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
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Title: JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS SAMPLERIssue Number: 1
Publisher: DC
Reprinted from HOUSE OF SECRETS, MY GREATEST ADVENTURE, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED,
HOUSE OF MYSTERY and ADVENTURE COMICS 1957 & 1958
Writer: "Face Behind the Mask" by France E. Herron; "The Case of the Super
Arrows" by Jack Kirby; remainder unknown
Artist: Jack Kirby
Price (USD): $7.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Science Fiction/Mystery
Nearly everyone knows Jack Kirby as the co-creator of many of Marvel's super
heroes from the 1960s and later for his "Fourth World" and other titles at DC.
But that was not his first work at DC. This 100-page sampler is a collection of
shorts he drew for DC in their various science fiction/mystery titles in the
late 1950s. Back then creators did not get credited in those comics very often
but there is no mistaking the artwork of the "king". I remember reading from
these anthologies as a young lad, sometimes while at the barbershop waiting for
my turn. They always had intriguing covers such as the one chosen for this
collection featuring the story "The Hole in the Sky." It shows three ropes
appearing from some kind of dimensional rift in the sky. On the end of each one
were valuables, jewels, cash and a huge diamond. As revealed in the plot of the
story the other dimensional beings are trying to capture humans, as if they are
fishing, and then use their bodies to invade the planet. Like most of the
stories along these lines one particular human finds out their plan when he is
captured. He then escapes and must find a way to thwart the invasion. The lead
story is called "The Three Prophecies" reprinted from HOUSE OF SECRETS #3. It is
the story of a fake fortuneteller that uses the usual assistant and hidden
earpiece to dupe his clients. Then a new psychic in town is taking his business
away so he plans to expose the competitor as a fake, since he knows how this is
normally done. To his amazement he cannot find any tricks and he is even more
amazed when the three prophecies told to him start to come true. There is a neat
twist at the end that leaves the reader pondering if it is coincidence or actual
fortune telling. This comic is a real treat. In 100 pages with no ads you get
fourteen stories that vary from pure adventure or mystery to science fiction
that includes aliens, monsters created from atomic testing, and even a man who
becomes two-dimensional when he ingests an experimental potion. Many have the
central them of an ordinary guy who foils some evil or devious plan by others.
As an added treat there is a Green Arrow story Kirby wrote and drew from
ADVENTURE COMICS #251. In that story people from the very far future send back a
quiver of super arrows as a gift to Green Arrow and Speedy. If you think the
regular trick arrows GA used were cool wait until you see these. I found this
title to be great fun. First because it collects a portion of comic history
often overlooked but very popular in its time. These adventure stories and other
titles were a staple of comics prior to the resurgence of the super heroes in
the 1960s. Secondly it is all drawn by Jack Kirby whom I have always followed
when I could. This is one of the 100-page collections well worth getting.
Title: MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROESIssue Number: 21
Publisher: Marvel
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover Artist: Carlo Pagulayan, Jeff Huet & Chris Sotomayor
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
ALL AGES
I have sampled MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES in the past. Each issue features
one or more of Marvel's main characters in stories suited for all ages. What I
have found most of the time is that the stories are told in a style akin to the
beginnings of the Marvel Age of heroes. They are self-contained and do not
require a lot of knowledge about current continuity or major events. They
portray the essence of the characters in the traditional style. This issue has
two stories.
Story: The Big Idea
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Wellington Alves
Inker: Nelson Pereira
Colors: Bruno Hang
This one features Dr. Strange and Captain America. Dr. Strange is battling a
giant, mutli-tentacled being from another dimension. Ann'var is not just a
physical threat as it has mind powers that overcome his opponents whom he then
absorbs into his consciousness. When his chosen spells do not stop the threat he
casts a spell to fetch reinforcements from Avenger's Mansion. To his surprise
the spell chooses Captain America. He was expecting someone like Iron Man or
Thor - someone with more power to fight the huge beasts and the growing horde of
zombified humans. In the end he discovers a special aspect of Captain America
that can be used to win the day.
