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.
Title: SCARLET SPIDERIssue Number: 1
Title Story: Life After Death
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: Ryan Stegman
Inker: Michael Babinski
Colors: Marte Gracia
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super Hero
If you are not familiar with the whole Spider-Man clone history you may be
better off with this book than others. For the record they have included of the
whole convoluted saga written by Roger Ott using illustrations from the various
Spidey books involved. I found it interesting but not really necessary in
reading the main story. So starting fresh from the first page as a reader with
little knowledge of the intimate details I found the main story accessible and a
good story by itself. There is a flashback sequence midway that fills in the
reader on the main details. The minimal information you need to know is that
Kaine is a clone of Peter Parker. He has all the Spider-Man powers and has
recently been given a new lease on life. The cloning process was defective and
he had been dying as his body started to degrade but he got better. Now he just
wants to leave it all behind and the immediate plan is to escape to Mexico where
bad guys and certain authorities will never find him. He has taken on the role
of the Red Spider in the past but now it is just about finding a place to lead a
normal life. He has made it to Houston so far and as luck would have it he
overheard a loose-lipped apparent drug dealer talking about a big deal going
down that night. His intent is to swoop in at the right time and get the
financing he needs to get away by stealing from the bad guys. Artist Ryan
Stegman takes an interesting approach in the scenes leading up to the point
where Kain swings into action, sans costume. Each panel has little spiders
crawling over it, as if it was a picture of the comic with spiders crawling on
top of it. It is somewhat distracting at first but has an odd appeal
artistically. The rest of the art is pretty good and has a lot of variety in its
composition. The real kicker of the plot is what the interrupted deal was really
all about and in the last panel we meet Red Spider's first major foe. I enjoyed
the story as it shows some growth in Kaine's character along the way. This is
not a Peter Parker type person. He has a harder edge and is not doing the whole
super hero thing because it is an altruistic thing. It is a good counterpoint to
Spider-man and worth checking out.
Title: AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADEIssue Number: 8 (of 9)
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Allan Heinberg
Artist: Jim Cheung
Inker: Mark Morales with Livesay & Cheung
Colors: Justin Ponsor with Paul Mounts
Letters: Cory Petit
Cover Artist: Cheung & Ponsor
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Super hero
I have mentioned this book being a lead up to the next big Marvel event AVENGERS
versus X-Men. In fact it has already been a mini version, a preview if you will,
because we have seen both sides tangling over the fate of the Scarlet Witch.
This is the penultimate chapter. The Young Avengers have located Wanda without
her memory or powers about to marry Victor von Doom. Through the last chapter
the Young Avengers have taken her into the time stream thus reviving her memory
and her reality-altering power. She now knows about the horror she created with
M-Day and seeking to make things right has restored Rictor's mutant powers. Her
plan is to do the same for all the remaining ex-mutants but a timely
intervention by Patriot allowed Doom to usurp the reality-altering power for
himself. This is where this chapter begins. Can you imagine Doom with that kind
of power? He has no fear of anyone or anything. He plans to shape the world to
his own liking. He will remake the world to one free of poverty, disease and war
- peaceably ruled by Victor Von Doom and his bride, Wanda Maximoff. That is his
desire. There is a lot of posturing between X-Men, Avengers, and the Young
Avengers as Victor takes his leave. Everyone has an opinion of what to do next
with Victor and with Wanda. It is fascinating as every possible point of view is
expressed about what to do next. Naturally there is a big, literally, battle and
it ends with a possible tragedy leading into the final issue. The whole
adventure is designed to bring Wanda back to the mainstream and as we see from
the promos for AVX she will be back. The question is how will her fate be left
after the final issue of this series and will that play into the start of that
new event. You'll have to get the next issue to find out. Don't miss it.
Title: WHISPERSIssue Number: 1
Publisher: Image
Creator: Joshua Luna
Price (USD): $2.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Supernatural/Slice of Life
This is a hard one to categorize. The central part of the story is about Sam
Webber who has a severe case of OCD and germaphobia. Unlike some TV shows about
people like this the comic explores it from his point of view. We share his
thoughts about simple things like opening a door. The mere thought of such an
act gives him visions of monstrous microbes entering his body, perhaps from a
slight cut on his hand, and then devouring him from the inside. His last thought
is his headstone with the cause of death listed as "He touched a door handle"
This is one messed up dude. His meeting with his friends does not make things
any brighter. His ex-girl friend Lily is despondent because a drunk driver
killed her mother, the guy got off with probation and now her sick father has no
one to support him and his increasing medical bills. But our protagonist can't
get his mind off a dream he had the night before, one that he suspects might not
have been a dream at all. That is where the supernatural part comes in. What he
experience was like an out of body experience. In this "dream" he was like a
ghost and he found himself seeing his friends asleep in bed. He just thought of
them and he was there. The look on the faces of one couple as he blurts out a
detail only they would know confirms to the readers that this must be something
unusual. That is the setup in the first part of the book achieving the two goals
in establishing the plot - Sam has this mental disorder but he also has a
special gift. The second half of the book involves his next paranormal journey
that evening but this time he knows it is not a dream and plans to direct
himself where he wants to go and whom he wants to see. He will not have as much
control as he might hope and some of the things he sees will be disturbing. He
may wish he never started this. So this is a story about someone who has the
ability to go places and see things unseen by others. On the plus side he does
not have to worry about germs, being an astral being and all. On the down side
he will see private moments, bad things happening to those he cares for, and
perhaps some life-altering moments. It is a good premise that so far is
attention-grabbing right from the start to the end. Joshua Luna is a very
accomplished artist. His style is very appealing in its realistic characters and
soft color tones. It is a good comic about some real situations and
relationships and a bit of supernatural thrown in to drive the plot. This one is
worth your time.
