Four Gathered on Christmas Eve

Mike Mignola, Eric Powell, Becky Cloonan and James Harren join forces in this Victorian era holiday horror from Dark Horse. 

A quartet of undesirables gather together every Christmas Eve because misery loves company. Over some mince pies and warm wassail, they tell ghost stories while insulting each other. 

Don't expect these spooky tales to take place during the holidays. One story is about a voyage to Mars that you might expect from Jules Verne, if he was a student of Edgar Allan Poe. Another is an epic poem about a rogue and unrequited love. Good stories all around, very much set in the framework of the song lyric: 'there'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.' I just wish that they were all set at Christmas. 

At least the framing story was. This 2022 hardback has a great twist ending that would have made William Gaines jealous.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Fog

   This Dark Horse graphic novel was written as a prequel to the 2005 remake of the Fog. However, as this incorporation ideas and story structure that John Carpenter wanted to include in his classic 1980 version, this book can act as a prequel to that film as well. That actually works quite well for me as I've seen the original (which scared the hell outta me) but not the remake.

    The prequel starts in China with a group of Shanghai traders fleeing a mysterious fog. They arrive in a coastal town in post-Civil War California, where they work in the town's mines and perform odd jobs. When one of the residents begins a series of gruesome experiments on one of the boat people, they unwittingly unleash the ancient curse hidden in the fog that the immigrants so desperately fled China from.

    The Fog was very good, but it wasn't great. (Which is what many people say of the original film from 1980.) The writing was good, the art was fantastic, and there was a great scare factor in the book, but something was missing. The story needed a little more tweaking in terms of plotting and pacing. Some scenes, that in my opinion seem unnecessary, drag on for several pages. Whereas when the story gets to the climax, and we have a chance to truly grasp what was done to cause the fog to come to America and curse the coastal town, everything seems rushed and vital information is either forgotten or glossed over in order to meet the page requirement of the book. 

    If this was a miniseries instead of a single volume comprised of 88 pages (really about 80 if you remove the forward and afterword) then I think more time could have been given to flesh out this story better. Like Carpenter's original film, this book was fraught with missing opportunities...

    I found this book at Ollie's for dirt cheap. If you don't find it there, Amazon has it few literal pennies on the dollar. This was a fun book and I probably should have waited for closer to Halloween to read this. But the awesome Mike Mignola (Hellboy) cover and dynamic palette by Dave Stewart (also of Hellboy fame) was too tempting for me to wait.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
   

    

Rocket Raccoon and Groot: The Complete Collection

  This collection includes the first appearances of Rocket and Groot along with the Rocket Raccoon 4-issue miniseries, the Annihilators mini and a short-story sequel from Annihilators: Earthfall.

  Groot got his start in a 1960 issue of Tales to Astonish. In that story, Groot could say much more than " I am Groot" and was a bad  guy. It's classic Stan Lee and Dick Ayers sci-fi fun.

   Rocket was first known as Rocky Raccoon. He first appeared in a trippy story in 1976 about a Prince who lives in a Heavy Metal type universe were medieval meets technology. I think whoever did this book was on some serious drugs. The story ended with a cliffhanger that asked readers to write in if they wanted to see more. Since there isn't a follow-up chapter, I'm assuming readers didn't.

   But this wasn't the end of Rocket. He reappeared in an anniversary issue of Incredible Hulk. Here, the big green machine has been transported to the asylum planet of half-world. I had just read this story not 6 months ago, so I kinda just glanced over it. It's a good thing too since the Rocket Raccoon miniseries take place right after the events of the Hulk story. So, it was a good refresher.

  The Rocket miniseries was insane in more ways than one. Rocket is the chief of security on the planet Halfworld in which insane patients received therapeutic treatment by anthropomorphized animals. On the other half of the world, robots build toys to help keep the patients happy and calm. I had this miniseries on my wish list but having read this now, I probably wouldn't seek it out for my collection unless I found it for less than a buck an issue. It does feature some early work from Mike 'Hellboy' Mignola and it's visually stunning but this story was really weird (and maybe just a little too weird for me.)

   Annihilators was awesome. It was funny and full of action and contained great amounts of Easter Eggs. It takes place after the Peter Quill led Guardians of the Galaxy have disbanded. In that series, Rocket has no memory of life on Halfworld. This series attempts to rectify that retooling some of the events in the RR miniseries. I loved it and thought it was the best part of this collection.

   The Annihilators sequel was very funny too. It featured the media mogul Mojo and was a great parody of cartoons and action figures. The only problem with it was that it was a secondary feature and was way too short a tale.

Why Rocket and Groot have never been given their own monthly series is beyond me. They're a fantastic duo that work well together. They have crazy adventures and more importantly- they make me laugh. With Guardians being the darlings of the Marvel Universe, they probably won't get a series anytime soon. But hopefully EIC Axel Alonso will green light another miniseries soon.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Itty Bitty Hellboy #1 (1 for $1 Special) (Family Comics Friday)

I found the reprint at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. It’s a Dark Horse 1 for $1 special in which the publisher reprints various past first issues that have gone the way of the very expensive dinosaur. The GEM had dozens of issues, for sale, so I would expect that it’s not very hard to find at the local comic book shop.