Backup Story: Super Troupers
Writer: Jen Van Meter
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colors: Andres Mossa
The second story features the classic Hulk. After escaping capture by the
military Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner and is picked up by a circus troupe
traveling by train. He reluctantly joins them but warns that trouble has a way
of finding him. The mid part of the story is Bruce trying to fit in but always
having the weight of the Hulk on his shoulders. Sure enough, before the end the
soldiers appear and naturally are not too caring about who gets in the way of
them finding their objective. Eventually Bruce gets angry and before you can say
Bill Bixby is once again transformed into the Hulk. It ends like you would
expect. Banner survives capture and must leave his new friends for their own
safety.
As I said both stories are self-contained. This is a great title to introduce
young readers to the characters. It is usually racked along with the regular
comics of the main character featured on the cover. In this case you will find
it with the other Captain America comics. But look around the racks for other
issues. They all have MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES across the top and I would
recommend any one of them for readers of all ages.
Title: THE STRAINIssue Number: 1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Creators: Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Script: David Lapham
Artist: Mike Huddleston
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Clem Robins
Cover Artist: Mike Huddleston
Price (USD): $1.00
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Horror
This is a modern day vampire story that starts off more like something from the
likes of Andromeda Strain. No wait, I lied. It really starts in 1927 Romania. A
young boy, Abraham, is eating his soup while his grandmother, Bubbeh, relates
the story of a Polish nobleman, Jusef Sardu. Jusef was afflicted, some would
say, be being born a giant. From the looks of the art he was nearly eight feet
or more. Being so tall his body struggled to support his height and he walked
with a cane that had a silver handle with a wolf's head carved into it. At
seventeen his father took him to Romania to hunt wolves. What happens there and
afterward leads into the main plot. It is a tale of foreboding from 1927 as we
flash forward to the present. My opening comment refers to the story in the
present. A Boeing 777 has landed at JFK and a few minutes after all
communication from the plane ceases. All the shades are drawn and the doors are
all closed. As the HAZMAT team arrives our protagonist, Ephram Goodweather, and
his assistant suit up to follow the military once they have cleared the plane.
What they find insides is unnerving, apparently everyone is dead but there is no
trace of toxins in the air, no signs of struggle or vomiting. How could this be?
Did the pilot alone survive long enough to land? Why are all the shades drawn?
And what other mysterious cargo is on board? A hint of what is to come may be
inferred from the 1927 story, the strange cargo they find, and the last page
that could well be Abraham as an old man. I like the way this story is
structured. The writers could have just started with the present and that would
have made the story even more mysterious. They instead chose to tell us of the
origins of the evil our hero might be up against and then tie it in nicely at
the end. I am reminded of elements of the original Dracula, by Bram Stoker, in
that the parallel of an unmanned ship coming to port with the occupants all
dead. In fact, Abraham may well be an analogue for Van Helsing. No matter, it is
a solid story scripted well by Lapham and perfectly rendered by Huddleston and
Jackson. This is a more classic take on vampires that depends on the horror of
it all. This looks like a winner.
Title: STAR WARS: AGENT OF THE EMPIRE - IRON ECLIPSEIssue Number: 1 (of 5)
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Stephane Roux
Inker: Julien Hugonnard-Bert
Colors: Wes Dzioba
Letters: Michael Heisler
Price (USD): $3.50
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Science Fiction
Occasionally I pick up one of the STAR WARS titles from Dark Horse and there are
many titles in that line. I like to sample some of the first issues and this one
looked interesting. The tagline on the cover caught my eye, "Stormtroopers are
the Empire's hammer. This man is its scalpel." Yes the story takes place in the
era of the prequel trilogy. Jahan Cross is the title character, a special envoy
from the diplomatic service but really with the Imperial Intelligence - A James
Bond of the Empire. He is investigating black market traffic in experimental
droid protocols. The commander of the research station appears to be living
beyond his means and Jahan with the aid of his droid has confirmed his
involvement in the clandestine operation. This opening sequence shows us the
kind of action we can expect and sets the stage for the bigger mission involving
a man who made a living and attained vast wealth after defecting to the
Corporate Sector of the galaxy, technically not a part of the Empire. The
information Cross gained suggests of a secret project there called Iron Cross
that could well be a threat to the security of the Empire. And so he is off on
the big mission to Mondder on Etti Four where the Imperial advisor to the sector
has his embassy. It is there he has a chance encounter with Han Solo and
Chewbacca who may or may not play a larger role in this tale. I mentioned the
similarity to James Bond. It plays out more with special gadgets and hidden
weapons provided by the Empire's version of "Q". The story reads well and is
drawn nicely by all involved. If you would also like to sample what Dark Horse
is doing with the Star Wars franchise this is a pretty good place to take a
look.
