Deadpool Team-Up, Vol 1: Good Buddies

I got on the Deadpool Team-Up band wagon way too late. I'm taking about the 2009-11 series, by the way. I bought issue #884 which has the Merc With a Mouth teaming with Oatu the Watcher. A sucker for a team-up title, I was thrown off by the high numbering. It turns out that as a joke, Marvel decided to spoof the now meaningless legacy numbering by having each issue of this series go backwards from #899, after releasing a special 900th issue of Deadpool!

With Deadpool Team-Up getting cancelled with issue #883 and finding it a financial nightmare trying to collect the rest of the series, I quietly put the series on my wishlist and went on to collect other, more affordable titles. For nearly 15 years, I searched and searched for issues that wouldn't break my bank. Wanna guess how many issues I found? If you guessed zip, zilch, nada; give yourself a cookie. That was until this past week. I had a box full of stuff to take to a used bookstore for trade credit and got lucky finding not just this hardback edition, but the other 2 volumes that round out the run. Being premium editions, each book was still pricey. But at a little bit less than half of original cover price, AND considering how difficult it's been to get this series off my wishlist, I scooped up all 3 books and merrily went about my way. Besides, the trade credit covered the price, meaning that the cash in my pocket could be spent on other things!

With the numbering going backwards, I wouldn't have been surprised if you were supposed to read volume 3 first. But I can attest that is not the case here. In the opener, Wade Wilson finds himself stuck in the wandering labyrinth of legend with none other than Hercules! Deadpool then attempts to collect bounties for successful hits with a pair of lucha libre hitman siblings called the Zapata Brothers, legendary big rig trucker US Ace, and a pair of Ghost Riders. Wade then helps a woman locate the missing behemoth, IT!, the Living Colossus before accepting a hit to rub out the Punisher, who at this moment in time has been reanimated into a Frankenstein monster!

The Punisher issue has a ton of fantastic cameos. It's a real treat if you are a fan of Marvel's monsters, of which I definitely am. You could consider me gobsmacked when I learn that the old Jim Shooter lead series US1 is actually pronounced US Ace! There are no numbers to be said when speaking about the title! Plus, I didn't realize that the trucker had adventures in outer space. I'm going have to revisit that staple of dollar boxes nationwide...

Featuring a different talent team each issue, I really dug this series. A good rule of thumb about team-up books is that the more obscure the guest star, the better the story. And with IT!, the Living Colossus and the hermanos Zapata, I do not think you could get much more obscure. The only thing I wasn't such a fan of was the inclusion of the bonus material of an issue of Marvel Spotlight focusing on Deadpool. It's mostly a 30 page commercial for other Deadpool titles and if you've read 1 interview with a comic book creator, you really have read them all. I mostly read it for the pictures...

Come on volume 2!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Archie Showcase Digest #24- Halfway to Halloween

This book debuted in stores in May. I was very lucky to find a copy still on a Harris Teeter magazine rack just a couple of weeks ago. Boy am I glad I did because there's a ton of stuff that I have never read before!

Archie, both Little and as a teenager, Sabrina and her bewitching family and Betty and Veronica all have both Halloween themed and regular day supernatural adventures in this book. I didn't realize how many abandoned mansions that are supposedly haunted, occupy the town of Riverdale. In this gigantic digest, I lost count after 4!

The best story was a multipart tale where an Addams Family archetype clan moves into the haunted mansion behind Archie's house. I liked this story because of how creepy and kooky this family is and yet Archie treats them like normal people. He even treats their man-eating shrub like you would a beloved family dog.Once he got to know their true character, of course. It's how if I meet the Addams Family or even the Munsters, I hope I would react and interact with them.

Another thing that was really good didn't involve anyone from the Archie gang. It was the monster heavy pieces from the 1960s horror comedy anthology titled Archie's Mad House. Those pieces looked like something from EC Comics and had the humor of MAD Magazine. I thought they were great! I've never actively pursued these issues. But I've never turned down a chance to purchase one of I ever find them while searching through discount long boxes. But I might just start...

My choice for the worst story was the story from Archie's Weird Mysteries. Adapted from the monster and alien heavy 2000 cartoon series of the same name, I was excited about this one at first. I loved the animated series and I had put the 25 issues based on it on my wish list. But after reading this one, I might have to rethink that. The story, which recounts how Veronica became chosen as the Riverdale version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as the betrayal of their friend Scarlet, who was a bloodsucker all along, relies too much on the TV series. The recap is too long. Inside jokes about the cartoon are referenced way too much and I had trouble relating to the mentor character of Dr. Beaumont.

I didn't know that Halloween in May was a thing. I know all about Christmas in July. But if Archie Comics wants to make this digest an annual thing, I'm all for it! This Summer time digest had more new-to-me material than this year's October published Halloween themed Archie digest, which was almost comprised entirely of Archie Halloween Spectacular material of the past decade!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun School's Out Special 2022

Yesterday was the last day for students at the school I teach at. So it's only fitting that I read this Monster Fun special devoted to the end of class. Though really this was more about Summer fun than saying goodbye to teachers and textbooks. 

Take away the Steel Commando story and the Leopard From Lime Street which are serials, and thus forgivable to not be topical or even 'seasonal'. Still, only 1 or 2 segments take place at school and they don't involve leaving for Summer. Though that Hell's  Angel story where the diminutive hellion turns the tables on a trio of bullies was pretty funny.

The Hire A Horror story with all the beastly employees on holiday was hilarious. Kid Kong was slapsticky but entertaining. The clone adventure with Frankie Stein was predictable but worth a chuckle or two. I just wish that the artwork was a bit less hideous as a Basil Wolverton doppelganger as a PB and Brains sandwich is pretty nauseating to look at

There was another story that was a one-shot tale and not a regular segment of Monster Fun. 'The Sun' crafted by Juni Ba reveals the secret reason behind Dracula's ability to suddenly be able to exist pain free in the sunlight. It was my favorite story. Maybe if only because the punchline was eerily close to to a story proposal I wrote years ago for a now defunct Indy publisher.

