REVIEW: Superior Spider-Man #22-25: "Darkest Hours"

Writers: Dan Slott & Christos Gage

Pencils: Humberto Ramos

Inks: Victor Olazaba

Color: Edgar Delgado

Letters: Chris Eliopoulos

Review: Art Bee

The time has come to start looking back at some more recent back issues and, at this time, we are delving into part of the climactic Superior Spider-Man series that ended. Though I have never been as strong a Spidey fan as Madman (or for as long), my appreciation for the web-slinger has always been a part of me. Most of our culture is familiar (but often misquoted) with the mantra of,  “…with great power there must also come – great responsibility!” 

The feature of Doc Ock as Peter Parker/Spider-Man really tickled my antihero pleasure center and I had to jump on this series. 

From the start, we find Spider-Man’s mantra is so powerful that the memory has the potential to steer the will of Otto Octavious to a life of good…albeit skewed to that thin line between good and evil. 

Throughout the series we find Doc Ock modifying Peter’s life to suit himself, such as getting his doctorate and setting up a lab and army of minions. Many people start noticing changes in Peter Parker.

REVIEW: Fantastic Four #251

Story & Art: John Byrne

Lettering: Jim Novak

Coloring: Glynis Wein

Review: Will Dubbeld

Although I’ve an endearing love and respect for the Fantastic Four, I’m not very well-read on most of their publications.  The only back issues of any age in my collection growing up were the "Trial of Reed Richards" and the issue where they return from Secret Wars Battleworld with She-Hulk instead of Thing.

Other than that, I had the annual from The Korvac Quest and didn’t buy any FF until Dr. Doom flayed his girlfriend and turned her skin into hell-armor.

Which was pretty rad...

I’m sure I owned a few more scattered issues here and there, but horrible 1990s imagery and writing were effective deterrents against further purchases.

Sue’s boob-window uniform, for example, and Thing wearing a bucket on his head.

Just dumb.

REVIEW: The House of Secrets #127

Credits: See below
Review: Art Bee

Horror has been a genre close to my heart since I was about 11–years old and watched the original Amityville Horror. Though I don’t get terrorized by such things anymore, my appreciation of the feeling is still well into the high side of, “loving it.” When I was older my fascination for “witty horror” (my own label) skyrocketed with the HBO series, Tales from the Crypt.

For those not familiar, these types of stories have a short plot followed by a witty punchline from the narrator.

What’s funny is talking about it makes it sound a little dumb, but assuredly it is not.

DC’s The House of Secrets #127 has three such short stories in it. Each has a tragic end for the main character of the story worthy of each, as they all have less than desirable personality traits.
Enough jabbering! On with the…review.

REVIEW: Dazzler #1

Writer: Tom DeFalco

Penciler: John Romita, Jr.

Inker: Alfredo Alcala

Colorist: Glynis Wein

Letterer: Joe Rosen

Dazzler seems to be a pretty divisive character in that folks are either dedicated fans or think she’s dumb as hell.

Granted, the disco angle doesn’t do her any favors...

In any case, I find myself a member of the Dazzler fan club for two reasons:

Australia and Marvel Action Universe.

My first solid introduction to the X-Men was, to my recollection, the Outback era featuring a team of presumed-dead outlaw Muties. Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Havok, and a few others maintained a secret Australian base and traveled via teleporting Aborigine.

It was pretty amazing, and Dazzler counted herself amongst those scrappy survivors.

Marvel Action Universe, on the other hand, was a Saturday morning programming block featuring oddball cartoons like Dino-Riders and RoboCop.

Of all goddamn things, yes, there was a kid-friendly animated adaptation of one of the most violent R-rated flicks out there.

One day, one beautiful day, there was an honest-to-god X-Men cartoon on the Marvel Action Universe.

Pryde of the X-Men.

REVIEW: The Tenth #1

Creator & Artist: Tony Daniel

Developer & Writer: Beau Smith

Inker: Kevin Conrad

Colors: Paul Mounts & Bongotone

Cover: Tony Daniel & Marlo Alquiza

Review: Art Bee

Please forgive us at The HCB; we have all had life issues that seemed to coincide and the best option was to take a bit of a vacation from writing reviews. Thank you all for your patience! You are all Rock Stars and we love ya!

Trying to figure out what to review from my boxes of comics was a bit hard, but The Tenth #1 jumped out at me. Thinking I had already reviewed it or another of the series, I searched the sites and found that I hadn’t. I then began kicking myself in the ass for not doing so before now. This series has a special place in my heart and I wish more had been done with the storyline and/or characters.

Warning! I will be spoiling this issue but the way the comic is done it won’t change your enjoyment. I have read this several times and each time the issue excites me.

