The comics reviewed are chosen by David not by THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT management
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.
I have a different mix this week - some #1 issues that are not the beginning of
new series, a couple issues of ongoing series, another one of those enigmatic
"zero" issues (don't get me started) and the end of the latest run of a series
that keeps coming back again and again.
Title: THE STRAIN: THE FALLIssue Number: 1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Creators: Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Script Writer: David Lapham
Artist: Mike Huddleston
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Clem Robins
Cover Artist: E.M. Gist
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Horror
Mature - Comics on the Edge
This is the second of three series of the story of modern day vampires that
invaded Manhattan. These are no romantic sexy vampires but bloodthirsty monsters
with an overwhelming desire to feed and please their creator, an ancient vampire
called the Master. The novels and first comic series have had enough popularity
to green light an FX TV show pilot. The unlikely heroes are two doctors from the
Centers for Disease Control Ephraim Goodweather and Nora Martinez, holocaust
survivor Abraham Setrakian and a rodent exterminator named Vasiliy Fet. The
title alludes to the fact that a virus spreads this form of vampirism. These
four have come together and are determined to eradicate the disease and destroy
the Master. The story for this middle chapter begins curiously enough in the
Zagros Mountains where some Mesopotamian clay tablets were discovered in the
year 1508. The comic traces the tablets as they changed hands, still
untranslated, into Europe during the Renaissance and to Queen Elizabeth's
astrologer, the necromancer John Dee. They were eventually translated by a
French Rabbi a century after their discovery and his translation became known as
the Occido Lumen. Over the decades the book passed hands and some were killed
for it. This is all background as Abraham explains to Vasiliy the book details
the rise of these vampires, known as the Strigoi, and could well contain the
secret to defeat them. But the situation in New York is dire. Now it seems to
our heroes that there are more vampires than humans in the city. The four are
sheltered in a building with barred windows and Ephraim's son Zack is now with
them. In this chapter we learn how powerful the vampires are and the tragedy of
facing a loved one who has turned into a monster. The fight is carried on by
bands of citizen soldiers roaming the streets. They may have conventional
weapons but they do not realize bullets cannot kill their enemy. On the other
side we look in on some minions of the Master as they move forward with a plot
of total domination that includes getting their hands on the Occido Lumen. There
is enough here to get the gist of the current situation. It is definitely
worthwhile to get the previous series if this issue peaks your interest.
Huddleston does a great job with his moody art and horrific depiction of the
evil creatures. Lapham provides a detailed script for him to work with while
building the tension among the characters involved. It is good reading that is
already building up to major confrontation fraught with imminent danger along
the way. Try this issue to see if it piques your interest.
Title: NOVAIssue Number: 7
Title Story: Away Game
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colors: David Curiel
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Cover Artist: Ed McGuinness, Dexter Vines & Marte Gracia
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
I have not read this series since the first issue but the appearance of the
Superior Spider-Man on the cover caught my eye so I decided to revisit this
Character again. The editors provide a quick recap page to get us up to speed on
Nova though this is really not a chapter in an ongoing arc. So Nova is a very
young teenage hero who inherited the Nova helmet and powers from his alien
father. He has had some adventures with Rocket Raccoon and Gamora of the
Guardians of the Galaxy and even helped the Avengers defeat the Phoenix Force.
As this issue opens he has jetted off to New York from his small town in Arizona
ostensibly to do some super heroics in the big city. He has a lot to learn about
crime fighting in general and life in the big apple in particular. After
mistaking a controlled demolition for a disaster of some sort he races off to
lend a hand only to crash into Spider-Man and nearly create a new disaster. The
whole interaction between the two is not the expected obligatory hero fights
hero at first sight scene. In fact Otto/Spider-Man is his typical obnoxious self
about the whole thing and there are some funny quips on both sides. At Spider-
Man's suggestion Sam is off to find a city less crowded with so many other
heroes. Along the way there is a couple of pages involving two very familiar
teen heroes that may or may not be a foreboding of a team up to come in the
future. This is an interesting interlude of a story wherein Sam starts to figure
out where best to use his powers and at the same time improve his image. The
story is told with just the right touch of humor. It is enjoyable all the way
through and the last page is a big indication of what will come next - a tie-in
to INFINITY. I like the art, which is clean and detailed with brilliant
coloring. This is the kind of teen super hero comic I remember and enjoyed years
ago.
