I love this all-ages series from The Goon's Eric Powell! He takes those oddball twist endings from those classic 1950s horror titles and crafts some amazingly spooky tales!
I grew up on titles like Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror (in reprint, obviously.) I loved those weird endings that gave villains their due while also not being afraid to off an innocent or two. The artwork was all over the place in terms of style. It's quality was never an issue. There was a wealth of variety. You had folks like Johnny Craig who crafted very stylish noir pieces and Wally Wood with his deep palette of textures and shading.
A person favorite was the art of Jack Davis. The MAD Magazine legend drew highly embellished art that favored a caricaturist. Eric Powell has a very similar style in his works and I truly love it!
Unfortunately, the only artwork from Eric Powell is the cover. But that's actually okay. Powell writes all the stories within, with his patented tongue-in-cheek manner. Plus artists William Stout and Gideon Kendall (Dino Pets) do fantastic job to the point I thought it really was Eric Powell behind the pencil!
Featuring awesome parodies of Stephen King's It, Spider-Man and the classic 80s horror film, The Lost Boys, this was a near perfect warm-up for Halloween thrills and chills!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
American Mythology has been introducing younger readers to a series of classic characters for the past 3-4 years. For the 2019 Halloween ComicFest, they present Underdog!
A stretchy villain named Rubber Duck has just escaped prison! During his breakout, Rubber Duck winds up in a puddle of mysterious goo. In true comic book fashion, these chemicals have given the baddie a super power.
Now, not only is Rubber Duck super flexible, but he's darn near invincible too! All of the city's banks are under siege! What is Capital City to do?
Have no fear- Underdog is here!
This was an enjoyable read. My only complaint is that this story, plus the Colonel Bragg short and a couple of other Underdog extras were NOT Halloween themed.
I love American Mythology. I think that they are a great publisher who does release Halloween themed (regular sized) comics. But when it comes to their HCF offerings, none of them are holiday related.
If I could get my wish, I would ask the publisher to start giving me advanced previews for my Family Comic Friday reviews. But if I could have a second wish it would be for the mini comics to be Halloween themed.
A fun read. It just doesn't quite get you into the Halloween mood. But I greatly appreciate the effort!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
Every year, local comics shops do an event call Halloween ComicFest. Nationwide, stores give away free comics while enticing fans with big sales and other cool stuff. I've been going to these events for about a decade now. So I think I am a bit of an expert on what books have been offered over the years. Thus, I can say without a doubt, the annual Archie is the one I looked forward to the most!
In this year's freebie, the star of the book is Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. With her hit Netflix series, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the blonde sorceress is the darling of the Archie Comics conglomerate.
In the opening tale, Sabrina doesn't want to go to her family's annual Halloween coven. Instead, being a typical teenager, Sabrina wants to party with all of her friends. With this being her final answer, Sabrina has unlocked a family curse and turned herself into an ugly troll! Seeing as this looks like an awesome costume, maybe the occutlist can play this to her favor and end up winning the costume contest!
In the second feature, a haunt is terrorizing Riverdale. As a result, ladies are dropping their purses only for them to go missing! The whole matter has got Betty and Veronica spooked. It's up to Archie and Jughead to get to the bottom of this ghost story!
This was a great read! It did not disappoint. I only wish Archie Comics would tell you what year the stories were reprinted from. The Archie story has Betty and Veronica looking like they are from the 1950s but their outfits scream the 70s! I'm really intrigued by this. If any of you readers know the answer, please drop me a line!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
We’ve got one more special treat in store for you fans of all-ages Halloween fun! Join us for an early Family Comic Friday Extra as we explore the latest adventure in the Eisner Award winning series Johnny Boo!
Johnny Boo and the Midnight Monsters
Written and Illustrated by James Kochalka
Published by IDW Publishing
Pages: 42
Retail: $9.99
I was a little disappointed when the line-up for free comics for the 2019 Halloween ComicFest were announced. There was no Johnny Boo! The award-winning graphic novel series by James Kochalka had become a staple offering of the annual comic book store event. Where’s Boo?
But I quickly got my answer as to Johnny Boo, the rad ghost, and his friends absence from HCF 2019. It’s because fans of this series are getting a pre-Halloween treat with the release of the latest graphic novel; The Midnight Monsters!
