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.

Wolverine: First Class, Vol. 4: Ninjas, Gods and Divas

A couple of weeks ago, I was wanting to read something fun. Something light. Only, I'd select a book, head to the bedroom to read it and discover that a Halloween themed story is inside. I don't know about you but a personal rule of mine is that you can't read Halloween comics unless it's October. So I held on to that book and went to find another. Wouldn't you know it, it too had a Halloween time set story inside. I went through this like 4 times before I finally gave up. It was like I was cursed or something.

On Saturday, I went ahead and began reading this book. The debut issue of the X-Men/Power Pack miniseries, which is the Halloween tale, was the last story in this volume. I didn't see it as breaking the rules of I didn't read that story until October 1st. I also didn't expect this series to turn out how it did.

Based on the title of 'First Class', I thought that this was going to be a series of untold origin tales starring everyone's favorite Canadian mutant, Wolverine either before Weapon X or during his time as a member of Alpha Flight. That's kinda how X-Men: First Class turned out. Instead, the majority of the stories are set during the early days of the Uncanny X-Men, when Kitty Pryde was the only adolescent student at Xavier's School for Gifted Students. 

Professor X sees that Kitty Pryde needs to toughen up a bit, least she never make it as an X-Man. Xavier also thinks that the hard travelling Logan needs to lighten up a bit and learn some empathy. Thus a classic team-up is born. Only don't expect these stories to just involve Sprite and Wolverine. There are a ton of cameos representing the mutant race as well as pairings with a slew of superstars from the Marvel Universe.

Together Wolverine and Kitty Pryde take on Red Hand ninjas with Daredevil and Elektra, stop a troll invasion with Thor and go on tour with Dazzler, who recently received a death threat in her private dressing room. Even though Wolverine is known to be very good at doing some very un-nice, he's like a grumpy uncle who always acts like he hates kids, but secretly is a softie to them. 

Peter David wrote the 3 stories collected from Wolverine: First Class. David is one of those writers who can write serious as well as lighthearted and both are equally great. Plus, Peter David puts the fun into everything he touches and from what I read, this book was capital F- U-N!

What about that Halloween story? It was a lot of fun too. When Power Pack came out in the 80s, I wasn't a big fan. I thought it was kinda dumb having kid superheroes. As I've gotten older, I have kinda grown to like them a little more. I see now how a group of 4 kids becoming heroes could expand the imagination of a fellow youngster to dream of becoming something fantastic. Plus, since the whole secret identity thing is out the window because Mom and dad both know, a lot of the implausibles that plague kid superheroes are eliminated.

The Halloween story is mostly a Power Pack adventure. One of the kids dresses up like Wolverine in hopes of winning the local costume contest. Getting separated from his siblings, the preteen Wolvie runs smack dab into Sabertooth while his family meets the real deal X-Man.

That story had great banter and was a perfect way to start off my October themed reads. As for Wolverine: First Class, I'm hooked. I want to know how many total issues were in the series and I want to add it to my wishlist. I kinda feel like I should give 2 ratings. One of the team-ups and and for the holiday special. Good thing both reads were flawless.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics #1000

Seeking to cash in on DC's success with Action Comics #1000 and Detective Comics #1000, the House of Ideas got creative in their 80th anniversary with Marvel Comics #1000.

True, I was sucked into the hype. I went to my local comic book shop and ordered my selection of a variant cover. My choice was tough. I really love Alex Ross and his regular cover was amazing. But I was in love with the 1960s cover done by Mike Allred!

Marvel Comics #1000 was worked on by 80 different creative teams and it was a wide range of talent! From Kareem Abdul Jabbar to Peter David to Joe Hill to Toby Whithouse- it was a massive potpourri of names. Sadly, Stan Lee passed before getting to contribute to this milestone comic. 

The book stars out with a pretty cool concept from the very first panel of Marvel Comics #1 way back in 1939. The 3 men who witness the creation of the mechanical Human Torch are apparently a part of some secret Science Guild. They've been working in the background of the rise of superheroes for the past 80 years and Atlas agent Jimmy Woo is on the hunt for why they've spent 8 decades looking for the discarded mask of a fallen mystery man.

Each page of this book covers a single year progressing from 1939-2019. This format moves the story of the Science Guild forward from 1939 until about 1943. Then it starts to sprinkle tributes about first appearances and major events throughout the book. If Marvel Comics #1000 would have either stayed with a single cohesive story, a year at a time or having 80 different tribute pages- I would have been happy with this one-shot. 

