Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery

   I normally stay away from crime books. But, after reading Ed Brubaker’s Criminal books, I decided to give this book a try.

   In this historical crime fiction tale, a pale black man who can pass for white travels to the segregated South in hopes of revealing the atrocities of lynch mobs to his readers up North. In the midst of his latest investigation, the hero learns that his brother is facing a lynching after being accused of killing a white woman. But, when the girl turns up alive, our hero must figure out who the victim really was.

   A very powerful book. Very gritty. Lots of swears and racial slurs. That includes the “N” word. Along with the nudity, this probably wouldn’t pass muster in high school libraries. But, with its important message, I feel like if any kid aged 13-18 wanted to read this book, parents should at least examine it for themselves and open an important dialogue about racism and bigotry. This book would be perfect for college lit courses.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Green Lantern The 80s #1

   This retroactive has a lost tale featuring John Stewart. It reveals why he forwent wearing a mask and a secret identity. The story was very clever and the art was classic.

   The reprint tale has Hal Jordan returning from a year-long exile in outer space. It also explains why John Stewart replaced Hal- a mystery I never understood ever since I saw Stewart’s first appearance on a magazine stand in a 1980s Rite Aid when I was not even in Kindergarten. (Yes- I’m old!) It too is a very good story and it features wonderful 1980s DC art, of which I am a huge fan.

   I only wish Guy Gardner was in this book. He’s on the cover, but nowhere to be found in it’s contents. Bummer.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham #2

   As wedding bells chime for the newlywed couple of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, things get even more deadly between their alter egos. With all of Gotham’s villains destroyed by Batman, the only thing Gotham City PD has left to do is apprehend him. Yet, in very un-Batman like fashion, a raid on Commissioner Gordon’s offices proves that this isn’t your grandpa’s Dark Knight.

    Some great plot twists and turns. It’s a pity (and probably too late) that DC never made a sequel to follow up the great shock ending. The art continues to amaze and the writing just keep getting better and better making for one heck of a closing chapter in a very awesome Elseworlds tale.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Catwoman: Guardian Of Gotham #1

    In this role reversal, Catwoman is the hero and Batman is the villain. As Catwoman solves the crimes of Gotham City, Batman is making a name for himself by killing all of the heroine’s foes- Joker, Two-Face, Riddler…nobody is safe. And Catwoman is the next target.

   This Batman also has a perchance for robbing the pants off of Gotham’s elite and when he comes across Catwoman’s secret identity during a random robbery, he decides to put off her murder temporarily, by wooing her during the day as Bruce Wayne. But just what is his up his sleeves.

    I like the role reversal thing. I also like that this isn’t like Elseworld’s Finest: Batwoman and Supergirl, where all the guy characters are now female and vice versa. The only real difference is that Catwoman= good, Batman= evil. The story is very good. The art is pristine and fits seamlessly with other Batman books of the late 90s.

   My only problem is that Catwoman’s maid is dressed as a slutty French maid all the time at Kyle Manor. Alfred never worked in Wayne Manor wearing a banana hammock! Talk about gratuitous (and unneeded for the story ) T&A.

   Besides that, this volume is Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Vol. 2

The new Spider-man keeps getting better. I know, I ranted about how young Miles Morales is. Well, the thing is that everyone seems to know whoever’s behind the mask is not old enough to drive a car. Since everyone else has this beef, I felt justified. But, it allowed me to enjoy the ride all that much better. The art is really good. I even like the covers, even though they are clearly CGI. The writing of Bendis is really what makes this book. Just like with the first Ultimate Spider-man series, he’s got me hooked again! I need volume 3 STAT! Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Justice League Of America The 90s #1

     Giffen and DeMatteis are back! Who else but those two could be chosen to best reflect what the Justice League was all about in the 90s. 
    In this lost tale, the Injustice League winds up with some dangerous parademon tech, resulting in Big Sir getting even bigger- and looking an awful lot like a certain giant lizard from Japan.

   It’s a laugh riot, capturing the essence of the creative duo’s best work on the various Justice League titles.

