or staff. The opinions expressed are his alone. If you have an opposing view you
are welcome to respond to David directly by Email at the address above.
Title: DEAN KOONTZ'S NEVERMOREIssue Number: 1
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Creator: Dean Koontz
Writer: Keith Champagne
Artist: Leno Carvalho
Colors: Steve Downer
Letters: Bill Tortolini
Cover Artist: Darick Robertson/Tyler Walpole/Leno Carvalho
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Science Fiction
Mature Readers - Comics on the Edge
This is a story of a group of scientists who successfully invent a way to travel
through dimensions - specifically to a parallel Earth. Bobby Godric is the
leader of the team and he has a personal reason for seeing the success of the
project. The book has two main plots. It starts out with the team of five as
they begin their first jump sideways to another dimension. The second plot
follows Bobby through his life in flashback. It goes from an embarrassing moment
in high school where he met Nora, the love of his life. It serves as background
to see how they fell in love, planned their lives together and became amazingly
rich only to have tragedy strike on the verge of their greatest adventure -
project Nevermore. Which leads us back to the main plot. Their reception in the
parallel dimension is less than friendly. They arrive in a workplace with
several people at a row of tables with touch screens in the tops. While their
sudden presence is a shock it does not become a problem until a hovering
security robot sounds the alarm because three of the team are not where their
dimensional counterparts were last reported. It seems this is a very restricted
society and they are out of place. But the plan was not just to make the journey
here but also to make contact with someone who died in their own world. Their
attempt to make contact meets with obstruction along the way and with time
running out they are almost stopped by a very out of place creature. I found the
story interesting and well structured. The transitions back and forth between
the plots are very appropriate at each juncture. The end of the first issue
leaves some questions to be answered next time. The art is very good down to
slight differences in coloring to emphasize the flashbacks. It is a fine product
worth checking out.
Title: BUCKIssue Number: 1
Publisher: 215 Ink
Creator: Stephen Lindsay
Artist: Danny Kelly
Letters: Stephen Lindsay
Cover Artist:
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Horror
Black & White with third color
Mature Readers - Comics on the Edge
Two men are hunting in the woods when one shoots at a doe. They are sure they
hit it and go looking for it. Imagine their surprise when instead they find a
black bear torn completely in half. This is in Pititchu, Washington. The men are
Sheriff Layne and his deputy Mike. They know they have to figure out what could
have done this. Back in town Layne learns from his daughter that her boyfriend
and his buddies are out in the woods so he knows he has to go back. A secondary
plot has Layne and the waitress at the diner dancing around their feelings for
each other - it is mostly filler to define the characters. Not much else happens
so we are lead to believe this is just a foreboding of things to come - along
with the last panel that ties into the title of the book. While black and white
comics do not turn me off, this one is not visually appealing. Kelly has his own
unique style and while it moves the story along it is pretty basic and could use
more definition. The fact that the story moves slowly does not help. I think
this one will be a pass for most readers.
Title: DAWN: NOT TO TOUCH THE EARTHIssue Number: 1-SHOT
Publisher: Image
Creator: Joseph Michael Linser
Colors: JML & Eva Hopkins
Letters: Jeff Eckleberry
Gallery Artists: Adam Hughes, Michael Golden, Jay Geldhof, Brian Stelfreeze,
Greg Williams, Michael Turner & JML
Price (USD): $5.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Mythology
Joseph Michael Linser has a visual appeal to most fan boys. His character Dawn
has been around a long time and though you may have never bought any of his
comics you would recognize her by the trademark tears tattooed on her left cheek
and mostly painted on barely there clothes. Understanding this I decided to see
if there was any substance in the comic beyond the visual appeal. What I found
was a decent story based on a classic Celtic myth in this one-shot. In this
story Dawn is a Faerie Queen and her lover is the master of the underworld, the
Horned God Cernunnos. She has had many earthly lovers being drawn to those who
connect with Cernunnos. The tale of this story is how she connected with her
latest lover, Darrian Ashoka. He has just had a devastating confrontation with a
coworker whom he thought was going to be his girl until she spurns him after a
one-night stand. So he takes off to the hills for a weekend and in the woods
sees a girl being held against her will by a man wearing an animal skull on his
head. After a struggle Darrian kills the adversary who is definitely not a man.
Dawn explains he had to be killed to make way for her next lover and soon she
has him under her spell. She leads him into the land of waking dreams where they
lead an idyllic life as the seasons change on the Earth. After several months he
is content but in the end he learns more about what happened to what he has left
behind and what the cost is to try and hold on to the present and the past. I
enjoyed this tale. I found it to be well plotted and scripted and of course the
art is very captivating. The filler in the back has some pinup pages worth
looking at as well. If you too are curious about Dawn, give this one a try.
