Slimer #1

I started this book over a month ago. I had gone to a local comic book store to stock up on some reads for my annual family vacation, which is where I came across this book. I was really excited to get it because I had seen it advertised on FB the week prior and was convinced that it was going to be sold before I got there. But it was my lucky day. 

Anyways I read the first half of the comic and then went on my vacation the next day and we'll, wouldn't you know it's the end of July before I remembered that I still had half of the book left to read. The comic, a spinoff of The Real Ghostbusters starred everyone's favorite ghost, Slimer. Published in 1989, the book had 2 stories, both written by Hilarie Staton. 

First, Slimer accidentally frees a ghost from a containment unit and the ghost could not be any more of a brat. Trying to get Slimer to embrace the mischief that comes with being a ghost, the new spook ends up continuously getting the green ghostie into trouble he didn't ask for. Then while seeking out a really large cake, Slimer unknowingly causes trouble for a hotel full of attendees of a plumbers convention.

In both stories, Slimer can speak full sentences. When did this happen? All I remember as a kid from the animated Ghostbusters cartoon was that Slimer mostly spoke gobbledygook with maybe a 2 year old's vocabulary.  So having him speak so eloquent in this book was a bit of a shock. 

At the beginning of this book, the editing team pat themselves on the back for finally earning the CCA stamp. Sadly, it's really too little, too late for NOW Comics as they'll be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in just a another year or so and both Ghostbusters comics will be cancelled! I understand that obtaining the stamp was done in order to make NOW Comics more marketable nationwide. But I would have appreciated it more if the folks at NOW would have spent all that time and effort instead on making the artwork look better. Okay. The artwork was spot on. But the coloring was atrocious. It looked like something my mom could have colored with her beloved markers instead of by a seasoned professional

Despite earning the stamp, I was very surprised of the content of the second story because the giant cake Slimer wants to eat will eventually contain a stripper, who shows up to the plumbers convention wearing nothing but a bikini and F-Me pumps. To be fair, the girl is never called a stripper and she never gets into the cake. But man, the Comic Code Authority really let just about anything pass during their waning years it seems.

Faculty Funnies #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In the late 1980s, Archie Comics revisited the Riverdale superheroes concept. Only this time, it was the teachers and staff of Riverdale High School that became empowered.

When Archie's science experiment explodes, several members of the faculty gain superpowers based on skills they've developed over their careers. Thanks to years of writing across a lengthy blackboard, Ms. Grundy's right arm becomes super-stretchy. Coach Clayton, develops super breath, thanks to his persistence with a P.E. whistle. His sneezes can also stun a criminal! Principle Weatherbee develops clairvoyance due to years of anticipating problems that arise within the realms of public education. Rounding out the group is Professor Flutesnoot, who became nigh invulnerable thanks to decades of suffering through exploding science experiments.

The four faculty members decide to become a superteam. Grundy sews up a quartet of very itchy wool costumes and the staff of Riverdale High become known as the Awesome Foursome. Their first adventure uncovers a plot in which the town's criminal underground seems to increase the crime rate through subliminal messages implanting in discount video tapes rented to Archie and his friends. 

George Gladir scripted with art by Stan Goldberg. Rudy Lapick inked. While not billed as a miniseries, Faculty Funnies was not intended to be a new regular title. The concept came to a planned end with issue #5, seeing the teachers losing their special abilities and realizing that being an educator who cared as their true super powers. 

The book was filled with the usual one-page gags and short stories; this time around starring other members of the RHS faculty. Gladir crafted a one-pager featuring the former drill Sargent turned Assistant Principal, Mr. Howitzer. Hal Smith wrote the 2-page filler starring the oft flummoxed Miss Haggly. And yes, that's the same Hal Smith who played town drunk Otis on The Andy Griffith Show! Again, the art in both was provided by Stan Goldberg with inks by Lapick. The pair also crafted the cover to this issue.

A fun, and at times silly comic of which I wouldn't mind having the other issues to round out a complete run.

Completing this review completes Task #26 (An Archie Comics release from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Bullwinkle and Rocky #9 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Though new episodes hadn't been produced in over 2 decades, Rocky and Bullwinkle saw a resurgence in the mid-1980s thanks to home video. Disney, of all companies, actually had distribution rights of the show through their sister company, Buena Vista Video. Suddenly, children born in the late 70s and early 80s could watch The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle any time they wanted. 