Sadly, this will probably be my last read of a Monster Fun special of any type. This issue was from 2022 and being an import from the UK, it's been really difficult for my favorite comic shops to get a hold of them. Mostly, that's due to the bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors. I'm suspecting our current tariff trade war isn't helping matters much lately.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find a lot of 10 issues for $20 bucks somewhere down the line. I'm always open to reading more of these. It's just nigh impossible to find these in the States anymore.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun Easter Special 2022

This Easter special is from 2022. Direct from the UK, because of customs, it came about 3 months after Easter had occurred that year. Then it took me 3 years to remember in time for the holiday that I had this book to read.

Easter comics are pretty rare. I think I can only think of enough to fill one hand worth of fingers. And with exception of 1 book, a Marvel one-shot from the 90s, none of the rest of them involves the death and resurrection of Jesus. But being a fan of holiday comics, I was excited nonetheless for a Springtime treat.

I got halfway through this magazine sized read when I started wondering what was Easter about this book? There was a story about a robot commando, a girl who's special makeup turned her into a monster and Dr. Frankenstein's monster losing yet another brain. Other than the cover that cleverly placed the stars of this book having an egg hunt on Easter Island, there wasn't a single appearance by a bunny was to be had. Tons of cats in a caper involving the felines trying to take over the world. But not 1 fluffy rabbit.

Then at the exact mid point of this issue do we finally get an appearance of the Easter Bunny. It's a funny fable about how a young boy gets to eat all of his family's Easter candy because he defeated the Easter Bunny. (At least that's what he tells his younger sibling.)  Then a temp agency where you hire monsters run by Dracula, decorates for Easter. Lastly, a little demon girl tries to help the Easter Bunny escape from the pits of Hades- to disastrous effect! Throw in a couple more creature capers and you've got about 9 stories with only 3 being holiday themed. 

I don't fault the 'Leopard From Lime Street' story for not taking place during Easter. It's a serial and possibly changing things to fit into the spirit of the season could upset the story flow. One story sees a little vampire girl going on a Spring vacation with her adopted human family. So while not a holiday book, it at least was seasonal.

Look, I get it. Easter isn't an easy holiday to craft stories about. There's only so many ideas involving bunnies and egg hunts you can come up with without getting stale. And very rarely do even Christmas comic books delve into the Christian elements. But  if only a third of your book is even focused on secular Easter festivities, maybe call it a 'Spring Holiday Special' instead.

I like Monster Fun. I think the stories are funny and I enjoy the art. Their Halloween and Christmas books have become must haves for me. I just wish that I wasn't set up for an accidental 3 year wait to fall so flat in terms of the amount of holiday material that I felt I was promised.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Monster Fun Christmas Special 2022

Rebellion's revival of the classic 1970s UK horror humor title celebrates the season of giving. From 2022, if this feels like a British version of The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'd be right. Here you've got vampires, devils and Frankenstein's monster taking part in Christmas festivities.

Not every segment was Christmas themed. The android Steel Commando story was a continuation from the previous issue. Since it was playing off a cliffhanger, I was okay that it wasn't a set during the holidays. However, the Leopard From Lime Street was working off of a continuous plotline and they managed to celebrate Christmas. True, the amount of Christmas detrimental to the plotline was about as debatable to if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not.

The main title of this book is Monster Fun and I had a lot of fun reading this tabloid sized read. Despite being heavy on creatures of the night, there's a healthy dose of Santa Claus. Being a British comic, I was surprised that Krampus only appears in 1 story. As for the primary punchline, it was Brussel sprouts! I didn't realize until after reading this issue and later doing some research, but Brussels are an English Christmas dinner staple. But why all the hate? The once hated vegetable has undergone a revolution in the States. I wonder if the Brussels across the pond haven't been hybridized to remove their bitterness...

I didn't plan it, but my holiday readings for this year have been very heavy on books from Europe. Since it's turning out this way, I'm getting a pretty good idea of what titles are on task for my upcoming 2024 Christmas comic book reads. If anything, I got inspiration as well as a few laughs out of this international read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Monster Unleashed

When I first heard about this 2017 Marvel crossover, I was pretty excited. The big baddies of Marvel's sci-fi 1950s and 60s like Fin Fang Foom, Goomba and the Creature from the Black Bog were finally gonna rise up against the heroes of the Marvel Universe and reclaim their place as the rightful rulers of earth. It even appeared from some of the earliest artworks that good guys such as Devil Dinosaur were going to rise up against these men in tights. Yet, that wasn't to be the storyline at all.

An invasion by kaiju-like creatures does happen in Monsters Unleashed. However, these behemoths are unlike anything to have ever graced the pages of a Marvel Comic. Planet Earth has been chosen as the newest nest of the Leviathon Queen, a massive crimson egg-laying beast. But before she can settle in, the world must be cleansed of vermin. That means 'bye-bye, pesky humans.' 

The superhuman population assembles on a global scale like never before. Heroes and villains join forces to stop these Leviathons from decimating the planet. That's where the Marvel monsters of the Silver Age of comics step in. They've been biding their time waiting for the chance to conquer our planet and they're not about to let a bunch of extraterrestrial interlopers just swoop in and take the planet from them! 

Monsters Unleashed was unlike any massive crossover event I've ever read from the House of Ideas. For one thing, it was fun. There wasn't any sort of major shock, like the death of Captain America at the end of Civil War. The editors didn't try to add some new character that was going to change the way we looked at people of color or gender or reveal that some beloved established character was now retconned to be furry or something like that. Instead, this storyline was a tribute to the giant monsters of a by-gone era of creativity and thinly veiled fear of the Red Menace of Communism!

The new character that was introduced in this series was a young pre-teen boy named Kei. He has the ability to draw monsters and make them appear and disappear as needed. With this ability, Kei becomes Kid Kaiju (a freakin' awesome 2010s superhero name if I've ever heard one) and perhaps humanity's last hope for salvation against these big nasties.

