The X-Files Annual 1

You would think that with a cover titled 'Hallow Eve', that this story would be set upon Halloween. Alas, that is not the case. Now, on the plus side, I would have bought this issue regardless as I loved The X-Files and I thought that the comics made by Topps (yes, the same folks who make the baseball cards) were quite well made. So, this stays are part of my permanent collection. I'll just be moving it from holidays over to X-Files.

The story is both quasi-biblical and scientific with an anthropologist searching for the remains of 'Eve': the first female. During his dig in Africa, the researcher dies of a heart attack. This kind of case wouldn't even peak the interest of Mulder. But when both more characters involved in the transport of the fallen scientist's remains and equipment begin to die of heart failure as well, even Uber-skeptic Scully will admit something fishy is going on. 

It doesn't help that the FBI agent is having visions of her deceased father during this assignment. Or does it? 

There's definitely a creepy side to this story as with all X-Files tales. But this amazing whodunit goes slightly off the rails with a twist that honestly, I should have seen coming. But as with many adventures starring Fox and Dana, the reality is more confusing than the supernatural answers. 

And that last page. Holy crap! I loved it. So very eerie. I would love it if Topps or even IDW later on did a sequel to this tale. 

Nope. This isn't a Halloween story. It's a ghost story. So, the time is right for me having read this recently. But I'm now concerned that my supposed Winter holiday X-Files comic issue isn't set during Thanksgiving or Christmas. 

Could I expect anything less from 2020?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Alan Robert's Killogy Halloween Special

Thanks to a grab bag of comics given to me as a Christmas gift, I became the proud owner of this Halloween one-shot. This 2014 special is set in the Killogy universe. For those of you not familiar with Killogy it's a series in which 3 killers share tales of how they ended up in prisoner. Set during a zombie apocalypse, the interesting thing about that story is that the main characters are based on the likeness of celebrities Marky Ramone (Ramones), Frank Vincent (The Sopranos) and Brea Grant (Heroes). 

That trio isn't in this story. Instead, former Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein is the main character in a creepy story that pits together zombism, cannibalism, fetishism and several other fetishes that haven't even been discovered yet. 

I'm pretty tired out with the zombie genre. But this special had a few twists that made this story quite refreshing in a originality sort of way. The level of violence and gore was pretty gross. Yet due to all of the unimaginable shocks in this book, I ended my readings wanting more. Maybe a hunt for the Killogy original series trade might be on my horizon.

On the flip side of this book, you get an introduction to another new series by Alan Robert. Shunned One is about the spectre of Death whom after being ordered to take several innocent souls, goes rogue on those who wronged those wrongly damned. Very scary stuff. But gosh-darn it, I was hooked. 

I'm name familiar with Alan Robert. But I really think I will be soon.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The True Adventures of Adam and Bryon #4

I have an extensive wish list of holiday themed comics. And yet despite how huge that list is, this 1998 Indy comic was not on it. If it wasn't for a search through some dollar bins at an antique, I still wouldn't know anything about this short-lived series.

Despite the title, I doubt that this book is comprised of true stories starring the creative duo of Adam (Walenta) and Bryon (Turner). What I do think this comic is is an attempt to create a CLERKS style comic. The troubles Adam and Bryon have with the ladies and the party-crashing overthrow of an acquaintances Halloween night bash are probably rooted in truth. But I doubt that the party was invaded by a group of escape mental patient mutants. 

I could be wrong. But I doubt it. 

I had a few laughs at this book. But it was rather rough. There's a supposed 5th issue which takes place during Thanksgiving. And I would be open to owning it for my holiday comics collection. But a quick Google search comes up with bupkis. 

Oh well... The search continues.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars. 

Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures #35

 
Not sure why this was published under Donald Duck Adventures and not Gladstone's Uncle Scrooge titles. This Halloween themed story was very much a Scrooge McDuck story. And it was pretty absurd.