With parents in full nostalgia mode, they began purchasing the VHS formatted home entertainment to share with their children. Local TV stations took note and began picking up various incarnations of the animated series in heavy syndication. In 1986-87, I remember it being a big deal that Rocky and Bullwinkle were coming to a UHF band TV station in Fayetteville, NC. One hour blocks filled with special messages from Bullwinkle and his friends were peppered throughout the broadcast, along with special trivia contests and drawings for you prizes during the debut week. 

Marvel Comics took note of Rocky and Bullwinkle's revival and signed a franchise deal with Jay War Productions to produce a comic book. Originally published under Marvel's all-ages imprint Star Comics, Rocky and Bullwinkle soon switched imprints to the Marvel line up with issue #3, when the publisher shuttered the majority of the family friendly run of titles. 

This 1989 edition of Rocky and Bullwinkle would mark the debut of all-new adventures of not just the main stars, it would also see the first original adventures of Dudley Do-Right, Sherman and Peabody and Fractured Fairy Tales since 1964. However, due to a page count of only 28 pages, only 1 regular sized extra feature was possible. In this issue, in a story that doesn't seem from a traditionally known fairy-tale, an inept, bumbling King is saved from his scheming chief of staff by his own dumb luck. Then Bullwinkle returns for a 2-page adventure as resident Frostbite Falls genius, Mr. Know-It-All, showing readers what it takes to train to become a famous actor. For those of you wondering, what it takes is the ability to wash dishes and wait tables. The cover story is a two-parter, book-ending the issue. As Hollywood announces the disappearance of superhero costumes across Tinsel Town, Bullwinkle gets his chance to play his hero, the Masked Avenger: because he is the only one left in the world with his fan made outfit!

Dave Manak was the main writer for this issue. He also contributed some of the art, along with Ernie Colon. While Manak and Colon present screen accurate representations of the main characters, the supporting characters do not look in the style of series creator Jay Ward. Characters such as the original actor who plays the Masked Avenger and the King and his court look more like they were drawn as characters in a Flintstones or a Jetsons comic book. A.A. Perry wrote the Mr. Know-It-All episode.

Delightful fun. But it wouldn't last. This was the last issue published by Marvel Comics.

Completing this review completes Task #19 (Cartoon Comic Adaptation from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

ALF #13

I found my first Scrooge of the season. This 1989 issue of ALF has a holiday cover with the furry alien covered in Christmas wrapping and that's just about it for holiday cheer. 

There are 2 stories inside. First, ALF soups up his space ship into a rad race car in order to challenge a drag racer and claim a large cash prize. Then ALF activates his old cleaning droid to repair some of the damage he made in the previous story. Only the robot goes a little crazy and places the entire house into lockdown until it can determine if the Tanner family are a threat to ALF's comfort and safety.

There is a special insert. It's a holiday card from ALF and his human family. This is the only Christmas themed material in the entire book. This also includes ads! I suspect that most copies of this issue is missing that centerpiece as this was a book geared towards children. 

This issue was published right around when Marvel was shuttering their all-ages imprint, Star Comics. Though this issue says Marvel on the top left corner, there are still subscription ads for the few remaining kids books being published by the House of Ideas as Star Comics. There's also a coming attractions page that bears the Star Comics moniker. 

In my opinion, Star Comics was one of Jim Shooter's best ideas. I loved these books and despite being in my very late 40s, I am trying to collect the entire imprint run without having to take on a major loan to do it. I would have been perfectly happy with this book if it had a cover that reflected one of the 2 non-holiday stories contained within. I've read that towards the end of the Star imprint, Marvel was trying to use up all of the artwork that they had paid artists for. That could explain why this issue had a Christmas cover despite not being a Christmas comic. Unfortunately, it got my hopes up for a festive read and for that, I must rate this book accordingly.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Rick Mason: The Agent (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

The Marvel graphic novel, Rick Mason: The Agent is Marvel espionage to the finest degree. The 1989 work introduces readers to the international freelance super spy with immediate action and adventure, as well as setting the new character right into Marvel canon through his interactions with several established key Marvel figures. 

Mason uncovers a plot in Hong Kong where super powered criminals are planning a coup to overthrow the ruling British government. His work with MI-6 seemingly completed, Mason is contacted via an early Internet message board to meet with a contact in New York. The operative turns out to be Nick Fury as you've never seen him before. Under a heavy disguise and working off the books from SHIELD, Fury hires Mason to investigate the sudden removal of a Soviet backed junta in the fictional South American nation of Costa Brava by super powered mercenaries .