I really loved how Monsters Unleashed utilized Moon Girl. Having her become a sort of mentor for new hero Kei was a perfect casting choice. Then we have monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone becoming Kei's bodyguard and mentor in a preview of a Monsters Unleashed regular series that continues from where the 5th issue of the miniseries ends. Even though I've got plans to downsize my collection somewhat, I think I'd be more than happy to collect the follow-up series because just like this crossover event, it was fun. 

Okay. Now it's time to pick apart the story a little. With kaijus appearing all over the globe, both villains and protagonist alike, there's a lot of destruction here. Some notable landmarks become piles of rubble, like the Nevada's Hoover Dam, the imperial palace of Wakanda and Johannesburg's FNB Stadium. I've read Marvel stuff from the past 7 years since this story came out. I've not heard about rebuilding efforts from Monsters Unleashed still being a thing in the Marvel Universe. Is superhero calamity reconstruction company Damage Control that good at quick repairs? Or do the magicians of the Marvel Universe like Doctor Strange cast instance rebuild spells? I think what I'm trying to get at is as much as I enjoyed the scenes of massive destruction, the level seen in this book was just too implausible to me.

Cullen Bunn penned a great story that was a thrill ride a minute. Smartly plotted. Hilarious banter. The art was good. Though a lot of the alien kaiju seemed to have googly eyes that made them look more silly that deadly serious. (Was Hobby Lobby having a sale on them?) I did mourn the death of one of Kid Kaiju's creations. The character is only there for like 5 pages and yet I feel in love with them. Hopefully, they'll make a return! Some great variant covers by Arthur Adams appear in the back and they're not to be missed. 

Another gem unearthed at my nearest Ollie's, Monsters Unleashed is an extremely fun read  despite it's over-the-top level of chaos and destruction.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Weird Wonder Tales #18 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Weird Wonder Tales was just one of the many horror titles that Marvel published in the early 1970s thanks to the lessening of restrictions on such titles by the Comics Code. There was only one problem with these type books in the eyes of 1970s readers: based on the reprinted material inside, the Marvel horror anthologies were tame compared to what DC and Charlton were putting out. These stories were also way past G-rated compared to the horror material Marvel was distributing in magazine format which had some mild nudity and swears in them. 

Starting with issue #19, Marvel made the one-time Avenger Doctor Druid the series host, hoping that continuity would earn readers. Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure and Weird Wonder Tales was cancelled 4 issues later with issue #22. The ultimate irony is that nearly 50 years later, many of Marvel's horror anthologies from the 70s are sought out by collectors as the reprints they contain are affordable alternatives to the original issues from the 50s and 60s. This was the last issue under the title's original format.

In this issue there are 2 stories. The cover story, (I Created) Krang!, is a double sized giant monster story by Stan Lee and brother Larry Lieber with art and inks by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. A scientist seeking to use enlarged insects as environmental replacements for fuel burning vehicles travels to Europe where a rare tree might hold the key to gigantism. The assistant steals some of the resulting formula and puts it atop a seemingly harmless ant. However too much is applied and the ant grows to the size of an elephant. Even worse, the ant has developed super intelligence, forcing the scientist to make more formula in order for Krang to create an army of oversized insects and thus conquer the world!

The backup feature combines horror and ancient myth. From the early 1950s, 'The Cartoonist's Calamity' was featured in the pages of Venus #17. The story stars the character of Aphrodite. Growing bored with life as a goddess, the daughter of Zeus comes to Earth where under the name of Venus, she becomes the editor of a struggling fashion magazine. In this tale, her head cartoonist Jimmy Rogers has been acting erratically. Venus goes on to discover that Jimmy has been moonlighting for a horror comic; only now Jimmy's terrifying visions have come to life and are driving their creator insane!

Written and illustrated by Bill Everett, the horrors Jimmy Rogers creates seem ripped directly from the sketchbook of Basil Wolverton. When it comes to the lettering, it must have been by the same fella that crafted the stylized font for the word 'Comics' on the Action Comics logo. Just about every speech bubble using that style instead of italics for expressions of disbelief and shock!

The material in this book might not be the most terrifying horror title to ever grace market shelves. But this was a 1970s horror anthology that has since earned the respect of collectors, if not about 5 decades too late. 

Cover by Jack Kirby, Klaus Janson and Danny Crespi.

Completing this review completes Task #13 (A Horror Comic) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Olivia Wolf and the Night of the Giant Monsters (Family Comic Friday)

Young werewolf Olivia Wolf lives in the community of Monstrocity. (What a great name for a monster metropolis!) Monstrocity is a large burg in which humans and monsters live in relative peace and tranquility. However that harmony is threatened by the arrival of a number of gigantic monsters running amok in Olivia's hometown.

Normally these brutes steer clear of Monstrocity due to the threat of sunlight. Only something is keeping the sun from rising and Olivia's two-headed canary, Cheep-Cheep, from issuing forth a brand new day. Thus it's up to Olivia, her best friends and their parents to bring the sunlight back and to save Monstrocity before it's too late!

This is the second book in the Olivia Wolf series. It's my first encounter. I thought that the dialogue was great. The cartoony art was creative and kinetic. However, it also featured one the most disturbing looking monsters in all of my encounters with family friendly comics and graphic novels. (Note: A couple of those creatures are in the background of the cover!)

Most of the giants that attack Olivia's city are pretty cool looking. But there's these things that look like gigantic spiders with one eye that really creeped me out. They reminded me of the monster from the Cloverfield series as well as some eerie video of a slender Kaiju one of my students showed me. I know that the monster drawn by Jose Fragoso wasn't intended to be scary. Most readers of the recommended ages of 7-11 for this book probably wouldn't even bat an eye at the creature. As for me, it still gives me shivers 

A smartly written story that is secretly about inclusion and acceptance. It's a story with a moral that isn't preachy. Plus it's full of characters that I want to revisit again and again. I just ask that that tall lanky cyclops thing relocates to another township.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

A Christmas Bestiary by Benni Bodker

A field guide and protection manual in defense of the monsters, ghosts and terrifying magical beings that occupy Europe and Russia during the holidays. I could have finished this book in a couple of nights of reading. However, I learned pretty quickly that this illustrated work by Danish illustrator and filmmaker John Kenn Mortensen and author Benni Bodker, was framed as an Advent. Each day, a different Yuletide terror is featured. I would have thought Krampus would have been selected as the final character of the Advent, considering how popular he's gotten. However, he was fittingly selected for December 5th, as that is Krampusnacht in his native Germany. A few other characters are appropriately highlighted on the days or nights that they are believed to cause their mischief and mayhem.

