Wolverine/Nick Fury:The Scorpio Connection

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.

The Art of Tommy Lee Edwards

Published in 2003, this is an amazing look at portfolio of North Carolina artist Tommy Lee Edwards. Featuring artwork done on a variety of advertising fro celebrated films such as Men In Black and Star Wars, Edwards has an amazing skill in making his character renderings look so life-like. There's also looks at the comic book and novel cover Edwards has done. He's such an amazing talent.

Featuring a foreword by Howard Chaykin (American Flagg), there's not very much else in terms of prose.But what do you expect? This is an art book!

Being a 15 year old book, I would love a sequel that shows newer works by Tommy Lee Edwards. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Green Lantern/Space Ghost Special #1

 Both Hal Jordan and Space Ghost answers a distress call from a planet besieged by a mysterious entity that can destroy planets. In typical (but very awesome) crossover fashion, both Green Lantern and Space Ghost believe that the other is the dangerous foe. When the true enemy is revealed, Jordan is now in possession of Space Ghost's battle bracelets whereas Space Ghost is the newest Green Lantern in the sector! It's an dynamic buddy-cop team-up full of excitement and childhood dreams come true!

The story was very good but the art and colors by Ariel Olivetti was just amazing. I'm a big fan of Alex Ross and his realistic painting style. Olivetti boasts similar skills but his style has a more 1940s pulp action feel to it. It's freakin' awesome stuff.

The secondary feature star a pair of Hanna-Barbera characters that I have never heard of. It's a cat and dog duo called Ruff n' Ready. In this story, both are down-on-their luck comedians that just can't find the right partner until one fateful day the two happen to pull up a seat next to each other an a local bar and comedic history is made. 

This Howard Chaykin penned story promises more of Ruff n' Ready in the future. Somehow I doubt it. This tale, while an interesting take on how comedy duos are formed, just didn't feel to me something that's going to spawn a future mini-series. I might be wrong but I doubt it as I really felt that the Jetsons back-up in Booster Gold/The Flintstones was going to become a series and in November, my instincts will be proven right. With Ruff n' Ready, I don't have that same vibe.

This crossover special overall was enjoyable. But the title feature of Green Lantern/ Space Ghost is really what carries this book. Just because I rate this book lower because of the back-up feature doesn't mean that this special isn't Worth Consuming- it really is!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Divided States of Hysteria #1

Chaykin’s America

The President and his Cabinet have been killed in a coup attempt. As a result, the intelligence community is in panic mode. Swarms of drones survey the nation. These flyers tag potential threats to the American way of life and then smite the potential offender out with prejudice. This sort of surveillance is making every American paranoid and the walls of democracy look like they are about to come tumbling down.

Howard Chaykin (American Flagg) crafts this story about modern America in order to ask some very deep questions. Should we lose our freedoms in order to remain free from lawlessness? How far is too far to go to protect democracy? Does America even deserve being being saved if it loses it’s soul in the process?

An Envelope Pushed Too Far?

Divided States of Hysteria debuts on June 7. However, I’ve seen a little bit of anger already towards this series from people posting about it on Facebook. Howard Chaykin will not deny that he is a very liberal person with a patriotic streak. Works like his American Flagg are proof of that. As a result, Chaykin has made quite a few enemies in the comics industry, including a portion of his fan base.

When it comes to Divided States, some readers are angered by Chaykin’s excessive use of violence, sex, and Quentin Tarantino’s favorite F-word. One such post in a Facebook group claimed that the writer/artist was too anti-Republican and trying to be ‘controversial for controversy’s sake.’ But I don’t think that this book was the same as a comedienne raising a bloody decapitated of an elected official.

Howard Chaykin may have killed off the President. But he doesn’t say that the assassinated leader of the free world is Donald Trump. Numerous writers and TV series have killed off world leaders as a plot device for stories about the war on terror and the loss of privacy. It’s not a new thing, nor is it a political statement when it happens. When issue #1 hits store shelves later this week, it will piss off quite a few readers. But that’s not why I was not a fan of Divided States.

Nowhere To Escape

When I read a comic these days, I want to be able to escape from reality. Yes – I love the relevant comics of O’Neill and Adams among others. Yes – the medium has been and is still a premium outlet to speak out about social injustice. However, I am getting a little burned out with the constant stream of horrors going around in the world and at home. I need a break from tragedy to stay a little sane. Often, I need the insanity of the Tick or the surrealism of Deadpool to stay grounded in reality. Howard Chaykin’s newest series is not the best way to do that.

When it comes to information overload, this book is set to the max. The Divided States of Hysteria is very chaotic. But it’s not a fun chaos like Marvel’s Slapstick. Every page is filled with computer gibberish, Twitter-like posts, and insane levels of information. I liked the touch where Chaykin gives one villain the last name of Noone (as in No One.) It was one of the few Easter eggs I took pleasure in uncovering.

Speaking of touches, I felt that Chaykin’s art showed some serious decline. There were panels I could not tell if it was really Chaykin’s work or unused images of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight III. This kind of thing happens to artists are they get older and it’s very sad. Maybe it’s time that Chaykin sticks to just writing the stories from now on.

This series would make a great thriller if it didn’t hit so very close to home. The first issue of the Divided States of America reads almost like the daily newspaper, if those paper journals weren’t an almost forgotten relic of the past. Lone Wolf terror attacks at a major transportation hub. An angry man with a grudge goes postal on an innocent group of people. A transgendered person is brutally assaulted when their secret is exposed. I didn’t just read it in a Image Comic – I saw it last night on CNN!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.