Besides, some of the sweet details I will leave for you to discover.

The issue opens up with the escape of The Tenth from a secret facility of Darkklon Corp., which is owned, run, and founded by a creepy man, Rhazes Darkk.

The Tenth is the tenth experimental creature created by Darkk in efforts to transform the world into his twisted, unrealized utopia.

REVIEW: The Darkness #1/2

Credits: see below...

Review: Will Dubbeld

I was all in for the Image first wave, or at least most of it. It’s difficult to articulate how big a deal the schism, the coup, was when McFarlane and co. broke ranks with Marvel. These were the artists helming Spider-Man, the X-Men...

JIM LEE, FOR CHRISSAKES!!!

Needless to say, I eagerly swallowed my dosage of Spawn, Youngblood, Savage Dragon, and  WildC.A.T.s.

For one or two issues.

I rapidly discovered the talent behind the Image founders lay not in the writing as much as the art.

By a landslide.

With a heavy heart I largely abandoned Image due to some frankly bad plotting and scripts as many were flagship representations of what I grew to despise about ‘90s comicdom.

I’ve softened my stance a bit since then and will pick up the odd run of classic (“classic...”) Image books when the spirit moves.

Which brings us to The Darkness...

My main man and fellow HCB alum, Art Bee, is quite the Darkness aficionado and his enthusiasm prompted me to largely clean out the dollar box at my LCS of said title. Hopefully, I thought, there’s some gems to be gleaned from the stack of back issues. I’ve largely been a fan of Silvestri in the past so I optimistically dove in, starting with The Darkness 1/2.

REVIEW: Lilith Dark #1 – 4

By Charles C. Dowd

Review by Art Bee

Alterna Comics is a comic book company that has been blossoming in the pleasure center of my brain for a little while. The comic book Doppleganger first introduced me to this company and they seem to have a sinister strategy:  sell high quality stories on newspaper printed comic books and sell them at a buck fifty. To me that is a winning plan, and I am greatly appreciative of it.

Through this company, Dowd has presented us with a cute story about a girl, Lilith Dark, who has a very vivid imagination. Lilith entitles herself as Defender of the Innocent, Slayer of Beasties and is accompanied by her friend Dinozillus, a stuffed T-rex.

This character has been easy to like for her heart is akin to my own. She states it plainly:  her priorities are, “toys, candy, comic books, swords, and cupcake Tuesdays.”
Who can argue with those?

The story starts out with Lilith missing the bus to school while chasing a kitten into an underground labyrinth beneath a hollow, dead tree. There the real adventure begins.

In the second issue, Lilith’s two siblings, Becky and Dewey, end up following her into the dark maze as well. These two characters add much to the story as they are designed to enhance Lilith and her story. It was comical to see Becky stand before her own clothes closet, which is massive and filled to bulging, and claim she has absolutely nothing to wear.

What I like about this story the most is how it flows well from beginning to end. The pace does not waver much at all, and this is also something I don’t like about it. It’s nice to have a varying plot pace to keep things interesting.

The Lilith Dark mini-series uses clear plot points in addition to precise artwork to tell the story, which clearly makes this readable and enjoyable for all ages about 7 up (depending on reading ability). It is clear this comic line is aimed at a younger audience but, being 40 years old, it has been rather enjoyable for me to read. This just shows the quality of the writing and the expertise of the wordsmith.

My feeling about Lilith’s age is she’s about six or seven based on clues in the story, since I didn’t see evidence of anything to the contrary. I mention this because, at various times, this felt like events were happening in Lilith’s imagination. By the end this was not revealed, and all events in the story came to resolution with each of the characters.

Dowd has created a precise, albeit simple, style of artwork in this comic series. It is my belief that he is capable of more detailed artwork due to the accuracy and perfection that are present. It looks like he deliberately kept his work simple to appeal to a younger audience. In retrospect, if you are aiming at simple, make that work perfect. Dowd does just that.

I ordered all four of these issues directly from Alterna Comics for $6 plus shipping, which is a good price for four issues. Also there are package deals on the site for additional savings.

Their link is included in this review. Check them out and see what you may like. Their stories have a varied genre, so there is something for everyone. Lilith Dark was a refreshing read for me. Lately I have been a little burnt out on reading comic books, and this story was well timed to reset my interest. This was due mostly to the story’s D&D-dungeon feel.
Thanks Mr. Dowd and Alterna.

REVIEW: The West Coast Avengers #33

“Tales to Astonish, pt. 1: The Man in the Ant Hill!”