Scrooge wages war on Halloween. As a result, he ends up buying all of Duckburg's supply of pumpkins, costumes and candy. By the time it's Halloween, Scrooge is bankrupt; just because the price of candy went up a measly 2 cents per pound and the miser doesn't want to give any handouts to trick-or-treaters.

The story is pretty goofy. And it makes for a funny story especially with the addition of Disney guest-star, Witch Hazel. But this just doesn't seem to be a typical Uncle Scrooge yarn. I find it impossible to believe that the gazillionaire Duck would allow his finances to be misused like this just to save a few pennies. He usually comes up with such harebrained schemes but the thought of spending money to save money seems to bring Uncle Scrooge back to his senses. 

I'm 50/50 on this issue. It's a fun Halloween themed story but it seems atypical of one of my favorite Disney characters of all-time. I'm also on the fence with this 1995 issue's format. For some reason, Gladstone decided to replace the shiny covers with covers that are more similar to the newsprint filler inside. It might have been a cost saving method. As this is only the second issue of such I have ever seen, I don't think this experiment lasted very long.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars. 

Blue Devil #13

30 plus years after it was published, this Madman got his wish. Issue #13 was far from unlucky with Zatanna, Jon Stewart and Etrigan returning to free Dan Cassidy from the long-distant Nebiros. 

It turns out Dan's hi-tech pitchfork has absorbed some of the demon's bad mojo. That's good news for the studio behind the Blue Devil movie as it turns out that the film footage shot isn't full of demonic influence. But for Dan Cassidy, it spells trouble.

The comedic elements of the past issue are all but gone. But I still enjoyed this supernatural chapter very much nonetheless. Full of great guest stars and chock full of new twists and turns; including a new player who promises to give Dan Cassidy the fits. That is, if he survives the events of this issue!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Blue Devil #12

It finally happened! The long-awaited premiere of Blue Devil at L.A.'s Chinese theatre promises to be a blockbuster. As they say, the devil is in the details and the moving images of the demonic Nebiros have unlocked the evil side of Dan Cassidy.

Wreakng terror on the movie goers, Blue Devil has unlocked powers unimaginable. It will take the combined efforts of Zatanna, Green Lantern Jon Stewart, the rhyming Demon, Etrigan, and an all-new hero named Kid Devil to defeat Cassidy's dark side without doing any permanent harm to the famed stuntman.

It's always great when you get an appearance from Jack Kirby's Demon. Plus Zatanna just has great chemistry with Blue Devil. I really wish she would have become a permanent fixture of this series. 

This caper to the first year of Blue Devil was a supernatural comedic masterpiece by the writing team of Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn with fantastic art by Alan Kupperberg.

Just about darn near perfect!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman Arkham: Two-Face

The dastardly career of Batman's dual villain Two-Face is explored in this giant-sized collection. Over 300 pages of crimes themed around the number '2'. But just who really is Two-Face?

The criminal started out as handsome District Attorney Harvey KENT. In a trio of tales from the early 40s, KENT finds himself partially deformed after Batman deflects a vial of acid thrown at the law man's face by a doomed criminal. This Two-Face's story is a roller coaster of plastic surgery fixes, re-injuries and lovers town apart by tragedy. But by the end, this villain's story ends well.

That would appear to be the end of Two-Face. But with the establishment of the Silver Age of comics, old ideas became new again. This time around Harvey Kent becomes Harvey DENT. This is probably because DC didn't want readers confused with a more heroic Kent, that being the secret identity of a certain Man of Steel, who appears inside in a World's Finest team-up.

With a jump into the 70s, Two-Face's stories become more complex and more deadlier. The 80s see more soap opera type drama between Batman, Catwoman and the Jason Todd Robin. There's also a heavy dose of sexuality with a maimed model turned stripper named Circe.

The 90s and 2000s see Harvey dealing with his daddy issues. Poppa Dent was a loving widower who turned violent during his lengthy drinking binges. Two-Faces crimes are still focused on the number two. But instead of lining the bad man's pockets, the true purpose of these new misdeeds were about payback against anyone who ever wronged Mr. Dent. 

