Batman Begins: The Movie & Other Tales of the Dark Knight

This DC trade paperback is like a matinee movie in reverse. The comic adaptation of the opening chapter of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy by Scott Beatty and Kilian Plunkett is the main attraction. The accompanying 4 stories are like the animated shorts and adventurous serials you would watch as lead up. Only they come after the movie!

I can't really say a lot about the adaptation of 2005's Batman Begins. Unlike the 2008's follow up, The Dark Knight, I've only seen the origin story once. So I don't have any idea if Beatty and Plunkett's version of the movie has extra stuff that got removed before hitting theaters or not. I will say that reading the comic book version of the film has really pique my interest in seeing the trilogy again. Mostly because there is a lot of material in the comic that I don't remember.

While Batman Begins is what got me to buy this book, it's the 4 shorter Batman stories that really captured my attention.

First by Denny O'Neil and Dick Giordano is another origin story of Batman. Only this is the accepted DC canon version which focuses more on Bruce Wayne studying the science of criminology more than martial arts and the tools of stealth. 

Story #2 is by Greg Rucka and Rick Burchett. It simultaneously tells of Batman taking down a gang while a family of 3 are trapped in their vehicle under the Gotham harbor. With time running out and water rushing in, this story has more of a Batman: The Animated Series vibe to it and was perhaps the best story of the bunch.

Story #3 is by Ed Brubaker. In a teaming with Catwoman, Batman explores what it is that makes him a vigilante. That faithful night in Crime Alley is referenced a lot. Art is pretty good. Yet, despite my feeling that Brubaker is the best crime comic writer of them all, he commits an unpardonable sin amongst fans of the Dark Knight by having the hero proclaim that his true identity is Bruce Wayne! Not the Bat!

The final story is an unusual Batman story by Fables head honcho Bill Willingham. It sees a rooftop Batman losing his footing and crashing to the streets below. Obviously injured from the fall, the Caped Crusader must be helped by an assorted group of Gothamites. I wasn't so much of a fan of Tim Fowler's art. But the story was so different and so very engrossing. 

A great mix of stories celebrating not just the origin of the Batman but also of what makes a Batman. A worthy addition to my Batman collection of comics. Only it's not the feature that makes this book worth owning--- it's the backup material! In fact, I'd rather lose the comic adaptation and just add 3-4 more similar tales to the quartet of additional works!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Red Sonja Valentine's Day Special

Love, Hyrkanian Style!

Red Sonja is the target of a love potion gone wrong. Expect lots of magic, blood and mayhem.

I'm not sure why I didn't read this when new last year. Pandemic was probably behind it. My favorite LCS may not have been open to the public. Or I was just not comfortable leaving my house at the time. But for one reason or another, I didn't own this book until sometime after February 14th.

I've got mixed feelings about this book. I really didn't have a clue where the book was going for the first about dozen pages. I didn't get the joke on the inside cover with the credits. I really thought there were 6 different short stories in this. So, I was really confused as to why the first story was so freaking long. 

Then you got the fact that Red Sonja lives in a time prior to the existence of Valentine's Day. How can this be a Valentine's Day special? Sure, 'love' is in the air and there are cupids in this book. But, it's like when there is a Flintstones Christmas Special. Christ was not born during the time of the giant lizards. These kind of anachronisms just irk me. 

The story overall was very well written. It's by Fables' Bill Willingham! Of course it's well written! I thought the middle spread of 'Red Sonja's Dating Tips' were hilarious. It too was anachronistic. But it was intended to be humorous. It did not irk me. 

I also loved the retro variant cover. Though I must be honest. I thought that Red Sonja was kissing one of the characters from Planet of the Apes. Silly me..,

Enjoyable. Not really Valentine's Day. But I see the effort and I appreciate how Dynamite Entertainment is attempting to start up a run of Valentine's Day specials. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

A Very DC Halloween

Collecting 2017's DC House of Horror and last year's Cursed Comics Cavalcade. This is a truly disturbing look at some of your favorite heroes from the House That Superman Built. 

