New Avengers #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

 Avengers: Disassembled.

It was the darkest day for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Scarlet Witch realized that her twin boys, Billy and Tommy, weren't real. It just wasn't humanly possible for a mutant and an android to produce biological children. Going into severe psychosis, Wanda destroys the Avengers Mansion, murders her husband, the Vision, and kills a couple other Avengers, including one of the Ant-Mans. Public and government sentiment of the Avengers reached an all-time low seeing Tony Stark and Steve Rogers disband the team in return.

Now it's 6 months later. There's one less super group to save Manhattan. Freshly outted as Daredevil, Matt Murdock travels to the Raft, an ultra-top security containment facility for most of Earth's most dangerous villains underneath Ryker's Island. With Luke Cage in tow as a bodyguard, and perhaps to keep up the appearance that he's not really the Man Without Fear, Murdock is conducting legal business on behalf of Mister Fantastic with one of the inmates. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious person has hired Electro to take out the prison's electrical grid and free as many of its occupants as possible. The motive behind this action is just as unknown as Electro's new benefactor, but the member of the Sinister Six is ready to prove the he's got what it takes to bring Manhattan and the World to its knees all by his lonesome. All those he frees have to do is one day owe Electro a favor.

Though issue #1 of New Avengers has quite a bit of action, don't expect the team to be back in action just yet. This issue is to primarily get most of the players onto the game board. Along with Murdock and Power Man, this episode adds Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Captain America to the fray. There's also Reed Richard's mystery client. But I am pretty sure that there's still a couple more heroes to add to the roster who are unaccounted for.

Brian Michael Bendis penned this opener into a new chapter of the Avengers. I know he's got a lot of detractors out there. But I like him. He's a lot like Tom King in that he makes a lot of enemies by screwing around with fan's favorite characters by either killing them off, or making them gay or trans or making them into bad guys. But unlike with King, I am mostly okay with Bendis' changes because they're very well plotted and make sense. I think Tom King just has a singular plan to ruin my childhood...

David Finch is the artist for this issue. He did an amazing job. However, I think it must be said that it wouldn't have been so amazing if not for the masterful brush strokes of Danny Miki as the inker. It's got that George Perez/Frank Quitely quality to it of which I am such a fan!

The iconic, and oft recreated cover was crafted by colorist Frank D'Armata.

An amazing 2005 issue that kicks off one of my most favorite incarnations of the Avengers!

Completing this review completes Task #11 (An Avengers Comic from the 2000s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

Keeping in mind that I've only read about half of the Philip Marlowe novels written by Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely is currently my least favorite of the bunch. First published in 1940, this is only Chandler's 2nd Marlowe novel. So it's early Chandler. Unpolished Chandler. 

I'm learning that Raymond Chandler is a fantastic writer. He paints pictures with words that are so vibrant, I feel like I am there. But when it comes to plotting, the writer isn't the most thorough or revealing. You know that conspiracy theory board where the paranoid guy has red strings going all over the place? Well I feel like Chandler uses two bulletin boards placed on opposite sides of the room, because some of the connections he makes with the clues behind the mystery are a bit of a stretch.

There's a trio of Russian cigarettes that contain a secret in them. How Chandler connects the murder of a client all the way to the organized crime racket of a seaside California town still has my scratching my head. If it didn't have anything to do with the plot, I would consider it a red herring. But Chandler does find a way to glue the puzzle pieces together. I just think he forgot to tell us how he did it. 

There's a famous anecdote about where Howard Hawks is trying to adapt The Big Sleep to a screenplay and he can't figure out how one of the characters died to which Raymond Chandler telegraphed back 'Damned of I Know.' The Big Sleep was Chandler's first Marlowe novel. So you can imagine how excited I am to read it in light of this Hollywood legend. 

Some of the Philip Marlowe novels were originally published in the pulps, only without Chandler's iconic hero in the starring role, and being around 50 pages or less, having slightly changed plots. And yes, some of the plots were altered quite a bit. The scene where Marlowe goes to a hotel and shares a pint of whiskey with the manager is a moment taken directly from 'Pickup on Noon Street'.