A great time capsule of Batman stories from just about every decade of comics featuring the Caped Crusader. Though I am wondering why there weren't any stories from the 60s? Did the aborted fourth season of the Batman '66 TV series lead to an era of no Harvey Dent?

Found at an Ollie's for a literal song, this massive volume was a great read starring one of my favorite Batman baddies.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Mr. Monster's Hi-Shock Schlock #2

Michael T. Gilbert's Mr. Monster wasn't so much his creation as it was a re-purposing of an forgotten monster-fighting hero who was languishing in the public domain. Gilbert mainly gave Mr. Monster a new identity in Doc Stearn; a scholar whose parents were killed by monsters. In turn, Gilbert turned his Mr Monster into a parody of a slew of monster fighting heroes who came before him; including Blade, Van Helsing and a hearty dose of The Punisher. And Mr. Monster got a girl Friday in the bombshell Kelly, who is seemingly way smarter at this monster killing thing than old Doc Stearn.

After the initial run of Mr. Monster original stories, MM took over as host of a slew of anthology titles at Eclipse devoted to reprinting other obscure public domain works. Hi-Shock Schlock focused on stories so outlandish that you had to see them to believe them.

I never really examined the cover to this book too closely when I bought it about a year ago. I was just excited to find a handful of Mr. Monster titles. Yes- there really was a series called Toni Gay. And it really did co-star a boy named Butch Dykeman. The series was apparently a parody of a teen girl comic series called Toni Gayle. Gilbert, along with myself are astonished that this book made it past the stodgy censors of the 1950s. But since the main store was pretty tame with Toni and Butch getting lost during a horseback riding trip, maybe the names were overlooked despite their obvious anti-gay overtones.

Then there's an adventure starring Frank Thomas' The Eye which is exactly what it sounds like. A giant disembodied eyeball that goes around enforcing vigilante justice with a healthy dose of supernatural power behind it all. This story was a pleasant surprise as I remember having read about the eye a while back in the pages of the League of Regrettable Superheroes. It was kinda neat getting to read about something I had read in a comic book history book of not-so-great ideas in superhero characters.

Lastly, to fill in the book, (rounding out this trio) Gilbert features a story by Basil Wolverton. Gilbert seems to be a big fan of the absurdist creator who loved stories about weird creatures from Venus and Mars. This story occurs on Jupiter where a man with large arms gets twisted into a literal pretzel and needs help from an impish hero named Jumping Jupiter to get untangled. 

Plus, there's a couple of amazing articles about the history of these and other comics peppered throughout the issue that are not to be missed!

I am getting to that stage in my life where I am greatly appreciating those classic comics from days gone by. Right now, the world is too angry and tense. Being able to escape to a time which seems simpler despite humanity having a long way to go in becoming civil just seems to be what the Doc Stearn ordered for this Madman. 

It's not perfect. But it is perfect for me.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Volume 2: Help Wanted

I don't seem to have good luck with team-up titles. I find one I like and then BAM! Cancelled!

It happened with Scooby-Doo Team-Up and it happened with this amazing series based on the Cartoon Network series of the same name. The Caped Crusader joins forces with well established characters such as Superman as well as more obscure heroes such as the Alan Scott Green Lantern from the JSA. 

This book was my official entry into my 2020 Halloween comics readings due to the final story of this volume. It stars magician Zatanna joining with Batman on Halloween in order to solve the puzzle behind just who broke into the House of Mystery. It's a delightful romp that features some of the most evil as well as mischievous characters to occupy the DC Universe.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up's Sholly Fisch is the scribe behind these gems. He's a proven master at
all-ages storytelling that is rooted deeply in the 80 year plus history of DC Comics. The House that Superman Built really needs to give Fisch a monthly legacy title for all generations of readers. His being greatly underused in his bi-monthly offerings of DC's lone pair of all-ages titles (Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and Looney Tunes.)