Title: X-MEN: LEGACYIssue Number: 247
Title Story: Chapter 5
Title Arc: Age of X
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Mann
Inker: Jay Leisten
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Cory Petit
Cover Artist: Mico Suayan & Marte Gracia
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
We are nearing the end of this story and in this chapter we learn how this world
came to be and who is really behind it all. The unseen "X" that has been guiding
the actions of the mutant forces is revealed to be one of their own and not
someone I would have guessed. In the last episode Xavier was freed from his
prison and much of this chapter is taken up with him gathering the mutant horde
and explaining to them that this world is not real but has been constructed as a
new reality. Rogue and Gambit had discovered a secret hidden deep in the
fortress that convinced them that all is not as it seems. As everyone gets
together there are two factions - one group willing to her the truth while David
and his force warriors steadfastly refuse and want to imprison or kill anyone
who does not want to continue the battle of the siege. The conflict shifts this
time from the mutants against the humans to mutant versus mutants. This is a
wonderful story that has been plotted just right to keep the tension and
suspense high from the beginning through the big revelation and now leads to the
final conflict in the concluding chapter. Mike Carey is a capable writer who
knows how to weave the story so as to keep our attention the whole way. The art
team does a super job as well. In all it is a worthwhile story contained in the
two main titles with the additional material illuminating though not required
reading to get the big picture. This is a good example of how to construct a
multi-part story.
Title: THE FLASHIssue Number: 10
Title Story: Part Two - Who is Hot Pursuit?
Title Arc: The Road To Flashpoint
Publisher: DC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Francis Manapul
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
With the big DC event of the summer, FLASHPOINT, rapidly approaching I thought
it would be good to check in on THE FLASH to catch the introductory storyline
leading up to it. Barry Allen is of course back as the title character and
recently a speedster on a super-fast motorcycle has appeared in the city and
this issue opens with him revealing to the Flash that he is Barry Allen. His
code name is Hot Pursuit. He is the Barry Allen from one of those 52 parallel
Earths. Unlike our Barry he does not have speed powers himself but can travel
just as fast on his cosmic cycle. He knows Barry is the generator of the speed
force and that this Earth is the keystone to the survival of all the others. He
is here to prevent the single greatest time anomaly to threaten reality. So this
confirms all those titles DC has been hyping with alternate versions of well-
known DC characters are based on a time disaster, which I guess Hot Pursuit
won't be able to prevent. Bart shows up and is very skeptical of the whole
story. Hot Pursuit says the disaster will come directly from the speed force or
someone manipulating it. The best way Barry and Bart can help prevent it is to
stay out of his way. Well our heroes being as they are cannot accept that but
they also can't catch him as he speeds off and then sucks some of the speed
force right out of Barry. The second part of the book involves the conflict
between Barry and Bart on a personal level, the return of an old colleague on a
visit to the police lab, and the dead body of a young man prematurely aged to
over 100 years. The evidence on the scene implicates Hot Pursuit but there may
be a witness that can shed some light on the deed. So the impending disaster has
to do with time and the speed force - brings to mind one particular villain.
Only two issues to go before it all begins. This is a good build up to that
story and might be worth your time to explore if you plan to follow the big
event later. The art is decent though not spectacular. At least there are not
multiple titles involving lots of characters so you can jump on easily.
*****
TRIVIA CONTEST!!!! WIN REAL PRIZES!!!!!
If you think you know the answer to the trivia question send your guess via
Email to me at ComicBkNet@aol.com and you could win the prize. The first six
correct answers will be assigned a number and a roll of the dice will determine
the winner. You should put your real name in your message so we know who you
are. Prizes must be claimed at our store within 30 days of winning. The prize
will be a $10 credit slip, which will be redeemable for merchandise at regular
retail or in-store ongoing specials only. Only one prize per person will be
allowed per every 4 weeks. I will be the sole judge of the correct answer even
if more than one answer could be correct. Submit only one answer per Email
please but guess as often as you like.
Last week's trivia question:
Which 21st Century hero's alter ego is Ramon Raymond?
The hero in question is Stan Lee's "Just Imagine" version of Aquaman. The winner
by the dice is Gregory Goding.
Here was your no prize question:
What actor holds the record for playing the same character in the most feature
films?
Several guessed Desmond Llewelyn the man who played Q in 17 James Bond movies
and Sidney Toler, who played Charlie Chan in 22 films but the honor goes to
William Boyd who played Hopalong Cassidy in a record 66 feature films.
THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
What was the original choice for a name for the ULTRAVERSE before it was changed for copyright reasons?
Here is your no prize question:
What was the first lunchbox featuring a popular image on it?
Folks, you never know who among the readers is knowledgeable about the question
so don't hesitate to send in an answer - even days after it appears.
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