Stray

There's been more than a fair share of great comic book titles being unceremoniously cancelled, scraped or plain up never getting past the planning stage. This 2001 deluxe format comic by Scott Lobdell and Jimmy Palmiotti might just rank among those titles.

Stray is the story of an aspiring actress whose life turns upside down the day she gets fired from her waitressing gig. We all know that adopting a stray dog on the day you get canned isn't exactly the wisest financial decision to make. But that's exactly what Catherine 'Cat' Denton does. Call her a softie.

Unknown to Cat is at that exact moment an alien life-form named Acturex is hurtling to planet Earth to stop a hidden menace seeking to conquer our planet. Acturex's plain is to merge into the body of Garrick, Cat's downstairs neighbor who's a prime specimen of strength, endurance and good looks. However, a slight miscalculation causes Acturex to merge into the body of the stray living with Cat. And there's no way for the alien to find a new host until his mission is complete.

Using her acting skills and various costume changes, Cat Denton now goes on casting calls by day and secretly saves the Earth from alien invasion at night with the help of Rex, her super-powered and psychically linked pooch!

I couldn't tell you where I got this book. I've had it for awhile. Probably came from a grab bag. Having an adorable animal as a main character, I still didn't take any chances before I read this book. Having been burnt before by the shocking and gruesome death of the dog in issue #1 of The Weather Man, I made sure that no animals were harmed or killed in the completion of this comic. Once I broke one of LaVar Burton's cardinal rules of book consumption from Reading Rainbow, I dug into the book and was pleasantly surprised. 

The art looked a little bit off. I at first thought it was computer generated. Once I realized that Dustin Nguyen was behind the inking of Adam Polina's artwork, I knew that this wasn't funky CGI material; this was year 3000 illustrations! My puny human brain just wasn't able to comprehend the evolution of the artistic talent behind Stray.

I don't think the advanced penciling for this story was what has prevented there from ever being another story about Cat and Rex. Its been 23 years with bupkis. Though Stray was a joint DC/Wild storm production, the book itself was published by Homage Comics. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of this venture before(I think). A quick Google search reveals that they were the driving force behind Astro City and Leave It To Chance before Wildstorm quickly absorbed these Indy classics. 

You go to the Homage Comics page on the DC Wiki and Stray isn't even listed as one of their publications. So I think this book might be all we get. Barring some miracle revival. Until then, if you ever come across this book in a bargain bin at your favorite LCS or a Con, you really should consider picking it up. It's a quirky, quick read that oozes heart and creativity. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC's Grifter Got Run Over By a Reindeer

This year's giant-sized holiday annual from the folks at DC Comics seems to hit the right notes- literally! All 8 stories are titled after popular Christmas carols. And for the most part, DC got things right.

I've always said that DC is better when it's trying to be light and fun as opposed to going the Marvel route, which is realistic, dark and gritty. All 8 stories were great. But there was one that just wasn't holiday themed. 

The story titled 'Silent Night' was a brilliant story in which Granny Goodness has unleashed a series of satellites that has changed the brainwaves of the population of Earth. Instead of free speech, all anyone can say is the word 'Darkseid.' Turns out anytime someone says the ruler of Apokolips' name, the verbal praise gives energy to Darkseid's beloved Anti-Life Equation. Starring Black Canary and John Constantine, this was a great story that I could see being turned into a 5 or 6 issue long miniseries. But gosh darn it, despite the title, nothing had to do with Christmas. 

A majority of the stories were freakin' hilarious romps. The Superman/Wonder Woman crossover in which some poor guy with a head injury mistakes Krypto as a demonic reindeer, Harley Quinn meeting her Bit-Mite equivalent and title star Grifter getting the Li'l Gotham treatment from Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen and playing Grinch to the DC Trinity were all laugh out loud riots. 

The more serious stories were quite good. Maybe not as great as those more off-the-wall stories but I enjoyed them. Plus, the cover of former Wildstorm wild man Grifter actually getting run over by a Harley Quinn driven reindeer was great!

The past couple of holiday specials have gotten better- Halloween and Valentines included. I think DC is learning that alienating it's fan base through constant Trump references and trying to be relevant at the sake of quality storytelling and artwork is what has allowed the House that Superman Built to crumble. Not everyone can be Marvel Comics and when I read DC Comics, I want the type of stories DC was known for. This is more like those DC holiday specials I grew up with and I love it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman Tales: Once Upon A Crime (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime takes 4 classic children's stories and adds a Dark Knight twist to them.