Let's first examine DC House of Horror. I don't know how I overlooked this Halloween special. It's the main reason I bought this book. I already had Cursed Comics Cavalcade in my collection. But I could not pass up this getting my hands on this trade. 

Keith Giffen (Justice League) pens all of the stories in DC's House of Horror. Giffen, who is known for penning some rather lighter fare, such as all of those Ambush Bug stories, must have a dark side deep down. Every story in this special was extremely creepy. From a ghost story involving Harley Quinn and some poor haunted schmo hired to renovate the old Arkham Asylum ruins to a young American girl who summons the spirit of an Amazon warrior princess, I was creeped out by all of these stories. 

And that zombie Justice League story! Man, did that have a tragic ending!

The Cavalcade wasn't so bad. A couple of stories were rather light-hearted such as the Zatanna yarn in which her (and Fables' Bill Willingham) show a scared little girl the magic behind Halloween. The Swamp Thing and Demon stories were quite good as those fan favorites characters never seem to miss. And I enjoyed the twists of the Batman story and Robin/Solomon Grundy team-up. 

Speaking of that Batman episode, the villain introduced in that, Gorehound, needs to see a return in a multi-story arc in the pages of Detective Comics! 

I love Halloween comics. These didn't disappoint getting me in the holiday spirit. But I was unprepared for the level of depravity and sorrow that these normally upstanding and upbeat characters! 

I'm glad it's only just for All Hallow's Eve!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Robin: Days of Fire and Madness

From the cover, it appears that Robin has teamed with Shadowpact. And while the Boy Wonder does join forces with Blue Devil and Ragman, the alliance is nowhere near the focus of this volume as the cover image would lead you to believe.

Instead, Tim Drake is recruited by a special forces unit comprised of metas and war legends. The descendants of the Losers and Enemy Ace are a part of this team. As is a special Weird War Tales/Land That Time Forgot character. Plus there is the mysterious leader: The Veteran. Nobody really knows who he is. Batman says that he's just a legend made up by the war department; "always the last person to die in a war." Sgt. Rock supposedly was killed by the last bullet fired in World War II, so my bet is on him! Only now with enhanced powers and abilities.

The secondary story has a long thought dead romance of Tim Drake's returning from the grave. A demon holds her fate in the palm of it's hands. In typical Batman fashion, the resurrected lover can be with Tim Drake again if she kills Robin! Drake's solution to this pickle is both clever and funny!

Heck, there were a lot of funny moments in this book!

I find myself trying to choose between the Robin and the Nightwing series of the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm trying to make a little bit of room in my collection. I really thought Robin would be the one to go. But after this wild ride, I am thinking that Dick Grayson may have to say adios. 

A wonderful collection of stories by Fables creator Bill Willingham with really striking art by Green Arrow's Scott McDaniel. This and the rest of my Robin collection is definitely a keeper!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Robin: Unmasked

A few months back, I read the Batman War Games trilogy. Okay, it was a 4-volume set with one book being a prequel (War Drums.) But it was still a trilogy. In War Games, Tim Drake was no longer Robin. The reason why was a mystery to me. But not anymore.

Robin: Unmasked explains the reason's behind Tim having to step down from that role. But that's not the only change for Tim. Fables scribe, Bill Willingham takes over the series beginning in this volume from 2004. Along with having to stop being the Boy wonder, Tim is placed in a new school, with new friends, potential new loves, and much more. Tim also has to struggle with the fact that he may have killed a man while flying solo as Robin.

The art was 50/50. The first couple of issues are drawn by Kabuki's Rick Mays. Those issues are visually stunning and I love the color palette. For the last couple of chapters, Robin is illustrated by Aaron Sowd. He's slightly Manga-style was still was good. But when you compare it to those amazing first segments by Rick Mays, it's like asking for Ham and getting SPAM instead.

Robin: Unmasked was a great read. It answered quite a few questions about segments in War Games that I didn't understand, like why there was this assassin all of a sudden trying to kill all the teen boys in Gotham aged 14-16. I probably would've have enjoyed this book better had I read this first. But that doesn't always happen when collecting comic books.