The beings are rated on a scale of 1-5 pine cones. 1 pine cone means the creature isn't all that dangerous. A 5 pine cone rating means that this is a being not to be trifled with. The level of terror didn't always match how frightening the artwork based on the characters were. However, that splash page of the Yule Goat looking directly into your soul was truly unsettling.

For an Advent, this book only has 24 entries, culminating on Christmas Eve. For many, that might seem weird. But having an Advent calendar at the end on December 25th is actually an American thing. In Europe, where Advent calendars began, most have only 24 days. (As Advent season changes with the calendar, some Advent calendars might be as few as 12 days or they might grow to as many as 28 maximum, depending on the year.)  

A Christmas Bestiary was a fun read. The colder the evening I read these entries, the creepier they felt and that was all the better. One major disappointment I had was that the cover image is nowhere to be found inside. I was really looking forward to find out what this demented, drooling Santa's story was. Alas, it's absent from the book. But maybe his story will soon be told! This book only covers a small fraction of the world. Could a sequel covering the rest of the world be in the works? I know that I wouldn't mind such a follow up. 

Lastly, I don't really know how to classify this book. This English language version was published by Fantagraphics; which is known for releasing a number of comics and graphic novels. Fantagraphics does also publish a small number of regular books of fiction and non-fiction. Technically, this is an Advent calendar in book format. But I bought it from my favorite comic book store which doesn't carry collectible merch. Honestly, if I didn't know about this book from my favorite shop, I wouldn't have picked it up and I have seen it listed on Previews and for sale at other comic book stores. Only, there's no sequential artwork here whatsoever. This book is surely a keeper. I just don't know where I'm going to keep it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Archie Halloween Spectacular 2023

I saved my favorite for as close to last as I could stand it. For about 5 years now, the comic book devoted to Halloween I look forward to most annually are the Archie specials. Same goes for the Christmas edition. I think it's because of how timeless they are. So full of nostalgia, humor and wonder. Plus they have moments of spookiness without being too scary. 

This year's offering is a love letter to the dark side of Archie Comics. I didn't realize this, but in the 1950s and 60s, Archie and his gang interacted with a bunch of classic monsters and aliens. While the stories might have been tongue in cheek, the artwork of the ghouls and goblins was pretty darn intimidating. In the all-new opening story, Tom DeFalco pens a tribute to those glorious looking frights.

Last year's Halloween annual introduced readers to Trick and Treat; a pair of Halloween imps who like to visit Riverdale every October 31st. While I wasn't as enthusiastic about their debut, these two have become fan favorites. So a return was almost inevitable. In DeFalco's tale, Veronica's father is allowing the students of Riverdale High to use one of his abandoned properties as the site for the annual Halloween party and haunted house. In the minds of Archie and Jughead, this place already is haunted. Trick is inspired by the old comics books that Treat has been reading and uses the creatures from them to scare Archie and Jughead.

At the end of the book is a gallery of all the old Archie Comics issues that inspired this debut story. There's also a great 2-page article about the history of Archie books and why horror has always been an element in them. Did you even know that the Archie sister imprint Red Circle had straight up horror anthology tales? I had always thought that more adult Archie books of terror was more of a modern invention. Gee, was I wrong.

There's 4 reprint stories included in this book. One looks like it's from the 80s. Starring Betty and Veronica, the girls spend the night presumably in this same abandoned mansion in hopes of proving ghosts exist. Then there's a more modern tale involving some newer characters including a goth girl and a young boy of Indian decent. That's got the gang cutting through a graveyard on Halloween night in order to get to a Halloween party quicker. Bad idea there. The last newer looking story has Sabrina having to think fast when a rival witch attacks her at Veronica's Halloween bash- in front of mortals!

The 4th story was from the 50s, I think. Or the very early 60s. It's a classic that I've read before in which Dracula tries to trap Archie and Jughead. Only the two teens are completely oblivious that they're in near mortal danger. Every time the Count tries to prove to the fellas that he's a monster, one of the boys dismisses it as being lame. It was drawn to be very spooky. But it was so funny.

I thought the all-new story was just too short. But I really appreciated the nods to the past. I also don't quite get all the love for imps Trick and Treat. For one thing, Treat has a noose around their neck and I'm very surprised nobody has cried fowl on it and the implications of lynching. Besides, I'm more of a Jingles the Elf fan. Though I would love to see a Trick and Treat meets Jingles crossover! Maybe we could see these two worlds collide in a Thanksgiving Day special. If you ask me, an Archie look at Turkey Day has been sorely missing from my annual holiday comic book reads. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: Holo-Ween #4

The first ever 4-issue Star Trek Halloween miniseries comes to a close. As you can see from the cover, Commander Scott is our mystery character from the last issue. Fitting, since Scotty was the main character in TOS episode 'Wolf in the Fold', which introduced the character of Redjac.

Speaking of blasts from the past, the obscure, but oh so important Next Gen villain Redjac brings back from the dead was killer!

The whole concept of this tale being set around Halloween seems all but forgotten until the last page. I understand that by having Picard and other members of the crew being altered to look and act like monsters of Earth lore was meant to be a tie-in to the holiday. But I say that unless it was Redjac turning them into monsters, that spooky seasonal element is diminished by having the crew members be transformed with their consent. 

Honestly, I think it would have worked better if Q was involved. 