As much as the United States loves to see the Soviet Union removed from South America, something about the entire coup stinks. For Mason, the whole episode feels too much like what he uncovered in Hong Kong. Eager to get to the bottom of this mystery, Mason accepts the mission. But not before a visit to dear old dad.

Rick Mason's father is revealed to be the master weapons maker to the villainous stars, the Tinkerer. The Tinkerer has heard via his clientele that the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, is backing the rebellion in return for exclusive access to Costa Brava's burgeoning drug trade. With Kingpin's nearly unlimited funds, the armored leader known only as Black Armor now rules the tiny nation, slaughtering both Soviet loyalists and supporters of the previous ruling parties indiscriminately.

Trading one brutal regime for another, Mason manages to raise up an army in order to defeat Black Armor's forces while simultaneously uncovering a global plot to replace crumbling Soviet backed governments with superhuman dictatorships. The Agent will definitely get his lumps and might get captured a time or two. But if he's smart enough, in true super spy fashion, Rick might even win the girl in the process of making the world 'safe' from tyranny. 

Rick Mason, The Agent was co-created by James Hudnall and John Ridgway. Hudnall wrote the script with Ridgway on art. Color art was provided by Lovern Kindzierski If you ended up becoming a fan of the new character after you completed this book, you're either in luck or in for some disappointment.  According to the Marvel Wiki, the Agent has only made 9 major appearances in the Marvel comic book universe. Most of those are in the pages of Ms. Marvel Volume 2. Mason does have an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and made a cameo in miniseries Deadline. Despite his limited use, Rick Mason managed to make it to the silver screen when he's portrayed by O-T Fagbenle in 2021's Black Widow. Fagbenle were return in an episode of Disney+'s Secret Invasion helping Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury out of a bind.

Worth Consuming!

Rating 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #26 (Set in South America) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Wonder Woman Annual 1989 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

With exception of the cover, this 1989 annual features artwork, including inks and colors by an all-female crew. Cover artist George Perez also pens this extra-large sized feature that chronicles Princess Diana's Post-Crisis debut. 

When the princess of Thermyscira first arrived in the world of men, she didn't speak much English and knew even less of modern day ways and norms. So, Diana needed an intermediary in order to spread her message of peace and unity. Enter Myndi Mayer; a press agent who sees dollars signs in the arrival of the DC Universe's newest heroine. A progressive feminist, Mayer believed in Princess Diana's message. That didn't mean that there weren't marketing opportunities to be found around this Wonder Woman.

This story takes place after the shocking overdose death of Myndi Mayer. The PR agent's death means that end of a chapter in Wonder Woman's life. Diana has decided that the life of a celebrity is not for her. So Mayer's agency must pack up all of the artifacts and effects of the Wonder Woman campaign so that Diana can transport it back to Thermyscira for preservation. As the team goes through these mementos, they reminisce about the highs and lows of Princess Diana's first months in modern civilization. 

This annual was both a closing chapter for established Wonder Woman readers as well as a starting point for newer fans. Along with the death of Myndi, Diana had just finished a climatic battle with Circe as well as Ares. But as we know, Wonder Woman's beef with the god of war is never over. The War of the Gods epic crossover is still 2 years away. But in this new stage in Diana's life, more battles with the upper echelon of Greek gods and continued alliances with the superhero community are in Diana's near future.

Perhaps the most notable segment of this story is the origin behind the logo that Diana wears on her chest. Just like as with Superman's S-shield, the supposed W's on Diana's armor are misinterpreted as English letters.  Kal-El's S-Shield is the Kyrptonian symbol of hope. Diana's double-W's are in honor of a great warrior who helped the Amazons of Themyscira centuries ago: the insignia of Steve Trevor's mother!

Due to the death of Hermes' son Pan, a rift in the fabric of time and reality opens. This anomaly ushers Diana Trevor back in time to Themyscira. The time displaced pilot arrives on the tropical island in the middle of a catastrophic scene as the Amazons are attempting to prevent demons from the underworld coming topside. 

We learn that Diana Trevor sacrificed herself to aid a race of people she did not even know. The Amazons as a result, bury Trevor with full honors and use the Air Corps insignia of a double-W on Trevor's uniform and incorporate it as a totem of strength and courage, which Princess Diana proudly wears. But we also learn that Diana wasn't named after the goddess of Greek myth but instead after Diana Trevor. So that means Steve Trevor is in love with the woman named after his mother!

Featuring Ramona Fradon, Jan Duursema, Colleen Doran and Trina Robbins among others.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars. 