Worth Consuming!

8.5 out of 10 stars.

Fairest, Volume 5: The Clamour For Glamour

 

Reynaud the Fox recently obtained a glamour to become human from Rose Red after he became a member of her New Camelot army. Now bragging about his new exploits as a human, the morale of the other animals on the Farm is lower than ever. Why can't they become human too? It's all that sly Fox's fault...

   With Reynaud run out of town, the rest of the animals stage a protest. As a result, the witches of the thirteenth floor create 5 glamours, to be disbursed during a lottery. But when one of the glamours turns up missing, the list of suspects is as vast as the population of all  the enchanted realms.

The idea behind the Fairest, the sister title to Fables, is to explore the rich back stories of the ladies of Fable Town. But this volume focuses about 50% on the male Fox, Reynaud and 50% the animals of the Farm. The last time Fairest shifted focus from its intended subjects to that of Prince Charming, the results were uneven at best. Thankfully that is not the case here.

  The last volume of Fables(which wrapped up the series) felt a little rushed and I remember wondering why the final storyline of that fantastic series didn't focus more on the Farm. The Clamour for Glamour is the answer to that mystery. With this volume my reading of the complete run of Willingham’s Fables and Fairest is complete and I was very happy with the results. (Though I still have Jack of Fables and Wolf Among Us to look forward to but I don't think either is written by Willingham.)

I must admit cheating a little to see what happens at the end because Willingham introduced a new character that I just feel in love with and the author has a reputation of unmercifully killing them off. ( FYI- they survive, but you'll have to read it for yourself to figure out who that character is.)

   'The Clamour for Glamour' was a fun read that I wished wouldn't end. Lots of fun with great art by regular series art Mark Buckingham, covers by Adam Hughes, and many more. Plus a special story that follows up with a character that I thought was long dead and gone! Wicked cool!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Fables Volume 22: Farewell (AKA Fables #150)

 

  Not only does this volume round out the trade paperback collections of Bill Willingham's Fables, this book as doubles as the final issue of the award-winning Vertigo series, #150. 

   At 160 pages, this very well may be the longest single issue in comic book history. For this last go round, Vertigo pulled out all the stops, including a tri-fold cover that features almost every character to have ever appeared in this series, a lengthy afterword by Willingham, and a slew of guest artists, including Neal Adams, Joelle Jones, and Gene Ha. Regular series artists Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha, who join Willingham to help this series go out on a very positive note. 

   Does that mean everyone has a happy ending? Not at all- this is Fables we are talking about. But the series did end in such a way that I don't need it to continue. 

   Right now, there is a miniseries called 'Fables: The Wolf Among Us' which is based on a video game of the same name. It takes place before Bigby married Snow White, so the events in that series shouldn't affect this series ending. But once that's over, I hope Vertigo breaks all of the rules of comic book publishing and let this series end with style and grace. (That doesn't mean I would be opposed to a live-action series on AMC someday...)

    A fantastic ending to a fantastic series that I began reading almost from the very beginning some 13-years ago. My best friend Todd got me hooked on this series right as the first trade came out collecting issues 1-6. With the ending of Fables, I'm a little saddened, as my friend Todd is no long with us. But I'm glad I got to finish this journey through the world of Fables that he didn't.

  Very Much Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Fairest: In All The Land

  

Someone is killing the beauties of Fabletown! Working on a list of potential victims from the seer Woman of the Ford, super-spy Cinderella must become a gumshoe (as Bigby is still missing and Beast is forced into exile on the farm due to his unpredictable changes back into a monster.) Reluctantly, Cindy accepts the mission and along with Hadeon the witch turned magic car and several animals from the farm, the princess is tasked to find the murderer within 7 days or those slain can never be returned to life. 

   Meanwhile, in the missing Mayor's office of Fabletown castle, the Magic Mirror and several of the Barleycorn Women work to try an assist Cinderella from afar. Someone found a way into the office and stole a vanishing cloak and a powerful sword from the armory. But without an entrance into the room, how could anyone have gotten in and out without being seen by the Mirror?