  Hellboy usually isn’t a series for kids. Hellboy, the creation of Mike Mignola, is one of the actually sons of the devil, who was stuck here as a child thanks to Nazi experimentation with a portal to Hades
(in effort to win the war.) Now fighting for the forces of good with the BPRD, Hellboy must reel himself in when fighting the forces of evil or an ancient prophesy that he would become the new (and very evil) ruler of Hades will come true. Hellboy’s adventures, while fun and exciting are gruesome and scary. It’s definitely not something for those under the age of 13. But here’s the kicker- Itty Bitty Hellboy is actually a series that kids can enjoy with their friends and family that are old enough to read the regular Hellboy series.

  Itty Bitty Hellboy is the brainchild of that dynamic duo of all-age friendly comics Art Baltazar and Franco. If you’ve read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of their various DC series like Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. I’d know about this series for just a couple of weeks and it was on my radar but I hadn’t officially added it to my wish list.

The series is just as dynamic as the previous Baltazar and Franco series that I’ve read. Each vignette is between 2-6 pages long and while directed for youngsters, it still has some ‘Easter egg’ type elements that teen and adult readers will understand and enjoy. There are at least 4 more issues in this series and all 5 books are collected in a single all-color edition for $20.

   As to whether I will add this series to my wish list and eventually my collection- Oh He-… ummm. Yes. Yes I will.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars

 

Marvel Fanfare #43

 To commemorate the epic first battle between the Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch, Fanfare devoted this issue to 2 tales about Namor and the Johnny Storm Torch. Namor goes back in time and becomes the lover of a pirate wrench. Together they storm the high seas. The art is done by the fantastic Mike Mignola.

  The Torch tale is the best. Johnny Storm must rescue a hijacked bus of kids. The only problem: they’re being held prisoner in a very flammable Roxxon Oil refinery. Great story, great art, wicked ending. Loved it!

  Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare #16

Ever heard of the Sky Wolves? Sure you have, they're DC Comics property called Blackhawk. In this blatant rip-off, you’ve got a squad of experimental aircraft captained by a guy wearing a near exact Blackhawk replica costume, ordering around a bunch of ethnic sterotypes to blow-up Hitler. I really can’t believe Marvel got away with this copyright infringement.

The issue’s only saving grace is a beautiful Sub-Mariner tale that is a fable as to how the first sea horse came about. Adding to the excitement- it’s Mike Mignola’s (of Hellboy fame) first ever work published by Marvel. You can tell he’s a diamond in the rough here. That’s a rare treat worth the price of the book no matter how much Sky Wolves stinks up the issue’s first half.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Cosmic Odyssey, Book 4: Death

Darkseid’s contingency plan has gone to pot, as the Anti-Life Equation Entity is just too gosh darn powerful. It’s all up to Batman and Forager, who battle a duo of zombie’s for the fate of the Universe.

Speaking of the Bat, in chapter one, he made a call to someone to keep an eye on Darkseid, because he’s about as trusty as a condom lined with holes. That mystery of who was called was left under wraps until now. Ironically, it’s Batman’s phone call that also results in the universe being spared, because our mystery player has to pull Darkseid’s butt out of the fire.

I loved this entire series. It ended with lots of great emotion. A hero must come to grips with being responsible for an entire planet’s demise- population and all. Another hero will meet his final fate, While a third must come to terms with his prejudices.

A fantastic job by writer, Jim Starlin, and artist, Mike Mignola.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Cosmic Odyssey, Book Three: Decisions

With one planet already toast and the fates of four others hanging in the balance, Darkseid decides to enact his contingency plan. His secret weapon- Etrigan, the Demon. I love that two classic Jack Kirby DC characters have teamed up for what's probably the first and only time ever. A great chapter in a fantastic story.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Cosmic Odyssey, Book 2: Disaster

Darkseid sends out 4 teams to fight the Anti-Life equation entity from destroying the universe. The stipulation is that if any 2 teams lose, everything goes bye-bye. Teams are sent to Earth, Rann, Thanagar, and some planet that I’ve never heard of. Can you guess which planet is gonna bite the dust?

With predictable stakes, I still enjoyed the book. The art is amazing and there are several mysteries within that make up for the forementioned plot point.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Cosmic Odyssey, Book 1: Discovery

After centuries of scheming and searching, the Anti-life Equation has finally been found. Fortunately, it wasn’t Darkseid who discovered it. Unfortunately, it caused Metron to have his brain fried. Even worse, an anti-matter entity that powers the equation has become aware of our universe and is targeting it for destruction.

Yes, this seems an awful lot like Crisis on Infinite Earths. Only, there’s no multiverse and the whole crisis is framed as if it was the result of interference from the New Gods.

The thing that makes this title very different is that an alliance is formed between mortal enemies Darkseid and Highfather. To combat this threat, they recruit a team of superheroes that include Superman and John Stewart.

Wait a minute… That happened in Crisis, too. Well, I realized this after reading this book and it didn’t bother me. I love New Gods stuff and this book doesn’t disappoint. Adding to the formula is early work by one of my all-time fav artists, Mike Mignola. That’s worth the cover price alone and makes this volume very much.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.