   The reprinted tale that deals with J’onn J’onzz and his decision to leave the League is very good as well. Sadly, I’ve read that issue already. Bummer!

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Justice League Of America The 80s #1

 The Detriot era of the Justice League of America may be one of the least popular in the team’s epic history. But, DC decided to focus on that time period and I think it was a great idea. The Aquaman led team has major issues and in both the lost tale and the reprint, the team bickers so much that they are their own worst enemies. And that made for some compelling reading...

   I like it when the characters show they aren’t perfect. It was what made Marvel great and though it took a long time for DC to follow suit, the company’s done a great job at showing these modern day gods their human side.

   Great read!

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Justice League America The 70s: #1

    In the lost tale, Adam Strange is accidently zeta-beamed to Earth Prime, where there are no superheroes, except the one’s published by DC Comics. Thankfully, a little-known editor named Julie Schwartz is there to help save the day.

   Then in the reprint, writer Cary Bates is teleported to Earth-2, where his writing skills have turned him into the Justice Society’s worst nightmare. But don't expect to know how this story finishes as you'll need the following issue to read what happens next as this tale ends on a cliffhanger.

   Both tales are great and they reflect DC’s tradition of tying the real and fake worlds together. The lost tale was so good, it should have been used in the Schwartz JLA tribute instead of Harlan Ellison’s awful tale. Still, why would you include a two-part story in a one-shot when you only include part I? 

   Great stuff- Worth Consuming. But, I am a little steamed on the editors for leaving us with a cliffhanger and no affordable options for resolution. 

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

  

 

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Volume 1

   When the Ultimate Spider-Man/ Peter Parker dies; Fate, Destiny, or Kismet sees to it that a successor is chosen. Enter Miles Morales, a gifted youngster who's been bitten by one of Norman Osborne’s genetically altered spiders.

   The book starts off slow, with it being at least 3 issues before Miles dons the mantle of Spider-man. Adding to the odd flow of the book is that part of the story is of another issue that deals with the first appearance of Morales in the Ultimate Universe. Then after the first arc is completed, the rest of that ground breaking issue is reprinted, but it deals mostly with Mister Fantastic and the X-Men and has nothing to do with Spidey.
   
   Here is my big problem with the book. It’s not that this Spider-man is black. I have no problem with this. I signed the petition years back for Donald Glover to be Peter Parker in this newest Spider-man film and it turns out Glover was what inspired Bendis to create a minority replacement to Peter Parker. My issue with the book is that Morales is in middle school. He’s like 10-12 years old and it just doesn’t seem plausible that Nick Fury would use such a young kid considering how hesitant as he was to use Parker, who was 16, when he first became a costumed hero.

    Thankfully, Milo and his best friend are wonderfully crafted and they make for pleasant reads. Also, I like how Bendis is using Aunt May and Gwen Stacy as mentors giving Miles the “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility” mantra that really inspired Peter. I think there is great potential for this book and I'm already standing in line, waiting for more to come.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.



 

 

Justice League America #91

   In the wake of Judgement Day, the League brings the body of Ice back to her frozen homeland. It’s not all peaches and cream as the League is split into factions, arguing amongst themselves, and suddenly without the support of Max Lord or the UN. It looks like a ticking time bomb is ready to go off. But, lord help the first person to start a ruckus, least they face the wrath of Ice’s BFF, Fire.

   A great story. I loved everything about this book until the final panel. The Art- amazing. the story- powerful. The cliffhanger- to be found in another DC title that I don’t own. That so pisses me off when companies do this sort of crossover and don’t really warn the customer on the cover. It’s that alone that affected my rating of this book.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Superman The 90s #1

   In this Retroactive title’s lost tale, a long-haired Superman must save Metropolis from a large burrowing worm and several expatriates from Warworld. In the reprint, we see Superman’s original meeting with this worm and are introduced to several refugees from the Cadmus Project who’ve taken refuge in the city sewers and sought out Prof. Hamilton for help.