   'In All the Land' was a great read. As a stand alone graphic novel from both the Fables and Fairest titles, this book seeks to fill in some important gaps before writer/ creator Bill Willingham concludes Fables with issue #150. Helping him along is over 20 artists, inkers, and colorists, including series regular artist Mark Buckingham, Gene Ha, and Ming Doyle.

    The book does start off a little slow. The first dozen or so pages are in text form (with illustrations) but by the second act, the book really gets going. With flashbacks to the 60s and 70s, readers will finally get a better understanding of the motivations of some of the series most famous and infamous characters. (Hopefully, we might get a return to the Fables universe from time to time with several miniseries being devoted to the history of Fabletown, USA. Fingers Crossed!!!)

   Lots of great Easter eggs, cameos, and loose plot threads almost a decade old are waiting for loyal readers of Fables like myself. I just hate to see that dynamic series go, but I'm glad to delay its demise a little longer thanks to gems like this.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fables Volume 21: Happily Ever After

 

 
   The epic series has almost come to a close. But before everyone lives Happily Ever After, a few plotlines must be tied up such as:

• Who owns the heart of a newly resurrected and highly feral Bigby Wolf?
• Who will come out on top of the power struggle of the 13th floor caused by the absence of Frau Totenkinder?
• What is the final fate of the 3 Blind Mice, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, Prince Charming and many more of the most notable characters in this series long run?
• And just who will align themselves with the factions of Rose Red and Snow White?

    Sadly, the outcome of that battle is going to have to wait until Volume 22!

    Okay- there was 150 issues in this series. This volume covers issues Fables 141-149. So just how long was the final issue? And what else is going to go in it? Amazon says that the last chapter in the Fables trades is 160 pages. I know for a fact that issue 150 was not that long!!!

  

    Thankfully, I won't have to wait very much longer. The final volume dropped last week and hopefully I'll come across it soon at my local library or at the Comic Book show in Raleigh later this month. I have to admit, I might have to just go out and buy it because I really want to know how 13 years of Fables final comes to a close.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Comico Christmas Special (#1)

(Disclaimer: I happen to know and interact on a daily basis with one of the editors of this comic. I didn't know this until after I read it. I mention this not to drop names but to allow readers the chance to skip this review if they feel I may in some way be biased.)

Comico: The Comic Company operated from 1982-1990 until it went bankrupt. Following this restructure, Comico still operated but its scope was narrowed to the occasional publication before completely folding in 1997. In its heyday, Comico produced a variety of titles including such licensed properties as Hanna Barbera's Jonny Quest, Max Headroom, and Robotech. They also published some cult classic original titles such as Mage and Evangeline.

 I love the Jonny Quest series. I read the first two issues and was so impressed I snatched up the rest of the series when I came across them at a comic book show in late 2013. This summer I found this holiday title online on a steep discount. Impressed already by the company's work with Jonny, I decided to give this title a shot.

   This 1988 comic is an anthology of Christmas stories ranging from sci-fi to humor to suspense. The first tale involves a man who goes into cryogenic freeze 11 months out of the year in order to only live during the holiday season of Thanksgiving through New Year's. But when a young boy captures his heart, will the man decide to live out the rest of the year or skip to the next Christmas.

   Then a young boy is left alone on Christmas Eve when a mall Santa breaks into his home. Can this Santa prove he's the real thing thanks to the miracle of cloning?

   Our third tale is like Fahrenheit 451 meets Christmas. In the distant future, Christmas has been outlawed for 11 months out of the year, thanks to the oversaturation of the over-commercialization of the holiday. Now a young rebel joins up with a group of Pro-Christmas militants.  in hopes of restoring the joy of the holiday. This strange romp has some crazy moments but was very thought provoking. The only thing missing was Charlie Brown.

  Tale #4 takes place in Buffalo, New York. There a young boy on Christmas vacation decides that snow isn't so great when he's constantly battling it with his trusty snow shovel.