This last issue was okay. Issue #3 was much more thrilling. This closing chapter was kinda ho-hum. Not very much suspense and the meeting between Scott and Redjac was downplayed. In fact, the assault Redjac carries out on Scotty on the cover doesn't even happen in this issue!

I'm glad to see Mr. Scott get closure on the Redjac affair. Lots of issues from DC and IDW reflect how much the whole episode traumatized the engineer. But the dish of revenge Scott serves against the entity is luke-warm at best. 

The art seemed to have gotten back to the baseline level of quality. Maybe Joe Eisma was just under a tight deadline with issue #3. Chris Sequeira's storytelling slumped. The ending could have been more exciting. But I think the limit to how much you could do with Redjac has been reached. 

I'm definitely hoping for another weekly Halloween story from IDW. I just hope we'll get something different. Another realm of the Star Trek universe would be fine. Staying away from Redjac would be perfect. Ideally, I'd like to see some other franchise get the Halloween debut treatment.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Star Trek: Holo-Ween #2

Redjac is back! The ancient evil entity that was once the dreaded Jack the Ripper in Victorian England, has taken control of the Enterprise-D. Using Borg nano-technology, Redjac possessed a crew member and then began taking users of the Enterprise's holodecks captive. Redjac has also reprogrammed Commander Data and turned the android into a perverse version of the Frankenstein monster.

In attempt to free the hostages, Picard, Worf, Riker and Troi undergo plastic surgery to appear as the monsters Redjac has used to entrap and torment those stuck in the holodecks. The high ranking officers have also allowed Dr. Crusher to alter their brain waves to not just act but to think as the horrors they represent. This should prevent Redjac from detecting their presence. The caveat: Picard and the others only have 30 minutes to save their fellow shipmates or their brain patterns will be forever altered, resulting in permanent brain damage!

Issue #2 was much better than the opening salvo. The writing was better. The plot made a lot more sense. And the art improved. The likenesses of Riker as the wolfman and Worf as a sort of Klingon Gill Man were fantastic. Franken-Data was pretty cool too. 

I remember Redjac from one of my least favorite TOS episodes. However, in this story, Redjac refers to a past history with the Enterprise-D crew. I know that Redjac never appeared on Next Gen, as I've seen every episode. So what was the villain talking about. It turns out that this IDW story is continuing from a Wildstorm comic that pitted Redjac against Data previously on the holodecks in the middle of a Sherlock Holmes program. This also explains why Redjac has a major beef with Data.

Unfortunately, I have never read that story. Maybe I have it in my collection and don't realize it. I'll have to check.

A much better second act with improvements all around. You don't have to know of Redjac's history with the Federation. But it helps.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

DC's Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun #1

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun is the title of this Halloween oversized special from DC. I love the punny title and I love the main cover by Alvaro Martino Bueno. That prancing monstress dressed as Mary Marvel was just so cheerful. The dragon off to the left wearing a Flash mask is just adorable. And the looks on Lois and Clark's faces was timeless.

But was the interior just as fun as the cover? How about I describe some of the stories and you decide? Here's a run down of my favs...

• Adam F. Goldberg, the creator of ABC's The Goldberg's crafts a tale in which Lobo comes to his daughter Crush, to help him find a costume for a Halloween party at the House of Secrets. Crush recommends that her pop goes as a certain Hugh Jackman character. What she's hinting at is going as Wolverine. What Lobo hears is a whole bunch of other characters played by the Aussie actor.
• Lois tasks Clark to help her with a Halloween deadline, which means exploring an abandoned mental hospital. What Superman uncovers is a closet full of ghosts, all waiting for long overdue justice.
• Animal Man spies on his daughter on her first Halloween trick-or-treating since the death of her brother.
• A woman goes out for her nightly walk on the dangerous streets of Gotham. Her hope is to run into the Batman. Instead, she comes face-to-face with a Man-Bat!
• Hal Jordan battles an escaped inter-galactic villain. He also comes head-to-head with the demon, Etrigan. It's good cop vs. bad cop. If they work together, will this fiend they stop?

There were a couple of stories I liked but I hated the ending.

• In Bludhaven, Nightwing battles a werewolf. In order to stop the beast, he'll have to team up with Jason Todd, the Red Hood. It's a story of bad blood that ended with the promise of more. Only there wasn't any sort of blurb telling readers to catch the rest of the story in some other issue. As much as I hate having to read the rest of a story in the pages of another book, I hate it just as much when a story ends without really completing anything.
• On the anniversary of the first time the world thought that the Doom Patrol died, Robotman is haunted by the ghosts of fallen teammates. I love the classic Doom Patrol. There's a whole lot of modern characters that I just don't know. I probably would like this more if I had more of a connection to most of the ghosts.

And then there was one story that I didn't hate, but I wasn't completely sold on it either

• Renee Montoya investigates a number of murders during Gotham's annual Halloween Fashion Week. When she realizes that several of the models she's been questioning have been dead for a while, Montoya becomes the Question to complete her investigation as a pair of villains from Batman's Rogues Gallery prepare to take the catwalk for one final act of terror. The story wasn't so bad. Art was actually good. The first act was intriguing. I just didn't buy the team-up of the 2 baddies. It just didn't make sense to me their motivations.

5 stories were winners and I loved that Lobo tale from Adam F. Goldberg. I want a Lobo/Crush series written by Goldberg! I would buy each issue new on the day it came out! 2 stories were good but could've been better. Technically that Question story could have been better but I think only if 2 different antagonists were teamed together, could it truly have worked. 

For one of DC's holiday specials, there were 2 noticeable omissions. Harley Quinn is absolutely absent from this book and Batman is only represented by members of his family. I thought it was a law that DC had to include both characters in everything the House That Superman Built published these days. Not that I didn't miss either character. I'm an original member of the Gang of Harleys and Batman plays into a lot of my posts. I'm just surprised DC left both heavy hitters out of this book.