Story: Steve Englehart
Layouts: Al Milgrom
Finishes: Mike Machlan
Letters: Bill Oakley
Colors: Paul Becton
Review: Will Dubbeld 

...because who doesn’t want to see Wonder Man beat up intelligent gorillas?
Don’t answer.
EVERYONE wants to see that. 
TWCA #33 grants that wish and so much more...

In the early days, the East Coast/West Coast feud ran deep in the Avengers camp, and I threw my lot in with the West side. I picked up most of the Pacific Overlords arc one summer and fell unapologetically in love with the WCA team, even USAgent! Even Living Lightning!

Despite counting several Founding Avengers amongst the roster, The West Coast Avengers were almost by design a B-team. For every Iron Man and Dr. Pym on the team you also had the likes of Moon Knight and Tigra, sure to elicit groans from certain elitist reader circles.
Not this guy. I love those characters.
I think I loved everything about the WCA roster until it got screwed sideways and turned into Force Works...
But that’s another gripe altogether.

This issue kicks off with the confirmation hearing of the aforementioned Moon Knight. He OF COURSE is granted membership because what superhero team doesn’t want a schizophrenic, Egyptian-themed Batman whose powers wax and wane with the phases of the moon?
Seems like a no brainer...

REVIEW: Secret Origins #5

Writers: Roy & Dann Thomas
Penciller: Gene Colan
Inker: Mike Gustovich
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: David Cody Weiss
Review: Will Dubbeld

The more things change...

Pulp, as you all know, is a favored genre of mine.
From The Spider to Burroughsian science fiction, Howard’s barbarian to Indiana Jones, Pulp heroes, villains, tropes, and even stereotypes run rampant through my imagination.

Comic books and Pulps share several strands of DNA, and unsurprisingly, many early comics were essentially Pulps in a different format.
Therein lies the Crimson Avenger.

Birthed in between The Shadow and Batman, DCs Crimson Avenger is your archetypal Pulp vigilante, complete with domino mask and an Asian chauffeur.
Despite holding the honor of DCs premier masked vigilante, the Crimson Avenger is heavily steeped in stereotypical story beats.
To be fair, he’s essentially the Green Hornet with a dash of The Shadow.

REVIEW: Daredevil #298

“Last Rites pt.2” a.k.a. “The fall of the Kingpin”
Writer: D. G. Chichester
Pencils: Lee Weeks
Inks: Al Williamson
Colors: Max Scheele
Letters: M. Hands
Review: Art Bee

Not long ago I stated my kid picked out an old comic to review and, since she has a good eye for it, it only makes sense to keep letting her do that. This time around she picked out Daredevil #298. It would have been nice to get the first issue of  “Last Rites”. This story arc is one of the most popular in the Daredevil series and was later referred to as, “The Fall of the Kingpin”.
After reading this issue it is clear why it is so popular. This issue is jam packed with suspense.

At the start of this issue we are reminded Matt Murdock is being disbarred. While he is going over the information he and Foggy put together to fight the disbarring, a pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents attack him. He tries to fight them off and they shoot him with some kind of green goo that expands and completely restrains Murdock.
When Daredevil is released, he is looking at Nick Fury, the cigar-smoking white version. He asks Daredevil to back off of Kingpin because Fury is working a plan to infiltrate Kingpin’s organization to figure out what other groups with which he is working. Fury lets Murdock know that Spider-Man and Punisher has already agreed to withdraw from engaging the Kingpin.   

REVIEW: The Return of Lum * Urusei Yatsura #3

Story and Art by Rumiko Takahashi
Translation/ Gerard Jones & Mari Morimoto
Touch-Up Art & Lettering/ Wayne Truman
Review: Will Dubbeld

Welp, I got got by 4-for-a-dollar manga.
No lie; 25 cents a pop.
I’m not a full-blown fanboy otaku/weaboo/Japanophile, but there’s plenty to like about Japanese culture and media. Godzilla, for example...
Iron King, Battle Royale, and Matango! (Attack of the Mushroom People) are all fine bits of film.
And samurai! There’s plenty to enjoy about kabuto helmets!

I’m admittedly more familiar with Japanese cinema than comics. Outlanders was probably my introduction to what I can safely consider manga, and it certainly was enough to pique the interest of a 10-yr old me. Fantastically detailed art and world building peppered with an acceptable amount of gore and nudity sealed the deal.

I’ve acquired a modest collection since, but nothing adequate to slake the thirst for collecting. Akira, Samurai Executioner, Lone Wolf & Cub, and a few that are Absolutely Not For Children!, have made their way into my archives, but there’s always room for more.
Especially at 4/1 dollar... 

