DC's Terrors Through Time #1

Finally, after several years of complaints, DC releases a holiday time special that contains relevant content but doesn't make the reader want to kill themselves because of being shamed about the sins of the world. 

For instance, in the prequel story starring the Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman face a Hawaiian earth spirit who is unhappy with how their pristine island has become tarnished by man. I did not realize how much damage cats have done to the island chains' ecosystem, including the surrounding oceans! But in this story, the Sirens 3 are given a chance to redeem the wrongs and there's a little bit of hope; something that has been lacking from DC Comics' for the past several years.

I think DC is starting to understand that the readers with money to spend want to be entertained, not preached at. If I want a sermon, I know where to go on a Sunday morning. There's nothing wrong with covering political or even social topics. Just don't be snarky with your comments and inside jokes. Not every white male in America supports Trump and his ideals...

There are 7 other stories in this book which looks at horror through the ages as opposed to time travel frights. Based on the cover with the Super Sons looking over blueprints for a time machine, that's what I thought this book was going to be about. Alas, I was wrong.

Instead, the opening story, starring the Phantom Stranger sets the tone for this 80-page giant. The Stranger's story reflects on his eternal mission to save humanity from the forces of darkness. This usually involves demons and monsters. But I would have expected a story that took place over eons would have The Stranger wearing different togs. Instead, he wears that 1960s mod turtle neck, fedora and cloak of his throughout all time. I didn't know his costume was so timeless.

The story starring The Demon, Etrigan, was perhaps one of the best stories ever published by DC. The ending was absolutely freakin' perfect! If they still do awards for story of the year in comics, this one gets my vote and full support!

Other stories of note was the Halloween set story of the Super Sons as they go to trick-or-treating to all the secret lairs of the Justice League's line-up. Then go 50 years into the future to see how Swamp Thing protects the Green after a nuclear catastrophe. 

There's also a really good Green Lantern Corps story set about 425 years in the future. I felt that it was a story that contained characters that DC isn't done with yet. If that's the case and a Green Lantern Corps series set in the 25th century is to be a thing? Well if so, expect me to be adding it to my subscription wish list at my local LCS. It's that good!

And let's not forget that I was a fan of the Gotham City Sirens tropical tale. 

The two stories I was not a big fan of involved the Justice Society of America and Deadman. The JSA story, set during WWII, involved stopping some Nazis from obtaining a magical museum piece that could turn the war in Hitler's favorite. Overall, the art was good and the plot was okay. I just felt like writer Charles Skaggs (Grayson) was trying to fit 25 gallons of pickles into a 5 gallon bucket. The pacing was just too fast and the one-liners fell flat.

As for the Deadman tale, I blame the artist, Kelley Jones (Batman & Dracula: Red Rain). I love Jones' work. But I hate how he draws Deadman. This team-up with Damian Wayne had promise. But writer Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) ruins it with Deadman waxing philosophical at times and Batman, when he appears, just doesn't seem himself. I thought Batman liked and respected Boston Brand. But here, the Dark Knight seems to treat Deadman with the disdain you'd expect from Batman to have towards Plastic Man. 

A very good offering of stories from DC. Not very scary. And like I said, there wasn't any time travel. But this also book contained what I think is the best story of the whole year of 2022! And this was probably the best holiday giant from the House The Superman Built in the last 5 years. I'm feeling a lot of hope for the December offering thanks to this issue.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Young Monsters In Love #1

Leave it to DC Comics to not just provide it's devoted fan base with a Valentines Day special! A sappy love fest of unrequited romance between two unlikely paramours just will not do for DC! Nope! Instead, DC Comics has issued a holiday special devoted to cupids and chocolates starring some of it's most popular supernatural characters.

Why use monsters in a Valentines Special? Part of the quirky fun of many B-movie horror films is when the beastly main character falls in love with a beautiful damsel in distress. King Kong falling for Faye Raye. The Creature From the Black Lagoon lusting after Julia Adams. And who can forget Tor Johnson's deformed Lobo saving Loretta King from a deranged Bela Lugosi in Bride of the Monster? Creatures of the night and romance are B-movie box office gold!

While Young Monsters In Love #1 may take it's inspiration from the schlock horror films of the 50s and 60s, this special is full of A-list talent. It features over a half dozen stories written by some of the best comic book talent in the industry, topped off by Batman: The Animated Series' Paul Dini. Jeff Lemire, Steve Orlando, Phil Hester and many more craft stories of love, loss, and monsters. 

Some highlights include:

• 'Heart Shaped Box'- A House of Secrets quality story in which Swamp Thing enacts revenge against a team of mercenaries that interrupt Swampy's V-Day plans with a lady botanist.
• 'Be My Valentine'- Deadman helps a bullied child get some revenge against those who made it the worst Valentines exchange party of all-time.
• 'Dear Velcoro'- One of the Creature Commandos receives a Dear John letter in-between missions in Nazi Germany.
• Monsieur Mallah goes shopping for his Valentine, The Brain, by robbing a Lexcorp research facility in 'Visibility.'
• 'Pieces of Me'-Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. pens a letter to his Bride, highlighting the complicated history between the two lovers.
• And in 'Nocturnal Animal', Kirk Langstrom struggles to battle his own personal demon, the Man-Bat, in the light of his crumbling relationship with his wife Francine.