Completing this review completes Task #32 (A Wonder Woman Story) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

A Caliber Christmas #1

Finding this 1989 Christmas special was quite the coup. This black

and white one-shot from the pretty much defunct Caliber Comics

featured a story starring punk-goth superhero, The Crow. Anything

starring this character is quite collectible (I.E. rare) and thus quite

expensive. 

A Caliber Christmas books for $75 and that's not graded! Yet I happened to find a

very good condition issue for only $1! That's a potential profit of 7500%,

if I wanted to sell it. And that was a very big IF...

One of my key collections in my comic book collection is my holiday comics. Be

it Halloween, Christmas or Arbor Day. If it's a book of sequential art about a

special time of year- I WANT IT! Clearly, if I needed to sell off some of my

collection,my holiday books would be one of the last things I would sell.

But $75 can buy more comic books! I really needed to know if this book was

worth keeping or not. 

There's about a dozen stories in this giant sized special. With the exception of

the Crow, the other vignettes are of franchises and/or characters that I am not at

all familiar with at all. Though you might not know anything about these figures,

all of the stories are clearly set during Christmastime. For example, with the

Baker Street tale, you'll see what it's like to celebrate the holidays with the

homeless and less fortunate. Ironically, I thought that the story starring Crow

was the weakest of this entire bunch.

One thing that surprised me about this comic book was how religious it was.

Most Christmas specials these days tend to stay away from Christianity; to

the point of not even using the word 'Christmas' in the title! But at least 2

stories talk positively about Christ. Plus there was one very intriguing story

set in what is called the Aniverse, was a brilliant anthropomorphic allegory

of the Christmas Story. 

But you are quickly reminded at points that this is a typical comic book.

There's a very cheesecake pin-up in the center of the book. And that back

page splash between a cat(?) and one of Santa's reindeer was pretty risque.

And that gory but very twisty Deadworld story! Wow! I actually want to find

more from this series!

Begrudgingly, I must say that I loved this book. I guess I'm going to have to

find my $75 elsewhere. Because when it comes to A Caliber Christmas:

It's a keeper!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

A Classic TV Christmas- Advent 2017 Day 20

Before we leave the 80s, there's one more stop to make. I'm not sure what state it's in, but the city is called Springfield. 

You can't talk about classic TV show Christmases without mentioning The Simpsons Christmas Special. Also known as Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, sparked a renaissance in Christmas episodes. Until the airing of this December 17, 1989 show, a series having a Christmas episode wasn't such a big deal anymore. Having fallen a little out of favor, producers would forgo a Christmas themed episode with either crafting a clip show, which was a big cheat, or skip over the holiday knowing that the broadcasters would rather air yet another showing of Rudolph or Frosty. 

But this episode was such a massive hit, it convinced studios that setting viewers favorite characters in holiday adventures could be just as huge of a ratings draw as a holiday special. 

This episode also launched an empire. Already a fan favorite part of FOX's The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons would debut on this Sunday night in 1989 at 8pm and remain there for over 28 years! While many argue that the show has long jumped the shark, it's very true that those first 8 or 9 seasons were the absolute best. But if not for this special first episode, none of it would have happened in the first place.

Here's a very quick plot synopsis:

Dad Homer just learned that his boss isn't giving out Christmas bonuses. That's a good thing as mom Marge always sets aside some cash for Christmas shopping. However, when son Bart gets a tattoo, Marge is forced to spend all of it getting the 'Moth' tat surgically removed. Rather than tell Marge the truth, Homer gets a part-time job as a mall Santa. But when he finally gets paid on Christmas Eve, it turns out that renting a Santa costume isn't cheap. With only $12 in his name, Homer and Bart head to the race track to bet it all on a dog race. Though the dog comes in dead last, the Simpsons experience a Christmas miracle when the owner rejects the dog an it becomes the Simpsons' new family pet, Santa's Little Helper!

Unfortunately, I am unable to show you this episode. So for my Advent present for you, I present you with 2 great holiday clips starring the Simpsons. The first has the Simpson family posing for their annual Christmas card photo. The second is when the Simpsons did a Muppets parody with guest star Katy Perry. Both are quite funny. So, enjoy and until next time, Merry Christmas!

A Classic TV Christmas- Advent 2017 Day 19

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you would know that I am a big comic book collector. While I am a devotee to superhero books, one of my all-time favorite line of comics are the old EC Comics from the 1950s. These books were filled with sensational and quite controversial material that lead to a series of Senate hearings and eventually a comic book code of ethics being enforced. 