REVIEW: Secrets of Haunted House #1

Cover Artist: Mike Kaluta

“Beware of 13”
Story: Carl Wessler
Art: Tenny Henson
Colors: Jerry Serpe

“An Ice-Cold Corpse”
Story: Al Case
Art: Lee Elias

“Water, Water Every Fear”
Story: Tom Defalco
Art: J. Jodloman
Review: Madman

Horror has always been a thing for me, no matter in what medium it is presented. I guess I would give all the credit to my sister, who was 13 years older than me to the exact day.
She was also fascinated by the horror genre and introduced me to Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kurger, the Crypt Keeper, Michael Myers, and on and on. She also enjoyed scaring the crap out of me when I was too young to know better…
Back when I still believed monsters lived under my bed, alligators would come up through the toilet and bite my ass while I shat if I didn’t periodically check, and demons would get me if I didn’t run up the stairs fast enough after I turned out the lights.

But nothing, and I mean nothing, scared me more than watching Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk on the old television program. My sister would wait until the climax of the theme music just before Banner changed, and then she would start screaming, “Dogs and llamas! Dogs and llamas! Dogs and llamas!”.

REVIEW: Captain America Theater of War: Operation Zero-Point

Writers: Charles & Daniel Knauf
Artist: Mitch Breitweiser
Colorist: Elizabeth Breitweiser
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Review: Will Dubbeld

C’mon.
Like I wasn’t gonna review Captain America for Independence Day...

And not just any Captain America.
This one-shot takes place in 1944, long before the Star-Spangled Avenger joined the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
All eras featuring Cap’s adventures are dear to me, but I’ve a special attachment to his WWII stories.
It’s due to my grandfather having served in WWII mixed with a healthy love of seeing Nazis getting their shit kicked in.
Because fuck Nazis.
Which is incredibly odd to still be a thing in the year of our lord, two thousand and eighteen, but here we are.

In any case, the Knaufs hit the mark here. Cap runs a solo mission behind enemy lines, takes a ride on a bomber complete with nose art, and fights a giant Nazi with a mechanical eye.
The mission objective involves rescuing a scientist responsible for inventing Nazi flying saucers.
That’s right, Foo Fighters. More accurately, “Feu Fighters”, as I understand.
Anyway, Captain America versus death ray-shooting UFOs, folks. 

REVIEW: Avengers #322

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Paul Ryan
Inks: Christopher Ivy
Colors: Renee Witterstaetter
Letters: Jack Morelli
Review: Art Bee

Some weeks ago, Avengers #322 caught my eye from a back issue box at my LCS. The cover screams for an action packed issue and it delivers. This issue is part four of The Crossing Line story arc and is subtitled, “Bombs Away!”
The truth behind Avengers #322 is there’s a lot going on in this issue, but the creative team does and incredible job of keeping the reader on the proper path with little confusion.
Why would I say this?
The answer is simple: this issue has three super hero teams working together; the Avengers, Alpha Flight, and The People’s Protectorate.

The story opens with these three teams delivering a coordinated attack on the Atlantians, who have commandeered a submarine loaded with nuclear weapons with the intent of starting a World War. I wish I knew more of the back story from the first three parts, but there seems to be some big reveals in this issue. Something I don’t like, and don’t somewhat understand, is who is spearheading the leadership of the three groups to coordinate the attack.
Capt. America seems to be the leader in a small capacity but does not show it much.
The goal of the team up is to shut down the launch sequence that has been started with about four hours at the start. I bet you can already guess this is going to come down to the wire, otherwise there would be no drama.

REVIEW: Elric #3

Script: Roy Thomas
Layouts/inks/colors: P. Craig Russell
Pencils/colors: Michael T. Gilbert
Lettering: Tom Orzechowski
Review: Will Dubbeld
 

Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné was always, in my opinion, a bit of an unsung hero in the sword-and-sorcery genre. He has a large fan base to be certain, but hasn’t the widespread attention of his peers.

Falling somewhere in between the trope-laden swashbuckling of Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser and the visceral paganism of Conan, Elric tells the tale of the decadent, crumbling island civilization of Melniboné and its emperor. A sickly, albino sorcerer king who is both puppet master and pawn to the lords of Chaos and Law, Elric seems like a 1960s counterculture answer to the Pulp fantasy heroes of yore.
Reliant on drugs to maintain his vitality and betrothed to his cousin, Cymoril, to boot...

Issue 3 finds Elric and his rat-bastard cousin, Yyrkoon, at the head of a flotilla returning victorious to the homeland after repulsing an invasion force.
Enfeebled from battle, Elric is helpless without his drugs and Yyrkoon tosses his sickly, albino ass overboard.
Confident Elric will drown, Yyrkoon crowns himself emperor and sails home, eying the Ruby Throne and with designs on fair Cymoril.
Cymoril, his sister...
G.R.R. Martin didn’t start the trend, folks, he just slipped it into the mainstream.