And then there's the missing story. According to Previews, Mary Marvel and Psycho Pirate were supposed to star in a story together in this book. As I had mentioned earlier, there's a ghoul dressed like Mary Marvel on the cover. So are monsters dressed on Man-Bat, Animal Man, Lobo and the Flash. Other than Flash, the other 3 characters do appear in this book. What happened to Mary Marvel? And was the Flash supposed to be in this special too and he got bumped for some reason as well?

Once again, this special was $9.99. That's been the price for these holiday specials for several years now. I know of some fans that say with conviction that paying $10 plus tax is too much for a comic book. In the past some of these books have not been that good. That's not the case here. Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun was one of the best DC oversized releases I've read in years. More fun and exciting than preachy and political. I didn't feel like any of these stories were trying to talk down to me. In fact, that Lobo story felt like something my own warped sense of humor would come up with. Plus- no ads! 

It was definitely money well spent.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Shelly Frankenstein!, Book One: Cowpiggy (Family Comic Friday)

Shelley Frankenstein wants to be a mad scientist just like her great-great grandfather, the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein! Along with her brother Iggy, Shelley conducts experiments on her stuffed animals in hopes of creating the most terrifying toy ever. Only each one of her creations is more adorable and cuter than the next. Finally, when Shelley crafts her latest, greatest creation, the Cowpiggy, the fanfare is just too much and the budding scientist takes her frustrations out on the little monster. 

Saddened and feeling rejected, Cowpiggy runs away. Luckily, Shelley realizes that she's been too harsh on her new creature and goes off looking for the toy. Only there's a massive blizzard on the horizon and neither Shelley Frankenstein nor Cowpiggy are properly equipped to survive the coming frigid conditions. 

This book was so charming. It's got so many tributes and nods to the Mary Shelley classic in which this graphic novel is not just based upon, but set firmly in the Frankenstein family universe. There's Frank and his bride. Even a wolfman! Even villagers. But they're all so gosh darn cute! 

I really felt like this book has the makings of a great new series for readers aged 8-12. While there isn't any indication in this graphic novel that Cowpiggy is the opening edition for a series, Amazon and other book sellers list this as Book One! That's just awesome as this was such a fun read. I'm just racking my brain to see where this book can go from here. Not only does this series have Mary Shelley's creation to draw inspiration from; perhaps the Universal Monsters could be involved somehow. We already have the wolfman. Maybe introducing the Invisible Man or Gill Man. Could we see the Mummy?

The artwork, along with the story itself has touches of Tim Burton in terms of the gothic theme. But the characters are just so cute. This was a fantastic work by children lit veteran Colleen Madden. There are monsters and creepy elements, but nothing scary... nothing evil. Parents and guardians will delight at this family friendly reading to kick off the Halloween reading season! Only beware! By the time the young reader in your life is finished with this book, they're going to want a Cowpiggy stuffed animal of their own! I know I want one!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Where Monsters Dwell #4 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Where Monsters Dwell was a horror anthology series from Marvel Comics. The series, which ran from 1970-75, is a fan favorite among collectors of Bronze Age Marvel Comics as well as devotees to horror and sci-fi. With exception of the covers, the material in all of the issues were comprised of reprint material. Silver Age stories from Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish were the primary sources where the stories were culled. 

In this issue, there are 4 classic horror stories ranging from ancient terrors to physiological thriller to B-movie sci-fi involving aliens from another world

In Steve Ditko's 'Behind My Door Awaits... Medusa' (Tales of Suspense #10) a seller of curios and antiques may also be the owner of the legendary Medusa of Greek myth. Do you dare open the door to his side room to find out for sure?

Then a sailor finds a message in a bottle from a castaway (Tales of Suspense #12). Knowing that the island where the S.O.S. came from is nowhere near any active shipping lanes, the seaman investigates only to find a hideous beast blocking him at every move.

Also from Tales of Suspense #10, an adventurer learns the deadly secret to why no man returns from Nightmare Valley. 

Finally, in the cover story, 'The Monster in my Cellar' (TOS #12), a pulp writer dreams up the perfect horror thriller only for the monster to become a reality!

Where Monsters Dwell was one of several anthology series Marvel released in response to loosening restrictions of the Comics Code in terms of horror and sci-fi. However, due to cost cutting measures, Marvel decided to use reprints for their new books. Where DC was utilizing new, edgier material with amazing talent like Bernie Wrightson, Len Wein and William Michael Kaluta that pushed the new CCA rules to the limit, Marvel relied on tried and true tales that were previously published under the barriers of the Code. 

By not embracing the future of horror, many of Marvel's new anthology titles failed to catch an audience. Sister titled Monsters on the Prowl eked out 30 issues. The all-horror reprint tale Crypt of Shadows was sealed shut after only 21 editions. Where Monsters Dwell was the most successful of the reprint anthologies producing an impressive 38 issues. 

The popularity of Where Monsters Dwell continued to live on among fans both old and new. In 2005, a one-shot special was released as part of Marvel's Marvel Monsters tribute. In 2017, Where Monsters Dwell became one of Doctor Doom's Secret Wars Battleworlds in a 6-issue tie-in miniseries by Garth Ennis, Russell Braun and Frank Cho.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #18 (A Horror Comic) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

True Believers: The Other Hulks #1

Marvel's True Believers comics were an amazing assortment of one-shot reprints of great moments in Marvel history. And they were only $1! The House of Ideas released a slew of them, typically about 3-4 a week, usually to coincide with the debut of a more expensive trade paperback. They were great previews of the more vast material on the market. An excellent way to introduce kids to comics affordably. And for a bargain hunter like myself, cheap ways to own more expensive and harder to find back issues. 

And then 2020 hit. Comic book publishers, like just about everything else, shut down. And we never heard from True Believers ever again!

This 2019 one-shot looks at some other characters to carry the moniker of The Hulk. We're not talking about Gen. Thunderbolt Ross as the Red Hulk or Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk. No Hulkling or Totally Awesome (but really not) Amadeus Cho. In fact, both of the Hulks in this book pre-date the Bruce Banner real-deal by almost 2 full years!

