REVIEW: Spawn, The Dark Ages #1 - 2

Story: Brian Holguin
Art: Liam McCormack-Sharp
Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Oscar Gongora
Review: Art Bee

Brand names. We all have some sort of weakness to a brand name due to superstition, loyalty, etc. Creators and executives use this to their advantage all of the time. One of the best examples is Crystal Pepsi, released while I was in high school. At the time I preferred Pepsi over Coke and thought, “ooooh new Pepsi”. Much to my surprise, this was not soda pop but liquefied, bleached shit in a can. It was horrid! Don’t get me started on New Coke. As much as a diehard fan of Spawn as I am, not all things Spawn are worthy of a read (most are, though).

The artwork in these issues is the best thing about them. Almost all of the panels are good enough to blow up and frame. There are a few panels that stand out and look like they were done by someone else. Much of the art is dark and centered on death, but there are some other types of scenes depicted. Most of my favorites are featured in firelight. Liam possesses a real talent for using color to depict natural firelight, a rare talent indeed. The only reservation I have with the artwork is the lack of flow through these issues. With the turning of each page, the issues feel like an art montage rather than a comic book.              

REVIEW: Chili #1

By Stan Lee & Stan G.
Review: Will Dubbeld

Ah, the swingin' '60s...
I, uh, I have no memory of this decade.
Not because I turned on, tuned in, and dropped out.
It's because I wasn't even a twinkle in Daddy Dubbeld's eye, much less the counterculture icon I am today...

Anyway, the 1960s were arguably the Big Bang for comics. DC was (and still is...) firmly anchored in the '50s, but the Marvel Universe as we know it was birthed in the Swinging Sixties. X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, et cetera, et al, came out of the gate swinging and haven't stopped yet.
Granted, they don't always get on base, but they're at least swinging for the fences.

Amongst all of these monolithic superhero titles, Marvel offered some more subdued choices. I'm not sure if the powers that be were unsure if these hero books were the way of the future-past or what, but they were publishing Westerns, War Comics, and humor funny books alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes and The Strangest Teens of All.
Amongst these was Chili.
Millie's. Red-Headed. Rival.          

REVIEW: Aquaman Time and Tide #1

Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Kirk Jarvinen
Inks: Brad Vancata
Review: Madman

I have never once in my life opened the cover of an Aquaman book…ever. In fact, I think I readily avoided them. So this is my Aquaman “cherry popping” (as they say) party. Let’s face it, and as previously stated, I don’t have a “pot to piss in” when it comes to Aquaman factoids. Going into this voyage, an unknown frontier, everything I know about Aquaman can be summed up in one sentence… He talks to fish. I don’t think I know even a single Aguaman fan. If I do know anyone who is a fan of the Ocean King, they are way back in the closet and not saying a word to anyone…they admit nothing. Or maybe I’m a deaf, dumb, and blind guy that sucks at pinball. Maybe there is a demand for a superhero that talks to fish…
I mean, Marvel has Namor, not that I read any of his books either, but he’s there.

I remember when my buddy, Dustin, and I used to get our action figure on. It usually depended on whose house we were at as to determine exactly what those action figures would be. My house was where we’d fight for freedom where ever there’s trouble, ‘cause G.I. Joe was there. At Dustin’s house it was always He-Man and JLA. And without fail Aquaman was always the last picked…every damn time. In fact, if Aquaman was on your team you pretty much had to loose UNLESS you were battling in the bathtub…
If you were in the bathtub you still had a chance. It was slim, but it was your only hope. That’s just it, he’s lame.          

REVIEW: Deathstroke #20

Writer:  James Bonny
Artist:  Paolo Pantalena
Colorist:  Arif Prianto
Letterer:  Dave Sharpe
Review:  Art Bee

On the last trip to the LCS my daughter looked through the boxes of back issues and chose Deathstroke #20 for me to review. The first thought that came to my brain was, “I know very little about this guy.” Granted, I am just this side of ignorant in the DC world.
Please, no pointing and laughing…

This comic was very surprising from the start, and by the start, I mean the cover. It’s wickedly brilliant and screams action. We see Ra’s Al Ghul standing over Deathstroke, dealing a death stroke. The cover just portrays the contents very well.

The exceptional artistry continues on every page of the book. My favorite is page two with a full spread of Slade Wilson and Ra’s with swords pressed together in combat. The detail on this page and every other is very intricate and detailed. Here on page two, Pantalena had the presence of mind to tell us which blade was made of harder steel by showing it biting into the other sword. Prianto’s colors and shading playfully tease the mind and add so much more to all of the details. These two artists were strategically paired.        

REVIEW: Ghostrider

By Stern, Budiansky, Simone, Albers, Sharen, DeFalco, & Shooter
(That's pretty much how the credits are listed, no first names or indication of who did what.
But c'mon. You know who some of these folks are...)
Review: Will Dubbeld

Ghost Rider is the best carnie ever.
And I mean Johnny Blaze.
I'm a Blaze purist. It took years for me to not hate Danny Ketch simply, because he wasn't Johnny Blaze.
Also, he wasn't as well written a character...
Don't get me started on the kid with the muscle car.
Ghost Rider 2099 was alright I guess...

Aaaaaaanyway, the original and best Ghost Rider had an amazing run of supernatural hero/horror stories in the early '70s through the early '80s. I'm sure you're all familiar with the tragedy of Johnny Blaze and his Faustian pact with Mephisto.
No?
Well, it's pretty much that. Johnny makes a deal with the devil and is bound to a hellish spirit called Zarathos.
Zarathos is pissed off pretty much all the time, detests humanity, and tear-asses around on a motorcycle made from hellfire.
And he's a skeleton with a fiery head.
He's pretty much the most rad character ever.