So what's the plot to Farewell, My Lovely? In a nutshell, Marlowe runs into a massive ex-con who needs help finding his sweetheart: a girl by the name of Velma. After Moose Malloy accidentally kills the man that owns the new establishment at the locale that used to be where Velma worked, the big guy flees. Several cops warn Marlowe away from the case. But you never can tell the detective to stay away from a mystery. That's practically invitation for the shamus to keep on looking for clues.

Marlowe's search for Velma will hopefully lead the cops to arrest Malloy. In the meantime, he takes a rather small assignment, helping a pretty boy playboy conduct a money drop for some stolen jewelry. Smelling a set up, Marlowe goes around to case the scene. But that's a bad idea, because it results in his client's death. With the help of a loaded cigarette case of reefers and a spunky news reporter, the P.I. will stumble in the path of a con man playing celebrity psychic, his odorific henchman and a disgraced doctor who holds the narrator captive with truth serum and dope before finds his way to freedom and the off shore gambling houses of one of the state's leading 'legitimate businessmen!'

Argue as much as you like that a lot of Marlowe's exploits seem to repeat throughout the books he stars in. But the 2 chapters where the dick languishes in a drugged fueled haze is completely new territory. Plus, I do not recall marijuana playing a role in any of the other novels written by Chandler.

Chandler takes Marlowe all over L.A. County it seems. If it was a travel guide, this would be one of the most amazing works of mental pictures about the underbelly of Southern Coastal California. But this is a crime noir. One that is written so well but needs a road map to get from Point A all the way to Point B. I think this would have worked better as 2 short stories. One about Marlowe's encounters with Moose Malloy and a second about the murdered client. I think if Chandler had done that I would be a fan of 2 amazing novellas instead of on the fence about a very confusing mystery novel. Though, some of the confusion could be based on my copy being a UK edition. 

Perhaps some of the late 1930s slang used by the characters in this book were changed for British audiences. It's possible. I just don't know how likely that could be.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Avengers #366 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The cover for this 1993 issue touts that this is a '30th Anniversary Issue'. But for a very large majority of it, this book didn't feel like it led up to the hype. There's 2 stories in what feels like a slightly oversized issue. I didn't count the number of pages but with the prestige format cover, it felt thicker than a standard early modern age Marvel publication. 

The first story sees Captain America, Hank Pym, Natasha Romanoff and a really super powered lady named Sersi, who are attempting a rescue mission of the Black Knight, Hercules and the Inhuman Crystal. Occurring sometime after the destruction of the Kree home world at the hands of the Supreme Intelligence, a rogue Kree General is holding the Avengers responsible for the obliteration of his planet. To exact his vengeance, the Kree warrior has activated a Nega-Bomb, which will destroy planet Earth in about 30 minutes. Just enough time for the Avengers to save the day with a moment of reflection on the part of Hank Pym to marvel at the original lineup of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and to give his seal of approval to the current incarnation.

Story #2 really has nothing to do with the anniversary of formation of the Avengers. Instead, we get a guest appearance by Deadpool!  A couple of B-list villains rob a Manhattan bank in hopes of obtaining the contents of a former weapons master that will lead to the discovery of the world's most deadliest weapon. Throw in Bloodwraith, the demon possessed former squire of the Black Knight, along with the Black Knight himself and you've got a 3-man free-for-all that seems really out of place here.

If you read the editor's note on the letters page at the back of this book, you will learn that this issue was very, very delayed in coming out. That could explain why there's a backup story. Perhaps the creative team was running out of time and thus had the main story come in short. A second tale gets included by a totally different crew to keep with the promise of several super-sized anniversary issues. Toss in one of those breath-taking embossed covers, paint it entirely in gold lamé ink and you hopefully have produced something that will make the Marvel faithful satisfied despite being way behind schedule.

I enjoyed seeing an early Deadpool appearance. He's not as insane and off-the-wall irreverent as the Merc With a Mouth has become in the 21st century. That story was written by Glenn Herdling. Illustrated by Mike Gustovich. 

As for the opener, the script was crafted by Bob Harras with art by Steve Epting. Epting also pencilled the cover..