   Two very good tales. I’m a little familiar with the period of Superman’s history from the 90s. Basically, I know of his fight with Doomsday, the reign of the superman, and his return. But, after that, I’m kinda lost until maybe 1998-2000 Action Comics. So, it was a slightly difficult read. Art was very good though something was off in the last page of my reprint tale. It looks like it was inked by an entirely different artist. Weird.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Adventures on The Planet of the Apes #1

 This book’s from 1975 and for the first issue of Adventures on the Planet of the Apes, the editor’s decide to start off with a 6-issue adaptation of the classic 1968 film starring Charleston Heston? Talk about being topical. This probably explains why the book didn’t last longer than a year, as fans were probably wanting new Apes stories and they get a tale they already saw in theatres almost a decade prior.

   Regardless of that, the story is very good. It has some insights missing from the film. The art is pretty good- considered it’s a film adaptation from the 70s. I enjoyed it. It was just a little unexpected to seeing chapter 1 (of 6) of the original film in these contents.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

U.S. (Uncle Sam) #2

   

   Last issue, Sam was covered in the blood of those who fought for America’s freedom. All of a sudden in this issue, it appears all of that is forgotten. I feel like the cliff hanger was a huge let down.

   The second chapter was also confusing as he is visited by the living embodiments of pass republics that are no longer at their peak. It’s not that I don’t know who is who. It’s just every one of the characters speaks in riddles.

   The conclusion is which Uncle Sam battles his successor, however, is epic. The imposter Sam is made up of the media and each screen on his television cloak looks like an actual still from the shows in which they were inspired. Yet, it’s all paintings here.

   Alex Ross is a master and it’s his masterful touch that keeps this second chapter from bringing the whole work down into the ranks of not being worth consuming.

   I loved the first chapter and I enjoyed chapter two. I give the entire work as a whole a rating of 8/10 stars.

   Worth Consuming.

   Issue 2 rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

U. S. Uncle Sam #1

A homeless man with patriotic delusions of grandeur, may or may not be Uncle Sam; the living embodiment of America’s freedom. As he leaps from historic event to historic event, our hero learns that the ideals of our forefathers have become flawed because they too were flawed.

The real price of admission is the amazing Alex Ross art. Each character has depth, emotion, and life. His paintings are near picture perfect as reflected in his antique store scenes where each nic-nac has their own texture, reflection, and shadow. Awesome stuff! He’s my favorite artist by far!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Criminal Vol. 3: The Dead and The Dying

This volume just continues to add to the mystique of Brubaker’s Criminal series. The mosaic of characters, history, and lore continues to fall into place as the background of Gnarly, the patron of the seedy Undertow Bar and the Hyde crime family is explored in a trio of stories. We also finally learn of the origin of the Lawless family from Criminal Volume 2.

This fantastic volume has cemented Criminal as one of my all-time favorite non-super hero titles and is now officially on my wish list to complete the rest of the series to read. Brilliant stuff. Brubaker is a master storyteller and it shows on every panel.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC Retroactive Superman The 80s #1

Superman is shown the future by Destiny, one of the Endless from Sandman fame. The fate of humanity is in his hands as he is shown what will transpire in the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hero, Infinite Crisis, and much, much more. A fantastic twist ending that makes this a lost Crisis tale.

Then there is a reprint of a 1980 story in which Superman was first visited by Destiny. It shows that Superman is doing too much for Metropolis and is stunting that society’s culture evolution. But should that really stop him from helping?

Two brilliant tales. Who else but Marv Wolfman to craft a Crisis on Infinite Earths lost tale. It’s a shame that George Perez couldn’t do the art, but I guess he never worked on Superman in the 80s. Regardless, this is excellent stuff and a very fun read. Required reading for any DC fan!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Four Unlimited #1

The Fantastic Four encounter trouble when the arrive in Wakandan air space. It appears that the creature of living sound, Klaw, is making yet another attempt to steal all of that tiny African nation’s vibranium. Included in this premiere issue is a recount of the origin of the Klaw family’s grip with the Royal Family of Wakanda. Two very good stories. I like that Marvel decided to expand on untold tales of the Fantastic Four’s legion of co-stars. It’s about time. Sadly, this series only lasted a dozen issues. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the entire series for cheap. The art is a little too Rob Liefield for my tastes and I still don’t understand Sue’s emblem cutout of the number 4 on her chest. If it’s supposed to be for T&A, then why is it constantly filled in with blue ink? Classic 90s Marvel- filled with great writing and steroid induced art.