The first story taken from 1960's Journey Into Mystery #62 doesn't really introduce us to a character known as Hulk. Instead, we meet for the first time the cybernetic behemoth and eventual Incredible Hulk foe, Xemnu! His debut story is titled 'I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk' and it's told from the perspective of small town electrician Joe Harper who stumbles across Xemnu's crashed space ship on the way to a repair job. 

Harper notices the electronic attachments on the unconscious 'hulk's' body in a nearby swamp and figures that if he can repair those parts, it might save the alien and potentially benefit mankind. Only the alien, now referring to himself as Xemnu, promises to destroy the earth in efforts to escape back to the stars. Using hypnosis, Xemnu's plot almost works as the populace builds the creature with a new spaceship with enough nuclear power to rip Earth in half upon liftoff. That is until Joe Harper reveals that he wasn't really hypnotized and saves humanity by....

Oh, no you don't! I'm not going to spoil it! You'll just have to read JITM #62 for yourselves to find out what happens.

The second story is from Strange Tales #75. Also from 1960, this story is about a mad scientist who plans revenge on the world by creating a massive robotic 'hulk.' Once inside the robot shell, the scientist will have unlimited power and strength to become the ruler of Earth. All of this just because some guy accidentally broke one of the professor's experiments. 

Like many odd and eerie tales of the era, this story has a great twist ending. In the vein of EC Comics. Just not as gory or violent. But definitely a vindictive comeuppance against a bitter villain!

I love these old stories from when Atlas comics was just transitioning into Marvel Comics. Featuring artwork by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, and potentially scripts by Stan Lee, I've never comic across a bad story from this era. I'd really love to know what collections these 2 stories are a part of. They'd make great additions to my comic book collection and I assume the bigger works would make great reads just like this comparatively small 30-pager.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The 25 Baubles of Pop Culture! Advent 2022 Day 8

No. You haven't gone back in time! The calendar is right. It's December 8th.  I know that this might sound oxy-moronic but there actually are Christmas ornaments based on the classic monsters of Universal Horror. Let's take a quick look at a few...

You can depend on Christopher Radko to have an official line of blown glass ornaments based on the Universal Monsters. This set of 6 includes Frankenstein and his Bride, Dracula, The Wolfman, Gill Man and the Mummy. Being blown glass, I am sure it is down right impossible to get the likenesses just right. Yet, I think the Mummy looks just like Boris Karloff did in the 1932 film.

For some really quality looking likenesses, look no further than at Oriental Trading Company. They've got several officially licensed mini-busts ornaments that appear that straight from the movie! My favorites are of Claude Rains' Invisible Man and Lon Chaney's Phantom of the opera.

It seems that I can't do an Advent post about holiday ornaments without making a small trip through Hallmark village. In 2014, the greeting card company released a bauble in honor of 1931's Frankenstein that was designed for your tree. It's a beautiful rendering of Boris Karloff, if such a thing can be classified as such.

On the Etsy route, I just couldn't believe my eyes with this handmade ornament crafted by the seller LTCPinball. I first thought it was actually made by Bally. Second, I could not believe that this was not officially licensed stuff. It's museum quality!

While the pinball ornament is fantastic, it's also a bit pricey. On the more affordable route, seller HomemadeHorrorStore has a set of handcrafted ceramic ornaments based on the Universal monsters. The seller also has modern monsters. But it's the old school characters that capture my eye like the Bride of Frankenstein.

Lastly, I want to pay tribute to the late night horror hosts. Though these guys (and occasion gal) weren't officially licensed by Universal Studios, if not for them reminding the next generation of movie buffs of these creatures of the night, characters such as the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon might be lost to time. In honor of these hosts being the keepers of the flame, I want to honor my favorite of the bunch, MeTV's Svengoolie. Here's a handmade trinket in which its shape could also pay tribute to Hanukkah. 

American Mythology Monsters Vol. 2 #1

I'm not really sure why I had this issue filed as a Halloween comic book. Despite the monsters, the horror, and the gore, there's nothing to tie-in Halloween. None of the trio of stories are set during Halloween. There's not a single jack-o-lantern or kid trick-or-treating in this black and white comic.

I also thought that this 2021 book was a one-shot. Instead, it's the first issue of a 3-part miniseries. That means that all 3 stories end in cliffhangers. However, all 3 stories that comprise this story have endings that if the editors or authors didn't put a 'to be continued' blurb at the end of each segment, you wouldn't know that this any of these stories had continuations. So I am actually okay with that even though comics unexpectedly ending with cliffhangers are major pet peeves of mine. 

Despite my accidental belief that this was a Halloween one-shot special, that mistaken believe isn't what irked me to no end! It's the banner on the bottom of the cover! It says 'The Frankenstein Monster! The Mummy! The Werewolf! Reimagined!' Well, despite there being a Frank and a Wolfman on the amazing cover pencelled by Neil Vokes (Untold Stories of Spider-Man), there is not a single mummy in this issue. And None of the stories are about a Frankenstein monster or a lycantrope!

This was a major print issue that somebody in the editing department made a giant goof on. You see, the 'reimagined' banner was used in the first volume of American Mythology Monsters. And those monsters were used in that series! The logo looks completely the same, with the exception of a pair of Roman numerals I's. I'm thinking whomever designed the cover used the same template for the 2021 follow-up, but they forgot to change that pesky banner on the bottom of the cover. 

The stories themselves were decent. The first story is about a man whose visit to the doctor for a wound that will not heal could bring about the end of the world. The middle story seems like a typical crime noir about a coal magnate trying to silence a rabble-rousing union rep. About halfway, the story goes from criminal to kinky to killer to just plain mysterious. Our last story is about a scientist whose desperate to save her son from a dread disease and accidentally kills herself from an untested cure. Buried in her family plot in New Orleans, the researcher returns as a cross between a zombie and a vampire. 

That last story was definitely a reimagining of both the zombie and the vampire- combined into 1. The first story was one that I really have not a care in the world if I ever find out what happens next. Good story. Just not my thing. But that middle story. Man, it was intriguing. And dirty. And bloody. I really need to know the rest of that story. But what I am really wanting to read more about isn't even something that is officially part of this story.