Title: THUNDERBOLTSIssue Number: 14
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Jefte Palo
Inker: Terry Pallot
Colors: Guru eFX
Letters: Joe Sabino
Cover Artist: Julian Totino Tedesco
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
My second sampling of an ongoing series was chosen because it indicates on the
cover, and was billed elsewhere as an INFINITY tie-in issue. More about that
later. The current band of Thunderbolts includes Red "Thunderbolt Ross" Hulk,
the Punisher, Venom, Red Leader, Deadpool, Elektra and Mercy. There is a bit of
helpful information on the first page telling us about how dysfunctional this
team really is - who is sleeping with whom, who is trying to kill whom, who is
deceiving each other and so on. Basically there is a lot of distrust among the
group. This seems to be a good issue to jump in on, as again it is not really
the middle of a larger arc. In fact it brings to the front the premise of the
team's reason for being together. After the team takes down a rather large
dragon, which used to be a cow until it was gamma rayed somehow, Ross explains
to the team it is time for him to live up to his promise. He got them together
to help him get done things he needs. In return they have access to the team and
its resources for their own special projects. They have done enough for Ross
for now and now it is their turn. From now on it will be one for Ross and one
for someone else. They choose lots and the first one up is the Punisher. As you
might guess his mission will involve taking down a crime family. In this case it
is the Paguro family, an old Cosa Nostra organization that has learned over time
to step back and let others do the dirty work. They are the power behind a lot
of the gangs and gangsters in the city who all work with their blessing and
protection. The down side is if the Paguros find out they are being targeted
they have lots of criminals to throw at their opponents. It should be an
interesting adventure and since this is the Thunderbolts, not the Avengers, it
could get very bloody. And speaking of the Avengers, remember I said this was a
tie-in to INFINITY? Well the so-called tie-in is the team finding out through
radio chatter as they head off for the mission that the Avengers have all gone
off into space. At that point Punisher tosses off the comment, "it has nothing
to do with us." That's it! Now maybe in the next issue Thanos shows up and the
Thunderbolts get involved with defending the planet but this issue can't really
be called a tie-in because they notice the Avengers are gone, really. Other than
that I enjoyed the issue, which surprised me. The team dynamic is different as
explained by the introductory page. Thankfully Deadpool is around to inject
humor every chance he gets and if you suspend disbelief that this group is
willing to act together it is not a bad concept. I did not feel so delighted
about the art however. Palo's pencils are very angular making the faces almost
unrecognizable from other artist's renditions in the past. The layouts of the
panels work well and the coloring is ok. Overall it is not bad, just not
appealing to me. I would suggest you give this a try; it is something different
and strangely entertaining.
Title: BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSEIssue Number: 1
Title Story: Nothing Lasts Forever
Title Arc: Rewired
Publisher: DC
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artist: Thony Silas
Colors: Andrew Elder
Letters: Saida Temofonte
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero - based on characters of the animated show BATMAN BEYOND
For some reason the Batman Beyond series is beginning again with a new number
one issue. Despite that it is an easy issue to follow without prior knowledge.
If you really want to know what came immediately before find BATMAN BEYOND:
10,000 CLOWNS. The lead story features the Batman Beyond family with some
differences from previous books I have read. At this point in time Bruce Wayne
is no longer mentoring Terry McGinnis, the current Batman. Instead Terry is
working with Dick Grayson, the former Nightwing. Terry is having trouble keeping
up with his studies while doing the Batman thing, a typical comic book hero
problem. And he is no longer dating Dana so something happened there. The action
in this story begins as the mayor of Neo Gotham has an apparent heart attack
while giving an interview to a reporter as they tour the newly opened Arkham
Institute. Later as Commissioner Barbara Gordon consults with the coroner they
conclude they may need more "expert" help to be sure the heart attack was not a
very clever killing. Sure enough every inmate but one confesses to Barbara that
they are responsible and Terry's history with the one makes it logical that he
uses a special interrogation technique. It is a mystery that has a red herring.
When the real cause of death is discovered it may be too late to stop bigger
problems. The episode is a good mix of character interaction and a few action
sequences. Some move the main plot forward while others explore the
relationships involved in Terry's life at this point. It is interesting as far
as it goes, but I prefer longer episodes rather than a second feature.
Backup Story: Justice League Beyond
Title: Power Struggle: Fantastic Voyage
Writer: Christos N. Gage
Art: Iban Coello
Colors: Randy Mayor
Letters: Saida Temofonte
The reason the title changed to "Universe" is to give recognition to this second
feature starring the future Justice League. This version has its own Green
Lantern and Flash, size changing Micron who can get large or tiny, Hawkman type
Warhawk, Batman and Aquagirl. They are all newer versions of current day heroes.
