A Boy and His 'Bot #1

 A holiday comic aficionado, I  personally classify any comic book that has a holiday cover but no such interior filler as a SCROOGE. (To have a generic cover but set during the holidays is what I call a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. Though I am wondering if I should label those as DIE HARDs...?)

Anyways, I am conflicted with this 1986 special from the short-lived NOW Comics. It is labeled as 'A Holiday Special'. Only there's nothing Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other holiday related to be found inside. And yet, I had that feel good Christmas feeling reading A Boy and His 'Bot. 

Young Rick is outside stargazing when he witnesses a meteor crashing down nearby. Only it's no mere space rock. Instead, Rick discovers a large sentient robot that was knocked off course and into the boy's backyard. 

The mech offers Rick the chance of a lifetime: to become the pilot of the craft which is designed for a crew of one. As Rick travels around the world saving lives, he wishes he could be a hero full time. But he's been gone for several hours. Surely, mom and dad are wondering where the lad is. Maybe there's time for one last trip before dinner.

A Boy and His 'Bot was created, written and illustrated by Gary Thomas Washington. Washington doesn't have a ton of comic book credits. The indie hero comic Megaton seems to be his biggest and most long-term project. The back of this book stated that Washington was then enrolled at a College art program in the Midwest with hopes of a A Boy and His 'Bot monthly series. However, that didn't seem to ever come to pass. I wonder what happened to him. Did he graduate from art school? Did he go the way of many struggling comic artists and enter the field of animation or commercial art? Did Mr. Washington die before achieving his dreams?

I really would have liked to if they had followed this book up with a series. NOW stayed solvent for a few more years. So I don't think that was the reason for there not being a series based on this. And it's not to be confused with the young adult novel of the same name by Daniel H. Wilson It has a similar plot to this one. But I checked and it's very different.

Another work that has similar vibes but is different is The Iron Giant. Though the animated film is from 1999, it's based on The Iron Man, a children's novel from 1968. However with A Boy and His 'Bot, they go on adventures in outer space and becomes a Star Trek for kiddos when Rick and the robot meet a new alien species. But if you are a fan of The Iron Giant, I think you are going to love this book!

A lovely one-shot that I wish kept on. Plus I just can't figure out why this is called a' holiday special.'  So, I will knock off 1 star. But I'll keep it in my holiday comics bin since that's technically what this book is. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Slimer #10

I took a break yesterday from doing reviews. Don't fret! Family Comic Friday will be back next week.

Yesterday was family Thanksgiving time and by the time I got home, I was just too tired and sore to feel like typing up a review. But I still had 1 more Thanksgiving read to post about. True to my word, here it is!

I choose Slimer #10 for Thanksgiving Day because it was the day I was going to see Ghostbusters: Afterlife in theaters with my wife after she got off work. I thought it was fitting with a theme, I guess. There's 2 stories in this issue. The first is Thanksgiving themed. The second is not. But both involve ghosts!

In the opening tale, Jeanine puts Slimer on a diet just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Telling the green ghoulie that he can on have 1 of everything, Slimer makes giant morsels of everything. They still count as one, right? Having overeaten, Slimer has a fitful sleep and dreams that he's one of the balloons he witnessed at the Thanksgiving parade.  

In the second tale, Slimer plays Ghostbuster when he discovers that the NYPD's stable of police horses are being terrorized by a trio of phantom wolves. The only problem is that Slimer can't activate the ghost traps without making himself a member of this spectral wolfpack. Whose Slimer gonna call when he's without his Ghostbuster pals?!

This issue of Slimer was a great trip back in time to the late 80s when I was obsessed with The Real Ghostbusters. the artwork for this comic looked just like the cartoon series did. But the coloring was just too drab. But I think that was the publisher's fault as the ads seemed pretty drab too. Or it could be the aging of the book. This book is over 30 years in age!

Another issue I had was Slimer's dialogue. On the cartoon, Slimer, voiced by Frank Welker (Transformers), spoke a type of pigeon English. You couldn't understand what he said. But you did get the gist of what Slimer was trying to convey. Here, Slimer speaks in complete sentences with zero perceived flaws. I guess it's not easy to make a comic series based on a character that readers can't decipher. But it's still a shock when that's not how you expect Slimer to 'sound.'

(Note- the reason Slimer can speak really well is actually due to the cartoon! In 1988, the series was expanded to an hour as Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. The Slimer toons gave Slimer an extended vocabulary. I wasn't aware of this as by that time, I had moved on to Ninja Turtles. Based on this comics 1990 publication date, this series is clearly an adaptation of the later seasons I didn't watch.)

When I read a old comic, I pour over the ads. There's a page or two in this comic that lists all of NOW Comics series that were going on at the start of the 90s. There's some really interesting stuff here based on TV shows and movies I was a fan of. I haven't really given NOW Comics must notice. But I think I'm going have to start adding some series to my wish list!

A fun issue that's partially Thanksgiving but 100% full of ghosts and the subsequent busting of!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Speed Racer Volume 1

Now Comics was a small comic book publisher in the mid 80s. As a whole, all of Now’s books were really well written. But there was always something off with the art.

No matter what, the inked final product has this weird magic marker quality to it. I wasn't a fan of it but I kept buying their books because the stories were quite good. Probably the fact that Now Comics were the only books available at the pharmacy when I would visit my grandparents had something to do with my purchasing habits.

Anyways, Now overextended itself and got into some legal issues over paying artists and printing debts. Before 1990 was through, the publisher has filed for bankruptcy. It's comic book line all but dried up and went totally defunct by 1994.

The titles of Now haven't ever been on my modern wish list. If I find an issue of The Twilight Zone or The Terminator in the bargain bins, I don't pass them up. But I haven't felt like I just had to get a full series run of anything like that from the publisher… until now!

A few months ago I found this volume for only a buck at Roses of all places. The first five issues of Now’s amazing run of the classic racing cartoon, Speed Racer!

With Now’s art and print style, Speed Racer was the only title that was a pretty good fit. A 1960s Japanese animated series, it looked really different than American series of it's time. It was a precursor to anime, but the way Now transferred the franchise to the 1980s, something just clicked.

Len Strazewski does an amazing job crafting the origins of both our hero Speed and the mysterious Racer X! My only regret is that I blew through this book at Mach 5 speed! This book was tons of fun. Just as good as it was nearly 30 years ago.

I know what some of you are thinking, if Now is no longer in existence then how did this book come to be when Now never collected Speed Racer in trade for at?  Well, much thanks goes to IDW Publishing for obtaining the rights to bringing this otherwise missing gem of 1980s Indy comicdom! I can't wait to get the other volumes!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.