At the end of this comic, there's a 5 page preview of a comic book based on the slasher flick villain Victor Crowley from Adam Green's Hatchet series of films. In the preview, a group of filmmakers and their guides are in a swamp looking for an elusive type of Bigfoot known as a Skunk Ape. Instead of finding the cryptid, the documentarians find Victor in the swamp. Oh, and then the Skunk Ape appears! As soon as that glimpse at that book was over, I was crying foul! I wanted more! I'm definitely on the hunt for that one-shot special.

I enjoyed this read. But the flaws of the cover threw me way off and hampered my enjoyment. One story was a dud. One was so-so. One was fantastic! But my biggest enjoyment was the sneak peak of Hatchet: Unstoppable Horror in the advertisement section of the book.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Archie & Friends #106

This issue isn't a traditional Halloween comic, though monsters and mystery abound in the title story. 

A new monster museum has just opened in Riverdale. However, somebody keeps stealing the exhibits. Tasked by the owner, Archie and Chuck grab some friends and Jughead's pooch Hot Dog and play Scooby-Doo in order to get to the bottom of this mystery! 

Then Chuck is honored by the staff at Riverdale High for his most recent art award. To commemorate his achievement, Chuck is allowed to paint a mural on one of the walls of the school. But with everyone clamoring for Chuck to add them in the mural, how can the aspiring artist make everyone happy while keeping true to his creative vision?

Rounding things out is a story starring teen supermodel, Katy Keene. It's almost prom time for Katy's sister. Being a fashion guru, Katy helps her sibling get inspiration for the big dance. However, things take a turn when the guy Katy's sister hopes will ask her to the prom keeps popping up and wanting to talk all about Katy! Could Kid Sister Keene's crush have a crush on Katy?

This was a very Chuck centric-issue. Not a bad thing. He just always seems to figure into the more modern Archie stories that involve monsters. It's Chuck with things that go bump in the night. Dilton with the sci-fi stuff. Never shall the two crossover into the other realms it seems. 

The Katy Keene story was okay. The art by Andrew Pepoy (The Simpsons) was very good. The story by Andrew Pepoy (Dick Tracy) was kinda hokey. I liked the retooled Katy Keene. The modern version looks less like a top-heavy Barbie doll and more like a real-life supermodel. Plus, I appreciated that readers are tasked with designing the fashion Katy and friends wear just like in the good ole' days. However, the story maintains that really corny perspective that seems out of touch with how teens really talk and act. Plus, the ending was predictable and seems more suited for an episode of Full House than here. 

A good issue. It edges towards Halloween but it's not a holiday book. Lots of Chuck! Lots of fashion. Not a lot of laughs.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Supernatural Law #25 (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

I think all collectors of any hobby get like this from time to time. You have something on your wish list that's been there seemingly forever, until one day you decide to pull the trigger and complete your set or run. That's what I've been doing with Batton Lash's Wolff & Byrd Counselors of the Macabre/Supernatural Law books lately. I just got the hankering for some never before read Supernatural Law and decided to cash in some trade credit via Amazon to get it. 

Batton Lash got the idea for Wolff & Byrd in the early late 70s when he was a courtroom artist for the New York Judicial System. Lash thought it would be hilarious to have a monster like the Wolfman or Dracula having to go to court for howling at the moon or turning someone into a vampire. Lash managed to convince the small weekly publication, The Brooklyn Paper to run a strip about the spooky courtroom team of Alanna Wolff and Jeff Byrd. In 1983, The Counselors of the Macabre were picked up by the prestigious National Law Journal. 

In 1993, Batton Lash and his wife, San Diego Comic-Con legend Jackie Estrada, started their own independent publishing company, the aptly named Exhibit A Press. After a couple of collections of the strips, Lash decided to start a regular series based on Wolff & Byrd while ending the strip runs. 

The first issue of Wolff & Byrd: Counselors of the Macabre hit stores with a May, 1994 cover date. The series did great with those who were already fans of the series from the other publications. But Lash found it hard to gain new readership due to the title. For one thing, Wolff and Byrd were often misspelled by fans, stores and reviewers. Plus, it seems that the word MACABRE is just impossible to say. A running joke throughout the later issues is the pronunciation of macabre as 'Mack-A-Bree!' 

Trying to curb the confusion, Lash changed the name of the series to Supernatural Law with issue #24. The series ran infrequently at that point up to issue #45 (July, 2008) with a story that saw both the Toxic Avenger and Troma filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman starring as themselves!

The crossover wasn't the end of Wolff & Byrd. Batton Lash ran a couple of Kickstarter campaigns to publish graphic two novel length stories and to complete the trade paperback run of the comic series. The last Supernatural Law story completely finished was 'Grandfathered In' which was released in 2018 just a few short months before Lash's death in January 2019. The story of a ghost who refuses to leave his domicle serves as a bittersweet ending to the series. But I wonder if we'll see the counselors return to court with a new creative team as the last page of the story promises more to come.

The issue I chose for this task in the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge was issue #25. It's the lone holiday issue of the series. Though whether this takes place during Christmas or New Year's Eve isn't quite clear. It's snowing during the story and lots of champagne is drunk. But the only holiday actually mentioned in the story is Bacchanalia which occurs in March.

With many of their accounts in arrears, the law firm decides to host an open house for past and prospective clients. Alanna is just about to join the festivities when she is approached by a time traveler who claims he's a client from the future. Seeking a patent on his time machine, the scientist went back in time to see how things are going on the case. Only, nobody in the firm knows who this guy is!

Issue #25 is not an issue for casual fans. There's either a cameo or a mention of every character to have appeared in the comic book thus far. If you haven't followed the series in some order, you probably will miss a couple of those references. But for an established fan- and for someone who is reading every issue in order- this floppie is a treasure trove of Supernatural Law history. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #4 (Part of a Series) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.