Slapstick #1

   Slapstick, the zany character from the 90s is back in his own series. The Marvel hero enjoyed a brief resurgence as a member of Deadpool's Mercs for Money in 2015. His small roles  in each issue were self-deprecating and very funny and that's about half of what this issue is. Plus, it's quite violent. Imagine Rodney Dangerfield as Daffy Duck teamed with Moe and Curly of the Three Stooges and you've got Marvel's Slapstick!

    Slapstick is a kind of tragic figure as he's a teenage boy trapped in the body of a living cartoon. Though he loves being a superhero, he's also quite depressed. He's unable to enjoy his basic carnal needs since cartoon characters are created without genitalia. Dinner is kinds of a moot point for him as real food doesn't process in a cartoon stomach very well. Plus, looking like a giant animated clown, nobody takes him very seriously. Did I mention that Slapstick is also mentally unstable. Very mentally unstable.

    In this issue, Slapstick is trying to do the mercenary gig on his own. Since Deadpool never paid him when in his employ, Slapstick stole the Merc With A Mouth's cell-phone and is encroaching on Deadpool's list of jobs. But, it's not quite working out for Slapstick as he gets quite kill-happy and ends up going too far with his beloved over-sized mallet.

     There's elements of Deadpool, the Punisher, and Harley Quinn here and I enjoy it immensely. But will the character of Slapstick be enough of a draw? The growing nostalgia for all things from the 90s will help somewhat. So will a great team-up with the Amazing Spider-Man (that guy seems to be popping up in a lot of reviews lately.) However, the cover of this issue mentions or features neither potential readership draws.

    I got this paper issue early December (it launched as a digital first comic in early October) and read it the same day I bought it. But things got in the way in my posting a review of this issue; work and stuff like that. (Plus, I forgot about...) Two further issues had been released since this one. But I'm not seeing a lot about this issue. What little I do see has been positive. But I think this book is just too under the radar. 

    As part of Marvel Infinite Comics digital imprint, that might help this series survive. But again, I seriously doubt it because the word of mouth has been minimum. Maybe my review will help. But I am afraid it might be too little too late. But if you love zany, madcap comics with a slant to the surreal and just the right amount of absurd, then Slapstick is the hero you have been waiting for to return from 1990s limbo.

 (Reader's Note: with some graphic violence, adult language, and some frank sexual conversations, Marvel slapped a Parental Advisory on this series and they mean it. Just because Slapstick looks like a refugee from the House of Mouse, he's not for kids!)

   Worth Consuming 

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
    
     

Infinite Iron Man: Fatal Frontier

  This is the first print volume of Marvel's new Infinite Comics! line. Infinite Comics are digital series that are canon to the Marvel Universe but are not available in single issue form. This premier volume collects all 12 issues plus the annual of the Infinite Iron Man: Fatal Frontier web series written by Kieron Gillen (Uber.)

    In Fatal Frontier, Tony Stark investigates why a series of rockets were launched at Hollywood by way of the moon. On the natural satellite, Iron Man discovers a Crimson Dynamo prototype named Udarnik, sent to the moon in 1972 by a Soviet Scientist who wanted to colonize the surface with visiting American astronauts. But the NASA moon program stalled out due to costs and a general lack of interest by the general public and poor Udarnik spent the last 4 decades alone. 
   
   Seeing Udarnik's hostile actions on the earth as a cry for help, Stark decides to humor the robot while determining if the droid is an actual threat to humanity. During his time on the moon, Iron Man discovers a new liquid metal with amazing capabilities called Phlogistone. Once the inventor presents his findings to the UN, it sets gold rush to the moon in which the Avenger is appointed as its sheriff. 
    
    Udarnik is thrilled to have new guests on the moon, but Tony isn't so sure about the miracle metal and begins to study it privately. To his horror, Stark learns that this metal is toxic, causing psychosis, hallucinations, and eventually death. Even worse, Tony discovers that he's beginning to show the effects of phlogistone poisoning. With time running out, Iron Man must shut down mining and production or the  earth could face total extinction all in the name of technological progress.

  An action-packed story filled with an assortment of villains from Tony's rogues gallery. You get to see Iron Man do things you'd wish you could do to your boss or worst enemy. The ultimate revenge story in the vein of 'Revenge of the Nerds' and 'Office Space.' Iron Man's deviousness is unbridled, all the while you're asking yourself 'Is this really Tony Stark doing this or is he out of his gourd due to the phlogistone?" I loved it.

   I found this book at my local library, but I ask anyone reading this review to please buy this volume. I excuse myself because until I saw it on the new shelf, I didn't know Infinite Iron Man even existed. But with the comics industry inching ever so closer to digital only, it's encouraging to see Marvel being willing to collect this book into a print form. But they'll only keep doing this if you keep buying great series collections such as this one.

    Perhaps the most essential Iron Man story since 'Demon in a Bottle,' it really is worth consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.