REVIEW: What If…? Vol 1, #24

“What if Spider-Man had rescued Gwen Stacy”
Writer: Tony Isabella
Artists: Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia
Colorist: Gafford
Review: Madman

Every Marvel fan knows the infamous happenings of Amazing Spider-Man #121-122. Of course I’m referring to the battle between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man atop the George Washington Bridge that lead to the death of Gwen Stacy.

The Green Goblin, aka Norman Osborn, had discovered Peter was Spider-Man and had kidnapped Gwen, the love of Peter’s life, in order to hurt him. During the faceoff Osborn knocked Gwen off the top of the bridge and Parker webs her, saving her from falling to her death, but in doing so inadvertently snaps her neck. Everyone that knows anything about Spider-Man knows this, but I figured I’d catch up the DC fans...
This event is arguably the largest influence (next to Uncle Ben’s death) that shaped Peter Parker into the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man we know and love today.

In this issue of What If…? that infamous battle still happens but with a different outcome.

REVIEW: Barb Wire #1

Creator: Chris Warner
Script: John Arcudi
Pencils: Lee Moder
Inks: Ande Parks
Colors: Pam Rambo
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Review: Art Bee

Recently at my LCS, Comics Cubed in Kokomo, Indiana, the shop owner overheard me direct my offspring to the back issue boxes to find a book for review.
He said, “you can have this one to review.” Instantly my ears were piqued at the word, “free”, but when my eyes rested on the title my hope sank.

My only experience with Barb Wire featured a barely-clothed Pam Anderson. Granted my main interest in the movie was Pam Anderson, but that interest fizzled out 30 minutes in and lead to my flight from it five minutes later.
Imagine my plummeting excitement with this floppy book.

The cover is very appealing and exciting. The foil title is eye-catching and still a sought after cover attribute more than 20 years later. Most of the color is done in neutral colors to allow Barb Wire’s blonde hair and red outfit stand out along with the red motorcycle and blue steel pistol.
All of these things are exciting by themselves, but the contrast the artist uses makes them doubly so. 
The bombshell on the cover is saying, “Don’t call me BABE!”, with her pistol pointed at the narrator, but the cue doesn’t stand out above the title, “Steel Harbor’s Babe on Wheels”. I really like this because it says so much about the character. It is very possible to know her from just this cover. 

REVIEW: The New Mutants Annual #7

“The Kings of Pain Part 1”
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Guang Yap
Inker: Dan Panosian
Colorist: Brad Vancata
Letterer: Joe Rosen

“The First Cut (The Killing Stroke Part 1)”
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Kirk Jarvinin
Inker: Joe Rubinstein
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Letterer: Joe Rosen

“Close Encounters of the Mutant Kind”
Writer: Judy Bogdanove
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Hilary Barta
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Letterer: Joe Rosen

Review: Art Bee

Recently my daughter requested to pick out the next comic to review from the back issue boxes at my LCS. When she does this it is quite the mystery as to what will be grabbed. This time The New Mutants Annual #7 made the draft, bringing a look of bewilderment to my face as I know very little about the group. This is strange to say since I have been an X-Men fan for a long time and the groups are closely tied together.

Considering the issue was 64 pages long, I knew this would be a chore to read and review, but what I didn’t know was this issue would be difficult as well. 

This annual had three stories within. The first and main one was the kickoff for an arc called, “The Kings of Pain”, which took up the majority of the issue.
A few of the characters were known to me, but most of them were unfamiliar.
Cable was the leader, and who doesn’t like Cable?
Your answer had better be, “nobody”.   

REVIEW: Mephesto Vs. The Fantastic Four

Writer: Al Milgrom
Penciler: John Buscema
Inks: Bob Wiacek
Color: George Roussos
Review: Cody, the Miller’s Son

First off, I have to say: what an amazing cover.
Just looking at it makes my brain beg for the sweet, sweet innards of this funnybook... Well, that and the fact I haven't read a Fantastic Four comic in forever...thanks Marvel!
On that note I'm pretty sure, at least as far as I can remember, One More Day was the last thing I have read involving the Big Red Baddie....so, yeah, I think I'm overdue.