Title: DARK MATTERIssue Number: 1
Title Story: Rebirth
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Artist: Garry Brown
Colors: Ryan Hill
Letters: Richard Starkings
Cover Artist: Garry Brown
Price (USD): $3.50
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Science Fiction
This comic is a space adventure. The scene is a derelict ship floating in space.
The "crew" is awakened from stasis with no memories of who they are or how they
got on board. The awakening is a programmed response from the ship as the life
support systems begin to fail. The first to awaken rushes to the bridge to see
if he can figure out what is wrong but is soon thrown aside by a female who
quickly restores life support. She does not know how she knew what to do.
Neither knows who they are nor does the third person that joins them. Once
everyone is revived we have six people who are in the same situation. One
interesting part of this premise is that bit-by-bit each individual learns
things that they know, skills that they have which partly explains why they are
on a space ship. They also accidentally awaken the ships security system in the
form of an android, which gave me flashbacks to the movie ALIEN. As the issue
reaches its conclusion it appears they will have a bigger problem on their
hands. This is interesting at first read though some of it seems formulaic.
Obviously not knowing why these people are in this situation poses an
interesting puzzle for the reader to try to figure out. On the down side the art
is not that appealing to me. The lines are rough and the coloring is blotchy. I
believe this is intentionally the style of the artist and colorist but it does
nothing for me. I give it an ok grade for story so far and might check back to
see what happens next.
Title: LOBSTER JOHNSON: THE BURNING HANDIssue Number: 1 (of 5)
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Artist: Tonci Zonjic
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Clem Robins
Cover Artist: Dave Johnson
Price (USD): $3.50
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Noir
This comic is billed as coming from the pages of HELLBOY. Since I am not a
reader of that comic I find myself in the familiar position of being an
objective reviewer looking at these characters for the first Time. I noticed
Mike Mignola's name in the credits but only as creator and co-writer. That is
fine with me, as I never liked his particular style of art to my taste. Zonijic
and Stewart on the other hand have a different appeal. It is hard to describe
but I guess it is the detail and coloring that really fit well with the subject
matter. It involves a female reporter named Cindy during the days of
prohibition. She is looking into a series of incidents involving what appear to
be Indian ghosts in a certain neighborhood. One incident involved a cop who was
killed and scalped and before a band of these imposters can kill another victim
they are set upon and killed by a mystery man wearing aviator goggles and
helmet. She tries to get information from area residents but no one is talking.
But one person she finds has a theory based on bits of information that may help
her in her search for the truth. However, her snooping just might get her
killed. The pacing of this story is just right. It starts with a startling
incident as a young couple encounter these glow in the dark hoods disguised as
Indians. That affords us our first look at the hero, if only briefly. Then we
gently go into the details at the remains of the scene the next day as cops
investigate and Cindy asks probing questions. Along the way we get bits and
pieces about some of the people involved and one page or two of others who are
no doubt higher up the food chain but remain more of a mystery at this point. As
Cindy gets closer things get more dangerous and we end at a good point. It is a
good package, well executed. This one is a winner.
Title: LOCKE & KEY GUIDE TO THE KNOWN KEYSIssue Number: One-Shot
Publisher: IDW
Creators: Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez
Colors: Jay Fotos
Letters: Robbie Robbins
Price (USD): $3.99
Release Date: NOW ON SALE
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
I have been reading this series, which comes to its conclusion soon. I passed
over this one-shot when it first came out but on the advice of Pete Beaudoin
decided to give it a look. What I thought was just a mostly text explanation of
the various keys that play a part in the bigger story was actually less than
half the book. It does cover the keys that have appeared so far in the story,
being purposely vague about the Omega Key, by showing excerpts from the journals
of the various members of the Locke family from Benjamin Pierce Locke in the
late 1700s to Bode Locke in 2011. In each excerpt about individual keys you will
learn how they have been fashioned out of what is called the "whispering iron"
and how different generations of the Locke family used or were affected by those
keys. That is followed by a five-page artists' gallery of characters from the
series and a really cute comic strip on the inside back cover of an encounter in
a comic shop between a female employee LOCKE & KEY fan and a mew male customer
by Kate Leth. The real stand out part of this comic is the first sixteen pages.
It tells the story of Chamberlain Morse Walton Locke and his ailing son on the
Locke estate in Lovecraft, Massachusetts in 1912. It seems Ian has been getting
worse. His seizures occur more often now. His father knows he won't survive to
year's end and so devises a plan to forge a new key - one that will open a very
unique door to a place where the world is a stage for those who go there. It is
a very special gift for a boy who will never live to see the future but revels
in the stories of his family's past. It is a touching, non-horrific break from
the stories in the main series. If you are a fan and skipped it by all means
grab a copy. But it is also a good sampler for those unfamiliar with the series
as it gives so much information about the keys - some of which I wish I knew
before the series began. Either way this one gets my endorsement.
*****
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:
What three comic book titles were the first to have Full Holographic covers?
Malibu's Prime #1, The Strangers #1, and Hardcase #1 all had variants that were
FULL-cover holograms. No winner again this week.
Here was your no prize question:
Which planet in our solar system rotates clockwise?
Venus is the planet that rotates clockwise. Jason Pavao got it this time.
THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION:
What was the full title of Neil Gaiman's first series for TEKNO COMIX?
Here is your no prize question:
Which U.S. state East of the Mississippi is the largest in area?
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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