But Marvel decided to ramble. For one thing, the publisher decided to choose some really weird things to be giddy about. Like 1980 was devoted to a brief encounter between Doctor Doom and Iron Man. At times, Marvel gets preachy. I'm talking Axel Alonso, all readers who think unlike us are stupid, preachy. But for a company that claims to be 'woke', I thought it was quite odd that one tribute was devoted to Storm's punk era look in the mid-80s. That just seemed hypocritically sexist to me. 

However, that tribute page for 1977 about a galaxy far, far away. WOW! It gives me re-newed hope of a Marvel/Star Wars fantasy crossover!

Marvel Comics #1000 had promise. It just couldn't decide which way it wanted to go. 80 different Tributes or epic story spanning all of Marvel's publishing history. You only had to choose 1 direction Marvel. But you got greedy and the lack of quality and care bled through!

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Avengers: Season One

The purpose behind Marvel’s Season One was to update the origins of many of the publisher’s most popular super heroes in order to A) help appeal to a newer audience and B) put the origins more in line with the various film properties of the Marvel Universe.

But with Avengers: Season One, you don’t get a reboot of their origin. What you do get is an awesome “lost tale” of the early days of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Angered by his exile at the hands of the Avengers, Loki works his magic pitting Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America in myriad of suspicious happenings while the trio hunts for the Hulk.

Peter David is such a brilliant writer and he works his magic with the awesome tale. There’s also a preview of Avengers Assemble. I loved what I read and hated that the preview ended as quick as it did.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1 (A Family Comic Friday Extra)

Some weeks there is just so much great stuff that you can’t contain it in one article. For this Family Comic Friday Extra, we take a look at the triumphant return of the House of Idea’s Marvel Adventures line in a series of reprint one-shots from IDW!

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1
Written by Marc Sumerak, Peter David
Art by David Nakayama, Mike Norton
Published by IDW Publishing
Pages: 46
Retail: $4.99

From 2005-2011, Marvel Comics was your place for all-ages comics. Under the Marvel Adventures line (formerly Marvel Age), all of your favorite superheroes and villains came alive in exciting exploits that captured the heart of classic Marvel while exploring unimaginable new plot-lines. Where else could you find the Hulk and Wolverine switching brains? Or Mole Man turning into a giant thanks to some Pym particles?

The essence of Marvel Adventures was that the comics were fun. They also happened to be quite funny. With a slew of amazing talent such as Darwyn Cooke, Aaron Lopresti, Skottie Young and Tommy Lee Edwards, the sky was the limit! And in some cosmic themed stories, that limit extended into the furthest reaches of the cosmos!

Unfortunately, with the coming of Disney XD’s line-up of animated series based on the Avengers, Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man, Marvel Adventures’ day were numbered. By 2012, the line was defunct. Instead of issues filled with original art and stories, Marvel Comics replaced Marvel Adventures with picto-comics. Here, stills from the cartoons were placed into order, word bubbles added, and put into comic book form. With a couple of pages of fun and games stuff, these comics took over for the Adventures line. Even the digest collections of Marvel Adventures stories were discontinued abruptly, immediately going into out-of-print status.

Sadly, the Marvel Adventures line was all but forgotten. Unless you got lucky at a used book store or maybe a dollar box at a comic book show, it was almost impossible to find anything from this imprint. Well, that’s all about to change!

This week, IDW Publishing was granted access to the Marvel Vaults in order to present some of the most exciting tales from the Marvel Adventures line. First up was a pair of Spidey stories in which the wall-crawler joins forces with some of Marvel’s powerhouses.

In the first story, Spider-Man falls under the spell of Amora, the Enchantress. With the sorceress now claiming the throne of Asgard, Spider-Man has unwittingly become her champion. That all might change when Thor, the god of thunder, arrives on the Asgard scene!

Then Spidey must enlist the help of the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange! When Flash Thompson is attacked by a fierce beast, Spider-Man comes to the rescue. Seemingly, Flash is okay. That is until the moon gets full and the bully turns into a werewolf!

Both stories were great. But Peter David (The Incredible Hulk) is a master at storytelling and his werewolf narrative just has something magical about it. The artwork of both stories is very good. However, it’s the art that has always been the one thing that I wasn’t a huge fan of with Marvel Adventures.

I love thick ink lines. I think it’s a throwback to the 60s and 70s comics that I grew up on. The Marvel Adventures books always featured ultra-modern artwork with characters made up of heavy muscles and pencil-thin inking. There’s nothing wrong with this style of artwork. It’s just not my cup of tea.

