Elvira's House of Mystery #1

 

  The House of Mystery has a new owner in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

   Upon fleeing an angry mob, Elvira takes refuge in what is revealed to be the House of Mystery. Upset upon the loss of it’s owner Cain, the House, which all of a sudden can talk secretly hopes Elvira will find him. So the House of Mystery, under the guise of the domicile protecting her from the violent throng outside sends Elvira throughout time and space in hopes of finding something that will calm the crowd and return Cain as the spooky mansion’s rightful owner.

   Stories include a real life game of Dungeons and Dragons that turns deadly for a coven, a battle between elderly sorcerers in medieval Japan, and a group of kids hoping to win a thousand dollar prize take advantage of a nebbish child in order to do it. As is tradition with the horror version of the House of Mystery, there was also a couple of humorous comic strips peppered throughout.

     Of the three tales, the one about Japan was my least favorite. It had good art and the story was good but it was long. It was all narration (nobody speaks!) and it ran for 36-pages whereas the other yarns were only about 8-pages apiece.

     Elvira’s House of Mystery #1 doubled as a 64-page Halloween Special. As specials go it wasn’t bad. But compared to the quality of the Cain led House of Mystery books, this was a pale imitation as best. I think I understand why this book only lasted 11 issues.

   Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Frostbite #1

   57 years after the next ice age, it's a balmy -24 degrees F in Mexico City. Young Keaton, who grew up an orphan on the desolate ice plains, is the leader of a group that specializes in transporting goods across the frozen tundra to the few hospitable cities that remain. But the cold isn't the only thing that threatens mankind's survival. A new virus called 'Frostbite' is turning it's victims into living ice sculptures, freezing them from the inside out.

    Keaton's crew now holds the key to curing the Frostbite when they agree to transport a pair of doctor's to  a research facility on Alcatraz. It seems that one of them has a formula that could end the frigid plague. But on their tail is a powerful gang of marauders from Los Angeles led by a despot named Fuego. For whomever is in control of the cure pretty much will become the new leader of those few who manage survive...

   Frostbite is a brand new miniseries from Vertigo by Joshua Williamson (Captain Midnight) and Jason Shawn Alexander (Empty Zone.)  In this new world, heat is the new currency. Survival is a warm blanket and death hides within the corners of every snowflake. A cross between Mad Max, Ice Station Zero, and Dawn of the Dead, this apocalyptic tale is just a delight for someone like me who prefers to huddle in the snow to fun in the
sun. 

    Deep down this book is a thinly veiled allegory about climate change. But unlike other post-apocalyptic fodder out on the market today, this book isn't preachy. It also doesn't pull any punches. The gore factor hits 11 from the very first page. 

    I definitely have this book on my wish list. Whether I wait for the trade edition or will continue with first run issues might depend on my budget as I'm not sure how many issues is this mini slated for. But mark my word, this series is going to be huge. It's either going to become a major motion picture or the next Walking Dead. 

    If you want to get in on the bottom floor of the next big thing in comics, you better get started fast. I expect this first issue (which hit stores yesterday) will sell out quick.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Time Warp #1

This short-lived, but superb sci-fi anthology featured stories about “doomsday and other strange things.” Each issue featured 8 different tales with twists right out of the EC Comics playbook. Comic legends Denny O’Neil, Paul Levitz, and Steve Ditko contribute. Michael Kaluta did some super cover work that harkens back to some classic 1940s-style pulp art. He missed his calling if he never did a Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon book.

Time Warp only lasted 5 issues and though they weren’t massive hits, they’ve formed a sort of cult status among collectors, especially those of anthology comics. I was lucky to find this copy in a dollar box and I hope to find the other 4 issues. Though, I suspect that I’ll have to cough up big bucks for those.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

    

Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #1 (1978)

   On Friday, home sick and propped up in my chair, I binged watched about 5 episodes of CW's The Flash. One of the main storylines was Firestorm. This character has aesthetically been one of my favorite superheroes, since the days of the Nuclear Man being a regular on the Super Friends/ Super Powers cartoon shows and his involvement in Crisis.
 