+ Damian Wayne is home sick with a fever. In his dreams, he imagines that

he's a little wooden boy who dreams to become a real life sidekick. 

+ Detectives Bullock and Montoya are tasked with finding who stole a very

expensive diamond called ‘The Green Pea’. So let's haul in every baddie

Gotham has into questioning from Harley Quinn to Two-Face in order for Bullock and Montoya to get to the bottom of things.

+ Faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth is cleaning Wayne Manor when he falls

through the looking glass into Wonderland. They ought to call it Arkhamland

as all of the characters Alfred meets are from Batman's Rogue's Gallery.

+Lastly, Batman is assisted on a wintery night by a mysterious woman clothed

in snow and frost in this adaptation of Han Christian Andersen's The Ice Queen. 

Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen reunited to bring young adult readers this digest volume of myth and fable. In 2009, the pair first joined forces in the

creation of the L'il Gotham Universe where Batman's friends and foes are just a bit smaller and a whole lot cuter. Fridolfs and Nguyen's first entry was a short story in Detective Comics Annual #27. This resulted in a digital miniseries spin-off, the aptly named L'il Gotham.

 

In the digital series, Batman and son Damian celebrated the holidays in a way only the Caped Crusader can- fighting bad guys! On Thanksgiving they fight bargain shoppers and thieving birds during a scheme planned by the Penguin. On New Year's Catwoman contemplates whether to spend the next 12 months

on the straight and narrow or keep on as a master cat burglar. 

Once Upon A Crime continues with that same fanciful style first ushered forth in the annual and digital spin-off. Fridolfs and Nguyen are real students of the Batman Family. The creative duo seem greatly influenced by Batman: The Animated Series with appearances by series characters such as Roxy Rocket, Condiment King, Nora Fries and the Phantasm.

The second story which is modeled after The Princess and the Pea was the best of the quartet. Great dialogue and very creatively plotted. The Pinnochio story was pretty good as it paints a picture of what life would be like if Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul wed. I felt that the Wonderland story was just too gosh darn silly. Lewis Carroll's classics starring Alice weren't known for being

very logical. But that yarn lacks that mathematical edge that reflected Caroll's passion for numbers. Though Nguyen’s illustration of the Jabberwock was breathtaking.

The final story was very different in tone. That story was completely in verse. It also lacked the humor of the other 3 tales. I'm not very familiar with Andersen's The Ice Queen. Isn't this what Disney's Frozen is based on? If so, then geez did Disney take a lot of creative license. While I didn't really know the original source material, I really liked this story for its tragic journey that ends in hope.

For my reading challenge, I'm supposed to read and review a Young Adult Graphic Novel. Amazon classifies this book as being for readers aged 8-12. According to several educational websites, a Young Adult reader is one from ages 12-17. While I am on the low end of the spectrum of the age range with this book, I'm still meeting the qualifications for this task.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #35 (Young Adult GN) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 

Batman: As The Crow Flies

One of L'il Gotham's Dustin Nguyen's first takes at the Batman Family. 

The Scarecrow makes a play for the Penguin's piece of the pie that is Gotham City. A number of bodies are turning up and it appears to be at the hands of a powerful new drug created by Jonathan Crane. Now Oswald Cobblepot and the Dark Knight are on the hunt for Scarecrow. One will bring the madman to justice. The other will take the fiend to hell! It all depends on who gets to Crane first!

This was a very good story by Judd Winick (Pedro and Me). There's a great twist character in the end. Plus, all of the characters were executed beautifully. But I need to talk about that cover...

It's awful. Check that- it's MOSTLY awful. Matt Wagner's Batman is done in a classic 1930s way that I love. But that has got to be the worst renderings of the Scarecrow I have ever seen this side of a Kelley Jones Batman: Gotham After Midnight. 

A good book with not so great covers. I'm counting the individual issues in this volume as well. Nguyen's sketchbook is awesome and worth a good portion of the cover price of $12.95. Though with this book being 15 years old, you can probably find it used for a very nice price.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Secret Hero Society, Book 3: The Detention of Doom (Family Comic Friday)

For today's Family Comic Friday, I want you to imagine that all of the members of the Justice League got their powers as kids. It's not that hard to believe since over 60 years of DC Comics history is filled with tales of Superman and Wonder Woman saving the day as little kids. It's occurring in the present as well with a teenage Bruce Wayne becoming the Dark Knight on Gotham.

