Spider-Man: The Savage Land Saga!

Reprinting issues #13-15 of Sensational Spider-Man, Peter Parker is sent by the Daily Bugle to report on a joint ecological venture in the Savage Land between SHIELD and ROXXON. To prevent the rapidly melting ice of Antarctica from wiping over the prehistoric microcosm, ROXXON has installed giant freezer units to keep the ice frozen. Only the machines are doing the opposite as ROXXON has plans to flood the land and then secure its vast oil reserves. 

This is one of those stories where in 1997 when it was published it would be considered relevant comics. Today's venomous fan base work would consider this a 'woke comic'. Featuring a memorable cameo from the Incredible Hulk, and of course Ka-Zar in a guest-starring role The Savage Land Saga feels more relevant than ever. The waters off of Florida are hotter than bath water. Sea ice is at its lowest levels ever. And the scenes where SHIELD is trying to evacuate a prehistoric village from a flood of water elicits recent memories of flood rescues in Vermont and the Golden State. 

I consider Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo's 3-issue saga to be a chance for Marvel to dip it's toes back into Toho Studios territory. The retreating ice awakens both an ancient foe that feels that reptiles were the true rulers of earth and the looming environmental crisis awakens a Godzilla-like protector from it's ageless slumber to save the Savage Land. Don't laugh, but this savior of Earth is a giant prehistoric chicken!

The artwork is absolutely amazing. Mike Wieringo was a genius and the comic book industry has lessened in quality as a whole with his untimely 2007 passing. They just don't draw comics like this anymore, folks.

As for the writing. The dialogue is good. The plot is not. It's too cliched. If it was meant to be silly, then I'd understand. However, there's too much of this story trying to be a story that convinces readers to change their ways of life or there'll never be anymore snow. But it's really hard to take environmentalism seriously when there's a giant chicken trying to save the planet.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Whiteout

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I tend to be a big fan of a lot of things. I know you might think when I say this that I am blowing smoke. But what I am about to say couldn't be any truer that anything I have ever posted on this blog.

I want to live in Antarctica!

 I love snow. I love the cold. I love the isolation. A dream job of mine would be to do a 9 month shift during the winter months as the head chef of a research station cafeteria or canteen. 

One of the big selling points is that all stationed on a research station on the frigid continent must read for 2 hours a day! It's scheduled so that you keep your mind active as cabin fever and trouble adjusting to permanent dark can screw with a person's mental state. And you get paid to read during that 2 hour window! 

Throw in a cat and this scenario would be heaven for me. And for lead character Special Deputy U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko, her cushy job at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, is a dream assignment. That is until she literally stumbles upon a pair of deep-froze corpses.

The discovery marks the first suspicious deaths on neutral Antarctica. As the only sanctioned law-enforcement on the frozen plain, Carrie's not even allowed to carry a sidearm, least she violate countless treaties. But as the body count begins to mount, Stetko will find herself teetering the edge of diplomacy as her investigation takes her to the research stations of several other nations. 

With her superiors breathing down her neck, Carrie has the added pressure of finding the culprit before all of the compounds clear out in time for the winter purge. Agent Stetko will find help and hindrances along the way. But her biggest nemesis will be the forbidding ice and cold of the South Pole! Can Carrie solve this tangled web of crime before the clues are buried under a blizzard of snow and deceit?

I saw the 2009 movie starring Kate Beckinsale and I loved it. I also had read the first 1 or 2 issues of this story and again loved it. But I never could get my hands on the last two chapters. Finally, I just recently got this collected edition and Wow! I was freakin' blown away by it. Greg Rucka's writing is much more gritty than the R-rated live-action version. And I love it!

The artwork by Steve Lieber (Hawkman) was fantastic. I didn't realize that those research stations were such a dump. That's definitely one thing that was over-glamorized in the film. This book is from 1998. So despite the grime, as long as smoking has been banned at the South Pole, I still wanna live there!

A great frozen crime thriller that doesn't end up as a cold case. And with 2 more miniseries continuing Stetko's tenure down under, I still have some more sub-zero mayhem to look forward to!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi

I’ve had a fascination with ice and snow since I was born. My favorite film in Empire Strikes Back and I’d just love to visit Hoth. Living in the South, you don’t get a lot of snow but I just adore it. I long for snow days. I don’t care if the roads are bad- just give me a warm pot of soup, a good book, and my wife and kitties and I’m in Heaven. In fact, if I could take a job as a chef for a polar research station, you’d see a me-shaped cloud of dust heading either due south (preferred) or due north.

My wife recently gave me this book as a gift. She knows I love snow and the Antarctic as well as shipwrecks! Plus, comics and graphic novels, naturally. This book combines those passions.

I’ve read a few books on Shackleton’s ordeal on the Endeavor and his treacherous return to civilization, including his autobiography. Most of those books are very much oriented on the exploration of the Antarctic as well as Shackleton’s rescue attempt. This book provided a lot of information on things I’d always wondered about but didn’t ever find the answers to. The book starts with a tutorial on the race to being the first man to reach the South Pole. I did not know Shackleton had been a member of 2 such expeditions prior to launching on Endeavor. I also did not know that the first people to reach the Pole beat another team by just 2 weeks and some fatal hypothermia.

Much of this book focuses on the crew’s attempts to relax during there long periods of down-time. Events like a soccer match, dogsled race, and numerous card games were first played on the continent thanks to Shackleton’s men. These 50 some odd men were stuck in ice flows and on deserted islands and icebergs for days and weeks on end. The boredom would be enough to make one bonkers.

But, Shackleton and his previous experience in the region helped him keep the sanity and safety of the men in order for all to return to the UK alive! Sadly, I learn in the afterword, that many of these men lived for a short amount of time back in their native land as they were soon conscripted and sent off to fight in the First World War which began right as Shackleton’s research vessel was leaving the English Channel.

The art was mostly sketches and doodles- but it worked. It’s mostly in black and white with a limited icy blue palette. Again due to frigid conditions and well nothing but ice, ice, and more ice- the art technique works.

This book is the second in a series of works planned by creator Nick Bertozzi to be devoted to explorers. His first book focuses on Lewis & Clark. Based on this wonderful read, I must get my hands on that book and (hopefully) others in the series (should they ever be published.) Shackleton is a great read that could be devoured in a couple of hours. But really, this book and all of the minute details should be consumed over a span of several nights.

Also, though it’s not an all-ages book, most children 10 and up should be able to enjoy this book with only a couple of light swears and a traumatic amputation scene, along with some hunting of seals and other sea life.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.