Marvel Zombies: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3

I can't tell you the number of times I've grabbed this book, only to put it right back down. That's because in this, the 3rd volume of collected Marvel Zombies tales, there's also a Halloween Special included. I've had this book for several years and always keep forgetting in October to read it. Well, not this year. I made sure that it was the first thing I grab for my 2024 Halloween reads! 

Before celebrating All Hallow's Eve with the undead heroes of the Marvel Universe, there's several minis and one-shots to experience. All of them bloody. All of them rated for mature audiences.

• The contagion finds its way to the universe of the Marvel Apes. According to a traveller from the future, the key to preventing the zombie virus from taking root in Earth-8101, a group of heroes led by the Iron Mandrill must protect that world's version of Doctor Doom!
• The source of the zombie infection is finally revealed.
• Howard the Duck and a Machine Man must travel through various time periods of several universes to collect samples of the zombie virus in hopes of irradiating the threat to Earth-616.
• Howard then returns with a squadron of some of the biggest oddball heroes of the multiverse, led by Dum Dum Dugan, to prevent a world in which a Third Reich of Zombie's won World War II from taking over Earth-616.
• A Special Forces team is sent to quell a zombie invasion begun at Project PAGASUS.
• Finally, a mysterious female survivor of the undead outbreak, teaches her son about Halloween.

Karl Kesel, Fred Van Lente, Frank Marraffino and Peter David are the writers who dreamed up this anthology of terror. It's artists such as Todd Nauck, Alessandro Vitti and Kano who brought these nightmares to vivid life. I used to joke how a single issue print run of Robert Kirkman's Invincible must have caused shortages of red ink because of all the blood. I've thinking that this book might have attempted to break that record.

I must have bought this book for the Halloween special. Completing a run of the Marvel Zombies books has never been one of my comic book collecting goals. I've read a couple of volumes previously and while it's a fun scare compared to some of the more secular Marvel Horror titles, there's still a lot of death and destruction. I think it's more shocking when the carnage is caused by or thrust upon beloved icons of your youth. It's definitely more disturbing. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Harley Quinn, Volume 2: Night and Day

Spinning out of the events of the first volume (Preludes and Knock-Knock Jokes), Harley Quinn has ended things with the joker and starts her own gang. Now on her own, a price has been placed on Quinn's head for destroying that Gotham villains theme park. It seems like just about every criminal element known to the Dark Knight is after her including Two-Face, Killer Croc, a some petty criminal named Matches Malone.

Plus, Harls has a sleepover with her friends in a two-parter that will bring the safe house down- literally! 

I enjoyed this volume very much. Really enjoyed it! In fact, I think I liked it more than volume one! Karl Kesel has amped up the insanity, stuffing this book with laughs, and having added so much sex appeal and heart. Kesel also adds to Harley's origin with a look at her tumultuous college days.

The art also gets better and better than that in volume 1. Along with Terry Dodson, a number of guess artists take a swipe or two at the Joker's EX-girlfriend including Larry Lieber, Paul Chadwick and Amanda Conner. One neat element is the frequent change over from more traditional DC looking Harley Quinn to Animated Series classic Harley, especially when we go inside Quinn's head. It's a really neat plot device that pays homage to the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm days introducing us to the Maid of Mischief.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Harley Quinn, Volume 1: Preludes and Knock-Knock Jokes

A businessman seeks to turn Gotham City into the next vacation destination. His plan is to infringe of the copyrights of the Batman's Rogues Gallery and freely use their likenesses in a villain themed theme park. Upset that he wasn't asked, the Joker seeks to get the permission and respect he fells that he is due.

Feigning illness, the Clown Prince of Crime manipulates his gal pal Harley Quinn to do his dirty work for him. The Joker really just wants to get her out of his hair.  But with this new batch of responsibility, Harley starts to feel independent and gains a new sense of worth-while. Thus starts the beginning of the end of the relationship of Harley and her Puddin'.

I was very excited about finding the volumes that reprint this entire first series devoted to the Joker's girlfriend. I've been a Harley Quinn fan since day one and I really want any and everything of her's in terms of comic books and trades. These are among some of the most difficult and not cheapest ones to find.

The Final Night's Karl Kesel does a really excellent job here. I thought only Paul Dini was able to write definitive Harley Quinn stories. I can now add Kesel to that list. 

