?”

Writer: Roy Tomas
Pencils: Rich Buckler
Inks: Sam Delarosa
Colorist: Evelyn Stein
Review: Madman

Man, I do love me some Volume One What If..? comics, but Volume 2 and beyond are always hit-n-miss. This issue was particularly miss on all fronts. It was a struggle just to actually finish reading the damn thing. I literally nodded off at least twice, somewhere between the Konami Ninja Turtle game ad and the Clearasil DoubleClear pad ad, and that’s a true story.

Granted there could be a couple other factors in play such as the minimal amount of sleep I’ve gotten in the last week, the fact that my wife and dog are both contagiously snoring away on the couch next to me, or the fact that my fish tank needs some water added, since it’s making this sort of babbling brook kind of white noise in the background… Or it could just be the fact that this comic was about as exciting as visiting grandma at the nursing home on a Friday night.
Just kidding; I don’t visit my Grandma, let alone on a Friday night.     

REVIEW: Spawn #50

Story: Todd McFarlane
Pencils: Greg Capullo (part 2) & Todd McFarlane (part 1)
Inks: Todd McFarlane & Danny Miki
Colors: Brian Haberlin, Dan Kemp, and Todd Broeker
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Review: Art Bee

Recently the realization of my negligence in unintentionally avoiding reviewing an issue of The Darkness has driven me to the irresistible urge to review an old issue of Spawn. This series has graced comic shelves since 1991 and my eyes have been along for most of the ride.

Spawn #50 is one of my favorites in the series mostly for the cover, which is fantastic. The border around the art elevates the cover to another level. At first glance the border looks fancy, but if you look directly at it, you will find the Spawn emblem and the number 50 repeating over and over. The subtlety of it is what enthralls me. Aside from the border, the cover contains my absolute favorite depiction of Spawn to date.

Another reason for my love of this issue is that we get a double dose of Spawn in the double size issue.
Double the pleasure, double the taste, double mint…wait, that is a gum thing. Oops!     

REVIEW: Daredevil #125

Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artists: Bob Brown & Klaus Janson
Colorist: Klaus Janson
Letterer: John Costanza
Review: Art Bee

My last visit to my LCS allowed me to dig up this little treasure out of a back issue box, and I must be very frank with you all as I say this: it was well worth the purchase. Daredevil has really never been a favorite of mine, but the story is familiar to me. Daredevil #125 is packed with amazement from cover to cover.

This issue is the culmination of the previous one in which a new villain, a self-proclaimed hero named Copperhead, has begun a murder spree targeting criminals all over Manhattan. The book begins with Daredevil laying supine on the ground having been shot with a deadly dart from Copperhead’s gun. It is revealed Daredevil is playing possum in order to tail this deadly new lisping villain…hero…crazy guy in a suit of copper armor.

The story is completely gripping even without having read the previous issue. That is one of my favorite qualities of Marvel during this era; they cared about the story. If they care, we can’t help but follow suit. When a person can pick up a random issue in a series and enjoy it without having read any other issues, a quality product exists.
Once I started reading this issue, the world around me figuratively fell away and nothing else seemed to exist. Each page built excitement for the next, and I didn’t feel pulled along or force fed.   

REVIEW: Marvel Team-Up Staring Spider-Man and the X-Men Vol 1 #150

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciller: Greg LaRocque
Inker: Mike Esposito
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Review: Madman

When I was younger I was big into the Marvel Team-Up books. During the 90’s I remember gobbling up whatever volume it was and always was super excited to see the Team-Ups in my folder each month. I mean, back then I didn’t judge the comics I read on quality, I legitimately thought they were all awesome, especially if Spider-Man was involved.  I would’ve stood on a soapbox and professed with utmost convection that "Maximum Carnage" was the best arc to ever grace the pages of a comic book simply because of the quantity of heroes and villains crammed into every issue. Nowadays I know better, or at least I think I do. I am still a Marvel Zombie and tend to snatch up just about every gimmicky dumbass book they publish, at least for one issue. Within the last year I have passed on more Marvel books then have been purchased. The wheels have all but fallen off recently, with all the reboots, mega-events, and what-have-yous. I suppose in my stingier cynical middle-agedness I don’t care how many heroes they can fit between the covers.
 If the quality isn’t there I don’t see the point.   

REVIEW: Doorway to Nightmare #2

Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Vicente Alcazar
Review: The Notorious Ghostwriter

Pre-Crisis, Post-Silver Age DC books are some of the best the company had to offer. Honestly, most of the comics DC put on shelves from 1970 to about 1991-92 were pretty great.
In any case, I’ve quite the soft spot for these older DC comics. As was common for many companies in the ‘70s and ‘80s, DC was graduating away from the, “gee whiz!”, sensibilities of the Silver Age. Untested writing voices led to more mature storylines and shaped comics into an adult genre as well as one for children.
....and by mature storylines I’m not necessarily referring to Dark Knight or Watchmen-levels of maturity. Rather, the scripts had been elevated, generally speaking, to a more serious level.
Perhaps it was the sobering attitude of the post-Vietnam era.

In addition to the elevation of superhero comics, horror books saw quite the resurgence in the Bronze Age. Tomb of Dracula, House of Secrets, Werewolf by Night, and (amongst many others) Doorway to Nightmare all came prowling onto the scene.
I’d never read Doorway to Nightmare before, due to lack of exposure. DC had dozens, it seems, of horror comics, some long-lived and some destined to be canceled. Having stumbled upon a lone issue residing in a back issue longbox prompted me to open the Door.