That being said, I’m excited that Marvel is giving a new generation of superhero fans a chance to discover Marvel Adventures. In the next few weeks, IDW will be releasing 2 more one-shots under the Marvel Action Classics banner- one starring Captain America and a second featuring The Hulk. The Hulk issue is due in stores on June 5th. Cap’s issue is currently TBA. But until then, you’ll just have to settle for your friendly, neighborhood, Spider-Man!

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-In-One #1 debuted in print on May 29th, 2019.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Versus Marvel

In the mid 1990s, comic books were on the verge of collapse. Speculators had seen the insane prices that the first appearances of Superman and Spider-Man were selling for and they wanted a piece of the pie. However these speculators were new to comics and didn't realize that every first issue wasn't going to become the next Action Comics #1.

While these newbies were snatching up dozens of first issues at a time, two disastrous things were happening in the industry. 1) Comic book stores were raising the prices of new comics to levels that devoted fans could not afford on a regular basis. 2) Meanwhile publishers were thrilled at how well the first issues of their new titles we're selling; so they began publishing large volumes of the second and third issues. But since the speculators weren't interested in anything but first issues and collectors weren't buying second issues because they couldn't afford issue #1 an economic bubble was forming.

By 1994-95, many independent publishers went out of business. Local comic book shops did too! Marvel had to restructure several times, even going so far as to outsource some of their most popular heroes to other companies. It was deeply feared that Marvel was going to go out of business.

If not for having Warner Bros as their parent company, DC would have folded as well. But successful animated TV shows and the Batman franchise of films kept DC afloat. The powers that be at DC knew that it was vital to the industry to keep Marvel from folding even if they were a direct competitor. So they threw out a life preserver to the House of Ideas- they proposed a crossover!  

It had been nearly two decades that the two publishers had last had characters of their two universes meet. A new generation of fans had long begged DC and Marvel for such a pairing. And established fans really only got to see a small handful of characters meet in the three crossovers published from 1976-1981.

Once the contracts were signed, it was decided that Ron Marz and Peter David would script a epic battle between the heroes of the two universes with art by Dan Jurgens and Claudio Castellini. But it would be the fans who would get to decide the outcomes!

After the first issue, fans were given a number of match-ups and encouraged to vote for the winner. Could Superman defeat the Hulk? Whose mightier: The Silver Surfer or Green Lantern? Could Namor out-swim Aquaman? You might not agree with all of the outcomes but it was the people who had spoken!

For the most part, the events of this 4-issue mini series have been retconned and erased. But the most lasting impact of this story was the creation of the Amalgam Universe. There we got awesome miss-mashes of our favorite characters like Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD and Doctor Strangefate.

A great story that helped saved Marvel if not the comic book industry as a whole. Marvel would continue to flounder for a couple of years afterwards, eventually filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996. But the sales were positive enough to help Marvel in it's restructuring until Toy Biz could make a deal to buy the company.

This book is maybe not a required reading but it's definitely something of historical importance!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Avengers: First to Last

     An interesting mix of never before told behind-the-scenes stories of the original line-up of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and as well as the team's swan song.

     The first group of stories appeared in the back pages of Avengers Classic. Featuring such greats as Dwayne McDuffie (Damage Control) and the Man himself, Stan Lee, these shorts reveal what happened between the issues, like how Marvel obtained the licensing rights to the Avengers and the first ever meeting between Captain America and Spider-Man.

      It's always been my pet peeve with the Marvel Classic books that they never contain any original material. But with Avengers Classic, that wasn't case. Of note, if you already have issues 1-12 of the Avengers in some sort of collected form and you have this volume, you'll have all the original material and covers contained in Avengers Classic. You will not need to scour the bargain bins for the individual issues of Avengers classic.

      The second feature was a completely new story. The Last Avengers Story reveals what could happen in a final stand off between Hank Pym and Ultron. Written by Marvel mage Peter David, this book was dark, bloody, and a wild read. It was also a little naughty. That's all thanks to the painted pages of Aliens Vs. Predator's Ariel Olivetti.

       If you are trying to collect Avengers stories, you'll need this collection. It's the perfect combination of funny, serious, and adventure. But due to the level of blood and gore in The Last Avengers Story, this is not a book for all readers- especially kids- as some images can be quite unsettling.

     Worth Consuming

     Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir

   If I am wrong about this, forgive me- For the first time ever, Stan Lee recounts his 70+ years in the comics industry in graphic novel form. 
  
    It's the way Stan the Man's autobiography was meant to be presented. From his earliest days at Atlas (now Marvel) as a copyboy for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby to surviving the great comics scare of the 1950s to partnering with the King to create the Marvel Universe up to his ubiquitous cameos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe- this epic work has it all.