A great read that I hated to see end. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Decades: Marvel in the 70s- Legion of Monsters

Many collections of classic Marvel materials are omnibuses that capture a complete run of stories starring a certain character or a specific genre. That's not the case with Marvel's Decades books. They are instead snapshots of the time period. In this case, the coming of Marvel horror. 

Sometimes the stories featured are well-known legends, like that of Johnny Blaze and his deal with the devil that curses him to become the Ghost Rider. 

Other episodes are rarities, like the coming of an alien creature called the Manphibian, a gill-man arch-type who is on the hunt for the killer of his lover. 

Then there's those established characters who see new life in the pages of horror anthologies. Frankenstein's Monster and Count Dracula continue to roam the night looking for victims, sometimes running afoul of Marvel superstars such as Morbius, the living Vampire and the hybrid vampire hunter, Blade.

Several of Marvel's rarest horror mags are reprinted in this collection along with some great issues of Marvel's one-shot series Marvel Spot-Light and Marvel Premiere. As a fan of several comic book and horror fan groups on Facebook, I am aware of the Legion of Monsters popularity with horror comic fans. What I was not aware of was how much poor faith the House of Ideas had in the title. It only lasted 1 issue with 2 classic but ill-fated attempts to revive the idea. Legion of Monsters may not have been on store shelves for long, but with collectors such as me, they last forever in our hearts. 

A collection such as this is such a mixed-bag. There's some classics and there are some stinkers. But what I love so much about this series is how it's both a grab bag and time capsule. Maybe a little bit more commentary would have been appreciated. But I quite enjoyed it warts and all.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Blue Devil #11

Things turn metaphysical for Dan Cassidy. And that's saying a lot based on what has happened in the past few months to the young man trapped in the Blue Devil costume.

Dan has come down with some sort of virus. But with the exploding budget of Cassidy's blockbuster coming under the scrutiny of studio bosses, the stuntman can't afford to take any time off. A tough auditor has been called in. Feverish and dehydrated, Cassidy begins to hallucinate that the number-cruncher is a super villain. Someone needs to do something fast as each minute Dan spends out of his mind is another minute closer to death.

A very different type of story for this series. But it was actually very fresh and smartly done. Great ending.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Blue Devil #10

One of Dan Cassidy's friends from Hollywood is in Vegas, trying to reignite his once vibrant career. But his Greek-themed show has offended the gods who want an immediate stop put to all these shenanigans. So they recruit a trio of girls from this fallen teen idol's past to become the living embodiment of the Furies!

As they say- Hell hath no fury than a woman scorn. Imagine how worse this is with 3 scorned females now turned into actual Furies!

If you think this book is going to boast an appearance from a certain Amazonian princess, you'd be right.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Showcase Presents World's Finest, Volume 1

Presenting some of the most off-the-wall adventures starring the Man of Steel, the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder. Aliens, love-sick dames, giant robots and rather unusual new teammates to the trio of heroes make up the list of opponents faced by the World's Finest. 

This black and white collection also contains the first ever meeting between Batman and Superman from the pages of Superman. The original Batwoman, Kathy Kane, attempts to shatter the glass ceiling in competition with Batman and The Man of Tomorrow. Lastly, in an all-time classic, The Joker and Lex Luthor join forces against their arch-enemies.

But where's Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen? The cub reporter was an integral part of the World's Finest issues of my father's that I used to read by the literal trunk-load as a kid. Jimmy and Robin would often have a generational gap competition in the pages of this DC Comics team-up. Not having the ginger teen in these stories is just rather weird to me. Perhaps he'll pop up in volume 2...

One unforgivable disappointment is the overuse of plots. Yes, with comic books, being nearly a century old, it's nearly impossible to not reuse plot lines. But to have so many repeat plot lines less than a year apart in time; things got predictable quick. Maybe if I was a reader in the mid-1950s approaching these as they were published on a bi-monthly basis, I wouldn't have noticed the lack of imagination. But I doubt it.

Still, this was a great collection of 1950s DC stories. Their naive optimism was a nice transition from the bleakness of the Atomic Knight and Great Disaster stories that I had been reading prior to this archive of Golden Age works.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.