Definitely a product of the 1990s post-bubble industry. It's full of overly muscular heroes. Scantily clad vixens. Plus a level of violence that looks tame to 2026 standards but was rather shocking 4 decades ago.

Completing this review completes Task #10 (An Avengers Comic from the 1990s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Avengers #239 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

This comic book came out with a cover date of January, 1984. I was 5 years of age. To say that by the time I was 5 that this comic book was my introduction to David Letterman would be a good guess. But you would be wrong.

My parents were on the young side when they had my in 1977. By 1983, neither were the age of 30 yet

 My mom, a nurse, worked nights. My dad was in college. They were night owls. They were hip-ish. To say that the exploits of David Letterman, his musical sidekick Paul Shaffer and the rest of the Late Night crew was already a nearly nightly session at my home would be an accurate description. The infamous interview between Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman in a cervical collar, was an early childhood memory for me. A traumatizing one. But one that I remember fondly. That's for sure.

This is one of those issues that I owned in my original childhood collection. The one that I foolishly allowed to be stolen when I was in middle school. I don't remember where I bought it. Heck, my dad might have bought it and then it ended up in my collection. But I could guess 3 possible locations that it was bought at: the Grocery Boy Jr., 7/11 or Tales Resold. All from the Raleigh Brentwood area. 

The story is a classic. Wonder Man's movie career has stalled. To help jump start it, Simon's agent gets him booked to Late Night With David Letterman. Unfortunately, since Wonder Man is currently on reserve status with Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the show's producers are wanting some more well known Avengers to tag along as well. With heavy hitters Captain America and Thor away on personal missions, Hawkeye and the Vision call in as many favors as they can to support Simon's big break. 

Along with Hawkeye, the Beast, Black Widow and Black Panther are all able to make. (I just realized that it appears that Clint Barton and Vision only made it to the letter B of the Avengers roll call!) Also in attendance is Fabian Stankowicz, a recent lottery winner who's been creating ways to attack the Avengers in order to make a name for himself. Using his knowledge of mechanics, Stankowicz turns Letterman's studio into an arena of death! 

This story also features the SHIELD super heroine Mockingbird. Fresh from their honeymoon, Hawkeye introduced her to his teammates and it's a good thing too because Stankowicz hadn't planned on Mockingbird being in attendance and she pretty much is the catalyst that saves the day! Though Letterman and Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band lend hands as well. 

This issue was part of Marvel's notorious 1984 Assistant Editor's Month event.  In 1983, Shooter and his editors went to the West Coast for Comic-Con and left the junior editors to take over the reigns for a month. As a result, some of the most off-the-wall stories and ideas were brandied about, such as the canon story where Aunt May temporarily becomes a herald of Galactus! I've got a few of these issues. I'd love for Marvel to reprint all of those issues as an omnibus. Though with GI Joe, Conan the Barbarian and other titles not being licensed by Marvel anymore, such a collection might be impossible. Perhaps I will add them to my already rather large wish list...

A fantastic issue that I am more than excited to have back in my collection!

Script by Roger Stern. Art and cover by Al Milgrom and Joe Sinnott. Michael Carlin is the editor to blame for this story!

Completing this review completes Task #9 (An Avengers Comic from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Dick Tracy Book 3: Official Movie Adaptation

Len Wein takes over the scripting role for the third and final issue of Disney Comic's Dick Tracy miniseries. Issue #3 is the official adaptation of the live action film starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino and Madonna. 

I felt like this was a fairly good adaptation of the movie. It's been decades since I saw it. Maybe the 2 prequel issues helped me to enjoy it more. Though I think to consider the 1990 noir film based on the popular Dick Tracy comic strip a children's movie, was perhaps a bad idea. There's a lot of murders and violence. Mostly from Tommy guns and explosions. But at least one character is killed by being buried in a cement coffin called 'The Bath.' Don't even get me started on the abuse the Kid suffers at the hands of Steve the Tramp!

One thing that I didn't realize was how much sex was in this movie. There isn't anything blatant. But the costumes worn by Madonna's character Breathless Mahoney are pretty risque. And the innuendo she pours over Dick Tracy, trying to lure him away from his sweetheart Tess Trueheart was quite silacious. At the time, I was only 12. What did I know???