   Some of these tales I've read before. Maybe not from Stan's mouth but I've heard many of the anecdotes before. But, to have the master's spin put on them, it's really cool. 

   However, the truth must be told, I think Lee does paint himself in a way too positive light. For example, in his numerous battles with Atlas/Marvel owner Martin Goodman, Stan is seen constantly fighting for his zany superhero ideas and bullpen of talent. But like they say 'the history books are written by the victors' and many of Lee's detractors are either no longer without or really bitter...

   Assisting Stan is the great Peter David (The Incredible Hulk) on co-writing duties with Colleen Doran (The Nightmare Factory) on art. Obviously, I can tell what Doran was responsible for but the dialogue and history of comics, I couldn't tell you where Stan Lee ends and Peter David begins. The writing talents are that seamless!
   
Amazing Fantastic Incredible is a work that I've seen many fans of comics have posted about on social media since the graphic novel hit stores in November of last year. Sadly, the reviews for this book have been mixed. Most of the complaints I've seen  have accused Lee of being a revisionist historian (remember what I said about the author and his frequent battles with his publisher earlier?) 

   But I loved this book!  The writing was unparalleled- what do you expect from the combined might of Stan Lee and Peter David?! But don't forget the art! Doran takes every page and has filled them with great easter eggs and original prints, and much more. This book is the ultimate feast for the eyes of any comics fan, be ye solely in the Marvel or DC camps!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars
  

   

"Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man Annual #1 (Sandman: Year One)”

A unique Peter David tale in which Spidey takes a back seat to the villain known as Sandman. This “Year One” story goes from his childhood up to his earliest days as a petty crook who has a reunion of sorts with his father in the Big House.

Fantastically scripted by the legendary Peter David. It’s a must read. Excellent art. But, it’s the storytelling that steals the show here. Required reading.

WORTH CONSUMING!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek #1, Spring 1994 Special

Kirk and Spock’s relationship is looked at in great detail in a pair of stories. 

The first tale sees the return of RJ Blaise, last seen in the pages of the second DC volume of Trek. There is some great sexual tension banter between Kirk and Blaise and Spock’s more human characteristics add for some riotous exploits.

   Then we have got a tale on Vulcan, where Spock has trouble finding his place in the universe after his resurrection. Kirk must save him before the elements of the harsh Vulcan wilderness claims do. 

Two really good tales. The art is 50/50. Sometimes spot on and sometimes you can’t tell Uhura from Scotty. Always good to have dynamic Star Trek writer Peter David back, however.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Comics Presents: Justice League of America #1

A tribute issue in honor of the passing of the great Julius Schwartz, long-time EIC of DC Comics. Schwartz was known for having concept covers drawn up and then would assign writers to use that idea for use in a forthcoming issue of said title.

In this issue, Harlan Ellison, Marv Wolfman, and Peter David contribute 2 tales surrounding a cover in which the Justice League is plagued by their super powers and weapons. The first tale is awesome. It has the future JLA going back in time to stop the newly formed League from getting decimated by a time travelling villain from the 30th century.

Sadly, Harlan Ellison’s tale really sucks rocks. Here, Schwartz is a character in his own tale, in which he dreams that his characters have taken over his life and he hates them for that! I really think that’s hogwash. Ellison, good a writer he may be, tends to embellish facts AND likes to restructure characters into more controversial subjects than they really are. Case in point: his first draft for City of the Edge of Forever in which Scotty was to become a drug addict.

Thankfully, the first tale makes this issue worth consuming, but just barely.

Worth Consuming!

  Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

"Star Trek #16 (DC Comics 1989-1996, 2nd Series)"

After the horror that was the last 3 issues, Peter David returns with a tale about the original crew. Sadly, this episode is too much like TOS episode, “The Empath.” When promised new tales, don’t give me a thinly veiled remake and sell it as an original, never before told story.

Sorry, that just doesn’t work with me.

"Star Trek #1 (DC Comics 1989-1996, 2nd Series)"

NOT WORTH CONSUMING

So, after investing 56 issues to a new set of crew members that I had grown to really like (Konom, Bryce, Bernie Sherwood, even Bearclaw), Star Trek returns in this new series with an entirely new crew!!!!

 

What’s up with that?

 

 I don’t want to meet an ensign who looks like a purple ram and has the hots for Sulu. I’m not interested in a security officer who is thinner than Olive Oyl and has Disco Balls for eyes. And the Nasgul? - What is this, Middle Earth?

 

 This issue’s only saving grace is that Peter David is writing this series again!

 

 I’m not very happy with this change!