Despite their ages, EC Comics aren't hard to find as they are highly sought out by collectors. However, they are not cheap. Just this year, I was able to finally join the Original Issue Club when I purchased a copy of Shock SuspenStories #18. The title isn't one of EC's most well known titles, but I didn't care. I just wanted a copy of something EC to call my own.

Titles you, the average person not familiar with comics, might recognize are ones like Weird Science, The Vault of Horror (my all-time favorite), and Tales From the Crypt. Oh, you remember that show from HBO and layer aired in syndication on Sci-Fi Channel? Well before it was a TV show, Tales was a comic book.

The episode for today is called And All Through The House. Directed by Back to the Future's Robert Zemeckis, this episode, while a Christmas one, didn't air during the holidays. Instead, it was broadcast during a balmy evening in June, 1989. 

The episode is based on a story of the same name from The Vault of Horror #35. In both the TV show and comic (as well as 1970s movie starring Joan Collins), a woman kills her husband on Christmas Eve. Desperately trying to remove the body, she is stymied by her young daughter who just can't go to sleep because of the excitement of Santa coming. 

As the woman goes to work on disposing of hubby, the radio makes an announcement that a patient from a local mental hospital has escaped. He's wearing a Santa suit and brandishing an axe. Already having killed several people, he's considered armed and very dangerous. By the end of this classic thriller, the woman discovers that her daughter let Santa in and for some reason, he's carrying a bloody axe with him...

Well as luck would have it, for today's Advent, I present to you the complete 1989 episode, minus the opening credits and Crypt Keeper intro, for your enjoyment. Be advised, this is not for kids! But if you are old enough to enjoy a cup of holiday fear, then by all means ENJOY! And until next time- Scary Christmas!

Dilton's Strange Science #1 (Family Comic Friday)

   For this installment of Family Comic Friday, I went deep into my vaults to find a book from my childhood. It was the Spring of 1989, I was 11 and Archie Comics was experiencing a zenith. The publisher had teamed with folks at NBC to release a New Archies cartoon series that had the gang in more modern dress and singing pop songs in MTV style music videos. 
   All of my classmates in 4th and 5th grade were in love with the show (though I was more partial to the comics, of course) and they would even dress up as the characters and give each other nicknames based on characters. Because I was the tallest in my class, I was Moose, though I really hated that. Moose was dumb. The character I wanted to be was the ever brilliant Dilton. More on that in a minute. 
   To coincide with the New Archie shows release, Archie Comics released a score of new and thrilling titles that showed many of the publisher's characters in a new light. The teachers at Riverdale High got a series called Faculty Funnies. Archie's wealthy girlfriend went global on a modelling assignment in Veronica. And the gang at large were sent a thousand years into the future with Archie3000. But my favorite of the new titles was Dilton's Strange Science.
   Though I hated going to the dentist, he was really a cool guy. Each patient got a new toothbrush and a comic book- of your choice! It made 45 minutes of misery worth it. One day, I got my hands on a copy of Dilton and I had the best drive home from the dentist.
     As a kid, I loved science (and art!) I got really good grades, loved doing experiments, and I also loved crushing the other kids when it came to trivia. So, I always favored Dilton from the Archie Books.
    In Dilton's Strange Science, the Archie gang's resident nerd gets a sleek look, an update lab, and even a girlfriend- the equally brilliant Danni. In this first issue, Dilton is showing Danni his new shrinking ray and a pair of very small aliens are looking to use it to conquer the earth.  (Hey, I know this sounds goofy, but shrinking was all the rage in 1989- why else was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids a blockbuster smash!?)
     By the end of this issue, filled with adventure, puzzles, history, and a science experiment or two to try at home, I was hooked and ready for issue #2. However, Archie Comics made a big blunder by only having their new titles come out only 4 times a year. So it was really hard to garner readership. (Archie Comics did have the smarts to make Veronica a bi-monthly title and sent her back to Riverdale, where she thrived for over 200 issues.) But alas, I never got my hands on another copy of Dilton's Strange Science and I don't think his girlfriend Danni was ever seen again after the series was cancelled in issue #5.
    So, why review a flop? 
    First of all, the series was good- it was poor distribution that led to it's downfall. I decided to review this book to let parents and guardians of aspiring comic book collector's know that the bargain bins of your local comic book shop and comic book shows are overflowing with Archie Comic gems like this. They usually can be found for a dollar or less. 
  'But, Mr. Madman With a Book- doesn't the cheapness of these books signify poor quality?' 
   Not one bit. See in the 80s and early 90s, publishers were putting out thousands upon thousands of copies of a title because speculators thought that every first issue was going to be the next Fantastic Four #1. People would buy dozens of copies of every first issue, like Dilton's Strange Science, thinking that they were sitting on a gold mine. To meet demand, comic book stores would up the price significantly. 
    By 1993, when the comic book bubble burst and people realized that they weren't going to be able to fund their kid's college with 25 issues of Faculty Funnies #1, prices sunk to epic lows. I know of some comic book dealers that are still stuck with dozens of issues of Marvel's football themed NFL Superpro #1. (They can't give the book away.) But if you have a young one whose not old enough to be reading most of the DC and Marvel stuff on the market yet, they can still get into the fun finding lots of kids and all-ages stuff from the past 30 years for very little money. 
    Hey, who knows? Maybe when Ryan Reynolds stars in a live-action version of Dilton's Strange Science, I just might be able to fund my graduate program dreams...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #2