 

Worth Consuming.  

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The X-Files #24

 

   Mulder and Scully are on the track of a killer who is using a mysterious article of clothing to steal the life force from people in order to make himself young again.

   The fringe science for personal purposes idea is as old as science fiction itself. So, it’s no surprise that it’s used as a prop device here. Also used are the standard quotes Mulder uses to try and convince Scully that conspiracies are real as well as Scully’s obvious rebuttals that science has a logical answer.

   Noticeably absent from this book are aliens. That’s probably because show creator, Chris Carter, wanted to keep those story lines open for sweeps week on Fox and not wasted in a $2.99 comic.

   The art is spot on in the likeness of Fox and Dana. It’s also very gruesome like the show. The plot’s okay, but it’s be used to death- literally. All-in-all, for a book I paid less than a dollar for, it wasn’t a bad read.

  Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

 

Cops #11

   

This issue focuses on the character of Barricade and what makes him tick. A crowd control specialist, Barricade uses a giant battering ram called a bull. But this cop doesn’t get a high by pushing others around. His technique is very psychological and he is very mellow. That’s not always been the case, as we see in his origin story that early run-ins with rioting crowds as a child has left him with some serious baggage.

   To have a cartoon tie-in comic take on some serious roles and show both guts and heart is rare. I keep coming back to the fantastic job Larry Hama did on the origin GI Joe run, where the heroes are unique in their specialties, but they are incorruptible, Plus, the villains, while totally despicable, are buffoonish in order to show kids that violence shouldn’t be glorified and that crime doesn’t pay! (Remember, everybody shoots guns but the targets never got hit- unless you were aiming at a water tower or gas tank for a distraction!)

   Awesome Stuff. Soon, the entire series will be in my custody.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Cops #1

   No- this isn’t a comic based on Fox’s documentary series COPS. These are the Centralized Organization of Police Specialists. When the cartoon came out in the 80s, I thought it strange that there were so many different cop uniforms and it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Little did I know that SWAT teams and bomb units and even Texas Marshall’s did indeed have their own costumes.

 Rumor has it that Mattel wanted a cartoon based on Robocop and had characters and villains mocked up ready for production. But the movie was so violent and filled with scenes of attempted rape and drug use that the idea was scrapped. However, Mattel already had invested millions in the idea and looking to make lemonade from lemons, so they kept the futuristic scenery and made up new heroic characters and named the cartoon COPS. That 'Cops' was also a hit series on Fox at the time didn’t hurt either.

 Here, a crazed scientist with an exposed brain tries to join the Big Boss’ crew. On the head honcho’s tail is a G-Man that already took out the baddie’s baby brother. When the G-Man goes into a coma, a clandestine crew of policemen from across America are recruited to bring order to the harsh landscape of Central City.

 It’s juvenile- but it’s fun. The art is really good for a campy looking cartoon. I think if I understood police like I do now, I would have liked the cartoon of the 80s better. But, now I see the campy side of this product and I like it even more. Especially, the bad guys- they’re extremely cartoonish even though they commit dastardly acts of violence.

 The most important thing is the writing. For an 80s TV tie-in, it’s really good. I’m talking Larry Hama doing GI Joe good! The verdict is not quite out, but I am seriously thinking this is going become a series added to my wish list.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Criminal Vol. 2: Lawless

An escapee from a military prison returns to his home town to solve the mystery of his brother’s murder. His list of suspects is comprised of lil' bro’s former crew, whose most recent heist went sour and were the last folks to see him alive. Finding answers will also lead to discovering some painful family secrets as well.

The grit and grime of volume 1 have spilled over into this volume and it totally works. I thought each Criminal volume was a separate story. However, the speakeasy and some characters from volume 1: Coward appear in this story. While Lawless is a stand alone tale, Criminal is a brilliantly crafted series that weaves a mosaic of deceit, sex, and murder. Awesome stuff!

Worth Consuming.