Kyle Baker was the artist for the entire series. It's interesting work to say the least. The background sets and the NPCs of the story have that traditional early Kyle Baker style that's raw, fierce and sometimes uninhibited. But when it comes to the characters created by Chester Gould, they look like they were penciled and inked by the Dick Tracy creator himself. With one exception: the title character! I'm wondering if there was a clause in Warren Beatty's contract that all promotional imagery, including comic adaptations, had to have his likeness. 

Al 'Big Boy' Caprice, who was played by Al Pacino, had the legendary actor's eyes. But Big Boy is drawn more like Pacino appeared under a good 10 pounds of foam rubber makeup. Madonna's character looks more like a sultry blonde illustrated by Patrick Nagel. It could be anybody in a blonde wig in a slinky dress that hangs onto the body in the right places. 

As for Tracy's squad of do-gooders, Dick Tracy Jr, Sam Catchem and such, they vary in style. The Kid has coal black button eyes whereas Sam looks like Flattop in a bowler with a permanent grin on his face. If you're familiar with the comic strip, based on the artwork, you should be able to figure out some surprise reveals ahead of time. Just keep a detecting eye out.

Lot of fun. I think being in my late 40s, I was able to enjoy this book more than I would have as a preteen. This trip down memory lane has got me wanting to see the live action picture again. That's really saying something because I remember when I first saw the film, I was really blasé about how it turned out. Dick Tracy 1990 has a reputation of being a terrible movie despite really killing it in theaters those first 2 weeks in theaters. It has become a sort of cult classic. Maybe it warrants another view. I'm definitely in the right frame of mind for it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dick Tracy Book 2: Dick Tracy Vs. The Underworld

The debate will always be 'Who has the best Rogue's Gallery: Batman or the Flash?' Once you figure that out, #3 is undoubtedly that of always honest cop, Dick Tracy! The blood thirsty Flattop, with his horizontal cranium. The Brow, with his multiple folded forehead that rivals that of Duke great, Shane Battier. Names like Mumbles, Prune Face, Itchy and Breathless Mahoney either indicate a physical attribute or character trait that gives the reader a clue as to the type of villain Tracy and his men will be encountering. 

I was 12 when Dick Tracy hit theaters and I admit that I caught the fever. When it was announced that in the 1990 live action film all of Dick Tracy's main foes were assembled in what was built as an all-out gang war with Tracy and his squad in the middle to protect and serve the post-prohibition citizens of the metropolis, known simply as 'The City', I was thrilled! I grew up spending a lot of time on the farm owned by my grandmama and her family. The adventures of Dick Tracy were a weekend surprise as the major newspapers of Raleigh, NC didn't carry the strip. I feel in love with the unique criminals and their clever names. B.O. Plenty! You knew that guy stunk! Although they had been killed decades earlier, I grew up reading the classic Dick Tracy stories that were collected in comic book format. There probably was a paperback collection floating around the house. So imagine my disappointment when 90% of the promised characters get knocked off in the first 15 minutes of the Warren Beatty led movie!

If you are like me and you felt that a majority of the best Tracy villains were killed off way too early, then you will love the first 2 issues of the Dick Tracy comic miniseries produced by Disney during its all too brief experiment as a comic book publisher. Issues 1&2 act as a prequel to the movie. I've learned over the years that the live action film had underwent dozens of rewrites as the franchise rights changed hands several times in the 70s and 80s. So I wonder if perhaps there's was a lot of stuff that was not good enough for the silver screen but still warranted public notice. Hence the prequel treatment.

In book 2, Prohibition finally gets repealed. The illegal trade of alcohol is no longer a lucrative venture. As a result, Prune Face makes a play for the numbers racket run in The City solely by Lips Manlis. When some of Prune Face's gang wipe out a deli that is secretly a front for illegal sports betting of the Manlis gang, Lips' right hand man, Al 'Big Boy' Caprice is incensed! He wants revenge. But Lips is concerned about making waves what with Dick Tracy given carte blanch by the Chief of Police, on cleaning up the criminal element of The City! 