Today's book selection is 'The Detention of Doom.' It's the third book in the DC’s young readers series, The Secret Hero Society. Written by Derek Fridolfs, this series follows a young Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Diana Prince and friends as they try to save their middle school from Lex Luthor and his band of bullies.

The Secret Hero Society books are one part graphic novel and one part chapter book. The prose parts of the book are written up as parts of the SHS’s dossier on the events of their most recent mission. Those parts are drafted up by Derek Fridolfs. On art is Fridolfs’ Lil’ Gotham partner Dustin Nguyen.

I'm a big fan of the seasonally themed Li'l Gotham. It's one of the main reasons I choose this book. 'The Detention of Doom' is also a pretty new release by DC Comics; bearing a copyright of 2018.

The book has Clark Kent mysteriously disappearing after winning an award for being a top student in the Gotham City school district. The Luthor Corp sponsored the event. Thus Bruce and the rest of the SHS are on high alert suspecting that Lex Luthor has something to do with Clark's vanishing.

While tinkering with the award, the pint-sized superheroes find themselves transported to another dimension. Filled with sand, a run down school and soul-sucking phantoms, the team think that they have found Clark! Well, he looks like Clark. Only this kid is paler than young Kent and a lot more bizarre.

I thought Dustin Nguyen's art was just great. He's never disappointed me before and he didn't here. Nguyen is supposedly working on a sequel to Li'l Gotham and I can't wait for it.

The writing was pretty good too. Great characterization of your favorite DC heroes as kids. But I thought that the plotting was a little confused at times. On more than one occasion, it's mentioned that a character or two have wandered off from the group. But a couple of pages later, they're back without any explanation.

I know that Fridolfs and Nguyen were splitting the writing duties based on what format the book switched over to. I'm wondering if when Derek Fridolfs wrote out a character he forgot to tell Dustin Nguyen and vice versa.

Plus, there's one scene where Bruce plays very fast and loose with the timeline. Yes, time travel is a big element in the DC Universe. But this instance felt like a cheat for the writers to get themselves out of very deep plot hole.

The Secret Hero Society books are recommended for readers 8-12 years old. There's nothing objectionable for younger readers if they'd like to give the series a shoot. But some of the terms are a little more advance. So younger readers may need an adult's help defining those words.

A very enjoyable blend of novel and comic book. It had a few kinks in the formula to work out. But it was a fun read. Now with DC recently announcing the formation of two new young reader imprints, I am more excited that ever to see what DC Comics has in store.

Who knows? Maybe one of those books will be my selection for an upcoming Family Comic Friday! Until next week- read more comics!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman: L'il Gotham: Volume 2

 

When volume one of this series came out, I couldn't sing its praises loud enough. So you could imagine how thrilled I was to get my hands on the companion piece. Well, this concluding volume by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs just couldn't hold a candle to the first.

   The genius of L'il Gotham is its devotion to the Batman mythos while focusing on the Caped Crusader's gallery of foes and the Batman Family during a particular holiday. But since a Flag Day story is probably pretty dull, Fridolfs had to get some ideas elsewhere.    
            
   That quandary has the series creators sending Batman to the island nation of Japan in an adventure with Aquaman. But by having them fight enemies of the King of Atlantis and no holiday theme available, this opening story didn't have that magic as other adventures have.

     Thankfully things do pick up in the next tale that involves Bruce Wayne going on vacation and getting kidnapped by pirates. But it isn't until Batman and son Damian go to Comicon that the fun and quality of the series returned to its original levels. At this point, we are back in the holiday season with fun times through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Sadly, when we get to the New Year, the series ends with flashback tale.

   Like many great series, this one ended too soon. Li'l  Gotham  was one of those rare all ages affairs that appealed to both kids and adults. But for whatever reason, this book only lasted for 12 short issues. The often great writing and always fantastic art makes this a must for any fan of the batfamily. In fact, a line of action figures based on Nguyen's designs is a fan favorite amongst collectors. Plus, holiday comics are always a special treat. And there are quite a few in this series. 

   Worth Consuming. 
  
   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.