  The final tale is also based on the cover image. Here, a group of alien explorers on marooned on a devastated earth. When the search parties chief researcher decides to write to Santa for a new engine, he awakens that Christmas magic that's been dormant for centuries.

The Comico Christmas Special is not only a fun collection of holiday tales. It's also a Who's Who of artists and writers that I've grown to become a fan of. In 1988, these guys were up-and-comers. Almost 20 years later, this all-star grouping is considered legends in the comics field. Bill Willingham, Steve Rude, Tim Sale, Dave Stevens,  Bob Pinaha, and my buddy Michael Eury are amongst some of the stars of this neat treasury.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fables, Volume 20: Camelot

Somewhere around issue 60, the character of Bigby was temporarily written out of the series. I felt that minus the Big Bag Wolf, the series suffered considerably. Well, Bigby’s gone again and I just wasn’t so enthralled by this otherwise great series.

Not having the character of Bigby in Fables is like an episode of Walking Dead without Daryl or a James Bond movie without 007. Something’s missing to the chemical makeup of the cast. In this case, it’s the mundane embodiment of the Three Little Pig’s arch enemy.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like Fables and even without the Wolf, this is still one of the best current series being published today. It’s just that instead of tearing through this book in a day or so, I would only pick this volume up from time to time to read. That’s how much I think of Bigby Wolf and it speaks volumes as to how droll the series can be without him. Something in these residents of Fabletown is missing. I’ve read several issues in a row where Bigby didn’t appear in the series. Yet, the characters were engrossing in their adventures. Without the Wolf, it’s like the wind’s been removed for everybody’s sails.

In this volume, the concept of Hope’s chosen vessel, Rose Red, has been inspired to revive King Arthur’s Camelot. The premise behind this series was that these characters are the living breathing versions of their fairy tale counterparts. With this new Camelot, each major player is now embodying both their make believe selves but figures in the Arthurian legend as well. For example, since Rose is running the thing, she’s Arthur! I’ll let you figure out who's her Guinevere, Merlin, Mordred, and Morgan LeFay. But I will say some of these placements are shocking.

I can’t wait to see where this series is going. Mostly because it’s hinted that Bigby will return. Just that little glimmer of hope has me eagerly anticipating the next volume.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Fairest, Volume 3: Return of the Maharajah

Fairest continues to explore the realms of foreign fables with a trip to the Fables of India and the Indus Valley. Here, a young girl named Nalayani must defend her village from rampaging hordes of were-demons, as all of the men were conscripted by the Adversary during the Fabletown Wars. Her best hope is to search out a new Maharajah that has just claimed the realm but when she finds him, all isn’t as it seems as one of Fables most endearing characters has returned from the dead,

  Bill Willingham’s Fables has dealt slightly with Indian Fables as some characters from the Jungle Book have been major players in the series long past. Thankfully, the writers behind this volume decided to explore never before revealed India fables. As with the Japanese fables in the previous volume, there were a lot of characters that I’ve never heard of before in this story. But that was okay, because the storytelling and art was fantastic. Full of action, adventure, romance, and surprises, Return of the Maharajah is probably going to have a major impact on the main Fables series, if it hasn’t already (and I just haven’t read it yet.)

I look forward to what this returning character will do to the dynamic on both the Farm and in the restoring Fabletown. I’m also hoping that this character’s return might mean a resurrection for a few other characters that I fell in love with and mercilessly got the axe.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Fairest Volume 2: The Hidden Kingdom

 

Bill Willingham continues his examination of the fairer sex in the world of Fables. But believe me, there’s nothing fair with these ladies. They are bad-ass!

In this volume Willingham explores the early history of Rapunzel, who is kind of a slut. When he twins are kidnapped, she flees the domination of the Empire and the Adversary by living amongst the fables of Japan for a while. There, she gives birth to another breed of child and brings forth the fall of the Japan fables safe hold.

   Now, in the modern world (and taking place about 5 years prior to the events of Fables #1) the heroine is summoned back to Japan hoping to be reunited with her stolen children. Yes, what’s waiting for her call her ‘Mommy” but it’s unlike anything you ever expected.