DC has a habit of turning one or two of their featured holiday stories into miniseries or regular titles. If the pattern continues, I hope that the powers that be will offer more Paul Dini penned Deadman adventures. I know that there's currently a Deadman miniseries written and penciled by Neal Adams. It's good, but Dini's take gave the character of Boston Brand a warmth and life not seen in over 30 years. 

Overall, Young Monsters In Love was an unexpected delight. I didn't learn about this special until just a couple of weeks ago. Every story was masterfully written. The artwork was varied but brilliantly crafted by talents such as Guillem March and Kelley Jones, whose 1950s sci-fi movie inspired poster cover was so very retro and awesome!

The only thing that I wasn't a fan of was the price. With a cover price of $9.99, that's still pretty lofty, even if this was an 80-page giant. But I am a sucker for holiday specials of any type and what was inside the cover was flawless fun! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Swamp Thing Winter Special #1

Swamp Thing Winter Special #1
Written by Tom King and Len Wein
Art by Jason Fabok and Kelley Jones
Cover by Jason Fabok
Published by DC Comics

Cool Runnings

Winter isn’t exactly the season you think of when you think of Swamp Thing. The rebirth of spring and the heat of summer are more familiar settings for a character known to have grown fruit from his very body to feed others in need. Yet a icy winter blizzard is where first encounter Swamp Thing in the open story ‘The Talk of the Saints.’

Written by Tom King, in this episode, a snow demon has taken residence in the Louisiana Bayou where Swampy dwells. The plant-based super hero is carrying a small child in his arms, trying to keep the lad warm and safe from the winter monster. The snow monster’s frigid powers have put an amnesiac spell over Swamp Thing, preventing him from being able to tap into the green; the earth based source of his powers.

Swamp Thing seems to be going around in circles as he and the boy flee the monster. But there’s more dangers in the swamp than just hunters, savage beasts, and the elements. For the one monster Swamp Thing cannot escape is himself.

Dark Nights

The second story is perhaps the main reason any fan of Swamp Thing wants to purchase this winter special. That’s because it is the last Swamp Thing story written by co-creator Len Wein. In this chiller, a baby has been kidnapped from his Gotham City home by Solomon Grundy. Grundy’s escape route is taking him to Cajun Country. Hoping to head the villain off at the pass, Batman travels to Louisiana hoping to enlist Swamp Thing’s help in saving the child.

Unfortunately, there is a lot missing from this story. This tale was supposed to be the first chapter in a miniseries penned by Wein. However, with his unexpected death last year, only the first issue was plotted. Not only is this story not lettered, it doesn’t even have a title. That’s how early in the creative process Wein was with this story.

This proposed story was to be a sequel to Wein’s 2016 miniseries Swamp Thing: The Dead Don’t Sleep. The story doesn’t have any words, as DC thought it best not to alter Len Wein’s final creative vision. Thus Wein’s plotted script is included in the back of this special. In order for Wein’s fans to fully experience it, the first segment was pencilled, inked and colored by Wein’s The Dead Don’t Sleep creative partners Kelley Jones and Michelle Madson.

Welcome to the Future.

Tom King’s story of the snow demon terrorizing Swamp Thing was pretty darn good. It got a little philosophical at the end. But that was just about any issue of Swampy Thing written by Alan Moore. But I feel that Tom King should stick to what he does best at DC- writing Batman stories! Perhaps completing Wein’s Batman/Swamp Thing team-up might not be a bad assignment for Tom King.

But I wouldn’t use Kelley Jones to do the artwork. Instead, the art assignments for Swamp Thing needs to go to one man- Jason Fabok. The amazing job he did in the opening story was so well done, Jason Fabok should be the only artist to draw Swamp Thing from now on!

While many agree that the Swamp Thing movies weren’t all that great, it is almost a universal understanding that the make-up job was outstanding. Fabok’s Swampy looks like images were taken directly from the live-action films and inked and colored. DC, if you don’t make Jason Fabok the premiere artist of Swamp Thing franchise, you are doing your fans a disservice!

Farewell to a Friend

The second half of the Swamp Thing Winter Special was a loving obituary to Len Wein. However, it also acts as a farewell to Swamp Thing co-creator Bernie Wrightson. Previously published tributes to Wein and Wrightson are included. There’s also a segment on the art process to a Dan DiDio commission had done for Wein’s wife Christine.

This one-shot is an essential read for a lot of comic book fans. First and foremost to want to own this issue is Swamp Thing fans. Len Wein also had a hand in crafting a number of Marvel characters such as Nightcrawler, Storm, and most famously Wolverine. So if green isn’t your thing, but you are a Len Wein devotee, you will want to own this over-sized tribute to a comic book legend who is sorely missed by all.

The Swamp Thing Winter Special #1 debuted on February 7, 2018. It retails for $7.99.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.