This Christmas season, I read not one but two Walt Disney's Christmas Parades. This one published in 1989 was released by Gladstone. (The whole Gemstone/ Gladstone publication history is quite confusing and subject to another time.) Anyways, the second volume was actually a step up from the holiday fun of the first edition.

   This time around all of the stories occurred during the Christmas season. However, not every story was all that great. Bucky Bug returned in this treasury and even though his story did involve the holidays, it was extremely corny. I'm just not a fan of that character, plus his vintage style just seems a little culturally insensitive to me. I cannot put my finger on it, but it's like the character is based on the Al Jolson minstrel stereotype or Chaplin's Little Tramp but less dignified.

    Speaking of racial stereotypes, there is a Lil Bad Wolf story in this book that contains characters from "Song of the South", as well as some redneck forest animals and the Seven Dwarfs for some reason. I have a feeling that the inclusion of Brer Bear and Brer Fox probably wouldn't fly if it was reprinted today in anything but omnibus form. Even then, I'm sure Disney would include some sort of disclaimer about racism and differing attitudes in the 50s and 60s (when these stories were originally published) at the beginning of the volume. But this story was reprinted in 1989, and while it probably seemed harmless then, it smacks of the racial tensions plaguing our nations currently in New York and Missouri.

      The biggest thing going for this book are the tales based on the characters of Duckburg. Along with several cute one-page gags, Donald and Uncle Scrooge compete in one story to provide Huey, Dewey, and Louie with a real working steam shovel for Christmas after Donald forgets to mail their letter to Santa. Then the nephew and uncle duo return with Donald hypnotizing Scrooge into giving him all the gifts from the '12 Days of Christmas' but somehow, Scrooge decides to bestow these gifts on a mean mutt guarding an old lady's mansion.

      My favorite story starred Mickey Mouse and Goofy. Here, they help a friend harvest some Christmas trees and end up in the clutches of some poachers. There's a lot of laughs and some actual gun fighting as both Mickey and his nemesis Pete both carry rifles and fire at each other often. I never seen Mickey so bad-as...oops, sorry kids.

     Once again, another Disney holiday comic that I got for pennies on the dollar.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe #1

  This book came out in 1989 and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. As a kid, one of the highlights of collecting Marvel Comics were the awesome Fred Hembeck cartoons that would occasionally be sprinkled in select issues. He also had a rotating segment in Marvel Age: the official Marvel magazine that was pretty funny. But some of his humor was contained of inside jokes that unless you were older and really knew about the goings on of the comics industry, you wouldn’t understand.

 I found this book recently in a bargain bin and since it was cheap and I remember owning it as a kid, I decided to make it a part of my collection again.

  In this one-shot, Hembeck crafts a tale in which Death is tasked with killing off all of the characters of the Marvel Universe in one day. Nobody is safe from Hembeck’s poison pen. Lawn work becomes Ant-Man’s biggest nightmare while Asgard succumbs to the metal sounds of Ragnorok & Roll music. Daredevil learns the difference between a sigh and a sai while the X-Men face their most dangerous foes ever- Ninja Sentinels!

  The book is absurd but it’s really fun. The art is classic Fred Hembeck- cartoony and I suspect with everyone’s bulbous eyes and oval heads, an influence on Matt Groening’s Simpsons. As the cover says, this romp is a ‘Marvel Massacre’ but I didn’t feel that my time, money, or intelligence was victims to Hembeck’s skewed view of the Marvel Universe.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.