This here issue is the first book of a four issue limited series, but it's a little confusing as to whether or not the Fantastic Four are in the next installment. The lead in to the second issue simply says, "Next issue Mephesto confronts X Factor in: Sympathy for the Devil.”
 I don't know what the hell is going on, but I guarantee I'm going to track down the other three issues and find out. The reason I'm hung up about it is one of the FF members is still trapped in Hell or whatever Marvel calls Mephisto's realm...so how does said member get rescued?
Maybe she doesn't; maybe this is just a farcical yarn in which the bad guy wins just for the sake of the bad guy winning?   

REVIEW: Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga #0

Created by: Jack Kirby
Developed & written by: Roy Thomas
Penciled & inked by: Walter Simonson
Lettered by: John Workman
Colored by: Gregory Wright
Reviewed by: Will Dubbeld

Ah, Topps Comics. Not content with flooding the ‘90s with sports cards, the collectibles giant took a crack at the comicbook market in 1993.
Because of course they did. It was the 1990s and every-damn-one started a pop-up publishing arm in the hopes of becoming the next Image.
Consisting largely of licensed properties and movie/t.v. adaptations, Topps Comics churned out a deluge of middling books during the speculator heyday. Unfortunately, all the issues of Xena in the world couldn’t save Topps, and the division folded in 1998.

Early on, however, Topps joined up with Jack Kirby.
Kind of...

Kirby had decades worth of sketches, character concepts, unrealized stories, and preliminary ideas in his portfolio and worked out a licensing agreement with Topps Comics. Topps got a bucketful of Kirby material to develop into comics, and Jack (hopefully) got a big, fat paycheck. He even contributed some art and script, though not as much as I’d’ve liked.
Christened ‘The Kirbyverse’, a handful of titles blazed into the scene and were launched with Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga #0.   

REVIEW: Marvel Feature Presents, “The Astonishing Ant-Man”, Vol 1 #4

Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Letterer: John Costanza
Review: Madman

I’m not going to lie here; before Ant-Man hit the MCU I never really gave him much thought. I suppose I was way too interested in more exciting heroes with way cooler superpowers. At least that’s what I thought then. I know better now and my understanding and tastes have obviously matured.

I’ve really enjoyed the Ant-Man movie and his appearance in Civil War, so, yeah, you could say a decision has been consciously made to give Ant-Man his due, gather some of his O.G. books, and figure this guy out. None of the previously mentioned points made me actually by this book. I bought it based solely on the astonishingly gorgeous cover. It’s fantastic…a 10 out of 10…super rad. I was hypnotized by all of the awesome that I had no idea that the, “special first-issue guest star”, was, “the one and only Peter Parker…Mighty Marvel’s own wall-crawling wonder!”
Even though the cover says so...   

REVIEW: The Uncanny X-Men #131

Production: Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Colors: Glynis Wein
Review: Art Bee

The time has come. One of my most favorite comic books is The Uncanny X-Men #131. At one time it was lost to me in the loss of a storage unit, but the issue has found its way back into my possession. It’s not clear whether or not this is the same one I lost, but that is not important. This issue may not be on the top of many comic boys favorites list, but it is on mine. There are several reasons but only three will I discuss.

My first and biggest reason is Jean Grey, a.k.a. Phoenix. Not long ago in the storyline Jean acquired the Phoenix Force. Since the union of these two powerful personas, Jean’s powers had grown immensely, and she liked it. This issue shows us the grandeur of Jean’s power set and the beginning of her descent into the evil of the Dark Phoenix Saga, which happens very shortly thereafter.

The second reason for this being such a great issue is the team up between the X-Men, the Uncanny X-Men, and Dazzler. This makes for a rich story while they are taking on Emma Frost and the Hellfire Club who have taken Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine hostage. Once the hostages are free the X-Men action gets intense. As an added bonus Nightcrawler pulls off his teleporting feat of punching three guys at once for the second time ever…Yay!

REVIEW: Captain America #292

Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciler: Paul Neary
Inker: Ed Baretto
Letterer: Diana Albers
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Review: Will Dubbeld

I wasn’t always a Captain America fan. There was a span of time, in fact, where I found him downright hokey. It probably revolved around the fact Cap, much like Superman, was too pure, too mom and apple pie, too Red, White, and Blue, and a little too, “gee whiz!”, for my taste.
I dunno, I blame dark and gritty Image, or Batman: Year One. Perhaps Midnight Sons attributed...
In any case, my headspace changed. Matured, probably, I realized Captain America and his True Blue nature represented the best we have to offer. Honor and integrity coupled with the moxie and Nazi-punching skill to back it up...

Having neglected the Star-Spangled Avenger for so long, the back-issue bins held the key to Cap’s history, and away I went.