As for the art, I was really impressed with the work by husband and wife team Terry and Rachel Dodson. They add a very soft ink whimsy to Harley. It's a stark contrast to Bruce Timm's very sharp curves used in Batman: The Animated Series. Yet, the Dodson touch works!

Volume One was a wild ride. I can't wait to see where volume 2 goes next!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Unlimited Access #4

After 3 issues full of members from both the DC and Marvel Universes taking up residence in worlds that were not their own, it finally happened... the Amalgam Universe has returned! Only this is a different mix-up of heroes unlike those unveiled in the previous DC/Marvel cross-overs. 

Since the main baddies of this story are Darkseid and Magneto, the Amalgam characters that are introduced are mostly taken from the X-Men and JLA. I really liked the new Amalgam baddies- the Brotherhood of Evil Gods! 

I'm kinda glad that Karl Kesel decided to come up with his own Amalgam characters and not use the ones created by Ron Marz and Peter David. It helped a story that seemed to be getting a little stale and off the rails somewhat.

This issue marks the general end of the DC and Marvel crossovers. There might have been one or two one-shots still to come after this. But that was pretty much it. Now with Disney in charge of Marvel, it is probably a long shot that any such crossover between these two powerhouses will occur again any time soon.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Unlimited Access #2

The dimension shifting time-travelling adventures of Access puts the new hero in the direct path of the Legion of Superheroes. That's not all of the fun as the affects of having DC and Marvel heroes on the same world has caused Access to leap forward in time to the most dangerous potential timeline of all- The Days of Future Past!

Karl Kesel upped the level excitement, thrills, and twists in this issue. I really enjoyed it. But I'm not really a fan of the artwork. Pat Olliffe's style is very 1990s disproportionate. Enormous muscles, way too small heads, and everybody from ages 2-92 has widow's peak, even the ladies! At least it's not Rob Liefeld...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Unlimited Access #1

Axel Asher, also known as in inter-dimensional skipping hero Access is back. 

This time, he doesn't just have to prevent heroes from both the DC and Marvel universes from jumping between worlds, he now has to prevent them from screwing up with the time-line.

During a period of lost time, Access discovers that the believed long dead Hal Jordan Green Latern has returned! Not only that, but the Hulk has been sent back in time to the Old West. 

Generally, when a hero from one world enters the other world, there's a loose period of time in which Access must return the interloper to their original world. To go past that limit could mean the return of the Amalgam Universe; another dimension in which the Marvel and DC Universes are blended into one. But when people are starting to be sent back and forwards in time, those rules are no longer in play.

There's no telling how much time Access has to fix time before the Amalgam world returns...

Written by Karl Kesel, a writer with experience in both DC and Marvel lore, Unlimited Access is in good hands. But this 1997 miniseries isn't written by someone who was involved with the three prior stories in the DC/Marvel crossover Saga. Having time travel being thrown into the mix was a brilliant twist. It really makes the story of Access that much more interesting and fresh.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Captain America: The 1940s Newspaper Strip

The 1940s saw Batman and Superman living in the funny papers. Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and even Captain Marvel (for about a second) lived there too. But, curiously absent was Captain America and his sidekick, Bucky. Rumors swirled for years that Stan Lee and Kirby & Simon were trying to adapt Capt. to the dailies, but getting drafted or fired from Timely kept that dream from becoming reality… until now.

In this book, Karl Kesel crafts a lengthy tale that has Captain America and Bucky sent to a secret Army base for testing in hopes of recreating the Super Soldier formula. But, when scientists turn up missing it’s up to the pair along with Army liaison Betsy Ross to find out who’s behind the crimes!

I liked the book very much. The art was 40’s retro and very fitting. I also enjoyed how the book was structured like an actual comic book newspaper strip in which it  had 6 mini comics and a long Sunday edition tale. However, in true 40’s funny pages fashion, Sunday’s tale would have been a different story, unrelated to the weekly feature. If Kesel was given 4 issues instead of 3, he might have had time to do that aspect right.

The 1940s Newspaper Strip was like reading a time capsule. I wish the setting was more involved with the war front in Europe, but it’s still a classic feeling tale. Fans of funnies or Captain America will delight.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.