    As a comic, the book seemed a little too old for me. I liked the art, but the stories were very complicated for a 5-8 years old boy. The premise was that teenager Ronnie Raymond and physics professor Martin Stein were involved in a nuclear explosion that caused the two men to form a single superhero- Firestorm. Many of the stories revolved around the dangers of nuclear power and the struggle for equality amongst the sexes. Like I said, this was some complicated stuff for a grade-schooler to wrap his tiny little brain around. So, I stuck to enjoying Firestorm on TV instead of print.

   Well, finally getting to see Firestorm in a live action version was an awesome treat. I loved how the CW handled the dynamic of having the Nuclear Man made up of two separate people. Plus, having it explained that the reason the superhero looks like Ronnie but has the brain of Stein as a sort of survival of the fittest amalgam of the best of both men made perfect sense to me. Plus, it didn't hurt having the great Victor Garber play Dr. Stein while providing the interior monologue for Firestorm. It all worked really well.

   So let's flash forward to last night. I'm currently reading 'Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents: Superman Team-Ups, Volume 1', in which I got to issue 17, a team-up with Superman and Firestorm versus Killer Frost. Normally, I would just read on and tried to make connections when previous storylines are mentioned. But in both the introduction and the 'next issue' blurb for DCP #16, it's urged that you first read Firestorm #5.
 
 Well, I'm riding the high from my Flash-binge and I just happened to have the complete 5-issue run of the first Firestorm series. So, naturally, I decided to give the adventures of the Nuclear Man a solid read.

   Issue #1 is the origin story. It's pretty much what I already told you about how it came about that Raymond and Stein have the ability to fuse together. The most Interesting aspect of this story was the character of Ronnie. He's a dumb jock and in a twist that you don't see anymore or ever- he's bullied by a super smart nerd! When Ronnie decides to run with an anti-nuke crowd in order to impress a pretty girl at school, he ends up a patsy as this gang is seeking to blow-up the new reactor in town to keep it from becoming a potential pollution hazard.

   I'd like to know who the brains behind this idea were. Wouldn't the destruction of a nuclear power plant even before it goes online be a bad thing? Wouldn't the uranium rods cause some sort of meltdown?

   Well, nobody said Ronnie Raymond was a rocket scientist.

    Other than that flap, it was a pretty good opening act. The cover was great and the art inside was awesome. But with a story by Gerry Conway, who co-created the character of Firestorm with Al 'Marvel Fanfare' Milgrom, I'd expected a little better thought on the logistics of destroying a nuclear power plant.

   Not bad for a find in a comic book grab bag.

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Legends of the DC Universe #1

  So I started a new series. It’s new for me, this series actually started in 1998 and ran for 3 years. The premise is kinda cool. It’s based on Legends of the Dark Knight in which artists and scripters who have teamed previously for classic runs or the newly formed combination of ‘dream teams’ create never before explored stories of Batman’s early career. Now for DC Universe, just substitute the Dark Knight for just about any possible character or team that has graced a DC comic since 1938!

Speaking of 1938, the first issue and the first story arc star the very first superhero, Superman. In this story, Superman takes on a slightly different Ultra-Humanite than we’re used to. In the classic comics, the Humanite might be Lex Luthor, having placed his brain in a younger body. Later, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will portray the Humanite as a scientist with a dread disease whose brain gets trapped in an albino gorilla and he goes nuts and turns evil due to the horror of his new predicament.  But this story takes place almost a decade before the Conner/ Palmiotti tale will, so most of the backstory is taken from the Pre-Crisis comics.

 Though the Humanite doesn’t appear in this issue, his origin is set up. A scientist on the verge of a major medical discovery that will lengthen the life of the average person is approached by associates of Lex Luthor to buy his technology. The scientist refuses and so Luthor handles it in the way he knows rejection best- kill and steal.

You might notice a green ring on Luthor’s finger in a couple of panels and later it’s gone. That’s because during the John Byrne run of Superman in the 80s, Luthor kept a ring made with Kryptonite on him to keep Superman at bay. The ring’s radiation later gives Luthor cancer and he loses his arm to the kryptonite. So, I’m assuming that Luthor is interested in this life extending tech thanks to his cancer. It’s a pretty cool Easter egg.