Captain America #292 falls in a sweet spot in the character’s history. He was still maintaining his secret identity as Steve Rogers, residing in a New York apartment and making a living as an artist (an oft-forgotten nuance). The 1950s Bucky, Jack Monroe, was living with him, and Steve was in a serious relationship with Bernie Rosenthal, a fellow artist.
As an aside, I absolutely adore Bernie. She was one of the most fun and well-written supporting characters at the time and still holds up today.

REVIEW: Spidey Super Stories #31

Writer: Kolfax Mingo
Pencils: Winslow Mortimer
Inker: Mike Esposito
Review: Madman

In a dirt mall on the east side of Indy, I pulled this book out of the bowels of a Fila shoebox that had no business holding comics.

I heard angels sing!

I’ve been collecting Spider-Man comics for twenty eight years, give or take a few days, and I’ve only glimpsed a few issues of Spidey Super Stories from afar. I had zero issues in my collection until  this fateful day, and for a buck nonetheless.

Spidey Super Stories are brought to you via a super team-up between Marvel, The Electric Company, and the letter Q.
Seriously though, this is already a winning combo.

Before we even get to the campy goodies within the pages, lets talk about how rad this cover is with Dr. Doom, Moondragon, and Spidey wielding what appears to be a red lightsaber…
Definitely winning.     

REVIEW: American Vampire #1

“Big Break”
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Steve Wands

“Bad Blood”
Writer: Stephen King
Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Colors: Dave McCaig
Letters: Steve Wands

Review: Art Bee

The Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2010 was awarded to American Vampire, a book coauthored by Scott Snyder and Stephen King, whose back must have been hurting. The world acclaimed Stephen King left the project after the fifth issue and the conclusion of his, “Bad Blood”, arc. Some time ago I was tempted to get onboard with this series but at the time my interest in vampire stories was vamped out. Let’s face it; since the ‘90s we have seen just about every spin on the vampire story able to stick to the wall.
Granted this series was doing something fresh with the genre in looking at new bloodlines of vampires rising up over the course of U.S. history, but it seemed too late to me.

“Big Break” focuses on a young actress in the Roaring 20s, Pearl Jones, as a snapshot of her life before it takes a drastic U-turn.
“Bad Blood” shows us the fateful day a notorious outlaw, Skinner Sweet, was apprehended and taken by train to stand trial for bank robbery, train heists, and murder in 1880. 

REVIEW: Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 #2 (of 6)

Written and Illustrated by David Petersen
Review: Will Dubbeld

Comics about animal people are as old as the medium itself and have always been present. From Hoppy the Marvel Bunny to Captain Carrot, from The Spectacular Spider-Ham to Albedo, Fish Police to Omaha the Cat Dancer, these furrybooks don’t hold a large portion of the market but a loyal one nevertheless.
Walt Disney’s motley crew an obvious exception...

Perhaps childhood exposure to The Secret of NIMH sparked my interest in anthropomorphism and, short of going full-blown furry, I’ve maintained my enthusiasm throughout my life.
These days the comics don’t seem to offer as many titles centered around animal-folk, perhaps the 1980s boom can be attributed to the rise of TMNT, but there’s still some gems to be found.
Amongst them is Mouse Guard.

I picked up a handful of Mouse Guard comics 3 or so years ago for dirt cheap at a Hastings and hadn’t read many of them. Through no fault of the comic, simply the fact it’s far easier to buy comics than find time to read.
Everything comes around in due time, however, and today is Mouse Guard’s lucky day. 

REVIEW: I was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space #2 (of 6)

Written, penciled, inked, colored, & lettered by Megan Rose Gedris
Review: Will Dubbeld

Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory...
Oftentimes the Dollar Box at the good ol’ LCS has naught but a mix of DC and Marvel castoffs supplemented with a cash crop of disposable early Image books.
There are times an oddball sneaks in, however.
An oddball like this Lesbian Pirates book.

Have no fear, readers. This isn’t a graphically illustrated underground porno comic.
Not that I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar as well, but anywho...
Rather, it’s an obliquely Pulp science-fiction pop art piece steeped in parody.

The issue 1 recap tells us a crew of lady pirates (or more accurately bank robbers, in this issue anyway) abduct a secretary named Susie, whisking her away to the stars.
It’s intimated the ships captain has kidnapped Susie for some specific reason but it’s only hinted at in this issue. Presumably questions are answered later on in the series or were addressed in issue #1.

REVIEW: Doomsday +1 #12

Story: Joe Gill
Art: Byrne Robotics
Colors: Wendy Fiore
Review: Madman

As a fan of the old Charlton Comics I was super stoked to find and rescue this book from dirt mall obscurity. I had never seen this particular title before, but the cover depicting a fur-clad barbarian getting bear hugged by an armored gorilla/beast/guy/thing and a leatherclad Black Widow look-alike was worth the dollar itself.