Still around in this future League are Superman, Shazam, Mister Miracle and
Barda. This is a more straightforward story without subplots than the main
story. Some of the team goes up against the bad guys called the Nanodemons.
Their heist at STAR Labs is really a setup to infect members of the JLB with
their black magic powered nanotech as they go after Micron. But it is Superman
who steps in to stop the process only to get infected himself. It has an
unexpected effect on him sending his powers into overdrive. After several near
disasters he attempts several different things to control the powers with help
from his teammates. When it becomes clear he is still too dangerous he retreats
to the fortress sending a robot out to make it appear he is still among the
public. The final plan is a desperate measure that only Micron can help with it.
The result is a very unexpected and the epilogue is even more shocking. I
actually enjoyed this story more than the lead. It takes a closer look at what
Superman might be like in the future and even made me think of elements of the
Clark Kent in KINGDOM COME. The second story is actually worth the price of the
comic. Christos Gage is the star of this issue!
Title: BLOODSHOTIssue Number: "0"
Publisher: Valiant
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Chrisscross
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
This another infamous zero issue. Valiant has done this with some of their other
series and now it is BLOODSHOT's turn. In this case it is most interesting to
me, as a fan of the series, because it explores the evolution of the Bloodshot
project and the problems encountered along the way. The story is narrated by one
of the scientists on the project brought in the early 1990's. From the beginning
the concept was to build a perfect fighting machine but the early evolution
proved more was needed. By the time of the Vietnam war all the tech had been
internalized making the body fully repairable and adaptable. But the subjects
were more like soulless automatons will little care for anything but completing
the mission no matter what the cost or the collateral damage. As the nanites
were perfected they found a way to take memories from dying soldiers and record
them. They could dump the entire memories of many soldiers into Bloodshot. But
something was still missing. And so our narrator was brought in to find the soul
Bloodshot was missing. He hit upon a possible solution to the problem and sure
enough it seems in 1993 Bloodshot became all he could be, at least for the
purposes of those who control him, Project Rising Spirit. What eventually came
after that has been detailed in the first thirteen issues. What was Bloodshot
missing and how did our narrator accomplish it? That is the crux of the story
as is his reward for a job well done. As always the art is spectacular
especially since this script calls for some out of the normal scenes. Next issue
begins a new arc and a different supporting cast. I can't wait.
Title: LEGION OF SUPER HEROESIssue Number: 23 (final issue)
Title Story: Aftermath
Publisher: DC
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artist: Kevin Maguire
Colors: Javier Mena
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
Once again the LEGION OF SUPER HEROES has run its course and will not be around
next month. But that does not mean we are done with the thirty-first century. DC
has already announced a series set in this distant future but instead of the
Legion it will be a future Justice League. I'll be there to see what that is all
about. But now it is time to say goodbye to some old friends. This time it is
wrapped up after one of their worst encounters that ended in victory but the
cost was dear. Sun Boy was killed, one of Duplicate Damsel's duplicates as well,
Tinya is missing and Mon-El is still in serious condition from his injuries.
Worlds have been devastated, cities destroyed and the clubhouse is in ruins for
the most part. Through it all the survivors carry on the clean up work and try
not to beat up Braniac 5 who is being his usual arrogant self but Luornu puts
him in his place. Even though they are doing all they can to help each other and
others in the United Planets recover from the war with the Fatal Five the time
has come for change. The Legion is disbanded. Some members will fight on with
the Science Police; others have found life mates and will head off to various
home worlds to begin new lives. There are several scenes dealing with some of
the group as they begin new chapters in their lives. All are handled showing the
respect Paul Levitz has for the individual characters and the history of the
Legion. In a fitting last scene the three founders, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl
and Cosmic Boy take the last bow leaving us with the appropriate final words,
"our story will never end." Long live the Legion!
*****
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:
Let's go back to original Legion of Super Heroes continuity - what planet was
Sun Boy from?
True Legion fans know that Sun Boy is from Earth.
Here was your no prize question:
After the US which country has the most McDonald's outlets?
Japan with 3598 outlets has the second most McDonalds locations.
THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
Jay Endicott was also known as . . .?
Here is your no prize question:
What is the longest-running and most-manufactured single design platform of any
car?
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.