I enjoyed this volume but probably not as much as I should. I’m not very familiar with Japanese folklore, so I didn’t know who many of these characters were. But that didn’t make for a thrilling story.

Volume one was pretty light on action but not on graphic sex scenes. Oddly enough, despite the cover to this volume (which is borderline NSFW), the opposite is true. There is tons of gritty, grimy action, a really good plot, and while there are some sex scenes, they’re tamer than some stuff you see on a Big Three network.

If I have to pick, Fables is a better series than Fairest and I think it shows in the last story in this book which takes place on the Farm. It involves a first date between Reynard the Fox and one of Gephetto’s forest children, the dryads. That story was funny, intelligent, and put a unique spin on Aesop’s Fables.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

      

Fables, Volume 19: Snow White

 



The modern adventures of your favorite (and least favorite) fairy tale stars continue with two possible nuptials. First in Haven, Beast must prevent the Blue Fairy from holding him captive a total of 777 years by initiating marriage proceedings between the angry fairy and Gephetto. Back in the “mundy” world a gentlemen caller comes for Snow White’s hand in marriage. Has anybody told her husband, the Big Bad Wolf about this?

This is an exciting tale that comes with some dire consequences that result in the demise of a fan favorite. I’m pissed. They better bring ******* (name deleted for spoiler purposes) real quick. I’m not kidding.

A few weeks back, I read volume 1 of Fairest, the newest Fables spin-off and it’s a good thing I did. Some major plot points that aid Bigby is his quest to find his missing cubs are directly tied into the first story arc of Fairest. I would’ve been lost without that prior info. It appears that I’m a budding Jedi, as my instincts to read the spin-off first before this volume of Fables served me well.

Worth Consuming.

Fairest, Volume 1: Wide Awake

From the pages of Fables, one of my all-time favorite non-superhero comics, and the mind of Bill Willingham, comes Fairest. Where Fables is about a group of exiled characters from Fairytaleland (men, women, animals, and animated and enchanted objects) who try to survive in the real world, this series focuses primarily on the women and their many loves.

  The volume has two tales. The first has Sleeping Beauty being rescued by true love’s kiss. But when her prince ends up having eyes for another, it seems that true love can awaken Sleeping Beauty, it just doesn’t mean that that devotion is directed towards her.

The second tale is a noir themed piece that has Beast (from Beauty and the Beast) on the trail of an ancient evil that makes the rounds in 5-inch heels. Can he stop her before she kills again?

I like both stories very much. The Sleeping Beauty tale has Ali Baba and a certain blue imp that’s confined to a shiny bottle  tied in with it. It definitely takes many liberties with the stories of Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin. That’s totally forgivable as it makes for an exciting story that is very familiar but since it doesn’t quite follow the stories we’ve heard since the cradle, there’s room for plenty of surprises.

But, I like the Beast tale the best. The art reminds me of Batman: The Animated Series and it’s classic and clean. The story is straight from Sam Spade and Mickey Spillane. I’m not a huge fan of noir, but I do enjoy those type of tales from time to time. It’s an excellent capper A A very good spin-off. This is no After MASH or Joey! I can’t wait for to read more!

Worth Consuming.

Rating 9 out of 10 stars.

Fables Vol. 18: Cubs in Toyland

The prophecies of Ambrose are beginning to come true. As one of Bigby and Snow’s children trains to become the Great North Wind, another child (Therese) must deal with her jealously over the slight. There are tempters afoot, and Therese is whisked away to another dimension, promised to be that kingdom’s next ruler. Oldest cub, Dare, senses something is wrong and follows in hopes of rescuing his sister.

Willingham has done it again. Every time I think that Fables can’t progress as a series, he takes it into another direction. While the Mister Dark storyline is still explored, the Oz storyline is nowhere to be found in this volume. I find myself needing to no longer get attached to Willingham’s awesome characters because there are some shocking demises in this volume. You’ve been warned.

A great book and I cannot wait for the next volume to come out. 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.