Of course the story is absolutely generic and saturated with much, “Meh”.

I don’t dig reading any character speaking broken English like they’re simple, and the ancient Goth barbarian Kuno’s dialogue is just that. Obviously Mr. Gill is trying to throw in a speech pattern to differentiate Kuno from the locals, but it comes off like he has a disability.

There are a few more things about Kuno mentioned in this book that just don’t make a bit of sense. For instance, he was apparently defrosted when radiation melted a glacier in Greenland.

Did the Goths even live in Greenland?
Why in the hell does Kuno even speak English at all being a Goth from Greenland who was frozen in ice for hundreds of years? And why does he smoke cigars?

How much thought did Mr. Gill put into this story? 

REVIEW: The Transformers #6

Script: Bob Budiansky
Art: Alan Kupperberg
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colors: Nel Yomtov
Review: Art Bee

Transformers…a story from my youth. At my childhood home in Dover A.F.B., Delaware, the local 7-11 had my weekly binge of Marvel along with a couple rounds of an arcade game and a slurpee. Saturdays were bliss for me back then. Rain, snow, or shine, my bike’s peddles were pumpin’ towards that green and orange store when and where $5 made you feel like a king.

While digging through some back issue boxes, this pristine gem gleamed in my memory banks. Once, in my youth, I had owned this issue but it had long since fled my possession. Marvel had pioneered The Transformers comic book series, starting it approximately two years after the hit cartoon aired in September, 1984. Many mornings before school found me sitting, “Indian style”, in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal watching the “robots in disguise” before a fast sprint to beat the school bell (I succeeded most of the time). 

This issue features the fallout of the previous issue’s battle in which most of the Autobots and Decepticons are in need of repair. The newcomer, Shockwave, is shown making steps to assume leadership over the Decepticons. He makes a successful move to acquire a new base and energy resource before confronting the current leader, Megatron. The second half of the issue features the battle for dominance between the two for the coveted title.   

REVIEW: Army of Darkness #1 (of 3)

Written by: Sam & Ivan Raimi
Adapted & illustrated by: John Bolton
Review: Will Dubbeld

So, I’m one of those guys.
One of those old school, die-hard, knob slobberin’ Bruce Campbell fans.
Brisco County, Burn Notice, The Man With the Screaming Brain, Bubba Ho-Tep, Maniac Cop...
Gimmie all of that.
MANIAC COP, you guys.

Of course, the holiest of holies for fanboy jerkoffs is the Evil Dead series.
These films (and the subsequent television series) are campy splatterpunk horror at its best. They aren’t as madcap as Peter Jackson’s early films, maintaining a sense of horror or at least dread atmosphere mixed with comedic decapitations.
But you already know this.
Evil Dead has evolved from a DIY Independent film to a franchise producing sequels, action figures, video games, and (of course) comics.

This adaptation hit the stands in 1992. I remember thumbing through the third issue because I’d read it featured an alternate ending from the film.
Spoiler alert: it’s the one where Ash sleeps too long.
In any case, I’d long-forgotten this series existed until this particular issue showed up in a recent purchase of key Tomb of Dracula issues.

REVIEW: X-Men vol. 1 #1

Writer: Christ Claremont
Penciler: Jim Lee (co-collaborator in plot)
Inker: Scott Williams
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Joe Rosas
Review: Art Bee

A brief look back…
The X-Men #1 was published in September, 1963. For nearly 30 years the series remained unbroken on its course until 1991, when Marvel began its early pimpin’ era. At this point, in October, 1991, Marvel reboots the storyline into X-Men, featuring Cyclops’ Blue Team, and The Uncanny X-men, featuring Storm’s Gold Team. At the time this seemed like a decent way to give the reader more, but a trend was starting in Marvel that would dilute almost every successful intellectual property the company owned. In 1991 you needed two titles per month to get what was going on in the world of X-men; now a person needs to read eight.
See, they be straight pimpin’.

I found this comic book recently in a back issue box, but if I had picked it up in 1991, my excitement would have made my head spin right off my shoulders! A double-sized issue to kick off double the X-Men each month…sign me up! This was the book to do just that.

The issue begins with the heart of the plot pulled, still beating, from the story and thrust into the readers face. We find astronauts, mutant and human, locked in combat while trying to reach an orbiting asteroid, dubbed Asteroid M, which is in geosynchronous orbit (Educational note: term means to orbit at the same rate as the Earth’s rotation resulting in the object staying stationary in result to a point on the surface of the planet). Asteroid M is the home of Magneto and he has made a mutant-friendly sanctuary on the asteroid.