Johnny Boo and his sprite companion Squiggle are out in the woods doing some awesome late night skateboarding tricks! But the fun turns a little chaotic when the Ice Cream Monster arrives demanding his fair share of frosty treats! Armed with only a skateboard and a helmet made of pumpkin, how will Johnny Boo and his best bud escape this midnight monster?
The Johnny Boo books are recommended for readers of pre-K to third grade. A book full of ghosts and monsters for preschoolers? Well, you know how on Sesame Street Grover and Oscar the Grouch are monsters; but they’re nice monsters? That’s the same way here. A couple of scenes might be a tiny bit spooky, since everything occurs at midnight. But the monsters and surprises in this book are quite harmless.
Series creator James Kolchalka loves to pepper the dialogue of his stories with funny words and silly sayings. This makes the Johnny Boo series a great read for very young readers. The art is childlike but whimsical. Plus, the story has some unexpected turns for a rapid fire approach aimed at youngsters with short attention spans.
One thing that younger readers might not have a problem with but adults like me will is the back cover! Try to avoid looking at it at all costs! No, it’s not scary! But it does contain a major spoiler that ruins the surprise at the end of the book! I blame the editors and design team on this!
A fun-filled graphic novel for all ages! Grab it now just in time for Halloween!
Johnny Boo and the Midnight Monsters debuted in print and digital formats on Wednesday, October 30, 2019.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
The rebooted saga of Cosmo, The Mighty Martian continues in this week’s edition of Family Comic Friday!
Cosmo, The Mighty Martian #1
Written by Ian Flynn
Art by Tracy Yardley
Published by Archie Comics
Retail: $2.99
Evil Queen Hepser continues her plan for the planet Venus to take over the galaxy. This time around, she has assigned Battle Princess Shih to turn the people of the planet Ceres into an army of super soldiers. Standing in the Venusian’s way is the Mighty Martian, Cosmo and his friends!
In the previous Cosmo mini-series, the brave warriors thwarted Hepser’s plans to enslave the people of Arcadea with a mixture of soap and water. But Princess Shih is too smart to use the same chemical formula to turn the Cereans into zombie fighters! Can Cosmo and his crew develop the right cure in time or has Queen Hepser finally earned her first victory in order to become the supreme intergalactic ruler?
Mega Man artist Tracy Yardley really has done a fantastic job on this book. Yes, this book is the beginning of a 5-part sequel to last year’s Cosmo miniseries. But not many people know that Cosmo was first introduced to Archie Comics readers as the ‘Merry Martian’ all the way back in 1958. In that book, he looked like a giant walking marshmallow. In this new look at the space hero, Cosmo and his friends are ultra-sleek. You can see Yardley’s work on other video game comic books properties such as Sonic The Hedgehog shining through this band of interstellar champions.
I felt a little lost with Ian Flynn’s story. There are just so many characters in The Mighty Crusaders’ writer’s script. It’s really hard to keep everyone straight. Honestly, I got confused and thought that Battle Princess Shih was Queen Hepser for a while. I found myself having to re-read the first couple of pages in order to get all the players in this epic straight.
The newest chapter in the saga of Cosmo, the Mighty Martian was enjoyable. But it felt like that with all the characters involved, some of the magic of the previous miniseries was missing here. It got a little confusing. Thankfully, Ian Flynn was able to salvage things a little bit with a thrilling cliffhanger.
Kids of all ages should enjoy this book. However, you might find yourselves feeling a little confused keeping every character and their proper roles straight. Don’t be afraid to re-read the opening introduction in order to get the most of this story!
Cosmo, The Mighty Martian will debut in print and digital formats on November 13, 2019.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett were who you wanted to be in charge of writing and art duties when the newest issue of Batman Adventures dropped. Both talents return to the Batman: The Animated Series universe in this pair of stories starring the Dark Knight and Harley Quinn!
The Joker has belittled his girlfriend for the last time! Feeling completely ignored, Harley Quinn betrays the Clown Prince of Crime to Batman, only to find that The Joker is too pre-occupied with defeating the Caped Crusader! Thus, once 'rehabilitated' by the staff at Arkham Asylum once again, Harley plans on going on her way and she winds up with her supposed BFF Poison Ivy. Sadly, this time around, Harley's role is to become the villainess' lackey!
Enough is enough for Harley Quinn and she decides to go straight and alone. But with Poison Ivy and The Joker seeking revenge for previous double-crossing, it will take the combine efforts of Batman and Nightwing to keep the Maid of Mischief on the path of righteousness.