I liked this premier issue. It starts a little slow, but it shows Luthor as his worse and Superman at his very best saving the citizens of Metropolis from calamities caused by a Toyman knock-off. The art is super clean and styled very similar to Byrne’s stuff. I thought it was a visual stunner. True, the main ‘villain’ that the story arc is titled after is nowhere to be found. But let’s be honest, the real crook is Luthor.

Great stuff that’s Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare #1

In the premiere issue of this 1980s Marvel anthology series, Editor Al Milgrom and Chief Jim Shooter look to use Grade A talent and rising stars to making essentially their dream stories. 

In the very first multi-issue arc, Peter Parker is sent on assignment to the Savage Land to follow the Angel and a very desperate woman on a quest to find a man named Lykos. This Lykos guy has a habit of turning into a mutated pteradon named Sauron. Written by Chris Claremont, I am not sure why the editors didn’t roll out their best-selling characters, the X-Men.

In the second tale, Daredevil makes a rather ho-hum stroll through Hell’s Kitchen. The story and the art aren't that memorable.

Not a bad first issue. I hope it doesn’t become a place where miniseries that don’t get the green light go to die. Instead, I hope it’s filled with quality stories and art by those longing to work with characters and situations that they’ve never gotten a chance to work on prior.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Fantastic Four Unlimited #1

The Fantastic Four encounter trouble when the arrive in Wakandan air space. It appears that the creature of living sound, Klaw, is making yet another attempt to steal all of that tiny African nation’s vibranium. Included in this premiere issue is a recount of the origin of the Klaw family’s grip with the Royal Family of Wakanda. Two very good stories. I like that Marvel decided to expand on untold tales of the Fantastic Four’s legion of co-stars. It’s about time. Sadly, this series only lasted a dozen issues. It shouldn’t be too hard to get the entire series for cheap. The art is a little too Rob Liefield for my tastes and I still don’t understand Sue’s emblem cutout of the number 4 on her chest. If it’s supposed to be for T&A, then why is it constantly filled in with blue ink? Classic 90s Marvel- filled with great writing and steroid induced art.

Worth Consuming.  

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Cops #1

   No- this isn’t a comic based on Fox’s documentary series COPS. These are the Centralized Organization of Police Specialists. When the cartoon came out in the 80s, I thought it strange that there were so many different cop uniforms and it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Little did I know that SWAT teams and bomb units and even Texas Marshall’s did indeed have their own costumes.

 Rumor has it that Mattel wanted a cartoon based on Robocop and had characters and villains mocked up ready for production. But the movie was so violent and filled with scenes of attempted rape and drug use that the idea was scrapped. However, Mattel already had invested millions in the idea and looking to make lemonade from lemons, so they kept the futuristic scenery and made up new heroic characters and named the cartoon COPS. That 'Cops' was also a hit series on Fox at the time didn’t hurt either.

 Here, a crazed scientist with an exposed brain tries to join the Big Boss’ crew. On the head honcho’s tail is a G-Man that already took out the baddie’s baby brother. When the G-Man goes into a coma, a clandestine crew of policemen from across America are recruited to bring order to the harsh landscape of Central City.

 It’s juvenile- but it’s fun. The art is really good for a campy looking cartoon. I think if I understood police like I do now, I would have liked the cartoon of the 80s better. But, now I see the campy side of this product and I like it even more. Especially, the bad guys- they’re extremely cartoonish even though they commit dastardly acts of violence.

 The most important thing is the writing. For an 80s TV tie-in, it’s really good. I’m talking Larry Hama doing GI Joe good! The verdict is not quite out, but I am seriously thinking this is going become a series added to my wish list.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Thing #1

After sharing co-starring duty in Marvel Two-In-One, the ever lovin’ Thing from the Fantastic Four finally has his own solo comic. Here, legendary scribe John Bryne crafts a tale in which Ben Grimm goes back to his trampling ground of Yancy Street. Here he meets up with the leader of the Yancy Street Gang and recalls his origin.

There’s not much punching or fighting here. But, there is a really good story. I like the twist ending and it’s got a very poignant conclusion that is both bright and sad and the same time.

I’ve dabbled in this series and now I think the time has come for me to start collecting the entire series. 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.