REVIEW: Dark Adventures #1

“Dark Angel”
Created, written, and Illustrated by Pat Gabriele

“The Dark Kunkle”
Created, written, and Illustrated by Charles A. Wagner

“Sea Thugs”
Plot and layout: Pat Gabriele
Illustrations: Richard Lynn

“Stone”
Concept and Pencils: Marty Edwards
Finished Art: Pat Gabriele

I totally bought this comic book just to review for one of my Wednesday back issue pieces. I admittedly wasn’t expecting much from the book and just figured it would be something fun and obscure to throw down for the Dollar Box.

Little did I know...

The cover just reeks of 80’s metal and at first glance reminded me of Lemmy of Motörhead fame, and I’m all about some Motörhead. I admit the cover is what initially drew me in as well as the fact I had never heard of nor seen any other books published by Darkline Comics. It really was dumb luck and my love for a man named Ian Fraser Kilmister that put this book in my hands, leading me to learn about a man named Pasquale Gabriele.

The first few stories or, “chapters”, in this book are about a character called Dark Angel. Dark Angel is the aforementioned Lemmy-looking guy on the cover, clad in black leather, studded collar, spiked gauntlets, and leather jacket. Dark Angel is a no-nonsense Punisheresque type who takes the law into his own hands, but unlike the Punisher, Dark Angel punches the bad guys repeatedly in the face or throws them off rooftops instead of using guns and the like.

REVIEW: Gen13 #3

Story: Brandon Choi & J. Scott Campbell
Pencils: J. Scott Campbell
Inks: Alex Garner
Colors: Joe Chiodo
Letters: Richard St. Arkings and Comicraft
Review: Art Bee

Right after the dawn of Image, the founders began staking banners in the sand to claim their, “brand”, within the organization. This involved the creation of the Top Cow universe, Wildstorm universe, etc. Even though these seven founders had a dream of creative freedom, they recognized the benefits of creating a universe in which to weave their threads of creative ingenuity into a cohesive product much like the multiverse foundations of Marvel and DC (before the detonation of multiverse bombs a couple years back, figuratively speaking).
Jim Lee, one of the seven founders of Image comics, designed the Wildstorm universe, which contained Gen13 and WildC.A.T.s, among others.

When Gen13 first started I was not onboard. The look and feel of it too closely resembled X-men. Just prior to the release of Gen13, the news reached me of Marvel’s lawsuit against Image Comics for originally naming the comic series GenX. This was an almost identical title to the X-men spinoff, Generation X. As an X-men fan I was put off about picking it up. Some years later I found one of the older issues in a box at a convention and realized I was missing out on some serious artistic gold.
More on that later… 

REVIEW: Uncanny X-Men #200

“The Trial of Magneto!”

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Dan Green
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Review: Will "Identity Crisis" Dubbeld

Few things were as exciting to a young comics fan as the words, “double-sized Issue”. Years ago, Marvel’s double-sized issues were full of new content and meant some shit was gonna go down. Issue 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 and anything else in an increment of 25 promised a throwdown with Magneto or Apocalypse, some secrets about Weapon X, or a Green Goblin fracas.

I only acquired X-Men #200 recently but was always aware of its place in X-Men lore. There’s a lot to process in this issue, so let us begin...

The set dressing for this issue is, per the title, the trial of mutant supervillain/borderline terrorist Magneto after his arrest at the hands of Freedom Force.
A Parisian world court sees to his fate as he is defended by longtime X-supporting cast member Gabrielle Haller and prosecuted by Sir Jim Jaspers, a stereotypical British dickhead.

As an aside, the rampantly anti-mutant Jaspers appeared, albeit an alternate version thereof, in Alan Moore’s Crooked World storyline. "The Crooked World" (or Jaspers Warp) arc was an early ‘80s Captain Britain story involving an insane Jaspers as a reality-warping mutant. It also coined the term ‘616’ and introduced the Captain Britain Corps.   

REVIEW: Daredevil vol. 1 #193

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Klaus Janson
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colorist: Klaus Janson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Review: Madman

Every once in a while I have been known to throw down some cash on a few issues of old school Daredevil, especially the Frank Miller books. At last years Kokomo-Con I plucked this gem out of a dollar box towards the end of the day. Having spent my wad earlier in the day and only having a few Washington’s left; I was only able to evacuate two or three issues of DD out of the twenty or so issues that had no business being on the island of misfit comics.

Frank Miller handed over DD’s artistic reins to Klaus Janson eight issues prior, near issue #185 give or take, and if you want someone to replace a Frank Miller, a Klaus Janson will do just fine. I’m sure you’ve heard of Mr. Janson as he has had his meat hooks in just about everything a comic book artist could. Klaus also followed Miller to DC and helped out with some miniseries about Batman called The Dark Knight Returns…whatever that is.

The issues’ glorious cover is what made me choose this DD book over the others. It truly is magnificent on so many levels. It proudly displays Daredevil wielding an axe, and by axe I don’t mean Flying V guitar. I’m talking a Lizzie Andrew Borden parent choppin’ axe, not just any Lizzie Andrew Borden parent choppin’ axe, but a Lizzie Borden parent choppin’ axe that’s so sharp that the blade edge is gleaming with crosshairs. First of all, the artwork is fantastic. Second of all, why the hell is DD looking all psycho and menacing with said chopper, and by chopper I don’t mean… 

REVIEW: Spawn #10

Story: Dave Sim
Art: Todd McFarlane
Colors: Steve Oliff, Reuben Rude, and Olyoptics
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Review: Art Bee

Spawn #10 is one of my favorite issues in the series and one of my most cherished of comics. It has little monetary value, but to me it is a classic that will always have a valuable spot in my memories.
This issue is a special collaboration between Dave Sim, creator of Cerebus, and Todd McFarlane. They have come together for a special message and an even more special slap. There will be more on this later.

This issue picks up right after the introduction of Angela and her confrontation with Spawn. At the end of #9, Angela has fled leaving behind her relic staff which Spawn unintelligently picks up and activates. This action whisks our beloved antihero to another plane of existence where he finds himself torn between his two halves: Al Simmons and Spawn. During this adventure, Spawn is constantly repeating the phrase, “I am not Spawn”. This is strange and confusing but it does make sense later.