The two stories reprinted in this volume are both a prequel and sequel to 2017's direct-to-DVD animated feature Batman and Harley Quinn. If you've not seen the film, you're okay as the first half of this book is a prequel. But as quite a bit of the movie is referenced in the sequel half of this book, if you haven't seen the film, YOU WILL GET LOST!
Both tales were originally published as web comics on DCComics.com. The first act is 7 chapters long and the artwork is really good up until chapter 5. At that point, the cleanliness of the art drops and everything looks like the very rough computer generated stuff of 2000's Gotham Girls. I really wonder why Burchett's work suffered. Was it due to having to rush to meet deadlines?
A team of artists and writers tackle the production of the second story. Jeff Parker and Amanda Deibert pen an awesome tale that explains some of Harley Quinn's earliest meetings with Task Force X. The art is split among some great Batman talent including Sandy Jarrell and Dario Brizuela.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read for fans of Harley Quinn and Batman: TAS. But it really helps to have watched the Batman and Harley Quinn movie in order to get the full effect.
Worth Consuming but not without it's flaws!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
My wife found me this book at our local library. I'm not sure why she choose this book for me being as I've never seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre before. Nor ever really wanted too. But I do now!
I was a film studies minor in college. So I have read my fair share of books about film; especially scholarly works. This recollection of the film process of the legendary 1974 horror in regards to the tumultuous events plaguing our nation in the early 70s is a scholarly work. But it was for the most part a very enjoyable read.
Author Joseph Lanza does a fantastic job recalling how Tobe Hooper, Gunner Hansen and crew filmed a hellacious flick in near Hell-like conditions. Lanza is also a very good storylteller when recalling the events of the Watergate scandal and episodes of quite a few ghastly murders that were sensationalized in the early 1970s. He should write true crime novels; if he doesn't already. But when Lanza tries to get philosophical and make allusions between art and inspiration, the writer fails.
Joseph Lanza used some really odd phrases in this book. But Lanza makes it a habit to reuse them those phrases an annoying Nth degree. I've never heard the term 'venting their spleen' before. But Lanza has and he reuses the phrase a total of 8 times in this 240-ish page book. (He might have used it more, but I lost count after 8.) Plus, all his rambles over the The Club of Rome could have been omitted from the book for more information over some glossed over elements I would have been interested in learning about, like the Jonestown tragedy. I understand that group of international thinkers is our modern version of the Illuminati. But Lanza couldn't make me actually care about their philosophy.
When the author is in his element, I couldn't put this book down. I've gone nearly 42 years without seeing Tobe Hopper's opus. I also really didn't care too see it. But thanks to Joseph Lanza, I really want to watch it now!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
There’s nothing like a good mystery to read in anticipation of Halloween! It always helps to have a great detective to solve it! Family Comic Friday has not one, not two, but three classic sleuths on hand to solve this conundrum! Just us, along with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, as we solve The Case of the Missing Adults!
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Case of the Missing Adults!
Written by Scott Bryan Wilson
Art by Bob Solanovicz
Colors by Valentina Briski
Published by Dynamite Entertainment
Pages: 108
Retail: $12.99
Bayport High School has a new student. Welcome Ms. Nancy Drew! Only her first day of school is a strange one as all of the school’s teachers and adult staff have disappeared!
In fact- all of the adults of the surrounding town of Bayport have vanished as well!
On the case are the brothers Joe and Frank Hardy! Can these amateur gumshoes find out the truth behind all these missing grown-ups? Maybe if the two siblings can stop fighting each other long enough over all the silly stuff bros fight over! Okay- probably not! It’s a good thing Nancy Drew is along to help solve this mystery too!
I really enjoyed this reboot of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew! All of your favorite companions are along for the ride; including Chet, Biff, Ned and Callie. The Case of the Missing Adults is a massive team-up of epic proportions for fans of Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon.
Taking over the writing duties for those legendary authors is Scott Bryan Wilson (Batman). Wilson peppers in a hearty amount of humor and science in this graphic novel for readers 9-12 years of age. Sure, this book is rather silly at times, but there’s a fairly solid mystery involving missing parents and self-moving skeleton!