Seeing Manlis refusing retribution as a sign of weakness, Big Boy begins a play to take over. Meanwhile, a group of unknown thugs have knocked over an armored truck. Tracy and his men manage to apprehend all but 1 of the robbers, who flees to the sewers for help from a mysterious figure known only as The Mole! As Tracy investigates a robbery, the FBI send an agent to search for a criminal who might have taken up residence in The City. His investigation and how it ties into the armor car heist will amaze even the most staunchest of crime noir/mystery lovers with a plot that rivals Mickey Spillane, Agatha Christie and James Bond's papa, Ian Fleming.

Showing the origins of the two-way wrist watch radio, along with introducing about another dozen novelty villains of the Dick Tracy Rogues Gallery, book 3 is the official adaptation of the 1990 live action film.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Dick Tracy Book One: Big City Blues (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

1990 saw a longtime dream of actor/director Warren Beatty come true when a feature length live-action version of the crime comic strip Dick Tracy debuted in theaters. Beatty had developed a treatment for such a film in the early 70s. Film rights switched hands many times and yet Warren Beatty was constantly attached to the project, chomping at the bit to play one of his long time heroes. 

Dick Tracy was created by Chester Gould. The police detective with unwavering scruples debuted in newspapers beginning in 1931. 3 years later, Dick Tracy would hit radio airwaves before a string of movie serials would thrill kids and adults alike in 1937 with a 15-parter starring Ralph Byrd. Add in a Dick Tracy cartoon that aired on television during the early 60s, that was the limit to the character's non-print appearances in the media until the 1990s. 

Disney Studios through Touchstone Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures finally got involved in the Dick Tracy project in the 80s. With Warren Beatty leading the project not just as the lead actor but now behind the lenses as director, superstars came out of the woodwork to appear in the film. Al Pacino, Dick Van Dyke, Dustin Hoffman and Madonna, arguably the biggest female pop singer of the time, all signed onto the picture which finally debuted on June 15, 1990.

There was a ton of licensing for the film. Toys, bubble gum cards, clothing, even a video game were released as tie-ins. Disney released a 3-issue comic book miniseries. During this time, Disney self-published their own comics for a very brief 3 year period. They were high quality works featuring art by media juggernauts. Unfortunately, Disney Comics was one of the many smaller publishing houses that couldn't survive when the comic book bubble burst in the early 90s.

John Moore wrote the script for this series. Art was from Kyle Baker. If you were expecting this issue to be an adaptation of the movie, you'll have to wait. Issues #1 and 2 are actually the prequel build-up. The story begins in 1938. Prohibition is about to be repealed. The gangs of 'The City' are in chaos as the lucrative cash flow from illegal bootlegging runs dry. Prune Face is attempting to encroach into the numbers racket controlled by rival Lips Manlis. Numerous small time thugs hide in the shadows in hopes of picking through the debris and casualties left in the war of the growing mob war. 

Most of the City's police force are on the payroll of either Manlis or Prune Face... Or BOTH! That is except for one police detective that wears a bright yellow overcoat and matching fedora everywhere he goes: Dick Tracy. Having recently arrested the son of an important socialite for public intoxication, Tracy finds himself stuck at a desk job. But when his girlfriend, Tess Trueheart's father is murdered while transporting 'kitchen supplies' for Lips Manlis, Tracy disobeys orders. With Tess distraught and the police claiming that Mr. Trueheart was really a smuggler, Dick investigates on the sly to find Mr. Trueheart's killer.

This was a totally unexpected treat. But probably not how you think. I wasn't expecting this to be the comic book adaptation of the film. Based on the cover title proclaiming 'Big City Blues', and how I have learned over the years that Warren Beatty longed a trilogy of Dick Tracy films, I came into this selection of my reading challenge as being a continuation of the 'first film.' I didn't know that I was going to get the inside track on how things lead up to the events of the film. 

A must for fans of Dick Tracy. It took me forever to find all 3 issues. I like to have an entire story run before I read the title. However you won't have to worry about a cliffhanger here. The story ends with a satisfying ending that you could use as the entryway into the film. Or you could wait until you find issue #2. But if you decide to skip ahead as it turns out that issue #3 actually is the adaptation of the movie, you'll be just fine, I think.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #38 (A Crime Comic) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.