Title: AVENGERS: X-SANCTIONIssue Number: 1 (of 4)
Title Story: Midnight
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Dexter Vines
Colors: Morry Hollowell
Letters: A. Deschesne
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
This is a story about Cable, the mutant from the future, coming back again to
the present with a new mission - to destroy the Avengers. It starts with him on
a rooftop covered in a robe and hood and a sniper rifle. Spider-Man, Wolverine,
Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and the Falcon are responding to a jailbreak
from a prison transport heading for The Raft. You may have seen this sequence in
one of those previews in the back of several Marvel comics recently. While the
threat is real enough and the Avengers join the escaped criminals in battle
Cable uses the battlefield haze to take out Falcon and drag him away. At first
we might think he is claiming his first victim but it is all part of a larger
plan - the first part of which is to lure Captain America to the location where
he brought Sam. So we are not totally in the dark as to his motivation we also
get scenes interspersed from the far future where Cable learned of the fate of
the world in what appears to be a post nuclear future. He meets Blaquesmith who
informs him that it could have been prevented but Hope was not there to do that.
Now, being a time traveler he figures he can go back and fix things so that she
can be there. And that, without verifying to us that it is all true, is why he
must destroy the Avengers before he himself dies from the techno-virus inside
him finishes him off. This is a four-issue story that wastes no time getting to
the mission and even provides the exposition we need for the motivation. The
second half is the confrontation with Cap and it ends with a bang, literally.
Loeb does a good job with the script pacing to keep it moving. The art team is
also top notch. If you are planning to follow the maxi-series AVENGERS VS X-MEN
next year you will want to start here. It appears to lead into that from what I
can tell. Either way I am enthusiastic that this will be a good story right to
the end.
Title: THE RAYIssue Number: 1 (of 4)
Publisher: DC
Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Artist: Jamal Igle
Inker: Rich Perrotta
Colors: Guy Major
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
I believe this is the fourth version of The Ray DC has come up with. The
character has his roots in the Golden Age and has been re-introduced into the DC
cannon a couple of times since then. Now that the New 52 has changed things a
bit they have decided to start with a new version for this continuity. He is a
Korean American kid with New Age hippy parents. He is also a lifeguard in
California and one day he is hit with some kind of particle beam from an
experimental solar energy gunshot from Arizona. The beam has weird transmuting
effects on animals and vegetation as it travels and somehow it terminated on
Lucien. He is engulfed in light and when it dies down he himself appears as a
man made of light. Without realizing it he steps forward and rockets himself to
beach in Seattle after bouncing off a car in Hawaii and a jetliner flying over
the coast. It is there he regains his human appearance, sans clothes, and
figures out he traveled as a light beam. With some concentration he follows the
coast back to San Diego. In the rest of the book he manages to form clothes and
even a costume by bending light and has encounters with giant flying jellyfish.
And speaking of encounters his parents and his best friend are in on his secret
- or at least that he can't wear clothes because they just melt off of him. His
relationship with his girlfriend is strained a little until she sees the light
(pun intended). But the real plot is only beginning as the last few pages
premiers what will appear to be a major bad guy with a very unique origin and
power. I liked this introductory chapter. The characters are given time to have
their own personality and there is some witty banter that is not forced. The
antagonist at the end is interesting enough in his introduction and definitely
not a nice guy. I'll stick with this for the four issues for sure.
*****
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:
Where did Blue Devil make his 1st appearance? (EXACT TITLE NAME)
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #24 marked the introduction of Blue Devil. Winner by the
dice is Mike Dooley.
Here was your no prize question:
Who invented electric Christmas lights?
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the first successful practical light bulb,
created the very first strand of electric lights. During the Christmas season of
1880, these strands were strung around the outside of his Menlo Park laboratory.
Railroad passengers traveling by the lab got their first look at an electric
light display. It would take almost 40 years for electric Christmas lights to
become the tradition we all know. MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody!
THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
In the original Valiant Universe, who killed Prince Albert?
Here is your no prize question:
What major league baseball team won the first official World Series?
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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