Don’t worry! The skeleton isn’t scary. But there is one clue in this mystery that never got solved. It involves the constant smell of the insides of a water pistol. Was that part of the mystery a red herring? Or did Scott Bryan Wilson take a page out of fellow mystery writer Dashell Hammett’s playbook and he forgot to get around to that piece of evidence?
So not all of the dots to this story connect. But The Mystery of the Missing Adults was an enjoyable read! The artwork and coloring was quite good and the antics of the brothers Hardy and Nancy Drew was enough for me to overlook it. Though I really want to know just what the inside of a water pistol smells like!!! Maybe some further adventures of these teen detectives will reveal that oversight!
Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Missing Adults will debut in digital
formats on October 23rd, 2019. Hardcover copies will hit stores on November 5th.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
This is one of those titles I had when I was a kid. For Christmas one year, my mom bought me a slew of stuff that I am guessing the owner of my favorite comic book store recommended. Because at the age of 10 or so, I was not a fan of Wolverine. In fact, I think you could easily say that a child under the age of 13 shouldn't have owned this book.
The Scorpio Connection is a super-spy story at it's very best. Archie Goodwin and Howard Chaykin pepper in plenty of ultra-high tech gadgets, eccentric villains and action scenes galore. But with the host of alluring femme fatales and James Bond level of sex and sex appeal, this is PG-13 material at best.
While I am sure that whomever recommended this book to my mother for purchase was building upon the fact that in the late 1990s, Wolverine was more popular than most comic book heroes out their; I ended up becoming a Nick Fury fan for life because of this graphic novel!
Fury's arch-enemy, Scorpio is apparently back from the dead. Being as Scorpio is/was also Nick estranged brother, this suspected resurrection is quite personal for the head of SHIELD.
The return of this super villain is also personal for the X-Man, Wolverine; but for different reasons. One of the operatives killed is a close personal friend of the mutant. An agent that once saved his life back when Logan was working for Canada's counter intelligence team.
With family honor and a blood oath at stake, Nick Fury and Wolverine will team up on an errand of justice that will take them through just about every continent on earth!
Archie Goodwin (Star Wars) pens a tale of international intrigue that ranks up their with the likes of SHIELD legends Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steranko! Add to it the very 80s art style of American Flagg's Howard Chaykin and you've got one of the best Nick Fury tales ever told.
This is a book I first read 30 years ago. I never forgot it, despite being stolen years later. I was so excited to find this book at a used book store! Even more excited to read it again. Unlike some books I read as a kid and love and then hated when I re-read it again older, The Scorpio Connection did not disappoint.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
Not all spooks are bad! Like our friend Casper! Family Comic Friday celebrates Halloween with a fun-filled special starring the friendly ghost!
Casper’s Haunted Halloween #1
Published by American Mythology
Retail: $3.99
Casper’s brothers, the Ghostly Trio, are tired of the little ghost being so gosh-darned friendly. So they enroll him in ghost school, hoping Casper will become a scary spook! After a very rough first day, things go from bad to worse when the neighboring kingdom of goblins invade the school and kidnap Casper and his classmates.
The goblins are fierce and mean. They force the captive ghosts to work in their factories and harvest their crops! What good can a kind-hearted specter do against such meanies? The answer might surprise you!
This Halloween special from American Mythology also contains several shorts starring some of Casper’s ghostly friends. Spike, the mischievous freckled-faced ghost and Casper’s phantom horse, Nightmare have adventures. But where’s Hot Stuff, the l’il Devil or Wendy, the Good Little Witch? It doesn’t seem like a Casper Halloween without either of them!
Along with the Casper story, everything in this comic is all classic stuff from the golden age of Harvey Comics. However, that’s about I can tell you about these tales. They are obviously all reprints from the 1960s or 70s. Yet American Mythology doesn’t provide any credits as to the writers, artists or which comics these episodes original appeared in.
It was common practice back in the day to not include the writing and artist credits in comic books. The editors of this comic might not even know who created these comics. I can forgive that oversight. But why didn’t anybody put the content info from which stories were reprinted? Clearly whomever is in charge of procuring Harvey Comics’ extensive library should have the knowledge of that!
I didn’t mind that this holiday special was full of reprints. I would however, had liked for at least one or two stories to have actually been set during Halloween. That along with appearances from those missing characters and some missing filler information would have made this a perfect all-ages comic. But that’s okay. This is still pretty close and a fun read for anyone eagerly awaiting another All Hallow’s Eve.
Casper's Haunted Halloween debuted in print on October 2nd, 2019.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
I've read Box Brown's last 3 works and I loved them all. Brown's non-fiction takes on Andre the Giant, TETRIS and Andy Kaufman were brilliantly done. So when the author/artist announced that he was tackling the issue of cannabis, even though it's a culture of which I know literally nothing, I was still game to it!
Brown gives a fairly unbiased look at America's warped view on recreational drugs. He makes a very good point at noting for all it's ills, our country sure does seem to give marijuana a black eye while treating alcohol as a near sacred cow. However, I did feel that the last 30 pages or so basically proclaims pot to be a cure-all and not bad at all!
I'm sorry, but my wife worked on a clinical trial about cannabis. All she's revealed about it's effects on the brains of children, teens and adults under the age of 25 are not worth all the benefits that the wicked weed offers.
However, if you've been extremely confused as I have about what's up with CBD oil all of a sudden and why is it okay (according to the FDA) to eat hemp but not pot brownies; then Cannabis is just what the doctor ordered.
(Sorry- I just couldn't resist!)
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
After a terrifying trip through the Dark Side of the Force, Family Comic Friday is daring to Return to Vader’s Castle for more chills set in a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1
Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Francesco Francavilla and Megan Levins
Published by IDW Publishing
Retail: $3.99
Last year, IDW Publishing took Star Wars fans on a frightening 5-week long countdown to Halloween in the pages of Tales From Vader’s Castle. When I reviewed that book, I predicted that we would see another round of scares this Halloween- and I was right!
Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1 kicks off a 4-week miniseries that is already slaying it’s predecessor in terms of quality. My big issue with last year’s event was that Vader’s Castle was lacking a proper horror host to tie in the ominous presence of the Sith Lord’s inner sanctum with the spooky stories being recalled.
In this series we finally have a host in the form of Darth Vader’s personal caretaker, Vanee. This character has all of the make-up of a great host of a horror comic. He is really eerie; possibly deranged. Vanee is also quite ghoulish, and most importantly, he’s a good storyteller!
Of course, the story is actually crafted by Cavan Scott. The main writer from Star Wars Adventures, Cavan Scott really seems to live and breathe Star Wars. That makes him the perfect choice to craft these legends of Lucasfilm!
Once again, the stories aren’t terrifying to the point that young readers can’t enjoy them. The first story, which guest stars Darth Maul, is about as chilling as that scene in Empire where Luke must go into that tree on Dagobah to face the Dark Side of the Force. If your child can tolerate that segment, they’ll get a thrill out of this series.
If you have a young reader who loves to be a little scared during Halloween and loves Star Wars, then Return to Vader’s Castle is the perfect start to get them in the All Hallow’s Eve spirit! Thanks to writer Cavan Scott and Jughead: The Hunger’s Francesco Francavilla and Megan Levens (Spider-Gwen), Star Wars fans of all ages will be in for a treat!
Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #1 is currently available in print and digital formats. Issues #2 debuts on Wednesday, October 9th.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
This review was originally published on October 4, 2019 via Outrightgeekery.com.
He's the world's last line of defense against secret organizations that seek to dominate all mankind. He is Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD! Relive Col. Fury's earliest exploits as the director of Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division or SHIELD.
In the 1960s, spy flicks were all the rage. 007 himself, James Bond, was saving the world from the likes of Dr. No and Goldfinger. Napoleon Solo was defeating the criminal organization of THRUSH as the Man from UNCLE. There were countless others, such as Secret Agent Man, Our Man Flint and the comedic Maxwell Smart. But none were as ornery or fantastic as Nick Fury!
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby crafted a non-superhero corner of the Marvel Universe with this title. Fury, along with war buddies Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones and SHIELD graduate upstart, Jasper Sitwell, took on the likes of Hydra and A.I.M. (Advanced Ideal Mechanics.)
My favorite parts of Marvel Comics has always been about the espionage. I loved Captain America and his battle against fascism as a SHIELD operative. Nick Fury and his team have always entertained with their amazing gadgets, zany villain dictators and alluring femme fatales. Plus, it helps that I was a big fan of the other Nick Fury title, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos!
I love this collection of stories. It did not disappoint! Now I have to get the companion piece, SHIELD by Steranko: The Complete Collection. I have to read the rest of Fury's adventures in the pages of Strange Tales!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.
